Guitarist Chad Gilbert of the long-running pop-punk band NEW FOUND GLORY says that he is "cancer free", less than two months after he was diagnosed with pheochromocytoma, a rare type of tumor that develops in the adrenal glands, small glands on the top of the kidneys.

A week after his diagnosis, the 40-year-old musician underwent successful surgery to remove the tumor and has since credited his wife and the hospital staff with saving his life.

Earlier today, Gilbert, who co-founded NEW FOUND GLORY in 1997, took to his Instagram to write: "Half a liver, a gallbladder, & one adrenal gland later, I am officially cancer free. All my tests and scans came back clear! I know there's the chance of it coming back later but I feel so good knowing what was in me is gone and if it ever does come back, we will see it from it's beginning. Let's not even worry about that though.

"I'm so lucky to still be here and so blessed that I had a super team that fixed me. My endocrinologist, surgeon, & oncologist teaming up and taking down my Pheochromocytoma more swiftly & efficiently than the Avengers could defeat Thanos in Infinity War. Love them and am forever grateful. And once again the biggest I love you and thank you to my wife for being tough, brave, and for saving me. Getting me through all of this and staying by my side while at the same time taking care of our baby girl Lily at home. All my ICU nurse family who I lived with for 2 weeks, who had to check me every hour to keep me safe. Thank you thank you!!! All you fans out there writing me the nicest messages when you all found out what happened. You already do enough as fans but that was awesome and kept me feeling loved. I am forever changed by this experience.

"2022 is gonna be awesome!!! Will be rocking in your faces soon enough. God bless !"

This was not Gilbert's first cancer scare. Back in 2010, he underwent thyroid surgery to remove a suspicious lump. While he was recovering from that operation, guitarist Anthony Raneri of BAYSIDE stepped in for Gilbert on NEW FOUND GLORY's tour.

Last month, NEW FOUND GLORY gave fans an early Christmas gift — a brand new holiday album, "December's Here", out now via Hopeless Records. NEW FOUND GLORY helped fans get into the holiday spirit with eleven original songs, including recent singles "Somber Christmas" and "Holiday Records".

Earlier in 2021, NEW FOUND GLORY released a new deluxe album, "Forever And Ever x Infinity...And Beyond!!!" "Forever And Ever x Infinity...And Beyond!!!" featured six new songs that the band wrote and recorded during the pandemic, including latest singles "Backseat" and "The Last Redeye".

NEW FOUND GLORY recently wrapped the "Pop Punk's Still Not Dead" tour, which featured support from LESS THAN JAKE, HOT MULLIGAN and LØLØ.

NEW FOUND GLORY is Gilbert, Jordan Pundik (lead vocals), Ian Grushka (bass guitar) and Cyrus Bolooki (drums).
























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ASIA, one of the greatest and best-loved supergroups to emerge during the 1980s, is currently preparing for an extensive 40th-anniversary celebration, due to kick off in summer 2022. Featuring founding members Carl Palmer (ELP, CRAZY WORLD OF ARTHUR BROWN) and Geoff Downes (YES, THE BUGGLES), the group will also include longtime bassist/ vocalist Billy Sherwood (YES) and newest member, guitarist/ lead vocalist Marc Bonilla, (solo artist, KEITH EMERSON BAND). The band is currently being booked for a U.S. tour to start late summer this year.

"40 years of ASIA is a real musical milestone for us," says Downes. "The success we experienced with our early albums has carried us through and gave us the foundation when we reformed in 2006. ASIA has been together ever since, although we lost John in 2017 to cancer. Still, we have endured and will carry on now with Marc Bonilla, who we know will be a great addition to the band."

"The fans have never left ASIA," says Palmer. "That first ASIA album with all those radio and MTV hits weaved the fabric of the music scene in the early 1980s. Those great songs like 'Heat Of The Moment', 'Sole Survivor' and 'Only Time Will Tell' still hold up today. When we play those songs and our other hits, we can see the entire audience singing along."

In December the multi-platinum selling English supergroup released its most ambitious collection to date: a 10-CD boxset "The Official Live Bootlegs Volume 1". Issued through BMG Records on December 3, the expansive set chronicles five complete performances of the original lineup captured between 1982 and 2010. The collection celebrates the huge appeal of the concert tours that followed ASIA's first two albums in 1982 and 1983. The success continued following ASIA's 25th-anniversary reunion in 2006 and three more highly acclaimed albums. The slipcase boxset features 5 x 2CD concerts from 1982 (Buffalo, NY, USA), 1983 (Worcester, MA, USA), 2007 (São Paulo, Brazil), 2008 (Tokyo, Japan) and 2010 (London, UK). The bootleg collection follows a previous 5 CD box set of studio recordings released in April, 2021.

Downes, Steve Howe (YES, guitars), Palmer and John Wetton (KING CRIMSON, UK, bass/vocals), took the world by storm with ASIA's eponymous debut album, globally the biggest-selling album of 1982, and the single "Heat Of The Moment". ASIA was a true "supergroup", pooling the talents of its four members who had already amassed tens of millions of record sales with their collective bands of the 1970s. Leaving behind their progressive roots, ASIA embraced the commercial FM rock sound that dominated U.S. airwaves and took that, and the new MTV video channel, by storm. The single "Heat Of The Moment" was a worldwide monster smash and their eponymous 1982 debut album spent an incredible nine weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard chart as ASIA became the biggest-selling album of the year and world tour dates sold out.

A second album, "Alpha", was released in 1983, followed by "Astra" in 1985. The four original members reconvened in 2006 for a world tour, to celebrate the 25th anniversary of that incredible success, and the album "Phoenix" followed. While the members were still heavily involved in other projects, they came together again to record "Omega" in 2010 and "XXX" in 2012, both albums were acclaimed by their faithful fans and supported by more world tours. Howe stepped back from ASIA to concentrate on his work with YES and was absent for 2014's "Gravitas". Following this tour came the news of Wetton's treatment for cancer, a fight he sadly lost in 2017. ASIA was special guest of JOURNEY for an extensive U.S. tour in 2017, and in 2019 the band hit the road with YES for the "Royal Affair" tour.

"We are planning an extensive tour to celebrate our 40th," adds Downes, "and the music will feature all the hits the fans have embraced. Stay tuned! It will be show you won't want to mi

In a recent interview with the METALLICA fan-club magazine So What!, the band's former bassist Jason Newsted was asked how he dealt with the huge commercial success of METALLICA's 1991 self-titled album — better known as the "Black Album" — when it first happened. He said: "All of us experienced some kind of swelly head at different levels for different amounts of time through this three-year span. [It was] inevitable and impossible for it not to happen… I remember me personally, when I went shopping with [METALLICA guitarist] Kirk [Hammett] in Paris, and he took to me a couple of nice, nice stores, and I threw down a lot of money for some nice clothes and shoes and stuff. I'd never done that before. And I thought I was the shit… So I did get caught in the moment. I think that I've been really, really frugal with my earnings, and so that's why I still have them. But I did have a couple of moments there. But that was the time — dropping all this money for wine and fancy shit… And I think it lasted for about — I'd say five to six months, for myself, that it was just that 'walking on air.' Everywhere that you went, in the 55 countries that we played in, they're waiting for you when you fucking there… What are you supposed to do?"

When asked how he "caught himself" before going off the deep end, Newsted said: "I think when I came back home on the one break to be with my girl again, I just realized that that's not who I am. It just is not who I am. I pretended I was gonna get this fancy car and all that shit. I'm, like, 'Dude, you know that you'd rather have a '65 Mopar, '68 Mopar than you would that fucking Lamborghini bullshit anyway.' But those guys were driving Porsches and fancy cars and stuff, and I'm, like, 'I can afford that too.'"

You can now watch So What!'s entire one-hour interview with Newsted in four parts below.

Jason left METALLICA in 2001 but was inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame, along with guitarist/vocalist James Hetfield, drummer Lars Ulrich, Hammett, and the man who replaced him, bassist Robert Trujillo, in 2009.

The Black Album is one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed records of all time. Its 1991 release not only gave METALLICA its first No. 1 album in no fewer than 10 countries, including a four-week run at No. 1 in the U.S., its unrelenting series of singles — "Enter Sandman", "The Unforgiven", "Nothing Else Matters", "Wherever I May Roam" and "Sad But True" — fueled the band's rise to stadium headlining, radio and MTV dominating household name status. The album's reception from the press was similarly charged, building over the years from the top 10 of the 1991 Village Voice Pazz & Jop national critics poll to becoming a constant presence in the likes of Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums Of All Time. The album's impact and relevance continue to grow — as proven by one indisputable fact: The Black Album remains unchallenged as the best-selling album in the history of Nielsen SoundScan, outselling every release in every genre over the past 30 years.

To commemorate its 30th anniversary, the Grammy-winning, 16-times-platinum-certified Black Album received its definitive re-release in September via the band's own Blackened Recordings.

Last year, Newsted sold his ranch in historic Sula, Montana. The listing price was $4.95 million but the final sale price wasn't disclosed.

Newsted and his wife Nicole have been longtime residents of Jupiter, Florida.

In October 2020, Newsted bought a home on Skaneateles Lake in the village of Skaneateles, New York for $6.1 million.

In late 2019, Jason sold his Walnut Creek, California house for $2.3 million.

Eastern European emotional metalcore upstarts DRAG ME OUT, led by Denis "Stoff" Shaforostov, the charismatic frontman and former singer for MAKE ME FAMOUS and ASKING ALEXANDRIA, have released their brand new single, "Bullets In My Teeth". The track is taken from the band's second album, "Demons Away", which will be released on May 6 via their own label imprint Lödereih Music.

"Bullets In My Teeth" is an anthem for the heartbroken and the insecure state of mind that many people find themselves in today.

Denis comments on the new single: "'Bullets In My Teeth' not only marks our return to the heavy metal fray after splitting with our longtime label Sumerian Records but it is also a very personal song for me… Relationships of any kind, whether they be with your partner, bandmates or with your fans — it is no easy task. It can make you or break you… When I wrote this song, I was definitely breaking down. I hope it will help someone get back up like it did for me."

"Demons Away" is part one of a three-part concept album and starts off where DRAG ME OUT's previous release, "Pressure", left off. It contains 12 new songs filled with huge chunky riffs and punchy rhythms rushing over tight grooves with just enough soaring melodies and infectious hooks to start a mosh pit on the dance floor or in your living room.

Denis states about "Demons Away": "It is soaked in the paranormal vibes. Your spiritual journey begins here and now. Our main purpose is to shed the light on the things that really make you feel bad, anxious, weak or wrong. It is our call for you to face the pain and explore it at its energetic core as the truth lies deeper than it might seem. My demons truly showed me that they are in fact always standing somewhere in between my perception of life and the ultimate truth about our world."

"Demons Away" track listing:

01. Crystal Arms

02. With A Thunder We Rise

03. Blind & Blurred

04. Bullets In My Teeth

05. Cuz It's Meant To Be

06. I Swear I'm Not OK

07. Hymn For The Wicked

08. Let Me In

09. My Mistakes

10. No Feelings

11. The Watch Of The Buried

12. Save My Life

DRAG ME OUT is:

Denis "Stoff" Shaforostov - Vocals

Stas Belove - Guitars

Kir Medvedev - Bass

Chris Nokia - Drums

Denis recorded one album with ASKING ALEXANDRIA, "The Black", before exiting the band in October 2016. Guitarist Ben Bruce said in a video message that Shaforostov had "just stopped talking to us."

He added: "When Denis first joined the band, people within the music industry and fans alike, they all told us these different things about Denis's past, and we got many warnings, and we said, that's his past — forgive and forget; we don't know any of that side of things. So we gave him the benefit of the doubt, and, you know, there's no smoke without fire, and I guess we found that out the hard way."

Shaforostov has not spoken out about his departure from ASKING ALEXANDRIA, although he did tweet at one point that he "left AA because I can't be in a touring band at this point in my life. There's no drama and I don't want to be a part of it."

Singer Danny Worsnop rejoined ASKING ALEXANDRIA in the fall of 2016.

Transatlantic progressive metal outfit Monuments have announced their fourth album, In Stasis, which is set for a release April 15, 2022.


“We approached this album without the intention of a specific concept. However - three songs in, what was being written ended up sharing a common theme. This feeling of being stuck in the middle, a feeling we experience throughout our lives - within friendships and relationships, love to hate, life to death, belief or non-belief, being in power to total defeat, isolation to freedom. Over the past 2 years, we have been faced with many of these trials, and these struggles can be heard throughout the record. This record is a culmination of our greatest triumphs and our deepest struggles. We hope it resonates with you, and brings you closer to equilibrium. We'd like to thank guests Neema Askari (Form Subtract, ex Fellsilent, ex-Monuments), Spencer Sotelo (Periphery, King Mothership), and Mick Gordon (DOOM, Prey, Killer Instinct) for enhancing the record with their unique perspectives,” states Monuments.


In Stasis credits:
Produced, Recorded and Edited by John Browne, Andy Cizek and Mike Malyan
Co-Produced by Mick Gordon
Additional Engineering by Ross Halden, Justin Woodward and Adam Steel
Additional Editing by Charlie Abend and Evan Sammons
Mixing by George Lever at G1 Productions 
Mastering by Jens Bogren at Fascination Street 




Cover art by Visual Amnesia:





Tracklisting:


“No One Will Teach You” (feat. Neema Askari)
“Lavos”
“Cardinal Red”
“Opiate”
“Collapse”
“Arch Essence” (feat. Spencer Sotelo)
“Somnus”
“False Providence”
“Makeshift Harmony”
“The Cimmerian”


“Lavos” feat. Mick Gordon:





(Photo by Martyna Wisniewska @gingerdope)

Møtivatiøn, the new collaborative collective led by visionary Ø, today drops the sludge-powered filth of latest single, “Revelatiøn Denied,” featuring members of Obituary, Intoxicated (members of the Andrew W.K. band), and more. Now playing in video form via BrooklynVegan, the track comes by way of the cooperative’s debut full-length, The Infinite 8 Steps To Power / Money / More, set for release on February 22nd via Seeing Red Records.


A gargantuan project uniting an eclectic array of musicians, the premise of Møtivatiøn is simple: If you want to motivate yourself by motivating others and/or motivate others by motivating yourself, then your positive collaboration will be most welcome. Møtivatiøn’s immersive experience and teachings continually challenge and engage candidates searching for the best possible version of themselves. The ambitious effort boasts twelve stirring hymns brought to fruition by members of Faith No More, Throbbing Gristle, Agnostic Front, L7, Lunachicks, Toxic Holocaust, EyeHateGod, Black Anvil, High Reaper, and so many more.


Issues Ø of “Revelatiøn Denied,” “The Møtivatiøn Cøllective is well pleased by the pøsitive cøllabøratiøn from Erik [Payne], Gregg [Roberts], Mike [Radford], and John [Sutton] of Intoxicated and Kenny [Andrews] of Obituary. ‘Revelatiøn Denied’ contributes a unique strain of møtivatiønal power which we believe to be very effective for the purging and transmutation of the negative. This track is a sonic journey through the swamps of the human psyche; the darkness is thick, the air is heavy, and you are surrounded by a choir of creatures which threaten to pull you under and tear you apart. Only by remaining in motion will you survive. Having contributed their talents to Andrew W.K. since 1998, Erik and Gregg have been undeniably imbued with 'party power,' a highly motivational energy indeed. With Andrew's mysterious disappearance in fall of 2021, a higher level of creativity seems to have been activated-- the song was completed 24 hours after being contacted by the cøllective."




The Infinite 8 Steps To Power / Money / More will be released on LP and digital formats. Find pre-orders here.





The Infinite 8 Steps To Power / Money / More tracklisting:


"Step Øne (In 5 Easy Steps)" (Feat. Theo Kogan, Joel Grind, Lucy Pierce, Shane Trimble)
"Swalløw" (Feat. Theo Kogan, Roger Miret, Shane Trimble)
"Prisøn Løgic" (Feat. Mike IX Williams, Parris Mayhew, Gina Volpe, Shane Trimble)
"Cøntrol" (Feat. Paul Delaney, Theo Kogan)
"Initium Fire/Gøld" (Feat. Donita Sparks, Gina Volpe, Theo Kogan)
"Medi (C+T) Atiøn" (Feat. Paul Delaney, Theo Kogan, Victoria Starr)
"Helder Fan Eagen, Ferljøchte Fan Geast" (Feat. John Bart Van Der Wal, Thomas Haywood)
"Pay Tø Play" (Feat. Roger Miret, Roddy Bottum, Theo Kogan , Richie Long)
"Øpen" (Feat. Eddley Odowd, Theo Kogan)
"Revelation Denied" (Feat. Erik Payne, Gregg Roberts, Mike Radford, John Sutton, Kenny Andrews)
"Løgistics" (Feat. Norman Reedus, Matt Katz-Bohen, Theo Kogan, Shane Trimble)
"Spøils; Zenith" (Feat. Roddy Bottum, Victoria Starr, Genesis P Orridge, Norman Reedus, Eddley Odowd, Joe Letz, Andy Duval)


“Revelatiøn Denied” video:





"Prisøn Løgic":

Former Cradle Of Filth backing vocalist / keyboardist turned solo artist Lindsay Schoolctaft has released a haunting video for her track, "Twin Flame". The video was originally released on her Patreon to celebrate the creative community she has grown there.


Lindsay: "If you know about the Twin Flame phenomenon it is because you've experienced it yourself. You meet someone that you feel you've known forever. Everything changes around you: your life, your thoughts, your path and purpose. Intensely romantic or intensely painful, they are the mirror of your soul and ignite you to 'wake up' to who you truly are. 


This song came to me over the summer of 2021 and was recorded and released on my Patreon not long after. Some songs you can sit on for a while, but this one was on loop every night in my head, constantly reminding me that it wanted to be birthed. Once I had connected with Phantasma Photography over Twitter, the music video followed not long after and with so much ease. It's like it was all meant to be.




After deep diving into Twin Flame experiences shared all over the globe, Chris (Phantasma) and I started drawing up the visuals for the music video. Along with Chris's unique visual style and what resources we had available, we were able to create a smokey dreamland where the two halves of the Twin Flame long to find each other again.


While I'm usually known for releasing Gothic Metal tracks, it's abundantly clear that this song, while ethereal and gothic, is a bit of a departure from metal. While I have plans to release more metal tracks in 2022, on Patreon, I'm exploring other avenues of dark music. I am a huge fan of electronic and Trip-Hop artists like Depeche Mode, Massive Attack, and VAST and that influence shines through here.


Creating 'Twin Flame' was a new journey with sharing the whole creative process over Patreon. It took a bit of discipline to get out of my head, slow down, and document and share every step, but my Patrons truly appreciated it and because of that I know they feel a special connection to this track, too."





"Twin Flame" was written, produced, and performed by Lindsay Schoolcraft. Mixed and mastered by Tyler Williams of Monolithic Productions.


Cello by Dalai Cellai
Viola and violin by Dagda
Electronics and programming by Gaia Guarda


Music video by Chris Borshowa of Phantasma Photography 

During a recent appearance on "The Joe Piscopo Show", Ted Nugent paid tribute to iconic rock singer Meat Loaf, who died on January 20 at the age of 74. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "This guy was so gifted. And more important than that, he was a funny son of a bitch. He was such a shining light of just good will and decency and the work ethic. I cannot rave enough about what Meat Loaf epitomized for life, liberty and pursuit of rock and roll happiness. What a driving force of nature he was."

Speaking about his memories of his collaboration with Meat Loaf on 1976's "Free For All" album, Ted said: "I have a flood, a tsunami, a bombardment of incredible, funny, outrageous, bellyaching laughter moments. 'Cause if you're not having fun with me, you're weird. And everybody, especially Meat Loaf… He spent enough time in Detroit to learn the importance of cockiness, and he was very good at his cockiness. He was right up there with you and me, Joe. But every day in the studio… Number one, because we were all clean and sober, so our humor, our laughter, our passion, our work ethic was united to deliver the ultimate musical performance. So between me and Meat Loaf and [producer] Tom Werman and everybody in our team, it was an absolute orgy of laughter. But once the recording button was hit, it was serious, serious business without losing the sense of humor and the passion and the outrageousness, and, more important, the defiance. What defines Meat Loaf's best music? He was a defiant son of a bitch, and I love him for that. And that will always be with us."

According to TMZ, Meat Loaf was "seriously ill" with COVID-19 just days before his death. The singer was due to attend a business dinner earlier this week for a show he was working on based on his classic hit "I'd Do Anything For Love" but canceled after becoming sick.

Meat Loaf had reportedly been outspoken about vaccine mandates. In May, he posted a clip of Eric Clapton and Van Morrison's anti-lockdown song "Stand & Deliver", writing, "Listen and Learn." He also reportedly told a fan in a Cameo video three weeks ago that he recently had an endoscopy and complained about seemingly endless lockdowns and restrictions, telling the fan: "COVID's a drag, but you can blame China."

In one of his last interviews, Meat Loaf appeared to be losing patience with pandemic measures. Speaking to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette in August, Meat Loaf said: "I understood stopping life for a little while, but they cannot continue to stop life because of politics. And right now they're stopping because of politics." He also claimed that masks are "useless" and a "nuisance" that only "make your nose itch and make it so you can't breathe." He complained about being asked to wear a mask on a plane and said, "If I die, I die, but I'm not going to be controlled."

Meat Loaf is survived by his two daughters, his son-in-law Scott Ian (ANTHRAX) and grandson Revel Young Ian.

Meat Loaf's amazing career spanned six decades and saw him sell over 100 million albums worldwide and star in over 65 movies, including "Fight Club", "Focus", "Rocky Horror Picture Show" and "Wayne's World".

His "Bat Out Of Hell" remains one of the 10 top-selling albums of all time.

No cause of death has yet been revealed.

The Dallas-born singer's real name was Marvin Lee Aday.

His 1993 hit "I'd Do Anything For Love (But I Won't Do That)" earned him a Grammy Award.

"Bat Out Of Hell" was also adapted as a stage musical, written by longtime collaborator Jim Steinman.

Rock legend and actor, Meat Loaf (real name Marvin Lee Aday), passed away on January 20 at the age of 74, and according to Mediaite, American radio personality, Howard Stern, is adding Meat Loaf to his list of anti-vaxxers he’s not pleased with.


“Poor Meat Loaf got sucked into some weird fucking cult,” Stern said on the latest edition of his SiriusXM radio show. “And somehow really believed that - he made a statement, ‘I’d rather die a free man than take that vaccine.’ And now he’s dead!”


Stern then called on his family to come out in support of vaccines following the singer’s death. “I wish the family would come forward and say, ‘Ya know, when Meat Loaf was laying there in the hospital and he couldn’t breathe, he said, ‘I made a mistake. I should have taken the vaccine.’ Like all these anti-vaxxers, they all say, ‘I made a mistake.'”




The news of the passing of Meat Loaf was shared via the official Meat Loaf Facebook page.


The message states: "Our hearts are broken to announce that the incomparable Meat Loaf passed away tonight surrounded by his wife Deborah, daughters Pearl and Amanda and close friends.


"His amazing career spanned 6 decades that saw him sell over 100 Million albums worldwide and star in over 65 movies, including Fight Club, Focus, Rocky Horror Picture Show and Wayne’s World.


"Bat Out of Hell remains one of the top 10 selling albums of all time.


"We know how much he meant to so many of you and we truly appreciate all of the love and support as we move through this time of grief in losing such an inspiring artist and beautiful man.


"We thank you for your understanding of our need for privacy at this time.


"From his heart to your souls… don’t ever stop rocking!"





















(Photo - Webster Public Relations)

Former ICED EARTH frontman Matt Barlow says that Jon Schaffer is doing "okay," more than one year after he was arrested for his role in the U.S. Capitol riot.

The 50-year-old singer, who is married to Schaffer's sister, touched upon his current relationship with ICED EARTH's founder, songwriter, guitarist and producer while doing press for his ASHES OF ARES project. Asked by Greece's "TV War" if he has talked to Jon in the 12 months since Schaffer was taken into federal custody, Matt said: "I have spoken to Jon, but we don't talk about that kind of stuff. He's okay. I mean, he's my brother-in-law."

ICED EARTH played its final show with Barlow at the 2011 edition of the Wacken Open Air festival in Wacken, Germany.

Barlow announced his departure from ICED EARTH in March 2011. In a heartfelt statement, he cited his commitment to his family and the need for ICED EARTH to tour more as the reasons for his retirement; however, he committed to performing with ICED EARTH on all 2011 European festival dates, including Wacken Open Air.

A little over a year ago, Barlow reunited with Schaffer to celebrate the holiday season with an EP called "Winter Nights". Released under the SCHAFFER/BARLOW PROJECT banner, the effort contained the duo's unique spin on five Christmas classics and two ICED EARTH songs.

Last April, Schaffer pleaded guilty to his role in the January 6, 2021 U.S. Capitol riot. As part of the plea deal, Jon entered into a cooperation agreement with the government.

Following the initial reports that Schaffer was involved in the riot, his ICED EARTH bandmates distanced themselves from his actions. Singer Stu Block and bassist Luke Appleton later posted separate statements on social media announcing their resignations. BLIND GUARDIAN frontman Hansi Kürsch also quit DEMONS & WIZARDS, his long-running project with Schaffer. The allegations also apparently affected Schaffer's relationship with his longtime record label Century Media, which had released albums from both ICED EARTH and DEMONS & WIZARDS. As of mid-January 2021, the Century Media artist roster page did not list either band.

ASHES OF ARES, which also features former ICED EARTH member Freddie Vidales, released its third studio album, "Emperors And Fools", on January 21 via ROAR! Rock Of Angels. The LP ends with the eleven-minute-long epic "Monster's Lament" which includes the long-imagined joining of forces between Barlow and another former ICED EARTH singer, Tim "Ripper" Owens.

"Emperors And Fools" was produced by ASHES OF ARES, and mixed and mastered by Byron Filson at Villain Recording in Phoenix, Arizona. The cover artwork was created by Kamil Pietruczynik.

During a recent appearance on "Waste Some Time With Jason Green", TWISTED SISTER guitarist Eddie Ojeda was asked how it came about that singer Dee Snider was credited with writing all the music and lyrics in the band and no one else seemingly contributed to the process. Eddie responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "[Dee] wrote the melody. He would sing the thing to me, and I would work it out with him. He would kind of have a rough version of the chorus. He could play guitar a little bit — a little bit to show the direction — and then I would kind of refine it. I think I worked well with Dee; he could vocally commicuate something to me, and I could bring it out.

"All my guitar solos — I mean, I wrote a lot of theme solos. And those are my solos that I wrote; Dee didn't write those guitar solos. Like on 'Burn In Hell', the whole beginning to 'The Price'. Dee's even admitted it. I mean, he has said, with 'The Price'… At one point, he wanted to give me half of the publishing, but it just never worked out. I didn't put up a stink about it. [My attitude was], 'Okay, we're doing this.' I did my best, came up with parts and never got any writing credit for it.

"Every band is different," he continued. "Like, Eddie Van Halen used to write 90 percent of the songs [in VAN HALEN], but he shared everything 25 percent with everybody in the band. Some bands just do that; some bands don't. And Dee was very diabolical, in his own words, as far as putting 'All words and music by Dee Snider' on every album, which I didn't think was necessary, because it just wasn't true. Yeah, he did write all the lyrics and he did come up with the melody. And at the time, he said, 'Well, the guy who writes the melody is the songwriter.' I did talk to him about, 'Well, what about all the stuff I came up with?' … There's a lot of things I came up with that I never got writing credit for… Just a lot of these little guitar bits that I came up, and a lot of the theme solos, which are melodies; they're not just some guy playing Chuck Berry riffs. They're, like, singable solos with their own melody…

"Dee knew how to kind of roughly put out a chord," Eddie added. "He was good at singing it to me, so I could translate it into whatever it needed to be.

"I think there should have been some writing credit; it should have been spread out a bit. Because, like I said, I wrote my solos. I came up with these theme bits for the songs. I came up with little parts here and there — certain progressions during the solos. There's a lot of little stuff that I added to the songs.

"I think nobody cared. [We didn't make] a big stink about it, because we all said, 'You know what? We're going to do well, so it doesn't matter.' At the time, you don't realize how important it is to fight for that. You don't wanna cause bad vibes. It's one of those things [where] you just go with the flow."

In 2015, Snider sold his Snidest Music music publishing catalog of 69 songs — including the classic TWISTED SISTER rock anthems "We're Not Gonna Take It" and "I Wanna Rock" — to Universal Music Publishing Group (UMPG) for what he later said was "a lot of money."

TWISTED SISTER rose to prominence from the New York club scene in the early 1980s. Their biggest album, 1984's "Stay Hungry", contained "We're Not Gonna Take It" and "I Wanna Rock".

In 2016, TWISTED SISTER embarked on one final trek, titled "Forty And Fuck It", in celebration of its 40th anniversary. These shows featured the band's "core lineup" of Snider, guitarists Jay Jay French and Ojeda, and bassist Mark Mendoza, along with drummer Mike Portnoy. The band's last-ever concert took place in November of that year — 20 months after the passing of drummer A.J. Pero.

TWISTED SISTER's original run ended in the late '80s. After more than a decade, the band publicly reunited in November 2001 to top the bill of New York Steel, a hard-rock benefit concert to raise money for the New York Police And Fire Widows' And Children's Benefit Fund.

On February 25, Cannibal Corpse frontman, George "Corpsegrinder" Fisher, will release his debut solo album, titled Corpsegrinder. Corpsegrinder is co-produced by Nick Bellmore (Dee Snider, Kingdom Of Sorrow) and Jamey Jasta (Hatebreed) and will be released through Jasta's new label, Perseverance Music Group. An official lyric video for the single, "On Wings Of Carnage", can be found below.





Featuring a guest appearance from Erik Rutan (Cannibal Corpse, Hate Eternal) on the track "Acid Vat", the album also sees Charlie Bellmore (Dee Snider, ex-Toxic Holocaust) handle guitar and bass duties, with Nick Bellmore (Dee Snider, ex-Toxic Holocaust) on drums. Together, they created a 10-song effort that is chock-full of death metal, hardcore thrash, plus Corpsegrinder's signature guttural vocals.




Pre-order your copy of Corpsegrinder now on CD and cassette via thecorpsegrinder.com and martyrstore.net. Additional vinyl copies will be available in summer 2022 - stay tuned for more information coming soon.





Corpsegrinder tracklisting


"Acid Vat" (feat. Erik Rutan)
"Bottom Dweller"
"On Wings Of Carnage"
"All Souls Get Torn"
"Death Is The Only Key"
"Crimson Proof"
"Devourer Of Souls"
"Defined By Your Demise"
"Master Of The Longest Night"
"Vaguely Human"


"On Winds Of Change" lyric video:





"Acid Vat" lyric video:





Teaser video:





(Album artwork by Dan Goldsworthy; concept by Corpsegrinder)

John Cooper, the frontman and bassist for the Grammy-nominated Christian rock group SKILLET, recently spoke to blogger and podcaster Alisa Childers about the criticism he and his bandmates have faced for at times sharing the stage with "horrifically un-Christian" artists at various rock festival around the country. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "There are people that criticize, and, honestly, I don't even mind it. It's never even crossed my mind to bother me, just because I'm, like, 'Hey, they don't get it and they don't need to.' … So I don't really mind it.

"My vision is this — part of what [the new SKILLET album] 'Dominion' is about, to me, the culture mandate, part of that, to me, and I know not all Christians agree with this, by the way, but this is just my thing, I believe that every area of life, every box, every nook and cranny belongs to Christ. I believe that rock and roll and the arts does not belong to the devil. The devil may have used it, he may have twisted it, he may have stolen something — which is what the devil does, of course; he comes in and he tries to do something kind of like what God does, right? But he wants to steal the glory and he twists it and he perverts it. I believe that the arts belong to God. Music belongs to God. It is for his glory. And so when I create art and I go and I play music, I believe that it is taking back something, bringing it back under the subjection to Lord Jesus Christ. It all belongs to him. It is for his glory. That world does not belong to the devil. Not everybody necessarily agrees with that.

"In terms of the bands, I have great friendships with so many atheist rock and roll singers who have shown me a ton of friendship and a ton of respect," he continued. "I've been very respected by people who, some of them are atheists and don't know that they hate the gospel. Some of them are atheists and they are what I would call 'angry atheists.' They know they hate the gospel and they are actively at war. Some of them, they just are atheists and they don't wanna fight. Even the angry atheists that I've met, we get along and they've always been respectful to me and they've always kind of said, 'John, I like your music because you sing about what you believe in, and that's what makes good art.' And I would say to them, likewise — some Christians get offended by this — but even if there's a song that offends me, when it's authentic, I recognize that is good art; it's provocative [and] it makes you think. It doesn't mean I wanna listen to it; it doesn't mean I want my kids listening to it; it's just an acknowledgement that they're making good art. A deeper subject would be that in the end, one way or the other, God is going to get the glory for that. Even for people who hate him, God will find — in his mysterious will, he finds a way to bring people to their knees, and he takes the glory… So that's kind of my take on it. I've got great friends in that world and 99 percent of them have shown me an incredible amount of respect and friendship."

In various interviews over the years, John has said that he "always had faith in God" and that his mother was a "Jesus fanatic." He also claimed that he was willing to put his career on the line to take a stand for Christ.

"Dominion" was released on January 14 via Atlantic. Produced by Kevin Churko (PAPA ROACH, DISTURBED, FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH) with songs written by John Cooper, Korey Cooper, Kevin Churko and Kane Churko, the LP was created 100% remotely between the band's tour dates, home studio in Wisconsin, and the Churkos' studio in Las Vegas.