On May 4th, Nightwish finally kicked of their long awaited Human. :II: Nature. North American tour at History in Toronto, Ontario. On May 7th the band played at  Tsongas Arena in Lowell, MA. Single cam video of the complete show uis available below courtesy of XplicitConcerts.


The setlist on the night was as follows:


"Noise"
"Planet Hell"
"Tribal"
"Élan"
"Storytime"
"She Is My Sin"
"Harvest"
"7 Days to the Wolves"
"Dark Chest of Wonders"
"I Want My Tears Back"
"Ever Dream"
"Nemo"
"How's the Heart?" (acoustic)
"Shoemaker"
"Last Ride of the Day"
"Ghost Love Score"
"The Greatest Show on Earth"







For the complete tour schedule and ticket links go to this location.

JUDAS PRIEST will be inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame this year. PRIEST will receive the Musical Excellence Award at the event, which will honor Eminem, Dolly Parton, DURAN DURAN, Lionel Richie, Pat Benatar, EURYTHMICS and Carly Simon in the Performers category.

According to the Hall Of Fame, the JUDAS PRIEST members that will get inducted include current members Rob Halford (vocals),Ian Hill (bass),Glenn Tipton (guitar) and Scott Travis (drums),along with former members K.K. Downing (guitar),Les Binks (drums) and late drummer Dave Holland.

In a new interview with Rolling Stone, Halford was asked if the Rock Hall made "the right calls" in terms of which members of PRIEST will get inducted. He responded: "Absolutely, yes. Absolutely. In terms of ticking the boxes of how long you've got to be in, and this, that and the other, yes. Whoever has been attached and related to JUDAS PRIEST has had a role to play. I think the significance of the way they've chosen these particular musicians is correct."

As for whether he is open to performing with Downing and Binks at the ceremony, Halford said: "Absolutely. As I said before, you've got to push aside anything that gets in the way. You've got to remove the emotional clutter and just reference this great celebration. Otherwise, if you don't do that, and you leave the building, a couple of years later you'll go, 'What the hell? Why didn't we do that?' It's a few hours, but those few hours last forever.

"We've seen it time and time again with the Rock Hall. 'She's coming, he's not coming, why isn't he coming? He said this, and he said that,'" he continued. "All this drama. The music matters. It's all about the music. It's all about the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame induction."

Earlier this week, Halford said that Tipton — who's battling Parkinson's disease but was on the road playing during the encores of PRIEST's latest North American tour — will likely be in attendance at the ceremony.

The 2022 Rock Hall induction ceremony will be held on November 5 at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles. It will air at a later date on HBO and stream on HBO Max. There will also be a radio simulcast on SiriusXM's Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame Radio channel 310.

Downing left PRIEST in 2011 amid claims of band conflict, shoddy management and declining quality of performance.

In 2019, Downing said that he reached out to JUDAS PRIEST about taking part in the band's 50th-anniversary tour but that their response was that they were not interested in including him in the celebrations.

In 2018, Downing revealed that he sent two resignation letters to his bandmates when he decided to quit JUDAS PRIEST. The first was described as "a graceful exit note, implying a smooth retirement from music," while the second was "angrier, laying out all of his frustrations with specific parties."

Downing later said that he believed the second letter was "a key reason" he wasn't invited to rejoin PRIEST after Tipton's decision to retire from touring.

In February, Hill and Halford told Billboard that they would be happy to stand alongside Downing at a Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame induction later this year. "It's not a problem to us, no," Hill said. "Ken was an integral part of this band for a very, very long time. He deserves to be there along with the rest of us." Halford predicted that, "It won't be as awkward as Ace [Frehley] and Peter [Criss with KISS's Rock Hall induction]. I don't think it'll be awkward at all. I think you have to let all of that go because it's the night that matters. It's the moment that matters — but, again, the proverbial saying, we'll cross that bridge when we get to it."

In 2019, Halford was asked by Fox Sports 910's "Freak Nation" if fans could expect to see any of the former PRIEST members joining the band on stage during a Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame induction. He responded: "With something like the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame, there's a tinge of 'what if' [and] 'whatever.' It's an open book.

"I know what you're alluding to, and as I've had to [say] in the past, it's just a case of 'wait and see,'" he continued. "But it's a celebration, and it's 50 years of PRIEST, and, man, it's gonna be great. Should we get in, it's gonna be amazing."

After host Kenny Sargent brought up the original KISS lineup's controversial 2014 Rock Hall induction which was at least partly overshadowed by the musicians' decision not to perform, Halford said: "[PRIEST is] not the first band that this has happened to, and on the day, some things turn out the way a lot of people want 'em.

"I was thinking about this the other day," Halford added. "And this thing came into my head: 'Jim, the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few, or of the one.' Spock [in] 'Star Trek'. When he goes in the radiation room. Isn't that great? … That's a t-shirt, or an inspirational card."

Downing previously told Rockin' Metal Revival that there is a very good chance that he would perform with his former bandmates again if PRIEST gets the nod. "Oh, I think absolutely," he said. "I mean, why wouldn't you, really? It's a special thing. We're all of an age now. These opportunities only come once in a lifetime. And it seemingly takes a lifetime to get into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame. I've always said, there's no such thing as a young legend, right? [Laughs] So, while we're still here, it would be great to receive that accolade and put on a great performance and put that one to bed."

Swedish death metal veterans UNLEASHED were forced to cancel their performance tonight (Saturday, May 7) at the Incineration Fest in London, United Kingdom after drummer Anders Schultz broke his ribs in an accident.

On Friday, UNLEASHED took to social media to write: "Warriors!!!
We are extremely sad to inform you that Anders just had an accident and broke his ribs. Hence he has trouble breathing and is unable to play the show in London on Saturday the 7th. Right now we are all just very disappointed but there is nothing we can do but to cancel our show."

UNLEASHED's latest studio album, "No Sign Of Life", came out last November via Napalm Records.

In addition to Schultz, UNLEASHED's current lineup includes founding frontman Johnny Hedlund and guitarists Tomas Måsgard and Fredrik Folkare.

Last November, Johnny told Time For Metal about how UNLEASHED has managed to keep a steady lineup for all these years: "Well, we have since long been very good friends. We all help out in the band with all things in UNLEASHED. And we have also that long agreed on what to do and what not to do with the band. We also know pretty well what we want to play and what we do not want to play. So I think these are things that really play a key role in keeping the band in a strong and solid shape for a long time."

Hedlund elaborated on UNLEASHED's longevity in a 2021 interview with Metal1.info. He said: "There are a few things that I think need to be in place. First of all, you have to be very good friends in the band. Second, you all need to help out with things so that it doesn't become a one-man show. And, you need to agree on what to do and also, what not to do. Especially when it comes to what to play, and what not to play. It also helps out a lot if someone in the band is good with finance. I took my degree in finance in that time frame between 1999 to 2001. A really good time for a break."

Photo credit: Jens Rydén

Warriors!!!

We are extremely sad to inform you that Anders just had an accident and broke his ribs. Hence he has...

Posted by UNLEASHED on Friday, May 6, 2022

Finnish progressive metal band Sum Of Seven have released a new music video, "The Enemy", via Inverse Records. Famous Finnish model, dancer and singer Joalin Loukamaa, known from global pop band Now United, is featured in the video.


The band comments: "We wanted to create a video that has a nice balance of story and the band playing. Originally we planned this to be purely the band playing the song but the place we found for the shoot inspired us to add a story element. Joalin Loukamaa did an excellent job in our last video and we asked if she would join the project. Fortunately she said yes and did an amazing job again. We got Saku Suominen from Sakuvisuals to direct and work his magic behind the camera and we had an absolute blast filming this. We feel that the atmosphere of the video and the song complement each other in just the right way and the finished product definitely makes us proud.


The Enemy is a song that starts out fast and aggressive and really carries that momentum from start to finish. It is one of the heaviest songs that we have made so far. When that intro explodes you know that we're going somewhere fast. But at the same time when the vocal melodies kick in they steer the song into a different direction than you might expect, still carrying the aggressive momentum. The lyrics talk about freedom, victory and survival, but they also have connotations to the questionable interpretations of those subjects. The message can be interpreted as positively empowering, but also as a disturbingly delusional illusion."







Photo by Sami Hinkkanen 

On April 22nd, Night Ranger played the St. Augustine Amphitheatre in St. Augustine, FL. During their set, the band was joined by frontman Jack Blades' former Damn Yankees bandmate Tommy Shaw for a performance of the hit "High Enough". Check out the fan-filmed video below.  





"High Enough" is featured on the self-titled Damn Yankees album released in 1990. The song hit #3 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart, the group's first (and only) Top Ten single. It also reached #2 on the US Mainstream Rock Tracks chart. The success of "High Enough" helped send the album into the Top 20 on the US albums chart.




Damn Yankees featured Jack Blades, Tommy Shaw, Ted Nugent and Michael Cartellone.

RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE has spoken out against the leaked draft opinion penned by Supreme Court justice Samuel Alito arguing that the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade abortion ruling was "egregiously wrong from the start."

Four days after Politico published the opinion, RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE released a statement in support of abortion rights and expressing outrage and horror at the prospect of SCOTUS overturning Roe.

"RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE stands in support of reproductive justice and will continue to fight against any attempts to restrict or control reproductive freedoms," the band's statement reads. "Criminalizing access to abortion will only add to the suffering disproportionately felt by poor, BIPOC and undocumented communities.

"The constant rightward shift of both major parties should alarm us all — a wake up call that we desperately need to organize radical people power against a warfare state that continues its assault on people's lives."

According to the Politico report, the draft was circulated in February. Alito was reportedly joined by justices Clarence Thomas and all three of former President Donald Trump's nominees — Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett — while justices Stephen Breyer, Elana Kagan and Sonia Sotomayor were working on dissents. It was unclear how Chief Justice John Roberts voted.

The 1973 Roe v. Wade court decision affirmed the right to receive an abortion under the 14th Amendment, ruling that abortions were constitutionally protected up until about 23 weeks when a fetus can typically live outside the womb.

In the 98-page draft, Alito said Roe was wrongly decided, saying the issue should be decided by politicians, not courts. If Roe is reversed, it would not federally outlaw abortion. However, it would shift the power to states to decide on the procedure's legality.

According to a new Politico/Morning Consult poll, almost twice as many Americans (50 percent) say they want the court to reaffirm Roe v. Wade as say they want it overturned (28 percent). 22 percent are undecided, according to the poll. Majorities of Democrats (68 percent) and Independents (52 percent) say Roe should not be overturned, while a narrow majority of Republicans (51 percent) say it should.

Critics have said that tossing out the landmark rulings establishing abortion rights would tarnish the court's reputation and open the floodgates to other challenges to well-settled law.
pic.twitter.com/CPUDJLqrZl

— Rage Against The Machine (@RATMofficial) May 6, 2022

Sabaton guitarist / Majestica frontman Tommy Johansson has shared his solo performance of "Anthem" from the 1984 musical, Chess. Check it out below.


Johansson: "When I started to sing at the age of 15, the song 'Anthem' from the musical Chess (originally sung by Tommy Körberg) was my first REAL goal. I learned it and performed it at my school when we ended 9th grade in front of the whole school and from that day on this song has been very special to me. Maybe one day I will upload that video - me, 15 years old, singing that song."


Chess is a musical written by Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus of the pop group ABBA, lyrics by Ulvaeus and Tim Rice, and book by Rice. The story involves a politically driven, Cold War-era chess tournament between two grandmasters, one American and the other Soviet, and their fight over a woman who manages one and falls in love with the other. 




A highly successful concept album was released prior to the first theatrical production in order to raise money. In the case of Chess, the concept album was released in the autumn of 1984 while the show opened in London's West End in 1986 where it played for three years.





Johansson previously shared his solo performance of the Simon & Garfunkel classic, "The Sound Of Silence". Check it out below.


Johansson: "This cover of the Disturbed version of 'The Sound of Silence' by Paul Simon & Art Garfunkel is dedicated to my friend Christian Sundberg, who is no longer with us. A great friend, father, brother and son who left us too early."

The Unknown is Edge Of Paradise's fourth studio album, coming on the heels of their Frontiers Music Srl debut, Universe. The band teamed up with renowned producer Howard Benson (Halestorm, My Chemical Romance, Seether) who, together with Mike Plotnikoff (Halestorm, Three Days Grace), and Neil Sanderson (Three Days Grace) helped the band craft their biggest sounding album yet. Add in mixing and mastering by Jacob Hansen (Amaranthe, Volbeat, Pretty Maids) and you have a fool-proof recipe for a sonically stunning album. The Unknown builds upon where Universe left off, developing Edge Of Paradise's overall symphonic and metallic sound while bringing it to the next level. Gigantic hooks paired with monolithic guitar riffs in a spacious sea of symphonic sounds will immediately grab listeners and whisk them away on the band's sonic, and lyrical, journey.


Check out the band's new animated video for the "My Method Your Madness" (Industrial Remix)  bonus track below.










Tracklisting:


"Digital Paradise"
"My Method Your Madness"
"Tidal Wave"
"The Unknown"
"Believe"
"False Idols"
"You Touch You Die"
"One Last Time"
"Leaving Earth"
"Bound To The Rhythm"
"My Method Your Madness" (Industrial Remix) Bonus Track


"Believe" video:





"Tidal Wave" lyric video:





"False Idols" video:





"The Unknown" video:





"My Method Your Madness" video:





"Digital Paradise" video:





The Unknown is available to order / save here.

Finnish cello-rock quartet, Apocalyptica, have released the video below, featuring their performance of "House Of Chains" at Graspop Metal Meeting 2016 featuring vocalist Franky Perez.





Apocalyptica recently partnered up with some of the biggest names in rock music to deliver their new single, “I’ll Get Through It”. The song, written for the band by American award-winning songwriter Diane Warren, features Franky Perez – guest vocalist in Apocalyptica’s 2015 record Shadowmaker – as well as Geezer Butler of Black Sabbath on bass guitar. The track can be found on all digital streaming platforms. Buy/stream here, and watch the official music video below.







The song was born out of a visit Geezer & Franky paid to their friend Diane, who had already written the track “Not Strong Enough” for Apocalyptica, included in their 2010 record 7th Symphony. “Franky & I were visiting my friend, Diane Warren, at her studio. She played us this song, saying that she thought it would work well with Frankie’s voice. He gave it a try on the spot. We loved it. Franky then suggested sending it to Apocalyptica. They loved it, and the rest is history,” comments Geezer.


Franky Perez shares the same feeling of enthusiasm upon hearing the track for the first time – “I knew this song was special from the moment Diane Warren played it for Geezer and me. So much so, that I framed the lyrics from the session the very next day. They have been hanging on my wall ever since. This song speaks to me lyrically which made for an honest performance. Musically, there is no better collaboration than Geezer and Apocalyptica to do the song the justice it deserves. I feel very fortunate to be a part of it.”


“I’ll Get Through It” marks the first collaboration between Apocalyptica and Franky Perez since he sang on Shadowmaker, which adds to the excitement for the members of Apocalyptica, according to Perttu Kivilaakso: “We are more than thrilled working with our great and talented friend Franky Perez again! It’s been a while since our previous collaborations in Shadowmaker- album and tour, and we are also highly awaiting for getting back on road with him this April all across the States!”


Perttu also adds, about the song – “’I’ll Get Through It’ – is a meaningful and beautiful song by an incredible songwriter Diane Warren, with whom we’ve also had the pleasure of working with before. We can’t wait for you to hear the final result… falling in love again with Franky’s sensual performance, Geezer’s earthshakingly powerful bass, and our wistfully haunting cellos, among the inevitable presence of all the rhythms and groove!”


“We hope you’ll enjoy the track as much as we do! Gonna be a blast performing it also live!”

Torn Between Two Worlds, featuring former Angtoria bandmates Sarah Jezebel Deva and Chris Rehn, have released an official lyric video for their latest single, "Transparent". Check it out below, 


The song is taken from their upcoming EP, As If We Never Existed, which is out on June 3rd.







Sarah comments "This song was a bit of a challenge for me as this song is totally from scratch. It wasn’t written a few years ago like 'The Beauty Of Deception' was. 'All Eyes On Me' was also written a few years ago, but 80% of the lyrics lost, re-written and re-arranged and the vocals recorded at my home, and 'Hello' being a cover song (Adele). This is the first song lyric wise that I have written in almost 10 years, I think, and when Chris sent me the music, I found it so difficult getting everything together. I recorded half a track and Chris and I, just weren’t feeling it, so we took a big step back for a few months and let everything digest, because you can’t rush a song if you want people to believe you believe in your music. Chris Rehn is a mindblowing composer and takes much pride in his arrangements and for me, as silly as it sounds, I want him to be proud of the song and me. I can’t stress enough how its him that should be praised to high heaven, not me.


The song is based on fame and ego, people who take everything and everyone for granted and takes pleasure in destroying everything and people, only to make themselves feel better. They love to take credit for absolutely everything, whilst others work their arses off, put their heart and soul into everything. Self destructive, compulsive liar who believes you are where you are today because of them. Surrounded by many for the wrong reasons, yet doesn’t actually doesn’t have much."





Check out the previously released singles from Torn Between Two Worlds below.


"The Beauty Of Deception"





"All Eyes On Me"





"Hello"

Mass Worship have released a guitar playthrough video for "Orcus Mouth", from the recently released full-length album, Portal Tombs. Watch below:





Portal Tombs is a terrifying but electrifying exploration of the gloomy depths of human nature: a monolithic manifestation of the musical force that is Mass Worship. The album features guest appearances by Jonas Stålhammar of At The Gates, Mark ‘Barney’ Greenway of Napalm Death, and Jonas Renkse of Katatonia/Bloodbath.




“It’s pretty mind-blowing to have members of such inspirational pioneers on our own album”, says the band.


Drawing inspiration from bands such as At The Gates, Mastodon and Meshuggah, Mass Worship could be likened to many bands, but somehow forge their musical identity into something exceptionally distinctive and transcendent, and with enough confidence and conviction to win over even the most orthodox fans of the genre.


Order your copy of Portal Tombs at this location.





"Specular Void"
"Portal Tombs"
"Revel In Fear"
"Orcus Mouth"
"Unholy Mass"
"Dunes Of Bone"
"Scorched Earth"
"Empyrean Halls"
"Deliverence"


“Empyrean Halls” visualizer:





“Orcus Mouth” video:

Hard rock juggernaut Saint Asonia, featuring former Three Days Grace frontman Adam Gontier and Staind guitarist/founding member Mike Mushok, are back with a new EP. The band will release Introvert on July 1 via Spinefarm. Pre-order it here.


Today, the band has shared the first single from the seven-track EP in the form of "Above It All". Watch the video, directed by Justin Reich, below.


"'Above It All' is about rising above all the chaos, negativity, judgment and living the life you want to, not the life that is expected of you by others," says Gontier. "The song was written during the first lockdown in Canada after COVID hit. None of us had ever been through anything like this in our lifetimes and no one really knew how we as a society should act and deal with a global pandemic. I really felt it gave people a great opportunity to search inside themselves about how best to deal with these crazy circumstances and choose how they want to live their lives coming out of this."




The EP also features the band's well-received cover of The Weeknd's "Blinding Lights," which arrived last year.


The quartet - rounded out by Cale Gontier [bass] and Cody Watkins [drums] - have perfected a fusion of gut-punching grooves, intricate fretwork, airtight songwriting, and soaring choruses.





Tracklisting:


"Above It All"
"Better Late Than Never"
"Chew Me Up"
"So What"
"Left Behind"
"Bite The Bullet"
"Blinding Lights"


"Above All" video:





"Blinding Lights":

Vomit Forth have just announced their signing to Century Media Records. The Connecticut-based Northeast death metal powerhouse are set to release their long-awaited full length, Seething Malevolence, on July 8.


While the band is known for a sound that borrows from the under appreciated East Coast death metal blueprint belched up from bands like Internal Bleeding and Scattered Remnants, Seething Malevolence expands to more experimental and unexpected sounds, refracting the band’s love for the likes of Napalm Death or Full Of Hell.


Already known for their furious live show, sharpened by recent North American touring with labelmates, Frozen Souland Sanguisugabogg, as well as experimental hardcore legends, Integrity, Vomit Forth’s name has cemented itself into the US extreme metal landscape.




The self-produced Seething Malevolence, which was mixed and mastered by Arthur Rizk (Power Trip, Ghostmane and features U.S. noisemonger, Prurient on the opening track, “Untitled”, is a clear next step. The band’s prior demos, collected on 2019’s Maggot Stomp issued Northeastern Deprivation won the band raves in the underground and the attention of Century Media.


“We’re excited and grateful to be working with Century Media,” says frontman Kane Gelaznik who started the band in 2017 with drummer Nick Herrmann, bassist Tyler Bidwell and guitarist Ricky Brayall.  “Going back to buying CD’s from Asphyx, Merauder or Napalm Death, we’ve been fans of the label and really see them as a forward-thinking force in death metal. That’s the same attitude and vision we have towards our band and music – it’s no rules but our rules.”


“Hearing the unmixed record the band had produced themselves before they had signed with CM blew me away,” says Century Media Vice President of A&R, Mike Gitter. “While the band’s influences in death metal and hardcore are present, that’s just where it starts. Vomit Forth is onto something deeper and more extreme.”


Seething Malevolence delivers on the promise of everything Vomit Forth has hinted at so far. Northeast death metal. The pre-order has officially started, so check out the self-titled first single or pre-order the album, here.





Seething Malevolence tracklisting:


Intro
"Eucharist Intact"
"Pain Tolerance"
"Tortured Sacrament"
"Unrecognizable"
"Seething Malevolence"
"Severely Wounded"
"Carnivorous Incantation"
"I Feel Nothing"
"Predatory Savior"
"Pious Killing Floor"


Album trailer:





Vomit Forth is:


Kane Gelaznik (vocals)
Tyler Bidwell (bass)
Nick Herrmann (drums)
Ricky Brayall (guitars)

John Cooper, the frontman and bassist for the Grammy-nominated Christian rock band SKILLET, has reacted to a leaked draft opinion published by Politico on Monday (May 2) that shows a majority of the U.S. Supreme Court has voted to overturn the landmark 1973 ruling Roe v. Wade that established the right to abortion nearly 50 years ago.

According to the Politico report, the draft was written by Justice Samuel Alito and circulated in February. Alito was reportedly joined by justices Clarence Thomas and all three of former President Donald Trump's nominees — Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett — while justices Stephen Breyer, Elana Kagan and Sonia Sotomayor were working on dissents. It was unclear how Chief Justice John Roberts voted.

In a new 13-minute video posted to his Cooper Stuff YouTube channel, Cooper addressed Alito's draft opinion, which would strike down Roe v. Wade and allow states to restrict abortion. The 47-year-old said in part (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "If this actually happens, what it means is that Roe v. Wade is going to be turned over. Now, let's just say this: this is something that Christians have been praying about literally for 50 years. Okay, we can't exaggerate this — 50 years Christians have been praying about this. People have been begging and pleading God to intervene. People like my mom, who's with Jesus now, prayed and fasted and went to prayer meetings and went and handed out literature at abortion clinics trying to save babies. This was just a tradition that I grew up in. People in my family fight big time for the pro-life cause. My daughter volunteers at a pro-life clinic, as well as my church has a pro-life prayer meeting that meets every single Monday, week after week, year after year. People have been begging and pleading for this to change.

"This is huge news, all right?" he continued. "Actually, my father-in-law and my mother-in-law were both arrested 20 years ago for standing outside of an abortion clinic — being peaceful, of course, but trying to hand out literature and that sort of thing. People have been fighting for this for decades."

The 1973 Roe v. Wade court decision affirmed the right to receive an abortion under the 14th Amendment, ruling that abortions were constitutionally protected up until about 23 weeks when a fetus can typically live outside the womb.

In the 98-page draft, Alito said Roe was wrongly decided, saying the issue should be decided by politicians, not courts. If Roe is reversed, it would not federally outlaw abortion. However, it would shift the power to states to decide on the procedure's legality.

According to a new Politico/Morning Consult poll, almost twice as many Americans (50 percent) say they want the court to reaffirm Roe v. Wade as say they want it overturned (28 percent). 22 percent are undecided, according to the poll. Majorities of Democrats (68 percent) and Independents (52 percent) say Roe should not be overturned, while a narrow majority of Republicans (51 percent) say it should.

Critics have said that tossing out the landmark rulings establishing abortion rights would tarnish the court's reputation and open the floodgates to other challenges to well-settled law.

Another Christian rocker who apparently agrees with Cooper is STRYPER frontman Michael Sweet. Two years ago, Sweet publicly revealed his views on abortion while discussing how he decides which presidential candidate he gets behind. He told Slabber.net in an interview: "It's not anything new for people to hear from a Christian that they support pro-life. We want to see children that are unborn, live. The other side of that argument, for example, if the woman is raped and she loses her right to have an abortion, that's a terrible thing as well, and I agree with that. You would think in this case a woman should have the choice to keep that baby or not keep that baby. It's a tough argument. There are pros and cons to both sides of this argument. For me, as a believer, as a Christian, the pro-life pros outweigh the cons. Therefore, I'm a guy who typically gets behind whoever is the candidate that is pro-life as well."

In various interviews over the years, John has said that he "always had faith in God" and that his mother was a "Jesus fanatic." He also claimed that he was willing to put his career on the line to take a stand for Christ.

In April 2021, Cooper told the "Undaunted.Life: A Man's Podcast" that it was perfectly fine for Christians to play rock music. "I would say that music is created not by the Devil; [it is] created by the Lord," he said. "All things were created by God. So instead of thinking that the Devil owns a genre of music, I would say capture that music and bring it back into subjection under the Lordship of Christ."

Savatage are a band of staggering power and unlimited creativity, establishing themselves at the 'cutting-edge' of the hard rock world, with a career spanning twelve albums.


August 2021 was the beginning of the extensive re-release campaign of the entire back-catalogue, which continues with the simultaneous release of two certified classics. Gutter Ballet explored a more 'progressive' palette, whilst Streets - A Rock Opera - considered to be their magnum opus - leaned in to the path of "concept album.










The two albums are now available as strictly limited heavyweight coloured LP gatefold collector’s edition, along with 180g black vinyl gatefold. Mastered for vinyl and reissued with the original cover design, specially enhanced artwork and extensive liner notes, they aren't just a must-have for Savatage fans, but for any vinyl aficionado.


More details here.

The Rolling Stones have released two previously unheard recordings from a legendary event in the band's incredible 60-year history. “Tumbling Dice” and “Hot Stuff,” recorded at the Stones’ famous secret concerts at the 300-capacity Toronto club El Mocambo in March 1977, are out now!.


Listen to the tracks here, and watch “Tumbling Dice” and “Hot Stuff” visualizers below.


The two tracks are set to feature on the upcoming Live At The El Mocambo album, which is being released in full for the first time on Friday, May 13.







The album will be available on double CD, 4 LP black vinyl, 4 LP neon vinyl and digitally. It features the Stones' full set from the March 5 show, plus three bonus tracks from the March 4 gig, newly mixed by Bob Clearmountain. Only four of the performances found their way onto the Love You Live album that followed in September 1977, which was dominated by tracks captured on the band's 1975 and '76 tours, with the full set having never been heard before.





As the Stones took to the stage of the “El Mo,” a fixture of the Toronto music scene since the 1940s, punk and disco were both rearing into full view, supposedly ready to see off a band who had already been at the top of their game for 15 years. Over two nights, in an intimate space in one of their favourite cities, they were about to make that prognosis look foolish indeed.


The gigs became reality after the El Mocambo was identified as the potential home for a secret booking. A radio contest was organized in which the prize was tickets to see Canadian rock heroes April Wine, supported by an unknown band called the Cockroaches. Guess who they turned out to be...


On the nights, naturally, April Wine were themselves the opening act, and so it was that the Stones rolled back the years to the exhilarating club incarnation of their early years. Against all the odds, the band produced two nights of exhilarating music that they still talk about in Toronto, and in Rolling Stones legend, to this day.


It was a setlist for all seasons, from Muddy Waters' “Mannish Boy“ and Bo Diddley's “Crackin' Up“ to staples such as “Let's Spend The Night Together“ and “Tumbling Dice,“ and back to the blues with Big Maceo's “Worried Life Blues“ and Willie Dixon's “Little Red Rooster.“ There was the live debut of “Worried About You,“ not heard in studio form until 1981's Tattoo You, and more highlights from “Honky Tonk Women“ to “Hot Stuff.“ Forty-five years on, this is a trip back to the intensity of the Crawdaddy Club in the Stones' earliest days, as revisited by the greatest rock 'n' roll band in the world.


Live At The El Mocambo is available for pre-order now.





El Mocambo 1977 CD tracklisting:


Disc 1:
"Honky Tonk Woman"
"All Down The Line"
"Hand Of Fate"
"Route 66"
"Fool To Cry"
"Crazy Mama"
"Mannish Boy"
"Crackin’ Up"
"Dance Little Sister"
"Around And Around"
"Tumbling Dice"


Disc 2:
"Hot Stuff"
"Star Star"
"Let’s Spend The Night Together"
"Worried Life Blues"
"Little Red Rooster"
"It’s Only Rock ‘N’ Roll (But I Like It)"
"Rip This Joint"
"Brown Sugar"
"Jumpin’ Jack Flash"
"Melody"
"Luxury"
"Worried About You"


"Tumbling Dice":





"Hot Stuff:





"Rip This Joint":





"It’s Only Rock ‘N’ Roll (But I Like It)":





Trailer:

Former H.E.A.T. vocalist Erik Grönwall is now the frontman for Skid Row, having officially replaced ZP Theart earlier this year. He has shared a new cover video, which can be viewed below.


"Las Vegas session! I found some time on my day off to record this song. Special thanks to The Tone Factory Recording Studios Las Vegas, NV."







On March 26th, Skid Row played their first show with Grönwall at Zappos Theater at Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino in Las Vegas, NV. They were supporting the Scorpions for the band's Sin City Nights residency.


Skid Row and earMUSIC join forces to announce the release of the new studio album, The Gang’s All Here, on October 14. This announcement coincides with the launch of the iconic hard rock band’s Las Vegas Residency (as the Scorpions’ special guests) this Saturday, as well as the debut of their brand-new single, the title track “The Gang’s All Here”. Watch a visualizer for the single below, and stream the song here.


“The Gang’s All Here” is an oath of triumph, exploding with powerful energy that makes us hunger for more. It is the logical next-generation leap of the band’s trademark sound that stomps out new ground – with singer Erik Grönwall (formerly of H.E.A.T, one of the best frontmen of this or any hard rock era) joining the family.


Produced by Grammy Award Winning producer Nick Raskulinecz (Foo Fighters, Rush, Alice In Chains, Halestorm, Evanescence) and long-time fan, Skid Row are ablaze. They are re-energized, kicking their sound way up to modern Hard Rock Royalty.


“We are beyond excited to release this record. It has been a long time in the making and a lot of hard work has been put into it by the band and our producer Nick Raskulinecz. And the addition of Erik has lifted the songs to new heights. Add all this to the fact that we start our world tour in Las Vegas with the Scorpions residency this Saturday at Zappos Theater makes it easy to say that Skid Row is going to have a great year.” - Rachel Bolan and Snake Sabo


The Gang's All Here album can be pre-ordered here.





The Gang's All Here tracklisting:


"Hell Or High Water"
"The Gang's All Here"
"Not Dead Yet"
"Time Bomb"
"Resurrected"
"Nowhere Fast"
"When The Lights Come On"
"Tear It Down"
"October's Song"
"World's On Fire"


"The Gang’s All Here" visualizer:

Thunderchief is a misanthropic sludge metal duo based in Richmond, Virginia featuring former Alabama Thunderpussy guitarist Erik Larson, who plays drums in this band, alongside vocalist / guitarist Rik Surly. 


The pair have just released a cover of the title track to Cinderella's debut album from 1986, Night Songs, which can be heard below.  


Night Songs by THUNDERCHIEF




Compare with Cinderella's original version:





Catch Thunderchief live at the following shows:


May 
13 - Westside Bowl - Youngstown, OH
14 - Remedy - Pittsburgh, PA


(Photo by Sasha Sakiewicz)


 

In Hamburg’s heavy glam metal act Night Laser, Steamhammer/SPV has signed one of the most committed and hard-working German bands around right now. Founded in 2014, the quartet surrounding brothers Benno and Robert Hankers (vocals and bass) has released three studio albums to date and garnered an outstanding reputation as a live act at home and abroad.


Night Laser have already played more than 180 shows, having been to England three times, toured Italy and the Benelux countries, and delivered an awesome performance at the renowned Summer Breeze 2018. More recently, Night Laser were on a major European tour alongside DeVicious and Black Tiger in April 2022, with more shows scheduled for the coming months. Simultaneously, the musicians have started to write songs for their upcoming studio album, which is scheduled for release in spring 2023. “But there’ll probably be a lead single at the end of 2022,” says bassist Robert Hankers, already promising new material.


For him and his brother, signing the contract has been a real stroke of luck: “Lots of my favorite bands, like Freedom Call and The Unity, are with Steamhammer/SPV. This makes us even more thrilled to have signed with such a legendary label, where we feel we’re in perfect hands stylistically.”




Steamhammer label manager Olly Hahn is also pleased about this successful coup: “We’re proud and delighted to have enlisted Night Laser, one of the currently most committed new German metal bands, who have already proven their outstanding potential many times over with furioso live shows and three great studio albums. We look forward to a promising and fruitful collaboration.”


Photo from left to right: Frank Uhle (managing director SPV), Benno Hankers (vocals, Night Laser), Olly Hahn (label manager Steamhammer), Robert Hankers (bass, Night Laser)

Metalville Records has announced July 29 as the international release date for Live Fire, a brand new live album from Sweden's Torch.


Recorded at Sweden Rock Festival 2018, the Swedish metal legends present themselves in top form. The performance marked a triumphant return to the stage, and the overwhelming response from the many fans spurred the band on to deliver an exceptional performance. The show was recorded, but then put aside for the time being as the band was involved in work for their much-acclaimed comeback album Reignited.


Live Fire includes eight of the band's classics as well as a live version of "Feed The Flame," a song that was later included as a studio version on Reignited.




On Live Fire, Torch ignite a crashing firework. Raw, fast, heavy, and energetic - just as heavy metal should be.





Live Fire tracklisting:


"Beauty & The Beast"
"Mercenary"
"Feed The Flame"
"Battle Axe"
"Sweet Desire"
"Electrikiss"
"Thunderstruck"
"Watcher Of The Night"
"Warlock"


Lineup:


Dan Dark - vocals
Chris J First - guitar
Håkky - guitar
Ian Greg - bass
Steve Streaker - drums


(Photo - Robert Hellström)

With its driving hooks, twin lead guitars, lyrics saturated in working class lore, and the charismatic presence of singer/songwriter/bassist Phil Lynott, THIN LIZZY is undeniably one of the most influential bands in rock 'n' roll.

Mercury Studios salutes THIN LIZZY's legacy with the release of "Phil Lynott Songs For While I'm Away + Thin Lizzy The Boys Are Back In Town Live At The Sydney Opera House October 1978" on June 24. Pairing the acclaimed Phil Lynott documentary with a renowned live concert film, the set will be available as a 2xDVD+CD and Blu-ray+DVD+CD (with the Phil Lynott documentary on the Blu-ray).

"Songs For While I'm Away" chronicles the life and music of Phil Lynott, utilizing archival footage, interview snippets from the man himself, and music from both the THIN LIZZY and Phil Lynott solo catalog. Notable conversations with Midge Ure (ULTRAVOX, THIN LIZZY),Darren Wharton (THIN LIZZY),Scott Gorham (THIN LIZZY),Adam Clayton (U2),Huey Lewis (HUEY LEWIS & THE NEWS),James Hetfield (METALLICA) and others, as well as Phil's wife Caroline Taraskevics and daughters Sarah Lynott and Cathleen Lynott reveal an all-encompassing look at Phil, from his 1950s' upbringing as a black boy in blue-collar Dublin to his rise to fame. Fully exploring his history and rippling impact on music, the film examines Lynott as a singer, songwriter, poet, father, and cultural icon.

Complementing this film is "The Boys Are Back In Town Live At The Sydney Opera House October 1978". Previously released on VHS, Laserdisc, and DVD, this version presents the show in the highest quality that has been made available, with not only cleaned up video and remixed audio from multi tracks, but five additional songs from this set that have never been officially released. This performance showcases the electricity of these original rock 'n' roll masters — Lynott, Scott Gorham (guitar, background vocals),Gary Moore (guitar / background vocals) and Mark Nauseef — delivering searing versions of their celebrated anthems, such as "Jailbreak", "The Boys Are Back In Town", "Bad Reputation" and "Me And The Boys".

Unveiling the story of Phil Lynott, then backing up the band's power and prowess with a dynamic performance, "Phil Lynott Songs For While I'm Away + Thin Lizzy The Boys Are Back In Town Live At The Sydney Opera House October 1978" echoes the importance of THIN LIZZY in the pantheon of rock music.

Ex-JUDAS PRIEST guitarist K.K. Downing says that the band's upcoming induction into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame will bring about a "completeness" to the group's career. PRIEST will receive the Musical Excellence Award at the fall 2022 event, which will honor Eminem, Dolly Parton, DURAN DURAN, Lionel Richie, Pat Benatar, EURYTHMICS and Carly Simon in the Performers category.

In an interview with Danny Stoakes, Downing stated about the honor: "It brings about a completeness to a career after so long. It's no secret, we're all men of an age now — I'm 70 — and you start to look back. Together with winning several nominations and achieving a Grammy and the same thing happening now with the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame, I think it's job done."

The award for Musical Excellence — which was originally titled the "Sidemen" category when it debuted — is given to artists, musicians, songwriters and producers whose originality and influence creating music have had a dramatic impact on music.

Back in 2010, when the Sidemen category was renamed the award for Musical Excellence, Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame Foundation president Joel Peresman told The Plain Dealer the category "gives us flexibility to dive into some things and recognize some people who might not ordinarily get recognized."

JUDAS PRIEST is the second band to receive the award for Musical Excellence; the E STREET BAND was the first. Last year, late OZZY OSBOURNE and QUIET RIOT guitarist Randy Rhoads was one of the recipients of the Musical Excellence Award.

The induction ceremony will be held on November 5, 2022 at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles. It will air at a later date on HBO and stream on HBO Max. There will also be a radio simulcast on SiriusXM's Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame Radio channel 310.

JUDAS PRIEST was previously on the ballot for Rock Hall induction in 2020, but failed to receive enough votes to make that year's class.

Having been eligible for induction since 1999, PRIEST was also on the ballot for the 2018 class of the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame, but was ultimately left out of the inductee list.

On Wednesday (May 4),K.K. told Eonmusic about PRIEST being inducted into the Rock Hall: "Yeah, it's one of those things, I think; it was like the Grammy; when you get nominated that amount of times and don't win, when you actually do win, it takes the edge off it a bit, because you've failed a lot of times. But it's better to score the goal at the end of the game. Laughs]"

Asked if it feels like "a real triumph" that he will be able to stand with his "brothers in music" to receive the award, Downing said: "I'm not sure, really. I hadn't thought about that. Is that going to happen? Is it? I think it's November, and a lot can happen between now and then, mate."

As for whether he is thinking about possibly strapping on the guitar and playing with the guys again at the event, Downing said: "I thought about it briefly, when we were nominated, what would happen. But like I say, it's November and a lot of things can happen between now and then, especially with men of an age like us. But I think it's just a question of seeing how everything lies when it comes to them, really, because a lot of things can happen between now and then — a lot of things could get better, but they could get worse, or stay the same. You never know, do you?"

When asked what being inducted into the Rock Hall means to him personally, K.K. said: "I'm particularly delighted because as far as I know, the nominees when we failed last time were me, Glenn [Tipton, guitar], Ian [Hill, bass] and Rob [Halford, vocals], and Scott [Travis, drums], and [former members] Les Binks and Dave Holland. In that case, I'm really quite delighted for my buddies, really; Les and Dave, bless him, even though he's not here [Dave passed away on 16th January 2018). Obviously, a lot of cherished memories, a lot of gigs together, you know. They were an integral part for a long time. Dave did a lot — from 'British Steel' [1980] onwards, and when you think about it, it's quite a while, through to 'Ram It Down' [1988], through the period of the wonderful decade of the Eighties. It was the glory times. Like I say, I'm pleased for Dave, and Les, really. Les was there on those important albums as well."

On Tuesday (May 3),Halford told Billboard that PRIEST's former members are welcome to be part of the induction, and he feels any animosities can be set aside for the occasion.

"They have every right to be a part of the event," he said. "I'm very pleased for everybody. There's no bitterness. There's no angst. There's not that kind of stuff that's lingering. If there is you have to push all that away. You have to push it to the side and just understand and accept and respect this wonderful opportunity and what it represents in terms of recognition and a celebration."

Halford went on to say that Tipton — who's battling Parkinson's disease but was on the road playing during the encores of PRIEST's latest North American tour — will likely attend the ceremony.

Downing left PRIEST in 2011 amid claims of band conflict, shoddy management and declining quality of performance.

In 2019, Downing said that he reached out to JUDAS PRIEST about taking part in the band's 50th-anniversary tour but that their response was that they were not interested in including him in the celebrations.

In 2018, Downing revealed that he sent two resignation letters to his bandmates when he decided to quit JUDAS PRIEST. The first was described as "a graceful exit note, implying a smooth retirement from music," while the second was "angrier, laying out all of his frustrations with specific parties."

Downing later said that he believed the second letter was "a key reason" he wasn't invited to rejoin PRIEST after Tipton's decision to retire from touring.

In February, Hill and Halford told Billboard that they would be happy to stand alongside Downing at a Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame induction later this year. "It's not a problem to us, no," Hill said. "Ken was an integral part of this band for a very, very long time. He deserves to be there along with the rest of us." Halford predicted that, "It won't be as awkward as Ace [Frehley] and Peter [Criss with KISS's Rock Hall induction]. I don't think it'll be awkward at all. I think you have to let all of that go because it's the night that matters. It's the moment that matters — but, again, the proverbial saying, we'll cross that bridge when we get to it."

During a new interview with Jorge Botas of Portugal's "Metal Global", SCORPIONS singer Klaus Meine assured fans that there is no more talk of retirement, as there was back in 2010 with what was purported to be a final album and a farewell tour that never quite took hold. "No, we scratched that word [retirement] out of our [vocabulary]," he said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET). "It's not there. We don't think about it and we don't talk about it and we take it as it comes.

"Who would have thought two years after the pandemic… The pandemic is not gone, unfortunately, but two years after this long, long break… We played the last show before we started [our residency] in Las Vegas on the 5th of March, 2020 in Singapore; that was the last show," he continued. "So it's scary. We never had such a long break. And then all of a sudden you're back in front of an audience, in front of the fans. But then you know it feels so good, and it still feels so good after all these years.

"We're just growing older and we do what we do and we hope our fans enjoy it as much as we do," Klaus added. "But who would have thought we're still around after celebrating 50 years of being recording artists — our first album came out in 1972 and now 'Rock Believer' looks like it hits the big time with the fans and so many positive reviews from all over the world. And after all these years, who would have thought? And it's a wonderful thing.

"But all we know is [that] the road ahead is way shorter than what's behind us. And we never take it for granted —we never take success for granted. We work hard on what we do because we still love it and we still enjoy it. But it's what it is. And I think every artist knows what I'm talking about, because to go out there, play a great show for the fans and not let 'em down, it takes a lot of preparation, takes a lot of work. And being the singer, you try to make sure your pipes are in a good condition.

"It's a lot of things," Meine said. "And we don't know what the future will bring. Take a look at the next corner, and you never know what's going on. But right now, life is good. We have a great new album out there. And we have a lot of fun. We enjoy it."

Meine previously discussed SCORPIONS' aborted retirement in a 2018 interview with SiriusXM. "The thing is we have a much different view now," Klaus said. "And it's a young generation — that's the fuel that keeps us going, and it's really motivating.

"To be honest, every other year, you take a look around the corner: 'Can we do this?' 'Can we still deliver on the same high level, the way we used to do it?'" he admitted. "And that's the only way, and it's only fun if you can go out there and play a great rock show, wherever you do it. Like in the last couple of weeks, we had so much fun. But then you get sick on the road, like I did last year with the severe laryngitis. What can you do? There's not a chance. And then sometimes, of course, you ask yourself, 'How long can we do this?' Especially for singers — and I know I'm not the only one. But it's always, sometimes you ask yourself, 'Klaus, c'mon, how long can you keep up this level?' And then you go out there, everything feels good."

Circling back to SCORPIONS' 2010 "farewell tour" announcement, Klaus told SiriusXM: "Of course, we had our moment of doubt when we said, 'Okay. Maybe we should retire. Maybe this is a good moment.' And then we realized we were wrong, because there's still a lot of sting in the tail, so to speak, and it still feels good. There's such a demand for the SCORPIONS, and we're one of the few bands who play this global stage. If there wasn't this kind of demand, of course, there's no point after so many years, and you'd better go, 'Well, I go home and take it easy.' But there's such a strong demand and that really feels good and challenging — it's a challenge. Of course, you don't do it for the business. It's a good business, yes, but you don't do it for the business and for the money — you do it for the fun, you do it for what's inside of you, what's in your blood, what's in your veins, and that's the rock and roll music. And you wanna go out and play in front of an audience, because that's what it's all about."

SCORPIONS' latest album, "Rock Believer", was released on February 25. The album was recorded primarily at Peppermint Park Studios in Hannover, Germany and was mixed at the legendary Hansa Studios in Berlin, Germany with engineer Michael Ilbert, who has earned multiple Grammy nominations for his mix work with producer Max Martin on albums by Taylor Swift and Katy Perry.

SCORPIONS originally intended to record the new album in Los Angeles with producer Greg Fidelman, whose previous credits include SLIPKNOT and METALLICA. However, because of the pandemic, some of the initial work was done with Greg remotely, after which SCORPIONS opted to helm the recordings themselves with the help of their engineer Hans-Martin Buff.

Nearly a decade after first floating the possibility of no longer hitting the road, horror-punk icon Glenn Danzig has hinted that his tour with CRADLE OF FILTH and CROBOT might be his last. "I don't think I'm going to tour anymore," he told Revolver magazine in a new interview. "I'm just going to fly out to a show here or there. I'll maybe be down to do some one-offs. But I just don't see myself getting on a tour bus anymore … Yeah. I think I'm done."

Danzig also stated that he is in no rush to make a new collection of original music. DANZIG's latest album, "Black Laden Crown", came out in May 2017 via Evilive Records/Nuclear Blast Entertainment.

"I write songs here and there," he said. "Lately, I seem to be writing more soundtrack stuff. I don't know that I'm ever going to do another album again. I might do an EP or I might just record some songs and put them out for free on the Internet. We'll see. It could be that right now I'm just not interested, and then a month from now I'll be in the studio. It depends. I've got to be excited about working in order to go do it. And right now I'm not that excited."

Glenn went on to say that there are "a bunch of different" reasons he is feeling less inspired to make new music. "I've been doing it so long, I've written so many songs — trying to get excited about it and bringing something new or something cool, it takes a little longer now," he said. "The other thing is that people are stealing music left and right. Nobody really buys music anymore. I still go in a real studio to record so I'm not some kid in my living room doing my record."

Acknowledging that "Black Laden Crown" seemed to be well received by his fans, Glenn said: "It came in Top 20 in Billboard, the first time since 'Danzig 4'. I don't know that it means that much anymore these days, because no one's buying, but it's kind of cool. People really liked 'Deth Red Sabaoth' [2010] and people really like 'Black Laden Crown'. So maybe I'll do an EP or something."

Danzig released a collection of Elvis Presley covers, "Danzig Sings Elvis", in April 2020 and has been focusing on making films, including last year's "Death Rider In The House Of Vampires" and his feature film directorial debut, "Verotika".

Glenn has been talking about the end of his touring career since at least 2015. At that time, he told Cleveland Scene: "I love being on stage and that's the great part of touring. I'll always do that. It's the bouncing around on a bus. That's the part I hate."

He continued: "I'm a workaholic. When you're on the road, you don't have all your stuff with you and you can't work.

"A long time ago, I stopped touring and my manager asked if I would tour if they let me fly home once in a while. We did a few West Coast tours and it worked. We tried it on a national level and it kind of works, so that's why we started doing shows again.

"If I retired, I would find other things to do. I just keep doing what I do."

Danzig added: "At some point, I'll stop touring. That's for sure."

DANZIG's U.S. tour, which kicked off last night (Thursday, May 5) in Reno, Nevada, will include a special show that will see Danzig and his bandmates perform the entire 1990 album "Danzig II: Lucifuge". The trek, featuring from CRADLE OF FILTH and CROBOT, will end on May 19 in Austin, Texas.

Last month, Glenn told the 96.7 KCAL-FM radio program "Wired In The Empire" that he is currently working on four different movie scripts, including sequels to "Death Rider In The House Of Vampires" and "Verotika".

When it debuted at the Cinepocalypse festival in Chicago in 2019, "Verotika" was compared by some reviewers to Tommy Wiseau's "The Room", the so-bad-it's-amazing drama which is considered one of the worst movies ever made.

Detroit death-doom force Temple Of Void’s Relapse debut, Summoning The Slayer, is out June 3rd. Today, Temple Of Void shares the second single “Hex, Curse, & Conjuration”, which can be heard below.


Temple Of Void comments: “This one is a banger. The shortest TOV song to date, I believe. Just ruthlessly stripped it down to the bare essentials. Ready to rip your face off on stage. Classic cave-man death metal harkening back to early Deicide and Morbid Angel output, but warped through the Temple Of Void perspective.”







The Michigan-based quintet featuring Alex Awn (guitars), Don Durr (guitars), Mike Erdody (vocals), Jason Pearce (drums), and Brent Satterly (bass), hunkered down during the last two years, expanding upon their brand of fusty, artfully brutish death-doom with equal parts process and imagination. The outcome is an album that feels massive yet sepulchral, exploratory yet distinguishable—as if crafted deep below and inspired by all the things (mentally and physically) that come with their subterranean endeavor. Summoning The Slayer creepily evolves Temple Of Void.


Produced, mixed, and mastered by Arthur Rizk (Power Trip, Sumerlands, Candy), Summoning The Slayer pairs long-time influences and a bevy of non-metal vectors into hulking columns of heavy and desolation. Focus tracks “Deathtouch”, “Hex, Curse, & Conjuration” and “The Transcending Horror” showcases Temple Of Void’s death-doom at its heights and their massive, crushing lows. But the group’s fourth album is more than that. The album’s capper, “Dissolution”, is one example of the Detroiters stretching out, the song’s ‘70s rock/singer-songwriter motifs hitting The Moody Blues and Nick Drake hard. Lyrically, Summoning The Slayer eschews commonplace horror tropes with a deeper, broader psychological discussion of the self. Temple Of Void’s ultimate death-doom metal journey is now complete.


Summoning The Slayer is out June 3 on LP/CD/CS/Digital. Physical pre-orders via Relapse.com are available here. Digital downloads/streaming at this location.





Tracklisting:


"Behind The Eye"
"Deathtouch"
"Engulfed"
"A Sequence Of Rot"
"Hex, Curse, & Conjuration"
"The Transcending Horror"
"Dissolution"


"Deathtouch" video:





(Photo - Brian Sheehan)


 

For more than two decades, Cult Of Luna has forged a sound that has grown incomparable to that of others. Ambitious, epic, visceral, drenched in emotion, and long regarded as one of Sweden's premiere metal acts, Cult Of Luna has a storied career with nine studio albums to their name, countless tours spanning the globe, and a win for "Best Metal Band of the Year" in Sweden, the band returned in 2022 with The Long Road North. Now, they're releasing an interactive gaming experience for the music video, "Cold Burn".


Instead of a traditional music video, Cult Of Luna creates an immersive audiovisual experience in collaboration with creative agency North Kingdom / NoA, where innovation and storytelling stand at their core.


The player's mission is to help a "lost light" to escape the darkness, and to find its way home through a dystopian maze. The player can also gather other lights and bring them to The Mother Light, at the center of the maze.




The single has been rebuilt in the real-time tool Unreal Engine, to dynamically adapt to how the player navigates the gaming experience's world. This makes each experience unique in the dynamic version.


The gaming experience can be found on Steam and is created by Swedish creative agency North Kingdom / NoA, with long-running experience of collaborating with gaming and tech companies such as EA, Riot Games, and Google.


"For as long as we have known Linus Johansson of North Kingdom, which spans from the Leave me here video in 2004, he's always tried to push interactivity and blur the line between the artist and the art. So it came as no surprise to us when he suggested making a video game out of the Cold burn video. "Go right ahead," we said and now we are as intrigued by the result as we hope you are," Johannes Persson of Cult of Luna comments.


Explore the gaming experience here.


(Photo - Silvia Grav)

Queen’s The Platinum Collection will be released on vinyl for the first time as a limited-edition 6LP coloured vinyl box set, on June 17 through EMI. Watch an unboxing video below.


Released for the first time on vinyl, Queen’s compilation The Platinum Collection, featuring all three of their Greatest Hits albums, shows their unrivalled track record of chart-topping, award-winning, record-breaking rock and pop classics. With four songwriters in the band – Freddie Mercury, Brian May, Roger Taylor and John Deacon - Queen created a glorious legacy of all-time anthems that still ring out across the ages. For past and future fans alike, they will rock you!


Living up to its name, The Platinum Collection was recently certified by the UK music industry organisation the BPI as having gone 8 x Platinum, representing sales of 2.4 million achieved since its June 2011 re-release as part of Queen’s 40th-anniversary celebrations.




June 17 will see the limited edition 6LP colour vinyl set released in a slipcase with brand new artwork. Each piece of vinyl will be a different colour and come in its own individually designed sleeve. The set also comes with an exclusive 24-page 12″ photo booklet.





Queen Greatest Hits, first released in 1981, is the best-selling album of all time in the UK, having sold over 6.8 million copies, with global sales in excess of 25 million. Spanning Queen’s triumphant first act, from 1974 to 1980, Greatest Hits includes some of the world’s most beloved rock standards, including the stadium-sized symphonic chart-topper "Bohemian Rhapsody" and the roof-raising "We Are The Champions", which was named the most catchy song of all time by a team of scientists in 2011. But this album also dazzles with its stylistically promiscuous range, from the crowd-rousing "We Will Rock You", the tongue in cheek "Fat Bottomed Girls", the stomp-stomp-stomp late 70’s disco-inspired "Another One Bites the Dust", to the finger-snapping jukebox retro-rock homage "Crazy Little Thing Called Love" and the soaring, impassioned, gospel-fired Aretha-isms of "Somebody To Love".


Queen Greatest Hits II, originally released shortly before Freddie Mercury’s death in 1991, has sold over 19 million copies worldwide. It spans 1981 to 1991, the period which followed Queen having dropped their famous no synthesizers rule elevating them to new heights of creativity. Opening up their guitar-heavy sound to embrace funk, disco and electronics resulted in rich rewards, transforming these former Seventies glam rockers into a glossy, streamlined, emphatically contemporary super-group. Rebooted and rewired, Queen produced some of their most immortal hits during this imperial Eighties phase. Built around an improvised studio jam, their infectious David Bowie collaboration "Under Pressure" became a global chart-topping smash. The retro-futurist epic "Radio Gaga" and the humorously romantic "I Want To Break Free" stand as testaments to their early mastery of synthesizers, while the muscular ripcord riffs of "Hammer To Fall" and octave-vaulting grand-piano acrobatics of "It’s a Hard Life" are vintage Queen both sonically and lyrically. Officially the tenth best-selling album of all time in the UK, Greatest Hits 2 also features the tender sentiments of "Friends Will Be Friends", the planet-sized synth-rock fanfares of "One Vision", and the heroically defiant swan song "The Show Must Go On", featuring Freddie in his last days still playing shamelessly to the gallery.


Queen Greatest Hits III, rarely available on vinyl, features their latter-day songs, the band members’ solo hits and the band’s collaborations with other artists including Elton John, Montserrat Caballé, George Michael and Wyclef Jean.


Undimmed by time or fashion, The Platinum Collection is a reminder that Queen were always colourful, always dynamic, always ablaze with passion and pride.





Coming soon, Queen - The Platinum Collection. Complete Scores Collector’s Edition.


At last... a collector's edition fit for Queen!.The new Queen Platinum Collection is a hardcover edition featuring full-band transcriptions for nearly 50 classics from the iconic band. Every instrument, every note, every lyric, and every nuance of every song is carefully transcribed. It's beautifully packaged in a protective sturdy slipcase.





Available for pre-order here.