The German-Italian power metal band The Unity - featuring Gamma Ray members Henjo Richter (guitar) and Michael Ehré (drums), and Edguy bassist Tobias Exxel - have started working on their fourth studio album.


Drunmmer Michael Ehré: "The first songs have already been composed and many more ideas are currently being worked out. With Eggi (Tobias Exxel), The Unity gained another creative source."


The release of the as-yet-untitled album is planned for autumn 2023.




The band is also happy about the invitation to this year´s Metal Hammer Paradise Festival in Germany, which takes place on November 18th and 19th at Weissenhäuser Strand on the SchleswigHolstein Baltic Sea coast.


Vocalist Gianbattista Manenti: "It´s the second time that we take part in this unique festival and we know that both us and the fans will have an unforgettable weekend again.“


The Unity's live scehdule is as follows:


October
28 - Weiher, Germany - Live Music Hall


November
19 - Weissenhäuser Strand, Germany - Metal Hammer Paradise


Go to this location for festival information.


The Unity recently released a video for "Rusty Cadillac“. The special thing about this clip: the material was 100% filmed by the fans at two shows with their mobile phones – not highly polished but raw and authentic. 

DREAM THEATER guitarist John Petrucci kicked off his first headlining solo tour last night (Wednesday, October 5) at The Strand Ballroom & Theatre in Providence, Rhode Island. Petrucci performed material from his recently released solo album, "Terminal Velocity", as well as songs from his widely acclaimed debut release, "Suspended Animation". "Terminal Velocity" marked the first time that John and former DREAM THEATER drummer Mike Portnoy recorded together since Mike left the band in 2010. Now, John is taking his instrumental trio on the road performing live with Portnoy and legendary bassist Dave LaRue in an onstage reunion that has been 12 years in the making.

Asked in a new interview with Rob Rush Radio if there were any "first-show jitters" prior to the Providence gig, Petrucci said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "There's always that. First of all, playing with Mike again is so awesome, and, of course, with Dave LaRue, my trio, is just great. [October 5] was the first night of the tour and the first time Mike and I stepped onstage and performed together in 12 years. So it was a really special moment. I've known him — we met at Berklee [College Of Music]; we were 18 years old; we played together forever, even though he's not in DREAM THEATER anymore. So there is just this chemistry and camaraderie that's just so natural. We had such a great time. But, yeah, first song you get a little jittery and then it kind of disappears. It was a lot of fun."

The historic tour will run through October and November and promises to be an unforgettable night of live musicianship. The recently reunited all-female band MEANSTREAK is the special guest openers for the tour. MEANSTREAK is comprised of guitarists Marlene Portnoy (Mike's wife) and Rena Sands (Petrucci's wife),vocalist Bettina France, bassist Martens Myung (wife of DREAM THEATER bassist John Myung) and drummer Yael.

Portnoy, who co-founded DREAM THEATER more than 35 years ago, abruptly quit the band in September 2010 while on tour with AVENGED SEVENFOLD. He has since been replaced by Mike Mangini (ANNIHILATOR, EXTREME, JAMES LABRIE, STEVE VAI).

In March 2021, Petrucci and Portnoy's instrumental progressive rock/metal project LIQUID TENSION EXPERIMENT released its third album, "LTE3", via InsideOut Music. The effort arrived 22 years after the release of 1999's "Liquid Tension Experiment 2".

Petrucci previously said that having Mike play drums on "Terminal Velocity" was a "really special" experience for him. "And he did an absolutely incredible job navigating the various styles and technical challenges my music presented in the way that only he can do," John said.

"It was very cathartic for the both of us, I think, to be playing music together again after all these years, and it really felt great. Mike's spirited, intuitive and energetic playing truly helped to elevate these new songs to a level that I couldn't be happier with."

Ted Nugent has praised Kanye West as "a man of great vision."

The 73-year-old rocker offered his opinion on the controversial rapper one week after West sat down for an interview with Fox News host Tucker Carlson in which Kanye explained his decision to wear a "White Lives Matter" shirt at Paris Fashion Week, elaborated on his support of former U.S. president Donald Trump and claimed that the body-positive movement is a media-driven conspiracy to kill black people.

"The enemies of his ideas dismissed West, as they have for years, as mentally ill," Carlson told his audience before airing the Kanye interview on October 6. "Too crazy to take seriously. Look away. Ignore him. He's a mental patient. There's nothing to see here." Kanye's rhetoric could be "jarring," Carlson said, something that is "often used as ammunition against him in the battle for influence over the minds of America’s young people. And that battle is intense."

Tucker then offered a challenge to his viewers: "Is West crazy? You can judge for yourself as you watch what we're about to show you."

Nugent addressed West's comments during the latest edition of "The Nightly Nuge", a news-style clip in which he offers his take on the news of our world. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Well, I watched the interview with Tucker Carlson. It was just one of the most brilliant journalistic moments in the history of journalism. Tucker Carlson is certainly a warrior of truth, logic and common sense, good over evil, right over wrong. And old Kanye West, now considered Ye West, a man of great vision, an entrepreneur, rock solid in the asset column. And my son Rocco works with his team on a musical and fashion level, and Kanye stood strong for God, family, country against the self-inflicted evil scourge of the forced transgender confusion that exists out there.

"So I'd like everybody, if they didn't see the Tucker Carlson interview with Kanye West, with Ye West — I guess 'Ye' is short for Kanye — the guy, I don't know if you've ever seen his chorus; he does a church choral with hundreds of the most gifted, talented, spiritual, soul music forces that I've ever seen — moving, moving, spiritual music. And Kanye West is behind all that," Nugent continued. "And he's coming right out and condemning the sexualization of our children, especially at the hands of his ex-wife and the entire Kardashian realm. What a bunch of rotten, horrible people. So it is a real ugly chapter, and I think people should pay attention to Kanye West. I think he's made some blunders in the past. When he got up and — I forget the name — Taylor something" — referring to Taylor Swift — "was winning an award and Kanye got up there and protested. I thought that was kind of cute and uncalled for. But it was harmless for the most part. But he seems to have really come unto his own. And he's been canceled, he's been attacked for standing up for Christianity, for standing up for the unborn human life that the left is maniacally scrambling to slaughter. He has identified, as a black man, what you and I cannot say as non-blacks. He has condemned the Democrat party of system of genocide where more black children are murdered in the womb than are even slaughtered on the streets. But the blacks that are slaughtered on the streets are slaughtered by blacks. And the sensationalizing and celebration of obesity in the black community all too often, which is just unhealthy. Kanye was touching and pushing all the important quality-of-life buttons — that you have to respect life in the womb, that you have to respect the 10 commandments and the guidance and nurture and love and discipline of our children and the condemnation and sexualization of innocent youth. And diet — he was talking about the importance of a conscientious, intelligent diet, against Big Pharma, against the atrocities of the FDA and the USDA."

Ted added: "If you want health, I recommend you get a bow and arrow and shoot a nice organic deer or a turkey or a hog or an elk or a pronghorn or a caribou or a moose. That's where you get a good diet. In fact, I've been in touch with Kanye's gang, his people, his team, and Kanye wants to learn to bow hunt. He wants to get right in the belly of God's miraculous renewable creation and be self-sufficient. And if ever there was a black heritage, it would be the hunting lifestyle. We got it from them."

A few days after Kanye's interview with Tucker aired, unaired footage from the controversial sit-down came to light, including one clip in which the rapper revealed that he was vaccinated when questioned by Carlson about the COVID-19 pandemic and associated healthcare response. (Carlson has been one of the most vocal critics of the COVID-19 vaccines.) Elsewhere in the unaired footage, Kanye claimed that "professional actors" and "fake children" were put in his house to manipulate and "sexualize [his] kids," and that the Kardashians "kidnapped" one of his kids on her birthday so that he couldn't see her.

In the last couple of weeks, West has been under fire for making blatantly antisemitic threats against Jewish people. He has since been locked out of both his Instagram and Twitter accounts.

A year and a half ago, Nugent praised Tucker Carlson as "a brave, ass-kicking, wall-destroying, lie-crushing guy" whose program should be watched "daily."

According to SILive, Polifact, a fact-checking web site that rates the accuracy of claims by elected officials and others on its Truth-O-Meter, has labeled a number of Carlson's statements False, Mostly False, and "Pants On Fire" false. In a court case in 2020, U.S. District Judge Mary Kay Vyskocil's opinion, leaning heavily on the arguments of Fox's lawyers, said the following: "The 'general tenor' of [Tucker Carlson's] show should then inform a viewer that [Carlson] is not 'stating actual facts' about the topics he discusses and is instead engaging in 'exaggeration' and 'non-literal commentary.'"

W.A.S.P. will embark on its first U.S. tour in a decade this fall. The trek will coincide the band's 40th anniversary and will include support from ARMORED SAINT and MICHAEL SCHENKER on select shows.

Speaking to the "Appetite For Distortion" podcast, W.A.S.P. leader Blackie 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 upcoming trek (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET). "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.

In a recent interview with Metal Edge magazine, Lawless was asked how he plans to stage a "real-deal W.A.S.P. show" to celebrate the band's 40th anniversary "with the existence of cancel culture and woke culture." He responded: "That's a complicated question you just asked. Because first of all, I'm not gonna even consider a woke culture. That has nothing to do with my world. You know, if that's what somebody wants to do that's their privilege. Free country. But our fan base is our fan base. So, one of the things I learned a long time ago is that if you're going to have a genuine career… And when I say a real career, I'm talking about somebody that does it for a lifetime, I'm not talking about somebody that just makes records. And that's okay, too. In the pop world, that's fine. You know, that's what people want. But if you're going to have a genuine career, I'm not talking about somebody that's around for five years, or 10 years. I'm talking about somebody who's around 20 years, 30 years, longer. What you're saying, in effect, is you're going to take that fan base on a lifelong ride. And if you're going to do that, you have to have an intimate relationship with them. And if you don't have that intimate relationship, they will never feel like they know you.

"You've got to be willing to crack your skull open, and let them come inside and walk around barefoot, inside your head," he continued. "You really do. And the only way you can do this is with lyrics. We can do interviews like this, and it helps considerably. I mean, people get to know you a lot that way. But the lyrics are where they're really gonna get to know you. Because that's what they're listening to most of the time. And so to do that, you've got to be willing to share parts of yourself that a lot of artists just aren't willing to do. Let them get in there, into the nooks and crannies, and find the good and the not so good.

"So, to get into a culture that is doing that, that would do me no good, because I'm talking to specific people out there. First of all, our type of music, whether it's us or anybody else in our genre, we are a subculture. We're not mainstream. We're not the pop world, which is 50 percent of the market. We're a smaller market, like, you know, 25 to 30 percent of that potential pie that's out there. It's not going to do me any good to try to talk to people that aren't going to listen anyway. My whole thing is to try to identify what it is I'm thinking and feeling at the moment. Because I, too, like everybody else, my opinions are gonna change from time to time.

"And so the idea is, when you take people on that lifelong ride, they look at what you wrote 30 years ago, and they go, 'Oh, wow, look what he was thinking,'" Blackie added. "And they listen to something, whatever the last thing was that came out, and they go, 'Oh, wow, look at how he's thinking now.' So this is that intimacy, where you take people and you're literally communicating with them over the course of this journey. So, trying to do anything from a standpoint of being influenced socially would do me no good. Or anybody like me that does this. You have to be true to yourself. I mean, we got into this not giving a damn about what people thought so why should it be any different now?"

BODY COUNT, the metal band fronted by hip-hop legend, actor and director Ice-T, is continuing the recording process for its new album, "Merciless". The follow-up to 2020's "Carnivore" is tentatively due in early 2023 via Century Media.

Speaking to Darren Paltrowitz, host of the "Paltrocast With Darren Paltrowitz", Ice-T stated about the upcoming BODY COUNT LP (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Will Putney's producing again. We've had three consecutive great albums working with Will; he understands. I call him 'the Dr. Dre of metal,' because he has the ability to produce different groups but make them sound like themselves, but just better.

"We did 'Carnivore', and right [when] our first date of touring was supposed to start, COVID hit," he continued. "COVID hit, shut down all the stateside tour; 35 European festivals shut down; and we didn't really get to really perform the album; we didn't get to go out, and that kind of sucks.

"You make albums to perform 'em; you don't make 'em just [to sit at home]. And we won a Grammy on that one. That was great; that was a great accolade. It kind of took the sting out of dropping an album to a dead scene; it took the sting out of it. But then the label's, like, 'Okay, we'll do another album.' And I'm, like, 'Wait a minute. We didn't even really get this one out good."

According to Ice-T, he has recorded the vocals for six new BODY COUNT songs so far.

"Usually when I do songs, I'll do the songs but I don't complete 'em," he explained. "Like, if there's gonna be three verses, I'll sing two and then I kind of live with them, and maybe that way I can think about how I wanna end the song and how I wanna change it up. So I did six songs that everybody likes.

"I'm at a point now… When I first used to do albums, I would do, like, 20 songs and then try to pick 12. Now I'm very difficult to find the music, so by the time I pick 12, those are the 12 songs. I'm not doing a whole bunch of recording just to find that… I know what I'm doing. I'm like that photographer that knows how to just wait until the right moment to take the picture: 'Okay, that's one… two.' Versus the guy [who takes a bunch of pictures one after the other]. I don't need to do that.

"So the 'Merciless' album is sounding pretty hard, though," Ice-T added. "We named the motherfucker 'Merciless'. I'm hoping to have it complete before the New Year so that we could drop it next year and be ready to tour in the summer."

"Carnivore" continued the path of its uncompromising and critically acclaimed predecessors, "Bloodlust" and "Manslaugther", in pairing Ice-T's impassioned and socio-critical lyrics with thick guitar riffs and nods to metal and hardcore greats like SLAYER, METALLICA, PANTERA, SUICIDAL TENDENCIES and RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE. Guest musicians on the LP included Amy Lee (EVANESCENCE),Dave Lombardo (ex-SLAYER),Jamey Jasta (HATEBREED) and Riley Gale (POWER TRIP).

BODY COUNT was honored with a Grammy in the "Best Metal Performance" category in the pre-telecast ceremony at the 63rd annual Grammy Awards, which was held in March 2021 in Los Angeles. BODY COUNT was nominated for "Bum-Rush", a track from "Carnivore".

Hoaxed unveil their captivating and catchy debut full-length, Two Shadows, officially out in two weeks on October 28. Today, Hoaxed share the third and final single “The Knowing”.


Hoaxed comment: "It's human nature to be curious about the path your life will take and how you can influence it. This song cautions around digging into practices you don't understand. 'The Knowing' music video was a unique undertaking. We always edit our music videos ourselves, but we took it a step further this time: creation of 'The Knowing' music video was, start to finish, just the two of us."







Comprised of vocalist / guitarist Kat Keo and drummer Kim Coffel, Hoaxed's superlative blend of styles - heavy melodic rock with captivating hooks, gothic undertones, undeniable metal, and tinges of Americana - pave the way for a singular expression that’s entirely their own. 


Two Shadows is out October 28 on LP/CD/CS/Digital. Physical pre-orders are available via Relapse.com. Digital downloads/streaming/pre-save here.


Two Shadows is as unique as it is memorable and catchy. The record thrusts, retreats, and beguiles across its melody-powered and hook-driven expanse, with earworms “The Call,” “Guilty Ones,” and “The Knowing” serving as the album’s crucial lighthouses.





Tracklisting:


"Two Shadows"
"The Call"
"The Knowing"
"For Love"
"Grand Illusions"
"High Seas"
"Guilty Ones"
"Where Good Won’t Go"
"Forsaken"


"The Call" video:





"Guilty Ones" video:





(Photo - Shimon Karmel)


 

Swedish black and death metal pioneers, Necrophobic, have announced reissues for classic albums Darkside, The Third Antichrist, Bloodhymns and Womb Of Lilithu, to be released this winter via Century Media Records.


In the beginning of 2022, Necrophobic started a back catalog series consisting of nine releases in total for the records from 1993-2013. Hrimthursum and Death To All were the first to be released, followed by Satanic Blasphemies and the recently released The Nocturnal Silence.


All of these nine new versions were remastered by Dan Swanö at Unisound. Pre-order the remaining releases now to complete your Necrophobic collection (links below).







Darkside tracklisting (available November 11):


"Black Moon Rising"
"Spawned by Evil"
"Bloodthirst"
"Venaesectio (Episode One)"
"Darkside"
"The Call"
"Descension (Episode Two)"
"Nailing the Holy One"
"Nifelhel (Episode Three)"
"Christian Slaughter"


Darkside will be available in the following versions:


- black LP with LP-booklet & poster - unlimited
- transparent blue LP with LP-booklet & poster - via CM Webshop Europe (limited to 300 copies)
- transparent red LP with LP-booklet & poster - via CM Webshop / CM Distro Europe & all USA outlets (limited to 1000 copies)
- silver LP with LP-booklet & poster - via EMP & Nuclear Blast (limited to 300 copies)
- ltd. CD jewelcase (in slipcase)
- digital album


Pre-order here.





The Third Antichrist tracklisting (available November 18):


"Rise Of The Infernal"
"The Third Of Arrivals"
"Frozen Empire"
"Into Armageddon"
"Eye Of The Storm"
"The Unhallowed"
"Izaz"
"The Throne Of Souls Possessed"
"He Who Rideth In Rage"
"Demonic"
"One Last Step Into The Great Mist"


The Third Antichrist will be available in the following versions:


- black LP with LP-booklet & poster - unlimited
- yellow LP with LP-booklet & poster - via CM Webshop Europe (limited to 300 copies)
- orange LP with LP-booklet & poster - via CM Webshop / CM Distro Europe & all USA outlets (limited to 1000 copies)
- clear LP with LP-booklet & poster - via EMP & Nuclear Blast (limited to 300 copies)
- ltd. CD jewelcase (in slipcase)
- digital album


Pre-order here.





Bloodhymns tracklisting (available December 2)


"Taste of Black"
"Dreams Shall Flesh"
"Act Of Rebellion"
"Shadowseeds"
"Mourningsoul"
"Helfire"
"Cult Of Blood"
"Roots Of Heldrasill"
"Blood Anthem"
"Among The Storms"


Bloodhymns will be available in the following versions:


- black LP & poster - unlimited
- red LP & poster - via CM Webshop Europe (limited to 300 copies)
- clear LP & poster - via CM Webshop / CM Distro Europe & all USA outlets (limited to 1000 copies)
- white LP & poster - via EMP & Nuclear Blast (limited to 300 copies)
- ltd. CD jewelcase (in slipcase)
- digital album


Pre-order here.





Womb Of Lilithu tracklisting (available December 16)


"Womb of Lilithu"
"Splendour Nigri Solis"
"Astaroth"
"Furfur"
"Black Night Raven"
"The Necromancer"
"Marquis Phenex"
"Asmodee"
"Marchosias"
"Matanbuchus"
"Paimon"
"Opium Black"
"Infinite Infernalis"
"Amdusias"
"Splendour Nigri Solis" - Live in Chicago 2015
"Dreams Shall Flesh" - Live in Chicago 2015


Womb Of Lilithu will be available in the following versions:


- gatefold black 2LP & poster - unlimited
- gatefold red 2LP & poster - via CM Webshop Europe (limited to 300 copies)
- gatefold silver 2LP & poster - via CM Webshop / CM Distro Europe & all USA outlets (limited to 1000 copies)
- gatefold golden 2LP & poster - via EMP & Nuclear Blast (limited to 300 copies)
- ltd. CD jewelcase (in slipcase)
- digital album


Pre-order here.


Necrophobic will be playing across Europe in late 2022 and 2023. For a preview of their live show, the band released a video of the track, "Darkside", recorded on April 25th, 1997, during their show at Galaxen in Umeå, Sweden.

Fraternal thrash metal trio Hammerhedd are back with their first new track since the release of their 2021 debut album, Grand Currents. The Kansas City-based band has issued the music video for "Tunnel", which can be seen below.





Speaking about the influence on their latest single, the Ismert brothers share: “We wrote this song about a year ago while listening to The Police nonstop. There’s Stewart Copeland-influenced drums, a few Andy Summers-type chord shapes, and a Sting-style bass riff in the midsection. Aside from that, we (as usual) took heavy influence from Tool, Meshuggah, Mastodon, etc. - the gods of the newer generation of metal, as well as the classics; Rush, Zeppelin, Floyd, etc. We like to think we put these influences together in a way that sounds new, fresh, and uniquely Hammerhedd."







Hammerhedd is very excited to play "Tunnel" on their upcoming shows with In Flames! The band will join forces with the Swedish metal juggernauts starting October 17 in St. Petersberg, Florida. A complete list of dates are as listed.


October
17 - St. Petersburg, FL - Jannus Live
18 - Ft. Lauderdale, FL - Culture Room
20 - Richmond, VA - The National
21 - Warrendale, PA - Jergels
22 - Cleveland, OH - Temple Live
24 - Niagara Falls, NY - The Rapids Theatre
26 - Hampton Beach, NH - Wally's
27 - Poughkeepsie, NY - The Chance Theater
28 - Reading, PA - Reverb


Hammerhedd lineup:


Henry Ismert - guitar, lead vocals 
Eli Ismert - drums
Abe Ismert - bass


 

Italian horror metal veterans Cadaveria share their latest video for "The Sky That Screams Above Us". The dark and atmospheric new hymn is taken from the band's sixth full-length record Emptiness, out now via Time To Kill Records.





The simplicity of the shots, taken in the studio during the recording of the song, and the particularity of the vertical format (suitable for smartphones) come together in the new video. Another example of the synthesis of contrasts of which the band is master.




“The Sky That Screams Above Us” is the eleventh track from “Emptiness", an album graphically based on black and white dualism and musically characterised by the continuous chase of clean and growl vocals, by thrash metal outbursts and doom metal cadences, by black metal and classic metal riffing.


The album cover art was created by Roberto Toderico (Asphyx, Arch Enemy, Dark Funeral). Emptiness can be streamed here, and purchased in black / white double vinyl, CD, and cassette formats at this location.





Tracklisting:


“The Great Journey”
“Shamanic Path”
“Emptiness”
“The Woman Who Fell To Earth”
“Divination”
“Matryoshcada”
“Silver Rain”
“The Cure”
“Life After”
“La Casa dell’ Anima”
“The Sky That Screams Above Us”
“Return” (Deine Lakaien cover) (vinyl bonus track)


“The Woman Who Fell To Earth” video:





“Emptiness” lyric video:





“Silver Rain” video:





 

Canadian prog metal Trailight mastermind Omer Cordell has checked in with a new update on his next album: 


"Drums are done! Daniel just finished tracking the drums yesterday at the studio in Portugal and they are sounding mighty great!


My vision was to give Daniel a sort of carte blanche (with some general direction) to bring his vision into this project as well and I must say he has done that and a lot more to each and every song. It was incredibly easy to work and produce him remotely and he has made this process a real pleasure. I had a feeling he would be a good fit and I was right!




So, with this part wrapped up, next we have the mighty musical genius that is Cory McBain laying down some tasty guitar parts!"

Trailight's latest album Chasing Daylight - released in February 2022 - features guest performances by Archetype guitarist Toño Tejeda, The Astral Light drummer Steven Parent, Alchemy Chamber cellist Anna Kuchkova, and Cyanotic guitarist Cory McBain.

Z2 Comics has announced "In Flames: The Jester's Curse", a graphic novel celebrating the legendary Swedish melodic metal institution. The book expands the post-apocalyptic fantasy behind the quintet's world, following the band's grim mascot, Jesterhead, as he emerges from the Wasteland. He soon finds himself trapped in Dead Eternity — a distorted reality where worlds collide and nightmares thrive. The tortured figure attempts to recover his lost memories… but the devious Whoracle Queen wants him first.

"We're passionate fans of the comic book medium," IN FLAMES says. "We're proud to contribute to that tradition with 'The Jester's Curse'. This is your first descent into our dark fantasy universe, based around our trusty mascot — the Jesterhead! Get in and get lost!"

Overseen by Blake Armstrong, the graphic novel features writing from Armstrong, Ben Laverock and Scott Bramble, with art from Scott Dewey and Armstrong.

"'The Jester's Curse' has been my dream project for nearly a decade. After all these years, I believe we finally found the perfect artistic collaboration to give readers a book that lives up to the music and world of IN FLAMES," Armstrong explains. "The epic continuation that Scott Dewey and Ben Laverock have created is beyond what I could have imagined for this story, and I only hope it will connect with fans the same way IN FLAMES' music has connected with us."

"I've watched the development of this story, and have been a fan of this project for a long time," Z2 Comics editor Rantz Hoseley says. "When the opportunity arose for Z2 to publish the complete book, we didn't hesitate to partner with IN FLAMES to bring this wonderfully insane story to the fans!"

Founded in 1990 in Gothenburg, Sweden, IN FLAMES has spanned 13 LPs and 3 EPs to become one of the most prolific and innovative metal bands the world over. Consisting of members Björn Gelotte, Anders Fridén, Chris Broderick, Bryce Paul and Tanner Wayne, the quintet has been nominated for three Grammis, Sweden's most prestigious musical accolade, and have won two; netting the 2004 award for the "Hard Rock/Metal Album Of The Year" for 2004's "Soundtrack To Your Escape" as well as the same award for the LP "Come Clarity" in 2006. The band has sold more than 2.5 million records over the course of its career. The group will release its 14th studio album, "Foregone", via Nuclear Blast on February 10, 2023.

IN FLAMES is currently on tour in America with MESHUGGAH and will start its European run with AT THE GATES, IMMINENCE and ORBIT CULTURE next month.

Z2 Comics and IN FLAMES present "The Jester's Curse" in standard hardcover and deluxe hardcover editions. The deluxe hardcover will come with a print triptych by Blake Armstrong. Oversized platinum editions will come signed by IN FLAMES with an elegant slipcase and the triptych art prints. Z2 Comics will also exclusively release the single "The Great Deceiver" in a crystal-clear seven-inch vinyl with etched B-Side, limited to 500 copies, as well as a limited-edition Jesterhead action figure. All of items are set to release in spring 2023.

Preorder now at this location.

Mark Tremonti says that a reunion of CREED will happen at a time "when it makes sense for everybody."

More than two years ago, CREED updated its Facebook profile with an old photo, igniting rumors of the multi-platinum act's imminent return.

Mark, who is promoting the new ALTER BRIDGE album, "Pawns & Kings", discussed the chances of a CREED comeback during a new interview with The Rock Experience With Mike Brunn.

Asked about the possibility of a CREED reunion, Mark said: "It's just a matter of timing. We're all so busy running around the world doing our things, we would just have to have the time where it made sense. I don't think we need to rush into it, because I don't think CREED fans are going anywhere. I think whenever we decide to do something, I think it's gonna be a safe time to do it. It's just gonna be when it makes sense for everybody. You don't wanna derail a whole album cycle by jumping into doing CREED. It would just have to make sense."

In September 2021, Tremonti told The Rock Experience With Mike Brunn that constantly being associated with CREED — 10 years after the band completed a tour in support of its fourth album, 2009's "Full Circle" — was "definitely both a blessing and a curse. It's a blessing because I wouldn't be sitting here talking to you right now if it weren't for CREED; I wouldn't have this career, this long career," he said. "But at the same time, for my entire life, I will be that guy from the band CREED, which is good and band. 'Cause certain people loved CREED, certain people hated CREED. So no matter what I do artistically, I'm gonna be the guy who was in CREED that was, at certain points critics liked to come after us. So I've kind of lived in both worlds — I was in a band that sold lots of records but got some critical attacks, but I also got to be in a band that didn't sell as many records but got critical praise. So I got to see both sides of it. It would be great to have it all in one. But it's tough."

CREED disbanded in 2004 but reunited five years later for the aforementioned "Full Circle" LP and an extensive tour. Stapp has since toured and recorded as a solo artist, although he suffered a drug-related mental breakdown in 2014 and spent several years recovering from that.

In 2019, Tremonti said in an interview on Jamey Jasta's podcast that he was sitting on an album's worth of material for CREED. Asked whether CREED could reunite again, Tremonti said, "People say, 'Is it done? Is it over? Is there new music coming out?' I'm sitting on an entire CREED album... When we were together doing the reunion tour, we put a lot of music together and I have like really sketchy little demos of probably 13 songs. I listened to them maybe a year ago and they're good songs."

Tremonti added: "It's just, there's no time. Is it good enough for me to put everything on the back burner that I've been working on for the past 14 years? No. Is it good enough to maybe 10 years from now or seven years from now... or some big resurgence happens or there's an anniversary where everybody's like, 'We want to see CREED and the world demands it like they used to.' I wouldn't say no."

ACCEPT drummer Christopher Williams has explained the band's decision to perform without lead singer Mark Tornillo last night (Sunday, October 16) at The Phoenix in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

It was announced prior to the concert that the 68-year-old Tornillo, who joined ACCEPT in 2009, would be unable to play the gig because he was having vocal issues and could have risked losing his voice had he gone ahead with the performance.

ACCEPT played an hour-long set in Toronto, with Williams, bassist Martin Motnik and some of the other members handling the vocal parts.

Earlier today, Williams shared a statement below The Metal Voice's Facebook post regarding last night's gig, writing: "Look: we could have cancelled the show, then there would have been nothing. That's it, good night, go home. Rather than that, we wanted to at least do SOMETHING for the fans, especially since it's been so long since the band has performed in Canada.

"I don't sing the ACCEPT songs, I play drums and sing backing vocals. During a show I'm not thinking about the lyrics for the full song, I'm performing. Same with Motnik.

"We tried to do something for the people that were there. We could have bailed out and done nothing. The situation was a major bummer but we did what we could.

"I can say this 1000% on record: Replacing Mark isn't an easy task. We still play in the original album key, tuned to standard. We don't drop tune like a lot of vocalists prefer which makes it 'easier' to hit the notes. We don't use backing tracks, it's all live. It's not like Mark can change a set of strings or sticks… We took a shitty situation and did what we could.

"Mark will be back up there in no time kicking ass like he always does."

Tornillo joined ACCEPT as the replacement for the band's original lead singer, Udo Dirkscheider. He can be heard on ACCEPT's last five studio albums, "Blood Of The Nations" (2010),"Stalingrad" (2012),"Blind Rage" (2014),"The Rise Of Chaos" (2017) and "Too Mean To Die" (2021).

ACCEPT's North American tour, featuring support from NARCOTIC WASTELAND, kicked off on September 29 in Nashville, Tennessee and is scheduled to conclude on October 29 in Columbus, Ohio.

In a 2018 interview with Metal Shock Finland, Tornillo stated about what it was like to first join ACCEPT: "It was frightening. When we first announced what was going to happen, there was really not many people on board with it. Online, there was a lot of naysayers, a lot of badmouthing. It was very disheartening. We all sat down and said, 'Look, we have to make an amazing record, or else we're gonna die here. This is going to be a swansong. We have to make an amazing record.' And that's what we did. We spent a lot of time writing 'Blood Of The Nations' and a lot of time recording it, and I think in retrospect, it paid off. If that album wasn't what it was, we wouldn't be here."

Asked about fans who have yet to "accept" him, Mark said: "Everybody is entitled to their opinion. I'm a purist too with certain things. I get it. But I think we've moved on. We're almost a different band at this point. We really are a different band at this point. We still pay tribute to the old ACCEPT by playing the old songs — I mean, we have the two people that wrote most of the songs, [so] we have to. That's always going to be part of ACCEPT's history. You can't change it. All we can change is the future. But everyone's entitled to their opinion, and I get it. I wish them all well, and I wish Udo well, and his band, you know. No hard feelings on my part, that's for sure."

Asked about ACCEPT's overall approach since he came into the group, Tornillo told "That Jamieson Show": "Basically, [we went] back to what we did in the '80s — what everybody did back in the day. The whole thing was, when I joined the band, Wolf [Hoffmann, guitar] did not want the band to rest on its laurels and only go out and play the classics. He wanted a real band. So we've been album-tour, album-tour — like it always was."

Mark also talked about his musical personal chemistry with Hoffmann, who is the sole remaining member from ACCEPT's classic lineup.

"It's grown quite a bit, actually," he said. "We've got a great mutual respect for each other and for our talents. This album ['Too Mean To Die'] was a total collaboration. This is the first ACCEPT album without Peter, so that was a big gap to fill. But everybody stepped up. Our [new] bass player Martin Motnik contributed quite a bit to this album."

“Accept Mark Tornillo does not perform in Toronto which appears to be due to vocal issues or sickness” (more to...

Posted by The Metal Voice on Sunday, October 16, 2022

Holy Moses are a solid institution in the international metal scene. Their multifaceted thrash metal, the charismatic voice of front woman Sabina Classen, and the mixture of traditional attitudes and experimental development have made the band a fixture since the early 80's. Holy Moses wrote metal history with classics like Finished With The Dogs (1987), The New Machine Of Liechtenstein (1989), World Chaos (1990) or Terminal Terror (1991). Today, Holy Moses sign the newly founded label Fireflash Records, a sub-label of Atomic Fire Records (Meshuggah, Helloween , Amorphis and others). 


Sabina Classen: “I am totally delighted and happy that in Wossi we have found an old companion and friend who represents a new home for Holy Moses. Wossi (Markus Wosgien) founded Fireflash Records for us with the complete background of Atomic Fire Records. Wossi was and always is a fan of Holy Moses, who has put his love of music in an incredibly successful frame. I'm really looking forward to the cooperation between Holy Moses and Fireflash Records.”
 
Markus Wosgien: "Having the opportunity to sign and work with one of my all-time favorite bands, Holy Moses, made the idea of running my own label alongside Atomic Fire a reality. I still remember the moment when I was with I was 13 years old standing in our local record store holding the album The New Machine Of Liechtenstein, one of the first records I ever bought.This extreme and unique mix was out of this world, I was totally hooked and became a die-hard fan of the troupe; and I couldn't be prouder of Sabina and the band's confidence in writing this next chapter together."
 
Their latest album of 2014, Redefined Mayhem, is a prime example of a disc that skillfully blends past and present. 


"Holy Moses has never had standard thrash songs and there never will be," explains Sabina Classen with justifiable pride. “We write songs that we like ourselves and don't compromise on trends or make concessions to false expectations. We don't have to please everyone, we're our own brand, we have our own sound, which includes crooked bars, technically demanding passages and unusual chord structures as well as interesting lyrics that deal with the dark side of people or the human psyche."
 
That Holy Moses show no signs of fatigue is due to the balance of founding members and musicians who have previously played together in other bands: singer Sabina Classen has been the voice and face of the group since 1981, bassist Thomas Neitsch has been in the band since 2008, drummer Gerd Lücking guitarist Peter Geltat joined Holy Moses in 2011/2012 . With this line-up, the band is perfectly positioned for the new challenges of a constantly evolving metal direction.
 
"In 2022/2023 we are now defining another new chapter in the band's history ," explains Sabina Classen. “The band has been growing together as a very strong team for more than 10 years. The new album, due out in 2023, is in the mix right now and will show in no uncertain terms that Holy Moses continues to be a force. We cannot reveal more at the moment.” .




2023 will be a very special year for Holy Moses!

METAL GODS, described as the ultimate ode to JUDAS PRIEST and DIO featuring Tim "Ripper" Owens (JUDAS PRIEST, ICED EARTH, KK'S PRIEST) and Simon Wright (AC/DC, DIO),kicked off its Australian tour last night (Friday, October 14) in Brisbane. The METAL GODS band also features the talents of James Morley, former bassist with THE ANGELS, and Joel McDonald, known for his work with ROSE TATTOO and various members of KISS.

METAL GODS is performing all the hits from Ronnie James Dio's catalog with BLACK SABBATH and RAINBOW, as well as Dio's solo classics such as "Holy Diver" and "Rainbow In The Dark".

This past May, Owens told the "Everblack" podcast about the METAL GODS tour: "It's not a normal tour for me. I'd like to come there and play a solo tour as well. But these kinds of shows are fun. I love singing Dio. It's gonna have not my typical type of set with PRIEST, but it'll have a couple of my-era PRIEST songs in it. James has set this whole thing up, and it's really gonna be a good time.

"Dio stuff, I love singing it, but it tears me down, man," Tim admitted. "It's not my regular stuff. Even though I sound like it's right in my wheelhouse when I sing it, it's not.

"It's a great setlist we've put together — RAINBOW, SABBATH, DIO, PRIEST," Owens added. "It's gonna be a really good show."

Remaining tour dates:

Oct. 15 - Bridgeway Live - Adelaide, SA
Oct. 16 - The Corner Hotel - Melbourne, VIC
Oct. 21 - Manning Bar - Sydney, NSW
Oct. 22 - Badlands - Perth, WA

Owens joined PRIEST in 1996 after being discovered when the band's drummer, Scott Travis, was given a videotape of him performing with the PRIEST cover act BRITISH STEEL. JUDAS PRIEST at the time was seeking a replacement for Rob Halford. The Ohio-based singer created two studio albums with the British heavy metal legends — 1997's "Jugulator" and 2001's "Demolition" — before the band reunited with Halford.

In 2019, Owens told Ultimate Guitar that he believes his era of JUDAS PRIEST is largely overlooked. "Yeah, I think it definitely deserves more [attention]," he said. "I mean, they don't do anything. [Laughs] It's kind of amazing that they just totally erased it that they won't play... I mean, 'Burn In Hell' [off 'Jugulator'], the crowd would like to hear 'Burn In Hell'.

"They don't have to give me a tribute or anything, but it would be nice to play a song from... You know, that was a pretty big thing; I did two studio records, two live records, and a DVD, starting from '96 to 2004," he continued. "So it's kind of crazy that it's just been erased and they won't even play a song from it live, because it is JUDAS PRIEST."

Wright, most recently a member of DIO DISCIPLES and also known for his work in DIO, RHINO BUCKET and UFO, lasted in AC/DC for six years. Wright, a then-unknown drummer whose first credits included Manchester, England metal outfit A II Z, joined AC/DC in time for the touring cycle for "Flick Of The Switch" and played with the Australian rockers throughout the '80s before leaving to join DIO in 1989.

Four years ago, Wright told the WSOU 89.5 FM radio station that Dio played a "massive" role in his career. "When I joined [DIO] in 1990, it was a little. short [run]," he explained. "[I] was only about three years with him when I first joined. And then I rejoined again in '98. And I ended up moving into his house. There were a few people staying there as well. I went through a horrible divorce — blah blah blah — and I was gonna quit. I said, 'I'm going back to England. I've had enough of all this. I'll stop playing drums.' So he said, 'No, don't do that. Just come over and just hang at my place and stuff, and get your head together.' And I ended up staying there for about 14 years. [Laughs] So he was quite a big part of my life. We got to know each other. We kind of bonded a bit more. We did a lot of work on the house together — not doing music, but just building things and stuff. And I looked after him a lot when he got really, really sick at home."

Wright went on to say that Ronnie's death 12 years ago was "a massive loss to me and to a lot of people. He was such a clever, smart, funny, funny guy. And what a singer and what a songwriter — you know, amazing."

Asked what it was like living with Ronnie for such a long period, Simon said: "It was good at the house. He had a studio downstairs and stuff. And when the writing process started for the albums, that was always great. He had some incredible ideas. To actually be there and see that process happening was something I'll never forget. It's amazing stuff."

Ronnie passed away of stomach cancer on May 16, 2010 at the age of 67.

German/American heavy metal legends ACCEPT performed without lead singer Mark Tornillo last night (Sunday, October 16) at The Phoenix in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

The 68-year-old Tornillo, who joined ACCEPT in 2009, was reportedly forced to sit out the gig because he was having vocal issues and could have risked losing his voice had he gone ahead with the performance.

ACCEPT played an hour-long set in Toronto, with bassist Martin Motnik and drummer Christopher Williams handling some of the vocal parts. Fan-filmed video can be seen below.

Tornillo joined ACCEPT as the replacement for the band's original lead singer, Udo Dirkscheider. He can be heard on ACCEPT's last five studio albums, "Blood Of The Nations" (2010),"Stalingrad" (2012),"Blind Rage" (2014),"The Rise Of Chaos" (2017) and "Too Mean To Die" (2021).

ACCEPT's North American tour, featuring support from NARCOTIC WASTELAND, kicked off on September 29 in Nashville, Tennessee and is scheduled to conclude on October 29 in Columbus, Ohio.

In a 2018 interview with Metal Shock Finland, Tornillo stated about what it was like to first join ACCEPT: "It was frightening. When we first announced what was going to happen, there was really not many people on board with it. Online, there was a lot of naysayers, a lot of badmouthing. It was very disheartening. We all sat down and said, 'Look, we have to make an amazing record, or else we're gonna die here. This is going to be a swansong. We have to make an amazing record.' And that's what we did. We spent a lot of time writing 'Blood Of The Nations' and a lot of time recording it, and I think in retrospect, it paid off. If that album wasn't what it was, we wouldn't be here."

Asked about fans who have yet to "accept" him, Mark said: "Everybody is entitled to their opinion. I'm a purist too with certain things. I get it. But I think we've moved on. We're almost a different band at this point. We really are a different band at this point. We still pay tribute to the old ACCEPT by playing the old songs — I mean, we have the two people that wrote most of the songs, [so] we have to. That's always going to be part of ACCEPT's history. You can't change it. All we can change is the future. But everyone's entitled to their opinion, and I get it. I wish them all well, and I wish Udo well, and his band, you know. No hard feelings on my part, that's for sure."

Asked about ACCEPT's overall approach since he came into the group, Tornillo told "That Jamieson Show": "Basically, [we went] back to what we did in the '80s — what everybody did back in the day. The whole thing was, when I joined the band, Wolf [Hoffmann, guitar] did not want the band to rest on its laurels and only go out and play the classics. He wanted a real band. So we've been album-tour, album-tour — like it always was."

Mark also talked about his musical personal chemistry with Hoffmann, who is the sole remaining member from ACCEPT's classic lineup.

"It's grown quite a bit, actually," he said. "We've got a great mutual respect for each other and for our talents. This album ['Too Mean To Die'] was a total collaboration. This is the first ACCEPT album without Peter, so that was a big gap to fill. But everybody stepped up. Our [new] bass player Martin Motnik contributed quite a bit to this album."

“Accept Mark Tornillo does not perform in Toronto which appears to be due to vocal issues or sickness” (more to...

Posted by The Metal Voice on Sunday, October 16, 2022

This past Friday, October 14, Five Finger Death Punch played Ball Arena in Denver, Colorado. Unexpectedly, vocalist Ivan Moody brought two of his children on stage and made the following announcement, fan-filmed video can be seen below.


"I wanted to tell you this. And nobody else in the world knows, Denver, so this is where it's going to start. And what you do with it is up to you. The last 15 years of my life I have toured the world, I have seen every country, every city on this planet at least twice. That's a fact. And through that time as many of you parents know... I have missed a lot of time with my kiddos. So I made them a deal today, and I'm going to stick to it. After this year, I am going to make one more Five Finger Death Punch album and then I am retiring from heavy metal."







Five Finger Death Punch and Brantley Gilbert will be joining forces this fall for a massive US arena tour with support from newcomer, Corey Marks. Produced by Live Nation, the tour will kick off in Grand Rapids on November 9 and lay waste to 20 more cities before wrapping up in Las Vegas on December 17 (full routing below). 


This epic run is not the first time Five Finger Death Punch and Brantley Gilbert have joined forces. The two artists brought the worlds of hard rock and country rock together when they partnered on their global #1 hit, “Blue On Black” in 2019. The track also featured Brian May, the song’s original performer, Kenny Wayne Shepherd and was in support of The Gary Sinise Foundation, to benefit first responders. To date, the collaboration has garnered a staggering 110 million YouTube views and 62 million Spotify streams, proving that this very special tour should not be missed by fans of either artist.





Tour dates:


November
9 - Grand Rapids, MI - Van Andel Arena
10 - Fort Wayne, IN - Allen County War Memorial Coliseum
12 - Lexington, KY - Rupp Arena
14 - Columbus, OH - Schottenstein Center
16 - Nashville, TN - Bridgestone Arena
17 - Knoxville, TN - Thompson-Boling Arena
19 - Charleston, WV - Charleston Coliseum & Convention Center
20 - Greenville, SC - Bon Secours Wellness Arena
22 - Tampa, FL - Amalie Arena
25 - Birmingham, AL - Legacy Arena at The BJCC
26 - Little Rock, AR - Simmons Bank Arena
29 - Kansas City, MO - T-Mobile Center
30 - Omaha, NE - CHI Health Center Omaha


December
2 - Madison, WI - Coliseum at Alliant Energy Center
3 - Green Bay, WI - Resch Center
5 - Minneapolis, MN - Target Center
7 - Des Moines, IA - Wells Fargo Arena
9 - Grand Forks, ND - Alerus Center
10 - Sioux Falls, SD - Denny Sanford PREMIER Center
13 - Spokane, WA - Spokane Arena
15 - Nampa, ID - Ford Idaho Center Arena
17 - Las Vegas, NV - Michelob ULTRA Arena


Five Finger Death Punch released their ninth studio album, AfterLife, in August via Better Noise Music. Get your copy at this location.





Tracklisting:


"Welcome To The Circus"
"AfterLife"
"Times Like These"
"Roll Dem Bones"
"Pick Up Behind You"
"Judgment Day"
"IOU"
"Thanks For Asking"
"Blood And Tar "
"All I Know"
"Gold Gutter"
"The End"


"Times Like These" lyric video:





"IOU" lyric video:





"AfterLife" lyric video:





"Welcome To The Circus" lyric video:





 

Derby's hard rocking sons These Wicked Rivers have released a new version of fan-favourite bluesy-rock anthem "Testify", available via all streaming platforms as well as on physical CD at shows. The track is accompanied by a brand new video featuring live footage from the band's hugely successful festival season which includes stand out performances at Steelhouse and Stonedead festivals.


First recorded back in 2015, the band have since upped the ante in every dimension, adding new members, new instruments and bigger, better production for the 2022 release. 


Singer John Hartwell explains: "We originally recorded the song for our EP II but we never really felt that our early recordings fully captured our live sound. Since Rich joined the band he has added harmonica, organ and vocal harmonies which have brought the song to the next level, so we wanted to bring the recorded version up to date and make it sound more like 'us.' It's quite a naughty song about a sexual connection that makes the experience feel almost like a religious awakening - it always goes down really well at shows."




Guitarist Arran Day continues: "We really feel that the songs have grown such much over the past two years, as have we as a band. By re-recording 'Testify' it is us planting our hippie flag in the ground; this is who we are now and we want you all to be part of the journey."








The release follows a busy summer for These Wicked Rivers, which saw them in the studio working on the follow-up to their debut album Eden, and touring all over The UK building a rapidly growing "family" of devoted followers.


With new music currently being road-tested at live shows, be sure to catch the band at one of the following dates this Autumn:


October
18 - Portsmouth, England – Wedgewood Rooms
19 - Bath, England – Komedia
20 - Swansea, Wales – Patti Pavilion
21 - Narberth, Wales – Queen’s Hall
22 - Crickhowell, Wales – Clarence Hall
23 - Newport, Wales – The Neon
26 - Gloucester, England – Guildhall
27 - Tunbridge Wells, England – The Forum
28 - Horsham, England – Rec Rooms
29 - Hertford, England – Hertford Corn Exchange





Head to TheseWickedRivers.com to download "Testify", buy tour tickets, and support their Album 2 crowdfunding campaign.


(Photo credit: Ami Barwell)


 

Former MEGADETH members David Ellefson (bass) and Jeff Young (guitar) played the third show of the KINGS OF THRASH "The MEGA Years" tour last night (Friday, October 14) at The Space in Las Vegas, Nevada. They were joined at the concert for several songs by another former MEGADETH member, Chris Poland (guitar). Fan-filmed can be seen below (courtesy of YouTube user Timothy Rusling).

KINGS OF THRASH, which also includes drummer Fred Aching as well as guitarist/vocalist Chaz Leon, performed MEGADETH's classic albums "Killing Is My Business… And Business Is Good!" and "So Far, So Good… So What!" in their entirety. Fan-filmed video is available below.

In a recent 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 (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "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."

Asked if he thinks MEGADETH deserves to be in the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame, Jeff said: "Well, that's funny. I got a letter from Dave Mustaine a few years ago. There's an episode on my 'Music Without Boundaries' [podcast] archives called 'I Got A Letter', and I read the letter. And I tell all the stories. So if people wanna hear all the gory details, they can go find that back episode. He was thinking they were gonna get [inducted into the Rock Hall] a couple of years [ago]. Maybe they will. He wanted me to be there. And as great as it would be to be there, I don't think I would wanna share that same energetic space with such an individual."

Circling back to the KINGS OF THRASH shows, Jeff said: "The cool thing is that Ellefson and Poland and me get to go do this thing without the toxicity in the room. I mean, who could have dreamed that it would have panned out this way? It's just one of those things that we just can't say no to it, it's so cool to do. And it sounds so good. Every time we leave rehearsal, we're just giddy… We didn't have that musicality back then, so to be able to have the luxury and the opportunity to play these songs these years later when we've had all this growth as musicians and as people, it's the coolest thing ever. I can't believe this is even happening. I'm kissing the ground every day. Chris and me together with our sounds on the same side of the stage, they complement each other so well."

Ellefson, Young, Poland, Leon and Aching commenced rehearsals last month in Los Angeles.

In a recent interview with Yes! You CAN Play Guitar!, Ellefson stated about how KINGS OF THRASH came together: "[Jeff] and I got along well. We roomed together a lot, 'cause back on the 'So Far, So Good… So What!' tour, band and crew was always shacking up, sharing rooms together. So he and I had spent a lot of time together. I did a lot of guitar playing with him; I learned a lot of stuff from him, which was fun. So now to connect with him all these years later… We connected through the [making of the upcoming] Nick Menza movie [about the late MEGADETH drummer], quite honestly. And I'd stayed in touched with him. We even jammed together once at a Ronnie Montrose tribute thing at NAMM a few years ago. So we've not been completely estranged from each other."

According to Ellefson, the idea for KINGS OF THRASH materialized after he and Young reunited on stage on May 10 at Ultimate Jam Night, the long-running community-oriented show in residency at the famed Whisky A Go Go in West Hollywood, California, as part of a special tribute to the so-called "Big Four" of 1980s thrash metal — METALLICA, MEGADETH, SLAYER and ANTHRAX. The event marked the first time David and Jeff had played MEGADETH songs together on stage since the U.K.'s Monsters Of Rock festival on August 20, 1988. "That spawned, basically, the KINGS OF THRASH," he said. "It was, like, 'Wow! That was frickin' cool, and that was a lot of fun.'"

David went on to say that he started thinking about a way to perform some of MEGADETH's classic material last year. "This idea had come to me — and it came to me last fall," he explained. "I was at an autograph show on the East Coast, and people were bringing me 'Killing Is My Business' records left and right. And it just reminded me, this record needs to be played; it needs to be performed. Same as 'So Far, So Good… So What!' To me, those are kind of these two really special records that — they never went unnoticed, but they didn't get the big fanfare like 'Peace Sells' and 'Rust In Peace' and all this stuff. So, to me, I made it my mission. I was, like, 'You know what? Let's unearth these things and let's bring these up on the stage and play them.'

"[Jeff] told me, he said, after MEGADETH, I think he said he intentionally forgot how to play MEGADETH songs; he just wanted to move on," Ellefson continued. "'Cause when you come into the band, it is a deep dive and it is a heavy compression. You really have to live that music in and out, day in, day out, all the time in order to really grasp what it is. And he did that. And then when the gig ended for him, he moved on.

"He has been doing a ton of heavy lifting on [the KINGS OF THRASH]. He is really working with our singer Chaz, the drummer Fred to get through this stuff. Even he and Chris Poland are working on this thing."

David clarified 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, MEGADETH leader] 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."

Asked if there are plans for KINGS OF THRASH to play more shows after the already announced dates in October, Ellefson said: "I think so. That was the whole thing — let's pop four of these up, see if anybody cares. And it seems like everybody… The phone's blowing up — people are calling, the promoters are calling, and people wanna see it. It's interesting. It's cool. This is a deep dive into a very particular period of the band's history and catalog that may not get performed elsewhere. So it's, like, 'Hey, we'll do it.' And we're qualified. Certainly our resume and our pedigree and our history with the group — it's legitimate. And I've gotta say — it's fun, man. I think it's fun."

As for KINGS OF THRASH's approach to performing material that was originally written and recorded more than three decades ago, Ellefson said: "I've gotta say, man, 'Killing Is My Business', there is a lot of deep stuff on that record, but because of the tempos and because of the speed, a lot of that kind of gets a bit glossed over, because the production of the record wasn't super great, because we didn't have a lot of money to do it at the time. Now live, going into it, there are some rhythmic figures and some grooves that I think are coming out in a live setting that are so hip. There's this almost funk, kind of R&B vibe to some of the rhythms that are so cool.

"When we wrote those songs, especially 'The Skull Beneath The Skin' and even 'Looking Down The Cross', these songs were written very slow; the original tempos were [much slower]," he revealed. "So they were really cool. So one of the things we're focusing on is bringing out the sleazy, slinky, greasy groove that's in there — because it really is in there. And I think our drummer Fred is helping a lot with that. I think people are gonna really enjoy what they're gonna hear."

Remaining KINGS OF THRASH tour date:

Oct. 15 - West Hollywood, CA - Whisky A Go Go

The Whisky A Go Go concert came four months after Ellefson and Young reunited in Los Angeles for interviews to be included in the upcoming feature-length documentary "This Was My Life: The Story Of Nick Menza". Ellefson has signed on as a co-producer of the film, and also will provide narration to guide the viewer through the exploration of the late MEGADETH drummer's life.

In June, Ellefson told The Neurotic Guitarist that he and Young "have been working on a couple of new songs."

Ellefson was fired from MEGADETH nearly 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.

On November 11th, German extreme deathers Soul Grinder will leave a trail of destruction in the form of their new album, Anthems From The Abyss. You can now get a first taste with the video for "Spirit's Asylum". The brand new video clip is not just any video, but a prequel to the "Night's Bane [Nyktophobia]" video released last year. Anthems From The Abyss will be released as a CD in a jewel case and as a limited DigiPak in a box set. A vinyl release will be available at a later date. 





Pre-order your copy of Anthems From The Abyss now at this location. Artwork and tracklisting are as follows:







"Anthems From The Abyss" 
"Insidious Resurrection"
"The Soul's Mirror"
"Supreme Enemy" 
"I Am The Silencer" 
"Blood Harvest" 
"From The Nether Realm"
"The Last Supper" 
"Spirit's Asylum"
"Warcurse"


The aforementioned video for "Night's Bane [Nyktophobia]" can be seen below.





 

On October 12th, The Commoners played Music Star in Norderstedt, Germany. Professionally filmed video of the band performing "Find A Better Way" and "More Than Mistakes" can be enjoyed below.





The Commoners are currently on tour in Europe. Their next show is October 18th in Malmo, Sweden. Their complete live itinerary can be found here.







Canadian classic rock, roots and blues rock band The Commoners released the title track single "Find A Better Way", the third single taken from the forthcoming album Find A Better Way on September 30th. The single is mixed by legendary producer Kevin Shirley (Joe Bonamassa, Iron Maiden, Led Zeppelin) and is available to buy and stream at this location.


The album will be released on CD, limited edition vinyl and digital by Gypsy Soul Records on November 4th. The CD and vinyl editions are available to pre-order from TheCommoners.ca. Pre-save the album digitally here.


The Commoners’ lead singer, Chris Medhurst, describes the "Find A Better Way" single as follows: “Our current world throws a lot of challenges at us all. We don’t have control over that, but we do have control over how we respond. 'Find A Better Way' is a powerful rock anthem that speaks to the challenges we must overcome and our need in humanity to find a better way.”





Possessing a sound tapped from the oaken belly of a whiskey barrel, The Commoners are a four-piece roots / blues rock band from Toronto, Canada.


Described as “a classic rock and roll affair,” the nine songs take the listener on a sonic voyage through the lives of the band, from the dusty back roads of rural Ontario to the bright lights of the big city. Offering their own blend of rock and roll, southern blues, and roots music, the Toronto-based four-piece band are known for their high-energy riffs, soulful vocals, and rich harmonies. The result is an authentic Southern-style rock experience. 


The group was cobbled together over the course of a decade, adapting through numerous obstacles to form the unit as it exists today: Chris Medhurst (vocals/guitar), Ben Spiller (bass), Ross Hayes Citrullo (lead guitar), and Adam Cannon (drums). Often joined by their friend, organist Miles Evans-Branagh, The Commoners unite under a shared dream: to write, perform, and share music that is an authentic nod to the greats who paved the way before them.





“The new album authentically embodies the rock and roll, soul, and blues rock experience,” says the band’s lead singer, Chris Medhurst. “That’s something we really wanted to bring back. That’s the roots. That’s what we listen to.”


The Black Crowes are a considerable influence for us,” says Medhurst. “Derek Trucks, Marcus King, Led Zeppelin, and The Allman Brothers Band, too. These are the bands that we wear on our sleeves as we aspire to create our own music and sound.”


Find A Better Way is an album that demands attention from the first note. The opening lines “If I scream at the top of my lungs, and stamp my feet, ’til the floor comes undone,” immediately inform that a wild ride lies ahead. The album was recorded and produced at RHC Music in Toronto by the band’s guitarist Ross Hayes Citrullo. Ross collaborated with executive producer Renan Yildizdogan to strike the perfect balance of new and old recording treatments. The goal was to create something that felt new and original, yet still familiar to their target classic roots rock and blues rock audience.


“The vision from the beginning was to marry old and new southern rock together in a way that was unique to the band’s Canadian roots,” explains Citrullo. “By adding the soul and rock elements of the Black Crowes, and the southern blues rock undertones of the Allman Brothers to a production style akin to Blackberry Smoke and Rival Sons, I think we developed an authentic sound that compares sonically to some of our favourite records across all of those music genres.” 


The album’s lyrical themes drill into the essence of humanity: love, regret, ambition, and fear. Circling the forever challenge of doubt vs. desire, The Commoners place themselves into the shoes of the everyman. The result? Nine tracks that function as a comfort and companion through all of life’s trials and tribulations, with melodic solos, soaring organ, and a punchy rhythm section to drive the messages home.


Drummer Adam Cannon says, “Music, like so much in life, is about the exchange of energy,” and The Commoners make more than a fair trade. Striving to present an impactful, memorable, and downright exhilarating live experience that accurately represents their recorded works, the band carries the listener over spirited choruses and group chants, before returning them back to earth in need of a shot of something smooth. You can expect to leave fully satisfied, sweat drenched, and heart racing, a good time guaranteed—just what we all need.





The Commoners enlisted a handful of Toronto’s finest musicians to help bring their record to life. On the title track Find A Better Way, the band brought on keyboardist Jeff Heisholt (The Trews) to lay down an iconic organ track. For the rest of the album, keyboardist Miles Evans-Branagh performed organ, piano, and Rhodes.


To accompany Ben and Adam on backup vocals, The Commoners called upon three of Canada’s top backup singers. Tash Lorayne and Shezelle Weekes (The Arkells), and Chantal Williams joined in to arrange vocal parts and enliven the mix with their vivacious voices resulting in a spine-tingling performance. 


The Commoners also invited local legend Michael Eckert to lend his pedal steel talents on I Won’t and Alive. Adding the final cherry on top, renowned multi-instrumentalist Ben Healey treated Deadlines to a guitar solo worthy of the world’s greatest stadiums. Though these songs were all written by The Commoners, the contributions of these amazing guest musicians make the album something special.


“Every time we brought an outside player into the studio, they would offer their own unique instincts and interpretations of each song. This helped the album grow into a collaborative art piece that continues to surprise us with every listen.”


A rock anthem to its core, the title track, "Find A Better Way", carries a message that encapsulates the entirety of the record. With growing uncertainties, society faces challenges previously unseen, leaving the collective in a perpetual state of questioning, with doubt directed towards governments, public leaders, and our neighbours. From the aftermath of COVID-19, the increasing mental health crisis in North America, war crimes in Ukraine, and the explosion of social movements and protests, one thought unites us all—we need to find a better way to co-exist on this planet. Find A Better Way takes an inward look at confronting our tumultuous past and accepting personal accountabilities to uncover the strength needed to seek a solution.


"Find A Better Way" is the only track on the record to mixed outside of Canada. The band worked with legendary producer / mixer Kevin Shirley (The Black Crowes, Joe Bonamassa, Led Zeppelin) at Caveman Studios in Sydney, Australia. Kevin’s mix helped set the perfect tone for the album, which Ross Hayes Citrullo was then able to follow for the rest of the record. Kevin’s involvement set The Commoners on the right path with this epic title track.


Mastering was also an important consideration for the band and their label. For this stage, the team sent their record all the way to Nashville, Tennessee to Pete Lyman (Tedeschi Trucks, Blackberry Smoke, Chris Stapleton, Rival Sons) at Infrasonic Sound. Pete’s specialty for mastering southern rock made the mixes come alive, making them sonically competitive to the band’s influences.


As a collective, we find ourselves emerging into a changed society, with uncertainty looming and shadowing the future. In their upcoming release, The Commoners remind us that music has a unique ability to heal, a medicine of extraordinary merit, and balm for the soul during dark times. Every major movement in history gave rise to change makers, and The Commoners are taking their stand, here to lead and inspire us all to Find A Better Way.





Tracklisting:


"Find A Better Way" 
"Fill My Cup" 
"More Than Mistakes" 
"Too Much" 
"Naturally" 
"I  Won’t" 
"Deadlines" 
"Hangin’ On Again" 
"Alive" 








For further details, visit The Commoners on Facebook.


 

Italian power metallers Frozen Crown have checked in with the following update for the fans:


"You asked for it, so here you go! Our entire discography is finally available in vinyl again!


Our debut album, The Fallen King, is back in an exclusive limited dark red vinyl version. With it, Crowned In Frost and Winterbane are back too, respectively in blue and green vinyl versions. Signed versions ONLY on our BigCartel store.




Alongside that, our friends Nocturna just released the vinyl version of their debut album, Daughters Of The Night. For this reason, we teamed up with them, creating a bundle on our store so you can grab all four of them (signed, of course) and have all of them together."





In late 2021, Frozen Crown released a video for "The Water Dancer", the fourth single from their latest album, Winterbane.


"The song is conceptually inspired by the classic series of novels A Song of Ice and Fire and the hit TV show Game Of Thrones, more specifically, by the ultrabrave and fierce Arya Stark character."


Also, for the first time, Frozen Crown joined forces with an element external to the band: Damien Von Dunkenwald and his Northern Wolfdogs Pack appear in the stunning videoclip alongside Jade, Sheena, Federico, Francesco and Niso.


Check out the video below.





Tracklist:


"Embrace The Night"
"Towards The Sun"
"Far Beyond"
"The Lone Stranger"
"Crown Eternal"
"The Water Dancer"
"Angels In Disguise" (feat Federica Lanna)
"Night Crawler" (Judas Priest cover)
"Tales Of The Forest"
"Blood On The Snow"


"Far Beyond"





"The Water Dancer"





Winterbane was released on April 23rd 2021 on Scarlet Records and Marquee/Avalon (Japan).


Frozen Crown is:


Giada "Jade" Etro - Lead Vocals
Fabiola "Sheena" Bellomo - Lead Guitar
Federico Mondelli - Vocals and Lead Guitar
Francesco Zof - Bass
Niso Tomasini - Drums

Gothic metal singer / songwriter Lindsay Schoolcraft has checked in with a new update and music:


"This one is rather special because it’s the result of community. Community of musicians and community of fans.


The track was originally something I orchestrated that didn’t make a cut a few years back, but I loe how on Patreon I can just throw up my lost demos and the community there decides what path I go down next. I definitely have not been on the heavy train much the past few years, but it was time to change that.




The minute I came across this demo I knew it had to be another duet with the one and only Sarah Jezebel Deva and along the way the lovely and talented Mustis lended his piano talents (I’m still over the moon about that). I also couldn’t have done it without the super talented team that came on board.


Anyways, due to marketing school I’m labeling this as my heaviest solo track yet: Blackened Gothic Metal. But you can decide that for yourself. It’s rather perfect for this time of year."


Vocals: Lindsay Schoolcraft and Sarah Jezebel Deva
Piano: Mustis (Susperia, ex-Dimmu Borgir)
Guitars and Drums: Fabian (Antiqva)
Bass: Memnock
Additional Orchestration: Christopher Caouette

Sabaton guitarist / Majestica frontman Tommy Johansson has shared his power metal cover of the Bonnie Tyler hit "Holding Out For A Hero". Check it out below.


Johansson: "It's finally time to release a new recorded version of my old cover of 'Holding Out For A Hero'. It's a mix between the original by Bonnie Tyler and the version from Shrek 2 in a glorious Power Metal version. Hope you will enjoy it!"







Johansson previously shared his power metal cover of the Spice Girls hit "Viva Forever". Check it out below.

Philadelphia hard rock outfit Rat Rod have released their video for current single, "All Or Nothin". 


Taken from the quintet's upcoming album, Four On The Floor, the video features the band live on stage at The Union Firehouse in Mt Holly, NJ as well as casino scenes that really sum up life so to speak. "Life can be a gamble and there are times when you need to go 'all in' so we figure this is a good visual of how we feel," relates guitarist, Mark McCarty. The video was produced by Dambert Entertainment  and directed by Bert Lapore.










Four On The Floor, which hits stores November 18th through Shock Records / Vanity Music Group is Rat Rod's fourth release, recorded at Studio E in Westminster, MD and produced by Rat Rod themselves. It solidifies the band as one of North America's top tier "pub rock" bands, following the lead set by Australian legends AC/DC and Rose Tattoo as well as American heroes Dirty Looks, Junkyard and others. "We really get a charge out of the four on the floor beat that those bands and ourselves create. It's what makes us happy, "states McCarty. 


Catch Rat Rod live at the following shows:


November
26 – Forrest Lodge VFW Hall - Sellersville, PA 


December
2 – Kyhber Pass Pub - Philadelphia, PA


 

Netherlands based heavy metal band Angelic Forces have released the video for their new song "Armageddon".





The video was filmed in the city of Groningen in the Netherlands and was produced by Fred Mantel.




The song is a preview of their upcoming new album Arise to be made available on both CD and vinyl by No Dust Records and exclusively distributed in North America by Animated Insanity Records.


Angelic Forces band lineup:


Harold de Vries – vocals/guitar
Maurice Gijsman – guitar
Wilco van der Meij – bass
Rudie Kingma – drums

Gunnar and Matthew Nelson deliver a wonderful musical gift on October 14, 2022 with A Nelson Family Christmas. This all-new holiday collection holds over a dozen joyfully performed and caringly crafted renditions of Christmas standards, none of which are currently available digitally. Making this album a true family affair, the multi-platinum-selling twin brothers also have included holiday tunes recorded by their father, Rock & Roll Hall of Famer Ricky Nelson, and their grandfather, big band star-turned-TV icon Ozzie Nelson. The Nelsons, in fact, are the only family to ever have #1 hit songs across three generations. Order/stream here.


“This album has been our labor of love from the very beginning,” Gunnar describes. “Growing up in the Southern California music scene with our father’s Stone Canyon Band, we were inspired by family friends like Linda Ronstadt, Crosby Stills and Nash, Poco, Jackson Browne, and the Eagles. We wanted to produce this record with the same reverence for organic music that these musical heroes of ours had. Real instruments. Real singing. Timeless and classic while remaining passionate and uplifting. We couldn’t be more proud of what we’ve done on this album.”


Christmas has held a special place for both Matthew and Gunnar Nelson since childhood, and they had long thought about doing a Christmas album. When the brothers decided to make one, the duo focused on maintaining the timeless quality of these Christmas classics but also having them sound genuine to themselves as musicians.  “The Christmas miracle here is that this is the first time all three generations of Number One Nelson men, through the power of music, are able to travel through time and sing together,” added Gunnar. “What a gift! It’s always been a dream of ours to be able to sing with Grandpa and Pop. Now we don’t have to wait to get into Heaven to do it.”




Bringing an invigorating spirit to their interpretations of these well-known holiday tunes, Matthew and Gunnar opted to lean toward the country rock sound that they grew up on more than the harder rock that garnered them their big hits like “After The Rain” and “(Can't Live Without Your) Love and Affection.” Their take on “Holly Jolly Christmas” incorporates masterful acoustic guitar picking and a rousing country fiddle soars through “Santa Claus is Coming To Town.” The traditional “Oh Come All Ye Faithful” is powered by a galloping Buddy Holly-style drum beat and a loose, live vibe warms both the rockabilly-infused versions “Rockin’ Around The Christmas” and “Jingle Bells.” The twins’ signature harmonies shine throughout A Nelson Family Christmas, particularly on the more intimate numbers such as “White Christmas.”


The original song, “This Christmas,” similarly mines the harmony-rich Southern California sound that the brothers embraced as their own. A big success for the duo, the track cracked Billboard’s Adult Contemporary Top 20 and reached #4 on Billboard's Holiday 100 chart two years in a row. Since “This Christmas” is about love and Christmas miracles, it feels appropriate that the Nelsons donated proceeds from the song to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital to support the hospital’s efforts to defeat defeats childhood cancer and other life-threatening diseases. “This Christmas,” along with the other Nelson tracks on A Nelson Family Christmas, is drawn from two holiday albums, This Christmas and This Christmas Too, that Gunnar and Matthew released on their own Stone Canyon Records in 2015 and 2016, respectively, although the albums presently are not available digitally.


This recording of “This Christmas” also adds to the family nature of A Nelson Family Christmas because it features their childhood friends, Carnie and Wendy Wilson, the daughters of Beach Boy Brian Wilson. Matthew has described the way the four sing together as “absolute magic.” The Nelson family is further represented on this album by two Ricky Nelson Christmas tunes, “Jingle Bells” and “The Christmas Song,” which he performed on The Adventures of Ozzie And Harriet TV show, although the tracks were only released commercially after his death. There is a third version of “Jingle Bells” in this collection; this one was recorded by Ozzie and Harriet with the Ozzie Nelson orchestra back in the 1930s.


Gunnar and Matthew are quite proud of their family’s remarkable musical heritage. Besides touring as Nelson, the brothers also salute their father and his music with the show, Ricky Nelson Remembered. This December, as they have done the past few years, Gunnar and Matthew will also go out on tour with Christmas With The Nelsons. More than just a concert of the duo playing holiday tunes, this multi-media concert spotlights three different eras of Christmases in the Nelson family: the ‘50s with Ricky as a boy, the ‘70s when Gunnar and Matthew were kids, and the present day with the latest generation of Nelson children. 


As Nelson, Matthew and Gunnar have had their long and successful career in music. They became international stars with their first album, After The Rain, which went double platinum, spawning four Top 30 singles, and remaining on the Billboard 200 Album Chart for over 60 weeks. The brothers have continued to make well-received records in the years since and play around 100 shows a year. In July 2022, UMe released the career-spanning compilation, Greatest Hits (And Near Misses) which showcases the duo’s impressive decades of music-making.  


A Nelson Family Christmas finds the Nelson brothers creating the honest, organic music that comes naturally to them. “We knew exactly what we wanted,” Matthew revealed. “Two brothers with a vision and a sound that no one else has.” Gunnar elaborated further, stating “We’ve made a conscious decision to come from the heart. It’s amazing what happens when you stop fighting the universe and start doing what you were born to do.”





Tracklisting:


“Joy To The World”
“This Christmas” (feat. Carnie and Wendy Wilson)
“Santa Claus Is Comin’ To Town”
“Jingle Bells” (performed by Ozzie Nelson & His Orchestra with vocal chorus by Ozzie and Harriet Nelson)
“Oh Come All Ye Faithful”
“Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree”
“Mele Kalikimaka”
“The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting On An Open Fire)” (performed by Ricky Nelson)
“Away In A Manger”
“We Wish You A Merry Christmas”
“Jingle Bells – Ricky Nelson”
“Blue Christmas”
“Holly Jolly Christmas”
“Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer”
“White Christmas”
“Jingle Bells”
“Silent Night”


Nelson tour dates:


November
13 – Danbury, NC – The Arts Place Of Stokes
18 – Lancaster, CA – Lancaster Performing Arts Center
28 – Milwaukee, WI – The Northern Lights Theater


December
1 – Greenville, KY – Felix E. Martin Jr. Hall
3 – Sioux City, IA – The Anthem at Hard Rock
6 – Shipshewana, IN – Blue Gate Performing Arts Center
8 – Worthington, MN – Memorial Auditorium Performing Arts Center
10 – Rolling Hills Estates, CA – Norris Theater
14 – St. Cloud, MN – Paramount Theatre
16 – Springfield, MO – Gilloz Theatre