Canadian musician/producer Devin Townsend once again reiterated that he has no interest in reforming STRAPPING YOUNG LAD, the seminal industrial metal outfit he fronted until 2007. Since the band's dissolution, Townsend has been asked repeatedly whether he would reform STRAPPING, only to cite the mental and physical toll the band took on him, in addition to his desire for new musical pursuits.

Speaking to The Metal Meltdown, Townsend was asked if there is a chance of him ever making another STRAPPING YOUNG LAD album. He responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "The answer to that is… I've said it a thousand times, so I'm sure if there are people who really don't know, they don't care enough to pay attention.

"I do understand the question, and I do understand why it's asked — I really do," he continued. "But I've gotta be careful with the answer because you don't wanna… I think it's easy to get so irritated by the question that you end up being flippant about it, and you end up being insulting to people when the question is coming from a place of people really, really like it and they really want it.

"So I'll say this: the same thing that made STRAPPING work so well when I was 25, whether or not you think 'Lightwork' is worth a shit or 'The Puzzle' is worth a shit, it's the same process. So the same thing that yielded that is the same thing that yielded this. And the only reason STRAPPING existed back then is because I was being true to myself. It's the only reason, because back then that was my truth.

"The process of making this music is rooted in trying to unfuck myself as I get older, because when I was younger I had a lot of issues," Devin explained. "So if people really love something that happened at any point in my career, whether or not it's 'Empath' or STRAPPING or 'Ziltoid' or 'Epicloud' or anything, then my hope is that they would understand that the thing that they probably appreciated about it is it's coming from a place of honesty. And if I can't be honest about something, the thing that people will like about it will not be there. Absolutely. And I would prefer to be disliked for what I am than to be loved for what I'm no longer.

"STRAPPING is a huge part of my life — was a huge part of my life — and I love all those guys and I still talk to them," Devin clarified. "However, the nature of what I did made it such that the lessons that I needed to learn from that period of my life were reflected in the content. And now it's not a part of my life in a way that I can relate to, and more so it's not a part of my life in a way that I have any desire to go back to.

"There's gonna be a certain amount of people that would hear that and they'd be, like, 'Yeah, he's said that before. I get it. I love the band, but I get it. I can respect that.' There's gonna be a certain amount of people that are just, like, 'Fuck that guy. What he needs to do is do that 'cause it's the only thing he's ever done that's worth a shit and everything else sucks. ' and there's gonna be another part that just says, 'STRAPPING who?' But for me, brother, I'm just, like… As hard as this is to say, because it's been such a weird couple of years, I'm pretty happy with where I'm at as a dude, and that's not worth sacrificing to go back to a time when I wasn't happy."

STRAPPING YOUNG LAD's final studio album, "The New Black", was released in 2006 via Century Media.

British metal sextet, Bury Tomorrow, performed upon the Ronnie James Dio Stage at Bloodstock Open Air Metal Festival 2022. Professionally-filmed footage of the band performing "Life" can be viewed below:





The band's forthcoming seventh album, the aptly titled The Seventh Sun, will be released on March 31 via Music For Nations. Pre-order or pre-save it here.







Tracklisting:


"The Seventh Sun"
"Abandon Us"
"Begin Again"
"Forced Divide"
"Boltcutter"
"Wrath"
"Majesty"
"Heretic"
"Recovery?"
"Care"
"The Carcass King"


"Boltcutter" video:





"Abandon Us" video:





Additionally, the band has announced its spring 2023 headline tour of North America. All dates are below. The tour marks the first time the band has toured North American since 2010 and it is a welcome return.





Dates:


May
2 - Los Angeles, CA - The Echoplex
3 - Tempe, AZ -The Marquee
5 - Dallas, TX - Granada Theater
6 - Austin, TX - Come And Take It Live
7 - Houston, TX - House of Blues Bronze Peacock
9 - Atlanta, GA - The Masquerade (Hell)
10 - Charlotte, NC - The Underground
11 - Nashville, TN - The Basement East
12 - Indianapolis, IN - Hi-Fi Annex
13 - Chicago, IL - Park West
14 - Detroit, MI - El Club
16 - Toronto, ON - The Velvet Underground
17 - Montreal, QC -Fairmount Theatre
19 - Cambridge, MA - Middle East Downstairs
20 - New York, NY - Gramercy Theatre


LIneup:


Kristian Dawson - Lead Guitar
Daniel Winter-Bates - Vocals
Davyd Winter-Bates - Bass Guitar
Ed Hartwell - Rhythm Guitar
Adam Jackson - Drums
Tom Prendergast - Keyboards/Vocals


(Photo - Nic Bezzina)

Italian rock/metal trio, Little Pig, have signed a licensing deal with Wormholedeath for their self-titled album, Little Pig, due for release on January 27.


The band, speaking about the collaboration with Wormholedeath stated: “We are very excited to sign with Wormholedeath and to be part of this big family of talented people. Since the first conversations with the owner Carlo Bellotti, we felt at home. We truly believe that Wormholedeath is the right place to develop our music and we’re eager to form a great partnership for the future. Wormholedeath will release and distribute our first album “Little Pig”, and we’re looking forward to it.”


Little Pig is an alternative heavy rock grunge trio from Milan formed by Agos, guitar and voice, Mago, drums, and Alessio, voice, and bass. During the first times of the pandemic in 2020, the three musicians, all coming from various original projects and sharing a passion for grunge music playing in a tribute band, decided to create a new project. Guitarist/co-vocalist Agos put some songs out of the closet. Influences such as Alternative Rock, Grunge, and Nu Metal were the base to create an original mix and soon the band developed its own style, giving life to the tracks of their first album “Little Pig”.The first intent was to take ourselves not too seriously (hence the name “Little Pig”), while being very thorough in composition and arrangement. Along with all members sharing their musical influences and creating an original style, the songs are based on their personal experiences. The main themes are love, damnation, addiction, and salvation.







Little Pig tracklisting:


"27"
"Cameo"
"Little Pig"
"Hardened Soul"
"Call Me When I’m Dead (My Friend)"
"Uncle Jack"
"Fire In The Sky"
"Disappear"


Cameo" lyric video:





Lineup:


Alessio Suzzi - Vocals & Bass
davide "Mago" Maghini - Drums
Agostini "Agos" marino - Vocals & Guitars

Drummer Jon Dette (TESTAMENT, SLAYER, ANTHRAX) has uploaded the latest in his "Big Four" drum-cover series: MEGADETH's "Wake Up Dead". The clip, which can be seen below, follows his previously released videos for SLAYER's "Killing Fields", METALLICA's "Blackened" and ANTHRAX's "A.I.R.".

The 52-year-old Dette played as a full-time member of SLAYER from 1996 to 1997 and as a touring member in 2013.

In a 2013 interview with Metal Rules, Dette revealed that he collaborated with SLAYER guitarist Kerry King on some of the early ideas for what became the band's final studio album, 2015's "Repentless", before he was replaced by a returning Paul Bostaph. "I actually started working with SLAYER after we had gotten back from Australia [in early 2013]," he said. "We started working for demo and music for their new record. And then obviously what happened with Jeff [Hanneman, guitar] passing away, that changed some things. But it was definitely moving in that direction for me to be working with SLAYER [again]. But as I said there are just some things that changed with that once Jeff passed away, and I think, ultimately, they felt more comfortable with ‎Paul Bostaph, just because Paul had been in the band for longer. I think it was not going to be as much of a shock to their fans, because first Dave is gone, and now Jeff is gone, the band, it's now down to two original members. So if Paul makes them feel more comfortable and at home, then more respect to him and I wish them the best with that."

King confirmed that he worked with Dette early on in the songwriting process for "Repentless" before deciding to re-hire Bostaph instead. "We pursued it," Kerry said in a 2015 interview. "We got back from Australia. I did demos with Jon Dette, I did demos with Paul — the same two songs, under the same circumstances; they each had, like, 24 to 36 hours to learn 'em — and just see where it went. And Tom [Araya, SLAYER bassist/vocalist] and Jeff [Hanneman, SLAYER guitarist] both decided Paul, and in hindsight, that was the right choice."

Dette originally joined SLAYER in 1996 when Paul Bostaph left to work on his side project THE TRUTH ABOUT SEAFOOD. Dette performed with SLAYER at the 1996 Ozzfest to promote the band's covers album, "Undisputed Attitude".

Prior to joining SLAYER, Dette appeared on TESTAMENT's "Live At The Fillmore" album, which came out in 1995.

In recent years, Dette had played sporadic shows with ANTHRAX as a temporary replacement for Charlie Benante, who had been undergoing physical therapy in his battle with carpal tunnel syndrome.

Paul Stanley (KISS),Robin Zander (CHEAP TRICK),Taime Downe (FASTER PUSSYCAT),Lita Ford, Kip Winger (WINGER),Stephen Pearcy (RATT) and Sebastian Bach (SKID ROW) are among the artists who performed at illusionist Criss Angel's 55th birthday party last night (Monday, December 19) at the House Of Blues at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas, Nevada. The private event was a benefit for the Johnny Crisstopher Charitable Foundation to raise money to help fight childhood cancer. Criss's own son Johnny Crisstopher was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia in 2015.

Video of last night's concert — courtesy of videographer Robert Moseley (a.k.a. Videobob) and host Eddie Trunk — can be seen below.

Through the Johnny Crisstopher Charitable Foundation, Angel not only supports Make-A-Wish Southern Nevada's mission by granting wishes, but also financially contributes to the organization to ensure every eligible child in Southern Nevada gets a wish. With no federal funding, Make-A-Wish Southern Nevada relies on community partners to fund wishes and Angel has repeatedly showed up for Make-A-Wish Southern Nevada's kids as one of its most valued community partners.

On a national level, Angel has been awarded both the "Male Wish Granter Of The Year" in 2010 and the "Chris Greicius Award" in 2007, the highest honor bestowed by the Make-A-Wish Foundation.



Paul Stanley live at Criss Angel birthday jam

Posted by Eddie Trunk on Monday, December 19, 2022



Lita Ford live Criss Angel birthday jam

Posted by Eddie Trunk on Monday, December 19, 2022



Kip Winger live in Vegas

Posted by Eddie Trunk on Monday, December 19, 2022



Kip Winger live in Vegas Criss Angel birthday jam

Posted by Eddie Trunk on Monday, December 19, 2022



Sebastian Bach live Criss Angel birthday

Posted by Eddie Trunk on Monday, December 19, 2022



Stephen Pearcy live in Vegas Criss Angel party

Posted by Eddie Trunk on Monday, December 19, 2022



The greatness that is Cheap Trick and the ageless Robin Zander

Posted by Eddie Trunk on Monday, December 19, 2022

Dutch heavy rockers WITHIN TEMPTATION have released the official music video for their new single, "The Fire Within". The clip was filmed during the band's recent "Worlds Collide" European tour with EVANESCENCE.

WITHIN TEMPTATION stated about the track: "Back in 2019 we wrote 'The Fire Within', but it's never made its appearance on an album. However, to brighten up your festive December mood some more, we've decided to release it as a standalone song! Enjoy!"

Speaking to Riff X's "Metal XS", WITHIN TEMPTATION vocalist Sharon Den Adel elaborated on how "The Fire Within" came together. She said: "We recorded it during corona times. And we release it now for the game with IRON MAIDEN, [our collaboration with] the 'Iron Maiden: [Legacy Of The Beast' mobile] game. This is a song that didn't make it for the next album. So we like the song, but it has a different kind of vibe to it. And it's about keeping things real. 'The fire within' [is] the thing that drives you, the thing that you feel the most. That's what the song is about."

"The Fire Within" seven-inch single features both the single version and instrumental version of the track. Due on January 20, 2023, it is available for pre-order as a limited edition of 666 individually numbered copies on orange-colored vinyl at the WITHIN TEMPATION music store.

In recent years, WITHIN TEMPTATION shifted its focus from releasing albums to releasing a series of singles, enabling the bandmembers to indulge themselves in their creative processes thus delivering freshly inspired music. The group has released "Entertain You", "The Purge" and "Shed My Skin", singles that have all thrilled their fanbase, had great critical reception in Europe, peaked in the Top 20 of the U.S. Billboard Mainstream Rock Indicator charts and topped the official German charts. In July, WITHIN TEMPTATION also released the official Jeb Hardwick-directed music video for the band's most recent single, "Don't Pray For Me". It was the fourth single of the band's independent releases and will lead up to WITHIN TEMPTATION's next studio album.

In an interview with Barbara Caserta of Linea Rock, Den Adel spoke about WITHIN TEMPTATION's new approach to making its music available. She said: "We already decided before we had the pandemic to do it this way. A lot of music scenes already do this — music genres, actually — but in the rock [world], we still do a lot of the traditional way of releasing albums. And we just wanted to try this out. And then the pandemic happened, and everybody started doing the same thing. Which is a good thing, because you live in the moment and you write something and you release it… So this is really how we feel at the moment, and it's what we re reflecting with our music, I think. It's a good thing."

Regarding the differences between recording and releasing singles and concentrating on making full-length albums, Sharon said: "We put a lot of time extra now into every single, where normally this is the maximum of singles that we release, and we're gonna release more. So I think there's more time spent to it. But it's scattered all over a time, so it's really sometimes difficult to get back into the flow of writing again; that's the negative side of it. So it has its positive and negative sides. And with a whole album, it takes sometimes two years when you've written a song that it finally gets released, and it already feels outdated sometimes. So now it's really [easy to give each track] a fast release."

This past August, Den Adel told EMP about the WITHIN TEMPTATION songwriting process: "The thing is we've been around for such a long time that we try to be inspired by new bands that we hear and implement it with our own kind of sound and try to stay updated with the sound that is sounding more modern nowadays and what is more 'in' nowadays. Not to be going along with new sounds but something that sounds refreshing and inspiring to us. And that keeps us going and makes it fun for us to make still music. We've been around almost for 25 years, even longer — now I really feel old — but, anyway, you need it; you need to evolve. So there's no formula, but it's more every time looking what inspires you. And it can be anything."

WITHIN TEMPTATION's last album, "Resist", was released in February 2019 through Spinefarm Records, the specialist hard rock label of Universal Music Group.

"Resist" featured guest appearances by PAPA ROACH's Jacoby Shaddix, IN FLAMES' Anders Fridén and ARID's Jasper Steverlinck.

Former NEWSTED members Jessie Farnsworth (guitar, vocals) and Jesus Mendez Jr. (drums) have launched a new band called UNDERLORD.

UNDERLORD's debut EP, "Groundbreaker", features six tracks and was mixed and mastered by Anthony Focx (AEROSMITH, "Guitar Hero - Metallica", NEWSTED),whom Farnsworth and Mendez previously worked with on the NEWSTED "Metal" EP.

"Groundbreaker", which features artwork by Mark DeVito (METALLICA, MOTÖRHEAD, NEWSTED) is available on all major digital outlets. Physical CD copies are available via the UNDERWORLD Bandcamp page.

A video for first single "In My Blood" was released on December 9 and can be seen below.

UNDERLORD's lineup is rounded out by bassist Kevin Michael Thomason.

Jessie and Jesus recorded and toured with ex-METALLICA bassist Jason Newsted in the band NEWSTED from 2012 to 2014, appearing on both the aforementioned "Metal" EP and the "Heavy Metal Music" full-length album, which came out in 2013.

Visit UnderlordMetal.com for more info.

Six years ago, Jason explained his decision to shelf NEWSTED, telling Billboard: "I was trying to take on too much stuff at once. You can only do so much and make it work right. I won't call it over 'cause I did write a whole 'nother record, but it just hasn't been put together. It hasn't been recorded all the way. It's not ready for the people. That's something that's just on the backburner right now."

In addition to Newsted, Farnsworth and Mendez, NEWSTED's lineup included Mike Mushok (STAIND) on guitar.

Jason in February 2014 canceled an appearance at Australia's Soundwave festival with NEWSTED, citing "private and personal circumstances." The cancelation followed more than a year of intense touring and promotional activity surrounding the release of the "Metal" EP and the "Heavy Metal Music" album, both of which were positively received by the critics and fans alike.

Jason left METALLICA back in 2001 but was inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame, along with guitarist/vocalist James Hetfield, drummer Lars Ulrich, guitarist Kirk Hammett, and the man who replaced him, bassist Robert Trujillo, in 2009.

Welsh metallers BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE have shared the official music video for their song "No More Tears To Cry", taken from the deluxe version of their latest, self-titled album, which arrived in August via Spinefarm/Search & Destroy. This extended release features four brand new tracks, plus "Stitches", a song previously only available as a Japanese exclusive. Following the CD and digital releases, a vinyl pressing launched on November 11.

BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE stated about "No More Tears To Cry": "The song is a dark but colorful story about dealing with mental health struggles. Musically the track is very different from the other tracks on the album and has a lot of surprises on there, including slide guitar..."

This past summer, BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE frontman Matt Tuck spoke to "Whiplash", the KLOS radio show hosted by Full Metal Jackie, about the band's decision to pursue a more technical, aggressive direction on its self-titled album, which originally arrived in November 2021. The LP was written beginning in September 2019 with longtime producer Carl Bown, who co-produced the band's 2015 album, "Venom", and produced and mixed 2018's "Gravity".

"It just felt like the time was right," Matt explained. "It was just something that, when we wrote a couple of the key tracks that opened the door to letting the album what it is now, it just felt like the time was right.

"We came off the back off 'Gravity', which was not a technical record. For us, that album was all about emotion, it was all about the story, it was all about the vocal performances and the lyrical content," he continued. "And it was more an emotive, personal kind of album. And this time around, it became clear, after we kind of found those couple of key tracks, that this album was very different — it was very technical; it was very in your face; it was very aggressive. And we just loved that they had that contrast, and it just had its own identity and had its own moment in time in the band's catalog now. And yeah, I think because we hadn't kind of shown that skillset for a long time — since 'Venom' — and having starved ourselves of writing in that way, in a sense, that as soon as we did, it was just like four or five years' worth of stuff was just kind of flooding out. It was just a natural thing, and we just rode the wave, and the more we kind of rode it, the more technical and aggressive the songs were becoming. And it was great. It just put a smile on our face that we could showcase the heavier, more technical side of the band."

In December 2021, Tuck was asked by NME whether he thinks BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE's next album will be a mixture of "Gravity" — which he had previously described as "probably our most mellow/experimental record" — and the self-titled LP. He said: "It really depends. In a year's, two years' time, whenever we decide to kind of get involved with that, we're just gonna do what we do — we're gonna see what comes out, what feels natural, what makes us happy, what makes us scared, what makes us motivated. And coming off the back of 'Gravity' and this album, we're just gonna that whole process of confidence and no-fear attitude into the writing process, and as soon as we start smiling and high-fiving, that's when we'll know we're on the right track."

"Gravity" saw BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE's catalog surpass one billion streams in the U.S. That accomplishment solidified BULLET's status as one of the most elite bands in the hard rock scene.

GRETA VAN FLEET is putting the finishing touches on its third full-length album.

The Grammy-winning Michigan rockers, who are now based in Nashville, offered an update on the follow-up to 2021's "The Battle At Garden's Gate" in a "black carpet" interview with Consequence ahead of the band's appearance at METALLICA's "Helping Hands" benefit concert.

"We are wrapping it up as we speak," drummer Danny Wagner said. "It's nearing completion, and we're very excited about it. Bassist Sam Kiszka added: "It's conceptually going back to almost the days in the garage, with the raw energy of the sound. But expanding on that, because we're the best musicians we've ever been."

Three months ago, Kiszka told Consequence's "Kyle Meredith With…" podcast about GRETA VAN FLEET's upcoming effort: "It's like the whole concept of going back almost to the roots of what we did, kind of bringing our heads back to that garage time. And not spending all this time making it perfect. But just capturing what's going on and … making it exciting and raw and energetic."

Earlier in the year, GRETA VAN FLEET guitarist Jake Kiszka told InForum that the band's next LP will be another musical step forward.

"The path we've taken hasn't been intentional; it's an organic path of its own," he said. "The next will be one of the most powerful records we've ever done."

Last month, GRETA VAN FLEET postponed four more concerts in order to allow frontman Josh Kiszka more time to recover from a ruptured eardrum. The scrapped shows in El Paso, Tucson, Anaheim and Sacramento came just weeks after the rockers announced the postponements of concerts in Hollywood, Florida; Tampa, Florida; Raleigh, North Carolina; Greenville, South Carolina; and Jacksonville, Florida.

GRETA VAN FLEET kicked off its "Dreams In Gold" tour in Michigan in March.

Brothers Josh, Jake and Sam formed GRETA VAN FLEET in 2012 and released their debut album five years later. In 2019 they were nominated for four Grammys, winning "Best Rock Album" for "From The Fires", which included the hits "Black Smoke Rising" and "Highway Tune".

"The Battle At Garden's Gate" was released last year to extensive chart and critical success. The album debuted at No. 1 Billboard Rock Album, No. 1 Billboard Hard Rock Album, No. 1 Billboard Vinyl Album, No. 2 Billboard Top Album Sales and in the Top 10 on the Billboard 200.

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"Bohemian Rhapsody", the iconic single by British rock legends QUEEN, recently crossed the threshold of two billion streams on Spotify. The news comes less than two years after the QUEEN classic was officially certified diamond by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA),representing 10 million or more in sales and stream equivalents in the United States.

QUEEN was the first British band in music history to earn the diamond song award.

This is the latest in a long line of extraordinary achievements for "Bohemian Rhapsody", which was QUEEN's first Top 10 hit in the U.S. In the U.K., it went to No. 1 for 9 consecutive weeks, a record at the time, before returning to the top of the charts again in 1991. It was named the most-streamed song of the 20th century and its companion video passed one billion views on YouTube, making history as the first pre-1990s video to reach one billion views on the platform. In 2004, the song was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame and Freddie Mercury's vocal performance was named by the readers of Rolling Stone magazine as the best in rock history.

"Bohemian Rhapsody" is also one of the many QUEEN hits featured on the band's blockbuster compilation "Platinum Collection, Vol. 1-3", which was certified five times platinum. This blockbuster compendium, which hit No. 6 on the Billboard 200, features tracks like "Another One Bites The Dust", "Killer Queen", "Under Pressure", "We Will Rock You", "We Are The Champions" and so many more.

QUEEN remains one of the most popular groups in the world today, transcending multiple generations of fans, a position further buoyed by the phenomenal global success of their Academy Award-winning 2018 biographical film "Bohemian Rhapsody", which tells the incredible story of the band's historic career and quickly became the highest grossing music biopic in history.

"Bohemian Rhapsody" was first released as a single on October 31, 1975. Despite its unconventional structure and exorbitant length for a single, it became QUEEN's first Top 10 hit in the U.S. In the U.K., it went to No. 1 for nine consecutive weeks, a record at the time. The song revisited the charts 16 years later, when it appeared in the 1992 comedy "Wayne's World", starring Mike Myers and Dana Carvey.
👏👏 2 BILLION streams of ‘Bohemian Rhapsody!’ on @Spotify! 👑 pic.twitter.com/ByV46qqDZg

— Queen (@QueenWillRock) December 20, 2022

Former Sodom guitarist Andy Brings has shared an unreleased video performance from his private collection of the band performing "Bombenhagel" live at the Philipshalle in Düsseldorf, Germany on the Christmas Metal Meetings Tour ´93. Along with Sodom, the tour featured Motörhead, Kreator, Entombed, Depressive Age and Skew Siskin.





Sodom released their fifth album, Tapping The Vein, on August 1st, 1992. Back in August, Brings celebrated the record's 30th Anniversary with the following message:




"Happy birthday Tapping The Vein! Thirty years ago today, my very first album ever came out, and for many fans around the world it is one of the absolute highlights in the Sodom discography. This makes me very proud.


This anniversary marks 30 professional years for me, as well as a path traveled, which has been quite unique in shape and diversity. This makes me a little bit more proud because I took it on my terms, no matter what price I had to pay for it.


To the next 30 years!"





On June 5th, Sodom made an unhrehearsed surprise appearance at Rock Hard Festival 2022 in Gelsenkirchen. Celebrating the 30th anniverasary of their Tapping The Vein album, the band performed three songs with Andy Brings (Double Crush Syndrome), who was a band member at that time.


Setlist:


"Body Parts"
"One Step Over The Line"
"Wachturm"





Tapping the Vein is the last Sodom album to feature original drummer, Christian "Witchhunter" Dudek.





Tracklist:


"Body Parts"
"Skinned Alive"
"One Step Over the Line"
"Deadline"
"Bullet in the Head"
"The Crippler"
"Wachturm"
"Tapping the Vein"
"Back to War"
"Hunting Season"
"Reincarnation"

Mexican heavy rock / stoner combo Devil's Whiskey has signed a deal with WormHoleDeath for their album Historias de Muerte, due for release on January 27th, 2023.


Devil´s Whiskey is the reflection of a sterile, sordid, and violent border between México and the United States of America. Is the terror of disappearing from one side of the wall, or ending up jailed on the other? Is sad drunkenness, a joint, a contradiction between a maniac god and a reasoning devil?


Historias de Muerte cover art and tracklisting:







"A Ritual Of Eyes"
"Behind The Hills"
"Black Poison"
"Born In The Dirt"
"Obsidiana"
"Féretro"
"45"


Historias de Muerte album teaser:





 

Grab-you-by-the-collar Louisiana metal outfit Vermilion Whiskey is preparing to release their third album, Crimson & Stone, on May 26th, 2023. The album varies from head-nodders to fist-pumpers, with no pretensions of being anything other than a heavy hunk of good ol’ southern style. Check out the official trailer:





The American south is steeped in rich musical tradition. In a time when metal is in a constant cycle of who can be the most brutal, we often forget where the tradition started and its signature sound. Leading the stripped bare and played loud is hard rocking stoner metal outfit Vermilion Whiskey. The Louisiana-based band is southern-fried hard rock at its finest. 




Hitting the studio hard in early 2022, the band is eager to return to playing live shows across their regional Gulf Coast stomping ground and beyond. Vermilion Whiskey recruited Tommy Buckley of Crowbar / Soilent Green to rehearse and record drum tracks, and also found current live drummer Wade Perkins, who was instrumental in helping to produce drum tracks alongside Tommy and Duane Simoneaux at OCD Recording and Production in New Orleans, Louisiana.


This newest offering is a blend of classic Vermilion Whiskey southern hard rock, driving stoner riffage, dabs of dissonant overtones, and a heavy helping of pure Louisiana sludge. 





Tracklisting:


"Intro"    
"Down On You"    
"The Get Down"    
"Confidence"
"Good Lovin"    
"Interlude"
"Dissonance"
"Atrophy"
"Hollow"


"Atrophy" sizzle reel:





For further details, visit VermilionWhiskey.com.


 

WARMEN, the brainchild of former CHILDREN OF BODOM keyboardist Janne "Warman" Wirman, has inked a deal with Reaper Entertainment. The band's new album will arrive in 2023.

WARMEN started as a solo project of Wirman, and when the keyboardist wasn't traveling the world with CHILDREN OF BODOM, he was regularly recording albums with his brother Antti Wirman (guitar),Jyri Helko (bass) and Mirka Rantanen (drums; KOTIPELTO, ex-HEVISAURUS). After the much-too-early end of CHILDREN OF BODOM and the tragic death of Alexi Laiho, Janne, together with Antti, found his way back to music through WARMEN.

Janne comments: "After the abrupt ending of CHILDREN OF BODOM, I wasn't sure if I'll ever make music again. We did a couple of song writing sessions last year with my brother and Jyri and I realized that I still have a lot of desire for music and together we wrote an album of exciting new stuff. We teamed up with Flori and Greg from the Reaper Entertainment, as I had worked with them before with great results, and knew they understood my past with BODOM and where we wanted to go next with WARMEN."

Flori from Reaper Entertainment adds: "After all, it's an open secret that our company name was a reference or tribute to CHILDREN OF BODOM. Greg and I were big fans and attended many of the band's concerts together. In the process, we developed a great friendship with the band — but especially with Janne. When we saw on Facebook that Janne and Antti were working on new WARMEN songs, we just had to offer them our help. It's a great honor for us that Janne accepted immediately and now we can eagerly wait for the new album."

WARMEN's last official album, "First Of The Five Elements", was initially released in 2014 via the crowdfunding platform PledgeMusic, which however ceased operations shortly thereafter. Since very few copies of the album hit the market, Reaper Entertainment is now re-releasing the album to shorten the wait for the new album. The direction of the material is classically inspired power metal, but, similar to CHILDREN OF BODOM, the focus of WARMEN is on the interplay of guitar and keyboard perfected by the Wirman brothers. In addition to ten original songs, cover versions of Madonna and Alice Cooper provide surprises, and for the vocals on "First Of The Five Elements", the quartet was able to secure Pasi Rantanen (THUNDERSTONE),Jonna Kosonen and Laiho as guest musicians.

"First Of The Five Elements" will be re-released in March 2023, to be followed by a new WARMEN album later in the year.

Former SLAYER drummer Dave Lombardo has collaborated with his wife on a "love song" called "The Gift".

Earlier today, the 57-year-old Cuban-born musician shared an Andy Wallis-created video for the track via his YouTube channel, and he wrote in an accompanying message: "A romantic love song for the holiday season, written by my wife and I."

"The Gift" was written and recorded by Paula and Dave Lombardo and was mastered by John Golden of Golden Mastering.

During a recent question-and-answer session with the readers of U.K.'s Metal Hammer magazine, Lombardo was asked if he would have joined SLAYER guitarist Kerry King's new band had he been approached about it. He responded: "I knew that was coming. I am, right now, working on too many other projects and I wouldn't be able to accept. New DEAD CROSS, MR. BUNGLE… the pandemic put a lot of stuff on hold, so we need to play some catch-up there. Besides that, he's got Paul Bostaph [playing with him], and I don't think he would have the need to ask me."

Lombardo was also asked if he would play with SLAYER again if the band reunited and wanted him to be part of the lineup. He said: "I don't think that's ever going to happen. But, yeah, I'd listen to whatever it is they had to say. That's it. You can't go any further than that."

Lombardo, who has spent most of the recent years between crossover pioneers SUICIDAL TENDENCIES, horror-punk icons MISFITS, hardcore supergroup DEAD CROSS and MR. BUNGLE, was effectively fired from SLAYER after sitting out the group's Australian tour in February/March 2013 due to a contract dispute with the other bandmembers. He was later replaced by Bostaph, who was previously SLAYER's drummer from 1992 until 2001.

Shortly after his dismissal, Lombardo said that he discovered that 90 percent of SLAYER's tour income was being deducted as expenses, including fees to management, costing the band millions and leaving them with about 10 percent to split four ways. While he and bassist/vocalist Tom Araya hired auditors to figure out what had happened, Lombardo said he was never allowed to see any of the information obtained.

SLAYER played its last-ever show in November 2019 at The Forum in Los Angeles.

Lombardo rejoined TESTAMENT earlier this year.

Congratulations Dave & Paula,all the best!!!

Posted by Dave Lombardo official fan club on Friday, August 31, 2018

On December 4, STRYPER frontman Michael Sweet met MERCYFUL FATE singer King Diamond — whose real name is Kim Bendix Petersen — for the first time when the two bands performed at Mexico's Hell & Heaven Metal Fest. Speaking to Waste Some Time With Jason Green about the experience, Sweet said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "I just met Kim, King Diamond [of] MERCYFUL FATE. In all these years, I've had this perception of Kim, and then I met Kim, and he was so polite — one of the nicest guys I've ever met. [He was] very cordial and friendly, and took a picture and shook my hand and looked into my eyes and engaged in conversation. And you could tell he was interested in talking. And I just was blown away. And all those perceptions were annihilated because I felt like, 'Okay, here's this guy that probably won't like us — or like me.' And we had a great conversation. If we went to dinner and had a dinner, we'd probably have a great dinner. But we're polar opposites. So I find that very interesting. And at the end of the day, it makes me realize that we're all the same — we're all flesh and blood; we all have feelings; we all have emotions; and most of those are the same."

Michael previously discussed his meeting with King in an interview with Metal Edge. Asked what he and King discussed, Michael said: "The weather, the birds, the bees. It was just a normal conversation. It's like, wow, he has this persona. We have this persona. You're Satanic. We're Christian. But then when you break it down, we're just people."

In a 2013 interview with Indie Vision Music, Sweet explained why STRYPER plays with secular bands. He said: "A lot of Christians have given us a ton of heat over the years for doing that. Not understanding… 'Why do you guys play clubs? Why do you play with secular bands?' Well, why wouldn't we? Aren't we to go into the world… into the dark… and bring the light? I mean, that’s what we're called to do as Christians. That's why we do it. We play clubs, we go to places where no Christian bands go. We play with mainstream secular bands so we can play to their fans and we can talk to them. I mean, that's kind of the whole point in what we do. We've been doing that for thirty years and there's no sign of stopping. We're planning on continuing to do that, of course. It really works for us. Again, it's kind of cut us off with a lot of people in the church, because they think we're not really Christians, or we're this, or we're that. It's like, okay, whatever. Someday we'll all stand before God and we'll know who was real and who wasn't."

Even though STRYPER's third album, 1986's "To Hell With The Devil", made Sweet and his bandmates the first contemporary Christian act to score a platinum album, the group has often felt unwelcome in Christian circles, with some members of the church feeling that Christianity and heavy metal are incompatible.

In a 2018 interview with the Detroit Free Press, Michael said that STRYPER was never fully embraced by the heavy metal and hard rock communities, largely because of the band's Christian lyrics.

Formed 39 years ago, STRYPER's name comes from Isaiah 53:5, which states: "But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed."

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

Heaven and Hell.. it was a pleasure to see Michael Sweet of Stryper yesterday at Hell And Heaven Fest 😈

Posted by MERCYFUL FATE on Monday, December 5, 2022

Stjepan Juras, founder at Full Metal Service and former Iron Maiden singer Paul Di’Anno's care giver, has checked in with the following update on Di'Anno:


"For those wondering what Paul Di'Anno is doing next... Paul is currently in Split, Croatia. He is recording an album with the group Warhorse and at the same time undergoing physiotherapy treatments. He will stay in Split until the beginning of 2023. His time in Croatia is coming to an end, as Paul travels to the UK in mid-January, after which he goes on a Latin American tour. He successfully underwent all the necessary treatments and operations and now all that remains is a strong will and exercise in order to regain his muscles and gradually walk. Technically speaking, his legs are ready for it. What he needs most now is motivation to get his life back in the best possible way.


"Three sold-out concerts in Greece, the longest tour by a foreign musician in Brazil and Latin America ever, the recording of a new album and the release of a new documentary are just a small part of what follows and what motivates him to train and fight. His album with Warhorse will feature a special guest musician, and he will also appear in a special concert in Brazil. Who is that, can you guess?




"To cut a long story short... Paul's recovery and starting to walk requires constant work and motivation, so I invite all fans to once again help Paul get back on his feet with motivational messages and constant support. And I will try to make something happen after that, which everyone has been dreaming about for a long time..."


Di'Anno, along with guitarist Gus G. (Firewind, Ozzy Osbourne), recently played dates Greece, performing tracks from the two albums he recorded with Maiden - the self-titled Iron Maiden (1980), and Killers (1981). Fan-filmed footage from the Athens date, courtesy of the YouTube channel Hronis Arva, can be viewed below.

Finnish rockers, Leaflet, will release their sophomore album, Something Beyond, this coming January via Rockshots Records. The album follows their debut album Outta Door released through VR Label Finland in 2017.


Today, the band releases the album's title track. Stream the song here, and watch a visualizer below.


Says the band: "'Something Beyond' was the last song to be written for this album and it also ended up being the title track. It deals with battling your inner demons and therefore is an extremely personal song. When we went recording this song we only had the bare minimum of the song finished with hardly any vocals and lyrics. Luckily it ended up as one of the strongest performances on the album!"







The band comments on Something Beyond: "With this album, we are definitely showing that rock music is alive and pumping! The album is full of catchy metal-influenced rock tunes that would fit perfectly in the heavy rotation of every rock radio station. The album has a lot of variety within the songs and we got a diverse selection of singles as well. Three very different singles trying to represent the entire album as well as possible. As singles, we got one heavy and hard-hitting tune, one straightforward and super catchy tune, and one fast-paced in-your-face type of tune. You should check out them all to see what you think! "


Formed in 2013, Leaflet is a four-piece hard rock band from Turku, Finland. Their music can be described as metal-infused American-style hard rock and while you might hear echoes of bands like Alter Bridge or Shinedown they have their own unique Nordic flavour. “Our musical cocktail is a blend of many things. Although we love the ‘80s, we are trying to keep our hard rock fresh and not follow the retro route”, the band says.


The band has performed on Finnish festivals such as Kuopiorock and Saaristo Open Air along with touring across their home country to support their debut album. They also spent time on the road in the Baltics with Willie & the Goodsouls in 2018 again playing clubs and festivals.


In 2019, Leaflet released “Johnny Two-Face” as a single through VR Label Finland followed by an ambitious music video shot in both Turku, Finland, and Tokyo, Japan. After a couple of years of silence due to the pandemic, the band is now back with their second album “Something Beyond” to be released by Rockshots Records in January 20, 2023, sounding stronger than ever.


Pre-order at the Rockshots Records webshop.





Tracklisting:


“Gonna Do It”
“Resonate”
“Alone Alive”
“Earth”
“Johnny Two-Face”
“Tattoos Of Life”
“Shades Of Black”
“Someone Somewhere”
“Something Beyond”


“Gonna Do It” video:

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

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

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

Flynn discussed his views on the PANTERA comeback in an interview with Brazilian journalist Gustavo Maiato. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "I think it's gonna be awesome for fans. I think if you were born in 1999, two years before PANTERA broke up, you're gonna get to see those songs again and see the band live, which is cool. Good for the fans."

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

Anselmo performed the PANTERA classic "Walk" at the January 22, 2016 event at the Lucky Strike Live in Hollywood, California in honor of Dimebag. As he left the stage, he made a Nazi-style salute. He appeared to say "white power" as he made the gesture, but he later claimed he was referring to drinking white wine as part of an "inside joke" and was reacting to the audience members up front who he said were taunting him.

Flynn, who performed at "Dimebash" alongside Anselmo and a number of other notable musicians, uploaded an eleven-minute video response to the incident in which he called Anselmo a "big bully" and described Philip's actions as "fucking wrong." The video has since been viewed nearly two million times on YouTube.

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

Anselmo told host Eddie Trunk: "Everybody in my camp and everybody around us, anybody who's ever watched Robert [Flynn] over the years knows that he watches me, and watches me, and watches me, and sits in the corner, and watches me, and then when we get on stage together… You know what? It all comes down to, and straight up, he wants to ride the coattails, Jack — he wants to ride the coattails. He started off a song, and I told him to stop. I hadn't even announced the song, so he took that as a slight. He started a song without me announcing the goddamn song, and I said something like, 'You don't know me,' which is, once again, my sense of humor, and I know it hurt his little… his ego or whatever, which, you know, sorry for you, brother, but I'm not sorry. So he made an eleven-minute video, and some dude who knows nothing about me except PANTERA and this and that. I'm a believer in freedom of speech whether you're joking around or not — whatever."

Anselmo added: "This whole I'm-a-racist thing is infuriating, because it's false — absolutely false. And I'd like to turn around and say, hey, what have you done to better your community, Robert? If you're gonna call me out on this supposed heinous act, what have you done? What have you done? I know what I've done. I know what I've done for the inner-city kids in Detroit when the Kronk boxing gym was getting closed down, I forked over thousands of dollars that I most certainly did not have to make sure those kids got fed, clothed and had a place to sleep, because it was run by the last father figure I had in my goddamn life, a black man named Emanuel Steward, rest in peace, who used to call me before every fight that he would call on HBO, and say, 'Whatcha think, Phil?' And he would ask me my opinion of what I thought the outcome would be."

In June 206, Flynn confirmed that he re-wrote part of the lyrics for the MACHINE HEAD song "Is There Anybody Out There?" to include lines that are a commentary on the "white power" gesture Anselmo made onstage at "Dimebash".

The reformed PANTERA played its third concert without Rex Thursday night (December 15) at Vibra in São Paulo, Brazil. The show took place three days after Rex confirmed that a positive COVID-19 test forced him to miss PANTERA's performance at Knotfest Chile in Santiago on Sunday (December 11). Filling in for him at both gigs was CATTLE DECAPITATION bassist Derek Engemann, who also plays with Anselmo in both PHILIP H. ANSELMO & THE ILLEGALS and SCOUR.

PANTERA is next scheduled to play another show in São Paulo — on Sunday, December 18 at Knotfest Brasil.

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.