During a January 21 question-and-answer session on his YouTube channel, former SOULFLY guitarist Marc Rizzo reflected on his participation in a tour where former SEPULTURA members Max Cavalera and Igor Cavalera performed select tracks from the band's seminal "Beneath The Remains" and "Arise" albums. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "I worked very, very hard to get prepared for that tour. That was not easy to learn those old-school SEPULTURA songs. A lot of 'em I knew, but I really wanted to show a lot of respect to Andreas [Kisser, SEPULTURA guitarist]. I did not want his guitar solos or his riffing to be different than what it was on the record. People paid good money to see 'Beneath' and 'Arise'. Speaking for myself, I wanted to play just like the record. I wanted to put on a great performance and pay homage to Andreas. That was really what excited me. Andreas has always been one of my favorite lead guitar players and I really wanted to pay homage, show my respect to what a great guitar player Andreas is. So when it was time to learn all those solos, I learned 'em by ear. It took me about two or three weeks to really try to learn those solos as close as I could get 'em, 'cause there's really not a lot of tab out there. And I did it, I think. I was very excited."

He continued: "That was one of my favorite tours I ever did because that's my favorite era of SEPULTURA… That was really, really an important tour for me because that's my favorite era of SEPULTURA, was 'Beneath The Remains' and 'Arise', specifically because I think that's Andreas at his best in the early SEPULTURA years. Although I do think he's gotten better — that new SEPULTURA record ['Quadra'] I think is amazing. I think it's just as good as anything they put out back in the day. And I think it showcases how great Andreas has gotten better; he keeps getting better."

Asked by one fan if he has talked to Andreas since leaving SOULFLY, Marc said: "No. We are friends. I have run into him from time to time. He's always been very cool with me, every time I've talked to Andreas. And obviously I've always been very excited to talk to him also. We do have mutual friends in Brazil. I know I've relayed messages to our mutual friends. And I hope maybe one day I can do something with Andreas because, again, hes' one of my favorite parts of what was SEPULTURA and was a very big influence on me. Andreas was just as important to me as Dimebag [PANTERA] or Kirk Hammett [METALLICA] or any of the thrash metal shredders. He was very important to me and I was very influenced by him."

When another fan mentioned that some of the musicians involved with the aforementioned "Beneath The Remains" / "Arise" tour looked "exhausted" while performing the material, Marc said: "That's what a lot of people were saying that whole tour — people looked exhausted on stage. Listen, you've gotta show up prepared, man. These tickets are not free — I always say that — and we were going to some countries that people don't make a lot of money, like in Russia, I'm assuming, in certain cities, and in certain cities down in South America. You've gotta come out and give a hundred percent, and a lot of people were saying what you just said — that some people looked exhausted on stage. I know I wasn't, man. I came out guns blazing, I was super excited to be there, and I worked very hard; I put about a month of rehearsal, every day, to prepare for that tour.

"Listen, man, put your money on me, guys. I come to show up and give a hundred percent. You come to my gigs, you're gonna get a performance that is a hundred percent. I promise you that."

In August, SOULFLY parted ways with Rizzo due to personal differences. A permanent replacement guitarist has yet to be announced. FEAR FACTORY's Dino Cazares played guitar for SOULFLY on the band's last U.S. tour which took place in August and September.

Shortly after Rizzo's exit from SOULFLY, Max told Metal Kaoz that Marc has been spewing out "lies and bullshit" in some of his recent interviews regarding his departure from the group. "All these accusations — it hurts," he said. "It hurts to hear. After everything that we did for him, which was a lot — we put him on all the records and always took really good care of him, always really, really gave good treatment to him. To hear him backstabbing us like that, it's just not nice. He's obviously trying to get fans to be against me and make him the victim… It just sucks to hear all that. It definitely hurts me when I hear all these accusations that I know are lies and bullshit; it's all fabricated by his crazy mind. I don't know. It's a strange situation."

He added: "I don't want to turn this into an ugly thing. I don't wanna talk bad about him; I really don't. Of course I don't like those accusations, and it's bullshit, but he has the right to say whatever. But I think we treated him really good through all those years. We put him on the map pretty much. When he joined the band, not many people knew him. Just a little bit of gratitude would have been nice. Because even on 'Max Trax' [Cavalera's twice-weekly Internet video series in which he discusses the inspiration for many of the songs spanning his nearly 40-year music career], when I mentioned that I fired him, I thanked him for the 18 years of SOULFLY, and I said good luck on his projects. I'm not bitter. I don't wanna be a bitter guy."

Rizzo joined SOULFLY in 2004, and has since appeared on all of the band's subsequent records, including "Prophecy" (2004), "Dark Ages" (2005), "Conquer" (2008), "Omen" (2010), "Enslaved" (2012), "Savages" (2013), "Archangel" (2015) and "Ritual" (2018). In 2007, Rizzo became a member of CAVALERA CONSPIRACY, the side project of SEPULTURA co-founders, brothers Max and Igor Cavalera, and has performed on all CAVALERA CONSPIRACY releases including "Inflikted", "Blunt Force Trauma", "Pandemonium" and the critically acclaimed 2017 LP "Psychosis".

The Riff Crew has uploaded professionally filmed video footage of OBITUARY's January 18, 2020 concert at Max Watts in Melbourne, Australia. The band's set included a performance of the classic OBITUARY album "Cause Of Death" in its entirety.

Featured songs:

01:54 Redneck Stomp

05:51 Sentence Day

08:40 A Lesson In Vengeance

12:53 Straight To Hell

"Cause Of Death" album

17:56 Infected

23:50 Body Bag

30:36 Chopped In Half

36:15 Circle Of The Tyrants

41:52 Dying

47:13 Find The Arise

50:31 Cause Of Death

56:55 Memories Remain

1:01:32 Turned Inside Out

Encore:

1:09:52 I'm In Pain

1:14:35 Trevor Chugs!

1:15:13 A Dying World

1:18:33 Slowly We Rot

Last March, OBITUARY frontman John Tardy told France's United Rock Nations that the band has used some of the downtime during the coronavirus pandemic to work on material for a new studio album. "We've definitely been working on new tunes, and we've been taking our time," he said. "We didn't feel like releasing [a new album] now in the middle of the pandemic when you can't go on tour and support it is not what we wanted to do, so we're in no hurry. But by the time next year comes around, we're gonna be hitting the road again. We're getting tours set up, and we will be releasing another album next year before we hit the road and start touring again. So we are currently working on new material."

Asked what fans can expect from the follow-up to OBITUARY's 2017 self-titled album, John said: "I think it's just gonna sound like OBITUARY. [Laughs] You know us — we're kind of cavemen; we don't like to evolve too much. We like to change it up and do a little here and there, but we're getting too old to change too much, I think. So as long as it's heavy and pounding, then that's what you can expect."

Last October, Decibel Books announced the publication of "Turned Inside Out: The Official Story Of Obituary", the fully authorized biography of OBITUARY.

David E. Gehlke — author of "Damn The Machine: The Story Of Noise Records" and "No Celebration: The Official Story Of Paradise Lost" — provides an unprecedented look at the death metal legends through all-new, in-depth interviews with bandmembers past and present, recording engineers, scene contemporaries and music industry veterans who've worked directly with the band throughout OBITUARY's nearly four-decade career.

Packed with hundreds of rare and never-before-seen photos, as well as a foreword from Max Cavalera (SOULFLY, SEPULTURA), the 328-page hardcover "Turned Inside Out: The Official Story Of Obituary" is exclusively available for pre-order now via decibelmagazine.com. Copies are expected to ship in late January.

The members of HALESTORM escaped unharmed after their tour bus caught Thursday morning (January 20). Earlier today, singer Lzzy Hale spoke to Lou Brutus of HardDrive Radio about the incident, explaining (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "It happened at three a.m. Nobody was in the bus.

"It was a very emotional day yesterday," she continued. "All day I'm either crying or I was just laughing hysterically at it all and sometimes a combination of the two. Just because it could have gone so left in many ways. It's kind of like we dodged a bullet.

"But, man, playing the show last night [at the DCU Center in Worcester, Massachusetts] after all of that happened was amazing. I don't think I've transcended like that on stage in a long time. I think just the idea that maybe one of us would have gotten hurt, maybe somebody would have died, and the fact that we're all in one piece and together, we literally played that show like it was our last show. And [we're] just very grateful to have each other and very grateful for music, and just with everybody around us and the audience and all of that. So there's a silver lining to it all."

Asked what caused the fire, Lzzy said: "The investigator said it was something electrical — like in the walls or something. It basically started where mine and Josh's [Smith, bass] bunk would have been, which is kind of like mid-bunk hall. And it was just crazy 'cause the whole day I kept telling Arejay [Hale, HALESTORM drummer and Lzzy's brother], 'cause Arejay and I kind of notorious bunk sleepers, even when we have days off — something with hotel rooms, I have trouble sleeping. And for some reason, that day Arejay was, like, 'I'm just gonna do something in the room 'cause I wanna work out.' And I'm, like, 'You know what? I'm just gonna have a bed to myself' or whatever.

"And it's just nuts because our amazing security guy ended up literally busting in with a fire extinguisher from the hotel but could not get back to the bunk hall," she continued. "It was just… According to everybody at the fire department, it was 15-foot flames. So everything was charred. I've lost a lot of things, which is why I'm actually talking to you on my phone instead of my iPad right now. But we're just lucky it's only stuff. It's just stuff, and we're all together, which is great."

HALESTORM is currently on the road with EVANESCENCE as part of the two bands' rescheduled U.S. co-headlining tour dates, which will run through January 21 in Newark, New Jersey.

HALESTORM and EVANESCENCE first toured together in 2012. EVANESCENCE singer Amy Lee later guested on the track "Break In" on HALESTORM's 2020 "Reimagined" EP and Lzzy lent backing vocals to the EVANESCENCE song "Use My Voice" and appeared in the accompanying music video.

HALESTORM is promoting its latest single, "Back From The Dead", which recently became the band's sixth No. 1 at rock radio.


























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Thank you to everyone for the well wishes. Like Joe said in his post,we lost some stuff, but so grateful that it was only stuff and no one was sleeping on the bus last night. I’m still shook, and emotions are a bit high today.But looks like the universe is not done with us yet!

— Lzzy Hale (@LZZYHALE) January 20, 2022

GHOST leader Tobias Forge has revealed to Kerrang! magazine that the band's new song "Grift Wood", from the upcoming album "Impera", takes aim at Donald Trump-era U.S. vice president Mike Pence who led Christian evangelicals into becoming apologists for what many believe was the most destructive president of modern times, while at the same time preaching righteousness and goodness.

"That song's about him and anyone like him who's willing to soil everything they've worked for," Forge explained. "They definitely qualify for a front-row ticket to Hell. Which is so ironic, because that's what they believe in. [People like that] completely demean themselves, and just eat shit out of someone's ass in order to achieve whatever they're trying to achieve.

"Again, he stands as a symbol for people of all times, where the end game is wrapped with some sort of religious [thing]," Tobias continued. "He's known as this sort of Bible thumper, believing that he has strong faith, and he's just this awful, awful person in any way. He tries to tell the world that he serves God, that he's part of the good side. Whereas at the end of the day, the only thing he wants is power. But it doesn't have to necessarily be all about him. It's about people like him: a lot of politicians, lot of preachers, a lot of clergymen throughout the history of time."

Back in 2018, Forge stated about GHOST's religious imagery: "As a very imaginative kid and grown-up, I just have a natural sort of gravity towards history and religion and stories. The same way that I'm interested in 'Star Wars', I found The Bible compelling. My mom is and has always been very interested in art, so where she has never really been religious, she is extremely liberal, and there was no censorship at home in terms of culture. There was French films playing on TV with people sort of halfway screwing each other, and there was rock and roll music all the time. There was a lot of grown-up culture in my home. She always used to work in art, and she was always very keen on taking me to church — not for mass, but for art. She was interested in the artifacts. I think it's from spending a lot of time in cathedrals and churches. In my hometown where I grew up, there's a very old Catholic church. It has all that sort of lavish Catholic splendor and that sort of flaunting. Every time I'm back in town, I try to go there, because it's an old church and has a lot of history in there. The walls are literally whispering to you. A lot of that was inspirational for what we do now."

"Impera" will be released on March 11 via Loma Vista/Concord.

GHOST kicked off its co-headlining tour with VOLBEAT last night (Tuesday, January 25) at the Reno Events Center in Reno, Nevada. During its 16-song set, GHOST performed the recently released single "Hunter's Moon", a cover of METALLICA's "Enter Sandman" and debuted another song from "Impera", called "Kaisarion".

GHOST's 26-date co-headlining U.S. arena tour with VOLBEAT and special guests TWIN TEMPLE will conclude on March 3 in Anaheim, California.

Forge performed as a "new" Papa Emeritus on each of GHOST's first three LPs, with each version of Papa replacing the one that came before it. Papa Emeritus III was retired in favor of Cardinal Copia before the release of 2018's "Prequelle".

Voodoo Moonshine recently signed a label deal with Dark Star Records and announces their new album, Bottom Of The Barrel, is now available for pre-order. The new full-length CD will be available at all retailers worldwide as well as all digital stores on February 4. Pre-order here. BraveWords is premiering new single and video for the rocker "Bring It Down"; watch below!





Voodoo Moonshine’s Jeff Losawyer on the idea/concept of the video:




“The idea behind the beginning of the video is an extension of the CD cover which is the voodoo lady in front of the barrel bringing us (Voodoo Moonshine) back to life after a long, long break from music...and then we appear on stage.”


Losawyer on the song’s influence:


“Well the answer to that is a simple one....it's about sex...with particular individual influences brought to mind.”


"Our new CD, Bottom Of The Barrel, is a new collection of bluesy groove raw rock-n-roll, mixed with a melodic feel and a little bit of attitude. It’s been a long time in the making and well worth the wait!" - Pedro Espada, Voodoo Moonshine


"There is incredible talent in this group of hard rockers from down south, and their new album tells real stories of love and life from a band that lives the lifestyle, and a live show that should not be missed" - Jeffrey A. Swanson / President, Dark Star Records


Voodoo Moonshine, a “bluesy groove rock band”, currently from Florida/Georgia was formed in Memphis, TN in 2003 by lead guitarist, Jeff Losawyer. The debut album, Decade Of Decay, was released in March 2005, and was well received throughout Europe. A tour was booked, including shows in England, Ireland, and Scotland. Due to the album’s success they were voted “Number One Band” seven times in England, and six times in Japan. In mid 2005, Voodoo Moonshine was introduced in Dublin, Ireland and quickly became one of the top three requested bands there.


Their debut received rave reviews in many music publications including R.I.P. Magazine. 2006 saw the band’s popularity continue to rise, and rock radio around the world stood up and took notice. Voodoo Moonshine could be heard in Portugal, Greece, Canada and of course, at home in America. Many times during the year, the band’s songs charted ahead of some of rock's so-called heavy hitters, like Bon Jovi, Skid Row, Guns N Roses and the Scorpions. The album Decade of Decay continued to do extremely well deep into 2007, more than two full years after its release. As the year wound down, the band took some much needed, and well deserved, time off. This eventually led to guitarist Jeff Losawyer's work on a solo album. Jeff continued to write music during this time, and never gave up his passion to play.


Fast forward, and suddenly 12 years had passed. Interestingly enough, he heard Pedro Espada singing in a YouTube video and really liked what he heard. He took a chance and reached out to Pedro to see if he would be interested in singing some of his songs. Initially he didn’t receive a very warm response. As a matter of fact, he was mostly ignored, but he knew he had found the right man for the job, so he was persistent. His persistence paid off and Jeff was invited to Daytona Beach Bike Week 2018 to jam with Pedro and his bandmates of Rockit Fly. Needless to say, things went well with Pedro, former Nova Rex member Eddie Cruise and Hector Acevedo, merging together to bring back Voodoo Moonshine.


There is a lot of talk for what the future has in store for Voodoo Moonshine. Stay tuned...





Tracklisting:


"Locked And Loaded"
"Give It To Me"
"Bring It Down"
"Round And Round"
"Sometimes You Just Wanna"
"What A Way To Go"
"Swallow My Pride"
"Eden In Your Eyes"
"Rise Free"
"Y’all Come Back Soon"
"Eden In Your Eyes" (Acoustic Version)





Voodoo Moonshine lineup:


Pedro Espada - vocals
Jeff Losawyer - guitar
Hector Acevedo - bass
Eddie Cruise - drums

Italian classic ‘80s hair metal inspired band Sandness has re-signed with Rockshots Records for the release of their fourth studio album Play The Part this coming spring 2022. The album follows their two previous records released on Rockshots Records, 2020 EP Enter Please (2020) and 2019 LP Untamed.


The new album is produced, mixed and mastered by Michele Guaitoli and will feature twelve original tracks including a bonus cover version of KISS' "Turn On The Night".


"Play Your Part is a different kind of animal from our previous releases, due to the lockdown, we had more time to think and work on the songs. We also worked a lot more with our producer Michele, who helped us bring our music to the next level. The new album is more mature and inspired by different styles: hard rock, classic rock, heavy metal, ‘70s rock ‘n’ roll, but also pop music from different decades," adds the band.




Since their first independent release in 2010, Sandness has toured Europe multiple times, playing small venues and festivals in Latvia, France, Slovakia, Austria, Germany, Poland, Czech Republic, Belgium, Netherlands and Croatia. Over the years, the band shared the stage with renowned musicians such as Adam Bomb, L.A. Guns, Tygers Of Pan Tang, Reckless Love, Nazareth and Lita Ford.


Lineup:
Mark Denkley – Bass guitar, lead and backing vocals
Metyou ToMeatyou – Drums and backing vocals
Robby Luckets – Guitars, lead and backing vocals

Adrian Smith and Richie Kotzen's project SMITH/KOTZEN played the fourth show of its U.S. West Coast tour last night (Wednesday, January 26) at Goldfield Trading Post in Roseville, California. Joining Smith and Kotzen as part of their touring band is Richie's wife, internationally acclaimed bass player Julia Lage, formerly of the Latin Grammy-nominated Brazilian rock band BARRA DE SAIA. With a strong pedigree in rock, Lage has played alongside the likes of Pat Travers, Elliot Easton (THE CARS), Nuno Bettencourt (EXTREME) and Mark McGrath (SUGAR RAY). In addition, SMITH/KOTZEN has enlisted drummer Bruno Valverde of ANGRA for the U.S. West Coast dates.

Video footage of the Roseville concert, including SMITH/KOTZEN's rendition of the IRON MAIDEN classic "Wasted Years", with Smith on lead vocals, can be seen below.

In a recent interview with Metal Edge magazine's "Another FN Podcast With Izzy Presley", Richie stated about how the short tour came together (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "What happened was it was all just by timing. Nathalie [Dufresne-Smith, Adrian's wife] and Adrian came into town, and Adrian said, 'Hey, we're gonna be there for a couple of months. You wanna write some more songs?' And we did get together and we did about seven things that are in the works; we have some demo stuff that are in the works. And then we started thinking, 'Man, we're here. Why don't we play?' Julia was in the house and we were talking about it. And it just kind of — boom. It just made sense. 'Let's go. Call Bruno.' And we put it together. It was real easy."

Adrian added that fans can definitely expect to hear more music from SMITH/KOTZEN, which released a full-length album and an EP during 2021.

"We started writing with a view to doing another album, and then we got sidetracked on dates," Smith said. "Like Richie said, we've got six or seven things. It's just taking where we left off with the EP — just writing as we do.

"I don't wanna change the world," he added. "I just wanna make good rock music. It's n there, and you've just gotta do it. You just have to do it, really. It's one of those things."

SMITH/KOTZEN remaining West Coast tour dates:

Jan. 27 - The Siren - Morro Bay, CA

Jan. 28 - Ventura Theatre - Ventura, CA (postponed from Jan. 15)

SMITH/KOTZEN's eponymous debut album was released globally through BMG in March 2021 to media and fan acclaim, charting No. 10 on Billboard's Top Album Sales chart in the U.S., Top 20 in the U.K. as well as in other major markets such as Germany, Japan and Canada. A follow-up EP, "Better Days", featuring four new tracks was released on November 26 in conjunction with international Record Store Day's Black Friday event.

Smith is best known as one of IRON MAIDEN's principal guitarists, having also enjoyed success as a solo artist. Kotzen is the frontman for THE WINERY DOGS as well as having been the guitarist for both MR. BIG and POISON during his long and acclaimed career, which has to date seen him release more than 20 solo albums. Both artists are also prolific songwriters.

Metal Department has announced the release of the "Alice Cooper And The Tome Of Madness" 12-inch vinyl single.

"Alice Cooper And The Tome Of Madness" is the perfect companion piece to the official Alice Cooper slot game that Metal Department released in 2021.

The back story of that game is Cooper writing his memoirs in a strange journal (tome), which conjures up stories of other Alice Coopers in different dimensions — and now he must keep writing to simply stay alive!

On this 18-plus-minute-long spoken-word record, you can hear Cooper himself narrate one of these horror stories from "The Tome Of Madness".

There are two versions of the record available, a plain black vinyl edition and a limited edition of just 500 copies pressed on solid yellow vinyl.

The 12-inch record comes packed in a deluxe gatefold-sleeve with various artwork taken from the game.

Track listing:

Side A:

Tome Of Madness Part 1 (08:43)

Side B:

Tome Of Madness Part 2 (09:29)

The two vinyl editions are exclusively available from Metal Department.

LAMB OF GOD recruited Phil Demmel (VIO-LENCE, ex-MACHINE HEAD) to play guitar for the band on this year's ShipRocked cruise, which set sail from Galveston, Texas on January 22 and included stops in Costa Maya and Cozumel, Mexico before returning on January 27. Demmel filled in for LAMB OF GOD's regular guitarist Willie Adler who was unable to make the trip for reasons that have not been disclosed.

Fan-filmed video of LAMB OF GOD's final performance aboard the Carnival Breeze ship can be seen below.

Since Carnival Cruise Line's Have Fun Be Safe protocols and procedures currently require that guests are fully vaccinated and tested before their cruise on all sailings through February 28, 2022, some fans have speculated that Adler's COVID-19 vaccination status was the main reason he was excluded from this year's ShipRocked.

Last October, LAMB OF GOD frontman Randy Blythe urged everyone coming to see his band perform to get vaccinated against COVID-19. "I believe in fucking science," he said during an appearance on MACHINE HEAD frontman Robb Flynn's "No Fuckin' Regrets With Robb Flynn" podcast. "And I have friends who are doctors and scientists and nurses, and these are people I'm going to listen to — not someone on social media, not another musician, not a talking head on CNN, Fox News, USA Today, PBS; none of this stuff. I talk to my friends who are molecular biologists, immunologists, emergency room doctors, and I have friends who are nurses, one of whom works in a COVID ward — and someone very close to me. These are not my friends' neighbors' second cousin's buddy [saying], 'I heard this or that or the other'; these are people who are friends of mine I talk to directly. They're, like, 'This is real. This is the science. This is the data. This is what I see. These are the people I see dying.' So I'm going to listen to my friends 'cause they're a lot smarter than me.

"For me, everybody has to quote-unquote do their own research, I guess," he laughed. "My research involves talking to friends of mine who spent years of their lives pursuing degrees that cost them thousands and thousands of dollars, or who dedicate their lives to the service of others in the medical profession. And this is what these people are telling me. So I don't have to filter through all this data, through all these different media sources; I just talk to my friends. 'Are you vaccinated?' 'Yes.' 'Tell me about this vaccine. Tell me about the technology.' And I've had these conversations.

"When the vaccine came out very rapidly, comparatively, like anyone else, I was, like, 'Well, that's quick,'" Randy admitted. "But then some friends of mine explained to me, 'This is old technology. They've been working on this for 15 fucking years. It's not new. So cut it out with that.' And also, this is not just an American or one country's or one corporation's push; this is a massive international effort to get this vaccine ready — different ones ready — for distribution.

"I have a friend who works in intelligence — pretty high-level intelligence — and one of their jobs right now is helping out with COVAX, which is the international vaccine distribution arm. And he [was] talking to one of his co-workers from COVAX, and it was just, like, it's very frustrating with certain places where the vaccine is available and people don't wanna take it, and there are countries that are begging for it.

"All that aside, for me, like I said, it's a matter of talking to my friends and being, like, 'What's the deal with this?'" Blythe added. "Because these are people I trust, and they're a lot smarter than me… So I'm going to listen to them — I'm just gonna."

LAMB OF GOD's latest, self-titled album was released in June 2020 via Epic Records in the U.S. and Nuclear Blast Records in Europe. The follow-up to "VII: Sturm Und Drang" marked LAMB OF GOD's first recordings with Art Cruz, who joined the band in July 2019 as the replacement for the group's founding drummer, Chris Adler.

"Lamb Of God" was recorded with longtime producer Josh Wilbur (KORN, MEGADETH, GOJIRA, TRIVIUM) and includes special guest appearances by Jamey Jasta (HATEBREED) and Chuck Billy (TESTAMENT).










Shiprocked 2022! Randy Blythe from Lamb of God having some fun!

Posted by Jennifer Orr on Thursday, January 27, 2022

Ex-Meliah Rage guitarist Anthony Nichols and co-conspirators Jon Hardy (vocals, bass), Steve Fry (drums), and Dan Dykes (lead guitar) have released Burn Pit, a sumptuously menacing four-song EP. Listen to the song, "Horrible Folktale", below:





Burn Pit is Mexican Ape-Lord’s third release on Unable Records, following the acclaimed albums The Late Heavy Bombardment and Survival Cannibalism. Audio-savant producer Peter Rutcho is once again at the controls.







The tried-and-true Mexican Ape-Lord themes are all represented here: apex predators, ritualistic bloodshed, dangerous work, and inner demons. Through it all, the boys hammer out non-stop riffs, diabolical drum work, and insanely catchy leads. “We operate like an expeditionary force,” says Hardy. “Every member is a specialist.”


A lyric video for the song “Keep Hammering”, produced by Brandon Maxham, can be viewed below:





Nichols, a prime mover of metal for over three decades, says, “We’re not about to stop making loud music just because the world is coming to an end.”


The band is currently working on its third full length album, Blunt Instrument, to be released in early 2023.

Finland's melodic death metallers Re-Armed has released a new EP celebrating its 20th anniversary, titled XX. The EP contains two new songs, one demo song "Morrow" (first demo - released originally 2002) that is fully re-produced, re-recorded, re-armed and renamed as "Tomorrow", one acoustic version from previous album's "Beyond the Horizon", and two special versions from previously released songs "Evolve Cycle" as an arcade version, and "Ode to Life" as orchestral version. The EP is available on all the major streaming platforms.


The band comments on the special release: "We wanted to put together a somewhat special release that includes something new, but also echoes from the past. The new and the latest single ‘Tomorrow’ from the release is great example of that. The track was originally released under the name of 'Morrow' in 2002 as first demo for the band. It was more than exciting to shake its foundations after all these years and make it much better song. Now you can actually feel and hear its strong emotional charge, that’s been hidden in that shitty demo version, heh.


Of course, it could have been way more easier to pick up some songs from all the previous releases and make just some kind of collection album, but it sounded already in the beginning so damn boring idea. And since coronavirus came and shuffled the pack with our previous album promotion tours etc. - it basically cancelled most of our booked shows at that time. What else we do have than time to make some new music? Staying put and waiting for some virus to disappear would have been pure waste of time. Massive thanks goes to our partners in crime, all these guys and girls who helped us to put this bungle together. We shared our vision to them and asked help here and there, especially this happened with the special track versions. The end result is great and special indeed. Enjoy!"




 


Watch the lyric video "Tomorrow" below.





XX EP tracklist:


"As The Stars Align"
"Monoeyes"
"Beyond the Horizon" (acoustic version)
"Tomorrow"
"Ode to Life" (symphonic version)
"Evolve Cycle" (arcade version)


"Tomorrow"





"As The Stars Align"





Photo by Allan Välimaa

A MetOnTour video edit of METALLICA performing the song "Fixxxer" on December 17, 2021 at Chase Center in San Francisco, California can be seen below. The show was the first of METALLICA's two 40th-anniversary concerts which featured different setlists. They were part of METALLICA's "San Francisco Takeover", a four-day citywide celebration of the band's 40th anniversary that also included a film festival, photo exhibit and curated lineup of smaller venue shows featuring other acts.

The 40th-anniversary shows marked METALLICA's return to Chase Center for the first time since the September 2019 "S&M²" concerts that also served as the venue's grand opening. Those two shows grossed more than $4.1 million over the course of its two nights, according to reports submitted to Pollstar's Boxoffice, and the band ranked at No. 4 on Pollstar's worldwide touring chart that same year with a global gross of $175 million.

Formed in 1981 by drummer Lars Ulrich and guitarist/vocalist James Hetfield, METALLICA has become one of the most influential and successful rock bands in history, having sold nearly 120 million albums worldwide and generating more than 2.5 billion streams while playing to millions of fans on literally all seven continents. The band's several multi-platinum albums include "Kill 'Em All", "Ride The Lightning", "Master Of Puppets", "… And Justice For All", "Metallica" (commonly referred to as The Black Album), "Load", "Reload", "St. Anger", "Death Magnetic" and "Hardwired... To Self-Destruct", released in November 2016 and charting at No. 1 in 32 countries.

METALLICA's awards and accolades include nine Grammy Awards, two American Music Awards, multiple MTV Video Music Awards, and its 2009 induction into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame. In June of 2018, the band was awarded one of the most prestigious musical honors in the world: Sweden's Polar Music Prize.

On December 16, San Francisco mayor London Breed presented Ulrich and bassist Robert Trujillo with a special declaration marking the day as "Metallica Day" in the city.

"When you talk about San Francisco," Breed said at the news conference, "you talk about cable cars and then you talk about METALLICA."

Thomas Zwijsen has released a new video, featuring a classical acoustic fingerstyle guitar cover of Iron Maiden's classic The Number Of The Beast album cut, "Children Of The Damned". Watch below:










Zwijsen previously released covers of Iron Maiden's Senjutsu album tracks, "The Writing On The Wall" and "Darkest Hour". Watch below:

King Crimson founder Robert Fripp and his singer wife Toyah Willcox are back with another episode in their "Toyah & Robert’s Sunday Lunch" series. This time they take on "Blitzkrieg Bop" by The Ramones. Watch below:





A selection of Robert & Toyah's previous Sunday Lunch videos can be seen below:



















 

MACHINE HEAD's Robb Flynn and Jared MacEachern held the latest "Electric Happy Hour" on Friday, January 28 during which they celebrated the fourth anniversary of "Catharsis", the band's ninth studio album, by performing it in its entirety. You can now watch video of the performance below.

In a message accompanying the YouTube release of the video, MACHINE HEAD said: "Due to the wildly varying guitar tunings used on the album, the boyz have been forced to modify the running order of the play-thru but this has only served to increase the ferocity of the set-list. Album opener 'Volatile' and live set firm favorite 'Catharsis' are followed up by the deep cuts 'Beyond the Pale', 'Psychotic' and 'Hope Begets Hope'. 'Grind You Down' and 'Eulogy' are given their live debuts and we are treated to full arrangements of 'Behind a Mask' and 'Bastards' rather than the usual stripped down Electric Happy Hour versions."

Featured songs:

0:00:00 Welcome and Beers Up

0:05:39 Volatile

0:10:37 Catharsis

0:16:28 Beyond The Pale

0:23:22 Psychotic

0:28:58 Hope Begets Hope

0:33:57 Screaming At The Sun

0:38:28 Triple Beam

0:43:41 Heavy Lies The Crown

0:52:03 Grind You Down

1:02:13 Behind A Mask

1:11:37 Bastards

1:18:24 California Bleeding

1:22:44 Kaleidoscope

1:27:18 Eulogy

1:33:17 Become The Firestorm

1:38:37 Imperium

1:51:30 Darkness Within - Intro

1:57:28 Darkness Within

In a 2018 interview with Australia's The Rockpit, Flynn was asked about the crowd reception to the songs from "Catharsis", which got mixed reviews upon its release in January 2018. He said: "You know, it's funny because I've been touring for 30 years now, and I actually did my first tour in 1988, and even before that, I was touring up and down California, and even before the Internet, there's always the type of thing where people were writing and if you were around before the Internet, you would read magazines and there was always the letter section and people would be talking shit and 'This song sucks' and 'This band sucks' and 'This record sucks'. [Laughs] I mean, we had so much of that during the 'Burn My Eyes' era, it was crazy; people either really loved it or really hated it. I think it's just when you make something that, and I don't want to say it's controversial, but when you make something that has a strong stance, a strong opinion, like you're taking a side, people feel something from that. To me, there's been a lot of criticism but the fact that anybody is bothering to criticize, I think, is cool because it means they care.

"We have really passionate fans, we have some really dedicated fans and they want to fucking talk about it, and that's awesome," he continued. "In a lot of ways, that's what the record was about — I wanted you to think, I wanted you to feel, I wanted you to feel something. Anything — anger, sadness, joy, fucking resentment; whatever the feeling was — and make you open up your mind a little bit. Make you think outside of what metal could or couldn't be, and so the reaction that we got was kind of the reaction that… I didn't not expect that reaction. And you never know when you go out and play it live what's going to happen, and you never know what songs are going to connect, and there's always going to be some songs that just fucking connect and go crazy live, and there's other songs where there's always just a dud live, and you never know why and it's like that with every record.

"I've gotta say, man, the songs on this record, like the track, 'Catharsis', which was such a surprisingly controversial track, I thought that was just a straight-up MACHINE HEAD banger, like a classic. So many people just fucking raged about that song, and we were, like, 'What the fuck!' and then when we played it live, oh my god! People lost their fucking minds, man! Every night it's a highlight of the set. 'Triple Beam' is a highlight of the set; 'Is There Anybody Out There?' is a highlight of the set; and it's almost the type of thing where everything you read on the Internet is wrong. [Laughs]

He added: "Of course they're fucking flipping out on all the songs that everybody goes crazy over live! And maybe that's because of it, or I don't know why. It's weird; it's really weird."

Flynn went on to say that it makes him and the rest of MACHINE HEAD "feel good" to see such an overwhelmingly positive response to the band's new material.

"We're on our ninth record, we've been MACHINE HEAD for 25 years now, and it's a great feeling to go out and know that, this is not the oldies, this isn't the 'Burn My Eyes' show, this is us moving forward and people are still reacting to that in a fucking super-positive way and that is not the traditional arc of a band this far into their career," he said. "It makes us proud, it makes us feel a sense of pride on the music that we're doing and what we do because I think a lot of what music is for us, music is a feeling. Music is something that you can't even put your finger on, it's something that transcends explanation and I don't know where the inspiration comes from. I just write and I just write about what I feel like and sometimes it's political and sometimes it's just really fucking negative and sometimes it's stories about my past and sometimes it's about what I think about the future. Sometimes it's happy, sometimes it's party fucking songs — 'let's get hammered and wasted and fucking rage!' It's all over the map, and for me, it's a great way to express and release this stuff, and I think a lot of times metal has this surprisingly pretty conservative slant about what you can and can't do and it gets a little annoying."

The follow-up to 2014's "Bloodstone & Diamonds", "Catharsis" was produced by Flynn and recorded, mixed, and co-produced by Zack Ohren (FALLUJAH, ALL SHALL PERISH) at Sharkbite Studios in Oakland, California. Mastering was handled by Ted Jensen (HATEBREED, ALICE IN CHAINS, DEFTONES) at Sterling Sound in New York. Cover photography was created by Seanen Middleton.

"Catharsis" was the final album to feature guitarist Phil Demmel and drummer Dave McClain, who both left MACHINE HEAD in October 2018.

Talking to the relaunched Metal Edge magazine, singer Rob Halford reminisced about his career and how he joined Judas Priest in 1973.


“I'd been asked to consider joining the band,” said Halford, “and I have this vague memory in the back of my head of seeing them play at some college venue in Birmingham city, just wanting to go and see what the vibe was about. Because there was no other band making the kind of sound that the early Priest were doing. And you know how it is when a new band comes on the scene – something's going on that draws you to them as a fan. And I can just remember being very excited and very curious about what this band potentially was going to be, and the place it was going to go to musically.


“So I went and saw then, and it was just great. Because firstly, I needed a gig. I was looking for a job! And I was curious about those very early, kind of exploratory types of sounds. Because they used to just jam. That was thing in those days – you had a beginning and an end, and a lot of stuff went on in the middle. It was a lot of freeform spontaneity. And it's difficult to do that and to be entertaining. When you start noodling a lot of people go, ‘Ahh, boring...’ So that was just another part of what they were doing that drew me to them.”




Judas Priest's 50 Heavy Metal Years North American tour, with special guest Queensrÿche, is scheduled to launch on March 4 in Peoria, IL, and wrap up on April 13 in Hamilton, ON (Canada).


A complete list of shows can be found below. Tickets here.





Tour dates:


March
4 - Peoria Civic Theatre - Peoria, IL
6 - Mission Ballroom - Denver, CO
7 - Maverik Center - Salt Lake City, UT
9 - Angel Of The Winds Arena - Everett, WA
10 - Moda Center - Portland, OR (with Sabaton, no Queensrÿche)
12 - Fox Theater - Oakland - Oakland, CA
13 - Zappos Theater at Planet Hollywood - Las Vegas, NV
15 - The Shrine - Los Angeles, CA
16 - Arizona Federal Theater - Phoenix, AZ
18 - The Pavilion at Toyota Music Factory - Irving, TX
20 - HEB Center - Austin, TX
21 - Freeman Coliseum - San Antonio, TX (with Sabaton, no Queensrÿche)
23 - Nashville Municipal Auditorium - Nashville, TN
25 - Ameris Bank Amphitheatre - Alpharetta, GA
27 - Charleston Civic Center Coliseum - Charleston, WV
29 - The Met - Philadelphia, PA
30 - Prudential Center - Newark, NJ
31 - MGM National Harbor - Washington, DC


April
2 - Foxwoods Casino Arena - Mashantucket, CT
4 - Paul E. Tsongas Arena - Lowell, MA
7 - Halifax Scotiabank Centre - Halifax, Nova Scotia
10 - Videotron Center - Quebec City, Quebec
11 - Place Bell - Montreal, Quebec
13 - First Ontario Centre - Hamilton, Ontario


(Photo - Mark Gromen)

Swedish death metal stalwarts The Crown have issued the following unexpected announcement:


"Hello Viking Punks!!


We are very sorry to inform you that our bass player, one of the founding members of The Crown, Magnus Olsfelt has decided to leave the band. After 32 years we go separate ways. We are very sad about this, he has always put in 110 % and has written tons of memorable songs and he will be missed.




But this will definitely not be the end of The Crown. This will mark the first step writing a new chapter and we are extremely determined and focused to continue our journey.


We are already deep into writing the follow up to Royal Destroyer and we feel that we definitely have some new Death Metal magic coming up!!


The process of finding a replacement will start soon. The Crown never dies!!"


Bassist Magnus Olsfelt also issued a statement:


"The Crown has been a part of my life since I was 14 years old, it’s had its highs and its lows and it has overall been a damn good race, but for me this is over now. I just don’t have the heart and inner drive to keep on doing this anymore, and that leaves me with no other alternative than to leave the band. I am grateful for all the people who have supported us in any way over the years and I hope that the band can keep on doing good in the future.
Goodbye and thanks for all the memories!"


(Photo - Ida Kucera)


 

The clip below features Nightwish vocalist Floor Jansen performing at her solo show at AFAS Live in Amsterdam, Netherlands on September 1st, 2021.


Floor: "Time to Face Your Demons! This After Forever classic with a little grunt in there was great to perform! Time to let loose your hair and headbang a little! It had been so long since I performed this that letting go was something I was waiting for. Hope you enjoy!"







The setlist was as follows:


Set 1:


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


Set 2:


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


"Ever Dream"





"Storm In A Glass"





"Dangerous Game"