No rest for the wicked. Since the release of their latest full-length, "The Nothing That Is", a year and a half ago, FIT FOR AN AUTOPSY has remained in constant motion. Today, the band marks the kickoff of its massive U.S. tour alongside headliners LAMB OF GOD by unleashing a brand-new standalone single: "The Wretch".

Driven by relentless galloping riffs and punishing percussion, "The Wretch" features the band's trademark earth-shattering breakdowns balanced by haunting, melodic layers in the chorus. It's the definitive soundtrack for their return to the stage.

FIT FOR AN AUTOPSY's Will Putney states: "True to our general nature, 'The Wretch' is another relatively pessimistic and grim glimpse into our worldly outlook. In a time where nothing seems to be getting any better at home or abroad, we find there can always be a moment of comfort in the thought of burning it all down. We hope this song is that temporary oasis for you as well. Thank you for listening."

FIT FOR AN AUTOPSY released its seventh studio album, "The Nothing That Is", in October 2024 via Nuclear Blast. The LP featured the singles "Hostage", "Savior Of None / Ashes Of All", "Lower Purpose" and "Red Horizon".

FIT FOR AN AUTOPSY's acclaimed 2022 album "On What the Future Holds" was the band's highest-charting release to date, becoming the first of their six full-lengths to reach the Top 25 of the Billboard 200. But while some musicians would take such an achievement as a cue to duplicate whatever worked last time, or maybe even tailor their sound to boost its commercial appeal, the band — vocalist Joe Badolato, guitarists Will Putney, Patrick Sheridan and Tim Howley, bassist Peter Spinazola, and drummer Josean Orta — simply continued to evolve along their own path. "The Nothing That Is", FIT FOR AN AUTOPSY's seventh and latest album (and third for Nuclear Blast),bears no sign whatsoever of commercial concession or rehashed past glories. Instead, the ten-song album finds the band exploring moodier textures and deeper emotions that add new power and dynamics to their already brutal and complex music, while also completely tuning out the ambient noise of passing musical trends and the expectations of the outside world. Produced by Putney at his Graphic Nature Audio studio in Kinnelon, New Jersey, "The Nothing That Is" is an album filled with anger, frustration, and crushing despair. Songs like "Hostage", "Red Horizon", "Lower Purpose" and the pummeling title track grapple with the horrors that the human race has unnecessarily inflicted upon the world, while the epic, introspective closer "The Silver Sun" reflects bitterly upon our uncertain future. Built to be listened to in its entirety in a single sitting, "The Nothing That Is" flows like the gripping soundtrack to a documentary film of our increasingly dystopian existence. A ringing wake-up call for humanity and a thoroughly intense listening experience, "The Nothing That Is" brims with both aggression and melody, it's bracing music is delivered with the confidence of a band that has honed its skills and forged its sense of purpose through fifteen-plus years of all-out live shows. Sufficiently secure of their place in the metal firmament to let their music go wherever feels right for a particular song, FIT FOR AN AUTOPSY have delivered what may well be the greatest album of their career.

FIT FOR AN AUTOPSY is:

Joseph Badolato - Vocals
Patrick Sheridan - Guitar
Timothy Howley - Guitar
Will Putney - Guitar
Peter Blue Spinazola - Bass
Josean Orta Martinez - Drums

Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame inductee and Grammy Award-winning guitarist Peter Frampton will release "Carry The Light", his first album of all-new rock material in 16 years, on May 15 via UMe. Co-written and produced with his son Julian Frampton, the collection features guest appearances from Sheryl Crow, Bill Evans, H.E.R., Tom Morello, Graham Nash and Benmont Tench.

Frampton said: "The 'Carry The Light' album is the first new music from me in 16 years. It was one of my most enjoyable projects ever. I got to work with my son Julian — writing and producing together. A first of many for us, I'm sure."

In advance of the album, Frampton has shared the new track "Buried Treasure", featuring keyboardist Benmont Tench of TOM PETTY & THE HEARTBREAKERS. A tribute to the late Tom Petty, the track honors the SiriusXM radio show of the same name that Petty curated and hosted for 15 years, with lyrics crafted entirely from Petty's song titles. Frampton personally sought out Tench to add his signature style to the Petty homage.

For Frampton, "Carry The Light" is a reflection of the present, rooted in the challenges, changes and connections that have defined recent years. The title itself is a statement of purpose; to Frampton, the light represents wisdom, something to be carried forward. At its core, the album is a deeply personal document, one that Frampton credits in large part to the experience of making it alongside his son.

"This may be the best album Peter's ever made," said engineer and co-producer Chuck Ainlay (Mark Knopfler, Miranda Lambert, George Strait). "The songs are just so poignant, and his voice has matured in a way that really delivers what he's trying to get across."

Frampton is surrounded on "Carry The Light" by an all-star supporting cast: Sheryl Crow is Frampton's vocal foil on "Breaking the Mold", Bill Evans adds saxophone to both "Can You Take Me There" and "Tinderbox", H.E.R. trades guitar lines on the instrumental "Islamorada", Tom Morello brings his signature intensity to the protest song "Lions At The Gate", Graham Nash lends harmonies to "I'm Sorry Elle", Benmont Tench contributes keyboards to "Buried Treasure". Everyone asked to participate in "Carry The Light" gladly heeded the call to lend their support and create new material with an artist who's been dispersing endless goodwill and great music across the globe for more than six decades and counting.

"Carry The Light" will be released in a variety of formats, including CD, 180-gram yellow vinyl and digitally in stereo, hi-res audio and immersive Dolby Atmos options. A special limited-edition vinyl, which will feature a premium cover treatment and be numbered, will be available exclusively via Peter Frampton's official store, uDiscover Music and Sound Of Vinyl.

Earlier this year, Peter celebrated the 50th anniversary of his iconic album "Frampton Comes Alive!" Upon its original release in 1976, "Frampton Comes Alive!" became a cultural phenomenon and remains one of the top-selling live albums of all time, with nearly 20 million copies sold worldwide. In honor of the milestone, Peter released a Vinylphyle edition of the landmark album via A&M/UMe. The limited Vinylphyle double LP pressing is sourced from the original 1975 Doug Sax 1/4" production master, with lacquers cut by Joe Nino-Hernes, and pressed on 180-gram black vinyl at RTI. The package features a four-panel insert including a new interview with Frampton and Anthony Fantano of The Needle Drop.

Over the course of a career spanning more than six decades, Peter Frampton has established himself as one of the most celebrated guitarists in rock history. In 2007, he won a Grammy for "Best Pop Instrumental Album" for "Fingerprints"; in 2014, he was inducted into the Musicians Hall Of Fame; and in 2019, he received the Les Paul Innovation Award at NAMM's TEC Awards.

In 2020, Frampton was inducted into the Grammy Hall Of Fame, his autobiography, "Do You Feel Like I Do?: A Memoir", debuted on The New York Times bestsellers list and he appeared on Dolly Parton's latest album, "Rockstar", as the only artist featured on two tracks.

In 2023, Frampton unveiled "Frampton@50" on Intervention Records, a numbered limited-edition vinyl box set featuring Frampton's essential 1972-1975 studio releases "Wind Of Change", "Frampton's Camel" and "Frampton". He also received The Myositis Association's Heroes in the Fight 2023 Patient Ambassador Award and unveiled his historic performance at London's Royal Albert Hall as a live album via UMe.

In 2024, he received the Les Paul Spirit Award at Gibson Garage Nashville, was inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame and wrapped an extensive headline tour before returning to the studio to record "Carry The Light".

"Carry The Light" track listing:

01. Carry The Light
02. Buried Treasure (feat. Benmont Tench)
03. I'm Sorry Elle (feat. Graham Nash)
04. Breaking The Mold (feat. Sheryl Crow)
05. I Can't Let It Be
06. Lions At The Gate (feat. Tom Morello)
07. Islamorada (feat. H.E.R.)
08. Can You Take Me There (feat. Bill Evans)
09. Tinderbox (feat. Bill Evans)
10. At The End Of The Day

Photo credit: Lynn Goldsmith
I’m very excited to announce my new album Carry The Light is coming May 15th. It’s my first album of all new original music in 16 years.

This record is a very special one for me. I got to write and produce it with my son Julian, as well as work with some wonderful friends. pic.twitter.com/ehwzCUY0mp

— Peter Frampton (@peterframpton) March 17, 2026

In a new interview with John White of the Mind Behind The Music podcast, legendary bassist Billy Sheehan, who will celebrate his 73rd birthday this week, was asked if there was a specific moment that he really felt like he had discovered his own voice on the instrument. He responded in part (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Not really. I don't really think much of myself. I don't really think anything about my playing. I do what I do. In my mind I suck all the time because I'm always trying this new thing and I'm this far away from it. So once I get that, I don't throw a party and congratulate myself and put a crown on my head. Now I find the next thing I suck at and work at that. So it's always a challenge. I'm always challenged and challenging myself, so I never look at myself as anything other than some bass-playing schlep who's trying his best to survive somehow on bass. So, yeah, I've never really looked into it."

Billy continued: "I think it's really, really important for any musician to really dig deep and dive into the deep end of humility, because no matter how good you think you are, somebody out there is way better, no matter what. And so I'll see some Chinese girl sit down and do Rachmaninov on the piano and it's, like, 'Who am I kidding? This kid is a genius player.' Yuja Wang is her name. Look her up on YouTube and watch her playing 'Flight Of The Bumblebee'. Not one of my favorite pieces, 'cause it's pretty cliché, but she plays it like a fiend. And any musician anywhere, especially in the rock world, who looks at that and doesn't go, 'I suck', then you need help. It's really an important thing for musicians because you stop yourself from moving forward, if you think, 'Oh, I'm pretty fabulous at this,' or 'I'm pretty awesome at that.'

"So, yeah, I think it's really important to be really careful about what you think about yourself. I avoid any praise as best I can. It's important, because you really do shut the door to improving, I believe. There can be no other way, really, if you really wanna continue to grow."

Last November, Billy told Andertons Music Co about his continued love for touring and performing live: "I live to play live, and I play live to live. That's gotta be my next tattoo. Yeah, that's what I do. I love to play. I mean, I love to play anyway in any capacity, but some guys I like are more studio cats. That's cool. But when you're out on deck and there's a hot, sweaty crowd, and we played going all through Europe and through the U.K., just amazing nights we've had. And then afterwards hanging out with people, seeing old friends, and it's just great. And the buses are comfortable. Usually in Europe, we use a German bus, and they're double deckers, and they run a tight ship. It's clean and safe and wonderful. USA, in a similar way too. It's easy. Going to Japan is a luxury. We get there and they take such wonderful care of us. And so it's pretty cool. But the main thing is that hour and a half, two hours up on stage where you're playing and you're on. And that, for me, is just the most important thing in my world. And everything you've been practicing and everything you've been working, now, well, here it is. This is to demonstrate — all the hours and days and weeks and years you put into it are now on display. And good luck, that it works out."

He continued: "So, yeah, that's a big thing for me. I'm about performing live. And I'm mostly a band guy — I like a band thing, where you've got guys that you know and you're working with and interact with. And you get to know where they're gonna go. Various guitar players I've played with, we get an instinct, similar to how I spoke with the drums. We kind of know where the other guy's going. I know when to pull back and when to push forward. It's an amazing dynamic thing… It's so great."

Sheehan has played with David Lee Roth, MR. BIG, THE WINERY DOGS, TALAS and SONS OF APOLLO. He's also won Guitar Player magazine's "Best Bass Player" poll several times and is in-demand at clinics and as a session player.

Sheehan has played bass on dozens of records and toured all over the world for many decades, with a unique and original style of playing that has been widely celebrated and documented. Starting in his former hometown of Buffalo, New York with the now legendary hard rock trio TALAS, he went on to join former VAN HALEN singer David Lee Roth in 1985, along with guitarist Steve Vai and drummer Gregg Bissonette. In 1987, Billy left to start his own band, MR. BIG, and in 1996, he founded NIACIN, a fusion/blues trio that featured drummer Dennis Chambers. More recently, Billy joined DREAM THEATER drummer Mike Portnoy and guitarist Richie Kotzen to form THE WINERY DOGS.

Sheehan has changed the way bass guitar is played. He recorded two platinum-selling albums with Roth before setting out on his own. Forming MR. BIG in 1989, the band achieved a Billboard No. 1 single in the U.S. and 14 other countries with "To Be With You" from MR. BIG's second Atlantic Records album release "Lean Into It". While developing his trademark style of playing, he performed over 4,000 live gigs on every continent except Africa and Antarctica.

On January 27, 1999, Billy's handprints and signature were preserved in cement on the Hollywood RockWalk at Guitar Center, an honor reserved for those artists who have made a significant contribution to rock and roll.

On March 15, two days after the arrival of their new album, "Into Oblivion", Richmond, Virginia metallers LAMB OF GOD performed at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania's TLA (Theatre of Living Arts),with the one-off show giving fans a rare chance to see the band in an unusually intimate setting. FIT FOR AN AUTOPSY opened the evening.

The celebratory event was especially meaningful because it took place in Philadelphia, the city that helped catapult LAMB OF GOD to fame and served as the setting for the group's 2005 platinum-selling "Killadelphia" album and DVD.

Fan-filmed video of the entire TLA show can be seen below, courtesy of the 13SKP channel on YouTube.

LAMB OF GOD's setlist was as follows:

01. Ruin
02. Laid To Rest
03. Blood Junkie
04. Into Oblivion (live debut)
05. Resurrection Man
06. Grace (first time since 2010)
07. Desolation
08. 512
09. Walk With Me In Hell
10. Parasocial Christ (live debut)
11. 11th Hour

Encore:

12. Memento Mori
13. Sepsis
14. Redneck

"Into Oblivion" came out last Friday (March 13) via Epic in the U.S. and Century Media in Europe.

"Into Oblivion" arrived to widespread acclaim. In the lead-up to the release, LAMB OF GOD appeared on the covers of Metal Hammer and Kerrang!, with critics praising the album's intensity and relevance. The Associated Press featured the album in their weekly highlights, calling it "10 tracks of ferocity," while Brooklyn Vegan noted that "the band spends these 10 songs reminding the world that their reign as New Wave Of American Heavy Metal giants is far from over," and SPIN said the band is "channeling America's unraveling into a ferocious new album."

The album is available now across multiple formats, including various vinyl variants, a collectible "Into Oblivion" CD with a limited-edition companion zine featuring album art sketches, handwritten lyrics and never-before-seen studio photos.

News of "Into Oblivion"'s March arrival was accompanied by the debut of its title track, "Into Oblivion", alongside a video directed by Tom Flynn and Mike Watts.

In the months leading up to this past January's album announcement, the metal veterans released a pair of singles that offered listeners a taste of the LP's range. "Sepsis", the band's first new song since 2022, paid homage to the early '90s Richmond underground that shaped LAMB OF GOD's formative years. Consequence, in their "Heavy Song Of The Week" feature, noted the track's fresh approach, saying "Mark Morton's riffs are bruising at this slower pace," and adding that singer Randy Blythe bellows "like a heavy metal Nick Cave." "Parasocial Christ" followed, evoking classic LAMB OF GOD with a three-minute onslaught that Revolver dubbed an "anti-tech thrasher."

Produced and mixed by longtime studio collaborator Josh Wilbur, "Into Oblivion" was recorded across multiple locations tied closely to the band's identity. Drums were tracked in Richmond, Virginia, with guitars and bass recorded at Morton's home studio. Blythe recorded his vocals at the legendary Total Access studio in Redondo Beach, California, the birthplace of seminal punk records by BLACK FLAG, HÜSKER DÜ and DESCENDENTS.

LAMB OF GOD's spring North American tour promises to be the heaviest trek of 2026. Joined by KUBLAI KHAN TX, FIT FOR AN AUTOPSY and SANGUISUGABOGG, the trek will kick off on March 17. Tickets and VIP packages are on sale now via Lamb-of-god.com/tour.

"Sepsis" arrived during a milestone year for LAMB OF GOD. In 2025, the band celebrated the 25th anniversary of its discography, performed at the historic "Back To The Beginning" concert and subsequently released their thunderous take on BLACK SABBATH's "Children Of The Grave", along with appearances at several festivals, including Inkcarceration and Louder Than Life, and a headlining show at Richmond's new 7500-seat outdoor venue Allianz Amphitheater during its opening season.

In a new interview with Frontiers Music Srl 's "Backstage Unplugged" podcast, STRYPER frontman Michael Sweet spoke about his drive to keep putting out new music, whether it's with his long-running Christian metal band or with the various other projects he has pursued over the years. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET):  "I tell you, all things considered, and what I mean by that is where music is these days. It's not so much about hard sales as it was back in the '80s. [Back then] it was all about hard sales. You'd sell 500,000 copies of an album. Now you're very fortunate to sell 5,000 copies of an album. But where it shines now in the music world, obviously, is through streaming, digital downloads and the whole digital world. But we are very blessed, as a group that's been around for so long, and we're not getting any younger, we're blessed to still be working with a label that believes in us, and they wanna put out our music. And we're able to go in the studio every two years and make an album. And it's been like that pretty much since 2005. And we've released a lot — I mean, a lot — of music. Oh my word. I think something like — since '05, I wanna say maybe 11 STRYPER albums, probably five or six solo albums, maybe more, and then all the other [projects like] SWEET & LYNCH and SUNBOMB and ICONIC and all these [other bands]. It's just phenomenal. I'm a very blessed guy that I can do what I love to do, and [I have] a label [who] wants to work with me."

Michael also talked about the positive response to STRYPER's latest album, 2024's "When We Were Kings", and his mindset going into the writing process for the LP. He said: "The whole goal with that album was to try to go back to the past, but not so much so that we were dating ourselves. It's really kind of a juggling act of trying to be your classic self, but also relevant and step into 2025 as an old band, an old metal band or rock band. That's not easy to do. A lot of bands kind of try to reinvent the wheel and re-establish themselves and they alienate themselves from their audience because they try something completely different. They try to do rap or they try to do country, and that's fine. Whatever. Whatever they wanna do. But we didn't try to reinvent the wheel. We just do what we do. And we try to put little modern touches on it, and that's about it. And so far people seem to still appreciate what we're doing and we're very pleased to know that. It's really cool."

This past weekend, Sweet finished recording the vocals for STRYPER's upcoming follow-up to "When We Were Kings", tentatively due later this year via Frontiers Music Srl.

Earlier this month, Sweet took to his social media to state about STRYPER's upcoming LP: "This album is a little different but not so much so that it's going to necessarily shock anyone. But it does have a few curveballs here and there, [and] I'm really excited about it. Some different tunings, melodies and grooves."

Sweet's new solo album, "The Master Plan", will arrive on April 3, 2026 via Frontiers Music Srl. This deeply worship‑inspired record marks a bold departure from his previous solo work — blending heartfelt devotion with fresh musical textures and melodic depth unlike anything Michael has done before.

Formed 43 years ago, STRYPER's name comes from Isaiah 53:5, which states: "But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed."

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

Michael is joined in STRYPER by Oz Fox (guitar),Robert Sweet (drums) and Perry Richardson (bass).

HIGH PARASITE, the U.K. "death pop" outfit led by former MY DYING BRIDE frontman Aaron Stainthorpe, has released a new single, "Drag Me Under". Originally intended for HIGH PARASITE's debut album, "Forever We Burn", which came out in September 2024, the band decided to hold it back — until now.

HIGH PARASITE bassist/vocalist Danny "Tombs" Lambert explains: "We all loved this song when we recorded it for our first album, but it was a little different to the other tracks, with more of a RAMMSTEIN kind of vibe. So we decided to hold it back… until this moment. We've already started recording our second studio album. We're looking to the future, so now 'Drag Me Under' makes perfect sense, a glimpse into what's to come."

"Drag Me Under" arrives in tandem with HIGH PARASITE's first headline London outing, lined up for tonight at The Lexington. The current tour has already taken in multiple shows in Ireland, and will continue into the Netherlands and France.

"Forever We Burn" was produced by Gregor Mackintosh of PARADISE LOST. The LP — with Stainthorpe and Lambert at the helm — blended metal, gothic rock, and dark synth-pop into a powerful and emotionally raw sound.

HIGH PARASITE is:

Vocals - Aaron Stainthorpe
Bass - Tombs
Rhythm guitar - Sam Hill
Lead guitar - Jonny Hunter
Drums - Dan Brown

Last October, MY DYING BRIDE officially parted ways with Stainthorpe. The news came less than a year after MY DYING BRIDE recruited singer Mikko Kotamäki (SWALLOW THE SUN) to front the band for its live appearances in 2025.

MY DYING BRIDE's latest album, "A Mortal Binding", came out in April 2024 via Nuclear Blast Records.

Last year, Stainthorpe clarified to Iblis Manifestations that his involvement with HIGH PARASITE didn't create any issues with MY DYING BRIDE, despite fan speculation to the contrary. "Yeah, there was never gonna be a conflict," he explained. "MDB do about 15 gigs a year, and [there is] sometimes three or four years between albums. I could be in 10 bands and it wouldn't affect the scheduling of MY DYING BRIDE. I spoke to Tombs back in the day and I said, 'Here's some MY DYING BRIDE gigs. Make sure there's no HIGH PARASITE [gigs] clashing, any clashing of any gigs at all.' And he said, 'Absolutely fine. That will not happen.' And, well, it never even got that far, because we had a big bust-up before then, and the gigs got canceled anyway.

"You don't sacrifice the main band for your smaller band," Aaron continued. "That doesn't happen. Can you imagine Lars Ulrich saying to METALLICA, 'Do you know what, guys? Can we cancel those big gigs, 'cause me and my mates wanna mess around in this other band?' It doesn't work that way. It doesn't happen like that. And it would be ridiculous to even think that. 'Cause I know some people think, 'Oh, Aaron's concentrating more on HIGH PARASITE than MY DYING BRIDE. So he sacrificed MY DYING BRIDE for HIGH PARASITE.' You don't do things like that. It's utterly, utterly ridiculous. And why would I? MY DYING BRIDE has been an absolute delight for me for 30-odd years. I'm not gonna let that go. And I'm certainly not gonna let another, a smaller band batter it out the way. It doesn't work like that. Literally every musician I know is in more than one band. It's easy. Anyone can do it. It's not an issue."

Photo credit: Andy Ford

In a new interview with São Paulo, Brazil's 89 FM A Rádio Rock radio station, Zakk Wylde spoke about BLACK LABEL SOCIETY's upcoming album, "Engines Of Demolition", which will be released on March 27 via MNRK Heavy. The follow-up to 2021's "Doom Crew Inc." contains 15 tracks, including the four previously released singles, "Name In Blood", "Broken And Blind", "The Gallows" and "Lord Humungus", as well as a tune titled "Ozzy's Song", which is a tribute to the BLACK LABEL SOCIETY guitarist/vocalist's longtime bandmate, the iconic BLACK SABBATH singer Ozzy Osbourne. Asked when he wrote "Ozzy's Song" and how it came together, Zakk said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): " Yeah, I had the music written 'cause we'd been writing this album for the last three and a half years, almost four years. So, we stockpiled all these songs. And I was real happy with the way the music came out. And then I figured eventually I'll finish the song. But then after we laid Ozzy to rest, when we got back home, we took a break from PANTERA celebration [touring with the reformed PANTERA]. I sat in a little library room in our house. I just put the headphones on at about one o'clock in the morning and I was looking at a book of Ozzy and I just wrote the lyrics. And that's what came out."

He continued: "My wife would always be listening to it in the truck, Barbaranne, she'd be, like, 'Babe, put on Ozzy's song again.' So that was pretty much just the working title. It's just, like, well, it's Ozzy's song. So, people would always be asking, like, 'I wonder since Zakk wrote a song for [late PANTERA guitarist] Dimebag [Darrell Abbott],' and now we sing it for [late PANTERA drummer] Vinnie [Paul Abbott] as well, 'with 'In This River', I wonder if Zakk will write a song for Ozzy on the new album.' So, it's only fitting. We just called it 'Ozzy's Song'. So that's how we ended up with 'Ozzy's Song'. We're working on the video for that one right now. So, that'll be out on the 27th, when that comes out."

Wylde was also asked about BLACK LABEL SOCIETY's decision to perform a version of Ozzy's "No More Tears" during the band's current tour. He said: "Well, [I] ended up doing the at the BRIT Awards when [I] ended up playing with Robbie Williams and Roberto [Robert Trujillo] and Adam [Wakeman] and Tommy [Clufetos]. We ended up doing that to celebrate Ozz getting inducted for a lifetime achievement award. So I called the [BLACK LABEL SOCIETY] fellows up. I said, 'Man, we'll put that in the set when we get back home before we go out and do 'Engines Of Demolition' crusade.' So, that's what we put in there. So that's why we're playing it. A little ode to the boss."

Wylde formed BLACK LABEL SOCIETY in 1998 and has kept the band busy in between touring and recording with Ozzy Osbourne, whose backing group he first joined nearly four decades ago.

BLACK LABEL SOCIETY's "Order Of The Black" (2010) and "Catacombs Of The Black Vatican" (2014) both broke into the top five on the hard rock album charts.

Since first joining Ozzy, Zakk had played on all of the BLACK SABBATH singer's solo albums except for 2020's "Ordinary Man", including such classic efforts as "No More Tears" (1991),"Ozzmosis" (1995) and "Black Rain" (2007).

In an October 2025 interview with the Los Angeles Times, Zakk was asked if he thought Ozzy knew he would die shortly after performing at the "Back To The Beginning" concert in Birmingham, United Kingdom in early July 2025. Zakk responded: "No, I don't think so. The way I always felt, all the things that I've gone through with them, it was always — if it was a setback or anything like that — it was more of a speed bump and it was just like, 'All right, we'll fix the flat tire on the truck and then we'll just keep moving.' So, I think it was more like that, because I knew he still wanted to make records and things like that. But I was just thinking, 'Who knows, man, hopefully if this thing goes over well, then we might be able to do some other shows or do select shows throughout the year.' Like these Ozzfest-type things, just so Ozz can still keep doing gigs, but maybe not touring in the capacity of doing four shows a week or whatever."

Asked if Ozzy felt indestructible to him, Zakk said: "Yeah, totally. It's just like with THE [ROLLING] STONES, you just always think they're going to be there. I felt like that with us. Even when we were doing that show, I didn't go, 'Oh, this is the last time I'm ever going to play 'Mama, I'm Coming Home' with him or 'Crazy Train' with him' or anything. You're in the moment anyways. You're playing, so my concern was making sure he was okay. I wasn't thinking about any of that, because it's like you're playing a game. You never think it's your last Super Bowl; you're playing and you're playing to win. So, yeah, I didn't think about it, and like I said, I've always been optimistic. I would always tell him, no matter how bummed he got, 'Just keep doing therapy and keep doing everything you've got to do because what's the option? Then you just quit in the corner, and you whine about it. Or you could do something about it, with therapy and hitting the weights and doing everything you got to do.' There was no quit in him. So, that's where we were at. I never thought like, 'Oh, yeah, this was the last gig.' I didn't think after we did the show, two weeks from now, he was gonna be gone. I wasn't thinking that at all."

Zakk, who became Ozzy's guitarist in 1987 after sending the singer a demo tape, previously discussed the legendary BLACK SABBATH frontman's passing last August in an interview with Waste Some Time With Jason Green. He said at the time: "It was so crazy, 'cause when we went back to the house — obviously we went home [in early July after the 'Back To The Beginning' concert], and then Barb [Zakk's wife Barbaranne] called me up [when I was on the road with PANTERA to tell me] that Ozz passed away.

"Whenever any of this stuff [about Ozzy's health issues] would always come up with us [in the past], just 'cause Ozz was just so tough and resilient, it would just be, 'Oh, it's just another bump in the road or another hurdle. We'll get through it.' So it was just always that. So you just always — not that you take anything for granted ever, but it'd be like Ozzy being Evel Knievel [American stunt performer and entertainer] — it's, like, he survives, he makes a jump, or even if he gets into an accident, we get him to the hospital, [and] he'll be fine. And then he gets out and he's all right, and then we'll do another jump. You know what I mean? So you never think, like, 'This is the end.' You're just, like, 'Ah, Ozz will be fine.' Then we'll either do another record or whatever until Ozz gets better. But truly it was just like he willed himself to hang in there long enough to knock that [final] show [at the Villa Park in Birmingham, United Kingdom] out. 'Cause I was just saying, like, what happens if the show was [scheduled to take place] this month [in August]? He doesn't make it. That's what's crazy about the whole thing. And you just always had that sense that he's gonna be around forever, just kind of like Keith Richards and Mick Jagger and all the guys."

When podcast host Jason Green noted that Osbourne's health issues didn't keep him from making music in recent years, Zakk concurred. "Obviously until he get his health back, it was just, like, 'Ah, just keep plugging away, man,'" he said. "And either you quit or you keep conquering and climbing. And he never had any quit in them. So, yeah, it was just, like, all right, well, then in the meantime, until you can get better, well, we'll write and make records or whatever you wanna do, man. I mean, that's what I just figured. It was, like, 'Ah, I'll see Ozz on Tuesday,' and we'll start working again or whatever."

In late July 2025, Zakk spoke to Guitar World about the final text he received from Ozzy before the singer died. Wylde performed during the aforementioned "Back To The Beginning" farewell concert on July 5, 2025, and according to the guitarist, Osbourne reached out to him after the show.

"Everybody and their mother were in the backstage dressing room and I just wanted to give him a break," Wylde said. "I figured we'd see him later on — the next day or whatever. But no. The last text I got from Ozz was saying, 'Zakky, sorry, it was like a madhouse back there. I didn't see you.' He goes, 'Thanks for everything.' It was just us talking, saying, 'I love you, buddy.' That was it."

Wylde added that the singer was "almost like an older brother" to him. "There was almost a 20-year age gap between us," he told Guitar World. "With our relationship, there was the fun drinking — but if I ever needed advice, I could talk to him."

Wylde also told Guitar World that his priority with Osbourne's farewell show was "making sure that Ozz was okay."

Ozzy died on July 22, 2025 of a heart attack, his death certificate revealed. The certificate filed in London also said Osbourne suffered from coronary artery disease and Parkinson's disease.

A private funeral service for Ozzy was held on July 31, 2025 on the 250-acre grounds of the house the legendary BLACK SABBATH singer and his wife bought in 1993 in Buckinghamshire, England. Only 110 of the singer's friends and family members attended the service, including his SABBATH bandmates, Robert Trujillo (METALLICA),Rob Zombie, Wylde, Marilyn Manson and Corey Taylor (SLIPKNOT).

The day before the private funeral, thousands of fans gathered in the streets of Birmingham to pay tribute to Ozzy. Sharon, along with their children Aimée, Kelly and Jack, joined mourners for the emotional tribute.

BLACK LABEL SOCIETY is:

Zakk Wylde - vocals, guitar, piano
John "JD" DeServio - bass
Jeff Fabb - drums
Dario Lorina - guitar

In a new interview with the "Talk Louder" podcast, hosted by veteran music journalist "Metal Dave" Glessner and lifelong hard rock/metal vocalist Jason McMaster, former MÖTLEY CRÜE singer John Corabi was asked if he would attend the band's hypothetical induction into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame. Corabi, who joined MÖTLEY CRÜE in 1992 as the replacement for original vocalist Vince Neil, responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "No. First of all, I can pretty much guarantee you I won't be invited. So it just a no."

He continued: "To be quite honest with you, I am fine with, obviously, [MÖTLEY CRÜE guitarist] Mick Mars. Mick lives about 20 minutes from me [in Nashville]. So I'm fine with Mick Mars. If Vince Neil walked in here right now, we'd hug each other and probably sit down and have a cocktail together and shoot the fat for about two hours. I'm fine with Vince. Tommy [Lee, MÖTLEY CRÜE drummer] and I communicate via text, and I don't get to see him that often, but we still communicate via text. For some weird reason, and it's really a one-sided kind of beef, Nikki's [Sixx, MÖTLEY CRÜE bassist] got some weird hair up his ass about all things John Corabi. And I don't really have an issue with the guy. It doesn't matter."

The now-66-year-old Corabi, who recorded one one critically acclaimed full-length CD with MÖTLEY CRÜE, added: "So, I can pretty much guarantee it, a) I won't be invited, and b),to be honest with you, I kind of learned my lesson doing that record. I am not a part of the… MÖTLEY is Nikki, Tommy, Vince and Mick. And anybody else that was involved or whatever, that's great. But it's their night, their moment, their thing.

"I am looking forward to when the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame does open a category. They have the platinum record category, the gold record category. I'm waiting for them to do the aluminum record category, because I have 19 consecutive aluminum records, and once they do that, I'm fucking first guy in, bitches. First guy in."

Last month, Corabi was asked by the Celebrity Jobber Podcast With Jeff Zito if he would consider his time with MÖTLEY CRÜE to be "the pivotal moment" in his career. He responded: "Well, yeah, in hindsight, that was the thing that put me on the map. Now, would have gotten there with [my pre-MÖTLEY CRÜE band] THE SCREAM? Possibly. [It's] hard to tell. But the MÖTLEY thing was the one that really projected me into a lot of different lights. And [a lot of people were saying], maybe, 'Who's this guy? Who's this Corabi guy that's replacing Vince Neil?'"

Reflecting on his MÖTLEY CRÜE tenure, which lasted from 1992 until 1996, John said: "It was beautiful, it was awesome, it was a lot of fun, it was eye-opening, but to some degree — not to be negative — it was a bit of a curse as well, because even still to this day, that's what people want from me… Even with this new [solo] material [I am about to release], I was, I don't wanna say 'worried' about it, but… My wife actually said this new record that I just did, 'New Day', is probably the most honest and real, I guess, statement from John Corabi. All the other things that I've done, it was me catering… I might have an idea, but I had three or four other people in the band that I had to compromise and change things for, and this is just me being me."

Elaborating on the criticism he has received for the musical direction of his new solo material, Corabi said: "I've seen a few comments — not many; it's minimal — but there's been a few people [saying things] like, 'Yeah, I'm waiting for him to do something heavy again, like the MÖTLEY record.' And it's just, like, dude, I did that 35 years ago. I did it already. This is just me as a 67-year-old man just going back and thinking about some of the music I grew up listening to, and this is my offering to whatever."

Asked if he looks at the experience of being in MÖTLEY CRÜE differently now that it has been three decades since his exit from the band and whether he is still glad he joined the legendary rock group, John said: "Honestly, dude. I don't regret anything. I've had a lot of people — I don't wanna say it drives me crazy, but even if you look at my bio, 'rock journeyman', and then it's the list of things that I've done and, but that was just the way things played out for me. I wish I was still sitting here talking about the 19th or 20th SCREAM album. And I think we had the talent and the capabilities of possibly doing that. But who knew I was gonna get a phone call from, at the time, one of the biggest bands in the world and they were gonna ask me to join their band? I didn't know that. There was no [looking into the] future, no crystal balls. I didn't know that. It happened. I made that choice. Even my bandmates in THE SCREAM were, like, 'Dude, if you don't do this, you're an idiot.' So I did that. And for as negatively as those guys talked about Vince Neil, how was I supposed to know he was gonna come back? I didn't know. Then I did UNION [with former KISS guitarist Bruce Kulick, Brent Fitz and Jamie Hunting]. And I felt positive about it. The reviews that we got on the UNION music was great. We got great reviews. But again, who knew that I was gonna do that and we were gonna be totally in the height of the grunge thing? Same with the MÖTLEY record. It was just the way it played out. [UNION] never broke up. The thing with UNION was we were selling tickets to shows, but we weren't getting radio airplay, we weren't getting MTV airplay, we weren't getting any support from the industry, so we were selling tickets, word of mouth, mainly to KISS fans. So we were getting that, but we weren't making any money. It was mainly the KISS fans [who came out to see us], and then Bruce got the offer to do join GRAND FUNK RAILROAD. So it was, like, 'Hey, dude, we're gonna pay you way more money than you're making now to play your guitar for this legendary band.' And oddly enough, I, shortly after that, got offered the RATT [rhythm guitarist] gig. And then oddly enough, Brent and Jamie wound up getting offered the gig to play with Vince Neil. So it was very incestuous, whatever, but it was more about we never disagreed, there wasn't any infighting. It was just about four guys needing to pay their electric bill, and they just went to gigs that actually guaranteed them more money. That was it."

In a recent interview with Robert Edwards of Talkin' Bout Rock, Corabi spoke about his current relationship with Neil. He said: "If I was to see Vince right now, he'd probably give me a hug, 'Hey, Crabby.' And we'd probably sit down and have a cocktail together. I've never had an issue with Vince. Even when he came back and he was doing the 'Generation Swine' [reunion] record [with MÖTLEY CRÜE], I sat with him a bunch and talked. I was, like, 'Hey, dude, I don't have any hard feelings.' He's, like, 'Yep. Nope. Me either.' I was, like, 'Sorry about your daughter.' He was, like, 'Sorry about your son having diabetes.' And I've seen Vince a gazillion times since then. He doesn't care. He's, like, 'Oh, yeah, dude. And we'll sit on his bus or he'll come on my bus and we'll just sit and bullshit for hours."

Regarding his relationship with some of the other members of MÖTLEY CRÜE, John said: "To be honest with you, I was just — God, Tommy [Lee, MÖTLEY CRÜE drummer] and I were just texting a month ago. We were going back and forth. And he saw that I got a record deal. He, was, like, 'Hey, good luck with the record, bro.' And I played him some stuff, and he was, like, 'Awesome.' I still talk to Mick [Mars, former MÖTLEY CRÜE guitarist]… I speak with Mick. But Mick's wrapped up in his thing. Between THE [DEAD] DAISIES and the solo record that I just [completed], I've been busier than… It's been crazy. Mick and I, our birthdays are, like, two weeks apart. So, I'll get a text from him for my birthday. I'll send him one. If I see a funny meme or a joke or whatever, I'll send it to him. And so I'm all good with all those guys. The only one I don't really talk to, and it's unfortunate, is Nikki [Sixx, MÖTLEY CRÜE bassist], but that's his choice."

Corabi continued: "I'm not upset with any of those guys. I have nothing bad to say about those guys. But the bottom line of it is, I guess what I was trying to say is a lot of fans just think that Vince and I can't stand each other, and that couldn't be farther from the truth… So I'm fine with all those guys. Even Nikki — if Nikki came in here and wanted to talk, I'd be, like, 'Hey, dude, how have you been? What's up? How are the kids?' But whatever. It is what it is. So there is no bad blood between me and MÖTLEY CRÜE at all."

With Corabi on vocals, MÖTLEY CRÜE released one critically acclaimed full-length CD, which ended up being a commercial failure in the wake of grunge despite a Top 10 placing on the album chart. When Neil returned to the fold in 1997, Corabi was left on his own and formed the aforementioned UNION with Kulick.

In a 2016 interview with Sweden Rock Magazine, Sixx said that writing the "Mötley Crüe" LP with Corabi was a prolonged and difficult experience. He went to call it "a very unfocused record" that was "painful for me, because John Corabi can't write lyrics, and I had to do all that work."

Nikki added: "It was the first time I ever had to work with somebody that wanted to participate in the lyrics. And my standard is so high that it was so hard, it took months. Usually, I write a set of lyrics in an hour.

"It's all about having pent-up information and aggression and just [letting it out]. It was just hard, because [John] was a nice enough guy, but he just didn't have that fire, and it was hard for me."

In the Sweden Rock interview, Nikki also offered his theory as to why Mars and Lee have both publicly expressed their fondness for the Corabi-fronted album. He said: "I think Mick and Tommy love that record, 'cause it's [got] great drums, great guitars. And, yeah, I think there was a freedom in having a different singer, you know. But it was just hard for me to have to go slow. I'm just not a good 'slow' guy in the studio. I've been in sessions with other artists where [someone is working slowly] and I've just gotta bail; I've just gotta go. It's, like, you can create on the spot or you can't create. That's it with me. I just don't have patience for that."

In February 2018, Corabi released a live album of his performance of MÖTLEY CRÜE's entire 1994 self-titled album, recorded on October 27, 2015 in Nashville, Tennessee. "Live '94: One Night In Nashville" documents the album in its entirety along with the bonus track "10,000 Miles", which was originally released as a bonus track on the Japanese version of the "Quaternary" EP.

Corabi will release his new full-length solo album, "New Day", on April 24, 2026 via Frontiers Music Srl.

Corabi's autobiography, "Horseshoes And Hand Grenades", came out in June 2022 via Rare Bird Books. It was written with the help of MÖTLEY CRÜE historian/author Paul Miles.

Press photo credit: Enzo Mazzeo

THE WILDHEARTS frontman and founding member Ginger has been diagnosed with "a rare but aggressive strain of cancer", mantle cell lymphoma (MCL).

According to the Mayo Clinic, mantle cell lymphoma typically affects the lymph nodes, but it also can affect the blood, bone marrow and other tissues throughout the body.

While mantle cell lymphoma often can't be cured, treatments can shrink the cancer size and help contain it.

In a statement posted on social media today (March 16),THE WILDHEARTS wrote: "IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT FROM THE WILDHEARTS TEAM. During THE WILDHEARTS' incredible 'More Satanic Rites' UK tour in December 2025, frontman and founding member Ginger Wildheart was experiencing severe pains that some nights forced him to take some short breaks from stage. Determined not to upset the band's loyal fans — new and old — Ginger took painkillers to ensure the rock 'n' roll was delivered, without missing a riff. Away from the tour Ginger has sought medical tests and investigations to establish the cause of the ongoing issue. The results have been confirmed and we are saddened to report that Ginger has been diagnosed with Mantle Cell Lymphoma (MCL) — a rare but aggressive strain of cancer.

"Right now Ginger is in fine fettle, continuing to write songs that will be released under the guise of THE WILDHEARTS and as solo projects in the future. The follow-up to 2025's 'The Satanic Rites...' is currently being finalised with announcements to follow later this year via Snakefarm/Universal. And, most importantly, ALL currently announced THE WILDHEARTS shows (with more being announced over coming months) WILL GO AHEAD.

"While we process this news and await further medical advice, Ginger wants everyone to know that strength and positivity will prevail and the show WILL go on.

"Make sure you come and see THE WILDHEARTS — sounding bigger and more refreshingly amazing than ever — at a venue near you soon."

THE WILDHEARTS are an English rock band, formed in 1989 in Newcastle upon Tyne. The band's sound is a mixture of hard rock and melodic pop music, often described in the music press as combining influences as diverse as THE BEATLES and 1980s-era METALLICA. THE WILDHEARTS achieved several Top 20 singles and two Top 10 albums in Britain, though they also faced difficulties with record companies and many internal problems often relating to drugs and depression. Much of the band's early career was affected by bitter feuds with their record company, East West.

Throughout THE WILDHEARTS' history, members have regularly been replaced, with the only constant member being Ginger. Several band members have appeared in the lineup more than once. The band has also been split up or placed on hiatus by Ginger multiple times. In the 2010s, the band convened occasionally for various anniversary tours. A 2018 anniversary tour by the band's 1995 lineup led to a return to the studio. They released a new album in 2019 after a ten-year hiatus. Their most recent LP, "Satanic Rites Of The Wildhearts", came out in March 2025.

Posted by The Wildhearts on Monday, March 16, 2026

In a new interview with Robert Edwards of Talkin' Bout Rock, former EXCITER and current POWERRAGE guitarist John Ricci weighed in on a debate about people using an A.I. (artificial intelligence) music generator as a tool to create melodies, harmonies and rhymes based on artificial intelligence (A.I.) algorithms and machine learning (M.L.) models. John said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Well, I think A.I. has a purpose. I don't agree [with] using A.I. to write music, 'cause music is like a human factor, and you have to keep that, you have to keep the music honest. Now, if you wanna use A.I. for other things, like artwork or graphics of some sort, even though you have the idea but you wanna A.I. it, that part of it I don't have a problem with. But I don't think A.I. should play a part in songwriting. That should come within. So I'm not against it, but I'm not for it either. I'm kind of like neutral, in the middle."

He added: "When you hear a wicked heavy metal song, and it's precise and every note's perfect and the speed of the song is perfect, it does sound fabricated. So, I think they should keep A.I. out of songwriting."

In addition to Ricci, POWERRAGE includes bassist Todd Pilon (formerly of WITCHKILLER),vocalist Jacques Bélanger (who previously sang on three EXCITER albums: "The Dark Command" [1997], "Blood Of Tyrants" [2000] and "New Testament" [2004]) and drummer Lucas Dery.

POWERRAGE's debut album, "Beast", will arrive on April 24 via High Roller Records. The LP was mixed and mastered by Dan Swanö at Unisound and it features artwork by Mario Lopez.

The second single from "Beast", a song called "Dragon Man", is tentatively due to be released on March 23.

While Ricci and Bélanger were both members of EXCITER, John wanted to make one thing perfectly clear. "Well, with this band I didn't want to be another EXCITER," he said in a press release. "It was time to move on. Even though EXCITER was based around my guitar style, and it was a successful formula, I wanted to start from scratch and start all over again.

"Starting over and not depending on your past accomplishments is definitely a very difficult task but I feel confident enough I can make it happen," he continued.

Ricci left EXCITER in September 2018. The guitarist has since been replaced by Daniel Dekay, who had previously played with DIEMONDS.

Ricci previously exited EXCITER in 1985 following the release of the band's first three classic albums — "Heavy Metal Maniac" (1983),"Violence & Force" (1984) and "Long Live The Loud" (1985).

EXCITER's latest album, "Death Machine", which featured Ricci as the sole remaining original member, was released in October 2010 via Massacre Records.

Ricci, drummer/vocalist Dan Beehler and bassist Allan Johnson reunited as EXCITER in 2014 and had been playing sporadic shows until John's latest departure.

In a new interview with Jaimunji, ANTHRAX guitarist Scott Ian spoke about the setlist for the band's upcoming four-date headlining tour of Australia, which will kick off on March 23 in Brisbane. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "We'll figure it out. I always like to take a look and see the last few times we were somewhere and what we played. There's always gonna be at least a dozen songs that are gonna get played no matter what. And then you figure out maybe there's some different ones we could play from the last time. Although if it's been that long [more than two decades] since we headlined [a tour of Australia], really, it doesn't matter what we do at this point because it's been so long. But generally, if you're in a place that you were just in, say, 18 months or two years ago, obviously I would wanna try and do at least half the set different."

Asked if he and his ANTHRAX bandmates like to try to rotate in some favorite songs that they don't get to play that often these days, Scott said: "Well, it's not a case of 'we don't get to', because we could play anything. On this last run, we started the tour. We had 'Deathrider' in the set from 'Fistful Of Metal', which hasn't been in the set very often in the last 35 years. And then halfway through the tour we said, 'Let's put 'Metal Thrashing Mad' back in, 'cause we missed playing it. So we switched up 'Deathrider' and 'Metal Thrashing Mad'. But, yeah, we were opening the show with 'A.I.R.', which, of course, back in 1985, '86, we would open our show with 'A.I.R.'. It was cool to switch out 'Among The Living' for 'A.I.R.'."

Scott continued: "It's funny, 'cause sometimes what people think are deep tracks I don't, or what I think is a deep track other people don't. To me, 'A.I.R.' is not a deep track. It's the first song on 'Spreading The Disease'. I get the big ones off that album — 'Madhouse' is a really big song, and 'Medusa' is like a hit, you know what I mean? And people love 'Gung-Ho', even though I would consider that more of a deep track. But, to me, I always thought 'A.I.R.' is one of the big ones, yet we would open with it and it was almost like people didn't know what song we were playing. And then we would go into 'Got The Time' or 'Madhouse' second, and all of a sudden the place would erupt, like, 'Oh, here's ANTHRAX. We don't even know what that first song was.' It's always odd to me what people know and don't know off our records."

After Jaimunji noted that a lot of fans' favorite songs are influenced by a system shaped by playlists, algorithms and short-form consumption curated by music streaming services like Spotify, Apple Music and Tidal, Scott said: "I didn't even think of that. 'Cause I don't pay attention to playlists. I stream, but I'm generally playing albums and stuff like that. I don't ever go into top songs or essentials or any of that stuff. So, yeah, I never thought of it that way. 'Cause I have looked on our Apple Music, the top 50 songs or whatever, and the top 20 is always the same top 20 songs — always the same ones. And then if you're out playing a show and there's 8,000 people there, most of those 8,000 people are all gonna know those 20 songs and a lot less than 8,000 are gonna know, like, song number 73. [Laughs]."

ANTHRAX's Australian tour will kick off March 23 at Fortitude Music Hall in Brisbane before moving through Adelaide's Hindley Street Music Hall on March 25 and Melbourne’s Festival Hall on March 26. The run will wrap March 28 at Enmore Theatre in Sydney.

ANTHRAX's long-awaited new studio album is tentatively due in May 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.

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".

THREE DAYS GRACE has reached a milestone no other Canadian band has achieved before, with two songs now joining Spotify's prestigious Billions Club. Their latest track to enter this elite group is "Animal I Have Become". In addition, the rock powerhouse has earned two nominations at the upcoming Juno Awards, recognized in the categories "Group Of The Year" and "Rock Album Of The Year". The ceremony will take place on March 29, celebrating some of the biggest achievements in Canadian music over the past year.

THREE DAYS GRACE comments: "On the back of a bus in Germany, what started as a dissonant riff and a nod to THE BEATLES became 'Animal I Have Become'. What began as a raw idea on the road for a band from a small town like Norwood grew into a song that connected with millions around the world. Seeing it now join the billions club — and becoming the only Canadian band with two songs there — is pretty incredible."

This past year has been a monstrous one for THREE DAYS GRACE with the release of their latest album "Alienation", singles "Mayday", "Apologies" and "Kill Me Fast" hitting No. 1. The band is currently headlining on their 2026 "Alienation" tour, following sold-out co-headlining tours across Canada with VOLBEAT and the U.S. with BREAKING BENJAMIN. The tour kicked off in the U.S. in February, before hitting Canada and Europe and wrapping up the tour back in the U.S. in November for the final show in Los Angeles, California. The U.S. tour dates will receive support from I PREVAIL and THE FUNERAL PORTRAIT, while Canada will see support from FINGER ELEVEN and ROYAL TUSK.

"Alienation" arrived in August 2025 via RCA Records. For the first time in over a decade, original THREE DAYS GRACE frontman Adam is back, joining Matt Walst on vocals along with Neil Sanderson (drums),Brad Walst (bass) and Barry Stock (guitars).

THREE DAYS GRACE played its first full show with Gontier in 12 years on February 25, 2025 as the support act for DISTURBED on the U.S. leg of "The Sickness 25th Anniversary Tour" at Ford Idaho Center Arena in Nampa, Idaho.

In April 2023, Gontier reunited with THREE DAYS GRACE onstage during the band's concert in Huntsville, Alabama. Gontier rejoined his former bandmates when they opened for SHINEDOWN at the Probst Arena At The Von Braun Center to perform two classic songs from THREE DAYS GRACE's 2006 album "One-X": "Never Too Late" and "Riot".

In 1992, Gontier, Brad Walst, Phil Crowe, Neil Sanderson and Joe Grant formed GROUNDSWELL while most of the members were still in high school. That band broke up in 1995, but two years later Gontier, Sanderson and Walst reformed as THREE DAYS GRACE. Gontier left the band in 2013 and was replaced by Matt, the vocalist from another Norwood band, MY DARKEST DAYS.

Gontier initially went into rehab in 2005 in Toronto after admitting an addiction to Oxycontin. The rehab stint influenced some material which would appear on THREE DAYS GRACE's "One-X" album, including the songs "Pain" and "Over And Over".

Gontier left THREE DAYS GRACE in the spring of 2013. At the time, the Canadian rockers cited unspecified "health issues" when his departure was announced. Adam later released a statement explaining he exited THREE DAYS GRACE to pursue new projects, and not to deal with addiction.

Photo credit: Matt Barnes

In a new interview with AJ Motts and RJ Stone of The AJ & RJ Show, W.A.S.P. frontman Blackie Lawless spoke about TWISTED SISTER singer Dee Snider's recent announcement that he was retiring from performing for health reasons. Asked if he has personally ever thought about calling it quits, Blackie said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Well, naturally, to see any of your peers say that for whatever reason they're not gonna be able to do it anymore, that's disturbing for a lot of reasons. I know Dee — I've known him for a long time — so it gets my attention, let's put it that way. And you question your own mortality when you hear about something like that, and I think it's natural. But for myself, I've been really blessed. You can beat me with a bat, and I've been able to come back. So I've been really fortunate when it comes to that. So, as far as hanging it up or anything like that, somebody's gonna have to drag me off kicking and screaming.

"I hear people talk about retiring, and if you're forced to, that's one thing, but if you're not, I'm asking myself, retire for what? You get a watch and go fishing? I don't get it," he explained. "I just don't understand that, because what motivated me to get into this in the first place is what keeps me going now. And that's no different than it was when I was 16. So I don't feel any different."

After the interviewer noted that "the energy level" during W.A.S.P. shows is still "great" after all these years, Blackie concurred. "Oh, man. We're out there to hurt people," he said. "It's that simple. It's, like, we ain't taking no prisoners, man. I don't wanna ever be in a situation where we can't deliver the way we need to.

"I saw B.B. King [American blues singer and guitarist] about 15 years ago, and I was in the second row right in front of him," Blackie continued. "I was probably 10, 12 feet away from him. And he was sitting down in a chair. He says, 'I'm 81 years old, I gotta sit down.' But I could hear him singing acoustically louder from where I was sitting than when I heard him coming out of the P.A. on the sides. I mean, he was up there roaring like a lion. And I thought to myself, 'You know what? When I grow up, that's what I wanna be, is that guy right there.' So it's, like, hey, however you gotta get it done, man, do it. But like I said, 81 years old and he, like I said, sounded like a lion roaring. And fortunately for me — like I said, I've been really blessed."

Lawless also talked about W.A.S.P.'s legacy and what's coming in the future from him and his bandmates. He said: "I look at it all kind of like a book. And when you do an album, that's a chapter, you do a tour, that's a chapter. And the book is still being written. And this may sound like a canned response to you, but that really is what it is.

"They say that a thing can't be analyzed until it's over. And because we're not finished, I don't think you can analyze it yet," he explained. "I mean, somebody could certainly look at the phases we've been through, and like any other artist, if it doesn't grow, it dies. So you can see the natural progressions that it makes. For me, though, I would say the real progression happened in the first five years, because with any band, and I don't care who it is, if they're gonna last and they're gonna have a genuine career, and I'm talking about somebody that you know is around 20 years, 30 years, that has a genuine career, almost in every situation their legacy is built in the first five years they're there, that the public knows about 'em, whether it's them making records, them touring, whatever it is — it's done in those first five years. If you think back about all the bands you like, there's maybe the odd exception here and there, but almost all of them made their bones in those first five years. We are no exception to that. And all the big changes happened in those first five years. You can continue to write and some of the subject matter may change, because we continue to grow, unless we're in a box. And again, I'm no different when it comes to that, but I would say the majority of a lot of those worldly changes happened [in] those first five years."

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 be again offering fans VIP tickets that give fans a chance to meet Blackie Lawless, get a personal photo with Blackie, autographs, a W.A.S.P. traveling museum with new items added since the last U.S. tour, and take part in a very personal Q&A with Blackie. VIP tickets can be purchased at waspnation.myshopify.com.

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 a new interview with Made In Metal, vocalist Zak Tell of the long-running Swedish rap/metal combo CLAWFINGER spoke about the band's controversial single "N*****", an anti-racism statement that caused quite a stir and was a massive success. The track was included on CLAWFINGER's debut album, 1993's "Deaf Dumb Blind", which sold over 600,000 copies worldwide and was critically acclaimed in Swedish press. Asked if the message of "N*****" was "misunderstood" in certain territories because CLAWFINGER was made up of white musicians, Zak said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "In America — definitely. We never played a gig in America, ever. I remember we got a fax from a record company. Someone from our label in Sweden was in the States shopping for a record deal and they played them some of our songs. 'N*****' was one of them. And we got a fax back that said, 'White guys who try to tell black people how to live their lives ought to have their balls cut off.' So, in America, definitely.

"To be honest. I don't feel like it was that misunderstood," Tell explained. "I feel like the majority of people back then were smart enough to read the lyrics and understand the bigger picture. I think it's more of a problem now than it was then, because everything is taken out of context now. Nobody has the patience to listen to a whole song. A lot of people have a ten-second attention span. So if you hear a chorus like that, you are gonna misunderstand it, 'cause that's all you're gonna hear. But once again, back then, most of the time, it led to very interesting discussions with a lot of people. And most of the time, the majority of the people who were frustrated about it or found it wrong or provocative were white people or pink people or whatever you wanna call it, whereas a lot of African-Americans or black people, or whatever you choose to call it, actually really appreciated it. But then, of course, there were assholes as well.

"I remember back in the beginning, we had a lot of skinheads in Sweden, and they thought it was a song for them," Zak continued. "And when they realized it wasn't a song for them, they got pissed off, 'cause they thought it was like an anthem for them. But no, it wasn't.

"I would say that without that song, we would not have gotten to experience everything we've experienced," Tell added. "And that song has mostly been positive for us. Could we have written it in an easier way or a way that was more easy to understand? Probably, yeah. But I was 21 when I wrote that lyric. I wasn't thinking ahead of what might happen in 20 years or how people might understand it. I was speaking from the heart, because it was something that I thought was worrying and something that I thought was strange and wrong, and for that reason it's never really been a problem. And also, last but not least, if you look at the body of our work, everything about us is anti-fascist and anti-racist. So if you look at the big CLAWFINGER picture, you have to be pretty fucking stupid to misinterpret us as a racist band."

When the interviewer noted that "stupidity grows everywhere", Zak concurred. "Yeah, it does. It does," he said. "I mean, we are not doing ourselves any favors as a human race. We are pathetically stupid at times. And I'm not saying I'm any better. We're all struggling to make sense of who the fuck we are and what it is we're supposed to be doing here. And I think we have a long way to go before we start doing the right thing. We need to be more open-minded. We need to have more patience with people. We need to stop judging so quickly. We need to understand that everyone is different, but everyone has the same basic needs. We want food on our table, a roof over our heads, we want our families to be happy. It doesn't matter where you are from or what skin color you have. We all want those same things. How fucking hard can it be?"

Zak went on to highlight the ridiculousness of racism, saying:  "We have this stupid idea of — I don't know what it is; [it's] some kind of fear. As soon as someone doesn't look exactly like we do, we assume that there must be something wrong with them, or they're crooks. But that's based on how we look. Everyone — not everyone, but we all look different in different parts of the world. So what makes the pinkness I have the one that is considered better or more intelligent? It doesn't make any sense whatsoever. It makes zero sense. It's just you become accustomed to what it is you are and what you have and the place you happen to live. But it's all coincidence. I didn't choose to be born in this part of the world with this skin. It's just something I happen to be. It's ridiculous."

Back in June 2024, Tell was asked why CLAWFINGER doesn't perform "N*****" live anymore. He responded: "It's just a matter of being respectful to the fact that times have changed. There's a new political climate. You've got the whole Black Lives movement. You've got a completely different awareness. And out of respect for the way things are in the world right now, it's not the right song to play. And it's a much bigger issue than just a three-and-a-half-minute song. So it's almost making it too easy or making it too… It's too serious of a topic and a problem to let a song be more important than the big picture."

He continued: "So no, we don't play that song anymore. And it's not because we don't stand by it, 'cause we stand by those lyrics in that song 100 percent, but it's to be respectful to the way the world is right now. And maybe that's sad, but it's also the reality. And we're not one of these MÖTLEY CRÜE bands who just says, 'Fuck you. We're gonna do whatever the fuck we want because we're MÖTLEY CRÜE.' We're a bit more respectful than that, and we like the idea of changing with the times. Yes, in our world, we're the most important band in the world, of course, but in reality, we're just a small stupid fucking rock band. And this topic is so much bigger than that. So, as of now, it's not a song we play, unfortunately."

CLAWFINGER's long-awaited comeback album, "Before We All Die", will arrive on February 20 via Perception, a division of Reigning Phoenix Music.

CLAWFINGER are considered pioneers of European rap-metal. Formed in Stockholm in the early 1990s, the Swedish-Norwegian band made an explosive debut with "Deaf Dumb Blind" (1993),blending aggressive guitar riffs with politically charged lyrics and rap vocals. The album sold over 600,000 copies worldwide — more than 250,000 in Germany alone — and won a Swedish Grammis award in the hard rock/metal category.

CLAWFINGER's follow-up, "Use Your Brain" (1995) continued their success with chart placements across Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and Sweden. Over the years, they released seven studio albums, including "A Whole Lot Of Nothing", "Zeros & Heroes", "Hate Yourself With Style" and "Life Will Kill You", selling over 1.5 million records worldwide.

Known for their direct, riff-driven sound and strong political stance, CLAWFINGER address topics such as racism, political delusion, drug policy, environmental destruction, and social inequality. In the 1990s, they toured intensively with acts like ALICE IN CHAINS, MEGADETH and FAITH NO MORE and appeared at major festivals including Rock Am Ring, Roskilde and Monsters Of Rock in South America.

After a brief hiatus, the band returned in 2014 and has since released new singles like "Save Our Souls" (2017) and "Environmental Patients" (2022]) In 2025, CLAWFINGER signed a new label deal with Perception.

In the video below, Canadian visionary musician, composer, and producer Devin Townsend talks about the inspiration for his rock opera "The Moth". An album over a decade in the making, "The Moth" will finally arrive on May 29, 2026. This 24-track record began as a vague vision more than a decade ago. It existed in the back of Devin Townsend's mind as his "life's work". Then, about six years ago, after an acoustic show in Amsterdam, Townsend was approached by the head of the Noord Nederlands Orkest (North Netherlands Symphony Orchestra) with an offer: bring orchestral grandeur to Devin's extensive discography.

Devin explained (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): " The original idea for 'The Moth', I think I could trace it back all the way to childhood. My formal musical education was a combination of things in school, like choirs and bands and all that, but also I was a child of the '70s and the '80s, and in that time there was a lot of musical theater that was represented in film, like 'Jesus Christ Superstar' or 'Phantom Of The Opera', 'Paint Your Wagon', 'West Side Story'. All these kind of musicals were just formative training for me in terms of understanding how music works. By that I mean when we watch these musicals now — another favorite was 'Popeye', the one with Robin Williams — when we watch them now, they just seem so overt, like just really all the emotions are so over the top, it's so overblown and it's maybe a little hard to connect with as an adult, but as a kid, they were essentially broad strokes of emotion. I could really see what happy looked and sounded like. I could see what sadness looked and then consequently sounded like. And so between that and things like 'Star Wars' or 'The Dark Crystal', it was a way for me to sort of get a sort of an informal musical education in what these types of music represented on an emotional level. I remember with 'Star Wars', for example, the idea of the sand people and all those sort of musical motifs that were going into that sort of desert planet. I didn't know at the time, but it was very sort of Stravinsky-esque. And so having had those opportunities as a young child to sort of absorb all that musical information from what it looked and what it consequently sounded like from way back at that point, I remember making a conscious decision. I was, like, 'I want to do that.'"

Devin continued: "The reason why it's happened now rather than earlier on in my career is I just didn't have the vocabulary in order to articulate these things in a real practical way. When we had done 'Deconstruction', I had worked with orchestras, when we had done — well, a lot of it, even CASUALTIES [OF COOL project with Ché Aimee Dorval] I'd worked with orchestras and choirs, but I lacked the vocabulary in order to articulate my needs in an efficient way. So the past 10 years has not only been conceptualizing of this next direction in my musical journey, but also it's like an apprenticeship in a way. I had to learn how to speak this language. I had to find the people to help with it, and I also had to find the team to be able to put these things together in a way that was in line with my original vision for this type of musical work. So, convoluted, but here we are."

Last week, Devin revealed the first introduction to the world of "The Moth", in the shape of the track "Enter The City". The song is accompanied by a video created by Studio Sparks, which you can watch now below.

As Devin explained, "The Moth" is "a loose story following someone who realizes that old patterns of behavior are no longer serving them. By digging in and sitting with themselves, an internal conflict is revealed, one they may have been resisting or unconsciously rationalizing for years", and "Enter The City" comes towards the beginning of that story arc.

"The Moth" constitutes three distinct parts across its release. In addition to the main album, "The Moth - The Afterlife" highlights the grandeur of the orchestra and choir, in what might be considered a more pure version of "The Moth" experience. "The Moth - The War" is a recording of the live musical debut that took place in March 2025 in The Netherlands, showcasing the raw emotion of performing "The Moth" for the very first time.

"The Moth" will be available on several formats, including limited deluxe 3CD+Blu-ray artbook that includes the album on CD1, "The Moth - The Afterlife" on CD2 and "The Moth - The War (Live)" on CD3. The Blu-ray includes the full "The Moth - The War" live film, as well as Dolby Atmos and High Resolution Stereo mixes of "The Moth" and "The Moth - The Afterlife". It will also be available as limited 2CD edition (including "The Moth - The Afterlife" on CD2),standard CD jewelcase and as gatefold triple-gatefold 180g 2LP and fold-out LP booklet, as well as digitally.

The full track listing for "The Moth" is as follows:

01. Semi-prologue
02. War Beyond Words
03. The Moth
04. Ode To My Eye
05. Enter The City
06. Covered By Causes
07. Lexin
08. Runaways
09. A Proxy For God
10. The Mothers
11. Orion
12. Stay There
13. Home At Night
14. Intermission
15. Lexin Returns
16. The Clergy
17. Prepare For War
18. The Big Snit
19. Silver Princess
20. A Life In Review
21. Metamorphosis
22. Stained Hearts
23. Let Go
24. We Don't Deserve Dogs

If "The Moth" has a central gravitational theme, Townsend names it plainly: true self-acceptance. Something sturdier than slogans, closer to a practiced willingness to face what is uncomfortable without turning away. As Devin explains: "The most obvious metaphor for change within the concept of this project was a moth: from caterpillar to an entirely different creature — one so drawn to the light that it burns itself away. What remains is immutable — only the spirit."

At the hardest moments, when abandoning the project might have seemed rational, Townsend points to the team as the decisive factor. A host of incredible musicians and contributors participated throughout the course of this process, as well as the Noord Nederlands Orkest and orchestrators Joseph Stevenson and Niels Bye Nielsen. Longtime band members Darby Todd, Mike Keneally and James Leach played a huge part, as well as guests including the Steve Vai, Anneke Van Giersbergen, Lynn Wu (Ou),and artists Travis Smith and Eliran Kantor, plus key creative consultation from Mike St-Jean. The technical teams that worked tirelessly included co-mixer Chris Edrich, recording engineers Ben Searles and Jacob Hermann, Atmos mixer Ron Searles, mastering engineer Troy Glessner, choirs in various countries throughout the world and peripheral individuals that helped land this behemoth of a plane.

In a new interview with The Logan Show, TESTAMENT singer Chuck Billy was asked if there are any plans for him and his bandmates to retire at some point in the not-too-distant future. Chuck responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "I'm gonna let my mind, body and soul tell me when it's time. Because I'm up having fun. I think I'm doing a better job than I've done — I think right now I'm probably at the top of my singing. I'm taking pretty good care of myself for going on tour. So I feel strong on tour, but I don't try to kill myself. I can't do six weeks and 38 shows or something. We're all still ready to go. But we've still got a two-record deal with Nuclear Blast, so we've still got a lot of music to write. And we'll keep playing until someone says 'stop playing' [laughs], or 'I can't' or 'I'm not having fun'. No wants to get out there and embarrass themselves."

Last November, TESTAMENT guitarist Eric Peterson was asked by The Metal Meltdown if he could ever see him and his bandmates retiring from playing music. He responded: "We're gonna take it to the end. I mean, that's what Chuck says. I could keep going forever. That's what I think. But who knows? I still feel young, and I don't feel like I'm 60. [Laughs]"

He continued: "Well, it's weird too, 'cause I remember — if I could go back and see myself now and just think how I'm thinking and hear what I'm doing, I would be, like, 'Whoa.' 'Cause I remember when my grandfather was 60, he was bald and he had this little pencil holder and he was wearing polyester pants up to [his stomach]. And I just don't see that. And I think people now that are older, I think maybe 'cause of our lifestyle… And I think metal keeps you young too… METALLICA — look at METALLICA; they're still kicking ass and their last record was pretty cool. There's other bands. And EXODUS is on fire. They got one of their old singers [Rob Dukes] back. I haven't heard any of [EXODUS's new music] yet, but I know Gary's [Holt, EXODUS guitarist] like me; he is on fire. OVERKILL is still around."

Peterson added: "We're all at that age now where it's, like, am I still into this? Do I still feel like it? I mean, ANTHRAX is still out there kicking. It's funny — there's a lot of bands that all of us listened to, like JUDAS PRIEST and IRON MAIDEN, when we were 18, 17, 19, whatever, and they were in their late 20s or whatever age they were, but they're all probably, like, 10, 15 years older than us, and they're still out there. So there's hope. I remember being in my late 20s and even 30s and seeing, 'Okay, IRON MAIDEN's still going.' And they're still going now. So, yeah, we've still got some time, I think.

"It gets harder when you get [older]," Eric admitted. "And you've just gotta take care of yourself and just eat right and work out. I think if you do that and just maintain yourself and just don't do go too crazy… I know we all still drink still, but it's a little bit harder to recuperate.

"Sadly, there is gonna be a time where thrash metal bands from my genre, it's gonna be gone and then there's gonna be a new wave of stuff. But I'm still seeing the New Wave Of British Heavy Metal bands still out there. And those are the bands that we listened to. So, I think there's still some time. But as far as far as the other bands [who have reformed and are still touring and making music], more power to 'em coming back and trying to give it a go."

Back in 2018, Chuck stated about how long he could see TESTAMENT carrying on: "We've never really thought about an endgame or an end plan. Over the years, it was always tougher before we had our reunion [in 2005]. Maybe thoughts in the back of our mind said, 'Maybe this is not working out. Maybe we should stop.' But once we had the reunion and everybody was back, we've had a solid lineup, and we've been on tour like a real working band again. So right now, things are good and everybody's surviving and fans seem to be enjoying the shows and there is no goal like that."

TESTAMENT's latest album, "Para Bellum", came out in October 2025 via Nuclear Blast. The LP was recorded with Juan Urteaga and mixed for the first time by Jens Bogren. The cover art was once again painted by Eliran Kantor.

When "Para Bellum" was first announced in August 2025, it was accompanied by the official music video for the LP's first single, "Infanticide A.I.", directed by Joey Durango.

In a new interview with the Thunder Underground podcast, GREAT WHITE guitarist Mark Kendall confirmed that the band is still working on new music with Brett Carlisle, who was officially named the band's new vocalist in October 2022. Brett joined the group as the replacement for Andrew Freeman (LAST IN LINE),who sang for GREAT WHITE for only five months. Asked if he and his GREAT WHITE bandmates have fully formed new songs ready to be released, Mark said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "We've recorded some. And we're looking into studios right now. We're thinking about doing one song at a time — recording a few songs, but just put out a video of one song, because it's gonna be free. I mean, let's face it, the days of selling millions of records or whatever are over. And plus everybody downloads now; it's not like they go to the store and they're reading liner notes. So instead of giving up a bunch of music, we figure just let them lend their attention to one song at a time in a video. So we record a music video and just put out one song at a time. And that way it's fun for us to come up with new stuff. And plus Brett will be on new things. He's not essentially singing in a cover band. But to get him on new music, I think it'll be fun for the fans and us."

Mark continued: "It's been a long time since [we put out 'Full Circle' in] 2017. That's our last album. But we weren't ever totally sure about Mitch [Malloy, former GREAT WHITE singer, who preceded Freeman], so we did a live album, but we didn't wanna do a studio album. We never felt a hundred percent like he's gonna be around forever. So, we ended up never recording new stuff with him. But now it's a different story. This guy really does our stuff good. I think he fits right in. So it's gonna be cool to come out with some rocking new things."

Regarding the musical direction of the new GREAT WHITE music, Mark said: "Well, there's stuff that really rocks, and then kind of mid-tempo stuff, kind of in the FOREIGNER range on a couple things. And then a couple of other things are almost like if our first album [1984's self-titled effort] and [1987's] 'Once Bitten' had a kid. The energy of our first album, but just a new flavor to it. We've got a couple of ballads, but they're more blues-type — real blues with killer hooks. We've got one song that's really cool. But it's not a sappy ballad, like a 'Save Your Love' type ballad. It's more slow blues with a groove or whatever, but I guess you could consider it a ballad. It's just the way the chord structures are. You'll be able to hear a lot of different sides to this guy's voice, which is kind of the idea. But we want it to rock. We wanna show a lot of energy too."

Earlier this month, Carlisle spoke to Seb Di Gatto of The Metal Gods Meltdown about his songwriting chemistry with Kendall and GREAT WHITE rhythm guitarist/keyboardist Michael Lardie. He said: "Me and Mark, we write really well together. I live in Alabama, he lives in California, so there's a bunch of space between us, but he has sent me stuff and we've sent some things back and forth. We have finished three songs in, like, a matter of a few hours before, just writing. We clicked so well. And same with Michael. We work really well together. Me and Michael are better on harmonies. And we've had some really cool ideas as far as layers and feel kind of things. But Mark, he'll come up with a riff and he'll start scat singing over it and just kind of showing me what he's thinking about it. And so I'll take the syllables that he's saying and then turn it into a couple of words and then turn it into a chorus or something like that. And I'm, like, 'Okay, now I gotta make the rest of the song make sense. I've gotta make verses out of this, 'cause we have a chorus, we know what the song's about, so I need to write a song around whatever it is now.' And he just gets so stoked about it. It's cool."

Asked if fans can expect to get a new studio album from GREAT WHITE in 2026, Brett said: "We've recorded a couple of demos, but we haven't been to the 'studio studio' to lay down tracks. We have some songs to do it, and yes, that is the plan, but I can't say confidently any dates or when we will be doing it. But we have the stuff. And I think the hardest part of it is, because we all live so far apart and we play a lot of weekend shows, so we're usually home three or four days at a time, and so it's a lot to coordinate. But, yeah, we all wanna make it happen."

As previously reported, Carlisle auditioned for "American Idol" on the episode broadcast February 9. Carlisle sang GREAT WHITE's classic ballad "House Of Broken Love", backed by his bandmates Kendall on guitar and Lardie on piano.

The 28-year-old Carlisle impressed "Idol" judges Carrie Underwood, Lionel Richie and Luke Bryan at the audition — which took place at Nashville's Belmont University — enough to earn him a golden ticket to the long-running TV singing competition's Hollywood round. Richie gushed, telling Carlisle: "Especially when you rock, you're going to be the poster child for this."

Underwood also asked Carlisle, Kendall and Lardie to play a bit of GREAT WHITE's 1989 hit version of "Once Bitten, Twice Shy", a cover of a 1975 song written and originally performed by former MOTT THE HOOPLE frontman Ian Hunter.

With his golden ticket secured, the Alabama native now advances to Hollywood, where he will compete alongside other hopefuls for a chance to continue on the nationally televised singing competition. There the contestants will face more rigorous challenges in hopes of advancing further in the season.

Asked if he and his bandmates were "a little bit apprehensive" about the fact that Carlisle is only 28 years old while GREAT WHITE, as a group, has been in existence more than four decades, Mark told George Dionne of KNAC.COM in an April 2024 interview: "He's in his late 20s, but, believe it or not, he's kind of an old soul in a way. Nothing overwhelms the guy. He just goes out and just totally handles it every night, engages the crowd. He's real good with the interaction. He sings perfect all the time. And he's got really good song sense for a young man. I'm used to feeding people melody ideas when I write a song because that's the way I do it. Everybody has their own way to do it, but I always know that there's a lot of melody available, and he sometimes comes up with something way better than I had. So that's a good sign. And the way he delivers the new stuff, he really has a good handle on the music. And I don't know — I think he was born in the wrong time or something. In other words, we can stand together. It's not like he's standing next to his grandpa or something. It's not like we're CROSBY, STILLS & NASH, and, 'What's that 13-year-old doing there?' When we stand together, it just looks like a band. It doesn't look like we're with a little kid or anything. He's a little better-looking than us, but apart from that…"

Regarding what it has been like working with a singer who wasn't even born when some of GREAT WHITE's classic songs were written, Lardie told Robert Miguel of Uvalde Radio Rocks: "Well, I think he gets what we're trying to do. It's been a godsend to have someone with his youth, but at the same time he has what a lot of people would deem as an older soul. His parents did a great job bringing him up on '70s and '80s rock, so he's pretty well versed in that. And he comes from the South, so he's got a little bit of that blues and gospel edge to him."

Carlisle made his live debut with GREAT WHITE on September 24, 2022 at the Cannery Casino Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada.

According to Brett, he felt welcomed by his new bandmates and the GREAT WHITE fans from the get-go.

"After meeting [the GREAT WHITE guys], they're all super-cool dudes," he told Kevin McKay of the 99 Rock WKSM FM radio station. "In Vegas, we had a rehearsal the day before, and I already knew half the songs well enough to be able to do it. So I wanted to do the best that I could on 'em. But after we hung out, everybody was cool and stuff. I mean, it's a big crowd. I love big crowds; they're fun."

Carlisle has been playing guitar and singing since the age of eight and counts bands like VAN HALEN, SKID ROW and METALLICA as his main influences.

In May 2022, GREAT WHITE announced that it had parted ways with Malloy and had replaced him with Freeman. Malloy had been in GREAT WHITE for nearly four years, having joined the group in 2018 following the departure of Terry Ilous.

Ilous, frontman of '80s L.A. hard rockers XYZ, joined GREAT WHITE in 2010 after stepping in for touring vocalist Jani Lane (WARRANT).

The Ilous-led GREAT WHITE released two albums, 2012's "Elation" and 2017's "Full Circle", before Terry was dismissed from the group.

GREAT WHITE press photo courtesy of Jeff Klein / Atomic City PR

In a new interview with Charlie Kendall's Metalshop, JUDAS PRIEST guitarist Richie Faulkner was asked if he and his bandmates are ready to get back out on the road. He responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "We're always ready. The PRIEST machine is always ready. It's never off the road for too long. We got off the road in October, and we were not going out until July. But I was getting e-mails the other day from the tour manager about flights. And [I thought], is it that time already? We've just got off the road, and now we've gotta [get back out there] again. Even though we had a few months off, it goes so quickly these days. We're gonna be back out on the road before you know it. But I think with PRIEST, everyone seems excited to do it. And I think with Rob [Halford, PRIEST singer], he says if he can do it, why not do it? Why not carry on? And he's doing great. Everyone's doing great. Everyone's healthy. So why not? They love what they do. So why not?"

Faulkner also once again opened up about the health issues and physical challenges he has faced in the nearly five years since experiencing an aortic aneurysm and complete aortic dissection while performing at the 2021 Louder Than Life festival in Louisville, Kentucky. Asked what he has to do to prepare himself for a PRIEST concert nowadays, in light of what he went through, Richie said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "I have to have a physio on the road with us. We have a German guy called Bastian that comes out on the road with us, and I do physio with him every day, three times a day — morning, before the show and after the show. And he works on my right side. Long story, some collateral damage from what happened affected my right side. So we've gotta keep the right side running and moving properly and stuff like that. So, yeah, it is a regime of, I've gotta watch my diet and physio every single day, and that's just what it takes to keep it moving for me. And that's just life. Consider myself very grateful. There's a lot of people out there with a lot worse than I have, and they have to deal with a lot of things every day. I'm still able to do what I do. I have to work at it, but that's fine. I consider myself very grateful."

Last September, Faulkner told BJ The DJ of the Albany, New York radio station Q105.7, JUDAS PRIEST about his recovery from the aortic aneurysm and complete aortic dissection: "Fortunately, I don't have to do anything too heavy. Luckily, I just have to remember to take my meds, which I've forgotten this morning. Thanks for reminding me. That's sometimes the hardest thing. I've had a bit of collateral damage on my right side with stuff connected to what happened. So I have to work at that. We have a physio on the road, and I work with him three times a day: once in the morning — after these interviews, I'm gonna work with him on coordination — before the show and then after the show as well. We do that three times a day. So that sort of stuff I have to work on. But as far as the heart and everything's concerned, it's meds. I can't eat too many leafy greens, which I'm not too bothered about. I got lucky, really. There's a lot of people around the world with a lot more serious conditions than I have. So I consider myself lucky to be here talking to you."

Asked if that means that "everything is good" with his health and he is "good to go", Faulkner said: "As far as I'm aware, but you never know what's around the corner. You've gotta live each day to the fullest."

Immediately after PRIEST's performance at the 2021 Louder Than Life, it took the Rudd Heart and Lung Center at UofL Health - Jewish Hospital's cardiothoracic surgery team approximately 10 hours to complete the now-46-year-old British-born musician's first surgery, an aortic valve and ascending aorta replacement with hemiarch replacement, enabling Richie to eventually return to the road.

In April 2025, Faulkner told PremierGuitar about his recovery: "We went back out on the road in 2022 and have kind of been on the road since. But there's a bit of collateral damage. Well, not a lot of people know — some nearest and dearest, they know about it. So about a month after the incident, I went back in and we were walking the dog in the neighborhood back here [in a suburb of Nashville, Tennessee], and I had the dog. [My girlfriend] Mariah had [our daughter] Daisy [with her]. And I felt it come, I felt it, and it came over me and I knew it was coming and it came over me and my face went. I couldn't talk. And Mariah was there. She took the dog, she had the baby, and she was holding me up. The neighbors were running out.

"I haven't felt comfortable up until this point — and I'll tell you why — explaining what happened," he continued. "So long story short, we went into the hospital — this was a month after the surgery — we went back in, and it was the last thing I wanted to do. 'Fuck hospitals.' They saved my life, but I've had enough of them for a month, So I'm back in there. And they basically said, what I think it was, was a TIA, which means transient ischaemic attack, which is a TIA. It's a small stroke. So they're sure it's that. They put me on some medication. Turned out later on, it was an actual stroke. So Mariah thinks I had one in the ambulance on the way to the hospital. I don't remember. I don't recall anything. I remember small ones happening after the event. I was in the bathroom — it kind of went fuzzy and I sort of fell over. I think they were the TIAs, the mini ones. And the hospital said is when you have those, the danger is that there's a big one coming or a normal stroke coming. So that seems to be what happened — when we were out walking the dog, that's what happened. And it was obvious — Mariah said, 'Your face went, you couldn't talk.' It was like a weight was pulling me down. I was gonna fall over if she wasn't holding me up. So, that's what happened. And at the time, it stopped happening. I had another incident about a year after. I had another open-heart [surgery] — there was a leak, so they went in, opened it up again; I had another small one. So what happened was we went back out on the road, and I thought everything was fine. There was something in my right hand — I thought it was my rings; I wore these stupid rings for some reason. And I thought it was that. So I took the rings off. I thought it was impeding something. I was changing my picks. There was something different. I could get through it, but there was something different about my right hand. And again, I could get through it. I was brushing my teeth one morning and I thought, 'Something's wrong with the right hand. Something's different.' And the right foot, the right leg. So we went back in. We'd done some tests. They found some damage on the left side of the brain, which affects the right side. Now, fortunately, I don't play guitar with my foot, so that's fine. I can get away with that. But my hand, obviously, that's our engine room. And everything started clicking into place in regards to what I was feeling on stage. There was something that was wrong. Something was impeding, something wasn't right. So, as I said, we'd done some more tests. They found the damage. They said that the fact that it hasn't gone away means that it's not a TIA; it's a stroke. TIA damage can go away. Stroke — that's it. It is damaged. You've got damage in your brain. Now I thought I had brain damage before, but this is real. It's a small thing on the left side."

Elaborating on why he hasn't been comfortable discussing his ongoing physical issues publicly up until now, Faulkner said: "A few people near to me, they know, in the industry. There's a lot of fear from my side about being found out. I feel like I've got a lot of trust from the fanbase, from the guitar companies, the string companies. They back you. They put their bets on you, and I don't want anyone to know, because as soon as they know, they're gonna lose faith, they're gonna bail out. I'm not gonna be appealing to them anymore or I'm gonna let the fans down. And when we play with PRIEST, we go out… I mean, you go out and you think, 'How is it gonna be tonight?' And it's not so much the solo stuff because the solo stuff you can kind of adapt. It's the rhythm — the coordinated rhythm patterns and stuff like that. It's gotta be locked in. And I felt that in a band like PRIEST, it's gotta be world-class stuff and I don't feel world class. I went out there every night. I feel like a fraud because people don't know — maybe. But one day they're gonna find out. Someone's gonna find out, someone's gonna say he's not playing that the same. [PRIEST's latest album, 2024's] 'Invincible Shield', we came to record the guitars [at my home studio] and I couldn't play what was on the demos from a year before. And we went out with [my side project] ELEGANT WEAPONS in 2023 playing with the band. It's, like, 'I can't do that. What's going on?' And the more I practiced, the worse it got. When you practice, you hopefully get better. It was getting worse.

"There's two reasons for me wanting to… Well, I'm more comfortable about coming out about it — and now 'coming out' is the wrong word — but opening up about it," Richie explained. "I know there's a lot of people out there that play, they sing, whatever they do, and they feel like they're not good enough or that we don't have these issues as well, and it affects your mental health. And I want them to know that they're not alone. All of us, probably more people than we are all aware of, struggle with something somewhere. So you're not alone. And the other reason was to release it, to get it out, to tell people. Because every time I go out — we do an onstage soundcheck [in front of fans who pay extra for the experience]. People are standing right where the cameras are and they're right in front. And I'm thinking they're gonna know, they're gonna say I'm not playing [the PRIEST song] 'Painkiller' right. Again, it is the rhythms more than anything. And I just thought if I kind of free that up, if I make that accessible, then the truth is the truth. You can't argue the truth. That's the way it is. I still play, we're still writing records, we're still playing as hard as we can — it doesn't affect that — but there's just little things I have to do. But I go out every night thinking… Sometimes I come off stage and I call home and I say, 'I can't fucking do it. I can't do it. I can't do it.' There's stuff that I used to play — I used to think something and it would come out. And now I'm up there struggling to play like a rhythm pattern. 'I can't do it. I can't. I'm gonna quit. I can't do it.' And then you have a good one. So who wants that? But that's the way it is. That's the truth. So that's what I struggle with. That's the collateral damage."

He later added: "As I said, I have to get it out so people might know what it is. I don't have to hide it anymore. It's not an excuse to take my foot off the gas — that's just not in my being — but just so people know.

"We did an ELEGANT WEAPONS gig in Paris in '23. We did [a cover of PRIEST's] 'Painkiller'," he recalled. "I was awful. It's on YouTube. If anyone wants to go and have a laugh, go and check that out. Fuck, it's bad. Everyone else was great, but the guy [who is actually] in the band [PRIEST] — fucking, 'Ah, I don't know what…' Well, there you go. But yeah, so maybe just gives a bit of understanding into what it is. But even if not, I've got it out there. It's out there. I don't have to hide behind it anymore. And again, hopefully, maybe it helps someone else that might be struggling with their struggle to think, 'This is okay' and 'I'm not alone. How do I turn this into a positive for myself?' So, that's it, really."

After the Louder Than Life incident in 2021, Faulkner said he had no history of heart complications and that the aliment came completely "out of the blue."

Aortic aneurysms are "balloon-like bulges in the aorta, the large artery that carries blood from the heart through the chest and torso," according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control. Dissections happen when the "force of blood pumping can split the layers of the artery wall, allowing blood to leak in between them."

After Louder Than Life, JUDAS PRIEST postponed the remainder of the U.S. dates on its 50th-anniversary tour, dubbed "50 Heavy Metal Years". The shows were rescheduled for March and April 2022.

Faulkner joined PRIEST in 2011 as the replacement for original guitarist K.K. Downing.

Richie was once the guitarist in the backing group for Lauren Harris, daughter of IRON MAIDEN bassist Steve Harris.

Faulkner and Mariah Lynch, daughter of former DOKKEN guitarist George Lynch, welcomed their first child, a baby girl named Daisy Mae, in July 2020.

Press photo credit: Jeremiah Scott

In a new interview with the Rock 'N' Blues Experience, guitarist Nige Rockett of the U.K.-based thrash metal veterans ONSLAUGHT opened up about his road to recovery after being absent from the group for about three years due to his illness, including a battle with cancer. Asked how he is feeling at the moment, Nige responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "I'm okay. I won't lie — I'm still struggling a lot. The spinal thing, the two [operations] really took a lot out of me, 'cause I basically lost the use of my arms. That's why I had to step out of the band. They cut my throat open, went in and took some of my spine away and put [in] a metal cage. Because the discs were compressing my nerve that goes out to both arms, and it basically stopped sending signals to move your arms. And I couldn't pick up a drink, I couldn't pick up a phone. And it virtually happened overnight. So we battled for six to nine months to get the operation in the first place. And then they said you may have a five to 30 percent chance of recovery and moving forward. So we took the chance — a risky operation because it's so near your spinal cord and stuff, but I was willing to take that chance. The operation was huge success. Immediately after that, another problem, or the same problem, appeared at the bottom of my back, which started to limit my leg use. Then it was, like, 'Oh.' I had just recovered from one thing, and then this comes. Over that three-year period, I lost a lot of muscle mass, [and I was] very weak. And I'm still fighting to regain that. I've gotta be very careful with how I do things. I just can't go into the gym and start pumping weights. And then to top it all, we had the cancer issues, which are now all clear, all gone. And I think I've got my last checks coming up soon, and that should be signed off hopefully soon."

Asked what it was like for him to return to performing live with ONSLAUGHT after a three-year absence, Nige said: "The first [gig] back was on a cruise ship [on the 2025 edition of the 70000 Tons Of Metal cruise]. I was still suffering from some balance issues. So you're playing on a ship — rocking left, right, up and down — and that was my biggest anxiety, that it was gonna be a rough sailing, and I'm going on stage and all of a sudden I'm falling over.

"I don't tend to get nervous, but I should say more apprehensive than nervous, I guess," he explained. "But just to get that first one out of the way. I'm still struggling now. I have to do things a different way. And I have to be very careful what I do on stage. I have to be very mindful of where other people are at the moment, mainly 'cause of balance and strength issues. But, yeah, I feel I'm getting stronger."

Rockett previously discussed his recovery last August in an interview with The Tampa Morgue. He said at the time: "Yeah, it was tough. It's been a tough three years. I'm still not back 100 percent. I'm still working on things. My playing's still not where it should be. I reckon I'm running at about 70 percent, because I completely lost the use of my arms three years ago. I had a [compressed] nerve in my spine, the nerve that controls both your arms. It got completely crushed, basically, and wouldn't function. So I eventually got surgery after a year on that. They basically cut my throat open, went in, [took] out one of your bones in your spine — I think it was L5 or L6, the one that touches the nerves — and put a metal cage into my spine, basically, to stop anything pressing down on that nerve. And they said, 'Well, you may get 5 percent, you may get 30 percent back use of your arms.' So far I reckon I'm at about 70 percent, which is amazing. Those guys did an absolutely fantastic job. I was recovering from that when I got the same problem at the bottom of my spine. So it was kind of affecting my leg then, which was an absolute nightmare because it was so painful. The first one wasn't painful. It was debilitating. The second one was absolutely horrendous pain. Luckily, they sorted that as well, so it's just recovering from both, which is tough."

Addressing his cancer battle, Rockett said: "[I got cancer in the] most bizarre place you could ever imagine to get cancer — on my eye, my eyeball, which I never knew you could even get that. I mean, I've been to the doctors three or four years before, because there was something weird on my eye and it didn't look good. They basically told me it was nothing to worry about, and that was it. So I was going for a general optician appointment one day. I [was gonna get] new glasses. And the guy looked at my eye and he said, 'That doesn't look good. You need to get this checked out.' So he made an appointment for me at the eye hospital in Bristol, and they looked at it and they said, 'You've got cancer in your eye,' which was, like, unbelievable. So, they were amazing. They were really quick. They were on it straight away. I think within probably a month, two months at the most, they'd done an operation and removed it and put me on some chemotherapy… I've had two other operations of cancer removal — on my face and on my leg. Again, so far, so good and all is clear. But it's been a hellish three years."

Last May, Nige was asked by George Dionne of KNAC.COM if his neck injury was due to all the years of banging his head on stage. Rockett responded: "Yeah. That's what the surgeon said [was] probably the most likely cause. I don't really do anything else that could kind of wear your neck that much. So I guess it's kind of similar to what Tom Araya [SLAYER] had. But the problem is I'm on stage and my head wants to bang. [Laughs] You've gotta hold it back. It's, like, 'No.' It doesn't feel right not doing it. It's still pretty stiff, my neck, but the pain's gone away now, and I'm not getting the loss of use of my arm. So it is all good in that respect."

ONSLAUGHT will hit the North American soil starting in March for the first time in well over a decade with a "Force From Hell" set, drawing heavily from "Power From Hell" and "The Force", the band's seminal first two 1980s albums. These are records that helped define extreme thrash metal, and they will be complemented by a neck-breaking selection of classic Sy Keeler-era fan favorites to celebrate the vocalist's triumphant return to the band. Co-headlining the tour will be cult metal heroes WARLORD, who, despite being based in Los Angeles, have never toured North America in over their 45-plus-year career. WARLORD will play its seminal album "Deliver Us" in its entirety plus more classic-era material. The two bands will embark on this tour de force after a special set at Hell's Heroes festival in Houston, Texas.

ONSLAUGHT is a pioneering U.K. thrash metal band formed in Bristol in 1982. Emerging from a hardcore punk background, they helped shape the British thrash scene with their aggressive sound, politically charged lyrics, and relentless speed. Their early albums "Power From Hell" (1985) and "The Force" (1986) are regarded as genre classics, influencing countless extreme metal bands worldwide. After a hiatus and later reformation, ONSLAUGHT continued to release acclaimed material, cementing their legacy as one of the most important and enduring forces in world of thrash metal.

ONSLAUGHT played its first concert with returning vocalist Keeler on November 9, 2025 at the U.K.'s Damnation Festival at the BEC Arena in Manchester.

ONSLAUGHT released a two-disc album titled "Origins Of Aggression" in May 2025 through the band's new label home, Reigning Phoenix Music. Disc one featured a fine selection of ten re-recorded tracks from ONSLAUGHT's early days (1982-1989),while disc two presented a colorful bouquet of cover versions of punk and metal songs that led fans through the range of bands — from the DEAD KENNEDYS, THE EXPLOITED and DISCHARGE to JUDAS PRIEST, BLACK SABBATH and beyond — defining the group's sound. Also to be found on the second part of the album was ONSLAUGHT's adaption of "Iron Fist", originally written and performed by MOTÖRHEAD, which was the first single off the latest effort.

ONSLAUGHT's previous album, "Generation Antichrist", came out in August 2020 via AFM Records. It was the first ONSLAUGHT LP to feature vocalist Dave Garnett, who replaced Keeler.

In a new interview with Movie Moments, KISS bassist/vocalist Gene Simmons recalled the making of the band's 1978 Hanna Barbera-produced made-for-television movie "Kiss Meets The Phantom Of The Park" (alternately known as "Attack Of The Phantoms"). "Kiss Meets The Phantom Of The Park" originally aired on the American television network NBC on October 28, 1978. Filmed largely on location at the Magic Mountain theme park in Santa Clarita, California, the film finds the members of KISS — playing themselves — using their "superpowers" to battle an evil inventor.

Gene said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): " All kinds of people wanted us to make a film, because KISS was the Gallup Poll biggest band in the world — above THE BEATLES and [LED] ZEPPELIN, everyone — for three years in a row: '77, '78 and '79. So, obviously, cartoon shows came and movies — the industry all wants to take advantage of somebody's popularity. And we settled on this one idea, which is kind of silly when you think about it. You had the Frankenstein monster, Wolfman and Dracula all coming alive. There're automatons in a theme park. That's the hook. And, of course, there are fake KISSes in the movie who are automatons that come alive.

"It was fun," Simmons continued. "We didn't have a clue what we were doing. There was a fine director who did a lot of mysteries, a guy named Gordon Hessler, who was trying to be nice and would come up to us after we did a scene and he would say, 'Did you like that?' He was very English. We're kind going, 'Uh, yeah. We were kind of hoping you'd tell us that.' 'Uh oh, very good. Very good. Would you like to do another one?' 'Uh. Sure.' 'Did you like that?' He was a very kind English guy. For all we knew, we sucked, but he just made it just go down a little easier."

Back in 2018, original KISS guitarist Ace Frehley stated about the filming of "Kiss Meets The Phantom Of The Park": "I remember it very well. I had a lot of fun. When we started shooting at [the Los Angeles-area amusement park] Magic Mountain, they closed the park at 6 o'clock, so I had the run of the park. I bought a moped and used to drive around all those asphalt trails between the rides. I crashed a few times, but luckily, I had that costume on with all the padding, and I didn't get hurt.

"The whole experience for me was pretty good," Frehley continued, "[but] there was one day that I really kind of lost it, and that was when I had a fight with a producer. What happened was, I was partying the night before, we had to get up at 7 o'clock [and] drive to Magic Mountain. Then we had to put our makeup on and costumes and stuff. I had the day's shooting schedule, and I was supposed to start shooting at around 10:30, 11 o'clock. All of a sudden, somebody knocks on the door and they says, 'Excuse me, Mr. Frehley. We're going to be doing close-ups on Gene Simmons all morning, and we won't need you until after lunch.' That happened more than once, but the second time it happened, I just lost my [tempter]. I ran into the producer's office [and said], 'This shit's not going to fly with me. You get your shit together. If you want me here at 9 o'clock in makeup, you better make sure you got your shooting schedule right,' because nobody wants to sit around in that makeup and costume for 12 hours. I lost it — I jumped into my Mercedes and took off."

Although his former bandmates have voiced their displeasure with the movie, Frehley said that he didn't share their opinion. "Paul [Stanley] and Gene have gone on record that they hate the film," he said. "I think it's hysterical, and I think it's campy and I think it's a silly rock 'n' roll movie. I don't think there's anything wrong with it. They took the film so goddamn seriously that it just ruined it for them when they saw the final cut, because they expected 'Gone With The Wind'."

According to the 1997 book "Kiss And Sell: The Making Of A Supergroup", for years after "Kiss Meets The Phantom Of The Park"'s airing, no one who worked for KISS was permitted to mention the movie in the band's presence.

On VH1's "When Kiss Ruled The World" program, Simmons offered his thoughts on the film: "It's a classic movie — if you're on drugs."

In a 2022 interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Stanley stated about "Kiss Meets The Phantom Of The Park": "I embrace it like an ugly child. You have to realize that we were like these imbeciles who got to take over the school. We knew nothing about acting, nothing about filmmaking. We were sold the idea of the film in a sentence that was virtually, ''A Hard Day's Night' meets 'Star Wars'.' Well, it was far from either."

Reflecting on his first time seeing the movie, Stanley said: "They gave us a viewing of the film before it aired on NBC. And I just slid further and further down in my chair. By the time it was over, I was looking at chewing gum on the bottom of the seats. I remember a scene where we were levitating some magic box, and you could see the wires onscreen. And in typical Hollywood fashion, when it was over, people were coming over and shaking my hand and congratulating me.

"For me, it wasn't 'Springtime For Hitler', but it's just interesting how people hold that film in some affectionate memory. And I think that's terrific. I was there and it wasn't. I lived it. And whatever you saw on the screen and whatever dubious thoughts you have about it, let me tell you, you just saw the tip of the iceberg that sank the Titanic."

The European edit of the film was included on KISS's 2007 DVD anthology "Kissology Volume Two: 1978-1991".

"Kiss Meets The Phantom Of The Park" was one of America's most successful TV movies and was shown in cinemas in other countries. An IMDb plot summary for the film reads as follows: "The tale of rock band KISS and their efforts to thwart a diabolical plan by mad scientist Abner Devereaux. Devereaux has found a way to clone humans into robots in his laboratory at an amusement park. It just so happens that he plans to uses the KISS concert as a platform to unleash his plan on the world. KISS must use their special powers to stop him."

In a new interview with longtime radio host Abe Kanan of Audacy, Lzzy Hale and Joe Hottinger of Grammy-winning hard rock band HALESTORM spoke about their love of touring. Joe said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "We try to have as good of a time as we can, as often as we can, because we get to play this rock and roll that we love. So we haven't worked in, like, 20-some years. So, I highly recommend joining a band. It's the best time you'll ever have."

Added Lzzy: "It is the coolest thing ever… And you appreciate things as you go along, too, because when we first started touring, it was, like, first it was a conversion van and then it was a two RVs that we were torn with and trying to keep up with the buses and whoever we were touring with."

Joe continued: "It's never been hard. We get to play rock shows. And it's a total mindset thing, 'cause there are some people that are miserable, which is fine — be miserable. That's an option. But I don't know — I still love it. I'm glad we get to do this. It's a gift."

After Kanan noted that musicians often talk about how they miss touring once they have been off the road for more than a few weeks, Lzzy concurred. "There's always a moment in time, like, we'll have these like stretches in between tours now," she said. "Last year was ridiculous. We were out consistently from May through December, up until Christmas. And in between every tour we had maybe, like, four days, two days, the longest was like six days at home. So last year was ridiculous, but there is a point in time where it's, like… We've been home for about a month or so, with some one-offs in between, but there's a point in time where you're, like, 'Man, there's something missing.' And it's, like, 'Oh, yeah, I actually miss being with my buddies out in the middle of nowhere playing a gig. So, yeah, it's a beautiful thing."

Joe added: "If we've learned anything, it's not where you are; it's who you're with. Then you can be at a [fast-casual restaurant] Applebee's on the side of the road in Nebraska and have one of the best nights ever. It's a good time."

HALESTORM's sixth full-length studio album, "Everest", came out last August via Atlantic Records. HALESTORM worked with producer Dave Cobb, after making three records with Nick Raskulinecz.

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

"Love Bites (So Do I)", from HALESTORM's second album in 2012, won the Grammy Award that year for "Best Hard Rock/Metal Performance".

In 2019, HALESTORM was nominated for "Best Rock Performance" Grammy for the song "Uncomfortable".

Photo: Jimmy Fontaine