Italian proggers Onelegman are sharing their second single to "Radiate" your day. The track is off the band's forthcoming album Event Horizon due out on October 21, 2022, via Rockshots Records. “Radiate” moves from a strange acoustic intro with Indian influences to an orchestral and melodic rock song. The lyrics are inspired by Passengers, an American science fiction movie, directed by Morten Tyldum in 2016. In the movie, a couple of space travelers are forced to live their whole existence in complete solitude, dedicating themselves to building their relationship and safeguarding the supreme good of life.


The video for "Radiate" is solely done by handmade drawings of Simone Ferarein Ferrarini and edited in stop motion with the intention to give a fluid, continuative, and always morphing vision of the emotions that grow between a couple of children becoming adults while loving each other.


The third full length from the trio, Event Horizon is Onelegman’s most peculiar release to follow a new concept for each one of its tracks; to create a mosaic with sounds, lyrics, and graphics in order to show to the listener the direction of their journey. The band explains in further detail:




"We've always meant for our music to give listeners an odyssey and this intention was never stronger than on this third album. We have aimed high, but not necessarily far, we focus on the intimacy of humanity, sometimes on the unconscious, and to explore the universe to the limit of possible knowledge and consciousness. We titled the album Event Horizon because it is precisely that, an Event Horizon. This album is an auditory exploration of new worlds, the chaos theory, the last days of a star's life, the direction of time, entropy, the fourth dimension that is gravity, love as an elementary form of existence, existence as a mere force of attraction and repulsion between electrons, existence as creatures of God or as sons of physics and chemistry."


It is not the band's intention to translate the works of scientists such as Greene, Rovelli, Bertone, Hawking, Jim Al-Khalili, and Primo Levi into music, but to take inspiration from their treatises, terminologies, and thoughts to build cosmic and quantum images where they search for the true human essence, perhaps where life is born.


Preorder at the Rockshots Records webshop.





Tracklisting:


“Chaos Theory”
“Magnetar”
“Event Horizon”
“The Line”
“Radiate”
“Steric Hindrance”
“Black Holes Have No Hairs”
“The Order Of Time”
“Cosmos”
“Slaps Two By Two Until They Become Odd”


“Radiate”:

Finnish heavy metal band Thy Row will celebrate the one-year anniversary of their debut album Unchained with the release of a limited edition vinyl along with a brand new digital single entitled "Blue Blood", a cover of one of the biggest hits by the biggest Japanese metal band of all time X Japan.


The band comments:


"We were so proud of how our debut album turned out, that we knew that it deserved a vinyl release with a bonus track as well as a brand new vinyl master. The bonus track which was initially released only in Japan is a cover of the country's biggest ever metal band X Japan. We've had a ton of fun performing the song ‘Blue Blood’ live multiple times, and while recording Unchained we decided to record that one as well! The result is energetic and heavy, just as the speed metal classic should be! Join us and our wonderful label Rockshots Records who were open to realizing these wishes in celebrating the one-year anniversary of our first album, and we hope you enjoy what we have to offer with these releases!" 







The vinyl was mastered by Svante Forsbäck (Rammstein, Volbeat) at Chartmakers Studios, and will be released together with the digital single “Blue Blood (X Japan Cover)” on October 7, 2022.


Recommended for fans of Scorpions, Megadeth, and Queen, Thy Row's vinyl of Unchained is available for preorder at the Rockshots Records webshop.


Founded in 2017, Thy Row made their first entry on the Finnish scene with their 2019 independently released self-titled EP. The record's lead single "The Round" reached over 110K streams on Spotify and added to the EP's overall praise that gave the group the opportunity to tour Japan in 2019 with Beast In Black and Swallow The Sun.


Following the success of that EP, Thy Row's offered up their first full-length, a fresh mix of the finest heavy metal with modern hard rock that every metalhead can bang their heads to. With ten tracks, there are lots of great melodies spiced up with shakin’ riffs that are sure to encourage fans to turn up their stereo knobs all the way to eleven and enjoy.


Unchained features guest artists Ben Varon (Oceanhoarse, ex-Amoral), Ilja Jalkanen (Raskasta Joulua, Kiuas), and Teemu Mäntysaari (Wintersun, Smackbound) plus was mixed by Jussi Kraft (Starkraft Studio) and partly by Nino Laurenne (Sonic Pump Studios).

Melbourne, Australia-based progressive metal band Teramaze have released the second single and music video “The Thieves Are Out” created by Wayne Joyner who has done amazing work with Dream Theater, Alter Bridge, Devin Townsend and many more.


Lead singer, guitarist and songwriter Dean Wells commented on the single by saying: 


“When we started demoing some ideas for our 10th album (Flight Of The Wounded), I wanted to try something different that had a different vibe from anything we’d done on the last few albums. We ended up jamming out this riff, that sounded like something The Police/Andy Summers would do, but it ended up being in kind of a weird time signature. 15/8 or something?




“I knew I didn’t want to write a long winded “soft song” per se, so we “heavied up” the riff and developed the song into something that sounded more honest to the Teramaze sound. It really fits in with the vibe and sound we were going for, for the album as a whole.


“As usual, fans and new listeners can expect a mixture of progressive metal, rock and our unapologetic love of pop music. I always try to get as many great hooks into a song as possible. Chris and I also took it as an opportunity to have a nice duelling solo shred off in the middle of song, cause why not?”


Flight Of The Wounded will be released independently in early October 2022, via Wells Music.


“The Thieves Are Out” was mixed by Dean Wells at Wells Productions and mastered by Tony “Jack The Bear” Mantz.


Pre-order here.





Tracklisting:


"Flight Of The Wounded"
"Gold"
"The Thieves Are Out"
"Until The Lights"
"Ticket To The Next Apocalypse"
"For The Thrill"
"Dangerous Me"
"Battle"
"In The Ruins Of Angels"


"The Thieves Are Out" video:





"Gold" lyric video:





Teramaze’s lineup is as follows:


Dean Wells (Vocals & Guitar)
Chris Zoupa (Guitar)
Andrew Cameron (Bass)
Nick Ross (Drums)

Vlad In Tears has released the official video for "Running Up That Hill." The song is the second single from the gothic metallers' upcoming studio album, Porpora, which will be released on September 19 via Metalville Records. 


With their gothic rock version of the Kate Bush classic, Vlad in Tears present probably the most exciting cover song of the year so far. Due to the use of the song in the Netflix series Stranger Things, "Running Up That Hill" unexpectedly reached the top of the charts 37 years after its original release.


Vlad In Tears was virtually reborn after decades when the three brothers Kris (vocals & piano), Lex (guitar), and Dario (bass) decided to move from old and sunny Italy to Germany in 2013. The brothers immediately showed their great musical skills and their ability to be fantastic live performers. This rapid development led to a steadily growing fanbase to this day.




Tireless and insatiable, Vlad In Tears are always looking for new sounds and arrangements to perfectly blend their melodies with very dark sounds, ranging from '80s wave to the hardest and most modern rock sound. The strongest part of the band is the voice of singer Kris, which seems to know no limits.





Tracklisting:


“Wasted Lives”
“Down”
“Sorry”
“Blood”
“Be Save Now”
“Closer”
“Hope”
“One Last Chance”
“No Candles For The Ride”
“Let Me Be The One”
“Right Now”
“Running Up That Hill” (Kate Bush cover)


“Running Up That Hill” video:

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


"New album finished! Yay!!!


We're happy and excited beyond words to announce we just completed the vocal recordings of our fourth upcoming album!




To our producer Andrea Fusini's delight, this is the album containing the greatest amount of guitar parts and, most importantly, vocal tracks. We've been working on this album since the Winterbane recordings ended, so we had all the time to focus on songs and arrangements with no rush, refining every single part, ending up with a bunch of songs that truly represent our creativity's best and 100% reflect the Frozen Crown sound. Needless to say we're already so proud of it, and we can't wait to hear the final result!"





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


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


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


Check out the video below.





Tracklist:


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


"Far Beyond"





"The Water Dancer"





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


Frozen Crown is:


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

According to Rolling Stone, a judge has dismissed the third version of the lawsuit against NIRVANA filed by the man who claims he was the baby featured on the cover of the band's "Nevermind" album.

In a decision on Friday, U.S. District Judge Fernando Olguin in Los Angeles said Spencer Elden waited too long to claim the photo of the baby reaching for a dollar in a swimming pool violated federal child pornography statutes and arguing child sexual exploitation. Elden also claimed the image on the cover was taken and used without his consent. Olguin's dismissal prevents Elden from filing a fourth version of his complaint.

"In short, because it is undisputed that [Elden] did not file his complaint within ten years after he discovered a violation… the court concludes that his claim is untimely," Olguin wrote in the eight-page ruling.

The judge continued: "Because plaintiff had an opportunity to address the deficiencies in his complaint regarding the statute of limitations, the court is persuaded that it would be futile to afford plaintiff a fourth opportunity to file an amended complaint."

In a December 2021 motion to dismiss, NIRVANA, as well as Kurt Cobain's widow, Courtney Love, had asked the court to throw out the lawsuit, saying Elden's claim that the photograph on the "Nevermind" cover is child pornography is "not serious" and insisting that his claim is "barred by the applicable statute of limitations." Federal child pornography law has a 10-year statute of limitations, beginning when a victim "reasonably discovers" the violation itself or the harm caused by it.

On January 3, 2022, Judge Fernando M. Olguin, who was presiding over the case at the U.S. District Court in Central California, dismissed the case after Elden missed his December 30 deadline to file an opposition to the defendants' motion to dismiss. However, Elden had the option to refile an amended lawsuit by January 13, which he did.

In the amended lawsuit, Elden claimed that NIRVANA "intentionally commercially marketed the child pornography depicting Spencer and leveraged the lascivious nature of his image to promote the 'Nevermind' album, the band, and NIRVANA's music, while earning, at a minimum, tens of millions of dollars in the aggregate." However, the second amended complaint dropped a claim related to sex trafficking. Elden's prior suit alleged that the defendants did "knowingly benefit from participation in what they know or should know is a sex trafficking venture."

In their motion to dismiss, NIRVANA said: "Elden has spent three decades profiting from his celebrity as the self-anointed 'Nirvana Baby'. He has reenacted the photograph in exchange for a fee, many times; he has had the album title 'Nevermind' tattooed across his chest; he has appeared on a talk show wearing a self-parodying, nude-colored onesie; he has autographed copies of the album cover for sale on eBay; and he has used the connection to try to pick up women."

The motion added: "Elden's claim that the photograph on the 'Nevermind' album cover is 'child pornography' is, on its face, not serious. A brief examination of the photograph, or Elden's own conduct (not to mention the photograph's presence in the homes of millions of Americans who, on Elden's theory, are guilty of felony possession of child pornography) makes that clear.

"The 'Nevermind' cover photograph was taken in 1991. It was world-famous by no later than 1992. Long before 2011, as Elden has pled, Elden knew about the photograph, and knew that he (and not someone else) was the baby in the photograph. He has been fully aware of the facts of both the supposed 'violation' and 'injury' for decades.”

The motion went on to say: "In addition to his child pornography claim, Elden has alleged that the creation of the photograph for the album cover art entailed the sex trafficking of Elden when he was a baby. Setting aside that this premise is absurd, the statute Elden invokes to cover conduct in 1991, became effective on December 19, 2003 and has no retroactive application to conduct by a defendant that pre-dates its effective date."

Late last year, Elden amended his lawsuit against NIRVANA to include the allegation that the photographer hired to take the photo, Kirk Weddle, also shot images of Elden styled to look like Playboy founder Hugh Hefner. The new filing also drops former NIRVANA drummer Chad Channing as a defendant in the case.

According to Rolling Stone, Elden's first updated complaint cited personal journal entries from late NIRVANA frontman Kurt Cobain, which were published by Riverhead Books in 2002, in an apparent attempt to prove the claim that the photographer intended the cover image to be sexual in nature.

"Undated journals written by Cobain sketch the album cover in a sexual manner, with semen all over it," the document stated. "In several instances, the journals describe Cobain's twisted vision for the 'Nevermind' album cover, along with his emotional struggles: 'I like to make incisions into the belly of infants then fuck the incision until the child dies.'"

The documents also repeated the claim that Weddle intended to "trigger a visceral sexual response from the viewer" by activating "Spencer's 'gag reflex' before throwing him underwater in poses highlighting and emphasizing Spencer's exposed genitals." The documents add: "Weddle soon after produced photographs of Spencer dressed up and depicted as Hugh Hefner."

When Elden first filed his lawsuit against the surviving members of NIRVANA as well as the estate of Kurt Cobain in August 2021, he alleged the photo of the baby reaching for a dollar in a swimming pool violated federal child pornography statutes and argued child sexual exploitation.

A month after filing his lawsuit, Elden requested his genitalia be removed from "all future album covers" on the 30th anniversary of the project.

"Today, like each year on this date, our client Spencer Elden has had to brace himself for renewed unwanted attention from the media and fans alike throughout the world," his attorneys told USA Today. "This is a choice that he has never had."

The attorneys said that they planned on continuing the legal proceedings in order to "bring long-awaited privacy and dignity back to our client."

"We implore the NIRVANA defendants to right the wrongs of their past, by acknowledging the harm they have perpetrated and redacting the image of Mr. Elden's genitalia from further reproductions of 'Nevermind' because behind every cover is a person pleading for their privacy back," they added.

A deluxe 30th-anniversary reissue of "Nevermind", featuring its original cover artwork, was made available last November.

In Elden's complaint filed in Los Angeles federal court, he claimed that his "identity and legal name are forever tied to the commercial sexual exploitation he experienced as a minor which has been distributed and sold worldwide from the time he was a baby to the present day."

According to the suit, the defendants "knowingly produced, possessed, and advertised commercial child pornography depicting Spencer, and they knowingly received value in exchange for doing so. … Despite this knowledge, defendants failed to take reasonable steps to protect Spencer and prevent his widespread sexual exploitation and image trafficking."

Elden claimed that his parents never signed a release authorizing the use of the photos, which were taken in a Pasadena aquatic center in 1990. He alleged that the band promised to cover his genitals with a sticker, which was never incorporated into the album art.

The suit further alleged the defendants "used child pornography depicting Spencer as an essential element of a record promotion scheme commonly utilized in the music industry to get attention, wherein album covers posed children in a sexually provocative manner to gain notoriety, drive sales, and garner media attention, and critical reviews."

Elden sought damages of either $150,000 from each of the defendants or unspecified damages to be determined at trial, attorney fees, an injunction to prohibit all parties "from continuing to engage in the unlawful acts and practices described herein," and a trial by jury.

"The permanent harm he has proximately suffered includes but is not limited to extreme and permanent emotional distress with physical manifestations, interference with his normal development and educational progress, lifelong loss of income earning capacity, loss of past and future wages, past and future expenses for medical and psychological treatment, loss of enjoyment of life, and other losses to be described and proven at trial of this matter," the lawsuit stated.

Elden's parents were reportedly paid only $200 for the photos, and the shoot lasted around 15 seconds.

In a 2016 interview with Time magazine, Elden said: "It's a trip. Everyone involved in the album has tons and tons of money. I feel like I'm the last little bit of grunge rock. I'm living in my mom's house and driving a Honda Civic.

"It's hard not to get upset when you hear how much money was involved," Elden added. "I go to a baseball game and think about it: 'Man, everybody at this baseball game has probably seen my little baby penis,' I feel like I got part of my human rights revoked."

"Nevermind" has sold over 30 million copies worldwide and was certified diamond by the RIAA for sales in excess of 10 million copies in the U.S. alone.

Professionally filmed video of IRON MAIDEN's September 2 concert at the Rock In Rio festival in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil can be seen below.

As has been the case on all the shows of the 2022 leg of MAIDEN's "Legacy Of The Beast" world tour so far, the band opened the set with "Senjutsu", the title track of its latest studio album, and followed it up with two more songs from the same LP, "Stratego" and "The Writing On The Wall".

Other tracks aired during MAIDEN's performance included "Revelations", "Blood Brothers", "Sign Of The Cross", "Flight Of Icarus", "Fear Of The Dark", "Hallowed Be Thy Name", "The Number Of The Beast" and "Iron Maiden".

MAIDEN also played two encores, consisting of "The Trooper", "The Clansman", "Run To The Hills" and the closing track of the night, "Aces High".

The full setlist was as follows:

01. Senjutsu
02. Stratego
03. The Writing On The Wall
04. Revelations
05. Blood Brothers
06. Sign Of The Cross
07. Flight Of Icarus
08. Fear Of The Dark
09. Hallowed Be Thy Name
10. The Number Of The Beast
11. Iron Maiden

Encore:

12. The Trooper
13. The Clansman
14. Run To The Hills

Encore 2:

15. Aces High

Prior to the "Legacy Of The Beast" kick-off concert on May 22 in Zagreb, Croatia, IRON MAIDEN hadn't performed live in two and a half years — since the completion of its South American tour in October 2019.

Earlier this year, IRON MAIDEN singer Bruce Dickinson confirmed that the band is planning to stage a tour where it will perform its new album, "Senjutsu", in its entirety. The 64-year-old singer told the "Talk Is Jericho" podcast: "The plan we've got — it's not really a secret; I think everybody else has chatted about it — we will, I hope, we've talked about doing the entire ['Senjutsu'] album start to finish, but not this time around. And we all appreciate that that is something that really diehard fans will probably love and other people will go, 'Hmmm, I'm not gonna go see that.' So the answer is you play smaller venues so that they sell out with just your diehard fans. 'Cause it's a musical thing to do — it's a musical thing."

Dickinson went on to clarify that the 2022 leg of MAIDEN's "Legacy Of The Beast" tour, which is scheduled to hit North America in September and October, will once again focus primarily on a decades-spanning setlist of fan favorites.

"The 'Legacy Of The Beast' tour, people have all paid their money to see the 'Legacy Of The Beast' show, with Spitfires and flamethrowers and Icarus and everything that goes with," he said. "So they're gonna get all that. But the first three tracks are probably gonna be the first three tracks on the ['Senjutsu'] album. 'The Writing On The Wall' they already know, so everybody should know the first three tracks. And I just think [the] 'Senjutsu' [title track] is just such a great opening song — so dramatic. And then once you've done that — and we'll have a stage set to go with it — once you've done that, you're back to the kind of 'Legacy' world at that point. But I think 'The Writing On The Wall' is gonna be a great song — I mean, a crowd singalong song. You can imagine that. It'll be fantastic."

Addressing the fact that MAIDEN infuriated some fans by forcing them to sit through the band's then-new, 75-minute "A Matter Of Life And Death" album on tour in 2006, denying the crowd the greatest hits they'd come for, Bruce said: "Nobody has to buy a ticket. If you don't wanna go [see us play an entire new album live], you don't buy a ticket. It's gonna be plain as the nose on your face. This is gonna be what they're gonna do. So given that, don't complain that they did what they said they were gonna do."

Clocking in at a hefty 82 minutes, "Senjutsu" came out in September. It marks MAIDEN's second consecutive double album behind 2015's "The Book Of Souls" which is the longest MAIDEN album, with a running time of 92 minutes.

IRON MAIDEN's first album in six years, "Senjutsu" was recorded in 2019 in Paris with longstanding producer Kevin Shirley and co-produced by bassist Steve Harris. It features three tracks whose running time exceeds 10 minutes each.

For "Senjutsu" — loosely translated as "tactics and strategy" — the band once again enlisted the services of Mark Wilkinson to create the spectacular Samurai-themed cover artwork, based on an idea by Harris.

"Senjutsu" bowed at No. 3 on the Billboard 200 chart, charting higher than even the band's early classics like "Powerslave" and "The Number Of The Beast". Nearly 90 percent of the LP's 64,000 equivalent album units earned came from pure album sales. The critically acclaimed double album debuted one place higher than 2015's "The Book Of Souls" and 2010's "The Final Frontier", which both peaked at No. 4.

"Senjutsu" was MAIDEN's 13th album to top in the Top 40 in the U.S.

According to Billboard, "Senjutsu" logged the second-largest week of 2021 for a hard rock album in both equivalent album units earned and in traditional album sales.

"Senjutsu" topped the charts in several European countries upon its release, including in Belgium, Finland, Germany, Italy, Sweden and Switzerland.

The renowned Tennessee-based legendary independent record label Sun Records will release a six-song covers EP from rock 'n' roll legend Suzi Quatro. "Uncovered" boasts cameos from famed two-time Grammy Award-winning guitarist and songwriter Steve Cropper (BOOKER T. & THE MGS, SAM AND DAVE, OTIS REDDING, THE BLUES BROTHERS) on two iconic tracks he co-wrote, Wilson Pickett's "Midnight Hour" and Otis Redding's "Sitting On The Dock Of The Bay". Digital and vinyl pre-orders go live today and will coincide with an instant advance single of Suzi digging into the CREEDENCE CLEARWATER REVIVAL classic "Bad Moon Rising". "Uncovered" will be a global release for Sun Records which for decades had largely only focused on its catalog.

Comprising six incendiary renditions of popular 1960s and 1970s rock 'n' roll and soul classics filtered through Suzi's distinctive musicality — showcasing her honey and whiskey rasp — "Uncovered" features nuanced and grooving musicianship that keeps each song's timeless intentions aflame, while the musicians also punch the jams up to match Suzi's hard-rocking energy. Completing the impressive track list are Suzi-fied versions of Carole King's "I Feel The Earth Move", James Brown's "The Boss" and Rufus Thomas's "Walking The Dog".

"Since I first picked up a bass guitar and started playing and singing in my first band in 1964, many artists helped show the way," says Quatro. "I honor them here with this eclectic choice of songs. Every one of them is here for a reason. Thank you all for your inspiration."

Quatro is the trailblazing Queen Of Rock' N' Roll. Not only a global legend who has sold over 55 million records worldwide, she is also a record producer, actress ("Happy Days", "Minder", "Absolutely Fabulous", "Dempsey And Makepeace", "Rock School"),poet, author and radio presenter (BBC Radio 2).

Detroit-born Suzi grew up in a musical family, forming her first band THE PLEASURE SEEKERS aged just 14 with her sisters, they recorded three singles. In 1971, Suzi moved to England to work with celebrated producer Mickie Most. She first came to the attention of the British public as a support act alongside THIN LIZZY on SLADE's first nationwide tour of the U.K. Then in 1972 she released her first single as a solo artist, "Rolling Stone". A string of hits followed, including two Number 1 songs, "Can The Can" and "Devil Gate Drive". In 1999 Suzi began her radio career with a series of weekly programs and notable documentaries on BBC Radio 2. In 2006, Suzi was nominated for "Music Broadcaster Of The Year" at the Sony Music Awards. She is the recipient of the "Woman Of Valor" award from the organization Musicians For Equal Opportunities For Women. Suzi was inducted into the Michigan Rock And Roll Legends Hall Of Fame (2013) and, in the same year, received the Distinguished Lifetime Achievement Award at the Detroit Music Awards.

Quatro continues to perform live, playing over a hundred shows worldwide each year.

Photo credit: JV Publicity

Former Alice Cooper and current Demi Lovato guitarist Nita Strauss will release her next single from her upcoming sophomore solo album on Tuesday, August 30. "Summer Storm" is the follow-up to last year's "Dead Inside", which was her first new music since the release of her debut solo LP, 2018's "Controlled Chaos". The track was her first-ever solo collaboration with a vocalist, David Draiman, frontman of Grammy-nominated rock icons DISTURBED.

Speaking to Revolver about her new single, Nita said: "The first single came out way too long ago. That was 'Dead Inside' with David Draiman. And we made a really good splash with that. We got to Number One at rock radio, which was unbelievable — so cool. 'Summer Storm', I felt it was important to release that one next because it's a return to my roots. The album is gonna be half instrumental, half with guest vocalists, so I felt like it was important to have an instrumental song come out next to make sure that the world knows that I'm not completely abandoning my style. I think 'Summer Storm' is one of those songs that really encapsulates me as a writer and as a guitar player. And then, after ['Summer Storm'], I'm sure — actually, a hundred percent sure, 'cause we already shot the music video [laughs] — the next single will be a vocal one. And then after that hopefully the album."

Nita made her live debut with Demi on July 14 with a performance of Lovato's new single, "Substance" on ABC's Emmy Award-winning late-night show "Jimmy Kimmel Live!".

Strauss had been playing with Cooper since 2014 when she replaced Australian musician and former Michael Jackson player Orianthi. She joined Alice in time for a mammoth MÖTLEY CRÜE tour. She was recommended to Cooper by the legendary rocker's former bass player and WINGER frontman Kip Winger.

Back in February, Nita told SiriusXM's "Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk" about her upcoming LP: "It's gonna be half and half — six tracks with vocalists and six tracks of instrumental [music]. We've been doing ['Dead Inside'] live on the solo tour and it's been getting a super-good reaction from our crowds. So I think the next [single] will be instrumental — kind of go back to the roots — and then another radio single after that."

Asked if she could talk about some of the other guests that appear on her new solo album, Nita said: "Not just yet. I will say that we've got a really, really cool blend of some legacy people as well as some new singers that I'm really excited about, and some amazing male vocalists and some incredible female vocalists as well."

In early December, Nita told "The Mistress Carrie Podcast" about her decision to make the upcoming LP half vocal songs and half instrumental: "I did feel, and the label and everybody agreed, it's still important for me to keep my identity as a guitar player and not just branch off too much and go, 'Okay, well, now it's just guests.' Let me still have a little of what makes me me, which is the instrumental shred stuff. And the instrumental pieces that I've written on this record are, I think, better than anything I did on the first one — definitely more… I don't know if it could be more emotional but they're very emotional pieces of music and I think a little better crafted this time around. So I think all the songs in general are more well thought out, better put together this time around. And I do have some of my absolute favorite [singers guesting on it]. I have three amazing powerhouse female vocalists on this album so far."

Nita released "Controlled Chaos" to mass acclaim from fans and media alike, with Metal Injection calling it "a great debut that — as its creator intended — leaves no doubt", and Guitar World stating "'Controlled Chaos' is a panoramic view of Nita Strauss's many strengths".

As well as performing with Cooper, Nita has also played with R&B star Jermaine Jackson, early MTV darlings FEMME FATALE, video game supergroup CRITICAL HIT and popular tribute band THE IRON MAIDENS.

In April 2020, Nita launched "Rock Guitar Fundamentals" — a three-module online guitar teaching program suitable for learners of all levels. The course is available at www.iwanttoplayguitar.com.

Nita's solo live show is mostly instrumental in nature, combining originals with covers.

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During an appearance on yesterday's (Monday, August 29) episode of SiriusXM's "Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk", RATT singer Stephen Pearcy spoke about his decision to focus on his solo career instead of trying to keep RATT alive with him and bassist Juan Croucier as the only members from the band's classic lineup.

"I'd rather [play with my solo band] than the brand, the cover band, so to speak," he said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET). "[I am] not [trying to be] disrespectful, but look, no Warren [DeMartini, RATT guitarist]; he chooses to kick back, and that's all great. And Bob [RATT drummer Bobby Blotzer] — everybody's pretty much laid back except for me. So I'm just taking care of business."

Asked what the relationship is like between him and the other members of RATT's classic lineup, Pearcy said: "It's all business, pretty much. There's no business in the RATT, unfortunately, camp, and that's unfortunate. But that's why I do my thing. I talk to Bob every now and then. That's about it. Warren, I guess, chooses to just be laid back, from what I gather. And that's all cool."

Pearcy acknowledged that "it would be great if we all pulled together" and reunited all the surviving members of RATT's classic lineup, but he admitted that "it's not gonna happen. You're dealing with a lot of ego," he said. "Who knows? I don't know. I don't give a shit, actually. This is where it starts and this is where it's gonna end, and that's with me. And I'm out there just doing what I do."

Pressed about whether he has given up on the idea of a reunion of RATT's classic lineup, Stephen said: "Look, I'd rather be out there [with my solo band] than having the [RATT] band out there with just me and the bass player in RATT. That's not what RATT was. RATT was [Robbin] Crosby [guitar], Pearcy, DeMartini, Bobby and Juan. And so be it. And I'd rather give a bit of integrity to the band, 'cause it was a great rock band, and just continue doing what I do. You can't beat a dead horse or try to bullshit people."

He continued: "Look, like I said, no disrespect — we've had a lot of great players come and go. That's where the problem is — we've had people coming and going, and coming and going. RATT is not all these different people. RATT was these five guys. And no disrespect. People wanna lay back, great. I don't. And that's where it is."

Asked if he regrets having done shows under the RATT name with just him and Juan from the band's classic lineup, Stephen said: "Yeah, actually. Yeah. Because it's not the same. I don't like to bullshit. Look, you wanna hear the songs? I wrote 'em. Come see me play 'em. I sang 'em. Maybe somebody else helped rearrange 'em or added some lyrics. I don't know. It's all the same."

Two months ago, Pearcy told Atlantic City Weekly that RATT was supposed to do "a big summer tour this year. I initiated doing something if the [surviving] guys [from the classic lineup] would get together," he revealed. "But there is no reason for them to do it or a need for them to do it, so I decided to just go out solo. And I am better off. Some of these guys [in my solo band] have been with me 18, 20 years. So if you want to Ratt & Roll, come see my shows."

In April 2021, Pearcy was joined by Blotzer during the RATT singer's livestream concert from the world-famous Whisky A Go Go on the Sunset Strip.

Pearcy and Croucier were the sole remaining original members in RATT's most recent lineup, which made its live debut in July 2018 in Mulvane, Kansas. Joining them in the band were drummer Pete Holmes (BLACK 'N BLUE, RATT'S JUAN CROUCIER) and guitarists Jordan Ziff (Marty Friedman) and Frankie Lindia (David Lee Roth).

RATT — featuring Pearcy, Croucier and DeMartini — played a number of shows in 2017 after reforming a year earlier in the midst of a highly publicized legal battle with Blotzer over the rights to the RATT name. They were joined at the gigs by guitarist Carlos Cavazo, who played on 2010's "Infestation" album, and drummer Jimmy DeGrasso, who previously played with Y&T, WHITE LION and MEGADETH, among others.

With Shatter Messiah, ex-Nevermore / ex-Annihilator guitarist Curran Murphy set out in spring 2005 to follow in the musical footsteps of his two predecessor bands and continue under his own banner. Stylistically, Shatter Messiah perfectly combines both aforementioned bands into a symbiosis that is capable of sending every lover of the genre into raptures. Unfortunately, fate did not favour the band, because although this third album of the band, Hail The New Cross, officially bears the release date of 2013, it does not appear at all in many official sources, archives and discographies. 


What happened? 


The album was supposed to see the light of day in spring 2013 - and somehow it did, because there is indeed a pressed edition, as well as some reviews. Unfortunately, a further distribution or a comprehensive promotion by the label (Mausoleum) did not take place. Already in July 2013, the label's domain was "suspended", from then on there was no sign of life and Hail The New Cros" disappeared in a status between "somehow released but forgotten". 




 


MDD Records decided it is high time to drag this gem out of the shadows into the light and finally - and for many for the first time - make it accessible to a broad public with a remastered sound. A re-release that was originally planned by Murphy for 2020 finally surfaced on August 26th, 2022. It is available here.





Tracklist:


"Disconnecting"
"Future Fails"
"Memory Flames"
"How Deep The Scar"
"Loyal Betrayer"
"Gods Of Divinity"
"Mercenary Machine"
"The Addiction"

In an interview with Tinnitus Metal Radio at last month's Alcatraz festival in Belgium, guitarist Bill Steer of British extreme metal pioneers CARCASS was asked how he and his bandmates dealt with the downtime during the coronavirus pandemic. He responded: "I think for once we all agreed on this. It was quite nice when it started, like a really welcome break. 'Cause it was really hard to draw a line, like when does the 'Surgical [Steel]' touring campaign stop and then the new album and that campaign starts? So this forced us to have a break. … But we were sort of grateful for that; it drew a little bit of a line in the sand for us. And then, of course, later on, I can't remember when, but it started to become more existential and dark and whatever. But the initial few weeks, I was one of the lucky ones; it didn't really affect me in a bad way. So I was quite happy about it, strangely."

Last year, Steer's bandmate Jeff Walker told AndrewHaug.com that he "enjoyed" the time off during the pandemic. He said: "We're kind of lucky that we had some reserves in the bank, so we could survive that way. I'm a bit of a squirrel; I always make sure there's money in the bank to see us through hard times. And luckily, it was enough to tide us over for this period.

"As far as me getting by personally, I've just been looking for small joys in life — small things locally or whatever," he continued. "Living a jetsetting life and having exciting times traveling the world and playing gigs, it's one extreme to another. I'm just looking for small things to keep me happy and finding solace in the smallest things. I've been walking and cycling a lot more. There's a lot of local history that I never noticed before — railway tracks and lines and really boring stuff, middle-age stuff like that that I've kind of got interested in.

"I've enjoyed the hiatus, to be honest… We'd been touring for seven years without a break, and it's been healthy to step back and have a break."

CARCASS played its first pandemic-era concert last November at the Damnation Festival in Leeds, U.K.

CARCASS's latest album, "Torn Arteries", was released in September 2021 via Nuclear Blast Records. Drummer Daniel Wilding did session work in Sweden at Studio Gröndahl with David Castillo while guitars were recorded at The Stationhouse with James Atkinson in Leeds, England. Eventually needing some form of residential location to finalize vocals, bass, and other guitarwork, the band headed back to Studio Gröndahl in Sweden to continue work in a very relaxed atmosphere with Castillo.

Swedish melodic blackened death / thrash outfit Vittra will unleash their debut full-length, Blasphemy Blues, on November 11th. Ahead of release date, the band has unveiled the record’s artwork, tracklisting, and first video / single "Satmara".





Notes the band of their first single, “Musically, ‘Satmara‘ showcases one of the Vittra trademarks, that being the combination of death / thrash with strong songwriting and catchy hooks. In the veins of Megadeth meets ‘80s Ozzy, it comes with a heavy metal-ish twist to it, having that ‘chugging’ on the A-string, but surprises with an overall upbeat pop feel. This inspired the idea of having a dance performance in the video, replacing the same-old guitar solo closeups with an explosive interpretation of movements, celebrating what connects humankind on the most primeval level: ‘A shared desire / A crime so vile angels wept apocalyptic fire … Do you feel my pounding heart?’”







"Colossal"
"Halls Of Ancients"
"Satmara"
"Lykantropi"
"Feeding Frenzy"
"Self-Loathing"
"Temptation"
"Sommarfödd"
"Undead" (Bonus Track)


For further details, visit Vittra on Facebook.


 

Hundred Headless Horsemen is a psychedelic death metal band hailing from Helsinki, Finland. To commemorate the release of their first full length album 15 moons ago, and to provide supplementary insight into the microcosm presented by the work, the band is releasing an audiobook entitled Apokalepsia / Journal. The audiobook acts as a prequel to the events presented on the concept album Apokalepsia that was released by Inverse Records in 2021.





The band states: "The journal fragments presented in the audiobook were released in textual format in conjunction with the release of the album already in 2021, but we felt that the events that have unfolded since have given particular resonance to these writings. We watch in awe, our hands bound by the chains of extractive capitalism, as our lust for the black blood of the Earth is quite literally fuelling the most unthinkable atrocities to be perpetrated in front of our very eyes. We felt that we now needed to revisit these texts once more and listen to the voices behind the letters. Hence, we set out to reconstruct these voices to an audible form to better highlight their importance in the world of Apokalepsia and also beyond. The soundscape of the audiobook acts as an introduction to the album but also as its own independent sonic work to introduce the listener to new aspects of this formerly unknown universe."




Apokalepsia is a group of symptoms characterized by recurrent seizures. These episodes can vary from brief and nearly undetectable interludes to long periods of vigorous shaking, hyperventilation, suffocating despair and a failure to function in a world defined by its imminent devastation. Apokaleptic seizures have a tendency to recur. Many victims also describe vivid visual and auditory hallucinations during apokaleptic seizures. The journal entries of these formerly unknown cases tell much about the inner struggles of the victims.


One of these cases had written: “The momentum that upholds life comes from death, darkness and decay. No matter how delusional we become, our efforts will never be grand enough to transcend this circular motion. In a stark contrast to nature, the economy was always a fiction. A fiction that nevertheless had very real consequences to our lives, which have led us to the profound misinterpretation of its true form. The system we had built long ago is now eating us alive."


Purchase or stream the Apokalepsia / Journal audiobook here. The Apokalepsia concept album is available here.





Apokalepsia was recorded at Sir Näs Studios in Helsinki, Finland and mastered by Magnus Lindberg Productions in Stockholm, Sweden. Check out the band's official Facebook page here.


"Cataclysm"





"Echoes"

Piledriver founder / mastermind Gord Kirchin, a legend on the Canadian metal scene, has quietly been battling cancer. He is far less quiet in his latest update, which is good news.


Kirchin: "Milestone day!!!! Last round of chemo!!! 


It's been a brutal chemical battle, chemo reeeeally sucks, but we near the end of the war! Three weeks of horrid yuck from its side effects, then in six weeks we scan to see if we got it all. I'm not without my battle scars to carry for the rest of my days; severe scarring in the lungs from the initial infection on top of the scarring from radiation, and it severely reducing my oxygen uptake leaving me gasping after even light exertion, and the radiation damage to my esophagus, windpipe and throat possibly ending my live singing career... so... gonna have to shift gears and purpose. Anyone need mixing / mastering /turd polishing done? I'm your old school man!




But... and... also...


The crux of the biscuit is I'm alive! I'm still here! I'm vertical and mobile! I still got me some great living to do! Let's get past the next 8-10 weeks of recovery and get back to living!!!


Fuuuuuuuuuuuck cancer!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Heartfelt thanks and profound appreciation to and for my hundreds of supporters in this battle, you made it easier to keep my spirits up and positive and surely aided conquest in my battle! Thank you!!! I love you all!"


“If you ain’t a metal head, then you might as well be dead”, proclaimed Canuck thrashers Piledriver in 1984 when they released their legendary debut, Metal Inquisition. In late 2021, Shadow Kingdom Records made the album available again as a digital download, cassette, CD, various vinyl versions, along with new apparel. 


Order the album here.





Metal Inquisition tracklisting:


“Metal Inquisition”
“Sex With Satan”    
“Sodomize The Dead”
“Witch Hunt”
“Pile Driver”
“Human Sacrifice”
“Alien Rape”
“Alien Rape” (Live in Toronto)
“Metal Inquisition” (Live in Toronto)
“Sex With Satan” (Live in Toronto)

On September 2nd, Living Colour performed at Rock in Rio in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The band capped off their set with a guest appearance by guitar legend Steve Vai on four songs: "Rock And Roll" (Led Zeppelin), "This Is The Life", "Crosstown Traffic" (The Jimi Hendrix Experience) and "Cult of Personality". Pro-shot video is available below.


The setlist was as follows.


"Middle Man"
"Desperate People"
"Ignorance Is Bliss"
"Wall"
"This Little Pig"
"Type"
"Time's Up"
"Rock and Roll" (Led Zeppelin – with Steve Vai)
"This is the Life" (with Steve Vai)
"Crosstown Traffic" (The Jimi Hendrix Experience – with Steve Vai)
"Cult of Personality" (with Steve Vai)

Guitarist Toby Knapp has issued statements regarding the reactivation of his ex-Century Media act, Onward. 


"Onward have signed a two album deal with Moribund Records and the vinyl of the forthcoming album Of Epoch And Inferno will be issued by Alone Records. CD's/digital will be released October 28 and the LP's are coming in 2023. Attika vocalist, Robert Van War, joined Onward early in 2021.


“The reception of the new album has been very positive so far. Listeners should realize I can't just go back to 2002 and continue with that sound. It wouldn't be natural. I am still drawing inspiration from 80's heavy metal, this time it's the more aggressive speed metal as opposed to the traditional heavy metal sound. I chose to operate under the Onward moniker because there's plenty of music on this album that has that vibe. This isn't a thrash metal album; elements are certainly there, but lots of melody is present.




“If vocalist Michael Grant and bassist Chris Payette (R.I.P.) were here, they would be in this band. Original Onward drummer Jon Pereau isn't playing anymore, I'm left alone to rebuild the band from the ground up. This is something I want to do as our reemergence might get those early albums back in print and introduce them to a new audience. I think that's a way to preserve the ‘legacy’; to keep moving Onward. 


“I'm tired of operating under different monikers for everything, this time I'm calling it what is. We will keep some fans, lose some fans, and pick up new listeners as well. Our recording budgets with Century Media were several thousand dollars. This album had no budget, just me in a room pushing primitive home recording gear to its limit. I'm very happy with the outcome and on the follow-up to Epoch we will have a budget. Just turn this album up loud!"

Former ACCEPT bassist Peter Baltes will play bass for U.D.O., the band fronted by original ACCEPT singer Udo Dirkschneider, on the group's ongoing European tour starting with the September 9 concert in Berlin, Germany. Baltes will be filling in for U.D.O.'s regular bassist Tilen Hudrap who was hospitalized after the band's show in Munich, Germany on Sunday, September 4.

Earlier today, U.D.O. released the following statement via social media: "Dear Fans, As you may already have heard, last night Tilen Hudrap, our Bass Player & invaluable member of the U.D.O. Family, had to be rushed to Hospital after nearly collapsing on stage. Tilen is a guy who would walk barefoot over burning coals to play a show, but his body, after Months of stress of every kind, just could not take it any longer. He is in excellent hands at a great hospital in Munich, where doctors are continuing to run tests on him to ascertain the quickest way to bring him back to full health. But for right now, the best medicine is rest.

"U.D.O. will continue the Tour without Tilen until he has fully recovered. The next two shows in Pratteln and Stuttgart will be performed without a Bass Player, then Peter Baltes will join us as temporary replacement from Berlin onwards.

"Of course we will all be devastated to not have Tilen on stage with us, but his health comes first, and as soon as he is able, you can be sure he will be up there, Rocking the World, stronger than before.

"We love you Tilen! Get well soon!"

Tilen added in a separate statement: "This is the hardest thing I ever wrote publicly.

"As a public person I feel compelled to write what I will write, especially because I owe it to the fans: the fans of the band, my own fans'n'supporters from all the years of touring and to everyone involved in this touring commitment going on at the moment.

"Yesterday my body gave in on stage.

"In twenty years I never cancelled one single show and in all my professional years I never cancelled a tour or a concert. Not with a broken finger, not with 40C body temperature, not while barely standing, after I haven't slept for 52 hours, not ever.

"At the beginning of the world tour this was the last thing I wanted to do (to cancel ANYTHING, let alone a 3 month tour) so despite my burnout condition that I never talked publicly about and against the advice of my doctors and my family I went on tour to not let down my brothers in the band and the hardworking crew and management/booking agency. I always prided myself in being a road warrior and went through way crazier situations in my career so I thought this would not be a big deal (to do a nice 3 month tour). It turned out it was.

"(Un)Fortunately!!! My body gave in during the last two songs yesterday.
Respiratory alkalosis, total hyperventilation, uncontrollable tremors, momentary collapse of body functions and complete burnout. The doctors in the emergency room in München said I should never went on stage for the last week, let alone during the whole summer. My body was running on fumes. They basically saved me.

"I'm in the hospital now, writing this and thinking about everyone involved.
Sorry to everyone and all the fans, but I need to take some time to get back to 100%.

"Please know I would never not go play if it wasn't serious as it is. Most of this was caused by unreal amounts of no sleep, stress, e. rollercoasters and on top corona period. All this, plus decades of work that took me to where I am, put a price on my body.

"Yes, I remain in the band, the new album is in the works and someone nice will come to replace me indefinitely until I get back in shape for which you always known me for. You know I always gave 200% and always will!

"I will make a few updates in the following days to keep everyone in the loop. Got many worried msgs, I wanna assure everyone that I will be fine and come back stronger than ever. A metal heart is hard to tear apart!

"Last, but not least and most important: indescribable gratitude to my band brothers and crew for their support in the most dire situation yesterday and in general. I love you guys!

"METAL Lives!"

Two years ago, Baltes and former ACCEPT drummer Stefan Kaufmann were part of the songwriting team for U.D.O.'s album called "We Are One", a collaboration with Das Musikkorps der Bundeswehr, the military band of the German federal armed forces. Speaking to Canada's The Metal Voice about how Baltes came to be involved with the project, Udo said: "This was not planned. [Getting] Stefan Kaufmann [involved] was planned from the beginning on. He was helping us out on the last concerts, on the guitar. And he was sitting also with us together when we were talking about that we maybe wanna do an album. And he said, 'I wanna be the sound engineer. I have some ideas.' And then I said, 'Okay, no problem.' I mean, I never had any problems with Stefan Kaufmann. And then, one day, I was in Germany, and he said, 'Yeah, you have to do some demo vocals in the studio.' Then I said, 'Okay, I'll come then.' Then I came into the studio, but he didn't tell me this before, and Peter Baltes was staying there. Peter was there; he was doing some stuff with Stefan about his projects. Peter, after he left ACCEPT, he's doing so many things. And we were talking a lot of things. Then Peter said, 'You're doing a very interesting project. I have also some ideas, if you don't mind.' I said, 'Hey, Peter, no problem.' I mean, I never had a problem with Peter. Then Stefan and Peter, they came up with really good ideas."

He continued: "I'm not a guy to say, 'No. Nobody can come up with some ideas.' I mean, for this project, the most important thing was that we have really, really good stuff, and for me, it doesn't matter who was writing the songs or whatever. And [Peter] was really happy to do something like this. And also Stefan, I think, was really happy. Stefan did a great job. He was mixing in the end."

Asked how it was to reconnect with Peter and if there is any chance of Baltes joining U.D.O., Udo said: "It was a lot of fun to talk to him. I never had any problems with Peter. It was like we saw each other just yesterday, [meeting up for the first time] after 15 years, and also talking to him after 15 years.

"Peter in the band, to be the bass player in U.D.O.?" he continued. "He's doing so many projects; he's really busy. And we were not really talking about this. 'It would be great to have you now as the bass player in U.D.O.' [We'll] leave it like it is. If he does some stuff and maybe asks me to sing a song on his album — I think I heard he's doing a solo album — no problem, but to play in a band together again, I don't think so."

Udo's son Sven, who plays drums for U.D.O., added: "It would be strange as well, as we formed a very strong five-piece band. This is a very strong team, and everybody's getting along very well. So that would be a bit strange to now just say, 'Hey, but Peter's playing now, because he's Peter.' You would rip apart something we built up. And as you might know, we were looking for the right people for some time now, and now it works perfectly. And everybody's doing an amazing job — everybody's so good on their instruments — and we just found a good band. That would be strange."

Dear Fans,

As you may already have heard, last night Tilen Hudrap, our Bass Player & invaluable member of the U.D.O....

Posted by U.D.O. on Monday, September 5, 2022

Posted by U.D.O. on Tuesday, August 23, 2022

In a new interview with Metallerium, former IN FLAMES and current THE HALO EFFECT guitarist Niclas Engelin lamented the fact that physical copies of music are dying out, making music seem more disposable.

"I remember back in the '80s when I started embracing heavy metal and all things heavy metal, DIO was coming out with the album 'Sacred Heart' [in 1985] and I was maybe in the sixth grade or something like that," he recalled (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET). "And they had this single out, 'Hungry For Heaven' — an amazing single. I bought the physical single with the bonus track on the B-side. And we had to wait until September for the album to come. That was the magic behind it, because you were playing the single back to back throughout the whole summer, and then the album drops the same day when we started school again. I remember this. And then at the same day, we saw a big poster, 'DIO is coming to Gothenburg in November.' 'My God. We've gotta buy the tickets.' And that was the magic about that. And you can only read it in magazines, maybe hear some snippets of some songs on the radio and maybe some interviews with [singer] Ronnie [James Dio] or [guitarist] Vivian Campbell or some member of the band. And that was the magic behind that. You had to think about it, 'Maybe they are living like this.' 'Yeah, he's living in a castle.' 'He's a knight.' We were making up stories within the mind and between your friends, and we were waiting for it. And that created a special magic, a special moment, because when the album hit the shelves, you were there, first-day buyer, buying the album and go home and just listen to 'Sacred Heart'. … That's magic. And today's society is totally different. I can look at my kids when they're playing music. 'Yeah, I love this artist.' 'What's the name of the song?' 'Eh, I don't know. Number five is good. And number seven.' They don't know. They don't care. 'Give me the song.' It's another thing nowadays. … You don't take the time to dive into the music. I mean, buying your favorite album, coming out of the store, holding it in your hand — whether it's CD or vinyl — you were, like, 'I need to get home straight away.'"

As previously reported, THE HALO EFFECT's "Days Of The Lost" recently entered the official chart in Sweden at position No. 1. It was believed to be the first time a debut album from a metal act had ever topped the chart in Sweden in its first week of release. "Days Of The Lost" also landed at No. 6 in Germany.

In addition to Engelin, THE HALO EFFECT features four other former members of IN FLAMES — Jesper Strömblad (guitar),Daniel Svensson (drums),Peter Iwers (bass) and Mikael Stanne (vocals).

"Days Of The Lost" came out on August 12 via Nuclear Blast.

THE HALO EFFECT's first-ever tour will be as the support act for Swedish death metal giants AMON AMARTH and U.S. metallers MACHINE HEAD on 31 dates throughout Europe in the summer and fall of 2022.

Engelin has been sitting out IN FLAMES' tour dates for the past three and a half years but has never officially confirmed his departure from the band. Engelin's replacement for IN FLAMES' live shows since then has been former MEGADETH and current ACT OF DEFIANCE guitarist Chris Broderick.

Svensson, who joined IN FLAMES in 1998, announced in 2015 that he was leaving the group to focus on his family life.

A member of IN FLAMES since 1997, Iwers issued a statement in November 2016 saying that he was exiting the band "to pursue other endeavors."

A founding member of IN FLAMES, Strömblad quit the band in February 2010 in order to continue receiving treatment for his alcohol addiction.

"Blood Red Son" is the first single from vocalist Ché Aimee Dorval's foerthcoming album, The Crowned, to be released by Icons Creating Evil Art in November 2022. Pick up the single here. Watch the official video below.


Dorval is best known in rock and metal circles as one half of Casualties Of Cool, the country rock project launched by Devin Townsend in 2012. Dorval also toured with Townsend as part of his live band for the Empath album, released in 2019, and recorded vocals for a few of his Quarantine Project  single released during the pandemic. Dorval also appears on Townsend's forthcoming Lightwork record.







Ché Aimee Dorval: "The video for Blood Red Son is a fever dream of indecision, regret and resolve. It’s about the moment you realize you have a choice to make, and all the different conflicting emotions that compete for space in your head while doing so. That’s the important bit though. However chaotic and difficult the choice may be, it’s essential for people to have the ability to make it for themselves. When I wrote this song and made this video, the right to that choice, though constantly under attack, still seemed set in stone, at least in my country. Now, as I watch the world stride backwards I’m realizing more and more that we can’t take these things for granted. Freedom over our bodies is not a given."  


Ché Aimee Dorval was raised in Vancouver by her mother, a plethora of hippie Aunts, punk rock Uncles and a colourful extended family. Think Little House on the Prairie meets the Lost Boys. Ché's childhood was one of constant creativity and adventure, instilling in her a strong sense of individualism that she took out into the world and onto the stages of local clubs in Vancouver. She lived the troubadour life and became embroiled in the Toronto indie music scene. As she grew and spread her wings, music took her around the world, both as a solo artist and with her critically acclaimed band Casualties Of Cool, a joint venture with prog behemoth Devin Townsend, who she recently collaborated with again by featuring on his latest album Lightwork alongside Nile Rodgers.
 
The nomadic lifestyle led to her working in LA with hitmakers Greg Wells, David Foster and Kara Dioguardi; performing with Michael Bublé, Kim Churchill and Dan Mangan and releasing music with industry heavyweights Andrew Loog Oldham (Rolling Stones) and Tom Sarig (Lou Reed). 
 
"Blood Red Son" is the first single to be taken from her forthcoming album, The Crowned. As Ché gears up for its release, we find her at her most ambitious and gregarious. It shows a side to her seldom seen before. Confidence and determination pulses through the songs, signalling the birth of a new era for Ché. Inspired by her love of Trip Hop, Folktronica and Soul, The Crowned has Ché’s signature all over it whilst reaching out into new sonic environments. 
 
Pre-pandemic, Ché was working with Bob Rock, who produced half of the album. When we emerged from lockdown, Ché had self-produced the rest. This album tells a story of an artist’s evolution and growth.


Stay tuned for updates.

On September 2, GOJIRA guitarist/vocalist Joseph Duplantier was interviewed on Brazil's "Multishow" after the band's appearance at the Rock In Rio festival in Rio De Janeiro. Asked if he remembers the first time he heard the Brazilian metal band SEPULTURA and how much of an influence SEPULTURA has been on GOJIRA's early sound and style, Joseph said: "I do remember the first time I heard SEPULTURA, and it blew my mind literally — not literally [laughs], actually. But I was blown away. And we were in a time in our development as people, in our teenage years, where this sound fueled something in us and inspired us to start what we're doing today.'

He continued: "The first [SEPULTURA] album I discovered was the album 'Arise'; it was very death metal. And then what they did after that, the 'Chaos A.D.' and the 'Roots' album, redefined metal, really. So I think they are a very, very important band in the history of metal."

A year and a half ago, Joseph commented on the fact that some people have compared GOJIRA's new song "Amazonia" to SEPULTURA's "Roots" album. Asked how much of an influence SEPULTURA has been on GOJIRA's sound, Joseph told Cuartel Del Metal: "How much? From one to 10? A solid seven, whatever that means. I could say 10 also, because I love them so much. But SEPULTURA is massive in the history of our band, for some reason. I discovered 'Arise' first, and I was pretty blown away — it was so dark and so fast and so technical. It was right after I discovered the band DEATH and MORBID ANGEL, and then SEPULTURA. And I was absolutely blown away by their craft. And then, I had a few bands in high school, and I started to get together with my brother. We were playing at home, sometimes after school, and then we decided to form our own band. We dropped our other bands, got together, and 'Chaos A.D.' came along. And we were absolutely blown away — absolutely blown away. And [it was] easy to play too — it's simple riffs. They stripped down everything to the core… I mean, oh my God. They said it all with this album."

As for what he thinks when people compare "Amazonia" to SEPULTURA, Joseph said: "I go, 'Yup.' And it's a compliment, and there is no shame here. And we ripped them off, but we didn't do it on purpose. But we realized it right after. We were, like, 'Oh, that sounds like SEPULTURA. Ahhh, whatever.' It's a tribute to SEPULTURA — how about that? It's about Brazil. It's about the Amazon. It's tribal."

"Amazonia" is taken from GOJIRA's latest album, "Fortitude", which came out in April 2021 via Roadrunner Records. The follow-up to 2016's "Magma" was recorded and produced by Joseph Duplantier at Silver Cord Studio — GOJIRA's Ridgewood, Queens, New York headquarters — and mixed by Andy Wallace (NIRVANA, RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE).

Proceeds from "Amazonia" are benefiting the Articulation of Indigenous Peoples of Brazil (APIB) who advocate for environmental and cultural rights of indigenous tribes in the Amazon who have suffered immensely — victims of deforestation, land loss, forced labor, violence, and harassment.

GOJIRA initially laid the foundation for "Fortitude" in 2020 with the surprise release of the 2020 single "Another World".

The artwork for "Fortitude" was created by Joseph Duplantier.

MEGADETH frontman Dave Mustaine says that he "was so mad" when JUDAS PRIEST's road crew began soundchecking while his band was performing at a Spanish festival last month.

Barcelona Rock Fest is staged at the Parc de Can Zam in Santa Coloma de Gramenet, just 20 minutes from the center of Barcelona. The festival revolves around two identical main stages set up side by side (Stage Rock on the left and Stage Fest on the right). The format is meant to eliminate the classic festival dilemma of having to choose between two bands that are playing at the same time, enabling artists to play almost continuously one after the other throughout the day. While one band is playing on one stage, the crew prepares the other stage for the next act.

After MEGADETH played the sixth song of its set on July 2, "Trust", a visibly annoyed Mustaine stopped the show in protest of the crew on the other main stage which was getting ready for PRIEST's performance later in the night.

"We'll wait till he's done checking his guitar over there," Dave said into the microphone.

After a long pause during which he apparently flipped the bird at the crew member in question, Mustaine continued: "The last night of the tour — we went all the way to the last fucking night, and then some pussy over on the stage next to us has to start playing while we're playing. How fucking pathetic, amateur piece of shit you are."

After another brief pause, Dave said: "Can we proceed now?" and then muttered under his breath, "Fucking cunt."

"This is called 'Symphony Of Destruction'," he added before he and his bandmates launched into the song.

Mustaine addressed his onstage rant during an hourlong interview he gave to TalkShopLive earlier this month to promote MEGADETH's upcoming album, "The Sick, The Dying… And The Dead!". He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Recently I had an outburst onstage, and it was one of the only ones I've had in years. And it wasn't because somebody did something and I just reacted. It was the third time something had happened to us, and by the third time it happened, I just said 'enough.'

"We were in Belgium, [at the] Graspop [Metal Meeting festival]. And WHITESNAKE's road crew thought it was okay to soundcheck during our set," Dave explained. "Talk about amateurs. Then DEEP PURPLE did the same thing a couple of days later at Hellfest [in France]. More amateurs. I know the band wouldn't have done that. And then the last time it happened, on the very last show of the tour, the crew for JUDAS PRIEST did it. And I lost it. I almost went over there and said something to the guy's face because I was just burning hot; I was so mad."

Mustaine clarified that he didn't hold the WHITESNAKE, DEEP PURPLE and JUDAS PRIEST bandmembers personally responsible for the way their crews behaved at the above-mentioned festivals.

"There are two ways to look at this here," he said. "Total unprofessionalism on the part of the crews and on the part of the stage managers, the production managers at those festivals.

"Do I think the promoter did it? No, I don't think the promoter did it. Do I think the bandmembers did it? No, I don't think so. In fact, we just finished a tribute song we were working on for JUDAS PRIEST, and if I thought the band did it, I would have stopped doing the song.

"A lot of these [crew] guys, they go out on the road and they don't get paid very well," Mustaine noted. "So they drink, they smoke, they do whatever — some do, some don't. But you find the people that don't do that, those are the ones that are the professionals; they know not to do that.

"Do I hate these people? No. Was it uncool? Yeah. Do I forgive 'em? Totally. But it still was one of those things."

It's not clear whether the members of JUDAS PRIEST were even aware of the circumstances that led to Mustaine's rant. The Rob Halford-fronted outfit played shortly after the end of MEGADETH's set, with guitarist Glenn Tipton — who has been sitting out PRIEST's touring activities after going public with his Parkinson's disease diagnosis in 2018 — joining his bandmates for the encore.

Corey Taylor has once again shot down the rumor that SLIPKNOT will break up after the release of the band's next album.

Ever since SLIPKNOT announced the title of its upcoming LP, "The End, So Far", in July, speculation has been rife that the name is a reference to the fact that the LP will mark the end of the band's recording career.

Taylor, who turned 48 last December, addressed the rumor during an appearance on this past Tuesday's (August 30) episode of SiriusXM's "Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk".

He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "People have been talking about the end of SLIPKNOT since 2003, so it doesn't really matter. If I had a nickel for every time I've had to straighten fans out, I'd have a shit-ton of nickels, let's put it that way.

"Nothing sells albums like drama, let's put it that way, and even drama that doesn't even come from us; it just comes from the fans," he continued. "But at the same time, I kind of started saying onstage… explaining what the title is. It's the fact that it's… It's the end so far, which just means it's the end of one era and the start of the next.

"If you look at all of our favorite bands — [IRON] MAIDEN, METALLICA, [BLACK] SABBATH; you can even talk about JUDAS PRIEST; all these bands that we grew up on, loving; and our friends in ANTHRAX as well — every one of those bands has had different eras in their career; it's never been a straight line," Taylor explained. "There's no through line except for the members. And every era comes to a natural end and then it's the next one. So that's what the title reflects."

Asked by host Eddie Trunk if he believes that each era in a band's trajectory usually corresponds to a major lineup change, Corey responded: "I do, but at the same time, you can still have the end of one era and the beginning of another with the same bandmembers. So, to me, it can be a reflection of the fact that you have different members or you're just moving in a different direction. For me, it's more about just letting the fans know that we will be back and to remind them that you just never know what you're gonna get with us."

Taylor continued: "I mean, every album has always felt different; it's always sounded different. And to me, I feel like this era is more about us dealing with the grief that we've had to deal with and now kind of getting to the point where we can now move on comfortably into the future, and it's not about that. It's a part of our history now; it's not our narrative. And now we can kind of move on and kind of see what the future holds for SLIPKNOT, musically where we can go now. Because of the way we've done things, we've set it up so we can go in any direction we want, and as long as it comes from the heart, it doesn't matter. So that's kind of the era, I think, that's being set up now. The next era will definitely be more of like a 'gloves off, let's just see what happens and go for it.'"

In the past, Taylor has repeatedly hinted that he would quit SLIPKNOT if he ever felt that he wasn't able to perform up to a certain standard. During a 2016 appearance on an episode of the "Someone Who Isn't Me" podcast, Taylor was asked if he thought he would ever decide that he is "tired of touring." Taylor replied: "You know, honestly, if you'd asked me a year ago, I would have said no. But, I mean, just now… I'm just kind of starting to… I'm not young anymore. And as willing as my will is, I'm just beat up, man. I mean, I might as well be 60 in SLIPKNOT years, for Christ's sake."

He continued: "I don't know if I would retire. I might step away from SLIPKNOT at some point, just because the way the music is, and that sense of energy, I don't know if I could be able to do that into my fifties. And I would never want the band to feel like I was holding them back, because I just couldn't physically do it. So that means I wouldn't completely quit music; I would probably just step away from SLIPKNOT."

In a 2019 interview with the "Marshall Podcast", Taylor touched upon possible retirement, saying: "It's when you stop caring that you should stop. Period. Because you're not doing it for the same reasons that you started doing it in the first place.

"I talk to fans all the time and they're, like, 'What's your motivation for doing this?', and it's the same since I was 13. It's because I love doing this, I love doing music, I love making music, creating it.

"The money's gonna come and go. If I wanted to make money, there's a host of different jobs that I could do just to make money. This isn't about that; there's something deeper. I'm glad I get to make money doing this, but it's not about that for me, it's about the next one."

Asked if there had been moments where he lost sight of that bit, Corey said: "Only when I was drinking. And it wasn't because of the music. Like, I was still committed to the music, but I was so out of it that it took me out of myself, so I can't even include that because it wasn't me at the time. I also know that one of the things that I realized and what actually encouraged me down the road of sobriety was seeing how bad my voice was sounding, how bad my creative level was at. That was a huge piece in me, calling it a day on that shit."

In a 2018 interview with Music Universe, Taylor was asked about his bandmate Shawn "Clown" Crahan's assessment that the next SLIPKNOT album could be Clown's last. "We all kind of say that," Taylor explained. "I've said it in the past. We've always said — and this is not in a negative way — we've always said that when we get to the point where we physically can't do SLIPKNOT the way we want to do it, we'll stop. And for some of us, the years of being in SLIPKNOT have taken [their] toll. Cold mornings kick my ass. My neck, my knees, my hips… [DJ] Sid [Wilson] has broken every damn bone in his body. Clown, he's had his share of health issues and whatnot and physicality. We've all had an injury in this band — from our necks to our retinas. And honestly, if that was his decision, I wouldn't do SLIPKNOT without him — absolutely not."

He continued: "There's a certain mentality that goes into SLIPKNOT, and he started it. He's always been the vision for this band, for SLIPKNOT, and without that, it crumbles. So, yeah, if he left, that would be it for me as well. And I say that, honestly, in a very positive way, because none of us would want to continue doing it from a half-assed point of view. Nobody wants to go 50 percent on a SLIPKNOT album."

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

Professionally filmed video of ACCEPT's entire August 12 performance at the Alcatraz festival in Kortrijk, Belgium can be seen below.

The band's setlist was as follows:

01. Zombie Apocalypse
02. Symphony Of Pain
03. Restless And Wild
04. Overnight Sensation
05. The Abyss
06. Demon's Night / Starlight / Losers And Winners / Flash Rockin' Man
07. Objection Overruled
08. The Undertaker
09. Shadow Soldiers
10. Princess Of The Dawn
11. Fast As A Shark
12. Metal Heart
13. Teutonic Terror
14. Pandemic
15. Balls To The Wall
16. I'm A Rebel

As previously reported, ACCEPT will embark on a North American tour in the fall. The trek, featuring support from NARCOTIC WASTELAND, will kick off on September 29 in Nashville, Tennessee and conclude on October 29 in Columbus, Ohio. Fans can expect a career-spanning setlist of new and classic tracks, including mega-hits "Balls To The Wall", "Princess Of The Dawn", "Fast As A Shark" and many more.

This past February, it was announced that ACCEPT had inked a worldwide deal with Napalm Records.

ACCEPT's latest album, "Too Mean To Die", came out in January 2021 via Nuclear Blast. The LP was the group's first without bassist Peter Baltes, who exited ACCEPT in November 2018. He has since been replaced by Martin Motnik. ACCEPT's lineup has also been expanded with the addition of a third guitarist, Philip Shouse, who originally filled in for Uwe Lulis during 2019's "Symphonic Terror" tour, before being asked to join the band permanently.

"Too Mean To Die" was recorded in Nashville, Tennessee with British producer Andy Sneap (JUDAS PRIEST, MEGADETH),who has been responsible for the studio sound of ACCEPT since 2010.

Mark Tornillo joined ACCEPT in 2009 as the replacement for the band's original lead singer, Udo Dirkscheider. He can be heard on ACCEPT's last five studio albums, "Blood Of The Nations" (2010),"Stalingrad" (2012),"Blind Rage" (2014),"The Rise Of Chaos" (2017) and "Too Mean To Die".

Last month, ACCEPT guitarist Wolf Hoffmann was asked in a new interview with Robert Cavuoto of Sonic Perspectives if he and his bandmates will enter the studio after their upcoming U.S. tour to begin work on a new album. He responded: "Well, the studio is basically my house, or the band house, in Nashville. But, yeah, I will go there and definitely start working seriously on songs. We're not quite ready to record because, quite honestly, we don't have finished songs yet. I've got a collection of stuff that I started to put together but it's at the very beginning stages. But, yeah, we wanna put out a new album as soon as we can, sure."

He continued: "I've also been dragging my feet quite a bit because it's been such a weird time with corona. You would think I had all this free time so I have dozens and dozens of songs ready to go, but the truth is I don't. I was sitting here basically like you sit at the airport. You get there, you wait for your flight, and 10 minutes before it's ready to take off, they tell you, 'Oh, there's an hour delay.' And you think, like, 'Okay. An hour, that's not so bad. There's not much time to do much anyhow, so let me just sit here and wait.' And then, when that hour is over, they tell you, 'Oh, by the way, it's gonna be another two hours.' Had you known all this upfront, you would have probably done something useful. But it was almost like 'hurry up and wait.' And that's how it felt, to me, with corona. And I thought, 'Well, in a couple of months the tour is gonna go on anyhow. So I'm not quite ready to work on new songs quite yet.' But had I known it was gonna be a long two-year break, I might have gotten my act together and jumped into it. And we had just done an album during corona, so we were arranging to tour with it and not start working on new songs already. Because I felt like, 'Hey, I just made a record. Give me a break, people. I wanna tour this album first. I don't really wanna work on another album.' And also I don't know that the world was ready for yet another album. I mean, come on."

DREAM THEATER singer James LaBrie, who recently said that it was "great" to be back on good terms with the band's original drummer Mike Portnoy, discussed his relationship with his former bandmate in a new interview with Ibagenscast. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "There comes a point in everyone's lives that you have to really consider what it is that you're… that monkey on your back, and you have to come to terms with it, you have to confront it, and you have to transcend negativity. So if you're carrying around something that just eats away at you, what good is it? And I think for Mike and I to come to terms with all that garbage that went on for years and years, I think it just got to the point that, 'Let's put this behind us. Let's move on to a more positive place and be the better for it.' And I think that's basically what it came down to.

"Mike and I, we stay in touch once in a while by texting, 'Hey, what's up?' and all this stuff, and it's cool," he continued. "And the fact that he's going out with John [Petrucci, DREAM THEATER guitarist] on [John's] solo tour [this fall], they're gonna have a lot of fun. Yeah, the fans are pretty excited about it.

"Life moves on," LaBrie added. "It took a while, and I think if you talk to a lot of people in life, you realize that there have been these contentious moments that it seems to linger for far too long. And fortunately, we were able to come to terms with it and move past it and move beyond it. So it's all good."

Portnoy attended DREAM THEATER's concert on March 4 at Beacon Theatre in New York City. It was the first time he witnessed his former bandmates perform live since his exit from the iconic progressive metal outfit more than 11 years ago.

According to DREAM THEATER fans who attended the show, LaBrie gave Portnoy a shoutout from the stage and Mike waved. Several fans also took pictures of Portnoy at the venue, with Mike and his wife reportedly watching the performance from near the Beacon Theatre soundboard.

The next day, Portnoy shared a few backstage photos from the concert and he included the following message: "After 36 years, I finally got to see my 1st DREAM THEATER show last night! It was a wonderful evening and it was such a pleasure to spend time with my old friends again".

Portnoy, who co-founded DREAM THEATER 37 years ago, abruptly quit the band in September 2010 while on tour with AVENGED SEVENFOLD. He has since been replaced by Mangini (ANNIHILATOR, EXTREME, STEVE VAI).

Portnoy was a guest on Petrucci's second solo album, "Terminal Velocity", which was released in August 2020 via Sound Mind Music/The Orchard. The effort marked the first time Petrucci and Portnoy recorded together in over a decade, as well as their first time playing together since Portnoy departed DREAM THEATER.

This past May, LaBrie was asked in an interview with Loaded Radio if there was any chance of him and Portnoy working together again. He responded: "I think anything is possible. Listen, Mike and I are in a great place. We've been texting back and forth from time to time. I wished him a happy birthday; he wished me a happy birthday… So we're staying in touch.

"Listen, Mike's a great musician," LaBrie continued. "Put it this way… Who knows what the future holds? Maybe there'll be a day and I'll go, 'Holy shit. This track would be perfect to have Mike do this.' Or it might be something that comes from him, from his side. So we'll see. You know what? I'm open. And that's the thing, is that we're in a really good place now. And yeah, it should have happened a long time ago. But human beings, we have a tendency to… our pride gets the best of us."

In a 2017 interview with Rockhok, Portnoy insisted that had "no longing to reunite" with DREAM THEATER but said that he would return to his former band "for the fans." He explained: "The ball's in their court, to be honest. I have no longing to reunite with them; it's not something I necessarily am looking to do or want to do. I'm very content with all the eighty-seven bands I currently have going, so it's something I need. But I would do it for the fans, because I'm a very sentimental person and I have a lot of great, fond memories of those guys and the times. I'm a sentimental guy, so I would never close the door on it. So, really, the ball's in their court, honestly. [But] if you're asking me the odds [of a reunion happening], I would say, don't bet on it, because I know their personalities as well and I don't think they're the type that are looking backwards."

A couple of years ago, Portnoy told Loud that he left DREAM THEATER because he wanted to expand his musical horizons. "[I didn't] want to go to my grave and just be the drummer from DREAM THEATER," he said. "I knew there was way more to what I had to offer."

Since the 2010 departure of Portnoy, Petrucci, along with keyboardist Jordan Rudess, has taken on much of the songwriting load for DREAM THEATER, including 2016's controversial double concept album, "The Astonishing", 2019's "Distance Over Time" and the band's latest LP, 2021's "A View From The Top Of The World".

Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame inductee and Grammy-winning singer and songwriter Ozzy Osbourne has shared a new single, "Nothing Feels Right", featuring his longtime guitarist Zakk Wylde. The song is a reflective, moody ballad, with Wylde delivering an emotional, melodic solo. The track is featured on Ozzy's upcoming album, "Patient Number 9", which will arrive this Friday, September 9.

It was announced in April 2017 that Wylde would be rejoining Ozzy's backing group for all his future solo show dates. Osbourne's touring lineup also includes Rob "Blasko" Nicholson on bass, Tommy Clufetos on drums and Adam Wakeman on keyboards.

Wylde originally joined Osbourne's band three and a half decades ago and backed the legendary frontman from 1987 to 1995, then again in 1998, from 2001 to 2004 and also from 2006 to 2009.

Zakk did not appear on the legendary heavy metal singer's last LP, 2020's "Ordinary Man".

To celebrate "Patient Number 9", Ozzy has confirmed a special in-store appearance and signing at Fingerprints Music in Long Beach, California on Saturday, September 10, the day after the LP's release. Attendees will need to pre-order a copy of "Patient Number 9" to attend the event as Ozzy will only be signing copies of the new album. In order to sign as many copies as possible, the new album will be the only item signed. Masks will be required for all attendees and no photos with Ozzy will be permitted. Click here to reserve your copy.

Produced by Andrew Watt (who handled the same duties on "Ordinary Man") and set for release on Epic, the new album marks Osbourne's 13th solo studio album. It's heavy, it's hard-hitting, it's historic — it's everything you'd want from an Ozzy Osbourne record and maybe more.

"Patient Number 9" was written by Ozzy, Watt, Robert Trujillo (METALLICA),Chad Smith (RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS) and Ali Tamposi and features a riveting solo from legendary guitarist Jeff Beck (one of the notable guest stars on the album; additional details below). The video marks the first collaboration from the project with McFarlane. It is highlighted by McFarlane's signature illustrations interspersed with live Ozzy vignettes in the role of "Patient Number 9," which the revolutionary creative force in the world of comics and toys also filmed. In addition, this is the first-ever video to incorporate Ozzy's artwork: his hand-drawn demons were animated and can be seen during the Jeff Beck solo in the song.

Working with producer Watt for the second time, Ozzy welcomed a dynamic A-list supporting cast. The record boasts guitarists Beck, Eric Clapton, Mike McCready of PEARL JAM, and longstanding righthand man and six-string beast Zakk Wylde who plays on the majority of the tracks. For the bulk of the album, Chad Smith of RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS held down drums, while the late Taylor Hawkins of FOO FIGHTERS made an appearance. Old friend and one-time Ozzy bandmember Trujillo plays bass on most of the album's tracks, with Duff McKagan of GUNS N' ROSES and Chris Chaney of JANE'S ADDICTION supplying bass on a few songs. For the first time ever, BLACK SABBATH co-founder, guitarist and riff lord Tony Iommi appears on an Ozzy solo album.

An exclusive version of "Patient Number 9" with a limited-edition special McFarlane-designed comic book is available for preorder; a limited-edition comic with foil cover is also available with a special deluxe box.

Ozzy has sold over 100 million records, is one of a handful of artists who has had Top 10 albums in last six decades, received induction into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame as a co-founder of BLACK SABBATH, won three Grammy Awards, earned the Ivor Novello Award for Lifetime Achievement from the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers, and Authors, set a Guinness World Record, and claimed real estate on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame and Birmingham Walk Of Stars. He's played for royalty (even the Queen of England) and dignitaries around the world, interacted with presidents and performed to millions of devoted fans on five continents. Earlier this year, Ozzy's CrytoBatz NFT launched as one the biggest Celebrity NFT project ever created; it's currently ranked in the top 100 biggest NFT projects ever and is valued at over $40 million.

Photo credit Mark Weiss Photography