Former MÖTLEY CRÜE frontman John Corabi, who joined the band in 1992 as the replacement for original singer Vince Neil, has shot down the perception that he was financially set for life following his departure from the group. "That's one of the things everybody assumes, because I did the MÖTLEY thing, that I was a multimillionaire," John told Logical Logistics in a new interview (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET). "And it was funny — I made money when I first joined MÖTLEY; I got bonuses and publishing and all these advances and stuff. But at the same time, I joined MÖTLEY in 1992 and I left the band in '97, and in that five years my son was diagnosed with diabetes, my mom had been diagnosed with cancer. So fortunately/unfortunately, I wound up taking care of them financially. And then there's the normal shit — you've gotta pay your taxes. I remember, fuck, there was two tax checks that I wrote. My first one was $139,000 and then the following year I had to spend $219,000 in taxes. Like, wow. So by the time the five years had passed, I lived off that money and beyond, but it was starting to get dangerously low. The music industry was changing; a lot of the '80s bands weren't selling any records. So it was a weird time."

Corabi also talked about his brief stint driving a truck for a living a few years after his exit from the CRÜE and during his tenure as the rhythm guitarist for RATT.

"The whole reason why I did it… I mean, I wasn't in dire straits financially," he explained. "RATT was taking a year off. At that point, I think I was paying child support and alimony — I was paying $2,500 a month — but I was going through a second divorce, and it was this push-and-pull thing where the girl would come back, and she would disappear, then she would come back. And I'm, like, oh my God. I just needed and wanted a little bit of a change. So I was, like, 'All right. I can get a trucking license in three weeks. And I'm gonna learn how to do this.'

"I was telling a friend of mine not that long ago. I said you know what's weird. I spent most of my life traveling in a tour bus, but you're usually traveling at night, and you see shit in a tour bus," John continued. "And I could not believe some of the places that I saw driving that truck and just moving goods around the United States. I'm, like, wow. There's parts of the United States... I've been literally touring my whole life and there was things that I'd never seen before until I started driving a truck. And I had a fucking blast. I did it for almost a year. And then RATT called and said, 'Hey, we're getting ready to go back out on tour again.' And I called my boss and I just said, 'Hey, man. I'm going back to touring.' And it was funny. 'Cause a lot of people didn't know who I was, or they didn't know anything about my history. When I told my boss, I said, 'Hey, I'm gonna go back to touring again,' he was, like, 'What are you talking about?' And I said, 'Well, I'm actually a musician.' And I told him who I was and all that stuff. And I just handed him the keys back and I said, 'I thank you. I had a great time. It's been awesome. I'm going back on tour again.' So I did it for almost a year. It was cool. Mentally, it cleared my head, 'cause I was just driving and thinking and mapping things out in my head. And then I made a really decent living, and I had health insurance for me and my son. It was cool, man. I had a great time. It was awesome."

With Corabi on vocals, MÖTLEY CRÜE released one critically acclaimed full-length CD, which ended up being a commercial failure in the wake of grunge despite a Top 10 placing on the album chart. When Neil returned to the fold in 1997, Corabi was left on his own and formed UNION with Bruce Kulick.

Last month, Corabi released his autobiography via Rare Bird Books. Titled "Horseshoes And Hand Grenades", it was written with the help of MÖTLEY CRÜE historian/author Paul Miles.

In February 2018, Corabi released a live album of his performance of MÖTLEY CRÜE's entire 1994 self-titled album, recorded on October 27, 2015 in Nashville, Tennessee. "Live '94: One Night In Nashville" documents the album in its entirety along with the bonus track "10,000 Miles", which was originally released as a bonus track on the Japanese version of the "Quaternary" EP.

In a new interview with the "BREWtally Speaking" podcast, POP EVIL drummer Hayley Cramer spoke about how she dealt with not being able to play music with her bandmates during the first year and a half of the coronavirus pandemic. She said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "It's a really scary thing. I sat there and I was, like, 'I don't have a Plan B. I don't know who I am without being on the road.' It's a really scary place to be in. I continued to pay my bills, but it [was] not through doing what I do best. And I'm all about… When I do what I do best, I project really good energy out to people. When you follow your passion and you're doing something that you love, you can give that good energy to people. And if you're not doing what you love, it's harder to do that. And I found myself becoming sad or angry or lost. And I just had to navigate through it. And there were a lot of people that have gone through the same thing. Everything you've worked your whole life for and you've trained for…"

She continued: "There was an advert in England with this ballet dancer on it going, 'Oh, just retrain to be a computer geek.' Well, she or he trained to be a ballet dancer. That's what they do best. Support that. They're gonna give good to the world by doing that. They're not gonna give good to the world by sitting behind a computer. It was just ridiculous.

"So, yeah, anybody who's kind of gone through that and is coming through the other side, props," Hayley added. "Because it's weird. It's hard."

Back in April 2021, POP EVIL frontman Leigh Kakaty told "The Liquid Conversations" podcast that he and his bandmates "needed that rest" during the early months of the pandemic. "As much as we didn't necessarily want it at the beginning, it was important for us to rest our minds [and] bodies," he said. "I know my ears, for me personally — each bandmember was probably different. But my body was broken down. I was going through some huge [bouts] of vertigo before the lockdown. I was extremely dizzy. I don't even know how I was gonna do that tour in May [2020] just 'cause I couldn't really stand up; I had to be laying down. So it was a rough year for me physically… It's almost like my body felt, 'Okay, you're stopping?' Then it all caught up to me — everything caught up to me, the whirlwind of all the travel.

"Being in a rock band, you have to tour so much," he continued. "There's no MTV or no TV exposure that breaks you overnight. You literally have to put the years in and just play for as many people as you can. So I think for a lot of us in the band, we really took that time to kind of just take a deep breath and go, 'Okay. Wow. We don't have to tour.' And obviously, the first few months of COVID, we were really hoping that, 'Okay, we'll be back by spring.' 'We'll be back by summer.' So right around summertime, we were finally, like, 'Okay, this is gonna be a whole year off.' And then once you got [over] the terror and the shock that we're not gonna make any money… Our touring monthly keeps the lights on, so the fact that we weren't gonna tour was devastating. And for our band, the other bandmembers had to get jobs. There wasn't no writing and creativity; they had to make money to live. So we weren't able to write.

"I don't think I was in the right frame of mind to write during COVID, 'cause it was just nerve racking," Leigh added. "None of us had been through something like that before, so there were so many more bigger issues than playing in a band, really, to be honest, that we were thinking about. I was thinking about my family, my friends, my loved ones who are older with underlying health conditions. I mean, I could care less about being in a band at that point. So once that kind of subsided, it was, like, bandmembers had to get jobs. Full time for me is POP EVIL; otherwise, if I take a job, it's over. I was trying to clean up the floor and make sure it's all dialed in. Obviously, I've gotta do all the press and all the speaking for the band; I'm that guy in this project. But in the meantime, all the other bandmembers — Hayley, our drummer, is in the U.K., she was doing what she could to work over there and make money; obviously, [she was] dealing with COVID in another country. I know the rest of us guys, in Michigan, trying to deal with that — Michigan was one of the hardest states hit. So these guys were trying to take care of their families, make any kind of extra money. And what I think it did in the long run was it really kind of instilled a confidence. Lately, when I've been talking to the bandmembers, there's such a respect that we have for each other differently now. I don't think anyone's afraid now to come home, if we have months off. Everyone knows now they can go to that mom-and-pop store and work for a few weeks and then go back on the bus. I think before that, it was terrifying. It was, like, 'If we don't play a show, we're screwed. What are we gonna do?' So I'm hoping that it's built a lot of confidence with our bandmembers to be, like, 'Okay, look, if we don't play for a few months, that's fine.' We can take of ourselves now. We're here, and we don't need to oversaturate the markets with POP EVIL."

Last month, Cramer married her girlfriend, fellow drummer Siân Monaghan.

Session drummer Siân is best known as the driving force behind psyche-pop artist SHE DREW THE GUN, though her career has seen her drumming with a range of artists, including CHINA CRISIS, THE WANDERING HEARTS, Derek Forbes (SIMPLE MINDS) and FINK.

POP EVIL celebrated its seventh career No. 1 single on Billboard's Mainstream Rock chart in late 2021 with "Survivor" marking a historic milestone. "Survivor" joined the previous Top 10 single "Work" and No. 1 single "Breathe Again" from POP EVIL's latest album "Versatile", out now via MNRK Heavy. Over the course of its career, POP EVIL has achieved four gold singles with "Torn To Pieces" and "Trenches" from "Onyx", "Footsteps" from "Up" and "100 In A 55" from the band's debut studio album, "Lipstick On The Mirror".

Extreme metal veterans GOATWHORE will release their new album, "Angels Hung From The Arches Of Heaven", on October 7 via Metal Blade Records.

Unquestionably GOATWHORE's strongest, most accomplished album to date in sound, concept, and execution, "Angels Hung From The Arches Of Heaven" emits 47 desolating minutes of the band's trademark fusion of death, black, thrash, and classic metal. Delivered with breathless intensity and an unapologetic bloodlust, the twelve-track offering stands among the most thrilling records to come out of 2022.

"I would describe this record as being very raw, but clarity is shaped within the chaos," reflects vocalist Louis Ben Falgoust II. "It's a journey of everything we've done and some new approaches as we advance forward. When we write, we mainly focus on the music and what we enjoy about playing it. We don't write just to appease others. We want to enjoy playing it in a live setting as well, especially night after night on the road."

Featuring ferocious beasts like the maniacally thrashing "Born Of Satan's Flesh", the old-school, crossover-flavored "Death From Above" with its guttural chorus, and a monolithic title track that is as haunting as it is heavy, the band — Falgoust, guitarist/vocalist Sammy Duet, drummer Zack Simmons, and bassist Robert "TA" Coleman (his first recorded output with the band) — covers a great deal of sonic terrain while retaining that signature nefarious GOATWHORE aura. With an overall tone described by Duet as "dark and evil" and a perpetual sentiment of "impending dread," the record allows little light to cling to.

Lyrically, Falgoust draws from a wide array of influences. "Death From Above" is loosely based on the "Nachthexen", or Night Witches, a group of female Soviet aviators in a bomber division deployed in 1942, a period during which women were in fact barred from combat. Then there's the multifaceted title track, on which Falgoust ventured into an idea of emotional despondency within older texts and writings, feeling like several of these writings missed an element of human nature/emotion. The title of the record — like all of the band's releases — is both deep and direct.

"It's a basis of human despondency, the arc of life, and its relationship with the personal abyss of overwhelming emotion and thought," elaborates Falgoust. "It's a mixture of esoteric ideas and biblical scripts and the journey to the places some people care not to venture on mental paths… The rise and fall of the self and how the abyss can be a turning point for some and a passageway to oblivion for others. It's blunt and to the point, just like countless aspects of life."

Teaming up with producer Jarrett Pritchard (EXHUMED, 1349) for a second time and tracking primarily at Studio In The Country in Bogalusa, Louisiana under pandemic restrictions, GOATWHORE knew they were in good hands. Praising Pritchard as a great person to work with both in the studio and the live setting, Falgoust notes: "He has a good vision of what we are doing and trying to present. He tests you and forces the best performances out of you. Not in a bad way, just that he knows what each person could do prior to us entering the studio, so he has a level of expectation to push each one of us to our own individual performance levels."

Additionally, the band recruited acclaimed producer Kurt Ballou (CONVERGE, HIGH ON FIRE, GATECREEPER, CODE ORANGE) to mix the record, a decision that truly enhances "Angels Hung From The Arches Of Heaven"'s auditory superiority.

"Kurt actually brought a lot to the table," says Duet. "He had some opinions on a few of the song structures, which was a first for us because we never had an outside ear giving ideas. The sound of the record speaks for itself." Final mastering duties were handled by Grammy Award-winning engineer Ted Jensen (GHOST, GOJIRA, CULT OF LUNA).

GOATWHORE also invested greater meaning in the visual components of the album through the use of sigils created by longtime collaborator Jordan Barlow.

"We give him an idea and then he just goes with it," says Falgoust. "We used sigils in the past with our name and other small details, but wanted to make this album more rooted in it. It adds a deeper aspect to our visual presentation. It creates interest and with that inspires questions. We want the listener to delve into this musical journey with us both by sound and vision."

In advance of "Angels Hung From The Arches Of Heaven"'s official unveiling this fall, GOATWHORE has unleashed a video for first single "Born Of Satan's Flesh", directed by David Brodsky.

Declares Duet: "Prepare yourself for an unabashed violent onslaught of Satanic unsoundness of mind! All hail his Luciferian force and might!"

Adds Falgoust: "Welcome to the manifested curse of our latest offering. During the past five years since our 'Vengeful Ascension' release, entwined with a state of isolation within that period, we have been communing with our inner abyss for inspiration. Idle time is truly the Devil's workshop. Feast your eyes (and ears) on this latest display of chaos, which is but a fragment of our impending full-length release out in October!"

"Angels Hung From The Arches Of Heaven" track listing:

01. Invocation 3
02. Born Of Satan's Flesh
03. The Bestowal Of Abomination
04. Angels Hung From The Arches Of Heaven
05. Death From Above
06. Ruinous Liturgy
07. Victory Is The Lightning Of Destruction
08. Voracious Blood Fixation
09. The Devil's Warlords
10. Weight Of A Soulless Heart
11. Nihil
12. And I Was Delivered From The Wound Of Perdition

GOATWHORE will begin its co-headlining run with INCANTATION next week. The "Vile Ascension" tour commences on August 1 in Orlando, Florida and runs through August 27 in the band's home city of New Orleans, Louisiana. Support will come from BEWITCHER and CAVEMAN CULT on select dates.

Photo by Stephanie Cabral

Portuguese dark metal masters MOONSPELL have announced a very special Blu-ray/DVD and album release. On September 23, they will unleash a live performance of their latest studio album, "Hermitage" (2021),with "From Down Below - Live 80 Meters Deep" via Napalm Records.

Recorded live at Grutas de Mira D'Aire, one of Portugal's seven natural wonders, "From Down Below - Live 80 Meters Deep" invites you on a memorable adventure worthy of a Guinness Book record. The recording boasts a one of kind sound and visual sensation, with its heavy dose of cinematic flavor, unreal atmosphere and the encircling, resounding nature in its raw form. Tracks such as "Entitlement", "Hermitage" and "Apoptheghmata" perfectly settle in with the album's unique environment.

"From Down Below - Live 80 Meters Deep" is not only an epic live momentum of "Hermitage" — one of the deepest, heaviest and most sincerely heart-breaking records the band has ever written — but a truly revolutionary experience, as MOONSPELL brought along a select number of fans and a production team (literally) underground. Brilliantly directed by Guilherme Henrique, "From Down Below – Live 80 Meters Deep" is something truly special that you have never, ever seen or heard before.

Watch the haunting new video for "Entitlement" below.

"While the world agonized at home, we went deep down below, to a cave to record a DVD with some of our bravest fans watching it," vocalist Fernando Ribeiro comments. "'Entitlement' is the first advance of an unreal show, a performance like you’ve never watched, in the peace and quiet of a wet and dark natural gallery. From deep down below, our new live album and DVD is something never tried before and we hope it darkly entertains you until our next album comes in 2023."

"From Down Below - Live 80 Meters Deep" track listing:

01. The Greater Good
02. Common Prayers
03. All or Nothing
04. Hermitage
05. Entitlement
06. Solitarian
07. The Hermit Saints
08. Apophthegmata
09. Without Rule
10. The Great Leap Forward

MOONSPELL's 13th studio album, "Hermitage", was released in February 2021 via Napalm Records. The LP was recorded, mixed and mastered by Jaime Gomez Arellano (PARADISE LOST, PRIMORDIAL, GHOST, SÓLSTAFIR) at the Orgone Studios in the U.K.

In 2020, MOONSPELL parted ways with original drummer Miguel "Mike" Gaspar and replaced him with Hugo Ribeiro (no relation to Fernando Ribeiro).

MOONSPELL will embark on a North American tour next month. Support on the trek, which will kick off on August 25 in New York and end on September 18 in Boston, will come from SWALLOW THE SUN and WITHERFALL.

Internationally renowned rock guitarist Orianthi will release her new studio album, "Rock Candy", on October 14 via Frontiers Music Srl. The LP follows 2020's "O" which was Orianthi's first new studio album in seven years and her first new music as a solo artist in six years. Sonically, "Rock Candy" is a hard-rockin', blues-tinged, display of Orianthi's dazzling guitar playing and her soulful vocals.

The first single and music video from "Rock Candy", a song called "Light It Up", is available below.

Joining Orianthi on this release is the multi-talented Jacob Bunton, who produced the album. Additionally, he provides guitar, bass, keyboard, piano and violin playing through the course of the album. Bunton is known in the rock world for his work with Steven Adler, among others, but he is also an Emmy Award-winning composer, songwriter, producer, and multi-instrumentalist whose credits include Mariah Carey, Steven Tyler, Smokey Robinson, Akon, POP EVIL and many more. Drummer Kyle Cunningham rounds out the recording lineup for "Rock Candy".

"Rock Candy" track listing:

01. Illuminate (Part I)
02. Light It Up
03. Fire Together
04. Where Did Your Heart Go
05. Red Light
06. Void
07. Burning
08. Living Is Like Dying Without You
09. Witches & The Devil
10. Getting To Me
11. Illuminate (Part II)

Recording lineup:

Orianthi - Vocals, Guitars
Jacob Bunton - Bass, Guitar, Keyboards, Piano, Violin, Backing Vocals
Kyle Cunningham - Drums

Produced, engineered and mixed by Jacob Bunton

Orianthi's first major solo artist success, as a singer-songwriter and guitarist, was with the Geffen Records release of "According To You", which is now RIAA-certified platinum and has over 29 million streams on Spotify. Her music's ability to transcend time and remain relevant cannot be more clear than its recent resurgence on TikTok. There are over 110 million views on the "According To You" hashtag, making it a viral trend that is introducing Gen Z to Orianthi for the first time in a big way. Career-long fans are used to seeing their favorite world-class guitarist playing arenas with rock royalty and global superstars like Michael Jackson, Carlos Santana, Carrie Underwood, Alice Cooper and more. The juxtaposition of her newly arrived online popularity and her lifelong pursuit of artistic credibility is the nebulous of this shining star.

Photo credit: Jim Donally

THE OFFSPRING played an intimate hometown concert Tuesday afternoon (July 26) at Bolsa Chica State Beach in Huntington Beach, California as part of a private event sponsored by the KROQ radio station. Video and photos of the show can be seen below.

THE OFFSPRING is currently on tour in support of its most recent album, "Let The Bad Times Roll".

Frequently regarded as one of the best rock bands of all time, THE OFFSPRING have garnered a reputation for their unmistakable sound and social comment. The multi-platinum band first achieved worldwide success in the 1990s with the release of their album "Smash", which sold over 11 million copies. Following "Smash", they continued to release hit after hit, popularizing rock at a mainstream level.

Throughout THE OFFSPRING's career, they've sold over a staggering 40 million albums, and toured arenas, and built a global fan base. "Let The Bad Times Roll" marks the band's tenth studio album and third album produced by the legendary Bob Rock. True to the irreverence at the core of their rock music, the band and lyricist Dexter Holland took a view to today's cultural moments and didn't shy away from creating topical material in this album.

"This album is probably the most cathartic thing we've done," says Holland. "The messages might be dark, but at the end, what's left is that communication is important, working through feelings is important and most of all, hope is important."

"Let The Bad Times Roll" has been a huge global success, hitting career-high chart debuts with seven top 5 and ten top 10 international debuts and nine top ten debuts in the U.S. The album peaked at No. 3 on the U.K. chart and hit No. 1 on the Alternative Albums chart in the U.S.

Originally formed under the name MANIC SUBSIDAL, THE OFFSPRING's lineup consists of Holland, guitarist Kevin "Noodles" Wasserman and bassist Todd Morse. THE OFFSPRING is often credited — alongside fellow California bands GREEN DAY and RANCID — for reviving mainstream interest in rock in the 1990s.
Huntington Beach punk band @offspring perform for an intimate crowd of @kroq fans at Bolsa Chica State Beach on Tuesday afternoon. pic.twitter.com/SFAWdQnuJt

— kelliskye (@kelliskye) July 27, 2022


Happy Tuesday! @offspring have taken over Seasalt at Bolsa Chica State Beach in Huntington Beach with the @kroq crew. The band also plays @pacamp@ocfair on Thursday. pic.twitter.com/dbqtbx0TG3

— kelliskye (@kelliskye) July 27, 2022


Out on the beach with @offspring hitting @kroq fans with classics: "Bad Habit" and "Staring at the Sun." And new songs: "The Opioid Diaries" and "Behind Your Walls." pic.twitter.com/dyyVVYZcgT

— kelliskye (@kelliskye) July 27, 2022

KING'S X, comprised of Doug "Dug" Pinnick, Ty Tabor and Jerry Gaskill, will release its 13th studio album, "Three Sides Of One", on September 2. The LP's second single, "Give It Up", can be streamed below.

Pinnick comments: "After I turned 71, death was on my mind every day. Chris Cornell killed himself, and I was thinking of that.

"Lyrically, [this song is] about not giving up until you naturally die. I want to ride it out until it's over. I'm laughing about how I haven't gotten a will yet, but I should have one. Musically, I wanted it to be really simple, so you can dance to it."

"Three Sides Of One" will be available as a limited CD digipak, gatefold 180g 2LP+CD+LP-booklet and as a 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.

During 2019, the members of KING'S X congregated at Black Sound Studio in Pasadena, California 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 channeled their incredible chemistry on tape.

Pinnick previously stated about "Three Sides Of One": '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 added: "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 stated: "I'll cherish what we did in my heart forever. Everything lined up perfectly."

"Three Sides Of One" track listing:

01. Let It Rain (04:28)
02. Flood Pt. 1 (03:03)
03. Nothing But The Truth (06:03)
04. Give It Up (02:59)
05. All God's Children (05:32)
06. Take The Time (03:45)
07. Festival (03:30)
08. Swipe Up (03:46)
09. Holidays (03:22)
10. Watcher (03:43)
11. She Called Me Home (03:57)
12. Every Everywhere (02:40)

Last October, Pinnick told Talking Metal about the musical direction of the new KING'S X material: "Every song is completely different than the other — mixed and sonically; everything. We took every song and tried to do like THE BEATLES 'White' album and just sit down with a song and go, 'Let's give it what it needs.' I don't have to have my Doug Pinnick gravelly tone if I need a Paul McCartney-type sound. Ty, he would fix his guitars to make… 'This is like a whatever song. Let's make it what it is but still be KING'S X.' So I think that it sounds like KING'S X but hopefully everyone will feel that we took another step forward. The whole point is just to try to push forward [while] still looking back. There's a lot of things on this record that are reminiscent of KING'S X totally, but then there's this new KING'S X, I think. Sonically, we're really excited because it's a complete analog record except with Pro Tools. It was laid down with analog — everything — and it was mastered on analog tape and even EQed with analog tube EQs to saturate the tape to get compression instead of digits. So there's no digits on this record. So when you hear it, it's gonna take you back a little bit. It sounds like you put a real record on in the '70s, sonically. It's, like, things jump out at you, and then they don't. It's, like, you go, 'Wow, the bass is huge, but I can hear everything else,' 'cause you can put your hands in it, almost. Michael Parnin just did an amazing job — a painstaking job — to get it to sound like a record that you can put on and play forever."

The new KING'S X LP was mastered in June 2021 at the Bernie Grundman Mastering facility in Hollywood, California,

In April 2021, Pinnick told Shawn Ratches of Laughingmonkeymusic about the new KING'S X material: "I had some pretty crazy songs, time-change-wise, 'cause I've been listening to a lot of MESHUGGAH and shit like that. It's not KING'S X, but that flavor comes in. Imagine John Bonham playing with MESHUGGAH… But Ty and Jerry are singing a lot too. I tell people, it's like from [THE BEATLES' classic song] 'Penny Lane' to the heaviest MESHUGGAH — it's a blend of something in between there. And one song to another almost sounds different, almost to the point where they're individual pieces themselves, like PINK FLOYD used to do. We've got violins and other things in it. I've got some keyboards and all kinds of things to enhance things — piano. Nothing overboard, but just like [Jimi] Hendrix did and people like that — big things coming in and out that gives it that longevity, I would say. Things that you hear and go, 'Oh, wow. That's cool.' That little thing over there. So it's taken Michael a long time to mix it, 'cause he's got a lot of tracks."

KING'S X was sidelined by several health scares in recent years, including Pinnick's two hernia operations and two near-fatal heart attacks suffered by Gaskill.

In October 2019, KING'S X canceled all of its previously announced tour dates for the year so that Gaskill could undergo undisclosed heart "procedures."

"XV" was KING'S X's highest-charting album since 1996's "Ear Candy".

In 2005, VH1 included KING'S X in its list of "100 Greatest Artists In Hard Rock."

Photo credit: Derek Soto

Former MEGADETH members David Ellefson (bass) and Jeff Young (guitar) have announced the first four shows of the KINGS OF THRASH "The MEGA Years" tour. They will be joined at the dates by another former MEGADETH member, Chris Poland (guitar).

KINGS OF THRASH, which also includes drummer Fred Aching as well as guitarist/vocalist Chaz Leon, will perform MEGADETH's classic albums "Killing Is My Business… And Business Is Good!" and "So Far, So Good… So What!" in their entirety.

Dates:

Oct. 12 - San Diego, CA - Brick By Brick
Oct. 13 - Phoenix, AZ - Crescent Ballroom
Oct. 14 - Las Vegas, NV - The Space
Oct. 15 - West Hollywood, CA - Whisky A Go Go

VIP packages will be available for all shows.

Tickets for all dates go on sale Friday, July 29.

As previously reported, Ellefson and Young reunited on stage on May 10 at Ultimate Jam Night, the long-running community-oriented show in residency at the famed Whisky A Go Go in West Hollywood, California, as part of a special tribute to the so-called "Big Four" of 1980s thrash metal — METALLICA, MEGADETH, SLAYER and ANTHRAX. The event marked the first time David and Jeff had played MEGADETH songs together on stage since the U.K.'s Monsters Of Rock festival on August 20, 1988.

The Whisky A Go Go concert came four months after Ellefson and Young reunited in Los Angeles for interviews to be included in the upcoming feature-length documentary "This Was My Life: The Story Of Nick Menza". Ellefson has signed on as a co-producer of the film, and also will provide narration to guide the viewer through the exploration of the late MEGADETH drummer's life.

Last month, Ellefson told The Neurotic Guitarist that he and Young "have been working on a couple of new songs."

Ellefson was fired from MEGADETH more a year ago after sexually tinged messages and explicit video footage involving the bassist were posted on Twitter.

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

In 2004, Ellefson filed an $18.5-million lawsuit against Dave Mustaine, alleging the MEGADETH leader shortchanged him on profits and backed out of a deal to turn Megadeth Inc. over to him when the band broke up in 2002. The lawsuit was eventually dismissed and Ellefson rejoined MEGADETH in 2010.

Young's entire career with MEGADETH was spent recording and touring in support of the band's 1988 platinum-selling album "So Far, So Good...So What!"

Jeff made headlines in December 2009 for accusing Mustaine of, among other things, "dissing, exaggerating and just plain lying on some level about nearly every talented musician that has passed through his dysfunctional little ensemble." He also disputed Mustaine's claim in an interview that Young's drug problem led to MEGADETH's 1988 Australian tour being called off and the group being "banned" from performing in the country.

Poland was a member of MEGADETH from 1984 to 1987, during which time he performed on the band's classic albums "Killing Is My Business... And Business Is Good!" and "Peace Sells... But Who's Buying?" He is also a featured soloist on the group's 2004 album, "The System Has Failed".

Back in 2004, Poland and/or his management and attorney filed a lawsuit against Mustaine regarding the use of the three "Rust In Peace" demos on the album's reissue without Chris's permission. Chris eventually settled for $9,500 and thereby ended a professional relationship with Dave and MEGADETH.

For the past couple of decades, Poland's main musical focus has been the fusion band OHM:, which has released several full-length studio albums to date.

ANTHRAX kicked off its North American tour with BLACK LABEL SOCIETY last night (Tuesday, July 26) at Van Buren in Phoenix, Arizona. ANTHRAX's 12-song setlist included the surprising addition of the John Bush-era track "Only", which hadn't been performed live since 2011.

"Only" originally appeared on 1993's "Sound Of White Noise", one of four albums Bush recorded with ANTHRAX during his 13-year tenure with the band.

Current ANTHRAX singer Joey Belladonna, whose most recent return to the band was officially announced in May 2010, was originally the lead singer of ANTHRAX from 1984 to 1992, and was considered part of the group's classic lineup (alongside Dan Spitz, Scott Ian, Frank Bello and Charlie Benante),which reunited and toured during 2005 and 2006. His voice was featured on over 10 albums, which reportedly sold eight million copies worldwide.

In a 2016 interview with Kazagastão, Belladonna said about his exit from ANTHRAX in 1992 before officially rejoining the band in 2010: "It's sucky that I was gone for that long, you know what I mean? I never understand that. It does bother me [that I was fired], even today, 'cause… We didn't miss a beat and I think we would have done… I can't imagine what we could have done along the way. No offense to anything else, but I just didn't see any reason for it."

Asked if he had heard any material ANTHRAX recorded with Bush during the time Belladonna was away from the band, Joey said: "I don't listen to it. I have no interest in it. I don't know… Something about it. It doesn't really appeal to me, for some reason. I mean, I enjoy that they play the way they do and everything, I just never… I never was interested in it. It wasn't anything against [Bush] at all."

Although Joey did perform "Only" live with ANTHRAX on a couple of occasions in the past, the track had been absent from the band's set for more than a decade before being played last night in Phoenix. "We've got enough songs [that were originally recorded with me on vocals]," Joey explained in the Kazagastão interview. "We don't even do [all the songs] we should… We've got all these other songs we could play. But now we've got new stuff, so now we've gotta try to fit in four or five brand new songs."

He continued: "I always like to look at it like… I remember when [Sammy] Hagar came in [after joining VAN HALEN], he had to do the old stuff. But when [David Lee] Roth came back, he wasn't gonna touch anything, even though he probably would have a hard time doing it. So we've got enough material; I don't need to go back. I'd just as soon leave that alone. I mean, once in a while I get people complaining, and then after a while, it got really old too. I hate that whole thing, 'cause we're not even the same… We happened to be in the same band, but it's a completely different thing. And who's judging? What's the deal with that? To think that what he was doing, that he could have done what I did in the beginning, I don't believe that."

Joey went on to say that he dislikes being compared to any other other ANTHRAX singers. "That's what I hate about the whole thing," he said. "I hate that there was even anybody else in there that I have to… But now I just don't care about it — I really don't — 'cause I can't. To me, it's just a bunch of hype. It sucked in the beginning; it really did."

In a 2017 interview with Metal On Loud, Joey was asked how he feels about the music ANTHRAX recorded while he was out of the band. He said: "It seemed good. I don't know. If I was to compare it, I didn't hear anything that we were doing that wasn't as good [as what they ended up doing with Bush]. I didn't hear anything that blew me away. I thought the music end of it was good, John's decent, but just the overall thing… I think we had something cool there, and I didn't hear that [in the music they made with John]. But that wasn't meaning it wasn't good; it just wasn't my idea of better, being better about it. It was just different, you know? I enjoyed the style that they were trying to dig into. I think they kind of straightened it all out a little bit, but it wasn't as thrashy in some ways sometimes too. I don't know. It gets crazy after a while when you're trying to explain it all. It's, like, it was what it was, you know?"

In one of the video testimonials to coincide with ANTHRAX's 40th anniversary in 2021, current and former members of the band reflected on Belladonna's original departure and Bush's addition as his replacement.

Regarding the decision to part ways with Belladonna, Ian said: "By the time we finished the year-and-a-half touring cycle — 20, 21 months of touring cycle, and then '[Attack Of The] Killer B's' comes out. I think the last thing we did together as a band with Joey was [our appearance] on [the] 'Married With Children' [TV show]. And then it wasn't long after that when we made the change. But it wasn't a quick decision. We were very much a united front, the four of us. Because otherwise it wouldn't have happened.

"There's never an easy way to talk about this stuff," he continued. "Certainly when you're in the thick of it, when it's happening, it's horrible when you're having to make a decision like this. But it just really came down to, creatively, we all just felt like there was just no way for the band to move forward. We had just hit a wall. It was the heaviest decision in the history of the band, certainly. And even that I feel like doesn't give it the weight that it needs. And there was never anything personal with Joey — it was never personal with him. It just really came down to the creative ability for the band, honestly, to move forward. And I hate that it's something that happened.

"Obviously, things are meant to be," Scott added. "I am somewhat of a spiritual person. I've seen and done enough in my life to know that sometimes shit doesn't just happen randomly. The way everything worked out in the end, with Joey coming back in 2010, and the band, for the last 11 years, being creatively better than we've ever been and in a better place than we've ever been, I have to say that I really believe that it all worked out for some reason. That doesn't make it any easier on Joey certainly; there's nothing I can say that ever would."

Bello said about Belladonna's exit from the group: "It's so strange for me to even talk about this now, because Joey's back in the band now, and it's like he's never been gone.

"It was a hard thing when Joey was out," he admitted. "It was a change, but I think it was best for the band 'cause of where we were going. It was a hard decision. I think we were going in a different way musically, and you could hear it."

Added Benante: "The 1991 me was more arrogant than I am now. Because the problem is I love Joey so much, and at the time we were different people doing it, and we felt this was the only thing for us to take us into the next level or the next chapter of the band. Yeah, it was tough."

Ian previously opened up about the decision to fire Belladonna three decades ago during a 2016 appearance on the "WTF With Marc Maron" podcast. He stated at the time: "I just truly didn't have the patience anymore. I think my biggest problem was I was writing the words, and I couldn't deal with the fact anymore that someone else was singing my lyrics, but I couldn't sing; there was no way I could be the singer of ANTHRAX. I think it really, really did come down to that — that I couldn't stand it anymore. These are my words, these are my feelings, it's my emotions, and you're not me. And even learning the songs and hearing them back, that's not how I hear it in my head. 'No, no. Like this. Like this. Like this. Like this.'"

He continued: "My solution at the time was turning around to the rest of the band and saying, 'It's either [Joey] or me.' I pulled the same shit Neil Turbin [former ANTHRAX singer] pulled years before that. I said, 'I can't do this again. We need to make a change.' And it wasn't just me holding the gun. Everyone was on the same page. Everyone felt like what we had done as ANTHRAX in the '80s into the early '90s, we had already moved past that. The sound was changing.

"If you listen to 'Persistence Of Time' [1990], musically, that record has more to do with 'Sound Of White Noise', the first John Bush record, than it has to do with 'State Of Euphoria' [1988], the previous ANTHRAX album. Musically, we were already going somewhere else, but Joey, for us, I guess at the time, felt like, 'He's not representing us anymore.'"

Ian went on to say that he has since come to see Joey's unique vocal contributions in a different light than he did more than twenty years ago. "Of course, I spent a year of my life writing a book ['I'm The Man: The Story Of That Guy From Anthrax'] and looking back on that time and really kind of getting back into those shoes, and… we should have given the guy a shot," he said. "Why we didn't give him the shot, I really don't know why we weren't able to… Because I even remember, I remember Jonny Z, our manager, he was, 'Are you sure? Are you sure this is the decision you wanna make?' 'Yes, yes, yes.'"

The guitarist added that at least part of the reason ANTHRAX made a singer change was to take the sound in a heavier direction, something that they didn't think was possible with Belladonna at the helm.

"I wanted it to be harder," Ian said. "I couldn't do it, but I wanted someone who could almost… I wanted it to be harder. I didn't want Lemmy — I didn't want it to sound like that — I just wanted it to be harder. And John [Bush] brought it, for sure."

Bush told Metal Talk about the task of replacing Joey Belladonna in ANTHRAX back in 1992: "I respect Joey Belladonna; he did great for ANTHRAX in his heyday and in the years that he made records and they were popular. You know, I think I just went out and did it from my heart and just said, 'Hey, I'm gonna go out and kick ass and sing to the best of my ability.' And I think we made some great records. I just think they were different records than what ANTHRAX did in the '80s."

He continued: "The funny thing is, sometimes there was this, 'Oh, we're the same band. Oh, we're the same band,' and looking back, well, we kind of were a little different band. I think we were. But at that time, we kept trying to convince people, 'Oh, it's the same band. It's the same band.' But when you make a singer change, the sound will change a little bit, which, that was what the intention was at the time."

ANTHRAX's latest album, "For All Kings", which features Belladonna, came out in February 2016 via Nuclear Blast.

ANTHRAX's setlist for the July 22, 2022 concert at Van Buren in Phoenix, Arizona:

01. Among The Living
02. Caught In A Mosh
03. Madhouse
04. Metal Thrashing Mad
05. Breathing Lightning
06. Keep It In The Family
07. Antisocial (TRUST cover)
08. I Am The Law
09. In The End
10. Only
11. Bring The Noise (PUBLIC ENEMY cover)
12. Indians

ANTHRAX's tour with BLACK LABEL SOCIETY will wrap up in Philadelphia at the Fillmore on Sunday, August 28. Both bands are playing headline sets. HATEBREED, celebrating the 20th anniversary of the "Perseverance" album, is the special guest.

Experimental metal outfit, Imperial Triumphant, have released a visualizer video for their new track, “Metrovertigo”. Check out the video, which is off the band’s newest full-length album, Spirit Of Ecstasy, below.


"Plutocratic myths exist in the shadows of the divine. Placed upon the middle sector as shackles of the unknown.  A giant wave pool claims the livelihoods of many, while still many willfully hand it to the Plutocratic gods as unrealized gains. Bow down and eat dirt. Welcome to a new era. Welcome home," states Imperial Triumphant about “Metrovertigo”.







Spirit of Ecstasy follows the band’s previous LPs 2020’s Alphaville, 2018’s Vile Luxury and most recently their 2021 live record, An Evening With Imperial Triumphant, which was was recorded at the infamous Slipper Room in New York City. Just like its predecessors, the album features a handful of special guests including Kenny G on soprano saxophone, Max Gorelick on lead guitar, Snake on vocals, Alex Skolnick on lead guitar, Trey Spruance on lead guitar, Andromeda Anarchia with choirs, Sarai Woods with choirs, Yoshiko Ohara on vocals, J. Walter Hawkes on the  trombone, Ben Hankle on the trumpet, Percy Jones on bass, Seven Suns on strings, Colin Marston on Simmons drums and Youtube, and Jonas Rolef on vocals.


Spirit Of Ecstasy can be ordered here.





Spirit of Ecstasy tracklisting:


"Chump Change"
"Metrovertigo"
"Tower Of Glory, City Of Shame"
"Merkurius Gilded"
"Death On A Highway"
"In The Pleasure Of Their Company"
"Bezumnaya"
"Maximalist Scream"


"Tower Of Glory, City Of Shame":





"Merkurius Gilded" video:





"Maximalist Scream" video:





(Photo - Alex Krauss)

Polish extreme metallers BEHEMOTH will release their 12th studio album, "Opvs Contra Natvram", on September 16 via Nuclear Blast. The official music video for the LP's third single, "The Deathless Sun", directed by Blazej Jankowiak of 9LITER FILMY, can be seen below.

The song cements BEHEMOTH's reputation as one of the most innovative and ground-breaking extreme bands on the planet. The track comes with not one, but two accompanying visuals; an explicit and macabre narrative video, featuring the incredible high aesthetic that BEHEMOTH are renowned for, and a performance clip of equal grand magnitude.

BEHEMOTH frontman Adam "Nergal" Darski comments: "BEHEMOTH has been hating Christ in different ways since 1991, and we still manage to reinvent the wheel.

"We're very proud to present our latest offering to that cause, 'The Deathless Sun', from our upcoming new record. This track showcases aspects that many BEHEMOTH fans love about our music, plenty of aggression and melody. That contrast is the reason we decided to release TWO amazing videos to accompany this single release. One is very shocking…so shocking that we had to create a whole new video to release alongside it! Choose carefully! As always, I look forward to seeing your reaction, Legions. Enjoy the ride!"

The ten chapters of fury that make up "Opvs Contra Natvram" were written and recorded over the course of a very strange year for the globe — a situation which only heightened the level of craft seen in these 43 minutes and 15 seconds of searing wrath. As with previous studio outings, "Opvs…" was produced by BEHEMOTH, with mixing handled by acclaimed studio legend Joe Barresi (NINE INCH NAILS, TOOL, QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE, ALICE IN CHAINS).

Renowned for his meticulous attention to detail and absolute creative control of BEHEMOTH's world, frontman and band visionary Adam "Nergal" Darski reveled in the depressurized environment afforded by the pandemic. It meant that for nearly the first time since the band's inception over 30 years ago there was no deadline to observe, allowing for a nearly unprecedented level of attention to the process of writing and recording.

Beyond any confines of genre, BEHEMOTH have grown to become nothing less than the personification of rebellion, individuality, and unflinching self-expression informed by a literate worldview and worldliness that's resulted in a locking of horns with everything from the mainstream press to the Polish Catholic church — most notably manifesting in Nergal's trial for blasphemy in 2010 that only served to expose the deep-seated hypocrisies that his music seeks to challenge.

"The album title means going against the current," Nergal states. "It's the negative of the values and morals and ethics that I stand against. I've seriously been wrestling with destructive tendencies in pop culture — cancel culture, social media, and tools which I feel are very dangerous weapons in the hands of people who are not competent to judge others. That's something which I find very destructive and disturbing — and extremely limiting coming from an artists' perspective. This is my middle finger to that. There's a song on the record called 'Neo-Spartacvs'. Spartacus was one of the most iconic rebels in history who went against the most powerful empire of all time. In the end, it's me screaming, 'I Am Spartacus, and so are you!' I want to spark that flame of rebellion. If something seems wrong then stand up to it!"

"Opvs Contra Natvram" features twin cover art available in both black and white and will be released in an array of physical formats designed by Bartek Rogalewicz (Lodge.Black),certain to thrill collectors of limited editions.

"Opvs Contra Natvram" track listing:

01. Post-God Nirvana
02. Malaria Vvlgata
03. The Deathless Sun
04. Ov My Herculean Exile
05. Neo-Spartacvs
06. Disinheritance
07. Off To War!
08. Once Upon A Pale Horse
09. Thy Becoming Eternal
10. Versvs Christvs

BEHEMOTH is:

Adam "Nergal" Darski – Lead vocals, Guitar
Zbigniew "Inferno" Promiński - Drums, Percussion
Tomasz "Orion" Wróblewski - Bass, Backing vocals
Patryk "Seth" Sztyber - Guitar, Backing Vocals

Photo credit: Oskar Szramka

METALLICA has released a new animated lyric video for the title track of its third album, 1986's "Master Of Puppets". The animated clip was made by U.K. design agency ILOVEDUST, which previously worked with Ozzy Osbourne on the artwork for his upcoming studio album "Patient Number 9", and with FOO FIGHTERS on promotional activity for their "Studio 666" movie.

Earlier this month, the "Master Of Puppets" title track saw new life 36 years following its original release after its inclusion in season four of Netflix's hit series "Stranger Things". The popularity of the 1986 song brought it to the Billboard Hot 100 chart for the first time ever in the band's lengthy career.

In the season four finale of "Stranger Things", the Eddie Munson character performs what he calls "the most metal concert ever" — including shredding "Master Of Puppets" on his beloved Warlock guitar — in "Stranger Things"' "Upside Down" alternate universe during an attempt to help his friends vanquish the Big Bad of the season, a demon named Vecna.

On July 5, METALLICA released a statement regarding "Stranger Things" creators Matt and Ross Duffer's decision to use the group's music in the show. The band said: "The way The Duffer Brothers have incorporated music into 'Stranger Things' has always been next level, so we were beyond psyched for them to not only include 'Master Of Puppets' in the show but to have such a pivotal scene built around it.

"We were all stoked to see the final result and when we did we were totally blown away... it's so extremely well done, so much so, that some folks were able to guess the song just by seeing a few seconds of Joseph Quinn's hands in the trailer!! How crazy cool is that?

"It's an incredible honor to be such a big part of Eddie's journey and to once again be keeping company with all of the other amazing artists featured in the show."

Around the same time, METALLICA bassist Robert Trujillo revealed that his 17-year-old son Tye contributed "additional guitar tracks" to the version of "Master Of Puppets" which appears in "Stranger Things".

"Master Of Puppets" was released on February 24, 1986 and was the first album METALLICA recorded after signing a major label deal with Elektra Records.

The set only reached No. 29 on the Billboard album chart but has sold over six million copies in the U.S. since.

It is the last record to feature bassist Cliff Burton, who was killed later that year in a tour bus crash.

Several songs from the album are still staples of METALLICA's live set, including "Battery", "Welcome Home (Sanitarium)" and the title track.

Many fans consider it METALLICA's finest album, a fact that the band acknowledged by playing it in its entirety on a European tour in 2006.

"Master Of Puppets" continues to sell several thousand copies a week in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan.

In 2016, "Master Of Puppets" was among the albums that were selected for induction into the Library of Congress' National Recording Registry.

Several years ago, METALLICA collaborated with an author named Matt Taylor on a book about the making of "Master Of Puppets".

Swedish occult rockers GHOST have released a phantasmagorical music video for "Spillways", rendering the irresistible earworm of the band's latest single in majestic visual form courtesy of director Amir Chamdin.

GHOST mastermind Tobias Forge told Metal Hammer magazine about "Spillways": "This is an elegy for the darkness that most people have inside. When you have a dam, spillways are the run-offs so the dam won't overflow. That darkness inside us needs to find its way out."

"Spillways" is taken from GHOST's fifth album, "Impera", which sold 70,000 equivalent album units in the U.S. in its first week of release to land at position No. 2 on the Billboard 200 chart. It marked the third top 10 album — and fifth top 40-charting set — for the Swedish act.

"Impera" landed at position No. 1 in Germany and Sweden, No. 2 in the U.K., Netherlands, Belgium and Norway, No. 3 in Australia, No. 5 in France and Ireland, and No. 20 in Italy.

"Impera" was released on March 11. The 12-song effort was produced by Klas Åhlund and mixed by Andy Wallace.

Forge worked on the follow-up to 2018's "Prequelle" with Åhlund and Swedish co-writers Salem Al Fakir and Vincent Pontare, whose credits include Madonna and Lady Gaga.

Regarding his collaboration with Åhlund, Al Fakir and Pontare, as well as OPETH's Fredrik Åkesson who was brought in to sharpen the album's guitar attack, Forge recently told St. Louis Post-Dispatch: "I found that I can work really well with someone I respect, who is always pushing for the best. They make me want to write better, to get my game up a little."

In March 2020, at final show of GHOST's "Prequelle" tour in Mexico City, Mexico, the band officially introduced Papa Emeritus IV, the new character who is fronting the act for its "Impera" album phase.

Forge performed as a "new" Papa Emeritus on each of the band's first three LPs, with each version of Papa replacing the one that came before it. Papa Emeritus III was retired in favor of Cardinal Copia before the release of "Prequelle".

GHOST will embark on the next North American leg of "Imperatour" next month. The trek will see the Grammy Award-winning Swedish theatrical rock band headlining 19 arenas across the U.S. and Canada (plus an appearance at Virginia's Blue Ridge Rock Fest),kicking off August 26 at San Diego's Pechanga Arena and running through September 23 at the Resch Center in Green Bay. Support on all dates (with the exception of Green Bay which will feature support from CARCASS, and the Blue Ridge Rock Fest) will come from Grammy Award-winning band MASTODON and SPIRITBOX.

Photo credit: Ryan Chang

BUSH will release its ninth full-length album, "The Art Of Survival", on October 7 via BMG. The LP marks the group's first new release since their critically acclaimed 2020 effort "The Kingdom".

To herald the album's arrival, BUSH has unveiled a hard-hitting and hypnotic new single titled "More Than Machines".

On the track, a grinding riff grates up against glitchy production as singer and guitarist Gavin Rossdale assures, "Girls you in control, not the government." Between finger-snaps and guttural distortion, a soaring hook takes hold, "We are more than machines."

Stay tuned for the premiere of a cinematic music video to accompany the track soon.

Regarding "More Than Machines", Rossdale states: "This is an action-packed song with three really big topics. Off the bat, I don't understand how anyone has the audacity to get involved or assume responsibility for women's bodies. I wanted to reference that because it's important to discuss. As much as the song is about the destruction of women's rights, it's about the destruction of the planet and the move for A.I. and a world of robots to replace us. It's a topic we've heard since the fifties. I'm not here to teach anything though; my job is medieval like a town crier. I come into town with my elixirs and sing about it, so it hopefully goes out into the universe."

Forging ahead once more, BUSH wrote and recorded what would become "The Art Of Survival" during 2022, reteaming with Erik Ron (PANIC! AT THE DISCO, GODSMACK) who produced "Flowers On A Grave" and the title track for "The Kingdom", and collaborating once again on two tracks with film composer, musician, and producer Tyler Bates ("300", "Guardian Of The Galaxy"). The central theme speaks to both the human spirit's resiliency in the face of trials and tribulations as well as the band's own enduring place as rock outliers.

Rossdale adds: "Instead of being mournful or self-piteous, this is about the success stories of humanity's survival against the odds. People just find a way to push through. We've all obviously suffered in varying degrees. I think the nature of life is the art of survival. Everyone is being tested all of the time, but we find a way. In recent memory, we've made major strides and shown great resilience in the face of war, endless instances of racism, gender politics, a pandemic, and a melting pot of what we've experienced. For me, 'The Art Of Survival' encompasses all of this."

"The Art Of Survival" track listing:

01. Heavy Is The Ocean
02. Slow Me
03. More Than Machines
04. May Your Love Be Pure
05. Shark Bite
06. Human Sand
07. Kiss Me I'm Dead
08. Identity
09. Creatures of the Fire
10. Judas Is A Riot
11. Gunfight
12. 1000 Years

Last weekend, BUSH gave fans a special performance of "More Than Machines" at the sold-out Atlantis Concert For Earth festival in the Azores Islands, Portugal, which highlights and celebrates global conservation efforts for the planet. The group's incredible guitar riffs mixed with Rossdale vocals emphasizing the lyrics, created an impactful set that made the crowd go wild

Rossdale recently told Germany's Radio Bob! about the musical direction of the band's upcoming follow-up to 2020's "The Kingdom" album: "I think I had so much fun to make it heavy that I just stayed heavy and stayed with heavy tuning and strong riffs — stuff [that will go over well at] festivals. I just like it to be exciting and really driving. So it's similar to the last one. If you liked the last one, that level of heavy, then it's like that."

Four months ago, Rossdale told Australia's May The Rock Be With You that he had written 18 songs for BUSH's next album. He also said that he tried to keep the musical direction of the new BUSH music similar to that of "The Kingdom". "It's all like that," he said. "I like that. So I've kept it in that vein. That was the launchpad. That was it. I was, like, 'I'm off.' I've got maybe two ballady, two softer songs, slower songs, but they're weird."

He continued: "I've got a studio in my house now and it's been such an amazing time. You have the tools at your fingertips now to make songs and make music. It's just staggering. It's so much fun."

Hitting the road on one of the hottest rock tours of the summer, BUSH will join ALICE IN CHAINS and BREAKING BENJAMIN for a massive North American jaunt, rolling through amphitheaters and sheds coast to coast for eight weeks. The tour kicks off on August 10 in Burgettstown, Pennsylvania at The Pavilion at Star Lake, visits major markets everywhere, and concludes on October 8 in Mansfield, Massachusetts at Xfinity Center.

Photo credit: Dove Shore

Becoming The Archetype recently announced their first album in since 2012's I AM. The band will release Children Of The Great Extinction via Solid State Records on August 26. Pre-order it here.


Not only is the band returning from an extended hiatus but Jason Wisdom also returns to the vocal helm.


Today, the band has shared the video for "The Remnant." Watch below.




"'The Remnant' is a very important track for me as a lynchpin of the story on this album," explains Wisdom. "Not only is it one of the heaviest and grooviest songs on the record, but it was the first lyrical piece I wrote for the album and launched the whole idea for the concept. It also bears the original name of the band —we were called 'The Remnant' before we changed it to Becoming the Archetype. So the song is symbolically a way of tying everything back together with the whole history of the band."





10 years since their last release, Becoming The Archetype will issue their sixth full-length offering, Children Of The Great Extinction with a core lineup comprised of the aforementioned Wisdom [vocals/bass], Seth Hecox [guitar/keyboard/vocals], and Brent "Duck" Duckett [drums]. The album is a cinematic trip bolstered by soaring clean vocals, technically proficient instrumentation, and a fascinating sci-fi concept.


"Thematically, it reflects the reality of our current humanitarian situation," shares Hecox. "Existential dread pervades our existence. People have experience with real monsters in addition to facing our own mortality. These things are evident not only in metal culture, but greater culture as well. We touch upon all of this as well as the possibility of redemption and salvation from those terrors."


In 2005, Becoming The Archetype arrived with Terminate Damnation - a hybrid of tech, death, and progressive metal underpinned by deep themes. They further captivated fans with The Physics of Fire in 2007. For Dichotomy a year later, they teamed up with the legendary Devin Townsend [Strapping Young Lad] behind-the-board as producer and served up anthems like the title track featuring Ryan Clark of Demon Hunter. Along the way, they packed shows touring with legendary bands like Parkway Drive, August Burns Red, Demon Hunter, Zao, The Chariot, and more. In 2011, the band partnered with producer Matt Goldman (Underoath, The Chariot) to unleash their most progressive album, Celestial Completion — the last album to feature Jason and "Duck"—until now. The members always remained close, but 2020 saw them reunite to begin crafting new material what would become Children Of The Great Extinction with producer Nate Washburn (My Epic) in Atlanta.


According to Jason Wisdom, "This new album isn't just about making more music, but about re-capturing the original artistic spirit of the band. Children Of The Great Extinction is not just another BtA album. It is a fully realized vision of Becoming The Archetype that we’ve always wanted to put forth."


Wisdom sums it up best, saying, "When you hear it, I hope you think, 'Becoming The Archetype is back!'"





Tracklisting:


"The Dead World"
"The Lost Colony"
"The Remnant"
"The Calling"
"The Phantom Field"
"The Awakening"
"The Hollow"
"The Ruins" (Feat. Ryan Clark)
"The Curse"
"The Sacrament"


"The Lost Colony" video:

The family of late SLIPKNOT drummer Joey Jordison has publicly shared a video that was put together for his memorial to mark the first anniversary of his passing.

According to a post on the NathanJonasJordison.com web site, the 15-minute video "shows him as a brilliant musician, as well as the amazing human he was to us. We wanted to share it with the people that mattered to Joey most: his fans.

"The songs that accompany the photos in this video include some of Joey's favorites," the message adds. "He referenced these songs in many of the interviews he gave over the course of his career when asked about the songs and artists that played a part in shaping him as a musician. One that hits hardest is LED ZEPPELIN's, 'In My Time of Dying', named by Joey as the song he wanted played at his funeral."

SLIPKNOT announced its split with Jordison in December 2013 but did not disclose the reasons for his exit. The drummer subsequently issued a statement saying that he did not quit the group.

Several years ago, Jordison overcame the neurological condition acute transverse myelitis, an inflammation of the spinal cord which damages nerve fibers, which ultimately led to the drummer temporarily losing the use of his legs.

Jordison and the members of SLIPKNOT had been silent and evasive about the reasons for his dismissal from the band, but Joey finally spoke about it in 2016 while accepting an award at the Metal Hammer Golden Gods Awards in London, England.

At the time, Joey claimed that he was fired from SLIPKNOT without a band meeting or "anything from management." He said: "All I got was a stupid fucking e-mail saying I was out of the band that I busted my ass my whole life to fucking create. That's exactly what happened and it was hurtful. I didn't deserve that shit after what I'd done and everything I'd been through.

"They got confused about my health issues and obviously even I didn't know what it was at first," he continued. "They thought I was fucked up on drugs, which I wasn't at all.

"I've been through so many things with those guys and I love them very much. What's hurtful is the way it went down was not fucking right. That's all I want to say. The way they did it was fucking cowardly. It was fucked up."

This past February, SLIPKNOT frontman Corey Taylor said that Jordison's passing broke his heart. "It hit me hard, even though I hadn't seen him or talked to him in a very long time," he said during a question-and-answer session at the annual Mad Monster Party fan convention. "And I won't get into certain things, but I will say that it hit us all really hard. The first person that I called was Clown [SLIPKNOT percussionist M. Shawn Crahan] to make sure he was okay. Because those guys… I can remember going down and seeing them both at the gas station that Joey worked at — like, way back in the day. And he would work the overnights. When I wasn't working at the porn shop, I would go down. And they were always scheming; they would always sit together scheming. It's, like, 'I've got this fucking idea. All right? We're gonna set our faces on fire.' And I was, like, 'No. You're really not gonna do that.'"

He continued: "All that history and all the memories came back then. And his health was obviously part of that. And it was sad because this man was probably one of the most gifted people I've ever seen in my life… It was far, far too soon. And it broke my heart. Regardless of what had gone down between us, it broke my heart. It was a hard… It's still hard to think about. I think about it now and it doesn't seem real. So it hit us just as hard. It's one of the reasons why we pay homage to him andPaul [Gray, late SLIPKNOT bassist] at the end of [each SLIPKNOT] show — to make sure that people realize that even though he was gone, he's still part of the family, and he always will be."

Corey previously opened up about Joey's death during a September 2021 appearance on SiriusXM's "Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk". At the time, he said: "Our first concern was obviously his family, so we reached out immediately to make sure that they were okay, to let them know if they needed anything from us, they could absolutely ask.

"It's a damn tragedy," Taylor continued. "He was way too young, and he was way too talented to lose him like this.

"I know a lot of people wonder about the circumstances that led to him not being in the band anymore, and it's, like, we're not gonna talk about that, because I'd rather talk about his legacy, which is that he helped create this band that we all have fought to keep out there and keep going.

"Just the fact that he's not here now, it's still — I still can't believe it," Corey added.

Back in 2014, Taylor told Metal Hammer that firing Jordison after 18 years was "one of the hardest decisions" the group ever made, adding that Joey is "in a place in his life" which is "not where we are."

Taylor said he could not get into specifics for legal reasons, but admitted, "It's when a relationship hits that T-section and one person's going one way and you're going the other. And try as you might to either get them to go your way or try and go their way, at some point you've got to go in the direction that works for you. This is me speaking in the broadest terms, with respect to Joey. I guess to sum it up, it was one of the hardest decisions we ever made."

Taylor said that the band is "happy right now and we hope that he is . . . he's just in a place in his life, right now, that's not where we are."

The singer would not answer whether drug use played a role in Jordison's dismissal, and confessed that he had not been in touch with his former bandmate. Taylor said, "I haven't talked to Joey in a while, to be honest. That's how different we are. It's not because I don't love him and I don't miss him. And it is painful; we talk about him all the time, but at the same time, do we miss him or do we miss the old him? That's what it really comes down to."

Four years ago, Joey revealed that he was working on his first-ever book.

In 2018, Jordison completed a European tour with the international death metal supergroup SINSAENUM.

A year ago, Joey's SINSAENUM bandmate Frédéric Leclercq blasted TMZ for sharing the audio of the 911 call placed by the former SLIPKNOT drummer's ex-girlfriend after she found him dead. On July 29, 2021, the tabloid site posted the two-and-a-half-minute phone call in which the ex-girlfriend — who continued taking care of Joey's bills and maintaining his house in Iowa even after their split — could be heard getting very emotional when she went to his home to check on him after he hadn't returned her messages. During the call, she indicated that Joey was "a really bad alcoholic" with "health issues," and she revealed that the motion sensors on the house hadn't detected any activity in days.

The same year that he exited SLIPKNOT, Jordison launched the band SCAR THE MARTYR and later, VIMIC.

The Rholedz YouTube channel has uploaded video of JOURNEY's entire July 20 performance at the California Mid-State Fair in Paso Robles, California.

Setlist time stamps in video below:

00:01 Intro
01:32 Only The Young
05:39 Neal Schon Guitar Solo
06:42 Stone In Love
12:07 Don't Stop Believin'
17:04 You Got The Best Of Me
23:06 Neal Schon Introduction Speech
23:27 Lights
27:00 Send Her My Love
30:48 Send Her My Love (Outro)
33:51 Dead Or Alive
38:10 Who's Crying Now?
45:17 Mother Father (Deen Castronovo on vocals)
50:58 Lovin', Touchin', Squeezin'
57:54 Jonathan Cain Piano Solo
1:00:19 Open Arms
1:05:00 Jonathan Cain Speech
1:06:18 Faithfully
1:11:14 Jonathan Cain Speech
1:11:27 Girl Can't Help It (Jason Derlatka on vocals)
1:15:18 Neal Schon Guitar Solo
1:19:39 Wheel In The Sky (Extended)
1:28:24 Separate Ways
1:33:34 Be Good To Yourself
1:38:23 Any Way You Want It (Confetti)
1:42:05 Band Roll Call

JOURNEY guitarist Neal Schon, who is promoting the band's latest album, "Freedom", was asked in a recent interview with AXS TV's "At Home And Social With…" why he and his bandmates continue to put out fresh music. He responded: "We have a whole new generation of fans out there. There's five generations right now I see in the audience. And the kids are getting younger and younger, and we still have our older fans too. So the older fans, sure, they just wanna hear their hits, but they like to see some growth too. A lot of 'em write me on social media, and I'll write back, 'cause I like to stay in touch with them.

"When we played Lollapalooza for the first time in Chicago, our first show out when we did the first East Coast run this last year, I didn't know what to expect 'cause we had never played that festival before," he continued. "Everybody was going, 'Wow, you're the last band I would think of that would be on Lollapalooza, because it's usually about this, that, this, that.' I've gotta tell you, Post Malone was on the bigger stage on the other side. He came on stage at the same time we did, and I'm a fan. And we went on, and I've gotta tell you, I think three songs into it, the whole audience levitated to our side, and we had over 120 thousand people out there."

Released on July 8 via BMG, "Freedom" debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Current Rock chart.

The members of JOURNEY celebrated the album's release by kicking off a residency featuring special symphony orchestra performances at the new, state-of-the-art Resorts World Casino in Las Vegas.

As JOURNEY's legend continues to grow larger and their touring gets bigger, "Freedom" is the band’s first album of new material to be released in eleven years, since 2011's "Eclipse", and in addition to Schon, along with longtime keyboard player and primary lyricist Jonathan Cain and vocalist Arnel Pineda, one more member was recruited for the LP — bassist extraordinaire Randy Jackson, who had played on JOURNEY's 1986 album "Raised On Radio".

Inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame in 2017, JOURNEY has 25 gold and platinum albums, with total sales adding up to over 100 million albums worldwide, earning the band two Diamond Awards with a third on the way for the "Frontiers" album. JOURNEY has also surpassed one billion streams on Spotify.

In recent years, Dutch symphonic metallers WITHIN TEMPTATION shifted their focus from releasing albums to releasing a series of singles, enabling the band members to indulge themselves in their creative processes thus delivering freshly inspired music. The band has released "Entertain You", "The Purge" and "Shed My Skin", singles that have all thrilled their fanbase, had great critical reception in Europe, peaked in the Top 20 of the U.S. Billboard Mainstream Rock Indicator charts and topped the official German charts. Earlier this month, WITHIN TEMPTATION also released the official Jeb Hardwick-directed music video for the band's latest single, "Don't Pray For Me". It is the fourth single of the band's independent releases and will lead up to WITHIN TEMPTATION's next studio album.

Speaking to Finland's Chaoszine, WITHIN TEMPTATION vocalist Sharon Den Adel stated about the band's plans for a new studio LP: "We don't have an official [release] date yet, but we are working, as we speak still, on finishing songs. And, of course, we have released a lot of songs during the corona time; those songs are gonna be on the album as well. So I think we have to finish up, like, a third still, and we're gonna do it in the beginning of next year. And somewhere next year we will release a new album — with the songs that we already released, of course."

Den Adel previously said that "Don't Pray For Me" "strives against forcing beliefs and fears on to others and bears witness to being acceptive of everyone's own journey. It is an anthem about coming to terms with the fact that beliefs can be fluid, multiple or, frankly, different. The song is about allowing people to pursue their own destiny."

The remainder of WITHIN TEMPTATION's 2022 will be filled up with a European summer festival season, a USA tour with IRON MAIDEN and a much-anticipated and long-delayed co-headlining European tour with EVANESCENCE.

WITHIN TEMPTATION's last album, "Resist", was released in February 2019 through Spinefarm Records, the specialist hard rock label of Universal Music Group.

"Resist" features guest appearances by PAPA ROACH's Jacoby Shaddix, IN FLAMES' Anders Fridén and ARID's Jasper Steverlinck.

Prior to "Resist"'s arrival, Den Adel said that the LP was inspired by "modern music" but with "a very dark" twist. She explained: "Sometimes, it feels that today's pop music lacks a rebellious edge. Our main goal was to collect pieces from sounds we did like and roughen it up as much as we could, resulting in a surprisingly new musical world that is heavier, dirtier and more futuristic than we've ever created before. 'Resist' is our take on metal in a new way: to give modern music its rebellious edge."

Just one day after the release of their anniversary reissues "We Still Take You With Us" and "Live At Paradiso", Dutch symphonic metal titans EPICA will celebrate 20 years of existence live at Tilburg's 013, the same place where they played their first show (supporting ANATHEMA) back in 2002.

However, since the concert has long been sold out and not everyone can join the celebrations on September 3, the band is bringing the show to everyone via the Internet. Fans everywhere can tune in to an exclusive, pro-shot live stream of the entire show that will contain plenty of surprises in the setlist, several guests, and spectacular stage effects!

EPICA keyboardist Coen Janssen comments: "We are extremely happy to be able to share our anniversary — not only with the lucky ones who got a ticket, but also with everybody else in the world! Our loyal fanbase is everywhere around this planet and through this livestream we can let everyone be part of this party. It wouldn't be a birthday bash without you!! So, grab your drinks and warn the neighbors, because this is going to be a noisy night!"

In addition, you will also get to witness the return of a band that had disappeared off the face of the earth for the last 20 years. The pre-EPICA band SAHARA DUST will reunite for a special one-off live performance to open the show. Don't miss them, because although you might have never heard of them, their history is heavily interwoven with EPICA's inception.

Starting live at 19:30 CEST (1:30 p.m. EST/10:30 a.m. PST),the shows will remain online for 72 hours for fans in different time zones to re-watch in their account at any time within that period. Early bird tickets are available until August 12, and bundles are available with limited edition merchandise that will only be available with the stream or directly at the anniversary show in Tilburg. Secure your tickets for this special event at www.epicastream.com.

EPICA was formed by composer Mark Jansen after leaving AFTER FOREVER in 2002, and the band quickly gained attention outside their home country, taking big steps towards becoming the leading symphonic metal superpower they have long proven to be. After their ambitious debut "The Phantom Agony" (2002) and the surprisingly eclectic sophomore work "Consign To Oblivion" (2005),the road took them to new heights via their first concept masterpiece "The Divine Conspiracy" (2007) and their global breakthrough "Design Your Universe" (2009). 2012's opus "Requiem For The Indifferent", 2014's bedazzling "The Quantum Enigma" and "The Holographic Principle" (2016),cemented their reputation as not only one of the hardest-working metal bands in the business but also as one of the best. With 2021's "Omega", the final part of the metaphysical trilogy they began with "The Quantum Enigma", they reclaimed the throne without so much as the blink of an eye, amassing three million-plus streams during the first week of the album's release.

Chicago's hard-hitting rock quartet SOIL will release a new studio album, titled "Play It Forward", consisting of some of the songs that inspired the bandmembers throughout the years. They've already previewed two of the LP's songs, releasing their version of Neil Young's anthem "Rockin' In The Free World" as well as the FOO FIGHTERS cover "Monkey Wrench" in honor of drummer Taylor Hawkins. And much more is in store, including covers of WHITE ZOMBIE, RAMONES and LEADBELLY. Today, the band has shared an absolutely ripping version of Halsey's "Nightmare", accompanied by a suitably sick and twisted music video.

SOIL bassist Tim King states: "When we were approached by Cleopatra Records with the idea to record a covers album, it seemed both exciting and challenging. Outside of the song 'Black Betty', we have never really covered any songs before. This gave us a chance to explore some songs we enjoyed growing up on and also taking songs that were never intended to be hard rock or metal and put our own spin on them. It proved to be quite the challenge with our downtuning and figuring out all the different parts and effects in the original versions that you never quite notice during casual listens. The songs we thought were going to be super easy turned out to be the most challenging. In the end, we were very happy with the way it all came out and we feel it will give the SOIL fans something to enjoy and have fun with. That was our main goal. To do something fun in the wake of all the horrible things that have been going on in the world."

"Play It Forward" will be released on all formats starting August 26. Two album designs were created for the release: a "cassette" design that will be used for the CD packaging and a "skeleton" design that will be used for the first vinyl pressing. A second vinyl pressing featuring the "cassette" artwork will be released in September.

"Play It Forward" track listing:

01. Runnin' Down A Dream
02. Thunder Kiss '65
03. Nightmare
04. No Voices In The Sky
05. Snap Your Fingers Snap Your Neck
06. Monkey Wrench
07. What It's Like
08. I Wanna Be Sedated
09. Rockin' In The Free World
10. Unsung
11. Black Betty

Back in December 2020, SOIL vocalist Ryan McCombs confirmed that he and his bandmates were working on the long-awaited follow-up to 2013's "Whole" album. He said during a Headbangers Con live virtual panel: "We just started writing here recently with the SOIL guys. So that's been a breath of fresh air for me, 'cause I've been going a little nuts not having something to write for a long time.

"Not having something to write is like an artist not having use of their hands to draw or paint, or whatever their medium is. I've never been able to play an instrument for shit, so I've always been reliant on having a good music writer, instrumentation-wise, a music writer, and I've been blessed with C.J. Pierce [during my days with DROWNING POOL] and Adam Zadel. So not having one of those guys sending me musical ideas to bounce back and forth on, I feel like an artist with no hands. So having, all of a sudden, half a dozen songs in two weeks' time to write with, I feel like a mad scientist. I feel like my legs work again; I've got hands again. It's been awesome."

Ryan also talked about how SOIL might go about releasing new music and whether putting out full-length albums makes sense anymore.

"It's been about 137 years since the last album, so we've talked ad nauseam about what could be a way of working," he said. "I think one of the things that goes against us at times is Tim being in the music business on the other side of the fence. Tim's on the label side of things as well, with Pavement, so he sees the problems that the business is having. And so it's hard for him sometimes to separate the fact of the artist and the shirt-and-tie. And so that goes against us sometimes, because, as an artist, we're just going, 'Let's write a new record. Let's write some new songs. Let's get a new record out there.' And he's the same way, but then he's gotta [look at it from the point of view of], 'What are we gonna do?' Because, at the end of the day, nobody is selling anything. Records aren't selling anymore. Hard copies, CDs aren't selling anymore — not at the numbers that they need to to make them worthwhile for printing. So that puts us into bouncing ideas off each other, and that's usually where things end up screeching to a halt. I think, actually, my dumb ass made the comment, 'Well, to begin with, we need material. Until we have material, there's no reason to worry about how you're going to release it. So let's get writing.' And that's when Tim finally [said], 'You're absolutely right.' And that's when he started writing the stuff. And now Adam's on fire about it."

In October 2019, SOIL released a "theatrical interpretation" of its song "One Love". Conceptually, SOIL wanted to do something different and interesting with the song since "One Love" originally appeared on "Whole". Indie filmmakers David Gregory (director) and James Morgan (director of photography) were tapped for the job. Filming was shot in the U.K. during SOIL's tour supporting STATIC-X.

SOIL's latest release was "Scream: The Essentials", which arrived in September 2017 via Pavement Entertainment and AFM Records. The effort celebrated the band's 20-year career and featured early recordings as well as alternate versions and mixes.

Adrian Smith and Richie Kotzen's project SMITH/KOTZEN will release "Better Days …And Nights" on September 16 via BMG. The effort comprises five previously unreleased live tracks, plus for the first time ever on CD, the four studio tracks featured on their sold-out, limited-edition 12-inch vinyl EP, "Better Days", released in conjunction with Record Store Day in November 2021.

The full track listing for "Better Days ...And Nights" is:

Days:

01. Better Days
02. Got A Hold On Me
03. Hate And Love
04. Rise Again

Nights:

05. Hate And Love (Live)
06. Got A Hold On Me (Live)
07. Scars (Live)
08. You Don't Know Me (Live)
09. Running (Live)

The live songs were recorded during SMITH/KOTZEN's inaugural whistle-stop tour of the U.S. and U.K. at the start of 2022, which attracted unanimously rave reviews from fans and media alike, celebrating the duo's debut on stage together with stellar back-up from Richie's wife, internationally acclaimed bass player Julia Lage, and drummer Bruno Valverde of ANGRA.

Japan's metal bible Burrn! magazine reviewing the Whisky A Go Go show in Los Angeles pronounced it, "An amazing night….this rock n' roll band is very different from any other…totally unique …and bringing you great songs!". U.K.'s Classic Rock magazine said the show was a, "masterclass in guitar playing and performance".

Smith comments: "I think everyone in the band was extremely happy with how our very first tour turned out. We were all naturally a little anxious as we'd never played live together before but once we got out there, everything fell into place really easily and we all had a tremendous amount of fun. I can't wait until we can do it again and get to play in many more places next time round."

Kotzen adds: "We spent a lot of time discussing which of the songs from the live show to include on this CD. We wanted to capture an accurate snapshot of the special vibe we all felt on the tour and I think we've achieved this in the songs we've selected, and hope our fans will agree. We're looking forward to seeing everybody again on future tours."

"Better Days….And Nights" will be released globally on CD and digital formats.

The original EP tracks were produced by Kotzen and Smith and mixed by Kevin Shirley. The live tracks were produced and mixed by Kotzen and Smith.

The live video for lead track "Hate And Love" was directed by Ryan Titley.

In a recent interview with Metal Edge magazine's "Another FN Podcast With Izzy Presley", Richie stated about how the short tour came together: "What happened was it was all just by timing. Nathalie [Dufresne-Smith, Adrian's wife] and Adrian came into town, and Adrian said, 'Hey, we're gonna be there for a couple of months. You wanna write some more songs?' And we did get together and we did about seven things that are in the works; we have some demo stuff that are in the works. And then we started thinking, 'Man, we're here. Why don't we play?' Julia was in the house and we were talking about it. And it just kind of — boom. It just made sense. 'Let's go. Call Bruno.' And we put it together. It was real easy."

Adrian added that fans can definitely expect to hear more music from SMITH/KOTZEN, which released a full-length album and an EP during 2021.

"We started writing with a view to doing another album, and then we got sidetracked on dates," Smith said. "Like Richie said, we've got six or seven things. It's just taking where we left off with the EP — just writing as we do.

"I don't wanna change the world," he added. "I just wanna make good rock music. It's n there, and you've just gotta do it. You just have to do it, really. It's one of those things."

SMITH/KOTZEN's eponymous debut album was released globally through BMG in March 2021 to media and fan acclaim, charting No. 10 on Billboard's Top Album Sales chart in the U.S., Top 20 in the U.K. as well as in other major markets such as Germany, Japan and Canada.

Smith is best known as one of IRON MAIDEN's principal guitarists, having also enjoyed success as a solo artist. Kotzen is the frontman for THE WINERY DOGS as well as having been the guitarist for both MR. BIG and POISON during his long and acclaimed career, which has to date seen him release more than 20 solo albums. Both artists are also prolific songwriters.

Rob Halford has admitted that he was "pissed" when he first found out that JUDAS PRIEST would receive the Musical Excellence Award at this year's Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame.

PRIEST will get the award at the fall 2022 event, which will honor Eminem, Dolly Parton, DURAN DURAN, Lionel Richie, Pat Benatar, EURYTHMICS and Carly Simon in the Performers category.

The award for Musical Excellence — which was originally titled the "Sidemen" category when it debuted — is given to artists, musicians, songwriters and producers whose originality and influence creating music have had a dramatic impact on music.

Back in 2010, when the Sidemen category was renamed the award for Musical Excellence, Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame Foundation president Joel Peresman told The Plain Dealer the category "gives us flexibility to dive into some things and recognize some people who might not ordinarily get recognized."

JUDAS PRIEST is the second band to receive the award for Musical Excellence; the E STREET BAND was the first. Last year, late OZZY OSBOURNE and QUIET RIOT guitarist Randy Rhoads was one of the recipients of the Musical Excellence Award.

Asked by the Arizona Republic how he felt when he found out he and his bandmates were going to be given the Musical Excellence Award by the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame this year, Halford said: "Why haven't they given us the same title as all of our friends. BLACK SABBATH, for example. There's a different tag, isn't there? I was pissed. I was a bit pissed. At the end of the day, does it matter?"

He continued: "Some days, I go, 'No, it doesn't matter. We're in the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame. Be grateful. Shut the hell up.' And then there are other days where I'm like, 'God damn, why did they give us the Musical Excellence Award?' Because it sounds very, you know, grandiose. 'The Musical Excellence Award, reserved for blah, blah, blah.' And I'm like, 'Yeah, but I want to be with that bunch of musicians over there that have got the performance or whatever it is that they've got.'"

Halford added: "I don't know why they gave us the Musical Excellence Award. I have no clue. I just felt a little bit like, 'Well, SABBATH got this. So why can't we have that?' Not that I'm jealous of SABBATH. I'm just talking about this tag that they give it. Why do they put these tags on the damn thing? Why don't they go, 'Welcome. You're in the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame' and leave it at that.

"A lot of our fans went, 'What the hell?' 'Oh, you know, they're a great band. They are an excellent band.' 'But why put the Musical Excellence? Why don't you give them like everybody else has got?'

"I know it's silly, but it's just frustrating. And on the other side, it's like, 'Great. Everybody else got that and we got shafted with this.' [Laughs] JUDAS PRIEST are still the Rodney Dangerfield of heavy metal. They can't get no respect."

The induction ceremony will be held on November 5, 2022 at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles. It will air at a later date on HBO and stream on HBO Max. There will also be a radio simulcast on SiriusXM's Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame Radio channel 310.

According to the Hall Of Fame, the JUDAS PRIEST members that will get inducted include current members Halford, Ian Hill (bass),Glenn Tipton (guitar) and Scott Travis (drums),along with former members K.K. Downing (guitar),Les Binks (drums) and late drummer Dave Holland.

JUDAS PRIEST was previously on the ballot for Rock Hall induction in 2020, but failed to receive enough votes to make that year's class.

Having been eligible for induction since 1999, PRIEST was also on the ballot for the 2018 class of the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame, but was ultimately left out of the inductee list.

To be eligible for nomination, an individual artist or band must have released its first commercial recording at least 25 years prior to the year of nomination.

Even though artists are eligible for the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame 25 years after the release of their first album or single, iconic hard rock and metal bands like IRON MAIDEN and MOTÖRHEAD have yet to be recognized by the institution, which inducted GUNS N' ROSES in that group's first year of eligibility.

The Rock Hall didn't induct BLACK SABBATH until 2006, and METALLICA followed three years later.

Eligible for induction since 1999, KISS didn't get its first nomination until 2009, and was finally inducted in 2014.

DEEP PURPLE was eligible for the Rock Hall since 1993 but didn't get inducted until 2016.