Australian hard rock band The Poor has just issued a video for their song, "Lies".





"Lies" appears on High Price Deed - the fourth studio from The Poor - released in 2023.







Tracklisting:


"Payback's A Bitch"
"Lover"
"Hurricane"
"This Is The Story"
"Take The World"
"Goin' Down"
"Cry Out"
"Lies"
"I Know It's Wrong"
"Love Shot"
"Let Me Go"
"Too Long"


"Payback's A Bitch":





"Lover":





"Cry Out":





"Let Me Go":





The Poor started out playing the pub circuit in Darwin nearly two decades ago. The plan was simple -, hard rockin’ hard drinkin’ and world domination. In 1992 the band cut their debut release, the EP Rude, Crude & Tattooed, produced by Rick Brewster and Bob Spencer from The Angels and from the opening line you knew it was going to be something great; Aussie pub rock, in your face, no bullsh*t, straight to the point, rock’n’f%&k’n’roll.


In mid 1993, the band recorded their

Tempe, Arizona-based deathgaze unit Kardashev performed at Germany's Euroblast 2024, and have released more professionally-filmed footage from the show. You can now watch video of the band performing "Between Sea And Sky", which joins the previously posted clips for "Snow Sleep" and "Cellar Of Ghosts". See all below.


Said the band: "Kardashev would like to extend a huge thank you to Euroblast and their team of volunteers, photographers, stage hands, FOH engineers, catering, kitchen, vendors and more! And an equally big THANK YOU to The Scream Dudes for their filming and audio work for this performance to be captured for all of you at home to witness! And finally, to our Stage Engineer, Jan Engstfeld, and FOH Engineer, Ramon Smith, for their help in capturing our live performance and making it sound as good as it does!


"Following 16 hours of individual travel by each band member, Jan allowed us 2 days to practice at his studio together with the equipment that we'd use at the Festival. Kardashev had never pra

Speaking with Music Radar, Iron Maiden guitarist Adrian Smith looked back on making the band's 1986 album, Somewhere In Time, which saw him write three songs for the record ("Wasted Years", "Sea Of Madness" and "Stranger In A Strange Land") As Smith tells it, he never intended to share "Wasted Years" with band leader Steve Harris.


Smith: "We were also trying new ideas with that album. I always wanted to make an album that sounded really produced - as opposed to kind of live with a little bit of little bit of fairy dust on it.


I got this Roland guitar synth out of the box from Japan, and when I switched it on it started making this crazy noise - and I just played along to it. It was like a rhythmic thing. So it gave me a song straight away. I had a little four-track demo of it, and it sounded a little bit like U2. You have ideas that you think maybe wouldn't suit the band, so I wasn't even going to play it to Steve, but he heard me playing it in a rehearsal, and he said, 'That’s good. We should do that.'




Steve’s funny like that. You might think he wouldn’t go for it, but he was like, 'Let's try it!' And because Bruce (Dickinson) wasn't around, I just dashed off the words as well. So it was written really quickly. But if Steve hadn’t heard it by accident, I would never have played it to him."


Read the complete story via Music Radar here





Iron Maiden's The Future Past World Tour 2024 wrapped up with their December 7 concert at Allianz Parque in São Paulo, Brazil. The band have released the new recap video below.


Says the band: "Thank you to everyone around the world for making The Future Past Tour one that we’ll never forget!"





Legendary Iron Maiden drummer, Nicko McBrain, has announced that he is stepping away from touring. He played his final show with the band on December 7 in São Paulo.


Iron Maiden shareed official video from the show, which can be viewed below.


Says Bruce Dickinson, addressing the audience, "Tonight is a very special night. As some of you, I think probably all of you will know, because this morning we announced, Nicko announced that he was stepping back from playing live with Iron Maiden. So, for 42 years Nicko's been in this band. He was a drummer before I was a singer, he was a pilot before I was a pilot, and now he's not leaving the band, but he's just not playing live with us anymore. If you do what you gotta do out there tonight, so let him know how much he's loved everybody. So, we have a lot more music to get to tonight, and I want the rest of the night to be a celebration of Nick, a celebration of the joy that he's brought to everybody around the world, not just here in Brazil, alright. And with that, on we go."





McBrain issued the following statement regarding his departure before the show:


"After much consideration, it is with both sorrow and joy, I announce my decision to take a step back from the grind of the extensive touring lifestyle. Today, Sat, Dec 7th, Sao Paulo will be my final gig with Iron Maiden. I wish the band much success moving forward.


"I will, however, remain firmly part of the Iron Maiden family working on a variety of projects, my long time managers, Rod Smallwood and Andy Taylor, have in mind for me. I’ll also be working on a variety of different personal projects and focusing on my existing businesses and ventures, including The British Drum Company, Nicko McBrain’s Drum One, Titanium Tart, and of course, Rock-N-Roll Ribs!


"What can I say? Touring with Maiden the last 42 years has been an incredible journey! To my devoted fan base, you made it all worthwhile and I love you! To my devoted wife, Rebecca, you made it infinitely easier and I love you! To my kids, Justin and Nicholas, thank you for understanding the absences and I love you! To my friends that are always there for me, I love you! To my bandmates, you made it a dream come true and I love you!


"I look into the future with much excitement and great hope! I’ll be seeing you soon, may God bless you all, and, of course, “Up the Irons!”


Manager Rod Smallwood on behalf of Iron Maiden:


“And we all love you too!!


"Thank you for being an irrepressible force behind the drum kit for Maiden for 42 years and my friend for even longer. I speak on behalf of all the band when I say we will miss you immensely!


"Ever since Rock in Rio in 1985 we have had a special relationship with Brazil so to bow out of touring in front of 90,000 fans here in Sao Paulo over 2 nights is poetic and you are deserving of all the accolades I am sure these marvellous fans will give you on this last show.


"Phantom look forward to many more years of working with you on the projects yo

In a new interview with Aftershocks TV, AGNOSTIC FRONT vocalist Roger Miret, who was diagnosed with cancer more than three years ago, was asked if he has given any advice to SICK OF IT ALL frontman Lou Koller who recently underwent surgery to treat an esophageal tumor. He responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "I talked to Lou very briefly, and I understand, and I told him, 'Hey, look, I'm here for you. I'm here if you wanna talk about anything.'

"Some people approach things differently, and myself, I chose to really… It's really weird when you hear those news," Roger explained. "I reintroverted myself. I didn't wanna talk to nobody. I didn't wanna talk to nobody. I just wanted to be by myself with all my thoughts. And, of course, all that GoFundMe stuff [that was started to help me with medical bills], I was very grateful for all that stuff, but still I was fighting all this stuff. And I didn't want people to see me and tubes hanging out of me and stuff like that. And it's just weird. It's just like I needed to be by myself again and recapture all my thoughts. And I think he's going through a little bit of that. He's trying to touch base here and there to let people know he's doing good. I know the outcry from people that love him has been humongous — the same for myself. So we're in good places."

Roger added: "There's a lot of love and support for people like myself, like Lou, New York hardcore and stuff like that. So, all I can say is don't ever get discouraged, if someone's going through that stuff and they don't wanna talk to you or whatever. Some people just need their space, their time. I was so grateful to go back out and tour. I mean, I would talk about it and I would go to tears. Seriously, I'd break down. That's how emotionally of a content it is. So I get it. So, let them do what they gotta do. And hopefully it all works out for Lou. I think if it is, hopefully he could get back out there and do his thing. That's where he'd rather be. I knew that's where I'd rather be."

After Miret was diagnosed with cancer in early 2021, a long road of tests and diagnoses led to a complex initial surgery and lengthy hospital stay. Even though the original surgery was complicated, the results were extremely positive. The cancer was successfully removed and Roger is now in complete remission and all signs of cancer have disappeared.

In October 2021, Roger said that he underwent another surgery after "running a fever for two weeks straight" and developing "an infection."

A GoFundMe page was launched where fans can still donate to help Roger pay medical care costs.

Roger previously discussed his cancer battle during a February 2022 appearance on the "Smokin Word" podcast. He said at the time: "I'm good now. But I was in a place [in early 2021] where I just needed to be in my own head — just wrap around everything. Between everything that's going on in life, and then throw this shit at it, I was not in a good place. But, man, I sit back and think about it now, I've been through a lot of shit — I've been through a lot of hard shit — and I'm, like, man, I keep going through all this fucking crazy hard shit, but my head's pretty together. Don't get me wrong — there's a lot of nights you stay up thinking and thinking and thinking and thinking. When you hear 'cancer,' the first thing you think is you're gonna die tomorrow. And you've got kids, and you start thinking and thinking, thinking about, 'Man, somehow, some way I'll pull through.' I figured I've gotta pull through. And that was the same situation back in the late '80s when I got incarcerated. I was, like, you pull through — you hold your head up high and pull through. Even back then, in the late '80s, when I had to go through incarceration, it was good for me to be by myself; I needed to… [This time] I didn't wanna see nobody, I didn't wanna talk to nobody. I did a lot of walks by myself. I did a lot of self-isolation. And when everything got finally put out there, I'm grateful that a lot of people gave me my space. 'Cause I know a lot of people worldwide, and everybody was concerned, everybody's, like, 'What's happening?' And I get it, but I really didn't wanna talk about anything; I just wanted to be in my space. The only person I talked to were doctors — so many fucking doctors; so many fucking injections, surgeries, scans. I've got more poison in my body… I'm actually surprised I'm walking."

Born in Cuba, Miret fled with his family to the U.S. to escape the Castro regime. He joined AGNOSTIC FRONT in 1983, and the seminal New York harcore group released classics like "United Blood", "Victim In Pain" and "Cause For Alarm" over the next several years.

In 2017, Miret released a memoir, "My Riot: Agnostic Front, Grit, Guts, And Glory", which documented his struggles to adapt to life in the U.S. after his family fled the Castro regime. According to the Phoenix New Times, the book delved into many facets of Miret's life: the grinding poverty of his childhood; living as a teenager squatter; becoming deeply enmeshed in downtown New York’s hardcore scene; and later turning to drug-running to support his family.

In addition to fronting AGNOSTIC FRONT, Miret has also played with ROGER MIRET AND THE DISASTERS and is a member of THE ALLIGATORS.

For the past several years, Roger has resided in Scottsdale, Arizona.

Swedish high-energy rock 'n' roll royalty THE HELLACOPTERS have released the second single from their upcoming studio album "Overdriver", which will see the light of day on January 31, 2025, via Nuclear Blast Records. "(I Don't Wanna Be) Just A Memory" sees the band take on the (post)modern preoccupation with nostalgia.

Forgoing influences like the MC5 and KISS, "(I Don't Wanna Be) Just A Memory" nods more to powerpop pioneers THE WHO, THE RASPBERRIES and even BADFINGER with its major/minor shifts, offering up hidden harmonic treasures while still beating to the 'COPTERS' signature driving pulse.

Like past favorites "No Song Unheard" and "Carry Me Home", "(I Don't Wanna Be) Just A Memory" reminds us of the band's unique capacity to temper their furious-paced action rock with a songwriting sensibility that transcends their genre.

Of course, there's also an audio-visual treat in the form of a brand new music video for the track by director Emil Klinta, which includes behind-the-scenes footage from the recording sessions. You can watch it below.

Less than three years after their triumphant, chart-storming comeback record "Eyes Of Oblivion", which entered at No. 1 in their home country and at No. 3 in Germany, Sweden's most consistently great rock outfit is back with another banger of an album. "Overdriver" was recorded at Strawberry Studio and The Honk Palace and is the first HELLACOPTERS album entirely produced by Nicke Andersson. As you might expect from a HELLACOPTERS album, it's filled to the brim with roaring guitars and earth-shattering grooves, fist-raising energy and anthemic choruses, while keeping the variety richer than ever before. The striking cover for "Overdriver" was created by German illustrator Max Löffler.

"Overdriver" track listing:

01. Token Apologies
02. Don't Let Me Bring You Down
03. (I Don't Wanna Be) Just A Memory
04. Wrong Face On
05. Soldier On
06. Doomsday Daydreams
07. Faraway Looks
08. Coming Down
09. Do You Feel Normal
10. The Stench
11. Leave A Mark

THE HELLACOPTERS released their eighth studio album, "Eyes Of Oblivion", on April 1, 2022. It marked the first full-length since the release of their temporary farewell record "Head Off" in 2008, which Nuclear Blast Records reissued in October 2024. "Eyes Of Oblivion" was met with massive acclaim from fans and media alike. Charting at No. 1 in Sweden, No. 3 in Germany, No. 6 in Finland, the band celebrated a triumphant return culminating in a show with the mighty IRON MAIDEN in Gothenburg in July 2022, and apart from their own string of shows, gigs with GHOST in Germany in June 2023. Eager to keep the rock flowing, February 16, 2024 saw THE HELLACOPTERS release not one, but two stunning versions of their classic "Grande Rock" album, which was originally released in 1999. "Grande Rock Revisited" included a remastered original version and a remixed and partially re-recorded version showing how the album could have sounded in a parallel universe with guitarist Dregen being in the band at the time. After making rock grande again, the group set sights on new material, debuting the phenomenal single "Stay With You" in May 2024 and releasing it as a limited seven-inch single via Lightning Records.

Finnish hard rock monsters LORDI are set to release their highly anticipated 19th studio album, "Limited Deadition", on March 21, 2025 via Reigning Phoenix Music (RPM). The LP is spearheaded by the electrifying lead single, "Syntax Terror", a track that thrusts listeners into a game-like world with spacy melodies, thunderous riffs, and irresistibly catchy hooks.

LORDI leader Mr. Lordi comments: "The writing of this song started out with its main keyboard riff. I played around with those mono sounds, trying to come up with something with a very '80s-action-movie-opening-score feel. 'Syntax Terror' actually almost became the album title, but then it was discovered that other people have had the same idea way before I did. On the verses I was thinking of JUDAS PRIEST, on the chorus of MANOWAR and — as icing on the cake — Udo Dirkschneider-type of screams to belch out the title. Don't ask what the lyrics are about. 'Syntax Terror' is a very '80s-heavy-metal-style song, painting abstract pictures with every line!"

Already generating excitement among fans, the single promises to be a highlight in LORDI's monstrous catalog.

Known for their theatrical style and unique blend of 1980s-inspired rock and heavy metal, LORDI's latest creation is a nostalgic celebration of retro '80s toys, infused with a fresh and powerful energy. Building on the success of their 2023 album "Screem Writers Guild", "Limited Deadition" ventures into heavier riffs and faster tempos, creating a soundscape that is both familiar and invigorating.

Recorded at IluSound Studio and Finnvox Studios in Helsinki, "Limited Deadition" was produced by Mr. Lordi, mixed by Ilkka Herkman and mastered by Pauli Saastamoinen. As always, Mr. Lordi took charge of the album's striking artwork and layout, channeling his passion for '80s memorabilia into every detail.

"It's some kind of sibling album to its predecessor," Mr. Lordi explains. "We're still walking the path of AOR-inspired music, but this time, with a more metal touch in terms of riffs and tempo. We've always written what felt right and natural, and this album is no exception."

The thematic heart of "Limited Deadition" lies in Mr. Lordi's lifelong obsession with collecting, inspired by the action figures and toys of his childhood.

"The album topic of '80s toys is actually just a loose theme, but it's been accompanying me since I was little," he says. "I've always been a collector of various stuff, and I'm even some kind of a hoarder. I can't even remember which my first own toy was, but my obsession basically started with 'Muppet Show' dolls, followed by 'Star Wars' and 'E.T.' figures, with the latter actually being my favorite movie of all time."

The album opens with "SCG XIX The Hexecutioners", setting the stage for an exciting blend of cinematic and melodic heavy rock. Tracks like "Legends Are Made Of Clichés" and "Skelephant In The Room" highlight LORDI's knack for creating larger-than-life anthems. Meanwhile, the poignant ballad "Collectable" reflects on the fleeting value of physical objects in a digital world, while the title track, "Limited Deadition", makes a bold statement celebrating collectors and their passion.

"Limited Deadition" track listing:

01. SCG XIX The Hexecutioners
02. Legends Are Made Of Clichés
03. Syntax Terror
04. Skelephant In The Room
05. SCGTV Saturday Night Main Event
06. Killharmonic Orchestra
07. Collectable
08. SCGTV Monstersquad Action Figures
09. Fangoria
10. Hellizabeth
11. SCGTV The Hexecutioners Seasion
12. Retropolis
13. Frighteousness
14. SCGTV Crazee Ralph Promo
15. Limited Deadition
16. You Might Be Deceased

To support the release, LORDI will embark on a global "Limited Deadition" tour, beginning in Finland and expanding internationally. Fans can expect a monstrous spectacle, complete with new tricks and surprises.

"Limited Deadition" will be available on all major streaming platforms and in physical formats on March 21, 2025. Pre-orders for the album and tour tickets are now live. With the explosive single "Syntax Terror" already setting the tone, fans can prepare for an unforgettable addition to the LORDIverse.

LORDI 2025 tour dates:

March 21 - FI Tampere - Tavara-asema
March 22 - FI Helsinki - Tavastia-klubi
March 25 - PL Warsaw - Progresja
March 26 - PL Gdansk - B90
March 28 - NL Amstelveen - P60
March 29 - NL Drachten - Poppoadium Iduna
March 30 - NL Sittard - Poppodium Volt
April 02 - UK Wolverhampton - Wulfrun Hall
April 03 - UK Newcastle - NX
April 05 - UK Manchester - Academy 2
April 06 - UK Glasgow - Galvanizers SWG3
April 08 - UK London - Islington Assembly Hall
April 09 - UK Bristol - SWX
April 11 - FR Savigny-le-Temple - L'Empreinte
April 12 - FR Saint-Lô - Le Normandy
April 13 - BE Sint-Niklaas - De Casino
April 15 - FR Lyon (Villeurbanne) - La Rayonne
April 16 - FR Strasbourg (Ostwald) - Le Point d'Eau
April 17 - FR Montbéliard - L'Axone
August 02 - CZ Ostrava - Ostrava v plamenech

Photo credit: Marek Sabogal

Former GUNS N' ROSES and current ART OF ANARCHY guitarist Ron "Bumblefoot" Thal spoke to Meltdown of Detroit's WRIF radio station about his upcoming instrumental album, "Bumblefoot ...Returns!", set for release on January 24, 2025.

"The very first album that I ever put out on Shrapnel Records [in 1995], it was this instrumental guitar album called 'The Adventures Of Bumblefoot'," Thal said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET). "And it was just a bunch of weird guitar music. And since then I always did vocal stuff and stuff with bands and everything. And then, during the pandemic, I got the itch. I was, like, 'Let me do a bunch more instrumental things and put out an album.' And yeah, it's coming out."

Regarding how he got Brian May and Steve Vai to guest on the album, Ron said: "[Brian and I] have corresponded here and there for the past 15 years or so. And same with Steve — for, like, 10 years. So, I asked them. And Guthrie Govan I've known since we were teenagers, since 1989. I was in a guitar magazine, and he wrote to me. He was, like, 'Hi, I'm a guitarist. I live in the U.K. Check out my demo.' And I'm, like, 'Cool, cool.' And we became penpals. We'd write each other handwritten letters and send cassettes back and forth of just all our little demos, and we've been friends ever since."

Asked if the guest appearances were recorded remotely or if he was in the room with May when the QUEEN guitarist laid down his track, Thal said: "These days people do things remotely; it's most common that everyone works remotely when they're doing guest stuff. And you record it at your own studio, you send it to the people and they put it into the multi-tracks, and good to go.

"As you're working on songs, you could just imagine certain people that would fit with the song," Ron added. "Like the song with Brian May, it wasn't the original plan [to have him on it]. I was just making a song, but by the time the song was really coming together and all the parts were there and I was hearing it, it was, like, 'My God. This song wouldn't be complete without him. It needs his playing just to make it what it's meant to be.' So I asked him. And he did it. And over the years we've done a couple of things together. We've done festivals where we played with each other on stage, doing things. There's a festival he's involved with called Starmus. It is a mix of astrophysics and music. So they have all these incredible geniuses giving lectures and then they have a bunch of musicians that that play and put on concerts and everything, all combined. And we've done two of those together, and next year there's gonna be more."

Thal went on to praise May as a human being, saying: "Everyone that's guests on the album are all wonderful souls or I wouldn't want them on the album. That's first and foremost. But he absolutely is just such a sweet, wonderful guy. And he's as smart as they get."

"Bumblefoot ...Returns!" will arrive 30 years after Thal's debut solo instrumental album. On the new LP, Bumblefoot revisits his roots with a 14-track masterpiece that spans genres from metal to orchestral to blues.

The album's opening track, "Simon In Space", serves as its first single, delivering an electrifying ride through chaos and intensity. In addition to the single, an animated music video created by Bumblefoot and animator Radek Grabinski is also available, as well as a retro-inspired video game, which is coming soon.

Bumblefoot commented: "From an early age, my passions were guitar and astrophysics, cosmology — the song 'Simon In Space' merges the two. Simon is my cat, haha; that's him featured in the artwork."

Soon fans will be able to immerse themselves in a retro-inspired video game based on the single. More details will be announced soon.

"Bumblefoot ...Returns!" features collaborations with iconic musicians, including Brian May, Steve Vai, Guthrie Govan, Derek Sherinian, Jerry Gaskill and others, showcasing Bumblefoot's innovative guitar techniques, such as his signature fretless guitar and "thimble technique."

On the album, Bumblefoot shared: "It's been 30 years since releasing the debut 'Adventures Of Bumblefoot' on Shrapnel Records, and I haven't done a fully instrumental album since. Writing during the pandemic, these songs became a soundtrack to my life — from heavy fretless growls to bluesy tributes to legends like Lonnie Johnson. It's a reflection of the moments that shaped me."

He added: "Working on WHOM GODS DESTROY's album inspired growling heavy fretless parts like 'Simon In Space'. Watching a blues documentary inspired 'Moonshine Hootenanny'. Losing loved ones led to writing 'Funeral March'. Songs become a soundtrack to our lives."

The album is available for pre-order now on vinyl, CD, and cassette, with exclusive merch bundles at bumblefoot.com.

"Bumblefoot ...Returns!" track listing:

01. Simon In Space
02. Planetary Lockdown
03. Moonshine Hootenanny
04. Chopin Waltz Op64 No2
05. Monstruoso (featuring Steve Vai)
06. Monstruoso II – Departure
07. Cintaku
08. Once in Forever (featuring Brian May)
09. Andalusia
10. Anveshana (featuring Guthrie Govan)
11. Funeral March (featuring Ben Karas)
12. Griggstown Crossing
13. The Thread
14. Liftoff

Thal joined GUNS N' ROSES in 2006 and appeared on 2008's "Chinese Democracy", an effort which contained music that had been written before he came into the group. The disc took 13 years to make and was only a modest seller, moving just around half a million copies.

Thal never officially announced his departure from the GN'R, but a source confirmed to Detroit music writer Gary Graff back in 2015 that the guitarist had been out since the end of the band's second Las Vegas residency in 2014.

Thal later revealed that he was focusing on his solo career and other projects after spending eight years playing in GUNS.

Thal spent a few years recording and touring with SONS OF APOLLO, which also featured drummer Mike Portnoy, keyboardist Derek Sherinian and bassist Billy Sheehan. SONS OF APOLLO released its second studio album, "MMXX" (pronounced: 20/20),in January 2020 via InsideOut Music/Sony.

ART OF ANARCHY's third studio album, "Let There Be Anarchy", was released in February 2024 via Pavement Music.

Joining founding ART OF ANARCHY members Jon Votta (guitar),Vince Votta (drums) and Thal in the band's new lineup are vocalist Jeff Scott Soto (YNGWIE MALMSTEEN, JOURNEY, SONS OF APOLLO) and bassist Tony Dickinson (SOTO, TRANS-SIBERIAN ORCHESTRA).

METALLICA's fourth "Helping Hands Concert & Auction", which will take place December 13 at YouTube Theater in Los Angeles, will be made available on YouTube beginning on December 19.

METALLICA says: "We can't wait to hit the stage at YouTube Theater tomorrow night for the 'Helping Hands Concert & Auction', and we're psyched to announce that we'll be bringing the event to the world less than a week later! So, if you can't join us in Los Angeles, don't worry; you'll be able to watch the show on YouTube beginning December 19 at 12 PM PST / 3 PM EST / 8 PM GMT / 9 PM CET."

In addition to METALLICA, this year's fourth "Helping Hands Concert & Auction" will feature a performance by Sammy Hagar, Michael Anthony, Joe Satriani and Kenny Aronoff, as wella as by SistaStrings, the sisters-turned-classically trained duo named 2023's "best instrumentalist" by the Americana Music Association.

Hosted once again by Jimmy Kimmel, this year's event will mark the return of All Within My Hands' "Helping Hands Concert & Auction" to Los Angeles — where the previous "Helping Hands" show in December 2022 raised approximately $3,000,000 — 100% of which went directly to All Within My Hands' efforts supporting workforce education, the fight against hunger, disaster relief and other critical local services — and featured appearances by Robert Downey Jr., Tony Hawk, St. Vincent, leaders from six of AWMH's non-profit partner organizations and a set by GRETA VAN FLEET, all culminating in a very special acoustic/electric performance from METALLICA.

All Within My Hands' fourth "Helping Hands Concert & Auction" promises to be another unforgettable night of music and philanthropy. This year's lineup will be announced shortly, along with amazing items and experiences to be auctioned off, all to benefit the Foundation, with 100% of ticket and auction proceeds going directly to those in need.

Established in 2017 as a way to give back to communities that have supported METALLICA over the years, All Within My Hands has raised over $15 million — providing $8.2 million in grants to career and technical education programs including the ground-breaking Metallica Scholars Initiative, now in its sixth year, over $3.6 million to combat food insecurity, more than $3.5 million to disaster relief efforts.

All Within My Hands was established by METALLICA to invest in the people and places that have supported the band. It also allows METALLICA's fans to engage in philanthropy and volunteerism. The Foundation is dedicated to creating sustainable communities through workforce education, the fight against hunger, and other critical local services. All expenses of the Foundation are covered by the band, the board, and a few special friends so that 100 percent of donations go to the organizations it supports. AWMH is a registered 501(c)3 non-profit organization.

Last year, All Within My Hands donated a portion of all ticket sales from METALLICA's "M72" world tour back into the communities visited during each tour stop. In partnership with local promoters, the Foundation worked diligently to find organizations that aligned with the AWMH mission and actively put funds to use to better the lives of people in need.

The METALLICA family and the All Within My Hands foundation board members are committed to running an organization of the highest integrity where expenses are kept to a minimum and are paid for entirely by the band, the board, and friends who have worked with the band over many years and are excited to help in this mission. As such, 100% of all donations from fans and third parties go to the organizations AWMH supports.

In January 2022, METALLICA announced the appointment of Peter Delgrosso as executive director to All Within My Hands. Pete had served on AWMH advisory board since 2018 and is focused on the future of the foundation.

METALLICA's 2021 "The Metallica Blacklist" compilation generated more than $1 million in donations. All the profits from the "Blacklist" project were divided evenly between All Within My Hands and charities chosen by the participating artists.

In a new interview with Australia's "Everblack" podcast, Billy Corgan from THE SMASHING PUMPKINS brought up METALLICA while discussing whether THE SMASHING PUMPKINS have ever performed their "Tales Of A Scorched Earth" song — which originally appeared on the band's 1995 album "Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness" — live before. Billy said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): " Well, let me caveat this by saying that I love James Hetfield as a person. I love METALLICA; I saw them in 1984 and all that great stuff. And James is probably the greatest riff writer outside of maybe [BLACK SABBATH's] Tony Iommi. James has written some of the greatest, most amazing riffs, and he's still writing them. But if you listen to 'Tales Of A Scorched Earth' and you listen to that METALLICA song ['Fuel' from 1997's 'Reload' album], 'Give me fuel, give me fire, give me that which I desire.' See — a little lightbulb went off in your brain… Now, which song came first?"

After the interviewer noted that "Tales Of A Scorched Earth" was released two years before "Fuel", Corgan said: "God bless you… Now, I don't think James would rip anything off from me, but the first time I heard that song, I was, like, 'That's awfully close.' But I love me some James. And I'd love somebody trying to get a troll headline out that, some clickbait out of that."

Billy added: "My father used to say, 'Look, there's only 12 notes.' So, that's the great thing. We all rip each other off, and if it works, great. I've got no problem with that. I mean, I've certainly ripped METALLICA off plenty, so…"

Back in 2010, Corgan picked METALLICA's "Master Of Puppets" as one of his favorite metal bands of all time, telling Music Radar about the LP: "[It's] the perfect combo of blitzing riffs matched with the beginnings of Hetfield finding that melodies weren't just something in the way of his robotic right hand. This is smart metal at its greatest level."

You might not guess it listening to SMASHING PUMPKINS, but Corgan is a serious metalhead. After all, he calls Iommi "my hero." In April 2023, Revolver sat down with Corgan to discuss his Top 11 picks for the greatest heavy metal bands of all time, and he dug deep, spotlighting everyone from PANTERA and SLAYER to MERCYFUL FATE and RAINBOW, sharing stories and insights along the way.

Regarding PANTERA, Corgan said: "PANTERA I got to see many times live. I knew the band back in the day. 'Dimebag' Darrell even gave me a guitar, which I treasure. PANTERA was one of those bands in the early '90s that not everybody on the alternative side of the equation understood right away because they were seen as just a straight-up metal band. But eventually I think a lot of people in alternative music recognized that PANTERA was one of those bands that sort of transcended genres. I think thematically and the way they changed metal and the way people played metal ever afterwards, I think it almost puts them in too small a category. And like the great metal bands, they tend to almost create their own category of music."

Corgan called SLAYER "probably my favorite all-time super-heavy band. But, in a way, it's almost impossible to say that because, as somebody once told me, SLAYER makes SLAYER music. Calling SLAYER heavy, hard rock or metal — only SLAYER sounds like SLAYER. So I think they always need a category unto themselves. I was lucky enough to see SLAYER twice on their last, I guess, farewell tour. I think I saw the fifth to last show in Romania. And I saw SLAYER in 1984 on the 'Reign In Blood' tour. [Editor's note: 'Reign In Blood' was released in 1986.] I was by myself with my goth hair; believe it or not, I once had goth hair. It was a little bit scary in there at the Aragon Ballroom during the 'Reign In Blood' tour. But what an incredible band. I mean, what do you say?"

Corgan called Iommi "my hero" in an interview with Kerrang! magazine in 2022, saying: "Tony wrote those riffs that, when you hear him, it's like a movie. In my mind, I always call it 'Cosmic Sabbath. When I would listen to SABBATH, I felt like I was peering into the universe. That's the way it made me feel, even as a little kid."

Photo credit: Jason Renaud

In a recent interview with The Blairing Out With Eric Blair Show, former ACCEPT and current U.D.O. bassist Peter Baltes was asked about the status of his long-awaited solo album. He responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Yeah, I've been working on it. And I was really gonna go for it because I had certain players in mind to play it. [One of them was DEEP PURPLE keyboardist] Don Airey. Then he was on tour, so I couldn't get him. And then [former ACCEPT and current U.D.O. singer] Udo [Dirkschneider] called me: 'Can you help me out [by playing bass for U.D.O. on tour]?' And since he called me, I've been on the road or recording with him. I did [Udo's] 'My Way' album and I played on the last [U.D.O.] album [2023's 'Touchdown']. I didn't have any time and it's killing me. I'm going home now for three weeks, and I've gotta spend time with my wife… And then we're going to South America and we're going back to Europe. Then I have December. Then I have something to do with the DATOG [DIRKSCHNEIDER & THE OLD GANG] album. We just recorded that. Then the end of February, the European tour starts. So there is no continuous like four or six weeks I could dive in. I don't know. That's how it's gonna be. That's how it's gonna live — song by song, piece by piece I have to put it together."

Regarding the musical direction of his solo material, Baltes said: "It's really like old progressive, EMERSON, LAKE & PALMER meets [DEEP] PURPLE meets RUSH meets MOTÖRHEAD. It's all in there in my own little world that I am. And it's very bass driven. And I'm struggling so much because I don't know if I should sing it myself. And then I could never do it live because I'm not a frontman; I play bass. I didn't wanna stand there sing at the same time; that wouldn't be me. So there had to be a singer there anyway. So I figured I'm gonna sing it, get it all finished, and then I'm gonna find a singer or have somebody sing it. And then I just alternate the ones that I really like where I'm on, keep them and everything else, [have] somebody else [sing those]."

When Blair noted that Baltes's vocal performance on some of the old ACCEPT records was "fantastic", Peter said: "Well, you can never tell by yourself, but I did some background vocals on a SCORPIONS album, because I come really high. I do like it. And next year when we do [a tour celebrating] 40 years [f ACCEPT's] 'Balls To The Wall' [album under the DIRKSCHNEIDER banner], we're gonna play the entire album. I'm gonna pick one of the old ballads that we never played and we're gonna play that live. And it's just gonna be a nice special treat for the fans."

This past October, Baltes launched a GoFundMe campaign to assist him and his wife in repairing their home in Nokomis, Florida due to damages caused by Hurricane Milton. Only $2,783 was raised of the campaign's initial $10,000 goal.

In October 2023, Peter spoke to Jorge Botas of Portugal's Metal Global about his decision to exit ACCEPT in 2018 after spending more than three decades with the Wolf Hoffmann-led outfit. He said: "Everybody knows now. I did a lot of interviews, and I really don't wanna talk about it anymore, but basically we used to go up as a band, as friends and stuff, and then these things change business-wise and music-wise. And then it always seems that somebody wants all the influence. Once you're not involved anymore in the decision making, what's the point? I'm not interested in that. So I left."

He added: "In order to be creative and in a good spirit, you have to feel good about what you're doing. That's the number one reason you're doing it in the first place that you started. If you go back, when you were really little and how you started, it was just a love for music. You had no idea how good you were. If you ever had talent, that all didn't matter because you just worked hard on it, and that's where you ended up.

"I had a lot of fans write, 'Why did he leave the mighty ACCEPT and join the little U.D.O.?' And they just don't get it. It doesn't matter — it really does not matter."

In June 2023, Baltes discussed his departure from ACCEPT in an interview with Rock And A Hard Place. The now-66-year-old bassist said: "I wasn't the happiest person in ACCEPT before. In my life, every day counts. When you reach my age, I wanna enjoy my life and I don't wanna do anything I don't like. I have that right now."

Asked if Udo's exit from ACCEPT was caused by the singer's disagreements with Wolf and Hoffmann's then-wife Gaby Hoffmann, who also managed ACCEPT for several decades, Peter said: "The problem was always between Wolf and his wife and Udo. I never had a problem with Udo. I guess [Udo] wasn't sophisticated enough. He was a blue-collar guy. He was a singer. It never worked out between them. They just hated each other.

"I said that in another interview a while ago, I said here we made the biggest mistake," he continued. "I was asked, actually, by Metal Hammer [what I thought] the worst ACCEPT album [was], and I said it must have been [1989's] 'Eat The Heat' [which featured David Reece on vocals], because we left our true destiny. The singer, which was the sound of the band, is gone, and we try with an American singer to sound like DEF LEPPARD. What a stupid idea there.

"I think in 2005 we did a reunion tour with Udo. But I kept in touch with Stefan [Kaufmann, former ACCEPT drummer], and through him with Udo. Wolf and Gaby always had their [spats with Udo] back and forth in the media, and I kept out of that."

Peter added: "I told the guys in the [later version of ACCEPT], because they all chimed in, 'Eff Udo,' this and that. And I'm thinking, 'Without Udo, you wouldn't be in this band. You're the singer now and you're drummer. You're all humping on Udo. You never met the man, first of all. You never said a word to him. It is so easy to judge somebody. Without him, you would be nowhere.'"

Asked if he felt like he was stuck in the middle between Hoffmann camp and Dirkschneider, Peter said: "Of course. You grow up together, and you have a band. Fans — people who follow a band — for them it's hard to fathom and understand what you're going through, because you spend half a lifetime together or even longer. And you trust people. And then trust is betrayed. And you think, 'Why? What is there to gain? A little bit more money? Power? Is that it?' And I guess that is what it is. Certain people need control; they can't let go. And if they don't have it, they're not happy."

Baltes also reflected on the Mark Tornillo era of ACCEPT, which began with the "Blood Of The Nations" album and has produced five more LPs so far.

"In the end, when you mention ACCEPT albums, yeah, the first one was really good because that was stuff that mostly I had accumulated over the years," Peter said. "So Wolf and I wrote that first album together; that was killer. But after that, it was so predictable — it was the same riff; it's the same thing. So we were very divided. One side just wanted… I'll never forget that — he said, 'We can just do this and ride in the sunset together.' And I said, 'I think I have a different sunset in mind,' because I wanna be relevant with my music. I don't wanna just keep my fans happy and don't go anywhere else and just keep doing this. I wanna evolve; I wanna explore things. I come from a progressive background — EMERSON, LAKE & PALMER, things like this. So I was, like, 'This is the same stupid riff again, the same vocal line. Just another word.' I didn't wanna do it. [There were] too many things that were just bad — financial situations, trust issues, musical [ideas]. Everything was wrong. So that's why I left."

Baltes previously discussed his departure from ACCEPT in an interview with Finland's Chaoszine. At the time he said: "Well, it was… maybe the last two years, it started to go down. I didn't like it anymore. And I found out some things — I don't wanna elaborate — but I found out some things that are really not nice. I'd been together with Wolf my whole life, and that wasn't really necessary. Some people have to have all the control, and when it started going into the artistic control, then it really bothered me more. So I really wasn't into it anymore. And I was glad I did it, because it was 2018, and it was the last tour. And then corona happened anyway, so I got to record a lot of different albums. I played on Mick Mars's [MÖTLEY CRÜE] solo album. I did so many different things. And I was writing music for television and radio anyway, so I had two years of working [on] other stuff that I wasn't used to. And then, on the other hand, sitting at home for two years, when Udo called [and asked me to join U.D.O. and DIRKSCHNEIDER], that's why I took about five minutes to answer."

Peter's latest comments are similar to those he made in March 2023 in an interview with Scott Itter of Dr. Music. At the time, he said about his exit from ACCEPT: "The statement that came from the band literally five minutes after I announced that I'm leaving [back in November 2018], that I wanna spend more time with my family, well, that wasn't true. No, no. I was extremely unhappy. And I found out a few things. I'd been in the band forever, and I found out in the end, in this incarnation of ACCEPT, I wasn't even really a member; I was a hired gun. And it's these things that come out where you don't have any input, insight, and you start getting bitter. And there's no reason to, but somebody else's ego is just so big or whatever — two of 'em — that it just takes them there, and they just need to control everything and have everything and you name it. That's what got Udo out back then, and I think in the end it hit everybody. So I was the last one standing, but I couldn't stand it anymore. I needed happiness in my life, and there was no happiness there. It was just a dead horse. So I left after the tour. And in my case, it was the best I ever could have done."

Baltes was replaced in ACCEPT by Martin Motnik.

Three years ago, Hoffmann was asked by SiriusXM's "Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk" if he had had a chance to talk to Peter since his departure from ACCEPT and if he had gotten clarification on why Baltes left the group. Wolf said: "No, man. That's kind of the sad part about it. He kind of made that decision alone, and we never really had a sitdown and a man-to-man talk that I was hoping we'd have. He just announced it to the world, and that was it, and at that point, it was almost too late. I have to respect his decision.

"I miss him very much, and I think he's always gonna be my buddy or whatever," Wolf continued. "But right now, we don't really have much in common. Because when somebody leaves the band, it's usually that we never really see them much again, as sad as it is. I wish we would, and maybe one day we will. But right now, we don't, really. But we didn't have any fights or anything. I can only speculate why he left the band, but I'd rather not."

Hoffmann was also asked if he was surprised to see Baltes working with Udo on some new music in 2020. He responded: "Yeah, I probably shouldn't say much about that. Again, I can only speculate what that was all about. At the end of the day, we do our thing, and everybody has to know for themselves what they wanna do. Yeah, let me not say as much about that as I can, please."

In January 2021, Hoffmann told Australia's Metal Mal that he was "a little bit heartbroken" when Baltes left ACCEPT. "I felt it was not only a sad day for ACCEPT, it was also a sad day for rock and roll, or heavy metal, in general, because I thought we were gonna be doing this until the sun goes down — I don't know; until forever," he said. "But he all of a sudden decided otherwise, and he made that decision, and that was it. And that's sad, but what can you do, man? I decided, along with everybody else, the show must go on, and we continue without him. So this is what we did. And here's the new album — without Peter. But it's still sad. I still miss him sometimes. It's just the way it is."

In November 2019, Hoffmann told Powermetal.cl that he no longer kept in touch with Baltes after the bassist exited the group a year earlier. "Unfortunately, when somebody leaves the band, they're always kind of out of sight, out of mind," Wolf explained. "It's very sad. I wish it wasn't that way, because we've been friends for so long. But the reality is I haven't really heard from him — even though I reached out a couple of times. He's almost like he wants to disappear or he wants to leave the music business altogether. It's sad and I still don't quite understand what really happened. But it is what it is, and we move on."

Reba Meyers, the Grammy-nominated vocalist and guitar player of CODE ORANGE and current touring guitarist for Marilyn Manson, has released her debut solo single, "Certain Uncertainty", accompanied by a video directed by Greg Puciato (BETTER LOVERS, THE BLACK QUEEN, THE DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN).

"I'm finding that I have the space only now in my life to have a bird's eye view on my adolescence, and that perspective, and current time of growth made it the perfect moment to begin to release solo material. A moment I've been sure would eventually come, thought I never knew exactly how it would look," says Meyers, reflecting on her decision to release music under her own name. "With that, I get to experience the rewarding and nerve-wracking process of allowing myself the platform to be a more vulnerable person, and to explore that natural foundation proudly outside of how I've maybe been portrayed."

The five-minute track sees Meyers untethered, exploring new territory, displaying a raw, introspective and dynamic side to her multiple talents while pushing well past the boundaries of her heavy music roots. Collaborating on the single are Gil Sharone (drums) and Judy Meyers (violin),with Reba herself performing the remaining instruments and programming. "Certain Uncertainty" was mixed by Josh Wilbur.

"Certain Uncertainty" is available now across all major streaming services, with a limited-edition cassette available exclusively via the newly launched Rebameyers.com.

In tandem with the release, Reba is partnering with the Braddock Youth Project, a Pennsylvania-based organization that supports youth in creating their own sustainable community development projects. A pair of shirts featured on her site will benefit the non-profit organization.

Meyers is a guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter hailing from Pittsburgh. Best known as a founding member of the acclaimed band CODE ORANGE, she has earned a reputation as a fearless and innovative artist. In 2020 she became the first female signature artist in ESP guitar history with the arrival of her LTD RM-600.

Meyers has been playing concerts as part of Manson's band since he kicked off a summer tour on August 2, and she also made an appearance in the music video for Manson's single "Raise The Red Flag".

Earlier this year, the reunited expanded classic lineup of German power metallers HELLOWEEN signed with Reigning Phoenix Music (RPM) for the release of their next studio album. The band entered the studio this past summer to begin work on the follow-up to 2021's acclaimed self-titled effort, with plans to issue the LP in 2025.

Asked by Spain's MariskalRockTV when fans will be able to hear the first single from the upcoming LP, HELLOWEEN singer Andi Deris said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Okay. I'm very careful here. Very carefully, I would say February would be a first single. The whole album, I reckon, would be beginning of summer '25."

Andi went on to say that the drums for the new HELLOWEEN album are still being recorded. "[The other guys] will be here in [my] studio in Tenerife [Spain] on the 20th of December. And then we start overdubbing guitars, solos and two or three rhythm guitars we have to finish here and start mainly with the vocals. Michael [Kiske, HELLOWEEN singer] will be here, Kai [Hansen, HELLOWEEN guitarist/vocalist] will be here, and myself certainly.

"That's the rough plan at the moment, so I would reckon that we finish everything in January," he explained. "And then that's why I'm saying, I hope that the first teaser or single will be somewhere mid or end of February."

Regarding the musical direction of the new HELLOWEEN material, Andi said: "I love two or three songs from Kai. [They're] super crazy, and I love 'em to death. Weiki [guitarist Michael Weikath] has a great song as well. My songs are certainly always good. [Laughs] [That's a] joke, joke, joke. But I think we have lots of great songs, definitely. Super-nice hooks, lots of positive sing-alongs. So, yeah, I think this is something that we probably may need in the times to come. [Laughs] Very positive, I have to say. So I would say 80 percent of the album is super positive. Sometimes very fast and heavy, but positive. Good, good mood. And we have a ballad. Finally, we have a ballad."

In a separate interview with Australia's The Rockpit, Kiske said that he would "be flying to Tenerife [on the] 3rd of January to start working on vocals [at Mi Sueño Studio, owned by Deris], trying to figure out vocal parts. Sometimes they still have to do lyrics, but then figuring out who does what and trying things out. I'm looking forward to it, because it's really cold and gray and dark here [in Germany] at the moment. So I don't mind flying over there for a couple of weeks."

Earlier this month, Deris was asked by The Metal Command how the material for HELLOWEEN's next album compares to that on "Helloween". He said: "I'd say it's much more easy listening, because there's less constructed stuff on it. It's more flowing with the wind, so to say. It's very, very positive, so I would rather say it's more happy, happy HELLOWEEN than the other album. I think it's a bit more… yeah, the flow is, for my taste, not as edgy as the last album, which was cool — I like edgy stuff — but we should have more or less some counterpart to edgy, more exhausting things. The last album, for me, was great to listen through — it was edgy, it was heavy, it was complicated here and there — but after listening to it, then I needed a pause. It was exhausting. After [listening to 'Helloween'], I needed some break, put it that way. I loved it, and I still love it, but it's demanding. I think the next album will be much more easy listening, I think much more enjoyable to sing along [to]; there are lots of parts in there. So I would rather describe it as a more happy, happy HELLOWEEN album. That would be the best description."

Andi continued: "It's hard to describe, because there are lots of speedy and heavy things on it. But when I listen through it, I feel good. I mean, that's a good sign. Not that I felt bad when I listened to the last album — that's not what I mean. It's fun. I listen to it, and it's fun. Definitely."

Regarding what he and his HELLOWEEN bandmates learned from the making of "Helloween" that they improved upon this time around, Andi said: "Yeah, I think the main keyword would be confidence. The last album, we had to get to know each other in that new setup, lineup, how to work with [each other], how to work here and blah, blah, blah, and this time we just realized, okay, actually everybody has such great ideas; just don't control each other. We don't need to actually stick in a studio for pre-production for two months because everybody did it for himself. Let's just listen to it and say, 'Wow, cool.' So this time we've been some lazy backs, actually, and just said, you know, pre-production we just do ourselves back at home, everybody in his own studio, and we just take the technique we are given. Internet is great, and you can have live sessions online, and that made life so much easier because everybody is just relieved that you [are] still at home. You still work hard, but you're at home. And as we all know, when you're at home, work doesn't hurt that much as being back in the studio again somewhere in the world, but not with your family. And nowadays you can actually have your family life, you have your eight, nine hours per day in the studio, you yourself decide when you make a break or when you go and have a meal with your lady or go down to the beach, in my case. That makes life so much easier and much more enjoyable than sitting in a fricking studio again and again and again, each and every day for two months, just for a pre-production, which you could easily do at home together. So this time, I have to say there's confidence that we earned for each other that helped a lot to make things even more easygoing. And I think that's exactly what you listen, when you go through the songs and you listen to them — you feel that easiness: 'Wow. Wow. Okay, cool.' I love it. So that's the way to go."

He then clarified: "I don't wanna say that I want to be back at home when I'm on tour. So I hate the idea of laser shows or something like that. As long as I can walk, I want to be on stage. But production-wise, I have to say I love the technique we have nowadays."

Regarding how HELLOWEEN has managed to pull off the seemingly impossible by keeping all seven members of the band happy — returning singer Michael Kiske and guitarist/vocalist Kai Hansen along with Deris, guitarists Michael Weikath and Sascha Gerstner, bassist Markus Grosskopf and drummer Daniel Löble — Andi said: "I think the only thing you need to accept [is] that you are different people. I think that's the main problem we had back in the days because everybody actually expected the other to be and react and have the same opinion [as] yourself. And when you are realizing, okay, we are all different people, so you have to accept that everybody probably has a different point of view, at least a millimeter to the left or millimeter to right. And you have to sit down and actually find a compromise. If you accept that everybody is different, that's not a bad thing. You just have to accept that you yourself may fail here and there, and maybe the other one is right. And when you're getting older, you have decades of comparisons, and you realize, 'Okay, here I fucked up, there I fucked up, here I wasn't right, here I wasn't right.' You need that experience, and when you have that, you are a little bit more humble, because you know you did things wrong or you know you haven't been right back in the days here and there and blah, blah, blah. So, if you take that at a base, everything works out fine. And you just sit down with that knowledge and try to find a solution, which is good enough for all here in the room. And, yeah, that went down super the last few years, I mean, no problem at all. Even if somebody was pissed off, completely pissed off for whatever reason, again, that somebody did not react like he did back in the days, like with aggression or something like that, but in normal words and said, 'Hey, I have a little problem here. You said this and that and blah, blah, blah. And how did you mean that?' And then here comes the explanation and you go, like, 'Oh, okay, all good. Thanks.'"

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 last 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 analog and 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.

HELLOWEEN will release a new live album, "Live At Budokan", on December 13, 2024 via Reigning Phoenix Music (RPM). The colossal effort immortalizes HELLOWEEN's September 16, 2023 performance at Tokyo's legendary Nippon Budokan.

"Live At Budokan" will be available in a plethora of formats: 2CD-digipak and 3LP vinyl in trifold with the first print run of both coming as "deluxe edition" including embossed cover artwork, as well as Blu-ray, DVD and digital. Each version is meticulously crafted to suit the metal community's diverse tastes, ensuring every fan can relive the raw, unfiltered energy of HELLOWEEN in their preferred medium.

This release celebrates the grand finale of HELLOWEEN's epic world tour from 2022 to 2023. Spanning over 30 countries on three continents, the tour was nothing short of a triumph, drawing massive crowds and showcasing the band's undying appeal, the sold-out concert in Tokyo is the crowning glory of the cycle.