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.

In a new interview with IndiePower.com, Steve Vai spoke about his years as the guitarist in David Lee Roth's post-VAN HALEN solo band, alongside former TALAS bassist Billy Sheehan and drummer Gregg Bissonette. Asked what his favorite memories are of that period, Steve said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Well, there were so many. Touring, becoming a 'rock star' basically overnight by joining David Lee Roth's solo band when he left VAN HALEN was just a shocker. Every night on tour was just… Oh my God, it was something that I'm really glad I experienced. And there was a lot of other things. The camaraderie between me and Billy and Gregg was, and still is, very strong, and those are life relationships that you can't put a value on them. So that I got out of that. And one of the things I really enjoyed doing was learning things from Dave. I mean, he was an intense guy. We hung out a lot and would do things like go climbing — he was really into climbing mountains at the time. So we'd hire these fantastic guides and we'd go and do stuff like that. He got me into working out because I looked like a noodle when I joined the band. [Laughs] And I really enjoyed all of that. I really had a good time there."

Vai played with Roth on his 1986 album "Eat 'Em And Smile" as well as its 1988 follow-up, "Skyscraper".

A few years ago, Vai explained to the Examiner.com that he didn't expect the "Eat 'Em And Smile" band to come together when they first hooked up more than three and a half decades ago. He said: "Dave got the best musicians he could, who he thought was the best. And I thought it was a hell of a band… It was one of my favorite times in my whole musical career, because we were rock stars, you know? And touring with somebody like Dave, you can't even imagine what it was like. It was just glorious, man. And I knew it was fleeting, and I knew it was something that I wasn't going to be doing my whole life, because my brand of music in my own head is very different."

"Eat 'Em And Smile" was the first of two Roth albums to feature the duo of Vai and Billy Sheehan on guitar and bass. Throughout the LP, the two would often sync complicated bass lines together with the lead guitar parts, as on tracks such as "Shyboy" and "Elephant Gun".

IRON MAIDEN singer Bruce Dickinson, who flew his group around the world in their customized jumbo jet dubbed Ed Force One, named after MAIDEN's iconic mascot Eddie, has told the Associated Press that he will not be sitting in the pilot's seat when he and his bandmates return to the road later this year. "Oh, no, no, no, no," he said. "We're going to be flying and I'm going to be in the back. Hey, look, I'm 63 — I'm 64 in August. You know, when you get to 65, if you're an airline pilot, they just take you out the back and shoot, right? So, I'm going to be sitting in the back being the backseat driver."

According to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), commercial pilots have to retire at age 65. There is currently no maximum age limit for being a private pilot or for being an Air Force pilot.

Dickinson gained a commercial pilot's license after learning to fly in the 1990s. In 2012 he set up Cardiff Aviation, an aircraft maintenance company which has since changed its name to Caerdav.

Bruce, who spent a few years flying planes for Astraeus Airlines, told CNN in a 2007 interview: "Aviation's been kicking around my family for as long as I can remember; my uncle was in the RAF. But I always thought I was too stupid. I was useless at maths and majored in history at university, so I thought history majors don't become pilots, let alone rock stars. And then our drummer learned to fly, so I said, 'If a drummer can learn to fly, then anyone can.'"

Dickinson told Wales Online that he still gets a thrill out of flying, but that it's a totally different sensation to playing live.

"The satisfaction flying airplanes is getting the job done, but the satisfaction with playing live is external, looking out at all the people looking at you," he said. "With an airliner, it's all internal. If you've got passengers, nobody goes, 'Wow! Wasn't that great?' They're thinking about the rest of their day. Your job as an airline pilot is to deliver them safely and be invisible. That's quite nice for me because it's completely the opposite to what I do when I sing."

Bruce will hit the road with IRON MAIDEN for a new North American leg of the band's "Legacy Of The Beast" tour in September.

EXTREME guitarist Nuno Bettencourt says that he is working on two new solo projects, including a follow-up of sorts to his debut solo album, "Schizophonic", which came out in 1997 on A&M Records.

On Wednesday (January 26), Bettencourt took to his social media to write: "NEW MUSIC ANNOUNCEMENT 2022!!!

"I'm departing on a new and exciting journey. Working on two seperate solo projects. On one of them I have a full album already written and recorded and will form an exciting new band for it.

"I am doing a worldwide search for an incredible singer/frontman , an amazing Rthm section with a killer bass guitarist and drummer that can lock in together and sing bvs as well.

"Please submit a video of yourself killing it on stage and any music performance of you on your instrument or as a frontman performing live at [email protected] Show me what you're all about.

"My second project is ALL ME lol… truly solo and a real departure sonically … somewhat of a SCHIZOPHONIC part 2 for those who know.

"So pumped to share new music."

Bettencourt rose to rock superstardom as lead guitarist of the legendary rock band EXTREME. He has parlayed that success into an acclaimed career as a Grammy-nominated, multi-platinum artist, songwriter, and producer, working alongside industry titans such as Sir Paul McCartney, Steven Tyler, Kanye West, Robert Palmer, Rihanna, Janet Jackson and Perry Farrell, among others. Nuno is also the CEO and co-founder of Atlantis Entertainment, a full-service media and production company which creates and produces content through ventures integrating film and television, music, branded entertainment, commercials and digital content.

One of many career highlights for Nuno occurred when EXTREME performed, along with members of QUEEN, at Wembley Stadium at the Freddie Mercury tribute concert in 1992. Nuno was also invited to perform at the prestigious Nobel Peace Prize concert with Steven Tyler in 2014 as well as the 2015 Grammy Awards, side by side with Sir Paul McCartney, Rihanna and Kanye West, performing the No. 1 Billboard R&B/hip-hop song "FourFiveSeconds". As a producer and songwriter, Nuno has produced and performed on hit songs with such greats as Rihanna, Robert Palmer, Perry Ferrell and Janet Jackson, as well as currently producing a number of new and exciting, soon-to-be-released emerging pop artists and albums.
























View this post on Instagram









































A post shared by Nuno (@nunobettencourtofficial)

Frontiers Music Srl recently announced the release the fourth album, Lightning In A Bottle, from the melodic rock group, Find Me. Vocalist Robbie LaBlanc and drummer/producer Daniel Flores will release their new album on March 11. Today, the band has released a video for the new single, "Remember (It's Me)"


Watch the video below, and pre-order/save "Lightning In A Bottle" here


A delightful and massive melodic rock album, Lightning In A Bottle is chock full of mighty anthemic AOR songs featuring Robbie’s soaring vocals backed by amazing performances from Flores and his band. Sonically, this album touches on both the classic melodic rock/AOR style, while also showing influences from the new guard of the genre.  




Find Me is an ongoing collaboration between Swedish musician, songwriter, and producer Daniel Flores (The Murder Of My Sweet) and singer Robbie LaBlanc (Blanc Faces, ex-Fury) that was put together by Frontiers President, Serafino Perugino with a vision to unleash another AOR behemoth. Their partnership has yielded three absolute melodic rock gems in a row and "Lightning In A Bottle" will certainly be no exception.


"I really want to thank the band on this album, Jonny Trobro, Michael Palace (guitar), Rolf Staffan Pilotti, and the amazing voice, my friend, Robbie LaBlanc and, of course, our silent, but very vocal and important member, Serafino Perugino, for all the hard work on this release! But there is one person I really want to thank and that is Alessandro Del Vecchio, who is responsible for writing 10 amazing songs on this record. He will be featured heavily on my next work too. Yes, he likes to play!!! And is pretty lucky too! There is still one more BIG, BBBBBBBIG surprise on the album, featuring one of the best songwriters and keyboard players on earth at the moment, but I'll let the press team have that one...," says Daniel Flores.


The aforementioned special guest is Vince DiCola who plays keyboards on a cover of "Far From Over", a song by Frank Stallone from the Staying Alive soundtrack. Vince is actually a co-writer of the original along with Stallone.





Tracklisting:


"Survive"
"Far From Over" (Feat. Vince Di Cola)
"Sail Away"
"Back To You"
"Diana"
"Distant Echoes"
"Remember (It's Me)"
"You And I"
"Under A Bad Sign"
"Give My Heart"
"On The Run"


"Remember (It's Me)" video:





"Survive" video:





Lineup:


Robbie Lablanc - Vocals
Daniel Flores - Drums, Bass, Guitars, Keys

Imonolith features drummer Ryan Van Poederooyen (Devin Townsend Project), vocaklist Jon Howard (Threat Signal), guitarist Kai Huppunen (Methods of Mayhem, Noise Therapy), guitarist Oswin Wong, and bassist Conan Freeman.


On Friday, January 28th they will release "The Reign" (Remix) featuring Jens Kidman of Meshuggah taken from the forthcoming Progressions EP, which will be out in March 2022. Pre-save here.







Imonolith recently issued the following update:


"The Imonolith tour scheduled for November / December 2021 in the EU / UK has officially been moved to April / May 2022 due to the pandemic. Imonolith wants all of our followers to experience any show we play in the safest and healthiest conditions possible. Our friends in Once Awake and Ascend The Hollow will still be direct support on this rescheduled tour.


We felt playing in 2021 wasn’t safe enough for us to tour and not safe for you guys to see us. Everyone’s health is priority #1. We will see you all in Spring 2022 and we cannot wait!!!


Thanks for your support. Stay posted for another new single which will be dropping very soon."


The tour schedule is now as follows:


April
2 - Bournemouth, UK – The Anvil
3 - Stoke, UK – Underground
4 - Bristol, UK – Exchange
5 - Sheffield, UK – Corporation
6 - Newcastle, UK – Underground
7 - Edinburgh, UK – Bannermans
8 - Glasgow, UK – Broadcast
9 - Leeds, UK – The Key Club
10 - London, UK – The Black Heart
12 - Bilzen, Belgium – South Of Heaven
13 - Mainz, Germany – Schon Schon
14 - Lyon, France – Rock N Eat
15 - Barcelona, Spain – Razzmatazz 3
16 - Madrid, Spain – Sala Rockville
18 - Montepellier, Framce – Secret Place
19 - Martigny, Switzerland – Sunset Bar
20 - Modern, Italy – MK Live
21 - Ljubljana, Slovenia – Orto Bar
22 - Budapest, Hungary – Robot
23 - Skalica, Slovakia – Orlovna Club
25 - Zagreb, Croatia – Hard Place
26 - Salzburg, Austria – Rockhouse Bar
27 - Bochum, Germany – Die Trompete
28 - Munich, Germany – Backstage
29 - Cham, Germany – L.A. Live Style Cafe
30 - Dobeln, Germany – KL17


May
1 - Hamburg, Germany – Goldener Salon
3 - Copenhagen, Denmark – Beta
4 - Oslo, Norway – Krosset
5 - Stockholm, Sweden – Hus 7
7 - Helsinki, Finland – On The Rocks
8 - Tallinn, Estonia – Rockclub Tapper
9 - Riga, Latvia – Melna Piektdiena
11 - Warsaw, Poland – Hydrozagadka
12 - Prague, Czech Republic – Rock Cafe
15 - Geislingen, Germany – Miev
15 - Helmond, Netherlands – Cacaofabriek





Imonolith recently released a bass-heavy cover of Björk's "Army Of Me". Watch the lyric video below. Stream or purchase the single here.


Ryan: "Imonolith are excited to release our version of the classic Björk hit, 'Army Of Me'. I had an idea of how to cover the song back in 2011 and demoed it with a past project but never released it. I brought up this version to everyone in Imonolith, they dug it, so we re-recorded it with a few new twists. It’s basically a heavier version of the original song with some big modern day production. Jon did an incredible job paying respect to Björk’s vocal melodies. Musically, the chorus and a few other parts of the song get injected with some new energised patterns. We’re stoked on how it turned out and can’t wait for everyone to hear what we did with this classic song."

Voraath, the brutal horror-inspired extreme metal band featuring members from Nile, Xael, Rapheumets Well, Implosive Disgorgence, and Sweet Blood are unleashing their next single ,"The Barrens", to follow their debut single and music video, “Siren Head”, directed by drummer Joshua Nassaru Ward and released this past November.


As part of the band's vivid storytelling, "The Barrens" kickstarts another musical odyssey. Picture a dystopian Earth around the year 2136 and more than 80 percent of the world's population disappeared after the arrival of an alien species. The music follows a group of mercenaries employed by The Eos Corporation to locate and retrieve something referred to as "the nexus key" in which they run into some complicated and dangerous resistance. Since the arrival of the "Cosmic Architects" strange creatures now roam the dystopian planet. The music is meant to portray the dire and odd environment in which the story unfolds.


The track is just a preview from the otherworldly and experimental metal act based out of the Carolinas as they work on recording their forthcoming full length.




Listen to "The Barrens" at Bandcamp, Spotify, and/or below:





The music video for "Siren Head" can be viewed below. Single download and stream available here.





Coming together only during September 2021, Voraath features Brad Parris (Nile) on vocals and guitar, Joshua Nassaru Ward (Xael, Rapheumets Well) on drums, vocals and keys, along with Paul McBride (Implosive Disgorgence, Sweet Blood) on bass, and guitarists Daniel Presnell and Tylor Kohl. The band first began as a vessel for them as musicians to continue touring and writing.


"We wanted to explore even further integrating science fantasy, soundscapes, and metal. This will be something new bringing together emotional yet brutal music and science fantasy so we hope to appeal to both metal enthusiasts as well as those who appreciate the lore of the music," adds the band.


Transporting fans to a different world, Voraath plans to offer up both escapism and music that relates to them on a personal level. For their live performance, the band has lots of on-stage theatrics and costuming to bring the storytelling to life. It will be both intense and immersive.


Voraath is recommended for fans of death metal, black metal, and 80’s movie soundtracks.


Lineup:


Brad Parris - Vocalist, Guitarist
Joshua Nassaru Ward - Drummer/Vocals/ Keys
Tylor Kohl - Guitarist
Daniel Presnell - Guitarist, accompany instruments
Paul McBride - Bassist

While waiting for more shows to happen, amidst Covid-19 years, Electric Boys have decided to release a couple of new tracks. These are songs that the Swedish band recorded during the Ups!de Down sessions. The first one, "Favorite Hello, Worst Goodbye" is coming out on digital platforms on February 4t. If you are into old-school American hard rock, like Cheap Trick, this might tickle your fancy.





Formed in Stockholm in 1988, Electric Boys is a band with roots in 70s groove rock and 60s pop and psychedelia. Their critically acclaimed debut album, Funk-O-Metal Carpet Ride, was produced by Bob Rock (Metallica, Bon Jovi, The Cult, Mötley Crüe) and spawned the self-produced Billboard Top 20 single, “All Lips ’N’ Hips” that got them heavy rotation on MTV.




After extensive touring, the band entered legendary studio Abbey Road to record the follow-up Groovus Maximus, which gave the band another Billboard Top 30 single with the song, “Mary In The Mystery World”. The third album Freewheelin’ (also recorded in Abbey Road) peaked at #16 on the Official Swedish Album Chart before the band called it a day in 1994.


Guitarist and lead singer, Conny Bloom went solo until he, as well as bassist Andy Christell, joined legendary glamsters Hanoi Rocks in 2005. In 2009 they began the process of reuniting the Electric Boys. They released the album, And Them Boys Done Swang in 2011 and the critically acclaimed fan favourite Starflight United in 2014.


In all the years, the band has toured relentlessly opening for the likes of Metallica, Alice Cooper, Mr. Big, Hardline, Vixen and Thunder. In 2017, the band took part in the hugely popular Monsters Of Rock Cruise from Florida, it was a triumphant return Stateside.


In 2018 the return to studio albums finally happened, with The Ghost Ward Diaries, a record that not only topped the charts in Sweden and Denmark, but also brought back the distinctive sound of Electric Boys to their countless fans and to new listeners, who got hypnotised by their rocking musical mix. Roughly three years after, “Ups!de Down”, written already under lockdown, repeated the success, but brought a broader array of songs.


"Favourite Hello, Worst Goodbye” will be released as a digital single on February 4.


Lineup:


Conny Bloom - guitar, vocals
Andy Christell - bass
"Slim" Martin Thomander - guitar
Jolle Atlagic - drums


(Photo - Sven Isaksson)

Something truly wicked this way comes! East Coast metal is alive and well as the New Jersey-based quartet Pierced have just premiered the first track/video "You Can't Play God With Me" on BraveWords from their recently completed debut album, Cheers To Brutality, which will be released March 18.





Bass player Pete Rizzi shares, "We wanted to introduce the band with an in-your-face video that accurately depicts the intensity of our live show and the aggression we bring to the stage. That is where we are most comfortable, interacting with a crowd and going fucking ballistic!"




Singer Rob Middleton adds “'You Can’t Play God with Me' basically describes your modern day power trippers, the people who seek control over the majority of us, whether it’s corporations, so-called experts or our own government, telling us what they think is best for us. They use the fear machine to force conformity which for a guy like me, immediately triggers resistance."





Cheers To Brutality was produced, engineered, mixed, and mastered by Mike Orlando (Adrenaline Mob, Noturnall) at his state-of-the-art Sonic Stomp Studio in New York.


Pierced embellishes the power and integrity of old school thrash metal adding their unique blend of thunderous vocals, riveting guitar mastery, brutal power bass, and a relentless drum assault. The result is a sonic experience perhaps best described as an amplified and rejuvenated interpretation of combat metal with groove. Working class ethics, pride in their roots, and a defiant demeanor personify the boys of Pierced and their music conveys the essence of these values with a roar.

Danish metal quartet Defecto combines powerful, in-your-face attitude with meaningful songwriting. After releasing their third full-length album Duality in the fall of 2020, the quartet has taken a step back towards their progressive metal roots. Now they present the hard-hitting single "Ball Of Hatred" - watch the accompanying video below. 


“Blinded by power, blinded by selfishness, blinded by greed, humanity is violently suffocating the earth and its riches. 'Ball Of Hatred' tells this story through an aggressive, impactful yet melodic, powerful piece of music,” muses vocalist Nicklas Sonne.







"Ball Of Hatred" is released through Prime Collective, and available on all streaming services.


 

Former MEGADETH bassist David Ellefson and guitarist Chris Poland have come together to record one final song posthumously with their friend, late ex-MEGADETH drummer Gar Samuelson. The new track, "The Raven", is the latest single from FATAL OPERA, part of a new 12-song collection of demo material compiled as the group's final release, titled "Fatal Opera 3", out now on Combat Records.

Following his departure from MEGADETH in 1987, Gar assembled his new band FATAL OPERA, along with his brother Stew on guitar. Gar went on to produce the group's debut album in 1994, which also featured Dave Inman on vocals, Travis Karcher on bass and Billy Brehme on guitar. The group's second album, "Eleventh Hour", was released in 1997 and introduced Andy Freeman on vocals, reaching top 10 on European charts while the group continued building a loyal fan base touring across the USA that year. Sadly, in 1999 Gar became ill and passed away, at which point the group disbanded.

Then, in 2018, Andy and Stew set out to remix the "Eleventh Hour" LP and in the process discovered a collection of demos with Gar which were intended to become the band's third album before his passing. Although the demo tapes were damaged after many years of neglect, Freeman labored to revive the tracks with some songs lost forever. However, he was able to complete 12 tracks, inviting Ellefson and Poland to participate on "The Raven" as a way to conclude the legacy of Gar and FATAL OPERA.

Poland recalls: "Back in the day, long before MEGADETH, Gar and his brother Stew were the heart and soul of a heavy instrumental jazz/rock project called THE NEW YORKERS. I played guitar with them and Robbie 'Pag' Pagliari played fretless bass. It was everything we could do just to keep up. Stew's right hand was a machine. Flawless. And Gar was right there with him always pushing things to the next level. And again, these two brothers were the heart and soul of FATAL OPERA.

"It was a privilege to be a part of this release, and playing on 'The Raven' with David Ellefson made it that much more special. Gar was a true artist. Be it his amazing drumming, his painting or his wood sculpture pipe (he made by hand). Gar was one of a kind. And here Gar, Stew and crew push the limits of experimental metal. These songs are complex yet accessible. Music with a dark side that draws you into their world and keeps you wondering 'what's next!'" Poland also added additional guitar work to the track "Mask Of Time".

Ellefson adds: "This is a really cool moment for Chris and me to musically reunite with our friend Gar, now almost 35 years after our last studio session together, which was the 1987 re-recording of 'These Boots Are Made for Walkin'' for the 'Dudes' movie soundtrack, compiled by director Penelope Spheeris.

"Gar was always such a free spirit with his music; no click tracks or digital reinvention for him. And he seldom played the same thing twice; quite unusual for heavy metal. He just went for it with real gusto and that became the hallmark of his sound."

He continues: "When I was laying down the bass track for 'The Raven', it reminded me once again of Gar's spontaneity in the studio, as if we were recording live in the same room together. I'm super happy these tracks were brought to life so we could have one last go around with Gar behind the kit. It's a reminder that he truly was one of the greats."

Combat Records is the label which was home to many iconic thrash and metal albums in the 1980s and 1990s and was relaunched by Ellefson & Co. in 2017. It was also home to Samuelson's first full-length record with MEGADETH, their debut, "Killing Is My Business…And Business Is Good" (1985). Ellefson states: "As a label, we are proud to release these final tracks from Gar. He was a masterful drummer who made an incredible impact on fans and musicians everywhere. I think it's appropriate that Combat would be home to his first and now final recordings."

"Fatal Opera 3" is available now across all digital outlets.

"Fatal Opera 3" track listing:

01. The Raven (feat. David Ellefson & Chris Poland)

02. Live Again

03. Mask Of Time (feat. Chris Poland)

04. Killers In The Night

05. Swept Away

06. Burning Of The Midnight Lamp

07. 10 Years Gone

08. Little Sister

09. Salt

10. Rise

11. Wings Of Pain

12. Jumped In The Pot

"Fatal Opera 3" lineup:

Andy Freeman - Vocals, Keyboard, Guitar

Stew Samuelson - Guitar

Billy Brehme - Guitar

Travis Karcher - Bass

Gar Samuelson - Drums