Sizzling, soulful and bewitching, Witchrot is gearing up for their latest offering Witchrot: Live In The Hammer, due out for its international release March 10, 2023. All sleaze and psych, Live In The Hammer has the fuzz fueled quartet playing in the grease trap of Ontario. Smoky vocals overtop mesmeric psychedelic doom fill the room to the brim. 


Pulling from the lost psychedelic masterpieces with fuzz erupting like a volcano and the ethereal shoegaze music of the late '80s and '90s, Witchrot has carved their own haunting path. The all-consuming wave of divine music that is terrifying by its sheer velocity and force rather than dissonance. 


Simultaneously beautiful and putrid, Live In The Hammer pays homage to the grime of the past, paved over by the glitz of the present. Live In The Hammer was recorded at Boxcar Sound in Hamilton, and mastered by Tony Reed at Heavy Head Recording.




The bubbling cauldron that is Live In The Hammer, serves as a bridge between Hollow and the band’s forthcoming next album, currently in the works. There’s no escaping the strange web of Witchrot. Fall into the chasm and embrace the dark. 





Tracklisting:


"Medley - Druid Smoke Part 1 (The Keeper) / Crypt Reaper / Burn Me Down"    
"Dug Your Grave / Strega"    
"Acedia"    
"Who Scared You"    
"Colder Hands"    
"Million Shattered Swords"





 

In a recent interview with United Rock Nations, guitarist Björn Gelotte of Swedish/American metallers IN FLAMES was asked how he and his bandmates find "the right balance" between making the kind of album they want and creating something that will please fans of their older material. Björn responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "You know [what] the interesting [thing] is? I don't think about that. But I can't. Because if I started thinking about what everybody else wanted with my music, or our music, I wouldn't have time to do what I wanna do. So it's never been about anybody else. Which might be egoistic, but it's very pure and it's very true and it's what we like. And if you have that mindset, you don't need to balance shit. The only thing you need to make sure is that we love it. And that's hard enough at times — agreeing. Just imagine having… It's five of us that need to be happy. But imagine trying to please a hundred people or a thousand people or a million people. It's impossible. So I don't care."

He continued: "It's not unfair, because it's us. But at the same time, it's possibly not the answer people wanna hear. But that's the reason why it's still fun — because we didn't make an album for somebody else; we made it for us. That's why no matter what people say, whatever they say, it doesn't matter. The proof is that people show up at the shows. It's the only proof we need that we're doing right by choosing our way of doing it. We might be extremely stubborn, and we also might go on a limb and some people might hate it, but — sorry. There's other records. And if you don't like our band, there's tons of other bands. And they're all fucking awesome."

Last November, Gelotte addressed the criticism he and his bandmates have faced for their musical evolution, which has seen them adopting a more alternative metal sound after starting out as melodic death metal act, during an appearance on THE HAUNTED guitarist Ola Englund's YouTube show "Coffee With Ola", He said: "You have to remember, and I think most people know — just they don't think about it when they say stuff like that — but this is all a matter of taste. I think every album that we've done, we've put in the hours, we have invested in the album, we've done the absolute best that we can and to our liking. That's all it is. And that's just how it works, because we need to be happy with what we're playing. We're not a cover band. And we're not a radio band. We make the music for us, because we know if we like it, we can actually be on stage and enjoy it. This is the most fun I ever had, is being on stage, so I need to like it. And we all need to like it. So having that mindset — do music that we like — we're kind of… I wouldn't say 'bulletproof', but we don't really care what people say. But one thing that is important is that people actually, in one way or the other, care. 'Cause if nobody had any opinion whatsoever or couldn't give a shit about it, then it would probably be more frustrating."

Björn went on to say that he is particularly bothered by the way people treat each other online, lashing out at others when they don't share their opinions.

"When it comes to attacks on other people… That's why I don't get it," he said. "I get it if people are not happy with a record, but if somebody posts that 'I really do like this record' or 'I like that one song' and then somebody else, just for the sake of picking a fight, attacks that guy…

"I'm fine with it. We write it, we record it and master it," he explained. "They press it, or whatever they do, and it's not ours anymore. We've done exactly what we wanted to do. After that, it's just a matter of taste. So that's fine. But people get picked on. And it's a really rough environment; 'toxic' is a good word. So I don't read any of it. I don't go to any forums. I don't read any of music outlets or anything, because I am so tired of the comments. And it's a bad thing, because a lot of times that's the only way to find out about certain tours and stuff. But I simply don't go there, because of that toxic environment."

Earlier in the month, IN FLAMES singer Anders Fridén told Czech Republic's Metalshop TV that he and his bandmates have been at the receiving end of criticism for their entire career.

"I've been in this band since late '95," he said. "My first album was 'Jester Race'. When we released 'Whoracle', there were people saying, 'It doesn't sound like 'The Jester Race'.' And then when did 'Colony', and people said, 'It doesn't sound like 'Whoracle'.' And then we did 'Clayman' and people said, 'It doesn't sound like…' So it's been like that all the time. And I'm happy that we can release albums that are challenging to people, that they don't know where to put it, but in time it will be a classic IN FLAMES album. And I think this new one is gonna surprise people, but in 10 years' time they're gonna say it's their favorite. So it changes.

"Every album is important to us. All the albums led up to where we are today. So if you take away one of them, we won't sound the same today. But yeah, people have opinions. But it's fine. That's music. It's a matter of taste. And we can't all have the same taste; that would be extremely boring. And it's cool. I like it."

IN FLAMES' fourteenth studio album, "Foregone", will arrive on February 10 via Nuclear Blast.

Mike Portnoy says that he regrets publicly voicing his "observation" about the drumming in the GUNS N' ROSES classic "November Rain", explaining that he wasn't "trying to insult another drummer."

Back in August 2012, Portnoy, who normally doesn't shy away from his two cents on any music-related discussion, took to his Twitter account to pose the question: "'November Rain' is an all-time classic song... but why on Earth did Matt Sorum play the SAME EXACT fill every 4 bars? (23 times, to be exact!)"

Two days later, Sorum finally replied to Portnoy, writing on Twitter, "That fill was Axl's [Rose, GUNS N' ROSES singer] idea as a musical phrase that carried on through the trilogy, 'Don't Cry' and 'Estranged'. Those albums, 'Use Your Illusion' [parts] 1 and 2 have sold 20 million combined."

He added, "Remember, kids, drumming isn't all about fancy drum fills and splash cymbals. Ask Charlie Watts, Ringo [Starr] and Phil Rudd."

Portnoy then replied, "Agree 1000%!! Ringo is one of my greatest heroes!! No disrespect meant, bro... Just making an observation of that song. Peace! : )"

Mike discussed his decade-old exchange with Matt during an appearance on the latest episode of the GUNS N' ROSES-centric "Appetite For Distortion" podcast. Speaking about how the supposed "feud" unfolded, Portnoy said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "It was a misunderstanding. It was one of those Twitter wars that kept blowing up out of nowhere.

"'November Rain' came on wherever, and I heard the fill, and it dawned on me, 'Oh my God. It's literally happening every four bars or every eight bars.' And I counted them, and it was something like 37 times, the same fill.

"Look, I have nothing but respect for GUNS N' ROSESandMatt Sorum," Portnoy explained. "Matt's a great, great drummer and he's done amazing stuff both inside and outside of GUNS N' ROSES. So I never am trying to insult another drummer. I could find something impressive or inspiring from any musician out there, and I never wanna come down or insult any of 'em. But I just kind of randomly posted that random thought, like, 'Why is this same fill happening 37 times?' or whatever it was. And I regret that I did that 'cause it probably came off as an insult to Matt, and I did not mean for it to be. But he responded something to the effect of, 'Oh, at least I don't need a hundred-piece drum kit to play.' And then I was, like, 'Well, hey, you're talking to the biggest Ringo [Starr] and BEATLES fan of all time. Don't pull that card with me.' And we ended up privately e-mailing each other and I apologized and I said, 'Look, I really meant no disrespect whatsoever.' So I do regret that tweet and have learned to kind of be a little more careful about the observations I make online."

In a 2009 interview with Music Radar, Sorum spoke in more detail about his drumming approach on "November Rain", explaining, "The track I get the most amount of grief for, from drummers, is 'November Rain'. The reason I did that tom fill so many times is I felt it was a musical part. A lot of drummers were like, 'Why'd you play the same fill so much?!'

"Me and Axl were sitting in the studio late one night, having a couple of drinks and listening to Elton John, a song called 'Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me'.

"Axl goes, 'Do you hear that?' I'm like, 'Yeah, I love Nigel Olson, man'. He says, 'Do that on the song we're going to record tomorrow!' We'd rehearsed it but I didn't have all the fills and stuff, it was just a groove. In the end of 'November Rain', I get into that whole marching band trip."

Jonathan Cain says that he will be hitting the road with JOURNEY next month despite guitarist Neal Schon's suggestions to the contrary.

Last week, Schon hinted that JOURNEY's co-founder Gregg Rolie will make an appearance on the band's upcoming 50th-anniversary tour, presumably in the place of Cain, with whom Neal has been publicly feuding.

However, earlier today (Tuesday, January 10),Cain shared a photo of him and his wife, Paula White-Cain, hitting the ski slopes, apparently in Colorado, and he included the following message: "I feel very grateful and blessed to share this time on the slopes with my Baby before hitting the road with JOURNEY. #grateful #blessed #mountains #love #ski"

Earlier this month, Schon addressed Rolie's participation in JOURNEY's upcoming run of dates in a social media post. After Neal shared a graphic for JOURNEY's 50th anniversary on his Facebook page, a fan commented: "I am SO looking forward to this. Please tell me Gregg Rollie is coming along for the ride! He's the better keyboard player and a co-founder it only seems right. Timing couldn't be better either!!!!" In response, Neal wrote: "you'll be seeing him".

Last month, Cain fired back at Schon when the JOURNEY guitarist called him a "hypocrite" for performing the band's 1981 hit song "Don't Stop Believin'" at Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago property. Cain, whose wife, Paula White-Cain, is the former president's self-styled spiritual adviser, played the track in November with a backup chorus of U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, Donald Trump Jr.'s fiancée Kimberly Guilfoyle and former Arizona gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake.

"Neal Schon should look in the mirror when he accuses me of causing harm to the JOURNEY brand," Cain said in a statement. "I have watched him damage our brand for years and am a victim of both his — and his wife's — bizarre behavior."

An attorney for Schon sent a cease-and-desist letter to Cain after he performed at Trump's Florida estate.

The latest legal move came a few weeks after Schon filed a lawsuit against Cain in California state court, alleging that Cain set up an American Express card without telling Schon and that "millions of JOURNEY funds have flowed through it." Cain, for his part, accused Schon of misusing the card, citing his "excessive spending and extravagant lifestyle."

A month earlier, former JOURNEY singer Steve Perry took legal action against both Schon and Cain, asking them to stop registering federal trademarks on the names of many of the band's hits.

Rolie was JOURNEY's first singer, though his role quickly diminished when Perry arrived in 1977. Gregg left JOURNEY in 1980, just before the band achieved its commercial heights.

JOURNEY's tour with TOTO will kick off on February 4 in Allentown, Pennsylvania. Presented by AEG Presents, the "Freedom Tour 2023" will make stops in Austin, Montreal and Memphis before wrapping April 25 at the brand-new Acrisure Arena in Palm Springs, California.

The 2023 run includes rescheduled dates in Washington, D.C., plus Hartford, Toronto and Quebec, which were postponed last year due to the coronavirus.

I feel very grateful and blessed to share this time on the slopes with my Baby before hitting the road with Journey❤️ #grateful #blessed #mountains #love #ski

Posted by Jonathan Cain on Tuesday, January 10, 2023

Former ICED EARTH singer Tim "Ripper" Owens says that Jon Schaffer will "regret" his role in the January 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol.

Owens, who joined ICED EARTH in 2003 and stayed in the group for four years before being fired in December 2007, addressed his time with the band in a new interview with "The Logan Show".

Asked if he was surprised to see Schaffer involved in the Capitol riot, Owens said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Yeah, I was. I'm not friends with Jon; we had a falling out 15 years ago or whatever it was.

"Listen, people do things and they regret it. And that's what he did; he's gonna regret it," Tim continued.

"I have nothing to do with Jon. It was surprising, though."

This past November, Owens was asked in an interview with The Shred Shack if he would ever consider rejoining ICED EARTH if he got the call. He responded: "No, no. And contrary to his issues he has… It wasn't a good falling out.

"People don't realize that it's been a long time since I was in ICED EARTH," Owens explained. "It wasn't a good ending. And career-wise, I've moved on, and I do my thing now.

"No, I would never do ICED EARTH again. No," Tim reiterated.

Owens previously reflected on his split with ICED EARTH in a December 2021 interview with Metal Mythos Aftershock. At the time, he said: "It wasn't a very good parting. I was leaving to go to [Jon's] house to record a new record. And I walked back into my house to grab something and I got an e-mail and I looked at it and it said, 'Brothers and sisters… You're fired,' or whatever. It's the same e-mail he sent Blabbermouth at the same time. And it wasn't a good falling out. It was two weeks before Christmas. It wasn't good."

Owens continued: "Two weeks before that, [Jon] sent me an e-mail saying, 'Listen, I really need to teach you how to be a frontman and teach you how to do things.' And Wendy Dio, who was my manager at the time, was beside herself. She kept saying, 'Get out of this thing, man. You've gotta get out of this thing.' And it was unfortunate that it ended like that — two weeks before Christmas with an e-mail that's the same e-mail he sends Blabbermouth. I was kind of sad, but life goes on, and you move on to the next thing. And I think two days later I was recording a new Yngwie [Malmsteen] record. So it's kind of, like, everything moves on for a reason."

Owens had also discussed his departure from ICED EARTH in a 2012 interview with Australia's Loud. He said: "It was handled poorly, I think, the situation. It could've been handled good and everybody could've looked good in the situation. But it was handled poorly, I think… I started getting all the blame when things weren't the same. Or things weren't what Jon thought they could be. And then, of course, it all came down on me. None of the blame ever came down on Jon. I'm fine with that, but the funny thing is that nothing really changed when I left anyway. I read numbers and I talk to agents, and the crowds are the same or smaller now. I think it was also me wandering a bit, knowing that ICED EARTH was kind of like a solo project. It's really Schaffer's band, and I knew that. And I started having my own: I started doing BEYOND FEAR, and pushing BEYOND FEAR when probably I should have been talking about ICED EARTH. I think Jon read a lot of that and he read into it that my heart and soul wasn't into ICED EARTH."

Schaffer addressed Owens's exit from ICED EARTH in a 2008 interview with Metal Exiles. At the time, the guitarist said: "Tim was great to work with in the studio, and from a standpoint of performing live, he was great as far as being an incredible vocalist, but he was not a true believer in this band. It was a job for him, and ICED EARTH is not about that… He was more interested in doing his solo thing — that was where his head was at — and it was becoming more and more obvious. This band was a means to an end for him."

In April 2021, Schaffer pleaded guilty to his role in the U.S. Capitol riot. As part of the plea deal, Jon entered into a cooperation agreement with the government.

Following the initial reports that Schaffer was involved in the riot, his ICED EARTH bandmates distanced themselves from his actions. Singer Stu Block and bassist Luke Appleton later posted separate statements on social media announcing their resignations. BLIND GUARDIAN frontman Hansi Kürsch also quit DEMONS & WIZARDS, his long-running project with Schaffer. The allegations also apparently affected Schaffer's relationship with his longtime record label Century Media, which had released albums from both ICED EARTH and DEMONS & WIZARDS. As of mid-January 2021, the Century Media artist roster page did not list either band.

Iggy Pop was joined by Duff McKagan (GUNS N' ROSES),Chad Smith (RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS) and Josh Klinghoffer (RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS) for his performance on "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" this past Monday (January 9).

After being introduced by host Jimmy Kimmel as IGGY POP AND THE LOSERS, the 75-year-old Pop and the other musicians performed "Frenzy", the first single from Iggy's latest album, "Every Loser".

"Every Loser" is Iggy's 19th solo album and his first to be released via the recently announced partnership between Atlantic Records and Gold Tooth Records, the new label founded by the album's Grammy Award-winning, multi-platinum executive producer Andrew Watt. Watt, who also performed with Iggy on "Kimmel" (on guitar),previously worked with Ozzy Osbourne on the metal icon's last two studio albums, including 2022's "Patient Number 9".

"I'm the guy with no shirt who rocks; Andrew and Gold Tooth get that," Pop previously said about his new LP. "We made a record together the old-fashioned way… The players are guys I've known since they were kids and the music will beat the shit out of you."

For his part, Watt said: "Iggy Pop is a fucking icon. A true original. The guy invented the stage dive... I still can't believe he let me make a record with him. I am honored. It doesn't get cooler. This album was created to be played as loud as your stereo will go… turn it up and hold on."

Widely acknowledged as one of the most influential artists and dynamic live performers of all time, Pop is a singer, songwriter, musician, author, record producer, DJ and actor whose epic body of work has earned him both worldwide critical acclaim and fanatic cult success. Beginning in 1967 with his era-defining group THE STOOGES, Pop merged primal rock, blues, and free jazz into something altogether dangerous and new, paving the way for punk, post-punk, hard rock, and grunge. His landmark solo career — which kicked off with 1977's David Bowie-produced "The Idiot" and "Lust For Life" — has seen Pop traverse a stunning span of musical genres, inspiring generation after generation of rock 'n rollers with his iconoclastic songcraft, uncompromising performance style, and one-of-a-kind charisma. Perhaps the greatest living embodiment of rock and roll, Pop has never slowed down, pushing the art form forward for more than half a century, including his 2019's contemplative, critically acclaimed "Free".

Influential punk band NOFX is known as one of the world’s most controversial and significant punk bands of their time. They are no strangers to pushing boundaries at their live shows, and their final tour will be no different. The dream team of NOFX and Cameron Collins from Brew Ha Ha Productions and the Punk In Drublic Craft Beer & Music Festival has reunited to curate the first wave of announced tour dates in the United States.

The forty-cities-around-the-world tour begins on April 22 in Austin, Texas and concludes in October 2024 in Los Angeles, California. NOFX will perform forty songs a night, including full albums and rarities, plus they will never repeat a setlist to ensure that each show is unique.

NOFX frontman Fat Mike says: "This is not a final tour like MÖTLEY CRÜE or BLACK SABBATH… These are the very last shows NOFX will ever be playing. We are gonna play with all our hearts…With all our joy…And then we are done. We are done done."

NOFX final tour commences with a massive 21+ punk rock and beer weekend camping festival at Carson Creek Ranch in Austin, Texas on April 22 and April 23 that will feature special guests PENNYWISE, CIRCLE JERKS, FACE TO FACE, RIVERBOAT GAMBLERS, CODEFENDANTS, GET DEAD, BAD COP BAD COP, THE BOMBPOPS, PEARS, PIÑATA PROTEST and more.

Tickets for these shows go on sale this Friday, January 13 at 10:00 a.m. PT at www.PunkInDrublicFest.com. Options include single day, the Bro Bundle, VIP, and more including a digital download of each show with ticket purchase.

Initial tour dates are as follows, with more European dates, venues, and lineups to be announced soon:

April 22- 23 - Austin, TX – Carson Creek Ranch (campout)
May 13 - San Diego, CA
May 19-20 - Barcelona, Spain
June 02 - Linz, Austria
June 24-25 - Columbus, OH (campout)
July 22- 23: Tacoma, WA
September 16 - San Francisco, CA
September 30 - St. Petersburg, FL

NOFX formed in Los Angeles back in 1983. They were forged in the same fiery furnaces of the L.A. hardcore scene that gave us BAD RELIGION, SUICIDAL TENDENCIES, THE GERMS and DESCENDENTS. NOFX sharpened their teeth in that tumultuous talent pool until they joined forces with Epitaph Records in 1989 and went on to release a string of crucial skate-punk albums. Their first major breakthrough came in the form of 1990's "Ribbed", still a fan favorite, they then followed up with now-classics "White Trash, Two Heebs And A Bean" and "Punk In Drublic", the latter selling well over a million copies. That was a wildly successful decade for NOFX as the band popularized the Warped Tour and was the flagship band for the skate/surf/snow culture of the 1990s.

NOFX's career-long ban on doing the mainstream press and media was lifted as they sought to actively share their dissent for the Bush administration and speak out against the invasion of Iraq. And once the floodgates were open, NOFX and their "Rock Against Bush" movement were everywhere: Newsweek, Rolling Stone, New York Times, Howard Stern and network television. All that high-profile interest and hype was reflected in the success of their 2003 record "The War On Errorism", which was the No. 1 independent record in the country at the time if its release and topped Billboard's indie chart.

Photo credit: Susan Moss Photography

Former THEATRE OF TRAGEDY and LEAVES' EYES frontwoman Liv Kristine will release her sixth solo album this spring via Metalville Records.

Liv started off in her enchanting style and angelic singing manner with five albums from THEATRE OF TRAGEDY (1993-2003); her own releases "Deus Ex Machina" (1998),"Enter My Religion" (2006),"Skintight" (2010),"Libertine" (2012) and "Vervain" (2014); as well as five LEAVES' EYES albums (2004-2015),which gained the bands worldwide attention and recognition.

In 1993, Kristine embarked on a unique and courageous musical path, exploring, redefining, making way, until she became one of the most recognizable voices within the worldwide female voice metal movement.

Her autodidactic way into music and career reflects her strong individuality and courage to create with a free artistic heart, inviting her audience to experience musical and tonal aesthetics on a highly individual and elevating level.

Liv rose to worldwide fame already in the early '90s with her Norwegian band THEATRE OF TRAGEDY, and then, moreover, as a solo artist, as well as with LEAVES' EYES and various projects. For more than 25 years, she's been, and still is, a fine inspiration for artists and bands worldwide within her authentic brand of goth, metal and rock. Her musical achievements are numerous: for example, a Grammy Award nomination for the song "Nymphetamine" in collaboration with CRADLE OF FILTH, 500,000 records sold with THEATRE OF TRAGEDY, touring more than 50 countries, including repeat hits in the official charts with her solo releases and her follow-up band LEAVES' EYES, as well as European club, DJ, dance, rock, and alternative charts. She also lent her voice to title tracks for popular TV series like "Tatort" and "Schimanski". Liv has released more than 15 full-length albums with her bands since 1995.

In a recent interview with Max Davallo of the "Sonic Dorms"music talk show, QUEENSRŸCHE guitarist Michael Wilton spoke about how the rise of grunge in the early 1990s forced most hard rock bands off the radio and MTV, with album and tour sales plummeting.

"I think as far as the metal, the progressive rock and the hard rock, we catapulted," he said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET). "So I think we were kind of in our automatic way of existing. And it's something that you see technology changing, the dynamics of the record companies were changing, a new crowd was coming in and they wanted something of their own. And that all was great for all those bands, and especially all the bands from Seattle because we knew 'em all. For us, it was a time of just a shift in the industry. And I think we weathered it. We kind of went through some changes, probably like most bands do. I think we had such a solidified following that it really didn't matter. We just kept doing what we do. And then the whole grunge thing happened. That was really great. Music got stale, I guess, and this new music came in. But for us, it's always been about a certain way we do things. Whether trends and things happen, I don't think we follow trends. We just do what we do."

Wilton previously discussed grunge's impact on QUEENSRŸCHE's popularity in a March 2019 interview with the "Cobras & Fire" podcast. At the time, he said: "The grunge thing happened pretty much in the mid-to-late '90s, so we had already gone through that whole early-'90s explosion of rock videos on MTV and lots of record companies selling tons of CDs and albums and everything. It was a glorious time.

"I remember, I think we were playing in '96 or '97, and that's kind of when it all hit, right? It just kind of goes in cycles. There's a new generation coming in, and they want their own thing. And for us, we never fit into any concrete genre and we weren't a band that was on any trends. We were kind of oblivious to it all, and we just kept doing what we were doing. And lo and behold, look at us today — we're still going strong. And I think it's just because QUEENSRŸCHE's music is unique and it has its place. And it obviously, for the most part, can be timeless."

Six years ago, former QUEENSRŸCHE frontman Geoff Tate said that he was offended when his band started being compared to the so-called "hair metal" acts of the 1980s.

"When we started, genre wasn't really a thing in the business," the singer said. "Rock music was all encompassing. You had different bands doing different things and it was all totally fine.

"What happened was that the marketing mentality came into the business," he explained. "They started breaking everything down and putting music in boxes. At that point, writers began placing us in the same box as MÖTLEY CRÜE. It wasn't about the music — it was a selling technique.

"To be compared to MÖTLEY CRÜE… I took it as kind of an insult, frankly."

Last month, QUEENSRŸCHE announced an early 2023 U.S. tour in support of its sixteenth studio album, "Digital Noise Alliance". Direct support on the trek will come from former MEGADETH guitarist Marty Friedman, with TRAUMA opening each show.

"Digital Noise Alliance" came out on October 7 via Century Media. The record was once again helmed by Chris "Zeuss" Harris, who previously worked with QUEENSRŸCHE on 2015's "Condition Hüman" and 2019's "The Verdict" LPs.

Guitarist Mike Stone, who rejoined QUEENSRŸCHE in 2021, contributed guitar solos to the band's new studio album.

Since late May 2021, Stone has been handling second-guitar duties in QUEENSRŸCHE, which announced in July 2021 that longtime guitarist Parker Lundgren was exiting the group to focus on "other business ventures."

Stone originally joined QUEENSRŸCHE for the 2003 album "Tribe" and stayed with the band for six years before leaving the group.

For the past six years, drummer Casey Grillo has been filling in for original QUEENSRŸCHE drummer Scott Rockenfield, who stepped away from the band's touring activities in early 2017 to spend time with his young son.

In October 2021, Rockenfield filed a lawsuit against Wilton and Jackson, alleging, among other things, breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty and wrongful discharge. A few months later, Wilton and bassist Eddie Jackson filed a countersuit against Rockenfield, accusing him of abandoning his position as a member of the band and misappropriating the group's assets to his own personal benefit.

In a recent interview with the Pod Scum podcast, Jimmy Bower, who has played with PANTERA singer Philip Anselmo in both DOWN and SUPERJOINT (formerly SUPERJOINT RITUAL),was asked about New Orleans-based thrash metal pioneers EXHORDER's supposed influence on PANTERA's decision to move from a power metal act to a more aggressive form of thrash. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "It doesn't matter who came first or anything. EXHORDER and PANTERA were night and day, dude. EXHORDER was a band that just did really well here in New Orleans — I'm speaking from when we were all younger — and everybody in that band could play their ass off.

"Was Phil influenced by EXHORDER and maybe took that to PANTERA? Of course he was," Bower acknowledged. "But does that define who PANTERA is? Fuck no. I've seen all that written. And that's actually an old thing — from the '90s people have been saying that. I never got it because if that's the case, then EYEHATEGOD is nothing but a second-rate MELVINS. That's it.

"EXHORDER was a huge influence on everybody down here," Jimmy added.

Last November, EXHORDER vocalist Kyle Thomas told Heavy Culture about comparisons between his band and PANTERA: "PANTERA had an evolution. Early, they were kind of glam-ish, and I don't know if necessarily the music was as glam as maybe the appearance. But a lot of heavy metal bands… I mean, I played in heavy metal bands before I was in EXHORDER where I wore the spandex pants and black eyeliner. We all kind of did at some point — not everybody, but some people did. A lot of the thrash bands we love today — SLAYER, DESTRUCTION — they wore makeup and leather and spiked wristbands and stuff.

"PANTERA were very good before even, before Philip Anselmo joined them. They were very good and well established at what they did, a very hard-working band. Now, Phil is from New Orleans, like we are. We've known each other since we were teenagers. We've been friends for a very long time. In fact, that platinum album on [my] wall back there was a gift from Phil. That's for [PANTERA's] 'Far Beyond Driven' [album]. So, we've been friends for a long time.

"I think a lot of the controversy was media- and fan-driven more than anything," Kyle explained. "For me, I was friends with Darrell [Abbott, PANTERA guitarist] as well. I've been friendly with Rex [Brown, PANTERA bassist] a long, long time. I've known these guys for years.

"Were we doing what they ended up doing before they were? In a way, there was things that we were doing that they eventually did and we were doing them first. But that doesn't necessarily mean, I think, that there was any kind of blatant rip-off or anything.

"Phil almost joined EXHORDER for a minute. The band was reforming and I wasn't interested, so Phil was asked by the band if he wanted to sing, and he said yes. And when I found out Phil wanted my job, I took my job back. [Laughs] That's kind of how that went.

"There were a lot of bands interested in Phil at the time. I know METAL CHURCH was interested in Phil. So I think he went to the guys in PANTERA and he was, like, 'I'm really interested in doing something a little bit more than what we're doing right now. So y'all hear me out.' And I think they just kind of hashed it out.

"I know we were one of… We're still one of Phil's favorite bands," Kyle added. "He's told me this before, and people I know tell me the same thing. I know he's a huge fan, and he helped us tremendously build the underground in the Dallas/Fort Worth area when he was living out there with the PANTERA guys just building all that stuff.

"It's a frustrating thing to me, because I guess it's kind of like the poor man's version of METALLICA versus MEGADETH. I don't think it needs to be that big of a conversation anymore. Basically, we've reformed back in 2017, and we're still going strong, about to do our second album in that timeframe. And they're [PANTERA] putting some shows together with some friends to bring the band and songs back to life, which I think is a great thing. So there's room for both."

Back in 2013, Anselmo denied that EXHORDER was a major influence on PANTERA's sound, telling Examiner.com: "It's absolutely untrue. EXHORDER was a killer band, don't get me wrong. And for their time in the local scene in New Orleans in 1988, as far as skill level, they really upped the game for everyone. To this day, I'm still really good friends with their singer, who is now the singer for TROUBLE. Kyle and I come from the same school of heavy metal vocals — Rob Halford, Don Doty from DARK ANGEL, and Tom Araya — so there are similarities between us, but musically, I don't hear it at all."

In a 2007 interview with Midwest Metal, Kyle addressed the possibility that EXHORDER inspired PANTERA's more aggressive early 1990s approach, saying: "The thing I hate the most of this topic is just how handcuffed we are to their success. Did they rip us off? Possibly. Was it deliberate? Maybe. Were they influenced by us? Definitely. Did they work a helluva lot harder than we did? Absolutely. Case closed."

Thomas is now the sole remaining founding member of EXHORDER, which parted ways with original guitarist Vinnie LaBella in February 2020.

According to The Guardian, Norwegian black metal band TAAKE has had its previously announced tour of Australia canceled by the promoters.

The controversial outfit, which has long been plagued by accusations of anti-Muslim lyrics and Nazi sympathies, was scheduled to perform four shows Down Under in early February as part of the "Southern Funeral" tour with American band AKHLYS.

On Thursday (January 5),tour promoter Southern Extremeties announced the run "has been cancelled for reasons beyond our control".

"Apologies to ticket holders/people keen to see these 2 acts, you'll receive an update and full refund from your ticketing company," they added.

Before Southern Extremeties announced that the tour was being scrapped, two venues had already pulled out — University Of Sydney's Manning Bar, which reportedly made the decision following pressure from students, and Adelaide's Enigma Bar.

The latest cancelation comes five years after TAAKE called off a U.S. tour due an online campaign highlighting previous incidents, including a 2007 incident in which singer Hoest appeared onstage with a swastika painted on his chest.

The band later disavowed the image, saying it was a one-time lapse in judgment, and denied that its lyrics reflect any racist sentiments. "Many of these claims are just ludicrous," the band's manager, Bjørnar Erevik Nilsen, told Newsweek in 2018. "They are not into that kind of stuff at all."

Regarding the swastika, Nilsen told Newsweek: "It was a provocation. Not any kind of call for right-wing ideology… The band has also played concerts in Israel, which would be completely ludicrous if it were a Nazi band."

According to Pitchfork, Hoest performed in 2013 while wearing a shirt with an anti-Islamic symbol, plus an iron cross necklace.

Hoest has repeatedly denied claims of his band's ties to white nationalism. In an interview with Metal Insider, he said: "Presenting us as 'Neo Nazi,' 'openly racist,' 'wearing swastikas' (in plural, like it's a habit of mine),etc. are just plain lies. And 'islamophobic?' A phobia is an irrational mental illness. So quite the contrary, religion is an irrational mental illness."

Image courtesy of bisounours66

Hello Folks

The upcoming TAAKE/AKHLYS tour has been cancelled for reasons beyond our control.

Apologies to ticket...

Posted by Southern Extremeties Productions on Thursday, January 5, 2023

This past October, Italian heavy rockers LACUNA COIL released "Comalies XX", a "deconstructed" and "transported" version of their third studio album "Comalies".

Back in 2002, LACUNA COIL released an LP which is now undeniably an anthem-laden millennial classic that established them as a band with the stamina to go the distance. Now, 20 years later, the current lineup of LACUNA COIL decided to revisit the songs, but not to just re-record them as they were but deconstruct and transport them into 2022.

When asked in a new interview with Australia's Heavy why LACUNA COIL decided to rework "Comalies", vocalist Cristina Scabbia said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "The main reason is that it is the twentieth anniversary of this record. And we didn't want to simply do a remaster or a repackaging, because it's a record that means a lot to is. It's a record that made us level up in the game, that allowed us to make music as a full-time job. And we love the songs. So we started to ask ourselves, how would it sound if we were to write it in 2022? And the idea just started to develop and get more and more interesting. [And we thought] why don't we do it for real? In a moment in which we were starting to write again, after the pandemic, because [the pandemic] got us really not creative on a certain level. We didn't want any music to be connected with the pandemic because it was a very negative period. So we started to work on the songs, and they were sounding really good, because, of course, they came from the old ones, from the core of the old songs, but they were sounding really fresh, like we were writing a new record. And it's so cool that now a lot of fans are confused because they don't know anymore if they love more the original versions or these versions, which is a good sign."

Added co-vocalist Andrea Ferro: "We didn't know what to expect from the fans. When you're gonna touch classic records, it's always hard because some people get really attached because it's the first time they discovered the band, the first time they fell in love with the music. So it's always a gamble a little bit, but we thought we could pull it off because we've done it in the past [where] we rearranged some songs just for the live shows, without maybe doing as much of the rework that we've done now, but still making new sounds so that it would flow better with the rest of the songs in the setlist. Some of the tracks, for the keyboards, we were using [keyboards] from 2002, so they don't sound as good as the new ones, obviously. So we kind of needed to rearrange them and re-record them. And a lot of this stuff was on tape, 'cause we recorded analog back then. So Marco [Coti Zelati], our bass player, which is the main songwriter of the band, he had to go back and re-record the whole album, the original version, to find out all the parts, and then we re-recorded the vocals in the original version, and then rearranged everything and see what we could get and where we could progress and make it different."

Continued Cristina: "It was actually really stressful. Because when you write a new record, people don't know the songs, so you put them out there. Some people might love them; some people might not like them; but it's something new. When you put out something made out of something in a new version, it's always very challenging. It was stressful. But we're happy — we're really happy."

LACUNA COIL celebrated the 20th anniversary of "Comalies" by performing it in its entirety at a one-night-only concert on October 15, 2022 at Fabrique in Milano.

"Comalies" was originally released on October 29, 2002 through Century Media Records. The LP, which featured the band's breakthrough single "Heaven's A Lie", has reportedly gone on to sell over 300,000 copies in the United States alone.

Regarding the "Comalies" title, Scabbia said: "[During the album's recording], we had a sort of creative explosion. We were working in a coma, sort of like in a different dimension. First of all we just wanted to use the word 'coma' but there was something missing so we played with the two words 'coma' and 'lies'."

The "Comalies" song "Swamped" was previously made available as a downloadable track for the music video game series "Rock Band" and also appeared in the 2004 video game "Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines".

Video of METALLICA's entire concert on November 6, 2022 at the 7,000-seat Hard Rock Live at Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Florida can be seen below. The show, which celebrated the life, legacy and achievements of Megaforce Records founder Jon "Jonny Z" Zazula and his wife Marsha Zazula, saw the Bay Area metal legends play songs exclusively from their first two albums, 1983's "Kill 'Em All" and 1984's "Ride The Lightning", both of which were originally released on Megaforce. Support at the gig came from British/American metallers RAVEN, who were also originally signed to Megaforce.

METALLICA's setlist was as follows:

01. Creeping Death
02. Ride The Lightning
03. Motorbreath
04. No Remorse
05. Trapped Under Ice
06. The Call Of Ktulu
07. Phantom Lord
08. Am I Evil?
09. Metal Militia
10. For Whom The Bell Tolls
11. Whiplash
12. Fade To Black
13. Seek & Destroy

Encore:

14. Fight Fire With Fire
15. Blitzkrieg
16. Hit The Lights

When the concert was first announced in September, METALLICA said in a statement: "Jonny gave us our first break in New York, released our first albums on his Megaforce Records label, and put us out on the road for our first real tour. With Marsha by his side, Jonny was a mentor, a manager, a label head, and a father figure to us all.... we would not be where we are today without the two of them. Sadly, we recently lost both Jonny and Marsha, just a little more than a year apart.

"We'll be cooking up a special setlist for you full of songs from our days with Jonny and Marsha at Megaforce. Our main touring partner from that time, RAVEN, will be joining us to add to the celebration and bring back the memories."

A portion of the proceeds from this show are being donated in Jonny and Marsha's name to MusiCares, a safety net supporting the health and welfare of the music community offering preventive, emergency, and recovery programs to musicians and industry professionals. Additionally, All Within My Hands once again supported Feeding South Florida with a donation following the show.

Jonny Z died in February 2022 at the age of 69. Jonny died of complications of the rare neuropathic disorder chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy (CIDP),chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and osteopenia, his family said. Marsha passed away of cancer in January of 2021.

Megaforce is widely credited for launching the career of METALLICA by releasing the band's first two albums, 1983's "Kill 'Em All" and 1984's "Ride The Lightning", before METALLICA landed a major label deal with Elektra. Megaforce's roster has also included such artists as ANTHRAX, TESTAMENT, OVERKILL, Ace Frehley, MINISTRY, KING'S X, STORMTROOPERS OF DEATH and RAVEN.

Born in 1952, Jonny began his extraordinary journey as a renegade youth who went from living on the streets of the Bronx in New York City, to later working on Wall Street, and eventually (and unexpectedly) transitioning into the music business and discovering METALLICA, ANTHRAX and others.

After Wall Street, Jonny Z began selling records at a flea market store in 1981 to put food on the table for his family. Dubbed Rock N' Roll Heaven, the store eventually blossomed into a major record store that influenced the heavy metal movement as we know it today. In the winter of 1982, Jonny Z received an unexpected demo tape from unsigned underground band called METALLICA. Eager and determined to have the music heard by the entire world, Jonny and Marsha founded Megaforce the following year and released "Kill 'Em All". Through this release, Megaforce cemented its position as the de-facto music label in America for heavy metal.

Jon's acclaimed autobiography, "Heavy Tales: The Metal. The Music. The Madness. As Lived By Jon Zazula", was released in October 2019. The book tells the story of how the Zazulas ended up signing a band that shaped the sound of heavy metal for decades to come.

"It's all a blessing when you work hard and you stay smart and you go into the game and then eventually something comes your way and you're ready for it. And you're able to jump upon it and ride it," Jonny told Variety. "We were very fortunate, Marsha and I, that we have them to choose as a band that became the biggest band in the world. Not to mention a bunch of other great bands that made history."

PRONG has premiered an unrelentingly heavy brand new song, titled "Breaking Point", marking the band's first new music since 2019's "Age Of Defiance" EP.

PRONG leader Tommy Victor commented: "The origins of the song happened during the waning part of the pandemic. I have to admit that I came up with the main riff while we were out on the BLACK LABEL SOCIETY tour. I guess that would make sense to some. There was so much insecurity going on. What we were told kept changing. The crowds on that tour were so intense. It seemed like everyone was just sweating out all this frustration. Everyone was just fed up. I think that sentiment has remained and even grown with a lot of people. It's a 'general frustration in the world'-type song."

He added about the track's sound: "I've been getting back into these heavy, solid, mean riffs. I think moving back to New York has helped with these. I'm really happy where I'm at all around. I think it's coming across in the new songs and showing a rejuvenated attitude."

Three months ago, Victor confirmed to Heavy New York that he and his bandmates were hard at work on the long-awaited follow-up to 2017's "Zero Days" album. "I can tell you the single will be out, the digital single, in January," he said. "'Cause the record is almost done. So for our European tour with LIFE OF AGONY in January, the single will be out. And the [full-length] record [will be out in], I guess, April or something. It depends on when the pressing plant can do it. It's on Steamhammer/SPV again, the same label. All the basic tracks are done. I've just gotta do vocals and solos now."

Speaking about his approach for the upcoming LP, which was produced by Steve Evetts, who previously helmed 2012's "Carved Into Stone" and 2014's "Ruining Lives", Tommy said: "This one is special because it's the first record I've written since I moved back to New York, [to] Amityville. So that concept is there, where it's, like, you know what? This is where the early PRONG stuff was written. I wrote it in my apartment in Amityville, and it's killer. So that's the concept, is that it's written back where I'm from. It's very hardcore, it's really heavy, but PRONG has to have the hooks, so it's still in there too. There's a lot of good choruses and understandable lyrics."

PRONG's latest release was the aforementioned "Age Of Defiance", which came out in November 2019 via SPV/Steamhammer. The effort, which was produced by Chris Collier, included two new studio songs, the title cut and "End Of Sanity", along with live recordings of three tracks: "Rude Awakening", "Cut-Rate" and "Another Worldly Device".

As previously reported, PRONG has recruited Jason Bittner (OVERKILL, SHADOWS FALL) to play drums for the band on its upcoming European tour as the support act for LIFE OF AGONY.

The first leg of LIFE OF AGONY's "30 Years Of River Runs Red" tour will kick off in Europe on January 13 in Bochum, Germany and end in Milton Keynes, England on February 11. Additional support will come from MADBALL (on U.K. dates only),with rock duo TARAH WHO? opening all shows.

Photo credit: Nathaniel Shannon

Back in December 2012, HEART's Ann and Nancy Wilson delivered a moving rendition of "Stairway To Heaven", LED ZEPPELIN's signature song, at the Kennedy Center Honors. They were joined by Jason Bonham, son of original drummer John and the drummer for LED ZEPPELIN's 2007 reunion show. Their version of the track gradually grew to include a string section, a horde of backup singers and the Joyce Garrett Youth Choir. Jimmy Page, Robert Plant and John Paul Jones sat watching from the balcony and were visibly moved, particularly Plant, who had tears welling up in his eyes.

Robert reflected on the experience of watching HEART perform the ZEPPELIN classic in a new interview with Vulture. He said: "Look at the company I was keeping that night. Who was I sitting next to? What was going on? I didn't even know the people anymore. How did we move across from being a British blues band to this ridiculous achievement? Well, ridiculous is a multifarious term. We all stood back at the end of the sessions, reeling from the transitions throughout the song. But 'Stairway To Heaven' has its own life. Later I often felt estranged. It began intimate and vulnerable and sincere, and then the years carried on. It was no longer ours and neither should it be. Now it's out there driving people to distraction and then maybe driving a hard bargain.

"I've left so much of it all behind. And that night I was watching a reenactment — clever, well intentioned and respectful," he continued. "I was in the gallery peering and following an excellent display. Me and my contribution to it all were hung out to dry in the land of timeless tributes, so far from the cover and the scene, and so far from the home that we've given it. I felt estranged from the whole deal, from the song, and the fact that the years did carry it through. It had its own impetus. I watched it go. It was like a beautiful feather, balloon, or bubble. Something out of a clay pipe that had been blown with soap.

"It was just something that I'd never, ever thought I would look at from this gallery. I didn't ever see myself as smarting around seeing an artist's impression of it. I knew it was coming — the Kennedy Center told us to expect something — but I didn't know how it was going to be. It was a spectacular performance. I'm now a voyeur. I'm not responsible for it anymore. I'm not in guitar shops being told not to do it. I'm not going down the aisle at a wedding playing it with a flute. I love the song. It came upon me and stripped away all the years of being a part of all that. It just rubbed it right back to the bone. Because maybe it was all over for us a long time before it was all over. It was definitely all over without John. I mean that. We're talking here about one song from 50-plus years ago. It's just a magnificent performance to watch and it kills me every time. It kills me in two or three different ways. It's just like, Oh my God.

"Some people are completely trapped in their achievements, and that must be real hell," Plant added. "But perhaps one of the things about 'Stairway To Heaven' was that the development of the song was exactly that. Somehow it was something very, very special, which I don't really have a great connection to. But that night at the Kennedy Center, it made me remember that I had some responsibility, for better or worse, for that song. It wasn't really about who did a great job, although Ann's a spectacular singer. The whole choreography of it was blindingly sort of a 'we're not worthy' moment."

Two years ago, Ann reflected on the experience of performing for ZEPPELIN members in an interview with Vulture. She said: "There was a possibility that both [Nancy and I] could've dissolved into nerves, so we turned and looked at each other right before we walked out and said, 'We're not going to think about this right now and we're going to keep our eyes on the ball.' I had been learning and studying meditation at that point, and I told her to do the thing … you have a bowl of water and you're holding it and you don't want to spill any, so you just concentrate on the bowl of water. The bowl of water in this case was the song. [Laughs] And then we'd freak out afterwards. And we did!"

Asked if she felt that she and her bandmates achieved something spectacular, Ann said: "I actually felt every second of it as a real, not to overstate it, but pretty damn close to orgasmic in terms of bliss. I felt wide awake and alive, and I felt the emotional content of the song all the way down to the ground. It was really authentic. The emotions involved in performing that were wide awake and in the moment."

She added: "'Stairway To Heaven' represents a whole universe of LED ZEPPELIN and so many people love that song. Everyone thinks that they know what it means and have their own little idea about how to interpret it, but there's something about the poetry of that song that's really hopeful and upbeat. Something about unity. Hey, there's a better day coming. That message is ancient and pure and universal. That's what I felt performing it. That's why I almost teared up singing it — it's so beautiful."

Regarding LED ZEPPELIN's reactions to HEART's rendition of "Stairway To Heaven", Ann said: "When you check out their reactions while the song is being performed, you can see how different they are. Jimmy is smiley and twinkly. Robert is emotional. John Paul is both. I think Robert looked down and saw Jason, who was just a child when LED ZEPPELIN was together … he was probably running around during their band rehearsals as a little tyke. For Robert to look down and see him on drums at the Kennedy Center, this big production of their most beautiful song, must have been very emotional. It probably brought back a lot of nice memories."

In a new interview with The Underground Australia, POWERMAN 5000 frontman Spider One reflected on the release of the band's latest album, "The Noble Rot", which came out at the height of the coronavirus pandemic in August 2020 via Cleopatra Records. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "I think that we had finished [the LP] before then, and we made the first video before the pandemic. So we were just gearing up for a normal situation, that we were gonna hit the road. I think we had a couple of tours booked to promote the record. And then everything stopped, and we figured, 'Oh, well,' like everybody else, 'Oh, whatever. We'll just postpone the tour for a couple of weeks and then we'll be back at it.' And then a couple of weeks turned into a couple of years. It was a very weird way to release a record, 'cause the normal way is you get out there on the road and you get feedback from fans and you get to play the songs. And that never really happened. But the record, stream-wise, was more successful than the one before it. So I think [the pandemic] allowed people to stay at home and maybe listen to more music and discover more things. So I don't look at it as a loss or anything like that. It was just a different scenario. Fortunately now we get to play some of those songs. And people know them more, so it all worked out."

Spider One previously discussed how he spent the downtime during the pandemic in an interview last month with Australia's Metal-Roos. At the time, he said: "Like everybody else, we were stuck home and didn't get to play for almost two years, or about two years. So it was strange. But it's interesting. I don't know. There used to be a time when there were these things called album cycles — you put an album out; you tour on that album for a year or whatever; and you release the singles. And there was sort of this standard way you did business. I feel like those days, at least for us, are over. I'll find Spotify activity will go up when we're doing nothing sometimes, or it'll go down when a new record [has come out]. There seems to be no real logic to the way things function anymore. So the inactivity didn't really hurt us, I don't think, in any way. Maybe it even helped us a bit. There were a lot of bands that were trying to do stuff and maybe went out a bit too early and their tours didn't do well. We really waited it out until we felt like people were comfortable with going out again. And ever since, everything's been just super successful. So it worked out fine. But, yeah, the record was sort of… I think everybody kind of feels like they had a lot album in those couple of years."

Regarding whether there are any plans for POWERMAN 5000 to work on new music, Spider One said: "Yeah. We're in the middle of it now. I've got a bunch of songs written and sort of demoed out, I suppose you'd say. So the goal is to have that done quickly. That'll be priority once we get back from [our tour of] Australia [in January]. 'Cause we don't go back on the road until March. So probably in that window of February, [we'll] try to maybe get everything mixed and finished to have it released some time in 2023."

In May 2020, POWERMAN 5000 released its reimagining of the classic '80s new wave smash "We Got The Beat". "We Got The Beat" was originally made available in 1981 as part of THE GO-GO'S' multi-platinum debut album "Beauty And The Beat".

"Tonight The Stars Revolt!", POWERMAN 5000's second album, was released on July 20, 1999 by DreamWorks Records. It has sold over one million copies and achieved platinum status on the back of such hits as "Nobody's Real" and "When Worlds Collide". With cyberpunk imagery, catchy riffs, funky beats and rap rock vocals, POWERMAN 5000 bridged the gap between nu metal and industrial metal and packaged it up in a retro-science fiction B-movie aesthetic that separated them visually and musically from their peers.

THE LUCID, the four-piece hard rock band featuring bassist David Ellefson (ex-MEGADETH),vocalist Vinnie Dombroski (SPONGE),guitarist Drew Fortier and drummer Mike Heller (RAVEN, FEAR FACTORY),has released another new song called "Risk Machine". It is the third single from THE LUCID's upcoming EP, "Saddle Up And Ride", which will arrive on January 27.

From the ferocious vitriolic sonic assault of the title track to the epic off-the-wall and out-of-left-field "Sweet Toof", "Saddle Up And Ride" showcases the various genres the eclectic quartet have tackled for this release, including country, thrash, rap and funk.

Violent J, one half of the legendary rap duo INSANE CLOWN POSSE, is featured on the EP's title track as well as the album closer "Sweet Toof".

Fortier states: "We are thrilled to join forces with an iconic artist like Violent J. He added such a kick-ass and dangerous element to 'Saddle Up And Ride' and 'Sweet Toof'. J has without a doubt taken THE LUCID to another level."

He continues: "As far as live shows go, we had to cancel those shows back in May 2021 due to my cancer situation resulting in surgery which I have fully recovered from, but with David and Mike looking to have a busy 2023 with KINGS OF THRASH/DIETH and RAVEN/FEAR FACTORY, respectively, it's looking like the most pragmatic route would be if Vin and I team up for some acoustic shows to promote THE LUCID, so be on the lookout for that."

"Saddle Up And Ride" was produced by Mike Heller and mixed/mastered by Lasse Lammert and features artwork by Alex Sarabia.

"Saddle Up And Ride" track listing:

01. Deep Country
02. Saddle Up And Ride (featuring Violent J)
03. Mumps
04. Risk Machine
05. Sweet Toof (featuring Violent J)

Ellefson confirmed earlier in the year that THE LUCID was working on new material as a follow-up to THE LUCID's self-titled debut album, which was released in October 2021 via SpoilerHead Records.

"The Lucid" was also produced by Heller and mixed/mastered by Lasse Lammert.

Ellefson previously stated about the LP: "It's been a real blast making a record with these guys and I must say that it's refreshing to explore some new musical avenues… to step out a bit from what each of us have done stylistically in our own careers. There was an effortless synergy that came with creating these songs together which is always amazing when working with new people."

During a November 2020 appearance on "The Chuck Schute Podcast", Ellefson stated about how he got involved with THE LUCID: "Drew sent me a track and said, 'Hey, can you throw a bass on here?' And I was writing a new ELLEFSON solo record at the time, so my studio ears were on. I was plugged in and ready to go. He sent it over and I was, like, 'Yeah, this is freaking cool, man.' I'd seen Drew play, I know his BANG TANGO history and the other stuff he's done. But this was really cool stuff that spoke to me. And then he called me up and he said, 'Hey, Vinnie is gonna come in and write some vocals and lyrics and lay down some tracks.' And it turned into a thing."

"I love [Vinnie]. I love SPONGE," David continued. "He's such a rock star. He's just a cool guy. And he writes such great lyrics — very trippy lyrics. He's the type of lyricist I'd never worked with before, so it's fun with that. And Drew is a great guitar player. Mike Heller — he's good friends with [MEGADETH drummer] Dirk Verbeuren. And Dirk's, like, 'Mike's awesome.' They're good friends. We all met in L.A. We got the songs together and we all met in L.A. in mid-July [2020]. I plugged in and banged out 10 songs in two days. And it was fun. Mike was very good in the studio; he really knows his way around."

As for THE LUCID's musical direction, Ellefson told VWMusic: "It's definitely a rock album. It may trend slightly into metal with songs like 'Damned' and 'Deaths Of Despair'. It’s not a thrash metal record. It's not a doom or a power metal record or any of that kind of stuff. I just think it's just a straight-up hard rock record."

Fortier was diagnosed with testicular cancer in May and subsequently underwent surgery.

Ellefson was fired from MEGADETH in May 2021 after sexually tinged messages and explicit video footage involving the bassist were posted on Twitter.

David was in MEGADETH from the band's inception in 1983 to 2002, and again from 2010 until his latest exit.

In a recent interview with Felipe Canales of Chile's iRock, DESTRUCTION frontman Schmier was asked if he and his bandmates have ever considered changing their sound in order to reach a wider audience. He responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "In Germany, we say, 'Don't change your winning recipe. Stick to the guns. Stick to what you can do best.' And for me, what I can do best is playing thrash metal. Every album we do sounds a little bit different, but it always will sound like DESTRUCTION.

"When you get older, it's very easy to slow down," Schmier explained. "A lot of musicians, when they [get] older, they wanna slow down; they wanna play blues; they wanna play more mellow music. For me, that's never been the case. I think the older you [get], the more you go crazy about it. You wanna still show the young kids how it's done. When we go out there to the festivals, we compete… To all those young bands, I could be [their] father, so I have to be the role model. So that's how I see it. Slowing down and changing something is not what we do."

As for whether it's harder for him to play physically challenging music as he gets older, Schmier said: "It's like in football — the old, experienced player, he has the feel for it. The young player runs more and runs faster. The old player has the eye and the brain. And it's the same in music. Of course I have to train harder to go on stage, but my experience of my age is great because I have better voice control. I know more what I want. I know what I don't want and where the band belongs. So this experience of a certain 40 years in the music business is, of course, a great one."

DESTRUCTION's latest studio album, "Diabolical", came out in April 2022 via Napalm Records.

As one of the most legendary thrash metal bands in existence, DESTRUCTION graces the wall of fame alongside fellow German acts KREATOR, SODOM and TANKARD.

In August 2021, DESTRUCTION officially parted ways with founding guitarist Michael "Mike" Sifringer and replaced him with Martin Furia. The Argentinian-born, Belgian-based Furia is best known for his work as sound engineer and producer for such bands as NERVOSA and EVIL INVADERS.

Sifringer was the only member of DESTRUCTION to have remained constant throughout the band's career. Schmier appeared on DESTRUCTION's first three albums before exiting the band and being replaced by POLTERGEIST vocalist André Grieder. André's sole recorded appearance with DESTRUCTION was on the "Cracked Brain" album, which came out in 1990. Schmier rejoined DESTRUCTION in 1999.

DESTRUCTION 2023 is:

Schmier - Bass, Vocals
Martin Furia - Guitars
Randy Black - Drums
Damir Eskić - Guitars

DREAM THEATER singer James LaBrie, who celebrated his 33rd wedding anniversary to his "high school sweetheart" last September, was asked in a recent interview with "The Mistress Carrie Podcast" to name his secret to a happy, loving marriage. He responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "I think it would come down to the individuals. As far as keeping a marriage together, it's all about compromise. It's all about understanding. It's all about — definitely one hundred percent, first and foremost — respect. You have to respect one another and appreciate one another. And, yeah, you're gonna go through your lows and your highs. Everyone has these moments of… Or even consternation I can think of, where you're, like, 'What the hell is going on here?' But I would say that those points are the most important. You have to be willing to compromise. You have to be willing to be extremely understanding, respectful, compassionate and caring, considerate."

Asked if keeping a band together is harder than keeping a marriage together, James said: "Once again, it comes down to the individuals, their personalities. And I've said this several times in a lot of interviews. I've said you've gotta think about when you are married, that's one person that you're dealing with and that you want to get to know intimately, and through the years you do — I would hope you do. But I said, with bandmembers, however many bandmembers you have, that's how many people you have to figure out and you have to come to an understanding. Because we all have our idiosyncrasies; we all have our good points and our bad points. And it's a little bit of a whirlwind. And I think that's why a lot of bands don't stand the test of time, is because we're all coming from a different place, and at times you have some huge frickin' head banging going on. And it's not behind the sense of the song; it's just these personality conflicts. And then you're also in a creative environment. So that in itself is a very sensitive situation to be in. And you have to be respectful and at times very diplomatic. Because if you don't like something that somebody's presenting, you don't just go, 'Dude, that sucks.' So you have to be, 'No. You know what? I'm not hearing it. I don't feel it. I'm sorry. Can we try another angle? Can we approach that a little differently? Let's kind of twist and bend it, or whatever, to get around it.' Because, yeah, it's just difficult.

"I would definitely say that… band… I think with marriage, I would hope that you're worried about the repercussions if you don't smarten up," James added. "With band, yeah, there are repercussions, but at the end of the day, if you can't really stand being around that person, you do have the option to [walk away]."

DREAM THEATER won its first-ever Grammy in the "Best Metal Performance" category in the pre-telecast ceremony at the 64th annual Grammy Awards, which was held in April 2022 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. DREAM THEATER was nominated for "The Alien", a track from its 2021 album "A View From The Top Of The World". DREAM THEATER's previous Grammy nominations were for the song "On The Backs Of Angels", from 2011's "A Dramatic Turn Of Events" album, and the single "The Enemy Inside" from 2013's "Dream Theater".

"A View From The Top Of The World" was described in a press released as "DREAM THEATER at its musical finest, expanding on the sound they helped create while maintaining the elements that have garnered them devoted fans around the globe." The seven-song album also marked the second studio album with InsideOut Music/Sony Music. The artwork was created by longtime cover collaborator Hugh Syme (RUSH, IRON MAIDEN, STONE SOUR). "A View From The Top Of The World" was produced by guitarist John Petrucci, engineered and additional production by James "Jimmy T" Meslin and mixed/mastered by Andy Sneap.

Polish guitarist Wacław "Vogg" Kiełtyka (MACHINE HEAD, DECAPITATED) has weighed in on the fact that PANTERA's surviving members Philip Anselmo (vocals) and Rex Brown (bass) have united with guitarist Zakk Wylde (OZZY OSBOURNE, BLACK LABEL SOCIETY) and drummer Charlie Benante (ANTHRAX) for a world tour under the PANTERA banner.

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

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

Vogg discussed his views on the PANTERA comeback in an interview with Pod Scum. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "You know what? Right now these days it's a little bit dangerous to say your own opinion about that.

"I'm happy about this reunion, I have to say. I would go for the show to see them playing.

"Many people say it's not gonna be sounding the same. Of course it's not gonna be sounding the same because it's not Dimebag and not Vinnie Paul.

"Sometimes I'm just a little bit [wondering] if this should be [called] PANTERA or they should maybe find a COWBOYS FROM HELL name," he continued. "I don't know. I'm still a little bit confused about that. But you know what? [At] the end of the day, I'm happy about that, because this music and the legacy of Dimebag, it needs to be continued for the next generations. And these guys will continue with Zakk, who is probably the most right person, after Dimebag, to do that. If Zakk is doing that, if Charlie is doing that, [I'm on board with it]. If those guys wanna do it, all right. Let them do it. Let's see what happens. Let's go to see them live and let's listen [to them play].

"For sure, I'm happy to hear these songs live. I will celebrate the music because I never had a chance to see PANTERA live. I never saw PANTERA live. I was almost supposed to see and even play with PANTERA, with DECAPITATED, on the show in Poland. There was an announcement of the tour 'Tattoo The Planet' with SLAYER, STATIC-X and PANTERA, and [we were supposed to be] the local support for the Polish show. It never happened because of 9/11.

"People complain, 'This is just for money. Phil wanna do it for money'," Vogg added. "For sure, for sure. Sometimes people don't understand that musicians need to eat. And also Phil and Rex have been a big part of PANTERA.

"This is not a competition to replace Dimebag and Vinnie Paul because nobody will ever, ever do that again. Nobody will have the same groove as those guys had. Those guys, they had, in my opinion, the best groove in metal ever. So this is not a competition to replace and try to create the same sound. This is not about that. This is about to play this amazing music live and give the people… bring this joy, this amazing music back to the stage, to the festivals and make people happy, make [it possible for] people to enjoy this again. Even if I'm not a hundred percent sure and cool with all of this, I'm more [in favor of it happening]. Like, yes, let's do that. I'm crossing fingers for the guys."

Last fall, MACHINE HEAD frontman Robb Flynn told Brazilian journalist Gustavo Maiato about PANTERA's return: "I think it's gonna be awesome for fans. I think if you were born in 1999, two years before PANTERA broke up, you're gonna get to see those songs again and see the band live, which is cool. Good for the fans."

Back in January 2016, Flynn released a video message criticizing Anselmo for the apparent "white power" gesture the PANTERA singer made onstage after his appearance at "Dimebash".

In December 2016, Anselmo responded to Flynn's comments publicly in an interview with SiriusXM's "Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk", accusing the MACHINE HEAD frontman of wanting to "ride the coattails."

In June 2016, Flynn confirmed that he re-wrote part of the lyrics for the MACHINE HEAD song "Is There Anybody Out There?" to include lines that are a commentary on the "white power" gesture Anselmo made onstage at "Dimebash".

Last month, PANTERA played seven shows in Mexico and South America. The band will next headline the 2023 "comeback" edition of Japan's Loud Park festival. The two-day "limited" event will take place on March 25 at Intex Osaka in Osaka and March 26 at Makuhari Messe in Chiba City near Tokyo.

Canadian musician/producer Devin Townsend found an unlikely supporter in oft-reviled NICKELBACK frontman Chad Kroeger, who offered Townsend some key bits advice before Devin embarked on the songwriting process for his "Empath" 2019 studio album. Opposites in many respects, Townsend originally connected with Kroeger after tweeting his fondness for NICKELBACK's 2017 "Feed The Machine" LP, drawing the expected round of derision from his followers. When the two finally met, Kroeger convinced Townsend to not make a "sell-out" album, but rather the type of progressive, schizophrenic record Townsend has made a career out of.

In a recent interview with Ultimate Guitar, Townsend was asked what it was like to collaborate with Kroeger on "Empath", primarily on the song "Hear Me". He said: "Chad's brilliant. Chad is a phenomenally intelligent human being. But he's a rock star, too, on levels that you and I will never participate in. And so there's gonna be a disconnect just based on that. You only have a few things in common, and then, after a while you run out of things to talk about. I think it was flattering for me at first, too. But again, guy's got a very complex life, and I can't understand a lot of it. How could I? It's not within the realm of my world. But I think he's exceptionally talented. I think he's phenomenally intelligent. And I think that there's a certain degree of intensity to his life that I just can't hang with, man. It's too much for me. For every hour of social activity, I need two hours on my own to recover. And there's other people, and a lot of them are the people that end up being at that level of success that are never enough. You play a concert in an arena, and then you go to a club, and then you go parish sailing, and then you drink all night. And I'm, like, 'I can't do it.' I hate it. Even if I respect and care for people, after a certain amount of time, again, I have to tap out. I'm like, 'Dude, I can't hang with this.' I'm in bed by nine, usually. I don't want to listen to PANTERA at four in the morning, you know? And that's not a character flaw at all, it's just a different frequency that folks like that exist on. I'm not like that. But sometimes it takes experiences with folks like that to know that. Maybe you think you can hang, and then you get there.

"And I mean, with Chad, I remember being at his house a couple times, and just being, 'Wow, this is so intense, man,'" he continued. "He had a stage set up, and it's metal all night. And I'm thinking like, 'Man, you are so much more of a metalhead than I am.' But I do care for him. And I think he's brilliant."

Townsend previously talked about his collaboration with Kroeger in a 2019 interview with the "Talk Toomey" podcast. At the time, Townsend said about Kroeger's involvement on "Empath": "In the chorus, he sings the harmony, but really, his contribution to the record was one that can't be understated for me for a number of reasons. Primarily because here's a guy whose had a phenomenal success doing a type of music and being in a band that is clearly divisive. There's a lot of people that hate that band and hate him, but I think I'm fortunate in the sense that although I was very critical of the band for years, if there's something that somebody does and I like it, I don't have much to lose at this point for saying 'I like this.' 'I like that FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH album that I was told it isn't cool to like.' Or, 'I like the NICKELBACK album which apparently, you're not supposed to say you like.' Anyway, I heard the first song off their 'Feed The Machine' record when it came out, I don't know the guy, but I posted a thing on Twitter saying I like the new NICKELBACK song. The shitstorm that ensued on my Twitter feed, it's like something you would reserve for great dramas. The next day because him and I have mutual friends, I got a text from him saying 'Hey, this is Chad. I just want to say thanks for saying nice things about my band.' I said 'To be clear, I haven't always said that.' I said 'Also, to be fair, I have heard you being critical of what I do as well. I think I'm probably jealous.' But we started this conversation and he said 'When you get back to town, come over to my house. We can spend a day hanging out.'

He continued: "I think because the level of success he is at compared to mine — you can't compare the two — there's no competition with it. It's not like I have anything to prove with this guy and conversely, he has opinions on things that I haven't had a support network to figure out, like 'How do I deal with this?' I was talking to him and realized that we really got along. I said to him 'Listen, I'm 45 years old. I've been doing this for 30 years, although I'm fortunate to be making a living at what I do. There's a part of me that's exhausted and I feel like maybe I should make a pop record. I should essentially make a sell-out record with three-and-a-half minute-long songs, start with the chorus, big kick drum.' He was the one — I ended up spending a bunch of time with him, one of two people, [who said] 'I think that is the wrong move. I think that what you should do instead is go to the opposite direction and make something that is uncompromised,' because the reason why he's had success is not because he was trying to do something, he's just fortunate that the thing he likes doing resonates with a lot of people, but the point of why he does it, I realized in my interactions with it is very much the same thing as to why I do it. It just manifests like a different style of music. Had it not been with Chad, I think I could have been very tempted to make a record that could have pissed on the career arc, to be honest. I feel like I owe him a debt of gratitude to a certain extent."

Devin released his latest album, "Lightwork", in October.