Long-running San Diego, California deathgrind outfit, Cattle Decapitation, has offered up a playthrough video for their latest single, "Scourge Of The Offspring". Watch below:





"Scourge Of The Offspring" appears on Cattle Decapitation's tenth studio album, Terrasite, set for release May 12 via Metal Blade Records. A new unboxing video can be viewed below:







Though many bands have tried, no one articulates the real apocalypse humanity is facing as vividly and succinctly as Cattle Decapitation. With 2019's Death Atlas, they reached the apex of this, perhaps leading some to believe they had no place left to go beyond such an achievement, but alas, they return with Terrasite, which is as bold a statement as they have ever made. Roaring to life with the savage yet hauntingly melodic "Terrasitic Adaptation" and advancing through the likes of the relentless "We Eat Our Young" and culminating with the ten-plus minutes of "Just Another Body," it's an album that constantly shifts dynamics and demands a variety of emotional responses.


The record pushes the Cattle Decapitation sound further into more epic and varied territory, and in the hands of vocalist Travis Ryan the governing concept takes a new and disturbing direction. "I wanted to do the 180° opposite of Death Atlas. I already had the concept idea from years back and since Death Atlas was so dark and brooding, I wanted a completely opposite effect - I wanted this to take place in the daylight. I've always found daytime horror to be really unsettling so I wanted to make sure what was going on on the cover took place in the light of day, which also finds its place within the lyrics."


When asked to elaborate on where he is coming from lyrically on this record, Ryan states frankly, "from a place of distress. Anger, rage, resentment, depression, anxiety, a poor outlook on our species both on a day-to-day level, a broader, worldly level as well as a philosophical level."


Terrasite, which features the artwork by longtime collaborator Wes Benscoter (Vader, Kreator, Bloodbath, Hypocrisy), was produced by Dave Otero (Cephalic Carnage, Allegaeon) and includes Tony Parker of Midnight Odyssey handling piano and synths.





Terrasite will be available as a jewel case CD, digitally, and on vinyl in the following color variants:


- "The Fleshy Architect" Orange/Peach Marble vinyl (US exclusive)
- "Hadean Eon" Orange Blend vinyl (US exclusive)
- "Gomorrah's Flora" Green Blend vinyl (US exclusive)
- "Winds Of Solastalgia" Purple Blend vinyl (US exclusive)
- 180g Black vinyl (EU exclusive)
- "Pupa To A Nymph" LP1: Black Ash Smoke vinyl - LP2: Transp. Skin Marble vinyl (EU exclusive - limited to 700 copies)
- "Irradiated Alight" Sunset Marble vinyl (EU exclusive - limited to 500 copies)
- "Living Death Spirituality" White w/ Purple Splatter vinyl (EMP exclusive - limited to 300 copies)
- "Terrasitic Jizzplosion" Clear w/ Gold Splatter vinyl (EU exclusive - limited to 300 copies)
- "Life Finds A Way" Clear w/ Green + Purple Splatter vinyl (EU exclusive - limited to 300 copies)


Pre-order here.


Cover art by Wes Benscoter.





Terrasite tracklisting:


"Terrasitic Adaptation"
"We Eat Our Young"
"Scourge Of The Offspring"
"The Insignificants"
"The Storm Upstairs"
"…And The World Will Go On Without You"
"A Photic Doom"
"Dead End Residents"
"Solastalgia"
"Just Another Body"


"Scourge Of The Offspring" video:





"We Eat Our Young" video:





(Photo - Nick Van Vidler)

Australia's extreme metal titans THY ART IS MURDER have announced their long-awaited new album, "Godlike", due on September 15. "Godlike" marks THY ART IS MURDER's first 100% independently released record, to be made available worldwide via the band's own label Human Warfare.

THY ART IS MURDER has also shared the devastating new single "Join Me In Armageddon". Opening with a foreboding riff that feels like you're being marched into the arms of evil, heed the warning of THY ART when they advise to "dress warm for nuclear winter."

"'Join Me In Armageddon' is a song that started off with one idea, self destruction," says guitarist Andy Marsh. "I suppose throughout this record, we have ended up touching on a lot of themes that came to the fore these last few years, for us, and maybe you, as well. Loss, distance, doubt, pressure, and tension have made their way through our lives and now are intertwined and immortalized in this record — 'Godlike'."

THY ART IS MURDER ascended the ranks of extreme metal's top-tier bands with a meteoric underground rise as explosive as humankind's seemingly inevitable descent into doom and death. With "Godlike", Australia's most harrowingly brutal export since George Miller's "Mad Max" franchise invites audiences worldwide to join them in a fresh Armageddon.

The sixth explosive album in the band's arsenal, "Godlike" cements THY ART IS MURDER as death metal's modern torchbearers. A soundtrack to a divisive post-modern dystopia, "Godlike" sees THY ART IS MURDER explore new depths and dynamics without sacrificing an ounce of intensity or urgency the band have staked their career on.

Recorded with their longtime producer and mixer Will Putney, across the album’s 10 nihilistic tracks THY ART are masters of their craft as they deliver sharp stabs, guttural descents and groove with muscular athleticism and confidence. Frontman CJ McMahon gives his strongest performance ever as he belts through lyrics that thematically confront how cycles of violence continue over time and feelings of separation in a hyper-polarized world.

THY ART IS MURDER's thinking-person's blackened death metal has challenged, provoked and inspired audiences around the world. Through relentless hard work, THY ART have become one of the most successful extreme metal bands Australia has ever produced, making history on their own terms. Backed by an uncompromising discography, the two-time ARIA Award nominees have smashed chart records in their native country, becoming the first homegrown extreme metal act to debut in the Top 5 with 2017's "Dear Desolation".

Their electrifying and incendiary performances have seen the band do countless laps of the globe, becoming tourmates with genre titans like CANNIBAL CORPSE, SLAYER, KREATOR, LAMB OF GOD, KILLSWITCH ENGAGE and PARKWAY DRIVE, alongside playing crucial festivals like Summer Breeze, Download, Graspop Metal Meeting and Wacken Open Air.

"Godlike" track listing:

01. Destroyer Of Dreams
02. Blood Throne
03. Join Me In Armageddon
04. Keres
05. Everything Unwanted
06. Lesson In Pain
07. Godlike
08. Corrosion
09. Anathema
10. Bermuda

Minus Head Records has set a July 7 release date for the seventh full-length album from long-running Sacramento, California hardcore quintet WILL HAVEN. The official music video for the LP's latest single, "5 Of Fire", can be seen below.

Arguably the dimmest and most fierce material from WILL HAVEN to date, the ten songs on "VII" take longtime fans back to the band's earliest releases in their groove-heavy darkness, while the band continues to expand on their atmospheric and immersive qualities, forging a record that covers all the band's bases while still showcasing a forward-thinking unit forging a modern sounding album.

"VII" was recorded at Pus Cavern Studios in Sacramento, engineered by Joe Johnston (DEFTONES, DANCE GAVIN DANCE, HOODS),produced and mixed by Joe Johnston and WILL HAVEN, and mastered by Alan Douches at West West Side Music. The record also features guest vocals and additional lyrics on "Evolution Of A Man" by Reykjavik Osburn Bigfeather, and the final note of "La Ultima Nota" was played by WILL HAVEN fans.

Having released the album track "Wings Of Mariposa" last year as an early harbinger of what was to come with "VII", today a video for the album's second single "5 Of Fire" has been released. The new video was directed by David Owen Blackley of Her Name Is Murder Productions, who was also responsible for WILL HAVEN's "Foreign Films II" documentary released last year.

Guitarist Jeff Irwin states: "'5 Of Fire' is to me the blueprint for this record; it's heavy, chaotic, with different moods and tempo changes. We wanted to challenge ourselves by writing live in real time, and this song was the one to set that off. I love how it came out and I find myself going back and listening to it over and over again. I still find something new every time I listen."

Reflecting on the "VII" album, he says, "We began working on songs right before Covid hit, so we spent those years just messing around with ideas, riffs, and arrangements. The creation of this record was a bit of a process, but it gave us an escape from everything else going on in the world. To this day, I am still trying to wrap my head around this record. It's heavy, chaotic, mellow, beautiful, and dark. It's more of an art piece than your normal standard songs, and that's exactly what we wanted. I love hearing it in its entirety and am looking forward to performing all of the songs. It's even more of a journey when you hear it live."

WILL HAVEN is booking live events in support of the album, having confirmed a "VII" release show in Sacramento, California on the day the album hits stores, July 7. The band will also play Furnace Fest in Birmingham, Alabama on August 23 alongside HATEBREED, TURNSTILE, BANE, PENNYWISE, YOUTH OF TODAY, JUDGE, TERROR, STRIFE, THURSDAY, and dozens more. Expect additional live updates to be announced in the weeks ahead.

"VII" track listing:

01. Luna
02. 5 Of Fire
03. For All Future Time
04. Evolution Of A Man
05. Paloma's Blessing
06. Wings Of Mariposa
07. Diablito
08. No Stars To Guide Me
09. Feeding The Soil
10. La Ultima Nota

WILL HAVEN is:

Grady Avenell - vocals
Jeff Irwin - guitar/keyboard/vocals
Mitch Wheeler - drums
Adrien Contreras - bass
Sean Bivins - keyboards/piano

Photo by Eric Rivera

In a new interview with "Rock Of Nations With Dave Kinchen And Shane McEachern", former DEEP PURPLE and current WHITESNAKE frontman David Coverdale reflected on his friendship with legendary heavy metal singer Ronnie James Dio who died in 2010. "I met Ronnie in '73, '74 — God bless him," David said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET). "He was with ELF, who became RAINBOW. But they were on Purple Records, so we would take them all over the world as an opening act… I'd known Ronnie for two lifetimes."

Asked what he thought of Ronnie as a singer, David said: "Oh my God. He was fabulous. You listen to [Roger Glover's album] 'The Butterfly Ball [And The Grasshopper's Feast]'," which Coverdale had also guested on, "and that's Ronnie's voice. The darker elements, I wasn't — as much as they're beautiful singing, there were some things that I didn't think were him. But they were incredibly successful. But I've heard Ronnie sing just beautiful melodies and songs, and he was just amazing. But he made a super, super career, and gave me two guitarists. He said, 'What am I doing? I'm finding a guitarist, breaking them in and then you take them' [laughs] — with Viv Campbell and Doug Aldrich."

Ronnie James Dio, best known for his work with BLACK SABBATH, RAINBOW and DIO, died of stomach cancer in May 2010 at the age of 67.

Ronnie was renowned throughout the world as one of the greatest and most influential vocalists in heavy metal history. The singer was diagnosed with cancer in late 2009. He underwent chemotherapy and made what is now his final public appearance in April 2010 at the Revolver Golden Gods Awards in Los Angeles.

Ronnie's memoir, "Rainbow In The Dark: The Autobiography", was released in July 2021 via Permuted Press. It was written with longtime friend of 30 years and esteemed music writer Mick Wall, who took up the mantle after Ronnie's passing.

"Dio: Dreamers Never Die", the first-ever career-spanning documentary on the life and times of Ronnie James Dio, will get a DVD and Blu-Ray release in September.

"Dio: Dreamers Never Die" had its television premiere last December on Showtime. It is also available to stream via the Showtime app.

A previously unreleased Ronnie James Dio song which guitarist Doug Aldrich was working on with the legendary heavy metal singer before his 2010 death will be included on an upcoming Dio collection of never-before-heard and obscure recordings. The track in question was written during the sessions for DIO's "Magica II", a sequel to 2000's "Magica" that was left unfinished when Ronnie died in 2010. Another "Magica II" track titled "Electra" made it on to 2012's "The Very Best of Dio Vol 2".

In a new interview with Tucson's rock station KFMA Rock 102.1, Ronnie's widow and longtime manager Wendy Dio spoke about the upcoming collection, saying (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "I'm working on — which won't be out until next year — but I'm working on an album of things that Ronnie… either unreleased stuff or things that people haven't really heard lately, things that were kind of obscure. So I'm working on putting that together. And we do have an unreleased track that Doug Aldrich was working [on] with Ronnie just before he passed away. And that song will be on there."

Aldrich, who was a member of DIO for a short period between 2002 and 2006, spoke about his unreleased collaboration with Ronnie in a 2017 interview with Roppongi Rocks. He stated at the time: "I have a demo of Ronnie, an unreleased song nobody's ever heard. I offered it to Wendy and, I don't know, maybe she forgot about it, but I said 'I have this song. It's really haunting.' It was during [the] time he wrote 'Electra'. I just played on it. We were kind of bouncing around some of his ideas and working on some of them. Before we did 'Electra', he had this other one that he said, 'Can you put a solo on this?' and he gave me the track. I had put a solo on it and then, when I brought it to his house, he goes, 'No, no, no. I've got this new idea called 'Electra'.' We didn't even listen to it. I don't even think he ever heard the solo because we were so focused on trying to get one song done to promote the tour that we were gonna do. I was still a member of WHITESNAKE [at the time], but I said to him, 'If you work it out with David [Coverdale, WHITESNAKE frontman], I would love to go out on the road with you.' Because he had asked me to go. He worked it out and then he got sick. But there is this one track that is haunting, because the lyrics are… And he doubled his voice, it's just really trippy. At some point, it will have to come out. I got it. I got the mix. I actually have the recording session, which has got Ronnie playing bass, Ronnie playing rhythm guitar and vocals. And then a drum machine. One day."

In a 2015 interview with CrypticRock.com, Aldrich said that he was "only really in [DIO] for about a year, but in that year, we did do the 'Killing The Dragon' [2002] record. I got to contribute to that record with a couple of songs also, which was nice," he said. "We did a lot in that first year. We did that record, a bunch of touring, and a live DVD called 'Evil Or Divine - Live In New York City' [2005]. Then I joined WHITESNAKE, but I kept coming back to DIO. There was a couple of tours in 2005. Ronnie said, 'Would you come on tour with me?' I said, 'Absolutely, I just have to speak to David about it.' David said, 'Cool, just make sure you come back,' because we had talked about some new music and he did not want me to split."

Having also played with LION, HOUSE OF LORDS, BAD MOON RISING, HURRICANE and Glenn Hughes, Aldrich joined THE DEAD DAISIES in 2016 and can be heard on that band's last four albums, 2016's "Make Some Noise", 2018's "Burn It Down", 2021's "Holy Ground" and 2022's "Radiance".

Ronnie James Dio, best known for his work with BLACK SABBATH, RAINBOW and DIO, died of stomach cancer in May 2010 at the age of 67.

Back in July 2021, Wendy confirmed that there were "about three songs" from Ronnie that may eventually see the light of day. She told LiveSigning: "Actually, there are about three songs that Ronnie was… Ronnie was working on a song with [former DIO and RAINBOW bassist] Jimmy Bain before Jimmy passed away. That was one. Craig [Goldy, former DIO guitarist] were working together on a song; they were working on some material and stuff, and it got pushed to the side. And I think the last thing Ronnie was working on was with Doug Aldrich, and they were working on a song.

"All things are in a vault," she explained. "I have to go into the vault… We are taking the necessary steps — we are having it all itemized and categorized. And Wyn Davis, who was Ronnie's engineer, who loved Ronnie to death and Ronnie loved working with him. He's the only person I really trust to do that. So he's going there, going through the stuff, and he will listen to those songs and tell me if those are what Ronnie would approve. Because Ronnie was a perfectionist, so it has to be something that Ronnie would put out. We're not gonna shove something out because it's got Ronnie's name on it; that's not what Ronnie would want, and I would never do that to Ronnie. But if the lyrics are there and Ronnie sang the parts, we can always have the band go in and play the music. But we have to make sure that it's sung properly."

Ronnie was renowned throughout the world as one of the greatest and most influential vocalists in heavy metal history. The singer was diagnosed with cancer in late 2009. He underwent chemotherapy and made what is now his final public appearance in April 2010 at the Revolver Golden Gods Awards in Los Angeles.

Ronnie's memoir, "Rainbow In The Dark: The Autobiography", was released in July 2021 via Permuted Press. It was written with longtime friend of 30 years and esteemed music writer Mick Wall, who took up the mantle after Ronnie's passing.

"Dio: Dreamers Never Die", the first-ever career-spanning documentary on the life and times of Ronnie James Dio, will get a DVD and Blu-Ray release in September.

"Dio: Dreamers Never Die" had its television premiere last December on Showtime. It is also available to stream via the Showtime app.

In a new interview with Australia's The Music, GHOST leader Tobias Forge spoke about the inspiration for his band's recently released cover of GENESIS's 1992 song "Jesus He Knows Me". The track is the first single off GHOST's upcoming five-song covers EP "Phantomime", due out May 18. The EP also features tracks by IRON MAIDEN ("Phantom Of The Opera"),TELEVISION ("See No Evil"),THE STRANGLERS ("Hanging Around") and Tina Turner ("We Don't Need Another Hero (Thunderdome)").

Regarding the subject matter of "Jesus He Knows Me" — a satirical look at televangelism — Forge told The Music: "It's frighteningly horrible. It's easy not to laugh about the accuracy in which Phil Collins wrote a lyric that ten years ago felt almost dated, even outdated, which now feels so contemporary and important."

He continued: "When we started touring America, I was asked so many times, 'Do you have a problem with the Christian fundamentalists or picket fencers or any of that stuff?' I was, like, 'No, never.' Like, there seems to be a sort of undercurrent of that stuff over there. I didn't see that, we were all over the place, even in the South, and definitely a lot in the heartland.

"My impression of those cities is just wonderful — a lot of nice people who come to rock shows, and they're super friendly, and everything is just fucking dandy," he added. "And then, obviously, the last five or six years, the people are still the same, I still feel that they're in the same climate. But obviously, parallel to that, there is this complete Flat Earth cult that has just decided to throw in the towel. I don't know what their aim is."

Referencing the fact that some televangelists ask people to give cash to earn financial favor from God, Forge said: "I cannot neglect to underline the fact that the followers, they are people who don't know better. I pity them — they are being used and humiliated and the leaders are just completely exploiting them. The exchange is supposed to be: 'Give me money, and I will give you the past back'. Look, I'm a nostalgic person as well. I wish it was 1985, too, believe me. But if anyone would come to me and say that, 'If you pay me $1 or $10 — anything you can spare — and I will give you 1985 back,' I would know you're lying. You're obviously lying. You're obviously telling me something that is not true. But yeah, such is the world now.

"You never reach the status quo. Unfortunately, the pendulum swings and sometimes you're in the shitter and sometimes the opposite side, that's how it's always been," he said. "That's the horrid thing about the shit that they're trying to sell you, especially when they're trying to sell it as some sort of religion sandwich because they're telling you that the world is linear, and time is linear. In this case, they're talking about heaven or hell. That is not how it really works. Everything else in this world is circular. So why wouldn't that also be circular? That's the true essence of evil — tricking people into believing something in order to get something out of them and trying to sell them salvation."

GHOST is no stranger to covers, having previously tackled material originally written and recorded by THE BEATLES ("Here Comes The Sun"), ABBA ("I'm A Marionette"), DEPECHE MODE ("Waiting For The Night"), Roky Erickson ("If You Have Ghosts"), METALLICA ("Enter Sandman"), PET SHOP BOYS ("It's A Sin") and EURYTHMICS ("Missionary Man"), among others.

This past February, GHOST revealed details of its upcoming "Re-Imperatour" summer 2023 U.S. tour with special guest AMON AMARTH. Produced by Live Nation and FPC Live, the 27-date trek kicks off on Wednesday, August 2 in Concord, California at Concord Pavilion, with stops in Salt Lake City, Chicago, Cincinnati, Austin and more before wrapping up with the band's Monday, September 11 return to the Kia Forum in Los Angeles.

GHOST is continuing to tour in support of its latest album, "Impera", which sold 70,000 equivalent album units in the U.S. in its first week of release to land at position No. 2 on the Billboard 200 chart. It marked the third top 10 album — and fifth top 40-charting set — for the Swedish act. The 12-song effort was produced by Klas Åhlund and mixed by Andy Wallace.

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

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

In January, GHOST released a new version of its song "Spillways" featuring a guest appearance by DEF LEPPARD singer Joe Elliott.

"Spillways" is taken from "Impera", which was released in March 2022.

Photo credit: Jimmy Hubbard

In a brand new interview with Kerrang! Radio, METALLICA's Kirk Hammett and James Hetfield were asked if there was a moment in the band's legendary 42-year career they wished was captured on film. Hammett responded: "I really wish that the first three or four years of [late METALLICA bassist] Cliff Burton being in the band was documented more. Because there's just not enough footage of him, there's not enough pictures of him, there's just not enough of him. For people who are coming into METALLICA and finding out about METALLICA, there's just not enough information about him. If there's one thing that I actually have a regret about, it's not documenting Cliff enough. But, you know, back then, we didn't know that it would be the situation that it is now. And so it would have been weird to say: 'Okay, Cliff, come here. We're just gonna film you.' Weird. But if there's one thing, I just wish there was just more Cliff footage."

Kirk went on to speak fondly of his late bandmate, saying: "Cliff, he was hilarious all the time. Other than music, his other huge things in his life were beer and breakfast. He lived for beer and he lived for breakfast. He was always talking about beer and breakfast. And it was a funny thing. And I wish I would have had footage of him getting excited about going to a pub. Or whenever he had a plate full of food, he would walk differently. He would walk with a sense of urgency. I would just crack up 'cause it was just so weird to me."

James also reflected on Cliff, telling Kerrang! Radio: "He loved fishing and hammers as well. He would take his little Pocket Fisherman on tour and find any little lake. And he carried a hammer in his suitcase. I was, like, 'What are you doing with that?' He [was, like], 'I don't know. Just in case. Just in case you need a hammer.' He was quite a character — very, very himself. He was unapologetically Cliff. And yeah, we miss him to this day."

Burton died on September 27, 1986, when METALLICA's tour bus crashed. Cliff and his bandmates were in Sweden at the time, as part of the European leg of their "Damage, Inc." tour.

Cliff was asked to join METALLICA in 1982 after the band saw him perform with his group at the time, TRAUMA.

The bassist was not willing to move to Los Angeles, where METALLICA was based, so they decided to move to the San Francisco area so that he would join.

Burton played on METALLICA's first three studio albums — "Kill 'Em All", "Ride The Lightning" and "Master Of Puppets" — and co-wrote classic songs like "Ride The Lightning", "For Whom The Bell Tolls", "Fade To Black", "Creeping Death" and "Master Of Puppets".

Burton's initial replacement in the group was Jason Newsted, who stayed in the lineup until 2001. Robert Trujillo joined in 2003 and remains in the band to this day.

February 10, 2018 was proclaimed "Cliff Burton Day" by Alameda County supervisors. The late METALLICA bassist would have turned 56 years old on that date had he lived.

Cliff's huge talent and achievements were chronicled in book form with the 2009 global publication of "To Live Is To Die: The Life And Death Of Metallica's Cliff Burton", written by U.K.-based author Joel McIver and published by Jawbone Press. The foreword was provided by Hammett.

A museum honoring Cliff's legacy opened in May 2022 in the Ljungby municipality. The museum includes pictures, albums, posters and tickets, along with interviews and photos from the first photographer at the crash site, Lennart Wennberg of the Swedish newspaper Expressen. There is also a film of recollections from first responders at the crash scene as well as a stage that recreates METALLICA's last performance with Burton in Stockholm, with copies of the bass and drum kit he and drummer Lars Ulrich used, plus a poster with Burton's last autograph.

In a new interview with Spain's The Metal Circus, IN FLAMES frontman Anders Fridén spoke about the growing demand among artists that music venues and promoters eliminate the fees they charge bands to sell merchandise at shows.

Many venues require bands to pay them a percentage of their merchandise sales. Commonly that split is 20/80, meaning for every dollar a band makes selling a t-shirt, the venue gets 20 cents. It's an accepted industry standard that understandably riles touring bands, especially those acts for whom merch income is still crucial for ensuring that a tour is profitable.

"I think in the beginning it was a way for clubs to say, 'Okay, if we have shows and not enough people are coming, we have to take some money out of the merch because people are not drinking enough so we're not getting money from the bar,'" Anders said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET). "But we know that is not true, because people are still drinking a lot when they come to the shows. So it's just a thing that just stuck there. And for bands that are relying on the merch sales, it's really, really tough.

"I think it sucks, but there's nothing I can do," Fridén continued. "I tried many, many years ago to start a debate and talk about this, but not enough bands were saying 'we agree' or were acknowledging the fact that it was a huge problem. And then it kind of disappeared. Everyone has to react; it can't be just a few bands that say something. I don't know what to do against it. It's a huge cost. I mean, we sell a fair amount of merch, and the money that goes to someone else, even though we sell it ourselves sometimes, it's crazy. It's insane. But it's way tougher for smaller bands that live from solely the merch; they have to get the merch money to pay gas to get to the next venue or to pay so they can maybe sleep in a motel or get some food or whatever. And then someone comes and just takes 20 percent out of their pocket for nothing. It's horrendous."

Asked by The Metal Circus if he thinks the problem can be "fixed" if enough artists publicly voice their opposition to the commissions that some venues charge on merch sales that take place at shows, Anders said: "I don't know about 'fixed', but it's something that we have to be united, I guess. Everyone has to react. It can't be just a few bands or someone in a band saying something and complaining, 'cause nothing is gonna happen. 'Cause the whole cooperation, or whatever you wanna call them, that takes this concession money, it's such a huge… It's like David versus Goliath, but bands have to turn into the Goliath instead.

"I think this was, like, 2005, [200]6, [200]7 or something, and that's the first time I really recognized it over here in Sweden, like we had it," he recalled. "And I got really upset. And I said, 'Let's sell our merch outside. We're not gonna sell it inside when someone is gonna take that much money.' But, obviously, the fans, they suffer, 'cause you wanna go to a show and you wanna buy your t-shirt. And then you piss someone off. Sometimes it does feel like it doesn't matter what you do because there's always someone who doesn't understand why you're doing it the way you do it. It's a huge problem. It's difficult. But I personally don't know what to do unless we can all unite and say, 'This is what it is.'"

In larger venues, it is often mandatory for a merchandise staff to be employed directly by the venue, meaning a percentage cut can be standard. "It seems like it's the way it is," Anders said. "And unless we unite and we agree on something, then we can change it. I mean, I can pay something for a service — I get that. If you get something for it. If someone sells it for you and [does] all the counting and all that stuff, that's one thing. But 20 percent is quite a lot of money. It's not a service that they offer; it's a service that you have to agree upon. Otherwise you cannot sell [your merchandise at the venue]. And that's almost like mob territory. It's fucked up."

Asked if bands like IN FLAMES can reduce some of their costs by relying on venues to hire their own people to do everything with regard to merchandise sales at their respective shows, Anders said: "Not always. I mean, you still have to have one person that goes to them, so to speak, and counts in and counts out, but when you play huge venues, they usually take care of the setting up things and do this or that, but you always have to have your merch person to control it. So it's still a cost — it's still a bunk in the bus; it's still food; it's still a salary that you pay on top of the 20 percent. It's not like the bands are winning. We are at the end of the chain, but that's how it's always been. Look at royalties, look at all this and that. But it feels like if you're part of the game, that's just the way it is."

In recent months, some venues have said that they will do away with merch fees. Ineffable Live, which runs 10 venues, including the Golden State Theater in Monterey, California; the Fremont Theater in San Luis Obispo, California; and the Chicken Box in Nantucket, Massachusetts, got rid of their 20% merch fee in response to the testimony of Clyde Lawrence of the independent soul-pop band LAWRENCE, who spoke in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee this past January about the "lopsided deal mechanics in certain aspects of the live music industry." During his appearance at the hearing, Lawrence explained why venues taking a cut of merch sales is unfair, saying: Another pain point for artists is the significant loss of revenues due to promoter merchandise cuts. Typically, the promoter takes a sizable percentage (roughly 20%) of an artist's merch sales, and once we factor in our costs of creating and transporting the merch, it can be an even larger percentage (40%) of an artist's bottom line. The argument is that the venue is providing us the retail space for us to sell our merch. Sure. But we're providing all of the customers, and yet receive no cut from their many ancillary revenue streams. Live Nation getting around 20% of our gross merch sales while we get nothing on ticketing fees, bar tabs, coat checks and parking passes doesn’t make a lot of sense to me."

In a new interview with the "This That & The Other With Troy Patrick Farrell" podcast, RATT drummer Bobby Blotzer was asked if he thinks the band's classic lineup will reunite to celebrate the upcoming BMG/Rhino Entertainment release of "The Atlantic Years: 1984-1991", a limited-edition box set celebrating RATT's massively successful period where all five of their studio albums were certified gold, platinum or multi-platinum. He responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Well, that's a longtime golden question, isn't it now? Fuck, I don't know, dude. I'm always hoping that this is gonna go down for my own peace of mind and my sleep at night. The 'RATTmares' that I was having for eight years during the litigation were pretty disturbing. It's better now, 'cause it's all over, that bit of it. So now that it is over, that is where it should… Everybody should just brush it off. If we can have a war with Japan and then sell their fucking TVs 10, 15 years later, I think RATT can get up there and shake their butts, make some money, make the people happy, the kids come out, et cetera.

"We're talking," Bobby continued. "Me and Stephen [Pearcy, RATT singer] talk about it all the time. We're trying to get hold of Warren [DeMartini, RATT guitarist]. We have somebody in our ring, in our corner, who's hopefully gonna work with us, for us and with us, on a managerial level, and he has reached Warren via the telephone, which we haven't been able to do. It's okay — if he doesn't wanna talk, he doesn't wanna talk. But I think he knows that me and Stephen wanna do it.

"There's some complications, and I don't wanna speak for Stephen and stuff, but him and his partner, Mr. [Juan] Croucier [RATT bassist], have some sloppy ends to tie up before this happens with or without… It's just too vague right now to speak of," Blotzer added. "It has to happen, though. If it doesn't happen with this new release… We've had other greatest-hits [releases] — probably, like, five or six of 'em; I don't even know. I don't keep count; I just look at what's on the check when they come in. But this was the big one. So it would be great if we were doing this. I would we would do it next year. Obviously, it's late in the year now — getting to be late in the year. It's too late to mount a tour, which is generally booked the year before, around September the previous year. Next year [will be] 40 years since [RATT's debut album' '[Out Of The] Cellar' came out, so that's when I hope we do it then. I feel like it's inevitable, but… I don't know. I think everybody's gotta realize the fans wanna see us one more time up there in all the glory."

Bobby also addressed the fact that bands like MÖTLEY CRÜE and JOURNEY have seemingly been able to put aside personal differences between their various bandmembers and continue touring, performing at arenas and stadiums around the world.

"RATT's always crushed MÖTLEY musically," Bobby said. "I think they got more press — [they were associated with] movie stars, explicit sex, murders and shit… so they were always in the magazines. And you know what? They deserve what they got. I don't think they'd wanna go toe-to-toe with us, that's for sure."

As for JOURNEY, whose inner-band squabbles have been in the headlines in recent months, he said: "Listen, you would never think that someone as huge and widespread as JOURNEY would succumb to this kind of Internet babble. I know that I was on the Internet quite a few times, and I was airing dirty laundry, man, 'cause I was not letting certain people like Stephen and that sort, 'I'm quttin' the band. I'm going out and playin' the tunes', it's not gonna go without somebody understanding that this isn't reasonable to us, the other guys in the group. Either way, I wish I would have, in hindsight, not spoken up."

Pearcy is the only member of RATT's classic lineup who has been actively touring, performing many of the RATT's hits with his solo band.

In April 2021, Pearcy was joined by Blotzer during the RATT singer's livestream concert from the world-famous Whisky A Go Go on the Sunset Strip.

RATT — featuring Pearcy, Croucier and DeMartini — played a number of shows in 2017 after reforming a year earlier in the midst of a highly publicized legal battle with Blotzer over the rights to the RATT name. They were joined at the gigs by guitarist Carlos Cavazo, who played on 2010's "Infestation" album, and drummer Jimmy DeGrasso, who previously played with Y&T, WHITE LION and MEGADETH, among others.

Addressing his legal disputes with the other members of RATT's classic lineup, Bobby said: "It's taken the life out of me as far as the love of the game here. I'll come back with the mothership, RATT, but I'm not really set up to go, 'Hey, let's put something together, Keri Kelli and Robbie Crane,' or whomever. I went through so much in that litigation. And that wasn't the first one, because we were at it with Stephen in 2002 for two and a half years in federal court. It was intense and it was costly. And just what it cost you in your spirit and your heart and your soul, that's where it broke down for me. So right now I'm kind of retired. I know I can go out and rock and tour, but it would have to be starting with RATT, I think. That's the level I wanna do it at."

According to Bobby, RATT has already turned down massive money to reunite for one or more shows. "We've had some pretty huge offers," he said. "This is no joke — we had a million-and-two-fifty-[thousand] offer to open a new arena, and everybody turned it down. I was shocked. I was, like, 'Man…' These are the kind of decisions that chipped away at the infrastructure of doing business in the band. But I don't have any, really, grudges that I can carry around anymore with these guys; I just don't. It's not healthy. And I do love RATT, and I love the guys. I know if we all got into a room and we were looking eye-to-eye, everybody would start laughing and cutting up jokes. It would be a little awkward at first, but I've been there and done it with this. A band that's been around this long, we've done this — been there and done it. So I don't know why we can't do it when others, probably more salacious and dysfunctional, like a MÖTLEY CRÜE [can]. I don't know."

Blotzer went on to offer a "theory" as to why RATT hasn't been able to come back together for a tour when MÖTLEY CRÜE and JOURNEY have overcome their personal differences to play for their fans. He said: "My theory is you can't be a democracy in a band. It doesn't work. You've got too many people voting. You need a leader. And I think that's what MÖTLEY has with [bassist] Nikki Sixx and Allen Kovac, their manager, our old manager. Those two lead the charge. Nikki has always led the charge. And you know what? They listen. And they know where the big stuff is. And they still want it. Some of us, maybe, in this band don't want it. I don't know."

Pressed about why he thinks some members of RATT are not motivated by the idea of getting a hefty paycheck and performing for thousands of adoring fans again, Bobby said: "Like I said a few minutes ago, Warren has stated to somebody that, if we do this, is likely gonna be holding down the managerial position, and [Warren] said he was willing to get in and listen, which is way more than he has said… He's said nothing, really. I only hear tidbits from mutual friends that he speaks to. So I can't speak to… He just kind of sounds like he's done. I don't know if that's really where his heart is.

"See, we make good money sittin' on our asses at home," Blotzer added. "And it's been really a blessing that our royalties have grown in such a way that it's lucrative not going out. And then for the mind baggage that certain people think it's gonna entail, which history has proven that that happens, that might be the fear factor. I hope that that, if we can all get into a room and play, it would dissipate very quickly, in my opinion."

Last June, Pearcy told Atlantic City Weekly that RATT was supposed to do "a big summer tour" in 2022. "I initiated doing something if the [surviving] guys [from the classic lineup] would get together," he revealed. "But there is no reason for them to do it or a need for them to do it, so I decided to just go out solo. And I am better off. Some of these guys [in my solo band] have been with me 18, 20 years. So if you want to Ratt & Roll, come see my shows."

Image credit: 80's Metal Recycle Bin

DIO DISCIPLES, which pays tribute to Ronnie James Dio and is fully supported by Dio's widow/manager Wendy, performed at the "Rock For Ronnie" event yesterday (Sunday, May 7) at Los Encinos Historic Park in Encino, California. Video of the concert can be seen below (courtesy of Jessica Chase).

Joining former DIO members Scott Warren (keyboards) and Simon Wright (drums) for the performance were singers Terry Ilous (XYZ, GREAT WHITE) and Dyna Shirasaki (THUNDHERSTRUCK),guitarist Ira Black (BULLETBOYS, VIO-LENCE),and bassist Bjorn Englen (YNGWIE MALMSTEEN).

"Rock For Ronnie" was an afternoon of live rock music, silent and live auctions, food trucks and fun geared to the entire family. The event benefited the Ronnie James Dio Stand Up And Shout Cancer Fund and was the cancer charity's first post-COVID-19 gathering back in the park.

DIO DISCIPLES is made up of former members of DIO, along with a rotating lineup of vocalists, including ex-JUDAS PRIEST singer Tim "Ripper" Owens and LYNCH MOB frontman Oni Logan.

Billed as a "celebration of the music and legacy of the greatest singer in the world, Ronnie James Dio," DIO DISCIPLES have been playing Ronnie's music on tour in a bid to keep their old bandmate's memory alive.

Three years ago, Wright told The Metal Voice that the proposed DIO DISCIPLES debut album had been put "on hold" so that he and his bandmates could focus on the "Dio Returns" tour. At the time, Simon said that "about four or five demos" had been laid down of "different songs" that he and former DIO guitarist Craig Goldy had been working on. As for the material's musical direction, Wright said: "It's difficult to pin it down, because some of [the tracks] are a little different. Still a little bit of [the] DIO [sound], the way Ronnie would write, obviously, 'cause that's rubbed off on Craig, and I hear things too. But at the moment, it's a little bit eclectic. So that was gonna be one thing we were gonna approach. We need to consolidate it and make it into a DIO DISCIPLES sound. So that was a conversation we were having: 'We need to figure out where we're going with this.' At the moment, it's a bit all over the place. But they sound good. They're great ideas."

Several years ago, Goldy revealed DIO DISCIPLES were planning to start work on a project of original material, and they debuted three of the new songs during their May 2016 appearance at the "Ride For Ronnie" motorcycle rally and concert in Encino.

Craig previously told "Talking Metal" that he has been collaborating with fellow former DIO member Jeff Pilson on the material for the debut DIO DISCIPLES album.

Goldy joined DIO during the "Sacred Heart" tour in 1986 after original guitarist Vivian Campbell was fired from the band following a contentious business disagreement with the singer and Ronnie's management.

Pilson is best known for playing bass with DOKKEN and FOREIGNER, but he also toured with DIO in the 1990s and performed on three of the group's albums — "Strange Highways" (1993),"Angry Machines" (1996) and the group's tenth and final studio release, "Master Of The Moon" (2004).

Owens told Canada's The Metal Voice about DIO DISCIPLES' forthcoming LP: "We're not making a DIO record. We couldn't do that. The best thing is, we've all done different types of records, but there's always some similarity to the classic metal and classic rock format, because we have this in us. But we still always move forward a little bit. But that's what it's gonna be. JUDAS PRIEST, DIO, AC/DC — all these influences are in us, and they're not gonna leave us. It's just us writing songs. It's not us writing songs to sound like something; it's us going in and writing songs."

In 2018, Wendy said that DIO DISCIPLES' debut album would be released via BMG.

MEGADETH's Dirk Verbeuren has shared a drum-cam video of him performing the song "We'll Be Back" with his bandmates at Canada Life Centre in Winnipeg, Alberta, Canada on May 5, 2023. Check it out below.

Last December, Verbeuren spoke to That Metal Interview about the songwriting process for MEGADETH's latest album, "The Sick, The Dying… And The Dead!", which arrived in September via UMe. He said: "There was a lot of freedom. [Dave Mustaine, MEGADETH leader] invited Kiko [Loureiro, MEGADETH guitarist] and myself from the get-go to contribute our own ideas and our interpretations, and that's what we did.

"The way we work and the way Dave tends to work is that he has this massive vault of riffs, guitar riffs that go all the way back to the early years, to the '80s. And that's all sitting in a folder and organized. And so we started by him picking out a bunch of riffs and working with those. And as the process went on, those started turning into songs and we would maybe add some riffs or change some riffs or maybe go fishing for some more or write new ones — whatever felt right at the time. So I also contributed some music myself, and so did Kiko; Kiko co-wrote quite a few of the songs on the album. So it was a very collaborative process. As far as the drums went, same thing. Of course there were certain parts where Dave preferred one idea over the idea, and he would be, like, 'Play it more like this,' or, 'I prefer that beat over this beat.' But for the most part I pretty much got to do what I wanted to do and how I felt it. Because I think, at this point, having been in the band for over six years, I've got a pretty good feel of what MEGADETH drums are supposed to sound like, and it seems like Dave feels the same way."

Dirk went on to say that he didn't want to deviate too far from the drumming style that characterized MEGADETH's classic albums. "It's an important thing, because I'm also a MEGADETH fan," he explained. "I was for many years when I was younger. So I know what it's like to be a fan and going and watching your band or hearing a new album by your band that you like and you expect it to be within certain parameters. So, having grown up listening to [previous MEGADETH drummers] Gar Samuelson and Chuck Behler and Nick Menza, of course, I wanted to have kind of that vibe. So that's what I aimed for. In the end, it's gonna sound like me as well, because I can't change that. And I also put some of my own flavors in there, of course. But I did wanna be very mindful of the legacy of MEGADETH history and respect that and carry on that tradition."

"The Sick, The Dying... And The Dead!" sold 48,000 equivalent album units in the U.S. in its first week of release to land at position No. 3 on the Billboard 200 chart. It marked MEGADETH's eighth top 10-charting album. Of "The Sick, The Dying... And The Dead!"'s 48,000 units earned for the week, album sales comprised 45,000, SEA units comprised 3,000 and TEA units comprised a negligible sum.

MEGADETH's previous top 10 entries on the Billboard 200 were "Countdown to Extinction" (No. 2, 1992),"Youthanasia" (No. 4, 1994),"Cryptic Writings" (No. 10, 1997),"United Abominations" (No. 8, 2007),"Endgame" (No. 9, 2009),"Super Collider" (No. 6, 2013) and "Dystopia" (No. 3, 2016).

Canadian pop-punkers SUM 41 have announced plans to split up following the completion of a worldwide tour in support of their upcoming album, "Heaven :x: Hell".

Earlier today (Monday, May 8),SUM 41 released the following statement via social media: "Being in SUM 41 since 1996 brought us some of the best moments of our lives. We are forever grateful to our fans both old and new, who have supported us in every way. It is hard to articulate the love and respect we have for all of you and we wanted you to hear this from us first.

"SUM 41 will be disbanding. We will still be finishing all of our current upcoming tour dates this year, and we're looking forward to releasing our final album 'Heaven :x: Hell', along with a final worldwide headlining tour to celebrate. Details will be announced as soon as we have them.

"For now, we look forward to seeing all of you skumfuks on the road and are excited for what the future will bring for each of us.

"Thank you for the last 27 years of SUM 41."

Last month, SUM 41 frontman Deryck Whibley told the "Tuna On Toast With Stryker" podcast about "Heaven :x: Hell": "It's a double record, and the 'Heaven' side is 10 songs and it's all like our old-school SUM 41 pop punk sound. New songs that are in the vein of 'All Killer' and 'Does This Look Infected'. The 'Hell' side is another 10 songs that are all in sort of the heavier sort of [direction from] 'Chuck' to what we've been doing lately, heavier sound. So it's 20 songs total."

Regarding the songwriting process for "Heaven :x: Hell", Deryck said: "A lot of these songs I wrote by accident. I didn't try to write a pop punk album and a heavy… The pop punk stuff came because during the pandemic, all of a sudden a lot of people were calling, my manager or labels were reaching out and saying, 'So-and-so artist would love to see if you would write with them.' A lot of people were reaching out for songs. And I didn't have any. And everybody was saying, 'We’re looking for pop punky kind of stuff.' So I thought, 'Well, I should probably start writing some stuff.' I'm, like, 'I haven't written a pop punk song in 16 years. So I don't even know if I can do it.' So I started writing some, and I got like three or four, and I listened to them all, and I go, 'I like these.' I was surprised by how much I liked them. And I thought, 'I don't want to give these away. I don't know what I’m gonna do with them, but I don’t want to just give them away. I like them.'"

He continued: "I had already been writing some of the heavier stuff already. So I had about four or five of those. And I just kept going and all of a sudden I just had 20 songs. And at the time, I didn't know what to do with them. I thought, 'I'll pick the best 10 maybe and make an album.' And I just went and listened to all 20 in a row. I thought, 'Okay, I'll listen to all the pop punk first, all the heavy second. And these are just demos. I'm driving around, I go through all the pop punk songs and I get halfway through the heavy, and that's when it hit me: I think this whole thing should be an album. It should be a double album."

SUM 41's storied 24-plus-year career includes over 15 million records sold worldwide, multiple Billboard-charting releases, a Grammy Award nomination, two Juno Awards (seven nominations),a Kerrang! Award in 2002, as well as multiple Alternative Press Music Awards.

Photo credit: Ashley Osborn

Posted by Sum 41 on Monday, May 8, 2023

King Crimson founder Robert Fripp and his wife, Toyah Willcox, are back with their latest Sunday Lunch video. Watch below.


A message states: “This week we’re going back to when Robert Fripp tried his hand at table dancing. Be warned, you cannot unsee this!"







Meanwhile, Toyah & Robert's Sunday Lunch is going on tour throughout the UK in September and October. The couple will be accompanied by a live band, with Fripp on guitar.


Tickets are available here.





Says Toyah: “When people ask, 'What is the show going to be?', it’s going to be about the hundred years of musical experience we have between us.”


Watch the "Toyah At Home" video below, where Toyah and Robert introduce the tour concept:

KIX vocalist Steve Whiteman has opened up about the band's announcement that it will retire after more than 45 years, telling Metal Edge in a new interview: "It might seem sudden, but this is a decision that I made around a year ago. I gave it a lot of thought, decided, and announced it to the guys in the band and our booking agents. I knew at that point that I was probably going to be done by the of 2023. It's been 45 years of nonstop rock 'n' roll, travel, and hanging out, and I don't have the time to commit to it anymore. I'm 66. I've got neuropathy in my feet. I'm tired."

Asked if drummer Jimmy Chalfant's recent health scare — he collapsed onstage seven months ago after suffering a cardiac arrest — expedited the process for him, Steve said: "For sure. When Jimmy collapsed in November, that put a whole new perspective on things. It was the sort of thing that got me thinking, 'How much longer do we want to do this?' And if I'm being honest, I was ready to give up and go home then and there. But everybody rallied and pushed me to keep going and finish the dates we had booked. That's when we decided to go until this coming September. We knew we had these summer days, and Jimmy — once he felt good enough to get onstage — put his foot down and said, 'September is it for me.'"

On the topic of whether KIX guitarist Ronnie Younkins — who has been unable to tour with the group for the past couple of years after repeatedly getting in trouble with the police due to his battle with alcoholism — will be part of the final show (Ronnie is being replaced in KIX by Bob Paré),Steve said: "Bob is definitely going to be part of the show. The hope is that Ronnie will be there as a guest player. But I don't even know if anybody's talked to Ronnie yet. We're hoping and assuming he'll come up and do a couple of songs with us. We hope he does because it would be amazing for our fans. I also think we'll call up Brad Divens, who played on the 'Cool Kids' album."

For its recent live appearances, including the Monsters Of Rock cruise, KIX had been using drummer Matt Starr, who has previously played with Ace Frehley, MR. BIG and BLACK SWAN, among others. Asked if Jimmy's heart is healthy enough to wrap this up, or if Starr will remain on standby, Whiteman said: "Matt's on standby, but Jimmy feels pretty confident he can do this. He was on the recent cruise with us and came up and did a few songs at the end of the set. He feels great, has been practicing at home, and is ready to do these final summer shows we've planned. We love Matt, but having Jimmy is so important to us. But the thing with that is Jimmy will not be able to do background vocals. He feels that if he plays drums and sings simultaneously, his heart rate increases to a point that makes him nervous. So, we'll miss that a lot, but we'll get Bob to sing more."

KIX's last-ever concert will take place on September 17 at the Merriweather Post Pavilion in Columbia, Maryland.

The Baltimore-based act, which formed in 1977, announced its plan to call it quits during an appearance on Sunday (May 7) at the M3 Rock Festival at the Merriweather Post Pavilion.

Chalfant rejoined his KIX bandmates on stage for two songs — "Cold Blood" and "Blow My Fuse" — during the band's set on April 30 aboard this year's Monsters Of Rock cruise. It marked his first live appearance with KIX since he collapsed onstage. Chalfant also performed with KIX at the M3 Rock Festival.

On November 18, 2022, Chalfant suffered a cardiac arrest during KIX's concert at the Tally Ho Theater in Leesburg, Virginia. Chalfant was unconscious and carried offstage before performing the last song of the show.

Paré is an accomplished musician who studied at the Music Institute in Los Angeles and taught music theory and guitar at several institutions, including Western Maryland College and Maryland Institute of Music.

Bob was a session musician for several independent label releases, and has spent most of his long career performing live in the Maryland and Washington, D.C. area with various bands, including FORCER, EVER RISE, PROJECT: EUPHORIA and, most recently, the RUSH tribute band SUN DOGS with KIX bassist Mark Schenker.

KIX was founded in 1977 and released its first, self-titled album on Atlantic Records more than 40 years ago. Their breakthrough came with 1988's "Blow My Fuse", which sold nearly a million copies, thanks to "Don't Close Your Eyes". The band continued to ride the hard-rock wave until 1995, when KIX took a hiatus. Nearly 10 years later, KIX reunited and started touring regionally. A 2008 performance at the Rocklahoma festival led to more gigs and the release of a live DVD/CD called "Live In Baltimore" in 2012. In 2014, KIX released its seventh full-length album, "Rock Your Face Off", the band's first studio effort since 1995's "Show Business". The album debuted at No. 1 on Amazon's Hard Rock and Metal chart, in the Top 50 on the Billboard 200 chart, No. 5 on the Independent Albums chart, No. 11 on the Top Internet chart, No. 17 on the Top Rock Albums chart, No. 27 on the Indie/Small Chain Core Stores chart and No. 33 on the Physical chart.

KIX released "Can't Stop The Show: The Return Of KIX" in October 2016, a two-disc DVD/CD set that entered the Billboard Top Music Video Sales chart at No. 3 and rose to the No. 1 position, the band's highest-charting debut and first No. 1 ever in their 35-year history. The 71-minute film offered an in-depth look into KIX's decision to record their first new album, in almost 20 years.

In 2018, KIX celebrated the 30th anniversary of their biggest album, "Blow My Fuse", with "Blow My Fuse Re-Blown", a two-disc set with a remixed/remastered version of the album, along with the original demo recordings for all 10 songs. The reunion with longtime collaborator Beau Hill for this remix sparked the initiative to revisit "Midnite Dynamite" and take a similar approach to updating KIX's legacy.

On the 35th anniversary of the release of "Midnite Dynamite", KIX released "Midnite Dynamite Re-Lit" in November 2020. For "Midnite Dynamite Re-Lit", KIX partnered with Hill for a blistering update of the fan-favorite album.

Photo credit: Mark Weiss



MAJOR KIX ANNOUNCEMENT: News from KIX lead Steve Whiteman live on the M3 Rock Festival stage tonight at Merriweather Post Pavilion:

“After 45 years of doing this I think we’re gonna call it a career.

Not tonight, but we’re gonna do a show here September 17!

We’re gonna do one big final rock and roll show in the area, because you guys deserve it.

So September 17 will be our final show, and we’re lucky enough to be doing it here.

We love you guys, and we wanted to let you in on it.”

Posted by Mark Strigl on Sunday, May 7, 2023

Scot Coogan, a veteran session drummer who has played with Ace Frehley, LYNCH MOB, Lita Ford, Stephen Pearcy and L.A. GUNS, rejoined the original KISS guitarist on stage for the first time in five years on April 29 at Reg Lenna Center For The Arts in Jamestown, New York. Fan-filmed video of the entire concert can be seen below (courtesy of YouTube channel Marcus Leeper).

Prior to launching into the KISS classic "Love Gun" at the Jamestown show, Ace introduced Scot, telling the audience: "I don't know if anybody noticed, but I got my old drummer back, Scoty Coogan. He played with me for 10 years; then we parted company. Actually, this is the first time we've played together, this weekend, in five years."

On Friday (May 5),Scot shared an Instagram photo of him sharing the stage with Ace in Jamestown and he wrote simply: "And … This Happened …"

Back in October 2018, Frehley spoke to SiriusXM's "Jim And Sam" about his decision to part ways with the solo band that had backed him for several tours: Richie Scarlet on guitar, Chris Wyse on bass and Coogan. He replaced them with musicians who backed him and KISS bassist/vocalist Gene Simmons on an Australian tour that year: Jeremy Asbrock on guitar/vocals, Ryan Cook on guitar/vocals and Philip Shouse on bass/vocals. He later also recruited Matt Starr on drums.

Speaking about how his former bandmates took the news that they were being replaced, Ace said: "It wasn't a big deal with Chris Wyse, because he's been working with the HOLLYWOOD VAMPIRES, playing bass, and he's also been doing some solo shows with Joe Perry. He's one of the most sought-out bass players in Los Angeles, so he was pretty cool about it. My drummer, Scot Coogan, he didn't take it too well."

Recalling the conversation with Coogan during which he informed the drummer that he was being relieved of his duties, Frehley said: "I told him I was moving on with Gene's cover band and 'I'm not gonna need you anymore at this juncture.' He goes, 'Ace, c'mon! What are you talking about?' He goes I'm his rock star. 'You're losing a rock star,' he says. Okay — whatever you say. Then he's hitting me up for money."

According to Ace, the "hardest" person for him to fire was Scarlet "because his wife [Joann had] just passed away. And I knew she didn't have very much time to live, because she had Lou Gehrig's Disease [ALS] and there's no cure," Frehley said. "So I was procrastinating for a week not to call him. Finally, I got enough guts up to call him, and he was so drained, because he had been at the hospital every day and so on and so forth. After I told him, he just couldn't grasp it with everything else surrounding his… what he was going through. So he pretty much hung up on me. But I've known Richie the longest — 35 years — so I let a day or two go by and I called him back one evening a couple of days ago, and we made up. He apologized for hanging up for me. We discussed and reminisced about old times. He reminded me that I dated his wife before he did. [Laughs]"

Frehley went on to describe Joann as "a wonderful woman" who "really enjoyed life," adding that "her and Richie had so much fun together and had met so many people."

After his second conversation with Scarlet, Frehley says Richie told him "Ace, whatever's best for you, I want you to go ahead and do it." Ace also revealed that he was covering half of Joann's funeral costs.

According to Ace, the harmony vocals he wanted to hear from his solo group never materialized until he started playing with his most recent lineup. "It just wasn't there," he said. "Chris Wyse, I love him — he's one of the greatest bass players in the world — but he's really not a lead singer. Scoty is the only really lead singer."

Asked if he is good at firing people, Frehley said: "No. I hate it. I don't actually like being a boss. I remember the days I was in KISS where I didn't have to get involved with the business that often. [Paul Stanley and Gene] were more business-orientated, where me and Peter [Criss, drums] were more party-orientated. I didn't fire anybody [while I was in KISS], I don't think."

Coogan offered his version of how the latest split with Frehley happened during a November 2021 appearance on the "This That & The Other With Troy Patrick Farrell" podcast. At the time, he said: "[Ace] called me and said, 'I've gotta use Gene's band. I wanna try to get back into KISS. I've gotta use Gene's band. He's making me use these guys from Nashville.' And I was, like, 'That's fine.' We had the Kiss Kruise coming up; it was at the end of 2018. And it was right before that. Richie's wife was on her death bed. And it was just terrible timing for him to do what he did. And I said to him — I think I texted him and said, 'You're losing rock stars.' Chris Wyse is from THE CULT, and Richie Scarlet's the Rock And Roll Emperor. So I said, 'You're losing rock stars.' But he said in an interview that I said, 'You're losing a rock star,' talking about myself. [Laughs] And that's what was [posted] on Blabbermouth. I slept over at Alex's house, at [Alex] Grossi's, and he goes, 'You're on the front of Blabbermouth, buddy. Wake up.' And I was, like, 'What?' And it says [about] Scot Coogan leaving Ace Frehley [that I said], 'You're losing a rock star.' I never said that. It's just so funny how things get twisted."

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Scot Coogan (@scotycoogan)

In his latest Fire TV clip, Firewind guitarist Gus G. goes through some of the pedals that he currently has in his home studio. Check it out below. 





Gus G., Michael Angelo Batio, Rowan Robertson, and Andy Martongelli have teamed up for the Electric Guitarlands tour, which has been on the road in Europe since April 20th.




Description: A fantastic musical evening with four of the best guitarists in the world of rock music, performing for more than two hours of entertainment.


Michael Angelo Batio, the legendary Chicago shredder, former member of Nitro, is currently the guitarist of Manowar. Gus G., the great Greek guitarist was a member of Ozzy Osbourne's band from 2009 to 2017 and is the frontman of Firewind. At the age of 17, Rowan Robertson was recruited by Ronnie James Dio to join his band. Suddenly, he escalated from obscurity to worldwide fame. Andy Martongelli, one of the best known Italian shredders, guitarist, composer, producer and teacher, member of the David Ellefson band.


A unique evening with a set list that, along with songs from the solo careers of these great performers, will also be full of classics from legendary bands such as Van Halen, Pantera, Black Sabbath, Dio, Megadeth and more. The legendary double neck guitar solo of Batio will  be part of the show as well.


The band is completed by Francesco Caporaletti on bass (The Gang, Vinnie Moore), Roberto Pirami on drums (Vinnie Moore, Michael Angelo Batio band) and Riccardo Curzi on vocals.


Remaining dates:


May
8 - Meisenfrei - Bremen, Germany
10 - South Of Heaven - Bilzen, Belgium
20 - Teatro Mercantini - Ripatransone, Italy


For tickets and further information, head here.

Temple Of Mystery Records has confirmed July 5th as the international release date for Serpent Corpse's striking debut album, Blood Sabbath, on CD and Vinyl LP formats.


Hailing from the ever-rising Montreal death metal scene, Serpent Corpse are at once foreign and familiar. Blood Sabbath, their full-length debut following a demo in 2021, on first glance feels resolutely old school: straightforward songwriting, analog production, little flash but full fire. And indeed, Serpent Corpse do show noble influence from the very early '90s - foremost among them, the world-eating enormity of classic Bolt Thrower and vigorous D-beating of early Entombed - but along with another set of tweaked influences and, more so, a maniacal manner in which to pursue them, the Canadian quartet prove that the idea of traditional all-caps DEATH METAL is undying and infinite.


The further one steps into the ichor of Blood Sabbath, the more those tweaks take shape - Darkthrone during their death metal days, Seance skewing death 'n' roll, the DM-in-glue of classic Cianide, or especially Autopsy's transition into Abscess - and the more the exemplary songwriting truly begins to shine...or ROT, as it were! For this nine-song / 39-minute album sounds as slimy as it does headbanging - and those singed 'n' seared leads are the definition of haunting! Coupled with powerfully clear annunciation from vocalist / guitarist Andrew Haddad, and mesmerizing cover art courtesy of Lucas Korte, Serpent Corpse deliver one of the most essential death metal debuts of recent memory. A festering death awaits!




Blood Sabbath artwork and tracklisting:





"Spell Of The Eternal Serpent"
"Electric Eye"
"Nemesis"
"Let The Rats Feed"
"Land Of Rot And Misfortune"
"Crucifxion Shrine"
"Swallowed Whole By The Abyss"
"Dreams Of Crows"
"Blood Sabbath"





Pre-order your copy of Blood Sabbath now via Bandcamp or Temple Of Mystery.


Serpent Corpse will be playing an album release party on July 15th at La Sotterenea in Montreal, QC. 





 

London born death / thrash champions The Bleeding return in full force to bring you their third full-length album, Monokrator, set for release on June 9, 2023. 


After forming in 2010, the band released their first EP, Death Eternal, in 2013 and, after a major line-up change, released their first full-length album, Rites Of Absolution, in 2017.


The Bleeding's resume also boasts a collaboration wit UK black / speed / thrash hero James McBain (Hellripper), on the title track from their 2021 EP, Rise Into Nothing.




On their latest album, Monokrator, The Bleeding combine thrash elements, comparable to latter day Exodus / Destruction, with the ferocity of Demolition Hammer, and a vocal attack akin to Jeff Walker and Chuck Schuldiner, to create a blitzkrieg-like listening experience, complete with a full frontal assault. Monokrator is a flag-planting statement that will put the UK back on the map when it comes to quality thrash.





Tracklisting:


"Chemical Lobotomy"    
"Chainsaw Deathcult"    
"Mutation Chamber"    
"Union Of Horror"    
"Screams Of Torment"    
"On Wings Of Tribulation"    
"Monokrator"    
"Throes Of Repulsion"





Pre-order your copy of Monokrator now via Bandcamp or RDR.


  

Tracii Guns (L.A. Guns) and Todd Kerns (Slash Featuring Myles Kennedy & The Conspirators, Toque, The Age Of Electric) have revealed that they have teamed up with Adam Hamilton (L.A. Guns) in a new band called Blackbird Angels.


Blackbird Angels will release their debut album, Solsorte, in September 2023. The cover artwork can be seen below.







The exact release date and tracklisting have yet to be announced.


On October 27, 2022, Todd Kerns and Tracii Guns, along with bassist Robbie Crane (Vince Neil, Ratt, Black Star Riders) covered Aerosmith's "Toys In The Attic" aboard KISS Kruise XI. Fan-filmed video can be enjoyed below.





 

German power metal band, Helloween, will be Inducted into the Metal Hall Of Fame. The ceremony will take place on stage at Terminal 5, New York City, May 20.


Known as one of the most influential European heavy metal bands, Helloween  have performed at festivals and concerts alongside Iron Maiden, David Lee Roth, KISS, Megadeth, and Guns N' Roses, among others.


"Helloween have helped establish the origins of the power metal genre," says Metal Hall Of Fame founder/CEO Pat Gesualdo. Power metal is such an important part of the heavy metal community as well. We are proud to induct Helloween into the Metal Hall Of Fame and have them to help represent the power metal genre, and all it's fans throughout the world."




“It´s truly an honor to be inducted into the Metal Hall Of Fame! Being listed next to some of the biggest bands in rock & metal makes us very proud and is rewarding our work as "The Ambassadors of Power & Melodic Metal" for the last four decades,” comments Michael Weikath on behalf of the whole band.





Often referred to as the "Fathers of Power Metal", Helloween has released 16 studio albums, three live albums, three EPs and 30 singles. The German based band have 14 gold and 6 platinum records, and sold over 10 million records worldwide. Helloween are known as one of the "Big Four" of the "Power Metal" genre, along with Blind Guardian, Sabaton, and DragonForce.


The Metal Hall of Fame is dedicated to forever enshrining the iconic musicians and music industry executives responsible for making Hard Rock and Heavy Metal music what it is today. Their contribution to the genre is invaluable, and they continue to inspire fans throughout the world, from generation to generation.


The Annual Metal Hall of Fame Celebrity Gala is held every January in C.A. As a 501(C)(3) Non Profit organization, all proceeds from Metal Hall of Fame and D.A.D. events bring free music programs to help special needs children and wounded veterans.


The Metal Hall of Fame Voting Process is derived by fans of all genres of Hard Rock and Heavy Metal, along with the Metal Hall of Fame voting committee. Fans can cast their vote all year round for their favorite artists, bands, producers, and music industry executives via the Metal Hall of Fame website.


For more information, please contact info@themetalhalloffame.org, or call 973-263-0420.


(Photo - Martin Häusler)

Veteran harbingers of technical death metal, Cryptopsy, have officially signed with Nuclear Blast Records. The world's heaviest label welcomes one of Canada's most ferocious bands with plans to release their first album in over a decade later this year.


Commenting on the the signing, vocalist Matt McGachy states: "We are truly excited to have joined Nuclear Blast's roster. Many of the bands we love and a bunch of our friends have released killer albums via Nuclear Blast. Back in 2012, we became an independent band. Now in 2023, we have decided to team up with one of the most influential metal labels. We are eager to be showcased alongside the world's best metal acts and can't wait to unveil the next era of Cryptopsy as a Nuclear Blast artist."


Details of Cryptopsy's long-awaited eighth album and return to the forefront of death metal will be revealed in the coming months.

Originally hailing from Montreal, Cryptopsy officially formed in 1992 and has since been anchored by long-time drummer extraordinaire Flo Mounier. Over the last three decades the band has become a revered and influential pinion in North America's underground metal scene. Groundbreaking albums like Blashphemy Made Flesh (1994), None So Vile (1996) and Once Was Not (2005), helped define the genre of technical death metal, while the band's intense, earthshaking live shows garnered them a rapid following around the world. Now signed with Nuclear Blast, the band begins the next chapter of their legendary career, ready once again the break necks and pierce the eardrums of metal fans everywhere.




(Photo - Mihaela Petrescu)

The official Johnny Carson YouTube Channel, found here has shared footage of ZZ Top making their first appearance on live television, on The Tonight Show. The original airdate was May 16th, 1986.


ZZ Top performed "Sharp Dressed Man" and "Tush". Check it out below.







On March 26th, music icon Billy Joel performed at Madison Square Gardens in New York City. In the middle of the show, Joel welcomed ZZ Top frontman Billy Gibbons to the stage and the band performed the ZZ Top classics "La Grange" and "Tush". Check out fan-filmed video below.  

More than a week ago, METALLICA kicked off its "M72" world tour 2023-2024 with two spectacular performances at Johan Cruijff Arena in Amsterdam, Netherlands with support from ARCHITECTS and MAMMOTH WVH on night one and Floor Jansen and ICE NINE KILLS on night two. The career-spanning sets featured the live debut of "If Darkness Had A Son" and "You Must Burn!" along with songs off their newest album "72 Seasons", including "Screaming Suicide", "Sleepwalk My Life Away" and the title track "72 Seasons". In total, METALLICA performed 32 different songs taken from its 11 studio albums.

Professionally filmed video of the "Screaming Suicide" performance from METALLICA's April 27 concert in Amsterdam can be seen below.

METALLICA is visiting a total of 22 different cities around the world and playing two nights in each city.

The trek sees the band playing two nights in every city it visits — with each "No Repeat Weekend" featuring two completely different setlists and support lineups. The "M72" tour features a bold new in-the-round stage design that relocates the famed METALLICA Snake Pit to center stage, as well as the "I Disappear" full-tour pass and the debut of discounted tickets for fans under 16 years of age.

Opening acts include FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH, ICE NINE KILLS, MAMMOTH WVH, PANTERA, ARCHITECTS, GRETA VAN FLEET and VOLBEAT.

METALLICA promises fans who purchase a two-day ticket that they won't see the same song twice for a total of over 30 songs spanning the band's 40-plus-year career.

Each weekend offers a variety of "Enhanced Experiences", ranging from access to a meet-and-greet, production and stage tour, food and beverage in the "Black Box" lounge to early entry into the venue and the Snake Pit. The very popular "Black Laminate" is back, now known as the "I Disappear Ticket", and is the ultimate pass for the fan who wants to run away with METALLICA for multiple weekends.

A single "I Disappear" ticket purchase gives you access to as many of METALLICA's 46 headlining tour dates across Europe and North America in 2023 and 2024 as you choose. You decide how many shows you'd like to attend around the world, and for how long, and METALLICA will make it as easy as possible.

According to Billboard, "72 Seasons" sold 146,000 equivalent album units in the U.S. in its first week of release to land at position No. 2 on the Billboard 200 chart. It marks the band's 12th Top 10-charting album, of which eight have reached the top two.

"72 Seasons" had the biggest week for any rock or hard rock album since TOOL's "Fear Inoculum" arrived in September 2019 with 270,000 equivalent album units.

"72 Seasons" was released on April 14 via METALLICA's own Blackened Recordings. Produced by Greg Fidelman with guitarist/vocalist James Hetfield and drummer Lars Ulrich, it is METALLICA's first full-length collection of new material since "Hardwired…To Self-Destruct".

Speaking of the album-making process, Ulrich explained: "It's one of the only things that hasn't changed in 40 years. There'll be a whole slew of riffs and jams and sound checks, then it falls into my lap to go through them and identify, 'That one's great, that one's good, maybe there's a song over here.'"

Regarding the fact that guitarist Kirk Hammett and bassist Robert Trujillo were given writing credits on more than half of "72 Seasons", Hetfield told the Associated Press: "All four guys were on the floor when we were writing, which is new for us. Usually it's just Lars and I sitting out there hashing it out. It felt really great to have the energy of all four. There's a lot more democracy on this album. Lars and I gave up the steering wheel a little more than usual."

Hammett agreed, saying: "It was much more collaborative. The attitude was just more open. There is less limitations on everyone's creativity and I think that shows."

In the seven years since the arrival of "Hardwired… To Self-Destruct", METALLICA has reissued some of its classic albums, released a second live album with the San Francisco Symphony, commissioned a covers album featuring the likes of GHOST, VOLBEAT, WEEZER, Corey Taylor and THE HU, and landed on the Billboard songs chart with "Master Of Puppets" after a prominent placement in the hit Netflix show "Stranger Things".

There has always been a strong link between the pioneering MOTÖRHEAD and mighty METALLICA. A unique bond of friendship between the two has stood over the decades, with METALLICA even playing Lemmy's 50th birthday party in 1995. In turn, MOTÖRHEAD have paid homage to some of METALLICA's finest compositions, even winning a Grammy Award for their cover of "Whiplash" in 2004. However, their cover of one of the most iconic hard rock classics of all time, "Enter Sandman", has been largely overlooked until now. Originally recorded for an ECW wrestling compilation in 1998 (which was also nominated for a Grammy),the song has been unavailable outside said CD — until now.

In a new animated video for MOTÖRHEAD's version of "Enter Sandman", take a horrifying nocturnal journey through the nightmares of a child who is haunted by the evil sandman in his dreams, and is ultimately saved by the powers of the inimitable MOTÖRHEAD "Warpig". The clip was produced by Mulberry Creative.

MOTÖRHEAD's "Enter Sandman" is also available on all streaming platforms now, including Dolby Atmos on Apple Music and 360 Spatial Audio on Amazon. There's also an exclusive, limited-edition seven-inch single with etched Warpig B-side with exclusive merch and bundles, available in the official MOTÖRHEAD store while stocks last.

METALLICA paid tribute to MOTÖRHEAD frontman Lemmy on its 2016 album "Hardwired... To Self-Destruct", which came out less than a year after the iconic rocker's death. "[It's] a song called 'Murder One', which was the name of [Lemmy's] amplifier, his favorite amp on stage," METALLICA frontman James Hetfield told the 95.5 KLOS radio station. "And I loved being murdered every night by that thing, man. He was just such an icon, such an inspiration to us as a band. There's certainly no way we'd be around if there was no MOTÖRHEAD. And, you know, to see your idol, your immortal one, actually be mortal, it hit us pretty hard. So I felt, lyrically, it makes sense to acknowledge him and how much he's meant in our lives."

In a separate interview with SiriusXM, Hetfield stated about the inspiration for "Murder One": "MOTÖRHEAD had a lot to do with METALLICA sitting here right now. But just Lemmy as an entity, as kind of a father figure, he helped us a lot. He was unafraid. And he was a character. And he was himself. And we all respected that so much. He did his own thing to the last breath. No matter who you are, how could you not be inspired by that?"

Shortly after Lemmy's passing, METALLICA drummer Lars Ulrich penned a lengthy tribute to the MOTÖRHEAD mainman in which looked back on the influence Lemmy had not just on METALLICA but also on him personally.

MOTÖRHEAD won the "Best Metal Performance" Grammy in 2005 for its cover version of the METALLICA song "Whiplash".

At a 1995 gig at the Whisky A Go Go in Hollywood, members of METALLICA celebrated Lemmy's 50th birthday by taking the stage as a wigged tribute band dubbed the LEMMYS.

In a 2011 interview with Metal Insider, Lemmy said: "You can't top METALLICA. They're really a fucking excellent band. I'm delighted that they said that I was one of their influences. Like, they have all of their influences, and you can't hear the influences in them, which is great. They've become their own people, and that's great. I like them a lot. I've spent a lot of time with those boys."

RATT singer Stephen Pearcy has shared a 24-minute video recap of his experience on this year's Monsters Of Rock cruise.

The five-day/five-night full-ship music charter set sail April 29 - May 4 aboard Royal Caribbean's Mariner Of The Seas and departed out of Port Canaveral, Florida. Dubbed They Came From Outer Space, the voyage included two days at sea full of music (including performances from over 35 artists) and events, as well as visited two ports: Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic and the Private Isle of Labadee.

Says Pearcy: "Follow us on our 5 day cruise to the Dominican Republic with the MORC Cruisers! 2 shows and a full day of Island adventures make this action packed video a very fun watch!"

In addition to performances, Monsters Of Rock cruise 2023 hosted interactive events between artists and cruisers, including artist/cruiser Q&A sessions, Gong Show Karaoke, "So You Think You Can Shred," Cooking With Rock Stars, a new cast of Painting With Rock Stars, Rock Stars vs. Average Joes basketball, Comedy Punchlines and Backlines. Furthermore, the cruise hosted themed nights, opportunities to dine with selected bands, and artist photo experiences.

The first port stop on Monsters Of Rock cruise 2023 was the breath-taking beauty that is Puerto Plata. Dominican Republic's oldest city in the north and a tourism pioneer, Puerto Plata is nestled by the ocean with a mountainous backdrop. The city offers a lively pier (known as the Malecon),colorful shops, and opulent homes from the 1800s. Next up was the Private Isle of Labadee, the ultimate private destination for cruisers, offering adventure, exploration and relaxation amongst its many bars and pristine waters.

A leader in cruise charter innovation, Monsters Of Rock cruise has sailed over 30,000 passengers in the last 11 years. The principals of Monsters Of Rock cruise have deep roots in the music industry, providing world-class cruise ship production management for celebrities and musical artists for decades. Monsters Of Rock cruise has set the industry standard for themed music cruises and fan experiences and has played a key role in the development of ground-breaking theme cruise concepts.

For more information, visit MonstersofRockCruise.com.

DISTURBED frontman David Draiman says he deleted his account on Tinder, calling it "an absolute shitshow".

Last week, Draiman confirmed that he was using the dating app to find "the right woman" following his recent divorce. But earlier today (Monday, May 8), Draiman offered an update on his search for romance, writing on Twitter: "Holly fucking dumpster fire Batman, @Tinder was an absolute shitishow. Scammers, grifters, fakes and phonies abound. What a colossal fucking nightmare. Deleted it. Dear lord."

On Friday (May 5), one of Draiman's Twitter followers shared a screenshot of what appeared to be the singer's Tinder profile, and he wrote: "Lol dude you see this?! I'm tagging you bc I believe it's fake @davidmdraiman". David quickly responded: "Not fake lol. It's me". This prompted the fan to write, "My bad bro for assuming", to which Draiman replied: "All good. You'd be surprised. It's hard for a guy like me to meet the right woman. I'll tell you, it's been weird so far. Lots of scammers. Trying to figure out how to navigate this new terrain."

Another fan also chimed in on Draiman's presence on Tinder, writing: "Read: David Draiman can't get laid anymore." Draiman fired back with: "I can get laid anytime I want if I'm willing to drop my standards, but my standards are quite high, and I won't dishonor myself that way. Looking for the RIGHT woman, not just ANY woman. Oh. And btw? You're a dick".

Last month, Draiman confirmed that he recently finalized his divorce from his wife of 11 years, Lena Draiman.

The 50-year-old singer opened up about his split in an interview with Kyle Meredith. Speaking about why DISTURBED continues to make music and stay creative after being together for nearly 30 years, David said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Therapy. [Laughs] It's as pure and simple as that. Right now for me it's the most effective form of therapy.

"I'm very much looking forward to the performance end of things, which is coming up shortly, but the creative end is the perfect way to come to terms with your demons, and I'm definitely stocked up," he explained. "I need this, and I need the music — creating it, performing it, living it — right now more than I ever have.

"I just recently finalized my divorce. I just recently said goodbye to my Akita [dog], my best friend of 14 years. There's gonna be plenty of inspiration for the next body of work. Battling depression, battling all the demons that normally come along with it. And I know that music — our music, other music like it and different types of music in general — is just the perfect means of therapy for so many other people. And it really is my saving grace. I don't know what I would do without it."

Draiman touched upon his divorce again later in the interview when the conversation turned to the DISTURBED song "Don't Tell Me", which appears on the band's latest album "Divisive". A duet with HEART's Ann Wilson, the track was inspired by DISTURBED guitarist Dan Donegan's own recent divorce. "Mine hadn't been finalized yet [when the song was written]," David revealed. "And to be honest, when I wrote the song, I didn't realize how prophetic it was going to be. I kind of hate that shit. [Laughs] It ended up becoming not just about Dan's divorce, unfortunately. It wasn't exactly the same situation, but I definitely have added reverence for the song, and it has added meaning and power to me, especially now."

When David first announced his divorce on his Facebook page in February, he described himself as "heartbroken" and "very lost" and revealed that there was "no infidelity" involved in the split. He went on to say that there was "no bad blood" between him and his now-ex-wife and added that they would "continue to be the best parents" we can be to their son Samuel, who was born in September 2013. "Lena is still the best mother I could ever hope for, so we've got that going for us," he wrote at the time. He added: "I will continue to try to be the best father, and frontman that I can be, and I hope that Sam can forgive me one day for my part in this failure."

Last November, Donegan told the Z93 radio station that DISTURBED drummer Mike Wengren also "went through a divorce early on in the pandemic."

A little over a year ago, Draiman and his then-wife and son moved to Miami, Florida after living in Honolulu, Hawaii for a few years.

Draiman first announced his family's decision to relocate to Miami in February 2022, explaining on his Facebook page that he and his then-wife "gave it our best shot, but between the extraordinarily long travel times for business, island fever, and a bunch of other factors, we've decided to move on." He also shared a link to a video tour of his then-Honolulu home which had just been listed. That house has since sold for more than $6 million, according to public records.

Draiman is currently selling his house in the Miami suburb of Pinecrest for $5.5 million. He put the home on the market on January 26 for $5.75 million, but that price came down on March 17 to $5.5 million. David paid $5.225 million for the home back in March 2022.

"Divisive" came out last November. The LP was recorded earlier last year with producer Drew Fulk (MOTIONLESS IN WHITE, LIL PEEP, HIGHLY SUSPECT) in Nashville, Tennessee.

According to Billboard, "Divisive" sold 26,000 equivalent album units in its first week of release, with 22,000 units via album sales.

On the all-format Billboard 200 chart, "Divisive" debuted at No. 13.

DISTURBED has had five No. 1s on the all-genre chart, beginning with "Believe" in 2002.
Holly fucking dumpster fire Batman, @Tinder was an absolute shitishow. Scammers, grifters, fakes and phonies abound. What a colossal fucking nightmare. Deleted it.

Dear lord. pic.twitter.com/Y9qMqhyY0g

— David Draiman 🟦 (@davidmdraiman) May 8, 2023

METALLICA was nominated for the very first "Hard Rock/Metal Performance" Grammy in 1989, but famously lost to JETHRO TULL, a band distinguished mainly by its heavy use of flute. Fans — and even some audience members — were rightly outraged, though TULL's record label tried to make light of the faux pas by placing a Billboard ad that read, "The flute is a heavy, metal instrument."

Asked in a new interview with Meltdown of Detroit's WRIF radio station where he keeps his Grammy, JETHRO TULL leader Ian Anderson said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Well, my son actually found it a few years ago. It disappeared for about 20 years, and he stumbled upon it. He came down [and said], 'What is this?' And I said, 'That's the Grammy. Where did you find that?' And he said, 'Oh, it was in one of the bedrooms upstairs, in a cupboard somewhere.' And I said, 'Well, there you go.' And since I have not seen it advertised on eBay, I must assume that he actually returned it to the cupboard that it came from. But I haven't seen it again since. I haven't gone looking for it."

Regarding why he doesn't display his Grammy Award at his house, Ian said: "I am not disparaging or negative about peer-group accolades. It's very nice to have people enjoy your work, especially when it's the five thousand voting members of the National Academy Of Recording Arts And Sciences. But it's not something that I want to revel in. I am not a trophy hunter. You don't find Grammies in my house displayed or gold albums on the wall or the head of a moose that I have shot with a large-caliber rifle. I'm just not that kind of a guy. I don't do trophies."

A little over a year ago, Ian was asked in an interview with the St. Louis, Missouri radio station KSHE 95 if he ever got a chance to "to rub in the face of METALLICA" the fact that his band won a "Hard Rock/Metal Performance" Grammy over the San Francisco Bay Area heavy metal giants. He responded: "Well, I think METALLICA were actually very gentlemanly. At the time, they did say, when they did win the Grammy next year, as I predicted they would, they took out a page in Billboard thanking the record company, their friends and family for supporting them, the dog — I mean, they thanked everybody, including JETHRO TULL for not releasing a new album that year. They had a sense of humor about it. They took it on the chin even though everybody was busy telling them they were gonna win a Grammy and then, unfortunately, that year they didn't. But they were the hot new act, and surely they were gonna win it the following year, and, of course, they did."

Four years ago, on the 30th anniversary of that fateful day, METALLICA drummer Lars Ulrich took to his Instagram to reflect on his band's first Grammy loss, writing: "Today 30 years ago, February 22 '89, we played the Grammys for the first time and that was quite a mindfuck!!

"First time we were in front of a mainstream TV audience. First time mainstream America was exposed to whatever the hell it is we do. First time they had a hard rock/metal category on the Grammys. First time we were Grammy losers, since JETHRO TULL, somewhat unexpectedly to most people, walked away with the win.

"But all was not lost. The expressions of disgust from most members of the audience (other than Iggy!) is something I will treasure for the rest of my life. And I was rocking some pretty crazy hair that was edging dangerously close to a mullet! Happy days indeed!!"

After METALLICA lost the 1989 "Best Hard Rock/Heavy Metal Recording" Grammy to JETHRO TULL, the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (NARAS),parent company of the Grammys, separated the two genres in 1990 by creating categories for "Best Hard Rock Performance" and "Best Metal Performance". METALLICA won the "Best Metal Performance" award the next year, for "One", and has earned nearly a dozen so far.

When METALLICA's "Black" album won another "Best Metal Performance" Grammy in 1992, Ulrich "thanked" JETHRO TULL for not releasing an album in that year.

In a 2012 interview with Powerline, Anderson recounted that historic day when his band was given the award for best hard rock/metal performer.

"I probably get [the question] a lot more when I'm talking to American writers than I do [at home in England]," Anderson said. "It's not really a big deal over here. It was in a year where it was a new category for 'hard rock' forward slash 'metal' and that category still exists today … and we were, for some strange reason, nominated. And at the time, no one paid any attention to the fact that we were nominated. There was not a peep out of anyone. Because they thought there's no way JETHRO TULL are gonna win it. Nor IGGY POP, nor JANE'S ADDICTION. It's going to be METALLICA because they were the huge, new, straight-out-of-the-box, enormous, hit talent that year and everybody took it for granted that METALLICA were gonna win the Grammy, including METALLICA themselves. And when it was ordered to JETHRO TULL, to a barrage of boos and hisses and gasps of disbelief, I'd like to think that it wasn't that the six thousand voting members of the National Academy Of Recording Arts And Sciences were voting for JETHRO TULL as a heavy rock band or a heavy metal band. They gave us the award because we were a bunch of nice guys who never won a Grammy before. And sad to relate, even after all these years, there is still no category for best one-legged flute player. Otherwise, I'd be winning it every year."

DEVILDRIVER and COAL CHAMBER frontman Dez Fafara has blasted metal bands who enhance their show by using pre-recorded tracks for lead vocals and other instruments during their concerts.

In recent years, more and more artists have been given a pass for relying on backing tracks, drum triggers and other assorted technology that makes concerts more synthetic but also more consistent. For better or worse, pre-recorded tracks are becoming increasingly common for touring artists of all levels and genres and they're not just used in pop music — many rock artists utilize playback tracks to varying degrees.

Dez addressed some rock acts' reliance on pre-recorded tracks in a new interview with Cassius Morris. Asked for his opinion on bands who use backing tracks, the vocalist said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "I can't even fucking reserve judgment for that, because I was raised on punk rock and psychobilly and goth, and that shit is not on tape. I mean, I get it if you're Katy Perry — I get it. If you're a metal band and you're using tracks, if it's like a small, little, like a piece of something that nobody can do… Like, here's actually the example for DEVILDRIVER. We do a cover song called 'Sail' by AWOLNATION. Actually, I think our version is better. And I do it because it's… Blame it on my ADD [attention-deficit disorder] and I've suffered from ADD/ADHD [attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder] my whole life. But there's a girl in the background doing this high part. Obviously, no one can do that on stage. So we'll run that to a track — and not all the time, mind you. But I think when you start tracking vocals, when you start tracking bass, when you start tracking guitar, when you're tracking drums, and you're a metal band or a punk band or a blues band — all of these bands are supposed to be real bands — then we have a fucking serious problem."

He continued: "And I get it. [Say] we're on a huge stadium tour and the singer is sick tonight. He can't even sing but there's forty thousand tickets sold. Okay, all right, maybe you wanna run something on track to save the show. I get it. Or maybe there's a backup harmony that nobody can do. Okay, I get it. But when you start running the main tracks of vocals, guitar, bass, drums? Fuck off. I mean, I can't paint the picture any more than that."

KISS frontman Paul Stanley, who has been struggling to hit the high notes in many of the band's classic songs for a number of years, has been accused of singing to a backing tape on KISS's ongoing "End Of The Road" tour.

Back in 2015, KISS bassist/vocalist Gene Simmons slammed bands who used backing tapes for not being honest enough to include that fact on their concert tickets.

"I have a problem when you charge $100 to see a live show and the artist uses backing tracks," Simmons said. "It's like the ingredients in food. If the first ingredient on the label is sugar, that's at least honest. It should be on every ticket — you're paying $100, 30 to 50 percent of the show is [on] backing tracks and they'll sing sometimes, sometimes they'll lip sync. At least be honest. It's not about backing tracks, it's about dishonesty.

"There's nobody with a synthesizer on our stage, there's no samples on the drums, there's nothing," Gene continued. "There's very few bands who do that now — AC/DC, METALLICA, us. I can't even say that about U2 or THE [ROLLING] STONES. There's very few bands who don't use [backing] tracks."

In February, KISS's longtime manager Doc McGhee defended Stanley's vocal performance on "End Of The Road", explaining that the "Star Child" "fully sings to every song" at every concert. He explained: It's enhanced. It's just part of the process to make sure that everybody hears the songs the way they should be sang to begin with. Nobody wants to hear people do stuff that's not real, that's not what they came to hear."

When McGhee was asked to clarify if he was "actually saying there are backing tracks that [Paul is] singing to," Doc said: "He'll sing to tracks. It's all part of a process. Because everybody wants to hear everybody sing. But he fully sings to every song."

In March 2020, SHINEDOWN guitarist Zach Myers said that "90 percent" of rock artists use at least some pre-recorded tracks during their live performances. He told Rock Feed: "It bothers me that it bothers people. I'm, like, 'Why does this bother you?' It's the way it is. People have been doing this since the '80s. And we want the sound to be the best it can be. Could we go up there, just the four of us, and put on the best rock show ever? Of course. But that's not how we wanna do it."

Former SKID ROW singer Sebastian Bach has previously said that he is "one of the last people" who are still not using pre-recorded tracks at their live shows. "I don't know how much longer I can say to you that I don't use tapes onstage, because I don't, and I never have," he told Consequence Of Sound. "And I still don't. When I have opening bands, and they're using tapes, and then I come out and I don't use tapes… sometimes, it makes me feel stupid, because I'm like, 'What am I doing, when all these kids half my age can come onstage and do all of my moves, but they don't have to warm up for an hour before the show, or weeks, before the first show?' Sometimes, I'm like, 'Why do I even bother, if the public is so used to this other way?' It's becoming very rare to come see a good band that's actually a real band — that's not miming or doing silly moves while a tape is running. It just becomes more rare as the years go on."

In 2019, IRON MAIDEN guitarist Adrian Smith said that he doesn't "agree" with certain rock artists relying on pre-recorded tracks during their live performances. "I tell you what, I see it with a lot of younger bands, and I don't think it's a good thing at all," he told the New York Post. "I mean, the music is getting too technical now. You have computerized recording systems, which we use, but I think we use them more for convenience than because we need to. We've toured with a couple bands that use tapes — it's not real. You're supposed to play live; it should be live. I don't agree with using tapes … I think it's a real shame."

One musician who has been open about his band's use of taped vocals during live performances is MÖTLEY CRÜE bassist Nikki Sixx, who said: "We've used technology since '87." He added the group employed "sequencers, sub tones, background vox tracks, plus background singers and us. [MÖTLEY CRÜE also taped] stuff we can't tour with, like cello parts in ballads, etc.... We love it and don't hide it. It's a great tool to fill out the sound."

In a 2014 interview, MÖTLEY CRÜE guitarist Mick Mars admitted that he wasn't comfortable with the fact that his band used pre-recorded backing vocals in its live shows, claiming that he preferred to watch groups whose performances are delivered entirely live. "I don't like it," he said. "I think a band like ours… I have to say '60s bands were my favorite — '60s and '70s bands — because they were real, like, three-piece bands or four-piece bands, and they just got up there and kicked it up. Made a mistake? So what? Sounded a little bit empty here or there? So what? It's the bigness and the rawness and the people that developed and wrote the songs and made them and presented them. To me, that's what I really like. I mean, I could put on a MÖTLEY CD and play with it all day long. I don't wanna do that."

Greg Smith, who has played bass for Ted Nugent for the past 16 years, has announced his departure from the legendary rocker's touring band.

Earlier today (Friday, May 5),Smith released the following statement via social media: "After 16 years, and many laughs and amazing times with one of the greatest guitarists to ever pick up the instrument, I am saddened to say I will be unable to be a part of Ted Nugents final tour Adios MOFO. It was a difficult decision but one that I really had no choice in. With Ted no longer touring I had to accept an offer from a tour that will continue for the next several years. I tried to get someone to cover for me for the 2nd half, so I'd be able to do Ted's tour, but I was unfortunately unable to.

"I would like to thank Ted for 16 years of some of the most serious, intense, aggressive, and fun music I've played in my career… I'll miss you guys this summer! Kick Ass! I'd also like to thank Doug Banker, Bob Quandt, Frank Trzaskowski, Toby Nugent & the crew past & present. Shemane Nugent, and the extended Nugent family for just being awesome people… Ted and band mates past & present during my 16 years, Derek St. Holmes, Wild Mick Brown, & Jason Hartless. Thanks for an Amazing Ride! See you all down the road!"

Nugent recently announced his final tour, dubbed "Adios Mofo '23". The trek starts July 12 and runs through August 20, according to Ted's web site.

In addition to being Nugent's bassist since 2007, Smith sang backup for Ted, and took lead vocals on some songs that had been sung by Derek St. Holmes in Nugent's original band.

Smith has also played bass and performed backing vocals for artists such as Billy Joel, Alice Cooper, RITCHIE BLACKMORE'S RAINBOW, ALAN PARSONS PROJECT, BLUE ÖYSTER CULT, DOKKEN, Vinnie Moore, Wendy O. Williams of THE PLASMATICS, and many more. Smith was also the principal bassist and backing vocals for the Tony Award-winning Billy Joel and Twyla Tharp musical "Movin' Out" for its entire three-year run on Broadway, in addition to one year on the road.

Back in 2009, Smith was involved in a project called OVER THE RAINBOW with Ritchie Blackmore's son Jürgen "J.R." Blackmore, ex-RAINBOW singer Joe Lynn Turner and other members had played in RAINBOW during the early part of the band's career. Smith was in RAINBOW from 1994 to 1997.

After 16 years, and many laughs and amazing times with one of the greatest guitarists to ever pick up the instrument, I...

Posted by Greg Smith on Friday, May 5, 2023

In a new interview with Ernest Skinner of Border City Rock Talk, EUROPE drummer Ian Haugland spoke about the band's plans to work on the long-awaited follow-up to 2017's "Walk The Earth" album. Asked if he and his bandmates have entered the studio to begin recording the new LP yet, he said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "No, [we're] not really in the studio. I know the other guys are [writing material]. Actually, Joey [Tempest, EUROPE singer] 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).