KISS bassist/vocalist Gene Simmons was interviewed on the May 24 edition of "Whiplash", the KLOS radio show hosted by Full Metal Jackie. Speaking about what he plans to do after KISS completes its farewell tour, Simmons said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Well, first, the reason for stopping touring is because of pride and self-respect and a love and admiration for the fans. The last thing you wanna be is to be a world-champion boxer and stay in the ring too long. It's only a matter of time until your legs are not gonna be able to hold you up, and you're gonna lose. We've also seen boxers who've stayed in the ring too long and bands who continue touring too long. And they forget lyrics and you can see the deep wrinkles in their faces. I mean, it's just the nature of life as we know it on earth. So we're doing the right thing. We're gonna quit while we're on top, do the best we can, and it'll be sad, but it's also gonna be happy. On the last show we ever do as a touring band, I'll be crying like a 12-year-old kid whose foot you're stepping on. On the other hand, it's gonna be happy because it's the next chapter. Same thing will happen to you, if you're lucky to have a mom and dad, you live under their roof and you have food and safety, at some point you've gotta go out on your own and start the next chapter. So it's gonna be a different kind of a thing. It won't be as exciting as touring and putting on more makeup and higher heels than you ever wore, but life continues."

Gene previously touched upon his post-KISS plans in an interview with SPIN earlier this month. He said: "Well, we have [the rock-inspired restaurant] Rock & Brews, which is becoming more successful — and quite a few other businesses, which has no relation to sticking my tongue out. And at some point, after the band stops touring, I may go out with the GENE SIMMONS BAND. Did about 50 shows. It's a lot of fun, a totally different experience. It's like being in the RAMONES or U2 or something. You put on sneakers and a t-shirt, and that's all the work. So your heart doesn't have to go 'boom, boom, boom, boom,' like it's going to thump out of your chest, like at KISS shows. If you are a blues artist, you can do that until you're in your mid-80s, the way B.B. King did at 88. Are you kidding me? Me walking around on stage with dragon boots and all that, even past 75, I can't imagine it. The physical wear and tear, your heart just is not going to be able to take it. I defy these guys half my age to get into my outfit, see how long you'll last on stage."

KISS launched its farewell trek in January 2019 but was forced to put it on hold last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

"End Of The Road" was originally scheduled to conclude on July 17, 2021 in New York City but is now expected to last through early 2023.

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

Formed in 1973 by Stanley, Simmons, Peter Criss (drums) and Ace Frehley (guitar),KISS staged its first "farewell" tour in 2000, the last to feature the group's original lineup.

In its 49-year career, KISS has accumulated 23 gold and platinum albums — more than any other U.S. band.

THE WEDDING BAND, the side project of METALLICA guitarist Kirk Hammett and bassist Robert Trujillo, along with Mark Osegueda (DEATH ANGEL),Jon Theodore (THE MARS VOLTA, QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE) and Doc Coyle (BAD WOLVES, GOD FORBID),performed last night (Friday, May 27) at Jam Cellars Ballroom at Margrit Mondavi Theatre in Napa, California. The show was part of the "BottleRock Afterdark" performances that are taking place in conjunction with this year's METALLICA co-headlined edition of the BottleRock Napa Valley music festival, which is being held May 27-29 at the Napa Valley Expo in Northern California.

Fan-filmed video of THE WEDDING BAND performing covers of classic songs from BLACK SABBATH, MISFITS, MOTÖRHEAD, THE CLASH, RAMONES, DEAD KENNEDYS and others in Napa can be seen below.

Back in 2019, Kirk told Cosmo Music about THE WEDDING BAND: "It's just really fun jamming with these guys. It's something different. For Rob and I, it's cool, because we get to indulge our love of funk and punk... I was listening to all sorts of crazy music in the '70s — a lot of funk, R&B — so I've always had a real appreciation of the music of that time. When I found out that Rob did, we started playing our favorite songs. Funk from the '70s is so unique, and it's almost a lost art because no one is writing songs like that anymore... We got together and started jamming out tunes, and it sounded amazingly good, and then we started to improvise, and it sounded amazingly good... It's primarily a way for Rob and I just to jam out. We love to jam; we love playing with people; we love to play funk. It's become a little bit of an outlet for us, but it's nothing really serious or anything like that. We're really open to anyone coming and playing with us. I even asked the other guys in [METALLICA] if they want to come by and jam. [We're] always open — this is not a closed-border sort of band situation. Anyone can come in and play, as long as they're good... It's so recreational, but musicians need recreational music as well. They need to play stuff that they don't really have to worry too much about, and that we don't have too much accountability over. It's just a light, cool, fun thing for us, and Rob and I need that, because a lot of times, we put so much into our performance. There's so much intensity, so much riding on having to execute this song and play the shit out of it. You've just got to put a lot of love and care into our band's music, and that's fine, and I love it – I'm super-passionate about it — but it's also fun to just go to Disneyland for a while and play some tunes that are just fun for you to play, inspired you, make you smile, make you sweat and make you go, 'Man, I needed that.' I think everyone needs something like that... It's just so fun. We're something that's not to be taken too seriously, because none of us want to take it that seriously."

In 2020, Hammett confirmed that he and his METALLICA bandmates have begun working on the follow-up to 2016's "Hardwired… To Self-Destruct" album while in quarantine. A year earlier, Hammett said that he had already accumulated "a lot" of "kick-ass, great" ideas for METALLICA's next LP.

The METALLICA axeman famously lost his iPhone containing hundreds of riffs in 2014. About six months later, he told "The Jasta Show" podcast that he "was crushed" when it happened, but still expressed hope that it "might turn up."

Hammett is not credited on any of the songs on "Hardwired…To Self-Destruct".

He previously said that losing his phone was a "devastating" experience.

Despite the setback, Hammett said that he was pleased with how "Hardwired...To Self-Destruct" turned out.

"Hardwired… To Self-Destruct" debuted at No. 1 on The Billboard 200 album chart, selling 291,000 copies in its first week of release.

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L.A. GUNS singer Phil Lewis has commented on the addition of drummer Shawn Duncan to the group's ranks.

Earlier this month, Duncan joined L.A. GUNS as the replacement for Shane Fitzgibbon, who had played with the band from 2016 to 2019 and again from 2021 until his latest departure.

After Metal Sludge's Stevie Rachelle shared a link on Facebook to an article about L.A. GUNS' latest drummer switch, Lewis took to the comments section to explain Fitzgibon's exit from the group. He wrote: "Scotty Coogan is spread pretty thin with various touring comments this summer and Shane Fitzgibon who was going to do the tour just found out his wife is pregnant and wants to stay close to her so Tracii [Guns, L.A. GUNS guitarist] invited Shawn Duncan down for a blow and it's sounded great right out the gate.

"Bands of our genre and size have to be fluid with members, of course we hate to see anyone go but the reality is we can't afford to pay members when we're not working so obviously the decks gonna shuffle.

"Me and T are tight as two old ladies Johnny Martin [bass] is amazing and truth is I joined his band when I agreed to the reunion and incredibly fortunately we still have Ace Von Johnson [guitar] in the fold.

"Rehearsals sounded great and were fully cocked and loaded for the Summer tour".

Duncan has recorded with and/or appeared on stage with a number of notable hard rock musicians over the years, including Dizzy Reed (GUNS N' ROSES),Jack Russell and Mark Kendall (GREAT WHITE),Gilby Clarke (GUNS N' ROSES),Frank Hannon (TESLA) and Rudy Sarzo (OZZY OSBOURNE, WHITESNAKE, QUIET RIOT).

Last November, Coogan, a veteran session drummer who has also played with Ace Frehley, LYNCH MOB and Lita Ford, accused Lewis of "conjuring up" a reason for his exit from the group. Specifically, he denied Lewis's assertion that Coogan quit L.A. GUNS because he "didn't have a studio" where he could lay down the drum tracks for the band's latest album, "Checkered Past", resulting in L.A. GUNS' decision to enlist longtime engineer Adam Hamilton to play on the record instead.

As for the real reason he left L.A. GUNS, Coogan said: "To be honest, the reason I made that decision is because I have moved on. I enjoy playing with Tiffany and Stephen Pearcy. And there was confusion about these dates that came up with L.A. GUNS. Because I was told we weren't gonna tour until New Year's. And so I had dates planned. And then they said, 'Oh, you have to do these shows.' And I said, 'I can't.' So there was all that. And then the way that that was handled — I'm not gonna say any names or anything, but the way it was handled, I just got a real bad taste in my mouth. And I said, 'You know what, guys? I'm gonna bow out and do what I'm doing now,' which is the Tiffany band and Stephen Pearcy. And I'm very happy — I'm very healthy and happy doing those two gigs right now. And I didn't want to go back and have things be weird with L.A. GUNS. So I just decided to quit."

L.A. GUNS recently announced a 40-date U.S. tour for this spring, summer and winter. The trek will kick off on June 1 in Liverpool, New York and will run through New Year's Eve in West Hollywood, California.

"Checkered Past" was released last November via Frontiers Music Srl. The effort marked L.A. GUNS' third album since the 2016 reunion of the band's core members Lewis and Guns. It follows 2017's "The Missing Peace" and 2019's "The Devil You Know".

In April 2021, a settlement was reached between drummer Steve Riley and Guns and Lewis over the rights to the L.A. GUNS name. Under the terms of the settlement agreement, Guns and Lewis continue to operate under the L.A. GUNS trademark, while Riley and his bandmates from the other version of L.A. GUNS will now operate under the new name RILEY'S L.A. GUNS.

L.A. GUNS was formed in 1983 and have sold over six million records, including 1988's "L.A. Guns" and 1990's "Cocked And Loaded", both of which were certified gold. "Cocked And Loaded" contained the hit single "The Ballad Of Jayne" that went to No. 33 on Billboard's Hot 100 and No. 25 on the Mainstream Rock charts. From the mid-'90s to the mid 2000s, L.A. GUNS continued to tour and release new music. Following their successful performance at SiriusXM's Hair Nation festival in September 2016, L.A. GUNS went into the studio to record the critically acclaimed "The Missing Peace", which was the highest-selling release for Frontiers Music Srl in 2017. Their 12th album, "The Devil You Know", was released in 2019 to the same critical acclaim.

During this past Saturday's (May 28) edition of his "Alive & Streaming" Facebook livestream, DEATH ANGEL guitarist Ted Aguilar offered an update on the progress of the songwriting sessions for the follow-up to the Grammy-nominated "Humanicide" album. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "There is new music being worked on. There are some skeletons that [have] been floating around before ['The Bay Strikes Back' U.S.] tour. We'll probably start continuing maybe. If we have some time before [we leave for shows in] Europe [this summer], maybe we'll get together and work on some stuff. That's for sure. But there's some new material floating around. Nothing set in stone yet — just some skeletons."

DEATH ANGEL released a new live album titled "The Bastard Tracks" last November via Nuclear Blast. Recorded live at The Great American Music Hall in their hometown of San Francisco on May 22, 2021, and streamed live soon after, "The Bastard Tracks" was described in a press release as "a deep-cuts collection of rarely and never performed songs from the band's catalog" that was released digitally and on CD, vinyl and Blu-ray.

In October 2020, DEATH ANGEL released a four-song EP, "Under Pressure". The effort included a cover of QUEEN + David Bowie's "Under Pressure", followed by a new track titled "Faded Remains", plus acoustic versions of "Act III"'s classic "A Room With A View" and "Humanicide"'s "Revelation Song". The EP was mixed by Max Norman (OZZY OSBOURNE, MEGADETH, BAD COMPANY) and mastered by Ted Jensen (LAMB OF GOD, MACHINE HEAD, HALESTORM).

Released in May 2019 via Nuclear Blast, "Humanicide" saw DEATH ANGEL returning to producer and friend Jason Suecof (DEICIDE, TRIVIUM) of Audiohammer studios for the recording and mixing, along with the mastering of the legendary Ted Jensen (SLIPKNOT, PANTERA) of Sterling Sound, who added the final touches and brought it all to life, with artist Brent Elliott White (LAMB OF GOD, MEGADETH) providing the ominous cover artwork.

In March 2020, DEATH ANGEL drummer Will Carroll spent almost two weeks on a ventilator in an intensive care unit at a Northern California hospital after being diagnosed with COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus. He first got sick when he and the rest of DEATH ANGEL spent more than a month on the road in Europe with TESTAMENT and EXODUS as part of "The Bay Strikes Back 2020" tour.

DEATH ANGEL was nominated for a Grammy Award for "Best Metal Performance" for the "Humanicide" title track. It was the group's first Grammy nomination.

Carroll joined DEATH ANGEL in 2009 as the replacement for the band's original drummer, Andy Galeon.

Will can be heard on the last four DEATH ANGEL studio albums: "Relentless Retribution" (2010),"The Dream Calls for Blood" (2013),"The Evil Divide" (2016) and the aforementioned "Humanicide".

Alive & Streaming: The Bay Strikes Back tour recap

Alive & Streaming: The Bay Strikes Back tour recap

Talking about the epic post pandemic The Bay Strikes Back US Tour 2022

Posted by Death Angel on Saturday, May 28, 2022

Original KISS drummer Peter Criss joined former KISS guitarist Bruce Kulick and his solo band on stage Sunday night (May 29) at this year's Creatures Fest at Nashville's Sonesta Nashville Airport Hotel. Together they performed the song "Hooked On Rock 'N' Roll", which originally appeared on Criss's 1978 solo album. Fan-filmed video of the performance can be seen below.

Kulick's group, which also features singer and guitarist Todd Kerns, bassist and singer Zach Throne and drummer Brent Fitz, performed mostly songs from Kulick's 1980s and 1990s KISS era.

Criss first left KISS in 1980. Since then he's worked with other bands and released solo albums. He teamed up with KISS again for a reunion tour in the 1990s and most recently in 2004. He was replaced by Eric Singer.

In addition to playing drums in KISS, Peter also provided lead vocals for a number the band's most popular and memorable songs, including "Beth", "Black Diamond" and "Hard Luck Woman".

Criss, who was known as "Catman," released his last solo CD, titled "One For All", in 2007. Peter produced the album himself for the first time, and was joined by guest musicians that included keyboardist Paul Shaffer and bassist Will Lee of "Late Night With David Letterman". The album featured a range of styles, from rock and jazz to blues and Broadway, and included covers of "What A Difference A Day Makes" and "Send In The Clowns".

Criss played what was being billed as his final full U.S. concert in June 2017 at the Cutting Room in New York City.

Bruce joined KISS in 1984 and accompanied the band on the "Animalize" tour and continued with them until the reunion tour. Bruce is heavily featured on "Kissology – Vol. 2" and "Vol. 3", the band's DVDs spanning their historic four-decade-plus career.

Megadeth guitarist Kiko Loureiro has shared a behind-the-scenes video from the recently wrapped Metal Tour Of The Year 2022 with Lamb Of God, Trivium and In Flames. Check out backstage footage from the second show of the tour in Tucson, AZ





Loureiro previously shared backstage footage from the first show of the tour in Las Vegas, NV.




 





 

Nighted, the new genre-bending black metal synthwave duo, have released their new single, the eponymous "Nighted". Check out the official video below. 


The single is available on digital platforms found here.







Nighted are Ivo Henzi (vocals, guitars / ex-Eluveitie, Cellar Darling, Forest Of Fog) and Marc Petralito (synths, Appearance Of Nothing). One late and misty summer night, in the enforced lockdown of 2020, the two struck on the idea of mixing black metal with '70s-era synth, à la Blade Runner and Jean-Michel Jarre: and Nighted is the result. 


"Nighted" is the third single from Nighted's forthcoming album Absence, released this coming autumn. In the words of the group, it 'is an ode to the night. A confession of love to all the wondrous, the awe and the deep abysses of the night.' It follows their previous singles "Acronyc" and "Aeons".


Absence was recorded, mixed and mastered by Anna Murphy (Cellar Darling, ex-Eluveitie) at Lucerne’s Sound Farm Studio, with drums performed by session drummer Dylan Watson (Kassogtha). Nighted are signed to the newly-formed heavy music label Klang Machine Records, co-founded by drummer and artist manager Merlin Sutter.


"Acronyc"





"Aeons"





Photo by Manuel Vargaz Lepiz

Swiss progressive death metallers Kassogtha have revealed their stunning new single "The Infinite". "The Infinite" is the third glimpse of new material from the quintet's forthcoming album rEvolve, due to be released in Autumn 2022.


Stream "The Infinite" here, and watch the music video below.







Of "The Infinite" lyrics, vocalist Stephany comments: “It is right here, next to you, and it's taking you on a trip to your deepest fears and angers. Will you choose to follow the path it's trying so hard to draw you to? Oh you will... for sure. 'The Infinite' drags us into a world of uncertainty and madness. Only one thing shines in the dark and gives a little hope: a presence, imperceptible, which inevitably draws us towards a path that could be fatal, unless it's the deliverance we've been waiting so long for..."


Guitarist and songwriter Mortimer elaborates: "This was the first song written in the rEvolve writing process. In fact, its first iteration was created when the band was working on their previous EP, The Call. 'The Infinite' is now one of the most brutal songs on the album. As the opening track, we wanted to let our audience immediately know what we are up to. Progressive death metal. The song grabs you by the throat with a no-fuss blast beat intro followed by chaos and intensity that barely stops until the end of the song."





Kassogtha are led by vocalist / lyricist Stephany, whose incredible command of growled and clean vocals help mark the band as future Swiss heavy music stars. A concept album, rEvolve tells the story of an endless self-destructive cycle of fear, anxiety, and jealousy. In a world that normalises negativity, we have forgotten how to be happy — and following a pandemic-enforced long, hard look at humanity and society, this is Stephany’s journey of dealing with these emotions. This album is a perfectly timed release valve for two years of isolation, anxiety and grief — a furious expression of frustration at missing the things we love that help us get through difficult times.


Kassogtha band place authenticity and sincerity above smoke and mirrors: a genuine metal band for true metal fans, that takes the genre further without abandoning its core ingredients. From Pink Floyd to Gojira via way of The Agonist and Arch Enemy, Kassogtha’s no-nonsense brand of groovy progressive death metal combines a variety of influences to create a steamrolling fusion of irresistible riffs, neck-breaking drums and a vocal range covering devastating growls and ethereal melodies.


On rEvolve, produced at Stockholm’s legendary Fascination Street Studios with David Castillo (Carcass, Opeth, Leprous), Linus Corneliusson (Ihsahn, Amorphis) and Tony Lindgren (Carcass, Opeth, Katatonia), Kassogtha showcase old school riffs and progressive inspiration, savage grooves and blast beats, creativity and speed, and pure, honest dedication to their craft.


rEvolve will be released on Klang Machine Records, the newly-formed heavy music label co-founded by Swiss metal wizard Merlin Sutter (Cellar Darling, ex-Eluveitie) in Autumn 2022.


Check out the previously released videos for "Before I Vanish" and "Drown"; both tracks are set to appear on rEvolve.











For further details, visit Kassogtha.com.


 

METALLICA guitarist Kirk Hammett botched the intro to the power ballad "Nothing Else Matters" during the band's headlining set last night (Sunday, May 29) at the Boston Calling festival in Allston, Massachusetts. After teasing a bit of "More Than A Feeling", a BOSTON song, Kirk screwed up the opening notes to the METALLICA classic before playfully falling to the floor. He then quickly stood back up and told the audience, "Sorry, guys. You're so kickass. I got distracted by how kickass you are," and restarted the song, which was the second-to-last track of METALLICA's 16-song performance at the three-day event.

"Nothing Else Matters" is one of the most popular songs from METALLICA's mega-selling 1991 self-titled album — also known as "The Black Album" — which was re-released last September as a remastered deluxe box set via the band's own Blackened Recordings. The song reached position No. 11 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks chart as well as top-ten positions on many European charts.

Last August, METALLICA music video for "Nothing Else Matters" surpassed one billion views on YouTube. It was the first METALLICA track to reach the milestone.

The "Nothing Else Matters" video, which was uploaded to YouTube in October of 2009, was directed by Adam Dubin and edited by Sean Fullan and is made up of clips from the 1992 METALLICA documentary "A Year And A Half In The Life Of Metallica". The clip is perhaps best remembered for a scene where Lars Ulrich throws darts at a poster of WINGER frontman Kip Winger.

Prior to working with METALLICA, Dubin directed two music videos for the BEASTIE BOYS. While he was a student at New York University, he was roommates with record producer Rick Rubin, who would later go on to produce "Death Magnetic", METALLICA's ninth studio album.

"Nothing Else Matters" was featured as a playable track in the music video game "Guitar Hero: Metallica" and has been covered over 40 times by a host of different artists, including STAIND, Shakira, Bif Naked, Macy Gray, DIE KRUPPS, REV THEORY and APOCALYPTICA.

A totally new and different version of "Nothing Else Matters" appears twice in Disney's 2021 movie "Jungle Cruise".

Back on March 3, Dirty Honey performed at The Wiltern Theater in Los Angeles, CA. The band have shared the video below, along with the following message:


"This band started in LA on Sunset Blvd performing on a sidewalk outside of our friend’s weed shop. We toiled away in this city never knowing where this ride would take us. It meant the world to us to finally come home on this past run to play The Wiltern with the support of our hometown station KLOS. We knew it’d be a special night and this crowd was nothing short of spectacular. Thanks for all the love L.A. we’ll be California Dreamin’ all over Europe this summer. See ya on down the road."







Upcoming Dirty Honey tour dates are listed below.





June
6 - B - Malmo, Sweden (supporting Rival Sons)
7 - Pustervik - Gothenburg, Sweden (supporting Rival Sons)
8 - Train - Aarhus, Denmark (supporting Rival Sons)
9 - Sweden Rock Festival - Solvesborg, Sweden
11 - Download Festival - Derbyshire, UK
12 - The Cathouse - Glasgow, UK
14 - Oslo - London, UK
16 - Azkena Rock Festival - Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain
18 - Rock The Ring Festival - Hinwill, Switzerland
19 - Graspop Metal Meeting - Dessel, Belgium
20 - PGE Stadion Narodowy - Warsaw, Poland (supporting Guns N’ Roses)
22 - Beatpol - Dresden, Germany
24 - Retro C Trop Festival - Amiens, France
25 - Hellfest Festival - Clisson, France
27 - UEA - Norwich, UK (supporting Rival Sons)
28 - O2 Academy - Sheffield, UK (supporting Rival Sons)
30 - Academy - Dublin, Ireland (supporting Rival Sons)


July
1 - Limelight - Belfast, Ireland (supporting Rival Sons)
2 - King George’s Hall - Blackburn, UK (supporting Rival Sons)
4 - University (Great Hall) - Cardiff, UK (supporting Rival Sons)
5 - Rock City - Nottingham, UK (supporting Rival Sons)
6 - O2 Forum - Kentish Town - London, UK (supporting Rival Sons)
8 - Olympiastadion - Munich, Germany (supporting Guns N’ Roses)
9 - Arena Zagreb - Zagreb, Croatia (supporting KISS)
10 - San Siro - Milan, Italy (supporting Guns ‘N’ Roses)
12 - Sequoie Music Festival - Bologna, Italy (supporting Guns N’ Roses)
14 - Budapest Arena - Budapest, Hungary (supporting KISS)
15 - HDI Arena - Hannover, Germany (supporting Guns N’ Roses)


For ticket info, head here.


(Photo - Daniel Prakopcyk)