JUDAS PRIEST singer Rob Halford joined country legend Dolly Parton on stage on November 5 at the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame induction ceremony to perform her classic song "Jolene". Also appearing with them as part of a "super jam" performance were some of the other Rock Hall inductees, including Pat Benatar, Annie Lennox and DURAN DURAN's Simon Le Bon.

Speaking to the San Antonio Current about what it was like to briefly share the microphone with Dolly, Rob said: "I knew that there was going to be an opportunity a few weeks before the event. Again, it was just kind of floating around that she was going to do this song at the end of the show and bring all of her friends onstage with her. And I didn't realize that we were going to be so connected. I sang one chorus with Dolly Parton and the world's gone nuts. And I can appreciate that now. I didn't understand it at first. And now these days have gone by, and people are going, 'Where's the album with Dolly and The Metal God?'

"I'll tell you something about her: she's been here forever, a bit like Her Majesty the Queen, who left us recently. What I mean by that is when Dolly walks into the room, you feel this regal presence. She's just got this aura about her personality. She's a genuinely beautiful light of love and caring and philanthropy and humanity. It's all real, man. It's all very real. There are some people who are very different on and off stage. Well, no, not with Dolly. That's Dolly's thing. So, for me to have that opportunity, I was just blessed and honored and thrilled. I know her work because I've lived as long as Dolly, and I was aware of Dolly as a young person growing up and seeing her on British television. She'd come over and do these British variety shows. And here I am, this kid from a public housing estate in the West Midlands in England, and I'm standing next to Dolly fucking Parton, who is now a rock chick."

Back in February, when PRIEST's third nomination for the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame was announced, Halford told Billboard that, "I must do a duet with Dolly Parton! … If Lionel [Richie] and PRIEST get in, I think we'll both be dancing on the ceiling together."

Halford had previously revealed he is a huge fan of Dolly, and had planned to take a photo with her at the ceremony.

"I'm going to force her to, even if she doesn't know who I am," he told Metal Crypt in June. "I'm going to see what table she is sitting at. I'm just going to run to the table and do the devil's horns thing. Tongue out, horns up, behind Dolly Parton's head. It's the only way to do it. I can't smile sweetly. I've got to stick my tongue out and my horns up."

Halford told Rolling Stone earlier in the year that he had no issues with Dolly being inducted into the Rock Hall.

"If you look at everyone in the Hall, it makes perfect sense to have Dolly Parton in there," he said. "I think it's just this 'rock and roll' thing. Should it be called the Music Hall Of Fame? I don't know. It started out with rock and roll, and roll and roll is everything and anything. It's just a phraseology."

Rob also talked about the possibility of sharing the stage with Dolly at the end of the night, saying: "I was onstage last weekend with Larry The Cable Guy! [Laughs] It was at Alice Cooper's blast for his great institution the Solid Rock Foundation. If I could stand alongside my buddy Larry and sing 'roll, baby, roll' [from THE DOORS' 'Roadhouse Blues'], I can certainly stand next to Dolly Parton on my left and Lionel Richie on my right."

PRIEST received the Musical Excellence Award at the event, which honored Eminem, Parton, DURAN DURAN, Richie, Benatar, EURYTHMICS and Carly Simon in the Performers category.

The JUDAS PRIEST members that got inducted include current members Halford, Ian Hill (bass),Glenn Tipton (guitar) and Scott Travis (drums),along with former members Downing, Binks and late drummer Dave Holland.

Earlier in the evening, Halford, Hill, Tipton and Travis were joined by Binks, Downing and current guitarist Richie Faulkner for three-song medley consisting of "You've Got Another Thing Comin'", "Breaking The Law" and "Living After Midnight".
#RockAndRollHallOfFame@DollyParton Superstar Jammin session of Jolene absolutely amazing 🎸#Pink@Pink@AnnieLennoxpic.twitter.com/gLz4UKrKWO

— Kerry (@kerrykez30) November 6, 2022

Kommandant, after almost five years since their last work, are coming back with a new album titled Titan Hammer, which will be released on January 23 via the Italian label, ATMF.


Kommandant are an American combo that for almost 20 years have been proposing elitist and furious black metal with a unique sound.


ATMF explains something more about this new release: "We are currently existing within a dark epoch. Kommandant took their first steps into the black metal playground whilst the western world was retreating into a deep slumber. We can now either decide to face reality; a call to arms, or remain in such a state of impotence. Kommandant brings forth the inferno; an enlightenment and awareness that is both clandestine, and apparent simultaneously. Ancient phantograms, echoing both the struggle of the past and the actuality of the present, make their fog of war pervasive to all the stagnant relics that hinder advancement.




"Audibly , this is by far the most staggering version of the Kommandant weaponry. Blunt force trauma, striking hard and fast, for maximum effect. The soldiers marching in the fog are obedient vessels, actuated by a primordial magnetic impulse.


"While listening to Titan Hammer it can immediately be perceived as an imminent tragedy, a mere lingering spectre, devouring any remaining glimmer or aspirations. Once fully emerging from this acrid slurry, the miasma will succeed in trapping the listener within the entrails of atavistic phantoms.


"References can be made somehow to nefarious acts like War, Marduk & Zyklon-B.


"Within a scene that is severely over-polluted by disingenuous bedroom projects, Kommandant takes a step to the front with mature songwriting and a professional studio recording shaped in Belle City Sound Company studio, located in Racine, WI.


The artwork and layout is perfectly emphasized once again with the creative genius of artist Francesco Gemelli (Abigor, Katatonia, Kvist, Darkspace, Spectral Lore). Titan Hammer will march and progress deeper and deeper into the battlefield of humanity , like a dagger to the heart of the world."





Tracklisting:


"The Arrival"
"Titan Hammer"
"Atlantean Deathmarch"
"Siberian Overthrow"
"Sublimation Of Resistance"
"Spannungsfelder"
"The Sentinel"
"Mechanized Annihilator"


"Titan Hammer":

Wymer Publishing will release Jerry Bloom's Rainbow: A Visual Biography on April 14. Pre-order here and get your name in the book on a dedicated fan page.





Description: From 1975, through the eighties, re-activated in the nineties and a slight return in 2016-18, Ritchie Blackmore’s Rainbow took its fans on numerous journeys from the grandiose beginnings with Ronnie James Dio to the chart busting times with Graham Bonnet and Joe Lynn Turner. And again in the nineties with Doogie White as lead vocalist, and finally stepping out for the last time in the twenty-first century for a handful of shows allowing a new generation of fans to have the opportunity of hearing Rainbow live on stage.




In this hefty tome Jerry Bloom charts Rainbow’s full career with great detail and information, along with a huge raft of superb imagery that covers the entire career. Bloom documents the band’s history in a comprehensive timeline, that covers every facet of Rainbow from every angle. Aside from band photos, the visual element is enhanced with rare memorabilia and artifacts.

Queen recently released The Miracle Collector's Edition. In celebration of the band's hit 1989 album, the YouTube series Queen The Greatest returned to pull back the curtain on how the album originated. With archive interview material from all four members of the band and behind the scenes footage, we discover what made this such a unique Queen record. Part 2 is now available. Watch two segments below:


Part 1:







Part 2:





33 years later Queen deliver the long lost original LP cut of the classic 1989 album. The 8-Disc Box Set: Vinyl LP/5CD/DVD/Blu-ray is available for order here.





Find complete details here.























Queen recently released the rediscovered track, "Face It Alone", featuring the band's late and legendary frontman, Freddie Mercury. The digital/streaming single and 7” single are available now.

Former EXODUS guitarist Rick Hunolt was recently interviewed for EXODUS singer Steve "Zetro" Souza's Zetro's Toxic Vault YouTube channel. During the chat, Rick, who joined EXODUS in 1983, several months after the departure of Kirk Hammett, was asked why he thinks METALLICA's James Hetfield and Lars Ulrich chose Hammett to replace Dave Mustaine just prior to the recording of the "Kill 'Em All" album. He responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "This is why I think James chose Kirk. It's because Dave and [Kirk's] styles back then were similar — pentatonic, bluesy. James didn't want no effects on his shit. He wanted Kirk to play dry — no echo; just a real dry Marshall tone. Wah-wah [pedal] is cool, I guess. But he had a similar style to Dave. Individually, personality-wise, [they were] completely two different human beings.

"Back in the day, when you went to go see METALLICA, the reason why you went to go see METALLICA is because we wanted to go see Dave — that's it," Rick continued. "Dave played lead guitar. He spoke in between songs. James sang — that's all he did. He didn't play rhythm guitar. It was the Dave Mustaine show. Period. That's it. And he was funny as shit — drunk. Oh, God, he was awesome. Dave was, like, the king back then.

"How you get kicked out of your own band, I don't know," Hunolt added. "I don't wanna talk about that… But as far as I'm concerned, personally, Dave Mustaine is the godfather of thrash metal."

Hammett was a member of EXODUS's original lineup before replacing Mustaine in METALLICA. In fact, Hammett was not only the person who came up with the EXODUS name, but also the first from the band to meet singer Paul Baloff and brought him into EXODUS.

The original lineup of EXODUS consisted of guitarists Hammett and Tim Agnello, drummer Tom Hunting and vocalist Keith Stewart. Guitarist Gary Holt joined the band in 1981, while Kirk left two years before EXODUS's classic debut album, 1985's "Bonded By Blood", saw the light of day.

Although EXODUS rarely gets mentioned alongside the so-called "Big Four" of 1980s thrash metal — METALLICA, MEGADETH, SLAYER and ANTHRAX — "Bonded By Blood" inspired the likes of TESTAMENT, DEATH ANGEL, VIO-LENCE and many others to launch their careers and is considered one of the most influential thrash metal LPs of all time.

Less than a year ago, Holt was asked if Hammett was involved in the songwriting for any of the material that ended up on "Bonded By Blood". He told the "Put Up Your Dukes" podcast: "There were riffs that I had written while Kirk was still in the band, and he tried to adapt them, tried to change 'em a little bit — the old, 'I changed it a little bit. I'm a co-writer on this riff.' And that was, like, two riffs, I think. And the rest of 'em were written after he left. We never used a Kirk Hammett riff, ever, until [2004's] 'Tempo Of The Damned' [album] when we recorded [the early EXODUS song] 'Impaler'."

Explaining that "the first two [EXODUS] songs finished post-Kirk Hammett were 'Strike Of The Beast' and 'No Love'," Holt continued: "The biggest talent I have, if you wanna call it a talent, is my fucking memory. I can remember fucking everything. I remember showing him… I can picture it as a film, showing Kirk the riff to 'Strike Of The Beast', and I can picture it as if I'm watching it on a film — in the jam room, me in my spot where I played him [the riff] and him wanting to change the higher note to a lower note; I remember it all as if I'm watching a movie of it. I remember all of it — every last minute of it. I remember details from fucking most meaningless shit."

Back in 2018, Kirk spoke about the fact that riffs from songs by EXODUS, "Die By His Hand" and "Impaler", found their way into "Creeping Death" and "Trapped Under Ice", from METALLICA's "Ride The Lightning" album. "What I think happened was when Lars [Ulrich, METALLICA drummer] and James [Hetfield, METALLICA frontman] were thinking about getting rid of Dave [Mustaine], our sound guy, Mark Whitaker — who was EXODUS' manager — gave them EXODUS' demos," Kirk said. "I think 'Die By His Hand' might have caught their ears. So when they were writing 'Creeping Death', they went, 'Great. 'Die By His Hand'. Put it right there.' It was definitely not me going, 'I have a riff here in this EXODUS song, and it needs to be here in this METALLICA song.' By the way, I wrote that 'Die By His Hand' riff when I was, like, 16 years old."

UK-based electronic metal band, Season Of Ghosts, hav released their new single, "In Hubris". It was mixed and mastered at Fusix Studios in Italy (Delain, Frozen Crown) and is the second release from the band's forthcoming album, due out in 2023.


"In Hubris" is available on all digital platforms found here.


Vocalist Sophia Aslanides: "'In Hubris' bears testament to the inevitability of crisis in human existence and society as a consequence. Committing to similar themes as those observed in 'The Great Unknown', released in August '22, as well as older tracks like 'What A Time To Be Alive', 'In Hubris' balances intently between human imperfection and the proverbial beacon of hope." 







Season of Ghosts emerged in Tokyo, Japan, as the side project of former Blood Stain Child singer, Sophia Aslanides. Later, the formation was completed by Zombie Sam on guitar and more recently, in 2022, by Lordt on drums and Tomas Eduardo on bass. The band is currently based in London, UK. 

IN FLAMES singer Anders Fridén spoke to Czech Republic's Metalshop TV about the criticism he and his bandmates have faced for their musical evolution, which has seen him and his bandmates adopting a more alternative metal sound after starting out as melodic death metal act. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "I've been in this band since late '95. My first album was 'Jester Race'. When we released 'Whoracle', there were people saying, 'It doesn't sound like 'The Jester Race'.' And then when did 'Colony', and people said, 'It doesn't sound like 'Whoracle'.' And then we did 'Clayman' and people said, 'It doesn't sound like…' So it's been like that all the time. And I'm happy that we can release albums that are challenging to people, that they don't know where to put it, but in time it will be a classic IN FLAMES album. And I think this new one is gonna surprise people, but in 10 years' time they're gonna say it's their favorite. So it changes.

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

IN FLAMES' fourteenth studio album, "Foregone", will arrive on February 10, 2023 via Nuclear Blast.

Earlier in the year, Fridén spoke to MoreCore.TV about IN FLAMES' upcoming album. Asked if the LP's first single, "State Of Slow Decay", is a good representation of what fans can expect from the record, Anders said: "IN FLAMES has always been about melody and aggression. The short answer is yes, but it's not gonna be all fast. We try to explore all corners of metal with our music. Let's put it like this: if you're a fan of IN FLAMES, then you will love this album."

Elaborating on what fans can expect from the LP, Anders said: "This is the fourteenth album. So if you know IN FLAMES, you know sort of what you're gonna get. But I think this is a good mix of the past, the present and wherever we're going, and [it] has a little thing for everyone; it has the heavy, it has the melodic, it has the uptempo and the slow parts. I think it's amazing, and it really represents who we are at this time."

Asked if the pandemic influenced the songwriting process for the new IN FLAMES effort, Anders said: "Well, in a certain way. Lyrically, for sure. I thought this two-year break would make us see us who we are as people and maybe come out on the other side being a little bit more nice and gentle and with more understanding, but I think it's the opposite. So it definitely inspired the lyrical side.

"Of course, a break like that, it's a pause, so when you get back into it, maybe unintentionally you have more energy across the board, [and] with the music as well," he explained.

IN FLAMES performed "State Of Slow Decay" — which was produced by Howard Benson, mixed by Joe Rickard and mastered by Ted Jensen — live for the first time on June 10 at the Sweden Rock Festival in Sölvesborg, Sweden.

This past March, guitarist Björn Gelotte confirmed that IN FLAMES' upcoming album was once again recorded with Grammy-nominated producer Benson and Howard's longtime engineer Mike Plotnikoff.

KANSAS, America’s legendary progressive rock band, will celebrate their 50th anniversary in 2023. To commemorate this landmark occasion, current label InsideOutMusic are pleased to announce Another Fork In The Road – 50 Years Of Kansas for release on the 9th December 2022. A career-spanning collection, it features carefully-selected tracks from across the bands sizable discography, as well as a new version of ‘Can I Tell You’. Originally recorded and released on their 1974 debut, the song is updated by the current line-up, providing a full-circle perspective on the band’s long and continuing history that has seen them release 16 studio albums and sell in excess of 30 million albums worldwide.

Phil Ehart comments: “We are really honored by the commitment that InsideOut Music has put into ‘Another Fork in the Road.’ This is far more than just another greatest hits album. ‘Another Fork in the Road’ is an in-depth representation of the evolving and winding musical journey of the band KANSAS that’s been 50 years in the making.”

Another Fork In The Road – 50 Years Of Kansas will arrive as a 3CD Digipak collection, including extensive liner notes by journalist Jeff Wagner, as well as pictures of rarely-seen memorabilia and archive material, all overseen by founding member Phil Ehart.

Pre-order now here: https://kansas.lnk.to/AnotherForkInTheRoad-50YearsOfKansas


The full track-listing is below. Please note, due to licensing restrictions there are minor differences between the European & North American release.

Disc 1:

Can I Tell You (new 2022 version)
The Absence of Presence (The Absence of Presence, 2020)
Throwing Mountains (The Absence of Presence, 2020)
Crowded Isolation (The Prelude Implicit, 2016)
Summer (The Prelude Implicit, 2016)
The Voyage of Eight Eighteen (The Prelude Implicit, 2016)
Icarus II (Somewhere to Elsewhere, 2000)
The Coming Dawn (Thanatopsis) (Somewhere to Elsewhere, 2000)
Distant Vision (Somewhere to Elsewhere, 2000)
The Wall (Always Never the Same, 1998)
Dust in the Wind (Always Never the Same, 1998)
Desperate Times (Freaks of Nature, 1995)
Under The Knife (Freaks of Nature, 1995)
North America Version – Disc 2:

Fight Fire With Fire (Drastic Measures, 1983)
End of the Age (Drastic Measures, 1983)
Incident on a Bridge (Drastic Measures, 1983)
Play the Game Tonight (Vinyl Confessions, 1982)
Crossfire (Vinyl Confessions, 1982)
Windows (Vinyl Confessions, 1982)
Hold On (Audio-Visions, 1980)
Loner (Audio-Visions, 1980)
Curtain of Iron (Audio-Visions, 1980)
No One Together (Audio-Visions, 1980)
On The Other Side (Monolith, 1979)
Angels Have Fallen (Monolith, 1979)
How My Soul Cries Out For You (Monolith, 1979)
Disc 3:

Carry On Wayward Son (Two for the Show, 1978)
Portrait (He Knew) (Point of Know Return, 1977)
Sparks of the Tempest (Point of Know Return, 1977)
Miracles Out of Nowhere (Leftoverture, 1976)
Magnum Opus (Leftoverture, 1976)
Icarus – Borne On Wings of Steel (Masque, 1975)
Child of Innocence (Mas que, 1975)
Down The Road (Song for America, 1975)
Song For America (Song for America, 1975)
The Devil Game (Song for America, 1975)
Death of Mother Nature Suite (Kansas, 1974)
Belexes (Kansas, 1974)
Journey From Mariabronn (Kansas, 1974)
Kansas will celebrate their 50th anniversary with extensive touring in North America in 2023. The band is currently comprised of original drummer Phil Ehart, bassist/vocalist Billy Greer, vocalist/keyboardist Ronnie Platt, violinist/guitarist David Ragsdale, keyboardist/vocalist Tom Brislin, and original guitarist Richard Williams.

For a full list of upcoming dates, head to: https://www.kansasband.com/tour-dates/

With a legendary career spanning five decades, KANSAS has firmly established itself as one of America’s iconic classic rock bands. This “garage band” from Topeka released their debut album in 1974 after being discovered by Wally Gold, who worked for Don Kirshner, and have gone on to sell more than 30 million albums worldwide.

Composing a catalogue that includes sixteen studio albums and five live albums, KANSAS has produced eight gold albums, three sextuple-Platinum albums (Leftoverture, Point of Know Return, Best of KANSAS), one platinum live album (Two for the Show), one quadruple-Platinum single ‘Carry On Wayward Son,’ and another triple-Platinum single ‘Dust in the Wind.’ KANSAS appeared on the Billboard charts for over 200 weeks throughout the ‘70’s and ‘80’s and played to sold-out arenas and stadiums throughout North America, Europe and Japan. ‘Carry On Wayward Son’ continues to be one of the top five most played songs on classic rock radio, and ‘Dust In the Wind’ has been played on the radio more than three million times!

The summer of 2020 marked the release of The Absence of Presence, KANSAS’s sixteenth studio album, which debuted at #10 on Billboard’s Top Current Albums chart. The wide-ranging progressive rock album, released by InsideOut Music, follows-up 2016’s The Prelude Implicit, which debuted at #14 on Billboard’s Top 200 Albums chart.

Las Vegas metallic riff-riders, SpiritWorld, have unleashed their second studio album, DeathWestern, via Century Media Records. The band have also shared video for brand new track, "U L C E R". Watch a video below.


Stu Folsom (mastermind of SpiritWorld) discusses the song and video as follows: "DeathWestern is finally out!!!! I have never been prouder of anything. I know I sounded like a psycho when I started explaining this concept world, but having the DeathWestern vinyl in my hands, validates a simple thing, I believe with all my heart. We can be the bands we want to hear. We can write the books we want to read. This world gets more fucked up every day but art and especially the heavy music underground, have always been my escape. To be able to contribute to the canon of bands that shaped and fortified my soul through every hard time in my life, through all the sorrow and brutal days of work, means more to me than anything. I set out to make something that would hit like Slayer, Strife, Merauder, Bolt Thrower, Sepultura and Cro-Mags hit me when I was coming up. I hope you blast it louder than fuck and you feel that junkyard groove as much as my squad. Love and respect to my bandmates and friends who poured themselves into this piece of art with me. This is one massive, crushing album, that took a year and a half of our lives to make.


"'U L C E R' is my favorite song to play off the record. Every time we play it, I can see people’s jaws hit the floor. Total riff daddy flexing! I threw some old school Swedish death metal and some New Orleans groove metal into the mix with some thrash and “Chaos A.D” worship and unsurprisingly, I think we cut a classic neck snapper!!!!"







Get the new album here.





Tracklisting:


"Mojave Bloodlust"
"DEATHWESTERN"
"Relic Of Damnation"
"Purafied in Violence"
"U L C E R"
"Committee of Buzzards"
"The Heretic Butcher"
"Moonlit Torture & Genital Mutilation"
"Crucified Heathen Scum"
"Lujuria Satánica"
"1000 D E A T H S"


"Relic Of Damnation" video:





"DEATHWESTERN" video:





"Moonlit Torture & Genital Mutilation" video:

Horror Pain Gore Death Productions are set to release the debut album from Philadelphia's ultraviolent assassins, The Crippler. I'm Just Gonna Let Myself In will be released December 23 on CD and digital formats along with merch.


The Crippler consists of current and former members of Eat The Turnbuckle, Bad Luck 13 Riot Extravaganza, Brutal Truth and Total Fucking Destruction. Below is the official description:


Horror Pain Gore Death Productions welcome The Crippler to the roster with the debut album I'm Just Gonna Let Myself In! Hailing from Killadelphia, The Crippler feature current and former members of Eat The Turnbuckle, Bad Luck 13 Riot Extravaganza, Brutal Truth and Total Fucking Destruction. I'm Just Gonna Let Myself In features 13 tracks of forceful, distasteful, aggressive, audible strong armed robbery... grindcore, punk, death and thrash metal with a side of beat down hardcore. This powerful debut album from The Crippler is loaded with a choice of multiple stab wounds in a dark alleyway or your wallet. Literally all killer and no filler! For fans of Blood Duster, Deicide, The Exploited, Phobia and Repulsion.




Listen to the single "Human Offals" below.





Tracklisting:


"I'm Just Gonna Let Myself In"
"Mangled Bodies"
"I Don't Want To Hurt You, I Just Want To Kill You"
"I Keep Hearing Noises In Your Basement"
"Suicide By Cop"
"Human Offals"
"Stabbing People"
"Let's See What's In Those Pockets"
"I Have A House Full Of Guns"
"21 Nails"
"Where's My Fucking Money"
"Orgy Of Violence"
"Rabies Is A Killer" (Agony Bag cover)


"Human Offals":

Following the release of special digital deluxe version of their album Dear Monsters, Bad Wolves gear up for the holiday season launching a lyric video for the iconic Christmas song, "Carol Of The Bells".





The band comments: "Despite being a Christmas song, 'Carol Of The Bells' always projected a darker vibe to me. So when the label approached us about doing one, this was our first and only choice. Merry Christmas Wolfpack, enjoy."







The band is currently touring Europe and the UK until December 14 with Volbeat and Skindred, performing in cities such as Hamburg, Copenhagen, Paris, Cologne, Barcelona, Milan, and London.


(Photo - Orson Oblowitz)