SWEET & LYNCH, the musical union of guitarist/vocalist Michael Sweet of STRYPER and legendary guitarist George Lynch (DOKKEN, LYNCH MOB),will release its third album, "Heart & Sacrifice", on May 19 via Frontiers Music Srl. The combination of Sweet's powerful, high-octane vocals and Lynch's immediately recognizable guitar heroics once again prove to be an unbeatable combination sure to please the hard rock faithful.

The official music video for the second single from the album, "Miracle", can be seen below.

Alessandro Del Vecchio, who co-produced this release with Sweet, plays bass on the album, while Jelly Cardarelli (LALU) plays drums.

Sweet says: "I'm very pleased with the outcome of the new SWEET & LYNCH album, 'Heart & Sacrifice'. It's diverse, complex and flows beautifully. Every song has something to say in its own unique way. George has always been one of my favorite players and it's an honor to work with him again. It's also an absolute pleasure working with Alessandro. We're able to bring all our own contributions and contribute to create an amazing set of songs and I couldn't be happier with the results. Get ready for 'Heart & Sacrifice'!"

SWEET & LYNCH, which has yet to play a single concert, first emerged with its debut album, "Only To Rise", in 2015. The album cracked the Billboard 200 and came in at No. 6 on the Top Hard Rock Albums, No. 17 on Independent Albums, No. 18 on Top Rock Albums, and No. 4 on Christian Albums charts. SWEET & LYNCH's sophomore album, "Unified", followed in 2017, landing at No. 53 on Top Current Albums, No. 13 on Top Current Rock Albums, and No. 8 on Record Label Independent Current Albums. While plans for a third album were always on the table, the project went on a slight hiatus while the guys concentrated on their other musical endeavors. 2022 proved to be the year where the creative juices for SWEET & LYNCH began to flow again and work on what would ultimately become "Heart & Sacrifice" began.

"Heart & Sacrifice" track listing:

01. Heart & Sacrifice
02. Where I Have To Go
03. Miracle
04. Leave It All Behind
05. You'll Never Be Alone
06. After All Is Said And Done
07. Give Up The Night
08. Will It Ever Change
09. It's Time To Believe
10. Every Day
11. It Rains Again
12. World Full Of Lies

"Heart & Sacrifice" recording lineup:

Michael Sweet - lead vocals, guitars
George Lynch - lead guitars
Alessandro Del Vecchio - bass
Jelly Cardarelli - drums

Produced by: Michael Sweet and Alessandro Del Vecchio
Executive producer/A&R: Serafino Perugino

In a recent interview with the "Scars And Guitars" podcast, Sweet stated about "Heart & Sacrifice": "[It's got a] killer cover. When everyone sees the artwork, I think they're gonna love it. It's dark, but it says a lot; really cool. And the album itself went through some periods of change. In other words, George submitted a bunch of songs, and a couple of 'em weren't quite right, and we had to get some more songs submitted. We went and recorded the album, and then we wound up re-recording some other songs to add to it to make the album better. And the stage that it's in now is fantastic. It's really, I think, the strongest SWEET & LYNCH album."

Regarding the overall sound of the new SWEET & LYNCH LP, Michael said: "It's a little darker musically — not much; just a little bit. And a little heavier — like some of the songs are tuned way down; the guitar has a nice heavy feel to it. And I just love the feel of it. It's a little bit more, for lack of an explanation, a little bit more '90s than it is '80s. A little more '70s and '90s than it is '80s. But then you also hear the '80s flair. George is killing it on guitar. I kept trying to pull that out of him. Like he'd send a song where the solo was simplified, and I'd say, 'Dude, people wanna hear you tear it up. Just burn. Give 'em George — George Lynch.' And he'd submit a new solo, and it's, like, 'There it is. Just bring in the fire and the heat.'"

He added: "So I think this album is gonna really please people; they're gonna be pleasantly surprised and hopefully blown away."

Five years ago, Michael expressed his frustration about SWEET & LYNCH's lack of activity, telling the "Focus On Metal" podcast: "I've gotten to the point with SWEET & LYNCH where I'm almost sensing and feeling like maybe it's run its course. We did two albums. I talked about doing a third and a fourth and a fifth, but there is kind of no point to it if we don't tour. We really should be touring and playing those songs live. It's kind of pointless, after a while, if you're not doing that."

Sweet said in the aforementioned 2018 interview that another reason SWEET & LYNCH hadn't played any gigs is the fact that the LYNCH MOB leader and former DOKKEN guitarist "has his hands in so many different things. When the first album came out and the second album came out, I promoted the snot out of 'em and was really pushing, pushing, pushing, pushing," he said. "George didn't do a lot of promoting and a lot of pushing with those albums. It gets to be exhausting for me when I feel like I'm the only guy really pushing it. And that's not to take anything away from George — it's just a fact. It's a simple fact that I'm stating in saying that that becomes an issue.

"I'm one of those guys where I want everybody in the band pushing and promoting equally as much, as they should be," he continued. "Or why are you doing it? So I'm at that stage right now where I'm just kind of feeling like the fire is kind of dwindling. I don't want it to — I wanna pour some gasoline on the fire and ignite it again. Maybe that'll happen, but it's quite possible that it won't."

Sweet helms the Grammy-nominated Christian hard rock outfit STRYPER, which he co-founded more than 35 years ago, as the band's vocalist, guitarist, and main songwriter. To date, the band has more than 10 million career album sales worldwide. The venerable band ascended to prominence in the 1980s with Billboard Top 40-charting singles like "Calling On You", "Honestly" and "Always There For You" and has in more recent years enjoyed an unparalleled career renaissance, delivering arguably the best albums of their storied career, including 2022's "The Final Battle".

Michael has released multiple solo albums, including a self-titled release in 1994, which yielded five No. 1 singles, "Truth" in 2000, the critically acclaimed 2015 project "I'm Not Your Suicide" (which peaked at No. 10 on Billboard's Hard Rock albums),and 2019's "Ten", which reached No. 4 on Billboard's Top Christian Albums chart. He recently partnered with Joel Hoekstra (WHITESNAKE),Nathan James (INGLORIOUS),Marco Mendoza (THIN LIZZY, WHITESNAKE) and Tommy Aldridge (WHITESNAKE, OZZY OSBOURNE) in the supergroup ICONIC, which was greeted with much adoration by rock fans around the globe.

Lynch emerged from the '80s hard rock scene with the L.A. based group DOKKEN and went on to become a world-renowned guitarist. Aside from DOKKEN, he also enjoyed great success with LYNCH MOB, the group he founded after leaving DOKKEN.

Lynch has gone on to become a prolific (that is an understatement, to say the least) music creator, continuing with LYNCH MOB, releasing solo albums, and a wealth of collaborative efforts over the decades. Those include, but are not limited to, KXM with Doug Pinnick (KING'S X) and Ray Luzier (KORN),THE END MACHINE with Jeff Pilson (FOREIGNER, ex-DOKKEN),Mick Brown (ex-DOKKEN),and Robert Mason (WARRANT),SWEET & LYNCH with Michael Sweet (STRYPER),ULTRAPHONIX with Corey Glover (LIVING COLOUR),DIRTY SHIRLEY with Dino Jelusick (ANIMAL DRIVE, TRANS-SIBERIAN ORCHESTRA),and THE BANISHMENT with Joe Haze.

Original JUDAS PRIEST guitarist K.K. Downing says that he sympathizes with MÖTLEY CRÜE guitarist Mick Mars in his legal dispute with his bandmates over the latter group's ongoing tour.

When Mars, a co-founding member of MÖTLEY CRÜE, announced his retirement from touring with the group last October as a result of worsening health issues, he maintained that he would remain a member of the band, with John 5 taking his place on the road. However, in his lawsuit, which was filed this past Thursday (April 6) in Los Angeles County's Superior Court, Mars said that, after his announcement, the rest of CRÜE tried to remove him as a significant stakeholder in the group's corporation and business holdings via a shareholders' meeting.

Specifically, Mars claims he was asked to sign a severance agreement that would divest him of his 25 percent stake in the band's various business interests in return for a 5 percent stake in the band's 2023 tour. This stake, the lawsuit alleges, would be reduced to 0 percent for future tours. Mick claims CRÜE's management later upped the offer from 5 percent to a 7.5 percent stake in the band's 2023 tour, which would remain contingent on Mars divesting himself from the band and their businesses. When Mars refused to sign the papers, the band took the dispute to arbitration "rather than a public lawsuit so that the public would not be aware of the deplorable manner in which they treated their 'brother' of 41 years," Mick claims in the lawsuit.

Downing, who left JUDAS PRIEST in 2011 just as the band was preparing to embark on what was supposed to be PRIEST's farewell tour, addressed the similarities between his situation and Mars's battle with his CRÜE bandmates in an audio message sent to BLABBERMOUTH.NET earlier today (Saturday, April 8). K.K. said: "I do sympathize [with Mick], because I'm going through exactly the same thing. And it's pretty unsavory, to say the least. After spending a lifetime building the band's name, reputation, popularity and value, in particular brand name, it should be all right for people to retire, especially through illness.

"In my case, we were gearing up in 2010 to do a final world tour, the 'Epitaph' tour, which was meant to be the end of the band," Downing explained. "And because I was having pressure put on me to write for an EP to support that tour, which I absolutely was not gonna be any part of… I certainly didn't want to finish my career with an EP. So I threw the towel in and sent a retirement letter in.

"There was a whole set of circumstances for me not doing the final tour. And one of the main considerations [was] we were getting to be concerned about Rob [Halford, PRIEST singer] and we thought that he was gearing up, ready to leave [the band] again. Because in 2010, when all this was going on, the planning of the farewell tour and finishing the band, the justification was that Rob pretty much within 12 months [in] 2010 had released two studio albums with his own band and had done a world tour, including Ozzfest. And we were very much thinking that Rob, with his own manager, would go separate ways again. And that was another serious consideration. I really wanted to mention that because it really wasn't the band I was leaving; it was just I decided not to do the farewell, final tour of the band, because that's what we all agreed and that's what was intended to happen. So essentially my decision was just not to do the final tour of the band. Of course I didn't know that the band would continue, at that time, right up until today. Otherwise things and decisions may well have been different. But, as I said, I sympathize with Mick because the circumstances between the two of us seem to be pretty much… well, identical."

K.K. went on to say that Halford, bassist Ian Hill and guitarist Glenn Tipton "ganged together" and "kicked me off as a director" in the company Judas Priest Music Limited, which controls PRIEST's assets. "As a 25 percent shareholder in the company, their stance is that my shares don't have a value, which is completely ridiculous," Downing said. "I think Mick actually talked about that particular thing as well [as it relates to MÖTLEY CRÜE] and it seems to be what the rest of the guys in his band are trying to do also…. Even the [JUDAS PRIEST] 50-year anniversary book, for example, that's seriously well illustrated with so many pictures of my life's history that I don't get any revenue from that whatsoever, or from any merchandise. And I've been told that the company has no value."

Downing added that he wanted to speak about his experience in order to warn other musicians who could one day find themselves in a similar situation.

"I think to safeguard any other people that may be coming around to being in this position that may well be acquaintances of mine or even good friends of mine, I wouldn't like them to be in the same position," he said. "So safeguards needs to be put in place to avoid even the thought of litigation. But as for me and Mick, it seems that's our only route."

Downing left PRIEST amid claims of band conflict, shoddy management and declining quality of performance.

In 2019, Downing said that he reached out to JUDAS PRIEST about taking part in the band's 50th-anniversary tour but that their response was that they were not interested in including him in the celebrations.

In 2018, Downing revealed that he sent two resignation letters to his bandmates when he decided to quit JUDAS PRIEST. The first was described as "a graceful exit note, implying a smooth retirement from music," while the second was "angrier, laying out all of his frustrations with specific parties."

Downing later said that he believed the second letter was "a key reason" he wasn't invited to rejoin PRIEST after Tipton's decision to retire from touring.

K.K. reunited with JUDAS PRIEST for a performance at the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame ceremony last November.

Halford, Hill, Tipton and drummer Scott Travis were joined by former PRIEST drummer Les Binks, Downing and current PRIEST guitarist Richie Faulkner for a three-song medley consisting of "You've Got Another Thing Comin'", "Breaking The Law" and "Living After Midnight".

The Metal Voice interviewed legendary songwriter and bassist Bob Daisley (Rainbow, Ozzy Osbourne, Black Sabbath) about his Book For Facts Sake in 2021. During the conversation, Bob was asked about the time in 1984 when on tour with Ozzy he convinced Mötley Crüe not to fire Mick Mars.


“That night after the show Mick Mars went on our bus (with Ozzy on the Bark at the Moon tour in 1984) and I went on their bus so I was the only one from Ozzy that went on their bus," he explained. "And they were having a meeting. What they were planning on doing was getting rid of Mick and getting another guitarist in and they asked me for my opinion. So I said 'If you want my opinion for what it's worth I would say do not try to fix something that is not broken.' I said 'I have seen it before with Lee Kerslake in the Blizzard of Ozz.' I said 'You've got a chemistry there, you have a functioning unit, Mick Mars is part of that don't fuck it up. Don't do it.' I think I saved Mick that night cause they were serious about getting someone else. Mick was good for the band, he was part of the sound of the delivery of what they did."

The guitar Eddie Van Halen used in the music video for VAN HALEN's "Hot For Teacher" is going up for auction at Sotheby's.

The custom-made Kramer axe has a minimum bid of $1.8 million, and is valued at between two and three million dollars.

According to Sotheby's, stage-used and -filmed guitar was custom made by Paul Unkert of Kramer Guitars for Eddie Van Halen, including important innovations customized for Eddie's evolving guitar technique. It served as one of Eddie Van Halen's primary guitars in 1983 and 1984. The guitar was gifted by Eddie Van Halen to the band's retiring drum tech Gregg Emerson around 1990. Emerson subsequently gave the guitar to his nephew, who sold the guitar to Neal's Music in Huntington Beach, California. Neal's Music then sold the instrument to its current owner.

The guitar comes with a letter of provenance by Unkert, a signed photograph from Eddie Van Halen, its original case with tour and Warner Brothers tags, and the strait jacket and white gloves worn by Van Halen in the video.

Unkert's accompanying letter details the guitar's history: "The 'Hot For Teacher' Van Halen [guitar] was built by me at the Kramer Green Grove Road Plant in Neptune, NJ around 1982-1985/ #CO176. Look for 'Unk' stamps on Neck and Body. It was my last project for Ed and Kramer."

Bidding for the guitar closes next Tuesday, April 18.

"Hot For Teacher" appeared on VAN HALEN's album "1984". The Parents Music Resource Center (PMRC) objected to the song after its original release, calling for it to be pulled from both the radio and television, due to the track's sexually suggestive lyrics referring to sex with a teacher, and a female teacher stripping in the video, among other issues.

In 2009, "Hot For Teacher" was named the 36th best hard rock song of all time by VH1.

The "Hot For Teacher" video was filmed at John Marshall High School in Los Angeles, California. Because the school had been shut down due to insufficient funds at the time the video was recorded, VAN HALEN not only paid to rent the school for four days of filming but they also contributed money to the city to help get it reopened.

FIRSTBORNE, the band featuring Grammy Award-winning artist Chris Adler and MEGADETH bassist James LoMenzo, has released another new single, "Follower".

As was the case with "Bad Things" and "One Of A Kind", which were made available in September; "Dead Rats", which came out in October; and "Intercontinental Champions", which was released in November; and "Sinners", which arrived in February; "Follower" was independently produced by the band — also featuring soft-shred pioneer Myrone (guitar) and rising-star vocalist Girish Pradhan.

When "Bad Things" and "One Of A Kind" were released, Adler had this to say about the new singles and the trajectory of FIRSTBORNE: "We've made good use of the time. For the next year-plus we will be releasing a song a month, starting here and now with a one-two-punch.

"I'm thrilled to be in a creative partnership that can do just about anything. Feels like playing in 'God Mode' on Guitar / Band Hero. It's a passion project and it's fun for us to share. Dig in. Or don't. See you next month!"

Myrone added about the ethos of the group: "No Labels, No Management, NO GODS, NO MASTERS!!!!"

FIRSTBORNE's self-titled debut EP came out in 2020 and marked Adler's first dedicated band release since his departure from MEGADETH and LAMB OF GOD.

"Firstborne" included five songs and two lyric videos. The EP represented several years of dedicated introspection and refined effort to the idea of a heavy and positive message.

As might be expected, Adler chose his bandmates in this endeavor meticulously.

Not too long ago, Adler shared the stage across the Middle East with LoMenzo in HAIL! Prior to that, LoMenzo and Adler orbited each other for years traveling together on tours crossing the globe. The connect was inevitable.

Adler and Myrone began collaborating in early 2019 after Myrone noticed Adler's e-mail address attached to a Bandcamp sales notification email. Adler had been a fan of Myrone's talent for years prior and as soon as they connected, it was game on.

A chance meeting in India, almost a second home to Chris after eight visits, was the spark needed to form the international group FIRSTBORNE and for Chris to return to the studio. Adler met and shared the stage with Pradhan during a six-week clinic tour of India in the fall of 2019. After the first show of the clinic tour, Adler immediately called Myrone, noting he'd "struck gold" in their search for a singer for the then-unnamed project.

Girish Pradhan is the glue that united FIRSTBORNE. Pradhan on vocals represents an almost unprecedented international collaboration.

Pradhan is an established and well-known recording and touring artist in India and resides in Bengaluru. His band GIRISH AND THE CHRONICLES made international headlines with their album "Rock The Highway" and music videos "Rock 'N Roll Is Here to Stay", "Identity Crisis" and "Rock The Highway".

Speaking on his experience creating with FIRSTBORNE, Myrone explained: "Every single part of this experience has been extremely surreal for me. Girish is one of the best metal vocalists on the planet, Chris is one of the most influential drummers of the last 25 years, and JLO can play anything from MEGADETH to John Fogerty to Motown and everything in between. I can't believe I get to share space on a .wav with them."

Myrone is a Los Angeles-based producer/guitarist who pioneered the "soft shred" genre. In the last few years, he has released several albums and two EPs of instrumental guitar music and racked up millions of Spotify streams. In addition to his own recordings, he has collaborated with Rivers Cuomo (WEEZER),SZA, Little Boots, Michael Christmas and Deaton Chris Anthony. More recently, Myrone was Guitar #1 in the L.A. production of "Rock Of Ages", the 29th-longest running show in Broadway history.

LoMenzo is a veteran touring/recording musician since his multi-platinum band WHITE LION in the 1980s. Lomenzo is one of the most in-demand rock bass players in the world. His list of credits includes WHITE LION, Zakk Wylde's BLACK LABEL SOCIETY/PRIDE & GLORY, MEGADETH, Jerry Cantrell, David Lee Roth, SLASH'S SNAKEPIT, LYNCH MOB, FREHEY'S COMET and more. He officially rejoined MEGADETH as a touring member last year and became an official member in May 2022.

LoMenzo had this to say about his collaboration within FIRSTBORNE: "I first met Chris in 2006 on MEGADETH's 'Gigantour'. I was playing bass with MEGADETH at the time. Watching Chris on that tour, I recall being struck by the creativity, speed and power of his drumming with LAMB OF GOD. In contrast, I found him to be a gentle, thoughtful soul. Years later, I had the opportunity to finally play with Chris, performing in the Middle East with the all-star metal band HAIL! We had a great time. At this time, Chris mentioned he was looking forward to exploring making all kinds of music. I suggested he keep me in mind. Next thing I know I'm being introduced to Myrone through a demo that Chris forwarded to me. I was immediately drawn to the music. Myrone's guitar is uniquely untethered to any one style. He's a brilliant and capable amalgam of classic rock, new and classic metal. Girish on top of all this had me stunned! A soaring, powerful voice that while uniquely his own, conjures images of the greatest singers of metal, blues and classic rock. His voice is a powerful, emotive vehicle to inform through his heartfelt and socially conscious lyrics. To my ear, the combination of all this musical talent is wonderfully unique and perfectly familiar."

Adler added: "I've been incredibly fortunate in my creative endeavors. From the start, I sought out the best players I could find to work alongside. It's been an incredible journey that is clearly not over. Some things have changed. This may not be exactly what people expect from me right now, and I'm aware and embrace that. It's time for something new. I'm have a platform to present something important, true and collaborative. Creating FIRSTBORNE beckons cohesiveness as a mission statement. This is not about being mad all the time, egos or fabricating polarizing drama. 'This is right' is now my alarm clock. Girish, Myrone and James have the exact locker room mentality of 'kill 'em all! but let's make sure everyone is okay and having a kick-ass time' that I try and bring to everything I do. FIRSTBONE is the result of all of my experiences, both positive and negative, and I'm proud of what we are doing together."

Adler is a Grammy-winning American metal drummer from Richmond, Virginia. Chris founded LAMB OF GOD in 1994 and helped usher in what critics have dubbed the "New Wave Of American Heavy Metal." LAMB OF GOD's discography with Chris includes multiple gold records and platinum DVDs as well as five Grammy nominations.

Chris received a Grammy for playing drums on legendary thrash metal band MEGADETH's 2016 record "Dystopia". Chris also toured with MEGADETH in support of the record while juggling and occasionally combining tour dates with LAMB OF GOD.

Chris has collaborated and contributed to records with PROTEST THE HERO, TESTAMENT, THAIKKUDAM BRIDGE, Michael Angelo Batio and Ron Jarzombek.

In 2018, Chris created an artist management firm Kintsugi Management.

FIRSTBORNE is:

Vocals: Girish Pradhan
Guitar: Myrone
Bass: James LoMenzo
Drums: Chris Adler

Canadian metallers ARRIVAL OF AUTUMN will release their second full-length album, "Kingdom Undone", on May 26 via Nuclear Blast Records. The band began recording the LP in August of 2021 at Mark Lewis Studios in Hendersonville, Tennessee and at its own studio in Grande Prairie, Alberta, Canada, and concluded in December 2021. The album was engineered by the band and Mark Lewis, who also was in charge of producing, mixing and mastering. The artwork for the album was created by Travis Smith.

The official music video for the LP's second single, "Ghosts", can be seen below.

ARRIVAL OF AUTUMN drummer Ty Fox comments: "Lyrically 'Ghosts' is the heaviest song we’ve ever written and it points the finger at religious entities that have never once taken proper responsibility for their actions. To this day. the church continues its role in lying, extortion, and its disgusting treatment of children and continues to protect the people who hurt them. 'Ghosts' touches on the dark history of Canada and the genocide committed against the indigenous people in the residential school system. We chose not to talk over them as it's their story to tell but we do point the finger at those responsible. We had to end up censoring the music video as it was too disturbing but it is nowhere near as disturbing as the atrocities of any organized religion."

"Kingdom Undone" track listing:

01. Scars
02. Your Fiction
03. Trust
04. Ghosts
05. Hell Comes Home
06. One More Day
07. Liminal
08. Burn
09. Who The Masters Serve
10. Bury Me
11. Hallowed

ARRIVAL OF AUTUMN previously said about the new LP: "After many obstacles and times of uncertainty, we are reenergized, refocused and ready to finally show the world what we have been working on! 'Kingdom Undone' is ARRIVAL OF AUTUMN firing on all cylinders. This is our masterpiece."

ARRIVAL OF AUTUMN is:

Jamison Friesen - Vocals
Brendan Anderson - Guitar
Ryan Sorensen - Guitar
Liam Frith - Bass
Ty Fox - Drums

Florida death metal legends, Obituary, have released a new spatial audio version of their 2023 album, Dying Of Everything. The album, available as a new Dolby Atmos mix, is streaming everywhere that supports spatial audio and compatible devices including Apple Music, Tidal & Amazon Music. In a new step forward for unforgiving death metal, Dying of Everything's spatial audio mix allows for more immersion, providing an advanced surround sound experience.





Regarding the new mix, which was developed at Morrisound by Tom and Jim Morris, Obituary comments: “We were so excited to get the call and have the opportunity to go back to Morrisound and work with Tom and Jim Morris for these mixes and very proud that we are one of the first metal bands to offer this modern technology to our fans with Dying of Everything. It’s hard to even describe the Atmos mixes of the new album. It’s really just something you have to experience for yourself to understand the technology and the amazing, epic sound it gives the songs. This is new technology that we know not everybody has access to but it is something we are super excited about and hope that fans are able to check it out and enjoy it. It is unbelievable!"




Dying Of Everything is available on LP/CD/CS/Digital via Relapse Records. Order the album here.





Tracklisting:


"Barely Alive"
"The Wrong Time"
"Without A Conscience"
"War"
"Dying Of Everything"
"My Will To Live"
"By The Dawn"
"Weaponize The Hate"
"Torn Apart"
"Be Warned"


Album stream:





“My Will To Live" lyric video:





"The Wrong Time" video:





Obituary recently announced the Barely-A-Live-Stream, happening from the band’s RedNeckStudio on April 22 & 23. The band will be performing fan favourites from their historic discography on April 22 and performing their new album, Dying Of Everything, in full on April 23.


For tickets and further details, head here.





Obituary also announced spring North American tour dates. The tour begins April 28 and ends in late May. Support will be provided by Immolation, Blood Incantation, and Ingrown. A full list of tour dates is available below, and tickets are on sale here.





Tour dates:


April
28 - Charlotte, NC - The Underground
29 - Virginia Beach, VA - Elevation 27


May
1 - Baltimore, MD - Baltimore Soundstage
2 - Philadelphia, PA - Brooklyn Bowl
4 - New York, NY - Irving Plaza
5 - Boston, MA - The Middle East
6 - Montreal, QC - Theatre Fairmount
7 - Toronto, ON - The Phoenix Concert Theatre
9 - Chicago, IL - Metro
10 - Minneapolis, MN - Fine Line
11 - Omaha, NE - The Waiting Room *
12 - Englewood, CO - Gothic Theatre *
13 - Salt Lake City, UT - The Complex
15 - Seattle, WA - El Corazon
16 - Portland, OR - Hawthorne Theatre
18 - Berkley, CA - UC Theatre
19 - Los Angeles, CA - The Fonda Theatre
20 - Mesa, AZ - Nile Theater
22 - Austin, TX - Mohawk
23 - Dallas, TX - Granada Theatre
24 - Houston, TX - White Oak Music Hall
26 - St. Louis, MO - Red Flag
28 - Louisville, KY - The Mercury Music Hall


* no Immolation


(Photo - Tim Hubbard)

Warlord, the legendary cult US metal band formed in 1980, announced today that they will undertake a limited number of special shows in 2024 to celebrate both the legacy of the band, as well as the music and memory of founding guitarist. William J Tsamis, who sadly passed away in May 2021.


40 years after the release of both the seminal Deliver Us MLP and the classic And The Cannons Of Destruction Have Begun full-length album, Warlord will perform a set with a focus on the earlier material that shaped and influenced what we know now as epic heavy metal, becoming one of the sub-genre's most important pioneers. The limited number of those special shows celebrating Warlord's and William J Tsamis' legacy, will be extremely emotional for both the performers and the fans, who will once again experience the music that marked part of their lives and their emotions. Those special 2024 shows will be built around that feeling and bringing it back, and not as a "reunion act".


The special touring lineup will be:




Mark Zonder - Drums
Giles Lavery - Vocals
Philip Bynoe - Bass
Jimmy Waldo - Keys


The guitarist position will be revealed at a later date. Says Mark, "We will be using guest players whom we will reveal later. Bill is irreplaceable"


The band offered the following comments...


Mark Zonder: "Rising out of the ashes once again."


Giles Lavery: "It has been 10 years since I performed with Warlord in Germany and for the amazing fans in Greece, I am excited to have the opportunity to sing these great songs again... in memory of our friend Bill and together with all Warlord fans, in celebration of the band's everlasting legacy."


Philip Bynoe: "It will be great to pay tribute to Bill and to play the old songs with the band. The fans will enjoy seeing and hearing us perform on the big stage."


Jimmy Waldo: "In between touring and recording with Alcatrazz I am very excited to be part of these special shows. I will be staying true to the original Warlord tradition in every way."


Further announcements will be made, as well as other exciting news in the coming months. Stay tuned.


Interested promoters should contact:


- mark@markzonder.com
- contact@glm-artists.com

Alice Cooper has released more remastered video footage from his Brutally Live tour. Joining the previously released "Brutal Planet" is the fully remastered video for "Go To Hell". The videod were filmed at London's Hammersmith Apollo in 2000. The Brutally Live tour followed the release of the studio album, Brutal Planet, a great collection of songs showing Alice Cooper embracing the harder side of heavy rock.


Watch both clips below:










The Alice Cooper North American tour, with an all-new show dubbed "Too Close For Comfort," kicks off in late April in Michigan and continues through late September, including a handful of August stadium shows with Def Leppard and Motley Crue, followed by a co-headlining late summer "Freaks On Parade" tour with Rob Zombie.


For tickets + VIP information, head here.





Tour dates:


April
28 - Mt. Pleasant, MI - Soaring Eagle Casino + Resort
29 - Youngstown, OH - Covelli Centre
30 - Hershey, PA - The Hershey Theater


May
2 - Fort Wayne, IN - Allen County War Memorial Coliseum
3 - Milwaukee, WI - Miller High Life Theatre
5 - Prior Lake, MN - Mystic Lake Mystic Showroom
6 - Bemidji, MN - Sanford Center
7 - Sioux City, IA - Tyson Events Center
9 - Champaign, IL - State Farm Center
10 - Louisville, KY - Louisville Palace Theater
13 - Knoxville, TN - The Tennessee Theatre
14 - Spartanburg, SC - Spartanburg Memorial Auditorium
15 - North Charleston, SC - Performing Arts Center
17 - Shreveport, LA - Shreveport Municipal Auditorium
18 - Biloxi, MS - Beau Rivage Theatre
20 - Daytona Beach, FL - Welcome to Rockville*
 
* Festival


With Def Leppard and Mötley Crüe:


August
5 - Syracuse, NY - JMA Wireless Dome
8 - Columbus, OH - The Ohio State University Ohio Stadium
11 - Fargo, ND - Fargodome
13 - Omaha, NE - Charles Schwab Field Omaha
16 - Tulsa, OK - Skelly Field at H.A. Chapman Stadium
18 - El Paso, TX - Sun Bowl Stadium





Freaks On Parade Tour with Rob Zombie:


August
24 - Dallas, TX - Dos Equis Pavilion
26 - Tampa, FL - MIDFLORIDA Credit Union Amphitheatre
27 - West Palm Beach, FL - iTHINK Financial Amphitheatre
29 - Raleigh, NC - Coastal Credit Union Music Park at Walnut Creek
30 - Virginia Beach, VA - Veterans United Home Loans Amphitheater


September
1 - Tinley Park, IL - Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre
2 - Des Moines, IA - Wells Fargo Arena
5 - Clarkston, MI - Pine Knob Music Theatre
6 - Toronto, ON - Budweiser Stage
8 - Scranton, PA - The Pavilion at Montage Mountain
9 - Wantagh, NY - Northwell Health at Jones Beach Theater
10 - Hartford, CT - The XFINITY Theatre
12 - Nashville, TN - Bridgestone Arena
16 - Englewood, CO - Fiddler's Green Amphitheatre *
19 - Ridgefield, WA - RV Inn Style Resorts Amphitheater
20 - Auburn, WA - White River Amphitheatre
22 - Concord, CA - Concord Pavilion
23 - Anaheim, CA - Honda Center
24 - Phoenix, AZ - Talking Stick Resort Amphitheatre

The clip below features Firewind guitarist Gus G. running through his solo instrumental track, "Enigma Of Life". It is taken from his 2021 solo album, Quantum Leap.





Gus G., Michael Angelo Batio, Rowan Robertson, and Andy Martongelli are teaming up for the upcoming Electric Guitarlands tour.




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.


Dates:


April
20 - Druso - Bergamo, Italy
21 - Borderline - Pisa, Italy
22 - Crossroad - Roma, Italy
27 - Bochnia Rocks - Bochnia, Poland
28 - Collosseum - Kosice, Czech Republic
30 - Smer klub 77 - Zilina, Slovakia


May
2 - Reigen Live - Vienna, Austria
3 - Analog Live Hall - Budapest, Hungary
4 - Bounty Rock Caffe - Olomouc, Czech Republic
5 - MDS - Kolin, Czech Republic
6 - Neuberinhaus - Reichenbach in Vogtland, Germany
7 - The Pitcher - Dusseldorf, Germany
8 - Meisenfrei - Bremen, Germany
10 - South Of Heaven - Bilzen, Belgium
20 - Teatro Mercantini - Ripatransone, Italy


For tickets and further information, head here.

The hvymtlmom YouTube channel has uploaded video of DEICIDE's April 7 concert at Conduit in Winter Park, Florida. You can watch the clips below.

During an appearance on a recent episode of "The Jasta Show", the video podcast hosted by HATEBREED frontman Jamey Jasta, Glen Benton spoke about the status of DEICIDE's long-awaited new studio album. He said: "Well, we signed a new deal with one of these record companies out there. I guess I'm not at liberty to say anything, who it is yet; [they're] gonna announce it soon. Yeah, man, we've had the album in the works, but we got stuck doing this whole 'Legion' [30th-anniversary celebration] thing, and it kind of put the record to the backburner. So now it's out of the way, and we're really… I'm in the process of writing lyrics right now."

Regarding what he and his bandmates were looking for in a record deal, Glen said: "We wanted a one-record deal, man, with a big pile of money to get it done. And we got it… We get to both walk away after it. I think it kind of puts people to do a better job and to promote it better. I think it's gonna be a lot better experience for us. We've always had these multi-record deals that we've had to do. And you know as well as I do, after the first record, you're, like, 'What did I do?' It was a toss-up between doing it like this and just doing it ourselves. And me and Steve [Asheim, DEICIDE drummer] don't wanna lick envelopes and put stamps on shit. So that's why we went this route."

Last August, Benton told "The Garza Podcast" that DEICIDE's new music "is really anthem-style stuff. It's really good, man. There's a lot of prog stuff in there, mixed in there. Steve's our prog guy, man; he's the progressive rock guy. He likes to write those really black metal riffs and the progressive stuff. He's an amazing talent, man. He plays piano. He can play sweeps on guitar. He's a drummer. Yeah, he can do it all."

Benton went on to say that the next DEICIDE album was written in 2021 before he and his bandmates agreed to embark on a tour celebrating the 30th anniversary of DEICIDE's sophomore album, "Legion". But, he explained, "We're getting ready to hammer this deal out right now and get this thing out."

DEICIDE played its first show with new guitarist guitarist Taylor Nordberg (THE ABSENCE, INHUMAN CONDITION) on May 21, 2022 at the Rickshaw Theatre in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

A little over a year ago, Nordberg spoke about how he landed the DEICIDE gig in an interview with "The Zach Moonshine Show". He said: "In 2019, my band THE ABSENCE toured with DEICIDE in the U.S. And we got to know the guys and got along really well. And I actually found out that Glen lives, like, two streets over from Jeramie [Kling, THE ABSENCE drummer] and I, where we live. So Jeramie and Glen became good buddies and they ride bikes all the times. It's a funny little thing, thinking about that. But long story short, [previous DEICIDE guitarist] Chris [Cannella], I believe he's the head of A&R at Dean Guitars so he's focusing on that for right now. I heard that they needed a guitar player, so I learned a couple of songs, made a couple of videos, and Glen saw 'em and liked what he saw. So we had a couple of practices, and bing bang boom, here we are."

Cannella amicably left DEICIDE in January 2022 after a three-year run.

Chris joined DEICIDE in 2019 following the departure of guitarist Mark English.

English became a member of DEICIDE in 2016 after the exit of longtime guitarist Jack Owen.

In February 2022, Nordberg was asked in an interview with the "Brews N Tunes" podcast if he and his new bandmates had commenced work on the follow-up to "Overtures Of Blasphemy" album. He responded: "They had started most of the new album before I joined, but since announcing [that we are going to celebrate the 30th anniversary of] 'Legion' [by performing the LP in its entirety], we've kind of shifted gears and we're trying to lock that in and get a set prepped just in the event that a show pops up. But they have most of the new album prepped, and then we're hammering out, ironing out some details with the last couple songs. But the material is sounding killer. It sounds like DEICIDE."

"Overtures Of Blasphemy" was released in September 2018 via Century Media.

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 Toyah and Robert talk us through that episode we can never unsee - Robert in a TuTu!"







The couple recently posted the video below, stating: “Are you ready for this week, it's the episode that the most used screenshot came from, it's the image that appears in pretty much every news article about Sunday Lunch!"

BMG has set a June 2, 2023 release date for the 40th-anniversary super deluxe edition of BLACK SABBATH's "Live Evil".

This new edition of "Live Evil" was remixed by Wyn Davis and remastered for the 40th anniversary and includes a 1982 "The Mob Rules" tour replica hardback concert book, a 40-page book with photos, artwork and liner notes and a 1982 "The Mob Rules" tour replica color poster. It will be available as a 4CD and 4LP set.

This iconic collection captures the raw energy and heavy metal mastery of the SABBATH lineup of the lineup of Ronnie James Dio (vocals),Tony Iommi (guitar),Geezer Butler (bass) and Vinny Appice (drums),with classic tracks like "War Pigs", "Iron Man" and "Paranoid" among the highlights.

BLACK SABBATH, one of the most prominent and influential faces of the 1970s rock topography were, by the decade's end, a band in disarray. Once the masters of their own reality, the Birmingham four-piece were now battle-weary veterans, wearing the deep scars of a near-ten-year album-tour-album cycle. BLACK SABBATH's then-latest album, "Never Say Die!", released in September 1978, would transpire to be their final studio recording with Ozzy Osbourne, who in less than a year, would no longer be with the band.

The loss of the iconic voice might have signaled the end of the band. But, that wasn't to be the case…

Dio, RAINBOW's founding lead vocalist whose lion's roar had taken the band to gold and platinum status, also parted company with the Ritchie Blackmore-led outfit. Several phone calls later and a chance meeting in, of all places, the Rainbow Bar & Grill on Sunset Boulevard in West Hollywood, Iommi invited Dio to join the remaining members of BLACK SABBATH for an impromptu rehearsal. Within fifteen minutes and one brand new song later ("Children Of The Sea"),a new era of BLACK SABBATH was born.

The resultant album releases over the next few years proved without question, that this match was one without peer and succeeded without question in carrying the name of BLACK SABBATH (later with Appice replacing Bill Ward on drums) proudly into the new decade. With an accompanying soundtrack featuring some of the most exciting and dramatic heavy metal to ever grace a studio or stage, BLACK SABBATH rose once more to a place of highest regard within elite rock circles.

Such was the chemistry between these players, that two reformations of this BLACK SABBATH lineup have since been made, the second of which, starting in 2007 and ending with Dio's death in 2010, went under the title of that first ground-breaking album, "Heaven And Hell".

1982's "Live Evil" caught a band at the height of its powers.

"Live Evil" super deluxe edition track listing:

CD1: 2023 Remaster

01. E5150 (Live)
02. Neon Knights (Live)
03. N.I.B. (Live)
04. Children Of The Sea (Live)
05. Voodoo (Live)
06. Black Sabbath (Live)
07. War Pigs (2023 Remaster)
08. Iron Man (Live)

CD2: 2023 Remaster

01. The Mob Rules (Live)
02. Heaven And Hell (Live)
03. The Sign Of The Southern Cross / Heaven And Hell (Continued) (Live)
04. Paranoid (Live)
05. Children Of The Grave (Live)
06. Fluff (Live)

CD3: 2023 Remix

01. E5150 (Live In Seattle, April 24, 1982)
02. Neon Knights (Live In Seattle, April 24, 1982)
03. N.I.B. (Live In San Antonio, May 13, 1982)
04. Children Of The Sea (Live In San Antonio, May 13, 1982)
05. Voodoo (Live In San Antonio, May 13, 1982)
06. Black Sabbath (Live In Dallas, May 12, 1982)
07. War Pigs / Drum Solo (Live In San Antonio, May 13, 1982)
08. Iron Man (Live In San Antonio, May 13, 1982)

CD4: 2023 Remix

01. The Mob Rules (Live In Seattle, April 24, 1982)
02. Heaven And Hell (Live In San Antonio, May 13, 1982)
03. The Sign Of The Southern Cross / Heaven And Hell (Continued) (Live In San Antonio, May 13, 1982)
04. Paranoid (Live In San Antonio, May 13, 1982)
05. Children Of The Grave (Live In Fresno, April 18, 1982)
06. Fluff (Live In Fresno, April 18, 1982)

In a new interview with Jeff Gaudiosi of MisplacedStraws.com, vocalist Zak Stevens spoke about the status of SAVATAGE, the cult metal band which resurfaced in 2015 for an appearance at Germany's Wacken Open Air festival but hasn't performed live since then. He said: "We got a lot of work done at the end of last year with SAVATAGE. In 2015, we came together and played Wacken, with TSO [TRANS-SIBERIAN ORCHESTRA] andSAVATAGE at the same time. Very aggressive. That was cool. And then the idea was to come back and play and do another record. So we're still on target for that. We got more work done coming into this year… When we were all there playing with TSO, we all just got to meet and get together and have meetings. And I was very excited about that. So we're making progress.

"I have to tell everybody, just on the SAVATAGE side, keep being patient, 'cause we're doing everything we can," Zak explained. "We got a few things outside of our control, but it's not a big deal, and we're just kind of working through those. And we got the music rolling. We're working on a lot. It's abundant, I'll say that. So everybody's got a job to do.

"That's one area that I would like to see really develop — get SAVATAGE back out there," Stevens added. "It came to my mind when I was talking about playing festivals — that's the perfect way. If we came out with this album, we can go straight to doing that, and it would make so many people happy, including everybody in the band and people who've been waiting for SAVATAGE to do something else."

Asked if he is ever surprised that people are still interested in SAVATAGE, Zak said: "It's amazing. It's a blessing, is what it is. We have our job to do. I just want everybody to know we're doing everything we can. We got a few little things on the management, the label side, try to make a few decisions, but we're just real blessed that that's still the case — that there is such a demand out there for the band. For me, it's kind of everything that my career is based on. That was the first major band I was in, being the second singer for SAVATAGE. So there would be nothing greater than to get everything rolling again."

Zak joined SAVATAGE in 1992 as the replacement of original vocalist Jon Oliva. Zak sang on four albums with the band — "Edge Of Thorns" (1993),"Handful Of Rain" (1994),"Dead Winter Dead" (1995) and "The Wake Of Magellan" (1997) — before departing in 2000, allowing Jon to return. Both Jon and Zak took part in the aforementioned Wacken Open Air performance, which marked the band's first, and only so far, appearance on stage since they went on hiatus back in 2002.

SAVATAGE's last album release, "Poets And Madmen", in 2001 was highlighted by Jon's return as lead vocalist, replacing Zak, who left the band citing family reasons, and the departure of guitarist Al Pitrelli, who accepted an offer to join MEGADETH in 2000. Pitrelli did record solos for some songs prior to his departure. Another very limited U.S. tour followed, supported by FATES WARNING in the early shows, and then NEVERMORE for the remainder. Around this time, Jon chose Zak's replacement in the form of Damond Jiniya (DIET OF WORMS). Damond performed Zak's parts on tour, with Jon having an increased vocal role in proceedings.

Back in January 2022, Chris Caffery, who has been a member of SAVATAGE for more than 30 years, told Sea Of Tranquility about the possibility of new music from the band: "I started working on stuff with [Jon]; he started working on stuff with Al. We have a bunch of pieces to a puzzle now. I think that we all have some really cool music, and if it does happen, it'll be a fun SAVATAGE album. It'll be a good way to celebrate everything we did.'

In the spring of 2021, Jon Oliva told That Metal Interview that he had been working with Caffery and Pitrelli on new SAVATAGE material "over the last couple of years." Oliva went on to say that he and his SAVATAGE bandmates "would all love" to make a new studio album. "But there's no deal with a record company to do it," he explained. "There's no plan — actual plan — saying we're gonna start recording SAVATAGE. There's no plan like that. All we're doing, as being musicians and songwriters, is we're compiling new material. So if we do get, 'Hey, why don't you guys do this? We've got a company that wants to give you guys [a deal], we're gonna be prepared.

"A lot of the fans, which it makes me upset, because SAVATAGE fans, I love them so much, because they have never, ever turned their backs on SAVATAGE — ever. And I just don't want to lead them down a road of false shit," he added. "If something happens where we say, 'Okay, we're ready to do this. Let's do it, guys,' I will be the first person to make a professional press release to tell everybody. But I just don't want to, because it's not solidified in stone right now. Do we wanna do it? You bet your fucking ass we wanna do It. But do we have the material for it? You bet your fucking ass we have enough material for another 10-year run. But all I can say is if we do a SAVATAGE thing, it's gonna fuck you people up — it's gonna be fucking blowaway."

In September 2021, Jon Oliva was arrested on the west central coast of Florida for driving under the influence as well as possession of a controlled substance. Police charged Oliva with possession of cocaine, which is a felony, and DUI, which is a misdemeanor.

Back in 2016, Jon announced on social media that he suffered a stroke in April of that year. At the time, he said: "It was not as serious as it could have been, but it did leave me with some physical recovery challenges often associated with strokes."

Despite his health issues, Jon said that he didn't regret the way he had lived his life. He wrote: "I lived the rock 'n' roll lifestyle since I was 18. It's all I knew and I enjoyed the ride very much. But there comes a time in everyone's life where you have to step back and make some life-changing decisions... which I have."

Shortly after SAVATAGE's reunion performance at the 2015 Wacken Open Air festival in Wacken, Germany, Oliva claimed that he felt better than he had in 20 years because he had "stopped drinking and eating" in preparation for the concert. He explained: "It's my voice that's freaking me out, because, even when I was in my late 20s, early 30s, doing songs like '24 Hours Ago' were always really hard to do. And, of course, I didn't realize that it was all the drugs and alcohol I was doing. But, after doing that, getting my act together and stuff, singing '24 Hours Ago', it's actually easy now. [Laughs]"

In addition to his work with SAVATAGE, Oliva is well known for co-creating the classical music-meets-prog rock and pyro act TRANS-SIBERIAN ORCHESTRA alongside the project's founder Paul O'Neill. Oliva has reportedly remained involved in TSO's activities even after O'Neill's April 2017 death of an accidental drug overdose.

Jon's brother Criss, who was one of the founding members of SAVATAGE, was killed in October 1993 by a drunk driver when he and his wife Dawn were en route to the Livestock festival in Zephyrhills, Florida. The driver of the other car was found to have a drunk driving record of seven prior DUIs and having a blood alcohol content of .294 percent.

In addition to SAVATAGE, Zak has been the singer of several other bands and projects, including ARCHON ANGEL, CIRCLE II CIRCLE and the aforementioned TRANS-SIBERIAN ORCHESTRA.

In a new interview with Radioactive MikeZ, host of the 96.7 KCAL-FM program "Wired In The Empire", SYSTEM OF A DOWN bassist Shavo Odadjian spoke in more detail about his upcoming debut solo album.

The 48-year-old Armenian-American musician, born Shavarsh Odadjian, is working on the LP with WINDS OF PLAGUE guitarist Michael Montoya (a.k.a. MorgothBeatz),a producer and songwriter who has previously collaborated with Travis Barker, JuiceWrld, Lil Xan, Jonathan Davis, ISSUES and many more.

"I started this solo project with MorgothBeatz; he's my producer and he's also the guitar player for the group," Shavo said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET). "And it's called SHAVO, but it's heavy. I'm back to my roots — no hip-hop. I think it's the heaviest I've ever been, and it's just flowing out of me.

"We have a track with — I'm gonna say it — Jonathan Davis [of KORN]," Shavo revealed. "I'm working on that one right now. We have the choruses and the first verse, and I'm gonna do a little breakdown, and I think we've got one. That's 12 — number 12. So we're 12 songs into the solo record. I'm very excited about that."

Regarding the writing and recording process for his solo album, Shavo said: "I'm recording bass and guitar. And then I have the drums being programmed at the moment, but I'm gonna have a live drummer on the record… And it's sounding crazy. I swear, I wouldn't even talk about it if I didn't believe in it so much.

"I go in, [MorgothBeatz] plays a beat, and I just write," he explained. "And then we record everything I write, and then we put it together and it becomes something. And it's fucking cool as hell. It's this cool artistic freedom I'm having in the studio."

As for a possible release date for his solo LP, Shavo said: "I'm thinking late this year, early next year. I'm gonna shop it and get a label for this one. I'm not doing it on my own. I think it needs a good push, because it's what you want to hear from me. It really is. If you know what I've done in the past, then you know the songs I had a part in writing. It's a little of [SYSTEM OF A DOWN's] 'Toxicity' all throughout this record — that kind of shit. You wanna bang your head, you wanna run in the pit, you wanna go crazy, but you wanna smile while you're doing it and not be angry."

Asked if he is planning on touring with his solo project, Odadjian said: "For sure. I'm gonna take this on the road… The SHAVO project is something that I wanna tour with for as long as I can and blow up, because I feel like it's something that can. And like I said, it's my DNA — it's what you'd expect from me."

SYSTEM OF A DOWN has toured intermittently since ending its hiatus in 2011, but has only managed to record two songs in the last 17 years, "Protect The Land" and "Genocidal Humanoidz". Released in November 2020, the tracks were motivated by the conflict between Artsakh and Azerbaijan, with all proceeds supporting humanitarian efforts in SYSTEM OF A DOWN's ancestral homeland of Armenia. Along with other donations from fans on their social pages, they have raised over $600,000.

In 2018, SYSTEM OF A DOWN guitarist Daron Malakian publicly accused singer Serj Tankian of not wanting to record, with Tankian responding that creative and financial issues with Malakian led to the stalemate. In a message on Facebook, Tankian wrote that Malakian wanted to control SYSTEM's creative process, take more of the publishing money and be the only bandmember to speak to the press.

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In a new interview with Jesse and JD of CJAY 92 and Canada's iHeartRadio, Robert Trujillo was asked if he thinks METALLICA is a band that will always continue to write and record new music. The bassist responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "One of the blessings and the curses for us is that we have so many musical ideas, like new ideas, and we enjoy making records. A lot of bands that have been around as long as METALLICA, they actually, at some point, kind of hit a roadblock or they have a hard time creating at that level. And I feel that we're a band… I mean, I wish we would do it more often and not have to wait so long, but we're a band that has a lot of ideas, a lot of riffs, a lot of music. And if you're looking at Kirk's [Hammett, METALLICA guitarist] allotment of riffs, it's like hundreds. Or mine or James [Hetfield, METALLICA guitarist/vocalist]… You can only do so much. So we actually don't have enough albums for all the ideas we have."

He continued: "So I would imagine, yeah, we're gonna keep making new music. And if you listen to the new album ['72 Seasons'], I think it's the best one — definitely the best one that I've done, since I've been in the band. So, there's no shortage of new music for the future. It's just having the time to do it. That's a whole another story."

Trujillo, who was born on October 23, 1964 in Santa Monica, California, tasted success as the bassist in punk-funk pioneers SUICIDAL TENDENCIES and Ozzy Osbourne's band. But in 2003, he successfully auditioned to replace Jason Newsted in METALLICA, a process chronicled in the warts-and-all documentary "Some Kind of Monster".

"72 Seasons" will be released April 14 via the band's own Blackened Recordings. Produced by Greg Fidelman with Hetfield and drummer Lars Ulrich, and clocking in at over 77 minutes, the 12-track "72 Seasons" is METALLICA's first full-length collection of new material since 2016's "Hardwired…To Self-Destruct". The album will be released in formats, including 2LP 140g black vinyl and limited-edition variants, CD and digital.

METALLICA and Trafalgar Releasing will hold a worldwide "72 Seasons" listening party. For one night only on Thursday, April 13, "72 Seasons" will be played in full in surround sound, exclusively for cinema audiences worldwide — with every one of the new songs featuring its own music video and exclusive commentary from the band.

The "72 Seasons" global premiere sees METALLICA and Trafalgar joining forces once more, having previously worked together on the October 2019 worldwide cinematic release of "S&M²", which documented METALLICA and San Francisco Symphony reuniting to celebrate the 20th anniversary of their original "S&M" (Symphony & Metallica) concerts and releases.

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".

SABATON bassist and co-founder Pär Sundström, who also serves as the group's manager, spoke to Forbes about how he and his bandmates have managed to not only survive but thrive as fans choose to stream songs online rather than purchase them.

According to Sundström, ownership of the SABATON brand has always been key, with the group owning its masters and publishing, a viable revenue stream for a band that has eclipsed two billion streams regardless of the state of physical album sales.

"I know bands who signed contracts in, let's say, the pre-digital era," he said. "And they signed contracts where they have a royalty rate based on physical sales. In short term, the contract would cover the universe and beyond and give them the same royalty no matter what kind of format for a lifetime. When that translates into the digital era, it doesn't matter if you have millions of listeners on a song because you get almost nothing out of it.

"It's not a secret that the digital platforms pay very little per stream," he explained. "But it makes a huge difference if you are on the higher scale or lower scale of keeping that percentage for yourself as opposed to all of the other labels and publishers who take their cut. So, when we own it, we can decide where we want to be on the scale. And when it bumps up to the billions, yeah, that bumps up pretty nicely."

According to USA Today, Spotify doesn't pay the artists directly but instead pays the rights holders, who pay the artists. Roughly two-thirds of the Spotify revenue from music goes to rights holders. Rights holders are the licensor the artist pays to represent them and upload their music to Spotify — often record labels or distributors. This money is divided into recording royalties (paid to the artist via licensor) and publishing royalties, which goes to the songwriters or owners of the song. Artists are paid different amounts depending on the contracts they have with their rights holders.

According to Business Insider, Spotify pays artists and rights holders on average between $0.003 and $0.005 per stream. On average, one billion streams on Spotify can generate around $7.8 million in revenue for the artist. As stated above, however, it's important to note that this revenue is typically split between the artist, their record label, and other stakeholders involved in the production and distribution of the music.

Back in 2016, Sundström spoke to From Hero To Zero about how the digital music revolution has affected SABATON. He said: "You know, I think we came in the right time for this, 'cause we came in a time when we were interested in that too. I was a lot into computers before starting the band, so I was following the development of the Internet and stuff like that. At the age of 13, I was building servers and connecting them to Internet and writing my own software for that. And that was that time. And a couple of years later, the Internet started to provide, like, 'Oh, you can actually download some music here.' I found it very interesting, even though at that time I was buying tons of CDs all the time and stuff, but it was still exciting to see what you could do with it. So I was following the scene very closely."

He continued: "SABATON was never a big band before this whole thing changed, the music scene, so we have only seen the possibilities of using this, and we have used it. So while we have a lot of colleagues who have lost sales and no longer see their hundreds of thousands or millions of sales that they had in the past, we never had that. So every album for us is better and better. So I've seen the change, I've been part of it, and I find it very exciting. There's no way to change it. I think the most stupid of all things was the people who tried to fight against it instead of evolving towards it. 'Cause if this can be seen as one of the biggest revolutions that ever happened in the world, you have billions of people who want something, and then you have only very, very few who try to stand against it, try to prevent people from getting what they want. And since when [does] that happen? You need superior a lot if you wanna be just a few people who try to control billions, you know. It's not gonna work. So I think that a lot of labels and a lot of managers and a lot of people, they were too old. If they would have been growing up in times, seeing things… being part of this thing as we were, the music industry would have adapted much quicker and learned a way to earn money from it, 'cause there should be."

Last September, SABATON announced a new EP trilogy titled "Echoes Of The Great War". The trilogy features new songs specifically about World War I, coupled with topically related catalog music.

SABATON climbed the international charts with its tenth studio album, "The War To End All Wars", securing No. 1 positions in Germany, Austria, Sweden, Poland, Hungary and Finland. Having achieved the top position for the second time in Germany, Sweden and Finland, the album peaked at No. 1 in Poland, Hungary and Austria for the first time in the band’s career. This and additional outstanding results in other territories have made "The War To End All Wars" SABATON's most successful album so far.

Photo credit: Tim Tronckoe

Tracii Guns says Phil Lewis almost quit L.A. GUNS at the end of 2022 after the departure of the band's most recent manager.

In a recent interview with BLABBERMOUTH.NET, Guns discussed some of his personal problems with Lewis stemming from the legal battle over the L.A. GUNS name with former drummer Steve Riley. "When Phil and I were younger, we had a go at each other on the internet, which was very cringeworthy," he said. "I don't even want to go back into it with each other. [Laughs] That stems from, now that I'm very therapized, it stems from a lot of pain that each one of us has. We always had a great relationship, but somebody else always seemed to muddy the water and drive the wedge between Phil and me. We had this conversation again because our manager quit at the end of the year. Phil almost left. I get on the phone and ask, 'What's the problem?' He's, like, 'Well, [the manager] was this buffer between you and me.' I go, 'Haven't you noticed that every time we get in this position, it's because of somebody else? Somebody else is there and being selfish about something that they don't feel they're being rewarded for, so they'll point the fingers at you or me.' He, very quickly, turned around and was like, 'Yeah. You're right.' The strength of L.A. GUNS lies with Phil and me."

Lewis touched upon the nature of his working relationship with Guns in a recent interview with Sonic Perspectives. He said: "The combination of the two of us, it's great chemistry. We do have a bit of friction there, and that's all right; I think the best of 'em do — [Pete] Townshend and Roger Daltrey, and Joe [Perry] and Steven [Tyler]. There's something about that Cain and Abel thing, slightly dysfunctional brother thing going that we have, and it certainly keeps things interesting."

During a separate appearance on the "Rockin' Interviews" podcast, Phil stated about his renewed collaboration with Tracii: "The reunion [between us happened] about five, six years ago. And the way we were [when we decided to work with each other again] was very similar to the early days when I first joined the band back then; it was about '87. And we'd spent a long time apart. We hadn't spoken to each other in 15 years. And that's so crazy. And our objective is to make up for lost time, which is why we've banged out four records in five years. And the dynamics there… L.A. GUNS is a band, we kind of have a reputation for getting through bandmembers like Kleenex. I think we're up to, like, 58 people who can say that they've been in L.A. GUNS. But at the end of the day, it just comes down to two, and that's me and [Tracii]."

L.A. GUNS' new album, "Black Diamonds", will be released on April 14 via Frontiers Music Srl. This will be the fourth studio LP since the much-welcome reunion of the band's core foundation of Lewis and Guns. It will follow the well-received studio albums "The Missing Peace", "The Devil You Know" and "Checkered Past", plus the live release "Made In Milan", and a covers EP "Another Xmas In Hell".

Written and recorded over the course of 2022, "Black Diamonds" sees Guns, Lewis and company continuing on the same successful and inspiring sonic journey that they've been taking on "The Missing Peace", "The Devil You Know" and "Checkered Past". The band doesn't shy away from flexing its hard rock influences as it always has but also incorporates more introspective acoustic tracks reflective of its classic rock influences from the '70s.

BMG, in partnership with Rhino Entertainment, has announced "The Atlantic Years: 1984-1991" limited-edition box set celebrating RATT's massively successful period where all five of their studio albums were certified gold, platinum or multi-platinum. Due on June 9, the LP set features all five albums remastered on 180g black vinyl, rare "Nobody Rides For Free" seven-inch single, 1- page replica tour book (featuring rare and never-before-seen photos from RATT's personal archives),11"x17" "Wanted" poster, bumper sticker, replica backstage pass, and guitar pick in a custom lift top box. The CD set features all five of the studio albums in a side loading box.
All albums feature the classic RATT lineup of Stephen Pearcy (vocals),Warren DeMartini (guitars),Robbin Crosby (guitars),Juan Croucier (bass/vocals),and Bobby Blotzer (drums).

Formed in Los Angeles, RATT was featured as an unsigned act on "Uncle Joe Benson's Local Licks Drive Time" show on KLOS-FM. This was their first time on radio and led to their signing to Atlantic Records.

RATT exploded on to the national scene in 1984 with the release of "Out Of The Cellar". Featuring an undeniable hook and legendary music video, lead single "Round And Round" hit No. 12 on the Billboard Hot 100, while "Out Of The Cellar" reached No. 7 on the Billboard 200 and was certified triple platinum. Two more charting singles followed with "Back For More" and "Wanted Man". RATT started the tour as an opening act, but by the end of the tour had climbed to arena headliner.

RATT returned in 1985 with its second full-length album, "Invasion Of Your Privacy". Certified double platinum and also reaching No. 7 on the Billboard 200, "Invasion Of Your Privacy" also featured the classics "Lay It Down" (No. 40 on Billboard Hot 100) and "You're In Love".

"Dancing Undercover" followed in 1986 as RATT toured North America with a then-brand new Los Angeles band called POISON as the opening act. Lead single "Dance" hit the Billboard Hot 100 and spawned another music video hit with "Slip Of The Lip", while "Body Talk" was featured in a key scene in the Eddie Murphy film "The Golden Child". "Dancing Undercover" became RATT's third consecutive platinum album and reached No. 26 on the Billboard 200.

1988's "Reach For The Sky" saw RATT return to the Top 20 of the Billboard 200 album charts, peaking at No. 17. Driven by the bluesy hit and MTV favorite "Way Cool Jr.", "Reach For The Sky" was also certified platinum and became RATT's fourth album in a row to move well over a million copies. "I Want A Woman" was also a successful single and the video captured the excitement and energy of RATT live.

RATT released its last full-length record of the Atlantic era, "Detonator", in 1990. Music was changing, but "Detonator" was still a success, peaking at No. 23 on the Billboard 200 and going gold. It was the first RATT album to feature major outside songwriting contributions (Desmond Child, Diane Warren) and guests (Jon Bon Jovi, Michael Schenker). Lead single "Lovin' You's A Dirty Job" hit No. 18 on the rock chart while the power ballad "Giving Yourself Away" reached No. 39.

In 1991, they released the single "Nobody Rides For Free" from the hit film "Point Break", starring Keanu Reeves and Patrick Swayze, which is exclusive to the LP box.

"Out Of The Cellar" (1984)

01. Wanted Man (Cristofanilli/Crosby/Pearcy)
02. You're In Trouble (DeMartini/Pearcy/Crosby)
03. Round And Round (DeMartini/Pearcy/Crosby)
04. In Your Direction (Pearcy)
05. She Wants Money (Croucier)
06. Lack Of Communication (Croucier/Pearcy)
07. Back For More (Pearcy/Crosby)
08. The Morning After (DeMartini/Pearcy/Crosby)
09. I'm Insane (Crosby)
10. Scene Of The Crime (Crosby/Croucier)

"Invasion Of Your Privacy" (1985)

01. You're In Love (Croucier/Pearcy)
02. Never Use Love (Pearcy)
03. Lay It Down (DeMartini/Pearcy/Crosby/Croucier)
04. Give It All (Pearcy/Crosby)
05. Closer To My Heart (Crosby/Pearcy)
06. Between The Eyes (DeMartini/Pearcy)
07. What You Give Is What You Get (Croucier)
08. Got Me On The Line (Crosby/Pearcy)
09. You Should Know By Now (Crosby/Pearcy/Croucier)
10. Dangerous But Worth The Risk (DeMartini/Pearcy/Croucier)

"Dancing Undercover" (1986)

01. Dance (Pearcy/Crosby/DeMartini/Hill)
02. One Good Lover (Crosby/Pearcy)
03. Drive Me Crazy (Pearcy/Crosby/DeMartini/Blotzer)
04. Slip Of The Lip (DeMartini/Pearcy/Croucier)
05. Body Talk (DeMartini/Pearcy/Croucier)
06. Looking For Love (Crosby/Pearcy/Croucier)
07. 7th Avenue (DeMartini/Pearcy/Croucier)
08. It Doesn't Matter (Croucier/Pearcy)
09. Take A Chance (DeMartini/Pearcy/Crosby/Croucier)
10. Enough Is Enough (DeMartini/Pearcy/Crosby/Croucier)

"Reach For The Sky" (1988)

01. City To City (Pearcy/Crosby/DeMartini/Croucier/Hill)
02. I Want A Woman (Crosby/Pearcy/Croucier/Hill)
03. Way Cool Jr. (DeMartini/Pearcy/Hill)
04. Don't Bite The Hand That Feeds (Pearcy/Crosby/Croucier/Hill)
05. I Want To Love You Tonight (DeMartini/Crosby/Pearcy)
06. Chain Reaction (DeMartini/Pearcy/Croucier)
07. No Surprise (DeMartini/Pearcy)
08. Bottom Line (Croucier/Pearcy/DeMartini/Crosby/Hill)
09. What's It Gonna Be (Croucier/DeMartini/Crosby/Pearcy/Hill)
10. What I'm After (Croucier/Pearcy)

"Detonator" (1990)

01. Intro To Shame (DeMartini)
02. Shame Shame Shame (DeMartini/Pearcy/Child)
03. Lovin' You's A Dirty Job (DeMartini/Pearcy/Croucier/Child)
04. Scratch That Itch (Croucier/Pearcy/Child)
05. One Step Away (Blotzer/Pearcy/DeMartini/Croucier/Child)
06. Hard Time (DeMartini/Pearcy/Child)
07. Heads I Win, Tails You Lose (DeMartini/Pearcy/Child)
08. All Or Nothing (DeMartini/Pearcy/Crosby/Kilgore/Child)
09. Can't Wait On Love (Crosby/Croucier/DeMartini/Pearcy/Blotzer/Child)
10. Givin' Yourself Away (Child/Warren/Pearcy)
11. Top Secret (Pearcy/DeMartini/Child)

"Nobody Rides For Free" seven-inch single exclusive to LP box
(Caton/Pearcy/DeMartini/Croucier)

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

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

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

Appice, who previously played with Brown in a band called KILL DEVIL HILL, discussed his views on the PANTERA comeback in an interview with TotalRock. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "I always thought, even when Vinnie was alive — he was a good friend; rest in peace — I thought back then, 'Why don't they get Zakk in the band and go out and play this stuff?' Because it's classic stuff. People love the music; people love to hear it. So I'm happy they're doing it this way. I think they waited; they could have [done] it earlier. But I think it's great."

He continued: "I love Rex. Rex is a great, badass bass player. He blew out more amps than I ever have seen in my life. [He would] plug it in at rehearsal places, and he blew 'em out. He goes, 'Don't say anything. Let's get out of here.'"

Appice previously spoke about the PANTERA reunion in an October 2022 interview with Rocking With Jam Man. At that time, he said: "I think that's great. I always thought, years ago, when Dimebag passed that why don't they get the perfect guitar player, [which] is Zakk Wylde. But that's when Vinnie, his brother, was still alive, playing drums. And I always thought they should get Zakk, go out and play the music. But it's been so long now, now Vinnie's passed too. And Charlie's on drums, and he probably fits perfect. He's that kind of drummer. So it sounds like it's gonna be exciting."

Asked if he offered to play drums for the PANTERA comeback, Vinny said: "Oh, me? I don't play that stuff. I mean, I can play it, but I don't use double bass. I'm a heavy drummer, heavy player, heavy metal, but it's a different type. I mean, if they asked, I would have went down and checked it out. But I don't think I'd fit."

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

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

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

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

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

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

The members of EVANESCENCE have been presented with a diamond plaque commemorating sales and streams of ten million units in the United States of the band's debut album, "Fallen". The presentation took place when EVANESCENCE performed at the Crypto.com arena in Los Angeles Thursday night (April 6) as the support act for MUSE.

Earlier today (Friday, April 7),the EVANESCENCE social media shared a few photos of the members holding the "Fallen" diamond plaque, along with the following message: "Fallen is officially Diamond. Absolutely speechless, what an honor! Thank you for 20 incredible years".

The "Fallen" diamond-plaque presentation took place more than four months after the LP was certified diamond by the Recording Industry Association Of America (RIAA).

Led by the smash single "Bring Me To Life", which also appeared on the soundtrack to the movie "Daredevil", "Fallen" yielded three more singles with "Going Under", "My Immortal" and "Everybody's Fool". EVANESCENCE also won Grammys in 2004 for "Best New Artist" and "Best Hard Rock Performance".

Asked in a 2022 interview with Rock Sound if there were any plans for EVANESCENCE to commemorate "Fallen"'s 20th anniversary in 2023, singer Amy Lee said: "I do have an idea. It's gonna take a little bit of work. But I think it probably won't be what everybody expects. I think everybody just is, 'Oh, why don't you do a show that's, like, [playing] the album front to back?' We've been playing so many shows, I would rather do something that, to me… I don't know. I don't wanna give it away, in case it doesn't work out. Maybe I'll do nothing. Expect nothing, and then if I do something, you'll be really, really grateful. [Laughs]"

Amy also talked about the fact that "Bring Me To Life" experienced a resurgence last summer, 19 years after its original release. The song, which initially reached No. 5 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 and was EVANESCENCE's first U.K. No. 1 single, reached No. 1 on the U.S. iTunes chart in August 2022.

"It is satisfying," Lee said about the track's renewed popularity. "And it's cool now, because I remember a lot of the feeling in the beginning. It was so much about, like, 'What's next?' And, 'Are we gonna be able to make it?' And, 'Are we gonna be able to survive?' And, 'Are people gonna listen to our next song?' And, 'What about the next record?' And just getting to the next place always.

"There is an element to a song like 'Bring Me To Life' that didn't exist before, which is this nostalgia," she explained. "The song has grown live. It's something that we've added to. But part of how it's grown is with its history and with what it means to everybody in the room. It's not something new; it's just something that you already have known for so long that has a place in your heart. It's just able to be more than it would have been then. So I, in a lot of ways, love it more than I did."

The success of "Fallen" led to turmoil within the group, as founding guitarist Ben Moody left in late 2003, leaving Lee as the only original member of the band.

Lee continued with new members, and EVANESCENCE issued "The Open Door" in 2006. While a hit, it did not equal the sales of "Fallen". Lee told The Pulse Of Radio at the time that she wasn't concerned about matching the previous album's success. "I just haven't ever looked at it that way," she said. "'Fallen' is a great record, but I don't think you can try to match the success of another body of work. I think that's only gonna frustrate you. And if, honestly if what you really care about is record sales and money, there's no way you're gonna make a great piece of art, because then you're just gonna get all confused and make something ingenuine."

In February 2022, EVANESCENCE's music video for "Bring Me To Life" — which featured guest vocals from Paul McCoy of 12 STONES — surpassed one billion views on YouTube. The Philipp Stölzl-directed clip, which was uploaded to YouTube in December of 2009, was filmed in Romania in January 2003. It features Lee in a night gown and barefoot, in her room, inside a tall building in the city at night. The rest of the band is playing on a higher floor of the building.

In March 2021, Lee told Alternative Press that EVANESCENCE's original record label Wind Up threatened not to release "Fallen" if she and her bandmates didn't add a male voice to lead single "Bring Me To Life" to make it more palatable for radio.

EVANESCENCE's latest album, "The Bitter Truth", arrived in March 2021 via BMG. It was EVANESCENCE's first album of original music in ten years.

Photo credit: Travis Shinn

Fallen is officially Diamond. Absolutely speechless, what an honor! Thank you for 20 incredible years🖤🖤🖤

Posted by Evanescence on Friday, April 7, 2023

Californian rockers BUCKCHERRY will release their tenth studio album, "Vol. 10", on June 2. The 11-song LP features 10 new BUCKCHERRY originals and, as a bonus track, a cover of the Bryan Adams classic "Summer Of 69". The album was produced by Marti Frederiksen and recorded at Sienna Studios in Nashville. The album will be released in North America by Round Hill Records, in Japan by Sony Japan, and by Earache Records for the rest of the world.

Premiering today is the second single "Let's Get Wild", written by vocalist Josh Todd, guitarist Stevie Dacanay (a.k.a. Stevie D.) and Frederiksen.

Todd told Australia's Silver Tiger Media about the band's upcoming LP: "It's just a new body of work. It's where we're at today. The songs are really well written, and I think people are gonna really, really love it. There is no overall [lyrical] theme… You'll enjoy it."

Regarding BUCKCKERRY's songwriting approach this time around, Todd said: "The formula for us is to have no fillers — having a great record from beginning to end. That's what we want — we want to be able to have these unforgettable songs and melodies. And if they don't sound great, we just don't put 'em on records."

Last August, BUCKCHERRY announced that Todd and Stevie Dacanay would head to Nashville in late September to finish the writing process for the band's tenth studio album. The band was scheduled to begin recording the effort on November 4, 2022.

Frederiksen previously produced 2021's "Hellbound" as well as BUCKCHERRY's fourth album, "Black Butterfly", and co-wrote "Sorry", among other songs, with the band.

In the summer of 2020, BUCKCHERRY recruited JETBOY's Billy Rowe as its new guitarist. He joined the group as the replacement for Kevin Roentgen, who left BUCKCHERRY in July of that year.

In 2019, BUCKCHERRY enlisted Francis Ruiz as its new drummer. He joined the group as the replacement for Sean Winchester, who exited BUCKCHERRY after laying down the drum tracks on "Warpaint".

After performing 238 shows in support of "Hellbound", the band has hit the road in support of "Vol. 10". Touring kicked off on March 9 in Bowler, Wisconsin, co-headlining with SKID ROW.

Earlier last year, Todd told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that he and his bandmates have never had the luxury to slack off on their work habits, even during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

"When you're in a band, it's like it's your business. So if you just sit around and wait for people to tell you what to do, then you're not running a good business," Todd said. "We've always created opportunities within ourselves. We have to make schedules, we have to stick to them. We have to show up and work hard. We're so used to doing that because people have written this band off many times and we have many peaks and valleys in the BUCKCHERRY career. We have come back from a lot of adversity and had a lot of success. And we only did that by believing in ourselves and working hard because no one else is going to do that except us."

BUCKCHERRY burst on to the scene in 1999 with its now-classic self-titled debut album. Hit singles "Lit Up", "For The Movies", "Dead Again" and "Check Your Head" brought the celebration back to the party scene, recalling the gritty glam impact of MÖTLEY CRÜE but with a Gen X-demanded, modern self-awareness . Later albums continued to develop their reputation for volatile, mercurial themes and infectious hooks; such singles as "Crazy Bitch", "Everything", "Too Drunk" and "All Night Long" became screaming choruses for fans across the world. With their irreverent and bawdy lyrics, delivered with Todd's whisky weathered vocals, paired with filthy guitar riffs and high-energy, throbbing bass lines, BUCKCHERRY has sustained a hard-earned reputation as a not-to-be-missed live presence with regular touring schedules alongside such legends as MÖTLEY CRÜE and PAPA ROACH.

Former NIGHTWISH members Tarja Turunen (vocals) and Marko "Marco" Hietala will join forces for a special open-air concert on July 8 at Z7 Summer Nights in Pratteln, Switzerland.

Turunen was fired from NIGHTWISH at the end of the band's 2005 tour by being presented with an open letter which was published on the NIGHTWISH web site at the same time. In the letter, the other members of NIGHTWISH wrote: "To you, unfortunately, business, money, and things that have nothing to do with emotions have become much more important."

NIGHTWISH keyboardist and main songwriter Tuomas Holopainen later called the decision to part ways with Turunen "the most difficult thing I ever had to do." For her part, Tarja said the way she was kicked out of the group proved that her former bandmates were not her friends. "Maybe one day I'll forgive, but I will never forget," she said.

In 2019, Turunen dismissed Internet chatter about her possible return to NIGHTWISH after her December 2017 onstage reunion with the band's then-bassist/vocalist Hietala during a "Raskasta Joulua" concert in Hämeenlinna, Finland.

"I know a lot of fans would love to see something happen, but it's a very long distance away," she told Kerrang! magazine. "Personally, I don't see anything happening with me and them, to be perfectly honest. Marco came a little later into the band; he wasn't there since the beginning. He was always a guy I was close to. Me and Tuomas Holopainen, however, haven't seen each other in a long time… but we have been in touch. It's not bad. The past is what it is; we can't change that. We can only change the future."

NIGHTWISH's authorized biography, "Once Upon a Nightwish: The Official Biography 1996-2006", was published in Finnish in 2006 and in English three years later.

Turunen's husband, Marcelo Cabuli, and his business partners later sued the parties behind the book for defamation. Named in the lawsuit were the publishing house Like Kustannus Oy and the author of the book, Marko "Mape" Ollila. Cabuli and his Brazilian business partners argued that the book includes false accusations and insinuations that have caused them suffering and financial problems.

The book blamed Cabuli for the events leading up to Turunen's dramatic expulsion from the band in late 2005.

In 2011, the Helsinki District Court dismissed Cabuli's lawsuit, ruling that the book — which criticized Cabuli on only a few of its 380 pages — did not detrimentally affect his work or reputation in South America. In addition, the court determined that Ollila did not maliciously portray Cabuli in a negative light.

A little over a year ago, Tarja was asked in an interview with Top Link Music manager and concert promoter Paulo Baron and music critic Regis Tadeu if she would consider doing a tour with NIGHTWISH if all of her former bandmates apologized to her about how their split happened and invited her to share the stage with them again. She responded: "It is very, very hypothetical that all what you said will happen, first of all — it's very, very hypothetical.

"I'm living in a world, like we are all living in a world, that things happen without us noticing," she continued. "I mean, I can't really close any doors in that sense; I'm not that kind of person any longer. I learned so many things in this life already. I take them as they are.

"So I don't know. It would be very hypothetically possible," she added. "It would be unlikely to happen."

Hietala announced his departure from NIGHTWISH in January 2021, explaining in a statement that he hadn't "been able to feel validated by this life for a quite a few years now." He has since been replaced by session bassist Jukka Koskinen (WINTERSUN),who made his live debut with NIGHTWISH in May 2021 at the band's two interactive experiences.

In an August 2022 interview with Finland's Chaoszine, Hietala revealed that he went through a dark period in his life, which included depression, insomnia, anxiety and an eventual attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) diagnosis. Speaking about how he eventually came to the realization that exiting NIGHTWISH was the right thing to do, Marko said: "It was a long process. Of course, the COVID year that was there, where I had a lot of time for soul searching, it obviously gave me the last incentive that I need something else, that if I just continue with this I'm just gonna get sicker and sicker. But, of course, it's a process.

"I've been chronic depressive since 2010 [or] 2011, so I've been on a permanent medication ever since," he revealed. "Sometimes you get used to the meds [and] you will need more. We did raise [the dosage] during the years also, but it just didn't work. And now that I started to do… I had psychotherapy for over four years now, and then I also talked to psychiatrists and some doctors and did that also in Spain. Then my psychiatrist here in Finland said that I should do these ADHD neuropsychological tests, which I then did in Spain. And, okay, I got it."

Hietala reiterated that he "had been thinking about" leaving NIGHTWISH "for a while" before making the final decision. "Because I had a lot of weight. And I tend to… With the attention disorder, it tells me that when there are lots of trouble, then the disorder makes it into a real chaos," he explained. "There's a shitload of stuff coming and going and no peace anywhere. And for a year or two, I was already waking up every night at three o'clock to bad dreams and anxiety. So I'd say that the whole process probably started already with my former divorce [in 2016]. That was a very sad time when you think about your kids and your broken homes and all that. And then, when I started to get clear from that, then there were, well, all kinds of things. I don't really wanna go any deeper to what kind of things I'd gone through, but I'd gone through enough."

Acknowledging that making NIGHTWISH's latest studio album, 2020's "Human. :II: Nature.", was a "difficult" experience for him, Marko denied that his mental state at the time resulted in a diminished role for him on the final LP. "I think the original idea was to have that… we'll do a couple of [solo vocal appearances], or one solo for me and Troy [Donockley], and the rest Floor [Jansen], and then the harmonies; that was the idea originally for that," he said. "So I don't know if it affected. I think it was sort of as planned. But at that time I already had serious trouble with concentrating and serious trouble with a constant black cloud over my head."

Last July, Hietala told Finland's Iltalehti that he had not kept in touch with NIGHTWISH since his departure or followed the activities of his former band.

In May 2021, Holopainen said that Hietala's decision to leave NIGHTWISH "came as a bit of a surprise." He told Finland's Kaaos TV: "Marko informed us in December [of 2020 that he was leaving the band]. And even though he has been very open about his state and problems during the past years, it still came as a bit of a surprise for us. So it was a really tough pill to swallow. And for a few days, I was actually quite confident that there's no coming back, that this is it. I remember talking to Emppu [Vuorinen], the guitar player, and we were, like, 'You think this is it?' 'Yeah, I think this is it.' I mean, enough is enough. So much has happened in the past. Something that broke the camel's back, as they say. Then, after some time had passed — a few days — we started to think that it's been such a ride of 25 years, with so many ups also, that this is not the way to end it."

Tuomas elaborated on NIGHTWISH's reasons for carrying on, saying: "I think we still have something to give, and that's the main point. The music is still there. We felt that there's still so much music that needs to come out from this band that, 'Okay, let's give it one more shot.' And then finding the new bass player was really easy."

He added: "It's not like we do this just because we need to do it and there's nothing else to do. On a personal level, I feel that there's still so many stories and melodies that I want to share with the world with one lineup or another, so that's why you want to continue and keep on going.

"I've said this a million times, that a lineup change is the ultimate energy vampire, and that's how it really felt and still feels."

In June 2021, Jansen spoke about Hietala's exit from the band in an episode of her "Storytime" YouTube video series. She said: "That was a very sudden surprise that, of course, was not fun at all. But we understand — I understand — it was a necessary thing for him to do. And from there, we had to think of how to continue without him, and that also, in preparations towards the virtual show, that was a huge challenge."

In December 2020, Hietala was crowned the winner of the fall 2020 season of "Masked Singer Suomi" — the Finnish edition of the popular masked singing contest. He was disguised as Tohtori — the Doctor.

In the summer of 2021, Holopainen said that NIGHTWISH would split up if the band's current singer Floor Jansen ever chose to leave.

Holopainen, who formed NIGHTWISH in 1996 with guitarist Emppu Vuorinen and Turunen, made the comment while discussing the departure of Hietala.

Pressed by U.K.'s Metal Hammer magazine about his 2019 statement that NIGHTWISH would disband if another member opted to depart, Tuomas said: "That's how I felt back in 2019, and that's also how I felt when Marko left. I take my words back when it comes to that. But if it would be Floor leaving, that's it, it's the end of NIGHTWISH. Absolutely, 100%."

SYMPHONIC METAL DREAMS
8.07 - Z7 Summer Nights Open Air

Tickets: https://www.z-7.ch/event.php?eventid=2048

Finland's...

Posted by Tarja Turunen on Friday, April 7, 2023

Legendary guitarist Peter Frampton (pictured) has paid tribute to acclaimed bassist John Regan who died on Friday (April 7) at the age of 71. No cause of death has been revealed.

Regan recorded and toured with Frampton from 1979 to 2011 and appeared on several of the guitarist's albums, beginning with 1980's "Rise Up".

Earlier today (Saturday, April 8),Frampton took to his Twitter to write: "There might only be a handful, if that, of people who come into your world and truly enrich your life. I have lost one of my closest buddies. He certainly enriched my life because of the person and the great player he was.

"John Regan was the best of us. He went out of his way to help people when things weren't right. It didn't matter who you were, prince or pauper.

"I know there are many of you out there who knew him. He was a friend to all. Always musically inspiring and one of the funniest people on the planet.

"My thoughts are with his wife Cathy, his children, Christopher and Jeness and his grandchildren.

"I love you my brother you will be missed by so many. Rest in peace."

Regan had performed with Tod Howarth, drummer Anton Fig of "Late Show With David Letterman" fame and original KISS guitarist Ace Frehley in the band FREHLEY'S COMET. His recording credits also include THE ROLLING STONES, Mick Jagger, David Bowie, David Lee Roth, Robin Trower, Billy Idol and many more.

According to the Poughkeepsie Journal, Regan met Frehley in the mid-1980s at a friend's recording studio in White Plains, New York. The two got together for a jam session, playing Jimi Hendrix and LED ZEPPELIN tunes, and that led to Regan's involvement with FREHLEY'S COMET. His tenure with that band lasted until about 1990.

Late Friday, Howarth paid tribute to Regan, writing on social media in part: "John of course was a world class talent and an incredible human being and from a personal level, he was responsible for me joining him with Ace and Anton. He was also responsible for the championing of my song 'It's Over Now'.

"There's way too much to say and it's hard to type, stopping and starting constantly. I really haven't stopped crying most of today as the music world loses another and trying to respond to everyone (thank you all, 'love you dearly) I just, I just can't. Again what's more important is the man, the music, love, talent and friendship that he shared for his 71 years.

"We're all shattered and I know his family is devastated..."

Asked about Frehley, Regan told the Poughkeepsie Journal: "He's a kook, in a good sense. In a world full of copies, he's a one-off. He's an original."

And regarding the allure of KISS, the hard rockers known for outlandish costumes and makeup, Regan said: "It was almost like getting a rock band and a circus on the same night. It was an event ... It was a multi-sensory experience ... It was a total immersion in this spectacle that nobody else was doing."

In a 2016 interview with Songfacts, John stated about his approach to working with big-name artists: "I have been fortunate to have worked with artists that did not dictate on any level. Keeping in mind, that I have always approached my contribution to a recording or live performance as one of 'facilitator.' By that I mean it is always in the forefront of my mind to try and play my bass parts to best serve the song, singer and my fellow musicians. Peter [Frampton] in particular is a pleasure to work with in that regard. For the better part of 31 years, from 1979 through 2010, it was an honor to compose and perform his music."

Regarding his studio work with other artists, John said: "Spending time working in studio with the likes of Frampton, Billy Idol, Mick Jagger and David Bowie, THE ROLLING STONES, Michael Monroe and legendary producers such as Eddie Kramer and Nile Rodgers, just to name a few, has been nothing short of awe inspiring and profoundly enjoyable. Suffice to say, each project had moments that I was pinching myself, just to make sure I wasn't dreaming.

"One experience that became a high-water mark was getting the call from Nile Rodgers, through my dear friend Rob Sabino, to stop by and replace a bass part on the track that David Bowie and Mick Jagger had recorded for Live Aid: 'Dancing In The Street'. That song had long been favorite of mine, but when I arrived at the studio to find Mick Jagger greeting me, it was something I will never forget.

"My most vivid memory of that day was that it happened to be one of those rare occasions that the part that made the final recording was a first take for me, but as I was laying down the bass track I could see Mick dancing around the studio, just getting into the music as if he were onstage. Powerful moment in time for me, and it hit home how much Jagger was moved by the power of the song, and how sincere his love of music must be."

In recent years, Regan and Howarth had both performed with FOUR BY FATE. The seeds for that band were planted nearly 40 years ago, when Regan encountered Howarth while Tod was on tour performing with Rock And Roll Hall Of Famers CHEAP TRICK. Howarth and Regan were later joined in FOUR BY FATE by guitarist/songwriter Patrick James Gasperini (POUND, FLYWHEEL) and former SKID ROW drummer Rob Affuso.
There might only be a handful, if that, of people who come into your world and truly enrich your life. I have lost one of my closest buddies. He certainly enriched my life because of the person and the great player he was. John Regan was the best of us. He went out of his way pic.twitter.com/IEZ1Vi4CoR

— Peter Frampton (@peterframpton) April 8, 2023


to help people when things weren’t right. It didn’t matter who you were, prince or pauper.
I know there are many of you out there who knew him. He was a friend to all. Always musically inspiring and one of the funniest people on the planet.
My thoughts are with his wife Cathy

— Peter Frampton (@peterframpton) April 8, 2023


his children, Christopher and Jeness and his grandchildren. I love you my brother you will be missed by so many.
rest in peace. pic.twitter.com/TEdWxBTuRT

— Peter Frampton (@peterframpton) April 8, 2023



.....I started this over and over, I can't capture everything I'm feeling..
By now most all of you know of John Regan's...

Posted by Tod Howarth on Friday, April 7, 2023

Acclaimed rock bassist John Regan has died at the age of 71. No cause of death has been revealed.

Regan had performed with Tod Howarth, drummer Anton Fig of "Late Show With David Letterman" fame and original KISS guitarist Ace Frehley in the band FREHLEY'S COMET. His recording credits also include Peter Frampton, THE ROLLING STONES, Mick Jagger, David Bowie, David Lee Roth, Robin Trower, Billy Idol and many more.

According to the Poughkeepsie Journal, Regan met Frehley in the mid-1980s at a friend's recording studio in White Plains, New York. The two got together for a jam session, playing Jimi Hendrix and LED ZEPPELIN tunes, and that led to Regan's involvement with FREHLEY'S COMET. His tenure with that band lasted until about 1990.

Asked about Frehley, Regan told the Poughkeepsie Journal: "He's a kook, in a good sense. In a world full of copies, he's a one-off. He's an original."

And regarding the allure of KISS, the hard rockers known for outlandish costumes and makeup, Regan said: "It was almost like getting a rock band and a circus on the same night. It was an event ... It was a multi-sensory experience ... It was a total immersion in this spectacle that nobody else was doing."

In a 2016 interview with Songfacts, John stated about his approach to working with big-name artists: "I have been fortunate to have worked with artists that did not dictate on any level. Keeping in mind, that I have always approached my contribution to a recording or live performance as one of 'facilitator.' By that I mean it is always in the forefront of my mind to try and play my bass parts to best serve the song, singer and my fellow musicians. Peter [Frampton] in particular is a pleasure to work with in that regard. For the better part of 31 years, from 1979 through 2010, it was an honor to compose and perform his music."

Regarding his studio work with other artists, John said: "Spending time working in studio with the likes of Frampton, Billy Idol, Mick Jagger and David Bowie, THE ROLLING STONES, Michael Monroe and legendary producers such as Eddie Kramer and Nile Rodgers, just to name a few, has been nothing short of awe inspiring and profoundly enjoyable. Suffice to say, each project had moments that I was pinching myself, just to make sure I wasn't dreaming.

"One experience that became a high-water mark was getting the call from Nile Rodgers, through my dear friend Rob Sabino, to stop by and replace a bass part on the track that David Bowie and Mick Jagger had recorded for Live Aid: 'Dancing In The Street'. That song had long been favorite of mine, but when I arrived at the studio to find Mick Jagger greeting me, it was something I will never forget.

"My most vivid memory of that day was that it happened to be one of those rare occasions that the part that made the final recording was a first take for me, but as I was laying down the bass track I could see Mick dancing around the studio, just getting into the music as if he were onstage. Powerful moment in time for me, and it hit home how much Jagger was moved by the power of the song, and how sincere his love of music must be."

In recent years, Regan and Howarth had both performed with FOUR BY FATE. The seeds for that band were planted nearly 40 years ago, when Regan encountered Howarth while Tod was on tour performing with Rock And Roll Hall Of Famers CHEAP TRICK. Howarth and Regan were later joined in FOUR BY FATE by guitarist/songwriter Patrick James Gasperini (POUND, FLYWHEEL) and former SKID ROW drummer Rob Affuso.

Photo credit: Tracy Ketcher

We are sad to announce the passing of one of our Chance family, John Regan. John was an incredible musician, a rockstar,...

Posted by The Chance Theater on Friday, April 7, 2023

Another loss, and way too, too close.
Details when I can..

Posted by Tod Howarth on Friday, April 7, 2023

Hate to make this announcement but, I just received word my good friend John Regan passed away today. Can’t believe the...

Posted by Trent Noll on Friday, April 7, 2023

I learned the sad and sobering news that John Regan passed away this afternoon. He was one of the finest musicians in...

Posted by James Bass on Friday, April 7, 2023

To say I'm gutted is an understatement!
Just heard that John Regan has passed..Someone who I considered a friend and inspiration..deepest condolences to his family..very sad news indeed..RIP my friend..

Posted by Will Clayfield on Friday, April 7, 2023

We are DEVASTATED to say the least. John Regan had the most beautiful heart. He loved his fans and many of his closest...

Posted by Amy L. O'Grady Paradise on Friday, April 7, 2023

I’m saddened to hear today about the passing of John Regan, bassist for Peter Frampton, Ace Frehley, John Waite, The...

Posted by Glenn Kidd on Friday, April 7, 2023

RIP John Regan, such a talent that played with MANY artists over the years including Ace Frehley & Peter Frampton.

Posted by Lydia Criss on Friday, April 7, 2023

Sad news about the loss of John Regan today. We got to tour together in Australia in 2017. He was a fantastic musician and wonderful person. RIP John. 😞

Posted by Bruce Kulick on Friday, April 7, 2023

THE QUIREBOYS guitarist/vocalist Guy Griffin (pictured) has paid tribute to the band's original guitarist Guy Bailey, who died earlier this week.

Griffin took to his social media to write: "36 years since we met, 6 years in a band together, through so many great highs and another 30 years as friends, brothers in arms. I learnt a lot from you, most definitely, Chuck Berry licks! Your songwriting set the bar - great songs.

"We set the world on fire for a while and I'm happy I was along with you on that amazing ride we shared - things that only we can understand, no one else. You had the driest, most intelligent wit, sometimes it was hard to have a come back but it was fun trying!

"I'll miss the conversations, also the disagreements, but more than that I will miss you. I'm glad I got to say goodbye…

"Condolences to Bianca & your family.

"God Bless you Guy."

The news of Guy's passing was broken by the band's singer Spike (a.k.a. Jonathan Gray),who took to his social media on Friday (April 7) to write: "I'm heartbroken to have to write this.

"My best friend Guy Bailey passed away peacefully in hospital last night in the arms of his beloved Bianca.

"Guy was the kindest, funniest man you could have the pleasure of being around. He was loved by everyone who he ever worked with, all the bands he ever toured with and all THE QUIREBOYS fans he ever met. He certainly loved you all more than you will ever know.

"I have so much I would like to share and say to everyone about him but this is just such a hard time for me and everyone close to him. I hope you all understand. But for THE QUIREBOYS fans out there I would just like to say, me and Guy Bailey have written the songs for a new album, and me and Chris Johnstone, Nigel Mogg and Rudy Richman will fulfill his wishes that these songs are recorded and a new QUIREBOYS album will be released this year.

"So everyone raise a glass for Guy Bailey and lets keep rock 'n' roll alive for him. I love you mate. I know you're having a drink with our dads now and looking down and watching us bubble. Your best mate Spikey xx".

Bailey and Spike formed THE QUIREBOYS in 1984 and were responsible for writing many of the band's signature songs, including "Hey You", "7 O'Clock", "I Don't Love You Anymore" and "There She Goes Again" from THE QUIREBOYS' classic debut album "A Bit of What You Fancy". After THE QUIREBOYS split in 1993, Bailey was part of the British band's brief reunion in 1995 but wasn't included in THE QUIREBOYS' lineup when the group reformed in 2001.

Last May, Spike and Bailey announced that they had reunited and were writing a new album together which they said would be released under THE QUIREBOYS name.

The reunion between Spike and Bailey came just weeks after THE QUIREBOYS — led by Griffin — announced they had parted ways with Spike. In response, the singer said that he was fired via a letter signed by three bandmembers and he accused his former bandmates of trying to "re-cast events". He also vowed to continue recording and touring under THE QUIREBOYS name.

Last December, the Griffin-fronted version of THE QUIREBOYS released a new single called "Lie To Me". The track will appear on a new studio album, "The Band Rolls On..." , which is due later in the year.

36 years since we met, 6 years in a band together, through so many great highs and another 30 years as friends, brothers...

Posted by The Quireboys - This Is Rock And Roll on Saturday, April 8, 2023

Original THE QUIREBOYS guitarist Guy Bailey has died.

The news of Guy's passing was broken by the band's singer Spike (a.k.a. Jonathan Gray),who took to his social media earlier today (Friday, April 7) to write: "I'm heartbroken to have to write this.

"My best friend Guy Bailey passed away peacefully in hospital last night in the arms of his beloved Bianca.

"Guy was the kindest, funniest man you could have the pleasure of being around. He was loved by everyone who he ever worked with, all the bands he ever toured with and all THE QUIREBOYS fans he ever met. He certainly loved you all more than you will ever know.

"I have so much I would like to share and say to everyone about him but this is just such a hard time for me and everyone close to him. I hope you all understand. But for THE QUIREBOYS fans out there I would just like to say, me and Guy Bailey have written the songs for a new album, and me and Chris Johnstone, Nigel Mogg and Rudy Richman will fulfill his wishes that these songs are recorded and a new QUIREBOYS album will be released this year.

"So everyone raise a glass for Guy Bailey and lets keep rock 'n' roll alive for him. I love you mate. I know you're having a drink with our dads now and looking down and watching us bubble. Your best mate Spikey xx".

Bailey and Spike formed THE QUIREBOYS in 1984 and were responsible for writing many of the band's signature songs, including "Hey You", "7 O'Clock", "I Don't Love You Anymore" and "There She Goes Again" from THE QUIREBOYS' classic debut album "A Bit of What You Fancy". After THE QUIREBOYS split in 1993, Bailey was part of the British band's brief reunion in 1995 but wasn't included in THE QUIREBOYS' lineup when the group reformed in 2001.

Last May, Spike and Bailey announced that they had reunited and were writing a new album together which they said would be released under THE QUIREBOYS name.

The reunion between Spike and Bailey came just weeks after THE QUIREBOYS announced they had parted ways with Spike. In response, the singer said that he was fired via a letter signed by three bandmembers and he accused his former bandmates of trying to "re-cast events". He also vowed to continue recording and touring under THE QUIREBOYS name.
pic.twitter.com/7jaQDsFHEF

— The Quireboys Spike Official (@SpikeQuireboys) April 7, 2023

The European leg of W.A.S.P.'s 40th Anniversary World Tour began on March 17 with a sold out show in Manchester, England. Fan-filmed video of the band's entire April 1st show in Barcelona, Spain at Razzmatazz is available below.


The setlist on the night was as follows:


"On Your Knees" / "The Flame" / "The Torture Never Stops" /"Inside the Electric Circus"
"L.O.V.E. Machine
"Wild Child
"The Idol
"The Great Misconceptions of Me
"Chainsaw Charlie (Murders in the New Morgue)
"Blind in Texas




Encore:
"Animal (Fuck Like a Beast)"
"The Real Me" (The Who)
"I Wanna Be Somebody"





VIP tickets can be purchased at waspnation.myshopify.com/. Tour dates and tickets for the 2023 European tour can be found at WASPnation.com/tour.


W.A.S.P.'s European dates are listed below. Support act from  April 22 - May 18 is Images Of Eden.


April
9 - Copenhagen, Denmark - Amager Bio
11 - Malmö, Sweden - Moriskan
13 - Tampere, Finland - Tampereen Tullikamari (Pakkahuone & Klubi)
14 - Helsinki, Finland - Kulttuuritalo
15 - Oulu, Finland - Club Teatria
16 - Umeå, Sweden - Idun
18 - Sundsvall, Sweden - Sporthallen
19 - Gävle, Sweden - Gasklockan
20 - Eskilstuna, Sweden - Lokomotivet
21 - Karlstad, Sweden - Nöjesfabriken
22 - Stockholm, Sweden - Fryshuset Klubben
23 - Huskvarna, Sweden - Huskvarna People's Park
25 - Oslo, Norway - Rockefeller Music Hall (Sold Out)
26 - Oslo, Norway - Rockefeller Music Hall
27 - Norrköping, Sweden - Flygeln
28 - Kalmar, Sweden - Kalmarsalen
29 - Göteborg, Sweden - Restaurang Trädgårn


May
1 - Bremen, Germany - Aladin Music Hall
2 - Mannheim, Germany - Capitol Mannheim
3 - Oberhausen, Germany - Turbinenhalle
4 - Stuttgart, Germany - LKA Longhorn
5 - Saarbrucken, Germany - Garage
6 - Geiselwind, Germany - Music Halle
7 - München, Germany - Backstage Werk
10 - Zurich, Switzerland - Komplex
11 - Lausanne, Switzerland - Les Docks
12 - Milan, Italy - Live Club
13 - Padova, Italy - Padova Hall
14 - Ljubljana, Slovenia - Center urbane kulture kino Šiška
15 - Brno, Czech Republic - Soda Music Club
17 - Bucharest, Romania - The Roman Arenas
18 - Sofia, Bulgaria - Universidada Sports Hall

Melodic black metal formation Imperial Demonic have released their bleak debut, Beneath The Crimson Eclipse. Not far from the brisk fjords of the black metal motherland, Imperial Demonic from Belfast, Northern Ireland pay homage to the more polished black metal sound of the late '90s and early 2000s. Beneath The Crimson Eclipse is available here.


The band has released their new single and video, "Ways Of The Secular Flesh". Check it out below.







The emerging melodic black metal project is rising from the underground to bring forth something as vicious and violent as it is elegant and melodic. Imperial Demonic first emerged as a solo project, showcasing project architect Cameron Åhslund-Glass’ impressive musical prowess. Expanding the lineup, Andy Heathen (vocals), Daniel Dempster (lead guitar), Kacper Lewandowski (rhythm guitar), and Gareth Murdock (bass), were enlisted, completing the vision for the band.


Moving forward as a five-piece, the forthcoming opus sees Imperial Demonic pursue heavier, more aggressive territory with relentless blast beats, melodic hooks and visceral lyrics. Bringing the fire and brimstone back to modern black metal, Imperial Demonic weave together fury and triumph, aggression and melody.





Tracklist:


"The Furnace"
"Ways Of The Secular Flesh"
"The Path Of Night"
"Dawn Of The Infernal Age"
"Beneath The Crimson Eclipse"


"The Path Of Night"





"Beneath The Crimson Eclipse"