Escaping the underworld once more, the mighty Warkings rejoin on the battlefield with an unforeseen new ally - none other than legendary sorceress Morgana Le Fay. The sister of Arthur and mistress of the lost has joined the ancient royalty to accompany them in all of their upcoming battles! So, beware for the fourth chapter of the Warkings saga, Morgana, to be released on November 11 via Napalm Records.


With their third single, "Hellfire", the evil sorceress raises her haunting voice shortly before the album release to reveal the toxic history of her love-hate relationship with King Arthur. Surrounded by slaves, the heroic king sits on his throne in the video. In the demonic depths, the Lady of Lost Souls meets her brother, who challenges her to battle. “Hellfire” will be unleashed on the biggest battlefield in the bands’ career at the upcoming tour with Powerwolf and Dragonforce.


The dark sorceress Morgana on “Hellfire”: “Walk with me in hell... let us become fire and conquer the underworld. I am reborn.”




The mighty Crusader adds on the tour: “Wolfsnächte are coming... join us on our holy European crusade. We will meet on the battlefield.”





Forging their musical steel in the tradition of Powerwolf, Sabaton, HammerFall and Running Wild, the Warkings burst onto the battlefields in 2018. They gathered their Warriors around the world and entered the Official German Album Charts 2021 at #13 with Revolution. Gathered in the golden halls of Valhalla, the four ancient kings - a roman Tribune, a wild Viking, a noble Crusader and a martial Spartan - are now back with Morgana, having already escaped from the underworld, fought the Monarchs of the dusk and called for Revolution.


Warkings on Morgana: “A voice so dark and evil... a tale so twisted and mysterious. We created epic songs to tell the story of the dark sorceress. Welcome to the hellfire... the burning world of Morgana le Fay.”





Morgana will be available in the following formats:


- Wooden Deluxe Box (incl.  1CD Digisleeve, medallion of the dark sorceress, full dice-game, consisting of: valvet bag with Warkings logo, 5 glow in the dark dice, 5 playing cards, game instructions (front)/ Warkings poster (back) A4 - strictly limited to 500 worldwide
- 1 LP Vinyl Glow In The Dark - strictly limited to 300 worldwide
- 1 LP Vinyl Black
- 1 CD Digisleeve
- Music Cassette - strictly limited to 100 worldwide
- Digital Album


Pre-order here.





Tracklisting:


"Hellfire" feat. Morgana le Fay
"To The King"
"Monsters" feat. Morgana le Fay
"Last Of The English"
"Heart Of Rage" feat. Morgana le Fay
"Row (Into The Storm)"
"Immortal" feat. Morgana le Fay
"Shame"
"The Rite"
"Legend Untold"
"Armata Strigoi" (Powerwolf Cover) - Bonus Track
"Cry Thunder" - Bonus Track


“To The King” lyric video:



 
"Monsters" video:





Back in the realms of the dead after their Revolution, the Warkings were captivated by the eerie and extraordinary chanting voice of “evil” sorceress Morgana La Fey. Obsessed with the idea of telling humanity her own version of her story, the witch inspired the Warkings to include her in their circle as they fought their next battles - a covenant made for eternity.


Warkings are:
Tribune - Vocals
Crusader - Guitars
Spartan - Drums
Viking - Bass
Morgana le Fay - Unholy evocations


(Photo - Matthias Schwaighofer / Schwaighofer-Art)

Catalyst Crime, who are fronted by Cradle Of Filth keyboardist and backing vocalist Zoe Marie Federoff, have released a video for "Chasing The Ghost", featured on the band's self-titled debut album, released in October 2021. Watch the clip below.





Tracklisting:




"With Only The Sun As My Witness" (intro)
"Projection Of My Mind"
"Condemn Me To Chaos"
"Mother Dearest"
"Twice Upon A Time"
"Cognitive Dissonance" (feat. Jake E)
"Break Even"
"Chasing The Ghost"
"Nowhere Near Dead Yet"
"Without Anesthesia"
"Not Even Once"
"One And Counting" (outro)


"Chasing The Ghost" video:





"Condemn Me To Chaos" video:

Ian Paice has released the video below, in which he performs a one take drum performance of the song, "Apres Vous", from Deep Purple's 19th studio album, NOW What?!, which was released in April 2013 and was produced by Bob Ezrin.





Following the news in July that Steve Morse will be stepping back from the band after more than a quarter of a century, Deep Purple announced that, following an abundant summer of touring, Simon McBride will join the band permanently.




Collectively, the band stated: “We are thrilled that Simon has agreed to join. Simon’s playing is up there with the greats. Of course, Steve can’t be replaced, the same as Ritchie, and Steve has a long legacy with Deep Purple. In Simon we have not found a replacement, but an extraordinarily talented and exciting guitarist in his own right. The reception from audiences over the Summer has already been great and we are looking forward to the forthcoming dates in the UK and Europe across the rest of the year. It is clear that Simon also holds great respect for those before him. We are all excited for what the years to come hold for the band.”


Simon stated: “I'm very happy to be asked to join the band, at the start of the pandemic if someone would have said to me that I was going to be the new guitarist in Deep Purple I would have just laughed, but here we are and it's happening. Deep Purple has a history of great guitarists so I’m very honoured to be asked to be part of that. They are all amazing musicians and more importantly, I have become very good friends with the guys so I can't wait to continue touring and even perhaps some writing and recording.”

CROWBAR frontman Kirk Windstein has weighed in on the news that PANTERA's surviving members Philip Anselmo (vocals) and Rex Brown (bass) will unite with guitarist Zakk Wylde (OZZY OSBOURNE, BLACK LABEL SOCIETY) and drummer Charlie Benante (ANTHRAX) for a world tour under the PANTERA banner.

Anselmo and Brown, along with Wylde and Benante, will headline a number of major festivals across North America, South America and Europe and stage some of their own headline concerts.

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

Windstein, who plays with Anselmo in DOWN, discussed his views on PANTERA's comeback in a recent interview with the "Talk Louder" podcast, hosted by veteran music journalist "Metal Dave" Glessner and lifelong hard rock/metal vocalist Jason McMaster (DANGEROUS TOYS). He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "The people who are against it, I understand, 'cause the very moment that Phil told us what was gonna be going on, that they were doing this and it's been planned — we were in Europe with DOWN [in June 2022] when we found out — and I remember kind of going, 'But dude, do y'all have to call it 'PANTERA'?' And I really did ask him. And he's, like, 'Yeah,' he goes, 'It is. It's PANTERA.' And I started to think about it. And it never sat wrong with me for even a minute, really, or anything. I just started thinking about the reality of what…

"What you're dealing with here is a situation where, by God, it's so horrible that Vince and Dime are not here with us," Kirk continued. "But you've got a situation with a band who has not only old-school fans who have not seen them perform since fucking 2001 or whatever the last shows were, you've also got an entire new generation, including my bass player, who's 34 years old but was too young to actually go to a concert, to travel or whatever and go see… He's such a PANTERA freak and a Dimebag freak… And there's so many younger kids that, this is the closest they're gonna get to it. And I feel like the fact that they have Zakk, who was so tight with Dime, and Charlie has been so tight with the band forever, filling in for…

"To me, when I think about it, it is a tribute to a legacy. The sad thing about anything in a situation like this [is] you can't bring the guys back; they're not with us any longer, Vinnie and Dime. So, to me, are they doing something… pissing on the name or something? Not at all. I think if anything, they're glorifying it. I mean, the music is too fucking good, too legendary, it was too groundbreaking, they were too amazing to not let people enjoy it.

"That's kind of what I feel on the negative people. And I feel that a huge generation of the old-schoolers like myself can't wait to see this. And you're gonna have the generation of the younger kids…

"I just played with DOWN at the Blue Ridge festival and next day we played with CROWBAR, and I told Phil, I said, 'Dude, there's more PANTERA shirts at the shows now, and it's, like, young kids.' I said, '22-year-olds who weren't even born or they were just an infant when you all were done with the 'Reinventing The Steel' touring' and then the band basically breaking up and then, of course, the Dime situation and everything. And he was laughing. I said, 'I'm excited about it. I really am.'

"It didn't take but a second for it to hit," Kirk added. "I mean, if Vince could have been involved as well, of course, but that never would have happened. But if Vinnie could have been in it as well, I think it would have been amazing. And that's nothing against Charlie. But I still think that it's gonna be amazing. And I'm looking at it as a fan, as a friend of all of those guys. I'm looking very forward to it.

"All the haters that are, like, 'Oh, fuck this shit,' they're all gonna be doing this [keeping their arms crossed at first], and three songs in, they're gonna be fucking doing this [pumping their fists in the air enthusiastically], and everything's gonna be fine."

PANTERA will play its first shows in over 20 years in December 2022, starting with a co-headlining slot at Mexico's Hell & Heaven Metal Fest and Monterrey Metal Fest, followed by appearances at three Knotfest festivals in South America. There will also be a one-off show with JUDAS PRIEST in São Paulo, Brazil and a headlining concert in Santiago.

Next year, PANTERA will appear at Germany's Rock Am Ring and Rock Im Park, two simultaneous rock festivals, which will take place June 2-4 in Nürburgring and Nürnberg, respectively. They will also perform at Norway's Tons Of Rock festival in late June.

Confirmed PANTERA shows so far:

Dec. 02 - Texicoco, Mexico - Hell & Heaven Metal Fest
Dec. 06 - Monterrey, Mexico – Monterrey Metal Fest
Dec. 09 - Bogotá, Colombia – Knotfest Colombia
Dec. 11 - Santiago, Chile - Knotfest Chile
Dec. 12 - Santiago, Chile - Movistar Arena
Dec. 15 - São Paulo, Brazil – Vibra São Paulo (with JUDAS PRIEST)
Dec. 18 - São Paulo, Brazil – Knotfest Brazil
Jun. 2-4 - Nürburgring, Germany - Rock Am Ring
Jun. 2-4 - Nürnberg, Germany - Rock Im Park
Jun. 22-24 - Oslo, Norway - Tons Of Rock

Benante told SiriusXM's "Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk" about how he plans to approach the PANTERA gig: "I can't go do this as the drummer from ANTHRAX because it would be a different sound completely. So the way I'm gonna do that is if you close your eyes, it's gonna sound like it's Vinnie, basically. And that's how it's gonna be. The sound is gonna sound exactly like him."

Wylde said that he had a similar mindset. "You approach it the same way as you do when I'm playing with Ozzy," he said. "Obviously I've gotta learn [Randy] Rhoads's stuff and I've gotta learn Jake's [E. Lee] stuff, and when I was doing the [BLACK] SABBATH stuff, you learn it and do it as faithful as you can. Charlie's gotta learn all of Vinnie's parts. You approach it as if you're in a cover band. When we do the ZAKK SABBATH stuff," referring to his BLACK SABBATH cover band, "I don't start changing lyrics midway through 'War Pigs'. You learn the songs — so that's what you do."

A year ago, Anselmo said that he was up for reuniting with Brown for a special tour celebrating the music of PANTERA. The 54-year-old singer, who has spent the past few years playing a PANTERA-centric set with his solo band, THE ILLEGALS, discussed the possibility of re-teaming with his former PANTERA bandmate during an interview with Brazil's Inside With Paulo Baron. Asked if he and Rex would be open to playing some shows in celebration of PANTERA's legacy, Anselmo said: "If Rex and I had a show to play, or we were ever gonna be on stage again together, I would welcome it with open arms. I love Rex. And he'd be the same way. We're brothers forever. So playing on stage together, or doing some shows together, is not out of the question. It could happen."

In April 2021, Rex told Eonmusic that he and Philip still get offers for a PANTERA tribute tour. "But if you don't have the other guys in the band, it's not going to sound the same," he said. "If we were ever to do something like that, it would have to be spot-on, or I wouldn't do it. It would be a tribute."

Talk about a possible PANTERA "reunion" intensified when Anselmo regularly joined Wylde's BLACK LABEL SOCIETY to perform PANTERA's song "I'm Broken" during DOWN's 2014 stint on the "Revolver Golden Gods Tour". That buzz only got stronger after Brown joined the jam on May 23, 2014 when the tour swung through Texas.

Up until his passing, Vinnie remained on non-speaking terms with Anselmo, whom the drummer indirectly blamed for Dimebag's death.

Vinnie Paul and Dimebag co-founded PANTERA. When PANTERA broke up in 2003, they formed DAMAGEPLAN. On December 8, 2004, while performing with DAMAGEPLAN at the Alrosa Villa in Columbus, Ohio, Dimebag was shot and killed onstage by a troubled schizophrenic who believed that the members of PANTERA were stealing his thoughts.

PANTERA is managed by Scott McGhee of 1 Degree Music Entertainment. The band's legal representative is Nick Ferrara And Associates. PANTERA is booked internationally by Rod MacSween at ITB. Artist Group International will book PANTERA's North American dates, with Dennis Arfa and Peter Pappalardo as the responsible agents.

Sharon Osbourne has once again clarified why she and her husband Ozzy Osbourne have made the decision to leave the United States and return to live in England.

In August, Ozzy cited gun violence as the one of the main for the move, saying he was "fed up with people getting killed every day."

Sharon, who also manages Ozzy's career, told Consequence the decision was made easier by the fact that "California is not what it once was."

"When I first came here, I thought I was in heaven," she said. "In the '70s, if you loved music, this was the place to be. It's not that hub anymore. It's not exciting anymore. It hasn't gone sideways, it's gone down. It's not a fun place to live. It's dangerous here. Every big city's got crime, but I don't feel safe here. Neither does Ozzy."

Two months ago, Sharon told "Fox & Friends" she and Ozzy haven't yet officially moved back to the U.K. because "our house isn't ready yet. We've had our family house for over 30 years but we haven't lived in it so long," she explained. "And you go back and you go, 'Oh, it's falling apart.' And so we're redoing it. And then we will move."

As for why she and Ozzy have decided to go back to England, Sharon said: "[There are] many reasons. Yes, we don't like the gun violence in Los Angeles. But there's a lot more room for Ozzy. He can go fishing on our land, he can go shooting — he loves to shoot — and it's just a different lifestyle. He can walk around, do his thing, nobody there looking at him. And he can have some privacy."

When she was pressed to elaborate on the political reasons behind Ozzy's previous comment that he didn't want to "die in crazy America," Sharon said: "I think because there are so many guns, and I think because people commit crimes and they don't have to pay bail, and then suddenly — boom! — they're back out on the streets again. And there seems to be no repercussions for bad behavior. And so, 'Well, I might as well do it again. There's no bail. Why not?' Hopefully they do change the law with that."

In August, Ozzy, who was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease in 2003 and underwent a "major operation" in June, among other health scares, told The Observer that he had not traveled to the U.K. for eight years nor performed live in "three or four years" due to his health struggles. He made the comment after the iconic BLACK SABBATH singer made a surprise appearance at the Commonwealth Games' closing ceremony in Birmingham, England on August 8.

Ozzy and Sharon will resume living in the U.K. in February 2023 after residing in Los Angeles for more than two decades.

"Everything's fucking ridiculous there. I'm fed up with people getting killed every day," Ozzy told The Observer. "God knows how many people have been shot in school shootings. And there was that mass shooting in Vegas at that concert… It's fucking crazy."

"And I don't want to die in America. I don't want to be buried in fucking Forest Lawn," Ozzy added, noting the famous cemetery in Los Angeles. "I'm English. I want to be back. But saying that, if my wife said we've got to go and live in Timbuktu, I'll go."

"But, no, it's just time for me to come home," Ozzy clarified.

Sharon told The Observer that the move back to England had nothing to do with her husband's health.

"I knew people would think that. It's not. It's just time," she said. "America has changed so drastically. It isn't the United States of America at all. Nothing's united about it. It's a very weird place to live right now."

British heavy metal vocalist Blaze Bayley, who fronted IRON MAIDEN more than 20 years ago, has confirmed to Stavros Vlahos, editor of the Soundcheck Network music magazine, that he has begun compiling ideas for the follow-up to his latest solo studio album, 2021's "War Within Me".

"I'm always trying to catch things on my dictaphone," he said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET). Now it's only one thing — it's the phone; it's the messages and the recording device, whereas before you had to have a little tape recorder and a notebook. I'm always trying to catch things. And I'm starting work now on piecing some ideas together that should be a new studio album next year. And we hope that it will be good.

"The problem that I have is if I make a good album that my fans really like, that's a lot of pressure. For the next album, they [say], 'Oh, you've got to try and beat it.' I don't wanna try to beat the 'War Within Me' album. For me, it's one of the best things I've ever done. And if I could get close to being as good as that. I'll be very, very happy.

"A lot of my fans, going back to my early records after MAIDEN, say that the 'War Within Me' album is the best album I've ever done," Blaze added. "So that's a lot of pressure when it comes to doing a new album. And I try not to think about it. I try to use my heart and my gut and go, 'Does this feel good? Is it coming from the right place? Does it feel good?' And then just gently start to piece things together."

Elaborating on how he goes about composing songs, Bayley said: "My songwriting now is more of put something together, leave it, listen to it then with fresh [ears], have some distance. And I think that works for me right now at this point in my career. But I'm very lucky to have so much dedicated, loyal supporters.

"I'm a tiny underground artist in the world," he continued. "People think I'm really famous because of my time with IRON MAIDEN. I was a very small part of IRON MAIDEN. And those albums, at the time, they did well in certain countries. My albums did well in Greece and in Sweden and Brazil, but in other places they didn't do very well, the ones with me. Fans didn't really like the change. A lot of people from that era still hate Blaze Bayley, they hate what I did, they have those two albums that I was on. That's fine by me. I like the fact that I've done something that is strong enough for someone to have such a big, forceful emotional reaction to it. But I do think some of the people that hate me have actually never listened to what I do."

Bayley fronted IRON MAIDEN from 1994 until 1999. The two MAIDEN albums he appeared on, "The X Factor" and "Virtual XI", sold considerably less than the band's prior releases and were their lowest-charting titles in the group's home country since 1981's "Killers".

Since leaving IRON MAIDEN in 1999, Bayley has released a number of albums, including several under the moniker BLAZE and more than a handful under his own name. He also appeared on 2012's "Wolfsbane Saves The World", the first album of new material by WOLFSBANE since the group's self-titled 1994 effort, and a follow-up LP, 2022's "Genius".

Europe guitarist John Norum is featured in a new interview with VWMusic discussing his new solo album, Gone To Stay. During the chat he looked back on Europe breakthrough hit, "The Final Countdown", from the 1986 album of the same name. Following is an excerpt.


VWMusic: It’s been a bit since Europe’s last studio album. Is any new material on the way?


Norum: "Yeah. We are talking about doing a new album next year, and everyone is writing for the new album now. Also, we are in the middle of a documentary on Europe’s history. It starts in 1982 and runs through the present day. We’re filming that – it’s about two hours long, I think – and that will be released sometime in 2023. So, hopefully, Europe will have a documentary and a new album coming out in 2023."




VWMusic: What will be the blueprint for this album? Will it be a return to the roots?


Norum: "I don’t know what will happen yet, but I suggested we go back to the roots a little bit. We experimented with different styles and this and that, and I don’t think we can take it any further. I mean, we have done the nu-metal stuff; we have done some pop things, even some grunge kind of things. I don’t like to put things in different categories like that, but I think the experiment is over now. I think we should go back to what we did on the second album, Wings of Tomorrow, or The Final Countdown, back to more melodic hard rock. That’s what I would like to do."


VWMusic: Speaking of The Final Countdown, what was your reaction when Joey (Tempest) initially presented the title track to you?


Norum: "When I first heard the demo, it was about six minutes long. I was very much into heavy hard rock and heavy guitars – still am – and I was like, 'We can’t put this song on the album. There’s no way. Just listen to the keyboard intro; this is too poppy.' I was like, 'Are we becoming Depeche Mode?' Even though I like them a lot, I hated them in the ’80s, but I like ’em now (laughs). So, I wasn’t very positive in the beginning, but when we recorded it, we had a lot of fun, and all of the other guys wanted to do the song, so I said, 'Why not?' And the solo came out great; I’m thrilled with the way the solo came out. It became a classic, and it’s a lot of fun to play live; you see the people going crazy and jumping up and down. I will say that I like the song 'The Final Countdown' more today than I did when we recorded it in the ’80s."


Read the complete interview here.

Former MANOWAR guitarist Ross "The Boss" Friedman says that his dismissal from the band more than three decades ago was "the worst possible mistake ever made".

A founding member of MANOWAR, Ross recorded six albums with the band before leaving after 1988's "Kings Of Metal". His work with MANOWAR included such classic LPs as 1982's "Battle Hymns", 1983's "Into Glory Ride" and 1984's "Hail To England".

Friedman reflected on his involvement with MANOWAR during a recent interview with the "Mike Nelson Show". Speaking about the last two LPs he made with the band, Ross said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "'Fighting The World' [1987] and 'Kings Of Metal' were two of the first digital records made. We recorded on something that's called the Synclavier. It was just a basic Pro Tools kind of thing. 'Fighting The World' sound was good, but 'Kings Of Metal' had a much better sound. And I think that 'Kings Of Metal' just came at a time that the band was peaking, especially in Europe. 'Cause I had done all the heavy lifting with the band. And then when it came out, boom — and then I was out of the band. How do you do that? For Joey [DeMaio, MANOWAR bassist and leader], it probably could be the worst… He fired me, by the way. And [it was] the worst possible mistake ever made, beside Mick Taylor leaving THE ROLLING STONES. Because the tour that could have resulted after 'Kings Of Metal' and the live record and the whole process was cut short. They had David Shankle — he's okay, but the whole energy of the band was gone. And it took six years to do the next record, 'The Triumph Of Steel'. I had done six records in six years with MANOWAR. And it took six years to do another record."

Asked why he was fired from MANOWAR, Ross said: "Well, when money and greed and all the same bullshit rears its ugly head in a business, things happen. I don't bullshit from nobody, and I wasn't gonna take bullshit from [Joey] — telling me what to wear, what to… First of all, wait a minute. When you met me, I had already done four major albums, major records on major labels. I had already done three with THE DICTATORS and one with SHAKIN' STREET. You had done zero. So all these people that we're talking to now I had met a long time ago in Europe. These guys like Malcolm Dome and Dante Bonutto and all these guys in Kerrang! [magazine], I'd been interviewed by them many times over before MANOWAR. I said, 'You can't tell me how to talk and what to say and what to dress.' But he knew that. All he wanted in his band was puppets… Money and greed, and him not having to have a partner like me, 50 percent partner [is the reason I was fired]. I don't like airing that out. But we see how great it was after I left. [Laughs]"

Last year, Friedman was asked by Waste Some Time With Jason Green if he would consider playing with MANOWAR again, to which he said: "Well, if the financial arrangements were right. But [Joey is] the kind of scumbag that would never have that… I'll never say no, but you never know. I just called him a scumbag, so… It's not gonna happen. He's secure in the fact that MANOWAR are mediocre fucking pieces of shit right now. What they're putting out to the public [is] just terrible."

After BLABBERMOUTH.NET published Ross's comments from the Waste Some Time With Jason Green interview, he sent a short statement conveying a more conciliatory tone.

"I would like to apologize to MANOWAR, the fans and Joey for the insult," he wrote. "If anyone knows me, you know that's not my style for saying things like that. I violated my own rule. Again, I am truly sorry."

Ross clarified to the "Mike Nelson Show" that he only "apologized to the fans" for his comments. "What I said about him, I just said I went against what I believe in, is to not air that shit out in public. And I apologized to the MANOWAR fans for saying that. I didn't apologize to him."

During the aforementioned Waste Some Time With Jason Green interview, Friedman stated about the circumstances surrounding his exit from MANOWAR more than three decades ago: "When a band gets big and the money hits, greed, avarice and evil takes place. A guy that I thought was my partner wasn't," he said, referring to DeMaio. "So he wanted me [out]. He goes, 'You've gotta go.' I go, 'Really? I've gotta go why? I've gotta go why? We're equal partners, 50 percent. Why do I have to go? Why don't you go?' The whole thing is he was so — his antics and his bullshit was so insane that I had it up to [my neck] with him. When you have it up to [your neck] with someone, you've just gotta go, 'Get the fuck outta here. I can't take this anymore.'

"[It was] ego, greed, avarice, evil [that caused me to depart]," he explained. "When [Joey] met me, I had already four major albums. He had done zero. Joey DeMaio was nobody. When he met me, I had already done four. I had no will to fight him. If I were to fight him, I would have killed him. He's just a fucking pariah… You can't live with that. My heart couldn't take it. I can't take evil. And I know people are gonna be… [It's gonna be] hard [for them] to hear that, but I'm better off now. I really am."

Earlier this year, Friedman told Sofa King Cool about the 40th anniversary of "Battle Hymns": "It is obviously an iconic record that has pretty much started power metal. We pretty much put power metal on the map with that record. 'Cause there really wasn't power metal before that. I mean, [Ronnie James] Dio did some things amazingly, and Ritchie Blackmore's RAINBOW, of course, but I think 'Battle Hymns' was the first real, true power metal record. That was my baby."

Asked if there were any plans to reissue "Battle Hymns" for its 40th anniversary, Ross said: "That record has been reissued so many times. I was asked to leave MANOWAR in 1988, right after the release of 'Kings Of Metal'. And [DeMaio] has repackaged everything up so many times… He re-recorded 'Battle Hymns'; he re-recorded 'Kings Of Metal'. Both suck. 'Cause you can't re-record a record; you can't redo it. It's like TWISTED SISTER redoing 'Stay Hungry'; you just can't do it. Especially, he did it without me. I mean, I could see if he had the original lineup playing 'Battle Hymns' and the original lineup playing 'Kings Of Metal', with just [drummer] Donnie [Hamzik] instead of Scott [Columbus]; Scott's not with us no more. But without me? And you tune down those songs. They were written in standard pitch. And then MANOWAR's tuning 'em down for [singer] Eric [Adams]. Those songs lose all their energy. No. Nah nah nah nah nah nah. You've gotta leave genius alone, leave greatness alone. They're untouchable."

Pressed about the chances of him reuniting with MANOWAR for a tour celebrating the 40th anniversary of "Battle Hymns", Ross said: "You wouldn't say that I don't have a good relationship with my old partner, but it's just not there. I'm not saying things can't magically patch up. But [Joey] doesn't want any part of me telling him what he should be doing. And it's okay. I'm happy with my band, I'm happy with DEATH DEALER, I'm happy with THE DICTATORS. Hopefully I'm gonna be very, very busy. I don't have to be in a band with a tyrant."

Ross was one of the pioneers of both punk rock and heavy metal. First crashing on the scene with THE DICTATORS and with such classic albums as 1975's "Go Girl Crazy!", 1977's "Manifest Destiny" and 1978's "Bloodbrothers", Ross helped trailblaze punk rock (just to put it all in perspective, "Go Girl Crazy!" arrived a full year before the RAMONES' debut, and two years before THE CLASH's and SEX PISTOLS' debuts). By the end of the '80s, Ross had reconnected with his DICTATORS bandmates in MANITOBA'S WILD KINGDOM, which served as a bridge between his love of punk and metal, as heard on the group's popular 1990 debut, "…And You?" Throughout the remainder of the decade, Ross also played with such groups as THE HELLACOPTERS and THE SPINATRAS, before THE DICTATORS reunited, which resulted in several new releases starting from the late '90s all the way through the early 21st century. Also around this time, Ross joined forces with former of BLUE ÖYSTER CULT drummer Albert Bouchard in the band BRAIN SURGEONS. With Ross's main focus turning to metal music at this time, two additional projects were launched — DEATH DEALER and his solo outfit, ROSS THE BOSS.

Multi-platinum rock band THEORY OF A DEADMAN has released the official music video for its hard-hitting new single "Dinosaur", directed by Tony Corella. The release of "Dinosaur" last month marked the chart-topping quartet's first taste of new music since 2020's acclaimed album "Say Nothing" and a return to form stylistically. The hard-hitting, riff-heavy track, produced by Martin Terefe (Jason Mraz, YUNGBLUD),is currently impacting Active Rock radio nationwide, where it's already hit No. 25 on the chart, and is featured on various rock playlists across DSPs, including Spotify's Rock Rotation and Top Of The Rock, Apple Music's The New Rock and Breaking Rock, and Amazon Music's Rock Arena and Fresh Rock.

"This was another fun video to make with director Tony Corella, who we also worked with for the 'Blow' video," says frontman Tyler Connolly. "We felt it was important to lead off with a lighthearted video that is sure to have you smiling as you rock out to the track!!"

"'Dinosaur' takes us back to our roots with this riff-driven rocker," Connolly previously said. "To me, it feels like it could fit on any of our albums, but I will say if you like the old THEORY OF A DEADMAN, you'll love the new THEORY OF A DEADMAN."

"Rock is where we made our bed for all these years," added guitarist Dave Brenner. "It's been a while since we had an up-tempo in-your-face track like this — and it felt good."

With sky-high hooks, riffs as thick as a 2x4, rumbling grooves, and a razor-sharp sense of humor, THEORY OF A DEADMAN — Tyler Connolly (lead vocals, guitar),Dave Brenner (guitar, backing vocals),Dean Back (bass),and Joey Dandeneau (drums, backing vocals) — have quietly persisted as an unapologetic, unbreakable, and undeniable hard rock force with major multi-platinum hits and countless sold-out shows in each of the past two decades. Jamming together in basements throughout high school, the band burst out of their small hometown of North Delta, British Columbia with the self-titled "Theory Of A Deadman" during 2002. In addition to the double-platinum breakthrough album "Scars & Souvenirs" (2008) and gold-certified "The Truth Is…" (2011),THEORY OF A DEADMAN have notched a procession of hits, including the gold-certified "All Or Nothing", "Bitch Came Back" and "Lowlife", platinum-certified "Angel", "Hate My Life" and "Not Meant To Be", double-platinum "Bad Girlfriend" and triple-platinum "RX (Medicate)". As the biggest smash of their career thus far, the latter hit, off their 2017 album "Wake Up Call", marked their third No. 1 on the Billboard Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks chart and garnered a nomination for "Rock Song Of The Year" at the iHeartRadio Music Awards. Their impressive catalogue has also logged two Top 10 debuts on the Billboard 200 and amassed more than one billion collective streams on Spotify alone and over 675 million views on their official YouTube. In 2020, the award-winning band's seventh studio album, "Say Nothing", landed at No. 2 on the Billboard Alternative Albums chart and No. 3 on the Rock Albums chart. Plus, the album, featuring the chart-topping and powerful single "History Of Violence", earned praise from American Songwriter, Billboard, Alternative Press and Classic Rock magazine which awarded it four out of five stars.

Photo credit: Jimmy Fontaine

Over the years, Magnus has accomplished two Gold Records with Hammerfall, several Grammy Nominations, Euro Awards and Artist of the Year Nominations. 


He has been given The Save the Earth Prize a Rotary Award for fine commitment and is honored with a Cultural Scholarship by the Adlerbertska Scholarship Foundation. 


Magnus has engaged himself with cultural events beyond the usual. He has played with the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra as well as with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. Furthermore he played on his solo base in a ballet performed on the Gothenburg Opera. Magnus is also the creator of the recognized project Culture Meets Industry. 







The Base In My Heart will be released in February; preorder now and you receive a Gift Card and a free CD with the solo album Set Me Free from the year 2007 when Magnus left Hammerfall. Finally it will be relived why Magnus left the band.


The Base In My Heart is so far written in Swedish – it´s an autobiography about Magnus Rosén's life as a rock musician. He has traveled the world several times, open-heartedly experiencing different Cultures mostly with Hammerfall but also as a solo bassist. 


In his book, you can read about how Magnus became a Jute Ambassador. The time when he played in La Paz – Bolivia, 4200 meters above sea level where oxygen was offered due to the thin air. Or when he participated in a blues festival in the Himalayas and ended up on a full page in the Himalaya Daily News with the word success in the headlines. 


Magnus is a pioneering and unique rock musician and artist. Unstoppably curious to explore different music genres with his solo base making new art. In his book, Magnus shares the good and the dark experiences from the music world. 


Read about the murder of their manager Lelle, who suddenly disappeared in the middle of a concert. And also according to Swedish Criminologist and Author Leif GW Persson - who the likely killer is.


(Photo - Bengt Persson / www.artphotosweden.se)

In a new interview with Brazil's KazaGastão, former MORBID ANGEL frontman David Vincent spoke about the fact that the city of Tampa is still considered by some to be the unofficial capital of American death metal. Asked if there is anything special about the Florida town that makes it such a breeding ground for the most extreme subgenre of heavy metal, David responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Well, I don't think so. What happened was [legendary recording studio] Morrisound Studios was there. It's almost like people think that there's something in the water; there's not. People romanticize all kinds of stuff, they say, 'Oh, man, maybe I can go to a bar and I can see MORBID ANGEL and OBITUARY and ATHEIST and all these people at the same place. We were all friends, but it's not like you go to one place and it's like a clearing house for extreme music. Morrisound Studios recorded a number of these records, MORBID ANGEL among them, and it just kind of got known as a hub for this kind of stuff. I don't think it has anything to do with the city; I think it just has to do with — happenstance."

In the late 1980s and early 1990s, the suburbs of Tampa Bay and Orlando became the first death metal "hotspot" and produced such bands as DEATH, MORBID ANGEL, OBITUARY, DEICIDE and CANNIBAL CORPSE (which migrated to Tampa from their native Buffalo).

MORBID ANGEL is widely acknowledged to have one of the best-selling death metal album of all time, 1993's "Covenant", which has shifted more than 130,000 copies in the United States.

Morrisound, a recording studio established in Tampa in 1981, had been used by countless metal bands over the years, including SEPULTURA, DEATH, ICED EARTH, DEICIDE, OBITUARY, CANNIBAL CORPSE and MALEVOLENT CREATION.

Vincent is currently the frontman of I AM MORBID, in which he is joined by fellow ex-MORBID ANGEL member Pedro "Pete" Sandoval (drums),and guitarists Bill Hudson (NORTHTALE, DORO) and Richie Brown (EXMORTUS, THE ABSENCE, TRIVIUM).

I AM MORBID's spring 2022 European tour marked the first time Sandoval and Vincent played together in 12 years.

Sandoval, who now lives his life as a born-again Christian, was forced to leave MORBID ANGEL in 2010 after undergoing surgery for a prolapsed disc.

Vincent left MORBID ANGEL in 2015. He has since been replaced by a returning Steve Tucker, who previously handled bass and vocals on MORBID ANGEL's "Formulas Fatal To The Flesh", "Gateways To Annihilation" and "Heretic" LPs.

In a May 2019 interview with Jorge Botas of the "Metal Global" radio show, which airs on the Portuguese public TV and radio broadcaster RTP, Vincent said that he had every right to perform MORBID ANGEL's classic songs with I AM MORBID.

"Times come and life works the way that it does," Vincent said. "And there are times when… It's like a marriage — sometimes they don't always work forever. But that doesn't mean that the children that we've had together, that I don't still love my children. Although Trey [Azagthoth, MORBID ANGEL guitarist and sole remaining original member] and I have some irreconcilable differences, that doesn't in any way preclude me from still having the love and the passion for all of my children."

Asked what he has to say to people who insist that he should not play MORBID ANGEL's early material without the other members of the group's classic lineup, David said: "There's examples of this very situation… I mean, when Ozzy [Osbourne] left BLACK SABBATH, that didn't stop him from playing 'Paranoid' every night, even though he didn't write the song. All of the songs that I'm singing I wrote. So I don't really understand that. But different people become attached to different things. And they have their opinion and I have mine. And I don't really consider this kind of negativity. I don't have it in my life."

In 2019, Vincent released "Something Wicked Marches In", the debut album from his supergroup VLTIMAS, also featuring guitarist Rune Eriksen (formerly of MAYHEM) and CRYPTOPSY drummer Flo Mounier. Two years earlier, Vincent issued his debut country single, "Drinkin' With The Devil".

In a new interview with Metalshop TV, Rob Caggiano spoke about how he went from his previous gig with ANTHRAX to producing the VOLBEAT album "Outlaw Gentlemen & Shady Ladies" to joining the Danish band as their guitarist. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "I decided to leave ANTHRAX back then because I kind of felt like… At that point I had been in the band for a long time, and I kind of felt like my role in the band ran its course, so to speak. And I just kind of felt like I was hitting my head up against a glass ceiling a long time. And it just felt like I needed a change. I wasn't feeling inspired. Don't get me wrong — I love those guys and I loved every minute of my time with them. It was such an amazing, wild ride. But I just felt like I needed to do something else at that time. And the VOLBEAT thing just happened, and it was organic, and it felt right. So, here I am."

Regarding what it was about VOLBEAT's music that appealed to him, Rob said" "I think for me, the thing with VOLBEAT, it's like a mixture of all the sounds that I like. [Laughs] It's a lot of stuff that I grew up listening to all wrapped into one package. When I first VOLBEAT, I heard the MISFITS, I heard METALLICA, I heard a little bit of the RAMONES… There's some SLAYER-vibe riffs. There's just a lot of different stuff. And it's all fun — it's a lot of fun; the music is a lot of fun. And it definitely connects with a lot of people. That's why I do it."

Caggiano previously talked about his split with ANTHRAX in a 2014 interview with Ultimate Guitar. At the time, he said: "At that point when I decided to leave those guys, I just felt like I needed a change. The thing is the band was doing amazing. ANTHRAX was on top of their game. We had just come off the 'Big Four' tour and all this awesome stuff happened. But the bottom line was I just wasn't happy and my heart wasn't in it.

"The main thing was it was never a creative outlet for me," he explained. "That's something I'd been thinking about for a while — for years. It didn't happen overnight. I know to the public and to the fans it seemed like, 'Wow, this came out of left field,' but it really didn't. I'd been talking to those guys and I had many conversations with them over the years, so they were definitely not surprised when it went down at all. Yeah, it's just something I needed to do for my own sanity.

"In ANTHRAX, my role was, 'You're playing the solo.' [Laughs] It's like, 'All right, cool.' Don't get me wrong, I love playing solos. It's what I do. I'm a lead guitar player. But there's definitely so much more I can do and I had way more to say musically than what I was doing with ANTHRAX. That's basically it."

Asked if he actually brought in song ideas that didn't get listened to, Caggiano told Ultimate Guitar: "It would never even get to that point. It's cool. That's their thing. They have a system and they have a way of working and they've been doing it like for ages. I totally respected that, but after a while it just got to the point where I felt like I was going through the motions. I'm not the kind of person that can do something unless it's 100 percent. I needed to make a change and I needed to move.

Rob went on to say that he "never understood" why the rest of ANTHRAX wouldn't even entertain his ideas. But then he clarified: "I do understand it, but at the same time, I was with those guys for a really long time. You would think at some point along that journey, we would have collaborated on something. But it's totally cool. It is totally cool. I'm very proud of all our accomplishments, and I'm so proud to be part of the ANTHRAX legacy. We braved a lot of storms, and there were a lot of dark periods and great periods throughout that whole time. So I'm really proud of it."

Caggiano replaced former VOLBEAT guitarist Thomas Bredahl, who was given his walking papers in November 2011.

Richie Sambora says it's a "possibility" he could reunite with BON JOVI for an appearance at a U.K. festival next year.

The 63-year-old guitarist/vocalist addressed a possible renewed collaboration with his former bandmates while speaking to Metro on the red carpet of The Music Industry Trust Awards at The Grosvenor House Hotel in London on Monday (November 7). Asked about the chances he will get back together with BON JOVI for a headlining performance on the Pyramid Stage at next summer's Glastonbury festival, Sambora said with a "cheeky smile" on his face, "It's a possibility. We're talking a bit."

Two years ago, Sambora opened up about his controversial decision to leave BON JOVI in 2013 in an interview with People magazine, saying that he wanted to spend more time with his daughter Ava, now 25.

"It wasn't a popular decision by any means, obviously, but there was really almost no choice about it. I had a lot of conscious work to do around [my personal life]," the guitarist said.

"We've been through a lot of things together. That was a time of psychological maintenance for the family. You know, I ain't no angel. But I realized, Ava needed me to be around at that point in time. Family had to come first, and that's what happened."

Sambora, who spent time in rehab in 2007 and 2011 for alcohol and prescription drug abuse, added that the rock and roll lifestyle eventually took its toll.

"My lord, when I look back and start to list the tours ... 18-and-a-half months of being on the road, 52 countries," he said. "It's like, Wow. It was really time for a break. We did that 14 times over a 31-year period."

Two months earlier, Sambora told U.K.'s Daily Mail that he wasn't opposed to one day rejoining BON JOVI, provided that the circumstances were right. "It would have to be a special situation for me to go back, but I'm certainly not counting it out," he said. "I have no malice toward that band."

Richie's comments came just a couple of weeks after Jon Bon Jovi told Germany's Rock Antenne that "there's not a day that goes by that I don't wish that Richie had his life together and was still in the band. And yet, in a weird way, it's because of his inability to get it together anymore that we went on and wrote 'This House Is Not For Sale'."

Addressing Jon's remarks directly, Richie told Daily Mail: "When people say I don't have my life together — are you kidding me? I'm the happiest dude on the block."

Sambora, who joined BON JOVI in 1983 and co-wrote most of the group's iconic hits over the following three decades, hasn't performed a full show with the band since he left the "Because We Can" tour seven years ago. He later said he thought BON JOVI "should have made more strides to become a band" and not turn into "Jon being the front guy and nothing else." Jon, in turn, claimed Sambora's "choices" had "led him astray."

Sambora rejoined BON JOVI on stage in April 2018 at the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame induction ceremony in Cleveland, marking his first performance with the band in five years. Also appearing with the group was bassist Alec John Such, who hadn't played with BON JOVI since a one-off performance in 2001. They performed several crowd favorites, including "Livin' On A Prayer", "You Give Love A Bad Name" and "It's My Life".

BON JOVI's latest album, "2020", was released in October 2020 via Island Records.

W.A.S.P.'s headlining concert at Amplified Live in Dallas, Texas Saturday night (November 5) was reportedly shut down by the Dallas Fire Department just prior to the band taking the stage as the almost-2,000-seat capacity venue was allegedly oversold by almost 1,200 tickets. Support at the concert was scheduled to be provided by the MICHAEL SCHENKER GROUP and ARMORED SAINT.

Earlier today, the responsible promoter for W.A.S.P.'s concert in Dallas released the following statement via the band's social media: "After the dust settled in Dallas we wanted to make a clarifying statement letting everyone know that Amplified Live did not intentionally over sell the show. There was a clerical error on the venue capacity certificate that didn't include the entire outdoor venue space. When they rebranded the venue they were issued a new certificate with this omission. While that area is clearly venue space, the Dallas Fire Dept had no choice but to shut down the show because of that reason and the venue will be having a new certificate issued ASAP. Again we are sorry for what happened".

On Sunday, W.A.S.P. frontman Blackie Lawless said in a statement that the Dallas Police Department advised him and his bandmates and crew "to leave the venue immediately because they said they could not guarantee our safety." He went on to say "promoters didn't think this band could sell tickets in the U.S. anymore. Well, it goes to show the absolute dedication of our fan base has here in the U. S."

No makeup date has been set for this show, but Blackie promised: "We'll certainly be back. You can bet on that."

All those in attendance will be issued a full and complete refund.

W.A.S.P.'s first U.S. tour in a decade coincides with the band's 40th anniversary.

Speaking to the "Appetite For Distortion" podcast, Lawless explained why he and his bandmates were absent from U.S. shores for so long. "The fans did this," he said, referencing the band's current trek. "I've never seen anything like that. Promoters didn't think this band could sell tickets anymore. We were being offered stuff that wasn't very good, and we didn't wanna do that because the production that we wanted to do was way bigger. And so I just started telling the truth. I said, 'Hey, it's down to promoters.'"

He continued: "Any band — and I don't care who it is — any band will go anywhere if a promoter gives them a decent offer, and that's true. And so I told the fans, I go, 'Hey, let your local guy know [to hit us up with a decent offer].' It was almost like a passing thought — you know, 'This will never happen in a million years.' Well, a couple of hundred of 'em literally got together and started petitioning, and then that grew into thousands of people, and they started literally rallying to petition their local promoters. And it brings us to where we are now. But I've never heard of anything before or since that was like that. So I guess it goes back to the old adage: don't let people tell you that you just being one person won't make a difference, because it did. That's the absolute truth. I've never seen anything like this before."

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.

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.

Update from the promoter in Dallas, TX: "After the dust settled in Dallas we wanted to make a clarifying statement…

Posted by W.A.S.P. Nation (Official) on Monday, November 7, 2022
The Dallas, TX promotor oversold tickets for the show tonight at Amplified Live. The Fire Marshall showed up & informed the promoter that the show would not happen unless they removed 600 people from the venue. The band deeply regrets the issues brought on by tonight’s promoter. pic.twitter.com/LYpTgDchhP

— W.A.S.P. Nation (@WASPOfficial) November 6, 2022

Former Accept/Bonfire and current Iron Allies vocalist, David Reece, has lent his instantly recognizable voice to synthwave project Ion Pulse, their new Children Of Snake Mountain EP is available now on all streaming sites.


While this is musically new ground for David, both his loyal hard rock fanbase and fans of the fast growing retro-orientated synthwave genre alike will surely find much to enjoy, as the EP takes the listener back to the mid to late 1980s, combining a dramatic dark synth-driven atmosphere with the more traditional elements of late 80's styled hard rock.


Ion Pulse mastermind Mike Morphett states: "Ion Pulse was born from a love of the music and films of the 1980s; from Mr. Mister to Megadeth, from Teen Wolf to The Terminator. On this latest EP, Children Of Snake Mountain, the guitar crunch and pulsing synthesizers of their action-movie-styled anthems is joined by the soaring voice of vocalist David Reece (Iron Allies, ex-Accept)... Join the Ion Legions and storm the slopes of Snake Mountain!”







The EP brings together a total of five songs, including a cover of Dio's classic track, "Rock 'N' Roll Children". Purchase via Spotify, Apple Music, Bandcamp.


Children Of Snake Mountain by Ion Pulse


(Photo - Kommodore Johnsen)

UK bashers Cradle Of Filth performed a special Halloween show on  Saturday, October 29th at London venue Indigo at The O2. Fan-filmed video of the entire gig can be viewed below.


The setlist was as follows:


"Existential Terror"
"Nocturnal Supremacy"
"Summer Dying Fast"
"I Am the Thorn"
"Crawling King Chaos
"Nymphetamine"
"A Gothic Romance (Red Roses for the Devil's Whore)"
"Scorched Earth Erotica"
"Us, Dark, Invincible"




Encore:
"Venus In Fear"
"Desire in Violent Overture"
"Necromantic Fantasies"
"Gilded Cunt"
"Her Ghost in the Fog"

Bassist/vocalist Thomas "Angelripper" Such of German thrash metal veterans SODOM has confirmed to Agoraphobic News that he and his bandmates have commenced work on the follow-up to 2020's "Genesis XIX" LP. He said: "We are still working on new material for a new album. We have three [songs so far]. I can tell you this will be the heaviest SODOM album ever.

"I don't know when it's gonna be released — next year or 2024 — because I wanna work on it without any pressure," he continued. "It's very important. When the songs are finished, everything is fixed, we can talk to a record company to get an option to release. That's also the business.

"But, yes, we are always active," Tom added. "During the corona times, we had more time for writing songs and recording an album. That was the only positive in these times. But 'Genesis XIX' was a wonderful album 'cause we spent more time recording it."

SODOM's 40th-anniversary album, "40 Years At War - The Greatest Hell Of Sodom", arrived on October 28 through Steamhammer/SPV. The LP includes one song from each of the previous studio albums receiving a re-recorded treatment from SODOM's current lineup. The CD and vinyl double LP with their martial cover artwork penned by Eliran Kantor (KREATOR, TESTAMENT, GWAR, among others) contain 17 tracks, all newly recorded by Such, Frank Blackfire (guitar),Yorck Segatz (guitar) and Toni Merkel (drums).

"Genesis XIX" came out in November 2020 via Entertainment One (eOne) in North America and Steamhammer/SPV in Europe. The disc was recorded by Siggi Bemm and mastered by Patrick W. Engel and comes shrouded in the cover art of Joe Petagno of MOTÖRHEAD fame.

Angelripper previously described "Genesis XIX" as "one of the toughest and most diverse studio recordings that SODOM have ever released."

SLIPKNOT's latest album, "The End, So Far", was released on September 30 via Roadrunner Records. The follow-up to 2019's "We Are Not Your Kind", it is the band's final record with Roadrunner after first signing with the rock and metal label in 1998.

In a new interview with NME, SLIPKNOT percussionist Shawn "Clown" 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".

Sabaton guitarist / Majestica frontman Tommy Johansson has shared a cover of the Twisted Sister classic, "The Price", taken from the 1984 album, Stay Hungry.


Johansson: "Video recorded during the North American tour with Sabaton and Epica 2022. Recorded in Chicago, New York, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Graceland, Camden, Montreal CA, Minneapolis, Detroit, Richmond, Las Vegas, LA, Hollywood, Boston to name some of the places.


A big thanks to those who helped me film this video: Pablo Christlein, Jens De Vos, Matt Teixeira, Johan Bengs, and thanks to Hannes Van Dahl for your expertise!"







Sabaton recently released a new lyric video for the Carolus Rex album track, "1648". Watch below.


Says the band: "This song is about The Battle of Prague, which was the last major clash of the Thirty Years’ War. The Swedes took the opportunity for a last assault on Bohemia to loot Prague Castle of its art and valuables – fascinating story."





With their fascination for the stories of World War I and two dedicated studio albums filled to the brim with stories from this conflict, the band from Falun have decided to dive even deeper into this topic with their newest release: The EP trilogy entitled Echoes Of The Great War.


This new EP trilogy features new songs specifically about World War I, coupled with topically related catalogue music. You read that right; Sabaton has been busy in the studio recording some new music for their fans. With this WWI collection, the band aims to present this music in a different way, enabling the listener to familiarise themselves with these incredible war stories, while simultaneously quenching the thirst for metal music.


Commenting on the new project, Pär Sundström states: “This trilogy complements our two studio albums The Great War and The War To End All Wars. We were definitely not ready to close our World War I chapter. We wanted to continue the journey and let it echo a little longer in the hearts and minds of our fans."


The first in the series, Weapons Of The Modern Age, is out now. In times of conflict, science is very much linked to the war system. The First World War witnessed some of the biggest leaps in scientific evolution, weaponizing land, sea and skies in ways never witnessed before. This EP sheds light on the powerful and devastating tactics used to fight the war, and kicking off this release is SABATON's new track, "Father".


Sharing his insight on the track, Joakim Broden declares: “Our new song, 'Father', is a dark track about a very controversial person. Fritz Haber, the man who weaponized lethal gas, is responsible for about 4 billion people being alive today thanks to the Haber-Bosch process that he won a Nobel Prize for. It takes some serious thought to wrap your head around his story. Things aren’t always easy to understand or simply black and white, but rather all shades of grey. 'Father' really forces you to think a bit more than the average song you hear on the radio."


Weapons Of The Modern Age is available at all streaming platforms found here. Watch the "Father" lyric video below.





Tracklist:


"Father"
"The Red Baron"
"Dreadnought"
"The Attack of the Dead Men"
"The Future of Warfare"
"Stormtroopers"

Original AC/DC singer Dave Evans says that he has no regrets about his split with the group.

Dave recorded AC/DC's first two singles, "Can I Sit Next To You Girl" and "Baby, Please Don't Go". But in October 1974, less than a year after AC/DC's first gig, Evans was out of the band. He was replaced by Scott, who sang on AC/DC's first six studio albums and became a legend himself after his death in 1980.

Evans discussed his post-AC/DC career in a recent interview with Argentina's Urbana Play 104.3 FM. Asked if he has any regrets about the way his time with the band ended, Dave said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "I've had a fantastic career. I kept rocking with RABBIT and DAVID EVANS AND THUNDER DOWN UNDER, and I'm traveling around the world now, still recording. So as far as my career is concerned, I've had a fantastic career; I'm still having an amazing time. Bon Scott joined the band, but he was there about five or six years, and he's dead. So it was bad luck for him.

"You can't have regrets," he continued. "I'm having the most incredible life. I travel the whole world. And I'm a solo artist, of course, so I don't have to take a band with me. I have musicians in all different countries. I go wherever I want to go. And I see all the countries and I do what I want to do, not what the band has to tell me to do and that kind of thing. So I have freedom to be where I want to be with the people I wanna be with. And at the end of the day, it's all about freedom — life is about freedom; freedom of choice and being with people that you really love. And I'm lucky to do that."

Evans previously talked about his exit from AC/DC in a 2021 interview with DJ Grant from New Zealand's Galaxy 107 FM. At the time, he said: "You've gotta remember that Bon Scott did a lot of the songs that I already did, like 'Baby, Please Don't Go', we already did that. That's the song that I got Angus [Young, AC/DC guitarist] up on my shoulders, and, of course, he used to watch us doing our show, so he copied that. I understand that he copied what I was doing. And the songs too, and re-recorded them and re-wrote the lyrics to some of the songs that I had already put down. But he was told to do that. I know that he was under instructions to do this, so I don't really hold it against Bon Scott for that, because when he joined the band, he was washed up at the time, and he got a great chance to do something, and he did too. He did a great job, but his lifestyle just let him down."

Evans also talked about the enduring popularity of "Can I Sit Next To You Girl", which was originally released as a single in July 1974 and featured drums by Colin Burgess and bass by George Young (older brother of AC/DC co-founders Malcolm and Angus Young).

"It's one of those songs, I play it around the world — I still do, of course, every show I do — and people love the song," he said. "And it's amazing how many people say to me that's their favorite AC/DC song. I can't believe it. [AC/DC has] 'T.N.T.' and all those great songs, 'Highway To Hell' and all these other great songs, and fans come up to me and say that that's their favorite song."

Earlier last year, Dave was asked in an interview with The Rocker Diaries if he thought "that would be it" for AC/DC after Bon's death in 1980. He responded: "No, not at all. I mean, we all keep going. And AC/DC has had that many players through [the history of] the band. I don't know how many. 20? And three singers, plus a stand-in singer as well.

"We were always ambitious when we first started," he continued. "We always wanted to be the best in the world — all of us. And after me, Bon Scott got his chance. He did great with the band. And when he died, I just thought, 'Who are they gonna get?' I never thought [I would be approached about it] myself, because that's water under the bridge. And I was busy with bands as well at the time, and doing my own music and recording. I was just wondering who it would be. I had heard of [Brian Johnson's pre-AC/DC band] GEORDIE — just the name GEORDIE. I'd never heard of Brian. And then Brian popped up and, of course, the 'Back In Black' album came out, which was a massive album around the world, and they were off and running with Brian. But if Brian quit, they'd get another singer, and another singer. [They've gone through] different bass players [and] different drummers.

"The drive was always Malcolm Young," Dave added. "I remember Malcolm when I first met him. He was such a driving force. Just a tiny little guy — just a little touch over five foot tall — but, boy, he had a big heart and a big personality. And he was tough, too — Malcolm was very tough. And no matter what, he was AC/DC through and through. And, of course, once he passed away, which is very sad, AC/DC, of course, will never, ever be the same without Malcolm. How can it be?"

In May 2021, Evans released a new compilation album called "BADASS Greatest Hits". The effort contains "20 massive hits on one album," including Dave's version of "Rockin' In The Parlour", the song that originally appeared as the B-side of the "Can I Sit Next to You Girl" single.

Daniel Fawcett, who played guitar for the Canadian hard rock band HELIX between 2002 and 2004, was found murdered early Sunday morning (November 6). He was 52 years old.

HELIX frontman Brian Vollmer confirmed Fawcett's passing, writing in a Facebook post: What a sad day... Yesterday Dan Fawcett, who played guitar for HELIX around 2000, was found murdered in a North London park. Dan was a sweet guy-always smiling-and a great guitar player as well. No details have been released yet, so there's little more I can say here. All I can say is that both [my wife] Lynda and I are in shock."

According to Global News, Fawcett was found unresponsive around 6:45 a.m. near the bottom of the Grosvenor Street hill leading into Gibbons Park in London, Ontario, Canada. Emergency crews began life-saving measures. However, Daniel was pronounced dead a short time later, police said.

Fawcett appeared on HELIX's 2004 album "Rockin' In My Outer Space".

Daniel's longtime friend and fellow musician Tim E. Hendry told Global News: "We played in so many different bands together for years and years. I think every band I ever played drums in in London, Dan at one point had to be the guitar player. He was the lead guitarist in my Elvis show up there, TIM E. & THE YES MEN. He could play that chicken pickin', beautiful, James Burton, Telecaster-clean sound, and then the next night he can go and play Ozzy Osbourne or go play for HELIX or something like that."

Hendry described Fawcett as like a brother to him, adding: "Dan was loved so much beyond his incredible talent on the guitar. He was just one of the sweetest guys you'll ever meet, and we just can't fathom why anybody would do this to him. He wouldn't hurt a flea. He was just so kind-hearted, and all he cared about was his friends, his music, and his especially his beautiful daughter. What a tragic loss for such a beautiful soul to be taken away way too early."

Former Slayer drummer Jon Dette recently kicked off his planned series of Big 4 playthrough cover songs. Check out his performance of the Anthrax classic "A.I.R." below.


Dette: "I played through the track pretty much how I performed it live with the band on tour."


Dette is best known for his time in Slayer and Testament. Over the years, he has also been chosen to fill-in with Anthrax, Heathen, and Iced Earth. 







Dette previously covered Metallica's "Blackened.

Consequence is reporting that after living in Los Angeles for decades, Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne are moving back to England. And while much has been made about the couple’s exodus from the States, the Prince of Darkness would prefer to “stay in America.”


Ozzy is the subject of Consequence’s latest cover story, published Monday, November 7. The metal legend discusses a wide range of topics, including his new album, Patient Number 9, and his recent health battles.


The Osbournes’ move back to the UK will be the subject of a new BBC reality series titled Home To Roost, premiering next year. But, as Ozzy tells Consequence, he never wanted to leave the States.




“I’m getting a bit of flak from people,” Ozzy tells Consequence of the move. “To be honest with you, if I had my way, I’d stay in America. I’m American now.”


The iconic singer blames Sharon’s ousting from the daytime TV show The Talk as the straw that broke the camel’s back, suggesting the couple no longer feels safe in America.


“When my wife got called a racist on [The Talk], she is absolutely not a racist,” Ozzy declares. “Her friend is Piers Morgan [who made disparaging comments about Meghan Markle]. She didn’t say, ‘I agree with him.’ She just respected his ability to have freedom of speech. That’s all that she said. And she got a lot of flak from that, so we actually had to have fucking armed guards and all that.”


Sharon, meanwhile, points to the safety of Los Angeles, in general, telling Consequence, “When I first came here, I thought I was in heaven. In the ’70s, if you loved music, this was the place to be. It’s not that hub anymore. It’s not exciting anymore. It hasn’t gone sideways, it’s gone down. It’s not a fun place to live. It’s dangerous here. Every big city’s got crime, but I don’t feel safe here. Neither does Ozzy.”


Still, Ozzy seems pretty adamant that his personal preference is to stay put in L.A.: “To be honest with you, I don’t want to go back [to England]. Fuck that.”


Read more at Consequence.


Decentraland, the world’s largest user-owned and operated virtual social world, previously announced the sophomore edition of Metaverse Music Festival (MVMF), including confirmed talent, new types of metaverse experiences, and more. This year, MVMF returns bigger and bolder from November 10-13 with 100 confirmed artists (more to come) across uniquely curated community genre stages, and with newly-created, Web3-enabled, immersive music experiences. Presented by digital asset platform Kraken, MVMF is free for all to attend, no VR, ticket or headset required.


Part of the Metaverse Music Festival includes the iconic global touring metal festival OzzFest, which launched the careers of countless new bands including Slipknot, Disturbed, System Of A Down, Incubus, Lamb Of God, and many others.


Acts confirmed include: Ozzy Osbourne, Megadeth, Motörhead, Black Label Society, The Raven Age, and Skid Row.





This year, Decentraland is doubling down on music in the metaverse. MVMF will showcase the latest metaverse technology that presents listeners with truly unique experiences only available through a virtual world. Decentraland’s unique Emotes feature enables any creator worldwide to create custom moves and gestures that bring your avatar to life, and will be a central part of how concert goers have fun through dancing and self expression during the festival. New motion capture technology will also be demonstrated on this global stage from Move.ai which enables motion capture with no suits and Kinetix.tech that aims to empower creators to make emote NFTs using only a phone camera. Presenting partner Kraken will also drop a series of NFT wearables exclusive for festival-goers, unveil a pop-up NFT gallery as well as host a special festival after party.


Whether it’s promoting an album release, supporting an NFT strategy, experimenting with metaverse performances, or looking for new ways to share their music with new audiences, Decentraland’s MVMF supports artists in a myriad of ways. New fan engagement models - such as wearables, NFT gated-experiences, and exclusives - have gained momentum over the last year and are being taken to another level this year. The artists playing at MVMF have worked with community designers in Decentraland to create one-of-a-kind swag options and soon-to-be-announced specials.


For this year’s festival, superstar producer, songwriter and DJ Dillon Francis has collaborated with Vegas City to bring a state-of-the-art Dillon Francis mega club to Decentraland. Dillon will open the festival with a very special set that will be projected on several screens throughout the mega club all weekend, making it a right of passage of sorts for anyone who comes to the festival at any point. Attendees will also be able to play Smash the Piñata with Dillon's infamous piñata sidekick Gerald and chase him all throughout the venue.


The Decentraland Festival District is showcasing an array of new experiences and exciting performances including a Jerry Garcia Acoustic Stage, MultiNFT Techno Parkour Stage, an epic pop-up nightclub by web3 music network Moda Dao and importantly the OG stage featuring Decentraland's most prolific musicians and event promoters.


Last but not least, Decentraland will introduce a variety of new metaverse experiences for users to attend when their ears need a moment of rest, such as the Portaloo experience to the Follow the Rabbit to the Take the Blue Pill experience. Other experiences are geared towards creators and community organizers looking to develop more embedded experiences, showcased through the MadMax Decentrally race, a community dance contest using the first generation of Emotes, and the Backstage Pass Quest.


Join Decentraland at the next instalment of Metaverse Music Festival by pre-registering here.

KINGS OF THRASH, the new band featuring former MEGADETH members David Ellefson (bass) and Jeff Young (guitar), recently entered the studio to begin recording the first of four original songs. The group, which also includes drummer Fred Aching as well as guitarist/vocalist Chaz Leon, along with the occasional guest appearance by another former MEGADETH member, Chris Poland (guitar), just completed a four-date West Coast tour which culminated in a sold-out gig at the legendary Whisky A Go Go in West Hollywood, California. All four shows saw KINGS OF THRASH performing MEGADETH's classic albums "Killing Is My Business… And Business Is Good!" and "So Far, So Good… So What!" in their entirety.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Halifax, Canada's Kilmore create a brand of soulful psychedelic stoner rock as a yearning for expression and escapism. Their musical endeavors see them unearthing the realities of life through sounds and wanting to create something new. Featuring magnetically emotive passages contrasted against assaults of groove-forward aggression, the band conveys themes surrounding rebirth, love, hate, frustration, understanding, and the search for truth to permeate their darker-edged sonic palette.


Today, the quartet unveils their latest single “Tempest" accompanied by a music video, which will be featured on their forthcoming EP From The Inside, which follows their East Coast Music Award-nominated 2015 EP City Lights, and 2018 LP Call Of The Void, which won the "Loud Recording of the Year".







Vocalist and guitarist Heather Harris explains the single:


“We planned to have six tracks on our next EP, and ‘Tempest' was one of the most unyielding to nail down, it took us a while to get the groove of it. To me, it sounded transcendent but chaotic, like a tempest rising. We thought it would be a good first introduction to ‘From the Inside’ as it has a groovy progressive feel."


“Tempest" is about someone coming into your life like a hurricane. Harris experienced this while welcoming her son into the world, a world that seemed so disrupted at the time. The song speaks of a vigorous figure finding its place in a hectic world while shining brightly through the darkness.


“Tempest" is one of many songs that Kilmore had worked on over the past couple of years while being locked down during the pandemic.


"We have grown a lot musically with each record we have released. ‘City Lights’ was more rock-influenced, ‘Call of the Void’ swayed more in the metal, stoner rock realm, and our upcoming EP 'From The Inside' brings both elements." adds Harris.


Artwork by Stephen MacDonald:





From The Inside will be a form of groovy, psychedelic rock with metal components. Lyrically, it was written at a time of disarray around the world with internal struggles as well. During its writing process, Heather Harris became a new mother and was searching to find her place in a new reality, which speaks loudly in the vocal and lyrical emotions on the EP. Fans will find themes of destruction while others of hope, each song has its own substance and identity.


"We worked with producer Jon Landry (The Stanfields) who is a seasoned songwriter himself and he really brought in a unique perspective to the songs. We recorded the whole EP in our basement studio which gave us the time needed to craft each song and bring life to the recordings. Musically, some songs came out easier than others, and some needed more time to capture the essence we were looking for. When I wrote the lyrics, the themes were formed from the emotions I felt from the music. This was an intense time for me with the world seeming so unpredictable and disorganized, there were a lot of feelings brewing inside. This comes across in the lyrics and artwork for the album,” says Harris.


More songs will be revealed in lead up to the 2023 release of their EP From The Inside.


(Photo – Kayla Macaulay Photography)

Epic/power metal act Arrayan Path is ready to return with a new release. Thus Always To Tyrants will be released on December 9 via Pitch Black Records.


The album’s 13 songs – including two bonus tracks available on CD – stand out for their great songwriting quality, from all points of view. Nicholas Leptos’ immense vocal performance, the refined melodic research, the variety of riffs and drum fills, place Thus Always To Tyrants among the most convincing power metal releases this year.


Thus Always To Tyrants is also the band’s first “true” concept album and the tracklisting follows the story in chronological order. The story is that of King Evagoras, the ruler of the Kingdom of Salamis in Cyprus. 




Frontman Nicholas Leptos and the band’s driving force comments:


“We decided to address a great moment in the history of our country, Cyprus, and tell the tale of King Evagoras (one of the most important figures in Cypriot history). He was the ruler of the Kingdom of Salamis (not to be confused with the island of Salamis in Greece) and a brave warrior, politician and admirer of Hellenistic culture at the time (end of 5th century B.C. to beginning of 4th century B.C.).


“The chronicle covers the origins of the story, the King’s life, death, wars, achievements and a short aftermath. There will be Usurpers, there will be Persians, there will be Spartans, battles and sieges, there will be blood!”





Thus Always To Tyrants was recorded at Take Away Studios, produced by Slava Selin. Mixed and mastered at Domination Studio in San Marino by Simone Mularoni. The artwork is by Giannis Nakos of Remedy Art Design.


First single “Of Royal Ancestry” is streaming below: