David Coverdale (WHITESNAKE),Slash (GUNS N' ROSES),Mike Portnoy (DREAM THEATER),Doug Aldrich (WHITESNAKE, DIO),Glenn Hughes (DEEP PURPLE) and Carmine Appice (BLUE MURDER, VANILLA FUDGE) are among the musicians who have reacted on social media to the passing of legendary English guitarist John Sykes (TYGERS OF PAN TANG, THIN LIZZY, WHITESNAKE, BLUE MURDER, SYKES). You can read their tributes below.

Sykes, who performed with THIN LIZZY and WHITESNAKE in the 1980s, died following a battle with cancer, a statement posted on his verified Facebook page said on Monday (January 20). He was 65 years old.

"It is with great sorrow we share that John Sykes has passed away after a hard fought battle with cancer," the statement read. "He will be remembered by many as a man with exceptional musical talent but for those who didn’t know him personally, he was a thoughtful, kind, and charismatic man whose presence lit up the room.

"He certainly marched to the beat of his own drum and always pulled for the underdog. In his final days, he spoke of his sincere love and gratitude for his fans who stuck by him through all these years.

"While the impact of his loss is profound and the mood somber, we hope the light of his memory will extinguish the shadow of his absence."

Back in July 2021, Sykes released the official Parker Thibault-produced music video for a new song called "Out Alive". The track, which was recorded at least four years ago, was expected to appear on Sykes's long-awaited new solo album, "Sy-Ops".

"Out Alive" was the second song from "Sy-Ops" to be released in 2021. Back in January 2021, Sykes dropped a video for "Dawning Of A Brand New Day", also produced by Thibault, with additional footage courtesy of Natasha Gregory and James Sykes.

In 2020, Sykes parted ways with Golden Robot Records without releasing a single record through the label.

Sykes's partnership with the Australian company was first announced in January 2019. At the time, John promised that his first album in two decades would arrive before the end of 2019. However, things apparently went south shortly after the signing, with Sykes later accusing the label of making "little attempt to move things forward despite our best efforts and patience."

"Sy-Ops" was expected to include such other tracks as "Believe In Yourself" and "My Guitar".

Speaking to Reality Check TV at the January 2019 Hall Of Heavy Metal History event in Anaheim, California, Sykes stated about his absence from the rock scene: "I'm looking forward to getting out on the road and playing again. I kind of go underground and stay there for a while. I don't know, man. Sometimes I just take off and shut it all down. But I'm getting the itch, I've been having the itch to get back out and play, so I'm looking forward to that."

Asked about the musical direction of his new record, Sykes said: "It's kind of got flavors of old and new. But I think it'll be pleasing to a lot of people to hear it. I think it'll touch a fair few people if they check it out. It's a good, solid album — it's not just a couple of tracks and a load of fillers."

Sykes's band for his tour was expected to include his onetime BLUE MURDER bandmate Tony Franklin (bass) and Fred Boswell Jr. (drums).

John's best-known work was when he joined WHITESNAKE and co-wrote the band's self-titled seventh studio album, released in 1987. It produced a major power ballad hit, "Is This Love", along with the No. 1 hit "Here I Go Again". The album was a major crossover hit, eventually selling over eight million copies in the U.S. alone.

Sykes announced his departure from THIN LIZZY in July 2009, explaining that "I feel it's time to get back to playing my own music."

Back in 2012, Sykes pulled out of a planned collaboration with DREAM THEATER drummer Mike Portnoy and MR. BIG bassist Billy Sheehan. In 2011, the project demoed more than a dozen songs at a Los Angeles studio, with Portnoy describing one track as "copping the [LED] ZEPPELIN/[BLACK] SABBATH vibe" and another as "[PINK] FLOYD meets [DEEP] PURPLE!!! Some serious old-school classic rock."

Two years ago, Sykes's former BLUE MURDER bandmate Carmine Appice told SiriusXM's "Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk" that he had no contact with Sykes despite repeated attempts to reach out to the guitarist. "I think he's done [playing music]," the drummer said at the time. "I send him texts; I don't hear nothing back. I don't know. Maybe he's pissed off at me for some reason. But I talk with [BLUE MURDER bassist] Tony [Franklin]; he hasn't heard from him either."

BLUE MURDER was formed by Sykes and released two studio albums — 1989's self-titled effort and the 1993 follow-up, "Nothin' But Trouble" — before calling it quits.

Sykes co-wrote nine of the tracks on WHITESNAKE's classic 1987 album "Whitesnake", including mega-hits "Still Of The Night" and "Is This Love?"

Sykes found himself thrown out of WHITESNAKE, alongside bassist Neil Murray and drummer Aynsley Dunbar, even before the album had been released. WHITESNAKE singer and leader David Coverdale then assembled an entirely different, MTV-friendly group to tour the record.

Back in 2017, Sykes admitted that he was still "very bitter" about how Coverdale treated him. "David said nothing to any of us about having decided to kick us out of the band," the guitarist told Rock Candy magazine, claiming he only found out he was no longer a member of WHITESNAKE when he asked the band's A&R man John Kalodner what was going on.

"I was furious and wasn't about to accept this," said Sykes. "So I went down to the studio where David was still recording his vocals, prepared to confront him. Honest to God, he ran away, got in his car and hid from me!"

Sykes claimed Coverdale blamed record company Geffen for forcing him to change band members. "I knew he was fucking lying," said Sykes. And he insists Coverdale's claims to have written 95 percent of the album's guitar parts are also false. "When I knew him, David could barely play the guitar," Sykes said.

Sykes also ruled out the possibility of collaborating with Coverdale in the future, saying: "I know David has been saying recently that he and I have been talking about working together on a project outside of WHITESNAKE. That's completely false. I really have no interest in ever talking to him again."

Experience the raw power and atmospheric intensity of Rotting Christ as they take over the Ronnie James Dio Main Stage at Bloodstock Open Air Festival 2024. On August 9, Greek black metal icons Rotting Christ brought their unique blend of dark, brooding soundscapes and ritualistic intensity to the festival, captivating thousands under the bright Derbyshire sun. Performing tracks from across their prolific discography, the band showcased their deep commitment to creating immersive, almost transcendental live experiences.


In this featured clip, witness the band’s performance of “666,” a powerful anthem that resonates with haunting riffs, driving beats, and the unmistakable guttural vocals that have defined their sound since the late ‘80s. Rotting Christ’s ability to create an atmosphere that is both intense and atmospheric is on full display, combining rhythmic simplicity with tribal, almost primal energy that connects with audiences worldwide.







Last week, Rotting Christ checked in with the following update: "To all our Latin American brothers & sisters, we would like to inform you that there will be a free Meet & Greet after each show of our upcoming tour in your land this February. Look forward to meeting you all in person in one of the following territories and until then... keep the True Metal Spirit alive!"


Tour dates are as follows:


February
5 - Clara Nunes - Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
7 - Correira Music Bar - Vitoria, Brazil
8 - Carioca - Sao Paolo, Brazil
9 - Mirage - Limeira, Brazil
11 - Tork'

In a recent interview with Matt Pinfield of 95.5 KLOS's "New & Approved" show, CREED guitarist Mark Tremonti was asked if there has been any talk of him and his bandmates working on some fresh music. He responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Yeah. Just us coming back together after so long was kind of the big driver to get people to come to the shows [on the first reunion tour in 2024]. But as we keep doing it, we're gonna need to introduce new music to keep saying, 'Hey, we're touring, supporting this new EP or this new record.' So we've all talked about it, and we just have to make the time and figure out… We're all spinning plates right now. Scott's [Stapp, CREED singer] got his new [solo] record out. I've got my new [TREMONTI] record coming out. We got an ALTER BRIDGE record we're gonna record [in 2025]. And then new CREED music, to try to start planting those seeds and get those things going. It just all can't happen at one time. We've gotta put everything in its place."

In the summer of 2023, after an 11-year hiatus, CREED announced their long-awaited reunion — returning to the stage for the first time in April 2024 at the sold-out Summer Of '99 cruise and Summer Of '99 And Beyond cruise. In May 2024, meanwhile, the band's multiplatinum-selling "Greatest Hits" collection made its wide debut on vinyl (via Craft),landing the collection back into the Billboard Top 200, as well as hitting Top Hard Rock & Alternative Albums, Top Alternative Albums, and moving up the Top Hard Rock Albums rankings. Originally issued in 2004, the 14-track compilation spans the band's first three albums (1997's "My Own Prison", 1999's "Human Clay" and 2001's "Weathered").

Last summer, CREED completed the "Summer Of '99" tour, joined by the likes of 3 DOORS DOWN, FINGER ELEVEN, SWITCHFOOT, FUEL, BIG WRECK and DAUGHTRY. The band then headed into arenas last November and December on the "Are You Ready?" tour with 3 DOORS DOWN and MAMMOTH WVH in the U.S. and MAMMOTH WVH and FINGER ELEVEN in Canada.

CREED kicked off its first tour in 12 years, "Summer Of '99", on July 17, 2024 at Resch Center in Green Bay, Wisconsin.

In an August 2024 interview with Michael Christopher of Vanyaland, Mark was asked how many riffs and other ideas he has stockpiled for CREED's next album. He responded: "Oh, I've got thousands. Literally thousands. I hoarded my ideas since I was, gosh, since I bought my first little handheld tape recorder — the little micro cassettes — saved my ideas since I was maybe in junior high school, high school."

Earlier that same month, Tremonti told Guitar Interactive magazine that he would like to work on some fresh music with his CREED bandmates. He said: "Yeah, I love writing music and I love doing it in many different ways. I love challenging ourselves, I love to be challenged, and writing for all these different acts, when you get into it, you're, like, how am I gonna differentiate this from my other projects? How are we gonna make this its own thing and not sound like this other band with just a different vocalist on it?"

Elaborating on CREED's possible mindset while working on new music, Tremonti said: "I think putting a fresh look, but also um realizing what people loved about the band and trying to trying to keep that intact and not get too progressive in any way with CREED. We keep that to [my other bands] ALTER BRIDGE and TREMONTI and we keep CREED a little more the way it was back in the day — the big melodies, just the stuff that worked back in the day. I think on [CREED's last album, 2009's] 'Full Circle' record, we got somewhat a little more — I think we strayed a little bit from our original sound with that album. So I think it'd be good to try to get back to that original sound a little more."

With more than 53 million albums sold worldwide, CREED remains one of modern rock's most successful acts. Now, 30 years into their incredible journey, CREED is bigger than ever. In late 2023, the Texas Rangers made "Higher" their unofficial anthem, as it spurred them to their first World Series win. In early 2024, the song appeared in a high-profile Paramount+ Super Bowl commercial, while a NASCAR Daytona 500 campaign also incorporated the hit single. Along the way, CREED has gained a new generation of fans, thanks to countless TikTok videos that feature their songs.

Photo credit: Chuck Brueckmann

In a new interview with Claudio Pérez of Cuero Y Metal, LACUNA COIL co-vocalist Andrea Ferro spoke about the band's upcoming album, "Sleepless Empire", which will be released February 14, 2025 via Century Media Records. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "We're very excited because, obviously, we have the songs for a long time now because we recorded and mixed and then mastered. So we can't wait for everybody else to hear it. And it's an exciting time. It's been a while since we released a complete new album, so we're really excited about it. And we can't wait for people to hear it. And, yeah, we're very, very proud of the job we've done with the album. I think it's something in the way of our latest things, but also it takes a little bit of a darker direction, certain things. So I'm really proud of the record. We like it a lot."

Regarding the musical direction of "Sleepless Empire", Andrea said: "I think, obviously, we do have our style that has been established in the years, so you can recognize the style of the band, but I think it has quite a variety of songs. Some stuff is really heavy, some stuff is a bit more dark, some stuff is a little lighter — 'I Wish You Were Dead', for example, is more of a catchy song in a way. So I think it's a progression from [2019's] 'Black Anima', but also it incorporates some of the darker elements of the 'Comalies XX' [a 'deconstructed' and 'transported' version of LACUNA COIL's third album, 'Comalies'], when we'd redone 'Comalies'. So, yeah, I think working on that record kind of brought us back a little bit of the dark roots of LACUNA COIL. So it's a mix of those two works, I think. Yeah, I think that's the most different thing, is that it's kind of a heavy, like 'Black Anima', but it's also more dark, like 'Comalies XX'."

As for the "heavier" sound of "Sleepless Empire" compared to some of LACUNA COIL's previous efforts, Andrea said: "I think in general we started to become more heavy with [2016's] 'Delirium'. It was the first record where we took a heavier direction, maybe because we changed a little bit the lineup of the band and we had a little different musicians that had a different style, obviously, than the previous one and so we could push on different things, like the double bass or some other stuff. And Marco [Coti Zelati], the bass player, which is the main songwriter for LACUNA COIL, he just felt he was going that way with the inspiration — what he was listening to, it was just going in a little bit more extreme way. And so we just followed the inspiration. It's not that that we decided, 'Okay, now we're gonna go heavy.' It's just the way music was going, the way we were listening to other bands, it was going in that direction. And I think also music in general has been going more in that direction, especially rock music. Most of the new bands, they're all going heavy in a way, either with the vocals or with the music; there's a lot of heavy stuff out there. So I think it's just the vibe of the music that we follow."

Inspiration to create "Sleepless Empire" came during the sessions for the aforementioned "Comalies XX" (2022),the acclaimed remake of LACUNA COIL's breakthrough third record "Comalies". Writing and recording took place in northern Italy between Milano (the band's hometown) and Como, where SPVN Studios are located. As with their previous albums, production was done in house with Marco "Maki" Coti Zelati at the helm, and artwork was hand curated by the talented Italian artist Roberto Toderico. Two other very special talents enrich the album, namely the guest vocalists: LAMB OF GOD's Randy Blythe on the song "Hosting The Shadow" and NEW YEARS DAY's Ash Costello on "In The Mean Time".

As a token of the band's love for the gaming world (which we've seen in past endeavors such as their card game "Horns Up" and their collaboration with Zombicide for which they wrote the track "Never Dawn"),the band have created an oracle "game" to be played with custom made dice available only in the box set version of "Sleepless Empire".

Last year, Italian guitarist/producer Daniele Salomone joined LACUNA COIL as the replacement for LACUNA COIL's longtime guitarist Diego Cavallotti.

Salomone made his live debut with LACUNA COIL on August 4, 2024 at the Rockstadt Extreme Fest in Râșnov, Romania.

In June 2024, LACUNA COIL announced Cavallotti's departure. Diego, who joined LACUNA COIL in 2016, initially as a fill-in guitarist following the exit of Marco "Maus" Biazzi, later said in a social media post that "this decision is not the result of my dissatisfaction or desire to explore new opportunities."

Cavallotti and Salomone played together in the Italian metal band INVERNO, which released its debut album, "Stasis", in December 2023.

Photo credit: Cunene

Trick Or Treat will release the new album, Ghosted, on April 25 through Scarlet Records. The band have also renewed the contract with the label, strengthening a partnership started in 2020 and projected into a bright future.


Ghosted is the album that definitely marks the new Trick Or Treat course, where the classic power happy metal mixes with terrifying and yet funny horror atmospheres.


The Italian band put in music some of the most famous horror movie franchise such as “Evil Dead Never Sleeps” (“Army Of Darkness”), “Bitter Dreams” (“A Nightmare On Elm Street”) or “The 13th” (“Friday The 13th”), and paid heartfelt homage to the world of comics (“Craven Road”, Dylan Dog) and video game (“Return To Monkey Island”) that shaped their imaginary too.




With a little help from a couple of soon-to-be-revealed famous international friends, Trick Or Treat delivered just another irresistible collection of wicked, catchy and energetic metal tunes.


Produced by Simone Mularoni at Domination Studio, and creepil

Award-winning singer/songwriter, Marina V, unveils her electrifying new single, "Symphony & Metal", a powerful anthem blending orchestral grandeur and metal intensity. The track features an all-star lineup, including Bruce Kulick (ex-KISS), David Ellefson (ex-Megadeth), and renowned composer Steve Horner, with Marina's husband and longtime collaborator Nick Baker on drums.


Marina describes the song as “a reflection of the timeless battle between our inner light and darkness, a message of resilience, and a call to never give up.”


She shares: "We are fragile, vulnerable, and beautiful (symphony) yet extremely adaptable, strong, and tough (metal). This duality resonates deeply with me, especially after experiencing life’s extremes in recent years—becoming a mom, losing my dad during the pandemic, and enduring the devastating effects of the war on my family in Russia and Ukraine. The lyric, ‘It doesn’t matter how many times you get knocked down, it only matters if you get back up,’ has been my daily mantra."

Swedish hard rockers, Crazy Lixx, unveil their new single, “Hunt For Danger”, taken from their new studio album, Thrill Of The Bite, set for release on February 14 via Frontiers Music Srl. A new video, available below, accompanies the track.


Guitarist Chrisse Olsson comments on the new track: “I'm really excited about our next single and music video release for 'Hunt For Danger', from our upcoming album Thrill Of The Bite. To me, this song is the perfect result of drawing inspiration from all the music I grew up with and all those great bands that influenced me and my musicianship from an early age. A song with a vibe from a time and an era that really made a mark and shaped my life, and still inspires me to make music to this day. When I first pitched this song to the band, I was fairly convinced that they would like it just as much as I do, and I'm extremely proud of the result, and everybody's contribution in making this into what I feel has the potential to become a real Crazy Lixx classic. An obvious choice for a single in my book, and I'm glad the label and the band agreed. This is a song that is sure to take you back in time.”


Watch the new video for "Hunt For Danger":







Vocalist Danny Rexon expresses his enthusiasm for the new album, by saying: “So stoked to finally reveal the news of our upcoming album, set to be released in February 2025. Even though we did release some new songs on the compilation album earlier this year, it has been quite a while since the fans got a proper full length studio album with all originals, but now we can finally announce that that time is soon upon us. And dare I say that this album is one really worth waiting for? Personally, I'm really proud and happy with how it came out and I think that the response to the two singles we've put out so far ('Call Of The Wild' and 'Little Miss Dangerous') gives us a clear indication that our fans seem to agree.”


Since the latest studio album release with Street Lethal back in the winter of 2021, fans have been eager to hear new Crazy Lixx material, and even though the compilation album Two Shots At Glory (2024) gave the listeners some covers, fresh takes on old songs, and a couple of new tracks, this next studio album is what they have all been dying to hear.


Thrill Of The Bite promises to elevate Crazy Lixx’s rock music to new heights. Following the success of their previous album Street Lethal (2021), this new record is packed with powerful anthems, memorable riffs and melodies, electrifying guitar solos, and the larger-than-life sing-along energy that fans have come to expect from the band, delivering what is already shaping up to be one of the bands strongest works in their 20+ year career.


The album features tracks that highlight the band’s ability to balance their nostalgic, sleaze-metal roots with their love for the 80s and early 90s, drawing inspiration from the flamboyant heavy metal and movies of that era alike. Crazy Lixx have teased a few tracks, suggesting a turn to a heavier, riff-driven style while maintaining their signature melodic choruses and glam-influenced attitude.


With Thrill Of The Bite, Crazy Lixx are poised to continue their reign as one of Sweden’s premier retro hard rock bands, solidifying their legacy in the global scene while pushing their creative boundaries even further.


Pre-order Thrill Of The Bite here.





Thrill Of The Bite tracklisting:


"Highway Hurricane"
"Who Said Rock N' Roll Is Dead"
"Little Miss Dangerous"
"Call Of The Wild"
"Recipe For Revolution"
"Run Run Wild"
"Midnight Rebels"
"Hunt For Danger"
"Final Warning"
"Stick It Out"


"Midnight Rebels" video:





"Little Miss Dangerous" video:





"Call Of The Wild" video:





Crazy Lixx are a Swedish heavy metal / hair metal / hard rock band hailing from Malmö, Sweden formed in 2002. Known for their energetic performances,

Nightwish have released the official lyric video for "The Antikythera Mechanism", featured on their new album, Yesterwynde, released last September via Nuclear Blast. Watch the new clip below:





Nightwish recently released the official full "making of" documentary on Yesterwynde.




A message states: "From early demo playback sessions in hotel rooms all across the world during the Human. :||: Nature. world tour to the remote rehearsal sessions in a cabin in Röskö, from Floor Jansen delivering stunning vocal performances at her home studio to the orchestral recordings at Abbey Road Studios in London - this 45-minutes documentary directed by Ville Lipiäinen details the long way of transforming the ideas, stories and songs of Tuomas into Yesterwynde!"





Yesterwynde will receive its symphonic world premiere by the Tampere Philharmonic Orchestra. A third performance has been added on Saturday, August 30, 2025.


Yesterday, the band revealed: "Due to high demand, we’ve just released a third Nightwish Yesterwynde Orchestral concert for Saturday, August 30, 2025. Ticket sales start tomorrow on Friday, December 20, at 9 AM (Finnish time). Grab your tickets quickly before they’re gone (with the wynde)! Nightwish’s Yesterwynde album will have its orchestral world premiere at Tampere Hall, Finland in August 2025. The music will be performed by the Tampere Philharmonic Orchestra, the Tampere Opera Choir, and a children's choir."


Consult the post below for ticket details:





Yesterwynde is available in a number of different vinyl variants, as a jewelcase, digipak, earbook and as part of a deluxe vinyl box set. Order the album here.





Yesterwynde tracklisting:


"Yesterwynde"
"An Ocean Of Strange Islands"
"The Antikythera Mechanism"
"The Day Of..."
"Perfume Of The Timeless"
"Sway"
"The Children Of 'Ata"
"Something Whispered Follow Me"
"Spider Silk"
"Hiraeth"
"The Weave"
"Lanternlight"


"Yesterwynde" lyric video:





"Lanternlight" video:





"An Ocean Of Strange Islands" lyric video:

Rob Dukes has released his first video message since it was announced that he was returning to EXODUS as the replacement for the band's singer Steve "Zetro" Souza.

On Sunday (January 19),Dukes shared a video in which he said: "How you doing everybody? This is Rob Dukes. Yeah, I'm back. I wanted to say thanks to all the fans for all the support. I'm looking forward to going out and playing metal with the boys again, and seeing all you fans all over the world. So, yeah, man. Metal. See you soon."

When EXODUS announced Dukes's return on January 15, the band said in a statement: "EXODUS have parted ways with Steve 'Zetro' Souza. We thank Steve for his years fronting the band and all the killer music we made during that time. We wish him only the best in the future and much success with anything he does.

"And please help us welcome Rob Dukes back to EXODUS! We are beyond stoked to have Rob back ripping up the stage with us and he's looking forward to crushing everything like only he can.

"Next chapter begins, new record rolls along as planned and the beatings will continue.

"See you soon, EXODUS".

Dukes joined EXODUS in January 2005 and appeared on four of the band's studio albums — "Shovel Headed Kill Machine" (2005),"The Atrocity Exhibition... Exhibit A" (2007),"Let There Be Blood" (2008, a re-recording of EXODUS's classic 1985 LP, "Bonded By Blood") and "Exhibit B: The Human Condition" (2010).

The thrash metal legends in June 2014 announced the departure of Dukes and the return of his predecessor, Souza, who previously fronted EXODUS from 1986 to 1993 and from 2002 to 2004.

Dukes addressed his then-relationship with EXODUS in a June 2022 interview with Scott Penfold of the "Loaded Radio" podcast. He said: "When EXODUS fired me, it took me about a year to not be angry about it. It was unexpected — I didn't see it coming — and it was a hard time in life. I'd just moved; I'd just gotten married. It was a heavy burden. And it took me a while. And about a year later, after Gary [Holt, EXODUS guitarist] called me and we spoke, they flew me up to San Francisco and I sat down with them. And we laid it out on the table. And it made it better — just to clear the wreckage of that. And I moved on with my life, and they moved on with their life. I did one show with them — I did a few songs up in San Francisco — and then I just started living my life."

Dukes went on to say that he no longer dwells on the negative circumstances surrounding his departure from EXODUS.

"[EXODUS] was definitely a part of my life, but I don't rely on it," he said. "So I just move forward. But our friendship is good, man. I went up there to see… After Tom [Hunting, EXODUS drummer] got sick [with cancer in early 2021], we were talking the entire time and I was aware of his situation. And then when the time was right, after he had done some chemo sessions and was feeling a little better, I flew up and spent a couple of days with Tom. And I saw Gary, and I went and had lunch with Lee [Altus, EXODUS guitarist].

"Look, man, we lived together for 10 years. That bond is very difficult to break," Rob explained. "Especially when the reason I got fired, it wasn't personal; it was business. I took it personally in the beginning. But this is a harsh business, man, and there's a lot of fucking snakes out there and there's a lot of weird people who want their little piece. And it's kind of what happened. It was just business. Looking back on it, it was all for the best."

Three years after he was fired from EXODUS, Dukes performed with the band during a July 2017 concert in San Francisco, California. He sang several songs with the group on the second of EXODUS's two-night stint at The Chapel in what marked the band's first headlining Bay Area club shows since late 2013.

Rob previously discussed his split with EXODUS during a December 2020 pay-per-view video conversation with Souza, recorded earlier that month at Zetro's studio in the San Francisco Bay Area as part of Souza's "Zetro's Toxic Vault" YouTube interview series. At the time, Dukes said that the seed for his exit from EXODUS was planted during the songwriting and pre-production sessions for the band's 2014 album "Blood In Blood Out". "One night, before a show, me, Lee, Tom and Jack [Gibson, drums] were sitting, and we said, 'You know, we should do this [album] different. We should do this one where we actually rehearse together and we go through the songs like a band would do 'em in the old days' — go through 'em and maybe pick apart parts, maybe make 'em better, do it that way," he said. "[I thought it was] a great plan; I agreed. I come home, fly back out a couple of weeks later and everything is done. They're doing the drums, but Jack is doing the engineering, and [longtime British producer] Andy [Sneap] is not doing the vocals. And at that time, nothing against Jack — I love Jack — but the difference was, working with Andy, I didn't have to sing the whole line all the way through over and over again. Jack wasn't able to, at this time, edit in a word if I fucked up; I had to start all over. And the dissent had started with me. I felt a lot of the songs were very repetitious.

"Now, I could have just kept my mouth shut and just went along with it if I wanted to keep my job, even though it wouldn't have mattered, because the business decisions, I think, were being made behind the scenes with Metal Maria and Chuck [Billy, TESTAMENT singer]. I, actually, in front of everyone, challenged Chuck. 'Cause Chuck was now managing the band. We're halfway through the record, and they said, 'Well, Chuck's gonna manage the band.' I go, 'You don't see that as a conflict of interest — a little bit?' And I said this to Chuck, to his face. I said, 'You're telling me, if you get an opportunity, you're not gonna have TESTAMENT [take the gig]; you're gonna give EXODUS the gig? Get the fuck outta here, dude! I wouldn't do that, so I know you're not gonna do that.' He's, like, 'I wouldn't do that.' I go, 'You're not being honest with me. You're not being honest with yourself.' And it caused, like, a thing. And everyone was mad at me, 'cause the boys don't like confrontation. And it wasn't the songs. The songs were the songs. I thought 'BTK' was killer. Dude, you did 'BTK' awesome," he said, complimenting Zetro. "There were certain things about it. I don't wanna shit on it, but some of it just seemed regurgitated. I was, like, 'This song sounds like that song,' and, 'This song sounds like this song,' and it started to weigh on me. Like I said, I could have just kept my mouth shut and just played the game and not rocked the boat, but it wasn't my nature. My nature was, 'No, man. We're better than this. We need to top ourselves over the last thing we did,' and I didn't feel like it was doing that — I felt like it was actually declining a little bit, in my eyes, from my position. But it didn't mean that I didn't give everything I had — I gave everything I had on vocals — but Jack was beating me up, because I was constantly not able to… Especially with some of the timing stuff — you've never done it before, and now you're expected to do it forever. This is the CD, man — this is forever."

Explaining why he was angry for such a long time about his dismissal from EXODUS, Dukes said: "Look, man, [I was] 47 years old [at the time]. I got married five days before. And you fucking fire me. If I was by myself, if I was just me, I would have been okay with it. I was responsible for another human being. I just moved my entire life from my comfortable New York upbringing to a place [in Arizona] where I know one person, and I don't even know him that well; I know him from touring and watching him when I was a kid. I knew Roger Miret from AGNOSTIC FRONT; it's the only guy I knew [in Arizona].

"I remember telling my wife, 'We're gonna be okay. It's fine. We're fine. I'll sell my car. And that'll get us, like, a year rent, and we'll be okay. I'll figure it out. We'll be okay.' But in my head, I was fucking terrified," he admitted. "And I felt like [the EXODUS guys] took something from me that I earned, that I deserved. But I was looking at it wrong. I didn't deserve anything. I didn't earn anything. I was grateful to be there. And I tried to do the right thing. I remember writing a statement and putting it out there. I was grateful — I was grateful for going to over a hundred countries in my lifetime, playing in front of the millions of people that I got to play over 10 years. I was grateful for every opportunity that was given to me; I was honestly grateful. But also, I was angry, and I had every right to be angry. But I wasn't able to see it for what it was until a year later — it took me a year."

Dukes said that he wishes he had been more vocal in the earlier stages of the making of "Blood In Blood Out", particularly as it relates to EXODUS's choice of producer for the sessions.

"The truth was that my part in it, had I been honest from the beginning and I had said — 'cause there were times when I didn't wanna rock the boat — 'We are making fucking mistakes. And if you guys all wanna go to this next level that you all talk about, then let's put our fucking money where our mouth is and change it the way we're doing it,'" he said. "You've done it this way all this time and you've always gotten what you got. But if you change the game… Nothing against Andy, but if we bring in Colin Richardson, bring in fucking Zeuss [Chris Harris], bring in somebody [from] outside the game who had his own ideas of looking at things and maybe corral some of the chaotic stuff that was going on. And maybe go, 'You know what? The song does sound like that song. Maybe we should fucking take this riff…' Let producers do what they do… I thought it would have been awesome for somebody like Colin Richardson or Zeuss to come in and take Gary Holt [EXODUS guitarist and main songwriter] and sit him down and go, 'This is awesome. But we can make this better. Let's try this and try that.' And that's what the plan originally was."

Looking back on how his split with EXODUS went down, Rob said during the "Zetro's Toxic Vault" chat that he was "glad that everything worked out the way it did. And I was glad that Gary called me a year later and I spoke with him," he said. "And he was legitimately sorry; I knew he was. And he said, 'I want you to come to San Francisco.' And then I was, like, 'Well, how does Zet feel?' And he goes, 'It was Zet's idea.'"

Dukes also addressed the speculation that his substandard vocals on an early version of "Blood In Blood Out" were proof that he wasn't sufficiently inspired to deliver the goods on the album. "That assumption has been said to me a bunch of times," he said. "Even Lee has said, he goes, 'Your heart wasn't in it.' And my ego, which I don't have a big ego — it's not like I'm an egotistical dick — but I can tell you that when I was on the microphone, I was giving my best, I was giving all I had. What I felt inside was that the songs weren't as good. To me, they felt rushed. I felt some of the lyrics felt rushed.

"Me and Gary look at music very differently, and I think that's why we kind of worked," he continued. "Gary will write the lyrics before he writes the music, and he fits it in, where I write the music, write the melody and then fill in the words to the melody.

"It's hard to say it without sounding like a dick, but it was very… I remember singing one song and going, 'Dude, this is that other song.' And then, hearing the lead, going, 'That's the lead from that other song.' And I think that alone, trying to take my ego out of it, maybe my heart wasn't it. I wish that it was.

"At the moment, I knew I was giving all I could, but the factors against me was I didn't think the material was as strong as what we had already done," Dukes added. "I wanted it to be better. It's like setting bar for yourself and then not giving at least that measure. And then I thought that, as much as I love Jack, he wasn't Andy Sneap. And working with Andy, there was something to working with Andy that pulls it out of me.

"I remember talking to [Rob] Halford about it, 'cause [Andy recorded] Halford with PRIEST. He made me do fucking 10 fucking takes of each line. When you do 10 takes of each line, and then he fucking pieces them together. And then you get back something and you're, like, 'Wow, that's the way I sang that, huh? Cool.' No, it wasn't. It was the way Andy put it together. And then, all of a sudden, now you have a template. 'Well, now I'm gonna do that live, 'cause that's better.' 'Cause Andy knew what the fuck he was doing. But now you're just leaving it to me raw. And I thought not having Andy there for the vocals made me mad — not mad; it just made me a little disheartened, I guess. Because working for two albums with Andy, I knew what to expect. No matter what template I was given, I knew that Andy was gonna make me do it the right way. And when we were doing it, it wasn't that."

Dukes still resides in Arizona, where he works as a mechanic specializing in car restoration.

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Respected Danish vocalist and guitarist Mike Tramp has completed work on "Songs Of White Lion - Vol. III". As was the case with "Songs Of White Lion - Vol. I" and "Songs Of White Lion - Vol. II", the upcoming album once again sees Tramp re-imagining select cuts from his former band WHITE LION.

Tramp confirmed the completion of "Songs Of White Lion - Vol. III" in a new interview with Australia's Heavy. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): 'We've just basically finished recording 'Vol. III' to end the ['Songs Of White Lion'] trilogy. So, it is going to be a completion. So almost every WHITE LION song has a new, updated version."

Asked how he has managed to keep his voice in shape after all these years, Tramp, who turned 64 earlier in the month, said:  "You know what? Obviously, you will recognize that it's the same singer, but it was very important for me that the growth of Mike Tramp through all the albums that I've done and the touring and the traveling became… Let's say, in reality, [WHITE LION] had not broken up. There would have been a natural progression. [Guitarist] Vito Bratta and myself, which, of course, were the foundation of WHTIE LION, the songwriters, already knew that when we recording 'Mane Attraction', our fourth album, our last album. If you go back, you will already see that we were making the first step towards prog rock, where we wanted the band to go. We were going much more towards bands like JOURNEY, KANSAS or STYX and whatever bands would have come. We wanted the band to be a band of music and little by little, the hair would become less important. So, with my albums that have gone on, my voice has naturally just changed bit by bit a year. So when I reintroduced the WHITE LION songs, I definitely cannot sing them in the same key. So once we refurbished them and once we found the new key to the songs, I also went out there now with the knowledge of knowing that I wrote those songs 40 years ago. I wanted to sort of say, 'I'm gonna sing them a little different.'"

Asked why it was important for him to recreate those songs, Mike said: "Yeah, without any disrespect to myself and the band that I started, I personally cannot stand listening to the versions from that time. I was in a completely different place. So, for me to play these songs again, I had to find something that felt new and fresh, even though it was the same thing. So by singing these songs again and changing the keys of the songs, it's almost like they became fatter and fuller and not so gung-ho. We were so fast and singing so high and flying in the air. Now I'm going up to the mic stand and I'm fully in control. I used to run out on stage with WHITE LION and started screaming at the audience, and the band would look at me, 'He's gonna collapse in 10 seconds.' [Now I'm] going out fully confident and saying, 'We're gonna play these songs now for the sake of music.'"

When "Songs Of White Lion - Vol. II" was first announced last year, Tramp said in a statement: "Would Leonardo Da Vinci have re-painted 'Mona Lisa', if he had gotten a second chance? That we will never know, but I can say for sure, that I am beyond thrilled to have gotten a second chance to re-record and sing the songs I wrote between 1983 - 1990. Today I have such a better understanding of how I want to express the songs in my voice than I had when I was in my 20s, it's just a fact, and I've grabbed the chance. 'Songs Of White Lion' is a whole new chapter. [As a] matter of fact, it is current."

Tramp spent most of 2024 touring the U.S. and Europe with his band MIKE TRAMP'S WHITE LION, which doesn't included any other members of the original WHITE LION group.

In 2023, Tramp was asked in an interview about the possibility of WHITE LION reforming for a tour. He said: "When we broke up in '91, we always knew we would never go back together. And a lot of people always talk about reunions. WHITE LION reuniting would not be a better WHITE LION than WHITE LION was, so I'm out there performing the songs, not trying to recreate WHITE LION."

Asked if he has ever thought of calling his solo band WHITE LION and touring with new members, Mike replied: "I can't call it WHITE LION." Pressed about whether he would call his band WHITE LION if he could, Mike said: "I tried, and it cost me money. [Laughs] I think that the audience now is understanding that I'm just keeping the songs alive, and I'm able to perform it in a different way. I'm able to show the image that I'm not coming out there and doing a show but I'm gonna take them through like a greatest hits. I like to tell stories about what the songs are. You can't always do that on a festival when you have one hour, but that is my goal, that I will keep the songs alive. And I think that all the fans and the music fans know who Mike Tramp is and it doesn't need to be called WHITE LION. But it's called 'Songs Of White Lion'."

Back in 2019, Tramp revealed in an interview that he had apologized to guitarist Vito Bratta for trying to resurrect his former band without his onetime songwriting partner and bandmate.

The Danish-born singer hasn't played with Bratta since WHITE LION performed its last concert in Boston in September 1991.

In the 34 years since WHITE LION broke up, Bratta's public profile has been virtually nonexistent, while Tramp has remained active, recording and touring as a solo artist and with the bands FREAK OF NATURE, THE ROCK 'N' ROLL CIRCUZ and, more recently, BAND OF BROTHERS. Tramp also attempted to revive WHITE LION with the 2008 album "Return Of The Pride", featuring new members. Two years later, Tramp ceded ownership of the name WHITE LION to Bratta in an out-of-court settlement.

Speaking to SiriusXM's "Trunk Nation", Tramp said that he and Vito are once again on speaking terms following his ill-fated attempt to bring back WHITE LION a decade and a half ago.

"I have, over the past couple of years, been the one out there basically both admitting and apologizing that the only thing that I never planned to do in my career and wanted to do was go back and rehash a version of WHITE LION that had nothing to do with WHITE LION, nothing to do with the guys that played in the band," Mike said. "Mike Tramp's heart was not in it. It was just a moment of weakness, not believing enough in my solo albums. [You listen to] some guys saying, 'Hey, if you put a new WHITE LION together, you can play festivals and get much more money.' And then you fall for that and you engage in it and you go out there, and then you realize it's not what you wanna do. And then, of course, Vito did not want the name WHITE LION to be used without him being in the band. And it actually took a couple of years for me to really understand how much it meant to Vito. And when Vito one day told me in one of these conversations… First of all, he told me, 'Mike, I'm not against you. I just don't wanna turn YouTube on and see the title 'WHITE LION live in so and so,' and somebody doing 'When The Children Cry' solo and it's not me. WHITE LION was you and me, it was our band, we wrote the songs. That is the memories I want for the rest of my life.' And when he told me that, I had tears in my eyes and I totally understood it, because I had also gotten to that point that when we closed WHITE LION, we felt that this is where we wanted to stop it. There was something, going into the '90s, that didn't agree with the things we were looking at, and we wanted to somehow end it on a higher level than something that would not represent us in the future. But it just took many years to really understand it."

Asked if he understands why Vito doesn't want to play music professionally anymore, Mike said: "Yes, I do, because there are actually times when I also don't feel like doing it anymore. When all the magic around us, the stuff that made us fall in love with rock and roll — first of all, our heroes, then the industry, then the touring stuff — when all of that was really exposed that it was a two-faced kind of thing, that the people we thought loved us — and I'm not talking about the fans; I'm talking about the people that made money from us, and stuff like that — turned their back on us and stabbed us in the back, it really ripped us apart. And maybe it's just that I came from a different background than Vito, that I maybe was a little bit stronger or just of a different nature that I just fought back, but Vito just said, 'I just don't wanna deal with this.' And I understand now — I understand it from every conversation that I have with him."

Tramp also once again closed the door on a possible WHITE LION reunion, saying: "I can't be Mike Tramp 1988. I can't sing like that, and I'm not going up on stage and doing a half-assed job, which most of the bands out there are doing."

Mainly active in the 1980s and early 1990s, WHITE LION released its debut album, "Fight To Survive", in 1985. The band had its breakthrough with the double-platinum-selling "Pride" album, which produced two Top 10 hits: "Wait" and "When The Children Cry". The band continued its success with the third album, "Big Game", which achieved gold status.

By the time WHITE LION released its final album, 1991's "Mane Attraction", alternative rock was in the ascendancy, leading to a swift decline of the so-called "hair metal" scene in terms of sales, popularity, radio play, and most importantly, relevance.

Mike released "Songs Of White Lion", in April 2023 via Frontiers Music Srl. "Songs Of White Lion - Vol. II" followed in August 2024.

Veteran British rockers DEF LEPPARD played their first concert of 2025 last night (Saturday, January 18) at Feria Estatal De León in León, Mexico. As was the case with the band's October 14, 2024 private show in Nashville (as part of the Daimler Truck Customer Appreciation Event),guitarist Vivian Campbell was unable to join his bandmates at the León gig and was replaced by John Zocco, who is Phil Collen's guitar tech.

Prior to launching into the song "Foolin'", which was the fourth song of DEF LEPPARD's set in León, DEF LEPPARD singer Joe Elliott told the crowd that Campbell had to miss the performance because "he's just recovering from some treatment for his cancer." Joe added: "Please say hello to the guy that's standing in for tonight, Mr. John Zocco."

The setlist for the León concert was as follows:

01. Rock! Rock! (Till You Drop)
02. Rocket
03. Let's Get Rocked
04. Foolin'
05. Armageddon It
06. Animal
07. Love Bites
08. Just Like '73
09. Let It Go
10. Die Hard The Hunter
11. Two Steps Behind
12. This Guitar
13. Bringin' On The Heartbreak
14. Switch 625
15. Rock Of Ages
16. Photograph

Encore:

17. Hysteria
18. Pour Some Sugar On Me

Encore 2:

19. Wasted

TRIXTER's Steve Brown subbed for Campbell at several shows in 2014 and 2015 while the DEF LEPPARD guitarist received treatment in his fight against Hodgkin's lymphoma. Brown's first appearance with DEF LEPPARD took place in September 2014 during the pregame show for the first of three NFL International Series outings.

During a November 2023 appearance on the "Lymphoma Voices" podcast, Campbell offered an update on his battle with Hodgkin's lymphoma, with which he was diagnosed in 2013. The now-62-year-old musician said in part: "I'm still dealing with the lymphoma. It's sort of like — it's an American expression — whac-a-mole. You beat something back and then it pops up somewhere else. But it's been a pretty consistent battle, but it hasn't been too difficult for me. I deal with it fine. I've been able to live my life. I've been able to continue touring. For the bulk of those 10 years, I actually was doing immunotherapy. Starting in June of 2015, I started taking a drug called pembrolizumab. I did that as part of a clinical trial. We discussed a few options. And I'd heard about this immunotherapy, and it was a very nascent treatment and I was really pushing for doing it. I remember at the time my doctors wanted me to do radiation and maybe a combination of radiation and chemo. And I just thought, 'Well, let's just try this immunotherapy thing. Let's see if this works.' So I managed to get on the trial. I'm happy to say that it worked well for me. So from June of 2015 until essentially the end of 2022, I was able to, just about once a month, go in and do an infusion of pembrolizumab and just go about my life, and it was very, very easy for me to do. Honestly, the hardest part was scheduling with all my travel. There were very, very subtle, very benign side effects. For me, I tolerated the treatment very, very well. And that was working great. But it sort of lost its efficacy a year, year and a half ago. And we could tell in the scans. I would do scans every three to four months just as a matter of protocol anyway to see what was happening. And my oncologist now had been telling me for essentially the last two years that the pembrolizumab was not being as effective as it once was and that we were gonna have to consider different treatments. So anyway, in November of [2022], we did a combination of pembrolizumab with three chemo drugs. You have to forgive me 'cause I cannot remember the names of the chemo drugs. But anyway, so I did a course of treatment, six cycles of that combination therapy of the three chemo drugs and the pembrolizumab. Unfortunately, it didn't put me into remission; we fell a little bit short of that. So I just recently, at the end of July [of 2023], started doing six cycles of a combination therapy of a chemo drug called brentuximab and an immunotherapy drug called nivolumab. I'm halfway through that. I've done cycle three. I do cycle four early next week. So far, so good. I had to go and get this stunning haircut yesterday because the brentuximab does have hair loss as a side effect. So I could start telling in the last couple of weeks, every time I touched my hair, it was coming out. So, I'm a little bit more proactive by going and cutting it super, super short."

Asked if he has gotten used to his much shorter haircut, Vivian said: "10 years ago, when I first started doing the ABVD chemo, that's when my hair first fell out. And so that was difficult. It was mostly difficult for me because I'd had long hair my entire adult life. I literally started growing my hair long when I was about 11 or 12 years old, and it's just gotten longer and longer. And it becomes part of your identity when it's around for so long, especially as a guitar player. And to be honest, it was a comforting thing to me because it gave me something to hide behind when I was on stage. I am naturally a very shy person and I identify with being a musician. I don't identify very much with being a performer, even though, if I'm being honest with myself, that's really kind of what we do in DEF LEPPARD. Yeah, we're musicians and we're songwriters, we write songs and we make records and we record music, but when we go on tour, we're performers, and that's part of it. And my hair gave me something to hide behind. It was a big part of my identity for so much of my life. So it was difficult letting go of it the first time again.'

He continued: "I was living in L.A. at the time, and I went to a theatrical wig maker when they first told me my hair was gonna fall out. They took pictures and measurements of my hair before it fell out. And they made a very, very realistic wig for me. It was very expensive and it was very realistic. And I could have transitioned to that, and people might not have noticed — other than the weight loss. I mean, I definitely was losing a lot of weight, so I was a bit more gaunt looking. But the wig thing just didn't feel right to me. And I know that it's different for everyone else. I literally wore that wig, I think, for about 12 or 13 minutes driving home after visiting the wig guy and getting fitted for this. And I pulled over. My wife was with me and. And I just took it off my head and I never put it back on since. And I decided to just go public about my cancer diagnosis'

Campbell added: "I was able to speak directly to DEF LEPPARD fans via social media and sort of tell them, 'Well, this is what's going on with me. I've had this cancer diagnosis. And my hair is gonna fall out. So you're gonna see me on tour. I'm not gonna have much hair. Don't be too shocked.' So that's sort of helped that I was able to put it out to anyone who cared or was interested before actually just going on stage as bald as a cue ball. And, and it did get to that stage, that my hair completely fell; I didn't even have eyebrows. But in a way I found the whole process somewhat cathartic, because I didn't have this mane of hair to hide behind. I had nothing to offer on stage but my talents as a musician, as a guitarist, as a singer, as a songwriter. And in a way, it was somewhat liberating for me. And I realized that it's probably easier for me than for a lot of other people, because at this time I was already in my early fifties. I don't think I would have handled that as well if I had gotten this cancer when I was 20 years old, as opposed to 50 years old, so I had a different mindset about it.

"So it is a very personal thing, "Vivian said. "But for me, I tried to look on the positive side of it. I didn't see any shame in it. There's no shame in having cancer. There's no shame in going through treatment and wearing the effects of your treatment physically, and even being in a very public position as I was, going on tour with DEF LEPPARD and playing in front of tens of thousands of people. Like I say, there was there was something kind of really liberating about it. It's not my first choice, but you kind of go with it and you own it and you make the best of it. And for me as a musician, like I said, there was something that just allowed me to go on stage and just focus on the essence of who I am as a musician and as a person and to just put it all out there."

Campbell — who before joining DEF LEPPARD in 1992 was well known for his work with DIO and WHITESNAKE — went public with his Hodgkin's lymphoma diagnosis in June 2013.

Vivian underwent three separate spells of chemotherapy and a stem cell transplant, only for his Hodgkin's lymphoma to return.

Six years ago, Campbell underwent spine surgery.

Vivian and his DEF LEPPARD bandmates were finally inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame in March 2019 — 14 years after the British rockers first became eligible.

DEF LEPPARD's latest album, "Diamond Star Halos", arrived in May 2022 via UMe.

Ready to rock with you, León! See you 18 Enero at @feriadeleon. Details at https://www.facebook.com/FeriaDeLeon/

Posted by Def Leppard on Tuesday, November 19, 2024

Canadian thrashers Mutank have their next headbanging video for fans to check out for their track "Abortron" from their latest album "Think Before You Think" released this past November from Boonsdale Records.


Band members comment about the track:


Costa: “Elon Musk is jealous he didn’t invent this robot who sucks the lives out of your uterus!”




Stephen: “The lyrics for Abortron are disgusting and no one should read them.”

Germany’s greatest export Scorpions have released a live performance of the Love At First Sting classic “Bad Boys Running Wild” from France’s Hellfest 2022.





More footage from the band's Hellfest 2022 appearance can be viewed below:

In 2023, after an illustrious cult career spanning more than 20 years, German melodic black metallers, Dark Fortress, came to an end.


The Germans have made one final offering to their fans with Anthems From Beyond The Grave - Live In Europe 2023, a recording during the band's final European run, The Cosmic End Tour, in 2023. The album is out new via Century Media and official live video for "The Silver Gate", the opening track from 2008's Eidolon, has been released.


“I never thought Dark Fortress would have a live album,” says V. Santura (guitars). “The technical situation - we had multi-track recordings of two shows [Rotterdam and Bochum] - allowed for Anthems From Beyond The Grave to happen. I didn’t even listen to the recordings for months after the tour. When I finally did, I thought, ‘Holy shit!’ We sounded incredible, and I'm hardly ever happy with our shows. All of our hard work had finally fallen into place on that tour. When Century Media heard it, they said, ‘We’ve gotta release it - it’s too good not to!' If this is our end and it definitely is, then it’s a fitting end to Dark Fortress.”




Anthems From Beyond The Grave - Live In Europe 2023 can be ordered here.


Formats:


- Ltd. CD Digipak
- Gatefold black 2LP & LP-Booklet
- Digital album





Tracklisting:


CD
Intro
"CataWomb"
"The Silver Gate"
"Isa"
"Pulling At Threads"
"Crimson Tears"
"Cohorror"
"Self Mutilation"
"Chrysalis"
"Ylem"
"Insomnia"
"Evenfall"
"Baphomet"


2LP/Digital Album


Intro
"CataWomb"
"The Silver Gate"
"Isa"
"Pulling At Threads"
"Crimson Tears"
"Cohorror"
"Self Mutilation"
"Chrysalis"
"To Harvest The Artefacts Of Mockery"
"Ylem"
"Insomnia"
"Evenfall"
"Baphomet"
"Sycamore Trees" (Outro)


"The Silver Gate" (Live In 2023) video:

The ground quakes, the surface fractures, and a colossal force rises from the abyss: Gates To Hell have returned to deliver their undeniable truth - Death Comes To All. The Louisville natives charge onto the heavy music scene with their second full-length which will be released March 21 via Nuclear Blast Records. Blurring the lines between death metal, hardcore, and every brutal sound in between, Gates To Hell bring a monstrous energy to the studio and an unmatched ferocity to their live performances.


Today, the band unveil the brutal first track, "Next To Bleed". The song showcases the band’s growth as songwriters, demonstrating a refined maturity while retaining their signature aggression. The accompanying music video directed by Errick Easterday features a striking visual concept: the band encircling a tilting table, where a tortured figure lies bleeding out—a dark, visceral representation of the track’s themes. "Next To Bleed" is now available to order as a limited edition 7" red vinyl.







Gates To Hell comments, "We’ve been working real hard and we’re excited to share with you all the next chapter for Gates To Hell starting with our first single 'Next To Bleed'. This is our most diverse and well-rounded collection of songs we’ve made and we’re stoked to finally be able to release this record to the world soon.”


Nuclear Blast America's Label Manager & Head of A&R Tommy Jones comments, “The time has finally come and the Gates To Hell are opening wide. Line up and step through, for you are the ‘Next To Bleed’! I'm proud to be the gatekeeper to usher in the next era of brutality for the Louisville natives via the largest metal record label in the world, Nuclear Blast Records. Death Comes To All on March 21, 2025. You have been warned."


Stream "Next To Bleed" and purchase the limited edition 7" vinyl here. Check out the music video below.


Fueled by youthful ambition and a sharp creative focus, the band enlisted Randy LeBoeuf of Graphic Nature Audio. The partnership resulted in raw intensity with a sharpened sense of precision, elevating their sound to new heights. Their album artwork - crafted by WYRMWALK - offers a fitting representation of the blood-soaked dread and suffocating darkness that Death Comes To All unleashes.





Death Comes To All is available now for pre-order in a variety of formats including CD Jewel, LP Vinyl in purple swirl, light blue splatter (band exclusive), and purple and white swirl with black splatter (Life and Death Brigade Festival | New England Metal & Hardcore Festival exclusive) as well as a t-shirt. Head here.





Death Comes To All tracklisting:

Supertramp, in 1979, was one of the biggest bands in the world, following the release and extensive accompanying tour for the album Breakfast In America. Their complete set at the 8,000-seat Pavillon de Paris in December of that year, on the third of four sold-out nights, will be released as Live In Paris ‘79 on 3LP and 2CD.


Recorded on December 1 & 2, 1979, the classic lineup of members Rick Davies (singer-songwriter-keyboardist) and Roger Hodgson (singer-songwriter-guitarist-keyboardist) with John Helliwell on sax, woodwinds, vocals and keyboards and a rock-steady rhythm section of bassist Dougie Thomson and drummer Bob Siebenberg capturing Supertramp performing at the peak of their career.


Unlike the previously released 1980 Paris live album, featuring selections from earlier shows of this Paris run, the triple LP and double CD features the complete Supertramp show from the tour, compiled from recordings during the two December shows.




Having been on the road for almost ten months throughout America, Canada and Europe in support of Breakfast In America, 1979's top selling album, which sold in excess of 20 million copies, producing several hit singles and went on to win two Grammy awards. For a London based band that started in 1969 and, with a new lineup, reached stardom in 1974 with the release of its third album Crime of the Century and within five years to have now reached the very pinnacle of music success, it must have felt sweet.


Performing such Supertramp favorites as “Bloody Well Right,” “The Logical Song,” “Breakfast In America,” “Goodbye Stranger,” “Asylum,” “Even In The Quietest Moments,” “Give A Little Bit,” “Dreamer,” “Rudy,” “Take The Long Way Home,” “Fool’s Overture” and others amounted to nothing short of a celebration.


Drummer Siebenberg says, “looking back at that period, it really was the experience of a lifetime…the best of times.”


Saxophonist Helliwell notes, “those Paris shows were a definite high point for us because you could feel the audience reaction. You can actually hear the volatility in the French crowd. They sound a little mad!”





Supertramp Live In Paris ’79 tracklistings:


3LP:


Side A
"School"
"Ain't Nobody But M