Ted Nugent has 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.

During his YouTube livestream on Thursday (January 20), Nugent once again upped his unsubstantiated accusations that tech companies are censoring his speech as Facebook and other tech companies have attempted to limit coronavirus vaccine misinformation.

"Boy, does Big Tech crush the First Amendment, like some kind of devil grease gangbangers," Nugent said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET).

"Hey, Big Tech fact checkers, you're lying scum. And they all have to put up a COVID alert misinformation. No, no, no — everything from Big Tech and the media and the government, that's the misinformation.

"When I share [information from physician group] Frontline Doctors and epidemiologists and virologists, experts, lifetime dedicated, professional healthcare specialists, doctors and scientists, when I express their findings, that's not misinformation; that's pertinent information," he continued.

"Big Tech, the media and the government, academia and Hollywood, when they identify stuff coming out of me — 'cause I don't have any medical or science hunches; I'm cocky but I'm not that stupid. So I go to the professional healthcare, dedicated Frontline Doctors, and I share truth, logic and medical common sense. And when they identify it as misinformation, that's the misinformation. Okay? So let's be forewarned."

Addressing the fact that he is still able to share his views on most of the major social media networks like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and even YouTube, Ted said: "I can't believe they haven't kicked me off yet. Twitter has kicked off Shemane [Nugent, Ted's wife]. She's like Mother Teresa, Joan Of Arc. She's the greatest, sweetest, harmless woman that ever walked the earth, and she's kicked off Twitter because she said something positive about Donald Trump — inconsequential; just a compliment.

"By the way, you know the First Amendment? That was not given to us by the government," Ted added. "That didn't start when they wrote it in the Constitution. Tell me you know that when they wrote down self-evident truth in the Constitution and the Bill Of Rights that those rights and those freedoms didn't begin there; they already existed. We didn't need a man to put it to paper. We got 'em from God, from the Creator. We were born with all those freedoms, all those self-evident-truth rights. We just wrote it in the documents in case we experience some prick like King George — Joe Biden — who's gonna try to play tyrannical emperor kingpunk. We just want it on paper just to reference those punks that would try to pry it from our soul. But we know we have it when we're born, whether it's on paper or not."

Last May, Nugent said that he beat COVID-19 by following "intelligent, professionally guided care from the Frontline Doctors," referring to the aforementioned group of doctors who made a video in July 2020 calling for the use of hydroxychloroquine to battle the novel coronavirus, despite warnings from public health experts.

In the above-mentioned video, a group of people wearing white lab coats calling themselves "America's Frontline Doctors" staged a press conference in front of the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington, D.C. and made a number of dubious claims, including that "you don't need masks" to prevent spread of the coronavirus, and that studies showing hydroxychloroquine is ineffective for the treatment of COVID-19 are "fake science" sponsored by "fake pharma companies." According to Politifact, many of the doctors' claims contradicted recommendations from public health organizations and experts like Dr. Anthony Fauci. The video quickly went viral on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube before it was taken down for promoting misinformation.

Last month, Nugent told the Des Moines, Iowa radio station Lazer 103.3 that he beat COVID-19 by "listen[ing] to what the government told me to do and [doing] just the opposite. And whatever the government told me not to do, that's exactly what I did do, and I was cured in about two days."

Nugent, an outspoken conspiracy theorist who has refused to take the vaccine, also once again falsely claimed that public health measures taken during the COVID-19 pandemic violate the Nuremberg code, a set of medical experimentation guidelines set after World War Two, as the vaccine is experimental.

In April, Nugent talked about the darkest days of his battle with COVID-19, saying that he had "never been so scared" in his entire life. The 73-year-old pro-gun activist, who had previously claimed the virus was "not a real pandemic," said: "It was really scary. I didn't think I was gonna make it. I literally couldn't function for about 20 hours, and then they came and they rescued me… The six-foot-two, 225-pound headache [this time] was like nothing I have ever experienced. I mean, from my tip of my toes to the top of my hair, I literally was dizzy and weak and struggled to get up to go to the bathroom. And I would lay in the bathtub a couple of times a day with the water as hot as I could take it just to divert."

In the past, Nugent had referred to the virus as a "leftist scam to destroy" Trump. He had also repeated a narrative pushed by conservative media and disputed by health experts that suggests the official death count from the coronavirus is inflated.

KISS bassist/vocalist Gene Simmons has seemingly thrown his support behind pop singer Britney Spears in her conservatorship battle, which saw her finally speak out last year after 13 years locked into a guardianship that left her few freedoms, including financially.

Britney and her family have been at war over her conservatorship, which controlled her personal affairs and estimated $60 million estate from February 2008 until its termination in November 2021.

Earlier today, Gene took to his Twitter to share a TMZ article about Britney's estranged father's request for her to sit for a deposition, and he included the following message: "Ok. Not usually an area I comment on. But here goes. @britenyspears_earned her money the hard way — she worked for it…No one, including parents and family should have any say regarding her finances. Period."

In a June 2021 court hearing, Spears famously said about her family: "My dad and anyone involved in this conservatorship — and my management, who played a huge role in punishing me when I said no — ma'am, they should be in jail."

Britney's fans fought to end her 13-year-long conservatorship with the #FreeBritney movement.

Last month, Britney took to her Instagram to open up on sensitive subjects involving her family, and how the power of prayer and reflecting on her career accomplishments are helping propel her forward.

"I had an experience three years ago where I stopped believing in God," Britney wrote, according to People. "From every angle I was being hurt for no reason and my family was hurting me. I went into a state of shock and the way I coped was being [in] fake denial. It was too much to really face.

"Honestly my family embarrassed me and hurt me deeply," she wrote, adding that "tooting my own horn and seeing my past accomplishments reflecting back at me actually helped" in overcoming her insecurities — appearing to reference how she listed her achievements the week before in a separate Instagram post.




Ok. Not usually an area I comment on. But here goes. @britenyspears_ earned her money the hard way — she worked for it…No one, including parents and family should have any say regarding her finances. Period. https://t.co/CnXEFknNTZ

— Gene Simmons (@genesimmons) January 28, 2022

Sabaton guitarist / Majestica frontman Tommy Johansson has shared his solo performance of Gary Moore's 1986 classic "Over The Hills And Far Away". Check it out below.





Sabaton recently released a new lyric video for "No Bullets", originally featured on the bonus version of the band's 2014 album, Heroes.




Historical fact: The story of Franz Stigler, a German pilot who risked his life in three different ways when he was ordered to chase and shoot down an American B17 bomber, piloted by 2nd Lt. Charlie Brown, returning from a successful air raid. When he came close enough he realised that the bomber had been severely damaged by anti aircraft fire during the raid and then he decided to escort it out of harms way instead of shooting it down. In doing this he risked both being court martialed, which most likely would have led to execution, and being shot down by the gunners of the B17 as well as being targeted by friendly anti aircraft fire.





The band previously released released a lyric video for "Night Witches", also featured on the bonus version of Heroes.


Historical fact: The story of the Russian female pilots of the 588th bomber regiment. Their nickname “Night Witches” comes from the characteristic sound of their bomb planes that was all that could be heard during their nightly raids since they set their engines to idle and would glide through the night to their target. This sound brought the enemies thoughts to the broomsticks of witches, and they called them “Nachthexen”.





Sabaton’s tenth album, The War To End All Wars, will be released on March 4 via Nuclear Blast Records. Once again, Sabaton will dive deep into the atrocities, miracles, and happenings around WWI and take the listener on an emotional and exciting 11-track ride.


Pre-order the album here.





The War To End All Wars tracklisting:


"Sarajevo"
"Stormtroopers"
"Dreadnought"
"The Unkillable Soldier"
"Soldier Of Heaven"
"Hellfighters"
"Race To The Sea"
"Lady Of The Dark"
"The Valley Of Death"
"Christmas Truce"
"Versailles"


"Soldier Of Heaven" video:





"Christmas Truce" music video:





Following a 29-date headline tour of Sweden, Sabaton will launch the March 4, 2022 release of the new album with The Tour To End All Tours, a massive five-week European trek supported by The Hu and Lordi. Complete dates and ticket information are available here.

"The Death Rides" is the first digital single / video taken from heavy speed metal merchants Redshark´s forthcoming debut album, Digital Race. The lyrical theme is inspired by death and the emotional ride that leads people to choose euthanasia. 


This song is dedicated in the memory of a Spanish writer called Ramón Sampedro.


Redshark was founded in 2012 in Barcelona, Spain by Philip Graves (guitar) with the aim of delivering classic pounding heavy speed metal. Their traditional 80s metal influences may plunder the nostalgia circuit but Redshark are ruthlessly carrying the torch with great attitude, and powerful melodic songwriting.




Redshark have since honed their gloriously raw yet precisely incisive, dark, catchy and addictive speed heavy metal crunch staying faithful to their original influences taken from undisputed metal legends like Judas Priest, Savatage, Exciter and Metal Church.


Their new album, Digital Race, was recorded in 2021 and will see a release at the end of March. It was produced by Jaume Perna (Jack Dark) and mixed & mastered by Gonzalo Vivero in In The Red Audio. Cover art was made by Jose Antonio Vives.





Tracklisting:


"The Drill State"
"Never Too Late"
"Digital Race"
"Arrival"
"Mars Recall"
"Kiill your Idol"
"The Death Rides"
"Burning Angels"
"Pallid Hands"
"I'm Falling"


"The Death Rides":

Frontiers Music Srl has released Scars, the debut solo album from Nasson (Sinner's Blood, Chaos Magic). Nasson is a skilled guitarist, producer and songwriter, whom fans may recognize from his work with Sinner's Blood and Chaos Magic, and Scars sees him taking on the frontman role for the first time.


Watch the new video for the track "Bringer Of Sorrow" below, and order/save Scars here.


Nasson, a Chilean guitarist, songwriter, and now in-demand producer, has recently come to the attention of hard rock and metal fans through his work on the latest Chaos Magic album, Furyborn, and the outstanding debut record from Sinner's Blood, The Mirror Star. Based in Santiago, Chile, Nasson is a stellar writer, arranger, and musician and with this new solo project, he also reveals his abilities as lead vocalist.




On Scars, Nasson offers fine examples of contemporary melodic metal with influences ranging from Evergrey to Pretty Maids to Eclipse. Handling all the songwriting and arrangements, he also plays the bulk of the instrumentation on Scars, with the help of Rodrigo Leiva on drums and Caterina Nix (Chaos Magic) on background vocals. Caterina also appears together with her fellow talented Frontiers artists based in South America on the song “We Are The Army”,  where she is joined by fellow lead vocalists Gui Oliver (Landfall, Mayank), Mizuho Lin (Semblant, The Erinyes), and James Robledo (Sinner’s Blood). Other special guests on the album include Alessandro Del Vecchio for a vocal duet on “When it Rains”, Mistheria (Bruce Dickinson, Rob Rock) handling additional synth on “Mother Moon”, and Ignacio Torres handling lead guitars on “Not Today”, “Bringer Of Sorrow” and “We Are The Army”.


Scars is an outstanding, and quite personal album, showcasing the amazing abilities of this new star in metal music, Nasson.





Tracklisting:


"Not Today"
"Room 108"
"Mother Moon"
"Runaway"
"On The Other Side"
"Bringer Of Sorrow"
"King Of Lies"
"A New Beginning"
"When It Rains"
"We Are The Army"
"Rising"


"Bringer Of Sorrow" video:





"We Are The Army" video:





"Not Today" video:





Lineup:


Nasson - Vocals, guitars, bass, piano, programming
Rodrigo Leiva - Drums
Caterina Nix - Backing vocals


Guests Musicians:


Caterina Nix, Giu Oliver, Mizuho Lin & James Robledo - Vocals on “We Are The Army”
Mistheria - Additional Synths on “Mother Moon”
Alessandro del Vecchio - Guest vocals on “When It Rains”
Ignacio Torres - Guitar (Solos on “Not Today”, “Bringer Of Sorrow” and “We Are The Army”)


(Photo - Sebastian Dominguez)

Today, Steve Vai and Favored Nations / Mascot Label Group have released his new studio album titled Inviolate. The LP will follow on March 18.


The album’s mesmeric opener, “Teeth Of The Hydra,” is a sinuous, Latin-fusion-tinged composition that Vai wrote and recorded with a one-of-a-kind custom guitar he coined the Hydra. Built in conjunction with the designers at Hoshino and based on a “steampunk motif” idea of Vai’s, the Hydra is a beast of an instrument - a one-bodied, two-headstock-ed, three-neck-ed creature that encompasses, among other things: 7 and 12-string guitars; a 4-string ¾ scale length bass; 13 sympathetic harp strings; half-fretless necks; single-coil, humbucking, piezo, MIDI and sustainer pickups; floating and hardtail tremolo bridges; phase splitters; and much, much more. Director Garson Yu and his team at yU+co were brought on to capture a deep look in to this magnificent creation which can be screened below:







Vai shares, “It's an incredibly-built machine. I told the guys at Hoshino, ‘Anything that you think is conventional, don't do that.’ This was an opportunity to exercise brutal creativity. And they went beyond.” As did Vai in his performance. Throughout the track he employs the Hydra’s full range of tone and timbres to craft a guitar part that sounds, in its expansiveness and expressiveness, positively alive. “The interesting thing about the song and the guitar is that it all came at the same time,” Vai says. “It was one of those ‘inviolate’ inspirations – boom! I knew that I needed to create something with the Hydra that sounded like a real piece of music. It couldn’t be just a novelty. Because if you knew what my hands were doing, and how I'm using my left hand to create phrasings that work when I can't pick a note because my right hand is off somewhere else…my god. But the finished piece had to stand on its own. It couldn't sound like I was just trying to juggle stuff.”


Watch a visualizer for "Teeth Of The Hydra" below:





Vai’s newest and 13th solo album, Inviolate, is a nine-song opus that pushes the boundaries of instrumental guitar music. The body of work presents his most focused, streamlined and perhaps invigorating music in years. “It’s very ‘Vai,’ whatever that means,” he says, and then laughs. “Someone else might be better than me at explaining what that is. But it’s just very honest music. Because a lot of my records, they're long and there's a lot of concepts and playing around with stories. This one has none of that. This is nine pretty dense all-instrumental compositions that I wanted to capture and record so I could get out there and play them live for people.”


In essence, it all comes down to finding your own voice, and then having the courage and conviction to follow your musical and creative instincts wherever they may take you – something Vai has never been shy about in his playing. “One of the great things about the guitar is you don't need to be a virtuoso to express your creative vision,” he says. “I mean, Bob Dylan plays the guitar perfectly well for his expression. So does John McLaughlin. You just need to decide how much technique you want or need to get there. For myself, I came out of the chute wanting and needing it all. When it comes to my music, I don’t feel like I have to prove anything or conform to anything. I just love to think up creative ideas, and then use whatever skill I have to manifest them.”


“An inviolate inspiration is one that comes to you completely pure,” Vai explains. “It appears almost in its completeness, and there’s a recognition of it as being right for you – perfectly right for you. There’s no excuses in it. There's no fantasy in it. There's just a recognition of ‘yes.’ And then you capture that in a way that’s authentic to your unique creativity. Hopefully, that’s what I’ve done with this record.”


Inviolate can be ordered in various formats, here.





Tracklisting:


"Teeth Of The Hydra"
"Zeus In Chains"
"Little Pretty"
"Candle Power"
"Apollo In Color"
"Avalancha"
"Greenish Blues"
"Knappsack"
"Sandman Cloud Mist"


“Zeus In Chains” visualizer:





"Little Pretty" video:





"Candle Power":





"Knappsack"





Tour dates:


September
28 - El Cajon, CA - The Magnolia
30 - Riverside, CA - Fox Performing Arts Center


October
1 - Las Vegas, NV - House Of Blues
2 - Phoenix, AZ - Celebrity Theatre
4 - Salt Lake City, UT - The Rockwell at The Complex
5 - Boulder, CO - Boulder Theater
7 - Oklahoma City, OK - Tower Theatre
8 - Dallas, TX - House Of Blues
9 - San Antonio, TX - The Aztec Theatre
11 - Austin, TX - Paramount Theatre
12 - Houston, TX - House Of Blues
14 - Birmingham, AL - Lyric Theatre
15 - Macon, GA - Hargray Capitol Theatre
16 - Atlanta, GA - Variety Playhouse
18 - Clearwater, FL - Bilheimer Capitol Theatre
19 - Ft. Lauderdale, FL - The Parker
20 - Orlando, FL - The Plaza Live
21 - Ponte Vedra Beach, FL - Ponte Vedra Concert Hall
22 - Charleston, SC - Charleston Music Hall
23 - Charlotte, NC - The Fillmore Charlotte
25 - Alexandria, VA - The Birchmere
26 - Harrisburg, PA - TBD
27 - Port Chester, NY - The Capitol Theatre
28 - Glenside, PA - Keswick Theatre
29 - Red Bank, NJ - Count Basie Theatre
30 - Huntington, NY - The Paramount


November
1 - New Haven, CT - College Street Music Hall
2 - Providence, RI - The Strand
3 - Boston, MA - The Wilbur
4 - Rochester, NY - Kodak Center
5 - Albany, NY - The Egg
7 - Greensburg, PA - Palace Theatre
8 - Warren, OH - Packard Music Hall
10 - Detroit, MI - Masonic Cathedral Theatre
11 - Morgantown, WV - Metropolitan Theatre
12 - Nashville, TN - CMA Theatre
13 - Louisville, KY - Old Forester’s Paristown Hall
14 - St. Louis, MO - The Pageant
16 - Chicago, IL - Copernicus Center
18 - St. Paul, MN - Fitzgerald Theater
19 - Lincoln, NE - Bourbon Theatre
20 - Kansas City, MO - The Uptown Theater
21 - Sioux Falls, SD - The District
22 - Des Moines, IA - Hoyt Sherman Place
23 - Fargo, ND - Fargo Theatre
25 - Bozeman, MT - The ELM
26 - Missoula, MT - The Wilma
27 - Seattle, WA - Moore Theatre
28 - Portland, OR - Roseland Theater
30 - Turlock, CA - Turlock Community Theatre


December
2 - Napa, CA - Uptown Theatre Napa
3 - Los Angeles, CA - Theatre at Ace Hotel

George Lynch introduced the latest lineup of his GEORGE LYNCH AND THE ELECTRIC FREEDOM project last night (Saturday, January 29) at Count's Vamp'd in Las Vegas, Nevada. Joining the legendary DOKKEN axeman in the band are Andrew Freeman (LAST IN LINE) on vocals, Jimmy D'Anda (BULLETBOYS) on drums and Rob DeLuca (Sebastian Bach, UFO, SPREAD EAGLE) on bass.

Video of the Vegas concert can be seen below (courtesy of MotorBreathInc and RocknForever1 "Always Classic").

Earlier today, Lynch took to his Instagram to write: "After years of personal changes in #lynchmob and #electricfreedom I finally put together my perfect band. #georgelynchbandfeaturinggeorhelynchx4 #forestbeforethetrees #v8 #duh #andrewfreeman #andrewfreemanofficial #jimmydanda #robdaluca @jimmydanda @andrewfreemanofficial @ratpakrecords".

Upcoming GEORGE LYNCH AND THE ELECTRIC FREEDOM shows:

Feb. 05 - Medina, MN @ Medina Entertainment Center (w/ WINGER)

Feb. 14 - Feb. 18 - Nassau, Bahamas @ Rock Legends Cruise

Mar. 25 - St. Charles, IL @ Arcada Theatre (w/ DOKKEN)

Apr. 23 - Manistee, MI @ Little River Casino (w/ DOKKEN)

May 13 - Santa Clarita, CA @ The Canyon

Last August, Lynch spoke to Anne Erickson of Audio Ink Radio about what it has been like to play select shows around the country with his newly christened touring entity GEORGE LYNCH AND THE ELECTRIC FREEDOM. He said: "It's liberating, actually, to be quite honest with you. To have a new band and a new name and a name that — I mean, just the power of the name, 'cause with the new name, which is GEORGE LYNCH'S ELECTRIC FREEDOM, it really is electric freedom. I didn't even think of it that way, but [ELECTRIC FREEDOM bassist] Michael Devin and I were were talking the other day on the way home, and we were, like, 'This really defines the band.' And it really does. Because we're plugged in, we do a lot of kind of just off-the-cuff improvisation during our show, which you don't see very much in rock and roll anymore — not since the '70s. And we're big fans of that; that's what we were raised on. So it's, I think, more alive and vital than your kind of average thing where you go see a band and they're playing songs they wrote 35 years ago. And sure, it's great — you wanna hear the songs, and that's all good. But these guys have been flogging these songs for decades. I've been doing that too. And that's not what I'm about. I mean, I can do it. But I like to bring the audience another perspective and another dimension to what can happen onstage, and that is the creative moment in real time — experiencing that and witnessing that, and for me to play that and the band to play that... And I think the crowd appreciates that. And not just at the moment, but more in retrospect, when they think about it. They think, 'Wow, actually, that was pretty cool.' Every time you come see my band, it's gonna be different. It's gonna be different members [and] we're gonna play different material."

Asked if there are plans to work on new music with GEORGE LYNCH AND THE ELECTRIC FREEDOM, George said: "It's not on the way in the sense that's we're working on it, but we have discussed the idea of doing an EP. We wanna go a little more old school and do something that's pretty easy for us to make instead of taking on a whole album project with a new band. Let's just do four songs, and let's hand one out to the fans for free and just get people into it and put a lot of work into those four songs and make it easy, so it's not this big giant burden for us. And if the EP blows up, which I think it will, then we'll do — when we've been together a little longer, we'll do a real record. But I definitely believe we need to document what this band is, 'cause it's very, very cool."

A year ago, Lynch offered a lengthy explanation for why he was ending LYNCH MOB during an interview with George Dionne of Metal Express Radio. Addressing questions about why it took him three decades to call it quits with LYNCH MOB, George said: "When we first formed the band in '89, the name had sort of already been around. While I was in DOKKEN, it's what I called our little group of guitar fans — I had picks made; it was kind of a little subculture within DOKKEN. When we started working on developing and building the band after DOKKEN broke up, that was just the name that we always thought we'd use, 'cause it was a perfect fit — it's my name, and it describes it pretty well. And, of course, the negative connotations were always there, and I was aware of 'em, but not as aware as I probably should have been. [Laughs]

"I had made numerous attempts over the decades to kind of let that name go and had walked that back for multiple reasons — usually because of business considerations," he continued. "For instance, if you try to go out on a tour and not use the name, promoters aren't gonna be happy with you changing it. People aren't gonna know who you are. They're not gonna show up, because what's THE GEORGE LYNCH EXPERIENCE, or whatever you call it. Or record labels are not interested, because it's a brand that they can count on and sell a certain many albums or whatever.

"For instance, the LYNCH MOB record 'Smoke This' that came out, I think, in '99 or 2000, that was not supposed to be a LYNCH MOB record; that really wasn't anything to do with LYNCH MOB. At the end of the day, after the record was done and we were delivering it to the label, they insisted on using that name as insurance. And if I hadn't agreed to that, we wouldn't have had a record. That's the kind of pressure I'm talking about.

"But then, with the onset of everything that's happened in the last year, I didn't have that kind of pressure anymore," George added. "I could take it or leave it at this point. And I didn't really feel comfortable with it; I didn't feel comfortable with the name. 'Cause I'm a very progressive person politically, and it just so flies in the face of everything I believe in, and it makes it hard. It makes it hard to have relationships with people and explain yourself, and I got tired of rationalizing it. I think the music is bigger than that, and it's had a great run.

"Another reason, too, is the band fell apart again. The band has fallen apart so many times, I can't even count. And it was just, like, 'No more Oni [Logan, vocals], no more Brian Tichy [drums], no more this guy, no more that guy. Oh, great. Now what do I do?' It's, like, 'Okay, build another band from scratch, call it LYNCH MOB?' No. How about just build something new? It gives me a lot more freedom to basically play anything I want live… I can go out and play everything from my catalog — new, old, covers, jams, you name it, and go deep and have fun and change it up every night."

Oni first hooked up with LYNCH MOB in 1990, but exited the group after the release of its first album, only to rejoin the outfit in the late 2000s.

Logan is featured on five of LYNCH MOB's eight albums, including 1990's "Wicked Sensation", as well as 2009's "Smoke And Mirrors", 2014's "Sun Red Sun", 2015's "Rebel" and 2017's "The Brotherhood".

In August 2020, LYNCH MOB celebrated the 30th anniversary of "Wicked Sensation" with a special limited print/deluxe edition of the album. "Wicked Sensation Reimagined" features re-worked and re-recorded versions of the LP's classic songs, and was made available via Rat Pak Records.




































View this post on Instagram









































A post shared by George Lynch (@georgelynchofficial)








Pics from last night at Vamp'd with George Lynch.

Posted by Jay Quintana on Sunday, January 30, 2022

STAIND frontman Aaron Lewis celebrated the release of his new solo album, "Frayed At Both Ends", with a free performance this past Wednesday (January 26) at Kentucky's Fort Campbell. Video of his appearance can be seen below.

Lewis wanted to give back to Soldiers from the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) and Fort Campbell's tenant units through the performance, he told the Fort Campbell Courier, adding that the installation was a perfect fit for an album-release show.

"It's my way of giving thanks, but also showing my profound respect," Lewis said. "Both sides of my family have served, and I feel the act of selflessly serving our country is one of the most honorable things an American can do.

Having had two No. 1 Billboard Country Album debuts with "Town Line" and "Sinner", Lewis has quietly made an impact on country music without flexing to let everyone know what a big deal he was. With a decade invested in a genre that's seen him record with Willie Nelson, George Jones, Charlie Daniels, Vince Gill, Alison Krauss, Mickey Raphael, the Cox Family and Dan Tyminski and producer Buddy Cannon, the 15-million selling frontman of STAIND doubled down on "Frayed At Both Ends", out now via The Valory Music Co.

Starker, more acoustic and with the focus on what the Los Angeles Times cited as "his mournful baritone," "Frayed At Both Ends" is a meditation on shrinking opportunities, mistakes made, consequences of our actions and squaring up to it all with the dignity it takes to be a full-grown man. Drawing on the tattered reality and stoicism of Merle Haggard, the yearning of David Allan Coe's Darlin' Darlin era, the ragged fringe of Johnny Paycheck, Lewis collaborated with many of the songwriters who've become his friends over the last dozen years for the first time.

"Over the years, you hang out and one thing leads to another, and you're writing songs," Aaron explained. "When you've got Chris Wallen, Dan Tyminski, Ira Dean, Matt McGinn, Jeffrey Steele or David Lee Murphy sitting there talking, songs just tend to fall out. And when you realize what you got, you just keep going. These are all men who know country music's depths, so for all of us, we got to write songs you don't hear every day."

That same truth applies to the recording. While co-producing with musical collaborator Ben Kitterman and Ira Dean, they drew on the wealth of top-flight musicians who've become core to reflecting the tavern country sound Lewis heard on his grandfather's George Jones, Waylon Jennings and Haggard 8-tracks. Guitarists Tom Bukovac, Biff Watson and Seth Taylor, dobroist Kitterman, acoustic slide and baritone guitar from Sturgill Simpson veteran Laur Joamets, keyboard player Jim Moose Brown, acoustic guitar/mandolin from Tyminski were the core band.

"The beauty of country music is that often less is more," Lewis said. "These songs did the work, all we needed to do was support them. These players are so gifted, they can say more in a few notes than a lot of people... It was a privilege seeing them bring these stories and feelings to life."

With the post-Dust Bowl Country of the reap-what-you-sow "Get What You Get", the broken "Pull Me Under", the minor-keyed double entendre road-life lament "Life Between Bars", the dobro-heavy acceptance lullaby "Kill Me Like You Love Me", high lonesome memory that can't be outrun "Waiting There For Me" and the hopeful closer "Someone", Lewis built on the starkness of "Am I The Only One", his No. 1 Billboard Hot Country Songs debut — only the ninth such debut since the chart's debut in 1958 — of frustration voiced and manifested.

Mixed by Chris Lord-Alge, the five-time Grammy-winning engineer made the warmth of the playing and depth in the room undeniable. For fans of Lewis's haunted, brass tacks kind of country music, this is the essence of what he's been chasing since arriving in Nashville to make music that honors the roots of his raising. Having invested in the community, the community has become an outgrowth of that love for the splinters and reckonings that once made country such a good place to drown one's sorrows and figure out how to move on from the wreckage one creates.

Part two of a new documentary celebrating the 15th anniversary of ALL THAT REMAINS' breakthrough album "The Fall Of Ideals" is available below.

ALL THAT REMAINS will embark on "The Fall Of Ideals" 15th-anniversary trek this spring, kicking off on March 12 in Worcester, Massachusetts, and running through May 20 in Hartford, Connecticut. MISS MAY I, VARIALS and TALLAH will serve as support. ALL THAT REMAINS will perform "The Fall Of Ideals" in full on this run.

"The Fall Of Ideals" was reissued last November. The best-selling title features such fan favorites as "This Calling", "Six" and "The Air That I Breathe". In addition to the wide release, the band has exclusive colored vinyl variants with deluxe packaging available only at the band's webstore.

Originally released in 2006, "The Fall Of Ideals" launched a new era for ALL THAT REMAINS — finding the band moving away from the death metal of their first two albums (2002's "Behind Silence And Solitude" and 2004's "This Darkened Heart") and settling into the melodic metalcore that defined their career. "The Fall Of Ideals" also introduced fans to the band's longtime bassist Jeanne Sagan and marked their only album to feature drummer Shannon Lucas. The newcomers joined founding members Phil Labonte (vocals) and Oli Herbert (lead guitars), as well as rhythm guitarist Mike Martin.

In the studio, the Massachusetts quintet partnered with two prominent metal artists: KILLSWITCH ENGAGE's Adam Dutkiewicz, who served as producer, and SOILWORK's Peter Wichers, who engineered the sessions. The dynamic, 11-song set found the musicians pushing their sonic boundaries, while Labonte showcased his broad vocal range — from epic, extended screams and in-your-face growls to emotive choruses. The album spawned a variety of enduring favorites, including the hard-driving "This Calling", which featured in the soundtracks to "Saw III" and "Masters Of Horror II", as well as singles "The Air That I Breathe" and "Not Alone". Other highlights included the guitar-forward "Whispers (I Hear You)" and the dramatic "Six", which appeared in "Guitar Hero II".

Upon its release in the summer of 2006, "The Fall Of Ideals" was embraced by fans, becoming the band's first album to break the Billboard 200 (peaking at No. 75) and eventually selling more than 450,000 units. The album also caught the attention of critics. Pop Matters hailed, "ALL THAT REMAINS has made the kind of stylistic leap that most bands can only wish they could pull off… 'The Fall Of Ideals' [is] invigorating from start to finish, and could very well be the metalcore album of the year." BLABBERMOUTH.NET praised, "ALL THAT REMAINS effortlessly blends thrashy twin guitar fireworks and Phil Labonte's raging vocals with soaring clean vocals and overall tunefulness…There is no denying that those guys play their asses off here and the result is immensely gratifying." Lambgoat simply declared, "The entire band executes the songs perfectly," adding that "the production…is full and crisp."

"We're so thankful to everyone who has kept this disc in their hearts for the past 15 years," said Labonte. "We are proud to celebrate the reissue and can't wait to tell you about all the other cool things we have in store."

In the 15 years since "The Fall Of Ideals", ALL THAT REMAINS have built an undeniable legacy as one of this century's most consistent purveyors of heavy music with a bulletproof canon of arena-worthy anthems. Currently consisting of Labonte and Martin, as well as drummer Jason Costa, and lead guitarist Jason Richardson, the band continues to defy the odds of its genre. To date, they have sold more than a million albums worldwide, earning five consecutive Top 10 debuts on the Billboard Top Rock Albums chart, and boasting more than 1.5 million monthly listeners on Spotify — an unprecedented feat for any metal band. In 2018, ALL THAT REMAINS released their widely acclaimed ninth studio album, "Victim Of The New Disease".

In a new interview with Ruben Mosqueda of Photo Concerto, SAXON frontman Biff Byford was asked if he can picture himself retiring in the not-too-distant future. He responded (as transcribed by BLABBBERMOUTH.NET): "No, retirement is not really [something I think about] at all, really. That word, I don't really relate to it much, because if I retired, I'd be doing something with music. I don't think guys like me retire."

The 71-year-old singer continued: "You get bands that retire, then, like, six months later the singer brings out a solo album. He's not really retiring, is he? Retiring a band and retiring yourself, I suppose it's totally different, isn't it?"

Four years ago, Byford dismissed Jay Jay French as "a silly little man" after the TWISTED SISTER guitarist criticized other bands for continuing to perform well past their prime. At an April 2018 Spooky Empire convention in Orlando, Florida, Jay Jay said that the members of SAXON are "80 fucking years old" and called the current touring lineup of JUDAS PRIEST "a cover band." Jay Jay went on to say that TWISTED SISTER called it quits in 2016 because the members of the band wanted to go out while they could still deliver the kind of performances that earned them the reputation as one of the strongest live acts around.

During an appearance on the "Thunder Underground" podcast, Byford explained that SAXON's insistence on releasing new music more than 40 years into the band's career had little to do with any commercial aspirations.

"There are six or seven [classic rock and metal] bands out there that release albums regardless of whether they're gonna be platinum or not," the singer said (hear audio below). "For us, it's not really about being at the top of the charts anywhere. It's nice if you're in the charts, obviously, but it's all about how many people buy the record and how many people come see you live. We deserve to be bigger in America, without a doubt, and we're making strides to do that. Some people might think it's a bit late, but it's never too late, really, and we've proven that.

"There are a lot of bands out there that [are still releasing new music]," he continued. "SCORPIONS, they're all putting albums out. WHITESNAKE put albums out, MOTÖRHEAD put albums out, [IRON] MAIDEN put albums out, we put albums out. If you don't put albums out and you're just going out doing the odd show and playing your big hits, then I can understand it being totally boring for people. Because you can't tour it constantly if you're just playing hits. You can go every two years and play your hits, but you can't keep going back every four or five months — you can't do that. So I think that bands like TWISTED SISTER, they've retired, they've stopped, [and] they [aren't interested in putting] another album out, because they know it's not gonna be platinum. So therefore, in their eyes, it brings down their profile, but in actual fact, it doesn't, 'cause people never forget the hits. And actually, if anything, they get more credibility, 'cause they're out playing the hits from the '80s, whatever hits you have, plus the new stuff. So I think it rejuvenates a band. I think you get a new audience and people like it. Obviously, they have to be good albums. There's no point releasing a piece of shit, 'cause that won't work. You have to have a great album. You can't polish a turd. The albums have to be of a certain quality."

Addressing Jay Jay's comments directly, Biff said: "I haven't answered that guy — a silly little man, really. But he didn't mention [IRON] MAIDEN, he didn't mention SCORPIONS, he didn't mention WHITESNAKE, he didn't mention VAN HALEN. It's just silly — not even worth mentioning. I mean, [TWISTED SISTER singer] Dee Snider is still touring, right? You know what I mean? C'mon!"

He added: "I just think it's your personal choice, and it's nobody else's business, actually, what I want to do, or what a guitarist wants to do. If a guitarist wants to say, 'I've had enough,' then he's had enough. And he goes home and… I don't know… I don't know what the guy, Jay Jay or whatever they call him… He'll go and sit on the porch in his rocking chair with his pipe and slippers and fade away. We're fucking Vikings. We don't do that shit."

SAXON's new album, "Carpe Diem", will be released on February 4 via Silver Lining Music. The LP was produced by Andy Sneap (JUDAS PRIEST, EXODUS, ACCEPT) at Backstage Recording Studios in Derbyshire with Byford and Sneap mixing and mastering.

ABSENT IN BODY, the new band featuring AMENRA guitarist Mathieu J. Vandekerckhove, AMENRA frontman Colin H. Van Eeckhout, NEUROSIS vocalist/guitarist Scott Kelly and former SEPULTURA drummer Igor Cavalera, will release its debut album, "Plague God", on March 25 via Relapse Records.

"Plague God" is bound by the same ideals of unity and fearlessly uncompromising honesty of expression that have driven the members' respective bands to imperious heights of reverence and groundbreaking sonic deliverance. "Plague God" is by turns devastating and sublime, drawn from musicians for whom life and art are inextricably bound.

Vandekerckhove comments: "We had not imposed any limitations or boundaries on ourselves to create this music. Everything happened without any compromise, we gathered and let inspiration run freely. It is the beauty and the strength of this album."

Cavalera states: "It feels great to collaborate with such forward-thinking minds like Colin, Mathieu and Scott on ABSENT IN BODY. The music is dense and slowly brutal, very similar to the times we are living."

"The Acres/The Ache" music video was filmed and edited by Vandekerckhove.

"Plague God" track listing:

01. Rise From Ruins

02 In Spirit In Spite

03. Sarin

04. The Acres/The Ache

05. The Half Rising Man

In an era overrun by information, misinformation, unseen algorithms and viral contagion, to seek out what’s truly human in the face of overwhelming and unfathomable forces has perhaps become our most sacred of tasks. It’s an impulse that lies at the very heart of "Plague God".

Initially the brainchild of Vandekerckhove and Kelly, ABSENT IN BODY formed in 2017. Immediately recognizing their kinship, and with Van Eeckhout brought in on vocals and bass, what emerged is a reflection of the intervening years of turbulence, extending its scope as it navigates across five stretches of unstable terrain. From the opening "Rise From Ruins" with Cavalera's tribal beat emerging from foreboding, near-subsonic oscillations to explode in a tide of corrosive riffs and feral howls, through "Sarin"'s steadfast, procession-through-purgatory groove, to "The Half Rising Man"'s matrix of organic/mechanic evolution, it's an album in constant dialogue between the animalistic, the human and the industrial, and a hunger to distill a truth, something unpolluted from the fray.

Protest music is often perceived as a petition, or a counter-argument against a controlling force. There is another sense of protest, though, that of a machine under stress: articulating the pressures weighing down on it by means of an involuntary, primal response. It's these states of critical mass at which we must truly find ourselves, under duress maybe, but unblinded and alive. "Plague God" doesn't just give voice to these moments of truth, but in the band's deep kinship integral to every claustrophobic judder, every stretch of atmospheric dread and helpless alias assumed, lies a freedom we both forget and attain at our peril.

KORN's new single, "Lost In The Grandeur", can be streamed below via a video animated and edited by EFFIXX. The track is taken from the band's upcoming album, album, "Requiem", which will arrive on February 4 via Loma Vista Recordings.

Due to the effects of COVID-19 and the inability to play live shows for the first time in KORN's illustrious career, "Requiem" was conceived out of very different circumstances than the majority of the band's catalogue. It is an album born of time and the ability to create without pressure. Energized by a new creative process free of time constraints, KORN was able to do things with "Requiem" that the past two decades haven't always afforded them, such as taking additional time to experiment together or diligently recording to analog tape — processes which unearthed newfound sonic dimension and texture in their music.

"Requiem" was produced by Chris Collier and KORN.

KORN guitarist James "Munky" Shaffer recently told "Loudwire Nights" about "Requiem": "Something about it makes me feel like it's — remember the album 'Untouchables'? It has a vibe to it that's like early 2000s to me. I don't know why. Maybe it's just because we took more time on guitars. We got a lot of textures, and there's some layering and techniques recording-wise that we've done [such as] recording to tape. We did all the drums and did a lot of analog recording, and just got out of working in a computer."

Munky added that some KORN fans might be surprised by the release. "I feel like it's gonna take fans a minute to kind of digest," he said. "And also, you have to put yourself where we were in the middle of COVID. The whole world shut down. At one point, L.A. had these big fires and there was this orange sky, the virus was out there — it just felt so dystopian."

"Requiem" is available for pre-order in an array of collectible formats. These include an exclusive silver vinyl variant strictly limited to 1,000 copies.

"Requiem" track listing:

01. Forgotten

02. Let The Dark Do The Rest

03. Start The Healing

04. Lost In The Grandeur

05. Disconnect

06. Hopeless And Beaten

07. Penance To Sorrow

08. My Confession

09. Worst Is On Its Way

KORN will celebrate the arrival of its new album, "Requiem", with a special record-release event this coming Thursday, February 3 at the Hollywood United Methodist Church in Los Angeles, California. "Requiem Mass" will see the Southern California heavy music pioneers perform an intimate set in front of a 300 attendees.

KORN kicked off a short of shows with SYSTEM OF A DOWN Monday night (January 31) in Phoenix, followed by dates in San Diego (February 1) and Los Angeles (February 4 and February 5). KORN's headlining tour with CHEVELLE and CODE ORANGE will launch March 4.

Photo credit: Tim Saccenti

METALLICA has paid tribute to Megaforce Records founder Jon "Jonny Z" Zazula who died earlier today (Tuesday, February 1). The 69-year-old passed away in Florida surrounded by his family. Jonny died of complications of the rare neuropathic disorder chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy (CIDP), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and osteopenia, the family said.

The legendary heavy metal band shared a moving statement in honor of Jonny shortly after news of his death became public. The statement read: "Heavy music lost one of its great champions today when Jonny Z left this world far too soon.

"In 1982, when no one wanted to take a chance on four kids from California playing a crazy brand of metal, Jonny and Marsha did, and the rest, as they say, is history.

"He was a mentor, a manager, a label head and a father figure to us all ... METALLICA would not be who we are or where we are today without Jon Zazula and his wife, Marsha.

"Our love and sympathy go out to Jonny's children and his grandchildren, whom he cherished and brought to our shows from the time they were in diapers.

"We hope they will be able to take some comfort in knowing that he is reunited with Marsha, and that he helped bring so much incredible music to so many."

The statement concluded with: "Hopefully there's a great show goin' on up there tonight to welcome you! We'll miss you Jonny".

In a separate statement, METALLICA drummer Lars Ulrich said: "Thank you Jonny for taking a chance on these crazy, noisy, uncompromising and undisciplined dudes from NorCal who didn't know what was up, down or sideways, but who were ready, willing and more than able to fuckin throw it all to the wind and go for it.. Thank you for giving us a sense of belonging and ultimately, a sense of self-worth. I will forever be grateful for your friendship, advice and blind belief that the music we played could be shared with way more people who were just like us…outsiders and misfits!

"Rest In Peace my friend."

METALLICA frontman James Hetfield stated: "God rest your soul Jonny. My heart is full of gratitude for taking a chance on me and my bandmates."

Jon's wife Marsha, with whom he founded Megaforce, passed away of cancer in January of last year.

Megaforce is widely credited for launching the career of METALLICA by releasing the band's first two albums, 1983's "Kill 'Em All" and 1984's "Ride The Lightning", before METALLICA landed a major label deal with Elektra. Megaforce's roster has also included such artists as ANTHRAX, TESTAMENT, OVERKILL, Ace Frehley, MINISTRY, KING'S X, STORMTROOPERS OF DEATH and RAVEN.

In a 2019 interview, Jonny recalled hearing METALLICA's "No Life 'Til Leather" demo for the first time: "I basically said, 'What the fuck!' It was just so amazing. I stood there stunned, because music is my life. Everything was going off in my head, like this was the answer to America, just from the demo. And I said I've got to get involved with this."

Jonny said of the superstardom METALLICA achieved: "When we first started with the group in '83, we envisioned this. We knew we were dealing with a group that could potentially rival LED ZEPPELIN. They were destined for greatness."

Born in 1952, Jonny began his extraordinary journey as a renegade youth who went from living on the streets of the Bronx in New York City, to later working on Wall Street, and eventually (and unexpectedly) transitioning into the music business and discovering METALLICA, ANTHRAX and others.

After Wall Street, Jonny Z began selling records at a flea market store in 1981 to put food on the table for his family. Dubbed Rock N' Roll Heaven, the store eventually blossomed into a major record store that influenced the heavy metal movement as we know it today. In the winter of 1982, Jonny Z received an unexpected demo tape from unsigned underground band called METALLICA. Eager and determined to have the music heard by the entire world, Jonny and Marsha founded Megaforce the following year and released "Kill 'Em All". Through this release, Megaforce cemented its position as the de-facto music label in America for heavy metal.

Jon's acclaimed autobiography, "Heavy Tales: The Metal. The Music. The Madness. As Lived By Jon Zazula", was released in October 2019. The book tells the story of how the Zazulas ended up signing a band that shaped the sound of heavy metal for decades to come.

"It's all a blessing when you work hard and you stay smart and you go into the game and then eventually something comes your way and you're ready for it. And you're able to jump upon it and ride it," Jonny told Variety. "We were very fortunate, Marsha and I, that we have them to choose as a band that became the biggest band in the world. Not to mention a bunch of other great bands that made history."
























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