METALLICA headlined the BottleRock Napa Valley music festival on May 27 at the Napa Valley Expo in Northern California. Fan-filmed video of the band's performance of the song Hardwired can be seen below.

The setlist was as follows:

01. Hardwired
02. The Memory Remains
03. Wherever I May Roam
04. Seek & Destroy
05. Fuel
06. One
07. Sad But True
08. Whiskey In The Jar
09. The Unforgiven
10. For Whom The Bell Tolls
11. Creeping Death
12. Fade To Black
13. Master Of Puppets

Encore:

14. Battery
15. Nothing Else Matters
16. Enter Sandman

METALLICA recently completed a six-date South American tour, which kicked off on April 27 in Santiago, Chile.

METALLICA played its first concert of 2022 on February 25 at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Nevada. The show, which was reportedly attended by 60,000 fans, featured support from GRETA VAN FLEET and ICE NINE KILLS.

The Las Vegas show took place more than two months after METALLICA's two 40th-anniversary concerts at Chase Center in San Francisco, California which featured different setlists. They were part of METALLICA's "San Francisco Takeover", a four-day citywide celebration of the band's 40th anniversary that also included a film festival, photo exhibit and curated lineup of smaller venue shows featuring other acts.

In February, METALLICA announced it will perform only two summer stadium shows in 2022: Highmark Stadium in Buffalo, New York on August 11, and PNC Park in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on August 14. Both shows will feature special guests GRETA VAN FLEET and ICE NINE KILLS.

METALLICA previously played at Highmark Stadium on July 25, 1992, and Pittsburgh's Three Rivers Stadium on July 26, 1992.

Formed in 1981 by drummer Lars Ulrich and guitarist/vocalist James Hetfield, METALLICA has become one of the most influential and successful rock bands in history, having sold nearly 120 million albums worldwide and generating more than 15 billion streams while playing to millions of fans on all seven continents. The band's several multi-platinum albums include "Kill 'Em All", "Ride The Lightning", "Master Of Puppets", "… And Justice For All", "Metallica" (commonly referred to as The Black Album),"Load", "Reload", "St. Anger", "Death Magnetic" and "Hardwired... To Self-Destruct", released in November 2016 and charting at No. 1 in 32 countries.

METALLICA's awards and accolades include nine Grammy Awards, two American Music Awards, multiple MTV Video Music Awards, and its 2009 induction into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame. In June of 2018, the band was awarded one of the most prestigious musical honors in the world: Sweden's Polar Music Prize.

METALLICA has a number of European dates scheduled for June and July.

In a brand new interview with "The Eric Zane Show", SLIPKNOT frontman Corey Taylor was asked what his "favorite cover song of all time" is to perform. He responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "That's tough, man, because I am a rabid lover of doing covers and whatnot, especially in the right song and the right register — you're not singing outside of it — and you get the right group of people. Or doing a cool acoustic version of one of them. I'm hard pressed to [pick one]. I will say, obviously, one of my favorite songs of all time is 'Would?' by ALICE IN CHAINS, and I got to play that with [ALICE IN CHAINS guitarist/vocalist] Jerry Cantrell one night at a CAMP FREDDY show many, many moons ago. And it was probably the highlight of my life. Because he wasn't even gonna play, and then some people talked him into jumping up and playing it. And I was just, like, [makes wheezing sound]. This is my moment.' It's still to me one of my favorite, favorite moments."

Taylor previously praised ALICE IN CHAINS during the question-and-answer portion of his December 2021 appearance at Jo Ann Davidson Theatre at the Riffe Center in Columbus, Ohio. When asked to name his favorite of the "big four" Seattle grunge bands — SOUNDGARDEN, ALICE IN CHAINS, PEARL JAM and NIRVANA, he responded: "It has to be ALICE IN CHAINS. ALICE IN CHAINS, to me, is one of the greatest rock bands that ever was. And I don't just mean that from a grunge standpoint or metal or anything like that. They revolutionized so much musically and they inspired me to change the way I write music. I mean, full stop, period, the end of sentence. [Late ALICE IN CHAINS frontman] Layne Staley is still one of the greatest fucking singers that ever lived. Now, that is not a reflection of the demons that he had to fight, obviously, and that's everything to do with his talent. He just made it look so fucking easy, and he could sing anything, he could write anything, and the shit that he was writing about was killing him, and yet we loved it. To me, that was the greatest baring of the soul that I ever listened to. And if you need any more proof of that, all you need to do is listen to 'Nutshell'. It's one of the greatest songs ever written. And that's not even my favorite ALICE IN CHAINS song. My favorite ALICE IN CHAINS song is 'Would?' Full stop. That song is fucking incredible. But 'Nutshell' is such an outpouring of trying to share with you the darkness that's in his heart. And even though you're hearing it, it's so light, you're just, like, 'Fuck. Where is he?' And we never knew. And that's the great tragedy of people like Layne. It's not just Layne, obviously; there's so many people that came from that generation of artists. The pain they dealt with — some of them won, some of them didn't. But the great thing is that we can listen to their music and it can help us get past our own pain. And there's probably not a day that goes by that I don't listen to ALICE IN CHAINS. It's still just that good. And the fact that I know those guys now is just icing on the cake. It's rad to be able to hang out with your favorite band."

Back in 2015, Taylor said that he "would love" to collaborate with Cantrell. He said: "We're really good friends. I've known those guys for quite a while, and ALICE IN CHAINS is one of my favorite bands of all time. I would love to create something cool and dark with him, and just have fun with it. So if I had a chance to, man, I would totally be down with that."

This past February, Taylor released a solo album of covers and acoustic recordings, titled "CMFB…Sides", via Roadrunner Records. "CMFB…Sides" opens with a rendition of METALLICA's "Holier Than Thou" and also features covers from DEAD BOYS, Eddie Money, RED RIDER, KISS and JOHN CAFFERTY & THE BEAVER BROWN BAND.

In a recent interview with Chile's Radio Futuro, DEF LEPPARD guitarist Phil Collen was asked if fans can expect to see the band touring South America in support of the group's latest LP, "Diamond Star Halos". He responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Definitely. Obviously, this year we're touring the States with MÖTLEY CRÜE, POISON and Joan Jett. And that starts in a couple of [weeks]… But the tour is gonna be three years — at least three years — for the album. [We're doing] America this [year]. Definitely next summer is gonna be Europe. And then South America, Australia [and] Japan — next year, hopefully at some point, we'll be playing all of those markets."

When asked to clarify that the same package that is touring the U.S. will be hitting all the other markets as well, Phil said: "That's what they're talking about. Obviously, I can say, 'Yeah, let's do that,' but we've gotta ask them as well. But I think MÖTLEY CRÜE have signed up. So hopefully that's all gonna come, and Joan Jett and POISON. That would be amazing."

DEF LEPPARD is set to launch "The Stadium Tour" with MÖTLEY CRÜE and guests POISON and JOAN JETT & THE BLACKHEARTS on June 16 in Atlanta, Georgia. The 36-date trek, which is due to wrap September 9 in Las Vegas, was originally scheduled to take place in the summer of 2020 but ended up being pushed back to 2021, and then to 2022, due to the coronavirus crisis.

When it happens, "The Stadium Tour" will mark 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 the upcoming jaunt marks the first time all four acts have hit the road together for an extended tour.

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."

As of January 30, 2020, "The Stadium Tour" had already grossed $130 million from one million tickets sold, plus another $5 million worth of VIP seats, according to Billboard.

Tickets ranged from $150 to $400, not counting some varied pricing that reflected demand as part of "dynamic pricing."

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.

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."

BRITISH LION, the side project of IRON MAIDEN bassist and founder Steve Harris, performed yesterday (June 3) at the Rockfest in Hyvinkää, Finland. Fan-filmed video of the concert can be seen below.

The three-day Rockfest festival is being headlined by NIGHTWISH (Thursday, June 2),SCORPIONS (June 3) and IRON MAIDEN (Saturday, June 4).

Last fall, BRITISH LION completed a U.K. headlining tour with support from AIRFORCE.

In October, BRITISH LION withdrew from a U.K. tour with THE DARKNESS, citing "completely unacceptable" tour "protocols."

BRITISH LION's second album, "The Burning", came out in January 2020 in digipack CD, double gatefold vinyl and digital download formats via Explorer1 Music (E1). The LP was recorded, engineered and mixed at Barnyard Studios by Tony Newton and produced by Steve Harris.

BRITISH LION's first U.S. tour took place in January and February 2020.

BRITISH LION comprises singer Richard Taylor, guitarists David Hawkins and Grahame Leslie, Harris on bass and keyboards, and drummer Simon Dawson.

Asked by the Tampa Bay Times what the itch is that BRITISH LION scratches that he doesn't get in his job with MAIDEN, Harris said: "I suppose playing small clubs and being close and personal with the audience. I love playing big places as well. I enjoy them all, and I'm very lucky that I can do them all. But also, it's clubs that I never played with MAIDEN, even in Europe. There's a famous club called the Milky Way in Amsterdam, which I managed to play with BRITISH LION, but I never did that with MAIDEN. There's places now that I'm going to be playing on this [U.S.] tour that I've never played before. So it's all new ground. It's a challenge. It's nice. I like a challenge."

HALESTORM's sophomore album, 2012's "The Strange Case Of...", was certified platinum on June 2 by the RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America) for sales in excess of a million copies. The LP was previously certified gold in March 2016.

HALESTORM has one other platinum certification: the "I Miss The Misery" single, which appears on "The Strange Case Of...", was certified platinum in March 2019. Two other singles went gold — "Here's To Us" (also from "The Strange Case Of…") and "I Get Off" (from HALESTORM's 2009 self-titled debut album) — while the "Halestorm" LP also was certified gold in March 2016.

The RIAA developed its gold and platinum awards program in 1958 to honor artists and create a standard by which to measure the commercial success of a sound recording. The program trademarked the gold record and formalized the industry practice of presenting awards to artists for music sales achievements.

Presently, the RIAA awards a gold honor for 500,000 units sold, a platinum honor for 1 million units sold and a diamond award for more than 10 million units sold.

In the streaming age, each permanent digital album or physical album sale count as 1 unit for certification purposes, 10 permanent track downloads from the album count as 1 unit for certification purposes, and 1,500 on-demand audio and/or video streams from the album count as 1 unit. For songs, 150 on-demand audio and/or video streams count as 1 unit for certification purposes.

HALESTORM won the "Best Hard Rock/Metal Performance" Grammy in 2013 for "Love Bites (So Do I)", the first single from "The Strange Case Of...".

HALESTORM's fifth studio album album, "Back From The Dead", was released on May 6 via Atlantic. The follow-up to 2018's "Vicious" was produced by Nick Raskulinecz (FOO FIGHTERS, MASTODON, ALICE IN CHAINS) with co-production by Scott Stevens (SHINEDOWN, DAUGHTRY, NEW YEARS DAY).

HALESTORM frontwoman Lzzy Hale (guitar/vocals) and her brother Arejay (drums) formed the band in 1998 while in middle school. Guitarist Joe Hottinger joined the group in 2003, followed by bassist Josh Smith in 2004.

In December 2018, HALESTORM was nominated for a "Best Rock Performance" Grammy Award for its song "Uncomfortable".

The Lucid, featuring vocalist Vinnie Dombroski (Sponge), bassist David Ellefson (ex Megadeth), guitarist Drew Fortier, and drummer Mike Heller, have released a music video for "Maskronaut", a track from their debut self-titled album, released back in October via SpoilerHead Records. The video was directed by Michael Sarna.


In conjunction with the video release, the band are also aiming to help raise awareness for testicular cancer after their guitarist, Drew Fortier, had been diagnosed with the disease last month. He is currently recovering from surgery and waiting to hear results back from pathology as well as next steps.


The Lucid along with Brynn Arens (Flipp) have set up a Gofundme page to help Fortier with medical costs during this time. Please donate here.




Fortier states, "You truly never know with these things. I wanted to make this public to help raise awareness with this type of cancer because it literally came on out of nowhere. I'm thankful for all the support and I want to give a big thank you to Dr. Masterson and his team at Indiana University for being true rock stars in their field."


Ellefson adds, "We always felt 'Maskronaut' was a special song, even more so with the video. In light of recent circumstances with Drew's health, we agreed this was the right time to release something uplifting and positive heading into the summer."


"Maskronaut" was produced by Michael Sarna & David Ellefson, and apart from the band, stars Kyle & Ashleigh Abbott along with Alyson Montez.





The album, produced by Mike Heller and mixed and mastered by Lasse Lammert, is out now streaming on all platforms. Physical copies can be purchased here. Signed vinyl copies will be shipped out next month due to a shipping error with the signed inserts.





Tracklisting:


"Maggot Wind"
"Deaths Of Despair"
"Spoiler Head"
"Hair"
"Maskronaut"
"Damned"
"Breech Boy"
"Pigs And Sons"
"Parade Of Spit"


"Hair" video:





"Deaths Of Despair" video:





(Photo - Tharasa DiMeo)

Influential Danish metallers MERCYFUL FATE played their first concert in 23 years earlier tonight (Thursday, June 2) at the Expo Plaza in Hannover, Germany as the support act for VOLBEAT. The band's seven-song set included a brand new track, "The Jackal Of Salzburg", which is expected to appear on MERCYFUL FATE's upcoming studio album, tentatively due in 2023 via Metal Blade.

Joining frontman King Diamond in MERCYFUL FATE's current lineup are Hank Shermann on guitar, Bjarne T. Holm on drums, Mike Wead on guitar and Joey Vera on bass.

The setlist was as follows:

01. The Oath
02. The Jackal Of Salzburg (new song; live debut)
03. A Corpse Without Soul
04. Curse Of The Pharaohs
05. Evil
06. A Dangerous Meeting

Encore:

07. Satan's Fall

In 2019, it was announced that Vera would be replacing original MERCYFUL FATE bassist Timi Hansen for the band's summer 2020 European festival appearances due to Hansen's cancer diagnosis. Hansen passed away in November 2019 and MERCYFUL FATE's 2020 summer festival appearances were initially rescheduled for 2021 before being moved back to 2022.

In a Twitch livestream from a few days ago from the MERCYFUL FATE rehearsals, which took place in Glostrup, Denmark, King revealed that he and his bandmates were planning to debut a brand new song at the 2022 shows. "We're trying," he said. "We're still working on a song. I wrote the final lyrics the day of our departure [for rehearsals], I would say, and that's a couple of days ago. So the others have not heard me sing the song at all. We played a few riffs from it yesterday. I didn't sing to it at that time. But it's coming [along] here. The next couple of days we're gonna see where it leads us."

Regarding the musical and lyrical content of the new MERCYFUL FATE song, King said: "It's quite a monster, I would say. It's almost nine minutes long. So it's not just a quick little [tune]. We hope we can play it. We're gonna do everything in our power to play it. It's not recorded yet. So whatever version we might play for you could change before it actually is fully recorded. Some drums have been recorded — that's what I can say. But we will do our damnedest to play it. We put it early in the set even. But that's something to look forward to, definitely. And now we've gotta make it sound correct, 'cause the early demo versions have lots of stuff on that create a certain mood in the whole thing, which we can't do [when we perform it]. The live version will be different. I can't do the backing vocals, naturally, that is intended for the song. But that's also a challenge, to do a version that works live, of course, [with the] vocal lines. It's gonna be fun. It's gonna be heavy. The subject is very heavy too. We are back in 1675 till 1690. That's a piece of history that we are describing — a nasty piece of history," he added, possibly referring to the Salzburg Witch Trials.

Back in October 2020, Vera told Dead Rhetoric about how he landed the MERCYFUL FATE gig: "I've been friends with King for some time. ARMORED SAINT did a tour with King back in 1988-89; we have been friends and labelmates forever. And so, he came to see me when I was on tour with FATES WARNING supporting QUEENSRŸCHE in Dallas where he lives. He came to see the show. [Metal Blade Records owner] Brian Slagel was in town. King pulled me aside backstage and told me the story of Timi going through chemotherapy and had a summer tour booked and wasn't sure he was going to be well enough to do it. If he wasn't, would I consider stepping in and helping out. Of course, I was flabbergasted and honored, yeah. I didn't have anything else going on — it was supposed to happen this summer. To honor Timi and help them out, thank you for asking me. In the back of my mind, I was thinking Timi would pull through, he would get enough energy to make it. I was sadly mistaken and it was devastating."

Two years ago, Shermann confirmed that he was working on the first new music from MERCYFUL FATE in more than two decades. At the time, he said about the writing process: "First of all, King is living in Texas, in the States. I'm living here north of Copenhagen, in Denmark. The drummer [Bjarne T. Holm] is also here, so I work with him in the rehearsal room shaping the new songs. The other guitar player [Mike Wead] is in Stockholm, Sweden, and our new bass player [Joey Vera] is in Los Angeles. So everything is [being done via] Dropbox or e-mails."

He continued: "I think there's about six or seven [tracks that are] about to be ready. The first song has been sent to King after it's been mixed and all the guys played on the song. So I sent the files to Joey in Los Angeles; he did the bass. And then I sent the same files to Mike in Stockholm; he did his solos. And now King has the first song, evaluating for the vocals to be added. And then we will rearrange certain parts to be twice as long and stuff like that."

MERCYFUL FATE's last studio album, "9", was released in 1999.

MERCYFUL FATE will be remembered for its unquestionable mark on the history of metal with its innovative sound, complex arrangements, memorable melody, and its influence on bands that later took the genre to new heights.

In 1998, METALLICA paid tribute to MERCYFUL FATE by recording a medley of classic MERCYFUL FATE songs on the album "Garage Inc." Titled "Mercyful Fate", the medley included parts from "Satan's Fall", "Curse of the Pharaohs", "A Corpse Without Soul", "Into the Coven" and "Evil".

Lars Ulrich of METALLICA (a fellow Dane) played drums on a new version of MERCYFUL FATE's "Return of the Vampire" on the "In the Shadows" album, which came out in 1993.



Mercyful Fate (2022)

Hannover 🇩🇪

Posted by Germano O Araujo on Thursday, June 2, 2022



Mercyful Fate - A Corpse Without Soul
Hanover, Germany 02/06/2022

Posted by Dick Carvajal on Thursday, June 2, 2022

Mercyful Fate 🤘🏻😈🤘🏻

Posted by Nick Cimino on Thursday, June 2, 2022

In a new interview with Finland's Chaoszine, WHITESNAKE guitarist Joel Hoekstra spoke about the band's recently launched farewell tour. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Well, it's everybody's opportunity to come out and say goodbye to [WHITESNAKE leader] David [Coverdale] and have David say thank you for a wonderful 50 years or so. So he's been quite emotional on some of the shows already here out of the gate. I think it's an emotional tour for him. He just wants to thank everybody for a wonderful career, which I think is lovely."

Regarding his contribution to WHITESNAKE's final tour, Joel said: "I played a very small role in terms of the history that he's had. It's important for me to keep things in perspective, but it's also important for me to do the very best I can with it and understand the importance of it. That's important, rather than, 'Oh, who cares?' I care. I want it to be a great last run for him. I think he's a great guy. He's been nothing but wonderful to me since I joined the band. So I would really love to see him have a great last run."

WHITESNAKE launched its farewell tour on May 10 at Dublin, Ireland's 3Arena. The band's 14-song set, which was part of a European tour with special guests EUROPE and co-headliners FOREIGNER, marked WHITESNAKE's inaugural performance with the group's two latest two additions, keyboardist, guitarist and backing vocalist Dino Jelusick, and Irish bassist Tanya O'Callaghan.

WHITESNAKE kicked off the concert with "Bad Boys" / "Children Of The Night" and played a set which drew heavily from the "Trouble" (1978),"Ready An' Willing" (1980),"Saints & Sinners" (1982),"Slide It In" (1984),"Whitesnake" (1987) and "Flesh & Blood" (2019) albums. WHITESNAKE also performed its staple cover of "Ain't No Love In The Heart Of The City", a 1974 R&B song written by Michael Price and Dan Walsh, and first recorded by Bobby "Blue" Bland for the "Dreamer" album.

Coverdale, who turned 70 in September, recently opened up about his plans to retire from touring after the band's next batch of concerts around the world, telling the "Appetite For Distortion" podcast: "I planned to retire on the 2020 tour when I was 69. I thought that was the perfect age for the singer of WHITESNAKE to call it a day. But sadly, it was not to be, as we know; other events were in store. So now the t-shirt designs don't resonate as well for 70. But it's mind-blowing to me that I'm preparing my farewell tour. And it is — make no mistake, this is the farewell tour. I'm 70. It's a very physically challenging thing for me to do at the best of times. But it's very important for me to achieve completion and to express my appreciation and gratitude to all the people — the millions of people over the years — who've supported me for five decades, fifty years. It blows my mind — it really does."

"A lot of my peers and contemporaries are on their 20th retirement tour. I don't intend to plan that," he clarified. "I must explain, though — it's me, just David Coverdale, who's retiring from touring at that level. WHITESNAKE will still make projects. I've been writing music all through COVID. I wrote some beautiful new ideas. I have ideas in case Jimmy [Page] wants to do anything — write on FaceTime, which is an alien concept to him. But all songs that we can utilize for a WHITESNAKE project. But the music of WHITESNAKE will continue. That's most important that people know. I'm just stopping touring at this level — that's it."

According to Coverdale, there could very well be new music from WHITESNAKE in the years following his retirement from the road.

"I've got a bunch of ideas for WHITESNAKE, so we may have another project there — I don't know — without the pressure of having to go on tour," he said. "We have such a solid fanbase, I think fans are gonna buy the record with or without a tour. This is just emotionally for me to be able to go out there and do stuff. And also, you've gotta remember, we've started this legacy series of box sets, similar to the 25th anniversary. We have, I think, the 35th anniversary of 'Slide It In'; the 30th anniversary of the WHITESNAKE '87 album; we have a very special project planned to accompany the tour; we have another box set planned for this time next year. And then in 2023, we have the 30th anniversary of COVERDALE/PAGE, and the 50th anniversary of me joining DEEP PURPLE. Mind-blowing. So it's not like I'm retiring. [Laughs]

"Thankfully, physically and vocally, I still have the goods," he continued. "As my wife reminds me, I was actually touring up to spring in 2020, before lockdown. And I was 68 years old, and I'm still kicking ass. Of course, having an amazing band and an incredible and enthusiastic audience gives you that energizing aspect. It's just the traveling is challenging for me. But music is oxygen to me. I'm not gonna go fishing or take up crochet; I'm gonna definitely be doing projects. I'm lucky enough to have my own studio. It's the best of a bunch of worlds. And I have to thank people in person around the world for helping me to be in this position that I am in my life at this time. I don't wanna do it through a video [on] social media: 'Sorry we can't get out there, but thank you for 50 years.' That would be heartbreaking for me."

Coverdale had both his knees replaced with titanium in 2017 after suffering from degenerative arthritis. He later explained that he was in so much pain with arthritis in his knees that it hampered his ability to perform live.

Prior to the pandemic, WHITESNAKE had been touring in support of its latest album, "Flesh & Blood", which was released in May 2019 via Frontiers Music Srl.

Deraps have released the official video for "Veins Of My Heart", the third single from their self-titled debut album, which will be released on June 17th via Metalville Records. The video for the track, which will also be released as a digital single this Friday, June 3rd, can be seen below.


"This song came from a true story which Josh (Gallagher - drummer) wrote a big poem about," reveals vocalist / guitarist Jacob Deraps. "He sent me the poem so I could use it for lyrics and it turned out, as I was reading it with my guitar in my hands, all the guitar and vocal ideas came pouring out of me, I came up with the intro / chorus, the verses, then the bridge, etc... It all fell into place so quickly and naturally, it was like lightning in a bottle. With the type of song that this was gonna be, it had to have maximum production and sound like something that came out of the '80s. It has everything that I love about the '80s, big guitar riffs, big vocals, a catchy chorus with huge harmonies and a massive instrumental solo section. It was all just meant to be like this."







Deraps cover art and tracklisting:





"Invasion"
"Sex, Drugs & Rock N' Roll"
"My Side Of Town"
"Live Fast Die Slow"
"Veins Of My Heart"
"Élizabeth"
"Make Ya Groove"
"Wild To The Woman"
"On My Mind"
"F*ck Off"
"Ballroom Blitz"


"Live Fast Die Slow" video:





"My Side Of Town" video:





For further details, visit Deraps on Facebook.


 

Legendary hard rock vocalist Joe Lynn Turner (RAINBOW, DEEP PURPLE, Yngwie Malmsteen) has weighed in on actor Johnny Depp's highly publicized defamation trial against his ex-wife Amber Heard.

Earlier today (Wednesday, June 1),a jury in Fairfax, Virginia awarded Depp $15 million in damages against Heard over the 2018 op-ed she wrote for The Washington Post that claimed she was a victim of domestic abuse. The five-man, two-woman civil jury later added $2 million in damages to Heard in her counterclaim. Depp has denied any physical or sexual abuse and says Heard concocted the claims to destroy his reputation.

A short time after the verdict was made public, Turner took to his social media to write: "Having followed the Depp vs Heard trial with great attention and detail and coupled with my own personal experience, I believe I can make an educated judgment in favor of Mr. Depp.

"The World must understand that IPV (Intimate Personal Violence) is not selective to a particular gender, it can affect anyone, anywhere at anytime. A victim has no gender specifics...Period. #MENTOO!"

Another musician who weighed in on the verdict is AEROSMITH's Joe Perry, a bandmate of Depp's in the HOLLYWOOD VAMPIRES. He wrote on Instagram: "Proud and happy for Johnnys huge win today. We never doubted anything, we always knew the truth, and that the truth would prevail… Congratulations on getting your life back today !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Depp, 58, sued Heard, 36, for $50 million, alleging she defamed him in The Washington Post column in which she described herself as "a public figure representing domestic abuse." His lawyers said he was defamed by the article even though it never mentioned his name.

Heard filed a $100 million counterclaim against Depp for statements made by his former lawyer Adam Waldman, who accused Heard of staging an "abuse hoax" in the Daily Mail. The jury found Heard proved defamation on one of the counts her legal team brought in its counterclaim.

Having followed the Depp vs Heard trial with great attention and detail and coupled with my own personal experience, I...

Posted by Joe Lynn Turner on Wednesday, June 1, 2022

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Just released... Kansas legend Robby Steinhardt’s video for “Not in Kansas Anymore”, from the album of the same name. Produced by Michael Franklin, the album was released on Solar Music just after the unexpected passing of Steinhardt.





You know him as the legendary violinist, vocalist and frontman for the band Kansas, recording nine albums which reached gold, platinum and double platinum status, and is now making another mark on the world with his first and only solo album.




The new album, Not In Kansas Anymore is a powerful, well thought-out offering of prog rock magic. Timely songs with incredible arrangements and virtuoso performances. Robby’s vocals and signature electric violin come through on this continuous work labeled a “Prog Opera”.





In his only interview for the project, he spoke with Bill Shafer of PBS. Steinhardt was asked what the meaning behind the title Not In Kansas Anymore was. Steinhardt responded, “It’s no slight against the band, no never! My time with Kansas defined a big part of my life, of which I am very proud of. Ever since The Wizard of OZ, those words have become an American axiom for moving forward, you can never go back etc.” Robby laughed, “I guess it has a special meaning when it is fixed to me.”


The album, produced by Michael Thomas Franklin, is his latest production since the highly acclaimed Jon Anderson 1000 Hands Chapter One. Franklin used a similar approach using a large cast of renown musicians to lend their talents. Ian Anderson of Jethro Tull, Steve Morse of Deep Purple/Dixie Dregs, Billy Cobham of Mahavishnu Orchestra, Bobby Kimball of Toto, Chuck Leavell of The Rolling Stones, Liberty Devitto (Drummer on Billy Joel’s hits), Jim Gentry, Pat Travers, Billy Ashbaugh (Moody Blues/Pat Benatar), Lisa Fischer (longtime vocalist for The Rolling Stones), 1000 Hands members Michael Franklin, Tommy Calton, Tim Franklin, Jocelyn Hsu, Rayford Griffin and Benoit Lajeunesse and many others including Orchestra and Choir.


The songs provide powerful lyrics, hard to forget choruses, combined with crafty playing. All this combined with Franklin’s lavish and complicated arrangements makes listening to Not In Kansas Anymore a wonderful hour well spent. The stunning album artwork created by Tom Lupo of Magnificent Pictures and subliminal song quotes from the Wizard of OZ, are another added feature to this complex Prog Opera. Currently four videos are in the works.


Steinhardt was in a reborn state of mind in the months prior to finishing the record. He and wife Cindy were looking forward to a new chapter in their lives. He had started rehearsals and was preparing to hit the road in August when he became ill in May. Robby’s musical vision, voice and violin lives on with his first and only solo album, Not In Kansas Anymore! Release was delayed due to Steinhardt’s passing July 17, 2021.


Order Not In Kansas Anymore on digital download, CD and LP with free digital download can be ordered here, and/or here.

Fire From The Gods have released their new song, “SOS”, via Better Noise Music. The Austin-based rock band also unveiled an official lyric video for the song, which tackles the political climate, calling on fans to “stand up and be free.”





The song is available to stream and download across platforms here. Watch the lyric video below.




Discussing the track’s meaning, vocalist AJ Channer said, “With life comes challenges and some of those challenges can seem insurmountable. When we reach said point it can feel like we're drowning. Unfortunately, there may not be someone there to save us. We have to save ourselves. This song speaks that truth, but it is one part of a larger story of self realization and discovery.”





Today’s new music coincides with the band’s European Festival Tour dates across Germany, France, UK and other countries at Rock am Ring, Download Festival, and Hellfest to name a few. In other exciting news, the band will also be joining Five Finger Death Punch, Megadeth, and The HU on tour this summer, trekking across North America.


For tickets and additional information visit firefromthegods.com.


Tour dates:


June
3 - Nuremberg, Germany - Rock am Ring
4 - Nuremberg, Germany - Rock im Park
6 - Stuttgart, Germany - Im Wizemann, Halle
7 - Zurich, Switzerland - Complex
9 - Nickelsdorf, Austria - Nova Rock
12 - Donington Park, UK - Download Festival
13 - London, UK - Islington Assembly Hall
14 - Dusseldorf, Germany - Mitsubishi Electric Halle
15 - Berlin, Germany - Mercedes-Benz Arena
16 - Hradec Kralove, Czech Republic - Rock For People
18 - Clisson, France - Hellfest
19 - Dessel, Belgium - Graspop
20 - Rotterdam, The Netherlands - Ahoy
21 - Rostock, Germany - M.A.U. Club
23 - Oslo, Norway - Tons of Rock Festival


August
19 - Portland, OR - RV Inn Style Resorts Amphitheater
20 - Auburn, WA - White River Amphitheater
23 - Mountain View, CA - Shoreline Amphitheater
24 - Irvine, CA - FivePoint Amphitheater
26 - Phoenix, AZ - Ak-Chin Pavilion
27 - Albuquerque, NM - Isleta Amphitheater
30 - Dallas, TX - Dos Equis Pavilion


September
1 - Del Valle, TX - Germania Insurance Amphitheater
2 - Houston, TX -The Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion presented by Huntsman
6 - Charlotte, NC - PNC Music Pavilion
7 - Raleigh, NC - Coastal Credit Union Music Park at Walnut Creek
9 - Virginia Beach, VA - Veterans United Home Loans Amphitheater at Virginia Beach
10 - Bristow, VA - Jiffy Lube Live
12 - Wantagh, NY - Northwell Health at Jones Beach Theater
14 - Holmdel, NJ - PNC Bank Arts Center
15 - Camden, NJ - Waterfront Music Pavilion
17 - Bangor, ME - Maine Savings Amphitheater
18 - Mansfield, MA - Xfinity Center
20 - Syracuse, NY - St. Joseph’s Health Amphitheater at Lakeview
21 - Pittsburgh, PA - The Pavilion at Star Lake
23 - Scranton, PA - Pavilion at Montage Mountain
24 - Hershey, PA - Hersheypark Stadium
27 - Darien Center, NY - Darien Lake Amphitheater
28 -Cincinnati, OH - Riverbend Music Center
30 - Tinley Park, IL - Hollywood Casino Amphitheater


October
1 - Noblesville, IN - Ruoff Music Center
4 - Cleveland, OH - Blossom Music Center
5 - Clarkston, MI - Pine Knob Music Theatre
7 - Milwaukee, WI - American Family Insurance Amphitheater - Summerfest Grounds
8 - St. Louis, MO - Hollywood Casino Amphitheater
10 - Atlanta, GA - Ameris Bank Amphitheatre
12 - Rogers, AR - Walmart AMP
14 - Denver, CO - Ball Arena
15 - Salt Lake City, UT - USANA Amphitheater

Courtesy of ARTE Concert, the clip below features Norwegian black metal legends Emperor playing at Alcatraz Festival 2021, which took place in Kortrijk, Belgium in August.


The setlist was as follows:


"In the Wordless Chamber"
"Thus Spake the Nightspirit"
"The Loss and Curse of Reverence"
"The Acclamation of Bonds"
"With Strength I Burn" 
"Curse You All Men!" 
"The Majesty of the Nightsky"
"I Am the Black Wizards"
"Inno a Satana"
"Ye Entrancemperium"







Black City Records, in collaboration with Norwegian black metal legends Emperor and Candlelight Records, are the very first store worldwide to offer the latest 140g Abbey Road half-speed masters on coloured vinyl of the following titles:


• Emperor EP
• In The Nightside Eclipse
• Anthems To The Welkin At Dusk
• IX Equilibrium
• Prometheus - Discipline Of Fire & Demise


All versions are in limited quantity and available both instore and online. Buy them here now.





Photo by Void Revelations

DEMON HUNTER will release a new studio album, "Exile", on September 9. The official Darren Craig-directed music video for the LP's first single, "Freedom Is Dead", can be seen below.

"Exile" is the first-ever concept album by the 20-year metal veterans. Set in the aftermath of civilized society's collapse, the 12 songs examine modern life through the lens of a nonconformist, contemplating a life untethered.

A four-issue comic book series, written by singer Ryan Clark, dramatizes the album's themes. "Exile" is an immersive interrogation of cultural norms and a call to true rebellion.

Guitarist Jeremiah Scott produced and mixed "Exile", which boasts guest appearances from Max Cavalera (SOULFLY),Tom S. Englund (EVERGREY) and Richie Faulkner (JUDAS PRIEST).

Colored vinyl variants, deluxe edition CDs, VIP ticket bundles, cassettes, comic books, and new merch are available for preorder at DemonHunter.net.

"Exile" track list:

01. Defense Mechanism (ft. Max Cavalera)
02. Master
03. Silence The World (ft. Tom S. Englund)
04. Heaven Don't Cry
05. Another Place
06. Freedom Is Dead
07. Praise The Void
08. Revolutions
09. Chemicals
10. Godless (ft. Richie Faulkner)
11. Devotion
12. Along The Way

The deluxe edition CD contains two bonus songs, "Sleepwalker" and "Exile", as well as several sonic interludes composed with Randy Torres, whose film work includes sound design on "Interstellar" and "Dunkirk", among other works.

DEMON HUNTER's "Twenty Years In Exile" tour will kicks off in the United States on street date, September 9, and include stops at Blue Ridge Rock Fest, Uprise Fest, and Furnace Fest, in addition to the headlining shows.

"Twenty Years In Exile" tour dates with special guests OPPONENT:

Sep. 09 - Joliet, IL @ The Forge
Sep. 10 - Lexington, KY @ Manchester Music Hall
Sep. 11 - Alton, VA @ Blue Ridge Rock Fest
Sep. 12 - Columbus, OH @ The King Of Clubs
Sep. 13 - Warrendale, PA @ Jergels
Sep. 14 - Bloomington, IL @ Castle Theatre
Sep. 15 - Sauget, IL @ Pop's
Sep. 16 - Fort Wayne, IN @ Pierre's
Sep. 17 - Shippensburg, PA @ Uprise Fest
Sep. 18 - Ashville, NC @ Orange Peel
Sep. 20 - Dallas, TX @ Amplified Live
Sep. 21 - Austin, TX @ Come And Take It
Sep. 22 - Houston, TX @ Warehouse Live
Sep. 23 - Pensacola, FL @ Vinyl Music Hall
Sep. 24 - Birmingham, AL @ Furnace Fest

DEMON HUNTER combines transcendent melody with metallic might. The group's extended family around the world cherish the band's songs as personal anthems and instruments of empowerment. They use songs like "I Am A Stone", "On My Side", "The Last One Alive", "I Will Fail You", "Collapsing" and "Dead Flowers" to mark chapters in their lives: in celebration, in mourning, from weddings to funerals.

Unwavering commitment and stark recognition of the reality of an often-cold world, tempered with defiant hope, define the band's now-20-year-long career. Since 2002, DEMON HUNTER's dedicated supporters wear the group's symbols, lyrics, and album imagery on their shirts, vests, backpacks, uniforms, and in many cases, on their skin.

"Exile" is the first release from DEMON HUNTER's newly formed Weapons MFG.

DEMON HUNTER's most recent release was "Songs Of Death And Resurrection", a mostly acoustic and stripped-down effort which came out in March 2021 via Solid State Records. Scott produced and mixed the LP in Atlanta, Georgia, and Nashville. He also produced the band's "War" (2019),"Peace" (2019),"Outlive" (2017) and "Extremist" (2014) records.

Photo: Darren Craig

MOTIONLESS IN WHITE has shared "Scoring The End Of The World", the title track of its upcoming album. Available today on all streaming platforms, the song features renowned video game composer Mick Gordon, whose credits include "Doom", "Wolfenstein" and "Prey".

Due on June 10 via Roadrunner, "Scoring The End Of The World" is available to pre-save on all streaming platforms, with exclusive merch bundles available for pre-order in the band's official store.

Building on the anticipation for MOTIONLESS IN WHITE's forthcoming album, "Scoring The End Of The World" follows the recent release of "Slaughterhouse" featuring KNOCKED LOOSE's Bryan Garris, which Revolver selected for their weekly "Best New Songs" roundup. Additional album highlights include the previously released singles "Masterpiece" and "Cyberhex", the official videos for which quickly trended Top 10 on YouTube and have since amassed over 8 million views. Furthermore, "Masterpiece" continues to grow at the Active Rock radio format, jumping into the Top 20 this week and continuing to grow in audience.

"Scoring The End Of The World" fully encompasses the expanse of the band's dynamic, deep, and dark vision, and marks the band's first full-length body of work in three years since 2019's "Disguise". The latter has quietly made a major impact on rock music and culture. The single "Another Life" stands out as their most-streamed song ever with over 23 million YouTube views on the music video. The record claimed a spot on Loudwire's "50 Best Metal Albums of 2019," plus it ignited the creative renaissance that would set the stage for the statement-making "Scoring The End Of The World".

Having recently wrapped its massively successful triple-co-headline "Trinity Of Terror" tour with BLACK VEIL BRIDES and ICE NINE KILLS, MOTIONLESS IN WHITE is set to make several U.S. festival appearances this year with anticipated performances slated for Sacramento, California's Aftershock festival (October 7) and Las Vegas, Nevada's When We Were Young festival (October 22, October 23, October 29). Additional upcoming international dates for MOTIONLESS IN WHITE include a summer run in Australia with I PREVAIL and then a 2023 European tour with BEARTOOTH.

"Scoring The End Of The World" track listing:

01. Meltdown
02. Sign Of Life
03. Werewolf
04. Porcelain
05. Slaughterhouse (feat. Bryan Garris)
06. Masterpiece
07. Cause Of Death
08. We Become The Night
09. Burned At Both Ends 2
10. Broadcasting From Beyond The Grave: Corpse Nation
11. Cyberhex
12. Red, White & Boom (feat. Caleb Shomo)
13. Scoring The End Of The World (feat. Mick Gordon)

Photo credit: Ashley Von Helsing

SALIVA has released a new radio single, "Crows", to all major platforms.

The band will continue to drop new tracks and ultimately a full album before the end of the year. The new music has a contemporary feel but sticks to the blue-collar roots that SALIVA fans love.

Singer Bobby Amaru states: "'Crows' is about a broken relationship with someone that is unable to accept what and who they really are. Someone you try and fix but cannot. When I say, 'I'm not bowing to the crows inside your head,' that means I'm done giving in to the same shit that's been eating this relationship alive. I think many people can relate who have been in this situation before. They continue to let the other person drag them down until enough is enough."

This past April, SALIVA released another new single, "Revelation Man". The band's first new track in four years was very personal to Amaru who stated: "'Revelation Man' is about a guy who couldn't accept the struggles of his own addictions. He had to hit rock bottom to see the light. When I say 'had to die to find a revelation,' I don't mean dying literally but there were moments in my life where I felt like I had. It particularly relates with me because of my sobriety of three and a half years. I went through a lot of things before I got sober."

SALIVA has just hit the road with OTHERWISE. The 16-date tour kicked off last night (Thursday, June 2) in Columbia, South Carolina at New Brookland Tavern and will end on June 26 in Johnson City, Tennessee at Capones.

As previously reported, SALIVA will reunite with its original singer Josey Scott for a one-off appearance at this year's Blue Ridge Rock Festival, set to take place September 8-11 at the Virginia International Raceway in Alton, Virginia.

Scott left SALIVA at the end of 2011 after 15 years with the group, reportedly to pursue a solo Christian music career. He was quickly replaced by Amaru, who can be heard on SALIVA's last four releases: "In It To Win It" (2013),"Rise Up" (2014),"Love, Lies & Therapy" (2016) and "10 Lives" (2018).

SALIVA released six albums with Scott and tasted platinum success and a Grammy nomination for its first big hit, "Your Disease".

In May 2021, SALIVA celebrated the 20th anniversary of its breakthrough major label debut, "Every Six Seconds", with a special project called "Every Twenty Years", an EP of classic songs re-recorded with Amaru.

In a new interview with Banger TV's Sam Dunn, MASTODON drummer Brann Dailor spoke about the fact that he and his bandmates have managed to keep the same lineup since the group's inception more than two decades ago. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "At any time, anybody in MASTODON is free to go; there's no shackles, obviously. But I couldn't imagine it without one of the other guys. We're just such close friends. When we get together, we just like hanging out with each other. Yeah, we've had some trying times, but nothing… It feels very cliché [to say], but [we're like] brothers. If there's ever arguments or anything like that, it's dealt with like grownups do — we sit and talk about it. Or if there was something said late night, the next day it gets squashed. We say, 'Hey, do you really feel this way or was that the booze talking?" And usually it's hugs and it's fine."

Asked how he and his MASTODON bandmates maintain their friendship after so long, Brann said: "One thing that I think really helps, and this is a business thing, but it's publishing. We share equal publishing. And I think that that really helps. I've heard… I don't wanna name names, but there's some bands that famously didn't share publishing, and it really hurt them and it probably ended their careers. It's a shame, when you find out these stories about your favorite bands and they just couldn't make it work or get along, and it comes down to, unfortunately, a business decision. Where I feel like even if… Trying to look at it in the big picture and trying to imagine a lengthy career and say this album maybe somebody didn't contribute as much as someone else, but maybe on the next album they will contribute more. You don't know. But you try to just have the respect for your other players to say, 'I wrote this song but it's not gonna be a real MASTODON song unless Brent Hinds is playing a guitar solo on it or unless Troy Sanders is singing on it or Bill [Kelliher] adds his flavor of guitar riffage to something that I might have written. And so it's about respect and about respecting each other's artistry. And also we're just good friends and we crack each other up and we have 20-something years of inside jokes. I don't have any siblings, so those are my siblings. And even if MASTODON was to disband, I would never wanna see those relationships go away because I don't wanna lose the 20 years of reminiscing or the things that we've been through as a group. I've been all around the world a million times with those guys and had crazy experiences opening for all our favorite bands in the world. I mean, the stories are endless. So I don't want that to go away."

Last December, Kelliher spoke to the FM99 WNOR radio station about the fact that he and his bandmates decided from the beginning to split their songwriting credits equally between the four members of the group. He said: "In our band, when we first started, I remember when signing [a record deal]… We got a lawyer, and he wanted [to know], 'How do you wanna divvy all your publishing up?' And, 'Who writes what?' — music and stuff like that. And I thought about it long and hard, and I said everybody in the band has a job and everybody does something. It might not always be this person that writes every song, and I just think it'd be silly if it's, like, well, the guys that write the most get paid the most. 'Cause that's gonna be like a competition now in our band. So many bands break up over that. Bands that have one guy that does all the writing tend to kind of sound very similar on every song.

"I said, 'You know what? Just divvy everything up 25 percent [for each member],'" he revealed. "So, no matter what people do in the band… Everyone always has a job. And sometimes Troy doesn't write that many riffs, but he writes lyrics. Brann plays drums but he writes most of the lyrical content lately.

"I just didn't want it to be like a competition," Bill added. "And it's worked out well for us. Everybody writes and everybody contributes in their own ways. Back in the day, Troy drove the van 90 percent of the time. It's, like, well, how do you pay somebody more for that if they don't write the music and you have it in the contract where the guys that write the music get paid more. We're not that kind of band. We're a very fair and democratic kind of band. And that's what keeps us going."

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

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

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

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

Former SEPULTURA members Max Cavalera and Igor "Iggor" Cavalera performed at the Gramercy Theatre in New York City on Tuesday, May 31. The show was part of their 2022 "Return Beneath Arise" tour, which kicked off on May 22 at the Sunshine Theater in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Video of the Gramercy gig — courtesy of Ignacio Orellana of Army Of One TV — can be seen below.

"Return Beneath Arise" sees Max and Igor performing select tracks from SEPULTURA's seminal "Beneath The Remains" and "Arise" albums. Joining Max and Igor on the trek are Mike Leon of SOULFLY and Daniel Gonzalez of POSSESSED.

When Leon and Gonzalez's addition to the touring lineup was first announced, Max said in a statement: "'Beneath The Remains'/'Arise' tour is coming! Introducing on bass guitar, thrashing and blasting bass beast Mike Leon (SOULFLY) and on lead guitar, state-of-the-art death/thrash expert Daniel Gonzalez (POSSESSED/GRUESOME). We're gonna take these songs to the metal world in the most brutal way ever! Under a pale gray sky, we shall arise."

Added Igor: "We can only count with the illest players to step on stage with me and Max to play 'Beneath'/'Arise'. So getting Dan Gonzalez from POSSESSED/GRUESOME and Mike Leon from SOULFLY was an amazing choice!... Can't wait to hit the road!"

Said Leon: "I am super excited to be a part of the revival of these classic albums with the brothers that created them. It is a great honor! These shows are gonna CRUSH, and I'm sure that we are gonna deliver these songs better than they have ever been played before to everyone who joins us! See you on the road!"

Stated Gonzalez: "It would be an understatement to say that I am incredibly stoked and honored to be able to play with Max and Iggor, and the fact that we'll be playing material from 'Beneath The Remains' and 'Arise' is beyond surreal to me since I grew up worshiping those albums. Max and Iggor helped change the standards of extreme metal and those albums are still living proof of that. It's insane to me as a fan and as a musician to be able to play these songs live, and I can't wait to do them justice!!!"

Max and Igor kicked off a tour celebrating "Beneath The Remains" and "Arise" back in 2018. In early 2020, Max revealed plans to bring the trek to the U.S., but no dates had been announced prior to the pandemic.

In a 2018 interview with Wall Of Sound, Max stated about revisiting the "Beneath The Remains" and "Arise" material on the most recent run of shows: "I had to learn those riffs again for the tour, and I had to rediscover the albums again. It was a really fun process, learning the lyrics again. I kind of fell in love with the albums again. I don't have a favorite — I like both together, and I think they're meant to be together. For some reason, they just feel right when you play them together. I was very young when I made them, so it made me very aware of my state of mind at the time. I feel like I'm pretty much the same guy. I'm [52] now, but I'm still a metalhead in the heart. I still have the teenage spirit. I'm a huge metal fan, [a] huge supporter of metal. That's just how it was when those albums were done. It's a blessing that I get to do that with my brother, especially after all we went through together and we didn't speak for 10 years. Now, it's good — we are in a good place, and our brotherhood is really good, and we're just having fun with this music... There's an energy and a real anger and real passion in those songs that translates into people losing their minds when they hear it. I don't even have to tell them, 'Circle pit' — they will do it themselves. It's just the power of music."

In 1996, Max exited SEPULTURA after the rest of the band split with Max's wife Gloria as their manager.

Igor left SEPULTURA in June 2006 due to "artistic differences." His departure from the band came five months after he announced that he was taking a break from SEPULTURA's touring activities to spend time with his second wife and their son (who was born in January 2006).

The current SEPULTURA lineup — featuring guitarist Andreas Kisser and bassist Paulo Xisto Pinto Jr. alongside Derrick Green on vocals and Eloy Casagrande on drums — released its latest studio album, "Quadra", in February 2020 via Nuclear Blast.

BUCKCHERRY frontman Josh Todd spoke to Radioactive MikeZ, host of the 96.7 KCAL-FM program "Wired In The Empire", about the band's plans to record its tenth studio album. He said: "We are still touring. We've been touring since June 1st of last year. We put in about 200 shows typically on a record cycle. So we're gonna finish out this run; it goes all the way to September. And we've been already writing for the new record, so we almost have a whole record of material together now. So once we get off the road, we'll go in and record and then we're gonna take a few months off and then put out our tenth record."

BUCKCHERRY's follow-up to last year's "Hellbound" will once again he helmed by producer and songwriter-for-hire Marti Frederiksen, who has previously collaborated with AEROSMITH, DEF LEPPARD, Jonny Lang and Sheryl Crow, among many others.

Frederiksen previously produced "Hellbound" as well as BUCKCHERRY's fourth album, "Black Butterfly", and co-wrote "Sorry", among other songs, with the band.

Regarding how BUCKCHERRY goes about deciding which songs to include in its shows, Todd told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution: "'Hellbound' is so good that we all want to play every song. But there are the usual suspects we always have got to play, like 'Crazy Bitch', 'Lit Up' and 'Sorry'. Then we have eight other records, so it is challenging, but we do a pretty good job and we rotate songs every night. We have a lot of what I call frequent fliers that come to multiple shows, so I think that's nice for them as well."

"Hellbound" came out in June 2021 via Round Hill Records. The follow-up to 2019's "Warpaint" was recorded in the fall of 2020 in Nashville, Tennessee.

In the summer of 2020, BUCKCHERRY recruited JETBOY's Billy Rowe as its new guitarist. He joined the group as the replacement for Kevin Roentgen, who left BUCKCHERRY in July of that year.

In 2019, BUCKCHERRY enlisted Francis Ruiz as its new drummer. He joined the group as the replacement for Sean Winchester, who exited BUCKCHERRY after laying down the drum tracks on "Warpaint".

EUROPE's music video for the group's 1986 mega-hit "The Final Countdown" has surpassed one billion views on YouTube. The Nick Morris-directed clip, which was uploaded to YouTube in October 2009, contains footage from two concerts EUROPE played at Solnahallen in Solna, Sweden on May 26 and May 27, 1986, as well as some extra footage filmed at the soundchecks for those gigs.

EUROPE announced the YouTube milestone in a social media post on Tuesday (May 31). The band wrote: "Unbelievable! One Billion Views! Thanks so much to everyone out there who has enjoyed 'The Final Countdown' song and video! We're sure we have annoyed a few people along the way as well with this song. : ) In any case we are super thrilled and will celebrate tonight in Gothenburg with all our fans on this tour with WHITESNAKE!"

"The Final Countdown" was the first single released from EUROPE's third studio album, "The Final Countdown", in 1986. The band's most recognizable and popular song, it reached No. 1 in 25 countries, including the United Kingdom. In the United States the song peaked at No. 8 on the Billboard Hot 100 and 18 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks chart. The single was certified gold in the United Kingdom in 1986.

Four years ago, EUROPE vocalist Joey Tempest was asked by Australia's Wall Of Sound if he knew "The Final Countdown" would be a smash when he was writing it and recording it. He responded: "It is a good question. I did the demo at home with this song and we had the ideas for it for so long. It was a one-minute demo since high school for me. On the third album, we decided to record the song and we were talking about writing around this main keyboard riff. Initially, it was really a soundtrack-type song and not a hit single, and I guess this was good for it. I remember playing the demo for the guys and they really saw the song so strong and it built from there. [But] no, we never knew that this was going to be such a big hit. We opened the album and the tour with this song, but we really thought this was not the one to be the initial single."

According to Tempest, "The Final Countdown" still stands as "one of our strongest albums and it was one of the albums that stands out; it opened up a lot of doors for the band. You know, 'Wings Of Tomorrow' was a little more naïve and stronger in that regard. But personally, I think we have done better albums, especially in the last [few] years. The three last albums are our strongest, but obviously it was something that belonged in that era and something so important to our career and history."

EUROPE's latest album, "Walk The Earth", was released in October 2017 via the band's own Hell & Back label through Silver Lining Music.

Unbelievable!
One Billion Views! Thanks so much to everyone out there who has enjoyed The Final Countdown song and...

Posted by Europe on Tuesday, May 31, 2022

British heavy metal legends IRON MAIDEN played the fourth show of the 2022 leg of their "Legacy Of The Beast" world tour on May 31 at Žalgiris Arena in Kaunas, Lithuania. It marked the band's fourth live appearance in 31 months.

As was the case with the May 22 concert at the Arena Zagreb in Zagreb, Croatia, the May 24 show in Belgrade, Serbia and the May 26 gig at Romexpo in Bucharest, Romania, MAIDEN opened the set with "Senjutsu", the title track of its latest studio album, and followed it up with two more songs from the same LP, "Stratego" and "The Writing On The Wall".

Other tracks aired during MAIDEN's performance included "Revelations", "Blood Brothers", "Sign Of The Cross", "Flight Of Icarus", "Fear Of The Dark", "Hallowed Be Thy Name", "The Number Of The Beast" and "Iron Maiden".

MAIDEN also played two encores, consisting of "The Trooper", "The Clansman", "Run To The Hills" and the closing track of the night, "Aces High".

The full setlist was as follows:

01. Senjutsu
02. Stratego
03. The Writing On The Wall
04. Revelations
05. Blood Brothers
06. Sign Of The Cross
07. Flight Of Icarus
08. Fear Of The Dark
09. Hallowed Be Thy Name
10. The Number Of The Beast
11. Iron Maiden

Encore:

12. The Trooper
13. The Clansman
14. Run To The Hills

Encore 2:

15. Aces High

Prior to the Zagreb concert, IRON MAIDEN hadn't performed live in two and a half years — since the completion of its South American tour in October 2019.

Earlier this year, IRON MAIDEN singer Bruce Dickinson confirmed that the band is planning to stage a tour where it will perform its new album, "Senjutsu", in its entirety. The 63-year-old singer told the "Talk Is Jericho" podcast: "The plan we've got — it's not really a secret; I think everybody else has chatted about it — we will, I hope, we've talked about doing the entire ['Senjutsu'] album start to finish, but not this time around. And we all appreciate that that is something that really diehard fans will probably love and other people will go, 'Hmmm, I'm not gonna go see that.' So the answer is you play smaller venues so that they sell out with just your diehard fans. 'Cause it's a musical thing to do — it's a musical thing."

Dickinson went on to clarify that the 2022 leg of MAIDEN's "Legacy Of The Beast" tour, which is scheduled to hit North America in September and October, will once again focus primarily on a decades-spanning setlist of fan favorites.

"The 'Legacy Of The Beast' tour, people have all paid their money to see the 'Legacy Of The Beast' show, with Spitfires and flamethrowers and Icarus and everything that goes with," he said. "So they're gonna get all that. But the first three tracks are probably gonna be the first three tracks on the ['Senjutsu'] album. 'The Writing On The Wall' they already know, so everybody should know the first three tracks. And I just think [the] 'Senjutsu' [title track] is just such a great opening song — so dramatic. And then once you've done that — and we'll have a stage set to go with it — once you've done that, you're back to the kind of 'Legacy' world at that point. But I think 'The Writing On The Wall' is gonna be a great song — I mean, a crowd singalong song. You can imagine that. It'll be fantastic."

Addressing the fact that MAIDEN infuriated some fans by forcing them to sit through the band's then-new, 75-minute "A Matter Of Life And Death" album on tour in 2006, denying the crowd the greatest hits they'd come for, Bruce said: "Nobody has to buy a ticket. If you don't wanna go [see us play an entire new album live], you don't buy a ticket. It's gonna be plain as the nose on your face. This is gonna be what they're gonna do. So given that, don't complain that they did what they said they were gonna do."

Clocking in at a hefty 82 minutes, "Senjutsu" came out in September. It marks MAIDEN's second consecutive double album behind 2015's "The Book Of Souls" which is the longest MAIDEN album, with a running time of 92 minutes.

IRON MAIDEN's first album in six years, "Senjutsu" was recorded in 2019 in Paris with longstanding producer Kevin Shirley and co-produced by bassist Steve Harris. It features three tracks whose running time exceeds 10 minutes each.

For "Senjutsu" — loosely translated as "tactics and strategy" — the band once again enlisted the services of Mark Wilkinson to create the spectacular Samurai-themed cover artwork, based on an idea by Harris.

"Senjutsu" bowed at No. 3 on the Billboard 200 chart, charting higher than even the band's early classics like "Powerslave" and "The Number Of The Beast". Nearly 90 percent of the LP's 64,000 equivalent album units earned came from pure album sales. The critically acclaimed double album debuted one place higher than 2015's "The Book Of Souls" and 2010's "The Final Frontier", which both peaked at No. 4.

"Senjutsu" was MAIDEN's 13th album to top in the Top 40 in the U.S.

According to Billboard, "Senjutsu" logged the second-largest week of 2021 for a hard rock album in both equivalent album units earned and in traditional album sales.

"Senjutsu" topped the charts in several European countries upon its release, including in Belgium, Finland, Germany, Italy, Sweden and Switzerland.

Progressive deathcore outfit, Enterprise Earth, is pleased to officially welcome singer Travis Worland (Aethere, Bite//Down, The Willow) to their ranks. Worland has been fronting the band throughout their 2022 live adventures.


Comments guitarist Gabe Mangold, “We’re very stoked to officially announce Travis Worland as the new singer of Enterprise Earth. His vocal style, performance, personality, and work ethic are a perfect fit for us and we cannot wait for everyone to hear the first song that we’ve created together, 'Psalm Of Agony’ (coming June 17). Prepare for the best incarnation of Enterprise Earth yet."
 
Adds Worland, “After months of touring with the band, I am happy to assimilate into the entity that is Enterprise Earth. ‘Psalm Of Agony’ is the first step in a culmination of efforts only just beginning.”


The Chosen Tour begins July 22 in Seattle, Washington and runs through August 20 in Salt Lake City, Utah. Support will be provided by Within Destruction, Sentinels, and labelmates Great American Ghost. See all confirmed dates below.







Tour dates:


July
22 - El Corazon - Seattle, WA
23 - Dantes - Portland, OR
25 - Goldfields - Roseville, CA
26 - Chain Reaction - Anaheim, CA
27 - Nile Theater - Mesa, AZ
28 - Rockhouse - El Paso, TX
29 - Club Dada - Dallas, TX
30 - Come & Take It - Austin, TX
31 - The Secret Group - Houston, TX


August
2 - The Brass Mug - Tampa, FL
3 - Respectables - West Palm, FL
4 - The Haven - Orlando, FL
5 - Masquerade - Atlanta, GA
6 - Neighborhood Theater - Charlotte, NC
7 - The End - Nashville, TN
9 - Planet Trog - Allentown, PA
10 - Webster Underground - Hartford, CT
11 - Knitting Factory - Brooklyn, NY
12 - The Outpost - Kent, OH
13 - The Sanctuary - Detroit, MI
14 - WC Social Club - Chicago, IL
16 - Emerson Theater - Indianapolis, IN
17 - Skylark - Rock Island, IL
18 - The Marquee - Sioux City, IA
19 - HQ - Denver, CO
20 - Kilby Court - Salt Lake City, UT


(Photo - Chris Klumpp)

Dutch symphonic metal band, Epica, embarked on their longest-ever tour of Mexico, from May 10 until May 21, 2022. The band has shared this recap video:





Sabaton have announced "The Tour To End All Tours - North America 2022", a 25-date North American trek with support from Epica. For tickets, head to sabaton.net/tour/.







Tour dates:


September
15 - Paramount Theatre - Seattle, WA
16 - Roseland Theater - Portland, OR
17 - Roseland Theater - Portland, OR
19 - Revolution Concert House - Boise, ID
21 - Fox Theater - Oakland, CA
23 - Hollywood Palladium - Los Angeles, CA
24 - Arizona Federal Theatre - Phoenix, AZ
25 - Brooklyn Bowl - Las Vegas, NV
27 - The Complex - Salt Lake City, UT
28 - Fillmore Auditorium - Denver, CO
30 - South Side Ballroom - Dallas, TX


October
1 - Bayou Music Center - Houston, TX
3 - Ryman Auditorium - Nashville, TN
4 - Tabernacle - Atlanta, GA
6 - The Fillmore Silver Spring - Silver Spring, MD
8 - The Andrew J Brady Music Center - Cincinnati, OH
10 - The Fillmore - Detroit, MI
11 - GLC Live at 20 Monroe - Grand Rapids, MI
13 - The Fillmore - Minneapolis, MN
15 - Byline Bank Aragon Ballroom - Chicago, IL
17 - Stage AE - Pittsburgh, PA
18 - The Fillmore - Philadelphia, PA
21 - MGM Music Hall at Fenway - Boston, MA
22 - Place Bell - Montreal, QC
23 - Hammerstein Ballroom - New York, NY

Following a slaying performance at Maryland Deathfest last weekend, Floridian death metal juggernauts, Massacre, have announced plans to release a new EP, titled Mythos, on July 1 via Nuclear Blast.


Today, the band has revealed the record's first single, "Behind The Serpent's Curse", which features Anders Odden (Cadaver), that is accompanied by a b-side track, "The Dunwich Horror". Pre-save/pre-order the Mythos EP here.







Commenting on the new single and b-side, vocalist Kam Lee states:  "'Behind the Serpent's Curse' is lyrically inspired by and roughly based on the Lovecraft short story "The Curse Of Yig," but is also the most metaphorically lyrical based song I've written in Massacre, and that is directly inspired by actual real life circumstances. It acts like a warning of sorts and is a foretelling of how it's been like dealing with certain toxic individuals in my life. It indirectly relates to individuals whom always seem to come in pairs, and how, like serpents these people spread their venomous poison (lies).


I also had guest vocalist Anders Odden (Cadaver) join me on this particular track because lyrically it is very similar in theme to the Cadaver track "Feed The Pigs" that I made a guest appearance on. Having two distinct vocalist on a track that lyrically is based on the concepts of duality of untrusting individuals wasn't just an after thought either, I always intended this track to be represented by two vocalist.


'The Dunwich Horror' is a more traditional track in both lyrical approach and aesthetics. It's just basically loosely based upon the Lovecraft story of the same name, but still resonates upon the core theme of twins. Two seemingly evil brother abominations brought into this world by a grotesque and hideous matriarch. I guess one could say I am suggesting that behind every pair of twin lying toxic men is always an equally conniving female antagonist. Yeah, sure, I'm simply reflecting upon my own past experiences, but it seems to be the case in a lot of similar circumstances.


Musically both tracks are laden in the same old school death metal style that can be found on 'Resurgence.' It's a sound and style that carries over and shall continue to be the core essence of MASSACRE under my helm."


Stream "Behind The Serpent's Curse" here, and watch a visualizer below:

Robert Plant and Alison Krauss launched their 2022 Raise The Roof tour last night (Wednesday, June 1) at the Marvin Sands Performing Arts Center in Canandaigua, NY. Fan-filmed footage of their performance of the Led Zeppelin classic, "Rock And Roll", can be viewed below:





Plant and Krauss recently announced a new string of US dates in support of Raise The Roof. The new leg launches on August 15 in San Diego, CA, and concludes on September 4 in Austin, TX. Dates below.







August
15 - San Diego, CA - The Rady Shell @ Jacobs Park
17 - Santa Barbara, CA - Santa Barbara Bowl
18 - Los Angeles, CA - The Greek Theatre
20 - Stateline, NV - Lake Tahoe Outdoor Arena at Harvey’s
21 - Berkeley, CA - The Greek Theatre
23 - Napa, CA - Oxbow Riverstage
25 - Bend, OR - Hayden Homes Amphitheater
27 - Troutdale, OR - Edgefield Amphitheater
28 - Redmond, WA - Marymoor Park
30 - Salt Lake City, UT - Sandy Amp


September
1 - Denver, CO - Red Rocks Amphitheatre
3 - Grand Prairie, TX - Texas Trust CU Theatre at Grand Prairie
4 - Austin, TX - Moody Amphitheater


(Photo - David McClister)