Rock outfit REDLIGHT KING have shared a music video for their new single “Heavy Heart.” Watch it streaming below! Taken off their fourth album In Our Blood, due out on March 3, 2023 via AFM Records, “Heavy Heart” is a ballad depicting the somber aftermath of a relationship and finding the will to move forward. The song is now available to stream/download across all streaming platforms at this link: https://bfan.link/heavy-heart-3.

“This song is very personal to me,” shares REDLIGHT KING founder and frontman Kaz. “It reflects on a loving relationship that ended in heartbreak.  The person in my life wasn’t able to communicate their true feelings and I’m not sure I was in a place to receive the message. It feels lonely because it is. There’s pain in losing someone you love and no amount of intuition or clarity can make it better, but writing this song helped me find closure and say what I needed to say in their absence.” 

Discussing the “Heavy Heart” video, he says: “For me the video translates the solitude and cold nature of bearing a broken heart, and somehow in this sadness there is beauty. I feel the ability to love someone triumphs over losing them. The video was taken in and around Yosemite National Park, Northern California by Strati Hovartos.” 

In Our Blood sees REDLIGHT KING notch soaring new highs with a clutch of revved-up, guitar-powered bangers that bring forth challenging, complex themes with a defiant undercurrent of hope. The album was written and produced by KAZ at his home studio The Wheelhouse in Los Angeles with longtime collaborator and guitarist Julian Tomarin and drummer Randy Cooke. Its debut single and title track “In Our Blood” premiered on Loudwire who described it as “a song that truly speaks to the human spirit.”

REDLIGHT KING have developed a worldwide fanbase since their formation in 2009, performing over 1,000 shows with some of the biggest names in rock and being seen at festivals in North America, UK and Europe as well as late-night TV appearances on “Late Night with Conan O’Brien” and “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. Stay tuned for additional dates to be announced for 2023.

Releasing on January 17th, 2023, NMB's Morsefest 2020: Lockdown is a 4 CD/ 2 Blu ray set featuring two full shows from the Morsefest 2020 event. Night 1 is the Cover To Cover show, where NMB feature tracks from a variety of artists and styles. Night 2 features the live debut of the Sola Gratia album, along with lots of other surprises.


Check out pro-shot video of "Seemingly Sincere" from Live At Morsefest 2020 below.







Pre-order Live At Morsefest 2020 at this location.


From Neal Morse:


“I’m delighted to announce a very special new release: Morsefest 2020: Lockdown on 4 CDs and 2 Blu-rays!


Morsefest 2020 was an event that I’m still amazed actually happened! For a time, the pandemic meant that having a Morsefest was going to be out of the question. However as restrictions started to ease, we began investigating whether we could run Morsefest as a live stream with perhaps a very small crowd. Slowly the pieces came together for two nights: an evening where we visited the very best songs from the Cover To Cover albums, followed by a night that focused on my new Sola Gratia album. With a small group of massively supportive fans and helpers gathered we made Morsefest history! People tuned in from all over the world and even had Zoom Morsefest parties!


At the time, we didn’t envisage ever commercially releasing this for many reasons. But after putting out MF19 and MF21 as 'self releases,' many, many fans (and also one drummer who shall remain nameless!) kept asking us to fill the gap in their Morsefest collection! After consulting with some fans, we all agreed – let’s do it! The audio was fully remixed and the video re-edited from the raw live streams and, I have to say, I think this is one of the very best Morsefest audio/video sets!  And as well as everything described above, we’ve included The Great Nothing live from Morsefest 2018 which many of you have asked us to release on Blu-Ray!"





Tracklist


Disc 1
"Where The Streets Have No Name"
"Hymn 43"
"Baker Street"
"Come Sail Away"
"Lido Shuffle"
"Maybe I’m Amazed"
"Live And Let Die"
"What Is Life"
"It Don’t Come Easy"
"Let Love Rule"


Disc 2
"Pleasant Valley Sunday"
"Rikki Don’t Lose That Number"
"Runnin’ Down A Dream"
"The Letter"
"Crazy Horses"
"I’m Free / Sparks"
"Feeling Stronger Every Day"
"25 Or 6 To 4"
"Starless"


Disc 3 - Thoughts Trilogy
"Thoughts"
"Thoughts Part II"
"Thoughts Part 5"



Disc 4 - Sola Gratia Live Debut
"Preface"
"Overture"
"In The Name Of The Lord"
"Ballvhoo (The Chosen Ones)"
"March Of The Pharisees"
"Building A Wall"
"Sola Intermezzo"
"Overflow"
"Warmer Than The Sunshine"
"Never Change"
"Seemingly Sincere"
"The Light On The Road To Damascus"
"The Glory Of The Lord"
"Now I Can See / The Great Commission"


Disc 5 - Blu-Ray
Morsefest 2020 Lockdown – Night # 1:
Cover To Cover
Special Feature
“The Great Nothing” – recorded live during Morsefest 2018


Disc 6 - Blu-Ray
Morsefest 2020 Lockdown – Night # 2:
“Thoughts” Trilogy
“Sola Scriptura” Medley
“Sola Gratia” Live Debut

Who Brought The Dog mastermind and The New Black guitarist Fabian "Fabs" Schwarz has checked in with the following update:


"Good news at the end of the year! We just signed with Bug Valley Records and the new album will hit the street in spring 2023. We also booked our first show with the new line up for March! Stay tuned for more news and dates.


In the meantime, we re-recordet a song from our last album called "Saviour To None" to introduce our new singer, Fludid (The New Black). Enjoy and see you next year!"




Pick up "Saviour To None" for free here.


Saviour To None by Who Brought The Dog


In 2018, The New Black guitarist Fabian "Fabs" Schwarz took a bold step out of his comfort zone by launching a solo project dubbed Who Brought The Dog. The second album, No World Order, featured 10 songs that follow a similar path to the debut and expand on the Who Brought The Dog sound. Lyrically based in the world of real people and real situations - and in the case of "Who Brought The Dog", a shameless tribute to the project - the songs are based on a solid rock foundation with Fabs building on it in unexpected directions. Combining jazz-oriented grooves with Bollywood soundbytes ("When The World Stops Turning"), an AOR big band vibe ("Saviour To None"), or dance club beats gone rock ("Dark Side Mary"), these are just a few examples of the "no fear" attitude that makes Who Brought The Dog stand out in a cluttered music scene.





Tracklist:


"Who Brought The Dog"
"Choking On Your Halo"
"Dark Side Mary"
"No World Order"
"Celebretard"
"The Music Man"
"Saviour To None"
"Your Careless Spark"
"In Case You Missed It"
"When The World Stops Turning"


"Who Brought The Dog"





"No World Order"

British heavy metal legends JUDAS PRIEST showed their support for the Argentine soccer team during their concert in the country earlier this week.

While JUDAS PRIEST was performing the song "Turbo Lover" at the Movistar Arena in Buenos Aires on Tuesday (December 13),a photo of Argentina captain Lionel Messi was displayed on the screen behind the band.

Earlier today (Sunday, December 18),after Argentina won its third World Cup on penalties against reigning men's champion France in one of the greatest finals in the tournament's history, PRIEST singer Rob Halford shared a photo of Tuesday's moment from the PRIEST concert, and he included the following message: "congratulations argentina and to all the teams who played their hearts out you did your best".

Argentina won its third World Cup after beating France 4-2 on penalties after the 35-year-old Messi scored twice in a 3-3 draw.

"I wanted to close my career with this, it was the one that was missing so I can no longer ask for anything else," Messi, who has played 172 times for his country, said after the match, according to Reuters.

"I was able to get the Copa America and now the World Cup that I had fought so hard for. I've got it at the end of my career. But I love football and I want to continue living a few more games being world champion."

JUDAS PRIEST was recently presented with a special plaque commemorating an incredible 50 years in music and over 50 million album sales worldwide. The presentation was made on the eve of the band's induction in to the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame in Los Angeles last month.

PRIEST received the Musical Excellence Award at this year's Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame, which honored Eminem, Dolly Parton, DURAN DURAN, Lionel Richie, Pat Benatar, EURYTHMICS and Carly Simon in the Performers category.

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

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

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British guitar sensation, Sophie Lloyd, recently released a single and video, "Do Or Die", featuring Nathan James. She has followed it up with a video lesson on how to play the solo for the song. Check it out below.





Shot in Birmingham Film Studios by Matt Daley of Clearway Media, the video for "Do Or Die" sees Sophie team up with Inglorious frontman Nathan James, and boasts a stunning performance from fire artist Lula.




“The response to ‘Do Or Die’ has been amazing, and I love seeing people react to the song” says Sophie on the reaction so far. “It's so cool seeing guitarists cover the solos and videos of people having it on in their cars and stuff. It's so awesome to see all the positive comments and it just makes me so much more excited to release the rest of the songs.”


On the video and working with Lula, Sophie says: “Working with Lula was amazing, she is such a talented performer, and takes her craft so seriously and is so dedicated. We've become such great friends and I'm so excited to see what she's doing next.”





“Do Or Die" feat. Nathan James sees the shred extraordinaire team up with the Inglorious frontman for a high octane, hard rocking collaboration, with music written by Sophie, vocals and lyrics by Nathan and a stunning production from famed studio wizard Romesh Dodangoda (BMTH, Nova Twins, BFMV, Motörhead), who will produce the debut album.


Entitled Imposter Syndrome, the full length album is expected next year on Sophie’s own Autumn Records, and will see her collaborating with some impressive names from the world of rock.


“I can finally say that I have new music coming!” says Sophie. “All my music before was instrumental, so this is a very special release for me as it includes vocals, and some of the people we’ve worked with are people I used to have as posters on my wall as a kid, so it feels very full circle. It's something that I have been working on before the first lockdown, and to be here talking about it feels amazing!”


“Do Or Die" is streaming now on all platforms. Watch the video below:





(Photo - Nathersonn)

Former Burning Witches vocalist Seraina Telli has released the new single "I'm Not Sorry" (Acoustic - Live From The Cave) along with an official video, found below. The electric version of the song is part of Seraina's debut solo album, Simple Talk, which was released this October via Metalville Records.





The former frontwoman of Burning Witches combines everything that the modern rock world urgently needs: great songwriting, vocal power, musical versatility, artistic depth, and a really strong attitude. Coupled with her authenticity, Seraina Telli is the ideal mixture of power woman and promising artist.




The charismatic Swiss singer leaves a lasting impression, visually and musically. Her music is as colorful and varied as her hair colors, one of her typical distinguishing features. The multi-talent is reluctant to be tied to one style, as her previous musical career shows. As the former frontwoman of the Swiss heavy metal band Burning Witches, she shook the stages of major rock festivals such as Bang your Head and Leyendas del Rock for four years.


Now the time is ripe for her solo project under her own name.


"I am what I am, and that's just right!" This message is very important to Seraina Telli. She wants to motivate other women in particular to believe in themselves, to be completely with themselves and, above all, to stay that way.


Colorful, loud, different, and above all, unique With a style of music that "straight in your face rock" couldn't describe better.





Tracklist:


"Modern Warrior"
"I’m Not Sorry"
"Take Care"
"I Dare To"
"Remedy"
"Soldier Of Fortune"
"G.E.B."
"Dreamer"
"Not One Of Your Kind"
"Fever"
"Remember You"
"Medusa"


"I Dare To"





"Modern Warrior"

Malice Divine is the solo project of one Ric Galvez, a Toronto-based musician who has been waiting for his opportunity to form a band to his liking and have full creative control. The result is Malice Divine, an undertaking that allows him to weave extreme black metal together with his interests such as the paranormal, spirituality, and psychology along with lived experiences. This accumulates in the second album Everlasting Ascendancy, which contains songs that have been written for a long time and only now see the light of day. One of these is the straightforward and energetic single “Silenced Judgment”, the shortest on the album was mostly written in 2014. 


Galvez explains further:


"Silenced Judgment is by far the oldest song on the album. I originally wrote it back in January 2014 for a band I had back then called Oneiromancy. That band split up a few months later, and the song was left unused up until 2021 when I started putting together the second Malice Divine album. It always struck me as a perfect song to open an album with and I am very happy to finally have it as an album opener. Lyrically the song is about proving the people who judged you wrong and putting them in their place. Everyone has been judged at some point in their life, so I am sure that this is a song that many people can relate to and can be inspired by.”




The forthcoming album is a dynamic experience while also being an overall more aggressive record than the first one, especially in the vocal delivery. There are still plenty of melody and classical guitar sections, which is a major part of Malice Divine’s sound. The solos on this album are even more virtuosic than before as well. Lyrically, the full-length explores themes such as the paranormal, revenge, determination, spirituality, and reclamation.


Everlasting Ascendancy will be released on January 27, 2023, and is recommended for fans of Dissection, Immortal, Skeletonwitch, and Watain. Pre-save the album here.





Tracklisting:


“Silenced Judgment”
“Apparitions Of Conquest”
“Usurping The Paragon”
“At One With Infinity”
“Parasitic Demons”
“Reclaimed Strength”
“Illusions Of Fragmentation”
“Everlasting Ascendancy”


“Silenced Judgment”:

Japan's G.I.S.M. return with the first ever authorized and licensed reissue of their cult sophomore album, Military Affairs Neurotic (M.A.N.) The album, another landmark release for the legendary band, sees the wild pairing of Randy Uchida's iconic guitar playing colliding with the inimitable vocals of G.I.S.M. mastermind Sakevi Yokoyama once again. This reissue features a remaster by Sakevi himself, and sees a first-time official pressing on CD and cassette.


Originally released in 1987, Military Affairs Neurotic (M.A.N.) (Reissue) is available for physical pre-order via Relapse.com. Listen to the Military Affairs Neurotic (M.A.N.) digital reissue on all streaming services here.


A successor to the band's legendary Detestation LP, M.A.N. harnesses G.I.S.M.'s frantic, aggressive take on hardcore punk, and churns out a Heavy Metal edge. Out of the gate, Uchida's guitar solos and soaring leads on the classic opener "Good As It Is" pave the way for what follows - M.A.N. is unmistakably metal, atmospheric, and uncompromising in its vision.




M.A.N. is simply incomparable. The album's production, visual presentation, and the songwriting encapsulates the sound of burning punk spirit and heavy metal grit, and cement G.I.S.M.'s legacy as one of the underground's most idiosyncratic, genre bending, and truly unique bands.





Tracklisting:


“Good As It Is”
“Frozen Dirt”
“Nations Prosperity”
“Anatomy Love Violence GISM”
“Meaning Corrupted 1 (Fatigue)”
“Military Affairs Neurotic”
“Meaning Corrupted 2 (Degeneration)”
“Meaning Corrupted 3 (Destruction)”


(Photo – Gin Satoh / Beast Arts International)

Sabaton have released the new video below, stating: "This is the story of Milunka Savić that inspired our song 'Lady Of The Dark'. Milunka Savić was a Serbian woman who took her brother’s place in the army. Partly disguised as a man, she would eventually be among the most decorated soldiers of WW1!"





In the spirit of Christmas, Sabaton are unveiling their brand new Christmas Truce Popup vinyl to ring in the festive season.




Now available for pre-order, this collectible popup vinyl pays tribute to the band’s track "Christmas Truce", from the album The War To End All Wars. The vinyl features three variations of the song, including the symphonic version, which is featured on The Symphony To End All Wars. It will be officially released on December 23.


Collectors are going to want to get their hands on this special release as the record itself features a camo pattern on Side A and a festive design with a very prominent Sabaton logo on Side B. But the real magic lies in the gatefold packaging. A unique display of a vibrant Christmas Tree surrounded by soldiers of opposing sides standing united pops up when opening the vinyl.


Bassist Pär Sundström commented: “We really hold our song 'Christmas Truce' close to our hearts as it’s a great story. We see arenas shine when we play it at our shows, and it really brings people together. This is a song about peace, and we felt that it needed a special design. We hope our fans enjoy it and that our song Christmas Truce becomes part of the Sabaton live set for a long time to come.”


Explaining the story behind the song, Sundström said: “During the first Christmas of the First World War, unofficial ceasefires were enforced across the Western Front that saw soldiers who should have been mortal enemies unite. The soldiers socialised, played games, sang Christmas carols in unison and even exchanged gifts like any normal group of people would – the only difference was that they were supposed to be fighting each other. It was a short but sweet respite from the horrors and stress that they endured daily on the battlefield. It ended abruptly but meant so much to these men.”


The perfect addition to any Sabaton fan’s collection, the "Christmas Truce" Popup Vinyl can be pre-ordered here.





Tracklisting:


Side A:
"Christmas Truce"
"Christmas Truce" (Radio Edit)


Side B:
"Christmas Truce" (Symphonic Version)

It’s been a big year for rock music’s most exciting debut of 2022, Classless Act, and the band has one final treat in store, today releasing the Welcome To The Acoustic Show EP alongside the full collection of in-studio music videos.


Featuring five tracks total, it gives listeners a different, unplugged take on the amped up, energetic anthems that make up the band’s acclaimed album, Welcome To The Show that was released June 24 via Better Noise Music and already racked up more than 2.8 million streams. 


Since October 21, Classless Act has released a new acoustic track every two weeks culminating in today’s final addition to the series, “Storm Before The Calm.”







Previous acoustic singles released included “Classless Act,” “This Is For You,” “Time To Bleed” and “All That We Are.” As of today, all five tracks are now collected in the Welcome To The Acoustic Show EP, available on all DSPs, alongside in-studio music videos available on YouTube. 


Recorded live at Sunset Sound, with no overdubs, the new takes hone in on the talent of frontman Derek Day and the musicianship of the talented-beyond-their-young-years ensemble that includes Dane Pieper (guitar), Griffin Tucker (guitar), Franco Gravante (bass), and Chuck McKissock (drums). Gravante personally mixed the acoustic tracks himself.





Classless Act is currently on the road for The Most Wonderful Tour of the Year with dates supporting Billboard chart toppers Giovannie & The Hired Guns as well as headlining concerts that will see the band wrapping up the year with two shows in their home state of California.  Classless Act’s New Year’s Eve show will mark their 100th concert this year since they hit the road with Dorothy on the “Gifts From the Holy Ghost tour back, on March 22.


December
16 - Syracuse, NY - Lost Horizon
17 - Harrisburg, PA - Stage On Herr
18 - Richmond, VA - The Broadberry
21 - Kansas City, MO - Lucia*
22 - Colorado Springs, CO - The Black Sheep*
30 - North Hollywood, CA - Knitting Factory*
31 - San Diego, CA - Beaumont’s*


* Headline Shows


(Photo - Travis Shinn)

"Invincible" is the second single from cinematic metal icons Dark Sarah's upcoming fifth studio album, Attack Of Orym. A lyric video for the song, which features Kasperi Heikkinen (Beast In Black) on guitar, can be viewed below.


"Invincible" is a very energetic and powerful song, and a total spirit lifter! In the album storyline Malevolent, the evil magic orb, tries to convince the protagonist Luna to stay on the dark path.







Attack Of Orym will be released on January 27. Signed CDs are available to pre-order now at this location. Digital versions can be pre-saved here.





Tracklisting:


"Intro - Choose Your Weapons"
"Attack Of Orym" (Feat. Mark Jansen)
"Invincible" (Feat. Kasperi Heikkinen)
"B.U.R.N."
"Warning Sign"
"Goth Disco"
"Delirium" (Feat. Kasperi Heikkinen)
"Piece Of My Heart" (Feat. JP Leppäluoto)
"Breaking Free"
"Hero And A Villain"


"Warning Sign'' video:





The beguiling new dimension, coalescing between crystal-clear vocals and propulsive hardness, draws you into the tempestuous maelstrom of their horror fantasy theme. Introducing the new villain Orym, the band invites you to choose your weapons and to join their epic battle against the dark forces!


Mark Jansen of Epica will sing the title role of Orym, the king of the forest folk. We´ll also hear a long time Dark Sarah guest, JP Leppäluoto returning in the role of Dragon. Kasperi Heikkinen (Beast In Black)  will provide his talent on lead guitar.





Dark Sarah vocalist Heidi Parviainen on Attack Of Orym: “Our upcoming new album called Attack Of Orym is a concept album like its predecessors, and a continuation for the Grim -album which started a new story line with a modern horror fantasy theme. Musically, Attack Of Orym introduces yet again a more modern sound and a taste of what's to come in the future - with a 'Dark Sarah twist,' of course. We're very happy about this album and it has been really fun to make. Also creating the new visual brand and the Grim world has been an adventure already!”


(Photo - Marko Simonen)

Craft Recordings has partnered with Seether to celebrate the 20th anniversary of their Gold-selling debut, Disclaimer, with an expanded reissue on vinyl, CD, and digital formats.


As a holiday surprise for fans, the expanded digital edition is available to stream/download in its entirety beginning today (December 16), ahead of the physical formats which are set to release January 20 (available to pre-order now).







Alongside brand new cover art, all configurations of this deluxe reissue feature the hits "Gasoline," "Fine Again" and "Driven Under," plus a previously unreleased live show, captured in its entirety at New Hampshire's Hampton Beach Casino in 2003. Rounding out the bonus content is a rare 2002 live acoustic cover of Nirvana's "Something In The Way," which was first issued as a B-side. Watch the animated video below.





"It's difficult to believe that 20 years have passed by in what feels like the blink of an eye," the band exclaims. "This album was our first U.S. release under the band name 'Seether' and it holds a very special place in our hearts. This is where our career really began and it's a great pleasure to present this updated version of Disclaimer that we hope fans, both seasoned and new, will love as much as we have enjoyed this incredible journey over the past two decades. As always - play it loud!"


The 3-LP edition is housed in a deluxe triple gatefold jacket, while both physical formats also include new liner notes from Katherine Turman, an acclaimed music journalist, producer, and co-author of Louder Than Hell: The Definitive Oral History of Metal (HarperCollins).


Formed in Pretoria, South Africa, in 1999, Seether (originally named "Saron Gas") instantly hooked fans at home with their blend of alt-metal, grunge, and heart-on-sleeve lyricism. At the turn of the millennium, not long after releasing the South Africa-only Fragile, the band (originally consisting of vocalist and guitarist Shaun Morgan, bassist Dale Stewart, and drummer Dave Cohoe) caught the ears of Wind-up Records, who brought the trio to the U.S. to record their international debut. In the whirlwind weeks between pre-production in New York City and recording in Los Angeles, the band gained a new name (borrowing their permanent moniker from Veruca Salt's 1994 alt-rock hit) and lost a drummer, when Cohoe chose to return home. As the band auditioned new drummers, veteran musician Josh Freese (The Vandals, A Perfect Circle, Nine Inch Nails) stepped in to lend his talents in the studio.


Over the next four months, Seether recorded new material, plus seven selects from Fragile, with producer Jay Baumgardner (Bush, Shinedown, Papa Roach). Several songs dated back to Morgan's teenage years, including the brooding "Fine Again," written after his parents' divorce. "69 Tea," meanwhile, was one of Morgan's earliest compositions as well as the band's first single in South Africa. Other songs found Morgan and Stewart reflecting on more recent experiences, including the deeply personal acoustic ballad "Broken," written by Morgan about the breakup of his marriage and family after his wife chose to remain in South Africa with their daughter.


Disclaimer was released in August 2002, amid a busy schedule of shows (including a coveted spot on the Ozzfest tour). The album, which was eventually certified Gold by the RIAA peaked in the Billboard 200's Top 100 and spawned three of the band's most enduring hits, including "Driven Under" and "Fine Again," the latter of which topped Billboard's Active Rock chart, peaked at No. 61 on the Billboard Hot 100 and reached the Top Ten of both the Hot Modern Rock Tracks and Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks charts. The song was also featured in the video games Madden 2003 and 1080° Avalanche and later appeared in the 2018 film Boy Erased. The third single, "Gasoline," peaked at No.8 on the Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks and remains one of Seether's biggest hits, while videos for all three songs saw regular airplay on MTV2. The critics also took notice of the young band. Comparing Seether with such grunge heroes as Pearl Jam and Nirvana, Rolling Stone praised the group's "toe-tapping catharsis."


That catharsis could certainly sum up the band's first year in America. But, while that transitional era wasn't easy, it set Seether on a prolific — and highly successful — course. In her liner notes, Turman writes, "Out of strife, both in the members' personal lives and in navigating the new-to-them music business, arose indelible songs and a sound that would create a career. Plus, the pride of a nation; when Seether returned to play South Africa post-Disclaimer, people were grateful to them as essentially the first South African rock band to succeed outside its borders."


Speaking to Turman, Morgan recalls, "If there was ever a little engine that could, against all odds, with every possible obstacle thrown at us, this is the record…. We managed to somehow surmount everything."


Stewart adds that the band remains "very proud of Disclaimer. The record put us on the map in a lot of ways, and it had a lot of songs we'd written when we were really young…. There's a lot of pride attached to that album."


Two years after its release, the band revisited the songs on Disclaimer with 2004's Disclaimer II. Among other reworkings, Morgan reimagined "Broken" as a duet with Evanescence frontwoman Amy Lee. Released as a single, the song became a Top 20 hit in the US and a Top 5 hit in Australia, New Zealand and Belgium, while Disclaimer II became the band's first Platinum-certified album in America.


In the ensuing years, Seether has amassed a global audience and released a total of eight best-selling studio albums, including the Platinum-certified Karma and Effect (2005) and Finding Beauty in Negative Spaces (2007). Ranked at No.7 on Billboard's All-Time Mainstream Rock Artist roundup (a list that spans the chart's 40-year history and finds Seether tied with Aerosmith), the band has scored four Top Ten albums on the Billboard 200 and 17 chart-topping singles, including 2017's "Let You Down," 2014's "Words as Weapons," and 2011's "Tonight." Along the way, the quartet (now comprised of Morgan, Stewart, drummer John Humphrey, and guitarist Corey Lowery) has never waned in their sense of purpose, their dedication to their craft and their commitment to fans. That sentiment also extends to the band’s annual Rise Above Fest, which they founded in 2012 to raise awareness for suicide prevention and mental illness.


In 2020, Seether released their acclaimed eighth studio album, Si Vis Pacem, Para Bellum (If You Want Peace, Prepare for War), via Fantasy Records, while last year, the band celebrated their 20th anniversary with the compilation Vicennial – 2 Decades of Seether (Craft Recordings). Also in 2021, Seether was added to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's popular "Right Here Right Now" exhibit, which focuses on the evolution of rock and its impact on the current generation of artists. "Right Here Right Now" helps fans discover how bands like Seether, plus artists like Billie Eilish, Lady Gaga, Harry Styles and Taylor Swift, have influenced the new millennium.

Former Iron Maiden singer Paul Di'Anno, along with guitarist Gus G. (Firewind, Ozzy Osbourne), performed at Gagarin205 in Athens, Greece on December 14. Gus has shared this recap video:





Di'Anno is performing tracks from the two albums he recorded with Maiden - the self-titled Iron Maiden (1980), and Killers (1981). The next show happens tonight Friday, December 16 at the Principal Club Theater in Thessaloniki.




Fan-filmed footage from the Athens date, courtesy of the YouTube channel Hronis Arva, can be viewed below.


Setlist:


"The Ides Of March"
"Wrathchild"
"Sanctuary"
"Purgatory"
"Drifter"
"Murders In The Rue Morgue"
"Remember Tomorrow"
"Genghis Khan"
"Killers"
"Marshall Lockjaw"
"Strange World"
"Charlotte The Harlot"
"Transylvania"
"Phantom Of The Opera"
"Running Free"
"Prowler"

In a recent interview with Eonmusic, Joe Lynn Turner was asked if he was disappointed that he wasn't included with his former bandmates in DEEP PURPLE as part of the group's induction into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame in 2016. He responded: "No, because I don't believe in the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame. I think it's the Rock And Roll Hall Of Shame. It's a business. It's really a money business; it's a money grab. Ritchie [Blackmore, former DEEP PURPLE guitarist] wouldn't go too.

"First of all, in RAINBOW, we were never about awards or videos. We had to make them — which we did — but we were always half-hearted about it because we were about live performance, kicking ass on stage, making records. So award shows, unless it was like a people's choice, never mattered to us. We barely wanted to receive our gold records because it was just, like; 'So what?!' We really didn't enjoy that as much.

"There are some really great bands that are still not in that Hall Of Fame. Why? And if it's the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame, why are there rap stars and everybody else? It's a money maker — big money for the seats and all that, and it's this big thing. I got the skinny from [DEEP PURPLE bassist] Roger Glover actually, when they were saying, 'No, we're not going to go,' and then he said, 'Let's just do it for the fans,' and that was one of the main reasons they went. They do deserve some recognition, of course, but they have that recognition. So, I had an honorable mention. I think it was Ian Gillan who said, 'And Joe Lynn Turner, Tommy Bolin, all of these people that were in the band at one point or another really made us the sum total of the parts that we were,' and that actually went over. Ritchie said — and this was really something — in an article, he was talking about it, and he was kind of disparaging this 'Hall Of Shame' thing, and he didn't want to go and all that, and he said, 'but I think Joe Lynn Turner should get an award for his writing ability and singing on the album.' I was floored. The respect that I got from that, I go, 'That's the kind of award I like.'"

METALLICA drummer Lars Ulrich inducted DEEP PURPLE into the Rock Hall, after which the then-lineup of DEEP PURPLE performed a mini-set that included "Hush", "Highway Star" and "Smoke On The Water".

Blackmore later posted a statement on his Facebook page in which he said: "I have my reason for not attending the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame induction ceremony, although I appreciate the award. However, I do think that they should've given an award to Joe Lynn Turner for when he was in DEEP PURPLE — for his singing and writing on 'Slaves And Masters' — a great record, one of my favorites."

Despite Blackmore being a no-show at the 2016 Rock Hall, he was given several shoutouts during the induction speeches of the DEEP PURPLE members in attendance. In addition, Ulrich praised "Ritchie fucking Blackmore" for one of the most memorable guitar riffs of all time on "Smoke On The Water".

The Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame induction ceremony seemed like a rare opportunity for DEEP PURPLE to reunite with Blackmore, who wrote many of the band's most memorable riffs, but hasn't played with the group since 1993.

The DEEP PURPLE members that were inducted are: Ritchie Blackmore, David Coverdale, Rod Evans, Ian Gillan, Roger Glover, Glenn Hughes, Jon Lord and Ian Paice.

In recent years, Lynn Turner has repeatedly blasted Blackmore for going out and performing DEEP PURPLE and RAINBOW's classic material with a new group musicians under the RAINBOW banner, explaining that "the fans deserve better than a cover band."

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 Blackmore in a reformed DEEP PURPLE for the aforementioned "Slaves And Masters" album.

Former JUDAS PRIEST frontman Tim "Ripper" Owens 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, 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.

Owens discussed his views on the PANTERA comeback during an appearance on the "Smokin' Talk N' Roll" podcast. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "I think it's great. As long as they don't say it's… It's not PANTERA; it's a celebration of PANTERA. I think it should be [written] on the top of it: 'Celebration Of PANTERA'. People are loving it. Obviously, people hate everything, right? Go to Blabbermouth or wherever."

Expanding the discussion to include metal fans' general reluctance to embrace anything but the classic lineup with their favorite bands, Owens continued: "I had to live with [that kind of criticism as well when I joined JUDAS PRIEST]. That's why Ronnie [James Dio] and I hit it off and he took me under his wing right away. 'Cause he was, like, 'I had to go through it with BLACK SABBATH.' He was, like, the people in the crowd flipping you off…

"People don't give it a chance," Tim added. "When they say — to me, they [say things like], 'You're not a good singer,' or, 'You're a Rob Halford clone.' First of all, when you hear my records, I sound like me. I've been doing this for 20, 30 years; I've been putting these records out. [It's PRIEST album] 'Jugulator''s 25th anniversary. It sounds like me. Can someone finally just go, 'Yeah…' And they do say it, but then there's also people that [are], like, 'He's trying to be like Rob.' I'm, like, 'Why would I try to be like Rob?' And why would Zakk Wylde try to be like Dime. There's people who just attack you."

The reformed PANTERA played its third concert without Rex Thursday night (December 15) at Vibra in São Paulo, Brazil. The show took place three days after Rex confirmed that a positive COVID-19 test forced him to miss PANTERA's performance at Knotfest Chile in Santiago on Sunday (December 11). Filling in for him at both gigs was CATTLE DECAPITATION bassist Derek Engemann, who also plays with Anselmo in both PHILIP H. ANSELMO & THE ILLEGALS and SCOUR.

PANTERA is next scheduled to play another show in São Paulo — on Sunday, December 18 at Knotfest Brasil.

The new PANTERA lineup made its live debut on December 2 at Mexico's Hell & Heaven Metal Fest and also performed on December 6 at Monterrey Metal Fest in Monterrey, Mexico.

In a new interview with Consequence, LAMB OF GOD guitarist Mark Morton spoke about Randy Blythe's evolution as a frontman since the band's inception nearly 30 years ago. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Well, it's just been awesome to have front-row seats to watch Randy — my friend Randy — evolve into one of the greatest frontmen in metal. And I stand by that statement. Anyone who has seen LAMB OF GOD knows how great Randy is on stage. He leaves it all up there, and it matters to him, and he cares. He's just phenomenal to watch. And we're lucky to have him. He's also a real team player when it comes to being in a band with him. Randy is the loudest guy in the room and he's abrasive and he barks a lot and talks over you, and that kind of thing, and that's who you want as a frontman. And I say all this with love. Randy is my brother; he's one of my best friends in the world. Everybody knows that. But that's what you want as a frontman. And that's why he's able to project and be that guy in front of a thousand, ten thousand or a hundred thousand people. He can do that."

Mark continued: "I'll share a story with you. [Back when we were] upping the ante and really increasing the priority of production [of our live shows], one of the things we've done over the last couple of years is we put 'follow' spots on Randy, so when he's being a tornado all over the stage, there's at least one, usually two, spotlights from the back of the arena or the amphitheater, or whatever, following him around so he's well lit, so you can see where he's going, 'cause he's always going somewhere. Well, when we were implementing that part of the production, Randy was really, really nervous about that, really apprehensive, very averse to the idea of having spotlights on him. And his words were, 'This is not the Randy Blythe band. I don't wanna look like I'm the star of the show up there.' And I was, like, 'Randy, we need you to be a rock star right now.' And he understood that. And he's a team player, and part of that is his own humility.

"I don't know if Randy will love that I told that story or not, but ultimately we put spotlights on him and he looks great," Morton added. "And he's the frontman of the band, and that's what we need, and that's part of that production you see and that's why it looks so massive and exciting. It's little things like that [that] start to add up. But Randy was uncomfortable with that, because he feels like he's in a band. I think his words were, 'I don't wanna look like Liza Minnelli up there.' And I was, like, 'I promise you…' It was a dialogue. But my input was, 'I promise you — you're not gonna look like that. It's gonna look great.' And it does."

Two months ago, Blythe told Metal Hammer magazine that he didn't intend on performing with LAMB OF GOD into his 70s.

"I plan on making music for as long as I possibly can," he said. "But nobody needs to see 70-year-old Randy Blythe up onstage jumping around and yelling 'this is a motherfucking invitation."

The 51-year-old Richmond, Virginia-based musician continued: "I'm such a physical performer; that's what it is for me. Total physical immersion in our music. I don't know how long I'll be able to do that. I know for a fact that, unless something horrible happens, if we make it to 2025, that'll be 30 years of the band. I gotta make it to 30 years, and I think my body can take that."

Blythe, who published his first book, "Dark Days: A Memoir", in 2015, previously discussed his retirement from LAMB OF GOD during a 2016 appearance on "The MetalSucks Podcast". At the time he said: "I think I'm a better writer than I am a musician. And I'm not gonna be in LAMB OF GOD when I'm 70 years old. But hopefully I'll still be writing books."

He continued: "I will bet you every penny in my bank account that you will not see a 60-year-old Randy hopping around, screaming 'walk me in hell.' Fuck that. That's not gonna happen… It's not gonna happen. God, that would be atrocious. No one needs to witness that.

"Can you imagine me at 60? I'm skinny enough as it is. By then I'll have a little gut. I'll look like a toothpick that swallowed a bowling ball, probably bald… My throat will probably fall out if I do that by then."

In 2015, Blythe told Revolver magazine that he didn't think it was possible for him and his LAMB OF GOD bandmates to play extreme music into their 60s.

"I'm not going to be doing this when I'm fucking 60 — no fucking way," he said. "We're not THE [ROLLING] STONES."

He added: "I'm always going to be doing music, but not something quite so aggressive, I'm sure.

"I don't think LAMB OF GOD ever has to break up," he clarified. "I think we can, like, gracefully move out to pasture."

"Dark Days: A Memoir" focused on Randy's ordeal in a Czech Republic prison and his subsequent acquittal.

In 2012, Blythe was arrested in the Czech Republic and charged with manslaughter for allegedly pushing a 19-year-old fan offstage at a show two year prior and causing injuries that led to the fan's death. Blythe spent 37 days in a Prague prison before ultimately being found not guilty in 2013.

Blythe's prison experience inspired two songs on LAMB OF GOD's 2015 album "VII: Sturm Und Drang": "512", one of his three prison cell numbers, and "Still Echoes", written while he was in Pankrac Prison, a dilapidated facility built in the 1880s that had been used for executions by the Nazis during World War II. It also led him to write the aforementioned "Dark Days", in which he shared his whole side of the story publicly for the first time.

In July 2021, Blythe said in an Instagram post that he was about to begin writing his second book. In October, he described the upcoming non-fiction tome as an inspirational memoir "about different perspectives from other people that I've tried to incorporate into my own life and take something from."

Former JUDAS PRIEST guitarist K.K. Downing's new band KK'S PRIEST will co-headline next year's edition of the Alcatraz open air hard rock and heavy metal festival, set to take place August 11-13, 2023 in Kortrijk, Belgium.

Downing announced the group's appearance at the event via a video message posted to his social media earlier today. He also promised that there would be "lots more gigs coming your way."

Downing is joined in KK'S PRIEST by former JUDAS PRIEST singer Tim "Ripper" Owens (vocals),along with guitarist A.J. Mills (HOSTILE),bassist Tony Newton (VOODOO SIX) and drummer Sean Elg (DEATHRIDERS, CAGE).

KK'S PRIEST's debut album, "Sermons Of The Sinner", was released in October 2021 via Explorer1 Music Group/EX1 Records.

Downing spent four months writing and recording "Sermons Of The Sinner" and, along with new ideas, he even resurrected a few archived riffs from the '80s.

K.K. formed KK'S PRIEST after JUDAS PRIEST turned down his offer to rejoin the band for their 50th-anniversary tour. It followed a couple of celebrated stage appearances, first with former MANOWAR guitarist Ross The Boss in the summer of 2019, then with a one-off lineup that included former MEGADETH bassist David Ellefson and former PRIEST drummer Les Binks later that year.

In a recent interview with Ernest Skinner of Border City Rock Talk, Owens spoke about the status of the sophomore album from KK'S PRIEST. He said: "I have one more song, I think, to finish. But they're mixing it and doing it as I finish these songs. So it's gonna be fairly close. It's really moving along really good. And it's really good too. I like it better [than the debut LP]. It's a little heavier, a little edgier on the vocals — and even music, I think."

As for a possible release date for the new KK'S PRIEST album, Owens said: "[K.K.] wants to get it out pretty soon. 'Cause I know we wanna do some touring. So I know he wants to get it out."

Last month, Downing told Danny Stoakes about KK'S PRIEST's upcoming LP: "It's imminent, for sure. Everything's gonna be sticky-taped and glued together, and we'll fire it out very soon. It's more than well on the way; we're in the mixing process."

He continued: "It's great. I can't wait. It's so frustrating. You just want it out now. But it will happen. So I'm looking forward to that."

Downing was reunited with JUDAS PRIEST for a performance at the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame induction ceremony on November 5 at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles.

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

Downing left PRIEST in 2011 amid claims of band conflict, shoddy management and declining quality of performance. He was replaced by Richie Faulkner, nearly three decades his junior.

In 2019, Downing said that he reached out to JUDAS PRIEST about taking part in the band's 50th-anniversary tour but that their response was that they were not interested in including him in the celebrations.

In 2018, Downing revealed that he sent two resignation letters to his bandmates when he decided to quit JUDAS PRIEST. The first was described as "a graceful exit note, implying a smooth retirement from music," while the second was "angrier, laying out all of his frustrations with specific parties."

Downing later said that he believed the second letter was "a key reason" he wasn't invited to rejoin PRIEST after Glenn Tipton's decision to retire from touring.

Owens joined PRIEST in 1996 and recorded two studio albums with the band — 1997's "Jugulator" and 2001's "Demolition" — before PRIEST reunited with Rob Halford in 2003.

A little over a year ago, Downing said that he had no problems with fans making comparisons between PRIEST and KK'S PRIEST. "It's absolutely fine, because it's who I am and what I am and what I do and how I do it," he told Brazilian journalist Igor Miranda. "It's too late to change; I can't change. I can't go out and buy different guitars and different amplifiers and start to write differently and think differently. I have to do things the way that I like them to be done. And that's what I did in JUDAS PRIEST for all those years to the best of my ability. But even now that I don't have to consult with anyone else, really, then I feel a lot more freedom to be able to do this.

"I think I can do what I do better now than I did before, if that makes any sense," he continued. "Because I'm working and writing and putting things together for me — and, obviously, of course, the rest of the members in [KK'S PRIEST] as well. But I was on my own, for the most part, in the lockdown doing this. But there was a lot of things I wanted to say and get off my chest.

"The [KK'S PRIEST] album's full of emotions, sentiments and messages and also rejoicement. It's a lot of things, all in one package. And it was very important for me to be able to express myself through this album.

"I know that people will make comparisons, but that's fine. I either succeed or fail, like everyone else in life. But I'm a fan of this wonderful style of music, and if I like it, I'm hopefully sure that the fans will like it too. And I really hope they do. And I'm very much looking forward to the feedback from everybody all over the world.

"Towards the end for me in JUDAS PRIEST, it wasn't as energized as it was in former years, and I missed that. I remember the days when Rob [Halford, PRIEST singer] used to come offstage and he used to empty his boots out, and the water — which was sweat — used to just pour out of the boots. And it was the same for all of us. It was like we ran a marathon or something. So, hopefully we deliver that up. So I'm looking forward to doing that. I'm definitely gonna do my best, put it that way."

In September 2021, Owens said that there was no competition between JUDAS PRIEST and KK'S PRIEST. "I don't think we look at it [like that]," he told The Rock Experience With Mike Brunn in an interview. "There's one JUDAS PRIEST. They're JUDAS PRIEST. If [K.K. and I] wanted to take that angle, we would have called [our new band] KK'S JUDAS PRIEST. But I think fans are happy 'cause they know they do have two things that are the same vein, and they have K.K. back. I went nowhere — I've been putting music out like crazy — but they have Ken and I back together again. So there's no competition. I mean, how awesome would it be if we do shows with them? I don't care. I really don't. I love the guys in PRIEST. Rob's [Halford, PRIEST singer] my idol. And Richie [Faulkner, PRIEST guitarist] and I are friends. But this isn't a competition. We're not trying to make it a competition or another JUDAS PRIEST. That's why we put an album out first; that was the difference. If we were trying to make it that, we would start touring right away, doing the back catalog."

Asked if KK'S PRIEST is really open to touring with JUDAS PRIEST, Tim said: "I'm open to anything. I've never burned bridges. From the sounds of it, it's never gonna happen. 'Cause it never happened with me. I tried to get BEYOND FEAR to support JUDAS PRIEST on tour. Wendy Dio was my manager, and they were, like, 'Absolutely not. You're not gonna support us.' But we're all friends. I mean, I'm speaking for me — I'm not speaking for Ken. But, yeah, listen, I always look at it as how much fans would love stuff. How cool would it be if that happened?"

Photo by George Chin

📣 KK'S PRIEST TO HEADLINE ALCATRAZ FESTIVAL!🤘

JUDAS PRIEST founding member, songwriter and guitarist KK Downing is...

Posted by ALCATRAZ MUSIC on Thursday, December 15, 2022

Tour news

K.K.’ greetings, KK’s Priest headlining Alcatraz (BE)Festival-23🤘🏿🔥

Posted by K.K. Downing's Steel Mill on Thursday, December 15, 2022

During an appearance on the latest episode of "The Bay Ragni Show", Pete Evick, who is best known as Bret Michaels's music director and guitar player of the last 19 years, was asked to weigh in on PANTERA's recent comeback. Surviving members Rex Brown (bass) and Philip Anselmo (vocals) are joined in PANTERA's reformed lineup by guitarist Zakk Wylde (OZZY OSBOURNE, BLACK LABEL SOCIETY) and drummer Charlie Benante (ANTHRAX). According to Billboard, the new lineup has been given a green light by the estates of PANTERA's founders, drummer Vincent "Vinnie Paul" Abbott and guitarist "Dimebag" Darrell Abbott.

Pete said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "I think Phil's a douche. I think Phil's a douchebag. And Vinnie was my friend. Not an acquaintance — Vinnie was my friend."

Pointing at a Dean guitar which is hanging on his wall, Pete continued: "Vinnie and Dean Guitars gave that to me. It's the 10-year-anniversary-of-Dime's-death model guitar. They gave it to all the Dean players. I've been a Dean guy for 20 years or whatever.

"Vinnie was great," Evick added. "And Vinnie was a great producer. He understood the studio. And me and him were friends. He was great to my son."

Circling back to the new PANTERA lineup, Pete said: "I think that the world deserves to celebrate the music. I believe that the only [guitarist] that should be allowed to do it is Zakk Wylde. Charlie Benante… Maybe it could have been Mike Portnoy; maybe it could have been Mikkey Dee. There's a handful of people… Charlie's great for it.

"I'm glad that people are gonna hear it, because the PANTERA stuff was… I remember when I was a kid, I was young enough that… When I heard VAN HALEN for the first time, I wasn't blown away. As I got older and learned… Friends of mine that were maybe 10 years older than me tell this story about hearing VAN HALEN and going, 'Holy fuck! That doesn't even sound like a guitar.' But I was born in '72. I was playing guitar by 1978, and I was only six years old. And by seven years old, I was already exposed to VAN HALEN. So I was too young to… It was just another great band. My ears were so fresh. So I loved it, and from the day I heard it to this day, they're my favorite band. But I didn't understand the intensity of how hard it was, because I started with it. At seven years old, I wanted to know how to play 'Eruption'. So I never experienced that whole thing of… I already played guitar, so I didn't have to relearn how to play guitar. That's what most people had to do with VAN HALEN, was relearn everything they knew. I never experienced that with [Eddie Van Halen]. But I experienced it with PANTERA. PANTERA is the only thing I've ever heard in my life that I went, 'I don't fucking know how to do that.' Don't get me wrong — I love Steve Vai, and I can't play like Steve Vai, but when I hear it, I know what he's doing. I go, 'I know what's happening. I can figure that out if I really wanted to sit down and figure that out.' When I heard PANTERA the first time, I went, 'What the fuck is that? How do you even make that sound with a guitar?' Which has to be what all of them felt about VAN HALEN.

"So I respect what [Dimebag] did, and what they did as a team," Pete continued. "Just like Alex [Van Halen] and Eddie, they were brothers. That chemistry between the two of them, it was the same exact thing for a different generation.

"It's good that the world's gonna hear the music. But I think that Phil's a douche," Pete repeated. "And I hope he does it right. That's all I can say, is I hope he does it right."

Asked for his thoughts on Rex, Pete said: "I don't give one shit about that guy. [Laughs] I don't know him. I don't not know him. I know he the bass player. Me and Vinnie never once had a conversation about the guy. I don't know anything about him personally. I don't know that he did anything on bass that was mindblowing. Maybe he did; I don't know. So I don't have an opinion. But I'm glad that there's multiple living members of the band. I think that I like it better that he's there. I think if it was just Phil, I might be a lot more angry about it."

Pete went on to clarify that he has never actually met Philip, "so I shouldn't judge like that. But I knew somebody that knew him really fucking well," he added.

PANTERA is next scheduled to play two shows in São Paulo, Brazil — on Thursday, December with JUDAS PRIEST and on Sunday, December 18 at Knotfest Brasil.

The new PANTERA lineup made its live debut on December 2 at Mexico's Hell & Heaven Metal Fest and also performed on December 6 at Monterrey Metal Fest in Monterrey, Mexico.

It was first reported in July that Anselmo and Brown would unite with Wylde and Benante for a world tour under the PANTERA banner.

The band will headline a number of major festivals across North America and Europe and stage some of their own headline concerts. They will also support METALLICA on a massive North American stadium tour in 2023 and 2024.

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.

During a "VIP Experience" question-and-answer session before W.A.S.P.'s November 26 concert at The Plaza Live in Orlando, Florida, frontman Blackie Lawless was asked for his memories of late MOTÖRHEAD legend Ian "Lemmy" Kilmister. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "[He was] a very complex individual. He was human, like anybody else, but he had moments of real insecurity. And I won't go into detail, because it wouldn't be fair to him. But I knew him pretty well. And we had some fun times together. But like anybody else… I mean, there was a very public squabble that happened between us back in the '90s that was nothing.

"He was enormously complex," Blackie reiterated. "I think all artists are, to some degree — some more than others, and I would put him in the 'some more than others' category. The image you saw of him and the man was two different things. Not that he was living a lie, 'cause he wasn't; what you saw is what you got, but you didn't see everything of who he was.

"I'll tell you a funny story about him," Lawless added. "The last show that we did together was about two years before he passed. We were in Romania. We were playing this festival. And it was just ungodly hot. Somebody said — 'cause they measure everything in Celsius, but they tried to figure out what it was in Fahrenheit. It was about 105 [degrees]. And I knew — 'cause we had been on a plane together, him and I, the day before, and I knew he was not doing well. So I was concerned about him. So when I got off the stage, they were going on right after us… And I kind of dragged myself in his dressing room, and I said, 'Listen, you have got to make sure you stay hydrated today.' I said, 'It is unbelievably hot out there. You've gotta make sure you've got fluids in you.' Now, I look. He's sitting at a table. He's got a half-eaten Reese's peanut butter cup, which may not sound like a big deal to you guys, but they don't sell Reese's peanut butter cups in Romania. So where he got it, I don't know. He's got a glass half full of Jack and Coke and it's got ice in it. And he holds up his glass to me, and he goes, 'I intend to stay hydrated. I have many ice cubes in this glass.' And I threw my hands up. I go, 'What am I wasting my breath for?' I go, 'I'm telling you, you've gotta stay…' And I turned around and walked out."

Back in 2006, Lemmy reflected on MOTÖRHEAD's legendary 1997 tour with W.A.S.P. which resulted in MOTÖRHEAD quitting the trek after butting heads with Lawless. Asked to offer his version of events that led to MOTÖRHEAD's departure from the tour, Lemmy said: "We went on the tour. It was supposed to be co-headlining, but he [Blackie] was actually closing the show, 'cause he made such a fucking mess of the place, right?! 'Cause he killed a fake pig with a fake sword and he cut pillows open and threw feathers all over the stage, so by the time he finished with it, it wasn't fit to piss in and I wasn't gonna play [on] it. So he closed the show every night. And he was… I just don't know what it is with Blackie. I've known him 20 years, you know, and he was walking the first five years right past us and onto the stage — not 'Hello,' nothing, not acknowledging [us]. And he's still got his cellulite, old ass hanging out of his chaps, and he's got this mic stand with handlebars — 'the Blackie Lawless complete workout.' And at one gig we had to share a dressing room — well, there was only one dressing room — so we said, 'Okay, we'll go on and then we'll pack up real quick and get out and then you can use it.' And we came back off stage soaking wet to find all our clothes thrown into the hallway. So at that point we said 'Fuck you' and we walked off that tour. There was always two hours before… First band and us, there would be an hour and a half before they would go on, because he had this cheap crew that didn't know what they were doing."

W.A.S.P. just completed its first U.S. tour in a decade. The trek coincided with the band's 40th anniversary and included support from ARMORED SAINT and MICHAEL SCHENKER on select shows.

Lawless is joined in W.A.S.P.'s current lineup by bassist Mike Duda and guitarist Doug Blair, who have been in the band 26 years and 18 years, respectively, along with drummer extraordinaire Aquiles Priester.

Two years ago, legendary guitarist Steve Vai underwent shoulder surgery to repair an injury. That procedure was successful, enabling him to record his new album, "Inviolate". However, in preparing for a U.S. tour in support of the LP, it became clear that another injury emerged that required another surgery.

Vai offered an update on his recovery while answering questions as part of Jonathan Montenegro's "My 3 Questions To" series. He said: "The thumb surgery healed in, like, a couple of days, really. Then I started to get a little trigger in my other finger, so I had to get another surgery. But my shoulder is okay. I had two surgeries. The European was probably a little premature, 'cause it didn't do much good for my shoulder. But the American tour is doing great. And I feel good. It's still healing; I've got probably three more months of healing."

Steve previously discussed his physical issues in a January 2022 interview with SiriusXM's "Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk". He said: "[Around December 2020], I did have to get surgery on my shoulder. I'm usually a totally healthy guy. I do take the holistic approach when I can, but 50 years of abuse playing the guitar, my shoulder just got to the point where I had to really get it checked out. And I got a wonderful surgery, and it healed. And it was funny because while I was healing, I couldn't use my right arm, obviously; I was in a sling. And the sling was called a 'Knappsack,' because the doctor that designed it, his name is Doctor Knapp, and he's the one that did the surgery. So I got home from the surgery and I couldn't play with my right hand, so I actually recorded a song that I called 'Knappsack' with my left hand, and that made it to 'Inviolate'."

He continued: "I got through the pandemic recording the record. And the surgery healed quick and I was able to record the record. But I did something really stupid over the summer. [Laughs] This is crazy. Well, I have a pizza oven, and I was putting a pizza in the oven and the dough sticks on a little plate, and I had to jerk it really hard to pull it and I tore another [tendon]. And I thought I could get through the tour, but the tour is a megatour that we're planning, 'cause I've been just dying to get on tour. And we've got, like, 250 shows that we wanna do around the world, and it's gonna take, like, a year and a half. And once I started to prepare, it became really obvious that there was just no way. And the doctor said that 'it's only gonna worse and there's nothing you can do. I highly recommend you get it fixed before you go out on tour for a year and a half or you're gonna be in real trouble.' [Laughs] So I said, 'Okay.' And the way that the tour is scheduled, it's not so uncommon these days that artists are kind of moving blocks of dates around. And we just took the whole tour — the North American portion — and moved it to the fall, almost completely intact. So it gives me an opportunity to heal and get out there and kick some butt."

When host Eddie Trunk told Vai that he must be a "serious pizza maker" in order to tear a tendon in his shoulder while making pizza, Vai said: "I wish I had a better story." Steve went on to say that "it was the same shoulder but a different tendon" that he injured last year.

In February 2021, Vai revealed that he had undergone shoulder and trigger finger surgeries, explaining that his shoulder had been "screwed up."

During an appearance on Tyler Larson's "Guitar Villains" podcast, Vai said that he sustained the finger injury by holding a tough chord for too long.

"I was doing this fun thing, and I had to put my thumb in this really weird position," he said. "And I had to kind of hold this chord really for a long time — I was meditating on it. And I knew it was a hard position, and I just kept sitting there and playing it and playing and playing, and 20 minutes later, I'd kind of come out, and I [felt pain in my hand]. So I kind of sprained this, and then, all of a sudden, I developed trigger finger. My wife said, 'Don't show anybody,' 'cause they did that operation and they cut in there, and the guy's fooling around with everything in there, and it's really bizarre. But it's all fine — it's something very simple that they can fix. But I won't be able to play for a while."

"Inviolate" was released in January digitally and on CD via Favored Nations / Mascot Label Group.

LYNCH MOB is putting the finishing touches on a new studio album for a tentative 2023 release. Joining former DOKKEN guitarist George Lynch in the newly reactivated band are his longtime drummer Jimmy D'Anda (BULLETBOYS) along with TANTRIC bassist Jaron Gulino, and singer Gabriel Colon.

Lynch offered an update on his long-running project in a new interview with MetalSucks. He said: "We've got the new [LYNCH MOB] lineup set, and we've got my guitars, Jaron Gulino's bass tracks, and Jimmy D'Anda's drums all finished. We need to get Gabriel Colon's vocals wrapped up and then go from there. The new lineup is really great, and I love what we're doing. So, we'll keep working on that with an eye to getting that out for 2023, too."

George also talked about the status of THE END MACHINE, his collaborative project with former DOKKEN and current FOREIGNER bassist Jeff Pilson. He said: "Jeff and I have been working intensely on the third END MACHINE record with our new singer, who is from India, Girish Pradhan [FIRSTBORNE, GIRISH AND THE CHRONICLES], who is unbelievable. We loved Robert Mason [who sang on the first two THE END MACHINE albums], and he's an incredible singer, but we felt it was time for a little bit of a change. So, of all the records I'm working on — and there's a lot — I'm most excited about this next END MACHINE album. It's really powerful, and some of the tracks are downright scary good."

Asked what it is about the upcoming THE END MACHINE album that has him most excited, George said: "When me and Jeff get together, we're just a two-headed songwriting monster. It's crazy, but we finish each other's sentences and understand each other musically. I think that because we've been doing the same thing for so many decades, we know exactly what we're trying to do, but now we have a much better idea of how to get there than we used to. And when I work with other people — and I've worked with some great people — I don't have that connection with any other people like I do with Jeff. It's everything, from riffs, guitar sounds, and composition to putting that together. We're very attuned to each other, and our skill sets complement each other very well, so working on this record is an absolute joy, and it's got me very excited."

For much of the last year and a half, 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, in October, it was reported that LYNCH MOB was once again playing shows.

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."

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.

THE END MACHINE released its sophomore album, "Phase2", in April 2021 via Frontiers Music Srl.

"Phase2" featured drummer Steve Brown, younger brother of former DOKKEN drummer "Wild" Mick Brown, who played on THE END MACHINE's self-titled 2019 debut.

In a new interview with Meltdown of Detroit's WRIF radio station, PEARL JAM guitarist Stone Gossard was asked for his take on the long-running narrative that grunge reinvented the rock and roll genre and killed the career of many hard rock and heavy metal musicians. He replied (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "I think we changed the landscape at that time; I just don't think we reinvented anything. We were taking punk rock and the blues and rock and roll and we were just kind of doing it in a different way. I do think we impacted the music industry at that time, and it's only because hair bands were so entrenched and the record business was so entrenched and everybody was just doing the same thing for so long that it lost its flavor.

"I was into hair bands; I wanted guys to dress up and have crazy hair and makeup," he continued. "But I think everything — there's time for a change at some point, and everyone wants something fresh again.

"I love the moment when kids get ahold of something and they break it and they wanna just make it their own. And so anytime that happens, it's kind of fun. It's a good time to listen. Then it makes it more about for anyone to make a band; it's not just stellar musicians. Sometimes it's just gotta be a group of people that just love making racket together."

Gossard previously discussed grunge's impact on the hard rock and heavy metal scene this past summer in an interview with VWMusic. At the time, he said: "I think there's always renewal in the world, and with that renewal, comes new perspectives. And I think that hard rock was really stagnating at that point in a way that gave an opportunity to what I'll call 'less musically talented' musicians to say, 'Hey, there's another way to play rock songs. There's another way to have songs that are heavy. And there's another way to create chaos and energy from those songs that would be outside the normal color palette of a heavy metal song.'

"I mean, coming up, I listened to a lot of heavy metal," he continued. "I listened to a lot of MOTÖRHEAD. I listened to a lot of IRON MAIDEN. I listened to a lot of MERCYFUL FATE. I listened to a lot of LED ZEPPELIN. I listened to all those New Wave Of British Heavy Metal bands, and I was into it. This said, as a kid, I didn't really know how to play like that, so I was just doing what sounded right to me. And I think that in the late '80s, there was a very free attitude about art and music that was brewing in the wake of hard rock, and a lot of people were experimenting with sounds, and the bands formed from there. There was something about it that was fresh, that really captured people's ears, and that had a huge effect on it all too. But you know, a lot of those heavy metal bands you're talking about are still around, so clearly they all didn't die. Sure, a lot of them had to regroup, and yes, some did die, but that's part of the life cycle, right? There are still a lot of fans out there who love hard rock, and I'm one of them. I love hard rock, and I always have, but renewal and rebirth are a part of art, I think."

In recent years, several 1980s hard rock musicians have weighed in on grunge's impact on the glam-rock scene, including SKID ROW bassist Rachel Bolan. Regarding how the rise of grunge in the early 1990s forced most hard rock bands off the radio and MTV, with album and tour sales plummeting, Rachel told Rodrigo Altaf of Sonic Perspectives: "When a musical genre becomes just a point of sale, that's kind of the beginning of the end for the genre, 'cause they'll sign a million bands that kind of sound like a band, and then it just dilutes everything. So that's what was kind of happening right around when grunge came out. And then when grunge came out, it was the next big thing, and then it happened to them too. Every band that kind of resembled NIRVANA got signed, and they were nowhere near as good as NIRVANA. So it dilutes the market and eventually just poisons it."

Back in 2014, Bolan admitted to the Dallas Observer that "grunge put a lot of bands like us out of business. You just have to wait it out. We came back because people wanted to have fun again. There were some grunge bands that I liked, but it was such a different vibe and a different scene. People started to miss bands from our era. There was a certain nostalgia involved."

In a 2016 interview with the Fox Business program "Kennedy", Bolan's onetime bandmate Sebastian Bach was asked when he realized that there was a "shift" taking place and how he felt about it. He responded: "I think I realized it when I saw the video for [NIRVANA's] 'Smells Like Teen Spirit'. And there was never any video or song like that before; it was a new sound, and people were responding to it. But what goes around comes around. I mean, now the biggest tour in town is GUNS N' ROSES or AC/DC, who have the same singer. [Laughs] So, you know, music is cyclical, and people will always love rock and roll, 'cause it gets passed down through the generations. IRON MAIDEN has never been bigger than right now. It's kind of crazy."

Upon release in September 1991, NIRVANA's "Smells Like Teen Spirit" wreaked confusion upon the hair metal vanguard, putting an end to an era dominated by glamorous, androgynous and sparkly rock stars who absolutely saturated the radio waves and were almost exclusively what aired on MTV.

Earlier this year, TWISTED SISTER frontman Dee Snider told told Armchair MBA that "no one saw" the rise of grunge coming, but he admitted that he "was already dead and semi-buried before grunge hit. TWISTED arrived in the early '80s and then we hit our stride in the mid-'80s and by the late '80s, the band had broken up. I had a band called DESPERADO [with former IRON MAIDEN drummer Clive Burr and ex-GILLAN guitarist Bernie Tormé] that got shelved by Elektra Records; a lot of money we spent on that record. So I was sort of already removed as a featured artist by that point, and I was struggling trying to find my footing with DESPERADO and then WIDOWMAKER. And then I got the letter in the mail, certified letter, 'We have decided we're no longer doing what you do — look like you, sound like you, sing like you, write like you, perform like you. We actually don't want anything to do with anything you ever did. Sincerely, the music-buying public.' [Laughs] And that's when the bottom really fell out. I mean, imagine being a doctor who studied a form of medicine, and they found a cure for it. You're a cancer specialist — a specialist; it's what you dedicated your life to — and you get a pill that cures [cancer]. You're out of work. Grunge cured hair metal. So I was out of work."

Two years ago, Snider told Ultimate Guitar that he "loved" NIRVANA and other grunge bands when they emerged. "When they first came out, it wasn't even called grunge," he explained. "And this is the thing about titles — even heavy metal, punk, hair metal, those are not titles chosen by the artists; they're titles chosen by the writers. And usually as a negative connotation. Usually as a form of a putdown. And the artists that they called grunge, called punk, called heavy metal — they hated it. This is a fact, dude. I'm old. I know this, a fact: if you mentioned grunge to SOUNDGARDEN or PEARL JAM, they got physically violent with you. They were just a rock band. And if anything, SOUNDGARDEN, ALICE IN CHAINS, they were metal bands. They were touring with Ozzy [Osbourne]. It just became defined by some writers; they pigeonholed it and called it a new sound."

Dee continued: "When it first came out, I was, again, doing metal radio, and I was playing ALICE IN CHAINS, SOUNDGARDEN, NIRVANA on my show, and I was like, 'This is great, heavy new stuff.' So then it became defined as grunge, and then it was the hair metal killer, and that was awful. But I don't blame it on the music; hair metal did it to itself. It became too commercialized, and then it got unplugged and became nothing but power ballads and acoustic songs, and it wasn't metal anymore. It had to go; it had to change."

Snider's TWISTED SISTER bandmate Jay Jay French told Daniel Sarkissian of the "Rock Is Dead?" documentary about the death of hair metal and arrival of grunge: "The only band that leapfrogged and saved themselves was GUNS N' ROSES. And my theory is that GUNS N' ROSES was not perceived as a joke. They came out of L.A., but I think that Axl [Rose], first of all, had a great voice. I think that they were perceived as real, not fake. Like, they were real junkies, not pretend junkies. So there's an authenticity. It's all about authenticity, and grunge is all about authenticity. People wanted authenticity, so they got it with grunge. It wiped out the perceived frivolousness of hair metal, which is, 'Hey, man. Let's party. Let's get the girls and drink.' I think people just got sick of that, and they wanted [something more] authentic."

Former MÖTLEY CRÜE singer John Corabi told Newsday in a 2014 interview that the CRÜE album he sang on was a commercial disappointment because the music scene had changed, with hair metal brushed aside for grunge. "Everybody was listening to ALICE IN CHAINS and SOUNDGARDEN," Corabi said. "At that point, we were considered passé."

According to Corabi, CRÜE's ill-fated 1994 American tour " was a nightmare. We weren't selling tickets. It was just horrible," he said.

In 2019, former TNT singer Tony Harnell said that the rise of the grunge movement, which symbolized the working-class spirit and focused on music over image, was ultimately a positive thing for the rock genre because it "shined a really harsh light on how boring and repetitive" the '80s glam metal scene had become. He explained: "It was the same look, the same songwriters, the same producers, and it just started to be… Nobody was offering anything… Don't get me wrong, there were a few that got in there that were interesting and different, but, for the most part, they were all just sort of rehashes, slightly, of other bands."

St. Louis, MO-based black metal duo Stormruler - consisting of midwestern scene stalwarts Jason Asberry (vocals/guitars/bass) and Jesse Schobel (drums/vocals) - recently released their new album, Sacred Rites & Black Magick, via Napalm Records. The band have released a drum playthrough video for the track, "Upon Frozen Shores". Watch below:





Produced, mixed and mastered by Gabe Usery at Encapsulated Studios and featuring stunning artwork by Giannis Nakos of Remedy Art Design, Sacred Rites & Black Magick blisters with more unrelenting intensity while maintaining a haunting, visceral aura more ancient and foreboding than ever. As on Under A Burning Eclipse, between each song on Sacred Rites & Black Magick is an intricately positioned interlude building the ambiance and steering the thematic intensity of the album.




Stormruler says about Sacred Rites & Black Magick: "This album is on another level in comparison to our previous offering. It falls in the same vein of the melodic second wave black metal worship of Under The Burning Eclipse, but with a more intense and darker touch. It's got the high speed buzzsaw attack we love, crushing grooves, solid leads, ambience within the interludes and acoustic passages, as well as lyrics that tell a story."





Sacred Rites & Black Magick is available for in the following formats:
- 4 page CD Digipak
- 2LP Gatefold Black
- 2LP Gatefold Marbled White/Black/Blue - Napalm Mailorder only, limited to 300 worldwide
- Digipak & Shirt Bundle - Napalm RoW Mailorder only
- Full Digital Album


Order here.





Sacred Rites & Black Magick tracklisting:


"Hymns Of The Slumbering Race"
"Internal Fulmination Of The Grand Deceivers"
"Adrift Dark Halls Of Vinheim"
"To Bear The Twin Faces Of The Dragon"
"In Light Of Paleblood"
"Entranced Within The Moon Presence"
"Invocation Of The Black Sacrament"
"Sacred Rites & Black Magick"
"Oathpact"
"Ten Heralds, Ten Desolations"
"The Waters Of Iolamita"
"In The Shaded Vlasian Forest"
"Amid A Smear Of Crimson Cloud"
"Apparitions Across The Ravencrest"
"Sanguinare Vampiris"
"Upon Frozen Shores"
"Shadow Of The Golden Eagle"
"Along The Appian Way"
"By Winters Long Passed"
"A Malice Dead & Cold"


“Upon Frozen Shores” lyric video:





"Internal Fulmination Of The Grand Deceivers" video:





"Sacred Rites & Black Magick" video:





Stormruler is:


Jason Asberry - Vocals, Guitars and Bass
Jesse Schobel - Drums & Vocals


Stormruler recently announced their upcoming support of Cannibal Corpse, Dark Funeral and Ingested on their 2023 European tour. The tour begins on March 10 in the Netherlands, hitting a massive number of major European cities before coming to an end in Nottingham, UK on April 23. Tickets are on sale now.

THE ROLLING STONES have announced a new online concert event celebrating the release of "Grrr Live!" The concert will take place February 2 at 8 p.m. GMT / 8 p.m. Eastern / 8 p.m. Pacific / 8 p.m. AWST (February 3).

Recorded on the band's "50 & Counting" tour, the "Grrr Live!" concert featured guest appearances by THE BLACK KEYS ("Who Do You Love?" ),Gary Clark Jr & John Mayer ("Going Down"),Lady Gaga ("Gimme Shelter"),Mick Taylor ("Midnight Rambler") and hometown hero Bruce Springsteen ("Tumbling Dice"),and proved to be one of the most memorable shows in the band's history. It has not been available to fans since it originally aired on pay-per-view in 2012.

The "Grrr Live!" experience will bring this history-making concert to fans around the world on RollingStonesNewark.com via interactive video company Kiswe's global live streaming technology. The concert features some of the greatest songs of all time including "It's Only Rock 'N' Roll (But I Like It)", "Honky Tonk Women", "Start Me Up", "Gimme Shelter", "Sympathy For The Devil" and "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction". Unlike viewing performances on other platforms, Kiswe Live allows the fans to be part of the experience. Fans from all over the world will be able to upload short video selfies of themselves to celebrate the band, the performances, see themselves on the screen and be seen by others across the globe, alongside the performance.

Tickets are on sale December 15 at RollingStonesNewark.com.

"Grr Live!" track listing:

CD1

01. Get Off Of My Cloud
02. The Last Time
03. It's Only Rock 'n' Roll (But I Like It)
04. Paint It Black
05. Gimme Shelter (with Lady Gaga)
06. Wild Horses
07. Going Down (with John Mayer and Gary Clark Jr)
08. Dead Flowers
09. Who Do You Love? (with The Black Keys)
10. Doom And Gloom
11. One More Shot
12. Miss You
13. Honky Tonk Women
14. Band Introductions

CD2

01. Before They Make Me Run
02. Happy
03. Midnight Rambler (with Mick Taylor)
04. Start Me Up
05. Tumbling Dice (with Bruce Springsteen)
06. Brown Sugar
07. Sympathy For the Devil
08. You Can't Always Get What You Want
09. Jumpin' Jack Flash
10. (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction

Kiswe is the interactive video company that transforms live streamed events into immersive and socially connected experiences, reliably, at scale. With its award-winning cloud video technology, Kiswe has delivered the world's largest digital pay-per-view events and serves the top sports, media, and entertainment companies with its production, content distribution, fan engagement, and audience data solutions. Kiswe is headquartered in New Jersey, USA and has offices in New York, Seoul and Hasselt.

RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE bassist Tim Commerford has joined forces with Mathias Wakrat and Jonny Polonsky to form a new trio, 7D7D. The band's second track, "Misinformed", has just been released via Mad Bunny Records and can be streamed below.

7D7D's debut song, "Capitalism", was made available on Black Friday.

The band plans to continue releasing its music one track at a time.

It is hard to pinpoint what hits you first — the misleadingly upbeat, even pop nature of the melody and Tim's vocals, or his signature bass tone; Mathias's totally unique and odd pattern of drums, whose time signatures have hints of jazz, mechanical and electronic rhythms but are all acoustically created expertly integrated; or Jonny's sublime, precise and powerful guitar locking it all together to deliver the lyrics — manifestos, really — that arrive into your mind like a snake in the grass. In just a few lines of "Capitalism", the catchy tune compels you to sing along before you even realize the no-holds-barred content, and the lyrics continue to come down like a gavel, explicitly denouncing the tyranny and injustices Tim observes, and has raged against, all his life.

Raised in Irvine, California, Tim learned the bass and began to channel a tough childhood into music. By the time he was in his early 20s, he was in RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE. Tim was also in AUDIOSLAVE (where he met Jonny) and PROPHETS OF RAGE. French-born Mathias first fell in love with percussion through his uncle who played, and began studying it at age 11, before moving to Los Angeles, where he would later meet Tim. Tim and Mathias were fast friends, sharing a passion for mountain bikes and John Coltrane, though it took many years before they performed together in a band.

In 2015 the two were both in the trio WAKRAT, which Tim described as "unapologetic, unrelenting, unbridled and uncensored. Understood?" However, this could be said of every band Tim has been in.

Tim and Jonny first started writing music together after AUDIOSLAVE broke up. Jonny had been a guitar tech, but that humble position is deceptive — Jonny was discovered in the 1990s by Reeves Gabrels, and Frank Black from the PIXIES helped produce his first demo. Jonny was then signed by Rick Rubin to his label American Recordings. Jonny went on to join PUSCIFER, he has toured with many artists, including Tom Morello, and he has recorded with Kevin Haskins and David J of BAUHAUS, and played on the last two Johnny Cash albums produced by Rubin and more.

Earlier this month, Commerford revealed in an interview with SPIN that he recently had his prostate removed after being diagnosed with prostate cancer. The procedure took place two months before RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE's recent summer tour, which marked the band's first set of live dates since in 11 years.

Belgium-based progressive post-metal trio Psychonaut released their Violate Consensus Reality full-length on October 28 via Pelagic Records. on all streaming platforms. They have released an official video for the new single, "Hope".


One of the most personal and intimate songs the band has ever written, the trio collaborated with French dancer and longtime fan Alice Small, who fully choreographed the beautiful aerial dance video. "Hope" also features additional piano by Wouter Dewit and strings by Reinhard Vanbergen.







“We distance ourselves from a system that is based on the idea that humanity is fundamentally bad and needs protection from itself in the form of a hierarchy,” notes guitarist/vocalist Stefan De Graef of Psychonaut's latest album. “By no longer subscribing to the notion that we are all separate beings in a separate world that is dead and pointless, we embrace the vision of a new civilization that is rooted in the idea that we are part of a living, sacred universe.”


Likening our present state of separation to “an island on oceans grown, designed to bear unpredictable wrath,” the band accompanies their denunciation by punishing riffs and heavily syncopated rhythms, grabbing you by your guts and taking you on a turbulent journey. Violate Consensus Reality engages the senses in a way that is quite rare for concept albums, it is raw and brutal, unlike the lofty concept albums of yore with their endlessly repeating motifs and needlessly complex song structures. It stands in a long tradition of activism in music, but it also deconstructs this tradition by taking its loud and admonishing tone and providing it with a thoughtful base rooted in philosophy and spirituality.


Violate Consensus is not for the faint hearted, concept-wise but also music-wise as it contains some of the most gnarly riffs and technical playing on any Psychonaut output to date. The record constitutes a wild ride from the breakneck paced riffing of “A Pacifist’s Guide To Violence,” through the undulating neo-classical piano passages of “Hope” to the glorious finale of “Towards The Edge.” The mantric title track opens with the angelic voice of Stefanie Mannaerts (Brutus) and slowly builds up to erupt in an explosive sermon delivered by Colin H. van Eeckhout (Amenra, CHVE, Absent in Body), the appearance of both gifted musicians affirming Psychonaut’s stature in the Belgian metal scene and beyond.





Tracklist:


"A Storm Approaching"
"All Your Gods Have Gone"
"Age of Separation"
"Violate Consensus Reality"
"Hope"
"Interbeing"
"A Pacifist's Guide to Violence"
"Towards the Edge"


"Interbeing"





(Photo – Gert Stockmans)

Severed Angel, the new Northeastern US melodic metal band, has self-released their new single, "Professor Finch”, to all streaming platforms specifically for the Christmas season. A lyric video for the song can be found below.





What happened in the days leading up to a certain well-beloved green character stealing Christmas? What led said character to go down the road to madness? Is it true that all it takes is one bad day to make a sane person go mad?




The band decided to tackle the Yuletide season with an original ode to the beloved Christmas character that is as charming as an eel with all the tenderness of a seasick crocodile. If you're tired of hearing the same five Christmas songs (pick any of them) on repeat on every radio station around the country, then we have your solution. All you'll want for Christmas is "Professor Finch."





Severed Angel band lineup:


Alex Repetti - Vocals, Guitar (Infinite Spectrum / Tension Rising)
Lou Mavs - Guitar, Vocals
George Dimitri - Bass (Timeless Haunt)
Marc Muchnik - Keyboards (The Nightmare Stage)
Wayne Noon - Drums (Project Resurrection / Ex-Phoenix Reign)

In a new interview with Matt Bingham of the Z93 radio station, PUDDLE OF MUDD frontman Wes Scantlin confirmed that he has been working with former PUDDLE OF MUDD bassist Doug Ardito and ex-PUDDLE OF MUDD guitarist Christian Stone on material for the band's upcoming follow-up to 2019's "Welcome To Galvania" album. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "It's awesome, man. Those guys are just amazing, and they will always be amazing, amazing musicians and songwriters. They've actually stored so many songs that we have actually collaborated together with in the last 10, whatever, years. And I can't wait to be able to work with them and go back and forth and do a collaboration-type deal. But, fortunately, they have families and stuff. And God bless all their children and their families and everything. Families are the most important thing."

Regarding what it is about Ardito and Stone that makes their collaboration so special, Scantlin said: "They're genius. They get it. They understand a badass vibe. They get into a zone. They're just hit-making motherfuckers, man. They've got the skills to throw hits out. It's gonna be crazy, amazing music."

Wes went on to say that it's "a big-time possibility" that PUDDLE OF MUDD will begin performing some of its new songs live in early 2023.

Two months ago, Wes told the 96.7 KCAL-FM radio program "Wired In The Empire" that "the only thing" he did during the pandemic was "write songs and re-collaborate with Doug Ardito and Christian Stone, former bandmates of mine and brilliant musicians, man. They've been forwarding a lot of songs that are really, really freakin' amazing," he said. "And I wanna go back in the studio with [producer] John Kurzweg, who did [the] 'Come Clean' and 'Life On Display' [albums]. Yeah, I'm gonna work with him again. 'Cause that guy is the magic man — John Kurzweg, man. He's amazing. Doug Ardito, Christian Stone — just killer writers, amazing guys, amazing musicians."

Scantlin previously said that the new PUDDLE OF MUDD album was "basically pretty much done" this past May in an interview with Jave Patterson of Reno's Rock 104.5 radio station. At the time, he said: "I've just gotta polish it a little bit up and revise a couple of things. I did a lot of work with Doug Ardito [and] Christian Stone that used to be playing with me and stuff like that. And they had basically saved a bunch of songs that were recorded. And I'm really happy about it. It was a little funky, but I'm glad that it was put into a musical vault. So it takes a lot of weight off my shoulders."

Scantlin's latest comments come a little over a year after he made headlines for on onstage meltdown at the EPIC Event Center in Green Bay, Wisconsin where he seemed to barely get the words out to the band's hits, complained that the lighting was blinding him and abruptly ended the show after just a few songs.

Wes had almost non-stop problems with the law, alcohol, finances and other issues, before claiming to have gotten sober in 2017. Scantlin said that he ended up going back to rehab and receiving treatment "because there's really nowhere else to go." He also credited his family and fans for giving him the strength to try to get better.

Scantlin was arrested at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) in September 2017 after he attempted to board a plane with a BB gun. He pleaded no contest and was banned from LAX unless it involved traveling for work.

Before that, there have been a few tumultuous years for the singer and guitarist. In January of 2016, he was arrested on suspicion of breaking into his former home and vandalizing some of the property.

He skipped two court dates related to the charges later that spring, which led to another arrest.

Prior to that, Scantlin was arrested in December 2015 for possession of a controlled substance and had several previous busts that same year for driving under the influence.

Additionally, he was arrested at a Denver airport in 2015 for taking a joyride on a baggage carousel and taken into custody as far back as 2012 for an altercation with a flight attendant.

He also ended a number of PUDDLE OF MUDD shows in 2016 early with various meltdowns, including one in which he accused a fan of stealing his house

PUDDLE OF MUDD was formed in 1991 in Kansas City by Scantlin, the only original member still with the band. The group into the mainstream with 2001's "Come Clean", which yielded three hits — "Control", "Blurry" and "She Hates Me".

"Welcome To Galvania" was released via Pavement Entertainment.