Arizona thrash and speed metal icons, Flotsam And Jetsam, performed at Hellfest 2022 in Clisson, France on June 18. You can watch the band's full set below.


Setlist:


"Dreams Of Death"
"Hammerhead"
"Iron Maiden"
"She Took An Axe"
"The Walls"
"Desecrator"
"Prisoner Of Time"
"I Live You Die"
"Brace For Impact"
"No Place For Disgrace"







Find Flotsam And Jetsam's upcoming tour schedule here.

POSSESSED frontman Jeff Becerra, who was shot in a robbery in 1989, leaving him partially paralyzed and wheelchair-bound, joined Max and Igor "Iggor" Cavalera on stage last night (Friday, June 17) at the Great American Music Hall in San Francisco, California to perform the POSSESSED classic "Death Metal".

Prior to launching into the track, Max called Jeff the "godfather of death metal" while Becerra said that it was a "bucket-list" item for his to share the stage with the Cavalera brothers and SEPULTURA founders.

POSSESSED originally split in 1987, leaving behind a short but highly influential legacy, most notably their 1985 "Seven Churches" debut, widely considered to be the first-ever death metal album. Internal tensions after the release of 1987's "The Eyes Of Horror" EP led to the band's dissolution, with guitarist Larry Lalonde joining Bay Area tech-thrashers BLIND ILLUSION, then PRIMUS, while Becerra, guitarist Mike Torrao and drummer Mike Sus each going separate directions.

Two years after POSSESSED's split, Becerra was the victim of a failed armed robbery attempt, subsequently leaving him paralyzed from the chest down and sending him into a spiral of drug and alcohol abuse. POSSESSED was reactivated by Torrao in 1990 with a completely different lineup, but only released two demos before dissolving in 1993. Becerra then reformed POSSESSED in 2007 with his own lineup, which released its first studio album in 33 years, "Revelations Of Oblivion", in 2019.

In a 2019 interview with The Underground Metal Gamer, Becerra was asked about the recovery process after being shot by two masked gunmen. "I've been in a wheelchair longer than I've been walking," he said. "It's my normal. It wasn't so much of an accident — I got shot by two different guns in a robbery. I was doing concrete construction. I worked something like 13 hours that day. I stopped to get a pack of Camels [cigarettes] and I guess I flashed a hundred [dollar bill] and on the way out, two guys in hoods, little ninja guys came running up with guns: 'Give me all of your fucking money.' I kind of resisted; I should have just given them the money, but I was fucked, I was cornered. It's not the first time I had a gun pointed at me and I knew they meant business. We scuffled, there was no way out of it and I ended up getting shot a couple of times. The first guy pushed a 9-millimeter to my chest [points to bullet hole]. It broke through the ribs and shattered the lungs and stuck on in the spine, so I still have a 9-millimeter slug stuck on the vertebrate T3. I think the second guy was covering me from about 15 feet away, so there was nowhere to run. It was more like a knee-jerk reaction because the first shot was 'pow!' and right after, 'pow!'"

He continued: "I kind of foresaw that. I put my hand up in a defensive mode. It didn't matter. The 22-caliber would have hit me in the forehead, but instead it clipped my finger off backward. You can see how it's still bent. It was like that [shows finger], but we did a bunch of rehab in the spring, so that clicked off and that was squirting out blood like some Monty Python thing. I pinched my armpit and tourniqueted it and played dead. [The shooter] came up to my forehead and his gun jammed and he was slapping the side of his gun and trying to pull the trigger to finish the job. I guess they just panicked and as they ran off, his gun un-jammed and they were just firing over their shoulders: 'Pow! Pow! Pow!' all these bullets were hitting around me and I was like 'Oh, fuck!' Then I scooted and hid under this Volvo, just playing dead for about 45 minutes. This little girl came by and she obviously was a drug addict, kind of a crackhead girl and I was, like, 'Hey, you got to call 911.' She said 'I can't. I live here. These guys will fuck me up.' I said 'I'll give you ten bucks.' She said 'Ten bucks?' I reached in with my good hand, gave her a bloody ten-dollar bill and about 45 minutes later, one solo cop came up and he was like, he couldn't have been more than 21, 23 years old. He was, like, 'This is my first solo! I'm freaking out. I can't believe this is happening.' I said, 'Call an ambulance.' He was, like, 'Oh, yeah…' That was the first time I was glad to see the police. He just kind of covered me until the ambulance came and that was it."

Becerra calls the ensuing period the "five dark years" in reference to a spiral of drug and alcohol abuse. "I really didn't handle it well," he said. "I essentially tried to kill myself with drugs and alcohol. I lived alone for five years and basically just wrote and listened to a lot of demo tapes that were sent and got thousands of fan mail asking me to come back. It was always the plan, but I wanted to do the things in life that I felt that I needed to do as a man. I'm not saying this is everybody, just for me, I didn't want to wake up and be 50 and all I ever had done is play satanic death metal. I've always been kind of afraid of college. I went to college and made straight As, alpha gamma sigma and webmaster and was one of 20 gold robes. I did that. I got my four-year [degree] in three and a half years. I got married and had a couple of beautiful kids. Then I got divorced and that was time to bring POSSESSED back. I was already playing and touring by then and when you're gone all the time, it's hard to maintain a solid relationship. You got to give a lot to be in a death metal band. You just got a do it. I'm still really tight [with her]. Me and my ex-wife are still best friends. It was amicable. It's a win-win. I got two beautiful kids and a band and everything."

"Revelations Of Oblivion" was released in May 2019 via Nuclear Blast. The album was recorded at NRG studios and Titan Studios with Becerra as executive producer and Daniel Gonzalez as co-producer for the album. Mixing and mastering was handled by Peter Tägtgren (HYPOCRISY, PAIN, BLOODBATH) at Abyss Studios in Sweden. For the artwork, the band enlisted Polish artist Zbigniew Bielak (PARADISE LOST, DIMMU BORGIR, DEICIDE, GHOST, GORGUTS).

w/ Jeff Becerra at the MAX & IGGOR CAVALERA show in San Francisxo tonight!!!

Posted by David Rodriguez on Friday, June 17, 2022

Fan-filmed video of Tom Keifer's June 18 performance at the Blue Note in Harrison, Ohio can be seen below.

Keifer's story begins as the singer-songwriter, guitarist and front man of hard rock heavyweights CINDERELLA. His signature voice, guitar and bluesy, no-B.S. arena-shaking songwriting, played an integral role in moving records to the tune of 15 million worldwide. Tom Keifer is enjoying continued success recording and touring with #keiferband — Tom Keifer, Savannah Keifer, Tony Higbee, Billy Mercer, Kendra Chantelle, Jarred Pope and Kory Myers — releasing two critically acclaimed solo albums, "The Way Life Goes" and "Rise".

"Rise", released September 13, 2019 on Cleopatra Records, features the rousing, rollicking rock singles "The Death Of Me" and "Hype". Both singles landed in the Billboard Mainstream Rock Top 40. Keifer's deep-seated roots shine through to the very core on "Rise", something that was embedded at the very heart of his music created during the multiplatinum CINDERELLA days.

"When this band came together, we all felt a bit like broken souls, each with our own unique story," Tom explained. "If you ask anyone in the band, they would all say this band came along at just the right time. Every human who walks this planet faces challenges and extreme adversity they have to overcome. As a band, we feel fortunate to be able to face those things together. There is a piece of every band member in the 'The Death Of Me' as well as throughout the entire 'Rise' album."

The common thread to each song on "Rise" is the intuitive interplay between each member of #keiferband, a tight but loose collective that's spent the last few years on the road honing their live craft together. "Rise" is the studio-bred equivalent of a band just now realizing the full scope of its powers.

"We were trying to capture the feeling of what people have witnessed live with this band," Keifer explained. "There's an off-the-rails, real live feel to 'Rise' — and that's what we were going for. It shows a real kind of angst and reckless abandon that we tried not to polish too much. And when we pull it back on the ballads, it's more about the emotion, the soul, and making people feel something in a different way."

"To me, the perfect rock and roll record is perfectly fucked up," Keifer said with a hearty laugh. "You try to make each record interesting and different. I don't ever want to make the same record twice, even though there's a common thread between them. Everything doesn't have to be perfectly in place, but there is a balance you try to strike. Sometimes there may be something about it that's technically not 'right,' but there's a vibe, an energy and an attitude to it that I always try to preserve."

This past March, Keifer said that he was "not prepared" for last year's passing of CINDERELLA guitarist Jeff LaBar. Jeff was found dead by his wife, Debinique Salazar-LaBar, on July 14, 2021 inside his apartment in Nashville. He was 58 years old.

"I've gotta tell you, you're never really ready for that kind of loss; you're not prepared to hear that kind of thing," Keifer told SiriusXM's "Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk". "And everyone is still trying to grieve and process it. It's an emotional topic. Jeff was just such a passionate, amazing person, musician, human. He had a huge heart. And it was a tough one, man. It still is, for everybody."

Tom continued: "Jeff and I had a really good relationship throughout out career. Obviously, in bands there's times when you have differences; that's part of being in a band. It's true what people say about bands — that they're like a family, but, honestly, it's like that and even more intense, because there's so many different facets that inform the dynamics between bands; everything from business to creativity and everything in between. But despite any differences that we've had over the years, and the band in general, as I've always said, we've never aired anything like that.

"Jeff and I had a great relationship," Keifer repeated. "I loved Jeff — I really did — and have so many great memories of our journey together. He was amazing, and not just what he contributed to the music. Jeff had such a great sense of humor, and some of my favorite memories with Jeff are just kind of cutting up together on the bus. We were both big movie fans and could quote pretty much all our favorite movies. And we'd sit in the front lounge and quote 'Arthur' and 'The Big Lebowski' and 'Caddyshack'. He was just a really passionate, really fun guy to be around, and obviously, an amazing performer. He was a huge part of CINDERELLA.

"Like I said, you're never ready for that. And everyone is really honestly… I'm in touch with Eric [Brittingham, bass] and Fred [Coury, drums] regularly — everybody close to him — and we're still trying to process it. We really are."

Although CINDERELLA hasn't released a new studio album since 1994's "Still Climbing", the band started playing sporadic shows again in 2010 but has been largely inactive for the last few years while Keifer focused on his solo career.

Fan-filmed video of KISS's June 18 concert at Tele2 Arena in Stockholm, Sweden can be seen below.

The band's setlist was as follows:

01. Detroit Rock City
02. Shout It Out Loud
03. Deuce
04. War Machine
05. Heaven's On Fire
06. I Love It Loud
07. Say Yeah
08. Cold Gin
09. Guitar Solo
10. Lick It Up
11. Calling Dr. Love
12. Tears Are Falling
13. Psycho Circus
14. Drum Solo
15. 100,000 Years
16. Bass Solo
17. God Of Thunder
18. Love Gun
19. I Was Made For Lovin' You
20. Black Diamond

ncore:

21. Beth
22. Do You Love Me
23. Rock And Roll All Nite

KISS's "End Of The Road" farewell tour launched in 2019 and is scheduled to end sometime in 2023, 50 years after the band's formation.

In a phone interview, KISS frontman Paul Stanley stated about the band's live shows: "There's nothing really that can compete or come close to the combustive emotional nature of what we do on stage and the connection to the fans. That's something that's irreplaceable. That's something that there's nothing to compare it to."

Regarding KISS's decision to complete one last tour before calling it quits, Stanley said: "This is really a time of joy and for us to be up there and celebrate what we've done together. It's much better than finishing a tour, let's say, and then a year later deciding you don't want to go out and two years later you decide you don't want to go out. In that sense, you've called it quits, but this is so much better for us and better for the fans to go out there with the highest of spirits and the greatest of shows."

Speaking about the "End Of The Road" stage production, Stanley said: "The show this time really is the ultimate KISS show. With that in mind, we wanted to put together something that really raised the bar, not just for us, but as happened over the years, raises the bar for every act out there. That's a good thing because the fans win because of it. This show is more bombastic. There's more pyro. The lights are stunning. The automation involved, the computer synchronization is unlike anything we've ever done, and yet it doesn't lose, we don't wind up with something that's technical and sterile over something that's passionate and gritty. So it's a marvel, I've got to tell you. It left us speechless when we first saw the finished stage. And for us to be silent is a miracle in itself."

KISS was forced to put its farewell trek on hold in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Last October, Stanley said that the final concert of the "End Of The Road" tour will likely happen by early 2023.

"End Of The Road" was originally scheduled to conclude on July 17, 2021 in New York City but has since been extended. The trek was announced in September 2018 following a KISS performance of the band's classic song "Detroit Rock City" on "America's Got Talent".

KISS's current lineup consists of original members Stanley and bassist/vocalist Gene Simmons, alongside later band additions, guitarist Tommy Thayer (since 2002) and drummer Eric Singer (on and off since 1991).

Formed in 1973 by Stanley, Simmons, drummer Peter Criss and guitarist Ace Frehley, KISS's first "farewell" tour in 2000 was the last to feature the group's original lineup.

MÖTLEY CRÜE's Tommy Lee sat behind the drums for the first three songs of the band's concert last night (Saturday, June 18) at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida despite sustaining four broken ribs a couple of weeks ago. As was the case at the opening show of "The Stadium Tour" two nights earlier in Atlanta, Georgia, the drummer defied doctor's orders to take part in the CRÜE's long-awaited return to the stage with DEF LEPPARD, POISON and JOAN JETT & THE BLACKHEARTS.

Lee played "Wild Side", "Shout At The Devil" and "Too Fast For Love" with his bandmates and then left from behind his kit to address the crowd.

"You guys, you're not gonna fucking believe this shit," he said (see video below). "Some of you may know; some of you may not know. For those who don't know, about — I don't know — 12, 13 days ago, I broke not one, not two, not three, but four fucking ribs right here [places left hand on his right side]. And I'm fucking, like, 'Are you fucking kidding me, dude? Fuck!' We've been waiting way too long for this shit, man. My fucking heart is broken — along with the ribs. So the doctor goes, 'Listen, bro. By the way, no fucking playing.' I'm, like, 'Dude, there's no fucking way. We have a tour in a fucking few days. What the fuck am I gonna do?' So I'm gonna fucking pop in and out as much as I can. It hurts like a fucking bitch. And my boy Tommy up here, he's gonna fucking help me out here. And I'll be back out. I'll see you guys in a minute. But at the fucking time, at this moment, the show must fucking go on, goddamnit."

Lee was replaced for the remainder of the set by Tommy Clufetos, who plays drums in Ozzy Osbourne's live band and who sat behind the kit for BLACK SABBATH on the legendary heavy metal act's final tour. Lee briefly returned later in the night to play piano on "Home Sweet Home".

The setlist for the Miami Gardens concert was as follows:

01. Wild Side
02. Shout At The Devil
03. Too Fast For Love
04. Don't Go Away Mad (Just Go Away) (Tommy Lee replaced on drums by Tommy Clufetos)
05. Saints Of Los Angeles
06. Live Wire
07. Looks That Kill
08. The Dirt (Est. 1981) (Machine Gun Kelly on tape)
09. Medley: Rock And Roll, Part 2 / Smokin' In The Boys Room / White Punks On Dope / Helter Skelter / Anarchy In The U.K.
10. Home Sweet Home (Tommy Lee temporarily returns to play piano)
11. Dr. Feelgood
12. Same Ol' Situation (S.O.S.)
13. Girls, Girls, Girls
14. Primal Scream
15. Kickstart My Heart

On Friday, MÖTLEY CRÜE bassist Nikki Sixx praised Tommy for "beasting" through the first five songs of the band's set in Atlanta, writing on Twitter: "The fact that Tommy was told by the doctor to not play with 4 broken ribs & he beasted half our show is a miracle. We are a band and are proud of his strength. He is doing the whole tour and day by day adding more songs. What a fucking animal. Anybody out there ever break ur ribs?"

CRÜE's long-delayed North American trek with DEF LEPPARD, POISON and JOAN JETT & THE BLACKHEARTS 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 next show on the trek is scheduled to take place tonight (Sunday, June 19) at Camping World Stadium in Orlando, Florida.

Clufetos is Sixx's bandmate in a project called L.A. RATS. The quartet, which also features Rob Zombie and John 5 (ROB ZOMBIE, MARILYN MANSON),came together last year expressly to record a cover of "I've Been Everywhere" for the soundtrack to the movie "The Ice Road".

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

CRÜE fans who shelled out for the band's 2014/2015 "farewell" tour were led to believe that the group would never return after playing its final show on December 2015 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. The band touted the signing of a pre-tour "cessation of touring" agreement as cementing the fact it truly was the end of CRÜE's life on the road.
@MrTommyLand has not “quit” the tour. He’s still out there. Here’s proof. Miami he played 3 songs and home sweet home. For broken ribs - he did great. Great show! #stadiumtour#motleycrue@MotleyCruepic.twitter.com/LbTGuQuwOh

— Lp 💎🤲🏼 (@lpstonk) June 19, 2022

Finnish cello-rock quartet, Apocalyptica, have released the video below, featuring their performance of "I Don't Care" at Graspop Metal Meeting 2016, featuring vocalist Franky Perez.


Vocals for the song were originally performed by Adam Gontier (Saint Asonia, ex-Three Days Grace) for Apocalyptica's 2008 album, Worlds Collide.







After the release of their track “I’ll Get Through It” with Franky Perez and Geezer Butler (Black Sabbath), Apocalyptica now announce the first of three classical instrumental tracks to be released throughout this summer.





“Bolero” is Apocalyptica’s own version of Maurice Ravel’s classic ballet piece and it therefore marks the band’s first reinterpretation of a classical song since “Hall Of The Mountain King” in 2000. Listen to Bolero here, and watch the video below.





Apocalyptica will be touring the US extensively in 2022, as well as playing multiple summer festivals, among other dates, before hitting Europe with the aptly named Epic Apocalypse Tour alongside Epica and Wheel. All dates can be found here.

Baltimore-based death metal savants, Misery Index, recently released their new record, Complete Control. watch a drum playthrough of the track, "The Eaters And The Eaten", below.





Complete Control was mixed by Will Putney, mastered by Jens Bogren / Fascination Street studios and features artwork by Matt Lombard, which can be seen below.




Complete Control, the seventh studio album and Century Media debut for Misery Index, is a riff-driven assault that captures the tension of the modern condition and channels it into 9 songs of ripping end-times death metal. Spewing with Orwellian invective and razor-sharp songwriting, Complete Control is a much-needed hammer to the face; a wake-up call for the disaffected and dispossessed.





Complete Control tracklisting:


"Administer The Dagger"
"The Eaters And The Eaten"
"Complete Control"
"Necessary Suffering"
"Rites Of Cruelty"
"Conspiracy Of None"
"Infiltrators"
"Reciprocal Repulsion"
"Now Defied!"


“Complete Control” video:





"Infiltrators" video:





"The Eaters And The Eaten" video:





Misery Index lineup:


Darin Morris: guitar
Mark Kloeppel: guitar, vocals
Adam Jarvis: drums
Jason Netherton: bass, vocals

DEF LEPPARD has released a short video recap of the opening show of "The Stadium Tour", which took place Thursday night (June 16) at the opening show of "The Stadium Tour" in Atlanta, Georgia. The veteran rockers closed out a bill at Truist Park that included co-headliners MÖTLEY CRÜE and support from POISON and JOAN JETT & THE BLACKHEARTS.

In the clip, which can be seen below, DEF LEPPARD singer Joe Elliott says: "We have just finished the wettest gig we have done since Mannheim in 1986. It rained all night long. But the crowd stuck with us. Nobody left. Nobody moaned. And one down, 35 to go. And next up, Miami. But Atlanta, Georgia — thank you. Fantastic."

He adds: "Everybody that was there tonight, thank you for staying with us right to the end of the gig, because it was insanely wet."

Guitarist Phil Collen says: "Just got off stage. First stadium gig in God knows how long — three years or whatever it is. Amazing. Everything that could have gone wrong did. We had kind of like a hurricane, storm — whatever that was — coming through. And [we were] just drenched. The drums went off at one point. We carried on like nothing had happened. And we played the new songs, and they were great — they just slotted straight in, like any of the classics."

DEF LEPPARD's set included 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", including "Kick" and "Fire It Up".

The setlist was as follows:

01. Take What You Want
02. Fire It Up
03. Animal
04. Foolin'
05. Armageddon It
06. Kick
07. Love Bites
08. Excitable
09. This Guitar
10. Have You Ever Needed Someone So Bad
11. Two Steps Behind
12. Rocket
13. Bringin' On The Heartbreak
14. Switch 625
15. Hysteria
16. Pour Some Sugar On Me
17. Rock Of Ages
18. Photograph

DEF LEPPARD's long-delayed North American trek with MÖTLEY CRÜE, POISON and JOAN JETT & THE BLACKHEARTS 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."

Last July, 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."



torrential STORMS and DOWNPOURS!!! And DEF LEPPARD!!! Atlanta is CRAZY!! OMG!!!

Posted by Buddy Huckabee on Thursday, June 16, 2022

METALLICA bassist Robert Trujillo joined DOWN on stage Thursday (June 16) at the end of the Philip Anselmo-fronted band's set at the Copenhell festival in Denmark. British musician Paul Bond, who is apparently traveling with DOWN as part of the band's road crew, shared video of Trujillo's appearance and wrote in an accompanying message: "OK … so this DID happen last night! Rob Trujillo got invited to jam with DOWN, but Kirk [Windstein, DOWN guitarist] handed his guitar to ME! I got to share the stage with DOWN and Rob… as James Hetfield, Lars [Ulrich] and some of KORN watched from the side! If there weren't documentary evidence, I probably would have passed it off as a weird dream!!!"

METALLICA headlined the first night (Wednesday, June 15) of Copenhell, which is taking place over four days at Refshaleøen in Copenhagen. Other bands who were scheduled to perform at the sold-out event are IRON MAIDEN, KISS and JUDAS PRIEST.

Last month, Windstein spoke to Pierre Gutiérrez of Rock Talks about the status of DOWN's long-discussed EP of "obscure" cover songs. He said: "We have been talking about this for a long time. What's been happening is DOWN is kind of now as it started, which was a side project. We love doing it and it's a ton of fun and we love it — we love the band; it's an amazing band — but everybody's back to doing their other bands. Pepper's [Keenan, guitar] doing C.O.C. full-time, Jimmy's [Bower, drums] doing EYEHATEGOD, I'm doing CROWBAR, Phil's got a lot on his hands and a lot of projects, as he always did and always will.

"I would love to knock out this cover-song EP," he continued. "We really haven't, to my knowledge, agreed upon the songs a hundred percent yet. Right now we're more concerned with just being properly rehearsed for the shows that we have coming up at the end of May. And we have three festivals in Europe at the end of June that we need to be prepared for as well. So we're kind of concentrating on that, and maybe after that we'll see where we're at with the cover-song EP."

Asked by Gutiérrez if the members of DOWN have already picked a few songs to cover on the upcoming EP, Windstein said: "We have a few that I think we all agree on, but in the end it's really Phil's choice. The other guys, and Phil as well, have texted each other back and forth and e-mailed each other a million different songs that we think would be good. To me, we need to just sit down and have an actual meeting and say, 'All right, guys. What songs are we gonna do? And let's learn 'em. And make 'em sound like DOWN.' We don't wanna be a cover-song band like you have on a cruise ship or something; we want to redo these songs in a DOWN style. And no disrespect to cover-song bands on a cruise ship or anywhere else… But seriously, we just need to agree on the songs and get down to work with it.

"Life starts to take over as you get older," Kirk added, explaining the delay in recording the new DOWN EP. "We have children, and some of us are married… Life starts to take over where it's difficult with everyone's schedule, like, 'Okay, when can we all get together?' Because this one's got this family function going on and this one's got this family function going on. As you get older, it does make it a little more difficult. But we just need to get in a room and talk and figure it out. And I can't wait to do that; I think it's gonna be great."

Pressed about which tracks have already been agreed upon for inclusion on the DOWN covers EP, Kirk said: "I'd rather not [discuss that in interviews yet] because there's only maybe one or two that are really set in stone. Some of it's some obscure stuff, so I would rather… When we have one hundred percent agreement on all the guys as to what we're gonna do, then maybe in interviews we'll talk about it."

When Gutiérrez mentioned that it would be cool to hear DOWN cover a KISS song, Windstein said: "Pepper threw one out that I love, so you never know. Once again, it's really up to Phil in the end, what he feels is great for his voice and what KISS song, if we did, would we do. I mean, we have one in mind, but can we make it sound like DOWN? Maybe so. It's gotta sound like we wrote it; it's gotta sound like us."

As for the possibility of a new full-length album of original material from DOWN, Kirk said: "That's another thing that needs to be discussed at some point. To me, it would almost be easier to just everybody write riffs and get together than try to decide on which cover songs to do. I'm sure that we'll get around to it at some point. We're not getting any younger and it's something that we enjoy and I think that the fans would love it as well. So I'm sure at some point we'll get around to it."

Joining Windstein in DOWN's current lineup are Anselmo, Keenan, Bower and bassist Pat Bruders.

Last August, DOWN took part in a very special in-person live and virtual experience. "NOLA Town Throwdown" was held at the Fillmore in New Orleans, Louisiana and featured fans attending the show in person as well as watching it in real time from the comfort of their living room.

In August 2020, DOWN celebrated the 25th anniversary of "NOLA" with a special livestreamed event. Dubbed "The Quarter Century Throwdown", the high-production, multi-camera event took place using cutting-edge streaming technology to create a one-of-a-kind virtual concert experience.

A founding member of DOWN, Windstein left the band in 2013 in order to focus on CROWBAR and his family life. He was replaced by Bobby Landgraf, DOWN's former guitar tech who was previously in GAHDZILLA MOTOR COMPANY, a 1990s outfit also featuring Jason McMaster (DANGEROUS TOYS, WATCHTOWER),and HONKY.

Windstein announced his return to DOWN in 2019, with the band confirming a number of festival appearances for 2020 to celebrate the 25th anniversary of "NOLA", all of which have since been canceled or postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic which is sweeping the globe.

Prior to the August 2020 livestream, DOWN's last live appearance took place in August 2016 at the Psycho Las Vegas festival in Las Vegas.



OK … so this DID happen last night!
Rob Trujillo got invited to jam with Down, but Kirk handed his guitar to ME! I got to share the stage with Down and Rob… as James Hetfield, Lars and some of Korn watched from the side!
If there weren’t documentary evidence, I probably would have passed it off as a weird dream!!!

#down #copenhell #robtrujillo #philanselmo

Posted by Paul Bond on Friday, June 17, 2022

KINGDOM COME drummer James Kottak has denied that alcohol played a role in the band's disastrous performance at a Swedish festival earlier in the month.

KINGDOM COME's June 10 appearance at Sweden Rock Festival was described by the popular Swedish site Rocknytt as the event's "biggest fuckup." Writer Peter Johansson criticized the band for the inclusion of "several lengthy, uninspired, uninteresting and completely meaningless solos on both guitar and bass", saying that the musicians "completely massacred" one of their most popular songs, "Do You Like It". He also singled out Kottak, writing that the drummer played "really badly, sluggishly" and at times failed to keep the tempo "worryingly throughout the concert". At the end of the show, Kottak "stumbled to the edge of the stage to bow with his bandmates," according to Rocknytt.

Also critical of KINGDOM COME's performance was renowned Swedish music journalist and guitar player Janne Stark, who took to his Facebook page to share a photo of the gig and he wrote in an accompanying caption: "I've never seen a drummer fall asleep on stage before but James Kottak is pretty damn close. Drunk? He slows down every song to half tempo. KINGDOM COME, sorry guys but this is SHIT!"

Kottak publicly discussed KINGDOM COME's performance at Sweden Rock for the first time in a new interview with "This That & The Other With Troy Patrick Farrell". Regarding what caused the show to fall short of expectations, James said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "I wanna say about eight or nine days ago, maybe 10 days ago, in the middle of the night, like four o'clock in the morning, I was in a dead sleep and I just rolled off the bed and I cracked three ribs on my left side. And I went to my chiropractor guy and he says, 'Oh, you have hairline fractures.' And I'm, like, 'Oh, great.' And dude, it's just been non-stop pain. It's not just my ribs; it's head to toe. That's why things were a little bit slower. 'Cause I took ibuprofen and the usual, Aleve or whatever, but, man, it was an uphill battle from the time we started. And it was just — I mean, not pain; I'm talking pain-pain, big-time stuff. That's no excuse, because the show must go on. But, yeah, I was a little slower than usual. But also we [usually] have a click track, of course, 'cause we might have a little bit of playback. Something was up with that, so we were flying solo… And [when] you don't have it, you go, 'Oh-oh. Okay. We'll do this.' It was just an off day, and there's nothing you can do about it."

According to James, there was "definitely no drinking" involved prior to the KINGDOM COME mishap at Sweden Rock. "Because that with the medication, it doesn't go good together," he explained. "And it was just an off day, man. I did everything to [make it better] — tons of tea, this and that, and all the usual things that I do — but, man, it was just too soon after falling that we went to play this gig. But it's Sweden Rock, and you don't wanna bail out on that."

Asked if alcohol contributed to him falling out of bed prior to the Sweden Rock performance, Kottak said: "I always sleep on the left side of the bed, and I just somehow, in my sleep, rolled off the bed and landed on my left side. I mean, that's really it. I wasn't drinking — nothing like that. Yeah, I have a few white wines here and there, but nothing like that. I just rolled off the bed. And that's the first time in my life that's ever happened where I actually fell off. I woke up and saw stars. It took me 15 minutes to get off the floor. These things happen sometimes, and there's nothing you can do. With SCORPIONS, going up my riser to get to my drums, there were, like, 14 steps, and I fell down those stairs at least five times, if not six times. Because I was like a dummy — I was always spitting this water. And I'd finish a song and I'd come down not thinking, and, just, 'Whoop', right on my ass."

James also denied that his battle with alcoholism was the primary reason he was fired from the SCORPIONS in 2016. He has since been replaced by former MOTÖRHEAD drummer Mikkey Dee.

"I hate to say it, but Blabbermouth's kind of been the worst James basher," Kottak said. "They always say — any article about SCORPIONS, they say, 'Yeah, ever since James Kottak was released for alcohol abuse.' So I e-mailed them one day and said, 'Man, stop saying that.' We parted ways. It wasn't just from alcohol, dude. We went through five years of negotiations, 'cause the manager and tour manager both died within six months of each other. Then the band decided to self-manage, which is cool. But I'll tell you what, man — that's when it was a super-bumpy road and we were just not on the same page anymore. And that happens with bands."

Four years ago, SCORPIONS guitarist Matthias Jabs said that he and his bandmates "had to make" the decision to fire Kottak, explaining that they gave the drummer "all the chances" to get better. During an appearance on "Rock Talk With Mitch Lafon", the guitarist said: "James was a real good friend — and he still is — but we couldn't continue with him. We gave him all the chances, and 10 more. And it was something that developed over the years — the drinking habit. It came in waves — sometimes it was good for four weeks, and then [there] was drama, and if you know him, you know what that's like. Then if it affects the show, you have to go, 'Hmmm…' Because our drum riser goes up 21 feet, or 24 feet sometimes, if the venue allows it, and the production manager, or stage manager, goes, 'I can't have him go up there. It's too risky.' If you can't really walk down the stairs straight, you can't have that. So that affects your intro of the show, and that's not good — it's not professional."

He continued: "We were helping him — we were sending him to [the island of] Antigua [to Eric Clapton's Crossroads drug and alcohol treatment center], and we paid for it, and we did everything we could, because we are extremely loyal. It's always hard if you work with somebody for almost 20 years to say, 'Okay, you've gotta go.' We'd rather do the opposite and try to keep him and help him. But we reached the point — or he reached the point — where it was just not worth it. After three months or four months even — they gave him an extra month in Antigua, the rehab — he'd come home, we'd start again, and you can't even talk to him. So we had to make that decision. We had Mikkey on the road, so [James] didn't notice. So I rehearsed with [Mikkey] and Paweł [Mąciwoda, bass] in the afternoon, just a backup; that was the original plan. But then there was no way we could continue with James, so we started with Mikkey."

Two years ago, Kottak, who joined the SCORPIONS in 1996, told the SCORPIONS official fan club Crazyscorps about the circumstances that led to his departure from the legendary German hard rock band: "I always liked a drink here and there. And then I always also take a pain medication called Aleve. It's what all the baseball players take, all the footballers, and it works like a charm. You take those of those and you don't feel anything. But on top of that, I'm a rock drummer in a rock band, and you've got the green light to drink.

"From 2008 to 2011, I didn't drink," he explained. "I just woke up one day and said, 'I just don't wanna drink anymore.' I didn't go to rehab; I didn't do any of that stuff. I just didn't wanna drink anymore.

"If you have any knowledge of A.A. [Alcoholics Anonymous] or any type of program or rehab, it only lasts so long and then you have what we call in recovery a relapse. I would go through these phases of a year or maybe two years of no drinking, and then you gradually…

"SCORPIONS, we play our show, we go back to the hotel, [and] 45 minutes later, we're all downstairs having dinner," he continued. "And everything's just the right price — free. All these flights back and forth from Europe, from L.A. — I was just flying constantly. Which I'm not complaining about, but it's always business or first class, and once again, all the booze is at the right price. I'm going, 'I've got the next two days off. I might as well have a drink.' And that's what triggered me to start drinking again sometimes.

"It's a typical alcoholic way of thinking: 'Well, I may as well have a drink. Why not?' And that's typical alcoholic disease thinking. 'Cause it is a disease."
As you know or don’t I cracked/[email protected] 3-4 ribs on my left side about 15 days ago…OUCH! I did have an off day at Sweden Rock! Thank god for Aleve! Thanks for all your concern @KingdomComeRock@mitchlafon@BLABBERMOUTHNET

— James Kottak (@JKottak) June 17, 2022

GHOST was forced to cut its performance at the French festival Hellfest short last night (Saturday, June 18) due to frontman Tobias Forge losing his voice.

After performing the song "Dance Macabre" in Clisson, Forge told the audience: "My voice is completely fucked. I cannot sing one other song for you."

As a result, GHOST was unable to perform what has been the closing track of the band's recent shows, "Square Hammer".

Prior to Hellfest, GHOST had last performed at the final show of the group's European headlining tour on May 18 in Budapest, Hungary.

Earlier Saturday night, GHOST performed the song "Griftwood", from the band's latest album "Impera", live for the first time. The track takes aim at Donald Trump-era U.S. vice president Mike Pence who led Christian evangelicals into becoming apologists for what many believe was the most destructive president of modern times, while at the same time preaching righteousness and goodness.

"That song's about him and anyone like him who's willing to soil everything they've worked for," Forge explained to Kerrang! magazine earlier in the year. "They definitely qualify for a front-row ticket to Hell. Which is so ironic, because that's what they believe in. [People like that] completely demean themselves, and just eat shit out of someone's ass in order to achieve whatever they're trying to achieve.

"Again, he stands as a symbol for people of all times, where the end game is wrapped with some sort of religious [thing]," Tobias continued. "He's known as this sort of Bible thumper, believing that he has strong faith, and he's just this awful, awful person in any way. He tries to tell the world that he serves God, that he's part of the good side. Whereas at the end of the day, the only thing he wants is power. But it doesn't have to necessarily be all about him. It's about people like him: a lot of politicians, lot of preachers, a lot of clergymen throughout the history of time."

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

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

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

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

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

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

Invictus, the new solo project led by Maurizio Iacono, will release their debut full-length, Unstoppable, on September 23 via MNRK Heavy, today unveiling the record’s artwork, tracklisting, and pre-orders.


Well-respected as the singer of Kataklysm and Ex Deo, head of Hard Impact Artist Management, founder of Distortion Music Group, and co-owner of hard-and-heavy booking agency Continental Touring, Iacono delivers dynamic new layers of heaviness and melody with his latest creative vehicle.


A Latin epithet for various Roman deities, “Invictus” translates to “unconquered” or “invincible,” a theme put forward throughout Iacono’s latest output. The eleven songs that comprise Unstoppable offer an unflinching view of an unbreakable spirit, examined through the lens of ambitious, unapologetic heavy music.




Iacono executed his vision alongside longtime collaborator J-F Dagenais (guitarist for Kataklysm and Ex Deo) and producer/main songwriter Chris Clancy (Mutiny Within). Powerhouse drummer Jeramie Kling (Venom Inc., Inhuman Condition) rounded out the record with a blistering performance.


Iacono got to know Clancy, who often works alongside Colin Richardson and Andy Sneap, while making Kataklysm’s fourteenth album, 2020’s Unconquered. “Chris is an excellent songwriter and vocalist with a lot of talent,” Iacono says. “We have a lot in common with our musical tastes.”


The sound of Invictus resonates deeply with all those who forged themselves in the fire of life’s obstacles. Conceived as an unflinching examination of fury and determination, Invictus explores the depths of struggle, frustration, and perseverance that shaped Iacono into the man he is today.


Comments Iacono, “Today we unleash the preview to a record we worked so very hard on. The first video/single ‘Exiled’ has a great start-to-finish that really touches a lot of elements this album represents. My whole career has been about overcoming obstacles and reaching the light while keeping true to myself. This is a project that, regardless of the outcome, needed to be done for my soul. I’m very honored to have had Chris Clancy, J-F Dagenais, and Jeramie Kling by my side in this new endeavor. Unstoppable is the gateway to self-preservation and perseverance and I hope you all enjoy it!”


Adds Clancy, “I was really honored to have Maurizio reach out to me and ask me to be a part of everything when he decided it was time he did a solo project. It’s not often I have the chance to be so heavily involved in writing and working alongside people I look up to, so I jumped at the chance. We put some ideas together between us and everything just worked. I couldn’t believe how easily it all fell into place; how every idea we had just worked and fueled another idea. The music has gone from strength to strength, and I’ve never had so much fun. I think the music is absolutely brutal with a solid dose of anthemic moments scattered throughout. ‘Exiled’ is a perfect example of what this album is about. It’s everything I’ve wanted to hear from a band for years and I’m stoked to be in it.”


Unstoppable will be released on CD, LP, cassette, and digitally. Find pre-orders here.





Unstoppable tracklisting:


"You Will Know Who I Am"
"Eagles"
"Bleed Me Out"
"Exiled"
"Get Up"
"Weaponized"
"3656"
"Ghost Of My Father"
"Darkest Of Enemies"
"American Outcast"
"Keeping The Wolves At Bay"


"Exiled” video:





(Photo - Suzzy Iacono)

During a June 9 appearance on SiriusXM's "Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk", DREAM THEATER singer James LaBrie spoke about what it has been like for him and his bandmates to return to the road during the pandemic. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "We just did six and a half weeks all throughout Europe, and it went great. There's still the 'COVID hangover' going on, so some of the shows were a little lighter than we had expected. But what was crazy is as the tour went on, the room were, 'Hey, guys, you sold out tonight,' 'Hey, guys, you know what? It's gonna be packed tonight.' And that became more and more evident the longer the tour was in place. But when we first started out, it was half-filled rooms, three-quarter rooms. And the promoter was, like, 'Don't worry about it, guys. This isn't your fault. This is happening to every single artist out there.' And we were, like, 'Wow. People are still very much affected by it over here.' But like I said, by the time we were maybe two or three weeks into it, everything looked like a normal DREAM THEATER tour, and it was amazing; it was excellent. We finished in Istanbul on June 1st. And that was amazing. We played this big outdoor venue and there was about ten thousand people. And it was just frickin' kickin' butt big time — big time. So it was a great tour."

LaBrie's latest comments echo what DREAM THEATER keyboardist Jordan Rudess told the "Talking Into Infinity" video podcast about going back on tour. Jordan said: "Yeah, finally getting back on the road, it's been awesome… It's been amazing getting on the road. It was really hard to get on the road as well. But the fact that we are out here has been just incredible. We finally got through all the logistics that it took to make this happen, and luckily got through the U.S. tour, we got through the European tour successfully, without anybody getting COVID and having to cancel the whole thing. And it's been totally re-energizing. The energy of the fans has been amazing to see. I mean, it is a reality that in some locations there weren't as many people as there would have been if we weren't having a world pandemic; it's just what's going on. But when you feel the energy of the people and the joy in that they can get out there and experience live music again, it's incredible. And it's a great feeling.

"I have to say that when I first was heading out, I was, like, 'Oh my God. What's gonna happen? How is this gonna work?'' Jordan admitted. "But the reality of it has been amazing. Actually, last night was probably one of the greatest shows that I can remember because we were in Istanbul, Turkey and the crowd there — there was at least five thousand people — and it was so powerful. I walked on stage [and] I was almost like breathless for about two minutes because the energy from the crowd was so strong. I'm, like, 'Oh my God. I've gotta settle down and kind of collect myself.' 'Cause you wanna just play — you don't wanna get too crazy. But the impact of that crowd was so insane. But that was kind of related to what was going on. We just felt this love and support and energy. And [we were, like,' 'Wow.' [It was] amazing."

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 on April 3 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. DREAM THEATER was nominated for "The Alien", a track from its 2021 album "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".

"A View From The Top Of The World" was described in a press released as "DREAM THEATER at its musical finest, expanding on the sound they helped create while maintaining the elements that have garnered them devoted fans around the globe." The seven-song album also marked the second studio album with InsideOut Music/Sony Music. The artwork was created by longtime cover collaborator Hugh Syme (RUSH, IRON MAIDEN, STONE SOUR). "A View From The Top Of The World" was produced by guitarist John Petrucci, engineered and additional production by James "Jimmy T" Meslin and mixed/mastered by Andy Sneap.

U.S. rockers The Loyal Order has premiered their new music video for “Last Words” via BraveWords! The video was directed by Rob Daiker and was filmed at Island Station Media Lab. Save/download “Last Words” here and watch the music video below:





The Loyal Order first hatched as a studio project several years ago when Jeff Buehner was approached to write a theme song for a regional outdoor hunting reality show. He reached out to guitarist Brandon Cook for a heavy riff, and the result was a song called Off the Grid (Superhuman). It aired regionally in the Pacific NW for two seasons.




A bass player by trade, singing is a new beginning for Jeff. The songs were originally crafted with a different singer in mind, but after laying scratch tracks for the first few songs, the producer (Kevin Hahn) convinced him to lay the final tracks himself.


From this songwriting partnership between Buehner and Cook, the songs began to flow. They soon approached producer Rob Daiker at The Commune in Portland, Oregon, who has crafted major label releases with Slowrush, The Dan Reed Network, and Royal Bliss.


Rounding out the band is Patrick Young on bass and Kyle Baltus on the drums; prominent Pacific NW rock players that have made names for themselves locally and nationally.

From Ashes To New have released “Heartache” via Better Noise Music. The band, which boasts four Top Ten Active Rock singles and over 345M streams across digital music platforms, also premier an impactful new video to accompany the single. Listen to “Heartache” here, and watch the video below.





The new song sonically depicts the true “phoenix rising from the ashes” story behind the band’s name. From the opening lines, “Growing up in a prison is, Nothing different than the town I’m used to living in,” the track highlights the humble beginnings, poverty, family addiction, mental health issues each band member has faced, along with the current awareness of how those things have changed the trajectory of how they live now.




Directed by JosiahX, the “Heartache” music video captures and illustrates the feeling of the darkness from which each band member originated.  


Lead singer Matt Brandyberry reflected on what inspired the song, saying, “Heartache. It's something we have all experienced and for most of us, something that defines a large portion of our lives. Filling our hearts with happiness gets us through each passing day, but the moments that cause pain are what condition us for our futures. Our stories began with heartache and from that heartache we manifested our happiness. With the good comes the bad, but from the bad we create the great. We are nothing without the heartache.”





This summer the band will be joining Memphis May Fire on the Remade In Misery tour across North America. The tour will kick off in Charlotte, NC on June 24 and end in Alton, VA on September 10. Fans can catch the band in cities such as New York, Philadelphia, Denver, and San Diego. See a full list of dates below.


June
24 - Charlotte, NC - The Underground
25 - Pittsburgh, PA - Enclave
26 - Philadelphia, PA - Union Transfer
28 - New York, NY - Gramercy Theatre
29 - Boston, MA - Paradise Rock Club
30 - Montreal, QC - Fairmount Theatre


July
2 - Toronto, ON - Velvet Underground
3 - Pontiac, MI - Crofoot
5 - Columbus, OH - King of Clubs
6 - Chicago, IL - Bottom Lounge
8 - St. Louis, MO - Red Flag
9 - Kansas City, MO - Truman
11 - Denver, CO - Oriental Theater
12 - Grand Junction, CO - Mesa Theater
15 - Mansfield, OH - INKcarceration Festival
16 - Cadott, WI - Rock Fest
19 - Ventura, CA - Ventura Music Hall
20 - Pomona, CA - Glasshouse
22 - San Diego, CA  -  Soma-Sidestage
23 - Las Vegas, NV - 24 Oxford
24 - Phoenix, AZ - The Crescent Ballroom
26 - Lubbock, TX - Jake's Backroom
27 - Austin, TX - Emo’s
28 - Houston, TX - Warehouse Live
30 - Pensacola, FL - Vinyl Music Hall
31 - Orlando, FL - The Beacham


August
2 - Atlanta, GA - Masquerade
3 - Nashville, TN - Basement East


September
10 - Alton, VA - Blue Ridge Rockfest


(Photo - Jeremy Saffer)

Canadian metal legends Voivod will be inducted into the 2022 Metal Hall Of Fame at the Pure Filth Festival, June 18, 2022 at Sharkey’s in Liverpool, NY.


Pat Gesualdo, founder / CEO of the Metal Hall of Fame, and "Metal" Tim Henderson, founder / CEO of BraveWords, will induct Voivod on stage during their performance at the festival. Original album cover artist Ioannis will also be on hand with some of his original, legendary artwork that he has created for numerous iconic rock bands.


Credited as one of the “Big Four” Canadian thrash metal bands, Voivod  created their own unique metal style, helping to pioneer the Technical Thrash Metal Genre. Their Nothingface album hit the Billboard 200 charts, peaking at #114, in 1989. In 2019, Voivod's fourteenth studio album, The Wake, won the Juno Award for Metal / Hard Music Album of the Year. Voivod's most recent studio album, Synchro Anarchy, was released in February 2022.




"We are proud to induct Canadian technical thrash metal pioneers Voivod into the 2022 Metal Hall of Fame during their performance at the Pure Filth Festival, says Gesualdo. "Thrash metal is a crucial part of heavy metal. It is also a huge foundation for the Metal Hall of Fame. BraveWords founder / CEO 'Metal' Tim Henderson is going to join us for the Voivod Induction on stage as well. It is a great honor to have Tim and BraveWords take part in such an important event for both us and all of the Voivod fans." 


Henderson comments: "Voivod are one of the most forward-thinking metal bands of all time, every album, every note, a surprise journey into the unknown. BraveWords is honored to be part of the Metal Hall of Fame induction ceremonies. Without bands like Voivod, BraveWords wouldn’t exist today. Congratulations!"





About the Metal Hall of Fame 


The Metal Hall of Fame is a volunteer organization that enshrines forever, those Legendary musicians, artists, and music industry executives who are responsible for making Hard Rock, Thrash, and Heavy Metal music what it is today. Their contribution to the genre is invaluable, and they keep inspiring fans throughout the world, from generation to generation. The Metal Hall of Fame is part of the 501 (C)(3) non-profit organization D.A.D. (Drums and Disabilities).


The Metal Hall of Fame holds the Annual Metal Hall of Fame Celebrity Gala every January. 100% of the profits from all D.A.D. and Metal Hall of Fame events are dedicated to bringing free music programs to help special needs children, adults, and wounded veterans throughout the United States.


For more information, or to volunteer or donate, please contact: info@themetalhalloffame.org, or call 973-263-0420. Go to the official website here.

Mötley Crüe bassist Nikki Sixx is featured in a new interview with Classic Rock. He reveals what he considers to be his personal highlight of the last 24 years, and offers his thoughts on the current state of rock n' roll. Following is an excerpt from the chat.


Classic Rock: YouTube is one of the biggest things to have happened in Classic Rock’s lifetime. What’s the most embarrassing footage you’ve seen of yourself? 


Nikki: "It’s funny, the only time I ever really dig down and listen to Mötley Crüe is as we’re putting together a show; you kind of go through the albums and stuff like that. I dug into YouTube and was looking at some of the old videos, and I guess it could all be considered embarrassing, because rock’n’roll is embarrassing – as it should be. We should be ridiculous, we should be outrageous, we should be pushing envelopes and we should be rebelling against each other. We’re supposed to be loud and rude and in-your-face." 




Classic Rock: What do you make of the state of rock’n’roll right now? Is it in good shape? 


Nikki: "My criticism is that it’s extremely overproduced in a lot of cases. It’s ProTooled to death, it’s chopped to death, and I miss some of the slop. I miss some of the flat notes. I miss when a guitar player doesn’t exactly come down perfect. I kinda miss some of the nuts and bolts of just being in a raw rock’n’roll band. With that being said, there’s some cool bands that are coming out and just going to the studio and cutting it pretty much live off the floor, and it’s real – you can feel it, that they mean it."


Read the complete interview here.





The Stadium Tour, featuring Def Leppard, Mötley Crüe, with Poison and Joan Jett & The Blackhearts will hit select cities in the US and Canada where each band will bring their electrifying stage shows while promising to perform their stadium sized anthems. Produced by Live Nation, the summer tour is set to steamroll through North America starting June 2022.


Def Leppard are one of the most important forces in rock music. In 2019, the icons closed out a sold-out worldwide tour including a North American stadium run & headlining the UK’s Download Festival to 90k screaming fans. Def Leppard’s star continues to rise and prevail. The band have amassed a staggering 5.5 billion streams since 2018, reaching a younger 18-44 demographic that now represents 58% of their fanbase. Additionally, the band have garnered an impressive 15 million followers across their social media platforms. Def Leppard also celebrates the landmark 45th anniversary of their formation this year, marking 45 years of legendary rock ‘n’ roll history making. Def Leppard’s influential career crosses generations and includes 110 million records sold, numerous hit singles and ground-breaking multi-platinum albums—including two of the best-selling albums of all time, Pyromania and Hysteria, both of which are certified Diamond (10x platinum).


“On behalf of the band, we’re beyond thrilled that The Stadium Tour is finally happening this summer … it’s been a while coming and we can’t wait to get back on stage again & we can’t wait to see you in one of the many stadiums soon!” said Joe Elliott.


Following the huge success of their Netflix biopic The Dirt, Mötley Crüe has seen a massive surge in new audience with fans around the world demanding the band tour again. This led to the band members reuniting and announcing that "Mötley Crüe is back" in 2019. While The Dirt caused a meteoric 350% increase in streams of Mötley Crüe's music across all platforms and the younger 18-44 demographic now represents 64% of the band’s fanbase most of the new fans have never seen any of the band's legendary live shows that Crüeheads have relished for 4 decades. In 2021, Mötley Crüe celebrated their 40th band anniversary, as well as the 40th birthday of their iconic debut album, Too Fast For Love. The 35th anniversary of their Girls, Girls, Girls hit album is coming up on May 15. Mötley Crüe have sold over 100 million albums worldwide, achieving 7 platinum and multi-platinum albums, 9 Top 10 albums, 22 Top 40 Mainstream Rock hits, 6 Top 20 Pop singles and 3 Grammy nominations. The band have amassed close to 5 billion streams across digital platforms. They have over 15 million social media followers, a New York Times best-seller and a star on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame. The band is ready to deliver an over the top stage show packed full of hit songs.


"It's on! We don't think we've ever looked forward more to kicking off a tour than this one. We can't wait to finally see all the fans across North America again. Get ready for a wild ride this summer!," Mötley Crüe said in a joint statement.


Poison will be bringing a rocking real and relevant no holds barred thunderous live show to The Stadium Tour this summer with the all original lineup of Bret Michaels, C.C. DeVille, Bobby Dall and Rikki Rockett. Poison will be unleashing an onslaught of hit after hit songs in its set. The humanitarian of the year, two years running, Michaels along with Poison is known to bring a unique style of passionate high energy, sincere gratitude and a positive attitude. Michaels engages all the fans and makes it an absolute epic ride of true live music. Together With C.C.Deville on guitar, Bobby Dall on bass, and Rikki Rockett on drums Poison will rock the stadium with a chemistry that will bring a big summer mega party vibe and Michaels promises to give 1000 % on the stage as the hotter it gets the harder Poison promises to rock!!!


Poison’s Bret Michaels also added: “There are not enough words to thank the three generations of fans for making this such an exciting, record breaking, historical tour with the fastest sell outs in history at these stadiums.”


Joan Jett grew up during a time when rock ‘n’ roll was off limits to girls and women, but as a teenager, she promptly blew the door to the boys’ club right off its hinges. After forming her band the Blackhearts in 1979, with whom Jett has become a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee, she has had eight platinum and gold albums and nine Top 40 singles, including the classics "Bad Reputation," "I Love Rock 'N' Roll," "I Hate Myself For Loving You," and "Crimson and Clover." With a career that has spanned music, film, television, Broadway, and humanitarianism, Joan Jett remains a potent force and inspiration to generations of fans worldwide. As a producer, she has overseen seminal albums by Bikini Kill, and the Germs' LA punk masterpiece ‘GI.’ Jett and Kenny Laguna (her longtime producer and music partner) co-founded Blackheart Records from the trunk of Kenny’s Cadillac after rejections from no less than 23 labels. 40 years later, Blackheart is a thriving entertainment company producing music, film and television, and continues to champion emerging bands. Joan Jett and the Blackhearts continue touring the globe with headlining shows alongside fellow rock legends like The Who, Green Day, Heart, and Foo Fighters. After two COVID-19 postponements, the group will return to the road in summer 2022 for The Stadium Tour with Def Leppard, Motley Crue and Poison. 'Bad Reputation,' a documentary about Jett's life, premiered to critical acclaim at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival and is now available for streaming.


“We are so excited to be back out on the road! We missed doing what we love most and can’t wait to see the fans out there again!” said Joan Jett and the Blackhearts.


Emerging rock band Classless Act, signed to Better Noise Music, is set to open the tour. With the release of their single “Give It To Me” in 2021, the band has already received critical praise. Mötley Crüe’s Tommy Lee was an early follower of the band and is excited to have them join him and his bandmates on the road, saying, "I remember when we went out with Ozzy in 1984 and how it was an insane game changer!! We literally blew up after having that opportunity to play live in front of 20,000 people every f***ing night! Since then, we’ve always felt it was important to help new bands; whether it was Guns N Roses, Skid Row or so many others. This summer we’re gonna help out Classless Act."


Confirmed dates for The Stadium Tour:


June
16 - SunTrust Park - Atlanta, GA
18 - Hard Rock Stadium - Miami Gardens, FL
19 - Camping World Stadium - Orlando, FL
22 - Nationals Park - Washington, DC
24 - Citi Field - Flushing, NY
25 - Citizens Bank Park - Philadelphia, PA
28 - Bank of America Stadium - Charlotte, NC
30 - Nissan Stadium - Nashville, TN


July
2 - EverBank Field - Jacksonville, FL
5 - Busch Stadium - St Louis, MO
8 - Wrigley Field - Chicago, IL
10  - Comerica Park - Detroit, MI
12 - Hersheypark Stadium - Hershey, PA
14 - FirstEnergy Stadium - Cleveland, OH
15 - Great American Ballpark - Cincinnati, OH
17 - American Family Field - Milwaukee, WI
19 - Kauffman Stadium - Kansas City, MO
21 - Coors Field - Denver, CO


August
5 - Fenway Park - Boston, MA
6 - Fenway Park - Boston, MA
8 - Rogers Centre - Toronto, ON
10 - The Stadium Tour - Orchard Park, NY
12 - PNC Park - Pittsburgh, PA
14 - US Bank Stadium - Minneapolis, MN
16 - Lucas Oil Stadium - Indianapolis, IN
19 - Minute Made Park - Houston, TX
21 - Alamodome - San Antonio, TX
22 - Globe Life Park in Arlington - Arlington, TX
25 - State Farm Stadium - Phoenix, AZ
27 - SoFi Stadium - Inglewood, CA
28 - Petco Park - San Diego, CA
31 - T-Mobile Park - Seattle, WA


September
2 - BC Place - Vancouver, BC
4 - Commonwealth Stadium - Edmonton, AB
7 - Oracle Park - San Francisco, CA
9 - Allegiant Stadium - Las Vegas, NV

In an interview with Rock Sound conducted at last weekend's Download festival in the United Kingdom, KORN guitarist Brian "Head" Welch reflected on the band's "Untouchables" album, which celebrated its 20th anniversary on June 11. Produced by Michael Beinhorn, the LP debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 and featured the Grammy-winning single "Here To Stay".

"It's not my favorite [KORN album]," Welch admitted (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET). "I like the record a lot — I think it's really good — but I love 'Here To Stay'. That opening, that riff, those guitar tones we got, you can't match 'em — it's ours forever; it's our sound forever. But yeah, that song hit hard. But the record was kind of challenging. I attempted sobriety that record. And we actually went to Arizona and got all these mansions and started recording and writing in these houses. And most of 'em were party houses. And I'm trying to get sober. And we spent so much money on that record. But it came out good. And we got some great memories."

Three years ago, Beinhorn told the "BREWtally Speaking" podcast about the making of "Untouchables": "I realized at a certain point that the costs were just spiraling way out of control, and there are aspects about it that couldn't really have been reined in at that point. Because even before I got started, the band tacked a million dollars' worth of expenses — their own expenses — on to the production costs. Which, essentially, I had to accept that contractually if I wanted to work on the project. So already I was coming in a million dollars short, and when the smoke cleared, I think the production budget was up around a million seven [hundred thousand] or something like that, [which] even in the best of circumstances would be an exorbitant amount to spend on a record, but I think the final cost for the record was 3.4 or 3.2 million, and all the rest of that were band expenses. I don't know exactly what a lot of that money got spent on, because I was never actually permitted to see any of the expense documentation or accounting."

Beinhorn admitted that the prospect of spending so much money on one album was "definitely a bit hair raising but at the same time exhilarating, because we basically had a blank check to do whatever we wanted. And having those kinds of resources, especially for a band who, at that point, really didn't have a clear idea of what their direction was going to be, it did wind up helping," he said. "I don't think that we could've done the record — that same record — in a shorter amount of time. It just wouldn't have worked out. There were so many layers to get through. For one thing, the band, just being in California, had so many distractions. They are extremely talented, but they also have the most incredible case of collective ADHD I've ever seen. So it wasn't easy keeping them focused. Obviously, once we got into a recording studio, things went pretty well. But trying to work with them in the pre-production and the songwriting phase was difficult — it was a lot of hard work."

Despite the fact that the production process took longer than originally expected and was more difficult than he initially anticipated, Michael looks back fondly on the final result.

"They were one of the biggest bands in the world," he said. "They could have anything that they wanted. They could spend as much money as [they wanted]. They had access to whatever they could possibly imagine or think that they needed at that point. So I think they were pretty pampered as well. So if we were gonna get anything extraordinary out of them, it was gonna take a tremendous amount of effort. But, fortunately, they gave a hundred percent. So I think it worked itself out."

In a 2018 interview with the "Lead Singer Syndrome" podcast, KORN frontman Jonathan Davis said that "Untouchables" was "hands down" his favorite album from the band. "It was a record that we made that couldn't be made in this day — we spent over four million bucks doing that," he explained. "Most of that money went to keeping our entire crew on retainer for two and a half years. That was just mistake number one, but we spent two and a half years working with an amazing producer, Michael Beinhorn, recording in different studios... That album is perfect. I call it the heavy-metal 'Aja' [STEELY DAN's 1977 album]. Sonically, you hear 'Aja' from STEELY DAN — that is a perfect record... It's just unreal how good ['Untouchables'] sounds and how much work we put into it."

KORN's latest album, "Requiem", was released on February 4 via Loma Vista Recordings. The band celebrated the LP's arrival with a special record-release event on February 3 at the Hollywood United Methodist Church in Los Angeles, California. "Requiem Mass" saw the Southern California heavy music pioneers perform an intimate set in front of a 300 attendees.

"Requiem", which was produced by Chris Collier and KORN, entered Billboard's Hard Rock Albums chart at No. 1. The band sold 23,000 equivalent album units in the February 4-10 tracking week, according to Billboard. Of that sum, 20,000 units were from album sales. "Requiem" also landed at No. 2 on the Top Rock Albums and Top Alternative Albums charts. On the all-format Billboard 200, it arrived at No. 14.

KORN recently announced a summer tour with fellow rock culture icons EVANESCENCE, produced by Live Nation. Accompanied by special guests varying across select dates, the 18-city tour kicks off on August 16 at Ball Arena in Denver, Colorado, making stops across the U.S. in Boston, Chicago, Houston and more before wrapping up in Ridgefield, Washington on September 16.

NIRVANA bassist Krist Novoselic, LED ZEPPELIN bassist John Paul Jones, pop superstar Pink, HEART guitarist Nancy Wilson, CHIC's Nile Rodgers, QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE collaborator Alain Johannes and more have been added to the bill for the Taylor Hawkins Tribute Concerts, set to take place in September.

Novoselic, Jones, Rodgers, Johannes, 12-year-old drum prodigy Nandi Bushell, FOO FIGHTERS producer Greg Kurstin and comedian Chris Rock will join FOO FIGHTERS, OASIS's Liam Gallagher, RUSH's Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson, QUEEN's Brian May and Roger Taylor and others at the London tribute event, which will take place at Wembley Stadium on September 3.

At the Los Angeles concert, which will happen on September 27 at the Kia Forum, Pink, LeAnn Rimes, John Paul Jones, Alain Johannes, Nancy Wilson, Krist Novoselic and Greg Kurstin will join KISS's Gene Simmons, MÖTLEY CRÜE's Nikki Sixx, pop superstar Miley Cyrus, RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS drummer Chad Smith, RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE drummer Brad Wilk, Joan Jett, Alanis Morissette, THE STRUTS frontman Luke Spiller and others.

Proceeds will benefit charities in both the U.K. and the U.S. chosen by the Hawkins family.

As one of the most respected and beloved figures in modern music, Taylor's monolithic talent and magnetic personality endeared him to millions of fans, peers, friends and fellow musical legends the world over. Millions mourned his untimely passing on March 25, with passionate and sincere tributes coming from fans as well as musicians Taylor idolized. The Taylor Hawkins Tribute Concerts will unite several of those artists, the Hawkins family and, of course, his FOO FIGHTERS brothers in celebration of Taylor's memory and his legacy as a global rock icon — his bandmates and his inspirations playing the songs that he fell in love with, and the ones he brought to life.

Hawkins was found dead at the Four Seasons Casa Medina hotel in Bogota.

An official cause of death for Hawkins hasn't yet been released. But on March 26, Colombia's attorney general's office released a preliminary toxicology report, saying that medical examiners found evidence of 10 types of substances in Hawkins's body, including opioids, benzodiazepines, marijuana and antidepressants.

Hawkins joined FOO FIGHTERS in 1997. Prior to that, he played with the Orange County band SYLVIA and was also in the backing band for Sass Jordan. He also toured with Alanis Morissette as her drummer.

Hawkins was inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame last year as a member of the FOO FIGHTERS.

Hawkins's most recent work with FOO FIGHTERS included last year's "Medicine At Midnight" album, a collection of BEE GEES covers and FOO FIGHTERS' horror film "Studio 666".

Fan-filmed video of DEATH TO ALL (DTA) — which features former members of DEATH celebrating the life and music of Chuck Schuldiner — performing on June 15 at Baroeg in Rotterdam, The Netherlands can be seen below.

Earlier this month, DEATH TO ALL kicked off a European tour. The trek will conclude on June 26 in Kraków, Poland.

The current lineup of DEATH TO ALL includes Gene Hoglan (also of TESTAMENT, DARK ANGEL, DETHKLOK),Steve DiGiorgio (TESTAMENT, CONTROL DENIED, SADUS) on bass and Bobby Koelble on guitar. Max Phelps (CYNIC),who has been touring with DEATH TO ALL, is once again handling the vocal and second-guitar duties.

In a 2014 interview with Metal Rules, DiGiorgio was asked what DEATH TO ALL means to him. He responded: "Our formulated answer is that it is a tribute memorializing the memory of Chuck. To me, it means getting back with buddies. And you've seen their lineup change a little bit here, we had Paul [Masvidal] and Sean [Reinert] from CYNIC. We had Shannon Hamm in for a while. And now Gene and Bobby. I've jammed with all these guys over the years. They're pretty much some of the best musicians in the world. At least in my opinion."

He continued: "We did those albums back in the day, and when our cycle was over, and when whoever lasted however long, we went our own ways. Now we're back together again and it's cool, from my point of view, to do music with some of the best, amazing musicians/guys in the world. It's awesome. And we have a lot of fun every night, man, because we all realize that not only did we make a statement 20-something years ago, but here we are 20-something years later in our mid-40s playing that stuff as we did as young men. It's kind of, like, yay us. Because we are only just a few years off of 50 and we're playing this music we did just turning the corner into 20 and we're doing it pretty good. And that's not a brag. The reason is we push each other. Somebody falls a little bit behind and this guy's right behind him. You don't want to let your guard down, because everybody's really good at what they do. And that's what it means to me, man. It means to carry on what we did back then with no idea where we'd be in the future, and here we are doing it with conviction."

Schuldiner died on December 13, 2001 after a battle with pontine glioma, a rare type of brain tumor.

In recent years, DEATH's storied catalog has undergone a meticulous reissue campaign via Relapse Records.

Relapse released the first-ever fully authorized DEATH tab book, featuring 21 classic songs tabbed out for guitar from the band's entire discography. The book, which includes traditional notation as well as tablature, also comes with a digital download of all tracks.

In a 2011 interview with Bass Musician magazine, DiGiorgio stated about working with Schuldiner: "Sometimes people make good music together, and sometimes they vibe like yin and fucking yang. Chuck is credited with a lot of things in the music world (metal world, of course),but one thing a lot of people don't know much about is how aware he was. What I mean is that he was a good listener. If I thought of a wacky bassline to something he was writing, before I could even try to explain why it came to me, he was already ahead of it and looking for something on the next part. He had a good sense of when to hold me back and when to push me. It was great to have someone, especially the 'main man' of the band not only appreciate what I contributed but also help me find my inner demon to conjure even sicker and more abstract things to play. There really was some math going on in that roiling storm sometimes."

SEETHER recently announced the deluxe edition of its acclaimed 2020 album, "Si Vis Pacem, Para Bellum". The effort, containing 22 tracks in all, five of which are previously unreleased, will be available on July 1. The official music video for the set's latest single, "What Would You Do?", can be seen below. The emotionally cathartic, terror-stricken visual, directed by Jon Vulpine (THREE DAYS GRACE, SKILLET, BACKSTREET BOYS),takes the band's well-known predilection for horror-film exhibitionism to a new level.

Teeming with SEETHER's signature combination of melody and cathartic release, the wealth of exceptional songs that encompasses the expanded deluxe edition of "Si Vis Pacem, Para Bellum" bolsters leader Shaun Morgan's status as one of rock's most prolific and successful songwriters. It includes all 21 songs recorded during the "Si Vis Pacem, Para Bellum" sessions, along with the alternate version of "Wasteland" that was originally featured on last year's "The Purgatory" EP.

Produced by Morgan and engineered and mixed by Matt Hyde (DEFTONES, AFI),the acclaimed "Si Vis Pacem, Para Bellum" ("If you want peace, Prepare for war") was released in August 2020, spawned three No. 1 singles on the Billboard Mainstream Rock chart and at Active Rock radio and garnered some of the best reviews of the band's storied career.

Morgan stated about the brand-new track "Leech": "This song is a generalized reflection on abusive relationships and how they shape the way we see the world. Those are most often personal, but more often these days they are social. There is so much digital noise surrounding us all that we choose to ignore, at the peril of our kids and our collective wellbeing. We are slaves to smart phones and the absolute cancer that is social media, and it will not end well. Different viewpoints that stray from the echo chambers that people choose to live in result in public crucifixion and irrational hatred that is driven by a powerful propaganda force that spoonfeeds our opinions to us."

He continued: "Turn off the fucking TV, delete your social media and read a goddamn book or spend some time with your neighbors. We need to stop living in this procured vapid digital universe where we are merely products to enrich assholes and live more in the real world. I say that as an introvert, but even I can see the impending downfall of decency and morality."

Since forming in Pretoria, South Africa in 1999, SEETHER (Morgan, Dale Stewart, John Humphrey and Corey Lowery) has amassed a global, devoted fan base with an unbroken sense of purpose and commitment. Their impressive sales and chart history includes three platinum and two gold albums, 18 No. 1 singles, 21 Top 5 multi-format hits, single sales topping 17 million and over two billion streams worldwide across all platforms. SEETHER is Billboard's No. 8 all-time mainstream rock artist, which covers the over 40-year history of the chart's existence.

SEETHER recently finished a U.S. arena tour as special guests of BREAKING BENJAMIN.

"Si Vis Pacem, Para Bellum" deluxe edition track listing:

01. Dead And Done
02. Bruised And Bloodied
03. Wasteland
04. Dangerous
05. Liar
06. Can't Go Wrong
07. Buried In The Sand
08. Let It Go
09. Failure
10. Beg
11. Drift Away
12. Pride Before The Fall
13. Written In Stone
14. What Would You Do?
15. Will It Ever End?
16. Feast Or Famine
17. Wasteland (alternate version)
18. Leech*
19. Deliver Me*
20. On My Way*
21. Leave Me Be*
22. Crossed The Line*

* Previously unreleased

Photo credit: Rachel Dweeb

Grammy Award-nominated British rock band PORCUPINE TREE has shared "Rats Return", the latest track from its new album, "Closure/Continuation", due on June 24 via Music For Nations/Megaforce Records. An official music video directed by Ricky Allen can be seen below.

"'Rats Return' is about those who claim to have the interests of the people at heart, but when it comes down to it there is only ego and self-interest," says PORCUPINE TREE founder Steven Wilson. "I find myself reflecting on what sort of person would actually be so driven as to want to rule over a whole nation, and aren't these people by definition the very last people that should be allowed to do so? The rats will always save themselves first."

"Closure/Continuation" will be available as a seven-track standard CD, standard black vinyl 2x12" LP, white vinyl 2x12" LP, transparent blue vinyl 2x12" LP, limited edition white cassette, and digital download. A limited audiophile deluxe LP will also be available, cut at 45rpm on 3x12" clear vinyl in 12" slipcase box with two bonus tracks; a limited audiophile deluxe CD in 12" slipcase box will include the standard CD, a second disc with three bonus tracks and album instrumentals, Blu-ray disc with 5.1/Dolby Atmos and HD audio versions of the album, and an exclusive album art book. Pre-orders are available now.

"Closure/Continuation" — which follows 2009's best-selling "The Incident" — includes such recently released singles as "Herd Culling", "Of The New Day" and the labyrinthine "Harridan", all available now at DSPs and streaming services. An array of official lyric videos, visualizers, and exclusive "Gear Talk" conversations with Steven Wilson, Richard Barbieri and Gavin Harrison are streaming now at YouTube. Highlights include a stunning session performance of "Of The New Day", filmed and recorded earlier this year at London's world-famous AIR Studios.

PORCUPINE TREE will celebrate its long-overdue return with a wide-ranging global tour — the legendary group's first since October 2010. Presented by Live Nation and Paladin Artists, North and South American dates begin September 10 at Toronto, Ontario's Meridian Hall and then continue through performances in Mexico City, Mexico (October 4) and Santiago, Chile (October 7). European dates get underway October 21 in Berlin, Germany and then culminate at London's world famous SSE Arena, Wembley on November 11.

One of the most forward-thinking, genre-defying rock bands of any era, PORCUPINE TREE was founded in 1987 by renowned musician/producer Steven Wilson as an outlet for the experimental recordings he was making outside of his acclaimed post-rock duo NO-MAN. With the addition of keyboard player Richard Barbieri and drummer Gavin Harrison, PORCUPINE TREE soon evolved into a proper band, releasing 10 studio albums between 1992 and 2009. Each new release saw PORCUPINE TREE exploring new musical ideas, their expansive music shifting from pastoral psychedelic rock and ambient electronic soundscapes to experimental pop and propulsive metal. Later releases like 2007's Grammy Award-nominated "Fear Of A Blank Planet" and 2009's "The Incident" — the band's biggest seller thus far, reaching the top 25 in both the U.S. and the U.K. — saw PORCUPINE TREE effortlessly melding distinctive genres to create a groundbreaking musical universe all their own.

As relentlessly creative on stage as they are in the studio, PORCUPINE TREE proved innovative live performers known for sonic innovation and inventive visual productions. In October 2010, the band entered a period of hiatus following a spectacular concert at London's Royal Albert Hall — their biggest live show to date.

The most collaborative album of their highly lauded career, "Closure / Continuation" doesn't simply pick up where PORCUPINE TREE left off back in 2010. While the familiar traits of the band's idiosyncratic sound remain intact, the new album very much places PORCUPINE TREE in the here and now, with greater texture and color than ever before.

Photo credit: Alex Lake

Aaron Lewis says that doubled down on the notion that "a good guy with a gun" is the only thing that can stop "a bad guy with a gun."

The 50-year-old STAIND frontman repeated the message frequently amplified by right-leaning media outlets during his June 12 solo concert at General Duffy's Waterhole in Redmond, Oregon.

He told the crowd: "[The only thing that] is ever going to stop an evil person with evil intentions with a gun is a good person with the intestinal fortitude with a gun to stop the situation. You wanna stop our schools from getting shot up? Put guns in the schools. Our kids are around guns at home all the time. What the fuck difference does it make? I'd feel safer to know that my kids' teacher was qualified and certified and had the all-lawful-purposes license to carry a concealed weapon and chose to do so for the safety of my kids."

Aaron made his comments in the wake of last month's mass shooting in a Uvalde, Texas elementary school which resulted in the deaths of at least 19 children and two adults.

The Uvalde massacre came only 10 days after an 18-year-old gunman in body armor killed 10 shoppers and workers at a supermarket in a predominantly black area of Buffalo, New York.

This past Monday, Ohio governor Mike DeWine signed a bill allowing teachers to carry guns in class after 24 hours of training. Previously more than 700 hours of training was required before a teacher would be allowed to carry a gun in a school safety zone.

Florida requires a 144-hour training program at a minimum, including 12 hours of a certified nationally recognized diversity training program and 132 hours of comprehensive firearm safety, according to the Florida Department of Education.

A longtime researcher of school shootings recently told NPR that he has found that arming teachers isn't a good strategy "because it invites numerous disasters and problems, and the chances of it actually helping are so minuscule."

According to CNN, the number of U.S. deaths from gun violence in 2019 was about 4 per 100,000 people. That's 18 times the average rate in other developed countries. Multiple studies show access to guns contributes to higher firearm-related homicide rates.

In a 2011 interview with Outdoor Life, Lewis said that he's been hunting deer since he "was old enough to keep up in the woods, probably age 4 or 5."

As for what his preferred method of hunting is, Aaron said: "I generally leave the guns at home when I'm hunting deer. It's a lot more challenging to get a deer close enough to dispatch it with a compound or recurve bow. Sometimes I'll use a muzzleloader at the end of the season. And to make the hunt last as long as it can, I'm pretty picky about what I kill."

Asked if the other members of STAIND shared his passion for hunting, Lewis said: "No, no one else in my band is a hunter. The drummer is borderline PETA, so he and I don't talk about it very much. Actually, I make it a point to talk to him about it as much as I can."

Photo courtesy of Aaron Lewis's Instagram