Former MEGADETH bassist David Ellefson and Chip Z'Nuff (ENUFF Z'NUFF) have teamed up under the moniker ELLEFSON Z'NUFF to deliver a fresh take on a classic rock anthem by CHEAP TRICK.

The track "Downed" originally appeared as a hidden bonus track on Ellefson's 2020 "No Cover" album, but has been remixed and is now available across all digital streaming platforms.

Musicians appearing on the track:

Vocals: Chip Z’Nuff
Bass: David Ellefson
Guitars: Drew Fortier
Drums: Mike Heller
Guest Vocals: Vin Dombroski

"Downed" was produced by Ellefson and Drew Fortier. It was mixed and mastered by Alessio Garavello at Rogue Recording in London, England.

Ellefson reflects on the project: "It's always a thrill to go back into our record collections and pay homage to the artists who inspired us. CHEAP TRICK are absolute legends, and 'Downed' is one of those deep cuts that had a huge influence on me and so many others. These covers are a tribute to the songs and musicians who shaped our careers."

In December 2024, Ellefson released a powerful rendition of "Ah! Leah!", a beloved track by Donnie Iris, also with Chip Z'Nuff on vocals along with Stephen Shareaux of KIK TRACEE.

Ellefson recently launched the 2025 installment of his "Bass Warrior" European tour.

"Bass Warrior" sees Ellefson gracing select European cities with a captivating evening of cherished classics, deep cuts, and insightful storytelling from his illustrious career. This journey encompasses his role as a co-founding member of MEGADETH, his ELLEFSON solo material, and more.

Accompanying Ellefson on this tour is Italian guitarist and musical director Andy Martongelli, a longtime friend and collaborator who has been by Ellefson's side during his solo ventures, "Basstory", ELLEFSON-SOTO and ALTITUDES & ATTITUDE tours across Europe. On drums is Roberto Pirami (Michael Angelo Batio, Rowan Robertson, Gus G.),on vocals Titta Tani (EHFAR, ex-drummer of Claudio Simonetti's GOBLIN),and on rhythm guitar Walter Cianciusi (Geoff Tate band).

Ellefson was originally in MEGADETH from the band's inception in 1983 to 2002, when the group briefly broke up because MEGADETH leader Dave Mustaine suffered severe nerve damage that left him unable to play.

Mustaine reformed MEGADETH 21 years ago. Originally setting out to record a solo album, Mustaine enlisted studio musicians to play on what ultimately became MEGADETH's 2004 "The System Has Failed" comeback album, subsequently recruiting former ICED EARTH bassist James MacDonough to take Ellefeson's place for the album's touring cycle.

Ellefson sued Mustaine in 2004 for $18.5 million, alleging that the MEGADETH guitarist/vocalist still owed him substantial merchandise and publishing royalties. In January 2005, the case was dismissed in court, and five years later, Ellefson rejoined MEGADETH.

Ellefson was fired from MEGADETH nearly four years ago after sexually tinged messages and explicit video footage involving the bassist were posted on Twitter.

FOREIGNER singer Kelly Hansen has released a new statement to BLABBERMOUTH.NET regarding his absence from the band's upcoming Latin American and Canadian tours. The 63-year-old vocalist, who has fronted the legendary rockers for the past two decades, said: "We had a great start to our touring year with a sold-out run in Florida, and I am so looking forward to continuing my journey with this incredible band. We will be headlining the pre-race concert at the Long Beach Grand Prix on April 12 and continuing through the year with over sixty more shows.

"However, some residency issues have forced me to limit appearances outside of the USA this year and this means that I will miss some international shows," he explained. "FOREIGNER's upcoming South American run will feature our incredible bandmate Luis Maldonado, who has been recording some of our hits in Spanish, and he will be handling most of the lead vocals along with [original FOREIGNER singer] Lou Gramm who will be guesting with FOREIGNER for those shows. I know they will smash it!

"FOREIGNER is touring Canada in the fall as a prelude to the launch of a production of 'Juke Box Hero', the musical featuring our songs, and I unfortunately will miss that one too. Luis Maldonado will handle the lead vocals but in order to focus attention on the musical, we have asked Canada's own Geordie Brown, who starred in the original workshop productions in Calgary and Edmonton and the sold-out run in Toronto at the Ed Mirvish Theater, to sing a few songs in our set. I know Luis and Geordie will do a great job on this leg, and I can't wait to hear how it goes!"

Gramm most recently joined FOREIGNER's current lineup on stage at the end of the band's March 15 concert at the BayCare Sound in Clearwater, Florida to perform two of the legendary rock group's classic songs, "I Want To Know What Love Is" and "Hot Blooded". Fan-filmed video of his appearance can be seen below.

Gramm previously said he planned to retire at the end of 2024, but later revealed that he was in talks to make appearances at "select" tour dates with FOREIGNER's current lineup in 2025. Bassist Rick Wills and drummer Dennis Elliott are also expected to appear at some shows, including FOREIGNER's upcoming Las Vegas residency.

Gramm was the voice on FOREIGNER's biggest hits, including "Feels Like The First Time" and "Cold As Ice" from the band's eponymous debut in 1977, and later songs like "Hot Blooded" and "I Want to Know What Love Is".

The 74-year-old Gramm left FOREIGNER for good in 2002 and has battled health issues in recent years, including the removal of a non-cancerous tumor. He told the Democrat & Chronicle in 2018 that he was planning to retire, but still reunited with FOREIGNER for several shows that year.

FOREIGNER replaced Gramm with Hansen in 2005. Guitarist Mick Jones, the only remaining original member of FOREIGNER, suffered from some health issues beginning in 2011, eventually resulting in heart surgery in 2012. In February 2024, Jones revealed on social media that he was battling Parkinson's disease, which explained his absence from FOREIGNER's live shows since 2022.

FOREIGNER's 13-city Canadian tour will begin on October 21 in St. John's, Newfoundland and conclude on November 7 in Kelowna, British Columbia. The tour includes a stop in Brown's hometown at Halifax's Scotiabank Centre on October 24. Canadian rockers 54-40 will provide support.

The last time Brown joined FOREIGNER on stage was for a surprise appearance on the final night of the band's "Cold As Ice" tour in Halifax in March 2019. Brown has stayed in touch with the band in recent years and was in Cleveland this past fall when they were inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame.

FOREIGNER singer Kelly Hansen has revealed that he will be forced to miss the band's spring 2025 Latin American tour, which is scheduled to kick off on April 28 in Mexico City. He said in a statement: "Some issues have forced me to limit appearances outside of the USA this year, and this means, unfortunately, I will miss FOREIGNER's South American run. However, our incredible bandmate Luis Maldonado has been recording some of our hits in Spanish and he will be handling most of the vocals along with [original FOREIGNER singer] Lou Gramm who will be guesting with FOREIGNER for those shows. I know they will smash it!"

Gramm most recently joined FOREIGNER's current lineup on stage at the end of the band's March 15 concert at the BayCare Sound in Clearwater, Florida to perform two of the legendary rock group's classic songs, "I Want To Know What Love Is" and "Hot Blooded". Fan-filmed video of his appearance can be seen below.

Gramm previously said he planned to retire at the end of 2024, but later revealed that he was in talks to make appearances at "select" tour dates with FOREIGNER's current lineup in 2025. Bassist Rick Wills and drummer Dennis Elliott are also expected to appear at some shows, including FOREIGNER's upcoming Las Vegas residency.

Gramm addressed the possibility of playing shows with FOREIGNER in 2025 during a November 2024 appearance on SiriusXM's "Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk". He said: "FOREIGNER's management asked me, Phil Carson asked me if I would be interested in doing some shows with the band. And I said, 'Well, I said I'm ending my band at the end of June because I don't wanna be on the road anymore. I'm not sure, whether I'm out with my band or your band, it's still on the road.' I said, 'I'm not sure I would be up for doing that.' But I said, 'Talk to me more about it.' He was telling me that they wanna do a substantial tour of the world, which doesn't appeal to me. I don't wanna be out for eight or ten months again without seeing my kids and without being able to drive my cars. I had this planned out that I would wrap up my career in June of next year and then have the summer to play with my cars and see my kids and start the rest of my life. So I'm not sure I wanna go out on the FOREIGNER farewell tour with the new band. And I told Phil I would think about it. And he says that he will come back to me with the particulars, 'cause they're going around the world and stuff."

Lou elaborated on his reasons for not wanting to go on an extended tour again, saying: "I just don't feel like I wanna travel. I'm not sure that the world is a safe place to be touring right now in the way that the state of the world is. So, I don't know. I don't get a real good feeling about doing that. If it was just the States, I would consider it. So I know we're gonna talk. I also wanna know what my compensation would be. If I put an end to my touring for my career, it wouldn't be really an end if I was gonna pick up and go out with the new FOREIGNER for a FOREIGNER farewell tour. I'm not exactly sure how I feel about it. It would be much more interesting to me if it was members of the original FOREIGNER with augmented instrumentation, like another guitar player or something, rather than go out with another band that calls themselves FOREIGNER. I have a tough time wrapping my head around that."

Asked how many songs he would be expected to sing if he was to appear as a guest on FOREIGNER's 2025 tour, Lou said: "Well, I asked Phil, and he was talking about me doing about five songs. And I says, 'Well, I'd like to do 'Jukebox Hero'.' And he goes, 'I'm not sure about that.' I says, 'I definitely wanna do 'I Want To Know What Love Is'.' And he said, 'I don't think so, no.' And I says, 'Well, I definitely would like to do…' — I can't remember what other song it was, but he goes, 'Hmm, I don't know about that.' So it sounds as if he talked to Kelly about it and Kelly made his claims on certain songs… I couldn't do 'Hot Blooded'. Every song I suggested that I would like to do, he told me he didn't think so. I think he told me what I couldn't sing. And then I would just have to pick from what's left. Mind you, there's a lot of great songs that are left, but there's particular songs that are my trademark songs, and if I can't sing 'em, I don't wanna be out on the road… I suggested four songs, maybe five songs, and he says, 'Not that one. No, I don't think so.' So I just stopped there, because I figured I could keep going for a while and he would keep telling me the same thing. It would be, 'I don't think so, Lou.' 'Pick another one, Lou,' blah, blah, blah, blah. I mean, how do I pick songs that I helped to make famous, and he's telling me, 'Not that one.' [Laughs]"

He added: "It's frustrating, but I don't want it to be frustrating. I've been thinking about it for about a month; that's when I found out that I couldn't sing my own favorite songs on the tour. So I think I'm just gonna tell 'em that I'm not interested."

Asked if he thinks they have concerns about his ability to sing some of FOREIGNER's classic songs, Lou replied: "No. Their concern's about Kelly's ego."

In October 2022, Gramm was asked during an appearance on SiriusXM's "Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk" what he thought of Hansen, who has been in the group for two decades. "I think he's a good singer," Lou said. "And he sings those songs okay; he sings them good. But he mimics my style right down to the ad-libs, and I'm offended by that… I just think that if he's gonna sing the songs, he could sing the melodies that are familiar, but when it comes to the ad-libs and all the little things that set me aside as a vocalist when I sing them, he should make his own up. He should have his own ad-libs that are his own; he doesn't have to mimic me."

Gramm's latest comments echoed those he made a little over two months earlier when he told John Beaudin of RockHistoryMusic.com about Hansen: "Kelly is all right. He's a good singer. But I think Mick really told Kelly, when he first got in the band, that he had to study me, because he sings those songs with the same musical innuendos and vocal licks and ad-libs as I have. He's mimicking me. His voice doesn't sound like me, but he's singing the songs the way I would sing them.

"Some people say, 'Well, take it as a compliment, Lou.' I don't take it as a compliment," Gramm continued. "You're a singer with a big band like that — use your voice and your style. Don't hang your coat on my hook.

"I don't think he should sing the songs verbatim like me," Lou added. "Maybe sing a couple of parts. But let his own influences show — show the fans that he's the new singer now, not me."

Asked what it was like to share the stage with Hansen and other members of the current and original FOREIGNER lineup in 2017 and 2018 to celebrate the band's 40th anniversary, Lou told RockHistoryMusic.com: "It was okay. [Kelly] was bouncing off the walls. He couldn't stand still or sit still. After a song ended, I couldn't even get a word to thank the audience or tell 'em that I was happy to be part of the reunion. At the end of the song, the last song hit, and there wasn't a quarter of a second of space before he was yapping away to the audience… It was, like, 'Jeez, will you quiet down for a minute?'"

Gramm was the voice on FOREIGNER's biggest hits, including "Feels Like The First Time" and "Cold As Ice" from the band's eponymous debut in 1977, and later songs like "Hot Blooded" and "I Want to Know What Love Is".

The 74-year-old Gramm left FOREIGNER for good in 2002 and has battled health issues in recent years, including the removal of a non-cancerous tumor. He told the Democrat & Chronicle in 2018 that he was planning to retire, but still reunited with FOREIGNER for several shows that year.

FOREIGNER replaced Gramm with Hansen in 2005. Jones, the only remaining original member of FOREIGNER, suffered from some health issues beginning in 2011, eventually resulting in heart surgery in 2012.

Gramm and Jones's June 2013 performance of "I Want To Know What Love Is" and "Juke Box Hero" at the Songwriters Hall Of Fame in New York City marked the first time the pair performed together in a decade after Gramm left FOREIGNER for a second time. Hansen has fronted the group for the past 20 years.

In other news, FOREIGNER has announced that the band's three-disc set "Can't Slow Down" has officially achieved gold certification from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). The 2009 set, which included 12 brand new songs, a collection of remixes, and a live DVD, has added a major milestone in the band's illustrious career.

Originally released on September 29, 2009, "Can't Slow Down" is a comprehensive package that showcases FOREIGNER's dynamic range, from remixed hits recorded by the original band to an epic live performance video and 12 new songs featuring Hansen's stellar vocals. The new songs included "In Pieces" and "When It Comes To Love", which were both featured in the Top 20 on the Adult Contemporary charts.

The new song set was produced by Mick Jones and Marti Frederiksen. The new recording of "Fool For You Anyway", a song that originally appeared on FOREIGNER's first album was produced by the legendary Mark Ronson. The band lineup for this release includes Mick Jones, Kelly Hansen, Jeff Pilson, Tom Gimbel, Michael Bluestein and Brian Tichy.

Said Mick Jones: "I am so thrilled that FOREIGNER has received this milestone recognition for an album that contained twelve entirely new songs from the current FOREIGNER. It is especially important to me since my stepson, Mark Ronson, produced 'Fool For You Anyway' for this record. His amazing talents as an artist, producer, and songwriter continue to make me so proud."

Hansen said: "I am blown away at the news of this fantastic accomplishment! Mick Jones and Marti Frederiksen did such an amazing job producing this record, and being a co-writer and singing all the lead vocals has been a high point for me professionally."

As previously reported, Nova Scotian singer-actor Geordie Brown will join FOREIGNER as they embark on a 13-city Canadian tour this coming fall. The trek begins on October 21 in St. John's, Newfoundland and concludes on November 7 in Kelowna, British Columbia. The tour includes a stop in Brown's hometown at Halifax's Scotiabank Centre on October 24. Canadian rockers 54-40 will provide support.

FOREIGNER's upcoming Canadian tour serves as a prelude to the re-launch of their stage musical "Jukebox Hero: The Musical", which is set to go into production in 2026. Brown originated the lead role in the 2018 workshop production of the musical in Calgary and Edmonton, before a sold-out run at Toronto's Ed Mirvish Theatre in 2019.

Brown proved himself worthy not only to audiences, but also to Jones, who had this to say: "I was most impressed by Geordie's performances of 'Juke Box Hero: The Musical' in Canada. He is not only a consummate vocalist, but a verified Broadway actor to boot. We look forward to welcoming him at our shows on FOREIGNER's 2025 Canadian tour."

Brown is also a theater director and creator, and is known to East Coast Canadian audiences for his productions of "Stan Rogers: A Matter Of Heart" (Neptune Theatre),"The Songs Of The Rat Pack" and "Could I Have This Dance" featuring the music of international music icon and fellow Nova Scotian Anne Murray.

The last time Brown joined FOREIGNER on stage was for a surprise appearance on the final night of the band's "Cold As Ice" tour in Halifax in March 2019. Brown has stayed in touch with the band in recent years and was in Cleveland this past fall when they were inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame.

"I count myself so fortunate that they're bringing me along on this next chapter with the musical, and this Canadian tour," said Brown. "Right now, I'm most looking forward to our Halifax show, for my hometown crowd."

🇲🇽Foreigner en México!🇲🇽
con Lou Gramm vocalista original

🗓28 de abril
🌎 Arena CDMX

🗓30 de abril
🌎 Auditorio Telmex...

Posted by Eventos Musicales en México on Friday, February 7, 2025

Legendary rock and roll band BACHMAN-TURNER OVERDRIVE has released its first new music in over 25 years with "60 Years Ago", a new single reflecting on the vibrant Winnipeg music scene that produced some of the most influential songwriters of all time. The single arrives as BTO gears up for their "Back In Overdrive Tour 2025", a massive tour consisting of 22 shows across Canada which kicks off next week on April 1 in Victoria, British Columbia. They'll be joined by APRIL WINE and HEADPINS, two fellow Canadian rock bands, who will open in support. Proceeds from "60 Years Ago" will go to The Bridge To Nowhere charity ride, produced in partnership by Brothers Of The Fork and Hockey Helps The Homeless.

"As a thank-you to Winnipeg, the city that shaped us, I wrote a song called '60 Years Ago'," Randy Bachman states. "It features Tal Bachman, KoKo Bachman and me, with Fred Turner on vocals, and features an incredible guitar solo from Neil Young. This song is our tribute to Winnipeg, the place where we grew up as teenagers in the '60s, a time when the city's music scene was exploding. It was the Liverpool of North America, a melting pot of incredible talents. Everyone I've talked to who spent time in Winnipeg and witnessed that musical explosion is excited to hear this song, and I hope you all enjoy it as much as we enjoyed creating it."

In 2023, Bachman revived BTO, the legendary rock and roll band behind worldwide hits such as "Takin' Care Of Business" and "You Ain't Seen Nothin' Yet", and has continued to tour throughout 2024, and now into 2025. Led by Bachman, BTO has recently revamped its lineup.

"BTO has truly become a family band again," Bachman exclaims. "My son Tal Bachman on guitar, my daughter-in-law KoKo Bachman on drums, and our friends Lance Lapointe on bass and Brent Knudsen on guitar. We sound better than ever. We're playing all the hits, as well as diving deep into the album cuts, and the response from fans has been incredible.

"We can't wait to tour Canada in April and May and show off this powerhouse lineup. The BTO sound is BACK!!"

BACHMAN-TURNER OVERDRIVE will also perform hits from THE GUESS WHO, the iconic classic rock group which Bachman co-founded with Burton Cummings. The BTO legacy lives on, promising unforgettable performances and a continued impact on the ever-evolving rock landscape.

Bachman has become a legendary figure in the rock and roll world through his talents as a guitarist, songwriter, performer and producer. Bachman has earned over 120 gold and platinum album/singles awards around the world. His songwriting has garnered him the coveted No. 1 spot on radio playlists in over 20 countries and over the course of his career he has sold over 40 million records. Randy's songs have been recorded by a broad range of artists and have been placed in dozens of TV shows, films and commercials. Impressively, his music has provided a veritable soundtrack of the last thirty years of popular music.

BTO recently announced a U.S. tour as well, which includes co-headline dates with southern rock pioneers THE MARSHALL TUCKER BAND, with the '70s/'80s hitmakers JEFFERSON STARSHIP as the special guest.

BACHMAN-TURNER OVERDRIVE press photo credit: Shimon Karmel

According to Forbes, TWISTED SISTER has sold its remaining recording copyrights, trademarks and other name, image and likeness rights to Warner Music Group. The terms of the deal have not been disclosed.

TWISTED SISTER guitarist and manager Jay Jay French, who had been involved in every aspect of the band's business for decades, told Forbes contributor Lewis Schiff that the decision to sell the rights in September 2024 was "driven by several factors, including the aging of the bandmembers and the fact that none of their kids wanted to continue in the TWISTED SISTER business."

TWISTED SISTER's deal with Warner Music Group came nearly a decade after singer Dee Snider sold his Snidest Music music publishing catalog of 69 songs — including the band's classic rock anthems "We're Not Gonna Take It" and "I Wanna Rock" — to Universal Music Publishing Group (UMPG).

The songs in the catalog have been featured in numerous national commercials, films, television and the Broadway musical "Rock Of Ages", which had a three-year residency at the Venetian and then a one-year residency at Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas until January 2017.

Regarding why he chose to sell his publishing catalog in 2015, Dee said during a June 2023 appearance on the "New Theory Podcast": "It's math. And I was told there'd be no math [laughs] in rock and roll… But when you are getting your royalty checks every year, and they're big — I'm in the 50-percent tax bracket between state [and federal taxes] — so they're chopping off 50 percent. But capital gains on a sale of property is, like, 15, 20 percent. So if you can — they call it multiples. They give you 10 years' worth of royalties in advance, or whatever that number is. When you do the math, you look at it and you go, 'Okay, I'm gonna save 30 percent on taxes.' It's not even guaranteed that 10 years from now… I believe these songs will still have value. They're taking a chance. And I can take this chunk of change and I can invest it and secure it and make it my retirement fund, which I did. So it goes from being a thing that comes in and you're getting half of it taken away by the government every six months to a thing, guaranteed, 'Okay, I know I can work with this.' So a lot of people are doing it for just that reason."

Snider went on to say that "We're Not Gonna Take It" and "I Wanna Rock" are "the two most licensed songs of the '80s. They're like where 'We Are The Champions' and 'We Will Rock You' were in the '70s," he explained. "At first, there was a lull after the demise of the band and when grunge came in. But all of a sudden, I guess it was in the mid-to-late 1990s, this retro thing started, and there was this resurgence. And so we started getting this licensing. And that was great. And it just kept going. But now the song has transcended, particularly 'We're Not Gonna Take It', and it's become… It's almost a folk song. Not like it's acoustic, but folk in the sense that it just is a staple. And so it's now taken a life of its own, so it's not even a retro thing anymore. It just keeps popping up. So you get a movie like 'Ready Player One', Steven Spielberg's movie, and there it is in all its glory. I'm, like, 'Thank you, God.'"

"We're Not Gonna Take It" and "Stay Hungry" were the biggest hit single and album, respectively, in TWISTED SISTER's career. Snider said "We're Not Gonna Take It" is now part of America's cultural fabric. "[It has proven] itself to be a folk song," he said. "It was just in that Steven Spielberg movie, 'Ready Player One'; it was the finale of that movie. Here, all these years later, the big finale of Steven Spielberg's big movie, and the guys holds up a boombox, and the entire battle scene is set to 'We're Not Gonna Take It'."

In a 2018 interview with SiriusXM's Eddie Trunk, Snider said that he is now glad he didn't got an offer for the catalog a couple of decades ago when he really needed the money. "I bottomed out in the '90s; I was dead broke," he said. "If I had been made an offer for anything, for nothing, I would have sold. [But] there was zero interest — zero. [That stuff was thought of as] buried and over. No one saw it coming back. Metal was a dirty word. You couldn't touch my catalog with a 10-foot pole — thankfully, because I would have [done it for] pennies [on the dollar]. Because I was broke."

"We're Not Gonna Take It" has been used in commercials for hotel chain Extended Stay America, Claritin, Walmart, Stanley Steamer and Yaz birth control.

The song's lyrics say in part "Oh you're so condescending/Your gall is never ending/We don't want nothin'/Not a thing from you."

"We're Not Gonna Take It" was first released as a single (with B-side song "You Can't Stop Rock 'N' Roll") on April 27, 1984. The "Stay Hungry" album was released two weeks later, on May 10, 1984. The single made #21 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart, making it TWISTED SISTER's only Top 40 single, and the song was ranked #47 on VH1's "100 Greatest '80s Songs".

"We're Not Gonna Take It" was written solely by Snider. As influences for the song, he previously cited the glam rock band SLADE, the punk band SEX PISTOLS, and the Christmas carol "O Come, All Ye Faithful".

DISTURBED changed the course of hard rock music when lead singer David Draiman opened his mouth in 2000 on "Down With The Sickness", a song from the band's debut album, "The Sickness". Now Draiman and his DISTURBED bandmates are celebrating 25 years of that seminal LP, touring across the world in honor of the album's anniversary.

Rounded out by guitarist Dan Donegan, drummer Mike Wengren and bassist John Moyer, DISTURBED sat down with Live Nation to talk about the tour, honoring the album, and how their fans have changed their lives. Oh, and that signature "Oh, ah, ah, ah, ah." Check out the report below.

 Donegan said about celebrating "The Sickness" after more than two decades: "It's very therapeutic for us. All these songs, they're all personal, they all mean something, and a majority of the songs try to spin positivity into it, even if it's a dark subject or a breakup. It's overcoming those tough times in life. So it's helpful for not just us, but luckily the fans too."

Wengren added: "We're very sentimental. We appreciate everything we've ever achieved, even 25 years later." Dan concurred, saying: "We still have our moments where we have to pinch ourselves that this career has been going as well as it has for this long. Good times."

DISTURBED kicked off the U.S. leg of "The Sickness 25th Anniversary Tour" on February 25 at Ford Idaho Center Arena in Nampa, Idaho. The trek celebrates 25 years of DISTURBED's seminal debut album which launched the band into public consciousness and is one of the most important and influential heavy metal albums of all time. Each night features two sets of music, opening with DISTURBED playing the five-times-platinum "The Sickness" in full, followed by a full set of greatest hits. Openers on the U.S. shows include THREE DAYS GRACE, SEVENDUST, DAUGHTRY and NOTHING MORE, depending on the date.

Earlier this month, DISTURBED announced the European leg of "The Sickness 25th Anniversary Tour" with support from MEGADETH.

Since "The Sickness" was released in 2000, the album was certified five times platinum by the RIAA, spent a total of 106 weeks on the US Billboard 200 chart, and Revolver named it one of "Top 25 Debut Hard Rock Albums." Billboard said of the title track upon release: "'Down With The Sickness' is, of course, the quintessential DISTURBED song, harnessing all the band's seethe and its now-famous tribal beat and guitar chug into three and a half minutes of alt-metal mayhem. It's menacing, it's rhythmic, it's rebellious."

DISTURBED recently announced the 25th-anniversary edition release of "The Sickness". To commemorate the anniversary, the band reissued the five-times-platinum-certified LP on March 7, exactly 25 years to the date of their original release.

On February 21, DISTURBED released a new single, "I Will Not Break", via the band's own label, Mother Culture Records.

OPETH was honored in the "Best Hard Rock/Metal" category at this year's edition of the Swedish Grammis awards (Swedish Grammy equivalent),which was held Thursday night (March 27) at Annexet in Stockholm. The bands were nominated for their most recent releases, all of which came out during 2024.

"Best Hard Rock/Metal" nominees were as follows:

* AMARANTHE - "The Catalyst"
* HORNDAL - "Head Hammer Man"
* NESTOR - "Teenage Rebel"
* OPETH - "The Last Will And Testament"
* SKRAECKOEDLAN - "Vermillion Sky"

You can see video of OPETH's acceptance speech below.

"The Last Will And Testament", OPETH's fourteenth studio album, was released last November via Reigning Phoenix Music/Moderbolaget. The LP was written by OPETH frontman Mikael Åkerfeldt, with lyrics conferred with Klara Rönnqvist Fors (THE HEARD, ex-CRUCIFIED BARBARA). "The Last Will And Testament" was co-produced by Åkerfeldt and Stefan Boman (GHOST, THE HELLACOPTERS),engineered by Boman, Joe Jones (KILLING JOKE, ROBERT PLANT) and OPETH, with Boman, Åkerfeldt and the rest of OPETH mixing at Atlantis and Hammerthorpe Studios in Stockholm. The strings on "The Last Will And Testament" were arranged by Åkerfeldt and returning prog friend Dave Stewart (EGG, KHAN) and conducted by Stewart at Angel Studios in London. Not one to miss a beat, visual artist Travis Smith returned to the fold, crafting his 11th cover, a haunting "photograph" reminiscent of Stanley Kubrick's infamous "Overlook Hotel" photograph. Miles Showell (ABBA, QUEEN) also revisited mastering and vinyl lacquer cutting at Abbey Road Studios in London.

Åkerfeldt rolled out the red carpet for storied flautist and JETHRO TULL mainman Ian Anderson. Not only do Anderson's signature notes fly on "§4" and "§7", he narrates on "§1", "§2", "§4", and "§7". Joining Anderson, EUROPE's Joey Tempest lends a backing vocal hand on "§2", while Åkerfeldt's youngest daughter, Mirjam Åkerfeldt, is the disembodied voice in "§1".

"The Last Will And Testament" is a concept album set in the post-World War I era, unfolding the story of a wealthy, conservative patriarch whose last will and testament reveals shocking family secrets. The narrative weaves through the patriarch's confessions, the reactions of his twin children, and the mysterious presence of a polio-ridden girl who the family have taken care of. The album begins with the reading of the father's will in his mansion. Among those in attendance is a young girl, who, despite being an orphan and polio-ridden, has been raised by the family. Her presence at the will reading raises suspicions and questions among the twins.

"The Last Will And Testament" is the darkest and heaviest record OPETH has made in decades, and it is also the band's most fearlessly progressive. A concept album recounting the reading of one recently deceased man's will to an audience of his surviving family members, it brims with haunting melodrama, shocking revelations and some of the wildest and most unpredictable music that Åkerfeldt has ever written.

The follow-up to 2019's widely acclaimed "In Cauda Venenum", "The Last Will And Testament" is set in the shadowy, sepia-stained 1920s. It slowly reveals its secrets like some classic thriller from the distant, cobwebbed past, with each successive song shining more light on the stated machinations of our dead (but definitely not harmless) protagonist. The emotional chaos of the story is perfectly matched by OPETH's vivid but claustrophobic soundtrack, which artfully winds its way towards a crestfallen but sumptuous finale. Masters of their own idiosyncratic musical domain, OPETH have never sounded more unique.

"The Last Will And Testament" is destined to be a milestone in OPETH's illustrious recorded history. The band's first out-and-out concept record, it features guest cameos from JETHRO TULL legend Ian Anderson and Joey Tempest, frontman with Swedish rock gods EUROPE. Only one of the album's eight songs has a title: closing ballad "A Story Never Told". The rest are simply labeled as numbered chapters in this slowly unfolding saga of deceit, recrimination and betrayal. Enigmatic, unsettling and immersive, "The Last Will And Testament" is a turbulent, prog metal tale like no other.

Making his recorded debut alongside OPETH's long-established lineup of Mikael Åkerfeldt, guitarist Fredrik Åkesson, bassist Martin Mendez and keyboard maestro Joakim Svalberg on "The Last Will And Testament" is new drummer Waltteri Väyrynen, who joined the band in 2022.

In a recent interview with Bloodstock TV's Oran O'Beirne, Åkerfeldt stated about the "The Last Will And Testament" album title: "Yeah, well, it is a concept record that basically starts with the… The whole record is about the reading of the last will and testament of this main character that's passed away — a rich, old fuck. Conservative, old, stern, noble patriarch who passed away, and the record starts when he summoned his three children to go through with solicitors, his last will and testament."

Asked how he came up with the concept for the new OPETH album, Mikael said: "It's not completely my idea. I got interested in the topic even on the last record. There's a song on there called, the English title was 'Universal Truth' — I think we did a video for that one — which also dealt with kind of those types of, like how blood's not always thicker than water, how money can drive family members into chaos. So I got interested in that topic. And also along comes the TV series 'Succession', which is, I'm not sure if you've seen it, but a great TV series about a power struggle between siblings taking over after their Murdoch-type father."

He added: "It's interesting. And it also helps me if I have a theme of sorts if I'm gonna write lyrics. Otherwise, I end up writing stuff, I don't even know what they mean."

In a separate interview with Marcus Schleutermann of EMP, Åkerfeldt was asked how "The Last Will And Testament" is different from other OPETH albums. Mikael said: "I don't know. It's weird. That's not really different for us, I guess. But I'm doing some of the screams again, which I haven't done for a long time. And there's some guests on there. Ian Anderson from JETHRO TULL is on there doing spoken word and playing flute. And Joey Tempest [of EUROPE] is on it. But, yeah, it's a concept record. Somebody said it sounds claustrophobic. It's a claustrophobic-sounding record. And there's a lot of ideas. It's a restless record. There's not meandering stuff happening all the time. Even I don't really know the songs yet. But, of course, I would say that, but I think it's good — it's a good record."

Regarding Joey's contributions to "The Last Will And Testament", Mikael said: "Tempest doesn't sound like Tempest on [EUROPE's biggest hit] 'The Final Countdown'. I had him over at my house. I asked him, 'Could you sing a few lines?' 'Let's push the record button,' he said. At the time I didn't have the lyrics ready, so I was, like, 'I'm sorry. I have to record it from somewhere else.' But he's really going for it. He sounds amazing. I mean, I'm a big EUROPE fan, being Swedish. I love them. And I think for him to be on this record, it's a bit different by his standards because it doesn't really sound like a EUROPE record at all."

Asked if he and Joey are friends, Mikael said: "I guess. I guess we're friends. Yeah. He sent me a text one day. It's, like, 'What's up?' And I was, like, 'Hey, Joey Tempest.' And we met at festivals, and he invited me over to his house. I mean, we know the EUROPE guys. Fredrik, one of his best friends is [John] Norum, the [EUROPE] guitar player. So, we're good friends with the whole band. But, yeah, Joey Tempest, we hang out every now and then."

Asked if the songs on "The Last Will And Testament" all stand on their own or if they are all connected in some way, Mikael said: "They are connected lyrically, but also to a certain extent that one song bleeds into the other, which I always liked anyways. It's basically the reading of a testament. So it's like paragraphs. There are no real songtitles on there. It's a bit odd by our standards even. But you could, of course, extract any song from — we don't have to play the whole record."

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Visionary musician, composer, and producer Devin Townsend performed his rock opera "The Moth" live for the first time on Thursday, March 27 together with the Noord Nederlands Orkest (North Netherlands Symphony Orchestra) symphony orchestra at De Oosterpoort in Groningen, Netherlands. A second performance of "The Moth" will take place tonight (Friday, March 28) at the same venue.

Fan-filmed video of the March 27 concert can be seen below.

This show is exclusive and is only being performed in Groningen; it will not be staged anywhere else in the world.

Townsend is renowned for his groundbreaking fusion of metal, progressive rock, and ambient music. With a career spanning more than 30 years, he has pushed the boundaries of musical genres and collaborated with world-famous orchestras, establishing an unparalleled artistic legacy.

For his latest project, he has teamed up with the Noord Nederlands Orkest and composed "The Moth", a "rock opera" he has been working on for years, which represents his lifelong ambition. "The Moth" tells the story of the human experience from birth to death, comparable to the transformation of a caterpillar into a moth. It symbolizes the human quest for meaning and offers perspectives on the fear of death through analogy and narrative. Ever since Townsend witnessed large musicals such as "Jesus Christ Superstar" and "Phantom Of The Opera" in the 1970s, he has seen this project as his calling.

"The Moth" has been in the making for over a decade, and Townsend has been building towards it for 30 years. Now, he has shared the stage at De Oosterpoort in Groningen with no less than seventy musicians from the Noord Nederlands Orkest, a sixty-member choir, and his own band, which includes Mike Keneally, Joseph Stephenson, Darby Todd and James Leach.

In a recent video message, Devin stated about "The Moth": "I have been working on this for ten years.

"Now let me tell you how it started. I had to start by figuring out, I had to start taking classes. 'Cause when I was a teen, when I was a kid, my dream was always to make sort of a modern opera, in a way, with modern themes, modern instrumentation, and a lot of the things that I had been fascinated by in my youth — 'Phantom Of The Opera', 'Jesus Christ Superstar', 'Paint Your Wagon', all those sorts of things, were really impactful to me as a youth because the emotions were so broad that it was easy for me to understand. It's always very obvious when you're watching these sorts of things when something is happy, when something is sad. And I had to start from the very beginning, 10 years ago, learning how to write, how to navigate the logistics of and how to deliver on time an opera, I guess, in some sense. Starting with I had to take lessons in composition, because although I know how to write music, of course, I never knew theory. So when I was working with orchestras, for example, with smaller projects like 'Deconstruction' or even the one in Bulgaria. I had to learn the language so I wasn't wasting time because it's so expensive to work with these choirs and orchestras. So, I started taking lessons about 10 years ago. And I finally figured out how I could pull off making this uncompromised musical statement with hundreds of people — creatively no boundaries, nobody telling me what to do. The only way I could do that was to do it myself. So, my friends, I've invested everything I have into making 'The Moth', into making this facility so I could make 'The Moth', in order to get the best players, in order to get the best orchestras, in order to get the best artists.

"For much of my life I've been wanting to do these things, which is such epic scale, but then whenever I say to somebody, like, 'Hey, this is what I want,' they said, 'Well, STRAPPING YOUNG LAD' or 'you're a heavy metal musician,'" he continued. "And up to this point, there's been a lot of doubting that my capacity to not only pull it off musically, but also logistically — it requires a certain type of mentality, I believe. And so in the beginning, when I was proposing making operas and making these kind of heavy metal, crazy orchestral things, the reaction to that from people was, 'Well, we don't feel that you are capable of doing that,' or, 'We don't feel like you're ready to do that', or, 'It requires a level of expertise specific to this type of musical vocation to pull it off, which you don't have. Therefore, if you wanna do it, you have to hire somebody for exorbitant amounts of money.' So, I said, 'Fuck it,' and I put together a team of about 12 people, and I have funded it independently from the very beginning to the very end.

"North Netherlands National Symphony And Choir … proposed this to me about three years ago. They said, 'Listen, if you're serious about this, we're one of the most elite orchestras in Europe. And if you're serious about it, we're willing to take a chance on your vision.' And so I said, 'Let's do it.' And I built a place to make 'The Moth'. I put together teams so I can delegate each aspect of it — choirs go to this team, orchestra goes to this team, scoring goes to this team, orchestrating goes to this team, the band themselves. Everything needed to be sort of logistically set up ahead of time so that you could have a strategy about it. Because, for example, trying to deliver the choir parts in a timely fashion, the way that it ended up happening is the choir required the delivery of their musical scores prior to the orchestra. And the orchestra needed to get it prior to the band getting it. So I had to write the music with teams in different locations at different times, and it's almost like concurrently five jigsaw puzzles. And the hope is that when they're all together, it will create the vision that I've been following for so long.

"'The Moth' is a story, I guess, about transformation, obviously, steeped in sort of existential nebulousness, which is — I don't even know if 'nebulousness' is a word, but that's kind of where I've been for my whole life. And when somebody said, 'Okay, do you wanna do this 'Moth' project?' At first, I had this vision of it being this kind of obscene thing, but then the more I started getting into it, the more I recognized that the format could yield unbelievably intense things.

"So the people involved with this. My god. So the band — it's the band I've been touring with: Darby [Todd], James [Leach], Mike Keneally, new guitar player Pete Rinaldi. Involved with this, I managed to work with an incredible orchestrator, Joseph Stephenson. I worked with Steve Vai… So he's helped with the intermission. I've got artists from all over the world, different time zones, putting together 'The Moth'. We tracked the drums in Gothenburg two months ago."

Devin added: "Here's the thing with 'The Moth'. To do this, I had to write it. and then the shows, originally, when I had proposed doing this, the people who were involved with this were kind of on the fence about whether or not it was gonna work, and there was lots of talk about liability and all these sorts of things, like, 'If this doesn't sell by March, you're liable for however much.' … And so I was, like, 'All right, let's try it.' And so we put it up and you guys rocked it for us. Holy cow. So the two shows sold out in four minutes, I believe. And then they said, 'Well, we can't do the VIPs,' but the VIPs sold out in seven minutes. This is all fantastic votes of confidence — not necessarily for me, but for the nature of this type of creative endeavor in the future. I've got these teams together, and if this works, my thought is I could do one of these every couple of years, and just creatively completely free, completely uncompromised, with the best players, the best work, the best sound. And up to this point I haven't been able to do it because no one wanted to take a chance. So I funded it myself, the show sold, we're good to go.

"Now here's the thing: the cost of this — if we're lucky, if we're lucky, we would break even on these shows. Even though it's sold out, even though the VIPs. So what does one do when one is debuting live a record of such scope that nothing that I've done even holds a candle to the scope of this. But usually what happens is you release a record and you can meticulously mix it and master it and massage it so that there's no rough edges and everything, and then you put it out and then you perform it. So what was proposed to me was, we do it the other way around. After ten years of writing this, the debut of 'The Moth' is actually this live performance. And what that throws into the works is just staggering amounts of logistical problems. It has to be recorded, mixed, completed lyrically, orchestrally, score, the band. Everybody has to know it. Everybody has to have the redundancy and the click tracks and all these things going so that you can have the orchestra. And the orchestra has a different click than the band. And the band has a different click than the visuals. And how you put that together logistically to debut that, without an album. So the first that anybody's going to hear of 'The Moth' is this show. So they proposed to me — because prior to this, we weren't gonna break even on the shows, which is fine. I'm cool. We haven't broken even for 10 years — on 'The Moth'. And someone proposed, 'Well, what would you think about doing a livestream?' And I thought, well, in the past, the livestreams have been so janky. And without control over the sound, it's like all of a sudden you got one loud kick drum and the guitars are wrong. And the nuance of this is so subtle that the proposition of doing a live stream of this was absurd to me. However, the more I started thinking about it, I thought, 'Well, fuck it, if we're actually debuting this' — what's the term my grandfather always used to say? God hates a coward. So we decided, I decided, we decided to do the livestream of the second night. Now, here's the thing with this live stream. I was, like, 'I don't wanna do it poorly. I don't want this to not be awesome.'

"So my plan for this is because of the amount of logistics and the amount of work — hundreds of people, literally, and I think there's probably a hundred and fifty people on stage of this too. So 'The Moth' is meant to be a vocal showcase, it's meant to be a kind of vocal tour de force, in a sense. I will be doing an acoustic, and with the band, augmentation of 'The Moth', so you've got a full two hours of entertainment. 'The Moth' itself, words can't describe how much work has gone into this.

"I forget how many tickets we have to sell for the thing to break even, for the livestream. I'm not even talking about the show, 'cause the live stream, it's all cross collateralized. So the livestream and the show and the merch and the VIPs, they all go to this pot with this choir, with this orchestra, with the visuals. We made this film. I've got 12 geniuses that I work with and we've been working on the stories and everything like this. And the first we're gonna hear from it is this livestream. And I forget how many tickets we have to sell for the livestream show we have to sell for the show to break even — something like 5,000. You know what? If it doesn't fucking break even, I don't care. I really don't. I'll figure it out. But it would be better if it did."

For more information on "The Moth" livestream, click here.

Townsend's career is one of many distinct eras. He's been the leader of STRAPPING YOUNG LAD, the lynchpin of the DEVIN TOWNSEND PROJECT and the co-architect of country duo CASUALTIES OF COOL, all while maintaining his prolific and lauded solo project. More recently he completed work on "PowerNerd", a succinct but still progressive record that pulls from its mastermind's childhood love of vintage rock.

Townsend has an amazing variety in his musical style. He works in ranges of hard rock, progressive metal, new age and ambient. As a solo artist he has had a lineup of various artist working on his albums sporting his infinite variety.

When he revisited his music career, it was with the founding of the DEVIN TOWNSEND PROJECT. The project began with a series of four albums each written in a different style and released between 2009-2011. Afterwards he kept to the DEVIN TOWNSEND PROJECT and keeps releasing under this name.

Across all Townsend's bands and projects, he has released more than two dozen studio albums and several live ones. Similar in all of these are his versatile vocal delivery that ranges from screaming to an opera-esque singing. The same diversity appears in his writing. Townsend's musical style has roots in metal but draws elements from other genres into the material. Each album is written to express different aspects of his personality.

THE KOVENANT returned to the live stage for select live appearances, including at last fall's Eindhoven Metal Meeting festival and at this year's 70000 Tons Of Metal cruise. THE KOVENANT, which won a Norwegian Grammy equivalent, called Spellemannsprisen, in 1999 in the category of "Best Hard Rock Album" for the "Nexus Polaris" LP, performed that effort in its entirety at both events with a lineup that featured all the original members back in action, including vocalist/bassist Stian "Nagash" Arnesen, female singer Sarah Jezebel Deva, drummer Jan Axel "Hellhammer" Blomberg, keyboardist Steinar Sverd Johnsen and guitarist Jamie "Astennu" Stinson. The band's set included tracks from "Nexus Polaris" and "Animatronic", along with classics from THE KOVENANT's debut album, "In Times Before The Light". Professionally filmed video of the "Jihad" performance from the Eindhoven Metal Meeting concert can now be seen below.

In a recent interview with Germany's Metal Hammer magazine, Nagash stated about how THE KOVENANT's reunion came about:  "Over the years, we kind of lost contact with each other 'cause we're so busy with other bands. Hellhammer has MAYHEM and some of the other guys [were involved with] other [projects] like ARCTURUS and DIMMU BORGIR. Sarah was involved with other stuff, like THERION and CRADLE OF FILTH and stuff. But over the years, we kind of glided apart a little bit, but it started very randomly that we started just talking together again, and we all just clicked very easily together. So it went very fast when we said, like, 'What if we actually fucking joined together again and started playing?' And everyone said 'yes' without hesitation. So we quickly started thinking, like. 'Fuck, how should we start this?' So we found a really great management — Håkon Grav, he does also EMPEROR and he used to work for Scream magazine, so I know him from there, in Norway. We managed to talk him into bringing us on, and it went just really fast from there. We just met, all of us had some quick rehearsals and it was like we never fucking stopped playing. It was, like, 'Did we play last month?, like this. It was like a natural chemistry between all of us. So it was really fun to play together."

Sarah chimed in: "It did really happen so fast. It's like all making phone calls and [sending] e-mails and reconnecting back to each other, and you're thinking, 'Oh, it's gonna take ages for any of this to come together.' And then suddenly you tell us about Håkon and then suddenly this show appears, this first show, and it's, like, 'Wow, that was really fast.' You didn't have time to think. So if you were thinking about backing out, it was tough, because your flights were booked. It was so, so fast. It's, like, 'Well, Sarah, can you do this? And Sarah, can you do that?' And I'm, like, 'Oh, I've gotta say yes now because I said yes to everybody else.' And it was so incredibly fast before that first show was booked, and then more shows were coming in and more shows, and it's, like, 'Well, this is it. It's happening.' It's like literally a matter of months, it was."

On the topic of how THE KOVENANT's first couple of shows went, Sarah said: "The whole process has been so simple. It didn't feel like hard work at all." Nagash concurred, saying: "Definitely not at all. It was so natural. We have such good chemistry amongst all of us. And everyone is dedicated more than a hundred percent. It's not possible to have more than a hundred percent, but it's, like everyone is super dedicated to it. And we all talked about it to say, like, we're not just going to do a few shows and then disappear again. We're already writing new material. We have plans for the future. There are so many more shows which have been booked already and confirmed, but we haven't announced them yet, 'cause contracts and you're not allowed to [say anything about it]. But I think a lot of people will be very surprised where we're gonna show up. It's a surprise to us too, 'cause our managers, they just contact us and say, like, 'Okay, you're playing in Mexico in the summertime' or 'you're going to the moon' or wherever. It's as much a surprise to us as it will be for everybody else." Sarah added: "And I think the level that we're playing on now is extremely high. I hate to bring the word 'age' into it, but we're older, we know what we want and we've evolved so much." Nagash continued: "I mean, without bragging or anything like this, we were already good musicians back then. 'Cause everyone has their super talents, like, Hellhammer, Astennu, Sarah, Sverd, they're all great musicians. So it can only have gotten better, right?"

Nagash went on to discuss the musical direction of the new THE KOVENANT material, saying: "The new stuff we're working on, it's not going to be another 'Nexus'. It will be similar because it's the same bunch of people, but the new music is a combination of all the albums. But it will be more metal, more extreme. It will be a little bit backwards in time from 'SETI' and 'Animatronic' stuff, but it will still incorporate all the elements but plus new stuff, 'cause we've all developed as people."

Elaborating on where THE KOVENANT is in the songwriting process at the moment, Nagash said: "We already have lots of demos done. So, in the next several months now, we're gonna get together and put together maybe two or three songs, something like this, which we're gonna release early, to get people to know that we are actually back, not to just wait for a new album. And I think it would be unfair to put that much pressure on everyone in the band, 'cause I think a lot of people, when they hear that 'Nexus' lineup is back together that it will be a 'Nexus Polaris Number Two', which it will not be that, but it will be similar, as I said. So I think that by us releasing maybe one, two, three new songs before an actual album comes out, it will help us to be more easy, like it will be easier to create stuff for us, so we don't feel like, 'Okay, people want 'Nexus Two', so we have to do 'Nexus Two'.' But we already have lots of demo stuff prepared. I even have some stuff on my phone, new stuff. Some of the stuff sounds like 'Nexus Polaris', some of the stuff sounds totally new, some of it has hints of 'SETI' and 'Animatronic', the first album, but for sure it will be more extreme, it will be more metal. It will be experimental, but it will be darker and more metal."

THE KOVENANT will also appear at the Karmøygeddon Metal Festival in Kopervik, Norway in early May.

While the band faces challenges with the absence of founding member Psy Coma due to health issues, guitarist Knut Magne Valle from the legendary band ARCTURUS has stepped in to ensure that the magic continues to flow seamlessly.

THE KOVENANT was formed in 1993 under the name COVENANT by two black metal artists known as Nagash (Stian Arnesen) and Blackheart (Amund Svensson),who released the debut album, "In Times Before The Light" (1997). The band signed with the German record company Nuclear Blast in 1998 and recruited four other members to form an actual band: Astennu (of DIMMU BORGIR, CARPE TENEBRUM),Sverd (of ARCTURUS),Sarah Jezebel Deva (of CRADLE OF FILTH and others) and Hellhammer (of MAYHEM and others). With these new recruits, they released their second album, "Nexus Polaris", which was hugely successful and is largely considered their best album to date by fans.

Following a dispute with a Swedish electronic band of the same name, in 1999 COVENANT changed its name to THE KOVENANT. The name change also signaled a musical shift into an industrial metal-influenced sound.

In the beginning THE KOVENANT had a sound much similar to DIMMU BORGIR. Indeed, Nagash has played in the band and is a longtime friend to the lead vocalist Shagrath. On the "Nexus Polaris" album, the band developed a more industrial sound but still with a strong symphonic black metal influence. A re-release of "Nexus Polaris" was made in 2002. The original tracks were left untouched but two versions of "New World Order", a song from their 1999 album "Animatronic", were included as a bonus.

Gene Simmons spoke to Las Vegas Review-Journal about KISS's upcoming performance without makeup at Virgin Hotels Las Vegas as part of the three-day "KISS Army Storms Vegas" event, which runs from November 14 to November 16.

"KISS Army Storms Vegas" celebrates the KISS fan club's 50th anniversary and will be the band's first live performance since Simmons, guitarist/vocalist Paul Stanley, guitarist Tommy Thayer and drummer Eric Singer wrapped up their "End Of The Road" farewell tour at Madison Square Garden in New York in December 2023.

"We will not do the makeup," Gene said. "We will hold true to the promise [of never playing another KISS show in makeup]. There's no stage show. There's no crew. We won't have 60 people levitating drum sets and all that stuff. This is more personal gathering of the tribes, where we meet them, greet them, maybe have a Q&A."

Regarding what else fans can expect from "KISS Army Storms Vegas", Simmons said: "There might be some KISS tribute bands, almost like a convention, if you will. So it's much more personal. And of course, we can't get by without playing, so we'll get up and do some tunes. What they are, how long, I don't know."

When KISS officially announced the "KISS Army Storms Vegas" event, the band said that Stanley and Simmons — along with "special guests" — would play at least one show "unmasked," meaning without their iconic makeup.

KISS's official "KISS Army Storms Vegas" announcement made no mention of Thayer and Singer, making it unclear if they will be part of the event.

There will also be question-and-answer sessions with Stanley and Simmons, as well as KISS's longtime manager Doc McGhee, where they will share stories, behind-the-scenes moments and answer fans' most burning questions.

Fans can also expect guest performances, including from former KISS guitarist Bruce Kulick, as well as surprise appearances, guest sets and tribute bands.

KISS had previously set a 12-show residency at Planet Hollywood Las Vegas in 2021 and 2022 but ultimately canceled all of the dates.

50 years ago in Terre Haute, Indiana, a small group of fans lit the spark that would become the loudest and proudest fan movement in rock history: the KISS Army. Now, five decades later — and 30 years since the first official KISS convention — KISS is cranking it up to 11 in Las Vegas for the ultimate celebration.

KISS Army VIP memberships give you first access to the best packages and limited tickets. The VIP pre-sale begins on March 28 at 7 a.m. PT / 10 a.m. ET. As a VIP member, you will receive your exclusive pre-sale code via e-mail.

KISS Army and fan presale begins April 2 at 7 a.m. PT / 10 a.m. ET. General on-sale begins April 7 at 7 a.m. PT / 10 a.m. ET.

Head over to kissarmystormsvegas.com now to explore your options.

Simmons told Rolling Stone in a November 2023 interview that the second Madison Square Garden "End Of The Road" concert would mark "the final KISS-in-makeup appearance."

Kulick was a member of KISS from 1984 until 1996.

According to Billboard, Kulick is one of only two musicians to have not worn makeup while a member of KISS, the other being Mark St. John.

Kulick had performed with the band again at their Kiss Kruise events in 2018 and 2021.

Simmons recently postponed nearly 20 dates on his forthcoming solo tour with the GENE SIMMONS BAND to 2026.

KISS has confirmed that Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons will reunite for an event at Virgin Hotels Las Vegas as part of the three-day "KISS Army Storms Vegas" event, which runs from November 14 to November 16.

Stanley and Simmons — along with "special guests" — will play at least one show "unmasked," meaning without their iconic makeup.

It is expected to be Stanley and Simmons's first joint concert since 2023, when KISS wrapped up its "End Of The Road" farewell tour at Madison Square Garden in New York.

KISS's official "KISS Army Storms Vegas" announcement makes no mention of the band's longtime guitarist Tommy Thayer and drummer Eric Singer, making it unclear if they will be part of the event.

KISS's unmasked electric show will be in honor of the 50th anniversary of the hottest fan club in the world, KISS Army.

There will also be question-and-answer sessions with Stanley and Simmons, as well as KISS's longtime manager Doc McGhee, where they will share stories, behind-the-scenes moments and answer your most burning questions.

Fans can also expect guest performances, including from former KISS guitarist Bruce Kulick, as well as surprise appearances, guest sets, tribute bands and unforgettable moments that will make this weekend in Vegas a piece of KISStory.

KISS had previously set a 12-show residency at Planet Hollywood Las Vegas in 2021 and 2022 but ultimately canceled all of the dates.

50 years ago in Terre Haute, Indiana, a small group of fans lit the spark that would become the loudest and proudest fan movement in rock history: the KISS Army. Now, five decades later — and 30 years since the first official KISS convention — KISS is cranking it up to 11 in Las Vegas for the ultimate celebration.

KISS Army VIP memberships give you first access to the best packages and limited tickets. The VIP pre-sale begins on March 28 at 7 a.m. PT / 10 a.m. ET. As a VIP member, you will receive your exclusive pre-sale code via e-mail.

KISS Army and fan presale begins April 2 at 7 a.m. PT / 10 a.m. ET. General on-sale begins April 7 at 7 a.m. PT / 10 a.m. ET.

Head over to kissarmystormsvegas.com now to explore your options.

Simmons told Rolling Stone in a November 2023 interview that the second Madison Square Garden "End Of The Road" concert would mark "the final KISS-in-makeup appearance."

Kulick was a member of KISS from 1984 until 1996.

According to Billboard, Kulick is one of only two musicians to have not worn makeup while a member of KISS, the other being Mark St. John.

Kulick had performed with the band again at their Kiss Kruise events in 2018 and 2021.

Simmons recently postponed nearly 20 dates on his forthcoming solo tour with the GENE SIMMONS BAND to 2026.

Image courtesy of 60 Minutes Australia

Guitar legend Steve Vai has collaborated with Los Angeles art collective SceneFour to unveil five incredible pieces of stunning electrifying visual art utilizing light-based technology built from his iconic multi-neck "Hydra Guitar" fretboard performances. A trailer for the collection can be seen below.

Each piece will be available in highly limited editions, all numbered and individually signed by Steve.

For more information visit www.vaiarts.com.

Vai comments: "I'm very happy to announce my collaboration with SceneFour to create some unique art pieces that capture performance in exotic light streams. They call it 'Rhythmic Expressionism', and we utilized their light capturing technique while I performed on the Hydra. Enjoy."

Ravi Dosaj, SceneFour art director, states: "Vai's dexterity and precision come to life on the canvas, igniting the viewer's retina. It's a honor to do this art with Vai."

Robert Bolger, SceneFour's head of A&R, says: "I'm really impressed with how these pieces turned out. Ravi really outdid himself. These works are very intoxicating to look at, Steve's fans and individuals who exhibit a deep appreciation and passion for art will be captivated by them. I'm really thrilled to be working with the legendary guitar wizard Steve Vai."

SceneFour is primarily known as the team responsible for the "Rhythmic Expressionism" medium, having released art collections over the last several years with a highly select group of drum and guitar legends, including Joe Satriani, Yngwie Malmsteen, Al Di Meola, Steve Lukather (TOTO),Steve Morse (ex-DEEP PURPLE),Carl Palmer (EMERSON, LAKE & PALMER, ASIA),Bill Ward (BLACK SABBATH),Chad Smith (RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS),Rick Allen (DEF LEPPARD),Stewart Copeland (THE POLICE) and Dave Lombardo (SLAYER).

SceneFour goes beyond traditional art by deconstructing these "musical fingerprints" into individual color channels. These channels are then expertly manipulated and often reordered to create a visually stunning and mind-altering effect, providing viewers with an immersive, multi-sensory experience. By blending music with art, SceneFour is redefining the way we perceive creativity, offering a fresh and dynamic way to connect with the essence of music through visual art.

"Each guy's artwork looks drastically different because their styles and techniques are different," Cory Danziger, who co-founded SceneFour in 2004 with Dosaj, told The New York Times.

"Bill Ward's artwork is dark and there’s kind of a foreboding element to it, whereas Chad Smith's has kind of a light and airy feel to his playing. His arms are open and those pieces have a butterfly effect," Danziger said.

Slaughter’s 1997 release, Revolution, is now available for the first time on 180g vinyl in two color variations through Deko Entertainment, Featuring the original lineup and limited to only 500 copies of each variation.

Slaughter was formed in Las Vegas, Nevada in 1988. The group was founded by lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist Mark Slaughter and bassist Dana Strum, who previously played together in the band Vinnie Vincent Invasion. The addition of guitarist Tim Kelly and drummer Blas Elias allowed Slaughter to quickly gain attention for their lively performances, catchy hooks, and melodic guitar solos. Slaughter’s debut album, Stick It to Ya, had three singles released that hit the Billboard Hot 100: the hit “Fly To The Angels” (US #19), and the moderate hits “Up All Night” (US #27) and “Spend My Life” (US #39).

Slaughter has continued to release new albums and tour constantly, and now Deko Entertainment is re-issuing for the first time on vinyl their 1997 release Revolution, a retro/psychedelic vibe permeates this album, as clearly evident on such highlights as “American Pie” and the long and winding epic “Heaven It Cries.”

The artwork has been restored with the assistance of original art director Ioannis (Deep Purple, Styx, Fates Warning, etc…) and it has been remastered on 180g vinyl in two color variations, standard Black and deluxe Blue.

Listen to “Heaven It Cries” below.

There is a limited amount (100 copies) of a CD/LP Bundle with at 10×10 print signed by original cover artist Ioannis which includes the Blue vinyl and 6-Panel CD Digipak. Revolution will drop on May 30 with bundles expected to ship mid-May.

Pre-order Revolution on CD and LP while supplies last, here.

“American Pie”
“Heaven It Cries”
“Tongue N’ Groove”
“Can We Find A Way”
“Stuck On You”
“Hard To Say Good-Bye”
“Revolution”
“Guck”
“Heat Of The Moment”
“Rocky Mountain Way”
“You’re My Everything”
“I’m Gone”
“Ad-Majorem-Dei-Gloriam”

Elwood Francis, who has played bass for ZZ TOP for the past three years, has told Guitar World magazine that it's been "weird" stepping in for the band's late bassist Dusty Hill.

The 72-year-old Hill died on July 28, 2021 in his sleep at his Houston, Texas home.

ZZ TOP played its first show following Hill's death on July 30, 2021 in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.

Francis made his live debut with ZZ TOP on July 23, 2021 at the Village Commons in New Lenox, Illinois after Hill was forced to return to Texas to address a hip issue.

"When I first started doing it, Dusty was just sick and going home for a few weeks," Francis told Guitar World. "It was entirely different; I was just helping out. I didn't have to worry about the weight of the crown because I was just helping. They pulled me aside and said, 'Can you honestly say you can't play his parts?' I said, 'I can do it, but I don't think people would enjoy me doing it.' They said, 'You can cover him for a few weeks.'"

Francis, whose place in ZZ TOP was made permanent shortly after Hill's death, went on to say that he still doesn't consider himself part of the band.

"We'd done some gigs when Dusty passed, and by that time, I wouldn't say I was comfortable because I'm still not fucking comfortable," he explained. "But I had a piece of paper on the riser for the first two shows if I got in trouble, and by the third show, I got rid of that, and just did the show.

"It's just weird," he continued. "Dusty is their bass player. I'm not the bass player. I'm not in the band. I'll never be in the band. I shouldn't be in the band. It's Dusty's thing. Sure, I'll still play with them, but it's a weird thing, man."

Hill joined ZZ TOP a year after its formation in 1969.

In a June 2023 interview with Classic Rock, ZZ TOP frontman Billy Gibbons said about how Francis, who was ZZ TOP's longtime guitar tech, came to join the band following Hill's passing: "Dusty was a great guy, a swell singer. He provided a solid platform for me to solo without having to look back. He was always on it. Dusty used to say: 'If I'm late to the stage, be sure to give my guitar to Elwood.' Elwood is a family member; he's been with us for three decades. And sure enough, Elwood picked up the parts and pieces [to replace Hill in ZZ TOP]. But whereas Dusty played with his fingers, Elwood uses a pick. It's a little sharper. He brings a little more finesse. And at the first rehearsal he showed up with a full beard longer than mine."

Gibbons admitted "there was a lot of curiosity" surrounding ZZ TOP's return to the live stage without Hill. "'What's this going to be like?' 'Can this guy hold up the bottom of the TOP?' In a trio it's a big challenge," he said. "Everything has to be working at a hundred and ten per cent. But Elwood was ready, having been a part of it for so long… [Dusty] said: 'The show must go on.' That was his wish, and we granted it."

In a new interview with Seb Di Gatto of The Metal Gods Meltdown, former VIXEN and current FEMME FATALE frontwoman Lorraine Lewis once again stood by her decision to join OnlyFans. The 66-year-old current senior casting producer at the production company Renegade 83 said she joined the subscription-only site last fall after being interested in diversifying into various digital platforms, highlighting the fluidity and evolving nature of online content creation. Asked what prompted her to create an account on OnlyFans, Lorraine said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET):  "Because I have an alter ego that is very eccentric and fun and sexy and flirty, although I am very sexy and flirty just every day today.

"I'm 66 years old," she continued. "I believe in living life to the fullest. I don't think that once you — it's almost like people think that you're supposed to die after you're 45… And so I just feel like I just wanna explore it, be bad, let the fans have a chance to get to know me on a more intimate level, if you will, request certain things.

"Look, bottom line: I put out two really sexy videos [as a member of FEMME FATALE]. I know this. I was crawling on the floor. I sang a song that has been my theme song for 35 years called 'Waiting For The Big One'. I smacked my fanny in my video. I mean, this is not far fetched for me.

"If there was an OnlyFans back in 1988, I would've been on it," Lorraine explained. "I am totally flirty. I am in tune with my sexuality. I've had guys at shows kind of whisper, 'I jerked off to you when I was 15 years old to your video.' And now they're in their forties. There is nothing wrong with these people communicating with me and telling me their fantasies and telling me their stories.

"This is my 'bad' era," Lorraine added. "I'm 66 years old. I could do whatever the eff I wanna do, and I feel like being bad right now. And it's really a flag waving for women. Not that they have to join OnlyFans — I'm not saying that — but be yourself, you don't have to die after you're 50 years old."

Regarding the types of interactions she has with her subscribers on OnlyFans, Lorraine said: "I'll tell you, I have 19-year-olds, 20-year-olds, 22-year-olds, 25-year-olds, 29-, 30-, all across the board, of guys that love me and like me and are tantalized by me, and I think that's fabulous. If someone wants to see my boobs, and I'm 66, I'm all for it. I'll flash you. You've gotta tip me first, but I'll flash you. [Laughs]

"A lot of people really like foot stuff," she continued. "A lot of people are into feet stuff, and that's really easy. I mean, I think my feet are silly, but there's a lot of guys out there that love my feet. So more power to you. You want me to put whipped cream on my feet? What is wrong with that? Absolutely nothing… It's harmless. And I feel that it is all harmless. Because, look, it's me in control of me. It's not like I have somebody telling me to do this or do that. I get to do the narrative. And granted, there are some requests that come in that are not gonna happen. They're just not. Some people, they want me with a guy and that's not gonna happen because I'm not a prostitute. And so that's not gonna happen. But if you want sexy, flirty, fun, I'm all about it. But yeah, it's up to me. It's whatever I'm comfortable with. And, again, the foot requests — easy-peasy, super fun. It's laughable and it makes me giggle. And for a guy to message me and say, 'I've had posters of you on my wall since I was 16, 17 years old, and you're my fantasy girl.' I mean, how great that they can talk with me? And I get to blow their mind. I mean, that's fun for me. That's super fun for me."

Last month Lorraine told The Chuck Shute Podcast that she had "wanted to join OnlyFans for a very, very long time. I just think it's a cool platform," she explained. "It can be whatever you want it to be. I think a lot of people think it's really just porn. It's not. It doesn't have to be. But it's sexy, I'll tell you that. Like, I'm hella sexy.

"The honest truth of this is I started it back in October, and I just kind of wanted to figure out the platform for myself," Lewis revealed. "So I was only inviting certain people from my Instagram that I felt safe with, or that they would keep the secret. And they did. I mean, they did. And so I had it up to about 20 subscribers… And then I knew that I wanted to announce it, because I just didn't want it to come from somebody else, like, oh, somebody found out and then they go to Blabbermouth or they go to you, you know what I mean? I wanted to be in control of my announcement. So I hired Mitch Schneider Organization. Mitch and I go way back to back in the day. He was my publicist when I was signed to Frontline Management and MCA. And I contacted him and I told him what was going on with my music and this and that and OnlyFans. And I said, 'I want to announce my OnlyFans.' And so he said, 'Great.' So we did a press release. It went everywhere. And so I am so proud of myself that I was the one to be able to announce it."

Lorraine went on to say that she had 560 subscribers as of early February who paid around $20 a month to view her content.

"It's been amazing," Lewis said. "And the cool thing about it — look, bottom line is my theme song for 35 years has been 'Waiting For The Big One', for goodness's sake, so it just makes sense that a girl like me, a rock star like me, would take this to the next level. I've always been a rebel. I'm always full of surprises. And this is just another level of, like, doing what I wanna do and living life to the fullest.

"If I'm lucky, I've got 30 more years on the planet," Lorraine continued. "I can talk about this when I'm sipping tea when I'm 100. This is just another phase of my life. I'm owning it. I'm embracing it. I'm in control of whatever I wanna do, and I'm just having so much fun. I have so many fans that have come on and they're, like, 'I've had a crush on you since I was 15 years old and first saw your video.' I mean, it's a chance for people to have a one-on-one with me, get to know me on a more intimate one-on-one level, have fun with it. And, yeah, I'm just having fun."

Lewis added: "I saw something on Instagram with Cher recently, and I mentioned this in the press release, that she says, 'I wish I would have been badder.' She said, 'I was pretty bad,' meaning she was — I mean, she has quite a repertoire of suitors that she's been with. And she just looked at that camera. She said, 'I was pretty bad.' She said, 'I wish I would have been badder.' And I was, like, hells yes. So it's my 'bad' period. [Laughs]"

FEMME FATALE's 1988 self-titled MCA album produced two big rock singles and MTV videos, "Waiting For The Big One" and "Falling In And Out of Love".

Coming off a nearly six-year run as the lead vocalist of VIXEN, whom she was invited to join in 2019, Lewis is now doubling down on her legacy with a new FEMME FATALE lineup. Notably, Lorraine has also been recording with Lou Gramm, the original FOREIGNER lead singer and Rock And Roll Hall Of Famer. They have recorded an interpretation of David Bowie's "Heroes" for release this June (exact date to be announced).

Lewis was fired from VIXEN last May and was replaced by Rosa Laricchiuta.

In January 2019, VIXEN recruited Lewis as its new lead singer following the departure of Janet Gardner.

Lewis had already performed with VIXEN in March 2018 in Durant, Oklahoma while Gardner was recovering from surgery.

M-Theory Audio has announced the latest signing to the label — hard rock and heavy metal powerhouse FIRSTBORNE. The music video for the band's new single, "Wake Up", can be seen below. The track gives fans a taste of what to expect from FIRSTBORNE's debut full-length effort.

The "Wake Up" video was directed by Drew Kaufman ("Two Minutes To Late Night") and is a welcome introduction to FIRSTBORNE's penchant for infectious hard rock with a humorous and relatable twist.

FIRSTBORNE features legendary drummer Chris Adler (LAMB OF GOD, MEGADETH),virtuoso guitarist Myrone (known by some as the originator of soft shred),and electrifying vocalist Girish Pradhan (GIRISH AND THE CHRONICLES, THE END MACHINE). Formed in 2019, FIRSTBORNE blends high-energy riffs, soaring vocals, and thunderous rhythms to create a modern yet timeless sound rooted in classic metal, hard rock, and shred guitar.

FIRSTBORNE, which originally also included current MEGADETH bassist James LoMenzo, first gained attention through a series of independently released singles and EPs between 2020 and 2023, showcasing its signature fusion of melody, technical precision, and relentless groove. In late 2023, FIRSTBORNE recorded their debut full-length album, "Lucky", with acclaimed producer Eugene "Machine" Freeman (CLUTCH, KING CRIMSON, CROBOT). That album will be released on July 18 via M-Theory Audio.

Myrone explains how the album came together: "When Chris, Girish and I got connected in 2019 I said my number one goal in life was to get us all in the same room to jam. Four years later not only did we get in the same room, we went to Machine's barn in Texas for a month to create 10 piping hot metal jams for the whole world to enjoy. I had written around 150 song ideas before stepping in the studio, and we ended up using none of them. What you hear on the record was entirely written and recorded in Texas."

With Adler's iconic drumming, Myrone's signature guitar work, and Pradhan's dynamic, powerhouse vocals, FIRSTBORNE are a force to be reckoned with in the hard rock and metal scene — delivering high-energy anthems that bridge the gap between old-school metal and modern intensity.

FIRSTBORNE's self-titled debut EP came out in 2020 and marked Adler's first dedicated band release since his departure from MEGADETH and LAMB OF GOD.

"Firstborne" included five songs and two lyric videos. The EP represented several years of dedicated introspection and refined effort to the idea of a heavy and positive message.

Adler and Myrone began collaborating in early 2019 after Myrone noticed Adler's e-mail address attached to a Bandcamp sales notification email. Adler had been a fan of Myrone's talent for years prior and as soon as they connected, it was game on.

A chance meeting in India, almost a second home to Chris after eight visits, was the spark needed to form the international group FIRSTBORNE and for Chris to return to the studio. Adler met and shared the stage with Pradhan during a six-week clinic tour of India in the fall of 2019. After the first show of the clinic tour, Adler immediately called Myrone, noting he'd "struck gold" in their search for a singer for the then-unnamed project.

Myrone is a Los Angeles-based producer/guitarist who pioneered the "soft shred" genre. In the last few years, he has released several albums and EPs of instrumental guitar music and racked up millions of Spotify streams. In addition to his own recordings, he has collaborated with Rivers Cuomo (WEEZER),SZA, Little Boots, Michael Christmas and Deaton Chris Anthony. More recently, Myrone was Guitar #1 in the L.A. production of "Rock Of Ages", the 29th-longest running show in Broadway history.

Adler is a Grammy-winning American metal drummer from Richmond, Virginia. Chris founded LAMB OF GOD in 1994 and helped usher in what critics have dubbed the "New Wave Of American Heavy Metal." LAMB OF GOD's discography with Chris includes multiple gold records and platinum DVDs as well as five Grammy nominations.

Chris received a Grammy for playing drums on legendary thrash metal band MEGADETH's 2016 record "Dystopia". Chris also toured with MEGADETH in support of the record while juggling and occasionally combining tour dates with LAMB OF GOD.

Chris has collaborated and contributed to records with PROTEST THE HERO, TESTAMENT, THAIKKUDAM BRIDGE, Michael Angelo Batio and Ron Jarzombek.

In 2018, Chris created an artist management firm Kintsugi Management.