The Alpha Complex is a modern hard rock group from Sacramento, California that consists of vocalist Michael Woodruff, guitarist Kery Glennon, bassist Travis Carrier, and drummer Matthew O’Connell. The band’s hot new single “My Inferno” is released today - Friday, October 7th, on all platforms worldwide.


The Alpha Complex has a larger-than-life sound that melds together hard rock with electronic influences. Their pulsing melodies, hard-hitting grooves, and unapologetic lyricism embody the spirit of modern hard rock music while their electronic infusions in the synths, sonic textures, and vocals make them a refreshing must-hear new band.







Their new single “My Inferno” follows a turbulent love cycle where a partner who feigns like an angel, however, is really a devil. The band leans into edgy poetic storytelling to further the song’s poignant messaging. The chorus encapsulates the band’s musical and lyrical conviction with the belting of “Horns hold up your halo, Now everything is starting to burn, Your love is my inferno.” 





The members of The Alpha Complex are no strangers to the metal scene. Three out of the four members of the band have at one time or another been a part of Motograter. Vocalist Michael "Angel" Woodruff replaced Ivan Moody (Five Finger Death Punch) as the new frontman of Motograter in 2007.  Since then, Woodruff recruited guitarist Kery "Venom" Glennon from previous projects to join Motograter in 2014, where they played that year's Knotfest in San Bernardino, CA. In 2018, Woodruff found drummer Matthew O'Connell and had him join Motograter on the Orgy: Bring Your Army tour. Glennon has also filled in as a touring guitarist for the band Skinlab in 2017.


For further details, visit The Alpha Complex on Facebook.


 


 

Warner Music [Sony Music outside Europe] recently announced the release of Pink Floyd’s Animals on Deluxe Gatefold, CD, LP, Blu-ray and SACD. The individual versions were released on September 16, with the Deluxe version available from October 7. This is the first time the album will have been available on 5.1 Surround Sound.


In the new video below, Roger Waters, Nick Mason and David Gilmour describe one of the biggest aviation disasters on the face of the planet in 1977. 







Animals is the tenth studio album by Pink Floyd, originally released in January 1977.. It was recorded at the band's Britannia Row Studios in London throughout 1976 and early 1977, and was produced by the band themselves. The successful album peaked at number 2 in the UK and number 3 in the US, and is considered as one of the band's best works. The album was recorded by band members David Gilmour, Nick Mason, Roger Waters and Richard Wright.


Animals 2018 Remix is released on CD, LP (with gatefold artwork), Blu-ray, SACD and Deluxe Gatefold formats. The Deluxe Gatefold version includes LP, CD, audio Blu-ray, audio DVD and a 32-page book. The Blu-ray and DVD audio include the 2018 remix in Stereo, 5.1 Surround (both by James Guthrie) and the original 1977 Stereo mix. The 32-page booklet features rarely seen behind the scenes photographs of the album sleeve shoot along with live images and memorabilia. The album artwork has been reimagined for this release.


Animals is a concept album, focusing on the social-political conditions of mid-1970s Britain, and was a change from the style of the band’s earlier work. The album was developed from a collection of unrelated songs into a concept which describes the apparent social and moral decay of society, likening the human condition to that of animals. Taking inspiration from George Orwell’s Animal Farm, the album depicts the different classes of people as animals with pigs being at the top of the social chain, dropping down to the sheep as the mindless herd following what they are told, with dogs as the business bosses getting fat on the money and power they hold over the other. Although it’s been a long time since 1977, the narrative of the album still resonates today as our social and economical situation mirrors that of the time.


The album's iconic cover shows an inflatable pig (now known as Algie) floating between two chimneys of the Battersea Power Station, conceived by Roger Waters, and designed by long-time collaborator Storm Thorgerson of Hipgnosis Studios. For this new release, the artwork has been re-designed for the modern era by Storm’s Hipgnosis partner Aubrey ‘Po’ Powell. Taking new shots of the building as it appeared during the recent conversion work, Po experimented with new angles and produce some striking new takes on the classic original. Po elaborates: “With the original 1977 album cover being such an iconic piece of stand-alone art, I had the chance to update it, which was a rather daunting task, but Hipgnosis took the opportunity to re photograph the image to reflect a changing world, and by using modern digital colouring techniques I kept Pink Floyd’s rather bleak message of moral decay using the Orwellian themes of animals, the pig ‘Algie’, faithful to the message of the album.”





Tracklisting:


"Pigs On The Wing (Part One)"
"Dogs"
"Pigs (Three Different Ones)"
"Sheep"
"Pigs On The Wing (Part Two)"


Formats:


Deluxe Limited Edition 4 Disc Package
- 1LP/1CD/1DVD/1BLU-RAY
- 180 Gram black heavyweight vinyl
- 32-page booklet
- all housed in a hardcover book style cover    


1 LP Vinyl
- 1LP 180gram black heavyweight vinyl
- 28 page booklet
- gatefold vinyl sleeve


1 CD
- CD in card gatefold cd size sleeve
- 28-page booklet


1 Blu-Ray
- Special Blu-Ray gatefold card sleeve
- 16-page booklet


Blu-Ray - Audio Mixes
- 2018 Remix - Stereo: 24-bit/192kHz Uncompressed, dts-HD MA
- 2018 Remix - 5.1 Surround: 24-bit/96kHz Uncompressed, dts-HD MA
- 1977 Original Stereo: 24-bit/192kHz Uncompressed, dts-HD MA


DVD – Audio Mixes
- 2018 Remix: 5.1 Surround Mix (Dolby Digital @ 640 kbps, 448kbps), Stereo (LPCM 24-bit/48 kHz Uncompressed)
- 1977 Original Stereo Mix: (24-bit/48 kHz Uncompressed)


1 SACD
- Hardback book package with 28-page book, in slipcase.


Includes:


- 2018 New Stereo Mix (High-resolution DSD)
- 2018 New 5.1 Surround Mix (High-resolution DSD)
- 2018 New Stereo Mix (standard CD)


 

Watch Volbeat’s entire performance of Wait A Minute… Let’s Tour: Live from San Diego, California now through Sunday, October 9th.


Capturing one of the band’s first shows back on the road in fall 2021, this intimate performance at San Diego’s historic venue The Observatory North Park was filmed shortly before the release of Servant Of The Mind. The setlist included some of the very first live performances of the hit singles “Shotgun Blues” and “Wait A Minute My Girl.” Filmed and edited by the team at Ghost Atomic Pictures (“Shotgun Blues”, “Die To Live (feat. Neil Fallon)”, “Leviathan”, Let’s Boogie: Live From Telia Parken), you can feel the excitement of both the band and the crowd as they both return to live music after such an extended period away.







Volbeat’s Servant Of The Road Tour kicks off in less than two weeks on October 17th in Hamburg, Germany at Barclays Arena. Tickets & VIP packages available here.





 

Christian rockers STRYPER have released the official music video for their latest single, "Same Old Story". The song will appear on their upcoming studio album "The Final Battle", which is due on October 21 via Frontiers Music Srl. The follow-up to 2020's "Even The Devil Believes" was produced by guitarist/vocalist Michael Sweet and was once again recorded at SpiritHouse Recording Studios in Northampton, Massachusetts.

In a recent interview with "The Chuck Shute Podcast", Sweet discussed the inspiration for the title and artwork for "The Final Battle". He said: "The story behind the title and the artwork is the battle of Armageddon, which is ultimately the final battle, biblically speaking. And that's really what we're referring to, for the most part."

Asked if he thinks the battle of Armageddon — which refers to the final war between human governments and God, ultimately bringing human rulership to an end — is something that "coming soon," Sweet said: "Well, I'll tell you, man, if you say that in today's world, boy, you are labeled an instant loon — you're a loon, you're crazy and you need to be committed and you're out of your mind. But yet at the same time, when you go through the Bible, if you were to really dive deep into the Bible and have someone explain the theory of it to you and the stories that are behind the stories — so someone really smart, who isn't me — they could explain to you stuff that would make your chin hit the floor. And all the stuff that the Bible predicted that has already taken place, and really the only thing left is God's return and what follows after that, one of those things being the battle of Armageddon.

"People can laugh and sneer and think Christians are crazy, and that's fine," Michael continued. "I believe in the Bible, I believe what it says, and I think those times are coming. I think we're living in those times — absolutely, for sure. We live in a very interesting world, and I think everyone could at least agree on that — that times have changed dramatically in the past two years."

When asked by host Chuck Shute to clarify whether he truly believes we are "on the cusp" of the battle of Armageddon, Michael said: "Yeah, I do. Those people out there who watch this moment, when I say 'yeah,' who roll their eyes and think I'm crazy, that's fine. You guys can go ahead and keep thinking people like myself are crazy. The only thing I can say to that is when that day comes and it's reality, obviously everyone will know that those who believed weren't crazy, and then at that point it'll be too late for the people who thought those people were crazy."

When Shute noted that the people who are labeled "crazy" are the ones who claim that they know the exact date and circumstances leading up to the big apocalypse, Michael said: "And the Bible is very clear about that too: 'No man will know the hour.' No man knows the hour. You can't sit and [say], 'Okay, according to this timeline, yeah, He's coming on this day.' And that's what people try to do. You can't.

"I think we're definitely living in the end times, but that could be short, that could be relatively soon, in the very near future, or that could be in a relatively distant future," Sweet explained. "I don't think it's gonna be hundreds of thousands of years from now, but I think that it's coming and our time is marked. And look, we may get hit by a giant comet before God comes back. Who knows?

"I think sometimes we think we're invincible — nothing can hurt us — and, obviously, COVID kind of taught us a lesson on that, didn't it?" Michael added ."We are not invincible and anything can happen at any given time unexpectedly that leaves us in awe, saying, 'Oh my gosh. I had no idea. I never even imagined that ever happening.' And it can and will happen. It's just a matter of time."

Formed 39 years ago, STRYPER's name comes from Isaiah 53:5, which states: "But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed."

STRYPER's albums include "To Hell With The Devil", "Second Coming", "No More Hell To Pay", "Fallen", "God Damn Evil" and the band's latest effort, "Even The Devil Believes".

In a 2018 interview with the Detroit Free Press, Michael said that STRYPER was never fully embraced by the heavy metal and hard rock communities, largely because of the band's Christian lyrics.

"We've never been accepted by either side," he said. "The secular side, the mainstream, they've never accepted us to this day. We're probably that band that everyone's going to go to whenever there's a time to mock. We'll be the band used for that in most cases. Now on the Christian side, we've never really had the full support of the Christian side because we don't fit into their little club. We're not wearing suits and ties and going to every church and preaching."

Xentrix have released the official video for "Seven Words", the title track of the band's new album, out November1 via Listenable. Watch the clip below, and pre-order the album here.


Hailing from the North West of England, Xentrix was formed in 1985 by guitar player Chris Astley. After numerous changes to the line up Xentrix signed to Roadrunner Records and entered the studio to record their first album Shattered Existence with producer John Cuniberti (Vio-lence, Forbidden, Joe Satriani).


Xentrix were one of the leading lights of the British thrash metal movement. They had music videos which all had regular air time on MTV’s Headbangers Ball. Gaining global notoriety, Xentrix  had many high energy performances with audiences of thousands.




Xentrix released their comeback album Bury The Pain in 2019 with production from Andy Sneap and Mastering by Russ Russell, this new recording showed the band sounding heavier than ever, while still retaining their signature sound.


Seven Words is the 7th studio release from Xentrix and is a crushing compendium of all that has made this band what it is today. New tracks such as “Reckless With A Smile”, “Anything But The Truth”, “The Alter Of Nothing”, “Everybody Loves You When You're Dead”, and the title track “Seven Words” will take their rightful place next to the Xentrix classics.


Xentrix’s guitarist Kristian Havard Comments: “This LP is the culmination of the last 2 years of us experimenting and trying new ideas. It feels like a big step forward for the band, but without stepping away from our Thrash Metal past and I can’t wait for people to hear it.”


Recorded in the UK at Backstage studios in Derbyshire and Viscon studios in Lancashire, the album was mixed and mastered by Andy Sneap (Judas Priest, Exodus, Megadeth) and returning to create the cover artwork was Dan Goldsworthy (Accept, Corpsegrinder, Alestorm)





Seven Words tracklisting:


"Behind The Walls Of Treachery"
"Seven Words"
"Spit Coin"
"The Alter of Nothing"
"Everybody Loves You When You’re Dead"
"Reckless With A Smile"
"Ghost Tape Number 10"
"My War"
"Kill And Protect"
"Anything But The Truth"
"Billion Dollar Babies" (CD Exclusive Bonus Track)


"Seven Words" video:





Xentrix will return to the road on the MTV Headbangers Ball Europe Tour 2022, alongside Vio-Lence, Whiplash, and Artillery.


Guitarist Kristian Havard comments: “We’re very honoured to be included in this line up of legendary thrash bands and we can’t wait to get back to mainland Europe and play some shows especially after all the Covid cancellations. This tour is going to be the perfect way to end 2022 and hopefully say goodbye to all the restrictions of the past two years. The MTV Headbangers Ball tour will see Xentrix breaking new ground as we’ve never played in Denmark and Sweden. I recommend that people start to warm up those neck muscles now as these gigs are going to be brutal!”





Tour dates:


November
23 - Amersfoot, Netherlands - Fluor
24 - Hamburg, Germany - Kulturpalast
25 - Mannheim, Germany - MS Connexion Complex
26 - Zlin, Czech Republic - Masters Of Rock Café
27 - Budapest, Hungary - Barba Negra
28 - Regensburg, Germany - Airport Eventhall
29 - Stuttgart, Germany - LKA Longhorn
30 - Zurich, Switzerland - Alte Kaserne


 December
1 - Brussels, Belgium - La Madeleine
2 - Essen, Germany - Turock
3 - Aarhus, Denmark - Voxhall
4 - Stockholm, Sweden - Slaktkyrkan
5 - Gothenburg, Sweden - Trädgarn


Xentrix 2022:


Jay Walsh - vocals/guitar
Kristian Havard - guitar
Chris Shires - bass
Dennis Gasser – drums

Norwegian metal icons In The Woods... have signed with Soulseller Records and will release new album, Diversum, on November 25th. The album will be available on digital, CD, and various limited edition vinyl formats.


Pre-order the album here (physical) and here (digital).


The album's first single, "A Wonderful Crisis", is streaming below and is available on Spotify.







In The Woods... return with a brand new studio album of avant-garde, progressive black rock and metal managing to deliver another epic masterpiece following untrodden paths and pagan tongue. With the band's new label, Soulseller Records, and new vocalist Bernt Fjellestad, the sails are set out to reach new heights.


In The Woods… set out on this journey a long time ago, and is with Diversum once again true to the spirit that is In The Woods… with changes, with difference, with diversity. The result is all that In The Woods… has been, and what the band will be, captured in the absolute unique album that is Diversum.





Tracklist:


"The Coward's Way"
"Moments"
"We Sinful Converge"
"The Malevolent God"
"A Wonderful Crisis"
"Humanity"
"Master of None"
"Your Dark"


Line-Up:


Anders Kobro - Drums
Bernt Sørensen - Rhythm & lead guitars
Nils Olav Drivdal - Bass, keyboards
Bernt Fjellestad - Vocals
Kåre André Sletteberg - Rhythm & lead guitars, acoustic guitars, keyboards
Alf Erik Sørensen - Session keyboards


Photo by Runar Haugeland

Swedish death metallers, Defleshed, have set October 28 as the release date for their new full-length, Grind Over Matter. For a preview of the album, a new lyric video (created by Angus Norder) for the single, "Bent Out Of Shape", can be viewed below.


Comments Gustaf Jorde: "'Bent Out Of Shape' is the opening track of our new album! A ball busting song about rebelling the ideas of uniformity, accompanied by the footage of Angus Norder (Witchery/Necrocraft). Rejoice with the noise!"







Grind Over Matter was tracked at Rorysound Studios, Uppsala, Sweden, with Lawrence Mackrory, with two weeks devoted to drums, another two for guitar and bass and two three-day sessions for vocals. "It was pretty straightforward, the hardest part was to not get carried away by impulsive ideas too much, but stay put to the original plan," says Jorde.





Grind Over Matter can be pre-ordered here in the following formats:


- jewelcase-CD
- 180g black vinyl
- ochre brown marbled vinyl (EU exclusive - limited to 300 copies)
- gold black splatter vinyl (EU exclusive - limited to 300 copies)
- gold silver splatter vinyl (EU exclusive - limited to 300 copies)
- blood splatter vinyl (EU exclusive - limited to 300 copies)
- clear red brown w/black swirls vinyl (Sound Pollution Sweden exclusive - limited to 300 copies)
- smoky grey w/black swirls vinyl (US exclusive - limited to 700 copies)





Tracklisting:


"Bent Out Of Shape"
"Grind Over Matter"
"One Grave To Fit Them All"
"Heavy Haul"
"Dear Devil"
"Staring Blind"
"Blood Well Spent"
"Unburdened By Genius"
"Behind Dead Eyes"
"Blast Beast"
"Last Nail In The Coffin"


"Grind Over Matter" video:





Defleshed lineup:


Gustaf Jorde - vocals/bass
Lars Löfven - guitars
Matte Modin - drums


(Photo - Evelina Szczesik for EveR Vision)

British metal sextet, Bury Tomorrow, have announced the release of their seventh album, the aptly titled The Seventh Sun. The album will be released on March 31 via Music For Nations. Pre-order or pre-save it here.


To mark the announcement, the band have shared "Abandon Us." Watch the video below.


"We are beyond excited to share the new era of Bury Tomorrow with you all. Album seven and still driving forward," says frontman Dani Winter-Bates. "'Abandon Us is the perfect way to showcase our intent with this next phase, visceral and heavy, this one is for those that have stuck by us and those just find out about Bury Tomorrow. Enjoy and anticipate."




It's never too late to be what you might have been. Sometimes you just need a push to take the plunge. Few people would be greater advocates for this truth than Bury Tomorrow.  


Faced 18 months ago, following a period of external and internal strife, with the very real reality that it might be time to pack up their successes and close the book on a storied career of 15 years, with their hands forced and backs to the wall Bury Tomorrow instead picked up fate's gauntlet and set about writing the chapter they had always imagined.


The Seventh Sun stands as testament to the bonds and belief required to shape themselves a new reality, a new sound, and a new future.


If standalone singles "Death (Ever Colder)" and "Life (Paradise Denied)," released little over a month apart earlier this year, gave a first glimpse at what lay in store, then The Seventh Sun amounts to the glorious arrival at a destination in this new era. Not Bury Tomorrow's final destination, either, you must understand, but one that both perfectly encapsulates their revivified present while offering further tantalizing hints at an unwritten future.


This is no beast tamed, but rather one with its teeth and claws sharpened, intent on killing with targeted precision rather than with overwhelming bludgeoning. Refocused yet no more restrained, The Seventh Sun's expanded sonic palette platforms sky-high melodies, layered with textured atmosphere, cloaking an underlying savagery.





Tracklisting:


"The Seventh Sun"
"Abandon Us"
"Begin Again"
"Forced Divide"
"Boltcutter"
"Wrath"
"Majesty"
"Heretic"
"Recovery?"
"Care"
"The Carcass King"


"Abandon Us" video:





LIneup:


Kristian Dawson - Lead Guitar
Daniel Winter-Bates - Vocals
Davyd Winter-Bates - Bass Guitar
Ed Hartwell - Rhythm Guitar
Adam Jackson - Drums
Tom Prendergast - Keyboards/Vocals


(Photo - Nic Bezzina)

"GOOD NEWS," begins an update from Sabaton. "The second episode of our US/CA tour vlog is OUT! Follow us on our journey and take a look at what we’ve been up to. Week 2 included a meet and greet, seriously fun shows and plenty of shenanigans. Watch it now. You won’t regret it."





Sabaton recently made an exciting announcement:




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"

LAMB OF GOD has shared the official music video for the song "Ditch". The track is taken from the band's new album, "Omens", which is being released today (Friday, October 7). The LP is the follow-up to LAMB OF GOD's self-titled album, which arrived in June 2020. That effort marked LAMB OF GOD's first recordings with drummer Art Cruz, who joined the band in July 2019 as the replacement for the group's founding drummer, Chris Adler.

LAMB OF GOD will take part in an exclusive "Omens" in-store band signing at Amoeba in Hollywood, California on Thursday, October 13 starting at 4 p.m. To attend, purchase your copy of "Omens" on CD (deluxe limited edition exclusive softpak CD with alternate cover art and documentary access code) or LP in-store beginning October 7. A free poster will come with purchase — one per customer/while they last.

For more information, go to this location.

LAMB OF GOD recently announced "The Making Of: Omens", a short film documenting the recording of their upcoming album. The documentary is available to watch on-demand throughout the month of October at watch.lamb-of-god.com. All physical CD and vinyl copies of "Omens" include a free access code to watch the documentary. The documentary includes four full-song performances recorded in the live room at Henson Studios: "Nevermore", "Omens", "Vanishing" and "Gomorrah".

Speaking to the WSOU 89.5 FM radio station about LAMB OF GOD's decision to document the making of "Omens", guitarist Mark Morton said: "It started, really, because we knew the way we were gonna record it — we knew we were gonna be all together [in the studio recording at the same time]. I don't know if the average music listener pays attention to that kind of thing, but it's not really a very common way to make a record these days. To be all playing at the same time and recording every piece of it at the same time and saving parts of each performance, that's the way things used to be done, but very rarely are they done like that. So I think we felt internally it would be cool to document that process, knowing we were gonna be doing it that way. And also there's just a history of behind-the-scenes documentary within LAMB OF GOD, just historically. Back in 2000s, DVD days, we were really open with having cameras around and filming ourselves for better or worse and kind of letting our fans see what it's like every step of the way, really — sometimes to a fault. And I think that access is really early in what kind of helped create such a bond between us and a lot of our fans is because they feel like they know us because they've been given so much access. So it had been some time since we'd done anything like that, but deciding to do so felt pretty natural."

In August, LAMB OF GOD bassist John Campbell told Germany's EMP that "Omens" is "a fairly dynamic record. There's a few other little surprises and tweaks and things to come in October," he said. "But we recorded it differently this time. We went to Los Angeles and all of us in the same room and same time recording, which gave us some leeway to make changes as things happened and just kind of feel it out in a different way than we've done in the past, which would be everybody kind of going in their corner recording and it gets assembled later. So it was a real team effort on this one, in the recording — all the way through it's been a team effort — and in the recording especially, when we were all in the same room doing that stuff, it was great. I got to spend three and a half weeks working on a record instead of four or five days — working on the recording of the record."

Also in August, Campbell was asked by Knotfest what led to the decision to record "Omens" live in the studio. John responded: "Well, we've been doing this so fucking long, we had to do something different. I believe that was Josh Wilbur's idea to do that. I know he had a great place worked out to do that in. And we had just kind of been doing it the same way over and over and over again, and we were looking to get a little more excitement into it and maybe see if that couldn't produce a different feel on the record."

LAMB OF GOD is supporting the new album with a massive Live Nation-produced U.S. headlining tour featuring special guests KILLSWITCH ENGAGE on all dates. Different legs are also seeing support from BARONESS, MOTIONLESS IN WHITE, SPIRITBOX, ANIMALS AS LEADERS as well as SUICIDE SILENCE and FIT FOR AN AUTOPSY. The tour kicked off September 9 in Brooklyn and will run through October 20.

BLACK SABBATH bassist Geezer Butler joined the Finnish cello rock quartet APOCALYPTICA and singer Franky Perez — guest vocalist on APOCALYPTICA's 2015 record "Shadowmaker" — on stage this past Tuesday (October 4) at Brooklyn Bowl in Las Vegas, Nevada to perform the SABBATH classic "War Pigs". Video of his appearance can be seen below.

Butler and Perez, who both live in Las Vegas, were the featured musicians on APOCALYPTICA's "I'll Get Through It" single, which came out earlier this year. The song was written for the band by American award-winning songwriter Diane Warren. The collaboration was born out of a visit Geezer and Franky paid to their friend Diane, who had already written the track "Not Strong Enough" for APOCALYPTICA, included in their 2010 record "7th Symphony".

"Franky and I were visiting my friend, Diane Warren, at her studio," Geezer commented at the time. "She played us this song, saying that she thought it would work well with Franky's voice. He gave it a try on the spot. We loved it. Franky then suggested sending it to APOCALYPTICA. They loved it, and the rest is history."

Perez shared the same feeling of enthusiasm upon hearing the track for the first time. "I knew this song was special from the moment Diane Warren played it for Geezer and me," he said. "So much so, that I framed the lyrics from the session the very next day. They have been hanging on my wall ever since. This song speaks to me lyrically which made for an honest performance. Musically, there is no better collaboration than Geezer and APOCALYPTICA to do the song the justice it deserves. I feel very fortunate to be a part of it."

"I'll Get Through It" marked the first collaboration between APOCALYPTICA and Perez since he sang on "Shadowmaker", which added to the excitement for the members of APOCALYPTICA, according to Perttu Kivilaakso. "We are more than thrilled working with our great and talented friend Franky Perez again!" he said.

Perttu also added about the song: "'I'll Get Through It' is a meaningful and beautiful song by an incredible songwriter Diane Warren, with whom we've also had the pleasure of working with before. We can't wait for you to hear the final result… falling in love again with Franky's sensual performance, Geezer's earthshakingly powerful bass, and our wistfully haunting cellos, among the inevitable presence of all the rhythms and groove!"

2015's "Shadowmaker" was APOCALYPTICA's first album to feature just one singer — Perez — instead of guest collaborators. The disc was recorded with Grammy Award-winning producer Nick Raskulinecz (FOO FIGHTERS, DEFTONES, MASTODON).

Prior to enlisting Perez, the group released eight albums that melded the classically trained cello mastery of the three core bandmembers with the harder elements of the rock world, including drums and guest vocalists, such as Gavin Rossdale from BUSH, and Corey Taylor of SLIPKNOT and STONE SOUR fame.

APOCALYPTICA's latest studio album, "Cell-0", came out in January 2020. The effort was the band's first fully instrumental record in 17 years.

Back in 2018, APOCALYPTICA's Eicca Toppinen stated about the band's decision to make an all-instrumental album at this point in the group's career: "On the previous ones, we always combined the instrumental songs with the vocal songs, and it was great to have the featuring artists, it was great to work with Frank Perez for the 'Shadowmaker' album. But then, on the other hand, it became a bigger interest for us, like, okay, it would be interesting to make a full instrumental album, so there's no compromise with anything."

Dutch composer, producer, vocalist and songwriter, Charlotte Wessels (ex-Delain), presents her new and fourth single, “Venus Rising”, from her upcoming full-length, Tales From Six Feet Under Vol II, out tomorrow via Napalm Records.


Skillfully pushing genre boundaries, Wessels has put her heart and soul into this new offering, making her spirit tangible with every note and transforming this album into a flawless immersion of rock, pop, metal and beyond - all produced, performed and programmed in her own Six Feet Under studio.


Channeling her inner goddess, “Venus Rising” pulls audiences into the unique sonic Olympus of her musical sophistication. The captivating synth-flavored track combines rich musical styles - showcasing her unique approach and manifesting her own divinity with this song once more - honest, refined and truly limitless. “Venus Rising” is impressively underlined with an astonishing official music video.     




Charlotte Wessels on “Venus Rising”: “'Venus Rising' was inspired by Botticelli's painting The Birth Of Venus. Even though she was modeled after the ideals of her time, I take comfort from the fact that she never had to cover up or uncover, be louder or more soft spoken, grow bigger or smaller, but just rises from the waves and comes into power unaffected by expectations, regulations and injustices that reign in the real world. We recorded the video for the song last week, and I couldn't stop thinking about the brave women of Iran, and how they're fighting for their most basic human rights at this very moment. It is heartbreaking and in my mind the song is dedicated to them. #MahsaAmini”





Pre-order the new album here.





Tales From Six Feet Under Vol II tracklisting:


"Venus Rising"
"Human To Ruin"
"The Phantom Touch"
"Against All Odds"
"A Million Lives"
"The Final Roadtrip"
"Good Dog"
"Toxic"
"I Forget"
"Utopia"


“Toxic” lyric video:





(Photo - Sandra Ludewig)

Electric Mob are putting the final touches on their upcoming second studio album, details of which will be unveiled before year's end, with the album anticipated for release in early 2023.





In the meantime, the band has released a new single and music video, "Sun Is Falling", to preview the album. Stream the song here, and watch the official music video below:







Electric Mob recently unveiled a very special live performance, "Better Live Than Never", captured at Nico's Studio in the band's hometown of Curitiba, Brazil.





Formed in Curitiba, Brazil by Renan Zonta (vocals), Ben Hur Auwarter (guitar), Yuri Elero (bass), and André Leister (drums), Electric Mob caught the attention of Frontiers with their tremendous hard rock songs that show the influence of contemporary hard rock giants while also showing a knowledge of the hard rock pillars of the '70s and '80s.


Electric Mob is made up of four young, hungry, and extremely talented musicians, with the rock 'n roll attitude to deliver their explosive performances. Like a sonic punch to the face, their songs bring a heavy sound with a distinct groove.


Electric Mob is one of rock’s most exciting and promising newcomers in years. Stay tuned for more news about the band's upcoming studio album in the coming week.


Electric Mob lineup:


Renan Zonta - Vocals
Ben Hur Auwarter - Guitar
Yuri Elero - Bass
André Leister - Drums

Mötley Crüe have released an HD remastered version of the music video for "Kickstart My Heart", featured on the band's fifth studio album, Dr. Feelgood, released in 1989. Watch below:





The band previously released remastered videos for "Dr. Feelgood" (1989), "Home Sweet Home" and "Smoking' In The Boys Room" from 1985's Theatre Of Pain, "Live Wire" from 1981's Too Fast For Love, and "Too Young To Fall In Love" and "Looks That Kill", both from 1983's Shout At The Devil. Watch below:

German black/death metallers, Mystic Circle, have released a video for their cover of Possessed's "Death Metal", a CD digipak bonus track from their eponymous comeback album, out now via Atomic Fire Records.


Beelzebub comments, "Possessed have always been a huge influence for Mystic Circle: not only being the inventors of satanic death metal but also by delivering a scene defining masterpiece like Seven Churches, they are one of the top 3 bands of the genre that have to be honoured the most besides Venom and Deicide in our opinion. In addition, Peter König added great guest vocals to our interpretation. He's the singer of German act Gomorrha which also had an undeniable impact on us in our youthhood which makes the whole thing really come full circle for Mystic Circle."







Following the musical path where Infernal Satanic Verses - the final Mystic Circle record featuring both reunion members - had left off in 1999, Mystic Circle was produced by the band and Nils Lesser at Vaultroom Productions while its artwork was designed by Brazilian artist Rafael Tavares.


Order Mystic Circle in various formats here.





Mystic Circle tracklisting:


"Belial Is My Name"
"Seven Headed Dragon"
"Hell Demons Rising"
"Letters From The Devil"
"Darkness In Flames"
"The Arrival Of Baphomet"
"Curse Of The Wolf Demon"
"Satanic Mistress"
"Death Metal" (Possessed Cover) - CD digipak only bonus track


"Darkness In Flames" video:





"Belial Is My Name" video:





"Letters From The Devil" video:





With seven studio albums and many tours alongside black metal heavyweights Marduk, Gorgoroth, and Dimmu Borgir under their belt, it wasn't just a little history that German black/death metal legends Mystic Circle left behind when they decided to call it quits in 2007. But alas, 14 years of silence are over as Mystic Circle - consisting of Beelzebub and A. Blackwar who had actually left the group in 1999 - have risen from their graves to renew their deal with the Dark Lord.


Mystic Circle:


Beelzebub - vocals, guitars, bass, keyboards
A. Blackwar - vocals, guitars, drums, keyboards


(Photo – Alen Ljubic)

“After The Rain”, the debut single from the new metal all-star project Eranaës, is out now via Dr. Music Records.


The Swiss vocalist Stephan Lipp (ex-Second Reign) kicked off his solo project at the beginning of the year to create extraordinary sound cosmos with top-class guest musicians, each bringing their character and playing style to the table. The musician has gained the support of Edge Of Paradise vocalist Margarita Monet and keyboard wizard Derek Sherinian (i. a. Dream Theater, Joe Bonamassa, Whitesnake). But the other members with Eluveitie drummer Alain Ackermann and guitarist Simon Burri (Rage Of Light, Vorax, Sinverse) are also quite impressive.


Producer Mack Schildknecht (China, The Three Sum, Fueled By Grace) was not only twisting the knobs but also contributing bass. Chris Beyerlein from Stem Masters (Schandmaul, Fiddler’s Green, Stahlmann) subsequently provided the finishing touches to the mastering with his tight, tidy and powerful, imposing sound.




With the single “After The Rain” (feat. Margarita Monet & Derek Sherinian) accompanied by a music video with subtle visuals, Eranaës have created a remarkable mix of melodic and progressive metal, bringing the serious topic of child abuse to the fore with profound lyrics.


The music video foreshadows the suffering of the young protagonists without making the two children in the video clip morally vulnerable, and it is not only poignantly staged from a content-related point of view but also visually.





Also, the single cover of “After The Rain” is not up to standard, showing a painting by Swiss artist Christophe Terraz, tackling the oppressive subject with his very own imagery. Despite the severe background, all players’ particular interaction makes this single a unique musical experience. Thanks to its strong catchiness, the song immediately gets stuck in the head and more than deserves massive attention from fans and media. The single, including a second version recorded only by Stephan Lipp and his Swiss musicians, is available now at all major online stores and streaming services.

Brazilian progressive metal band, Armored Dawn, has blazed back onto the scene with their single and music video, “S.O.S.”. Written by Carolina Angeli and the group's former drummer, Rodrigo Oliveira*, "S.O.S." portrays the feelings of a person suffering with depression, who isolation with their pain, believing that no one will ever understand their feelings or what is happening to her.


Mixed by Chris Lord Alge (Muse, Green Day, Nickelback) and mastered by Ted Jensen (Bring Me The Horizon, Evanescence, Metallica), "S.O.S." shows a great evolution in the band's sound. The composition, while bringing the characteristic identity that marked the sound of Armored Dawn, expands horizons and will surprise those who have somehow missed the band's work.


The music video for “S.O.S.” was directed by Kahue Rozzi, from SimonSays Filmes. The video shows the meeting of different facets and personalities and the inner child of this lonely and depressive character, who is both the heroine and the villain of her own story.




Purchase / stream "S.O.S" here.





The current lineup of Armored Dawn, which includes Eduardo Parras (vocals), Tiago de Moura and Timo Kaarkoski (guitars), Heros Trench (bass), Rafael Agostino (keyboards) and Chris Oliveira (drums), continues to work on future releases.


The band's upcoming album, Brand New Way, was produced and recorded at the renowned Dharma Studios, in São Paulo, by Rodrigo Oliveira and Heros Trench, mixed by Chris Lord-Alge and mastered by Ted Jensen, two top names in North American music production. Acclaimed since the 1980s, having won 5 Grammys, Chris Lord-Alge has worked with some of the world's greatest music legends such as James Brown, Prince, Joe Cocker, and Tina Turner, as well as legendary soundtracks such as Rocky IV and Batman.





Sound engineer Ted Jensen, renowned for his work at the renowned Sterling Sound studio, has mastered albums by the Eagles, Jean Michel Jarre, Santana, and Norah Jones, for which he received a Grammy in 2002. In the heaviest fields of music, he worked on the most recent albums by The Pretty Reckless, Death by Rock & Roll, and Death Magnetic, by Metallica, as well as albums by bands such as Korn, Disturbed, Alice in Chains, and Papa Roach.


Create a concept, find the right partners, work to make it all cohesive and invest in the potential to pursue your goals. From this perspective, Armored Dawn appeared in 2014 and became relevant in the Brazilian metal scene. After all, they toured alongside great bands such as Saxon, Megadeth, Scorpions, Whitesnake, Europe, Hammerfall, Rhapsody, Fates Warning, Sabaton, Tarja, in addition to participating in the Motörboat, the cruise of the legendary Motörhead.


The first two albums, Power of Warrior (2016) and Barbarians in Black (2018), were produced by important professionals such as Tommy Hansen (Helloween, Jorn), Bruno Agra (We Are Harlot) and Kato Khandwala (The Pretty Reckless, Papa Roach). The third, Viking Zombie, was produced, mixed and mastered by Rodrigo Oliveira and Heros Trench, who is a veteran producer, with more than 200 bands under his belt and a Latin Grammy winner.


Presenting a sophisticated and versatile metal, the group collects great works in music videos, such as the super production “Sail Away” and “Beware of the Dragon”, shown in all movie theaters in Brazil during the trailers for the movie Aquaman. Besides them, “Ragnarok” and “Animal Uncaged” (recorded at the Rockfest Festival, at Allianz Parque, São Paulo, when they played to around 37,000 people) have millions of views on YouTube.


During the pandemic, they released the single “Stronger Together”, which was very well accepted by the fans. The fourth album in Armored Dawn's career is currently being produced by the band.

UME/Geffen will celebrate GUNS N' ROSES' incredible musical legacy with "Use Your Illusion I & II", the ultimate box set for the band's 1991 multi-platinum releases "Use Your Illusion I" and "Use Your Illusion II". Set for release on November 11, "Use Your Illusion I & II" super deluxes feature a total of 97 tracks, 63 are previously unreleased. It will be available in multiple configurations including a Super Deluxe Seven-CD + Blu-ray, a Super Deluxe Twelve-LP + Blu-ray, Two-CD Deluxe Editions of "Use Your Illusion I" and "Use Your Illusion II" separately, standard 1CD and 2LP versions of "Use Your Illusion I" and "Use Your Illusion II" separately. In all formats, the original studio albums "Use Your Illusion I" and "Use Your Illusion II" have been fully remastered for the first-time ever, from high-resolution 96kHz 24-bit transfers from the original stereo 1/2-inch analog masters. All versions will be available to stream and as digital downloads, with all configurations available to pre-order and pre-save.

GUNS N' ROSES' highly anticipated third and fourth studio albums, "Use Your Illusion I" and "Use Your Illusion II", were originally released simultaneously on September 17, 1991. With the massive success of "Lies" and "Appetite For Destruction", the band had the daunting task of a follow up album. Not only did the band deliver, GUNS N' ROSES surprised the world by releasing not one but two new, full-length studio albums. Upon release, "Use Your Illusion I" reached No. 2 and "Use Your Illusion II" took the No. 1 position on the Billboard 200 chart concurrently, selling over 500,000 copies in the first two hours of release, with an estimated sales of over 685,000 and 770,000, respectively, within the first week of release.

"Use Your Illusion I" features the band's bombastic cover of Paul McCartney's "Live And Let Die", the Top Ten hit "Don't Cry" and what NPR described as "one of the ultimate hard-rock power ballads," the band's '90s anthem and MTV staple "November Rain", which hit No. 3 on Billboard's Hot 100, spending a total of 30 weeks on the chart, and holds the title of the first video from the '90s to hit the 1 billion views mark on YouTube — now nearing 2 billion views. "November Rain" will now include a real 50-piece orchestra for the first-time ever newly recorded, conducted and arranged in 2021 by Grammy Award-winning and Emmy Award-nominated composer Christopher Lennertz.

"Use Your Illusion II" features the band's Top 50 single "You Could Be Mine", "Civil War", which reached No. 4 on Billboard's Mainstream Rock Airplay chart, Bob Dylan's "Knocking On Heaven's Door", plus an alternate version of "Don't Cry" featuring different lyrics.

"Use Your Illusion I & II" Super Deluxe Seven-CD + Blu-ray and Super Deluxe Twelve-LP + Blu-ray box sets feature a whopping 97 songs, 63 of which are unreleased audio and video tracks. The original studio albums "Use Your Illusion I" and "Use Your Illusion II" are both remastered for the first-time from high-resolution 96kHz 24-bit transfers from the original stereo 1/2-inch analog master tapes. The box set features an impressive, anamorphic illusion showcasing each of the two covers at different angles. The twelve-LP box is pressed on 180-gram heavy weight audiophile black vinyl with six premium tip-on gatefold jackets. Both Super Deluxe Editions also include the complete live audio recording "Live In New York", taped at the Ritz Theatre on May 16, 1991, with sound newly mixed from original multi-track tapes. This legendary show is one of three warmup shows for the "Use Your Illusion" tour and features Izzy Stradlin on guitar, the original version of "Don't Cry" and a special performance of "You Ain't The First" both of which features the late Shannon Hoon of BLIND MELON on guest vocals. Also included is the complete audio recording of "Live In Las Vegas" taped at Thomas & Mack Center on January 25, 1992, newly mixed from the original multi-track tapes and features the band's then-new guitarist Gilby Clarke. The bonus disc is a Blu-ray Video of the complete "Live In New York" concert film, newly transferred from 35mm film prints to 4K UHD and presented in 1080p 24fps HD, in its entirety, along with audio mixed in Dolby Atmos, Dolby TrueHD 5.1 surround, and PCM 48kHz 24-bit stereo. The Blu-ray menu features the brand-new live music video "You Could Be Mine", which can be seen below. This is the first-time release of any complete audio and video concerts from the "Use Your Illusion"-era GN'R.

The Super Deluxe box sets are housed with a 100-page hardcover book with unreleased photos, memorabilia & archival documents, Conspiracy Inc. replica fan club folder with membership card, four Conspiracy Inc. 1991/1992 "Use Your Illusion"-era replica fan club newsletters, 10 Double-design lithos that reveals 1 of 2 unique images when inserted into the supplied red & blue reveal sleeves, seven band 8"x10" photo prints, four "Use Your Illusion" tour replica cloth sticky backstage passes, a Ritz Theatre 5/16/1991 replica concert ticket (with the original misprinted date of 5/15/1991) and a brand new 24"x36" band poster.

Both "Use Your Illusion I" and "Use Your Illusion II" are packaged together in a limited-edition 4LP set, each housed in a premium tip-on gatefold jacket with a 12"x12" insert and feature both original studio albums fully remastered for the first-time ever from high-resolution 96kHz 24-bit transfers from the original stereo 1/2-inch analog master tapes. "Use Your Illusion I" includes the debut of the newly recorded "November Rain (2022 Version)" with a first-ever real 50-piece orchestra conducted and arranged by Grammy Award winner and Emmy Award-nominated composer Christopher Lennertz. Both albums are housed in an exclusive foil-art slipcase showcasing both "Use Your Illusion I" and "Use Your Illusion II" covers. "Use Your Illusion I" LP 1 is pressed on yellow vinyl and LP 2 is pressed on red vinyl. "Use Your Illusion II" LP 1 is pressed on blue vinyl and LP 2 is pressed on purple vinyl. As an added bonus, exclusive to this set is a zoetrope turntable mat that when combined with a strobing light effect animates the mat's artwork while spinning on a turntable.

"Use Your Illusion I": 2CD Deluxe Edition

Disc one features the original studio album "Use Your Illusion I", fully remastered for the first-time ever from high-resolution 96kHz 24-bit transfers from the original stereo 1/2-inch analog master tapes onto 44.1kHz 16-bit CD, and now includes the debut of the newly recorded "November Rain (2022 Version)" featuring a real 50-piece orchestra for the first-time conducted and arranged by Grammy Award winner and Emmy Award-nominated composer Christopher Lennertz.

Disc two features 13 unreleased, newly mixed live tracks from London, Paris, Rio de Janeiro, New York, and Las Vegas recorded during the "Use Your Illusion" 1991/1992 tour including the track "Always On The Run (Live in Paris – 6/6/92)" featuring Lenny Kravitz, complete with a 24-page booklet with expanded artwork and unreleased photos and images.

"Use Your Illusion II": 2CD Deluxe Edition

Disc one is the original studio album "Use Your Illusion II" fully remastered for the first-time ever from high-resolution 96kHz 24-bit transfers from the original stereo 1/2-inch analog master tapes onto 44.1kHz 16-bit CD. Disc two features 13 newly mixed, unreleased live tracks from London, Paris, Rio de Janeiro, New York and Las Vegas recorded during the "Use Your Illusion" 1991/1992 tour including special guest appearances by Steven Tyler and Joe Perry of AEROSMITH for live renditions of "Mama Kin & Train Kept A Rollin' (Live in Paris – 6/6/92)". Included is a 24-page booklet with expanded artwork and unreleased photos and images.

"Use Your Illusion I": 2LP 180g Vinyl / "Use Your Illusion II": 2LP 180g Vinyl

Each pressed on 180g heavy-weight audiophile black vinyl as a 2LP set, both "Use Your Illusion I" and "Use Your Illusion II" are available separately and each housed in a gatefold jacket with a 12"x12" insert and feature the original studio album fully remastered for the first-time ever from high-resolution 96kHz 24-bit transfers from the original stereo 1/2-inch analog master tapes. "Use Your Illusion I" includes the debut of the newly recorded "November Rain (2022 Version)" with a first-ever real 50-piece orchestra conducted and arranged by Grammy Award winner and Emmy Award-nominated composer Christopher Lennertz.

"Use Your Illusion I": 1CD & Digital / "Use Your Illusion II": 1CD & Digital

For the first-time ever, the 1CD versions of "Use Your Illusion I" and "Use Your Illusion II", both available separately, have been remastered from high-resolution 96kHz 24-bit transfers from the original stereo 1/2-inch analog master tapes onto 44.1kHz 16-bit CD. "Use Your Illusion I" includes the newly recorded "November Rain (2022 Version)" with a first-ever real 50-piece orchestra conducted and arranged by Grammy Award winner and Emmy Award-nominated composer Christopher Lennertz and each housed in a jewel case with 16-page booklet.

Joe Lynn Turner has once again defended Roger Waters, saying the former PINK FLOYD member is "still fighting the good fight."

The 79-year-old British musician has taken controversial positions on a number of foreign policy issues recently, including the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine. His remarks sparked a backlash, with Ukraine and allies accusing Waters of promoting the Kremlin's talking points and being an "apologist" for authoritarians. Roger later claimed in a Rolling Stone magazine interview was placed "on a kill list that is supported by the Ukrainian government."

Turner touched upon Waters's far-fetched statements while discussing the lyrical inspiration for his upcoming album, "Belly Of The Beast", in a new interview with Ruben Mosqueda of We Go To 11. When Mosqueda pointed out to Turner that most other artists would shy away from addressing global political issues in their lyrics, Joe said: "Roger Waters is still fighting the good fight. And they're trying to just decimate him in any way they can. When they don't like something that you say that doesn't fit the narrative that they've created, they'll ban you, they'll stop your speech, they'll crush you, they'll call you names and sometimes they'll even assassinate you.

"This is not freedom," Joe continued. "You've gotta fight to be free, man. Freedom is not free. And everybody's living in fear, as far as I'm concerned — fear of everything and fear of each other. And that's pretty psychotic. That really is. That's gonna create the fallen world that I talk about on the record.

"Right now we are on the edge of a nuclear war, and we've got ourselves to blame — all of ourselves. It's not him and it's not her — it's all of us. We allow it to happen. Because we're not tough enough.

"'We want peace.' 'Give peace a chance.' 'Power to the people,'" Turner added, quoting a couple of John Lennon songs that reflected THE BEATLES legend's political views.

"What the hell happened here? Where did we go wrong? We went wrong somewhere along the road," Joe concluded.

Late last month, Turner played a concert in Saint Petersburg, seemingly breaking with most international artists who canceled their live appearances in Russia in response to the global condemnation against the Kremlin and its president, Vladimir Putin, over the war in Ukraine. In addition, major record labels suspended their operations in the country, while streaming services like Spotify pulled out of the market.

In August, the former RAINBOW and DEEP PURPLE frontman apparently threw his support behind Waters over comments the PINK FLOYD co-founder made about Russia. Waters blasted U.S. president Joe Biden for "fueling the fire in the Ukraine" amid Russia's ongoing invasion of the country, and asked in an interview with CNN's Michael Smerconish, "Why won't the United States of America encourage [Volodymyr] Zelensky, [Ukraine's] president, to negotiate, obviating the need for this horrific, horrendous war?" After Smerconish responded that Waters got it "reversed" and was "blaming the party that got invaded," Waters fired back, saying it was about the "action and reaction of NATO pushing right up to the Russian border."

A short time later, Turner took to his official Facebook page to share a video of Smerconish's interview with Waters, and he included the following message: "Roger Waters speaks TRUTH to power! Thank you Roger. Someone has to say it..."

This was not the first time Joe had publicly taken a political stance. Back in 2015, the singer made headlines when it was revealed that he joined a list of Western celebrities who publicly expressed support for and defended Vladimir Putin, whose image had suffered greatly because of Moscow's aggressive foreign policy.

Two years later, Turner said that his opinion of the Russian president had remained unchanged. "He still is [telling the truth]," the singer told Kraig Casebier's "American Barber In Prague" in a 2017 interview. "Honest to God, I got a lot of crap for [saying] that [before]. But it's true, and he still is, whether you like him or not. He may be a gangster, but he's a good gangster. And I say there are good gangsters.

"There were gangsters in my family, in the Mafia, and they were good people," he explained. "They were the safest neighborhoods, and they protected everyone on the block, and they took care of a lot of people. And they actually donated their time, money to good causes. If somebody didn't have enough bread or food, they'd buy it for 'em. I mean, it depends on what kind of gangster you are. The politicans are bad gangsters; they can't even cover up their crimes."

Joe went on to lament the state of American politics and denounced the culture of extreme political correctness, which he believed had gone too far.

"I think America's lost its way," he said. "We've lost God, we've lost a lot of things that made that country great. And I'm sorry to say, being an American — Italian-American, and holding an American passport… I have had uncles… and my father did military service for twelve overseas stripes — the whole thing. And I went to Iraq for the troops, so anybody that wants to challenge that, c'mon, bring it on, because I think I know a few more things than you. But I think that we've lost a lot in our values of America. We can't even speak freely anymore. There's more freedom in Russia; I can tell you that. I've done a lot of time there and still will. People don't understand what Russia is [in America]."

According to Turner, his country's demonization of Russia is rooted in the fact that "America always needs a big, bad wolf. We need to hate somebody, because of the military industrial complex," he said. "So we need to hate somebody all the time [and] create a war. There's no need for it, really. If we can just straighten out the economy and get the Fed out of there, I think the people would have a chance. But right now, I pray for them — I really do. Because I just think they've got it all wrong."

As if sensing the criticism that would likely follow his comments, Turner preemptively defended himself by saying: "I said Putin was telling the truth, 'cause he is telling the truth. I got subpoenaed by my own government, okay? So all these naysayers and these haters who are gonna see this about me and stuff, you guys have no clue. 30 percent of the American people have passports, so 70 percent of you are isolated and know dick about it — you have been nowhere and done nothing. Excuse me, but that's what you should have been told a long time ago."

The now-71-year-old singer went on to explain that he was "subpoenaed" by the U.S. government after he played "three charity shows" in Russian-annexed Crimea, which he called a "wartorn country." "The people had a great time [and] we had sellout houses," he said.

Turner also expressed his belief that too many of today's artists were afraid to discuss social issues in their music, preferring instead to stick to the generic, trivial topics that the rock genre has always been synonymous with.

"If you believe in one faction, the problem is if you say it today and you're not politically correct, you're gonna catch a lot of hell from people that don't wanna work with you because you're not politically correct," Joe said. "So the world has become falsely politically correct, shall I say. And that's not the way music should be. Music used to be rebellious, used to be something that we could step out of the norm and live for, as far as heroically, but now everybody's starting to get in line: 'Don't say this,' and, 'Don't say that about this.' So you try to do it in your writing, but it sometimes falls on deaf ears, because they're not used to hearing… 'Oh, we don't wanna hear about that.' 'We don't wanna know about that.' "

He added: "It's very unfortunate that the generations of today don't wanna know about being a rebel and having an alternative to what they're being indoctrinated with."

Turner is married to Maya Kozyreva, a lawyer from Minsk, the capital of Belarus, which has supported Russia throughout its invasion of Ukraine. "She is my greatest asset in life. She's my angel," he told Guitar World in 2012.

Joe was the singer of RAINBOW between 1980 and 1984 and he sang on the album "Difficult To Cure", which featured the band's most successful U.K. single, "I Surrender".

During Turner's time with RAINBOW, the band had its first USA chart success and recorded songs that helped define the melodic rock genre.

1990 saw Turner reunited with RAINBOW leader Ritchie Blackmore in a reformed DEEP PURPLE for the "Slaves And Masters" album.

Former VENOM and current VENOM INC. guitarist Jeff "Mantas" Dunn has clarified his previous comment that he would like to see the classic VENOM lineup celebrate the 40th anniversary of the band's "Black Metal" album.

Released in 1982, "Black Metal" is considered a major influence on thrash metal and extreme metal in general. VENOM's second album proved influential enough that its title was used as the name of the extreme metal subgenre of black metal. The band classic lineup trio of Dunn, vocalist/bassist Conrad "Cronos" Lant and drummer Anthony "Abaddon" Bray recorded two further studio LPs, "At War With Satan" (1984) and "Possessed" (1985),and live album, "Eine Kleine Nachtmusik" (1986). Often cited by bands such as METALLICA, BEHEMOTH, CELTIC FROST and MAYHEM as major influences, they are one of the most revered bands of their generation. VENOM is still fronted by Cronos and headlines festivals all over the globe and continues to release new music while Dunn and former VENOM bassist/vocalist Tony "Demolition Man" Dolan have joined forces in the similarly named VENOM INC.

Dunn spoke about a hypothetical VENOM celebration during a new interview with Artists On Record Starring ADIKA Live! He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "If you think that of impact and the influence that this band has had and our place, our place in musical history is secure. When people talk about heavy metal and influential bands in heavy metal, VENOM's always gonna be up there somewhere. We might not be top of the list, but we're gonna be there somewhere. And to have had that much impact and to have that much reverence from your peers; everybody knows the name 'VENOM.' And every anniversary of this band has gone past and it has never been celebrated. And that is one of the reasons that we, as VENOM INC. now, we're doing the 40th anniversary; we're doing the 'Black Metal' shows.

"There was one point… I do this Facebook Live thing twice a week — Monday and Friday. It's become a bit of a fun thing to do and just interact with people. That's all it is; it's nothing major. And people are asking about the 40th anniversary of 'Black Metal' and just the anniversaries of the band in general; that was just one of those things. And it actually did cause a bit of conflict within the VENOM INC. ranks as well, because there was things taken out of context. And the one big thing that was taken out of context was when Blabbermouth decided to just put one headline up. I was, like, 'Oh, come on, man.' And the headline was, 'Mantas wants the original VENOM to get back together.' [Editor's note: The actual headline was 'Original VENOM Guitarist MANTAS Wants Band's Classic Lineup To Reunite For 'Black Metal' 40th-Anniversary Celebration'.] And I was, like, 'That's not what I said, for fuck's sake. Watch the video to see what I said.' What I actually said was — and myself and Tony from VENOM INC., we had had a conversation about this the day before, saying it's sad that all of the members who've ever been part of this shit-show circus can't get together — not just the originals, but everybody; everybody's period of that band — and do a celebration festival just devoted to VENOM and bring on guest players or whatever. But every era of the band is represented. So what Cronos is doing now; he plays a few hit songs with his band. What VENOM INC. is doing; we play a few songs. Then you have the 'Prime Evil' era, when it was myself and Tony and Abaddon, and then Al Barnes [rhythm guitar] was involved as well. And then you could have the 'Calm Before The Storm' era where Mike Hickey and Jim Clare were involved as the guitarists. And it would culminate, obviously, with the original lineup coming on stage and playing some of the classic songs. And that was an idea that was just thrown out there. But I actually did say, 'If anybody's watching this, then get in touch. You're not gonna get any apologies from me because what I've said is true.'"

Mantas added: "I've heard so much bullshit on the Internet and in interviews [with other VENOM members] and stuff, and I was, like, 'What planet did this happen on? What dimension were you in when this was happening?'"

According to Mantas, none of the former members of VENOM contacted him about a possible 40th-anniversary celebration after his original comments were published by BLABBERMOUTH.NET. "There was nothing," he said. "There was no reachout. There was nothing at all. And I mean, the original lineup did come [back] together in '95, '96, and it lasted a couple of years, and then it just went again. But it is very sad to think that a band that has had that much impact can't be celebrated. So that's why as VENOM INC., we are celebrating it."

During the aforementioned Facebook Live chat, which took place in late February, Dunn called upon Lant and Bray to come together with him for some sort of a VENOM celebration, saying: "I'll never retract anything I've said, because I'm sorry but it's true. Regardless of what him or him thinks, it's true; it's just as simple as that. I'm not gonna go out there and blatantly talk a lot of bollocks like one of us did. What I've said is absolutely true, and I've put it in print — into the book as well. It's there. It's absolutely true. But we're at that age now — I'm 60; Bray's, like, 61; Conrad's what — 58, 59? We've just been through a massive fucking pandemic where nobody's done anything. We've got fucking a war in Europe at the minute. [All the issues we've had with each other], it fucking pales into insignificance; it's fucking bollocks.

"Like I say, I'll never fucking say 'sorry'; I'll never fucking turn around and go, 'Yeah, well, I didn't fucking mean that,'" he continued. "What I said was fucking true. But we missed the 25th anniversary. We didn't celebrate the 30th anniversary. And it's, like, for a band who had such a fucking impact… And, again, my friends, I still find it difficult to take in myself, people saying…

"When I did the interviews for the 40th anniversary of 'Welcome To Hell' — there's another anniversary we fucking missed; nothing done about it; it just passed," Dunn added. "But the thing was, I got these interviews in, and people were saying to me, 'You just don't realize the importance of what you did.' I don't, because I suppose we were so close to it. I've said it a million times — I was just a fucking kid writing tunes in my fucking bedroom living with my mom, and I was lucky; people fucking dig them.

"But it's, like, could we not just fucking celebrate this for once? I mean, fucking hell — I've already died once. And fucking you haven't got long, and you haven't got long, because I know what you've fucking done to yourselves."

Addressing the fact that VENOM INC. was going to commemorate "Black Metal"'s 40th anniversary by performing it in its entirety on October 2 at the Keep It True festival at Posthalle in Würzburg, Germany, Dunn said: "When the Keep It True thing came along, I thought, 'Yes! Yes! I'm gonna fucking do it.' Because no one fucking else is. Nobody else is gonna go out there and celebrate this fucking album — monumental fucking album. It should be fucking celebrated."

Dunn, Bray and Dolan released three albums as VENOM between 1989 and 1992 — "Prime Evil" (1989),"Temples Of Ice" (1991) and "The Waste Lands" (1992).

VENOM INC. is not to be confused with the aforementioned Cronos-fronted version of VENOM, which is continuing to tour and make albums under the VENOM moniker. Joining Cronos in that group are Rage (a.k.a. Stuart Dixon) on guitar and Danté (a.k.a. Danny Needham) on drums.

John Cooper, the frontman and bassist for the Grammy-nominated Christian rock group SKILLET, recently spoke to the "Idleman Unplugged" about the criticism he and his bandmates have faced for playing "hard music", which is often viewed by some people as demonic or anti-religious. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "I just love loud music. I've always loved it since I was a kid. I just related to it. It probably was playing sports. There's something about the energy of playing a competitive basketball game or running track or wrestling or getting ready for that football game — whatever it was, there was something about that energy.

"I really don't want to use scripture cavalierly, but I will throw some scriptures out there that I think they mean something to me, and maybe it's applicable, maybe it's not," he continued. "But I think about this scripture that says, 'To the pure, all things are pure.' And one of the things that that scripture, as I've understood it to mean, is that sometimes there's going to be something, it may be attached to something that's really negative for someone, but maybe it's not negative for someone else. Maybe that could be that meat that was sacrificed to idols, as we see in the scriptures, and somebody's, like, 'Hey, that's not me anymore. I gave my life to Jesus. I don't want nothing to do with that meat.' Then you may have somebody else that's a Christian that's, like, 'I didn't even know this was sacrificed to idols. I just thought it was meat, and I was thankful that God gave it to me. I didn't know anything.' Music was a little like that for me.

"I never understood the roots of rebellion in rock and roll — sex, drugs and rock and roll," Cooper added. "That didn't mean anything to me. I just liked the way it sounded, man. And I understood God created music. The Devil doesn't create stuff; he distorts, right? So the devil comes in to steal — and kill and destroy, of course. But he wants to steal something that God made that was good and he wants to mess with it and change it to where he tries to get glory. And I always felt that music glorifies God. So some of this comes from an aspect that, to me, I was pure and I didn't know anything about rebellion. And I never got ready for that basketball game and was, like, 'Man, I feel like this is making me love the Devil.' It was just loud music, and it was cool. So some of it was for that. But I will say, on a deeper level, for me, I absolutely believe music belongs to God. There's something of eternity with music. The Bible doesn't talk about music a lot. But there is something eternal. We know that the angels were singing before we were ever created. We know that music is singing and worship. We know that's gonna be for eternity — it's one of the few things we have here that in some form is going to exist before the throne for always and always and always, when time has ended. So there's something about it that belongs to God. And my aim is, 'Hey, we're not letting the Devil…' It's like that great old Christian song, 'Why should the Devil have all the good music?' Of course, that's way back in the day. But we're not gonna let the enemy steal something that God created. He may have distorted it, but we're bringing that back under the Lordship of Christ, where music and art belongs, because everything is the Lord. The earth is the Lord's, and the fullness thereof — everything in it is his. So that's kind of the way that I view it."

Last year, Cooper was asked by the "Undaunted.Life: A Man's Podcast" what he would say to someone who says that Satan works through rock music, and thus Christians shouldn't play rock music. He responded: "I would say Satan can work through just about anything. I would say that music is created not by the Devil; [it is] created by the Lord. All things were created by God. So instead of thinking that the Devil owns a genre of music, I would say capture that music and bring it back into subjection under the lordship of Christ."

As for what he would say to someone who says it is sinful for Christians to have tattoos, Cooper said: "I understand why Christians think that, because of the Old Testament. I would say it probably takes a little bit of a longer explanation of Old Testament law and what it meant. But a short version would be there are some things in the Old Testament that were a picture of something in the New Testament. There are some things that are not pictures, like murder — we don't murder, we don't steal, so and so forth. Dietary restrictions, things like that, were a picture of something.

"Here's what God wanted: God wants to make his people set apart and holy unto his name," he continued. "And I don't think that God does that any longer from the way that we look; he does that now because of Christ's work on the cross, his resurrection, and he sanctifies us, which sets us apart from the sinner and the pagan."

In various interviews over the years, Cooper has said that he "always had faith in God" and that his mother was a "Jesus fanatic." He also claimed that he was willing to put his career on the line to take a stand for Christ.

SKILLET's latest album, "Dominion", was released in January via Atlantic.