International metal group VENUS 5 made its live debut this past Saturday, July 9 at the Zurbarán Rock Burgos festival in Burgos, Spain. Fan-filmed video of the concert can be seen below.

VENUS 5's self-titled debut album was released last month via Frontiers Music Srl.

VENUS 5, which has been called by some the "heavy metal version of SPICE GIRLS," is composed of five singers: Italy's Greta Di Iacovo (a.k.a. Herma; also of SICK N' BEAUTIFUL, another Frontiers recording artist),Slovenia's Karmen Klinc, Serbia's Jelena Milovanovic, Sweden's Tezzi Persson (also of INFINITE & DIVINE, another Frontiers recording artist) and Albania's Erina Seitllari. Each vocalist is an outstanding singer in her own right, so the combination of the five together produces stunning results.

Born from an idea dreamed up by Serafino Perugino, Frontiers president and head of A&R, VENUS 5 is primed to be one of the most fresh and exciting new musical prospects to emerge from the European rock and metal scene in recent years. Assembling the vocalists and musicians required a tremendous amount of time and energy as the right talent had to be in place to work together cohesively and with true chemistry. After all, this many lead singers in one band is a daunting task, but the end result is that five outstanding vocal stars in the making were brought together from different musical environments with the vision of creating a monster album.

Of course, many people will see five women and instantly make references to this being a "metal version" of pop projects, but please make no mistake, the vocal talents of the singers and the music is front and center. Musically, the songs are a team effort by producer Aldo Lonobile (SECRET SPHERE, TIMO TOLKKI'S AVALON, SWEET OBLIVION) and his team of writers, including Jake E. (CYRHA, ex-AMARANTHE) who co-produced the vocals, Stefan Helleblad (WITHIN TEMPTATION, who also plays guitars on the album),and Per Aldeheim (DEF LEPPARD, H.E.A.T., STANFOUR).

Karmen said: "Recording this album was one of the best experiences for me. The whole team got along so well, everyone was very professional and relaxed at the same time. With the girls, we basically became like sisters and I think that's the kind of energy you can also feel on the album. I think the album is a true masterpiece, and everyone can find something for their taste on it. It's very powerful, emotional, energetic, joyful and motivational. It has something that really moves you in any possible way. After all, isn't that what music's all about?"

Herma stated: "At the beginning, when we spoke about the VENUS 5 project, one thing that we aimed for was to respect and enhance each girl's personality. This was something that once we met, was undeniably impossible to avoid - you can feel each of our energy in the songs and in the videos and I personally think that this is the most interesting fact about the band. There are so many shades of color in this album — and not only in our hairstyles, as some of you might joke about! ;)"

Tezzi said: "I was quite nervous going to Italy to meet up with the rest of the girls, but that feeling vanished instantly when we met. Everything just felt so natural and easy and they truly are a fantastic group of girls. We bonded immediately. The songs have a "popish" metal vibe to it with melodies that get stuck in your head. I'm really happy about this album."

Jelena said: "It's been an amazing experience getting to be a part of this thing. Us five, we saw each other and the connection was instant, the respect was instant. Everybody was so talented and genuine, crazy! I feel like the vibe you get from this album is different and probably heavier than you expect, so give it a play, be surprised!"

Erina stated: "Being part of the band is totally awesome! Since the first moment we met, I felt a spark with each one of the girls! The album sounds great. It's rock n' roll dude!"

"Venus 5" track listing:

01. Lioness
02. The Simulation
03. Nothing But A Heartache
04. Bride With Blackened Eyes
05. Monster Under Your Bed
06. Inside
07. Tom And Ms. Amy Lee
08. Because Of You
09. We Are Dynamite
10. Save You
11. Bury Me

VENUS 5 recording lineup:

Vocals:

Greta Di Iacovo (a.k.a. Herma)
Karmen Klinc
Jelena Milovanovic
Tezzi Persson
Erina Seitllari

Guitars:

Stefan Helleblad
Aldo Lonobile
Gabriele Robotti

Bass: Dann Arisi

Drums: Alfonso Mocerino

Keyboards, Piano and Electro arrangements: Antonio Agate

Posted by Frontiers Music srl on Tuesday, July 12, 2022

Posted by Frontiers Music srl on Tuesday, July 12, 2022

Posted by Frontiers Music srl on Tuesday, July 12, 2022

SKID ROW has released "Tear It Down", the second single from the band's upcoming studio album, "The Gang's All Here", which will arrive on October 14 via earMUSIC. The official music video for the song will premiere today (Wednesday, July 13) at 9:00 a.m. PDT / 12:00 noon EDT.

Commented SKID ROW bassist Rachel Bolan: "'Tear It Down' is about breaking down barriers, because coexisting isn't about building walls, it's about getting rid of them."

The video, produced by Take 2 Productions / Rosey Media, was filmed in SKID ROW's former home state of New Jersey and perfectly captures the raw and gritty nature of the band's music.

SKID ROW recorded most of "The Gang's All Here" in Nashville, Tennessee with producer Nick Raskulinecz, who has previously worked with FOO FIGHTERS, STONE SOUR, HALESTORM, EVANESCENCE, RUSH and ALICE IN CHAINS, among many others.

In May, SKID ROW shared the music video for "The Gang's All Here" title track.

"By the fans, for the fans!" was the mantra for "The Gang's All Here" video, as SKID ROW called upon its loyal and dedicated fanbase to help create the video by submitting live footage and photos from SKID ROW's recent 2022 concerts, as well as behind-the-scenes rehearsal moments. The video is a testament to the power SKID ROW has both on and off stage, as well as the chemistry within the band and with their fans.

"'The Gang's All Here', for me, represents the brotherhood of this band," said guitarist Scotti Hill. "And with the addition of [new singer] Erik [Grönwall], our bond is more solid than ever. Our fans have always been part of the family, so when it was time to shoot a video, we handed the camera work over to them. After all, they have the best perspective to capture the excitement of a SKID ROW show."

"The Gang's All Here" track listing:

01. Hell Or High Water
02. The Gang's All Here
03. Not Dead Yet
04. Time Bomb
05. Resurrected
06. Nowhere Fast
07. When The Lights Come On
08. Tear It Down
09. October's Song
10. World's On Fire

Grönwall joined SKID ROW in January as the replacement for ZP Theart, who had been in the group for more than six years. Theart played his final gig with SKID ROW in February before being officially given the boot.

Grönwall was a member of the Swedish hard rock band H.E.A.T. with whom he recorded four studio albums — "Address The Nation" (2012),"Tearing Down The Walls" (2014),"Into The Great Unknown" (2017) and "H.E.A.T II" (2020) — before exiting the group in October 2020.

Grönwall was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia in March 2021. Six months later, he announced that he was cancer free after receiving a bone marrow transplant in August. "Some anonymous wonderful human being somewhere in the world donated his/her blood cells so that I could get a second chance at life," he told Headbangers Lifestyle in January. "Sometimes I can just get tears in my eyes when I think about it. It's so beautiful that one person who is not connected to me in any way wanted to do that for me. He/she doesn't know that the blood cells were for me. It's completely anonymous."

Last September, Grönwall released his cover version of "18 And Life" via all streaming platforms.

In 2018, Grönwall debuted in the U.S. for 10 million viewers in NBC's live broadcast of Andrew Lloyd Webber's and Tim Rice's musical "Jesus Christ Superstar". Along with John Legend, Alice Cooper, Sara Bareilles and others, Erik played the key role of Simon Zealotes.

Bolan recently told Meltdown of Detroit's WRIF radio station about Grönwall's addition to the band: "Just the way he does things and his work ethic is one I've never seen other than the four of us that are already in the band. He just doesn't stop until he gets things absolutely right. Whether it's his version, what he thinks is right, or what we think is right, he works hard — he works hard. And you can see why he had the success he did overseas because he's a really, really hard-working singer that takes care of his instrument and that takes pride in his craft."

Rachel also reflected on SKID ROW's first live performance with Grönwall, saying: "Honestly, dude, from the minute he opened his mouth… His timing is impeccable. We knew it was gonna be cool. And each show has gotten even better, 'cause we're learning each other's rhythm on stage. When I walked away from that show, I said to Erik, I go, 'This was show one. I cannot wait for show one hundred. It's gonna be amazing.'"

Bolan previously talked about how Erik came to join SKID ROW during an appearance on an episode of SiriusXM's "Trunk Nation L.A. Invasion", recorded just hours before SKID ROW's first performance with the Swedish singer. "We toured together. H.E.A.T. was on tour with SKID ROW. What year was that? '18? And we'd hear him every night from the dressing room," he said. "And a couple of times, I was, like, 'Man, listen to this guy sing. He's phenomenal.' And then, I forget who told me, someone that was with us, 'Yeah, he won 'Idol' in Sweden.' And I was, like, 'Man, he's got pipes.' And I was listening. Then I went behind the monitor board a couple of times. And in my head, I'm, like, 'Wow! When SKID ROW has some downtime, I'm gonna get in touch with this dude and start a side project with him.' And obviously, that never happened. But as time went on and we got to the point to where we were with ZP and stuff, Erik was our first… I told Snake, I go, 'We've gotta check this guy out.' And along with Snake and the rest of the guys, and Nick, our producer, Nick Raskulinecz, were, like, 'He's the guy, man. Send him some songs.' So we sent him some songs that we were recording, just with a guide vocal on it, and it came back about 24 hours later, and we were, like, 'All right. He's the guy. Get him on a plane. Let's do this.'"

Critically acclaimed fan-favorite American violinist, songwriter, and dancer Lindsey Stirling has released the music video for her song "Love Goes On And On". The track, which features a guest appearance by EVANESCENCE singer Amy Lee, is taken from Stirling's 2019 album, "Artemis".

Back in 2017, Stirling guested on "Hi-Lo", one of two new songs that were included on EVANESCENCE's "Synthesis" album. The set was a reimagining of some of EVANESCENCE's best-loved tracks. In support of the LP, Stirling and EVANESCENCE teamed up for a U.S. tour, a trek which saw Stirling join the band onstage for a cover of Ozzy Osbourne's classic "No More Tears".

Asked how Amy ended up guesting on "Love Goes On And On", Lindsey told The Morning Call: "Well, when we worked together for 'Hi-Lo', she had been, like, 'Okay, thanks so much for being on my album. I loved working with you. Please let me know if I can return the favor for your album someday.' And I put that in my back pocket — like, 'I'm going to take you up on that.' And when I was working on this song and did the instrumental version, the song just needed something more. I knew it was — it's like a super epic song and it just needed something more, and I couldn’t think of anyone else besides Amy Lee. Her voice on this song would just be so cool. Of course, when I reached out, she was so sweet and excited to be on it. And added so much to the song. There were no lyrics when I sent it to her. I just had been, like, 'I want you to sing 'Ahhs' and 'Ooos' and she sent back all these lyrics. And I'm, like, that's feakin' awesome. So yeah, it really transformed, it was rally collaborative and she really brought her own to the song. And it's really fun to do live. That song live is just so fun."

Lindsey told the Arizona Republic in a 2018 interview: " I loved EVANESCENCE [in high school]. And I still do. To this day, I have so much respect for Amy Lee. And getting to watch her perform every night, she's such an incredible powerhouse. I feel like I have a lot to learn from her and what she's done."

Atlanta progressive metallers MASTODON have released a music video for the song "More Than I Could Chew". The clip, which was directed by Zev Deans, who has previously helmed videos for BEHEMOTH, GHOST, GOJIRA and more, nods to classic psychedelic horror with its bright color palette and tense take on the story of the Garden Of Eden.

In the visual, Lisa Saeboe assumes the role of Eve, while Brenden McGowan inhabits a ghastly Lucifer. As this timeless fable of temptation and lust plays out for nearly seven minutes, the bandmembers perform awash in ruddy colors. Brann Dailor and Troy Sanders lock into an earthquaking call-and-response as thunderous as the track's sonic ebb and flow. Guitarists Brent Hinds and Bill Kelliher weave a dark yet melodic texture in and around the rhythm to color and complete the expressive track. The clip reaches a harrowing climax in tandem with one last exhale of distortion.

MASTODON will support GHOST of the next North American leg of the "Imperatour". 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. Additional 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 SPIRITBOX.

MASTODON was one of the "Best Metal Performance" nominees at the 64th annual Grammy Awards, which was held on April 3 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. The progressive metallers were nominated for their song "Pushing The Tides", the first single from their latest album, "Hushed And Grim", which came out in October.

The follow-up to 2017's "Emperor Of Sand", "Hushed And Grim"was recorded at West End Sound, which is located inside of Ember City, the rehearsal facility that members of MASTODON manage in Atlanta. Helming the effort was Grammy-winning producer/mixer/engineer David Bottrill, who has previously worked with MUSE, DREAM THEATER and TOOL, among many others.

The "Hushed And Grim" artwork was created by longtime MASTODON collaborator Paul Romano, who also designed the sleeves for "Crack The Skye", "Blood Mountain", "Leviathan" and more.

"Emperor Of Sand" debuted at No. 7 on the Billboard 200. That LP was nominated for the 2018 Grammy Award for "Best Rock Album," and its opening track, "Sultan's Curse", won the Grammy Award for "Best Metal Performance."

SYSTEM OF A DOWN has toured intermittently since ending its hiatus in 2011, but has only managed to record two songs in the last 17 years, "Protect The Land" and "Genocidal Humanoidz". Released in November 2020, the tracks were motivated by the conflict between Artsakh and Azerbaijan, with all proceeds supporting humanitarian efforts in SYSTEM OF A DOWN's ancestral homeland of Armenia. Along with other donations from fans on their social pages, they have raised over $600,000.

Asked in a new interview with Sona Oganesyan what the experience of releasing new SYSTEM OF A DOWN music to the fans after so long has been like for him, drummer John Dolmayan said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Well, there's positives and negatives of it, because the road of getting somewhere is also important; how you achieve something is part of the process. So that wasn't the greatest for me. But at the end of the day, because it wasn't for me… I'll never make a dollar off those songs. I've given my lifetime publishing for those songs, any royalties, it all goes to Armenian causes. So it was never about the financials for me. So in that way, it was incredibly successful for me personally. And although it was nice to have something come out, that also reminds you of the potential, 'cause, obviously, we still have something to give to the world. And when you put something out that actually makes an impact, you're, like, 'Why aren't we doing this all the time?' And then I go down the rabbit hole of frustration and anger."

He continued: "I'm a sensitive person, so I can't just hold this stuff in; it has to come out one way or the other. And it takes me a long time to deal with it and to cope with it, because I also am realistic in that life is finite; you only have a certain amount of time. And here we are. We have this gift that came from God or wherever, and we're squandering it. It's an insult to everybody else that tries to make it in whatever endeavor they're trying to make. And here we are — we've made it, we have the talent, we have the ability, we have an adoring fanbase, we've sold, I don't know, whatever it is — 30 million albums or more — and they're hungry for it, and we just don't do it. That's like the worst — having the ability to do something and not doing it is, I think, the worst thing in the world as far as in the perspective of being an artist. You're just hurting yourself."

Pressed about whether he sees a path or a way forward where he and the other members of SYSTEM OF A DOWN can agree on how to make a new full-length album, John said: "Yeah, if my bandmembers listened to me and put everything to the side and just said, 'Okay, let's just go in and make the best album we can make and not care about where the music comes from or who wrote the lyrics or what this person did in the past.' I'm willing to put all that aside. I'm not in a band that'll do that, unfortunately."

In 2018, guitarist Daron Malakian publicly accused singer Serj Tankian of not wanting to record, with Tankian responding that creative and financial issues with Malakian led to the stalemate. In a message on Facebook, Tankian wrote that Malakian wanted to control SYSTEM's creative process, take more of the publishing money and be the only bandmember to speak to the press.

In an interview with Guitar World magazine, Malakian was asked about the chances of more new music from SYSTEM OF A DOWN in the near future. He responded: "I never say never, but at the same time, I'm not expecting to do any more with SYSTEM OF A DOWN right away or immediately after [these two songs]. It really does seem like our fans like these new songs. That's important to me."

He continued: "We've added two new songs to the SYSTEM catalog that are on the level with everything else that we've put out and our fans have accepted it that way, which means a lot to me. That's kinda where we're gonna leave it for now. If more happens later on, then we'll talk about that, but for now I will continue doing what I'm doing and everyone else will just continue what they're doing. It's all cool though, I'm really pleased with the response we got."

A little over a year ago, SYSTEM OF A DOWN bassist Shavo Odadjian discussed his band's inability to record a full-length follow-up to its "Mezmerize" and "Hypnotize" LPs, which came out in 2005. During an appearance on MACHINE HEAD frontman Robb Flynn's "No Fuckin' Regrets With Robb Flynn" podcast, Shavo stated about the overwhelmingly positive reaction to "Protect The Land" and "Genocidal Humanoidz": "To me, this is all bittersweet, because I think we can still do it, but because of misunderstandings [between] bandmembers, we're not doing it. Look at us — we have a common cause. We get together, we do two songs, two videos.

"I'm that member that still everyone is like the best friend of mine, but they're not best friends with each other so much," he explained. "They are, but they have differences in opinions and stuff. I have a way of understanding each member and saying, 'Dude, we can overcome this.' It's not that big of a deal — no one fucking banged anyone's wife; no one did any of those things that can really destroy a relationship. It's just a difference in opinion of things. And I think people should be [able to] work it out. But because, I think, of what we had, I think it's, like, some people are stuck in what we had and some people wanna move forward and not do what we had and do something totally different, which is wrong too. I don't think we should do something totally different; I think we should do something that both agree [on]. And we're having a hard time [agreeing on a direction], and that's where we are.

"So, to me, it's bittersweet, because I see everybody, and everyone's, like, 'We love Shavo.' And I'm, like, 'I love you,' but then they can't work together."

Shavo went on to reiterate his belief that the differences between the SYSTEM members are not insurmountable. "I don't think anything so horrible has happened," he said. "We're all alive. We're all friends. I swear, when there's conversations going on, it's very legit, very loving. No one's hating on each other. They're very polite towards each other. Serj and Daron, when they talk, they're connected, they're nice to each other. No one's hating, no one's cussing, no one's saying 'fuck you', no one's saying 'you ruined…', 'you did this.' It's just that section that's fucked up.

"Daron brought these songs in," Shavo said, referring to "Protect The Land" and "Genocidal Humanoidz". "And we've worked that way before. A song like 'War?' was brought in by Daron — that was a Daron song; Daron brought that in, and that happened. And then there's a song like 'Sugar', where I brought that in. And there's a song like 'Question!' where Serj brought it [in]. So we have different ways of writing songs, [and] it should be like that again. But because of what's happened, I feel like it's kind of like become this big issue now.

"I think at the end of things, when we're old and gray, we're gonna look back and be, like, 'Fuck, we were idiots,' for not taking the time and seizing the day. I believe in seizing the day in everything I do, and that's what I do — that's why I'm so busy nowadays.

"Like I said, I'm telling you here, there's nothing that's happened that can't be worked out. So I always have hope. I'm doing everything knowing that SYSTEM's not dead, and it hasn't been dead."

The "classic" lineup of the Swedish heavy rock band SISTER SIN played its second show in seven years on July 8 at the Sauna Open Air festival in Tampere, Finland. Fan-filmed video of the concert can be seen below.

Although the SISTER SIN reunion was announced back in December 2019, the coronavirus pandemic delayed the band's return to the live stage until June 18 when the group performed at Backstage Rockbar in Trollhättan, Sweden.

SISTER SIN's 2022 lineup consists of Liv Jagrell on vocals, Jimmy Hiltula on guitar, Andreas Strandh on bass and Dave Sundberg on drums.

Jagrell announced the SISTER SIN reunion after revealing that her post-SISTER SIN outfit LIV SIN was "taking a little bit of a break" following the departures of guitarist Chris Bertzell and bassist Tommie Winther.

SISTER SIN announced its split in November 2015, saying in a statement that the band's "relentless" touring and recording schedule took its toll and "the motivation for some members just wasn't there anymore." However, the group left the door open for a possible comeback, saying: "It is our hope that the flame will burn once again and hopefully resurrect this Swedish bastard sometime in the future. Time will tell…"

Seven years ago, Liv told Sleaze Roxx about the end of SISTER SIN: "We toured too much and we got burned out. That's the simple answer. They just felt like they did not want to do this anymore. [In 2015], we had been out for almost four months or something so it's a lot of time away from family. It's a lot of time away from friends. And also just to survive in the business is hard, so I think we maybe worked too hard in the last years."

SISTER SIN's fifth studio album, "Black Lotus", was released in October 2014 via Victory.

LIV SIN released two full-length albums, "Follow Me" (2017) and "Burning Sermons" (2019),as well as one EP, "Inverted" (2018). This past April, LIV SIN returned with a new single, "The Process", via Mighty Music. A new LIV SIN full-length album is expected to be released in 2023.

In a new interview with "On The Road To Rock", PRIEST vocalist Linton Rubino, who played bass in GHOST as one of the the Nameless Ghouls under the stage name Water, was asked how he feels about the band's recent success, including some of GHOST's recent recorded output. He responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Just to make it clear, I toured the second album and I was fired during the recording of the third album, [2015's] 'Meliora'. When I listen to 'Meliora', I think it's maybe the best album — I think it's a superb album. And that was the album that won all the awards — Grammys and stuff. I think that album was close to being a masterpiece in the genre; I really think that. After that, I don't think, actually, they've matched it by far. The popularity, of course, if that's what people wanna see, that's fine; [there's] nothing wrong with it. But I think their last record [2022's 'Impera'], it's not very good, to put it simple. It's my taste. But I can say that 'Meliora' is close to a masterpiece as well. I think something had happened with the band, and you can clearly hear the difference in the songwriting there and today."

He continued: "I listened to 'Impera', the latest record. I skipped through the songs once and then I tried to listen to the whole thing. Then I turned it off half way. I can't, really. But I don't have any feelings around it, really. Let them have their fun. If they think it's fun and have a good time, let them have it."

Earlier this month, Linton told Dr. Music that he wasn't involved in the 2017 lawsuit filed against GHOST leader Tobias Forge by four former members of the band after being dismissed by the group's founder the previous December. "I was fired in 2015 from GHOST, so I wasn't a part of that process. But I have a family member and a close friend that was in that process, in the trial," he said, apparently referring to his father, Mauro Rubino, who was the keyboardist Air in GHOST from 2011 until 2016, and Simon Söderberg, who played guitar for GHOST from 2010 until 2016. "So, yeah, I was involved emotionally, you can say. But otherwise from that, I wasn't a part of that process."

Asked if it was difficult to deal with the fact that nobody knew his identity while he was in GHOST and he had to virtually start from scratch again once he was out of the band, Linton said: "I actually went through therapy for six months after that 'cause I felt that I'm nobody. We were up there playing with METALLICA and IRON MAIDEN and everything, and they know who we are, all the people backstage know who we are, but nobody else [does]. So it was just like being up [at the top] and then you're basically [on your own once you are out of the band]. And then I didn't have a job or anything and then it was cold turkey money-wise. So I had to really restart from bottom. Every breakup takes a while, right?! Then you're back on track in a couple of months. And you just roll up your sleeves and get at it again. You don't have much of a choice."

The four former members of GHOST who sued Forge were Söderberg, Mauro Rubino, Henrik Palm (Eather; member of GHOST from 2015 until 2016) and Martin Hjertstedt (Earth; member of GHOST from 2014 until 2016). They accused the singer of cheating them out of their rightful share of the profits from the band's album releases and world tours.

The original lawsuit, which was filed in the district court of Linköping, where GHOST was originally based, claimed that Forge solely controlled the band's business affairs without input from anyone else in the group. The four musicians furthermore stated that a partnership agreement existed between them and Forge which put Tobias in charge of carrying out the company's management duties.

In June 2017, Forge filed an official response to the lawsuit, claiming that "no legal partnership" ever existed between him and the four musicians regarding the activities of GHOST and explaining that "none of the plaintiffs were present at the time of the" group's formation and that their sole task was to "perform" and "execute" the musical works and the image that Forge had created, produced and decided, all according to his instructions. For their efforts, he said, the musicians were paid a fixed salary.

In August 2017, the four ex-GHOST members presented an answer of their own, dismissing Forge's claim that GHOST is a solo project as "not [being] in accordance with the truth." "Forge has certainly been the band's main songwriter, he has had the role of the band's cinematic front figure 'Papa Emeritus,' has been a driving force in the band's business, as well as in the handling of the band's business affairs," the musicians wrote. "However, the activities carried out with respect to GHOST were extensively handled jointly by the members — for example, by making decisions jointly regarding the band's image, by participating in interviews, and by the fact that every member has, at certain times, contributed when recording the band's albums and singles and by touring together almost continuously since 2011."

The four ex-members, known previously only as Nameless Ghouls, claimed that between the years of 2010 and 2016, Forge never told them that he viewed GHOST as a one-man business and solo project. "To the contrary, Tobias Forge has always emphasized that it was a collaboration that everyone was involved in and would share in the profit of once the business became profitable," they wrote. "The first time Tobias Forge, through the band's management, mentioned that he saw them as hired musicians rather than full-fledged members of GHOST was in the context of a contract proposal presented in April 2016." This proposal was later rejected.

The trial in Linköping District Court lasted for six days, and on October 17, 2018, a 108-page decision was released dismissing the case. The four former GHOST members were also ordered to pay Forge's legal fees, which at the time was said to be approximately $146,000.

In February 2019, an appeals court rejected the former GHOST members' argument that the judge who ordered the dismissal of their lawsuit against Forge had a conflict of interest in overseeing the case.

In May 2018, Linton blasted GHOST's then-latest album "Prequelle", saying he was "ashamed to have been part of that" and calling the music "a joke" and "mainstream shit."

PRIEST will release a new full-length album, "Body Machine", on July 15 via Cleopatra Records.

George Lynch rejoined DOKKEN on stage this past Saturday night (July 9) at the Uncle Sam Jam in Woodhaven, Michigan to perform three of the band's classic songs: "Kiss Of Death", "When Heaven Comes Down" and "Tooth And Nail". Two-camera video of his appearance can be seen below (courtesy of Singular Vision Productions).

For much of the past couple of years, Lynch has been performing the same three songs with DOKKEN at various shows in the U.S. Asked in a January 2022 interview with SiriusXM's "Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk" what the experience has been like for him, George said: "It has been [fun], actually, more than I would have thought. I would have thought there… 'Cause Don [Dokken, DOKKEN leader] and I had had animosity towards each other at a couple of different levels over the decades. And it's kind of a weird thing, when you think about it. And sometimes, it is uncomfortable for me, because when I show up, I have to sit there, and, of course, they're playing the songs that I wrote. And the [current DOKKEN] guitar player, Jon [Levin], is a wonderful guy; we're friends. But they're doing my whole thing, and then I walk out.

"I think it comes down to, we're entertainers, and if I'm gonna spend my time crying about anything, I'm just gonna hurt myself and the fans, and that doesn't do anybody any good," George continued. "And so I try to keep positive about the whole experience. And it has been, actually, good for everybody. The fans love it. I love doing it because the easiest thing I can do is play DOKKEN songs — songs that I helped write 35, 40 years ago that I can play in my sleep with one arm tied behind my back and go out and enjoy it and not have to work that hard and just really enjoy what I'm doing, enjoy the moment. And it's the path of least resistance. A lot of these other projects I do, they're not as easy of a sell. When I'm doing a KXM project or whatever it is, I sometimes have to work at it a little bit — I do have to work at it a bit harder. What is this supposed to be? How am I supposed to write? How am I supposed to look? How am I supposed to sell this? With DOKKEN, I don't have any of those issues or concerns because all the work's been done, we've already established what we are and I know what to do. So it's really, like I said — the path of least resistance sometimes is the right one."

As for why he only performs three songs with DOKKEN as opposed to playing the entire set, George said: "Well, that's probably an economic issue on Don's side. I mean, Don owns the name of the band. It works on me on all levels at this point, and obviously it works for Don, so if it's not broken, why fix it? And I don't know… I would just be speculating that he's concerned maybe that something could pop up if he gets in bed with me and then now he doesn't have what he's built over all these years. So there's that. And maybe financially it would be not as — I don't know — not as [much of] a positive outcome for him. I'm not sure; we haven't talked about it. But what we're doing now works. Obviously, what you just brought up is something that everybody's thinking about, but, hey, it's not up to me to decide. But I certainly feel that would probably make sense [for me to play the whole set]; I could see that making sense. I'm already there — why don't I just go out and finish playing the rest of the songs that are part of my legacy? People would like that. There's a lot of different ways to think about that. There's what we do as a business, and I'm not ashamed of that. I don't think it's a bad thing to talk about the business side of music. It doesn't take away from the art; it doesn't take away from the creative part of it. Those are two different sides of the same coin. We all need to make a living. But you have to have that balance of appreciating and producing music that you love and that people enjoy, and at the same time, it has to make sense financially. So I'm not sure which one that is, as to why we're not back together on a more complete basis, where I'm playing the whole set, but I've got a feeling it's probably financial."

Asked if there has been any talk of the classic DOKKEN lineup reuniting once again to write and record new music, George said: "We have [talked about it], and the opportunity has come up every couple [or] few years. And we had offers, and they're good offers. But it's tricky at this point in all our careers, when we've all kind of established ourselves on other paths, to bring us all together. And even though the offers are good, it's not enough to make us all just stop what we're doing in our tracks and re-route our careers to do that. Every time it comes up, we always run into these obstacles. They're not anybody's fault in particular, but it just seems like an impossibility."

In October 2016, the classic lineup of DOKKEN — Don, George, Jeff Pilson (bass) and Mick Brown (drums) — reunited to play the Loud Park festival in Japan. Fortunately for fans outside of Japan, cameras were there to capture the performance and Frontiers Music Srl issued "Return To The East Live 2016" in April 2018. In addition to the Japanese performance, the set featured footage from the classic lineup's only U.S. show in September 2016 at Badlands in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. The package also included a new song called "It's Just Another Day", the first DOKKEN track featuring the group's classic lineup since 1997's "Shadowlife", and two acoustic re-workings of classic tracks.

Since completing the Japanese reunion dates, DOKKEN has continued to perform with the group's current lineup — including bassist Chris McCarvill, Levin and drummer BJ Zampa (HOUSE OF LORDS).

DOKKEN recently finished recording a new studio album, tentatively due later this year via Silver Lining Music, the label owned by Thomas Jensen, one of the founders of Germany's Wacken Open Air festival. It will mark the group's first disc since 2012's "Broken Bones".

Over the past several years, Lynch has appeared on recordings by THE END MACHINE, KXM, ULTRAPHONIX and SWEET & LYNCH. He released his first-ever full-length instrumental album, "Seamless", last August via Rat Pak Records.

In a new interview with Kevin McKay of Florida's 99 Rock WKSM radio station, SEVENDUST singer Lajon Witherspoon addressed drummer Morgan Rose's recent revelation that he and his bandmates have discussed a possible "end date" for the group.

"I guess one day we are [retiring], but it's not anytime soon," Lajon laughed. "I think that got taken out of context in an interview with Morgan."

On June 18, BLABBERMOUTH.NET published an interview Rose gave to "The Jasta Show" in which he said that SEVENDUST won't hit the road in support of its next studio album until 2023. He also revealed that "there's not gonna be many [tours] left, I'll just tell you that. I'm gonna be the one to let all the cats out of the bag, but I can just tell you that we're not gonna be around, full-fledged, forever, that's for sure," he added cryptically.

Witherspoon told 99 Rock WKSM that he was taken aback by reports of SEVENDUST's impending retirement.

"I got a phone call early in the morning about, 'What's going on?' My kids are crying. They're, like, 'Daddy, you didn't tell us.' I'm, like, 'What are you talking about?'" Witherspoon recalled.

"I love Blabbermouth, but, yeah, that was kind of taken out of context. We're still here. We're kicking, man."

In Rose's interview with "The Jasta Show", host Jamey Jasta urged the drummer to stage a "four-year farewell" tour "like SLAYER" did, to which Morgan said: "There probably will be something like that. The funny thing is SLAYER is a legendary… They're SLAYER, you know. But regardless, relatively speaking, we have such close relationships. I started thinking about it. I mean, we did discuss this — the band has discussed, like, when's the end date? 'Cause it'd be nice to do it on our own terms and it'd be nice to be able to say goodbye to everybody properly. And I got emotional when we were talking about it, 'cause I was, like, there are so many people that we're friends and really consider very close that I don't hang out with. You have these, for sure — people that you've met on the road that you see 'em wherever it might be and you've seen 'em so many times that you know them absolutely by name and maybe you even have a drink or food or something when you go through town, but you don't hang with them other than that. And we've been [touring for] 26 years, and there's a lot of those people. And it's, like, shit, dude — that's gonna be, like, 'Bye.' We don't talk. We only talk when I come here. And we've been talking, for some of these people, for 25 years. And it's, like, damn. There's a lot of those people. And it fucked me up a little bit. I was, like, that's gonna be interesting to wave the stage that night and be, like, 'Damn,' and fuck off forever. 'Cause it obviously has been a gigantic part of our lives — more than half of it has been spent out on the road building those relationships. So it'll be a trip."

After Jasta told Rose not to sign a contract with his bandmates saying that they are not allowed to come back for a reunion tour a few years after their first farewell run of shows, Morgan said: "We're pretty fucking old to begin with. Somehow or another we've kept it together enough to be able to still do it at a respectable level. But it's gonna happen. I would be lying to you if I told you I didn't know when. It is gonna happen. But we're not saying anything."

Morgan went on to clarify: "It never means that we'll never play again. Anybody that says that, it's, like, you're insulting the intelligence of the public. I mean, look, MÖTLEY CRÜE is getting ready to go out [after previously saying they wouldn't]. They said they burned the book… I don't ever [say], 'Never, never, never. I swear to God.' ... The plan is that we've done it long enough. The body has taken a fucking beating. I've personally been to the doctor six straight days. I'm going for am MRI tomorrow. It's breaking down. I was in the gym, actually, right before we did this [podcast] just trying to do something to help [with my pain]. Twenty-six years of car accidents — that's how you've gotta look at it. I asked my doctor, 'Why is happening now? I'm in better shape now — way better than I was back then.' I was a fucking mess back then. And he goes, 'You're a hundred years old, dude.' [Laughs] I'm, like, 'Fuck!' Could I have done anything? He goes, 'You could have avoided some car accidents.' It's 26 years of beatin' the fuck out of yourself. It's all good until it's not. That was what he told me. He goes, 'The body is all good until it's not.' … I'm going tomorrow to see what this deal is, 'cause it's fucking debilitating."

Earlier this month, SEVENDUST guitarist John Connolly addressed Rose's comments in an interview with George Dionne of KNAC.COM. Connolly said: "It's funny. Any time that we talk about this stuff, people are, like, 'Oh, that's it. They're quittin'. It's the end.' It's really not that at all. I mean, we're realists. We ask ourselves, are we gonna be jumping off trampolines and drum risers and stuff when we're 80? Are we gonna wanna do 300 shows a year when we're 80? Probably not. But I look a band like THE [ROLLING] STONES and I go, but you can still go out and do something whenever you wanna do it. So that's sort of what we've… I think what we're doing is we're looking at making records — at some point in time making records and doing a big tour to support the record. I don't think it's gonna be something that we're gonna wanna do like we're doing it now.

"I think we'll always make music in some way, shape or form or another, even if it's small doses, and I think we'll always tour — in small doses," he explained. "Pick and choose those moments, not grind it out. Do it enough to where it keeps you wantin' to do it.

"As you get older, the family time starts to weight down on the scale, as it should. And we've all got families and we've all got kids of different ages, going through different points — some are in elementary school; some are getting ready to go to college; some [are] drivin', which is crazy. There's more to life, and I think we've all appreciated the fact that we wanna nurture SEVENDUST to the point where we could perpetually do it forever. But you're not gonna see us three times coming through New York City on a tour. If we come through once, okay.

"But, yeah, you've gotta look at the age thing; you've gotta look at the motivation; you've gotta look at the family thing — you've gotta look at all of it and weigh it out," John added. "And instead of saying, 'That's it. We're wrapping it up,' we're just saying, I think we're gonna move into something different; we're just gonna move into a different model.

"It's funny, 'cause it's, like, okay, how many bands have said that they're gonna retire from touring and then all of a sudden [they are back]? That'll be us," Connolly admitted. "We could come in and say, 'There's not a chance that we're gonna play another show. We hate each other.' Two years later, we're gonna be out back out there going, 'You know what, man? We really didn't mean it. We probably shouldn't have reacted so quickly. We're down. We're gonna do it again.'

"MÖTLEY [CRÜE], they had contracts, and they're out doing a stadium tour. I'm, like, they should. You know what I mean? If you wanna play, play. And that's sort of what we're gonna do. I think we're just gonna move from the point of having to do it and having that be something that people have expectations on.

"The thing about it is to make a full-length record these days, I know people are into it, but people just want music," Connolly said. "They don't really care whether they get 10 songs every two years or whether they get a song or two every month, two months, which I think would be a more interesting model to go down anyways, because you can just — as you create, you'll know your moments. There's always gonna be those two or three songs that are, like, 'Oh, wow. I can't wait to play this for the guys.' And then you go, 'Let's go hop in the studio for two days. Let's go sit with Elvis [producer Michael Baskette] for two days, punch two or three songs out, stick 'em in a can, and then do that two or three times. And then if you wanna release a record, release a record. If not, EPs are super popular right now… Those kind of moves are the moves that, I think, are gonna keep the business… I think it's gonna keep fans engaged because you're not giving them the playbook, going, 'Okay, on this day here, here's the EPK. Here's the bio.' We've done it the traditional way. Sometimes that whole, 'Let's just drop it. Let's go record it and just drop it — drop the video, drop whatever.' So that, I think, is more interesting to all of us as we get a little older. Just any way that we can kind of keep it fresh.

"We're in a really good headspace in the SEVENDUST world… So that's why we're not saying 'never,' but we are saying at some point it's gonna get different. So you all don't be thinking you're gonna take a three-week vacation and follow SEVENDUST around on tour. You might take a week and follow us on tour, but I don't know if three weeks is gonna be necessary anymore."

SEVENDUST recently completed the songwriting sessions for its next studio album at a Kentucky farmhouse near Witherspoon's home. The group will enter the studio later this month to begin recording the follow-up to 2020's "Blood & Stone" for a 2023 release.

Last December, SEVENDUST released a digital expanded edition of "Blood & Stone". "Blood & Stone Deluxe" contained five new tracks, including three never-before-released remixes and two newly recorded songs.

Earlier this week, SEVENDUST announced another leg of its tour celebrating the 21st anniversary of its "Animosity" album. Support on the trek will come from NONPOINT, BASTARDANE (the new band featuring drummer Castor Hetfield, son of METALLICA frontman James Hetfield) and BURDEN OF THE SKY.

SEVENDUST previously played all of "Animosity" on two separate U.S. tour legs in early 2022. Prior to that, the band performed "Animosity" at a January 2021 livestream event from Opav in Orlando, Florida.

On July 6, FaceCulture conducted an interview with ALICE IN CHAINS guitarist, singer and songwriter Jerry Cantrell and composer-musician Tyler Bates, who is also in Jerry's touring band, in Amsterdam, Netherlands. You can now watch the chat below.

Speaking about ALICE IN CHAINS' musical impact over the course of the band's three-and-a-half-decade career, Jerry said: "I'm still on a journey. That's where it started, and it's still in motion. I try not to spend a whole lot of time looking back; I just kind of try to spend time concentrating on where I am at the moment. Now, of course, I'm always connected to that. And there's more stuff to do. I'm gonna go on tour with ALICE from August to October. Four days after we get done with [my European solo tour], I'm in rehearsals for ALICE.

"I guess the thing that means the most is I took that trip with my brothers and we all banded together and we found each other somehow and we were supposed to find each other and we have a sound that is unlike anybody else," he continued. "And that's the whole point — trying to create some sort of a sound that's uniquely yours. And I was able to find that with my family there, with Layne [Staley, vocals] and Mike [Starr, bass] and Sean [Kinney, drums]. And throughout the years of changes and things that life throws at you, we've continued on and continued to navigate all of those changes and continued to grow — up to the last record [2018's 'Rainier Fog']. I think that record's kickass. [Laughs] I think we're still creating at a top level. [Mike] Inez [bass] and William [DuVall, vocals] coming into the band, it's all good.

"I guess the main thing, probably, is that it still means something to people. We play some of those songs in [my solo] set as well, and it's always exciting and trippy, man, to see people react when you start playing those songs. They're not just yours anymore; they're everybody's. And I don't mean that in just some generic way. They have just as much ownership in it as I do. So it's pretty cool to share those moments."

Cantrell kicked off his "Brighten" solo tour on March 24 at the Palace Theater in St. Paul, Minnesota.

Jerry's band for the tour consists of Bates (guitar),Greg Puciato (backing vocals),Gil Sharone (drums),George Adrian (bass),Michael Rozon (pedal steel) and Jason Achilles (keyboards). The set includes songs from Cantrell's latest solo album, "Brighten", along with favorite hits from Jerry's catalog.

"Brighten" came out last October. The LP has received praise from critics, including Kerrang!, which called it a "vivid, contemporary self-portrait of one of the most distinctive voices in hard rock. A long-overdue show of individual brilliance." Classic Rock proclaimed it "his best yet. The work of a songwriter who is happy within his life, it spans a broad arc of styles." The Sun commented: "A rich, organic album... 'Brighten' is brilliant."

"Brighten" is Jerry's first project without ALICE IN CHAINS in 19 years. Co-produced with Bates and Paul Fig (longtime engineer),the LP got its beginnings just before the pandemic hit. They welcomed a dynamic cast of supporting players, including Duff McKagan (GUNS N' ROSES) on select bass tracks, Puciato contributing to backing vocals and drummers Sharone and Abe Laboriel, Jr. (Paul McCartney). Joe Barresi (TOOL, QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE) handled the mixing of "Brighten".

Jerry's new effort marks his first full-length release since "Degradation Trip", the epic solo album he made in 2002 with future METALLICA bassist Robert Trujillo and FAITH NO MORE drummer Mike Bordin.

Jerry's career outside of ALICE IN CHAINS has consisted of two previous solo albums and contributions to major film soundtracks. Cantrell's first solo album, "Boggy Depot", was released in 1998, followed by his second album, the aforementioned "Degradation Trip". In addition to his solo artist work, Jerry has released music on soundtracks for several films, including "Spider-Man", "The Cable Guy", "John Wick 2", "Last Action Hero" and "The Punisher".

ALICE IN CHAINS regrouped in 2006 with DuVall joining the band, and released its third LP with DuVall in the lineup, "Rainier Fog", in August 2018.

WaterTower Music has released two new tracks from the soundtrack of the fourth season of the HBO original series "Westworld", including a version of METALLICA's "Enter Sandman" by the show's composer Ramin Djawadi ("Game Of Thrones", "Uncharted", "Iron Man", "Pacific Rim", "Eternals", "Clash Of The Titans") as featured in the third episode of the new season, which premiered last night.

"Westworld" is created by Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy based on Michael Crichton's 1973 feature of the same title and stars Evan Rachel Wood, James Marsden, Thandiwe Newton, Luke Hemsworth, Jeffrey Wright, Angela Sarafyan, Simon Quarterman and Ed Harris.

Season four of the drama currently airs Sunday nights on HBO and is also available to stream on HBO Max.

As the opening cut on METALLICA's self-titled album, "Enter Sandman" became bigger than the band could have imagined. It was a game changer for METALLICA, which ended up selling more than sixteen million copies of the album in the U.S. alone. Meanwhile, the song itself turned into a staple at athletic events, including professional baseball games and wrestling matches.

In a 2012 interview with Rolling Stone, METALLICA drummer Lars Ulrich reflected on "Enter Sandman" and its influence behind the so-called "Black Album." "There was a riff on Kirk's [Hammett] riff tape," he explained. "The whole song is just that riff. 'Enter Sandman' was the blueprint. The rest of the record appeared over two months."

After the "Black Album" was first released, a number of people commented that the "Enter Sandman" introduction and dominant musical riff were similar to that of a song that came out two years earlier, "Tapping Into The Emotional Void" by the Los Angeles quartet EXCEL.

MEGADETH mainman Dave Mustaine, who was a member of METALLICA for less than two years, from 1981 to 1983, famously told Metal Maniacs magazine in a 2004 interview that "Enter Sandman" "was ripped off from a band called EXCEL."

METALLICA co-manager Cliff Burnstein told the Los Angeles Times that he had never heard of the EXCEL song. But he chalked up the songs' similarities to coincidence.

"If EXCEL could write that one (as good as that),I'm sure they can write more," Burnstein said. "Then they'll be successful."

"Enter Sandman" still stands as the biggest hit of METALLICA's career, having peaked at No. 16 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart back in August 1991.

FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH guitarist Zoltan Bathory spoke to Finland's Janne Vuorela about the band's mindset while working on its upcoming album, "AfterLife", which is due on August 19. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "It's our ninth record, so at this point everybody knows how we sound like; if you're into hard rock/heavy metal, you know the band, you know the sound — you hear the first couple of riffs, you know it's FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH. So it was, like, we don't have to keep proving ourselves, so to speak. And it gave us this freedom of, 'You know what? Let's just record everything — whatever comes, let's just record it.' And that gave us this freedom of… I always compare this to a band like QUEEN. We don't sound anything like QUEEN, but if you're trying to categorize QUEEN, you cannot. QUEEN doesn't fit in anywhere. And to me, that means that they achieved this musical freedom where they can be whatever. They can play 'Bohemian Rhapsody' or whatever they want. They wanna play heavy metal, then that's what they're gonna do; they're not tied to something specific. And so that was kind of the idea — can we get that? Can we get to a place where [we can] just write anything; it doesn't matter. And I think we achieved that."

He continued: "This record is the most diverse album that we've ever done — very different from everything we've ever done — yet it still sounds like us. So with that, I feel like we achieved kind of that place where anything goes. We're just FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH; it is what it is. It's just music."

Asked to elaborate on the musical direction of "AfterLife", Zoltan said: "I guess we're still in the broad spectrum of rock music, but all the influences... There are some songs that have even, I would, some '60s sort of vibe in there. And some of the songs are very futuristic, almost kind of a cyber-punk feel to it; some moments are industrial stuff. And then there are songs where we use very complex sound design.

"I wanted to do a song that is sort of the soundtrack to the process of death. I had two near-death experiences and very spiritual experiences where I wanted to create that sound, like what you hear. In the process of dying, the perception of sound gets kind of weird; everybody gets broken down, almost like you hear the sample rate of your own mind. The sound is not actually continuous but there are tiny, tiny gaps between. And as your body is shutting down, this becomes very apparent. And so we created the song 'Judgment Day' and literally built the song around that — like, how does it sound like when you die? There's a sound; there's a sound that you hear. And we built it from that and gave it to Ivan [moody, vocals]. And because he also had near-death experiences — he flatlined and he had to be brought back, so he actually died. And he immediately recognized it; that's the crazy thing. The second he heard it, he literally said, 'Oh, man. This freaks me out.' He immediately knew what the song was, just by the sound. And he was, like, 'This gets me freaked out, because I've been in this place; I know what this sound is.' And for a while he didn't even wanna record it because he thought, like, 'Wow. Every time I listen to this song, it takes me back to that place where I was dying.' And then eventually he actually did the song. So 'Judgment Day', that's why it has that weird song, because that's what we wanted to create.

"I guess because our instrumentation is drums, bass, guitar, guitar, vocals, that's always gonna be rock sort of music. So we're still a rock band, hard rock — whatever — but I don't know if I can categorize this particular album beyond that."

The "Afterlife" title track, which was released as a single in April, recently gave FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH the most consecutive No. 1s on Billboard's Mainstream Rock Airplay chart. The song was the band's 13th total No. 1 and eighth entry on the chart in a row. FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH broke out of a tie with DISTURBED and SHINEDOWN, each of whom has seven consecutive No. 1s on the chart.

FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH's follow-up to 2020's "F8" was once again recorded at the Hideout Recording Studio, the Las Vegas, Nevada facility owned and operated by Kevin Churko, the Canadian record producer/engineer and songwriter who has worked on all of FIVE FINGER's albums beginning with the band's sophomore release, 2009's "War Is The Answer".

"AfterLife" will be FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH's first album with its latest addition, renowned British virtuoso Andy James, who replaced Jason Hook in 2020. James was previously featured on "Broken World", a song that was included on the second installment of FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH's greatest-hits collection, "A Decade Of Destruction – Volume 2", which came out in the fall of 2020.

Exclusively curated by the band, various limited-edition "AfterLife" vinyl and merchandise offerings and collectibles are also available for pre-order in the official band and label stores.

Since FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH's debut album, "The Way Of The Fist", came out in 2007, the band has released six consecutive albums that were certified gold or platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) as well as two chart-topping greatest-hits albums. In addition, FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH has earned numerous national and international awards and honors over the last decade, such as the prestigious Soldier Appreciation Award by the Association Of The United States Army, an honor bestowed upon only one other recording artist before them: Elvis Presley.

"F8" debuted at No. 1 on rock charts around the world, with Top 10 mainstream chart debuts in the USA, Austria, Australia, Canada, Finland, Germany, Sweden, Switzerland, the U.K. and more. It produced four No. 1 hit singles with "Inside Out", "A Little Bit Off", "Living The Dream" and "Darkness Settles In". The band has amassed over eight billion streams and three billion video views to date and has sold over one million tickets between 2018 and 2020 alone.

This past April, FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH announced a 2022 U.S. headlining tour presented by Live Nation. Kicking off in Portland, Oregon on August 19, the trek will span over 30 dates, closing out on October 15 in Salt Lake City, Utah. The band will be joined on tour by rock icons MEGADETH, with additional support from THE HU and FIRE FROM THE GODS.

In a brand new interview with RadioactiveMike Z, host of the 96.7 KCAL-FM radio program "Wired In The Empire", SKID ROW guitarist Dave "Snake" Sabo was asked which of the METALLICA guitarists, James Hetfield or Kirk Hammett, had more of an influence on his playing. He responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Hetfield, without a doubt. And it's funny you should say that because I have a warm-up playlist that I go through before every show, and there's two METALLICA songs I put on there to work out my right hand. And the first one is 'That Was Just Your Life' off 'Death Magnetic', and the second one is 'Disposable Heroes' [off 'Master Of Puppets']. It's [James's] right hand. Because that was something I didn't really develop as I was developing as a guitar player; it was more about my left hand than my right hand. And then when I started hearing how just efficient and precise he was with his rhythms, I was, like, 'I've gotta develop that somehow.' And he's just the king of that — him and guys like Scott Ian [ANTHRAX], whom I think the world of, and Dave Mustaine [MEGADETH] as well, and Kerry King [SLAYER], without a doubt. They just have tremendous control over the synchronicity between their right and left hands, and their right hand in particular.

"[James's right hand is] insane. To me, he is one of the most underrated guitar players. 'Cause every guitar player will say that, but the general public doesn't have the full appreciation of how just unbelievably over-the-top talented he is as a rhythm guitar player… Kirk is amazing in his own right. James's right hand and the riffs that he writes utilizing that talent, it's pretty unbelievable."

SKID ROW's new album, "The Gang's All Here", will be released on October 14 via earMUSIC. The band recorded most of the effort in Nashville, Tennessee with producer Nick Raskulinecz, who has previously worked with FOO FIGHTERS, STONE SOUR, HALESTORM, EVANESCENCE, RUSH and ALICE IN CHAINS, among many others.

In May, SKID ROW shared the music video for "The Gang's All Here" title track.

Swedish singer Erik Grönwall joined SKID ROW in January as the replacement for ZP Theart, who had been in the group for more than six years. Theart played his final gig with SKID ROW in February before being officially given the boot.

Grönwall was a member of the Swedish hard rock band H.E.A.T. with whom he recorded four studio albums — "Address The Nation" (2012),"Tearing Down The Walls" (2014),"Into The Great Unknown" (2017) and "H.E.A.T II" (2020) — before exiting the group in October 2020.

Grönwall was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia in March 2021. Six months later, he announced that he was cancer free after receiving a bone marrow transplant in August. "Some anonymous wonderful human being somewhere in the world donated his/her blood cells so that I could get a second chance at life," he told Headbangers Lifestyle in January. "Sometimes I can just get tears in my eyes when I think about it. It's so beautiful that one person who is not connected to me in any way wanted to do that for me. He/she doesn't know that the blood cells were for me. It's completely anonymous."

Last September, Grönwall released his cover version of "18 And Life" via all streaming platforms.

In 2018, Grönwall debuted in the U.S. for 10 million viewers in NBC's live broadcast of Andrew Lloyd Webber's and Tim Rice's musical "Jesus Christ Superstar". Along with John Legend, Alice Cooper, Sara Bareilles and others, Erik played the key role of Simon Zealotes.

Ex-THREE DAYS GRACE singer Adam Gontier and two members of the band's current lineup, bassist Brad Walst and his younger brother, vocalist Matt Walst, were inducted into the Norwood District High School Hall Of Honor on June 29 in Norwood, Ontario, Canada. Brad Walst spoke about the experience in a new interview with Tommy Carroll of the 97.9 WGRD radio station. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "It's funny 'cause the high school's been calling us for years. And, obviously, we've all had kind of different schedules, and Adam's been doing his thing and we've been doing our thing. And until recently, to be honest, we hadn't really spoken that much — we'd text and stuff. But Adam's moved back to the area, and he's got a great family and a great wife. And we've all kind of been chatting and hanging out. Yeah, I called him and just said, 'They want the three of us' — they want Matt, Adam and myself. And everyone agreed, and it was, like, 'Okay, let's do this.' So it was pretty cool to see [our] high school, where you grew up… It's nice to be acknowledged."

He continued: "It's funny, 'cause I texted Adam, 'You made the Hall Of Fame.' He's, like, 'Yup. Straight-B student.' [Laughs] But I think just having us together in that room was way more powerful, for sure. So it was a pretty cool feeling."

On June 30, Gontier took to his Instagram to share a photo and video of the ceremony, and he wrote in an accompanying caption: "About last night… thank you so much to Todd Murray, Jason Lean and everyone at Norwood District High School for inducting myself, Brad and @mattjpwalst thanks into their Hall of Honor. And a HUGE congrats to all of the 2022 NDHS graduates."

In 1992, Gontier, Brad Walst, Phil Crowe, Neil Sanderson and Joe Grant formed GROUNDSWELL while most of the members were still in high school. That band broke up in 1995, but two years later Gontier, Sanderson and Walst reformed as THREE DAYS GRACE. Gontier left the band in 2013 and was replaced by Matt, the vocalist from another Norwood band, MY DARKEST DAYS.

In a 2007 interview with The Oklahoman, Gontier said that he met some of his first bandmates while they were freshmen at Norwood District High School.

"I ended up hooking up with Brad because we had the same love of music," Gontier said. "He didn't play anything at the time. I suggested him getting a bass, and he did."

Gontier said that Canadian bands, including THE TRAGICALLY HIP and OUR LADY PEACE were early influences, along with the Seattle rock scene, particularly the group SUNNY DAY REAL ESTATE.

Gontier initially went into rehab in 2005 in Toronto after admitting an addiction to Oxycontin. The rehab stint influenced some material which would appear on THREE DAYS GRACE's "One-X" album, including the songs "Pain" and "Over And Over".

Gontier left THREE DAYS GRACE in the spring of 2013. At the time, the Canadian rockers cited unspecified "health issues" when his departure was announced. Adam later released a statement explaining he exited THREE DAYS GRACE to pursue new projects, and not to deal with addiction.

Gontier is currently a member of SAINT ASONIA, which also features STAIND guitarist/founding member Mike Mushok. The band will release a new EP, "Introvert", on July 1 via Spinefarm. The quartet is rounded out by Cale Gontier (bass) and Cody Watkins (drums).

THREE DAYS GRACE's latest album, "Explosions", was released on May 6 via RCA Records. The LP's first single, "So Called Life", was No. 1 on Mediabase's Active Rock chart and Billboard's Mainstream Rock Songs chart. This was the band's 17th No. 1 song on the Mediabase chart and 16th No. 1 on the Billboard chart, and tied the internationally acclaimed and multi-platinum certified Canadian band with SHINEDOWN for the artist with most #1's on the Billboard chart.

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