38 years after their first rehearsal, seven years after their now mythical concert reunion at Metal Magic Festival, Danish cult heavy metal band Metal Cross is now ready to announce its first studio album, Soul Ripper. The upcoming full-length record shows a band on top of their game, melting together the classic heavy metal of their now cult ‘80s demos “Crucifying The Virgins” and “M.A.D.H.O.U.S.E.” with a renewed power and energy. It will indeed rip your soul and leave you thirsty for more from this Scandinavian heavy metal powerhouse.


It all began in 1983.


During the eighties and prior to the break up in 1989, Metal Cross released two demo tapes: “Metal Cross” and demo 2 “M.A.D.H.O.U.S.E.” The band also contributed on two compilation albums. The band played concerts all over Denmark and shared scenes with other major Danish metal bands such as Artillery and Invocater. Metal Cross played the bands last concert in the hometown of Randers on December 16, 1989 – shortly after the band dissolved.




In 2009, one of the band members were contacted by the record company Horror Records asking if the band would approve the company’s release of the band’s two demo tapes in a vinyl format. After a long period of time trying to retrieve the material from the old days, an agreement was reached to release the songs from the two old tapes. In addition, it was decided that the recording of the very last Metal Cross concert could also be used. In 2014 the double vinyl album “Metal Cross” was released. One LP with demo recordings and the other with the concert from 1989. In addition to this, a 7” bonus single with two live songs from another concert was released.


Following the release, Metal Cross was persuaded to play a single gig at the Metal Magic Festival in 2014. Prior to the festival performance, the band played a warm-up gig for Artillery. After 26 years, Artillery and Metal Cross stood on the same stage one more time! The two jobs exceeded all expectations, and Metal Cross is back in full action again, and has played several festival gigs in Denmark and always with great feedback from the audience.


In 2019 the former singer Henrik “Faxe” left the band and Esben Fosgerau Juhl took over his place and went directly into the studio. Metal Cross has since been doing and recording new material through the last couple of years and they’re now ready to end the long wait for a first album with “Soul Ripper”. Metal Cross ambitions are not to be mistaken. They will hit all the small underground stages, to the bigger festivals, and aim for a European tour as well.


Soul Ripper will be released on LP (marbled orange/black and marbled grey/white vinyl, each limited to 300 units), CD and digital formats via From The Vaults on February 25, 2022.





Tracklisting:


“My Time”
“Soul Ripper”
“Written In The Sand”
“Fall Of Cimbria”
“Distasteful Party”
“Memento Mori”
“The Drone”
“Vernal Equinox”


“Distasteful Party” video:





(Photo – Jasmin Quist)

KIX has offered an update on guitarist Ronnie Younkins, who is unable to tour with the band because he has been placed under house arrest after repeatedly getting in trouble with the police. Ronnie is being temporarily replaced by Bob Paré, an accomplished musician who studied at the Music Institute in Los Angeles and taught music theory and guitar at several institutions, including Western Maryland College and Maryland Institute of Music.

Earlier today — one day before Ronnie's 63rd birthday — KIX posted the following statement via social media: "Hey KIX fans! Thanks to everyone who has been asking about Ronnie. Straight away, we want to wish him a very Happy Birthday!

"Ronnie has been working hard on his rehabilitation and he is still on the long road to recovery. We speak to him often and he wants to thank everybody for the overwhelming outpour of well wishes and support. We love him and can't wait to welcome him back to where he belongs when he is 100% ready.

"We thank Bob Paré for stepping in and doing an amazing job. There is so much that goes on with KIX both on and off stage, and Bob has been a tremendous addition to the band in all ways. Sometimes fans don't see that part, so we wanted to give Bob all the credit he deserves for doing his best to fill some very big shoes while Ronnie works on his recovery, his family and his well being.

"We truly appreciate your continued patience and support. We look forward to the day that Ronnie is fully recovered.

"Happy New Year and Thanks! The godamn KIX band!

"#kixband #ryfo #ronnieyounkins".

Last month, KIX singer Steve Whiteman addressed Younkins's current condition in an interview with "The Chuck Shute Podcast". He said: "Last I spoke to [Ronnie], he's working, like, two normal jobs. He's still living in a rehabilitation clinic, and he still has a ways to go. Even when he's set free to go out into the world, like he did before, we still have to make sure that he's gonna be able to stay clean and sober. But right now he seems like he's doing really well. He's following all the rules and he's doing everything he can to get his life back in order."

Steve went on to say that Ronnie was sober for 20 years before relapsing and spiraling back down into addiction.

"He got Hep C, and he had to use intravenous needles to battle the Hep C, before the newer treatment came out," Whiteman said. "And we all think that that just kind of took his mentality back to the days when he was using. I mean, that's speculation, and you'd probably have to ask him that, but it seems like that's when things flipped for him."

Whiteman previously discussed Younkins's battle with addiction in a June 2021 interview with Sonic Perspectives. At the time, he said: "It's been an up-and-down adventure with Ronnie over the past five or six years. Sometimes he doesn't show up to gigs, and Brian Forsythe has to take over and play all the parts. Then he comes back for several months and does really well, only to fall off the wagon or get in trouble with the police. This last time, he got into trouble with the police and is currently in a halfway house under house arrest. That's the biggest reason he is not out with us now. We were looking at Bob Paré a couple of years ago when Ronnie was going through a bad stretch, but Ronnie bounced back. When he shows up, he does great, so we didn't make the move back then. This time we were forced to."

Whiteman clarified: "I'm not saying that Ronnie is out of the band. We are just saying [he is not gonna tour with us] until he gets it together [and] his family and these people that are helping him say he is good to go. We are not going to bring him in until he is ready. He has shown in the past he can't be sober on the road. Being out there in a rock and roll band is a very bad environment."

He added: "We have a long history of 40 years together. You want to give him the benefit that he is going to recover and do well. There have been so many times over the last five or six years [when] we didn't know if he was going to make it."

Four years ago, Younkins opened up about his drug addiction, saying that his "disease had gotten worse" after he relapsed several years earlier following two decades of sobriety.

Younkins missed a KIX concert in Pennsylvania in March 2017 when the rest of the group was unable to reach him. He was eventually found "not in great condition and very upset," according to TMZ. A month later, his bandmates revealed that he was "headed to a rehab facility" and promised that his spot in KIX would be "waiting for him" once he was ready to resume playing with the group.

While Younkins was in rehab, he took time out to join his KIX bandmates for a performance in June 2017 at the Sweden Rock Festival, where he gave a wide-ranging interview to Metal Rules that also touched upon his continued battle against substance abuse.

Speaking about his health, Ronnie said: "My disease has gotten worse. I had 21 years of sobriety at one point. Got sober and cleaned up in 1989, but I'd get on… A long story short, what led me back out was complacency in my program. I wasn't doing enough of my work for the AA program like I did in the early years. Then,I went on Hepatitis C treatment, or they should call it punishment, the old one that has many side effects, in 2010. One of them being insomnia, and the doctor put me on Ambien, and it fucked me up. It's a sleep drug, and I got hooked on it, and then I wasn't working the program, like with my mom's death — I worked through that at ten years sober. I worked through that with my sponsor. [My] dad died, like, in 2012. Some other shit had happened, and I worked through [it], and some serious things happened.

"We all have issues," he continued. "We all have shit happen in our lives and, you know, I worked through them in the program, but my when my father died, and I was complacent in the program, and I was already high on this fucking Ambien. I said, 'Fuck it.' And, I went out, and I started doing heroin and cocaine again within a month after my dad's death, and it's been nothing but downhill since. I've been through two rehabs, [in] 2014 [and] 2015."

Drug and alcohol rehab statistics show that the percentage of people who will relapse after rehab and even a period of some recovery ranges from 50% to 90%.

Most people do not manage to quit their addiction with their first attempt. They may try and fail a number of times before they manage to secure lasting sobriety.

For addicts that fall back into drug use, there is no guarantee that they will ever be able to stop again; their relapse may turn out to be a death sentence.

Over time, the life of the addict tends to deteriorate. This means that when people relapse, they may be going back to a life that is even worse than before.

Younkins added that he was "grateful" to his bandmates for standing by him through all his problems. "I love those guys in the band," he said. "They've been my brothers, all of them, and Brian's been a big help, because he's in the program as well, and yeah… So, I just want to get my shit together once and for all on a daily basis."

Bob was a session musician for several independent label releases, and has spent most of his long career performing live in the Maryland and Washington, D.C. area with various bands, including FORCER, EVER RISE, PROJECT: EUPHORIA and, most recently, the RUSH tribute band SUN DOGS with KIX bassist Mark Schenker.
























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Guesting on All Access Live, drummer Vinny Appice (Dio, Black Sabbath, Heaven And Hell) looked back on the recording sessions for Dio's iconic debut album from 1983, Holy Diver.


Appice: "We wrote in a room together in Sound City (in Los Angeles, CA). Sound City, across the parking lot, they have three rehearsal rooms, and that's where we rehearsed and wrote this stuff. And writing, we'd come there, jam. 'Rainbow In The Dark'... I think I just started a beat, and somehow that chord, in the beginning, got in there, where I recorded everything on cassette, and so did Angelo (Arcuri), who was the engineer for Holy Diver, he was always in the room with rehearsals and all that. That's how all this stuff came about, jamming - smoked a lot of dope I did, and Ronnie, and Jimmy (Bain / bass), Vivian (Campbell / guitar) not so much, he just got a contact high in the room. But that's how that shit was written, and then we'd listen to it and go, 'That's cool, let's put it together.' The next night, we put it together.


There was one riff we jammed on one night, and then we came in the next night; we always started at 7:00pm, we didn't do the day thing. So we come in and go, 'Angelo, play that riff we played on the cassette.' So he played it, but he put the cassette in upside down. It was a Tascam, so it plays backward, so it started playing backward, and we're like, 'Oh, shit, you're fucking stoned.' And then we were, 'Wait a minute, that sounds really good...' We learned the riff backward, and that's in the song called 'Invisible.' We said, 'This is cool, let's put it together with the riff that goes forward,' it's backward, and we put it together, and it worked.




It was just open creativity, anything worked. There wasn't a negative word used in those sessions at all. We were having fun and just having a crack up."

To celebrate the life and times of MÖTÖRHEAD's iconic leader Ian Fraser "Lemmy" Kilmister, who passed away exactly six years ago — on December 28, 2015 — Revolver recently reached out to musicians who knew and/or admired him, including his old friend Rob Halford of JUDAS PRIEST. Speaking about his relationship with Lemmy, Rob said: "On a friendship level, I was always a little bit in awe of Lemmy because he was — and still is — this larger-than-life persona. When you talk to anybody about Lemmy, you see this mental picture in your head — the guy in the cowboy boots and the jeans and the bullet belt and the leather jacket and the mustache. His physical characteristics are really, really pronounced, so you've got all that wrapped up in his persona, as well."

Halford went on to say that people admired Lemmy as much for his attitude as they did for his music. "There should be a book of Lemmy quotes, because he never held back," Rob said. "That's what I loved about him. He epitomized this great virtue in rock and roll, which is not only music but speaking your mind. He always had an opinion on any matter in life, and it was always Lemmy-esque. [Laughs] He had a very unique way of looking at the world because he was a very smart man. He was a total bookworm and he loved his war history and memorabilia. His very astute way of talking and thinking made him remarkable."

Last month, Halford told the "SpeedFreaks" radio show that he was one of a number of Lemmy's close personal friends and associates who received bullet casings filled with his ashes after his death as a personal gift. He said: "When Lemmy passed away, I had this beautiful opportunity to speak at his memorial. We had a great get-together; all of us musicians from all over the world, we met in Hollywood and we talked about Lemmy and his great life and the things that he's left us. And then, not too far back, I get something in the mail from the Lemmy people; Lemmy's office, his manager and everybody still work tirelessly to keep his name with us, as he always will be. They sent me — it's a bullet [laughs], it's a bullet with some of Lemmy's ashes inside of it."

He continued: "This is nuts. This is the kind of thing that Lemmy would have loved to have done. However you choose to interpret what I've just said, that's entirely up to you. But to be thought of, to be brought into this small circle of friends where you actually own a little bit of Lemmy's ashes and you wear it around your neck on a pendant and he's close to your heart in the truest sense in terms of his mortal remains, that's just mind-blowingly powerful. To use an object like that to carry his remains is just so Lemmy — it's provocative, it makes you think, it makes you talk. But as far as having a beautiful part of Lemmy physically with me right now in my house, that's just magical."

Lemmy died at the age of 70 shortly after learning he had been diagnosed with cancer.

He had dealt with several health issues over the last few years of his life, including heart trouble, forcing him to cut back on his famous smoking habits.

MOTÖRHEAD had to cancel a number of shows in 2015 because of Lemmy's poor health, although the band did manage to complete one final European tour a couple of weeks before his death.

In June 2020, it was announced that Lemmy will get the biopic treatment. The upcoming film, "Lemmy", will be directed by Greg Olliver, who previously helmed the 2010 documentary of the same name, "Lemmy".

"Lemmy" will follow Kilmister's life growing up in Stoke-on-Trent, becoming a roadie for Jimi Hendrix and a member of seminal psychedelic rock band HAWKWIND before forming MOTÖRHEAD.

A custom-made urn containing Lemmy's ashes is on permanent display in a columbarium at Forest Lawn Cemetery in Hollywood, California.

Photo credit: Travis Shinn

Legendary Canadian thrash metallers Razor recently completed work on the long-awaited follow-up to 1997’s Decibels. Cycle Of Contempt - the band’s ninth studio album - will be released sometime in 2022 via Relapse Records and will feature the following tracks:


“Flames Of Hatred”
“Jabroni”
“Off My Meds”
“A Bitter Pill”
“Crossed”
“First Great Hate”
“Cycle Of Contempt”
“Set-Up”
“Punch Your Face In”
“Fist Fighting”
“Darkness Falls”
“King Shit”


Upcoming Razor live show include:




May 
22 - Rickshaw Theatre - Vancouver, BC (with Sacrifice, Exciter, Witches Hammer)


June
3/4 - Very 'Eavy Festival - Stadskanaal, The Netherlands




Razor guitarist / founder Dave Carlo recently launched a fundraising campaign in support of his wife, Rose, who needs major help with cancer treatment.


A message from Dave follows...


"Hello, I am Dave Carlo. I am fundraising for my beautiful wife Rosanna. Rose is a fantastic wife, an even better mother to our two kids. Our son has autism and a number of extremely difficult challenges in his life. My daughter has Borderline Personality Disorder and OCD and she has attempted suicide three times over that last 5 years, thankfully without success. The last attempt was October 2020 where she jumped off a bridge and broke her back. Even though Rose was undergoing chemo at the time, she was at Patricia's bedside at the hospital at all hours during that time. Rose's devotion to her family is heroic.


In June 2020 Rose had a gallbladder attack and was scheduled to have her gallbladder removed. During that surgery they discovered cancer on the exterior of her gallbladder. Normally the prognosis for gallbladder cancer is very poor but because it was found incidentally, it was still at a very early stage. A follow up surgery to remove part of her liver and some regional lymph nodes unfortunately showed some cancer in her lymph nodes. She went through a year of chemo with limited results, and was referred for clinical trials at Princess Margaret Hospital in Toronto Canada. Unfortunately what appeared to be indifference to the need for Rose to get help in a timely manner led to constant delays and four months without any treatment whatsoever. Now the cancer has progressed from stage 2 to early stage 4 , completely because of the lack of action on the part of the people charged with her care.


Realizing that time was being wasted in a manner far more flippant that you would expect under these circumstances, I reached out to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester Minnesota in October of 2021. Sending them all pathology slides, images and test reports (with the help of our fantastic GP doctor), we got a team of caregivers and doctors in place at the Mayo Clinic to provide guidance on what we need to do to help Rose.


Rose will likely have to go to Minnesota for treatment, but the costs are very high. The costs already incurred to cover all the reviews and analysis of reports at the Mayo Clinic has added up and will continue to increase as they get involved to help her moving forward. But their input and guidance is absolutely critical at this point to try and save my wife. My kids really need and depend on this wonderful lady (to speak nothing of what she means to me!!). We have reviewed the upcoming financial demands of her treatments and we are asking via fundraiser to try to raise around 50% of what is required. I honestly am a bit embarrassed to have to do this, but with my wife's life hanging in the balance, I have no choice. I would give my own life to save her if I could.


Rose just turned 61 years old. Her mother is alive and about to turn 88 years old, so if we can get Rose into remission, she has a strong chance of many years ahead of her.


If you are in a position to help and are willing to, we would be beyond grateful. Those of you who know me as a professional musician know I have committed to doing something to give back in any way I can to thank you for your help."


Visit the GoFundMe page here, and see a video message from Dave below:

In a new interview with Bass Musician Magazine, former FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH bassist Matt Snell discussed his involvement in KILL DEVIL HILL, the band that once featured former PANTERA bassist Rex Brown and legendary drummer Vinny Appice.

"We did a record during 2020. And it's done," he said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET). "There's a couple of little tweaks left, so we're working on the release plan for that. [Producer] Chris Collier actually did that record. He got a little bit busy doing the [new] KORN record, so we got put back for a couple of weeks, but he's finishing it up right now. So the record is amazing; it sounds actually fantastic. I'm super excited about it."

Regarding how he came to play bass for KILL DEVIL HILL, Matt said: "[KILL DEVIL HILL guitarist] Mark [Zavon] had reached out to me to play bass for him. And I've known [KILL DEVIL HILL singer] Dewey [Bragg] for 20-something years. We used to jam together in public storage back in the day, which is the same place… IN THIS MOMENT practiced there. We practiced there. DEADSETT, which became IN THIS MOMENT, and then FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH, we were all this little village we had going on. So it was a no-brainer for me to join that band. It's fun, and playing with Johnny Kelly is a blessing. He's just a fantastic drummer. It's that slower kind of sludgier rock for me, so [there are] huge, fat bass grooves that I get lay down instead of having to play fifty thousand notes a second. It's a really fun vibe for me."

Snell added: "I remember I was listening to an old DOWN record [while I] was driving to work, and I'm, like, 'Man, I'd really like to be in a band like this.' I guess that was something I put off to God, 'cause he gave it to me."

Shortly after he left KILL DEVIL HILL in early 2014, Vinny said that the band's inability to gain significant traction with its music was a major factor in his decision. However, more recently, Vinny has suggested that he exited the group because he "couldn't deal with" the fact that some of his bandmates were consistently tardy for KILL DEVIL HILL activities by an hour and a half or even longer.

Vinny, who had previously played with BLACK SABBATH, DIO and HEAVEN & HELL, left KILL DEVIL HILL in March 2014. He has since been replaced by the aforementioned Johnny Kelly (DANZIG, TYPE O NEGATIVE).

KILL DEVIL HILL released its sophomore album, "Revolution Rise", in October 2013 via Century Media Records.

Back in 2019, Zavon confirmed that KILL DEVIL HILL had recruited Nico D'Arnese to play bass following the departure of Brown.

FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH parted ways with Snell in December 2010 but didn't announce his exit until April 2011. FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH guitarist Zoltan Bathory later told Gun Shy Assassin that Matt was fired, adding that the bassist "wasn't a writing member," ensuring that the band's sound wouldn't be affected.

FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH's current bassist, Chris Kael, officially joined the band in June 2011.

U.S. melodic death metal band, Beyond Shadows, have announced the release of their new digital single “Tears Of Rain” on January 3, 2022.


Former Midian Drummer Chris Hawkins & Guitarist Daniel Shepherd’s self-produced single was once again recorded at Hellhound Studios in Rahway, NJ by Jerry Ramos who recorded their first EP “Wolf’s Blood” in 2020. This single will be on their next EP release Tears Of Rain coming out sometime in fall 2022.







“Recording this new song has been a difficult task,” says drummer Chris Hawkins. “With the Covid-19 pandemic and busy work schedules, it’s been rough getting together to work on new music.” But that all changed for the band in February 2021 when the stars and schedules aligned, and Daniel and Chris entered Hellhound Studios to record the track “Tears Of Rain”. It was perfect timing, Daniel Shepherd says: “On this new song, we wanted to deliver a sound that combined a contemporary death metal style, punctuated with melody and harmony, a beautiful intro, and include influences of old school metal. I think we achieved that as we bring listeners along our storied journey.”


In 2008, Shepherd spent time with top metal producer Fredrik Nordstrom at Studio Fredman in Gothenburg, Sweden, where he honed his skills, enabling the band to self-produce “Tears Of Rain”.


The band’s influences include Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Slayer, Megadeth, Metallica, Death and Carcass. Next, Beyond Shadows will finish recording their new EP Tears Of Rain in the coming months.

Steve Perry's new holiday album, The Season, recently landed at #1 on Billboard’s Seasonal Chart. The former Journey’s singer’s album also hit at #3 on Billboard’s Current Pop Album Chart, # 6 on Billboard’s Current Album Sales Chart, and #80 on the Billboard Top 200.


With the closing of 2021, Perry has debuted a visualizer for the song "What Are You Doing New Year's Eve":







An unboxing video for the vinyl edition of the album can be viewed below:





Co-produced by Perry and engineer Thom Flowers, The Season embodies an immaculately arranged and richly nuanced sound inspired by such time-honored holiday albums as Nat King Cole’s The Magic of Christmas. “All the songs on this record were my favorites growing up,” says Perry, who hails from Central California. “I used to hear them on the Philco radio that my grandmother always had on in the kitchen when she was cooking the most amazing holiday food, and because of that they hold a very emotional place in my heart. I wanted to make sure to record them all in a simple way that honors how I first heard and fell in love with them as a child.”


For both artist and audience alike, The Season ultimately serves as a form of emotional time travel, a direct conduit for the kind of memories that sustain the spirit and restore a sense of joyous serenity. “Music has always been something that rescues me in difficult times,” says Perry. “I hope when people hear this record, they’re teleported in the same way I was when I recorded all these songs—I hope it brings them back to those golden moments with their loved ones, and gives them that feeling of joy and connection and comfort that we all need so much.”


Order here.





Tracklisting:


"The Christmas Song"
"I’ll Be Home For Christmas"
"Auld Lang Syne"
"Winter Wonderland"
"What Are You Doing New Year’s Eve"
"Santa Claus Is Coming To Town"
"Silver Bells"
"Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas"


"Santa Claus Is Coming To Town" visualizer:





"The Christmas Song" visualizer:





"Winter Wonderland" visualizer:





"I'll Be Home For Christmas":

STONE TEMPLE PILOTS bassist Robert DeLeo has tested positive for COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus.

The 55-year-old musician revealed his diagnosis in an Instagram post earlier today. He shared a photo of a positive COVID-19 test and he wrote: "Well, like so many others this virus has come to pay me a visit. Yes, double lines… Jackpot! Except this time you don't win anything but a nice chunk of time by yourself doing the 'q' word. Omicron, Robotron, Lexicon, whatever they wanna call it, it's the CRUD! A new year is upon us and I hope and pray everyone stays healthy and safe. Let's all make this new year a positive and forward moving experience filled with everything we all love!"

Last month, STONE TEMPLE PILOTS scrapped the remaining shows on their tour — including an appearance at the Welcome To Rockville festival in Daytona Beach, Florida — after a "member" of the band's "organization" tested positive for COVID-19.

STONE TEMPLE PILOTS features three original members — Robert DeLeo, guitarist Dean DeLeo and drummer Eric Kretz.

Singer Jeff Gutt, a 45-year-old Michigan native who spent time in the early-2000s nu-metal act DRY CELL, among other bands, and was a contestant on "The X Factor", joined STONE TEMPLE PILOTS after beating out roughly 15,000 hopefuls during an extended search that began more than a year earlier.

Original STONE TEMPLE PILOTS singer Scott Weiland, who reunited with the group in 2010 after an eight-year hiatus but was dismissed in 2013, died in December 2015 of a drug overdose.

Chester Bennington, who joined STP in early 2013, departed nearly three years later to spend more time with his main band LINKIN PARK. Bennington committed suicide in July 2017.

STONE TEMPLE PILOTS released their first all-acoustic album, titled "Perdida", in February 2020. The disc was Gutt's second with STP. His recording debut with the group was on its self-titled seventh album, which arrived in March 2018.
























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VOLBEAT's "Shotgun Blues" single, which is taken from the band's latest album, "Servant Of The Mind", recently topped both the Billboard Mainstream Rock and Mediabase Active Rock charts, the Danish/American group's tenth top-charter, and cemented VOLBEAT's record for having the most No. 1 singles on the Mainstream Rock chart by an artist based outside of North America.

VOLBEAT frontman Michael Poulsen told 93.3 WMMR about the achievement (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "It's crazy. We don't understand it. There are so many European bands out there, so many great bands, and it's tough to understand that we are the band who has the most No. 1 hit singles over there in America. It's crazy. And yeah, I don't know what to say about it. I'm just very thankful that the fans are aware of VOLBEAT and the radio stations play our songs. I'm very thankful for it. It's a good feeling, because it's tough times these days. We appreciate it."

Revolver called "Servant Of The Mind" "excellent… the darkest and heaviest VOLBEAT offering yet." For the LP, the band, which consists of Poulsen, Jon Larsen (drums), Rob Caggiano (guitars) and Kaspar Boye Larsen (bass), took its signature heavy metal, psychobilly and punk 'n' roll sound up a notch while showcasing Poulsen's keen ability for songwriting and storytelling. "Rarely has such a successful band sounded so ravenous," says Kerrang! magazine of the album.

"Servant Of The Mind" was written and recorded during the shutdown and quarantine necessitated by the COVID-19 pandemic. The LP includes the "double barrel" of summer songs the band released this past June: "Wait A Minute My Girl" and "Dagen Før" (featuring Stine Bramsen), the former of which became the band's ninth number one single on the Billboard Mainstream Rock chart.

VOLBEAT has racked up nearly three billion cumulative streams over the course of its career, notched a "Best Metal Performance" Grammy nomination for "Room 24" (featuring King Diamond) from 2014's acclaimed (and gold-selling) "Outlaw Gentlemen & Shady Ladies", and has grabbed multiple Danish Music Awards.

Since forming in 2001, VOLBEAT has gone from the clubs of Copenhagen to headlining stages around the world, including the famed Telia Parken stadium in Denmark (becoming the only domestic artist to ever sell out the venue). Over the course of seven record-breaking albums the band has picked up number one songs (including nine No. 1s on the U.S. Mainstream Rock chart and counting, the most of any band based outside of North America), multi-platinum certifications, awards and accolades all over the planet. Most recently, they contributed a cover of "Don't Tread On Me" to "The Metallica Blacklist", with all proceeds from the track benefiting METALLICA's All Within My Hands foundation and the Børne Cancer Fonden of Denmark.

Photo credit: Ross Halfin

The clip below features Nightwish vocalist Floor Jansen performing an acoustic version of "Nemo" at her solo show at AFAS Live in Amsterdam, Netherlands on September 1st, 2021. She did this once before at het Muziekcafé with the Marcel Fisser Band, but she took the opportunity to perform this track once again during her sold out live shows.





The setlist was as follows:




Set 1:


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


Set 2:


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


"Storm In A Glass"





"Ever Dream"

Pennsylvania based rock band Sick Century has released the official music video for their gritty cover of the iconic 1995 White Zombie hit single, "More Human Than Human". Produced by Paint The Light Productions, "More Human Than Human" is the band's sixth release.





"We didn't really plan this one," admits Sick Century. "It was more like a fun idea in between tracking originals. The song turned out so good, we scheduled a video shoot the next week where we got all our friends together in a little barn spot in the woods and just rocked it. We love White Zombie / Rob Zombie and that entire era of heavy music, so it's a huge honor to be able to do something like this. The video's definitely got that whole 'creep show' vibe to it. It was shot around Halloween so everyone was feeling the spirit, plus we're all fans of the Z. Dude pretty much created a whole genre, or at least assigned himself the wizard of the funky macabre."




Purchase / stream Sick Century's cover of "More Human Than Human" at this location.





 

Milan, Italy’s Sick Society have released a new video for “Lobotomized”, taken from their 2020 debut URNØ1.





The band states “Lobotomized” is “dedicated to the Sick Family all around the world!”




In 2016 The Preacher and The Saviour locked themselves in a dark and humid cellar and started to compose songs of an extremely violent nature.


After a few weeks, an old friend, The Planner, joined the band as bass player. His great musical culture brought a new and strange direction to the Sick-Music.


Last but not least, The Executioner joined the band in 2019, in order to give a different approach and the fundamental contribution of an old school thrasher.


Now, from the bowels of city turmoil, tired of a decadent and mediocre humanity governed by false values, money and power, Sick Society think it’s time to get out from their offices and bring people their original primitive metal.

This month marks 20 years since the untimely passing of visionary Death guitarist/vocalist Chuck Schuldiner. To celebrate his profound influence on the history of death metal and on guitar-playing, Chaos Rising have made a cover version of the classic Death track “Trapped In A Corner”, taken from Individual Thought Patterns.   





Founded by French multi-instrumentalist Stéphanie Nolf (Unsafe, Syrinx), Chaos Rising is a unique project that brings together female metal musicians from across the globe. This release is another truly international collaboration, with guitars from Barbara Teleki (UK/Hungary) and Victoria Villareal (USA), drums from Siddhi Shah (India/Dubai), and vocals/bass from Stéphanie herself (France).




Chuck Schuldiner was a huge influence on Barbara Teleki’s guitar-playing and life philosophy, and she chose this particular song, “Trapped In A Corner”, because of the solo section. “It’s just so cool and long, and it was the coolest thing sharing it with Victoria. We had wanted to collaborate for ages, but it never worked out, and finally the time has come!”


This is the second cover version for Chaos Rising, following their take on Napalm Death’s “Greed Killing” in October 2020, and it also marks their own twentieth song release. Chaos Rising’s trail-blazing model, with the ambitious vision of releasing a song every month in different metal subgenres, means that the girls are constantly writing, recording and innovating. With a double album on the way, the project continues to go from strength to strength.

German power metal legends Helloween have released a lyric video for “Down In The Dumps”, a track from their self-titled album. The lyric video was created by Ingo Spörl / Hard Media. Helloween's Helloween was #8 on our BravePicks 2021 countdown.





Helloween's new self-titled album is available via Nuclear Blast. Head here to order Helloween in your format of choice.







Tracklisting:


"Out For The Glory"
"Fear Of The Fallen"
"Best Time"
"Mass Pollution"
"Angels"
"Rise Without Chains"
"Indestructible"
"Robot King"
"Cyanide"
"Down In The Dumps"
"Orbit"
"Skyfall"


Bonus tracks Mediabook & Vinyl:
"Golden Times"
"Save My Hide"


Bonus tracks Earbook:
"Golden Times"
"Save My Hide"
"Pumpkins United"


"Robot King" lyric video:





"Indestructible" lyric video:





"Rise Without Chains" lyric video:





"Angels" lyric video:





"Mass Pollution" lyric video:


   


"Best Time lyric video:





"Fear Of The Fallen" lyric video:





"Skyfall" video:

During a recent appearance on "The Jasta Show", the video podcast hosted by HATEBREED frontman Jamey Jasta, ANTHRAX bassist Frank Bello recalled a time when he got sick from eating meat that was not properly cooked while on tour with PANTERA nearly 25 years ago.

"I had to give up coffee," he said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET). "I had to — because of my gut. And this happened way back when. Years ago, we were on tour with PANTERA. We went out and we got loaded one night in Mexico City. On the streets of Mexico City, PANTERA and ANTRAX, just loaded off our asses… You know those street carts you're not supposed to eat the fucking food out of? Sausage… Who knows? It was fucking red. I shouldn't have eaten it. I was starving. I wanted to soak up the juice that was in me, the booze… So this red sausage went into my body. And I was fine for that moment. But then the next day, I started, and it was non-stop — dude, I couldn't hold anything. For that whole year, every specialist in New York — every specialist — I went to the city and I [tried to figure out] with everybody, 'What the hell is wrong with me?' This one doctor, this one specialist, a renowned dude, finds that I have two — not one — two parasites underneath my liver that were just destroying everything for a year. So this really heavy strong medicine, antibiotic, blah blah blah, got rid of it, but the after-effect of all that good stuff, it really made me not drink coffee — stuff that I love. So I've gotta be really careful with my diet.

"My wife's a vegan now — my wife's a full-on vegan," he continued. "And she's a great cook, and she cooks me whatever I want, which is awesome. But I kind of follow her path now. That's what I'm doing, because I kind of see what's going on. And look, I'll eat but I'll be really careful about what I'm putting in. The sugar stuff is out of my… I'm out of sugar, man. I'm done with sugar."

Bello went on to say that it took a while for the doctors to make the correct diagnosis and catch the disease in time for treatment.

"I went to the most renowned people," he said. "And I was spending thousands [of dollars] on doctors — thousands — going everywhere in the city. 'Cause I live in Westchester [county in New York]; there's not a lot of people up here that you can go to. So I went to [New York City]. And they kept [telling me], 'You have to go to see this guy. You have to go see this girl.' It was all like that. And finally I found the right one. And it was not fun, man. That stuff, when you're searching… I lost all this weight. People were [wondering] am I dying. What's going on? And they finally found these two parasites. And it just screwed me up. Now I have to be careful on this specific diet. I can eat but I have to be really careful. Like, sugar is completely out for me, man. Which is probably good for my life anyway. I miss it — I miss a good pastry and stuff like that — but I watch other… I live through other people now."

Frank's memoir, "Fathers, Brothers, And Sons: Surviving Anguish, Abandonment, And Anthrax", was released on November 2 via Rare Bird. The foreword was written by KISS bassist/vocalist Gene Simmons.

ANTHRAX is working on material for the follow-up to 2016's "For All Kings" album, tentatively due in 2022.

In a brand new interview with Knotfest.com's "Talk Toomey" podcast, DROWNING POOL guitarist C.J. Pierce said that he still marvels at the cultural impact of the band's song "Bodies". The lead single from DROWNING POOL's debut album, "Sinner", which came out in 2001, "Bodies" is the group's most popular track which has been featured in various films, TV programs and advertisements since its release. The song remained DROWNING POOL's highest charting single until "37 Stitches" premiered in fall of 2008.

"I have to say that was very unexpected," Pierce said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET). "I appreciate it and I love it. Every time it comes up, I crack up. I've seen some really funny, crazy renditions of that song.

"It was just a song that came along naturally," he explained. "We were rocking out in the room, drinking a couple of beers and writing what [we] feel. And the song 'Bodies' just took on a life of its own, man, and it keeps coming up and getting used for different stuff. It's the 'Jelly Of The Month Club'; it's the gift that keeps giving."

When asked if DROWNING POOL has ever received an offer to put "Bodies" in a commercial in a way that he and his bandmates deemed inappropriate, Pierce said: "It's been in a few movies, which has been great. It's been used in some promotional stuff. Never really any commercials like 'let the bodies hit the floor,' 'Hey, the clothes are dirty. Wash 'em.' I wouldn't say no to that. It [would be] kind of funny. But just what everybody knows, what's out there — mostly just people having their own fun with the song."

He continued: "To be honest with you, man, I'll sit around the house. I don't know if other artists do this. I know some artists get weird about their single or what they're known for, and they're, like, 'Oh, I hate that song. I don't wanna play it live anymore,' which is nuts to me. I love playing that song; I can't wait to get to it. But I'll sit around the house myself and I'll bust out… I've got the mandolin over here and I'll do just like a mandolin version of 'Bodies'. I'll do my own wacky versions of it 'cause it's just a fun song to mess with.

"It's still making new fans," C.J. added. "People come up [to me and say], 'Oh, man, I just heard that song 'Bodies' for the first time.' [I'm, like] 'You just heard it just now?' But it's cool that it keeps going. Obviously, we have other songs and other records, but I love that song. I can't believe how far it's come and how it keeps going."

"Bodies" was DROWNING POOL's first big hit back in 2001. The band's original singer, Dave Williams, died that August of heart disease.

Despite being a huge rock radio smash, it was removed from radio playlists for a while later that year in the wake of the September 11 terrorist attacks.

"Bodies" was reportedly used by interrogators at the Guantanamo Bay detention camps in 2003. It was repeatedly played over a 10 days period to "stress" Mohamedou Ould Slahi during interrogations while he was "exposed to variable lighting patterns" at the same time.

Three months ago, DROWNING POOL announced that its fall 2021 "Brothers In Arms" U.S. tour with ILL NIÑO and (HED)P.E. was being rescheduled for early 2022. The trek was scheduled to kick off on September 29 in Abilene, Texas and conclude on November 3 in Hidalgo, Texas.

More than two years ago, it was reported that DROWNING POOL had commenced the recording process for the follow-up to its 2016 album "Hellelujah".

During a summer 2021 appearance on Fox News' "Fox & Friends" show, STAIND frontman Aaron Lewis discussed his controversial solo single "Am I The Only One". The track, which takes aim at liberals and touches on American flags burning and statues that have been removed in the country, was written by Lewis with Ira Dean and Jeffrey Steele.

Speaking about the inspiration for the song, Lewis said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Well, I lived through the last year and a half with you and everybody else in this country, and I found myself on many occasions, just like all of you, sitting and scratching my head and wondering what is going on in this amazing country that we have."

Aaron went on to say that the key to connecting people from both sides of the political aisle is to open a dialogue in the first place.

"I think that we're not talking enough," he said. "I think that we're not communicating enough with each other. I think that together we stand and divided we fall. And this country has done some pretty amazing things going on those words."

When asked how we can find common ground with those with whom we disagree, Lewis said: "Just the simple thread that connects us all, which is that we're Americans. And that means something — that means we're a part of something greater than any human experiment that's ever taken place. And we're blessed and we're lucky to be able to wake up in the morning and call ourselves American. It doesn't matter what side of the fence you stand on."

The "Am I The Only One" chorus sees Lewis singing: "I'm not the only one, willin' to fight / For my love of the red and white / And the blue, burnin' on the ground / Another statue comin' down in a town near you." Lewis also criticizes Bruce Springsteen at the end of the track, singing: "Am I the only one who quits singin' along every time they play a Springsteen song."

Asked why he chose to call out Springsteen in the song's lyrics, Lewis told The Daily Wire's "Candace" show: "Because he's always portrayed himself as the all-American middle-class guy. And during all of this craziness, he said that if one man is re-elected to the office of presidency that he was gonna move to Australia. How American is that? You're gonna bail on America just because you don't like the guy that may have gotten into office?"

This past July, Scott Borchetta, Big Machine Label Group's founder and president-CEO, defended the company's decision to release "Am I The Only One". Borchetta's comments came in response to industry blogger Bob Lefsetz, who slammed Lewis's song as "heinous." Lefsetz went on to call Lewis a "middle-class, right-wing wanker" whose divisive track "should have been played at CPAC, in between speeches by nitwits like saying to refuse the 'Fauci ouchie.'"

Lewis told "Candace" that there was initially some pushback from people about him wanting to record and release such a blatant conservative political protest song. "There might have been a little tinge of that in the beginning, but I think everyone successfully saw through that," he said. "And I even got support from some places that I didn't expect to get support from — like my record label. Come to find out Scott Borchetta is pretty big on the First Amendement, freedom of speech."

Springsteen can best be described as Lewis's political polar opposite, having been a vocal opponent to former U.S. president Donald Trump on many occasions. In August 2020, Bruce went as far as to allow the use of his song "The Rising" in a video that aired during night one of the Democratic National Convention.

Lewis, who is widely considered to be one of the most politically conservative musicians in rock, made headlines in September when he urged his fans to chant "Fuck Joe Biden" during a STAIND concert in Pennsylvania.

Aaron told the Anchorage Press in a January 2020 interview that he considered the first Donald Trump impeachment by the House Of Representatives as the clearest representation of what's wrong with America these days.

Lewis was a staunch critic of President Barack Obama, telling a crowd at one of his solo concerts in 2016: "Barack Obama should have been impeached a long fucking time ago. Every fucking decision he makes is against the Constitution, it's against what's good for our fucking country, and he is truly the worst fucking president that we have ever had in the history of this fucking country."

That same year, Lewis told Billboard that he would support Trump in the U.S. presidential race, even though he was "disappointed" by the real estate mogul "with the bickering and the name-calling." Lewis added that he voted for Senator Ted Cruz, Trump's closest competitor in the Republican nomination race, in the Massachusetts primary.

In June, Lewis made headlines when he accused the U.S. Democratic Party of fighting against every major civil rights initiative and of having a long history of discrimination.




Country singer #AaronLewis discusses what inspired his new song ‘Am I the Only One’ that calls out those who are disrespecting the American Flag.

Lewis says he wants to remind the nation, “We're blessed and we're lucky to be able to wake up in the morning and call ourselves American."

Posted by We Love Staind & Aaron Lewis on Monday, July 5, 2021