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.

DELAIN has released a new single, "Moth To A Flame". The song is taken from the band's upcoming album, "Dark Waters", which will arrive on February 10 via Napalm Records. Emerging as a brand new start and safe haven alike, the LP, without any doubt, continues the legacy of the brainchild of keyboardist, founder and main songwriter Martijn Westerholt and contains everything DELAIN is loved for and more: a sonic rollercoaster ride of catchy tunes with explosive elements — ranging from pop to film score-inspired to blistering room shaking metal.

Singer Diana Leah says about "Moth To A Flame": "This song was the last song written for our new album 'Dark Waters' and I'm proud to say I had the opportunity to write the lyrics for it! It has a deep meaning to me."

Westerholt adds: "I'm extremely proud of this song. It's one of the most upbeat songs on the album while also having the heaviest guitar riff, and Diana's vocals are outstanding! It's a killer combination that I think fans will love."

Along with Westerholt, original guitarist Ronald Landa and original drummer Sander Zoer bolster DELAIN's continuity, while new members — Leah and bassist Ludovico Cioffi — continue to evolve their sound. Songs like the previously released single "The Quest And The Curse", as well as "The Cold" (the latter featuring a real, epic choir),lure with a bombastic sound that skilfully combines orchestral melodies, epic heavy riffs and marvelous vocal performances. DELAIN magnificently manages to never lose touch with their characteristic sound, making them a constant without ever standing still. Pop-induced opening track "Hideaway Paradise" shows exactly that by inducing a dream-like feeling flirting with melodic metal guitars, while the ballad-like dark track "Mirror Of Night", featuring WITHIN TEMPTATION guitarist Ruud Jolie, entices the listener with unfathomably catchy lines and melodies. "Queen Of Shadow" merges the orchestral and synth-focused soundscapes DELAIN is known for as it weaves melodic heavy guitars that intertwine with orchestral lines and vocal melodies. "Tainted Hearts" is centred around Westerholt's keyboard arrangements, which skilfully showcase the creative roots of the mastermind. "Invictus" is nothing less than the magnum opus of the album — a rock opera in its own right with heavy riffing, choirs and vocal parts performed by Leah, Ribaldini and Marco "Marko" Hietala (ex-NIGHTWISH),ending in a bombastic climax where everything comes together.

Westerholt adds: "This album captures all elements DELAIN is known for — our distinctive heavy guitar riffs, massive orchestral parts, both heavy metal and pop vocals, rock opera vibes along with '80s synth sounds. In short, this is definitely a recognizable DELAIN album that contains classic 'DELAIN elements' while also moving forward with fresh influences."

"Dark Waters" track list:

01. Hideaway Paradise
02. The Quest And The Curse
03. Beneath
04. Mirror Of Night
05. Tainted Hearts
06. The Cold
07. Moth To A Flame
08. Queen Of Shadow
09. Invictus
10. Underland

The new DELAIN lineup made its official live debut last August at the Riverside festival in Aarburg, Switzerland.

Leah answered a few fan-submitted questions via the band's YouTube channel, including how she joined the long-running Dutch metal act. She said: "It's really simple, actually. I knew they were looking for a singer so I just left a comment on their Instagram page. So a couple of days later I received an e-mail from Martijn, and we talked a bit about how I could audition and he sent me some material that I could sing on. And the rest is history."

Asked how she decided to sing in a metal band, the 32-year-old Diana said: "Well, I've always wanted to sing in a metal band. It was really my desire to do it. In fact, I did sing in a couple of rock bands, but it wasn't really heavy music, which I loved at the time. It was really hard to find the right people to form a band with and also to get along together and all that. But I've always wanted to be in a metal band. Always."

Leah also talked a bit about her background, saying: "I was born in Romania, in a city called Alba Iulia. It's in the middle of Transylvania. And then I moved to Italy when I was 15, and I lived in Italy for, I think, 10 years or something. And then I moved to Canada, in Ottawa, and I lived there for five years. And then I came back to Italy. And now I currently live in Italy, near Torino, so up north."

In February 2021, Westerholt announced the dissolution of DELAIN's previous lineup. At the time, he explained: "For the last year or so, the collaboration within the band ceased to work as well as it once had. Some of us were no longer happy with the current roles in the band. We all tried very hard to find a solution for over a year, but sadly we were unable to find one. As a result, we will all be going our own ways and pursuing our own endeavors.

"I am very sad our cooperation has come to end, but at the same time I am very grateful for all the years we were able to work together. Together we toured the world, shared highs and lows, and met with many successes as well as times that pushed us to learn and grow. We all enjoyed meeting our fans and making new friends all over the globe."

Singer Charlotte Wessels said about her departure: "I know that you might have questions about the 'why' in all of this. I fully understand and respect that. Simply put, it is the sad conclusion of more than a year of trying to find solutions to built up grievances. Part of me feels like I'm letting all of you down, I'd like you to know that this decision was not taken lightly and I apologise to those of you who had high hopes of seeing all of us together live on stage again after lockdown. Until recently, I thought this might still be in the cards for us as well."

In September 2022, Charlotte was asked in an interview with Spain's The Metal Circus TV how she felt about the fact that DELAIN recently made a comeback with a new lineup. Wessels said: "I'm trying not to engage with it too much, honestly. I've seen positive responses about it, which I think is good. But I do try to keep some distance and just focus on what I'm doing rather than checking that out, because I still don't feel like that will make me happier per se."

DELAIN's sixth full-length album, the Westerholt-produced "Apocalypse & Chill", was released in February 2020 via Napalm Records.

Photo credit: Andrea Falaschi

FREDLÖS, the new Stockholm, Sweden-based band featuring ENTOMBED guitarist Alex Hellid, has released the official music video for its latest single, "Otto". The track is taken from FREDLÖS's self-titled debut album, which will arrive on February 10 via Threeman Recordings, Fredlös Produktion and Sound Pollution.

FREDLÖS came together in the spring of 2021, rising from the ashes of previous musical adventures, based in the country around Norrtälje, northeast of Stockholm. United by a deep sense of their historical roots and a love of dark sounds, they create a truly epic landscape, blending heavy guitars with more traditional instruments and a need to relate history true to the facts. The result is a brooding yet effortlessly melodic sound where the listener can survive and thrive in the dark.

"Fredlös" contains nine dark, heavy, intense songs. Lyrically the album is a journey through the late Middle Ages, recounting the historical events from the perspective of the common people. Musically, it's a tour de force that defies any one description, weaving metal, rock, folk, and traditional music themes into a rich and varied tapestry.

"Fredlös" track listing:

01. Våt Varm Jord
02. Otto
03. Farsot
04. Missväxt
05. Fredlös
06. Uppror
07. Undergång
08. Deus
09. Requiem

FREDLÖS previously already released two singles, "Farsot" and "Våt Varm Jord", the latter of which was described as "seven minutes and 22 seconds of swirling, dynamic, beautiful heavy music introducing the first chapter of FREDLÖS, where you are implored to reject the light and embrace the wet warm soil."

Hellid and ENTOMBED frontman Lars-Göran "LG" Petrov had been embroiled in a legal battle over the ENTOMBED name for several years prior to the singer's March 2021 death after a battle with bile duct cancer. He was 49 years old.

During an appearance on the "Nothing Shocking Podcast", ADEMA's latest singer Ryan Shuck, who joined the group in 2019, spoke about the progress of the songwriting sessions for the band's upcoming studio album. He said in part (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "We are all from the same fucking town. We all grew up like this. We all grew up partying together. We all played together. We all come from the same shit. We need to think back and think about what made this so special. We need to recapture the vibe that we had. That doesn't mean ripping off the old music, but it will mean that the new album is gonna sound like it came after album two [2003's 'Unstable']. And I think with the new songs, people are getting that. We're really going back to the roots of what made ADEMA special."

Ryan also spoke in more detail about the ADEMA songwriting process, saying: "The way I look at it is I have this gift… I can literally just look at those guys and go, 'Hey…' I hear Tim [Fluckey, guitar] do a riff, and I go, 'Fuck, man.' All I have to do is have Mike Ransom play an awesome corresponding part or melody. All of a sudden, it sounds like ADEMA. It's incredible. And then you get Dave [DeRoo, bass] and Kris [Kohls, drums] doing what they do. You get Dave's melodic kind of bass playing that is completely unique to Dave. Then you get Kris, who's the most unique drummer I've ever played with; his completely left-brained, weird, really interesting drums. [Producer] Amir [Derakh] and I start laughing when we look at each other. We're, like, 'Oh my God. It sounds like ADEMA. It's so cool.' 'Cause we're fans too. When you get to hear these dudes play together and it sounds like the band that you dig, and when you make them do the things that you know they're the best at, this magic happens. And so I just get excited."

He continued: "Bands are always struggling to do something new and grow and keep themselves interested, but as producers and kind of co-songwriters, you have to go, 'Guys, remember, you're you. You're fucking Tim Fluckey. Just do that riff the way that you do it.' And then they start doing it, and you're, like, 'Oh my God. This is magic. These guys are magic.' So in that way, it's sort of a relief because all I have to do is get ADEMA to do what they do best. And then I've gotta make sure that I don't let the music down and the fans down by making sure the vocals are gonna be fitting the music and they're gonna be right for what the brand and what the story has always been for that band. And it's not that difficult because I am part of that story."

In June 2022, ADEMA released a new song, "Violent Principles". It was the follow-up to ADEMA's first single in nearly a decade, "Ready To Die", which came out in August 2021. Both tracks are taken from ADEMA's upcoming album, which is tentatively titled "360 Degrees Of Separation".

Last August, Shuck told the "J-Bunny's Music Hub Podcast" that "there's not a chance" of ADEMA ever working with original frontman Marky Chavez again. "I own this," he said. "There's no option for that. No, not at all. I tried to put it together with Marky. That's how I ended up accidentally offering, or accepting, their kind of plea for some, 'Hey, will you come in and sing for us for a tour?' And it just turned out so well that I kept doing it. No, there's no chance [of Chavez returning to the band]," Ryan repeated. " Unfortunately, Marky's jumped in, told them that he's gonna do it and then he's jumped out and pulled the plug on too many big tours, on too many good things, and it's damped the band so badly. Marky's really not been a great person and hasn't really respected the art and the fans and the band, and obviously isn't doing it anymore at all — you know, just doesn't seem to care."

Chavez originally left ADEMA in 2004 due to "creative differences" after two successful albums, "Adema" and "Unstable". The singer — who is the half brother of KORN frontman Jonathan Davis — quit ADEMA again in January 2011 in order to pursue his "solo project." He rejoined the group again six years later and played his first comeback show with ADEMA in May 2017 at the Whisky A Go Go in West Hollywood, California.

After Chavez's original exit from ADEMA, the other members of the band found their way with new lead singers Luke Caraccioli and later Bobby Reeves, while Mark founded MIDNIGHT PANIC with his cousin Peter Shubert. He also produced fellow artists.

ADEMA's last full-length release was 2013's "Topple The Giants". The group's first CD since 2007's "Kill The Headlights" contained brand new tracks plus re-worked versions of ADEMA's chart-topping hits "Giving In" and "Unstable".

Former Alice Cooper and current Demi Lovato guitarist Nita Strauss is currently receiving physical therapy after recently undergoing surgery for a torn meniscus.

On Friday (January 6),Nita took to her Instagram to write: "Stopping in to give a lil knee update!

"It's 10 days post surgery, I'm completely off all pain meds, and physical therapy is rocking and rolling along.

"I'm in the extremely capable hands of Zach and the team at @unbreakableperformance, @theanatomyoftherapy, and just started a couple days ago with @tb12sports! This is truly the dream team and I feel very very lucky!!

"It's not easy, but we are pushing hard and making great progress every single day.

"Being on crutches is by far the most frustrating part, and it'll still be a few weeks until I'm off them, but at least I'm starting to get used to it!

"With all the mobility and strength work we're doing, I'm going to be doing 360 jumps off stage risers in time, but now better and stronger than before.

"Until then I'll enjoy being taken care of by the best partner in the world @thejoshv", referring to Josh Villalta, Nita's longtime boyfriend who also plays drums in her solo band and manages her career. "I love you!"

Strauss also included a picture of her performing live, and added: "[Photo] from when I could still bend my knee past 90 degrees, which I will never take for granted again, by @awendowskiphoto".

Nita's meniscus surgery was overseen by Dr. Michael Banffy, an orthopedic surgeon at Cedars-Sinai in Los Angeles who is also a team doctor for the Los Angeles Rams. The procedure took place seven months after she first sustained the injury while on the road with Cooper.

Strauss, who has been the in-house guitarist for Los Angeles Rams football games since the team moved to SoFi Stadium in 2020, previously discussed her operation in a social media post in November. At the time she said in a video message: "I have a little knee update, for those who've been wondering. I did have my pre-op last week, and, unfortunately, it didn't go exactly as I hoped it would. According to my doctor, eight months of performing on a torn meniscus did not do my any favors. The injury has not improved; unfortunately, it's gotten worse. So surgery has had to be pushed to the end of the year — after Christmas, after the last Rams game — and then it'll be a full month before I can do anything at all again. So no shows, no performing, no nothing. I'm super disappointed at that; I was hoping to already be on the mend by now. But it is what it is."

In an October 2022 interview with Meltdown of Detroit's WRIF radio station, Nita said that she had "been touring with a torn meniscus since May. So I'm actually not as injury prone as I usually would be, because I'm taking it a little easier," she added. "I have surgery scheduled at the end of this tour, between Rams games and everything else I have going on. So right now I've been playing through the most serious injury I've ever had and really just trying to take care of that, make sure it doesn't get worse before it gets better."

Asked if she has had to take cortisone shots in order to deal with the pain while performing on stage in recent months, Nita said: "I've had two. I now can't have any more because it's too close to my surgery date. It's getting tough now, but we're making it through.

"All I can really do is keep it under control," she explained. "It's just the realities of running around on stage for 20 years; every once in a while you're gonna get hurt."

According to the Mayo Clinic, a torn meniscus is one of the most common knee injuries. Any activity that causes you to forcefully twist or rotate your knee, especially when putting your full weight on it, can lead to a torn meniscus.

Nita made her live debut with Demi in July with a performance of Lovato's single "Substance" on ABC's Emmy Award-winning late-night show "Jimmy Kimmel Live!".

Strauss had been playing with Cooper since 2014 when she replaced Australian musician and former Michael Jackson player Orianthi. She joined Alice in time for a mammoth MÖTLEY CRÜE tour. She was recommended to Cooper by the legendary rocker's former bass player and WINGER frontman Kip Winger.

In October, Nita released a new solo single and accompanying music video, "The Wolf You Feed". The track features a guest appearance by Alissa White-Gluz of ARCH ENEMY.

"The Wolf You Feed" was the second song Nita has released featuring a star guest vocalist, the first being the "Dead Inside" which featured guest vocals from DISTURBED's David Draiman and saw Nita become the first ever solo female to have a No. 1 hit at Active Rock radio. She also returned to her instrumental roots earlier this year with the release of single "Summer Storm", a fast-paced, emotive shred-fest.

As well as performing with Cooper, Nita has also played with R&B star Jermaine Jackson, early MTV darlings FEMME FATALE, video game supergroup CRITICAL HIT and popular tribute band THE IRON MAIDENS.

In April 2020, Nita launched "Rock Guitar Fundamentals" — a three-module online guitar teaching program suitable for learners of all levels. The course is available at www.iwanttoplayguitar.com.

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Former JOURNEY singer Steve Perry has withdrawn his petition to cancel trademark registrations for 20 of the band's songs held by guitarist Neal Schon and keyboard player Jonathan Cain. The songs include some of JOURNEY's most popular singles, such as "Any Way You Want It", "Open Arms" and "Separate Ways".

Schon and Cain, through their company Freedom JN LLC, own the trademark registrations to many of JOURNEY's biggest hits, covering the use of the names on T-shirts, hoodies and other forms of apparel, making it easier for the band to sue someone selling those items. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office issued the registrations between February 2022 and May 2022.

In his petition, Perry claimed the trio had an agreement that required unanimous consent for any business decision related to the trademarks and that he had not authorized said consent. He also accused Schon and Cain of "fraud on the trademark office" by what he claims is inaccurate information about the trademark. In response, Schon called Perry's lawsuit "a bunch of total crap", explaining that the conflict was related to the dispute over control of the JOURNEY name that led to the 2020 dismissal of longtime bassist Ross Valory and drummer Steve Smith.

Schon, who has been embroiled in a public war of words with Cain over the latter's performance of JOURNEY's 1981 hit song "Don't Stop Believin'" at Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago property in November, revealed the end of Perry's legal challenge to the trademarks in a tweet Friday night (January 6). He included a copy of Perry's January 4 withdrawal of petition for cancelation, and he included the following message: "So much for JC trying to throw me under the bus as he claimed I was blatantly trying to rip off SP while collecting the checks for the very diligent work my wife and I did to protect our Merch. Time for coffee". When one of Neal's Twitter followers asked him if Steve was dropping his lawsuit, Schon replied: "Yes he did. Now we can talk as we were."

Perry was a member of JOURNEY from 1977 to 1987 and returned to the band for another stint between 1995 and 1998. Schon co-founded the group in 1973. Cain joined JOURNEY in 1980.

Perry reunited with JOURNEY for the first time in years as they were inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame in April 2017. The iconic singer appeared onstage with his former bandmates as they each gave speeches, but did not perform with the group later in the event.

Perry's final full concert with JOURNEY took place in early 1987. He later rejoined his bandmates for a brief performance in 1991 to honor late concert promoter Bill Graham. He also appeared with JOURNEY when they received a star on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame in 2005.

Back in October 2018, Perry told Rolling Stone that he couldn't imagine working with Schon in any capacity again or even re-establishing their friendship.

The singer made his comments in response to Neal's frequent public calls for a renewed collaboration.

"I'm not sure that's possible without stirring up hopes of a reunion," Perry said. "Please listen to me. I left the band 31 fucking years ago, my friend. You can still love someone, but not want to work with them. And if they only love you because they want to work with you, that doesn't feel good to me."
So much for JC trying to throw me under the bus as he claimed I was blatantly trying to rip off SP while collecting the checks for the very diligent work my wife and I did to protect our Merch. Time for coffee 👍🏽 pic.twitter.com/xsGQBr0wob

— NEAL SCHON MUSIC (@NealSchonMusic) January 7, 2023


Yes he did. Now we can talk as we were.

— NEAL SCHON MUSIC (@NealSchonMusic) January 7, 2023

Former ROB ZOMBIE and MARILYN MANSON guitarist John 5 has uploaded a video of him playing along to "Home Sweet Home", a song from MÖTLEY CRÜE's third album, "Theatre Of Pain", which was originally released in 1985. The 52-year-old rocker captioned the clip: "Happy Motley Monday everyone it's raining in LA so I'm staying Home Sweet Home".

The latest video share comes a week after John 5 posted a video of him playing along to "Louder Than Hell", and more than a month after he shared a clip of him playing "Looks That Kill". Prior to that, he shared play-along videos for "Wild Side", the "Girls, Girls, Girls" title track and "Too Fast For Love", the title track of MÖTLEY CRÜE's debut album, which celebrated its 41st birthday on November 10.

In October, MÖTLEY CRÜE's Nikki Sixx praised John 5, saying he "checks all the boxes" as Mick Mars's replacement following the latter's decision to no longer tour with the legendary rock act.

Sixx commented on John 5's addition to CRÜE while answering fan questions on Twitter. Asked why the band chose John 5, who is one of the credited co-writers on the three original songs on CRÜE's "The Dirt" soundtrack, Sixx said: "He checks all the boxes. He's a insane player. Has respect for our music, is funny as fuck and has history with us and we've written some pretty big hits together."

Sixx also addressed Mars's announcement that he was retiring from touring because of his long struggles with degenerative disease ankylosing spondylitis. Ankylosing spondylitis is a type of arthritis that causes inflammation in the spine joints and ligaments and can lead to stiffness over time, according to the National Institute Of Arthritis And Musculoskeletal And Skin Diseases.

"He's been a soldier along with us for 4 decades," Nikki said about his longtime bandmate. "We will continue to carrying our legacy to Generations of fans and honor Micks request for us to keep touring as Motley Crue."

In addition to co-writing the three songs on "The Dirt", John 5 collaborated with Sixx and Desmond Child on Meat Loaf's "The Monster Is Loose". In 2021, Sixx and John 5 launched the L.A. RATS supergroup in which they were joied by Rob Zombie and drummer Tommy Clufetos.

The 71-year-old Mars — whose real name is Robert Alan Deal — served as MÖTLEY CRÜE's lead guitarist since the band's inception in 1981.

A day after Mick announced his retirement from touring, remaining members Sixx, singer Vince Neil and drummer Tommy Lee vowed to "continue the legacy." In a statement, they said: "While change is never easy, we accept Mick's decision to retire from the band due to the challenges with his health. We have watched Mick manage his Ankylosing Spondylitis for decades and he has always managed it with utmost courage and grace. To say 'enough is enough' is the ultimate act of courage. Mick's sound helped define MÖTLEY CRÜE from the minute he plugged in his guitar at our very first rehearsal together. The rest, as they say, is history. We'll continue to honor his musical legacy."

The statement continued: "We will carry out Mick's wish and continue to tour the world as planned in 2023. No doubt will it take an absolutely outstanding musician to fill Mick's shoes so we are grateful that our good friend, John 5 has agreed to come on board and join us moving forward. We'll see all you Crueheads out on the road!”

John 5, whose real name is John William Lowery, said: "I'm honored to carry on Mick's legacy and am looking forward to playing these songs."

In his statement, Mick said that he had decided to step back from live shows due to his "ongoing painful struggle" with ankylosing spondylitis and while he will continue to be a member of the band, he cannot "handle the rigors" of touring life.

The statement read: "Mick Mars, co-founder and lead guitarist of the heavy metal band MÖTLEY CRÜE for the past 41 years, has announced today that due to his ongoing painful struggle with Ankylosing Spondylitis, he will no longer be able to tour with the band. Mick will continue as a member of the band, but can no longer handle the rigors of the road. A.S. is an extremely painful and crippling degenerative disease, which affects the spine."

John 5's involvement with MÖTLEY CRÜE as the band's new guitarist was first reported as a rumor by the Metal Sludge web site on October 7.

Speculation about John 5 replacing Mars gained strength after the longtime ROB ZOMBIE guitarist failed to appear with the shock rocker at last year's Aftershock festival in Sacramento. Rob was instead joined on stage by returning guitarist Mike Riggs for the first time since 2006.

John 5 has performed MÖTLEY CRÜE songs a number of times in the past. Back in 2018, John 5 was joined by Sixx along with ANTHRAX's Scott Ian and his wife Pearl Aday at the Whisky A Go Go in West Hollywood, California to play a cover of "Shout At The Devil". Last year, the guitarist ran through renditions of both "Home Sweet Home" and "Kickstart My Heart" at various shows on his U.S. tour.

THE DARKNESS frontman Justin Hawkins has revealed that he "fucked up the hamstring" in his left leg doing a "David Lee Roth-style" jump at a recent concert.

The 47-year-old British-born singer, who presently resides in Switzerland, spoke about his stage mishap in an interview with Classic Rock magazine. He said: "Me and my brother [THE DARKNESS guitarist Dan Hawkins] try to run, even when we're on tour. But I haven't been able to do anything for a while because I did a David Lee Roth-style split jump and fucked up the hamstring in my left leg. It was a great jump, with my legs over my head, but when I landed, I went: 'Uh-oh.'"

Hawkins continued: "Then we were just on tour in Australia [in October 2022], and I jumped on the balcony. It didn't have the sort of lip I'm used to, so I ended up falling in a bit sideways and broke a rib. So, at the moment I'm limping, and I find it difficult to breathe. But apart from that, I'm in tremendous shape."

THE DARKNESS's latest album, "Motorheart", came out in November 2021 via Cooking Vinyl.

Justin previously called "Motorheart" a good-time rock 'n' roll" LP without any blatant sociopolitical commentary.

"I didn't want 'Motorheart' to be another 'Easter Is Canceled', our [2019] album where we're sort of talking about the state of the world," Hawkins told Billboard. "After having had a year and a half of torment and uncertainty and suffering [with the COVID-19 pandemic], I thought our fans deserved to hear us having a good time again, like we did on our first record."

THE DARKNESS's debut album, 2003's "Permission To Land", included the hit single "I Believe IN A Thing Called Love", which reached No. 9 on Billboard's Alternative Airplay chart.

Hawkins performed a couple of VAN HALEN classics with Wolfgang Van Halen at the Taylor Hawkins tribute concerts in September. The two shows — in London and in Los Angeles — honored the FOO FIGHTERS drummer who passed away in March 2022.

Tracii Guns has shared a video of him and Axl Rose playing play the LED ZEPPELIN classic "Rock And Roll" with SHARK ISLAND at Gazzarri's in West Hollywood, California in April 1986. The full video, which has floating around the Internet for a number of years, was shot by Marc Canter, an amateur photographer and the owner and general manager of the legendary rock 'n' roll hangout Canter's Deli in Los Angeles, California. Marc has been friends with Slash for over four decades and, has had unlimited access to the formative years of one of the greatest rock bands of all time, GUNS N' ROSES.

More than two years ago, SHARK ISLAND vocalist Richard Black was asked in an interview with Misplaced Straws if there is any truth to the rumors that Rose "stole" some of his stage moves, including his signature "snake dance". Black said: "At first, I avoided it and didn't want to talk about it. And there was a reason for that because if you look at it from my perspective if I say anything at all, it is perceived as sour grapes. Well, you're just jealous because that happened and that happened, you know? So I had to keep quiet. Couldn't really say anything. Now, with so much dirty water under the bridge, it doesn't really even matter. And frankly, as far as what I see Axl Rose doing is not very attractive at all. It doesn't look good to me. I was a trained modern dancer, you know? I did that, too. I mean, I was a singer, a songwriter, a dancer. I spent a considerable amount of time training and doing all this and thousands of hours on stage. And then here comes a couple of people off the turnip truck and show up in town, and it's pretty obvious that my kind of stick was appropriated.'

He continued: "I'll tell you one of the things that really got me was we were there at Gazzarri's, like I said, every week, and at the time everybody didn't have cell phones and video cameras with them all the time. People were sneaking in, camcorders with VHS tapes. I mean, I don't know how you could; I don't know how they managed to do that. There were people in the back. The places were packed. I mean, the shows were packed shoulder to shoulder, and if it was wintertime, you had a big jacket, you throw it under you. Anyway, I went over to Axl's pad one time, like some kind of an after-party or something. And he had a TV going in the living room area and on top of the TV, there was I don't know, eight or 10 VHS tapes, all marked with SHARK ISLAND. He taped some shows verbatim, boom, and one playing as I walked in on TV, no bones about it, nothing was hidden. Well, you know, my heart sank when I saw that. Because I already knew at that time that GUNS N' ROSES were getting down with David Geffen and that whole thing. And I knew that the person with the biggest mouthpiece is going to be able to claim whatever, so what can I do? You know, what can I do?"

Richard added: "He wasn't able to do anything nearly as good as what I was doing. I'm not trying to boast or anything, but truly. So what happened is the first song that came out is 'Welcome To The Jungle', right. The video of 'Welcome To The Jungle', even by GUNS N ROSES standard, is largely different than what came after that for them. For Axl, for everybody. It was very much a different vibe; he was dressed differently, more glamour, after that and they decided to try to look like Hell's Angels or something. They kind of shifted gears to that. And we weren't that I was never into that. I was more into, like, elegance and decadence and a trifle raunchy. That's what I kind of tried to be. That was like what my intent was. So if you look, if one were to look at 'Welcome To The Jungle' and one were to remember the Gazzari's-era time, then the whole similarity is very obvious. but in the grand scheme of things, he ended up at best, getting kind of a jump start for some kind of image. Image [was] very important then. It is even now, but no one wants to admit it, but image is very important. How how do you want to be perceived? So it ended after that. I mean, and then when you see him now, you know there's virtually no similarity. But maybe there's little things that you can't maybe put a finger on.

"So I hate for it to sound like, again, like sour grapes," he continued. "And it's not, because good for him, you know? But I would have hoped… if it was me and something like that would happen, even inadvertently, I would've thrown somebody a bone at that point. I mean, I had I didn't have a record deal for several years after that, and by that time, grunge was already knocking on my door and things were changing. So it was, like, too late, but he could have at any time, any of them, said, 'Hey, I got this friend of mine', or said something in an interview or did something because he knows how desperate it was. He didn't have to cut his teeth as bad as I did for such a long time, because he was able to appropriate something and kind of move ahead of the line, so to speak. I don't have to do all that. All that spadework, dig that ditch. I've already dug the ditch, you know? So that's what that is. And I don't frankly care. My life came out in the grand scheme of things a lot different than I had planned, but I think it's probably, if I really look at it, it's probably a good thing because I think I might have been dead."

More than a decade ago, Canter also commented on the rumors that Axl "ripped off" Richard's stage moves. Addressing the video of Axl and Tracii performing with SHARK ISLAND at Gazzari's, he wrote on a GN'R online forum: "First off that video with Axl and Tracii was from April 26th 1986 and I shot it. The reason I was there is because I knew Axl was going to be going up on stage with them and I was filming everything Axl did because I knew it was important to have it. Since I was there I shot the whole show. I gave Axl a copy of it and that's why it ended up in Axl's apartment."

He continued: "Axl had plenty of moves before he had even heard of SHARK ISLAND. Axl liked Richard and thought the band was very professional because they used to play 200 gigs a year. The snake move was something that Richard did do and Axl must have been a bit influenced by it and picked up on it and at some point worked it in with all his other moves. It doesn't mean that Axl ripped him off. Lots of Rock Stars get influenced by something they see and use it somehow. Mick Jagger got a lot of them from Tina Turner. Axl is very natural and is mostly one of a kind in everything he does but I'm sure some of what he does came from something he saw somewhere and just starting doing something like it because it felt right. Joe Perry took a lot from Jeff Beck, Slash took a lot from Joe Perry that's Rock N' Roll and there are kids out there that took something from Slash. No big deal."

In a January 2007 interview with the South Wales Echo, Tracii stated about his early years as a member of GUNS N' ROSES, "If I had stayed with Axl, I don't know if GUNS N' ROSES would have been any better or worse but I think it would have been a very different band. We would have had a bit more fire. But the key to that band's success was Axl because at that time his singing really connected with people on a social level."

He continued, "I haven't spoken to Axl since 1988, but we still have a lot of mutual friends. I don't wish him ill, but it's hard because he never stops saying bad things about me. He was on my MySpace page doing that very recently.

"Axl's problem is that if people don't support him a hundred percent in what he's doing, he just doesn't want to know them anymore. He's so talented, but that talent comes from being a nervous wreck and some place in your head you need to be happy, which he isn't."

New York's Sanhedrin have released an animated video for "Scythian Women", featured on their Metal Blade Records album, Lights On, released last March. Watch below:





Lights On can be ordered in various formats at this location.







Tracklisting:


"Correction"
"Lights On"
"Lost At Sea"
"Change Takes Forever"
"Code Blue"
"Scythian Women"
"Hero's End"
"Death Is A Door"


Album stream:





"Correction":

Powerwolf performed at Rudolf Weber-Arena in Oberhausen, Germany back on November 26. WDR Rockpalast has released professionally-filmed footage of the full show, which you can watch below.


Setlist:


"Faster Than The Flame"
"Incense & Iron"
"Cardinal Sin"
"Amen & Attack"
"Dancing With The Dead"
"Armata Strigoi"
"Beast Of Gévaudan"
"Stossgebet"
"Demons Are A Girl's Best Friend"
"Fire & Forgive"
"Where The Wild Wolves Have Gone"
"Sainted By The Storm"
"Army Of The Night"
"Blood For Blood (Faoladh)"
"Let There Be Night"
"Sanctified With Dynamite"
"We Drink Your Blood"
"Werewolves Of Armenia"







Just in time for the highest Christian holiday, Easter 2023, another highlight of Powerwolf's discography, Interludium, will be released on April 7. The new release features six new studio tracks, including the single "Sainted By The Storm", which was already celebrated on the band's exhilarating Wolfsnächte 2022 headline tour, as well as one of the most intense tracks in the band's history, "My Will Be Done". Interludium also features gems and rarities from the band's historysuch as “Midnight Madonna” or “Living On A Nightmare”


Interludium comes in several editions, most of them containing another exciting surprise: the bonus album Communio Lupatum II, where eleven befriended bands like Eisbrecher, Electric Callboy, Korpiklaani and Rage cover some of the biggest hits of Powerwolf’s career. More limited versions also contain the second bonus album Interludium Orchestrale, containing eight orchestral versions of the album tracks.





Interludium will be available in various formats:


- 3 LP Vinyl Transparent / Black in Cardboard Box (1-LP Gatefold + 2 x Bonus Album in Slipcase) with Slipmat – strictly limited to 300 worldwide (Napalm Records Shop exclusive)
- 3 LP Vinyl Marbled Green / White / Black in Cardboard Box (1-LP Gatefold + 2 x Bonus Album in Slipcase) with Slipmat – strictly limited to 300 worldwide (Powerwolf Shop exclusive)
- 3 LP Vinyl Marbled Black / Red in Cardboard Box (1-LP Gatefold + 2 x Bonus Album in Slipcase) with Slipmat – strictly limited to 400 worldwide (EMP exclusive)
- 3 CD Earbook with 96 pages booklet – strictly limited to 1500 worldwide
- 2 CD Mediabook with 48 pages booklet, incl Communio Lupatum II bundled with ticket for Un Holy Metal Mass in Cologne
- 2 CD Mediabook with 48 pages booklet, incl Communio Lupatum II with Aluminium Chalice (Capacity: 0,6l, Height: 20cm, Weight: 750g) – strictly limited to 500 worldwide (Napalm Records Shop exclusive)
- 2 CD Mediabook with 48 pages booklet, incl Communio Lupatum II
- 1 CD Jewel Case
- 1 LP Gatefold with poster
- 2 Music Cassette – strictly limited to 300 worldwide
- Digital Deluxe Album
- Digital Album


Pre-order here.





Tracklisting:


"Wolves Of War"
"Sainted By The Storm"
"No Prayer At Midnight"
"My Will Be Done"
"Altars On Fire"
"Wolfborn"
"Stronger Than The Sacrament"
"Living On A Nightmare"
"Midnight Madonna"
"Bête du Gévaudan"


CD 2 Communio Lupatum II:


"Werewolves Of Armenia" (by Wind Rose)
"Reverent Of Rats" (by Mystic Prophecy)
"Dancing With The Dead" (by Annisokay)
"Call Of The Wild" (by Rage)
"Venom Of Venus" (by Ad Infinitum)
"Sudenmorsian" (Where The Wild Wolves Have Gone) (by Korpiklaani)
"Stossgebet" (by Eisbrecher)
"Fire & Forgive" (by Electric Callboy)
"Armata Strigoi" (by Warkings)
"We Are The Wild" (by Lord Of The Lost)
"Night Of The Werewolves" (by Unleash The Archers)


CD 3 Interludium Orchestrale:


"Wolves Of War" (orchestral version)
"Sainted By The Storm" (orchestral version)
"No Prayer At Midnight" (orchestral version)
"My Will Be Done" (orchestral version)
"Altars On Fire" (orchestral version)
"Wolfborn" (orchestral version)
"Midnight Madonna" (orchestral version)
"Bête du Gévaudan" (orchestral version)


"My Will Be Done" video:





"Sainted By The Storm" lyric video:





One day before the release of Interludium, Powerwolf will celebrate Easter with their devotees at Palladium in Cologne. The album release show will be one of the biggest concerts in the history of the band and a once in a lifetime experience for each Powerwolf fan.


Powerwolf are:


Attila Dorn – vocals
Falk Maria Schlegel – organ
Charles Greywolf – guitar
Matthew Greywolf – guitar
Roel van Helden – drums

Europe have shared two live videos, filmed at Ireland's Arena Dublin on May 10, 2022 and Scotland's SSE Hydro Arena Glasgow on May 12, 2022. Watch below:










In late 2022, guitarist John Norum revealed that Europe are planning to enter the studio early this year to record the follow up to 2017’s Walk The Earth. He also revealed that the band hope to work with producer Dave Cobb once more, the producer who helmed both Walk The Earth and 2015’s War Of Kings. Norum made his comments in a brand new interview with eonmusic.


Talking about new music, and the follow up to Europe’s Walk The Earth, which was released in 2017, John said; “Has it been five years?! Oh wow! That seems like a very long time. Time just flies by, it’s crazy. Well, we’ve been talking about future plans and things like that, so we plan to go in the studio in around April / May [2023], something like that, but we are writing songs at the moment for the next Europe album, and we’re looking for producers."


He also revealed that the band plan to work with Dave Cobb once more, who produced the band’s last two releases, Norum said; “We hope can work with Dave Cobb again because he’s the greatest. He’s so good, he’s amazing, so hopefully we can do it with him if he's not busy, and hope that we can do it in his studio because that would be a lot of fun. He has a studio in Nashville, so that would be fun to go there and record the next album."


Stay tuned for updates.

The Rolling Stones will release GRRR Live!, the definitive live hits album from the band’s career, on February 10 via Mercury Studios/Universal Music. The album will be available in various formats; 3LP black, 3LP coloured white (Indies exclusive) 3LP red (d2c exclusive), 2CD, DVD + 2CD, BluRay+ 2CD. The Blu-ray and digital versions will include Dolby Atmos.


"Wild Horses" from the upcoming release is available for streaming here, and below:







The Rolling Stones also announced a new online concert event celebrating the release of GRRR Live!. The concert will take place February 2 at 8PM GMT / 8PM Eastern / 8PM Pacific / 8PM AWST (February 3).


Recorded on the band’s 50 & Counting Tour, the GRRR Live! concert featured guest appearances by The Black Keys ("Who Do You Love?"), Gary Clark Jr & John Mayer ("Going Down"), Lady Gaga ("Gimme Shelter"), Mick Taylor ("Midnight Rambler") and hometown hero Bruce Springsteen ("Tumbling Dice"), and proved to be one of the most memorable shows in the band’s history. It has not been available to fans since it originally aired on pay-per-view in 2012.


The GRRR Live! experience will bring this history-making concert to fans around the world on RollingStonesNewark.com via interactive video company Kiswe’s global live streaming technology. The concert features some of the greatest songs of all time including "It’s Only Rock ‘n’ Roll (But I Like It)", "Honky Tonk Women", "Start Me Up", "Gimme Shelter", "Sympathy For The Devil" and "(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction". Unlike viewing performances on other platforms, Kiswe Live allows the fans to be part of the experience. Fans from all over the world will be able to upload short video selfies of themselves to celebrate the band, the performances, see themselves on the screen and be seen by others across the globe, alongside the performance.


Tickets are on sale at RollingStonesNewark.com.


The best live band in the world deserve the ultimate live greatest hits album and GRRR Live! is it, The Stones at their best! The album is available to pre-order here and features some of the greatest songs of all time including "It’s Only Rock ‘n’ Roll (But I Like It)", "Honky Tonk Women", "Start Me Up", "Gimme Shelter", "Sympathy For The Devil" and "(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction".





The Rolling Stones celebrated their golden anniversary in 2012 & 2013 by embarking on the 50 & Counting Tour, a 30-show itinerary for North America and Europe. On December 15, 2012, the band took the stage at Newark, New Jersey’s Prudential Center for the final of four shows in the New York area.


Since its original airing on pay-per-view in 2012, this show has not been available to fans until now. The concert has been re-edited and the audio has been remixed. Three songs from the December 13 show (also in Newark) will be available as bonus features on the DVD and Blu-ray: "Respectable" (with John Mayer), "Around And Around", and "Gimme Shelter".





GRR Live! tracklisting:


CD1:


"Get Off Of My Cloud"
"The Last Time"
"It’s Only Rock ‘n’ Roll (But I Like It)"
"Paint It Black"
"Gimme Shelter" (with Lady Gaga)
"Wild Horses"
"Going Down" (with John Mayer and Gary Clark Jr)
"Dead Flowers"
"Who Do You Love?" (with The Black Keys)
"Doom And Gloom"
"One More Shot"
"Miss You"
"Honky Tonk Women"
Band Introductions


CD2:


"Before They Make Me Run"
"Happy"
"Midnight Rambler" (with Mick Taylor)
"Start Me Up"
"Tumbling Dice" (with Bruce Springsteen)
"Brown Sugar"
"Sympathy For the Devil"
"You Can’t Always Get What You Want"
"Jumpin’ Jack Flash"
"(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction"











(Photo - Claude Gassian)

Drummer Thomen Stauch​​​​ (Mentalist, ex- Blind​​​​ Guardian) is back with a new video, this time performing an alternate drum cover of AC/DC's "Hells Bells". Watch below.


Says Thomen: Contact me by email, if you are interested in drum classes online or local and want to know more details about my fair prices, required equipment, a.s.o.! unterricht@thomen-drumchamber.com."







Thomen's previous drum cover videos are available below:

Cherry Red will issue Girlschool: The School Report 1978-2008 5CD box set on January 27. Limited exclusive signed postcards will be included with pre-orders while supplies last.


This in-depth box set delves right back to the band’s pub rock roots right up until the present. A celebration of Girlschool’s 40 plus years of rocking the globe, kicking off with their independently released 45 "Take It All Away" b/w "It Could Be Better".


Formed at school in the mid-70s, when friends Kim McAuliffe on guitar and bassist Enid Williams joined forces as Painted Lady, Girlschool formed in 1978, swept up as part of the New Wave Of British Heavy Metal movement that also gave us Iron Maiden, Def Leppard and Saxon, recruiting lead guitarist Kelly Johnson and drummer Denise Dufort in April 1978.




Debut LP Demolition made it into the UK Top 30 in 1980, and the girls even found time while recording their follow up album Hit And Run (1981) with producer Vic Maile, to record the St Valentines Day Massacre EP with label mates Motörhead as HeadGirl.1982’s Wildlife EP would be Enid’s last outing with Girlschool for a while, as she was replaced on bass by Gil Weston for Screaming Blue Murder (1982).


Their fourth album, Play Dirty (1983), was issued in the States on Mercury Records, who also picked up the option to release their fifth, Running Wild (1985). The first album to be released without Kelly Johnson, it saw founder members Kim McAulliffe and Denise Dufort joined by Gil Weston, Jackie Bodimead (lead vocals, keyboards) and Cris Bonacci (guitar).


A new deal with GWR saw albums Nightmare At Maple Cross (1986) and Take A Bite (1988), by which time the bass slot had been filled by former Rock Goddess Tracey Lamb. Their eighth studio album, the self-titled Girlschool came out in 1992 and 2002’s 21st Anniversary – Not That Innocent marked the beginning of a more prolific time for the band, as they would follow it up with Believe (2004), Legacy (2008).


CD 4 features many rare B-Sides and non-album cuts, as well as demos dating from 1978 up to 2002 and CD5 boasts an ultra rare live recording from the pre-Girlschool Painted Lady.


This five disc set comes with an extended essay from NWOBHM expert John Tucker, and features plenty of pages of rare photos and sought after memorabilia.


Pre-order here.





Tracklisting:


Disc One: Demolition Girls (1979-1983)
"Take It All Away" (A-side)
"It Could Be Better" (B-side)
"Emergency"
"Nothing To Lose"
"Demolition Boys"
"Not For Sale"
"Take It All Away"
"Breakdown"
"Race With The Devil"
"Yeah Right"
"Please Don’t Touch" (with Motörhead)
"Hit And Run"
"The Hunter"
"(I’m Your) Victim"
"Watch Your Step"
"C’mon Let’s Go"
"Tush"
"Don’t Call It Love" (Wildlife EP)
"Screaming Blue Murder"
"It Turns Your Head Around"
"You Got Me"
"Take It From Me"
"1-2-3-4 Rock And Roll"


Disc Two: Playing Dirty (1983-1988)
"20th Century Boy"
"Play Dirty"
"Running For Cover"
"High & Dry"
"Going Under"
"Burning In The Heat"
"Nowhere To Run"
"Are You Ready?"
"Let Me Go"
"Running Wild"
"Love Is A Lie"
"Nasty Nasty"
"Back For More"
"All Day All Night"
"You’ve Got Me (Under Your Spell)"
"Let’s Go Crazy"
"Play With Fire"
"Head Over Heels"
"Action"
"Love At First Bite"
"Too Hot To Handle"


Disc Three: Still Not That Innocent (1992-2015)
"My Ambition"
"Can’t Say No"
"Can’t Do That"
"Take Me I’m Yours"
"Innocent"
"Knife"
"Coming Your Way"
"Mad Mad Sister"
"Let’s Get Hard"
"Secret"
"You Say"
"Passion"
"Other Side"
"I Spy" (Dio/Iommi Mix)
"Legend"
"Metropolis"


Disc Four: I Told You So – Singles, B-Sides (1980-1983)
"Furniture Fire" (B-side)
"Nothing To Lose" (7″ edit)
"Bomber" (St Valentine’s Day)
"Emergency" (St Valentine’s Day)
"Tonight" (B-side)
"Demolition Boys" (Live B-side)
"Tonight" (Live B-side)
"Wildlife"
"Don’t Stop"
"Tush"
"Don’t Call It Love"
"1-2-3-4 Rock And Roll" (ext ver)
"Like It Like That" (B-side)


Demos (1978-2002)
"Let’s Spend The Night Together"
"Just Don’t Care"
"Nothing To Lose"
"Baby Doll"
"Not For Sale"
"Running Wild"
"Love Is A Lie"
"I Told You So"
"Have A Nice Day"
"London"


Disc Five: The Pre-School Years – Painted Lady Live (1978)
"I Wanted To Boogie"
"Be My Lover"
"Smoke On The Water"
"King of The Blues"
"Sometime World"
"Rub It In"
"I Saw You Standing There"
"All Along The Watchtower"
"Paper Plane"
"Johnny B. Goode"
"Shoot Shoot"
"How Can I Tell You"
"Can’t Get Enough"
"All Right Now"
"Knocking On Heaven’s Door"
"Gimme Some Loving"
"Honky Tonk Women"
"Change’s Coming"
"Hey Joe"
"You Keep Me Hanging On"

An official 9-tape box set featuring Destruction's complete works from 1984-1990 is now available via Darkness Shall Rise Productions.





Housed in a heavy luxurious matte black case-wrapped box with silver hot foil stamped printing, this piece of German thrash metal history is strictly limited to 1,000 hand-numbered copies. Order here.




The set includes:


Tape 1: Bestial Invasion Of Hell
Tape 2: Sentence Of Death
Tape 3: Infernal Overkill
Tape 4: Eternal Devastation
Tape 5: Mad Butcher
Tape 6: Release From Agony
Tape 7: Live Ruins (Dynamo '87)
Tape 8: Live Without Sense
Tape 9: Cracked Brain





Next to the 9 tapes, the box includes:


- massive hardcover-book (with many unseen pictures and tons of new liner notes and interviews (exclusive long interviews with Schmier, Mike, Tommy and Oli were specially conducted for this box)
- metal pin
- 2 regular patches
- shaped backpatch
- flag
- 4 double sided posters
- hand-numbered certificate


The "Die Hard" version (1-99) also includes an exclusive massive Destruction belt buckle which is only available with this box-set and only in the DSR shop and a numbered and signed (by Schmier, Mike, Tommy and Oli) certificate.

In a recent interview with Pod Scum, drummer Paul Mazurkiewicz of Florida death metal veterans CANNIBAL CORPSE reflected on the band's 1995 decision to part ways with vocalist Chris Barnes and replace him with George "Corpsegrinder" Fisher. Barnes reportedly left CANNIBAL CORPSE in part over disagreements regarding the band's more technical direction.

"It's crazy to think that we did that," Paul said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET). "And here we are bigger than ever. It's a tough to pull off. The early era, the 'Barnes era', what I guess everyone calls it, that's the beginning of the band; that's what obviously started us out and how we got going and all. And we were doing fairly well. We're up the ladder here. We're moving. We're a force to be reckoned with now. So to change a singer in the middle of that seems a little crazy, but it had to happen. You look back now, and we all obviously feel we've bettered the band; George is just a better vocalist overall. And we've moved forward. And here we are — Jeez, Barnes has been out of the band how long now? 25 years or so. But both eras, they mean something, of course. That's the beginning of the band, so you're gonna get those purists that are gonna go, 'I love that era more because…' Okay — whatever. I've got no problem with that. It is what it is. He was a part of the band and we did do well; it wasn't like he was nothing or nothing was happening with that time… It was a big thing to deal with, and luckily we were able to persevere and get through that and to be bigger than ever.

"It's always gonna be debated, I guess; there's gonna be people talking about it. But that's the history of the band. Whether you like it or not, or whether we like it or not, it doesn't matter. He's a part of the history of CANNIBAL, and any member that was in the band is. If it wasn't for him, I guess, the five original members, well, then the band would have never maybe existed. So it was an important era and it can't be overlooked and the significance of the original band and the beginnings of CANNIBAL CORPSE. It's cool to be able to talk about it — a cool story that maybe a lot of bands wouldn't be able to survive. And luckily we have been able to survive and, like I said, do better than we ever thought we would have, I guess, by having George in the band."

Six years ago, Barnes spoke about the possibility of his current band SIX FEET UNDER and CANNIBAL CORPSE one day touring together, telling "The Chainsaw Symphony" radio program: "That would be a tough one to put together, my friend. [Laughs] You wouldn't have any problems from my side of things, but I don't think other people would be agreeable to that."

He continued: "I don't think there's animosity [between us]. I think there's just protecting other people's feelings. I think that everyone knows certain things about everything and they'd like to see things a certain way, and that wouldn't portray things a certain way that they would wanna portray them. So… I'm being very general and trying to be diplomatic about it."

Barnes also talked about the circumstances behind his departure from CANNIBAL CORPSE. He said: "I just didn't like being around them, because I was being ridiculed, and I just didn't feel comfortable being in the same room with people that weren't very nice to me personally. And I was part of that too, so we had all of our own type of differences, personally, and I don't think it was gonna be able to be worked out. You know, mutual respect goes a far way when it comes to being in close quarters with people."

He continued: "I'm sure we'd do things differently [today] — I mean, I know we would. It's just the way things worked out. And I don't have any animosity towards those guys at all, and I don't think they do towards me. It's just that… It would be too confusing for things [if we were to tour together], I think, from their perspective."

Barnes added: "I'd do anything. I just like to see a lot of people out there with smiles on their faces; that's the only thing that's important to me, man. Like, seriously, if I see a big crowd of people that everyone's smiling, like, 'Oh, yeah! This is what we've been waiting for,' I'm ready then, man. If I see a small room of people that are just fired up to go, man, it just gets me going on stage, you know. And that's all I'm there for — that feeling, that sharing of energy, man. And I'll go for it any which way to get that any way I can with any person I can get it with. And if it gets to that means to an end, that's all that's important, man — that transference. And some people just don't see it that way, man, and it's cool.

"I'm not gonna be mean to anybody, and I never wanted to be. I'm my own person, and sometimes I'm put at fault for that, and I think we all are in our own way. And that's just life; those are the things we deal with as people."

Drone video of PANTERA's performance of the song "A New Level" at Knotfest Brasil at Sambódromo Do Anhembi in São Paulo, Brazil can be seen below (courtesy of Osvaldo Antelo Retamoso). The concert was the reformed band's fourth without bassist Rex Brown, who was forced to leave PANTERA's Latin American tour after testing positive for COVID-19. Filling in for him at Knotfest Brasil gig — and other recent shows — was CATTLE DECAPITATION bassist Derek Engemann, who also plays with PANTERA singer Philip Anselmo in both PHILIP H. ANSELMO & THE ILLEGALS and SCOUR.

Joining surviving members Brown and Anselmo in PANTERA's reformed lineup are guitarist Zakk Wylde (OZZY OSBOURNE, BLACK LABEL SOCIETY) and drummer Charlie Benante (ANTHRAX).

The new PANTERA lineup made its live debut on December 2 at Mexico's Hell & Heaven Metal Fest and also performed on December 6 at Monterrey Metal Fest in Monterrey, Mexico.

It was first reported in July that Anselmo and Brown would unite with Wylde and Benante for a world tour under the PANTERA banner.

The band will headline a number of major festivals across North America and Europe and stage 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.

Up until his passing, Vinnie remained on non-speaking terms with Anselmo, whom the drummer indirectly blamed for Dimebag's death.

Vinnie Paul and Dimebag co-founded PANTERA. When PANTERA broke up in 2003, they formed DAMAGEPLAN. On December 8, 2004, while performing with DAMAGEPLAN at the Alrosa Villa in Columbus, Ohio, Dimebag was shot and killed onstage by a troubled schizophrenic who believed that the members of PANTERA were stealing his thoughts.

Vinnie passed away on June 22, 2018 at his other home in Las Vegas at the age of 54. He died of dilated cardiomyopathy, an enlarged heart, as well as severe coronary artery disease. His death was the result of chronic weakening of the heart muscle — basically meaning his heart couldn't pump blood as well as a healthy heart.



Nunca pense estar vivo para ver a Pantera al vivo, lo mejor de lo mejor. #panteraband #knotfest2022 #knotfestbrasil #anewlevel #zakkwylde #CharlieBenante #philanselmo
Pantera - A New Level (Live @ Knotfest 2022) [By CafeinaGasolina]

Posted by Oso Retamoso on Saturday, December 24, 2022

Drummer Fred Estby of Swedish death metal pioneers DISMEMBER has confirmed to Bandcamp that he and his bandmates are planning to work on their first material since 2008's self-titled album. "We're talking about making new music," he said. "The question is when. As of right now, because of the pandemic and all that, this year was only honoring all the shows that were booked in 2019 and 2020. So, we got those done, and of course, the way metal festivals, especially in Europe, work now is as soon as they're done, they're already selling tickets for next year's edition. So we have a couple coming up, which is gonna be really fun. But we're also thinking about recording more."

Last July, it was announced that DISMEMBER had once again partnered with Nuclear Blast Records, the label that released the band's 1990 demo, "Reborn In Blasphemy", their 1991 debut album, "Like An Everflowing Stream", as well as the four records that would follow. In celebration of this announcement, a fully remastered version of "Like An Everflowing Stream" was made available on streaming services worldwide after it had been absent for quite some time.

"Like An Everflowing Stream" — hailed by many as one of the best death metal albums of all time — was the first entry in a reissue campaign of the entire DISMEMBER back catalog, which as recently remastered from the original albums.

Between 1988 and 2011, DISMEMBER earned a notorious reputation as the "MOTÖRHEAD of death metal", through eight classic albums and furious live shows around the globe. The band was formed by Robert Sennebäck, David Blomqvist and Fred Estby in Stockholm, Sweden, in 1988 and has long since been regarded as one of the originators of the trademark Swedish death metal sound, next to other pioneering bands such as ENTOMBED, GRAVE and UNLEASHED. DISMEMBER recorded a couple of independently released demos before their 1990 demo cassette, "Reborn In Blasphemy", with Matti Kärki on vocals and ENTOMBED's Nicke Andersson taking over most lead guitar parts, got picked up for a wider release by Nuclear Blast Records. In 1991, "Like An Everflowing Stream" saw the light of day, which was recorded by Tomas Skogsberg at the now-legendary Sunlight Studios, and featured Richard Cabeza (UNANIMATED) on bass. DISMEMBER released its acclaimed sophomore album, "Indecent & Obscene", in 1993, which to this day remains their most successful output. Three more albums would follow on Nuclear Blast, "Massive Kiling Capacity" (1995),"Death Metal" (1997) and "Hate Campaign" (2000),until the band decided to switch labels. They released two more albums, "Where Ironcrosses Grow" (2004, Karmageddon Records) and "The God That Never Was" (2005, Regain) before Estby announced his departure for family reasons in 2007. Their last album, "Dismember", followed in 2008 and the band officially broke up in 2011. After an eight-year hiatus, the band's original lineup reunited for a 30th-anniversary gig at Scandinavia Death Fest in October 2019, performing together for the first time in over 20 years.

DISMEMBER is:

Fred Estby (Drums)
David Blomqvist (Guitars)
Robert Sennebäck (Guitars)
Matti Karki (Vocals)
Richard Cabeza (Bass)

Photo credit: Nathaniel Shannon

Rock icon Billy Idol was honored with the 2,743rd star on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame earlier today (Friday, January 6). The star, the first of the new year, was dedicated at 6201 Hollywood Boulevard in front of Amoeba Music. Idol, who was joined by emcee Lupita Sanchez Cornejo, artist Shepard Fairey and rocker Henry Rollins at the ceremony, was awarded his star in the category of Recording.

Video of the ceremony, courtesy of Variety, can be seen below.

An emotional Idol thanked his fans who gathered for the star unveiling.

"You are the best. Quite simply, I'm here today because of you, because of your love," he said. "You supported me all this time. Forty-seven years now I've been doing this."

He added: "It really is crazy to find myself getting an award like this, or being honored in this way. I mean, 47 years of doing this after I started in GENERATION X, and 35 years after coming here, I just really could never have imagined anything like this.

"Initially we did the music back in the mid-'70s during the punk-rock time. There wasn't much hope or anything. We decided if there's nothing, there's no future, we're going to do what we love. And that's what I did. I did the music because I loved it. It wasn't for any other reason, really. Anyway, I didn't really think doing this would last very long. We thought maybe six months, maybe a year, maybe two years. I could never have imagined something like this. It's just incredible."

The star is the 2,743rd since the completion of the Hollywood Walk Of Fame in 1961 with the initial 1,558 stars and the first to be unveiled in 2023.

The ceremony was originally scheduled for Thursday (January 5) but delayed by one day following a forecast of torrential rains.

Idol was an early architect of the sound, style, and fury of punk rock. His lip- curling sneer and fist-pumping persona vaulted him into the mainstream as one of MTV's first megastars, making him one of the most recognizable faces in pop music, He has sold 40 million albums while scoring numerous platinum albums worldwide, nine top forty singles in the U.S. and 10 in the U.K. including "Dancing With Myself", "White Wedding", "Rebel Yell", "Mony Mony", "Eyes Without A Face", "Flesh For Fantasy" and "Cradle Of Love". Billy was responsible for some of punk rock's most memorable, literate, and evocative moments and created a pioneering new sound by bringing the spirit of '77 to the dance floor, going on to fashion an immediately identifiable musical blueprint that integrates club-land throb, rockabilly desperation, and rock'n'roll decadence.

Forty-five years after releasing his first 45, Billy Idol still makes gliding, thumping, cinematic songs about sin, redemption and the love of rock 'n' roll… and that's what you will find on "The Roadside" and "The Cage", Idol's latest two four-song EPs released in 2021 and 2022, respectively. Both EPs will be instantly familiar to lovers of classic Idol, while announcing a firm step into the future full of color, power, atmosphere, attitude, and mystery. And on both new releases Billy is joined by his friend and collaborator since 1981, guitarist and songwriter Steve Stevens. For 41 years — 41 years! — Steve has been Billy Idol's sonic assassin and master blender of tones and textures, the thinking man's shredder and the shredding man's Picasso.

Idol, together with his band featuring Stevens, have consistently toured the world for the past two decades, headlining theatres and arenas and performing at major festivals all over the world.

Idol has always found time to support various causes in need, including Teenage Cancer Trust, Teen Cancer America, Goldberg Kids Fund, World Wildlife Funds, Rural Aid Australia, Animals Australia, March of Dimes, Autism Speaks and the Boston Children's Hospital.

The Hollywood Walk Of Fame is a celebration of art, entertainment, and all things Hollywood. Star ceremonies are broadcast worldwide, connecting fans with their favorite artists. The Hollywood Chamber Of Commerce administers the Walk Of Fame on behalf of the City Of Los Angeles. Honorees are selected by a committee of their peers. Sponsors fund the star, the ceremony and the maintenance of the legendary attraction. The Walk Of Fame is free to all.

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Former MACHINE HEAD and current VIO-LENCE guitarist Phil Demmel joined STEEL PANTHER on stage last night (Thursday, January 5) at The Fillmore in San Francisco, California to perform the STEEL PANTHER song "Asian Hooker". Video of his appearance, courtesy of Capital Chaos TV, can be seen below.

STEEL PANTHER's sixth studio album, "On The Prowl", will be released on February 24. Drummer Stix Zadinia told Australia's Metal Roos about the LP: "It is killer. Every band, normally you go, 'Yeah, dude, it's killer. It's our best record,' but you know — I think bandmembers know — it's a good record and you believe in it, but you know when you did something… This record has a spirit about it; it has a vibe about it where it's, like… I don't know. It feels different than the last few records. It just feels like there's a lot of joy in this record and fun and rocking and… It's killer, man.

"We actually did it differently than we've done any other record," he continued. "We did it at our houses, except for the drums. And then we had [longtime producer] Jay Ruston mix it. But we engineered this thing — we produced it, engineered it, all just us. Wrote, recorded, engineered, produced. The only thing we didn't do is mix it or master it."

According to Stix, he and his bandmates "were as productive as you could pretty much be as a band" during the pandemic. "We did socially distanced shows, pod shows, drive-in shows, livestreams. I say, 'We didn't do anything,' because… STEEL PANTHER, the way we've come up, we work — we're grinders and we play live. We are producers — we make things, we do things. And sitting on our ass is not comfortable for STEEL PANTHER. So this record is, I think, a reflection of our excitement. And it's gonna be killer."

Last September, STEEL PANTHER announced the addition of Spyder as the band's new bassist.

"Spyder has filled in for Lexxi [Foxx, former STEEL PANTHER bassist] many times," STEEL PANTHER singer Michael Starr told the "Everblack" podcast. "He's a super-close friend of the band. We've known him for years. As a matter of fact, [STEEL PANTHER guitarist] Satchel and I were in a VAN HALEN tribute band for a while, and Spyder was the bass player in that. We have a rich history with him… He did all of Europe with us and he did a great job."

Formed in 2000, STEEL PANTHER specializes in imitating and exaggerating the less flattering aspects of 1980s hair metal, with unrepentantly crude, non-PC sexual content as a favorite lyrical theme.

The group's music has been described as "VAN HALEN meets MÖTLEY CRÜE meets RATT meets 'Wayne's World', complete with operatic shrieks, misogyny, shredding guitar solos and libidinal overdrive."

Fourteen years ago, STEEL PANTHER changed its name from METAL SKOOL to its current moniker and shifted the focus of its act from '80s metal covers to originals.

POISON frontman Bret Michaels will release his new solo single, "Back In The Day", on Wednesday, January 18. That same day will see the exclusive world premiere of a brand new video for the song.

In a recent interview with Guy "Favazz" Favazza of the St. Louis, Missouri radio station KSHE 95, Michaels spoke about "Back In The Day". Calling it "a throwback road-trip anthem," Bret stated about how the song came together: "I was driving in the car, and I'm driving along the beach, and as I'm writing this down… I do this crazy TikTok thing, and I show people how I write music. I said, 'Don't fear it.' I'm laying a beat, I'm playing the guitar. And I'm, like, [sings] 'Back in the day, radio played our favorite songs the DJs'd say.' And crank it up. And it all hit me, and the song just fell together. It's just a good-vibe song."

Bret, who toured with POISON as part of "The Stadium Tour" last summer, will hit the road in July for a limited run of live dates for his 2023 "Parti-Gras" tour. Michaels has created this tour with a Mardi Gras feel in celebration of his great fans and hit music. The renowned rockstar will bring a few of his rocker friends along for a mashup of all-killer, no-filler hits featuring special guests NIGHT RANGER and JEFFERSON STARSHIP with special appearances from Steve Augeri (former lead singer of JOURNEY) and Mark McGrath (SUGAR RAY), plus a nightly surprise guest to rock your world.

Presented by Live Nation, the 12-city limited date run kicks off on Thursday, July 13 at the one and only Pine Knob Music Theatre in Clarkston, Michigan; known for its epic concerts and parties, going on to make stops across the U.S. including at The Pavilion at Star Lake, in his birthplace of Pittsburgh (Pennsylvania),Holmdel (New Jersey),Tinley Park (Illinois),Tampa (Florida),and more before wrapping up in Charlotte (North Carolina) at PNC Music Pavilion on August 6. The tour promises to be a modern-day throwback to epic tailgate parties, positive energy, and a much needed nothing but a good vibe.

JUDAS PRIESTs' Rob Halford is celebrating the 37th anniversary of his getting sober. The 71-year-old singer posted a video of him with his AA sobriety medallion, which has the words "to thine own self be true" and "unity, service and recovery" engraved around the roman numeral for 37. He said in the clip: "Hello, everyone. Today marks my 37th year of my sober life, one day at a time. When I look at this commemorative coin, I'm full of love for my higher power and grateful to you because having you in my life helps me maintain my focus making the best I can in all areas of metal as well as trying to be a better person by taking a daily inventory.

"I believe we never stop growing and searching to find ways to do anything that improves not only our lives but also for all those we love. None of this is easy and it wasn't meant to be. We constantly have to work and dig deep into every aspect of ourselves to stay clean and sober.

"To those of you on this same journey, I send my unconditional love. And to those of you who are about to begin, please take that first step into your new life. I love you."

Last year, Halford spoke to Spain's Mariskal Rock about how he has managed and avoided the urge to relapse since 1986. "I think about it all the time," he said about drinking alcohol. "It's an addiction. When I'm watching the Phoenix Cardinals play on TV the other day, there's constantly adverts for beer and for alcohol and stuff. And I know it's there. And it's a temptation. So you have to have all of the mental tools ready to get you through that instance. 'Cause it's all about instances. And I live one day at a time. I've lived one day at a time for 35 years now. And that's all that matters. It's the moment. You live in the moment — not yesterday, not tomorrow; it's now. And you have to be ready for when that little beer devil comes on your shoulder and goes, 'Come on, Rob. Have a little drink of beer.' 'Fuck off.' [Laughs] Because I don't wanna feel that way again, man. I don't want to be that person. I was miserable. I wasn't happy. I was bad to people. I don't wanna go through that again. So that's also part of my finding a balance in my day-to-day life."

Rob previously spoke about how he manages to stay clean on the road in a 2020 interview with the "Across The Board" podcast. "It's not easy," he said at the time. "It's very much a day at a time. You're given all the tools and resources from your rehab experience. I use 'em every day. A lot of it is just like mental notes — talking things through. Sometimes I speak 'em out; a lot of it is internal. So that's really vital on a day-to-day level of sobriety.

"When I was in rehab [in 1986], there's anonymity in rehab, but at the same time, you have to tell everybody your life story, so everybody knew what I did. And I remember we talked about the fact that I'm gonna go back to this world of sex and drugs and rock and roll and booze. I don't know how I'm gonna be able to cope, because it won't be a gradual reimmersion into society, so to speak. I won't be able to go tiny steps; I'm just gonna go straight into the deep end. I cannot go to work and say to my bandmates, 'You can't drink. You can't do this. You can't do that,' because it's control. Accept your powerlessness.

"I don't think we ever in the band had a sit-down conversation about this, but I think that there was caring and understanding — as there still is," Halford continued. "But I'd be the last person to say that I have to set a set of rules, because then this whole business of living my life on my terms [turns into something] you push on to other people: 'Well, now, you can't do this,' 'You can't do that.' That's just hypocrisy on the highest level.

"Even now, when we're flying after a show, and the guys are having a beer or a cocktail or whatever, man, I would love that cold beer. I would love a slug of Jack and Coke. I can smell it, 'cause we're in a plane together. It's like this little angel on one side and the devil on the other side. My instant thought is I never wanna be sick again. I never, ever wanna feel that bad ever again. I never want to be in that terrible, dark, lonely place ever again. So it's fleeting. But, again, it's always there.

"When I'm home, especially [during] this COVID thing, [my longtime partner] Thomas doesn't drink. When I first met Thomas, he quit drinking. So that's a support to me. I'm never really around alcohol that much, or drugs, when I'm not working. But, yeah, when my fans, or when PRIEST fans come to see us, yeah, they're gonna have some drinks; they might have a couple of spliffs [and] do whatever else recreationally. They're entitled to. And they are living their lives and they are partying and they are having the time of their lives, as they should. They don't have an alcohol problem; they don't have a drug addiction. There are people that can enjoy these things in life and it [has] no effect on them, in a physical sense and in a mental sense.

"So, it's an absolute miracle," Halford added. "I can only say it's a miracle that I've got that far from January the 6th, 1986 to December the 1st, 2020 without slipping once. And I'm not boasting, because it's all the past — that's the past; it's gone. I live in the moment. I don't think about yesterday or tomorrow; I'm living now. But I'm grateful that I've been able to get this far without failing. Not failing — that's the wrong word. Without a slip off the wagon — whatever the term is. I'm grateful that I've been able to get this far and stay clean and sober. Because if I didn't, who knows where I would have gone and where I would have ended up?"

Halford credited his belief in a higher power for helping him in his recovery. "When I got clean and sober, that was a major change in my life," he said during an appearance on HATEBREED frontman Jamey Jasta's official podcast, "The Jasta Show". "And part of my recovery is just having this higher-power belief. And it works. It works, man. It really, really is important."

Halford added: "There probably will be people listening to [this] podcast who don't have anything like that in their life, and that's great; it's all about acceptance. But I always say to people, if you're thinking about it, the simplest thing I do is I pray. I pray quite a bit, actually. And even if you don't believe in prayer, just have a go. Pray for a good day, or just pray for your friend, or whatever it might be. And it's amazing, man, 'cause it absolutely works. I guarantee, it genuinely does work. And now I'm sounding like [American evangelical Christian evangelist] Billy Graham, but I'm just trying to express some of the things that are important to me on a day-to-day basis that make me able to walk out on that stage each night and do my work."

In an interview with Classic Rock Revisited, Halford said that he quit using substances because he "was sick and tired of feeling sick and tired. I will always remember the first show I did clean and sober… It was in New Mexico, in Albuquerque," he recalled. "I literally felt elevated, as everything was coming with such clarity. I was able to really… enjoy the performance of JUDAS PRIEST without having all of the other things in front of it. Since that day, it has been a miracle."

Halford added, "Everybody has to face things in their lives at some point. It [doesn't have to] be booze and drugs. You can eat too much, or you can not exercise, or whatever… It is not easy staying clean and sober in rock and roll. There are temptations galore from the moment you wake up to the moment you go to sleep, especially when you're on the road. [But] I think we're some of the strongest people, my friends and my sober brothers in metal."

Rob's autobiography, "Confess", in which he discusses his journey to sobriety, arrived in September 2020 via Hachette Books. It was written with Ian Gittins, co-writer of "The Heroin Diaries" by Nikki Sixx.

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In a new interview with Metal Hammer magazine, GHOST leader Tobias Forge spoke about the band's plans for the coming months. He said: "We're doing a lot of touring again. On previous album cycles we've done four legs in America and two or three in Europe and repeated.

"We're going to go into every territory next year, but there's going to be one European tour, one American tour," he continued. "We are going to do a little bit of everywhere. There'll be a little bit of something up in upper Asia, on the far end there – a very well-established country with a lot of pop cultural fascination, and the home of videogames. And there's going to be something in the Oceania world, and there might be something south of Panama, and there might be something slightly north of Panama. It feels pretty solid."

He cryptically added: "We're going to come out with a little bit of change before that — good change. We're not going to go silent. Some things are public, other things not in public view, but there are a lot of things brewing."

Forge's latest comments come less than two months after he told Rolling Stone's Twitch channel that "there are a lot of things in my head that I feel like I wanna explore writing" on GHOST's upcoming follow-up to 2022's "Impera" album.

"I think I've never really ended an album production, or left an album production, without feeling like there are things that I would wanna do different next time," he explained. "Kind of [the way I feel] about [GHOST's onstage] costumes — you try to… slowly and steadily you try to perfect, but for every process end up doing some of experiment that might have been a miracle, or the next time you're, like, 'Oh, let's never do that again.' Because recording and writing and just making a record is also… it's a boring thing, but there's a lot of practical factors that will play into the result of making a record. Historically, if we don't talk about my band, but just historic records, there's a big difference between recording in your hometown and recording a record on a tropical island someplace. And none of it is better than the other; it just means two different things. And people that you work with, and what state of mind you are in when you are doing it. And if you work nights or if you do work in the daytime. There are so many things like that.

"So right now I'm more about vibing — I'm trying to build a new vibe for writing this record now, just to sort of see to it that I don't end up repeating myself, and do something else," Forge added. "Evoke a few good things from the past and try to eradicate some of the things I didn't like. And once more, you try to do it perfectly. It's like being that sort of person that gets married for the sixth time: 'This time is gonna be great. It's gonna be perfect this time.'"

Last November, GHOST won its first-ever American Music Award in the newly debuted "Favorite Rock Album" category. The critically acclaimed, chart-topping "Impera" edged out formidable competition from COLDPLAY, IMAGINE DRAGONS, Machine Gun Kelly and the RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS to win the vote.

Featuring the Rock Radio No. 1s "Call Me Little Sunshine" — recently nominated for a "Best Metal Performance" Grammy — and "Hunter's Moon" (the end credits song from 2021's No. 1 R-rated film "Halloween Kills") as well as the currently climbing "Spillways", "Impera" was released March 11, 2022 via Loma Vista Recordings. Hailed by Rolling Stone as "an escapist rock and roll album," "Impera" "conquered rock, metal and the charts" (as reported by the Los Angeles Times),debuting at No. 1 in a sweep of the U.S. album charts, and entering the Billboard 200 at No. 2. Produced by Klas Åhlund and mixed by Andy Wallace, "Impera" sets the most current and topical GHOST subject matter to date against a hypnotic and darkly colorful melodic backdrop, resulting in a listen like no other — yet unmistakably, quintessentially GHOST. "Impera"'s release was supported by the "euphoric spectacle" (Rolling Stone) of the 70-plus-date "Imperatour" arena tour, during which the Wall Street Journal christened GHOST "the next generation of arena stars."

"Impera" sold 70,000 equivalent album units in the U.S. in its first week of release to land at position No. 2 on the Billboard 200 chart. It marked the third top 10 album — and fifth top 40-charting set — for the Swedish act.

"Impera" landed at position No. 1 in Germany and Sweden, No. 2 in the U.K., Netherlands, Belgium and Norway, No. 3 in Australia, No. 5 in France and Ireland, and No. 20 in Italy.

Six of GHOST's albums have charted on the Billboard 200: "Infestissumam" (No. 28, 2013); "If You Have Ghost" EP (No. 87, 2013); "Meliora" (No. 8, 2015); "Popestar" EP (No. 16, 2016); "Prequelle" (No. 3, 2018); and "Impera" (No. 2, 2022). Nine GHOST songs have charted on the Mainstream Rock Airplay chart, with five reaching No. 1: "Square Hammer" in 2017; "Rats" in 2018; "Dance Macabre" in 2019; and "Hunter's Moon" and "Call Me Little Sunshine" in 2022.

In a new interview with Pod Scum, EYEHATEGOD guitarist Jimmy Bower was asked if he was "excited" that PANTERA was "back together". He responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Yeah. I think it's more of a tribute than anything. I'm absolutely excited for them. Being somebody that… We toured with PANTERA — EYEHATEGOD did — for, like, two months. I saw 'em multiple times and toured with them with other bands. My point being that they were one of the most ferocious live bands on the planet. So there's a lot of kids nowadays that never had the opportunity to see PANTERA. I mean, [PANTERA drummer] Charlie Benante is killing it, and [PANTERA guitarist] Zakk Wylde's a no-brainer. So it's, to me, the closest thing you're gonna get."

Bower and EYEHATEGOD frontman Mike IX Williams previously discussed their views on the PANTERA comeback in an interview at last summer's Bloodstock Open Air festival. Speaking to Hayley Leggs of TotalRock, Jimmy, who plays drums for PANTERA singer Philip Anselmo's DOWN project, said: "I think it's fucking awesome. I think it's beautiful. I think there's a lot of fans that have never had a chance to see it, and I think it's a great way to tribute the band. A hundred percent blessing from me, man."

Added Williams: "Phil's a friend, so, yeah, I'm happy to see it happen… It's great. I think it's great. Everybody's saying it's gonna be a little strange without the Abbott brothers, but it is what it is."

Bower concurred, saying: "Of course it will [be strange without the Abbott brothers]. [But] I think the Abbott brothers would a hundred percent have blessed it."

In July, it was reported that Wylde and Benante, along with PANTERA's surviving members, Anselmo and bassist Rex Brown, would tour as PANTERA.

According to a report by Billboard, Wylde and Benante's involvement in the project has been approved by the estates of PANTERA's late co-founders, guitarist "Dimebag" Darrell Abbott and drummer Vincent "Vinnie Paul" Abbott.

PANTERA recently played seven shows in Mexico and South America and will next headline a number of major festivals across North America, Europe and Asia, and stage some of their own headline concerts. They will also support METALLICA on a massive North American stadium tour in 2023 and 2024.

On the second single from their upcoming debut album, Danish power / thrash metal unit Exelerate may take it slower, but “Release” is nothing short of epic and harsh. Taking inspiration from the classic days - and bands - the song is a short and intense hymn, reaching out for all the true heavy metal fans out there.

Exelerate is a power thrash metal band from Denmark. They play fast and aggressive riffs combined virtuose guitar solos and high-pitched vocals to create a new, yet familiar brand of metal. They quickly found strength in combining their individual music influences to create a mix of thrash, power and prog metal. It set the stage for the aggressive, but still approachable sound and the complexity of the compositions that all of their songs are made of. 




They are inspired by bands like Megadeth, Anthrax, Dio and Dream Theater and make heavy use of both the traditional and the new in metal. They have a great focus on how their music is perceived in a live situation. “It’s in a live environment you get the chance to grab new listeners by the collar and show them how it’s done”, lead singer Jensen comments. “They need to be enticed, inspired and spoiled until they can’t get enough. It is therefore important for us to give them something to latch on to, like a catchy melody, a fantastic solo or just a massive breakdown. It’s all a part of capturing the audience’s attention and keeping it”. 


Exelerate is now in full swing and ready to release their debut album under the Danish label From The Vaults. The record consists of new and original material, designed to showcase just how metal should sound in 2023. It’s a concept work where every track tells a story about humankind’s tendencies towards both dominance and submission. The themes go from old religions to contemporary ideology worship and even further into the ultimate submission to our own mortality. 


“To date, these are the most ambitious compositions I have ever been a part of writing, and I am incredibly proud of the end result”, Jensen says. “It has taken up many hours, days, weeks, years in the rehearsing studio, and the entire effort is realized in full on the album, I think”. 


Exelerate was recorded with the help of, among others, Casper Augustenborg as the drum recording engineer and Io Brix Klarstrup, who pulls double duty as both the band’s bass player and recording engineer. The skilled hands of Marco Angioni (Angioni Studios) have made sure that Exelerate sounds better than ever, with a new massive sound that the listener easily can let their face melt away to. 


The album's artwork was made by the danish artist Steen Jensen who, with his airbrush and proclivities towards the dark and strange, has made a surreal visual universe inspired by the opening track on the album “Arrival”.


Exelerate will be released on LP (black vinyl, limited to 300), CD and digital formats via From The Vaults on March 10, 2023.    





Tracklisting:


"Arrival"
"No Escape"
"Spawn Of Satan"
"Release"
"Children Of The Sun"
"God Of Man"
"Lethal Assault"
"In Between Sanity"
"Epilogue"





(Photo by Jakob Muxoll)