This past week, Nicko McBrain embarked on a short tour of Florida where he is performing classic songs from IRON MAIDEN with his TITANIUM TART project. Fan-filmed video of the tour's kickoff, which took place on Thursday, March 31 at the Brass Mug in Tampa, Florida, can be seen below.

McBrain and TITANIUM TART previously performed on December 4, 2021 at the 12th-anniversary celebration for Rock N Roll Ribs, the barbecue restaurant owned by the IRON MAIDEN drummer and close friend Mitch Tanne, in Coral Springs, Florida. Fan-filmed video footage of the entire show is available below.

McBrain was born in Hackney, East London, on June 5, 1952. His first experience of music came via his father's love of traditional jazz. Young Nicko's hero was Joe Morello, the late, great drummer with the legendary THE DAVE BRUBECK QUARTET. Nicko would often take to the kitchen, using forks and knives to beat on anything he could find at home. Fed up with him bashing up the kitchen utensils, his parents finally bought him his first drum kit when he was 12.

By the time he left school at 15, he was already a veteran of several part-time pub groups. Musically, however, his tastes had broadened to include more contemporary sixties sounds from THE SHADOWS, THE ANIMALS, THE BEATLES and THE ROLLING STONES. On the recommendation of another drummer he knew, he began to take on session work, playing on countless different recordings.

In 1975, Nicko joined STREETWALKERS, the band formed by ex-FAMILY members, vocalist Roger Chapman and guitarist Charlie Whitney. From the late seventies until 1982 when he joined IRON MAIDEN, Nicko had spent his time in session work, most memorably with the PAT TRAVERS BAND on their 1976 "Makin' Magic" album, and also appeared in the band MCKITTY in the early 1980's. It was during a MCKITTY gig in Belgium that he first met IRON MAIDEN bassist Steve Harris.

He officially joined IRON MAIDEN in December 1982 for the 1983 "Piece Of Mind" album and tour, replacing Clive Burr, after McBrain's previous band TRUST had supported IRON MAIDEN during the U.K. leg of the "Killers" tour in 1981.

With 14 studio and eight live albums currently under his belt with MAIDEN, Nicko's role as the driving force behind the band's sound has served as a major influence to many of today's top drummers and solidified his place in music history.

McBrain and his wife still live in the same Boca Raton, Florida home they bought in 1989 when Nicko relocated from England.

Fan-filmed video of SLIPKNOT's April 2 concert at Santander Arena in Reading, Pennsylvania can be seen below.

SLIPKNOT kicked off the 2022 iteration of its "Knotfest Roadshow" tour on March 16 at the Fargodome in Fargo, North Dakota.

The "Knotfest Roadshow" tour is taking place over two legs, both headlined by SLIPKNOT. The first leg features special guests IN THIS MOMENT and WAGE WAR. The second leg will feature special guests CYPRESS HILL and HO99O9. The first leg of the 38-date run, produced by Live Nation, will wrap up in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada on Sunday, April 17. The second leg kicks off on Wednesday, May 18 in University Park, Pennsylvania and hits a further 17 cites before culminating on Sunday, June 18 in Chula Vista, California.

"Knotfest Roadshow"'s return also features on-site merchandise from official tour sponsor Blackcraft Cult.

2021 marked a banner year for SLIPKNOT. Making a triumphant return to the road, their "Knotfest Roadshow" 2021 tour sold out amphitheaters across the country, bookended with the record-breaking Knotfest Iowa and the biggest headline show of their career, Knotfest Los Angeles at Banc of California Stadium where they debuted their first new music in two years, the furious "The Chapeltown Rag", taken from the highly anticipated new SLIPKNOT album, expected later this year. In addition, they topped the bills of multiple, internationally renowned festivals, including Riot Fest, Rocklahoma, Inkcarceration and Welcome To Rockville.

The "Knotfest Roadshow" tour is part of Live Nation's Live Stubs initiative which provides digital collectible NFT ticket stubs to ticket holders. Live Stubs are automatically be included with tickets purchased for the tour. Fans are also able to view, share, gift, trade, and resell their live stubs on LiveNation.com.

German hard rock legends SCORPIONS have released a performance video for the title track of their new album, "Rock Believer". The footage was filmed at Peppermint Park Studios in Hannover, Germany, where "Rock Believer" was recorded.

Said SCORPIONS in a statement: "We are having a great time rocking in Las Vegas and wanted to share some performances with the rest of you. We recorded 4 tracks from our new album 'Rock Believer' at our studio in Hannover. You can watch the first one, 'Rock Believer'."

"Rock Believer" was released on February 25. The LP 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' new album marks their first release since 2017's "Born To Touch Your Feelings - Best Of Rock Ballads", which was an anthology of new and classic material.

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.

SCORPIONS singer Klaus Meine told Chile's Radio Futuro that "Rock Believer" is "dedicated to all the rock believers in the world. And we're very excited after all these years. We thought, when you think about all the touring we did the last 10 years, after the release of 'Return To Forever' in 2015, the time was right to go back into the studio, to write new material, to write new songs and check out if the creativity is still working. The big aim was, the goal was to make a rock album — to make an album with lots of attitude, power and focus on the good old times and really enjoy the music and have some fun with the music. And that feels really good."

SCORPIONS' previous full-length collection of new recordings was the aforementioned "Return To Forever", partially comprising songs the band had in the vault from the '80s. It was the final recorded appearance of SCORPIONS' longtime drummer James Kottak, who was dismissed from the band in September 2016. He has since been replaced by Mikkey Dee, formerly of MOTÖRHEAD.

KnuckleBonz, Inc., along with Great South Bay Brewery and Bravado, have teamed up with PANTERA to bring a new beer, Pantera "Vulgar Display Of Lager", to the KnuckleBonz limited-edition beverage series.

The Pantera "Vulgar Display Of Lager" (5.9%) is brewed in accordance with the oldest regulation related to food or drink in the world, The German Purity Law of 1516: in order to call your product beer, its production must be limited to only four simple ingredients hops, barley, water, and yeast. By selecting nothing but the finest of these ingredients coupled with traditional methods, the result is quite a "Vulgar Display Of Lager" with a complex flavor profile that is cold fermented for the crisp and refreshing experience you'd expect from a world-class German lager.

PANTERA fans who order first will receive a limited-edition collectible poster included free with their order. This poster is uniquely numbered and offered in a limited edition; this only ships to the first 500 customers.

"We've been privileged to work on few different collectible projects with PANTERA over the years and we get excited about being able to find new ways to honor the legends that have inspired so many of us," says Tony Simerman, CEO/creative director of KnuckleBonz, Inc. "This beer was specifically crafted as a nod to something we think perhaps the band might choose when they ruled the metal world from 'Cowboys To Hell' to 'Reinventing The Steel'."

Creators of the "power groove," PANTERA flew the flag for heavy metal in the 90's compiling a long list of gold and platinum album and home video releases, along with sold out arena tours across the globe.

Pantera "Vulgar Display Of Lager" is available now to ship direct to consumer in 33 U.S. states. See web site for list of eligible states for shipping within the U.S.

PANTERA is regarded as one of the greatest metal bands of all time. The uncompromising quartet of singer Philip Anselmo, guitarist "Dimebag" Darrell Abbott, his brother, drummer Vinnie Paul Abbott and bassist Rex Brown quickly rose to massive global success in the 1990s with multiple gold and platinum albums, sold-out tours, ferocious live performances, and four Grammy nominations. To this day, many of their metal masterpieces remain the cornerstones of heavy music, including "Cowboys From Hell", "Vulgar Display Of Power", and the Billboard No. 1 album "Far Beyond Driven". The Texas foursome continues to inspire multitudes of fellow musicians while garnering millions of insanely devoted fans worldwide. Although the band would disband in the early 2000s, PANTERA's unparalleled legacy endures as landmark tracks like "Walk" and "I'm Broken" continue to be embraced by new generations every year.

KnuckleBonz, Inc. is a music merchandising company focused on the creation of high-end products for music enthusiasts since 2003. KnuckleBonz is committed to fine craftsmanship and artistry and has developed the Rock Iconz, 3D Vinyl and On Tour collectible series. With a passion for music and a drive to make the highest quality products possible, this collaboration on the music-based craft beer line emphasizes that KnuckleBonz is solely focused on offering quality products specifically for the music superfan.

According to TMZ, former THE BLACK CROWES drummer Steve Gorman has filed a lawsuit against the paid over unpaid royalties.

In his complaint, filed on Wednesday in Los Angeles Superior Court against singer Chris Robinson and guitarist Rich Robinson and The Black Crowes Partnership, Gorman claims faulty accounting has resulted in him missing out on royalties from THE BLACK CROWES' albums. Gorman says he doesn't know exactly how much he is owed.

"For more than five years, my attorneys and I have made repeated requests to review the Partnership's books to confirm the accuracy of royalty payments and my share, but Chris and Rich have consistently ignored my rights under the Partnership Agreement," Gorman said in a statement. "I regret that it has come to this, as I remain incredibly proud of the music we created as a band, but their conduct has left me with no choice but to ask a court to order them to give me this information, which I'm entitled to under our partnership agreement and the law."

Gorman's attorney Michael Mortenson added: "Mr. Gorman's rights under the partnership agreement are crystal clear. He is entitled to review the partnership's financial information and confirm his earnings, but our repeated requests to do so have been denied."

Gorman, who penned 2019's memoir "Hard To Handle: The Life And Death Of The Black Crowes", is notably excluded from THE BLACK CROWES' current reunion, which recently celebrated the 30th anniversary of the band's classic debut album, 1990's "Shake Your Money Maker", with a lengthy U.S. tour. Joining Chris and Rich in the new BLACK CROWES lineup are returning bassist Sven Pipien, who played with the band live from 1997 up until the band's hiatus in 2015, along with Brian Griffin on drums, Joel Robinow on keyboards and Isaiah Mitchell on guitar, plus backup singers Mackenzie Adams and Leslie Grant.

Last August, Rich told the Los Angeles Times that he had no reaction to the release of Gorman's memoir. "It didn't really affect me or make me sad," he said. "No one really takes Steve that seriously. He was our drummer for a long time, and a long time ago, he was our friend. But he was also the one who kind of schemed the most and was more willing to allow a division between me and Chris." Rich added that he remembered Gorman "telling me that the scariest thing to him and some of the people in the band was when Chris and I got along, because then they couldn't change our minds."

Rich previously addressed Steve's absence from THE BLACK CROWES' current tour in a June 2021 interview with Long Island Weekly. At the time, he said: "Steve was one of the incredibly negative and manipulative forces in the band that we really didn't want to deal with. In order to get back, we really had to do this very specific purge where we focus on the two of us and let this be something that will be positive. We can be in charge of our own triggers, but if you have other people around that have an agenda, which a lot of the older people around did, it’s just going to crash and burn. We didn't look at this as a one-time thing. We want to focus and do it right for ourselves as human beings. For ourselves as brothers. For ourselves as writing and creative partners as well as the other reasons."

In a February 2020 interview with Meltdown of Detroit's WRIF radio station, Gorman said that he was not surprised to see Chris and Rich teaming up with new musicians for a tour. "To me, it's been an inevitability for years," Steve said. "I think they both made serious efforts to establish themselves in solo careers that could sustain them, that could provide a living, and I guess that neither one of those really worked out. And so they were always gonna need to be THE BLACK CROWES again. And this tour is an indication of the fact that, to them, they always were THE BLACK CROWES. And to me, THE BLACK CROWES was a band. It wasn't about their band; it was our band. It was six people, or it was five people, or it was four people, depending on the year, but it was always a much greater thing than two brothers who wrote the songs. The success of that band had a lot to do with a lot more than just them, is my point. And the thing that was most special about that band, as I said before, was what six people were able to do when we were on the same page."

Gorman went on to say that he doesn't necessarily fault the Robinson brothers for wanting to keep THE BLACK CROWES brand alive.

"This tour has nothing to do with me — it never did; it never would have," he explained. "THE BLACK CROWES are my past. Now, the music is still around. And if anybody goes to see this tour and decides that they love THE BLACK CROWES now, I think that's fantastic. I'm all for preserving the legacy of the band I was in. I think this tour has nothing to do with that. I think this tour is the two of them needing money. And to that I say — and that's fine. I know what it's like to be concerned about my finances; everybody does. And if you're in your 50s and you can make a living playing music, then, by God, you should be playing music, if that's what you wanna do. So, they're fully within their rights to do it — legally and ethically and morally; whatever. It's fine. It's got nothing to do with me. So, live and let live."

When THE BLACK CROWES announced their split in 2014, Rich issued a statement saying that he loved his brother and respected his talent but that "his present demand that I must give up my equal share of the band and that our drummer for 28 years and original partner, Steve Gorman, relinquish 100 percent of his share … is not something I could agree to."

"Shake Your Money Maker" was re-released in multi-formats sets in February 2021 through UMe/American Recordings. The album, fueled by singles "Jealous Again", "Twice As Hard", "She Talks To Angels" and a cover of fellow Georgian Otis Redding's "Hard To Handle", has sold over five million cop

Dave Mustaine says that he is "thrilled" about the return of bassist James LoMenzo to the MEGADETH ranks.

LoMenzo joined MEGADETH in 2006 and appeared on two of the group's studio albums, 2007's "United Abominations" and 2009's "Endgame". He was fired from the band in 2010 and replaced with returning original MEGADETH bassist David Ellefson.

In addition to MEGADETH, LoMenzo has played with Ozzy Osbourne, Zakk Wylde and WHITE LION. For the past nine years, LoMenzo has been performing with iconic rocker John Fogerty.

LoMenzo played his first show with MEGADETH in nearly 12 years last August in Austin, Texas. The concert took place three months following Ellefson's dismissal from MEGADETH after sexually tinged messages and explicit video footage involving him were posted on Twitter.

During an appearance on this past Wednesday's (March 30) episode of SiriusXM's "Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk", Mustaine discussed MEGADETH's reunion with LoMenzo, saying (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "I'm thrilled. I think he's a really awesome person to have in MEGADETH. He was when we tried it the first time. And for whatever reason that things happen, things happened and we took a little sabbatical from playing [together]. And when things happened as they did, it was obvious to me that I needed to get a super kickass bass player to come in and cut all the tracks and learn 'em in relatively no time, because we were in the studio already, so I needed to get somebody that could really do all that stuff. And I hadn't made up my mind on James yet. So I ended up asking a super, super legendary bass player in the metal community, Steve DiGiorgio. I asked him if he would come in and guest on the [upcoming MEGADETH] record and help me to finish the record and cut bass parts. So he came out, and that was really wonderful to hear his interpretation of my songs and the stuff that Kiko [Loureiro, MEGADETH guitarist] and Dirk [Verbeuren, MEGADETH drummer] and I, the stuff that we're starting to write together; we're starting to really develop our chemistry. And I like it because there's elements with Dirk and his writing that obviously remind me a lot of [late MEGADETH drummer] Gar [Samuelson]. But he's actually a really good rhythm guitar player too, and that reminds me a lot of the 'Peace Sells' era. Because each one of the guys grew up with a different era of MEGADETH, so they've all got their MEGADETH. Like, Chris Adler [the former LAMB OF GOD drummer who played on MEGADETH's 2016 album 'Dystopia'] had said to me once before, 'This is my MEGADETH.'"

Asked by host Eddie Trunk if having different people in MEGADETH over the course of the last 40 years has been a benefit in terms of keeping the band recharged and refreshed or if he would have preferred it if MEGADETH could have been composed of the same four guys the whole time, Mustaine said: "Well, I think that the answer is… It's a very complicated answer to a really simple question. For me, what I probably would say the short answer is have the same people the whole time, the ones that I've grown to love the most and that are the easiest to get along with, that have the most common view to mine and have guys that are willing to constantly improve themselves.

"One of the things that we do backstage, Eddie — I know you've seen this with me; we've been friends for so long, and there's been so many concerts we've hung out backstage," the MEGADETH leader continued. "Part of my routine, for your listeners, is before we go onstage, we have the crew guys come backstage, and before we hit the deck, we go over a couple of songs; each night it's a couple of different songs. We change the setlist, hopefully, every night, but we're constantly in review. So once we get to the very last song, 'Holy Wars', and we've gone over that with our soundman and our engineers and so on, we start all over again. And I think that's something that if we had the same guys the whole time, for familiarity and security and steadiness for the fans, and they were constantly trying to improve themselves, that would be the perfect scenario."

MEGADETH's new album, "The Sick, The Dying, And The Dead", is tentatively due on July 8. The follow-up to "Dystopia" features a cover of DEAD KENNEDYS' "Police Truck" and Sammy Hagar's "This Planet's On Fire", the latter of which includes vocals from Hagar himself.

DiGiorgio is widely renowned as a pioneer on the fretless bass in heavy metal music, having played with TESTAMENT, DEATH and SADUS, among others. Within his genre, Steve is respected for his playing skills, versatility and incredible technique. He has more than 40 studio album recordings and over 20 years of touring the world.

Three months ago, Mustaine confirmed that James LoMenzo will play bass for MEGADETH when the band returns to the road in April for the second U.S. leg of "The Metal Tour Of The Year". Joining them will be co-headliners LAMB OF GOD along with special guests TRIVIUM and IN FLAMES.

Ellefson laid down his bass tracks on MEGADETH's sixteenth LP in May 2020 at a studio in Nashville, Tennessee. A short time later, he raved about his performance on the record, telling the 96.7 KCAL-FM radio program "Wired In The Empire" that his musical chemistry with Verbeuren was comparable to the interplay between Geddy Lee and Neil Peart on classic RUSH albums. "I feel like on the new MEGADETH record, me and Dirk have those same moments," he said. "It's MEGADETH — it's not RUSH, obviously — but in the field of what we do, there were these moments that I was just going, 'Oh, my God.' This is me as a kid going, 'This is my Geddy/Neil moment right here.'"

In June 2021, Mustaine announced during an episode of his Gimme Radio program "The Dave Mustaine Show" that Ellefson's bass tracks would not be used on the new MEGADETH LP.

Ellefson was in MEGADETH from the band's inception in 1983 to 2002, and again from 2010 until his latest departure.
























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SKID ROW guitarist Dave "Snake" Sabo says that "the stars aligned" when the band recruited ex-H.E.A.T. vocalist Erik Grönwall as its latest frontman.

Grönwall recently joined SKID ROW as the replacement for ZP Theart, a former member of DRAGONFORCE, joined SKID ROW in 2016 following the departure of Tony Harnell (TNT, STARBREAKER).

SKID ROW played its first show with Grönwall on March 26 at Zappos Theater at Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada as the support act on the rescheduled dates for SCORPIONS' "Sin City Nights" residency. SKID ROW's nine-song set included its new single, "The Gang's All Here", which was made available on March 25. The song is the title track of the band's upcoming album, which will arrive on October 14 via earMUSIC.

SKID ROW recorded "The Gang's All Here" in Nashville, Tennessee with producer Nick Raskulinecz, who has previously worked with FOO FIGHTERS, STONE SOUR, HALESTORM, EVANESCENCE, RUSH and ALICE IN CHAINS, among many others.

Sabo and SKID ROW bassist Rachel Bolan discussed Grönwall's addition to the band during an appearance on the latest episode of SiriusXM's "Trunk Nation L.A. Invasion", recorded just hours before SKID ROW's first performance with the Swedish singer.

Regarding how Erik came to join SKID ROW, Rachel said: "We toured together. H.E.A.T. was on tour with SKID ROW. What year was that? '18? And we'd hear him every night from the dressing room. And a couple of times, I was, like, 'Man, listen to this guy sing. He's phenomenal.' And then, I forget who told me, someone that was with us, 'Yeah, he won 'Idol' in Sweden.' And I was, like, 'Man, he's got pipes.' And I was listening. Then I went behind the monitor board a couple of times. And in my head, I'm, like, 'Wow! When SKID ROW has some downtime, I'm gonna get in touch with this dude and start a side project with him.' And obviously, that never happened. But as time went on and we got to the point to where we were with ZP and stuff, Erik was our first… I told Snake, I go, 'We've gotta check this guy out.' And along with Snake and the rest of the guys, and Nick, our producer, Nick Raskulinecz, were, like, 'He's the guy, man. Send him some songs.' So we sent him some songs that we were recording, just with a guide vocal on it, and it came back about 24 hours later, and we were, like, 'All right. He's the guy. Get him on a plane. Let's do this.'"

He continued: "We've been recording this record… We've never done it like this before. He's been recording at his house in Sweden and sending it to Nick and sending it to Snake and I, and we've just been going, 'Okay, change this part. Do this. Do this.' And I just found out last night at dinner, he's, like, 'I've never recorded myself this before.' [Laughs] And I was, like, 'I'm so glad I didn't know that.' As if my stress level isn't high enough. I would have just completely combusted right there. But, yeah, man, and then actually Tuesday [March 22], when we all flew to Vegas for rehearsals, was the first time we met face to face — other than on tour; we saw each other in the hallway a couple of times. But other than that, Tuesday was the first time, other than a Zoom call, that we met face to face."

Touching upon the circumstances that led to SKID ROW's split with Theart, Sabo said: "It got to a point where the situation with Zee kind of put itself forth where we had to make a decision, because something still wasn't working correctly. And that's when the idea with Erik came up. And ironically enough, years ago, a good friend of mine, Rob Hoffman, had said, 'If something ever happens, there's this guy in Sweden.' And he said the same thing to our manager as well years ago. And all of a sudden, as life happens, it kind of came full circle and it became a reality.

"I've been on a high for probably the last month, just hearing the way the songs are coming out, seeing the enthusiasm in everybody, seeing the positive reactions we're getting from playing it for people," Snake added. "And it feels so amazing. I feel like I'm 25 years old again… But it's been an incredible experience, and the way this whole thing has sort of come to fruition, it makes you just go, 'Man, there's something going on that's beyond our control.' The stars aligned, if you will."

Grönwall sang on H.E.A.T.'s last four studio albums — "Address The Nation" (2012), "Tearing Down The Walls" (2014), "Into The Great Unknown" (2017) and "H.E.A.T II" (2020) — before exiting the group in October 2020.

Grönwall was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia in March 2021. A short time later, he wrote on his social media: "I am extremely privileged and grateful to live at a day and age where a disease like this is curable. There's been so much progress made in this field. My body is reacting well to the treatment but it's a long treatment and it's going to be the toughest challenge of my life so far, for me and my family."

Last September, Grönwall released his cover version of SKID ROW's "18 And Life" via all streaming platforms. At the time, he said about his version of the track: "This song was basically the starting point of my professional career as an artist. I performed this song during my 'Swedish Idol' audition back in 2009. 12 years later it's time to give this bad boy a try again. Here's my version of the SKID ROW song '18 And Life'."

In 2018, Grönwall debuted in the U.S. for 10 million viewers in NBC's live broadcast of Andrew Lloyd Webber's and Tim Rice's musical "Jesus Christ Superstar". Along with John Legend, Alice Cooper, Sara Bareilles and others, Erik played the key role of Simon Zealotes.

Theart, a former member of DRAGONFORCE, joined SKID ROW in 2016 following the departure of Tony Harnell (TNT, STARBREAKER).

Sebastian Bach fronted SKID ROW until 1996, when he was fired. Instead of throwing in the towel, the remaining members took a hiatus and went on to play briefly in a band called OZONE MONDAY. In 1999, SKID ROW reformed and, after a bit of shuffling over the years, featured a lineup consisting of Bolan and guitarists Sabo and Scotti Hill, alongside drummer Rob Hammersmith and singer Johnny Solinger. SKID ROW fired Solinger over the phone in April 2015, a few hours before announcing Tony Harnell as his replacement. Eight months later, Harnell exited the band and was replaced by Theart, the South African-born, British-based singer who previously fronted DRAGONFORCE, TANK and I AM I.
























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Sacred Oath have recently discovered multiple videos of entire concerts from their first tour in 1987 supporting their debut album, A Crystal Vision. The videos were found among the personal items of Gil Cruciani, late father of original guitarist Glen Cruciani.


Cruciani has been credited with many of the Sacred Oath’s early publicity photos, and now it seems he filmed the band on multiple occasions in ‘87 and ‘88 with a VHS camera when they performed in Connecticut and New York.


“My jaw hit the floor when I saw these videos,” says singer/guitarist Rob Thorne, who started the band in 1985 while a sophomore in high school. “It was like sitting in front of home-movie baby films. First, I couldn’t get over how young we are in them, and then I was shocked at the high level the band was performing at.  I guess I remember that time as one of naïveté, but for a bunch of teenage punks we had our shit together. It’s tight!”




Sacred Oath, who released their eigth album, Return Of The Dragon, in 2021, made their debut back in 1987 with the release of their first album, A Crystal Vision, on Mercenary Records. The record went on to garner cult classic status among power and thrash metal enthusiasts as one of the earlier pieces of power metal and power-thrash. Now the band is embarking on what they’re calling their 35th Anniversary Tour, including all nine songs from A Crystal Vision in the setlist. The tour opens on May 7 in Southington Connecticut.

Renowned quartet GOV'T MULE — led by Grammy Award-winning vocalist, songwriter, guitar legend, and producer Warren Haynes — has been forced to postpone its previously announced spring 2022 U.S. tour after Haynes fractured his scapula while on vacation in Costa Rica.

The month-long trek in support of GOV'T MULE's critically acclaimed, chart-topping blues album "Heavy Load Blues" was scheduled to kick off on April 6 in Syracuse, New York and end on April 30 in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.

Earlier today (Wednesday, March 30), Haynes released the following statement via social media: "Hi everyone,

"While on vacation in Costa Rica with my family this past weekend, I slipped on a wet surface and landed very hard on my shoulder. Upon arriving back to the States and seeing a specialist, it's been confirmed that I fractured my scapula. Unfortunately, this means that GOV'T MULE's Spring Tour, which was set to begin next Wednesday, must be postponed.

"I'm truly heartbroken and so very sorry that this happened. I don't think anyone was more excited to get back out on the road than I was.

"We're working to reschedule these tour dates and will have updates as soon as possible. The doctors are confident that my shoulder will be healed in time for MULE to hit the road this summer, as planned.

"Thank you for understanding and see you all very soon!

"With love, Warren Haynes".

"Heavy Load Blues" (Fantasy Records), GOV'T MULE's first-ever blues album, debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Blues Albums chart upon its November 2021 release, marking the band's third album to enter the Billboard charts at the top spot in their storied career. "Heavy Load Blues" also peaked on the Amazon Best Sellers in Blues chart and Music Connect's Blues Albums chart, among many other charting positions. The 13-track album, produced by Haynes alongside engineer and co-producer John Paterno (Elvis Costello, Michael Landau, Bonnie Raitt, Robbie Williams, LOS LOBOS), encompasses an even mix of Haynes's originals, such as "Heavy Load", and revered covers, including their rendition of the Tom Waits classic "Make It Rain", a groovy arrangement of the Junior Wells standard "Snatch It Back And Hold It" and more originally made famous by the likes of Howlin' Wolf, Elmore James, Ann Peebles, Bobby "Blue" Bland and THE ANIMALS. A deluxe edition featuring additional studio and live tracks, including another Haynes original and covers originally by SAVOY BROWN, Sonny Boy Williamson, Muddy Waters, Otis Rush and more, is also available now. Though technically considered a studio album, "Heavy Load Blues" was recorded live in the studio at The Power Station New England on analog tape, utilizing vintage guitars, amps and other equipment to capture an authentic sound.

GOV'T MULE — Haynes, Matt Abts (drums), Danny Louis (keyboards, guitar, and backing vocals) and Jorgen Carlsson (bass) — returned to the stage in January for their first shows of 2022 at Island Exodus 12, the band's annual destination "concert-cation" event at Jewel Paradise Cove Resort in Jamaica. The five-day extravaganza (January 16-20) saw MULE perform three full shows along with performances from DAWES, THE WAR AND TREATY and Ron Holloway for a truly memorable experience.

Photo credit: Jay Sansone




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— Warren Haynes (@thewarrenhaynes) March 30, 2022

During an appearance on "The Back Lounge" podcast, vocalist Joakim Brodén of Swedish metallers SABATON spoke about why he and his bandmates continue to exist as a self-managed entity — a rarity among groups operating at their level. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "We tried twice to involve people for very short amounts of time, but it never worked out, really. In the beginning, it's not by choice; it's by necessity. We wanted a manager who had some connections who could get us where we wanted to be faster, I guess, back in the days. But right now, no, we're happy where we are. Nobody's gonna care as much about SABATON as we are gonna do. But it would be unfair to say that it's only us in the band doing it. We sort of built an organization which would be partly doing the management. So we have people, of course, helping us out and advising us."

Joakim also talked about the fact that SABATON runs its own merchandising operation, which is also extremely unusual for a band of its size. He said: "I do understand why other bands don't do it, 'cause it's a shit-ton of work [laughs], but at the same time, we tried to have other people at a certain point, but we weren't happy with the results. We had sort of the same thing as the management thing there; we weren't happy with what we were getting, sort of, so we had to build our own infrastructure and get things going on that part as well. Which now, in hindsight, is really good…"

He continued: "That's the luck of having somebody like Pär [Sundström, SABATON bassist] in the band [laughs], who… I remember a couple of years ago — I think this is probably quite a few years ago — he called me and he said, 'Dude, we've gotta do something. Can I book a show somewhere?' Because we were [in the middle of] a songwriting period. So I had my hands full because I usually deal with most of the musical side and he deals with most of the business stuff. And he called me and said, 'I'm understimulated. I need to do something. Can we book a show? Can we do something?' And I [was], like, 'Yeah. We can do something. I'm coming along quite nice with the songwriting.' And then I asked him, 'So what have you been doing today?' 'Oh, I went up at seven. I had breakfast, watched the news. Then I worked. Then I had lunch in town, then I went back to work, and now it's five o'clock and I've got nothing to do.' And I'm, like, 'You basically described a nine-hour working day and you're understimulated. What the fuck is wrong with you?' [Laughs]"

Last September, Sundström addressed SABATON's decision to work without an outside manager during an interview with Music Connection. He said: "You start a band because you love to play. That's how you start a band — you want to play your instrument in a band. And there was no difference for me. And that's the first thing you do as a band — you get together, you get into a rehearsal room and you start playing some songs. After that, you need to expand, you need to grow, you need to do something. You need to call somebody to have a gig, and somebody in the band has to pick up the phone and call that somebody to get a gig. And then somebody has to do a poster. And then somebody has to arrange that somehow we get there or that there's technical things there. So somebody has to do that. And I can't just stand and watch while things are not happening. So I just jump on directly and do all that stuff. So no matter if it became designing a tour poster, album artwork or it came to arrange a recording session… And eventually, these things evolve, and suddenly you are dealing with economy, you are dealing with logistics, you are dealing with legal aspects. So I started to pick up that. I have no training whatsoever, but suddenly I needed to know how to market myself, I needed to know how to present something in a good way, I needed to know how to sell it, how to charge for it, how to account for it and how to get the show on the road. And along the years, I think I've been doing pretty much everything, no matter if it was fixing the tour bus or repairing it from damages to being a guitar tech. I am also a licensed pyrotechnician. I've been hanging lights in the roof. I built my own festival and a cruise, and promoting tours, festivals, shows, other bands, marketing that. And it's all because I have an interest in learning things, and I don't want to sit and watch nothing happen; I can't do that. I just have to make things happen. And that's why I just jump on to things, and eventually it grows and grows and grows."

He continued: "I think I'm quite demanding. And I love this band so much that I don't want too much other… I don't mind other people to come in and help — of course not — but it would be difficult for another manager to come in and do this in a better way than I would do it. The other way we have done it is that the SABATON team has been growing. So everything we're doing in-house. Today we run the label business inside. We do the management completely by ourselves. We do all the logistics for tours. We book it all. We book whatever it may be — from a hundred crew members, 10 trucks and whatever we need, we have it in-house. We have huge warehouses. We own so much stuff that it's crazy. I was actually going through it two days ago in our main warehouse for one of the projects, and I was just looking at costumes. And I realized that we can outfit entire armies of Vikings, crusaders, Spartans, Greek warriors, World War I troops from France or from Belgium or World War II soldiers from the United States, modern armies… We have pile after pile after pile, or crates after crates with clothes, just because of different projects. And we always think that we take control over things. We don't rent it, we don't outsource it — we control it, we own it, and we put it on and we do it ourselves. Same with a lot of photo sessions, music videos — we produce them, we direct them, we are involved in the whole production of it. The albums, we are the main producers of our albums. We do things our way. And it's demanding, but we have a big team. And we are constantly growing. And even during the pandemic, we did pretty well. Even though we couldn't tour, and we have a lot of people that are depending on touring, but we still did well. We run our own mailorder; it has several people. We also developed that further. We [do it] completely by ourselves. We don't use any merch company. We develop the stuff ourselves. We design it, we source it, we market it and we have it in our own mailorder."

Seven months ago, Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet reported that Brodén and Sundström were ordered by the Swedish Tax Agency (Skatteverket) to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars in tax surcharges.

The Swedish Tax Agency, which manages civil registration of private individuals and collects taxes such as personal income tax, corporate tax, VAT and excise tax, believed that Brodén and Sundström had not reported their income from USA tours in 2016-2018 correctly. As a result, the musicians were told that they would have to cough up a substantial amount to settle their debt.

Brodén, who writes all of the music for SABATON, was the one who faced the biggest tax blow, having been ordered to pay back more than two million Swedish kronor (more than $233,000).

Brodén and Sundström claimed at the time to have followed the United States – Sweden Tax Treaty which covers double taxation with regards to income tax, corporation tax, and capital gains tax, and insisted that they had hired experts to make sure the paperwork was filed properly. Despite this, the Swedish Tax Agency said that the accounting was not handled accurately.

Brodén and Sundström had the option to appeal the decision.

SABATON is considered to be one the most important bands to emerge from the Swedish modern metal scene, having been honored with five Metal Hammer Golden Gods Awards (including "Best Live Band" three different years) and nominated several times for the Swedish equivalent of the Grammy Awards, the Grammis. In 2016, SABATON's "The Last Stand" album debuted at No. 1 in three different European countries and cracked the Top 3 in four others. Brodén, Sundström, Chris Rörland (guitar), Hannes Van Dahl (drums) and Tommy Johansson (guitar) curate a festival of their own, Sabaton Open Air, that started back in 2008, as well as their own forward-thinking Sabaton Cruise which has been held since 2009.

Last month, SABATON announced "The Tour To End All Tours - North America 2022", a 25-date U.S. trek that will include a special headline show at Montreal's Place Bell, the band's first-ever arena headline concert in Canada. The tour, produced by FPC Live, kicks off on Thursday, September 15 at the Paramount Theatre in Seattle, Washington, and will wrap up at New York City's Hammerstein Ballroom on October 23. Supporting SABATON on all dates will be special guest EPICA, the renowned Dutch symphonic metal band.

During today's (Friday, April 1) edition of "The Nightly Nuge", a news-style clip in which outspoken conservative rocker Ted Nugent offers his take on the news of our world every night, he reflected on the recent passing of FOO FIGHTERS drummer Taylor Hawkins. Ted said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "It's heartbreaking on so many levels. Fifty years old with a horrible, long-term celebration of substance abuse. I'm not… Well, I am casting judgment because substance abuse is selfish. His wife and daughter, they should have been taken into consideration. Is spending time with your wife and daughter more important than getting high or less important than getting high?

"I've told the story many times, but I've witnessed it," Nugent continued. "My bass player Greg Arama — so gifted at 15; listen to the bass part on 'Journey To The Center Of The Mind' by the AMBOY DUKES — and the guy was just a gifted, a virtuoso, a savant of groove and musicality. And he started smoking dope and ended up with heroin and died when he was — I don't know — early 20s. And the future he could have had. I told Jimi Hendrix, I said, 'No, I don't want your dope, and it's gonna kill you, Jimi.' Bon Scott [AC/DC] would come to the studio when my band was recording 'Weekend Warriors' [1978] out of Miami and AC/DC was coming in [and working on] 'Highway To Hell' — just phenomenal musical powers. And he'd come in drunk every day with a [bottle of] Jack Daniel's or an Old Grand-Dad [whiskey] and he'd go, 'Hey, Teddy, try some of this.' And he smelled like a diaper. What a talent. What a nice guy. These were all nice guys.

"But what happens is the music can be so overwhelming, the delivery of your comedy or your art or your dream, it can be so obsessive that it's hard to get rid of it. You know how with just a guy that doesn't make music, sometimes it's hard to get a song out of your head? Well, think of how difficult it is for those of us that make the art. And if they don't have a bow and arrow — and a lot of people will dismiss this as being just absolutely too simple, but it's not; it's perfectly simple — if you're so obsessed with delivering your art that you can't escape it, they think drugs and alcohol with help. It only makes it worse.

"So, if you loved Taylor Hawkins — I loved him; I loved the man; I still love him," Ted insisted. "But I love his wife and daughter more. Because they didn't break his heart; he broke their heart.

"So, God rest Taylor Hawkins's soul and all those stoners and drunks that died prematurely. Thank God for every day you're above ground. Breathe deep, concentrate on the positive and show reverence for your gift of life and your sacred temple. Do not poison your sacred temple. It's that simple."

In February 2021, Nugent revealed during a Facebook Live stream that his "mom and dad were alcoholics. I didn't know they were alcoholics. I thought they just had a Tom Collins [cocktail] every night — whatever the hell that is — or a martini with olives," he said. "So my mom and dad were smoking, drinking alcoholics. And I was surrounded, in the rock and roll world, by smoking, drinking, drugged idiots.

"So what's the difference between a person that falls for that versus a person who defies that? I haven't the faintest idea," he admitted. "Because I think God gave all of us everything we need.

"Some people look for an easy way out, and some people don't. I didn't. I think it was just shit luck. 'Cause my brothers and sisters smoked and drank, and they didn't even surround themselves with goofball rock and roll dirtbags. I did."

Ted went on to say that most of his influences "got high — right in front of me. And I admired the living shit out of 'em," he said. "The MC5, they were all stumbling, puking, stupid drunk and stoned, and I admired them beyond description. But then it caught up with them, and I said, 'Oh.' Thank God I didn't go, 'Hey, they're smoking a lot of hashish, and they're just kicking out the jams. Maybe I'll try the hashish.' And luckily, I didn't. Luckily, I watched them blow up. I watched the drugs and alcohol destroy the energy that I admired, destroy the groove that I admired. And to this day, Wayne Kramer is a dear friend of mine. Wayne, I love you, buddy. And he knows I love him. And we have great conversations. And he's probably polar opposite of my ideologies. But not really, because he has a work ethic, and he's a family guy, he's a loving guy, he's a productive guy, he's a conscientious guy, he's a caring guy. But I think to this day, he thinks that dope is essential… I don't wanna presume — I had a conversation with him not that long ago where we disagreed on the use of marijuana and other intoxicants, or whatever category you wanna put 'em in.

"The point is that lucky me, I could differentiate between the delivery of the things I admired versus the occasional and, more often than not, conduct of those that I admired," Ted added.

"Jimi Hendrix offered me his drugs, and I said no. John Belushi offered me his drugs; I said no. Keith Moon offered me his drugs and alcohol, and I said no. Bon Scott offered me his drugs and alcohol, and I said no. I said no to everybody."

Back in 2018, Nugent said that Canada was "absolutely crazy" for its decision to legalize marijuana, explaining that he has "never seen one moment of positive outcome from someone getting high." He said: "I'm all for medical marijuana, I'm all for medical anything, as long as it's really beneficial to people suffering from health issues, but to legalize recreational comfortably numb is a guaranteed script for ruined lives."

Nugent has served on the boards of more than two dozen political and charitable associations, including the National Rifle Association (NRA), Mothers Against Drunk Driving (M.A.D.D.), and Drug Abuse Resistance Education (D.A.R.E.) law enforcement program.

ANTHRAX guitarist Scott Ian was joined by his 10-year-old son Revel Young Ian on drums as they performed renditions of several FOO FIGHTERS songs for an Instagram video which Scott shared on Sunday (April 3). Scott captioned the clip: "Paying tribute to Taylor…we've been jamming our favorite Foo's all week. Healing our hearts with the power of rock. We love you Taylor and Dave and Pat and Chris and Nate and Rami. @foofighters #taylorhawkins #patsmear @davestruestories @shifty71 #natemendel #ramijaffee".

Scott previously shared videos of him and Revel performing the SEPULTURA songs "Roots Bloody Roots" and "Territory", as well as SYSTEM OF A DOWN's "Bounce", KORN's "Here To Stay" and HELMET's "In The Meantime".

Revel is apparently a gifted multi-instrumentalist who joined the FOO FIGHTERS on stage in September 2019 at the Bourbon & Beyond festival in Louisville, Kentucky to perform "Everlong" on guitar when he was just eight years old.

Back in 2014, Ian told Horns Up Rocks that his then-three-old son was a big fan of METALLICA, THE BEATLES and AC/DC and that he could already tell the difference between Bon Scott's voice and that of Brian Johnson.

"He knows a lot of the stuff that he hears or sees in the house," Scott said at the time. "But what's really cool is that he actually recognizes and knows the difference between Bon Scott and Brian Johnson, which is pretty cool, I think, for an almost three-year-old. Anytime AC/DC is on, he'll go, 'That's Bon singing.' And then when it's not Bon, he'll say, 'That's not Bon singing.' He knows. That's pretty cool, I think."

Asked whether metal musicians should be parents, Ian said it was the best thing that had ever happened to him. He added: "I think you have to take that on a case-by-case basis. I couldn't say enough about having a child; I think it's the greatest thing ever in the whole world. But I do think that there are a lot of people on this planet, not necessarily metal musicians, that shouldn't be parents."

Hawkins was found dead on March 25 at the Four Seasons Casa Medina hotel in Bogota, Colombia while FOO FIGHTERS were on tour.

An official cause of death for Hawkins hasn't yet been released. But on March 26, Colombia's attorney general's office released a preliminary toxicology report, saying that medical examiners found evidence of 10 types of substances in Hawkins's body, including opioids, benzodiazepines, marijuana and antidepressants.

Hawkins joined FOO FIGHTERS in 1997. Prior to that, he played with the Orange County band SYLVIA and was also in the backing band for Sass Jordan. He also toured with Alanis Morissette as her drummer.

Hawkins was inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame last year as a member of the FOO FIGHTERS.

Hawkins's most recent work with FOO FIGHTERS included last year's "Medicine At Midnight" album, a collection of BEE GEES covers and FOO FIGHTERS' horror film "Studio 666".
























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RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS bassist Flea has paid tribute to FOO FIGHTERS drummer Taylor Hawkins, who died more than a week ago at the age of 50. Speaking to Radio X's Johnny Vaughan, he said about Taylor's passing (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "[It was] absolutely shocking. I love Taylor. He was an uplifting dude. Before I ever met Taylor and long before he ever played in the FOO FIGHTERS, one of my best friends growing up, my friend Tree [Keith Barry] who I started my music school with, he was teaching music at a music school down in Orange County here in L.A., and he was, like, 'Man, there's this kid here selling guitar strings, and he's a star. He's a drummer, and I'm telling you he's gonna be a rock star.' And that was Taylor. And that was long before he played with Alanis Morissette.

"But I always loved Taylor," he continued. "I had so much fun with him. We toured with them for years and years. And he was best friends — he was extremely close with our drummer, Chad Smith. And it's a very devastating experience for Chad and for everyone he was close to, because he was a kind, generous, just fun dude, and a killer drummer. And love to his family and love to everyone that knew him. And God bless his beautiful heart."

Hawkins was found dead on March 25 at the Four Seasons Casa Medina hotel in Bogota, Colombia while FOO FIGHTERS were on tour.

An official cause of death for Hawkins hasn't yet been released. But on March 26, Colombia's attorney general's office released a preliminary toxicology report, saying that medical examiners found evidence of 10 types of substances in Hawkins's body, including opioids, benzodiazepines, marijuana and antidepressants.

Hawkins joined FOO FIGHTERS in 1997. Prior to that, he played with the Orange County band SYLVIA and was also in the backing band for Sass Jordan. He also toured with Alanis Morissette as her drummer.

Hawkins was inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame last year as a member of the FOO FIGHTERS.

Hawkins's most recent work with FOO FIGHTERS included last year's "Medicine At Midnight" album, a collection of BEE GEES covers and FOO FIGHTERS' horror film "Studio 666".

On June 10, rock icons KISS will release the next installment of their popular "Off The Soundboard" official live bootleg series with "Off The Soundboard: Live At Donington 1996", recorded during the Monsters Of Rock festival at Donington Park in England on August 17, 1996. This is the latest in a series of live releases by the band and will be available to stream and download, with a threee-LP standard black vinyl set, a two-CD set, and a limited-edition three-LP set pressed on 180-gram red vinyl available exclusively through the official KISS online store.

"Off The Soundboard: Live At Donington 1996" was recorded during the final year of the original run of the renowned annual music festival held at Donington Park in Leicestershire, England, and the 17-song set features powerhouse performances of classic KISS concert staples such as "Do You Love Me", "Shout It Out Loud", "God Of Thunder" and the title song from their 1976 multi-platinum Top Five album "Love Gun". KISS closed the festival on this date, which was also part of the highly anticipated "Alive/Worldwide" reunion tour featuring Paul Stanley, Gene Simmons, Ace Frehley and Peter Criss, making "Off The Soundboard: Live At Donington 1996" a stunning sonic souvenir of this moment in KISStory.

KISS is globally recognized as one of the greatest live bands of all time and are the creators of what is universally considered the best live album ever, 1975's gold-certified and No. 9 Billboard-charting "Alive!" The "Off The Soundboard" series continues their storied legacy of groundbreaking live albums with a document of the spectacular, larger-than-life extravaganza that is a KISS concert.

Known for their trademark performances, KISS has proven for decades why they are hands down the most iconic live show in rock and roll. The Rock And Roll Hall Of Famers have sold more than 100 million albums worldwide and are America's No. 1 gold record award-winning group of all time in every category. Peerless as a live act, the band's illustrious legacy has been marked by record breaking global tours during a remarkable 49-year career.

CD1

01. Deuce

02. King Of The Night Time World

03. Do You Love Me?

04. Calling Dr. Love

05. Cold Gin

06. Let Me Go, Rock 'N' Roll

07. Shout It Out Loud

08. Watchin' You

09. Firehouse

10. Shock Me

CD2

11. Strutter

12. God Of Thunder

13. Love Gun

14. 100,000 Years

15. Black Diamond

16. Detroit Rock City

17. Rock And Roll All Nite




Coming June 10! Off The Soundboard: Live At Donington 1996. Available on 3-LP standard black vinyl set, a 2-CD set, & a limited edition 3-LP set pressed on 180g red vinyl available exclusively through KISSOnline. - Preorder NOW at https://t.co/zXcnHBb6Qu. pic.twitter.com/ovbpRw2W4H

— KISS (@kiss) April 1, 2022

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

SALIVA will continue to release new songs and ultimately a full album in 2022. The new music has a contemporary feel but sticks to the blue-collar roots that their fans love.

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

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

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

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

Steve Vai and Favored Nations / Mascot Label Group have released the official music video for "Teeth Of The Hydra". The performance clip was directed by BJ McDonnell, and produced by John Heller and Jason Salzman. The director of photography was Eric Leach, with art direction by Michael Mesker. Greg Wurth was the sound engineer and assistant editor.

Vai shares: "The idea for this guitar and track came to me roughly seven years ago. I envisioned composing and performing a piece of music on a multi-neck instrument where all of the sound emanated from that one creation with the exception of some keyboards and drums. I sent my ideas to Ibanez, and their builders delivered this astonishing wooden creature. I was stunned. It was awesome. When I first laid eyes on it, I named it the Hydra, and instantly knew the name of the song would be 'Teeth Of The Hydra'.

"A Hydra is a dragon-like creature from Greek mythology possessing various heads. For every head chopped off, two would grow in its place. I then set out to write a piece of music that utilized all the features of the Hydra, but could also stand on its own as an enjoyable composition with a sultry melody and heavy dynamics." He continues: "When I finally sat with the Hydra and started to contemplate writing this piece and how I was to navigate the instrument in a seamless way, for a moment it seemed impossible. I just started slowly, and it all began to unfold very naturally.

"Things that can seem impossible don't seem so impossible once you just start doing them. Every new discovery and accomplishment were treated as a joyous victory, even if it only involved figuring out one bar of music. The overall inner vision was the guide through the process, but with every accomplishment, the process became more and more addictive. I became immersed in the splendors of the Hydra. It was a meditative experience, and on the day that it all finally clicked, performing the song felt like stillness in motion — that's when the performance becomes virtually effortless, and the freedom of present-moment expression has you feeling as if your feet are about a foot off the ground. The exhilaration can be overwhelming at times. I'm very happy with the way the video came out, and having BJ McDonnell as director, along with his amazing crew, was vital. Enjoy!"

Vai's new studio album, "Inviolate", debuted at No. 1 on Billboard's Current Hard Rock Albums chart. Cumulative streams exceed five million, with "Teeth Of The Hydra" accounting for more than one million.

The "Inviolate" world tour will commence with a European leg of appearances beginning in Glasgow on June 4. The itinerary will stretch in to mid-July, staging performances in the U.K., Ireland, France, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Germany, Austria, Italy, Switzerland, The Netherlands, Belgium, and Spain. Vai's North American performances supporting the new album will start on September 28 at The Magnolia in El Cajon, California. The final show is planned for his hometown of Los Angeles, at the Theatre at Ace Hotel on December 3.

Vai will be joined by his long-tenured ensemble members Dave Weiner (guitar, keyboards), Philip Bynoe (bass) and Jeremy Colson (drums). Vai shares: "It's amazing to realize that after three years of not performing our show on a stage, that it's now on the horizon, and will start to unfold in Europe this summer. I can feel the road now and the enthusiastic audiences that we will be connecting with."

Former MARILYN MANSON and current ROB ZOMBIE guitarist John 5 has weighed in on "The Slap," saying actor Will Smith's actions on the Oscars stage were "uncalled for."

Smith stormed onstage during this year's live Oscars broadcast and smacked Chris Rock across the face before returning to his front-row seat and yelling a profanity-filled threat at the comedian.

The confrontation took place after Rock made a joke about Smith's wife, calling Jade Pinkett Smith "G.I. Jane" in reference to her bald head, which she has previously explained is due to the medical condition alopecia.

John 5 commented on the incident in a new interview with Sofa King Cool Magazine. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "I think what happened… Everybody was so shocked. They were, like, 'What's going on? What's going on?' People didn't even think it was real. Everybody thought it was a bit. But after the smoke cleared and everyone was, like, 'Woah. This is real,' I thought exactly what Will Smith put up on his Instagram. It was uncalled for and it was unnecessary. I mean, he could have yelled from the crowd. That would have been fine. But I think it was just… it was uncalled for; it was not done in the right way. If he would have just said something from the crowd, I think that would have been enough. It escalated so fast. We've all watched the video a zillion times, but it all escalated so fast. No one even knew what was going on, including him. He just freaked out. [With what he posted on] his Instagram, he feels horrible. I think if he would have yelled something from the crowd, that would have been enough."

Smith first apologized about the incident at the Oscars, expressing his sorrow to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and his fellow nominees in a tear-filled speech while accepting his "Best Actor" trophy. A day later, he went further in an Instagram post, saying that "violence in all of its forms is poisonous and destructive" and calling his behavior at the Academy Awards "unacceptable and inexcusable."

The Academy has condemned Smith's actions and started a formal review around the incident. On Wednesday, the organization behind the Oscars revealed that Smith was asked to leave the ceremony following the slap. "Things unfolded in a way we could not have anticipated," the Academy's statement read in part. "While we would like to clarify that Mr. Smith was asked to leave the ceremony and refused, we also recognize we could have handled the situation differently."

Rock has reportedly declined to press any charges against Smith.

EXODUS drummer Tom Hunting says that his doctors found "a second type of cancer" while they were preparing to perform a surgery on him during his battle with squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) of the stomach.

The 56-year-old, who underwent a successful total gastrectomy in July 2021, discussed his ordeal in a new interview with Zetro's Toxic Vault, the YouTube channel run by EXODUS singer Steve "Zetro" Souza. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "They've gotta cut your skin and then they've gotta cut your muscle. They've gotta get into, basically, your very core and pull out this huge organ, which had a tumor inside it. And also, as a curveball… They do an exploratory surgery ahead of time called laparoscopy where they basically… They cut a little slit, they go in with a camera and with another device that kind of moves organs out of the way so the camera can proceed and keep going — like, look at stuff. And they found what they thought was the same kind of cancer in my stomach on my abdomen wall. And it was a form of mesothelioma, and I was, like, 'What?' But at first, they thought they were looking at the same cancer I had in my stomach, in which case I would have been stage four plus — forget about it. This guy gets chemo. Keep him comfortable until ultimately it takes you out. But, anyways, the fact that I had a second type of cancer — it's called peritoneal mesothelioma — they did a surgery within a surgery… The whole thing, looking back on it, is pretty mindblowing."

Hunting also talked about his recovery and the way his gastrectomy has affected his everyday life, including the way he plays the drums.

"[Once] you get out of the hospital, then you're on your own and then you think about survivability," he said. "'Cause you're walking around with this huge scar. And you can't eat normal amounts. It's an adjustment phase where you're kind of freaking out, but you've got to just lean into it and let your body adjust to not having that organ anymore… You learn to eat again. Like, I eat smaller portions but more often. I always carry snacks. I'm trying to gain weight again and gain muscle mass. I'm lifting [weights]; I'm doing pushups; I'm hiking a lot; I'm playing a shit-ton of drums. But I thought that the surgery and everything would leave me… I definitely mourned for the beast that I used to be, I guess, is the way I can put it. 'Cause I was a big guy — always 190, 195 [pounds] — but after all of this, I feel completely different… I'm about 165, 167 is my normal weight. I was a little bit heavy before all of this happened. They told me the weight's cool right now and I can gain weight a little bit — more protein stuff, more pushups, more lifting or whatever. And I'll do all that. But from a drumming standpoint, I was surprised by just how… I was, like, 'Man, I'm not gonna have no power.' And that's what I'm starting to get back now. And I'm, like, there's something to this — being a little bit smaller-framed and more limber. Kind of like Donald Tardy from OBITUARY."

Last December, Hunting told the "Put Up Your Dukes" podcast that he wants to use his experience as a cancer survivor to interact with others who may be going through a similar situation.

"I'm not qualified now, but I think in a couple of more months, they deem me qualified to talk to other people about this disease, and I'm gonna do it," he said. "'Cause I want people to know about it and I want people to get checked. Just going public with it — I don't do social media, but what I read on the EXODUS [sites] was, like, 'Hey, I'm having gut problems too,' and, 'I'm gonna go get checked out now.' I hope people get the answers they're looking for."

"I'm not saying those drugs that they give you for your gut are bad. They get you by. But if you're having what you think is a gut problem, tell 'em you wanna get scoped. 'Cause some of those scans and some of those tests, they won't pick up what's going on inside there.

"Since I'm on this journey, dude, they're fucking scanning me constantly," Tom added. "'Cause they wanna see how I'm reacting to what they're doing too. So it's all part of the science and the evolution of the science. If they can help me live — and I love my life — and I can help them develop the science to help the next batch of people who you know are gonna get this shit, that's a win-win."

Hunting rejoined his EXODUS bandmates on stage in October at the Aftershock festival in Sacramento, California.

EXODUS tapped John Tempesta to play drums for the band at Psycho Las Vegas in Las Vegas, Nevada in August and at Full Terror Assault in Cave In Rock, Illinois in September while Hunting was recovering from surgery. Tempesta was a member of EXODUS from 1989 until 1993 and played on the band's albums "Impact Is Imminent" (1990) and "Force Of Habit" (1992).

A GoFundMe campaign to help Hunting with medical expenses had previously raised more than $114,000 — including $5,000 from Tom's former EXODUS bandmate, current METALLICA guitarist Kirk Hammett, and $1,500 from FOZZY singer and wrestling superstar Chris Jericho.

EXODUS released its new album, "Persona Non Grata", on November 19 via Nuclear Blast Records. The LP was recorded at a studio in Lake Almanor, California and was engineered by Steve Lagudi and EXODUS. It was produced by EXODUS and was mixed by Andy Sneap. For the third time in the band's history, they returned to Swedish artist Pär Olofsson to create the album artwork.

"Persona Non Grata" is the follow-up to 2014's "Blood In Blood Out", which was the San Francisco Bay Area thrashers' first release since the departure of EXODUS's singer of nine years, Rob Dukes, and the return of Souza, who previously fronted EXODUS from 1986 to 1993 and from 2002 to 2004.

In a new interview with Tigman of the WPDH 101.5 FM radio station in Poughkeepsie, New York, QUEENSRŸCHE guitarist Michael Wilton was asked about the possibility of fellow original members Geoff Tate (vocals) and Scott Rockenfield (drums) coming back to the band. He responded: "I have nothing on any of that. It's one day at a time as it is, and then what will be will be."

Wilton also praised QUEENSRŸCHE's current lineup, which includes former CRIMSON GLORY frontman Todd La Torre and ex-KAMELOT drummer Casey Grillo.

"We're just firing on all cylinders and we are just having a great time," he said. "The chemistry's amazing. And we're all very creative individuals and just prolonging the QUEENSRŸCHE legacy.

"Casey's amazing," Michael continued. "He's filled in the shoe for four years, and he's just doing great, and he's actually on the new QUEENSRŸCHE album."

As for a possible release date for QUEENSRŸCHE's follow-up to 2019's "The Verdict", Wilton said: "The new QUEENSRŸCHE album is scheduled to come out in the late fall."

Less than three months ago, Tate said that he doesn't foresee a reunion of QUEENSRŸCHE's classic lineup ever materializing. During an appearance on SiriusXM's "Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk", he said: "I'm honestly not really expecting that to happen, basically because we've been offered just obscene amounts of money to get back together and do one tour — one tour and we'd never have to tour again. And a couple of people in the band turned it down; they're not interested in doing it. So that would really be, I think, the only motivation that would get everybody together was an obscene amount of money. But that didn't work, so [laughs] there's really no hope for it after that, I think… Money is not the motivator, and getting together for an artistic dream isn't a motivator either, so what do you have? You have nothing. Obviously, both camps are happy in the position they're at. I know for myself, I love my life — I love what I'm doing and I love traveling and playing music for people. And so far, I'm still kicking it at 63, still happy and healthy."

In April 2014, Tate and QUEENSRŸCHE announced that a settlement had been reached after a nearly two-year legal battle where the singer sued over the rights to the QUEENSRŸCHE name after being fired in 2012. Fellow original QUEENSRŸCHE members Wilton, Rockenfield and Eddie Jackson (bass) responded with a countersuit. The settlement included an agreement that Wilton, Rockenfield and Jackson would continue as QUEENSRŸCHE, while Tate would have the sole right to perform the albums "Operation: Mindcrime" and "Operation: Mindcrime II" in their entirety live.

Tate has gone back and forth on the subject of a reunion with QUEENSRŸCHE, telling The Rock Vault in November 2019 about the possibility of rejoining his former bandmates: "I think that would be something that makes sense, and I think it would be an interesting thing to do, if everybody could get in the same room and actually talk to each other." However, just eight months earlier, he dismissed the chances of a QUEENSRŸCHE reunion, telling Greece's "TV War" that he had "no interest in that. No. Not at all. [I have] absolutely no reason to," he said. "I don't need the money. That'd be the only reason to do it. Maybe if they paid me, like, 10 million dollars or something like that. [Laughs]"

He continued: "It was a good thing for a long time, and then it went really bad. And I just don't want that kind of negativity in my life. My life is so good, and I have such great friends and family. I travel the world and sing songs for a living. I mean, it's lovely. I have wonderful, positive people in my life, and to go back and be in that negative land again… aargh, I just couldn't do it. It's not worth it."

Last year, La Torre told "Paltrocast With Darren Paltrowitz" about the chances of Tate's return to QUEENSRŸCHE: "It's funny. I always hear, 'There'll definitely be an all-original lineup reunion. Every band does it.' And I'm thinking, if you knew what I know, I don't think that's gonna happen. And other than the optics of it, why? What's the point? We saw for 15 years what it sounded like."

In October, Rockenfield, who stepped away from QUEENSRŸCHE's touring activities in early 2017 to spend time with his young son, filed a lawsuit against Wilton and Jackson, alleging, among other things, breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty and wrongful discharge. Rockfenfield also claimed that Wilton and Jackson did not include him in the recording "The Verdict" "despite his availability and willingness to participate."

The drum tracks on "The Verdict" were laid down primarily by La Torre.

QUEENSRŸCHE has used Grillo for touring purposes since April 2

Joe Satriani has praised DEEP PURPLE for hiring fill-in guitarist Simon McBride to step in for Steve Morse, calling the Irish player's recruitment "a great call" by the band. Satriani made his comments while speaking to Eonmusic about new album "The Elephants Of Mars", which is due for release on April 8.

Morse's temporary hiatus from the classic rock icons was announced on Thursday (March 31). In a statement, he said that his wife Janine is battling cancer and added that he hopes he can rejoin PURPLE on tour "after she gets a clean bill of health."

Speaking to Eonmusic, Satriani applauded PURPLE for choosing McBride to fill in for Morse.

"Simon is a great call for that, so that's really great," he said; "I mean, the band is close to Simon, and Simon's a great guitarist."

Satriani was drafted into DEEP PURPLE to complete Japanese dates in December 1993, and stayed on for a European summer tour in 1994 following the abrupt departure of founder Ritchie Blackmore. However, he admitted that reprising his role wasn't an option. "I think we all know, we're on the same label now — earMUSIC — and they know quite well I'm in the middle of releasing a new album," he told Eonmusic.

Finally, Joe wished his best to Janine Morse. "I saw that earlier this morning, and yeah, felt so sorry that Janine has to go through that," Satriani said. He added: "We're sending her all of our best wishes and hope she has a quick recovery."

Eonmusic's interview with Joe Satriani, where he talks about "The Elephants Of Mars", working with Alice Cooper on "Hey Stoopid" and the fate of his prototype Ibanez Blackdog JS guitar, will be released next week.

Morse effectively took over Blackmore's DEEP PURPLE slot in 1994 and has since been in the group longer than Ritchie.

In a 1997 interview, Blackmore stated about Morse: "I'm just glad they [DEEP PURPLE] found a guitar player to carry on because I thought I was going to be shackled to this band for the rest of my life. It was like a ball-and-chain thing, and luckily, they said, 'Well, we found someone.' 'Thank God, I can get out!'

"I haven't listened much [to DEEP PURPLE's recent recordings]. I just know that Steve Morse [is a] brilliant player. I remember Steve Morse with the DIXIE DREGS; they're fantastic."

DEEP PURPLE's latest album, "Turning To Crime", came out in November via earMUSIC. The LP contains DEEP PURPLE's versions of great rock classics and musical jewels — including songs originally recorded by Bob Dylan, FLEETWOOD MAC, Bob Seger, CREAM and THE YARDBIRDS — carefully chosen by each member of the b

CINDERELLA frontman Tom Keifer says that he was "not prepared" for last year's passing of the band's guitarist, Jeff LaBar. Jeff was found dead by his wife, Debinique Salazar-LaBar, on July 14, 2021 inside his apartment in Nashville. He was 58 years old.

During an appearance on this past Tuesday's (March 29) episode of SiriusXM's "Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk", Keifer discussed LaBar's passing for the first time, saying (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "I've gotta tell you, you're never really ready for that kind of loss; you're not prepared to hear that kind of thing. And everyone is still trying to grieve and process it. It's an emotional topic. Jeff was just such a passionate, amazing person, musician, human. He had a huge heart. And it was a tough one, man. It still is, for everybody."

Tom continued: "Jeff and I had a really good relationship throughout out career. Obviously, in bands there's times when you have differences; that's part of being in a band. It's true what people say about bands — that they're like a family, but, honestly, it's like that and even more intense, because there's so many different facets that inform the dynamics between bands; everything from business to creativity and everything in between. But despite any differences that we've had over the years, and the band in general, as I've always said, we've never aired anything like that.

"Jeff and I had a great relationship," Keifer repeated. "I loved Jeff — I really did — and have so many great memories of our journey together. He was amazing, and not just what he contributed to the music. Jeff had such a great sense of humor, and some of my favorite memories with Jeff are just kind of cutting up together on the bus. We were both big movie fans and could quote pretty much all our favorite movies. And we'd sit in the front lounge and quote 'Arthur' and 'The Big Lebowski' and 'Caddyshack'. He was just a really passionate, really fun guy to be around, and obviously, an amazing performer. He was a huge part of CINDERELLA.

"Like I said, you're never ready for that. And everyone is really honestly… I'm in touch with Eric [Brittingham, bass] and Fred [Coury, drums] regularly — everybody close to him — and we're still trying to process it. We really are."

When host Eddie Trunk noted that CINDERELLA fans were very supportive immediately after LaBar's passing, Tom said: "That's all I saw online — was really, really positive, because he projected that. He was a good soul and a good friend to me. Obviously, when you're in a band, you try to hold each other up. And anything that Jeff was going through in his life I would try to have his back on, and he did the same for me. Especially when I had my voice challenges," referencing his early '90s battle with vocal cord paresis, a neurological condition on the left side of his voice box that almost put an end to Keifer's career, "he was really supportive. There was a point where I was just at an all-time low before I met [vocal coach] Ron Anderson. And I was so self-conscious about my voice that I didn't want anyone in the rehearsal room when I was trying to work through it. And I asked Jeff if he would just come in and play guitar and let me sing, 'cause there was so much brain power [required] just trying to work through the vocal issues that I couldn't even play the guitar and sing at the same time. And he came every day. It was just me and him, and he just played the guitar and I sang the songs. And he heard a lot of really bad things come out of my mouth [laughs], and he would just always look at me and say, 'You're doing great.' And I always tried to return and have his back on… He had his challenges too."

With his voice cracking with emotion, Keifer continued: "We had a good relationship. We really did. I loved him, and I know in my heart he loved me. And in the end, that's what's most important. And I have great memories of him and they're forever in my heart. And I cherish them."

Although CINDERELLA hasn't released a new studio album since 1994's "Still Climbing", the band started playing sporadic shows again in 2010 but has been largely inactive for the last few years while Keifer focused on his solo career.

Back in 2016, LaBar accepted blame for CINDERELLA's prolonged period of inactivity, explaining that his "drinking problem" caused a rift between him and his bandmates. He told "Another FN Podcast With Izzy Presley": "I can only speculate, but I believe it's all my fault. It's no secret that I've had a drinking problem. And it showed its ugly face on one of those [cruises that CINDERELLA played]. I guess that's what caused a rift… When I fell out on one of those cruise ships in front of everybody — like, basically O.D.'d — that's when the band, and mostly Tom, took notice and was, like, 'What the fuck?'"

Asked if he was sober at the time of the interview, LaBar said: "No, I'm not. Which is the problem. Which is probably the problem. Like I said, I can only speculate, because I don't talk to the other guys anymore. I talk to Fred every now and then. Eric [Brittingham, bass] lives 20 minutes from me. We haven't talked lately, but Eric and I have been the most consistent of all my bandmates throughout the past 32 years. It's just Tom and I that don't talk anymore. And I can only speculate that he's very disappointed and doesn't wanna see me die. He doesn't wanna witness me dying."

LaBar went on to say that the touring lifestyle "fed [his] appetite for partying… all the way back to the '80s." He explained: "I have a history. It's not just these past issues. I have a history of drinking and cocaine… In the '80s, it was cocaine abuse. In the '90s, it was heroin. I went through every cliché phase that a rock star could go through. It just wasn't highly publicized. I was arrested, I went through rehab, I did all the things MÖTLEY CRÜE did. I just didn't publicize it. I was MÖTLEY CRÜE and GUNS N' ROSES all wrapped into one. As a band, we tried to hide our dirty laundry, and most of our dirty laundry was me. We didn't try to hide it; we just didn't publicize it. We just didn't tell people. 'Oh, yeah, Jeff's in rehab. Jeff's in jail. Jeff's in… whatever.' We just didn't publicize it. We actually kept it to ourselves. It was our family. It was our family business, and that's how we treated it."

Despite the fact that he hadn't spoken to Keifer for a couple of years prior to the "Another FN Podcast With Izzy Presley" interview, LaBar said that he didn't hold a grudge against his longtime friend and bandmate. "I understand why he doesn't return my calls, and I don't blame him," he said. "I understand. And hey, you know, he's been the major talent of CINDERELLA all this time, and he deserves to be solo. Not deserves to be solo, but, you know, it was inevitable for him to go solo. He's just one of those guys — lead singer, main songwriter. It's inevitable that he should go solo and basically dump [laughs], dump the dead weig

In a new interview with Sofa King Cool Magazine, SOULFLY frontman Max Cavalera was asked who played guitar on the band's upcoming follow-up to 2018's "Ritual" album, tentatively due in July. He responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "We're keeping that kind of a secret right now. But, yeah, there's definitely different people. And I'm very excited. We already played two songs on the tour. We played a song called 'Filth Upon Filth' and we played a song called 'Superstition', which is not a cover song; it's an original song. It just has the same name as the other song 'Superstition', but it's an original. We played it, and it was great — a great reaction from the fans. So I think they're gonna dig the new record. We're just waiting a little bit to start releasing the songs. I think they're gonna start coming now in April. We're gonna start putting them out on Spotify and Apple Music and [SiriusXM's] Liquid Metal. But I'm very excited for the record, for sure, and I hope we get to get a good tour out of that when that comes out, probably in the summer."

Fan-filmed video footage of SOULFLY performing "Superstition" and "Filth Upon Filth" on February 14 at Cornerstone in Berkeley, California can be seen below.

SOULFLY previously played "Filth Upon Filth" on its summer 2021 U.S. tour.

The band's upcoming album was recorded at Platinum Underground in Phoenix, Arizona with producer Arthur Rizk, who has previously worked with CAVALERA CONSPIRACY, POWER TRIP and CODE ORANGE.

Last summer, Cavalera told "The Metal Teddy Bear Experience" show, which airs on the 90.3 WMSC radio station, that "Filth Upon Filth" was "a killer song" which reminded him of "old SLAYER; it sounds like SLAYER 'Hell Awaits' era meets SOULFLY, which is always a good thing," he said.

Asked if there is an overall lyrical theme on the new SOULFLY album, Max said: "Some of it [is] dealing with, actually, the spiritual world and things like that, which is really cool. I think it's always been kind of a SOULFLY theme anyway. There's a song called 'Spirit Animal' that's really cool. And there's gonna be a couple of guests. I'm not gonna say who they are right now; I don't wanna spoil the surprise. But, again, there's gonna be some special guests singing on this record.

"[There isn't gonna be] an overall theme," he clarified. "It's not gonna be a theme album like maybe [SEPULTURA's] 'Roots' was more like a tribal theme kind of record. This is more like a [mixture of subjects]. There's a song about the environment and how we're destroying the earth and all that, called 'The Damage Done'. And that came out really good. So, yeah, [it's] just my way of writing. It's pretty simple. I don't try to get fancy with it. I know what I do. It's like my riffs — I know how to do them. I don't try to fancy them up. That's how they are — they're simple but direct, and they work. And that's what I love about it."

Last April, Max told Chris Enriquez of Saint Vitus Presents: Age Of Quarantine that Rizk took the new SOULFLY project "super seriously. He said, 'Hey, Max, I don't wanna do just another SOULFLY record. I wanna do the best SOULFLY record,'" he recalled. 'I was, like, 'All right. I take the challenge. Let's do it, man.'"

As for the musical direction of the new SOULFLY material, Max said: "It's full-on. I think it's got kind of like the best of all the years. I think it's a compilation Max Cavalera record of the whole 50 years. [Laughs] That's what it feels like — it's got old stuff, it's got middle stuff, it's got very SOULFLY vibes. It's got a lot of groove. It's got a lot of fast stuff."

In December 2020, Max told the "Sappenin' Podcast With Sean Smith" about the songwriting process for the new SOULFLY album: "The cool thing about Zyon, the way he plays drums, is he's a bit like a wild animal — he has no restraint, man, and he just unleashes on the drum kit. Pure, pure brutality power drumming, and I love that. So that takes me back to a lot of the early records that I like — a lot of the old ENTOMBED stuff and CARCASS and NAPALM DEATH; out-of-control shit. So I think we have that kind of spirit going on on a lot of the new tracks."

In August, SOULFLY parted ways with longtime guitarist Marc Rizzo due to personal differences. A permanent replacement guitarist has yet to be announced. FEAR FACTORY's Dino Cazares played guitar for SOULFLY on the summer 2021 U.S. tour and once again handled second-guitar duties on the band's most recent run of shows.

In June 2020, SOULFLY released a new digital EP, "Live Ritual NYC MMXIX". The effort was recorded at The Gramercy in New York City on February 11, 2019 while SOULFLY was on tour in support of its most recent full-length album, "Ritual". The audio for the EP was mixed and mastered by Charles Elliott (ABYSMAL DAWN) from Tastemaker Audio. Cover artwork was comprised of live photos taken by Rodrigo Fredes.

"Ritual" was released in October 2018 via Nuclear Blast. The follow-up to 2015's "Archangel" was produced, recorded and mixed by Josh Wilbur (KILLER BE KILLED, LAMB OF GOD, GOJIRA).

JUDAS PRIEST singer Rob Halford says that he "would love" to see his band get inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame while he is still alive.

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 February 2, it was announced that JUDAS PRIEST is among the nominees for the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame's class of 2022. Inductees will be announced in May. The Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame 2022 induction ceremony will take place this fall. The date, venue, and on-sale information will be announced later.

Asked in a new interview with the Boston Globe if he welcomes that "sort of quote-unquote respectability, being canonized, as it were," Halford said: "Those are two great words, 'respect' and 'canonization.' I'll take both of those, because that's what it is.

"For the Rock Hall, you have to put about 25 years of your life into music, which we've done twice," the 70-year-old vocalist continued. "For us, it's as much about heavy metal music having its rightful representation as it is for anything else.

"The Hall is a beautiful place, because if you really love music and you pull down all the barriers about, 'Oh, I hate this band and I hate that band, I hate this music and I hate that music.' If you could throw it out the window, music is music is music. So what you're left with is looking at all these incredibly talented, powerful musicians, either bands or individual artists that have really poured their heart and soul out into their art, into their craft and shared it with probably billions of people by now.

"We're keeping our fingers crossed that we do get in," Rob added. "Personally, I'd love it. I think there's nothing wrong in celebrating each other's achievements. Because we all do the same thing. It doesn't matter whether we're in a country and western band or a soul band or a rapper, we all do the same thing. There's a connectivity in the craft that we make. We'll wait and see. I think it's gonna happen eventually. When I'm alive, please, would be nice."

Once again, the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame has named the individual bandmembers that will enter should their group get inducted.

For JUDAS PRIEST, they picked current members Halford, 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.

Back in October 2020, Halford said that the heavy metal genre "hasn't been respected enough" by the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame. Asked in an interview with Word In Your Ear if he was "bothered" by the fact that PRIEST hasn't been inducted into the Rock Hall yet, Halford said: "Well, let's put it this way. You have all of these institutions here in America — you've got the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame for music; you've got the Basketball Hall Of Fame; you've got the Baseball Hall Of Fame; Football — you've got all of these places where, I think essentially, it's just a really nice, cool recognition of what you've done, the work that you've done and the things that you've achieved, the place that you've been put at, and so on and so forth.

"So, am I bothered if we ever get in? Not really. But I think we do deserve to be in there. Because I look at the list of people that are in there, and I feel that we have a place. And it would not only be for JUDAS PRIEST — it would be for British music, particularly British heavy metal music, and that's a beautiful achievement. [BLACK] SABBATH are in there, which is great. But I've always said that as far as what the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame represents, the genre of heavy metal music hasn't really been looked after enough and respected enough.

"So, I'd like to feel that eventually we will get in."

Even though artists are eligible for the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame 25 years after the release of their first album or single, iconic hard rock and metal bands like PRIEST, IRON MAIDEN and MOTÖRHEAD have yet to be recognized by the institution, which inducted GUNS N' ROSES in that group's first year of eligibility.

The Rock Hall didn't induct BLACK SABBATH until 2006, and METALLICA followed three years later.

Rock Hall rules state that artists become eligible a quarter century after their first records were released, but the Hall also claims that other "criteria include the influence and significance of the artists' contributions to the development and perpetuation of rock 'n' roll," which is, of course, open to interpretation.

Eligible for induction since 1999, KISS didn't get its first nomination until 2009, and was finally inducted in 2014.

DEEP PURPLE was eligible for the Rock Hall since 1993 but didn't get inducted until 2016.

After the 2020 Rock Hall inductees were announced in January of that year, JUDAS PRIEST guitarist Richie Faulkner said that it made no sense that DEPECHE MODE, Whitney Houston, NINE INCH NAILS and Biggie Smalls were going into the Rock Hall before PRIEST. "Hence why the Rock Hall holds no credibility for me and never has," he tweeted.

Last month, Hill and Halford told Billboard that they would be happy to stand alongside Downing at a hypothetical 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."

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."

A month before the start of PRIEST's tour in support of its latest album, "Firepower", Tipton bowed out due to the worsening of his Parkinson's disease, first diagnosed eight years ago (after being stricken by the degenerative condition at least half a decade earlier). His spot in the band is being filled by "Firepower" album producer Andy Sneap

Internationally acclaimed ‘80s-influenced hard rockers Santa Cruz have re-signed with M-Theory Audio, who will be releasing the group's upcoming new album, The Return Of The Kings, this fall. The first single from the record, “Under The Gun”, is available to stream now on all digital music platforms.





The new 2022 lineup of Santa Cruz – which sees Finnish frontman/guitarist and founding member Archie Cruz now joined by the talented Los Angeles-based trio of guitarist Jerry Jade (Bad Gvy), bassist Tommy Bradley (Revelry Gang), and drummer Randy McDemian (Abrahadabra Clothing) – will be filming a music video for the song on-location in Joshua Tree, California, and will make their live debut on Wednesday, April 6th at the Whisky A Go-Go in Los Angeles.




“I am stoked to keep working with the Vegas based label M-Theory Audio as I feel like they did a good job with two of our previous releases,” states Archie Cruz. “I am looking forward to completing this next album cycle and Santa Cruz chapter with them.”


The release of “Under The Gun”, the upcoming new album, and impending live performances are just the latest developments in what has already been a busy 2022 for Santa Cruz. The band's metallic-fueled cover of One Direction's “Drag Me Down” was recently featured prominently in the hit HBO MAX/DC Universe series “Peacemaker”, and the group also now has new merchandise available through Rebellion Republic. The music video for “Under The Gun” will also be revealed in the weeks to come.





For further details, visit Santa Cruz on Facebook.


 

Machine Gun Kelly performed a cover version of SYSTEM OF A DOWN's "Aerials" during an appearance on "The Howard Stern Show" earlier today (Thursday, March 31).

The 31-year-old rapper-turned-rocker, whose real name is Colson Baker, appeared on the program to promote his second pop-punk/emo-inspired album, "Mainstream Sellout", which came out on Friday (March 25).

Among the people who reacted to Machine Gun Kelly's attempt at "Aerials" was SYSTEM OF A DOWN bassist Shavo Odadjian who shared video of the performance on Instagram and asked his 365,000 followers for their "thoughts on MGKs cover of Aerials live on Howard Stern".

Machine Gun Kelly made headlines last September when he publicly feuded with Corey Taylor after the SLIPKNOT frontman subtly and indirectly insulted the rapper in a "Cutter's Rockcast" interview, referring to the latter as an artist who "failed in one genre and decided to go rock."

Earlier this month, Machine Gun Kelly spoke to Billboard about the criticism he has faced after transitioning from rap to rock music, stating that he’s "earnt that shit."

"I know it kills certain bands in that community that I got the success that I got. But I earned that shit," he said. "Dude, I was fucking loading up the van with our drums and amps in 2010, driving to Indiana and Chicago, playing Warped Tour. I can tell you the fucking Wi-Fi codes to venues in Blackfoot, Idaho. Can you say that shit as a band?" he asked.

Addressing his role in the ongoing revival of the pop-punk genre, he commented: "The 2010s was great for singers and rappers, and I was part of that. But I think we needed something else: we needed an instrument. Kids come up to me, like, 'Dude, the first time I ever saw someone play guitar in concert was at your concert — and now I take guitar lessons.'

"[Rock] needed a defibrillator," he added. "Who cares who gives it, just as long as that motherfucker doesn't die?"

During his "Howard Stern Show" appearance, Machine Gun Kelly confirmed he is frequently targeted by haters who believe he doesn't deserve the success he's achieved, specifically by rock fans who have misconceptions about the amount of time he has been involved in their scene.

"It blows my mind, even in the the genre that I'm in, when people act like this is like some new thing," he explained. "It blows my mind. You can literally look back 10 years ago at rock festivals, and my name is right there on the flyer. Like, we've always been in the culture. I'm super confused where this, like, 'Oh he's new to the scene' [claims come from]. Like, fuck you. We've been here so long, defying boxes and genres and odds."


























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Brazilian rockers, Electric Mob, have released a video for "Devil You Know" (Acoustic). The original track is featured on the band's debut album, Discharge, available via Frontiers Music Srl.





Order the album here.







Tracklisting:


"Awaken"
"Devil You Know"
"King’s Ale"
"Got Me Runnin’"
"Far Off"
"Your Ghost"
"Gypsy Touch"
"123 Burn"
"Upside Down"
"Higher Than Your Heels"
"Brand New Rope"
"We Are Wrong"


"Your Ghost" video:






"Higher Than Your Heels" video:





"Far Off" video:





"King’s Ale":





"Devil You Know" video:





Lineup:


Renan Zonta - Vocals
Ben Hur Auwarter - Guitar
Yuri Elero - Bass
André Leister - Drums

Legendary Rotting Christ leader, Sakis Tolis, has released lyric videos for "Ad Astra" and "I Name You Under Our Cult", featured on his new solo album, Among The Fires Of Hell. Watch below.


A recent message from Sakis: "My dear friends, I can proudly announce the release of my first solo album, Among The Fires Of Hell, in full and exclusively free of charge via my socials."







Tracklisting:


"My Salvation"
"Among The Fires Of Hell"
"The Dawn Of A New Age"
"We The Fallen Angels"
"Ad Astra"
"Live With Passion (Die With Honour)"
"I Name You Under Our Cult"
"The Silence"
"Nocturnal Hecate"


"Ad Astra" lyric video:





"I Name You Under Our Cult" lyric video:





"Among The Fires Of Hell" video:





Album stream: