Live Rock Music Concerts has uploaded video of KING DIAMOND's entire November 29 concert at the YouTube Theater in Los Angeles, California. Check it out below.

The setlist was as follows:

01. Arrival
02. A Mansion In Darkness
03. Halloween
04. Voodoo
05. Spider Lilly
06. Sleepless Nights
07. Welcome Home
08. The Invisible Guests
09. The Candle
10. Masquerade Of Madness
11. Electro Therapy
12. Eye Of The Witch
13. Burn

Encore:

14. Abigail

KING DIAMOND kicked off its long-awaited North American headlining tour on October 15 at Boeing Center at Tech Port in San Antonio, Texas. The "Saint Lucifer's Hospital 1920" trek is scheduled to run through December 6 in Dallas, Texas. Support is coming from OVERKILL and NIGHT DEMON. Additional backing vocals for the KING DIAMOND set are provided by the special guest Myrkur.

Last month, the KING DIAMOND shows in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada (November 20 at Edmonton Convention Center),Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada (November 21 at TCU Place),Calgary, Alberta Canada (November 22 at Grey Eagle Event Centre),Portland, Oregon (November 24 at Keller Auditorium) and Seattle, Washington (November 25 at The Moore Theatre) were canceled due to "unforeseen circumstances".

KING DIAMOND's setlist for the current tour includes two new songs, "Spider Lilly" and "Electro Therapy".

When the tour was first announced, KING DIAMOND's namesake frontman said about what fans can expect: "This is Saint Lucifer's Hospital. Enter if you dare!

"We have been busy putting this ever-growing horror story together, and it's still growing. I know the end of it, but how we will get there will be a long trip. There are so many characters, and so many unexpected things along this journey. It's a crazy family on another timeline in 1920, where I experienced some hard times, and they have to come to our time to steal from us to survive. This is the most elaborate thing we have ever done, that goes for the stage production as well.

"There will be additional backing vocals by Myrkur and she'll be playing organ for songs that need it. There will be some horrific surprises taking place on stage, but we are not to be held responsible since we are on a whole different timeline in 1920. It was back at the time when medicine was going through a dark period with lots of testing on human beings in order to progress medicine.

"This is Saint Lucifer's Hospital, also known as The Institute. Enter if you dare!"

KING DIAMOND 2024 touring lineup:

Andy La Rocque - guitar
Mike Wead - guitar
Pontus Egberg - bass
Matt Thompson - drums
Myrkur - additional backing vocals, keyboards

Titled "The Institute", KING DIAMOND's first studio LP in 18 years is tentatively due in 2025 via Metal Blade. It will be made available as a two-LP horror concept story, with the second part arriving at a later date.

In October 2023, KING DIAMOND released a music video for the 2019 single "Masquerade Of Madness". The clip was directed by David Brodsky and Allison Woest of MyGoodEye Visuals.

At the time of the video's release, King commented: "'Masquerade Of Madness' was released digitally in 2019 before our North American tour. During rehearsals, we took one full day to film 'Masquerade Of Madness' with David Brodsky and Allison Woest. We spent all day and all night recording while performing the song with our full tour stage show choreography. After the tour, Covid happened.

"The video was all but forgotten as the world came to a standstill — we never saw a single frame from all the footage. Years later, as things began to pick up and writing began for both new MERCYFUL FATE and KING DIAMOND records, we wondered, what happened to that video from four years ago? So we decided to check in with David Brodsky and a couple of weeks later, we had the first cut of the video.

"I was speechless! I had nothing to criticize and after just a few notes from Andy La Rocque, the video for 'Masquerade Of Madness' was finished! There's so much mood and black and white is used in a perfect way with Jodi's performances. The visuals fit the music flawlessly and this is now among my favorite KING DIAMOND videos along with 'Sleepless Nights' and 'Welcome Home' — and not to forget of course, our double live DVD."

A month after KING DIAMOND released "Masquerade Of Madness" in November 2019, KING DIAMOND guitarist Andy La Rocque told The Metal Voice that he came up with the music for the track first before passing it off to King, who "needed to arrange a few things and change just a small few things for making it work with his vocals. And then, of course, he wrote the lyrics for it," the guitarist revealed. "So we [went] a little back and forth until he felt like, 'Okay, this is cool, man. This is the right key to sing in,' and all that."

KING DIAMOND received a Grammy nomination in the "Best Metal Performance" category for the track "Never Ending Hill" off the band's last album, 2007's "Give Me Your Soul … Please".

"Give Me Your Soul ... Please" sold 4,500 copies in the United States in its first week of release to debut at position No. 174 on The Billboard 200 chart.

KING DIAMOND released a DVD/Blu-ray, "Songs For The Dead Live", in January 2019 via Metal Blade Records. The set captures 1987's seminal "Abigail" album in its entirety, twice, and in very different locales: Belgium's Graspop Metal Meeting in June 2016 and Philadelphia's Fillmore in November 2015. The performances feature KING DIAMOND's current band, comprising of guitarists La Rocque and Mike Wead, bassist Pontus Egberg and Matt Thompson.

In a new interview with the "Iron City Rocks" podcast, Blackie Lawless spoke about the 40th anniversary of the release of W.A.S.P.'s first album. To celebrate this classic metal album, W.A.S.P. is, for the first time in 40 years, playing the entire album from top to bottom, start to finish, on a fall 2024 North American tour, dubbed "Album ONE Alive", this fall. Support on the trek is coming from ARMORED SAINT.

Regarding how W.A.S.P. planned to approach the setlist for the "Album ONE Alive" tour, Blackie said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Well, it's the first album in its entirety, but the show will be done in two halves. It'll be the first album, from beginning to end, in chronological order, the way it is on the record, and then we'll come back and we'll do a second part of the show, which is like a best of. This is something that we've not done since the very first tour that we did. So there's songs, like I said, that we haven't played for 40 years. So it's fun, because for the last couple of years, the themes have been around where we started, and it's nice to go back and look at this. And you realize that most bands, they made their bones the first five years they were together, and we were no different. You go back and you look at where you started, and you realize there's a reason you had success. Because we move on, we grow, we mature, all those things happen, but when you put distance between it, it's like you go back and you look at it, it's like looking at somebody that you used to know. It's very different, but, like I said, it's a fun place to be able to go back and visit."

Asked if he ever gets nostalgic, as the musician who wrote the bulk of the W.A.S.P. music, when he performs some of the band's early material, Blackie said: "When we did the last tour, one of the songs we did in the very beginning of the show was 'The Flame'. And we had not done that song for 40 years. I forgot how good that song really was. I had a ball playing that song every night — probably for me it was the highlight of the show. So to answer your question, yes, because, like I said just a moment ago, you forget. A lot of water is under the bridge, a lot of records, a lot of songs, a lot of tours. And it's easy to get really lost in the shuffle, and you're the one doing it. Because you live in a bubble, you don't see it like the fanbase does. So to have something like that, to be able to go back and revisit it, it's a shock to the senses, but in a good way. Because you've gotta remember — any artist, I don't care who it is, when you make a record, you never get to hear it for the first time like somebody else does. I mean, think back to wherever you might've been when some landmark record in your life you heard for the first time. You remember where you were, the scenario, all that stuff, when you heard that first album. The artist that makes it never gets that. We get other things — we get privy to little inside things that happen inside the studio, just everything that surrounds the making of, you're privileged to be able to witness all of that, and that is very cool, but I, as a fan, remember where I was when I heard record XYZ or whatever, and those are life-changing moments. And like I said, as an artist, you get robbed of that."

W.A.S.P. kicked off the "Album ONE Alive" tour on October 26 at Fremont Theater in San Luis Obispo, California.

Along with bassist Mike Duda and lead guitarist Doug Blair, whose tenures in the band are 29 and 26 years respectively, W.A.S.P. is joined by longtime drummer extraordinaire Aquiles Priester.

The 39-city run will make stops across North America in Vancouver, British Columbia; Toronto, Ontario; Minneapolis, Minnesota; Dallas, Texas; New York City; Orlando, Florida; and more before wrapping up on Saturday, December 14 at the Hollywood Palladium in Los Angeles, California.

W.A.S.P. is again offering fans VIP tickets that give fans a chance to meet W.A.S.P. frontman Blackie Lawless, get a personal photo with Blackie, autographs and take part in a very personal question-and-answer session with Blackie. VIP tickets can be purchased at waspnation.myshopify.com.

This past June, Lawless was asked by Chris Akin Presents… if he would be open to any of the former W.A.S.P. members who played on the "W.A.S.P." album — guitarist Chris Holmes, guitarist Randy Piper and drummer Tony Richards — making guest appearances at any of the shows on the current tour. Blackie said: "I remember specifically having this conversation with someone who had been through the same thing. And he had basically lost his original band and had to rebuild it with studio musicians. And I remember him telling me at that point, he goes, 'These guys are ringers. They're killers, these musicians.' And it wasn't until years went by that I began to understand what he was saying and would compare his original band to what he had built later on with really ringers, musicians. And he was right.

"Here's what happened to us," Blackie continued. "When we started, and this goes back to what we were saying earlier on in the conversation about crafting your skill as a songwriter, getting better as a musician, learning how to use the studio as a tool, all those things you learn, the records get better, but the records get more complex. You reach a point where the musicianship starts to grow. Not everybody in the original incarnation of a band grows together, or do they grow in the same direction.

"Everybody's heard the age-old adage about, 'Well, we broke up because of musical differences,' and as corny as that may sound, a lot of times there is truth to that. And you really find people either growing in different directions or some guys can't keep up with the rest of the class. And so, for one reason or another, if nothing else, just attrition will start to weed guys out, especially when you start getting into more complicated material.

"You can't really compare the band… As much as whatever the first record that we did, the magic that is on that, and I recognize that not as a fan, but as the person who created it," Lawless added. "Again, you're never gonna see it like the average audience member does, because you can't — you're in a bubble. You cannot see it the way they see it. And you have to really open your ears and listen to them when they talk. Whether you agree or not, you have to listen and you have to try to take what they're saying into consideration. But when you reach a point where that band grows — in our particular case, you go from the first record to [1989's fourth album] '[The] Headless [Children]', the band that created that first record could not create 'Headless'. It was impossible. The musicianship that was required to make 'Headless' was vastly different than what created that first album. That first album was done with attitude and snot and spit. That was an angry record made by an angry band. But it kind of reminds me of… In the movie 'Rocky 3', where Rocky wants to fight Mr. T and Burgess Meredith, who plays his manager Mickey, he tells him, he goes, 'You can't,' he goes, 'You can't fight Mr. T. You can't win.' And Rocky goes, 'Yeah, I can. Yeah, I can.' He goes, 'Listen, kid.' He goes, 'Every fighter thinks they got one more good one in 'em.' He goes, 'The worst thing that could ever happen to a fighter happened to you. You got civilized.' That happens to rock bands.

"You mentioned early on in this conversation about the first five years of bands together. If you go back and you look at most bands that you like, their bones were made the first five years they were together," Blackie explained. "Almost every band fits that description. There are a few exceptions. And that doesn't mean that they cannot go on to make great records after that five-year period, but their bones are made those first five years they're together, and then they start moving and growing in different directions and it changes and it morphs.

"I appreciate the energy level that came out of that first [W.A.S.P.] record — I really do. But how do I go back to guys I've been playing with for 25 years and say, 'Your tenure in this band has been five times as long as the guys that I worked with originally, but you can't play on this tour.' I cannot do that. And secondly, we're gonna do the show in two halves. The first half is the first record in its entirety. The second half is like a best-of set. The band that's gonna play that first set has to be able to play that second set as well.

"Listen, I totally get the idea of the romance that people have in people's heads about what an original lineup could be, but me as the person who's on stage has to understand that no matter how much the audience may want that to be the way it was, my responsibility to them as ticket buyers, I have to give you the best show possible. I have that responsibility to you. No matter what you think it is you may want, I know I have to deliver for you. And again, especially when people have been out of the game for a long time, for us to do what is being suggested, that the original band do it, I would think that that would be pretty much an impossibility. Forget the marriage/divorce scenario that you first suggested [about reuniting the original lineup being akin to going on a family vacation with an ex-wife to make the kids happy], which is not altogether untrue, because there is a lot to be said for that, but as time goes on, unless you stay in this game and you stay active, you start to lose it. And we've all seen situations of something we thought would be great and then when you see it, you realize, no, it can never be what it once was. Unless you're working with people who have stayed constant, who stayed in shape, that have done whatever it is they need to do to keep that edge, they're gonna go out there and it's not gonna be very good. And I cannot do that to our fanbase."

Because of the extensive back injuries Lawless suffered during the European leg of W.A.S.P.'s 40th-anniversary tour, the band's previously announced 2023 U.S. tour was canceled.

W.A.S.P.'s massive European leg of the 40th-anniversary world tour wrapped on May 18, 2023 in Sofia, Bulgaria at Universidada Sports Hall.

W.A.S.P. wrapped up its first U.S. tour in 10 years with a sold-out show on December 11, 2022 at The Wiltern in Los Angeles. This marked the 18th sold-out shows for the U.S. tour, which kicked off in late October 2022. W.A.S.P.'s performances included the return of the band's classic song "Animal (Fuck Like a Beast)", which hadn't been played live in over 15 years.

W.A.S.P.'s latest release was "ReIdolized (The Soundtrack To The Crimson Idol)", which came out in February 2018. It was a new version of the band's classic 1992 album "The Crimson Idol", which was re-recorded to accompany the movie of the same name to mark the 25th anniversary of the original LP's release. The re-recorded version also features four songs missing from the original album.

W.A.S.P.'s most recent studio album of all-new original material was 2015's "Golgotha".

In a new interview with Trust In Rock, the YouTube channel launched by former MTV's "Headbangers Ball" presenter Vanessa Warwick, SAXON frontman Biff Byford was asked to name his most enduring memory from the world of metal. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "I think that one of my early memories was touring with MOTÖRHEAD in 1979. It was the first tour we ever did, the first time we ever went on a tour bus. And they invited us on the bus to travel with them. And we were very naïve Yorkshire lads then, and, well, still are, probably, but back in the day we had not seen the sort of glam side of it. We traveled to London. They were doing [British music chart television program] 'Top Of The Pops', and obviously we weren't, so we had to hang around there watching the show and everything. And they came out of the 'Top Of The Pops' studio with about seven girls… It was the first time we'd ever seen that many sort of groupies, I suppose you'd call them. And it was a bit of an eye opener, actually. And [MOTÖRHEAD leader] Lemmy was on everything, like he was, trying to get us to take everything, and we weren't really into that type of thing. But I remember it was a big eye opener. [It was] a little bit surreal."

He continued: "We were up in the front of the bus and they were at the back of the bus. And, yeah, it was a great time, and they helped us a lot in our early career, MOTÖRHEAD. They were big friends of ours and remained friends forever, but I always remember that first tour we did with MOTÖRHEAD. It was like a big eye opener, because that was, like, 30 dates or something, no days off and every day on the bus and the hotel. They were doing multiple nights everywhere. The beginning the tour there'd be one [show in] Birmingham, one in London, and by the end of the tour, we'd have done like three [dates in] Birmingham and three [shows at] Hammersmith. It was like an ongoing thing. So, I think that's one of the big memories."

SAXON recently announced the "Hell, Fire And Steel" tour of continental Europe which will not only see the band performing songs from its latest album, "Hell, Fire And Damnation", but will also the whole of "Wheels Of Steel" (released 45 years ago next year) as well as other fan favorites and hits from across the group's career.

The "Hell, Fire And Steel" tour kicks off in Bremen, Germany on February 4 and concludes on March 5 in Leipzig, Germany.

"Hell, Fire And Damnation" came out in January 2024 via Silver Lining Music. The LP sees SAXON investigate all areas of history and mystery amidst ten of their most confident and thunderously powerful songs yet.

On "Hell, Fire And Damnation", Byford delivers his richest vocals in years, Nigel Glockler and Nibbs Carter on drums and bass, respectively, lay down the rhythmic law with bombastic power, and the guitars of Doug Scarratt and Brian Tatler are fresh and fiery, a perfect complement to each other, carrying an overall energy and fury which will have fans salivating. Musically, SAXON bring it all to the table. There's a furious tribute to actual heavy metal in the denim-and-leather-coated super-sprint "Fire And Steel", a wonderful nod to the NWOBHM's birth in the electric mid-pace "Pirates Of The Airwaves", but maybe the true treasure amidst the jewels is "There's Something In Roswell", with the sort of expansive groove and embrace which deserves arenas.

Produced by Andy Sneap (JUDAS PRIEST, EXODUS, ACCEPT) and Byford, with Sneap mixing and mastering, "Hell, Fire And Damnation" strides the perfect line between confident, current power, and gloriously irreverent flexing of the New Wave Of British Heavy Metal muscle which SAXON co-created.

"I think this album's one of the best he's done sound-wise, and he's done a lot of albums," Biff declared. "It has a really raw, vibrant sound... if you compress the total time making this album, it was four weeks tops… you can hear everything brilliantly, nothing's overcomplicated, nothing's over compressed. The guitar sounds are fucking immense, they're just great, raw guitar sounds. And we haven't done a lot of overdubbing on there, it's just playing. I really, really like it."

Early last year, SAXON guitarist Paul Quinn announced that he was stepping back from touring with the band. As a result of his decision, SAXON canceled its April 2023 South American tour as well as the appearance at the Monsters Of Rock cruise. Quinn has since been replaced on the road by DIAMOND HEAD's Brian Tatler.

Brian has already joined fellow guitarist Doug Scarratt, drummer Nigel Glockler, bassist Tim "Nibbs" Carter and Byford for a number of shows in 2023 and 2024, but will continue to be a member of DIAMOND HEAD.

Byford and Quinn are the sole remaining original members in SAXON's current lineup.

Originally from South Yorkshire, England, SAXON has gone on to sell about 23 million albums and has produced such classic songs as "Denim And Leather", "Princess Of The Night", "Wheels Of Steel" and "Power And Glory".

In a new interview with IMPACT Metal Channel, vocalist Fernando Ribeiro of Portuguese goth overlords MOONSPELL spoke about a possible follow-up to the band's 2021 album "Hermitage". He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Yeah, ['Hermitage'] was a complicated album because it got swallowed by the pandemic. It had beautiful reviews. It sold quite a lot because people were at home, so they found that was the way of supporting the band. We were met with mixed feelings, which is not new for MOONSPELL. I have mixed feelings about our albums, too. But this album, it was [conceived] before the pandemic, but then it was really affected by the zeitgeist of the pandemic. Everybody thought it was a pandemic album, and that wasn't good for the album. And it wasn't good that we haven't almost toured anything about that album. So it's kind of in the back of our minds. I'm always discussing this with Pedro [Paixão, MOONSPELL keyboardist], my colleague, and he says, 'Well, it's an album that will grow on people.'

"Yeah, so the next album, it's not going to be out before 2026 because we feel that we need more time, we need more inspiration," Fernando explained. "We can obviously live for a couple of years on our legacy. 'Wolfheart' is going to be 30 years next year, 'Irreligious' is going to be 30 years in 2026, so we can make celebrations around it. But let's say the big issue here, it's the pertinence of the album, of making new music, that is not made to fulfill a cycle of an album, two years of touring, another album. I think that kind of kills the creativity, at least for MOONSPELL. And also we have to answer, with music, to the why of making a new album. 'Cause we have so many albums, so many musical avenues we've pursued that it's, for us, hard to pick which MOONSPELL is coming next. But I want an album that doesn't need to grow on people. I want an album that speaks volumes to the fans and that they probably will say, 'Well, that's it.' So, I think it's a very important album. That's why we are stalling it so much."

Asked to name the MOONSPELL album that he considers to be the band's "most underrated" effort, Fernando said: "It's hard to say because it sounds like I'm being ungrateful to people. I understand that sometimes metal is a straight line and not our musical career, because we always tried to tap into the zeitgeist. Like when we did 'The Butterfly Effect', which was very misunderstood — or whatever, or people simply didn't like it. 'Misunderstood', it can be just my statement. Some people, you like music or you don't like music, or music fulfills what you're searching for in that period or it doesn't. So it's simpler than all the justifications we made. But we did have a great start with 'Wolfheart' and 'Irreligious'. 'Irreligious' is an album loved by everybody. It was the right time for the right album. So, after seeing not only us, but bands like MY DYING BRIDE, TIAMAT, PARADISE LOST, we kind of tried to experiment more, and some people really loved it, but also the metal community retracted a bit from these experiments. And then it kind of stamped you as a band that sold out or that went somewhere else with the music and people didn't like it. And that's something that sticks to you, like a big fucking tag. So we had our albums that were — I wouldn't say misunderstood, but received a little bit coldly. But then again, after we reprinted, for instance, 'Butterfly Effect', it was sold out and people love it. They were dying to listen to some songs live. So I stopped trying to understand the people's mind because I don't understand my own mind. But I think, all in all, an album that's kick-ass and it was met a bit coldly was 'The Antidote'. I think that's a beautiful album… And then 'The Antidote' was 20 years, I think, in 2023, and we did a reprint and started to play some songs of 'The Antidote' live, and people fucking went crazy about it. So it's not a question, even though with all the information I have, it's very hard to answer because people are always changing their minds about everything, let alone music."

In the spring of 2023, MOONSPELL completed the "American Full Moon" 30th-anniversary trek.

More than two years ago, MOONSPELL canceled its summer 2022 North American tour due to "unsolvable logistic and transportation problems".

In September 2022, MOONSPELL released a very special Blu-ray/DVD and album, a live performance of their latest studio album, "Hermitage", with "From Down Below - Live 80 Meters Deep" via Napalm Records.

MOONSPELL's 13th studio album, "Hermitage", was released in February 2021 via Napalm Records. The LP was recorded, mixed and mastered by Jaime Gomez Arellano (PARADISE LOST, PRIMORDIAL, GHOST, SÓLSTAFIR) at the Orgone Studios in the U.K.

In 2020, MOONSPELL parted ways with original drummer Miguel "Mike" Gaspar and replaced him with Hugo Ribeiro (no relation to Fernando Ribeiro).

Three and a half years ago, Fernando told Consequence about recording "Hermitage" during the pandemic: "Social distancing wasn't decreed by law, and it's strange because all of Portugal is 10 million people so it was bizarre just seeing structures without people in the cities. We started demoing in 2017, and it wasn't at all about a pandemic. It was more an album about the polarization and atomization of the world — we're all fragments and cannot agree on anything. Especially with social networks, it felt like the authenticity was going away. It was about connectivity, but there were not enough connections.

"For MOONSPELL, we do have a process and it relies on us sitting down, when we could sit down, and talk together. It's about sitting down with the songwriters Ricardo [Amorim] and Pedro [Paixão]. For MOONSPELL, it's not about jamming in a room and then writing about it. When I sit down with the people who are going to write the music and tell them what it's going to be about, that's the start of MOONSPELL painting the canvas. Giving them this information, the music became more melancholic, less layers and more texture.

"When the COVID pandemic came, we were scheduled to record the album in the U.K. We were in anguish sometimes, because we would have our suitcases ready and went to the airport and Portugal was blacklisted, so we had to just be smart and take a window of opportunity to go to the U.K. We couldn't have the whole band together because of COVID restrictions. Everyone lived through the struggle of cancelations and postponements, but I have to say recording was enjoyable. I felt very privileged to be able to even go to the U.K. and record an album. The studio was in the countryside and it was so isolated and it was perfect to record 'Hermitage'."

Photo credit: Rui Vasco

Van Halen singer, David Lee Roth, has released a new video for "Giddy Up", a song he released in 2020 as part of his 17-chapter web comic book, The Roth Project. Check out the new clip below:





Roth previously released the video below, featuring a dance routine performed to Busy Signal's "Balloon":

In a recent interview with Portugal's Look Mag, CRADLE OF FILTH frontman Dani Filth was asked why it is taking more than three years for him and his bandmates to release the follow-up to 2021's "Existence Is Futile" album. He responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "[We've done] loads of tours. We were in the studio beginning the drums last May. But then we went and did all summer festivals. Then we had holidays — one holiday a year, which we allow us to rejuvenate. Then I was recording with my friend in America. Then we went to South America and Mexico. Then we went, did a co-headline tour with DEVILDRIVER. Then we went back to the studio. Then our producer had a baby. Then it was Christmas, and we did more in the studio. Then we went on tour in Europe. Yeah, that's what happened. We've just been very, very busy.

"It was finished — it's been ready since July, I think," Dani revealed. "We're having two more videos and singles before the album drops. Yeah, maybe even four; I'm not sure. It depends how well it goes. But yeah, there's a plan to a gameplan to everything."

Asked about the musical direction of the new CRADLE OF FILTH material, Dani said: "It's very hard to talk about it. I don't really wanna talk about it because I can't do it justice. Every album has a lot of things going on. It's just a very, very great record. It's the next stage of our evolutionary step as CRADLE OF FILTH, moving on from the [two new songs] we debuted on [the 2023 live album] 'Trouble And Their Double Lives'. It has elements of old-school CRADLE, elements of new-school CRADLE. It's catchy, it's fast, it's slow, it's romantic, it's heavy, it's theatrical."

Last month, CRADLE OF FILTH released a new single, "Malignant Perfection", along with a music video directed by Vicente Cordero, who has previously worked with FILTER, DEVILDRIVER, IN FLAMES and BLACK VEIL BRIDES, among others.

Last year, CRADLE OF FILTH released its first live album in over 20 years, the aforementioned "Trouble And Their Double Lives", via Napalm Records. The LP was recorded between 2014 and 2019 at different performances in the USA, Europe, Australia and beyond during the band's "Cryptoriana" world tour and dates following. Produced, mixed and mastered by Scott Atkins at Grindstone Studios, with recording captured by Danny B, the effort not only featured a slew of fan favorites encompassing the band's discography but also two bonus tracks and two entirely brand new songs, "She Is A Fire" and "Demon Prince Regent".

In a recent interview with Celebrity Jobber Podcast With Jeff Zito, vocalist Michael Starr of California glam metal jokesters STEEL PANTHER was asked when he and his bandmates came up with the idea of a fun, satirical rock group. He responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "That's a great question, man. And I can answer it in a short version or a long version. And I'm gonna do the medium version because it's important to start from the beginning. So when we first started out, grunge had just taken over heavy metal. And if you were in a heavy metal band, people started making fun of you — kind of like if you were in NICKELBACK. And it was that thing going on. But we were, like, 'You know what? We like NICKELBACK' or we were, like, 'We love heavy metal.' We didn't cut our hair. We kept playing, and we kept playing heavy metal and people made fun of us, and we were just, like, 'Hey, we're gonna bring heavy metal back.' And really, at the core of it, all four of us, at that time, all were just having fun anyways, so we just brought it on stage and we started making fun of ourselves. And people started making fun of the fact that we were making fun of ourselves and then we would start just pointing out all the absurdity and excessiveness of the '80s, that was funny about it, and just started talking about it, 'cause it was funny. I mean, you think about a girl dancing on a Jaguar? And you're, like, 'Wait, what? Why is he on the hood of the car dancing? This is so weird.' It's funny as hell, but at the time it was, like, 'This is so metal.' And it just became kind of funny, and we just kept doing it. And actually, people would say to us, 'Shut up and play some music. Quit talking.' I think the longest time we had in between a song was 25 minutes. And the only reason I know that is 'cause our drummer times everything. So he makes sure that we start on time and we end on time and we're on time. So, yeah, that's the record we held. And at the core, we like to have fun, we like to crack jokes, and we pretty much do the same stuff backstage. And then we just kind of developed it over the years. And then people started calling us a comedy show. And we were, like, 'Really? Comedy? We're not comedians. Really?' And then once it got bigger and we started playing really big shows and we realized that a lot of the quick stuff that we were doing worked in a small venue, we couldn't do that anymore. We had to slow it down and really just kind of make everything a little bit bigger. And it was different, so you had to really kind of plan out an outline of what you're gonna do and then you can kind of use improv in between all that. So that's how it developed into it. We didn't really sit down and go, 'Hey, let's be a heavy metal cover band that makes fun of the bands we love.' We never thought it would be that."

Formed in 2000, STEEL PANTHER specializes in imitating and exaggerating the less flattering aspects of 1980s hair metal, with unrepentantly crude, non-PC sexual content as a favorite lyrical theme.

The group's music has been described as "VAN HALEN meets MÖTLEY CRÜE meets RATT meets 'Wayne's World', complete with operatic shrieks, misogyny, shredding guitar solos and libidinal overdrive."

Sixteen years ago, STEEL PANTHER changed its name from METAL SKOOL to its current moniker and shifted the focus of its act from '80s metal covers to originals.

STEEL PANTHER's sixth studio album, "On The Prowl", was released in February 2023.

In September 2022, STEEL PANTHER announced the addition of Spyder as the band's new bassist.

Two months ago, STEEL PANTHER's debut album, "Feel The Steel", was certified gold by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) for sales in excess of 100,000 copies in the United Kingdom.

"Feel The Steel - 15th Anniversary Edition" was released worldwide on November 15. The 15th-anniversary edition features two tracks that were only released on the original Japanese import: "You Don't Make Me Feel Dumb" and "I Want Your Tits". The album was produced by Jay Ruston (ANTHRAX, COREY TAYLOR).

To celebrate the 15th anniversary of the album, STEEL PANTHER as embarked on the "Feel The Steel 15th Anniversary Tour". The trek kicked off in Huntington, New York on November 20 and will run through December 13 where it will wrap up in Orlando, Florida.

US metal legends, Warlord, today release a new video for "War In Heaven" (2024). Check it out below.


Giles Lavery stated: "'War In Heaven' 2024 is from our recent release, From The Ashes To The Archives... The video was created by long time Warlord fan Thomas Kelleners. It includes a significant amount of footage from our recent 2024 live festival dates. We would like to thank all the Warlord fans for an amazing rebirth in 2024... We are now getting ready for an exciting 2025!"







The band previously released the video below for the song "Battle Of The Living Dead" (2024), also from From The Ashes To The Archives - The Hot Pursuit Continues, available via High Roller Records

EXODUS drummer Tom Hunting was interviewed on a recent episode of the GUNS N' ROSES-centric "Appetite for Distortion" podcast. Asked if he has any connection to the GN'R guys and if he has ever seen the Axl Rose-fronted outfit perform, Tom said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "I saw GUNS N' ROSES with AEROSMITH. They were on tour, and it was in the '80s, maybe the late '80s. They were great. They still had Steven Adler on drums back then. And they were kind of a mess and they were kind of great too. They played great. It was just like raw, raunchy rock and roll. AEROSMITH was kind of more clean and polished at that time. I got the feeling in the moment that GUNS N' ROSES was kind of like living the life that AEROSMITH was only 10 years prior, and they had moved on to this cleaner, more polished, less drugs. And I could see that on stage. Not that both bands weren't great."

He continued: "As far as the connection to GUNS N' ROSES. I have none. I'd seen 'em then [in the late '80s], and I'd seen 'em… They played Hellfest [in France] one time, or at least it was Axl who played, but I haven't seen GUNS N' ROSES play since then. I have no connection to them — other than I know that Slash [GUNS N' ROSES guitarist] knows about thrash and he likes thrash music and he likes hard, heavier bands and stuff like that. He's just a phenomenal force. He's one of those guitar players you know when you're hearing him. They could just step out, hit a couple notes and you know it's them."

Last Friday (November 1),EXODUS released its cover of the AC/DC classic "Beating Around The Bush". The track, which features a guest solo by former EXODUS guitarist Rick Hunolt, was originally recorded during the sessions for EXODUS's 2021 album "Persona Non Grata" but had not been released until now.

EXODUS singer Steve "Zetro" Souza is also the frontman of the long-running San Francisco Bay Area-based AC/DC tribute band AC/DZ, also featuring DEATH ANGEL drummer Will Carroll.

"Persona Non Grata" 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 the group's lead 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 the German edition of the Rolling Stone magazine, NIGHTWISH keyboardist Tuomas Holopainen once again said that writing film scores is something he would like to do in the future. "Yeah, I'm a big fan of film scores," he explained (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET). "My biggest musical heroes come from the film music genre: John Williams, the best ever, him, Hans Zimmer, Danny Elfman, James Newton Howard, Ennio Morricone, just to mention a few. So I'm really into that stuff. That's the kind of music that I listen to, if I listen to music, which I don't do very much anymore.

"But, yeah, writing a score to a film has been in the back of my mind for 25 years," he added. "But [I've] never been asked, and I don't even know if it would be my cup of tea, because you are really confined to the story and to how the director wants you to write, and I'm not sure if I would be up to that."

A few years ago, Holopainen was asked by Untitled if he would ever write a complete soundtrack for a film. The 47-year-old musician responded: "I wish I could. That has been a dream of mine for years, but it would need to be something that really strikes my fancies. I wouldn't be interested in writing a score for a romantic comedy. It has to be something interesting — a nature documentary for Discovery channel or even a really cool game. I'd love to do [role-playing video game] 'The Elder Scrolls VI', something like that. Anyway, at the moment NIGHTWISH is, by far, my main priority, so that's what I want to focus on for my near future. I can see myself in my fifties doing something like that, though, if somebody's interested."

During the same chat, Holopainen was asked whom he would like to work with, if he could choose anybody. He responded: "Two of my biggest heroes are Hans Zimmer and [Oscar-winning Greek composer] Vangelis, so either one of those. But then again, I want to keep a bit of distance from my heroes. Once, I was in Helsinki and saw Hans Zimmer live. Then I got invited to meet him at a party afterwards but I declined. He's such a big character for me and some part of me wants to keep it like that. A good example of this is that for my whole childhood Walt Disney was my hero; he was like a demigod for me. When I read his biography, the world crumbled. He wasn't a very nice person. For some people, you want to keep the distance. So, to return to your question, if Hans asked for a cooperation, I would definitely do it."

NIGHTWISH's latest album, "Yesterwynde", arrived in September via Nuclear Blast. It marked the band's tenth studio LP, following on from the release of "Human. :II: Nature." in 2020.

In April 2023, NIGHTWISH surprised fans by announcing that the band was not going to be playing any live shows for the foreseeable future and would be not be touring in support of "Yesterwynde".

"The reasons are personal," Tuomas told Metal Hammer magazine. "We're not going to go into it, but it was something that had to be done for this band to continue. There's no bad blood between the members, nothing like that. We just have to take a long breather."

Photo credit: Tim Tronckoe (courtesy of Nuclear Blast)

Original VENOM guitarist Jeff "Mantas" Dunn has announced his departure from VENOM INC., the band he formed nearly a decade ago with two other former VENOM members, bassist/vocalist Tony "Demolition Man" Dolan and drummer Antony "Abaddon" Bray.

Earlier today (Sunday, December 1),Dunn released the following statement via his social media: "Greetings my friends, the last few months have been incredibly difficult on every level and to cap it all only a few days ago one of my most beloved cats, Spooky, passed away in front of me after a short but very aggressive illness. I was with him every step of the way.

"After I suffered the second heart attack the outpouring of love and concern from you guys via a multitude of messages and calls has been overwhelming and a simple thank you seems so insignificant.

"So my friends it is now time to address the situation. I wish to inform you all that I will not be returning to VENOM INC.

"Obviously my health and wellbeing are of paramount importance to myself and my family, however, there are also more personal issues which have influenced my decision.

"To be absolutely clear, I will not be appearing at any advertised shows.

"On a far more positive note there is new music and a return to social activity on its way.

"As I have said so many times, music is my therapy, my release and my connection with all of you who have supported me over the years and for that I am eternally grateful.
"So here's to Cats and Heavy Metal.

"I will see you all soon my friends,

"Much love and respect, Jeff."

This past May, Dunn revealed that he had suffered another heart attack.

The 63-year-old British-born musician, who currently resides with his wife in Portugal, previously suffered a heart attack and underwent a double bypass surgery in May 2018.

Mantas sat out VENOM INC.'s fall 2023 U.S. tour after revealing that his wife had been diagnosed with cancer. He was replaced on the trek by Mike Hickey, known for his work with VENOM, CARCASS, CATHEDRAL and CRONOS.

Earlier this year, VENOM INC. recruited Marc "JXN" Jackson as the band's new drummer. Jackson was previously a member of M:PIRE OF EVIL, the group formed in 2010 by Dunn and Dolan.

VENOM INC. is not to be confused with the Conrad "Cronos" Lant-fronted version of VENOM, which is continuing to tour and make albums under the VENOM moniker. Joining Cronos in that group are Rage (a.k.a. Stuart Dixon) on guitar and Danté (a.k.a. Danny Needham) on drums.

VENOM's classic lineup trio of Dunn, Lant and drummer Anthony "Abaddon" Bray recorded four studio LPs, "Welcome To Hell" (1981),"Black Metal" (1982),"At War With Satan" (1984) and "Possessed" (1985),and live album, "Eine Kleine Nachtmusik" (1986). Often cited by bands such as METALLICA, BEHEMOTH, CELTIC FROST and MAYHEM as major influences, they are one of the most revered bands of their generation. VENOM is still fronted by Cronos and headlines festivals all over the globe and continues to release new music while Dunn and Dolan had joined forces in the similarly named VENOM INC.

Photo credit: Fernando Serani (courtesy of Nuclear Blast)

Greetings my friends,
The last few months have been incredibly difficult on every level and to cap it all only a few...

Posted by Jeff Dunn on Sunday, December 1, 2024

In a new interview with Argentina's Pogopedia, ALICE IN CHAINS guitarist/vocalist Jerry Cantrell was asked about the recurring theme of death and mortality in his music, particularly his cover of Elton John's "Goodbye" on Jerry's 2021 solo album "Brighten" and "It Comes" on this year's "I Want Blood". He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "It's just a part of life. It's a very human thing. Life isn't permanent, and so it is a subject I return to, but it's because life ends for all of us. So, those are just the natural parts of existing, I guess. And so being able to enjoy your time here — do the most you can with it and see how long you can stick around. Along the way, people are gonna go, and you're gonna go too. I don't really spend a lot of time morbidly thinking about it, but it's a hard-hitting subject and it's real and I like to touch on things that are maybe — I don't know — maybe hard to put in words, I guess."

"I Want Blood" was released on October 18. The LP, co-produced by Cantrell and Joe Barresi (TOOL, QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE, MELVINS),was recorded at Barresi's JHOC Studio in Pasadena, California. The album features contributions from bass heavyweights Duff McKagan (GUNS N' ROSES) and Robert Trujillo (METALLICA),drummers Gil Sharone (TEAM SLEEP, STOLEN BABIES) and Mike Bordin (FAITH NO MORE),and backing vocals from Lola Colette and Greg Puciato (BETTER LOVERS, ex-THE DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN).

To celebrate "I Want Blood"'s arrival, the iconic ALICE IN CHAINS guitarist/vocalist announced a North American tour of the same name.

The trek kicks off on January 31 in Niagara Falls and makes its way across the country, concluding in Cantrell's home state of Washington.

Ahead of the album's release, Cantrell has been featured on the cover of Revolver, participated in a career-spanning conversation with Rick Beato, and has received widespread praise album for the collection's heavier sound. Metal Hammer described "I Want Blood" as having an "iconic sound, sludgy guitars and soulful vocals."

Cantrell's tour with BUSH concluded two months ago, with the North American outing wrapping up at the iconic Greek Theatre in Los Angeles on September 15.

Cantrell's previous solo album, "Brighten", came out in October 2021. The LP was Jerry's first project without ALICE IN CHAINS in 19 years.

Jerry's career outside of ALICE IN CHAINS has consisted of two other solo albums and contributions to major film soundtracks. Cantrell's first solo album, "Boggy Depot", was released in 1998, followed by his second album, "Degradation Trip". In addition to his solo artist work, Jerry has released music on soundtracks for several films, including "Spider-Man", "The Cable Guy", "John Wick 2", "Last Action Hero" and "The Punisher".

ALICE IN CHAINS regrouped in 2006 with William DuVall joining the band, and released its third LP with DuVall in the lineup, "Rainier Fog", in August 2018.

Former OZZY OSBOURNE guitarist Jake E. Lee has offered more details about the events in October that led to the shooting which left him hit three times about 10 miles from the Las Vegas Strip. He was later taken to the Sunrise Hospital & Medical Center's intensive care unit.

The 67-year-old musician took to his social media on Saturday (November 30) to write: "Feels like I need to clarify the events leading to the shooting. [My dog] Coco and I were walking home from our walk. Spotted two, gentlemen, dressed in black, hoodies pulled down low, face masks covering their mouths, in a driveway checking out a motorcycle. They saw us coming up on them and exited the driveway and quickly walked down the street. The same direction we were headed. They kept checking over their shoulders at us. Coco did not like them and was pulling hard on the leash towards them but I pulled back and kept it at a steady pace. They stopped to face us. I stopped about six feet shy of them, holding Coco tight to me. One of them said 'You need to quit following us and turn around and F*** off.' I replied 'We're not following you, we're going home. You don't belong here, you're the ones that should F*** off'. They kept nervously looking at Coco, obviously more intimidated by an 80 lb. pitbull than an old guy in a bright Hawaiian shirt! And I love how Coco handles strangers. He's not aggressive but he's not friendly. He just stands at attention and stares at them. Anyway, after some macho back and forth (I could just tell they were teenagers trying to act tough and getting upset that I wasn't the least bit intimidated),I suggested Coco and I continue on home, they turn around and leave the way they came and we call it a night. I never saw a gun. So we started walking, which brings us to my previous text, Part 1, guess we can call this the prologue."

Referencing the photos which were attached to his post, Jake added: "Here's a tease to Part 2, a couple pictures of my left side, two days after, when I was still in the ICU."

On Thursday (November 28),Jake shared a separate post in which he described the actual shooting. He wrote: "We were about 50ft apart when I heard the shots. I quickly realized he wasn't aiming at me. He was aiming at my dog! I threw my end of the leash at Coco and yelled to go home. He did. He's a good boy.

"The first shot to hit me was in my left forearm. Entered about an inch below the elbow on the underside. Exited topside. It felt like a burn. Not particularly painful, just like a quick burning sensation. I thought it must have been a graze. Fortunately it missed any bones, and my elbow joint, and has healed remarkably quickly. The scars aren't much bigger or darker than some of my age spots and I'd probably have to point them out for you to notice. All the fingers still move well. Initially lost the feeling on the back of my hand but it has been slowly coming back.

"In the spirit of giving thanks, I am most thankful my dog wasn't hurt, and also the damage to my fretting arm was minimal."

Lee previously explained that he walked his dog in the middle of the night because "I'm a night owl, always have been. My wife works graveyard in a casino. 2-3 in the morning is the middle of the day for us! And during the summer, with temps 115-120° [Fahrenheit] during the day, walking Coco in the early morning can still be over 100°. So we walk when it's coolest, and have for the last two years without mishap, until recently."

In a separate post, he said that the October 15 shooting occurred after he "crossed paths with a couple of thieves" as he was returning home from walking his dog. They were "dressed darkly, hoodies pulled down their faces and masks covering their mouths," he wrote. "Standing in a neighbor's driveway checking out his motorcycle. There was a verbal confrontation which ended with an agreement that I would walk one way and they would walk the opposite. That didn't work out."

On October 17, Jake said in another social media post that "the police found 15 shell casings at the scene" where he was shot "which means [the shooter] emptied his clip on me. I could only dodge so many so one bullet went through my forearm, one through my foot, and one in the back which broke a rib and damaged a lung."

According to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, Lee was in his driveway about to walk his dog at about 2:40 a.m. when he was shot in the forearm; in the back, with the bullet breaking a rib; and in the foot. None of the shots hit a vital organ. A neighbor heard the shots, hid his kids, grabbed a gun and called 911. Lee's dog was unharmed.

The Las Vegas Police Department later released a statement in which they said: "Officers responded to a shooting incident in the 11000 block of Alora Street. Officers arrived and located a male victim suffering from apparent gunshot wounds. The male was transported to the hospital. No arrests have been made at this time. This is an ongoing investigation."

Lee, who was tapped by Ozzy Osbourne to replace the late Randy Rhoads in the singer's solo band, played on two Ozzy records: 1983's "Bark At The Moon" and 1986's "The Ultimate Sin".

In a statement to TMZ, Ozzy said: "It's been 37 years since I've seen Jake E. Lee, but that still doesn't take away from the shock of hearing what happened to him today. It's just another senseless act of gun violence. I send my thoughts to him and his beautiful daughter, Jade. I just hope he'll be OK."

After performing with Ozzy, Lee formed the hard rock band BADLANDS. He released the solo albums "Retraced" and "Guitar Warrior" in 2005 and 2007, respectively. After a self-imposed exile from the music industry and the public eye, Lee returned with a new band called RED DRAGON CARTEL, releasing a self-titled album in 2013 followed by "Patina" in 2018.

Feels like I need to clarify the events leading to the shooting. Coco and I were walking home from our walk. Spotted...

Posted by Jake E Lee's Red Dragon Cartel on Saturday, November 30, 2024

MANOWAR played an exclusive U.S. concert last night (Saturday, November 30) at Kings Theatre in Brooklyn, New York. The sold-out event marked the band's first live appearance in MANOWAR's home country in a decade.

MANOWAR's setlist for the Kings Theatre show was as follows:

01. Manowar (from "Battle Hymns")
02. Kings Of Metal (from "King Of Metal")
03. Brothers Of Metal Pt. 1 (from "Louder Than Hell")
04. Kill With Power (from "Hail To England")
05. Call To Arms (from "Warriors Of The World")
06. Guitar & Bass Duet (preceded by bass solo)
07. Fighting The World (from "Fighting The World")
08. Sign Of The Hammer (from "Sign Of The Hammer")
09. Mountains (from "Sign Of The Hammer")
10. Immortal (from "The Revenge Of Odysseus")
11. Hail And Kill (from "Hail To England")
12. The Dawn Of Battle (from "The Dawn Of Battle" EP)
13. The Power (from "Louder Than Hell")
14. King Of Kings (from "The Sons Of Odin")
15. Fight Until We Die (from "Warriors Of The World")

Encore:

16. Joey's Speech
17. Warriors Of The World United (from "Warriors Of The World")
18. Black Wind, Fire And Steel (from "Fighting The World")

In November 2023, MANOWAR bassist/leader Joey DeMaio said in a video message that the band's concert in New York would coincide with the 40th anniversary of MANOWAR's "Sign Of The Hammer". "It's gonna be the only show in America, unfortunately, because our recording and touring schedule won't allow for more, but it will be the full show," he said. "I know there's been questions about that. This is going to be our full team of 40 people with the kind of show that we've been doing in Europe for many, many years. It's gonna be big, loud, proud, massive, a huge event. So I would encourage everybody that wants to see MANOWAR in America, please come. There's gonna be people flying in from China, Japan, all across the world. So I know there's gonna be a lot of people who don't mind traveling for a few hours across America. Looking forward to seeing everybody there and get ready to get your head blown off. Believe me, we're gonna take the roof off that joint. That's a promise. See you there."

Prior to the Kings Theatre concert, MANOWAR's last U.S. shows were believed to have taken place in February 2014 when the band celebrated the 25th anniversary of its "Kings Of Metal" album on the "Kings Of Metal MMXIV" tour.

Back in September 2014, MANOWAR canceled its previously announced U.S. tour dates which were scheduled to take place in November of that year. At the time, the band claimed it was scrapping the shows "due to scheduling conflicts" as well as to concentrate on work on a new studio album.

The 70-year-old DeMaio and 72-year-old singer Eric Adams are the sole remaining original members of MANOWAR, which formed in 1980 in upstate New York.

Last year, MANOWAR announced "The Blood Of Our Enemies" 2025 tour of Europe. The trek will be the band's first in support of MANOWAR's next studio album, which will arrive in 2025.

In February 2023, MANOWAR released a new song called "Laut Und Hart Stark Und Schnell" dedicated to the band's loyal German fans.

"Laut Und Hart Stark Und Schnell", which translates into "Loud And Hard Strong And Fast", is an anthemic mid-tempo hymn in the vein of MANOWAR's classic "Warriors Of The World United" that invites fans to sing along and raise their hands in celebration of their favorite genre and band.

"Laut Und Hart Stark Und Schnell" was first released digitally on February 10, 2023 on all major platforms and was made available during MANOWAR's German tour.

More than two years ago, MANOWAR announced that it had recruited Michael Angelo Batio, a veteran both in the studio and on stage, to play guitar for the band on its 2023 "Crushing The Enemies Of Metal" tour. The news came in the wake of guitarist Evandro "EV" Martel's announcement that he was taking a break from touring for a while for "personal reasons".

Although MANOWAR has released a couple of EPs in recent years — including "The Revenge Of Odysseus (Highlights)", which came out in June — the group hasn't issued a full-length effort since 2012's "The Lord Of Steel".

MANOWAR's two "secret" warm-up shows in June 2022 at Jovel Music Hall in Münster, Germany marked the band's debut live appearances with new drummer Dave Chedrick, who has previously played with RAVEN and KILL RITUAL, among others.

Chedrick joined MANOWAR as the replacement for Anders Johannson who announced that same month that he would be unable to join MANOWAR on the band's "Crushing The Enemies Of Metal Anniversary Tour '22/'23" due to "family commitments."

Earlier this year, the reunited expanded classic lineup of German power metallers HELLOWEEN signed with Reigning Phoenix Music (RPM) for the release of their next studio album. The band entered the studio this past summer to begin work on the follow-up to 2021's acclaimed self-titled effort, with plans to issue the LP in 2025.

Asked in a new interview with Tony Webster of The Metal Command how the material for HELLOWEEN's next album compares to that on "Helloween", vocalist Andi Deris said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "I'd say it's much more easy listening, because there's less constructed stuff on it. It's more flowing with the wind, so to say. It's very, very positive, so I would rather say it's more happy, happy HELLOWEEN than the other album. I think it's a bit more… yeah, the flow is, for my taste, not as edgy as the last album, which was cool — I like edgy stuff — but we should have more or less some counterpart to edgy, more exhausting things. The last album, for me, was great to listen through — it was edgy, it was heavy, it was complicated here and there — but after listening to it, then I needed a pause. It was exhausting. After [listening to 'Helloween'], I needed some break, put it that way. I loved it, and I still love it, but it's demanding. I think the next album will be much more easy listening, I think much more enjoyable to sing along [to]; there are lots of parts in there. So I would rather describe it as a more happy, happy HELLOWEEN album. That would be the best description."

Andi continued: "It's hard to describe, because there are lots of speedy and heavy things on it. But when I listen through it, I feel good. I mean, that's a good sign. Not that I felt bad when I listened to the last album — that's not what I mean. It's fun. I listen to it, and it's fun. Definitely."

Regarding what he and his HELLOWEEN bandmates learned from the making of "Helloween" that they improved upon this time around, Andi said: "Yeah, I think the main keyword would be confidence. The last album, we had to get to know each other in that new setup, lineup, how to work with [each other], how to work here and blah, blah, blah, and this time we just realized, okay, actually everybody has such great ideas; just don't control each other. We don't need to actually stick in a studio for pre-production for two months because everybody did it for himself. Let's just listen to it and say, 'Wow, cool.' So this time we've been some lazy backs, actually, and just said, you know, pre-production we just do ourselves back at home, everybody in his own studio, and we just take the technique we are given. Internet is great, and you can have live sessions online, and that made life so much easier because everybody is just relieved that you [are] still at home. You still work hard, but you're at home. And as we all know, when you're at home, work doesn't hurt that much as being back in the studio again somewhere in the world, but not with your family. And nowadays you can actually have your family life, you have your eight, nine hours per day in the studio, you yourself decide when you make a break or when you go and have a meal with your lady or go down to the beach, in my case. That makes life so much easier and much more enjoyable than sitting in a fricking studio again and again and again, each and every day for two months, just for a pre-production, which you could easily do at home together. So this time, I have to say there's confidence that we earned for each other that helped a lot to make things even more easygoing. And I think that's exactly what you listen, when you go through the songs and you listen to them — you feel that easiness: 'Wow. Wow. Okay, cool.' I love it. So that's the way to go."

He then clarified: "I don't wanna say that I want to be back at home when I'm on tour. So I hate the idea of laser shows or something like that. As long as I can walk, I want to be on stage. But production-wise, I have to say I love the technique we have nowadays."

Regarding how HELLOWEEN has managed to pull off the seemingly impossible by keeping all seven members of the band happy — returning singer Michael Kiske and guitarist/vocalist Kai Hansen along with Deris, guitarists Michael Weikath and Sascha Gerstner, bassist Markus Grosskopf and drummer Daniel Löble — Andi said: "I think the only thing you need to accept [is] that you are different people. I think that's the main problem we had back in the days because everybody actually expected the other to be and react and have the same opinion [as] yourself. And when you are realizing, okay, we are all different people, so you have to accept that everybody probably has a different point of view, at least a millimeter to the left or millimeter to right. And you have to sit down and actually find a compromise. If you accept that everybody is different, that's not a bad thing. You just have to accept that you yourself may fail here and there, and maybe the other one is right. And when you're getting older, you have decades of comparisons, and you realize, 'Okay, here I fucked up, there I fucked up, here I wasn't right, here I wasn't right.' You need that experience, and when you have that, you are a little bit more humble, because you know you did things wrong or you know you haven't been right back in the days here and there and blah, blah, blah. So, if you take that at a base, everything works out fine. And you just sit down with that knowledge and try to find a solution, which is good enough for all here in the room. And, yeah, that went down super the last few years, I mean, no problem at all. Even if somebody was pissed off, completely pissed off for whatever reason, again, that somebody did not react like he did back in the days, like with aggression or something like that, but in normal words and said, 'Hey, I have a little problem here. You said this and that and blah, blah, blah. And how did you mean that?' And then here comes the explanation and you go, like, 'Oh, okay, all good. Thanks.'"

Upon its release in June 2021, "Helloween" landed in the Top 10 in more than 10 countries, including Germany, Spain, Finland, Sweden, Switzerland and Austria. The cover artwork for the LP was painted by artist Eliran Kantor, who has previously worked with HATEBREED, SOULFLY, TESTAMENT, ICED EARTH and SODOM, among others.

Produced by Charlie Bauerfeind and Dennis Ward, the last HELLOWEEN LP was recorded in part at the H.O.M.E. Studios in Hamburg (where everything started in 1984). The same recording console used for such HELLOWEEN albums as "Master Of The Rings", "Time Of The Oath" and "Better Than Raw" was utilized to record the band's new material. The effort was mixed at the Valhalla Studios of Ronald Prent (IRON MAIDEN, DEF LEPPARD, RAMMSTEIN).

"Helloween" saw the legendary German power metallers going "back to the roots," with the band recording fully analog and Löble playing the drum kit previously used by HELLOWEEN's original drummer, the late Ingo Schwichtenberg, on the legendary "Keeper Of The Seven Keys" recordings.

HELLOWEEN will release a new live album, "Live At Budokan", on December 13, 2024 via Reigning Phoenix Music (RPM). The colossal effort immortalizes HELLOWEEN's September 16, 2023 performance at Tokyo's legendary Nippon Budokan.

"Live At Budokan" will be available in a plethora of formats: 2CD-digipak and 3LP vinyl in trifold with the first print run of both coming as "deluxe edition" including embossed cover artwork, as well as Blu-ray, DVD and digital. Each version is meticulously crafted to suit the metal community's diverse tastes, ensuring every fan can relive the raw, unfiltered energy of HELLOWEEN in their preferred medium.

This release celebrates the grand finale of HELLOWEEN's epic world tour from 2022 to 2023. Spanning over 30 countries on three continents, the tour was nothing short of a triumph, drawing massive crowds and showcasing the band's undying appeal, the sold-out concert in Tokyo is the crowning glory of the cycle.

Photo credit: Martin Häusler

During an appearance on a recent episode of the "One Life One Chance With Toby Morse" podcast, METALLICA bassist Robert Trujillo, who joined the band in 2003 but only got a chance to write and record with them for the first time on the 2008 album "Death Magnetic", spoke about how involvement in the group's creative process. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "As writers, and you come into a new situation, you don't know if you're gonna be a writer. And I was a writer — a hundred percent — in my other situations. And even [when I was playing] with Ozzy [Osbourne], I was getting into some serious writing before I left. So that's always been important to me. But at the same time, it's, like. I'm joining METALLICA. And these guys write amazing songs, and I'm just not gonna suddenly insert myself into that.

"I like to keep people happy and comfortable, and my role is always to support what's needed for the team," he explained. "So if I'm writing a song with the guys, contributing that way… We're always contributing. Whether you see the name on the song or not, we're always… I'm in the room every time we're working on music, I'm in the room — I'm there with Lars [Ulrich, METALLICA drummer] and James [Hetfield, METALLICA guitarist/vocalist], a hundred percent. And there are times where it's, like, I've got some cool ideas, and James is always receptive. That's the one thing. It's, like, if you listen to the middle section of 'You Must Burn!' on the new record ['72 Seasons'], that's James and I actually jamming in the tuning room and then it becomes a part of this particular song. So a lot of what we do kind of happens from actually jamming. Someone will come and come up with a riff and bring it in. James is, like… I mean, he picks up a guitar to turn a tuning peg and he comes up with an insane riff. There's guys like that. So, I like to make sure that as long as the river is flowing the right way, that's the most important thing."

Robert went on to discuss the importance of getting along with his bandmates and the role interpersonal relationships play in a group situation.

"How do you cater to the personalities?" he said. "You're gonna live with these people. You've gotta respect that and respect people, and when you're in each other's space, you've gotta respect each other. And you've gotta help lift people. And all that kind of stuff plays into it.

"There's a million incredible players," Trujillo added. "Yeah, guys have a certain feel that are better for the band and whatnot, but at the same time, there's still that kind of bond and that trust and that connection you have to have with each other so that you're helping each other through life. It's like a life thing. You all work together, and the weak links, man, they get cut real quick. That's the one thing about our team — everybody gets along. You're there for the right reasons and you trust everybody. And that's what happens, and that's the way it's supposed to be."

In a 2016 interview with Germany's Rock Antenne, Trujillo was asked how much input he had on METALLICA's then-latest album, "Hardwired…To Self-Destruct". "Actually, a lot," he said. "A hell of a lot. What we do is even though when you read, a lot of people like to read credits and obviously on 'Hardwired' compared to 'Death Magnetic', there's writing credits that are really centered around Lars and James. The truth is that we jam. Even though the original riff, or the idea comes from Hetfield on this album, these are all great Hetfield riffs. You don't see the riffs from Kirk [Hammett] or myself as much as you would have on the previous record. I'm there every day jamming and I'm writing my bass parts. I'm playing my parts as bass parts. What determines a songwriter's [credit], you have to ask Lars. [Laughs] That's okay.

"I always say my role in METALLICA is to support the song and to support my team and whatever that means, I'm there for it," he explained. "I'm like Joe Walsh with THE EAGLES. Joe Walsh with THE EAGLES was a songwriter, he did a lot of great things, but when it came to THE EAGLES, he was there to play guitar, he was there to sing, he was there to do whatever he needed to do. If he had to write sections, he did.

"Songwriting credits… it's not a big deal," Robert added. "I think what the bigger deal is like how the songs develop and my role in supporting Lars and James with a song, whether the idea comes from Kirk or James or me, or whatever, it doesn't matter. What matters is, does the song sound great when it's finished?"

Trujillo, who was born on October 23, 1964 in Santa Monica, California, tasted success as the bassist in SUICIDAL TENDENCIES and Ozzy Osbourne's band. But in 2003, he successfully auditioned to replace Jason Newsted in METALLICA, a process chronicled in the warts-and-all documentary "Some Kind of Monster".

METALLICA's much-loved former bassist Cliff Burton died in 1986 when the band's tour bus crashed travelling through Sweden on the "Damage Inc. Tour" in support of "Master Of Puppets".

Back in 2021, Trujillo humorously revealed in an interview that before he signed on as the bass player for METALLICA, SUICIDAL TENDENCIES would gobble up METALLICA's leftover dinners whenever they could during a joint 1993 tour. And even though the METALLICA members respected Trujillo's playing with SUICIDAL TENDENCIES, Hetfield admitted that when Robert's name came up during bassist auditions, he thought, "there's no way he's going to join us. He's too amazing, he's too spectacular."

Photo credit: Ross Halfin

Morten Veland (Sirenia, Mortemia, and founder of Tristania) has released the eleventh Mortemia song from The Covid Aftermath Sessions today. The track is a cover version of "Riders On The Storm" originally recorded by The Doors, featuring Emma Zoldan from Sirenia on guest vocals. The song is available on all digital platforms.


Says Morten Veland: “I'm proud and honoured to welcome my dear friend and collaborator through 20 years, my Sirenia colleague Emma Zoldan as my special guest for The Covid Aftermath Sessions. The song that we have done together is a cover version of The Doors’ classic song ‘Riders on the Storm’. I am thrilled with how the song turned out, I feel that me and Emma were able to make a very cool take on this awesome song who I have been a huge fan of for as long as I can remember. I feel truly privileged and thankful to have Emma back on board this project, as she already was part of the choir on Mortemia’s debut album back in 2010. We are really looking forward to sharing this song with you all. The song will be available on all digital platforms on Friday the 29th of November 2024”.


Emma states: "I have been very enthusiastic to be invited again to collaborate with Morten on his Mortemia project after so many years, and so excited with the choice he did with covering 'Riders On The Storm'. It gave me lots of emotion putting my voice on this anthologic, dark and emotional song from The Doors, that we all know from our childhood. I Hope you'll enjoy it!"




Stream the song here, and listen below:





After 11 years of silence Norwegian multi-instrumentalist, producer and artist Morten Veland activated his solo project Mortemia during the early stages of the Covid 19 pandemic, this time with a brand new concept consisting of collaborations with multipl

Earlier this month, Finland's gothic / melancholy metal outfit To/Die/For parted ways with their vocalist Jape Perätalo.


The remaining band members issued the following statement this past Tuesday, November 26th.


"Greetings from the To/Die/For camp!




As most of you already know, our dear friend and frontman Jape Perätalo decided to take a step back from the spotlight and retire from active duty in the group. We are of course sad and a bit awestruck since the band has always been his main outlet for his creativity, but everyone must follow their hearts and do what feels right at the moment.


We know that many old fans will not like the situation but it’s only life and life must go on. We have a good enough reason in our music to carry on, which is still great and fun to play. Jape gave his blessing to the rest of the band to keep T/D/F alive and that’s what we are planning to do. We are definitely not looking for a 'New Jape' to fill his shoes since his voice is so unique and recognizable. What we look for in our new frontman is a great voice, charisma, and a certain capability to do honor to the songs which some of the remaining members have already been playing for 25 years. We haven’t got a new singer in the band yet, but we are currently auditioning for Jape’s successor.


What the future will hold for this reincarnation of To/Die/For, we’ll have to wait and see. There’s already been a great demand for more live shows all over the world. It’s not always a bad thing when a band replaces their frontman or any other member for that matter. There’s been numerous occasions throughout time when such occurrence has brought the band to a whole new level.


We have had a conversation with Jape and he is still willing to continue collaboration with the band. His role will be mostly helping with the songwriting, especially vocal melodies which have always been his strong suit.


Thanks to our loyal fans. You’re the best!"


Jape's original statement, dated November 15th, reads:


"To/Die/For has been my whole life for many, many years. The band has broken up

Graveworm drummer Moe Harringer recently announced a career change via social media. His statement reads as follows:


"Dear fans, followers, and supporters,


After 25 incredible years of drumming and eight years in Graveworm filled with music, passion, and unforgettable memories, I want to share a personal decision: I am stepping away from the band and I will put drumming behind me entirely.




This decision has not been easy, but over the past months, I’ve realized that playing the drums—something that has brought me immense joy for so long—no longer fulfills me the way it once did.


At the same time, my priorities have shifted. Alongside music, I’ve been deeply involved in several businesses, and I’ve come to recognize that my heart now lies in management and entrepreneurship rather than performing on stage. I no longer see myself as an artist, but as a manager and entrepreneur working behind the scenes.


I want to take this moment to express my deepest gratitude to my bandmates. You have been more than just musical companions—you’ve been my family and you will always

Monumenty, the third full-length album from Polish black metal band, Czort, is available for streaming ahead of tomorrow's official release date. Listen below.


Monumenty (translates to “Monuments” from Polish) is available via Pagan Records in jewelcase CD, black heavyweight vinyl and digital formats. Pre-order here


Previously, the band released a music video for the track “Oczyma Monumentu” (see below), with the single streaming now across all digital platforms.




Monumenty was recorded and mixed last fall at Impressive Art studio in Porąbka, Poland by Przemysław Nowak.


The sound on Monumenty is an evolution of the band's past work on W czeluść (2022 split released via Godz ov War Productions), Apostoł (2020 album released via Under the Sign of Garazel Productions) and Czarna ewangelia (2018 debut album released via Under the Sign of Garazel Productions). In 2019, Czort also released a split entitledUnder the White Flame" with Mordhell, Occultum and Dagorath.


In Slavic mythology, Czort (or chort) is consider

In a new interview with Brazilian music journalist Igor Miranda, SPIRITBOX frontwoman Courtney LaPlante spoke about the band's upcoming sophomore album, "Tsunami Sea", which is set for release on March 7, 2025 via Pale Chord in partnership with Rise Records. The LP was produced by Dan Braunstein and Mike Stringer, mixed by Zakk Cervini and mastered by Ted Jensen.

Asked how excited she is for the new album release, Courtney said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "I wish that it was coming out next week. I wanna play these songs so badly. I want to play these songs live for our fans. I want them to hear these songs. And it feels very far away, but it's for the best, because now it's my job to make sure that as many people as possible hear the songs, and it's my job now to be the ambassador for these songs. So it is good that it's gonna come out like pretty far in the future for me. March 7th feels very far away."

Regarding how "Tsunami Sea" compares to SPIRITBOX's previous releases, including 2021's "Eternal Blue" album and 2023's "The Fear Of Fear" EP, Courtney said: "Everything is connected together in our band. We don't market our albums like this, but they're all concept albums and they all tie into one another. I'm always just building upon what I did before. And it's important to me that I don't market it like that. I just like to show it instead of telling our fans, 'This is a concept album.' I would just like them to discover that for themselves. So it's a continuation of 'The Fear Of Fear' but also we look at it like the sister to 'Eternal Blue'. And it's very different than 'Eternal Blue', but they both feel like a very big part of my identity as a person — lyrically and thematically. So, I don't wanna say it's a rehash of our old music, but it is the grown-up sister, with musicians that instead of being scared and not confident and trying to do this, after we work nine-to-five jobs and on the weekends and during work, and then recording it in a kitchen in Joshua Tree, in the desert, this is now somebody that we have the privilege of doing this as our jobs and we take it so seriously. It's not a casual thing at all. So what could be now that we are living our dream lives and we get to fully commit every minute of our lives to creating music."

Courtney also talked about SPIRITBOX securing second Grammy nomination for "Best Metal Performance", this time for "Cellar Door". The nomination follows SPIRITBOX's previous Grammy nod for "Jaded".

"I can't believe it," she said. "I'm so excited. And I was so surprised last year when we were nominated. To be nominated again off the same body of work is such an honor. But I will say the thing that makes this one different to me is that usually, historically, it's all legacy bands [that get nominated], the biggest bands in the world, and then maybe one small band — maybe. But this time, instead of just us as the small band, us and KNOCKED LOOSE and Poppy, where both of us, two of the five bands are younger bands. And we have GOJIRA, who had the greatest metal performance of all time at the Olympics as well in there, which is so cool. But I'm so inspired that both of us — us and KNOCKED LOOSE and Poppy — are nominated, because i've never seen that before where two newer bands both got in there. So I think we're both really excited for each other. And if we don't win, I would love for them to win, because since this award has ever existed — this award, the first year was when I was born, in 1989. There was one year where Lzzy Hale and HALESTORM won, when it was the hard rock and metal Grammy ['Best Hard Rock/Metal Performance'], but no woman has ever won the best metal performance Grammy since it came out in 1989. And I think about that every year. I'm almost 36 years old. 36 years, a woman's never won. And now there's more chances than ever for a woman to win. So I'm really excited. I hope that we win. I hope that KNOCKED LOOSE and Poppy win. Or if GOJIRA wins, there's a woman who's an opera singer on that song. So there's three out of five chances for that ceiling, that glass ceiling to finally shatter."

Formed in 2017 in the picturesque-yet-isolated region of Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, by Laplante and guitarist Mike Stringer, SPIRITBOX became a household name in rock circles in the summer of 2020 with the release of their blistering breakout single "Holy Roller", along with a host of other captivating singles shortly after, resulting in a media firestorm of hype.

With new and existing fans eagerly watching their next move, SPIRITBOX exceeded every expectation imaginable in 2021 with the release of their genre-defining debut studio album "Eternal Blue" via Pale Chord/Rise Records. "Eternal Blue", which debuted at No. 13 on the Billboard 200, kicked open the doors of the heavy metal scene and rewrote the genre's playbook with 12 stunning tracks that incorporated everything from djent and post-metal to infectious synth-laden pop sensibilities and cinematic arrangements, brought fully to life by the inimitable Laplante's ethereal and commanding vocal performances.

The album cycle for "Eternal Blue" saw SPIRITBOX not only grace the covers of esteemed music publications such as Revolver, Alternative Press, Rock Sound and Kerrang!, among many others but would also solidify the band as one of the most in-demand groups in live music today with their one-hundred percent sold out, first-ever headlining tour in support of the album which saw ticket sales over 40,000. The band would also share the stage with seasoned metal veterans such as LIMP BIZKIT and GHOST and win "Best International Breakthrough Band" at the 2021 Heavy Music Awards.

In 2022, SPIRITBOX secured highly-coveted spots at numerous major U.S. rock and metal festivals and were nominated for two Juno awards, respectively. SPIRITBOX would also round out their current lineup with the inclusion of drummer Zev Rose and bassist Josh Gilbert in addition to releasing their sonically experimental EP "Rotoscope" in June of that year as well as a cross-genre collaboration with dubstep artist Illenium for the track "Shivering".

During another whirlwind year for the band, including a U.S. tour with SHINEDOWN and PAPA ROACH, SPIRITBOX wrote and recorded their critically acclaimed EP "The Fear Of Fear", released in November 2023. The EP features the single "Jaded", which was nominated for "Best Metal Performance" at the 66th annual Grammy Awards. In the same month, the band would make another genre-bending splash with a high-profile collaboration with rapper Megan Thee Stallion for a remix of her song "Cobra".

Myles Kennedy is back in the UK for a series of headline dates with his self-titled project, rounded out by drummer Zia Uddin and bassist/manager Tim Tournier. Joining him for all dates on the winter spree is Devin Townsend, performing a rare acoustic support set, sure to be an unmissable experience for fans.


The short tour kicked off on November 25th in Glasgow, Scotland at SWG3 Galvanizers. Fan-filmed video from the show can be viewed below. 


Setlist:




"The Art of Letting Go"
"Nothing More to Gain"
"Devil on the Wall"
"A Thousand Words"
"Mr. Downside"
"Tell It Like It Is"
"Behind the Veil"
"Mars Hotel" (The Mayfield Four)
"Lover" (Alter Bridge - acoustic)
"Love Can Only Heal"
"Wake Me When It's Over"
"Miss You When You’re Gone"
"Year of th

Lextraneus delivers modern metal brilliance with their new single, "Deep In Stone". The track is the first single from an upcoming EP, which will be released via Prime Collective.





The Danish modern metal band, Lextraneus, is ready to rock your ears with their electrifying new single, "Deep In Stone".




"Deep In Stone" is a track showcasing the band’s energetic, dynamic style that draws comparisons to the likes of Trivium, Machine Head and Avenged Sevenfold. With crushing riffs, intense rhythms, and a soaring chorus, "Deep In Stone" solidifies Lextraneus as a rising potential powerhouse on the Danish metal scene.


Lextraneus may be young