Ex-DREAM THEATER drummer Mike Portnoy attended the group's concert on March 4 at Beacon Theatre in New York City. It was the first time Portnoy witnessed his former bandmates perform live since his exit from the iconic progressive metal outfit more than 11 years ago.

According to DREAM THEATER fans who attended the show, singer James LaBrie gave Portnoy a shoutout from the stage and Mike waved. Several fans also took pictures of Portnoy at the venue, with Mike and his wife reportedly watching the performance from near the Beacon Theatre soundboard.

The next day, Portnoy shared a few backstage photos from the concert and he included the following message: "After 36 years, I finally got to see my 1st DREAM THEATER show last night! It was a wonderful evening and it was such a pleasure to spend time with my old friends again".

LaBrie discussed his renewed friendship with Portnoy in a new interview with Rodrigo Altaf of Sonic Perspectives. Speaking about how Mike's backstage reunion with his former bandmates came about, James said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "What happened was my manager… This is, like, two hours before the show… So, you know the history with Mike and I. The thing is what was sad about that whole duration where Mike and I didn't see eye to eye is that when DREAM THEATER started, 'Images And Words' [1992] and 'Awake' [1994], Mike and I were best friends — way back — and then we started to fall apart, for several reasons. It doesn't matter — the details don't matter — it's just that we started to have a problem with one another. And so about two hours before the New York show, my manager texts me and he said, 'Listen, Mike's gonna be there tonight. He wants to come back and see you. He wants to make amends. I don't mean to do this...' And I said, 'Frank' — to my manager, I said — 'you're putting this in my lap two hours before I play in front of how many thousands of people in New York. Are you kidding me?' So, I thought about it. You know what? I went for a walk, believe it or not. I went incognito and I went for a walk in New York. And I walked the streets and I started thinking about it, and I said to myself, 'You know what? Enough is enough. There's enough hate in this world; there's enough frickin' negativity in this world. If Mike wants to come and see me and make amends, then I should be receptive.' And I got in touch… And John Petrucci [DREAM THEATER guitarist] was also there. So he said, 'Mike wants to know if he can come back and say hi to you,' like I just said. And I said, 'You know what? Yeah. Let him know. For sure. Tell him to come back and see me after the show.' And that's what we did. We chatted. We had a good, long discussion. We made up and gave each other a hug and did a picture together.

"When I was out on stage before all that, I just said, 'Hey, I just wanna let you guys know, Mike Portnoy's here. Hey, welcome, brother, to the show.' And that was it.

"The thing is that you get to a point in life where you've gotta… You can't carry around that. Don't carry around hate; don't carry around negativity," LaBrie continued. "We carried it around far too long, as far as I'm concerned, and it didn't serve any purpose; it just served frickin' division. It was very divisive and very damaging.

"Hey, listen, just the other day Mike texts me, and he was, like, 'Hey, James, I just wanna congratulate you on [DREAM THEATER's first-ever] Grammy. You frickin' well deserve this — you and the band. Awesome. Kudos. Bravo,' all this stuff. And I text Mike back, and I said, 'Frick, man. Mike, that's very admirable of you.' I said, 'In my book, that's pretty damn cool for you to say these things.' And he said, 'Awesome, man. Love it.'

"So, it's great to be back," James added. "We're talking to one another, we're chatting and all that stuff. And that's the kind of world that I wanna live in as opposed to negativity, hate and frickin'… It's just not worth it. It's not worth it."

Portnoy, who co-founded DREAM THEATER 37 years ago, abruptly quit the band in September 2010 while on tour with AVENGED SEVENFOLD. He has since been replaced by Mangini (ANNIHILATOR, EXTREME, STEVE VAI).

Portnoy was a guest on Petrucci's second solo album, "Terminal Velocity", which was released in August 2020 via Sound Mind Music/The Orchard. The effort marked the first time Petrucci and Portnoy recorded together in over a decade, as well as their first time playing together since Portnoy departed DREAM THEATER. John later shot down speculation among DREAM THEATER fans that it's only a matter of time before Portnoy returns to the band, telling Spain's Metal Hammer: "I think it's really important for everybody's sake — for fans to understand this. I think it's important, out of respect for both drummers — for Mike Mangini and Mike Portnoy — that there's no misconstrued thing: 'Oh, this means something else.' This is [Portnoy] playing on my solo album, which is a really happy moment for me… I don't want people to get the wrong idea. I don't wanna create any drama or weirdness, because it's all positive. I made a solo album — finally, after 15 years — and I got my friend to play drums on it, who I haven't played with in 10 years. So that's the vibe."

In a 2017 interview with Rockhok, Portnoy insisted that had "no longing to reunite" with DREAM THEATER but said that he would return to his former band "for the fans." He explained: "The ball's in their court, to be honest. I have no longing to reunite with them; it's not something I necessarily am looking to do or want to do. I'm very content with all the eighty-seven bands I currently have going, so it's something I need. But I would do it for the fans, because I'm a very sentimental person and I have a lot of great, fond memories of those guys and the times. I'm a sentimental guy, so I would never close the door on it. So, really, the ball's in their court, honestly. [But] if you're asking me the odds [of a reunion happening], I would say, don't bet on it, because I know their personalities as well and I don't think they're the type that are looking backwards."

A couple of years ago, Portnoy told Loud that he left DREAM THEATER because he wanted to expand his musical horizons. "[I didn't] want to go to my grave and just be the drummer from DREAM THEATER," he said. "I knew there was way more to what I had to offer."

Since the 2010 departure of Portnoy, Petrucci, along with keyboardist Jordan Rudess, has taken on much of the songwriting load for DREAM THEATER, including 2016's controversial double concept album, "The Astonishing", 2019's "Distance Over Time" and the band's latest LP, 2021's "A View From The Top Of The World".

LaBrie previously discussed his relationship with Portnoy in a November 2021 interview with Radio Forrest. He said at the time: "I haven't spoken to Mike, to be quite honest, since he left the band. So I think that pretty much says it all."

LaBrie had previously seemingly closed the door on the possibility of a DREAM THEATER reunion with Portnoy, telling Chile's Radio Futuro in an August 2013 interview: "That possibility, I don't see it ever happening; it's not gonna happen. Because, first and foremost, Mike Mangini is a full-fledged member of the band now, he's a phenomenal drummer and he's doing everything that we could possibly want as a drummer in a band. He's helping us realize exactly what we wanna do right now musically. And he will be our drummer until the day that we finish doing this, when we conclude. Mike Portnoy was a big part of our past, but I think that's where it's going to remain. He was a drummer from the past. And as far as presently and into the future, it will be Mike Mangini, and we all feel very strongly about that. He's an incredible drummer, he's an incredible asset to the band, and he is fulfilling our wildest dreams as far as what we're doing musically and what we're doing with each album. So that's the way it stands."






After 36 years, I finally got to see my 1st Dream Theater show last night! ? It was a wonderful evening and it was such a pleasure to spend time with my old friends again ☮️?

Posted by Mike Portnoy on Saturday, March 5, 2022



OMG—MIKE PORTNOY at the Dream Theater show now!!! Mike Portnoy is at the DT show in NYC ¾/2022 with his wife Marlene and James greeted him from the stage!

Posted by Amanda Palamara on Friday, March 4, 2022



<3

Mike Portnoy AND Mike Mangini both rule. Both great eras of DT

Posted by Andrew Ryan Prater on Friday, March 4, 2022



Mike Portnoy viendo a Dream Theater !!!!

Posted by ATR DT on Friday, March 4, 2022



With one of the greatest drummer ever MIKE PORTNOY

Posted by Michael Halasan Clint Nababan on Friday, March 4, 2022



Mike Portnoy watches Dream Theater concert at The Beacon.

Posted by Dodjie Garcia on Friday, March 4, 2022

























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A post shared by Mike Mangini (@mikemanginiofficial)

During an appearance on Monday's (April 11) episode of SiriusXM's "Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk", John 5 reflected on the infamous 2003 video (see below) of the former MARILYN MANSON guitarist throwing down his guitar on stage and pushing the shock rocker after he kicks John 5 in the chest during a live performance of "The Beautiful People" at the Rock Am Ring festival in Germany.

"What happened was my sister passed away, my sister died unexpectedly," John 5 explained (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET). "And I was shocked. I was in Europe and I was coming down the stairs, off a stage after a concert, and they told me my sister died. And I was in a state of shock; you just go into a state of shock. And here's the strange thing that happened to me: I didn't sleep for days and days and days. It was the strangest thing. I just wasn't tired. And I remember going to the bandmembers' rooms, going, 'I can't sleep. I just can't sleep. I haven't slept in now two days' or blah blah blah.

"So anyways, fast forward to the [Rock Am Ring] show. Now, what Manson did, that happened all the time," John 5 continued. "He didn't do anything wrong. I just snapped. It was weird. I went nuts. I didn't even remember. I just snapped. And I feel terrible watching it now because it really was my fault. You can't really hear what he's saying, obviously, but he's saying, 'Pick up your guitar.' 'Cause it looks like he's going, 'Come on. Come on.' But he's saying, 'Pick up your guitar. Pick up your guitar,' because he knew what was going on. And I feel horrible about it. But it was just a bad situation at that time… It was terrible because he was so nice during that time and all that stuff. I was in such a weird place, and it was just a bad time. I don't even remember it happening. It was just terrible."

After John 5 left Manson's band in 2004, he dismissed the idea that his departure was fraught with friction. "What actually happened was, at the end of the tour, we were just on different roads," he explained to ElectricBasement.com at the time. "It was completely amicable. He just wanted to write with other members of the band, and I wanted to do other things."

JOHN 5 AND THE CREATURES will embark on the "Sinner" tour next week. The band consists of John 5 on guitar, Ian Ross on bass and drummer Alex Mercado. Opening 15 of the 27 stops are THE HAXANS, the spooky rock duo featuring NEW YEARS DAY frontwoman Ash Costello and ROB ZOMBIE bassist Piggy D. JOHN 5 AND THE CREATURES will support FOZZY on some dates.

John 5 shares: "I am so happy and excited to get out there on the road. It's one of my favorite things to do in life and I am excited to see all the familiar faces. I can't wait to play some new songs off the 'Sinner' album and travel the country. It truly is going to be an amazing year."

JOHN 5 AND THE CREATURES will be recording shows along the "Sinner" tour for a live album and video, with San Francisco and New York dates confirmed for the recordings so far.

John 5 will be featured in an upcoming documentary called "Dreams Of Distortion" about "following your dreams and never giving up." The documentary also features Rob Zombie, Rob Halford (JUDAS PRIEST), Nikki Sixx (MÖTLEY CRÜE), Peter Criss (KISS), K.D. Lang, Michael Anthony (VAN HALEN), Gary Rossington (LYNYRD SKYNYRD) and Rudy Sarzo (QUIET RIOT, OZZY OSBOURNE).

John 5 has worked with a varied range of artists, performing as guitarist for some of the biggest headlining rock bands in the world such as ROB ZOMBIE and MARILYN MANSON, as well as playing session with Paul Stanley, Rod Stewart, LYNYRD SKYNYRD and more. Slash has called John 5, "one of the most mind-blowing guitarists around" and Rob Zombie has dubbed him "a fucking shredder". John 5 has released seven solo albums to date, as well as a remix album, and has written music for the likes of MÖTLEY CRÜE, Steve Perry, Ricky Martin and others.

In 2015, following a series of web shows to celebrate the release of his solo album "Careful With That Axe", John 5 decided to take his solo set on tour and formed THE CREATURES band to support his live shows. Initially joined by long-term friend Rodger Carter on drums, the band continues touring to this day, and now work as a unit on 5's solo albums, including "Season Of The Witch", the live album "It's Alive", "Invasion" and 2021's "Sinner".

Hailing from Iran, Heterochrome as seen its fair share of trials and tribulations, social injustice, and civil unrest. They take these experiences and meld them together with an eclectic blend of progressive, melodic, and nu-metal along with traditional Persian music. The third single “The Bearing”, off their upcoming album From The Ashes, deals with oppression and finding out who you really are.


The band explains: “One of the few tracks remaining from the original lineup of this album, 'The Bearing' was written by Mida in trying to process all that is growing up in Iran with a different sexual identity from others. Bearing the weight of oppression and ignorance for years, fighting for their right to love and live as who they are, all that pent-up anger came out in the lyrics.”







Compared to their debut album Melancholia, which came out in 2017, the lyrics and music on their new release From The Ashes point out social and political issues of both their home country Iran, such as incarceration and criminalization of the metal genre, sexual identity, and female singing, and on a larger scale the world, such as the climate change dilemma.


As a progressive band, Heterochrome puts a strong emphasis on the instrumentals as well as the vocals in their music. The instrumental sections are designed to deliver the specific atmosphere for the story that is being told throughout the song. They also embrace fully instrumental tracks, present on both albums.


With a variety of influences, centered mainly around the 90s and 00s progressive and alternative styles, Heterochrome has coined itself Melancholic Persian Metal. They are recommended for fans of Gojira, Draconian, and Lacuna Coil.


From The Ashes will be released on May 13. Pre-order here.





Tracklisting:


“Baraye Farda, For Tomorrow”
“Badbadak, The Flight”
“Rage Against The People”
“WOTB”
“The Bearing”
“Transition”
“Time’s Up”
“Through Evil Within”
“Sargardan, Wanderer”
“The Outlaw”


“Baraye Farda, For Tomorrow”:





“Badbadak, The Flight”:

In a new interview with Mike McMahan of San Antonio Current, ARCH ENEMY singer Alissa White-Gluz spoke about whether there will be another wave of metal bands who are able to ascend to an arena-level status to take the place of METALLICA, IRON MAIDEN and JUDAS PRIEST upon their retirement. She said: "I was just talking about that yesterday, because I was with Nergal [BEHEMOTH frontman] and Michael [Amott, ARCH ENEMY guitarist] at the [Southern California stop of] 'The Bay Strikes Back' tour, which is TESTAMENT, EXODUS and DEATH ANGEL. We were talking about it, and there's a little bit of concern, actually, for what is going to step in as fantastic music. Even if you go a little bit beyond metal, AEROSMITH, let's say. Once these bands have to stop for whatever reason, ARCH ENEMY is right there waiting to step in. [Laughs] But there is a little bit of concern on my end. Not to say that modern music isn't fantastic, because it is. It's more that the consumption of music is less focused on the quality of the songwriting and the musicianship and the lyrics, and it's a little bit more focused on the virality of the song and made for a very short attention span. And that's not the fault of musicians. That's just the way world is. So, I'm a little concerned about maybe not having really excellent music in — let's say — 50 years."

She continued: "I'm a little worried that the era of bands might actually come to a close, because even the era of touring bands is not very old. If you read the Keith Richards biography, he talks about THE ROLLING STONES being one of the first touring bands, and I would hate to see that go away. I hope that there will be a renewed enthusiasm for live metal music. When I was watching the audience in that sold-out House Of Blues Anaheim show with 'The Bay Strikes Back', I was seeing everyone in the audience just loving it and having this spiritual moment in the crowd while EXODUS was playing.

"I don't want to go to a dance club; I don't want to go to a bar; I want to go to a show," Alissa added. "There's a good chunk of really established metal bands that have been going for 20 or 25 years, and we've built up a really great performance and a really great set. I understand if SLAYER can't do it anymore, but there's definitely some concern that we're going to have a moment where the masters are no longer there."

A year ago, FOZZY singer and wrestling superstar Chris Jericho also expressed his concern about newer artists being able to headline arenas and festivals one day. He told YouTuber and music industry expert Rick Beato: "It's kind of scary. I was talking to Gene Simmons about this. I go to the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame every year, and N.W.A. was on, and [they said], 'Everyone says that rap is dead,' or we say 'Rock is dead,' or whatever. And Gene said, 'Every type of music eventually dies.' And I was, like, 'What do you mean?' He's, like, 'Look at swing music and polka music and guys playing lutes by the fire. All of it kind of slowly goes away.' And I'm starting to wonder, was he right about rock and roll? Because when I was a kid, everybody was a in band. I remember jocks, I remember guys who were on the football team that bought a guitar and would come jam. Meanwhile, all the rockers, there was four or five bands in my high school alone. Now my son is 17, my twin daughters are 14. I don't know any of them who play music, or any of their friends.

"So the scary thing's this. I was talking to [U.K. concert promoter] Andy Copping on [my podcast] 'Talk Is Jericho' when Download got canceled in 2020, which is the biggest festival in England — a hundred thousand people. And I said to Andy, 'Who is going to be headlining Download in 10 years?' 'Cause now you can still rely on METALLICA and AC/DC and IRON MAIDEN and SYSTEM OF A DOWN reunited or FAITH NO MORE or those types of bands. AVENGED SEVENFOLD are building and SLIPKNOT. But who is the next generation of thise bands? Because with the exception of a GRETA VAN FLEET and THE STRUTS and a couple of others, there's not a lot of new rock and roll bands. Whereas before, there'd be 40 or 50 and you couldn't keep up with all of them."

ARCH ENEMY's 11th studio album, "Deceivers", will arrive on July 29 via Century Media Records.

This spring, ARCH ENEMY and BEHEMOTH will return to the states to co-headline "The North American Siege 2022" tour with NAPALM DEATH and UNTO OTHERS as special guests, before ARCH ENEMY appears at select summer festivals; the rescheduled "European Siege 2022" tour (with ARCH ENEMY, BEHEMOTH, CARCASS, UNTO OTHERS) will kick off in the f

Notorious European diabolical death metal squadron Belphegor have announced that their new studio album entitled "The Devils" will be released on June 24 via Nuclear Blast Records. The preorder for this 12th full-length in their massive discography starts today and in celebration, Belphegor has unleashed a lyric video for the unrelenting first single, "Totentanz - Dance Macabre". Video shot and edited by Thomas Keplinger (Framepunk Guerilla). Preorder/pre-save the album here.


Helmuth states: "Hail Diabolical Death Magick! Today we present the first single titled ‘Totentanz - Dance Macabre’. It is the perfect visual style for the lyrical content of this track, the fastest blasting sound collage we have ever composed and released. An honor - this horror.”


With The Devils, long-running diabolical death metal titans Belphegor unleash their twelfth studio album upon the masses, which proves to be one of the strongest and most elaborate records in the group’s career. Mixed & mastered at renowned Fascination Street Studios by Jens Bogren (Kreator, Rotting Christ, At The Gates), The Devils sounds absolutely crushing and dynamic, sonically pushing the immense variety of the eight tracks to new heights.




Blending German and English lyrics, the lead single "Totentanz – Dance Macabre" is as ferocious as it gets with its insane barrage of blast beats, spiteful lyrics, and sinister guitar melodies. "Glorifizierung des Teufels" (‘Glorification of the Devil’) and "Virtus Asinaria – Prayer" offer epic, mid-paced grandeur, chanted vocals, and choirs adding new shades of black to their stylistic palette. The title track or "Damnation – Höllensturz" proves to be a more complex piece, shifting moods and tempos with ease and expanding Belphegor’s blasphemous onslaught with fascinating twists and turns. Rounded off by impressive artwork created by Seth Siro Anton (Septicflesh, Nile, Paradise Lost), The Devils marks the band’s third collaboration with one of metal’s most prolific designers. Ultimately, The Devils is an album that musically builds upon Belphegor’s trademark sound, in essence, a combination of traditional death and black metal, deeply rooted in the 90s, yet boasts intricate compositions and detailed arrangements underlining their outstanding position within the international extreme metal circuit. Known as a tirelessly touring band, Belphegor currently presents a few of the new songs during a European tour with I Am Morbid, and Hate, before hitting South America in May/June 2022, and an intense festival season including Wacken Open Air, Bloodstock, Sweden Rock and many more.





Formats:
-Digital Album
-CD Digipak
-Cassette 
-LP
-Black
-White / black / clear splatter (ltd. to 300)
-Blue / white / black marbled (ltd. to 300)
-Transparent red/black marbled (ltd. to 300)
-Transparent orange / brown marbled (ltd. to 300)
-Wine red (ltd. to 1200)
-Bronze (ltd. to 1200)





Tracklisting:


“The Devils”
“Totentanz – Dance Macabre”
“Glorifizierung des Teufels”
“Damnation – Höllensturz”
“Virtus Asinaria – Prayer”
“Kingdom Of Cold Flesh”
“Ritus Incendium Diabolus”
“Creature Of Fire”
“Blackest Sabbath 1997” (re-recorded medley of “Blackest Ecstasy” and “Blutsabbath” from 1997’s Blutsabbath album)


“Totentanz – Dance Macabre” lyric video:

William DuVall, frontman for the iconic band ALICE IN CHAINS, will release his second solo album, "11.12.21 Live-In-Studio Nashville", on June 10 via DVL Recordings. The effort captures an explosive power trio performance recorded live direct-to-disc at the famed Welcome To 1979 Studio in Nashville on November 12, 2021. No "fixing" or remixing took place after the fact whatsoever. It's as supercharged, raw, and exciting as it gets. The CD is housed in a beautiful six-panel gatefold digipak. The first 500 copies are autographed by DuVall.

Track listing:

01. The Last Light

02. The 3 Wishes

03. Unbreakable

04. Fire Come Down

05. Rockslide

06. So Divine

07. White Hot

08. Flying Blind

The official music video for "Rockslide" from "11.12.21 Live-In-Studio Nashville" can be seen below. The visual was assembled by Roger Okamato from photos taken at the live album recording session by Madison Thorn.

William's critically acclaimed debut solo effort, "One Alone", arrived in October 2019. The 11-track album showed DuVall's powerful voice with nothing but an acoustic guitar to back it.

In contrast to the multi-layered sonic assault, comprising most of his discography, "One Alone" was as sparse and intimate as it gets — part late-night confessional, part living room concert. As William described it at the time: "I felt the need to peel everything back. This album is strictly one voice, one guitar. It reveals the very core of who I am as a singer, guitarist, and songwriter."

Three years ago, DuVall told Q104.3's "Out Of The Box" that he didn't decided to make an album until he had already recorded the first track, "'Til The Light Guides Me Home". "I had written it with the possible intention of giving it to someone else, and when I first [had the song idea], it was playing like a record in my head," he explained. "It was one of those [quick] songs. ... It is what we live for, and it doesn't happen nearly often enough. But when it does, you just go, 'Okay, I'm in.' And you just let it happen — get out of your own way."

The initial recording session saw DuVall demoing seven more tunes, all of which ended up on the "One Alone" album.

Prior to joining ALICE IN CHAINS in 2006, DuVall was a member of punk rock bands AWARENESS VOID OF CHAOS, NEON CHRIST, BL'AST! and FINAL OFFERING. DuVall's long musical history also includes COMES WITH THE FALL and ALICE IN CHAINS guitarist Jerry Cantrell's solo work.

Cantrell befriended the members of COMES WITH THE FALL in the early 2000s, playing shows with the band on the West Coast, then enlisting the musicians to tour with him as both opening act and backing group in support of his album "Degradation Trip".

DuVall appears on the last three ALICE IN CHAINS albums: 2009's "Black Gives Way To Blue", 2013's "The Devil Put Dinosaurs Here" and 2018's "Rainier Fog".

Overkill bassist’s D.D. Verni and The Cadillac Band offer their new video for the Nat King Cole song “L.O.V.E”, taken off the Let’s Rattle album. The video was directed by Nick Wolf at Howlpeak Productions and filmed at New Jersey‘s own Shorefire Studio in Long Branch. 





“Besides the rockin’/swinging tunes on the record, I wanted to do a few standards and this was one is one I have always loved. Plus it’s just in time for Mother’s Day,” says D.D. D.D. and the band will be at the Vogel in Red Bank on Friday, May 6 (Mother’s Day weekend) with a special set by comedian Don Jamieson. Tickets on sale now.




Verni has always dreamed of recording a big band album, as his love for the sound dates back many years. The New Jersey-based artist began by writing a fantastic collection of soon-to-be big band classics. Next he recruited longtime Brian Setzer Orchestra upright bassist, John “Spazz” Hatton, to do horn arrangements and play upright bass, while bass player D.D. switched things up playing some guitar on the album. Then D.D. brought in the LA based horn section from Phat Cat Swinger to play the horns and added Brian Setzer Orchestra drummer and current Doobie Brothers member, Tony Pia. Add jazz pianist Dave Moscoe and Hot Rod guitarist Damian Bacci, and you have a star-studded line-up of big band greatness that made this album shake and swing.


With songs like “Cadillac Man,” “Shake It Swing It” and “Olivia…that’s Who!” the album features 13 tracks (nine originals and four covers), was produced by Verni and mixed by Greg Reely (Coldplay, Sarah McLachlan, Overkill), and recorded in Los Angeles and New Jersey.





"Olivia...That's Who" video:





"Cadillac Man" video:

Black metal pioneers VENOM performed at this year's Inferno festival on Thursday, April 14 at Rockefeller in Oslo, Norway. Fan-filmed video of the concert can be seen below (courtesy of YouTube channel Mo blackmetalbitch).

VENOM formed in 1979 in Newcastle Upon Tyne. Coming to prominence towards the end of the new wave of British heavy metal, VENOM's first two albums — "Welcome To Hell" (1981) and "Black Metal" (1982) — are considered a major influence on thrash metal and extreme metal in general. VENOM's second album proved influential enough that its title was used as the name of the extreme metal sub-genre of black metal. The band classic lineup trio of Conrad "Cronos" Lant, Jeff "Mantas" Dunn and Anthony "Abaddon" Bray recorded two further studio albums, "At War With Satan" (1984) and "Possessed" (1985), and live album "Eine Kleine Nachtmusik" (1986). Often cited by bands such as METALLICA, BEHEMOTH, CELTIC FROST and MAYHEM as major influences, they are one of the most revered bands of their generation. VENOM are still fronted by original singer/bassist Cronos and headline festivals all over the globe and continue to release new music.

In a 2018 interview with Consequence Of Sound, Cronos stated about his band's influence on subsequent extreme metal groups: "I really like to think of VENOM as a catalyst rather than inventors. Influence would probably be more like it. I've always been — from being young — a fan of what you'd call 'rock music.' From THE BEATLES to THE [ROLLING] STONES to THE WHO, through [LED] ZEPPELIN and [DEEP] PURPLE and everybody. So, I've always liked the idea of drums, guitar, this, that, and the other. My mum's brother used to play guitar in a country-western band, so I've always been around instruments and music. I've never really gotten into any of the electronic stuff when it came along in the '80s. I didn't really see how that was working for me in any way — I just like a drum kit and a guitar."

He continued: "When people used to ask back in the day, 'How do you describe VENOM?' I would say, 'It's all the best bits of the bands that I love.' So, if JUDAS PRIEST wear leather jackets, then I'm going to wear a leather jacket and a pair of leather pants! And if KISS have three flashpots on the front of the stage, I'm going to have ten! And if Ozzy Osbourne is going to sing about the devil walking down the street, then I'm going to be the devil walking down the street! It was taking all of the great things that I loved, and all the crazy frontmen, like Gene Simmons, Ian Anderson, Rob Halford, and encompassing all of these ideas into a new thing. And then, adding that dash of punk. That's why I always used to wear the big Doc Martens — that was my punk heritage.

"And just putting some aggression back into the music," Cronos added. "I mean, heavy metal has always been 'the devil's music.' They always say the devil has the best tunes, and I was bit frustrated at leaving school and being told that rock music was dead, and it had its day and everybody was finished with it. I had to absolutely disagree. So, when the New Wave of British Heavy Metal started in England — which became IRON MAIDEN, SAXON, SAMSON, and all these bands — I wanted to create something different from that. I appreciated that they were very heavily influenced by the ZEPPELINs, the PURPLEs, and the [BLACK] SABBATHs, and were trying to keep a hold of this '70s vibe. I get all of that, but I wanted something that was kind of a cross between SABBATH and MOTÖRHEAD. Something more aggressive — with a bit of SEX PISTOLS in there, to get nasty."

VENOM's 15th full-length studio album, "Storm The Gates", was released in December 2018 through Spinefarm Records.

VENOM is not to be confused with VENOM INC., the band featuring Mantas alongside ex-VENOM bassist/vocalist Tony "Demolition Man" Dolan.






VENOM at the Inferno Festival 2022

Photo credit - Angelo Fumi

Posted by Venom Legions - United Kingdom on Saturday, April 16, 2022

As promised, the eagerly awaited sophomore album, Fearsick, from Florida death metal vets Inhuman Condition is now available for pre-order via Bandcamp. Go to this location.


Limited to 100, a Monster Box set is available and comes with the US jewel case version of the CD with a bonus track exclusive to the US release ("Whiplash" - Metallica cover), 30"x30" poster flag, 3"x3" album sticker, signed/hand-numbered band photo, 3"x4" punk-style patch, logo pin, signature Terry Butler pick and signature Taylor Nordberg pick.


Includes digital pre-order of Fearsick. You get one track now (streaming via the free Bandcamp app and also available as a high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more), plus the complete album the moment it’s released.




Fearsick will be released on July 14th. 





Inhuman Condition recently released the first new song, "Recycled Hate". The trio, which features vocalist/drummer Jeramie Kling (Venom Inc, Ex-Deo, The Absence), guitarist Taylor Nordberg (Deicide, The Absence) and bassist Terry Butler (Obituary, Death, Massacre, Six Feet Under), will once again be self-releasing the album on Kling/Nordberg's own Listenable Insanity Records. In addition to the nine new blistering tracks, the band has recorded a series of cover songs to be delegated to the labels they have signed license deals with for their CD releases.


The new single is accompanied by a music video filmed by Deidra Kling and edited by Jeramie Kling.


Nordberg comments on the new song "Recycled Hate":


“The release of Recycled Hate is extra special for us, not only because it launches our second album, but also because it was the first song that was written by Jeramie and I for the albums that became Rat°God and Fearsick back in the fall of 2019. It’s also worth noting that our good pal Paul Mazurkiewicz wrote the lyrics and vocal patterns for this song. We can’t wait to unleash the rest of the album and hit the road this summer!”


Artwork by Dan “Babe Ruth” Goldsworthy Art:





Tracklisting:


“The Mold Testament”
“Recycled Hate”
“Caustic Vomit Reveries”
“I’m Now The Monster”
“King Con”
“Hellucid”
“Wound Collector”
“Fencewalker”
“Where Pain Is Infinity”


“Recycled Hate” video:





Inhuman Condition is:


Jeramie Kling - vocals/drums
Terry Butler - bass
Taylor Nordberg – guitars


(Photo - Deidra Kling - Art)

In early February 2022, Cathy-Sarah Holmes, the wife / manager of former W.A.S.P. guitarist Chris Holmes, revealed that her husband had been diagnosed with cancer in the throat and neck, which would require seven weeks of treatment.


A GoFundMe campaign, aiming to raise €20,000, has been launched by Cathy-Sarah Holmes to assist Chris Holmes in his battle against cancer.


A new update from Cathy-Sarah Holmes, posted on April 10th, reads as follows:




"Five weeks done and not the easiest of weeks.


Chris had his chemo last Tuesday finally. I don’t know what happened between the day team and night team but something fucked up. He had to drink three litres of water because it was never enough when the day team told the level was for start the chemo and he had it when I left at 7:30pm.


Result they started the chemo at 9pm and when I left my husband the Tuesday, he was at 94 kilos and the Wednesday 101 kilos. The last few days he was really sick and -unable to eat or drink. I had to push him a little - what I hate - because if he lost weight his healing will be more difficult.


Today he is a little better. He drank already almost 2 L and eat 2 complement. He lost 2 kilos but I know he will gain it again as he did the last time after eating his 4 complements. Just 8 radiation sessions left and the 21 it will be done and he will be able to relax and heal. He is strong and no matter what, he will kick this shit out. 


Antoine, our friend and our producer of Mean Man came yesterday until today, and even though he was sick Chris was happy (me too, mon Toine).


These little moments are precious. Take care of you and your loved ones. We love you all."


Holmes had been scheduled to bring his "Rock On" Solo Tour to Canada this May. Understandably, those dates have been rescheduled to September / October; the new routing can be found in the official poster below.


All of us at BraveWords send positive thoughts and best wishes to Chris for a quick recovery.

Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson of RUSH recently sat down for an interview in Toronto for "House Of Strombo", a free-form radio talk program hosted by Canadian television and radio personality George Stroumboulopoulos. In this exclusive conversation, Lee and Lifeson talked about the 40th anniversary of their eighth studio album "Moving Pictures", the loss of RUSH drummer Neil Peart, grieving in public, their new perspective on time, the music industry today, being booed off stage, getting high before rehearsals, Taylor Hawkins and more.

Reflecting on the recent passing of the FOO FIGHTERS drummer, Geddy said: "Heartbreaking — just heartbreaking. That really broke my heart, his passing. [He was] so full of file. I remember when he presented the [Rock And Roll] Hall Of Fame award to us in 2013 and we came up on stage, he was literally jumping up and down like a two-year-old — he was jumping up and down, he was so happy — and that was him. He was so full of admiration and rock and roll joy juice. And it just seems wrong that he left us."

Hawkins and FOO FIGHTERS leader Dave Grohl gave the speech for RUSH when the prog-rock legends were inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame, and the FOO FIGHTERS duo then performed "2112" alongside RUSH during the Rock Hall ceremony.

After Stroumboulopoulos asked Lee what Hawkins said to him when he presented him with the Rock Hall award, Geddy said: "He just gave me a big hug. He just sent me an e-mail like a month ago — just checking in. That's what he would do; he would just check in."

When Hawkins's death was first announced in late March, Lee released a statement on social media in which he said: "We are so very shocked and saddened to hear the devastating news of the sudden passing of our musical brother Taylor Hawkins. He was such an incredibly positive source of music, energy and love, and a true artist to his very core…there are simply no words to adequately express just how much he will be missed by all — including Alex, myself and the entire RUSH family. Our hearts, love and sympathy go out to Taylor's family as well the Grohls, and the extended FOOs family…"

In a separate post on his personal Instagram account, Lee reflected on the time he and Lifeson joined the FOO FIGHTERS onstage during a concert in Toronto.

"My heart is truly breaking at the news of Taylor's passing. A sweetheart of a man that radiated good vibes, a love of music, and a total monster on the drums," Lee wrote. "He was so, so happy the night Alex and I came up onstage to play YYZ with him during the FOOs show at the Air Canada Centre on March 23rd, 2008… His excitement was almost impossible for him to contain. Brother, you left us way, way too soon… rest in peace my friend…"

When Peart died in January 2020, Hawkins said in a statement to Rolling Stone: "Neil Peart had the hands of God. End of story."


























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Greece's RockOverdose recently spoke with Within Temptation vocalist Sharon den Adel, who discussed the band's latest album, Resist (2019), the band's 20+ year career, her project My Intigo, and more.


On Within Temptation's evolution


Sharon: "For us it's very important to stay who we are, but also to evolve and make a new version of ourselves that fits the year we’re bringing out a new album. So we do want to sound updated, so we have to go along with new styles, new sounds and everything but it’s also important to make something that we really love, something that we feel we like it. We like to evolve because gives us the inspiration to make new music out."




On writing new music


Sharon: "We’ve just started writing new songs again, we had two sessions. There’re a lot of nice and new music coming up, they need to develop a few more before we can release them, of course, it takes time, but there’re a lot of new things which are very interesting for the future so hopefully we’ll have a new album next year."





After a very busy summer festival season, the band will embark on an American stadium tour with the legendary Iron Maiden, appearing as their special guests during the second leg of the tour, taking them to the biggest stages across America in October 2022.


Sharon Den Adel comments: "After a few quiet years, we hope that our shows in 2022 will take place, with the icing on the cake: a tour with Iron Maiden! We have all been huge fans of the band for so long and there is no bigger compliment than being invited as a special guest for their tour. We can’t wait!”


Dates supporting Iron Maiden are as follows:


October
3 - Sioux Falls, SD - Denny Sanford Premier Center 
5 - Chicago, IL - United Center 
7 - Columbus, OH - Nationwide Arena 
9 - Detroit, MI - Little Caesars Arena 
11 - Toronto, ON - Scotiabank Centre 
12 - Hamilton, ON - Firstontario Centre 
15 - Ottawa, ON - Canadian Tire Centre 
17 - Worcester, MA - Dcu Center 
19 - Belmont Park, NY - Ubs Arena 
21 - Newark, NJ - Prudential Center 
23 - Washington, DC - Capital One Arena 
25 - Greensboro, NC - Greensboro Coliseum 
27 - Tampa, FL - Amalie Arena

Emergent Los Angeles metal band Anubis are carving their own path by organically blending power and thrash metal together.


The hybrid metal band released their furious new EP Eternal Youth, Eternal Night, today, April 15th. To mark the occassion, vocalist / bassist Devin Reiche, guitarists Justin Escamilla and Eleazar Llerenas, and drummer Zed Amarin have issued a lyric video for the title track, "Eternal Youth, Eternal Night".







The EP was mixed and mastered by Alex Crescioni at Stygian Sound, who comments, “Eternal Youth, Eternal Night is a major step up in performance, songwriting, melodies, and technicalities from the previous release, Hurricane Of Hate. From intricately esoteric and tasteful drumming, elaborate bass tapping, combative guitar riffage, soaring leads, and a wide range of vocal octaves, Anubis has done it yet again with a melodic power metal triumph of a release.”


Anubis vocalist / bassist Devin Reiche crowns this EP as “a straight-up love letter to all things metal. It’s the most extensive, eclectic, and forward-thinking material to date. Now that each of us are involved in the writing process, the sky is the limit for what we’re capable of.”


Guitarist Justin Escamilla agrees, saying that “Eternal Youth, Eternal Night is the current lineup’s first step into the light showcasing each member’s unique style and voice.” 





Tracklisting:


"I, Anachronism" 
"Symbiotic Serenity" 
"Eternal Youth, Eternal Night" 








For further details, visit Anubis on Facebook.


 

In a recent interview with Finland's Chaoszine, MESHUGGAH's Tomas Haake was asked if playing the drums in such a physically demanding style becomes more difficult as he gets older. The 50-year-old Swedish musician responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET). "You definitely feel it; there's no doubt. I definitely am not the drummer I was when I was 30 and I'm not physically as capable as I was when I was 30 years old. But you can still… Now I had a year since I played drums [after recording the latest MESHUGGAH album], so, obviously, the first few times you rehearse, it's, like, 'Ahhh…' A few songs into it, you're, like, 'My heart.' You feel it. But it's still surprising how fast you get back into it, and I'm already starting to feel a lot better. Another month of rehearsal, and I think I'll feel pretty solid. But you do think about things, as far as ergonomics and stuff like that. And over the last, like, 10, 12, 13 years, that's something I've been doing with the drum kit too, to kind of make sure that I'm not reaching too high or too far back or that it's something that is gonna mess with me. 'Cause I already did have shoulder impingement in both shoulders back in 2005 and [200]6, and I don't wanna get back to that again. So it comes down to ergonomics as well. And you try to place everything around you. As far as the kick goes, you try to kind of make it so you don't have to use extra effort just to kind of reach that cymbal or hit that thing or hit that thing. So you do think about those kind of things as well, obviously. It's not only a matter of your physical ability to perform a live set; it's about the little things as well."

MESHUGGAH's ninth studio album, "Immutable", was released on April 1 via Atomic Fire. The follow-up to 2016's "The Violent Sleep Of Reason" was recorded at Sweetspot Studios in Halmstad, Sweden; mixed by Rickard Bengtsson and Staffan Karlsson; and mastered by multiple Grammy Award winner Vlado Meller (METALLICA, RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE, RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS, SYSTEM OF A DOWN). Visionary artist Luminokaya once again created the cover artwork.

Last December, MESHUGGAH announced that it was postponing its previously announced U.S. tour, originally planned for early 2022, to September/October 2022. At the time, the Swedish extreme tech-metal pioneers said that they needed "to prioritize the physical health of one of the band members who is currently undergoing medical treatment related to a skin condition on his hands, hindering him from rehearsals and from all in all playing his instrument." Haake has since confirmed to Rolling Stone that he is suffering from hand eczema. "I've got to tape up all my fingers and put on gloves just to mess around on the kit, even," he explained. "That means I haven't really touched the drums since we recorded the album, and that was, like, early April. So I'm almost a year out, without even hitting a drum."

Last month, Haake told Metal Injection that his condition was improving after he talked to a nutritionist. "I don't know how many doctors and places I've been to since this started, and we've done all the tests that you can do as far as contact eczema and on your back, all those patches and stuff like that — I did that twice," he said. "And I went to a psoriasis place — they thought initially that it was psoriasis related — so I had 30 sessions of UV light kind of sessions for my hands. Nothing helped; nothing had done anything. So a buddy of mine, a drummer buddy here in Stockholm, suggested I talk to this guy that he knew who is a nutritionist for one of the soccer teams here in Stockholm. And so I called him up and we spoke, like, probably about an hour and a half and I described how it all started and what kind of life I live and all that stuff. And he basically told me, 'Start eating Q10, coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10), because I think there might be something there. You're not producing this stuff enough, and that will have an effect.' 'Cause I also started losing my hair and stuff like that way faster than I had been. So I figured this is connected. And I've known, or felt, all along that this was not contact allergy related at all, because I tried everything. I used these cotton gloves for months on end. As soon as I was touching anything, like as far as keyboard mouse, anything that you would come in touch with on a daily basis, I was using gloves and it didn't do any difference either. So my belief was always more that it's internal something. And actually after now — this is day number five or six of taking Q10, and it's way, way better. So, knock on wood, but if it keeps going like this, it's definitely going the right way, for sure."

Two months ago, longtime VIXEN bassist Share Ross announced that she was "taking a hiatus" from the band. Her replacement is Julia Lage, formerly of the Latin Grammy-nominated Brazilian rock group BARRA DE SAIA and wife of Richie Kotzen. Lage made her live debut with VIXEN on February 8 at the pre-Monsters Of Rock cruise concert at Magic City Casino in Miami, Florida.

VIXEN singer Lorraine Lewis discussed Share's departure from the band in a new interview with Metal-Net. She said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "We already knew the news from Share. And we were planning to go out to the Monsters Of Rock pre-cruise party. The plan was for VIXEN to also go on the ship. But we had already pre-planned all of this; we knew what was going on.

"Bands have their own secret society, if you will, and sometimes you just have to discuss as a band what's happening, what's next, et cetera, and that's what had happened with us.

"First of all, let me just say: we adore Share," Lorraine continued. "Share's a M.F.-er rock star, we love her, she's talented, she's a great singer, she's beautiful, she writes great songs and we love her, and forever she is the bass player of VIXEN; that doesn't ever change. Her legacy lives on forever. But she's also a very busy businesswoman, as the rest of us are. She has put her foot into the real estate market in Florida, which is really booming. She loves what she does; she's really good at it. And I think for her — and I'm sure that she would tell you the same thing — is that it just got to a point where she decided that she needed to take a step back. She was kind of spreading herself thin with all of the work that she was doing. And this is a new avenue for her, and she's really kicking ass at it. So she came to us… She actually went to Roxy [Petrucci, VIXEN drummer] first, and I think that they had a discussion about it, and then they let us know that she was thinking about stepping back and calling it a hiatus.

"We support her. We love her. We're all about girls, girls and lifting each other up. So this was a decision that she made on her own, and she decided to just kind of take a break and a breather, and we support her in that decision. We talk all the time — I talk to her once or twice a week; we're all still friends; I mean, we're family. We're thick as thieves — that doesn't go away ever. She's just taking a break. And it's as simple as that."

Regarding how Lage ended up joining VIXEN as Ross's replacement, Lewis said: "Knowing that we would have gigs booked for 2022, we knew we needed a bass player. And Britt [Lightning, a.k.a. Brittany Denaro, VIXEN guitarist] knows everyone — like, she seriously knows everybody in rock and roll. So Britt has worked with Julia before, and she right away said, 'I think we should get Julia Lage.' She's beautiful, she's an amazing bass player, she's super talented, she has a killer voice, and she sings really high, which that's kind of the role that Share does. With the VIXEN harmony, Share's always the highest harmony. So we really needed somebody to fill those shoes, and Julia can do that."

According to Lorraine, VIXEN had "no rehearsals" with Julia prior to the Miami concert. "It was 'plug and play,'" she explained. "We went to the cruise, pre-cruise party. No one knew that this was happening except for our manager, our booking agent and inside the band. And we had it all planned out that Julia would learn four songs towards the end of the set, so she had been working on four songs, and then we gave the stage… After Share did '[I Don't Need No] Doctor', which she just kicks ass on, she took over the microphone and she revealed to the crowd what her plans were, which was to take a hiatus, and then she invited Julia up on stage. They hugged, we all kind of high-fived, we let Share say what she wanted to say, and then Share exited the stage, Julia came up, we rocked the house for the last four songs, didn't miss a beat. I'm sure people were surprised and at the same time, it just all came together… Julia just jumped up and plugged in. We did a very brief in-hotel-room rehearsal with just basically running down a couple of things, making sure our harmonies were okay and then we just rocked the house."

When Ross made the news of her departure public at the aforementioned pre-Monsters Of Rock cruise concert, she told the crowd that "life got a little complicated" and that "something has to give," resulting to her decision to "step away from VIXEN for a while." She then introduced her "amazing" replacement and urged the VIXEN fans to "graciously" open their arms and welcome Lage to the group. At that point, Julia and her new bandmates launched into the track "Streets In Paradise" and played the last couple of songs of the set with Ross watching the proceedings from the side of the stage.

During a February 11 appearance on SiriusXM's "Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk", Julia spoke about how she ended up hooking up with VIXEN, saying: "Share is taking a hiatus. She wants to do her thing [and focus on her real estate career]. She's kicking ass. She's gonna be writing and playing forever — I mean, she's a badass artist and bass player, singer, everything, songwriter. So I got the invitation, and I'm, like, 'Yeah, of course I'm gonna join. Of course.'"

Asked how the other members of VIXEN reached out to her about joining the band, Julia said: "Well, actually, funnily enough, before Britt joined VIXEN, me and her tried to put together a band, right when she moved to L.A. But that didn't work out, and then she joined VIXEN, and I was super happy for her. So, fast forward, she actually called me a few months ago and she told me about the scenario, and I was, like, 'Yeah. I would love [to do it]. I mean, it's an honor for me to join VIXEN.' So that happened. And that was it. It was that quick. And I was just, 'Okay. Sign me in. Where can I go?' [Laughs]"

Lage also reflected on her first performance with VIXEN at the pre-Monsters Of Rock cruise concert, saying: "[Share played] a little more than half of the set, and then [before] the last three songs, she stopped [the show] and talked about [her plans] a little bit and told everybody what's gonna happen and introduced me. And then I stepped in and played the last three songs with them. And then actually she came back for the last song and sang along with us. It was just very nice. I thought it was very emotional too. It was a good way to transition."

Pressed about whether her position with VIXEN is just a temporary one or she will join the band permanently, Julia said: "We didn't really discuss that, but [Share is] taking her time. She might come back; she might [not]. I don't know. Whenever they need me, I'm there for them. And I'm gonna do my best to honor her bass lines and everything. And I'm gonna be having with it, that's for sure."

The only remaining member of VIXEN's "classic" lineup is Petrucci.

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

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

Prior to Lewis's addition to VIXEN, Petrucci, Ross and Denaro vowed to "expand upon the VIXEN legacy while remaining true to our musical roots."

Gardner, Petrucci and Ross are considered to be part of VIXEN's classic lineup, along with founding guitarist Jan Kuehnemund, who died of cancer in October 2013.

Gardner contributed lead vocals to VIXEN's most commercially successful studio albums — "Vixen" (1988), "Rev It Up" (1990) and "Tangerine" (1998) — as well as the group's latest release, 2018's live album "Live Fire".

Photo credit: Mark Weiss

Swedish Skellefteå-based hard rockers Blister Brigade have released a new stand-alone single and music video, "Carousel" via Inverse Records. Beside from being a groovy and heavy rock song, it is an homage to the fabulous ink studio, Carousel Tattoo.


The band comments: "'Carousel' is in its foundation a heavy rock song. But with this one we decided to also get a little experimental. Since this song was written partly as a tribute to a tattoo studio, we found inspiration in circuses, carnivals and of course, tattoos. With these keywords in mind we just had to go outside our comfort zone and get a little nutty. It’s also the first song we’ve written together from scratch and it’s safe to say that we think this jam ended up really awesome."







Blister Brigade was formed in 2010 by guitarist/vocalist Gustav Lund and drummer Jerker Avander. Joined by guitarist Cristoffer Strand and bassist Simon Lundström, the band started jamming on some ideas. With inspiration from bands like Motörhead and Skid Row Blister Brigade quickly developed a raw but yet a heavy and solid sound.


In 2013 the band released their debutalbum ”To Serve And Punish”. The album was well recieved and the gigs started rolling in. Blister Brigades second album ”The Executioner” was released in December 2016, and by that time drummer Jerker Avander had already left the band, leaving the drumchair to Rickard Lundmark (Zonaria, ex-Feral). Before the release of the Pissed, Outraged And Outgunned EP in 2018, Simon stepped down as the bands bassplayer. After a thrilling audition shortly after, bassist Anders Gustavsson joined Blister Brigade.


With the new line-up, the spark was lit again and after playing some gigs the band hit the studio once again to record their third full-length album. ”Slugfest Supreme” was released in February 2020 and with a harder, faster and heavier sound than before, Blister Brigade got ready to hit the stages. But as for so many other bands and artists, the pandemic ruined all plans. But the band didn’t give up and stayed intact throughout the recent bleak years. With the brand new single "Carousel", Blister Brigade is more alive and rock’n’roll fueled than ever.

L7’s breakthrough third album, Bricks Are Heavy was released April 14, 1992, on Slash Records. In celebration, the American grunge pioneers have announced the special Bricks Are Heavy 30th anniversary reissue, set to be released September 30th on Licorice Pizza Records.


Pre-order your copy now at this location.


Originally debuting at #1 on the Billboard Heatseekers chart, this special anniversary edition will include all 11 tracks digitally remastered by Howie Weinberg (Ramones, Pixies, Metallica). Produced by Butch Vig (Nirvana, Garbage, Smashing Pumpkins), this limited-edition reissue will be available with special packaged gold and black vinyl.







Tracklisting:


"Wargasm"
"Scrap"
"Pretend We’re Dead"
"Diet Pill"
"Everglade"
"Slide"
"One More Thing"
"Mr. Integrity"
"Monster"
"Shitlist"
"This Ain’t Pleasure"


As the band’s vocalist / guitarist Donita Sparks states, “After all these years, we began thinking it is strange that we have never received a proper accounting of actual sales to date for this record. We were so close to Certified Gold 30 years ago, surely we have crossed the line by now.”


Never a band known to wait for anyone, let alone the suits, to validate them, Donita continues, “So we thought to hell with it, we are declaring ourselves Gold and making our own gold records. Get ‘em while they are hot.”  


Bricks Are Heavy was fueled by the success of the single "Pretend We're Dead". With an effortless blending of punk ethos, heavy grunge, melody, socio-political anthems and humor, L7 was often associated with the Seattle Grunge movement (even though they were from L.A.) with their abrasive, sledgehammer guitar riffs and plenty of heavy rockers with the songs "Wargasm", "Slide", and "Everglade". The group emphasized their feminist and Riot Grrrl side with '"This Ain't Pleasure" and "Diet Pill". Fan favorite "Shitlist" was famously featured in Natural Born Killers.





In live news, tickets for L7's 2022 North American Tour go on sale Friday, April 15th at 10 am PST. Confirmed dates are as listed:


October
3 - Nashville, TN - Brooklyn Bowl
4 - Atlanta, GA - Masquerade (Heaven)
6 - New York, NY - Irving Plaza
7 - Brooklyn, NY - Warsaw
9 - Boston, MA - Big Night Live
10 - Philadelphia, PA - Union Transfer
12 - Toronto, ON - Opera House
13 - Columbus, OH - Newport Music Hall
14 - Detroit, MI - Saint Andrew’s Hall
15 - Chicago, IL - Metro
17 - Minneapolis, MN - First Avenue
19 - Denver, CO - Summit
22 - Vancouver, BC - Rickshaw Theatre
23 - Seattle, WA - Neptune Theatre
24 - Portland, OR - Revolution Hall
27 - Los Angeles, CA - Regent Theater
28 - Los Angeles, CA - Regent Theater