Often called America's answer to Black Sabbath, one of the most unsung bands in the history of US hard rock music, Bang, is back with a new album, Another Me. Featuring all three members of the classic lineup: bassist/vocalist Frank Ferrara, guitarist Frankie Gilcken and original drummer/lyricist Tony Diorio along with new drummer Danny Piselli.


“We’re stoked about our new album Another Me … It was a labor of love that’s been a long time coming … We went back to our roots to give our fans … in your face rock … all killer … no filler.” - Bang


Check out the first single from the album, the killer title track “Another Me”. Stream/download the single here. Listen below.




With the heaviness of Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin, coupled with the groove of Grand Funk Railroad, Bang released three critically acclaimed albums on Capitol Records in the early 1970s before disappearing for a number of years. 2023 marks the 52nd anniversary of Bang’s debut album which was just reissued last week on a unique, limited edition colored vinyl. Buy the vinyl here.


In the summer of 1971, Bang, a trio from the Philadelphia area, decided to take a road trip to Florida to try their fortune. While buying some rolling papers in the Sunshine State, they learned about a Faces and Deep Purple concert nearby in Orlando. They showed up at the venue and brazenly declared they were ready to go on stage. The concert organizer asked them to set up and play for him. After a couple songs, he told them they were opening for Rod Stewart and Faces. Before they knew it, Bang was playing with Bachman Turner Overdrive, Deep Purple, Three Dog Night, Fleetwood Mac, Ike and Tina Turner, The Doobie Brothers, and even Black Sabbath. Capitol Records signed them, and three LPs were released.


The 1971 self-titled debut album is considered an important forerunner to the early doom metal genre. Undoubtedly one of America’s heaviest 'proto-metal' bands from the period, Bang also had a strong sense of melodic power. The band’s versatility and songwriting skills are second to none. Highly regarded as a cult act by many for years, it’s now time for this truly amazing rock band to be enjoyed by a new audience worldwide!


It’s been nearly 20 years since the band’s previous studio album, two decades in which they’ve overcome incredible challenges, all to bring this epic slab of heavy, melodic psychedelic metal to their still loyal fanbase.


Pre-order here.





Tracklisting:


"Another Me"
"Broken Toys"
"Man Of God"
"Clouds"
"Two Angels"
"Drone Pilot"
"Tin Man"
"This Night"


"Another Me":

Boston metal quartet, Ice Giant, have released the second single off their upcoming sophomore full-length. Fans can now hear the album’s title track, “Ghost Of Humanity”, along with an accompanying music video.


Combining elements of melodic death metal and thrash metal with epic symphonic orchestrations and soaring vocals, the group delivers intrepid storytelling and sublime soundscapes that are sure to fuel a sense of adventure for fans and newcomers alike.


Commenting on their new single, the band comments: “'Ghost Of Humanity' is a metaphor tackling the nature in which we treat our home planet earth. It explores what a future might be like when we run out of resources to, fight each other, and it laments what horrors we could have avoided. Driving riffs, soaring vocals, pounding drums, and a bespelling guitar solo from guitarist Eddie Shifflet, it is sure to instill horror whether you're at home or in one of our high-energy pits at a live show. ‘Peace and harmony left to pass...’”




Watch the video below, pre-order the album here.





Ghost Of Humanity tracklisting:


"Heritage"
"Grandeval’s Machine"
"Emergence"
"Serenity Of Darkness"
"Home For Eternity"
"Venthos Prime"
"Ghost Of Humanity"
"In The Maw Of Reality"
"Unification Epoch"
"Visages Of Our Past Despair"
"Legacy"


"Ghost Of Humanity" video:





"Serenity Of Darkness" video:

All My Shadows, the quintet founded in 2020 by Vanden Plas members Stephan Lill (guitar) and Andy Kuntz (vocals), released their debut album, Eerie Monsters, back in February via Frontiers Music Srl.


Today, the band has released a lyric video for the track "Lifeforms". Watch the video below, and order/save Eerie Monsters here.







Stephan Lill is the guitarist and musical backbone of the internationally known progressive metal band Vanden Plas. From the very beginning, he has been a huge influence on the sound and musical development of the band with his songwriting. Outside of Vanden Plas, Lill has also left his mark with his involvement in the rock operas/theater productions "Ludus Danielis," "Christ 0," "The Chronicles of the Immortals," "Everyman," and "Last Paradise Lost".


Andy Kuntz is the charismatic and talented singer of Vanden Plas. With his distinctive voice, he moves effortlessly through all levels of vocal register and has established himself internationally as not only a rock/metal singer, but also as a lead in multiple rock musicals and operas. As the main lyricist and writer of the vocal melodies for Vanden Plas, he is the other musical mainstay and partner in crime with Lill in not only the band, but the aforementioned rock operas.


"The idea of recording and releasing some rock songs is something I've been thinking about for a while. While composing, I kept coming up with songs that have the spirit of the '80s. As a big fan of bands from that era, like Whitesnake, Ozzy Osbourne, Dokken, and the like, I still have a huge love for music from that time. The goal was to transport that classic music into the here and now. Hard rock with a powerful production, peppered with modern musical elements," says Lill.


The original idea for All My Shadows was to have different vocalists appear on the album. Lill brought in his musical partner Kuntz to write the lyrics for the songs. "We know each other inside and out, have been working together for a very long time and very well, and are a perfectly attuned team," he says. But once Kuntz was on board to write the lyrics and had demoed the first four songs with Lill, it was immediately clear to both musicians that Kuntz was the man for the job. "Why look far and away for several good singers, if the perfect singer is already there?" Lill muses.


While Lill and Kuntz continued to work on more songs, the aforementioned demos found their way to Frontiers Music Srl, Vanden Plas' current record label. Frontiers were also immediately enthusiastic about those demos and immediately and enthusiastically asked the band if they could be involved with releasing the music.


With the songs coming along nicely, the creative juices flowing, and a label home in place, Lill and Kuntz knew that a completely new entity had to be created, which would give the whole thing its own vibe and aura.  When Kuntz came up with the name All My Shadows, they both knew that "the band name perfectly reflects the dark colorful aura of the lyrics and melody lines in a perfect way. The debut album, "Eerie Monsters" is an exciting musical journey through time, transporting our widely branched "heavy rock roots" into the present day in a melodically exciting symbiosis of retro ambience and modern sounds. Sonically, somewhat related to bands such as Ghost, Stone Sour, or Soen, if you will, the music unfolds in an intoxicating manner. It's time for The New Retro-Rock!" declare Lill and Kuntz.


Keyboardist Markus Teske, who is also the owner of Bazement Studios and has been turning the knobs on the mixing desk for all of Vanden Plas' albums since 2002, was brought on board first. Beside being a superb engineer, he is a virtuoso at his instrument too. Then followed Franky R., a bassist who has played with renowned guitarist Michael Schenker, among others. And to keep it in the family, Stephan's brother Andreas Lill, also of Vanden Plas and who has a tremendous reputation for his musical experience and skill set, was brought in on drums to complete the lineup.


Lill and Kuntz unanimously answer with a clear "No!" whether the participation of the Vanden Plas musicians will bring All My Shadows too close sonically to Vanden Plas. Both musically and lyrically, the differences are too great, too tangible, too obvious.


"Vanden Plas stands very much for progressive metal in all its variations, while All My Shadows stands very much for melodic hard rock. Musical points of contact are there, overlaps are not. All My Shadows have all the characteristics to have their own identity," says Lill.





Eerie Monsters tracklisting:


"Silent Waters"
"A Boy Without A Name"
"Syrens"
"Lifeforms"
"Wolverinized"
"The Phantoms Of The Dawn"
"Farewell"
"Devil's Ride"
" All My Eerie Monsters"


"The Phantoms Of The Dawn" video:





"Silent Waters" video:





Lineup:


Stephan Lill - Guitars
Andy Kuntz - Vocals
Markus Teske - Keyboards
Franky R. - Bass
Andreas Lill - Drums

In a recent interview with the Joey Sturgis Tones YouTube channel, FEAR FACTORY guitarist Dino Cazares was asked what his main source of income is nowadays. He responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "I'm not the kind of guy who's a stay-at-home, online, YouTube shredder. No. I'm a touring musician. I'm an entertainer. I go out there and I play songs live. That's where most of my income comes from. And so that's what I like to do."

He continued: "There's nothing better than meeting somebody or just seeing somebody in the crowd that is singing all your lyrics or [who has] a smile on their face that they're up there getting to see a band that they like or a song they wanna hear. And then meeting them after and then you listen to that fan's story. That's amazing, because they wanna tell you how they got into the band, what their favorite song means to them, whether it's lyrically, whether it's riff-wise, whether it's tone-wise, or they bought your pick-up or they bought an amp 'cause of you or bought a speaker cabinet [because] of you. There's nothing better than that — than going out there and seeing that and experiencing that."

Cazares added: "There's a lot of [guitar players] who are at home… There's some guys who are just secluded and all they do is do the YouTube and that's it. And when it comes to being social, they have social anxiety, 'cause they're not used to dealing with actual humans. They're just used to dealing with people commenting, whether it's bad or good, on their YouTube channel. For me, I love going out there. I love talking to these people and experiencing them. I'm approachable; I'm an approachable guy. I like it when people come up and talk to me. Like on this tour that we've got coming up [with STATIC-X], or on tours in general, but this one particular tour we've got coming up, I decided to not do a meet-and-greet and not charge fans the extra money to come meet me. What I've done is I just said, 'Meet me at the merch table after our performance.' I'll be there at the merch table every night, signing autographs and taking photos for fans. That way they can just come out there and they can meet me and they don't have to pay the extra money. I'm not saying anything negative about meet-and-greets because it definitely does help the band to pay for gas or pay for whatever they've gotta pay for — it does help the band financially — but in this particular case, I decided to switch it up a little bit and just have them come meet me at the merch table. If you wanna help the band out, buy a t-shirt, buy a sticker, buy a patch. Put it on your nice jacket or whatever. But just come out and just meet me and I'll talk to you for a few minutes. Whatever it takes."

It was back in December 2022 that Dino first tweeted (see below) that FEAR FACTORY wouldn't be taking part in any paid meet-and-greets during the band's North American tour with STATIC-X, MUSHROOMHEAD and DOPE.

"V.I.P Packages" seem to be the only way for fans to meet the bands they admire these days. Some of these come at a really inflated price on top of the standard ticket costs and include anything from a signed item, a photo to watching soundchecks or a collectable lanyard.

Paid meet-and-greets are becoming staples of the touring circuit and are seen by some artists as a necessary evil to survive nowadays. Other musicians object to meet-and-greets on moral grounds, believing they favor richer fans over poorer ones. Similarly, many people view the fact that groups charge fans to meet them as completely exploitative, since artists are usually aware that young admirers are prepared to pay any amount of money to see their favorite band, sometimes at their parents' expense.

A few years ago, Canadian musician/producer Devin Townsend defended the culture of "V.I.P Packages," telling Noisey: "A lot of the times, fans may think bands are taking the piss by simply doing a meet-and-greet, but if we don't do them, we simply can't do what we're doing. It's not like we do them then get a bonus at the end of the tour. On the other side of it, if you're in the band and you're hypersensitive to people's energy, like I believe I am, meet-and-greets fucking beat the shit out of you. Not because you don't want to meet people, but because in order to do it correctly, you really have to invest yourself and be present and ready to talk to people and sometimes accept hyperbolic praise or criticism, and you have to be emotionally resilient enough to not let either… I mean, it's about them. They're paying for a moment and your job is to be present and that's really challenging on tour."

Y&T frontman Dave Meniketti made headlines in 2016 when he said he was completely opposed to fans paying for meet-and-greets, explaining that "we should be paying [them]." "Some bands will charge for meet-and-greets or they'll charge for some special types of meet-and-greets," Meniketti said. "I don't like to do that. I think that's gouging the fans. I think that's a little too much of trying to get every last dollar out of everybody, dollaring people to death. I don't like that whatsoever. To me, your fanbase is golden. They're the people that are keeping us going. They're the people that love the music."

He continued: "Why do we want to charge them to meet us? That, to me, seems like the most bizarre thing you can do and too opportunist. That's not my thing. They pay for a ticket. Come see us live, that's what's going to keep us alive. Buy a t-shirt, something like that. But don't pay to see me. My God. I should be paying you guys. I'm happy to shake a hand, take a picture or listen to a story or something like that. In fact, more than happy. It makes us all feel good. It makes us feel connected to our fans."

Former METALLICA bassist Jason Newsted called the paid-meet-and-greet practice "bullshit" in a 2012 interview. He explained: "My guys had been talking to me about doing those things, and they talk about KISS making money for this meet-and-greet. People will pay it, but that's not the point. I don't want to take money like that. If they want to buy a t-shirt and have something to show for it, that's what we do. You can't download a t-shirt.

"There are certain things that make sense to me. I have never charged for my autograph up until [I launched my own] web site. That is my first time in my thirty-year career that I have charged for my autograph, and I have signed for hundreds of thousands of people.

"I don't feel comfortable with charging people to meet me; I don't feel comfortable with charging people to get me to sign something when they are standing with me. If they buy it off the Internet and want an 8x10 or an autograph CD, they have that momentum. That's fine, but I'm not going to charge people to meet me. I just don't feel that's right. I'll pay to meet one of my old sports heroes, or something like one of the cats from the 1970s Orioles. I'll pay a couple of bucks for something, but I'm not going to pay for Gene Simmons. It's ridiculous; that's not what it's about."

FEAR FACTORY's "Rise Of The Machine" North American tour with STATIC-X kicked off on February 25 in San Francisco, California and wrapped up April 15 in Los Angeles, California.
If anyone bought VIP tix for the upcoming “Rise Of The Machine”tour thinking they are for a FF meet n greet we never put any up for sale. I will be at the merch table every night for autograph/photos with the purchase of FF merch. It’s a much more affordable way to meet me

— Dino Cazares (@DinoCazares) December 27, 2022

Influenced by tattoo art and Celine Dion, the Finnish pack of road dogs that is Clear Vision releases the second single from their upcoming new album, in their unique mix of metal and melody.





Clear Vision is a six piece melodic metal outfit consisting of Mikko Laihanen (drums), Jaakko Mäntymaa (Vocals), Antti Röksä (Rhythm Guitar), Mika Koskimies (Clean Vocals), Johnny Texas (Bass), Petri Paronen (Rhythm/ Lead Guitar and Orchestrations), born and raised in Finland.




Talking about the meaning of their new song, Petri Paronen says: "The song is about a last getaway, amok run to experience freedom for the last time. It's a like middle finger to remind us that sometimes it's okay not conform to every norm that shape and define our daily lives. Sometimes it is necessary to take a stand and shake things up. Even if you are not a young rebel anymore as all of us in this band. So basically despite its aggressive and darkish undertone it's a song celebrating freedom and diversity."


Clear Vision was born a cold, early spring day in the studio of Teemu Alto, and the producer is still a vital part of creating the cold nordic landscape of onrushing energy that is the music of Clear Vision.  The circle closes with Grammy nominated mastering engineer Svante Forsbäck, sprinkling the final sparkle of star quality over the tracks.

Boston's Mammothor have released a video for new single "The Red State Blues", featured on their new album, The Ecstasy Of Silence... The Agony Of Dreams, out now. Watch the clip, directed by Adam Noya (Red 13 Studios), below.





Tracklist:




"M.O.A.B."
"Novocaine"
"You Don't Know Me"
"Hitcher"
"Take the World"
"Parasomnia"
"[Breaking News]"
"Bury The Motive"
"Trial by Fire"
"The Red State Blues"
"Final Hour"
"Do You Call My Name"


"The Red State Blues" video:





"Parasomnia" video:





"Bury The Motive" video:





"Take The World" video:





"M.O.A.B." lyric video:

Albert Bouchard is best known as a founding member of Blue Öyster Cult, the original lineup sold millions of albums for Columbia Records, with such classic songs as “(Don’t Fear) The Reaper” and the #1 hit on the Billboard Mainstream Rock chart “Burning For You”. Bouchard contributed to songwriting and lead vocals on some of its greatest songs, such as “Cites On Flame With Rock And Roll".


Albert Bouchard is back with Imaginos III - Mutant Reformation, wrapping up the trilogy of Imaginos. Bouchard has shepherded the concept of Imaginos through its many incarnations over the years, translating Sandy Pearlman’s feverish visions into sonic resonance.


As Bouchard states, “Sandy’s not being here to feel the long-awaited culmination is perhaps the greatest irony of this epic journey through the invisibility of conspiracy, the shape-shifting, and eternal light that is Desdinova. But legend lives on, as will tales told ‘round the fire of when Man still walked the Earth, and the carnage had yet to begin. Hear the final chapter in this monumental saga when the record is released on July 7, 2023.”




The first single was Bouchard’s take on the Blue Öyster Cult fan favorite, “E.T.I.”, featuring brother Joe Bouchard on lead vocal, Isabella Kosal on background vocals, and R.J. Ronquillo on lead guitar. Now Bouchard releases the second single, “Transmaniacon", featuring the current lineup of The Dictators.


Bouchard had this to say, “I wanted to make a version of “Transmaniacon” that had a heavier approach, proto-metal with a punk flavor. The guys in the new Dictators were just the group to deliver that. I know it’s a fan favorite with BÖC fans, but I hope they can appreciate it as much as the original--just like they did for ‘E.T.I.’.”


Listen here, and below:





The album is available for pre-order and features guests “Ross the Boss” Friedman and Andy Shernoff (Dictators); Joe Cerisano (Silver Condor, TSO); Kenny Aaronson (Billy Idol, Bob Dylan); and Kasim Sulton (Utopia, Meat Loaf). It reunites original Blue Öyster Cult members Eric Bloom and Joe Bouchard, as well as current BÖC member Richie Castellano, who all contribute to this latest installment. The album also features reworks of classics like “E.T.I.,” “Godzilla,” and “Sole Survivor.” There will be limited-edition bundles, including a very limited colored-vinyl option (only 250 copies).





Pre-order your copy of Imagnos III - Mutant Reformation now and get your limited-edition bundles while supplies last.


Product includes:


- One Double LP Album (or CD) of Albert Bouchard‘s - Imaginos III
- One Imaginos III 10x10 Flat (Autographed)
- One Imaginos III T-shirt





Imaginos III - Mutant Reformation tracklisting:


“Welcome To Desdanovaland”
“Flaming Telepaths”
“The Queen’s Graveyard”
“Transmaniacon”
“Career of Evil”
“St. Cecilia”
“Curse of the Hidden Mirrors”
“Mountain of Madness”
“Redeemed”
“Mothra & Starfish”
“Godzilla”
“R.U. Red D. 2”
“Sole Survivor”
“E.T.I.”
“Aldebaran Alien Take Me Away”
“Arianna of Earth”
“Heavy Metal/Black and Silver”
“Buddha’s Knee”


“E.T.I.” lyric video:





Albert Bouchard’s Imaginos Show features the trilogy of the Imaginos saga performed in concert live. Dates below.


July
5 - Daryl’s House - Pawling, NY
9 - Tally Ho Theatre - Leesburg, VA
11- Ram’s Head on Stage - Annapolis, MD
12 - Sony Hall - NYC, NY

In a new interview with Elena Rosberg of Bulgaria's Z-Rock radio station, legendary vocalist/bassist Glenn Hughes (DEEP PURPLE, BLACK SABBATH) spoke about the status of BLACK COUNTRY COMMUNION, his supergroup with guitarist Joe Bonamassa, vocalist/bassist Glenn Hughes (DEEP PURPLE, THE DEAD DAISIES),drummer Jason Bonham (LED ZEPPELIN) and keyboardist Derek Sherinian (DREAM THEATER, ALICE COOPER, BILLY IDOL). He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "We are right now in the middle of album number five. What I would like to say [is] the album will be coming out in January."

Regarding the possibility of BLACK COUNTRY COMMUNION performing live again, Hughes said: "Of course we would like to tour. Is there an opportunity? I hope so. What I can't do is tell people there will be a tour and there will not be in the end. So I will say this: we hope — the band hope — that there can be a selection of shows in 2024 that you can all see."

BLACK COUNTRY COMMUNION recently entered Sunset Sound studio in Hollywood, California to begin recording its fifth album.

The news of BLACK COUNTRY COMMUNION's recording activity came less than three months after it was announced that the band will perform on next year's Keeping The Blues Alive At Sea IX cruise, sailing from Miami, Florida to Cozumel, Mexico on March 18-22, 2024.

BLACK COUNTRY COMMUNION's most recent performance took place in February 2018 at the fourth edition of the Keeping The Blues Alive At Sea, which benefits the Keeping The Blues Alive Foundation, Bonamassa's non-profit organization dedicated to providing students, teachers, and musicians with the resources and tools needed to further their music education.

In a September 2022 interview with Andy Hall of the Des Moines, Iowa radio station Lazer 103.3, Bonamassa spoke about the possibility of a fifth studio album with BLACK COUNTRY COMMUNION. Joe said: "We have quite the group chat going right now. So we're gonna start — Glenn and I are gonna start working on writing some songs. We're just gonna get together in October, next month, and we're gonna start. And we're gonna see if we can get everybody's schedule lined up for next year and do another record. 'Cause I really miss those guys. And when we fire on all cylinders, there's nothing better."

Asked what it is about a "band situation" that appeals to him, considering he has spent most of his career as a solo artist, Joe said: "I like nothing more than to be a member of a band and playing guitar. I don't have to front it; I don't have to sing all the time. And it's a lot less pressure than being the front person. Being the person in front is a special skillset. You have to be an entertainer. You can't just sit up there and stare at your guitar and go, 'Wow. Look, I can play guitar pretty good.' That's not gonna fill the theater. You have to put on a show. And to put on a show requires being an entertainer. So being in a band, the sum of the parts is greater than the single entity. So this thing where Glenn co-fronts BLACK COUNTRY COMMUNION, I can just sit back and play rhythm guitar and watch him do his thing. He's a legend. And then conversely, Glenn doesn't have to sing all night; I'll sing three or four [songs]. So we kind of spread out the whole workload a little bit."

BLACK COUNTRY COMMUNION's next disc will be the follow-up to "BCCIV", which was released in September 2017 and marked BLACK COUNTRY COMMUNION's first studio effort since 2013's "Afterglow".

Just like its three predecessors, "BCCIV" was overseen by producer Kevin Shirley, who originally had the idea of putting Hughes and Bonamassa in a band after seeing them jamming together onstage in Los Angeles back in November 2009.

BLACK COUNTRY COMMUNION's inception took place when Hughes and Bonamassa fused their styles on stage in Los Angeles for an explosive performance at Guitar Center's King Of The Blues event. With the help and guidance of Shirley, they further added to their rock lineage by recruiting Bonham and Sherinian.

In a 2017 interview, Hughes talked about the chemistry between the BLACK COUNTRY COMMUNION members, especially since all the musicians have had successful careers prior to launching the group.

"This band was meant to be," Glenn said. "It was formed out of a friendship with Joe and I. We got the [other] guys to come in, and it's always been a strong brotherhood. And we're just very lucky and fortunate to have met. I've known Jason since he was [a kid]. I just think that these four guys in this band are the right guys to play in the band."

Photo credit: Neil Zlozower

ALTER BRIDGE drummer Scott Phillips has weighed in on the fact that PANTERA's surviving members Philip Anselmo (vocals) and Rex Brown (bass) have united with guitarist Zakk Wylde (OZZY OSBOURNE, BLACK LABEL SOCIETY) and drummer Charlie Benante (ANTHRAX) for a world tour under the PANTERA banner.

Anselmo and Brown, along with Wylde and Benante, are headlining a number of major festivals across South America, Asia, North America and Europe and staging some of their own headline concerts. They will also support METALLICA on a massive North American stadium tour in 2023 and 2024.

According to Billboard, the lineup has been given a green light by the estates of the band's founders, drummer Vincent "Vinnie Paul" Abbott and guitarist "Dimebag" Darrell Abbott, as well as Brown, who in 2021 said Wylde wouldn't tour with PANTERA if a reunion were to happen. It's unclear what changed his mind.

Phillips discussed his views on the PANTERA comeback in an interview with Danny Wimmer Presents, conducted at last month's Welcome To Rockville festival in Daytona Beach, Florida where both PANTERA and ALTER BRIDGE were performing. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "It's incredible. And I feel like if you're gonna pay tribute to the Abbott brothers, picking Charlie from ANTHRAX, who's really nailing Vinnie's parts, and Zakk Wylde on guitar… I mean, I couldn't think of two better people to fill those roles and pay tribute to Dime and Vinnie."

He continued: "I'm excited to see it. We've got a couple of other shows, I think, that we're doing in Europe over the summer where we're gonna get a chance to see them as well. But tonight being the first night definitely will be a special one."

This past March, PANTERA headlined the 2023 "comeback" edition of Japan's Loud Park festival. The two-day "limited" event took place on March 25 at Intex Osaka in Osaka and March 26 at Makuhari Messe in Chiba City near Tokyo.

In December, PANTERA played seven shows in Mexico and South America.

Brown was forced to leave PANTERA's Latin American tour after testing positive for COVID-19. Filling in for him at some of the shows was CATTLE DECAPITATION bassist Derek Engemann, who also plays with Anselmo in both PHILIP H. ANSELMO & THE ILLEGALS and SCOUR.

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

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

Vinnie passed away on June 22, 2018 at his other home in Las Vegas at the age of 54. He died of dilated cardiomyopathy, an enlarged heart, as well as severe coronary artery disease. His death was the result of chronic weakening of the heart muscle — basically meaning his heart couldn't pump blood as well as a healthy heart.

On June 21st, In Flames performed at Liseberg in Gothenburg, Sweden. Fan-filmed video of the entire show can be viewed below.


The setlist was as follows:


"The Beginning of All Things That Will End"
"The Great Deceiver"
"Everything's Gone"
"Where the Dead Ships Dwell"
"Darker Times"
"End The Transmission" (live debut)
"Behind Space"
"Cloud Connected"
"Only for the Weak"
"Foregone Pt. 1"
"State of Slow Decay"
"Alias"
"The Mirror's Truth"
"I Am Above"
"Take This Life"







In Flames recently announced they have parted ways with bassist, Bryce Paul. A message from the band follows...


"Jesterheads, We want to inform you that our brother Bryce Paul has decided to step away from the band. We wish him well on his future endeavours and thank him for everything he put into the band the last several years. Our friend Liam Wilson (The Dillinger Escape Plan) will be stepping in to help us out this summer!"


Find In Flames' complete tour itinerary here.

Voraath, the brutal horror-inspired extreme metal band featuring members from Xael, Rapheumets Well, Implosive Disgorgence, and Sweet Blood has announced new vocalist Chelsea Marrow (Visitant, The Monster Factory - Death Metal Choir for the video game DOOM Eternal) to their lineup. To debut her vocal prowess they are unleashing a re-envisioned, remixed, and remastered version of the single and music video "Siren Head" along with the addition of guest melodic vocals from Taylor Presnell to be distributed by Exitus Stratagem Records.





Band founder and drummer Joshua Ward comments:




"This was the first song we wrote as a band, it was a fun song inspired by our children who were fans of the horror creature ‘Siren Head,’ which is a creature developed by Trevor Henderson. So for us, this was a bonding song for us and our kids. Our lore features interdimensional deities anyways so it was not out of our conceptual scope to write a song about Siren Head. With our new vocalist bringing so much to the table and revitalizing the project, we wanted to remake the song to introduce her sound and stylistic approach to our music, setting the pace for what's to come with the full album."


Voraath is an otherworldly and experimental death metal band that brings together emotional yet brutal music and science fantasy appealing to both metal enthusiasts as well as those who appreciate the lore of the music. The band's origin began with an idea to merge extreme metal with storytelling by band founder and drummer Joshua Ward (Xael).


"I wanted to create more than just another metal band but an intricate brand with lore to explore alongside the music. We are creating a metal multiverse," adds Ward.


Integrating science fantasy, soundscapes, and metal, Voraath looks forward to tantalizing audiences and leaving them anticipating their forthcoming debut album, which is currently in the works.


As they tour across the American Midwest, they promise an onslaught of theatrics, bringing their stories of the music to life. Atmospheric and driving, the medley of blast beats, chugging bass, and heavily distorted solos will be both intense and immersive.


"Our stage wear is directly from the lore. Each one of us is a character in the lore of our music. Tactical dystopian armor, Alien-like helmets with red glowing lights, we try to represent the vibe we are writing about," says Ward.


Lineup:
Chelsea Marrow - Vocals
Tylor Kohl - Guitar
Paul McBride - Bass
Joshua Ward - Drums, Keys, Vocals, Studio Guitars


(Photo – Picture: Jamie Leblanc, Art: Joshua Ward)

Watch Vio-Lence perform “Eternal Nightmare” and “Kill On Command” at hometown show in Oakland, CA at the Oakland Metro Opera for the 35th Anniversary of their 1988 debut Eternal Nightmare. 


Videos courtesy of Jessica Chase:










Eternal Nightmare was originally released in ’88 via Mechanic Records and peaked at #154 on the Billboard 200. 


Lineup:


Vocals- Sean Killian
Guitar- Phil Demmel
Guitar- Ira Black
Bass- Christian Olde Wolbers
Drums- Adrian Aguilar

In a new interview with Jorge Botas of Portugal's Metal Global, PAPA ROACH frontman Jacoby Shaddix spoke about how living through the coronavirus pandemic felt like being in a Stephen King movie. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Absolutely, man. Absolutely. My gut tells me that there wasn't a lot of honesty coming from our leaders. I'll tell you that. My gut tells me that this seemed like a great time for the rich to get rich and for the people that have control to just kind of tighten the grip. So, that's what my gut's telling me. Is that true? I don't know. But sometimes… My mama told me, man, you've gotta listen to your gut."

Back in May 2017, less than three years before the start of the coronavirus pandemic, Shaddix told NME that he didn't identify with any political party in the U.S. "I'm on the ticket of 'none of the above,'" he said at the time. "I am really not impressed with American politics and American politicians. The state of affairs is really fucking depressing, and it saddens me."

Shaddix went on to criticize the then-presidency of Donald Trump, saying he was unimpressed by the real estate mogul's administration of the executive branch.

"The current administration just seems like a fucking shit show and I am not impressed," he said. "I am not a fan and I think we have a long way to go."

In July 2019, Shaddix and his PAPA ROACH bandmates used their own lyrics to poke fun of Trump, turning the then-president's tweet about "NO COLLUSION, NO OBSTRUCTION, TOTAL EXONERATION. DEMOCRAT WITCH HUNT!" into the words of their 2000 smash "Last Resort".

Earlier this year, Shaddix told U.K.'s Express that he struggled to keep himself in a positive headspace throughout 2020. "The pandemic, for me, had an effect of me spending a lot of time alone in my head," he said. "And that's not really a good place for a person like myself. Ruminating on negativity is one of my downfalls, and I really had to stop myself from spiraling into a really dark space. I struggled for a while."

He revealed that, despite having his family and friends around him, the fact that the biggest aspects of his life (touring, writing, recording, performing, et al) were all "torn away" from him, was too much to handle. "I think a lot of people could identify right?" he went on. "We have this life and this routine and then all of a sudden it's like — nope, you're fucking locked away. It's not good for the spirit, not good for the soul."

PAPA ROACH recently announced the digital deluxe edition of the band's eleventh studio album "Ego Trip", and the long-awaited release date of "Ego Trip" standard edition on vinyl. The 20-track digital deluxe release features remixed versions of songs from the original record, as well as new music.

An album that sprouted almost by mistake in the throes of a global lockdown, "Ego Trip"'s seeds were planted when the quartet entered a COVID-secure mansion in Temecula, California in the summer of 2020. What started as an escape and an exercise in keeping the creative juices flowing, in a world that had completely ground to a halt, quickly grew into something bigger.

PAPA ROACH are two-time Grammy-nominated, platinum-selling leaders in alternative hard rock music, who in 2020 celebrated the 20th anniversary of their iconic album "Infest".

DEF LEPPARD has shared the seventh behind-the-scenes video from the band's "The World Tour", featuring footage from concerts at the Sweden Rock Festival in Sölvesborg, Sweden (June 7),Rockfest in Helsinki, Finland (June 9) and Trondheim Rocks in Trondheim, Norway (June 11).

DEF LEPPARD and MÖTLEY CRÜE's co-headline tour hit Latin America and is making its way around Europe before it comes to the U.S. in August. Produced by Live Nation, the U.S. leg of the world tour kicks off on August 5 in Syracuse, New York.

This past February, MÖTLEY CRÜE and DEF LEPPARD played two shows at the 7,000-capacity Hard Rock Live at Etess Arena in Atlantic City, New Jersey. The Atlantic City gigs marked MÖTLEY CRÜE's first U.S. live appearances since the announcement that founding guitarist Mick Mars would no longer tour with the legendary rock act. He is being replaced on the road by former ROB ZOMBIE and MARILYN MANSON guitarist John 5.

DEF LEPPARD is continuing to tour in support of its latest album, "Diamond Star Halos", which sold 34,000 equivalent album units in the U.S. in its first week of release in May 2022 to land at position No. 10 on the Billboard 200 chart. It marked the band's eighth top 10 LP.

Of "Diamond Star Halos"' 34,000 units earned for the week, album sales comprised 32,000, SEA units comprised 2,000 (equaling 2.7 million on-demand official streams of the album’s songs) and TEA units comprised less than 500 units.

DEF LEPPARD's previous Top 10 albums included "Pyromania" (which peaked at No. 2 in 1983),"Hysteria" (No. 1 for six weeks in 1988),"Adrenalize" (No. 1 for five weeks in 1992),"Retro Active" (No. 9; 1983),"Rock Of Ages: The Definitive Collection" (No. 10; 2005),"Songs From The Sparkle Lounge" (No. 5; 2008) and "Def Leppard" (No. 10; 2015).

Last summer, DEF LEPPARD completed "The Stadium Tour" with MÖTLEY CRÜE and guests POISON and JOAN JETT & THE BLACKHEARTS. The 36-date trek was originally scheduled to take place in the summer of 2020 but ended up being pushed back to 2021, and then to 2022, due to the coronavirus crisis.

Lee Ving, frontman for the legendary punk band FEAR, joined MEGADETH on stage last night (Saturday, June 24) during the latter band's concert at MidFlorida Credit Union Amphitheatre in Tampa, Florida to perform the song "Nothing Is Something" from Ving's 1996 collaboration with MEGADETH leader Dave Mustaine, MD.45. Video of Lee's appearance can be seen below.

Both FEAR and MEGADETH served as the support acts for MISFITS at the Tampa show, with the horror punk pioneers making their first Florida appearance featuring the classic lineup of original singer/songwriter Glenn Danzig and original bassist Jerry Only with longtime guitarist Doyle Wolfgang Von Frankenstein.

In 1996, Ving and Mustaine released "The Craving", the sole album from the duo's side project MD.45. That version included vocals and harmonica by Ving. In 2004, Mustaine reworked the album, replacing Ving's tracks with his own. In Mustaine's 2011 autobiography, "Mustaine: A Heavy Metal Memoir", he stated the change was "an effort to entice interest from MEGADETH fans who might have overlooked the original."

"The Craving", was a critically panned affair that featured a musical style once described by Mustaine as "the New Wave of British Heavy Metal crossed with a punk singer, and whatever influences the two of us have melted into one."

In a May 2020 interview with "The 80its" podcast, Ving said that the 2004 re-release of "The Craving" was done "without any notification or preparation, like notifying the guy who sang it first." When asked if Mustaine had contacted him since, Ving said that Mustaine had "not reached out in practically any way."

But Ving said that he wanted some closure to the matter. "In fact," Ving said of Mustaine, "if I knew how to call him, I would, just to get pressure off the matter. And we could be what friends we could be."

Back in 2004, Mustaine revealed in an online post that he got $250,000 from his then-record label Capitol to make the MD.45 album. But he claimed that Capitol "did not market MD.45 at all because it would have possibly interfered with their other priority, the successful band MEGADETH. However, the great people of EMI allowed me to go back in and re-issue this record, which I am totally pumped about."

Mustaine and Ving reportedly created the MD.45 band name by reversing their initials. Mustaine's reversed are "MD" and Ving's are "VL," which is 45 in Roman numerals.

Two decades ago, Mustaine told Classic Rock magazine that "a lot of" the music on "The Craving" "was intended for MEGADETH, but every time I turned around, Marty [Friedman, then-MEGADETH guitarist] had a solo record coming out; Nick [Menza, then-MEGADETH drummer] had his own solo project. Y'know, was this MEGADETH or not? I said, 'You don't see me going off to play with anybody else. If I'm not doing it, then none of you guys are. And if I do it, then we all can — but I might not come back.' By the time I got into the studio with Lee, I figured it was a case of goodbye. But we got back together after a little period of time."

The Bahomar YouTube channel has uploaded video of SLIPKNOT's June 21 concert at Mercedes-Benz Arena in Berlin, Germany. Check out the clips below.

In a recent interview with Finland's Chaoszine, SLIPKNOT singer Corey Taylor was asked about the group's new keyboardist, two weeks after Taylor and his bandmates announced the departure of longtime member Craig Jones.

"Obviously, any time you have a change like that, it makes you have to kind of lean into adversity a little bit," Corey said. "We took a little more time to kind of figure things out. Obviously, [him being a] new guy."

Taylor added: "[He's] good — really good. He's a total musician. But it took him a second to kind of find his way. But now he's killing it; now he's really, really good."

SLIPKNOT played its first show with its new mystery member on June 7 at the Nova Rock festival in Austria. The concert took place hours after the band announced in a social media post that it had parted ways with Jones.

A short time after SLIPKNOT revealed Jones's exit from the group, the band's original post announcing his departure was deleted and a photo was shared of SLIPKNOT's apparent new member. The same unidentified person appeared onstage behind the keyboards at the Nova Rock show and all subsequent SLIPKNOT tour dates.

No reason was given for Jones's departure from SLIPKNOT.

Jones joined SLIPKNOT in early 1996, shortly after the band had finished the recording of its demo album "Mate. Feed. Kill. Repeat." He was initially brought in to replace Donnie Steele, one of the two original guitarists, though he quickly moved on to the role of sampling and keyboards. Following the departure of drummer Joey Jordison in 2013, Jones was the second-longest-serving member in the band.

A week ago, it was announced that SLIPKNOT co-founder and percussionist M. Shawn Crahan (a.k.a. Clown) would once again sit out some of the band's upcoming shows in order to stay home with his wife, who is suffering from undisclosed health issues.

SLIPKNOT is continuing to tour in support of its latest album, "The End, So Far", which was released last September via Roadrunner Records. The follow-up to "We Are Not Your Kind", it is the band's final record with Roadrunner after first signing with the rock and metal label in 1998.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Slipknot (@slipknot)

Norwegian progressive rock group Avkrvst recently released their debut album The Approbation on June 16. Today, the band has shared their third single from the album “Isolation.”





The Approbation is a concept album about a bleak soul who is left solely with his thoughts, isolated on a cabin deep into the dark forests, far away from civilization. The 49 minute long concept album contains 7 songs, which take the listener though the thoughts of a man struggling towards the acceptance of death, being hauled into the abyss.




The whole album is written and recorded at a cabin in Alvdal (Norway) during a rainy, cold fall and winter. Throughout the album, the sounds of rain and train horns from afar can be heard, which are actual sounds recorded outside the cabin at night under the stars.


Sonically, The Approbation is a massive sounding piece of music. It’s everything from lush, melancholy moods to heavy, more aggressive atmospheres. It tries to capture the feeling of a cold, gloomy fall - a dark sky, filled with gazing stars above the mist. Order here.





Tracklisting:


"Østerdalen"
"The Pale Moon"
"Isolation"
"The Great White River"
"Arcane Clouds"
"Anodyne"
"The Approbation"


"Arcane Clouds" video:





"The Pale Moon" video:





At the young age of 7 years old, Martin Utby and Simon Bergseth made a pact that they would form a band when they got older. Now, 22 years later they’ve done just that. An album is ready - 55 minutes of music inspired by everything they grew up listening to - everything from Mew, Anekdoten and Porcupine Tree to Opeth, Neal Morse and King Crimson.


All the music has been written at a small cabin, deep into the Norwegian forests (Alvdal, Nor- way). Simon (composer, guitars, bass and vocals) and Martin (composer, drummer and synths) have later been joined by Øystein Aadland on bass/keys, Edvard Seim on guitars and Auver Gaaren on keys.


(Photo - Kristian Rangnes)

THE HALO EFFECT, the new project featuring five former members of the Swedish metal band IN FLAMES — Jesper Strömblad (guitar),Daniel Svensson (drums),Peter Iwers (bass),Niclas Engelin (guitar) and Mikael Stanne (vocals) — debuted two brand new songs, "Become Surrender" and "The Defiant One", during its February 2023 Swedish tour. Speaking to MoreCore.TV about the decision to perform new material before it is officially recorded and released, Mikael said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "We decided to [test the water a little bit], see if people are into the new stuff that we're writing. Not that it's super different, but still… And it's been fun to kind of, yeah, try things out and see if people are into it. And they seem to be digging it. So we're really excited. We're in the mixing stage of album number two, and it's starting to sound pretty good." Niclas added: "[The second album is] done. We're doing the finishing mixes next week with Jens Bogren, and it feels really, really good… We're ready to go." Mikael continued: "It's gonna be awesome. So it feels great to just have everything kind of ready to go. And then we can do all of our other things, and then we're gonna release the album… Unofficial yet, but it's coming."

Asked what fans can expect from the second THE HALO EFFECT album, Niclas said: "I think it's gonna be more riffage, maybe — if that's possible." Mikael added: "To me… We listen to it every day now in order to kind of finalize the mix. But it's more focused, I think. For me, it feels like we are more confident in who we are, whereas the first album was kind of, like, 'Hey, let's figure things out, see where we can take things.' Now it's become focused and more final, I think, and more confident… I cannot wait to start releasing singles and stuff like that. It's gonna be awesome. I cannot wait. It sounds so good." Niclas concurred, saying: "Especially after playing a lot of shows together, you get that chemistry going [between the bandmembers]."

Last month, THE HALO EFFECT released a visualizer for the song "Path Of Fierce Resistance". The track, which was previously released as a Japanese exclusive on THE HALO EFFECT's debut album, "Days Of The Lost", was finally made available in the rest of the world

THE HALO EFFECT recently completed an eight-date North American tour leading up the band's appearance at this year's Milwaukee Metal Fest. Support on the trek came from UNEARTH and HIGH COMMAND.

"Days Of The Lost" entered the official chart in Sweden last summer at position No. 1. This was believed to be the first time a debut LP from a metal act had ever topped the chart in Sweden in its first week of release. "Days Of The Lost" also landed at No. 6 in Germany.

Asked in a recent interview with Tomar Uma if THE HALO EFFECT is a "band" or just a "project", Mikael said: "It is definitely a new band. It started out as a project or an idea, but because of the time we had, I think we made it into a proper band and we wanna treat it as such because we want to make sure that we do everything we possibly can to make this as good as it possibly can be. We wanna do some tours; we wanna do cool festivals. And we're already starting to plan for more recordings and the next album and that kind of stuff. So everybody's just excited. And because it felt good and we were on a roll… You really can't hold Niclas and Jesper back once they get started. So they've already started writing new stuff. Let's keep up. It's gonna be a lot of work [laughs] the next couple of years, that's for sure."

Stanne was also asked if "Reroute To Remain", IN FLAMES' sixth album, which came out in 2002 and featured Jesper, Peter and Daniel, was an influence on the way THE HALO EFFECT approached the songwriting process. He responded: "I don't think so. I love that album — I think it's fantastic — but no, I don't think so. But, obviously, the other guys were a big part of it, so maybe that's something… They had that experience, so that will color and will somehow affect them. But I don't think it ever came up, so I don't think that was a particular influence. But, of course, everything is a part of what you do, right?!"

Svensson, who joined IN FLAMES in 1998, announced in 2015 that he was leaving the group to focus on his family life.

A member of IN FLAMES since 1997, Iwers issued a statement in November 2016 saying that he was exiting the band "to pursue other endeavors."

A founding member of IN FLAMES, Strömblad quit the band in February 2010 in order to continue receiving treatment for his alcohol addiction.

Strömblad's THE HALO EFFECT bandmates have been supportive in his ongoing battle with the bottle, going so far as to hire THE HAUNTED's Patrik Jensen to fill in for him at any gigs he is unable to play.

Engelin has been sitting out IN FLAMES' tour dates for the past four years but has never officially confirmed his departure from the band. Engelin's replacement for IN FLAMES' live shows and in the recording studio since then has been former MEGADETH and current ACT OF DEFIANCE guitarist Chris Broderick.

John Vihervä is the new bass player of Timo Tolkki’s Strato. John is one of the three original members of Stratovarius, and is one of the three founding members of the band back in 1985 in Helsinki.


John Vihervä is already recording his bass parts for the upcoming album from Timo Tolkki’s Strato, Return To Dreamspace, to be released by Warner Music Japan on October 27 (with the rest of the world to follow).


He is a professional musician and has played gigs extensively both in Finland and outside, and will also accompany the band on the tours that are currently being booked. In concert the band will be performing songs from Return To Dreamspace, as well as from the Stratovarius albums, Fright Night, Twilight Time, and Dreamspace.




Stratovarius released their debut album Fright Night (1989) through CBS Finland. From that started one of the biggest success stories in the history of melodic metal. They defined what is currently known as “power metal” with albums like Fright Night (1989), Twilight Time (1993), Dreamspace (1994) and Fourth Dimension (1995).


Timo Tolkki wrote more than 100 songs for the band before leaving the group to embark on a successful solo career back in 2008, and is responsible for writing such power metal anthems like “Black Diamond”, “Hunting High And Low”, “Speed Of Light”, “Paradise”, “Forever” and “Destiny”. More than 4 million copies of Tolkki-era Stratovarius  albums have been sold.


Stay tuned for further updates.

MEGADETH mainman Dave Mustaine was interviewed last night (Saturday, June 24) on the "Fox News Saturday Night" program, hosted by former MTV VJ Kennedy. Asked how the pandemic influenced his songwriting, Mustaine said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "I've tried to use things that we all deal with without putting too much of a black-or-white yin-or-a-yang to it. I try and go right up the middle so that you can think what you want. With my kids, I've always said, 'Here's the pro. Here's the con. Here's what Dad would do. And here's what happened.'"

When Kennedy brought up the fact that Mustaine is often accused of putting his politics into his music, Dave said: "Well, I don't put any political party favoritism into my lyrics. I talk about issues that affect all of us. I've grown up in a very real outlook towards life and the world. I've been living on my own ever since I was 15. So, back in 1976 — that's like a 10-year-old nowadays. So I know what it's like for a lot of the kids that are growing up in our nation. And I have my own beliefs of what a big part of that problem is, and I try and put it into lyrics in an easily palatable way so that people can maybe take a look at stuff and maybe not want what I have but ask themselves… 'I don't want what Dave has, but do I want what I have?' That kind of a thing, to give yourself a different perspective and maybe another shot at something in life."

Asked to name an issue that keeps him up at night, either as a parent or someone who reads the news, Mustaine said: "Believe it or not, I don't really watch too much of the current affairs right now, because I don't have a lot of time to do that. There was a period while I was going through my recovery from my previous illness where I got to watch a lot of TV, but I'm just so busy right now. I know a lot of the current affairs that are going on, and I think it's just like anything in life. When people are gonna look back, they're gonna figure out who's doing what, they're gonna correct it, and we're gonna move on."

Back in June 2018, Mustaine addressed the controversial comments he made on stage in Singapore in August 2012 about then-President Barack Obama "staging" murders and turning the United States into "Nazi America." Asked by Kerrang! magazine if he had any regrets about what he said, Mustaine responded: "I have no regrets. If you weren't there, you won't know what happened. We were in Asia and soon discovered that the guy doing our monitors really wasn't a monitor guy; the first two shows had been disastrous. We got a local guy to help us and it was a fucking mess. Naturally, I threw caution to the wind and we knew we couldn't take the gig too seriously. That night I had a couple of drinks and I was really just joking with the audience."

When asked to clarify what the "joke" was exactly, Mustaine said: "What I said was how much I wanted to live in Singapore because it's beautiful — the streets are immaculate, there's no graffiti, and hardly any crime at all. It really is a remarkable Asian paradise. I was drinking and started talking about the shootings in America. All I said was next time it happens, I'd come and live out there in Singapore. Whatever else came out along with that was to soften the blow to the audience about the sound issues. When I say stuff that I mean, I stick by it and nobody can shake me from it. And when I'm joking around and laughing, people need to be smart enough to know it is not meant seriously."

During the August 7, 2012 concert in Singapore, Mustaine told the crowd: "Back in my country, my president is trying to pass a gun ban. So he's staging all of these murders, like the Fast And Furious thing down at the border and Aurora, Colorado, all the people that were killed there. And now the beautiful people at the Sikh temple."

He continued: "I don't know where I'm gonna live if America keeps going the way it's going because it looks like it's turning into Nazi America."

Fast And Furious was part of a federal sting operation intended to trace the movement of weapons from legal dealers in the United States to the leaders of Mexican drug cartels. The government lost track of some weapons, which were later found at crime scenes in Mexico.

A week after the Singapore concert, Mustaine spoke with conspiracy theorist Alex Jones about his controversial comments, claiming that he was merely repeating the theories of Larry Pratt, a pro-gun activist who runs the organization Gun Owners Of America. He said: "To clarify things, no one can deny there were criminal rogues in the administration. CBS News got the memos, Congress has the information and basically, Larry Pratt, the head of Gun Owners Of America, who is a highly respected person, said that if they would stage 'Fast And Furious,' they'd be capable of staging everything. And it was all done to blame the Second Amendment. We'd be fools not to look at this. Our U.S. border patrol agents were killed. And like I said, I was just quoting Larry Pratt. That's it bottom line."

He continued: "In the heat of the moment, when you're onstage and you're talking, sometimes you're not as eloquent as you'd like to be. Like I said, I was just quoting what Larry said. We really need to investigate this and we need to have the Attorney General release the documents and find out who's responsible for this. People died and the democratic process says, 'Let's investigate this. Let's find out what's going on here.'

"I love our country and my whole thing with this is that I think we should just look into it... I just think that we deserve to know the truth — that's it.

"I'm a patriot," he added. "I've always been controversial. I'm a political songwriter. And this wasn't done to hurt any our my fellow countrymen. I think that it's something that we really, really need to look into."

Earlier in 2012, Mustaine made headlines when he voiced his support for ultraconservative Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum. He explained at the time that the Pennsylvania politician looked "like he could be a really cool president… kind of like a JFK kind of guy."

Later that year, Mustaine revealed his "birther" opinions on Alex Jones's talk show, saying he doubted President Obama was born in the United States. He said: "With all of the proof about his birth certificate being fake… And you see the signs in Kenya that say 'the birthplace of Barack Obama.' Hello?! C'mon, guys. How stupid are we right now?"

Mustaine has consistently denied that he is a Republican, telling Artisan News in a 2012 interview: "I'm an independent, not a Republican — I've never been a Republican. I've always said that. I don't belong to any party — I'm non-partisan. And for me, the sad thing is, instead of voting for the best man, I have to vote for the lesser of two evils."
Watch the latest video at foxnews.com

Wolfgang Van Halen (MAMMOTH WVH, VAN HALEN),Max Cavalera (SOULFLY, SEPULTURA) and Mike DeLeon (SOULFLY, PHILIP H. ANSELMO & THE ILLEGALS) joined PANTERA on stage on Wednesday (June 28) at the Evil Live festival at the Altice Arena in Lisbon, Portugal to sing backing vocals on the song "Walk". Fan-filmed video of their appearance can be seen below.

PANTERA's surviving members Philip Anselmo (vocals) and Rex Brown (bass),along with guitarist Zakk Wylde (OZZY OSBOURNE, BLACK LABEL SOCIETY) and drummer Charlie Benante (ANTHRAX),are touring the world under the PANTERA banner. They are headlining a number of major festivals across South America, Asia, North America and Europe and staging some of their own headline concerts. They will also support METALLICA on a massive North American stadium tour in 2023 and 2024.

According to Billboard, the lineup has been given a green light by the estates of the band's founders, drummer Vincent "Vinnie Paul" Abbott and guitarist "Dimebag" Darrell Abbott, as well as Brown, who in 2021 said Wylde wouldn't tour with PANTERA if a reunion were to happen. It's unclear what changed his mind.

Max, who has spent the last few years playing SEPULTURA-centric shows with his brother, former SEPULTURA drummer Igor Cavalera, discussed his views on the PANTERA comeback in a February 2023 interview with Thomas S. Orwat, Jr. of Rock Interview Series. He said: "There's two sides for that, right?! It's so tough, because [on] one hand I understand that the fans wanna see it, and you still have somewhat a big part of that band, but you are missing two key elements on the brothers that are irreplaceable, in my eyes. So it's tough. It's really tough."

He continued: "The only thing that maybe… It's a little bit strange that they call it PANTERA. It should be called some kind of tribute to PANTERA — I think. It would have been a little bit more of a tribute to those songs and to that era. Because I don't really think it's PANTERA without the brothers."

Max previously discussed the PANTERA return in an interview in January with the "Appetite For Distortion" podcast. At the time, he said: "I think it's cool that they're doing that. I do something very similar with my brother, where we go out and we play a lot of SEPULTURA albums that the fans really love it and they never got the chance to see it, for one reason or another. And they get to see it with the real drums and the real vocals and the real guitar. So it's the closest you get to the real thing. And PANTERA is the same thing.

"Yeah, I'm friends with all of those guys [in PANTERA]," he continued. "And I've been friends with Phil for many years. I actually thanked him for letting me borrow his guitar player. Mike DeLeon is jamming with us [in SOULFLY]. He plays with [PHILIP H. ANSELMO & THE] ILLEGALS, with Phil Anselmo, for many, many years. So I thanked Phil for letting me borrow his guitar player."

Circling back to the PANTERA reformation, Max said: "Yeah, I think it's cool, especially the generation that never got to see it. I was there. I got to see it from the side of the stage every night. It was great… But I'm thinking about people that never got to see it, never got to experience that. For sure, go see it. It's not the original thing, but it's as close you can get from the original thing. It's fucking cool. The music is so powerful, it's so good, it's so cool that it will get through to the people. And I feel that way when I do those things with my brother. When we play those old songs, it connects to the whole audience. And it's a huge tribute.

"It sucks that Dimebag and Vinnie are no longer here, but at the same time, especially if you're a young kid and you grew up loving PANTERA and never got to see it, for sure, go see it, man," he added. "Just be a part of it. It's a unique experience."

Last August, Max spoke about the prospect of Anselmo and Brown reuniting for a PANTERA tour in an interview with Metal Hammer magazine. At the time, he said: "It's a delicate issue, man. On one hand, yes. But then sometimes I think if it was like me and Igor had died and somebody else would carry on without us, I don't know how I feel about that. I'm not sure I would really like it. It's a tough one. At the same time, you know, people want to hear those songs. The fans deserve to hear those songs."

Asked if the PANTERA comeback has made him rethink the possibility of doing a SEPULTURA reunion, Max said: "No. I'm good with what we did and so pleased with the reaction. It's a different thing with us and PANTERA; I'm not sure who founded PANTERA and stuff like that, but SEPULTURA was me and Igor. But if they do it the way we did, as a tribute, well, all right, you know? I think we gave the songs justice, we played them as good as they can be played and people were completely satisfied when they came to see us. At this point in my life, I'm satisfied having one foot in the past playing those old records and another in the future doing stuff like [SOULFLY's new album] 'Totem' and KILLER BE KILLED. I want to experience both sides."

In July 2022, Max told the "Talk Toomey" podcast that it would be "totally cool" if Anselmo and Brown reunited for a PANTERA tour as a tribute to the original albums. Referencing the criticism that has already been leveled at Philip and Rex for touring as PANTERA without the Abbott brothers, Max said: "You kind of can say similar things about our stuff because it's not all the four original guys, but it's as close as you get to that, and it's done really well.

"But, yeah, I'm excited," Max added. "Those [PANTERA] records are so good, they have so many fans, and they should be heard. And rest in peace, Vinnie and Dime, but if it's done right with the right heart on it, hell yeah — I'm totally on board. I think it would be great.

"This new generation, they embrace that stuff. So this music doesn't get outdated. It's not like some stuff that with time just kind of fades out; it's out of fashion. It doesn't happen with this music. So I think all of those records are like that. And, of course, PANTERA is the same vein with 'Far Beyond Driven', 'Cowboys From Hell' — those are some great fucking records, man. People want to hear it. I think it's cool. It should be fun."

This past March, PANTERA headlined the 2023 "comeback" edition of Japan's Loud Park festival. The two-day "limited" event took place on March 25 at Intex Osaka in Osaka and March 26 at Makuhari Messe in Chiba City near Tokyo.

In December, PANTERA played seven shows in Mexico and South America.

Brown was forced to leave PANTERA's Latin American tour after testing positive for COVID-19. Filling in for him at some of the shows was CATTLE DECAPITATION bassist Derek Engemann, who also plays with Anselmo in both PHILIP H. ANSELMO & THE ILLEGALS and SCOUR.

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

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

Vinnie passed away on June 22, 2018 at his other home in Las Vegas at the age of 54. He died of dilated cardiomyopathy, an enlarged heart, as well as severe coronary artery disease. His death was the result of chronic weakening of the heart muscle — basically meaning his heart couldn't pump blood as well as a healthy heart.

Chilli’ with Wolfgang Van Halen in Lisboa, Portugal. @wolfgangvanhalen

Posted by Soulfly on Wednesday, June 28, 2023