rd and most unholy full-length offering, Ashen Womb. Nine sinister funeral marches, draped in a bleak and blackened atmosphere, provide a lens into the forthcoming end of times.


A droning tone fades in, opening up a slow dirge that eases us into the apocalyptic explosion of death that will follow for the next 40 minutes. Where guitars anxiously scale the fretboard & weave morose melodies while drums pound and smash with the force of the Chicxulub impactor. 


Interspersed between the infernal, seismic, blackened stampedes are droning psychedelia & ambient noise interludes, immersing us further into the ever-growing darkness. But there are also moments of overwhelming beauty, like on tracks "Nebulae" and the eponymous "Ashen Womb," where Phrenel

Eric Carlson, better known as Sickie Wifebeater, a founding member and lead guitarist of MENTORS, one of the most controversial rock bands to emerge from the 1970s, died on December 29 at the age of 66 after a battle with cancer.

Late Sunday night (December 29),the following message was posted on the MENTORS' social media: "It's with deep sorrow that we announce the passing of Eric Carlson. Eric was fondly known as Sickie Wifebeater, a founding member of the musical trio MENTORS. He passed this evening 11:43 est, succumbing to a year long battle with cancer. Eric will be missed by those who loved him. His musical legacy will out live us all.

"REST IN POWER SICKIE! Guitar Legend! #ripsickie
May 22, 1958 - December 29, 2024"

Carlson started MENTORS in Seattle in 1976 with bass guitarist Steve Broy (Dr. Heathen Scum) and singer/drummer Eldon Hoke (El Duce) who attended Roosevelt High School together.

Most known for their shock rock stage presence akin to GG ALLIN & THE MURDER JUNKIES, a long history of false rumors and outrageous myths also helped augment MENTORS' fame and notoriety. The trio inspired and offended masses worldwide using chauvinistic satire and an obscene comical act, playing an identifiable role in moral depravity and pushing the boundaries of freedom of speech.

Many have called MENTORS pioneers of shock rock. They were known for their offensive and perverse lyrics which caught the attention of many, including Tipper Gore, who formed the PMRC (Parents Resource Music Center) movement, citing MENTORS for their shocking lyrics and labeling albums with "Parental Warning" labels.

El Duce had controversial appearances, including "Jerry Springer" and "The Hot Seat".

After overcoming El Duce's 1997 death at the age of 39, MENTORS continued to keep El Duce's spirit alive writing, touring and recording new material.

It's with deep sorrow that we announce the passing of Eric Carlson. Eric was fondly known as Sickie Wifebeater, a...

Posted by The Mentors on Sunday, December 29, 2024

Beatrix is known for their fierce energy and relentless attitude as a live band. Many bands claim to leave no one cold, but Beatrix's surprising stage show gives the audience a bone-chilling experience. 


Formed in 2019 in Tampere, Finland, the band plays fast and aggressive black thrash metal with influences from the new wave of British heavy metal. The band consists of five praying mantis worshippers: vocalist Markus 'Suffy' Leppänen, guitarist Aapo Härkönen, guitarist Alois Weimer, bassist Sakari 'Röppä' Juurijoki and drummer Matias Rinnetie.


Leppänen comments:




"The release of this EP has been a rocky road. First we had a falling out with our original drummer right before we were about to head into the studio, after that we had to find a new drummer and teach him the new songs. Once the songs were recorded we had some delays with the artwork. Now, after almost two years it's finally being released. For these reasons we've already been playing these songs live. There are three new songs and 'Torment Of The Soul' from the demo, which now has solos and the vocals have been recorded properly since I rushed them on the demo a little bit, but you know it's raw and the new recordings haven't forgotten this essence. I hope the process with our upcoming full length album will be a lot smoother without too many delays. Anyway, the Deathsent Ceremony EP is unadulturated Beatrix madness of pure fucking filth! See you at the gigs!"


Check out the EP below.


The band's most notable previous release is a sp

itars, As You Can Imagine... It’s Adrenaline-Filled And Balls-To-The-Wall"">
Robbie Williams has confirmed the participation of Black Sabbath legend, Tony Iommi, on his new track, "Rocket". And Glenn Hughes is along for the ride as well.


It was recently revealed that Robbie had recruited Iommi for the track by Williams' drummer and musical director, Karl Brazil, making an appearance on the Percussion Discussion podcast (see below).


“He’s got an album to follow that we’ve been working on,” Brazil shared. “He’s working with various people, but I’ve been fortunate enough to do some songs with him

Just in time for the release of their new album, Пророк Илия (Lat. Prorok Ilja), out Friday, January 3 via Napalm Records, Polish black metal icons Patriarkh (formerly Batushka), unleash their forth gloomy single, “ВЕРШАЛИН VII” (Lat. WIERSZALIN VII).


The eight brand-new songs on the conceptual full length delve into the true story of Eliasz Klimowicz, the enigmatic Prophet Ilja, and transforms these events into dark yet mesmerizing atmospheres, interwoven with their deeply rooted Eastern Orthodox traditions.


“ВЕРШАЛИН VII” (Lat. WIERSZALIN VII) attacks mercilessly and sets free a relentless storm of black and death metal. The song kicks off with a compelling narration, before it drags listeners into a path of fierce blast beats and haunting screams. Once more, Patriarkh nails their balance of various influences, defying all rules and setting their own path. “ВЕРШАЛИН VII” is now available on all streaming services worldwide.
 
“ВЕРШАЛИН VII” (Lat. WIERSZALIN VII) is now available on all streaming services worldwide. Listen to the track here.




Patriarkh on the new album: “With this new release, we are starting a new chapter in our history - not only is our name changing, but our music is also undergoing a natural evolution. The story on the album encouraged us to get out of our comfort zone, we reached for means that we had not used before in our music. Many of you will wonder if this is still black metal? Or is it even metal? Radio play, audiobook, theater, film soundtrack, folk music, performance... All these terms will fit here. Some will hate, others will love...”


ПРОРОК ИЛИЯ details a true story that happened in the band’s home area of Podlasie, in the village of Grzybowszczyzna, in the 1930s and 40s. The album takes the listener into the world of Eliasz Klimowicz, the titular Prophet Ilja, an illiterate peasant who was the leader of the Orthodox Grzybowska Sect, active until the 1960s, cultivating and transmitting the history of the self-proclaimed prophet. Patriarkh spread their gospel by using an arsenal of folk instruments, such as tagelharpa, mandolin, mandocello, hurdy gurdy and stringed dulcimer, and worked with a symphony orchestra and choirs to give their new creations the most organic and vivid feeling possible. As is trademark with Patriarkh’s music, Orthodox sacredness is mixed with black and doom metal, now largely enriched with folk music, neo dark folk, and even film music. The band utilizes the entire palette of Orthodox music, venturing into the areas of Byzantine monody, liturgical chant and Russian polyphony, neatly adapting folk and liturgical melodies to their own style.


The lyrical side of ПРОРОК ИЛИЯ is an interesting mix of theater and pastoralism. Patriarkh uses fragments of texts from the theater play "Prorok Ilja" and draws from the messages contained in the works of Włodzimierz Pawluczuk, combining it with folk and liturgical texts. On ПРОРОК ИЛИЯ, listeners can hear various languages – and Polish for the first time ever! The album was recorded in January and May 2024 at Tall Pine Records (Behemoth, Zalewski, Afromental), Heinrich House (Behemoth, Vesania, Hate), Wem Studio (Kasa Chorych, Lukasyno, Cira) and Radio Białystok studio. Mixing and mastering was handled by Wojciech Wiesławski at Hertz Studio (Vader, Behemoth, Decapitated), and production was helmed by band mastermind and leading vocalist Bartłomiej "Варфоломей" Krysiuk. “ПРОРОК ИЛИЯ is an album full of emotions, sentimentalism and folklore. It’s pastoral, lyrical, epic, multidimensional and multicolored, just like my Podlasie is multicolored,” says Варфоломей. Dive into the deepest of all shadows with this black metal masterpiece and join Patriarkh on this intriguing ride!





ПРОРОК ИЛИЯ will be available in the following formats:


- Wooden Box (Digipak, bonus CD, pendant, flag & patch) - 300 copies (Napalm Records Mailorder and Patriarkh Shop exclusive)
- Deluxe 2LP GATEFOLD GOLD Vinyl (Alternative album cover artwork, bonus vinyl, & 24pp vinyl booklet) - 300 copies (Napalm - Records Mailorder and Patriarkh Shop exclusive)
- 1LP GATEFOLD SILVER Vinyl - 300 copies (Napalm Records Mailorder exclusive)
- 1LP GATEFOLD MARBLED ORANGE RED BLACK Vinyl - 300 copies (Napalm Records Mailorder exclusive)
- 1LP Gatefold in Black Vinyl
- 6 Page Digipak
- Digital Album


Pre-order here.

Chicago-based extreme metal act, Against The Plagues, have released a video for "Flying To The Sky", the second track from the band's upcoming new album. Check out the clip below.


Says the band: "Watch now and be a part of this epic journey!"







Back in September is was announced that after nearly nine years, Against The Plagues is back "stronger and healthier than ever before" with a new vocalist and a new singer.


"Since our hiatus back in 2016, we took the time to recharge, reset, and refresh our mindset," said Against The Plagues. "Taking a long break helped us to address all past issues in the band and also to contemplate its future. Finally, we are excited to announce our return!


"We are super stoked to present Zio

The holidays aren’t quite over as Philadelphia-based traditional heavy metal band, Corners Of Sanctuary (COS), release a blistering new cover of Black Sabbath's iconic 1970 track, "Paranoid".


This powerful rendition is a tribute to the legendary heavy metal pioneers whose groundbreaking contributions to the rock and metal genres changed the musical landscape for all who followed. The band’s latest boisterous cut showcases their raw energy and technical prowess to carry the weight of such a well known song.


Simultaneously, COS delivers on capturing the spirit of a past era that would essentially birth a musical revolution. With COS’ now signature sound and blazing performance approach, fans can expect to hear a fresh take on the celebrated song, infused with Corners Of Sanctuary’s unique style and passion. This track will certainly find itself captivating audiences across multiple generations of heavy metal fans.




This new version of "Paranoid" features a driving back rhythm and galloping beat that propels the classic song forward into modern times.


COS guitarist, Mick Michaels, commented, "The song is a classic in every sense of the word. Paying tribute to it, for us, was an opportunity to honor the past."


"Paranoid" is available as a standalone digital release through SODEH Records. Listeners can purchase or stream the track on all major platforms. Stream “Paranoid” on Spotify

Former MOTÖRHEAD and current SCORPIONS drummer Mikkey Dee has opened up about his battle with sepsis, a condition which occurs when one's immune system has a dangerous reaction to an infection. It causes extensive inflammation throughout one's body that can lead to tissue damage, organ failure and even death.

Earlier today (Thursday, January 2),Mikkey took to his social media to write: "Just a quick statement about what has been happening to me these past three weeks:

"First I like to thank everyone for these heartwarming Christmas and New Years greetings, that I have not been able to respond to. I always try to do that every year.

"This holiday season, I have been hospitalized with a very serious blood infection (Sepsis). I was admitted for three weeks but now I am home fighting this bastard bacteria. Thankfully, I have received fantastic care at the Sahlgrenska University Hospital in Gothenburg, my hometown. So thanks a million to all the Doctors and Nurses that have been giving me the most excellent care.

"After several operations, I am now back home and the numbers are all going in the right direction. Still lots of recovery and rehab in front of me. Now I'm working a 100% to be back on the drum stool for the Residency that starts off in Las Vegas on February 27.

"We have a tremendous 2025 to look forward to, celebrating 60 years of SCORPIONS and many exciting gigs around the world.

"So, the Stinger is out and I can't wait to see you all out there on the road and rock the hell out of you! I wish everybody a fantastic 2025 with good health and lots of Rock n' Roll!"

Dee told the Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet that he unknowingly developed sepsis after spraining his foot in December. Since he had Christmas shows scheduled at Valand in Gothenburg, he took Alvedon, a drug used to treat mild to moderate pain and fever, and Voltaren, which is used to treat pain and inflammation, to make himself comfortable enough to play the final gigs of the year. The weekend before Christmas, his condition deteriorated.

"The ankle swelled up like hell, then it took on a weird shape and appearance and looked like an overcooked ham. I became very ill so I had to go by ambulance to Sahlgrenska and there they found that I had sky-high values, so I became priority one there," Mikkey said (as translated from Swedish). "It was surgery right away, the first of three. They cut away what was dead and infected and badly infested. It was not a good journey I was on… Another day and I'd be playing drums with [late MOTÖRHEAD leader] Lemmy in heaven. I can say that."

Mikkey landed the job as the drummer for SCORPIONS in 2016 after spending almost 25 years as a member of MOTÖRHEAD.

In the last couple of years, Dee has played a number of shows under the "Mikkey Dee With Friends" banner where he performed some of MOTÖRHEAD's classic songs. The 61-year-old Swedish-born musician was joined at the gigs by THE DRIPPERS members Viktor Skatt on bass and vocals, and Stig William Rickard on guitar.

SCORPIONS are returning to the Las Vegas Strip in 2025 with exclusive headlining residency show in celebration of the band's 60th anniversary. Promoted by Live Nation and Caesars Entertainment, "Scorpions - Coming Home To Las Vegas 60th Anniversary Las Vegas Residency" kicks off on Thursday, February 27, 2025 at PH Live at Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino. SCORPIONS will be joined by special guest BUCKCHERRY. The new show follows the band's two previous sold-out residencies at the venue — "Scorpions - Love at First Sting Las Vegas" in 2024 and "Sin City Nights" in 2022.

The five performances are:

February 2025: 27
March 2025: 1, 6, 8, 11

Just a quick statement about what has been happening to me these past three weeks:

First I like to thank everyone for...

Posted by Mikkey Dee on Thursday, January 2, 2025

is of Blacktop Mojo have shared the following video of their new acoustic jam, "The Matt And Catt New Year's Spectacular":





In live news, Shaman's Harvest and Blacktop Mojo will be coming to The UK next yea

Joe Lynn Turner recently collaborated with Russian punk rocker Andrey Knyazev and his band, КняZz, on the new single, "Stalker". Stream/download the single here, and watch the official music video for the single below.


Joe Lynn Turner joined КняZz for a performance of "Stalker" on November 23 at VK Stadium in Moscow, Russia. Multi-cam video can be viewed below:







Joe Lynn Turner and Andrey Knyazev met in 2021 and instantly found common ground, discovering in each other similar personal ideology and unified rock’n’roll spirit. They both developed a mutual desire for a collaboration on a song that would be a perfect fit.


In August 2023, КняZz released their recent album, from which Joe Lynn Turner truly connected with the song "Stalker". In this particular song they were able to combine their similar world views, current problems and struggles of humanity and agree on the fact that the destruction of the planet’s future is being eradicated by their own hand.


Joe Lynn Turner wrote verse and chorus in English, preserving the meaning and message of the original lyric written by Andrey. This version of the song "Stalker" exemplifies an international unity of not only different generations of rock musicians, but also voices in two different languages the warning of the inevitable apocalypse by the fault of mankind.





 





Joe Lynn Turner has joined forces with Bulgaria’s top female singer Maria Ilieva for the new single, "Forever", a powerful ballad with remarkable vocals produced by Swedes Thomas Thornholm and Magnus Nordquist. It tells the story of the true love that lasts forever – over time and space.


The song had a recent exclusive premiere for the Bulgarian market and received an outpour of positive comments and reactions from fans and critics and hundreds of thousands of views on

MÖTLEY CRÜE bassist Nikki Sixx has revealed that he has been undergoing Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) therapy, a treatment for symptoms of trauma.

On Sunday (December 29),Sixx took to his social media to write: "A lot of us talk about New Year's resolution's. I like the idea of resetting myself a few times a year. I spend alot of time up in the National Park in Wyoming. That's a solid restart for me. Another around my birthday and then Dec 31- Jan 6th.

"I am personally on a deep reflective journey right now and as usual it will turn into something. A lyric, a book , a song. Also I've been doing EMDR therapy. That's a golden ticket if you're up for change. I live for change. At least evolution.

"Do you have any new goals or resolutions you wanna share with the rest the class? By the way Happy New Year."

According to the Cleveland Clinic, when you undergo EMDR, you access memories of a trauma event in very specific ways. Combined with eye movements and guided instructions, accessing those memories helps you reprocess what you remember from the negative event. That reprocessing helps "repair" the mental injury from that memory. Remembering what happened to you will no longer feel like reliving it, and the related feelings will be much more manageable.

In a 2019 interview, Sixx opened up about his traumatic childhood, which included his father abandoning the family when Nikki — whose birth name is Frank Carlton Serafino Feranna, Jr. — was three years old. Sixx said: "I had a shitty upbringing, and I'm dealing with that every day. I spent more money on therapy than most rock stars spent on cars.

"My most heartbreaking memory was when my mom called my grandparents and said, 'Come pick him up,'" he told The Guardian. "I was six and she said, 'I'm going to lock the door and I'll just leave you in the porch. She couldn't wait until my grandparents got there. She left with this guy in a truck. That broke me.

"In my deepest, deepest core, the thing that's haunted me the most and still haunts me is the feeling of abandonment — my dad leaving when I was young and my mom leaving, one at three, one at six. I never quite got over that, it's a horrible feeling," Sixx said in an interview with Neon Sunsets. "It always comes back to these childhood issues; you still carry them with you, they're, like, in your DNA."

Sixx later revealed that his name change was inspired largely by his father's decision to abandon his son. "I changed my name because of a long road battling a guy who walked away from me named Frank Serafino — who was my father — and me saying, 'Fuck you, I'm gonna reinvent myself, you weren't there for me, and I am gonna become a man called Nikki, create my own family and fuck you,'" he explained.

MÖTLEY CRÜE will return to Las Vegas for a series of live appearances this spring. "The Las Vegas Residency" will find them playing an exclusive limited run of 11 shows at Dolby Live at Park MGM from March 28 through April 19, 2025.

The CRÜE's third Vegas residency is being billed as a "tell-all show [that] will immerse the audience in the band’s history, leading all the say through their record-breaking Stadium Tour." They previously set up shop in Vegas in 2012 for "Mötley Crüe Takes On Sin City" and 2013 for "Evening In Hell".

This past October, MÖTLEY CRÜE released a new EP, "Cancelled", featuring the previously released singles "Dogs Of War", the title track and a cover of THE BEASTIE BOYS' "Fight For Your Right". To celebrate the EP's release, the CRÜE played a series of club shows in Los Angeles, including a gig at the Troubadour, the Roxy and Whisky A Go Go.

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NEVERMORE's founding bassist Jim Sheppard has blasted guitarist Jeff Loomis and drummer Van Williams's apparent decision to resurrect the band without "consulting" him, calling their plans "completely disrespectful".

On Friday (December 27),Loomis and Williams both shared a one-minute video teaser containing various NEVERMORE-related imagery and what appear to be the silhouettes of Loomis and Williams along with the text "Resurrecting The Dream". The teaser ends with the NEVERMORE logo along with the line "A New Chapter Rises" and the year "2025".

Two days later, Jim's wife Priscila Sheppard posted the following statement on her Facebook page: "Since I have been receiving a few messages from James fans regarding a post Van Williams made on social media, I feel I need to respond to you with an update.

"James has never been contacted about Van's plans with Jeff using the NEVERMORE name. I am sorry you think James is involved. We do not know about their plans, and it is completely disrespectful of them to use the name NEVERMORE without consulting Jim Sheppard, as he is one of the founders of the band.

"We are waiting for clarification on this alleged project and will proceed from there, whether or not clarification comes from them. No further comment for now. Thank you."

NEVERMORE effectively split up in 2011 when Loomis and Williams announced their departure from the band due to personal differences with singer Warrel Dane and Sheppard. Warrel later described NEVERMORE in an interview as "the greatest band that alcohol ever ruined."

Dane died in December 2017 in São Paulo, Brazil at the age of 56 while recording his posthumously released solo studio album, "Shadow Work". The musician reportedly had a heart attack during the night and could not be revived.

According to guitarist Johnny Moraes, who played in Warrel's solo band, Dane had a history of addiction and other health issues. "His health was already very weak because of his diabetes and his problems with alcoholism," he said.

The instrumental parts for Dane's follow-up to 2008's "Praises To The War Machine" solo album were almost completed and he had begun laying down his vocals shortly before his death.

In a 2019 interview with Metal Master Kingdom, Loomis was asked if there were any plans to resurrect NEVERMORE without Dane. Jeff responded: "It's one of those things where I think NEVERMORE had such a special sound and it was simply because of all the musicians that were in that at the time. Van, me, Warrel, Jim. We had numerous different guitarists in the band throughout the years. We had Chris Broderick, we had Tim Calvert, who sadly passed away. A lot of good players. Steve Smyth, Curran Murphy. All these guys were a part of NEVERMORE in the past. Honestly, in my vision, it's important that you move on in your life. I really would like to remember the spirit and the attitude that we had as a band with the music and just move on from there. Because without Warrel, it's just not feasible, in my mind. [He is] sadly missed. He was one of my best friends. Things like that happen and it's a very sad situation. It really was. But we have the music to remember it all by."

In 2018 interview with France's Loud TV, Loomis stated about Dane's passing: "It's a sad situation with one of my best friends that I grew up being in a band with. [He was] one of the best lyricists in metal, I believe, that was ever out there — a fabulous person. He was a troubled person too at the same time; he had some issues. We had many great times together in the past, and we had many bad times, but I would say that the good times outweighed the bad. And in the end, we were talking still as friends, and we talked in the end before he passed away. We were on good terms. It's a very sad loss to the music community and he'll be well remembered as one of the great vocalists of a metal era."

Loomis added that Warrel had been "struggling with drinking and things like this" for years before he died. "I'm not getting into too much detail there," he said. "He had some troubles. I'm gonna miss him a lot. He was a great friend of mine and he was a wonderful human being."

Asked if there was any talk of a NEVERMORE reunion before Warrel passed away, Jeff said: "I think that once you do something for such a long time and you make your mark in the music world, sometimes things do have to come to an end. And, unfortunately, with my situation with NEVERMORE, after 18 years of being in the band, it marked kind of an end of an area. And for me personally, it was kind of moving on to another chapter in my life. There was talks, like maybe [in late 2016] about maybe doing a reunion show, but it never happened, of course. Obviously, now it's not going to happen."

Loomis "amicably" left ARCH ENEMY in December 2023 and was replaced by Joey Concepcion.

Jeff, who was the main songwriter in NEVERMORE, joined ARCH ENEMY in late 2014, but was not involved in the writing for the latter act's last two albums, 2017's "Will To Power" and 2022's "Deceivers".

Since I have been receiving a few messages from James fans regarding a post Van Williams made on social media, I feel I...

Posted by Priscila Sheppard on Sunday, December 29, 2024