In a new interview with El Cuartel Del Metal, KREATOR frontman Mille Petrozza was asked if he pays attention to what fans have to say about his band's music on social media, especially after releasing a new album. He responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "I know I shouldn't do this, but the band KREATOR is so important for me, and also it's important to know what our fans think of the music. First and foremost, of course, we have to love the music. And I totally get why… You cannot be loved by everyone. KREATOR wouldn't be KREATOR if all of a sudden the whole world would love what we do. That's not how things work. If you have a unique sound, there will be people that [say] it's not what they expected [laughs] — which is fair enough.

"But to answer your question — do I listen to comments? I shouldn't but I sometimes do," Mille admitted. "But then, on the other hand, I know that… It would be bad if people wouldn't care at all. If people are disappointed about some of the songs or the direction we're taking just means that they care. If people still care and they still feel offended that we have… For example, on the new album ['Hate Über Alles'], we have a female singer and some people were, like, 'Yeah, it's not thrash.' Whatever. [Laughs]"

Pressed about whether that influences his songwriting, Mille said: "No. No, no, no, no, no. That fuels the fire, really. We do wanna be KREATOR and we do wanna enjoy what we do. When I go into the studio, we have all this great technology and these tools and we have these great people that we're working with. And in the studio we're so creative and we don't follow any rules. Why would we? I didn't get into metal to follow the rules of some elitists that tell me what metal is about. The moment that happens I'm gonna just quit because that would be so wrong.

"I like the fact that people have opinions — don't get me wrong," he clarified. "But I also have my own opinion and I have my own view and I know how KREATOR should sound. And we do it with passion and we do it with honesty and we're straight up. We love thrash metal, we love all kinds of metal, and we love all kinds of music. It's what we do. And you can't be everyone's darling."

KREATOR's fifteenth studio album, "Hate Über Alles", was released on June 10. The follow-up to 2017's "Gods Of Violence" was recorded at Hansa Tonstudio in Berlin, Germany. Helming the sessions was Arthur Rizk, who has previously worked with CAVALERA CONSPIRACY, CODE ORANGE, POWER TRIP and SOULFLY, among others.

The "Hate Über Alles" cover artwork was created by Eliran Kantor, who has previously worked with HATEBREED, SOULFLY, TESTAMENT, ICED EARTH and SODOM, among others.

"Hate Über Alles" marks KREATOR's first album with bassist Frédéric Leclercq, who joined the group in 2019.

In March 2020, KREATOR surprise-released a new single, "666 - World Divided". The song was produced by Andy Sneap and Markus Ganter and was recorded at Hansa Tonstudios.

KREATOR played its first show with Leclercq in October 2019 in Santiago, Chile.

Before joining KREATOR, Leclercq rose to fame with U.K.-based extreme power metallers DRAGONFORCE for whom he handled bass duties from 2005 until August 2019.

In a new interview with "The Garza Podcast", hosted by SUICIDE SILENCE guitarist Chris Garza, DEICIDE bassist/vocalist Glen Benton spoke about the band's plans to record the follow-up to 2018's "Overtures Of Blasphemy" album. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "The new stuff that we're writing now is really anthem-style stuff. It's really good, man. There's a lot of prog stuff in there, mixed in there. Steve's [Asheim, drums] our prog guy, man; he's the progressive rock guy. He likes to write those really black metal riffs and the progressive stuff. He's an amazing talent, man. He plays piano. He can play sweeps on guitar. He's a drummer. Yeah, he can do it all."

Benton went on to say that the next DEICIDE album was "written last year" before he and his bandmates agreed to embark on a tour celebrating the 30th anniversary of DEICIDE's sophomore album, "Legion". But, he explained, "We're getting ready to hammer this deal out right now and get this thing out."

DEICIDE played its first show with new guitarist Taylor Nordberg (THE ABSENCE, INHUMAN CONDITION) on May 21 at the Rickshaw Theatre in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

Six months ago, Nordberg spoke about how he landed the DEICIDE gig in an interview with "The Zach Moonshine Show". He said: "In 2019, my band THE ABSENCE toured with DEICIDE in the U.S. And we got to know the guys and got along really well. And I actually found out that Glen [Benton, DEICIDE frontman] lives, like, two streets over from Jeramie [Kling, THE ABSENCE drummer] and I, where we live. So Jeramie and Glen became good buddies and they ride bikes all the times. It's a funny little thing, thinking about that. But long story short, [previous DEICIDE guitarist] Chris [Cannella], I believe he's the head of A&R at Dean Guitars so he's focusing on that for right now. I heard that they needed a guitar player, so I learned a couple of songs, made a couple of videos, and Glen saw 'em and liked what he saw. So we had a couple of practices, and bing bang boom, here we are."

Cannella amicably left DEICIDE in January after a three-year run.

Chris joined DEICIDE in 2019 following the departure of guitarist Mark English.

English became a member of DEICIDE in 2016 after the exit of longtime guitarist Jack Owen.

In February, Nordberg was asked in an interview with the "Brews N Tunes" podcast if he and his new bandmates have commenced work on the follow-up to "Overtures Of Blasphemy" album. He responded: "They had started most of the new album before I joined, but since announcing [that we are going to celebrate the 30th anniversary of] 'Legion' [by performing the LP in its entirety], we've kind of shifted gears and we're trying to lock that in and get a set prepped just in the event that a show pops up. But they have most of the new album prepped, and then we're hammering out, ironing out some details with the last couple songs. So hopefully that will be out this year. I don't know any concrete plans on when we're gonna start pre-production or recording or any of that. But hopefully this year. That would be awesome. But the material is sounding killer. It sounds like DEICIDE."

"Overtures Of Blasphemy" was released in September 2018 via Century Media.

SCORPIONS kicked off their North American "Rock Believer" tour last night (Sunday, August 21) at the Budweiser Stage in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

4K HDR "cinema-wide" footage shot at the show can be found below.

According to Rob Ksiadz, who filmed most of the video found at the bottom of this post, originally scheduled support act THUNDERMOTHER "did not perform. Instead, the SCORPIONS had Canadian artist JJ Wilde from Kitchener, Ontario open the show 30 minutes late. There was then further delay before the SCORPIONS took the stage, as lighting warnings from a nearby storm prompted the venue to shelter everyone from lawn seats and 400 section who were outside the venue roof."

SCORPIONS' 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

Earlier this 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.

We were listening to the ‘Wind Of Change’ on this August summer night at #BudStage!

The Rock Believer World Tour with...

Posted by Budweiser Stage on Sunday, August 21, 2022

Due to impending severe lightening tracking toward the venue, we will be pausing the show until further notice. We...

Posted by Budweiser Stage on Sunday, August 21, 2022

HELLOWEEN singer Michael Kiske spoke to Chile's Radio Futuro about the overwhelmingly positive response to the band's self-titled effort, which came out last year. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "That was pretty unexpected. I was expected it to do good, but it was, like, perfect.

"It is very difficult for you, when you're involved in an album, to have an objective view at what you're doing," he explained. "You just do what you do. You always try to make the best out of every song. And obviously the spirit within the band is very good, which helps, but you never know how people hear it. So the best thing you can do is fade it all out, not think about it, and just try to make every song exciting for yourself; that's the best thing you can do. The less you think about success or how critics might see it, the better for the album. It's not easy, but you've gotta have that discipline to kind of fade it out and not let it get to you.

"I was surprised how well it was received, but, of course, it was a very welcome motivation, especially last year," Kiske added. "We released it right in the middle of the whole pandemic crap, and that was a positive lift, doing the interviews and seeing how people reacted to it."

Regarding how HELLOWEEN has managed to pull off the seemingly impossible by splitting vocals on the album between returning singer Kiske and longtime frontman Andi Deris, with added contributions from guitarist/vocalist Kai Hansen, Michael said: "It was actually great. It was very easy. I was kind of expecting it to be difficult, but it wasn't, because there was no ego fights going on between me and Andi. We were just there on Tenerife meeting up almost every day.

"Before we started recording, we had Dennis Ward making a rough draft of what he thinks could work in terms of splitting: 'This sounds like Andi. This sounds a bit like Michael.' And that was how we approached it. It was some kind of pre-draft of how we could do it, but was nothing written in stone.

"One day I came to the studio and the evening before Andi was recording something, or had recorded something, and he wasn't feeling so happy with it. He came and said, 'I was trying this and that. And maybe you should give it a try too.' And then we figured out what sounds the best for the song.

"There are a whole bunch of songs where you can hear right away, 'That's an Andi Deris song. He should sing that.' Or, 'That's a typical Kiske song. That sounds great [with Kiske vocals].' It's like 'Angels', for instance, it was very clear that that was mostly a Kiske song, and Sascha [Gerstner, guitar] had written it with my voice in his head. But there are other songs, especially when Andi writes his own songs, usually it sounds best when he does it unless he wrote it with my voice in his head, like he did with 'Fear Of The Fallen'. 'Fear Of The Fallen', he was writing it with both singers in his mind, and that works out.

"But it was very easy," Kiske repeated. "Because you just try it out, and you very quickly hear what works best. And I would say, like, 70 percent of the time we knew before that that would be sounding better with him or that would be sounding better with me. Or even with Kai — there were even spots where we thought he should do it."

Upon its release in June 2021, "Helloween" landed in the Top 10 in more than 10 countries, including Germany, Spain, Finland, Sweden, Switzerland and Austria. The cover artwork for the LP was painted by artist Eliran Kantor, who has previously worked with HATEBREED, SOULFLY, TESTAMENT, ICED EARTH and SODOM, among others.

Produced by Charlie Bauerfeind and Dennis Ward, the latest HELLOWEEN LP was recorded in part at the H.O.M.E. Studios in Hamburg (where everything started in 1984). The same recording console used for such HELLOWEEN albums as "Master Of The Rings", "Time Of The Oath" and "Better Than Raw" was utilized to record the band's new material. The effort was mixed at the Valhalla Studios of Ronald Prent (IRON MAIDEN, DEF LEPPARD, RAMMSTEIN).

"Helloween" saw the legendary German power metallers going "back to the roots," with the band recording fully analogue and Daniel Löble playing the drum kit previously used by HELLOWEEN's original drummer, the late Ingo Schwichtenberg, on the legendary "Keeper Of The Seven Keys" recordings.

The "Pumpkins United" tour marked the first time Kiske had played live with HELLOWEEN since 1993. Hansen, who departed HELLOWEEN in 1988, had been joining the band onstage on various tours and festival appearances throughout the years. The set featured several duets with Kiske and his replacement, Deris, along with many rarely played songs, including "Kids Of The Century", "Rise And Fall" and "Livin' Ain't No Crime". Hansen — who fronted HELLOWEEN until late 1986 — sang a medley of several early HELLOWEEN classics, including "Ride The Sky", "Judas", "Starlight" and "Heavy Metal (Is The Law)".

Earlier this year, Deris told the "Metal Command" podcast that he "strongly" hoped the reunited expanded classic lineup of HELLOWEEN would eventually make another album to follow up "Helloween". "I mean, as long as the vibe is great, chemistry is great and everybody's having fun with each other, it would be a crime not to do so and not to plan for a future together," he said.

"'Pumpkins United' is not only the name for the last tour, I think that's something like a brand," he continued. "HELLOWEEN 'Pumpkins United', that's something like a band — a new or something like [that] growing from the old band."

On the topic of how HELLOWEEN has managed to maintain internal harmony with so many members involved, Andi said: "I just can tell you getting along with each other, I think it's rooted in the matter of fact that we're finally too old for the other shit. [Laughs] From a certain age on, you let other people live and you don't take everything personal. Talking for [myself], whenever somebody told me something that could be looked at in a negative way, I took it the negative way. Even though when you look at it from the positive side of you, you could say, 'Well, man, maybe it was even a compliment, because have you seen it from that side?' 'No.' That's what happens when you're getting older — you don't take everything on the negative side: 'Oh, he's attacking me' or 'he's meaning bad' or 'he's meaning to annihilate you or intimidate you' or whatever. Everybody in the band, even together now with seven people, I have to say everybody is old enough to not always look at it from the negative [point of view] but also try to realize who's talking. So I cannot imagine that the boys are meaning bad if they speak about me in a sense that I could take negatively, but because I like everybody, I personally think, 'Well, I don't think they're talking negatively.' So I try to find the sense in a positive way, and most of the time — 99.9 percent [of the time] — it's exactly that. It's nothing negative; it's positive. But back in the day, everything I took was negative — when I was in my 20s and 30s. Then when you get [to] 40, it's getting better. [Laughs] Or maybe it's just you don't give a shit anymore."

After the release of their debut album, Dead Reckoning, in 2021 via Noble Demon, followed by several single releases, Oceanhoarse like to stay busy and are perhaps one of the most notable and hardworking newcomers out there right now. This is also proven by the latest single of the quartet from Helsinki, which gives a remarkable first glimpse into a new album the band is currently working on. "Nails" is not only a powerful and melodic heavy metal banger, but also features Martin Lopez from Swedish progressive metal masters Soen on percussion!


Listen to "Nails" through your favorite streaming platform here.


Guitarist Ben Varon comments:




"We went into the writing of the second Oceanhoarse album knowing that we wanted to expand on our sound from the debut, and also to have even more of a raw, live feel to the music. 'Nails' is a good example of this, as it's something way more melodic than the material on our first album. We're playing with dynamics much more this time around, which really helps with the mood of the song.


Getting Martin Lopez to play percussion on this album was such a cool thing. Especially for myself, as I've been a huge fan of his playing ever since I first discovered Opeth's Still Life album. We had a couple of songs that we felt could really use some percussion on them, and Martin was kind enough to lend his talents. 'Nails' was already one of my favourite of all the new songs, and Mr Lopez's percussion work was the icing on the cake!"





Oceanhoarse will soon embark on an extensive European tour in support of fellow Swedes, Soen. Tickets are on sale now and the dates are as follows:


September
2 - Gdansk, Poland - Drizzly Grizzly
3 - Warsaw, Poland - Proxima
4 - Wroclaw, Poland - Klub Pralnia
6 - Aschaffenburg, Germany - Colos Saal
7 - Milan, Italy- Magazzini Generali
8 - Rome, Italy - Largo
9 - San Dona di Piave, Italy -Revolver
10 - Munich, Germany - Backstage
11 - Berlin, Germany - Frannz
13 - Cologne, Germany - Stollwerk
15 - Leipzig, Germany - Hellraiser
17 - Budapest, Hungary - A38
18 - Bratislava, Slovakia - MMC
20 - Olomouc, Czech Republic - S-Klub
21 - Vienna, Austria - Arena
22 - Aarau, Switzerland - KIFF
23 - Strasbourg, France - La Maison Bleue
24 - Paris, France - La Maroquinerie
26 - Manchester, United Kingdom - Rebellion
27 - Birmingham, United Kingdom - O2 The Institute 2
28 - London, United Kingdom - O2 Academy Islington
29 - Antwerp, Belgium - Trix


October
1 - Zoetermeer, Netherlands - De Boerderij

MÖTLEY CRÜE drummer Tommy Lee says that he posted a nude photo on social media earlier in the month after going on "a motherfucking bender" during a break in the band's "The Stadium Tour".

The trek, also featuring co-headliners DEF LEPPARD, along with POISON and JOAN JETT & THE BLACKHEARTS, kicked off on June 16 in Atlanta, Georgia and played on July 17 in Denver before the trek resumed with August 5 and 6 shows at Fenway Park in Boston.

Lee shared the full-frontal selfie on August 11, with the caption "Ooooopppsss". Within hours, Instagram and Facebook took it down for violating nudity rules.

Tommy addressed his nude photo controversy while speaking to the audience at MÖTLEY CRÜE's concert Sunday night (August 21) in San Antonio, Texas. He said (see video below): "A couple of weeks ago, we had like a two-week break off the tour, and I went on a motherfucking bender, bro — a bender. I got fucking sideways as fuck a got naked and posted pictures of my dick. And usually, I mean I'm a titty man, so I like to see titties, but tonight it's equal-opportunity night. Tonight I wanna see everyone's dick. C'mon, pull your shit out. Pull your fucking junk out. Let's go."

Lee's graphic image, which showed the heavily tattooed musician naked while sitting on the edge of a tub, was up for at least four hours, which was described by one Twitter user as "an insane amount of time." This has led to an outcry against social media companies for applying what critics say is a double standard in platform guidelines that favor cisgender men.

According to CNN, one user commented that Lee's penis picture "was on Instagram for 5+ hours before being pulled yet queer artists get banned all the time for art that doesn't even show genitalia."

"Girls can't post photos with cleavage on Instagram without it being taken down but Tommy Lee can post THAT. Nah," another wrote.

Another person said: "@instagram literally has the clearest double standard among their community guidelines."

Many of the 59-year-old drummer's 1.5 million Instagram followers called Lee out for sharing the image in the comments of the controversial post.

"Instagram guidelines said idgaf today," one user wrote.

"So we just gon pretend nothing happened huh," added a second user.

"following tommy lee on nstagram is interesting enough but i- sigh. That was traumatizing. How is it still up," wrote a Twitter user who posted a meme of a person washing their eyes out with bleach.

"So Tommy Lee can post a picture of his penis on @instagram that's still up three hours later but a picture of my curvy booty in a thong bikini gets taken down? Cool, cool," tweeted journalist Lola Méndez. She also compared seeing Tommy's picture on social media to getting an unsolicited picture of a penis.

Before the photo was removed, Lee's wife, Brittany Furlan, commented on the picture with "OH MY GOD," and the dating app Grindr responded with, "Wrong app, babe".

Instagram explicitly states that it does not allow nude photos.

"This includes photos, videos, and some digitally-created content that show sexual intercourse, genitals, and close-ups of fully-nude buttocks," it says on its web site. "It also includes some photos of female nipples, but photos in the context of breastfeeding, birth giving and after-birth moments, health-related situations or an act of protest are allowed."

Lee's penis was featured in a sex tape he made with then-wife Pamela Anderson during their 1998 honeymoon. The video ended up finding its way online after being stolen from their home by an electrician. According to Marie Claire, Pamela later sued the distribution company, but ended up settling, and the tape continued to be available online as a result. The tape reportedly made $77 million in less than 12 months.

The scandal was the focus of Hulu's "Pam & Tommy" series, which was released in February. In an episode of the series, actor Sebastian Stan, who played Lee, has a pep talk with his animated penis.

Show creator Robert Siegel later explained to Variety that he adapted the conversation from Lee's 2005 memoir, "Tommyland", adding, "There was gentle pushback, because you've got to push back a little when a talking penis is presented to you. But Hulu was extremely supportive."

Lee's penis was ranked at number eight on Gawker's list of "20 Famous Big D**ks," behind Wilt Chamberlain's.
pic.twitter.com/mO4LgEX1rZ

— T🥁mmy L33 (@MrTommyLand) August 22, 2022

During an appearance on a recent episode of the "Rock Talk With Jacqui Neal" podcast, W.A.S.P. frontman Blackie Lawless reflected on his band's 40-year career. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "I'm one of those people that doesn't measure time well. I hear a lot of people say, 'It's been 10 years since tada tada da,' and they really feel the effect of that 10 years. To me, for some reason — I don't think it's denial, 'cause I've been like this my whole life — to me, 10 years doesn't feel like what I hear other people talk about 10 years. So whether it's a decade, two, three decades, a tour, whatever, to me I have the memories, of course…

"First of all, I don't feel like I'm getting any older, so I'm kind of in an adolescent time warp, if you like, and I just see things through that arrested development that the world has given me the opportunity to stay in," the 65-year-old musician, whose real name is Steven Duren, continued. "To say, 'Oh, wow. It's been that length of time,' I think to myself, 'Well, yeah, that is true.' But I don't see it as catastrophic or that it's some giant punctuation mark coming at the end of something.

"I don't ever see myself retiring," Blackie added. "What's the point in that? I'm one of those people that if I could have put myself in a Xerox machine and spit out two or three copies of myself, I would have been happy, 'cause I had a bunch of stuff I wanted to do. I have a lot of interests that I'm passionate about, but there just wasn't enough of me to go around. But you do the best you can with what you've got."

W.A.S.P.'s first live performance since December 2019 took place on July 23 at Skansen in Stockholm, Sweden. A week later (July 30),W.A.S.P. also played at Skogsröjet festival in Rejmyre, Sweden.

W.A.S.P. recently postponed its European 40th-anniversary tour, originally scheduled for spring of 2022, until the spring of 2023. The new dates will take place in March, April and May of 2023. All tickets previously purchased for the 2022 tour will be valid at the rescheduled 2023 shows.

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

Lawless has led W.A.S.P. as its lead vocalist and primary songwriter since its beginning. His unique brand of visual, social and political comment took the group to worldwide heights and sold millions of records alongside a legacy of sold-out shows across the globe for four decades. He is joined in W.A.S.P.'s current lineup by bassist Mike Duda and guitarist Doug Blair, whose tenures in the band span 26 and 18 years respectively, along with drummer extraordinaire Aquiles Priester.

A quartet of Brazilian metal veterans recently teamed up to celebrate Entombed, the Swedish death metal giant formed in the late '80s featuring the iconic singer L-G Petrov. The idea of ​​recording "Out Of Hand", originally released on Wolverine Blues back in 1993, came from guitarist Elizeu Hainzenreder (ex-Desolate Ways) in 2021, the same year Petrov died after a long battle with cancer.


The musician invited vocalist Eduardo "Clark" Monteiro (A Sorrowful Dream, Unmaker), bassist Fabrício Bertolozi (Dyingbreed, Horror Chamber) and drummer Paulo Wilges (Mortal Touch, Aterro, Baal Hamon). The production was handled by Roger "Earth" Fingle (Seduced By Suicide, Blood Tears), who has been producing rock and metal bands for over 20 years.







"The idea came up in 2021, but being a perfectionist I only do something if I can fully dedicate myself, it ended up taking a little longer to happen", commented Elizeu. He added, praising his colleagues: "Besides being amazing musicians, they are all my friends. Clark and I have known each other for many years. Desolate Ways and A Sorrowful Dream shared stages and buses several times. Fabrício is killing with Dyingbreed, and Paulo recorded with Mortal Touch the album that I consider to be the best Brazilian death metal record. Roger Fingle doesn't need any comments, just check his work."


This cover marks the first recording in more than a decade by Elizeu Hainzenreder, after releasing "Eternal Dreams" (2003), "Tearful" (2007) and "Last Moons" (2009) with Desolate Ways, a band founded in 1998 and which was one of the great names of Brazilian gothic metal at the time. This is also a special moment for Eduardo "Clark", who said: "The importance of Entombed for death metal is unquestionable, and Petrov's vocals were the pillars of extreme singing in metal! Being able to honor it with this cover is very rewarding, especially at the invitation of a longtime friend like Elizeu."





 

In a new interview with Rock Sound, MACHINE HEAD frontman Robb Flynn spoke about the production of the band's tenth studio album, "Of Kingdom And Crown", which will be released on August 26 via Nuclear Blast/Imperium Recordings. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "It was Zack [Ohren] and I doing the production again, and then it was Colin Richardson and Chris Clancy mixing it, which added a whole other level of just ferocity to the whole thing.

"I think the approach with this one was a little more stripped down," he explained. "The last few records that we've done, from '[Unto The] Locust' [2011] on, have been a lot of classical bits, a lot of symphonic elements and even keyboards here and there kind of adding these soundscapes and ambient stuff. And with this I just really wanted to kind of strip it back and make it more just like guitars. If it was gonna be a soundscapey-type sound, it was just gonna be a guitar making that sound. And it kind of limits you in a way, but I liked that — I liked that it was kind of forcing us… And I did try to experiment with a couple of buddies who I had worked with forever to try and bring in some of that pianos or keys or strings or whatever, and it just made it… I don't know. I didn't like what it did to it; it just kind of softened it up in a way that I didn't dig. And so it's really a very, very guitar-heavy, ferocious album."

The follow-up to 2018's "Catharsis", "Of Kingdom And Crown" includes the three songs that were featured on last year's "Arrows In Words From The Sky" single: "Become The Firestorm", "Rotten" and "Arrows In Words From The Sky". Much of the new MACHINE HEAD album was recorded at Sharkbite Studios in Oakland, California.

Back in December 2021, drummer Navene Koperweis (ANIMALS AS LEADERS, ENTHEOS, ANIMOSITY) joined Flynn, bassist/backing vocalist Jared MacEachern and Ohren at Sharkbite Studios to jam on the final tracks for "Of Kingdom And Crown" and add some finishing touches to the songs.

Last month, Flynn told El Cuartel Del Metal about the lyrical inspiration for "Of Kingdom And Crown": "The concept is set in a futuristic wasteland where the sky is always crimson red, and it's based around two characters. Character number one is named Ares [pronounced Aries], and he loses the love of his life, Amethyst, and goes on a murderous rampage against the people who killed her. Character number two is Eros [pronounced Arrows], who loses his mother to a drug overdose and, in his downward spiral, depression, becomes radicalized by this charismatic leader and goes on his own killing spree and is one of the people who killed Amethyst. And so the lyrics detail how their lives intertwine. The opening track, 'Slaughter The Martyr', is essentially… it's the origin story for character number one. He's just lost the love of his life and he's in just a murderous, venomous rampage and revenge is all he's thinking about. And so the story unfolds from there."

As for how he was inspired by the Japanese anime series called "Attack On Titan" for the new MACHINE HEAD album, Flynn said: "When I first started writing the concept, it was a very American story arc: it was good guy, bad guy, good guy wins. And I wasn't connecting to it. It was good, but I couldn't connect to it; I couldn't get any kind of emotion out of it. And then my family, my kids started watching — I've got two two teenage boys and they both started watching a lot of anime over the pandemic. And we were all locked up anyway and we couldn't go out.

"I used to be a total anime nerd when I was their age — 'Akira' and 'Space [Battleship] Yamato' and 'Robotech' and all these anime series. So to see them go through this same thing, I was just, like, 'Dude, this is rad.' And of course, it's now modern and it's super bloody, and it was even better. So I was, like, 'Let's watch this together. I'll fucking totally watch this with you.' So we started watching it. And one of the things about that particular series — 'Attack On Titan' — the part that inspired me was in that series there is no good or bad guy; both sides believe they're doing good, but both sides are committing evil and atrocities. And that was like a total lightbulb going off in my head. I was, like, 'Oh, wow. I can maybe write it like that.'

"So then… here I am writing through… Now I'm writing through not just one character's eyes but a polar opposite character's eyes. And for a guy who's written nine albums pretty much solely through my eyes — my experiences; the way I see the world — now to have to try and write through these other characters, it was really cool," he added. "It was really interesting and it just made the whole experience awesome."

Asked if there was any research involved in writing the lyrics for "Of Kingdom And Crown" or if it was all just in his head, Robb said: "It was just in my head. Jared wrote a lot of lyrics too — Jared contributed quite a bit of lyrics, and we bounced a lot of ideas off of each other. He came up with some great melodies, some great lyrics. But it really was just about constantly writing and just consistently waking up… Most of this record was written at three in the morning. [Laughs] I'm a total night owl — I wake up at 3 a.m. almost every night and I just do work or I write or whatever. So I just would set a timer for 20 minutes and I would just write anything that came to my mind — dumb shit, killer shit. I would just try and make everything rhyme; I would try and make a sequence out of it. And then I would just go back to bed and then wake up and look at it the next morning and then I would either sing it or try and mess around with it. And I think just doing it, kind of just chipping away at it like that every day, really helped the story come together."

Flynn previously told Metal Hammer magazine about the musical direction of the new MACHINE HEAD material: "It's similar to [2003's 'Through The Ashes Of Empires' and 2007's 'The Blackening'] in that we're moving forward into something fresh and new but it's got that classic MACHINE HEAD vibe. We have a lot to deliver and expectations are very high, so I'm lucky to have great people surrounding me. Jared really stepped up and wrote some great riffs and great vocals. Vogg [guitarist Wacław Kiełtyka] contributed a few ideas and brought some really great songs."

He continued: "It's fucking heavy, probably the heaviest we've been in a few albums. I've been playing so much guitar recently; I do Electric Happy Hours every Friday and sometimes you play a song you haven't played in 10, 20 years, or go through a whole album from top to bottom. When we toured 'Burn My Eyes', it took me back to where I was writing that music. I don't think I can ever be in that place again lyrically, but riff-wise, I think that all spilled into this album."

This past February, MacEachern told Primordial Radio about his contributions to MACHINE HEAD's new album: "I think that I was very aware from day one that Robb is the leader, he's the creative leader, the musical leader… We all have our inputs but I think it's always understood that ultimately the decision is up to him for how things go. But, yeah, I definitely made contributions and I feel great about those contributions and I'm asked about my opinion on certain things. But, like I said, I'm following his lead."

As for the sound of the new MACHINE HEAD LP, Jared said: "It's a pretty — to use Robb's word… I believe he used the word 'colossal' the other day. It's a pretty big-, epic-sounding album. I've been listening, sitting down, taking the time to listen to it all the way through, and the way it goes, it's a ride — a really great, heavy, beautiful, melodic, raging, thrashing ride."

In November 2020, MACHINE HEAD released a single, "My Hands Are Empty", via Nuclear Blast. The song marked the first musical collaboration between Flynn and original "Burn My Eyes" guitarist Logan Mader in 24 years.

"My Hands Are Empty" was just one in a line of singles to be released by MACHINE HEAD, which issued "Do Or Die" in October 2019, "Circle The Drain" in February 2020, and the two-song digital single "Civil Unrest", consisting of "Stop The Bleeding" and "Bulletproof", in June 2020. "Stop The Bleeding" featured guest vocals from KILLSWITCH ENGAGE frontman Jesse Leach, and was written and recorded just days after the murders of George Floyd and Ahmaud Arbery.

MACHINE HEAD will team up with Sweden's Viking metal overlords AMON AMARTH for a co-headline "Vikings And Lionhearts" European arena tour in September and October. Support on the trek will come from THE HALO EFFECT, the new band featuring five former members of IN FLAMES: Peter Iwers, Daniel Svensson, Jesper Strömblad, Niclas Engelin and Mikael Stanne.

"Catharsis" was the final album to feature guitarist Phil Demmel and drummer Dave McClain, who both left MACHINE HEAD in October 2018.

On August 4th, death metal legends Pestilence performed on the Wet Stage at Wacken Open Air 2022. Pro-shot video of their entire set is available below.


The setlist was as follows:


"The Secrecies of Horror"
"Twisted Truth"
"Lost Souls"
"Land of Tears"
"Prophetic Revelations"
"Testimony"
"Presence of the Dead"
"Stigmatized"
"Morbvs Propagationem"
"Deificvs"
"Dehydrated"
"Out of the Body"

Fan-filmed video of QUEENSRŸCHE's August 20 performance at the Monsters On The Mountain festival in Gatlinburg, Tennessee can be seen below.

The band's setlist was as follows:

01. The Needle Lies
02. Walk In The Shadows
03. NM 156
04. Man The Machine
05. Silent Lucidity
06. Jet City Woman
07. Take Hold Of The Flame
08. Queen Of The Reich
09. Warning
10. Screaming In Digital
11. Empire
12. Eyes Of A Stranger

QUEENSRŸCHE will release a new album, "Digital Noise Alliance", on October 7 via Century Media. The record was once again helmed by Chris "Zeuss" Harris, who previously worked with QUEENSRŸCHE on 2015's "Condition Hüman" and "The Verdict" LPs.

"Digital Noise Alliance" features returning QUEENSRŸCHE guitarist Mike Stone who has been handling second-guitar duties in the band since late May 2021. QUEENSRŸCHE announced in July 2021 that longtime guitarist Parker Lundgren was exiting the group to focus on "other business ventures."

Stone originally joined QUEENSRŸCHE for the 2003 album "Tribe" and stayed with the band for six years before leaving the group.

For the past five years, Casey Grillo has been filling in for QUEENSRŸCHE's original drummer Scott Rockenfield, who stepped away from the band's touring activities in early 2017 to spend time with his young son.

Last October, Rockenfield filed a lawsuit against the band's fellow original members Michael Wilton (guitar) and Eddie Jackson (bass),alleging, among other things, breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty and wrongful discharge. Wilton and Jackson later responded to Rockenfield's suit with a counterclaim, denying that Rockenfield was wrongly dismissed and accusing him of abandoning his position as a member of the band and misappropriating the group's assets to his own personal benefit.

Last month, QUEENSRŸCHE singer Todd La Torre told Straus Project about the response to the first two singles the band has released so far from "Digital Noise Alliance" album, "In Extremis" and "Forest": "Obviously, you can never judge an album by one song, so when we put out the first single, there were people, like, 'Oh, I hope the record's like this or even heavier.' And then some people that are naysayers are, like, 'Oh, I hope [the rest of] it's nothing like that.'

"There's such a variety on this record — again — and we seem to always do that," he continued. "There's not just this one sound that you're gonna find on this record. There's some super-proggy stuff. Casey, his drumming was phenomenal on this record. And he did some stuff that I would never have thought of that was really interesting. In fact, one of the songs, Casey went into his studio and recorded, in his head, what he deemed as a full song on drums. And there's quirky, crazy stuff, there's verses, there's an intro — there's all this stuff. And he gives it to Michael, and basically [says], 'Here you go. Write to this.' And Michael comes back with this piece of music that went with Casey's drums. 'Cause [Michael] would never have come up with what he did had he not been inspired by the drum part. So it was really cool to see what manifested out of that.

"But, yeah, it's a really fun record to listen to," Todd added. "It covers everything that is QUEENSRŸCHE. So hopefully people like it. We put a lot of work into it. We're shooting many videos for this album — more than we've ever shot. We shot a ton of videos for this. And Thomas [Crane], who's the video director and everything, from killDevil Films — that's his company — has done a killer job. He's very creative, and so putting together our concepts with his ideas, he's done a great job. This is just the very beginning of what you guys have really kind of seen.

"So, yeah, there's a lot of things that you find as you listen each time. And I think QUEENSRŸCHE's music is like that — kind of like RUSH or PINK FLOYD. Each time you listen, you're, like, 'Oh, I never heard that before,' and you discover new things, which is cool."

Sammy Hagar has weighed in on the proposed all-star VAN HALEN tribute concert, saying he doesn't think he would take part unless both Alex Van Halen and Michael Anthony were involved.

No progress has been reported on a possible VAN HALEN tribute show since April when former METALLICA bassist Jason Newsted revealed to The Palm Beach Post that he was approached by the VAN HALEN drummer about six months earlier about playing bass for the project. Newsted told the Florida newspaper that he agreed to go to California to jam with Alex and legendary guitarist Joe Satriani and see if it felt right, but he eventually realized that it would be impossible to do justice to VAN HALEN's legacy. "How could you?" Jason said. "There's nobody that can top it, so how do you show it honor? I didn't want it to be viewed as a money grab. And then it kind of just all fizzled."

In a new interview with News-Herald, Sammy said that Anthony spoke about the proposed tribute concert in an interview with SiriusXM radio personality Eddie Trunk "just because there was all this talk about Jason. What's that about, Jason Newsted playing bass for VAN HALEN?" Sammy asked. "Great guy. Great musician. But in VAN HALEN? No, not when Mikey's still here and alive to do it."

Hagar added he, too, had been approached by VAN HALEN's management with a similar idea but is not interested. "I'm so happy with everything I'm doing now, I don't think I'd go back there," he said. "Maybe if Alex was interested, it might be something to talk about, with him and Mikey and a superstar guitar player. But it's really not VAN HALEN without Eddie [Van Halen], so…I just don't know."

Last month, Eddie Van Halen's son Wolfgang Van Halen was asked by Rolling Stone to elaborate on what happened to cause plans for the tribute concert to fall apart. He said: "What I can say is that there was an attempt at doing something. But, you know, I don't like to speak negatively about people, but there are some people that make it very difficult to do anything when it comes to VAN HALEN. After being in VAN HALEN for a long time, I really have strived to have an environment where there is no walking on eggshells and there is no personality that you have to deal with. It's just guys having fun making music and just having a good time. But, you know, from my time in VAN HALEN, there was always some stuff that gets in the way from just making music and having a good time. And, I think, that's what happened.

"I would love to just sit here and say everything and say the truth," he continued. "There are plenty of interviews my dad did, where he straight up just said everything. And people hated him for it and thought he was lying. So I could just say shit, but people have already decided how they feel about things, facts or not. So I can say the facts. But that may not align with how certain people feel. I know how VAN HALEN fans get. They are very motivated by which specific people they like in the band. And it's just not worth it. Just, we made an attempt, and some people can be hard to work with, and made it not happen."

Regarding his involvement in the proposed tribute concert, Wolfgang said: "When it comes to VAN HALEN, and decision-making overall and what VAN HALEN does, it's Al, and then I'm there and supportive. You know, I basically help make the decisions that dad would be there to make, because I'm in there in his stead."

Wolfgang went on to say that he "would really like to do something" for his father, but that the tribute concert idea "never even got off the ground."

"Look at anything that's happened with VAN HALEN," he said. "And look how things have fallen apart. You know? The fact that in my tenure, in VAN HALEN, we managed to do three tours, put an album of original material and a live album out is a fucking miracle.

"People love to pin every decision VAN HALEN has ever made on Dad," he continued. "But Al's the brain. Al has been the guy forever. He's the dude. When it comes to VAN HALEN, Dad just wanted to play guitar. But, you know, Al's mentality, and it's the mentality that VAN HALEN took for the entirety of its band, is that there's nothing worth talking about unless it's happening. So the reason that nothing has been talked about from VAN HALEN, the official channels, is because nothing's happened. And I know how that will stir people up and piss them off. But that's how the operation is run."

Asked what he would say if someone were to assume that the main problem was a certain singer with three initials — referring to David Lee Roth — Wolfgang replied: "I would say 'Do your research on the history of VAN HALEN, and come to your conclusions.'"

Last month, Trunk said that Roth is the main reason the proposed all-star VAN HALEN tribute project has yet to move forward. Citing "a very, very, very reliable source" close to VAN HALEN, Trunk said that the hold-up on the VAN HALEN-anything happening is a lot of it falling on David Lee Roth, that David Lee Roth — to no surprise; it shouldn't be a surprise to anybody — is a difficult guy to wrangle, a difficult guy to get an answer on, a difficult guy to get focused on anything, a difficult guy to get to sign off on anything. He is all over the map, as you would expect and have seen throughout history, and that the big hold-up in anything happening with VAN HALEN is not Alex, who wants to do it and is trying; it's actually Roth who needs to sign off and be involved. Also, contrary to any reports of anything different, Alex and [former VAN HALEN bassist] Michael Anthony are totally cool and there's no issue there at all. And the stumbling block is trying to get Alex and Dave on the same page and Dave wanting to do this and how they're gonna do it. And that's really one of the big stumbling issues."

In June, Anthony confirmed to Trunk that he was involved in some of the early conversations about the VAN HALEN tribute.

"I haven't spoken to him in a little while, but I have spoken with Alex on occasion," Michael said. "And for the most part, we don't even speak that much about music — more about just family, how we're doing and stuff like that. I know it still pains him a lot as far as Eddie goes and will probably for the rest of his life. But I spoke with him and Dave last year about a possible something, but Dave just starts going [talking really fast] And I'm, like, 'Okay.' And we basically just had kind of a conference call about having a conference call to discuss it, and then that other call didn't happen for whatever reason on their end. I told them that I'd obviously be interested. And it would be more like a celebration of the music rather than putting together something and calling it VAN HALEN because that just wouldn't be right at this point."

Anthony went on to say that he hadn't been aware Newsted was involved in the discussions until Jason disclosed it in The Palm Beach Post interview. "That's the first that I'd even heard about anything like that," Michael said. "And it was kind of interesting because he said he spoke to [Dave and Alex] about a year ago, and that's about the time I was speaking with them. So I don't know. I'm gonna have to call Jason and ask him. [Laughs]"

When Trunk noted that Roth said in his comment about the VAN HALEN tribute that "two of us" would be required "for every position" in the project's lineup, possibly suggesting that more than one guitarist and more than one bassist would be involved in the show, Anthony said: "I was kind of thinking along those lines also, but then one thing made me kind of change my mind and make me think, 'Well, Dave's just kind of being Dave,' and maybe he's just saying that it would take at least two people to be able to duplicate what one person in this band did, and the reason I thought of that was all of a sudden he brought up the name Pink. He was saying that Pink would have to be one of the David Lee Roth characters, or singers, and I'm, like, 'Huh.' That just sounded a little too 'Dave' to me.

"But I don't know," Anthony quickly clarified. "At this point, I've gotta tell you, I don't know if anything will ever happen. 'Cause Alex is — he's really hurting. Him and Edward were so close on all levels — musical levels and personally and whatever. It just seems to me like it might be really hard for Alex to even enter into something to bring back all those memories. I don't know. I could be wrong. I'm the guy that always says, 'Never say never.'"

According to Anthony, the proposed VAN HALEN tribute would likely take the form of a single concert rather than a full-fledged tour.

"What was being talked about was not actually doing a tour," he said. "You take something like this on tour and people are gonna think it's a cashgrab. I'd rather have something, like a memorial-type thing, done at a venue. And there were actually a couple of venues discussed. But do it that way instead of taking it on the road. And make it just a real celebration of the music…

"I actually would not be up for doing a tour right off the bat," Michael continued. "I think holding a celebration of Eddie and the music and the whole VAN HALEN legacy is great. And let's face it — none of us need the money. I don't need the money. I'd rather take the money and throw it in a charity."

Michael once again reiterated that he has no concrete idea whether any VAN HALEN tribute concert will take place. "I think it all really hinges upon Alex," he said. "And he's gotta be the person, really, that wants to do this and give his blessing to the whole thing for it to move forward. And like I said, when we speak, we really don't even speak about doing anything like that at this point. He's still healing. And if it gets to that point, I'm sure Alex will be the first one that'll wanna do something like that."

Asked whether there has been any bad blood between him and Alex and Dave in recent years, Anthony said: "Not at all. I only spoke to Dave that one conversation we had last year and I couldn't hardly get a word in edgewise, which is… that's typical Dave. But I have spoken to Alex on occasion, and it's great. We'll speak for, like, 45 minutes, an hour. And probably about the first 20 minutes is Alex, sometimes he'll vent to me a bit about all the circumstances around how everything happened with Eddie. But we basically just talk about family and we actually bring up some of the old times on the road, to lighten things up a bit."

In June 2021, Wolfgang, who joined his father in VAN HALEN for the band's 2007 reunion tour with Roth, replacing Anthony, told SiriusXM's "Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk" it would be "great" to eventually organize an Eddie Van Halen tribute show. "It's not in the immediate plans, 'cause that's a lot of moving parts that you've gotta corral to get that to happen. But I definitely think it should happen. Absolutely," he said.

Asked how he envisions the tribute concert taking place in terms of which musicians should be involved, Wolfgang said: "I have no idea. All I know is that the focus should a hundred percent be on Pop. While it could be a celebration of VAN HALEN and the band's history, I think more than anything, it should be focused on him… It's a tall ask and a big thing to figure out. But I do think it should happen at some point."

In November 2020, Wolfgang told Entertainment Tonight that proceeds from any tribute show in honor of his father will go toward Eddie's favorite charity, Mr. Holland's Opus, which helps underprivileged students access musical instruments. Proceeds from the debut solo single from Wolfgang's solo band MAMMOTH WVH, "Distance", are also benefiting Mr. Holland's Opus.

In February 2021, Hagar told Kyle Meredith that he will make every effort to take part in the Eddie Van Halen tribute concert.

"I have nothing to do with the [Eddie Van Halen] legacy," he said. "That's their business — that's Wolfie, Alex Van Halen; they're family members. Whoever wants to call me up and say, 'Here's the date,' I will be there. I don't care where I am. I'll cancel a [solo] show [if I need to]. [Laughs] [That's] something VAN HALEN would never do. I always make that joke — canceling a show was [out of the question with] VAN HALEN. I went out sick without being able to sing, Eddie went out with a crutch, Alex went out with a fucking neck brace — we wouldn't cancel shows. But I will cancel my show for a tribute to Eddieany day."

Eddie died in October 2020 at the age of 65. The legendary VAN HALEN guitarist passed away at St. John's Hospital in Santa Monica, California.

Eddie was diagnosed with mouth cancer in 2000 and had tongue surgery. He later battled lung cancer and had been receiving radiation treatment in Germany. Things took a turn for the worse in early 2019 when Eddie got in a motorcycle accident. He was subsequently diagnosed with a brain tumor, and received gamma knife radiosurgery to treat the illness.

Atlanta-based rock group Pistols At Dawn dropped their debut full-length album, Ascension, last Friday, August 19 and are excited to share that they’ll be bringing their music to audiences across the U.S. next spring supporting Alter Bridge and Mammoth WVH. The 2023 tour will kick off on March 10 in Quapaw, OK and see the band head west, ending March 31 in Reno, NV. Tickets go on sale this Friday, August 26 at 10am (local). See a full list of upcoming shows below.


Pistols At Dawn have further celebrated the album’s release by issuing a visually intense music video for the anthemic single, “Under The Surface”, which shows a breakdown brought on by the monotony of a stereotypical “9-5 office job.” It was inspired by cult classic films including Office Space, Fight Club and Joe vs. The Volcano. 







Ascension delivers hard-hitting hooks, magnetic melodies and intricate instrumentation with old school arena-size ambition, and was recorded by Grammy Award-winning producer and engineer Sylvia Massy (Tool, System Of A Down) and mastered by Maor Appelbaum (Faith No More, Rob Halford). 





Tracklisting:


"Under The Surface"
"Fly"
"Keep Me Guessing"
"For You"
"The Truth"
"Gravity"
"Get Away"
"Dictator"





Catch Pistols At Dawn on tour with Alter Bridge and Mammoth WVH in 2023:


March
10 - Quapaw, OK – Downstream Casino Resort
11 - Kansas City, MO - Arvest Bank Theatre at The Midland 
14 - Chesterfield, MO – The Factory
15 - Oklahoma City, OK – The Criterion
17 - Houston, TX – 713 Music Hall 
18 - Dallas, TX – Southside Ballroom 
20 - Denver, CO – Mission Ballroom 
21 - Salt Lake City, UT – Union Event Center 
23 - Seattle, WA – The Paramount Theatre 
28 - Anaheim, CA – House Of Blues
29 - Tempe, AZ – The Marquee 
31 - Reno, NV – Silver Legacy Grande Exposition Hall 








(Photo - Michael Mueller/ M3 Creative)


 

Denver’s Celestial Wizard have released their second album, Winds Of The Cosmos, a new take on both the power metal and death metal sub-genres. This new album will be a breath of fresh air for their fans, it’s a massive leap forward in production quality and musicianship, and they have stepped away from the heavily synthesized, symphonic fantasy sound found in their previous album in favor of something more robust, and real.


To showcase the potent new sound, they have a vocal playthrough video for the single “Steel Chrysalis”. They explain the track in their own words: “'Steel Chrysalis' is a more epic, symphonic track in relation to the others on the album. The song’s main riff delivers a healthy dose of groove that the listener can lock on to and enjoy the heaviness of the chugging guitars that follow. This track is the most reminiscent of the previous album in terms of sound, so for those that have been fans from the beginning, this track will feel very familiar. The lyrics go over themes of being true to who you are and growing stronger amidst hardship, eventually becoming the best version of yourself.”







For Celestial Wizard, a lot of their lyrics have roots in old-school fantasy or sci-fi elements. The lyrical themes bridge from zombies to space travelers, and everything in between. They try to ground each song with a feeling or experience one of them has had or is trying to work through. They find that even though the lyrical themes can be far-fetched at times, the songs evoke strong emotions and listeners can find elements of the song to bond with.


Melodic and aggressive, the band draws a lot of influence from Metallica and cites that their sound is very similar to bands like Amon Amarth or Arch Enemy, bordering on a modern melodic metal sound. Galaktikon and Firewind are other bands they emulate in their writing and playing. They are recommended for fans of any of the aforementioned bands as well as metal fans that enjoy nerdy and fantasy-based hobbies such as Dungeons and Dragons.


Order Winds Of The Cosmos on Bandcamp.





Tracklisting:


“Andromeda”
“Revenant”
“Ice Realm”
“Powerthrone”
“Eternal Scourge”
“Steel Chrysalis”
“Undead Renegade”
“Cyberhawk”
“Winds Of The Cosmos”


Album band lineup:


Nick Daggers - Guitar
Vocals Guillermo Jurado - Guitar, Bass
Tim Gillman - Drums
Amethyst Noir - Vocals

SEVENDUST's Lajon Witherspoon has completed laying down vocals for the band's next studio album. The follow-up to 2020's "Blood & Stone" is once again being tracked at Studio Barbarosa in Gotha, Florida with producer Michael "Elvis" Baskette, who has previously worked with ALTER BRIDGE and SLASH, among others.

Earlier today (Sunday, August 21),Witherspoon shared a few photos from the studio and he included the following message: "Well there ya have it Lead Vocals Done for New @sevendustofficial Done. Thanks to all my Brothers everyone did & Amazing Job @elvisliberace @1f_jef @joshuasaldate waft a team & I Rocked my new good luck shirt for last few tracks @prideofgypsies @harleydavidson can't WaIt for all to hear what a great Recording section I Love y'all thanks so much God Bless everyone".

SEVENDUST's new LP is tentatively due in early 2023.

In late June, SEVENDUST drummer Morgan Rose said that the writing session for the band's upcoming album was his "favorite" of SEVENDUST's career. "Just 5 guys in a farm house, creating," he wrote on Instagram. "Telling each other how much we love each other, supporting each other, enjoying being together. No outsiders, no drama, no bullshit. Just us…. The songs are magical, the vibe of the record is magical, our relationship with each other is magical."

SEVENDUST recently completed two legs of its tour celebrating the 21st anniversary of its "Animosity" album.

SEVENDUST's third album, "Animosity" was released in November 2001 through TVT Records. The disc peaked at No. 28 on the Billboard 200 and was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) in March 2002 for shipments in excess of half a million copies.

Last December, SEVENDUST released a digital expanded edition of "Blood & Stone". "Blood & Stone Deluxe" contained five new tracks, including three never-before-released remixes and two newly recorded songs. Jake Bowen of PERIPHERY, Richard Wicander of FIRE FROM THE GODS and Justin deBlieck, formerly of ICE NINE KILLS, provided remixes and the band finished recording "All I Really Know" and "What You Are" specifically for this release. "Blood & Stone Deluxe" was released via all digital partners via Rise Records.

Also in June, Rose told "The Jasta Show" that SEVENDUST won't hit the road in support of its next studio album until 2023. He also revealed that "there's not gonna be many [tours] left, I'll just tell you that. I'm gonna be the one to let all the cats out of the bag, but I can just tell you that we're not gonna be around, full-fledged, forever, that's for sure," he added cryptically.

This past March, Witherspoon told St. Louis Post-Dispatch that "Blood & Stone" showed SEVENDUST is "still standing the test of time. It was great to do the album with [Baskette] in Florida again. It was a good time. We wanted to hit [listeners] hard and let them know we still got it and that we’re not afraid to put slower songs out there too."

As for the decision to release a "deluxe" version of the LP, Lajon said: "We wanted to put some extra songs out there, B-sides that people hadn't heard. It's a little more of a treat."

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A post shared by Lajon (@ljspoon)

MÖTLEY CRÜE bassist Nikki Sixx has confirmed that there are plans for the band to play in other parts of the world following the completion of the North American leg of "The Stadium Tour".

On Saturday (August 20),Nikki took to his Twitter to lament the fact that there are only 10 shows left on MÖTLEY CRÜE's current run with DEF LEPPARD, POISON and JOAN JETT & THE BLACKHEARTS, saying it's "going way too fast." A short time later, fan asked Sixx "what's next" for the CRÜE and whether there will be dates elsewhere, including in Australia, to which Nikki replied: "We are working on SA-Mexico-Europe-UK-Asia- etc etc".

"The Stadium Tour" kicked off on June 16 in Atlanta, Georgia and will conclude on September 9 in Las Vegas, Nevada.

CRÜE's long-delayed North American trek was originally planned for 2020 and later moved to 2021 and then to 2022.

Two months ago, DEF LEPPARD guitarist Phil Collen told Chile's Radio Futuro that there are plans to bring the tour with MÖTLEY CRÜE to other parts of the world. "Definitely next summer is gonna be Europe," he said. "And then South America, Australia [and] Japan — next year, hopefully at some point, we'll be playing all of those markets."

When asked to clarify that the same package that is touring the U.S. will be hitting all the other markets as well, Phil said: "That's what they're talking about. Obviously, I can say, 'Yeah, let's do that,' but we've gotta ask them as well. But I think MÖTLEY CRÜE have signed up. So hopefully that's all gonna come, and Joan Jett and POISON. That would be amazing."

In July 2021, Sixx told the 95.5 KLOS radio station that MÖTLEY CRÜE and DEF LEPPARD "might even drag" the same tour "to Europe, South America, Japan," but he cautioned, "We don't know yet. Right now it's a little far off. But us and DEF LEPPARD are super close; that's great. And we'll just see what version of 'The Stadium Tour' might fit for other countries, if we decide to go. Maybe it'll be the same lineup. I know people are super stoked for the lineup. It's a good outdoor fun party evening."

Earlier in the month, "The Stadium Tour" landed at No. 4 on Pollstar's LIVE75 chart, which ranks worldwide active tours by the average tickets sold for reported shows taken place over the last 30 days.

According to Pollstar, "The Stadium Tour" moved 98.5% of the available tickets from concerts at 17 venues in North American cities to average 36,763 sold seats per show. The bands also earned a $4.88 million gross average.

LIVE75 provides a weekly snapshot of the 75 active tours with the most drawing power, based on shows reported to Pollstar over the preceding 30 days.

"The Stadium Tour" marks the CRÜE's first live dates since wrapping its 2014/2015 farewell tour. CRÜE toured with POISON back in 2011 and DEF LEPPARD teamed up with POISON for a string of road dates in 2017, but this jaunt marks the first time all four acts have hit the road together for an extended tour.

CRÜE fans who shelled out for the band's 2014/2015 "farewell" tour were led to believe that the group would never return after playing its final show on December 2015 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. The band touted the signing of a pre-tour "cessation of touring" agreement as cementing the fact it truly was the end of CRÜE's life on the road.

In a 2013 interview with Rolling Stone magazine, Sixx said "the most important thing about a farewell tour is that the band doesn't lie to the fans, and the band doesn't tour and then come back years later. That's what's important for us, planning what's the right time to go out."

Three years ago, Sixx said that the Netflix biopic "The Dirt", about MÖTLEY CRÜE's formative years, sparked a renewed interest from younger fans who wanted to see them live, contributing to the band's decision to renege on its infamous "cessation of touring" contract.

MÖTLEY CRÜE's Tommy Lee played the first full show of "The Stadium Tour" on June 28 at Bank Of America Stadium in Charlotte, North Carolina.

The 59-year-old drummer hadn't been able to play full sets on the trek after sustaining his injuries about two weeks before the tour's launch. According to his wife, Tommy broke four ribs on his right side after falling down the stairs of a rental home in Nashville while CRÜE was rehearsing for the shows.
We are working on SA-Mexico-Europe-UK-Asia- etc etc

— 📷 (@NikkiSixx) August 21, 2022

The legendary King’s X, comprised of dUg Pinnick, Ty Tabor & Jerry Gaskill, will release their 13th studio album, Three Sides Of One, on September 2, representing their first new music in 14 years. Watch an unboxing video below:





Of the new album, dUg comments: “When I think of it, King’s X feels like a couple of old best friends coming together, shooting the shit, and having a good time, it’s instinctual. When I would listen to demo tapes of Jerry and Ty for the record, it gave me a great perspective on how blessed I am to be in King’s X. What they did on Three Sides of One sounded so good. For as familiar as it is, it’s like I’m in a new band.”




Ty adds: This time, we sat around, listened to each other’s ideas, and would collectively say, ‘Let’s work on that’. It was the most enjoyable album I’ve personally ever recorded in my entire life, period.”


Jerry continues: “I’ll cherish what we did in my heart forever. Everything lined up perfectly.”


Three Sides Of One will be available as Limited CD Digipak, Gatefold 180g 2LP+CD+LP-booklet & as Digital Album. There will also be a Limited Deluxe 180g Orange/Red Marble 2LP+CD+LP-booklet that also includes a poster and a hand-numbered print, as well as an exclusive variant of the front cover artwork. Pre-order here.


During 2019, the members congregated at Black Sound Studio in Pasadena, CA with Emmy Award-winning producer Michael Parnin to bring Three Sides Of One to life. Despite consistent touring, they hadn’t cut a new LP since 2008. Nevertheless, the guys picked up where they left off. Creative confidant and collaborator Wally Farkas rolled through, and they channelled their incredible chemistry on tape.





Tracklisting:


"Let It Rain"
"Flood Pt. 1"
"Nothing But The Truth"
"Give It Up"
"All God’s Children"
"Take The Time"
"Festival"
"Swipe Up"
"Holidays"
"Watcher"
"She Called Me Home"
"Every Everywhere"


"Give It Up" lyric video:





"Let It Rain":





Interview series:


Part 1:





Part 2:





(Photo - Derek Soto)

NEW YEARS DAY singer Ash Costello spoke to Rock Sound about the progress of the songwriting sessions for the band's follow-up to 2019's "Unbreakable" album. She said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "The record is about halfway done right now. And we're not rushing it. We've just been kind of coasting through [it]. We've probably written about 30 songs; maybe seven have made the cut. So I'm being very picky — I'm being very, very, very picky on what I wanna put out there this time around, where before it was, like, 'Hurry up. Make a record and we can tour. Put out what you can.' Not this time. I'm really taking my time. And I'm in love with all the music. We've already chosen the next single and I cannot wait. I think it's even better [than the recently released 'Hurts Like Hell']. This one was like an introduction into what we're doing. The next one is, like, 'We're here. We're not going anywhere. This is the sound.'"

Elaborating on the songwriting process for the upcoming NEW YEARS DAY album, Ash said: "Jeremy Valentyne, who is now back in the band, has been a writer this whole time. He never really left the band completely; he just wasn't touring. So he helped write our 'Diary Of A Creep' EP [2018] and our 'Unbreakable' album, so we're continuing to write with Jeremy. And the same two producers I used on 'Unbreakable', which is Mitch Marlow, who's responsible for bands like IN THIS MOMENT, and Scott Stevens. Scott Stevens [has co-written with] DOROTHY, DIAMANTE, IN THIS MOMENT, SHINEDOWN, HALESTORM, LILITH CZAR. You name it — you name it, especially a woman in rock, he's helped her create the vision. So we're continuing on working with him."

Asked what she learned from the making of "Unbreakable" that she is applying to the new NEW YEARS DAY material, Ash said: "I feel like 'Unbreakable' was the first time I really was daring. Songs like 'Unbreakable' where I said, 'I wanna make a guitar riff that's unlistenable. I want it to be so ugly and terrible sounding that it's just enough where you can kind of fathom it.' And so I felt like we experimented a lot with that sound. And then I feel like with 'Shut Up' where we had experimented with a more pop sound — not pop-rock, but a pop element and then giving it a rock twist. So it's gonna be a lot more of that on this record. So we're going way heavy and way pop all at the same time. It's hard to walk the fine line, but when you nail it, it's very rewarding, I think."

The official music video for "Hurts Like Hell" was directed by Robyn August, who has previously worked with NOTHING MORE, Snoop Dogg and Pitbull.

Costello previously stated about the track: "'Hurts Like Hell' might seem like a song about a relationship on the surface; in a way, it is, I suppose.

"As I struggled to navigate how to continue to pursue my passion during the pandemic, I realized that chaos is where I thrive. I will stare down any obstacle, even if I look like a crazy person to subject myself to it.

"Eleanor Roosevelt said, 'We all know people who are so afraid of pain that they shut themselves up and shrink until life is a mere living death.' Turning pain into progress and tragedy into triumph is a particularly satisfying victory. As the saying goes: 'nothing worth having comes easy.' That is what 'Hurts Like Hell' means to me. The song is an acceptance and celebration of my relationship with chaos."

NEW YEARS DAY will hit the road next month as the support act for HALESTORM. A headlining run of shows will kick off on October 8 in Palmdale, California and run through October 23 in Jacksonville, North Carolina.

In January 2020, NEW YEARS DAY released "Through The Years", a limited-edition box set featuring all seven of NEW YEARS DAY's albums on custom-colored vinyl, a Blu-ray of their beloved music videos and a four-page picture book of never-before-seen photos of Ash and NEW YEARS DAY from their humble beginnings. The photos were handpicked and the captions were hand written by Costello.

New Zealand's Alien Weaponry have been touring around the world nonstop since the 2021 release of their sophomore album, Tangaroa (Napalm Records). Spreading vital messages of peace, awareness and warning through the power of their culturally-driven music, Tangaroa proves a massive next step for the band - encompassing all of the elements that make Alien Weaponry heavy metal’s most authentic rising stars.


Following the release of their three previous Tangaroa music videos for "Tangaroa", "Buried Underground", and "Hatupatu", today, in anticipation of their winter and early 2023 performance plans supporting both Guns N' Roses and Gojira, Alien Weaponry have dropped an official video for none other than their album closer, "Down The Rabbit Hole". The track extends an important proclamation against bullying through the eyes and experiences of frontman Lewis de Jong.


Lewis de Jong says about "Down The Rabbit Hole": "This was an absolute blast to film! 'Down The Rabbit Hole' represents the growth I've experienced throughout my life and putting to bed demons from the past. The video captures the meaning well - the broken objects representing said demons. It’s the rough times in life that make you who you are, as long as you rise above it."







As mentioned above, Alien Weaponry is thrilled to be hitting the road this winter and next spring with some of rock and metal's biggest icons. In December, the band will support Guns N' Roses on two shows in their home country of New Zealand, and will pick back up to join Gojira on a tour of the UK and Europe in February 2023. For individual show information, visit alienweaponry.com.


Order the Tangaroa album here.





Tangaroa tracklisting:


Titokowaru“
“Hatupatu“
“Ahi Kā“
“Tangaroa“
“Unforgiving“
“Blinded“
“Kai Whatu“
“Crooked Monsters“
“Buried Underground“
“Dad“
“Īhenga“
“Down The Rabbit Hole“


"Hatupatu" video:





“Buried Underground” video:





“Tangaroa” video:





Alien Weaponry on Tangaroa is:


Henry Te Reiwhati de Jong - Drums, Backing vocals
Lewis Raharuhi de Jong - Guitars, Lead vocals
Ethan Trembath - Bass guitars, backing vocals & lead vocals on “Dad”
Tūranga Porowini Morgan-Edmonds - Backing vocals & guitar on “Unforgiving"


(Photo - Piotr Kwasnik)

Kings Of Mercia, the new group formed by acclaimed rock/metal guitarist Jim Matheos (Fates Warning, Arch/Matheos) and powerhouse rock vocalist Steve Overland (FM) recently announced the release of their self-titled debut album on September 23 via Metal Blade Records.


Accompanying the duo on the upcoming album are Matheos’ Fates Warning bandmate Joey Vera on bass, and legendary drummer Simon Philips.


Today, Kings Of Mercia are pleased to share the new single, “Liberate Me”. Watch the video for the single below.




Steve Overlund says this about the track: “’Liberate Me’ is another great example of what the Kings Of Mercia album represents, a high energy, hard rock song about someone who has lived life selfishly and done many wrongs, but as the years take their toll, they begin to regret their past and want to make things right. Once again, it shows off the great individual talents in the band with great performances by all.”








The album will be available on CD, LP, and digital formats. Pre-order here.





Tracklisting:


"Wrecking Ball"
"Humankind"
"Sweet Revenge"
"Set The World On Fire"
"Too Far Gone"
"Liberate Me"
"Nowhere Man"
"Everyday Angels"
"Is It Right?"
"Your Life"


"Wrecking Ball" visualizer:





Best known as the founding guitarist for Fates Warning, but with countless other projects under his belt - including Arch / Matheos and most recently Tuesday The Sky - Jim Matheos is incapable of stifling his creativity. In early 2021, he started working on the songs that would become Kings Of Mercia's self-titled debut album, bringing his distinct style yet doing something a little different. "I started writing without any real idea of what direction I wanted to go in or what I was going to do with the material. The first few songs came together quickly and were a bit more straightforward than I'm used to, and I really liked that idea, kind of going back to my early heavy/hard rock roots." Not having any pre-conceived ideas of what the record should or would end up sounding like, at least early on, certainly helped, "as did the fact that it's our first record, so there was nothing to measure it against or expectations to live up to, even if only in my own head."


Churning out songs, Matheos' next concern was to find the musicians who would help him realize the material, and his first priority was a vocalist. It was his friend Jeff Wagner who suggested FM's Steve Overland, and another friend, rock journalist Dave Ling, who put them in touch with each other. "Jim had asked Dave for my contact details, we talked about his idea for mixing the two styles, his heavier background, with my melodic/bluesier direction," says Overland. "We decided to try a collaboration on one song and see how it worked, we came up with the track "Humankind", and we both loved it." Having already settled on this hard rock direction, it was only once Matheos got the first couple of songs back from Overland that it became all the way clear of the shape the record would take, with the vocalist sending over his parts every few weeks, everything gradually coming together.


Behind the kit for the record is the legendary Simon Phillips (ex-Toto, Derek Sherinian), one of Matheos' favorite drummers. "I decided to contact him on a whim, not really expecting that he'd be available or interested in this project. But, to my surprise, he liked the music and was able to fit some recording into his schedule. It's an honor to share a credit with him and I couldn't be happier with what he added to the record." Rounding out the group is bassist Joey Vera - Matheos' Fates Warning bandmate - who brings his trademark style and professionalism to the table. "My old friend and co-worker Joey Vera was a natural choice for bass. Not only did I know he would deliver performance-wise, but it was nice to have a familiar face among the new personalities." With these players involved it was an easy, stress-free process throughout, making music for the love of it, and coming up with something that sounds familiar yet new, expanding the repertoire of all involved. This means songs like the half-acoustic ballad, half-swaggering "Too Far Gone" or the beautiful "Everyday Angels", and the soaring "Wrecking Ball", which opens the record on a high note, all brought to life in dynamic style.


Lineup:


Jim Matheos - Guitars
Steve Overland - Vocals
Joey Vera - Bass
Simon Phillips - Drums


(Photo - Jeremy Saffer/Scott Towns)

Magnetic Eye Records will reissue Restless Spirit's acclaimed and already sought-after sophomore full-length Blood Of The Old Gods (2021) on October 28, 2022. The stoner sludge trio from Long Island, New York is celebrating this occasion with the release of a new band video clip for the track “Judgement And Exile” today. Find preorders here.


Restless Spirit comment: "We are still incredibly proud of Blood Of The Old Gods as a band", writes guitarist and vocalist Paul Aloisio. "We were able to distill all our anger, intensity, and musicianship into something that we feel captures the true essence of who we are. With that said, we are humbled and thankful to Magnetic Eye Records for breathing new life into this beast and bringing out a new edition for all our listeners worldwide."







Featuring the fittingly brooding artwork from famed pulp-painter Frank Frazetta, Blood Of The Old Gods weaves together grandiose sonic landscapes and haunting moments that leave a lasting impression.


The band has embarked on several tours in support of Blood Of The Old Gods and will return to the road in winter 2022/23. Restless Spirit are currently already hard at work on their third full-length, which will be released worldwide via Magnetic Eye Records in 2023.

Danish/American rock and rollers VOLBEAT have released the official music video for the song "Becoming". The track is a "tribute" to the legendary Swedish death metal band ENTOMBED, whose lead singer Lars-Göran "LG" Petrov died in March 2021 after a battle with bile duct cancer. He was 49 years old.

VOLBEAT frontman Michael Poulsen said: "We were recording [the latest VOLBEAT album] 'Servant Of The Mind' in [producer] Jacob Hansen's studio, and we were about to record the song 'Becoming'. And it has that opening riff that's really inspired by the mighty ENTOMBED, and you know, we just talked about why not put that Boss Heavy Metal HM-2W pedal on that ENTOMBED was so well known for, and bands like DISMEMBER and a lot of Swedish death metal bands, actually. It's the signature death metal Swedish distorted guitar sound, and it sounds disgustingly good. [Laughs] So, we thought, why not use that pedal on that riff? So, we did and it just ended up just sounding even more like ENTOMBED, and it turned out to be a really good song and it was probably one of the most heavy riffs in VOLBEAT. But later on, of course, we were hearing the sad news about LG passing, a very sad day, and I think it is still very sad that he is not around. He was one of our really great friends. I had a lot of great conversations with LG. And we were always hanging out when it was it was possible, and talking and helping each other out, as well. So, we decided, later on to actually dedicate 'Becoming' to LG because of the great inspiration that we had in that song. So, yeah, 'Becoming' has somehow become the LG song."

In a November 2021 video explaining the inspiration for "Becoming", Poulsen said: "[The song] is, as you probably noticed, a tribute to the mighty ENTOMBED and our good friend L.G. Petrov who sadly passed away. But, yeah, it's one of those riffs where you can definitely hear the inspiration from the 'Clandestine' album, which [was] L.G.'s favorite ENTOMBED record, which is quite funny because he doesn't sing on this album.

"L.G. was a great guy, a great human being, a good friend. And wherever you are out there, friend, dear brother, I hope that you're doing good down there or up there.

"Let's all raise our glasses for Mr. L.G.

"'Becoming' is for you, my dear friend. Cheers!"

"Becoming" is taken from VOLBEAT's eighth studio album, "Servant Of The Mind", which was released last December via Republic Records.

A few years ago, Poulsen, who played extreme metal with his first band, DOMINUS, back in the early '90s, said that he wouldn't rule out a return to death metal in future. "I do have things at home — I can pick up some few death metal riffs here and there," he told Heavy TV. "I've got so many good friends in the death metal scene, and I've been talking to some of them to one day, when the time is right, sit down and write some old-school death metal. When that's going to happen, I don't know. It will happen; it's just timing is everything."

Back in 2011, Poulsen told Soundspike about his pre-VOLBEAT act: "[DOMINUS] was straight metal. On the third record, we were starting to flirt around with making a little bit with some rock 'n' roll stuff. What I wanted to do was keep the door wide open and see what happens. I didn't want to paint myself into a corner. If I wanted a song to start like a country song and let it burst into a metal song, that's what I did. Right now it comes very naturally. That's the most important thing — that you don't sit and try too hard to provoke it out of you. It has to come as a normal flow, and that's actually what happened.

DISTURBED has released the official lyric video for "Hey You", the first single off the band's upcoming studio album. The lyric clip arrives a month after the release of DISTURBED's music video for the song, which was directed by Josiahx.

DISTURBED frontman David Draiman stated about the track: "It's a wake-up call. We've become our own worst enemies. Civil discourse has become the exception instead of the norm. People have lost themselves in outrage addiction."

In a recent interview with WMMR's Brent Porche, DISTURBED guitarist Dan Donegan spoke about the band's eighth studio album, which is tentatively due in late 2022. Asked if producer Kevin Churko, who worked on 2015's "Immortalized" and 2018's "Evolution", has returned to work on the new LP, Dan said: "We actually went with Drew Fulk, an L.A. producer. I think he's a Carolina guy originally — he grew up in Carolina and then moved to L.A. He's done some good stuff with MOTIONLESS IN WHITE and ICE NINE KILLS and PAPA ROACH, a bunch of projects I really liked, some of the stuff he's done. And I reached out to him. I met with him — I think it was in December I went out there to meet with him — and just felt some good chemistry there, just being around him, and we jumped in the studio. He came out to Nashville — we ended up tracking in Nashville — and [it was] a great experience."

Asked if the writing and recording process was any different this time around due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, Dan said: "I've always had a lot of ideas archived and just kept in the vault. But then I think when we ran out and did those handful of shows back in November, we went down to Fort Myers on a couple of days off to work with a friend of ours, another producer, Dave Fortman, who did EVANESCENCE, GODSMACK, SLIPKNOT; he used to play in UGLY KID JOE back in the day. So we went out and we did a couple of days with him, just to kind of improvise and track some ideas, just on a couple of days off, and that got the ball rolling. So we just went with all-new, fresh material — nothing from the vault. I just started pulling out new ideas. And it just progressed from there."

In June, Draiman said that DISTURBED's upcoming album will contain a "surprise track" that will "blow [fans'] minds."

In May, Draiman told the audience at DISTURBED's concert in Camden, New Jersey that the band's new LP is "about 90 percent heavy as fuck. Now there's still 10 percent of caring, loving goodness [laughs] — 10 percent," he said. "Hey, for everybody that fell in love with 'The Sound Of Silence' [SIMON & GARFUNKEL] cover, I figured, you know… But the rest of it? 'Sickness'-, 'Ten Thousand Fists'-era DISTURBED, for sure. You excited about that? 'Cause I'll tell you we're really fucking excited about it."

Draiman spoke about the new DISTURBED album during a recent appearance on "Whiplash", the KLOS radio show hosted by Full Metal Jackie. Asked about the musical direction of the new DISTURBED songs, Draiman said: "The material is somewhere between 'The Sickness' and 'Ten Thousand Fists' as far as where I would identify it as sonically. It's rhythmic, it's pummeling, it's anthemic, it's polysyncopated. It's meat-and-potatoes DISTURBED."

David also discussed DISTURBED's apparent decision to pursue a more aggressive musical approach on its next LP compared to "Evolution", on which nearly half the songs were either acoustic or semi-acoustic.

"It's a different sort of itch you're scratching," he said. "You can have the satisfaction that comes with, let's say, playing with your children peacefully somewhere and you can have a different sort of satisfaction in engaging in full-contact football with your buddies. It's just a different feel. They're both equally as gratifying but sometimes you just get a little taste more for one than the other. And right now we are definitely — we've got our teeth dug in to that style. We were dying to do the more aggressive stuff. We wanted to go back home. We wanted to go back to the 'groove so hard that you can't stop bobbing your head' kind of stuff. So, we're there, and we're loving it."

DISTURBED performed live for the first time in nearly two years last September as one of the headliners of the Louder Than Life festival in Louisville, Kentucky.

In March 2021, DISTURBED's "The Sickness 20th Anniversary Tour" was officially canceled. The amphitheater tour, with very special guest STAIND and BAD WOLVES, was originally slated to take place in the summer of 2020 but was rescheduled to 2021 due to the coronavirus pandemic. It was eventually scrapped altogether.

"The Sickness 20th Anniversary Tour" was supposed to celebrate the 20th anniversary of DISTURBED's seminal album "The Sickness". On the tour, the band was expected to perform songs off the album, as well as tracks from "Evolution" and DISTURBED's extensive catalog.

Photo credit: Travis Shinn

DEAD CROSS, the Southern California hardcore outfit featuring Dave Lombardo (SLAYER, SUICIDAL TENDENCIES, MISFITS),Mike Patton (FAITH NO MORE, TOMAHAWK),Justin Pearson (THE LOCUST, RETOX) and Michael Crain (RETOX, FESTIVAL OF DEAD DEER),will release a new album, "II", on October 28 via Ipecac Recordings. The official music video for the LP's second single, "Heart Reformer", can be seen below.

"'Heart Reformer' was as much fun to write as it is to listen to," says Crain. "It's a classic DEAD CROSS song. It's a pit stirrer and a fist pumper!" The short-film-like clip, which takes the track's title literally, was directed and edited by Dark Details (a.k.a. Chris J. Cunningham)

DEAD CROSS broke the news of "II"'s impending arrival with the release of "Reign Of Error", a track Stereogum described as a "freaked-out, blisteringly fast" single, and Consequence said "is a blaster, with Lombardo's double-kick drum anchoring the controlled chaos." The one-minute and forty-five second wake-up call of a song is matched with a Displaced/Replaced-crafted clip that offers a scathing critique of the U.S. Supreme Court. Loudwire described the clip as "insane" and Brooklyn Vegan dubbed it "apocalyptic."

"II", while both a raucous hardcore collection, and at times, a politically charged opus, has its roots in friendship, with the band rallying together after Crain received a surprise cancer diagnosis.

"Words can't even begin to describe how much this album means to me. It's birthed of pain and uncertainty," adds Crain. "The slow, excruciatingly painful, and nauseating recovery from cancer treatments were the catalyst for every riff and note on this album. However, my will to live and be with my brothers Justin, Dave, Mike, and co-producer Ross Robinson, got me out of bed and running into the studio every day to get it all on tape."

"II" track listing:

01. Love Without Love
02. Animal Espionage
03. Heart Reformer
04. Strong And Wrong
05. Ants And Dragons
06. Nightclub Canary
07. Christian Missile Crisis
08. Reign Of Error
09. Imposter Syndrome

The "II" album cover was created by Eric Livingston and can be seen below.

Regarding how he decided to move forward with "II", Patton told Rolling Stone: "The other guys started recording it pre-pandemic. But our guitar player got Covid and then got diagnosed with cancer. What do you even say about that? It's like, 'Jesus Christ.' I thought, 'Okay, well, let's shelve this for a while until … ' But man, he was an absolute trooper. And he said, 'No, I need to make this record. It's going to heal me. It's going to make me feel better. It's going to be my cure in a way.' And goddamn it, he was right. And he beat it. And then I was going through some shit, too — not to skirt that — so basically, this record took way longer than it should have."

Asked what made him want to do another DEAD CROSS album in particular, Patton said: "Well, because the first one was so fucking good. We had such a good time when we toured, and it worked. And there are many other projects that I've done in a recording studio that maybe worked as a record, but we didn't tour; you didn't develop a camaraderie, a sense of team. With DEAD CROSS, it did. And it just made me think, 'Yeah, this is something that I got to keep doing.' And when they started recording, and they were sending me stuff, I was like, 'Oh, God. This is amazing.' And it's different. It's a little more nuanced. It's slightly more melodic. And there's more, I think, dynamism in it. And that's right up my alley."

The self-titled debut album from DEAD CROSS was released in August 2017 via Ipecac Recordings.

Five years ago, Patton told Rolling Stone that he got involved with DEAD CROSS after reaching out to Lombardo to see if he could release the band's album on Ipecac. After getting a text from the drummer asking him to join the group, "my jaw dropped," the singer said. "I was like, 'Who, me? Hmm …' And I think it took like all of 30 seconds, but in a sarcastic way, I'm like, 'Yeah, of course. I can do this. Are you sure you want me?' So I kind of second-guessed him a little bit. And he said, 'Man, you'd be our dream vocalist.' And then it was just a matter of logistics. I decided to record it here in my basement, which is fitting. It shouldn't sound too polished."

Photo credit: Becky DiGiglio

Frontiers Music Srl will release the upcoming self-titled debut album from The Erinyes, an exciting new musical force, fronted by not one, not two, but three incredible vocalists: Justine Daaé, Mizuho Lin, and Nicoletta Rosellini, on September 16.


Watch a music video for the song "Death By A Broken Heart" below, and pre-order/save The Erinyes here.


The band name is derived from Greek mythology, where The Erinyes, also known as the Furies, are a trio of chthonic deities of vengeance. The Erinyes’ singers come from exciting, up-and-coming bands on the metal scene. Justine Daaé fronts her own gothic-industrial metal solo act Elyose out of France, Mizuho Lin is co-lead vocalist in Brazilian symphonic/dark metal band Semblant, and Nicoletta Rosellini sings for the Italian bands Walk In Darkness and Kalidia. Their self-titled debut album as The Erinyes is a concept album centered around three amazons who are having a dispute centered around their love interests.




Written and produced by Aldo Lonobile (Secret Sphere, Timo Tolkki’s Avalon, Archon Angel), this an ambitious, glorious symphonic metal album showcasing the incredible vocal talents of these three young singers. The Erinyes is a must hear for fans of Beyond the Black, Delain, Visions of Atlantis, Exit Eden, and the like.





The Erinyes tracklisting:


"Life Needs Love"
"Drown The Flame"
"On My Way To Love"
"Betrayed"
"Death By A Broken Heart"
"Where Do We Go"
"It's Time"
"Someday"
"My Kiss Goodbye"
"Paradise"
"Take Me"
"You And Me Against The World"


"Death By A Broken Heart" video:





"Betrayed" video:





"Drown The Flame" video:





Lineup:


Justine Daaé - Vocals
Nicoletta Rosellini- Vocals
Mizuho Lin- Vocals
Aldo Lonobile – Guitars
Andrea Buratto – Bass
Michele Sanna – Drums
Antonio agate – Keyboards

Helsinki, Finland-based melodic death metal force, Brymir, will release their Napalm Records debut, Voices In The Sky, this Friday, August 26.


Today, the band unleash their third single and official music video, “Fly With Me”. The band proves their remarkable ability to combine immense, clear, earworm choruses with furious growls and heavy breakdowns. This is with no doubt the next band to keep on the radar in modern melodic death metal. Styled in the vein of Ensiferum, Wintersun and Children Of Bodom, they serve a more modernized answer to the melodic death metal equation.


Says the band on “Fly With Me”: "Social media is a wild place - it can a powerful platform for expression but at the same time it is a cesspit of disinformation, hate and bullying. A place where identities are forged and destroyed. This song is about the dangers of getting lost in the digital maze - be careful out there!"







Voices In The Sky marks a hefty next level creation in the vein of Ensiferum, Wintersun and Children Of Bodom, but serves as a more modernized answer to the melodic death metal equation with massive production, deep grooves and air-tight technicality. Nevertheless, Brymir continues to draw inspiration from traditional genres like folk and classical music, all brought together perfectly at the hands of the band and producer mastermind and singer Viktor Storm Gullichsen at JKB Studios, with mastering helmed by Tony Lindgren at Fascination Street Studios.





Voices In The Sky will be available in the following formats:


- 1CD Digisleeve (6 Panels)
- 1LP Gatefold Red (Transparent)
- 1CD Digisleeve + Shirt
- Digital Album


Pre-order here.





Tracklisting:


"Voices In The Sky"
"Forged In War"
"Fly With Me"
"Herald Of Aegir"
"Rift Between Us"
"Landfall"
"Borderland"
"Far From Home"
"Seeds Of Downfall"
"All As One"
"Diabolis Interium" (Bonus)


“Herald Of Aegir” lyric video:





"Voices In The Sky" video:





Lineup:


Viktor Gullichsen - vocals
Joona Björkroth - guitars, backing vocals
Sean Haslam - guitars
Jarkko Niemi – bass, backing vocals
Patrik Fält - drums


(Photo - Janica Lönn)