Volbeat have released the Official Bootleg video for “Say No More”, live from Anaheim. Watch below:





Volbeat are on tour in the UK now. Tickets & VIP packages are available here.

In a new interview with Noise11.com to promote his ††† (CROSSES) project, DEFTONES frontman Chino Moreno was asked for an update on his main band's plans for the coming months. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "We're just chipping away on some new music — those [other] guys are, at least, at the moment. We have some sporadic shows over the next couple of years, or a year or so, whatever. But for the most part, yeah, we're just kind of winding down and taking some time off, for the most part."

Earlier this year, DEFTONES recruited Fred Sablan as their new touring bassist following the departure of Sergio Vega. They were also joined by second guitarist Lance Jackman.

Sablan made his live debut with the DEFTONES in April at the opening concert of the band's spring 2022 U.S. tour at the Moda Center at the Rose Quarter in Portland, Oregon.

Sablan is best known as the former bassist for MARILYN MANSON, having toured and recorded with the shock rocker between 2010 and 2014. He has also played bass for CHELSEA WOLFE and PETER HOOK AND THE LIGHT, and is a member of the punk-rock supergroup HEAVENS BLADE alongside YOUTH CODE singer Sara Taylor, ROB ZOMBIE bassist Piggy D. (on guitar) and SUICIDE SILENCE drummer Alex Lopez.

Vega, who officially joined DEFTONES in 2009, confirmed his exit in March, just days after a new photo of the band without him emerged online on various digital service providers. At the time, he took to social media to share a video explaining his perspective on the split. In the Instagram video, Vega detailed the contractual issues that created a rift between himself and the group's core members.

Jackman is known for his work in Sacramento bands EIGHTFOURSEVEN, HORSENECK and WILL HAVEN.

Florida death metal veterans DEICIDE have finished recording the bass, rhythm guitars and drums for their long-awaited new studio album.

On Tuesday (December 13),DEICIDE's guitarist Taylor Nordberg (THE ABSENCE, INHUMAN CONDITION) shared a photo of him and his bandmates at his home studio, Smoke And Mirrors Productions, and he included the following message: "Bass is done! This record is going to flatten everyone into mush. @deicideofficial album #13 #deicide #album13 #smokeandmirrorsproductions".

In a recent interview with "The Garza Podcast", hosted by SUICIDE SILENCE guitarist Chris Garza, DEICIDE bassist/vocalist Glen Benton spoke about the band's plans to record the follow-up to 2018's "Overtures Of Blasphemy" album. He said: "The new stuff that we're writing now is really anthem-style stuff. It's really good, man. There's a lot of prog stuff in there, mixed in there. Steve's [Asheim, drums] our prog guy, man; he's the progressive rock guy. He likes to write those really black metal riffs and the progressive stuff. He's an amazing talent, man. He plays piano. He can play sweeps on guitar. He's a drummer. Yeah, he can do it all."

Benton went on to say that the next DEICIDE album was "written last year" before he and his bandmates agreed to embark on a tour celebrating the 30th anniversary of DEICIDE's sophomore album, "Legion". But, he explained, "We're getting ready to hammer this deal out right now and get this thing out."

DEICIDE played its first show with Nordberg on May 21 at the Rickshaw Theatre in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

Ten months ago, Nordberg spoke about how he landed the DEICIDE gig in an interview with "The Zach Moonshine Show". He said: "In 2019, my band THE ABSENCE toured with DEICIDE in the U.S. And we got to know the guys and got along really well. And I actually found out that Glen [Benton, DEICIDE frontman] lives, like, two streets over from Jeramie [Kling, THE ABSENCE drummer] and I, where we live. So Jeramie and Glen became good buddies and they ride bikes all the times. It's a funny little thing, thinking about that. But long story short, [previous DEICIDE guitarist] Chris [Cannella], I believe he's the head of A&R at Dean Guitars so he's focusing on that for right now. I heard that they needed a guitar player, so I learned a couple of songs, made a couple of videos, and Glen saw 'em and liked what he saw. So we had a couple of practices, and bing bang boom, here we are."

Cannella amicably left DEICIDE in January after a three-year run.

Chris joined DEICIDE in 2019 following the departure of guitarist Mark English.

English became a member of DEICIDE in 2016 after the exit of longtime guitarist Jack Owen.

In February, Nordberg was asked in an interview with the "Brews N Tunes" podcast if he and his new bandmates had commenced work on the follow-up to "Overtures Of Blasphemy" album. He responded: "They had started most of the new album before I joined, but since announcing [that we are going to celebrate the 30th anniversary of] 'Legion' [by performing the LP in its entirety], we've kind of shifted gears and we're trying to lock that in and get a set prepped just in the event that a show pops up. But they have most of the new album prepped, and then we're hammering out, ironing out some details with the last couple songs. But the material is sounding killer. It sounds like DEICIDE."

"Overtures Of Blasphemy" was released in September 2018 via Century Media.

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Sunny Singh, the man behind Hate5Six, a collection of high-quality videos of hardcore punk concerts he has filmed, mostly in the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania area, has released a LAMB OF GOD concert film.

Titled "Lamb Of God: Live In Portland", the nearly 90-minute video captures LAMB OF GOD on the "Omens" tour and included cuts from the band's latest album, "Omens", the 2020 self-titled effort and classics from the Richmond, Virginia metal group's catalog.

Singh stated about the project: "LAMB OF GOD invited me to document their set in Portland, OR back in October to celebrate their new record and I obviously said yes. I went all out to make this more of a concert film than a standard live set."

LAMB OF GOD's Live Nation-produced U.S. headlining tour featured special guests KILLSWITCH ENGAGE on all dates. Different legs also saw support from BARONESS, MOTIONLESS IN WHITE, SPIRITBOX, ANIMALS AS LEADERS as well as SUICIDE SILENCE and FIT FOR AN AUTOPSY. The tour kicked off September 9 in Brooklyn and ran through October 20.

"Omens" was released in October. The LP is the follow-up to LAMB OF GOD's self-titled album, which arrived in June 2020. That effort marked LAMB OF GOD's first recordings with drummer Art Cruz, who joined the band in July 2019 as the replacement for the group's founding drummer, Chris Adler.

In August, LAMB OF GOD bassist John Campbell told Germany's EMP that "Omens" is "a fairly dynamic record. There's a few other little surprises and tweaks and things to come in October," he said. "But we recorded it differently this time. We went to Los Angeles and all of us in the same room and same time recording, which gave us some leeway to make changes as things happened and just kind of feel it out in a different way than we've done in the past, which would be everybody kind of going in their corner recording and it gets assembled later. So it was a real team effort on this one, in the recording — all the way through it's been a team effort — and in the recording especially, when we were all in the same room doing that stuff, it was great. I got to spend three and a half weeks working on a record instead of four or five days — working on the recording of the record."

Also in August, Campbell was asked by Knotfest what led to the decision to record "Omens" live in the studio. John responded: "Well, we've been doing this so fucking long, we had to do something different. I believe that was Josh Wilbur's idea to do that. I know he had a great place worked out to do that in. And we had just kind of been doing it the same way over and over and over again, and we were looking to get a little more excitement into it and maybe see if that couldn't produce a different feel on the record."

MEGADETH has released the official music video for the song "Killing Time", taken from the band's latest studio album, "The Sick, The Dying... And The Dead!" Titled "Chapter V: Killing Time", the video is the fifth and latest instalment of the band's epic multi-part short film revealing the origins of the band's iconic mascot Vic Rattlehead.

Regarding the lyrical inspiration for "Killing Time", MEGADETH mainman Dave Mustaine told Kerrang! magazine: "'Killing Time' isn't about homicide. It's about procrastination. 'Psychopathy' [another song from 'The Sick, The Dying… And The Dead!'] gives you the background] for the person that 'Killing Time' is about. The subject the doctors are talking about is this guy who thinks he's got it all going on. But everything that he does peels back another layer of burnt skin. It's stripping back the paint trying to cover up the mess that this person is. I actually know someone who's just lost everything. We're talking hundreds of thousands of dollars and a multi-million dollar company: gone. And he'd been warned. He was the slick dude in 'Life In Hell'. He was the Junkie. He's definitely the guy in 'Killing Time'."

In a separate interview, Mustaine stated about "Killing Time": "It's about people who are lackadaisical and waste their time. But time is the most valuable thing we have in this world. How many beats of the heart do I have left? How many breaths I am going to take before my last? How many times will I get to say 'I love you' again to my wife, to my kids, to my fans? I don't know, but I'm going to cherish every moment."

"The Sick, The Dying… And The Dead!" debuted at the top of the charts during its first week of sales, taking the No. 3 spot on the Billboard 200 as well as number ones on Top Album Sales, Top Current Albums Sales, Top Rock & Alternative Albums, Top Rock Albums and Top Hard Rock Albums. "The Sick, The Dying… And The Dead!" is the highest-charting MEGADETH album of all time around the world, notching No. 1 In Finland, No. 2 in australia, poland, Switzerland, and Scotland, No. 3 in the U.K., and more.

MEGADETH recently received its thirteenth Grammy nomination for "Best Metal Performance" for the song "We'll Be Back" from "The Sick, The Dying… And The Dead!".

MEGADETH won the 2017 Grammy Award for "Best Metal Performance" for the title track of the band's 2016 album "Dystopia". This marked the group's twelfth Grammy nomination in this category (including nominations in the discontinued "Best Hard Rock/Metal Performance" category).

In a new interview with Classic Rock magazine, MUSE frontman Matt Bellamy revealed an appreciation for Yngwie Malmsteen after Classic Rock's Amit Sharma pointed out that a lick in the MUSE song "You Make Me Feel Like It's Halloween" sounds like something the legendary Swedish guitarist might play.

"Oh, brilliant!", Bellamy exclaimed. "I haven't listened to him in a while, but Yngwie was one of those people I got into in the early '90s when I first started playing. Clearly back then, I thought there was a chance. After a while, I realized I simply couldn't get to where he was, and sort of veered off towards more classical and flamenco guitar styles. Then I started listening to players like [Jimi] Hendrix and [Kurt] Cobain and felt: 'You know what? I can do chaos. I can't do this unbelievable technical precision, but what I can do is create a mess.' So I went down the road of noise, chaos and carnage…. and little elements of the other things stayed with me."

Bellamy also talked about the metal influence on MUSE's "Will Of The People" album, saying: "When we were growing up, we were listening to bands like IRON MAIDEN. And though we connected more through NIRVANA, RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE and the SMASHING PUMPKINS, we always had this love for eighties metal. METALLICA were also a big one for us, but IRON MAIDEN were the British band and also felt a bit more punk rock in ways. The song 'Phantom Of The Opera' [from IRON MAIDEN's self-titled debut album] doesn't feel as bloated or overtly classical as other metal songs. There's still something quite angry and scary about it. That's why MAIDEN are a band we've always looked up to.

"That usage of the harmonic minor scale and the progressive approach to arrangements is something that we share, even if we never sounded like them and live in a different genre. We have a lot of respect for them as musicians, especially Steve Harris, who is one of the best bass players around."

Three months ago, MUSE announced a North American tour for spring 2023. The North American arena trek will kick off in Chicago, running its two-month course throughout multiple cities including stops in Minneapolis, Toronto, New York, Los Angeles, and more. The tour features special guest EVANESCENCE.

MUSE is Matt Bellamy, Dominic Howard and Chris Wolstenholme. Since forming in 1994, MUSE have released nine studio albums, selling over 30 million units worldwide. Their latest album, "Will Of The People", debuted at No. 1 in multiple territories including United Kingdom (their seventh consecutive No. 1),Austria, France, Finland, Italy and Switzerland. Their previous album, "Simulation Theory", debuted at No. 1 in multiple territories and followed their 2015 album "Drones", which went on to win a Grammy Award for "Best Rock Album", the band's second.

MUSE have won numerous music awards including two Grammy Awards, an American Music Award, five MTV Europe Music Awards, two Brit Awards, eleven NME Awards and seven Q Awards, among others.

Billie Eilish was joined onstage at her concert last night (Thursday, December 15) at the Kia Forum in Los Angeles by FOO FIGHTERS frontman Dave Grohl. The pair performed an acoustic duet of the FOO FIGHTERS classic "My Hero" as a tribute to late FOO FIGHTERS drummer Taylor Hawkins, who passed away in March.

Eilish, who is wrapping up the year with three headline shows at the Kia Forum, wore a t-shirt with Taylor's image on it during her performance at the Grammy Awards earlier this year and Dave spoke on stage about what that moment meant to both him and the rest of the FOO FIGHTERS, who watched the event at his house.

"The room was filled with real tears of love and gratitude," Grohl recalled of the bandmembers' and their families' reaction at home.

In late March, Eilish and her collaborator brother, Finneas O'Connell, discussed the passing of Hawkins with Access Hollywood's Scott Evans and Zuri Hall on the red carpet of the 94th annual Oscars ceremony at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. Finneas said: "Taylor was such a legendary player. We were admirers of his work years before we got to meet him. And we only met him a handful of times — I wish we got to spend more time with him — but he couldn't have been a kinder, cooler, more generous person as well. And such a deeply inspiring person. We're just heartbroken." Billie added: "It was incredibly heartbreaking. It was right before we went on stage. And we got the news, and it really, really tore us all apart. It's horribly, horribly tragic."

Hawkins was found dead in a hotel room in Colombia, shortly before FOO FIGHTERS were due to play a festival in Bogotá. He was 50 years old.

No cause of death was announced, although a toxicology report showed traces of 10 substances in his body, including opioids, marijuana and anti-depressants.

Investigators did not say whether the mix of drugs was a factor.

Greek guitar virtuoso Gus G., well known in rock and metal circles for his work as Ozzy Osbourne's guitarist and as leader of his own band FIREWIND, has joined ex-IRON MAIDEN singer Paul Di'Anno for two concerts this month in Greece, where they are playing songs from MAIDEN's first two albums, "Iron Maiden" and "Killers". The first show took place last night (Wednesday, December 14) at Gagarin205 in Athens, while the second gig is scheduled for Friday, December 16 at the Principal Club Theater in Thessaloniki.

Fan-filmed video of the Athens concert can be seen below (courtesy of the YouTube channel Hronis Arva).

The setlist was as follows, according to Setlist.fm:

01. The Ides Of March
02. Wrathchild
03. Sanctuary
04. Purgatory
05. Drifter
06. Murders In The Rue Morgue
07. Remember Tomorrow
08. Genghis Khan
09. Killers
10. Marshall Lockjaw
11. Strange World
12. Charlotte The Harlot
13. Transylvania
14. Phantom Of The Opera
15. Running Free
16. Prowler

When the two gigs were first announced last month, Gus said: "Excited to see Paul after many years, and honored to play some legendary IRON MAIDEN by his side. For two nights only! Where else?"

Di'Anno, who has been receiving physiotherapy and lymphatic drainage treatments in Croatia, finally underwent his knee surgery on September 12.

Paul played the first show since his surgery on October 1 at the Keep It True Rising II festival in Würzburg, Germany.

This past May, Di'Anno came face to face with MAIDEN bassist Steve Harris for the first time in three decades before the band's concert in Croatia.

Harris, whose group kicked off the 2022 leg of its "Legacy Of The Beast" world tour at the 22,000-capacity Arena Zagreb, came out before the show to greet a wheelchair-bound Di'Anno and chat with him for a few minutes.

After his friendly meeting with Harris, Di'Anno stuck around long enough to watch some of MAIDEN's performance before leaving near the end of the set to avoid a huge traffic jam after the show.

Di'Anno spoke about his experience meeting Harris in person after all these years in a live video chat with Canada's The Metal Voice. He said: "[That] weekend was absolutely amazing. 'Cause me and Steve [have exchanged messages] about football [in the past]. But we actually hadn't met [face to face] for a long time. And it was brilliant, because I met up with Steve's sister Linda first, whom I hadn't seen her in about 30 years. And then [seeing] Steve was amazing, and then [meeting up with MAIDEN's longtime manager] Rod [Smallwood] as well, it's made my whole year, actually. It was fantastic. It was pretty awesome."

Paul went on to say that the last time he saw Rod was in 2013 when both he and MAIDEN performed — separately — at Brazil's Rock In Rio festival.

"I missed the MAIDEN show because I got swamped by bloody press and stuff, so I couldn't actually do anything to watch the band," he explained.

Asked if it was "awkward" meeting up with Steve for the first time in 30 years, Paul said: "No. It was great. I wish I wasn't in this sort of position [being in a wheelchair]. Yeah, it was quite emotional. If it had been the first time we spoke together in 30 years, it would have been maybe a little bit more weird. But, as I said, we talk about football and stuff like that, and Steve phoned me up a couple of times from [his home in] the Bahamas."

Calling himself and Harris two "happy-go-lucky geezers" from London's East End, Paul went on to say that he owes Steve dinner "big time, because he looked after my missus and son over in the States on the last MAIDEN tour in Connecticut, in Hartford. He really looked after them — gave them backstage VIP stuff and all of that. It was great. So when I get my legs back, I'll take him out to dinner."

According to Paul, Steve called him the day after the MAIDEN show in Croatia but he missed his call. "But I did text him back," Di'Anno said.

Paul also set the record straight about where he stands with respect to his former band, saying: "What annoys me is that everyone's spreading rumors around that we don't like each other and stuff like that. I ain't got nothing [against] IRON MAIDEN at all. I tell you, the show was brilliant on Sunday — absolutely amazing."

Di'Anno recorded two classic albums with IRON MAIDEN — a self-titled effort in 1980 and "Killers" in 1981 — before being fired and replaced by Bruce Dickinson. He went on to front a number of other bands, including KILLERS and BATTLEZONE, and released several solo records.

More than a decade and a half ago, Di'Anno told The Jerusalem Post that leaving the MAIDEN juggernaut behind was the best thing that ever happened to him, and that he had no bitter feelings toward his former bandmates. "I absolutely have no regrets about leaving MAIDEN — I wasn't right in the head at that time to be in the middle of all that," he said. "I was fed up and disillusioned; it would have been cheating the fans and myself if I had stayed. It was easy to walk away from, and I'm very happy the band got bigger and bigger."

Several years ago, Di'Anno told Metal Thunder Radio that he wasn't as involved with MAIDEN's songwriting as he would have liked. "Steve had most of the words and the lyrics [to the band's first album] all written. That was some of the bones of contention that we had in the band — that I didn't get to write as much as I wanted to. 'Cause I am actually quite a prolific writer, but a lot of my songs were not accepted. 'Cause it's Steve's band, obviously."

He continued: "That first album was a revelation, I've gotta tell you. It was amazing. And the second album, for me, not so much. That's when I started to lose interest a little bit. But [we] still [had] great times — really great times."

In May, Paul played his first full solo concert in seven years at the Bikers Beer Factory in Zagreb. The show was filmed and parts of it will be included in a documentary about Di'Anno, to be directed by Wes Orshoski, co-director and producer of the acclaimed 2010 film "Lemmy" about the MOTÖRHEAD icon.

The Zagreb concert was free to attend and was held as a way of thanking Paul's fans for their help during the most difficult time of his recovery. The show took place just a day before the IRON MAIDEN's gig at the Zagreb Arena.

Di'Anno recently teamed up with several Croatian musicians to form a new project called WARHORSE. WARHORSE entered the studio to record three songs, two of which — "Stop The War" and "The Doubt Within" — have been released as a special limited-edition DVD single.

Frontiers Music Srl recently announced the upcoming release of the self-titled debut from the new trio, Heroes And Monsters. Formed by three rock n' roll lifers and friends, bassist/vocalist Todd Kerns, guitarist Stef Burns, and drummer Will Hunt, Heroes And Monsters will be released on January 20.


Check out a new video for the song 'Let's Ride It" below, and pre-order/save the upcoming album here.


The players' resumes speak for themselves, but rest assured, if you are looking for hard hitting, hooky, in-your-face rock-n-roll, then Heroes And Monsters will be good for what ails you. The band approaches their style with their influences in tow, but also with an understanding and appreciation of the current rock scene. A best of both worlds' scenario, if you will.




Todd Kerns is a multi-instrumentalist, singer, songwriter, and producer. He is most noted for being the bass player and backup singer in Slash featuring Myles Kennedy and the Conspirators, and for being the frontman of gold-record-selling Canadian band The Age Of Electric. In more recent years, he has been making his mark as a singer-songwriter with sold out solo performances as well as fronting former KISS guitarist Bruce Kulick’s band and his own Canadian supergroup, Toque.


Guitarist Stef Burns has a fantastic and varied history in rock music. He has spent time playing with pop acts like Sheila E., Berlin, and Huey Lewis & The News as well as rock acts like Y&T, whom he recorded four albums with, and Alice Cooper, playing on the albums 'Hey Stoopid' and 'The Last Temptation'. Stef currently plays with Italian rock superstar Vasco Rossi and also has his own band, The Stef Burns League.


Drummer Will Hunt currently resides in the drum throne for Evanescence, whom he first started playing with in 2007, and has performed and written on their last three studio albums, including their most recent release, 'The Bitter Truth', which debuted at #1 on 27 different countries' album charts. Over the years, the in-demand skinsman has performed with Dark New Day, Skrape, Staind, Vasco Rossi, Vince Neil, Tommy Lee, Slaughter, and more. He has also appeared on albums by Black Label Society, Michael Sweet (Stryper), Crossfade, Dirty Shirley (George Lynch), Device (David Draiman of Disturbed), and more.





Heroes And Monsters tracklisting:


"Locked And Loaded"
"Raw Power"
"Let's Ride It"
"Angels Never Sleep"
"I Knew You Were The Devil"
"Break Me (I'm Yours)"
"Blame"
"Don't Tell Me I'm Wrong"
"Set Me Free"
"And You'll Remain"


"Let's Ride It" video:





"Raw Power" video:





"Locked And Loaded" lyric video:





Heroes And Monsters lineup:


Todd Kerns - Lead Vocals, Bass
Stef Burns - Guitar
Will Hunt - Drums

Nuclear Blast has welcomed back the Swedish powerhouse HAMMERFALL which started its career in 1997 on the label with its debut album "Glory To The Brave".

HAMMERFALL's entire Nuclear Blast catalog, from "Glory To The Brave" to the 2014 album "(r)Evolution" was recently certified with a diamond award for over 1.5 million worldwide sales.

And there's even more to celebrate: following on from "Renegade" (2000),"Crimson Thunder" (2002) and "No Sacrifice, No Victory" (2009),HAMMERFALL's fifth studio album, "Chapter V: Unbent, Unbowed, Unbroken" from 2005, is now the band's fourth album that has gone gold in Sweden, while "Crimson Thunder" even went platinum, surpassing 60,000 sales in the group's home country.

HAMMERFALL comments on its return to Nuclear Blast: "We were part of building the label back in the day, starting with our first album. For a long time, we were along for the ride as Nuclear Blast evolved into the immense powerhouse it is today. Although we did leave for three studio albums, and we are pleased with those albums and thank everyone who worked with us on them, we are very excited to be back where we belong: with Nuclear Blast. It truly feels like we've come home."

Marcus Hammer, managing director at Nuclear Blast, comments: "In the darkest days of the '90s of death and black metal HAMMERFALL spearheaded a glorious revival of classic melodic metal and they are now bigger than ever before. It's an impressive career of creative power and we are more than happy to welcome them back at the label where they started. Over the past few years, we always stayed in good contact working on their massive back catalog and it's a pleasure to continue the relationship for new albums in the near future. Thanks to HAMMERFALL, their management and amazing crew!"

In 2023 HAMMERFALL will release a special platinum edition of "Crimson Thunder" with tons of bonus material and will continue its worldwide live crusade.

HAMMERFALL's latest studio album, "Hammer Of Dawn", was released in February via Napalm Records. The LP was produced by longtime collaborator Fredrik Nordström (IN FLAMES, OPETH),who handled mixing, mastering, drum recording, and shared the duty of recording guitars and bass with guitarists Pontus Norgren and Oscar Dronjak. Jacob Hansen (VOLBEAT) produced the lead vocals.

Photo credit (below): Dirk Behlau

GHOST has released an official lyric video for the song "Mary On A Cross". The clip, which was edited by Aaron Preusch, can be seen below.

Last month, "Mary On A Cross" was certified gold by the RIAA (Recording Industry Association Of America) for accumulating 500,000 certified units.

According to the RIAA, one equivalent song unit is equal to a single digital song sale, or 150 on-demand audio and/or video streams.

"Mary On A Cross" was the fourth GHOST single to achieve gold status this year. This past June, "Cirice" (from GHOST's third album, 2015's "Meliora"),"Dance Macabre" (from 2018's "Prequelle") and "Square Hammer" (from 2016's "Popestar" EP) were also certified gold. These marked GHOST's first RIAA certifications.

In September, GHOST scored its first entry on the Billboard Hot 100 chart with "Mary On A Cross". The song, which was originally released as a two-track single in 2019 via Loma Vista/Concord (alongside "Kiss The Go-Goat"),debuted at No. 90 on the chart with six million U.S. streams and 1,000 downloads sold, according to Billboard.

"Mary On A Cross" had been gaining traction after a TikTok user used a slowed down version of the song to soundtrack a short video about the Netflix show "Stranger Things". Since then, the "Mary On The Cross" hashtag has amassed over one billion TikTok views and the song was used to soundtrack tens of thousands of videos on the platform. GHOST later released the official slowed down version of "Mary On A Cross" with added reverb.

Six of GHOST's albums have charted on the Billboard 200: "Infestissumam" (No. 28, 2013); "If You Have Ghost" EP (No. 87, 2013); "Meliora" (No. 8, 2015); "Popestar" EP (No. 16, 2016); "Prequelle" (No. 3, 2018); and "Impera" (No. 2, 2022). Nine GHOST songs have charted on the Mainstream Rock Airplay chart, with five reaching No. 1: "Square Hammer" in 2017; "Rats" in 2018; "Dance Macabre" in 2019; and "Hunter's Moon" and "Call Me Little Sunshine" in 2022.

In September, GHOST scored its first-ever Top 40 single in the U.K. with "Mary On A Cross".

GHOST's fifth album, "Impera" sold 70,000 equivalent album units in the U.S. in its first week of release to land at position No. 2 on the Billboard 200 chart. It marked the third top 10 album — and fifth top 40-charting set — for the Swedish act.

"Impera" landed at position No. 1 in Germany and Sweden, No. 2 in the U.K., Netherlands, Belgium and Norway, No. 3 in Australia, No. 5 in France and Ireland, and No. 20 in Italy.

"Impera" was released on March 11. The 12-song effort was produced by Klas Åhlund and mixed by Andy Wallace.

GHOST leader Tobias Forge worked on the follow-up to 2018's "Prequelle" with Åhlund and Swedish co-writers Salem Al Fakir and Vincent Pontare, whose credits include Madonna and Lady Gaga.

Regarding his collaboration with Åhlund, Al Fakir and Pontare, as well as OPETH's Fredrik Åkesson who was brought in to sharpen the album's guitar attack, Forge recently told St. Louis Post-Dispatch: "I found that I can work really well with someone I respect, who is always pushing for the best. They make me want to write better, to get my game up a little."

Forge performed as a "new" Papa Emeritus on each of the band's first three LPs, with each version of Papa replacing the one that came before it. Papa Emeritus III was retired in favor of Cardinal Copia before the release of "Prequelle".

Napalm Records announces the signing of international sleaze quintet Cobra Spell. Founded in 2019 by up-and-coming guitar phenomenon Sonia Anubis (ex-Crypta, ex-Burning Witches), Cobra Spell are slithering their way into the revival era of the 80’s heavy rock sound. Following their globally praised EP’s Love Venom (2020) and Anthems Of The Night (2022), this past October, Cobra Spell’s current lineup released a new single, “Flaming Heart”. The track features the chattiest of melodies, shredding guitars, hypnotic bass lines and synthesizers that will take you back to the golden era.


In addition to their successful EP releases, Cobra Spell have toured with established bands such as Ross The Boss, Enforcer, and Evil Invaders, and are now armed and ready to take on all the stages worldwide, with a hunger to put on a show that will leave audiences around the globe speechless and wanting more.


Lead guitarist and band founder Sonia Anubis on the signing: “This is a very big step for Cobra Spell. I have a HUGE amount of confidence in the potential of this amazing collaboration with the mighty Napalm Records. When it comes to record deals, I had really taken the time to look around for the very, very best I could get for the band since the dreams and goals of Cobra Spell are very big and we want to get sh*t done in the best way possible. We aim for 80s rock and roll world domination - and that is serious business. After having worked with Napalm Records in the past with my previous band Crypta, I am in no doubt that we will make this happen together. Be prepared for a whole new level of sleazy action from us. LET’S BRING THE 80s BACK!”




Stay tuned for more Cobra Spell news coming soon from Napalm Records.


Cobra Spell are:


Sonia Anubis - lead guitar
Kristina Vega - vocals
Noelle dos Anjos - rhythm guitar
Angelina Vehera - bass
Jess Piñas - drums

Dolly Parton, who was recently inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame, has revealed that she will release her new album, entitled Rock Star, in the fall of 2023.


On a recent appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon (video below), Dolly talked about her Rock Hall induction, and the upcoming album, saying it would include covers of “a lot of great, iconic songs” as well as “a few originals”.


Rock Star will include Dolly's take on Led Zeppelin's "Stairway To Heaven", The Rolling Stones' "(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction", Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Free Bird", and Prince's "Purple Rain"




Parton previously told Access Hollywood that Rock Star will also feature a cover of Journey's "Open Arms", with Steve Perry making a guest appearance. Stay tuned for updates.

The Acacia Strain have dropped their new single "Untended Graves". Watch a visualizer below. It's just over two minutes of metallic maelstrom - including a tectonic plate-shifting breakdown and the blood-chilling declaration "I don't want to die!"


"'Untended Graves' is a good example of our current collective writing, with some added perspective that was injected into the band recently, as well," says the band. "It will be a fun one to play live next spring. However, as usual with us, it's no indication of what’s to come."







The Acacia Strain, Fit For An Autopsy, and Full Of Hell will hit the road on a co-headliner with special guest Primitive Man for one of the most extreme packages in recent memory.


The tour kicks off on March 8 in Brooklyn and runs through April 1 in Worcester, MA. Tickets on sale here.





Dates:


March
8 - Brooklyn, NY - The Monarch
9 - Philadelphia, PA - Underground Art
10 -  Columbus, OH - The King of Clubs
11 - Detroit, MI - St. Andrew's Hall
12 - Chicago, IL - Metro
14 - Denver, CO - The Gothic
15 - Salt Lake City, UT - The Complex
17 - Seattle, WA - El Corazon
18 - Portland, OR - Hawthorne Theater
19 - Sacramento, CA - Ace of Spades
20 - Santa Ana, CA - The Observatory
21 - Los Angeles, CA - 1720
22 - Mesa, AZ - Nile Theater
24 - Dallas, TX - Amplified Live
25 - Austin, TX - Come and Take It Live
26 - Houston, TX - Warehouse Live
28 - Tampa, FL - The Orpheum
29 - Atlanta, GA - The Masquerade (Heaven)
30 - Greensboro, NC - Arizona Pete's
31 - Baltimore, MD - Baltimore Soundstage


April
1 - Worcester, MA - The Palladium

Greek metal legends, Rotting Christ, have dropped a surprise EP, The Apocryphal Spells Vol. I, via Century Media Records. This first volume of songs is a collection of studio and live bonus tracks that were previously only available on select physical products; now, fans can stream these rarities for the first time online here.


Rotting Christ's Sakis Tolis (vocals, guitars) comments: "My dear friends, I can proudly announce a compilation of rare Rotting Christ tracks that have never been released on digital platforms before. We have now the opportunity to release them via the first part of a compilation: The Apocryphal Spells. Thanks for your attention, and I hope you will enjoy them, as we also did, recording them back in the days. Spirit Up!"







The Apocryphal Spells Vol. I tracklisting:


"Astral Embodiment"
"Moonlight"
"Phobia"
"Tormentor" (Kreator cover)
"Flag Of Hate/Pleasure to Kill" (Kreator cover)


Rotting Christ was founded by Sakis Tolis (vocals, guitars) and his brother Themis Tolis (drums) in 1987. Starting out as death/grind, the Greeks embarked on a darker musical journey by the time their debut full-length, Thy Mighty Contract (1993), was released.


On the following seven albums [spanning a ten-year period from Non Serviam (1994) to Sanctus Diavolos (2004)], Rotting Christ steadily defined their own distinct style by experimenting with elements from death, heavy, and gothic metal without betraying their black roots. At the same time, the band went from underground heroes to headliner status.


With their highly acclaimed ninth album, Theogonia (2007), the Greek stalwarts added an unmistakable native element to their sound, which has remained with them as a signature trademark ever since.


(Photo - David Parham)

The addressesYouTube channel has uploaded 4K video of JUDAS PRIEST's entire October 21, 2022 concert at Wings Event Center in Kalamazoo, Michigan.

Featured songs:

* Electric Eye 0:00
* Riding On The Wind 5:15
* You've Got Another Thing Comin' 9:33
* Jawbreaker 15:31
* Firepower 19:21
* Never The Heroes 23:00
* Beyond The Realms Of Death 27:44
* Judas Rising 34:53
* Heading Out To The Highway 39:12
* Genocide 44:15
* Steeler 52:37
* Between The Hammer And The Anvil 57:54
* Halls Of Valhalla 1:02:36
* The Green Manalishi (With The Two Prong Crown) 1:11:44
* Screaming For Vengeance 1:16:42
* Hell Bent For Leather 1:22:46
* Breaking The Law 1:26:47
* Living After Midnight 1:29:24

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.

There are few heavy metal bands that have managed to scale the heights that JUDAS PRIEST have during their 50-year career. Their presence and influence remains at an all-time high as evidenced by 2018's "Firepower" being the highest-charting album of their career, a 2010 Grammy Award win for "Best Metal Performance", plus being a 2006 VH1 Rock Honors recipient. JUDAS PRIEST originally formed in 1969 in Birmingham, England (an area that many feel birthed heavy metal). Rob Halford, Glenn Tipton, K.K. Downing and Ian Hill would be the nucleus of musicians (along with several different drummers over the years) that would go on to change the face of heavy metal. The current lineup, which changed in 2011, consists of Halford, Tipton, Hill, Richie Faulkner and Scott Travis.

Following early albums such as "Rocka Rolla", "Sin After Sin" and "Sad Wings Of Destiny", JUDAS PRIEST redefined heavy music forever with the 1980 release of iconic album "British Steel". Subsequent albums such as "Screaming For Vengeance" and "Painkiller" established the band as "Metal Gods", identified by charismatic Halford's characteristic soaring high-pitched vocals.

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 Halford, Hill, Tipton and Travis, along with former members Downing, 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".

PRIEST was inducted into the Rock Hall by fellow rock legend Cooper, who described them as "the definitive metal band." He added: "They defined the sound we know of heavy metal and their sound is unmistakable. And what can you say about Rob Halford's voice? Never have screams covered such a range. Is there any emotion that he can't express?

"They're electrifying on stage and one of the hardest-hitting live bands in the history of rock and roll. PRIEST has carried the flag of hard rock and heavy metal proudly for something like 50 years, never wavering or following trends or pretending to be anything but exactly what they are," Cooper said. "They are flying high tonight. Much deserved and long overdue."

In his acceptance speech, Halford told the crowd: "I'm the gay guy in the band. We call ourselves the heavy metal community which is all-inclusive, no matter what your sexual identity is, what you look like, or what you believe in or don't believe in. Everybody's welcome."

Halford also addressed the fact that PRIEST recently celebrated its 50th anniversary, saying: "We should get out another 50 years, but the joy about music is that it lives forever. And that's the reason why we're here. We live for heavy metal. We live for music. And we're living for the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame."

The members of PRIEST have dealt with various health setbacks in recent years. Halford recently publicly revealed that he battled prostate cancer during the pandemic. He previously mentioned his cancer battle in the new chapter added to the updated paperback edition of his autobiography, "Confess". In "Confess", Halford revealed that he was diagnosed with cancer after experiencing symptoms for at least a couple of years.

Faulkner suffered an acute cardiac aortic dissection during the band's performance at the Louder Than Life festival in September 2021. Faulkner was rushed to the UofL Health - Jewish Hospital where the cardiothoracic surgery team needed approximately 10 hours to complete a life-saving surgery.

Tipton was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease eight years ago — after being stricken by the condition at least half a decade earlier — but announced in early 2018 he was going to sit out touring activities in support of PRIEST's latest album, "Firepower". He was replaced by "Firepower" producer Andy Sneap, who is also known for his work in NWOBHM revivalists HELL and cult thrash outfit SABBAT.

In the Premier Guitar clip below, the once Strapping Young Lad, Devin Townsend, chronicles the "pinnacle moment" with the Glenn Tipton and K.K. Downing riff that helped him earn "social collateral" and he became "moderately accepted" with schoolmates. 


Warning: Devin Townsend says he hasn’t played the riff in Judas Priest’s "The Sentinel" "for enough years that it may be dubious." But that’s hard to believe when he delivers the soaring line that’s the hook from this Defenders Of The Faith (1984) track. Townsend describes his initial discovery of the song as "one of those pinnacle moments." He also opens up about being a misfit kid, and tells a great story about overhearing older kids in band class talking about guitar—and how that riff suddenly made him one of those "cool kids" … almost. 


It’s the guitar, he says, "that made me at least moderately accepted, and that still holds true to this day." He also takes a lick at Fastway’s "Say What You Will", a hard-strutting blues-based riff, and Priest’s "You’ve Got Another Thing Comin'". But perhaps the biggest revelation is that the first riff he fell in love with was from Johnny Cash’s "Folsom Prison Blues". And yes, he does play it, plus the galloping rhythm. His next biggie was Motörhead’s "Motörhead". 




"But none of that, my friends," he adds, "compared to the social collateral or being able to impress a bunch of goofy 16-year-old with a Judas Priest riff, so I will be eternally indebted to this riff."





On the heels of the release of his new album, Lightwork, musical mastermind Devin Townsend has released another music video from the album, for the song “Heartbreaker”. The video follows four different versions of Devin compiling the track in his home studio. Watch below:





This past weekend, Devin presented a special streaming event to commemorate the release of his new album. Watch him perform tracks & answer fan questions below:





After a few exceptionally long years full of personal change and near manic levels of creative activity, Canadian musician Devin Townsend releases his follow up to 2019’s well received Empath in the form of his new release, Lightwork. Assembled from a barrage of material written during the pandemic, Lightwork (and its companion album of B-sides and demos; Nightwork) represents Devin at this stage of his life, post pandemic, and his reflections on what he (and many of us) have all gone through.


For Lightwork, Devin decided to see what would happen if he included a producer (an experiment he has been excited to attempt for some time) to help guide this selection of material. He chose long-time friend Garth “GGGarth” Richardson to help bring this idea to fruition, and through a difficult (but wonderful) process, the next Devin album have been delivered. The name Lightwork represents the music, as well as the act of creating music, as a kind of ‘light in the dark’ while trying to navigate the seemingly endless challenges that life can often present. When things seem like there’s “no way out” or that a situation becomes seemingly insurmountable, the connection to music, family, and creativity became a light in the dark that is the bedrock of this wonderful album.


Featuring artwork by frequent collaborator Travis Smith, Lightwork arrives in several editions including a Limited Deluxe Orange 3LP+2CD+Blu-ray boxset that includes both Lightwork & its companion album Nightwork on both CD & Vinyl, as well as a Blu-ray including 5.1 surround sound, album commentary & visuals, art-cards & extensive perfect-bound booklet, all contained in a lift-off lid box. There will also be a Limited 2CD+Blu-ray Artbook, Limited 2CD Digipak, Gatefold 180g 2LP+CD, Standard CD Jewelcase and Digital Album.


Order here.





Tracklisting:


"Moonpeople"
"Lightworker"
"Equinox"
"Call Of The Void"
"Heartbreaker"
"Dimensions"
"Celestial Signals"
"Heavy Burden"
"Vacation"
"Children Of God"


"Call Of The Void" video:





"Moonpeople" video:

U.D.O., the long-running German metal band fronted by former ACCEPT singer Udo Dirkschneider, has parted ways with bassist Tilen Hudrap.

Earlier today, Hudrap released the following statement via U.D.O.'s social media: "Dear fans, I want to inform you that I decided to leave the U.D.O. band on my own accord. This is completely my decision, I came to it after weeks of careful consideration.

"After 4 albums (2 studio albums and 1 live album/DVD and studio compilation) and worldwide live tours and performances with both U.D.O. and DIRKSCHNEIDER I decided that it's time for me to pursue other interests in the metal world.

"Thanks to all the fans all over the world for the massive support and good luck to the band on all future endeavors.

"There is SO much more to come!

"Thanks to everyone again, Tilen."

Added U.D.O.: "We wish you all the best for the future Tilen! We see you somewhere on the road!"

Former ACCEPT bassist Peter Baltes played bass for U.D.O. on the group's recent European tour. Baltes was filling in for Hudrap who was hospitalized after nearly collapsing on stage during the band's show in Munich, Germany on September 4.

Baltes made his live debut with U.D.O. on September 9 in Berlin, Germany.

Tilen later said that he was suffering from "respiratory alkalosis, total hyperventilation, uncontrollable tremors, momentary collapse of body functions and complete burnout."

U.D.O.'s latest album, "Game Over", was released in October 2021 via AFM Records.

U.D.O.'s current lineup includes Udo's son and drummer Sven Dirkschneider, and guitarists Andrey Smirnov and Dee Dammers.

Dear fans,

we want to inform you that Tilen Hudrap decided to leave the band on his own accord.

Tilen states: After...

Posted by U.D.O. on Thursday, December 15, 2022