John Cooper, the frontman for the Grammy-nominated Christian rock band SKILLET, spoke to "Washington Watch With Tony Perkins" about how music and his band's music in particular affects the way people think about the world. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Music is a fantastic vehicle. Music kind of — what's the right word to say this? Music kind of softens you up to hear what someone thinks about something that maybe you wouldn't normally want to listen to. Now, what we have to realize, of course, is that that can be used for bad — that can be used for really evil things or it can be used for really good things. What our young people are going through now is that they're constantly hearing this pop music… The popular music or the culture is so godless. It is lawless. It celebrates just absolute sexual revolution, I guess you would say — an abandonment, a liberation from Christianity, a specific liberation from Jesus Christ himself. It is a celebration of sin.

"A lot of people say, 'I don't really listen to the lyrics,' but the truth is that these lyrics, they get into you," he continued. "So we wanna do something that is the opposite, you see, because I don't believe that music is owned by the Devil. The Devil doesn't create music; he does not own music. Music belongs to the Creator, and so we aim to go into the culture, and through music, we bring music and art and rock music, specifically for me, back under the subjection of the Lord Jesus Christ. We bring it back under His feet where it belongs as we give glory to Him."

John added: "So I do think that there's a great place for music to change people's hearts 'cause they listen to the beat, they listen to the tune, and they go, 'I kind of dig that.' And then they turn on an interview with you and they get to hear me say what the song is about. And you never, ever know how God may use that. God does incredible things through interviews — these little seeds of truth. That's what we're praying for."

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.

SKILLET's latest album, "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.

Fan-filmed video of TWISTED SISTER singer Dee Snider's solo performance on Sunday, January 16 at RokIsland Fest in Key West, Florida can be seen below.

According to Setlist.fm, the setlist was as follows:

01. I Gotta Rock (Again)

02. The Kids Are Back (TWISTED SISTER song)

03. You Can't Stop Rock 'N' Roll (TWISTED SISTER song)

04. Stay Hungry (TWISTED SISTER song)

05. Burn In Hell (TWISTED SISTER song)

06. The Beast (TWISTED SISTER song)

07. We're Not Gonna Take It (TWISTED SISTER song)

08. Become The Storm

09. The Price (TWISTED SISTER song)

10. I Wanna Rock (TWISTED SISTER song)

11. Stand

12. Real Wild Child (Wild One) / Rock and Roll

13. White Christmas (Irving Berlin cover)

14. Highway To Hell (AC/DC cover)

Dee's fifth solo album, "Leave A Scar", was released last July via Napalm Records. Once again produced by HATEBREED frontman Jamey Jasta with co-production, mixing and mastering by drummer Nick Bellmore, "Leave A Scar" sees Dee continuing in the invigorated, modern direction of his previous release, "For The Love Of Metal", infusing a dose of classic heavy metal flavor that longtime fans have rushed to embrace.

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 Eddie 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.

The surviving members of the classic lineup of TWISTED SISTER — Snider, French, Ojeda and Mendoza — reunited virtually on March 20, 2021 for a special episode of Mendoza's Internet TV show "22 Now". The hour-and-a-half-long program was a tribute to Pero, who died exactly six years earlier at the age of 55 while on tour with the band ADRENALINE MOB.

Prior to last March's virtual reunion, the four surviving members of TWISTED SISTER reunited for two days and nights in November 2019 to celebrate the 35th anniversary of the band's classic album "Stay Hungry".

Jeff Scott Soto appears to have reactivated his project with David Ellefson, three months after the singer said their collaboration was "on hold" while the former MEGADETH bassist was working through the fallout from his sex video scandal.

Last March, Soto and Ellefson announced that they had been collaborating on some new material under the moniker ELLEFSON-SOTO. The ELLEFSON-SOTO version of the RIOT classic "Swords & Tequila" was simultaneously released across all digital streaming outlets via Ellefson's Combat Records.

In October, Soto was asked in an interview with Dr. Music if the rest of the material he recorded with Ellefson will eventually see the light of day, Soto said: "I'm hoping it will at some point. I've given David, as many people have, the space and the time to kind of deal with his own things.

"We were full-on getting that thing ready to bounce and to drop, et cetera, and, obviously, things were put on hold for that reason," he explained. "And it's just better for things to just kind of go away and kind of calm down, because we don't need the kind of press that comes with it, especially the comments [from] the Internet cowboys out there. Let it go away, let it just kind of slip under the rug, and I'm sure that stuff is gonna resurface. And the idea of it will resurface and get us out there… I'm sure we'll revisit it when the time is right."

Earlier today (Tuesday, January 18), Soto shared an Instagram photo of him with Ellefson and he captioned it: "Something brewing in Los Angeles today....#davidellefson".

When Ellefson's collaboration with Soto was first announced, David said in a statement: "Jeff and I have been friends for so many years that it's great to finally collaborate on some material together. He has such a distinctive voice and perfect style for some new ideas my guitarist Andy Martongelli and I have been composing. We are excited about the progress of it all and thought this would be a perfect time to give a little sneak preview."

At the time, Jeff added: "As COVID-19 became a big negative around the globe, it actually offered many artists a chance to finally collaborate with one another that might have never happened otherwise… As I have known David for many years, I knew from our other efforts outside of our day jobs that we could come up with some badass jams…and here we are, letting you in on our cool little secret."

Ellefson was fired from MEGADETH last spring after sexually tinged messages and explicit video footage involving the bassist were posted on Twitter. At the time, Ellefson was accused of grooming an underage girl through videos and online messages. David has denied the allegation and has repeatedly said the woman in question had been a willing, consenting adult at the time of their virtual sexual encounter. Ellefson accompanied his denial with an alleged screenshot of a statement from the woman with whom he was supposedly involved at the time. In it, the woman admitted to recording the alleged intimate communications she had with Ellefson and called herself "naïve" for sharing them with a friend without the musician's permission.

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
























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New York death metal giants, Immolation, recently announced their latest immense creation, Acts Of God, which will be released February 18.


The 11th studio album serves as the next chapter of Immolation’s death metal epic. With five long years passed since Atonement, Acts Of God vigorously showcases Immolation’s ability to consistently create fascinating sounds, while still keeping their feet firmly rooted in the old school, New York Death Metal for which they are renowned.


Today, the band offers fans the second single of the album, “The Age Of No Light”. Check out the video below.




Vocalist/ bassist Ross Dolan comments, "We are very excited to unveil the next single ‘The Age of No Light’ to all the Immolation maniacs around the globe!  This song showcases some of the more extreme elements as well as the darker heavier moments that run throughout this album.  This is an intense and furious track that does not let up once it starts, and I think Bob really did an amazing job in capturing this sonic fury as well as the dark essence of this song visually with this video. We hope everyone enjoys it!!!!”





Acts Of God saw the return of long-time friend and recording counterpart Paul Orofino of Millbrook Studios while final touches were brought about on the mixing and mastering by Zack Ohren of Castle Ultimate Studios. For the cover artwork, the band enlisted Eliran Kantor to create the haunting new masterpiece that featured the muted colors and ethereal images that are hallmarks for Immolation's artwork. The artwork pieces Inside the booklet were created by Santiago Jaramillo of Triple Seis Design.





Acts Of God will be available in the following formats:


CD Jewel
T-Shirt
Double LP
  - Black
  - Sun Yellow + Black Marbled (Limited to 300)
  - Crystal Clear/Black Marbled (Limited to 300)
  - Crystal Clear W/ Gold Splatter (Limited to 1800)
  - Gold W/ Black Splatter (Limited to 300)
Cassette
  - Smokey
  - Gold (Limited to 150)
  - Grey (Decibel Exclusive; Limited to 100)
CD (Jewel) + T-Shirt Bundle
Longbox (Limited to 500)
  - CD (Jewel)
  - Sticker
  - Button


Pre-order your copy of Acts Of God here.





Tracklisting:


"Abandoned"
"An Act of God"
"The Age of No Light"
"Noose of Thorns"
"Shed the Light"
"Blooded"
"Overtures of the Wicked"
"Immoral Stain"
"Incineration Procession"
"Broken Prey"
"Derelict of Spirit"
"When Halos Burn"
"Let the Darkness In"
"And the Flames Wept"
"Apostle"


"Apostle" video:





Immolation will be kicking off their Acts of God North American Tour 2022 on February 18 in Richmond, Virginia. The 24-date trek will make stops in Orlando, Seattle, and Montreal before concluding on March 19 at Irving Plaza in New York.


Joining the band on tour are Imperial Triumphant (2/18-3/13), Mortiferum (2/18-3/18), And Black Anvil (3/15-3/19). The final hometown show will include performances by Demolition Hammer, Mortician, Funeral Leech. The complete list of dates can be seen below.





February (with Imperial Triumphant and Mortiferum)
18 - Richmond, VA – The Broadberry
19 - Huntington, WV – V Club
20 - Greensboro, NC – Blind Tiger
21 - Atlanta, GA – The Masquerade
22 - Orlando, FL – The Haven
24 - Houston, TX – The Studio at Warehouse Live
25 - Dallas, TX – Amplified Live
26 - Austin, TX – Come and Take It Live
28 - Mesa, AZ – Nile Theater


March (with Imperial Triumphant and Mortiferum)
1 - Los Angeles, CA – 1720
2 - San Francisco, CA – Great American Music Hall
4 - Seattle, WA – El Corazon
5 - Portland, OR – Hawthorne Theater
6 - Vancouver, BC – The Rickshaw
8 - Salt Lake City, UT – Urban Lounge
9 - Denver, CO – Oriental Theater
11 - Minneapolis, MN – Fine Line
12 - Chicago, IL – Reggie's
13 - Cleveland, OH – Grog Shop


March (with Black Anvil and Mortiferum)
15 - Detroit, MI – El Club
16 - Toronto, ON – Velvet Underground
17 - Montréal, QC – Petite Campus
18 - Worcester, MA – Palladium Upstairs


March (with Demolition Hammer, Mortician, Black Anvil and Funeral Leech)
19 - New York, NY – Irving Plaza


Tickets available here.


Lineup:


Ross Dolan – bass/vocals
Robert Vigna – guitar
Steve Shalaty – drums
Alex Bouks - guitar

Italian progressive death metal legends Sadist (feat. Obscura's Jeroen Paul Thesseling and ex-Necrophagist's Romain Goulon) have revealed a bunch of fresh details surrounding the upcoming new album "Firescorched," including cover artwork, tracklisting and release date.


Firescorched will be released via the band's new label home Agonia Records on May 20, 2022. A new digital single titled "Finger Food" is planned to be revealed on February 18, alongside a list of available album formats. Pre-orders are scheduled to be open at the same time.


"Firescorched" is the fastest, highly experimental and most extreme album of Sadist's career. The songs are fresh, embrace blast beats and give away a horror vibe, in combination with gloomy and anguished lyrics. The band's adventurous style, featuring jazz and Middle-Eastern influences, pierces through a veil of progressive death metal that cloaks nine new compositions (eleven, if counting two bonus songs).




The band's personnel includes - besides constant member, co-founder, guitarist and keyboardist Tommy Talamanca - long-running vocalist Trevor Sadist (with the band since 1996), new virtuoso drummer Romain Goulon (ex-Necrophagist, ex-Benighted) and fretless bass master Jeroen Paul Thesseling (Obscura, ex-Pestilence).


The album was recorded, mixed and mastered by Tommy Talamanca at Nadir Music Studios in Genoa (Italy) with artwork design by Paolo Puppo.


"Firescorched can be described as Sadist 2.0," comments Talamanca. "It's not a real concept album in the classical meaning of the word, despite the fact that most of the lyrics are somehow connected. Some of them are real horror stories, and the whole album sounds really creepy. We all love the cover artwork, which adds to that feeling."


Cover by Paolo Puppo:





“Accabadora”
“Fleshbound”
“Finger Food”
“Burial Of A Clown”
“Loa”
“Aggression/Regression”
“Three Mothers And The Old Devil Father”
“Trauma (Impaired Mind Functionality”
“Firescorched”
“Rerek”*
“Accabadora (Atitai)*


*Box CD bonus tracks


(Photo by Maridelsole; edited by Svetlana Fomina)

Ultimate Guitar's David Slavković recently spoke with singer Tony Martin, the second longest-running vocalist in Black Sabbath, and go more in-depth about the band's commercially panned Forbidden album from 1995 and a few other topics. Following is an excerpt from the interview.


UG: Traditionally, Forbidden is often looked down upon by the press. But honestly, I find that there's some really good stuff on it. "Rusty Angels", "Get a Grip", and "Kiss of Death" – really good songs actually. And it's one of the albums that got me into Black Sabbath as a kid. How how do you look back on it at this point? Do you think the music could have turned out better or production and mixing? I know that at one point you had negative comments about it. But did you change your opinion on it?


Tony Martin: "No, it's still shit. To me, anyway. I can't enjoy it. I mean... I have to tell you the background to it really. When we started that album, we didn't know it was going to be called Forbidden at this point. It's just us writing songs in the studio. And at that point, we were still quite good friends really. And everything was quite good. And the songs are going okay.




Then we had a call from Black Sabbath's management to say they were going to try this rap idea with Ice T. I didn't think that would work and Cozy Powell didn't think it would work. And so we had this meeting, and they said we are doing it. It's just like, you know, 'How do we get you guys to fit in?' So okay, well, we'll try. Ice T sent his guy Ernie C. Nice guys. Really nice guys. Nothing wrong with them, fun to work with and funny.


But the rap thing, the rap thing... I mean, they're obviously thinking Run DMC, you know? But it's Black Sabbath. And Cozy Powell kept saying 'I don't know how this is gonna turn out.' And they were trying to tell him how to play drums. Like, you do know who he is, right? It's Cozy Powell.


So anyway, they're trying to get him to do this rap rhythm thing. Cozy Powell wasn't digging it, I wasn't digging it. And then they said, 'Well, Ice T is gonna sing something.' And I said, 'Okay, sing what?' 'Well, we haven't decided yet.' Is he singing a song, a line a word? What's he singing? And they said, 'Well just keep going. We haven't decided, we'll make a decision at the end.' So we're writing these songs. And I'm still asking, 'What am I doing? Am I writing this thing? Am I singing on this?' 'Oh, well, we haven't decided yet.' Or, you know, 'Just keep going.' So even in the recording studio, I'm actually in the studio, and I still don't know if I'm going to be on the album or if somebody else is singing it. Because they wouldn't tell me.


Okay, now I can't concentrate. I can't sync my voice. I couldn't really make it work the way I wanted it to work. So for me, Forbidden is shit because of the background surrounding the thing. I'm fully expecting to be fired again. I'm thinking 'This is not good.' There's something going on, you know. I just couldn't concentrate.


For that reason, Forbidden is a lost album to me. And I wish I had the chance to re-sing it, because I could do a much better job, I think. But now, there are people that love it out there. And they find something – you've just said – that really worked for them. And I'm going 'How can you like that?!'"


Read more here.





BraveWords had the honour of speaking to Tony Martin about his excellent new (and best-selling!) album, Thorns, and the chat will air this weekend (Saturday, January 22) on Streaming For Vengeance.





You can watch/listen Streaming For Vengeance on the BraveWords Facebook page or the BraveWords YouTube channel this this Saturday, January 22nd at 3:33 PM EST. For more information about Streaming For Vengeance, visit this location.


Tony Martin is best known for his time fronting Black Sabbath, initially from 1987 to 1991 and again from 1993 to 1996. Martin was the band’s second longest serving vocalist after Ozzy Osbourne. Eternal Idol and Headless Cross are among the best known Black Sabbath albums featuring Tony Martin as well as Scream his solo album from 2005.


(Photo - Rob Billingham)

Zeal & Ardor have unveiled their final new song, "Church Burns", ahead of the release of their self-titled, third album on February 11th.


When asked about the track, frontman Manuel Gagneux wryly quips, "‘There’s a church. Guess what? It burns. Church Burns.’’







The 14-track record is a masterclass in distilled rage. Recorded by Marc Obrist and Manuel Gagneux at Hutch Sounds, it was mixed & mastered by Will Putney at Graphic Nature Audio. All songs were written and performed (except drums) by the multi-lingual Gagneux.


The Swiss extremists have been steadily revealing new tracks and official videos online in recent months, with fans treated to six new songs before the album release, while leaving plenty still to be discovered on release day. Everyone who pre-orders the album now will receive these six songs immediately.





Zeal & Ardor will be available in the following formats:


- Digital
- CD digipack
- 140g black vinyl
- 140g white vinyl (indie store exclusive)
- 180g 45rpm, double black vinyl, gatefold sleeve (deluxe)





Tracklisting:


"Zeal & Ardor"
"Run"
"Death To The Holy"
"Emersion"
"Golden Liar"
"Erase"
"Bow"
"Feed The Machine"
"I Caught You"
"Church Burns"
"Götterdämmerung"
"Hold Your Head Low"
"J-M-B"
"A-H-I-L"


"Golden Liar":





"Bow":





"Run" video:





"Erase":





"Götterdämmerung":





(Photo - Georg Gatsas)


 

Ahead of their new album, DAMNUM (out February 25), Allegaeon have delivered the next video from the album, the visually haunting and captivating "Of Beasts And Worms". Find the clip below.


"This is the place where I rest my bones and the river that cleanses me runs alone!" cries frontman Riley McShane on the track. "This song is about finding a place of inner quiet, a safe haven to explore your thoughts and escape from the anxieties of your life," the vocalist explains. "This lyrical intention is paired with a depiction of disparity and tiredness with the world around you and the stressors that contribute to the deafening silence of the mundane. In the music video, we showcase a more physical - and graphic - display of this thought process where the escape from the daily grind is manifested into a willing self-sacrifice. Though a dramatization, this concept of sacrifice to find your own personal peace can be applied to something less tangible and played an important role in my own process while writing the lyrics for DAMNUM. Thank you for watching and listening, we hope you enjoy it."


Allegaeon recently released the first video behind the album, "Into Embers" (see below) and have built themselves a unique place in the musical landscape, forcing both technicality and melody to the forefront as they create tumultuous and riveting death metal. With DAMNUM, their sixth full-length, they push everything further into the extreme, and in the process deliver the definitive Allegaeon record.




Pre-order the new album here.





DAMNUM tracklisting:


"Bastards Of The Earth"
"Of Beasts And Worms"
"Into Embers"
"To Carry My Grief Through Torpor And Silence"
"Vermin"
"Called Home"
"Blight"
"The Dopamine Void Pt. 1"
"The Dopamine Void Pt. 2"
"Saturnine"
"In Mourning"
"Only Loss"


"Of Beasts And Worms" video:





"Into Embers" video:





Catch Allegaeon as their first tour behind DAMNUM kick offs with the band supporting Omnium Gatherum, beginning February 26 in Brooklyn, NY.





Tour dates:


February
26 - Brooklyn, NY - The Kingsland
27 - Baltimore, MD - Metro Gallery
28 - Chapel Hill, NC - Local 506


March
1 - Atlanta, GA - The Masquerade (Hell)
2 - Orlando, FL - The Haven
4 - Austin, TX - Come and Take it Live!
5 - Houston, TX - Satellite Bar
6 - Dallas, TX - Amplified Live
8 - Denver, CO - Oriental Theater
9 - El Paso, TX - Rockhouse Bar & Grill
10 - Mesa, AZ - Nile Theater
11 - San Diego, CA - Brick by Brick
12 - Los Angeles, CA - Catch One @ Jewel
13 - San Francisco, CA - DNA Lounge
14 - Portland, OR - Bossanova Ballroom
15 - Seattle, WA - El Corazon
16 - Vancouver, BC - Rickshaw Theatre
18 - Calgary, AB - Dickens
19 - Regina, SK - The Exchange
20 - Winnipeg, MB - Park Theater
21 - Minneapolis, MN - Amsterdam Bar & Hall
22 - Madison, WI - The Crucible
23 - Chicago, IL - Reggies
24 - Toronto, ON - Velvet Underground
25 - Montreal, QC - The Ritz
26 - Quebec City, QC - Source de la Martiniere
27 - Boston, MA - Middle East Downstairs

Swedish band, Mad Invasion, combines classic 70’s/80’s hard rock influences with a modern approach and soundscape. The vast experience of the band members as musicians, songwriters and performing artists - includes numerous album releases and tours over the years.


Mikkey Dee will be special guest drummer on the next Mad Invasion album, already in production and set for release this summer. The drums are currently being recorded and the first single and video from the new album will be released in March 2022.


The album will be a full concept album, taking the theme of good vs evil to the next level by exploring the deeper layers of darkness even further while continuing to fight the ’good fight’. The working title of the album is Crack In the Sky. Stay tuned for more information on the progress of the album.




Check out the latest videos from their current album, Edge Of The World, three of which feature Mikkey Dee as special guest.