Peaceville Records has released a video trailer for the upcoming deluxe 35th anniversary 3LP edition of the Candlemass classic, Epicus Doomicus Metallicus. The set will be released on June 3, and is available for pre-order here.


Candlemass was formed by bassist and songwriter Leif Edling in Stockholm, Sweden in 1984, and is well known for its epic doom metal, having a great influence over a generation of the genre's subsequent greats - Candlemass themselves taking a large influence from Black Sabbath.


Epicus Doomicus Metallicus is a true genre classic, with every track a monument of timeless and finely crafted doom. This is one of the quintessential, definitive doom metal releases, immortalizing the band in the annals of music history & creating the foundations of a legacy spanning over thirty-five years.




Going against the grain of bands at the time using speed to bolster their metal with the ongoing rise of thrash in Europe and the US, Candlemass eschewed this direction, and formed a phenomenon of their own through the latter part of the decade and beyond with their slow & spellbinding atmospherics. Epicus… was recorded at Thunderload Studios in 1986 and was released later that same year, with the grand and inspiring vocals for the debut handled by Johan Längqvist.


“Epicus was our first, and perhaps also the best. I have no clue what we did there in the studio deep under the Stockholm subway, but some sort of magic was created. This is a record I would gladly be buried with!” - Leif Edling


Now, marking 35 years of the iconic debut, this Candlemas endorsed, deluxe triple vinyl release includes a new remastered version of the album itself, as well as a collection of Candlemass’ essential 1985 recordings preceding the Epicus… session, in the form of the Witchcraft demo plus the OAL studio recordings, & completed by the band’s Upplands Väsby rehearsal from November of 1985.


Each vinyl is presented with its own sleeve, with the Epicus Doomicus Metallicus LP containing a layout closely reflecting the original edition, with images used on its initial pressings. The set also includes an 8-page 12” booklet with images from the era and accompanying text, plus A2 poster, as well as a handwritten letter print from founder Leif Edling.





Tracklisting:


LP 1
A.1. "Solitude"
A.2. "Demon's Gate"
A.3. "Crystal Ball"


B.1. "Black Stone Wielder"
B.2. "Under The Oak"
B.3. "A Sorcerer's Pledge""


LP 2
C.1. "Warchild (Witchcraft Demo, Jan '85)
C.2. "Crystal Ball" (Witchcraft Demo, Jan '85)
C.3. "A Sorcerer's Pledge" (Witchcraft Demo, Jan '85)
C.4. "Into The Unfathomed Tower" (Witchcraft Demo, Jan '85)


D.1. "Black Stone Wielder" (O.A.L. Studio Demo, Dec '85)
D.2. "Demon's Gate" (O.A.L. Studio Demo, Dec '85)


LP 3
E.1. "Demon's Gate - V1" (Upplands Vasby rehearsal, Nov '85)
E.2. "Under The Oak - V1" (Upplands Vasby rehearsal, Nov '85)
E.3. "Under The Oak - V2" (Upplands Vasby rehearsal, Nov '85 alternate version)


F.1. "Black Stone Wielder" (Upplands Vasby rehearsal, Nov '85)
F.2. "Demon's Gate - V2" (Upplands Vasby rehearsal, Nov '85, alternate version)
F.3. "Under The Oak - V3" (Upplands Vasby rehearsal, Nov '85, alternate version 2)

Australian metal band, Meshiaak, have announced the new lineup change for their third album, adding guitarist Logan Mader
(Once Human, ex-Machine Head, ex-Soulfly). Also, Jon Dette (Testament, Slayer) rejoins the fold on drums.


Original member Dette played drums on the first Meshiaak album, Alliance Of Thieves. The band parted ways with guitarist Dean Wells, drummer David Godfrey and bassist Andrew Cameron back in early 2021.


Vocalist Danny Camilleri is planning on relocating from Australia to the United States to commence work on the third Meshiaak release. "I haven't been this excited to create music in years! The next Meshiaak album is going to be a monster! A big, fat, angry monster," Camilleri shares.




Guitarist Logan Mader, who will also be co-writing and producing the next record says, "I am beyond stoked to be a part of this album with Meshiaak. I’ll be producing and playing guitar on it. I have a good feeling about how heavy and epic it will be."


Stay tuned for updates.

Heavy metallers, Spirits Of Fire, recently announced their return with new vocalist Fabio Lione (Angra, ex-Rhapsody Of Fire), who joins original members Chris Caffery, Steve DiGiorgio, and Mark Zonder on their second album, Embrace The Unknown. The album will land on February 18.


Produced by Aldo Lonobile (Secret Sphere, Archon Angel, Sweet Oblivion), Embrace The Unknown sees Spirits Of Fire picking up where they left off on their debut, with Caffery's skillful songwriting and fiery fretwork leading the charge.


Listen to the album's title track below, and pre-order/save Embrace The Unknown on CD/LP/Digital here.




Heavy metal supergroup Spirits of Fire first formed in 2017, released their first single in late 2018, and unleashed their debut album in February 2019. Originally formed by Chris Caffery (Savatage, Trans-Siberian Orchestra), Steve DiGiorgio (Testament, Death, etc.), Mark Zonder (ex-Fates Warning, Warlord) and Tim "Ripper" Owens (ex-Judas Priest), the band's self-titled debut was met with fan and critical praise upon its release. As it approaches two years since the release of their debut, Spirits of Fire are now set to return with a new album, Embrace The Unknown that sees renowned Italian metal vocalist Fabio Lione taking over frontman duties for the band. Production this time comes courtesy of Aldo Lonobile, whose recent work on releases by Archon Angel featuring Zak Stevens, Sweet Oblivion featuring Geoff Tate, and his own band, Secret Sphere, makes him the perfect fit for the band.


Once again, the band worked on a set of songs that were primarily put together by Caffery, with Lione and Lonobile adding their own touches to Caffery's stellar songs. The final result sees a killer musical output that continues in the vein of “classic Priest meets Savatage” sound that the band has pursued since their formation. With Caffery's renowned guitar playing, the undeniable power of the rhythm section of Di Giorgio and Zonder, and the world class vocals of Lione, Embrace The Unknown sees Spirits Of Fire pushing their sonic stamp further and further. From the biting riffage of the charging "Embrace The Unknown", the band is firing on all cylinders and prepared to appease the heavy metal gods.


Spirits Of Fire are built to deliver classic in-your-face heavy metal and they have accomplished that goal on every level on Embrace The Unknown. From Lione's soaring vocals, to Caffery’s guitar pyrotechnics, to the propulsive and crushing rhythms of Di Giorgio and Zonder, the performances are stellar from beginning to end. There is no shortage of memorable, metal hymns to raise your fist and bang your head to on this all killer, no filler metal journey.





Tracklisting:


"A Second Chance"
"Resurrection"
"Wildest Dreams"
"Into The Mirror"
"Embrace The Unknown"
"My Confession"
"Sea Of Change"
"Shapes Of A Fragile Mind"
"Hearts In The Sand"
"House Of Pain"
"Remember My Name"
"Out In The Rain"


"Embrace The Unknown":





"Into The Mirror" video:





"A Second Chance" video:





Lineup:


Fabio Lione - Vocals
Christopher Caffery - Guitars
Steve Di Giorgio - Bass
Mark Zonder - Drums

David Ellefson, who was fired from MEGADETH last year following a sex video scandal, says that "we're meant to learn from our past but we're not meant to be stuck in it."

The former MEGADETH bassist, who turned 57 in November, touched upon his life philosophy while filming a new video message on Cameo, which lets users hire celebrities to record brief, personalized video messages about virtually any topic.

Asked to offer words of advice and motivation to a fan named Rafael who recently celebrated his 50th birthday and is about to retire, Dave said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Look, what do I know? I'm just a dude living my life like you. But one day at a time, I guess, is the thing, right? And more will be revealed.

"I always say the front windshield is bigger than the rearview mirror for a reason — 'cause we're meant to be looking forward through the bigger picture of life and not regretting or looking backward at the things in the rearview mirror," he continued. "That's past, it's gone, and move on. And we're meant to learn from our past but we're not meant to be stuck in it. So that's all I would say.

"What an awesome opportunity to reinvent yourself. I don't know if you're a man of faith, but check in with the Creator once in a while, if it be your desire. And lead me where you need me. I think that's kind of my deal; that's what I do."

Ellefson added: "I don't know if I'm any good at advice; maybe just more of my sharing my experience."

David charges $30 for each of his Cameo videos for personal use and $100 for a video for business use.

Ellefson stepped away from Cameo for several months beginning last May, just days after sexually tinged messages and explicit video footage involving the bassist were posted on Twitter. At the time, Ellefson released a statement on Instagram denying all social media chatter that he "groomed" an underage fan. He also filed a report with the police department in Scottsdale, Arizona alleging unlawful distribution of sexually explicit images of him by unknown offenders. In the report, Ellefson admitted that he had been exchanging sexual text messages with a Dutch teenager, who captured a video of several of their virtual "masturbating encounters" without his consent and shared them with friends. (According to Ellefson, the woman was 19 at the time of their first virtual sexual encounter.) Within two weeks, he was fired.

David, a Christian who launched the Mega Life Ministries worship group in 2007, studied for a year at Concordia Lutheran Seminary in St. Louis a decade ago.

Last October, Ellefson told SiriusXM's "Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk" that there is a perception that people of faith must set a higher standard of how they live with and treat others. "It's almost like you're this entity that's floating up toward the heavens: 'Oh, he's such a wonderful man. He's a man of faith. He's got his family. And then this happens.' It's, like, 'What the hell is this?'" he said.

"I mean, look, admittedly I've sort of trained the public to think that I'm one of the more well-behaved rock stars out there, and for the most part I have been," he continued. "But at the same time, and this isn't to claim anything other than just, oops, shit happens. That is what it is."

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

In July, MEGADETH leader Dave Mustaine addressed the possibility of Ellefson returning to the band while filming one of his own video messages on Cameo. Asked by Rock Feed if Ellefson could once again play with MEGADETH at some point down the line, Mustaine said: "Any chance on Ellefson coming back later on? The answer to that is no."

Memphis southern rockers, Fevertree, have released their music video for the new single, "More Than Enough". Watch the clip below.


The track is off Fevertree’s second album, Social Mediocrity, which comes out February 25. The album was engineered by Dan Ward and recorded at The Loft in Memphis, TN. It was mastered by Jeremy Anderson of Anderson Mastering. Pre-order here.


Social Mediocrity is the band’s second release, follow-up to Lessons Learned, which came out in January of 2019. The music video for “More Than Enough” was produced and directed by Kim Allegrezza of The Allegrezza Agency and features live concert images of the band by Ms. Allegrezza, Dan Wireman and Danny Day.




Social Mediocrity is loaded with powerful tracks of finely hand-crafted Southern Rock and Roll. Fevertree once again prove they are the maestros of uniquely soulful and innovative songs. Utilizing the best parts of Rock and Blues, with a hint of Southern flavor, Tim Dills (vocals), John Patterson (drums), Mike Bertoldo (guitar), and Rocko Walls (bass) followed their true calling and evolved into one damn fine nitty-gritty rock n roll band.


Tim Dills spoke about the inspiration for the single, “I think we bitch so much about what we don’t have or how bad things are that we don’t see all the things we have to be grateful and thankful for, that was the inspiration for this song. In the middle of the song the lyrics say ‘The farther that you look ahead the straighter you will go’ comes from a story our engineer Dan Ward told me. He said when he was about 11 his dad was teaching him how to drive and he was swerving all over the road. His dad told him to look as far ahead as he could see, to not look at the road right in front of him. Once he did that he started driving straight. I think most people can relate to that.”


John Patterson on their concept for the “More Than Enough“ video, “What we wanted to accomplish with this video was to give the viewers a feel for a live Fevertree show. The still pictures we used were from our friends, photographers Danny Day and Dan Wireman, who really give the viewer the sense of actually being there as well as rock photographer Kim Allegrezza, who understands how to capture the raw emotion of a show. Kim produced the video for us as well.”             





Fevertree is:


Mike Bertoldo - Guitar and Backing Vocals
John Patterson - Drums
Rocko Walls - Bass and Backing Vocals
Tim Dills - Lead Vocals

Author & Punisher issues a third and final preview of the San Diego-based outfit’s forthcoming album, Krüller, out February 11 via Relapse Records. “Blacksmith” is available for streaming below.


“’Blacksmith’ is a track that I co-wrote with the Krüller producer Jason Begin (Vytear),” explains Tristan Shone. “This one is a bit of an adventure where we go from my slow bending drones and morph into Jason's jungle and breaks with the same halftime bassline and vocals tying it together. Lyrically, this is an ode to Black women-led movements who have been fearlessly leading the way against oppression in this country for a long time."







Shone began work on Krüller after returning from his opening slot with Tool across the U.S., Australia, and New Zealand, before being cut short due to the March 2020 lockdowns. "Melody has been and is still a part of my sound," says Shone. "I've always bathed them in a lot of reverb, delay, and distortion, though. This time around, I was bothered by the wall of distortion I had created. I wanted a little more clarity. I wanted to refine the sound. I wanted to step back from my own show and analyze it a bit. I had all these competing distortions that I wanted to streamline. I like contrast and wanted the vocals to be immediately noticeable. There's something about mixing punishing drones and rumble with a mellow thing on top that I really like on Krüller.”


Two already-released singles: “Drone Carrying Dread”, and “Maiden Star”, have showcased the new avenues Shone is taking his music.


Part of the Krüller revamp included refining the machines that have become synonymous with Author & Punisher. As a result, Shone is also launching a bespoke audio gear company called Drone Machines to coincide with the release of Krüller. The gear company launch follows nearly two decades of Author & Punisher honing in on his craft - meticulously inventing, machining, experimenting, and creating custom musical instruments for his incredible live performances and recordings.


Krüller pre-orders are available now at this location, with the 8-song, 52 minute collection available on a selection of limited-edition vinyl variants, CD, cassette and digitally.





Tracklisting:


“Drone Carrying Dread”
“Incinerator”
“Centurion”
“Maiden Star”
“Misery”
“Glorybox” (Portishead cover)
“Blacksmith”
“Krüller”


"Maiden Star":





“Drone Carrying Dread” video:





(Photo - Becky DiGiglio)

Night Cobra plays uncaged music for an age of discontent. The Houston heavy metal band will release its debut full length LP, Dawn Of The Serpent, on February 11 via Irongrip Records/High Roller Records.


Featuring current and former members of Eternal Champion, Necrofier, Venomous Maximus, and more, Night Cobra plays a fiery blend of scorching rock 'n' roll and blistering metal. With Dawn Of The Serpent, Night Cobra delivers high-tech, low life heavy metal that sounds like it was made on the concrete streets of a city. Ominous cover artwork by Adam Burke (Uncle Acid & The Deadbeats) portends the calamity that the record promises.


In celebration of the impending release of Dawn Of The Serpent, the new song, "Run The Blade", is available for streaming below.







Dawn Of The Serpent tracklisting:


"Run The Blade"
"The Serpent's Kiss"
"Lost In Time"
"Black Venom Dreams"
"The Neuromancer's  Curse"
"For Those Who Walk The Night"
"Mortal Danger"
"Acid Rain"
"Electric Rite"
 
"Run The Blade":





"The Neuromancer's  Curse" video:





"Mortal Danger" video:





"The Serpent's Kiss":





(Photo - Violeta Alvarez)

On January 21, Battle Beast unleashed their brand new masterpiece, Circus Of Doom, via Nuclear Blast. In true Battle Beast fashion, the 10 tracks blend true heavy metal with pop and rock-vibes, paired with Noora Louhimo’s unique voice.


Since its release, the album has entered the charts worldwide, including #1 in their home country, Finland. Below is an overview of official chart results:


Finland: #1
UK: #1 (Rock), #6 (Indie)
Sweden: #1 (Hard Rock), #5 (Physical)
Switzerland: #5
Germany: #9
US: #7 (Current Hard Music), #10 (Top New Artist)




Eero Sipilä comments: "We are so grateful to our fans around the world for making Circus of Doom such a huge success. We can’t wait to take this album on the road and get to thank all of you face-to-face! The circus is coming to town!”





Circus Of Doom was recorded at JKB Studios in Helsinki, Finland and produced and mixed by keyboardist Janne Björkroth, while the stunning artwork was created by Jan Yrlund.


Order/save Circus Of Doom digitally here. Order physical copies of the album in the format of you choice here.





Tracklisting:


"Circus Of Doom"
"Wings Of Light"
"Master Of Illusion"
"Where Angels Fear To Fly"
"Eye Of The Storm"
"Russian Roulette"
"Freedom"
"The Road To Avalon"
"Armageddon"
"Place That We Call Home"


"Wings Of Light" video:





"Where Angels Fear To Fly" video:





"Eye Of The Storm" video:





"Master Of Illusion" video:





Battle Beast will make their long awaited return to North America in support of their new record. The band will share the stage with DragonForce and will join the tour beginning March 20 in Denver, CO through April 23 in Berkeley, CA. Tickets here.


Commenting on the tour, vocal powerhouse Noora Louhimo states: ”Battle Beast is coming to you sounding and looking better than ever before! We are very excited to unite our forces with Dragonforce for a North America tour. I think this will be an epic combination of heavy metal energy and our fans will be getting 300% of explosive entertainment with our new album Circus of Doom let loose on stage. Get ready to be mesmerized with high screams, new horns and new Battle Beast.”





Battle Beast dates with DragonForce:


March
20 - Denver, CO - Oriental Theater
22 - Lawrence, KS - Granada Theater
23 - St. Louis, MO - Red Flag
24 - Milwaukee, WI - Rave II
25 - Minneapolis, MN - First Avenue
26 - Chicago, IL - Metro
27 - Detroit, MI - St. Andrews Hall
29 - Ft. Wayne, IN - Piere's
30 - Toronto, ON - Opera House
31 - Montreal, QC - Corona Theatre


April
1 - Quebec City, QC - Imperial Bell
2 - Worcester, MA - The Palladium
3 - New York, NY - Irving Plaza
5 - Reading, PA - Reverb
6 - Cleveland, OH - Agora Theater
7 - Baltimore, MD - Baltimore Soundstage
8 - Pittsburgh, PA - Roxian Theater
9 - Greensboro, NC - Arizona Petes
10 - Atlanta, GA - The Masquerade (Heaven)
12 - Tampa, FL - Orpheum
13 - Ft. Lauderdale, FL - Revolution
15 - Dallas, TX - Amplified Live
16 - Houston, TX - Warehouse Live
17 - Austin, TX - Come And Take It Live
19 - Mesa, AZ - Nile Theater
20 - Las Vegas, NV - House of Blues
22 - Los Angeles, CA - Belasco Theater
23 - Berkeley, CA - UC Theater

Following an extended break from the music scene, New York's Pist.On will release the Cold World EP on March 25. The EP marks the band's first new studio recordings since 2001, and contains three tracks.


Cold World will initially be available as a digital release on all major channels with a limited edition CD set to follow. The EP was recorded at Flatline Audio, Denver Colorado, USA and produced, mixed and mastered by Dave Otero (Tetrarach, Cattle Decapitation).


The new songs display a natural progression which sees the band drawing on their past whilst adding a contemporary feel to their sound. Pist.On have evolved. With a different approach in the studio and a producer in tune with the band at the helm, their renewed vigour has been fully captured in the new recordings.




States frontman and guitarist Henry Font: “We’re extremely happy with the work Dave Otero has done. He’s modernized our sound and brought a fresh dimension to the band. This feels like where we would have ended up had we continued writing and recording over the years. We’ve moved on from being gloomy miserable to being happy miserable."


Pist.On is built around the core members who recorded the $ell Out album, with Henry Font (vocals/guitar), Burton Gans (guitar) and Jeff McManus (drums). They are joined by bass guitarist Jack Hanley (ex The Deadlyz). Formed in the US in 1993, Pist.On have released two albums - Number One viahrough Fierce Recordings/Atlantic Records in 1996 and $ell Out via Mayhem/Music For Nations in 1999. In addition the band released the independent Saves EP in 2001.


Alongside numerous headline tours, Pist.On have featured prominently on tours supporting the likes of Marilyn Manson, Korn, Clutch, Fu Manchu, Type O Negative, Queensryche and The Misfits.


Pist.On made their live return in 2018 with appearances at high profile European festivals Sweden Rock and Graspop Metal Meeting followed by shows in the US. In 2019 the band completed a short UK tour. The advent of the Covid pandemic in 2020 put a restriction on all activities, which has led the band to adopt a cautious approach to future plans.





Cold World EP tracklisting:


"Cold World"
"Ruin Your Day"
"Icicles"

While the pandemic paralyzed the entire world and prevented bands from touring, Latin America's biggest metal export SEPULTURA refused to sit back and feel like animals trapped in a cage. Therefore, in early 2020, the legendary Brazilians, along with their American vocalist, seized the moment to start their own weekly "SepulQuarta" video podcast in which they invited other famous musicians from all over the world to not only discuss important topics but also perform a track from SEPULTURA's massive catalog together with the band. The resulting full-length compilation was released last August, with the album containing 15 classics featuring internationally renowned guests and friends.

Speaking to the "Behind The Vinyl" podcast, SEPULTURA guitarist Andreas Kisser stated about the band's collaboration with TESTAMENT's Alex Skolnick on the track "Vandals Nest": "Alex is a master — one of the best guitar players out there. And especially because of his jazz influence, he has a metal vision that is very unique. TESTAMENT, it's one of the influences for SEPULTURA as well, especially the early [stuff], 'The Legacy' [and] 'The New Order', that kind of stuff, that really inspired us to try different things in the 'Schizophrenia' and 'Beneath The Remains' era, and try harmonies in leads. Even though Max [Cavalera, former SEPULTURA frontman] didn't play leads, in the studio I tried to work that kind of stuff. And TESTAMENT are the masters of doing that, really the harmonies, because they have a lot of knowledge, especially Alex. And he can play something from Allan Holdsworth and EXODUS and METALLICA like the same — with the same vibe, the same technical mastery that he has."

Andreas continued: "The song we chose was very thrashy because he's a thrash guitar player. And he messed around with different tunings to create different atmospheres — something I didn't expect. Because he put his lower string one step down to the whole song and created even more chaos. It's fantastic; it's amazing. And it's something that I never really tried before… [The song] is very thrashy, so it's kind of creating like a dissonance, even more of a dissonant vibe. Because it's very fast, it's very thrashy, and that song had that feeling — of a chaotic situation, of extremes. And doing that, his trick, it created even more of that type of vibe. That's why this version is so unique, because it's his own reading of the song and his own input.

"We let [all the collaborators on 'SepulQuarta'] be very free and creative about that, because that's the whole point of bringing somebody new to the band. 'Oh, no, You have to do the same tuning. You have to do what I did in the studio.' I mean, why? Why you bother bringing sometimes something new with a new language or a new technique to develop the SEPULTURA sound even further. Which is great, I think. That's why the 'SepulQuarta' album is so unique and so important and one of the very special albums we ever did in our career. On the same album, we put Phil Campbell from MOTÖRHEAD and Mark Holcomb [PERIPHERY], which is very different generations playing SEPULTURA music. Okay, although 'Orgasmatron' is not SEPULTURA, but [it's] almost all our songs."

Back in 2016, TESTAMENT frontman Chuck Billy confirmed that he auditioned for the lead-singer position in SEPULTURA when Max Cavalera quit the latter band in 1996. "Yeah, around that time was right before [TESTAMENT made] the 'Demonic' record, so we had finished our Atlantic [Records] contract, and we were shopping for a new deal," Chuck explained to Eonmusic. "We didn't really have a deal yet, and at the last minute, I just said, 'You know what? Maybe I should try to find a band that's solid, that's going to keep touring and continue on,' and at that point, SEPULTURA was taking auditions, and I think it was at the end [of the audition process] that I decided, 'Screw it, I'm going to do it.' I think I did three songs; I did 'Refuse/Resist', I did 'Territory', and I wrote my version of 'Choke', and gave it to them. But by the time I had delivered, they had already made their decision for [the appointment of new singer] Derrick [Green], which in the end, was probably the way it all should have worked out."

Kisser spoke about Billy's audition for SEPULTURA during a 2015 appearance on "The Jasta Show". He said: "Chuck [laid down his vocals over] the [demo version of a then-new SEPULTURA song called] 'Choke' … Because we sent the instrumental [version] of a new song [to prospective singers to record their vocals over]. We didn't want anyone to sing 'Roots [Bloody Roots]' or 'Refuse/Resist', because we didn't want a clone. We wanted somebody to bring new ideas, to bring SEPULTURA to a different path, to a different level. And Chuck Billy, he did… He used more of the guttural [vocal style on his audition tape]. And it works. Because, recently, we did a 'Metal Allegiance' jam at NAMM in Los Angeles, and we played some SEPULTURA stuff with Chuck Billy singing, and it was great, man — it was great. So he did a great job. But, you know, he's Chuck Billy; he's TESTAMENT. We wanted somebody new."

On the heels of the announcement of his 11th solo album "Shades", acclaimed KING'S X guitarist, songwriter, and co-vocalist Ty Tabor has released the album's first single, "Sister Genocide". The dynamic, mid-tempo rocker opens with a crash, and blooms with the help of Ty's heavy rhythms and tasteful solos. Originally slated for a future KING'S X release, "Sister Genocide" is a heavy, driving track that lays the foundation of what "Shades" has to offer, and is just one of the many colors on Ty's palette on his latest solo offering. The lyric video for "Sister Genocide" was created by Wayne Joyner and can be seen below.

"Shades" will arrive on March 4 via Rat Pak Records. The album features 10 brand new songs with three bonus tracks and follows the successful release of 2018's "Alien Beans". "Shades" is available for preorder in various configurations, including CD, vinyl and digital download.

"When it comes to what I write for solo material, I don't really think about bands or anything like that. These new songs explore different sides of life and death," Ty explains. "I was dealing with the recent loss of my dad when some of this was written. There are lighter moments mixed in to keep it from being too focused on loss or sadness. I also resurrected a couple of old ideas that weren't ready until now. I just write music that makes me happy, and I've ended up with an album I really love!"

From the opening chords of "Come Home", it is clear that Tabor's trademark guitar tone lays the bedrock for his latest solo release. Ty tackles a wide array of emotions and topics with layered harmonies, hooky pop sensibilities, and the total riffage that remains a crucial ingredient to the KING'S X sound. Songs like "What You're Thinking", "One Drop Of Water" and "Doesn't Linger" show Ty's penchant for crafting tunes with tremendous melodies, while songs like "Shallow" and "Your Fantasy" trend heavy and exemplify why Ty is one of the most influential guitarists of the last three decades.

"Shades" track listing:

01. Come Home

02. Shallow

03. Your Fantasy

04. What You're Thinking

05. Sister Genocide

06. Best Day In A While

07. Insane

08. One Drop Of Water

09. Doesn't Linger

10. Leaves Falling Down

11. Ashes (bonus track; CD and digital download only]

12. Political Nonsense (bonus track; CD and digital download only)

13. Ashes (Acoustic) (bonus track; CD and digital download only)

Photo credit: Reames Photography

Norwegian symphonic metallers Nergard have released a lyric video for their cover of Judas Priest’s epic song "Blood Red Skies", which was released through Pug-Nose Records on November 19th, 2021. 


Band leader Andreas Nergård explains why he chose to cover this particular song: 


"To me, 'Blood Red Skies' is THE standout track on Judas Priest’s 1988 album Ram It Down, and it’s a criminally underrated song. Priest themselves didn’t play this song live until 23 years after the release of the album. We wanted to shine a light on this amazing track and at the same time pay our tribute to the metal gods. I’m sure Judas Priest means as much to any fan of metal as they do to me. The music we play wouldn’t exist without them.




When I started working on this song I wanted to give it a different sound from our latest album, Eternal White, which was heavily dominated by symphonic orchestras and choirs. I wanted to put more focus on the keyboards and industrial elements giving the production a more open sound. I think the general atmosphere of the song is very epic on its own and didn't need the 'over the top' approach that EW had." 


"Blood Red Skies" is the follow up to the band's critically acclaimed album, Eternal White, which was released in May 2021 through Pride & Joy Music. Nergard is currently working on their next album.  

SLIPKNOT frontman Corey Taylor has blasted Machine Gun Kelly, saying the rapper-turned-rocker doesn't get to "run [his] mouth about bands that have been doing this for 20 years."

The war of words started last September when Machine Gun Kelly and SLIPKNOT performed at Riot Fest in Chicago. "You wanna know what I'm really happy that I'm not doing?" Kelly — real name Colson Baker — said during his performance, according to a video shot by a fan. "Being 50 years old wearing a fucking weird mask on a fucking stage, talking shit.

"Let me see who chose to be here instead of with all the old weird dudes with masks," MGK added.

After Machine Gun Kelly's comments made the rounds, he tweeted "very odd that when an artist talks shit, and i respond, I'm the bad guy."

"corey did a verse for a song on tickets to my downfall album, it was fucking terrible, so i didn't use it. he got mad about it, and talked shit to a magazine about the same album he was almost on. yalls stories are all off. just admit he's bitter," he tweeted later.

The comment MGK was apparently referring to was from Taylor's appearance on "Cutter's Rockcast" a year ago. "I hate all new rock for the most part. I [hate] the artists who failed in one genre and decided to go rock — and I think he knows who he is," Corey said at the time.

In response to Machine Gun Kelly's September tweets, Taylor took to social media to share screenshots of what appeared to be an e-mail conversation he had with Travis Barker, who was a producer on MGK's "Tickets To My Downfall" album. He also included the following message: "I don't like people airing private shit like a child. So this is all I'll say: I didn't do the track because I don't like when people try to 'write' for me. I said NO to THEM. So without further ado…. #receipts This is all I'm going to say about it."

In his messages, Barker apparently included "notes" from MGK to Taylor about his verse on a song.

"Can u tell him he f****n killed it and im stoked and HONORED he is even on it wtf !!!" Kelly wrote. "I sent Corey an idea for the second half of his verse and he can obviously say fuck it but it would be sick to see if it inspired anything or if he could try it like that," one of the suggestions read.

"So I listened to the ideas and to be honest, I don't think I'm the right guy for the track. Nothing personal, I just think if this is what MGK is looking for, someone else is the guy to do it," Taylor replied to Barker.

"It's ALL good, and I'm stoked for him— I hope you guys find the right fit for it. Hope you guys understand and I wish you guys the best with it. If I can help in any way, let me know," he continued.

Kelly responded to Taylor on Twitter: "basically, your verse was really bad. respectfully, i was just telling you to rewrite it because it was really bad. respectfully. but let's do a britney spears song cover together."

During the question-and-answer portion of his show aboard this year's ShipRocked cruise, Taylor revisited his feud with Machine Gun Kelly, telling the audience (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "For those of you that don't know, MGK doesn't like me very much. And let me follow that up by saying I don't care.

"I won't fill you in on the whole fucking story because you can go online and look it all up. However, I will say this: he maintains that I started it. The truth is he started it. Now, I will explain to you why.

"If you don't know, they asked me to do a tune with him," Corey continued. "They sent it to me. I didn't dig it. And I tried to do something with it because of my respect for Travis, because he and I worked together before. They sent me these really weird notes and they wanted me to sing his words. And I just said, 'I'm not gonna do it.' And I sent an e-mail. I posted that e-mail. And I didn't hear back from him. And I thought it was done. Fast forward about eight months, and Machine Gun Kelly is doing this weird Instagram Live interview with Allie from Spotify. And he goes off on this fucking rant about rock stars and comfortable shoes. It sounds as smart as you think it is. … I mean, spit was coming out of his face. And I'm watching it and I'm going, 'You fuck. You've been here for five minutes, basically, and you're gonna fucking run your mouth about bands that have been doing this for 20 fucking years, like in the mud, in the dirt. They're gonna wear whatever the fuck they want. You're gonna walk in here with your fucking black tongue and try to talk some shit on some bands that would fucking circle your ass? Fuck you.' So when I had my opportunity to say something, I did. And I didn't call him out. I just said what I said about people failing in one genre and sliding over to another. And that upset him. … Weirdly, we're in Chicago on the same show, and we're playing basically at the same time. And he wasn't happy that there were a lot of people at our show — and I do mean a lot.

"But he, to this day, maintains that I started it," Taylor added. "It's, like, the only reason I said what I said is because he said what he said. You don't get to walk into a genre with the history, with the work… The fact that this genre really doesn't get the fucking respect that it deserves. You don't get to walk in as some weird substitute teacher and pretend that you can tell us what to wear — boots, shoes, house fucking shoes, slippers. Why don't you suck every inch of my dick? You don't get to do that. And these are bands that maybe I don't even fucking know, but guess what? I fucking respect them because they get on fucking stage and they fucking give every fucking thing they've got."

"Tickets To My Downfall" was released in September 2020 and debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart. It was the No. 1 contemporary rock album of both 2020 and 2021, and has sold over 2.5 million copies worldwide with over 3.6 billion streams.






Corey Taylor’s Q&A. He was asked about the MGK situation. His answer…

Posted by Kris Sterbinsky on Thursday, January 27, 2022

Formed in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, melodic thrash metal band Incrypt have signed with Wormholedeath for the release of their new album, Thrashing Extinction, due on February 25th. Ahead of the street date, Incrypt has released a lyric video for the title track.





The cover art and tracklisting for Thrashing Extinction can be seen below.







"Skulking"
"Thrashing Extinction"
"Ultimate Downunder Attack"
"Pushed Beyond Breaking"
"Open This Pit"
"Extermination"
"Point Evolution"
"Stars Of The Southern Land"
"Ghost Hour Chimes"
"Chaotic Freedom Remains"
"Declaration"


An album teaser has also been issued:





 

Greg Puciato has teamed with Carpenter Brut for the latest addition to Puciato’s ever-growing body of work, launching the single and video “Imaginary Fire” today.


“This came out of the blue,” explains Puciato about the collaboration. “My buddy and bandmate Ben Koller (Converge, Killer Be Killed, Mutoid Man) linked Carpenter Brut and myself. Peak excitement for me about this one. CB and I were already very familiar with, and fans of, each other's work, so he sent me the instrumental, and I wrote the vocals, and that was that. Straight to the point, no real crazy process with this one. Here's the music. Okay cool, here are the vocals to that music. Done. It came out really fast, one of the faster ones ever, for me at least, very lightning in a bottle feeling overall, where the melodies and phrasings and lyrics all sorta come through at once, in a really quick stream of consciousness burst. That's a special thing that doesn't happen too often, and you hope that it somehow now and then keeps happening.


One-off collaborations are great because you can really just focus all of your energy on one track; not an album, not a band, not ten songs on your fifth album, just one singular song-length intersection. I'm really proud of this one, happy to cross these musical paths. I love how the video turned out too. Lyrically the song is pretty to the point. Two people frustratingly trying to get rid of their fears and their made-up bullshit so they can move forward, together or separate, free of outcome.”







The track kicks off a year that will be one of the busiest to date for the former The Dillinger Escape Plan singer with the LA-based musician touring with Jerry Cantrell as well as slating a June release for his own sophomore solo album, Mirrorcell. Additional details about the collection will be unveiled in the coming weeks.


(Photo credit: Jim Louvau)


 

During the question-and-answer portion of his January 27 spoken-word show at Riffe Center Theatre Complex in Columbus, Ohio, IRON MAIDEN singer Bruce Dickinson was asked to name his favorite female vocalist of all time. He said: "The one that rolls off the tip of my tongue is Ann Wilson from HEART. Although she didn't have the kind of — not charisma; notoriety or whatever of somebody like a Janis Joplin, an equally great voice and things like that, she's just a complete all-arounder. The most amazing voice… A beautiful folk singer, fantastic metal singer with a lovely edge to it, flawless technique. Honestly, not worthy. Amazing."

Dickinson is considered one of the world's most storied musicians. Aside from decades spent delivering high-octane performances with his larger-than-life persona in IRON MAIDEN, Bruce has lived an extraordinary off-stage existence too. A true polymath, his accomplishments include: pilot and airline captain, aviation entrepreneur, beer brewer, motivational speaker, film scriptwriter, twice-published novelist and Sunday Times best-selling author, radio presenter, TV actor, sports commentator and international fencer… to name but a few.

Bruce's spoken-word show is split into two parts. The first section sees him take a humorous and often satirical look at the world from his own very personal perspective, treating the audience to private insights into his drive and ambition, peppered with plenty of MAIDEN anecdotes, and a myriad of other experiences encompassing not just the giddy heights but also the extreme lows, as told first-hand in his inimitable anarchic style, punctuated with photographs, videos and sometimes even erupting into song a cappella, to illustrate a point. The final section of the evening is devoted entirely to the aforementioned question-and-answer session, with the opportunity to pose questions on any subject whatsoever. As Bruce's answers are all completely improvised — the more left-field and quirky the question, the more interesting and compelling the response is likely to be.

Dickinson, who had a golf gall-size tumor on his tongue and another in the lymph node on the right side of his neck, got the all-clear in May 2015 after radiation and nine weeks of chemotherapy.

Bruce's second wife, Paddy was found dead in May 2020 at the home they once shared in Chiswick, West London, following a "tragic accident." London Ambulance Service confirmed that the patient was pronounced dead on arrival.

Bruce and Paddy had married in 1990 after two years of dating and shared three children: Austin, Griffin and Kia. They tied the knot after dating for two years following Bruce's split from first wife Jane.

Dickinson is believed to have split from Bowden privately in 2018, although their breakup wasn't made public until November 2019.

Bruce, 63, now reportedly lives in Paris with fitness instructor Leana Dolci.