Having refined their broody, mesmerizing vision of gothic/symphonic metal to cinematic levels, with three EPs and a full-length album behind them, Blackbriar continues to set their sails towards the future. The Netherlands-based band are proud to announce their signing to Nuclear Blast Records and are currently working towards their second full-length album, accompanied by long-time collaborator, Joost van den Broek.


Today, the band have released a brand-new song, "Crimson Faces". Stream the track here, and watch a music video below.


Singer, Zora Cock comments on the signing: "Dear fans, we're so excited to have partnered up with Nuclear Blast Records!!! Having been an independent band for many years, we’ve finally found the perfect fit that makes our dreams come to life! Joining forces with this incredible label is a huge step for Blackbriar! We promise you a lot of exciting things are coming, starting with a brand-new single that's OUT NOW! Listen to 'Crimson Faces' on all music platforms, and let us know what you think! ❤ Love, Blackbriar."




Jens Prueter, Head Of A&R Nuclear Blast Europe: “Please warmly welcome Blackbriar to the Nuclear Blast family! It has been a pleasure to meet them at Joost van den Broek’s studio and to get a sneak preview of the exciting things to come. We’re thrilled to work with such a creative team. It’s amazing what the band have already achieved completely DIY, creating a unique world of their own. Expect to be enchanted –this is probably the biggest gift artists can give us.”





Zora Cock continues about the new single: "'Crimson Faces' tells a story of being haunted by ghosts, jealousy, and insecurities, based on the old classic Gothic novel 'Rebecca'. You asked us to make a different kind of music video, one of us performing instead of portraying a story, and we thought 'Crimson Faces' was the perfect song to do this with. We hope we’ve fulfilled your wishes!"





Formed in 2012 by Zora Cock, René Boxem, Bart Winters, and Frank Akkerman, Blackbriar crafted their first single in 2014 with 'Ready to Kill,' but it was 2015’s second single 'Until Eternity' that truly propelled them into the scene. A sweeping track with an equally compelling and beautiful video, it continues to draw many to the band with over 18.1 million views since its debut. Taking advantage of the growing buzz surrounding them, they independently recorded and released their first EP, Fractured Fairytales, as well as acquired a second guitarist in Robin Koezen. This EP laid down an impressive foundation for the band’s ethereal, breath-taking sound, and brought about new opportunities, including tour dates in The Netherlands, Germany, Belgium, France, Switzerland, Czech Republic, Hungary, and more, where they played alongside Epica, Halestorm, In This Moment, Delain and Mayan. To keep moving ahead with full control of their creative ideals, the band successfully crowdfunded their follow-up EP, We’d Rather Burn, and brought it to life in October 2018. This EP would be the first time the band worked alongside esteemed producer Joost van den Broek, and this fruitful collaboration allowed Blackbriar’s whimsical and enigmatic sound to reach new sonic heights. Released the same day as their self-made video for "I’d Rather Burn," the EP showcased a stronger sense of dreamy atmosphere and brought listeners beautifully grim tales of witches, banshees, and sea sirens. Keyboardist Ruben Wijga (ex-Re-Vamp) began to take on a larger role and began playing shows, having been involved in the songwriting process since Fractured Fairytales.


A busy 2019 followed, and the band released the haunting single "Snow White and Rose Red" in May. A duet with Ulli Perhonen, their take on the Grimm’s fairy tales featured striking cinematic visuals to accompany the spellbinding track. Continuing to dig deeper into fairy tale realms, Blackbriar closed the year with their third EP, Our Mortal Remains. Ever sharpening their intoxicating blend of storytelling and breath-taking musicianship, the EP brought about new live opportunities as well. Small, sold-out tours with Epica in 2019 and 2020, as well as a sold-out opening performance for Delain’s Apocalypse & Chill release show in Utrecht followed, with future plans then put on hold due to COVID-19. Championing their continued independence, which included everything from songwriting, maintaining their web presence, overseeing merch, as well as shooting and producing their own videos and photos, Blackbriar reached out to their ever-growing and loyal fanbase for assistance to make their full-length debut album a reality in 2020.


Fans fervently heeded the call, reaching the € 25,000 goal in under 24 hours, ending with a total of € 70,000. It was an impressive accomplishment for an independent act, which shows their strong internet presence, with over 214,000 YouTube subscribers and 46.1 million channel views, as well as 27.6 million Spotify streams and 150,000 monthly listeners. Entering 2021, the band relinquished a bit of control in signing with Doomstar Bookings to help properly support their first full-length album, The Cause of Shipwreck, which was released in April. It was recorded with renowned producer Joost van den Broek (Epica, Ayreon, Powerwolf) at Sandlane Recording Facilities, and this release showcased the band’s continued evolution into masterfully dark gothic storytelling and theatrical aesthetics. On the live front, the band launched into success with six sold-out Dutch club shows, later extending into more European territories such as Germany, Belgium, Switzerland, France, and the Czech Republic.


Despite a very successful 2021, the band still hungered for more, unleashing their latest single, "Fairy of the Bog" in December. The track is a mixture of folklore, myth, and ancient local history in a more mystical and magical package, showcasing what Blackbriar does best. In April, the band parted ways with founding member and bassist Frank Akkerman, welcoming Siebe Sol Sijpkens from The Netherlands as their new bassist. A happy and energetic performer with a lifetime of global performances, he is a welcome addition to the act as they continue to strive forward. With their vision looking firmly into the future, with a major label behind them, they’ve set their sights on 2023 to conjure their most deadly siren song yet. With accolades behind them, such as being nominated three times for ‘Best Artist’ in EuroSonic/Noorderslag‘s Popgala Noord Awards (2018, 2020, 2022), and continued fan support with current monthly streaming totals on YouTube and Spotify nearing 1 million streams, the world is primed and ready for a spectacular journey ahead. Blackbriar continues to soar, ready to lure you into the sea to be swept away by addictive hooks, cinematic soundscapes, and darkly whimsical storytelling.

Swedish progressive rock outfit, Jonas Lindberg & The Other Side, released their new album, Miles From Nowhere, back in February via InsideOutMusic.


Now, while busy working on new music, the band have recorded a cover of the Spock’s Beard classic, “The Good Don’t Last”. Listen here, and below.


Jonas Lindberg had this say about recording the track: "It was fun to make a cover version out of a song that I love and have listened to so many times! It was also a challenge to make it sound different and like our own version, since I knew the song inside and out already."




The track features Jonas Lindberg on bass, keyboards, guitars & backing vocals, Joel Lindberg on lead guitars, Jonas Sundqvist on lead vocals, Jonathan Lundberg on drums, and Nicklas Thelin on acoustic guitars, percussion & lead guitar on "The Radiant Is”.

During an appearance at the Monster-Mania Con this past weekend at The Greater Philadelphia Expo Center in Oaks, Pennsylvania, Corey Taylor was asked by a fan if he agrees with SLIPKNOT percussionist Shawn "Clown" Crahan's recent comment that the band could focus on releasing singles or EPs instead of full-length albums after fulfilling its contractual obligations to Roadrunner Records, to whom SLIPKNOT had been signed since 1998. The singer said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "It's kind of difficult to get nine people on the same page anymore, especially we're old and dicks. But the cool thing is that we all still get excited about good ideas. [Guitarists] Jim [Root] and Mick [Thomson] are so good at writing music. Me and Clown work really well coming up with stuff together, VMan [bassist Alessandro Venturella] is actually really good. So we've done so much in our career that at this point we could sit back and just do EPs. I mean, I've got a good idea for a double concept record with a whole storyline that goes along with it that I would love to do. But the cool thing is that we've kind of established our history, so whatever comes next will naturally be something that we want to do. So whether it's go in and just blast out a couple psycho tunes and just have fun doing that or we go in and do a very elaborate plan, like a storyline or something, either way it'll be something that we're really into. I back the group, you know? At this point, we've released so much music and we're off our label now, so sky's our limit; we can kind of do whatever we want. So whatever we do next will be something that we are all on the same page for, which is something you can't always say."

SLIPKNOT's latest album, "The End, So Far", which came out in September, was the band's final release for Roadrunner.

In a recent interview with NME, Crahan said he was "in love with the idea of having no restrictions". He explained: "I always thought, 'What would it be like if SLIPKNOT was big enough that we weren't held to albums?' Let's say Clown could convince you, 'Hey, instead of waiting two years for 12 songs, I'm gonna give you one song every month.' So in reality, I'm shaving a year off for the same thing.

"You have to go with me on this journey, but what I promise you is, there's artwork that goes with it, there's utility that goes with it, it's cheaper than what a normal individual song would be… And it's gone through all the filters — it's gone through the band, it's gone through [singer] Corey Taylor, it's gone through a professional mixer and masterer — no avenues have been chopped up, it's all business as usual. And we want to do this because I think it's time for you, our fans, to get everything."

Crahan went on to say that being unrestrained by the confines of a traditional album will make it possible for him and his bandmates to explore different musical avenues that they wouldn't have been able to in the past.

"I've always thought it would be interesting for our fans to know more about us," he said, "So if the Clown and Corey Taylor and [guitarist] Jim Root were all interested in playing with the Number One sitar player on the planet — and we would be because we're artists — and we brought this person to our location, and this person adorned us with their craft and taught us about the sitar… If we got to sit in and listen, and partake, and touch and smell and feel that vibration… Wouldn't it be interesting?"

He continued: "Let's say that sitar player's on a label and they have management — well fuck it, I'm going to call them up directly and they're only going to have to talk to their label, and their label's going to have to talk to my management. It's not going to be my label and their label, and my management and their management, and then me and the artists. [When it's like that], we never get to work together; we never get to make this piece of art. So being free, in that sense, gives us the freedom to explore deeper, more surreal opportunities to hone in with our craft; it's a win-win for everyone.

"The philosophy is for the fans to be sucked into thought, rather than just heavy metal, record labels, video channels, radio… No, it's the love of music — you love us as artists, you love our band, you know we have our own filter… Look at what we can do when we are free to dip our paintbrushes anywhere."

Last month, Taylor told NME that SLIPKNOT's relationship with Roadrunner deteriorated over the years due to changes at the record company.

"It's such a different label than it was when we first signed with it," he said. "Once you're in the hands of people who don't care, it's just a fucking business. And that's what happened."

"The End, So Far" entered the Billboard 2000 chart at position No. 2. The LP shifted a total of 59,000 equivalent album units in its first week of release, 50,500 of which were traditional album sales.

Prior to "The End, So Far"'s arrival, SLIPKNOT had a three-album streak of No. 1 debuts with 2008's "All Hope Is Gone", 2014's ".5: The Gray Chapter" and the aforementioned "We Are Not Your Kind".



Corey Taylor says Slipknot may or may not just release singles as opposed to full length records

11/12/22 Monster-Mania Convention

Posted by Rock N Roll Experience on Saturday, November 12, 2022

In a new interview with Lauren "Lern" Elwell of the KSHE radio station, JUDAS PRIEST singer Rob Halford was asked what it was like performing with former PRIEST members K.K. Downing and Les Binks at the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame induction ceremony on November 5 at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "It was good. We hadn't seen him forever. And I've still yet to watch footage of that. All I remember is my brief interactions with K.K., because I'm always running around the stage like a mad drag queen. My interactions with Ken and with Les, it was great. It felt wonderful to have that moment together after such a long time. And that just shows you the power, the weight, the vibe that the Rock Hall suggests you try to attempt. Try and recapture something of the essence that it really part of why you're here, why you're being inducted. I was just so happy that Ken and Les showed up, because they needed to be there. It was entirely their choice, but I said it makes absolute sense if you're in the room and we're playing together. And we did, and it was magical."

PRIEST received the Musical Excellence Award at the event, which honored Eminem, Dolly Parton, DURAN DURAN, Lionel Richie, Pat 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.

Halford, Hill, Tipton and Travis were joined by Binks, Downing and current guitarist Richie Faulkner for a three-song medley consisting of "You've Got Another Thing Comin'", "Breaking The Law" and "Living After Midnight".

In his acceptance speech, Halford told the crowd: "I'm the gay guy in the band. We call ourselves the heavy metal community which is all-inclusive, no matter what your sexual identity is, what you look like, or what you believe in or don't believe in. Everybody's welcome."

Rob told KSHE that he "didn't have a clue" what he was going to say in his speech. "Everybody said, 'Have you written a speech?' 'Oh, I've got it,'" he said. "And then I'm watching all this extraordinary talent go up and there and receive their Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame award. And I'd been speaking to [DURAN DURAN's] Simon [Le Bon]. I said, 'What are you gonna say, Simon?' He goes, 'I've got a few ideas.' 'What are you gonna say?' 'Oh, I've got a speech.' [And I was thinking], 'I don't have a speech.' And so when the moment came… And I think this is just me, who I am. I just like to riff. Like we're talking now, it's all real; it's not planned; it's not rehearsed. Which is not a snipe at speeches, because speeches are important — so you don't forget people.

"I still haven't seen what I've said, but I walked up to the podium and I said, 'Everybody, do your bit first,' because I'm notorious for flapping my lips for extraordinary periods of time," he continued. "I said, 'So, everybody, do your bit, and whatever time we've got left, I'll go up and say 'thank you.'' So everybody spoke, and then it was me. And I walked up to the mic, and the first thing that came out of my mouth, I think, was, 'Hi, everybody, I'm the gay guy in the group.' I don't know why I said that; it wasn't planned. It was just in my mind. But what we saw was this beautiful reaction from everybody in the room, and that just instantly threw me into this acceptance thing. All these people, they're not all metalheads, but what I've just said, as a gay guy in metal, and the way it was received, shows you the inclusiveness of what we are in heavy metal, in our heavy metal community. So then I said this, and I said that and something else, and then I just stopped speaking. And that was that.

"But, yes, it was a beautiful night," Halford added. "It was so great. Everybody was so kind and gracious. It was something that'll live with me forever."

Downing left PRIEST in 2011 amid claims of band conflict, shoddy management and declining quality of performance.

In 2019, Downing said that he reached out to JUDAS PRIEST about taking part in the band's 50th-anniversary tour but that their response was that they were not interested in including him in the celebrations.

In 2018, Downing revealed that he sent two resignation letters to his bandmates when he decided to quit JUDAS PRIEST. The first was described as "a graceful exit note, implying a smooth retirement from music," while the second was "angrier, laying out all of his frustrations with specific parties."

Downing later said that he believed the second letter was "a key reason" he wasn't invited to rejoin PRIEST after Tipton's decision to retire from touring.

JUDAS PRIEST was on the ballot for Rock Hall induction in 2020, but failed to receive enough votes to make that year's class.

Having been eligible for induction since 1999, PRIEST was also on the ballot for the 2018 class of the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame, but was ultimately left out of the inductee list.

The 2022 Rock Hall induction ceremony will air on November 19 on HBO and stream on HBO Max.



Judas Priest - You’ve Got Another Thing Comin’ - Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony

Posted by Shawn McCullough on Sunday, November 6, 2022

Judas Priest Enters the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame FINALLY! 👑🤘🔥 #RockHall2022 #DefendersofTheFaith #Metal

Posted by John Arakaki on Saturday, November 5, 2022



Judas Priest live at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and nduction ceremony. with Al-x

Posted by Alan Katz on Saturday, November 5, 2022

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MEGADETH's cover version of JUDAS PRIEST's "Delivering The Goods" is now available exclusively on Amazon Music.

Earlier today, MEGADETH shared a snippet of its rendition of the track on social media and it included the following message: "We've recorded our own rendition of @JudasPriest's 'Delivering the Goods' to celebrate their induction into the 2022 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Listen now, exclusively on @AmazonMusic. The #RockHall2022 Induction Ceremony airs on @HBO and @HBOMax November 19th at 8pm ET."

MEGADETH leader Dave Mustaine originally revealed that his band had covered "Delivering The Goods" when he was the featured guest on BBC's "The Rock Show With Johnnie Walker" during the "Rock God" segment this past September. At the time, Dave picked JUDAS PRIEST guitarist Glenn Tipton and stated about his choice: "I had no idea how much Glenn Tipton and JUDAS PRIEST had influenced my guitar playing until I recently covered 'Delivering The Goods' with my band MEGADETH and got to go over all those guitar riffs again. It was really revealing to me how much Glenn's playing had influenced me."

He continued: "Where did I first hear about JUDAS PRIEST? I can't remember exactly — I think it was my brother-in-law's little brother. But I did get my own copy of 'Sad Wings Of Destiny'. And I remember when I was living with my mom and we moved in with my middle sister — I have three older sisters — and she was married to a police officer that was the chief of police in a city called Stanton in California in the United States. And he walked into his house and heard PRIEST blaring in the bedroom I was sharing with their son. That was the first time I ever stood up for metal. And when he stomped out, you know what I did? I put the record back on."

Mustaine first spoke about MEGADETH's JUDAS PRIEST cover during an interview in August with Meltdown of Detroit's WRIF radio station. Regarding how he and his bandmates approached the recording of the track, the MEGADETH leader said: "We went and listened to the song and charted out the performance. And going into that kind of micromanaging of the song, that minutiae production, we started to see a lot of things in the song where it seemed like there was no guide for the song. So we did everything the way that we do our recordings. And I believe it got a little more straightforward with the riffing and everything."

A few years ago, Mustaine picked JUDAS PRIEST's "Sad Wings Of Destiny" as one of the albums that changed his life. He said: "When it comes to classic heavy metal, JUDAS PRIEST's 'Sad Wings Of Destiny' is definitely one of the all-time great opuses. Hearing Glenn Tipton and K.K. Downing's unison guitar playing and hearing Rob Halford let rip … Who sings like that? Nobody. I was so entranced by that band and everything about them, that I went to a hat store and bought a Fedora because Glenn Tipton was wearing one on the back of 'Sad Wings…' I have curly hair so hats don't stay on so well. It didn't last very long. [Laughs]"

MEGADETH's new album, "The Sick, The Dying… And The Dead!", was released on September 2 via UMe.

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In a new interview with Classic Rock magazine, QUEENSRŸCHE guitarist Michael Wilton was asked for the latest in the legal dispute with co-founding drummer Scott Rockenfeld, who sued QUEENSRŸCHE and was counter-sued over a number of allegations. Michael said: "It's ongoing and the lawyers are dealing with it. It'll work itself out. QUEENSRŸCHE are always being sued about something, that's part of the business. But life goes on."

During the same chat, Wilton was full of praise for Casey Grillo, who was QUEENSRŸCHE's touring drummer for five years before joining the band as a full member.

"Besides being a great drummer with his own personality and style, Casey became a part of the writing and arrangement," Michael said. "He's a real team player."

In October 2021, Rockenfield filed a lawsuit against Wilton and QUEENSRŸCHE bassist Eddie Jackson, alleging, among other things, breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty and wrongful discharge. In the lawsuit, which was filed in Snohomish County Superior Court, Rockenfield claimed that he took paternal leave of absence from QUEENSRŸCHE in February 2017 after his fiancée experienced complications during the birth of their son and had to have an emergency Cesarean delivery. According to the drummer, his leave of absence was approved by the members of QUEENSRŸCHE and he was to retain an equal one-third interest in all QUEENSRŸCHE companies (QR Companies),including Tri-Ryche Corporation, Melodisc LTD., Queensryche Merchandising, Inc., EMS Music, LLC and Queensryche Holdings, LLC.

Scott alleged that or about October 11, 2018, Wilton and Jackson purportedly "voted to dismiss Rockenfield from the QR Companies due in whole or in part to his taking of approved family leave. Rockenfield was informed of his purported dismissal from the QR Companies in a letter dated November 3, 2018."

According to Rockenfield's complaint, since 2017, Wilton and Jackson "have wrongfully withheld from Rockenfield all sources of income from the QR Companies in violation of the various Operating Agreements and Contracts governing the QR Companies for no lawful purpose." In addition, they "have failed to provide Rockenfield with an accounting of the books, records, business and contracts of the QR Companies."

Although Rockfenfield said he had continued to receive royalties from Tri-Ryche since February 2017 for the old catalogue, he claimed he had "received no payments from Melodisc since February 2017, and no payments from Queensryche Merchandising since early 2018, and no payments from EMS since February 2017."

Rockfenfield also claimed that Wilton and Jackson did not include him in the recording of QUEENSRŸCHE's latest album, "The Verdict", "despite his availability and willingness to participate."

During all of 2017 and 2018, Rockenfield claimed, he "remained active in all aspects of the QR Companies' business, song writing, licensing options, and communications with the exception of touring.

Rockenfield claimed to be "owed compensation for lost wages and profits as, as well as an amount equal to the present fair market value of his equity interest in the QR Companies as of his wrongful dismissal, plus interest thereon."

On March 10, 2022, Wilton and Jackson filed their "answers, affirmative defenses and counterclaims" in which they denied Rockenfield was wrongfully dismissed from QUEENSRŸCHE. In the document, which was obtained by BLABBERMOUTH.NET, they claim that Rockenfield announced in March 2017 that he was taking a few months off from touring fully aware that "QUEENSRŸCHE was in the middle of a tour and was contractually obligated to play a number of live concerts, including an upcoming April 1, 2017 concert in California, to be followed by several concerts in the U.S. scheduled for April and May, and that QUEENSRŸCHE, including Rockenfield, had agreed and were scheduled in June 2017 to play 13 live shows at different venues across Europe. Rockenfield's sudden departure required Jackson and Wilton to locate and hire a drummer" — former KAMELOT drummer Casey Grillo — "so that the band could comply with their contractual touring obligations."

Wilton and Jackson go on to say that Rockenfield "made no effort to assist the band in finding a substitute drummer for the remaining concert dates on the QUEENSRŸCHE tour." They also claim that they, along with singer Todd La Torre and the band's manager began attempting to contact Rockenfield "near the end of 2017" to discuss his participation on the next QUEENSRŸCHE album. However, "Rockenfield only sporadically responded to band members and band management about participating in the recording the new album. On those occasions when Rockenfield did respond to members of QUEENSRŸCHE or band management, he obfuscated and refused to commit or agree to rejoin the band or to participate in the process of recording the new album."

According to the document, QUEENSRŸCHE management contacted Rockenfield via e-mail in late 2017 and informed him that "QUEENSRŸCHE had to have a declaration from Rockenfield as to whether or not he intended to participate in recording on the band's album. Rockenfield was informed by QUEENSRŸCHE management that due to his continued obfuscation, that his failure to respond with anything other than a commitment to rejoin the band for their album, would necessarily be deemed a 'no.' Rockenfield subsequently acquiesced to QUEENSRŸCHE hiring another drummer to take Rockenfield's place."

Wilton and Jackson also accuse Rockenfield of failing to generate any income to pay off a loan used to cover the settlement QUEENSRŸCHE had reached with the band's original singer Geoff Tate eight years ago.

"When QUEENSRŸCHE had negotiated their financial settlement with Tate in 2014, QUEENSRŸCHE's then attorney recommended and arranged for Jackson, Wilton and Rockenfield to secure a loan from a particular third party lender, the proceeds of which would to be used to pay Tate a lump sum of the entire amount of the agreed upon settlement," the document states. "Wilton, Jackson and Rockenfield signed the loan agreement as individuals doing business as QUEENSRŸCHE. Under the Agreement, Jackson, Wilton and Rockenfield were jointly and severally liable to the Lender for repayment of the loan. The Lender required the band members to pledge real property as security for the loan. Wilton and Jackson pledged real property that each individually owned. As additional security Wilton and Jackson were required to pledge specific valuable and irreplaceable personal property they had accumulated during their three decades of playing and performing in rock and roll music all over the world. Rockenfield did not own any real property. Rockenfield was only required to pledge some computer equipment he had used for recording his side project, Hollywood Loops. With the rapid advancement of computer technology, any value of the computer equipment Rockenfield pledged, quickly diminished."

According to the document, Jackson, Wilton and Rockenfield were required to make regular monthly payments or risk default" on the loan "and loss of the property they'd pledged as security. The loan prohibited Wilton, Jackson and Rockenfield from selling or otherwise disposing of personal property pledged as security for the loan, and provided that, if any of the property pledged as security was disposed of prior to the loan having been paid in full, the loan would come immediately due. Prior to the loan being paid in full, Rockenfield sold or otherwise disposed of the property he'd pledged as security for the loan."

Wilton and Jackson note in the document that "the revenue generated through QUEENSRŸCHE concerts was the primary income source that allowed QUEENSRŸCHE band members to stay current on Tate loan. Since Rockenfield left the band in Spring 2017, Rockenfield has not generated any income for use to pay off the loan used to pay Tate. Since Rockenfield left the band in 2017, he has not contributed any money to pay off the Tate loan. Rockenfield's failure to generate any income for the band after leaving in 2017, resulted in the other obligors, Jackson and Wilton, shouldering the entire responsibility to pay off the Tate loan, including Rockenfield's portion, and, Rockenfield's actions put Jackson and Wilton at risk of default and loss of their own property."

According to the document, Rockenfield opted not to participate in any of at least 65 concerts QUEENSRŸCHE played between March of 2017 and October 2018, and was informed and invited to attend pre-production meetings for "The Verdict" album in 2018. "Although the band's pre-production work was occurring approximately 10-12 miles from Rockenfield's residence, he declined to take part," the document states.

Wilton and Jackson also accuse Rockenfield of "intentionally and wrongfully withdrawing $10,000.00 in cash from QUEENSRŸCHE without permission and for his own personal use," "intentionally and wrongfully charging personal expenses to his QUEENSRŸCHE company credit card" and "removing video-wall panels without notice or permission from the band's storage facility."

Regarding how Wilton and Jackson came to dismiss Rockenfield from the QUEENSRŸCHE companies, the guitarist and bassist claim that they "provided Rockenfield with 10 days written notice of a shareholder/board meeting of the QR Companies, with a notice of the date, time and location of that meeting place, and an advisement that the subject matter of the meetings was the dismissal of Rockenfield from the QUEENSRŸCHE companies. On October 11, 2018, the day before the scheduled meeting, Rockenfield sent Jackson and Wilton a text message confirming he'd received notice of the meeting. Rockenfield requested that he be allowed to attend the meeting telephonically. Historically, telephonic attendance of meetings of the QR Companies was a commonplace practice for members of QR Companies. Wilton notified Rockenfield he could attend the meeting telephonically. Rockenfield received a text that confirmed the meeting location and included confirmation of the meeting time and the phone number that allowed Rockenfield to call in and participate telephonically in the meeting. On October 12, 2018, at the time scheduled for the meeting, Rockenfield failed to appear and failed to call in telephonically. After waiting for in excess of an hour without Rockenfield either appearing in person or calling to appear telephonically, and, the remaining members constituting a quorum, Rockenfield was formally voted out of the QR companies."

Wilton and Jackson go on to say that "Rockenfield's initial indication that he would participate, at least telephonically, in the October 12, 2018 meeting, only to fail to make any effort to do so, along with his to failure to notify either Jackson or Wilton that he was not going to participate, was consistent with the behavior Rockenfield had shown the band and in matters of QUEENSRŸCHE business for most of the previous year and a half."

Wilton and Jackson also take issue with Rockenfield's decision to launch a cryptic new QUEENSRŸCHE-centric web site in May 2021 without notice or permission from them. On the Queensryche2021.com web site, Rockenfield "'teased' viewers that he would be releasing new QUEENSRŸCHE music," according to the document. "Rockenfield followed his on-line posting with statements on social media that he was 'ready to rock,' inviting fans to join his site by providing him with their names and email contacts." They also claim that "without permission or approval from QUEENSRŸCHE or its label, Rockenfield posted an out-take of a version of an old song QUEENSRŸCHE had decided not to use in a prior album." They add that "Rockenfield actually had no new QUEENSRŸCHE music to release and his on-line posts served only to confuse fans and damage the QUEENSRŸCHE brand."

Wilton and Jackson asked the court to dismiss Rockenfield's claims with prejudice, declare Rockenfield abandoned his position of employment with QUEENSRŸCHE and to award the two of them "general, special, and statutory damages and equitable remedies" that they are entitled to.

On November 11th, Amaranthe played the second last show on their European co-headlining tour with Beyond The Black, featuring Butcher Babies and Ad Infinitum as support, in their home town of Gothenburg, Sweden at Pustervik. During their set, they invited original growler Andy Solveström on stage to perform the hit, "Amaranthine". Fan-filmed video is available below.


Solveström was with Amaranthe from 2008 - 2013 and sang on the original recorded version of "Amaranthine", featured on the band's self-titled debut released in 2011.







The setlist on the night was as follows:


"Fearless"
"Viral"
"Digital World"
"Hunger"
"Find Life"
"Make It Better" (with Jennifer Haben)
"Strong"
"Helix"
"Maximize"
"Crystalline"
"Dynamite"
"The Nexus"
"Amaranthine" (with Andy Solveström) 
"Call Out My Name"


Encore:
"Archangel"
"That Song"
"Drop Dead Cynical"








 

To celebrate the 40th Anniversary of Never Surrender, Triumph has announced a new limited edition reissue of their RIAA Gold certified and one of their most beloved releases. It features the songs "All the Way", "A World Of Fantasy" and "Never Surrender."


There are five different color variants including Variant 5, the half and half variant, that is only available in the complete collection.


All five of the vinyl reissues in one set including the Half and Half variant (Variant 5) which is not available individually.







Option 1: Tri-Color Orange, Brown and Tan (Variant 1) - only 100 copies available


Option 2: Yellow vinyl with Black, Orange and Green splatter (Variant 2) - only 200 copies available


Option 3: Transparent vinyl Orange and Yellow splatter (Variant 3) - only 200 copies available


Option 4: Orange Crush vinyl (Variant 4) - only 400 copies available


Option 5: This collection is for the diehard Triumph fan who has to have everything! This option contains all of the above variants as well the Half Red / Half Yellow vinyl (Variant 5) that is not sold individually.


Never Surrender LPs are in stock and shipping now.


Stay tuned for more exciting merch to celebrate the 40th Anniversary of Never Surrender in the coming months.





On November 12, Triumph welcomed the new inductees to the Hockey Hall of Fame to the exclusive club of those who have become icons in their field when they appeared on Hockey Night In Canada.





To commemorate this momentous occasion, the band has made a limited edition Triumph X Hockey Night in Canada shirt. This is a pre-order item - if you order by Sunday, November 27 you are guaranteed to get this shirt. It will not be available after that date. Since this is a pre-order item any additional items ordered with a pre–order will be held until the order is complete. If you need other items sooner, please place a separate order for those items. The store plans to start shipping these on or around November 30, 2022.


Find the Never Surrender vinyl reissues and Hockey Night In Canada t-shirts at officialtriumphmerch.com.

Craft Recordings is proud to partner with Seether to celebrate the 20th anniversary of their Gold-selling debut, Disclaimer, with an expanded reissue on vinyl, CD, and digital. Set for release on January 20,, and available for pre-order today, the deluxe 3LP or 2CD set includes the original 12-track album (featuring such enduring hits as "Gasoline," "Fine Again," and "Driven Under") plus a previously unreleased live show, captured in its entirety at New Hampshire's Hampton Beach Casino in 2003. Rounding out the bonus content on Disclaimer (Deluxe Edition) is a rare 2002 live acoustic cover of Nirvana's "Something in the Way," which was first issued as a B-side.


The 3-LP edition is housed in a deluxe triple gatefold jacket, while both physical formats also include new liner notes from Katherine Turman, an acclaimed music journalist, producer, and co-author of Louder Than Hell: The Definitive Oral History of Metal (HarperCollins). Click here to pre-order or pre-save Disclaimer (Deluxe Edition).


Formed in Pretoria, South Africa, in 1999, Seether (originally named "Saron Gas") instantly hooked fans at home with their blend of alt-metal, grunge, and heart-on-sleeve lyricism. At the turn of the millennium, not long after releasing the South Africa-only Fragile, the band (originally consisting of vocalist and guitarist Shaun Morgan, bassist Dale Stewart, and drummer Dave Cohoe) caught the ears of Wind-up Records, who brought the trio to the U.S. to record their international debut. In the whirlwind weeks between pre-production in New York City and recording in Los Angeles, the band gained a new name (borrowing their permanent moniker from Veruca Salt's 1994 alt-rock hit) and lost a drummer, when Cohoe chose to return home. As the band auditioned new drummers, veteran musician Josh Freese (The Vandals, A Perfect Circle, Nine Inch Nails) stepped in to lend his talents in the studio.




Over the next four months, Seether recorded new material, plus seven selects from Fragile, with producer Jay Baumgardner (Bush, Shinedown, Papa Roach). Several songs dated back to Morgan's teenage years, including the brooding "Fine Again," written after his parents' divorce. "69 Tea," meanwhile, was one of Morgan's earliest compositions as well as the band's first single in South Africa. Other songs found Morgan and Stewart reflecting on more recent experiences, including the deeply personal acoustic ballad "Broken," written by Morgan about the breakup of his marriage and family after his wife chose to remain in South Africa with their daughter.


Disclaimer was released in August 2002, amid a busy schedule of shows (including a coveted spot on the Ozzfest tour). The album, which was eventually certified Gold by the RIAA peaked in the Billboard 200's Top 100 and spawned three of the band's most enduring hits, including "Driven Under" and "Fine Again," the latter of which topped Billboard's Active Rock chart, peaked at No. 61 on the Billboard Hot 100 and reached the Top Ten of both the Hot Modern Rock Tracks and Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks charts. The song was also featured in the video games Madden 2003 and 1080° Avalanche and later appeared in the 2018 film Boy Erased. The third single, "Gasoline," peaked at No.8 on the Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks and remains one of Seether's biggest hits, while videos for all three songs saw regular airplay on MTV2. The critics also took notice of the young band. Comparing Seether with such grunge heroes as Pearl Jam and Nirvana, Rolling Stone praised the group's "toe-tapping catharsis."


That catharsis could certainly sum up the band's first year in America. But, while that transitional era wasn't easy, it set Seether on a prolific — and highly successful — course. In her liner notes, Turman writes, "Out of strife, both in the members' personal lives and in navigating the new-to-them music business, arose indelible songs and a sound that would create a career. Plus, the pride of a nation; when Seether returned to play South Africa post-Disclaimer, people were grateful to them as essentially the first South African rock band to succeed outside its borders."


Speaking to Turman, Morgan recalls, "If there was ever a little engine that could, against all odds, with every possible obstacle thrown at us, this is the record…. We managed to somehow surmount everything."


Stewart adds that the band remains "very proud of Disclaimer. The record put us on the map in a lot of ways, and it had a lot of songs we'd written when we were really young…. There's a lot of pride attached to that album."
 
Two years after its release, the band revisited the songs on Disclaimer with 2004's Disclaimer II. Among other reworkings, Morgan reimagined "Broken" as a duet with Evanescence frontwoman Amy Lee. Released as a single, the song became a Top 20 hit in the US and a Top 5 hit in Australia, New Zealand and Belgium, while Disclaimer II became the band's first Platinum-certified album in America.


In the ensuing years, Seether has amassed a global audience and released a total of eight best-selling studio albums, including the Platinum-certified Karma and Effect (2005) and Finding Beauty in Negative Spaces (2007). Ranked at No.7 on Billboard's All-Time Mainstream Rock Artist roundup (a list that spans the chart's 40-year history and finds Seether tied with Aerosmith), the band has scored four Top Ten albums on the Billboard 200 and 17 chart-topping singles, including 2017's "Let You Down," 2014's "Words as Weapons," and 2011's "Tonight." Along the way, the quartet (now comprised of Morgan, Stewart, drummer John Humphrey, and guitarist Corey Lowery) has never waned in their sense of purpose, their dedication to their craft and their commitment to fans. That sentiment also extends to the band’s annual Rise Above Fest, which they founded in 2012 to raise awareness for suicide prevention and mental illness.


In 2020, Seether released their acclaimed eighth studio album, Si Vis Pacem, Para Bellum (If You Want Peace, Prepare for War), via Fantasy Records, while last year, the band celebrated their 20th anniversary with the compilation Vicennial – 2 Decades of Seether (Craft Recordings). Also in 2021, Seether was added to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's popular "Right Here Right Now" exhibit, which focuses on the evolution of rock and its impact on the current generation of artists. "Right Here Right Now" helps fans discover how bands like Seether, plus artists like Billie Eilish, Lady Gaga, Harry Styles and Taylor Swift, have influenced the new millennium.


Click here for complete details and to pre-order or pre-save Disclaimer (Deluxe Edition).

In the video below from AXS TV, Sammy Hagar meets up with friends like James Hetfield at the Acoustic-4-A-Cure event before hanging out with Joe Satriani. Later, Sammy talks all things music with John Mayer before the two take the stage to play the Van Halen classic, "Finish What Ya Started".





Sammy Hagar & The Circle recently released their new album, Crazy Times, via UMe. Order here.







Tracklisting:


"Intro: The Beginning Of The End"
"Slow Drain"
"Feed Your Head"
"Pump It Up"
"Be Still"
"You Get What You Pay For"
"Crazy Times"
"Funky Feng Shui"
"Father Time"
"Childhoods End"
"2120" (bonus track)
"Father Time" - Acoustic Demo (bonus track)


"Father Time" video:





"Funky Feng Shui" video:





"Crazy Times" video:





"Pump It Up" video:

According to Real Commercial, the Australian church where AC/DC filmed its "Let There Be Rock" video has sold for six million Australian dollars (approximately $3.99 million).

The Kirk church in Sydney was listed for an estimated 4.5 million Australian dollars (approximately $2.99 million) but 42 bids shot it well past the reserve.

The deconsecrated church once used for wild parties was owned by Sydney dominatrix Gretel Pinniger (a.k.a. Madame Lash),who purchased the 1887 property for $205,000 in 1986.

The video for the title track of AC/DC's "Let There Be Rock" album was filmed in July 1977 inside the church, with singer Bon Scott in the pulpit. Bassist Cliff Williams appears in the video although Mark Evans played on the LP. Williams replaced Evans once the album was released.

Scott was invited to join AC/DC by Malcolm and Angus Young in 1974, and achieved international stardom before his death at the age of 33 from alcohol poisoning.

He sang on AC/DC's first six studio albums, including "High Voltage", "Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap", "Let There Be Rock" and "Highway To Hell".

Scott died of acute alcohol poisoning after a night of heavy drinking at a club in London, just days after attending a session with Malcolm and Angus Young where they began working on music for what became the "Back In Black" album.

According to the AC/DC FAQ web site, Bon and the friend, a musician named Alisdair Kinnear, had been drinking the evening of February 19, 1980 and Bon apparently fell asleep during the ride home. Kinnear could not wake Bon, so he left him in the car to sleep. Kinnear awoke early in the evening on February 20, checked on Bon, and found him unconscious in the car. Bon could not be revived, and was pronounced dead.

AC/DC's latest studio album, "Power Up", came out in November 2020. The follow-up to 2014's "Rock Or Bust" featured AC/DC's reunited lineup of Angus, Brian Johnson (vocals),Phil Rudd (drums),Cliff Williams (bass) and Stevie Young (guitar). Johnson and Williams both left in 2016 for health reasons; and Rudd was sidelined in 2015 with various legal issues.

"Power Up" was recorded over a six-week period in August and September 2018 at Warehouse Studios in Vancouver with producer Brendan O'Brien, who also worked 2008's "Black Ice" and 2014's "Rock Or Bust".

Japanese pop-metal band BABYMETAL has released the official lyric video for "Monochrome", the second single from the forthcoming concept album "The Other One", due out on March 24, 2023.

Last year BABYMETAL was "sealed" from the world after a successful 10-year journey. In April 2022, "The Other One" restoration project began to recover the BABYMETAL we never knew existed within a virtual world called the Metalverse. A total of 10 songs have been discovered within "The Other One" restoration project, with each song representing a unique theme based on 10 separate parallel worlds that they have discovered.

One of the discovered 10 parallel worlds is "Cavalry", and the LP's first single, "Divine Attack", centers around this theme. As if this song is a hint into the future, alluding to a cavalry preparing for their next battle, we can feel a new sense of power from not only the sound but also the lyrics that have been written by Su-Metal for the first time. In addition, the official visualizer includes never-before-seen cuts of the members from "The Other One" — Black Box — and conveys the power and dynamism of the song. Five pre-release digital singles will be available worldwide for download and streaming, each respectively scheduled to release in October, November, January, February, and March.

After BABYMETAL makes its official return on January 28 and January 29 of next year at Makuhari Messe International Exhibition Hall, they will also be joining Swedish metal band SABATON on their Europe tour in April 2023.

BABYMETAL was formed in 2010. Their mission was to unify the world through heavy metal by creating a fusion of heavy metal and the Japanese pop genre. Their music contains a stunning mix of electronic pop, a pinch of alternative and industrial rock, and is leveled up by fast-driven heavy metal. Their live shows are ground-breaking and epic visual as well as sound performances. BABYMETAL continued to travel the path of metal with the international release of their three albums, telling the story of the mighty Fox God and his brave metal warriors.

A book about the first ten years of BABYMETAL, "Bessatsu Kadokawa Souryoku Tokushuu", was released in Japan in October 2020. It contains a long interview with Su-metal and Moametal as well as never-before-heard stories from band producer Kobametal from BABYMETAL's decade-long history, photos taken from live shows, a discussion between Demon Kakka and Kobametal, and much more.

BABYMETAL's third studio album, "Metal Galaxy", came out in October 2019 via earMUSIC/Edel. The follow-up to 2016's "Metal Resistance" was based on the concept of "The Odyssey Of Metal Galaxy".

In 2018, BABYMETAL announced the departure of Yuimetal, who was formerly one of the members of the Japanese group's core trio. She exited the band, explaining in a statement that she would go on to pursue a solo career as Mizuno Yu.

Former QUEENSRŸCHE singer Geoff Tate says that he has still not completely recovered after recently undergoing an unspecified heart procedure.

The 63-year-old musician discussed his health in an interview with Tulsa Music Stream. Asked if he is feeling back to a hundred percent nearly six months after going under the knife, Geoff said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Yeah, I think I'm — I don't know if I'd say 'a hundred percent', but I think after the New Year I'll be approaching that number. It was a really difficult few months there. [I'd] never been [seriously] ill in my life — I'd never actually been in a hospital ever — so this was something that was quite a bit different to get used to."

This past August, Tate said that "it took about a month" before he "could make a sound" and eventually regain his singing voice.

"I'd never been in a hospital before in my life, or I'd never had anything wrong with me, and this was the first experience for me," he explained to in Ritchie Birnie. "And I was just amazed at how much it took out of me. I've always been a pretty physical, pretty strong person, but, man, when I came out of the hospital, I was weak. I could barely walk."

On July 3, Tate took to his Facebook page to share a photo of him with Dr. Sami Kueri from the department of cardiovascular surgery at the Universitäts-Herzzentrum Freiburg-Bad Krozingen (University Heart Center Freiburg) in Bad Krozingen, Germany, and he included the following message: "All my gratitude to the talented Dr. Sami Kueri for giving me a healthy heart!! Feeling so much better each day!"

In June, Tate said that he would take a few months off the road as he recovered from a medical procedure.

On June 13, Geoff, who fronted QUEENSRŸCHE for 30 years — from the band's inception through 2012 — took to his social media to write: "I am having a medical procedure and my health professionals want me to recover over the Summer. I will be back and rocking South America in January. Looking forward to seeing everyone on the road."

Tate's recent tour celebrated the 30th anniversary of QUEENSRŸCHE's "Empire" and "Rage For Order" albums.

In April 2014, Tate and QUEENSRŸCHE announced that a settlement had been reached after a nearly two-year legal battle where the singer sued over the rights to the QUEENSRŸCHE name after being fired in 2012. Fellow original QUEENSRŸCHE members Michael Wilton (guitar),Scott Rockenfield (drums) and Eddie Jackson (bass) responded with a countersuit. The settlement included an agreement that Wilton, Rockenfield and Jackson would continue as QUEENSRŸCHE, while Tate would have the sole right to perform the albums "Operation: Mindcrime" and "Operation: Mindcrime II" in their entirety live.

Tate was replaced in QUEENSRŸCHE by former CRIMSON GLORY singer Todd La Torre.

Geoff will embark on a tour in 2023 to celebrate the 35th anniversary of "Operation: Mindcrime".

Photo courtesy of Geoff Tate's Facebook page

FOZZY frontman and wrestling superstar Chris Jericho was revealed to be the contestant dressed as a bride on Season 8 of reality singing competition "The Masked Singer".

Based on an international hit, "The Masked Singer" features celebrities facing off against one another with one major twist: each singer is shrouded from head to toe in an elaborate costume, complete with full face mask to conceal his or her identity. Ken Jeong, Jenny McCarthy, Nicole Scherzinger and Robin Thicke serve on the panel and play detective, alongside host Nick Cannon.

Bride returned after beating Gopher and Venus Fly Trap in the previous episode but was eliminated, along with Avocado, while Snowstorm moved on. Avocado was radio personality and comedian Adam Carolla.

All of panelists were stumped prior to Jericho's reveal, with Thicke guessing Flea from the RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS, McCarthy naming actor Vin Diesel, Jeong certain it was Oscar winner Matthew McConaughey and Scherzinger going with former VAN HALEN singer Sammy Hagar.

In Bride's clue package, she stated: "Dearly beloved, we gather here tonight for Hall Of Fame Night, but I vow to rock. I'm always telling feel-good stories, but let me explain how I ended up here, alone, at this junkyard wedding. I have a rugged personality, I live on the road selling out arenas and I have an appetite for destroying things. So I'm notorious for being in some of the messiest feuds. I've gone the solo route, and I've come here to master. Master a new commitment with all you 'Masked Singer' freaks. So tonight, here comes the bride!"

Asked by TV Insider what made him say yes to doing "The Masked Singer", Jericho said: "Over the last few years, I've kind of been connected with the show. I know a couple times, the judges guessed that it was me a few seasons ago. I know Jenny did, maybe last year. And the producers, as a result, asked me to do a couple tweets for the show — 'you never know who it might be' type of thing — so I kind of was already in 'The Masked Singer' universe, if you will. So when I finally got the opportunity to get asked, it was kind of a no-brainer. Because, at first, I thought the show was ridiculous. Who would ever watch it? It's so stupid. This is dumb. And then I realized there's a real charm to it and it looks like it'd be a lot of fun. So when I finally got the call, I was, like, 'There's no reason not to do it; now that I understand what the show is, let's go have some fun with it.'"

Regarding his costume, Jericho said: "The thing is, too, you couldn't just put anybody in that costume. It had to be someone that had a little bit of strength because it was very hard to maneuver. It really was like Godzilla from the old Japanese flicks from the '50s, where there was actually a guy in the costume stomping on the miniature city, and that's exactly what it was like. It was hard to move in at first, but then I figured out a way to maneuver it to where I could actually get some action out of it. It was hard to walk. It would probably take five minutes to walk to [the] stage, whereas without the costume, I could probably get there in 30 seconds. But that's kind of part of what made it fun and special. I was able to find a way to move it and basically dance with it in a lot of ways. And I was just starting to get into the vibe of it, which is one of the reasons it bugs me that I got eliminated because I thought I could do some cool stuff with this more in the future. Every time I put it on, I figured out a new way to move and make it come alive and animate it more."

As for the fact that no one on the panel guessed him, Chris said: "Automatically, people think it's going to be a girl when you're inside a costume called the Bride. I think it freaked them out when they realized it wasn't a lady, and that's also why I used the British accent — even though it's a Nigel Tufnel, David St. Hubbins 'Spinal Tap' English accent. It's still not what you would expect.

"It's so obvious it's Jericho in my head. Thousands of fans on Twitter and Instagram were, like, 'Oh, It's Jericho,' but if you don't know FOZZY, if you don't listen to my band, you might not recognize my voice right away and the fact that I'm dressed up in a bride dress and the fact that I have an English accent, it's kind of leading people down different paths. And that was kind of my mindset, which worked, especially with Jenny, since she had guessed me before, and I know her. I've done her show, she had a podcast or something a couple years ago. So if she already guessed it was me once and she spent some time with me, it might not be too far out of the question to think she might recognize me right away, which she didn't."

Bride was the 16th act eliminated from Season 8 of "The Masked Singer".

Other rock musicians who were previously featured on "The Masked Singer" include POISON frontman Bret Michaels, SEX PISTOLS vocalist John Lydon (a.k.a. Johnny Rotten),former NIGHTWISH bassist/vocalist Marco Hietala (a.k.a. Marko Hietala),SUGAR RAY lead singer Mark McGrath and THE DARKNESS frontman Justin Hawkins.

Frontiers Music Srl is set to release Journey's Lollapalooza performance from Chicago, IL, which took place on July 31, 2021. Live In Concert At Lollapalooza will arrive on December 9.


The set, which will be released on CD/DVD, Blu-ray, and Vinyl, serves as a testament not only to the band's enduring legacy, but their relevance to a whole new generation of rock 'n roll fans. Watch a performance of "Any Way You Want It" below.


Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2018, Journey have 25 gold and platinum albums, including the fifteen million selling Greatest Hits collection, with total sales adding up to 80 million records around the world.




As the band’s legend continues to grow larger and their touring gets bigger, they recently released a new studio album, Freedom, in July 2022. It was their first album of new material to be released in eleven years, since 2011’s Eclipse.


Pre-order / save Live In Concert At Lollapalooza" here.





Tracklisting:


"Separate Ways (Worlds Apart)"
"Only The Young"
Guitar Interlude
"Stone In Love"
"Be Good To Yourself"
"Just The Same Way"
"Lights"
"Still They Ride"
"Escape"
"La Do Da"
Piano Interlude
"Who's Crying Now"
Guitar Interlude
"Wheel In The Sky"
"Ask The Lonely"
"Open Arms"
"Lovin' Touchin' Squeezin'"
"Faithfully"
"Any Way You Want It"
"Don't Stop Believin'"


"Any Way You Want It" video:





"Be Good To Yourself" video:





Journey Lollapalooza 2021 lineup:


Neal Schon - Guitars
Jonathan Cain - Keyboards
Arnel Pineda - Vocals
Deen Castronovo - Drums
Narada Michael Walden - Drums
Marco Mendoza - Bass
Jason Derlatka - Keyboards, Vocals

Thin Lizzy’s two career-defining live albums, Live And Dangerous and Life, are set for special anniversary reissues on January 20, reports udiscovermusic.com.


2023 sees the 45th anniversary of what is widely regarded as one of the greatest live albums of all time, Thin Lizzy’s double platinum-selling Live And Dangerous, which was recorded in London and Philadelphia in 1977 during the Johnny the Fox and Bad Reputation tours and it’s set to return on January 20, 2023.


To celebrate the anniversary, the album will be released as a definitive 8CD super deluxe version featuring a newly remastered version of the original album alongside all of the gigs recorded for Live And Dangerous. These six shows from London, Toronto and Philadelphia have been newly mixed by Ben Findlay from the original multi-tracks and mastered by Andy Pearce, overseen by legendary Lizzy guitarist Scott Gorham.







Live And Dangerous was originally intended to be a studio album, working with producer Tony Visconti on Bad Reputation. The band had enjoyed massive success with that record and was keen to work with him again. However, Visconti had only had a small window in his schedule, so Lizzy’s leader Philip Lynott came up with the idea that they spend two weeks together compiling a live album instead. When Live And Dangerous was initially released in 1978, the album spent the best part of three months in the UK top ten and was only denied the top spot by one of the best-selling albums of all time, the soundtrack to Saturday Night Fever.


The super deluxe edition of Live And Dangerous finally puts to bed the myth that the album was extensively overdubbed in the studio and proves that Thin Lizzy was not only at the top of their game night after night but was one of the best live bands of the 1970s. The 12 x 12 package also includes sleeve notes with new interviews by Mark Blake and a booklet packed with rare photos and memorabilia.





Thin Lizzy’s Life Live was initially released in the Autumn of 1983 and was the band’s final album, recorded on their farewell tour earlier that year.


Thin Lizzy’s leader Phil Lynott had felt it was time to disband the group after the Thunder And Lightning tour, and to mark the occasion, he gathered together former Thin Lizzy guitarists Eric Bell (1969-73), Brian Robertson (1974-78) and Gary Moore (1974, 1977 and 1978-79) who joined the band on stage at Hammersmith Odeon.


During the performance of the Lizzy classic “The Rocker”, all of the guitarists played simultaneously along with John Sykes & Scott Gorham, making a total of eight members on stage performing. Former guitarist Snowy White (1980-1982) also appears on the album on three tracks, “Renegade”, “Hollywood”, and “Killer On The Loose”, which were recorded in 1981. This 40th anniversary version has been remastered from the best sources available.


Pre-order here.

Deadline is reporting that popular Playboy model and actress, Kymberly Herrin, who played the “Dream Ghost” in Ghostbusters and appeared in a ZZ Top video that cemented the band as MTV stars, has died. She was 65.


Her family told the Santa Barbara News-Press that Herrin died October in Santa Barbara but did not provide a cause or other details.


Herrin was a model who covered more than a dozen magazines, including twice for Playboy, before being cast in the 1984 music video for ZZ Top’s “Legs”. The clip was a third in an over-the-top trilogy that also included “Gimme All Your Lovin'” and “Sharp Dressed Man” and had made the Texas boogie trio regulars of the then-nascent cable channel. Herrin told an interviewer that she replaced one of three women in the first two videos that the other two “didn’t like.” She was the woman in the bright-red top in “Legs,” which became the band’s biggest hit, reaching the Top 10 in the U.S. and several other countries.




She also appeared in ZZ Top’s 1985 video for “Sleeping Bag” - another Top 10 single - 1987 longform KISS video Exposed and a David Lee Roth video in the mid-’80s.


Herrin also landed a pair of roles in popular 1984 films: Robert Zemeckis’ Romancing the Stone, starring Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner, and Ivan Reitman’s Ghostbusters, which featured Bill Murray, Dan Ackroyd, Harold Ramis and Sigourney Weaver, among others. Herrin has a brief but memorable role in the latter as was cast as the floating apparition who appeared above a sleeping Ackroyd’s bed and appeared to do more than float.


Read more at Deadline.

Florida metallers TRIVIUM have released the Pavel Trebukhin-directed music video for the song "The Shadow Of The Abattoir". The track is taken from the band's latest album, "In The Court Of The Dragon", which came out in October 2021 via TRIVIUM's longtime label Roadrunner Records. The record was produced and mixed by Josh Wilbur and recorded in the fall of 2020 at Full Sail University in Orlando. The album cover is an original oil painting by French artist Mathieu Nozieres.

Last spring, TRIVIUM guitarist Corey Beaulieu was asked in an interview with Wisconsin's WZOR (Razor 94.7/104.7) radio station if he and his bandmates had begun working on material for the follow-up to "In The Court Of The Dragon". He responded: "No. There's always material. During our downtime, I wrote some stuff, just 'cause I needed something to do and I had a couple of riffs, and I was, like, 'Screw it. I'll just kind of start working on it.' And then there's fragments of songs or demos of songs that maybe someone… I know I have a couple of things I wrote and demoed for the last record, but when you have three people in the band writing song ideas and riffs and stuff, by the time you finish the record there's a bunch of stuff everyone's got that we never got around to. So there's always a stockpile to pick from if we need a starting point for a song. We're never short on those."

According to Beaulieu, TRIVIUM "usually" released albums at two-year intervals in the past. "We'd put out a record and then tour and then two years later [put out another one]," he said. "That's basically how our whole cycle has been for our career. At one point, I think there was three years between records, but usually it's two 'cause you do your touring and then the way it is, you just kind of keep it going. That's why we have I think six albums that have come out in October, so we're pretty consistent with the timeline of what we're doing. We just felt that since 'What The Dead Men Say' came out basically right when everything shut down and we weren't gonna tour, the whole thinking was, 'Who knows when we're gonna be able to tour?' 'Cause no one knew at that point if it was gonna be six months, a year, a year and a half, two years — it was unpredictable when bands were gonna be able to tour and do all that stuff. Do we wanna go out on tour a year or two down the line with a record that's been out for a year or two? Or when we kick off touring, get people excited with new material. So we chose that route and surprised people with another album. We had all this free time, so why just sit around and not do anything, just trying to wait it out? It's, like, we can always write — no one's stopping us from doing that — so we jumped into that."

TRIVIUM recently supported MEGADETH and LAMB OF GOD on the 2022 leg of "The Metal Tour Of The Year".

On the heels of the recent release of their digital EP "The Mourning" last month, BLACK VEIL BRIDES have released a music video for opener "Devil". The high-energy track has become a fan favorite on the band's current tour solidifying its place among other hits from the group comprised of Andy Biersack, Jake Pitts, Jinxx, Lonny Eagleton and Christian Coma. The video was filmed during BLACK VEIL BRIDES' performance in Mexico City on October 26, 2022. The video was directed by longtime visual collaborator Edwin Daboub.

The band is also releasing new limited-edition "Devil"-inspired holiday merchandise. Only 100 pieces of each design are available in this limited run of designs. All items are available for purchase at this location.

"The Mourning" was released on October 21 via Sumerian Records. The effort was produced and mixed by Erik Ron (GODSMACK, BUSH) at Grey Area Studios.

"The Mourning" includes "Saviour II", which is the follow-up to "Saviour". "Saviour" appeared on the 2011 album "Set The World On Fire" and was written as a letter to the fans in saying how much they appreciate them and that they, and their music, will be there for them during their darkest time. "Saviour II" is a continuation of this message — that, as years have now gone by, they remain true to that and want to reaffirm that they are still here for people.

BLACK VEIL BRIDES frontman Andy Biersack states: "BLACK VEIL BRIDES has always been a band deeply interwoven with our fanbase and our career has been so heavily predicated on the doors that were opened for us by the passion and dedication that the BVB army has always shown for us. In the early days of the band, our song 'Saviour' was written as a love letter to them, a chance to say we appreciate you and want to do right by you. As the years go by and lives and times change, the one thing that has always been a constant is that connection with our audience and while we are just musicians making records, we always want to do our best to provide entertainment, escapism and inspiration to the people who have given us this platform and this song is a chance to reaffirm that message."

BLACK VEIL BRIDES' latest album, "The Phantom Tomorrow", came out in October 2021. The third concept LP from BLACK VEIL BRIDES and the band's most-ambitious release to date is comprised of a dozen tracks, including the band's first-ever U.S. Top 10 Active Rock single "Scarlet Cross".

The cover artwork for "The Phantom Tomorrow" was created by Eliran Kantor, known for his work with TESTAMENT, HATEBREED, HAVOK and Andy Black, to name a few. "The Phantom Tomorrow" was produced by Erik Ron (GODSMACK, DANCE GAVIN DANCE, BUSH) and co-produced by guitarist Jake Pitts.

This past June, BLACK VEIL BRIDES vocalist Andy Biersack and drummer Christian "CC" Coma (born Christian Mora) spoke to Rock Sound about the band's plans to follow up "The Phantom Tomorrow". The LP was a concept effort about the antihero character The Blackbird and a group of societal outcasts known as simply as The Phantom Tomorrow.

Andy said: "We've got probably six to eight songs that are what we feel is like kind of an extension of ['The Phantom Tomorrow'] story. I'm not sure how they're gonna get released. Originally we wanted to do a part two and everything else. So we don't know. It may be that you'll get some singles or duologies or whatever you wanna call it from this, but we've got some material. We were just talking about it in the car the other day."

Added CC: "It's incredible. We got the final mixes and stuff, and listening to it. I mean, they're some of my favorite BLACK VEIL songs we've ever done. You've never sounded better," he said, speaking to Andy. "I think that we just jelled so well together during this whole process and the pandemic, and I think just creatively bouncing off of each other, I think this is the best we've ever been, to be honest."

Ozzy Osbourne says that he is "overwhelmed" by the fact that he was nominated in four categories at the 65th annual Grammy Awards.

Ozzy's song "Patient Number 9" (featuring Jeff Beck) has been shortlisted for "Best Rock Performance" and "Best Rock Song", while his latest album, "Patient Number 9", is in the running for "Best Rock Album". Another track from "Patient Number 9", "Degradation Rules" (featuring Tony Iommi) is up for the "Best Metal Performance" Grammy.

The Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame inductee, who has been held back from touring by a litany of health issues in recent years, previously has won three Grammy Awards and received eight nominations. In 1993 Ozzy won a solo Grammy Award for "Best Metal Performance" for "I Don't Want To Change The World" and two Grammys as a member of BLACK SABBATH for "Best Metal Performance" in 2000 for "Iron Man" and in 2013 for "Best Metal Performance" for "God Is Dead?" from "13".

A question-and-answer session with Ozzy about his latest nominations follows.

Q: How does it feel to have received four nominations for the new album?

Ozzy: "I'm honestly overwhelmed. Making this record was a great way to me to get back to work as I continued to heal. It's pretty great to be acknowledged at this point in my career."

Q: Between the pandemic and you going through your surgeries, do you think that contributed to making another record so quickly?

Ozzy: "Well, the thing was I had all this time — we all did through the pandemic. Instead of lying there and just doing my physical therapy, the record actually got me doing something that I love."

Q: What was your mindset when you were writing and recording the album?

Ozzy: "I was thinking about the times we've been living in. There wasn't much good news. It was a fucking war in Ukraine and the pandemic. The world seemed to be on the brink of a bad thing."

Q: How do you feel at this point in your career having the kind of notoriety you've achieved with this album?

Ozzy: "The business forever surprises me. It's never a safe bet. I've done things in the past where I tell myself 'this is going to be a hit.' Then it's gone down the shitter and other things I've done… It's done the opposite. I'm very cheered up by the support."

Q: The interesting thing about the album is it features top musicians, including some old friends.

Ozzy: "Oh yeah. I mean the guitars are Tony [Iommi], Zakk [Wylde], Eric Clapton and Jeff Beck's fucking phenomenal work, plus Robert Trujillo on bass. It's turned out better than I ever expected. And having Taylor Hawkins with me in the studio like a week or two before he died was amazing. To think he's gone breaks my heart."

Q: It must be special that "Degradation Rules" which features Tony Iommi, was nominated for a Grammy.

Ozzy: "Such great news. I mean, that song would've made a great BLACK SABBATH track. It's a very well-structured song. I've known Tony since I was 12 years old and I'm glad to say we've continued a really good friendship. Tony's been very supportive of me while I've been recovering from surgery. He's been in constant contact, which has been great."

Q: What's the collaboration like with producer Andrew Watt?

Ozzy: "He's a lot better than most producers at collaboration. The fact that he plays guitar, and I don't, and he works with machines and I don't, makes it easier. It's just great working with him. We end up arguing a bit with… sometimes, but not a lot."

"Patient Number 9" — released September 9 and marking Ozzy's 13th solo studio album — triumphantly sets new career highs for the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame inductee and Grammy-winning singer and songwriter. The critically acclaimed album has topped his previous chart entries with record-breaking numbers around the world. In the U.S., the album debuted at No. 1 on multiple charts: Top Album Sales (Ozzy's first No. 1 ever on this chart),Top Current Album Sales (another first),Top Rock & Alternative Albums, Top Rock Albums, Top Hard Rock Albums, Top Vinyl Albums and Tastemaker Albums charts; and at No. 3 on the Billboard 200 albums chart. Globally, the album charted at No. 1 in Canada (Ozzy's first-ever No. 1 there); career-high No. 2 entries in the U.K., Australia, Finland and Italy; No. 6 in the Netherlands and New Zealand; No. 8 in Belgium; and No. 14 France. Other highlights include No. 2 in Austria, Germany and Sweden; No. 3 in Switzerland; and No. 4 in Norway.

Working with producer Andrew Watt for the second time, Ozzy welcomed a dynamic A-list featured guests on the album. For the first time ever, BLACK SABBATH co-founder, guitarist, and riff-master Tony Iommi appears on an Ozzy solo album. The record also boasts guitarists Jeff Beck, Eric Clapton, Mike McCready of PEARL JAM, and longstanding righthand man and six-string beast Zakk Wylde who plays on the majority of the tracks. For the bulk of the album, Chad Smith of RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS held down drums, while the late Taylor Hawkins of FOO FIGHTERS appears on three songs. Old friend and one-time Ozzy bandmember Robert Trujillo of METALLICA plays bass on most of the album's tracks, with Duff McKagan of GUNS N' ROSES and Chris Chaney supplying bass on a few songs.

Photo credit: Ross Halfin
I’m honestly overwhelmed. Making this record was a great way to me to get back to work as I continued to heal. It’s pretty great to be acknowledged at this point in my career #PatientNumber9pic.twitter.com/0My6Tk02dP

— Ozzy Osbourne (@OzzyOsbourne) November 16, 2022

Thrash metal pioneers MEGADETH cap off 2022 with their 13th Grammy nomination for "Best Metal Performance" for the song "We'll Be Back" from their new, critically acclaimed album "The Sick, The Dying… And The Dead!" (UMe).

"I am so happy to be nominated again," says MEGADETH leader Dave Mustaine. "I am still on a high from our last win, and this is just surreal. After all the hard work put in by my team, this moment is for them to share in the celebration as well!"

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).

As MEGADETH approached the stage to accept the award, the house band inexplicably played the song "Master Of Puppets" from Mustaine's former band METALLICA.

In his acceptance speech, Mustaine said: "Fantastic! Only took twelve tries to get this. Last time we were here, we were talking to Kenny G, and he asked me how many times we were here, and he goes, 'Well, eleven isn't that bad.' And I said, 'How many times did it take you?' And he said, Twenty-one.' And I was, like, 'Oh, my god. If it takes twenty-one times… I don't know if I'll live that long.'"

Mustaine continued: "I wanna thank Jesus Christ, I wanna thank my wife, my children, all the band's wives and kids, I wanna thank our management, our label, our agent, our attorney, our crew, all of you, especially the metal community. I think it's a little weird that we ended up being category 69, but somebody's got a sense of humor."

Five years ago, Mustaine famously told The Columbus Dispatch in an interview that he wouldn't be fully satisfied until he had a Grammy with his own name on it.

"As crazy as I am, I was thinking about the Grammy the other day and [how] it was given to MEGADETH," he said. "I was thinking it would surely be a lot better if it was given to Dave Mustaine and not to MEGADETH. I guess you've got to keep the fire burning."

Back in March 2018, Mustaine was asked by Rolling Stone what it was like winning his first Grammy Award. He responded: "We've been nominated a lot of times, which is great — it's very flattering. But there's only so many times you can say, 'Oh, I'm really happy I was just nominated.' [Chuckles] Yeah, right! So I remember it when we actually did win, the way that they announced it, it was kind of backwards. Margaret Cho was the presenter, and she said, 'And the winner is 'Dystopia',' and it was supposed to have been the winner was MEGADETH, because it was about the band, not about the song. It took a second to sink in, and then we got up there. And then, on the way down there, the music is playing in the background, and I didn't even care. We got up there and we did our thing. And somebody goes, 'Did you hear the song they played when you got your award?' And I was, like, 'No.' Evidently, they played a METALLICA song. And I said, 'I don't feel bad for 'em, 'cause they did a really, really bad job of it.' Good thing is it didn't say 'METALLICA' on the freakin' Grammy!"

"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.

Mustaine was fired from METALLICA in 1983 — some three years before "Master Of Puppets" was released — over substance abuse and anger issues. Although he later conceded that he was "bitter" for a period of time after being dismissed, he insisted that any perceived feud with his former bandmates was an illusion.

Up-and-coming hard rockers, Girish And The Chronicles, have announced the upcoming release of a re-recorded version of their debut album, Back On Earth, on January 27. The new single and video, "Loaded", is out today. Watch the clip below.


Originally released in 2014, Back On Earth was the first album to introduce GATC to a larger global hard rock audience and kicked off their still ongoing rock n' roll journey.


When asked why the band decided to re-record the album as opposed to simply remastering and reissuing it, front man Girish Pradhan says, "We wanted the whole thing to have a fresh new start. Although we wanted to keep most of the vocal takes, we have been introducing a lot of musical changes to these songs in live performances. So we thought, 'Why not do the same in the new recordings?' We always felt that we had technical challenges back in the day and couldn’t deliver the hard-hitting sound that we had originally intended, so we introduced some new breakdowns, chord sequences, solos, and bass and drum parts to these songs that make them feel closer to where we are now. We didn’t want to mess around too much with the vocals though, which is why I only re-recorded the vocals for 'Angel' and 'Loaded'. As a whole, the whole thing sounds quite different from the 2014 version, but all in all, it stays true to the spirit of the songs, however, we feel that it is closer to the vision we had back in the day."




Thinking back on the making of their debut album, Girish says, "Each song has its own story. Most of them were singles, released during the 2009-2013 era of the band. We had a lot of struggles, but we were living our lives to the fullest. More than anything, we were a group of four guys, without a care in the world, who just wanted to get on stage and rock. 'Angel' was the first song ever released. I wrote that tune around 2008. It was actually supposed to be a solo song at that time, but by the time we all assembled, we officially called it the band’s first ever single. 'Golden Crown' might sound funny to a lot of our new listeners, but it was actually a song by two teenagers (me and my brother, Yogesh), meant as a jingle for a local football championship named the Gold Cup, organised by the Sikkim Football Association. I wrote 'Loaded'’s riff and some of its lyrics in 2010, when we were in the process of applying for our first passports. Two of our band members lacked some documents and were told to go back to Sikkim and reapply all over again. We were quite frustrated, thinking of the long journey and the amount of running around we had been doing, for something so simple, plus we were broke as hell. Anyway, the circumstances did help me write the song, and the lines:


'There’s no point in complaining / And shedding tears while it’s raining / There is nothing to lose, / ‘Cause I was the one to choose'


"I guess this will be very long to read if I start writing about each and every song, so we'll leave some of it to our fans to interpret!"


Originally from Sikkim, but now based in the city of Bangalore/Bengaluru in Karnataka, India, GATC are known for their soaring, powerful vocals, biting guitars, thunderous bass, and pounding drums, staying true to the authentic ‘80s heavy metal/hard rock sound which they grew up with.


In their 12-year existence, GATC have been credited by many fans for bringing the classic hard rock culture back to India and are an inspiration to many new and upcoming bands in the scene. The group has gained a cult following globally with '80's and '90s hair metal and hard rock aficionados in addition to being well known in the Indian rock scene for electrifying live shows and have toured across the nation and beyond.


GATC has supported bands ranging in variety from American alt rockers Hoobastank to Finnish rockers Poets of the Fall to German thrashers Destruction. The band has also performed at the Zurbaran Rock Burgos Fest in Spain, sharing the stage with German hard rock legends Bonfire. GATC has also performed at the UrRock Fest in Switzerland in 2021, sharing the stage with Nazareth, Orden Ogan, Firewind, and again in 2022 with headliners Skid Row, amongst others. Additionally, the band consistently has been part of various leading music festivals in India.


Vocalist Girish Pradhan is also part of the international metal group, Firstborne, which is led by Chris Adler, James Lomenzo, and Hugh B. Myrone. He has also toured the UK, France, Spain, Portugal and other territories with his other side projects in the past.





Back On Earth tracklisting:


"Ride To Hell"
"Loaded"
"Born With A Big Attitude"
"Shot By The Cupid, Touched By The Devil"
"Angel"
"I Wanna Get That Lovin’ Again"
"Hey You"
"Yesteryears"
"Smile Little Child"
"The Revolving Barrel"
"Golden Crown"
"End Of Civilization"


"Loaded" video:





Lineup:


Girish Pradhan - Vocals, Rhythm Guitars
Yogesh Pradhan - Bass, Keyboards, Production
Suraz Sun - Lead Guitars
Nagen Nags - Drums