In a new interview with Audacy Music's "Katie & Company", SHINEDOWN singer Brent Smith spoke about the band's upcoming eighth studio album, "Ei8ht", which will be released on May 29 via Atlantic Records. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "The record's called 'Ei8ht'. Yes, it's the eighth studio album. It made sense to call it 'Ei8ht'. It asked to be called 'Ei8ht'. We tried all these other ethereal names and put them in and we were trying to be clever, and we were, like, 'No, let's just call it 'Ei8ht'. Another thing with it, it's 18 songs. It's essentially a double record."

Regarding the four-year gap between 2022's "Planet Zero" and "Ei8ht", Brent said: "I had a really good friend of mine, who recently passed away — he was one of my closest friends in the industry, Brad Arnold from 3 DOORS DOWN, when I met him in the beginning with our first record that came out in 2003, I remember he told me, he goes, 'Son, you're going to have your entire life to do your first record, and if it's successful, you're gonna have six months to do your next one.' And he was a hundred percent right. So what I mean by that too is this record is a year and a half in the making. From the time that we kind of started on it, writing it, to getting it produced, getting it ready, the journey that it's taken has been quite extraordinary for us."

Smith continued: "The last two SHINEDOWN records are conceptual pieces, so this album, none of the songs are related to each other, but they exist on the same body of work, but they all are their own entity. So it's a traditional record, and I love saying that, because sometimes people are, like, 'Well, are you a concept band now?' It's, like, no, those records were conceptual because that's what they asked to be. This is something where there's such a broad array of styles on this record — it's very much us, but it's a rollercoaster ride."

SHINEDOWN recently announced a massive "Dance, Kid, Dance Act II" world tour, taking the band to 11 countries across 54 dates, including stops throughout North America and Europe at some of the world's biggest venues.

Joining SHINEDOWN on the massive worldwide tour will be COHEED AND CAMBRIA, BLACK STONE CHERRY, FROM ASHES TO NEW, DJ Rock Feed and THOSE DAMN CROWS on various dates.

The world tour adds to the band's recently announced first-ever curated festival event — Shinedown's Lunatic Ball Beach Weekend, taking place October 23-25, 2026 in Miramar Beach, Florida. The three-day destination experience will feature performances from SHINEDOWN (two unique headlining sets),BUSH, HANSON, FLYLEAF (with Lacey Sturm),LIVING COLOUR, FROM ASHES TO NEW, GUARDIANS OF THE JUKEBOX, NEON MOONERS and more.

Over the past year, SHINEDOWN released four major songs, "Dance, Kid, Dance", "Killing Fields", "Three Six Five" and "Searchlight", each reinforcing the band's position as one of the most powerful forces in modern music. "Dance, Kid, Dance" and "Killing Fields" both reached No. 1 at rock radio, while "Three Six Five" became a global crossover hit, topping No. 1 at Alternative radio, landing Top 10 at Hot AC and AC, and breaking into the Top 20 at Top 40. In the process, SHINEDOWN extended their record with the most No. 1 songs on the Billboard Mainstream Rock chart history (with 21 No. 1's) and Mediabase's Active Rock chart (with 23 No. 1's),continuing a legacy built on consistency, ambition, and emotional connection.

SHINEDOWN is nominated at the 2026 iHeartRadio Music Awards for "Rock Artist Of The Year", "Duo/Group Of The Year" and "Rock Song Of The Year" for "Dance, Kid, Dance". These nominations follow a landmark showing at the 2025 iHeartRadio Music Awards, where the band won both "Rock Artist Of The Year" and "Rock Song Of The Year" for "A Symptom Of Being Human", marking the second consecutive year SHINEDOWN has been recognized among the genre's top honors.

Photo credit: Ryan Camp

California rock veterans PAPA ROACH have released the official Hannah Gray Hall-directed music video for their powerful new single, "Wake Up Calling". The track, which was made available in late January via New Noize Records/ADA, following in the footsteps of "Scars" and "Leave A Light On (Talk Away The Dark)" , shows the more melodic, emotionally vulnerable side of their songwriting, but still retains the intensity and honesty that have defined their career for over two decades.

"Wake Up Calling" debuted at a surprise performance in Nashville to an audience of artists and industry-folk at the Whiskey Jam on Broadway two months ago. It was produced by Colin Brittain (LINKIN PARK, ALL TIME LOW, A DAY TO REMEMBER) and explores themes of connection, self-reckoning, and emotional dependence.

PAPA ROACH frontman Jacoby Shaddix commented: "'Wake Up Calling' is a song about standing on the edge of disaster — being pulled back from the brink, and ultimately choosing love over self-destruction. It's one of the most raw, emotional songs we've written."

The release follows PAPA ROACH's successes of 2025 with "Even If It Kills Me" and "Braindead" (featuring Toby Morse),and career–best touring results, performing to over one million fans on the band's "Rise Of The Roach" tour.

Always philanthropic, PAPA ROACH presented Campaign Against Living Miserably with a £20,000 cheque at their sold-out headline show at Wembley Arena from funds raised during their U.K. tour last year.

Last August, PAPA ROACH released the official music video for "Braindead", featuring Toby Morse, frontman of H2O. The clip was directed by Jesse Davey and Ed Shiers and produced by Joanna DeLane of Proper Pictures.

In July 2025, PAPA ROACH released a music video for an acoustic version of "Even If It Kills Me". The original single reached No. 1 at U.S. Rock Radio, marking PAPA ROACH's 13th appearance at the top of the charts.

In March 2025, PAPA ROACH released a "reimagined" version of "Even If It Kills Me". The band and Joshua Landry again produced the track. "Even If It Kills Me (Reimagined)" was a fresh take on its heavier counterpart, showcasing the hit song in a new light, with a melodic arrangement and signature vocals delivered by Shaddix.

PAPA ROACH are two-time Grammy-nominated, platinum-selling leaders in alternative hard rock music. PAPA ROACH are not unfamiliar with calling attention to mental health and have been doing so since the seminal release of their first hit single "Last Resort". Since then, the band has gone on to create 10 studio albums, including "Ego Trip".

Photo credit: Travis Shinn

According to Reuters, AC/DC guitarist Stevie Young has been hospitalized in Buenos Aires, ahead of the band's concerts in Argentina's capital next week.

Earlier today (Thursday, March 19),a spokesperson for AC/DC released the following statement to Reuters: "Out of an abundance of caution, [Stevie] was admitted to a local hospital where he is undergoing a full battery of tests. Stevie is doing well and is in good spirits. He is looking forward to getting on stage on Monday."

AC/DC is scheduled to perform in Buenos Aires on March 23, March 27 and March 31 as part of the South American leg of the band's "Power Up" tour.

The 69-year-old Stevie Young is the nephew of AC/DC founders Malcolm and Angus Young.

Back in 2014, Angus said that Stevie was the only logical choice to replace Malcolm when the latter retired from the band that year due to the onset of dementia.

Angus told Sweden's Aftonbladet, "It was Malcolm himself [who said we should carry on]... and the logical choice to fulfill Mal's role on the project was my nephew Stevie. He had filled in for Mal in 1988 and he had done an American tour, a whole American tour, and he did it well."

Angus told The Pulse Of Radio that Stevie was a natural fit. "He just plugged into what we were doing, 'cause he's of the same age era as Malcolm and myself," he said. "He was my eldest brother's son. You know, we all grew up together. Mal played that style how he played that rhythm style. Stevie, you know, he emulated that."

Malcolm died in November 2017 at the age of 64. He had been suffering from dementia for at least three years.

On the latest episode of Interview Under Fire, Brendon Small, co-creator of "Metalocalypse", the hit animated series on Adult Swim featuring the fictitious metal band DETHKLOK, reflected on the show's 20th anniversary and the touring group's continued success, including on DETHKLOK's upcoming spring 2026 "The Amonklok Conquest" North American tour with Swedish metal titans AMON AMARTH. Regarding the evolution of the DETHKLOK live performance, he said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Well, this whole show has always been out of the ordinary. I just thought, I'm having a conversation with me when I was discovering heavy music. It's like me talking to a 14-year-old version of me. And so I just thought that kid didn't really get spoken to on television before. Also, wouldn't it be cool to have that conversation with people and start a conversation with people that really do appreciate that kind of stuff and maybe turn some people on to heavy metal that didn't know? 'Cause sometimes it find you. My older sister wasn't listening to heavy metal; she was listening to like pop music. I had to luckily make friends with a guy who's still my good friend who showed me everything about heavy metal in one afternoon after junior high. And I thought that's such an important thing to a young person to kind of s sculpt out their personality through musical choices. Because if you're a 13-, 14-year-old kid, what do you have? You don't have a driver's license, you don't have any money. You're living under somebody else's rules. You've got nothing. All you have is the music you choose to listen to. So I thought that's my audience of the people that take music seriously and also like comedy and also like characters and all that stuff. And how can I wad it all up and put it all in a suitcase and try to sit on it to close it and put so much stuff in there that each week you'd have to rewatch it to kind of get everything. And so that was the idea. And also it was in production, out of production. We made a movie in 2023. And in 2019, we kind of kicked the door back open by participating in this Adult Swim big festival. So we thought, let's see if we can use this kind of door opening to do some cool stuff. Because I thought that we never got to play as much as we could. And our live show is really a lot of fun. And to me, I feel like we're in a traveling carnival. We're, like, 'Step right up and get on and ride this crazy rollercoaster with us.' It should be more fun and more exciting than other shows that you see. And that's the whole idea. And through those 20 years, we kept sculpting the show and fixing little tiny things just so it's more fun for the audience. And so that's what's exciting about this year. And doing this co-headliner tour with AMON AMARTH is going to be really exciting because, to me, the tour is the best of all of the worlds 'Metalocalypse'. We have the TV show, we have the records, but this live show kind of combines everything and makes it electric and fun and immediate. So that's kind of the idea."

Elaborating how he developed the DETHKLOK stage presentation, Brendon said: "I'm basically like an actor on stage. And my idea is to get out of the way so your imagination can take over. And that's the idea. You can acknowledge me, you can see us on stage. [DETHKLOK drummer] Gene Hoglan is there. I mean, he's a powerhouse."

He continued: "There's this one day I remember meeting with Tommy [Blacha], the co-creator, who was in the early days of the ['Metalocalypse'] show. And I remember we were kind of working on the pitch of the show, and it we were just having coffee outside of Starbucks and we were just going, like, 'Okay. If we can have this amount of episodes, then I can write music in each episode. Not a full song, 'cause I don't think we have time for it, but enough to kind of give you the information, the DNA of a song, and I'll give you a verse, chorus, maybe solo, et cetera. But it'll probably be 30 seconds, each one of these things. If I could take these all, elongate them at the end of the season, put them on a record, if we do well enough where I can get money to make a record, then we'll do that.' And how do you tour it? Well, what did the [animated British band] GORILLAZ do? And at the time — this is so long ago — I would get Netflix to deliver me a GORILLAZ concert, and I watched that, and I was, like, well, they're playing behind the scrim and that's cool and everything. And their animation is gorgeous. These guys are great songwriters. It's all super cool. But I think you miss a little bit of the connection with the audience. Even if they are shadows, I think people need to see the musicians that are generating the stuff, 'cause we live in an era where you could just play to a track and you may not be able to discern that. So I thought it's important to show the presence of the musicians on stage. I do not need to be acknowledged. In fact, my joke now is, and I think this is true, that I am bad for the brand. You shouldn't be looking at me. You should be hearing me. We sound exactly like DETHKLOK. We don't look anything like them. So if we can be these kind of stoic shadows and then your eye is on the prize, which is our gigantic — we've brought a gigantic television set into your concert venue so we can show you these crazy cartoons that are sliced and diced like drum programming almost. The editing is so tight with downbeats coinciding with cuts. And so this is a lighting show that we have behind us. I started thinking about that, and then started adding smoke and more extra external lights. And the show keeps on building throughout the years. But the hardest part was — you can sit there and record stuff all day long, but singing and playing that, that's where it takes some muscles and it takes some… And I've learned a lot over the years about becoming a live performer. Nowadays I really, really, really like the challenge. I mean, adding new music into it that we haven't played live before is a great challenge because I go, 'Holy shit, how am I supposed to play this riff and then bark out these vocals on top?' Well, I didn't do it at the same time, because that's not how you record necessarily, but now I'm gonna have to figure it out. And I've had to do that all the time. So nothing is natural about it. I sit there and I work and work and work and hone it out so that I can get it in front of everybody and make sure everything's as tight as possible.

"Working with Gene Hoglan, he doesn't tell anybody what to do, but he just raises the bar so hard because he's such a perfectionist musician," Brendon added. "So that to come anywhere near his level of musicianship is a great challenge. And that's why I'm still doing this — because I love the challenge of this thing."

As one of the most essential musical multimedia acts ever, DETHKLOK is both an animated phenomenon and a live metal juggernaut, combining intense musicianship with breakneck cinematic theatricality. Bringing the beloved larger-than-life characters of DETHKLOK to life once again will be Small on guitar and vocals, legendary extreme metal drummer Gene Hoglan (DEATH, DARK ANGEL, TESTAMENT),bassist Pete Griffin (Steve Vai, Paul Gilbert, Zakk Wylde) and guitar shredder Nili Brosh (Danny Elfman).

"Metalocalypse" is a cartoon series about a fictional death metal band called DETHKLOK that's bigger (and far more powerful) than THE BEATLES. The show ran for seven seasons, with the final episode being an hour-long rock opera, "The Doomstar Requiem".

After "Metalocalypse"'s rise in popularity, Small assembled DETHKLOK as an actual live band to play the music featured on the show, with Small himself handling vocals and guitar.

DETHKLOK's first three albums charted in the Top 20 of the Billboard 200 and the third release, "Dethalbum III", peaked at No. 10, making it the highest-charting death metal album of all time. In addition, "The Doomstar Requiem: A Klok Opera Soundtrack" made it to No. 7 on Billboard's soundtrack chart in 2013.

After several years of dormancy, DETHKLOK returned in 2023 with a new album, "Dethalbum IV" and an animated movie, "Metalocalypse: Army Of The Doomstar". It was hard fought since Adult Swim abruptly pulled the plug on "Metalocalypse" show more than a decade ago, despite its rabid following amongst the metal crowd, many of whom came to appreciate the show's regular easter eggs and voice appearances from the likes of King Diamond, Hammett and CANNIBAL CORPSE's George "Corpsegrinder" Fisher. Indeed, "Metalocalypse" may be the only quasi-mainstream show to be truly catered to a metal audience, which can explain its enduring popularity and the steady drumbeat of requests for its revival.

DETHKLOK's 2023 "Babyklok" co-headlining trek with BABYMETAL was the first DETHKLOK tour in over a decade.

In a new interview with The Classic Metal Show, W.A.S.P. frontman Blackie Lawless was asked about the VIP tickets that the band is selling that give fans a chance to meet him, get a personal photo with Blackie, autographs, tour the W.A.S.P. traveling museum and take part in a very personal question-and-answers session with Blackie. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Well, that was something that we started about five years ago. And we had never done meet-and-greets before. And I always felt kind of strange about the idea of if you were gonna charge an admission for something like that. We looked at it and we said, 'Well, what are other bands doing?' We didn't know anything about it. I mean, we were literally green. And there was no place to go to, to ask, so we started looking at what other bands are doing. And quite honestly, I didn't feel comfortable with what I saw other artists doing. And again, I'm not putting anybody down for anything they do, but we saw that they were doing a photograph and a couple of signatures and I thought, if I was going to meet somebody that I really was genuinely interested in, I would want to hear what they have to say. And so what we did is we put this literal rolling museum together, and it's excerpts from throughout the history of the band, and it's a pretty cool little ensemble when you see it laid out. It's about 30 feet across, and it's in rolling tour cases and things like that. And we open it up, and it's got all these things inside of it that are mementos, like gold records and album covers and magazine covers, the cod piece from the 'Animal' single and things like that. I mean, things you just wouldn't see any day, or every day.'

He continued: "But the thing that has been the best for me is when we do the meet-and-greets, we do it in a way where — we kind of assembly line it, where we do the photos and the signatures first, but then we get into the meat of it, which is really what I prefer, which is we have a Q&A. And it usually lasts about an hour, where everyone gets to ask a question, sometimes multiple questions. And that's the part I like the most, because I found it became like little mini market surveys. Because when someone comes up to you on the street and they see you out of the blue, it's usually a chaotic situation. And they're nervous and they can't think straight, and they don't really have the ability to verbalize what it is they wanna say. But when they know they're coming to a meet-and-greet or a VIP experience like this, they have time to think about the questions they wanna say or ask. And for me, that becomes very conversational, kind of like what we're doing right now, and there's a back and forth and a give and take. And like I said, it's a little mini market survey for me and I get to hear them in a controlled situation, unlike the chaos that would be on the streets. And I'm learning maybe more from them than they are from me at that point. Because, like I said, I've never had the ability to speak to the fanbase like we do now when we do this, and it's been really, really interesting for me to hear what they have to say. And I wish I would've started doing it years ago. But better late than never, I guess."

Asked how the fanbase is different from what he envisioned before he started doing the meet-and-greets, Blackie said: "Well, I was suspect that the thing that brought them together was the lyrics, but I wasn't really sure. But that's the one big confirmation that has come out of all of this, that it's the lyrics of these songs that really bring them all… That's what knits it all together. And it makes sense to me, because when you hear them say something like, 'This song really changed the way I thought,' or 'This song changed my life,' or 'This song did' whatever, and I'm listening to them when they're talking. And a lot of times some really emotional stories come out of these folks because it also serves as a bit of a confessional for both them and me. So, like I said, the give and take that goes on there, it's pretty priceless. It's been one of the greatest experiences of my life, and I mean that sincerely."

W.A.S.P. recently announced the "1984 To Headless" 2026 U.S. and Canada tour with KK'S PRIEST as very special guest. The tour kicks off on September 10 in California and runs through October 31. W.A.S.P. will be playing the hits from the band's first four albums.

W.A.S.P. cemented its place in the rock history in its first five years with the band's iconic debut album in 1984, followed the next year with "The Last Command", "Inside The Electric Circus" in 1987 and capped with the their greatest yet, "The Headless Children" in 1989.

In their fabled 44-year history, W.A.S.P. have been pioneers of shock rock, psycho drama and live spectacles that are now legendary in the world of rock.

W.A.S.P. will take the "1984 To Headless" tour to Europe and the rest of the world in 2027.

Because of the extensive back injuries Lawless suffered during the European leg of W.A.S.P.'s 40th-anniversary tour, the band's previously announced 2023 U.S. tour was canceled.

W.A.S.P.'s massive European leg of the 40th-anniversary world tour wrapped on May 18, 2023 in Sofia, Bulgaria at Universidada Sports Hall.W.A.S.P. wrapped up its first U.S. tour in 10 years with a sold-out show on December 11, 2022 at The Wiltern in Los Angeles. This marked the 18th sold-out shows for the U.S. tour, which kicked off in late October 2022. W.A.S.P.'s performances included the return of the band's classic song "Animal (Fuck Like a Beast)", which hadn't been played live in over 15 years.

W.A.S.P.'s latest release was "ReIdolized (The Soundtrack To The Crimson Idol)", which came out in February 2018. It was a new version of the band's classic 1992 album "The Crimson Idol", which was re-recorded to accompany the movie of the same name to mark the 25th anniversary of the original LP's release. The re-recorded version also features four songs missing from the original album.

W.A.S.P.'s most recent studio album of all-new original material was 2015's "Golgotha".

In an interview with Australia's Everblack podcast, ANTHRAX drummer Charlie Benante spoke about the band's long-awaited new studio album, which is due later this year in North America via Megaforce and in Europe through Nuclear Blast. The mixing sessions, as well as some of the recording sessions, for the LP took place at Dave Grohl's Studio 606 in Northridge, California. ANTHRAX once again worked with producer Jay Ruston, who previously helmed 2016's "For All Kings" and 2011's "Worship Music" albums.

Asked if the new ANTHRAX album is still scheduled to come out in May, Benante said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "No, it doesn't come out in May. We're putting out our first song and video in May. The record is not coming out till September. We pushed it back a little bit. We just had to do a couple of other things to it. And then we had to, of course, get a release date set. So it got moved to September. And that's it. It's coming out in September, but the first song and video will be out in May."

After the interviewer noted that ANTHRAX has been teasing one of the songs during its recent live shows, Charlie said: "We play a little piece of one of the songs. We played it on this Canadian run [with MEGADETH and EXODUS] that we just came back from. But I could see us kind of expanding it a bit for our friends in Australia [on the upcoming Australian tour in late March], maybe playing a little more, because, for me, it's become so hard to just contain this, because I'm so excited about it. I'm so happy about it. This record is really, really good."

Regarding ANTHRAX's touring plans in support of the upcoming LP, Benante said:  "The ANTHRAX record is a very important release to us. So we're gonna, of course, make the time to fulfill doing as many shows as we possibly could in support of this record.

"It's such a different time nowadays," he continued. "If this was 20 years ago, we'd be talking differently about how we're going to march this record out. But these days it's, like, I often said, what does a new record mean to people these days? I just feel like music has become so disposable that if I was gonna make a record, another record, and put my heart into it, I want people to anticipate, I want them to get ready to hear it. Because this record is not three or four songs deep of good songs and then the rest is shit. Every song on this record stands on its own. I mean, when one song finishes and the next one comes up, it's just, like, 'Holy shit. This one's fucking just as good as the last.'"

Earlier this month, ANTHRAX guitarist Scott Ian told Andrew Slaidins of The Rockpit's "50 Shades Of Slaids" about the 10-year gap between "For All Kings" and the band's new LP: "We weren't planning on [taking] 10 years [to release a new album]. In actual time, 'cause if you take out the time we were on tour for 'For All Kings', 'cause that record came out in '16, and we didn't finish the touring cycle till November of '19 on that album. We had already started writing at that point for a new record. And we thought we were just gonna take off for Christmas and New Year's at '19 going into '20 and then get back together in '20 and make a record. And then, of course, the world had other plans for everybody. So it wasn't until some point later in '21 that that started picking up again. Really, if you look at actual time we spent writing and recording the record, it's probably about three years, which, I think, that's pretty average these days, certainly for a band [like ours]."

Asked about the new song snippet ANTHRAX played during the band's recent Canadian tour with MEGADETH and EXODUS and whether fans attending ANTHRAX's four Australian shows in late March can expect to hear something new, Ian said: "Well, I am [able to tell you more about that song snippet], but I'm not going to, because, like all these things, there's a plan, there's a timeline. We've got lots of exciting shit up our sleeve. It's so hard not to talk about shit. It's so hard to not wanna just spill the beans and just fucking play the record for everybody already."

Scott continued: "I think people don't understand that. I see comments online of people [saying], 'Where's the fucking record?' How do you think we feel? We're the guys in the band. Granted, I've heard the record, of course, but who cares if I've heard it? That doesn't matter. I want everyone else to hear it. I'm so fucking excited. Eight people have heard this fucking album. So I can't wait for people to hear it. I can't wait. And I know what we have. It's like having just the most powerful weapon in the world at your disposal, but you're missing this one little thing and you can't use it. [Laughs]"

Ian added: "I can't wait for people to hear it. And I'm excited. And we will probably play a piece of something when we're down [in Australia], I'm sure. And it'll sound way better live than the little snippet you hear on YouTube through somebody's phone. And, yeah, soon enough the first song will be out."

Asked if ANTHRAX recorded any covers this time around, considering that the band had always laid down covers during previous album recording sessions, Ian said:  "We didn't record any covers, which is funny 'cause I don't think I realized that. I think at some point during the process we talked about it and I don't know why we ended up not, but until you just mentioned it, I hadn't thought about that. I remember Charlie recorded drums to [a song by] VAN HALEN. 'Romeo Delight'. I can't even remember now. [It was] so many years. I remember Charlie cut drums, 'cause we were fucking around with the VAN HALEN song, but we never finished it. The closest we came, I guess, was when we did [BLACK SABBATH's] 'Into The Void' at [Ozzy Osbourne's final concert] 'Back To The Beginning' [in July 2025]. But, of course, that's not on the record, and it's not ours to put out. I think that's gonna come out on the DVD or whatever they're doing with 'Back To The Beginning'. So people will get to hear that. But no, we don't have a cover. There are a bunch of other songs. There's one or two others that are finished that we held, and there's one or two that are close that still needed some work. So over the next couple years, it might be cool. We could have some other new shit come out over the next few years while we're on tour too."

Earlier this year, ANTHRAX bassist Frank Bello told Long & McQuade's Dan Coniglio about the group's upcoming album: "I'm very proud. It's so heavy. Some parts are really hard to play — really hard to play, which I'm happy to say, 'cause I like the challenge of it all. Joey's [Belladonna, ANTHRAX singer] vocals — I don't understand how the guy could sing like that, but he still is killing it. And I'm very psyched.

"If you like the last two records we've come out with and the past stuff, I think everybody's gonna be happy, 'cause as fans, we're very stoked," he added. "And it's been a while, guys, so thank you for waiting. It's been 10 years [since the release of the last album]. So we made sure it's worthwhile."

Asked about ANTHRAX's creative process, particularly as it relates to the upcoming album, Frank said: "We had to get over the COVID thing, like everybody else. We couldn't be one of those bands that were doing it over video, 'cause the latency, number one… Say we were jamming on something, it would come out a half a second later. It's, like, 'Oh,' and you lose the vibe. So we would just send files to each other and stuff like that. And then we got together when it was safe to get together, when they told us it was safe. So the three of us — Charlie, Scott and I — got together, as we've done all our lives, and started exchanging ideas. And from the files we've had, [we went through it and said], 'What's good? Is that good? Does that work here? Back and forth. And then you go home again and see what works. Then we start putting melodies to it, and then we put lyrics… It's really like making a cake. It really is that. So it starts with the foundation of the three of us getting the music together. Music [comes first] and then melodies, usually. Scott and I usually go back and forth with that a lot. Charlie comes up with a lot of great music ideas, but we all came out with a lot of music ideas in this. And then the melodies. Scott and I would work on that a lot. And it's an open thing. Everybody can come in with ideas. That's the idea. And then the lyrics would come on top. And to get it through us, to make sure, as fans, and we've been doing this for a while — we cut out a lot of stuff: 'No'. 'Yes'. 'No'. 'Yes'. 'Cause you want the best, like everything else. Like mom and my grandmother said, it's gotta be the best. Work ethic. Editing is really tough, and it's hard. Sometimes you lose parts that you love, but if it's not good for the song. It's all about the song, man. At the end of the day, that's all we're about. It's about the song. And still to this day. Period."

After Coniglio noted that you can't be "married too hard to your ideas", Frank concurred. "I'm still brokenhearted," he said. "And it's true. I think every songwriter will tell you that. Especially when you're in a band, when you're just not writing the stuff by yourself. When you're collaborating, you have to be open and get ready for that. If that's not working, you can't force feed it in, 'cause it's gonna screw up the song and not make it as potent as it can be. You gotta say, 'All right, I gotta get rid of that ego thing and [be, like], 'Okay. You're right.' And learn to say 'you're right' and 'I agree'. And then when you really feel strongly about something, you gotta remember that other side of it and you gotta really fight your way through. And sometimes that works too. So it's a balance."

This past December ANTHRAX filmed a music video for the first single from the band's upcoming LP.

Earlier in December, Benante told the "100 Songs That Define Heavy Metal" podcast about the status of the band's long-awaited follow-up to "For All Kings":  "Not because it's our record, but God, this record is so good. And I know it took a long time to make, but I think people will really be surprised and they will really grasp this and just be, like, 'Oh my God. This is worth the wait.' At least that's what I think."

Regarding ANTHRAX's working relationship with Ruston, Benante said: "I'll tell you, man, Jay's done the last few ANTHRAX records, and he's become… We talked about [legendary THE BEATLES producer] George Martin before, and Jay has become that [for us]. And him and I have been working very close on this record."

Charlie continued: "I know other bands will understand when I say this — it's, like, you could have three or four songs and it's, like, 'Okay, they're good.' Then you have seven, then you have 10, then the record starts to take shape.

"A couple of months ago, I started to listen to all of [the songs from the new ANTHRAX album] in the order that I think we're gonna put the record in, and it's, like, 'Wow, this is really good,'" Benante added. "It's the best thing when you could put them all together and it just flows. So I'm really excited about it… We pushed the envelope on this record too, so I'm happy about that."

In July 2025, Benante told the "Talk Is Jericho" podcast that he had "just finished the album cover" for the upcoming ANTHRAX album "and that is fucking trippy as hell," he said. "I designed it with this artist, who is killer. You know David Blaine, the magician. He did a six-part series recently [National Geographic's 'Do Not Attempt'], and Mark [Stutzman], the artist, he did a lot of the conceptual art for it.

"It's so weird how things happen to me," Charlie continued. "It's, like, I was looking for an artist and I'm watching this David Blaine documentary, and there's this art, which is exactly what I wanted. And I contacted him, and he loved the idea and he was a fan. So it's so crazy how things just turn out that way. So I'm really happy about that."

Earlier in July, Bello told SiriusXM's "Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk" about ANTHRAX's new album: "I can't say the title [of the album yet], but what I can say is people who have liked the last two records, and there's been a lot of you, and thank you for that, I think we took another step from that. And this isn't just a salesmanship thing. I am, as a fan, really proud of the band stepping up like this — musicianship, songwriting. Joey's vocals — I'm not even joking when I say this about Belladonna, it's one of the best singing he's done on an ANTHRAX record. I'm not even joking with that. So, we made sure the melodies, everything is right with this record. We're ready to go. It's been a long time, but I think we have the goods. I'm really proud of it, and I can't wait to play this stuff. It's gonna be a little challenging, definitely, but I'm looking forward to getting out there again."

ANTHRAX celebrated its 40th anniversary in 2021 with a number of special activities and events. Formed by Ian and bassist Dan Lilker in Queens, New York on July 18, 1981, ANTHRAX was one of the first thrash metal bands to emerge from the East Coast and quickly became regarded as a leader in the genre alongside METALLICA, SLAYER and MEGADETH.

Active over the past five decades, ANTHRAX has released 11 studio albums, been awarded multiple gold and platinum certifications, received six Grammy nominations, toured the world since 1984 playing thousands of shows, including headlining Madison Square Garden and playing Yankee Stadium with the "Big Four".

"For All Kings" was called by some critics ANTHRAX's strongest album to date. Its arrival followed a five-year period during which the group experienced a rebirth of sorts, beginning with ANTHRAX's inclusion on the "Big Four" tour, and continuing with the release of comeback LP "Worship Music".

In a new interview with Metal Remains, HELLOWEEN singer Andi Deris talked about the possibility of a new chapter in the "Keeper Of The Seven Keys" saga, following the release of the two original albums, 1987's "Keeper Of The Seven Keys: Part I" and 1988's "Keeper Of The Seven Keys: Part II", as well as 2005's "Keeper Of The Seven Keys: The Legacy", which was intended as a sequel to the originals. Asked if the "Keeper Of The Seven Keys" story is "truly finished" or if there "could still be more keys left for the keepers to keep in the future", Andi responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Oh, there's definitely some keys left, but you have to see that the 'Keeper Of The Seven Keys' is very much depending on the political situation. If I would have to write a song or an album now, I would definitely [draw inspiration from] the political [situation that we have now]. We have a lot of bullshit going on. So, yeah, it would be the right time now. Unfortunately — or fortunately — we already have [a new] album out. But take 'The Legacy' — 'The Legacy' was, actually, [lyrically inspired by] the Iraq War… 'The Legacy' was a political album. And [the song] 'The King For A 1000 Years' is the main leader of that political thing we wanted to say. Certainly you never hear any words or names, but it's all in the 'keeper' world. When you read through the lyrics, it's pretty much clear to everybody what the whole song is about, without naming certain people. Yeah, it was very important for us back in the day."

Andi added: "We have that luxury that everything that goes down in the real world, we can actually pack it into a fantasy world without being fingerpointing with names. You don't have to say it, but it's still in there. Everybody who reads it knows what's going on."

After one of the interviewers noted that now would be a "good time" for a fourth album in the "Keeper Of The Seven Keys" saga, Andi concurred. "It would be a good time for part four," he said. "That's true."

HELLOWEEN's latest album, "Giants & Monsters", came out last August via Reigning Phoenix Music (RPM). The follow-up to HELLOWEEN's self-titled 2021 record was mixed at the legendary Wisseloord Studios (IRON MAIDEN, JUDAS PRIEST, DEF LEPPARD) in Hilversum, Netherlands.

"Giants & Monsters" pushed the boundaries of HELLOWEEN's sound, thanks to the instincts of producers Charlie Bauerfeind and Dennis Ward, as well as the band's relentless pursuit of excellence. Per example, drummer Dani Löble recorded all tracks using three different drum kits to capture the perfect vibe for each song, a testament to their attention to detail and love of experimentation.

Upon its release in June 2021, "Helloween" landed in the Top 10 in more than 10 countries, including Germany, Spain, Finland, Sweden, Switzerland and Austria. The cover artwork for the LP was painted by artist Eliran Kantor, who has previously worked with HATEBREED, SOULFLY, TESTAMENT, ICED EARTH and SODOM, among others.

"Helloween" saw the legendary German power metallers going "back to the roots," with the band recording fully analog and Löble playing the drum kit previously used by HELLOWEEN's original drummer, the late Ingo Schwichtenberg, on the legendary "Keeper Of The Seven Keys" recordings.

HELLOWEEN released a live album, "Live At Budokan", on December 13, 2024 via Reigning Phoenix Music (RPM). The colossal effort immortalized HELLOWEEN's September 16, 2023 performance at Tokyo's legendary Nippon Budokan.

In a new interview with The Mistress Carrie Podcast, THE PRETTY RECKLESS singer Taylor Momsen spoke about the band's upcoming fifth studio album, "Dear God", which will arrive on June 26 via Fearless Records. Asked how she and her THE PRETTY RECKLESS bandmates managed to record a new LP in between all the touring and other projects they were involved with, Taylor said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "It was interesting. We did it in between AC/DC tours, which was a new kind of experience. It kind of hearkened back to my childhood where I used to work, like, 10 jobs, and I was making the record in between all that, [which ended up being] the 'Light Me Up' [debut studio album by THE PRETTY RECKLESS]. So it was kind of similar to that in one way where it's just a lot of split brain happening and a lot of kind of compartmentalizing, which I'm good at, but in one way is very challenging for me, mostly in an artistic sense, I think, of making progress and getting somewhere with making the record and in the studio, and then having to pause that momentum to go on tour, which is, of course, you're gonna do that. And tour is its own world and it's amazing and awesome and being out with AC/DC is incredible. But what I'm trying to say is it feels very good today to no longer have to be in a holding pattern of, like I have all this new music in my head that I'm trying to get out and that I'm going out on the road and playing the last record. And it was a very split-brain life for me for a minute there. And so it feels good to have it all kind of be — it's all caught up now. Not everyone's heard the record yet, obviously, so there's still a couple more months wait. But for me it's very refreshing to not have to keep going back and forth, and I can kind of come into what I've been reserving in the back of my brain, if that makes any sense."

Asked if all the touring THE PRETTY RECKLESS has done in the last couple of years has affected the sound of the record, Taylor said: "Um, I don't think so. I think it just took longer. I think it took longer than we normally would've taken to record. 'Cause I don't write in the studio at all. So, the songs are finished before we go in. And then it's just about the process of trying to get what I hear in my head to come out the other end of the speakers so everyone else can hear it too, which is its own can of worms and a lot of trial and error and stuff. But I knew what this record was supposed to be and what it needed to sound like. And it was just about taking the time to accomplish that. But I don't think touring affected that at all. It just took longer."

After podcast host "Mistress Carrie" Sarao noted that Momsen is in a "different place" in her life now than she was a few years ago, the singer concurred. "I am in a different place," she said. "I keep saying I love this record so much because it feels like me. There's an honesty and a bluntness to the songs themselves in this record that — I don't wanna say that we haven't touched on before, but this is almost directly ripped out of my diary. This is me through and through, this record, in a way that we haven't fully explored before. And it's grand and it's simple and it just covers all the bases. It does all the things I want it to do, and it feels so right, I guess is the correct word. I don't know. It's still new, and I'm very new to talking about it, so I don't have what I wanna say about it down yet. It's also really hard to speak about music before people have heard it, 'cause I don't wanna impart anything on people's minds before they've made their own assessment of it. But I'm so proud of this record, and it feels so good, and I cannot wait to play it live. It just feels like us. It feels like THE PRETTY RECKLESS in the most authentic way, and THE PRETTY RECKLESS now. It's great."

Earlier in the month, Momsen was asked by Walt of the Chicago radio station Rock 95.5 how she feels now that the first details of THE PRETTY RECKLESS's new LP have been announced. Taylor said: "It's always a bizarre feeling. 'Cause it's not out yet, so it's not fully not mine yet, if that makes sense. But I know that I'm about to be giving it away, so it's always a very bizarre feeling, but it's mostly just incredible excitement. I'm so proud of this album and I'm so happy that people know it's coming now. 'Cause that's been a secret that I've been holding on to, so it feels nice to let that go. Because I know all the inner workings of everything, but the world doesn't, so it feels great that it is finally out in the world and there's an definitive date where you guys can all listen to it."

Taylor also talked about the lyrical inspiration for THE PRETTY RECKLESS's latest single, "When I Wake Up", which came out on March 13. She said: "'When I Wake Up' is kind of… I think we all know the story, right? Don't we all know the story of what 'When I Wake Up' is trying to say here? I have no idea where I was last night. And if you don't know what I'm talking about, then you haven't lived it. It's a song that kind of goes through a series of nights and time of kind of waking up and not knowing exactly what happened. And I think it's a lot of fun, on a grander, deeper scale. It's kind of telling I may or may not have lived this life at some point. Sometimes it can get glamorized, but it also can be quite dark at times. And sometimes it's a good time, sometimes not so much. And I think that's kind of what this is saying. It's trying to escape by using something, something outside of yourself that not necessarily is — it maybe isn't the greatest decision."

She added: "I'm really psyched on it, and I can't wait to start playing it live. It's very exciting releasing new music, especially when you've had it in your pocket for so long. We've been out with AC/DC for a long time now and continually playing old material, which I love and it's fantastic. But when you have all these new songs that are living inside my own head, you just wanna get 'em out. And so it's very exciting that we can finally start adding new stuff to the set."

Marking the beginning of a new creative chapter, "Dear God" embraces vulnerability, intensity and artistic freedom, inviting listeners into one of the band's most raw and uncompromising records yet. The band approached the album with a renewed commitment to raw diaristic songwriting. The high-octane new single "When I Wake Up" leans into a punk-driven sound while staying true to what has become the band's signature: explosive guitars and Momsen's unmistakable powerhouse vocal. The album will also include THE PRETTY RECKLESS's chart-topping single "For I Am Death", which hit No. 1 on Billboard's Mainstream Rock Airplay chart last November, marking their fourth consecutive No. 1 and the second time the band has achieved this impressive feat.

Speaking about the song and new album, Momsen said in a press release: "'When I Wake Up' is the story of a dream becoming a nightmare. When a life of excess leads you on a rollercoaster that is doomed to crash but you just can't see it. It's a good time…"

THE PRETTY RECKLESS will bring its stage performance to fans across the world with an all-new headlining "Dear God" tour. The trek will kick off in North America, making stops in New Orleans, Dallas, and Los Angeles before wrapping in Europe. This tour follows their incredible two-year long trek across the globe alongside AC/DC on the "Power Up" tour.

This upcoming marquee year follows a remarkable 12 months for THE PRETTY RECKLESS, which included an acclaimed performance at the prestigious 2026 MusiCares Person Of The Year Gala, where Taylor honored the legendary Mariah Carey alongside the FOO FIGHTERS, as well as a performance at the 2025 Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame where Taylor performed with SOUNDGARDEN for their induction. Additionally, the band released their holiday EP "Taylor Momsen's Pretty Reckless Christmas", which features the revamped "Where Are You Christmas?" — the lead single hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot Hard Rock Songs chart, reigniting over two decades of global fandom and nostalgia.

"Dear God" track listing:

01. Life Evermore Pt. 2
02. For I Am Death
03. When I Wake Up
04. Love Me
05. Dragonfire
06. Dear God
07. Life Evermore Pt. 3
08. About You
09. Spell On You
10. Rollercoaster Of Life
11. Eye Of The Storm
12. Devil In Disguise (Michelle's Song)
13. Dark Days
14. Life Evermore Pt. 1

In a new interview with Jimmy Kay of Canada's The Metal Voice, MEGADETH guitarist Teemu Mäntysaari spoke about MEGADETH leader Dave Mustaine's decision to include Dave's version of "Ride The Lightning", the title track of METALLICA's 1984 album for which Mustaine got a co-writing credit following his 1983 departure from the band, on the final MEGADETH album, simply titled "Megadeth". Asked what his initial reaction was when Dave told him he wanted to record "Ride The Lightning" with MEGADETH, Teemu said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "I've been asked a lot about this, like you can imagine… Well, I think it was only after we had recorded the ['Megadeth'] album that I actually saw those interviews [with former MEGADETH bassist David Ellefson] and headlines that Dave had been talking about this before with the previous formations of the band and they somehow didn't wanna do it. But I don't think I knew this before when we went into this process. But when Dave told us about the idea, we were definitely all in and wanted to do it and thought that it's a great idea to kind of pay homage to METALLICA, of course, but on the other hand also celebrate Dave's part in writing these classic songs with METALLICA."

Teemu continued: "I knew the song beforehand — I had played it before — and it was really interesting to get Dave's little insights to how he thought about those riffs when he was writing them back in the day. And we could try to make it a little bit more like modern MEGADETH-sounding version of this song — that's what we aimed at — and still keeping all the rawness and all the vibe of the original, pretty much. We tried changing few things here and there, but we didn't wanna stray too far from the original version. We tried — at one point the solo section we extended a little bit more and then we let it be for a couple days and then we listened back and then we were, like, 'Ah, this somehow sounds wrong' because you know the song so well already. So then we went back to the original arrangement pretty much, but we made it a little bit faster. We modified little things here and there, like some drum fills, a little bit of the solos we, of course, made out in our own touch. And, yeah, I love how it came out, and it seems like the fans really like it too. So I'm happy we did it."

After Kay noted that the guitar solo in MEGADETH's version of "Ride The Lighting" follows METALLICA guitarist Kirk Hammett's original version almost "note for note", Teemu said: "Yeah. The bigger lines are pretty much — the ideas of the original, which, I guess, some of those are also original Dave ideas and some are original Kirk ideas or — I don't know — James [Hetfield and] Lars [Ulrich] ideas. But, yeah, we wanted to keep the main melodies, but, of course, if you really go into the note level, you'll realize that there's some things that are slightly different. Like the tapping part that I start with, I tap it slightly differently than Kirk does. And when then Dave comes in, he plays some of the licks between the slower parts, the faster parts he plays a little bit with his own fingering and own touch, of course. So it's not copied exactly note for note."

Two months ago, Mustaine told Poland's Teraz Rock about his decision to include his version of "Ride The Lightning", on "Megadeth": "It closed the circle. It paid respect to the band guys. It showed off a couple guitar tricks that I created, like the 'spider chord' and 'grunting'. And it just was a great way to show my respect to the band and to [METALLICA frontman] James [Hetfield] and [METALLICA drummer] Lars [Ulrich] and for their ability. 'Cause I've always thought James was an excellent guitar player. And same thing about Lars — I've always thought he was an excellent songwriter."

Asked if he remembers writing "Ride The Lightning" with METALLICA, Mustaine said: "Yeah, yeah. I had the parts that I had written, and I brought that to them, just like the other songs that I had ideas for. And then James put in his parts. And then the lyrics were his. The lyrics for [other early METALLICA songs] 'Jump In The Fire' and 'Mechanix' were mine. And he changed the lyrics to 'Jump In The Fire' a little bit, and 'Mechanix' got changed to a song called 'The Four Horsemen', which is a different lyric altogether."

When the interviewer noted that MEGADETH's version of "Ride The Lightning" is "very close to the original", Mustaine concurred. "Yeah, it's a little faster," he said. "I sang just a little bit different. James and I have a very unique singing style, but they're also very different. So, I think that's one of the noticeable differences, is my singing style and that we sped it up just a little bit.

"We tried to pay tribute to the parts that were there — the solo, the drums — and do them as close as we felt like it was respectful," Dave explained. "And in some parts, we beefed it up just a little teeny bit. Some of the drum fills at the very, very end are a little bit different from the ones that were on the original."

Asked if the guys from METALLICA have heard his version of "Ride The Lightning", Mustaine said: "I don't know."

Dave also talked about MEGADETH's version of "Ride The Lightning" in the cinematic event "Megadeth: Behind The Mask", which debuted this on January 22 on screens worldwide. On the topic of why he chose to record his version of "Ride The Lightning", Mustaine said:  "[It] had nothing to do with a 'gotcha'. It wasn't a payback. In fact, what it was is me healing a big part of myself because… I've made peace with what led up to the decisions that we all were forced into and what caused it and what's happened afterward. It's been successful and great for everybody."

Referencing the fact that he was fired from METALLICA in early 1983 and replaced by Kirk Hammett, Mustaine said: "We were all kids, and we were all severely alcoholics, so I don't think anybody was handling things in an adult manner. And I have absolutely nothing against James or Lars or Kirk [or] Cliff [Burton, late METALLICA bassist]; rest in peace, brother.

"So the idea of doing 'Ride The Lightning' — I wrote that song and I have a big claim to it, and I wanted to finish that," Dave explained. "Now, James wrote the lyrics, clearly. We co-wrote it. But that was a song that, it was one of the last songs that we did together, and I wanted to pay tribute to what we did. 'Cause if you got in a room with me and James and Lars and [early METALLICA bassist] Ron McGovney — I'm 20, these guys are all teenagers — and you say, 'Dave, you're gonna write a guitar style that is gonna be the biggest thing in the fucking world. Do you believe that?' That kid would've said, 'Fuck you.' And I would've said, 'Of course I believe it.' But deep down inside, would I have believed that? I don't think so. I just was doing it because there was a fire in my belly, and I wanted to stop being alone. And I hate loneliness. And that's one of the things that being in a band, I think it helps heal, but you've gotta tread very carefully because you can go into a place where you start to believe your own hype."

"Megadeth" was released on January 23 via Mustaine's Tradecraft imprint in partnership with Frontiers Label Group's new BLKIIBLK label.

Mustaine co-wrote the song "Ride The Lightning" with Hetfield, Ulrich and Burton.

Mustaine previously spoke about his decision to include his version of "Ride The Lightning" on "Megadeth" in an interview with Spain's MariskalRockTV. Dave said:  "Probably 'cause it was the most emblematic of my guitar influence. The spider chord — you know how I do the spider chord. And then there's something called grunting, where I'll hit the chord a half a step below the note I want to go to. I'll fret it and I'll slide into it… It's way heavier. So, to me, I call that grunting. So spider chords and grunting are in 'Ride The Lightning'."

Mustaine continued: "Having written so much of the songs with [METALLICA] — people think I wrote a lot, but on that record ['Ride The Lightning'], it was 'The Call Of Ktulu', which used to be called 'When Hell Freezes Over', and [the title track] 'Ride The Lightning'. And the previous album [METALLICA's 1983 debut, 'Kill 'Em All'] had four songs on it [that I co-wrote]."

Asked if the guitar solo in MEGADETH's version of "Ride The Lightning" is "very close to the original song" because Hammett copied Mustaine's solo from Dave's original version of "Ride The Lightning" with METALLICA, or if Mustaine simply "wanted to respect" Hammett's work by reproducing Hammett's solo from the 1984 album, Dave said: "I think Kirk — if you listen to [METALLICA's 1982] 'No Life 'Til Leather' demo and then you listen to the 'Kill 'Em All' record, it's pretty clear that that Kirk had some instruction [about how to approach the guitar leads on that album]. Was it note for note? No. But it was pretty close. So, when the opportunity came to do 'Ride The Lightning' [with MEGADETH], I didn't really feel like I knew the song very well anymore, and I don't remember what I played on for that song, for 'Ride The Lightning'. I had a hard time finding anything that I played on either. So we just figured, 'Fuck it. Teemu and I'll split the solo up, and half of it'll be for him and half of it'll be for me,' and it turned out so that [Teemu] did a little more than half."

Last December, Mustaine told Guitar World magazine about his decision to include his version of "Ride The Lightning" on "Megadeth": "The main reason I chose to do this was to close the circle and pay my respects to my partners. I thought this was a really great way to do that.

"Whenever we select any other band's music to go on our albums, sometimes there's a lot of thought behind it and sometimes there's not. This was one of the ones that we thought long and hard about, because all I wanted to do was play the song I wrote with the guys in METALLICA," Mustaine explained. "I wanted to pay my respects to James Hetfield, who I think is an amazing guitar player, and Lars Ulrich, who was an excellent songwriter. I remember when I was there and we were putting these songs together, Lars didn't just sit there; he was very instrumental in making these songs.

"Of course, when we got into making demos of these songs, it was fun to do the recordings, but we were never really able to do a full-on produced version of 'Ride The Lightning' [while I was in METALLICA], and I would have loved to have heard that.

"I gotta tell you — listening back to James's original vocal performance, it was really tremendous," Dave added.

"Anyway, there's no big strategy; I have respect for the guys, and I just wanted to show that. And it's a hell of a song."

Mustaine also talked about his version of "Ride The Lightning" during an appearance on the December 5, 2025 episode of SiriusXM's "Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk". Dave said at the time: "We're managed by three men — Danny Nozell, Steve Ross and Justis Mustaine. And we were talking with management, and we were just kind of yacking about what the cover song was gonna be on the record, 'cause we always did cover songs on our records. But this wasn't a cover song, because I wrote it with James. And it just became clear that I should do this, because if I'm going to ride off into the sunset, I wanna pay tribute to the band that I started in, and I wanted to make mention about what I think about James."

Mustaine continued: "I think [James is] an exceptional guitar player. I remember the day that I saw him play guitar for the first time. We were playing at the Whisky [A Go Go in West Hollywood, California]. And we had a guitar player with us, and his name was Brad Parker. And the night of the show he changed it to Damian Phillips. And he showed up at the Whisky in mid-1980s Rudy Sarzo garb. And I thought, 'Wow, that's not gonna go down.' And I looked at him and he had a giant feather earring. And I thought to myself, 'This guy's not gonna be here very long.' So I go to rehearsal, after the show, the next rehearsal I go and there's no Brad, there's no Damian, nobody. It was just James playing guitar — like a motherfucker. And I thought, 'How did this happen? How did this guy go from singer to a great guitar player like this?' And I was excited for me. I was excited for the band. And we started playing then."

As for how "Ride The Lightning" was chosen as the song for MEGADETH to record this time around, Mustaine said: "With the track, choosing that, I figured it should be something that I had something to do with, but I didn't know it was going to turn out like that. Something off of 'Kill 'Em All' would've been obvious, and we already did that [with 'Mechanix']. And so I was thinking about 'Ride The Lightning', and there's only a couple songs on there that I wrote. And I didn't think that 'The Call Of Ktulu' would be the right move, 'cause that's not even how the song was when I was in the band; they changed it so much, so it's not the way that I remember it. So we started doing 'Ride', and it just felt so great, listening to the tracks, listening to James's singing, listening to how the song structure was. It was just great. I loved it. And I've always believed when you do a song from somebody, you've gotta do it as good or better — you've got to. So we sped it up a little bit and we beefed up a couple parts, just to make them a little bit more modern. And there you have it."

Mustaine also previously talked about MEGADETH's version of "Ride The Lightning" last October in an interview with Rolling Stone magazine. He said at the time: "It wasn't really that I wanted to do my version. I think that we all wanted it to turn out a certain way, and for me, this was about something so much more than how a song turns out. It was about respect."

Speaking specifically about Hetfield, Mustaine added: "No one ever talks to me about that. One day he's a singer, the next day he's this fucking powerhouse and I've always respected him as a guitar player. So I wanted to do something to close the circle on my career right now, since it started off with [Mustaine's band before METALLICA] PANIC and several of the songs that ended up in the METALLICA repertoire, I wanted to do something that I felt would be a good song."

Elaborating on his reasons for recording "Ride The Lightning" for MEGADETH's final album, Mustaine said: "Our intentions were pure. I didn't have any reason I was going to say, 'Oh, hey man, this thing that we've had for 40 years where you guys will never tour with me, me doing the song is going to change things.' That wasn't it at all. It was more about: This is my life going forward. I want to do things that are respectable. And I think doing something where we can pay honor to the guy that … I mean, I hate to say this, because it's just so fucking arrogant, but the guitar playing in METALLICA changed the world."

In a separate video message, Mustaine said: "So on the new album we recorded 'Ride The Lightning', and the reason we did that was, obviously, it's a song that I had a lot to do with writing it. And James and I, when we were working on the song, it became clear to me, when James first started playing guitar, how good of a guitar player he was. And I thought it would be really cool to close the circle to show respect, to play the songs that I've written with METALLICA and to honor our friendship, even though it's been strained and ruined from emotions over the years when we were not necessarily friendly. But one thing I've always had is I've always had a tremendous respect for James's guitar playing andLars's songwriting. So, it was cool to do this and add it to the record. We sped it up just a little teeny bit, and we kind of played around a little bit with the solo and Teemu and I both tossed it back and forth to each other. So, you might hear a little bit of some differences with the tempos and, of course, I sing different from James too. But once again, it was about completing the circle and just showing what James and I, as guitar players, did to change the world."

Mustaine was a member of METALLICA for less than two years, from 1981 to 1983, before being dismissed and replaced by Hammett.

Mustaine was not inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame with METALLICA during the April 2009 ceremony at Cleveland, Ohio's Public Auditorium. Ulrich later explained to The Plain Dealer that Mustaine "never played on any METALLICA records. No disrespect to him. But there [were] half a dozen other people that were in the lineup in the early days. We thought... the fair thing to do would be to include anybody that played on a METALLICA record." He added: "Dave Mustaine was in the band for eleven months, predominantly in 1982... I'm not trying to play it down. I have nothing but respect and admiration for his accomplishments since."

Drummer Sasha Horn has left EXHORDER in order to "focus on his personal life". Temporarily replacing him on the road will be Corey Pierce of GOD FORBID fame. A permanent replacement for Horn has not yet been announced.

Earlier today, EXHORDER released the following statement via social media: "After more than eight years as the drummer for EXHORDER, Sasha Horn has decided to step away for the time being from the daily rock lifestyle to focus on his personal life.

"This decision does not impact our touring plans in any way, as we have been fortunate enough to secure the help of GOD FORBID legend Corey Pierce. Corey will join us on 'The Tour Of Unsound Minds' this coming month, so we are in good hands!

"We are excited to jam with Corey, and to bring our live show back to the eastern states for the first time in 2026."

EXHORDER added: "As we have finally completed a two-year touring cycle of 'Defectum Omnium', our canvas is clear and we are excited about following up with our fifth album's writing process. The search for a permanent drummer is underway.

"All of our best to Sasha in his journey, and we thank him for the time, contributions, and sacrifices he made alongside us for all of these years. Best of luck and nothing but love from us moving forward."

Sasha commented: "After eight and a half years, two albums, and countless touring cycles, it is time for me to permanently step away from my position at EXHORDER. All things have come to that split in the path. Best wishes to the guys moving forward. As for myself, I am in search of more time with family, continuing education, and a focus on my own personal creative endeavors.

"So much love to all of my fans. You mean the world to me. I shall see you again when I'm back out in it.

"This is not a farewell, this is a time-out."

EXHORDER's fourth full-length album, "Defectum Omnium", came out in March 2024 via Nuclear Blast Records.

Featuring 12 tracks and ominous cover artwork by Travis Smith (KATATONIA, OPETH),"Defectum Omnium" followed EXHORDER's critically revered 2019 release "Mourn The Southern Skies".

"Defectum Omnium" was recorded in part at Fat Track Studio in Cincinnati, Ohio with engineer Rob Nadler. The LP marked EXHORDER's first with former CANNIBAL CORPSE guitarist Pat O'Brien, who made his live debut with the latter group at the 2022 Maryland Deathfest.

The Maryland Deathfest gig took place three months after guitarist Marzi Montazeri left EXHORDER, explaining at the time in a statement that he "decided to no longer be a part of it."

Shortly after the Houston-based Montazeri announced his departure from EXHORDER, the remaining members of the band — Thomas, VieBrooks and Horn — said that they and Marzi had been "moving in different directions" and assured fans that they would "continue to thrive"

Thomas is now the sole remaining founding member of EXHORDER, which released its debut album, "Slaughter In The Vatican", way back in 1990. In February 2020, EXHORDER parted ways with its original guitarist Vinnie LaBella, who wrote much of the material on "Mourn The Southern Skies". The remaining members of the group later issued a statement saying that they would fulfill their "touring and recording obligations for 2020 and beyond."

EXHORDER released two albums in the early 1990s through the Roadrunner label — the aforementioned "Slaughter In The Vatican" and 1992's "The Law" — before breaking up, with Kyle going on to form FLOODGATE and also briefly appearing live as the vocalist for TROUBLE, which he later joined on a full-time basis (and is still a member of).

EXHORDER is cited by many as the originator of the riff-heavy power-groove approach popularized by PANTERA.

Photo credit: Erik Hernandez / EHP Photography (courtesy of Nuclear Blast Records and Earsplit PR)