BLACK STAR RIDERS frontman Ricky Warwick spoke to Ireland's Overdrive about the progress of the recording sessions for the band's follow-up to 2019's "Another State Of Grace" LP. He said: "The album is actually finished right now and is currently being mastered. There are fourteen new tracks on it and we worked with [producer] Jay Ruston who did 'Another State…' here in L.A. and it's sounding great. Of course, this was the first BSR album without Uncle Scotty [guitarist Scott Gorham] which was strange. He's been on the phone every now and again, checking in on things and I've sent him over the tracks to get his approval and whatnot. We definitely missed his presence in the studio, but I think we've adapted and brought everything down to a four-piece.

"I'm very excited about the album, and we're looking to release the first single this coming September," Ricky continued. "We've also signed a new deal with Earache Records and the album is expected to be released in January 2023 and we're gonna hit the ground running."

Regarding BLACK STAR RIDERS' decision to change record labels, Ricky said: "We fulfilled our obligations with Nuclear Blast and they did a great job. We were with them for four albums. I'm still part of the Nuclear Blast family with my solo stuff, which is great. We just decided that with all the change that was happening with the band, particularly with Scott wanting to step back, we just decided to make new changes all round."

Gorham was in BLACK STAR RIDERS for nearly a decade, having formed the band in 2013 with other THIN LIZZY members after deciding to write and record new music under a new moniker. BLACK STAR RIDERS' original lineup was completed by Warwick, guitarist Damon Johnson, bassist Marco Mendoza and drummer Jimmy DeGrasso.

BLACK STAR RIDERS announced Gorham's departure last September, with Warwick saying in a statement: "We are very sad to see Scott go, but we discussed a very heavy world touring commitment on the new record and Scott decided he wanted to concentrate just on THIN LIZZY — and being the legend he is, none of us can blame him."

Gorham discussed his decision to leave BLACK STAR RIDERS in a recent interview with "The Hook Rocks!" podcast. He said: "It was right in the beginning of the whole pandemic thing. I know Ricky wanted to do an album straight off the bat. And I said, 'Well, I can't and I won't get on a plane right now, for god's sakes. We've got this thing raging around all of us. It's kind of impossible.' And I did not wanna do an album by Zoom; I didn't even wanna contemplate on that. Plus, I did wanna start concentrating on THIN LIZZY, to get out there and show people these really great songs. So I thought it would be unfair to try to really put a hundred percent concentration and effort into one and then the other is kind of flailing there on the side. So I thought, well, I've done four albums with BLACK STAR RIDERS. I love 'em and I love the guys. I've proved the point with BLACK STAR RIDERS. Now it's time to concentrate a little bit more on THIN LIZZY and see what we can do."

BLACK STAR RIDERS said that they would not seek a replacement for Gorham and would instead carry on as a four-piece, with Ricky handling a lot of the guitar parts alongside Christian Martucci, who joined the band after album number three in 2

Following up on the triumphant "A Signal In The Noise", released at the end of 2021, PRIEST, the synthwave act featuring former members of the Grammy Award-winning Swedish rock act GHOST, has just unleashed a follow-up single, "Techno Girl". The track trades the distorted guitars of PRIEST's former gig for icy synths and throbbing drums to craft a memorably melodic ode to female badassery.

To promote the song, the band decided to create its biggest, most elaborate music video to date, collaborating with in-demand filmmaker and videographer Vicente Cordero (Industrialism Films), who has helmed videos by CRADLE OF FILTH, SKOLD, 3TEETH, QUEENSRŸCHE and others. Cordero pulls out all the stops for "Techno Girl", saturating the screen with neon colors and retro graphics to bring the song's central character to life, an ass-kicking, video game playing, motorcycle riding, gun toting renegade who has no problem holding her own in Cordero's quasi-futuristic hyper-violent world. The video showcases the cinematic quality of PRIEST's sound, which has already been tapped by major Hollywood producers for inclusion in the upcoming Mel Gibson movie "Hot Seat".

As the bandmembers themselves declare: "This is a hi-octane bop with instant hooks that scores the futuristic mindscape of PRIEST. Vicente masterfully realizes that vision and we only wish we made the song longer so we could see more of it. Strap your belt on properly and enjoy 'Techno Girl'!"

PRIEST will embark on a European tour, "Eurotour 2022", with special guests SJÖBLOM and CRAVEN, at the end of March.

Hailing from the same icy darkness of the Scandinavian inland that birthed GHOST, PRIEST consists of a trio of musicians — vocalist Mercury, who was known as Water when he played bass for GHOST, keyboardist Salt, formerly known as GHOST keyboardist Air, and programmer/ keyboardist Sulfur — who came together in 2017 and started releasing their own unique brew of electronic music that bears little sonic resemblance to their former band yet still shares the same creative DNA. But whereas GHOST borrowed their theatrics from old school horror and '80s rock, PRIEST comes steeped in cyberpunk and industrial music.

PRIEST's upcoming full-length album, due later in the year via Cleopatra Records, was produced by another GHOST alumni, Simon Söderberg (GHOST guitarist and producer/engineer of debut album "Opus Eponymous").

In 2020, PRIEST released a new album called "Cyberhead", the follow-up to its debut, "New Flesh". "Cyberhead" was the first album since original singer Tom Åsberg (also known as Ginger Khan) left the band to pursue other projects. PRIEST mastermind Linton Rubino has taken over on vocals, which are performed by a masked character they call Mercury.

Back in 2017, GHOST leader Tobias Forge was sued by four former members of the band after being dismissed by the group's founder the previous December. They accused the singer of cheating them out of their rightful share of the profits from the band's album releases and world tours. The lawsuit was filed in the district court of Linköping, Sweden, where GHOST was originally based. It claimed that a partnership agreement existed between Forge and the four former members, all of whom performed anonymously in the band as Nameless Ghouls. As a result of the lawsuit, Forge was forced to reveal his identity after years of performing in a mask as Papa Emeritus. He has maintained that "no legal partnership" ever existed between him and the other members.

In May 2018, Linton, who played bass live in GHOST from 2013 to 2014 in the role of the Nameless Ghoul Water, blasted the band's 2018 album "Prequelle", saying he was "ashamed to have been part of that" and calling the music "a joke" and "mainstream shit."

Fan-filmed video footage of Geoff Tate's March 11 performance at Legend Club in Milan, Italy can be seen below (courtesy of YouTube user "Andre D. Keaton").

Tate's current tour is celebrating the 30th anniversary of QUEENSRŸCHE's "Empire" and "Rage For Order" albums.

The setlist for the Milan show was as follows:

Set 1

01. Walk In The Shadows

02. I Dream In Infrared

03. The Whisper

04. Gonna Get Close To You

05. The Killing Words

06. Surgical Strike

07. Neue Regel

08. Chemical Youth (We Are Rebellion)

09. London

10. Screaming In Digital

11. I Will Remember

Set 2

12. Best I Can

13. The Thin Line

14. Jet City Woman

15. Della Brown

16. Another Rainy Night (Without You)

17. Empire

18. Resistance

19. Silent Lucidity

20. Hand On Heart

21. One And Only

22. Anybody Listening?

Encore:

23. Last Time In Paris

24. Take Hold Of The Flame

1986's "Rage For Order" introduced a much more polished look and sound for QUEENSRŸCHE. The album featured keyboards as prominently as guitars, and the group adopted an image more closely associated with glam rock or glam metal than with heavy metal (of which glam metal was a subgenre). A video was filmed for the song "Gonna Get Close to You", originally recorded in 1984 by DALBELLO.

Released in 1990, "Empire" included the hit ballad "Silent Lucidity", which reached No. 9 on the Billboard singles chart, helped propel "Empire" to No. 7 on the album chart and earned two Grammy Award nominations.

Prior to the launch of the trek in early 2020, Tate told MisplacedStraws.com that he would take the "Empire 30th Anniversary Tour" to "as many countries as I can and playing the album in its entirety, which I've never done before. So that'll be real fun. In fact, I think there's some songs on that album that I've never, ever played live before, so it'll be a treat — for me, as well, I think, for the audience too," the former QUEENSRŸCHE singer said. "I'm really looking forward to that."

Tate told Eonmusic that one song from "Empire" that was rarely performed live is "Anybody Listening?" "When QUEENSRŸCHE was together, we never really put that song in our set," he said. "We just had a hard time playing it, for some reason; it just never jelled or felt right. And I'd really like to play that song again, and play it right."

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. Original QUEENSRŸCHE members Michael Wilton (guitar), Scott Rockenfield (drums) 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 was replaced in QUEENSRŸCHE by former CRIMSON GLORY singer Todd La Torre.

Geoff recently celebrated the 30th anniversary of "Operation: Mindcrime" on European and U.S. tours.

Volbeat took the stage at the Honda Center in Anaheim, CA on March 3rd to wrap up their 2022 US tour with Ghost. Live Rock Music by Scott Perry has shared 4K /HD sound footage of Volbeat's entire show. Check it out below.


The setlist on the night was as follows:


"The Devil’s Bleeding Crown"
"Pelvis on Fire"
"Temple of Ekur"
"Lola Montez"
"Sad Man’s Tongue"
"A Warrior’s Call / I Only Want To Be With You"
"Say No More"
"Wait a Minute My Girl"
"Black Rose"
"Shotgun Blues"
"Seal the Deal"
"The Devil Rages On"
"Doc Holliday"
"The Sacred Stones"
"Die to Live"
"Still Counting"







Volbeat#s new album, Servant Of The Mind, is available in standard/digipack CD, deluxe 2LP vinyl (with various limited-edition variants, more info below), a deluxe digital edition, plus a special box set (including 2CD digipack, 28pg booklet, bandana, and hip flask, housed in a metal box, available from the official Volbeat store). Order the album here.





Tracklisting:


"Temple Of Ekur"
"Wait A Minute My Girl"
"The Sacred Stones"
"Shotgun Blues"
"The Devil Rages On"
"Say No More"
"Heaven’s Descent"
"Dagen Før" (feat. Stine Bramsen)
"The Passenger"
"Step Into Light"
"Becoming"
"Mindlock"
"Lasse’s Birgitta"


"Mindlock" lyric video:





"Say No More" lyric video:

The clip below features Nightwish vocalist Floor Jansen performing the band's song song "Élan" at her solo show at AFAS Live in Amsterdam, Netherlands on September 1st, 2021. 


Floor: "I want to take this opportunity to thank everyone who stood by me over all the years and still do. And also, a welcome to all the new fans who discover After Forever for the first time! Enjoy 'Energize Me', and I hope you feel energized!"







The setlist was as follows:


Set 1:


"Ever Dream" (Nightwish)
"Storm In A Glass" (Northward) 
"Nemo" (Nightwish) 
"Mama" (Samantha Steenwijk cover) 
"Sweet Curse" (ReVamp song - with Henk Poort) 
"Dangerous Game" (from Jekyll & Hyde - with Henk Poort) 
"Euphoria" (Loreen)
"Face Your Demons" (After Forever)
"Winner" (Tim Akkerman cover)


Set 2:


"Slow, Love, Slow" (Nightwish)
"Shallow" (Lady Gaga & Bradley Cooper cover)
"Strong" (After Forever) 
"Élan" (Nightwish) 
"Energize Me" (After Forever) 
"Qué Se Siente" (Rolf Sanchez)
"Bridle Passion" (Northward) 
"Our Decades In The Sun" (Nightwish)
"Wolf And Dog" (ReVamp) 
"The Phantom Of The Opera" (Andrew Lloyd Webber cover - with Henk Poort)


"Élan" 





"Storm In A Glass"





"Sweet Curse"

Following up on the success of the recent single "Freightrain", long time legacy rocker, vocie of Bomber Alley and producer Joetown releases the single "Nero" worldwide on Mindsnap Music / Von Artists, Ltd. This track digs deeper into the artist’s complexity and range. 


Joe explains: "I have always been difficult to put squarely into any one genre, this proves that again, its heavy rock, its metal, its progressive, it has a f’n whistle track, wtf… I was really excited to get deeper into more expansive arrangement, orchestration and guitar playing on 'Nero', all the guitars and bass are me, with Matt Starr (Ace Frehley, Mr. Big) tackling the drums."


He continues: "Lyrically, 'Nero' is a critical summary of the influence that people in power possess in the 21st Century due to the advent of social media platforms supplanting actual delivery of facts. We live in a scary time as propaganda moves at the speed of light enabling leaders to manipulate the public in unprecedented ways."




Regarding the Ennio Morricone tribute element, Joe is quick to give praise: "I’ve always loved the Ennio Morricone scores to the early Clint Eastwood and other westerns from that era, the material is so amazing! I let that influence and shape the entire end section of the song as a tribute to such a great composer… his music and style will forever endure."


Joetown is proud to be performing live and on a float at the 2022 New Haven St. Patrick’s Day Parade March 13th and will be recording the entire event. He will also be headlining Crystal Bee’s in Southington CT on March 19th.


"Nero"





"Freightrain"

Mass Worship have released a guitar playthrough video for “Empyrean Halls”, from the recently released full-length album, Portal Tombs. Watch below:





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




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


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


Order your copy of Portal Tombs at this location.





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


“Empyrean Halls” visualizer:





“Orcus Mouth” video:





"Portal Tombs"  guitar playthrough video:

After a few years of silence, former Textures members Daniël de Jongh and Joe Tal have joined forces with former Pestilence and Exivious drummer Yuma van Eekelen (currently with Our Oceans) and former Cynic and Exivious bassist Robin Zielhorst (currently with Our Oceans) and founded Crown Compass, a progressive/eclectic power house.


The production of The Drought started in 2020. The album contains a variety of musical styles in which the band explores its dynamic range. The lyrics on the album are a selection of stories dealing with the individual within a group, within his society and within himself. The two-part story, The Drought, is a tale of abuse and guilt.


The album has been mixed by ex-Cynic and Exivious guitarist Tymon Kruidenier (currently with Our Oceans) and mastered by Brett Caldas-Lima at Tower Studio. Artwork and logo design by Remko Tielemans.




Listen to the new single, "A Limited Number Of Heartbeats", below.





Tracklisting:


“Send Your Words”
“Ecdysis”
“Gilbert”
“The Drought Pt. 1”
“Transborder Migration”
“Seashells On The Sand”
“A Limited Number Of Heartbeats”
“The Drought Pt. 2”
“Send Your Words (Reprise)”


"A Limited Number Of Heartbeats":





“Ecdysis”:





"Gilbert":

Crystal Viper have released a lyric video for "The Last Axeman" (2022), which can be found below.


Crystal Viper was founded by the singer and guitarist Marta Gabriel, and released its debut album in 2007. Since then, they toured in more than 15 countries, played in both tiny clubs and at huge open air festivals, released eight studio albums, and bunch of singles. So one thing is sure: they are one of the most hard working and most determined bands of their generation.


Their newest release, The Last Axeman, officially is a mini-LP, but it actually includes more material than many full-length albums. Side A starts with a new version of the early Crystal Viper classic and fan favorite, "The Last Axeman", and is followed by a brand new song entitled "In The Haunted Chapel" (which like all the songs from the newest album The Cult has lyrics inspired by an H.P. Lovecraft story).




The band knows their brand of metal very well, so the MLP includes a surprise cover song, a remake of "Ulitsa Roz", originally recorded by the Russian heavy metal heroes, Aria. All those three songs are exclusive and will be available on this MLP only. Side A however includes one more bonus song, a remake of "It’s Electric", the classic headbanger of the NWOBHM heroes, Diamond Head.


Side B includes four songs taken from The Cult album, but recorded live in studio, as part of the #RockOutSessions series. These new, stripped down and rough versions of "The Cult", "Asenath Waite", "Whispers From Beyond" and "Flaring Madness", show the pure and untamed energy of the band, and were also released as a 20 minutes long music video which can be seen below.


The Last Axeman will be released on LP / CD / Digital on March 25 via Listenable Records.





Tracklisting:


"The Last Axeman" (2022)
"In The Haunted Chapel"
"Улица Роз / Ulitsa Roz" (Aria cover)
"It’s Electric" (Diamond Head cover)
"The Cult" (live in studio)
"Asenath Waite" (live in studio)
"Whispers From Beyond" (live in studio)
"Flaring Madness" (live in studio)


"The Last Axeman" (2022) lyric video:

Today, Wardruna release an official music video for their song "Skugge" ("Shadow"). The song is an eerie sonic journey, voicing a dialogue between man and shadow or as Einar Selvik puts it; “it is a song about shadows, echoes and the balance between seeking answers and wisdom internally and externally”. The video was filmed and produced in Norway by Ragnarok Film in January 2022. 


To shorten the wait for their upcoming release, First Flight of the White Raven, (out on April 22nd 2022), the live version of the song is also released on all digital platforms via Music For Nations/Sony Music/Columbia Germany/ByNorse.







An immersive audio arrangement that underscores the experiential paradigm shift and masterful musicianship of their superlative and boundary-pushing virtual live experience First Flight of the White Raven of March 26, 2021. This new release captures their special set list consisting of songs from Kvitravn and a selection of favourites from the discography, and will be released on a 2LP, as well as 2CD that also features the original studio album track listing. To mark the event’s exceptional impact, it will also be available as a limited Boxset Edition including 2LP (black), 2CD, DVD with livestream performance and bonus documentary material and three videos (only available in the boxed set), flag of the CD album cover, certificate of authenticity for the box and an exclusive autographed card signed by Einar Selvik. Preorder at WardrunaShop.com.


"Kvitravn – First Flight of the White Raven is an audio-visual ‘live-in-studio’ recording that was broadcasted online, as the release show of the Kvitravn album. It was recorded in a time when it was not allowed to perform in front of an audience, which made it very important for me that the recording itself truly captured the energy of a live performance. What you hear is what we performed in that moment in that room. No re-recordings or autotune was done in the afterwork. Just like for a regular concert, the set list was carefully put together with a selection of songs from all our albums, including a handful of songs from the new album, which we performed for the very first time. On the day of recording, we all stood together in the same room for the first time in over a year. Everyone came focused and well prepared and the energy felt like no time had passed. I hope you will agree!” - Einar Selvik


To celebrate the announcement, Wardruna are also sharing the track and virtual live performance video for "Solringen" about which Einar Selvik says;"Solringen is a song originally released on the album Runaljod - Yggdrasil (2013). Even though it quickly became a popular track amongst our listeners, it wasn’t until late 2019 we first got around to performing it live. When taking the song from the studio to the stage, I really felt it needed a slightly different approach, more specifically adapted for the concert format"


Selvik continues; "In earlier tradition the women of the household on a farm had the task of going out into the fields around midsummer and wake up the elves dwelling there with rhymes and songs to encourage them to ensure growth and good crops. These songs and traditions have now mostly passed into oblivion. The initial idea behind "Solringen" is that new songs might wake them once again.”





Tracklisting:


Audio (with translations):
"Synkverv" (Turn-sight)
"Kvitravn" (White Raven)
"Skugge" (Shadow)
"Grá" (Grey)
"Fylgjutal" (Speech of the Fetch)
"Munin" (Memory)
"Kvit hjort" (White Stag)
"Viseveiding" (Song-hunting)
"Ni" (Nine)
"Vindavlarljod" (Song of the wind-bred)
"Andvevarljod" (Song of the Spirit-weavers)


Audio from virtual live performance:
“Kvitravn”
“Skugge”
“Solringen”
“Bjarkan”
“Raido”
“Voluspá”
“Isa”
“UruR”
“Grá”
“Vindavlarljod”
“Rotlaust Tre Fell”
“Fehu”
“Helvegen”


DVD:
“Kvitravn”
“Skugge”
“Solringen”
“Bjarkan”
“Raido”
“Voluspá”
“Isa”
“UruR”
“Grá”
“Vindavlarljod”
“Rotlaust Tre Fell” 
“Fehu”
“Helvegen”


Interview 
Behind the Scenes Videos: 
“Grá”
“Kvitravn”
“Lyfjaberg”


Documentary


"Solringen":





Photo by Ragnarock Film

Raised during the 80’s debauchery on the Sunset Strip and still going strong in 2021 - Jizzy Pearl's Love/Hate have released their brand-new and long-awaited album, HELL, CA, out now on CD and digital through Golden Robot Records.


The album's release was preceded by three singles, "Gonna Take You Higher", "Wanna Be Somebody" and "Soul Mama", which show Jizzy in fine form and gives a strong indication as to what to expect from Hell, CA.


Pick up the album digitally here.




HELL, CA. is a collection of 10 hard-hitting rock anthems, all with that distinctive Love/Hate style, with Jizzy Pearl’s trademark vocals taking the songs up and beyond and the heavy guitars doing the rest.





HELL, CA tracklisting:


"One Hot Minute"
"Acid Babe"
"Gonna Take You Higher"
"Soul Mama"
"Hard to Say Goodbye"
"When You Gonna Come Home"
"Last Chance"
"Bruised and Battered"
"Wanna Be Somebody"
"Lonely Days Are Gone"


"Gonna Take You Higher":





"Wanna Be Somebody":





"Soul Mama":

IRON ALLIES, the new band featuring former ACCEPT members Herman Frank and David Reece, has entered Horus Sound Studio in Hannover, Germany to begin recording its debut album. The LP, which is being co-produced by Arne Neurand, will be released later in the year via AFM Records.

Joining Frank and Reece in IRON ALLIES are bassist Donnie Van Stavern (RIOT) and drummer Francesco Jovino (U.D.O., PRIMAL FEAR, VOODOO CIRCLE, JORN).

Last October, Reece discussed his collaboration with Frank in an interview with the "Heavy Metal Mayhem" radio show. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "The ironic thing about Herman and I, we played festivals many times and not even met each other. And here we are, part of the same band and their history. And we would miss each other by, like, two minutes. We always wanted to see each other, but something came up [and] we never really got to meet. So Herman and I started talking, and we said, 'Yeah, let's put a band together. Who do you wanna get?' Well, my manager suggested Donnie from RIOT on bass, Donnie Van Stavern. And we talked to [drummer] Mike Heller from FEAR FACTORY a few times, and that didn't really work out. And then I said, 'I've got Francesco Jovino, dude, on my [solo] album. This guy is a beast.' So then we got the band together. So right now we're sitting on about 22 songs that are recorded."

Regarding the musical direction of IRON ALLIES, Reece said: "It's got some of those elements of old [ACCEPT circa] 'Restless And Wild'. It's got Dave's voice — [as heard on my solo albums] 'Cacophony [Of Souls]' and 'Blacklist [Utopia]'. It's ripping shit, man. I'm really excited about it."

According to Reece, part of the motivation for putting IRON ALLIES together is the negative publicity surrounding their respective departures from ACCEPT. "They badmouth him, they badmouth me, there was this back-and-forth all the time, and then [Herman] said, 'You know what? Screw it. I'm gonna call David Reece,'" David explained. "And I'd never really talked to him. He just came down to Italy about two weeks ago, and we got to actually meet face to face. We went out to a great dinner, hung out for about six hours. He was just driving around Europe, relaxing, 'cause he had just finished another VICTORY album and his solo album, so he needed a break."

David said that he is excited about the prospect of hitting the road with a seasoned veteran like Herman.

"This is a band of guys who have been around and done it all," he said. "So we're not gonna have that, 'Oh, I don't wanna go there. Do we have to get up so early?' We know what we've gotta do. We've gotta travel and we've gotta rock."

He added: "I'm hoping we can release that in the early part of '22, 'cause that's really good."

Frank broke the news of the collaboration in a June 2021 interview with Justin Smulison of Jace Media. He said: "I'm working right now — already working since a couple of months [ago] — on another project I wanna do with a singer, a well-known singer. He played in the same band as I did, but we never played [in the band] at the same time." When Smulison guessed that Frank was referring to Reece, the guitarist said: "How do you know? Good guess."

Herman joined ACCEPT in 1982 shortly before the release of the band's "Restless And Wild" album and exited the group for the first time after the arrival of 1983's "Balls To The Wall" LP.

When ACCEPT reunited for festival appearances in 2005, Herman handled second-guitar duties alongside founding axeman Wolf Hoffmann, with Stefan Schwarzmann sitting behind the kit.

Frank and Schwarzmann were involved in ACCEPT's comeback with singer Mark Tornillo and appeared on the reunited group's first three studio albums: 2010's "Blood Of The Nations", 2012's "Stalingrad" and 2014's "Blind Rage".

Two years ago, Herman told All That Shreds about his decision to exit ACCEPT in December 2014: "It was just time to leave the band. Let's put it this way: I wanted to do music the way I started to. I wanted to have my own band. I wanted my own music and just wanted to just play my own leads. Not to follow somebody's guitar. I was getting too old for it. It's fine to be a backup, but after a couple of years, it's time for a different thing."

Reece was recruited for ACCEPT's "Eat The Heat" LP in 1989 following the departure of Udo Dirkschneider. Reece's higher-pitched delivery was in sharp contrast to Dirkschneider's distinctive style, and overall, the album was a critical and commercial disappointment. Midway through the "Eat The Heat" tour, differences between the band and Reece had come to a head, leading to the altercation between the singer and bassist Peter Baltes in Chicago. By the end of 1989, ACCEPT had hung it up.

David spoke about the circumstances that led to his dispute with the bassist during an interview with Metalliluola. He explained: "Peter had told my girlfriend I was having an affair. And I asked him, 'Did you tell her?' And he said, 'Yes.' So I slapped him. That ended it. It was bad before that, the communication. Ticket sales weren't good. We were opening for W.A.S.P."

He continued: "I think they really thought that getting the American [singer] in, they were gonna break the United States. But ACCEPT aren't really huge in America, like [in Europe]. That's why they hired me — they wanted a change. And the tour was going kind of slow. We did a headline tour first in the States, [playing in the] clubs. That was good. And then we went out with W.A.S.P. and METAL CHURCH, and it was half[-filled] rooms. So they were feeling the stress of that, and the communication was bad. So it was building."

David went on to say that he is sorry for assaulting his former bandmate. "Peter and I are friends now," he said, adding that "it was a bad decision" that was made while he and the rest of the group were under "a lot of stress. Being in a band, it can be a lot of drama. He had no right to tell her, and I had no right to slap him. So, I regret it."


Francesco Jovino just finished all Iron Allies drum tracks onward people and greetings from Hannover at Horus studios new album on AFM announcement coming soon

Posted by David Reece Official on Saturday, March 12, 2022



With the great Arne Neurand Co producer of the new Iron Allies album coming out on AFM records

Posted by David Reece Official on Saturday, March 12, 2022

JOAN JETT AND THE BLACKHEARTS will release an acoustic album, "Changeup", on March 25. The 25-track effort features unplugged versions of songs spanning Jett's entire career, including her work with the pioneering 1970s all-female band THE RUNAWAYS. Among the songs that are set to appear on the LP are "(I'm Gonna) Run Away", which can be streamed below, her cover of TOMMY JAMES AND THE SHONDELLS' "Crimson And Clover", THE RUNAWAYS' "Cherry Bomb" and an acoustic rendition of "Bad Reputation", which was initially made available last year.

"Changeup" track listing:

01. (I'm Gonna) Run Away

02. You're Too Possessive

03. Long Time

04. Victim Of Circumstance

05. Coney Island Whitefish

06. Love Is Pain

07. Oh Woe Is Me

08. You Drive Me Wild

09. Frustrated

10. Bad Reputation

11. Fake Friends

12. Fresh Start

13. Soulmates To Strangers

14. Make It Back

15. Fragile

16. I Love Playin' With Fire

17. Cherry Bomb

18. I Want You

19. Crimson And Clover

20. A Hundred Feet Away

21. Androgynous

22. You Don't Know What You’ve Got

23. School Days

24. Good Music

25. Light Of Day

Jett grew up during a time when rock 'n' roll was off limits to girls and women, but as a teenager, she promptly blew the door to the boys' club right off its hinges. After forming her band THE BLACKHEARTS in 1979, with whom Jett has become a Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame inductee, she has had eight platinum and gold albums and nine Top 40 singles, including the classics "Bad Reputation", "I Love Rock 'N' Roll", "I Hate Myself For Loving You" and "Crimson And Clover". With a career that has spanned music, film, television, Broadway, and humanitarianism, Jett remains a potent force and inspiration to generations of fans worldwide.

As a producer, she has overseen seminal albums by BIKINI KILL, and the GERMS' L.A. punk masterpiece "GI". Jett and co-founder Kenny Laguna (her longtime producer and music partner) founded Blackheart from the trunk of Kenny's Cadillac after countless rejections from no less than 23 labels. 40 years later, Blackheart is a thriving entertainment company producing music, film, and television, and continues to champion emerging bands.

Jett and THE BLACKHEARTS continue touring the globe with headlining shows alongside fellow rock legends like THE WHO, GREEN DAY, HEART and FOO FIGHTERS.

After two COVID-19 postponements, the group will return to the road in summer 2022 for "The Stadium Tour" with DEF LEPPARD, MÖTLEY CRÜE and POISON.

"Bad Reputation", a documentary about Jett's life, premiered to critical acclaim at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival and is now available for streaming.

Fan-filmed video of JUDAS PRIEST's March 10 concert at Moda Center in Portland, Oregon can be seen below.

The band's setlist was as follows:

01. One Shot At Glory

02. Lightning Strike

03. You've Got Another Thing Comin'

04. Freewheel Burning

05. Turbo Lover

06. Hell Patrol

07. The Sentinel

08. A Touch Of Evil

09. Rocka Rolla

10. Victim Of Changes

11. Desert Plains

12. Blood Red Skies

13. Invader

14. Painkiller

Encore:

15. The Hellion / Electric Eye

16. Hell Bent For Leather

17. Breaking The Law

18. Living After Midnight

The tour will conclude on April 13 at FirstOntario Centre in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. Support on the trek is coming from QUEENSRŸCHE.

JUDAS PRIEST was forced to postpone around two dozen North American shows on its rescheduled 50th-anniversary tour in late September after the band's guitarist Richie Faulkner suffered an acute cardiac aortic dissection during a performance at the Louder Than Life festival. He ended up undergoing a 10-hour life-saving surgery a short distance away at Rudd Heart and Lung Center at UofL Health - Jewish Hospital in Louisville, Kentucky.

QUEENSRŸCHE was originally set to support SCORPIONS on their rescheduled "Sin City Nights" Las Vegas residency in March-April 2022 but pulled out of the dates in order to take part in the JUDAS PRIEST tour. SCORPIONS have since tapped SKID ROW as the new opening act for the Vegas residency.

Faulkner's medical episode happened while he was performing the closing song of PRIEST's set on the final day of Louder Than Life. Faulkner later said in a statement: "As I watch footage from the Louder Than Life Festival in Kentucky, I can see in my face the confusion and anguish I was feeling whilst playing 'Painkiller' as my aorta ruptured and started to spill blood into my chest cavity."

Two weeks after his surgery, Faulkner told reporters that he experienced a sharp pain as he was stepping off the stage. "That's when it exploded," he said.

"The more I read about it, the more astonishing it is to me to think that I even made it to the hospital," he added. "The amount of time when I actually go the pain and when I turned up in the hospital and when we were actually operating, it was quite a lot of time. The more I read about it, the more unbelievable — that amount of time — I don't know how I'm still around today."

Faulkner said he had no history of heart complications and that the aliment came completely "out of the blue."

"My point is I don't even have high cholesterol and this could've been the end for me," he said. "If you can get yourselves checked — do it for me, please."

Aortic aneurysms are "balloon-like bulges in the aorta, the large artery that carries blood from the heart through the chest and torso," according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control. Dissections happen when the "force of blood pumping can split the layers of the artery wall, allowing blood to leak in between them."

Doctors said Faulkner will continue to be monitored and will receive a CT scan every six months for the first year.

Faulkner joined PRIEST in 2011 as the replacement for original guitarist K.K. Downing.

The Peoria concert took place less than two months after JUDAS PRIEST revealed that it would perform as a four-piece when it returns to the road in early March. A few hours later, the band's touring guitarist Andy Sneap, who co-produced the group's 2018 album "Firepower", released a statement to BLABBERMOUTH.NET in which he said that he was "incredibly disappointed" by PRIEST's decision to carry on as a quartet and thanked the Rob Halford-fronted outfit for the "mind-blowing" opportunity to share the stage with one of his favorite bands. Meanwhile, PRIEST fans were understandably upset about the band's decision to forgo its classic twin-guitar attack sound and made their feelings known on social media. Some even called for the return of Downing, who joined PRIEST in 1970 and remained in the group until 2011.

Only five days later, JUDAS PRIEST released a statement announcing that it was reversing its decision to tour as a four-piece, explaining that the bandmembers "decided unanimously" to continue their live shows "unchanged" with Halford, Faulkner, Ian Hill (bass), Scott Travis (drums) and Andy.

Less than two months ago, Downing said in an interview that it was "very, very strange" for PRIEST "to even think about" the possibility of going out as a quartet. "I'm like everybody else. I'm totally bemused," he told the "Rock Of Nations With Dave Kinchen" classic rock show. It was just so extreme and insulting in a way, I guess, and insulting to Glenn as well. It was kind of a slap in the face, saying, 'Okay, you two guys did it, but we think just one guy could do what…' It kind of made us and everything that we've done and created, saying it was all superfluous, really, and didn't really have the value that… I'm sure Glenn will agree with me that it does have a value."

Kid Rock has released the official music video for his new single "We The People". The track is taken from his upcoming album, "Bad Reputation", which will be made available digitally on March 21. Physical CDs will arrive on April 6.

"Bad Reputation" included the three songs Kid Rock released in January — "We The People", "The Last Dance" and "Rockin'" — as well as his November 2021 single "Don't Tell Me How To Live", which was recorded with Canadian hard rockers MONSTER TRUCK.

"We The People" features the chorus of "Let's go, Brandon," conservative code for "Fuck Joe Biden" (born when a NASCAR reporter misheard a crowd, reporting that they chanted in support of racer Brandon Brown when they were actually chanting expletives toward the U.S. president), and also takes aim at the mainstream media, CNN, TMZ, Twitter and Facebook, as well as mask mandates and COVID-19 restrictions.

"We the people in all we do reserve the right to scream, 'Fuck you!" Kid shouts in the song. "Wear your mask. Take your pills. Now a whole generation is mentally ill," he adds.

Elsewhere in the song, he raps: "COVID's near. It's coming to town. We gotta act quick, shut our borders down. Joe Biden does, the media embraces. Big Don does it, and they call him racist.

"Inflation's up like the minimum wage. So it's all the same. Not a damn thing changed," he exclaims.

He then calls for politically polarized Americans to come together, saying: "We gotta keep fighting for right to be free. And every human being doesn't have to agree. We all bleed red, brother, listen to me. It's time for love and unity."

The track concludes with sampled crowd chanting, "Let's go, Brandon."

In a Facebook video announcing the three tracks in January, Kid Rock described "We The People" as a "hard rock-rap tune."

"[It's] about, well, all the craziness going on in our world in the last few years and the politics and the polarization and social justice," he said. "You know, constantly for just being a Trump fan attacked in the media day in day out."

He added: "I don't mind taking a punch, but I hit back, motherfucker, and I hit hard."

As previously reported, Kid Rock will join forces with FOREIGNER and GRAND FUNK RAILROAD for a U.S. tour this spring summer. JASON BONHAM'S LED ZEPPELIN EVENING will appear on select dates, with a special appearance by Trey Lewis at all shows. The 24-city "Bad Reputation Tour" will kick off on April 6 at the Ford Center in Evansville, Indiana, making stops across the U.S. in Nashville, Boston, Chicago, and more before wrapping up with two shows in Detroit.

"Bad Reputation" track listing:

01. Don't Tell Me How To Live (feat. MONSTER TRUCK)

02. We The People

03. My Kind Of Country

04. Bad Reputation

05. Never Quit

06. Shakedown (feat. Robert James)

07. Rockin'

08. The Last Dance

09. See You Again

10. Still Somethin'

11. She's Your Baby (Now Rock Her)

12. Never Enough

13. Everything To Me

14. Cold Beer

15. Ala-Fu**In'-Bama

16. Am What I Am

17. The Nashville I Know

18. Fifty

In a new interview with Vinny Cecolini of The Aquarian Weekly, SEPULTURA guitarist Andreas Kisser discussed the divisive political climate in his home country of Brazil. He said: "Historically, Brazilian politics is a mess. We've been through two presidential impeachments during the last few decades, which is crazy. It doesn't matter if the politician is right, left, or dead in the center, it is chaotic. We have the worst president ever. I dare say our president was worse than [former U.S. president Donald] Trump was. The politicians have no respect for anyone other than their small group.

"[Admittedly,] Brazil is a difficult place," he continued. "It's a big country. Geographically from north to south, there are so many different cultures. We also have a large immigrant population, which introduced Asian and European cultures. But our current president, Jair Bolsonaro, talks with stupidity about things from the past we thought we were finished with. There is no respect for the different races, the homosexuals, and the environment. Agriculture is one of the most important [parts] of our economy and the [variety] of toxic chemicals used is insane. Many of these chemicals have been banned in other countries, but not here. It's sad that we continue to step backward because of the political climate."

Current polls in Brazil suggest Bolsonaro will lose October's election to his leftwing rival, the former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, after alienating many voters with his anti-scientific handling of a COVID-19 pandemic, which has killed more than 650,000 Brazilians.

Like former Trump, Bolsonaro has tried to sow election doubts to pave the way for him not to accept defeat in 2022.

Bolsonaro, who has been accused of corruption, said in a meeting with evangelical leaders that he had "three alternatives for my future: being arrested, killed or victory" in the next election — and he said prison was not an option.

SEPULTURA comprises Kisser, vocalist Derrick Green, bassist Paulo Xisto Pinto Jr., and drummer Eloy Casagrande.

SEPULTURA's "North American Quadra" 2022 tour with SACRED REICH and CROWBAR kicked off on March 4 in Sacramento and will make stops in Toronto, Cleveland, and New York before concluding on April 8 in Berkeley, Califor

SLAYER guitarist Kerry King says that JUDAS PRIEST deserves to be inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame.

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 groups like PRIEST, IRON MAIDEN and MOTÖRHEAD have yet to be recognized by the institution, which inducted GUNS N' ROSES in that band's first year of eligibility.

King, who has been a massive PRIEST fan since high school, discussed the band's absence from the Rock Hall in a new interview with Rolling Stone. He said: "Some years, you hear who got in the Rock Hall and you're like, 'Well, how did they get in above these other bands?' So it seems basically like a popularity contest rather than, 'Do they deserve to get in there?' Because JUDAS PRIEST deserve to be in there. They've had a 50-year career — longer than SLAYER did, and we had a long-ass career — and they're still playing when they're all healthy. So they've got longevity on their side. They were a darling of MTV, when MTV came out. And I probably couldn't count all the hits — or what the common person would call hits."

"If I were going to vote for the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame, I would totally vote for them," he continued. "Without question. First and foremost, there would be no metal without BLACK SABBATH. But once you get beyond that, there wouldn't be a lot of metal bands without JUDAS PRIEST. Us being one of them.

"The people who do vote are probably going to vote for the bigger bands," Kerry predicted. "That says nothing for PRIEST's longevity and the things they've done. I don't know what else to say. If you're not a metal fan, you're never going to get it. If you are a metal fan, you're never going to forget it."

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.

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

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

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 Rob Halford (vocals), Ian Hill (bass), Glenn Tipton (guitar) and Scott Travis (drums), along with former members K.K. Downing (guitar), Les Binks (drums) and late drummer Dave Holland.

Last year, Halford selected SLAYER's "Angel Of Death" for inclusion on Rolling Stone's "500 Greatest Songs Of All Time" list, telling the magazine about his choice: "I've always been a SLAYER fan. I love this kind of extreme metal music with a band like SLAYER and 'Angel Of Death'. They were a bunch of guys out of the Bay Area that spread this new kind of gospel of metal in this extreme form. The sheer terror of SLAYER which hit us all like a ton of heavy metal bricks really did the same to me. And out of all of the great SLAYER songs that I personally love to smash my head in to and with, 'Angel Of Death' — oh, yeah, ba

Ted Nugent has once again railed against large social-media companies that block users from their platforms.

The outspoken conservative rocker is an ardent supporter of former U.S. president Donald Trump who was famously suspended from his social accounts in January 2021 over public safety concerns in the wake of the Capitol riot.

Nugent repeated his unsubstantiated accusations that tech companies are censoring his speech during Wednesday's (March 9) edition of "The Nightly Nuge", a news-style clip in which Ted offers his take on the news of our world every night. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "We believe that even though high tech is something relatively new and advancing constantly, it's the new town square. It's where the First Amendment should exist. It's where free speech and open communication and dialogue and debate should run free. That's the new town square in this electronic high-tech media. But not according to those leftists and the Marxists that run Big Tech. Because the thought that my precious sweetheart, almost like Mother Teresa, wife Shemane has been banned from Twitter is certainly a manifestation of a cultural abandonment, a cultural deprivation that Big Tech now represents.

"I had between 25 million and 36 million Facebook reach in 2016, before we got the outsider, the non-politician, the non-status quo guy elected president," he continued. "But once Donald Trump, who was on the fast track to make things much better for America on every level; every policy that Donald Trump implemented made a better quality of life in the United States Of America, and quite honestly all around the world. We could name all those examples, but people who pay attention know what those examples are. And I went from between 25 million and 36 million Facebook reach within a few weeks of the [2016 presidential] election down to three and a half million Facebook [reach]. And right now on my Facebook, I get on every day and talk about every imaginable subject, because nothing is sacred and the First Amendment covers everything, and if I say something, like promoting hunting or promoting marksmanship or our Ted Nugent Kamp For Kids charity, teaching children safe firearms handling and archery and hunting, fishing, trapping, all of a sudden it goes from hundreds of thousands of reach to a few dozen. They probably have a gang of 'fact checkers.' 'Fact checkers' are anything but fact checkers. They're opinionated little dirtbags that crush anything that is uncomfortable to the uncomfortably dumb in Big Tech.

"So, again, we the people, we've let this happen," Ted added. "I hear a lot of squawking around the campfires, a lot of squawking around the water cooler, a lot of squawking at the bowling alley, a lot of squawking at the barbecue, a lot of squawking at church and at school and in the workplace. Don't squawk. Call your elected employees and tell them that the First Amendment reigns supreme everywhere, including the 'Zuck world' of Big Tech and their dishonest, anti-American, anti-fact so-called fact checkers. But if we don't speak up, this indecency, this dishonesty, this censorship will continue. Let's raise more hell."

Social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook have suspended or removed the accounts of prominent conservatives who have violated their terms of service.

Trump was banned from Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat following the January 6, 2021 Capitol riot that he was accused of inciting, adding to claims that conservatives are being unfairly treated. Twitter, along with Facebook and Instagram, pointed to their terms of service, which prohibit inciting violence on their platforms.

Defenders of the technology industry have repeatedly said that private companies cannot be forced to host speech they don't agree with. They also argue that private owners should be able to do as they please with their own property. In addition, they note that social media companies can only decide what speech they host and present. Those unsatisfied with their choices can choose to read or contribute elsewhere.

In a new interview with "The Mistress Carrie Podcast", HEART frontwoman Ann Wilson was asked if it's harder to keep a marriage or a band together. The 71-year-old singer, who has been married to Dean Wetter since April 2015, laughed and responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "I think it's harder to keep a band together — in my experience. And I've only been married once and I'm still loving it and feel great about it. It's harder to keep a band together because you have other people coming, like wives and significant others, talking in your bandmates' ears and maybe saying things that pit them against you or against the group unity. It's really hard. It's kind of a revolving door with a band."

Ann's comments come less than a month after her sister, HEART guitarist Nancy Wilson, said that HEART "had a big offer on the table last year for a bigger tour, but Ann wasn't interested in going out with my lineup of guys that we were out with before. She has a new lineup of guys that she wanted me to join up with," Nancy said. "And I sort of [thought] I don't really know them and don't have loyalty yet for anybody like that. So I just kind of shined it on and decided when I do go out with my new singer Kimberly [Nichole under the band name NANCY WILSON'S HEART]."

HEART toured North America in the summer of 2019 after a nasty split that kept the Wilson sisters estranged for three years.

Ann and Nancy had a falling out during HEART's 2016 tour, when Wetter was arrested for assaulting Nancy's then-16-year-old twin sons in a backstage altercation at a gig near their hometown of Seattle. He pleaded guilty to two lesser assault charges to avoid jail time.

Ann will release a new album, "Fierce Bliss", on April 29 via Silver Lining Music.

During a recent interview with LifeMinute, SOUNDGARDEN guitarist Kim Thayil commented on the possibility of sharing the stage again with his fellow surviving SOUNDGARDEN members Ben Shepherd (bass) and Matt Cameron (drums). He said: "I think it's very likely that Matt and Ben and I will play together. I think we know that the songs that we love, that we did for decades with SOUNDGARDEN, if we're gonna play those songs again or hear those songs when we wanna hear them, at best it'll be with at least the three of us; that's the closest we're gonna get at this point. So I think we'd wanna re-explore that and do that at some time in the future. And I think the three of us have an interest in doing new things. We certainly like working together."

Last August, Thayil, Cameron and Shepherd joined Brandi Carlile onstage during her concert on at the Gorge Amphitheatre in in George, Washington to play SOUNDGARDEN's "Searching With My Good Eye Closed" and "Black Hole Sun".

In June 2021, SOUNDGARDEN and Vicky Cornell, the widow and personal representative of the estate of the band's lead singer Chris Cornell, announced that they had come to a temporary agreement that would transfer the SOUNDGARDEN social media accounts and web site to Thayil, Cameron and Shepherd and their managers, Red Light Management. This included SOUNDGARDEN's web site, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

A year ago, Thayil, Cameron, Shepherd and their business manager Rit Venerus filed papers in Washington state U.S. District Court claiming that Vicky Cornell had locked them out of their Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Vimeo, YouTube, Snapchat, Tumblr, Top Spin and Pinterest accounts, as well as SOUNDGARDEN's official web site, and changing all the passwords.

Thayil, Cameron and Shepherd claimed their socials were previously managed by their then-management company Patriot Management. They said they later learned that Patriot had handed over all the login information to Vicky after Patriot was terminated in October 2019.

Chris Cornell was found hanged in his room at the MGM Grand Detroit hotel in May 2017, following a SOUNDGARDEN show at the city's Fox Theatre. His body was found soon after he had spoken with a "slurred" voice to his wife by phone. The death was ruled a suicide.

In December 2019, Vicky filed a lawsuit against the surviving SOUNDGARDEN members, alleging the group owed Cornell's estate hundreds of thousands of dollars in unpaid royalties and the rights to seven unreleased recordings made before the singer's death in May of 2017.

Responding to Vicky's lawsuit, Thayil, Shepherd and Cameron claimed that they "don't have possession" of their "own creative work," and alleged that "Vicky Cornell has possession of the only existing multi-track recordings of the last SOUNDGARDEN tracks that include Chris Cornell's instrumental parts and vocals. All of the band members jointly worked on these final tracks, Vicky now claims ownership of the final SOUNDGARDEN album."