Following a triumphant tour with BEAT - featuring Adrian Belew, Steve Vai, and Danny Carey performing the iconic 1980s music of King Crimson - renowned bassist Tony Levin is back with another video release from his latest solo album, Bringing It Down To The Bass. The video for his track "Road Dogs" arrives as a reflection on over three months spent living and traveling on a tour bus with his BEAT bandmates and crew.


Originally conceived as an instrumental, "Road Dogs" has evolved into a visual exploration of life on the road for musicians and their dedicated crew. "Tony’s initial idea for the video was to create a gritty nightclub vibe rather than a straightforward tour documentary," says video producer A.J. Chippero. "I proposed a comic book-style approach, incorporating Tony's personal photos and videos not only from BEAT, but from King Crimson, Peter Gabriel, and Stick Men tours, transformed into a black-and-white comic aesthetic. The result pays homage to Tony’s legendary online Road Diaries, one of the longest-running blogs in music."


Tony says, “We road dogs who tour all the time aren’t just the players onstage - as the lyrics say, there’s trucking & rigging and loading and gigging… so, many of my photos of the crews in action seemed right for the video.”







For the album, Bringing It Down To The Bass, Tony enlisted an impressive roster of collaborators, including King Crimson and Peter Gabriel alumni Robert Fripp, Pat Mastelotto, Jerry Marotta, Steve Hunter, and Larry Fast. The album also showcases renowned talents such as Steve Gadd, David Torn, Earl Slick, Gary Husband, Shankar, Vinnie Colaiuta, and Mike Portnoy. Together, they deliver a rich blend of rock, jazz, classical, blues, and ambient influences.


Bringing It Down To The Bass, featuring the new video "Road Dogs," is available now from Flatiron Records. Stream, download or purchase the album here. The release is available on double vinyl, CD, Blu-ray and digital streaming. The Blu-ray features Dolby Atmos, DTS-HD 7.1/5.1 mixes and hi-res stereo audio. The Apple Music stream is available in Immersive Audio / Dolby Atmos. Thiago Lima at Iguana Studios Toronto, Canada mixed the Atmos tracks.


Bringing It Down To The Bass has no shortage of wit and whimsy, and songs of power and profundity. Most are instrumental tracks, while a few feature vocals and spoken word. The sonic stew includes Prog, Jazz, Thrash, Classical, a whiff of barbershop quartet, and you won’t be sure what’s around the corner. And while it’s called Bringing It Down To The Bass – and that’s no lie - it’s not all about that bass. Levin’s seventh solo album, and his first since 2007, is an autobiography of sorts, with the themes drawn from Levin’s musical life. It features a myriad of collaborators from his half-century-plus on the road and in the studio with Peter Gabriel, King Crimson and many, many others.


“I had pieces very much in the prog-rock vein and I had pieces that were based on the bass,” Levin says, “and somewhere around the middle of the record I made the difficult decision to toss the prog stuff – well, not toss it exactly, save it for another album – and the more I focused, I chose the kind of pieces that had to me a sense of unity to it in that it’s about the bass. Not songs with singing about the bass, but each song is either based on a bass riff or a bass technique that I then invited some great rhythm sections to play on.


“My basses do each sound different. I wanted to write at least one piece with the funk fingers and I did that fingernail way of playing that I featured on one piece, and hammer-on technique on that first piece, ‘Bringing It Down To The Bass.’ I used to use that a long time ago and I hadn’t used lately since I got the Stick, which is designed to play with the hammer-on technique. That’s also a piece that has a rocking, really hot rhythm section with Manu Katche, from Peter’s band on drums. Also, maybe two or three times in the piece it breaks down and stops to just the bass playing different riffs and then Dominic Miller, from Sting’s band, comes in and solos and Alex Foster solos on sax.”


The recording of “Road Dogs” began as an instrumental piece. He revisited a sound he’s used throughout his career, playing the fretless b

Sammy Hagar has shared live footage of Van Halen performing "Don't Tell Me What Love Can Do" in 1995.


Says Hagar: "Singing this song was always difficult. I wrote the lyrics about Kurt Cobain's death. I wanted the chorus to say "I wanna tell you what love can do", but Bruce Fairbank, Ed and Al wanted to make it more dark and negative. Technically it's a brutal song to sing. I painted myself in a corner, but we will be doing it at the residency in Vegas. I'm going to add it to the show."







Last year Hagar announced that The Best Of All Worlds, his critical and commercial hit summer 2024 tour, will launch in 2025 as The Best Of All Worlds Tour - The Residency at Dolby Live at Park MGM. The tour will reunite the rock powerhouse band of Sammy, Michael Anthony, Joe Satriani and Kenny Aronoff with a new “only in Las Vegas” setlist running April 30 through May 17, 2025. The tour represents a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see this band of brothers deliver one of the most legendary hits-packed live shows of their careers.


This highly anticipated residency will showcase Sammy’s career-spanning hits, from seminal breakouts with Montrose, his iconic solo hits, and a deep dive into his tenure with Van Halen, Chickenfoot, and everything in between. Presented in partnership by Live Nation and MGM Resorts International, the residency will be custom-designed for Dolby Live, giving fans an intimate, high-energy concert experience in the 5,200-seat entertainment venue.


“I'm so looking forward to this residency and being able to stay in one place so we can get the sound and production completely dialed in,” said Sammy Hagar. “It also allows the band to experiment with the setlist every night – that’s why it’s going to be exclusive to Las Vegas. Instead of traveling all day on tour when there's no time to rehearse and make changes. I plan on digging deeper into the Van Halen catalog, and my solo career, Montrose and Chickenfoot, as well. The fans are in for a lot of surprises.”


The Las Vegas residency follows on the heels of the chart-topping success of The Best of All Worlds tour, which sold out amphitheaters and arenas across North America and Japan. Together with the release of The Collection II, the 2023 box set featuring newly remastered versions of the four consecutive #1 albums released during the Hagar era of Van Halen: 5150 (1986), OU812 (1988), For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge (1991), and Balance (1995), fans were reinvigorated by their arsenal of hits, many which hadn't been played live since the band’s 2004 reunion tour. Musician Rai Thistlethwayte will also return on keyboard and backing vocals to round out the band of brothers and deliver an exclusive new hits-packed live show.


Tickets for the nine shows are available at ticketmaster.com/SammyHagarVegas or RedRocker.com.


The Best of All Worlds tour received universal raves from fans who’d been waiting 20 years to experience it live again, and critics who universally praised it.


“The crowd remained on their feet for most of the show, singing along or holding up their phones to capture the moment. The musicians seemed to be having just as much fun. Hagar, alongside Anthony, made it clear that the tour was not just a performance but a ‘celebration’ of Van Halen’s enduring legacy. 'It’s a celebration of the music and the people who supported that band,’ Hagar said. And the fans couldn’t agree more.” – USA Today


“Now this is going to be an amazing tour! If you’re ever going to play the Van Halen music, this tour you put together is going to be a massive celebration of all the music. I get emotional just listening to it.” – Howard Stern, The Howard Stern Show


“Sammy Hagar sounded ageless as he celebrated Van Halen and more in Phoenix. Joe Satriani did a great job of channeling Eddie Van Halen (and more). The phrase ‘guitar hero’ is obviously overused, but Satriani more than lives up to the title. He’s a total badass on

During an appearance on the latest episode of "The Metallica Report", the podcast offering weekly insider updates on all things METALLICA, METALLICA frontman James Hetfield spoke about his perennial and peerless lyrics. The band's primary songwriter shared what he loves about the architecture of words, whether he sees himself as a storyteller, and his appreciation of American musician and songwriter Tom Waits.

Regarding his approach to writing lyrics, Hetfield said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "For me, not studying literature much at all — ever, really — all the books you're supposed to read as a kid, I didn't, but I will pick up a book and thumb through it. Mostly I see words that are interesting, and that's out of curiosity. And me, I would say that coming from a graphics background, the way a word looks is almost more important. Like 'Lux Æterna' — how cool is that? There's an X in it, and then the A [and] E together. How cool. It's almost how it looks.

"As far as Tom Waits just being a master craftsman at lyrics, painting a picture in one sentence, it interests me, and it takes work," he continued. "I saw Tom kind of live it. It was his vocabulary as well. He could sit and speak like that. I can't.

"Having access to the sources and dictionaries and things like that nowadays is so great," Hetfield added. "I mean, somebody will send me something and I'll look at a word and I don't know what that is. I highlight it, look it up. Hey, great. I got that. I will thumb through books just to see cool words and put 'em in a little pile and figure out where they belong. So it is kind of like building a vehicle, building a whatever, collecting lots of little words. And how do they fit together? What does this really mean? Is this enough for a subject matter? Then I go and I watch a band like GREEN DAY, and they have some simple — 'know your enemy' or 'do you know your enemy?', something like that. It's, like, it's so hooky and great, it sticks in you, but that's not really literary geniusness. So 'geniusness' is another word I just made up. And there are times when I'll make up words just to get a point across too.

"For me, putting words into the song, it is like another instrument," James explained. "So if 'and', 'the', 'if'', those things get in the way, just get rid of 'em. You just want the meaty words to get in there and get the point across and be vague enough. But I'm not a storyteller. I'm not that."

Asked if he thinks he has become more comfortable with his ability to express himself through his lyrics over the years, Hetfield said: "I think so. Yeah. I was discouraged when we did [METALLICA's late 1990s albums] 'Load' and 'Reload' with the amount of songs. There were 45 songs I had to write lyrics for and I felt like, "Wait a minute. I've gotta write 45 songs' worth of lyrics. It's insane.' All that 45 songs would not be as potent as one really well-written lyric — to me. And being more comfortable with stuff that I think brings the point across. Yeah, we have — Lars [Ulrich, METALLICA drummer] and I co-producers, Greg Fidelman, co-producer. I come in with the lyrics. They'll read through 'em. And they'll just, 'Oh, yeah, that word. I'm not sure.' It's, like, 'Well, just let me sing it. Let me get it out there.' Even something like [the METALLICA song] 'Inamorata' [with the lyrics] 'Resentment like a cancer grows.' He's, like, 'Ah, the word 'cancer'. Nah, you can't sing that. It's too…' Like, dude, come on. I mean, I'm not trying to win any P.C. awards for anything. Cancer is a fucking powerful word. It's hated, and to apply it to something gives it that power.

"I'm gonna write what I need to write," James added. "I will listen to you and your opinion on it. If it doesn't sing well, I get it, but I'm not gonna put in some fluff word just so it rhymes or whatever. And sometimes that is needed. Rhyming can be more important than the context in certain places, but I want the words to just be as powerful as possible."

METALLICA's record-breaking "M72" world tour has been extended into a third year, with the announcement of 21 North American shows spanning April, May and June 2025.

Since opening April 2023 in Amsterdam, "M72" has seen METALLICA play to some three million fans. Variously hailed as "an altogether life-affirming experience" (Billboard),"impossible to leave unsatisfied" (Austin Chronicle),"a stone-cold stunner of a show" (Detroit News),"the mother of all summer concerts" (Worcester Telegram Gazette) and "as tight and furious as METALLICA has sounded in ages" (Los Angeles Times),"M72" continues to amaze fans and critics alike. The tour concluded its triumphant 2024 run with four nights at Mexico City's Estadio GNP Seguros, where METALLICA played to more than 250,000 fans over the course of two No Repeat Weekends.

The "M72" world tour's 2025 itinerary will continue the hallowed No Repeat Weekend tradition, with each night of the two-show stands featuring entirely different setlists and support lineups. These will include the band's first Nashville shows in five years on May 1 and 3 at Nissan Stadium, as well as METALLICA's return to Tampa after 15 years on June 6 and 8 at Raymond James Stadium. "M72" has also confirmed its much-anticipated Bay Area hometown play, to take place June 20 and 22 with the band's debut performances at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara.

In a new twist, "M72" 2025 will feature several single shows bringing the tour's full production, with its massive in-the-round stage, to venues including two college football stadiums: JMA Wireless Dome in Syracuse, New York on April 19, and METALLICA's first ever visit to Blacksburg, Virginia, home of the Virginia Tech Hokies. The May 7 show at Lane Stadium will mark the culmination of 20-plus years of "Enter Sandman" playing as the Hokies take the field.

In addition to playing football stadiums across the nation, the "M72" world tour's 2025 itinerary will also include two festival headlines — the first being the opening night of the run April 12 at Sick New World at the Las Vegas Festival Grounds. May 9 and 11 will then mark a festival/No Repeat Weekend combo as METALLICA plays two headline sets at Sonic Temple at Historic Crew Stadium in Columbus, Ohio.

Support on "M72"'s 2025 North American run will come from PANTERA, LIMP BIZKIT, SUICIDAL TENDENCIES and ICE NINE KILLS.

"M72"'s 2025 North American leg is produced by Live Nation and presented by new sponsor inKind. inKind rewards diners with special offers and credit back when they use the app to pay at 2,000-plus top-rated restaurants nationwide. The company provides innovative financing to participating restaurants in a way that enables new levels of sustainability and success. METALLICA fans can learn more at inkind.com.

As always, a portion of proceeds from every ticket sold will go to local charities via the band's All Within My Hands foundation. Established in 2017 as a way to give back to communities that have supported METALLICA over the years, All Within My Hands has raised over $15 million — providing $8.2 million in grants to career and technical education programs including the ground-breaking Metallica Scholars Initiative, now in its sixth year, over $3.6 million to combat food insecurity, more than $3.5 million to disaster relief efforts.

Photo credit: Ross Halfin

In a new interview with Defenders Of The Faith, AEROSMITH's Tom Hamilton reflected on the experience of playing bass for THIN LIZZY on the latter band's anniversary shows in 2016 and 2017. Tom joined THIN LIZZY guitarists Scott Gorham and Damon Johnson, together with lead vocalist Ricky Warwick, keyboard player Darren Wharton and JUDAS PRIEST drummer Scott Travis, for five European festival performances in the summer of 2016, as well as an appearance on the Rock Legends V cruise in January 2017.

Tom said: "I went to see MOTÖRHEAD with my son one night and after the show, we were able to spend a lot of time with Lemmy, who was so great to us. We got to meet his band. His drummer was Mikkey Dee. A few months later, he got in touch with me and said he was going to be playing with THIN LIZZY on a tour to commemorate the thirtieth anniversary of [THIN LIZZY leader] Phil Lynott's death. He said they were looking for a bass player and if I wanted the gig, it was mine. I knew in my heart there was no way I would say no, although it would be the first time I ever did something outside of AEROSMITH, so I had some butterflies. I had done some minor things outside of my day job, but never a tour.

"A few months after that, after studying my ass off learning the songs, I was in London for the first day of rehearsals," he continued. "I thought I had the songs down, but I was a little behind the curve. Damon Johnson, who is now a great friend of mine, was playing guitar. He and I got together one on one the next day and he helped me get polished. What a great guy!

"From then on, rehearsals went better and better and then we were off to our first gig. We played five or six big festivals in Europe and it was a blast. I loved playing 'The Boys are Back in Town' and 'Whiskey In A Jar'.

"After the festivals, we played on a cruise which was an entirely new experience that I really enjoyed.

"Unfortunately, I never met Phil Lynott. Learning his songs gave me an immense amount of respect for what he accomplished musically."

As previously reported, Hamilton's new band CLOSE ENEMIES has signed with TLG|ROCK for management and label services. CLOSE ENEMIES debut single, "Sound Of A Train", will be released on January 17 and will be distributed through Virgin Music Group.

Joining the 72-year-old Hamilton in the new group his bass tech Trace Foster, who plays guitar in CLOSE ENEMIES alongside Peter Stroud, who has been playing with Sheryl Crow for 25 years. CLOSE ENEMIES' drummer is Tony Brock, who had a band called THE BABYS and then played with Rod Stewart for 12 years. Fronting CLOSE ENEMIES is Chasen Hampton, a performer from Oklahoma City, Oklahoma with a strong background in the country music scene. CLOSE ENEMIES is also working with "a great lyricist" named Gary Stier.

The members of AEROSMITH made the announcement that they were retiring from touring on August 2, 2024 — nearly one year after singer Steven Tyler fractured his larynx during a September 2023 show.

The "Peace Out" tour came to a halt after what turned out to be a final gig in Elmont, New York on September 9, 2023. That show came just three dates into the trek, which was supposed to last through February 2024. Tyler said in a statement at the time that the injury caused bleeding but that he hoped he and his AEROSMITH bandmates would be back on the road after postponing a few shows.

The rescheduled "Peace Out" tour was due to begin September 20, 2024 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, with special guests THE BLACK CROWES.

CORROSION OF CONFORMITY appears to have entered the studio to begin recording its long-awaited follow-up to 2018's "No Cross No Crown" album.

Earlier today, CORROSION OF CONFORMITY took to social media to share a photo from the recording studio, and it included the following message: "It has begun".

Last October, CORROSION OF CONFORMITY recruited onetime DOWN guitarist and current PANTERA bass tech Bobby Landgraf to play bass for CORROSION OF CONFORMITY on the 2024 edition of the Headbangers Boat cruise.

In September 2024, CORROSION OF CONFORMITY's founding bassist Mike Dean announced his departure from the band.

Dean revealed his decision to leave CORROSION OF CONFORMITY in a statement posted on social media. He wrote: "Recently I made a decision to step away from CORROSION OF CONFORMITY, a band started 40-odd years ago by Reed Mullin, Woody Weatherman, and myself.

"I'm extremely proud of everything we've done together, and look forward to hearing more from the band going forward.

"When I rejoined COC for the finishing touches of the 'Deliverance' album, I moved back to Raleigh, NC for an all-in creative campaign, but time, distance and side projects and life in general has changed all of that.

"Ever since Reed drifted away from the band and then passed away, it's been difficult for me to collaborate on new material with bandmates who live hundreds of miles away.

"I look forward to putting together a new Raleigh-based outlet to create new music with more alacrity and with more of an emphasis on my own ideas than in recent times. Also, I look forward to continuing to record and produce other artists.

"All the best to Woodroe, Pepper, and COC crew, and most importantly, many big thanks to the fans of all iterations of the band, who have made this real for all of these years. Salute!"

The remaining members of CORROSION OF CONFORMITY — Pepper Keenan (vocals, guitar) and Woodroe "Woody" Weatherman (guitar) — added in a separate statement: "We, Woodroe and Pepper, are in full support of Dean's future endeavors and wish him all the best in the quest. Thankful for the music made and (R)evolutionary paths created. That being said, this book of CORROSION is not finished, nor will the train stop.

"The opportunity to play music and create is something that we don't take lightly, and we will not waver. New COC recording is well underway and will be released in 2025.

"Much love and respect to all the free thinkin' beer drinkin' friends and fans worldwide, looking to making more. Without you, we are just growing deaf in a garage."

Two years ago, CORROSION OF CONFORMITY confirmed the return of drummer Stanton Moore for its upcoming album.

Mullin died in January 2020 at the age of 53. The drummer, who co-founded CORROSION OF CONFORMITY in 1982 as a hardcore punk act alongside Weatherman and Dean, had missed a number of shows in the preceding four years due to a variety of health issues, including an alcohol-related seizure he suffered back in June 2016.

In 2014, after nearly a straight decade traversing the globe as a guitarist with New Orleans supergroup DOWN, Pepper reconnected with the core CORROSION OF CONFORMITY trio of Weatherman, Dean and Mullin to hit the road hard. "Reed called me and mentioned maybe playing a couple shows," Keenan recalled back in 2017. "I said, 'Let's just go to Europe and see if it works.' So we went to Europe and then ended up going back four times in one year... We toured for a year and then started tracking."

CORROSION OF CONFORMITY recorded "No Cross No Crown" in about forty days over the course of a year at a North Carolina studio with longtime producer John Custer.

Photo credit: Dean Karr (courtesy of Nuclear Blast)

It has begun

Posted by Corrosion Of Conformity on Thursday, January 9, 2025

Acclaimed Canadian rock band SILVERSTEIN has shared a brand new single "Don't Let Me Get Too Low". Fans can check out the accompanying music video below.

Comments SILVERSTEIN frontman Shane Told: "'Don't Let Me Get Too Low' blends our classic sound with our pop-punk and also our hardcore influences. It's a song that is hard to describe because it does so much in under three minutes. The video was a lot of fun to film, we were in the middle of the desert outside Las Vegas and I was digging my own grave with a big smile on my face. Luckily no cops showed up to ask us what we were doing, that might have been hard to explain."

SILVERSTEIN guitarist Paul Marc Rousseau adds: "Sometimes the only person that can save you from yourself is… yourself? That's what the lyrics say, anyway. If you watch the video, it's actually the opposite. Either way, though, we had a great time making this song. Some of it came to us quickly, but a few parts kicked our ass for a while. I lowkey kind of love when the whole room is just grinding out like 10 seconds of music for two hours, though. It feels like the most important thing in the world but also so absurd at the same time. That's the thing with writing something this short: you have to make sure every second serves a purpose, and I think we accomplished that here. Zero wasted seconds. 100% banger."

"Don't Let Me Get Too Low" is taken from SILVERSTEIN's forthcoming album, "Antibloom", the first part of the band's double album "Antibloom" / "Pink Moon". The records were written in the deserts of Joshua Tree and represent the band's most eclectic and prolific body of work to date. "Antibloom" will see its release on February 21, 2025 via UNFD, with "Pink Moon" to follow later in the year.

This year, fans around the world are invited to join SILVERSTEIN in celebrating their "silver" anniversary with the "25 Years Of Noise" tour. Kicking off tomorrow in North America, the first leg will feature support from THURSDAY, ARM'S LENGTH and SPLIT CHAIN. Following the month-long run, SILVERSTEIN will bring the tour to Europe alongside THURSDAY, THE CALLOUS DAOBOYS and BLOOM. These shows will offer a discography-spanning performance and fans will be able to vote for their favorite songs from each record to help decide the setlist.

SILVERSTEIN enters its 25th year with two full-length albums set for 2025. The band that NME calls "legendary" and Loudwire placed among the most prolific rock and metal artists of the 21st Century continues to innovate and inspire on forward-thinking records and at crowd-embracing live shows.

"Discovering The Waterfront" (2005) remains a touchstone classic. "A Beautiful Place To Drown" (2020) earned a "Rock Album Of The Year" nomination at the Juno Awards. "Antibloom" (arriving in February) and "Pink Moon" (arriving later in 2025) are stunning reminders of why the group is a vital subcultural force and why Alternative Press readers voted frontman Shane Told among the five best post-hardcore vocalists.

SILVERSTEIN songs like "My Heroine", "Smile in Your Sleep", "The Afterglow" and "Infinite" are postmodern anthems for a devoted following earned with passionate performances and authentic artistry. As recently as 2024, The Needle Drop called them "emo hardcore legends." While their 500-million-plus streams reflect that, SILVERSTEIN grew up in a scene where the music and message come first.

Audiences sing and scream along in packed theaters, at festivals, and on tours around the world with groups like SIMPLE PLAN, RISE AGAINST, GOOD CHARLOTTE, PIERCE THE VEIL, BEARTOOTH and UNDEROATH.

Sam Guaiana (NECK DEEP, HOLDING ABSENCE, BAYSIDE) produced and mixed "Antibloom" and "Pink Moon" at Fireside Sound in Joshua Tree, California. The band arrived with 25 demos and chose their 16 favorites. Drummer Paul Koehler suggested splitting the music into two albums and turning 2025 into a year-long celebration. This will allow listeners the space to absorb and connect with the songs, which embrace the band's storied past and postmodern leanings in equal measure, making for diverse experiences.

"We put everything we've learned/felt/experienced into this double album," the band said in a shared statement, declaring "Antibloom" and "Pink Moon" "the absolute collection of our musical style."

SILVERSTEIN is:

Shane Told - Vocals
Paul Koehler - Drums
Josh Bradford - Guitar
Billy Hamilton - Bass
Paul Marc Rousseau - Guitar

"Antibloom" track listing:

01. Mercy Mercy
02. Don't Let Me Get Too Low
03. Confession
04. A Little Fight
05. Skin & Bones
06. I Will Destroy This
07. Stress
08. Cherry Coke

Photo credit: Wyatt Clough

In a new interview with Rock Hard With Phil And Tish, DROWNING POOL and SOIL frontman Ryan McCombs opened up about how music distribution has changed over the years, and what it really means for artists' livelihoods. He said in part (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET):  "Just on a business sense, yeah, I would love to go back to the days of the hard, tangible album in hand, 'cause that's still what I love. The industry was healthier then.

"People sometimes, they don't take the time to understand there's a reason why there isn't as many bands today as there was back in the day, and that has a lot to do with the fact that there isn't the number of labels anymore that there used to be," he continued.

"I was talking to somebody — this is, like, 20 years ago, I'm talking to a fan online; actually, it was longer than that 'cause it was during the whole Napster thing — and they were complaining about the METALLICA stance on it. And I said, 'Well, okay, for one second,' I said, 'What does your dad do?' And this individual happened to be — it was perfect — he happened to be from Michigan, and his dad was an auto worker, which isn't much there anymore. So you can definitely probably relate nowadays. I said, 'Now, tomorrow, if everybody, not just in your town, but if everybody in the world, can go to your dad's plant and drive off the lot with a car and not pay for it, how long is your dad going to be employed?' Because the auto plant has to make money from the sales of the car in order to employ the employee who is making the car. I said, 'Just like the label has to make money from the sales of the music in order to employ the musician. It's the same thing.' And it wasn't until I broke it down like that, that the guy was, like, 'Oh, yeah.' The black and white was too right there in your face to where you never really sat down and thought about the big picture of it. At the end of the day, it's just a business. And if the employer isn't making his money, then he's not gonna be able to employ the employees. And that's what the label and band relationship is and was. So, when that went away, when people started being able to go to the car lot and drive off the lot with a free car, that meant bands weren't sticking around anymore. The labels didn't have the same stick-to-itiveness with bands because they just couldn't afford to."

Ryan added: "I don't wanna come across like I'm crying, 'cause I'm not. I'm appreciative to still be allowed to do this and I'm appreciative that we're still here. We've been able to weather that storm to this point. But it is night and day to the industry that I grew up getting a chance to dance in at first."

Reflecting on the days when listening to an album was an event, a dedicated experience that demanded a listener's full attention, Ryan said: "It was the best. I mean, sometimes you didn't even drive away from the music store. You sat in your car and you had to pull out the inlay and you not only were going through the lyrics as you're listening to the cassette or the CD in your car, but I loved reading the thanks list and everything about it. That was part of it all. And I regret that there's been many, many generations already that will never experience that side of it."

DROWNING POOL's latest single, "Revolution (The Final Amen)", was released on September 20 via SBG Records.

"Revolution (The Final Amen)" marks the first piece of music guitarist C.J. Pierce, bassist Stevie Benton and drummer Mike Luce have completed with McCombs in 13 years.

The "Revolution (The Final Amen)" video was filmed at El Paso, Texas's Speaking Rock Entertainment Center.

McCombs played his first shows back with DROWNING POOL in March 2023 at Club L.A. in Destin, Florida and at the inaugural Throwdown At The Campground festival in Fruitland Park, Florida.

The longtime SOIL frontman, who has lived in Swindon, England since 2018, originally joined DROWNING POOL in 2005 and appeared on two of the band's studio albums, "Full Circle" (2007) and "Drowning Pool" (2010),as well as a live album, 2009's "Loudest Common Denominator". He rejoined SOIL after exiting DROWNING POOL in 2011.

McCombs is continuing to front SOIL and will carry on recording and performing with both bands.

DROWNING POOL's debut album, "Sinner", was certified platinum within six weeks of its release in 2001, while the CD's first single, "Bodies", was one of the most frequently aired videos on MTV by a new band. DROWNING POOL reached out to an ever-greater audience with dynamic performances at Wrestlemania XVIII and Ozzfest during the summers of 2001 and 2002. Unfortunately, their streak of success was not to last. Shortly after rousing the crowd at Ozzfest in Indianapolis, Indiana, on August 3, 2002, vocalist Dave "Stage" Williams was found dead of natural causes on the tour bus.

In a recent interview with Metal Pilgrim, STRYPER frontman Michael Sweet was asked if he would ever be open to using backing tracks to enhance the band's live performances. He responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Well, we use some backing tracks now. No lead vocals. Back in the past, there were times when there were certain lead vocals, double lines, harmony lines that were there. I don't like doing that."

He continued: "Here's my take on tracks: as long as the band is performing all their parts live and they're really singing with any backing tracks you have for background vocals… Like when we have some background vocals, say on 'Yahweh', we've got that giant chorus… Perry [Richardson, STRYPER bassist] and Oz [Fox, STRYPER guitarist] are singing with that, but if it was just them, it would sound absolutely pathetic and ridiculous, and it would be silly and we probably wouldn't do the song. So you need some help with certain backing tracks, having a big production like STRYPER on certain songs. And I mentioned in an interview, imagine QUEEN doing 'Bohemian Rhapsody' without any tracks. It would be silly. It wouldn't sound right. But I do think you can cross the line when you start having lead vocals, lead guitar solos — that's just too much, man. And you need to re-evaluate yourself as a musician at that point in time. And I feel like you really are kind of deceiving the fans, and you need to be cautious of that, going down that road."

Sweet previously talked about STRYPER's use of backing tracks more than five years ago in an interview with MA Entertainment Global. He said at the time: "I'm going to be honest — we do use some [backing] tracks on a few songs like 'Yahweh', [where] we have these big vocals to start the song and we have these big choruses that [sound] like a choir. We still sing, always. We never, ever go up and lip sync and fake it. We're always singing on stage, but we do have some tracks that help us. Another song is 'God', which isn't in the set right now. We have a track on 'Honestly', because that's a piano ballad and we don't travel with a keyboard player these days. Things like that.

"I try to be open and honest, and I don't want people thinking that we're not using those if we are," Sweet continued. "I come from the school of, 'It's okay if it's done right.' In other words, if it's there to enhance what's already there, or if you've got some huge production... I'm okay with that. I'm okay when it's done right and it's limited, just to enhance certain things on certain songs. But when you have bands that go out and literally it's every song, and they're up there and they're not even singing the background vocals — because there are bands that do that. They're up there mouthing it, and then you get into the mouthing of the lead vocals on every song, and you're thinking, 'Man, there has to be a line that's drawn.' You've got to be real cautious of that, or it's not live — you're not giving people a live experience."

Even with the backing tracks, Sweet believes that STRYPER's concert performances are "live." "I would go out on a limb and say that we're in the category of one of the most live bands that you'll see now," he told. "Like I said, we've got a few tracks on a few songs just to enhance, but we're up there playing live. We're banging it out, doing it live, night after night."

STRYPER's latest studio album, "When We Were Kings", came out in September.

The band recently completed a 40th-anniversary tour, which was described as "a celebration of both classic hits and new-era fan favorites, including outfit changes and an exciting new show production."

In December 2023, Michael underwent partial thyroidectomy, the surgery to remove part of his thyroid gland. It is the most common surgery for thyroid cancer.

Formed 41 years ago, STRYPER's name comes from Isaiah 53:5, which states: "But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed."

STRYPER's other albums include "To Hell With The Devil", "Second Coming", "No More Hell To Pay", "Fallen", "God Damn Evil", "Even The Devil Believes" and "The Final Battle".

In a recent interview with Rockum TV, Gene Hoglan spoke about his involvement with DEATH TO ALL (DTA) — which features former members of DEATH celebrating the life and music of Chuck Schuldiner. The current lineup of DEATH TO ALL includes Hoglan (also of DARK ANGEL and DETHKLOK),Steve DiGiorgio (TESTAMENT, CONTROL DENIED, SADUS) on bass and Bobby Koelble on guitar. Max Phelps (CYNIC),who has been touring with DEATH TO ALL, is once again handling the vocal and second-guitar duties.

Asked how important it is to him personally to keep Schuldiner's legacy alive through DEATH TO ALL, Gene said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Chuck was our friend. He was our metal brother. He was taken too early. I mean, the man was 34 years old when he was taken from us. We're 56 now, a couple of us, and that is too young to be taken from the earth. So Chuck being gone and therefore kind of essentially not able to produce any more new music, because he was going down before he left this earth, so us being able to keep his musical legacy alive, the music of DEATH, getting to play DEATH's music for people… We hear it all the time. Some of the guys roughly in our age bracket are, like, 'I saw DEATH back in the day, my favorite band. I thought I would never get to see them ever again. And thank you guys for doing this.' And we also have a legion of young fans.

"The future of death metal, the future of DEATH or DEATH TO ALL is in good hands because there are so many young folks out there going, 'I wasn't around when DEATH was doing their thing. So when you guys were doing your thing back in the day, I wasn't even born, but I'm huge DEATH fan now. I've discovered them through' whichever album they discovered. 'And the fact that we get to see you guys, this is the next best thing.'"

Referencing the fact that DEATH TO ALL's recent "The Scream Of Perserverance Tour" featured unique two-night stints in multiple cities, where the first night was an old-school, brutal night featuring, in its entirety, the album which started the DEATH legacy, "Scream Bloody Gore", as well as classic tunes from "Leprosy" and "Spiritual Healing", while the second night featured the finishing touch in DEATH's history, "The Sound Of Perseverance", as well as timeless classics from the technical and more melodic era of DEATH, "Human", "Individual Thought Patterns" and "Symbolic", Hoglan said: "We do this well — DEATH TO ALL does this well, I'll flat-out tell you, and the ability to be able to play all the material is important to us. That's why us doing nights like these, where we play the entirety of the old catalog and then the second night we play the entirety of the newer catalog, more recent catalog, that's important to us to help keep Chuck's music alive.

"It could be like, 'Stevie D., you played on 'Human', Stevie D., you and me played on 'Individual'. Bobby, you and I played on 'Symbolic', so we're just gonna play those three albums there.' That doesn't do this any kind of service — to just concentrate on three records that we played on, that's rather abhorrent to me. That makes zero sense to me. So, we can do it all and nobody plays like we do. So that's why it's important to us to honor the entirety of Chuck's music, Chuck's catalog.

"As it was put to me by Christopher Steele, who is Chuck's nephew, back in the day, and he's involved in the DEATH official socials, when I was talking to him about this whole thing sometime back, and I had mentioned that it's important to us to be able to keep Chuck's music alive," Gene recalled. "[I said to him], 'This is Chuck's musical legacy, and his music is very important and his legacy is very important.' And Chris stopped me. He's, like, 'That is killer. We love seeing that. However, you've gotta remember, this is also you guys' musical legacy as well. You guys were very important to DEATH being what it was and what it is.' And I was, like, 'My God, nobody's ever put it like that. Thank you, Chris.' I was really touched when he said, 'Hey, let's just take a moment and talk about you guys' influence on the band and you guys' impact on the music of DEATH.' And so I was, like, 'Wow, that is really, really cool. Thank you, Chris. That was very nice to hear.' And so that's one thing we also try to remember.

"On 'Individual Thought Patterns' there, I was trying to create drum beats that had never been heard before, and trying to leave my impact on the world of drumming, the world of metal, the world of death metal, the world of music in general," Gene added. "That was important to me. I wasn't thinking about it at the time, but it became important afterwards. Like, 'Hey, I've never heard this beat before.' When I'm trying to come up with beats, it's, like, 'Well, nobody's ever played that one before. Throw that in there.' 'Hey, Chuck, can you play over this?' And Chuck's, like, 'I'm good. Everything you're throwing at me, I can play my riffs over. So, don't sweat that. That's all good.' And so it's our musical legacy to some degree as well. So we're really happy to come out and celebrate DEATH, the music of DEATH. How cool is that?"

Schuldiner died on December 13, 2001 after a battle with pontine glioma, a rare type of brain tumor.

In recent years, DEATH's storied catalog has undergone a meticulous reissue campaign via Relapse Records.

Relapse released the first-ever fully authorized DEATH tab book, featuring 21 classic songs tabbed out for guitar from the band's entire discography. The book, which includes traditional notation as well as tablature, also comes with a digital download of all tracks.

During an appearance on the "Lipps Service With Scott Lipps" podcast, SLAYER's Kerry King reflected on his first time seeing METALLICA back in 1982. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "I saw 'em with [then-METALLICA guitarist Dave] Mustaine. And we opened for them. I think Mustaine was still in the band, at the place we used to frequent called the Woodstock [in Anaheim, California].

"When I first saw 'em with Mustaine, I was sitting kind of between [METALLICA frontman] James [Hetfield] and [then-METALLICA bassist Ron] McGovney in where the audience is, and I was just blown away watching Mustaine just ripping on guitar and not even looking at his fingers. I'm, like, 'I can't do that.' And to this day, he's a badass guitar player. But that's what I walked away from METALLICA [thinking]. And he wrote tons of the riffs in the early days. So, when he branched off into MEGADETH, a lot of the riffs went with him."

Asked if he was thinking at that point that he wanted to do what METALLICA was doing, but "turn it to 11, just turn it up a notch", Kerry replied: "No, it didn't have anything to do with seeing them doing it, 'cause we'd already known [about pioneering U.K. extreme metal band] VENOM and we were in the process of morphing what we had to that point to punky, VENOM, MOTÖRHEAD — kind of what they did before us. But seeing them, it's, like… And even when they were — I mean, they're a Southern California band, as much as they like to be called a [San Francisco] Bay Area band, they're from Southern Cal. Sorry. But they had streamlined everything, and we were still working it out. But we went a far darker route than they did. And then they became the biggest metal band on the planet."

Kerry also talked about his current relationship with the members of METALLICA, including Mustaine. He said: "Mustaine's cool, but Mustaine's one of those guys that he can't help but stick his foot in his mouth. So, I'll take my 20 minutes and I'll bolt just before anything gets uncomfortable.

"It's funny, James is one of those guys, even though we've got basically the same career, different circles, we did the [shows featuring the] 'Big Four' [of 1980s thrash metal], he made a point to come say 'hey' to us, but it's funny that it hasn't occurred in the 40 years we've both been doing this that I've rarely seen James," Kerry continued. "Kirk's [Hammett, METALLICA guitarist] cool, Rob's [METALLICA bassist Robert Trujillo] cool, Lars [Ulrich, METALLICA drummer] is cool. We hang out when they feel like hanging out. Yeah, that's all of 'em."

Last fall, King was asked during a question-and-answer session with readers of U.K.'s Metal Hammer magazine whom he would pick if he could have been in any other band. Kerry responded: "I was almost in MEGADETH. I think if myself and Dave Mustaine could have co-existed for four years, it would have been a very different band. I'm not saying I'd have made them better — I'd have made them different."

Kerry previously talked about his brief involvement with MEGADETH during the band's early days — King played MEGADETH's first five shows as the band's second guitarist) — in a 2015 interview with Loudwire's "Wikipedia: Fact Or Fiction?" signature series. Kerry said at the time: "I was one of the lucky people — and there's certainly no offense against [current METALLICA guitarist] Kirk Hammett; Kirk's a wonderful friend of mine — but I was lucky enough to see METALLICA with Mustaine. And I say that because it's just a rare thing to be able to say that. I saw them play with Woodstock [in Los Angeles], and I was so intringued by Mustaine, because he was just ripping on guitar and looking out that way somewhere. And I can't do that to this fuckin day. So I was just blown away at his guitar playing. And to find out — I think it was through B.C. Rich, 'cause we all played B.C. Rich back then… I think it was through B.C. Rich I found out that Dave was inquiring if I would play [with MEGADETH]."

He continued: "At the end of the day, I thought, 'This is a gigantic learning situation.' And I also thought people would see me and know me from SLAYER. 'Cause, I mean, we only went to the Bay Area; we only got up there. So I think if people saw me, it would at least make 'em think, 'SLAYER.' So I had SLAYER's best intentions in mind. I didn't go and say, 'Hey, I wanna be in MEGADETH.' I don't know how anybody can be in MEGADETH for more than a couple of hours, 'cause that guy's crazy."

Asked if he had any particularly bad experiences dealing with Mustaine in the early days of MEGADETH, Kerry said: "He was cooler back then. I think there's been a lot of drugs and funny extracurriculars between now and then that helped shape who he is today. But it was good times back then. Playing all the venues SLAYER played and just… I don't know… playing different music. His stuff is definitely more… I wouldn't say 'intricate,' 'cause we've got intricate parts too, but it's just… He writes riffs in a very different perspective than I… Even after playing with him for a number of months, I'd still… I wouldn't do it; it's just not my style."

More recently, King joined MEGADETH on stage in October 2010 at the Gibson Amphitheater in Universal City, California to perform MEGADETH's classic "Rattlehead". You can see video of that performance below.
EARLY ACCESS: Kerry King of Slayer on new album! the "big four"! Beastie Boys! and weird fan autograph requests! by Scott Lipps

Here's my interview with the thrash metal guitarist. Available a week early, only on Substack.

Read on Substack

Lzzy Hale and Joe Hottinger of Grammy-winning hard rock band HALESTORM kicked off their "Halestorm's Lzzy And Joe: The Living Room Sessions" tour Wednesday night (January 8) at The Machine Shop in Flint, Michigan. The 12-date intimate trek features Lzzy and Joe performing acoustic, stripped down versions of HALESTORM favorites and the music that has inspired the band.

Fan-filmed video of the Flint concert can be seen below.

The setlist was as follows, according to Setlist.fm:

01. Bet U Wish U Had Me Back
02. Bad Romance (Lady Gaga cover)
03. I Get Off
04. I Am The Fire
05. Break In
06. Familiar Taste Of Poison
07. I Like It Heavy
08. Mz. Hyde
09. Dear Daughter
10. White Dress
11. Gold Dust Woman (FLEETWOOD MAC cover)
12. Separate Ways (Worlds Apart) (JOURNEY cover)
13. Do Not Disturb
14. I Miss the Misery
15. Here's to Us
16. I Remember You (SKID ROW cover)
17. Love Bites (So Do I)
18. Freak Like Me

When "Halestorm's Lzzy And Joe: The Living Room Sessions" was first announced last October, Lzzy said in a statement: "With this tour, we're inviting our fans to experience what it would be like hanging with Joe and me in our living room: picking up instruments, telling stories, chatting about songs that helped shaped us as a band and brought us to where we are today."

Joe added: "Back when we decided to quit our day jobs and make music our full-time endeavor, Lzzy and I would play music wherever we could, and sometimes that meant playing acoustic covers in any bar or restaurant that would have us. That time really allowed us to develop our playing skills and dig into songwriting, and it really set the groundwork for what HALESTORM is today."

In a September 2024 interview with PK of Louisville, Kentucky's ALT 105.1 radio station, Lzzy spoke about the progress of the recording sessions for HALESTORM's follow-up to 2022's "Back From The Dead" album. Lzzy said: "We've had three separate sessions in the studio with — we're making a record with [producer] Dave Cobb. And he's actually a huge closet metal fan, and so he's really excited. And so we're making this great music, but we're constantly touring. So we've had, like, three different sessions in the studio. We're probably — what? — 70, 80, maybe, percent there. We have a studio in our house and so I'm doing a lot of the finishing touches on vocals and sewing everything up, doing solos and all that. And then we get back in in December to just say, 'Okay, this is good.' And then, yeah. And then there we are. So we're excited about it. We really are."

Cobb has shared in nine Grammy wins, including four for "Best Americana Album" and three for "Best Country Album". He's also been named "Producer Of The Year" by the Country Music Awards, the Americana Music Association (twice) and the Music Row Awards, and has been a Grammy nominee in the category.

HALESTORM and I PREVAIL embarked on summer 2024 co-headlining tour. Produced by Live Nation, the trek kicked off on July 9 in Raleigh and ran through August 17 in Las Vegas. HOLLYWOOD UNDEAD and FIT FOR A KING served as support. The tour was also the catalyst and the creative spark for HALESTORM and I PREVAIL's collaborative track "Can U See Me In The Dark?", which was released in June 2024.

"Back From The Dead" has tallied over 100 million streams worldwide. Rolling Stone called the title track "a biting but cathartic howler about overcoming all obstacles," and that song as well as "The Steeple" marked their fifth and sixth number ones at rock radio, respectively. Associated Press said the album "will definitely be in the running for best hard rock/metal album of the year." Their previous album, "Vicious", earned the band their second Grammy nomination, for "Best Hard Rock Performance" for the song "Uncomfortable", the band's fourth #1 at rock radio, and led Loudwire to name HALESTORM "Rock Artist Of The Decade" in 2019.

Fronted by Lzzy with Arejay, Hottinger and bass player Josh Smith, HALESTORM's music has earned multiple platinum and gold certifications from the RIAA, and the band has earned a reputation as a powerful live music force, headlining sold-out shows and topping festival bills around the world, and sharing the stage with icons including HEAVEN & HELL, Alice Cooper, Joan Jett and JUDAS PRIEST. Additionally, Lzzy was named the first female brand ambassador for Gibson and served as host of AXS TV's "A Year In Music".

Memphis May Fire - Matty Mullins (vocals), Kellen McGregor (guitar), Cory Elder (bass), and Jake Garland (drums) - spent much of 2024 dropping brand new singles, each of which was more incendiary than the next. At the end of the year, they announced their new album Shapeshifter, which arrives March 28 via longtime label Rise Records.


They have just shared the video for the new song "Overdose." It features a guest appearance from Blindside vocalist Christian Lindskog. Watch it below.


"'Overdose' is about the intoxicating nature of extremes — how easy it is to get addicted to the highs of life, no matter the consequences," Mullins explains. "It's a song for anyone who's ever pushed boundaries too far, chased the rush, and grappled with the fallout. Christian Lindskog has always been a bucket list guest vocalist for me and it's an absolute honor to have his iconic style gracing this track."







Shapeshifter, out March 28 via Rise Records, is available to pre-order here.





Shapeshifter tracklisting:


"Chaotic"
"Infection"
"Overdose"
"Paralyzed"
"Hell Is Empty"
"Necessary Evil"
"The Other Side"
"Shapeshifter"
"Versus"

Swedish supergroup Ginevra - comprised of vocalist Kristian Fyhr (Seventh Crystal), guitarist Magnus Karlsson (The Ferrymen, Primal Fear), bassist Jimmy Jay (H.E.A.T.), and drummer Magnus Ulfstedt (ex-Eclipse, Nordic Union) - are thrilled to announce the release of their new studio album, Beyond Tomorrow, out March 28 via Frontiers Music Srl.


The band also share the new single and accompanying video, “Moonlight”, available now. Watch the clip below.


Lead singer Kristian Fyhr comments on the new single, by saying that, “it tells a story about fighting inner demons— losing yourself to something uncontrollably while pretending it will all go away.”







Talking about the record, Fyhr adds: “The whole album covers a higher cause without being biblical or political. We are all meant to bring the best of what we have into daily situations and life. We have approximately eighty years to leave a mark here on Earth, so we better make it count.”


Beyond Tomorrow is Ginevra's sophomore album, which comes less than three years after the exciting debut album We Belong To The Stars.


The group came to be after Kristian Fyhr sent Serafino Perugino, the label’s President, some songs he had written for consideration to be used on future Frontiers' label projects. One particular song, “My Rock N' Roll” jumped out at Perugino and he asked Fyhr if he would be interested in fronting a new band that would craft an entire album in a musical direction illustrated in that song, which was substantially different from Fyhr's main band Seventh Crystal.


The final results brought Ginevra's sound under the same big umbrella of excellent Nordic melodic hard rock like H.E.A.T, Eclipse, Crowne, without necessarily sounding like those bands. Ginevra is hooky and melodic, but mostly heavier and more guitar/riff oriented than traditional melodic rock.


Perugino thought that Magnus Karlsson, who contributed to the songwriting for the album as well, seemed the perfect fit to play guitar for Ginevra and when approached about participating, he was keen on the idea.


With a powerful vocalist like Fyhr and a monster guitarist like Magnus Karlsson, whose resume speaks for itself, a top notch rhythm section needed to join the fold. Jona Tee, musician and producer for New Horizon, Crowne, and Temple Balls, recommended his H.E.A.T. bandmate Jimmy Jay for the bass position and he was the perfect fit.


For the drum stool, Magnus Ulfstedt, who has played with Eclipse, Nordic Union, and Jimi Jamison, was asked to join the band and complete this excellent Swedish foursome.


The pairing of Fhyr's vocal and songwriting talents with Karlsson's stunning guitar playing and songwriting has birthed something tr

ccessful rock bands, is back, unveiling their electrifying new single “The Game” – a future radio hit infused with gritty guitar riffs, soaring melodies and powerful vocals leading the way.


Ever since their start in 1999 and breaking onto the scene with their first album, tAKiDA has become one of Sweden’s top-notch exports, ruling the Swedish rock scene with six platinum singles (one of them 4x platinum), three platinum albums and no less than five #1 albums. But tAKiDA are also making waves beyond the borders of their home country. Their most recent studio album, The agony flame (2024), marks their most successful entry onto the German album charts (#8) yet, while the album’s first single, “The loneliest hour”, hit #1 on the German Rock Airplay Charts.              


Following their previous successes, tAKiDA continues to push boundaries and solidify their acclaim. With “The Game”, tAKiDA kicks off the new year and dives deep into themes of passion, inner conflict, and unfiltered emotion, perfectly showcased through its evocative lyrics and explosive sound. In Summer 2025, tAKiDA will bring their matchless stage performance to several German cities, starting on July 18 in Regensburg. Get your tickets now and explore “The Game” – now available on all streaming services worldwide.     

During a packed autumn touring schedule of over 30 dates across Europe as part of the Nordic Invasion and Faces of Death tours, Cabal introduced fans to their latest album material. Now, in 2025, the band returns with their powerful new single, "Unveiled", featuring Matthi, frontman of beatdown legends Nasty.


The new album, Everything Rots, will be released on April 11 via Nuclear Blast Records. In spring 2025 Cabal will support Caliban on their Back From Hell Tour.


Singer Andreas Bjulver comments: "If you've ever had your trust horribly betrayed this track is for you. This is Cabal at it's most furious, it's pure anger distilled into sound and it features none other than Matthi from Nasty, which only adds to the aggression."




Stream the single here, and watch the video below:





Cabal has through the years proved themselves as one of the heaviest and most uncompromising metal acts hailing from Copenhagen, Denmark. The bands sound is visceral and destructive and aims to bring forth absolute chaos by drawing inspiration from everything from crushing death metal, contemporary metallic hardcore and metalcore to unnerving soundscapes and dark electronic music.


Since the release of  their first album in 2018 the band toured most of the planet, from Europe and North America to Japan and Australia, as well as renowned festivals like, Roskilde Festival, Copenhell, Summer Slaughter, Brutal Assault and many more, and they have no intention of slowing down. All of the above combined with features from some of the modern metal scenes most prominent names like; Matt Heafy from Trivium, Jamie Hails from Polaris and Joe Bad from Fit For An Autopsy, the band has shown the world that Denmark has something to offer when it comes to bone crushing heaviness.


The band are now gearing up for the release of their 4th studio album, Everything Rots. Everything Rots is the most focused and ferocious Cabal has ever sounded, while still expanding on the sound that fans expect from the band. Ear piercing electronic parts and unsettling soundscapes fuse together with bone-rattling riffs and uncompromising breakdowns to create a sonic attack on the senses that’s sure to please and surprise any fan of extreme heaviness. Just like instrumentals the lyrics are dark and direct as they detail the cyclical nature of depression, addiction and trauma, as they work through and detail deeply scarring life experiences and invite the listernes inside a dark world were everything everything rots and falls apart again and again and again.


Tracks like ’Still Cursed’ dives into the struggle of dealing with depression and feeling eternally cursed, while the title track is an anthem for the generations born into a world of crushing uncertainty, that feels like it could collapse around them at any time. "No Peace" describes the harrowing real life ordeal of finding a dying suicide victim in the streets of Copenhagen, and powerlessly watching the life drains from their eyes. "Unveiled" and "Forever Marked" deals with two sides of the same experience of having an abuser close to you. One describes the intense anger and feeling of betrayal, that comes from finding out that someone you considered family could commit such acts, while the other the feeling of guilt in knowing that this happened so close to you without you catching on to it.

The German trio Warfield are poised to begin their next assault, charging into battle with the release of their forthcoming album and Napalm Records debut, With The Old Breed, out on April 4. Since their formation in 2012, they've dedicated themselves to the music of their idols like Tom Angelripper, Jeff Hanneman, and Dave Lombardo, unleashing brutal shredding riffs and lightning-fast beats with powerful precision. Warfield has already shared the stage with heavyweights like Bay Area thrash legends Exodus, captivating audiences with their electrifying live performances.


With their first single, “Lament Of The White Realm”, Warfield proves their unwavering dedication to their idols and their ability to embody the essence of thrash metal in a modern sound, further establishing them in the scene. This blistering track takes you on an icy journey through the horrors of war, exploring themes of loyalty and sacrifice. With razor-sharp riffs, “Lament Of The White Realm” fuses raw power with atmospheric storytelling, embodying an indomitable spirit of defiance.


Warfield on “Lament Of The White Realm”: “Our single ‘Lament Of The White Realm’ captures the unforgiving brutality of Alpine warfare in World War I, where Austrian and Italian soldiers fought high above the valleys on frozen mountain fronts. The lyrics use the ‘lament’ as a powerful symbol for the agonized screams that reverberated through the peaks, echoing the horrors of those harrowing battles. This song criticizes war in every form.”




Watch the official music video for “Lament Of The White Realm” below.


Warfield about the album: “Our new album With The Old Breed embodies everything we stand for as a band: Brutal, honest old-school thrash with emotion, rage and lots of energy. Sound-wise and musically evolved from the debut album, we delve even deeper into the inner human life and the harsh reality of war. Our goal is to bring out the different layers of despair, manipulation, but also camaraderie and express it all through musical heaviness. So if you call the mosh pit your home and feel like letting it all out, then give With The Old Breed a listen!”





With The Old Breed will be available in the following formats:


- 1 LP Red White Black Splatter Vinyl (with Bonus Track “F# (Wake Up)” Nuclear Assault Cover) – Napalm Records Webstore exclusive – strictly limited to 300 worldwide
- 1 LP Black Vinyl, Lighter & Patch (with Bonus Track “F# (Wake Up)” Nuclear Assault Cover)
- 1 LP Black Vinyl (with Bonus Track “F# (Wake Up)” Nuclear Assault Cover)
- 1 Digipack CD, Lighter & Patch – Napalm Records Europe Mail Order exclusive –strictly limited to 100 worldwide
- 1 Digipack CD
- Digital Album


Pre-order here.





With The Old Breed

Steve Hackett’s annual performances at Trading Boundaries, in Sussex, UK have become something of a tradition for the legendary guitarist in recent years. Presenting stripped down material, and showcasing his acclaimed classical compositions, these unique & intimate concerts have become a highlight of the year, beloved of his fans.


As Steve explains: “It’s always a joy for me to play at Trading Boundaries, a magical intimate place full of beautiful lights and exotic imagery, illuminating the darkest time of year over Christmas and New Year… It’s the perfect location for my acoustic set.”


Live Magic At Trading Boundaries, set for release on January 17, collects various recordings from these shows from over the years, and also features appearances from regular collaborators including brother John Hackett on flute, Roger King on keys, Rob Townsend on flute & sax, and Amanda Lehmann on guitar & vocals. The release also coincides with Steve’s next two live appearances at the venue, on January 18 & 19, 2025.




Today, he is pleased to release a live recording of the track "Jacuzzi", originally featured on his 1980 solo album Defector, and you can check out the visualizer below.





Steve comments: “I’m thrilled to be releasing such a special album of live virtuoso performances over the years at such a magical venue.”


Live Magic At Trading Boundaries will be available as a Limited Edition CD Digipak, Gatefold 180g 2LP & Digital Album, mixed by long-time live sound engineer Ben Fenner. Pre-order here.





Tracklisting:


"Improv"
"Blood On The Rooftops"
"The Barren Land"
"Black L

In a new interview with Nikki Blakk of San Francisco's 107.7 The Bone radio station, DEATH ANGEL and KERRY KING vocalist Mark Osegueda spoke about why DEATH ANGEL pulled out of its fall 2024 tour as the support act for W.A.S.P. Replacing them on the bill was ARMORED SAINT. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Since this whole Kerry band happened, and still being a major part of DEATH ANGEL, there was some backlash from a lot of DEATH ANGEL fans, thinking that [my involvement with Kerry] might be the end of DEATH ANGEL or it's taking away from DEATH ANGEL. And then there was a tour that DEATH ANGEL had a drop off of, and it was because there was conflicting dates with Kerry. But when that [W.A.S.P.] tour was offered to [DEATH ANGEL], I had put it out there to the powers that be that, 'Okay, but I can't guarantee I'll be available for the whole tour. Just know this in advance. So if you take it, I will have to do shows with Kerry if they get booked, and it looks like they very well may.' And still my words were taken and with enthusiasm, they just heard, to a certain degree people thought, 'Well, let's do it.' I said, 'Okay, let's, but once again…' I mean, every bit of communication we had, I would reiterate that. And we still went for it, throwing caution to the wind, and the wind blew back eventually, so to speak. And I said, 'Hey, what we didn't want to happen is happening. But we all knew this going in advance. So this is what we can do.' And I actually, being someone — I do try to troubleshoot for DEATH ANGEL all the time because there's been many years that DEATH ANGEL has been self-managed by me, Rob [Cavestany, DEATH ANGEL guitarist] and Ted [Aguilar, DEATH ANGEL guitarist], and we've also had management, but we always work with management very well. And so I tried to troubleshoot, and I said, 'Look, I could think of a few [singers] that could fill in,' and I gave some names and whatnot, just as an option. 'Cause I didn't want them to lose the tour. But the reality is what the reality was. So eventually, what came back when that was offered to the W.A.S.P. camp and booking agents, whatnot, they just basically said, 'Well, we don't want a fill-in for two particular times,' 'cause I would have missed two batches of dates, and they didn't want that to be the case… That's pretty much the stance they took. So, then, from there on, push came to shove, and they got ARMORED SAINT, which I think it's a great bill. I mean, who's to say that W.A.S.P. and DEATH ANGEL wouldn't have been a great bill? A lot of people were looking forward to it."

Mark continued: "Prior to [DEATH ANGEL pulling out of the W.A.S.P. tour], there was not much negativity about me being in Kerry's band, but when that hit, then the floodgates opened. And that's when a lot of people started saying negative things about me and my character and how it was affecting the band they love. Unbeknownst to them, believe it or not, I love that band more than they do."

Osegueda also defended the fact that he didn't inform his DEATH ANGEL bandmates that he had joined Kerry's solo group until his involvement was officially announced last February. "I couldn't really tell the guys 'cause of NDAs [non-disclosure agreements I signed] and whatnot. And I know people will say, 'Well, that's your blood. Those are your bros.' But it's an NDA. It's a legal, binding contract that I signed and I respect that. And wording in NDAs are kind of daunting.

"The metal community is a hen house," he added. "It really is. And just, bap, bap, bap, bap, and word just gets out, and it's just like rapid fire. And Blabbermouth or not, it just takes someone from one crew, one band, and they find out and it just goes around. And we had to go out of our way to keep this basically the biggest secret there was. Because everyone kind of had an idea of who was in [Kerry's] band, but for the most part, no one knew who the singer was. They all assumed it was Phil [Anselmo]. And it was just kind of quite a big secret to keep down. So that was hard. And I understand that. And I explained that to the guys when I did tell them. And there you go."

Mark added: "But again, as I said, when we took the W.A.S.P. tour, I did tell the powers that be that make the decisions for this band, me being one of 'em, what could occur. Now say the powers that be within the band, or people that don't have the power in the band to make the decisions, they might not have known that I had prefaced this with management and the guys who make the business decisions. And not everyone in this band is a decision maker when it comes to this band. And that's just the pecking order of how this band works. Some of us have longevity and priority and some of us don't. And that will always be the case, even if it goes down two decades from now. Rob and I still have two more decades more history in the band. So that's just the case. And it's a better way for a band to work. We've tried with the original DEATH ANGEL lineup to do it as a democracy, and it doesn't work. It just doesn't work. It just breeds more chaos and more tension, strife. [Too many cooks in the kitchen] — with everything, from writing, to setlists, to everything. So, there needs to be some sort of set structure, at least with this band. It works better that way. And most bands I've seen that have longevity, it tends to be the case as well."

Asked which singers were on the shortlist to fill in for him, Mark said: "Well, I don't even know… I shouldn't go down that road, but I suggested a few names, and then I think management and people were looking into people as well. And it just wasn't, I guess, jelling, especially with Rob. Rob and I had a few conversations, and he's, like, 'It's just not the same.' And I'm not saying it is or isn't for any band, or it's different for any band, but it is hard, and I'm not saying the importance of a position, but it is hard in a lot of bands to get a fill-in singer. It is. It is, 'cause people are used to him or her being the front person and how they engage with the crowd, and how they work, and the voice — everything. And so that's another thing Rob was really concerned about, which makes absolute sense. And in our personal conversations, he was saying, 'It'd be easier for us to find a fill-in for me for a few dates than it is for you.' And he said that selflessly, but basically when it boils down to it, everyone in DEATH ANGEL is a crucial part of DEATH ANGEL, but I know as a fan of different bands, if you went to go see DEATH ANGEL without me or Rob for that one show, there's gonna be a great deal of people out there that say, like, 'Well, I got kind of robbed.' That sucks. And that's just kind of the nature of the beast and the nature of the history of this band. With all bands, that's just how it is. It's like if you went to see [BLACK] SABBATH and they had a fill-in for Tony Iommi. You'd be, like, 'Oh.' And they're an exception. There have been bands that have replaced lead singers. Obviously, AC/DC and SABBATH are the two primest examples. And [IRON] MAIDEN. There's a handful. But it's not a common occurrence that it works out so swimmingly and successfully."

In a December 2024 interview with El Planeta Del Rock, Aguilar was asked why DEATH ANGEL pulled out of the W.A.S.P. tour. He said at the time: "Schedule conflicts with Kerry King. Kerry King had some dates booked in Mexico during that time. So it's just schedule conflicts. And it's okay. It does suck, but things happen for a reason. It would have been a nice tour — of course we're bummed we're not doing it — but you have to look at the positive side of things and go, well, we were able to write more songs for the [upcoming DEATH ANGEL] record, instead of prepping for the tour for and getting everything ready. It didn't happen. ARMORED SAINT got the tour. They're a good band and they deserve it. But we look at it as, 'Well, since we're not doing the tour, what are we gonna do? Well, let's continue writing more songs.' So I think at the end of the day, it's a lot better to write more songs... 'Cause if we would have done that tour, we would have done five weeks of supports, and where are we gonna prepare for the Christmas shows, all these songs, these different setlists. I look at things as things happen for a reason, and for whatever reason it is, it brought us here, and we're okay, man. We're all right. There'll be more tours to come about… You just have to find the positive out of it all. If you dwell on the negative, then it's not gonna do you any good. Just find the positive, just like anything in life. So, something happens, just, okay, don't focus on the problem, focus on the solution. The solution is, hey, okay, this is what we're gonna do. You have to bounce back right away."

Ted added: "It does suck [that we couldn't do the tour]. We would have loved to go on tour with W.A.S.P., and, of course, we love to play live. But the new record is important, these Christmas shows were important. So there'll be more to come in 2025."

Asked if he has listened to Kerry's debut solo album, "From Hell I Rise", which features King and Osegueda alongside drummer Paul Bostaph (SLAYER),bassist Kyle Sanders (HELLYEAH) and guitarist Phil Demmel (formerly of MACHINE HEAD),Ted said: "I listened to it once. It's what I expected. I think Mark sounds great on the record. They're doing their thing. I have to give hats off to Kerry. SLAYER discontinued, and he moved on with this stuff. He definitely picked the right guys to play with him. And I've seen some footage live. They're fucking doing amazing. So, hats off to them. It's great. It's a positive thing. It's good for Mark. Mark loves it. He's sounding really good. And it's just gonna benefit both bands. That's how I look at it. The only tough part is trying to figure out schedules. But that's something we could deal with. But it's gonna benefit both parties. So there you go."

Regarding the possibility of DEATH ANGEL and Kerry King's solo band performing together at some point in the future, Ted said: "That's up to Mark, because of his voice. But never say never. Things may happen. It could be at a festival. We'll cross that bridge when we get there, if it comes about. But I bet to the fans, they would like it. But I guess it all depends on Mark, if his voice could handle it. He only knows. I mean, on paper looks good, but behind the paper, you go, 'Mark, can you do it?' If he says, 'Yeah.' If it works, it works. If it doesn't, then it doesn't."

When it was first announced in August 2024 that DEATH ANGEL was pulling out of the W.A.S.P. tour, the only reason given for the cancelation was "unforeseen circumstances", with no further information offered. However, DEATH ANGEL drummer Will Carroll later shed some light on the issues that led to DEATH ANGEL pulling out of the tour, writing on his personal Facebook page "it's pretty fucking obvious" why his band was no longer taking part in the trek. "The word BETRAYAL comes to mind," he wrote, adding: "We knew there would be problems at some point but not so immediately."

Not long after DEATH ANGEL's tour dates with W.A.S.P. were announced, King's social media revealed that Kerry's band would play two shows in Mexico in early November — one concert in Mexico City as the support act for AMON AMARTH on November 6, and another gig as the support act for SLIPKNOT in Guadalajara on November 8 — in direct conflict with the W.A.S.P. tour, which was scheduled to launch in late October and conclude in mid-December. KERRY KING also confirmed appearances at three Good Things festival shows in Australia in early December.

In May 2024, Osegueda was asked during an appearance on the "Let There Be Talk" podcast with rock and roll comedian Dean Delray how he broke the news to his DEATH ANGEL bandmates that he was joining King's solo group. The singer said: "Oh, man. With this one, it's tough. I really had to respect the NDA. I really did. And it was eating at me. 'Cause DEATH ANGEL has been touring consistently — we toured consistently when the world shut down [due to the coronavirus pandemic]. When the world reopened, we went right back out on the road. And this was all happening. I was starting to do these demos during the pandemic, and then, after that, I was regularly seeing Kerry to do more demos [for his debut solo album] when the world opened. And [Kerry's] record was done for a year before it came out. And I'd be on tour with DEATH ANGEL. And there were some nights where me and Rob were in the lounge, just me and him, drinking, listening to music and just laughing and talking like we do. And it just took everything in me [not to tell him what was going on]. It's so hard to not just say, 'Look, bro. Look, bro.'

"This is one of those things that just, like it or not, some people will think I'm an ass about it, but I just kind of really promised — I promised Kerry and I signed the NDA," Mark explained. "I promised everyone I wasn't gonna let anyone know. The only people who knew were my girlfriend, my girl, my mom and my sister. We didn't even tell my dad 'cause my dad has loose lips. So we didn't even tell him then. So those are the three people who knew. And, of course, people who were at the studio when we were recording, and shit like that, who were all NDA people as well. So it's fucked up, but I waited and let him know through e-mail same day that the [official] announcement [of Kerry's new band] happened [in early February 2024]. And then shortly thereafter I talked to Rob and Ted."

Elaborating on how he approached informing his longtime bandmates of his involvement with Kerry's new band, Mark said: "I said in the e-mail, 'Look, this is the toughest thing for me to tell you.' And how I worded it in one aspect to them was just pretty much, 'This is gonna be either the most surprising thing in the world to you or, slash, the most obvious thing in the world to you.' And I even said at the end, 'cause it was an e-mail to all the guys, and I just said, 'Take some time to really process all this before you respond, before we talk. Let all this kind of sink in, and then when come together, if you wanna talk to me, then we'll all talk.' And shortly thereafter, I talked to Ted and Rob. And they were still a little sideswiped, for sure — for sure. I could see it in their [faces]… We did a FaceTime kind of Zoom call, the three of us, and they were both definitely still in kind of a state of processing it. But by the end of the call, after we talked for about an hour, they were supportive, for sure, happy for me. And they both did say, 'Now that you mention it, man, it is kind of the most obvious fucking thing in the world.' [Laughs] But it was tough, man. I'm not gonna lie. It's tough, 'cause we've been through so much together — so much together — especially me and Rob. I mean, not to take away from… Shit, Ted's been in the band since 2001, and now Damien and Will have been in the band for well over a decade now. So it's crazy. But, of course, me and Rob, we've known each other since we were in the crib. So that it was a tough one. But now, [Rob is] very, very supportive. Before the first [Kerry King] show, I got a text from him saying, 'Have a fucking killer show, bro.' And all this stuff. The [Kerry King album] release day, he sent me congratulations on release day. Ted as well. So, they've [come] to accept it. And I think it's already brought a lot of attention to DEATH ANGEL. And it's gonna keep doing that. But it was tough."

Mark added: "I'm excited about everything. I'm excited about everything ahead. But, yeah, for sure, it was definitely a delicate situation. Even before it was happening, when I knew it was coming up, it was, like, 'I've gotta choose my words carefully.' It's tough. But now that it's out, I feel so relieved — so relieved — it's out. And since then, we've [DEATH ANGEL] toured South and Central America together recently, and that was the first tour we did since the [Kerry King] announcement and some [of Kerry's] songs have been released. So everyone got along great. And it's out. And it just feels so much better to be around the guys with them knowing. I just felt so odd them not knowing."

Asked by Delray if he made his clear in his initial e-mail that he was not quitting DEATH ANGEL, Mark said: "Yeah, absolutely. Well, first, I'm kind of yammering about the process of it, but I definitely said, 'I'm very much still the singer of DEATH ANGEL.' And, of course, when I was talking to Rob and Ted, Rob was, like, 'I was very happy to hear you say that.' Like, 'Of course, bro.'"

"From Hell I Rise" came out in May via Reigning Phoenix Music.

Following his recent tour with LAMB OF GOD and MASTODON and his first European headline tour earlier this year, King and his solo band will hit the road for the 28-date North American headline tour in early 2025. With MUNICIPAL WASTE as special guest and ALIEN WEAPONRY supporting, the tour is set to launch in San Francisco on January 15, 2025, and wrap at House of Blues in Las Vegas on February 22

Greek post-black metal visionaries Euphrosyne have released a captivating video for their latest single, "Funeral Rites", taken from their forthcoming debut album, Morus, set to drop on March 21, 2025, via Black Lion Records. Pre-orders are now available at this location.


The powerful track, a deep dive into darkness and redemption, is part of the album’s conceptual meditation on the death of guitarist Alex Despotidis’s mother from cancer in 2017. 


Euphrosyne shared the following about their latest single: “‘Funeral Rites’ is one of the darkest songs on Morus. With an immersive and atmospheric way, it tells the story of the ceremony at the burial of the Mother. The beginning of the track is a dark narration of how it feels to carry the dead and how you project yourself as one of them. Following a rough outbreak, feelings of guilt, anger, and despair are released. The song ends with a redemptive chorus and the wish that one day we’ll meet those who have been lost from our lives.”







Morus is an experiential concept album inspired by the true story of the loss of Alex Despotidis's Mother from cancer in 2017. The narration begins with the realization of death and the feelings surrounding it until the final embrace, continues with the existential question "What happens after all comes to pass" and the depiction of pain and suffering. It moves forward towards the acceptance of the image of the person who is losing the battle and