Belgium's Cobra The Impaler have released a video for "Spirit Of Lyssa", featured on debut album, Colossal Gods, released last year via Listenable. Watch below.


While Colossal Gods was mostly made and finalized in the band's home country and mastered by Jens Bogren in Sweden, the drums were recorded at Northwood Sound Studios in Los Angeles displaying the stunning work of drummer extraordinaire Dirk Verbeuren (Megadeth).


Taking strong cues from the New Wave of American Heavy Metal, Cobra The Impaler forges together larger-than-life grooves and spirited guitar leads with enchanting clean vocal harmonies and razor-sharp screams. Effortlessly flowing from breakneck riffs to tasteful melodic breaks, the band makes strong use of stylistic elements from groove, thrash, and classic heavy metal. Colossal Gods is an exercise in empowerment as well as a show of subtle restraint, proving themselves as masters of melody as well as destruction.




The band comments: "In what can be considered a sequel, or mirror image, to the dark ritual magic seen in the video for 'Mountains', 'Spirit Of Lyssa' this time tells the story of another mortal being, cleansing herself in preparation to be reborn, at peace with herself and her fate. Rather than being consumed with pain and torment, she is at peace, headstrong and determined for a new start, in a new world."





Colossal Gods tracklisting:


"Colossal Gods"
"Blood Eye"
"Tempest Rising"
"Spirit Of Lyssa"
"Scorched Earth"
"Spawn Of The Forgotten"
"Demigods"
"Mountains"


"Spirit Of Lyssa" video:





"Mountains" video:





Lineup:


Guitars: Thijs De Cloedt
Drums: Dirk Verbeuren
Bass / Vocals: Michele De Feudis
Vocals: Manuel Remmerie
Guitars: James Falck

Former HIM frontman Ville Valo played his first solo concert under the VV banner Friday night (January 13) at Tavastia in Helsinki, Finland. Joining Ville on stage as part of his backing band were Mikko Virta on guitar, Risto Rikala on drums, Sampo Sundström on guitar and Juho Vehmanen on bass.

VV's setlist was as follows:

01. Echolocate Your Love
02. The Funeral Of Hearts (HIM song)
03. Neon Noir
04. Right Here In My Arms (HIM song)
05. Loveletting
06. Buried Alive By Love (HIM song)
07. In Trenodia
08. Wings Of A Butterfly (HIM song)
09. Heartful Of Ghosts
10. Join Me In Death (HIM song)
11. The Foreverlost
12. The Kiss Of Dawn (HIM song)
13. Run Away From The Sun
14. When Love And Death Embrace (HIM song)

Encore:

15. Soul On Fire (HIM song)
16. Salute The Sanguine
17. Poison Girl (HIM song)
18. Saturnine Saturnalia

VV's debut album, "Neon Noir", was made available on January 13 via Heartagram Records, distributed by UMG/Spinefarm.

Last April, Valo released the first single from "Neon Noir", a song called "Loveletting", which marked his first new music in over two years, following the release of the three-track "Gothica Fennica Vol. 1" EP, also released under the VV banner, in March 2020.

Like "Neon Noir", "Gothica Fennica Vol. 1" bore a strong musical resemblance to HIM and featured the tracks "Salute The Sanguine", "Run Away From The Sun" and "Saturnine Saturnalia".

Regarding the lyrical inspiration for "Neon Noir", Ville told Kerrang! magazine: "I wouldn't call it 'suicidal', but most of the stuff was written during the pandemic, and there weren't many rays of sun hitting me. Everybody was in the mental gutter. Times were tough. This album was the kind of like the lifebuoy for me. It gave me a reason to wake up every morning and work on something else and try to shut the world outside. When I was working on the music, maybe it was selfish to a certain extent, but also it was a matter of survival."

He added: "It seems that mankind needs a bit of a breather from all this shit, myself included. So I tried to put all that frustration onto paper. And if it's love and darkness, and all sorts of things like that, that's probably because it's my vocabulary. Hopefully, the words have been rearranged in a fresh order this time around. But me trying to do something completely different, just because, that doesn't make any sense to me at all."

Back in April 2022, Ville told Metal Hammer that "Loveletting" was one of the more mellow songs on "Neon Noir". Ville said: "I've always been shit with picking singles — I'm always wrong, so I let the label choose that and everybody was smiling when they heard it the first time, so they suggested it. I'm hoping the next one will be a lot more rock 'n' roll, harder hitting."

Regarding the musical direction of "Neon Noir", Ville told Metal Hammer: "The new stuff definitely does sound like HIM. But I did write most of the songs, so… I'm to blame for that. It's a continuous journey from HIM for me. A lot of people when they move on to solo projects want to distance themselves from the past, burn bridges and start their solo career. It's different for me. VV is me building a bridge between HIM and the future. That's what 'Neon Noir' is."

Ville spoke to Spotify about why it has taken him so long to complete "Neon Noir". "Since the pandemic hit, I started working on the album," he explained. "I actually learned how to record — I learned how to record drums and bass and guitar because I wasn't able to get any musicians; I had to do it solo — literally solo. So I'm really sorry but it did take me two and a half years to get the album done. 'Loveletting' is the first single. It's kind of what I normally do — it's a loud love song; it's a very sad and melancholy wistful one, but sort of maybe light at the end of the tunnel which is hopefully not the oncoming train.

"So there's not much new under the sun of VV, but I love it. [Laughs]"

VV's headline tour dates will take place this year across Europe and North America. The 2023 extensive run reaches the U.K. in March before heading to America come April.

HIM completed a farewell tour in 2017, closing the final chapter on the band's 26-year career. At the time, Ville explained to Kerrang! magazine why the band decided to call it a day. "We were tired of the same shit," he said. "When you've done it for a long time, at some point it doesn't taste good anymore. We started working on some stuff, it didn't sound good enough, and we didn't get the teenage buzz you're supposed get."

Formed in 1991 by Valo, guitarist Mikko "Linde" Lindström and bassist Mikko "Migé" Paananen, HIM offered the world a new take on the metal genre, which became known as "love metal" (also the title of their fourth album).

HIM in 2015 parted ways with its longtime drummer, Mika Kristian Karppinen (a.k.a. Gas Lipstick),and replaced him with Jukka "Kosmo" Kröger (formerly of HERRA YLPPÖ & IHMISET).

Four years ago, Valo teamed up with guitar legend Esa Pulliainen to record an album based on songs by the late, legendary Finnish singer Rauli "Badding" Somerjoki. The self-titled album by VILLE VALO & AGENTS was released in February 2019 and was followed by a short tour.

SEVENDUST co-founder, guitarist and vocalist Clint Lowery will release a new solo EP, titled "Ghostwriter", on February 17 via Dark Blanket Records. The five-track effort will be the follow-up to his debut solo album, "God Bless The Renegades", which came out in January 2020 via Rise Records.

Clint produced and engineered "Ghostwriter", which was mixed by Richard Wicander of FIRE FROM THE GODS. SEVENDUST drummer Morgan Rose laid down the drums during the sessions.

The official JT Ibanez-directed music video for the "Ghostwriter" opening track "Devil Leather" can be seen below.

"Ghostwriter" track listing:

01. Devil Leather
02. In This Together
03. I Mean This
04. Invited
05. What Should I Live For?

Regarding his decision to record an EP this time around, Lowery said back in August: "I have debated on doing a full length but considering the fact that [SEVENDUST] downtime will not be as long as I originally planned, I think the better play is to do [an] EP to release sooner than later.

"It's been nearly 3 years since I recorded 'God Bless The Renegades' and really want to try some new directions as a writer.

"I do these releases as a labor of love and because it's an opportunity to explore some new ground."

On December 7, Clint offered an update on the EP sessions, writing on his social media: "Around a week or so go I completed recording an EP of 5 songs. Most of which was recorded in my basement and a make shift vocal booth.

"This is the first time I've attempted to track most everything myself and was an amazing experience and challenge to say the least.

"I haven't released any music since early 2020 and want to start releasing songs regularly. I'm at a place where I feel like it doesn't make sense to just sit on ideas. I cherish the process of writing and have written over 100 ideas over last few years. Our new [SEVENDUST] record will also be dropping in 2023 which is another reason I wanted to release something sooner than later.

"I'm excited about the songs for this EP and proud that I was able to do it mainly myself.

"After this I plan on releasing another EP in the fall. Also concentrating on writing for other artist, collaborating with writers and supporting the new [SEVENDUST]."

Lowery recorded "God Bless The Renegades" with producer and co-writer Michael "Elvis" Baskette (SLASH, ALTER BRIDGE) at Studio Barbarosa in Florida. The drums on the disc were laid down by former VAN HALEN bassist and current MAMMOTH WVH frontman Wolfgang Van Halen.

In addition to SEVENDUST, Lowery has been a member of, written, recorded, or performed with CALL ME NO ONE, DARK NEW DAY, KORN, RED, Tommy Lee's METHODS OF MAYHEM, SNOT, 10 YEARS and DIGITAL SUMMER, among others.

Dutch singer Sharon Kovacs has released her third album, Child Of Sin, which features Rammstein frontman Till Linemann guesting on the title track. It is a piano ballad and features Lindemann singing in English rather than his native German. Check it out below.


"Child Of Sin" was written by  Sharon Kovacs, Till Lindemann and Jonathan Quarmby.







Back in 2021, Till Lindemann teamed up with French singer / songwriter Isabelle Geffroy, known professionally as Zaz, for the single "Le Jardin Des Larmes". The song, performed in French and a smattering of German, is a romantic love story that ends with a twist, as people have come to expect from Lindemann.


The video was shot in Uzbekistan and was directed by Zoran Bihać, who has worked previously with Rammstein and Lindemann. 


"Le Jardin Des Larmes" is taken from Zaz's latest album, Isa, released in October 2021.





 Photos credits - Till Lindemann: Jens Koch / Sharon Kovacs: Wolf Recordings

Former Elegy vocalist Ian Parry has checked in with the following update:


"Hope it's not too late to wish you all a Happy New Year. Another wish has come true to make a video for 'Innocent Minds'. A combination of gothic rock, melodic metal to symphonic progressive rock, and with the incredible support of Italian guitarist Luca Sellitto, here's the video. I hope you like it. Now I wish that some of your dreams come true in 2023."







"Innocent Minds" is taken from Ian Parry's fourth solo album, Visions. A combination of gothic rock, melodic metal to symphonic progressive rock, Visions was first released in 2006 in Europe via Escape music UK and in Mexico via Scarecrow records, then later released in Brazil via Dynamo records in 2007. During a promo trip to Toronto, Visions received much acclaim. Back in Europe, the journalists obviously appreciated the diverse style of songs Ian recorded for Visions being more modern, more commercial rock and symphonic metal, included performances from Casey Grillo (Kamelot), Ivar de Graaf (former Within Temptation) and Vanden Plas guitarist Stephan Lill, and gave the album the best reviews Ian has received during his career.


Check out Visions via Spotify here.





Tracklist:


"Innocent Minds"
"Anything So Easily"
"Fools Don't Cry"
"Angels"
"(For) Another Day"
"Fallin'"
"Smiley People"
"Slip Away"
"Lovin' a Stranger"
"No Mans Land"
"Visions"
"How Far Will You Go" (Bonus Track)


 

Dutch death metal institution Bodyfarm has unveiled their new video, "The Swamp". Directed and edited by Sebastiaan Spijker for Multi Media Music Video Production, the clip is the third to be revealed from the band's fifth album, Ultimate Abomination, set for international release on February 24th via Edged Circle Productions.





Lyrically, Ultimate Abomination focuses on psychological warfare. “Views from a violent and devastating psychological sight from the dark depths of our minds and human behavior,” expounds founding guitarist Bram Hilhorst. “You can parallel it to ‘wars in the battlefield of life itself.’ The songs are all stories in themselves, but all relate to this subject.” Thus, the title Ultimate Abomination is an apt summary of all the lyrics written by de Boer for the album. 




Part and parcel with Bodyfarm's stellar songwriting across Ultimate Abomination is the album’s absolutely crushing production: very “live” and full-blooded, but polished just enough to exude maximum professionalism. Recording-wise, the drums for Ultimate Abomination were recorded by J.B. van der Wal at Soundlodge Studios, and the other instruments and vocals by the band at Studio Hilhorst. Mixing and mastering was done by Project Zero studios Belgium.  


“We listen to different kinds of music in our genre, and this is also recognizable in the new songs,” Hilhorst continues. “The diversity of tempos and atmosphere is quite big. Old-school death ‘n’ roll to blackened death riffing, it’s all there, and we think the combination of it makes a unique sound.”


Cover by Daemorph Art: 





Tracklisting:


"Torment" 
"Symbolical Warfare" 
"The Wicked Red" 
"Blasting Tyranny" 
"The Swamp" 
"Carving Repentance" 
"Empire Of Iniquity" 
"Soul Damnation" 
"Sacrilege Of The Fallen" 
"Charlatan Messiah"








(Photo: Stefan Schipper)


 

Back in August 2022, Lamb Of God performed upon the Ronnie James Dio Stage at the Bloodstock Open Air 2022, at Catton Hall and Gardens in Walton-on-Trent, England. Newly released pro-shot video of the band performing "Redneck" can be viewed below.


The setlist on the night was as follows:


"Memento Mori"
"Ruin"
"Walk With Me In Hell"
"Resurrection Man"
"Nevermore"
"Now You've Got Something To Die For"
"Contractor"
"Omerta"
"11th Hour"
"Omens"
"Hourglass"
"512"
"Ghost Walking"




Encore:
"Vigil"
"Laid To Rest"
"Redneck"





Germany’s Kreator will be laying waste to Europe on the State Of Unrest Tour with Lamb Of God and Municipal Waste. Check out a tour trailer below:





Says Kreator: "If you have an existing ticket for any of these it remains valid - and if you don't, tickets for all shows are on sale now. Hail to the Hordes!"

The Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame YouTube channel has shared an "Inductee Insights" video focusing on British heavy metal legends JUDAS PRIEST, who were inducted into the Hall at last year's ceremony. The five-minute clip, which was shown at the November 5 event at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles, can be seen below.

PRIEST received the Musical Excellence Award at last year's Rock Hall, which honored Eminem, Dolly Parton, DURAN DURAN, Lionel Richie, Pat Benatar, EURYTHMICS and Carly Simon in the Performers category.

The JUDAS PRIEST members who got inducted include current members Rob Halford (vocals),Ian Hill (bass),Glenn Tipton (guitar) and Scott Travis (drums),along with former members K.K. Downing (guitar),Les Binks (drums) and late drummer Dave Holland.

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

In a December 2022 interview with Metal Talk, Downing reflected on his reunion with his former bandmates at the Rock Hall induction. The 71-year-old guitarist, who sat at the same table at the induction ceremony as the other PRIEST musicians at the event, said that he had a chat with Travis and was able to "break bread" with Halford and Hill. He also exchanged some pleasantries with Tipton, with whom he had shared a stage for decades, and Faulkner, who replaced him in 2011.

Regarding what it was like to speak and play with Faulkner, Downing said: "Yes, I managed to have a chat with him, and we shared the stage and even jammed together. It could have been awkward, but it wasn't. I've nothing but respect for him, and I know he's working on other projects outside PRIEST, and I wish him well." He laughingly added: "The only potentially awkward moments were because I like a lot of room and have always raced around the stage, and we had to avoid each other."

Last month, JUDAS PRIEST's longtime manager Jayne Andrewstold the "Gabbing With Girlfriends" podcast that PRIEST's reunion with Downing "was a bit strange" because K.K. "just kept himself to himself. Even when he got on stage with the band [to perform at the Rock Hall], he didn't really communicate much with anybody," she said.

Andrews went on to say that Downing missed an opportunity "to try and build bridges" with his former bandmates, adding that K.K. "could have stuck his head around the door" in the dressing room "and said, 'Thank you for inviting me on stage with you.'" She also said that he K.K. "seemed a little bit nervous and almost out of his depth" during the Rock Hall performance.

In November, Halford was asked in an interview with the San Antonio Current if performing with Downing at the Rock Hall ceremony helped put aside some of the acrimony that K.K. has shown about not being in band for these last few tours. Halford responded: "I think we should let the music speak for itself, really, because as you'll see from the performance, you'll see that all of that other stuff is irrelevant. All the things that have been said and suggested just float off into the air. What matters is what's going down on that stage at that time you're performing together. And there he is on my right-hand side. It just felt like he was always there. Look behind me and there's [Les], and the memories just are overwhelming. But, more than that, you're focusing on the moment that you're back together again and playing live. It was really a whirlwind. We were in each other's company for a very, very short space of time. We had very little time to communicate. But for the purpose of the induction of the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame together, it was absolutely crucial that K.K. and Les were there. They were inducted, they needed to be in the room. And more than that, we were thrilled that they took the opportunity to say, 'Yeah, we'll come and jam on stage again with you guys.'"

In a separate interview with Lauren "Lern" Elwell of the KSHE radio station, Halford said it was "good" performing with Downing and Binks at the Rock Hall. He added: "We hadn't seen [Downing] forever. And I've still yet to watch footage of that. All I remember is my brief interactions with K.K., because I'm always running around the stage like a mad drag queen. My interactions with Ken and with Les, it was great. It felt wonderful to have that moment together after such a long time. And that just shows you the power, the weight, the vibe that the Rock Hall suggests you try to attempt. Try and recapture something of the essence that it really part of why you're here, why you're being inducted. I was just so happy that Ken and Les showed up, because they needed to be there. It was entirely their choice, but I said it makes absolute sense if you're in the room and we're playing together. And we did, and it was magical."

Downing left PRIEST in 2011 amid claims of band conflict, shoddy management and declining quality of performance.

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

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

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

JUDAS PRIEST was on the ballot for Rock Hall induction in 2020, but failed to receive enough votes to make that year's class.

Having been eligible for induction since 1999, PRIEST was also on the ballot for the 2018 class of the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame, but was ultimately left out of the inductee list.

Finnish heavy metallers Oceanhoarse are gearing up for the release of the band's sophomore full-length record, entitled Heads Will Roll, which will be coming out on February 17th via Noble Demon. In support of the new album, the band has released a video for the new single "Brick". Check it out below.


Guitarist Ben Varon comments.


"'Brick' is what it sounds like to lose your sanity. This is the musical equivalent to a high-speed chase, or a 2-minute 45-second long nightmare. The main riff actually started as this crazy C-part of another song, but then we thought, 'Why not just build a whole song around this fucked up riff?!' I can definitely hear the influence of late 80’s Megadeth here. Helmets on boys and girls!"







Heads Will Roll is available for pre-order here.





Tracklisting:


“Fall Like Dominoes”
“Help Is On The Way”
“Pryopen”
“Brick”
“Smoke Signals”
"Waves"
“Dead Zone”
“Heads Will Roll”
“Adrift”
“Nail”
“Carved In Stone”


“Help Is On The Way” lyric video:





(Photo - Pete Inkinen / Guilty Visuals)

Boundary pushing instrumental trio, Animals As Leaders, have released an official video for "Red Miso", taken from their latest album, Parrhesia. It was released in March 2022.





Animals As Leaders have regretfully postponed their European Parrhesia headline dates, including 4 UK shows, due to take place this month.




The band shared the following statement on their social media, "To our fans in Europe & the UK. We are very sorry, but we will be postponing the January Parrhesia tour. We would like to apologise to everyone who has purchased tickets to see the tour and for the short notice of this news. We will be announcing the rescheduled dates in the coming weeks. All tickets purchased will still be valid for new dates."





An announcement with details of the rescheduled dates will be made in due course. All tickets will remain valid for the rearranged shows.

Legendary German guitarist Uli Jon Roth has paid tribute to British guitar legend Jeff Beck following his death on Tuesday (January 10).

The Rock And Roll Hall Of Famer, who rose to prominence with THE YARDBIRDS, died "suddenly" after contracting bacterial meningitis, his representative said.

Uli took to his social media on Thursday (January 12) to write: "We are all shocked to read that Jeff Beck has passed away. Very sad news! The electric guitar has lost one of its all-time greatest! What a shame. What a loss for the world of music. He was a genius maverick and a complete one-off in every sense of the word. An irreplaceable artist!

"Words fail me to describe how very special his playing was and his beautiful musicianship. He was always great; I shall always remember seeing him live in 1972 with an incredible guitar sound - and in 1975, his 'Blow By Blow' album had a strong impact on me. Then, years later, his rendition of 'Nadja' blew me away. And just very recently, during his live shows he played better than ever.

"I only got to meet him once, unfortunately, at Birmingham Symphony Hall in 2014, but he was perfectly friendly to me and a very pleasant person.

"Rest in peace, Sir Jeff."

Having cultivated one of the most influential careers in rock history, Beck was universally acknowledged as one of the most talented and significant guitarists in the world, and has played alongside some of the greatest artists of rock, blues and jazz.

Over the course of his distinguished 50-plus-year music career, he had earned an incredible eight Grammy Awards, been ranked by Rolling Stone as one of the "100 Greatest Guitarists Of All Time," and been inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame twice — once as a member of THE YARDBIRDS and again as a solo artist. In the summer of 2016, the guitar virtuoso celebrated his five decades of music with an extraordinary concert at the famous Hollywood Bowl.

Speaking when he was inducted to the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame for the second time in 2009, Beck said: "I play the way I do because it allows me to come up with the sickest sounds possible. That's the point now, isn't it? I don't care about the rules. In fact, if I don't break the rules at least 10 times in every song, then I'm not doing my job properly."

Beck famously replaced Eric Clapton as THE YARDBIRDS' lead guitarist in 1965 and later went on to form THE JEFF BECK GROUP, which featured Rod Stewart on vocals and Ron Wood on bass. Their two albums — "Truth" (1968) and "Beck-Ola" (1969) — would become musical touchstones for hard rockers in the years to come.

The constantly evolving Beck's next move — a power trio with bassist Tim Bogert and drummer Carmine Appice, which released "Beck, Bogert And Appice" (1973),once again shattered people's preconceptions of what a rock guitarist was supposed to sound like.

1985's "Flash" kept Beck in the spotlight as he earned the "Best Rock Instrumental" Grammy for the song "Escape". A second Grammy came with Jeff Beck's "Guitar Shop" with Terry Bozzio and Tony Hymas, and a third for "Dirty Mind" from the "You Had It Coming" album in 2001. 2009 saw the release of the platinum-selling "Performing This Week… Live at Ronnie Scott's", which earned a Grammy for "A Day In The Life".

Beck's astonishing 2010 solo album, "Emotion & Commotion", brought about two additional Grammy Awards; Beck was nominated in five categories before bringing home three: "Best Rock Instrumental Performance" for "Hammerhead" and "Best Pop Instrumental Performance" for "Nessun Dorma", both from "Emotion & Commotion", and "Best Pop Collaboration With Vocals" for "Imagine", his collaboration with Herbie Hancock.

His "Rock 'N' Roll Party (Honoring Les Paul)" album was nominated for a 2012 Grammy Award for "Best Rock Album". In 2016 he released "Loud Hailer" and in 2017 "Jeff Beck: Live At The Hollywood Bowl" was released, both to widespread critical acclaim.

The eight-time Grammy winner is survived by his wife Sandra.

We are all shocked to read that Jeff Beck has passed away. Very sad news! The electric guitar has lost one of its...

Posted by Uli Jon Roth on Thursday, January 12, 2023

In a new interview with Ruben Mosqueda of We Go To 11, ANTHRAX drummer Charlie Benante spoke about the progress of the songwriting sessions for the band's follow-up to 2016's "For All Kings" album. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "We've been working on a record for fucking three years now. It's embarrassing to even say that. I feel like DEF LEPPARD."

According to Benante, who is also sitting behind the kit for the reformed PANTERA, ANTHRAX is planning to enter the studio sometime this spring to begin recording the new LP.

"Between the PANTERA [tour dates in 2023], we're gonna be working on this record, this ANTHRAX record," he said. "We're hoping to have it finished before PANTERA go to Europe [in late May]. I have a little window after that, before [PANTERA's stadium tour with] METALLICA starts. At least if I get my drum tracks done, then the other guys can continue to work on it.

"That's the plan," he added. "Unless something else happens, but hopefully nothing will happen."

Last November, ANTHRAX bassist Frank Bello told SiriusXM that the band is "not in a rush" to record the new album. "We wanna make sure it's the right record," he explained. "We can't just throw out something that's not ready. So we're gonna really make sure it's the right record and live with it for a little bit. We have some brutal stuff and some cool stuff coming up — very heavy — we've been working on. Everybody can say that when they're working on a record. But the proof is in the pudding. I'm pretty proud of what we've come up with so far."

In August, ANTHRAX guitarist Scott Ian praised the production quality on some of the band's recent albums, including 2011's "Worship Music" and "For All Kings". He said: [On] 'Worship [Music]' and 'For All Kings', for me, we've really kind of found our sound. We've got this base level where we're at right now with [producer] Jay Ruston where we know it's gonna be great, and then we could push it even further. Especially with the songwriting that we have right now, going into what will eventually be a new ANTHRAX album, it just lends itself to even a more aggressive production which I think we will have no problem accomplishing."

In April 2022, Scott confirmed to Metal Injection that ANTHRAX had a few songs already written for the upcoming LP. "All I can say is we will get in the studio when we're ready," he said. "I think we're getting there. I think we have great songs. I think people will be very happy.

"Not to make a weird comparison, but it's our third record back together with [singer] Joey [Belladonna]. Actually, it's an odd comparison. I should just say it's our third album since our kind of our reboot in 2010 and our third album back in the day was 'Among The Living'. I'm not saying that this is [like that album], because it's not 'Among The Living II' in any sense, but I just think we have some great songs and there's like a fucking mountain of great riffs. I think people are going to be very happy."

Ian previously discussed ANTHRAX's upcoming LP during a July 2021 appearance on Full Metal Jackie's nationally syndicated radio show. At the time, he said: "We've been at it for a little while now. We actually started writing in '19 — pre-COVID — and kind of stepped away from things when COVID happened. We were all separate and apart and we would kind of revisit some of the demos, but we weren't actively working on it.

"Yeah, it's the same as it's always been," he said. "I would have to think by the time we get to the other side of the writing process and we decide we're ready to go record it, I would have to assume it's certainly going to represent this time in our lives. And the world having gone through a pandemic, I would imagine certainly that's in some way, shape or form going to come out through this next record. I can't tell you how yet, but I would have to think it's going to."

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".

Later this month, ANTHRAX and BLACK LABEL SOCIETY will head back on the road for a 24-date tour, making stops in all new markets, with both bands playing headline sets. Joining ANTHRAX and BLACK LABEL SOCIETY as special guest on this run will be EXODUS. The trek will launch on January 17 at the Revolution Concert House in Boise, Idaho and wrapping in Oakland, California at the Fox Theatre on February 18.

Former QUEENSRŸCHE singer Geoff Tate celebrated his 64th birthday last night (Saturday, January 14) during his concert at Amaturo Theater in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Fan-filmed video of the audience singing "Happy Birthday" to the vocalist and Geoff blowing out the candles on his birthday cake can be seen below (courtesy of the Geoff Tate Fans Facebook page).

Tate's setlist was as follows (video courtesy of AIE TUBE):

01. Empire 00:00
02. Another Rainy Night (Without You) 06:19
03. Desert Dance 11:46
04. I Am I 16:07
05. Sacred Ground 20:04
06. Best I Can 24:04
07. Real World 28:55
08. Breaking The Silence 35:50
09. I Don't Believe In Love 40:30
10. Suite Sister Mary 45:17
11. Cold 59:28
12. Bridge 01:04:47
13. Screaming In Digital 01:08:12
14. Walk In The Shadows 01:11:52
15. Take Hold Of The Flame 01:15:13
16. Jet City Woman 01:22:50
17. Silent Lucidity 01:29:40

Encore:

18. Happy Birthday Geoff 01:38:38
19. The Chase 01:40:00
20. Queen Of The Reich 01:43:13

Tate's "Big Rock Show Hits" tour kicked off on December 1. Tate and his international band — featuring guitarists Kieran Robertson from Scotland, James Brown from Ireland and Alex Hart from Boston along with bass player Jack Ross from Scotland, drummer Danny Laverde from Cincinnati and keyboardist Jason Ames — hit 28 cities across the United States, including Cleveland, Phoenix, Dallas, Houston, Denver and Nashville, on an initial tour leg that culminated on Geoff's birthday.

Just five days after their last U.S. show in January, the band will embark on the "Empire" 30th-anniversary trek that begins in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil on January 19, then heads off to Europe for two weeks, quickly followed by three shows in Australia. After "the land down under," they'll return to Europe for a variety of shows that will last through mid-March. They'll return in early June for another extensive European tour.

In a recent interview with Conversaciones Necias, Tate was asked if he has given any thought to his eventual retirement. He responded: "I think I'll keep traveling and singing songs until I can't do it anymore. I really enjoy it. It's a wonderful lifestyle, and I'm very fortunate and very blessed to still be in good health and able to do it.

"People say to me all the time, 'When are you gonna get a real job?'" he lauched. "This is my job."

Four years ago, Tate appeared to be more open to the idea of someday retiring from recording and performing live. At the time, he told Brickhouse TV: "If and when I can retire at some point, what I'd like to do with my time [is] just spend it in the vineyard. There's a point where you've got to kind of hang up your rock n' roll shoes and only come out on occasion. I've got 19 albums, and I really want to do at least 20, so I think I have one more album in me, maybe two."

But in early 2021, Geoff seemingly had a change of heart, telling Aftershocks TV: "I can't imagine stopping — I really can't. I love traveling and I love performing, so I've got the perfect gig. [Laughs] I can't think of anything else I'd rather do than play music. So I guess as long as I'm still healthy and can still sing [the songs], I'll continue to do it."

In November, Geoff said that he had still not completely recovered after recently undergoing an unspecified heart procedure.

Tate discussed his health in an interview with Tulsa Music Stream. Asked if he was feeling back to a hundred percent nearly six months after going under the knife, Geoff said: "Yeah, I think I'm — I don't know if I'd say 'a hundred percent', but I think after the New Year I'll be approaching that number. It was a really difficult few months there. [I'd] never been [seriously] ill in my life — I'd never actually been in a hospital ever — so this was something that was quite a bit different to get used to."

Last August, Tate said that "it took about a month" before he "could make a sound" and eventually regain his singing voice.

"I'd never been in a hospital before in my life, or I'd never had anything wrong with me, and this was the first experience for me," he explained to in Ritchie Birnie. "And I was just amazed at how much it took out of me. I've always been a pretty physical, pretty strong person, but, man, when I came out of the hospital, I was weak. I could barely walk."

On July 3, 2022, Tate took to his Facebook page to share a photo of him with Dr. Sami Kueri from the department of cardiovascular surgery at the Universitäts-Herzzentrum Freiburg-Bad Krozingen (University Heart Center Freiburg) in Bad Krozingen, Germany, and he included the following message: "All my gratitude to the talented Dr. Sami Kueri for giving me a healthy heart!! Feeling so much better each day!"

Tate's recent tour celebrated the 30th anniversary of QUEENSRŸCHE's "Empire" and "Rage For Order" albums.

In April 2014, Tate and QUEENSRŸCHE announced that a settlement had been reached after a nearly two-year legal battle where the singer sued over the rights to the QUEENSRŸCHE name after being fired in 2012. Fellow original QUEENSRŸCHE members Michael Wilton (guitar),Scott Rockenfield (drums) and Eddie Jackson (bass) responded with a countersuit. The settlement included an agreement that Wilton, Rockenfield and Jackson would continue as QUEENSRŸCHE, while Tate would have the sole right to perform the albums "Operation: Mindcrime" and "Operation: Mindcrime II" in their entirety live.

Tate was replaced in QUEENSRŸCHE by former CRIMSON GLORY singer Todd La Torre.

Geoff will embark on a tour later this year to celebrate the 35th anniversary of "Operation: Mindcrime".



Posted by Kim Franklin on Sunday, January 15, 2023

During an appearance on a recent episode of the "Talk Toomey" podcast, vocalist John Tardy of Florida death metallers OBITUARY reflected on what it was like to open for SLAYER on the legendary thrash metal band's fall 2018 European tour with LAMB OF GOD and ANTHRAX. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "I'll tell you what: thirty years ago, I would not wanna have opened for SLAYER. [Laughs] 'Cause if you remember, at those SLAYER shows, those SLAYER fans wanted no part of any band. I didn't care who you were, all you heard were 'SLAYER' chants the whole time. But we did get invited. And it was the last time we were in Europe. And we did the SLAYER tour with them. And that was awesome. Those guys were super cool. Their crew was way nicer than they needed to be to us. And we had their stage manager come up to us, and he was, like, 'I've never seen arenas near full when the first band was going on.' And that was awesome, like I said. That was a really fun tour too — with LAMB OF GOD. I love those guys; I get along great with those. And to hit that bucket list and get to play with SLAYER, that was awesome. 'Cause time was running out. We saw that SLAYER was getting ready to wrap things up [and retire from touring], so we were really glad to get that phone call also… I sat out front and watched SLAYERevery night of that tour. No doubt."

OBITUARY released its new studio album, "Dying Of Everything", on January 13 via Relapse Records. The LP destroys in the time-honored tradition of early OBITUARY classics "Slowly We Rot" and "Cause Of Death" while maintaining the killer studio sound that the band has been perfecting in its own studio since 2007's monstrous "Xecutioner's Return".

You can hear the results on lead single "The Wrong Time", which boasts a slamming mid-tempo groove. Meanwhile, the title track boasts punishing riffs and songwriting by Ken Andrews. The album's third single, "My Will To Live", is a total skull-crusher. Track after track, OBITUARY solidify their legacy as a death metal institution, churning out some of the heaviest riffs in their career.

Like just about every album in OBITUARY's vast catalog, "Dying Of Everything" is instantly memorable; it's a skill that OBITUARY have only improved upon over the years. It’s unusual for a band that's been around since the '80s to be doing some of their best work in the 2020s, but that's exactly what OBITUARY have accomplished through their do-it-yourself attitude and relentless touring on a worldwide level.

Last year, Decibel Books released "Turned Inside Out: The Official Story Of Obituary", the fully authorized biography of OBITUARY.

ICE NINE KILLS has released a music video for the title track of its latest album, "The Silver Scream 2: Welcome To Horrorwood". The clip heralds the latest installment in the gore-soaked slasher franchise that began in 2018 with the announcement of the band's album "The Silver Scream". The censored version of the "Welcome To Horrorwood" music video premiered on the enormously popular horror YouTube channel Dead Meat and can be viewed below.

Speaking on the latest display of psychotically gratuitous gore and violence, ICE NINE KILLS frontman and creative visionary Spencer Charnas simply shares: "Keep children and the elderly far away from this video."

"Welcome To Horrorwood" is featured on ICE NINE KILLS' phenomenally successful album "The Silver Scream 2: Welcome to Horrorwood". Released in October 2021, the LP scored ICE NINE KILLS their first Top 20 position (No. 18) on the Billboard 200, topped the Digital and Current Hard Music charts, hit Top 5 on the Current Rock, Independent, Current Albums, and Album Sales charts and has clocked up 137 million cross-platform streams to date and 13 million YouTube views for singles "Hip To Be Scared", "Assault & Batteries", "Rainy Day", "Funeral Derangements", "Take Your Pick" and "The Shower Scene".

ICE NINE KILLS will tour extensively throughout 2023.The band will support METALLICA on the recently announced "M72" world tour as well as hitting Europe for a headline tour.

Decadent, devious, and fiercely insane, ICE NINE KILLS celebrate pop culture's darkest edges, mining a cinephile library's worth of iconic horror on 2018's "The Silver Scream" which spawned Top 10 Mainstream Rock single "A Grave Mistake" and Top 20 hit "Savages". The creative marriage made in hell of music and fiction began in earnest with the Top 5 Hard Rock album "Every Trick In The Book", which brought the previous three records' themes to new levels and which the band have completely perfected on "The Silver Scream 2: Welcome To Horrorwood".

Since the release of "The Silver Scream 2: Welcome To Horrorwood", ICE NINE KILLS have seen phenomenal growth. Throughout 2022 they toured the U.S. extensively on three legs of "The Trinity Of Terror", their hugely successful, mostly sold-out triple co-headline tour with MOTIONLESS IN WHITE and BLACK VEIL BRIDES, supported METALLICA at serveral U.S. stadium shows, toured the U.S. with SLIPKNOT and launched the inaugural edition of their horror convention, "The Silver Scream Con".

The band's synergy of music and lifestyle draws favorable comparisons to SLIPKNOT and ROB ZOMBIE. Visionary trailblazers and multimedia raconteurs, ICE NINE KILLS built a thrilling world for a growing legion of devoted true believers, with theatrical shows, high-concept videos, and inventive band-to-fan communion. Their wildly creative output has seen them become recent recipients of the prestigious Clio Award for Music Marketing for their "Merry Axe-mas" mobile game and their live streaming event from October 2020, "The Silver Stream" be nominated for five awards at last year's Horror Hound Film Festival Awards in the categories of "Judges Choice", "Best Sound", "Best Supporting Performance", "Best Cinematography" and "Best Feature". With over 1.75 million monthly listeners on Spotify, 717 million career streams to date and over 204 million views on YouTube, the band are firmly cemented as one of modern metal's most vicious forces.

ICE NINE KILLS is:

Spencer Charnas - Vocals
Dan Sugarman - Guitar
Ricky Armellino - Guitar
Joe Occhiuti - Bass
Patrick Galante - Drums

Photo Credit Johnathan Weiner

ANTHRAX singer Joey Belladonna's JOURNEY tribute band called BEYOND FRONTIERS (formerly JOEY BELLADONNA'S BEYOND THE BAND and JOURNEY BEYOND) performed on December 30 at Wally's in Hampton Beach, New Hampshire. Video of the concert can be seen below (courtesy of the KTVBOSTONYouTube channel).

A year and a half ago, Belladonna spoke to "The Johnny Dare Morning Show" about his JOURNEY tribute, which also features keyboardist Doug Carter, bassist Paul Arntz, guitarist Matt Basford and drummer Justin Ward.

"We're working on some recordings so we can be like a normal band and put stuff up on the site — maybe do a video," Joey said. "We've got interest in playing shows. We're just trying to figure out when and how, that kind of thing. The band's still together. We record at home. Everybody's all in different places at the moment. We only did one show, so we can't wait to do it again, 'cause it's gonna be fun."

Belladonna also touched upon his reasons for launching a JOURNEY tribute band, saying: "People ask why the hell I do it. I just like the songs. I've liked the band forever. And I just wanted to do it because I think it's a cool challenge and it's just fun music. I can't think of many bands that I'd like to do a whole evening of without trying to dress up and do everything they do. We just wanna be a band that plays that music. I don't care about the whole lookalike-type stuff. It's just about music. That's really all it is."

In an April 2020 interview with SiriusXM's "Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk", Belladonna stated about his approach to singing material that was originally written and recorded by Steve Perry: "Obviously, when you do [something like this], there's always open ground for [people to say], 'You didn't do that part, 'You didn't do this.' [But] I didn't wanna copy it note for note. Sometimes I just like to do my own thing with it. Represent it and do what you can, but I love to mess around with things. Not so much to try to be too different, but just make it cool and do it your own way versus trying to get every note. I'm sure some guys study every second of it. Even with ANTHRAX, I do songs different a lot of times. It's just fun that way. To do things off the cuff is fun for me versus trying to follow everything… I can study it all day, but I just don't feel like doing that. I wanna have a little fun doing my own thing with it."

Belladonna's JOURNEY tribute made its live debut in March 2020 at The Beacon Theatre in Hopewell, Virginia.

When he is not busy touring and recording with ANTHRAX, Belladonna has been spending time playing drums and singing for a classic-rock covers band called CHIEF BIG WAY. The upstate New York-based group, which also features Dave Mickelson on bass, Joe Precourt on guitar and John Goodwin on keyboards, plays versions of songs from JOURNEY, AC/DC, ZZ TOP, BOSTON, CHEAP TRICK, FOREIGNER, PINK FLOYD, VAN HALEN, COLLECTIVE SOUL, THE WHO, THE DOORS, SHINEDOWN and BON JOVI, among others.

In a 2005 interview with MusicDish, Belladonna was asked about the rumor that he came to the table with a JOURNEY tune during his 1985 audition for ANTHRAX. "Actually, what happened was I went into the room and they said, 'Just go on in,' and they hadn't heard me sing," he said. "They'd heard of me and they asked me to come in, but we were going in to start tracking and stuff, to get the mic set up and all that and they said, 'Let's get you in there and get you warmed up.' I hit the mic and belted out some JOURNEY… I think it was [the song] 'Lights'. I didn't know what the hell I was getting into in the first place. I just wanted to lay some vocals or something. Just to kinda give an idea and that's what happened. It wasn't really anything more than that. I just kinda belched it out. I think I did 'Oh Sherrie' [written by Steve Perry], too, or something. I dunno why, but I just did. It was something off the top of my head I could do a cappella and it was kinda challenging. I thought maybe in range or something that would be kind of intriguing. It was definitely one they weren't expecting."

ANTHRAX's 2013 EP "Anthems" EP included the band's cover version of JOURNEY's "Keep On Runnin'" alongside classics by RUSH, THIN LIZZY, AC/DC, CHEAP TRICK and BOSTON.

In a new interview with Metal Edge magazine, ANTHRAX drummer Charlie Benante and guitarist Scott Ian were asked if there is any chance of more "Big Four" shows happening, with EXODUS taking the place of SLAYER, which officially retired after playing its final concert more than three years ago. Ian responded: "Charlie can ask [METALLICA drummer] Lars [Ulrich] when he's out with him in August," referencing the fact that Benante will be opening for METALLICA this summer as part of the reformed PANTERA. Charlie added; "Yeah, I saw [Dave] Mustaine [MEGADETH leader] was kinda fishing for some of that. I mean, I don't know. I don't think METALLICA need to do that right now. They've got so much coming up in the next two years. [Laughs]"

Ian added: "Here's the thing: [METALLICA] just announced their '23 and '24 plans, and I was looking at those dates this morning and thinking, 'Well I wonder if, like, they do these two nights in each city here in the States and one night is the PANTERA night and the other night is the FIVE FINGER [DEATH PUNCH] night. So are people gonna be clamoring for the PANTERA night and nobody's gonna show up on the other night?"

Benante chimed in: "No way — they'll be there."

Ian continued: "But then I stopped myself, and I said, 'Hold on a second. [METALLICA] could've just announced it as 'An Evening With' — with no opening bands — and they're still selling out two nights in every stadium.' It doesn't matter who's opening. None of that matters. They don't need support bands. They do it to make an event out of it, I guess, but they don't need it.

"If the 'Big Four' was to ever happen again — in any capacity — it's certainly not going to be before '25 now, because they've already announced their plans. So, there you go. Anyone who has a question about the 'Big Four', hold that thought until 2025. [Laughs]"

The so-called "Big Four" of 1980s thrash metal — METALLICA, MEGADETH, SLAYER and ANTHRAX — played together for the first time in history on June 16, 2010 in front of 81,000 fans at the Sonisphere festival at Bemowo Airport in Warsaw, Poland and shared a bill again for six more shows as part of the Sonisphere series that same year. They reunited again for several dates in 2011, including the last "Big Four" concert, which was held on September 14, 2011 at Yankee Stadium in New York City. Since then, METALLICA, SLAYER and ANTHRAX have played a number of shows together, including the 2013 Soundwave festival in Australia. They also performed at the 2014 Heavy MTL festival in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

Mustaine touched upon the possibility of further "Big Four" shows in a November 2022 interview with Greg Prato of Songfacts. He said: "I really think it's time for the guys in METALLICA to step up and us do one last round, see if we can get SLAYER to come out of retirement and do a 'Big Four' passing of the torch to the new 'Big Four'. It would remain to be seen who they are.

"I think it would be really cool symbolically if we did something at, like, the L.A. Coliseum, even if it's one show and that's it," he continued. "SLAYER is from Los Angeles, so it would probably make it more convenient for them to go home at night. [Editor's note: SLAYER's Tom Araya is a longtime Texas resident while Kerry King currently calls New York City his home. Paul Bostaph and Gary Holt live in Northern California.] I personally have been hoping for this for a while, and I keep asking and asking and asking. They're just not into it. But that's up to them."

Back in 2018, Mustaine spoke about "Big Four" in an interview with "Trunk Nation LA Invasion: Live From The Rainbow Bar & Grill" on SiriusXM. Asked if there was a personal highlight for him from all the "Big Four" shows that MEGADETH has played so far, Mustaine said: "No. The whole thing was great. I can't whittle it down to one thing. I do know that looking out in the audience and seeing everybody in black t-shirts before we started and then the rain started and all these rainbow-colored umbrellas opened up, it was the most beautiful thing. Because it went form this monochrome kind of really ugly place in Sofia, Bulgaria in the rain to just this plethora of color and just beauty, and everybody was dancing and pogoing and wheelchairs going across people's heads and stuff. They didn't let the rain bother them at all. Me, I felt like I was ice skating up there on the deck, 'cause it was really slippery."

Earlier in 2018, Mustaine said that he would love play a "Big Four" show where all the bands "got treated fairly" instead of METALLICA performing a longer set and getting more stage space than the other groups on the bill. "It always kind of soured to me when you watch [METALLICA guitarist] Kirk Hammett say on the DVD ['The Big Four: Live From Sofia, Bulgaria'], when they're praying, and he says that 'we're the Big One,'" Mustaine told SiriusXM. "That just kind of shows you how the mentality was there — that it really wasn't the 'Big Four'; it was METALLICA and then the three of us."

Mustaine added: "I would love to see it done in a way where we all got treated fairly and we all played together, same amount of time, same kind of stage situation, but I don't think that's gonna happen. And it's cool, because SLAYER's gonna down in history, and they don't need the 'Big Four' to make them any more legendary than they already are. Nor do I."

Hammett said in 2017 that he believed that the "Big Four" idea would be revisited again. He explained: "I see those shows as kind of like a celebration — a real celebration of each other, and a real celebration of the music that we all make, and a real celebration of the audience embracing [what] we've done. And why not have more of that?"

Ten years ago, SLAYER frontman Tom Araya said that the only thing that was standing in the way of further "Big Four" shows was "the politics of character in one particular band," with some fans speculating that he was talking about Mustaine and MEGADETH.

In his autobiography, "Mustaine: A Heavy Metal Memoir", Mustaine addressed the issue of where his band fit in the "Big Four" order. According to The New York Times, he assured the reader that he was not offended by being put behind SLAYER. But he added an interior monologue: "O.K., we'll play ahead of you guys on this trip, and God willing we'll do it again sometime in the near future and we can flip things around."

Mustaine was a member of METALLICA for less than two years, from 1981 to 1983, before being dismissed and replaced by Kirk Hammett. He went on to form MEGADETH and achieve worldwide success on his own.

Mustaine feuded with the members of METALLICA for more than two decades before finally patching things up over the last few years. He has jammed with his ex-bandmates on several occasions during "Big Four" shows and at METALLICA's 30th-anniversary concerts in 2011.

Vocalist Andi Deris of veteran German power metallers HELLOWEEN recently spoke to El Cuartel Del Metal about his personal chemistry with fellow HELLOWEEN singer Michael Kiske, who rejoined the band several years ago in time for the "Pumpkins United" tour. Asked if he was nervous about working with Kiske so closely since they did not know each other very well prior to the start of the tour, Andi, who lives in Tenerife, the largest of the Spanish Canary Islands, said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET). "I was quite confident, because it's not like we met one day in Germany and then suddenly he came to [visit me on] the island. We had several weeks, actually, to get to know each other, and it was quite clear that I liked him and he liked me. So we even told ourselves, 'Hey, you're a cool guy.' And he was, 'Hey, same to you.' We realized that it's a shame, actually, that we did not know each other for decades. Because when you realize it's something that could fit and you've got the same subjects you talk about and you've got a philosophy which is very compatible, then you ask yourself, 'Why didn't I meet that guy way earlier in my life?' Nevertheless we have all the time in the world now [laughs] to sit down and rescue the world."

Deris continued: "When [Kiske] came to the island, it was quite clear that we were gonna have a good time. The management, actually, told us, 'Michael is coming onto the island and you guys should sit down in the studio and talk about vocal arrangements and all that shit' — which we never did. [Laughs] We were just constantly traveling around. I said, 'Michael, hey, here's my Porsche. Let's go. Let's drive through the island.' In my convertible, I opened the roof and we had, like, two weeks — [going] from one beach to the other. That was the perfect thing to do. And I think the management knows."

Last August, Deris spoke to Ecuador's Telón De Acero radio about how he and his bandmates have managed to pull off the seemingly impossible by uniting Kiske and guitarist/vocalist Kai Hansen with Deris, guitarists Michael Weikath and Sascha Gerstner, bassist Markus Grosskopf and drummer Daniel Löble. He said: "I may say [Michael and Kai] are friends now. I didn't know them, actually [before we got together to discuss their return to HELLOWEEN]. [Laughs] In the beginning, it was… To be honest, I did not know what to expect. I didn't know Kai, I didn't know Michael, and we just sat around the big round table and everybody was sniffing at each other's ass, like dogs. But, hey, we liked each other. So we just were scared that this is something like in the beginning you feel it's a cool guy and after you work with him, you think it's an asshole, or something like that. So you never know. So with the time, we learned to very much respect each other and like each other. And I can say with Michael Kiske, I found a definitely long-, long-, long-missed friend for my life. And we just are both a bit angry that we didn't get to know each other way earlier, because two singers who tick in the same rhythm could have been quite a great thing in my life the last 20 years. So I'm happy to have him now. And I may say that because you guys, you all know I'm not gay. [Laughs]"

Deris elaborated on the interpersonal chemistry between all the members of the reunited expanded classic lineup of the German power metal band. He said: "There are seven pumpkins, and each and every pumpkin is a character. And each and every day is different. Because we are so, I think, super-crazy characters that each and every day there's another story going on. So it's something you may be thrilled about and you wait what's happening next; you never know in this band. But because I think everybody at least likes each other and respects each other, I think this is something that you… When we're not making music anymore, you'll probably looking back into that time and say this was the greatest time of my life, because it was thrilling and every day something different was going on.

"One month touring with HELLOWEEN is like a year [laughs] — so many things happen and so many talks we have," Andi added. "So, yeah, it's super great being together with the guys because of that. It's no boring thing going on. I mean, look at Markus [Grosskopf] — Markus is a party animal, our bass player. There's not one day you're not laughing your ass off because he's so crazy. Then you've got our drug lord Kai. He's always in for a surprise. And you go, like, 'Oh my God.' Or you go, like, 'Woo hoo hoo,' or whatever. There's a lot of crazy people in the band. I just wonder that it works. [Laughs]"

Upon its release in June 2021, HELLOWEEN's latest, self-titled album 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.

Produced by Charlie Bauerfeind and Dennis Ward, "Helloween" was recorded in part at the H.O.M.E. Studios in Hamburg (where everything started in 1984). The same recording console used for such HELLOWEEN albums as "Master Of The Rings", "Time Of The Oath" and "Better Than Raw" was utilized to record the band's new material. The effort was mixed at the Valhalla Studios of Ronald Prent (IRON MAIDEN, DEF LEPPARD, RAMMSTEIN).

"Helloween" saw the legendary German power metallers going "back to the roots," with the band recording fully analogue and Daniel 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.

The "Pumpkins United" tour marked the first time Kiske had played live with HELLOWEEN since 1993. Hansen, who departed HELLOWEEN in 1988, had been joining the band onstage on various tours and festival appearances throughout the years. The set featured several duets with Kiske and his replacement, Deris, along with many rarely played songs, including "Kids Of The Century", "Rise And Fall" and "Livin' Ain't No Crime". Hansen — who fronted HELLOWEEN until late 1986 — sang a medley of several early HELLOWEEN classics, including "Ride The Sky", "Judas", "Starlight" and "Heavy Metal (Is The Law)".

Last year, Deris told the "Metal Command" podcast that he "strongly" hoped the reunited expanded classic lineup of HELLOWEEN would eventually make another album to follow up "Helloween". "I mean, as long as the vibe is great, chemistry is great and everybody's having fun with each other, it would be a crime not to do so and not to plan for a future together," he said.

"'Pumpkins United' is not only the name for the last tour, I think that's something like a brand," he continued. "HELLOWEEN 'Pumpkins United', that's something like a band — a new or something like [that] growing from the old band."

METALLICA frontman James Hetfield has taken a stand on social media impostors holding an active account in his name.

Earlier today, the 59-year-old musician took to the METALLICA social media to inform his fans and followers who are following such fake accounts to not indulge in any conversation with the account holder.

"There are people online that have assumed my identity, spreading misinformation, and have caused damage to other people.

"There are imposters and predators out there. This is out of my control, but it is in your control who you choose to connect with. Please be careful on socials and vet people before getting in contact with them.

"To be clear...I am not on any social media forms, Facebook, Instagram, etc. The only connection I have with social media is through the official METALLICA website and official METALLICA socials.

"If you are following or communicating with someone who you think is or is portraying themselves as me... it is not me.

"I hope this helps those who have been or are getting deceived and are ashamed to talk about it.

"With love and respect, James 'Papa Het' Hetfield".

Back in December 2016. Hetfield spoke to The Canadian Press about his decision to abandon his Instagram profile more than three years earlier after posting regularly on the photo-sharing social media site for close to twelve months.

"I got sucked into the social media around… I was trying to be hip, trying to be cool," Hetfield explained. "You know, my kids are on Instagram [so I thought], 'I wanna try this thing.' I just wanted to look like the cool dad to my kids. And I ended up being just… It was this huge time sucker, and that's all I was thinking about. 'Oh, hey, I'm here. I can take a picture and put it on Instagram and get some hits,' or whatever, and trying to get many followers… But there is a good part to that — you know, there's actually people you can meet and converse with and get to know, and then when you get to their town, you're [like], 'Wow, hey, you're here.' And you make a friend. But most of the time, it was just sucking my time, and I just started to neglect regular life. It was living in the cyber world, and it was not for me."

Last August, TMZ reported that James and his wife of more than two decades had called it quits.

Sources close to the former couple told the tabloid site James filed for divorce from Francesca Hetfield in their home state of Colorado earlier last year.

Hetfield met Francesca in 1992 and they have been married since 1997. The two are said to still be in touch as they co-parent their daughters Cali and Marcella, and son Castor.

James and his family moved to the "super quiet" Vail, Colorado after decades of life in the San Francisco Bay Area. He told podcaster Joe Rogan that loved visiting Vail because he could feel like "a part of nature" and take part in one of his favorite hobbies, hunting, with less judgment.

METALLICA will release its 12th studio album, "72 Seasons", on April 14 via the band's own Blackened Recordings. Produced by Greg Fidelman with Hetfield and METALLICA drummer Lars Ulrich, and clocking in at over 77 minutes, the 12-track "72 Seasons" is METALLICA's first full-length collection of new material since 2016's "Hardwired…To Self-Destruct".

METALLICA's "M72" world tour will feature two-night stops in nearly two dozen cities. Presented worldwide by Liquid Death and Blackened American Whiskey (in North America only) and promoted by Live Nation, the 46-show trek will launch in Amsterdam on April 27 and will include shows all over Europe and North America through 2024. Each "No Repeat Weekend" on "M72" will feature two completely different setlists and support lineups. The "M72" tour will feature a bold new in-the-round stage design that relocates the famed METALLICA Snake Pit to center stage, as well as the "I Disappear" full-tour pass and the debut of discounted tickets for fans under 16 years of age. Opening acts for the tour include PANTERA, MAMMOTH WVH, FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH, ICE NINE KILLS, ARCHITECTS, VOLBEAT and GRETA VAN FLEET.
Papa Het would love you to read this... pic.twitter.com/UPYamfaTY8

— Metallica (@Metallica) January 14, 2023

In a new interview with Metal Godz Radio, former RAINBOW and DEEP PURPLE frontman Joe Lynn Turner confirmed that his latest solo album, "Belly Of The Beast", is "a lot darker" than his previous efforts. He explained (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "You know, art is a reflection of life. It's a mirror of reality, and right now the reality is pretty dark. I'm not saying it's hopeless or anything, and I'm not being negative… There's a lot of stuff going on in the world right now that ain't right, and somebody's gotta talk about it. [In] the old days in rock and roll, we were rebels, we were outlaws, we were nonconformists. And it seems like a lot of people, not only people, but especially in rock and roll, have conformed and complied to a sort of lockstep where they either wanna just toe the line, the corporate line, or the government line or whatever. Somebody had to come out and say it.

"I think I have enough controversy on this record to wake people up," he continued. "Some people will understand it; some people won't. But that's okay, because that's what art is supposed to do. It's supposed to make you see things from another perspective so that maybe, maybe your critical thinking will kick in and you'll start to realize that our humanity and our freedoms and our dignities are being taken away from us every day. And if we don't act soon — like, rise up, as the song says — if we don't do that soon, those virtues are not gonna be there for us anymore. And complete compliance and enslavement is all that's there. It's truly '1984'. It's truly a grave new world. It really is."

When asked what the most recent freedoms are that he feels that he has lost as an American, Joe said: "Well, speech. Number one. Freedom of speech. You know, they keep talking about a democracy, but first of all, the United States is a constitutional republic. Secondly, democracy, which the Greeks invented, has never really worked; there's always been some social aspects to democracy. But talking about democracy and censoring speech, it's complete hypocrisy. Because freedom of speech is the number one thing that you need in a democracy. Freedom of choice, too. Elections are pretty dodgy lately. In my day, there was an election day, not an election month.

"It's all falling apart," Joe added. "The Congress didn't vote for all its stuff. There's a lot wrong, in my opinion, that's going on in the United States right now. And I have the right — we all have the right to speak about it.

"I went to Iraq for over a month with a band called BIG NOIZE, which had a few notables… We had Simon Wright from AC/DC, and we had Phil Soussan from Ozzy's [Osbourne] band and various other bands; right now from LAST IN LINE. And Carlos Cavazo from QUIET RIOT. And we saw things there and learned things that I don't think the average American or anyone, really, would learn about what the situation there [was like]. There were no WMDs, weapons of mass destruction. That was all a big lie, a big hoax. And so on.

"So I think what's happening here is that our critical thinking has been lost somewhere in the mix," Turner continued. "Instead of thinking for yourself, what comes on that TV, which could be easily fake news — really, it could — you should question everything that's been said to you; you should question every decision that they've made and really try to dig deeper. Instead of making a conclusion that that's the truth, you should seek for the truth instead. And I think that you'll find that the man behind the curtain is not who you think he is, as in 'The Wizard Of Oz'. That's what we're doing here. It's all mirrors — smoke and mirrors. So looking deeply into this, as I have for years, and educating myself, which I think we, as Americans, should do more of, instead of watching Netflix, I've got a bitch about it, really. Because I think people need to wake up and take their life back, take their country back. They're losing it. My father fought in two wars for this, and he'd be turning over in his grave right now."

Turner's latest comments come just four months after he performed in Saint Petersburg, Russia. The singer broke with most international artists who canceled their live appearances in Russia in response to the global condemnation against the Kremlin and its president, Vladimir Putin, over the war in Ukraine. In addition, major record labels suspended their operations in the country, while streaming services like Spotify pulled out of the market.

A month earlier, Turner apparently threw his support behind Roger Waters over comments the PINK FLOYD co-founder made about Russia. Waters blasted U.S. president Joe Biden for "fueling the fire in the Ukraine" amid Russia's ongoing invasion of the country, and asked in an interview with CNN's Michael Smerconish, "Why won't the United States of America encourage [Volodymyr] Zelensky, [Ukraine's] president, to negotiate, obviating the need for this horrific, horrendous war?" After Smerconish responded that Waters got it "reversed" and was "blaming the party that got invaded," Waters fired back, saying it was about the "action and reaction of NATO pushing right up to the Russian border."

A short time later, Turner took to his official Facebook page to share a video of Smerconish's interview with Waters, and he included the following message: "Roger Waters speaks TRUTH to power! Thank you Roger. Someone has to say it..."

This was not the first time Joe had publicly taken a political stance. Back in 2015, the singer made headlines when it was revealed that he joined a list of Western celebrities who publicly expressed support for and defended Vladimir Putin, whose image had suffered greatly because of Moscow's aggressive foreign policy.

Two years later, Turner said that his opinion of the Russian president had remained unchanged. "He still is [telling the truth]," the singer told Kraig Casebier's "American Barber In Prague" in a 2017 interview. "Honest to God, I got a lot of crap for [saying] that [before]. But it's true, and he still is, whether you like him or not. He may be a gangster, but he's a good gangster. And I say there are good gangsters.

"There were gangsters in my family, in the Mafia, and they were good people," he explained. "They were the safest neighborhoods, and they protected everyone on the block, and they took care of a lot of people. And they actually donated their time, money to good causes. If somebody didn't have enough bread or food, they'd buy it for 'em. I mean, it depends on what kind of gangster you are. The politicans are bad gangsters; they can't even cover up their crimes."

Joe went on to lament the state of American politics and denounced the culture of extreme political correctness, which he believed had gone too far.

"I think America's lost its way," he said. "We've lost God, we've lost a lot of things that made that country great. And I'm sorry to say, being an American — Italian-American, and holding an American passport… I have had uncles… and my father did military service for twelve overseas stripes — the whole thing. And I went to Iraq for the troops, so anybody that wants to challenge that, c'mon, bring it on, because I think I know a few more things than you. But I think that we've lost a lot in our values of America. We can't even speak freely anymore. There's more freedom in Russia; I can tell you that. I've done a lot of time there and still will. People don't understand what Russia is [in America]."

According to Turner, his country's demonization of Russia is rooted in the fact that "America always needs a big, bad wolf. We need to hate somebody, because of the military industrial complex," he said. "So we need to hate somebody all the time [and] create a war. There's no need for it, really. If we can just straighten out the economy and get the Fed out of there, I think the people would have a chance. But right now, I pray for them — I really do. Because I just think they've got it all wrong."

As if sensing the criticism that would likely follow his comments, Turner preemptively defended himself by saying: "I said Putin was telling the truth, 'cause he is telling the truth. I got subpoenaed by my own government, okay? So all these naysayers and these haters who are gonna see this about me and stuff, you guys have no clue. 30 percent of the American people have passports, so 70 percent of you are isolated and know dick about it — you have been nowhere and done nothing. Excuse me, but that's what you should have been told a long time ago."

The now-71-year-old singer went on to explain that he was "subpoenaed" by the U.S. government after he played "three charity shows" in Russian-annexed Crimea, which he called a "wartorn country." "The people had a great time [and] we had sellout houses," he said.

Turner also expressed his belief that too many of today's artists were afraid to discuss social issues in their music, preferring instead to stick to the generic, trivial topics that the rock genre has always been synonymous with.

"If you believe in one faction, the problem is if you say it today and you're not politically correct, you're gonna catch a lot of hell from people that don't wanna work with you because you're not politically correct," Joe said. "So the world has become falsely politically correct, shall I say. And that's not the way music should be. Music used to be rebellious, used to be something that we could step out of the norm and live for, as far as heroically, but now everybody's starting to get in line: 'Don't say this,' and, 'Don't say that about this.' So you try to do it in your writing, but it sometimes falls on deaf ears, because they're not used to hearing… 'Oh, we don't wanna hear about that.' 'We don't wanna know about that.' "

He added: "It's very unfortunate that the generations of today don't wanna know about being a rebel and having an alternative to what they're being indoctrinated with."

Turner is married to Maya Kozyreva, a lawyer from Minsk, the capital of Belarus, which has supported Russia throughout its invasion of Ukraine. "She is my greatest asset in life. She's my angel," he told Guitar World in 2012.

Joe was the singer of RAINBOW between 1980 and 1984 and he sang on the album "Difficult To Cure", which featured the band's most successful U.K. single, "I Surrender".

During Turner's time with RAINBOW, the band had its first USA chart success and recorded songs that helped define the melodic rock genre.

1990 saw Turner reunited with RAINBOW leader Ritchie Blackmore in a reformed DEEP PURPLE for the "Slaves And Masters" album.

During a new appearance on the "2020'd" podcast, GODSMACK drummer Shannon Larkin was asked if it's true that the band's frontman Sully Erna once dated pop superstar Lady Gaga. He responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Yeah, that's true. And that's not, I don't think, a secret. I don't think Sully would bum out if people knew he dated Lady Gaga. I mean, she's hot, and she's mega talented. "

As for why Erna hasn't publicly disclosed that he was once romantically involved with Lady Gaga, Larkin said: "He's not Tommy Lee or whatever, or whoever the guy is now… What I mean by that is — Travis Barker, Tommy Lee, whatever — is dudes that have public girlfriends that are super famous too. But they're different than Sully. Sully's an East Coast guy. He's like me, Tony [Rombola, GODSMACK guitarist] and Robbie [Merrill, GODSMACK bassist] — we're East Coast dudes.

"L.A. bands and West Coast dudes, they're flashier, maybe, and their rock star-ism is more David Lee Roth than — I don't know — Eddie Vedder," Shannon explained. "You know what I mean? We're more Eddie Vedder, even though we're East Coast. We're probably even flashier than Eddie. He'll show up in an army jacket. You don't even recognize him. 'Oh my God. That's Eddie Vedder.' So we're in between them and the dudes with the flashy girls on their arms.

"So, did her date her? Yeah," Larkin repeated. "But did he ever tell anyone? No — except for his friends and us. The band, we knew… It was a brief thing, by the way."

Back in July 2019, Erna said that the GODSMACK ballad "Under Your Scars" was inspired by Lady Gaga.

"This song came to me shortly after I had spent some quality time with someone who I consider a dear friend, and have grown to admire and respect as one of the smartest and most talented artists today, Stefani Germanotta, who most of you may know as Lady Gaga," Sully said in a statement at the time. "In the short amount of time we hung out, she made me realize that we all have these imperfections, these wounds that we carry (whether they're physical or emotional) that cut so deep they can cripple us. These feelings leave us vulnerable, or embarrassed, or even unworthy at times. And our human nature — when they're exposed — is to shut down, rather than embrace them and realize that not only can we overcome them, but we can also become an inspiration to inspire others to have a voice and find their inner strength to show their scars off loudly and proudly to the world. Our 'Scars' are nothing more than our battle wounds from life and they helped mold you into who you are today."

GODSMACK's new album, "Lighting Up The Sky", will arrive on February 24 via BMG. The LP was co-produced by Erna and Andrew "Mudrock" Murdock (AVENGED SEVENFOLD, ALICE COOPER).

The first single from "Lighting Up The Sky", "Surrender", arrived in September and marked the first release from GODSMACK in four years, following their globally acclaimed and gold-certified 2018 album "When Legends Rise", which earned the Erna-fronted outfit a No. 1 spot across U.S. Hard Rock, Rock, and Alternative album charts.

In September 2021, GODSMACK's latest album, "When Legends Rise", was certified gold on by the RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America) for sales in excess of half a million copies. In addition, two more of the LP's singles (the title track and "Under Your Scars") were also officially certified gold by the RIAA. The album's first single "Bulletproof" earned a platinum digital single award in September 2020 and was previously certified gold in the U.S.

Former PANTERA singer Terry Glaze has called the band's current comeback a "good thing", saying that it's a great way to celebrate the music of the Texan metallers. Glaze, who fronted the band during their glam years in the early-to-mid-1980s, made his comments while speaking to Eonmusic in a brand new interview.

Glaze, who is now involved in a number of projects, including EVEL FREHLEY, spoke candidly about his time in PANTERA, working with the late Abbott brothers Vinnie Paul and "Dimebag" Darrell, and their passing, during the chat.

On meeting and forming a band with Dime and Vinnie, Terry said: "We wanted to play with the best drummer we could find, and the best drummer in our school was Vince Abbott. So we got together and jammed, and we tried to get him to play with us. The agreement was that we would take his little brother Darrell who was in middle school. We weren't really interested in a young kid in middle school, but we reluctantly agreed, thank goodness. We were lucky enough to do that."

Going on to talk about his desire to see the band's early output reissued — 1983's "Metal Magic", 1984's "Projects In The Jungle" and 1985's "I Am The Night" — he said: "I think that it would be a great thing for everybody to get to hear more Darrell, and so that's where I stand with it. It would be amazing. You could do a big box with everything, and it would just be cool."

He continued: "You see them all over the planet. I bought copies of CDs that that are pressed out that are that are not legal — bootlegs — but, you know, that's the only way to get copies of all this stuff now."

When Eonmusic noted that PANTERA bassist Rex Brown had said the brothers were "dead against" any re-release of those early albums in a 2021 interview with the site, Terry countered: "As far as what the band with the brothers, how they felt, that comes up even to this day, doesn't it? So, you know, people change their minds, and business opportunities happen and what are you going to do?"

When asked about his thoughts on the recent PANTERA's current comeback tour, featuring Brown and surviving vocalist Philip Anselmo alongside guitarist Zakk Wylde and drummer Charlie Benante, Terry said: "I just feel kind of the same way I feel about VAN HALEN; it would be difficult for me to think that that was VAN HALEN without Eddie Van Halen, and Alex is still alive. Imagine if Eddie and Alex are gone, and then it was VAN HALEN. It's just hard for us old people."

He continued: "But you know, man, more power to everybody to get to celebrate the music and get together and have fellowship. I especially think about all the young people who never got to see them, now they get to finally go out and celebrate those songs. That means so much to them and that music means so much to a lot of people around the whole planet. So more power to them to celebrate music. Anything that gets people out, live together for rock and roll, that's a good thing."

Read the full interview at Eonmusic.

In 2021, Brown dismissed the first three PANTERA albums, telling Eonmusic it was with the addition of Anselmo that the PANTERA story really began.

"The old singer? Shit, it was going nowhere really quick," Rex said. "He just was not on the same wavelength as the three of us. The dude's never had a job in his life. I see him shootin' his mouth off in some of these magazines, and it's, like, 'Dude, you were in the band for fuckin' four years,' you know what I'm saying? 'Now you're wanting claim to fame 35 years later? Sorry, pal, you missed the boat!' So I don't want to give any credit where it's fuckin' undue, you know? Once we got Philip in the band, it developed into something else, and that was the PANTERA that we know now, and that's why we never talk about those old records."

Looking back, Brown conceded: "Hey, look, it's great to go back memory lane and all that kind of stuff, but those are the farthest things that I wake up for in the first of the morning. 'Oh, remember that one tune 'Nothing On (But The Radio)', and the singer?' No! I mean, I hate fucking songs like that, but it was a growing process, and now, because the things are out, and they've been bootleged a hundred thousand times, people consider it a part of our history. It's not. Unless Philip's singing on it, it's not PANTERA. That's the way I look at it."

When asked outright to clarify that he had absolutely no desire to ever see those records reissued, officially, Rex was emphatic; "God no, god no! The brothers were against that, and I'm against it, and that's just it. Period. It ain't coming out."