Drummer Sebastian Lanser of modern progressive outfit Obsidious has released a drum play-through video for the band's latest single, "Sense Of Lust" .The track is taken from the group’s upcoming debut album, which will be released in 2022 via Season Of Mist, for which more details will be revealed shortly. 





Lanser comments on the play-through: "Hi everyone! This is my playthrough of Obsidious´ latest single 'Sense Of Lust.' Quite a heavy and straightforward song compared to our first single, 'Iconic'. Nonetheless, I really enjoy the simplicity and heaviness. Hope y´all do as well!"




The videos for both "Sense Of Lust" and "Iconic" can be seen below.








Obsidious' music consists of modern riffs, strong decisive energetic melodies, virtuosity and epic unison lines. They love music that’s heavy, catchy, fast, and wild. The brand new album is currently being recorded and will be released via Season Of Mist early in 2022.


 

"The Unbreathing" is the first single from Thy Ancient Fire - the debut album by Ironmaster, scheduled for release on February 11th via Mojoholic Records. Check out the lyric video below.


Featuring members of Scar Symmetry and Dark Funeral, Ironmaster is a total riff-fest of unrelentless, hard-hitting Swedish death metal.










The cover art and tracklisting for Thy Ancient Fire is as follows:





"The Unbreathing" 
"Thy Ancient Fire" 
"Abusing The Exorable" 
"Abysmal Tides" 
"Defying My Own Presence" 
"Eternal Riot 3"
"Gallery Of Existence" 
"Demonic Sovereignty" 
"Throne Of Ashen Bones" 
"The Fall Of Aeons"


Pre-order Thy Ancient Fire now on CD or Vinyl.


Ironmaster is:


Roberth Karlsson - vocals
Janne Jaloma - drums
Jonas Kjellgren - guitar & bass


(Photo courtesy of Ironmaster's official Facebook page)


 

"Look what Santa brought," exclaims Hypocrisy frontman Peter Tägtgren. "On the occasion of the tenth anniversary of Hell Over Sofia, which was released in October 2011, and for Christmas, we started uploading high-quality videos of this live concert to our YouTube channel. We hope you enjoy them... again! Watch the first part now."


Hell Over Sofia - 20 Years Of Chaos And Confusion was filmed live at Blue Box Club in Sofia, Bulgaria on February 27th, 2010. The aforementioned first part, which can be seen below, contains three songs: "Let The Knife Do The Talking", "Weed Out The Weak", and "Fire In The Sky".










Exactly one month ago, on November 26th, Hypocrisy released their 13th studio album, Worship.


It has been eight long years since the last record, and Hypocrisy fans can feel the itch. Worship is 11 tracks of precise, ferocious musicianship. Commonly inspired by the fusion of the modern and the ancient, Hypocrisy has once more found a way to combine innovative ideas with classic sound in order to deliver something metalheads can enjoyably consume with awe and brutal vigor. As usual, all recording and mixing took place at Tägtgren’s Abyss Studio AB in Sweden while mastering was completed by Svante Forsbäck at Chartmakers Audio Mastering. Designed by artist Blake Armstrong (Kataklysm, In Flames, Carnifex), Worship’s artwork speaks to the history of the relationship between humanity and extraterrestrials.





Worship tracklisting:


"Worship"
"Chemical Whore"
"Greedy Bastards"
"Dead World"
"We're The Walking Dead"
"Brotherhood Of The Serpent"
"Children Of The Gray"
"Another Day"
"They Will Arrive"
"Bug In The Net"
"Gods Of The Underground"


"Dead World" video:





"Chemical Whore" video:





"Children Of The Gray" video:





Hypocrisy in 2021 is:


Peter Tägtgren - vocals, guitars
Mikael Hedlund - bass
Reidar Horghagen - drums
Thomas Elofsson - session guitarist


 

Legendary drummer Carmine Appice (BLUE MURDER, VANILLA FUDGE, KING KOBRA) has once again slammed the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame, saying that the name of the institution should be changed to reflect the musicians that have been inducted.

"VANILLA FUDGE should be in," he told North Coast Music Beat in a new interview (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET). "I thought it was about inspiration and all that stuff, influences on people. C'mon, THE GO-GO'S went in. Who did they influence? I know them. They're nice people and everything. But c'mon, man. They should it the Music Hall Of Fame and just have it for… not influence and not what the Hall was originally made for. Like I'm in the Modern Drummer Hall Of Fame. I'm in there because of my influence and what I've done for drumming. Long Island has a Music Hall Of Fame; VANILLA FUDGE are in there for the same reason. I'm in the Heavy Metal Hall Of Fame for the influence; I'm not in there for how many records I sold. Back in the day, you've got guys like Chuck Berry are in it. He's in it for the influence…

"Why do they leave out groups like FOREIGNER, groups like VANILLA FUDGE?" he continued. "DEEP PURPLE is in it now. But before DEEP PURPLE, we should have been in there. I mean, c'mon. We influenced so many bands. We created a style of music. We were there when the FM radio station was starting… We started the long song. And we're still doing it, we're still alive. And they've got people in there that are not alive, which is fine.

"One good thing they did [is] they showed [late VANILLA FUDGE bassist] Tim Bogert's picture, of the people who died. And I'm happy they did that. But otherwise, change the name. You're putting rappers in there, you're putting people that have nothing to do with rock in there. I mean, THE GO-GO'S. How rock is THE GO-GO'S? THE RUNAWAYS are not in it, and they were all female. They were the first female [rock band]. And that's about influence. It's stupid.

"People go, 'Don't you care that you're not in the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame?' I said, 'I don't really care, because it's getting cheesy now,'" Carmine added. "I know people who are in there, and it didn't change their career. It did nothing for them other than getting an HBO special. That's it."

For the past few years, the Rock Hall has broadened its base to include rap artists such as the late Tupac Shakur and N.W.A. The move has drawn criticism from many fans and fellow musicians who have taken issue with hip-hop acts — and other non-rock artists — being inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame.

Carmine's autobiography, "Stick It!: My Life Of Sex, Drums, And Rock 'N' Roll", was released in May 2016 by Chicago Review Press.

VANILLA FUDGE was one of the first American groups to infuse psychedelia into heavy rock sound to create "psychedelic symphonic rock," an eclectic genre which would, among its many offshoots, eventually morph into heavy metal.

Although, at first, the band did not record original material, they were best known for their dramatic heavy, slowed-down arrangements of contemporary pop songs which they developed into works of epic proportion.

Originally, VANILLA FUDGE was a blue-eyed soul cover band called THE PIGEONS, formed in New Jersey in 1965 with organist Mark Stein, bassist Tim Bogert, drummer Joey Brennan and guitarist, vocalist and U.S. Navy veteran Vince Martell. They built a following by gigging extensively up and down the East Coast and earned extra money by providing freelance in-concert backing for hit-record girl groups. In early 1966, the group recorded a set of eight demos that were released several years later as "While the World Was Eating Vanilla Fudge".

The East Coast, in particular New York and New Jersey, created a sound all its own. Inspired by groups such as THE RASCALS and THE VAGRANTS (fronted by guitarist Leslie West of MOUNTAIN fame), THE PIGEONS reworked many of their own existing arrangements of covers to reflect their unique interpretation of this "East Coast Sound."

In late 1966, drummer Joey Brennan moved out to the West Coast. THE PIGEONS immediately drafted drummer and vocalist Carmine Appice, a disciple of the renowned Joe Morello (DAVE BRUBECK BAND) and a seasoned veteran of the club scene. In early 1967, THE PIGEONS manager Phil Basile convinced producer George "Shadow" Morton (producer for THE SHANGRI-LAS and Janis Ian), to catch their live act. Impressed by their heavy-rocking, trippy and psychedelic version of THE SUPREMES' "You Keep Me Hangin' On", Morton offered to record the song as a single. This resulted in a deal with the Atlantic subsidiary Atco, which requested a name change. The band settled on VANILLA FUDGE.

VANILLA FUDGE celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2017 and is still rocking the world as hard as ever.

During an appearance on a recent episode of "Stoke The Fire", the alternative lifestyle and culture podcast hosted by musician Jesse Leach (KILLSWITCH ENGAGE) and DJ/presenter Matt Stocks ("Life In The Stocks"), SEPULTURA frontman Derrick Green spoke about the departure of original drummer Igor Cavalera more than a decade and a half ago. Igor left SEPULTURA in June 2006 due to "artistic differences." His exit from the band came five months after he announced that he was taking a break from SEPULTURA's touring activities to spend time with his second wife and their son (who was born in January 2006).

Green said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "When I joined [SEPULTURA as the replacement for original frontman Max Cavalera in 1997], I was already just so chaotic because Max was the front person. A lot of people had it in their minds that he created everything, SEPULTURA was his creation as a whole and the band had gotten there solely because of that. I think a lot of press and people [created that perception] because he was doing a lot of press; he's a very charismatic person, so he took on that role. And a lot of times, people were seeing him as the face, which happens with a lot of bands, especially with the singer. I think it was a little bit easier with Igor, but also difficult — extremely difficult. Because I was friends with Igor. He's one of the people that really got me charged when I was in the band and [he was partly responsible for] getting me into the band, I believe. And [his departure came] at a time where we were [on an upswing], like, 'Yes!' We'd been battling and working on a lot of stuff for album after album. We were at an album [at that point] — 'Dante XXI' — and we got great artwork, we've got a great team behind it, great songs, and then [Igor told us], like, 'I'm not gonna go on tour.' And I was just, like, 'Oh, man. This is really rough.' And then it just ended up where we went on tour with IN FLAMES, and we had Roy Mayorga come and fill in, which was fantastic.

"Igor was just going through a lot of different changes with his relationship and not wanting to be in the band anymore — not really wanting to do that style of music, I believe," Derrick continued. "It was very difficult just because it was just kind of over with that, and then people were, like, 'Oh, now it's definitely over. Throw in the towel, boys.' Certain people were just, like, 'Yeah, game definitely over.' And we didn't feel that way. I mean, as difficult as it was, we were just on this momentum. We just created something so incredible, it's hard to throw it away when you feel that you're evolving. Like, 'I'm doing stuff better than we've ever done. Let's keep this going.' So we continued onward.

"I remember it being difficult, but not as difficult [as it was], I think, for those guys when Max left, because they got a lot of the questions from the media, like, 'How does it feel since Max wrote this album…?' And then they'd be, like, ''Yo, I play drums.' 'Yo, I play lead guitar. What are you talking about?' It was never like that. Those guys wrote together as a whole. I could feel that, kind of, like, 'You guys don't know what you're talking about,' being in certain situations with the press with them. But seeing that transition, as far as with Igor leaving, it was, like, 'Oh, man. Let's continue onward. It's hard, but let's continue onward.' And again, we had a lot of support, still, [and] people believing in us. And we moved on to [Igor's replacement in SEPULTURA] Jean Dolabella. And it was again a growing process, getting used to him, going through an album cycle where people were, like, 'Hmm. It's okay. It's all right.' And then, with the sophomore album with Jean Dolabella, and joining Nuclear Blast, having a solid label, then we started to notice a change again, like a rebirth… Going out and playing new songs, people were, like, 'Yeah. I know this song.' This is really getting back up there. And then I was, like, 'Okay, here we go.' And then Jean was, like, 'I'm out,' after that whole tour. I was, like, 'No! No! We're just getting back again.' And then starting that whole process again with [current SEPULTURA drummer] Eloy [Casagrande]. But, again, having such a great label, Nuclear Blast, that helped, because they were always supportive."

Max Cavalera exited SEPULTURA in 1996 after the rest of the band split with Max's wife Gloria as their manager.

For a decade and a half, Igor has been part of the MIXHELL DJ/hip-hop/electro project with his wife Laima Leyton.

Two years ago, Igor teamed up with Wayne Adams (BIG LAD, DEATH PEDALS, JOHNNY BROKE) to form the PETBRICK project. The band's debut album, "I", was released in October 2019 via Closed Casket Activities in the U.S.

Igor's other current musical projects include CAVALERA CONSPIRACY (alongside Max) and SOULWAX.

Cleveland native Green went from fronting hardcore band OUTFACE in Ohio to relocating to New York and then living in São Paulo, Brazil for nearly two decades.

SEPULTURA's current lineup comprises Green, guitarist Andreas Kisser, bassist Paulo Xisto Pinto Jr. and Casagrande.

In a recent interview with Metal Mythos Aftershock, singer Tim "Ripper" Owens, who joined ICED EARTH in 2003 and stayed in the band for four years before being fired in December 2007, reflected on his split with the Jon Schaffer-led outfit. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "It wasn't a very good parting. I was leaving to go to [Jon's] house to record a new record. And I walked back into my house to grab something and I got an e-mail and I looked at it and it said, 'Brothers and sisters… You're fired,' or whatever. It's the same e-mail he sent Blabbermouth at the same time. And it wasn't a good falling out. It was two weeks before Christmas. It wasn't good."

Owens continued: "Two weeks before that, [Jon] sent me an e-mail saying, 'Listen, I really need to teach you how to be a frontman and teach you how to do things.' And Wendy Dio, who was my manager at the time, was beside herself. She kept saying, 'Get out of this thing, man. You've gotta get out of this thing.' And it was unfortunate that it ended like that — two weeks before Christmas with an e-mail that's the same e-mail he sends Blabbermouth. I was kind of sad, but life goes on, and you move on to the next thing. And I think two days later I was recording a new Yngwie [Malmsteen] record. So it's kind of, like, everything moves on for a reason."

Owens previously discussed his departure from ICED EARTH in a 2012 interview with Australia's Loud. He said: "It was handled poorly, I think, the situation. It could've been handled good and everybody could've looked good in the situation. But it was handled poorly, I think… I started getting all the blame when things weren't the same. Or things weren't what Jon thought they could be. And then, of course, it all came down on me. None of the blame ever came down on Jon. I'm fine with that, but the funny thing is that nothing really changed when I left anyway. I read numbers and I talk to agents, and the crowds are the same or smaller now. I think it was also me wandering a bit, knowing that ICED EARTH was kind of like a solo project. It's really Schaffer's band, and I knew that. And I started having my own: I started doing BEYOND FEAR, and pushing BEYOND FEAR when probably I should have been talking about ICED EARTH. I think Jon read a lot of that and he read into it that my heart and soul wasn't into ICED EARTH."

Schaffer addressed Owens's exit from ICED EARTH in a 2008 interview with Metal Exiles. At the time, the guitarist said: "Tim was great to work with in the studio, and from a standpoint of performing live, he was great as far as being an incredible vocalist, but he was not a true believer in this band. It was a job for him, and ICED EARTH is not about that… He was more interested in doing his solo thing — that was where his head was at — and it was becoming more and more obvious. This band was a means to an end for him."

In April, Schaffer pleaded guilty to his role in the U.S. Capitol riot. As part of the plea deal, Jon entered into a cooperation agreement with the government.

Following the initial reports that Schaffer was involved in the riot, his ICED EARTH bandmates distanced themselves from his actions. Singer Stu Block and bassist Luke Appleton later posted separate statements on social media announcing their resignations. BLIND GUARDIAN frontman Hansi Kürsch also quit DEMONS & WIZARDS, his long-running project with Schaffer. The allegations also apparently affected Schaffer's relationship with his longtime record label Century Media, which had released albums from both ICED EARTH and DEMONS & WIZARDS. As of mid-January, the Century Media artist roster page did not list either band.

Guitarist Paul Gilbert (Mr. Big, Racer X) has shared a live jam video of "Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer", taken from his new Christmas album, 'TWAS. Check it out below.





Gilbert’s 17th solo album features a dozen recordings, two of which are new, original compositions. The global release date for digital and CD is November 26. The LP will follow on December 10. Pre-order here.




Gilbert: "Many will agree that in recent times, challenging events have been pouring down upon our heads like an Exploding Waterfall of Molasses. At least it sometimes feels like that to me.  But while I was jamming Christmas songs with my friends, playing an assortment of red, green, and white Ibanez electric guitars, I felt like life was THE BEST.  I hope that this music can put a smile on your face as well.


"Ten of the songs are classics. I was inspired by the Christmas recordings of Nat King Cole, Loretta Lynn, Stevie Wonder, Barbra Streisand, Johnny Mathis, Ella Fitzgerald, and The Ventures. And of course, inspiration came from my guitar heroes, Eddie Van Halen, Alex Lifeson, Johnny Winter, Robin Trower, Frank Marino, Pat Travers, Jimi Hendrix, and Jimmy Page, to name a few. I also wrote some of my own new Christmas songs. As I have been doing recently, I begin with lyrics and a melody. Then I let my guitar take over, as it sings better than I do."


He continues: "'Three Strings For Christmas' refers to the 3-string guitar that I used on my double-neck. I tune the strings in octaves, which allows me to play ridiculously fast arpeggios, and very little else (which is why I have a normally strung guitar for the other neck.) 'Every Christmas Has Love' was written quickly, inspired by my panic-driven mental state of album making. When I know that the recording sessions are coming, my brain shifts into survival mode, and melodies start popping out. Then I take all the chords I learned by listening to 70s AM radio, and build a song. The lyrics are nice too. I'll be printing those in the liner notes of the album. Merry Christmas to all. And to all, a good night."


Gilbert formed a band of Portland, Oregon's finest jazz and blues musicians for these sessions. The players are Dan Balmer (guitar), Clay Giberson (keyboards), Timmer Blakely (bass), and Jimi Bott (drums). He reflects, “All brought supreme musical goodness to these arrangements and performances. They certainly steered me to make wiser musical choices than I would have made on my own. And as you will hear, my metal guitar instincts still breathe fire when they get the chance.” The album was recorded in Jimi Bott's studio, who also engineered and mixed the recordings. The approach was to record two songs every day, for six days, delivering the collected body of work.


Gilbert: "All songs were recorded live, although I think Jimi snuck some cowbell overdubs in. If anything should be added to a live track, I believe cowbell is the right choice."





Tracklist:


"Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!"
"Frosty the Snowman"
"Hark! The Herald Angels Sing"
"The Christmas Song"
"Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer"
"I Saw Three Ships"
"Every Christmas Has Love"
"Three Strings for Christmas"
"Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas"
"We Wish You a Merry Christmas"
"Silver Bells"
"Winter Wonderland"


"Hark! The Herald Angels Sing" video:

In a new interview with Rock Titan TV, BLACK VEIL BRIDES singer Andy Biersack spoke about what it's been like for him and his bandmates to return to playing live shows during the pandemic. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "The weird stuff, the new restrictions and all that stuff, it maybe took a day or two before you just go, 'Okay, this is what it is.' And then you're just on tour. And all the restrictions and the constant testing and all that stuff just becomes part of your day on tour. So for me, you kind of block out the part that remembers life before touring was like this, and to me, this is just what touring is. Anything you've gotta do to be able to get out there and see the fans and to sing with people, it just is everything. We all did our best with the livestreams and doing all that stuff during the pandemic, but there's no replacing a live rock and roll show. It's a unique experience that needs to happen as its own entity."

As previously reported, BLACK VEIL BRIDES will team up with MOTIONLESS IN WHITE and ICE NINE KILLS for a triple co-headline North American tour next spring. The "Trinity Of Terror" tour will be the first time ever that fans get to see all three bands on the same stage each night.

The coast-to-coast outing, which will see the three bands alternating closing sets each night, is set to kick off on March 17 in Mesa, Arizona and make stops in Los Angeles, Chicago, Salt Lake City, Philadelphia, and more, before wrapping up with a performance at Norfolk's Chartway Arena on April 27.

For tickets and more information, visit www.trinityofterrortour.com.

BLACK VEIL BRIDES' latest album, "The Phantom Tomorrow", was released in October via Sumerian Records. The third concept LP from BLACK VEIL BRIDES and the band's most-ambitious release to date is comprised of a dozen tracks, including the band's first-ever U.S. Top 10 Active Rock single "Scarlet Cross".

The cover artwork for "The Phantom Tomorrow" was created by Eliran Kantor, known for his work with TESTAMENT, HATEBREED, HAVOK and Andy Black, to name a few. "The Phantom Tomorrow" was produced by Erik Ron (GODSMACK, DANCE GAVIN DANCE, BUSH) and co-produced by guitarist Jake Pitts.

Although it has been quite a while since Svartsot have released new material, the band is still very much alive and kicking. In the interim since 2015’s Vældet, the beer-soaked folk metallers have been active on the live scene in Denmark and abroad, including appearances at various major festivals as well as at the prestigious 70000 Tons Of Metal cruise in 2019. After a change of bassist and the decision to shelve an album’s worth of material in 2017/18, the idea of releasing a collection of traditional folk songs that have inspired the band, reworked in Svartsot’s characteristic style, was spawned.


The original idea was to release their fifth album, entitled Kumbl” (an old Danish word meaning 'monument' or 'memorial'), in 2020 to coincide with Svartsot’s 15th anniversary. However, due to various practicalities, the album was first recorded — by none other than the band’s drummer and up-and-coming producer, Frederik Uglebjerg, during the pandemic. The release also marks the band’s first collaboration with Danish metal label, Mighty Music.


Kumbl features 12 tracks that present a mixture of some relatively unknown and other more popular folk and late medieval songs from Denmark and across Northern Europe. Two songs feature guest vocal appearances by Andrea Uglebjerg, vocalist in the Danish punk band Situationsfornærmelse and sister of aforementioned Frederik. Three singles will be released: "Liden Kirsten" is a traditional Danish folk ballad telling the tale of how a king decided to make the lady of his desires the mother of his children and his queen without telling her first; "Carmen Vernale" is a song from around 1500, written by Morten Børup, cantor at Aarhus Cathedral, praising the arrival of spring and performed in the original Latin — the melody is played each hour by the bells of Aarhus Townhall; "Drømte Mig En Drøm" is an elaboration on the oldest recorded Danish song, being handed down in a runic manuscript from ca. 1300. A music video will be released for "Liden Kirsten", while a lyric video version of "Drømte Mig En Drøm" will also be available.




Kumbl will be released in CD, LP (two different colours, each limited to 300 units) and digital formats via Mighty Music on February 25th, 2022.





The tracklist is as follows:


"Den Hoboeken Dans"
"Nu Stander Landen I Våde"
"Carmen Vernale"
"Ebbe Skammelsøn"
"Kragevisen"
"Villemand"
"Liden Kirsten"
"Rottefængeren"
"Den Store Stygge Stimand"
"Drømte Mig En Drøm"
"Ramun"
"De To Ravne"


Line-up:


Simon Buje: bass
Frederik Uglebjerg: drums
Michael Alm: rhythm guitars
Cris J.S. Frederiksen: lead guitars, acoustic guitars (studio), mandolin (studio)
Hans-Jørgen Martinus Vork Rosenwein: tin whistles, electric bagpipe, mandolin (live)
Thor Bager: vocals, mandolin (studio)

In the wake of their recently released, acclaimed, debut LP, States Of Chaos, Hyderabad, India-based death metal crew Godless has issued a new drum playthrough video for the album’s “Fluxion.”





States Of Chaos shows Godless unleashing eight intense and unfaltering tracks of their thrash-laced death metal which pummel the listener into submission, while thematically exploring psychological trepidation and terror, phantasmagorias, and nightmare-inducing dreamscapes. The result is a uniquely vicious-sounding record that takes no prisoners, delivered by one of India’s most promising young metal acts.




Engineered by Godless’ Abbas Razvi, the drums on States Of Chaos were recorded at Wind Horse Recording Studios, the guitars and bass recorded at Infinity Studios, and the vocals recorded at Hydrozoa HQ. The completed tracks were sent to Poland’s Hertz Studio (Vader, Behemoth, Decapitated) who handled mixing and mastering, and the album was completed with artwork and design by New Salem and photography by David Dawson.


States Of Chaos was surrounded by vast critical acclaim from fans and media alike, including hitting #2 on the Bandcamp best-sellers list for death metal and #1 on the thrash list as an independent release.


Godless’ new drum playthrough presents one of the album’s primary singles, “Fluxion,” in an altered instrumental delivery, focusing on the pummeling percussive execution by drummer Vishesh Singh.


(Photo: David Dawson)

QUIET RIOT bassist Rudy Sarzo says that the band is planning to release new music in the coming weeks.

The 71-year-old musician, who recently rejoined QUIET RIOT after an 18-year absence, spoke about the possibility of fresh material from the group during an interview with the "Diary Of The Madmen - The Ultimate Ozzy Podcast". He said: "We have a couple of surprises coming up that are already recorded. So they're just waiting to be released. We're gonna release 'em in conjunction when we start touring in February [of 2022]."

The veteran rock group's last collection of fresh material was 2019's "Hollywood Cowboys", which marked drummer Frankie Banali's final QUIET RIOT studio album before his untimely death.

Banali, who joined QUIET RIOT in 1982 and played on its breakthrough album, 1983's "Metal Health", died in August 2020 after a 16-month battle with pancreatic cancer.

The surviving members of QUIET RIOT later said it was "Frankie Banali's wish that the band continue and we keep the music and the legacy alive."

Earlier this year, QUIET RIOT guitarist Alex Grossi touched upon the possibility of the band making new music in an interview with "Rock Chat With Trace". He said: "There's been talk of doing a lot of new things… There could be a new album. There's definitely a lot of tracks that Frankie left behind that could be utilized for that, which is nice — that were works in progress before he got sick. All I'm gonna say is stay tuned, but there definitely will be new music from QUIET RIOT."

Rudy was one of the members of QUIET RIOT's "Metal Health" lineup. He played bass on the classic LP, which sold over ten million copies and spawned the hits "Cum On Feel The Noize" and "Metal Health" and on the follow-up record "Condition Critical".

Sarzo appeared in the most notable music videos in the MTV age and toured with the band until 1985 and again from 1997 to 2003. During his years out of the band, Sarzo was a member of OZZY OSBOURNE, WHITESNAKE, DIO, BLUE ÖYSTER CULT, QUEENSRŸCHE and THE GUESS WHO.

Joining Sarzo in QUIET RIOT's current lineup are Grossi, vocalist Jizzy Pearl and drummer Johnny Kelly.

Grossi was in the last version of the band, from 2004 through 2007, before founding singer Kevin DuBrow passed away, and was asked by Banali to return in 2010.

QUIET RIOT went through two vocalists — Mark Huff and Scott Vokoun — before settling on Pearl in 2013. Pearl announced his exit from QUIET RIOT in October 2016 and was briefly replaced by Seann Nichols, who played only five shows with the group before the March 2017 arrival of "American Idol" finalist James Durbin. Pearl returned to QUIET RIOT in September 2019.

For a list of upcoming QUIET RIOT shows, visit QuietRiot.Band.

Photo credit: Ron Lyon Photo

Denmark’s Rambuk has just released the single “Death Of The Chosen” together with a music video. This is their third single from their upcoming album Chains and it is one of the fastest and fiercest songs they have written.





Rambuk’s first EP Beneath The Corpses was released in November 2020 and now the time has come for Rambuk’s first full length record Chains. The album will be released early 2022 and is a huge leap forward for the band: Chains is bigger, fiercer, has better production (helped by Cabal’s Chris Kreutzfeldt) and most importantly it is pure heavy metal. While the album musically preserves the legacy of the EP, the lyrics explore everything that binds humans and humanity.




Live, the band is dedicated to give their all and energize the crowd to the fullest extent. As their first concert since the corona lockdown, Rambuk performed on High Voltage in Copenhagen for a full audience on October 29, and are looking forward to more concerts in 2022.

Dave Mustaine has debuted a snippet of music from MEGADETH's upcoming sixteenth studio album.

The MEGADETH leader, who turned 60 in September, shared the clip 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 Gabe, Dave said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "I will play you something that's been recorded already and is special. How would you like to hear a little bit of the new album? This is song two from side one. It's called 'Life In Hell'."

After playing the song snippet, Dave added: "There you go. A little special surprise for you, buddy. So I think that makes you the first person in the outside world — outside of the studio and the band and my family — that's heard any music from the new record."

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.

Former MÖTLEY CRÜE singer John Corabi says that he doesn't know if the songs he recorded with Mick Mars five years ago will make it to the MÖTLEY CRÜE guitarist Mick Mars's highly anticipated debut solo album.

Back in 2016, Mars released snippets of two solo songs, apparently called "Gimme Blood" and "Shake The Cage". The tracks, which were recorded at Blackbird Studio in Nashville, where Mars has lived for about eight years, featured Corabi, who appeared on CRÜE's 1994 self-titled album. Corabi later said that he didn't contribute to the writing process for the two songs, but that he was open to collaborating with Mars on some brand new material.

During a December 22 Facebook Live session, Corabi was asked about the fate of the material he recorded with Mars. He responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "A couple of years ago, Mick asked me to sing a couple of songs, and I did it. He put snippets of them out, but he's gone on to do a full record. And as of right now, I have no idea whether or not Mick is using those songs. It's Mick's solo record. He just asked me to sing two tunes. Unfortunately… I wanted to do more, and Mick wanted me to do more, but I wasn't able to, because of my schedule and because of Mick's schedule. So we'll all just have to wait and see. I'm as excited to hear Mick's record as you are. And we'll see. Hopefully he used those songs. Maybe he didn't. I don't know."

Mars has been working on his solo disc — on and off — for at least the past five years. Some of the early sessions for the LP were helmed by recently retired producer Michael Wagener (OZZY OSBOURNE, ACCEPT, WARRANT, SKID ROW) at the aforementioned Blackbird Studio.

Almost two years ago, Alabama musician Jacob Bunton revealed that he was the lead singer on Mars's solo album. Speaking to AL.com, Bunton, who has previously played with LYNAM and former GUNS N' ROSES drummer Steven Adler, said about his collaboration with Mars: "I can tell you that I'm involved and the past several months we wrote and recorded a record and Michael Wagener produced it. The great Michael Wagener from [mixing 1986 METALLICA album] 'Master Of Puppets' and all that kind of stuff. He worked with MÖTLEY CRÜE on their very first record 'Too Fast For Love', when they did it themselves they recorded the record and then Michael Wagener mixed, and then when they got the record deal with Elektra, [QUEEN producer] Roy Thomas Baker ended up going back and remixing it. But on all of their self-released copies, it's Michael. But to make a long story short, Michael's producing the record because that was the first producer Mick worked with in MÖTLEY CRÜE, so he wanted to do his solo album, so it's been really cool. We've been recording it in Nashville and we're almost done."

Regarding what fans can expect from Mars's solo CD, Bunton said: "The songs are really cool, the record is really cool. He's such an inventive player and his riffs are insane and it's definitely going to be what people are expecting. When they hear it … It's really cool."

In September 2019, Mick told Billboard about the musical direction of his solo material: "[It's] not like today's music, which to me is pretty much pop metal and more growly guys. It's all cool and it's all good, and I'm just searching for something that's just a little different than that. I [also] don't want to be living in '85. It's hard to reinvent yourself, but that's what I'm doing now. I'm trying to reinvent the way that I approach music writing. I've got a lot of crap, and I've got a lot of good stuff too."

At the time of the Billboard interview, Mars said that he had been working with a vocalist named Jacob, leading some fans to speculate that he was referring to Bunton. "[He] can be a lot of different voices, and it's pretty amazing," Mick said. "I go, 'I want this kind of voice here,' and he'll pull it straight off."

In a separate interview with "Talking Metal", Mars said that his debut solo record will not sound like anybody else. "Well, I guess it's my own style," he said. "It isn't really blues. My playing has a blues element to it, of course, but it isn't what you would call a blues record. It's more of a heavier rock thing, but I don't wanna even try to 'outheavy' the heavies, you know what I mean? It's just something hopefully just a little different than what's going on now. You're not gonna hear a MÖTLEY-flavored song, except for the guitar, [because] that's me. They're gonna be a bit harder than that, but not as hard as the heavies, like MINISTRY and some of those guys."

This past August, KORN drummer Ray Luzier confirmed that he is a featured guest on Mars's solo album.




Posted by John Corabi on Wednesday, December 22, 2021

On February 25, Cannibal Corpse vocalist, George "Corpsegrinder" Fisher, will release his debut solo album, titled Corpsegrinder. For a first preview of the record, a lyric video for the new single "Acid Vat" (feat. Erik Rutan) can be viewed below. The clip was created by Randall Hammer.


Corpsegrinder is co-produced by Nick Bellmore (Dee Snider, Kingdom Of Sorrow) and Jamey Jasta (Hatebreed) and will be released through Jasta's new label, Perseverance Music Group.







Featuring a guest appearance from Erik Rutan (Cannibal Corpse, Hate Eternal) on the track "Acid Vat", the album also sees Charlie Bellmore (Dee Snider, ex-Toxic Holocaust) handle guitar and bass duties, with Nick Bellmore (Dee Snider, ex-Toxic Holocaust) on drums. Together, they created a 10-song effort that is chock-full of death metal, hardcore thrash, plus Corpsegrinder's signature guttural vocals.


Pre-order your copy of Corpsegrinder now on CD and cassette via thecorpsegrinder.com and martyrstore.net. Additional vinyl copies will be available in summer 2022 - stay tuned for more information coming soon.





Corpsegrinder tracklisting


"Acid Vat" (feat. Erik Rutan)
"Bottom Dweller"
"On Wings Of Carnage"
"All Souls Get Torn"
"Death Is The Only Key"
"Crimson Proof"
"Devourer Of Souls"
"Defined By Your Demise"
"Master Of The Longest Night"
"Vaguely Human"


"Acid Vat" lyric video:





After debuting on the worldwide charts earlier this year with Cannibal Corpse's critically acclaimed Violence Unimagined (#2 Current Hard Music Albums - USA, #2 Hard Music Albums - Canada, #2 Independent Albums - UK, #6 Official Album Charts - Germany, and many more), Corpsegrinder has returned with a solo full-length, set to be one of the heaviest albums of 2022. Throughout the years, the Cannibal Corpse frontman has become a beloved figure in the metal scene and beyond, having one of heavy music's most brutal voices. That iconic growl shines through on Corpsegrinder, a soon-to-be classic in the vocalist's celebrated catalog.


For more information about Corpsegrinder, fans can tune into Nik Nocturnal's Twitch stream today (Christmas Eve) at 2 PM, PT/5 PM, ET/11 PM, CET for a live interview with Corpsegrinder and Jasta. Watch the chat here.





(Album artwork by Dan Goldsworthy; concept by Corpsegrinder)

DREAM THEATER's official YouTube channel has uploaded the band's cover of the holiday classic "O Holy Night". The track was recorded during a soundcheck at the Roseland Theater in Portland, Oregon on June 9, 1993 and was released three years later on a very rare fan-club-only Christmas CD.

Last year, DREAM THEATER released a medley of holiday classics called "The Holiday Spirit Carries On". The proceeds of the song, which was made available via Bandcamp, went to support the band's road crew which was unable to work in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic.

DREAM THEATER's latest LP, "A View From The Top Of The World", came out 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, singer James 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.

Motörhead's camp announce the release of The Löst Tapes - Volume 2, stating: "To celebrate Lemmy’s birthday we’re very pleased to share with you the next in the The Löst Tapes series. This previously unreleased concert from Norwich UEA was recorded on the Snake Bite Love tour in 1998 and they’re on venomous form! Crank it up hospital loud and raise a toast!"


Lemmy passed away on December 28, 2015, four days after his 70th birthday. He died at his Los Angeles apartment from prostate cancer, cardiac arrhythmia, and congestive heart failure.


Listen to The Löst Tapes - Volume 2 here, and/or below:

At last month's Welcome To Rockville festival in Daytona Beach, Florida, DISTURBED frontman David Draiman spoke to SiriusXM's Shannon Gunz about the progress of the songwriting sessions for the band's follow-up to 2018's "Evolution" album. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "This past week has just been amazing for the DISTURBED camp — like, amazing for the DISTURBED camp. We have been writing, and it is sick — it is absolutely sick. It is old-school DISTURBED. It's groove, it's power, it's ferocity, it's polysyncopation — it's all those things that people have known us for since day one. We really wanted to go back to where we came from — our meat and potatoes, so to speak. We came up with six new song ideas this week. We have two in our back pocket. We're gonna look to start actually tracking them for real sometime after the New Year, and we are incredibly excited. The material is big."

Prior to DISTURBED's appearance at Welcome To Rockville, Draiman told Lou Brutus of HardDrive Radio that the band will likely do things slightly differently with the upcoming release. "The way that I see it happening is we're probably not gonna put out something in the traditional full-length; we're probably gonna be doing two separate releases," he explained. "So we'll probably have one geared for release — if everything works as planned — by the fall, and then maybe something the following year as well." When Brutus asked Draiman to clarify if that means that the next DISTURBED release will be an EP, David said: "Define it what you want, but it would like five or six songs at a pop — something like that.

"We live in an environment right now and in an age where people's consumption of music has been very soundbitish and very track-driven and very single-driven," he continued. "And there's definitely some beauty towards continuing to try and [make] things like concept records and telling a long story over the duration of a series of songs — there's huge merit to that — but I think that when you write 10 songs and three of them actually get worked at radio and maybe, if you're lucky, the fans are really familiar with half the record and the rest ends up sitting on a shelf, and if you do end up pulling it out one day, it's like an obscure, weird moment during the set, and it's almost like gratuitous for yourself. I don't wanna do that anymore. I wanna make everything count. I wanna make sure that we get the biggest bang for everything we're putting out there. I think that that should be easily attainable. It seems to be where the environment is going, and it seems to be — whether we like it or not — what the digital age has funneled us into."

In October 2020, Draiman told "Loudwire Nights" that DISTURBED's new music would be "blisteringly angry" and added that he was "dying" to sink his teeth into "new, original, angry, ferocious, brutal material."

DISTURBED performed live for the first time in nearly two years on September 25 as one of the headliners of the Louder Than Life festival in Louisville, Kentucky.

In March, DISTURBED's "The Sickness 20th Anniversary Tour" was officially canceled. The amphitheater tour, with very special guest STAIND and BAD WOLVES, was originally slated to take place in the summer of 2020 but was rescheduled to 2021 due to the coronavirus pandemic. It was eventually scrapped altogether.

"The Sickness 20th Anniversary Tour" was supposed to celebrate the 20th anniversary of DISTURBED's seminal album "The Sickness". On this tour, the band was expected to perform songs off the album, as well as tracks from "Evolution" and DISTURBED's extensive catalog.

In September 2020, DISTURBED released a cover version of Sting's 1993 single "If I Ever Lose My Faith In You".

Former MEGADETH bassist David Ellefson joined RAVEN on stage on November 4 at The 44 Sports Grill & Nightlife in Glendale, Arizona to perform a cover of the JUDAS PRIEST classic "Hell Bent For Leather" and the RAVEN original "Seek And Destroy". Video footage and photos of his appearance can be found below.

RAVEN drummer Mike Heller is Ellefson's bandmate in THE LUCID, which released its self-titled debut album in October via SpoilerHead Records.

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

RAVEN's latest album, "Metal City", was released in September 2020 via SPV/Steamhammer.

Considered part of the "New Wave Of British Heavy Metal" movement of the early '80s, RAVEN is perhaps best remembered for its trailblazing tours in America in the early '80s that gave groups like METALLICA and ANTHRAX their first taste of the road.

RAVEN's albums "Rock Until You Drop", "Wiped Out" and "All For One" virtually invented both the speed metal and power metal genres, with the band consistently pushing the envelope while retaining its unique sound and attack — both in the studio and in their true element: onstage.

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.


Thanks Mike Gaube's Headbangers capturing some live video of David Ellefson jamming "Hell Bent For Leather" and "Seek and Destroy" with us tonight in Glendale, AZ.

Posted by Raven on Thursday, November 4, 2021





Raven - Hell Bent For Leather w/David Ellefson (ex- Megadeth bassist)

In Phoenix Arizona, a couple weeks ago

Posted by Mark's Metallic Hell on Thursday, December 9, 2021



A great night seeing one of my favorites Raven. It’s always great to see the Gallagher brothers, Mark and John....

Posted by Jeremy Dumke on Friday, November 5, 2021

Italian bass master and composer Alberto Rigoni (Natural Born Machine, Vivaldi Metal Project) will release his new album, Songs For Souls, on January 15th, 2022 in memory of his Father. 


Alberto has posted online a stunning performance video for "L'Origin du Monde", featuring Jordan Rudess (Dream Theater) and Mark Zonder (ex-Fates Warning). Check it out below.


Alberto Rigoni on "L'Origin du Monde": "Composed by myself and Jordan Rudess (Dream Theater) and featuring Fates Warning drummer Mark Zonder, 'L'Origin du Monde' is one of the songs of my upcoming album, Songs For Souls, out on January 15th in memory of my father. Happy Christmas!"




Jordan Rudess adds: "I co-wrote a song with Alberto Rigoni and I think it turned out beautifully. He originally sent me a lovely bass track and I let the inspiration flow and came up with the rest!"





Just recently, Rigoni announced Jordan Rudess, Mark Zonder, Fabrizio Leo, Marco Sfogli, Tommaso Ermolli, Enrico Taddei, Alessandro Bertoni and the legendary guitarist Jennifer Batten, joining the Songs for Souls album line-up.


In case you missed, also watch Jennifer Batten's promo for Songs for Souls below. Pre-order / fund Songs For Souls, available in digital and digipack CD at this location.

Cradle Of Filth drummer Martin "Marthus" Skaroupka has shared drum cam footage of Iron Maiden's  "Hallowed Be Thy Name" performed live in New York City on October 11th. Check it out below.


Fan-filmed video of the band performing "Hallowed Be Thy Name" on October 1st in Dallas, Texas is also available.










Cradle Of Filth released their new album, Existence Is Futile, on October 22nd via Nuclear Blast. The album consists of 12 new tracks with a total playing time of 54 minutes.





Tracklisting:


"The Fate Of The World On Our Shoulders"
"Existential Terror"
"Necromantic Fantasies"
"Crawling King Chaos"
"Here Comes A Candle… (Infernal Lullaby)"
"Black Smoke Curling From The Lips Of War"
"Discourse Between A Man And His Soul"
"The Dying Of The Embers"
"Ashen Mortality"
"How Many Tears To Nurture A Rose?"
"Suffer Our Dominion"
"Us, Dark, Invincible"
"Sisters Of The Mist" (Bonus track)
"Unleash The Hellion" (Bonus track)


Check out Aaron Small's Bravewords feature here.


"Crawling King Chaos" video:

The New Black guitarist / Who Brought The Dog frontman Fabian "Fabs" Schwarz kept himself busy during lockdown with more musical experimentation. He recently released a full album of '80s-inspired synth wave tunes under the moniker SixMixSix, and is gearing up to release a new album, ROAR!, via RetroSynth Records. It will be released on January 7th, 2022.


The video for first single, "Hate Me In Return", featuring The New Black vocalist Fludid is streaming below.







SixMixSix released a live album recorded this past summer in Würzburg, Germany at the annual Umsonst & Draussen festival. It is available for free download here.


"This is just a document about our very first show EVER! So have fun with this historical grain of sand."


Live @U&D WÜRZBURG by SIXMIXSIX


Tracklist:


"The Howler"
"Plains Of Eidolon"
"Antarktos"
"Fortuna"
"Evening Star"
"Heart Of Deimos"
"Continuity"
"Cambion Drift"
"Star Winds"
"Azathoth"


The New Black is a hard rock band hailing from Würzburg, Germany, launched in 2007 by Schwarz and guitarist Christof Leim. They have released four albums to date via AFM Records: The New Black (2009), II: Better in Black (2011), III: Cut Loose (2013) and A Monster’s Life (2016).

Inspired by the Magic The Gathering card game, Planeswalker is the new power metal band founded by Helion Prime guitarist Jason Ashcraft and newly added Gloryhammer vocalist, Sozos Michael.


Today, the duo is unveiling the music video for their second single, "The Spark", from their forthcoming debut album, Tales Of Magic, due out on January 21. Watch below.


Tales Of Magic includes guest performances from Brittney Slayes (Unleash The Archers), Heather Michele (ex-Helion Prime), Taylor Washington (Paladin), R.A. Voltaire (Ravenous), and more.







Tracklisting:


"Tales Of Magic"
"The Spark"
"Shadow Of Emeria"
"Blackblade"
"The Forever Serpent"
"Oath Of The Gatewatch"
"A Million To One" (KISS cover)


"The Spark" video:





"Tales Of Magic" lyric video:

Ladies and Gentlemen, lace up your platform boots as Space Panther has landed. Glamdemic! is the dazzling debut album from NJ supergroup trio Space Panther that may single-handedly trigger a global 1970s glam rock revival.


Take the excitement of The Sweet, the power of Slade, the swing of T-Rex, the boldness of Bowie, mix it all up and you have an idea of what Glamdemic! is all about. It is simply one of the most refreshing, mind-blowing debut records to come out in quite some time.


Space Panther consists of Bobby Kennedy (AciD/David Johansen) on guitar and vocals, Bob Pantella (Monster Magnet/Raging Slab/Atomic Bitchwax) on drums and Keith Roth (The Dictators. Frankenstein 3000, Sirius XM) on bass. Together, they have created a sound so astonishing that it rockets you back to a glitter-crazed London in the year 1971. So strap yourself in and prepare for blast off.







Glamdemic! presents you with 12 glam-infused pop classics that flow seamlessly together creating a phenomenal listening journey. An all killer no filler affair, clocking in at a mere 35 minutes total. This Space Panther inaugural launch leaves you wanting more. Much, much more.


With crystal clear production courtesy of Kennedy and Pantella, you can experience just the right blend of delicious retro and modern audio elements. This, coupled with this flawless batch of infectious anthems created by Bobby Kennedy, will surely have people talking about Glamdemic! for decades to come. Standout tracks include the anthemic "Gimme Some Drugs", the ass-shaking "Heatwave", the downright groovy "Hey Woman", and the rock n’ roll steamroller that is "Smooth Operator".


Pre-order here.