In a new interview with Graspop Metal Meeting, Anders Fridén, frontman of Swedish melodic death metal band IN FLAMES, was asked if he can foresee one day no longer being in a touring band and playing festivals all around the world. He responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "I realize it will happen at one point, but as long as you feel like this is the greatest job or thing you can ever do, there's no reason to quit. I will continue until the wheels fall off in a way, or I wake up one day and say, 'Hmm, I rather wanna do something else.' But there's nothing I can think of. I love this. I love the meeting between us as a band, bringing our music around the world and seeing the fans and meeting them, and you have that connection. And it's the greatest feeling in the whole world. So, until that changes, then [I will continue doing this]."

Earlier this month, IN FLAMES parted ways with bassist Bryce Paul and has replaced him with Liam Wilson (THE DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN).

Wilson made his live debut with IN FLAMES on June 7 at the Release Athens 2023 festival in Athens, Greece.

Bryce joined IN FLAMES following the departure of longtime bassist Peter Iwers.

Iwers quit IN FLAMES in November 2016, saying that he was leaving the band "to pursue other endeavors."

IN FLAMES' latest album, "Foregone", was released in February via Nuclear Blast. According to a press release, the LP "combines the greatest aggressive, metallic, and melodic strengths of their landmark records with the seasoned songwriting of their postmodern era."

"Foregone" was the second IN FLAMES album with Paul and drummer Tanner Wayne, the first with ex-MEGADETH guitarist Chris Broderick, and the third with Grammy-winning producer Howard Benson (MY CHEMICAL ROMANCE, THREE DAYS GRACE). Mike Plotnikoff (ALL THAT REMAINS, WARBRINGER) engineered at Benson's West Valley Recording Studios. Joe Rickard (10 YEARS, STARSET, DIAMANTE),who played drums for IN FLAMES from 2016 through 2019, handled mixing duties.

In a recent interview with Oran O'Beirne of Bloodstock TV, Anders was asked if there are plans for him and his bandmates to commemorate in any way the upcoming 30th anniversary of their debut album, "Lunar Strain", in 2024. He responded: "I think that's more in the business area, those people. In the band, we don't really think about those things. Honestly, when I'm out touring, we have fans coming up to us and saying, 'Oh, today this album turned this amount of years' and 'Today 'The Jester Race' celebrated its what[ever] birthday.' And we're, like, 'Oh, shit. I didn't think about that.' So I don't think about that at all. But 30 years — that's crazy.

"If you asked me early in our career if we would do this for 30 years, I'd be, like, 'No way, man.' [Laughs] So it's insane," he continued. "I'm so, so grateful that we can do what we do. I work with my passion, my hobby, which is insane, when you think about it. I'm grateful for all the fans that carry us around the world and come to our shows and listen to our music."

EVERCLEAR, one of the leading alternative rock bands to emerge from the '90s, led by vocalist, guitarist and founder Art Alexakis, has officially revealed the details for its new live album, "Live At The Whisky A Go Go", and released the first single and music video for "Heroin Girl". Due out Friday, September 8 via Sunset Blvd Records, "Live At The Whisky A Go Go" was recorded and filmed in late 2022 during EVERCLEAR's 30th-anniversary tour back in Alexakis's hometown of Los Angeles and marked the first time the acclaimed quartet performed at the famed venue. The 17-track collection features all the hits and hidden treasures from throughout EVERCLEAR's extraordinary catalog as well as two bonus studio tracks, last year's single "Year Of The Tiger" and new single "Sing Away". The first offering from the forthcoming album is the 1995 hit "Heroin Girl", off the band's platinum-selling album "Sparkle And Fade".

"'Live At The Whisky A Go Go' is raw, loose, noisy, and kind of ragged around the edges… just like rock and roll is supposed to be," shares Alexakis. "Having grown up in Santa Monica in the late 1970s, performing at the Whisky was always a dream, and that dream finally came true last December. EVERCLEAR has always been one of those bands that are way louder and rowdier live than we are on record, so this album is a gift of love to the thousands of fans who have come to our shows over the last 30 years."

EVERCLEAR — Art Alexakis (vocals, guitar),Davey French (guitar),Freddy Herrera (bass),Brian Nolan (drums) — will be out on the road in support of the live album on a recently-announced fall headlining tour. The 30-date outing, featuring special guests THE ATARIS and THE PINK SPIDERS, begins September 6 in Lexington, Kentucky and will make stops all across the country, including Cleveland, Buffalo, Philadelphia, Boston, New York City (September 18 at Gramercy Theatre),Nashville, Omaha, Denver, Seattle, Los Angeles (October 9 at The Wiltern),San Francisco, and many more, before wrapping October 15 in Pioneertown, California. EVERCLEAR also has a variety of shows lined up for the summer.

Since forming in 1992, EVERCLEAR has enjoyed a lengthy career by any measure, spanning 11 studio releases, including four that have been certified gold or platinum, selling over six million records, and achieving 12 Top 40 hit singles on Mainstream Rock, Alternative, and Adult Top 40 radio, including "Santa Monica", "Father Of Mine", "I Will Buy You A New Life", "Wonderful" and "Everything To Everyone", as well as numerous videos, thousands of shows, and various other accolades, including a 1998 Grammy nomination. The band's 1993 debut album, "World Of Noise", released on the Portland independent label Tim/Kerr Records, paired with their significant efforts to break into college radio and the buzz they'd created within the Portland music scene, attracted the attention of major labels, including Capitol Records, which signed the group soon after. Beginning with their major-label debut, 1995's platinum-selling album "Sparkle And Fade", and its massive chart-topping hit "Santa Monica", EVERCLEAR was soon a household name and catapulted into the masses, thus allowing their impressive three-decade career to prosper and endure. In 2019, Alexakis was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS) and has since donated one dollar from every ticket purchased for his performances to charities such as Sweet Relief Musicians Fund and National MS Society. To celebrate their 30th anniversary in 2022, EVERCLEAR reissued "World Of Noise" as a special remastered, deluxe edition, making the album available for the first time on digital streaming platforms with six bonus songs in addition to its original 12 tracks. In addition to his thousands of EVERCLEAR performances over the band's lengthy career, Alexakis created and runs the annual "Summerland" tour, which features a package of popular '90s alt rock bands, and he released his first solo album, "Sun Songs", in 2019.

"Live At The Whisky A Go Go" track listing

01. Introduction (by Matt Pinfield)
02. So Much For The Afterglow
03. Everything To Everyone
04. Heroin Girl
05. Heartspark Dollarsign
06. Father Of Mine
07. Nervous and Weird
08. Fire Maple Song
09. Wonderful
10. Strawberry
11. AM Radio
12. Local God
13. I Will Buy You A New Life
14. Santa Monica
15. Molly's Lips
16. Year Of The Tiger (Bonus Studio Track)
17. Sing Away (Bonus Studio Track)

Photo credit: Ashley Osborn (courtesy of Press Here Publicity)

In a new interview with the Loaded Radio podcast, Dez Fafara was asked about the possibility of new music from the reunited COAL CHAMBER, which played its first show in eight years at last month's Sick New World festival in Las Vegas, Nevada. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "We've been discussing it. [Sigh] I take a sigh right there, and the reason is because I don't wanna rush anything. I actually said to them… We booked [festival appearances at] Inkcarceration, Blue Ridge Rock Fest and Sick New World. That's all we were gonna do this year until MUDVAYNE hit us up [about supporting them on their summer tour]. And I actually said to them about the MUDVAYNE run, 'Let's not do it. I'd rather just stay friends. Let's do a few shows.' But the point is when we're all together, I realized that any problem we've ever had is gone. To think about it as any kind of continuing problem would be wrong. So, okay, cool. Let's go do MUDVAYNE. And now, of course, talking about new music is very exciting for us."

Dez continued: "I happen to feel like if [COAL CHAMBER's last album] 'Rivals', which was released 12 years ago — something like this; 10 [or] 12 years ago — if 'Rivals' would have been released now with where the genre is and where, I would say where nu metal is at this point, that record would be insane. We were 10, 12 years too early getting back together and releasing that record, in my opinion. But I guess it's always good to preempt what's coming down the line, and we surely did with 'Rivals'. So if you're a COAL CHAMBER fan, go check out 'Rivals', if you haven't."

Regarding what it was like returning to the live stage with COAL CHAMBER for the first time in eight years, Dez said: "[It was] unbelievable. We were all backstage. Of course there's a hundred people back there with their cameras on us as we're hugging. But it was amazing. We hit the stage… They were chanting 'COAL CHAMBER', so it was 55, 60 thousand people chanting 'COAL CHAMBER', which just absolute goosebumps on my arms. We came out. We killed it. The set was short — it was only 30, 35 minutes; something like that — so it was in and out. But it was at the height of the day. People were telling us that, 'Your stage was the most packed of the day.' Of course I'm not putting myself up against the bigger bands; I'm just saying that it is what it is. And then when I got off, I said to my wife, 'What's going on? What's going on out there?' And she was, like, 'They're all singing you 'Happy Birthday', dummy.' And I was, like, 'Wow.' So it was a pretty incredible weekend… It was an amazing time, man. And I'm grateful. I'm humbled by everybody who came. And the reception that we got was wonderful."

Three months ago, Fafara told Radioactive MikeZ, host of the 96.7 KCAL-FM program "Wired In The Empire", about how COAL CHAMBER's reunion came about: "Unbelievable turn of events. That actually happened… I was on my way out from COVID. And my wife called [the other members of COAL CHAMBER] and said, 'Hey, you guys may wanna text Dez or call Dez 'cause I don't know if he's gonna make it through the night. He's telling me where he wants to be buried and not to sell his '78 Cadillac.' So they started to call me, they started to text me, and over a period of six, seven, eight months, we didn't talk any business at all. And we realized that, you know, why are we not playing shows? Those guys are totally different people than when we broke up. I have always been the same — I've just been solid as a rock; and I told them, 'I'm solid as a rock. If I come out of this, I would love to do at least one show with you guys.' And that's how this all started — very organically."

Dez added: "COAL CHAMBER is a very unpredictable thing, all the way from its beginning, playing with PANTERA and BLACK SABBATH, to where we were when we put out 'Rivals' to where we are now… But we're gonna take it slow and we're gonna do what's appropriate for the brand and for the band and especially the fans that have been with us for so long."

COAL CHAMBER will support MUDVAYNE on "The Psychotherapy Sessions" tour this summer. Produced by Live Nation, the 26-city trek kicks off on July 20 in West Palm Beach at iTHINK Financial Amphitheatre, making stops across the U.S. in Syracuse, Albuquerque, Phoenix, and more before wrapping up in Englewood, Colorado at Fiddler's Green Amphitheatre on August 26.

COAL CHAMBER existed for ten years before disbanding in 2003 to pursue other musical projects. They reunited in 2011 for touring purposes but it wasn't until 2014 that the band began work on a new studio album of original material, the aforementioned critically acclaimed "Rivals". Several months of touring activity followed before Dez returned to DEVILDRIVER to make a new record, 2016's "Trust No One".

DEVILDRIVER's 2019 co-headlining tour with STATIC-X saw the Fafara-fronted outfit performing material from COAL CHAMBER for the first time.

Fafara painted a bleak picture of COAL CHAMBER's future during a 2016 interview with Revolver magazine. He stated at the time: "I had a lot of fun doing that record and playing shows with them again. But there were some circumstances that were not ideal and that's why that thing is not continuing as of right now. If something comes up and I have time and want to make a record and the members have their shit together, I'll do it. But as of now, there's some deep-seated shit that certain dudes in the band still need to work out. And if they work it out and want to tour or make another record, they can come back and give me a call. But right now, everyone in DEVILDRIVER is stoked. No one's fighting. And I feel lucky to be where I am."

Dez had stated in previous interviews that COAL CHAMBER's original split happened because "I did not want to be around the band's hard drug use and I realized that going onstage every night that the money was feeding their habit, so I walked to save my friends." He added that his COAL CHAMBER bandmates were "clean" as of 2012, which made him realize that "it was the right thing to walk [away from the group back in 2003]."

Image credit: Brad Nolan

Former SKID ROW singer Sebastian Bach joined the yacht rock band YÄCHTLEY CRËW on stage on June 10 at KAOS at The Palms in Las Vegas, Nevada to perform the EAGLES classic "Hotel California". Fan-filmed video of his appearance can be seen below (courtesy of the ShesSoCalifornia YouTube channel).

Sebastian shared a separate video of the performance on his YouTube channel and he wrote in an accompanying message: "We had an amazing time with @YachtleyCrew I apologize I didn't get the words perfectly correct but I had no idea I was going to be singing with these guys they just asked me out of the crowd and we did our best! Everyone present had a lot of fun and that is what counts thanks to Yachtley Crue [sic] for the hospitality give me a heads up next time I love this music! #NoTapes #NoFakes #AllReal #AlltheTime".

YÄCHTLEY CRËW covers soft pop songs that ruled the charts in the late '70s and early '80s, including Christopher Cross's "Ride Like The Wind", THE DOOBIE BROTHERS' "What A Fool Believes" and STEELY DAN's "Aja" album.

"We endeavor to put on the best show that people have seen," YÄCHTLEY CRËW's Phillip Daniel told the Albuquerque Journal in a recent interview. "We put everything we've got into it. It's really high energy and people are surprised by that in a good way. They come expecting to hear soft rock and get something they weren't expecting."

YÄCHTLEY CRËW recently signed a record deal with Jimmy Buffett's Mailboat Records and expects to release an album in a few months.

"We were in the studio over the winter months and recorded a five-song EP," Daniel told the Albuquerque Journal. "We don't have an official release date yet. There is one original song and four covers on the album."

Having signed with legendary rock manager Andy Gould, YÄCHTLEY CRËW recently recorded its very first original song, "Sex On The Beach", which was produced and mixed by Chris Lord-Alge (Stevie Nicks, Steven Tyler, Keith Urban, Bruce Springsteen). The song debuted on the Los Angeles radio station 95.5 KLOS in April. YÄCHTLEY CRËW added it to its recent live in-studio performance on the SiriusXM radio Yacht Rock 311 show as the first-ever yacht rock band to perform at the station.

The long-awaited return of Adult Swim's favorite heavy metal adventure "Metalocalypse" arrives with an all-new, full-length animated movie. Written and directed by series co-creator Brendon Small, "Metalocalypse: Army Of The Doomstar" brings the heaviest metal band ever created back together again for an action-packed journey. The movie will be available to purchase digitally and on Blu-ray disc August 21, 2023.

As a special highlight, fans can also look forward to the release of two full-length albums this year. Fans can now pre-save DETHKLOK's highly anticipated "Dethalbum IV" which includes all new original DETHKLOK songs, and releases on August 22. The second album release, "Metalocalypse: Army Of The Doomstar (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)" will include additional songs plus a totally original movie score and will be released August 25. Both albums will be released through WaterTower Music, who today released "Aortic Desecration", the first new music from "Dethalbum IV", and DETHKLOK's first new music in almost 10 years. "Dethalbum IV" will also be available on vinyl through Mondo, and vinyl preorders are now live.

"Metalocalypse: Army Of The Doomstar" stars Small, Tommy Blacha, Victor Brandt ("Metalocalypse"),Stephen "Thundercat" Bruner (Grammy Award-winning musician),King Diamond (KING DIAMOND; MERCYFUL FATE),Mark Hamill ("Batman: The Animated Series; The Machine"),Kirk Hammett (METALLICA),Jon Hamm ("Confess, Fletch"; "Top Gun: Maverick"),Scott Ian (ANTHRAX),Amy Lee (EVANESCENCE),Malcolm McDowell ("A Clockwork Orange"),Juliet Mills ("Passions"),Laraine Newman ("Saturday Night Live"),Raya Yarbrough ("Metalocalypse: The Doomstar Requiem - a Klok Opera"),and Livia Zita (2022 winner of Society Of Voice Arts And Sciences Award).

From Adult Swim, Warner Bros. Discovery Home Entertainment and Titmouse, "Metalocalypse: Army Of The Doomstar" was written and directed by Brendon Small. Executive producers are Small, Chris Prynoski ("The Legend Of Vox Machina"),Shannon Prynoski ("Fairfax"),Antonio Canobbio ("Arlo The Alligator Boy") and Ben Kalina ("Big Mouth").

Originally premiering on Adult Swim in 2006, "Metalocalypse" ran for four seasons with a standalone special "Metalocalypse: The Doomstar Requiem". The series was created by Brendon Small and Tommy Blancha.

"Metalocalypse: Army Of The Doomstar" will be available on August 22, 2023 to purchase digitally from Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, Google Play, Vudu and more. Blu-ray disc will be available to purchase online and in-store at major retailers.

Catch up ahead of the movie with "Metalocalypse: The Complete Series". Release will be available to purchase digitally and on DVD August 15, 2023 and includes all 62 episodes, "Metalocalypse: The Doomstar Requiem" and all the previously released bonus materials.

"Metalocalypse: Army Of The Doomstar" synopsis: After the heroic rescue of Toki Wartooth, DETHKLOK frontman Nathan Explosion finds himself traumatized in a BRUTAL professional and romantic flat-spin all while he is tasked with fulfilling the prophecy and confronting the ultimate songwriting challenge: write the SONG OF SALVATION and save the planet. Can Nathan Explosion look beyond his brutally damaged ego to save his band, stop the Metalocalypse, and finally face the ultimate evil: Salacia?

Special features include the "Behind The Metal Curtain" featurette. Dive deep into the making of "Metalocalypse: Army Of The Doomstar" with interviews with show co-creator Brendon Small and his team of writers, animators, and musicians as they share the inspirations behind turning the hit Adult Swim series into its first feature film.

Nuclear Blast has acquired the complete catalog from San Francisco Bay Area metal veterans TESTAMENT. The band has also signed for an additional three albums. The signing took place before TESTAMENT's performance at Hellfest in Clisson, France this past weekend. Fans will now be able to listen to the group's seminal albums "The Legacy" and "The New Order", among others, on the DSP of their choice.

Singer Chuck Billy states: "After a long history of making music and TESTAMENT teaming up with Nuclear Blast in 2008 with 'The Formation Of Damnation' to the current release 'Titans Of Creation', we have taken it to the next level and have reclaimed our six albums from Atlantic Records and have delivered them to Nuclear Blast to be re-released. Along with the Atlantic catalog, TESTAMENT will sign a new three-album deal with Nuclear Blast worldwide. We are so grateful to be with the best heavy metal label in the world that will spread TESTAMENT's Legacy."

Guitarist Eric Peterson comments: "We signed with Nuclear Blast back in 2008 and it'd been a perfect fit for us ever since then. Incidentally, our older catalog with Atlantic Records — 'The Legacy', 'The New Order', 'Practice What You Preach', 'Souls Of Black', 'The Ritual' and 'Low' — have returned to us and we feel it's a great new start to have Nuclear Blast release these albums again with some new unreleased artwork, photos, etc. Also, we will be signing a new three-album deal with them! So the future for metal is looking very, very bright! Cheers!"

Tommy Jones, Nuclear Blast U.S. label manager, adds: "One of my favorite guitars as a kid was my dark red Ibanez Saber (540S) with the wizard neck. I purchased that guitar to sound like Alex Skolnick who played that model and color back in the day. So all these years later to be signing those OG, genre-defining TESTAMENT albums that were such an early influence like 'The New Order', 'Practice What You Preach' and 'Souls Of Black', as well as new TESTAMENT albums to Nuclear Blast, is completing a full circle for me. Truly an 'if the 15-year-old me could see this' type of moment. It's time to continue 'The Legacy' with Nuclear Blast!"

Last weekend, Peterson spoke to Loud TV about the progress of the songwriting sessions for TESTAMENT's follow-up to 2020's "Titans Of Creation" album. He said: "There was a big gap because of COVID. But now we're getting ready — probably after this [European] tour to go start working on new material. So, yeah, I'm looking forward to that. We have about five, six songs written already, and [I'll] probably try to finish it up when I get home. And then hopefully record right after we go on tour to Japan. So '24 should look like a release for TESTAMENT."

Peterson went on to say that the new TESTAMENT material is shaping up to be "fucking killer." He added: "I'm a fan. For me, I wouldn't release anything unless I'm a fan of what I'm doing. I have to get goosebumps. When I hear it, I'm, like, 'Yeah.' And then, of course, I play it for friends. A few of them go, 'Ehh.' But most of them go, 'Fuuuck!' Except Chuck [Billy, TESTAMENT singer] — Chuck goes, 'Eh.' And then four years later, [he goes], 'That's the best song ever. Write more shit like that.' I'm, like, 'Yeah, but four years ago you said that sucked.'"

As for when TESTAMENT will record the new album, Eric said: "Hopefully maybe October, November. If not, probably January, February. But we're shooting for this year — at the end of the year. I think I'll be done writing in September. So we just have to wait for vocals. Which can take a while. But we'll see what happens."

Peterson was also full of praise for TESTAMENT's new drummer Chris Dovas (SEVEN SPIRES),who officially joined the band earlier this year as the replacement for Dave Lombardo.

This past April, Lombardo revealed in an interview with BLABBERMOUTH.NET that he would sit out the remainder of TESTAMENT's 2023 shows, with no guarantee that he will return to the band.

Lombardo, who was the guest drummer on TESTAMENT's 1999 studio album "The Gathering", formally joined the long-running San Francisco Bay Area act last year. The former SLAYER drummer is currently a member of the MISFITS, MR. BUNGLE, EMPIRE STATE BASTARD and SATANIC PLANET, among others. He also played with SUICIDAL TENDENCIES from 2016 up until 2020.

Prior to joining TESTAMENT as a full-time member, Dovas previously filled in for Lombardo on the first six dates of TESTAMENT's summer/fall 2022 leg of "The Bay Strikes Back Tour". Lombardo was unable to make those gigs due to a scheduling conflict with the MISFITS.

Peterson told Loud TV about Dovas: "When we were auditioning for new drummers, his video tape was the number one for me. And then, of course, Dave Lombardo called us, so we just kind of pushed everything aside; we said, 'Okay, we'll try Dave.' And when Dave was, like, 'Oh, I've got this show coming up. I've got this show coming up,' I went back to my [videos], [and I said], 'Oh, yeah, this guy.' I remember the other guys going, 'Let's call Paul Bostaph.' 'Let's call John Tempesta.' And, of course, they would probably do it, but with the stipulation of, like, 'I can only do this date,' 'I can only do this date.' I called Chris. He was, like, 'I'm in. I'll do everything.' And so we tried him, and were just, like, 'What?!' Perfect tempo. Everything correct — bam, bam. Very polite. Really nice guy. I can't say enough good things about him. He's just a really good drummer. He's 24; he's my son's age. Young blood back in TESTAMENT. For me, too, he loves black metal, so he was, like, [into] blast beats. But he also graduated from a school called Berklee. So jazz… He's very fluent. He's not, like, 'Oh, I only know blast beats.' He knows blues… TESTAMENT's really diverse — we have ballads, we have rock songs, we have blast beats. That's just it — when he came to visit me before this tour, we were rehearsing for the tour but we would go back to my house at night, do some Jager really late at night and just start jamming at my house. And the next morning we were, like, 'Woah!' Really cool shit. So I'm excited for the next record. It's gonna be killer."

Skolnick sat out some of TESTAMENT's spring/summer 2023 European tour dates in order to tend to a family emergency. He was replaced at the shows by former MACHINE HEAD and current VIO-LENCE guitarist Phil Demmel.
.@nuclearblast is proud to announce the complete #TESTAMENT catalog has been acquired & the band signed for an additional, future 3 albums! Signing took place before their performance at Hellfest last weekend. Fans will now be able to listen to The Legacy & The New Order on DSPs! pic.twitter.com/5d1KIWgtEu

— Testament (@testament) June 21, 2023

In a new interview with Disturbing The Priest, SAXON frontman Biff Byford spoke about the progress of the songwriting sessions for the band's next studio album. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "I'm doing demo vocals on the new SAXON album. So I'm just finding different ideas and things and getting the melodies right… I'm about seven songs in now… I'm just doing demo [vocals] and listening to what the songs sound like now and not just a few chords, drums and bass."

This past April, Biff told Metal Pilgrim about the musical direction of SAXON's upcoming LP: "It'll be like [2022's] 'Carpe Diem' and [2018's] 'Thunderbolt'. It'll be a great SAXON album."

SAXON guitarist Paul Quinn recently announced that he was stepping back from touring with the band. As a result of his decision, SAXON canceled its April 2023 South American tour as well as the appearance at the Monsters Of Rock cruise. Quinn has since been replaced on the road by DIAMOND HEAD's Brian Tatler.

Brian will join fellow guitarist Doug Scarratt, bassist Nibs Carter, drummer Nigel Glockler and Byford for shows starting July 7 in Athens, Greece but will continue to be a member of DIAMOND HEAD.

SAXON's latest release, "More Inspirations", arrived on March 24 via Silver Lining Music. Following the release of "Inspirations" in 2021, "More Inspirations" is the second "deep dish" serving of the influences which have fed SAXON's immensely successful 40-plus-year career.

Produced by Biff, with Seb Byford helping record the music alongside mixing engineer Jacky Lehmann, "More Inspirations" includes takes on RAINBOW, ZZ TOP and CREAM, as well as "Razamanaz" by NAZARETH, THE WHO's "Substitute", and URIAH HEEP's "Gypsy".

Byford and Quinn are the sole remaining original members in SAXON's current lineup.

Originally from South Yorkshire, England, SAXON has gone on to sell about 23 million albums and has produced such classic songs as "Denim And Leather", "Princess Of The Night", "Wheels Of Steel" and "Power And Glory".

The reunited original lineup of BIOHAZARD — guitarist/vocalist Billy Gradziadei, guitarist Bobby Hambel, drummer Danny Schuler and bassist/vocalist Evan Seinfeld — played its second New York City concert in more than 12 years on Sunday (June 18) at the Irving Plaza. Professionally filmed video of the performance, which came two days after BIOHAZARD played the same venue, can be seen below.

Featured songs:

00:00:11 - Urban Discipline
00:05:48 - What Makes Us Tick
00:09:39 - Down For Life
00:13:36 - Tales From The Hardside
00:19:08 - Black And White And Red All Over
00:25:28 - Five Blocks To The Subway
00:29:00 - Wrong Side Of The Tracks
00:33:57 - Shades Of Grey
00:37:57 - Howard Beach
00:41:40 - How It Is
00:45:26 - Tears Of Blood
00:50:37 - Scarred For Life
00:55:25 - Victory
00:58:58 - Retribution
01:04:24 - Survival Of The Fittest
01:07:17 - Love Denied
01:12:09 - We're Only Gonna Die (From Our Own Arrogance) (BAD RELIGION cover)
01:14:56 - Punishment
01:21:57 - Hold My Own

The first reunion gig from Gradziadei, Hambel, Schuler and Seinfeld took place on May 26 at the Milwaukee Metal Fest at The Rave/Eagles Ballroom in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

On June 7, Seinfeld shared a couple of photos of the reunited original lineup of BIOHAZARD on Instagram, and he included the following message: "Sometimes the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. Reuniting with BIOHAZARD after 12 years and seeing what we have all accomplished on our own, many incredible things and now so hopeful optimistic and excited for this new chapter where once again all things are possible if you believe.

"We are going to write a new album, released a documentary film with our brother at @stonefilmsnyc ,create a new branded line of merchandise and of course tour of the world. The only thing constant in life is change.

"At one point in my life I had closed the chapter on BIOHAZARD thinking there was nothing left for me to do or accomplish and now I see so many possibilities because the energy when the four of us are together is boundless. Four kids from Brooklyn who went from the street corner to festival main stages Arenas and stadiums. BIOHAZARD sold millions of albums and played thousands of concerts in 100 countries around the world. This was my life education to see the entire world as an ambassador of positivity with my music in our metal hard-core and even hip-hop styles. All of the incredible human connections I made and all of the emotions I've experienced have helped shape me into who I am today.

"What I realize today is that every day is a new beginning and if you ever feel stuck in your life just know that you are one second away from completely changing your life believing in something new putting your heart and passion and your soul into something you care about or sometimes even just loving someone or yourself. When we carry around resentments it's almost always an over reaction of our ego. Resentment is the number one offender it only hurts us.

"Life is a gift and I'm full of gratitude today for BIOHAZARD our incredible management team our incredible agencies worldwide.

"This shoot is so special to me my guy @trusttheshooter @jeremydeputat absolutely captured the many sides of BIOHAZARD in a long day at our first [email protected] 12 years.

"See you all in the pit… somewhere!

"Grateful for my brothers Billy Bobby and Danny. We can do incredible things as a team LFG!"

BIOHAZARD will make a number of other appearances throughout 2023, including at multiple international festivals in the summer, and will play select gigs in America.

This past January, Schuler told Dan Shinder of Drum Talk TV, Schuler about how BIOHAZARD came back together: "We haven't toured in about seven years, almost eight years. In about 2015, [that] was the last year of touring. We wrapped it up after that. We went in the studio to go do a record and things just kind of imploded; everybody's a bunch of crazy personalities. In the ensuing years, we didn't do anything as BIOHAZARD. And then about a year and a half ago, my brother, who lives in Torrance, California, was flying back home to New York to come see everybody. And he gets to the airport here, and he says to me, 'You won't believe who I saw at the airport.' And I said, 'Who was that?' And he goes, 'I saw Evan,' the bass player from BIOHAZARD, Evan Seinfeld, who I hadn't spoken to in 10 years. And they had a good conversation, and it was cordial. And he basically sent a message through my brother, 'Tell Danny I said hi.' So a week later, I'm going on vacation. I'm feeling good. I'm going down to the beach house here in [New] Jersey with my wife and my kids, and I said to my wife, 'Maybe I should call him' — you know, just bury the hatchet. Who cares anymore? Like everybody, COVID and all these people dying and all this stuff, it's, like, who the hell cares about all that old stuff that made you mad. So my wife was, like, 'Yeah, why don't you give him a call? Don't be an asshole. Call him.'

"Anyway, long story short, I did call him and we spoke," he continued. "And we just kind of buried the hatchet. And the other guys in the band, Bobby and Billy, had been speaking, and we've been speaking, and everybody just kind of started talking a little bit. And unfortunately, our former manager, Scott Koenig, who was out in Los Angeles, he passed away. And that was a real moment where it was, like, 'Wow.' Scott was with us from the beginning, and he was like a fifth member of the band. … That was in October of '21. … I got that call. And the same week, Ir friend of ours from a band called DOG EAT DOG, our friend Sean Kilkenny passed away the same day as Scott. So it was two phone calls, two brothers, two great, close friends, like family, both passed at the same time. And for me, that was kind of one of those things where it's just, like, who cares about all the negative bullshit in the past? Who cares? We're still here. We did great stuff together. We created something cool. We should all be friends. And that was my thinking. And everyone kind of felt the same way. And that kind of was the beginning of how it started, getting the band together."

As for the possibility of a new BIOHAZARD album, Schuler said: "Making new music wasn't really something I was really thinking about too much, but it's come up so much in the last few months since we've been talking about all this stuff. So we'll see how it goes. There's definitely interest there for us to do it. I just hope we can do it. I wanna be able to do it at the level we always did it at.

"I write a lot of music on my own, of course, but I'm very much into collaboration," he explained. "I've always needed a partner, or partners, to really bring the best out of me, to challenge myself. And I always loved getting in a room with these guys. We've always come up with great stuff when we're in the right mindset to do it. So I'm excited to get in a room with them and just let shit fly. I have the energy for it, I'm ready and I'm excited to do it, and I think they are too. So I'm hopeful that we're gonna make something really cool and different and innovative."

In addition to touring, BIOHAZARD has a 35th-anniversary documentary in the works containing previously unreleased footage spanning four decades.

"BIOHAZARD is an iconic band that ripped it up on the streets of New York when I lived there in the late '80s and early '90s, so I'm excited to be working with them to bring their pioneering hardcore sound to a new generation," said Andy Gould (ROB ZOMBIE, PANTERA, TYPE O NEGATIVE). The band is managed by Gould and Paul Gargano and booked by Jim Morewood at the K2 Agency internationally, and Steve Sokol at Pinnacle in North America.

Stated Graziadei: "Over the years, we made some great music together and had so many incredible shows on some pretty amazing tours. After spending so much time and focus on POWERFLO and my solo project BILLYBIO, things just fell in place at the right time and I decided it was the time to recapture that energy and go kick ass again with the original lineup of BIOHAZARD with DannyBobby, and Evan!"

Added Hambel: "I'm honored to perform with the band again. I can't wait to get onstage with the guys and do what we do! I'm looking forward to traveling and playing live. See you out there!"

Stated Seinfeld: "It's been ten years since we all played together, and I'm in a huge place of gratitude for the opportunity to get back to the roots of BIOHAZARD and not only reconnect with the other guys, but also the fans. We've been through decades of madness, and it feels like the fantastic four are back together."

Last year, Graziadei said in an interview that there had been "talk" about putting BIOHAZARD back together.

The group, which is acknowledged as one of the earliest outfits to fuse hardcore punk and heavy metal with elements of hip-hop, had been out of the public eye since Scott Roberts left the band seven years ago.

Roberts, who played guitar on BIOHAZARD's 2005 album "Means To An End", rejoined the group in June 2011 as the replacement for Seinfeld. Scott fronted BIOHAZARD for nearly five years before exiting the band in February 2016.

In an August 2020 interview with the "Aftershocks" podcast, Roberts said that he left BIOHAZARD because he "wasn't happy" anymore. "There was one guy that I wasn't getting along with very well, and it made touring not fun anymore for me," he said. "My reason to stick around was to make a new record that was great and I'd be proud of and all that stuff, and then it became kind of clear that wasn't gonna happen, so I was, like, 'What am I doing it for?' So I quit."

Seinfeld made his last recorded appearance with BIOHAZARD on 2012's "Reborn In Defiance" album, which marked the first LP featuring the band's original lineup in 18 years.

Graziadei is currently a member of POWERFLO, which also features former FEAR FACTORY bassist/guitarist Christian Olde Wolbers, Sen Dog from CYPRESS HILL, and Rogelio Lozano from DOWNSET.

Billy's solo project, BILLYBIO, released a new album, "Leaders And Liars", in March 2022 via AFM Records.

POISON drummer Rikki Rockett has blasted "really inhumane" comments on social media about the plight of the Titan, a purportedly cutting-edge submersible that had been on a sightseeing tour down to the wreck of the Titanic before it vanished Sunday. All five people inside — including a father and his 19-year-old son — are believed to have died after the submersible suffered a "catastrophic implosion," according to OceanGate, the company that led the mission.

On Wednesday (June 21),one day before search and rescue teams found outer parts of the Titan near the site of the Titanic wreckage, Rikki took to his Facebook page to write: "My heart goes out to the people and families of the missing submarine.

"I have heard some really inhumane comments from people like, 'Play stupid games, get stupid prizes!' and A-hole comments like that. Really? People being that judge mental and inhumanly pathetic blow my mind.
"Have YOU ever done something that was important to you, but seemed stupid and a waste of money to others? I bet we all have.

"I seriously think the collective consciousness can help in dire situations.

"Can't we please just offer decency at a time like this?

"Godspeed to everyone involved."

The debris found on the ocean floor about 1,600 feet from the bow of the Titanic was "consistent with catastrophic loss of the pressure chamber" in the submersible, said Rear Admiral John Mauger of the U.S. Coast Guard during a press conference Thursday afternoon.

In a statement, OceanGate wrote: "This is a very sad time for the entire explorer community, and for each of the family members of those lost at sea."

The five men who died in the submersible included OceanGate's CEO Stockton Rush, British billionaire explorer Hamish Harding, French maritime and Titanic expert Paul-Henry Nargeolet and a father and son from one of Pakistan's most prominent families, Shahzada Dawood and Suleman Dawood.

"These men were true explorers who shared a distinct spirit of adventure, and a deep passion for exploring and protecting the world's oceans. Our hearts are with these five souls and every member of their families during this tragic time," OceanGate said in a statement Thursday.

My heart goes out to the people and families of the missing submarine. I have heard some really inhumane comments from...

Posted by Rikki Rockett on Wednesday, June 21, 2023

In a recent interview with Mark Jeeves of Planet Rock's "My Planet Rocks", EUROPE singer Joey Tempest spoke about the band's plans to work on the long-awaited follow-up to 2017's "Walk The Earth" album. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "We're becoming interested and inspired again now. It's taken a while.

"This period with the world made me go back to the roots and write a lot again," he continued. "So I have loads and loads of ideas, but not necessarily all of 'em for EUROPE. So it's been very creative, but it sort of a few gigs last year for us to start — because we're friends from teenage years — but we started connecting again. And we started sending stuff to each other, and we have a few really good ideas now. And that's always great.

"I remember when we did 'Out Of This World' after 'The Final Countdown', and I managed to come up with 'Superstitious'. And I [was, like], 'Thank goodness.' You need something to kick things off, and I think we have one of those tracks brewing. So it's always nice to get going with something really cool."

According to Tempest, EUROPE's next LP will be released in 2024. "But we're trying to get a track out this year," he said. "That's the goal we have in connection with the 'Time Capsule' [40th-anniverary] tour and the [EUROPE career-spanning] documentary coming out [in the fall of 2023]. So there'll be a lot of things happening. We hope we can get all this together."

Tempest also talked about the fact that EUROPE is celebrating the 40th anniversary of its self-titled debut album this year.

"It feels impossible — with the same guys around, actually," he said. "We met when we were teenagers. I saw [guitarist] John Norum play — he was 14; I was 15 — and I thought, 'It would be great to start a band with him.' And here we are. It's incredible. Eleven albums. I wouldn't say that's loads of albums, but it's still fairly okay. We've done six albums since we started again and five in the first era. So we're kind of proud. And we get on now. The egos are sort of put aside and we sort of feel lucky that we have this job. So doing this tour this year, the 40th-anniversary tour, it's a pleasure. And we can dig even deeper; we can play some tracks we haven't played. So it could be fun as well."

Last month, EUROPE drummer Ian Haugland told Ernest Skinner of Border City Rock Talk that he and his bandmates hadn't yet begun recording their new LP. "I know the other guys are [writing material]," he said. "Actually, Joey sent me a demo just the other day with a new song, a brand new song that he's written. A fantastic, great song, so it seems really promising. But we're not in the studio yet. Because the initial plan was to go into the studio this spring and start recording to have a new album out later on this year. But we just realized that we need to focus on the 40th-anniversary tour instead, because that's what it's all gonna be about this year. So instead of mixing it up and getting confused, and confusing the audience as well, we thought it's better to just focus on one thing, and that's gonna be the 40th anniversary."

He added: "We might be looking at recording one or maybe two new songs for the 40th-anniversary tour in the autumn. We're working on that."

Last fall, Tempest told the "Behind The Vinyl" podcast that EUROPE would start recording its next album in 2023, "together with a documentary we hope [to have] out in the autumn — a EUROPE documentary [and] a box set, hopefully, of all the albums. But definitely a 40th-anniversary tour [for the first EUROPE album]," he said. "We don't feel like we wanna compete too much without a new album, so what we're gonna do is we want to record new music and release one or two [pieces] of new music next year, and then will be the big release the following year. That's at least what we're planning right now. 'Cause there's so much going on next year. And [we want to] focus on the documentary and the 40th-anniversary tour and some other things."

Asked if the box set would contain any previously unreleased material, Joey said: "We haven't gotten that far, because the thing with EUROPE is we don't have that much extra stuff. Some bands have loads. Of course we can [include] live stuff — we can do that — but from the studio, there's not much. We've been boring like that. We come in with 12 songs and we come out with 12 songs. How did that happen? We should have 20 and taken 10 and kept 10. So, whether there's gonna be new songs involved in that, I don't think so. But the box set will a great vinyl box set with all the records, hopefully. Whether we put something else in there, we have to talk about it."

Back in July 2019, Tempest told Finland's Kaaos TV that he and his bandmates don't "write so much on the road". He explained: "We've never been like that. We're a soundcheck band as well. So we always soundcheck. We soundcheck whenever we can. Festivals is more difficult, as you know. But it's possible sometimes — you can go in the morning and do it.

"What happens to us is usually we write for six months when the touring has come to an end on an album," he continued. "So it takes us about four to six months to write, to get everything together, get 75 to 80 percent ready, music and lyrics. Then we go into the studio and then we work fast — record everything live in two weeks. This is how we've done it on 'Bag Of Bones' [2012], 'War Of Kings' [2015] and 'Walk The Earth'. The last three EUROPE albums were recorded fast, because those fast decisions are amazing in the studio — everybody's there; everybody's on fire. That's how those great albums were made in the '70s — on the spot, when that glow and that fire is there."

While stressing the importance of improvisation in the studio, Tempest said that "you should be prepared. You don't wanna waste time in the studio and waste anybody's time. So if you're 75 percent ready, the last bit the producer can help out with or the circumstances, or whatever happens happens in the studio. But we've been so lucky working with Dave Cobb — a great musician and producer and a great guy to just hang with. He's now part of the band. Like he works with RIVAL SONS, he also works with us. He's part of the band when we're in the studio with him. He writes with us. He comes up with great ideas. He sits and plays the songs with us in a circle in the studio before we record it, and then we just slam it down live, three or four takes, and pick the best takes to work on and to finish up. And the nerve is there, the decisions were made right there, and that's how you make great rock records."

"Walk The Earth" was released in October 2017 via Hell & Back Recordings (Silver Lining Music). It was recorded at famed Abbey Road Studios in London with the aforementioned Grammy Award-winning producer Dave Cobb (RIVAL SONS, Shooter Jennings, Jason Isbell, Chris Stapleton).

During an appearance on the "Appetite For Distortion" podcast, BLACK SABBATH bassist Geezer Butler, who is promoting his autobiography "Into The Void: From Birth To Black Sabbath - And Beyond", spoke about the status of DEADLAND RITUAL, the supergroup he started a few years ago with guitarist Steve Stevens (BILLY IDOL, VINCE NEIL),drummer Matt Sorum (GUNS N' ROSES, VELVET REVOLVER) and singer Franky Perez (APOCALYPTICA). Geezer said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Matt and the singer fell out. It was right before we were gonna go into the studio and record the album. We'd written 12 songs for an album, and everything was going fine. Then the pandemic hit, and all the studios closed down. And that was it. You couldn't leave your house for three months, or whatever it was. So we were all restricted to our various homes everywhere. And nothing ever came of it. That's when I started writing the book instead."

Asked if fans will ever see those DEADLAND RITUAL songs come out, Butler replied: "I think Matt's gonna do one or two on his new [KINGS OF CHAOS] album that should be out sometime this year… I was in Steve Stevens's studio and we both did a song for Matt."

Stevens discussed DEADLAND RITUAL's split during a January 2022 appearance on SiriusXM's "Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk". At the time, he said about the project: "I think it's done, although there was a lot of material that was written that I hope will see the light of day in some form or another. I'm still friendly with all those guys."

As for what caused DEADLAND RITUAL to come to an end after only releasing two songs, Stevens said: "It was really difficult. We were about to sign a deal. We went out and toured Europe. We're all seasoned musicians and we're used to a certain lifestyle, and here we were having to open. We did a number of festival dates and small club dates. Initially, everyone said they were willing to do that, willing to get in the trenches. When reality hit and there was crappy food and crappy hotels and all that kind of stuff, I think people lost interest."

Steve went on to praise the musical chemistry between the members of DEADLAND RITUAL, saying: "From the first day of rehearsal, to walk in there and play against the sound of Geezer Butler, man, I would have paid just to be there. Incredible. For bass players to have such a unique and profound influence on music, those records and that sound that I grew up with, and there I am playing against it, the hair stood up on my fucking arms. I mean, it was incredible. And [he's] such a gentleman. And the rhythm section of him and Matt was undeniable."

In March 2021, Butler told "Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk" that DEADLAND RITUAL was "dead." He explained: "The virus put the final nail in the coffin. We had 12 or 13 songs written. We were about to go into the studio [in] March [2020], and everything closed down. Matt left the band. And Steve has got, I think, a lung condition or something, so he couldn't leave the house 'cause of the virus. And we just didn't revive it. You never know — we might do it next year or something. I don't know."

A few hours after BLABBERMOUTH.NET published Geezer's comments, he took to his Twitter to write: "I would like to clarify a recent interview remark I made, concerning DEADLAND RITUAL, and Steve Stevens. I was referring to the start of the pandemic, how it stopped us from going into the studio to record. I said Steve wouldn't leave his house because of a lung condition."

He continued: "I was told Steve had a respiratory problem & didn't want to risk getting Covid. I totally agreed. Anyway, I want you all to know that Steve is up and about and has no 'lung condition'. In fact he played at this past Super Bowl. #lockdown #COVID19 @Stevestevens #clarification".

DEADLAND RITUAL released two songs, "Down In Flames" and "Broken And Bruised" in late 2018 and early 2019. Both tracks, which were produced by Greg Fidelman (METALLICA, SLIPKNOT),were made available via Sonik Riot Records/AWAL powered by Kobalt.

For its live performances, DEADLAND RITUAL's setlist consisted of several original tracks alongside classic songs from the members' previous bands, including BLACK SABBATH's "Symptom Of The Universe", "Neon Knights" and "Sweet Leaf", VELVET REVOLVER's "Slither" and BILLY IDOL's "Rebel Yell".

Geezer previously said that he initially had no plans to join another band after SABBATH completed its "The End" farewell tour.

"Well, I retired after the last SABBATH show," he said. "I just traveled and did everything that I wanted to do when I was retired for a year. And then I got fed up watching the TV every day. And I started writing stuff again, 'cause that's what you do. I've been doing it for 50 years, so it's in your blood. You can't just stop, especially when it's your hobby as well. And I just got back into writing stuff. I was planning on doing another solo album, a GZR thing. And I got a few songs together for that. And then Matt got in touch with me about DEADLAND RITUAL."

Asked what appealed to him about being in a band again, Geezer said: "It's what I've known since I started when I was 16; I was in a band. When you're doing solo stuff, it's just you writing stuff. There's nobody to bounce off, and I really missed that. It's good to have people saying, 'That's good. That'll work.' Or, 'That's not so good.' And I missed having that. The guitarist that I worked with in GZR, he's just moved to the East Coast and he's got other things on his plate at the moment. With DEADLAND RITUAL, everybody's local, so it's easy to get together. And you don't have to plan months in advance to do an album or write songs. If I feel like writing a song today, I call up Steve, go around to Steve's house, and we try something."

DEADLAND RITUAL made its live debut in May 2019 at the Troubadour in West Hollywood, California.

In a new interview with the YouTube channel of Brazilian music journalist Igor Miranda, Richie Faulkner was asked how he finds his role within the JUDAS PRIEST legacy and what he hopes to leave as a lasting contribution to the band. He responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "That's a good question, man. I don't know, really. I can't answer that. I try and bring the best I can bring and whatever I think is the best I can give in terms of creativity, performance, songwriting, representation of who I am as part of JUDAS PRIEST. That's all I can do, really. When you're a part of that legacy… I haven't been there very long, but even if you've been there for two weeks, you're representing a legacy that's been there for 50 years, and that's a big thing. So all you can do is bring the best you can bring and represent what's been there for 50 years before you and be grateful for the fans that put the band there for 50 years. That's all you can do. And hopefully you do the right thing."

Faulkner is currently promoting "Horns For A Halo", the debut album from ELEGANT WEAPONS, his new project also featuring singer Ronnie Romero (RAINBOW, MSG). The LP, which was released on May 26 via Nuclear Blast, was recorded with bassist Rex Brown (PANTERA, DOWN) and drummer Scott Travis (JUDAS PRIEST) and was helmed by acclaimed British producer Andy Sneap, who has previously worked with JUDAS PRIEST, ACCEPT, EXODUS and MEGADETH, among many others.

ELEGANT WEAPONS, which is rounded out by Dave Rimmer (URIAH HEEP) on bass and Christopher Williams (ACCEPT) on drums, has just hit the road in Europe, with dates running through July. The trek includes performances with PANTERA, festival appearances and headlining shows.

Faulkner joined JUDAS PRIEST in 2011 as the replacement for the band's founding guitarist K.K. Downing.

In September 2021, Faulkner suffered an acute cardiac aortic dissection during PRIEST's performance at the Louder Than Life festival, just a short distance from Rudd Heart and Lung Center at UofL Health - Jewish Hospital in Louisville, Kentucky. It took the hospital's cardiothoracic surgery team, led by Dr. Siddharth Pahwa and also including Drs. Brian Ganzel and Mark Slaughter, approximately 10 hours to complete the surgery, an aortic valve and ascending aorta replacement with hemiarch replacement.

After Louder Than Life, JUDAS PRIEST postponed the remainder of the U.S. dates on its 50th-anniversary tour, dubbed "50 Heavy Metal Years". The shows were rescheduled for March and April 2022.

Last September, Faulkner revealed that he underwent a second heart surgery in early August 2022 to fix "a hole in the repair." He added: "There was a leak — I'd basically sprung a leak in there — and it was causing a sack to form around my heart. So they found it just before the European leg [of PRIEST's 2022 tour]."

An official video recap of AVENGED SEVENFOLD's June 9 performance at Kia Forum in Los Angeles can be seen below. The group's 16-song set included the live debut of three songs from AVENGED SEVENFOLD's latest album, "Life Is But A Dream…": "Mattel" and the three-track run of "G", "(O)rdinary" and "(D)eath". The latter has been described in one review as by far the most left-field sounding part of the LP, ranging in style from metal/country ["G"], to full-blown DAFT PUNK impersonation ["(O)rdinary"] to lounge jazz ["(D)eath"].

AVENGED SEVENFOLD's setlist for the band's first proper headlining gig in Los Angeles County since 2009 was as follows:

01. Game Over
02. Mattel (live debut)
03. Afterlife
04. Hail To The King
05. We Love You
06. Buried Alive
07. The Stage (first time since 2018)
08. So Far Away (dedicated to The Rev)
09. Nobody
10. Nightmare
11. Bat Country
12. Unholy Confessions
13. A Little Piece Of Heaven

Encore:

14. G (live debut)
15. (O)rdinary (live debut)
16. (D)eath (live debut)

In a recent interview with Lou Brutus of HardDrive Radio, AVENGED SEVENFOLD singer M. Shadows discussed the experimental nature of "Life Is But A Dream…" Written and recorded over the span of four years, it was produced by Joe Barresi and AVENGED SEVENFOLD in Los Angeles and mixed by Andy Wallace in the Poconos, Pennsylvania. The album is a journey through an existential crisis; a very personal exploration into the meaning, purpose and value of human existence with the anxiety of death always looming.

"We were just looking for really bold moments — in life, in art, in film," M. Shadows explained. "Things that we could sort of wrap our minds around an audio representation of how we were feeling about certain things.

"At this point, playing around with melody, playing around with tones, playing around with left turns, curveballs was really appealing to us.

"I think we've proven to everyone, whether they like the band or not, that we kind of know the rules of music, and this record, we were able to just go break all the rules," he continued.

"Mike Shinoda [of LINKIN PARK] put it to me really perfectly — I love his insight on a lot of things — and he said, 'This record is like you guys throwing paint at the wall, but if a fourth-grader was doing it, you'd say that's just paint on the wall. But because of everything you've done before, we all know you know how to make a beautiful painting, so this record is actually really special because it's not just paint on the wall. You guys have broken all the rules and done things in an abstract way. But we wanna listen and pay attention because we know what you guys have done before.' And I thought it was an interesting way of putting it, 'cause those [LINKIN PARK] guys — Dave ['Phoenix' Farrell] and Mike — have been big fans of this record. And I think that was a cool way of putting it."

The singer, whose real name is Matt Sanders, added: "We kind of just really wanted to push the boundaries — the musical boundaries, the lyrical boundaries, the themes — and we didn't want anything on the record to sound generic or phoned in or not exciting. We wanted to redo everything we've ever done, where even the song lengths and the way we kind of put these little pieces of ear candy, but we get away from it quick. Or staying away from three choruses, or if there is three choruses, they're all vastly different. And really thinking about turning the traditional landscape of how you would normally put a song together on its head, but do it in an interesting way — not just to do it, but just to do it in a way that we think people will enjoy and give them sort of a reason to get to the end of songs or get to the next song on the record. And I think that was just a mindset this time, was just a little different — really looking at those things."

AVENGED SEVENFOLD made its first festival appearance in five years on May 19 at Welcome To Rockville at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. The band's setlist included three songs from "Life Is But A Dream…": "Game Over", "We Love You" and "Nobody".

AVENGED SEVENFOLD's first concert since June 2018 took place on May 12 at AREA15 in Las Vegas, Nevada.

In April, AVENGED SEVENFOLD announced the second leg of its extensive "Life is But A Dream…" North American tour featuring support from FALLING IN REVERSE. Produced by Live Nation, leg two includes stops in Nashville, Denver, Austin, and more before concluding at Fort Worth's Dickies Arena on October 15. Fans will have the opportunity to hear the group's first single in seven years, "Nobody", and their new album "Life Is But A Dream…" for the first time live during the 30-show outing.

The first leg with support from ALEXISONFIRE includes thirteen cities across the U.S. and Canada, such as Mansfield, Québec City, Tinley Park, Calgary, and more.

Rapper Machine Gun Kelly — whose real name is Colson Baker — joined MÖTLEY CRÜE on stage on June 16 at Hellfest in Clisson, France to perform the single "The Dirt (Est. 1981) (feat. Machine Gun Kelly)". Fan-filmed video can be seen below.

"The Dirt (Est. 1981)" was one of four songs MÖTLEY CRÜE recorded for the soundtrack to the film adaptation of its biography, "The Dirt - Confessions Of The World's Most Notorious Rock Band".

During an appearance on SEX PISTOLS guitarist Steve Jones's radio show, "Jonesy's Jukebox", on the 95.5 KLOS radio station, MÖTLEY CRÜE bassist Nikki Sixx said about how "The Dirt (Est. 1981)" came about: "We were in New Orleans. That's where we filmed most of the movie. And we were flying back, and I was flying with Tommy [Lee, drums]… And I said, 'Let's write some music.' And I didn't think we would ever do anything again together besides this movie — we kind of called it a day. And I had about seven, eight songs I had been working on — not for MÖTLEY CRÜE. I was working with John 5 [then-ROB ZOMBIE guitarist]. We were just writing music. So I had these ideas. And Tommy said he had a bunch of ideas. And Mick Mars [guitar] had some ideas. And we just started kind of putting them together. And we ended up with nine songs all called 'The Dirt'. And by the time we figured out which ones we loved, we were down to three songs, and this song ended up being the one we chose for the first single."

Released in March 2019, the movie, which was helmed by "Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa" director Jeff Tremaine, was picked up by Netflix after being previously developed at Focus Features and before that at Paramount.

Machine Gun Kelly plays Lee in the movie. "The Dirt" also stars Daniel Webber ("The Punisher") as singer Vince Neil, Douglas Booth as Sixx and Iwan Rheon ("Game Of Thrones") as guitarist Mick Mars.

Machine Gun Kelly told Billboard that he got his part in the movie after "a six-audition process. The first two, I was auditioning for Nikki Sixx, and then the last four for Tommy Lee, over the course of two and a half years," he said.

John 5 joined MÖTLEY CRÜE last fall as the replacement for Mars. Mick announced his retirement from touring with MÖTLEY CRÜE last October as a result of worsening health issues.

Mars suffers from Ankylosing Spondylitis (AS),a chronic and inflammatory form of arthritis that mainly affects the spine and pelvis. After years of performing through the pain, he informed the other members of MÖTLEY CRÜE last summer that he could no longer tour with them but would still be open to recording new music or performing at residencies that did not require much travel.

When Mars announced his retirement from touring with MÖTLEY CRÜE, he maintained that he would remain a member of the band, with John 5 taking his place on the road. However, in early April the 71-year-old musician filed a lawsuit against CRÜE in Los Angeles County's Superior Court claiming that, after his announcement, the rest of CRÜE tried to remove him as a significant stakeholder in the group's corporation and business holdings via a shareholders' meeting.

As part of Jonathan Montenegro's "My 3 Questions To" series, LAMB OF GOD's Art Cruz was asked to name his top three drummers of all time. He responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "It's a tough one. Honestly, I always have to say my first inspiration — I just got finished, actually, watching a video of Woodstock — [Carlos] Santana. He's not a drummer. However, to me, the entire entity of Santana and his music is very percussion backed — it's very percussion. So, as a kid, that's what I first listened to, it's what I first saw, it's what I first was around my entire childhood. So that's what got me into drums. So I stuck with that. So Santana — I have to classify him as one of my favorite drummers. Weird, but it's the truth.

"After that, I would have to say most definitely Mike Portnoy [DREAM THEATER]," he continued. "A huge part of my career. Good friend now — thank God. He influenced me to really think outside the box and get creative and have that Portnoy factor in my playing. And I'm sure, if you are a drummer, you can hear that in my playing.

"And then my third… That's really hard, man — top three's hard. But I will probably have to say… David Garibaldi, the drummer from TOWER OF POWER. I'm a very funky dude," Cruz added.

"Notice how not all these guys are metal, or metal at all, but those are the guys that influenced me early.

"To give you some bonus fours and fives — Dave Lombardo [SLAYER] and Chris Adler [LAMB OF GOD]. And a bonus six — Joey Jordison [SLIPKNOT]."

In a 2022 interview with Finland's Chaoszine, LAMB OF GOD guitarist Mark Morton was asked if Cruz, who has been the band's drummer of the past five years, was more involved in the songwriting process on LAMB OF GOD's latest album, "Omens", than he was on 2020's self-titled effort. He responded: "I think so. Yeah, I'd say so. Not that he wasn't involved in the first one — he was very involved in the first one — but I think his confidence was up. And I think psychologically, everyone, especially him, was ready to have a bigger impact sonically on the record and to have more personality in the drums rather than… I think on the last album, the self-titled album, he played phenomenally but he stuck very close to traditional LAMB OF GOD movements, and on this album he stretched out quite a bit."

Morton continued: "I think it's about finding a balance about staying true to the historic sound of the band and how the band has sounded; you don't wanna come in sounding radically different. But I think we're all ready, and have been ready, to allow him to grow within the context of LAMB OF GOD, and he's done that for sure."

Cruz filled in for original LAMB OF GOD drummer Chris Adler on several of the band's tours before being named Adler's official replacement in July 2019.

Art spoke about his contributions to "Omens" — which arrived last October via Epic Records — during an appearance in June 2022 on "The Garza Podcast", hosted by SUICIDE SILENCE guitarist Chris Garza. "The first, self-titled one we did, it was great, man — we wrote some great songs," he said, referring to 2020's "Lamb Of God", which marked his recording debut with LAMB OF GOD. "But I was still learning their vibe. I was green to that level of… Those guys had been doing it for 28, 29 years — almost 30 years — and I'm the new guy, a young kid coming in. You have to go through the trenches in every which way. And that first album was a very secure, safe way for all of us to just, 'Here's the tunes. Let's figure it out. Learn how we work.' And this one that's coming out, 'Omens', they really let me spread my wings and they really let me play me — they let me be me.

"I'm always inspired by LAMB, and LAMB is a signature sound," he continued. "LAMB OF GOD, to me, is that sound as a unit. It's a unit — it's not one individual. It's Randy [Blythe, vocals], it's Mark [Morton, guitar], it's Willie [Adler, guitar], it's John [Campbell, bass], it's Chris. That's, to me, what LAMB OF GOD was. So I'm not far off from that. That's what inspired me to be listening to metal and shit. It's my favorite metal band of all time. So to take that inspiration and then become my own person, my own player, from WINDS OF PLAGUE to AZUSA to my first band ENTHRAL to PRONG, to finally come to this point, and this is the album. It's all of those bands, it's all of those struggles, all of those trenches, all of those challenges, all of those tours — this is the album that I was able to really… And then the last LAMB OF GOD album, that is what built me to be to this 'Omens' album, for real. And we're just getting started, man — we're so just getting started. And I'm ready. And I'm mentally in a better place to do that, and I'm ready to do it. And the band is, they're my brothers."

The band tracked "Omens" with longtime collaborator Josh Wilbur (KORN, MEGADETH) live in the room together at Henson Recording Studios (formerly A&M Studios) in Los Angeles, California, a location that birthed classics from THE DOORS, PINK FLOYD, RAMONES and SOUNDGARDEN, among others.