In a new interview with Sakis Fragos of Greece's Rock Hard magazine, KREATOR frontman Mille Petrozza revealed that his band and LAMB OF GOD have collaborated on a new original song, "State Of Unrest", to be released in October, prior to the launch of the two groups' European tour of the same name.

"We did a song together — LAMB OF GOD and KREATOR," he said. "That's gonna be cool. And I think that's totally different because it's [a mixture of] the European [approach] and the U.S. [style]."

He added: "It's a song that we've written for the tour, to kick it off. I think that's gonna be a cool song. That's a cool collaboration that I did."

KREATOR and LAMB OF GOD's "State Of Unrest" European tour was originally scheduled to take place in 2020, but ended up getting postponed, first to 2021 and then to 2022, due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. The trek will now launch on November 18 in Copenhagen, Denmark and conclude on December 21 in Zurich, Switzerland.

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

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

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

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

The music video for "666 - World Divided" was created under the direction of Jörn Heitmann, who was responsible for the music videos for "Radio" and "Ausländer" by RAMMSTEIN.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

MTVOID, the duo featuring TOOL's Justin Chancellor and SWEET NOISE/SERCE vocalist Peter Mohamed, has returned following a nine-year absence with a new song, "Scanner Void", which is available now via Chancellor's own label, Lobal Orning.

DEATH GRIPS producer Andy Morin lends drums and synths to the hypnotic track. In between a flurry of wailing siren-style squeals, Peter issues a guttural warning, "They are scanning your soul."

"Right now, technology is grabbing and shaping humanity," Mohammed offers. "We sell our souls to this whole system that is devouring their beauty."

"Peter and I really push each other," Justin explains, with the friends co-producing the track and forthcoming album. "My playing is a reaction to what he creates. He'll hit me with a beat, and I'll spend days recording to it — almost in stream-of-consciousness. I'll respond to him, and I'm always excited at what he pulls out from my response. It's all cause and effect. There is a means to this end though; we're both trying to write a song we would like to listen to. There's a genuine momentum to it."

Album details will be revealed soon.

Lacuna Coil have released a music video for the new version of "Tight Rope", to be featured on Comalies XX, out on October 14 via Century Media Records. The Trilathera-directed clip can be viewed below,.


Back in 2002, Lacuna Coil released an album which is now undeniably an anthem laden millennial classic that established them as a band with the stamina to go the distance and much of the climbing that still lay ahead back then. Now, 20 years later, Lacunca Coil decided to revisit the songs, but not to just re-record the songs as they were, but deconstruct and transport them into 2022.


“This is not a reboot or a spin-off or anything like that,’ says vocalist Cristina Scabbia. “We just wanted to give these songs a 2022 dress and see how this guy or girl who was born 20 years ago would still look fucking slick in 2022.”




Pre-order at the Century Media webshop.





Tracklisting:


CD1
“Swamped XX”
“Heaven’s A Lie XX”
“Daylight Dancer XX”
“Humane XX”
“Self Deception XX”
“Aeon XX”
“Tight Rope XX”
“The Ghost Woman And The Hunter XX”
“Unspoken XX”
“Entwined XX”
“The Prophet Said XX”
“Angel’s Punishment XX”
“Comalies XX”


CD2
“Swamped”
“Heaven's A Lie”
“Daylight Dancer”
“Humane”
“Self Deception”
“Aeon”
“Tight Rope”
“The Ghost Woman And The Hunter”
“Unspoken”
“Entwined”
“The Prophet Said”
“Angel's Punishment”
“Comalies”

Florida/Georgia-based rockers Voodoo Moonshine - a “bluesy groove rock band” - are back with a new single and video from their latest album, Bottom Of The Barrel. The song, “Give It To Me”, came about when Jeff Losawyer (the founding member, songwriter and lead guitarist of Voodoo Moonshine) was traveling from Oklahoma to Memphis, TN to write and record for the album that became Bottom Of The Barrel. Losawyer was sitting in his hotel room with his dog Daisy eating Taco Bell, and the thought of one-night stands came to mind and became the song’s lyrical inspiration.


“We were in search of a location to shoot the video,” recalls Losawyer about the song’s video clip. “We were having a hard time finding the perfect spot. We were looking for an old abandoned building or warehouse. We were about a week out when The Barn in Sanford was referred to us. Our first thought was ‘A country bar to shoot a rock video?!’ We checked out the photo's online, and we thought it would be a pretty neat place to do a shoot. When we got to Florida, the day before the shoot we went to check out the location and that's when everything started to fall into place. Who would have thought you could actually line dance to our rock song, ‘Give It to Me’?”


The video for the song (which the guitarist describes as “a more radio friendly danceable song, and pop rock compared to the others”) can be viewed below:







Voodoo Moonshine was formed in Memphis, TN in 2003 by Losawyer. The debut album, Decade Of Decay, was released in March 2005, and was well received throughout Europe. A tour was booked, including shows in England, Ireland, and Scotland. Due to the album’s success they were voted “Number One Band” seven times in England, and six times in Japan. In mid 2005, Voodoo Moonshine was introduced in Dublin, Ireland and quickly became one of the top three requested bands there.  


Their debut received rave reviews in many music publications. 2006 saw the band’s popularity continue to rise, and rock radio around the world stood up and took notice. Voodoo Moonshine could be heard in Portugal, Greece, Canada and of course, at home in America. Many times during the year, the band’s songs charted ahead of some of rock's so-called heavy hitters, like Bon Jovi, Skid Row, Guns N Roses and the Scorpions. The album Decade of Decay continued to do extremely well deep into 2007, more than two full years after its release. As the year wound down, the band took some much needed, and well deserved, time off. This eventually led to Losawyer working on a solo album. Jeff continued to write music during this time, and never gave up his passion to play.  


Fast forward, and suddenly 12 years had passed. Interestingly enough, he heard Pedro Espada singing in a YouTube video and really liked what he heard. He took a chance and reached out to Pedro to see if he would be interested in singing some of his songs. Initially he didn’t receive a very warm response. As a matter of fact, he was mostly ignored, but he knew he had found the right man for the job, so he was persistent. His persistence paid off and Jeff was invited to Daytona Beach Bike Week 2018 to jam with Pedro and his bandmates of Rockit Fly. Needless to say, things went well with Pedro, former Nova Rex member Eddie Cruise and Hector Acevedo, merging together to bring back Voodoo Moonshine.  
 
And it turns out Voodoo Moonshine already have plans to support their new single/video. “Future plans...shows, shows and shows. Fans can expect a set of big energy versatile songs that everyone should like. Working on songs for the next album already and continued growth of the band and fan base.”
 
Voodoo Moonshine lineup:


Pedro Espada - vocals
Jeff Losawyer - guitar
Hector Acevedo - bass
Eddie Cruise - drums

Dead Cross, the four-headed Hydra featuring Mike Patton, Dave Lombardo, Justin Pearson and Michael Crain, return with the abrasive 9-song album, II, on October 28 via Ipecac Recordings.


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


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




The news of II’s impending arrival is accompanied by the release of “Reign Of Error,” and its Displaced/Replaced-created video (see below).


“’Reign Of Error’ was recorded almost as quickly as it was written and I believe there’s a very good explanation for it,” adds Crain. “I haven’t told anybody this before, least of all the rest of the band or Ross, but I honestly felt a strong presence in the studio that day. Those riffs flew out of me and when Dave sat down at his kit it was almost as if we’d played that song a thousand times before. It literally just happened so fast. Bam! One take. I’m not trying to paint a dark or fantasy-like story either. Having just escaped death and still healing from my cancer treatments I was incredibly sensitive to energy and the other side. There was someone else there. Not evil but benevolent and inspiring. I honestly believe it was Dave’s old bandmate and friend Jeff. I think he just wanted to jam with his friend again and perhaps did so through me. There I said it. Whether people believe it or not I really don’t care. I’m just grateful that I had that experience.”





II will be available in several limited-edition physical formats:


· CD digipak
· Counterfeit Gold vinyl
· Indie retail exclusive Glass Coffin vinyl
· Ipecac webstore exclusive Pee Tape vinyl (limited to 500)
· Three One G webstore exclusive Ash Wednesday vinyl (limited to 500)
· Revolver exclusive Upper Crust vinyl (limited to 300)
· Black cassette (limited to 400)
· Gold cassette (limited to 100)


Pre-order here.





II tracklisting:


"Love Without Love"
"Animal Espionage"
"Heart Reformer"
"Strong and Wrong"
"Ants and Dragons"
"Nightclub Canary"
"Christian Missile Crisis"
"Reign of Error"
"Imposter Syndrome"


"Reign Of Error" video:





(Photo - Becky DiGiglio)

Free Dope here, get your free Dope here! New York City industrial metal pioneers, Dope, are announcing their upcoming seventh studio album, Blood Money Part Zer0. The album is scheduled for release on February 23, 2023, and in a move to demonstrate the bands sincere appreciation to their loyal fanbase for more than two decades, they are giving away the album for FREE digitally.





Longtime fans, curious listeners and people that enjoy gratis music can sign up to download the album for free on the band’s website. A physical pre-order will also be available on the band’s website for fans that want to purchase the new album in various physical available here.




“I am so grateful to the fans who have supported me and this band,” says Edsel. “I appreciate your patience and the trusting relationship that we have built together. I never half ass anything, and  believe that anything worth doing, is worth doing right, so sometimes it takes longer than expected. I’ve come to learn that the time between releases only makes our connection stronger and the bond between this band and our fans is unbreakable. I truly love you all!”


Blood Money Part Zer0 is the band’s first release in seven years and is the follow up to 2015’s Blood Money Part 1, which debuted at #27 on the Billboard top 200, selling over 15K units in its first week. Dope has sold more than a million combined albums and have amassed an incredible audience of nearly 2-million monthly listeners on Spotify, while racking up more than 100 million plays on their cult classic “Die MF Die.”


To coincide with the announcement of Blood Money Part Zer0, Dope is giving away two doses of new music. The songs “Believe” and “No Respect” are now available via all streaming partners as well on the band’s website. Fans that sign up for the free full-length download of Blood Monet Part Zer0 will receive instant downloads of the songs. “Believe” displays the bands commitment to their industrial / electronic roots, while incorporating chunky guitar riffs over driving drumbeats, as Edsel delivers a melodic a war cry of love, loss, and growth. “No Respect” is a brutal banger that showcases the band’s technical capabilities & refined musicianship, while Edsel’s growling vocals deliver the venomous message of “You ain’t got no respect” - a sentiment everyone can relate to.








Dope is also releasing an introspective infomercial, which doubles as a behind the scenes look into the real life of Edsel, his private life, and his many ventures outside of Dope. A very private person, virtually inactive on social media, Edsel is intentionally secretive about what he does with his time between records and tours. This video serves as a direct message to the fans, inviting them to see behind the curtain of the mysterious man, who’s creativity they have supported for years. In the end, the video is ultimately an introduction to Blood Money Part Zer0 and will feature teaser clips from the upcoming music videos for “Believe” and “No Respect,” but is also so much more. The introduction to Blood Money Part Zer0 video can be seen below:





Dope will be touring in 2023 in support of Blood Money Part Zer0 as part of the Rise Of The Machine Tour with Static-X and Fear Factory. The 42-date trek kicks off February 25, 2023, in San Francisco, CA and wraps up April 15, 2023, in Los Angeles, CA. Tickets for all stops on the Rise Of The Machine Tour can be found at DopeTheBand.com.


Rise Of The Machine North American Tour 2023:


February
25 - San Francisco, CA - The Fillmore
27 - Portland, OR - Roseland
28 - Seattle, WA - Showbox


March
1 - Vancouver, BC - Rickshaw Theater
2 - Spokane, WA - Knitting Factory
3 - Boise, ID - Revolution Concert Hall
4 - Reno, NV - Virginia Street Brewhouse
5 - Sacramento, CA - Ace Of Spades
7 - Phoenix, AZ - Van Buren
8 - Albuquerque, NM - El Rey Theater
9 - Oklahoma City, OK - Diamond Ballroom
10 - Dallas, TX - House of Blues
11 - San Antonio, TX - The Aztec Theater
12 - Houston, TX - House Of Blues
14 - Atlanta, GA - Buckhead Theater
15 - Orlando, FL - Plaza Live
16 - Charlotte, NC - Underground
17 - Baltimore, MD - Soundstage
18 - Philadelphia, PA - T.L.A.
19 - New York, NY - Irving Plaza
21 - Boston, MA - Big Night Live
22 - New Haven, CT - Toad’s
23 - Montreal, QC - Corona
24 - Toronto, ON - Phoenix
25 - Detroit, MI - St. Andrews Hall
26 - Cleveland, OH - House Of Blues
28 - Pittsburgh, PA - Roxian
29 - Cincinnati, OH - Bogarts
30 - Columbus, OH - The King of Clubs
31- Ft. Wayne, IN - The Clyde


April
1 - Milwaukee, WI - The Rave
2 - Green Bay, WI - Epic Event Center
4 - Grand Rapids, MI - Intersection
5 - St. Louis, MO - Del Mar Hall
6 - Indianapolis, IN - The Vogue
7 - Chicago, IL - House Of Blues
8 - Minneapolis, MN - The Fillmore
9 - Lincoln, NE - Bourbon Theater
11 - Denver, CO - The Summit
13 - Las Vegas, NH - House Of Blues
14 - San Diego, CA - House Of Blues
15 - Los Angeles, Ca - Belasco Theater


During his time away from performing with Dope, Edsel has become an incredibly successful creative director, project manager, & entrepreneur. During a 3-year stint with Omnicom’s GMR Marketing, Edsel headed up Music programs for The NFL, MLB, NASCAR, WWE, UFC, and many others, while also lending his creative marketing talents to brands such as Indian Motorcycle, Nissan, and American Horror Story, to name a few. Further, Edsel now resides in Los Angeles, CA. He is a father, has a family and is also the owner operator of the world’s leading 3D / 4D capture stage to the stars. Ecco Studios (www.EccoStudios.com) is a company specializes in the technical art of 3D & 4D scanning, which is the foundation for creating the most unbelievably realistic digital humans imaginable. Ecco is skyrocketing at the moment and through this venture, Edsel has recently worked with the likes of Paul McCartney, Snoop Dog, Terry Crews, Sylvester Stallone, while also working on AAA titles such as Spiderman, Terminator Dark Fate, Love Death Robot, as well as several volumes of the EA Madden Franchise.


Dope have spent the last 25 years delivering their uncompromising message to the masses. Through their six previous studio albums, the band has never pulled punches with their music or their message. The band made a name for themselves around New York City and eventually signed with Epic Records for their debut. The sophomeore album Life spawned the track “Die MF Die” which has become a staple in basic training and garnered the band a dedicated military following from that introduction. The band has also found mainstream success through their inclusion in various movie soundtracks and wrestling integrations specifically with the WWE. At a time when music trends changed, Dope continued to maintain their relevance with their audience through direct fan correspondence. This relationship garners Dope approximately 1.7 million monthly listeners, puts them in the top 1% of all streaming artists and a dedicated following that most people are unaware of to this day. As the band gets ready to launch in to the next 25 years of their career with Blood Money Part Zer0, the world needs the brutal honesty that Edsel and Dope have come to be known for.

Lonely Robot, the project masterminded by vocalist, guitarist & producer John Mitchell, recently announced the release of their fifth studio album A Model Life on August 26, 2022. Today, sees the launch of the second track taken from the album, accompanied by a unique video conceptualised by John himself.


Watch the clip for “The Island Of Misfit Toys” below.


John comments: “This song was in part inspired by all the broken and initially terrifying mutilated toys in the Toy Story film. It’s an ode to misfits the world over. We’re never going to be cool or fit in, so best give us our own island. Somewhere in the Caribbean would be nice!”




An album that brims with frustration at the state of things, while tugging remorselessly at the heart strings, A Model Life is plainly the most honest and vulnerable Lonely Robot record to date. From opener Recalibrating, which muses on the aftermath of a broken relationship, and Digital God Machine – a sardonic tribute to keyboard warriors everywhere, to the boys-don’t-cry pathos of Rain Kings and the absurdly moving, adoption-themed Duty Of Care, these new songs provide a scattershot but profoundly emotional soundtrack to a restless and uncertain world.


John comments: “Making A Model Life was very much a lifeline and indeed wake up call at the end of a particularly personally challenging couple of years. Creating it made me realise that ultimately, life is impermanent and the one true thing that gives me a focus and anchor is and has always been music. Long may that be the case.”


The album will be available as Limited CD Digipak, Gatefold 2LP+CD & as Digital Album. Pre-order here.





Tracklisting:


"Recalibrating"
"Digital God Machine"
"Species In Transition"
"Starlit Stardust"
"The Island Of Misfit Toys"
"A Model Life"
"Mandalay"
"Rain Kings"
"Duty Of Care"
"In Memoriam"


"The Island Of Misfit Toys" video:





"Recalibrating" lyric video:





A lone soldier on the frontlines of creativity, John Mitchell has been at the forefront of forward-thinking and progressive rock for decades now. As a member of such revered prog ensembles as It Bites, Arena, Frost* and his own projects Kino and The Urbane, he has become a uniquely vital contributor to the modern scene, while his credentials as a producer for countless contemporary rock acts are unquestionable. But since 2015, John has been operating under name Lonely Robot: a solo project in all but name, it has enabled him to fully express his own musical vision, via some of the most vivid and fascinating music of his career to date.


(Photo – Tom Barnes)

Frontiers announces the release of Lunarian's debut album, Burn The Beauty, on September 9. Lunarian is a new musical endeavour centred around  vocalist/songwriter, Ailyn.


Burn The Beauty is a showcase for the immense voice of Ailyn, which she has displayed in her work with Trail Of Tears, Sirenia, Her Chariot Awaits (her project with Mike Orlando of Adrenaline Mob), Heart Healer (Magnus Karlsson's rock-metal opera), and more.


A new single and music video, "Dream Catcher" is out today. Pre-order/save Burn The Beauty here, and watch the music video below.




For Lunarian, Ailyn teamed up with producer Aldo Lonobile (Secret Sphere, Archon Angel, Sweet Oblivion) to write songs for an engaging, mesmerizing symphonic metal album. And that is exactly what you get with Burn The Beauty.


Spanish singer/songwriter Ailyn has been performing professionally since the early '00s. She started off as a solo artist before becoming the lead vocalist of the popular Norwegian symphonic metal act Sirenia. Ailyn was a member of Sirenia until 2016, releasing four albums with them. She then took a short hiatus from her musical career before announcing her return with Her Chariot Awaits, a collaboration with Adrenaline Mob guitarist Mike Orlando. The band released one album, a self-titled debut via Frontiers Music Srl. Since 2020, she has also been working with Norwegian gothic/symphonic black metal band Trail Of Tears as well, handling soprano vocals for the band.


In working with Frontiers on Her Chariot Awaits, Ailyn and the label developed a good working relationship and eventually brought her together with producer Aldo Lonobile to discuss the possibility of making a more symphonic metal sounding album compared to the contemporary hard rock sound of Her Chariot Awaits. AIlyn headed to Italy to work with Aldo and record her vocals and thus Burn The Beauty by Lunarian came to life.





Burn The Beauty tracklisting:


"Don't Wait Until I'm Gone"
"Dream Catcher"
"Embrace"
"Bleeding Out"
"Embers"
"Burn The Beauty"
"Endless Sleep"
"Invincible"
"Never Ending Circle"
"Scarlet"
"Sacrifice"


"Dream Catcher" video:





Lineup:


Ailyn - Vocals
Aldo Lonobile - Guitars
Mattia Gosetti - Bass
Michele Sanna - Drums
Antonio Agate - Keyboards & Orchestral Arrangements

Kerry King spoke to Metal Hammer magazine about his post-SLAYER project, saying that "won't be dragging [his] feet much longer" when it comes to going back on the road.

Nearly two years after he revealed that he had more than two records' worth of music written for his new band, King stated about the new material's direction: "You know me, so you know what it's going to sound like. I played this new song for a buddy, and I said to him, 'If there's anything I've written in the last few years that sounds like SLAYER, it's this.' And he said, 'That sounds like you could have pulled it off of any SLAYER record.' I actually made that riff up backstage at a SLAYER show. We were walking to the stage and I got my phone out and recorded it so I wouldn't forget it."

While King was reluctant to reveal the rest of the lineup of his new band, he confirmed the involvement of former SLAYER drummer Paul Bostaph.

"We just started rehearsing and the only person I can give away is Paul because I took him from SLAYER and we work very well together," the 58-year-old guitarist said. "We didn't start rehearsing until the end of March, and that was the first time since that last SLAYER show at the end of 2019 that me and Paul finally got into a room together."

King went on to say that he expects his new band to start out by playing "much smaller" venues than SLAYER did at the end of its four-decade run.

"Had it have been up to me then I'd have been out in 2020," he said. "But that thing called the pandemic fucked everything up for everyone. You know, I waited on that, because it had to run its course. I didn't want to be the guinea pig; I didn't want to learn how to tour again. I already did my dues; I don't want to have to prove myself again.

"Have I been dragging my feet? Yeah, because I wanted this [pandemic] shit to get sorted. I won't be dragging my feet much longer."

SLAYER played the final show of its farewell tour in November 2019 at the Forum in Los Angeles. One day later, Kerry's wife Ayesha King said that there is "not a chance in hell" that the thrash metal icons will reunite for more live appearances. In August 2020, she once again shot down the possibility of her husband and bassist/vocalist Tom Araya sharing the stage ever again under the SLAYER banner.

After Ayesha shared three photos of Kerry holding their cat in slideshow-type Instagram post, a fan wrote: "No Tom, No SLAYER Kerry. Stop thinking SLAYER without @tomarayaofficial". Ayesha then replied: "don't worry, they'll never be SLAYER again! You can rest easy".

That same month, Bostaph confirmed that he is involved in a brand new project headed up by Kerry. Paul told Australia's Riff Crew that the new band will "sound like SLAYER without it being SLAYER — but not intentionally so. I mean, Kerry's been writing songs in SLAYER his entire career, and he has a style," he explained. "And that style, as a songwriter, you just don't change your style because your band is done… So, all I can say is if you like heavy music and you like SLAYER, you'll like this."

Just a few days earlier, Kerry told Dean Guitars that he had plenty of musical ideas for his upcoming project. "I've been very, very lucky with riffs in 2020," he said. "Maybe because I can't go anywhere — I don't know — but riffs have certainly not been a problem. And looking forward into the future, what that means for me is I'm gonna be able to cherrypick the best stuff. And it's good stuff. I've got more than two records' worth of music, but to be able to go through that and cherrypick the best 11 or 12 [songs]… That first record should be smoking."

When SLAYER first announced that it was embarking on its final tour back in January 2018, Ayesha assured fans that they would "always get music" from her husband.

King has said in previous interviews that his post-SLAYER musical efforts would not be much different from the sound fans have grown accustomed to hearing from him.

"If someone quit, I'm not going to go around with a made-up SLAYER," he told AZCentral.com back in 2010. "But my next band would sound like SLAYER, that's all I know."

SLAYER's final world tour began on May 10, 2018 with the band's intention to play as many places as possible, to make it easy for the fans to see one last SLAYER show and say goodbye. By the time the 18-month trek wrapped at the Forum, the band had completed seven tour legs plus a series of one-off major summer festivals, performing more than 140 shows in 30 countries and 40 U.S. states.

In a new interview with Sarah Hagan Backstage, Mike Mangini reflected on his widely publicized audition for DREAM THEATER in late 2010 following the departure of the band's original drummer Mike Portnoy. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "[Portnoy and I] were friends before I got this job [as the new drummer of DREAM THEATER]. Literally, in my [then-]place in L.A., we were hanging out. He was the one that invited me to all the DREAM THEATER shows. He was the person [in DREAM THEATER] I was closest with. He said all kinds of nice things about me all the time to people and in magazines. And so the audition thing happened and our relationship kind of just went into a holding pattern [once I joined DREAM THEATER], and that was that. Whatever that means — it might have been awkward for him or whatever; I don't know. But, anyway, we just kind of did our things.

"What's interesting is with my audition, I wasn't friends with [the other members of DREAM THEATER]. I knew [singer] James [LaBrie] 'cause I had done three records with him and would consider him a friend, to a point, but we didn't yap other than that. Portnoy was the one that was my friend, so the guy that left was the person I was closest with. And even for the audition, James had his [then-]current drummer, Peter Wildoer, into the DREAM THEATER audition. So it was nothing… anything that was suggested that I was friends with them and I was just given the job or anything like that 'cause it's totally not true — [it's] totally false, totally made up by whoever wants to make things up that they wanna think."

Mangini beat out six other of the world's top drummers — Marco Minnemann, Virgil Donati, Aquiles Priester, Thomas Lang, Peter Wildoer and Derek Roddy — for the gig, a three-day process that was filmed for a documentary-style reality show called "The Spirit Carries On".

"I wasn't nervous about what would happen 'cause I had such a good day that day," Mike recalled. "But I didn't know. I was, like, 'Oh my gosh. I'm nervous. I really would like to do this.' And who knows? All the other drummers, if they weren't already my friends became my friend after that. So I have close relationships with everybody. I was nervous because I know that each of the drummers does something amazing that the other one doesn't do. That's the beauty about art and music, is everyone has things that they're own and I know how great they all are. All I know is I didn't do anything that was a mistake to the point that it was noticed. It's a better way for me to describe than for me to say, 'I didn't make any mistakes that day,' or whatever. I have to be clear that I don't know that I hit this drum and I should have hit that drum — that's not what I mean. What I mean is nothing caused us to stop; nothing was out of place; I got every single test the first time; the jam was pretty good, it was fun; I played the songs correctly and had zero stops. It was that kind of thing — nothing was out."

Mangini made his name in the hard rock world in the mid-1990s when he played with EXTREME, before landing the gig with guitar legend Steve Vai in 1996. Nearly a decade later, Mangini took up a full-time teaching position at the world-renowned Berklee College Of Music.

DREAM THEATER's latest album, "A View From The Top Of The World", came out last October.

Three months ago, DREAM THEATER won its first-ever Grammy in the "Best Metal Performance" category in the pre-telecast ceremony at the 64th annual Grammy Awards, which was held at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. DREAM THEATER was nominated for "The Alien", a track from "A View From The Top Of The World". DREAM THEATER's previous Grammy nominations were for the song "On The Backs Of Angels", from 2011's "A Dramatic Turn Of Events" album, and the single "The Enemy Inside" from 2013's "Dream Theater".

THE DARKNESS frontman Justin Hawkins has weighed in on the news that PANTERA's surviving members Philip Anselmo (vocals) and Rex Brown (bass) will unite with guitarist Zakk Wylde (OZZY OSBOURNE, BLACK LABEL SOCIETY) and drummer Charlie Benante (ANTHRAX) for a world tour under the PANTERA banner.

Anselmo and Brown, along with Wylde and Benante, will headline a number of major festivals across North America and Europe and stage some of their own headline concerts.

According to Billboard, the lineup has been given a green light by the estates of the band's founders, drummer Vincent "Vinnie Paul" Abbott and guitarist "Dimebag" Darrell Abbott, as well as Brown, who last year said Wylde wouldn't tour with PANTERA if a reunion were to happen. It's unclear what changed his mind.

Hawkins, a 47-year-old British-born rocker who currently lives in Switzerland, discussed his views on the PANTERA comeback via his YouTube series "Justin Hawkins Rides Again" where he shares a mixture of serious musician analysis and fun hot takes to his 168,000 subscribers.

In the description accompanying the release of his video commentary, Hawkins wrote: "Big news for PANTERA fans with the announcement that they plan on reuniting for a tour, as PANTERA, despite Dimebag Darrell & Vinnie Paul no longer with us. This has been received with mixed feelings from PANTERA fans, they don't believe they should tour as PANTERA without the Abbott Brothers but rather as a tribute act. Is this an overreaction? Should the surviving members of PANTERA be allowed to tour as PANTERA or is it disrespectful after everything that's happened?"

In the 11-minute video, which can be seen below, Justin stated in part (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "What is the problem here? It's PANTERA, isn't it? It's the surviving members of PANTERA. I know that two of the most iconic people in that type of metal are no longer with us, so they can't do it. So I think what the fans are saying PANTERA should be allowed to rest in peace now. And actually, there's something about that that makes sense. Maybe they should call it something else. Maybe it should be called 'The surviving members of PANTERA featuring' and then say Zakk Wylde and the other guy. Or maybe just don't do it. I don't know. I'm just playing devil's advocate here.

"I can understand the conundrum, because on one level, it's their right; it was their band," he continued. "Why wouldn't you go out and just do that? But at the same time, there's something about the legacy of PANTERA; this is one of those bands where that actually matters, I think. So maybe they should call it something else. I'm not suggesting they shouldn't do it. I always think about QUEEN in this instance. Why shouldn't Brian May and Roger Taylor go and play those songs as QUEEN featuring Adam Lambert or Paul Rodgers or whoever it happens to be. Of course they should do that. Why would you begrudge somebody the opportunity to go and play their own songs as their own band under those really awful circumstances where the people that you'd like to be performing and see performing just are no longer with us."

Talk about a possible PANTERA "reunion" intensified when Anselmo regularly joined Wylde's BLACK LABEL SOCIETY to perform PANTERA's song "I'm Broken" during DOWN's 2014 stint on the "Revolver Golden Gods Tour". That buzz only got stronger after Brown joined the jam on May 23, 2014 when the tour swung through Texas.

Up until his passing, Vinnie remained on non-speaking terms with Anselmo, whom the drummer indirectly blamed for Dimebag's death.

Vinnie Paul and Dimebag co-founded PANTERA. When PANTERA broke up in 2003, they formed DAMAGEPLAN. On December 8, 2004, while performing with DAMAGEPLAN at the Alrosa Villa in Columbus, Ohio, Dimebag was shot and killed onstage by a troubled schizophrenic who believed that the members of PANTERA were stealing his thoughts.

DEF LEPPARD has released the sixth in a series of behind-the-scenes episodes from "The Stadium Tour", which kicked off on June 16 in Atlanta, Georgia. Episode 6 takes you to the stages at Detroit and Hershey, and shares more guitar stories, a new song on the setlist, singer Joe Elliott's performance of "Pour Some Sugar With Me" with Billy Joel, and more.

In the five-minute clip, which can be seen below, bassist Rick Savage — known to all simply as Sav — reflected on the Detroit gig, saying: "Wow, Detroit. What a show. The crowd was fantastic. There was just a great energy about the set. Just within the stadium, from the get-go, right from the start, it was, like, bang! And we were with the crowd. The crowd with us all the way. And it just kept going like that — it just kept going up and up and up and up."

He continued: "It was just a great night — absolute great night. It's one of those nights where it reminds you what a great job I've got — it reminds me what a great job I've got.

"Playing in a band like this is just fantastic. And every so often you have a night like tonight that just jogs your memory and [you] go, 'I've got the best job in the world.' And it was because it was fantastic."

The veteran British rockers are co-headlining "The Stadium Tour" with MÖTLEY CRÜE, with support from POISON and JOAN JETT & THE BLACKHEARTS.

DEF LEPPARD's set on the tour includes some of the band's biggest hits, such as "Pour Some Sugar On Me", "Photograph" and "Rock Of Ages" — as well as songs from the group's latest album, "Diamond Star Halos", among them "Kick" and "Fire It Up".

DEF LEPPARD's long-delayed North American trek was originally planned for 2020 and later moved to 2021 and then to 2022. "The Stadium Tour" will conclude on September 9 in Las Vegas, Nevada.

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

In May 2021, DEF LEPPARD drummer Rick Allen told "Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk" that promoters "made the right decision" by postponing "The Stadium Tour" for a second time. "I think the primary focus has gotta be people's health and well-being," he said. "So I understand why they made that decision. I think if we had gone out [in 2021], it may have been a bit more of a patchwork of a tour as opposed to being able to play the whole thing from start to finish. So, it's a bummer, but here we are."

Allen went on to say that he and his DEF LEPPARD bandmates were disappointed that they wouldn't be able to perform live again in the U.S. until 2022. "We're really bummed, 'cause, obviously, we wanted to get out there," he said. "It's been a long time. And I know — our fans are so loyal. It's incredible. The fact that we got the largest vote for the [Rock And Roll] Hall Of Fame — the fan vote. So our fans are just particularly special; I mean, they've always been a rock. So I feel for them. And I feel for us. But I just want people to come out and be safe."

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

SLIPKNOT will release its new album, "The End, So Far", on September 30 via Roadrunner. The official music video for the LP's new single, "The Dying Song (Time To Sing)", can be seen below. Directed by the band's own M. Shawn "Clown" Crahan, the clip sees one of the world's most popular and deeply enigmatic bands relentlessly charting new ground as they continue to redefine, revitalize, and reimagine the scope of rock music.

Speaking about the forthcoming album, Crahan asserted: "New Music, new art, and new beginnings. Get ready for the end."

Produced by SLIPKNOT and Joe Barresi, "The End, So Far" is available for pre-order today with several vinyl variants available at Slipknot1.com. "The End, So Far" includes the band’s 2021 surprise single "The Chapeltown Rag" and follows their widely celebrated 2019 album "We Are Not Your Kind", which marked SLIPKNOT's third consecutive No. 1 on the Billboard 200. The release made a massive global impact with No. 1 debuts in the official album charts of twelve countries around the world, including the U.K., Australia, Canada and Mexico, with Top 5 debuts in an additional twelve countries including Germany, France and Sweden.

In February, singer Corey Taylor told SiriusXM's "Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk" about the musical direction of the new SLIPKNOT material: "It's really killer, man. It's darker than 'We Are Not Your Kind', but there's a ton of melody. I've been telling everybody that it's like a heavier version of 'Vol. 3[: (The Subliminal Verses)]'. It's got so many textures and layers. The heavy stuff has attack but the melodic stuff you can just sink your teeth in; there's a lot of great melodies and hooks. I'm really, really excited for people to hear it."

In March, SLIPKNOT drummer Jay Weinberg told Wisconsin's WZOR (Razor 94.7/104.7) radio station about the musical direction of the band's next LP.: "I would say we kind of turned up the dials on experimentation. And there's some new things happening that are really exciting, really interesting, stuff that maybe I wouldn't have even expected us to pull out of our hat. We've got a song that's like the heaviest blues song on earth, and stuff like that that's super exciting to hear what the guys are doing. Then, once we're working on the instrumental for a while, then we get to hear what Corey brings to the table and how that elevates things and turns things into newer and better and whatever… It's very exciting to hear that kind of taking shape. But, man, there's so much in it that is trademark SLIPKNOT. We're not gonna get away from that; we can't escape that even if we wanted to. There are certain things that are just touchstones of what we are, and I think we're really happy with that. And the fact that we can try to find new ways of presenting those elements — the loud, the fast, the abrasive, the discordant, all that is there for sure. And that's really exciting. I think [last year's single] 'The Chapeltown Rag' is a great example of that. I think that's a song that's us kind of at peak energy and chaos. But what also really excites me is the way that we push things in experimental ways without questioning it. It's just kind of, like, 'This is what we wanna do. And people can take it or leave it. We don't really care.' Like on our last record, 'Spiders' was a great example of a song that is totally out of no playbook of SLIPKNOT's, but we make it SLIPKNOT. I think now that we're kind of in this final stage of mixing this album, I think I'm confident in saying that we just kind of turned up the dials on all that experimentation. And there's some really, really new stuff that's super exciting. And I hope it makes its way onto the stage soon. It's gonna be exciting to share."

Asked how songs come together during the SLIPKNOT writing process, Jay said: "In a myriad of ways. There's really no one set formula for anything that happens. I think the one thing that we can all expect when we embark on making a new album — 'cause it takes so much, it takes so much time and energy and thought — the one thing, I think, that we try to maintain is that each process is pretty different. We wanna push ourselves, and the only way you're gonna push yourself is to change it up, make yourself uncomfortable in situations so you can become comfortable in those situations. And so I think pushing what we do to the extreme — you wanna kind of level up, for lack of a better term, each time you kind of go back to the drawing table."

He continued: "Now, after [making] three records [with SLIPKNOT], I know there are certain patterns of the way that we work together and our musical chemistry and the trust that's there. 'Cause we're all kind of trusting each other to make the greatest thing possible. So that could start with a lyric, it could start with a guitar riff, it could start with a drum beat, it could start with something that Sid [Wilson, turntablist] pulls from outer space. There's a million different ways to go about it.

"My first record with the band, '[.5:] The Gray Chapter' [2014], was very much like… I'm very proud of it, but I can tell in it, it was a lot of getting up to speed and really feeling out my new bandmates. 'Cause I joined the band and literally the next day we were working on demos for that record. Then so much of it is informed by our live show. I find that when we went in to make 'We Are Not Your Kind', so much of what we were doing was informed by how our natural musical chemistry is and how we are on stage, really, I feel, made it into that record. And then making this record, I think, was kind of just following more down that wormhole. And working with new people. This time around, we were able to work with [producer] Joe Barresi, which was an exciting time. I loved working with Greg Fidelman, who did our last two records, but working with Joe this time was different and a lot of fun. And yeah, the creation is just so thorough and it takes so much of all of us. It's so much more than I could have ever expected, being an outsider of the band and now having made three records. It's a gnarly experience that tests everybody, but I think the music, at the end of the day, kind of speaks for itself. And we're very happy with it."

"The End, So Far" track listing:

01. Adderall
02. The Dying Song (Time To Sing)
03. The Chapeltown Rag
04. Yen
05. Hivemind
06. Warranty
07. Medicine For The Dead
08. Acidic
09. Heirloom
10. H377
11. De Sade
12. Finale

Photo credit: Jonathan Weiner