During an appearance on the "My Planet Rocks" show on Planet Rock, Gene Simmons spoke about how he plans to stay busy once KISS has completed its "End Of The Road" farewell tour. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "I'm the luckiest guy in the world. I have the GENE SIMMONS BAND which has played all over the place when KISS wasn't touring and been lucky enough to headline festivals and all kinds of stuff. And we just fool around — there's no production or nothing. We get up there and invite people from the audience to jump up and just have a great time. But we also have a restaurant chain, Rock & Brews; they're all over America. And now we have three Rock & Brews casinos, and more to come, that are opening up. … I have my Gene Simmons MoneyBag sodas which are in stores across America. An awful lot of stuff. Now, that doesn't mean that I've had as much fun doing that. There's nothing that compares to being in KISS. But there's nothing that compares to you being — I don't know — 13 or 14 and getting your first kiss. Your heart pumps like it's never pumped before. It's just, like, [feigns shortness of breath]. You can't even catch your breath."

Simmons previously touched upon his post-KISS plans in a May 2022 interview with "Whiplash", the KLOS radio show hosted by Full Metal Jackie. He said: "The reason for stopping touring is because of pride and self-respect and a love and admiration for the fans. The last thing you wanna be is to be a world-champion boxer and stay in the ring too long. It's only a matter of time until your legs are not gonna be able to hold you up, and you're gonna lose. We've also seen boxers who've stayed in the ring too long and bands who continue touring too long. And they forget lyrics and you can see the deep wrinkles in their faces. I mean, it's just the nature of life as we know it on earth. So we're doing the right thing. We're gonna quit while we're on top, do the best we can, and it'll be sad, but it's also gonna be happy. On the last show we ever do as a touring band, I'll be crying like a 12-year-old kid whose foot you're stepping on. On the other hand, it's gonna be happy because it's the next chapter. Same thing will happen to you, if you're lucky to have a mom and dad, you live under their roof and you have food and safety, at some point you've gotta go out on your own and start the next chapter. So it's gonna be a different kind of a thing. It won't be as exciting as touring and putting on more makeup and higher heels than you ever wore, but life continues."

Earlier that same month, Gene told SPIN that there is no shortage of things to keep him occupied after KISS has called it quites. "Well, we have [the rock-inspired restaurant] Rock & Brews, which is becoming more successful — and quite a few other businesses, which has no relation to sticking my tongue out," he said. "And at some point, after the band stops touring, I may go out with the GENE SIMMONS BAND. Did about 50 shows. It's a lot of fun, a totally different experience. It's like being in the RAMONES or U2 or something. You put on sneakers and a t-shirt, and that's all the work. So your heart doesn't have to go 'boom, boom, boom, boom,' like it's going to thump out of your chest, like at KISS shows. If you are a blues artist, you can do that until you're in your mid-80s, the way B.B. King did at 88. Are you kidding me? Me walking around on stage with dragon boots and all that, even past 75, I can't imagine it. The physical wear and tear, your heart just is not going to be able to take it. I defy these guys half my age to get into my outfit, see how long you'll last on stage."

KISS launched its farewell trek in January 2019 but was forced to put it on hold in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

"End Of The Road" was originally scheduled to conclude on July 17, 2021 in New York City but is now expected to last through early 2023.

KISS's current lineup consists of original members Simmons and Paul Stanley (guitar, vocals),alongside later band additions, guitarist Tommy Thayer (since 2002) and drummer Eric Singer (on and off since 1991).

Formed in 1973 by Stanley, Simmons, Peter Criss (drums) and Ace Frehley (guitar),KISS staged its first "farewell" tour in 2000, the last to feature the group's original lineup.

In its 49-year career, KISS has accumulated 23 gold and platinum albums — more than any other U.S. band.

PAPA ROACH's Jerry Horton has revealed to Premier Guitar that METALLICA's "…And Justice For All" was the song that got him into playing guitar. He recalled (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "I remember I was in Indiana — in a small town in Indiana — visiting my grandparents. And I had an acoustic guitar and I had just picked it up. And I was into METALLICA. Everyone around me was more into, like, AC/DC and more classic rock. But METALLICA was new for me at [the] '…And Justice For All' [album]. And I was just learning. And I had my acoustic guitar. And that riff was simple enough in the beginning — the intro riff — and sound enough like an acoustic that I worked on trying to figure it out. And I remember that 'aha' moment. I was at the park down the street and started playing it and then along with it; I had my Walkman. And even with the acoustic, just still riffing the loud parts, I was just feeling like I could be up on that stage and rocking out like that. I'll never forget it. It was a blast. And it really just set me on that path to really try and figure out as many of the songs that I loved and try to do my own thing."

Horton previously discussed METALLICA's influence on his playing in an interview last month with Radioactive MikeZ, host of the 96.7 KCAL-FM program "Wired In The Empire". At the time, he said about METALLICA guitarist/vocalist James Hetfield: "It's crazy how powerful his hands are. We did a festival with [METALLICA] in 2014. We were lucky enough to be on the side of the stage kind of hovering above it. And even though we were behind the P.A., you could hear his guitar over almost everything else. And I know that it's not a mix thing because that's not how mixers work. But it's so powerful that it just cuts through everything. And his writing abilities are just insane."

Two months ago, PAPA ROACH and FALLING IN REVERSE kicked off a co-headlining U.S. tour. Dubbed the "Rockzilla Summer Tour", the bill also included HOLLYWOOD UNDEAD and BAD WOLVES. The trek launched on July 27 in East Providence, Rhode Island, with dates booked in 24 cities across the U.S. before a final show on August 31 in Nashville, Tennessee.

After two years of work and nearly 10 months of building up excitement with fans, PAPA ROACH recently celebrated the release of its 11th studio album, "Ego Trip". An album that sprouted almost by mistake in the throes of a global lockdown, its seeds were planted when the quartet entered a COVID-secure mansion in Temecula, California, in the summer of 2020.

"Ego Trip" came out in April via New Noize Records in partnership with ADA Worldwide (WMG's independent label and artist services arm).

PAPA ROACH are two-time Grammy-nominated, platinum-selling leaders in alternative hard rock music, who in 2020 celebrated the 20th anniversary of their iconic album "Infest".

PAPA ROACH is completed by bassist Tobin Esperance, singer Jacoby Shaddix and drummer Tony Palermo.

"Ego Trip" is the follow-up to "Who Do You Trust?", which came out in January 2019.

Cathartic black metal titans, Gaerea, will release their new album, Mirage, on September 23 via Season Of Mist. Pre-order the album here, and watch a guitar playthrough video for the single, "Mirage", below:





Behind black shrouds of obscurity and desolation, the men of Gaerea deliver their odes in cascading maelstroms of aggression and beauty with full-length number three, Mirage.




Emerging from the age of pandemic to whatever awaits humanity next, the Portuguese horde remains on the frontlines of the next generation of extreme metal. The beauty of Gaerea lies in the directness and simplicity found within their florid tapestry of extremity and aggression.
With talons dipped in the inky blood of black metal and scraped across the flesh of human suffering, Gaerea is leading a charge into the future of darkness, and all those who find beauty and power in the dark side of existence would do well to take heed.


Cover by Saros Collective.





Tracklisting:


"Memoir"
"Salve"
"Deluge"
"Arson"
"Ebb"
"Mirage"
"Mantle"
"Laude"
"Dormant" (Deluxe media book bonus track)


"Mirage" video:





"Mantle" video:





"Salve" video:

During an appearance on the latest episode of SiriusXM's "Trunk Nation L.A. Invasion", MEGADETH mainman Dave Mustaine spoke about the fact that the band's lead guitarist Kiko Loureiro received songwriting credit on eight of the 12 tracks that are featured on MEGADETH's new album, "The Sick, The Dying… And The Dead!".

"I think a lot of that had to do with my being willing to open up my songwriting process to allow another player to get inside that circle," Mustaine as (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET). "There's my songwriting process and then there's his and then what we do together. And sometimes I don't want anybody coming into my songwriting process and changing a riff.

"I came in on the record that [producer] Johnny K did — it was before 'Dystopia'; I think it was 'Super Collider' — I came in one morning and Johnny K was in there [working on] a song named 'Kingmaker'," Mustaine continued. "'Kingmaker' was done and I came in there, and I heard [then-MEGADETH bassist David] Ellefson and Johnny K in there recording a part at the beginning of the song. And it was nothing to do with the song; it had nothing… the riff wasn't in the record anywhere. And I came in and I said, 'What are you two doing?' [Makes sound of someone struggling to come up with the right words] You know, trying to explain, 'I'm gonna fucking poach your song and I'm going to put one of my riffs in front of the song.' And it was so pathetic. I just felt so sorry for the two of them. I just said, 'Go ahead. Leave it in there.' But if you listen to 'Kingmaker' tonight when you go home, you're gonna hear the beginning of the song, there's a really dumbass part in there. And that's it."

In a recent interview with the "Mike Nelson Show", Ellefson said that he "started sending ideas over" to Mustaine for "The Sick, The Dying… And The Dead!" during the early stages of the songwriting process for the LP but that Dave was "very resistant to 'em; he didn't wanna use 'em. So I was, like, 'Okay. That's fine. Whatever,'" Ellefson said.

David went on to say that the making of "The Sick, The Dying… And The Dead!" was "a bit of a journey. We finally had some collaboration on it, and I was okay with it either way. My mindset was, 'You know what? Just show up and play bass. Be that guy. That seemed to have worked, and just do that.' But there always seemed to kind of be rubs over that kind of stuff. So then I was, like, 'Look, I make other records. I have other creative outlets and things that I do.' So I was okay with that. If I didn't participate on a MEGADETH record, it was okay; I could do other things. And that was kind of how I found my peace with it."

Last month, Mustaine told the "Appetite For Distortion" podcast that "there is no set formula" for the songwriting process in MEGADETH. "It depends," he said. "With Kiko and Dirk [Verbeuren, drums] writing music for MEGADETH now, it's been a breath of fresh air to have songwriting approaches from other bandmembers now that is similar to MEGADETH music instead of getting music that wasn't MEGADETH music and having to try and make that work, and it doesn't."

Ellefson, who has lived in Scottsdale, Arizona since 1994, was fired from MEGADETH in May 2021, just days after sexually tinged messages and explicit video footage involving the bassist were posted on Twitter.

Ellefson laid down his bass tracks on MEGADETH's sixteenth LP in May 2020 at a studio in Nashville, Tennessee.

In July 2021, Mustaine announced during an episode of his Gimme Radio program "The Dave Mustaine Show" that Ellefson's bass tracks would not be used on the new MEGADETH LP.

"The Sick, The Dying… And The Dead!" will be released on September 2 via UMe. Just months after TESTAMENT bassist Steve DiGiorgio recorded his parts for the effort, former MEGADETH bassist James LoMenzo rejoined the band in time for the summer 2021 leg of "The Metal Tour Of The Year".

LoMenzo joined MEGADETH in 2006 and appeared on two of the group's studio albums, 2007's "United Abominations" and 2009's "Endgame". He was fired from the band in 2010 and replaced with Ellefson, who was in MEGADETH from the band's inception in 1983 to 2002, and again from 2010 until his latest departure.

After THE CULT recorded 2001's "Beyond Good And Evil" album, the band broke up and singer Ian Astbury performed with Ray Manzarek and Robby Krieger in THE DOORS OF THE 21ST CENTURY, which was later renamed RIDERS ON THE STORM. Ian reflected on the experience in a recent interview with Jonathan Clarke, host of "Out Of The Box" on Q104.3, New York's classic rock station. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "I did a hundred and fifty shows with Ray Manzarek and Robby Krieger. It was an honor, a privilege. It was a 12-year courtship — the audition was 12 years. I did a hundred and fifty shows with those guys, and I learned so much from them. They were my teachers, my benefactors, my mentors. I love them dearly. God bless you, Ray. It was a profound experience to do that. I mean, I did as many shows as [original THE DOORS singer Jim] Morrison.

"The beauty of that was it was very much Ray and Robby, at that moment… [People] said, 'Why now? Why are you doing this now?' And they said, 'Well, if not now, then when? When can we play our music again.' And initially [original THE DOORS drummer] John Densmorewas involved. But it descended into fraternal spats — very painful — a familial thing that had to be sorted out and sadly was done in public. I got dragged into court. It was a whole to-do. I was even speaking with Andy Morrison, [Jim's] brother, and he said, 'Thank you so much for representing my brother's music.' Which was profound, to have that. And meeting people like Michael McClure, who was a mentor for Morrison. And people were giving us their blessing.

"I had to learn 40 songs in six weeks. By show 30, it was integrated; I mean, it really was integrated. We had Phil Chen on bass. We had Ty Dennis on drums, who played with Robby. And of course Ray and Robby. But it was an integrated thing. And we were playing soccer stadiums in Buenos Aires which were being burnt down — 60 thousand people jumping up and down. They broke the foundations of the stadium. Or playing in Athens where young people were weeping in front of Ray and Robby and reaching out to them, these old gods, with such emotion. And the emotion around THE DOORS and the youth that were coming and the energy and the community? That was intoxicating. It meant so much to people. And it's done — you'll never see it again.

"I stood at Jim's grave with Ray and Robby," Ian continued. "And I went to walk away and they grabbed me and said, 'No, you stand here with us. You belong here with us.' That was one of the most profound, powerful moments. For me, it was so moving. And Robby was very upset, and Ray was very upset. And it was incredibly intimate.

"There was a lot of DOORS fans who were skeptical about me doing it," Astbury admitted. "And they chose me for a reason, 'cause I was a certain archetype. Ray said, 'You're the archetype. You're Afro-pagan, Celtic, shamanic Buddhist — you have all of that.' Ray saw that. They knew that I was cut. 'Cause there was other individuals considered but Ray didn't feel that they had the layers of character or experience. 'Cause I had been in Tibet. I had traveled. I had played in South Africa. I'd traveled worldly and they needed a mature, integrated individual to do it. And also, forget the fact that Morrison and I had the same haircut. It really was about delivering his performance. So that was blessing. A baritone — Morrison was a baritone."

Last November, Krieger was asked in an interview with Tigman of the WPDH radio station in Poughkeepsie, New York if there is a chance he might work with Astbury again. He said: "I'd like to. I've actually recorded some stuff with him, and we haven't put it out yet, but we're thinking about it.

"[Ian] was really great to work with — except every night, we're at the show, we're ready to go on, and there's Ian ironing his clothes before the show," Robby added. "He was late every show. 'Wait, I have to iron my shirt.'"

In a 2016 interview with Newsweek, Astbury stated about his collaboration with THE DOORS: "Working with them was huge. Ray Manzarek is grounded in classically trained piano and jazz. With them, you see the influence of jazz and space. They weren't really working for a radio format [in THE DOORS]. A lot of artists coming up write the work for the format available. They were free to express themselves on a much broader canvas, and space is very important for that. I think when you create space, you create more dynamics, more awareness."

Three years ago, THE DOORS drummer John Densmore told Daily Camera that balked at Krieger and Manzarek touring with Astbury and THE POLICE drummer Stewart Copeland as THE DOORS OF THE 21ST CENTURY and using late DOORS singer Jim Morrison's image to promote shows.

"That's when," Densmore said, "I made the very difficult decision to sue my bandmates for running off with the name. My premise was, THE DOORS without Jim is ludicrous, just as ludicrous as THE POLICE without Sting, THE [ROLLING] STONES without Mick [Jagger]."

The court eventually sided with Densmore, and Manzarek and Krieger adopted the name D21C.

Densmore's case against his fellow surviving members of THE DOORS — and their $40-million counter-suit against him — was the basis of Densmore's 2013 book "The Doors Unhinged: Jim Morrison's Legacy Goes On Trial".

Last October, Krieger published his memoir, "Set The Night On Fire: Living, Dying, And Playing Guitar With The Doors". It followed two previous tomes from Densmore (1991's "Riders On The Storm" and the aforementioned "The Doors Unhinged") and another by Manzarek (1998's "Light My Fire").

Manzarek died in 2013 of cancer of the bile duct. Densmore later revealed that he and the iconic keyboard player had a chance to reconcile before his death. Since Manzarek's passing, Densmore and Krieger have also reconciled, and they've even performed together.

"A Cut Inside", the new single from THE CULT, can be streamed below. The song is taken from the band's upcoming album, "Under The Midnight Sun", which will arrive on October 7 via Black Hill Records. The LP was produced by Tom Dalgety (PIXIES, GHOST, ROYAL BLOOD).

"Under The Midnight Sun" track listing:

01. Mirror
02. A Cut Inside
03. Vendetta X
04. Give Me Mercy
05. Outer Heaven
06. Knife Through Butterfly Heart
07. Impermanence
08. Under The Midnight Sun

This past July, THE CULT released the Juan Azulay-directed music video for the first single, "Give Me Mercy", which can be seen below.

When the sun just wouldn't leave the sky one evening in Finland, THE CULT singer Ian Astbury took notice. Walking the grounds of the Provinssirock festival, Astbury found himself revelling in the surreal, almost occult moment that comes with the "midnight sun," the summer stretch where the sun doesn't go down north of the Arctic Circle.

"It's three in the morning, the sun's up, and there's all these beautiful people in this halcyon moment," Astbury remembered. "People are laying on the grass, making out, drinking, smoking. There were rows of flowers at the front of the stage from the performances earlier that evening. It was an incredible moment." While reviewing archival footage of the performance, Astbury found new mysticism in that moment and imbued it into the forthcoming "Under The Midnight Sun".

Leading to 2020, THE CULT had been on a rolling cycle of releasing albums, touring, and recording. As the world shut down, everyone was forced to reprioritize the way they approached life and work.

"When the world stopped, I had this moment to write in real time, to calculate," said Astbury. When lockdown lifted and the group could meet to record, they teamed up with Dalgety. "I was compelled by this vision, this anomaly, this memory, of being under the midnight sun. Tom helped us bring a new musical shape and frequency to our process."

Lyrically, "Under The Midnight Sun" bolsters that new musical dexterity by building out from the idyllic and surreal vision at its title. Throughout, Astbury pulls in influences from Brian Jones, Brion Gysin, William Burroughs, Buddhism, the Beats, and the Age of Aquarius, all shaded with the lingering threat of the present and the timeless CULT color palette.

As THE CULT is now returning to performing live and sharing "Under The Midnight Sun", Astbury hopes that the record connects to something deep within and subconscious in their listeners — something Astbury found within himself when given the moment to look for it.

"At the core of it all, music contains the vibrational frequency of how we once communicated before we could even speak," he said. "Bird songs, animal calls, string theory, quantum physics, psychedelics. The record ultimately is about finding and uniting beauty in those strangely natural moments."

Astbury praised Dalgety's contributions to "Under The Midnight Sun" in a recent interview with Dayton Daily News, saying: "There are very few guys doing guitar-based music in the U.K. There are a lot of great digital producers, electronic producers, hip-hop producers and pop producers, but when it comes to guitars and vocals, it's a very particular animal. You really have to be in the room. You really have to be present. Sometimes you become a member of the band. Tom Dalgety immersed himself into the infrastructure and ecosystem of the band. He became like another member. He did some dope work on this record."

Astbury added that having a break from touring during the coronavirus pandemic gave the members of THE CULT more time to work on the material with Dalgety.

"We got the opportunity to really let songs be fully realized," Astbury said. "Usually, pre-pandemic, you're on a cycle of tour, record, tour, record, tour, record, but with this album, we had a lot more time for introspection. A lot went into this record. I believe the subject matter and the sound of it will resonate with people. True to form, we're not repeating ourselves. There will be some familiar stuff, but it's not like people will be able to access it very quickly. It's very strong on content. There are strong guitars. It's quite visceral, very emotional, because it's channeling the moment. I guess it's our take on that."

Image courtesy of Very Live Music

PUDDLE OF MUDD has released the official music video for the song "My Kind Of Crazy". The track is taken from the band's latest album, "Welcome To Galvania", which came out in 2019 via Pavement Entertainment. It marked PUDDLE OF MUDD's first full-length collection of new material since "Volume 4: Songs In The Key Of Love And Hate".

This past May, PUDDLE OF MUDD frontman Wes Scantlin told Reno's Rock 104.5 radio station that the follow-up to "Welcome To Galvania" was "basically pretty much done. I've just gotta polish it a little bit up and revise a couple of things," he said. "I did a lot of work with [former PUDDLE OF MUDD bassist] Doug Ardito [and former PUDDLE OF MUDD guitarist] Christian Stone that used to be playing with me and stuff like that. And they had basically saved a bunch of songs that were recorded. And I'm really happy about it. It was a little funky, but I'm glad that it was put into a musical vault. So it takes a lot of weight off my shoulders."

Last November, Scantlinnmade headlines for on onstage meltdown at the EPIC Event Center in Green Bay, Wisconsin where he seemed to barely get the words out to the band's hits, complained that the lighting was blinding him and abruptly ended the show after just a few songs.

Wes had almost non-stop problems with the law, alcohol, finances and other issues, before claiming to have gotten sober in 2017. Scantlin said that he ended up going back to rehab and receiving treatment "because there's really nowhere else to go." He also credited his family and fans for giving him the strength to try to get better.

Scantlin was arrested at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) in September 2017 after he attempted to board a plane with a BB gun. He pleaded no contest and was banned from LAX unless it involved traveling for work.

Before that, there have been a few tumultuous years for the singer and guitarist. In January of 2016, he was arrested on suspicion of breaking into his former home and vandalizing some of the property.

He skipped two court dates related to the charges later that spring, which led to another arrest.

Prior to that, Scantlin was arrested in December 2015 for possession of a controlled substance and had several previous busts that same year for driving under the influence.

Additionally, he was arrested at a Denver airport in 2015 for taking a joyride on a baggage carousel and taken into custody as far back as 2012 for an altercation with a flight attendant.

He also ended a number of PUDDLE OF MUDD shows in 2016 early with various meltdowns, including one in which he accused a fan of stealing his house

PUDDLE OF MUDD was formed in 1991 in Kansas City by Scantlin, the only original member still with the band. The group into the mainstream with 2001's "Come Clean", which yielded three hits — "Control", "Blurry" and "She Hates Me".

Dave Sherman, bassist of SPIRIT CARAVAN and KING VALLEY and frontman of EARTHRIDE, WRETCHED, WEED IS WEED and GALACTIC CROSS, among others, has died. He was 55 years old. No official cause of death has been revealed, although there are unconfirmed reports that it was a cardiac event.

Sherman's death was confirmed by the SPIRIT CARAVAN Facebook page, which shared a photo of the musician and wrote: "REST IN PEACE DAVE SHERMAN. RIDE THE CARAVAN TO THE SKY!"

Sherman's former SPIRIT CARAVAN and THE OBSESSED bandmate Scott "Wino" Weinrich also weighed in on his passing, writing: "R.I.P DAVE SHERMAN. He was a great person with a big heart. I am grateful for the time we shared and the music we created. We are stunned and saddened beyond belief. He will be sorely missed."

Sherman and Weinrich worked together on SPIRIT CARAVAN's two full-length albums, an EP and other releases.

In a 2016 interview with Outlaws Of The Sun, Sherman stated about being part of the doom metal scene history: "It is an honor to be recognized by my peers, but I have done a lot of work to get this far. the The war is never over and you have to keep battling on. It never becomes boring because there are new songs to be written and new riffs to come up with. It is an endless journey. I don't feel pressure anymore, because, like a fine wine, you only improve with age."

As for what keeps him inspired, Sherman said: "My inspiration for my music comes from living it with my heart and soul. To me, music is the breath of my life."

REST IN PEACE DAVE SHERMAN
RIDE THE CARAVAN TO THE SKY!

Posted by Spirit Caravan Official on Tuesday, September 6, 2022

Swedish bashers Amaranthe performed at the  Alcatraz Metal Festival 2022 in Kortrijk, Belgium on August 13th. Pro-shot video of their full show can be viewed below.


The setlist was as follows:


"Fearless" 
"Viral"
"Digital World"
"Hunger"
"Strong"
"Helix"
"Maximize"
"Amaranthine"
"The Nexus"
"Call Out My Name"
"Archangel"
"Drop Dead Cynical"







In October and November of 2022, Amaranthe will be on tour together with Beyond The Black. Since the tour had to be postponed, both bands can't wait to hit the road again and spend unforgettable nights with their fans all around Europe! Furthermore, both Butcher Babies and Ad Infinitum will join the tour as special guests.


Tour dates:


October
6 - Vienna, Austria - Arena
7 - Leipzig, Germany - Haus Auensee
8 - Ludwigsburg, Germany - MHP Arena
9 - Antwerp, Belgium - Trix
11 - Manchester, UK - O2 Ritz
12 - London, UK - Forum Kentish Town
14 - Lyon, France - Ninkasi Kao
15 - Barcelona, Spain - Salamandra
16 - Madrid, Spain - Mon Live
18 - Bordeaux, France - Rock School Barbey
19 - Paris, France - Elysée Montmartre
21 - Berlin, Germany - Columbiahalle
22 - Offenbach, Germany - Stadthalle
23 - Zürich, Switzerland - X-Tra*
25 - Milan, Italy - Live Club
26 - Lausanne, Switzerland - Metropole
28 - Geiselwind, Germany - Event Hall
29 - Zlin, Czech Republic MOR Cafe
30 - Budapest, Barba Negra
31 - Munich, Germany - Zenith


November
2 - Warsaw, Polabnd - Progresja
4 - Oberhausen, Germany - Turbinenhalle
5 - Hamburg, Germany - Zeltphilharmonie*
6 - Utrecht, Netherlands - Tivoli Ronda<
8 - Copenhagen, Denmark - Amager Bio
9 - Oslo, Norway - Sentrum Scene
11 - Gothenburg, Sweden - Pustervik
12 - Stockholm, Sweden - Klubben Fryshuset


The tickets remain valid for the new dates above. For refunds, please contact your ticket seller.


Lineup:


Elize Ryd - vocals
Olof Mörck - guitars, keyboards
Johan Andreassen - bass
Morten Løwe Sørensen - drums
Nils Molin - vocals

Canadian sci-fi metal innovators VOIVOD will release a new EP, "Ultraman", on November 4 via Century Media Records. The effort features a highly original tribute to the "Ultraman" TV series theme as well as previously unreleased bonus live cuts, available both as a 12-inch vinyl EP or as a digital EP.

"Ultraman" EP vinyl track listing (running time: 20:21):

Side A (08:45):

01. Ultraman - Opening Theme (Japanese & French [URUTORAMANNO UTA]) (01:30)
02. Ultraman - Victory Theme (URUTORAMAN BGM) (00:39)
03. Ultraman - Closing Theme (English [URUTORAMANNO UTA]) (00:47)
04. Ultraman - Opening Theme (Japanese [URUTORAMANNO UTA]) (01:30)
05. Ultraman - Victory Theme (URUTORAMAN BGM) (00:39)
06. Ultraman - Closing Theme (Japanese [URUTORAMANNO UTA]) (00:47)
07. Ultraman - Opening Theme (Instrumental [URUTORAMANNO UTA]) (01:30)
08. Ultraman - Victory Theme (URUTORAMAN BGM) (00:39)
09. Ultraman - Closing Theme (Instrumental [URUTORAMANNO UTA]) (00:47)

Side B (11:36):

01. Overreaction (Return To Morgöth - Live 2018) (05:26)
02. Voïvod (Return To Morgöth - Live 2018) (06:09)

Ultraman - EP / Digital (14:31) track listing:

01. Ultraman - Opening Theme (Japanese & French [URUTORAMANNO UTA]) (01:30)
02. Ultraman - Victory Theme (URUTORAMAN BGM (00:39)
03. Ultraman - Closing Theme (English [URUTORAMANNO UTA]) (00:47)
04. Overreaction (Return To Morgöth - Live 2018) (05:26)
05. Voïvod (Return To Morgöth - Live 2018) (06:09)

VOIVOD drummer Michel "Away" Langevin states: "As a kid I often dreamed of finding a Beta Capsule, so I could transform into Ultraman, keep the city from being destroyed by a giant fire spitting monster and hopefully save Akiko Fuji in the process. I'm pretty sure many people had the same dream… We sure did in VOÏVOD, and that's why we decided to cover the main and battle TV themes for this EP. The recordings were done during the 'Synchro Anarchy' sessions and Chewy sings the Japanese parts. For the B side, we tracked down the lost encore from the 35th-anniversary show, 'Return To Morgöth - Live 2018'. Enjoy!"

The "Ultraman" EP will be released in perfect timing for VOIVOD's return to European stages as special guests for Swedish progressive metal/rock group OPETH on their "Evolution XXX" tour in November.

VOIVOD's 15th studio album, "Synchro Anarchy" was released in February via Century Media Records. The follow-up to 2018's "The Wake" was produced by Francis Perron at RadicArt Studio and features cover artwork created by Langevin.

Regarding the release of "Synchro Anarchy", VOIVOD vocalist and lyricist Denis "Snake" Bélanger said: "It is one of a kind, a very unique and distinctive album. It was made with all the passion we have for music under particular conditions. Driven by a nuclear brainstorm between the four of us in a state of emergency. Written, recorded, and delivered, and not necessarily in that order, we managed to do it all in a few months."

Langevin previously stated about "Synchro Anarchy": "The new album represents countless hours of writing, demoing, recording, mixing and so on. The band and Francis Perron at RadicArt Studio gave their very best to make it happen under unusual circumstances, which led us to call it 'Synchro Anarchy'. We feel that the sound and music are 100% VOIVOD, and we hope everyone will enjoy it as much as we had fun making it."

VOIVOD released a new live album, "Lost Machine - Live", in November 2020 via Century Media Records. The disc was recorded in Québec City during the worldwide touring cycle for "The Wake".

In the summer of 2020, VOIVOD released a new three-track 12-inch vinyl and digital EP titled "The End Of Dormancy" via Century Media Records. The EP is centered around a special "Metal Section" version of the title track (off VOIVOD's latest album, "The Wake") with added trumpets, saxophone and trombones. The complementary songs on this release are exclusive live versions of "The End Of Dormancy (Metal Section)" and the group's classic "The Unknown Knows", recorded at Montreal Jazz Fest 2019.

Photo credit: Catherine Deslauriers

On October 7, Austrian death metal icons Mastic Scum will release their long-awaited sixth album Icon via MDD Records as CD in jewel case, limited DigiPak in box set and as strictly limited transparent-red vinyl edition. 


With the opener "Digital Dementia", a first musical sample is now available. The concept behind Icon is about humans and their beliefs ... the constant struggle between good and evil, faith and distrust, humanity and industry, analog and digital. Mankind was and will always be searching for the missing link, the lost piece of the jigsaw puzzle. Icon is now available for preorder in the MDD Shop, from the band and from various retailers.







Tracklisting:


“Digital Dementia”
“Room 23”
“Slavebreed”
“Front Toward Enemy”
“Doomsayer”
“Virtual Irreality 3.0”
“Twice The Pain”
“Negation”
“Create And Destroy”
“Retribution”


“Digital Dementia”:

Two years after the release of his solo debut album, Supernova Kill Road, Finnish bass player Samer Elnahhal, whom also served as a bass player for Lordi from 2005 until 2019, has announced the release of his sophomore record, entitled Dystopian Rose, which is due to be out later this fall.


The cover artwork was done by Juulia Tokola:







First single will be released on September 20. Look out for more information in the coming weeks.

Fan-filmed video of SCORPIONS' September 5 concert at Borgata Hotel & Casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey can be seen below.

The setlist was as follows, according to Setlist.fm:

01. Gas In The Tank
02. Make It Real
03. The Zoo
04. Coast To Coast
05. Seventh Sun
06. Peacemaker
07. Bad Boys Running Wild
08. Delicate Dance
09. Send Me An Angel
10. Wind Of Change
11. Tease Me Please Me
12. Rock Believer
13. New Vision
14. Blackout
15. Big City Nights

Encore:

16. No One Like You
17. Rock You Like A Hurricane

Last month, WHITESNAKE pulled out of the North American tour with SCORPIONS due to singer David Coverdale's "continued treatment for a persistent upper respiratory infection."

The SCORPIONS tour is scheduled to end on October 21 in Las Vegas, Nevada.

SCORPIONS's latest album, "Rock Believer", was released in February. The LP was recorded primarily at Peppermint Park Studios in Hannover, Germany and was mixed at the legendary Hansa Studios in Berlin, Germany with engineer Michael Ilbert, who has earned multiple Grammy nominations for his mix work with producer Max Martin on albums by Taylor Swift and Katy Perry.

SCORPIONS originally intended to record the new album in Los Angeles with producer Greg Fidelman, whose previous credits include SLIPKNOT and METALLICA. However, because of the pandemic, some of the initial work was done with Greg remotely, after which SCORPIONS opted to helm the recordings themselves with the help of their engineer Hans-Martin Buff.

SCORPIONS' new album marks their first release since 2017's "Born To Touch Your Feelings - Best Of Rock Ballads", which was an anthology of new and classic material.

SCORPIONS' previous full-length collection of new recordings was "Return To Forever", partially comprising songs the band had in the vault from the '80s. It was the final recorded appearance of SCORPIONS' longtime drummer James Kottak, who was dismissed from the band in September 2016. He has since been replaced by Mikkey Dee, formerly of MOTÖRHEAD.

Former QUEENSRŸCHE singer Geoff Tate says that he is "doing great" after recently undergoing an unspecified heart procedure.

The 63-year-old musician discussed his health in an interview with Ritchie Birnie before performing QUEENSRŸCHE's "Promised Land" album in its entirety for the first time ever on August 28 in Belfast, Northern Ireland.

Geoff said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET),"I had open-heart surgery. I've got a nice scar here," he added before laughing and pointing at his chest.

Tate said that he is "doing great" despite the fact that it had only been several weeks since he went under the knife. "It's been a couple of months now since I got out of the hospital," he said. "And I've just been exercising and getting back in the saddle, basically. And I feel really good."

Asked if his singing voice had returned in full since the operation, Tate said: "It took about a month before I could make a sound. [Laughs]

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Geoff recently celebrated the 30th anniversary of "Operation: Mindcrime" on European and U.S. tours.

Photo courtesy of Geoff Tate's Facebook page

The Offering has released a new visualizer video for “Tiny Disappointments” today.


“Tiny Disappointments” is off of the band’s forthcoming new album Seeing The Elephant out November 4 via Century Media Records. Preorders available starting today here.







With Seeing The Elephant, The Offering have woven together a record as rich, adventurous and heartfelt as anything you’re bound to hear anytime soon. Conceived during the chaos of the 2020 protests and the ensuing warzone of cultural upheaval, Seeing The Elephant is a challenging (and ultimately rewarding) record for extreme times.


“Even on my most wonderful days, I can find myself feeling strangled by my own expectations and find myself disappointed in little facets of the world, in everyone, and everything,” states Alex Richichi (vocals). “I have found life is made up of ‘Tiny Disappointments’, where overcoming and coping with these ultimately becomes the hardest thing we do every day. This song addresses those feelings of drowning, which I believe is universal in the human experience - albeit on different scales.”


Nishad George (guitar) adds, "During the writing process for Seeing The Elephant, my dad's cancer diagnosis had gotten much worse, and I had felt this pressure knowing this would be my last album that he could listen to. Living up to my own expectations for making that special was strenuous. I eventually stumbled upon the opening chord to ‘Tiny Disappointments’, and I just let go - I blinked and 12 hours of euphoria later, the song was complete. It was a massive turning point in the writing process for the album.  Less than a month before he passed away, my dad finally got to listen to the album, and singled out this song as the best we've ever done. I couldn't agree more."





Seeing The Elephant is available in the following formats:
-300x transp. red LP available at CM Distro Wholesale EU and cmdistro.de
-Black LP
-Standard CD Jewelcase
-Digital album


Vocalist Alex Richichi and guitarist Nishad George construct a new framework from past work with the help of mixer Zach Weeks (Kvelertak, The Armed) at the Salem, Massachusetts’ renowned God City Studios, proving The Offering as a band that not only challenges the norm but one that will refine and redefine them.


In the past, the foursome have warmed crowds for diverse acts such as Primal Fear, Rhapsody of Fire, Prong, Genitorturers, 36 Crazyfists, and have been a fan-favorite at the main stage of the New England Metal & Hardcore Festival. Right before the release of HOME they played European festivals such as Wacken Open Air, Fezen Festival and Gefle Metal Festival.


(Photo – Rossetti Photography)

Defacing God have released a drum playthrough video for "Echoes From Fulda", featured on their new album, The Resurrection Of Lilith, out now via Napalm Records. Watch below:





Rooted in occultism and witchcraft, Defacing God strives on ancient stories and grandiose soundscapes conjuring their worthy representation of opulent Scandinavian metal traditions. Echoing styles of artists such as Dimmu Borgir and Cradle Of Filth. The band continues the legacy of unconventional extreme metal, taking their rightful place in the garden of Eden and ready to deface God.







The Resurrection Of Lilith is available in the following formats:


- Digisleeve
- 1LP Gatefold Red Vinyl
- Digital Album


Order here.





Tracklisting:


"Black Moon"
"The Invocation Part I "Lilith"
"The Resurrection"
"The Invocation Part II "Jezebel"
"The Invocation Part III "Abyzou"
"Rise Of The Trinity"
"The End Of Times"
"Echoes From Fulda"
"Death Followed Like A Plague"
"Enslaved"
"In The Land Of Rain And Sorrow"
"Into The Mist Of Memories"


“The Resurrection” lyric video:





"The End Of Times” video:





"Rise Of The Trinity" video:





Lineup:


Sandie Gjørtz - Vocals
Signar Petersen - Lead Guitar
Christian Snapholt Nielsen - Rhythm Guitar
Michael Olsson - Drums
Rasmus "Kalke" Nielsen - Bass


(Photo - Nikolaj Bransholm/Bransholm Photography)

Kalamity Kills have debuted their first single, "Sinners Welcome", produced by Jamey Perrenot, who has worked with Taylor Swift, Leann Rimes, Joey Belladonna and Guardian. Kalamity Kills is Jamie Rowe with a revolving cast of musicians who will remain anonymous and wear masks while performing.  





Jamie Rowe shares "I strongly believe in God but am aware that God's 'fan club' aren't necessarily the most welcoming folks on the planet. 'Sinners Welcome' is a commentary on that. I want my music to be heard by lovers of hard rock. That's my goal: find those who will tune into what I'm doing. If anything, maybe someone just needs to hear the riff cranked up in the car after a long day at work."







Jamie Rowe is best known as the vocalist for Christian hard rockers Guardian. He also has recorded many albums with Bronx-based melodic hard rock band AdrianGale. With a touring history of over 35 countries, Kalamity Kills is sure to appeal globally to those who loved his previous work, as his trademark vocals are well represented here.


(Photo - Amber Rowe)

Swedish vocalist Erik Grönwall, who joined SKID ROW earlier this year, spoke to Australia's The Rockpit about how he manages to stay focused in the wake of constant calls for a reunion of the band's classic lineup. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "I come from a fan perspective as well, and I realize and I know — I understand the perspective of people wanting the original lineup. I mean, obviously, I understand the band's history, so I can see that. I prefer the Bon Scott era [of AC/DC] compared to [the Brian Johnson] era. And Brian Johnson isn't a new singer; he's been around since 1980. But that's how it is.

"That being said, I've had people contact me on Instagram and apologizing for… At first, they were, like, 'Oh, another singer?' — you know, just the regular comments that you used to see," he explained. "But they've actually apologized and pretty much said, 'I'm sorry for hating on you when I first found out. But now I just have to say I love it. I love you. And I was wrong.' [Laughs]"

He added: "That's the ultimate compliment for me, obviously — that you can turn haters into believers and followers. And that makes everything worth it — everything. All the hard work you put in."

SKID ROW's new studio album, "The Gang's All Here", will arrive on October 14 via earMUSIC. The group recorded most of the LP in Nashville, Tennessee with producer Nick Raskulinecz, who has previously worked with FOO FIGHTERS, STONE SOUR, HALESTORM, EVANESCENCE, RUSH and ALICE IN CHAINS, among many others.

Grönwall joined SKID ROW in January as the replacement for ZP Theart, who had been in the group for more than six years. Theart played his final gig with SKID ROW in February before being officially given the boot.

Grönwall was a member of the Swedish hard rock band H.E.A.T. with whom he recorded four studio albums — "Address The Nation" (2012),"Tearing Down The Walls" (2014),"Into The Great Unknown" (2017) and "H.E.A.T II" (2020) — before exiting the group in October 2020.

Grönwall was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia in March 2021. Six months later, he announced that he was cancer free after receiving a bone marrow transplant in August. "Some anonymous wonderful human being somewhere in the world donated his/her blood cells so that I could get a second chance at life," he told Headbangers Lifestyle in January. "Sometimes I can just get tears in my eyes when I think about it. It's so beautiful that one person who is not connected to me in any way wanted to do that for me. He/she doesn't know that the blood cells were for me. It's completely anonymous."

In September 2021, Grönwall released his cover version of "18 And Life" via all streaming platforms.

In 2018, Grönwall debuted in the U.S. for 10 million viewers in NBC's live broadcast of Andrew Lloyd Webber's and Tim Rice's musical "Jesus Christ Superstar". Along with John Legend, Alice Cooper, Sara Bareilles and others, Erik played the key role of Simon Zealotes.

SKID ROW bassist Rachel Bolan recently told Meltdown of Detroit's WRIF radio station about Grönwall's addition to the band: "Just the way he does things and his work ethic is one I've never seen other than the four of us that are already in the band. He just doesn't stop until he gets things absolutely right. Whether it's his version, what he thinks is right, or what we think is right, he works hard — he works hard. And you can see why he had the success he did overseas because he's a really, really hard-working singer that takes care of his instrument and that takes pride in his craft."

Rachel also reflected on SKID ROW's first live performance with Grönwall, saying: "Honestly, dude, from the minute he opened his mouth… His timing is impeccable. We knew it was gonna be cool. And each show has gotten even better, 'cause we're learning each other's rhythm on stage. When I walked away from that show, I said to Erik, I go, 'This was show one. I cannot wait for show one hundred. It's gonna be amazing.'"

Bolan previously talked about how Erik came to join SKID ROW during an appearance on an episode of SiriusXM's "Trunk Nation L.A. Invasion", recorded just hours before SKID ROW's first performance with the Swedish singer. "We toured together. H.E.A.T. was on tour with SKID ROW. What year was that? '18? And we'd hear him every night from the dressing room," he said. "And a couple of times, I was, like, 'Man, listen to this guy sing. He's phenomenal.' And then, I forget who told me, someone that was with us, 'Yeah, he won 'Idol' in Sweden.' And I was, like, 'Man, he's got pipes.' And I was listening. Then I went behind the monitor board a couple of times. And in my head, I'm, like, 'Wow! When SKID ROW has some downtime, I'm gonna get in touch with this dude and start a side project with him.' And obviously, that never happened. But as time went on and we got to the point to where we were with ZP and stuff, Erik was our first… I told Snake, I go, 'We've gotta check this guy out.' And along with Snake and the rest of the guys, and Nick, our producer, Nick Raskulinecz, were, like, 'He's the guy, man. Send him some songs.' So we sent him some songs that we were recording, just with a guide vocal on it, and it came back about 24 hours later, and we were, like, 'All right. He's the guy. Get him on a plane. Let's do this.'"

During an appearance this past Tuesday (August 30) on SiriusXM's "Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk", SLIPKNOT and STONE SOUR frontman Corey Taylor was asked what he thought of METALLICA's breakthrough self-titled album when he first heard it more than three decades ago. The Iowa-born musician, who was 17 at the time of the LP's release, said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "It was weird, because it was actually in two stages. I remember studying [the album's first single] 'Enter Sandman' like it was Zapruder film [referring to Abraham Zapruder, who recorded a tragic moment in history when he captured the U.S. president John F. Kennedy's assassination in full color in November 1963]. For real. Me and my friends, we were blown away by the production — just how good it sounded and yet so thick. We were just, like, 'How did they do this? What is this?' And I can remember us just… We taped it off the radio just so we could hear it — before the full album came out. I can remember us trying to tape it off of MTV off the video, just holding a ghetto blaster up to [the TV]. We were, like, 'It sounds like garbage. We've gotta get it off the radio.' So we were sitting there with the 'record' hit and then the 'pause,' and as soon as they cued it up, we were, like, 'Oh, go.' We were waiting all day, 'cause that's what you did back then."

He continued: "We were losing our minds on this song. People have to realize, this was before it became our generation's 'Stairway To Heaven'. We'd never heard anything like it. We were just blown away. And then the album came out, and I was, like, 'Okay. It sounds great. But where's the heavy stuff?' There were songs that definitely came close, like 'Holier Than Thou', which that's one of the reasons why I wanted to cover that when they asked me to a part of 'The [Metallica] BlackList' [a 2021 collection featuring covers of every track off of METALLICA's self-titled album]. … But I was looking for stuff like that [from the rest of the 'Metallica' album], and I wasn't getting that 'Master [Of Puppets]' vibe or that '[…And] Justice [For All]' vibe. I was, like, 'Where is it?' And it took me a long time to really appreciate that album. And I think a lot of people would agree that it probably took the 'Load' albums ['Load' and 'Reload'] coming out for us to go back and go, 'God. What was I thinking? How good does this album sound now?' And that's not knocking those two albums because at the time that was such a departure."

Taylor added: "I remember the first time I heard 'Nothing Else Matters'. The look on my face — my friend went, 'Jesus, you really don't like this song, do you?' 'Cause I had the 'suck' face. I was just, like, 'What the hell is this?' But, of course, over time, man, a good song is a good song, and you can't deny that. And it taught me a very valuable lesson, that you have to force change on people. I mean, nobody likes stuff that's different right away. You have to drag them kicking and screaming into where you need to go, 'cause that's the only way you're gonna get anybody there. Assuming that people are gonna change with you is a lesson in insanity, because there's no way it's going to happen. You have to make the change and just drag the people along with you."

Taylor previously discussed his cover of "Holier Than Thou" and the enduring impact of METALLICA's self-titled LP last September in an interview with Knotfest.com's Ryan J. Downey.

"For me, I was so shocked by the 'Black Album' at first," Corey said. "I was one of those kids that I was expecting something more like '…And Justice For All'. And I can remember listening to 'Sandman' because it was fucking everywhere.

"In retrospect, we were blown away by the single, but we were expecting more from the album," he continued. "And it has grown on me over the years to the point where I can listen to it now and I appreciate that album just as much as I appreciate the first four albums. You can see the evolution. And maybe that's maturity. 'Cause we were young and we were fucking dicks back then. 'This doesn't sound like 'Creeping Death'' or anything like that. It was one of those things where it was different, and we didn't know how to feel about 'different' at the time, especially for a band like this. And then the more attention they got, the less they felt like 'ours' — they were being taken from us. And I think that's why there was such an anti-METALLICA thing for a while amongst us as metal fans. I never turned my back on them but I definitely looked for other things. Because it didn't seem as special and as specifically ours. But that was just me being a kid. They were one of my favorite bands, so I was gonna judge them as such. But it wasn't until I got a little older that I really went back and I started listening to that album again. And I was, like, 'Fuck, man. This thing is really good.' And not even the singles, because those singles got played ad nauseam; they were fucking everywhere. 'Holier Than Thou' is my favorite song on that album. 'The Struggle Within' held up… And I think that once you put that in perspective with where they were going, it all makes sense; that was the missing piece. And they've earned every drop of their success."

Corey previously told Downey that "Enter Sandman" was one of the first songs he ever learned how to play on guitar. "Because that was kind of our generation's 'Stairway To Heaven' or 'Smoke On The Water'," he said. "It's one of those riffs that… I like to call if the Guitar Center virus. Anybody who comes in [at a Guitar Center location] is either playing 'Sandman', 'Crazy Train', 'Smoke On The Water' or 'Stairway' or 'Whole Lotta Love'… You have those gateway riffs where you go, 'Oh, I figured it out.'

"I sat down one day, as I got better at guitar, and I went back and listened to the first four METALLICA albums and just started woodshedding and learning all these riffs. And it became a sort of language that you could speak to other musicians when you're jamming for the first time. If you kicked into 'Blitzkrieg' or something, or if you kicked into 'Ride The Lightning' and just started [playing the opening riffs of the song], and they kicked in with you, you knew you were off to the races, because you don't just learn that riff; you learn the whole tune and you just go for it. So it was almost like an initiation in a weird way; you knew how to do it. So I played METALLICA in almost every band that I've been in; it's always just been there. I mean, from my first sort-of-real band CRIMINAL MISCHIEF all the way up to my solo band."

Taylor's cover version of "Holier Than Thou" is included on the aforementioned "The Metallica Blacklist", a four-hour, 53-song collection of the "Black Album" covers spanning an unbelievably vast range of genres, generations, cultures, continents and more, with each artist contributing a unique interpretation of their favorite "Metallica" LP cut.

In 2020, Taylor told Apple Music's Zane Lowe that METALLICA's longevity and career success have offered a "blueprint" that SLIPKNOT will continue to follow in the years to come.

"If there's any band that we absolutely respect… there are a handful of bands, but METALLICA was definitely, they were the high-water mark, man, they were the band to achieve," he said. "That was our [SLIPKNOT's] blueprint, basically. But we took so much from so many different bands as well that it would be unfair to say it was just METALLICA that really guided us. Obviously, they [METALLICA] were… still finding ways to challenge themselves. That's the key. And that's where METALLICA, I really feel, is the blueprint, because they keep finding ways to break new ground, play every continent. They'll be the first band to play Mars, I'm convinced of that."

STONE SOUR's version of METALLICA's "Creeping Death" was featured on the former band's "Meanwhile In Burbank…", a five-song covers EP which was released in 2015.

MEGADETH leader Dave Mustaine has commented on his decision to hire bass player James LoMenzo as a permanent member of the band. LoMenzo was MEGADETH's bass player in the mid-2000s and recently stepped back in as a touring member for "The Metal Tour Of The Year". Lomenzo officially rejoined the MEGADETH family in May.

Speaking to Revolver magazine, Mustaine stated about why he enlisted TESTAMENT's Steve DiGiorgio to play on MEGADETH's upcoming album, "The Sick, The Dying… And The Dead!": "We parted ways with David Ellefson [in May 2021], and the idea to get Steve basically was… In the end, it's always gonna be my decision. But there were a couple of guys we looked at. We were trying to finish the record, so the criteria for someone to be a session player and finish the record versus be a guy that's gonna be a bandmember that we can find right now that's gonna make a commitment and leave what they're doing to come join us, we just didn't have the time. So we sought out for a guy that would just help us finish the album, and that was Steve.

"I'm not a guy that likes to poach people from other bands," Mustaine explained. "I hated when [METALLICA] did that with Cliff Burton. I mean, granted TRAUMA wasn't a great band. But I think it just sets you up for resentment from people when you go and take their bandmembers. If the guy quits and wants to join your band, that's cool. But if I would have went to TESTAMENT and said, 'Hey, I want Steve,' or I would have just went to Steve and said, 'Hey, I'll give you a gazillion dollars' and [he] quit [TESTAMENT], you know what would happen? I would lose my friendship with [TESTAMENT guitarist] Alex [Skolnick] and with Chuck [Billy, TESTAMENT singer]. And it's not the way to go."

Regarding LoMenzo's addition to MEGADETH, Mustaine said: "We welcomed James with open arms, and everybody loves him. He's just such a great, great guy. So it wasn't a hard decision at all to make. It was basically calling him, seeing what he was doing. Everybody is really, really happy with him. I haven't really seen that much pushback from the fans. I know that the two people that matter the most, besides me, Dirk [Verbeuren, drums] and Kiko [Loureiro, guitar], love him. It's what I wanted. I wanted to have the four of us playing together and all being comfortable with one another and knowing that there was no weirdness going on or any double dealing or anything like that, because those are the things that always ruin bands. We've had this closeness, the four of us, since James came. They're always together somewhere — always, always. James is down at the bar having a glass of wine with Kiko, or James is in the gym working out with Dirk. They are always doing something wonderful together."

LoMenzo joined MEGADETH in 2006 and appeared on two of the group's studio albums, 2007's "United Abominations" and 2009's "Endgame". He was fired from the band in 2010 and replaced with returning original MEGADETH bassist David Ellefson.

In addition to MEGADETH, LoMenzo has played with Ozzy Osbourne, Zakk Wylde and WHITE LION. For nine years, LoMenzo also performed with iconic rocker John Fogerty.

LoMenzo played his first show with MEGADETH in nearly 12 years in August 2021 in Austin, Texas. The concert took place three months following Ellefson's dismissal from MEGADETH after sexually tinged messages and explicit video footage involving him were posted on Twitter.

Ellefson laid down his bass tracks on MEGADETH's sixteenth LP in May 2020 at a studio in Nashville, Tennessee. A short time later, he raved about his performance on the record, telling the 96.7 KCAL-FM radio program "Wired In The Empire" that his musical chemistry with Verbeuren was comparable to the interplay between Geddy Lee and Neil Peart on classic RUSH albums. "I feel like on the new MEGADETH record, me and Dirk have those same moments," he said. "It's MEGADETH — it's not RUSH, obviously — but in the field of what we do, there were these moments that I was just going, 'Oh, my God.' This is me as a kid going, 'This is my Geddy/Neil moment right here.'"

In June 2021, Mustaine announced during an episode of his Gimme Radio program "The Dave Mustaine Show" that Ellefson's bass tracks would not be used on the new MEGADETH LP.

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

"The Sick, The Dying… And The Dead!" will arrive on September 2 via UMe.

Photo credit: Travis Shinn

Canadian thrash metal legends, Razor, return with Cycle Of Contempt, their first new full-length album in 25 years! Cycle Of Contempt is a direct, cutthroat record that pulls no punches and takes no prisoners. Listen to Razor's new song, “A Bitter Pill”, below:





Anyone that cut their metal teeth with The Big Four, and then dug a little deeper into the indie scene, should receive a major endorphin rush when they discover that speed and thrash masters Razor are about to release their first studio offering in 25 years, entitled Cycle Of Contempt.




From the catchy, concise riffs and insistent beats of album opener “Flames Pf Hatred” to the double-barreled assault, muted power chord chugging and combative gang vocal of album closer “King Shit”, Cycle Of Contempt is a trenchant reminder of a time when clubs around the world were packed with long-haired bands that played as fast as they could to mosh pits that spun and tumbled like clothes in a short-circuiting dryer.


As energetic and exciting as Evil Invaders and as urgent and powerful as Razor’s 1989 speed-fest Violent Restitution, Cycle Of Contempt showcases a band that never stopped spewing venom.


“I tried to write songs that everybody could listen to and say, “Yeah, I know a guy who's done that to me or done this, or I know that situation. I can relate to that,” band founder Dave Carlo says. “And I didn’t want to make everything specifically about me because when you do that, you exclude people. I wanted to include everyone that’s ever felt pissed off about anything.”


An unrelenting slab of old-school thrash that showcases Razor's encyclopedic knowledge of the past along with Carlo’s growth as a songwriter, player, and lyricist, Cycle Of Contempt is here to show that Razor are as dominating as ever.


Cycle Of Contempt is out September 23 on LP/CD/CS/digital. Physical pre-orders are available via Relapse.com here, digital downloads/streaming here.





Cycle Of Contempt tracklisting:


"Flames Of Hatred"
"Jabroni"
"Off My Meds"
"A Bitter Pill"
"Crossed"
"First Rate Hate"
"Cycle Of Contempt"
"Punch Your Face In"
"All Fist Fighting"
"Darkness Falls"
"King Shit"


"Flames Of Hatred" lyric video:

Richmond, Virginia metallers LAMB OF GOD will release their new album, "Omens", on October 7 via Epic Records. The band tracked the effort with longtime collaborator Josh Wilbur (KORN, MEGADETH) live in the room together at Henson Recording Studios (formerly A&M Studios) in Los Angeles, California, a location that birthed classics from THE DOORS, PINK FLOYD, RAMONES and SOUNDGARDEN, among others.

Speaking to Germany's EMP, LAMB OF GOD bassist John Campbell stated about "Omens" (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "It's a fairly dynamic record. There's a few other little surprises and tweaks and things to come in October. 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."

Earlier in the month, 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."

The "Omens" album pre-order is live at Lamb-Of-God.com, boasting several exclusive items, including a signed colored vinyl variant, shirt, hoodie, and signed CDs with an alternate color cover. All physical CD and vinyl releases will include a free access code to watch the livestream viewing of "The Making Of Omens" documentary, which will premiere the week of album release.

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

"Omens" will be the follow-up to LAMB OF GOD's self-titled album, which was released in June 2020 via Epic Records in the U.S. and Nuclear Blast Records in Europe. That LP marked LAMB OF GOD's first recordings with Art Cruz, who joined the band in July 2019 as the replacement for the group's founding drummer, Chris Adler.

"Lamb Of God" was recorded with Wilbur and included special guest appearances by Jamey Jasta (HATEBREED) and Chuck Billy (TESTAMENT).

Photo credit: Travis Shinn

SHINEDOWN bassist and producer Eric Bass spoke to Bass Musician Magazine about the lyrical inspiration for the band's latest album, "Planet Zero". He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "When we writing, it was in the middle of the pandemic. We started writing in July of 2020 — June or July of 2020; I forget when it was. But it was also right in the midst of the George Floyd riots and all of the upheaval that was going on. And I just started calling America 'Planet Zero.' I was, like, 'We have zero tolerance for each other. We have zero sense. There's zero ability to communicate.' And so I just kind of nicknamed it 'Planet Zero.' And we decided to write about Planet Zero — a potential future; we kind of turned it into an actual planet and where we felt like we were headed. And that song itself is actually more geared toward cancel culture and shutting down each other's speech and thought because we don't agree with it."

He continued: "One of the beautiful things about being a human being is not agreeing on everything and not understanding each other's viewpoints and ideologies. For me, and this is gonna sound really woo woo and kind of maybe a little spiritual, but I feel that we have to find a way to have real tolerance for each other and real tolerance for each other's way of thinking and that we just shut down each other's ideas and thoughts that we don't learn and we won't grow.

"I don't have to agree with you to love you. I don't have to agree with everything you say. I can think that you're vastly wrong about something and we should go into our interactions with each other with love for each other as human beings. And so with 'Planet Zero', if we stop thinking that way and we let other entities kind of take over the way we think and how we process… Again, it seems to be something that gets talked about a lot these days, but Big Tech and media and that sort of thing, just kind of telling everybody what to think. We're like cats with a laser pointer, like, 'Today you should be concerned about this over here,' and then 'Tomorrow you should be concerned about this over here,' and really dividing us into left and right, into racial pockets that we should only live here. It's sort of the antithesis of how I feel like I was raised and the antithesis of how I feel like my generation thought about things when I was younger, because we were all about, 'Don't see color. Don't see each other's different groups.' We were all united; it was this 'united world' thing that was happening, and now it seems like we're going in the opposite direction.

"So, with 'Planet Zero', it's a look at a potential future in a dystopian kind of way, if we continue to let these things happen and let 'Big Brother', for lack of a better term, in an Orwellian sense, make decisions for us and tell us what to think and what to do and what we're allowed to do and say," Eric added. "And again, I think that's also the antithesis of what America is about."

Last week, SHINEDOWN released a brand-new Amazon Original of the band's current hit single "Daylight", available now only on Amazon Music. The track is a complete re-imagining of the song that changes up the chord progression and tempo and injects big drums and an aggressive distorted synth guitar tone that balance against the beauty and softness of the verses and chorus.

Fans can hear SHINEDOWN's Amazon Original on the Rock Arena playlist or by simply asking "Alexa, play the new song from SHINEDOWN" in the Amazon Music app for iOS and Android, and on Alexa-enabled devices. In addition to the new track, Amazon Music listeners can access hundreds of Amazon Originals, featuring both emerging and established artists across numerous genres, available to stream and purchase only on Amazon Music.

"Daylight" is a meaningful portrait of a vital human connection that reminds us that we are never alone, and reflects on the importance of empathy and the relationships in our lives that help get us through to the next day. The poignant anthem recently became SHINEDOWN's 19th No. 1 at Active Rock and 18th No. 1 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Airplay chart — both all-time records on these charts.

"Planet Zero", produced by Bass, is out now via Atlantic Records. The album debuted in the Top 5 on the Billboard 200 chart and the official U.K. albums chart, and at No. 1 on six other Billboard charts, including Top Album Sales, Rock, Hard Rock and Alternative Albums.