Dirty Honey jump-started the 2022 National Hockey League Winter Classic on New Year’s Day, as part of TNT's event coverage. Filmed on one of Minnesota’s iconic frozen lakes and directed by Turner Sports' Tyler Lassiter and Craig Murray, the band - Marc LaBelle (vocals), John Notto (guitar), Justin Smolian (bass), and Corey Coverstone (drums) - wrapped up the pre-game coverage with their interpretation of hometown hero Prince’s “Let’s Go Crazy”.





Listen to the full song, available on all DSPs, via this link.







“I found out about Dirty Honey through former NHL player Scottie Upshall and have been a fan of the band ever since,” said Lassiter. “I had read that Marc LaBelle was a big hockey guy, and as soon as we landed the NHL deal on TNT earlier this year, my first thought was that we would do something with these guys at some point. When we came up with this concept, all the stars seemed to align. We needed a band who could faithfully pull off a legit Prince cover as well as one passionate enough to agree to shoot on a frozen lake in northern Minnesota in mid-December. The boys crushed it.”


Two of today’s most dynamic live bands, Mammoth WVH and Dirty Honey, are joining forces to bring their kick-ass rock’n’roll out on a 31-date, co-headline North American tour. The “Young Guns” tour begins on January 18 and will see the bands alternating the closing slot. Tickets for all dates are on sale now and can be purchased here.


“We played one co-headline show with Dirty Honey back in September. As soon as the night was over, we knew this would be a great package to take across the US. We couldn’t be more excited to share the stage with them and give all of the fans an unforgettable night of rock music,” explains Wolfgang Van Halen.


Both of these “young guns” spent their summer on high-profile US tours - Dirty Honey with The Black Crowes and Mammoth WVH with Guns N’ Roses. With only two live gigs under their collective belt, Mammoth WVH’s tour initiation was a baptism-by-fire, opening for the iconic Guns N’ Roses in stadiums. At the end of the tour, in Hollywood, Florida, Guns N’ Roses brought Wolfgang Van Halen back onstage to join them performing “Paradise City.”


After selling out their US headline tour in June, Dirty Honey brought their sexy, bluesy rock’n’roll to amphitheaters with The Black Crowes. Vocalist Marc LaBelle grew up listening to the Crowes, so this tour was truly a dream come true. Winning over those who had primarily come to see The Black Crowes, Dirty Honey received standing ovations at the majority of the tour’s 35 shows. Not bad for a still-breaking, opening act.


The "Young Guns” tour is in support of both artist’s self-titled debut albums; Mammoth WVH and Dirty Honey, both released earlier this year. Both bands saw their debut singles - Dirty Honey’s “When I’m Gone” and Mammoth WVH’s “Distance” - occupy the #1 position on Billboard’s Mainstream Rock Airplay chart. In addition, both bands’ debut albums made quite impressive bows; Mammoth WVH debuted at #1 on Billboard’s Top Rock Albums chart, and Dirty Honey - the band, totally independent with no label affiliation - claimed the #2 position on that chart.


“People who come to our shows are going to see two bands who are looking to prove that rock’n’roll is definitely very much alive and well,” said Dirty Honey’s Marc LaBelle. “We both carry the weight of that on our shoulders, and there’s a lot to prove.”





Tour dates:


January
18 - The Fillmore - Philadelphia, PA
20 - Piere’s Entertainment Complex - Ft. Wayne, IN
21 - House of Blues - Chicago, IL
22 - The Rave - Milwaukee, WI
24 - The Bluestone - Columbus, OH
25 - Royal Oak Music Theatre - Royal Oak, MI
26 - The Danforth Music Hall - Toronto, ON
28 - State Theatre - Portland, ME
29 - Big Night Live - Boston, MA


February
1 - Webster Hall - New York, NY
2 - Starland Ballroom - Sayreville, NJ
4 - Rams Head Live - Baltimore, MD
5 - The Ritz - Raleigh, NC
6 - The Fillmore - Charlotte, NC
8 - Marathon Music Works - Nashville, TN
9 - Tabernacle - Atlanta, GA
11 - Hard Rock Orlando - Orlando, FL
12 - The Plant - Dothan, AL
15 - The Aztec Theatre - San Antonio, TX
16 - House of Blues - Dallas, TX
18 - Uptown Theater - Kansas City, MO
20 - Ogden Theatre - Denver, CO
21 - The Complex - Salt Lake City, UT
22 - Revolution - Boise, ID
24 - Ace of Spades - Sacramento, CA
25 - House of Blues - Las Vegas, NV


March
1 - House of Blues - San Diego, CA
2 - The Wiltern - Los Angeles, CA
4 - The Marquee - Tempe, AZ
5 - Fantasy Casino - Indio, CA


(Photo courtesy of TNT)


 

Ykä Järvinen, who directed, edited and produced BODOM AFTER MIDNIGHT's music video for the title track of the band's "Paint The Sky With Blood" EP, has shared previously unreleased studio footage from the EP recording sessions, which took place in November 2020. You can check out the two short clips below.

BODOM AFTER MIDNIGHT was formed in 2020 by former CHILDREN OF BODOM frontman Alexi Laiho. He was joined in the group by guitarist Daniel Freyberg, drummer Waltteri Väyrynen (PARADISE LOST), bassist Mitja Toivonen (ex-SANTA CRUZ) and live keyboardist Vili Itäpelto.

Alexi died on December 29, 2020 in his home in Helsinki, Finland. He died of alcohol-induced degeneration of the liver and pancreas connective tissue. Furthermore, Laiho had a cocktail of painkillers, opioids and insomnia medication in his system. He had suffered from long-term health issues leading up to his death.

In a message accompanying the YouTube release of the second BODOM AFTER MIDNIGHT studio video, Järvinen wrote: "I have quite a lot footage from these BODOM AFTER MIDNIGHT studio sessions which never got released because maestro left this realm way too soon. I really don't know if any more of this stuff will be released, but here's another small clip I did edit over a year ago as a demo for the guys. I hope you enjoy it."

Laiho's ashes were buried last month — nearly a year after his tragic passing at the age of 41. He was laid to rest at the Malmi Cemetery, a large cemetery located in the Malmi district in Helsinki, Finland.

Australian-born music publicist Kelli Wright, who says she married the musician three years before his death, announced Alexi's burial in a social media post on December 10, 2021. She wrote: "Finally, with extremely mixed emotions, I can announce MY late, unconditionally and forever loved husband's ashes were buried yesterday on our 4 th Wedding Anniversary. The family Laiho plot is where he was buried. Alexi and Kelli 2005 – eternity".

A large gravestone has been ordered for Alexi's final resting place, but it has not yet been installed. Social media posts of Alexi's grave show a candle sitting on top of his burial spot.

At the time of his death, Alexi was still legally married to his former SINERGY bandmate Kimberly Goss. In January 2021, Finnish tabloid Ilta-Sanomat reported that Laiho tied the knot with Goss in February 2002, and the couple never officially divorced. Although Laiho filed for divorce in November 2002, he quickly withdrew the petition and never filed another.

According to Finnish law, Laiho and Wright would not have been able to legally wed, as Laiho and Goss had never terminated their marriage.

In March 2021, Alexi's sister Anna accused Kimberly of holding up the burial process, writing in a social media post that Goss was using "her legal rights as a widow, preventing grie[v]ing mother and father [from] bury[ing] their own son. Her selfish and narcissistic explanation is that she wanted to take part in the funeral and still wants to be present when the ashes are buried," she wrote. "But our family does not want this monster anywhere near us."

For her part, Goss, who lives in Chicago, Illinois, denied allegations that was "a 'gold-digger' who Alexi 'hated'," explaining that "this can be easily disproven through the beautiful text and video messages he sent me daily, right until the last day of his life. Messages so sweet, yet so heartbreaking at the same time. Heartbreaking because you can see how ill he was. I tried everything I could to help him. I often messaged people in Helsinki to check in on him because I was so worried."

Last month, Anna told Ilta-Sanomat that "the protracted dispute" over her brother's ashes was "over" and that she and the rest of her family welcomed the opportunity to focus on grieving her brother "in a new way."

Alexi and drummer Jaska Raatikainen founded CHILDREN OF BODOM in 1993, and the band was one of the most internationally acclaimed metal acts in Finland up until their very last farewell concert in December of 2019.

BODOM AFTER MIDNIGHT recorded three songs and shot one music video, all of which were released posthumously.

Besides CHILDREN OF BODOM, Laiho had played in such acts as WARMEN, SINERGY, KYLÄHULLUT and THE LOCAL BAND. Awarded with a Metal Hammer Golden God and several other international prizes, the guitarist was also the main star, leading a group of one hundred guitar players at the Helsinki Festival in 2015 in "100 Guitars From Hel" — a massive concert piece he composed.

Drummer Paul Mazurkiewicz (CANNIBAL CORPSE), guitarist Taylor Nordberg (INHUMAN CONDITION, THE ABSENCE, FORE), bassist Vernon Blake (ANARCHUS) and vocalist Brian Stephenson (FORE, OLD JAMES) have joined forces in a new rock and roll band called UMBILICUS.

Mazurkiewicz says: "UMBILICUS was formed in the summer of 2020 and driven by our love of rock and roll from the late '60s, '70s and early '80s.

"I've been listening to well-known bands like GRAND FUNK [RAILROAD], BAD COMPANY and STEPPENWOLF and not-so-well-known bands like SIR LORD BALTIMORE and LUCIFER'S FRIEND for the last 20 years or so now. The more I listened to these bands, the more I wanted to play music like this. It is just so much fun to sit back and groove out and play by complete feel without beating my body down. To just play some pure hard rock!

"We composed 10 very cool songs throughout 2020 but the one piece of the puzzle was missing: an awesome voice to tie it all together. Enter Brian Stephenson! An amazing vocalist and lyricist that completed the lineup!

"I am so proud of what we have written and I can't wait for the world to hear what we have to offer!"

UMBILICUS is putting the finishing touches on its as-yet-untitled debut album for a 2022 release. More details regarding track listing, artwork, and release date will be announced soon. A teaser video is available below which features a short demo mix of a new song.

UMBILICUS is:

Brian Stephenson - vocals

Paul Mazurkiewicz - drums

Vernon Blake - bass

Taylor Nordberg - guitar

Band photo by Deidra Kling

Today sees the release of the final single off Big Big Train forthcoming Welcome To The Planet album. “Bats In The Belfry” was composed by the band’s drummer, Nick D’Virgilio.


Nick comments about the song: “Big Big Train has many songs where the drum parts are challenging and we have a few instrumentals now, but I wanted to write something to really give me the room to stretch out on the drums. I wanted the song to be fast but groovy. I’ve also enjoyed writing more specific parts for our brass ensemble. The song started with the bass line and grew from there. Next came the main melody in the opening section. From there I was off to the races. I was able to add fast ‘drum-n-bass’ style drum solos over the top of some nice counterpoint brass lines, a rocking middle part, and an end section where I changed the beat around just for fun. One thing I have to say is that no matter what I throw at this band they can handle it and then some. The first time I heard Rikard’s ‘surf’ sounding guitar on the fast middle section I burst out laughing with musical joy!”







Big Big Train’s March 2022 UK tour will now not take place; ticket holders should contact their point of purchase for information on refunds. Prior to David’s death the band had been on the verge of announcing a North American tour consisting of over 20 shows in May and June 2022. This projected North American tour will also not be taking place.


The band will be making an announcement next year about its future, including regarding the September 2022 shows that are scheduled to take place in the UK. Ticket holders for these September shows are encouraged to retain their tickets for the time being pending that further announcement. No further comment will be made about the band’s future before next year.


The release of Welcome To The Planet will continue on January 28, six months after the band’s Top 40 album, Common Ground


The new album sees Big Big Train retain their progressive roots but also take influence from all spheres of music. The four recent singles "Proper Jack Froster", "Made Of Sunshine", "The Connection Plan" and "Lanterna" are also included along with keyboard player Carly Bryant's first Big Big Train writing credit and lead vocal on the captivating title track.





Tracklisting:


Part One
"Made From Sunshine"
"The Connection Plan"
"Lanterna"
"Capitoline Venus"
"A Room With No Ceiling"


Part Two
"Proper Jack Froster"
"Bats In The Belfry"
"Oak And Stone"
"Welcome To The Planet"


"Lanterna":





"The Connection Plan":





"Made From Sunshine":

METALLICA's music was streamed 1.3 billion times on Spotify in 2021. This marks the third year in a row that the band's songs were played more than a billion times on the digital music service in a 12-month period.

The heavy metal legends' social media revealed their latest streaming feat on Friday (December 31), adding that "With all the ups and downs of 2021, one thing remained consistent – you listened to a lot of METALLICA on @spotify! Just when we thought you couldn't possibly listen to any more, you went and proved us wrong. Clocking in at 112.2M hours of streaming, we were the top artist for 1M of you! Honestly, we don't even know what to say. But a massive THANK YOU, 'TALLICA FAMILY feels pretty appropriate right about now. Happy New Year to you all; we'll see ya in 2022! #2021ArtistWrapped".

Back in December 2012, METALLICA made the first nine of its studio albums, as well as various live material, singles, remixes and collaborations, available for the first time on Spotify. The move was significant because Sean Parker, who co-founded Napster, later sat on the board of Spotify. METALLICA waged a battle with Napster more than a decade earlier over the illegal sharing of the band's music, which resulted in both legal action and a battered public image for the band.

At the press conference in New York announcing the Spotify deal on December 6, 2012 Parker and METALLICA drummer Lars Ulrich appeared together and seemingly buried the hatchet. Ulrich said, "When [Parker] and I saw each other a few months ago. We could see that we had been put down as adversaries. We realize we had much more in common and sitting down was long overdue . . . We were younger, maybe somewhat more ignorant. We sat down and had a heart to heart."

In a statement at its web site, METALLICA said, "We are extremely proud to be a part of Spotify, who not only has a proven track record, but is by far the best streaming service."

METALLICA is able to make these deals directly since, as of 2012, the band has complete control over the master tapes of all its audio and video recordings. The band has also launched its own label, Blackened Recordings.

METALLICA's two 40th-anniversary concerts were held at San Francisco's Chase Center on December 17 and December 19. The two shows featured different setlists. They were part of METALLICA's "San Francisco Takeover", a four-day citywide celebration of the band's 40th anniversary that also included a film festival, photo exhibit and curated lineup of smaller venue shows featuring other acts.

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

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
























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KISS drummer Eric Singer joined his former bandmate, ex-KISS guitarist Bruce Kulick, during Bruce's concert last night (Thursday, December 30) at Count's Vamp'd in Las Vegas, Nevada. Singer was filling in for Kulick's regular drummer Brent Fitz who was apparently unable to make the gig because he contracted COVID-19.

Kulick's group, which also features singer and guitarist Todd Kerns and bassist and singer Zach Throne, performed mostly songs from Kulick's 1980s and 1990s KISS era.

The setlist was as follows:

01. Creatures Of The Night

02. Unholy

03. Uh! All Night

04. Domino

05. Heaven's On Fire

06. Watchin' You

07. Tears Are Falling

08. I Love It Loud

09. Detroit Rock City

10. King Of The Night Time World

11. God Gave Rock And Roll To You

12. Forever

13. War Machine

14. Jungle

15. Paralyzed

16. I Just Wanna

17. Spit

18. Star Spangled Banner

19. Crazy Crazy Nights

20. Turn On The Night

Kulick and his band previously played two shows aboard the 10th edition of the Kiss Kruise.

"I am definitely glowing with pride over what me and my band put together, and I will go on record saying that it's not easy to do that material," Kulick told Ultimate Classic Rock in November. "But I'm always striving to do the work that I know the fans will love. I'm devoted to giving that experience to the fans. Who better to keep the '80s and '90s KISS alive than me? And that's my goal, and I have the right guys to do it with and certainly enough material to make the fans extremely happy and grateful."

Kulick also explained his decision to tackle 1980s KISS material that he wasn't originally involved with, such as "Creatures Of The Night", the title cut of the 1982 album which was KISS's last effort recorded with Ace Frehley credited as an official member and their first LP with Vinnie Vincent as the initially uncredited lead guitarist.

"When it was first brought up to me by Brent, I was kind of, like, wait a minute, I think I know this song, and it's a good one, but what does it have to do with me?" Kulick recalled. "But then I saw the enthusiasm from Todd and Zach, and I thought, Yeah, that would be a strong and surprising opener. I was reading all the fan comments, and when I see them all herald the fact that I'm the one to keep the '80s and '90s alive, then why not go into 'Lick It Up'? Why not look at 'Creatures Of The Night'? There's no harm in it, but I certainly don't need to do 'Cold Gin' or 'Detroit Rock City'."

Bruce joined KISS in 1984, and accompanied the band on the "Animalize" tour and continued with them until the reunion tour. Bruce is heavily featured on "Kissology - Vol. 2" and "Vol. 3", the band's DVDs spanning their historic four-decade-plus career.

Earlier this year, Kulick spoke to Rockin' Metal Revival about how the band's reunion with Peter Criss and Ace Frehley for an episode of MTV's "Unplugged" in 1995 paved the way for a KISS tour that would exclude him and drummer Eric Singer.

"[KISS's official] convention tour [in 1995, where Criss rejoined KISS for two songs in a surprise appearance] was what triggered the opportunity for 'Unplugged', but, quite honestly, it also was the catalyst for the reunion tour, which meant the end of my [time with the band]," Kulick said. "That's the bittersweet [part about it]. Now, you've gotta remember, those guys [Ace and Peter] were always, like, 'Hey, I'd love to be back in the band,' this kind of thing. Or, 'What do you think about a reunion?' And I don't think Gene and Paul [Stanley] really cared to entertain that until the 'Unplugged' thing came around and MTV really wanted those guys involved. And then, all of a sudden, people were interested; promoters were throwing big offers to the guys. So it was kind of weird. Eric Singer and I, in January of '96 is when we were told that they were gonna make the announcement at the Grammys, or something, the next month, and we were finishing 'Carnival Of Souls'. So it really was a weird time of my life and everything."

Bruce remains philosophical about his exit from KISS, saying it had nothing to do with his ability or the chemistry he had with the rest of the band.

"I wasn't not going to be in KISS because I didn't play well enough or I didn't get along with the guys; it was purely a business thing," he said. "I always like to say sometimes that it seems like 'Star Wars' went away for a long time, and then, 20 years later, all of a sudden, the franchise retools and there's more 'Star Wars' movies. So the makeup KISS, it was time for that to come back, and, as you know, the numbers don't lie — they did tremendous business. That might have been the end of me actually being in the band, but my connection to the band's been very strong all these years."

"Carnival Of Souls" was recorded in 1995 but wasn't released until 1997, under the title "Carnival Of Souls: The Final Sessions". There was no accompanying tour to support the album, and none of the songs on "Carnival Of Souls" have ever been performed live by KISS.

Back in 1996, Gene called "Carnival Of Souls" "the heaviest disc we've done," and Paul called it "arguably our best studio album in the last 10 years."






















BRUCE KULICK M&G, Eric Singer will be on drum's tonight,as Brent Fitz has Covid unfortunately

Posted by Adrian Poole on Thursday, December 30, 2021

Vocalist Terry Ilous is featured in the lastest installment of the Rock Interview Series. He discusses his new band, Land Of Gypsies, and offers an update on the status of XYZ, and reflects on the band’s first two studio records, the self titled XYZ record from 1989 and its follow-up, Hungry, released in 1991. Ilous also talks about his time with Great White from 2010-2018 and his abrupt dismissal from the band, and how it ultimately become a blessing in disguise.










Land Of Gypsies, formerly known as Gang Of Souls, is a new L.A. based band featuring an artistic union between vocalist Terry Ilous (XYZ, ex-Great White), together with producer and bassist Fabrizio Grossi (Glenn Hughes, Supersonic Blues Machine, Eric Gales, etc.). Rounding out the lineup are Serge Simic on guitar (The Slam, Supersonic Blues Machine) and Tony Morra on drums.


The band spent a wealth of time during the pandemic in 2020 working on and developing their sound. Their target was to write music leaning towards a classic hard rock sound with unforgettable melodies and a solid bluesy background to compliment Ilous' stellar vocals.


Terry Ilous says, "My entire career has been about creating the best music I possibly can for the fans. Land of Gypsies allows me to focus on the music and to grow as an artist, while also being able to expand my work both nationally and internationally. I am extremely honored to join such an amazing roster of talent. Expect to hear a lot more from me and Frontiers moving forward.”


Fabrizio Grossi adds, “I am really excited to work with my buddies Serge, Tony, and Terry on this new adventure called Land of Gypsies. Terry is the centerpiece and I am sure he’ll turn even more heads than what he’s been admirably doing since XYZ’s debut and when he was with Great White. He’s an amazing singer and a hell of a funny guy. I am glad the public will be able to get to know this other side of him. This record represents the type of straight ahead rock music that really makes us move. There won’t be any frills and sweetness, that I can promise, but lots of balls out groove, loud guitars, and soulful melodies.”


Musically, Land Of Gypsies music leans toward a classic hard rock sound with unforgettable melodies and a solid bluesy background. Think Bad Company meets early Foreigner, but with more current production.





Tracklisting:


"Believe"
"Shattered"
"Trouble"
"Give Me Love"
"Somewhere Down The Line"
"Rescue Me"
"Ordinary Man"
"Run Away"
"Long Summer Day"
"Rambling Man"
"Get It Right"


"Believe":





"Shattered" video:





Lineup:


Terry Ilous - Lead & backing vocals
Serge Simic - Lead and Rhythm Guitars
Fabrizio “Fab” Grossi – Bass
AJ Morra - Drums & Percussions
Eric Ragno - Hammond, Wurly & Rhodes
Jeff Northrup - Additional guitars on “Somewhere Down The Line”

Vocalist Dani "Filth" Davey of veteran British extreme metallers CRADLE OF FILTH says that he and his bandmates have "many exciting things planned for 2022."

The 48-year-old musician looked ahead to the upcoming year while sharing a year-end message via Instagram. He wrote: "Firstly, in this festive address, I'd like to wish everyone a Happy New Year. May it be a productive and fruitfully delicious one for each & every one of you!

"Despite 2021 being another year of the plague & not seeing much action in the live department, it did bare witness to the release of our new album 'Existence Is Futile'. It also enabled us to partially tour the album in the States, where we played the two video tracks alongside fan-faves, as we brought our worldwide tour of 'Cruelty And The Beast' to a head.

"COF also undertook our anticipated livestream event in May. Thanks for your patience with this, despite the constant shifting of the goalposts. And extra thanks goes to all the crew and production teams that made the monster happen, you all went above & beyond the call of duty & we can't wait to unleash the new one early in 2022 (info about this to follow).

"Elsewhere, some live events did go on regardless despite the voracity of the virus, one of which was the impressive Bloodstock which was attended by a little over 20k excited Metal fans who were absolutely gagging at the bit to be back at a big live show after so long.

"And of course we played another big production show on All Hallow's Eve at the London Roundhouse, which really was a phantasmagorically fiery performance. We f**king loved it! And it proved such a befitting end to what was essentially a shallow year in terms of playing live, but such a productive one for many other aspects of the band.

"We as a band have many exciting things planned for 2022, not least of all the continuation of our Incendium comic book series & toys & our ever expanding drinks line, but also plenty of potential live dates/ collaborations/ aberrations/ trinkets & baubles/ strange darksome exotica and above all else, music!

"So it leaves me now not only to thank our wonderful management team at Oracle; the incredible Crew; all the lovely people who look after us (from legal to general); the record label, the music press, fellow-bands & inmates and fellow bandmates… But also you guys for keeping the twisted faith alive & supporting COF throughout all these trying times.

"Your fiend… Dani Filth".

CRADLE OF FILTH's 13th studio album, "Existence Is Futile", was released on October 22. The LP was pieced together in isolation at Grindstone Studios in Suffolk with studio guru Scott Atkins (DEVILMENT, BENEDICTION, VADER). Horror icon Doug "Pinhead" Bradley makes a welcome return to the CRADLE fold, lending his dulcet tones to the band's most politically astute song to date, the epic "Suffer Our Dominion" as well as the album bonus track "Sisters Of The Mist", which is the conclusion to the "Her Ghost In The Fog" trilogy that started over 20 years ago on the infamous and classic "Midian".

Eight months ago, CRADLE OF FILTH announced the addition of keyboardist Anabelle Iratni to the band's ranks.

Iratni, who previously played alongside Filth in DEVILMENT, as well as her own group VEILE, made her live debut with CRADLE OF FILTH on May 12, 2021 during the band's livestreamed concert.

Anabelle joined CRADLE OF FILTH as the replacement for Lindsay Schoolcraft, who announced her departure from the group in February 2020 after a seven-year run.

CRADLE OF FILTH is:

Dani Filth - Vocals

Richard Shaw - Guitar

Ashok - Guitar

Daniel Firth - Bass

Martin "Marthus" Skaroupka - Drums

Anabelle Iratni - Keyboards & backing vocals
























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HALESTORM played its first show of 2022 Saturday night (January 1) at Choctaw Grand Theater in Durant, Oklahoma. Video and photos of the performance can be seen below.

A few hours before the gig, HALESTORM frontwoman Lzzy Hale took to her Instagram to write: "Happy New Year! I can't think of a better way to ring it in than being surrounded by my road family and putting on a live rock show. We are performing tonight at the Choctaw casino/resort in Oklahoma! Happy hangover day!!"

Last month, HALESTORM finished mastering its new album for an early 2022 release. The follow-up to 2018's "Vicious" was once again produced by Nick Raskulinecz who first helmed HALESTORM's 2017 effort "ReAniMate 3.0: The CoVeRs eP" and was previously described by Lzzy as the group's "fifth member."

Earlier in December, Lzzy told Brandy Richey of Pittsburgh's 105.9 The X radio station about HALESTORM's upcoming LP: "During the time that we were writing it, I got a lot of inspiration by just the stories and just people living their lives and survival stories and literally just conversations that I've had with these people. So, in turn, I feel like even just as an artist, it was a really neat way for me to find myself again and see myself in them, but also in turn I feel like everyone's going to see some of themselves on this album. So, yeah, it's a beautiful thing."

In November, Lzzy told the 105.7 The Point radio station about the musical direction of the new HALESTORM material: "This album is absolutely a banger. It's on eleven. We have really just kind of exceeded all of the energy that has come before on these albums, both technically, music-wise, vocally, drum, lyric-wise. I think because of the roller-coaster ride when we were making this record, and just through the pandemic and all the different phases of that, we just kind of looked at each other, like, if the future is unknown and we don't know whether we're actually going to be out and playing these things, everything has to be, like I said, at eleven. It's HALESTORM elevated.

"It was kind of funny. My bass player, Josh [Smith], he was showing some new songs to his parents. And his dad is, like, 'Wow. You really just grabbed on to your sound.' And I'm, like, 'We have a sound?' [Laughs] I didn't really think about it that way before. But, yeah, it's very us."

According to Lzzy, she and her bandmates recorded the new HALESTORM album in a different way. "This is the first time that we've ever had dual producers," she explained. "We went back with Nick Raskulinecz [who helmed 'Vicious']. And then I ended up doing my vocals with Scott Stevens from THE EXIES. He's like a brother from another mother with me. We've written together before, and we've known each other for probably just shy of a decade now. He and I, we produced and did all the vocals for [HALESTORM's recently released single] 'Back From The Dead' with each other, because I went out to L.A. And then we ended up sending it to Nick, and Nick's, like, 'This is just absolutely amazing. We have to do every song this way.' So we kind of did it differently. We ended up with the bare bones of a demo. I ended up finishing all of my vocals — like dunzo — before we ended up building the track musically. So it's kind of like building a pyramid upside down. But it ended up really just having this different energy, because what we were able to do with the lyrics and melody and all the vocals being done would really accentuate all of that — matching the theme to whatever I was singing about, but also just kind of really supporting the vocals musically when we went in to do the guitars and drums and bass. It's so crazy — it definitely has this very forward, very aggressive nature to it because of the way that we did that."

"Back From The Dead" was released in August. The official music video for the track, directed by Dustin Haney (Noah Cyrus, Luke Combs) and produced by Revolution Pictures, features Lzzy and the rest of the band in a morgue and cemetery somewhere between life and death.

Lzzy and her brother Arejay formed the band in 1998 while in middle school. Guitarist Joe Hottinger joined the group in 2003, followed by Smith in 2004.

In December 2018, HALESTORM was nominated for a "Best Rock Performance" Grammy Award for its song "Uncomfortable". Six years earlier, the band won its first Grammy in the category of "Best Hard Rock/ Metal Performance" for "Love Bites (So Do I)".




HALESTORM IN DURANT,OK . MAKING HISTORY IN 2022 . WORK FLOW 2022 .

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MEGADETH's Brazilian-born guitarist Kiko Loureiro has uploaded a new 12-minute video in which he answers a number of fan-submitted questions. You can now watch the question-and-answer session below.

Asked if MEGADETH's leader, guitarist/vocalist Dave Mustaine, uses music theory to compose the band's songs. Kiko responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "No. He doesn't use theory at all — at all.

"You have to understand that people are different," he continued. "A creator can play something and just imagine the mountain, the sea, the hell, a war — imagine things, those sounds. He can relate that riff to a machine gun or can relate that riff to a bomb exploding, in the case of MEGADETH. But he can play a chord and imagine the mountain, the sun, sailing — whatever. So some people are like this. Some other people, they need the theory — they need the names, they need the things organized to make sense. So that's why some people really relate to the theory and love theory. I love theory. Some other people don't feel they need theory to compose, to create, because it's all about imagination. And, of course, the basic stuff they might know — 'Oh, this is a major chord,' 'This is a minor chord,' 'This is the name of the notes, like E, A, D,' but in the end, it really doesn't matter as well.

"So, does Dave Mustaine use theory? No, he doesn't."

In a previous video, Kiko was asked if he has learned anything from playing with Mustaine for the past six years, Kiko said: "Oh, yes, man. Oh, yes. I don't know if you're asking about guitar stuff, but I think my answer would go more, like… I learned watching him strive to be unstoppable, to be strong, to search for excellence, to demand excellence from everyone, and everyone delivers excellence, delivers their best. Leadership… What else? I don't know… Fight for your case. Fight for your music. Fight for your band. Fight for your fans. Being an artist, being creative [and] combining all those things — being professional and at the same time creative and at the same time having fun while you're doing the stuff. Yeah, a lot of experience in the music business as well — in the music business in general, in the show biz.

"And regarding guitar as well, the thrash metal essence," he continued. "All the rhythms — mainly the rhythms and then the attitude and the force, the vibe, the drive, the intensity. So, all those things while you're playing. Mixing the technical things with a lot of energy — like metal with punk with attitude. I think I'm a way better rhythm player because of just hanging and playing with Dave for all those years — since 2015. Also composing — he composes in a very different way than I do. And I think watching and learning from the way he does as well.

"So, yeah, a lot of stuff," Kiko added. "I could do an entire video of things that I learned from Dave and from the whole MEGADETH experience."

In an October 2015 interview with The Irish Sun, Mustaine was full of praise for Loureiro, saying: "A lot of times guitarists won't know how to add to something — they'll put something in there that's kind of like tits on a bull, unnecessary. Kiko came in and immediately started making some really good suggestions that we applied [to MEGADETH's 2016 album, 'Dystopia']. When he first came in, I knew he had the ability but I didn't know if the songwriting technique and talent was going to show up this early on."

He continued: "What was great about the suggestions that Kiko made was that they weren't just guitar ones — he made a bass part in a song called 'Me Hate You' [that made it] really come along. In fact, that was one of the songs where he made a huge melodic contribution in the chorus and I said, 'Man, this sounds like something.'"

According to Dave, Kiko possesses all the elements that are required to become part of a legendary metal act like MEGADETH.

"For me — really simply stated — if you want to be a musician, that's one thing. If you want to be a rock star, that's another," Mustaine said. "But if you want to be legendary, you need to have three very important components: you need to have ability, you need to have appearance, and you need to have attitude. Without all three of those things, it's kind of like trying to have a three-legged milk stool without three legs — it's just not going to work."

He continued: "I found with Kiko, his ability was astronomical, with his attitude he was very confident in what he did — there's a difference between confidence and arrogance. In appearance, he was very classy and very subdued on the street, but up on stage he totally takes command of his performance. When he came up to Nashville to visit with me, I didn't even have him play for the majority of the day he was there. I just wanted to hang out with him and it's been a really long time since I hung out with a guitar player before I hired him. Usually I would listen to how he played and then I'd go, 'Okay, we'll work it out.' I didn't want to do that again. Hanging out with Kiko, and having lunch and kicking back and talking music was all I needed — I knew he was the right guy."

MEGADETH recently completed work on its new album, "The Sick, The Dying And The Dead", for a tentative early 2022 release.

Mustaine has yet to reveal who played bass on the new MEGADETH album after David Ellefson's tracks were removed from the LP following his dismissal from the band in late May.

MEGADETH recently completed "The Metal Tour Of The Year" with LAMB OF GOD, TRIVIUM and HATEBREED.

For "The Metal Tour Of The Year", MEGADETH was rejoined by bassist James LoMenzo for the first time in nearly 12 years.

LoMenzo joined MEGADETH in 2006 and appeared on two of the group's studio albums, 2007's "United Abominations" and 2009's "Endgame". He was fired from the band in 2010 and replaced with a returning Ellefson.

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

Nita Strauss, the guitar shredder for the ALICE COOPER band, has shared a nine-minute video recap of the fall 2021 leg of her "Winter Wasteland" tour, which kicked off on November 10 in New Orleans, Lousiana and concluded on December 18 in Angola, Indiana.

Nita wrote in a message accompanying the YouTube release of the clip: "Some memories from our return to the stage after a year and a half off! It was so great getting back out there and seeing so many of you out on the road!"

Upcoming Nita Strauss solo shows:

Jan. 07 - Baton Rouge, LA @ Chelsea’s Live

Jan. 08 - Memphis, TN @ Growlers

Jan. 10 - Des Moines, IA @ Woolys

Jan. 12 - Iowa City, IA @ Wildwood Saloon

Jan. 13 - St Peters, MO @ Diamond Music Club

Jan. 14 - Westland, MI @ Token Lounge

Jan. 15 - Harrisburg, PA @ HMAC

Jan. 17 - Asheville, NC @ The Grey Eagle

Jan. 18 - Louisville, KY @ Diamond Concert Hall

Jan. 19 - Nashville, TN @ The Basement East

Jan. 21 - Shreveport, LA @ Bear’s

Jan. 22-27 – ShipRocked cruise

Earlier this month, Nita spoke to Terrie Carr of the Morristown, New Jersey radio station 105.5 WDHA about the progress of the writing and recording sessions for her follow-up to 2018's "Controlled Chaos" solo debut. She said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "The album is almost finished being recorded. We are just waiting on a couple of singers. Guitars are done, drums, bass — everything is finished.

"This is my first time collaborating with vocalists on anything, so it's a bit of a waiting game — it's testing my patience a little bit — but it's all worth it in the end," she continued.

"We're gonna do half and half — so six instrumental tracks and six tracks with guest vocalists."

In a separate interview with "The Mistress Carrie Podcast", Nita stated about her decision to make the upcoming LP "half vocal songs and half instrumental: "I did feel, and the label and everybody agreed, it's still important for me to keep my identity as a guitar player and not just branch off too much and go, 'Okay, well, now it's just guests.' Let me still have a little of what makes me me, which is the instrumental shred stuff. And the instrumental pieces that I've written on this record are, I think, better than anything I did on the first one — definitely more… I don't know if it could be more emotional but they're very emotional pieces of music and I think a little better crafted this time around. So I think all the songs in general are more well thought out, better put together this time around. And I do have some of my absolute favorite [singers guesting on it]. I have three amazing powerhouse female vocalists on this album so far. And there are still a couple of things T.B.D. [to be determined]. And then we should be ready to release next spring."

In October, Nita shared "Dead Inside", her first new music since the release of her critically acclaimed debut solo album "Controlled Chaos" in 2018. The track is her first-ever solo collaboration with a vocalist, David Draiman, frontman of Grammy-nominated rock icons DISTURBED.

Strauss has been playing with Cooper since 2014 when she replaced Australian musician and former Michael Jackson player Orianthi. She joined Alice in time for a mammoth MÖTLEY CRÜE tour. She was recommended to Cooper by the legendary rocker's former bass player and WINGER frontman Kip Winger.

Nita released "Controlled Chaos" to mass acclaim from fans and media alike, with Metal Injection calling it "a great debut that — as its creator intended — leaves no doubt", and Guitar World stating "'Controlled Chaos' is a panoramic view of Nita Strauss's many strengths". To date the album has clocked up 6.7 million streams worldwide, with music videos for singles "Our Most Desperate Hour", "Pandemonium", "Alegria" and "Mariana Trench" generating over 3 million YouTube views.

As well as performing with Cooper, Nita has also played with R&B star Jermaine Jackson, early MTV darlings FEMME FATALE, video game supergroup CRITICAL HIT and popular tribute band THE IRON MAIDENS.

In April 2020, Nita launched "Rock Guitar Fundamentals" — a three-module online guitar teaching program suitable for learners of all levels. The course is available at www.iwanttoplayguitar.com.

Nita's live show is mostly instrumental in nature, combining originals with covers.

In a recent interview with Chicago's WXAV 88.3 FM radio station, former SEPULTURA frontman Max Cavalera reflected on the group's groundbreaking 1996 album "Roots", on which he and his bandmates collaborated with the Brazilian Xavante tribe.

"The 'Roots' record, which was heavily influenced [by] tribal music — the mix of tribal music and metal was a brand new thing, and we kind of went into a complete unknown territory when we did that, and the results were amazing," he said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET). "And we ended up getting praised by people like Dave Grohl [NIRVANA, FOO FIGHTERS] and Lemmy from MOTÖRHEAD, which was unreal to me to hear — my idols praising some of my stuff. It was pretty cool.

"If you do it with passion — you just have to have passion for what you're doing — and sometimes you've gotta go into these unknown territories and just see what happens," he continued. "And don't be scared of it, don't be afraid — just go for it. And sometimes you will fail, and sometimes you will not — sometimes it will be great. And sometimes it is controversial. And it's okay. It's not for everybody.

"Some people love 'Roots'; some people hate 'Roots'. Some people only like the old stuff. Some people want me to play like I did when I was 15. I can't do that all the time. I try to bring a little bit of that into some stuff that I do, but I can't just be that only. There's much more to life than that.

"That's what I think people don't understand," Max added. "Music is such a big landscape. There's so much we can do with it. It's endless. That's what the cool thing about it is. There's so much more you can explore and do different things with it. Why do the same thing over and over?"

"Roots", along with 1993's "Chaos A.D.", is considered SEPULTURA's most commercially successful release, having been certified gold in 2005 by the RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America) for U.S. shipments in excess of 500,000 copies.

In a 2016 interview with Metal Hammer, KORN singer Jonathan Davis said that he felt "Roots" borrowed heavily from his own band. He said: "I thought [it] was a big compliment, but I also thought it] was fucked up. That was just a blatant KORN rip-off, and I had it out with producer Ross Robinson about that, because he just took our sound and gave it to SEPULTURA. My young brain couldn't handle it. But they were one of our biggest influences, so I guess they get a pass. And that's a classic album, so it's all good."

Later that same year, Max told the "Démentièllement Vôtre" show on Québec City's CKRL 89.1 FM radio station that he disagreed with Davis's assessment of "Roots". "I don't see it like that," he said. "I think especially the sound of KORN, in my opinion, with the bass, is horrible. We didn't have that; we had a lot of low end and things that the KORN album didn't have. So I don't see why he would be pissed off, because I don't see that much of a [similarity] between the two of them. Plus, KORN wasn't the only reason we wanted to work with Ross. He had done a FEAR FACTORY demo that I really liked and had a really raw sound. And he had done a DEFTONES song on the 'Adrenaline' album that I really liked."

He continued: "Saying that is like saying SEPULTURA should be pissed off at CANNIBAL CORPSE because they used [producer] Scott Burns. I'm not pissed off at CANNIBAL CORPSE; I think they're great. 'Cause we were one of the first that used Scott Burns, we should be mad at all the bands that use Scott Burns? That's childish. So he's just really being childish. And I really don't give a shit about KORN or anybody.

"We [were] very different from [KORN]; we have own way of playing and the songs are different. Everything is different. It's just the same guy that recorded [both albums]; that's the only similarity."

Davis was featured as a guest on the "Roots" track "Lookaway" — along with Mike Patton of FAITH NO MORE.

In 1996, Max exited SEPULTURA after the rest of the band split with his wife Gloria as their manager.

San Francisco Bay Area legends BLIND ILLUSION have released a music video for the song "Straight As The Crowbar Flies". The clip was produced by BLIND ILLUSION and directed by George Anderson and BLIND ILLUSION's founding lead guitarist and vocalist Marc Biedermann. "Straight As The Crowbar Flies" is the first single from BLIND ILLUSION's upcoming third studio album, "Wrath Of The Gods", which will be released next year via Hammerheart Records.

Biedermann says: "This is our first-ever official music video. Believe it or not, 'Straight As The Crowbar Flies' is the story of an event that actually happened to me. Someone hurled a crowbar at me and (luckily) they missed. The lyrics and the video bring the story into a fantasized spiritual realm and a humorous one at that."

BLIND ILLUSION's current lineup features Biedermann along with Tom Gears (bass), Doug Piercy (guitar; ex-HEATHEN) and Andy Galeon (drums; ex-DEATH ANGEL).

"Straight As The Crowbar Flies" brings BLIND ILLUSION's thrash roots into the modern day.

"Wrath Of The Gods" track listing:

01. Straight As The Crowbar Flies

02. Slow Death

03. Protomolecule

04. Spaced

05. Wrath Of The Gods

06. Behemoth

07. Lucifers Awakening

08. Amazing Maniacal Monolith

09. No Rest Till Budapest

"We're really proud of 'Wrath Of The Gods'," says Gears. "Andy has been an amazing addition and he fits right in. The new album will make you want to headbang your way all the way to the record store. We even put out a limited-edition BLIND ILLUSION cannabis brand available at select California dispensaries so you can feel the 'wrath of the gods' when you listen to the album."

Formed in 1979 by Biedermann, BLIND ILLUSION had an extremely unstable lineup (Biedermann being the only constant member) and went through a few stylistic changes in its early years.

BLIND ILLUSION's debut studio album, "The Sane Asylum", was released in 1988.

After leaving BLIND ILLUSION, bassist Les Claypool and guitarist Larry LaLonde went on to form the alternative psychedelic funk metal band PRIMUS.

Biedermann reformed BLIND ILLUSION in 2009 and in July 2010 the band released its sophomore album, "Demon Master".

Guido Heijnens, owner of Hammerheart Records, commented: "When I was young and got involved into more extreme kinds of metal, my first love was, of course, thrash metal. Soon my world was filled with sounds made by METALLICA, MEGADETH, ANTHRAX and SLAYER. And, of course, thrash metal from Germany and thrash metal from the Bay Area. The Bay Area sound provided me with albums from TESTAMENT, VIO-LENCE, HEATHEN, EXODUS and also BLIND ILLUSION and their great 1988 album 'The Sane Asylum'.

"Fast forward to 2021 then. BLIND ILLUSION sends the recordings of 'Wrath Of The Gods' to Hammerheart Records and what is delivered is a logical follow-up to 'The Sane Asylum'... thinking man's thrash metal, old school in vibe and full of the genre's trademarks. So both band and label decide to join forces. In early 2022 Hammerheart Records will release 'Wrath Of The Gods' and reissue 'The Sane Asylum' at the same time (with a bonus disc full of '80s demos).

"Expect Bay Area thrash metal: great riffs, killer solos and a solid foundation laid by bass and drums. More details on the exact formats will follow along the way."

Australian metal band Lord have kicked off 2022 with a bang, releasing their "Blood Red Skies" EP, featuring a cover of the Judas Priest classic of the same name, as well as a recent cover of Iron Maiden's "Stratego"


Commented bass player Andy Dowling: "2021 was a big year for cover songs with the release of Undercovers Vol.1, and while we did originally vow to not do any more cover songs for the foreseeable future, here we are! This was a bit of a last minute release and some fun to celebrate what was a big year for Lord. We also think its a great way also kick off 2022 with a quick little tribute to two of the metal kings in Judas Priest and Iron Maiden. We hope this will keep our friends entertained while we continue to work on new Lord music for later this year."


The full EP, exclusive to Bandcamp, comes with the Iron Maiden cover of "Stratego", which was previously a YouTube only release, "Wilder Than The Wind (Dicks Out Mix)" being a bonus track from the 2019 studio album Fallen Idols, as well as a half hour podcast chat between Andy and LT, talking about the release, 2021 in review and plans for new music.




You can listen to "Blood Red Skies" and "Stratego" on Spotify and Apple Music. The full EP with limited edition CD and exclusive merchandise can be found on the band's Bandcamp store here.


"Blood Red Skies" can be originally found on the Judas Priest 1988 release, Ram It Down. "Stratego" can be originally found on the Iron Maiden 2021 release, Senjutsu.








 


 

Virtually as the clock struck midnight, greeting 2022, Ventura-based trio Night Demon announced the forthcoming Year Of The Demon, a compilation of the five 7" vinyl singles released during the pandemic. 


Explaining the rationale, the band says, "The LP/CD is set to be released worldwide on March 25th, via Century Media Records. Year of the Demon compiles all five of the rare, out-of-print 2020 singles (including the rare B-Sides previously only available on the sold out vinyl) into a unified compendium for release in a broad range of physical and digital formats. The reasons for doing so are straightforward. After all, the strictly limited nature and quick sell-outs of the initial 7” releases meant that even die-hard fans may have missed out on the opportunity to obtain them in a physical edition." 







Tracklist:


"Empires Fall" / "Fast Bikes" (Le Grife cover)
"Kill The Pain" / "100 MPH" (Cirith Ungol cover w/ Tim Baker)
"Are You Out There" / "The Sun Goes Down" (Thin Lizzy cover)
"Vysteria" / "Wasted Years" (Iron Maiden cover, recorded live at Beachland Ballroom, Cleveland, OH on December 2, 2017)
"In Trance" / "Top Of The Bill" (Scorpions covers performed w/ Uli Jon Roth, at the Markethalle, during Hell Over Hamburg festival on March 2, 2019)


Night Demon will release a brand new studio album in Fall 2022.


 

Texas-based symphonic metal band, Tulip, is ringing in the new year with a live visualizer for the title track to their six-song EP, The Witch. Captured live at Trees Dallas in September 2021, check it out:





Released in September 2021, the artwork and tracklisting for The Witch are as follows:







"Sidewinder"
"Clone"
"Proxy"
"The One"
"The Witch"
"Bird Set Free"


Enjoy the previously released videos for "Sidewinder" and "Clone":








In live news, catch Tulip on January 8th at Fargo Brewing Company in Fargo, ND. 


For further details, visit WeAreTulip.com.


 

Swedish guitar hero Yngwie Malmsteen has issued a New Year’s message to all his fans around the world:


“Thank you for the support of my new album Parabellum and the attendance to my touring. I would love to see you guys again soon in 2022!”










"(Si Vis Pacem) Parabellum" video:





“Relentless Fury”:





"Wolves At The Door" lyric video:

Machine Head frontman Robb Flynn and bassist Jared MacEachern said goodbye to 2021 and welcomed in 2022 with a killer set choc full of Machine Head classics, deep cuts, covers, crazy hats and glasses and boozy banter on the New Year's Eve 2021 edition of their Electric Happy Hour 


Watch the boyz jam through an awesome cover of Anthrax's "I Am The Law" in honor of Scott Ian's birthday, and they blow the dust off ultra deep cuts "Devil With The King's Card" and "Exhale The Vile" in crushingly heavy fashion. "Ten Ton Hammer" makes a predictably pummeling return to the Electric Happy Hour setlist, along with show openers "Bulldozer" and "Killers And Kings".

Megadeth guitarist Kiko Loureiro closed the door on 2021 with a recap video featuring scenes from clips he released over the course of the year via his official YouTube channel. Check ot out below. 





Loureiro recently uploaded a new video answering fan questions, including if mainman Dave Mustaine uses music theory to compose songs. The former Angra guitarist also talks about if he tires of practicing guitar as he gets older, and the concept of having to learn the rules of music before breaking them.







On The Mustaine question, Loureiro says the Megadeth leader "doesn’t use theory at all" before explaining how creators work in different ways making music.

The clip below, courtesy of Capital Chaos TV, features Death Angel drummer Will Carroll performing "Let There Be Rock" live with AC/DC cover band ACA/DACA at the Sugartown Festival And Street Fair in Crockett, California on September 26th, 2021.





Death Angel recently release their new live record, The Bastard Tracks, via Nuclear Blast. Recorded live at The Great American Music Hall in their hometown of San Francisco on May 22, 2021, and streamed live soon after, The Bastard Tracks is a deep cuts collection of rarely and never performed songs from the band's celebrated catalog that's available now digitally and on CD, Vinyl and Blu-Ray, and will be released on vinyl on April 29. Order here.




Watch a new video trailer:





Commenting on the record, Mark Osegueda states: "When we performed and filmed the songs for The Bastard Tracks it was such a crazy time and having missed being able to perform live for so long was taking it’s toll on me to a certain degree as I have been a live performer for the majority of my life. I must say, it was a pretty dark time. I know it was for so many of us... But! Music once again helped to pull us through it. It was a bit odd performing to no crowd. But! It felt great re-learning some deep tracks and getting on stage with the guys and unleashing this pent up aggression! And the response from everyone who tuned into it suggesting that we release it as an album was overwhelming! Well… Thanks to them here it is! I hope you enjoy it!”





Adding to that, guitarist Rob Cavestany says: "Choosing and sequencing the songs for The Bastard Tracks set list was quite a different trip. All of them had rarely (and in some instances never) been played live. We hadn’t performed in front of a live audience for over a year, the longest ever for this band. It was to be filmed live at The Great American Music Hall in San Francisco and then broadcast worldwide on the good ol’ inter-web! I could get into that... From basically re-learning most of these songs to getting them as tight as they should be, we put our energy together and made it happen! I’m thankful for having had this goal to focus on during those (still) crazy earth crisis days. It gave us an important reason to get together at DA Studio and JAM! Literally the only time I’ve felt “normal” since 2020 was while we were jamming! Fortunately we’ve been able to do it a lot. Now, we proudly present the audio and visual recordings of those sessions. Turn it up! P.S. - We cannot wait to exchange live energy with you as soon as possible!!"








Death Angel will perform on the 2022 run on The Bay Area Strikes Back Tour featuring Testament and Exodus. Tickets are on sale here.


Death Angel tour dates are listed below.





April
9 - San Luis Obispo, CA - Fremont Theater
10 - Anaheim, CA - House of Blues
12 - San Diego, CA - House of Blues
13 - Las Vegas, NV - House of Blues
15 - Tucson, AZ - Rialto Theatre
16 - Albuquerque, NM - Sunshine Theater
19 - Oklahoma City, OK - Diamond Ballroom
20 - Houston, TX - White Oak Music Hall
21 - Austin, TX - Emos Austin
22 - Dallas, TX - Amplified Live
23 - New Orleans, LA - House of Blues
26 - Atlanta, GA - The Masquerade - Heaven
27 - Raleigh, NC - The Ritz
30 - Sayreville, NJ - Starland Ballroom


May
1 - Baltimore, MD - Baltimore Soundstage
2 - Boston, MA - House of Blues
3 - Philadelphia, PA - Theatre of Living Arts
5 - Huntington, NY - The Paramount
6 - Buffalo, NY - Town Ballroom
7 - Covington, KY - Madison Theater
9 - Pittsburgh, PA - Stage AE
10 - Cleveland, OH - Agora Theater & Ballroom
11 - Columbus, OH - Newport Music Hall
12 - Detroit, MI - Majestic Theatre
14 - Joliet, IL - The Forge
17 - Minneapolis, MN - Skyway Theatre
19 - Denver, CO - Summit Music Hall
20 - Salt Lake City, UT - The Depot

Written by Tyson Leslie and Todd La Torre (Queensryche), the song "Burning Time" is a result of five musicians who were willing and able to use the pandemic shutdown to their creative advantage.


The song was originally written by Leslie for a different band, but when that band passed on it, Leslie and Roxy Petrucci (Vixen, Madam X) decided to work through it and see what could be made of it. Leslie then reached out to Jimi Bell (Autograph), La Torre, and eventually Billy Sheehan (Mr. Big, The Winery Dogs) to round out the lineup.


La Torre worked on lyrics and melodies. Simultaneously, the remaining musicians crafted and recorded their parts remotely as well in Connecticut, Tennessee, and Michigan. 




Mixed by award-winning engineer Anthony Focx (Beautiful Creatures), with cover art by Jason K. Herman (Nelson) and Brent Engstrom (A Topps designer for Garbage Pail Kids), "Burning Time" is the first single Leslie has released since 2014. 


It's also the first metal / hard rock single Leslie has released since venturing into the "solo artist" world.


Check out the lyric video below. The song is now available on all digtal platforms. 





Tyson Leslie is a Kansas City / Nashville based musician who tours as the keyboardist and tour manager for '80s hard rock band Vixen. He has also had an extensive career performing for artists Corey Taylor (Slipknot, Stone Sour), country music legend Tracy Lawrence, Derek St. Holmes (Ted Nugent Band), and countless others.

Feuerschwanz released their new album, Memento Mori, on December 31, 2021 via Napalm Records. To conicide with the release, the band unleashed the new single and video, "Ultima Nocte". Check it out below. 





Memento Mori continues the success story of the medieval rockers from Germany / Franconia! On the new album, Feuerschwanz finally take a step away from the simpler humor of earlier days to become one of the most important bands in German folk rock.




With chanting violin playing, Memento Mori starts its heroic journey with its eponymous opener. The song turns out to be a melodic rock anthem with a well-known medieval character, a blazing guitar riff and life-affirming lyrics. On "Untot im Drachenboot", the squad around Captain Feuerschwanz sets off for new musical shores in a Viking ship full of undead warriors. "Rausch der Barberei", on the other hand delivers a violent, raw voice and driving drumming that send its listeners into unbridled frenzy. On "Krampus", Feuerschwanz sing in a canon of vocals and instruments about the ancient legend of the demonic companion of St. Nicholas, who is dressed in fur and a horned mask. On the ballad "Das Herz eines Drachen" (The Heart of a Dragon), the medieval folk rockers show their sensible side. In a fire lit by burning guitar sounds and flute melodies, a warrior mourns his fallen father with his head held high. "Hannibal" on the other hand embarks on a raging battle of powerful choirs, swirling violin and guitar solos and driving drums, led by army commander Hannibal. The crowning finale of the almost 40-minute adventure is provided by "Skaldenmet" with its proudly advancing bass.


In typical Feuerschwanz manner, Memento Mori is about great adventures, past battles and outstanding heroic deeds. Feuerschwanz manage to stay true to their trademarks and at the same time venture into new musical realms. Fans of the band can look forward to an extensive deluxe edition of the album, which extends the running time of Memento Moriby almost double! Two additional CDs feature instrumental versions of all eleven tracks as well as the cover CD Die Glorreichen Sieben (The Magnificent Seven), which includes seven epic reissues from Amon Amarth to Die Ärzte and The Weeknd.


Feuerschwanz on the new album: “You take nothing with you to your grave, except your coffin... Memento Mori is the direct successor to Die Letzte Schlacht! The world of Hauptmann Feuerschwanz is in flames, overrun by the living dead and scourged by religious zealots... All of this sounds frighteningly real, even in Anno Domini 2021, so it's time to defy the storm once again and celebrate life. Let's live here, let's live now - until death sharpens his knife!”


As a special highlight, some versions of Memento Mori will feature a bonus CD with seven cover songs by Manowar, Amon Amarth, but also O-Zone, among others.


Memento Mori is available in the following formats:


- 2CD Mediabook + 40 pages booklet
- 1CD Jewel Case + 20 pages booklet
- Digital Album
- Digital Deluxe Album


Pre-order here.





2CD tracklsiting:


Disc 1:
"Memento Mori"
"Untot im Drachenboot"
"Ultima Nocte"
"Rausch der Barbarei"
"Krampus"
"Feuer & Schwert"
"Das Herz eines Drachen"
"Rohirrim"
"Am Galgen"
"Hannibal"
"Skaldenmet"


Disc 2:
"Blinding Lights"
"Warriors of the World United"
"Twilight of the Thunder God"
"The Bad Touch"
"Dragostea Din Tei"
"Square Hammer"
"Der Graf"


"Memento Mori" video:





“Untot im Drachenboot” video:





"Warriors Of The World United" video:





A few days after album release, Feuerschwanz will go on an extended tour through Germany, Austria and Switzerland. They will be accompanied by fearless heavy metal kings Warkings.


Feuerschwanz are:


Hauptmann Feuerschwanz - vocals, guitar
Johanna von der Vögelweide - violin, hurdy-gurdy
Rollo - drums
Jarne Hodinsson - bass
Prinz Hodenherz - flutes, bagpipe, vocals, guitar
Hans der Aufrechte – guitar

For Christmasn 2019, drum legend Mike Portnoy (ex-Dream Theater, Sons Of Apollo, The Winery Dogs, The Neal Morse Band) faced off against his daughter Melody Portnoy in a Beatles: Name That Tune challenge. Melody kicked her father's ass. In 2020 they had a rematch and the results were closer, but Melody was declared the winner.


Check out the 2021 challenge below.


Mike Portnoy: "Ladies and Gentlemen, the 3rd Annual The Beatles Name That Tune Christmas showdown between Mike & Melody Portnoy. Tthe rematch, the tiebreaker, winner takes all! May the best Portnoy win! A Splendid Time Is Guaranteed For All…" 







Check out the 2020 and 2019 challenges below.

Stephen Pearcy says that he doubts RATT will ever be inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame.

Despite the fact that artists are eligible for the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame 25 years after the release of their first album or single, iconic hard rock and metal bands like IRON MAIDEN and JUDAS PRIEST have yet to be recognized by the institution, which inducted GUNS N' ROSES in that group's first year of eligibility.

Asked by The Rock Shop With Ralph if he thinks RATT should be inducted into the Rock Hall, Pearcy said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "I doubt that'll ever happen. Unfortunately, everything is politics.

"I watched the last Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame. It's such a piece of shit," he continued.

"Some people deserve to be there and some people really don't. I mean, there's some people from the '50s, '60, '70s… Let's go, people. I hope you give a shit. Some '80s people need to be in there — definitely. But not what's politically… you know, 'This is the token hair band' kind of a thing."

MÖTLEY CRÜE — which has been eligible since 2006 — won the 2019 "Voice Your Choice" in-museum Rock Hall fan vote but failed to make the list of nominees for the Class Of 2020. The band saw its votes surge when its biopic "The Dirt", premiered on Netfix in March 2019.

The Rock Hall didn't induct BLACK SABBATH until 2006, and METALLICA followed three years later.

Rock Hall rules state that artists become eligible a quarter century after their first records were released, but the Hall also claims that other "criteria include the influence and significance of the artists' contributions to the development and perpetuation of rock 'n' roll," which is, of course, open to interpretation.

Eligible for induction since 1999, KISS didn't get its first nomination until 2009, and was finally inducted in 2014.

DEEP PURPLE was eligible for the Rock Hall since 1993 but didn't get inducted until five years ago.

PRIEST was on the ballot for Rock Hall induction last year, but failed to receive enough votes to make the class of 2020.

Having been eligible for induction since 1999, PRIEST was previously on the ballot for the 2018 class of the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame, but was ultimately left out of the inductee list.

IRON MAIDEN was on the ballot for Rock Hall induction this year, but didn't make the class of 2021.

Swedish metallers AVATAR have shared another new song, "Cruel And Unusual". Check it out below.

"It feels self-evident," the band states about the track. "Violent thoughts channeled through violent riffs, demented thoughts driven by a sick groove. It's simply a very sexy song."

Earlier this fall, AVATAR, who are known to smash the boundaries between band, theater troupe, and cinematic masterminds with a series of celebrated albums and videos, and the immersive world of Avatar Country, a fantastical land where metal rules supreme, released four new songs. AVATAR also previously announced they signed to Thirty Tigers and have launched their own Black Waltz Records imprint.

In October, AVATAR postponed the last five shows on its "Going Hunting" U.S. tour after vocalist Johannes Eckerström tested positive for COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus. Those concerts will now take place in late January and early February.

Last year, AVATAR frontman Johannes Eckerström spoke to Consequence about the band's eighth studio album, "Hunter Gatherer", and how the group's music is changing with age. "When you are dealing with anger and darkness in your 30s and want to be honest with it, and whatever angst that you carry with you as an adult compared to a teenager is a different way of dealing with it and articulating it, which makes this album very serious, and in that aspect, every album is an attempt to be as frank and honest as we can be," he said. "It's just that with every album, another layer of the onion is peeled off, so this is another deep level of honestly, as far as I'm concerned. One of the coolest things with doing this and working certain songs on each album is that each song has something in them where I'm, like, I wouldn't have been comfortable to say it like that when I was this age or that age. We have eight layers and albums done, so two more, and we will somehow be complete human beings, I guess."

Former GUNS N' ROSES and current SIXX:A.M. guitarist DJ Ashba performed last night (Wednesday, December 29) at the Las Vegas Bowl's "ONEVEGAS" presented by Toyota, an event that brought the sports and entertainment community together at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas to celebrate their collective year in sports while showing support for the Southern Nevada Sports Hall Of Fame and the Las Vegas Bowl philanthropic community partners.

Ashba played his new single "Bella Ciao", a modern-day EDM-driven makeover of the Italian folk classic fueled by his signature guitar work, creating a dance/rock hybrid called GDM (Guitar Dance Music).

After the event, Ashba took to his Instagram to share a video and few photos of his performance, and he wrote: "What an epic night of #GDM (Guitar Dance Music) @allegiantstadium with my killer crew! #onevegas #bellaciao".

"Bella Ciao" marked Ashba's first release of 2021 and followed a series of tracks that were released in late 2020 through Edgeout Records/UMG/UMe, including "Hypnotic", "Let's Dance" and "A Christmas Storm".

"After becoming completely obsessed with 'Money Heist', I became so inspired by 'Bella Ciao' and the history of the song," stated Ashba. "I couldn't wait to get into the studio and make my own GDM version. I wanted it to be epic and dramatic, with big bass, bone-crushing guitar, and an infectious beat that I know the fans will go crazy for. After it was complete, I was telling my friend, famous Disney artist Craig Fraser, about my new version of this classic song, and him being a fan of the show as well, got inspired, and created me this one-of-a-kind painting of the iconic mask from 'Money Heist'. I was so blown away; I thought it would make the perfect cover for this single."

In December 2020, Ashba told "The Mark And HooGie Show" that he isn't concerned about getting any pushback from his rock fans over the musical direction of his new venture: "Honestly, I'm at a point in my career where I could give two fucks," he said. "I could care less. If people don't like it, kiss my ass. Go listen to SIXX:A.M. If what I'm doing right now isn't rock enough, I've got a rock band. They can go listen to that then.

"My fanbase, thank God, has been, throughout my whole career, just very, very accepting," he continued. "They know me — they know I'm always trying to really push myself as an artist outside the box.

"If I had to live within this box, I'd rather honestly not play music. Playing music is a form of art, and if I can't truly be an artist and be true to what it is inside — whatever that is that keeps me going… I have to stay inspired. You can only write so many three-chord rock songs. So, to me, this is something that I'm kind of more doing for myself, and I feel like I kind of have earned that at this point in my career. And I'm just having fun.

"Surprisingly… It was weird. I was totally expecting for all my fanbase just to hate it — not get it," Ashba added. "'Cause I really, really go deep down in EDM — I stayed very, very true to the EDM sound — and I really thought they were gonna hate it, and I was okay with that. 'Cause in my mind, I'm writing this for the EDM, the young kids that go to those festivals. This is full-on festival music. And surprisingly, I got no pushback. My rock fans really, really were freaking out on it, which kind of freaked me out. I was expecting them to really not get it or maybe push it aside. But they've been nothing but supportive. I'm very thankful that they gave it a chance."

ASHBA's "Let's Dance" single featured a guest appearance by James Michael, co-founder and lead singer of SIXX:A.M., which he and DJ formed with Nikki Sixx (MÖTLEY CRÜE).

Ashba told the Las Vegas Review-Journal about the musical approach of his new effort: "I would go to a lot of EDM concerts, and their shows are so over the top and, you know, all these young kids just losing their minds, right? And the one thing that I've noticed is … it lacks guitar, you know, and I saw an opportunity, like five years ago, going, 'If I could take what I do and somehow inject it into this world.' A lot of kids are not being exposed to a lot of guitar in that world."

Although Ashba initially started work on the project as a collaboration with Michael — under the band name PYROMANTIC — it has since evolved into an Ashba solo venture, with Michael announcing in 2018 that he was stepping away from the group.
























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Theatrical metal opera act DiAmorte has premiered their new video “Where The Light Grows Cold” through BraveWords! The track features the Budapest Scoring Orchestra, James Stewart – drums (Decapitated), and Mike LePond - bass (Symphony X).





"‘Where The Light Grows Cold’ is an immense display of orchestral power infused with operatic vocals and intense metal sounds that tell a story from beginning to end!" – Jeffrey A. Swanson / President / Dark Star Records




The band states: “We can’t for you to hear this absolute Behemoth of a track featuring the Budapest Scoring Orchestra and the international cast of DiAmorte. Trust us when we say you’ve never heard something quite like this before, and that’s a promise.”


Song credits:


Performed by:
Budapest Scoring – Live Orchestra and Choir Performance
Drake Mefestta – Lacroix, Guttural Vocalist
James Dorton – Dorian, Guttural/Bass Vocalist 
Colin Parks – Majin, The Betrayer, Baritone Vocalist
Mordian – Fayte, Alto Vocalist
Rachl Quinn – Cordelia, High Soprano Vocalist
Drew Hurst – Guitars


Special Guests:
James Stewart – Drums
Mike LePond - Bass
James Stephenson – Guitars
Jon Phipps – Pre-Production/Sound Design
Spencer Creaghan – Virtual Orchestration

Canadian prog metal Trailight mastermind Omer Cordell has shared a trailer for his new album, Chasing Daylight, set for a February 22, 2022 release. Check it out below.


Two singles will be released beforehand. One will be the title track of the album and the other, a cover of Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds' "The Weeping Song" featuring Dave Padden (ex-Annihilator) and Burton C. Bell (ex-Fear Factory) on vocals.


Cordell: "What a great way to end the year! After sifting through pages and pages of mixing notes from me, I am thrilled to announce that there have been no casualties during the mixing process and Dave and I are still friends.




And so without further ado, I am happy to share with you all the trailer to Chasing Daylight.


(Also, a really cool announcement will also happen Mid January as well...stay tuned!)."





Chasing Daylight features guest performances by Archetype guitarist Toño Tejeda, The Astral Light drummer Steven Parent, cellist Anna Kuchkova (Alchemy Chamber), and Cyanotic guitarist Cory McBain.


Check out Trailight's 2015 cover of "The Weeping Song" below.