M-Theory Audio announces that Midwest post-black metal operatives, Chrome Waves, are the latest talent to collaborate with the label to bring you more new music. Beginning the relationship, the band presents new single and music video for “Under The Weight Of A Billion Souls”. The video can be viewed below.





“In an age of 360 deals and ‘in perpetuity’ clauses, I wasn’t sure that Chrome Waves would have much interest in working with a label,” explains guitarist Jeff Wilson. “With our overwhelming need for first-class international distribution and finding them to have an extremely artist-friendly approach, we were so lucky to find M-Theory Audio. Marco has an impeccable history in the metal community and we can’t wait to get to work with him and his team in 2023.”




“Under The Weight Of A Billion Souls” is the first taste of new music from next year’s anticipated full-length opus. Combining key elements of Chrome Waves’ sound, you’ll be entranced by the traditional and modern black metal aspects, while venturing into more ambient and alternative moments that pull you in balancing the light and darkness of their sound.


“The first single has one particular theme and was written with it in mind - responsibility towards your fellow man,” notes singer/guitarist James Benson. “Humanity as a whole and its greed and ability to hyper focus on only our small “tribe” and remain in echo chambers with social media while our neighbors suffer through turmoil in front of our blinded ways, and those with resources make no changes to help millions in poverty. It is a stark vision of our future collapse.”





While Chrome Waves formed in 2010 as a project amongst friends, guitarist Jeff Wilson continues what was begun before The Atlas Moth’s Stavros Giannopoulos became too busy and Gates of Slumber drummer Bob Fouts’ unexpected passing. Through a series of several self-released single, EP and album releases Chrome Waves have built a reputation through music, live shows and critical response from various publications to cement themselves an appreciation and uniqueness that sets the band apart from many in the scene. In 2018 Jeff, whose resume includes work with Abigail Williams, Wolvhammer and Nachtmystium, with a full-time focus to concentrate on Chrome Waves teamed up with Amiensus’ James Benson on guitar, vocals and synth in aim to continue their vision adding in Nachtmystium bassist Zion Meagher to the core a couple years later. Drummer Garry Naples of Novembers Doom, Wolvhammer and Hatemonger performs drums on next spring’s anticipated release.


More information on Chrome Waves and the upcoming album release will be revealed in the weeks to come.

Tampa, Florida-based melodic death metal band, Blood Of Angels, have released their new stand alone single, "Spillage". The track is available on all streaming platforms. Listen below.





Guitarist Aaron Robinson comments: "The song came about through a very unique and funny way. There is a DJ in Chicago who has been playing our music. She told us that a band in Chicago named Spillage wrote a song called 'Blood Of Angels'. She suggested that we write a song called 'Spillage'. Their plan was to bring Blood Of Angels up to Chicago in the future to play a show together with Spillage.







Blood Of Angels band lineup:


Randy Reyes - Vocals
Aaron Robinson - Guitars
Jonathan Rushford - Drums
Maggot - Bass

CHILDREN OF BODOM's final concert, which took place on December 15, 2019 at the Black Box in Helsinki Ice Hall in Helsinki, Finland, will be released next year as a live album.

Earlier today, drummer Jaska Raatikainen, bassist Henri "Henkka T. Blacksmith" Seppälä and keyboardist Janne Wirman released the following statement via the band's social media: "Exactly three years ago 15th December 2019 CHILDREN OF BODOM played their last show at the Helsinki Ice Hall. To keep this precious last moment alive and also available to everyone who couldn't make it to see the show, Alexi's [Laiho, late CHILDREN OF BODOM frontman] estate, Daniel [Freyberg, CHILDREN OF BODOM guitarist], Henkka, Janne and Jaska will release the show next year as a live album.

"To make it more special we'd love to have photos from YOU to be included in the album booklet. What we're looking for is any BODOM related memories, from any era. We would like the Hate Crew to be part of the album, as the Hate Crew was always the essential part of the phenomenon called CHILDREN OF BODOM. That's why we are asking you to be part of this!

"If you feel like taking part in this project please submit your photo via email to [email protected] by 31st December 2022.

"Looking forward to see you what you guys have in your archives and stay tuned for more news.

"Please note that we have to be sure that the photos are ok for us to use, hence we kindly ask you to read this: By submitting a photo you agree that you will grant us the irreversible compensation free and royalty free right to use the material in our album materials. We can't guarantee that we will use your photos but we will go thru all of them and pick the ones suitable.
By submitting a photo you guarantee that you have all the rights to do so and that you have the consent of all the persons that can be recognized in the photo."

Alexi passed away on December 29, 2020 in his home in Helsinki, Finland. He died of alcohol-induced degeneration of the liver and pancreas connective tissue. Furthermore, Laiho had a cocktail of painkillers, opioids and insomnia medication in his system. He had suffered from long-term health issues leading up to his death.

Laiho and Raatikainen founded CHILDREN OF BODOM in 1993, and the band was one of the most internationally acclaimed metal acts in Finland up until their very last farewell concert. In 2020, Alexi put together BODOM AFTER MIDNIGHT, which recorded three songs and shot one music video, all of which were released posthumously.

Besides CHILDREN OF BODOM, Laiho had played in such acts as WARMEN, SINERGY, KYLÄHULLUT and THE LOCAL BAND. Awarded with a Metal Hammer Golden God and several other international prizes, the guitarist was also the main star, leading a group of one hundred guitar players at the Helsinki Festival in 2015 in "100 Guitars From Hel" — a massive concert piece he composed.

Earlier this year, Raatikainen, Seppälä and Wirman discussed publicly for the first time the circumstances that led to the band's split and ultimately Laiho's death. In an interview with Finland's Helsingin Sanomat, the three surviving members of CHILDREN OF BODOM said the real reason for the band's breakup was not that they wanted to stop touring in order to spend more time with their families, which is how Laiho explained it to Helsingin Sanomat in November 2019. Instead, what caused the group to split was Laiho's substance abuse, and that is also what eventually killed him a year after they went their separate ways.

Exactly three years ago 15th December 2019 Children Of Bodom played their last show at the Helsinki Ice Hall.

To keep...

Posted by Children Of Bodom on Thursday, December 15, 2022

Former Delain vocalist Charlotte Wessels has checked in with the following update:


"Simone Simons and I covered the iconic 'Hide And Seek' by Imogen Heap. Full song and video are available on both of our Patreon pages, along with a blogpost about the project and many more things.


Thank you, dear Simone. This was so much fun! When are we watching the end of Little Shop Of Horrors? And thank you, Patrons, for supporting us! Not a patron yet? Join the fam!"




Check out the duo's respective Patreon pages at the links below.


- Patreon.com/charlottewessels 
- Patreon.com/simonesimons








Imogen Heap is a British musician, singer, songwriter and record producer. She is considered a pioneer in pop and electropop music. "Hide And Seek", released in 2005, was certified Gold in the US and gained popularity after being used in the Fox teen drama television series, The O.C. 

Guesting on the Eddie Trunk Podcast, Guns N' Roses guitarist Slash commented on the long standing rumour that the iconic riff kicking off off the band's hit "Sweet Child O' Mine" started life as a warm-up exercise.


Slash: "It was just me messing around and putting notes together like any riff you do. It was a real riff, it wasn't a warm-up exercise. At the time, it was just a song. Nobody had any designs for it to be a big hit or anything like that. It was just a song that we put together that was cool before we actually made the Appetite For Destruction record. So we put it on the record like that, and then the next thing you know at some point after the record had been released for a while, that song all of a sudden just took off. We're sort of blessed that we have something that's become as memorable as that. You can't really mock that. You have to appreciate that you have something like that in your career that you have a song that is really that effective. So it's cool."

Professionally filmed video of SLIPKNOT's August 5 performance at this year's Wacken Open Air festival in Wacken, Germany can be seen below.

Featured songs:

00:00 An Emotional Introduction
02:08 Before I Forget
08:28 Duality
12:52 Spit It Out

The entire show is available at MagentaMusic.de.

SLIPKNOT is continuing to tour in support of its latest album, "The End, So Far", which was released on September 30 via Roadrunner Records. The follow-up to "We Are Not Your Kind", it is the band's final record with Roadrunner after first signing with the rock and metal label in 1998.

Three months ago, SLIPKNOT frontman Corey Taylor once again shot down the rumor that the band would break up after the release of "The End, So Far".

Ever since SLIPKNOT announced the title of its new LP in July, speculation had been rife that the name is a reference to the fact that the LP will mark the end of the band's recording career.

Taylor, who turned 49 earlier this month, addressed the rumor during an appearance on an episode of SiriusXM's "Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk". He said: "People have been talking about the end of SLIPKNOT since 2003, so it doesn't really matter. If I had a nickel for every time I've had to straighten fans out, I'd have a shit-ton of nickels, let's put it that way.

"Nothing sells albums like drama, let's put it that way, and even drama that doesn't even come from us; it just comes from the fans," he continued. "But at the same time, I kind of started saying onstage… explaining what the title is. It's the fact that it's… It's the end so far, which just means it's the end of one era and the start of the next.

"If you look at all of our favorite bands — [IRON] MAIDEN, METALLICA, [BLACK] SABBATH; you can even talk about JUDAS PRIEST; all these bands that we grew up on, loving; and our friends in ANTHRAX as well — every one of those bands has had different eras in their career; it's never been a straight line," Taylor explained. "There's no through line except for the members. And every era comes to a natural end and then it's the next one. So that's what the title reflects."

Asked by host Eddie Trunk if he believes that each era in a band's trajectory usually corresponds to a major lineup change, Corey responded: "I do, but at the same time, you can still have the end of one era and the beginning of another with the same bandmembers. So, to me, it can be a reflection of the fact that you have different members or you're just moving in a different direction. For me, it's more about just letting the fans know that we will be back and to remind them that you just never know what you're gonna get with us."

Taylor continued: "I mean, every album has always felt different; it's always sounded different. And to me, I feel like this era is more about us dealing with the grief that we've had to deal with and now kind of getting to the point where we can now move on comfortably into the future, and it's not about that. It's a part of our history now; it's not our narrative. And now we can kind of move on and kind of see what the future holds for SLIPKNOT, musically where we can go now. Because of the way we've done things, we've set it up so we can go in any direction we want, and as long as it comes from the heart, it doesn't matter. So that's kind of the era, I think, that's being set up now. The next era will definitely be more of like a 'gloves off, let's just see what happens and go for it.'"

The reformed PANTERA played its third concert without bassist Rex Brown 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 the São Paulo gig — which was co-headlined by JUDAS PRIEST — was CATTLE DECAPITATION bassist Derek Engemann, who also plays with PANTERA singer Philip Anselmo in both PHILIP H. ANSELMO & THE ILLEGALS and SCOUR.

PANTERA's setlist for the Vibra concert was as follows, according to Setlist.fm:

01. A New Level
02. Mouth For War
03. Strength Beyond Strength
04. Becoming
05. I'm Broken
06. 5 Minutes Alone
07. This Love
08. Yesterday Don't Mean Shit
09. Fucking Hostile
10. Planet Caravan (BLACK SABBATH cover)
11. Walk
12. Domination / Hollow
13. Cowboys From Hell

On Monday, Brown released the following statement via PANTERA's social media: "I caught a very mild strain of Covid, but because of our own protocols, I simply do not wanna risk getting my brothers or the crew sick!! I'm feeling better & am on my way to a speedy recovery. Merry Fckn Christmas & see you all next year!"

On Sunday, Chilean radio station Futuro reported that Brown flew from Bogotá, Colombia, where PANTERA performed at Knotfest Colombia on December 9, back home to the United States to quarantine, thereby missing the remainder of the PANTERA shows in South America.

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).

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.

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 last year 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.

Rex Brown says that he is "feeling pretty damn good" less than a week after he was forced to sit out several PANTERA shows on the band's South American tour after catching "a very mild strain of Covid".

Earlier today, the 58-year-old bassist issued the following health update via Twitter: "Quick Update Folks:: After arriving back in the States this week, I'm feeling pretty damn good for a cat that had 104* fever a short time ago…Damn Good!! Already gearing up for these MASSIVE shows coming quick!! Thx for all your kind words & MERRY FCKN CHRISTMAS!!"

The reformed PANTERA played its third concert without Brown Thursday night (December 15) at Vibra in São Paulo, Brazil. Filling in for him at the São Paulo gig — which was co-headlined by JUDAS PRIEST — was CATTLE DECAPITATION bassist Derek Engemann, who also plays with PANTERA singer Philip Anselmo in both PHILIP H. ANSELMO & THE ILLEGALS and SCOUR.

On Sunday, Chilean radio station Futuro reported that Brown flew from Bogotá, Colombia, where PANTERA performed at Knotfest Colombia on December 9, back home to the United States to quarantine, thereby missing the remainder of the PANTERA shows in South America.

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).

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.

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 last year 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.
Quick Update Folks:: After arriving back in the States this week, I’m feeling pretty damn good for a cat that had 104* fever a short time ago…Damn Good!! Already gearing up for these MASSIVE shows coming quick!! Thx for all your kind words & MERRY FCKN CHRISTMAS!!

— REX BROWN (@REJASFROMTEJAS) December 16, 2022

Tribe 3 Productions has shared high-quality video of KINGS OF THRASH's November 19 performance at the Days Of The Dead horror convention in Chicago, Illinois. Also included is footage of the support act, METALLICA tribute band HARDWIRED.

KINGS OF THRASH is the new band featuring former MEGADETH members David Ellefson (bass) and Jeff Young (guitar). The group, which also includes drummer Fred Aching as well as guitarist/vocalist Chaz Leon, along with the occasional guest appearance by another former MEGADETH member, Chris Poland (guitar),recently entered the studio to begin recording the first of four original songs.

In October, KINGS OF THRASH completed a four-date West Coast tour which culminated in a sold-out gig at the legendary Whisky A Go Go in West Hollywood, California. All four shows saw KINGS OF THRASH performing MEGADETH's classic albums "Killing Is My Business… And Business Is Good!" and "So Far, So Good… So What!" in their entirety.

Speaking to Ralph Rasmussen of Radio Bypass about KINGS OF THRASH's recent shows and future plans, Ellefson said: "That was a thing where… Of course everybody knew our names — me, Jeff Young and Chris Poland. We advertised we were gonna play the 'Killing Is My Business' and 'So Far, So Good… So What!' records. And as it turns out, we ended up playing, like, half of 'Peace Sells' too. That's probably the most frickin' muscular setlist I've played since probably [MEGADETH's] 'Rude Awakening' [live album and DVD], when we filmed that in 2001 and I was 20 years younger. So we turned up the gas; there was no screwing around on that one. And it was great. It was super cool. It was super fun. It made me just realize how cool those songs are, how the detail and intricacies… It was a very different era, too. The songs were written under much different pretenses. There was a real innovation in those records, the stuff of the '80s, back then, that we were doing."

He continued: "We picked four cities. We said, 'Let's just go out and fire this off, kind of a proof of concept, show everybody what we've got.' I think the first night, when we played in San Diego, the fans right away got it. They were, like, 'Oh my God. Holy shit. We've been asking for this and wanting this for years. And oh my God. There they really are. Those are really the guys that played on those records. This is it.' And our drummer Fred and our singer Chaz, they got it in their hear as younger guys, so they get it and were excited to be there with us doing it. So, yeah, it really was just a moment in time for that to fire off like that so well. And now as a result, look, we've got live recordings, we've got more stuff coming up here in the New Year for that. So, yeah, that was just the beginning; that was just the first firework we blew off. There's definitely gonna be more after this."

Last month, Young told Ghost Cult magazine that KINGS OF THRASH's first original song was being recorded at a North Hollywood studio previously used by legendary producer Eddie Kramer (Jimi Hendrix). As for the musical direction of KINGS OF THRASH's original material, Jeff said: "It's got the vibe of MEGADETH — it's on that playing field, but it's got all of its own stuff and all of our influences and some SOUNDGARDEN/TOOL vibes in maybe the music and melodies."

Jeff was also full of praise for Aching and Leon, saying: "We really feel in a way how Ozzy [Osbourne] must have felt introducing Randy Rhoads to the world with these young two guys we have, both half our age and both so composed and mature musically for their age. And we've just been having a blast. And it's great that they're fans of the music and they've really studied it. Chaz, the singer/guitar player, plays in a MEGADETH tribute and fronts a SOUNDGARDEN tribute. So he has some of that Chris Cornell huskiness… So it's really cool to hear him sing these songs with a bit more huskiness and that young exuberance that he has. I think the kids are gonna love him 'cause he has that Dimebag Darrell kind of likability."

In a separate interview with Thomas S. Orwat, Jr. of the Rock Interview Series, Young was asked if he, Ellefson and Poland have gotten any reaction to the tour — either in the form of a blessing or an angry rebuke — from MEGADETH leader Dave Mustaine. Jeff responded: "We're really not concerned. I don't pay attention. I haven't really paid attention or followed MEGADETH since, I think, I heard the 'Rust In Peace' album a couple of times, and then what you might hear on the radio or in the press.

"For us, this isn't about any spite or retaliation; it's a celebration of the music that we were all a part of, that we helped create," he explained. "And it's fun for us to do this.

"People said, 'You should do this.' And we said, 'Hey, yeah, you're right. We should do this.' It's a win-win — it's a win for us, and it's a win for [Mustaine], because any performance royalties, anything… If we did include live tracks, he would make money off that. It's promoting albums that hopefully fans will go back and buy, which is putting money right in his pocket. Especially 'Killing Is My Business', I think a lot of people are gonna go back and wanna rediscover that album after this tour.

"For us, it's all about positivity," Young added. "We're all in this moment — we're living in the moment, and we're not looking beyond. We're not reading any of the comments on Blabbermouth or any of the stuff. Because we know what our intent is, and intent is everything. And our intent's positive. We like playing together. We know we're crafting original music. We're not relying on this; we don't need to ride the coattails of this. This is just something that the fans wanted, and you wanna give fans what they want."

Ellefson told Yes! You CAN Play Guitar! that the intention behind KINGS OF THRASH is not to stick it to his former bandmates. "This is a celebration, not a retaliation," he explained. "This is a good moment. This is a happy moment, to celebrate these songs and these tracks and these records. So we go at it with just fun… It's, like, 'Wow. Wouldn't it be fun if we went out and played these records?' And we're doing it. So it's meant to be this celebration and bringing people together. And honestly, that was kind of always my role in MEGADETH. Dave [Mustaine] always called me 'The Ambassador', and I was always that guy, and I am that guy. So it's, like, let me just continue that role in our community and have one of good will."

Ellefson was fired from MEGADETH a year and a half ago after sexually tinged messages and explicit video footage involving the bassist were posted on Twitter.

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

In 2004, Ellefson filed an $18.5-million lawsuit against Dave Mustaine, alleging the MEGADETH leader shortchanged him on profits and backed out of a deal to turn Megadeth Inc. over to him when the band broke up in 2002. The lawsuit was eventually dismissed and Ellefson rejoined MEGADETH in 2010.

Young's entire career with MEGADETH was spent recording and touring in support of the band's 1988 platinum-selling album "So Far, So Good...So What!"

Jeff made headlines in December 2009 for accusing Mustaine of, among other things, "dissing, exaggerating and just plain lying on some level about nearly every talented musician that has passed through his dysfunctional little ensemble." He also disputed Mustaine's claim in an interview that Young's drug problem led to MEGADETH's 1988 Australian tour being called off and the group being "banned" from performing in the country.

Poland was a member of MEGADETH from 1984 to 1987, during which time he performed on the band's classic albums "Killing Is My Business... And Business Is Good!" and "Peace Sells... But Who's Buying?" He is also a featured soloist on the group's 2004 album, "The System Has Failed".

Back in 2004, Poland and/or his management and attorney filed a lawsuit against Mustaine regarding the use of the three "Rust In Peace" demos on the album's reissue without Chris's permission. Chris eventually settled for $9,500 and thereby ended a professional relationship with Dave and MEGADETH.

For the past couple of decades, Poland's main musical focus has been the fusion band OHM:, which has released several full-length studio albums to date.

Finnish cello rockers APOCALYPTICA have released a new song, "Rise Again", featuring a guest appearance by Simone Simons of EPICA on vocals. Accompanied by an artistic and unique music video directed by Lisa Mann, "Rise Again" is a new version of APOCALYPTICA's instrumental track "Rise", taken from the band's most recent album "Cell-0".

APOCALYPTICA's Eicca Toppinen comments: "It was so great to make 'Rise Again' with Simone Simons! When we were putting the 'Epic Apocalypse' tour together, we were thinking of making this collaboration with EPICA even deeper by releasing a song together. 'Rise' from our 'Cell-0' album had the beauty and feel which we felt could fit perfectly for Simone's unique voice. We are so happy about the song and really excited about this tour with EPICA as it will be something really special and amazing!"

APOCALYPTICA and EPICA's "Epic Apocalypse" tour will kick off on January 23 in Oslo and will conclude on March 29 in Leipzig, Germany. Support on the trek will come from WHEEL.

At this year's Louder Than Life festival, Toppinen told Knotfest about when fans can expect to hear a new full-length album from APOCALYPTICA: "That's very hard to tell, because now we just released this EP ['Metal Classic, Classic Metal', featuring cello-metal reinterpretations of classical bangers]. Probably in December or January — I can't recall the date — there's gonna be the next song; it's a vocal feature. I can't reveal what it is yet. But that's gonna be out then. And there's gonna be other singles released next year. I would guess the next album is not gonna be before '24 — a full album."

He continued: "We are kind of following different paths, because the digital world gives you the possibility that it's not the old-school way that you release an album and then you tour for two or three years and then you make a new album. It's not like that. The modern world requires, in a way, to deliver something new and fresh pretty much constantly. And we have this classical covers world, then we have the original instrument APOCALYPTICA world, and then we have the vocal world of APOCALYPTICA. We have kind of three tracks we are [following]. At the same time when we are working on a new album, we are also working… Because an album is always a little bit more like a concept — it's one type of full structure of an idea — and we don't want to stick only on that. Even [while] we go for this one album structure, we want to keep these both other paths alive at the same time. So that's why it's very hard to say exactly what's gonna happen in which order."

"Metal Classic, Classic Metal" was released in September. The effort includes the focus track "Flight Of The Bumblebees", originally by Nikolai Rimski-Korsakow. "Metal Classic, Classic Metal" also contains a new version of Beethoven's "5th Symphony" as well as a remake of Maurice Ravel's "Bolero".

Eight months ago, Eicca told Mexico's Summa Inferno about his band's plans for a follow-up to 2020's "Cell-0" LP: "We have started to talk about the next possible album. But in the meanwhile, we've been recording individual songs so we could release something constantly…. I would guess we'll start to write for the new album. We've been starting to talk about what it could be, what would be exciting to do for us, but [those discussions have] not [gone] very far yet. Because the mindset is now we're doing the 'Cell-0' tour. And it's not that easy at the same time to get very high inspiration and motivation to write a new album, because writing a new album and recording it is a huge process; it takes a lot of time [and] a lot of energy. So, now we have so much touring that it's not possible to do it now. But I think we [will be] starting on it [soon]."

This past March, APOCALYPTICA released the "I'll Get Through It" single, which was written for the band by American award-winning songwriter Diane Warren. It features Franky Perez — guest vocalist in APOCALYPTICA's 2015 record "Shadowmaker" — as well as Geezer Butler of BLACK SABBATH on bass guitar. The song was born out of a visit Geezer and Franky paid to their friend Diane, who had already written the track "Not Strong Enough" for APOCALYPTICA, included in their 2010 record "7th Symphony".

2015's "Shadowmaker" was APOCALYPTICA's first album to feature just one singer — Perez — instead of guest collaborators. The disc was recorded with Grammy Award-winning producer Nick Raskulinecz (FOO FIGHTERS, DEFTONES, MASTODON).

Prior to enlisting Perez, who accompanied APOCALYPTICA on the band's 2022 North American tour, the group released eight albums that melded the classically trained cello mastery of the three core bandmembers with the harder elements of the rock world, including drums and guest vocalists, such as Gavin Rossdale from BUSH, and Corey Taylor of SLIPKNOT and STONE SOUR fame.

In April 2021, APOCALYPTICA released the official music video for its collaboration with PAPA ROACH singer Jacoby Shaddix on a cover version of the CREAM classic "White Room". The track was produced by Howard Benson at West Valley Recording Studios in Woodland Hills, California and mixed by Chris Lorde-Alge.

"White Room" was the first release from APOCALYPTICA since "Talk To Me", which arrived in August 2020. That song was a collaboration with HALESTORM frontwoman Lzzy Hale.

"Cell-0" came out in January 2020. The effort was the band's first fully instrumental record in 17 years.

Photo by Ville Juurikkala

Volbeat have released the Official Bootleg video for “Say No More”, live from Anaheim. Watch below:





Volbeat are on tour in the UK now. Tickets & VIP packages are available here.

In a new interview with Noise11.com to promote his ††† (CROSSES) project, DEFTONES frontman Chino Moreno was asked for an update on his main band's plans for the coming months. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "We're just chipping away on some new music — those [other] guys are, at least, at the moment. We have some sporadic shows over the next couple of years, or a year or so, whatever. But for the most part, yeah, we're just kind of winding down and taking some time off, for the most part."

Earlier this year, DEFTONES recruited Fred Sablan as their new touring bassist following the departure of Sergio Vega. They were also joined by second guitarist Lance Jackman.

Sablan made his live debut with the DEFTONES in April at the opening concert of the band's spring 2022 U.S. tour at the Moda Center at the Rose Quarter in Portland, Oregon.

Sablan is best known as the former bassist for MARILYN MANSON, having toured and recorded with the shock rocker between 2010 and 2014. He has also played bass for CHELSEA WOLFE and PETER HOOK AND THE LIGHT, and is a member of the punk-rock supergroup HEAVENS BLADE alongside YOUTH CODE singer Sara Taylor, ROB ZOMBIE bassist Piggy D. (on guitar) and SUICIDE SILENCE drummer Alex Lopez.

Vega, who officially joined DEFTONES in 2009, confirmed his exit in March, just days after a new photo of the band without him emerged online on various digital service providers. At the time, he took to social media to share a video explaining his perspective on the split. In the Instagram video, Vega detailed the contractual issues that created a rift between himself and the group's core members.

Jackman is known for his work in Sacramento bands EIGHTFOURSEVEN, HORSENECK and WILL HAVEN.

Florida death metal veterans DEICIDE have finished recording the bass, rhythm guitars and drums for their long-awaited new studio album.

On Tuesday (December 13),DEICIDE's guitarist Taylor Nordberg (THE ABSENCE, INHUMAN CONDITION) shared a photo of him and his bandmates at his home studio, Smoke And Mirrors Productions, and he included the following message: "Bass is done! This record is going to flatten everyone into mush. @deicideofficial album #13 #deicide #album13 #smokeandmirrorsproductions".

In a recent interview with "The Garza Podcast", hosted by SUICIDE SILENCE guitarist Chris Garza, DEICIDE bassist/vocalist Glen Benton spoke about the band's plans to record the follow-up to 2018's "Overtures Of Blasphemy" album. He said: "The new stuff that we're writing now is really anthem-style stuff. It's really good, man. There's a lot of prog stuff in there, mixed in there. Steve's [Asheim, drums] our prog guy, man; he's the progressive rock guy. He likes to write those really black metal riffs and the progressive stuff. He's an amazing talent, man. He plays piano. He can play sweeps on guitar. He's a drummer. Yeah, he can do it all."

Benton went on to say that the next DEICIDE album was "written last year" before he and his bandmates agreed to embark on a tour celebrating the 30th anniversary of DEICIDE's sophomore album, "Legion". But, he explained, "We're getting ready to hammer this deal out right now and get this thing out."

DEICIDE played its first show with Nordberg on May 21 at the Rickshaw Theatre in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

Ten months ago, Nordberg spoke about how he landed the DEICIDE gig in an interview with "The Zach Moonshine Show". He said: "In 2019, my band THE ABSENCE toured with DEICIDE in the U.S. And we got to know the guys and got along really well. And I actually found out that Glen [Benton, DEICIDE frontman] lives, like, two streets over from Jeramie [Kling, THE ABSENCE drummer] and I, where we live. So Jeramie and Glen became good buddies and they ride bikes all the times. It's a funny little thing, thinking about that. But long story short, [previous DEICIDE guitarist] Chris [Cannella], I believe he's the head of A&R at Dean Guitars so he's focusing on that for right now. I heard that they needed a guitar player, so I learned a couple of songs, made a couple of videos, and Glen saw 'em and liked what he saw. So we had a couple of practices, and bing bang boom, here we are."

Cannella amicably left DEICIDE in January after a three-year run.

Chris joined DEICIDE in 2019 following the departure of guitarist Mark English.

English became a member of DEICIDE in 2016 after the exit of longtime guitarist Jack Owen.

In February, Nordberg was asked in an interview with the "Brews N Tunes" podcast if he and his new bandmates had commenced work on the follow-up to "Overtures Of Blasphemy" album. He responded: "They had started most of the new album before I joined, but since announcing [that we are going to celebrate the 30th anniversary of] 'Legion' [by performing the LP in its entirety], we've kind of shifted gears and we're trying to lock that in and get a set prepped just in the event that a show pops up. But they have most of the new album prepped, and then we're hammering out, ironing out some details with the last couple songs. But the material is sounding killer. It sounds like DEICIDE."

"Overtures Of Blasphemy" was released in September 2018 via Century Media.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Taylor Nordberg (@uncle_teets)

Sunny Singh, the man behind Hate5Six, a collection of high-quality videos of hardcore punk concerts he has filmed, mostly in the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania area, has released a LAMB OF GOD concert film.

Titled "Lamb Of God: Live In Portland", the nearly 90-minute video captures LAMB OF GOD on the "Omens" tour and included cuts from the band's latest album, "Omens", the 2020 self-titled effort and classics from the Richmond, Virginia metal group's catalog.

Singh stated about the project: "LAMB OF GOD invited me to document their set in Portland, OR back in October to celebrate their new record and I obviously said yes. I went all out to make this more of a concert film than a standard live set."

LAMB OF GOD's Live Nation-produced U.S. headlining tour featured special guests KILLSWITCH ENGAGE on all dates. Different legs also saw support from BARONESS, MOTIONLESS IN WHITE, SPIRITBOX, ANIMALS AS LEADERS as well as SUICIDE SILENCE and FIT FOR AN AUTOPSY. The tour kicked off September 9 in Brooklyn and ran through October 20.

"Omens" was released in October. The LP is the follow-up to LAMB OF GOD's self-titled album, which arrived in June 2020. That effort marked LAMB OF GOD's first recordings with drummer Art Cruz, who joined the band in July 2019 as the replacement for the group's founding drummer, Chris Adler.

In August, LAMB OF GOD bassist John Campbell told Germany's EMP that "Omens" is "a fairly dynamic record. There's a few other little surprises and tweaks and things to come in October," he said. "But we recorded it differently this time. We went to Los Angeles and all of us in the same room and same time recording, which gave us some leeway to make changes as things happened and just kind of feel it out in a different way than we've done in the past, which would be everybody kind of going in their corner recording and it gets assembled later. So it was a real team effort on this one, in the recording — all the way through it's been a team effort — and in the recording especially, when we were all in the same room doing that stuff, it was great. I got to spend three and a half weeks working on a record instead of four or five days — working on the recording of the record."

Also in August, Campbell was asked by Knotfest what led to the decision to record "Omens" live in the studio. John responded: "Well, we've been doing this so fucking long, we had to do something different. I believe that was Josh Wilbur's idea to do that. I know he had a great place worked out to do that in. And we had just kind of been doing it the same way over and over and over again, and we were looking to get a little more excitement into it and maybe see if that couldn't produce a different feel on the record."

MEGADETH has released the official music video for the song "Killing Time", taken from the band's latest studio album, "The Sick, The Dying... And The Dead!" Titled "Chapter V: Killing Time", the video is the fifth and latest instalment of the band's epic multi-part short film revealing the origins of the band's iconic mascot Vic Rattlehead.

Regarding the lyrical inspiration for "Killing Time", MEGADETH mainman Dave Mustaine told Kerrang! magazine: "'Killing Time' isn't about homicide. It's about procrastination. 'Psychopathy' [another song from 'The Sick, The Dying… And The Dead!'] gives you the background] for the person that 'Killing Time' is about. The subject the doctors are talking about is this guy who thinks he's got it all going on. But everything that he does peels back another layer of burnt skin. It's stripping back the paint trying to cover up the mess that this person is. I actually know someone who's just lost everything. We're talking hundreds of thousands of dollars and a multi-million dollar company: gone. And he'd been warned. He was the slick dude in 'Life In Hell'. He was the Junkie. He's definitely the guy in 'Killing Time'."

In a separate interview, Mustaine stated about "Killing Time": "It's about people who are lackadaisical and waste their time. But time is the most valuable thing we have in this world. How many beats of the heart do I have left? How many breaths I am going to take before my last? How many times will I get to say 'I love you' again to my wife, to my kids, to my fans? I don't know, but I'm going to cherish every moment."

"The Sick, The Dying… And The Dead!" debuted at the top of the charts during its first week of sales, taking the No. 3 spot on the Billboard 200 as well as number ones on Top Album Sales, Top Current Albums Sales, Top Rock & Alternative Albums, Top Rock Albums and Top Hard Rock Albums. "The Sick, The Dying… And The Dead!" is the highest-charting MEGADETH album of all time around the world, notching No. 1 In Finland, No. 2 in australia, poland, Switzerland, and Scotland, No. 3 in the U.K., and more.

MEGADETH recently received its thirteenth Grammy nomination for "Best Metal Performance" for the song "We'll Be Back" from "The Sick, The Dying… And The Dead!".

MEGADETH won the 2017 Grammy Award for "Best Metal Performance" for the title track of the band's 2016 album "Dystopia". This marked the group's twelfth Grammy nomination in this category (including nominations in the discontinued "Best Hard Rock/Metal Performance" category).

In a new interview with Classic Rock magazine, MUSE frontman Matt Bellamy revealed an appreciation for Yngwie Malmsteen after Classic Rock's Amit Sharma pointed out that a lick in the MUSE song "You Make Me Feel Like It's Halloween" sounds like something the legendary Swedish guitarist might play.

"Oh, brilliant!", Bellamy exclaimed. "I haven't listened to him in a while, but Yngwie was one of those people I got into in the early '90s when I first started playing. Clearly back then, I thought there was a chance. After a while, I realized I simply couldn't get to where he was, and sort of veered off towards more classical and flamenco guitar styles. Then I started listening to players like [Jimi] Hendrix and [Kurt] Cobain and felt: 'You know what? I can do chaos. I can't do this unbelievable technical precision, but what I can do is create a mess.' So I went down the road of noise, chaos and carnage…. and little elements of the other things stayed with me."

Bellamy also talked about the metal influence on MUSE's "Will Of The People" album, saying: "When we were growing up, we were listening to bands like IRON MAIDEN. And though we connected more through NIRVANA, RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE and the SMASHING PUMPKINS, we always had this love for eighties metal. METALLICA were also a big one for us, but IRON MAIDEN were the British band and also felt a bit more punk rock in ways. The song 'Phantom Of The Opera' [from IRON MAIDEN's self-titled debut album] doesn't feel as bloated or overtly classical as other metal songs. There's still something quite angry and scary about it. That's why MAIDEN are a band we've always looked up to.

"That usage of the harmonic minor scale and the progressive approach to arrangements is something that we share, even if we never sounded like them and live in a different genre. We have a lot of respect for them as musicians, especially Steve Harris, who is one of the best bass players around."

Three months ago, MUSE announced a North American tour for spring 2023. The North American arena trek will kick off in Chicago, running its two-month course throughout multiple cities including stops in Minneapolis, Toronto, New York, Los Angeles, and more. The tour features special guest EVANESCENCE.

MUSE is Matt Bellamy, Dominic Howard and Chris Wolstenholme. Since forming in 1994, MUSE have released nine studio albums, selling over 30 million units worldwide. Their latest album, "Will Of The People", debuted at No. 1 in multiple territories including United Kingdom (their seventh consecutive No. 1),Austria, France, Finland, Italy and Switzerland. Their previous album, "Simulation Theory", debuted at No. 1 in multiple territories and followed their 2015 album "Drones", which went on to win a Grammy Award for "Best Rock Album", the band's second.

MUSE have won numerous music awards including two Grammy Awards, an American Music Award, five MTV Europe Music Awards, two Brit Awards, eleven NME Awards and seven Q Awards, among others.