Iron Maiden’s Legacy Of The Beast World Tour 2022 is currently trotting around the globe. On June 11th, they unleashed their show at the Download Festival at Donington Park, Castle Donington, England. Fan-filmed video is available below.


The setlist on the night was as follows:


Setlist:




"Senjutsu
"Stratego"
"The Writing On The Wall"
"Revelations"
"Blood Brothers"
"Sign Of The Cross"
"Flight Of Icarus"
"Fear Of The Dark"
"Hallowed Be Thy Name"
"The Number Of The Beast"
"Iron Maiden"


Encore 1:
"The Trooper"
"The Clansman"
"Run To The Hills"


Encore 2:
"Aces High"

Swedish bashers Amaranthe performed at this year\s installment of the Sweden Rock Festival on June 10th. Fan-filmed video is available below.


This was Amaranthe's first show with guest growler Samy Elbanna from Lost Society, who replaced vocalist Henrik “GG6” Englund Wilhelmson.


The setlist was as follows:




"Fearless"
"Viral"
"Digital World"
"The Nexus"
"Call Out My Name"
"Hunger"
"Maximize"
"Amaranthine"
"Helix"
"Strong"
"The Nexus"


Encore:
"Archangel"
"That Song"
"Drop Dead Cynical"











Last week, Amaranthe announced the departure of vocalist Henrik “GG6” Englund Wilhelmson after 9 years with the band.


Commented Henrik: "I'm sorry to say that I got some sad news for ya'll! I will no longer be a part of Amaranthe. After 2 years at home caused by corona, something hit me. I freakin’ loved being at home with my family and started to dream about doing something else. Something more important and also to NOT spend more time away from my kids. For many reasons I also slowly stopped enjoying life on the road with Amaranthe. It became more of a job and something I pushed myself to do. Not like back in the days when I had some serious fun all the time! I want to thank all my fans for your support over the years and I promise I’ll be back with killer 'GG6' stuff in the future when the mood and creativity finds its way back to me! Cheers n love and good luck to Amaranthe in the future."


Commented Amaranthe: "We fully respect and understand Henrik's decision, and we wish him all the best on his future adventures. Henrik is truly one of the world's foremost growlers, as anyone who have seen him rip through our songs live knows, and we can't wait to see what he comes up with next! Keep your eyes peeled to his socials to stay up to date with forthcoming GG6 madness! This summer’s shows will be performed by two special guests, stay tuned!”

Plush has released a new video for “Will Not Win”. The song comes from the band's self-titled debut album, which was released in 2021 via Pavement Entertainment and features the Billboard Top 40 charting singles “Hate” and “Better Off Alone”.


“Will Not Win” is a high-octane rock anthem that fires up listeners. The music video was directed by Kaylene Widdoes. It features energetic live performances of Plush, as well as behind-the-scenes footage of the ladies on tour.







Vocalist Moriah Formica says, “So excited for everyone to see our new music video for ‘Will Not Win.’ It’s one of my favorites off the album and I think this video really captures the energy of when we play this song live!”


Bassist Ashley Suppa says, “This video was a lot of fun to shoot because it captured us at a time that felt the most natural. There is nothing that compares to the energy of a live audience, whether you’re a part of it or in front of it!”


Guitarist Bella Perron says, “The video was filmed while we were opening for Sevendust on the Coun7down to 2022 mini tour and gives more of a behind the scenes look into our adventures on the road. I hope you all enjoy it as much as we do!”


Drummer Brooke Colucci says, “‘Will Not Win’ is hands down my favorite song on the album and my favorite song to play live. I truly feel like this video captures that and it shows us as our most natural selves while we are out on the road!”


Plush’s mission is to help bring rock back to the forefront of the music industry. The band is composed of four talented young women, whose accomplishments and talent eclipse their age. They have been electrifying audiences during recent live performances across the United States supporting Evanescence, Slash, Halestorm, Seether, Mammoth WVH, Daughtry, and SevenDust and on the big festival stages of Rocklahoma and Welcome To Rockville. 


See Plush live this fall. They will be playing the Louder Than Life Festival in Louisville, KY, on September 22, 2022. Plush will also join KISS on the second week of the KISS Kruise from October 29 - November 3, 2022 with more tour announcements to come!


The cover art and tracklisting for the self-titled debut from Plush can be seen below:





"Athena"
"Champion"
"Hate"
"Found A Way"
"I Don’t Care"
"Sober"
"Better Off Alone"
"Sorry"
"Why Do I Even Try"
"Bring Me Down"
"Don’t Say That"
"Will Not Win"
"Walk Away"


"Athena":





"Hate":





"Better Off Alone":

In a new interview with The Neurotic Guitarist conducted at last weekend's NAMM convention in Anaheim, California, former MEGADETH bassist David Ellefson spoke about his renewed collaboration with his ex-MEGADETH bandmate Jeff Young. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "I've been listening to what the fans have been requesting. He and I have actually been working on a couple of new songs."

Regarding how the musical reunion between Ellefson and Young came together, David said: "When we started filming the Nick Menza documentary, which was back in January, we all came to L.A. and filmed. And we were sitting at the Rainbow [in West Hollywood] one night having dinner, and Jeff goes, 'Remember those couple of riffs that I had that were from the 'So Far, So Good... So What!' tour that were gonna be hoped for to be what would become 'Rust In Peace'?' And then he was out of the group by then. And as he hummed them to me, I go, 'Dude, I totally remember those riffs. I totally remember 'em.' And they're kind of complex, kind of music nerdish but cool and heavy. And I go, 'Oh my God. We've gotta get in a frickin' room and work on these.' So Mike Heller [FEAR FACTORY and RAVEN drummer], who's a great producer as well as a drummer, we have put some tracks down. We've written songs. Now we just have to get them recorded."

David also addressed the fact that he, Young and another former MEGADETH guitarist, Chris Poland, will perform "a very special set of thrash classics" at the fall 2022 edition of the Days Of The Dead horror and pop culture convention, set to take place November 18-20 at Crowne Plaza O'Hare in Rosemont, Illinois. The "Days Of The Deth" performance on Saturday, November 19 will be open to anyone with a Days Of The Dead ticket. V.I.P. pass holders will have early entrance to the event.

Asked if there are any "legalities" standing in the way of Ellefson and Young performing MEGADETH classics without the band's leader Dave Mustaine, David said: "No, there isn't. Because as long as you don't use someone's logo or their trademark, you're fine."

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

DAYS OF THE DEAD is thrilled to announce our friends in HARDWIRED: A TRIBUTE TO METALLICA will be joining us in Chicago,...

Posted by Days Of The Dead on Monday, May 30, 2022

Gene Hoglan has opened up about his latest departure from TESTAMENT.

The veteran San Francisco Bay Area metallers announced Hoglan's exit from the group in a social media post in January. He has since been replaced by Dave Lombardo, an original member of thrash metal legends SLAYER, who was previously the guest drummer on TESTAMENT's 1999 studio album "The Gathering".

In a new interview with the "Talk Toomey" podcast, Hoglan attributed his split with TESTAMENT to "scheduling." He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "It was a very amicable split, and nobody wanted it to happen. But I know TESTAMENT, they've gotta keep going."

Elaborating on the scheduling conflicts that resulted in his departure from TESTAMENT, the 54-year-old musician said: "During the pandemic, I took time to start curating a lot of my projects, a lot of the things going on, so when I was laying things down on the calendar, they were just starting to kind of conflict with some of TESTAMENT's plans, and it's understandable. So when it came down to, 'Man, we all have to do something here.' And it all came together pretty easy, pretty quickly for TESTAMENT. When I was, like, 'Guys, I don't know if I can make all what you need, and I know you guys need somebody there slamming for you guys the whole round.' Bringing in a guy for a few dates here and there while I take off and do some one-off kind of things, or while I've had album projects planned for coming up in summer 2022 planned in 2021 kind of thing. So it just became a situation where it's, like, 'Man, you guys need to keep moving forward. I need to keep moving forward myself. You never know about the future, but at least for right now, we'll get you guys somebody else.' And look who they ended up with — the mighty Mr. Dave Lombardo. Win-win all over the place. TESTAMENT fans are super happy."

Hoglan went on to say that he was aware Lombardo's return to TESTAMENT was "going down" a few weeks before it was announced. "I knew a couple of months beforehand," he said. "People were asking, 'Do you know who the new guy is? Oh my God?' And I'm, like, 'Let me tell you this: TESTAMENT fans, heavy metal fans, drumming fans are all gonna be super happy when they find out who the man is.' And sure enough, it all worked out fantastically for all of us, so hooray — everybody gets to move forward and everybody's happy. So it's a win-win all over the place."

Gene reiterated that there is no bad blood between him and Lombardo or any other member of TESTAMENT. In fact, when TESTAMENT played in San Diego on April 12 as part of "The Bay Strikes Back Tour", Hoglan shared a backstage photo with Lombardo and wrote in a caption: "It was great to see my bros in the mighty TESTAMENT and welcome Mr. Lombardo back into the family. He crushed it and we had a great time catching up on some olllllld times."

"Dave and I have been pals since we were both teenagers," Hoglan told "Talk Toomey". "We did our very first tour together. I was 16, he was 18 — something like that. I've known Dave since I was 15 and he was probably 18 — something like that. So we've known each other forever. [SLAYER's] very first West Coast tour I was their light guy for, and that kind of thing. So we go back a long way. And hell, man, I got to make a little vocal contribution to 'Show No Mercy'. Hey, man, that was on the second thrash metal album ever. How awesome is that? So Dave and I have been pals for a long time, and I am so happy that he's the man for the job. It was a natural choice. It worked out great. So I was really stoked to go down there and be a part of that night. It was great; we had a great time. We're all still friends. It's a big family, totally, so it's all worked out pretty darn smooth."

Lombardo discussed his return to TESTAMENT during a March 1 appearance on SiriusXM's Liquid Metal with host Jose Mangin. Asked if he had to physically audition for the drummer spot in TESTAMENT this time around, Dave quipped: "I just sent them a link to my Wikipedia. 'I've done these records, including one of yours. Can I come back?' [Laughs]"

Lombardo said that he reached out to the TESTAMENT camp the same day that the band announced it was splitting with Hoglan.

"I was still asleep, and my wife, she just said, 'Hey, Gene just left TESTAMENT,'" Dave recalled. "And she's been always telling me, 'Man, I can't wait for you guys to get together for that 'Gathering' reunion.' 'Cause we had been talking about this two and a half, three years ago — before the pandemic. And so I immediately — I didn't even get my other eye open and I was texting [TESTAMENT singer] Chuck [Billy]. I said, 'Hey, man, what's going on?' I don't know exactly what I mentioned in my text, but it was very simple, 'Hey, what's happening?' And he immediately called me back. And I remember Tiffany [Chuck's wife] was on the phone; Chuck was on the phone. We were, like, 'Hey.' It was a great come-together moment, like, 'Hey, here we go. This is the moment we've been waiting for.'"

Dave went on to say that the timing was right for his return to TESTAMENT.

"'The Gathering' reunion didn't have to happen putting Gene out, separating Gene and saying, 'Gene, we're gonna go with Dave for a while now.' Nothing like that happened," he said. "This happened organically. And it happened at a time where my other bands, two of the bands that I have, MR. BUNGLE and DEAD CROSS, [Mike] Patton sings in them and he's trying to get healthy and is taking a little hiatus. And SUICIDAL TENDENCIES hasn't been touring much lately. So that leaves me with a lot of little odd projects here and there that I work on in my free time. So it just felt like the right moment.

"I know it can be deceiving because I am in so many different bands, but there's 24 hours in a day and I only sleep eight hours, or seven to eight hours, so that leaves me 16 other hours," he explained. "And I don't take Saturdays and Sundays off. So it was a no-brainer."

Chuck said that he was surprised to hear from Dave so quickly after TESTAMENT made the news of its split with Gene public.

"Right when it happened, it was within minutes after the announcement," Billy recalled. "And Dave doesn't remember, but [his text message to me was] simply 'Lombardo?' That was the text. I'm, like, 'You're shitting me. Tiffany, Lombardo just wrote me, 'Lombardo?'' I called him right away. I said, 'Hey, dude, what's happening?' He was, like, 'Dude, I heard the news.' I'm, like, 'Dude, I would have called you right away, but I just thought it was kind of far-fetched for you to kind of jam because I know you're probably pretty busy with all the other projects going on.' And he was, like, 'No. I've got a big opening and I'd love to get back.' And we talked about 'The Gathering', doing that again. And here we are — it could be a reality to get to play 'The Gathering' like we spoke of."

"The Gathering" was widely considered to be an improvement over 1997's "Demonic", an album that saw Billy employ a more guttural style of vocals and was released at a time when thrash acts as TESTAMENT had fallen out of favor.

Hoglan originally played drums on "Demonic", but didn't stick around long enough to do any touring with the band. He officially joined TESTAMENT in 2011 and played on the group's last three albums: 2012's "Dark Roots Of Earth", 2016's "Brotherhood Of The Snake" and 2020's "Titans Of Creation".

Night before last, it was great to see my bros in the mighty Testament and welcome Mr. Lombardo back into the family. He...

Posted by Gene Hoglan on Thursday, April 14, 2022

AS I LAY DYING's new touring lineup made its live debut last night (Friday, June 10) at the House Of Blues in Las Vegas, Nevada. Fan-filmed video of the concert can be seen below.

Earlier this week, AS I LAY DYING recruited drummer Nick Pierce (ex-UNEARTH) to sit behind the kit for the band's current tour.

The U.S. leg of the "Two Decades Of Destruction" trek will conclude on July 17 in Oklahoma. Joining the band for the 30 dates are WHITECHAPEL, SHADOW OF INTENT, BRAND OF SACRIFICE (June 24-July 17),and OV SULFUR (June 10-23)

On Friday, AS I LAY DYING released the following statement via social media: "We are pleased to announce that Nick Pierce, formerly of UNEARTH, will be playing drums for AILD this tour.

"We've toured with Nick many times over the years so we're stoked to have not only a long time friend out with us, but a phenomenal musician. The level of precision and power in Nick Pierce's playing has taken our songs to a whole new level.

"Nick had the task of learning 20 songs in a limited amount of time and he nearly played the entire set flawlessly at our first rehearsal. It's been inspiring to witness his dedication and strong work ethic to keep AILD performing at the standard our fans expect from us.

"We are just pulling up into Las Vegas for night 1 of the 'The Decades of Destruction Tour', we can't wait to perform and see our fans again!"

On Thursday, longtime AS I LAY DYING drummer Jordan Mancino announced that he would sit out the band's upcoming tour dates due to "a number of ongoing internal issues" that "have not yet been resolved." The 39-year-old musician released a statement via social media in which he said: "To all of our fans, my friends, family and supporters within the industry. There have been a number of ongoing internal issues with AS I LAY DYING that need to be worked out. It was my wish to avoid any further touring until these issues were resolved. Since they have not yet been resolved, it is with a heavy heart that I announce I will not be performing on any upcoming tour dates until further notice. Thanks to all of you for your understanding."

Mancino's announcement came less than a month after AS I LAY DYING's longtime bassist/vocalist Josh Gilbert revealed that he was leaving the band. In a statement, the remaining members of AS I LAY DYING said that Gilbert "decided to exit" the group "to pursue other musical opportunities." Josh is being replaced on the road by Ryan Neff of MISS MAY I. Playing second guitar on the trek will be Ken Susi of UNEARTH.

Josh was the second AS I LAY DYING member to leave the band in less than a year. Last August, guitarist Nick Hipa confirmed his exit from AS I LAY DYING, explaining that he could no longer justify being part of "a superficial pursuit" of the "story and meaning" that the band's 2018 reunion was built upon.

AS I LAY DYING frontman Tim Lambesis was famously convicted in 2014 for his role in a murder-for-hire plot against his estranged wife.

In May 2014, Lambesis was sentenced to six years in jail after pleading guilty to paying a San Diego police officer posing as a hitman $1,000 to kill his wife. Approximately two and a half years later — on December 17, 2016 — he was discharged from a California detention facility and was transferred to the Division of Adult Parole Operations.

In June 2018, AS I LAY DYING played its first show with Lambesis in five years and released a new single. Lambesis also owned up to his crimes in a long apology on the band's Facebook page after his release.

In September 2019, AS I LAY DYING released its seventh full-length album, "Shaped By Fire", via Nuclear Blast.

The return of AS I LAY DYING raised some questions, particularly since Hipa categorically denounced the band's disgraced frontman as a "sociopathic narcissist in definite need of rehabilitation" in a social-media post back in 2014.

Last September, AS I LAY DYING released a new song called "Roots Below" which was originally a B-side leftover from when the sessions for "Shaped By Fire".



As I Lay Dying
💣💣💣
CUBA 666 METAL
La Cueva
Ariel Lopez

Posted by Lázaro A. del Risco on Saturday, June 11, 2022



As I Lay Dying
CUBA 666 METAL
La Cueva

Posted by Lázaro A. del Risco on Saturday, June 11, 2022

Fan-filmed video of GREAT WHITE's June 10 concert at The Pavilion at Richmond Harley Davidson in Ashland, Virginia can be seen below.

Late last month, GREAT WHITE announced that it has parted ways with singer Mitch Malloy and has replaced him with Andrew Freeman (LAST IN LINE). Malloy had been in GREAT WHITE for nearly four years, having joined the group in 2018 following the departure of Terry Ilous.

In a new interview with Dr. Music, GREAT WHITE guitarist Mark Kendall stated about the band's latest addition: "[Andrew] sat in with us, I wanna say maybe eight months ago or so [when Mitch wasn't able to make the show]; we played with FOREIGNER up north [in Modesto, California in October of 2021]. And he blew our minds. So right then we kind of knew we wanted him. But because he was doing something, and we were really busy — [there was] not enough time to rehearse and stuff like that. And we saw this window of opportunity, [and] he was totally into it."

Kendall continued: "There's a lot of different sides to his voice too, so he's not one-dimensional, even though he delivers the LAST IN LINE thing [like] an in-your-face metal screamer. But he can sing a ballad like Satan; I mean, it's killer. So that's what I like. His voice is so well rounded. And the guy, he vibrates at a frequency that you like to be around — he's just this chill dude. There's no nonsense, no ego, no weird trips or anything, so you feel the brotherhood forming straight away. And that's what we like. We're into being a band — all of us, together — go places together, do things together and just enjoy each other. No weird trips. Because we've been through it all. If somebody's a little funny, it's, like, 'Really?' It's almost like if you see cocaine, you go, 'You still have that?' [Laughs] So any kind of weird head trips, we just don't understand it.

"So, yeah, we're just loving it," Kendall added. "We cannot wait for the fans to hear this guy sing some of our big songs. And we're real pumped about making new music, 'cause I have a lot of stuff, Michael [Lardie, guitar/keyboards] has a lot of stuff. We've done things together and just haven't quite put it together. But now we've got this guy that can do anything. Believe me, man, we wanna get something with him on it, 'cause it's gonna be ridiculous."

As for Mitch's departure, Mark said: "We were going in separate ways in the sense that he was always by himself; he didn't really talk to us much. He just kind of showed up… That's just not the way a band works, as far as we're concerned. He's a wonderful singer. I don't think he's used to him not being in full control of everything because he's been a solo artist for so many years. He's a sweet guy. I really liked him. I think a few of our songs are a little out of his range, so it's a little bit of a struggle. But nothing real heavy — no big, huge fights. Nothing ever came to fisticuffs, if you will. [Laughs] So it wasn't a case of that.

"We canceled a gig — or we were going to have to cancel a gig for him to do a VAN HALEN show, a tribute show," Kendall explained. "He gave us warning about this. But when FOREIGNER canceled [our show with them] because of some COVID thing, we rescheduled the date and it fell right on when he was gonna do that VAN HALEN show that he warned us about. So, regardless, it was probably pretty tough for him to get out of it. But it ended up being a blessing for us because we got Andrew to fill in. When we heard him do that show… And the whole band FOREIGNER was on the side of the stage going, 'Oh my God, man. This is pretty good.' So that was nice of them to acknowledge we had a good show. So that's when the seed of the idea was, like, 'Man. God.'"

Kendall went on to say that he doesn't think Malloy is upset about being out of GREAT WHITE. "He likes his solo career," Mark said. "I saw his post [about his exit from GREAT WHITE] where he said, 'Get ready for my VAN HALEN experience. And I'm gonna be doing an acoustic show, a storytellers show,' and all this stuff. So I'm encouraging people to go check him out when he gets in your area and wishing him to do well."

Asked if he and his bandmates had given any thought at all to the idea of reuniting with original GREAT WHITE singer Jack Russell, Mark said: "That's the other thing. [People say,] 'Why don't you patch things up with Jack?' What people don't understand is we never even got in fights [with Jack]. In 25 years together, we might have gotten in two arguments. The thing that took him out is the horrible demons of addiction, and it's really affected his health. I just saw a video the other day where he's not even standing — he's using wheelchairs and he's sitting in a stool. So for us to go back to that, it just feels dark. I'd rather remember him… 'Cause I'm very proud of our career — I'm very proud of the past. I'm so lucky to be a part of it. And I wanna remember it like that, where he's flying around on stage and getting the crowds pumped and singing his heart out — not a sick person. So going to that…

"My goal has always been to deliver the best show we can possibly deliver and have the fans be beyond impressed," Kendall explained. "And the way Andrew sings, I really like the way he delivers the songs, because it's what you wanna hear. So that's important to me, just to have the songs — the big songs, especially — be sung right and with full power. It just makes everything — it makes us play better, believe it or not. So that's the whole thing with me."

GREAT WHITE's current lineup is rounded out by Audie Desbrow (drums) and Scott Snyder (bass).

Ilous, frontman of '80s L.A. hard rockers XYZ, joined GREAT WHITE in 2010 after stepping in for touring vocalist Jani Lane (WARRANT).

The Ilous-led GREAT WHITE released two albums, 2012's "Elation" and 2017's "Full Circle", before Terry was dismissed from the group.

This version of GREAT WHITE is not to be confused with JACK RUSSELL'S GREAT WHITE, which features Russell alongside Robby Lochner (FIGHT) on guitar, Dan McNay on bass, Tony Montana on guitar and Dicki Fliszar on drums.

Fan-filmed video of Ace Frehley's June 10 performance at Sherman Theater in Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania can be seen below.

Last November, Ace said that he had collaborated with his longtime friend Peppy Castro on "some heavy songs."

Peppy reportedly taught Frehley how to play guitar and previously collaborated with KISS bassist/vocalist Gene Simmons as a songwriter and performed on Frehley's and KISS frontman Paul Stanley's solo records.

In December 2020, Frehley told Talking Metal Live that he would start recording his next all-original album in 2021. The record will be the follow-up to "Spaceman", which was released in October 2018 via eOne. At the time, he said that had "been writing all along. Plus, I have tracks that I've already recorded that I have to revisit and decide whether they have a chance to make it on my new studio record — [if they] have to be rewritten or [they're] just good the way they are," he explained. "And I've got people sending me song ideas constantly… So, little by little, it's an ongoing process, and it evolves as it goes."

Earlier in 2020, Frehley told Canada's iHeart Radio that he had "only written about three songs" for his next LP, and he added they were "not finished." He said: "Now that I'm [living] on the East Coast [after moving to New Jersey from Southern California], my engineer only lives an hour from me, Alex Salzman, who worked with me extensively on this last record, and he played a lot of bass guitar as well, So it's gonna be even easier, 'Origins Vol. 3' and the next [original] record."

Frehley's latest release was "Origins Vol. 2", the sequel to his 2016 collection of cover songs that inspired the former KISS guitarist.

"Origins Vol. 2" featured cover versions of THE BEATLES' "I'm Down", DEEP PURPLE's "Space Truckin'", LED ZEPPELIN's "Good Times Bad Times", THE ROLLING STONES' "Jumpin' Jack Flash", THE KINKS' "Lola" and THE JIMI HENDRIX EXPERIENCE's "Manic Depression", among others. A cover of the 1975 KISS tune "She" also appeared as a bonus track. Guests on the set included CHEAP TRICK's Robin Zander, Lita Ford and former KISS guitarist Bruce Kulick.

KISS bassist/vocalist Gene Simmons co-wrote two tracks on "Spaceman", "Without You I'm Nothing" and "Your Wish Is My Command", the latter of which also features Simmons's bass playing.

PRIEST, the synthwave act featuring former members of the Grammy Award-winning Swedish rock act GHOST, will release a new full-length album, "Body Machine", on July 15 on all formats, including CD, vinyl and digital.

The LP's early singles "A Signal In The Noise" and "Techno Girl" have already been generating a major buzz across both the metal and electronic music worlds, preparing the path for the full-length release. Produced by Simon Söderberg, another GHOST alumni, "Body Machine" will be the band’s third studio album and their first to be released in conjunction with U.S. indie label juggernaut Cleopatra Records.

But for now, fans can bask in the glory of another stellar pre-release single, the throbbing, hypnotic "Blacklisted", which is released today on all digital platforms.

PRIEST had this to say about "Body Machine": "We're excited to finally release our diverse and heavy rhythm-driven third album! 'Body Machine' is steeped in darkness, but it also shows glimpses of hope through the black, hovering smog of polluted future cities."

"Body Machine" track listing:

01. A Signal In The Noise
02. Ghost Writer
03. Hell Awaits
04. Phantom Pain
05. Blacklisted
06. Perfect Body Machine
07. Techno Girl
08. Crystalline Lace
09. Nightcrawler
10. Keep On Burning

Hailing from the same icy darkness of the Scandinavian inland that birthed GHOST, PRIEST consists of a trio of musicians — vocalist Mercury, who was known as Water when he played bass for GHOST, keyboardist Salt, formerly known as GHOST keyboardist Air, and programmer/ keyboardist Sulfur — who came together in 2017 and started releasing their own unique brew of electronic music that bears little sonic resemblance to their former band yet still shares the same creative DNA. But whereas GHOST borrowed their theatrics from old school horror and '80s rock, PRIEST comes steeped in cyberpunk and industrial music.

In 2020, PRIEST released a new album called "Cyberhead", the follow-up to its debut, "New Flesh". "Cyberhead" was the first album since original singer Tom Åsberg (also known as Ginger Khan) left the band to pursue other projects. PRIEST mastermind Linton Rubino has taken over on vocals, which are performed by a masked character they call Mercury.

Back in 2017, GHOST leader Tobias Forge was sued by four former members of the band after being dismissed by the group's founder the previous December. 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 lawsuit was filed in the district court of Linköping, Sweden, where GHOST was originally based. It claimed that a partnership agreement existed between Forge and the four former members, all of whom performed anonymously in the band as Nameless Ghouls. As a result of the lawsuit, Forge was forced to reveal his identity after years of performing in a mask as Papa Emeritus. He has maintained that "no legal partnership" ever existed between him and the other members.

In May 2018, Linton, who played bass live in GHOST from 2013 to 2014 in the role of the Nameless Ghoul Water, blasted the band's 2018 album "Prequelle", saying he was "ashamed to have been part of that" and calling the music "a joke" and "mainstream shit."

Fan-filmed video of ACCEPT's June 9 performance at the Sweden Rock Festival in Sölvesborg, Sweden can be seen below.

This past February, it was announced that ACCEPT had inked a worldwide deal with Napalm Records.

ACCEPT's latest album, "Too Mean To Die", came out in January 2021 via Nuclear Blast. The LP was the group's first without bassist Peter Baltes, who exited ACCEPT in November 2018. He has since been replaced by Martin Motnik. ACCEPT's lineup has also been expanded with the addition of a third guitarist, Philip Shouse, who originally filled in for Uwe Lulis during 2019's "Symphonic Terror" tour, before being asked to join the band permanently.

"Too Mean To Die" was recorded in Nashville, Tennessee with British producer Andy Sneap (JUDAS PRIEST, MEGADETH),who has been responsible for the studio sound of ACCEPT since 2010.

ACCEPT guitarist Wolf Hoffmann told France's Loud TV about the "Too Mean To Die" album title: "It's more or less our answer to the whole corona vibe in the land, in the world. Of course, it's not meant serious — we said, 'We're too mean to die. We can't be bothered by any little virus that's out there.' Of course, it's not meant to be totally serious. But it sounded like a metal album, it sounded like a metal title, and we liked it. So we decided to go that route and give the metal fans a fresh and in-your-face sort of statement and a metal album that doesn't really deal with anything corona-related. 'Cause I think people had enough of all the corona stuff by now. It's time to move on."

Regarding ACCEPT's decision to release "Too Mean To Die" during the COVID-19 pandemic, Wolf said: "It's gonna be a while until we can do a proper headlining tour. But we decided to go ahead and release it, because maybe fans will enjoy it now that they're in lockdown, and maybe it's gonna take their mind off everything. And it's better than waiting until who knows when — until we can tour again. So let's have the album out now. Fans can enjoy it and listen to it, and then one day we'll be on tour and we'll meet each other again."

Mark Tornillo joined ACCEPT in 2009 as the replacement for the band's original lead singer, Udo Dirkscheider. He can be heard on ACCEPT's last five studio albums, "Blood Of The Nations" (2010),"Stalingrad" (2012),"Blind Rage" (2014),"The Rise Of Chaos" (2017) and "Too Mean To Die".

Asked about ACCEPT's overall approach since he came into the group, Tornillo told "That Jamieson Show": "Basically, [we went] back to what we did in the '80s — what everybody did back in the day. The whole thing was, when I joined the band, Wolf did not want the band to rest on its laurels and only go out and play the classics. He wanted a real band. So we've been album-tour, album-tour — like it always was."

Mark also talked about his musical personal chemistry with Hoffmann, who is the sole remaining member from ACCEPT's classic lineup.

"It's grown quite a bit, actually," he said. "We've got a great mutual respect for each other and for our talents. This album ['Too Mean To Die'] was a total collaboration. This is the first ACCEPT album without Peter, so that was a big gap to fill. But everybody stepped up. Our [new] bass player Martin Motnik contributed quite a bit to this album."

"The Rise Of Chaos" marked ACCEPT's first release with Lulis and drummer Christopher Williams, replacing Herman Frank and Stefan Schwarzmann, respectively.

RESIST & BITE, the new band featuring former TESLA guitarist Tommy Skeoch, has released a music video for the song "Home". The clip, which features live footage recorded at MadLife studios in Atlanta, Georgia, can be seen below.

Joining Skeoch in RESIST & BITE are ex-LYNCH MOB lead vocalist Nathan Utz, guitarist Steve Stokes, drummer David Parks and bassist Brian Powell.

Last September, RESIST & BITE released its self-titled debut album via Lor Live Records. The LP was recorded over a 21-period at Sound Stage Studios in Nashville, Tennessee with producer and engineer Michael Rosen and was mastered by Anthony Focx.

Skeoch said: "I never knew if I'd ever have another band. So great. What are the chances? But here it is. So organic, so natural the way it all happened. Great group of guys, and probably one of the best-sounding records I've ever made. The songs and performances are so perfect."

"Resist & Bite" track listing:

01. Blood On Me
02. Fate
03. Bombs
04. A Soul For Mary
05. I
06. Already Said
07. Afterneath
08. Till Tomorrow
09. Home
10. Crazy
11. Up In Flames
12. Scream
13. Say Watcha Want

RESIST & BITE's debut single, "The Myth I'm Livin'", came out in March 2020. A follow-up single, "Fate", arrived in June 2021.

Skeoch left TESLA in 2006 and went on to receive treatment for substance-abuse issues. He has since been replaced by Dave Rude. Asked in an interview with SiriusXM's "Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk" if he exited the group of his own accord or if he was asked to leave, Tommy said: "I was fired. I was getting fucked up and I was definitely in the wrong about a lot of stuff, and they put up with it for a long time. But at the same time, none of us were angels, and we put up with a lot of stuff from the other guys for a long time too, and they're still there. So I felt like a little scapegoated by the thing. And the other thing is they didn't want people — I guess for the benefit of my family, so it wouldn't look bad — they said, 'Tommy's just gonna spend time [with his family].' That's why nobody knows, and that's why you're asking this question. Everyone's confused on even what happened. Basically, I was fired. I was getting fucked up, and I kept fucking up, and I kept telling 'em I wouldn't, and I just couldn't stop."

Skeoch added that he accepts responsibility for the circumstances that led to his departure from TESLA. "I do, of course," he said. "But I also believe we put up with a lot of shit for a long time from almost every other guy in the band, and they're still there. So I don't know what's up with that; that's a little weird to me."

Last September, TESLA guitarist Frank Hannon was asked by Detroit's WRIF radio station if the band will ever work with Skeoch again. Hannon said: "When we were kids, Tommy Skeoch and myself, I was 16 and he was about 19 or 20. I used to really look up to him — I was a huge fan of his style, and still am, a great fan of his guitar playing. We were like best buds. And then we would collaborate and write songs like 'Modern Day Cowboy' or any of those TESLA songs, we'd write 'em together. But as time went on, man, the egos and the problems — myself included — throughout the years, the competition, it really drove a wedge between us. And the drugs and alcohol just really destroyed our relationship, I've just gotta be honest. We weren't supposed to talk about this stuff, but now I figure it's been long enough.

"I don't see that TESLA will ever go back, because we love Dave Rude, and Dave has really been a great addition to the band. And it would be disrespectful to him to go backwards to a toxic thing, a relationship that really got very toxic.

"Unfortunately, I don't think that TESLA will work with Tommy again — ever," Frank reiterated. "But I will say that myself, personally, I have always loved Tommy and I just wish him the best. I'm so glad that he's still alive, and I know he's got a new band out [RESIST & BITE] that put a song out called 'The Myth I'm Livin''. It was kick-ass; it had Tommy's guitar. Look, I'm getting goosebumps right now. Every time I hear Tommy Skeoch play, it brings a smile to my face, 'cause he's freakin' awesome. As a musician, I have nothing but love and respect for the guy. But I don't think TESLA will ever work with him again. But I do wish him the best."

In a 2011 interview with Noisecreep, TESLA singer Jeff Keith stated about Skeoch: "Look, everyone in TESLA has been through their own substance-abuse issues. But Tommy got in too deep again. So the band told him that the only way we would be able to make this work is if he was clean and sober. I felt like we couldn't ask him to do that if we weren't going to commit to it too. So I was the first one to say that I wouldn't drink, or do anything else, on the tour. The next thing you know, the other guys did the same thing. Troy [Luccketta, drums] has been clean and sober for over 20 years, so it wasn't even an issue for him... Tommy couldn't stay off the stuff he was doing. It broke my heart to see it, but we knew we had to replace him."

In a recent interview with U.K.'s Metal Hammer magazine, former METALLICA bassist Jason Newsted was asked when the last time was that he listened to one of the band's albums that came out after he left the legendary heavy metal act. He responded: "Never. I heard the one where they made the video in prison [for the 'St. Anger' title track]. I heard one song with my dad while we were riding in the car in Michigan, because the radio is still pretty wed to METALLICA, and it went on for-fucking-ever. It was eight minutes on the radio, and I went, 'What the fuck are they doing?' No disrespect, but I didn't get it. It was maybe harking back to the longer songs and the aggression and the tempo. And that stuff takes a lot of energy to play, and with James [Hetfield, METALLICA frontman] going up and down the fretboard like that, no one can touch it. I have a lot of respect for that thing, but I am quite a distance away from that type of music now.

"I still like my heavy songs, but I sing for real now," he continued. "I play the bass right up high, sing those backing vocals way up high. I still love SEPULTURA and stuff… but it really isn't the way that I used to. I'd be happy to join them to do that stuff if they wanted me to. I still talk to Lars [Ulrich, METALLICA drummer] a fair bit, and I send him my stuff and he's always super-supportive. I really appreciate it, and I respect his opinion. If he called me and asked if I wanted to throw down, I'd say yes, but I'm not sure if I'd say yes to anyone else."

Shortly after the release of "St. Anger" in 2003, Newsted slammed his former bandmates over the LP's production, stating that the band appeared to be more concerned with "following" the latest production trends than putting out records that live up to the high-quality standards that fans had come to expect from METALLICA.

In an interview with Boston's 107.3 WAAF radio station, Newsted said: "I feel ['St. Anger'] could be a bit more listenable. I just think that for them… They make statements like this is the record I would have wanted to make [had I stayed in the band]… I think that's not [really the case]… Guess again on that.

"When you have that much production at your fingertips and you have the means to do anything and you've proven before over the years that you can make the best-sounding metal records that have ever been made, then why couldn't you do it again?" he continued. "It doesn't sound, to me, like the team effort that they claim that it is.

"I'm the only person on the planet that can say I was a METALLICA fan — a hardcore METALLICA fan — for years, in the band for 15 years, and now, a fan again. But all the words that I say now are as a fan only — not as a former member, but as a fan.

"As far as the new record's listenability [is concerned] and your desire to put it on again and listen to it over and over again like you did with 'Ride The Lightning' and 'Master Of Puppets', I don't hear it… I don't hear it," Jason added. "To me, they were always leaders, and on this record, they seem to be more followers."

In 2013, Newsted was asked by the Serbian Metal Portal if he had ever heard the first two METALLICA albums that were recorded after his departure from the band — the aforementioned "St. Anger" and 2008's "Death Magnetic" — and what his opinion was of them. Jason said: "I heard 'St. Anger' one time — really, literally. My wife, who at the time was my girlfriend, got the record, or actually had someone get the record for us when we were on tour with Ozzy [Osbourne]. And she got the record the day it came out. She [played] about seven tracks and took it off, and that's the only time I really ever heard it. I watched the video — the one they did in a prison — so I saw that a couple of times and I heard that song a couple of times. But I won't speak anything ill of METALLICA, because… you know what I mean?!"

He continued: "Are they the best-sounding records they've ever made? No. But 'Death Magnetic', I think, has some juice. I think it shows that they've still got it.

"I did see them play one of their new songs on the TV, on the [BBC television show 'Later... With Jools Holland'] a couple of years ago," he continued. "And I don't know what the name of the song was. It was, like, a seven-minute song. It was fuckin', 'Whoa!' And I just stood up in my living room when they were done, and I was [cheering them].

"I'm a fan of METALLICA, so that's kind of the way it is. But 'Master Of Puppets' is the shit for me."

Back in 2009, Newsted told Rolling Stone that he had no regrets about exiting METALLICA. "I tell you very honestly, one billion percent, I have never regretted leaving METALLICA," he said. "It was the right thing for everyone. It was the right thing to do for the camp, that's it. I've never told anyone that I wanted to go back or anything like that, not once. I made up my mind. It was not an easy thing to do, but it was something I had to do. I thought about it very much before I pulled the trigger, and because of that, I have never looked back. The past is where it's supposed to be."

He added: "I was one of the biggest fan of the band before I went in, and I'm a METALLICA fan still. I was always the one person in the world who had an inside look and an outside look at the band, at the same time, and now, I've been out for a while, and I'm able to be a fan again."

Asked if that meant Newsted liked "Death Magnetic", which had been released a year earlier, he said: "It was better than 'St. Anger'."

"St. Anger" was released in June 2003 at the end of a turbulent two-year period in which Newsted left METALLICA, Hetfield went for a lengthy stay in rehab, and the entire band threatened to break apart. The album's raw, lo-fi production, lack of guitar solos and unorthodox sound were not well-received by many of the group's fans, who still often cite it as METALLICA's worst record. "St. Anger" has nevertheless sold more than six million copies worldwide, although fans have generally not warmed up to it in the 19 years since its release.

Back in 2003, KORN singer Jonathan Davis made headlines when he told Swedish journalist Martin Carlsson that "St. Anger" was "the shittiest thing I ever heard in my life." He went on to say: "I respect those guys immensely since some of those songs are great. Some of that shit sounds like it's beginners' shit. I understand they're going for a new raw and heavy sound, but that's just shit. I don't get it. I like some of the songs, it's cool and it's not [me] talking shit [about them] at all, but the production is just horrible. I know what they're trying to get across, but Lars's snare drum is the most irritating thing I've heard in my whole life."

Four years ago, former DREAM THEATER drummer Mike Portnoy said that he had mixed feelings about "St. Anger" when it first came out. "There's no question, it's an incredibly weird album," Mike told the "Speak N' Destroy" podcast. "As much as I liked a lot of those elements of what they were going for [on that record], I also remember sitting… DREAM THEATER was making the 'Train Of Thought' album at that time, and we had just [played] the whole 'Master Of Puppets' [LP in concert] and put that out. And I remember while we were making the 'Train Of Thought' album, 'St. Anger' came out, and I remember sitting in my car outside the studio and I called [DREAM THEATER guitarist] John Petrucci into my car to play him some of the songs. And it was… I can't remember… maybe the middle of 'Invisible Kid' or 'Dirty Window', this weird middle section with just screaming and moaning, and James's vocals are… [I was, like], 'What is going on?' And the sound of the snare drum.

"As much as I appreciated that album and it got me back because of the spirit and the intention and I really got that, there's no question there's some really hard-to-listen-to stuff on that album," Portnoy added. "There were moments where I was, like, 'Oh my God! What are they fucking thinking?' But then there were other moments [where I was], like, 'Oh, man! This is fucking great!' It was a really mixed album for me."

Celebrating the first anniversary of its chart-topping, critically acclaimed ninth album "Nowhere Generation", RISE AGAINST returns with the surprise release of a new EP, "Nowhere Generation II", via Loma Vista Recordings. The five-song collection — written and recorded alongside "Nowhere Generation" and featuring production by Bill Stevenson (THE DESCENDENTS, BLACK FLAG) — is out digitally worldwide now alongside the premiere of a new, Ryan Valdez-directed video for its propulsive lead single "Last Man Standing".

"'Last Man Standing' was a way of expressing some frustration with our world in regards to exploitation, public alienation and human inequality," explains Valdez. "As you see in the video, we are fed through this race of survival. Only to be taken down, regardless of our success or efforts. Almost as if the game was rigged, designed to set us up for failure."

The triumphantly rousing song picks up the lyrical baton of "Nowhere Generation"'s "Talking To Ourselves" with a full-throated reminder of what could happen if those in power continue to ignore the voice of the people. RISE AGAINST frontman Tim McIlrath delivers each line with impassioned fury, all carried on the back of big riffs, thunderous drums, and hook-laden guitar leads from guitarist Zach Blair, bassist Joe Principe and drummer Brandon Barnes.

"I think of RISE AGAINST as dystopian art," says McIlrath. "Like any good dystopian art endeavor, you're singing about the world and what it might be like if we keep going down the road we're going down. It's the inevitable conclusion of what would happen if we keep making the same decisions. That's what dystopian art is designed to do, to make you realize that and inspire you to make some changes. 'Last Man Standing' is looking down that road and trying to paint a picture of what it looks like."

The physical editions of "II", due out on cassette on July 15 and on vinyl on October 28 (featuring a red cover art variant),are now available for pre-order.

Continuing a critical dialogue between the RISE AGAINST members themselves, their fans, and the world at large, the new EP looks beyond its full-length counterpart's scrutiny of the chronic social, economic, and political instability and inequality that pervades the modern age. "II" is as biting as it is hopeful, and is a further testament to the resonance of a band that continues to defy the status quo of modern rock.

"We'd written 16 songs for this album and then we decided to break them apart," explains McIlrath. "Not only could the music get lost, but the message could get lost in asking people to listen to this all at once. I think this is, hopefully, a more effective way to give these issues the platform and the spotlight that they rightly deserve. We wanted to hold onto these and give them to our fans when we feel like they've had time to properly digest this first batch, so these songs were the aces up our sleeves."

The picture RISE AGAINST paints is one of a generation younger than them struggling to find a path forward in an increasingly inhospitable world. The impulse to dig into these issues was spawned by McIlrath meeting fans all across the globe — from the United States to Australia to Japan to Germany — and each of them were articulating similar apprehensions.

"They were communicating the same anxieties and fears about their lives and what tomorrow is going to look like. Those fears and anxieties were all connected no matter what language they were speaking. I just couldn't ignore it after a while," he says.

"II" closes with "Holding Patterns", a song where the fire in RISE AGAINST's belly comes roaring even further out. Parts of the track recall the breakneck, hardcore-inspired moments that typified the band's early years, but now feature the powerful maturity of a band still firing on all cylinders. The result is both an impactful tune and a prescient reminder when, at the top of each chorus, McIlrath sings, "When we are barely holding on, we hold each other." The refrain encapsulates the journey RISE AGAINST has been on for their entire career, but it also serves as a succinct reminder of what II is grappling with in each and every song, and provides a bit of light in the all-consuming darkness.

"Nowhere Generation II" track listing:

01. The Answer
02. Last Man Standing
03. This Time It's Personal
04. Pain Mgmt
05. Holding Patterns

RISE AGAINST is currently touring across Europe and will head back out on the road this summer in North America for a headline run that includes shows at The Forum in Los Angeles (July 19) and The Rooftop at Pier 17 in NYC (August 9),with support from THE USED and SENSES FAIL.

Photo credit: Nedda Afsari

According to the UK’s Daily Mail, rock fans flying drones to film a heavy metal festival one mile away from East Midlands Airport have forced it to close, adding to the misery of holiday goers this summer.


The Download festival, a three-day rock and heavy metal extravaganza, is taking place until Sunday at Donington Park in Leicestershire, about one mile (1.6km) from the airport. 


But drones attributed to the festival forced the diversion of eight flights on Friday evening and the closure of the runway. 




Clare James, the airport's managing director, said: “It's a criminal offence, it is very inconvenient for passengers, it costs thousands of pounds for cargo carriers but most of all it is a flight safety risk.”


The airport's runway was closed for an hour from 11.15pm and six passenger and two cargo flights were forced to reroute. 


In a joint statement on Friday, the police, airport and festival team said: “Both the festival organisers and the police have enhanced the number of patrols on site and the surrounding areas. The public are reminded that flying a drone in proximity to an operational airport is an offence under the Civil Aviation Act 1982 and is a huge risk to public safety. The police will take appropriate action if necessary.”


This year’s Download festival featured Iron Maiden, KISS and Megadeth among the headliners.

On June 2nd, FGerman thrash legends Kreator performed at Metalfest Open Air 2022 in Plzen, Czech Republic. fan-filmed video of the band's entire set is available below.


The setlist was as follows:


"Violent Revolution"
"Hate Über Alles"
"Phobia"
"Terrible Certainty"
"Satan is Real"
"Hordes of Chaos"
"Hail to the Hordes"
"666 - World Divided"
"Army of Storms"
"Enemy of God"
"People of the Lie"
"Endless Pain"
"Phantom Antichrist"
"Flag of Hate"
"Pleasure to Kill"













Kreator have released a music video for "Become Immortal", the new single from the band's new album, Hate Über Alles (out now).


Says Kreator: "The video is based on the lyrics, which is a full circle look back through the years and celebrating our early beginnings, through to the release of our latest record, Hate Über Alles."





For 37 years, Kreator has spear-headed a thrash metal crusade, inspiring generations of metal heads and musicians alike. The collision of traditional and contemporary values is a sentiment that Mille Petrozza has breathed in to the soul of this monumental new album; recruiting visionary producer Arthur Rizk (Power Trip, Cavalera Conspiracy, Ghostmane and Turnstile) from Philadelphia to work with the band at the legendary Hansa Studio in Berlin. “Hate Über Alles” features gorgeously grim cover artwork by renowned artist Eliran Kantor (Testament, Thy Art Is Murder, Helloween), serving a bold statement against hate and division in today's society.


Mille Petrozza comments: "Hate Über Alles reflects the time we’re living in. Everything is really loud and aggressive. The way we communicate has changed, thanks to social media. It causes a lot of imbalance. The world is in a state of disrepair. Life is not harmonic right now, it’s disharmonic… that’s where I was going with the title."


Get the new album here.





Tracklist:


"Sergio Corbucci Is Dead"
"Hate Über Alles"
"Killer Of Jesus"
"Crush The Tyrants"
"Strongest Of The Strong"
"Become Immortal"
"Conquer And Destroy"
"Midnight Sun"
"Demonic Future"
"Pride Comes Before The Fall"
"Dying Planet"


"Midnight Sun" video:





"Strongest Of The Strong" video:





"Hate Über Alles" video:





"Hate Über Alles" behind the scenes:

Rock & Roll Hall Of Famer, Sammy Hagar, kicked off his “Crazy Times” North American summer amphitheater tour in Bridgeport, CT on Friday, June 10th at Hartford HealthCare Amphitheater. He is joined by his best-selling rock supergroup The Circle, featuring fellow Van Halen alum and Rock Hall Of Fame inductee, Michael Anthony; Grammy-award winning drummer, Jason Bonham; and Vic Johnson, Hagar’s longtime guitar virtuoso.


Fan-filmed video from the show can be viewed below. The setlist was as follows:


"There's Only One Way to Rock"
"Poundcake" (Van Halen)
"Three Lock Box"
"Top of the World" (Van Halen)
"Rock Candy" (Montrose)
"Finish What Ya Started" (Van Halen)
"Mas Tequila"
"Your Love Is Driving Me Crazy"
"Best of Both Worlds" (Van Halen)
"Rock and Roll" (Led Zeppelin)
"Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love" (Van Halen)
"Why Can't This Be Love" (Van Halen)
"Right Now" (Van Halen)
"Heavy Metal"
"I Can't Drive 55"
"When It's Love" (Van Halen)
















Special guests George Thorogood & The Destroyers are on the tour for the duration, which is produced by Live Nation and presented by Hagar’s portfolio of spirits - Sammy’s Beach Bar Cocktail Co., Santo Tequila and Beach Bar Rum. The “Crazy Times” tour kicks off and continues through Saturday, September 10 at the FivePoint Amphitheatre in Irvine, California. A full list of dates is below.


Sammy Hagar said: “A tour this size has been a long time coming and it's definitely going to be worth the wait. The Circle and I are super excited and ready to throw the party of the year with George Thorogood. We're going to take the music and party to a whole new level - 'Crazy Times' is an understatement."





Tour dates:


June
13 - Mansfield, MA - Xfinity Center                          
15 - Noblesville, IN - Ruoff Music Center
16 -  Cuyahoga Falls, OH - Blossom Music Center


August
23 - Clarkston, MI - Pine Knob Music Theatre
24 - Cincinnati, OH - Riverbend Music Center
26 - Maryland Heights, MO - Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre
27 - Tinley Park, IL - Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre
30 - Salt Lake City, UT - USANA Amphitheatre


September
1 - Bend, OR - Hayden Homes Amphitheater
7 - Phoenix, AZ - Ak-Chin Pavilion
9 - Mountain View, CA - Shoreline Amphitheatre
10 - Irvine, CA - FivePoint Amphitheatre


The tour comes on the heels of Hagar’s Las Vegas residency, which is now in its second year of sold-out concerts at The Strat. On January 5, 2022, he was awarded Mexico’s Medal of Honor and named Los Cabos’ first Honorary Ambassador of Tourism by the region’s top dignitaries, in recognition of his longtime investment in their people and economy. Hagar’s tour is presented by his award-winning portfolio of spirits, including Santo Tequila and Mezquila, a partnership with Guy Fieri; his premium Puerto Rico-made Beach Bar Rum, with partner Rick Springfield; and Sammy’s Beach Bar Cocktail Co., his new top-shelf sparkling rum cocktails in a can.


(Photo - Leah Steiger)

2022 marks the 30th anniversary of Jackyl’s self-titled debut album, which spawned five hit singles: “I Stand Alone”, “The Lumberjack”, “Down On Me”, “Dirty Little Mind”, and “When Will It Rain”. To celebrate this momentous occasion, the band has planned something truly special. Speaking exclusively to BraveWords scribe Aaron Small, Jackyl frontman Jesse James Dupree opens up about an incredible contest.


“I wanted to share with you that we’re giving away… it just so happens that the night we play in Sturgis for our annual show at the Full Throttle Saloon, this year – August 11th – happens to be 30 years to the day that our first album dropped. We didn’t plan that. We play on the Thursday night of the Rally every single year, and it just so happened that it actually fell right on August 11th this year. We were like, holy sh*t! Not only are we playing, and celebrating the 30th, we’re giving somebody a chance to win a trip. We’ll give them a camper. They get to stay at the Full Throttle Saloon. I’ll put some Jesse James Bourbon in there. We’ll give them some travel money to get there, and of course VIPs for the show. They can win the trip by going to Jackyl.com and becoming a member of The Chainsaw Mafia. Or you can download The Chainsaw Mafia App.”







“The cool thing about that app is when you come to a Jackyl show, you can check in on that location and earn points. You can take surveys and earn points. We’ll give you keywords periodically, and those keywords you put in, you hit the little trophy that’s on the app, and you get points that way. You can also rate the songs that are playing on Jackyl radio, and as you rate the songs, you get points. And you can cash those points in, in the prize pool, for additional chances to win the trip. There’s an autographed guitar up there, a chainsaw, all kinds of cool stuff that we put up on that prize pool. Get your points and you can try to win whatever you want to try to win. There’s also exclusive merchandise inside The Chainsaw Mafia. That trip to Sturgis is going to be a cool one!”





The 30th anniversary festivities don’t end there as a new Best-Of will be released this summer. “The album is dropping on August 11th. It’s called Jackyl 30 – Coming In Hot, and it’s got three brand new tracks on it,” reveals Jesse. “It’s got some songs off of Relentless, When Moonshine And Dynamite Collide, and Best In Show; it’s kind of a greatest hits. On the 25th anniversary, we leaned heavy on the first couple of albums, but we’ve got some cool stuff coming, and we’re going to put this out. We’re just now getting behind ‘Get All Up In It’, and the streaming numbers are really strong. We’re keeping our fingers crossed everybody will keep connecting with it. Wait ‘til you hear the next single; it’s a damn straight-up rocker. We’ll be ready to kick that one out too. Each of the three new songs draw on our influences. In fact, the next single’s a whole other space. I almost wanted to call the damn thing ‘Influences’, cause it’s got so much.”


Jesse peels back the layers of the aforementioned new single and video, “Get All Up In It (Another Round Of Mother Funker)”. “You know what? It’s fun! And in the truest sense, it’s just a song that, for me, pulls on all of my influences. There’s elements of so much that I grew up loving, especially that ‘70s groove stuff and the soul singers – ‘I’m gonna tell your Momma on you’. All that kind of stuff. It’s still Jackyl. It’s got that edge, and the sexual overtones, all that stuff – but in such a retro, fun way. That’s what we enjoyed about it, and we hope that people who are listening to it enjoy it. I mean, there’s always going to be naysayers, what can you do about that?”


“At 30 years of our career, if you can’t laugh at your own expense, and really be honest about what drives you and what you love… if people don’t get that… I generally find that the people that don’t understand what it’s about just to celebrate the fundamentals of rock ‘n roll – when Elvis Presley was gyrating his hip, or The Beatles were singing ‘Love Me Do’ and shaking their mop tops – nobody was thinking that music needed to cure cancer. It wasn’t about that. Music was just stimulating your glands – that’s the basis of what rock ‘n roll’s supposed to be about. A release to get away from busting your ass. These people that are obsessed with hearing some cookie-cutter, cookie monster sings stuff… it’s great. I like some of that stuff too, but God damn, every now and then can you just lighten up and have some fun? Does everything have to be like the apocalypse? Again, we’re just celebrating those fundamentals and loving what we’re doing.”


“We had just as much fun making the video as we did recording the song. When we did the video, we’d been on the road for a couple of weeks or so. We left out of Fort Myers after a great show down there. We woke up at the Sound Stage in Atlanta, got off the bus, went to work, and ended up with that video. It’s definitely not just same as it ever was. Everybody can see that we pulled off some cool influences, but it’s still Jackyl. I don’t think anybody can say we’re trying to be something we’re not. But again, right alongside that, we’re just showing our colors, and I’m proud of it. It’s a good summer song!”





For a guy who’s typically jeans and a t-shirt, Jesse undergoes a lot of costume changes in the hilarious video for “Get All Up In It”. “It’s funny, the guys were in the studio, and I said, ‘I want it to have a street corner vibe. Just like there’s some guys hanging on the street corner, back in the ‘70s, talking sh*t – an old BS session. So, we got out around the microphones, and the engineer, Jeff Tomei, pressed record and we were in the groove. We were all standing not facing each other. We had a microphone in the room, but we were all facing in different directions, and we all just started saying random stuff – ‘Girl, you’re going to make me lose my mind.’ That was one of about ten takes that we did with various different things. One of them I listened back to and Roman (Glick, bassist) goes, ‘Is that his real teeth?’ We laughed! Then, when we got shooting the video, we just acted out what we had said randomly. None of it was planned, just like guys standing on a street corner. What we ended up with on the record, is what we built around for the video. I’ll leave it to U2 and Springsteen to cure cancer with their songs. We’re just a damn rock band, and we’re having fun! We’re very honest about it and we just want people to enjoy themselves and get a little groove going.”


Speaking of influences, the one that comes through visually the most in the video for “Get All Up In It” is Queen. Specifically, the section where the four faces of Jackyl are set up the same way as the four faces of Queen were in the video for “Bohemian Rhapsody”. “We were just thinking about – cause it’s such a strong anthem. There’s so many vocals that are layered on ‘Another Round Of Mother Funker’. We multi-tracked that so many times, and we’re thinking, how do we visually make that big with just the four of us? We were thinking about ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ where you hear all those voices and everything that Queen did. We thought, let’s just recreate it. It’s so belligerent, but at the same time it’s respectful and paying homage to those great guys. I thought it was funny. Again, if you can’t associate rock and smiling and laughing, and having a good time. If you can’t do those things when you’re talking about rock, then you’ve got to really re-evaluate stuff. It’s totally within everybody’s rights to decide whether they like this song or not. But, regardless of whether you like this song or not, if you can’t at least not take yourself so serious to the extent where you generally find that people that don’t realize what the fundamentals of rock ‘n roll were built on, those are generally the same people that have a hard time admitting that they masturbate.”


Furthermore, the inclusion of the vintage black and white cartoon clips in the video for “Get All Up In It” add another light-hearted element, separating it from simply being footage of the band performing the song. “Yeah. The Sound Stage we were at, they asked us, ‘Do you want to use the white room, the black room? Do you want to use the green screen, the LED wall?’ And we said, yeah. All of the above. Why just pick one? I don’t know what tomorrow holds as far as the flavor of the day, but I can’t stress it enough, we’re still here celebrating those fundamentals of rock ‘n roll, and enjoying every damn minute of it.” 





Catch Jackyl live at the following shows:


June
16 - Big Night Live - Boston, Massachusetts
17 - Granite State Music Hall - Laconia, New Hampshire
21 - Toad's Place - New Haven, Connecticut
22 - Morgan Hill Event Center - Hermon, Maine
23 - The Chance Theater - Poughkeepsie, New York
24 - Club XL Live - Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
25 - Penn's Peak - Jim Thorpe, Pennsylvania


July
1 - JD Legends - Franklin, Ohio
2 - Susquehanna Valley Big Twins Motorcycle Club - Lockhaven, Pennsylvania
3 - The Barrel House - Maysville, Kentucky
24 - Cumming Music Festival - Cumming, Georgia
30 - Sugar Creek Casino - Hinton, Oklahoma


August
11 - Full Throttle Saloon - Vale, South Dakota
27 - The Shed Smokehouse & Juke Joint - Maryville, Tennessee


September
8 - The Alliance - Sioux Falls, South Dakota
9 - RockTember Music Festival - Hinckley, Minnesota
10 - Beaver Bottoms Saloon - Fountain, Minnesota
15 - OC Bikefest - Ocean City, Maryland
17 - Bonnie & Clyde's Gangster Park - Harshaw, Wisconsin
24 - WIIL Rock Fest - Grayslake, Illinois





 

Sabaton guitarist / Majestica frontman Tommy Johansson has shared his solo performance of Giant's 1990 hit, "I'll See You In My Dreams" Check it out below.


Johansson: "The best ballads did not only come from the '80s. The '90s sure had a lot of great and powerful songs for us through the years. A giant tribute to this great band, Giant, with the mighty Dann Huff in charge!"


The song is taken from the Giant album, Last Of The Runaways.







Johansson previously shared his solo performance of the Helloween classic "Eagle Fly Free", handling all vocal, guitar and bass parts. Check it out below.


Johansson: "The anthem of power metal - 'Eagle Fly Free' by Helloween! A song I've played live many, many times but never recorded - until now. As a small Easter egg you will also hear and see some Majestica in here as well..."