Ted Nugent says that "apathy", "ignorance" and a "dramatically flawed" election process are all at least partially to blame for the fact that the "red wave" that some predicted would come during the midterm elections didn't happen.

Had the red wave materialized, it would have given Republicans control of Congress and critical positions in swing states. Republicans may still win the majority after all the votes are counted, but by a smaller margin than Democrats feared.

Nugent, an avid supporter of former U.S. president Donald Trump, whose candidates across the country failed to gain office last night, weighed in on the election results during the latest edition of "The Nightly Nuge", a news-style clip in which he offers his take on the news of our world every night. Asked by co-host Keith Mark why he thinks the results turned out not to be what many Republicans were expecting, or hoping for, Ted said in part (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "The people that voted Democrat, they voted for the importation of fentanyl to kill their fellow Americans. 'Well, I didn't vote [for that].' Yes, you did. That's what they did. They voted for us to be subservient to China. 'Well, I didn't vote [for that].' Yes, you did. And you need to engage your friends and say, 'You know, if you're not registered to vote, China, the communist Chinese, would like to thank you. It is that glaring.

"The dumbing down of America has been on the fast track since the 1950s," he added. "I mean, literally what's not taught in school and what is indoctrinated in school is an intentional dumbing down, so people are less knowledgeable, less smart and less suspicious of authority. Also, it's at all-time high that people don't care. So you have apathy and ignorance. And then add to that that the election process is dramatically flawed — dangerously flawed — and until we fix that, we'll never know what the real heartbeat of America is."

Nugent has been very publicly critical of Joe Biden, comparing him to Adolf Hitler following a speech the U.S. president made in September. Last year Nugent declared Biden a "rotten" human being and railed against Democrats who support the president's "ugly policies." He said during an appearance on "The Wild Initiative" podcast: "You say that some of the liberals have good intentions. I haven't met one. And I meet an awful lot of people. Because if you are on the side of Joe Biden, you're just plain a rotten human being. You support a man with a liberal agenda that renegotiated all the contracts with the globe that Trump finally negotiated on behalf of our country. That's not my hunch; that's not a guess; that's not an opinion. Trump renegotiated global contracts for the first time in my lifetime to actually benefit America, and Joe Biden reversed them to hurt America. So if you're a liberal and a Democrat, you're the enemy of freedom. And if you don't believe in those ugly, ugly policies, then you have to quit."

He continued: "If you don't agree with forcing Americans to get vaccination passports, but people are flooding in through the borders without any vetting whatsoever, then you have no soul, and you can't be on that team. If you disagree with these toxic, dangerous, tyrannical policies, you've gotta quit that gang. That gang is the Democrats. Their agenda is extreme liberal Marxism. And if you're part of that team, you're as rotten as that man who's searching for a syllable in the White House."

Nugent has repeatedly said that the 2020 presidential election was a fraud, insisting that "hundreds of thousands of dead people" voted and claiming that machines were "rigged" to give a Donald Trump vote to Joe Biden. Trump lost the election by more than 7 million in the popular vote and by 306-232 in the Electoral College.

There is no evidence of any widespread fraud or manipulation of voting machines in the 2020 election, as has been underscored by audits, court cases and the conclusions of Trump's own Department Of Justice.

In a new interview with Kyle Meredith, Sammy Hagar was asked about the status of the unreleased VAN HALEN ballad called "Between Us Two" which was originally recorded for the soundtrack to the 1996 blockbuster "Twister". The former VAN HALEN singer said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Everyone keeps asking me if there's any old songs that never got released, and I always say, 'Not really. There was a couple.' But I didn't remember — two or three. 'Between Us Two', that's a midtempo ballad. That's like a 'Be Still' kind of a song, from my new album ['Crazy Times' by SAMMY HAGAR & THE CIRCLE]. If somebody said, 'How was it?' It was more like a 'Be Still'. It was kind of almost country — not country, but… I don't know. It was kind of like [VAN HALEN's] 'Can't Stop Lovin' You', [but] not as uptempo."

Hagar confirmed that "Between Us Two" is completed and available to release. "We've got it. It's done," he said. "It's in the archives. They'll find it. They're looking through the archives right now to try to remaster some of the old stuff from my era [with VAN HALEN]. And they'll find it. That's gonna be a treasure."

VAN HALEN originally planned to complete two songs — "Between Us Two" and a rocker called "The Silent Extreme" — for the "Twister" soundtrack. "The Silent Extreme" eventually became "Humans Being" after the song's lyrics proved a major source of contention, as the film's director, Jan De Bont, reportedly didn't want the lyrics to be closely related to the movie's context. "Between Us Two" ended up being replaced by "Respect The Wind", an instrumental credited to guitarist Eddie Van Halen and drummer Alex Van Halen alone.

Hagar replaced David Lee Roth in VAN HALEN in 1985 and recorded four studio albums with the band — "5150", "OU812", "For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge" and "Balance" — all of which topped the U.S. chart.

Sammy, Eddie, Alex and bassist Michael Anthony last teamed up in 2004 for a U.S. summer tour. In exchange for taking part in the tour, Anthony reportedly had to agree to take a pay cut and sign away his rights to the band name and logo.

In his autobiography, "Red: My Uncensored Life In Rock", Hagar slammed Eddie, saying the guitarist was unkempt, hunched over, frighteningly skinny, drinking wine straight out of a bottle, missing part of his tongue (after a cancer scare) and several teeth. He told an interviewer in 2012: "What happened on that reunion tour in '04 was some of the most miserable, back-stabbing dark crap I've ever been involved with my whole life."

In a 2015 interview with Rolling Stone, Eddie questioned an "embellished" portion of "Red: My Uncensored Life In Rock" that painted the guitarist as a "very angry drunk" during the group's 2004 reunion tour.

Hagar mended his relationship with Eddie months prior to the legendary VAN HALEN guitarist's October 2020 passing.

Photo credit: Leah Steiger

During an appearance on the "Iron City Rocks" podcast, LAST IN LINE bassist Phil Soussan was asked if he and his bandmates have a "What would DIO do?" kind of mentality when it comes to their songwriting process, a reference to the fact that LAST IN LINE was formed a decade ago by original DIO guitarist Vivian Campbell, drummer Vinny Appice and bassist Jimmy Bain. He responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "It's not 'what would DIO do?' because what DIO would do is that they would work with Vivian, Vinny and Jimmy; that's what DIO would have done. And so we have two of those components already here. And what we do is we use the exact same methodology in how to write the songs and put the songs together."

Soussan, who joined LAST IN LINE after Bain unexpectedly died at the age of 68 on January 23, 2016, went on to say that he "got it all wrong" during the initial songwriting process for LAST IN LINE's sophomore album, 2019's "II". "They said, 'Okay, we're gonna get together and we're gonna work on some stuff,'" he recalled. "[And I said], 'Here's my device and I've got a whole bunch of ideas that I've put down. I've got some things and I have some ideas we can work on. We can jam on these.' And Viv said, 'Oh, hold on one second. That's not how we do it.' And I said, 'Well, how do we do it?' He said, 'You come in with nothing, and what we do is we sit in a room and we start coming with ideas all together and we develop them as we come up with them. If we have a riff we like, we work on it. If we have something we don't like, we move on to something else.' And I said, 'Well, that's very organic. In fact, it's very rare that people work like that anymore.' And he said, 'Well, that's how we did it; that's how we've always done it. That's the methodology to it.' And that's exactly how 'II' happened. And for me it was incredibly refreshing to be able to work in that way with people — just to have fun and just to sit there and bang around ideas and really just experiment and see what sounds good. And I've gotta tell you, the strangest things happen 'cause you'll end up with an idea that you think, 'Ah, this isn't gonna work.' And then somebody will say, 'Well, hang on a second. Hold on. Give that a chance. Let's work on this for a little bit.' And you work on it, and eventually it'll turn into something. And you might have dismissed it completely were it not for the fact that somebody else has a slightly different perspective on it. That's the beauty of working collaboratively, is everyone has a different perspective and creates something that's greater than the sum of the parts."

LAST IN LINE will release a new EP, "A Day In The Life", on November 11 via earMUSIC. The title track is described in a press release as "one of the heaviest versions" of THE BEATLES classic "ever recorded." The silver-colored 12-inch vinyl also includes two live tracks and a recently recorded new track, which gives us a first hint of how LAST IN LINE's third album will sound like.

"A Day In The Life" EP track listing:

01. A Day In The Life
02. Hurricane Orlagh
03. Devil In Me (Live)
04. Give Up The Ghost (Live)

Formed in 2012 by Appice, Bain and Campbell — Ronnie James Dio's co-conspirators and co-writers on the "Holy Diver", "Last In Line" and "Sacred Heart" albums — LAST IN LINE's initial intent was to celebrate Ronnie James Dio's early work by reuniting the members of the original DIO lineup. After playing shows that featured a setlist composed exclusively of material from the first three DIO albums, the band decided to move forward and create new music in a similar vein.

LAST IN LINE's debut album, "Heavy Crown", was released in February 2016 via Frontiers Music Srl, landing at No. 1 on Billboard's Heatseekers chart. "II" was also made available through Frontiers Music Srl.

Some of the early recording sessions for LAST IN LINE's third album took place in January 2020 at Steakhouse studio in North Hollywood, California.

Eicca Toppinen of Finnish cello rockers APOCALYPTICA spoke to Knotfest at this year's Louder Than Life festival about when fans can expect to hear a new full-length album from the band. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "That's very hard to tell, because now we just released this EP ['Metal Classic, Classic Metal', featuring cello-metal reinterpretations of classical bangers]. Probably in December or January — I can't recall the date — there's gonna be the next song; it's a vocal feature. I can't reveal what it is yet. But that's gonna be out then. And there's gonna be other singles released next year. I would guess the next album is not gonna be before '24 — a full album."

He continued: "We are kind of following different paths, because the digital world gives you the possibility that it's not the old-school way that you release an album and then you tour for two or three years and then you make a new album. It's not like that. The modern world requires, in a way, to deliver something new and fresh pretty much constantly. And we have this classical covers world, then we have the original instrument APOCALYPTICA world, and then we have the vocal world of APOCALYPTICA. We have kind of three tracks we are [following]. At the same time when we are working on a new album, we are also working… Because an album is always a little bit more like a concept — it's one type of full structure of an idea — and we don't want to stick only on that. Even [while] we go for this one album structure, we want to keep these both other paths alive at the same time. So that's why it's very hard to say exactly what's gonna happen in which order."

"Metal Classic, Classic Metal" was released in September. The effort includes the focus track "Flight Of The Bumblebees", originally by Nikolai Rimski-Korsakow. "Metal Classic, Classic Metal" also contains a new version of Beethoven's "5th Symphony" as well as a remake of Maurice Ravel's "Bolero".

Seven months ago, Eicca told Mexico's Summa Inferno about his band's plans for a follow-up to 2020's "Cell-0" LP: "We have started to talk about the next possible album. But in the meanwhile, we've been recording individual songs so we could release something constantly…. I would guess we'll start to write for the new album. We've been starting to talk about what it could be, what would be exciting to do for us, but [those discussions have] not [gone] very far yet. Because the mindset is now we're doing the 'Cell-0' tour. And it's not that easy at the same time to get very high inspiration and motivation to write a new album, because writing a new album and recording it is a huge process; it takes a lot of time [and] a lot of energy. So, now we have so much touring that it's not possible to do it now. But I think we [will be] starting on it [soon]."

This past March, APOCALYPTICA released the "I'll Get Through It" single, which was written for the band by American award-winning songwriter Diane Warren. It features Franky Perez — guest vocalist in APOCALYPTICA's 2015 record "Shadowmaker" — as well as Geezer Butler of BLACK SABBATH on bass guitar. The song was born out of a visit Geezer and Franky paid to their friend Diane, who had already written the track "Not Strong Enough" for APOCALYPTICA, included in their 2010 record "7th Symphony".

2015's "Shadowmaker" was APOCALYPTICA's first album to feature just one singer — Perez — instead of guest collaborators. The disc was recorded with Grammy Award-winning producer Nick Raskulinecz (FOO FIGHTERS, DEFTONES, MASTODON).

Prior to enlisting Perez, who accompanied APOCALYPTICA on the band's 2022 North American tour, the group released eight albums that melded the classically trained cello mastery of the three core bandmembers with the harder elements of the rock world, including drums and guest vocalists, such as Gavin Rossdale from BUSH, and Corey Taylor of SLIPKNOT and STONE SOUR fame.

In April 2021, APOCALYPTICA released the official music video for its collaboration with PAPA ROACH singer Jacoby Shaddix on a cover version of the CREAM classic "White Room". The track was produced by Howard Benson at West Valley Recording Studios in Woodland Hills, California and mixed by Chris Lorde-Alge.

"White Room" was the first release from APOCALYPTICA since "Talk To Me", which arrived in August 2020. That song was a collaboration with HALESTORM frontwoman Lzzy Hale.

"Cell-0" came out in January 2020. The effort was the band's first fully instrumental record in 17 years.

DISTURBED frontman David Draiman has weighed in on the news that PANTERA's surviving members Philip Anselmo (vocals) and Rex Brown (bass) will unite with guitarist Zakk Wylde (OZZY OSBOURNE, BLACK LABEL SOCIETY) and drummer Charlie Benante (ANTHRAX) for a world tour under the PANTERA banner.

Anselmo and Brown, along with Wylde and Benante, will headline a number of major festivals across North America, South America and Europe and stage some of their own headline concerts.

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

Draiman discussed his views on PANTERA's comeback in a new interview with Germany's Rock Antenne. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Oh, I can't wait. I'm gonna go see it. I mean, look, there's an entire generation of fans of the music that never got the chance to see it played live. They deserve the opportunity. And I couldn't think of any two guys who are more appropriate and skilled to fill the shoes of the brothers than Charlie and Zakk. I think that was the respectful and smart way to go. Charlie was very, very close to Vinnie, very close to the PANTERA camp. And Zakk, basically, it used to be Zakk and the PANTERA guys in the dressing room backstage at Ozzfest that we'd always be hanging with all the time anyway. He was one of the closest guys to them as well."

Draiman added: "It's never going to be the same as Vinnie and Dime. That's something we've lost forever, and we have to recognize that. But I think that this will be a great way to tribute all that they've accomplished."

This past February, David discussed PANTERA's influence on DISTURBED in an interview with HardDrive Radio to celebrate the 30th anniversary of PANTERA's classic sophomore major label album "Vulgar Display Of Power". Speaking about the impact the LP had on his musical upbringing, Draiman said: "[PANTERA] really, I think, at that point, had honed the whole groove metal thing that they had pioneered; they had gotten it to be so, so perfect. And look, that record was songs we covered, songs we adored, songs that were the soundtrack to many a late-night bit of Sodom and Gomorrah on the bus [laughs] — all kinds of craziness. There was all kinds of moments that those songs are literally part of the soundtrack to our upbringing.

"A lot of people don't really know this, but I don't think that there would be a DISTURBED without PANTERA," he continued. "I mean, the band that was DISTURBED before me that used to be called BRAWL had a singer by the name of Erich [Awalt], and he was very much in the Phil Anselmo school. [Editor's note: A four-song demo from BRAWL can be heard below.] All the stuff that I heard when I went to audition for the DISTURBED guys originally was much, much closer to old-school PANTERA than it was modern-day DISTURBED. And I was not sure I could even complement it properly at the time; I didn't know if my voice could be as ferocious as the music seemed to call for.

"I told Phil this when I saw him — I think the last time I saw Phil was actually in Texas; he was opening up for DANZIG with SUPERJOINT, I think, at the time," Draiman added. "And I told him that. I'm, like, 'Look, dude. You know it, I know it — I learned so much from you over the course of years.' He looks at me and goes, 'I know.' [Laughs]"

Back in July 2018, DISTURBED paid tribute to late PANTERA drummer Vinnie Paul Abbott by performing a cover version of the PANTERA classic "Walk" at that year's Rock Fest in Cadott, Wisconsin. Prior to launching into the song, Draiman told the crowd: "Our very first Ozzfest, PANTERA was on the main stage. And every night — every night — somehow, I ended up finding my way backstage to the PANTERA dressing room; in fact, I think most of the band did. And they were always so welcoming — they had the warmest heart, and Vinnie especially. Don't get me wrong, I will always love Dime [late PANTERA guitarist 'Dimebag' Darrell Abbott], and everyone will always love Dime — he is one of the greatest legends to ever grace the face of the planet. But personally, I don't feel enough has been said about the incredible heart, the majesty and the unbelievable level of musicianship that just came from Vinnie Paul.

"It's funny, because as I was hanging out with them, Dime wasn't really into our stuff," Draiman continued. "He was all telling Vinnie, 'I'm not into all that jumping-up-and-down shit.' Well, we're all about the jumping-up-and-down shit here. And Vinnie said, 'No, no, no, Dime, I'm telling you, you've gotta give these guys a chance. You've gotta give them a listen to.' And by the time our second Ozzfest came around, we were lucky enough to open up the second stage in our hometown of Chicago. And Vinnie and Dime made it out to the show just to come see us. They weren't playing, PANTERA wasn't on the bill — they came to see us. And an area that could probably accommodate maybe 10 thousand people at most at that side stage was swarmed with 25 thousand people that day. And I'll never forget, after the whole experience went down, which was met with a mixture of both shock and wonder, and some regret, because it wasn't the safest situation. But Vinnie and Dime were both blown away, and Vinnie became such a dear friend and such a huge supporter. And I miss him so very, very much, and I know you guys do too."

PANTERA will play its first shows in over 20 years in December 2022, starting with a co-headlining slot at Mexico's Hell & Heaven Metal Fest and Monterrey Metal Fest, followed by appearances at three Knotfest festivals in South America. There will also be a one-off show with JUDAS PRIEST in São Paulo, Brazil and a headlining concert in Santiago.

Next year, PANTERA will appear at Germany's Rock Am Ring and Rock Im Park, two simultaneous rock festivals, which will take place June 2-4 in Nürburgring and Nürnberg, respectively. They will also perform at Norway's Tons Of Rock festival in late June.

Confirmed PANTERA shows so far:

Dec. 02 - Texicoco, Mexico - Hell & Heaven Metal Fest
Dec. 06 - Monterrey, Mexico – Monterrey Metal Fest
Dec. 09 - Bogotá, Colombia – Knotfest Colombia
Dec. 11 - Santiago, Chile - Knotfest Chile
Dec. 12 - Santiago, Chile - Movistar Arena
Dec. 15 - São Paulo, Brazil – Vibra São Paulo (with JUDAS PRIEST)
Dec. 18 - São Paulo, Brazil – Knotfest Brazil
Jun. 2-4 - Nürburgring, Germany - Rock Am Ring
Jun. 2-4 - Nürnberg, Germany - Rock Im Park
Jun. 22-24 - Oslo, Norway - Tons Of Rock

Talk about a possible PANTERA "reunion" intensified when Anselmo regularly joined Wylde's BLACK LABEL SOCIETY to perform PANTERA's song "I'm Broken" during DOWN's 2014 stint on the "Revolver Golden Gods Tour". That buzz only got stronger after Brown joined the jam on May 23, 2014 when the tour swung through Texas.

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

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

Red Cain, from Calgary, Canada is a modern progressive metal project with Eastern European roots. They have been making waves since their first release in 2016, with award-winning concept albums and music videos. The next chapter in their ongoing saga is a music video for the single “Fisher King” that conceptually takes place in the universe of the legendary Wheel of Time fantasy series. It comes off a yet-to-be-titled album that is expected sometime next year. 





The band comments on the single:




“'Fisher King', was written in its original form over 10 years ago, long before Red Cain’s existence as a band - so it was an extremely cool experience to go back to this old track, rewrite, and revitalize it to fit our sound. Much like our upcoming album, “Fisher King” keeps the quintessential Red Cain “melancholy and rage” but takes the death metal influences from “Kindred: Act II” even further, featuring a huge growl-centric chorus, a variety of down tuned, sludgy riffs, and gripping, raw vocal hooks and melodies.”





Red Cain’s first two full albums, Kindred: Act I and Kindred: Act II conceptually told a sprawling story of how raw and primal ancient myth collides with modern society and human yearning toward the stars, toward perfection. The albums contained a ton of genre inspirations, from gothic rock to ambient electronica, power, black, and death metal, and were universally lauded for their inventiveness, variety, and strong conceptual content. They continue this momentum with their upcoming release.


“Fisher King” is unsettling, bombastic, and unrelenting, this track showcases a musical and lyrical contest of wills between the “Chosen One” archetype, and his antithetical, flawed, yet lethal opponent caught in his unrelenting march. It is recommended for fans of Kamelot, Mastodon, and Powerwolf.

"Deep Purple’s 'Highway Star' was one of, if not the first cover songs we learned as a band when starting The Jailbirds," says the four-piece group from Mississauga, ON. "It had everything a band needed to be able to do, packed into one song. The solos, the rhythms, the vocals, it’s all there, and it’s all on 11."


"It is quite a tough song to play, and we saw it as a challenge for ourselves. It has become the staple song we always cover live when time allows for it. Check out our take on the '70s hard rock classic, 'Highway Star'," streaming now at this location.







"We recorded all the guitars, solos and bass parts within a take or two," reveals The Jailbirds. "Practice makes perfect, kids! Then we just had to add the organ parts when Hayden joined the band, because they’re just too badass to not include."


"We wanted our guitar, bass, and vocal tones on this track to make it our own, purposely altering some parts and putting them through our filters, creating a cover version that is authentic to us as a band. We hope that you enjoy our take on this upbeat and bluesy classic rock anthem!"


In live news, catch The Jailbirds on December 3, 2022 at Sneaky Dee's  in Toronto, ON. Tickets can be purchased here. 


For further details, visit TheJailBirds.com.


 

Canadian thrashers Korrosive announce they will be unleashing CDs, cassettes and vinyl of their latest album Toxic Apokalypse via CDN Records. CDs will be due out on November 18, with cassettes and vinyl for release in 2023 (release to be announced at a later date). The full-length was released digitally on October 7 of this year.


Korrosive is from Toronto, ON that is in your face, unapologetic, and is definitely one that offers a high-octane headbanging experience, unlike anything you’ve heard before as they explore and push the boundaries of thrash metal with extreme influences.


"We want to be a thrash metal band that combines the elements of thrash in its roots, but also breaks down walls by incorporating various influences from grind and death, or whatever comes to mind to mix it up." says vocalist Rad Zarei.




Their new album Toxic Apokalypse follows their first full-length 2021's Kaustic Hordes and the 2019 EP Melting From Within. Featuring eight assaulting bangers, each song on the album is quite different in a way from each other, and yet, still uniquely Korrosive. They push each track with speed and extremity, from “Fatal Strike” that has a ton of blast beats and solos, yet is still unmistakably thrash, to “Radioaktive Scourge”, filled with pure aggression, unlike anything they’ve released before. From its speed, the lyrics, and the sheer intensity, this song may be the shortest track on the record, but makes the largest impact and it’s over before you know it. And also strongly recommended is “Hail The Hellfire”, perhaps the band's anthem to the entire Toxic Apokalypse album. Written as a reflection of the period when the full-length was being composed, this track discusses the brutality of war and the end result of each and every individual involved in its cause, regardless of side.


The band adds:


"Diabolical, fast, unforgiving Armageddon. From slow passages, mid-tempo bangers, hyper-fast blast beats, and the occasional odd-time signature, it’s a ride in extreme thrash unlike anything before. Toxic Apokalypse is an album that will hit you hard, fast, and leave you with a 'what the f*ck just happened?' feeling."





Lyrically, the music sets the overall tone for how the lyrics are written and substance. Songs deal with topics of science fiction, Armageddon, and “what if” scenarios. The album art was created by the infamous Ed Repka (Dark Angel, Death, Hirax, Megadeth, Suicidal Angels, Venom).


"Typically, the way we write songs is to have each song done or be in the middle of the writing process, and I would create something out of that. It is rare for us that lyrics get written first before the song is made," adds Zarei.


One thing that the mosh pit can always expect from Korrosive is the energy they bring to their shows.


"I always think of a show, regardless of venue, as a performance that is meant to capture the crowd. And as a band, Korrosive always exudes that level of intensity during our shows."


Recommended for fans of Sodom, Kreator, Death, and Sepultura, Toxic Apokalypse was produced by Ben Erikson with mastering done by Arthur Rizk (Power Trip, Kreator, Cro-Mags, Municipal Waste, Soulfly).


CD and cassette preorder is available at cdnrecords.com. Vinyl pre-order link to be issued at a later date.


“Radioaktive Scourge” lyric video:





(Photo – Michael Jari Davidson)

American west coast power metal band Emissary has released their newest music video “The Silent Treatment” via the NWOTHM Full Albums YouTube channel.





“The Silent Treatment” is the opening track to their 2022 album The Wretched Masquerade which was released on CD by Underground Power Records (Germany) earlier this year.




Another track called “Ruler Of Defiance” from the same album will appear on Volume 6 of the US based Soulgrinder Zine CD compilation series, which comes out worldwide in December.


The band has also announced studio plans to record an upcoming EP, which is set to be released in early 2023.


Emissary band line-up:
Jym Harris – Vocals
Tim “Mothman” Dahlen – Guitar, Vocals
Peter Shawn Kinney – Bass, Vocals
Charlie Francipane – Guitar
Tony Mullins – Drums, Vocals

Canadian power metal Ravenous is celebrating the one-year anniversary of their highly praised 2021 album Hubris with a new music video for their track "Claw Is The Law" that features guest vocals, accordion, and mandolin from members of The Dread Crew of Oddwood.





The video idea came from Wolfbeard O’Brady (Reece Miller - The Dread Crew of Oddwood, Frontman) and was fully edited/animated by him in celebration of the 1 year anniversary of Ravenous’ sophomore album Hubris and the 30-year anniversary of the Mortal Kombat video game.




“I’ve always wanted to do a fighting game music video, and I felt like this collaboration was a perfect opportunity to rep the over-the-top everything that is ‘Claw is the Law’," comments The Dread Crew of Oddwood's Wolfbeard O’Brady.


In additional news, Ravenous has also launched a Patreon campaign for exclusive content for fans from the band, such as instrumentals, shirts, tabs, discord access, and to support the Speed Metal army. Support Ravenous on Patreon.

Tarmat, the new AOR/melodic rock band hailing from Niterói, Brazil, have released an audio visualizer for "True Colors", the new single from their upcoming debut album, Out Of The Blue, out on December 9. Watch the visualizer below, and pre-order/save Out Of The Blue here.


Alexandre Daumerie (vocals), Eduardo Marcolino (guitars), Gabriel Aquino (keyboards), and José Marcus (bass) formed the band in mid-2020 during the early stages of the global pandemic. Four longtime friends, they have played together in hard rock bands since 2006. Eduardo and Gabriel are also childhood friends who play together in the instrumental progressive rock band Anxtron. Born from a yearning to start a new band to write and play some original AOR-oriented music together, their upcoming debut album, Out of the Blue was recorded during 2021-22. Rafael Marcolino provided drums, while the album was mixed and mastered in Sweden by Eduardo Belchior (Intense Music Productions) and Ronny Milianowicz, respectively.


With a clear nod to the '80s, yet sounding fresh, Tarmat's music is influenced by varied acts from across rock's spectrum such as Journey, Boston, Europe, Simply Red, Christopher Cross, Van Halen, Toto, and Queen. Melodic rock/AOR fans from around the world will surely find much to enjoy on the band's debut, Out Of The Blue.







Out Of The Blue tracklisting:


"Backbone Feeling"
"Out Of The Blue"
"Moving Backwards"
"Gibberish"
"Rosetta Stone"
"More Than Less"
"Your Enemy"
"True Colors"
"Dinner’s On The House"
"The Knight"


"True Colors" visualizer:





"Rosetta Stone" video:





Lineup:


Alexandre Daumerie - Vocals
Eduardo Marcolino - Guitars
Gabriel Aquino - Keyboards
José Marcus - Bass


* Drums recorded by: Rafael Marcolino

German melodic death/doom metallers, Nailed To Obscurity, have released their new single, "Clouded Frame". Save it here, and watch a music video, by Jörg Harms / Black Vision Films, below.





Says the band: "The artwork for 'Clouded Frame' was once again done by Santiago Caruso, who created an image that perfectly correlates with the songs lyrics about the desperate search for details that got lost in the blind angle of our memory!"

earMUSIC has released the video below, Stratovarius - "Speed Of Light" Live In Oulo, Finland 1996, restored from the band's Infinite Visions DVD (2009).





Stratovarius released Survive, their first album in seven years, earlier this year. Survive is available here.







Tracklisting:


"Survive"
"Demand"
"Broken"
"Firefly"
"We Are Not Alone"
"Frozen in Time"
"World on Fire"
"Glory Days"
"Breakaway"
"Before the Fall"
"Voice of Thunder"


"Broken" video:





"Firefly" video:





"World On Fire":





"Survive" graphic video:

During a "VIP Experience" question-and-answer session at a recent W.A.S.P. concert, frontman Blackie Lawless spoke about going back and hearing some of the band's earlier albums for the first time in years while digitizing the recordings. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "I listened to stuff I hadn't heard in ages. And I was amazed, because I'm listening to it with ears that I didn't have then. And plus, when you're doing something and you're first doing it, I don't think any artist can really hear what is really is. You have to distance yourself from it for a few years to really understand what it is.

"I'll give you an example. 'The Crimson Idol' and 'Operation: Mindcrime' from QUEENSRŸCHE have always been the two records that our generation wants to compare to each other. And for the longest time, I thought 'Mindcrime' was a better record; I really did. I thought track for track it was a better record than 'The Crimson Idol'. But I went and I listened to 'The Idol' about two years ago and I heard it in a way I'd never heard it before 'cause I hadn't heard it for so long. And I listened to it and I thought, you know what? 'Mindcrime', as great as it is, I would say it's probably not better; I would just say they're different. 'Mindcrime' is a great record, but 'The Idol' has this thing, and I can't really put my finger on what it is. I can hear it now more like you guys hear it."

He continued: "See, the thing is, when you make a record, although you're privy to a lot of the inside stuff that happens, the artist will never get to hear the record for the first time. You remember where you were the first time you heard 'Back In Black' or whatever record that really moved you. Well, the person that makes it will never get to hear it for the first time. It takes years for us to remove ourselves from it, and even then I don't know if you can ever really hear it… I mean, I remember where I was the first time I heard [THE BEATLES'] 'Sgt. Pepper' ['Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band'] or any record that is a milestone record. You remember where you were. The first time I heard 'Black Sabbath' by BLACK SABBATH, I was over at my friend's house; we were seniors in high school playing pool at his house. He put that record on. And that's one of those monumental moments in your life that you won't forget. But the artist never gets that moment, because you are the one in the kitchen cooking it. So you never get to taste it quite the same."

W.A.S.P.'s latest release was "ReIdolized (The Soundtrack To The Crimson Idol)", which came out in February 2018. It was a new version of the band's classic 1992 album "The Crimson Idol", which was re-recorded to accompany the movie of the same name to mark the 25th anniversary of the original LP's release. The re-recorded version also features four songs missing from the original album.

W.A.S.P.'s most recent studio album of all-new original material was 2015's "Golgotha".

W.A.S.P.'s first live performance since December 2019 took place on July 23 at Skansen in Stockholm, Sweden. A week later (July 30),W.A.S.P. also played at Skogsröjet festival in Rejmyre, Sweden.

W.A.S.P. recently postponed its European 40th-anniversary tour, originally scheduled for spring of 2022, until the spring of 2023. The new dates will take place in March, April and May of 2023. All tickets previously purchased for the 2022 tour will be valid at the rescheduled 2023 shows.

W.A.S.P. kicked off its first U.S. tour in a decade last month. The trek coincides with the band's 40th anniversary and includes support from ARMORED SAINT and MICHAEL SCHENKER on select shows.

Lawless has led W.A.S.P. as its lead vocalist and primary songwriter since its beginning. His unique brand of visual, social and political comment took the group to worldwide heights and sold millions of records alongside a legacy of sold-out shows across the globe for four decades. He is joined in W.A.S.P.'s current lineup by bassist Mike Duda and guitarist Doug Blair, whose tenures in the band span 26 and 18 years respectively, along with drummer extraordinaire Aquiles Priester.

METALLICA celebrated the life, legacy, and achievements of Megaforce Records founder Jon "Jonny Z" Zazula and his wife Marsha Zazula with a special show this past Sunday night (November 6) in Hollywood, Florida.

The show, which took place at the 7,000-seat Hard Rock Live at Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, saw the Bay Area metal legends play songs exclusively from their first two albums, 1983's "Kill 'Em All" and 1984's "Ride The Lightning", both of which were originally released on Megaforce. Support at the gig came from British/American metallers RAVEN, who were also originally signed to Megaforce.

Professionally filmed video of the "Phantom Lord" performance from the Hollywood concert can be seen below.

METALLICA's setlist was as follows:

01. Creeping Death
02. Ride The Lightning
03. Motorbreath
04. No Remorse
05. Trapped Under Ice
06. The Call Of Ktulu
07. Phantom Lord
08. Am I Evil?
09. Metal Militia
10. For Whom The Bell Tolls
11. Whiplash
12. Fade To Black
13. Seek & Destroy

Encore:

14. Fight Fire With Fire
15. Bliztkrieg
16. Hit The Lights

When the concert was first announced in September, METALLICA said in a statement: "Jonny gave us our first break in New York, released our first albums on his Megaforce Records label, and put us out on the road for our first real tour. With Marsha by his side, Jonny was a mentor, a manager, a label head, and a father figure to us all.... we would not be where we are today without the two of them. Sadly, we recently lost both Jonny and Marsha, just a little more than a year apart.

"We'll be cooking up a special setlist for you full of songs from our days with Jonny and Marsha at Megaforce. Our main touring partner from that time, RAVEN, will be joining us to add to the celebration and bring back the memories."

A portion of the proceeds from this show are being donated in Jonny and Marsha's name to MusiCares, a safety net supporting the health and welfare of the music community offering preventive, emergency, and recovery programs to musicians and industry professionals. Additionally, All Within My Hands once again supported Feeding South Florida with a donation following the show.

Jonny Z died in February at the age of 69. Jonny died of complications of the rare neuropathic disorder chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy (CIDP),chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and osteopenia, his family said. Marsha passed away of cancer in January of last year.

Megaforce is widely credited for launching the career of METALLICA by releasing the band's first two albums, 1983's "Kill 'Em All" and 1984's "Ride The Lightning", before METALLICA landed a major label deal with Elektra. Megaforce's roster has also included such artists as ANTHRAX, TESTAMENT, OVERKILL, Ace Frehley, MINISTRY, KING'S X, STORMTROOPERS OF DEATH and RAVEN.

Born in 1952, Jonny began his extraordinary journey as a renegade youth who went from living on the streets of the Bronx in New York City, to later working on Wall Street, and eventually (and unexpectedly) transitioning into the music business and discovering METALLICA, ANTHRAX and others.

After Wall Street, Jonny Z began selling records at a flea market store in 1981 to put food on the table for his family. Dubbed Rock N' Roll Heaven, the store eventually blossomed into a major record store that influenced the heavy metal movement as we know it today. In the winter of 1982, Jonny Z received an unexpected demo tape from unsigned underground band called METALLICA. Eager and determined to have the music heard by the entire world, Jonny and Marsha founded Megaforce the following year and released "Kill 'Em All". Through this release, Megaforce cemented its position as the de-facto music label in America for heavy metal.

Jon's acclaimed autobiography, "Heavy Tales: The Metal. The Music. The Madness. As Lived By Jon Zazula", was released in October 2019. The book tells the story of how the Zazulas ended up signing a band that shaped the sound of heavy metal for decades to come.

"It's all a blessing when you work hard and you stay smart and you go into the game and then eventually something comes your way and you're ready for it. And you're able to jump upon it and ride it," Jonny told Variety. "We were very fortunate, Marsha and I, that we have them to choose as a band that became the biggest band in the world. Not to mention a bunch of other great bands that made history."

In a new interview with For The Passion Not The Fashion, ex-EXODUS guitarist Rick Hunolt reflected on his former band's decision to fire original singer Paul Baloff in 1986 due to what at the time was described as "personal and musical differences." Paul was replaced by Steve "Zetro" Souza, who had previously been the lead vocalist for LEGACY, an early incarnation of fellow Bay Area thrashers TESTAMENT.

Rick said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Paul was… He wouldn't work. He was gettin' bad on the drugs. We all were, but Paul was probably the worst. And we were at a point in the band… It was so tough. It was the craziest thing, it was the hardest thing I ever did, the hardest thing we ever did. And I don't even know today, at this point… It could have been the biggest mistake we ever made. I don't know. No one will know. But I'll admit that — it could have been the biggest mistake we ever made. Who knows?"

Hunolt continued: "Zetro was great filling in; he was great. He did a good job. But after we let Paul go, he just fell deeper and deeper into his addiction and everything. Basically, he was homeless. He wouldn't get a job and he wouldn't stop doing what he was doing. We had to let him go. It was just to the point where it was getting so bad that he couldn't do anything. He couldn't remember lyrics. It was just bad.

"But I'll be the first to admit… I always try to think of what would have happened to EXODUS if we kept Paul," Rick added. "I don't even know. I don't even know if he would have been able to sing any of the music off of [EXODUS's second album, 1987's] 'Pleasures Of The Flesh'. I don't know.

"Anyway, that was the toughest decision me and Gary [Holt, fellow EXODUS guitarist] ever had to make. It was horrible."

Regarding Souza's addition to EXODUS, Hunolt said: "Not everybody's gonna like him. He's done a great job. He's had his ups and downs. But I think right now he's doing great. I think on [EXODUS's latest album] 'Persona Non Grata' he sounds better than he ever has."

Although Baloff didn't appear on "Pleasures Of The Flesh", he did record a demo in 1986 featuring three songs that made it to the final album: "Seeds Of Hate", "Pleasures Of The Flesh" and "Braindead". You can hear those recordings below.

Hunolt previously touched upon EXODUS's split with Baloff in November 2021 when he spoke with Heavy Culture about why he thinks his former band failed to achieve the same commercial heights as the so-called "Big Four" of 1980s thrash metal, namely METALLICA, SLAYER, MEGADETH and ANTHRAX. He said: "First of all, we were just kids. We couldn't even buy alcohol. We were super young and just crazy, full of crazy energy. We recorded the album, 'Bonded By Blood', and it took forever and ever and ever and ever for it to come out — it took forever. So that really messed us up in the world. SLAYER, METALLICA and EXODUS — we were all there at the same time, we all had albums ready to be released, and, of course, ours was last one [to come out] because of record company craziness. So, the follow-up ['Pleasures Of The Flesh'], losing Paul was super tough.

"I think that when anybody… A good example if 'Van Halen I' — to this day, everybody compares everything that they've done after 'Van Halen I' to 'Van Halen I'. Same thing that we've been dealing with for 30 years — everything that we do after 'Bonded By Blood' is gonna be compared to 'Bonded By Blood'. So there's always gonna be people that say that, 'No, no, no. Nothing will ever be as good as 'Bonded By Blood'.' And then there's gonna be people that say, 'Yeah, their stuff after that is good too.' It's always gonna be that way. We have no control over it.

"Hiring a new singer and putting out 'Pleasures'… And then we had to wait another year for 'Pleasures' to come out; it was, like, another year for 'Pleasures' to come out. So that was like a double… '84, and then we waited till… 'Pleasures' came out, what, '86 or something? Late '85? So, people were just waiting and waiting and waiting. And we're sitting there going, 'Goddamn it.' It was a lot of pressure. Meanwhile, we got METALLICA and SLAYER and ANTHRAX now on board releasing albums every year. And we're just slowly but surely losing traction. It was tough. But shit happens. We were just kids. We didn't know anything.

"I think losing Paul was a big deal back then," Hunolt added. "I think that maybe we made a mistake by firing Paul. And this is just looking back on everything for me; this is just my personal thought. This is the stuff that I think about sometimes. What would have happened if we didn't fire Paul? I just think that maybe we would have gotten a little bit more traction if we didn't have that lag in between.

"People love Paul. And Paul was… he's a legend. He was going through a bad time in his life, and I guess, at the time, we felt that maybe he was holding us back; I think probably that's what we were thinking. I think that probably we might have thought about getting him better instead of firing him.

"But as far as the 'Big Four' goes… Well, I don't know… Maybe it should just be the 'Big Five.' I will say this: I think that everybody has their place in the old-school thrash. If you wanna give 'em a number or whatever, go ahead. I think it doesn't mean anything. I think that the people that were there and the people that love our genre know where everybody stands. And I know where we stand, for sure. Without EXODUS, I think that thrash metal would be very, very different."

Hunolt makes a guest appearance on "Persona Non Grata", which was released in November 2021 via Nuclear Blast Records.

The San Francisco Bay Area thrashers' latest disc is the follow-up to 2014's "Blood In Blood Out", which was their first release since the departure of the group's lead singer of nine years, Rob Dukes, and the return of Souza, who previously fronted EXODUS from 1986 to 1993 and from 2002 to 2004.

Longtime EXODUS fans will recall that Hunolt — the other half of the famed EXODUS "H-Team" who is on every studio recording from 1985 through 2004 and co-wrote some of the band's best-known songs such as "A Lesson In Violence" and "Deliver Us To Evil" — left EXODUS after the band's highly acclaimed 2004 reunion album, "Tempo Of The Damned". Following his departure, Hunolt was replaced by HEATHEN guitarist Lee Altus.

The original lineup of EXODUS consisted of guitarists Hammett and Tim Agnello, Hunting and vocalist Keith Stewart. Holt joined the band in 1981, while Kirk left two years before EXODUS's debut album, "Bonded By Blood", saw the light of day.

Souza is now on his third stint with EXODUS. A decade following his second departure, Souza returned to the fold in 2014, just in time to appear on "Blood In Blood Out".

Florida death metal veterans OBITUARY will release a new studio album, "Dying Of Everything", on January 13 via Relapse Records.

The official music video for the LP's first single, "The Wrong Time", directed by Odd Life Studios, can be seen below.

OBITUARY comments: "We couldn't be more excited to FINALLY get this new album out and into the hands of the fans!

"We chose 'The Wrong Time' for the first single as it is a true depiction of the sound, style and feel we went for in the studio and is a great taste of what you can expect from 'Dying of Everything'."

"Dying Of Everything" destroys in the time-honored tradition of early OBITUARY classics "Slowly We Rot" and "Cause Of Death", while maintaining the killer studio sound that the band has been perfecting in their own studio since 2007's monstrous "Xecutioner's Return".

"Dying Of Everything" track listing:

01. Barely Alive
02. The Wrong Time
03. Without A Conscience
04. War
05. Dying Of Everything
06. My Will To Live
07. By The Dawn
08. Weaponize The Hate
09. Torn Apart
10. Be Warned

Like just about every album in OBITUARY's vast catalog, "Dying Of Everything" is instantly memorable; it's a skill that OBITUARY have only improved upon over the years.

It's unusual for a band that's been around since the '80s to be doing some of their best work in the 2020s, but that's exactly what OBITUARY have accomplished through their do-it-yourself attitude and relentless touring on a worldwide level.

"I think it comes down to passion," vocalist John Tardy offers. "I say this all the time, but if something's not fun, I'm not gonna do it. And we're having more fun than ever."

This past February, OBITUARY drummer Donald Tardy confirmed to Finland's Chaoszine that the band had completed work on its long-awaited new studio album. Regarding the musical direction of the follow-up to 2017's self-titled effort, he said: "It is fucking awesome. It is OBITUARY, absolutely 100 percent, meat and potatoes, but with Ken's [Andrews, lead guitar] influence and him being able to write a few songs with me on this one, he brings a much more old-school thrash metal feel. So it's fresh, it's killer, it's exciting on some of those songs, but then also the meat and potatoes, there are some songs that are so heavy on this record, man. I'm so proud of it. I can't wait for people to hear it. And the production — we recorded it at our studio and then we sent it off to Joe Cincotta, my boy who's done the last four albums with us. He did an amazing job; the sound of this record is fantastic. I can't wait for everybody to hear it."

In March 2021, John Tardy told France's United Rock Nations that OBITUARY had used some of the downtime during the coronavirus pandemic to work on material for a new studio album. "We've definitely been working on new tunes, and we've been taking our time," he said. "We didn't feel like releasing [a new album] now in the middle of the pandemic when you can't go on tour and support it is not what we wanted to do, so we're in no hurry. But by the time next year comes around, we're gonna be hitting the road again. We're getting tours set up, and we will be releasing another album next year before we hit the road and start touring again."

Asked what fans can expect from the new LP, John said: "I think it's just gonna sound like OBITUARY. [Laughs] You know us — we're kind of cavemen; we don't like to evolve too much. We like to change it up and do a little here and there, but we're getting too old to change too much, I think. So as long as it's heavy and pounding, then that's what you can expect."

Earlier this year, Decibel Books released "Turned Inside Out: The Official Story Of Obituary", the fully authorized biography of OBITUARY. In the book, David E. Gehlke — author of "Damn The Machine: The Story Of Noise Records" and "No Celebration: The Official Story Of Paradise Lost" — provides an unprecedented look at the death metal legends through all-new, in-depth interviews with bandmembers past and present, recording engineers, scene contemporaries and music industry veterans who've worked directly with the band throughout OBITUARY's nearly four-decade career. Packed with hundreds of rare and never-before-seen photos, as well as a foreword from Max Cavalera (SOULFLY, SEPULTURA),the 328-page hardcover "Turned Inside Out: The Official Story Of Obituary" is exclusively available for order via decibelmagazine.com.

Photo credit: Tim Hubbard

Escaping the underworld once more, the mighty Warkings rejoin on the battlefield with an unforeseen new ally - none other than legendary sorceress Morgana Le Fay. The sister of Arthur and mistress of the lost has joined the ancient royalty to accompany them in all of their upcoming battles! So, beware for the fourth chapter of the Warkings saga, Morgana, to be released on November 11 via Napalm Records.


With their third single, "Hellfire", the evil sorceress raises her haunting voice shortly before the album release to reveal the toxic history of her love-hate relationship with King Arthur. Surrounded by slaves, the heroic king sits on his throne in the video. In the demonic depths, the Lady of Lost Souls meets her brother, who challenges her to battle. “Hellfire” will be unleashed on the biggest battlefield in the bands’ career at the upcoming tour with Powerwolf and Dragonforce.


The dark sorceress Morgana on “Hellfire”: “Walk with me in hell... let us become fire and conquer the underworld. I am reborn.”




The mighty Crusader adds on the tour: “Wolfsnächte are coming... join us on our holy European crusade. We will meet on the battlefield.”





Forging their musical steel in the tradition of Powerwolf, Sabaton, HammerFall and Running Wild, the Warkings burst onto the battlefields in 2018. They gathered their Warriors around the world and entered the Official German Album Charts 2021 at #13 with Revolution. Gathered in the golden halls of Valhalla, the four ancient kings - a roman Tribune, a wild Viking, a noble Crusader and a martial Spartan - are now back with Morgana, having already escaped from the underworld, fought the Monarchs of the dusk and called for Revolution.


Warkings on Morgana: “A voice so dark and evil... a tale so twisted and mysterious. We created epic songs to tell the story of the dark sorceress. Welcome to the hellfire... the burning world of Morgana le Fay.”





Morgana will be available in the following formats:


- Wooden Deluxe Box (incl.  1CD Digisleeve, medallion of the dark sorceress, full dice-game, consisting of: valvet bag with Warkings logo, 5 glow in the dark dice, 5 playing cards, game instructions (front)/ Warkings poster (back) A4 - strictly limited to 500 worldwide
- 1 LP Vinyl Glow In The Dark - strictly limited to 300 worldwide
- 1 LP Vinyl Black
- 1 CD Digisleeve
- Music Cassette - strictly limited to 100 worldwide
- Digital Album


Pre-order here.





Tracklisting:


"Hellfire" feat. Morgana le Fay
"To The King"
"Monsters" feat. Morgana le Fay
"Last Of The English"
"Heart Of Rage" feat. Morgana le Fay
"Row (Into The Storm)"
"Immortal" feat. Morgana le Fay
"Shame"
"The Rite"
"Legend Untold"
"Armata Strigoi" (Powerwolf Cover) - Bonus Track
"Cry Thunder" - Bonus Track


“To The King” lyric video:



 
"Monsters" video:





Back in the realms of the dead after their Revolution, the Warkings were captivated by the eerie and extraordinary chanting voice of “evil” sorceress Morgana La Fey. Obsessed with the idea of telling humanity her own version of her story, the witch inspired the Warkings to include her in their circle as they fought their next battles - a covenant made for eternity.


Warkings are:
Tribune - Vocals
Crusader - Guitars
Spartan - Drums
Viking - Bass
Morgana le Fay - Unholy evocations


(Photo - Matthias Schwaighofer / Schwaighofer-Art)

Catalyst Crime, who are fronted by Cradle Of Filth keyboardist and backing vocalist Zoe Marie Federoff, have released a video for "Chasing The Ghost", featured on the band's self-titled debut album, released in October 2021. Watch the clip below.





Tracklisting:




"With Only The Sun As My Witness" (intro)
"Projection Of My Mind"
"Condemn Me To Chaos"
"Mother Dearest"
"Twice Upon A Time"
"Cognitive Dissonance" (feat. Jake E)
"Break Even"
"Chasing The Ghost"
"Nowhere Near Dead Yet"
"Without Anesthesia"
"Not Even Once"
"One And Counting" (outro)


"Chasing The Ghost" video:





"Condemn Me To Chaos" video:

Ian Paice has released the video below, in which he performs a one take drum performance of the song, "Apres Vous", from Deep Purple's 19th studio album, NOW What?!, which was released in April 2013 and was produced by Bob Ezrin.





Following the news in July that Steve Morse will be stepping back from the band after more than a quarter of a century, Deep Purple announced that, following an abundant summer of touring, Simon McBride will join the band permanently.




Collectively, the band stated: “We are thrilled that Simon has agreed to join. Simon’s playing is up there with the greats. Of course, Steve can’t be replaced, the same as Ritchie, and Steve has a long legacy with Deep Purple. In Simon we have not found a replacement, but an extraordinarily talented and exciting guitarist in his own right. The reception from audiences over the Summer has already been great and we are looking forward to the forthcoming dates in the UK and Europe across the rest of the year. It is clear that Simon also holds great respect for those before him. We are all excited for what the years to come hold for the band.”


Simon stated: “I'm very happy to be asked to join the band, at the start of the pandemic if someone would have said to me that I was going to be the new guitarist in Deep Purple I would have just laughed, but here we are and it's happening. Deep Purple has a history of great guitarists so I’m very honoured to be asked to be part of that. They are all amazing musicians and more importantly, I have become very good friends with the guys so I can't wait to continue touring and even perhaps some writing and recording.”

CROWBAR frontman Kirk Windstein has weighed in on the news that PANTERA's surviving members Philip Anselmo (vocals) and Rex Brown (bass) will unite with guitarist Zakk Wylde (OZZY OSBOURNE, BLACK LABEL SOCIETY) and drummer Charlie Benante (ANTHRAX) for a world tour under the PANTERA banner.

Anselmo and Brown, along with Wylde and Benante, will headline a number of major festivals across North America, South America and Europe and stage some of their own headline concerts.

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

Windstein, who plays with Anselmo in DOWN, discussed his views on PANTERA's comeback in a recent interview with the "Talk Louder" podcast, hosted by veteran music journalist "Metal Dave" Glessner and lifelong hard rock/metal vocalist Jason McMaster (DANGEROUS TOYS). He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "The people who are against it, I understand, 'cause the very moment that Phil told us what was gonna be going on, that they were doing this and it's been planned — we were in Europe with DOWN [in June 2022] when we found out — and I remember kind of going, 'But dude, do y'all have to call it 'PANTERA'?' And I really did ask him. And he's, like, 'Yeah,' he goes, 'It is. It's PANTERA.' And I started to think about it. And it never sat wrong with me for even a minute, really, or anything. I just started thinking about the reality of what…

"What you're dealing with here is a situation where, by God, it's so horrible that Vince and Dime are not here with us," Kirk continued. "But you've got a situation with a band who has not only old-school fans who have not seen them perform since fucking 2001 or whatever the last shows were, you've also got an entire new generation, including my bass player, who's 34 years old but was too young to actually go to a concert, to travel or whatever and go see… He's such a PANTERA freak and a Dimebag freak… And there's so many younger kids that, this is the closest they're gonna get to it. And I feel like the fact that they have Zakk, who was so tight with Dime, and Charlie has been so tight with the band forever, filling in for…

"To me, when I think about it, it is a tribute to a legacy. The sad thing about anything in a situation like this [is] you can't bring the guys back; they're not with us any longer, Vinnie and Dime. So, to me, are they doing something… pissing on the name or something? Not at all. I think if anything, they're glorifying it. I mean, the music is too fucking good, too legendary, it was too groundbreaking, they were too amazing to not let people enjoy it.

"That's kind of what I feel on the negative people. And I feel that a huge generation of the old-schoolers like myself can't wait to see this. And you're gonna have the generation of the younger kids…

"I just played with DOWN at the Blue Ridge festival and next day we played with CROWBAR, and I told Phil, I said, 'Dude, there's more PANTERA shirts at the shows now, and it's, like, young kids.' I said, '22-year-olds who weren't even born or they were just an infant when you all were done with the 'Reinventing The Steel' touring' and then the band basically breaking up and then, of course, the Dime situation and everything. And he was laughing. I said, 'I'm excited about it. I really am.'

"It didn't take but a second for it to hit," Kirk added. "I mean, if Vince could have been involved as well, of course, but that never would have happened. But if Vinnie could have been in it as well, I think it would have been amazing. And that's nothing against Charlie. But I still think that it's gonna be amazing. And I'm looking at it as a fan, as a friend of all of those guys. I'm looking very forward to it.

"All the haters that are, like, 'Oh, fuck this shit,' they're all gonna be doing this [keeping their arms crossed at first], and three songs in, they're gonna be fucking doing this [pumping their fists in the air enthusiastically], and everything's gonna be fine."

PANTERA will play its first shows in over 20 years in December 2022, starting with a co-headlining slot at Mexico's Hell & Heaven Metal Fest and Monterrey Metal Fest, followed by appearances at three Knotfest festivals in South America. There will also be a one-off show with JUDAS PRIEST in São Paulo, Brazil and a headlining concert in Santiago.

Next year, PANTERA will appear at Germany's Rock Am Ring and Rock Im Park, two simultaneous rock festivals, which will take place June 2-4 in Nürburgring and Nürnberg, respectively. They will also perform at Norway's Tons Of Rock festival in late June.

Confirmed PANTERA shows so far:

Dec. 02 - Texicoco, Mexico - Hell & Heaven Metal Fest
Dec. 06 - Monterrey, Mexico – Monterrey Metal Fest
Dec. 09 - Bogotá, Colombia – Knotfest Colombia
Dec. 11 - Santiago, Chile - Knotfest Chile
Dec. 12 - Santiago, Chile - Movistar Arena
Dec. 15 - São Paulo, Brazil – Vibra São Paulo (with JUDAS PRIEST)
Dec. 18 - São Paulo, Brazil – Knotfest Brazil
Jun. 2-4 - Nürburgring, Germany - Rock Am Ring
Jun. 2-4 - Nürnberg, Germany - Rock Im Park
Jun. 22-24 - Oslo, Norway - Tons Of Rock

Benante told SiriusXM's "Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk" about how he plans to approach the PANTERA gig: "I can't go do this as the drummer from ANTHRAX because it would be a different sound completely. So the way I'm gonna do that is if you close your eyes, it's gonna sound like it's Vinnie, basically. And that's how it's gonna be. The sound is gonna sound exactly like him."

Wylde said that he had a similar mindset. "You approach it the same way as you do when I'm playing with Ozzy," he said. "Obviously I've gotta learn [Randy] Rhoads's stuff and I've gotta learn Jake's [E. Lee] stuff, and when I was doing the [BLACK] SABBATH stuff, you learn it and do it as faithful as you can. Charlie's gotta learn all of Vinnie's parts. You approach it as if you're in a cover band. When we do the ZAKK SABBATH stuff," referring to his BLACK SABBATH cover band, "I don't start changing lyrics midway through 'War Pigs'. You learn the songs — so that's what you do."

A year ago, Anselmo said that he was up for reuniting with Brown for a special tour celebrating the music of PANTERA. The 54-year-old singer, who has spent the past few years playing a PANTERA-centric set with his solo band, THE ILLEGALS, discussed the possibility of re-teaming with his former PANTERA bandmate during an interview with Brazil's Inside With Paulo Baron. Asked if he and Rex would be open to playing some shows in celebration of PANTERA's legacy, Anselmo said: "If Rex and I had a show to play, or we were ever gonna be on stage again together, I would welcome it with open arms. I love Rex. And he'd be the same way. We're brothers forever. So playing on stage together, or doing some shows together, is not out of the question. It could happen."

In April 2021, Rex told Eonmusic that he and Philip still get offers for a PANTERA tribute tour. "But if you don't have the other guys in the band, it's not going to sound the same," he said. "If we were ever to do something like that, it would have to be spot-on, or I wouldn't do it. It would be a tribute."

Talk about a possible PANTERA "reunion" intensified when Anselmo regularly joined Wylde's BLACK LABEL SOCIETY to perform PANTERA's song "I'm Broken" during DOWN's 2014 stint on the "Revolver Golden Gods Tour". That buzz only got stronger after Brown joined the jam on May 23, 2014 when the tour swung through Texas.

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

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

PANTERA is managed by Scott McGhee of 1 Degree Music Entertainment. The band's legal representative is Nick Ferrara And Associates. PANTERA is booked internationally by Rod MacSween at ITB. Artist Group International will book PANTERA's North American dates, with Dennis Arfa and Peter Pappalardo as the responsible agents.

Sharon Osbourne has once again clarified why she and her husband Ozzy Osbourne have made the decision to leave the United States and return to live in England.

In August, Ozzy cited gun violence as the one of the main for the move, saying he was "fed up with people getting killed every day."

Sharon, who also manages Ozzy's career, told Consequence the decision was made easier by the fact that "California is not what it once was."

"When I first came here, I thought I was in heaven," she said. "In the '70s, if you loved music, this was the place to be. It's not that hub anymore. It's not exciting anymore. It hasn't gone sideways, it's gone down. It's not a fun place to live. It's dangerous here. Every big city's got crime, but I don't feel safe here. Neither does Ozzy."

Two months ago, Sharon told "Fox & Friends" she and Ozzy haven't yet officially moved back to the U.K. because "our house isn't ready yet. We've had our family house for over 30 years but we haven't lived in it so long," she explained. "And you go back and you go, 'Oh, it's falling apart.' And so we're redoing it. And then we will move."

As for why she and Ozzy have decided to go back to England, Sharon said: "[There are] many reasons. Yes, we don't like the gun violence in Los Angeles. But there's a lot more room for Ozzy. He can go fishing on our land, he can go shooting — he loves to shoot — and it's just a different lifestyle. He can walk around, do his thing, nobody there looking at him. And he can have some privacy."

When she was pressed to elaborate on the political reasons behind Ozzy's previous comment that he didn't want to "die in crazy America," Sharon said: "I think because there are so many guns, and I think because people commit crimes and they don't have to pay bail, and then suddenly — boom! — they're back out on the streets again. And there seems to be no repercussions for bad behavior. And so, 'Well, I might as well do it again. There's no bail. Why not?' Hopefully they do change the law with that."

In August, Ozzy, who was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease in 2003 and underwent a "major operation" in June, among other health scares, told The Observer that he had not traveled to the U.K. for eight years nor performed live in "three or four years" due to his health struggles. He made the comment after the iconic BLACK SABBATH singer made a surprise appearance at the Commonwealth Games' closing ceremony in Birmingham, England on August 8.

Ozzy and Sharon will resume living in the U.K. in February 2023 after residing in Los Angeles for more than two decades.

"Everything's fucking ridiculous there. I'm fed up with people getting killed every day," Ozzy told The Observer. "God knows how many people have been shot in school shootings. And there was that mass shooting in Vegas at that concert… It's fucking crazy."

"And I don't want to die in America. I don't want to be buried in fucking Forest Lawn," Ozzy added, noting the famous cemetery in Los Angeles. "I'm English. I want to be back. But saying that, if my wife said we've got to go and live in Timbuktu, I'll go."

"But, no, it's just time for me to come home," Ozzy clarified.

Sharon told The Observer that the move back to England had nothing to do with her husband's health.

"I knew people would think that. It's not. It's just time," she said. "America has changed so drastically. It isn't the United States of America at all. Nothing's united about it. It's a very weird place to live right now."

British heavy metal vocalist Blaze Bayley, who fronted IRON MAIDEN more than 20 years ago, has confirmed to Stavros Vlahos, editor of the Soundcheck Network music magazine, that he has begun compiling ideas for the follow-up to his latest solo studio album, 2021's "War Within Me".

"I'm always trying to catch things on my dictaphone," he said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET). Now it's only one thing — it's the phone; it's the messages and the recording device, whereas before you had to have a little tape recorder and a notebook. I'm always trying to catch things. And I'm starting work now on piecing some ideas together that should be a new studio album next year. And we hope that it will be good.

"The problem that I have is if I make a good album that my fans really like, that's a lot of pressure. For the next album, they [say], 'Oh, you've got to try and beat it.' I don't wanna try to beat the 'War Within Me' album. For me, it's one of the best things I've ever done. And if I could get close to being as good as that. I'll be very, very happy.

"A lot of my fans, going back to my early records after MAIDEN, say that the 'War Within Me' album is the best album I've ever done," Blaze added. "So that's a lot of pressure when it comes to doing a new album. And I try not to think about it. I try to use my heart and my gut and go, 'Does this feel good? Is it coming from the right place? Does it feel good?' And then just gently start to piece things together."

Elaborating on how he goes about composing songs, Bayley said: "My songwriting now is more of put something together, leave it, listen to it then with fresh [ears], have some distance. And I think that works for me right now at this point in my career. But I'm very lucky to have so much dedicated, loyal supporters.

"I'm a tiny underground artist in the world," he continued. "People think I'm really famous because of my time with IRON MAIDEN. I was a very small part of IRON MAIDEN. And those albums, at the time, they did well in certain countries. My albums did well in Greece and in Sweden and Brazil, but in other places they didn't do very well, the ones with me. Fans didn't really like the change. A lot of people from that era still hate Blaze Bayley, they hate what I did, they have those two albums that I was on. That's fine by me. I like the fact that I've done something that is strong enough for someone to have such a big, forceful emotional reaction to it. But I do think some of the people that hate me have actually never listened to what I do."

Bayley fronted IRON MAIDEN from 1994 until 1999. The two MAIDEN albums he appeared on, "The X Factor" and "Virtual XI", sold considerably less than the band's prior releases and were their lowest-charting titles in the group's home country since 1981's "Killers".

Since leaving IRON MAIDEN in 1999, Bayley has released a number of albums, including several under the moniker BLAZE and more than a handful under his own name. He also appeared on 2012's "Wolfsbane Saves The World", the first album of new material by WOLFSBANE since the group's self-titled 1994 effort, and a follow-up LP, 2022's "Genius".

Europe guitarist John Norum is featured in a new interview with VWMusic discussing his new solo album, Gone To Stay. During the chat he looked back on Europe breakthrough hit, "The Final Countdown", from the 1986 album of the same name. Following is an excerpt.


VWMusic: It’s been a bit since Europe’s last studio album. Is any new material on the way?


Norum: "Yeah. We are talking about doing a new album next year, and everyone is writing for the new album now. Also, we are in the middle of a documentary on Europe’s history. It starts in 1982 and runs through the present day. We’re filming that – it’s about two hours long, I think – and that will be released sometime in 2023. So, hopefully, Europe will have a documentary and a new album coming out in 2023."




VWMusic: What will be the blueprint for this album? Will it be a return to the roots?


Norum: "I don’t know what will happen yet, but I suggested we go back to the roots a little bit. We experimented with different styles and this and that, and I don’t think we can take it any further. I mean, we have done the nu-metal stuff; we have done some pop things, even some grunge kind of things. I don’t like to put things in different categories like that, but I think the experiment is over now. I think we should go back to what we did on the second album, Wings of Tomorrow, or The Final Countdown, back to more melodic hard rock. That’s what I would like to do."


VWMusic: Speaking of The Final Countdown, what was your reaction when Joey (Tempest) initially presented the title track to you?


Norum: "When I first heard the demo, it was about six minutes long. I was very much into heavy hard rock and heavy guitars – still am – and I was like, 'We can’t put this song on the album. There’s no way. Just listen to the keyboard intro; this is too poppy.' I was like, 'Are we becoming Depeche Mode?' Even though I like them a lot, I hated them in the ’80s, but I like ’em now (laughs). So, I wasn’t very positive in the beginning, but when we recorded it, we had a lot of fun, and all of the other guys wanted to do the song, so I said, 'Why not?' And the solo came out great; I’m thrilled with the way the solo came out. It became a classic, and it’s a lot of fun to play live; you see the people going crazy and jumping up and down. I will say that I like the song 'The Final Countdown' more today than I did when we recorded it in the ’80s."


Read the complete interview here.

Former MANOWAR guitarist Ross "The Boss" Friedman says that his dismissal from the band more than three decades ago was "the worst possible mistake ever made".

A founding member of MANOWAR, Ross recorded six albums with the band before leaving after 1988's "Kings Of Metal". His work with MANOWAR included such classic LPs as 1982's "Battle Hymns", 1983's "Into Glory Ride" and 1984's "Hail To England".

Friedman reflected on his involvement with MANOWAR during a recent interview with the "Mike Nelson Show". Speaking about the last two LPs he made with the band, Ross said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "'Fighting The World' [1987] and 'Kings Of Metal' were two of the first digital records made. We recorded on something that's called the Synclavier. It was just a basic Pro Tools kind of thing. 'Fighting The World' sound was good, but 'Kings Of Metal' had a much better sound. And I think that 'Kings Of Metal' just came at a time that the band was peaking, especially in Europe. 'Cause I had done all the heavy lifting with the band. And then when it came out, boom — and then I was out of the band. How do you do that? For Joey [DeMaio, MANOWAR bassist and leader], it probably could be the worst… He fired me, by the way. And [it was] the worst possible mistake ever made, beside Mick Taylor leaving THE ROLLING STONES. Because the tour that could have resulted after 'Kings Of Metal' and the live record and the whole process was cut short. They had David Shankle — he's okay, but the whole energy of the band was gone. And it took six years to do the next record, 'The Triumph Of Steel'. I had done six records in six years with MANOWAR. And it took six years to do another record."

Asked why he was fired from MANOWAR, Ross said: "Well, when money and greed and all the same bullshit rears its ugly head in a business, things happen. I don't bullshit from nobody, and I wasn't gonna take bullshit from [Joey] — telling me what to wear, what to… First of all, wait a minute. When you met me, I had already done four major albums, major records on major labels. I had already done three with THE DICTATORS and one with SHAKIN' STREET. You had done zero. So all these people that we're talking to now I had met a long time ago in Europe. These guys like Malcolm Dome and Dante Bonutto and all these guys in Kerrang! [magazine], I'd been interviewed by them many times over before MANOWAR. I said, 'You can't tell me how to talk and what to say and what to dress.' But he knew that. All he wanted in his band was puppets… Money and greed, and him not having to have a partner like me, 50 percent partner [is the reason I was fired]. I don't like airing that out. But we see how great it was after I left. [Laughs]"

Last year, Friedman was asked by Waste Some Time With Jason Green if he would consider playing with MANOWAR again, to which he said: "Well, if the financial arrangements were right. But [Joey is] the kind of scumbag that would never have that… I'll never say no, but you never know. I just called him a scumbag, so… It's not gonna happen. He's secure in the fact that MANOWAR are mediocre fucking pieces of shit right now. What they're putting out to the public [is] just terrible."

After BLABBERMOUTH.NET published Ross's comments from the Waste Some Time With Jason Green interview, he sent a short statement conveying a more conciliatory tone.

"I would like to apologize to MANOWAR, the fans and Joey for the insult," he wrote. "If anyone knows me, you know that's not my style for saying things like that. I violated my own rule. Again, I am truly sorry."

Ross clarified to the "Mike Nelson Show" that he only "apologized to the fans" for his comments. "What I said about him, I just said I went against what I believe in, is to not air that shit out in public. And I apologized to the MANOWAR fans for saying that. I didn't apologize to him."

During the aforementioned Waste Some Time With Jason Green interview, Friedman stated about the circumstances surrounding his exit from MANOWAR more than three decades ago: "When a band gets big and the money hits, greed, avarice and evil takes place. A guy that I thought was my partner wasn't," he said, referring to DeMaio. "So he wanted me [out]. He goes, 'You've gotta go.' I go, 'Really? I've gotta go why? I've gotta go why? We're equal partners, 50 percent. Why do I have to go? Why don't you go?' The whole thing is he was so — his antics and his bullshit was so insane that I had it up to [my neck] with him. When you have it up to [your neck] with someone, you've just gotta go, 'Get the fuck outta here. I can't take this anymore.'

"[It was] ego, greed, avarice, evil [that caused me to depart]," he explained. "When [Joey] met me, I had already four major albums. He had done zero. Joey DeMaio was nobody. When he met me, I had already done four. I had no will to fight him. If I were to fight him, I would have killed him. He's just a fucking pariah… You can't live with that. My heart couldn't take it. I can't take evil. And I know people are gonna be… [It's gonna be] hard [for them] to hear that, but I'm better off now. I really am."

Earlier this year, Friedman told Sofa King Cool about the 40th anniversary of "Battle Hymns": "It is obviously an iconic record that has pretty much started power metal. We pretty much put power metal on the map with that record. 'Cause there really wasn't power metal before that. I mean, [Ronnie James] Dio did some things amazingly, and Ritchie Blackmore's RAINBOW, of course, but I think 'Battle Hymns' was the first real, true power metal record. That was my baby."

Asked if there were any plans to reissue "Battle Hymns" for its 40th anniversary, Ross said: "That record has been reissued so many times. I was asked to leave MANOWAR in 1988, right after the release of 'Kings Of Metal'. And [DeMaio] has repackaged everything up so many times… He re-recorded 'Battle Hymns'; he re-recorded 'Kings Of Metal'. Both suck. 'Cause you can't re-record a record; you can't redo it. It's like TWISTED SISTER redoing 'Stay Hungry'; you just can't do it. Especially, he did it without me. I mean, I could see if he had the original lineup playing 'Battle Hymns' and the original lineup playing 'Kings Of Metal', with just [drummer] Donnie [Hamzik] instead of Scott [Columbus]; Scott's not with us no more. But without me? And you tune down those songs. They were written in standard pitch. And then MANOWAR's tuning 'em down for [singer] Eric [Adams]. Those songs lose all their energy. No. Nah nah nah nah nah nah. You've gotta leave genius alone, leave greatness alone. They're untouchable."

Pressed about the chances of him reuniting with MANOWAR for a tour celebrating the 40th anniversary of "Battle Hymns", Ross said: "You wouldn't say that I don't have a good relationship with my old partner, but it's just not there. I'm not saying things can't magically patch up. But [Joey] doesn't want any part of me telling him what he should be doing. And it's okay. I'm happy with my band, I'm happy with DEATH DEALER, I'm happy with THE DICTATORS. Hopefully I'm gonna be very, very busy. I don't have to be in a band with a tyrant."

Ross was one of the pioneers of both punk rock and heavy metal. First crashing on the scene with THE DICTATORS and with such classic albums as 1975's "Go Girl Crazy!", 1977's "Manifest Destiny" and 1978's "Bloodbrothers", Ross helped trailblaze punk rock (just to put it all in perspective, "Go Girl Crazy!" arrived a full year before the RAMONES' debut, and two years before THE CLASH's and SEX PISTOLS' debuts). By the end of the '80s, Ross had reconnected with his DICTATORS bandmates in MANITOBA'S WILD KINGDOM, which served as a bridge between his love of punk and metal, as heard on the group's popular 1990 debut, "…And You?" Throughout the remainder of the decade, Ross also played with such groups as THE HELLACOPTERS and THE SPINATRAS, before THE DICTATORS reunited, which resulted in several new releases starting from the late '90s all the way through the early 21st century. Also around this time, Ross joined forces with former of BLUE ÖYSTER CULT drummer Albert Bouchard in the band BRAIN SURGEONS. With Ross's main focus turning to metal music at this time, two additional projects were launched — DEATH DEALER and his solo outfit, ROSS THE BOSS.