Former QUEENSRŸCHE singer Geoff Tate celebrated his 64th birthday last night (Saturday, January 14) during his concert at Amaturo Theater in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Fan-filmed video of the audience singing "Happy Birthday" to the vocalist and Geoff blowing out the candles on his birthday cake can be seen below (courtesy of the Geoff Tate Fans Facebook page).

Tate's setlist was as follows (video courtesy of AIE TUBE):

01. Empire 00:00
02. Another Rainy Night (Without You) 06:19
03. Desert Dance 11:46
04. I Am I 16:07
05. Sacred Ground 20:04
06. Best I Can 24:04
07. Real World 28:55
08. Breaking The Silence 35:50
09. I Don't Believe In Love 40:30
10. Suite Sister Mary 45:17
11. Cold 59:28
12. Bridge 01:04:47
13. Screaming In Digital 01:08:12
14. Walk In The Shadows 01:11:52
15. Take Hold Of The Flame 01:15:13
16. Jet City Woman 01:22:50
17. Silent Lucidity 01:29:40

Encore:

18. Happy Birthday Geoff 01:38:38
19. The Chase 01:40:00
20. Queen Of The Reich 01:43:13

Tate's "Big Rock Show Hits" tour kicked off on December 1. Tate and his international band — featuring guitarists Kieran Robertson from Scotland, James Brown from Ireland and Alex Hart from Boston along with bass player Jack Ross from Scotland, drummer Danny Laverde from Cincinnati and keyboardist Jason Ames — hit 28 cities across the United States, including Cleveland, Phoenix, Dallas, Houston, Denver and Nashville, on an initial tour leg that culminated on Geoff's birthday.

Just five days after their last U.S. show in January, the band will embark on the "Empire" 30th-anniversary trek that begins in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil on January 19, then heads off to Europe for two weeks, quickly followed by three shows in Australia. After "the land down under," they'll return to Europe for a variety of shows that will last through mid-March. They'll return in early June for another extensive European tour.

In a recent interview with Conversaciones Necias, Tate was asked if he has given any thought to his eventual retirement. He responded: "I think I'll keep traveling and singing songs until I can't do it anymore. I really enjoy it. It's a wonderful lifestyle, and I'm very fortunate and very blessed to still be in good health and able to do it.

"People say to me all the time, 'When are you gonna get a real job?'" he lauched. "This is my job."

Four years ago, Tate appeared to be more open to the idea of someday retiring from recording and performing live. At the time, he told Brickhouse TV: "If and when I can retire at some point, what I'd like to do with my time [is] just spend it in the vineyard. There's a point where you've got to kind of hang up your rock n' roll shoes and only come out on occasion. I've got 19 albums, and I really want to do at least 20, so I think I have one more album in me, maybe two."

But in early 2021, Geoff seemingly had a change of heart, telling Aftershocks TV: "I can't imagine stopping — I really can't. I love traveling and I love performing, so I've got the perfect gig. [Laughs] I can't think of anything else I'd rather do than play music. So I guess as long as I'm still healthy and can still sing [the songs], I'll continue to do it."

In November, Geoff said that he had still not completely recovered after recently undergoing an unspecified heart procedure.

Tate discussed his health in an interview with Tulsa Music Stream. Asked if he was feeling back to a hundred percent nearly six months after going under the knife, Geoff said: "Yeah, I think I'm — I don't know if I'd say 'a hundred percent', but I think after the New Year I'll be approaching that number. It was a really difficult few months there. [I'd] never been [seriously] ill in my life — I'd never actually been in a hospital ever — so this was something that was quite a bit different to get used to."

Last August, Tate said that "it took about a month" before he "could make a sound" and eventually regain his singing voice.

"I'd never been in a hospital before in my life, or I'd never had anything wrong with me, and this was the first experience for me," he explained to in Ritchie Birnie. "And I was just amazed at how much it took out of me. I've always been a pretty physical, pretty strong person, but, man, when I came out of the hospital, I was weak. I could barely walk."

On July 3, 2022, Tate took to his Facebook page to share a photo of him with Dr. Sami Kueri from the department of cardiovascular surgery at the Universitäts-Herzzentrum Freiburg-Bad Krozingen (University Heart Center Freiburg) in Bad Krozingen, Germany, and he included the following message: "All my gratitude to the talented Dr. Sami Kueri for giving me a healthy heart!! Feeling so much better each day!"

Tate's recent tour celebrated the 30th anniversary of QUEENSRŸCHE's "Empire" and "Rage For Order" albums.

In April 2014, Tate and QUEENSRŸCHE announced that a settlement had been reached after a nearly two-year legal battle where the singer sued over the rights to the QUEENSRŸCHE name after being fired in 2012. Fellow original QUEENSRŸCHE members Michael Wilton (guitar),Scott Rockenfield (drums) and Eddie Jackson (bass) responded with a countersuit. The settlement included an agreement that Wilton, Rockenfield and Jackson would continue as QUEENSRŸCHE, while Tate would have the sole right to perform the albums "Operation: Mindcrime" and "Operation: Mindcrime II" in their entirety live.

Tate was replaced in QUEENSRŸCHE by former CRIMSON GLORY singer Todd La Torre.

Geoff will embark on a tour later this year to celebrate the 35th anniversary of "Operation: Mindcrime".



Posted by Kim Franklin on Sunday, January 15, 2023

During an appearance on a recent episode of the "Talk Toomey" podcast, vocalist John Tardy of Florida death metallers OBITUARY reflected on what it was like to open for SLAYER on the legendary thrash metal band's fall 2018 European tour with LAMB OF GOD and ANTHRAX. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "I'll tell you what: thirty years ago, I would not wanna have opened for SLAYER. [Laughs] 'Cause if you remember, at those SLAYER shows, those SLAYER fans wanted no part of any band. I didn't care who you were, all you heard were 'SLAYER' chants the whole time. But we did get invited. And it was the last time we were in Europe. And we did the SLAYER tour with them. And that was awesome. Those guys were super cool. Their crew was way nicer than they needed to be to us. And we had their stage manager come up to us, and he was, like, 'I've never seen arenas near full when the first band was going on.' And that was awesome, like I said. That was a really fun tour too — with LAMB OF GOD. I love those guys; I get along great with those. And to hit that bucket list and get to play with SLAYER, that was awesome. 'Cause time was running out. We saw that SLAYER was getting ready to wrap things up [and retire from touring], so we were really glad to get that phone call also… I sat out front and watched SLAYERevery night of that tour. No doubt."

OBITUARY released its new studio album, "Dying Of Everything", on January 13 via Relapse Records. The LP destroys in the time-honored tradition of early OBITUARY classics "Slowly We Rot" and "Cause Of Death" while maintaining the killer studio sound that the band has been perfecting in its own studio since 2007's monstrous "Xecutioner's Return".

You can hear the results on lead single "The Wrong Time", which boasts a slamming mid-tempo groove. Meanwhile, the title track boasts punishing riffs and songwriting by Ken Andrews. The album's third single, "My Will To Live", is a total skull-crusher. Track after track, OBITUARY solidify their legacy as a death metal institution, churning out some of the heaviest riffs in their career.

Like just about every album in OBITUARY's vast catalog, "Dying Of Everything" is instantly memorable; it's a skill that OBITUARY have only improved upon over the years. It’s unusual for a band that's been around since the '80s to be doing some of their best work in the 2020s, but that's exactly what OBITUARY have accomplished through their do-it-yourself attitude and relentless touring on a worldwide level.

Last year, Decibel Books released "Turned Inside Out: The Official Story Of Obituary", the fully authorized biography of OBITUARY.

ICE NINE KILLS has released a music video for the title track of its latest album, "The Silver Scream 2: Welcome To Horrorwood". The clip heralds the latest installment in the gore-soaked slasher franchise that began in 2018 with the announcement of the band's album "The Silver Scream". The censored version of the "Welcome To Horrorwood" music video premiered on the enormously popular horror YouTube channel Dead Meat and can be viewed below.

Speaking on the latest display of psychotically gratuitous gore and violence, ICE NINE KILLS frontman and creative visionary Spencer Charnas simply shares: "Keep children and the elderly far away from this video."

"Welcome To Horrorwood" is featured on ICE NINE KILLS' phenomenally successful album "The Silver Scream 2: Welcome to Horrorwood". Released in October 2021, the LP scored ICE NINE KILLS their first Top 20 position (No. 18) on the Billboard 200, topped the Digital and Current Hard Music charts, hit Top 5 on the Current Rock, Independent, Current Albums, and Album Sales charts and has clocked up 137 million cross-platform streams to date and 13 million YouTube views for singles "Hip To Be Scared", "Assault & Batteries", "Rainy Day", "Funeral Derangements", "Take Your Pick" and "The Shower Scene".

ICE NINE KILLS will tour extensively throughout 2023.The band will support METALLICA on the recently announced "M72" world tour as well as hitting Europe for a headline tour.

Decadent, devious, and fiercely insane, ICE NINE KILLS celebrate pop culture's darkest edges, mining a cinephile library's worth of iconic horror on 2018's "The Silver Scream" which spawned Top 10 Mainstream Rock single "A Grave Mistake" and Top 20 hit "Savages". The creative marriage made in hell of music and fiction began in earnest with the Top 5 Hard Rock album "Every Trick In The Book", which brought the previous three records' themes to new levels and which the band have completely perfected on "The Silver Scream 2: Welcome To Horrorwood".

Since the release of "The Silver Scream 2: Welcome To Horrorwood", ICE NINE KILLS have seen phenomenal growth. Throughout 2022 they toured the U.S. extensively on three legs of "The Trinity Of Terror", their hugely successful, mostly sold-out triple co-headline tour with MOTIONLESS IN WHITE and BLACK VEIL BRIDES, supported METALLICA at serveral U.S. stadium shows, toured the U.S. with SLIPKNOT and launched the inaugural edition of their horror convention, "The Silver Scream Con".

The band's synergy of music and lifestyle draws favorable comparisons to SLIPKNOT and ROB ZOMBIE. Visionary trailblazers and multimedia raconteurs, ICE NINE KILLS built a thrilling world for a growing legion of devoted true believers, with theatrical shows, high-concept videos, and inventive band-to-fan communion. Their wildly creative output has seen them become recent recipients of the prestigious Clio Award for Music Marketing for their "Merry Axe-mas" mobile game and their live streaming event from October 2020, "The Silver Stream" be nominated for five awards at last year's Horror Hound Film Festival Awards in the categories of "Judges Choice", "Best Sound", "Best Supporting Performance", "Best Cinematography" and "Best Feature". With over 1.75 million monthly listeners on Spotify, 717 million career streams to date and over 204 million views on YouTube, the band are firmly cemented as one of modern metal's most vicious forces.

ICE NINE KILLS is:

Spencer Charnas - Vocals
Dan Sugarman - Guitar
Ricky Armellino - Guitar
Joe Occhiuti - Bass
Patrick Galante - Drums

Photo Credit Johnathan Weiner

ANTHRAX singer Joey Belladonna's JOURNEY tribute band called BEYOND FRONTIERS (formerly JOEY BELLADONNA'S BEYOND THE BAND and JOURNEY BEYOND) performed on December 30 at Wally's in Hampton Beach, New Hampshire. Video of the concert can be seen below (courtesy of the KTVBOSTONYouTube channel).

A year and a half ago, Belladonna spoke to "The Johnny Dare Morning Show" about his JOURNEY tribute, which also features keyboardist Doug Carter, bassist Paul Arntz, guitarist Matt Basford and drummer Justin Ward.

"We're working on some recordings so we can be like a normal band and put stuff up on the site — maybe do a video," Joey said. "We've got interest in playing shows. We're just trying to figure out when and how, that kind of thing. The band's still together. We record at home. Everybody's all in different places at the moment. We only did one show, so we can't wait to do it again, 'cause it's gonna be fun."

Belladonna also touched upon his reasons for launching a JOURNEY tribute band, saying: "People ask why the hell I do it. I just like the songs. I've liked the band forever. And I just wanted to do it because I think it's a cool challenge and it's just fun music. I can't think of many bands that I'd like to do a whole evening of without trying to dress up and do everything they do. We just wanna be a band that plays that music. I don't care about the whole lookalike-type stuff. It's just about music. That's really all it is."

In an April 2020 interview with SiriusXM's "Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk", Belladonna stated about his approach to singing material that was originally written and recorded by Steve Perry: "Obviously, when you do [something like this], there's always open ground for [people to say], 'You didn't do that part, 'You didn't do this.' [But] I didn't wanna copy it note for note. Sometimes I just like to do my own thing with it. Represent it and do what you can, but I love to mess around with things. Not so much to try to be too different, but just make it cool and do it your own way versus trying to get every note. I'm sure some guys study every second of it. Even with ANTHRAX, I do songs different a lot of times. It's just fun that way. To do things off the cuff is fun for me versus trying to follow everything… I can study it all day, but I just don't feel like doing that. I wanna have a little fun doing my own thing with it."

Belladonna's JOURNEY tribute made its live debut in March 2020 at The Beacon Theatre in Hopewell, Virginia.

When he is not busy touring and recording with ANTHRAX, Belladonna has been spending time playing drums and singing for a classic-rock covers band called CHIEF BIG WAY. The upstate New York-based group, which also features Dave Mickelson on bass, Joe Precourt on guitar and John Goodwin on keyboards, plays versions of songs from JOURNEY, AC/DC, ZZ TOP, BOSTON, CHEAP TRICK, FOREIGNER, PINK FLOYD, VAN HALEN, COLLECTIVE SOUL, THE WHO, THE DOORS, SHINEDOWN and BON JOVI, among others.

In a 2005 interview with MusicDish, Belladonna was asked about the rumor that he came to the table with a JOURNEY tune during his 1985 audition for ANTHRAX. "Actually, what happened was I went into the room and they said, 'Just go on in,' and they hadn't heard me sing," he said. "They'd heard of me and they asked me to come in, but we were going in to start tracking and stuff, to get the mic set up and all that and they said, 'Let's get you in there and get you warmed up.' I hit the mic and belted out some JOURNEY… I think it was [the song] 'Lights'. I didn't know what the hell I was getting into in the first place. I just wanted to lay some vocals or something. Just to kinda give an idea and that's what happened. It wasn't really anything more than that. I just kinda belched it out. I think I did 'Oh Sherrie' [written by Steve Perry], too, or something. I dunno why, but I just did. It was something off the top of my head I could do a cappella and it was kinda challenging. I thought maybe in range or something that would be kind of intriguing. It was definitely one they weren't expecting."

ANTHRAX's 2013 EP "Anthems" EP included the band's cover version of JOURNEY's "Keep On Runnin'" alongside classics by RUSH, THIN LIZZY, AC/DC, CHEAP TRICK and BOSTON.

In a new interview with Metal Edge magazine, ANTHRAX drummer Charlie Benante and guitarist Scott Ian were asked if there is any chance of more "Big Four" shows happening, with EXODUS taking the place of SLAYER, which officially retired after playing its final concert more than three years ago. Ian responded: "Charlie can ask [METALLICA drummer] Lars [Ulrich] when he's out with him in August," referencing the fact that Benante will be opening for METALLICA this summer as part of the reformed PANTERA. Charlie added; "Yeah, I saw [Dave] Mustaine [MEGADETH leader] was kinda fishing for some of that. I mean, I don't know. I don't think METALLICA need to do that right now. They've got so much coming up in the next two years. [Laughs]"

Ian added: "Here's the thing: [METALLICA] just announced their '23 and '24 plans, and I was looking at those dates this morning and thinking, 'Well I wonder if, like, they do these two nights in each city here in the States and one night is the PANTERA night and the other night is the FIVE FINGER [DEATH PUNCH] night. So are people gonna be clamoring for the PANTERA night and nobody's gonna show up on the other night?"

Benante chimed in: "No way — they'll be there."

Ian continued: "But then I stopped myself, and I said, 'Hold on a second. [METALLICA] could've just announced it as 'An Evening With' — with no opening bands — and they're still selling out two nights in every stadium.' It doesn't matter who's opening. None of that matters. They don't need support bands. They do it to make an event out of it, I guess, but they don't need it.

"If the 'Big Four' was to ever happen again — in any capacity — it's certainly not going to be before '25 now, because they've already announced their plans. So, there you go. Anyone who has a question about the 'Big Four', hold that thought until 2025. [Laughs]"

The so-called "Big Four" of 1980s thrash metal — METALLICA, MEGADETH, SLAYER and ANTHRAX — played together for the first time in history on June 16, 2010 in front of 81,000 fans at the Sonisphere festival at Bemowo Airport in Warsaw, Poland and shared a bill again for six more shows as part of the Sonisphere series that same year. They reunited again for several dates in 2011, including the last "Big Four" concert, which was held on September 14, 2011 at Yankee Stadium in New York City. Since then, METALLICA, SLAYER and ANTHRAX have played a number of shows together, including the 2013 Soundwave festival in Australia. They also performed at the 2014 Heavy MTL festival in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

Mustaine touched upon the possibility of further "Big Four" shows in a November 2022 interview with Greg Prato of Songfacts. He said: "I really think it's time for the guys in METALLICA to step up and us do one last round, see if we can get SLAYER to come out of retirement and do a 'Big Four' passing of the torch to the new 'Big Four'. It would remain to be seen who they are.

"I think it would be really cool symbolically if we did something at, like, the L.A. Coliseum, even if it's one show and that's it," he continued. "SLAYER is from Los Angeles, so it would probably make it more convenient for them to go home at night. [Editor's note: SLAYER's Tom Araya is a longtime Texas resident while Kerry King currently calls New York City his home. Paul Bostaph and Gary Holt live in Northern California.] I personally have been hoping for this for a while, and I keep asking and asking and asking. They're just not into it. But that's up to them."

Back in 2018, Mustaine spoke about "Big Four" in an interview with "Trunk Nation LA Invasion: Live From The Rainbow Bar & Grill" on SiriusXM. Asked if there was a personal highlight for him from all the "Big Four" shows that MEGADETH has played so far, Mustaine said: "No. The whole thing was great. I can't whittle it down to one thing. I do know that looking out in the audience and seeing everybody in black t-shirts before we started and then the rain started and all these rainbow-colored umbrellas opened up, it was the most beautiful thing. Because it went form this monochrome kind of really ugly place in Sofia, Bulgaria in the rain to just this plethora of color and just beauty, and everybody was dancing and pogoing and wheelchairs going across people's heads and stuff. They didn't let the rain bother them at all. Me, I felt like I was ice skating up there on the deck, 'cause it was really slippery."

Earlier in 2018, Mustaine said that he would love play a "Big Four" show where all the bands "got treated fairly" instead of METALLICA performing a longer set and getting more stage space than the other groups on the bill. "It always kind of soured to me when you watch [METALLICA guitarist] Kirk Hammett say on the DVD ['The Big Four: Live From Sofia, Bulgaria'], when they're praying, and he says that 'we're the Big One,'" Mustaine told SiriusXM. "That just kind of shows you how the mentality was there — that it really wasn't the 'Big Four'; it was METALLICA and then the three of us."

Mustaine added: "I would love to see it done in a way where we all got treated fairly and we all played together, same amount of time, same kind of stage situation, but I don't think that's gonna happen. And it's cool, because SLAYER's gonna down in history, and they don't need the 'Big Four' to make them any more legendary than they already are. Nor do I."

Hammett said in 2017 that he believed that the "Big Four" idea would be revisited again. He explained: "I see those shows as kind of like a celebration — a real celebration of each other, and a real celebration of the music that we all make, and a real celebration of the audience embracing [what] we've done. And why not have more of that?"

Ten years ago, SLAYER frontman Tom Araya said that the only thing that was standing in the way of further "Big Four" shows was "the politics of character in one particular band," with some fans speculating that he was talking about Mustaine and MEGADETH.

In his autobiography, "Mustaine: A Heavy Metal Memoir", Mustaine addressed the issue of where his band fit in the "Big Four" order. According to The New York Times, he assured the reader that he was not offended by being put behind SLAYER. But he added an interior monologue: "O.K., we'll play ahead of you guys on this trip, and God willing we'll do it again sometime in the near future and we can flip things around."

Mustaine was a member of METALLICA for less than two years, from 1981 to 1983, before being dismissed and replaced by Kirk Hammett. He went on to form MEGADETH and achieve worldwide success on his own.

Mustaine feuded with the members of METALLICA for more than two decades before finally patching things up over the last few years. He has jammed with his ex-bandmates on several occasions during "Big Four" shows and at METALLICA's 30th-anniversary concerts in 2011.

Vocalist Andi Deris of veteran German power metallers HELLOWEEN recently spoke to El Cuartel Del Metal about his personal chemistry with fellow HELLOWEEN singer Michael Kiske, who rejoined the band several years ago in time for the "Pumpkins United" tour. Asked if he was nervous about working with Kiske so closely since they did not know each other very well prior to the start of the tour, Andi, who lives in Tenerife, the largest of the Spanish Canary Islands, said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET). "I was quite confident, because it's not like we met one day in Germany and then suddenly he came to [visit me on] the island. We had several weeks, actually, to get to know each other, and it was quite clear that I liked him and he liked me. So we even told ourselves, 'Hey, you're a cool guy.' And he was, 'Hey, same to you.' We realized that it's a shame, actually, that we did not know each other for decades. Because when you realize it's something that could fit and you've got the same subjects you talk about and you've got a philosophy which is very compatible, then you ask yourself, 'Why didn't I meet that guy way earlier in my life?' Nevertheless we have all the time in the world now [laughs] to sit down and rescue the world."

Deris continued: "When [Kiske] came to the island, it was quite clear that we were gonna have a good time. The management, actually, told us, 'Michael is coming onto the island and you guys should sit down in the studio and talk about vocal arrangements and all that shit' — which we never did. [Laughs] We were just constantly traveling around. I said, 'Michael, hey, here's my Porsche. Let's go. Let's drive through the island.' In my convertible, I opened the roof and we had, like, two weeks — [going] from one beach to the other. That was the perfect thing to do. And I think the management knows."

Last August, Deris spoke to Ecuador's Telón De Acero radio about how he and his bandmates have managed to pull off the seemingly impossible by uniting Kiske and guitarist/vocalist Kai Hansen with Deris, guitarists Michael Weikath and Sascha Gerstner, bassist Markus Grosskopf and drummer Daniel Löble. He said: "I may say [Michael and Kai] are friends now. I didn't know them, actually [before we got together to discuss their return to HELLOWEEN]. [Laughs] In the beginning, it was… To be honest, I did not know what to expect. I didn't know Kai, I didn't know Michael, and we just sat around the big round table and everybody was sniffing at each other's ass, like dogs. But, hey, we liked each other. So we just were scared that this is something like in the beginning you feel it's a cool guy and after you work with him, you think it's an asshole, or something like that. So you never know. So with the time, we learned to very much respect each other and like each other. And I can say with Michael Kiske, I found a definitely long-, long-, long-missed friend for my life. And we just are both a bit angry that we didn't get to know each other way earlier, because two singers who tick in the same rhythm could have been quite a great thing in my life the last 20 years. So I'm happy to have him now. And I may say that because you guys, you all know I'm not gay. [Laughs]"

Deris elaborated on the interpersonal chemistry between all the members of the reunited expanded classic lineup of the German power metal band. He said: "There are seven pumpkins, and each and every pumpkin is a character. And each and every day is different. Because we are so, I think, super-crazy characters that each and every day there's another story going on. So it's something you may be thrilled about and you wait what's happening next; you never know in this band. But because I think everybody at least likes each other and respects each other, I think this is something that you… When we're not making music anymore, you'll probably looking back into that time and say this was the greatest time of my life, because it was thrilling and every day something different was going on.

"One month touring with HELLOWEEN is like a year [laughs] — so many things happen and so many talks we have," Andi added. "So, yeah, it's super great being together with the guys because of that. It's no boring thing going on. I mean, look at Markus [Grosskopf] — Markus is a party animal, our bass player. There's not one day you're not laughing your ass off because he's so crazy. Then you've got our drug lord Kai. He's always in for a surprise. And you go, like, 'Oh my God.' Or you go, like, 'Woo hoo hoo,' or whatever. There's a lot of crazy people in the band. I just wonder that it works. [Laughs]"

Upon its release in June 2021, HELLOWEEN's latest, self-titled album landed in the Top 10 in more than 10 countries, including Germany, Spain, Finland, Sweden, Switzerland and Austria. The cover artwork for the LP was painted by artist Eliran Kantor, who has previously worked with HATEBREED, SOULFLY, TESTAMENT, ICED EARTH and SODOM, among others.

Produced by Charlie Bauerfeind and Dennis Ward, "Helloween" was recorded in part at the H.O.M.E. Studios in Hamburg (where everything started in 1984). The same recording console used for such HELLOWEEN albums as "Master Of The Rings", "Time Of The Oath" and "Better Than Raw" was utilized to record the band's new material. The effort was mixed at the Valhalla Studios of Ronald Prent (IRON MAIDEN, DEF LEPPARD, RAMMSTEIN).

"Helloween" saw the legendary German power metallers going "back to the roots," with the band recording fully analogue and Daniel Löble playing the drum kit previously used by HELLOWEEN's original drummer, the late Ingo Schwichtenberg, on the legendary "Keeper Of The Seven Keys" recordings.

The "Pumpkins United" tour marked the first time Kiske had played live with HELLOWEEN since 1993. Hansen, who departed HELLOWEEN in 1988, had been joining the band onstage on various tours and festival appearances throughout the years. The set featured several duets with Kiske and his replacement, Deris, along with many rarely played songs, including "Kids Of The Century", "Rise And Fall" and "Livin' Ain't No Crime". Hansen — who fronted HELLOWEEN until late 1986 — sang a medley of several early HELLOWEEN classics, including "Ride The Sky", "Judas", "Starlight" and "Heavy Metal (Is The Law)".

Last year, Deris told the "Metal Command" podcast that he "strongly" hoped the reunited expanded classic lineup of HELLOWEEN would eventually make another album to follow up "Helloween". "I mean, as long as the vibe is great, chemistry is great and everybody's having fun with each other, it would be a crime not to do so and not to plan for a future together," he said.

"'Pumpkins United' is not only the name for the last tour, I think that's something like a brand," he continued. "HELLOWEEN 'Pumpkins United', that's something like a band — a new or something like [that] growing from the old band."

METALLICA frontman James Hetfield has taken a stand on social media impostors holding an active account in his name.

Earlier today, the 59-year-old musician took to the METALLICA social media to inform his fans and followers who are following such fake accounts to not indulge in any conversation with the account holder.

"There are people online that have assumed my identity, spreading misinformation, and have caused damage to other people.

"There are imposters and predators out there. This is out of my control, but it is in your control who you choose to connect with. Please be careful on socials and vet people before getting in contact with them.

"To be clear...I am not on any social media forms, Facebook, Instagram, etc. The only connection I have with social media is through the official METALLICA website and official METALLICA socials.

"If you are following or communicating with someone who you think is or is portraying themselves as me... it is not me.

"I hope this helps those who have been or are getting deceived and are ashamed to talk about it.

"With love and respect, James 'Papa Het' Hetfield".

Back in December 2016. Hetfield spoke to The Canadian Press about his decision to abandon his Instagram profile more than three years earlier after posting regularly on the photo-sharing social media site for close to twelve months.

"I got sucked into the social media around… I was trying to be hip, trying to be cool," Hetfield explained. "You know, my kids are on Instagram [so I thought], 'I wanna try this thing.' I just wanted to look like the cool dad to my kids. And I ended up being just… It was this huge time sucker, and that's all I was thinking about. 'Oh, hey, I'm here. I can take a picture and put it on Instagram and get some hits,' or whatever, and trying to get many followers… But there is a good part to that — you know, there's actually people you can meet and converse with and get to know, and then when you get to their town, you're [like], 'Wow, hey, you're here.' And you make a friend. But most of the time, it was just sucking my time, and I just started to neglect regular life. It was living in the cyber world, and it was not for me."

Last August, TMZ reported that James and his wife of more than two decades had called it quits.

Sources close to the former couple told the tabloid site James filed for divorce from Francesca Hetfield in their home state of Colorado earlier last year.

Hetfield met Francesca in 1992 and they have been married since 1997. The two are said to still be in touch as they co-parent their daughters Cali and Marcella, and son Castor.

James and his family moved to the "super quiet" Vail, Colorado after decades of life in the San Francisco Bay Area. He told podcaster Joe Rogan that loved visiting Vail because he could feel like "a part of nature" and take part in one of his favorite hobbies, hunting, with less judgment.

METALLICA will release its 12th studio album, "72 Seasons", on April 14 via the band's own Blackened Recordings. Produced by Greg Fidelman with Hetfield and METALLICA drummer 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".

METALLICA's "M72" world tour will feature 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.
Papa Het would love you to read this... pic.twitter.com/UPYamfaTY8

— Metallica (@Metallica) January 14, 2023

In a new interview with Metal Godz Radio, former RAINBOW and DEEP PURPLE frontman Joe Lynn Turner confirmed that his latest solo album, "Belly Of The Beast", is "a lot darker" than his previous efforts. He explained (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "You know, art is a reflection of life. It's a mirror of reality, and right now the reality is pretty dark. I'm not saying it's hopeless or anything, and I'm not being negative… There's a lot of stuff going on in the world right now that ain't right, and somebody's gotta talk about it. [In] the old days in rock and roll, we were rebels, we were outlaws, we were nonconformists. And it seems like a lot of people, not only people, but especially in rock and roll, have conformed and complied to a sort of lockstep where they either wanna just toe the line, the corporate line, or the government line or whatever. Somebody had to come out and say it.

"I think I have enough controversy on this record to wake people up," he continued. "Some people will understand it; some people won't. But that's okay, because that's what art is supposed to do. It's supposed to make you see things from another perspective so that maybe, maybe your critical thinking will kick in and you'll start to realize that our humanity and our freedoms and our dignities are being taken away from us every day. And if we don't act soon — like, rise up, as the song says — if we don't do that soon, those virtues are not gonna be there for us anymore. And complete compliance and enslavement is all that's there. It's truly '1984'. It's truly a grave new world. It really is."

When asked what the most recent freedoms are that he feels that he has lost as an American, Joe said: "Well, speech. Number one. Freedom of speech. You know, they keep talking about a democracy, but first of all, the United States is a constitutional republic. Secondly, democracy, which the Greeks invented, has never really worked; there's always been some social aspects to democracy. But talking about democracy and censoring speech, it's complete hypocrisy. Because freedom of speech is the number one thing that you need in a democracy. Freedom of choice, too. Elections are pretty dodgy lately. In my day, there was an election day, not an election month.

"It's all falling apart," Joe added. "The Congress didn't vote for all its stuff. There's a lot wrong, in my opinion, that's going on in the United States right now. And I have the right — we all have the right to speak about it.

"I went to Iraq for over a month with a band called BIG NOIZE, which had a few notables… We had Simon Wright from AC/DC, and we had Phil Soussan from Ozzy's [Osbourne] band and various other bands; right now from LAST IN LINE. And Carlos Cavazo from QUIET RIOT. And we saw things there and learned things that I don't think the average American or anyone, really, would learn about what the situation there [was like]. There were no WMDs, weapons of mass destruction. That was all a big lie, a big hoax. And so on.

"So I think what's happening here is that our critical thinking has been lost somewhere in the mix," Turner continued. "Instead of thinking for yourself, what comes on that TV, which could be easily fake news — really, it could — you should question everything that's been said to you; you should question every decision that they've made and really try to dig deeper. Instead of making a conclusion that that's the truth, you should seek for the truth instead. And I think that you'll find that the man behind the curtain is not who you think he is, as in 'The Wizard Of Oz'. That's what we're doing here. It's all mirrors — smoke and mirrors. So looking deeply into this, as I have for years, and educating myself, which I think we, as Americans, should do more of, instead of watching Netflix, I've got a bitch about it, really. Because I think people need to wake up and take their life back, take their country back. They're losing it. My father fought in two wars for this, and he'd be turning over in his grave right now."

Turner's latest comments come just four months after he performed in Saint Petersburg, Russia. The singer broke with most international artists who canceled their live appearances in Russia in response to the global condemnation against the Kremlin and its president, Vladimir Putin, over the war in Ukraine. In addition, major record labels suspended their operations in the country, while streaming services like Spotify pulled out of the market.

A month earlier, Turner apparently threw his support behind Roger Waters over comments the PINK FLOYD co-founder made about Russia. Waters blasted U.S. president Joe Biden for "fueling the fire in the Ukraine" amid Russia's ongoing invasion of the country, and asked in an interview with CNN's Michael Smerconish, "Why won't the United States of America encourage [Volodymyr] Zelensky, [Ukraine's] president, to negotiate, obviating the need for this horrific, horrendous war?" After Smerconish responded that Waters got it "reversed" and was "blaming the party that got invaded," Waters fired back, saying it was about the "action and reaction of NATO pushing right up to the Russian border."

A short time later, Turner took to his official Facebook page to share a video of Smerconish's interview with Waters, and he included the following message: "Roger Waters speaks TRUTH to power! Thank you Roger. Someone has to say it..."

This was not the first time Joe had publicly taken a political stance. Back in 2015, the singer made headlines when it was revealed that he joined a list of Western celebrities who publicly expressed support for and defended Vladimir Putin, whose image had suffered greatly because of Moscow's aggressive foreign policy.

Two years later, Turner said that his opinion of the Russian president had remained unchanged. "He still is [telling the truth]," the singer told Kraig Casebier's "American Barber In Prague" in a 2017 interview. "Honest to God, I got a lot of crap for [saying] that [before]. But it's true, and he still is, whether you like him or not. He may be a gangster, but he's a good gangster. And I say there are good gangsters.

"There were gangsters in my family, in the Mafia, and they were good people," he explained. "They were the safest neighborhoods, and they protected everyone on the block, and they took care of a lot of people. And they actually donated their time, money to good causes. If somebody didn't have enough bread or food, they'd buy it for 'em. I mean, it depends on what kind of gangster you are. The politicans are bad gangsters; they can't even cover up their crimes."

Joe went on to lament the state of American politics and denounced the culture of extreme political correctness, which he believed had gone too far.

"I think America's lost its way," he said. "We've lost God, we've lost a lot of things that made that country great. And I'm sorry to say, being an American — Italian-American, and holding an American passport… I have had uncles… and my father did military service for twelve overseas stripes — the whole thing. And I went to Iraq for the troops, so anybody that wants to challenge that, c'mon, bring it on, because I think I know a few more things than you. But I think that we've lost a lot in our values of America. We can't even speak freely anymore. There's more freedom in Russia; I can tell you that. I've done a lot of time there and still will. People don't understand what Russia is [in America]."

According to Turner, his country's demonization of Russia is rooted in the fact that "America always needs a big, bad wolf. We need to hate somebody, because of the military industrial complex," he said. "So we need to hate somebody all the time [and] create a war. There's no need for it, really. If we can just straighten out the economy and get the Fed out of there, I think the people would have a chance. But right now, I pray for them — I really do. Because I just think they've got it all wrong."

As if sensing the criticism that would likely follow his comments, Turner preemptively defended himself by saying: "I said Putin was telling the truth, 'cause he is telling the truth. I got subpoenaed by my own government, okay? So all these naysayers and these haters who are gonna see this about me and stuff, you guys have no clue. 30 percent of the American people have passports, so 70 percent of you are isolated and know dick about it — you have been nowhere and done nothing. Excuse me, but that's what you should have been told a long time ago."

The now-71-year-old singer went on to explain that he was "subpoenaed" by the U.S. government after he played "three charity shows" in Russian-annexed Crimea, which he called a "wartorn country." "The people had a great time [and] we had sellout houses," he said.

Turner also expressed his belief that too many of today's artists were afraid to discuss social issues in their music, preferring instead to stick to the generic, trivial topics that the rock genre has always been synonymous with.

"If you believe in one faction, the problem is if you say it today and you're not politically correct, you're gonna catch a lot of hell from people that don't wanna work with you because you're not politically correct," Joe said. "So the world has become falsely politically correct, shall I say. And that's not the way music should be. Music used to be rebellious, used to be something that we could step out of the norm and live for, as far as heroically, but now everybody's starting to get in line: 'Don't say this,' and, 'Don't say that about this.' So you try to do it in your writing, but it sometimes falls on deaf ears, because they're not used to hearing… 'Oh, we don't wanna hear about that.' 'We don't wanna know about that.' "

He added: "It's very unfortunate that the generations of today don't wanna know about being a rebel and having an alternative to what they're being indoctrinated with."

Turner is married to Maya Kozyreva, a lawyer from Minsk, the capital of Belarus, which has supported Russia throughout its invasion of Ukraine. "She is my greatest asset in life. She's my angel," he told Guitar World in 2012.

Joe was the singer of RAINBOW between 1980 and 1984 and he sang on the album "Difficult To Cure", which featured the band's most successful U.K. single, "I Surrender".

During Turner's time with RAINBOW, the band had its first USA chart success and recorded songs that helped define the melodic rock genre.

1990 saw Turner reunited with RAINBOW leader Ritchie Blackmore in a reformed DEEP PURPLE for the "Slaves And Masters" album.

During a new appearance on the "2020'd" podcast, GODSMACK drummer Shannon Larkin was asked if it's true that the band's frontman Sully Erna once dated pop superstar Lady Gaga. He responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Yeah, that's true. And that's not, I don't think, a secret. I don't think Sully would bum out if people knew he dated Lady Gaga. I mean, she's hot, and she's mega talented. "

As for why Erna hasn't publicly disclosed that he was once romantically involved with Lady Gaga, Larkin said: "He's not Tommy Lee or whatever, or whoever the guy is now… What I mean by that is — Travis Barker, Tommy Lee, whatever — is dudes that have public girlfriends that are super famous too. But they're different than Sully. Sully's an East Coast guy. He's like me, Tony [Rombola, GODSMACK guitarist] and Robbie [Merrill, GODSMACK bassist] — we're East Coast dudes.

"L.A. bands and West Coast dudes, they're flashier, maybe, and their rock star-ism is more David Lee Roth than — I don't know — Eddie Vedder," Shannon explained. "You know what I mean? We're more Eddie Vedder, even though we're East Coast. We're probably even flashier than Eddie. He'll show up in an army jacket. You don't even recognize him. 'Oh my God. That's Eddie Vedder.' So we're in between them and the dudes with the flashy girls on their arms.

"So, did her date her? Yeah," Larkin repeated. "But did he ever tell anyone? No — except for his friends and us. The band, we knew… It was a brief thing, by the way."

Back in July 2019, Erna said that the GODSMACK ballad "Under Your Scars" was inspired by Lady Gaga.

"This song came to me shortly after I had spent some quality time with someone who I consider a dear friend, and have grown to admire and respect as one of the smartest and most talented artists today, Stefani Germanotta, who most of you may know as Lady Gaga," Sully said in a statement at the time. "In the short amount of time we hung out, she made me realize that we all have these imperfections, these wounds that we carry (whether they're physical or emotional) that cut so deep they can cripple us. These feelings leave us vulnerable, or embarrassed, or even unworthy at times. And our human nature — when they're exposed — is to shut down, rather than embrace them and realize that not only can we overcome them, but we can also become an inspiration to inspire others to have a voice and find their inner strength to show their scars off loudly and proudly to the world. Our 'Scars' are nothing more than our battle wounds from life and they helped mold you into who you are today."

GODSMACK's new album, "Lighting Up The Sky", will arrive on February 24 via BMG. The LP was co-produced by Erna and Andrew "Mudrock" Murdock (AVENGED SEVENFOLD, ALICE COOPER).

The first single from "Lighting Up The Sky", "Surrender", arrived in September and marked the first release from GODSMACK 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 September 2021, GODSMACK's latest album, "When Legends Rise", was certified gold on by the RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America) for sales in excess of half a million copies. In addition, two more of the LP's singles (the title track and "Under Your Scars") were also officially certified gold by the RIAA. The album's first single "Bulletproof" earned a platinum digital single award in September 2020 and was previously certified gold in the U.S.

Former PANTERA singer Terry Glaze has called the band's current comeback a "good thing", saying that it's a great way to celebrate the music of the Texan metallers. Glaze, who fronted the band during their glam years in the early-to-mid-1980s, made his comments while speaking to Eonmusic in a brand new interview.

Glaze, who is now involved in a number of projects, including EVEL FREHLEY, spoke candidly about his time in PANTERA, working with the late Abbott brothers Vinnie Paul and "Dimebag" Darrell, and their passing, during the chat.

On meeting and forming a band with Dime and Vinnie, Terry said: "We wanted to play with the best drummer we could find, and the best drummer in our school was Vince Abbott. So we got together and jammed, and we tried to get him to play with us. The agreement was that we would take his little brother Darrell who was in middle school. We weren't really interested in a young kid in middle school, but we reluctantly agreed, thank goodness. We were lucky enough to do that."

Going on to talk about his desire to see the band's early output reissued — 1983's "Metal Magic", 1984's "Projects In The Jungle" and 1985's "I Am The Night" — he said: "I think that it would be a great thing for everybody to get to hear more Darrell, and so that's where I stand with it. It would be amazing. You could do a big box with everything, and it would just be cool."

He continued: "You see them all over the planet. I bought copies of CDs that that are pressed out that are that are not legal — bootlegs — but, you know, that's the only way to get copies of all this stuff now."

When Eonmusic noted that PANTERA bassist Rex Brown had said the brothers were "dead against" any re-release of those early albums in a 2021 interview with the site, Terry countered: "As far as what the band with the brothers, how they felt, that comes up even to this day, doesn't it? So, you know, people change their minds, and business opportunities happen and what are you going to do?"

When asked about his thoughts on the recent PANTERA's current comeback tour, featuring Brown and surviving vocalist Philip Anselmo alongside guitarist Zakk Wylde and drummer Charlie Benante, Terry said: "I just feel kind of the same way I feel about VAN HALEN; it would be difficult for me to think that that was VAN HALEN without Eddie Van Halen, and Alex is still alive. Imagine if Eddie and Alex are gone, and then it was VAN HALEN. It's just hard for us old people."

He continued: "But you know, man, more power to everybody to get to celebrate the music and get together and have fellowship. I especially think about all the young people who never got to see them, now they get to finally go out and celebrate those songs. That means so much to them and that music means so much to a lot of people around the whole planet. So more power to them to celebrate music. Anything that gets people out, live together for rock and roll, that's a good thing."

Read the full interview at Eonmusic.

In 2021, Brown dismissed the first three PANTERA albums, telling Eonmusic it was with the addition of Anselmo that the PANTERA story really began.

"The old singer? Shit, it was going nowhere really quick," Rex said. "He just was not on the same wavelength as the three of us. The dude's never had a job in his life. I see him shootin' his mouth off in some of these magazines, and it's, like, 'Dude, you were in the band for fuckin' four years,' you know what I'm saying? 'Now you're wanting claim to fame 35 years later? Sorry, pal, you missed the boat!' So I don't want to give any credit where it's fuckin' undue, you know? Once we got Philip in the band, it developed into something else, and that was the PANTERA that we know now, and that's why we never talk about those old records."

Looking back, Brown conceded: "Hey, look, it's great to go back memory lane and all that kind of stuff, but those are the farthest things that I wake up for in the first of the morning. 'Oh, remember that one tune 'Nothing On (But The Radio)', and the singer?' No! I mean, I hate fucking songs like that, but it was a growing process, and now, because the things are out, and they've been bootleged a hundred thousand times, people consider it a part of our history. It's not. Unless Philip's singing on it, it's not PANTERA. That's the way I look at it."

When asked outright to clarify that he had absolutely no desire to ever see those records reissued, officially, Rex was emphatic; "God no, god no! The brothers were against that, and I'm against it, and that's just it. Period. It ain't coming out."

BUTCHER BABIES vocalist Heidi Shepherd and guitarist Henry Flury spoke to the "BREWtally Speaking" podcast about the band's upcoming fourth studio album which was recently completed with producer Josh Schroeder (LORNA SHORE, KING 810).

Heidi said about BUTCHER BABIES' musical evolution: "We've been a band for nearly 15 years, so when we started we were angry kids — very angry. We had a lot to be angry about. And as success started coming around and we started leaving our families and leaving our friends behind, our second more [about] loneliness and emotion in that, and then the third album was just kind of a culmination of all that. And then, all of a sudden, we're angry again, because our shit was taken away from us for years [because of the coronavirus pandemic]. We're angry again. We go to Michigan in the middle of the winter. And I feel almost like we reverted to our first album — those emotions you can really hear on our fourth album because we're kind of going through those same emotions.

"That's what's awesome about bands putting out albums," she continued. "It's a snapshot of time. It's a snapshot of what they were going through at the time, or what they felt like they wanted to explore."

Heidi went on to say that "evolution is necessary as an artist." She added: "We need to evolve; we need to try out all these different things. We don't do it for our fans; we do it for us. Of course we love when they like it and they wanna hear certain things, but I need to be able to put my emotions on to an album as well. This is my therapy. [Laughs] This is my very expensive therapy. So it's important for us."

Circling back to the upcoming BUTCHER BABIES LP, Heidi said: "I'm so excited for people to be able to hear this because a lot of this stuff was written right in the studio, so you're gonna hear a lot of what we were going through in those six weeks that we wrote and recorded this album. Weird emotions within the band 'cause some of us hadn't seen each other in over a year. Weird emotions about not being able to tour, not being able to go play these songs. Weird emotions about everything. And I think that we were all going through those type of emotions. So it's gonna be really awesome for people to hear that from us."

Added Henry: "I think it's gonna be really shocking when people hear the other songs compared to our first single, because they're gonna these expectations of, like, 'Oh, it's gonna be this kind of album.' Get ready for a curveball, because it's coming."

Last October, BUTCHER BABIES shared the official music video for their cover version of rapper Saweetie's chart-topping single "Best Friend". The clip was directed by Dale "Rage" Resteghini and was filmed at the Bare Den adult entertainment club in Newton, New Jersey.

BUTCHER BABIES have been performing their cover of "Best Friend" at their recent live shows.

Speaking to Spain's EMP about BUTCHER BABIES decision to cover "Best Friend", Shepherd said: "It's basically a song about [me and fellow BUTCHER BABIES singer Carla Harvey]. 'Cause we've been best friends for so long. We were a band together prior to BUTCHER BABIES. It's a cover, and we figured we can't think of two better people to cover this song besides us. So it's fun."

Asked by Metalshop why it's better to release singles than a full-length album in 2022, Carla said: "I think we live in a time where people want things right now; they want new stuff all the time. And I also think that when you release a single, people have a chance to digest that song, fall in love with that song before they skip to the next one and the next one and the next one. We really like developing a song on its own, making a video for that song, telling the story of that song, because every song is special to us."

Added Heidi: "We put our heart and soul into every single song that goes on the album. We don't just half-ass any of the songs, and so we want to make sure that it gets the life and the attention it deserves. And so I think we're just gonna continue this way and just leak it a little bit at a time and keep it going."

In a separate interview with Bloodstock TV, Carla stated about the recording process for the new BUTCHER BABIES LP: "It was a really cool experience. We got to sit together for about six weeks in the middle of nowhere — a very, very small town in Michigan — and just create together. And we had an Airbnb with animal skulls all over the place. And we just sat there in the snow and created probably our best album to date. So it was a great bonding experience."

When Oran O'Beirne of Bloodstock TV suggested that some BUTCHER BABIES fans might object to such a diverse combination of musical styles, Carla said: "We haven't changed at all, because some of our earliest songs were similar. We've always run the gamut throughout our music; we've never stayed with one style. Most people love about BUTCHER BABIES that we have a death metal song and a thrash metal song and then a poppy radio song, and whatever mood they're in, we've got a song for them."

Added Heidi: "What I love about being in a band like this and being around musicians that we all see eye to eye is that we can do different things; we're not pigeonholed to one certain sound. Sometimes we wanna get up and we wanna scream and we wanna be angry bitches, and then sometimes we wanna sing and we want people to hear what we feel from our hearts. And I think that that's important as an artist, to be able to do both."

Carla continued: "And judging by the audience reaction when we go from one very, very heavy song to one lighter song, they love it. They have literally the same energy for both kinds of music. They want it too. People want the freedom to be able to like different types of music."

BUTCHER BABIES' latest album, 2017's "Lilith", was produced by Steve Evetts (THE DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN, SEPULTURA, SUICIDE SILENCE) and marked the band's recording debut with drummer Chase Brickenden, who replaced Chris Warner in 2016.

In July 2019, longtime BUTCHER BABIES bassist Jason Klein announced his departure from the band. He has since been replaced by Ricky Bonazza.

In 2021, BUTCHER BABIES embarked on a headlining tour, "Butcher Babies Vs. Goliath", which saw the band performing its debut album, "Goliath" — released in 2013 via Century Media Records — in its entirety along with recent hit singles and new material.

Hailing from the City of Angels, BUTCHER BABIES have released two Eps and three albums to date, with "Lilith", debuting at #1 on iTunes Metal chart and #7 on iTunes Rock chart. The band kicked off 2021 by independently releasing a handful of newly energized singles produced and co-written by Matt Good (FROM FIRST TO LAST),including "Bottom Of A Bottle", "Sleeping With The Enemy", "Yorktown", "Last Dance" and "It's Killin' Time, Baby!" The latter was inspired by the DC Comics character Lobo, a heavy metal bounty hunter.

ALL THAT REMAINS has filed a lawsuit against the widow of the band's late guitarist Oliver "Oli" Herbert, claiming that she is holding up royalty payments to the group's surviving members and making overly broad ownership claims to some of their most popular songs.

The lawsuit, which was filed on January 6 in United States District Court for the District of Connecticut, alleges that Elizabeth Herbert "has made various claims" against ALL THAT REMAINS members Philip Labonte, Michael Martin and Jason Costa, "including alleging that [they] were stealing from her and using her late husband's recordings without permission, disparaged [them] on social media, threatened to report the Band to various federal, state and local authorities, claimed the Band had committed crimes, threatened to sue the Band in multiple jurisdictions, and falsely claimed that she had sued the Band."

According to the lawsuit, which has been obtained by BLABBERMOUT.NET, Herbert claimed "in a Facebook post from August 16, 2021 regarding a YouTube video of the song 'This Probably Won't End Well' from the Band's 'The Order Of Things' album" that she was "a co-owner of the Band's 'entire catalog'." She has also allegedly "asserted various claims against Concord Music", which is the successor in interest to record companies Prosthetic Records and Razor & Tie and music publishing company 800-Pound Gorilla Music "with respect to their respective recording" and songwriting agreements with ALL THAT REMAINS and which "has a continuing obligation to pay record and publishing royalties" to ALL THAT REMAINS and Oli's estate pursuant to these agreements.

Labonte, Martin and Costa claim in the lawsuit that "on or about October 8, 2022, Herbert publicly posted about her desire to assert claims against Concord Music" — which is named as a "nominal defendant" in the lawsuit — "and crowdsourced suggestions for 'what state agency' to complain to about 'the record company [that] is holding $$S owed to the Estate.'

Due to ALL THAT REMAINS' dispute with Elizabeth Herbert and the Oli Herbert estate, Concord Music "initially advised Plaintiffs that it refused to pay the Band any royalties until such time as the dispute is resolved," according to the lawsuit. "Concord Music ultimately agreed, as an accommodation, to pay the royalties due for the period ending December 31, 2021 to the Band, provided that the Band agreed to hold Oli's percentage interest in such monies in escrow. In early October 2022, the Band received another royalty statement from Concord Music for the semi-annual accounting period ending June 30, 2022, but did not initially receive payment of any royalties despite such statement reflecting that royalties were due," the lawsuit continues. "After some discussion, Concord Music again agreed, as an accommodation, to pay the royalties due for the period ending June 30, 2022 to the Band provided the Band agreed to hold Oli's percentage interest in such monies in escrow. However, notwithstanding these 'accommodations,' Concord Music has advised Plaintiffs' representatives that Concord will not release any further royalties (including the anticipated royalties to be paid to the Band for the period ending December 31, 2022) due to the Band members — not just Oli's share of such royalties — until such time as Concord Music receives a letter of direction signed by the Estate and the Band with respect to payment instructions for Oli's share of the Recordings and Compositions."

Labonte, Martin and Costa go on to say that they "have held, and continue to hold, Oli's share of the Band's royalties for the periods ending December 31, 2021 and June 30, 2022 in escrow and are ready, able and willing to pay such monies to the Estate. Given the circumstances, and to provide the Estate greater security that it would be paid timely and accurately, Plaintiffs have sought to arrange for Defendants to receive direct payment of Oli's royalties from Concord Music, rather than having the money flow through the Band's accounts and have the Band account to the Estate. In order to effectuate direct payment of Oli's royalties to the Estate, and as is customary in the music industry, on or about May 24, 2022, the Band asked Ms. Herbert to execute a letter of direction to Concord Music effective as of April 25, 2022 identifying Ms. Herbert and/or the Estate as the new payee for Oli's share of the Band's record royalties and music publishing royalties from the Recordings and Compositions, respectively. Ms. Herbert refused to sign the proposed letter of direction." Elizabeth Herbert advised Labonte, Martin and Costa that "she would not sign the proposed revised letter of direction and stated that she 'cannot in good faith sign anything presented to me without a judge overseeing the process,'" the lawsuit claims. "Ms. Herbert also published a post on Facebook on October 14 confirming that she had sent an email to the Band's attorney 'telling him never to contact me again or ask for my signature on a document' and indicating that she 'will NEVER sign anything.'"

Labonte, Martin and Costa are asking the court, among other things, to declare that "Oli and/or the Estate has a 27% interest in each of the" ALL THAT REMAINS recordings in question, and that Oli's estate "must execute the requested letter of direction to Concord Music in order to conclusively and finally resolve any withholding of royalties to the Plaintiffs by Concord Music". They are also asking the court to order Concord Music to "pay all monies due and owing to Plaintiffs in respect of record and/or music publishing monies to Plaintiffs" and "pay all monies due and owing to Oli and/or the Estate in respect of the Recordings and Compositions to Defendants."

Last May, Elizabeth Herbert gave her first interview since her husband's death, denying she had anything to do with his passing. "I absolutely did not kill my husband," she told Daily Mail.

She also took a swipe at the lead detective over the way she was treated after she became a target in the investigation, questioned not just by cops but also by Oli's friends, family and bandmates.

"You could tell he was fan of the band," she said. "Here he is, this country cop, and he's working on a rock star who died. I think he got star struck and was on a power trip."

Oli was found dead on October 16, 2018 at the edge of the pond on his Stafford Springs, Connecticut property. He was reported missing by his wife about 3 p.m., and his body was found by police face down at the edge of the pond where the water was only a few inches deep. The medical examiner's office conducted an autopsy showing that Oli had three prescription drugs in his system — the antipsychotic olanzapine, the antidepressant citalopram, and Ambien. It also said: "Mr. Herbert's past medical history is reportedly significant for marijuana use."

The Connecticut State Police Eastern District Crime Squad is still investigating Herbert's death, which is being treated as suspicious. They are looking at the will he signed a week before his death as well as a life insurance policy mentioned in the will.

The will named Elizabeth Herbert as executor and sole benefactor. It said that Oliver Herbert's sister, Cynthia Herbert, should not become executor or receive anything from his estate. The will also stated that Elizabeth Herbert should get all "property as well as any current or future earnings."

Elizabeth, a self-described pagan, told Daily Mail the timing of the will was purely coincidental, that she and Oli had just recently had a friend die and wanted to prepare for the unexpected.

"We loved each other, we trusted each other and we were husband and wife, despite everyone else doing whatever they could to break us up," she said. "We were leaving each other everything, including making each other beneficiaries of each other's life insurance policies."

Others who knew Oli painted a different picture of the couple's relationship, saying that he was actually considering a divorce. They claimed Elizabeth was frequently hostile to Oli and bandmates and routinely accused him of sleeping with groupies.

According to the Hartford Courant, state police seized Elizabeth Herbert's computer and phone records as part of their investigation.

The couple were married for 14 years and lived in Stafford Springs for four years before Oli's death.

In 2020, Labonte called Elizabeth Herbert a "garbage human being" who was "never allowed" to join the band on tour. "She would come to the local shows, because we couldn't stop her from showing up," he explained. "[But] she wasn't allowed because she's a garbage human being."

According to the singer, he tried unsuccessfully to convince Oli to get a divorce for a long time. "I can't tell you exactly why he wouldn't do it or what the circumstances [were] surrounding his resistance," he said. "I don't know. But I can say that I personally talked to him multiple times and said, 'Look, if you need a place to stay, I've got plenty of room. Come to my house."

Asked if he had an opinion on how Oli died, the singer responded: "I do have an opinion on it, but I'm not gonna say. There is an ongoing investigation by the Connecticut state police."

Herbert began playing guitar at 14. He co-founded ALL THAT REMAINS with Labonte in 1998.

The surviving members of ALL THAT REMAINS later recruited guitar virtuoso and YouTube personality Jason Richardson (ALL SHALL PERISH, CHELSEA GRIN, BORN OF OSIRIS) to replace Herbert.

In March 2021, Labonte revealed that a financial dispute with Elizabeth Herbert has made it impossible for ALL THAT REMAINS to use Oli's name in connection with any of its projects. Speaking to American Songwriter, Labonte said he and his bandmates have toyed with the idea of hosting benefits for Herbert and even starting a charity or project in the late musician's name. "We talked about ideas to do a benefit to raise money for kids in schools, but we can't do anything that has his name on it," Labonte said.

Labonte also confirmed that ALL THAT REMAINS has always paid everything owed to Herbert's estate and will continue to do so.

"We've made sure that that our accountants and all the people that work with us know any money that is owed to Oli Herbert's estate must be paid to Oli Herbert's estate," Labonte explained. "And we have absolutely no interest in not paying. It's not worth any kind of hassle for the amount of money."

During an appearance on the "2020'd" podcast, GODSMACK drummer Shannon Larkin spoke about what it was like to see his band's "Surrender" single battling it out with METALLICA's "Lux Æterna" for the top spot on the Active Rock radio charts. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "In the real world, [METALLICA] are the rightful heirs to the No. 1 slot in hard rock. They deserve to be No. 1. I listened to the song… I was, like, 'Wow.' It's kind of an earworm. I get it. And it sounds like MOTÖRHEAD… James [Hetfield] sang pretty high in that chorus. I was, like, 'Wow.' … I think it sounds fantastic. I heard it on the radio. I was, like, 'Wow.'"

Larkin went on to say that he was always very confident about "Surrender"'s ability to reach the top position on the radio charts.

"This is the first single, 'Surrender', that I've ever said, 'This is a No. 1 hit at rock radio. We've got it.'"

Circling back to "Surrender" going up against "Lux Æterna", Shannon said: "The METALLICA song is pretty… It's heavy. It's old-school METALLICA. And our song is more like radio rock — it's a high-energy radio rock song. … I didn't write either song, so I can sit back… I'm in the band — GODSMACK — but I can look at it objectively, and I think 'Surrender', it's more rock than metal, and the METALLICA song is metal.

"If that was some new band with the song 'Lux Æterna'. Here they are… SODA CAN, whatever the band is. And this is their new song, 'Lux Æterna'. That shit wouldn't be No. 2. It might not even make the Top 40. Who knows?" Larkin speculated. "Even if it's a great song. A great song, great hook, like I said. But since it's METALLICA, they can do that at radio and put out a song that sounds like MOTÖRHEAD, basically — double bass and all that. That's some '80s shit. They can do it 'cause they ruled in the '80s."

Clarifying that he wasn't criticizing METALLICA, Shannon continued: "Had they put out a song that was not 'Lux Æterna', which is super heavy — it sounds like it could be early METALLICA — they'd be at No. 1 right now. If they put 'Unforgiven' or something like that out, they would have beat us probably, because, like I said, they're rightful kings to No. 1."

Addressing the fact that "Surrender" is the first single from GODSMACK's upcoming album "Lighting Up The Sky", which will mark the band's final effort before Shannon and his bandmates ascend into the celebratory portion of their career, the drummer said: "We were happy to get a No. 1, because we got one on every record since I joined; from the third record on, we've had a No. 1. And so being our final record, we really wanted a No. 1. 'Cause we wanna go out on top. We don't wanna keep making records till we're not selling anymore."

"Lighting Up The Sky" will arrive on February 24 via BMG. The LP was co-produced by GODSMACK frontman Sully Erna and Andrew "Mudrock" Murdock (AVENGED SEVENFOLD, ALICE COOPER).

Released last September, "Surrender" marked the first release from GODSMACK 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 September 2021, GODSMACK's latest album, "When Legends Rise", was certified gold on by the RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America) for sales in excess of half a million copies. In addition, two more of the LP's singles (the title track and "Under Your Scars") were also officially certified gold by the RIAA. The album's first single "Bulletproof" earned a platinum digital single award in September 2020 and was previously certified gold in the U.S.

"When Legends Rise" was the seventh studio album from GODSMACK.

Flying against the current trend of musical artists selling their publishing rights, legendary singer-songwriter and founder of CREEDENCE CLEARWATER REVIVAL (CCR),John Fogerty, has made the bold and unique move to acquire a majority interest of the worldwide publishing rights to his historic song catalog from Concord.

For Fogerty, the composer of iconic songs that have inspired generations — "Proud Mary", "Down On The Corner", "Fortunate Son", "Bad Moon Rising", "Have You Ever Seen the Rain", among many others — the chance to own his compositions has been both a decades-long dream and a personal mission. For years, the copyrights to Fogerty's classic songs were the property of Saul Zaentz, the owner of Fantasy Records, who sold the label and its publishing portfolio to the former Concord Music Group in 1995. Fogerty, who extricated himself from Fantasy in 1974, re-signed with the label upon its purchase by Concord. Even so, he was not able to gain ownership of his songs — until now.

Says Fogerty: "As of this January, I own my own songs again. This is something I thought would never be a possibility. After 50 years, I am finally reunited with my songs. I also have a say in where and how my songs are used. Up until this year, that is something I have never been able to do. I am looking forward to touring and celebrating this year! I want thank Concord for helping to make all of this happen. And, I am excited for new ideas and a renewed interest in my music … like a revival."

"I was always hoping for a miracle that John would own his songs, and I'm so blissful knowing that this has finally come true for him," says Julie Fogerty, the singer-songwriter's wife and manager. "The songs he wrote for CCR were going to start reverting in approximately three years, continuing for each year forward. I thought to myself that if there was anything I could do to make that happen now, it would be that miracle that we have been waiting for more than 50 years. I began to produce a plan to purchase his publishing right now. In doing so, I enlisted the help of Irving Azoff, Jason Karlov, Susan Genco and we were able to secure the U.S. rights in addition to worldwide rights, which would not have been part of the copyright reversions. I am so joyful, grateful, and excited for John."

"John Fogerty is one of music's greatest treasures. Now, finally after decades of suffering, I'm thrilled to see John regain ownership of his music," says Irving Azoff. "And kudos to Concord for understanding that doing the right thing for artists is great for their business as well."

"John's songs are some of the greatest compositions of the 20th century," commented Concord president Bob Valentine. "We've been honored to own and represent these works ever since we acquired Fantasy in 2004. Given the unique set of circumstances around the history of John's relationship with Fantasy, we were more than happy to oblige John and Julie in working out an agreement for John to acquire these songs. And we're profoundly grateful that John has agreed to partner with Concord to re-invigorate his catalog for the remaining worldwide copyrights on the share of these songs that we will retain inclusive of the iconic CCR recordings. We look forward to what the future holds for John and will be thrilled to be a part of it."

Concord and Fogerty recently partnered on the official release of "Creedence Clearwater Revival At The Royal Albert Hall" on Concord's Craft Recordings. More than 50 years after the legendary 1970 show, the original multitrack tapes have been meticulously restored and mixed by Grammy-winning producer Giles Martin and engineer Sam Okell. The accompanying documentary takes viewers from the CCR's earliest years together in El Cerrito, California through their meteoric rise to fame and is the only concert footage of the original CCR lineup to be released in its entirety.

With an eye toward 2023, Fogerty notes that he is writing new material and is looking at recording soon. "There's definitely more to come," he says, adding with a laugh, "I happen to like the songs a lot."
As of this January, I own my own songs again. This is something I thought would never be a possibility. After 50 years, I am finally reunited with my songs. I also have a say in where and how my songs are used. Up until this year, that is something I have never been able to do. pic.twitter.com/UISPK8Pb4W

— John Fogerty (@John_Fogerty) January 12, 2023

Dimmu Borgir performed their track "Dimmu Borgir", from the band's 2010 album Abrahadabra, during their show at Bloodstock Open Air 2022. Professionally-filmed footage can be viewed below:





Dimmu Borgir drummer, Dariusz "Daray" Brzozowski, recently shared a drumcam video of the band's song, "Gateways", performed at Tons Of Rock 2022 in  Oslo, Norway. Check it out below:

Italian power metallers, Frozen Crown, have released a new single, "Victorious", taken from their forthcoming album, Call Of The North. Check it out below.


The album will be released on March 10th.







Frozen Crown recently checked in with the following update:


"Here we are! Our fourth album, Call Of The North, will be out March 10th! Which song title inspires you the most? Let us know. First single and videoclip out in December! Grab your signed copy right now here.





Tracklist:


"Call Of The North"
"Fire In The Sky"
"Black Heart"
"Victorious"
"In A Moment"
"Legion"
"Until The End"
"Now Or Never"
"One For All"
"Far Away"


This fourth album is going to sound 100% Frozen Crown, melding together elements from our previous three albums, and purposely featuring no guest appearances, to consolidate the band sound while bringing at the same time unseen features (like acoustic ballads and epic choirs) on the table.


Be ready for memorable refrains, heavy downtuned guitar riffs, intricate symphonic parts, and a tense and epic battlefield atmosphere.


Once again produced by Andrea Fusini at Fusix Studio, Call Of The North will be out on Scarlet Records (EU/US) and Marquee Avalon (Japan) and released in digipak CD and in limited edition turquoise and purple vinyl (and, of course, in digital version on all streaming platforms)."


"Call Of The North"

British heavy metal legends, Saxon, have unveiled the first single, “The Faith Healer”, from the upcoming More Inspirations, set for release on March 24 via Silver Lining Music.


Following the release of Inspirations in 2021, More Inspirations is the second ‘deep dish’ serving of the influences which have fed the mighty Saxon’s immensely successful 40+ year career. The first single is an astonishing take on The Sensational Alex Harvey Band’s “The Faith Healer”.


Frontman Biff Byford comments “We used to see The Sensational Alex Harvey band play this back in the day, they started the set with it, such a fantastic song and fantastic band… big influence!”




Listen to/watch “The Faith Healer”, the “making of” video directed by Jay Shredder, below.


Whether getting feral with The Animal’s “We’ve Gotta Get Out Of This Place”, letting loose a high-octane take on Alice Cooper’s “From The Inside”, or laying down a ferocious tribute to KISS’ “Detroit Rock City”, More Inspirations is a joyous trip into the sounds which galvanized the Barnsley boys and continue to get spun on home stereos and tour buses.


Produced by vocalist/co-founder Biff Byford, with Seb Byford helping record the music alongside mixing engineer Jacky Lehmann, More Inspirations also includes enthusiastic takes on Alice Cooper, Rainbow, ZZ Top and Cream, as well as a thunderous “Razamanaz” by Nazareth, a tasty take on The Who’s “Substitute”, and a thick groove take on Uriah Heep’s “Gypsy”. Whether this is your first dance with such classic songs, or you’ve come to see where Saxon were born, More Inspirations delivers the goods and then some.  


Saxon’s More Inspirations will be available on 12” Black Vinyl, CD Digipak, digital formats and special D2C bundles; to pre-order head here.





Tracklisting:


"We’ve Gotta Get Out of This Place"
"The Faith Healer"
"From the Inside"
"Chevrolet"
"Substitute"
"Gypsy"
"Man On the Silver Mountain"
"Detroit Rock City"
"Razamanaz"
"Tales of Brave Ulysses"





- Produced by Biff Byford
- Recorded by Seb Byford and Jacky Lehmann
- Mixed and Mastered by Jacky Lehmann, www.audiosound.de
- Mastered for vinyl at Abbey Studios, London


Following the success of the Seize the World Tour 2022, Saxon will be back on the road in March 2023 for a string of European dates, with special guest’s German metal titans Rage.





Saxon lineup:


Biff Byford - Vocals
Paul Quinn - Guitar
Nigel Glockler - Drums
Doug Scarratt - Guitar
Nibbs Carter - Bass