Following the critically acclaimed debut album Divine Judgement (2020), today Swiss thrash metal legion, Gomorra, announce the release of the band's sophomore full-length record, Dealer Of Souls, out on December 9 via Noble Demon.


With their blend of insanely fast and groovy riffs full of thrash metal perfection, dynamics and energy, with their latest record Gomorra have undoubtedly made a lasting impression on critics and fans alike. Dealer Of Souls takes it even a step further and with eleven brand new tracks by the band around Damir Eskic, who is also part of German thrash metal legends Destruction, Gomorra showcases the absolute finest from the worlds of heavy, power and thrash metal.


Following the previously-released, first two singles "War Of Control" and "Stand United"(feat. Laura Guldemond of Burning Witches) today, Gomorra have shared the brand new track "Rule of Fear".




Damir Eskic (Gomorra / Destruction) comments:


"‘Rule Of Fear’ is a reflection of the present time, which is constantly changing and readapting for almost 3 years, or has to readapt. A strong and epic song that will get under the skin of any metalhead!"


Dealer Of Souls was recorded by V.O. Pulver at Little Creek Studio, Switzerland and mixed/mastered by V.O. Pulver, Damir Eskic and Schmier (Destruction). The stunning album artwork was designed by Gyula Havancsak. Dealer Of Souls is available for pre-order here.





Tracklisting:


"Reflections Of Souls"
"War Of Control"
"A Chance For The Better"
"Stand United"
"Dealer"
"Isolation"
"Green Gold"
"Lost In Darkness"
"Rule Of Fear"
"All Is Lost"
"End Of The World"


"Rule Of Fear":





"War Of Control" lyric video:





Gomorra are:


Jonas Ambühl - Vocals
Damir Eskic - Lead/Solo Guitars
Dominic Blum - Lead/Solo Guitars
Nico Ardüser - Bass Guitar
Stefan Hösli - Drums

Cracow, Poland’s Sewer Dwellers has issued their new single “The Cassandra Complex”.


The name Sewer Dwellers derives from an English expression used to describe residents of sewers in Bucharest since 1989. 


The band says: “We embody a fresh perspective on the modern blend of deathcore and death metal along with some symphonic elements. We draw inspiration from a variety of bands across the world such as Thy Art Is Murder, Fit For An Autopsy and Shadow of Intent. The idea behind the band was born a couple years back in the minds of our founding members - Grzesiek and Tomek. With time we grew in numbers and managed to put out the album Fate Of A Maggot late in 2019. During the pandemic we focused mostly on writing new material which will be released as a series of singles in the near future. The first one of them is 'The Cassandra Complex'.”

Brutal Spanish death metallers Bonecarver celebrated the November 11th release of their new album, Carnage Funeral, out via Unique Leader Records, with the release of their blistering new single "The Reckoning".


Bonecarver commented on the new single: "Inspired by the film of Robert Eggers 'The Northman', 'The Reckoning' is a story that talks about the feelings surrounding the wrath that we fill when we pursue vengeance. Apart from horror and gore movies, we also love superhero movies so we thought that the video for 'The Reckoning' is the perfect mix, as well as being the song with the most crushing riff on the album." 







Continuing on about their album release: "Our new album Carnage Funeral is here!  We want to thank all the people who have supported us since our name was Cannibal Grandpa until today's release. From our family and friends to the people who have been listening to us all this time around the world. We do exactly what we like and we do it for you, so we hope you enjoy it as much as we do. Don't forget to add us to your playlists and spread the word!" 


Carnage Funeral artwork and tracklisting:





"Carnage Funeral"
"Ancient Atrocity"
"The Reckoning"
"Thorned"
"Pillars Of Tragedy"
"Morgue Desecrator"
"The Red Wake"
"Horror Disorder"
"Bereavement"


"Carnage Funeral" video:





"Ancient Atrocity" video:





 

Dark Star Records has announced that Conquest have released their new single and lyric video for the song “Man On The Silver Mountain”. The song was originally made famous by the band Rainbow fronted by the legendary Ronnie James Dio.





This version of the classic song is a slightly heavier version and features Derrick Brumley on guitar and lead vocals, Mike Crook on guitar and vocals, Rob Boyer on bass and vocals, Lee Skyles on drums and vocals.




The lyric video “Man On The Silver Mountain” is Available in 4K on YouTube and the single is out now on all major streaming platforms like Spotify, Apple Music and more. Stream on songwhip.com.

Los Angeles-based Desert Dragon has released their new album, This Side of Heaven on all digital and retail platforms. Along with the album release the band is also premiering the video for the song “Lock And Load.”





Desert Dragon vocalist St John is well known in the rock world for his time in Montrose, Lynch Mob, and currently, Kingdom Come, Burning Rain, and the Raiding the Rock Vault production on the Las Vegas strip. St John co-wrote and coproduced the This Side Of Heaven album with Patnode and Smith and considers this record to be "au natural and straight from the heart."







The band has been making a name for themselves with their multi-rock sound which includes a mix of classic rock, blues rock, country rock, and progressive rock. This Side of Heaven features ten new songs that highlight a different side of the band's talents on every track, while they salute good old fashion rock. On the album violinist Adel Eskander (Page and Plant No Quarter Tour) lends his talents to the song “Southside Of Heaven”.


Since their debut in 2011, the band has independently released the EP Desolation which was produced by the legendary Ron Nevison (Led Zeppelin, Bad Company, The Faces, Heart, Lynyrd Skynyrd) and featured Billboard charting singles “Darkness Shines” and “Miles Away”. For their album Before The Storm, the band worked with producer/mixer James “Jimbo” Barton (Queensrÿche, Rush, Metallica) with the song “Save My World” garnering Best Rock Song at the Malibu Music Awards.





Desert Dragon has also toured relentlessly including an opening slot for Blue Oyster Cult and a capacity show at SXSW. When asked about the name Patnode explains, “Desert comes from the Judas Priest song Desert Plain and Dragon was inspired by Jimmy Page’s iconic dragon pants.”

Maceration's comeback album It Never Ends... to be released on November 25 featuring death metal legend Dan Swanö – Edge Of Sanity, Bloodbath – as a vocalist.


It’s official. Maceration hiatus is over and the Danish death metal band will release their new album It Never Ends... November 25. This happens 30 years after the release of their debut and only studio album this far. The Danish band played a pivotal role in the local death metal scene, being among the pioneers of the style in Denmark. Their A Serenade Of Agony album, also with Dan Swanö on vocals and members of pioneers Invocator, paved the way for a whole generation of Danish death metal bands to follow. 


“We are back with our second album. A perfect timing, 30 years, after the debut album, and of course very important for us that the album again is featuring Dan Swanö on lead vocals. It has been a very exciting experience to record this album and get to be working with Dan again. I think this is actually the first time Dan is back growling on an album since the Edge of Sanity days, so this is very special,” says Jakob Schultz, guitarist, ex-Invocator, and one of the original members of Maceration. 







This year, in the frenzy of the A Serenade Of Agony re-release, the live album Live Disfigurements (recovering long, historical concerts recordings) and the book “Incombustible Remains” (telling the story of the band’s first concert, opening for Darkthrone), Maceration reformed and are back in business. The band already played important festivals in Denmark such as Metal Magic and Death Coast. And still got time to write and record a new album. In this album, to be released this fall via Emanzipation, to which Maceration just signed a record deal, Dan Swanö (ex-Edge Of Sanity, Bloodbath) is back as a session lead vocalist, just as on the debut album, and also as the producer. The album is mixed and mastered by Dan Swanö in his own Unisound studio, where he also recorded the vocals. 


“At the time of the initial request I had given up singing all together, and especially growling, but since Maceration was the first album session job I ever did as a vocalist, back in 1991, I felt that I needed to be on this album, so I decided to sign on for the growling duties, as well as the sound duties, and pay my respects not only to the band for choosing me to sing on their first album, but also to finally singing on a full-on top notch HM-2 death metal release”, Dan Swanö says about his role as session vocalist and producer on the upcoming album. “I must say that that it sounds so much better than I ever thought possible, given that I really haven’t used this particular style of growling since the mid 90’s and combined with the awesome riffing and the world-class drumming, it sometimes teleported me back to the vibe I had when I recorded the vocals for Edge Of Sanity’s Unorthodox back in 1991,” Swanö explains. 


The cover artwork for It Never Ends... was done by the Swedish artist Ola Larsson, also known for his work for bands like Sulphur Aeon, Temple Of Void and Disma. His creation for Maceration’s new album sums of the atmosphere of diabolical forces from the underworlds beyond in a very unique and intense way, combining the grotesque with the darkest corners of your mind. 


The live Maceration lineup is comprised of original Maceration members, lead guitarist Jakob Schultz (ex-Invocator) and rhythm guitarist Lars Bangsholt. The new line-up features also bass player Robert Tengs, drummer Rasmus Schmidt (Illdisposed, ex- Myrkur) and singer Jan Bergmann Jepsen (ex-Cor Vacante), who also sings on the album, on the title track and on the song “Tender Twigs Of Innocence”, together with Swanö. 


It Never Ends… will be released on digital, CD and LP (black and white vinyls, each limited to 300 units) on November 25, 2022. Preorder at targetshop.dk.

Metal Blade Records announces that Cleveland death metal quartet, 200 Stab Wounds, is officially part of the label's roster.


Says the band: "200 Stab Wounds is proud to announce we've joined forces with Metal Blade Records. The label's legacy speaks for itself, so all we can say is we are very excited to leave our mark in the catalog!"


The new single "Masters Of Morbidity" was produced by Mark Lewis (The Black Dahlia Murder, Nile, Deicide, Krisiun, Whitechapel, Fallujah). Check it out below, and make sure to catch the band live while they tour the US on a co-headline tour with Undeath with support coming from Enforced and Phobophilic.




The band add: "'Masters Of Morbidity' marks a whole new level for us as a band. Having fun writing and being open to incorporating some different things into our music that maybe we wouldn't have done a year or 2 ago. We're very happy with what we've put together and can't wait to get more out to the masses. See you on the road!"





(Photo - Alec Basse)

Christian metallers Stryper performed the first of two shows at the Whisky-A-Go-Go in Hollywood, CA on November 4th. Fan-filmed video of the entire show can be viewed below.


The setlist was as follows:


"In God We Trust"
"Revelation"
"The Rock That Makes Me Roll"
"More Than a Man"
"Surrender"
"Calling On You"
"Free"
"Sorry"
"Honestly"
"All For One"
"Always There For You"
"Divider"
"The Valley"
"Yahweh"
"Soldiers Under Command"
"To Hell With The Devil"







Frontiers Music Srl has released Stryper's new album, The Final Battle. To mark the occasion, a lyric video for the song, "Ashes To Ashes", can be found below.


The Final Battle is available on CD, LP (multiple color variants available), & digital. In addition to CDs and LPs, new t-shirt designs are available from the band's store and the label stores. Order/save here.





Tracklisting:


"Transgressor"
"See No Evil, Hear No Evil"
"Same Old Story"
"Heart & Soul"
"Near"
"Out, Up & In"
"Rise To The Call"
"The Way, The Truth, The Life"
"No Rest For The Wicked"
"Till Death Do Us Part"
"Ashes To Ashes"


"Ashes To Ashes" lyric video:





"Same Old Story" video:





"Transgressor" video:





"Rise To The Call" lyric video:





"See No Evil, Hear No Evil":

Robert DeLeo, bassist and principal songwriter of the iconic band STONE TEMPLE PILOTS, released his first solo album, "Lessons Learned", on October 21. The official music video for the debut single, "Love Is Not Made Of Gold", directed by DeLeo and Ryan Williams, can be seen below.

If you've been paying attention since the 1990s, you already know that DeLeo's range was always there in the hints of sophistication sparkling beneath the surface of the sound that cemented STP's place as one of the defining bands of their era. Now for the first time, he's pulling back the curtain to reveal the full breadth of his range. "Lessons Learned" bears many shades of DeLeo in his full glory as a multi-instrumentalist.

STP listeners will recognize the signature chord changes right away, with new songs like "She Brings The Rain", "What Will Be" and "What'll I Do", shifting course and ascending ever so gracefully to the upper ozone of the musical spectrum, where gorgeous hummable melodies spill over into an array of reflective moods.

"The past few years of life have revealed many changes," says Robert. "This collection of songs represents what has transpired. The journey and gift of songwriting has played such an important role for me. It's been a close companion throughout my life."

Robert played virtually all the instruments on the album, complemented by guest musicians and vocalists, all of which lend to the undeniable intimacy of the music. "Love Is Not Made Of Gold" features vocalist Jimmy Gnecco.

"I needed to confess my feelings on that ever so mystical word…LOVE," says Robert. "I wanted this song to come across in such a way that really hits where it hurts."

Like so much of DeLeo's body of work, "Lessons Learned" is the kind of record that feels so alive in the present and instantly soundtracks the moment for the listener.

"The path of love is unknown," Robert concludes. "Your heart leads you in many different directions. These are my lessons learned."

"Lessons Learned" track listing:

01. Big Sky Woman (feat. Pete Shoulder)
02. She Brings The Rain (feat. Tim Bluhm)
03. Love Is Not Made Of Gold (feat. Jimmy Gnecco)
04. Anew (feat. Kara Britz) 03:41
05. Put Aside Your Sorrows (feat. Pete Shoulder) 03:18
06. Lessons Learned (feat. Tim Bluhm) 03:18
07. What Will Be (feat. Jimmy Gnecco) 03:03
08. Everything (feat. Kara Britz) 04:04
09. What'll I Do (feat. Johnny Irion) 04:17
10. Is This Goodbye 03:44

This past March, Robert spoke to AXS TV's "At Home And Social With" about his upcoming solo album. The 56-year-old musician said: "Through this pandemic, there's been a lot of time and a lot of free time. And it gave me a chance to pick up all my acoustic instruments and kind of talk to them a little bit and see what they had to say back. And before I knew it, I had a bunch of songs together of my own — acoustic-based songs. And I had some friends of mine, who are very talented, do some vocal stuff. So I have different vocalists — about five different vocalists — through the record, and great, great, very talented people helping me out with this."

In February, DeLeo revealed on his Instagram that his solo album would include a guest appearance by Kara Britz, who has worked as a backing singer on NBC's "The Voice" and has backed up country artist Blake Shelton, as well as piano playing by producer, engineer and mixer Bill Appleberry and cello playing of Dave Eggar.

In the summer of 2021, DeLeo discussed his solo album in an interview with Bass Player magazine. At the time, he stated about the set: "It's all acoustic bass, and I got a chance to sharpen up my acoustic guitar skills too. I wound up finding a guitarrón — you know, the Mexican bass? I found one that was converted to four strings and it was fretted, and it sounds unbelievable. I've reached out to people that I really wanted to write and collaborate with."

DeLeo has been discussing the possibility of releasing a solo album for at least the last two decades. Back in 2002, he said that he was "compiling a number of songs" that had not made their way on to STP records, "not because they're bad songs, [but] just because they never found a place. Though they're different from STP, they still mean a lot to me," he explained.

STONE TEMPLE PILOTS features three original members — Robert DeLeo, guitarist Dean DeLeo and drummer Eric Kretz.

Singer Jeff Gutt, a 46-year-old Michigan native who spent time in the early-2000s nu-metal act DRY CELL, among other bands, and was a contestant on "The X Factor", joined STONE TEMPLE PILOTS after beating out roughly 15,000 hopefuls during an extended search that began more than a year earlier.

Original STONE TEMPLE PILOTS singer Scott Weiland, who reunited with the group in 2010 after an eight-year hiatus but was dismissed in 2013, died in December 2015 of a drug overdose.

Chester Bennington, who joined STP in early 2013, departed nearly three years later to spend more time with his main band LINKIN PARK. Bennington committed suicide in July 2017.

STONE TEMPLE PILOTS released their first all-acoustic album, titled "Perdida", in February 2020. The disc was Gutt's second with STP. His recording debut with the group was on its self-titled seventh album, which arrived in March 2018.

Photo credit: Duke DeLeo

Queen have set November 18 as the release date for The Miracle Collector's Edition. To celebrate the upcoming release of Queen's hit 1989 album,  the YouTube series Queen The Greatest returns 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.





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 pre-order here. Watch an unboxing video below:







Widely recognized as Queen’s strongest album of the 80’s and one of their most inspired, the 1989 released The Miracle was a global success reaching No. 1 in the UK and several major European markets, even re-establishing the band in the US where it delivered a gold album. Brian May has often cited the title track as his favourite Queen song of all time.


The hugely prolific sessions for The Miracle began in December 1987 and stretched out to March 1989. It was to be one of the most consequential periods in Queen’s history. Fifteen months previously, on August 9, 1986, Queen’s mighty Europe Magic Tour had ended on a high, before an estimated audience of more than 160,000 at Knebworth Park in Britain. As the band left the stage that night – toasting the flagship show of their biggest tour to date – they could hardly have foreseen that Knebworth marked a line in the sand. This would be Queen’s final live show with Freddie and the first in a chain of pivotal moments that would lead towards a lengthy separation for the band.   


It would take 15 months and a radical restructuring of internal band dynamics before Queen regrouped in London’s Townhouse Studios on December 3rd, 1987, to start work on their thirteenth studio album. For the first time, Queen would share songwriting credits equally, regardless of who conceived each song, a consensus of opinion that was to have fertile results. “Splitting the credits was a very important decision for us. We left our egos outside the studio door,” says Brian, “and worked together as a real band – something that wasn’t always the case. I wish we’d done it 15 years before.”


Said Roger: “Decisions are made on artistic merit, so ‘Everybody wrote everything’ is the line, rather than ego or anything else getting in the way. We seem to work together better now than we did before. We’re fairly up-and-down characters. We have different tastes in many ways. We used to have lots of arguments in the studio, but this time we decided to share all the songwriting, which I think was very democratic and a good idea.”


This show of unity was elegantly conveyed by band art director Richard Gray’s cover for The Miracle, which depicts Queen’s four faces merged into one. “The cover art represents the unity of the group at the time: a seamless merging of four people becoming one,” May has said. “We were also dealing with Freddie’s deteriorating health and pulling together to support him.”


While Freddie could no longer tour, Queen remained a band of staggering creative resourcefulness. As John Deacon implied, they instead channelled their live chemistry into the studio: “In the first few weeks of recording we did a lot of live material, a lot of songs, some jamming, and ideas came up.”


‘Party’ and raw rock ‘Khashoggi’s Ship’ “evolved naturally, straight away,” said Freddie. Inspired by something Anita Dobson would say, and later adopted for anti-apartheid protests, the massive ‘I Want It All’ was – though written before the band went into the studio – a forceful expression of Queen’s concert-honed heavy-rock powers. “We were never able to perform this song live with Freddie,” said May. “It would have become something of a staple core of the Queen show, I’m sure, because it was very participative – designed for the audience to sing along to – very anthemic.”


Says Roger: “Lots of the [Miracle] tracks have first-take stuff in them; we tried to preserve that freshness. We tried to capture all the enthusiasm that we had from playing together as a band.”


Queen’s writing also reflected their personal circumstances. The torn-from-the-headlines drama of ‘Scandal’ was May’s personal swipe at the press intrusion into the bandmembers’ respective personal affairs. Singled out by Deacon for praise, Freddie’s soaring album closer, ‘Was It All Worth It’, has in retrospect been interpreted as a reflection on the singer’s health.


One further ingredient in the mix was David Richards, who had worked with Queen since his billing as assistant engineer on Live Killers. After further credits on A Kind of Magic and Live Magic, Richards stepped up to co-produce The Miracle, praised by May for his “whizz kid” technical prowess.


The months in the studio birthed 30-plus songs, more than Queen could possibly need for one album. Ten tracks were selected to form the release, with others later appearing as B-sides or solo tracks, or carried over to the Innuendo and Made in Heaven albums. Five hit singles supported the album.


Says Brian: “We had all these bits and pieces of tracks, and some of them were half-finished, some of them were just an idea, and some of them were nearly finished, and it sort of happened on its own really. There are some tracks which you always want to get out and work on, and so they get finished, and there are some tracks which you think, ‘Oh that’s great, but I don’t really know what to do with it at this moment’, so they naturally get left by the wayside.”


Most of these left-over session tracks remained undisturbed in the Queen archives for the past 33 years.





For the Queen hardcore, meanwhile, one of the most highly anticipated elements of the new box set is The Miracle Sessions CD featuring original takes, demos, and rough takes of the full album plus six additional previously never before heard tracks including two featuring Brian on vocals.


Tantalizing enough that this hour-plus disc offers the first official airing of such near-mythical songs as "Dog With A Bone", "I Guess We’re Falling Out", "You Know You Belong To Me", and the poignant "Face It Alone". Add to that, the trove of sunken treasure spanning from original takes and demos to rough cuts that signpost the album The Miracle would become.


But perhaps the real gemstones of The Miracle Sessions CD are the spoken segments that bookend the musical takes. As the studio tape keeps rolling in London and Montreux, the four members are caught at their most candid, giving listeners the uncanny fly-on-the wall experience of standing amongst Freddie, Brian, John and Roger as they banter, debate, swap jokes and show both joy and occasional frustration.


With the band arriving at the studio with scarce mapped-out material these sessions found Queen at their most inspired and impulsive, and that atmosphere is mirrored in not just the music but the familial exchanges that punctuate it. As Freddie said: “I think it’s the closest we’ve ever been in terms of actually writing together.”


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 is available now, with a 7” single set for release on November 18.


Listen / pre-order here, and watch an official music video below:





Watch a lyric video for "Face It Alone":

Puscifer’s companion soundtracks to their recently streamed concert films: V Is For Versatile: A Puscifer Concert Film featuring music from the V Is for… era and Parole Violator: A Puscifer Concert Film featuring Conditions of My Parole, are available now via the various digital streaming providers.


The albums, titled V is for Versatile and Parole Violator, feature re-imagined versions of the music from both the band’s debut release, V is for Va****, singles from the outfit’s earliest days, and Puscifer’s 2011 album, Conditions of My Parole.


Physical releases (vinyl, CD, CD/Blu-Ray) arrive Dec. 9 and are available for pre-order via Puscifer.com. Watch the video for "Indigo Children" below.







V is for Versatile tracklisting:


"Queen B"
"DoZo"
"Va**** Mine"
"Momma Sed"
"The Mission"
"The Undertaker"
"Trekka"
"Indigo Children"
"Potions"
"Dear Brother"
" Breathe"
"The Humbling River"





Puscifer are currently out on the North American Existential Reckoning tour. The trek follows the band’s spring 2022 leg, which saw the Maynard James Keenan, Mat Mitchell and Carina Round led troupe perform their biggest shows to date including dates at the Greek Theatre (Los Angeles), Brooklyn’s Kings Theater and the state-of-the-art Mission Ballroom in Denver.





Existential Reckoning tour dates:


November
11 - Louisville, KY - Louisville Palace
12 - Indianapolis, IN - Murat Theatre at Old National Centre
13 - Madison, WI - The Orpheum Theater
15 - Grand Rapids, MI - DeVos Performance Hall
17 - St. Louis, MO - The Factory
18 - Kansas City, MO - The Midland Theatre
19 - Tulsa, OK - Tulsa Theater
22 - Prescott, AZ - Yavapai College Performing Arts Center


Tickets on-sale at Puscifer.com. Night Club opens on all dates.

EPICA has just released "The Alchemy Project", a unique collaboration featuring 13 bands and musicians who co-wrote and performed the seven new tracks with the Dutch symphonic metal titans.

The official Patric Ullaeus-directed music video for a hauntingly dark track with a majestic chorus "Sirens - Of Blood And Water", co-written and performed by EPICA singer Simone Simons with melodic metal queen Charlotte Wessels (ex-DELAIN) and folk/black metal pioneer Myrkur, can be seen below.

Simone said: "Charlotte and I go back many years, but we never really worked on music together. Since she started releasing her solo songs, I became an admirer of her work and reached out to her to create a song for 'The Alchemy Project'. That collaboration resulted in the beautiful haunting song, 'Sirens - Of Blood And Water'. We both have a fascination for mermaids, the fairytale from H.C. Andersen and wanted to write a song from the perspective of the sisters of the little mermaid. I loved how our creative minds flowed into the song and having Myrkur, who happens to be Danish just like the author of the tale, add her unique voice to the song was the perfect match that we needed to complete the story."

"The Alchemy Project" arrived on November 11 through Atomic Fire Records.

In the 20 years of their existence, EPICA has never shied away from challenges, twists and turns, weathering every storm and pushing the symphonic metal genre to heights no one even dared to believe in. Since 2002, the band featuring singer Simone Simons and her longtime musical partner Mark Jansen has released eight highly innovative and cinematic albums, has toured the world over and has left its mark as one of metal’s most prolific, most cherished and most admired success stories forever.

With "The Alchemy Project", EPICA sets another highlight in the band's 20th-anniversary year. Graced by a vivid and witty artwork by graphic wizard Heilemania, visual partner in crime for more that 15 years, EPICA embarks on a journey through seven extraordinary new songs. Co-written and performed with diverse guests ranging from extremists like FLESHGOD APOCALYPSE, Niilo Sevänen (INSOMNIUM) and Björn "Speed" Strid (SOILWORK) via melodic masters like Tommy Karevik (KAMELOT),keyboard legend Phil Lanzon (URIAH HEEP) and Roel Van Helden (POWERWOLF) to a once-in-a-lifetime song with Simons, Wessels and Myrkur, the EPICA members have really outdone themselves once again. The result is a mind-bending EP that even surpasses the usual broad scope of an EPICA record.

The first song they wrote for this seven-track offering was "The Final Lullaby", a fast-paced, intense clash between EPICA and the avant-garde rock of Norwegian legends SHINING (with saxophone!),graced with one of the biggest refrains you will hear all year.

"I've been a big fan of SHINING since the first time I heard them," bassist Rob Van Der Loo says. "Our intention with 'The Final Lullaby' was to make a mash-up between EPICA and SHINING so we thought it would be a good idea if I would come up with some riffs that would be typical SHINING and they would do the complete opposite."

The seven songs on "The Alchemy Project" were co-written and performed with the following renowned guest musicians:

01. The Great Tribulation [feat. FLESHGOD APOCALYPSE]
02. Wake The World [feat. Phil Lanzon (URIAH HEEP) & Tommy Karevik (KAMELOT)]
03. The Final Lullaby [feat. SHINING]
04. Sirens - Of Blood And Water [feat. Charlotte Wessels & Myrkur]
05. Death Is Not The End [feat. Frank Schiphorst (MAYAN) & Björn "Speed" Strid (SOILWORK)]
06. Human Devastation [feat. Henri Sattler (GOD DETHRONED),Sven de Caluwé (ABORTED)]
07. The Miner [feat. Asim Searah (DAMNATION PLAN),Niilo Sevänen (INSOMNIUM),Roel Van Helden (POWERWOLF)]

Just one day after the release of its anniversary reissues "We Still Take You With Us" and "Live At Paradiso", EPICA celebrated 20 years of existence live on September 3 at 013 in Tilburg, Netherlands, the same place where they played their first show (supporting ANATHEMA) back in 2002.

EPICA was formed by composer Mark Jansen after leaving AFTER FOREVER in 2002, and the band quickly gained attention outside their home country, taking big steps towards becoming the leading symphonic metal superpower they have long proven to be. After their ambitious debut "The Phantom Agony" (2002) and the surprisingly eclectic sophomore work "Consign To Oblivion" (2005),the road took them to new heights via their first concept masterpiece "The Divine Conspiracy" (2007) and their global breakthrough "Design Your Universe" (2009). 2012's opus "Requiem For The Indifferent", 2014's bedazzling "The Quantum Enigma" and "The Holographic Principle" (2016),cemented their reputation as not only one of the hardest-working metal bands in the business but also as one of the best. With 2021's "Omega", the final part of the metaphysical trilogy they began with "The Quantum Enigma", they reclaimed the throne without so much as the blink of an eye, amassing three million-plus streams during the first week of the album's release.

This past May, former IRON MAIDEN singer Paul Di'Anno came face to face with MAIDEN bassist Steve Harris for the first time in three decades before the band's concert in Croatia.

Harris, whose group kicked off the 2022 leg of its "Legacy Of The Beast" world tour at the 22,000-capacity Arena Zagreb, came out before the show to greet a wheelchair-bound Di'Anno and chat with him for a few minutes. Di'Anno also had a short discussion with MAIDEN's longtime manager Rod Smallwood, who was traveling with the group.

After his friendly meeting with Harris, Di'Anno stuck around long enough to watch some of MAIDEN's performance before leaving near the end of the set to avoid a huge traffic jam after the show.

Asked in a new interview with Sakis Fragos of Greece's Rock Hard magazine why he would take the time to meet with Harris and Smallwood when he had been critical of the two of them in the past, referring to Smallwood as "Rod Smallwallet" and comparing Steve to Adolf Hitler, Di'Anno responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "I never called [Rod] Rod Smallwallet. A journalist called him Rod Smallwallet, and we thought it was all funny, so everybody in IRON MAIDEN called him that, 'cause it used to piss him off. So that's the end of that one.

"I did call Steve Hitler once. [Laughs] Because of the way he runs [the band]," Paul explained. "It's like a fucking army. He's so focused. And I couldn't think of another one person to [compare him to]. I said 'Hitler' [but] I didn't mean it in that way."

Looking back on the circumstances that led to his departure from MAIDEN and whether it's true that it has something to do with his vocal performance, Paul said: "My record stands for itself. I've played more shows than IRON MAIDEN have ever played… They play a lot of concerts, but I played a hell of a lot more than they ever had. So it was nothing to do with my voice. It was nothing to do with that. I was just upset about certain things, which were private things in the band. And the way I dealt with them maybe was not right, but I dealt with them. And that's the end of it. And that's as much as I'm gonna say."

Di'Anno, who had been receiving physiotherapy and lymphatic drainage treatments in Croatia, finally underwent his knee surgery on September 12. Asked if the MAIDEN camp assisted him with any of the costs involved with his medical treatment, Paul said: "Yes, they did. Towards the end. It was very kind of them. What happened was we were almost there, but there was quite a bit of more money needed for surgeries. 'Cause it's all privately done as well; that's how you get better attention. And IRON MAIDEN just called in, their administration called in, and said, 'We're gonna take over the rest of it now. So we'll pay for the final parts.' And all of it is important, but obviously the final part is the final part. There's still a few more little issues to deal with, but [we're almost there]. [So] thank you, IRON MAIDEN, and most of all, thank you to the fans."

Pressed about whether it's true that he wasn't properly compensated for his work on the first two IRON MAIDEN albums, Paul said: "I have nothing to comment on that at all, because, to be honest with you, it's nobody's damn business. I got paid very well. I'm very happy with that. See, if I try to say, 'Oh, IRON MAIDEN didn't pay me enough money,' it's a bad reflection on IRON MAIDEN. And I'm not taking that. I got paid very well. They looked after me. End of story."

Di'Anno recorded two classic albums with IRON MAIDEN — a self-titled effort in 1980 and "Killers" in 1981 — before being fired and replaced by Bruce Dickinson. He went on to front a number of other bands, including KILLERS and BATTLEZONE, and released several solo records.

Di'Anno made the aforementioned "Hitler" comment during a 2009 press conference in Argentina where he was asked about the rumors that his drug use had something to do with his split with MAIDEN. "Where the fuck do you people get this from?" he asked. "I left IRON MAIDEN because they were going too heavy metal, and IRON MAIDEN is a money-making machine, and I don't give a fuck about it. It was not about drugs; it was nothing like that. Me and Steve... I [wrote] the song 'Killers'. Steve had [what he thought] were better songs. I thought his songs were shit. Nothing to do with drugs; nothing whatsoever. Check your facts or otherwise this interview is over... I hate that! I fucking hate that! Because people... You say something but you don't know. Well, I'm telling you. IRON MAIDEN is Steve Harris's band. It doesn't matter about anybody else — whether it's Dave Murray, Clive [Burr], me... it's Steve Harris's band and all it is is money, money, money, money — nobody else counts. And I wrote fuckin' 20-times better songs than his, but I only got one song on the 'Killers' album because it's Steve's — he must have this. Fuckin' Adolf Hitler. I'm not interested. So there you go. But you need to take drugs when you're with IRON MAIDEN because they're so fucking boring. And the only drugs were aspirin, because Steve [making hand gesture as if someone is speaking into his ear]... Fuckin' headache."

More than a decade and a half ago, Di'Anno told The Jerusalem Post that leaving the MAIDEN juggernaut behind was the best thing that ever happened to him, and that he had no bitter feelings toward his former bandmates. "I absolutely have no regrets about leaving MAIDEN — I wasn't right in the head at that time to be in the middle of all that," he said. "I was fed up and disillusioned; it would have been cheating the fans and myself if I had stayed. It was easy to walk away from, and I'm very happy the band got bigger and bigger."

Several years ago, Di'Anno told Metal Thunder Radio that he wasn't as involved with MAIDEN's songwriting as he would have liked. "Steve had most of the words and the lyrics [to the band's first album] all written. That was some of the bones of contention that we had in the band — that I didn't get to write as much as I wanted to. 'Cause I am actually quite a prolific writer, but a lot of my songs were not accepted. 'Cause it's Steve's band, obviously."

He continued: "That first album was a revelation, I've gotta tell you. It was amazing. And the second album, for me, not so much. That's when I started to lose interest a little bit. But [we] still [had] great times — really great times."

In May, Paul played his first full solo concert in seven years at the Bikers Beer Factory in Zagreb. The show was filmed and parts of it will be included in a documentary about Di'Anno, to be directed by Wes Orshoski, co-director and producer of the acclaimed 2010 film "Lemmy" about the MOTÖRHEAD icon.

The Zagreb concert was free to attend and was held as a way of thanking Paul's fans for their help during the most difficult time of his recovery. The show took place just a day before the IRON MAIDEN's gig at the Zagreb Arena.

Di'Anno recently teamed up with several Croatian musicians to form a new project called WARHORSE. WARHORSE entered the studio to record three songs, two of which — "Stop The War" and "The Doubt Within" — have been released as a special limited-edition DVD single.

Photo credit: Wes Orshoski / Stjepan Juras

In a new interview with Germany's Rock Antenne, DISTURBED frontman David Draiman was asked if the title of the band's new album, "Divisive", is a reference to "current society." He responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Absolutely. In every way. I think that the two years-plus of the pandemic that the world went through made everybody lose their damn minds. I think that with being shut inside for so long and having the Internet as this limitless rabbit hole of potential information to sink yourself into, people lost themselves in other really, really bad habits. And one of those bad habits was outrage addiction — people searching online to find new and more compelling reasons to be pissed off at someone for something. And it's sad what we've become. It's sad that people in positions of power pit us against one another for their own gain. It's sad that we don't realize we're being manipulated. It's a very scary time. I can't recall ever seeing things this bad before in terms of 'it's either you're on my team or you're the enemy' in my lifetime. It's pretty crazy."

As for what solution he suggests for this divisive situation, Draiman said: "I think that people need to start focusing on what we have in common that unites us as opposed to how we differ from another and what separates us. I think people need to enjoy the simpler things in life.

"I love — we love — that one of the most unifying experiences that you can participate in in this world is going to a concert, going to a live performance," he continued. "And everybody, no matter what walk of life you come from and no matter how rich or poor you may be and no matter where your politics may lie, you share a common unified love of the art that you're witnessing. It hits you, a person who's, let's say, a Republican the same way as it does a Democrat or a liberal and conservative and vice versa. We still all have that same ability to feel the same level of emotion and for it to affect us in different ways. That's part of the beauty of being human.

"We don't have any delusions of grandeur," Draiman added. "We know that we're not, like [the 1989 American comedy] 'Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure', we're not WYLD STALLYNS [the fictional band from 'Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure'] and our music is going to save the world or anything like that. I wish it could.

"I think that people need a good, stern reality check and for people to recognize we've gone way, way, way too far with this."

Pressed about whether he is still feeling "optimistic" about humanity's ability to come together and solve global challenges, Draiman said: "I don't necessarily have the highest level of optimism. I hope. Like I said, I've never seen it this bad. And we don't do anything to inhibit its growth. We feed it — over and over and over again. We can't help ourselves. So, I don't know. [Laughs] I worry for the world that my son has to grow up in. I truly do. He has challenges that I never would have dreamt of growing up myself."

"Divisive" will arrive on November 18 via Reprise. Over the last year, the quartet cut these ten tracks with producer Drew Fulk (MOTIONLESS IN WHITE, LIL PEEP, HIGHLY SUSPECT) in Nashville, Tennessee.

Guitarist Dan Donegan previously stated about the "Divisive" title: "Whatever it takes, we've got to pull it together. We've always tried to take negative topics and spin them in a positive light. From touring around the world, we've seen the power of music as the universal language to bring everyone together from all walks of life. We can still play songs to unite people, and it's a pretty powerful feeling."

DISTURBED initially set the stage for the record with "Hey You", which came out in July. The song spread like wildfire across airwaves, emerging as the band's 15th No. 1 single at rock radio.

Thus far, DISTURBED has notched five consecutive No. 1 debuts on the Billboard 200, occupying rarified air alongside METALLICA — the only other hard rock group to accomplish this feat. Since their influential five-times-platinum debut "The Sickness" in 2000, they have built a bulletproof catalog highlighted by a procession of smashes, including the platinum "Stupify", "Inside The Fire" and "Land Of Confusion", two-times-platinum "Stricken", six-times-platinum "Down With The Sickness" and seven-times-platinum "The Sound Of Silence", to name a few. The latter notably received a Grammy Award nomination in the category of "Best Rock Performance" as the band earned "Best Rock Artist" at the 2017 iHeartRadioMusic Awards.

During a "VIP Experience" question-and-answer session at a recent W.A.S.P. concert, frontman Blackie Lawless spoke about why he went back to playing guitar in the band after handling the bass duties on W.A.S.P.'s first couple of albums. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "I had a chemistry between Chris [Holmes, guitar] and Randy [Piper, guitar] — andTony [Richards, drums]. Tony was stunning as a drummer and performer. Tony was one of those five-point guys. He looked great, looked great in photos, performed great, could sing his ass off, performed his butt off. When we lost him, we were mortally wounded and we knew it. But the other two, I knew they were never gonna play bass. So I go, 'Well, I've got the chemistry with the guys to make it work. I'll do it.' I'm a team player; I don't care how the job gets done, just get it done. So when I had the opportunity to go back, I took it."

Asked by one fan if Tony Richards is still around, Blackie said: "I hear his name pop up from time to time. People ask, 'You've got any regrets?' There was nothing we could do about it, but losing Tony, like I said, we were mortally wounded. I'll give you an example. You look at that first album, it's all four of us on the cover. The second and third album, it's just me, and that was a conscious decision we made, because when Tony was gone, we were not the same band anymore, and we knew it. In the early days, we promoted ourselves as a band, and we felt when Tony was gone, we didn't have that strength anymore, so we used me for the first two covers after that, but if you think back, no bandmember has appeared on any cover since. And I'm not blamingTony for that — it's unfortunate what happened — but I never felt that we had the strength of a band as a unit like we had in the beginning. So, like I said, you look at every record we've done since, no one is on that cover anymore. And that's the reason for it. 'Cause I remember what we were. And I had my memory refreshed over the summer, listening to that stuff. 'Cause I got to hear outtakes, and I got to hear individual tracks that I hadn't heard, and I'm listening to Randy and Tony sing. They were singing their asses off. Those suckers were good. And I listened to it, and it kind of made me sick to my stomach, because I remembered by listening to it how good we were… Those guys were badasses."

Last year, Holmes discussed his tenure with W.A.S.P. in an interview with TotalRock Radio. He said: "Blackie, while I was in the band, made some really bad decisions — really bad decisions — that killed the band.

"I've known him since I was 18, 17 — when he supposedly got done playing with the [NEW YORK] DOLLS or whatever; I knew him them. And not in my farthest dream could I think in the first album that that would have happened with him. It got so unbearably about him than anything else. It was radical. The band was four people when it started; that's what made us. And then with Tony gone; [Blackie] has to be on the cover [of W.A.S.P.'s second album, 1985's 'The Last Command']. His idol was Muhammad Ali. And that's only one person; it's not a team. That's what he wants. On the road, he's made some bad decisions. And I even would tell him about it, and he wouldn't listen to me.

"W.A.S.P. could have been a good band if he could have kept all the people together. I guess it's a good band now."

W.A.S.P.'s latest release was "ReIdolized (The Soundtrack To The Crimson Idol)", which came out in February 2018. It was a new version of the band's classic 1992 album "The Crimson Idol", which was re-recorded to accompany the movie of the same name to mark the 25th anniversary of the original LP's release. The re-recorded version also features four songs missing from the original album.

W.A.S.P.'s most recent studio album of all-new original material was 2015's "Golgotha".

W.A.S.P.'s first live performance since December 2019 took place on July 23 at Skansen in Stockholm, Sweden. A week later (July 30),W.A.S.P. also played at Skogsröjet festival in Rejmyre, Sweden.

W.A.S.P. recently postponed its European 40th-anniversary tour, originally scheduled for spring of 2022, until the spring of 2023. The new dates will take place in March, April and May of 2023. All tickets previously purchased for the 2022 tour will be valid at the rescheduled 2023 shows.

W.A.S.P. kicked off its first U.S. tour in a decade last month. The trek coincides with the band's 40th anniversary and includes support from ARMORED SAINT and MICHAEL SCHENKER on select shows.

Lawless has led W.A.S.P. as its lead vocalist and primary songwriter since its beginning. His unique brand of visual, social and political comment took the group to worldwide heights and sold millions of records alongside a legacy of sold-out shows across the globe for four decades. He is joined in W.A.S.P.'s current lineup by bassist Mike Duda and guitarist Doug Blair, whose tenures in the band span 26 and 18 years respectively, along with drummer extraordinaire Aquiles Priester.

Jayne Andrews, who has been managing JUDAS PRIEST for 36 years, was a guest on a recent episode of "Gabbing With Girlfriends", the new podcast hosted by Gloria Butler, wife and manager of BLACK SABBATH bassist Geezer Butler. During the chat, which can be seen below, Andrews spoke about the fact that current PRIEST guitarist Richie Faulkner wasn't one of the bandmembers who were inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame at this year's event, which was held on November 5 in Los Angeles. The PRIEST members that got inducted include current members Rob Halford (vocals),Ian Hill (bass),Glenn Tipton (guitar) and Scott Travis (drums),along with former members K.K. Downing (guitar),Les Binks (drums) and late drummer Dave Holland.

"I did try and get [Richie] to be inducted, but it's all down to how long you've been in the band, and it revolves around a classic album, an iconic album, and he wasn't on that album," Jayne said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET). "I kind of questioned a couple of people, I said, 'Well, he wasn't in that band that long, and Richie's been in longer than he was in when he got inducted.' What I was told was it's to do with some of the classic, iconic albums, the artists who were on there… There's Rob, Glenn, Ian, Scott, and then K.K. and Les Binks. 'Cause I was saying, 'Well, Les Binks was only in the band for two years. Richie's been in it 12 years.' But [Les] was on 'Screaming For Vengeance'; he was on one of the classic albums," she added, apparently meaning to say "Stained Class" instead. "So that's why he's being inducted. So that does actually make sense, when you kind of think of that, really. As they said, 'You look at some bands. They've got so many different lineups, different members.' They said, 'We can't induct everybody.' Once they explained that, then it did make sense."

Back in 2014, Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame Foundation CEO Joel Peresman said that the decision about which members to induct from any band is made by the Rock Hall's nominating committee as well as an adjunct group of "scholars and historians" familiar with specific inductees and genres. Groups get picked for induction for different reasons, he told USA Today, which means the Hall's nominating committee will use different standards when deciding which bandmates to include. "Sometimes, it's the overall body of work; sometimes, it's a specific period in time and the people who comprised the band that put them on the map and gave them that influence and created that legacy," he said.

Although the Rock Hall has historically tended to choose a band's "classic" lineup for induction practically everyone who ever played with THE GRATEFUL DEAD was included when the group went into the hall in 1994. METALLICA and the RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS also have relatively inclusive Hall memberships, with bassist Robert Trujillo getting inducted as a member of METALLICA in 2009 when he had only been in the group for six years and played on one studio album, 2008's "Death Magnetic". Other induction lineups — like those for LYNYRD SKYNYRD and KISS — left out members who sang or played with the group for many years.

Last month, Hill was asked in an interview with Rock 100.5 The KATT if JUDAS PRIEST was involved in the decision-making process about who gets inducted into the Rock Hall, Hill said: "No. That's all the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame people. They induct who they think is worthy [laughs], for want of a better word. So Ken's [K.K.] gonna be there. He's been a huge part of the band from its inception right up until he left about 10 years now. And, of course, Les Binks is gonna be there as well. And it's a shame poor old Dave Holland, he didn't make it. He's being inducted [as well]. Unfortunately, he died a couple of years ago now, which is a shame, really. But, yeah, everybody that's up there deserves it greatly."

Pressed about whether he would personally do it differently, if he could, and make sure that Faulkner and former PRIEST singer Tim "Ripper" Owens were also being inducted, Ian said: "Richie's gonna be there anyway. He's gonna be up on stage; he's gonna be playing with us anyway.

"I think one of the parameters is you have to have played for the band for 25 years or something like that, or over the last 25 years," Ian said. "And it's got nothing to do with us. If it was up to us, we probably would have inducted [Richie and] Ripper. But it's not up to us. We had no say, really. Pity, but it is what it is."

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.

Ultimate Guitar's David Slavković recebtly got the chance to speak to guitarist Jennifer Batten - known for her work with Michael Jackson - about her career. An excerpt from the interview is available below.


UG: The landscape of the music industry today is a bit different back compared to when you were in Michael Jackson's band. And, of course, it was a man's game, and you also talked about some of the challenges that you faced back in the day. What was, if you could single out one biggest challenge in this regard, what would it be? The one that you faced as a female guitar player back in the day?


Jennifer Batten: "I've gotten comments over the years. A lot of guys will say you, 'You play pretty good for a girl.' Or, the best one, this guy said, 'You play just like a boy.' What does that even mean? Yeah, millions of male guitar players, some are great and some suck, so it has no meaning. But you kind of have to look at the energy that's coming at you, and he meant it as a positive thing.




I remember, specifically, before the Jackson thing came up, I was trying to get an audition with Ozzy Osbourne. And they were of auditioning everybody in LA at the time. And I know my audio got to the right people, and I didn't even get a chance. Looking back, it's a super macho gig, and they probably wouldn't even consider a female for that. Having said that, if it was the same thing today, I think it'd be a whole different story. You get somebody like Nili Brosh - you could slay in a gig like that. She has incredible chops, great tone, great attitude, everything. It's a different world. It is a very different world now."


Read more here. Go to this location for Batten's current tour schedule. 

RATT singer Stephen Pearcy spoke to Shawn Ratches of Laughingmonkeymusic about his upcoming collection of music, "Legacy", which is due in early 2023 via Golden Robot Records. According to Stephen, the set will include never-before-heard RATT songs, solo tracks, re-recordings and new versions of previously released tunes.

Stephen said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "I'm putting the finishing touches on 'Legacy', and the problem I was having was a good one, because there was so much music to choose from through my history of music and catalog — quality stuff, not just hissy-hissy scratchy LP or cassette, whatever form it was recorded. We're taking time with it. It's kind of a story, actually, because there's some stuff like interluding into songs, and you hear us discussing rearranging 'Wanted Man' — early stuff, like in 1983 or [198]2. I mean, it's crazy. But it's all good. My problem was picking songs. Now, I've got it, so there'll probably be a part two."

He continued: "Not most, but some of the stuff that I've got were from bootleggers. And I'm the best bootlegger out there for RATT, or anything that I do, so I pretty much found the same thing but in better quality. Going back to, like, in the '80s, you'd get these double-album live bootlegs in Germany and Japan. I've got all those."

Pearcy also talked about a possible collaboration with former OZZY OSBOURNE guitarist Jake E. Lee. Lee actually began his career as a member of singer Pearcy's MICKEY RATT, which became better known as RATT after a name change in the early '80s.

"I have some tapes with Jake all over the place," Stephen said. "A lot of people have always asked if we ever wrote a song when he was in the band. Well, we actually did co-write a song together, and I've got it, and it's going on 'Legacy'.

"I just ran into him — it's the weirdest thing — I ran into him at Alice Cooper here in [Las] Vegas [where we both live]," Pearcy continued. "And it's, like, we're both walking in the door of the arena, and we just looked at each other. I'm, like, 'Holy shit. I haven't seen this guy in years.' But I love Jake E. And let's see. I love Jake. I'd love him to play on a song any time… Any time. Who knows? Maybe he'll be a surprise guest at one of my gigs."

As for a possible release date for "Legacy", Stephen said: "I'm hoping January, at the end of January at the latest, because I wanna tour it soon."

As the founder, lead singer, and songwriter of the metal rock band RATT, Pearcy led his creation to mega multi-platinum success year after year from 1984 to 1991. RATT climbed up the charts with "Out Of The Cellar", which generated Top 10 singles followed by sold-out tours throughout the world. Throughout RATT's nearly four decades of success with Pearcy at its helm, they released eight albums and played thousands of shows worldwide all the while selling over 20 million records.

Pearcy has released five solo albums so far: "Social Intercourse" (2002),"Fueler" (2004),"Under My Skin" (2008),"Smash" (2017) and "View To A Thrill" (2018).

Pearcy and bassist Juan Croucier are the sole remaining original members in RATT's current lineup, which made its live debut in July 2018 in Mulvane, Kansas. Joining them in the band are drummer Pete Holmes (BLACK 'N BLUE, RATT'S JUAN CROUCIER) and guitarists Jordan Ziff (RAZER) and Frankie Lindia.

In January 2021, Pearcy told SiriusXM's "Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk" that he was open to the idea of making a new RATT album with all the surviving members of the band's classic lineup.

RATT hasn't released any new music since 2010's "Infestation" LP.

Photo: Stephen Pearcy's official web site / MissTruthAdare Photography

In a new interview with The Metal Mixtape, LACUNA COIL co-vocalist Andrea Ferro was asked how he and his bandmates have managed to continue to grow musically without chasing trends while still keeping the LACUNA COIL sound. He responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "One thing is that we have learned in the years that when you try to do something that doesn't belong to you, that you don't really feel, people [are] gonna notice. When you're honest… Like when we did our switch on [2016's] 'Delirium' [album], when we went heavier with more growling vocals, more double-bass [drumming], in the beginning we thought maybe it's too much for the people to get because they're not used to have a certain heaviness from LACUNA COIL. But then we said Marco's [Coti Zelati, bass] been writing the songs in this way, and it made sense to do more growling vocals or heavy riffs or double bass. So what should we do? We should try to make it softer just to be the usual LACUNA COIL? Or we just go for it and we just try it and see what people say. And we decided to try. And people realized that it was an honest [progression], and so they appreciated it and it paid back."

Ferro, who is currently promoting "Comalies XX", the recently released "deconstructed" and "transported" version of LACUNA COIL's third album, "Comalies", continued: "I think honesty always pays back in music. And people realize when you're real. When you try to sound like you're something you're not… First of all, it's very hard for you to write material that you don't feel. And second, people [are] gonna notice. And I think that's the only secret. If you don't feel anymore to do a metal record, then don't do a metal record. Because if you don't feel it, if you're not in that [frame of mind] anymore, then it's very hard to [write in that style]. That's why a lot of big bands, when they come out with a new album, it's decent, but it's not what it used to be. But not because they can't write songs anymore, but because they don't have that fire anymore. Because their lives changed; they got kids, they got families; they moved somewhere else; they became rich — there are a million reasons why some bands lose their touch. And it's not because they don't like it anymore, or they don't do it consciously, I think. It's just something that happens with life — you grow up and you have different interests, and music is not your only focus anymore. And when you lose that, it's very hard, even if you're a very good musician, very good instrumentalist or vocalist. You're still gonna do a decent product, but it's never gonna have that same fire because you're not that same person anymore in those years."

"Comalies XX" was made available on October 14 via Century Media Records.

LACUNA COIL celebrated the 20th anniversary of "Comalies", by performing it in its entirety at a one-night-only concert on October 15 at Fabrique in Milano.

"Comalies" was originally released on October 29, 2002 through Century Media Records. The LP, which featured the band's breakthrough single "Heaven's A Lie", has reportedly gone on to sell over 300,000 copies in the United States alone.

LACUNA COIL played its first show in front of an audience in more than two years on April 7 as the support act for APOCALYPTICA at the Masquerade in Atlanta, Georgia.

Prior to the Atlanta concert, the last time LACUNA COIL played together was at the group's special September 2020 livestream event where the bandmembers performed their latest album, "Black Anima", in its entirety with no audience in attendance at the Alcatraz Club in Milan, Italy. That show was released as a live album, "Live From The Apocalypse", via Century Media.

LACUNA COIL hadn't played in front of a crowd since the completion of the band's South American tour in February 2020.

In the wake of the ecstatic reaction to its appropriately titled opening track and first single "Frenzy", it can now be revealed that Iggy Pop will unleash his new album, "Every Loser", on January 6, 2023.

"Every Loser" is Iggy's 19th solo album and his first to be released via the recently announced partnership between Atlantic Records and Gold Tooth Records, the new label founded by the album's Grammy Award-winning, multi-platinum executive producer Andrew Watt.

"I'm the guy with no shirt who rocks; Andrew and Gold Tooth get that, and we made a record together the old-fashioned way," Iggy said in a recent statement. "The players are guys I've known since they were kids and the music will beat the shit out of you."

As indicated by the pinned db meters of "Frenzy", "Every Loser" harkens back to Iggy's primordial roots while maintaining an undeniably modern lyrical point viewpoint and sonic palette. "Every Loser" is an exemplary album of primal rock 'n' roll — a master class in the art of lashing out with unequalled intensity and unflappable wit. The result is 11 songs by the man who refused to go gently into that good night on his previous album, 2019's somber and contemplative "Free", and is once again charging fearlessly at life itself on "Every Loser".

Watt said: "Iggy Pop is a fucking icon. A true original. The guy invented the stage dive. I still can't believe he let me make a record with him. I am honored. It doesn't get cooler. This album was created to be played as loud as your stereo will go…turn it up and hold on…"

The cover of "Every Loser" is an original piece of art created by world renowned contemporary fine artist Raymond Pettibon. Pettibon burst onto the scene in the late 1970s and designed iconic album covers for artists such as SONIC YOUTH and BLACK FLAG with his signature comic book-like drawings. Pettibon's work has been exhibited widely throughout the United States and around the world, including an installation of the High Line billboard in New York and a solo exhibition at the Tel Aviv Museum Of Art.

"Every Loser" will also be available as limited-edition vinyl, cassettes and CDs. As part of the release, Iggy is offering an exclusive relaunch of legendary fanzine Punk Magazine from founder and legendary editor John Holstrom with a full Iggy issue, which contains an exclusive interview with Iggy by Flea. Iggy originally graced the cover of the John Holstrom fanzine in July 1976.

Widely acknowledged as one of the most influential artists and dynamic live performers of all time, Pop is a singer, songwriter, musician, author, record producer, DJ, and actor whose epic body of work has earned him both worldwide critical acclaim and fanatic cult success. Beginning in 1967 with his era-defining group THE STOOGES, Pop merged primal rock, blues, and free jazz into something altogether dangerous and new, paving the way for punk, post-punk, hard rock, and grunge. His landmark solo career — which kicked off with 1977's David Bowie-produced "The Idiot" and "Lust For Life" — has seen Pop traverse a stunning span of musical genres, inspiring generation after generation of rock 'n rollers with his iconoclastic songcraft, uncompromising performance style, and one-of-a-kind charisma. Perhaps the greatest living embodiment of rock and roll, Pop has never slowed down, pushing the art form forward for more than half a century, including his most recent full-length recording, 2019's contemplative, critically acclaimed "Free".

Watt's diverse array of credits includes work with Justin Bieber, Post Malone, Elton John, Ed Sheeran, Miley Cyrus, Dua Lipa, Ozzy Osbourne and more. In 2021 he was honored with the Grammy Award for "Producer Of The Year, Non-Classical", and recently produced Osbourne's Billboard chart-topping album "Patient Number 9", as well as the single "Hold Me Closer", the highly anticipated hit collaboration by Britney Spears and Elton John. At the top of 2022, Watt produced the entirety of Eddie Vedder's critically acclaimed solo release "Earthling", and in February, he landed two genre-bending hits on the Hot 100 in The Kid LAROI's "Thousand Miles" and Ed Sheeran and Lil Baby's "2step". Beyond his producing and songwriting, Watt had the honor of joining Vedder on tour as part of his all-star side project THE EARTHLINGS.

"Every Loser" track listing:

01. Frenzy
02. Strung Out Johnny
03. New Atlantis
04. Modern Day Rip Off
05. Morning Show
06. The News For Andy
07. Neo Punk
08. All The Way Down
09. Comments
10. My Animus Interlude
11. The Regency

Photo credit: Vincent Guignet

In a new interview with Andrew DiCecco of VWMusic, guitarist Doug Aldrich was asked if David Coverdale allowed him "creative freedom" when he first joined WHITESNAKE two decades ago. Doug responded: "He didn't at the beginning. He wanted to play the hits on a couple of tours and started the band back up. I had gone and filled in with DIO in 2005 on some stuff — I went back with DIO — and David said, 'Look, make sure you come back home. Don't stay with Ronnie [James Dio].' And I just told him right then, 'Look, if we're gonna move this band forward, we've gotta come up with some brand new WHITESNAKE music.' So, he said, 'I don't know when it's gonna be, but you and I will be in the studio at some point. I can see it.' And I just took that as, 'Okay, I'll start writing,' and I'd start presenting David with music here and there, and he started to gravitate towards it and invited me up to write with him in 2006. I guess it was 2007, we had a great run of songwriting sessions, and we put together an album called 'Good To Be Bad'. It was just in the beginning he didn't really — I think he was burnt on the music industry as a whole — and once we started putting out albums, he started getting back into it, I guess."

Aldrich went on to say that the four songs on the WHITESNAKE live album "Live… In The Shadow Of The Blues" were the beginning of his collaborative process with David. "That was in 2006," he said. "That's the thing that's different about working with David; it was David and I sitting there, and we'd come up with an idea, and we'd program a drum machine, and I'd play bass on it and guitar, and he would sing on it. These songs were pretty much complete; the demos were really good. At some point, I'm sure he'll release them."

Aldrich was a member of Coverdale's outfit from 2002 to 2014 before leaving to spend more time with his family. The guitarist played on two WHITESNAKE studio albums, 2008's "Good To Be Bad" and 2011's "Forevermore", and appeared on several live releases, including 2013's "Made In Japan" and "Made In Britain/The World Records".

Aldrich left WHITESNAKE eight years ago, saying in a statement that he "had several recording and live commitments," so he "needed a more flexible schedule to conclude these before going full force as normal." He added: "Unfortunately, my schedule was not workable."

In a 2018 interview with Mulatschag TV, Doug described his working relationship with Coverdale as "a chess match," explaining that David wanted me in [WHITESNAKE], but I told him that I didn't wanna just play his old songs — I wanted to create new music. And one time I filled in for Craig Goldy on a [DIO] tour with Ronnie [James Dio], and Ronnie said, 'Man, I want you back in the [DIO] band.' And somehow it got on Blabbermouth that I was coming back to DIO," he said. "And David [called me and said], 'Douglas, what's going on?' And I said, 'Look, D.C., he [Ronnie] wants me back. I'm with you, man — I'm with you — but we've gotta do some new music; we've gotta write together and see if we can move this thing forward.' So I worked really hard on bringing him a lot of music over the years to inspire him. And he'd give me some things, and I'd work equally hard on his ideas to make them sound like what I thought they should. I worked hard at it, so that's why I have to stand up for myself when somebody says, 'Oh, yeah, David Coverdale just told you what to play.' Not a fucking chance, dude. I worked my ass off to keep WHITESNAKE alive. That's how I see it."

Aldrich was replaced in WHITESNAKE by Joel Hoekstra, who previously played with NIGHT RANGER.

Sharon Osbourne has blasted Bruce Dickinson as a "fucking asshole" who is "jealous" of Ozzy Osbourne.

The IRON MAIDEN singer was involved in a verbal battle with Ozzy's wife and manager more than a decade and a half ago when his band was pelted with eggs, lighters and ice during the final performance of its headlining performance on the Ozzfest tour.

Sharon reportedly ordered interference with MAIDEN's PA system, delayed the stage entrance of the band's mascot Eddie, and even encouraged the crowd to throw bottles at Dickinson because she took offense to remarks she said the singer made concerning the quality of the tour's sound system and criticisms he made about Ozzy. Among the comments she objected to was Dickinson telling fans during MAIDEN's set that they would never see his band featured "in a reality show," presumably a reference to the MTV series "The Osbournes" and "Battle For Ozzfest".

When Consequence recently interviewed Ozzy, the site asked the metal icon if he felt he was underrated as a singer, compared to other legendary vocalists like Dickinson, Rob Halford and the late Ronnie James Dio.

"Bruce Dickinson is a great singer, but as a person, I've worked with him, and he's not very nice," Ozzy said. "Ronnie James Dio is no longer alive. He was a great singer. I didn't really know him so well. I'm not one of these guys who says many things about people. The truth is the truth. I met Ronnie James Dio a couple of times. He took my [BLACK SABBATH] gig. But at the same time, I can't complain because I did great on my own."

Ozzy continued: "But I don't sing for a judge. I sing for my fans. If my fans don't buy my music, that would tell me my singing isn't any good anymore, but they're still buying my records. I'm my own worst critic. I don't rate myself more than Ronnie James Dio or Bruce Dickinson. That's not my gig. I don't care. I have fun doing what I do. My goal is to turn my fucking audience on. And that's what I try to do. I'm not interested if someone thinks I'm a fucking joke. That's fine. That's their opinion."

Sharon, who was interviewed for the same Consequence cover story, was far more scathing in her remarks, saying: "Bruce Dickinson is a fucking prick. Well, no, he's not a prick because a prick's nice. He's a fucking asshole. Because the situation is he was on a tour called Ozzfest. And Ozzy Osbourne was paying him every night to perform. He accepted the gig. He knew what he was doing. He accepted the gig. And every night he would go onstage and say bad things about Ozzy. And the crew and everybody in all the other bands would be like, 'Are you letting him get away with it?' And I'm like, 'I sure am.' But the last gig was [just outside of] L.A. And I thought, 'You motherfucker, now you're gonna get it.' And so I had about 20 people in the audience and a lot of them were nurses from Cedars Sinai, because I had cancer at that time. And they were all my chemo nurses. And they all came down, and they fucking pelted the shit out of him. And my thing is, you play, you pay! And the thing is, if you're being paid to do a gig, but you don't like the person, then fuck off. But don't stay, take the money, take all the good that's coming to your band through being on a festival, doing 24 shows and still slagging the person that's paying you. It's like, 'No, that makes you a fucking asshole.' And he is. And he's never apologized, he never even went up and said hello to Ozzy. The thing about him is that he is just so jealous. And always has been of Ozzy. And that's his problem."

Sharon continued: "Because the thing is about Bruce Dickinson, he's hugely successful. He's got a great fan base, a great fan base that have been loyal. The band are great guys. All the band are great. And they do great. You know, they're a great band, you can't take it away, and neither would I take that away from them. But the thing about Bruce is, he is unknown to the public. Bruce Dickinson could walk into anywhere and nobody would know who the fuck he is. Do you know what I'm saying? He's a faceless singer to the general public. People aren't scrambling to get him for an interview. And the thing is, he's not interesting. But the thing is, Ozzy is original and Bruce isn't and that's what eats Bruce away."

In a 2017 interview with NME, Dickinson downplayed the friction between him and the Osbournes, saying: "It's a complete storm in a teacup. I grew up listening to early SABBATH with Ozzy. Ozzy and SABBATH are icons so that's that, end of story. The fact that I don't like reality TV shows, well, I'm not gonna offer an olive branch to the Kardashians either," he added.

In a 2010 chat with The Quietus, Ozzy defended his wife over the Ozzfest incident, saying: "Unbeknown to me, every night [on the Ozzfest tour, Bruce] was going on stage slagging me off. And that wasn't fair. If he didn't like the fuckin' tour, he should have said, 'I'm jumping [off] the fuckin' tour,' but to go on stage and fuckin' slag me off for no reason… I'd never said a fuckin' bad thing to him. The bass player [Steve Harris] came round at the last gig and said, 'I'm sorry about Bruce,' and I'm like, 'What the fuck are you talking about?' Nobody had told me, you know. I said, 'You know what? I don't understand what the fuck you're talking about here.'

"And so, I mean, Sharon got pissed off… it was nothing to do with me. I suppose Sharon got pissed off. I'll back my wife up to the hilt, but I didn't know what was going down. But you know what? [MAIDEN were getting] a few fuckin' quid out of that Ozzfest. If you've got something to talk to me about, be a man. Come to my face and say, 'I think you're a fuckin' asshole.' Don't be a fuckin' idiot. It's so pathetically childish.

"Unfortunately, the rest of the band had to suffer: I suppose they were pissed off with him. But it's wrong: I've never, ever, ever spoken to the guy… No, I tell a lie, one night they were about to go on stage and I didn't know anything was going down, and I said to them, 'Have a good show, guys.' But I don't like all that shit going down. If you don't like me, just say 'I don't like you, I'm doing this festival but I think you're a cunt.' That's all right. But to go on my stage and start slagging me off — that ain't fair. They weren't fucking slagging me off when they got paid every fucking night."

He added: "To this day I don't understand what the fuckin' beef was. I just don't get it. To go on the Ozzfest and slag [people] off, that's crazy. I really think he needs a fuckin' psychiatrist if he does that, he's fucking nuts. It's an irresponsible fuckin' thing to do. Sharon must have got pissed off with this cunt, you know."

New Zealand metallers Alien Weaponry have just been awarded one of the most significant and prestigious awards in New Zealand’s music industry, the Aotearoa Music Award (formerly New Zealand Music Award) for Te Kaipuoro Rakapioi Toa (Best Rock Artist). This marks the second time that the band have received this honour, first winning in 2018 for their critically acclaimed debut album Tū.


Alien Weaponry on the award:
"We are so stoked to win the award for Te Kaipuoro Rakapioi Toa for the second time! We are super thankful to everyone who has helped get us to where we are, to the other artists nominated, and to our fans!"



To finish 2022, in support of their sophomore album, Tangaroa, Alien Weaponry will be supporting Guns N’ Roses on their New Zealand stadium tour this December. In February 2023 the band will be joining Gojira in Europe for the third leg of the Fortitude world tour.

In a new interview with MetalSucks, Matt Sorum was asked if he would consider rejoining GUNS N' ROSES if he was approached about it by Slash or Duff McKagan. He responded: "Well, I don't really know. I mean, look, you have to take things as they come, one day at a time, right? I've made a lot of changes to my life based on what's good for me. And those changes are also about what's right in the moment and also within the context of what's happening for everyone that's involved. I can tell you that I'm not sitting by the phone, waiting on a call to join GUNS N' ROSES or anything like that. I'm moving forward with my life and enjoying it immensely. I love what I'm doing right now, and that's good enough for me. But you never know. I've learned that in life, you never know, and I've learned never to say never because there's no telling what twists and turns are around the bend. But I'm not waiting on it, and it's all cool by me."

Sorum revealed in his book "Double Talkin' Jive: True Rock 'N' Roll Stories" that he learned of the 2016 partial reunion of GUNS N' ROSES' classic lineup via the rumor mill even though he was on a South American tour with Slash and McKagan when the Internet chatter first reached him. After he confronted Duff, the bassist told him: "Axl [Rose, GUNS N' ROSES frontman] wants to use his drummer [Frank Ferrer]." "Go to Axl and tell him you want me on drums," Sorum responded. "Period. Now's the time." "Oh, man," Duff replied. "I already signed the deal."

Sorum told Rolling Stone that he has gotten over the fact that he will probably never play with GUNS N' ROSES again. "I've come to terms with the fact that they're doing their own thing, and I'm doing mine," he said. "I can't say that when it went down, I was completely happy with the circumstances. At the same time, I feel really good about my time in the band."

Asked why he thinks he wasn't invited on the reunion tour, Matt said: "I think Axl is a loyal guy. He likes his band he's had for a long time. He didn't look at it that way. … If anyone in that band is loyal, it's probably him. He was like, 'I'm going to bring my guy [Frank Ferrer]. If I get Slash, that's cool. If I get Duff, that's cool too. And that's enough.' That's how it went down, and that's what they're doing."

Matt also said that he was invited to appear as a guest on the GUNS N' ROSES reunion tour but that he didn't do it because there was no money involved. Asked if he would show up and do it if he was approached about it again, he said: "I guess I'd have to wait until that call comes to make that decision. Right now, I have a baby and I'm nesting. I have a lot of different things going on in my life. I just produced Billy Gibbons's new record. I'm about to start my own. I have six startup companies. I'm a busy guy. It's gotta be what works with my life. I feel really good about my time in the band. And I always thank GUNS N' ROSES for my legacy going forward."

GN'R's hugely successful reunion features Rose, Slash and McKagan alongside Ferrer, keyboardist Dizzy Reed, guitarist Richard Fortus and second keyboardist Melissa Reese.

Sorum, who replaced Steven Adler in GUNS N' ROSES, recorded the albums "Use Your Illusion I" and "Use Your Illusion II" (both 1991) and "The Spaghetti Incident" (1994). He also supported the group on the "Use Your Illusion" tour and can be heard on GUNS N' ROSES' "Live Era: '87-'93" (1999) and "Greatest Hits" (2004).

Matt was among the GUNS N' ROSES members who were inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame in April 2012. He, Adler, Slash and McKagan attended the ceremony, while Rose and founding guitarist Izzy Stradlin stayed home.

Sorum told The Pulse Of Radio in a 2009 interview that if the classic GUNS N' ROSES band reunited, they should perform with both him and Adler. "If it's me on drums or Steven or whatever, if it happened, it'd be great, you know," he said. "I would actually say to them, 'Hey, bring both of us back,' you know. Let me play the other stuff. We'll have two drum kits. I don't care. If 'Appetite [For Destruction]' [the band's debut] sounds better with Steven playing it, have both guys up there. They can afford it."

Back in 2018, Izzy blamed his non-involvement with the GUNS N' ROSES reunion tour on the fact that he and the other guys in the band were unable "to reach a happy middle ground through the negotiation process." He also previously claimed that he stepped away from the reunion because the band didn't want to "split the loot equally."

"Double Talkin' Jive: True Rock 'N' Roll Stories" came out via Rare Bird Books.

Sorum is currently promoting the first-ever album with his all-star musical collective KINGS OF CHAOS. The first single and video from KINGS OF CHAOS, "Judgement Day", was made available last month. The track was performed and co-written by Sorum and his VELVET REVOLVER bandmates Slash, Dave Kushner and McKagan, and features the Rock And Roll Hall Of Famer on drums, as well as lead vocals.

Photo by Michael Segal

THE OFFSPRING has released "Bells Will Be Ringing (Please Come Home For Christmas)", a take on the Charles Brown holiday classic "Please Come Home For Christmas". It is THE OFFSPRING's second Christmas single, following the November 2020 release of the band's rendition of the 1963 Darlene Love classic "Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)".

"We've always loved the classic Charles Brown version of this song and think it's really underappreciated," THE OFFSPRING frontman Bryan "Dexter" Holland says. "We thought it would be the perfect follow up to 'Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)' in continuing on the coming home for Christmas theme."

Written in 1960 and released the same year by the Texan blues singer and pianist Charles Brown, "Please Come Home For Christmas" was made famous by THE EAGLES in 1978. The song was also covered by Jon Bon Jovi on the 1992 holiday album "A Very Special Christmas 2".

Two months ago, Holland confirmed that THE OFFSPRING is already working on the follow-up to last year's "Let The Bad Times Roll" album.

"Let The Bad Times Roll" has been a huge global success, hitting career-high chart debuts with seven top 5 and ten top 10 international debuts and nine top ten debuts in the U.S. The album peaked at No. 3 on the U.K. chart and hit No. 1 on the Alternative Albums chart in the U.S.

Frequently regarded as one of the best rock bands of all time, THE OFFSPRING have garnered a reputation for their unmistakable sound and social comment. The multi-platinum band first achieved worldwide success in the 1990s with the release of their album "Smash", which sold over 11 million copies. Following "Smash", they continued to release hit after hit, popularizing rock at a mainstream level.

Throughout THE OFFSPRING's career, they've sold over a staggering 40 million albums, and toured arenas, and built a global fan base. "Let The Bad Times Roll" marks the band's tenth studio album and third album produced by the legendary Bob Rock.

Originally formed under the name MANIC SUBSIDAL, THE OFFSPRING's lineup consists of Holland, guitarist Kevin "Noodles" Wasserman and bassist Todd Morse. THE OFFSPRING is often credited — alongside fellow California bands GREEN DAY and RANCID — for reviving mainstream interest in rock in the 1990s.