THE LUCID, the four-piece hard rock band featuring bassist David Ellefson (ex-MEGADETH), vocalist Vinnie Dombroski (SPONGE), guitarist Drew Fortier and drummer Mike Heller (RAVEN, FEAR FACTORY), has just finished filming four new music videos. Three of the tracks are taken from THE LUCID's self-titled debut album, which was released on October 15 via SpoilerHead Records.

Ellefson announced the completion of the videos in a social media post earlier today. He wrote: "THE LUCID knocked out 4 music videos in L.A. over the weekend. 3 songs from our debut album and one that is a total off the wall cover that will see the light of day in a few months. What a great time it was!"

"The Lucid" was produced by Heller and mixed/mastered by Lasse Lammert.

Ellefson previously stated about the LP: "It's been a real blast making a record with these guys and I must say that it’s refreshing to explore some new musical avenues… to step out a bit from what each of us have done stylistically in our own careers. There was an effortless synergy that came with creating these songs together which is always amazing when working with new people. I'm looking forward to everyone checking it out!"

During a November 2020 appearance on "The Chuck Schute Podcast", Ellefson stated about how he got involved with THE LUCID: "Drew sent me a track and said, 'Hey, can you throw a bass on here?' And I was writing a new ELLEFSON solo record at the time, so my studio ears were on. I was plugged in and ready to go. He sent it over and I was, like, 'Yeah, this is freaking cool, man.' I'd seen Drew play, I know his BANG TANGO history and the other stuff he's done. But this was really cool stuff that spoke to me. And then he called me up and he said, 'Hey, Vinnie is gonna come in and write some vocals and lyrics and lay down some tracks.' And it turned into a thing."

"I love [Vinnie]. I love SPONGE," David continued. "He's such a rock star. He's just a cool guy. And he writes such great lyrics — very trippy lyrics. He's the type of lyricist I'd never worked with before, so it's fun with that. And Drew is a great guitar player. Mike Heller — he's good friends with [MEGADETH drummer] Dirk Verbeuren. And Dirk's, like, 'Mike's awesome.' They're good friends. We all met in L.A. We got the songs together and we all met in L.A. in mid-July. I plugged in and banged out 10 songs in two days. And it was fun. Mike was very good in the studio; he really knows his way around."

As for THE LUCID's musical direction, Ellefson said: "It's cool stuff, and it's very different. It's, obviously, not thrash metal, hence the name LUCID. [The name] kind of feels like what the music sounds like."

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

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

In 2004, Ellefson filed an $18.5-million lawsuit against Dave Mustaine, alleging the MEGADETH frontman shortchanged him on profits and backed out of a deal to turn Megadeth Inc. over to him when the band broke up in 2002. The lawsuit was eventually dismissed and Ellefson rejoined MEGADETH in 2010.

David, a Christian who launched the Mega Life Ministries worship group in 2007, studied for a year at Concordia Lutheran Seminary in St. Louis nearly a decade ago.




The Lucid video shoot day 2

Posted by David Ellefson on Friday, December 17, 2021



The Lucid music video #2 in the can!

Posted by David Ellefson on Friday, December 17, 2021



The Lucid

Photo by Kevin Williams

Physical & signed copies: lucidofficial.com

Spotify:...

Posted by David Ellefson on Saturday, December 18, 2021



The Lucid knocked out 4 music videos in L.A. over the weekend. 3 songs from our debut album and one that is a total off...

Posted by David Ellefson on Monday, December 20, 2021

Max Cavalera says that his collaboration with his brother Igor Cavalera is "the only thing" that "sounds close" to the classic lineup of their former band SEPULTURA.

The Brazilian four-piece fell apart in 1996 with the exit of Max after the rest of the band split with the vocalist/guitarist's wife Gloria as their manager. Igor, who plays drums, stuck around with the group for another ten years before leaving SEPULTURA and re-teaming with Max in CAVALERA CONSPIRACY.

Although SEPULTURA has maintained a diehard fanbase in all parts of the world throughout the band's nearly four-decade history, Max-era albums "Roots" and "Chaos A.D." were by far SEPULTURA's most commercially successful, having both been certified gold in the U.S. for sales in excess of five hundred thousand copies.

Asked in a new interview with "General Population With Marco Lesher" what he thinks of his replacement in SEPULTURA, vocalist Derrick Green, Max said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "It doesn't bother me. It is what it is. At the end of the day, the fans know what the band was and what it is now, the difference [between the two]. And I really don't care. I'm not bitter. They do what they do; I do what I do. It's been like that for a long time now. But you can't touch the classics; those records that we did [in the 1980s and 1990s]. It still goes, but it is what it is.

"If you wanna really hear something that sounds close to what it was, you have to come see me and Igor play," he added. "That's the only thing that is gonna be close to what it was, to that time."

Igor and Max have spent much of the last six years celebrating the 20th anniversary of SEPULTURA's "Roots" and 30th anniversary of "Beneath The Remains" and "Arise" albums on tour all over the world.

Last year, SEPULTURA bassist Paulo Xisto Pinto Jr. said that he has had "zero" contact with Max, adding that a reunion with the band's original frontman would have to happen "naturally."

Back in 2017, Igor Cavalera told The Salt Lake Tribune that he and Max "believe SEPULTURA doesn't really make sense nowadays, to do what they're doing." The drummer also downplayed the possibility of a reunion of SEPULTURA's classic lineup, saying: "Unless it's something really solid — and we haven't seen that from their part — of doing something totally professional and coming together, trying to do something like that. At the end of the day, it would be special for the fans, so it's not like a closed door, but at the same time, we have no time to spend energy with this kind of thing. So we just move forward."

Max echoed his brother's sentiments, telling The Salt Lake Tribune that he doesn't even think about his former bandmates much. "For a time — for a long time — there was a war in the press, like, 'He'll talk this, I'll talk that,'" he explained. "I got really tired of it, honestly. I'm not gonna do that anymore. So let them go their way and do their thing, and we're gonna do our thing, and I think that's the best for everybody."

While stopping short of completely ruling out a reunion of SEPULTURA's classic lineup, Max said: "Right now, we don't even need it. It's been so much of that kind of bad vibes through the years that I don't even know how that would even really work out. I think what [Igor and I] are doing is the closest thing to that, and it works great, it works like a charm. It's amazing."

SEPULTURA's current lineup — Green, guitarist Andreas Kisser, bassist Paulo Xisto Pinto Jr. and drummer Eloy Casagrande — released its latest album, "Quadra", in February 2020 via Nuclear Blast Records.

During a recent appearance on "Whiplash", the KLOS radio show hosted by Full Metal Jackie, VOLBEAT frontman Michael Poulsen spoke about the musical inspiration for the band's eighth studio album, "Servant Of The Mind", which came out on December 3 via Republic Records.

"If you look at the more heavy side of the material, it's obvious that's a lot of old BLACK SABBATH inspiration — more from the [Ronnie James] Dio past and from the Tony Martin [era] of BLACK SABBATH," he said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET). "I do love the Ozzy [Osbourne] material, but you can definitely hear the inspiration from the BLACK SABBATH Dio and Tony Martin era. And there's also some pretty old-school death metal influences, like DEATH and BOLT THROWER and ENTOMBED; you can definitely hear that in between. And early METALLICA as well. And when we're doing those kinds of parts, we still have that '50s rock and roll inspiration that comes from Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis and Little Richard, and some punk elements that might take you back to some of the RAMONES stuff and really darker kind of CRAMPS stuff."

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

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

In a new interview with Darren Paltrowitz, host of the "Paltrocast With Darren Paltrowitz", DJ Ashba spoke about his decision to leave GUNS N' ROSES more than six years and eventually launch a dance/rock hybrid called GDM (Guitar Dance Music) with his ASHBA project. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Financially, thank God, I'm in a place to where, honestly, I never have to hit another note. Everything I do at this point in my life is pure passion; it's not money motivated.

"When I created this new sound… I left arguably one of the biggest bands in the world, one of the biggest paychecks in the world, and I did it because I had a vision in my head to create something new," he continued.

"I've always gotten more pleasure out of carving my own path in life, going against the grain... If the whole crowd's going right, I'll be the first to go left. I love those odds; I love to take chances and try things, because what have you got to lose, really? You only lose if you don't try. If you don't go after whatever that idea in your head is, then you're already defeated. So my thing is if I would have never got in that mini-van and had the balls to drive to L.A. when I was 20 — think about that — none of this would have happened. So I've made a living off of making choices that would scare most people.

"I'm a big advocate on follow your dreams," Ashba added. "Because the worst you're gonna do is learn so the next time you go after your next dream, you'll probably succeed. You're gonna learn something, and that knowledge is so valuable. So it's, like, what have you got to lose?"

Ashba, who joined GUNS N' ROSES in March 2009 following the departure of Robin Finck, issued a statement in July 2015 saying that he was leaving GUNS N' ROSES "to dedicate myself to my band SIXX:A.M., my adoring wife and family, and to the many new adventures that the future holds for me." He later claimed that he was approached about being part of GN'R's "Not In This Lifetime" tour, but that he declined, citing his desire to pursue SIXX:A.M. full time.

Ashba previously discussed his departure from GUNS N' ROSES in a November 2016 interview with SiriusXM's "Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk". He stated at the time: "Well, there [were] multiple reasons [why I left GN'R] — a couple that I won't go into — but the biggest reason was I needed to get back to my roots, back to what I really truly believed in, and that was playing songs I helped write with [SIXX:A.M. bandmates] James [Michael] and Nikki [Sixx]. We [SIXX:A.M.] have five albums out [and] we have a ten-year career together. So we did a tour, 'Modern Vintage' tour, where it was, like, nineteen shows, and that tour really changed my life and put my career back into perspective — you know, being out on the stage and connecting with the fanbase."

Ashba also once again claimed that he was asked to stay in GN'R for the "Not In This Lifetime" tour, but that he decided against it, preferring instead to pursue his own career path.

"Axl called me and he really wanted me a part of the reunion, and I turned it down," Ashba said. "I felt if Slash is coming back, that's great — that's what the fans want, and I can go off and do what I really wanna do now… And we left [off on good terms]; everything is good. And I couldn't be happier for the fans out there. I'm a fan. Half of the band reunited, which excites me, but at the same time, it's the best of both worlds — I get to do what I really love to do, and that's play in SIXX:A.M."

Only Rose, Slash and Duff McKagan from GN'R's "Appetite For Destruction"-era lineup are taking part in the band's current reunion. They are being joined by keyboardist Dizzy Reed, guitarist Richard Fortus and drummer Frank Ferrer. Also appearing with them is second keyboardist Melissa Reese.

Four years ago, former GUNS N' ROSES bassist Tommy Stinson said that he found it "funny" that Ashba "made such a big deal about" quitting the band at a time when "there wasn't really anything going on" with the group. Stinson, who was in GUNS N' ROSES from 1998 until 2014, told HardrockHaven.net: "[DJ] called me up on the phone and told me that he was gonna quit, you know, and this that and the other thing… [It] seemed like it was kind of inevitable that there was going to be a reunion happening, so I think he… I don't know if he [laughs] tried to get in front of the curve to, you know, drum up some extra fucking press for himself. I don't really know what the deal was, but I thought it odd. I thought it an odd time to make a big stink about quitting, you know?"

Ashba recently released a new single "Bella Ciao", a modern-day EDM-driven makeover of the Italian folk classic fueled. The song 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".

Ashba is also the founder and CEO of Ashba Enterprises, where he draws upon his executive and entrepreneurial skills to run his many companies, utilizing his longtime experience and expertise from years of developing his own brand in entertainment, multimedia, touring, and merchandise. Through Ashba Media, a design and creative agency, he advises clients, including Cirque De Soleil, hotel, hospitality and entertainment industries, to create state-of-the-art custom props, themed environments for events and exhibits around the world.

Dave Mustaine has recalled a "terrible trick" his wife pulled on him for his 30th birthday.

The MEGADETH leader, who turned 60 in September, recounted the episode while filming a new video message on Cameo, which lets users hire celebrities to record brief, personalized video messages about virtually any topic.

Addressing a fan named James who was celebrating his 30th birthday, Dave said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "I remember when I had my 30th birthday. My wife pulled this terrible trick on me and told me that one of my favorite dogs was in the backyard and had cut his leg on one of the sprinklers. So I come running into the backyard. I had just been in kickboxing class so I'm still in my uniform and everything. I run into the backyard and [I hear] 'Surprise.' There's a whole bunch of my friends [there]. Now, granted, I don't have a lot of friends, so there was just about every single one there. And I was so blown away. I was really mad at my wife for teasing me like that, but I got over it. And I had been given this killer jacket for my birthday from my sensei, Benny 'The Jet'. It was a Ukidokan kickboxing team jacket. So I took it and threw it into my bedroom. [My wife] Pam and I had white furniture at the time; we were newly married and didn't realize white furniture is lame. So we put her Doberman in the room too and it chewed my jacket up. Can you believe that? Oh, I was so mad."

Earlier this month, Mustaine revealed that MEGADETH's new album, "The Sick, The Dying And The Dead" has been mastered and is "super close" to being released. The follow-up to 2016's "Dystopia" is tentatively due in the spring of 2022.

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.

Ellefson was fired from MEGADETH after sexually tinged messages and explicit video footage involving the bassist were posted on Twitter.

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.

Italian power metallers Frozen Crown have checked in with the following update:


"We're proud to introduce you our Winterbane Coffee and our Frozen Mug. You've been asking for a mug for so long, and since you know our Jade is such a mug and coffee addict, we couldn't resist to bring you the literal full package.


So, from today you'll be able to sip your Italian espresso (or however you like your coffee) directly from our brand new skull-themed mug, both available on our BigCartel store here. 




The Winterbane Coffee is our chocolate flavored roasted ground coffee blend made together with a local (0 km) non-mainstream Italian company (more info on our BigCartel). If you're already happy to support small bands like us, you're going to be even happier to know you're supporting small local entrepreneurs during these hard times as well!


'A Coffee With Jade' approved!"


Frozen Crown recently released a video for "The Water Dancer", the fourth single from their latest album, Winterbane.


"The song is conceptually inspired by the classic series of novels A Song of Ice and Fire and the hit TV show Game Of Thrones, more specifically, by the ultrabrave and fierce Arya Stark character."


Also, for the first time, Frozen Crown joined forces with an element external to the band: Damien Von Dunkenwald and his Northern Wolfdogs Pack appear in the stunning videoclip alongside Jade, Sheena, Federico, Francesco and Niso.


Check out the video below.





Frozen Crown recently issued the following update:


"It's not easy to be a band in 2021. If you're an Italian band playing metal, it's even worse. If, in addition, you had to face a line-up change right before entering the studio for your third album during a pandemic, it's nightmare difficulty on Doom II played blindfold with both hands tied behind your back. But we made it, together with your INCREDIBLE support, and with these awesome new guys who fiercely conquered their place, fighting tooth and nail against time and odds proving they were meant to be a part of this.


Together with that genius called Andrea Fusini and his masterful work behind the machines, as well as our brother Luca Morselli and his unreal filming talent (who also holds the credits for this pic), and our label team, which is simply the best ever. Winterbane is a new beginning, like someone said, but also a confirmation. A message of perseverance and strength, a way to tell the world we are here to stay.


Thanks to the ones who have been with us since Day 1, thanks to the brand new fans, and also thanks to the ones amongst you who left, as they gave us the chance to prove to ourselves we don't need anyone to go forward.


Now enjoy this album as much as we enjoyed making it, let us know about your favorite songs, and be ready for A LOT of stuff, including a new official video clip as well as the usual weekly content on our YouTube channel."





Tracklist:


"Embrace The Night"
"Towards The Sun"
"Far Beyond"
"The Lone Stranger"
"Crown Eternal"
"The Water Dancer"
"Angels In Disguise" (feat Federica Lanna)
"Night Crawler" (Judas Priest cover)
"Tales Of The Forest"
"Blood On The Snow"


Winterbane was released on April 23rd on Scarlet Records and Marquee/Avalon (Japan).








Frozen Crown is:


Giada "Jade" Etro - Lead Vocals
Fabiola "Sheena" Bellomo - Lead Guitar
Federico Mondelli - Vocals and Lead Guitar
Francesco Zof - Bass
Niso Tomasini - Drums

In a new interview with Neil Jones of U.K.'s Planet Rock, BLACK SABBATH guitarist Tony Iommi was asked if there is a chance of some new music from him being released in the not-too-distant future. He responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "[There's] a good chance. I enjoy doing this. I've got so much stuff, I just wanna get started on getting it together now. Because my phone, there's four or five hundred riffs on it. And I've gotta get 'em off. It's getting around to doing it — that's the thing. It's just an abundance of all this stuff that I need to… 'Cause the pandemic put a bit of a block on it, really. And I was working it out and the engineer was coming over and we were getting through some things. But then when that happened and you couldn't have anybody in the house or in the studio, it put the kibosh on that for a bit. And then I started getting involved in other stuff. And it's just kicking back on again. I've gotta get back into getting these things down properly."

When Jones pointed out to Iommi that METALLICA guitarist Kirk Hammett lost a phone with more than 300 pieces of music on it during the creative process for the band's last studio album, "Hardwired… To Self-Destruct", Tony said: "I heard that. That must be awful. Somebody will nick my phone now. [Laughs] It's on my other phone. [Laughs]"

Iommi recently released a signature cologne, a collaboration with Italian luxury perfume house Xerjoff.

"Scent Of Dark" is the product of a recent friendship struck up during the pandemic between Iommi and Sergio Momo, acclaimed perfumer, and designer for Xerjoff, well known for its unique and individual creations and collaborations in the fragrance world. Sergio is also an accomplished guitarist, and his fine fretwork can be heard on "Scent Of Dark", a new song Iommi released to promote the cologne.

SABBATH's final tour, "The End", concluded in February 2017 in Birmingham, closing out the quartet's groundbreaking 49-year career. "The End" was SABBATH's last tour because Iommi can no longer travel for extended amounts of time.

Iommi revealed his cancer diagnosis in early 2012, shortly after SABBATH announced a reunion tour and album. He underwent treatment throughout the recording of the disc, titled "13", and the subsequent tour to promote it.

The BLACK SABBATH guitarist successfully underwent an operation in January 2017 to remove a noncancerous lump from his throat.

"13" was the first album in 35 years to feature Iommi, singer Ozzy Osbourne and bassist Geezer Butler all playing together.






For those wondering what the Tony Iommi interview was all about yesterday. Here ya go. New music to accompany… yes, a new fragrance called ‘Scent of Dark’. https://t.co/SlOj7Zktcr #blacksabbath #tonyiommi pic.twitter.com/PFgBgWTj60

— Neil Jones (@NeilJonesRock) November 25, 2021

The clip below features Floor Jansen performing the Samantha Steenwijk song "Mama" at her solo show at AFAS Live in Amsterdam, Netherlands on September 1st, 2021.  She originally covered the song on the Dutch TV show "Beste Zangers".





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"

AC/DC's Angus Young was the featured guest on BBC's "The Rock Show With Johnnie Walker" during the "Rock God" segment. Angus picked Chuck Berry and stated about his choice (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Chuck Berry was probably one of the great guitar people for rock and roll. He combined a lot of elements — he combined blues, a bit of jazz and his own unique style. He melded all these kind of different genres of music, but he seemed to bring it together and bring it out and it [came] out in that rock and roll style — so plain and simple, but it was so effective.

"I saw him live once when I was younger," Angus continued. "I just loved his stage presence and how he performed. He was one of those people, when he got on a stage, he owned it."

Earlier this year, Angus spoke to Germany's Guitar magazine about his early musical influences. He said: "I could play guitar a little bit, but I really got focused on it around the years when I was about 12 into my teenage years, I started to focus more on it. And around when I was about 13 [or] 14, that's when Jimi Hendrix appeared on the horizon. And when I first heard the song 'Purple Haze', I was totally enthralled: 'How's he doing that?' I was just so impressed with it. Plus, Malcolm, my brother, there was a few shows we had also seen. We had gone, the two of us together, and we had seen people like the band THE YARDBIRDS; they had come to Australia. And at the time, the lineup had just changed. I think they originally used to have Jeff Beck. But then, later on, when we saw them, they didn't have Jeff Beck; they had Jimmy Page on guitar. So that was good, because at that time, that kind of sound, especially for guitar, it jumped out at you, the sound of it. So that was really good. But then when along came Hendrix, you kind of went, 'Woah! This is another level on guitar.' So I was very much a fan of that."

He continued: "I was not really a good note picker. People, they could hear a song and just pick up the notes. I used to say to Malcolm, 'You pick up the notes and then show me.' [Laughs] So he would do that. He'd pick out all the notes of anything I wanted to know, and then he would just show me, and then I would play it like he showed me… But I had a host of styles. From other family members who played, you pick up a bit of Chuck Berry, you pick up a bit of blues, and some folk tunes. So I had a bit of a variety of different stuff — even some early traditional jazz stuff. My sister, she was always getting me different records and stuff, 'cause she knew we were interested in doing stuff. It wasn't so much guitar. I heard Louis Armstrong play on the trumpet, do a solo, and I'd go, 'I like the notes,' and I'd learn the notes… So I had quite a bit of variety. When I look at all the players who I admire, there's a lot of players. You can go from A to Z — there's a lot of players."

AC/DC's latest album "Power Up", was released in November 2020. The LP features AC/DC's current lineup of Brian Johnson (vocals), Phil Rudd (drums), Cliff Williams (bass), Angus Young (guitar) and Stevie Young (guitar). It was recorded over a six-week period in August and September 2018 at Warehouse Studios in Vancouver with producer Brendan O'Brien, who also worked 2008's "Black Ice" and 2014's "Rock Or Bust".

"Power Up" landed at the No. 1 spot in 18 countries, including in the U.S., where it sold over 117,000 copies in the first week. "Power Up" marked AC/DC's sixth No. 1 album in Australia where the band is the only Australian group in history to have had a No. 1 album across five decades: "Back In Black" (1980s), "Ballbreaker Live" (1990s), "Black Ice" (2000s), "Rock Or Bust" (2010s) and "Power Up" (2020s).

"Power Up" was the fastest-selling album of 2020 in at least three of its biggest markets — U.S., Australia and the U.K. — where it debuted at No

Released in October 1971, Frank Zappa’s “200 Motels” was a miraculous feat, a cinematic collision of the venerated musician and composer’s kaleidoscopic musical and visual worlds that brought together Zappa and his band, The Mothers, Ringo Starr as Zappa – as “a large dwarf” – Keith Moon as a perverted nun, Pamela Des Barres in her acting debut, noted thespian Theodore Bikel, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, and an incredible assortment of characters (both on screen and off) for a “surrealistic documentary” about the bizarre life of a touring musician. A heady, psychedelic stew of low and high brow art forms, the film, written by Zappa and co-directed by him and Tony Palmer, mixed together irreverent comedic skits, madcap satire, eye-popping animation and virtuosic on-screen musical performances from both The Mothers and the RPO for a fascinating and free-wheeling multimedia extravaganza. 


Shot in just 10 days with a budget of around $650,000 from distributor United Artists, “200 Motels” was one of the first movies to be filmed entirely on videotape and Zappa and crew pushed the envelope of the burgeoning new medium’s possibilities, mostly notably through its use of spectacular – and at the time – state-of-the-art visual effects. Described by Zappa as “at once a reportage of real events and an extrapolation of them… other elements include ‘conceptual by-products’ of the extrapolated ‘real event’ … In some ways the contents of the film are autobiographical,” “200 Motels” was hailed by the Los Angeles Times as a “a stunning achievement” with “just the right touch of insanity,” and the “Zaniest piece of film musical fantasy-comedy since The Beatles' ‘A Hard Day's Night’” by Daily Variety.


The music, and its corresponding soundtrack, was equally diverse, a wild pastiche of avant garde rock and orchestral compositions interspersed with dialog from the film. Up until that time, compositions like the finale piece, “Strictly Genteel,” were some of the most ambitious material ever written and recorded by Zappa. The band in the film and on the soundtrack consisted of Frank Zappa (guitar & bass), Mark Volman (vocals & special material), Howard Kaylan (vocals & special material), Ian Underwood (keyboards & winds), Aynsley Dunbar (drums), George Duke (keyboards & trombone), Martin Lickert (bass), Jimmy Carl Black (vocals), and Ruth Underwood (orchestra drum set), not to mention the aforementioned Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. In true Zappa fashion as he wrote in the album’s original liner notes, “This music is not in the same order as in the movie. Some of this music is in the movie. Some of this music is not in the movie. Some of the music that’s in the movie is not in the album. Some of the music that was written for the movie is not in the movie or the album. All of this music was written for the movie, over a period of 4 years. Most of it (60%) was written in motels while touring.”







Fully authorized by the Zappa Trust and produced by Ahmet Zappa and Zappa Vaultmeister Joe Travers, the expansive 200 Motels 50th Anniversary Edition is a definitive super deluxe six-disc box set of the beloved, yet hard to find, soundtrack that has been lovingly assembled in celebration of the film and soundtrack’s golden anniversary. Available now via Zappa Records/UMe, the six-disc set is housed in a 64-page hardcover book in a handsome 12” x 12” slipcase. The packaging replicates the original booklet updated with revealing new liner notes from Pamela Des Barres, Ruth Underwood and Joe Travers, as well as Patrick Pending’s essay from the 1997 reissue, and is chock full of motion picture artwork, stills and images, from the film and its making, many which have never been seen before. This must-have collector’s release also includes a custom “200 Motels” keychain and Do-No-Disturb motel door hanger and a full-size replica of the original movie poster. Years in the making, all the audio has been meticulously identified and transferred over several years as Travers dug through the Vault to create a new high resolution 96K/24B digital patchwork stereo master from the original analog tapes. The Vault material was mastered by John Polito in 2021.


Discs 1 and 2 feature the remastered soundtrack with the second half of the second disc consisting of demos and demo outtakes; two of the many highlights from these sessions include unreleased alt mixes and alt takes of the Chunga’s Revenge tunes, “Road Ladies” and “Tell Me You Love Me.” Discs 3 and 4 contain the “Dialog Protection Reels,” which reveal an early version of the movie, while Disc 5 and 6 present unreleased outtakes, alternates and historical nuggets sequenced in the order of the original shooting script, the way Zappa originally envisioned before he ran into time and budget constraints. These illuminating discs reveal Zappa’s original intent for the film for the first time.


Purchase/stream 200 Motels here.


The remastered 200 Motels soundtrack is also now available on vinyl as a 2LP pressed on 180-gram black vinyl and also as a limited edition red vinyl pressing on 180-gram vinyl, exclusively through Zappa.com, uDiscoverMusic.com or SoundofVinyl.com. Both were pressed by Optimal Media in Germany and mark the first time the album has been available on vinyl in decades. The soundtrack is also on 2CD and all formats include a smaller version of the movie poster. Additionally, the entire Super Deluxe Edition box set is available digitally for streaming and download, marking the soundtrack’s digital debut, in both standard and hi-res audio.


Putting together this 50th anniversary edition was a labor intensive process that bore fruit at nearly every turn as Travers dug through Zappa’s expansive archives to put together this exhaustive edition. As Travers writes in the liners, “During this search and seizure mission, I was able to unearth a multitude of audio treasures from a very large number of tapes. Original demos, session outtakes, alternate mixes and versions, and even dialog reels that captured an edit of the film that predates the final assembly which eventually made it to theaters everywhere in 1971.” Amongst the gems discovered include a number of ¼-inch reel-to-reel tapes that were made at Trident Studios during February of ’71, which contain rough mixes of nearly everything that was recorded on multi-track. As Travers explains, “they reflect raw performances, as they happened before FZ would get a hold of the multi-track masters and bring them to Whitney Studios in Glendale for over-dubs and sweetening. The Trident tapes allow us to hear music that did not make the film, or the final soundtrack album. They also helped us to reconstruct pieces of music like ‘The Pleated Gazelle’ or ‘What’s The Name Of Your Group?’ into their full sequences per the score. Over the years, even Frank himself forgot the sheer amount of music that actually did get recorded. All of the archiving for this 50th Anniversary set has produced incredible amounts of content that we would never had known existed otherwise.”

Brent Smith says that SHINEDOWN's recently completed seventh studio album is a "controversial" and "provocative" effort which delves into "different subject matters" that the band has never addressed in the past.

The SHINEDOWN singer discussed the new LP in a recent interview with 95.9 The Rat's Carl Craft. Speaking about the album's more "stripped-down" approach, he said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "We wanted to push everything to the front. And what I mean by that is we've proven that we can make these records that there's a lot of musicianship involved in it, and we have layered our records over the years because we love music and we love sound and we try to make really cinematic records. So with that, you have a lot of instrumentation that is not just drums, bass, guitar and vocals — we use orchestras, we use a lot of synthesizers, we use a lot of techniques that… We don't believe in… Don't tie your hands up when you're making a record. Make the record that you wanna make. And ultimately, though, what we wanted to do with this album was make it just as ferocious as the other records but not utilizing so much of some of the style that we've done in the past with layering and layering guitars, adding lots of synth beds, stacking the vocals."

He continued: "I come from the Freddie Mercury school when it comes to vocals and layering and backgrounds and things of that nature because I try — I say 'try' — try to use my voice as an instrument. But this is about really less is more. So the majority of this record is authentically drums, bass, guitar. There are piano songs; there's two really, really very intense-subject-matter piano songs that are gonna be in SHINEDOWN seven. But we wanted to make a real rock record, we wanted to make a real record where we focus on just making sure that the band is being heard the way the band needs to be heard. So, not a lot of layering. It doesn't mean it's any less powerful; it's just we're not dealing with a lot of stacks. We're just putting things left to right stereo, pushing everything to the front. The vocals aren't layered a ton — not a lot of effects on the vocals, so not a lot of delays and reverbs and things like that. A lot of the vocals on the record are dry and kind of right up in your face."

Smith also talked about the lyrical themes covered on the new SHINEDOWN album, saying they were inspired at least in part by the ongoing pandemic and resulting impact on the community, residents and businesses.

"Going through everything that the world went through last year, and we wrote the majority of the record last year, and this year, we couldn't turn a blind eye to everything that was going on," he said. "And we talk on this record, and we express on this record — we're not trying to dance around certain subject matter. We're trying to be very honest and very real. In a lot of ways, this is a very humanitarian record."

Asked if SHINEDOWN will "piss people off" with some of the lyrical positions that are taken on the upcoming LP, Smith said: "Possibly. But the thing about it is I don't necessarily think it's about pissing people off; it's about understanding what we all went through but where we need to go now. I think that it gets lost. It's never supposed to be about… And I say this because I'm being very, very bold and very honest about it. This country, it's not called the Divided States Of America; it's called the United States Of America, and we want people to understand that that comes down to the people; that comes down to us. And us being able to not only work with each other, to grow with one another. But when you have certain people in power that do not have your best interests in mind, you have to stand up and make your voice heard. When I see what's going on in regards to people's freedom of speech and it being censored and people being pushed into a corner because of their opinions and what have you. You need to be able to have constructive conversations with each other in order to get actual action to happen for positive change."

Regarding the first single from SHINEDOWN's seventh album, which is expected to arrive next month, Brent said: "It honestly addresses everything that society has dealt with from a planetary platform, if you will — not just here in the U.S., but the whole world — what the last 18 months has been like, and, at least in our opinion, how we've gotta move forward.

"Listen, the record… We're talking about things that we've never talked about before," he revealed. "We're opening up the conversation into different subject matters that SHINEDOWN has never addressed. We have the full support of our label, our management and hopefully our fanbase, whether they've been there from day one or they're just kind of finding out who we are. But it's a record that I think some people will consider controversial, I think some people will consider to be very provocative, especially for SHINEDOWN, but it's also something that we feel that it is very important and that it is necessary… Don't get me wrong either — there's a lot of triumph on this record, but there's also a lot of having to take a step back and go, 'What's really going on? And how do we stop it from happening if it's going to be something negative on the human race as a whole?' Our society, the way that we live with one another, we share this planet with a lot of different organisms and creatures. It's not just about us. It's important that everybody really takes a step back and doesn't always make it about them. We have to work together — like, all of us; we've really gotta start working together with each other and really creating a positive change forward for not only society but also for this beautiful planet that we've been given."

The follow-up to 2018's "Attention Attention", which is tentatively due in early 2022, was recorded in part at a new studio in Charleston, South Carolina spearheaded by the group's bassist and producer Eric Bass.

In October, SHINEDOWN announced its 2022 North American tour, "Shinedown Live In Concert". Kicking off in San Francisco on January 26, the upcoming 22-date outing will see the acclaimed quartet travel throughout the West Coast, Canada, and more, with stops in Los Angeles, Phoenix, Denver, Las Vegas, Seattle, Calgary, Toronto, and Montreal. POP EVIL and AYRON JONES will support on select dates.

SHINEDOWN's film "Attention Attention", a cinematic experience of the band's 2018 studio album of the same name, premiered worldwide in September.

In a new interview with Darren Paltrowitz, host of the "Paltrocast With Darren Paltrowitz", Ted Nugent was asked if ever had any interactions with legendary VAN HALEN singer David Lee Roth. He responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "I did — a few times. And I admire and praise his entertainment gifts; he's a monster. Tell me that all that David Lee Roth music with VAN HALEN isn't a smile eruption in our life. I mean, what a fun, cocky, soulfy guy. He really does evoke, emulate and deliver touches of James Brown and Wilson Pickett and some Motown melodious grunt, and certainly the blues and the gospel and the rhythm and blues masters — you can hear that in David Lee Roth. I don't think he's ever been given credit for those talents and those musical capabilities that I just mentioned. So I'm glad I just mentioned them, because they should be attributed to him, 'cause he did deliver them with aplomb."

Ted continued: "I've always been militantly against substance abuse, and it's an absolute crime — literally and figuratively — and David's a perfect example. Again, I love him — I hope he's happy, I hope he's healthy. He seems to know what happiness and health is; God bless him. Thank you, David, for enriching our lives with your incredible music. God bless you. But tragically — and this goes to Eddie [Van Halen] too, and my encounters with Jimi Hendrix and so many people — you couldn't have a meaningful dialogue. It was all stoned disconnect, whereas when I sat down with B.B. King and when I sit down with Joe Perry and Steven Tyler, even though there were moments when it was hopeless — there were moments… And Sammy Hagar's a perfect example. We have a meaningful, man-to-man, human-to-human, fun, deep bullshit session, because he's in tune with himself — and he's real good at getting out of tune with himself. But my point is, I think it's important to note that the incredible amount of hours that I've been honored and humbled to spend with some of the most powerful music authorities in the world, there was nothing to be shared because they were drunk or stoned. All those moments reinforce my anger and hate for people who leave the world to drop out comfortably numb. They don't make anybody happy [when they do that]. They don't owe me happiness, but wouldn't it have been great for a smartass like David Lee Roth and a smartass like Ted Nugent to discuss the art of smartass? I would have loved to have had that conversation, but there was no chance for it — the guy was out of his mind."

In a 1987 interview with Guitar World, Nugent said Eddie Van Halen was "a contemporary leader of the pack with as much impact as any individual guitar player who ever lived — an innovator when innovation seemed to be attacked, an inspiration to every guitar player who wants to take the lyrical interpretation of the instrument beyond its confines."

Last month, Ted released the official lyric video for his new song "Come And Take It". The track will appear on Nugent's recently completed new studio album called "Detroit Muscle", which is due on April 29, 2022 via Pavement Music. The follow-up to 2018's "The Music Made Me Do It" was produced by Michael Lutz and Nugent and was recorded with Ted's current band, which includes bassist Greg Smith and drummer Jason Hartless.

Released via Round Hill Records, "The Music Made Me Do It" was Nugent's first studio album in four years. Accompanying the CD was a bonus DVD, "Live At Freedom Hill", a full-length concert captured at Freedom Hill Amphitheatre in Sterling Heights, Michigan.

Former GUNS N' ROSES and current SIXX:A.M. guitarist DJ Ashba opened the 13th annual Fighters Only World Mixed Martial Arts Awards last night (Friday, December 10) in Las Vegas with a performance of 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). The inspired reimagining, complete with big bass, bone-crushing guitar and an infectious beat set the stage for the awards which aired live on ESPN+ and will be broadcast nationally on CBS Sports on Tuesday, December 21 at 9 p.m.

Prior to the event, Ashba said: "I've been a huge fan of MMA for years and am very honored to be performing and presenting an award at the World MMA Awards Playing the guitar is much like MMA. It's all about the dance. How and when you hit is what creates the appeal and excitement for the audience."

"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."

Last December, 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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During an appearance on the "Hardcore Humanism" podcast, ALICE IN CHAINS guitarist/vocalist Jerry Cantrell discussed his plan to return to the road, both with his band and as a solo artist in support of his recently released solo album "Brighten". He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "This year and a half has been really difficult for the whole planet. Everybody's trying to figure out how to navigate this new element in our lives. Fortunately, we've had pretty good medicine so we haven't had to deal with this for most of humanity; this is just like a regular occurrence. With COVID, it made the making of the ['Brighten'] record pretty difficult. We were lucky enough to get most of the work done with the basic tracks right as everything shut down in March [2020]. And then the rest of it was done one-on-one and masked up and doing the distancing where we could and trying to be careful. Luckily, nobody got sick. And it's something we're still dealing with.

"I wanna be back out and playing shows," he continued. "Things are just still a little bit uncertain right now, especially with the delta variant. And people are out doing gigs and stuff, but there's also some incidences where folks are getting sick and having to cancel again.

"I know for us, speaking to Sean [Kinney, ALICE IN CHAINS drummer], we've been pretty together on this. We kind of thought that we wanted to see how this plays out a little bit and hopefully we get to some kind of equilibrium that kind of holds.

"We were planning on doing some shows next year with ALICE, and I have [solo] shows booked from March till May of [next] year. But we'll see. I think everybody's gotta make their choices for themselves and navigate their own path.

"For us, it's concerning 'cause we haven't worked in a couple of years and that's our job," Cantrell added. "Along with being our passion and something that we're really lucky to do, it's also something that — it's our job; it pays the mortgage; it pays the food; it takes care of our families. So we haven't been able to work. So we're chafing at the bit to work too. But we want it to be a safe experience for everybody and also something that we can stay out there doing with a good degree of certainty that we can pull it off in a safe way."

"Brighten" was released on October 29. The LP was co-produced by Jerry over the past year with film composer Tyler Bates and Cantrell's longtime engineer Paul Figueroa.

Jerry's new effort marks his first full-length release since "Degradation Trip", the epic solo album he made in 2002 with future METALLICA bassist Robert Trujillo and FAITH NO MORE drummer Mike Bordin.

Jerry's career outside of ALICE IN CHAINS had consisted of two solo albums and contributions to major film soundtracks. Cantrell's first solo album, "Boggy Depot", was released in 1998, followed by his second album, the aforementioned "Degradation Trip". In addition to his solo artist work, Jerry has released music on soundtracks for several films, including "Spider-Man", "The Cable Guy", "John Wick 2", "Last Action Hero" and "The Punisher".

ALICE IN CHAINS regrouped in 2006 with William DuVall joining the band, and released its third LP with DuVall in the lineup, "Rainier Fog", in August 2018.

"Brighten" has received praise from critics, including Kerrang!, which called it a "vivid, contemporary self-portrait of one of the most distinctive voices in hard rock. A long-overdue show of individual brilliance." Classic Rock proclaimed it "his best yet. The work of a songwriter who is happy within his life, it spans a broad arc of styles." The Sun commented: "A rich, organic album... 'Brighten' is brilliant."

Jerry recently announced a U.S. tour that will bring him to cities such as New York, LA, Chicago, Boston, Nashville and Vegas, among many other cities.

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.


Today, Perry releases an unboxing video for the vinyl edition of the album. Watch 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":

Video of DREAM THEATER singer James LaBrie belting out an a cappella version of "Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!", the 1948 Christmas classic made famous by Frank Sinatra, can be seen below.

LaBrie sang a couple of lines from the track while filming a new video message on Cameo, which lets users hire celebrities to record brief, personalized video messages about virtually any topic.

Cameo reportedly features more than 20,000 celebrities — from musicians and actors to drag queens and from YouTubers to Olympic gold medallists — who, for fees from $1 to $2,500, will offer video messages that mention another person by name. Happy birthday messages are common, as are baby announcements, but some celebrities have also recorded messages for Cameo users looking to quit their jobs or ask a potential date to a prom. The price for a video is determined by the celebrity.

LaBrie charges $75 for each of his Cameo videos for personal use $300 for a video for business use.

LaBrie's new solo album "Beautiful Shade Of Gray", is due on May 20, 2022 via InsideOut Music. Unlike previous LPs "Elements Of Persuasion" (2005), "Static Impulse" (2010) and "Impermanent Resonance" (2013), which were written and recorded as a collaboration with LaBrie's songwriting partner for over a dozen years, Matt Guillory, the new effort was tracked with Scottish musician Paul Logue, bassist and founding member of the multinational melodic metal band EDEN'S CURSE.

DREAM THEATER's latest LP, "A View From The Top Of The World", was released in October. It was produced by guitarist John Petrucci, with engineering and additional production by James "Jimmy T" Meslin and mixing and mastering by Andy Sneap. The artwork for "A View From The Top Of The World" was created by longtime DREAM THEATER collaborator Hugh Syme (RUSH, IRON MAIDEN, STONE SOUR).

DREAM THEATER — comprised of Petrucci, LaBrie, Jordan Rudess, John Myung and Mike Mangini — was in the middle of a sold-out world tour in support of its 2019 last release "Distance Over Time" and the 20th anniversary of "Scenes From A Memory" when a global pandemic brought the world to a stop. The musicians found themselves at home, with LaBrie in Canada and the rest of the group in the States. As fate would have it, they'd just finished construction on DTHQ (Dream Theater Headquarters) — a combination live recording studio, rehearsal space, control room, equipment storage, and creative hive. With LaBrie in Canada, he initially wrote with the band via Zoom on a monitor in DTHQ. In March 2021, he flew down to New York, quarantined, and recorded his vocals face to face with Petrucci.

George Lynch rejoined DOKKEN on stage Friday (December 17) and Saturday night (December 18) at the Whisky A Go Go in West Hollywood, California to perform three of the band's classic songs: "Kiss Of Death", "When Heaven Comes Down" and "Tooth And Nail". Fan-filmed video footage of his appearance can be seen below.

Lynch had previously played the same three songs with DOKKEN on several occasions this past summer and earlier this fall, including in Glenside, Pennsylvania; in Waukegan, Illinois; in Ashland, Virginia; in Moline, Illinois; and in Sunbury, Pennsylvania.

This past March, Lynch was asked in an interview with Jeff Gaudiosi of MisplacedStraws.com if there has been any talk of more shows featuring the reunited classic lineup of DOKKEN. He responded: "I've actually been talking to Don [Dokken] a little bit, and we're both in agreement that that should probably happen — meaning some kind of a meaningful reunion done in the right way, carefully and with proper preparation and time and rehearsals and not just throwing it out there like we did last time." George went on to say that "the obvious choice" to replace DOKKEN's recently retired drummer "Wild" Mick Brown would be Mick's brother Steve, who can be heard playing alongside Lynch and ex-DOKKEN bassist Jeff Pilson on the latest THE END MACHINE album, "Phase2".

In a separate interview with Alamo True Metal, Lynch reflected on the last time DOKKEN's classic lineup — Dokken, Lynch, Pilson and Mick Brown — reunited for a short Japanese tour in the fall of 2016. The trek marked the first time in 21 years the four musicians had hit the road together.

"I think I was slightly disappointed in it — not overwhelmingly disappointed, but I have some regrets," he said. "I wish we had prepared more. And I know we all feel that way. 'Cause of the logistics, we all had things we had to do right after the time we had allotted and beforehand. So we just were barely able to even pull it off with everybody else's pre-existing commitments. The fact that we got to do it at all was… you know, we were fortunate for even being able to pull it off. So we were a little underprepared, I feel. And yes, we were offered a good amount of money to go to Japan and do some other things, so it made it just kind of a no-brainer."

A DOKKEN concert DVD focusing on the band's reunion tour, "Return To The East Live (2016)", was made available in 2018. In addition to the Japanese performance, the set included footage from the classic lineup's only U.S. show in September 2016 at Badlands in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, as well as newly recorded acoustic reworkings of "Heaven Sent" and "Will The Sun Rise". Also featured on "Return To The East Live (2016)" was "It's Just Another Day", the first DOKKEN track featuring the group's classic lineup since 1997's "Shadowlife".

Since completing the Japanese reunion dates, DOKKEN has continued to perform with the group's current lineup — including bassist Chris McCarvill, guitarist Jon Levin and drummer BJ Zampa (HOUSE OF LORDS).

DOKKEN recently finished recording a new studio album, tentatively due next year via Silver Lining Music, the label owned by Thomas Jensen, one of the founders of Germany's Wacken Open Air festival. It will mark the group's first disc since 2012's "Broken Bones".

Over the past four years, Lynch has appeared on recordings by THE END MACHINE, KXM, ULTRAPHONIX and SWEET & LYNCH. He released his first-ever full-length instrumental album, "Seamless", in August via Rat Pak Records.




Last show of the year! Dokken live at the Whisky A Go-Go with George Lynch! ??

Posted by Dokken on Sunday, December 19, 2021

Latin American metal supergroup DE LA TIERRA has entered Criteria Recording Studios in Miami, Florida to record its third album for a tentative early 2022 release. Photos and video footage from the recording sessions can be found below.

DE LA TIERRA features Brazilian guitarist Andreas Kisser (SEPULTURA), Argentine singer/guitarist Andres Gimenez (A.N.I.M.A.L.), Cuban/Mexican drummer Alex Gonzalez (MANÁ) and Puerto Rican bassist Harold Hopkins (PUYA).

DE LA TIERRA's last release was a standalone song called "Distintos" which came out in October 2020. At the time, Gonzalez described the track to "In The Trenches With Ryan Roxie" as an "amazing song that, I think, fits perfectly with the times and what's going on right now."

Gonzalez also talked about the addition of Hopkins to DE LA TIERRA. Hopkins replaced Argentine bassist Sr. Flavio (LOS FABULOSOS CADILLACS), who left the band in 2017.

"Harold, he's an amazing, amazing bass player, and he's from a very, very awesome band from Puerto Rico called PUYA," Alex said. "And the great thing about PUYA is that they do a fusion of metal but with salsa and with music from the island. And it's awesome. And they sing in Spanish and they sing in English. So, talk about coming full circle — you [also] have [members from] Brazil, Argentina and Mexico."

Alex added: "The new album, because Harold is also bringing a lot of also Latin influence, Caribbean influence… It's so heavy but at the same time… You'll see."

DE LA TIERRA's second studio album, "II", came out in November 2016 via Sony Music Latin. It followed the band's 2014 self-titled debut which received rave reviews and support from critics and fans.

DE LA TIERRA found massive success following the release of its first LP. The record allowed the band to tour and share the stage with bands like METALLICA and SLIPKNOT and perform at festivals such as Rock In Rio, Santiago Gets Louder and Vive Latino as well as gain a strong following of fans throughout North and South America.

For their follow-up record, DE LA TIERRA worked with renowned producer Ross Robinson (SLIPKNOT, KORN, DEFTONES, THE CURE, SEPULTURA) who helped the band craft a furious set of songs.

"II" was recorded in Los Angeles, where DE LA TIERRA laid down the music live to analog tape machines. Each of the band's members has a unique, individual style that Robinson helped blend and balance with their influential roots for a rich music experience that transcends language barriers.




Día 2 de trabajo, @delatierraofficial

@haroldhopkinsmiranda888 @gimenezandres @andreaskisser @alexgonzalezelanimal @criteria_recording_studios @stanleysound @sonymusiclatin

Posted by De La Tierra on Friday, December 3, 2021





Dia 5 @delatierraofficial @alexgonzalezelanimal @haroldhopkinsmiranda888 @gimenezandres @andreaskisser @criteria_recording_studios @sonymusiclatin @stanleysound vídeo ? @mikefasano

Posted by De La Tierra on Monday, December 6, 2021



Día 6 @delatierraofficial @alexgonzalezelanimal @gimenezandres @andreaskisser @haroldhopkinsmiranda888 @stanleysound @mikefasano @sonymusiclatin @criteria_recording_studios #musica #union #pasión #latinos

Posted by De La Tierra on Tuesday, December 7, 2021



Día 12 final de las guitarras de base trabajo y sonido demoledor @andreaskisser @gimenezandres @stanleysound @...

Posted by De La Tierra on Monday, December 13, 2021



Dia 13 grabacion de bajos @stanleysound y el poder de Harold @haroldhopkinsmiranda888 @delatierraofficial @andreaskisser...

Posted by De La Tierra on Tuesday, December 14, 2021



Dia 16 comenzamos las voces de Andreas @stanleysound @andreaskisser @gimenezandres @alexgonzalezelanimal @...

Posted by De La Tierra on Friday, December 17, 2021



Día 17 Andres comenzó las voces @stanleysound @gimenezandres @delatierraofficial @andreaskisser @alexgonzalezelanimal @haroldhopkinsmiranda888 @sonymusiclatin

Posted by De La Tierra on Saturday, December 18, 2021

KORN guitarist James "Munky" Shaffer has told Finland's Chaoszine in a new interview that he "had a couple of hard moments" during the pandemic. "And then I'm thinking, like, 'Okay, it's not that bad,' 'cause when this is all done, I'm gonna go back to making music and rocking out," he said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET). "But then I'm faced with the reality of the present moment. When is it gonna end? How are we gonna make our mortgage payments and support our families? 'Cause we all have big families at this point. So there's moments of high stress. What are we gonna do? We can't have another online fucking concert. They're done. People are over that."

Shaffer also reflected on the fact that he was one of three members of KORN — along with singer Jonathan Davis and drummer Ray Luzier — to contract COVID-19 during the band's recently completed U.S. tour.

"When the tour started, Jonathan was so worried about getting it," Munky said. "He was so fucking freaked out. He wouldn't leave his bus. He wouldn't leave his hotel. The only time we saw him was when he was out on the stage. [We were going], 'Hey, man. Good to see you,' rocking out. At the end of the show, bam — back to his bus. It was kind of funny; there was something quite funny about it. But then he still managed to get it. But then I'm thinking, like, well, we're up on stage. There's thousands of people screaming at us with their germs and air. And, of course. I'm surprised that everybody didn't get it."

James went on to say that he believes KORN guitarist Brian "Head" Welch had COVID-19 in 2020. "But he's protected by God," Munky said.

Asked what it was like being back out on the road for the first time in more than a year, Munky said: "It was fun — it was fun all the way until I got a positive result. And I was, like, 'Fuck!' And then I was in hell. It was like [going from] the best thing to the worst. I was staying in Salt Lake City. I had all the symptoms, and it was terrible… There was a little bit of [mental hell as well] — seeing videos of my fill-in play on stage [with KORN while I was recovering from COVID-19]. And they came through L.A., which is where we're from, and some West Coast shows that I missed. That was frustrating; that was a little challenging, actually. But nothing a little NyQuil [cold, cough and flu medicine] can't handle. [Laughs]"

As a result of Davis's infection in August, KORN postponed six dates and canceled two on its recent U.S. tour. A month later, Munky also contracted COVID-19 and was temporarily replaced by J.R. Bareis from LOVE AND DEATH. In October, Luzier became the third member of the band to get infected, forcing him to miss three shows on KORN's U.S. tour. Filling in for him was FEVER 333's Aric Improta.

Davis, who was reportedly fully vaccinated, had been taking a seat on a custom throne near the drum riser at KORN's later shows due to lingering effects of his bout with COVID-19.

KORN's new album, "Requiem", will arrive on February 4, 2022 via Loma Vista Recordings. The official music video for the disc's first single, "Start The Healing", directed by Tim Saccenti (FLYING LOTUS, RUN THE JEWELS, DEPECHE MODE), was made available last week.

"Requiem" was produced by Chris Collier and KORN.

Fans had been anticipating new music after KORN previewed a snippet of "Start The Healing" within an augmented reality filter and billboards bearing the band's iconic logo began appearing worldwide earlier in the month.

"Requiem" is available for pre-order in an array of collectible formats. These include an exclusive silver vinyl variant strictly limited to 1,000 copies.

Napalm Records, one of the world’s leading independent rock & metal labels, and vinyl manufacturing company Austrovinyl - both based in Styria, Austria - are thrilled to announce that they have joined forces for a strategic partnership, strengthening the domestic music market and expanding international structures.


The new collaboration will cover the increased in-house demand for vinyl, while strategically expanding business for Napalm Records, who have already ventured into different fields with their booking agency “Napalm Events” as well as their festival brands “Metal On The Hill” and “Rock In Graz”. Austrovinyl, located in the midst of the beautiful Styrian thermal spa & wine region, will continue to establish itself as one of the most state-of-the-art record pressing plants in Europe, and a reliable, high-quality producer of vinyl records.


Together, the companies will support the local and international music landscape and all its artists, bands and labels within various genres of rock and pop, hard and heavy, jazz and world music, alternative and indie, as well as techno, electro, hip-hop, soul and many others.




This growth and the enormous increase in demand for vinyl requires an extension of the company’s production and storage capacities. Therefore, a new pressing plant will be built in Fehring, Austria (with the nearest airport in Graz), within the same scenic Styrian region as Austrovinyl’s current location.  At this new location, the machinery will be expanded onto a floor space of approx. 800m², where the production can be tripled.


Taking this step will also create new jobs, creating further growth and expansion after the number of employees at Austrovinyl already doubled in 2021.


In addition to Napalm Records and Austrovinyl expanding production and storage capacities, the new building will also include a transparent factory experience that provides a complete world of experience around the vinyl record - a paradise for all music lovers! The manufacture and production of a record can be experienced firsthand during guided tours in the context of the "Erlebniswelt Wirtschaft" (world of business experience). On more than 200 m², the newest music on vinyl and live music will be presented in a café/club atmosphere. This will include a store area, where the latest pressings and productions of Austrovinyl can be purchased, as well as the releases and special editions out via Napalm Records and many other vinyl classics and specials in the various genres listed above.


The project planning is in the final stages and start of construction is scheduled for January 2022, with the goal of opening by the end of the second quarter of 2022.


Napalm Records CEO Thomas Caser on the collaboration: "Regional & international power united! The philosophy of Austrovniyl and the passion with which this company is led coincides with the ideals of Napalm Records. Strategically, we are opening another business field here and are also prepared for the future in this area!"


Austrovinyl Managing Director Peter Wendler adds: “Napalm and Austrovinyl - this is how business has to work in times like these: together in unity! Creating great music releases with sustainable value in highest quality and wealth of ideas - in an ever exciting, innovative and globally active creative industry - strengthening and developing the advantages of regionality with motivated and top-trained employees.”

During the question-and-answer portion of his December 13 appearance at Jo Ann Davidson Theatre at the Riffe Center in Columbus, Ohio, SLIPKNOT and STONE SOUR frontman Corey Taylor was asked to name his favorite of the "big four" Seattle grunge bands — SOUNDGARDEN, ALICE IN CHAINS, PEARL JAM and NIRVANA. He responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "It has to be ALICE IN CHAINS. ALICE IN CHAINS, to me, is one of the greatest rock bands that ever was. And I don't just mean that from a grunge standpoint or metal or anything like that. They revolutionized so much musically and they inspired me to change the way I write music. I mean, full stop, period, the end of sentence. [Late ALICE IN CHAINS frontman] Layne Staley is still one of the greatest fucking singers that ever lived. Now, that is not a reflection of the demons that he had to fight, obviously, and that's everything to do with his talent. He just made it look so fucking easy, and he could sing anything, he could write anything, and the shit that he was writing about was killing him, and yet we loved it. To me, that was the greatest baring of the soul that I ever listened to. And if you need any more proof of that, all you need to do is listen to 'Nutshell'. It's one of the greatest songs ever written. And that's not even my favorite ALICE IN CHAINS song. My favorite ALICE IN CHAINS song is 'Would?' Full stop. That song is fucking incredible. But 'Nutshell' is such an outpouring of trying to share with you the darkness that's in his heart. And even though you're hearing it, it's so light, you're just, like, 'Fuck. Where is he?' And we never knew. And that's the great tragedy of people like Layne. It's not just Layne, obviously; there's so many people that came from that generation of artists. The pain they dealt with — some of them won, some of them didn't. But the great thing is that we can listen to their music and it can help us get past our own pain. And there's probably not a day that goes by that I don't listen to ALICE IN CHAINS. It's still just that good. And the fact that I know those guys now is just icing on the cake. It's rad to be able to hang out with your favorite band."

Back in 2015, Taylor said that he "would love" to collaborate with ALICE IN CHAINS guitarist Jerry Cantrell. He said: "We're really good friends. I've known those guys for quite a while, and ALICE IN CHAINS is one of my favorite bands of all time. I would love to create something cool and dark with him, and just have fun with it. So if I had a chance to, man, I would totally be down with that."

2021 has been as busy as ever for Taylor. Having just wrapped SLIPKNOT's "Knotfest Roadshow" U.S. tour, Corey also hit the road in support of his debut solo album, "CMFT", released an inspired new cover of CROSBY, STILLS, NASH & YOUNG's "Carry On" and fronted GROUND CONTROL, a supergroup also comprised of Taylor Hawkins (FOO FIGHTERS), Dave Navarro (JANE'S ADDICTION) and Chris Chaney (JANE'S ADDICTION) performing at "The Bowie Celebration: Just For One Day" in tribute to the late David Bowie.

"CMFT" made impressive debuts on charts around the world in October 2020, entering at No. 1 on Billboard's Current Hard Rock Albums chart, while claiming No. 2 on Current Rock Albums, No. 6 on Vinyl Albums, and No. 9 on the Top Albums charts. Furthermore, "CMFT" landed Top 10 on the official album charts in Australia, Germany, Switzerland and Austria, with Top 20 debuts in the United Kingdom, Finland and Japan (international chart).

"CMFT" was recorded at The Hideout Recording Studio in Las Vegas with producer Jay Ruston and Corey's band — Christian Martucci (guitar), Zach Throne (guitar), Jason Christopher (bass), and Dustin Schoenhofer (drums).








Posted by CBUSArts on Thursday, November 11, 2021

PRIMAL FEAR bassist and producer Mat Sinner says that he has spent the last eight months in eight different hospitals.

The German 57-year-old German musician, whose real name is Matthias Lasch, shared his health update four months after PRIMAL FEAR announced it was scrapping all of its previously announced shows for 2021 and 2022 "due to a serious illness issue."

Earlier today (Sunday, December 19), Mat took to his personal Facebook page to write: "After 8 Months in 8 different hospitals, target - home Feb 12,2022." He added: "Light a candle for me on Xmas, we have so many things to do".

When PRIMAL FEAR first announced its concert cancelations, it said that it was "not able to foresee when the band will be able to continue what the love the most: playing shows."

Last April, PRIMAL FEAR released a five-track single called "I Will Be Gone". Also made available was the official music video for the title track, featuring a guest appearance by former NIGHTWISH singer Tarja Turunen.

PRIMAL FEAR's 13th studio album, "Metal Commando", was released in July 2020 via Nuclear Blast. The LP was produced by Sinner and mixed by Jacob Hansen.

Formed by Sinner in 1997 as an outlet for vocalist Ralf Scheepers (who had left GAMMA RAY and was a rumored candidate for the then-open JUDAS PRIEST vocal spot, but was considering early retirement from metal), PRIMAL FEAR has emerged as one of the most consistent European metal bands, rarely straying from its core PRIEST-styled power metal sound.

Sinner also leads his long-running namesake hard rock band SINNER, which released its latest album, "Santa Muerte", in 2019 via AFM Records.

For more than a decade, Sinner has been the musical director and co-producer for the prestigious European arena tour "Rock Meets Classic".


Status of my Odyssee

Xmas - After 8 Months in 8 different hospitals, target - home Feb 12,2022

Light a candle for me on Xmas, we have so many things to do ❤️

Posted by Mat Sinner on Sunday, December 19, 2021

Team Montreal Metal has uploaded video of THE AGONIST's December 17 concert at Théâtre Corona in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The event, which also included headliners CRYPTOPSY along with THE GREAT SABATINI, NECROTIC MUTATION and BURNING THE OPPRESSOR, marked THE AGONIST's first live performance in nearly two years.

THE AGONIST released a new EP, "Days Before The World Wept", in October via Napalm Records. The effort was produced by Christian Donaldson, who has previously worked with BEYOND CREATION, CRYPTOPSY and DESPISED ICON.

In an interview with Heavy Music HQ, singer Vicky Psarakis stated about the making of the EP: "I can't say the process was any different than usual. The only thing that was difficult was crossing the border and having to quarantine to record my vocals. I'm the only person in the band that resides in the USA and there were serious travel restrictions at the time."

Vicky went on to say that "Days Before The World Wept" is a conceptual tale inspired by real-life experiences. "It talks about a character's journey through afterlife and the many stages until they're brought back to this earth," she said. "It's a fictional story, filled with my own personal emotions and beliefs, and the lyrics are written in a way that are very relatable, even if you have no idea what the general concept is."

THE AGONIST is:

Vicky Psarakis - Vocals / Piano

Danny Marino - Guitar

Pascal Jobin - Guitar

Chris Kells - Bass

Simon McKay - Drums


























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