An extended two-minute teaser video for W.A.S.P.'s upcoming 40th-anniversary tour, narrated by frontman Blackie Lawless, is available below.

June 6, 2022 marks the 40th anniversary of one of the most infamous, notorious, controversial heavy metal bands in the world… W.A.S.P. So join W.A.S.P. for this very special 40th-anniversary world tour that kicks off in Milan, Italy on March 18, 2022. This first leg of dates will see the band hit Italy, Spain, Ireland, North Ireland, United Kingdom, Scotland, Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Norway, Germany, Romania and Bulgaria. More dates and a U.S. tour will be announced.

Lawless states about the tour: "For the W.A.S.P. 40th-anniversary world tour, we're going back to the beginning. We're taking the show back to where it all started. Complete with all the fire and all the blood that shocked the world the first time. We only did this type of show on the first world tour and never did it again…until now! I'm gonna scream and I'm gonna bleed, 'cause I wanna be somebody! We're taking everybody back…back to the beginning!"

W.A.S.P. "40 Years Live" world tour 2022:

Mar. 18 - Milan, Italy - Live Club

Mar. 19 - Padova, Italy - Padova Hall

Mar. 23 - Bilbao, Spain - Santana 27

Mar. 24 - Murcia, Spain - Sala Gamma 3

Mar. 25 - Barcelona, Spain - Razzmatazz 1

Mar. 26 - Madrid, Spain - La Riviera

Mar. 30 - Dublin, Ireland - Vicar St.

Mar. 31 - Belfast, Ireland - Ulster Hall

Apr. 01 - Wolverhampton, UK - KK's Steel Mill

Apr. 02 - Manchester, UK - Academy

Apr. 03 - Nottingham, UK - Rock City

Apr. 05 - Glasgow, UK - O2 Academy

Apr. 06 - Newcastle, UK - O2 City Hall

Apr. 07 - Bristol, UK - O2 Academy

Apr. 08 - London, UK - Rou-House

Apr. 09 - Eindhoven, Netherlands - Effenaar

Apr. 10 - Copenhagen, Denmark - Amager Bio

Apr. 12 - Malmö, Sweden - Moriskan

Apr. 13 - Huskvarna, Sweden - Folkets Park

Apr. 14 - Sundsvall, Sweden - Sporthallen

Apr. 15 - Umeå, Sweden - Idun

Apr. 16 - Oulu, Finland - Teatria

Apr. 17 - Tampere, Finland - Pakkahuone

Apr. 18 - Helsinki, Finland - Kulttuuritalo

Apr. 20 - Gävle, Sweden - Gasklockan

Apr. 21 - Eskilstuna, Sweden - Lokomotivet

Apr. 22 - Örebro, Sweden - Conventum

Apr. 23 - Karlstad, Sweden - Nöjesfabriken

Apr. 25 - Oslo, Norway - Rockefeller

Apr. 28 - Stockholm, Sweden - Stora Fållan

Apr. 29 - Norrköping, Sweden - Arbis

Apr. 30 - Gothenburg, Sweden - Trädgårn

May 01 - Bremen, Germany - Aladin

May 02 - Mannheim, Germany - Capitol

May 04 - Saarbrücken - Garage

May 05 - Oberhausen, Germany - Turbinenhalle

May 07 - Geiselwind, Germany - Music Halle

May 08 - Munich, Germany - Backstage Werk

May 13 - Zurich, Switzerland - Venue TBA

May 14 - Lausanne, Switzerland - Venue TBA

May 17 - Bucharest, Romania - Arenele Romane

May 18 - Sofia, Bulgaria - Universidada Sports Hall

Few bands in the history of rock 'n' roll have ever incited the love, the hate, the raw emotional effect this band has had on the world. From the very beginning, in the small venues of Los Angeles, California, and later to the numerous countries worldwide that banned these winged assassins from performing live, the band's unique style of shock and rock caused religious organizations, local city councils, parlaments, and the Washington D.C. Senate to hold hearings in an effort to bar this group from selling records and trashing stages everywhere they played.

The band's founding member, Blackie Lawless, has led the group as its lead vocalist and primary songwriter since its beginning. His unique brand of visual, social and political comment took the group to worldwide heights and sold millions of records alongside a legacy of sold out shows across the globe for four decades.

Joined by bassist Mike Duda and guitarist Doug Blair, whose tenures in the band span 26 and 18 years respectively, along with drummer extraordinaire Aquiles Priester, Lawless will take the band and the fans back to where it all started. Complete with the stage show extravaganza that many fans never saw live.

Tracii Guns says that he disagrees with his SUNBOMB bandmate Michael Sweet's stance on abortion.

Earlier today, Sweet, who has fronted the openly Christian rock band STRYPER for nearly four decades, blasted protesters gathered outside the Supreme Court who were videotaped allegedly taking abortion pills (mifepristone) ahead of the nation's highest court hearing arguments over a case involving a Mississippi law that bans abortions after 15 weeks. None of the protesters were pregnant, said Amelia Bonow, co-founder of the abortion rights group Shout Your Abortion, who orchestrated the demonstration.

In a post on his social media, Michael wrote: "When women are shamelessly and proudly taking 'abortion pills' on video with smiles on their faces, isn't that a whole new level of evil? How and why is this acceptable in our world? Are we really this far gone? Celebrating the death of the unborn!!"

Guns, who teamed up with Sweet to write and record the debut SUNBOMB album, "Evil And Divine", reacted to Sweet's comments, writing on Twtter simply: "It's none of our business". Within minutes, Michael fired back, saying: "It's my business when I see a video of 3 women taking joy in it man. That's not human. There are many women who have had to have abortions and I can guarantee you that it wasn't a joyful experience. That's why I posted this. Evil."

A fan who apparently saw the Twitter exchange between the pair chimed in, writing: "Welp, there goes Sunbomb 2.", to which Tracii replied: "Michael and I love each other. We also disagree on a lot of things."

Earlier this year, Tracii, who is one of the founding members of L.A. GUNS, told Talking Metal about his friendship with Michael: "The greatest thing about Michael and I is that we have the same influences in music, we're great friends, and we have completely opposite ideologies — completely; on every level. And we laugh about it. We are two guys, when put together, we do discuss these things without any judgment. It's just, like, 'Hey, I respect your opinion. Cool.' Whether it's religion, politics — it doesn't matter; we get along."

Sweet previously touched upon his views on abortion in a 2020 interview with Slabber.net. While discussing how he decides which presidential candidate he gets behind, he said: "It's not anything new for people to hear from a Christian that they support pro-life. We want to see children that are unborn, live. The other side of that argument, for example, if the woman is raped and she loses her right to have an abortion, that's a terrible thing as well, and I agree with that. You would think in this case a woman should have the choice to keep that baby or not keep that baby. It's a tough argument. There are pros and cons to both sides of this argument. For me, as a believer, as a Christian, the pro-life pros outweigh the cons. Therefore, I'm a guy who typically gets behind whoever is the candidate that is pro-life as well."

The conservative-leaning Supreme Court heard oral arguments on Wednesday as the justices consider Mississippi's request to overturn Roe v. Wade — the court's 1973 decision that legalized abortion in the United States — and uphold a state law that bars the procedure 15 weeks after conception.

According to a new Yahoo News/YouGov poll, more than twice as many Americans (55 percent) say they want the court to reaffirm Roe v. Wade as say they want it overturned (24 percent).

Critics have said that tossing out the landmark rulings establishing abortion rights would tarnish the court's reputation and open the floodgates to other challenges to well-settled law.




It’s none of our business

— Tracii ⨁ ???? (@TraciiGuns) December 2, 2021








It’s my business when I see a video of 3 women taking joy in it man. That’s not human. There are many women who have had to have abortions and I can guarantee you that it wasn’t a joyful experience. That’s why I posted this. Evil. https://t.co/rektpF64jr

— MichaelSweet Stryper (@michaelhsweet) December 2, 2021








Michael and I love each other. We also disagree on a lot of things.

— Tracii ⨁ ???? (@TraciiGuns) December 2, 2021

Michael Sweet of openly Christian rockers STRYPER has blasted protesters gathered outside the Supreme Court who were videotaped allegedly taking abortion pills ahead of the nation's highest court hearing arguments over the Mississippi abortion law challenging Roe v. Wade.

At least four women were captured on video on Wednesday (December 1) taking pills and chanting "abortion pills forever" while smiling and holding a large black sign which read, "We Are Taking Abortion Pills Forever." Another video reportedly showed them chanting, "Abortion pills are in our hands, and we won't stop."

Earlier today (Thursday, December 2), Sweet shared a video of yesterday's protest and he included the following message: "When women are shamelessly and proudly taking 'abortion pills' on video with smiles on their faces, isn't that a whole new level of evil?

"Sometimes I feel like I'm the only one who feels this way. How and why is this acceptable in our world? Are we really this far gone? Celebrating the death of the unborn!!

"God help us and save us……..

"#prolife #godhelpus #evil #life".

Sweet previously touched upon his views on abortion in a 2020 interview with Slabber.net. While discussing how he decides which presidential candidate he gets behind, he said: "It's not anything new for people to hear from a Christian that they support pro-life. We want to see children that are unborn, live. The other side of that argument, for example, if the woman is raped and she loses her right to have an abortion, that's a terrible thing as well, and I agree with that. You would think in this case a woman should have the choice to keep that baby or not keep that baby. It's a tough argument. There are pros and cons to both sides of this argument. For me, as a believer, as a Christian, the pro-life pros outweigh the cons. Therefore, I'm a guy who typically gets behind whoever is the candidate that is pro-life as well."

The conservative-leaning Supreme Court heard oral arguments on Wednesday as the justices consider Mississippi's request to overturn Roe v. Wade — the court's 1973 decision that legalized abortion in the United States — and uphold a state law that bars the procedure 15 weeks after conception.

According to a new Yahoo News/YouGov poll, more than twice as many Americans (55 percent) say they want the court to reaffirm Roe v. Wade as say they want it overturned (24 percent).

Critics have said that tossing out the landmark rulings establishing abortion rights would tarnish the court's reputation and open the floodgates to other challenges to well-settled law.

In a 2018 interview with the Detroit Free Press, Sweet said that STRYPER was never fully embraced by the heavy metal and hard rock communities, largely because of its Christian lyrics. "We've never been accepted by either side," he said. "The secular side, the mainstream, they've never accepted us to this day. We're probably that band that everyone's going to go to whenever there's a time to mock. We'll be the band used for that in most cases. Now on the Christian side, we've never really had the full support of the Christian side because we don't fit into their little club. We're not wearing suits and ties and going to every church and preaching."
























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A post shared by Michael Sweet (@michaelsweetstryper)

JUDAS PRIEST singer Rob Halford spoke to Spain's Mariskal Rock about the progress of the songwriting sessions for the band's follow-up to 2018's "Firepower" album. "Slowly but surely, these things come together; it's what we've always done," he said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET). "And generally, when we go out on these world tours, we generally tour to support a new record. We did something a little bit different this time because it was the 50th-anniversary year of celebration, which is gonna push into next year now.

"It's sounding good, man. It's sounding really strong," he continued. "I'm very excited for our fans again. I think it's gonna be another great display of the passion that we still have as writers and as players to get this down and to unleash some new metal.

"We've got a bunch of stuff. I don't know when you and I talked last, but since then, we did have that one big writing session — March, whatever year that was; not this year, but last year I think it was. And then another one before the Bloodstock festival [in August]. So we've got a strong, strong bunch of id[eas]… Well, they're more than ideas — they're completed songs. We haven't gone into full production yet.

"It's gonna be great," he added. "It's gonna be a really, really good moment."

Halford also offered a health update on PRIEST guitarist Glenn Tipton who was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease seven years ago after being stricken by the condition at least half a decade earlier. Tipton announced in early 2018 he was going to sit out touring activities in support of "Firepower". He was replaced by "Firepower" producer Andy Sneap, who is also known for his work in NWOBHM revivalists HELL and cult thrash outfit SABBAT.

Asked if Tipton will be involved in the recording sessions for PRIEST's next album, Rob said: "There's ways of doing this. Glenn can still play the guitar. He plays it differently, but he can still play. He walked out with us on Bloodstock recently [and played] 'Metal Gods', 'Breaking The Law' and 'Living After Midnight', I think it was. He can play. So he'll be on this next album. Whatever work he does, he's valuable — really important. He's a member of JUDAS PRIEST. He's still there. He's still an important component of this band and what this band represents, particularly in the writing sense. He made a massive contribution to the songs that we have so far. And we'll still keep writing — we'll still keep putting together the ideas. 'Cause you can never not stop writing. The calendar tells you, the label says, 'We would like a record blah blah,' because it takes months to prepare and then months of promotion. And the clock is ticking.

"So, yeah, he's good, man. He's still a fighter. He never lets anything stop him. He's a great force for people that are living their lives actively and productively with Parkinson's. So he's still very much [like] that 'No Surrender' song — a heavy metal hero."

Bassist Ian Hill is the sole remaining original member of PRIEST, which formed in 1969. Halford joined the group in 1973 and Tipton signed on in 1974. Rob left PRIEST in the early 1990s to form his own band, then came back to PRIEST in 2003. Founding guitarist K.K. Downing parted ways with the band in 2011, and was replaced by Richie Faulkner.

Some of the other members of PRIEST have also dealt with various health setbacks in recent years. Halford recently publicly revealed that he battled prostate cancer during the pandemic. He previously mentioned his cancer battle in the new chapter added to the updated paperback edition of his autobiography, "Confess". In "Confess", Halford revealed that he was diagnosed with cancer after experiencing symptoms for at least a couple of years.

In July 2020, Rob underwent prostatectomy, an operation where the entire prostate gland is removed plus some of the tissue around it, including the seminal vesicles. After more cancer was found earlier this year, he went through radiation treatments in April and May and eventually got then all-clear in June. He also had an appendectomy after a tumor was discovered on his appendix.

Faulkner suffered an acute cardiac aortic dissection during the band's performance at the Louder Than Life festival in late September. Faulkner was rushed to the UofL Health - Jewish Hospital where the cardiothoracic surgery team needed approximately 10 hours to complete a life-saving surgery.

On October 13, Book Soup hosted a virtual conversation between ANTHRAX bassist Frank Bello and SiriusXM radio personality Jose Mangin about Frank's recently released memoir, "Fathers, Brothers, And Sons: Surviving Anguish, Abandonment, And Anthrax". You can now watch the entire chat below.

Asked how he feels about fans coming up to him in public, Frank said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Right now, it's all about — for me, 'cause I have a family, and I'm very respectful to other people — it's about, for me, [making sure everybody is wearing] masks, number one. I'll do the elbow [bump] — all that stuff. 'Cause I have an immune thing going on. You probably don't know this, but I have an immunization thing I have to be careful — an immune disease I have to be careful with where I can get sicker faster. So I've gotta be careful. Even though I have both of the [COVID-19] shots — I've just gotta be careful. So I'll do the elbow. I'll always wear a mask.

"[ANTHRAX] just [made an appearance at New York] Comic Con [in October in support of the band's graphic novel, 'Among The Living']. So the great thing about that, you say hello to people. 'Hey, man, how're you doing?' Everybody's got their masks on; very respectful. It's just for now, though. This won't be forever. I can't wait to do this again and hug people and stuff like that. Let's all be respectful and we'll get through this and then we can march on. That's the way I look at it."

This past June, Bello told MACHINE HEAD frontman Robb Flynn's "No Fuckin' Regrets With Robb Flynn" podcast that he was "not ready" to take part in any in-person fan meet-and-greets on tour.

"I was just at this meeting the other day at some restaurant, and the dude comes out," he explained. "I know it's me; I know I'm anal retentive at this point. I'm fucking freaking out on it. [He walks] right up [to me] with [his] hand [out]. It's like a defense mechanism. I put out my elbow fucking immediately. It's like a karate thing all of sudden.

"Dude, I'm in Japan at this fucking point," he said, referencing the Japanese custom of bowing rather than hugging, kissing or shaking hands. "I'm bowing and shit. Fuck the rest of this garbage. No fucking way. Most of these fucking people have sweaty goddamn hands. No offense to people. It's just too many germs touching your fucking hand. We all learned now — we just fucking learned this shit.

"No disrespect to anybody," Bello added. "I don't wanna offend anybody, 'cause you've gotta be careful — you can't offend anybody now. I'll [give you an elbow] bump anytime, but the shaking-hand thing — you can float me your boogers; you've got fucking diseases. There's no way. It's done, dude. I want out. I'm out.

"I'm all for meeting people," he explained. "I love meeting people and talking to people — I'm a people person. I'm not like that. I don't wanna stay away from people; I wanna be around. But the whole idea of just that germ thing… Like, when I have a cold from now on, I'm gonna wear a fucking mask. They do it in Japan, and it's a great way to go. I don't wanna spread my germs to anybody, so please, please do that."

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

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

MEGADETH has launched its official cryptocurrency, $MEGA. By buying, holding and transacting with $MEGA, MEGADETH fans will gain access to exclusives and premium benefits. Members of Cyber Army, MEGADETH's official fan club, that also hold $MEGA will unlock additional exclusives, access, and offers. Premium and Digital Cyber Army members automatically get some free $MEGA.

For more information, visit Megadeth.com.

This past April, the first MEGADETH non-fungible token (NFT) sold for 8.4 ETH, or roughly $18,000 at purchase. The piece, dubbed "Vic Rattlehead: Genesis", featured the MEGADETH logo and the band's iconic mascot revolving in opposite directions for six seconds.

MEGADETH recently put the finishing touches on the follow-up to 2016's "Dystopia" album for a tentative early 2022 release.

The early sessions for the LP took place in 2019 with co-producer Chris Rakestraw, who previously worked on "Dystopia".

"Dystopia", whose title track was honored in the "Best Metal Performance" category at the 2017 Grammy Awards, marked Brazilian guitarist Kiko Loureiro's recording debut with MEGADETH.

MEGADETH's current lineup aso features guitarist/vocalist Dave Mustaine and Belgian-born-and-now-Los-Angeles-based drummer Dirk Verbeuren, who had played with SOILWORK for more than a decade before joining MEGADETH.

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

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


$MEGA, the official cryptocurrency of Megadeth and our community, is available now. As a thank you to the Cyber Army, we...

Posted by Megadeth on Thursday, December 2, 2021

In a new interview with "The Jeremy White Show", legendary rocker Ted Nugent spoke about how he goes about making fresh music. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "I am consumed with the creative process, but with me, it's really not a process.

"People always ask me, 'So, how do you go about writing a song?' And let me clarify: I've never 'written' a song; I've never sat down with pen and paper," he explained. "I always have a guitar handy. I play my guitar every day. And I don't write songs, I don't compose songs — I ejaculate them. I play my guitar and my hands find their home on the guitar… I'm a musical monster. I grab the guitar and shit explodes, flames come out of my ass because I am so pure. I have no baggage. I have no inhibitions.

"The best shit in life happens spontaneously when your instincts cause an occurrence," Ted added. "That's the best way to describe my songs. And I know some of my songs — 'Wango Tango' and some of the songs — are fun and cute and silly and crazy, but they're performed as if it's the lifeblood soundtrack."

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.

In recent months, Nugent has been selling hats emblazoned with the words "Come And Take It", a slogan which originated in the Texas Revolution in 1835 and is now used as a symbol of gun-rights advocates and the NRA.

Back in April, Nugent said that his next album would be titled "Handsome Devil" after a public compliment paid to him by former President Donald Trump, of whom Ted is an ardent supporter.

Nugent has repeatedly said that he is "very proud" of his new album as well as the LP's "musical integrity and the spirit and the attitude."

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.

POISON singer Bret Michaels has a heart of gold. After watching E! network's "Clash Of The Cover Bands" (Wednesday, December 1), Michaels made sure the POISON cover band SHOT OF POISON, who lost to a DEPECHE MODE cover band, went home with more than nothing, but a good time. Michaels invited SHOT OF POISON to join him on stage for one of his upcoming solo shows.

"For all your hard work and dedication to making a POISON show look incredible and everything that you do, I want to invite you on stage to a Bret Michaels show, and we will do 'Nothin' But A Good Time' on my 'Nothin' But A Good Vibe' tour," said Michaels via a Twitter post.

"They play great live music and I love the energy they brought to 'Clash Of The Cover Bands'," he added.

"Thank you for the shout-out, and we'd be HONORED to play 'Nothin' But A Good Time' on stage with you during a stop on your upcoming 'Nothin' But S Good Vibe' tour," SHOT OF POISON responded.

SHOT OF POISON is a group of talented, veteran, local rock musicians and innovative musical businessmen who've created a top-shelf tribute to the 35th anniversary of the greatest, hard-rocking, glam-slam party band ever — POISON. SHOT OF POISON's full intention is to bring audiences the look and sound they expect, to make the best modern-day POISON experience in the world.

E! 's "Clash Of The Cover Bands" pits two cover bands head to head for a chance to win $10,000. The series airs on Wednesday evenings on E!

While preparing for POISON's upcoming stadium tour, which begins on June 16 in Atlanta, Georgia, Michaels has many projects, including select solo performances, private engagements, a development deal, and several documentaries in the works.




Omg THE legendary @bretmichaels sent tonight's performer @ShotOPoisonBand a message of good luck! If this isn't the best way to celebrate a new #ClashOfTheCoverBands, I don't know what is! ? Join us at at 9:30/8:30c on E! pic.twitter.com/jSzzEfJXOs

— E! Entertainment (@eentertainment) December 2, 2021








@bretmichaels is the coolest dude in rock & roll! Thank you for the shout-out, and we'd be HONORED to play Nothin' But a Good Time on stage with you during a stop on your upcoming Nothin' But a Good Vibe Tour. Happy Holidays to you and all! Thanks @eentertainment pic.twitter.com/9xP3kzGQS1

— Shot of Poison (@ShotOPoisonBand) December 2, 2021

Steve Vai and Favored Nations / Mascot Label Group have announced his new studio album titled "Inviolate" will be released digitally and on CD January 28, 2022. The LP will follow on March 18. Today, they present the song "Little Pretty" which can be previewed below. The recording is a dark-toned fusion-funk workout played almost exclusively on a Gretsch hollow body guitar. As for what led Vai to the unusual (at least for him) model, he says: "It's on the wall with all the other guitars, and I'd always just look at it and go, 'One day I'm going to play you…'" He continues: "In writing the chord changes for the solo section, and the solo itself, I dug deep into my academic music theory mind to create a set of chord changes where the harmonic atmosphere shifted on every change. The dense chord structures required a series of synthetic modes to navigate. This approach is along the lines of jazz and fusion players, but I knew I did not want it to sound anything like that and the solo had to be totally melodic. The results were pretty powerful in that the entire solo section evokes melodic atmospheric changes that shift dramatically but work together well."

Over the course of a more than 40-year career, Vai has routinely transformed what would appear to be outrageously impossible into something very, very possible… and still also pretty outrageous. From his days as Frank Zappa's "stunt guitar" player to his more recent expansive and exploratory solo work, Vai has continually challenged notions of traditional guitar playing and composition — and on more than one occasion even reimagined the very instrument itself.

Which, he'll admit, is not necessarily his intention. "I don't sit around and say, 'Okay, what can I do now that pushes the boundaries?" Vai explains about his approach to the guitar. "What I do say to myself is, 'Okay, Vai — what are you going to do now that's going to interest you, that's going to fascinate you, and that's different than anything you've done before?" The answer to that question comes in the form of Vai's newest and 10th solo album, "Inviolate", a nine-song opus that (sorry Steve) does indeed push the boundaries of instrumental guitar music — this time out, Vai quite literally invented not just a new guitar, but also a new guitar-playing technique.

At the same time, "Inviolate" presents his most focused, streamlined and perhaps invigorating music in years. "It's very 'Vai,' whatever that means," he says, and then laughs. "Someone else might be better than me at explaining what that is. But it's just very honest music. Because a lot of my records, they're long and there's a lot of concepts and playing around with stories. This one has none of that. This is nine pretty dense all-instrumental compositions that I wanted to capture and record so I could get out there and play them live for people."

The album's mesmeric opener, "Teeth Of The Hydra", a sinuous, Latin-fusion-tinged composition that Vai wrote and recorded with a one-of-a-kind custom guitar he coined the Hydra. But calling the Hydra a mere guitar is selling it way, way, way short. Built in conjunction with the designers at Hoshino and based on a "steampunk motif" idea of Vai's, the Hydra is a beast of an instrument — a one-bodied, two-headstock-ed, three-neck-ed creature that encompasses, among other things: seven- and 12-string guitars; a four-string bass; sympathetic harp strings; half-fretless necks; single-coil, humbucking, piezo and sustainer pickups; floating and hardtail tremolo bridges; phase splitters; and much, much more. "It's an incredibly-built machine," Vai says. "I told the guys at Hoshino, 'Anything that you think is conventional, don't do that.' This was an opportunity to exercise brutal creativity. And they went beyond."

As did Vai in his performance. Throughout the track he employs the Hydra's full range of tone and timbres to craft a guitar part that sounds, in its expansiveness and expressiveness, positively alive. "The interesting thing about the song and the guitar is that it all came at the same time," Vai says. "It was one of those 'inviolate' inspirations — boom!"

That said, he continues, "I knew that I needed to create something with the Hydra that sounded like a real piece of music. It couldn't be just a novelty. Because if you knew what my hands were doing, and how I'm using my left hand to create phrasings that work when I can't pick a note because my right hand is off somewhere else…my god. But the finished piece had to stand on its own. It couldn't sound like I was just trying to juggle stuff."

Over the course of 2021, several of these compositions were shared publicly. Vai composed and recorded the song "Knappsack", following his shoulder surgery, at a time when his right arm was in a sling (or, as his surgeon, Dr. Knapp, called it, a "knappsack"), and thus was able to use only his left hand when playing the piece. He released a one-handed performance video. He says with a laugh, "pretty soon after I started to see some clips of young kids pulling it off, too. It's really fascinating."

Those kids will likely face a greater challenge attempting to take on another "Inviolate" track, "Candle Power". For this one, Vai not only set up parameters outside of his comfort zone (Strat-style guitar; clean tone; no whammy bar; no pick), but also — why not? — developed an entirely new guitar technique that he calls "joint shifting." The core concept there, he explains, is to enact simultaneous multiple string bends in opposite directions, which "requires bending only the top joint of the finger independently from any other finger." And while he acknowledges that bending multiple strings is not a new concept in and of itself, "I had not seen any of it done in the way I envisioned it," he says.

Like "Knappsack", Vai released "Candle Power" an accompanying performance video earlier in 2021. But he added a little something extra to the version that appears on "Inviolate", with a newly recorded drum track from fellow Zappa alumnus Terry Bozzio (to that end, additional crack players who lent a hand to the record include bassists Bryan Beller, Philip Bynoe and Henrik Linder, keyboardist David Rosenthal and drummer Vinnie Colaiuta).

On "Apollo In Color", Vai's soaring runs on his Ibanez PIA signature guitar (the newly-designed model's first appearance on a Vai studio album are surrounded by filigrees of sound played on all manner of exotic stringed instruments. "I thought, 'Okay, what can I do to color this thing up?'" Vai says. "So, I pulled out all these little acoustic instruments I've collected through the years and I said, 'I'm going to use every one of them somehow.'" These included a cavaquinho, a saz, a sitar, an oud and more. "Some of the instruments, I don't even know their names," Vai admits with a laugh.

In essence, it all comes down to finding your own voice, and then having the courage and conviction to follow your musical and creative instincts wherever they may take you — something Vai has never been shy about in his playing. "One of the great things about the guitar is you don't need to be a virtuoso to express your creative vision," he says. "I mean, Bob Dylan plays the guitar perfectly well for his expression. So does John McLaughlin. You just need to decide how much technique you want or need to get there. For myself, I came out of the chute wanting and needing it all. When it comes to my music, I don't feel like I have to prove anything or conform to anything. I just love to think up creative ideas, and then use whatever skill I have to manifest them."

"An inviolate inspiration is one that comes to you completely pure," Vai explains. "It appears almost in its completeness, and there's a recognition of it as being right for you — perfectly right for you. There's no excuses in it. There's no fantasy in it. There's just a recognition of 'yes.' And then you capture that in a way that's authentic to your unique creativity. Hopefully, that's what I've done with this record."

"Inviolate" track listing:

01. Teeth Of The Hydra

02. Zeus In Chains

03. Little Pretty

04. Candle Power

05. Apollo In Color

06. Avalancha

07. Greenish Blues

08. Knappsack

09. Sandman Cloud Mist

Vai will begin an extensive tour of the U.S., with 54 scheduled appearances on January 27, 2022 at the House Of Blues in Las Vegas. Vai will be joined by his long-tenured ensemble members Dave Weiner (guitar / keys), Philip Bynoe (bass), and Jeremy Colson (drums). Vai shares: "A performer thrives on performing. It's been my life for the past 49 years, with the exception of the last two years, so we are chomping at the bit to get out there and play for people. A music concert has the ability to dissolve the many challenges we face, and celebrate one of the good things in life, live music."

KnuckleBonz has announced the IRON MAIDEN "The Number Of The Beast" 3D vinyl statue.

This is a limited-edition statue. Only 1982 will be cast for IRON MAIDEN superfans worldwide. Shipping is estimated for spring 2022.

"Music superfans have been asking us for IRON MAIDEN since our founding in 2003," says Tony Simerman, CEO/creative director of KnuckleBonz, Inc. "We have an extensive plan to create all the designs IRON MAIDEN fans want to see for our 3D vinyl limited-edition statue series."

All KnuckleBonz statues are officially licensed with IRON MAIDEN. This is a fine-arts process where each statue is hand-cast, painted and numbered on the base.

Pre-orders can be placed now at this location.

Product dimensions: 8" (h) x 8.25" (w) x 9.5" (d). Weight: approximately 5lbs.

Earlier in the month, SCORPIONS released the official music video for their new single, "Peacemaker". The track, which features music courtesy of guitarist Rudolf Schenker and bassist Pawel Maciwoda and lyrics by singer Klaus Meine, is taken from the band's 19th studio album, "Rock Believer", due on February 25, 2022.

Asked in a new interview with Chile's Radio Futuro what fans can expect to hear on "Rock Believer", Meine said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Well, you can expect an album that is dedicated to all the rock believers in the world. And we're very excited after all these years. We thought, when you think about all the touring we did the last 10 years, after the release of 'Return To Forever' in 2015, the time was right to go back into the studio, to write new material, to write new songs and check out if the creativity is still working. The big aim was, the goal was to make a rock album — to make an album with lots of attitude, power and focus on the good old times and really enjoy the music and have some fun with the music. And that feels really good."

Speaking about the "Rock Believer" album title, SCORPIONS guitarist Rudolf Schenker said: "Look, we are around the world since 50 years or more. And when somebody can say he's a rock believer, then this is us. And of course, we meet our rock believers in front of us, our audience.

"So many people said rock is dead. It's not dead," he continued. "It's always coming back — sometimes, okay, more stronger [or] less strong — but in the end, it's great to play around the world in over 80 countries we've played so far, and all rock believers. It was always great to share the music with them together and be in connection with them. I mean, that's so amazing and so fantastic, that we are very happy to come out with a new album. And yeah, let's see what's happening."

Asked if "Peacemaker" is representative of "Rock Believer" as a whole, Klaus said: "It is an uptempo rock song, and this album really rocks. There are some heavy songs on the album, like when you think about 'China White' and 'Animal Magnetism', there's a track on the record that is really in the best way of those songs. There are many uptempo songs and, believe it or not, there are even faster songs than 'Peacemaker'. [Laughs] There's also a very beautiful ballad on the album, and I'm sure there are fans out there especially love the SCORPIONS ballads, and they will enjoy this record as well very much. 'Peacemaker' is the appetizer for what the album is all about. It rocks."

"Rock Believer" was recorded primarily at Peppermint Park Studios in Hannover, Germany and was mixed at the legendary Hansa Studios in Berlin, Germany with engineer Michael Ilbert, who has earned multiple Grammy nominations for his mix work with producer Max Martin on albums by Taylor Swift and Katy Perry.

"The album was written and recorded in the SCORPIONS DNA with core Schenker/Meine compositions," said Klaus. "We recorded the album as a band live in one room, like we did in the '80s."

SCORPIONS' new album will mark their first release since 2017's "Born To Touch Your Feelings - Best Of Rock Ballads", which was an anthology of new and classic material.

SCORPIONS originally intended to record the new album in Los Angeles with producer Greg Fidelman, whose previous credits include SLIPKNOT and METALLICA. However, because of the pandemic, some of the initial work was done with Greg remotely, after which SCORPIONS opted to helm the recordings themselves with the help of their engineer Hans-Martin Buff.

Meine previously told Talking Metal that the goal with using Fidelman to produce "Rock Believer" was to bring "the old vibe from albums like 'Blackout', 'Love At First Sting' or even 'Lovedrive'. We try to focus on those albums and this attitude," he said. "If we get there, who knows — it's so many years later. But it's the spirit and it's the whole vibe around this album. This time, the focus is on the harder songs."

According to Meine, SCORPIONS' new LP features "no outside writers at all," unlike 2015's "Return To Forever", which was largely co-written by the album's producers, Mikael Nord Andersson and Martin Hansen.

SCORPIONS will kick off their "Rock Believer" world tour in March 2022 in Las Vegas where the band will play nine shows as part of their residency at Planet Hollywood Hotel. Afterwards they will cross the Atlantic to Europe where they will play six concerts in France and six shows In Germany supported by Wolfgang Van Halen's new band MAMMOTH WVH.

SCORPIONS' last full-length collection of new recordings was the aforementioned "Return To Forever", partially comprising songs the band had in the vault from the '80s. It was the final recorded appearance of SCORPIONS' longtime drummer James Kottak, who was dismissed from the band in September 2016. He has since been replaced by Mikkey Dee, formerly of MOTÖRHEAD.

Talk about the perfect stocking stuffer for guitar lovers! Check out this fantastic 7” vinyl from the celebrated guitarist and founding member of classic rock giants Mountain, Leslie West, who passed away just a few days before Christmas 2020.





The A-side is a deeply moving instrumental version of the beloved holiday hymn “Silent Night”, originally released in 2015 on the Blues Christmas compilation, that opens with a gorgeous and moving acoustic guitar arpeggiation before West comes in with a massive electric slide guitar like a six-string slingin’ Santa coming down the chimney. The track is the perfect distillation of West’s unique combination of tough and tender playing, and a beautiful way to make this holiday season a little extra bright.




The B-side is no lump of coal either, it’s a killer cover of The Doors’ “Roadhouse Blues” with organist Brian Auger and blues master Rod Piazza! This 7” is available as a limited-edition BLUE vinyl release, so don’t delay and pick one up for the blues rock lover in your life today!





Order the 7” here. Stream/download “Silent Night” here.





(Photo - Justin Borucki)

Tony Iommi says that he still wants to remix BLACK SABBATH's "Born Again" album for future release.

Issued in August 1983, "Born Again" was the only album SABBATH recorded with lead vocalist Ian Gillan, best known for his work with DEEP PURPLE. It was was also the last of SABBATH's studio albums to feature drummer Bill Ward.

In a new interview with SiriusXM's "Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk", Iommi confirmed that the "Born Again" master tapes have been found and that he is planning to get the album "sounding right" before making it available to the public.

"Apparently, [my manager] found a connection there, where [the master tapes] were," Tony said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET). "I haven't heard any more. We're waiting to get these now. They discovered where they were — in some library in some record company somewhere. Obviously, I'd love to do that — I'd love to get that one sounding right. 'Cause I think that was a really good album. And when we'd first done it in the studio, it sounded great. But when it came out on record, it was really muffly and not good. So I wanna try and do something with that."

Following the departure of lead singer Ronnie James Dio and drummer Vinny Appice after the studio mixing of the "Live Evil" album, BLACK SABBATH was once again on the lookout for yet another lead vocalist to fill the significant void left at stage front. The band turned to Gillan.

The resultant album and live touring certainly made for one of the more curious associations in the world of heavy metal. Much of this era of BLACK SABBATH has passed into rock folklore and was actually the source for the material used in the rockumentary movie "This Is Spinal Tap". From the replica stage production of Stonehenge, which was too large for some of the venues on the world tour, to the employment of a dwarf to dress up and play the part of the "devil-baby" from the LP front cover, the world of BLACK SABBATH took on a distinct air of the surreal.

While the well-received "Born Again" album and live dates succeeded in stoking the embers and kept the SABBATH flames burning, this would ultimately be a marriage built more on friendship and respect as opposed to any long-standing and compatible musical association. After one tour, Ian Gillan would eventually bid farewell and re-join his old sparring partners for the Mk. II reunion of DEEP PURPLE and leave BLACK SABBATH once more gazing into the crystal ball hoping the face of yet another lead vocalist would reveal itself.

For Iommi, Geezer Butler, Ward, Gillan, and keyboardist Geoff Nicholls, work would swiftly commence in May of '83 at the Manor Studios in the village of Shiptonon-Cherwell, Oxfordshire. Produced by BLACK SABBATH and co-producer Robin Black, who had also worked on 1975's "Sabotage", 1976's "Technical Ecstasy", and 1978's "Never Say Die", SABBATH's eleventh studio release would represent a radical departure from the gloomy atmospherics and blackened lyricism that had forged their identity and spawned innumerable descendants.

Gillan's approach to songwriting bespoke a lighter-hearted approach to what had, until then, been the primary concern of Butler. Album opener "Trashed", for instance, was inspired by Gillan's boozed-up race around the Manor's grounds in Bill Ward's car that ended in near-catastrophe and a wrecked vehicle. "Disturbing The Priest" was the result of a door in the studio having been left open during playback, and a local vicar appearing in the doorway asking for the volume to be turned down as it was disturbing choir practice in the adjacent village.

For all of its off-kilter appearance however, "Born Again" was still SABBATH through and through. Musically twisted and possessed with more than a whiff of brimstone, the album is a thrilling glimpse into an alternative world.

In a 2018 interview with SiriusXM, Gillan said that "Born Again" began with a bender at the Bear Inn, one of the oldest pubs in Oxford, England.

"How it started is was just 'cause we got drunk together one night," the DEEP PURPLE frontman said. "I went for a drink with Tony and Geezer, and we ended up under the table. And I can't remember much more that happened. But I got a call from my manager the next day saying, 'Don't you think you should call me if you're gonna make decisions like this?' I said, 'What are you talking about?' He said, 'Well, apparently you… I just got a call. You agreed to join SABBATH.' So that's how it happened. I was at a kind of loose end anyway, having just finished with my own band and PURPLE not really being anything viable at the time. So we set a one-year plan, and it was to do an album and a tour. Nobody knew what was gonna happen, so we pitched up and I pitched my tent, literally, at the old manor in Oxfordshire. And we made an album. I didn't see much of 'em. They were night people, so they slept all day and worked all night. I got up in the morning, cooked my breakfast, went to the studio to hear what they had recorded the night before and write a song over it. And that's how the album was made."

Gillan went on to describe the making of "Born Again" as "a challenge for me. It was a bit like doing [Andrew Lloyd Webber's rock opera] 'Jesus Christ Superstar' or singing with [opera singer Luciano] Pavarotti; it's just something completely different," he explained. "But Tony is such a great writer. You know what to expect with Tony. There's no multidirectional approach. He is the father of everything that came out of Seattle, I believe. He's just very direct, and that's how he evolved from the early days.

"I found it very easy to sing and write songs with [Tony]," Ian continued. "And we had a couple of good ones. There was always a narrative. My favorite song from that album is 'Trashed', which was a true story about a racetrack and too much drink and spinning a car and crashing it and going upside down. It was exciting times."

The second track on "Born Again" was a brief instrumental called "Stonehenge", and on SABBATH's 1983 tour, the band hilariously had to shelve a Stonehenge stage concept because the scenery was much too big to use.

"We had a production company called Light And Sound Design; they were in Birmingham, where the band was based," Gillan recalled. "And after rehearsal one day, we had a kind of meeting to go the office, and as we were walking through these corridors, one of the guys said, 'By the way, anyone got any idea of a concept for a stage set or anything?' And Geezer Butler said, 'Yeah. Stonehenge.' And the guy said, 'Wow! That's great.' He said, 'How do you visualize it?' And Geezer said, 'Well, lifesize, of course.' We didn't quite go lifesize, but it was about two-thirds. And we could never get it all up on a stage. We played some huge arenas, and places, stadiums, and you couldn't get it [up there]. So there are parts of it, there are monoliths that are all lying around in docklands somewhere and are spotted around the world, as far as I know."

A longtime treasure among hardcore SABBATH fans, "Born Again" was re-released in the spring of 2011 as a special two-CD set featuring a 1983 live performance from the Reading Festival.

At the time of its initial release, "Born Again" was a commercial success. It was the highest-charting BLACK SABBATH album in the United Kingdom since "Sabbath Bloody Sabbath" and became an American Top 40 hit. Despite this, it became the first BLACK SABBATH album to not have any RIAA certification (gold or platinum) in the U.S.

Styx have released a lyric video for "Save Us From Ourselves", featured on their latest album, Crash Of The Crown, released back in June via the band’s label, Alpha Dog 2T/UMe. Find the clip below.


Styx’s holy mission for cutting Crash Of The Crown was crystal-clear to its co-creator from the get-go. “Absolutely no obstacles were going to get in the way of how we approached creating this album,” Shaw concludes about the herculean recording efforts of his fellow COTC makers. “And everything came out exactly the way we wanted to hear it.”







Tracklisting:


"The Fight Of Our Lives"
" A Monster"
"Reveries"
"Hold Back The Darkness"
"Save Us From Ourselves"
"Crash Of The Crown"
"Our Wonderful Lives"
"Common Ground"
"Sound The Alarm"
"Long Live The King"
"Lost At Sea"
"Coming Out The Other Side"
"To Those"
"Another Farewell"
"Stream"


"Save Us From Ourselves" lyric video:





“Reveries” lyric video:





"Crash Of The Crown" lyric video:





Styx are kicking off their 50th anniversary year by taking the Las Vegas stage once again for an unforgettable five-night engagement at The Venetian Theatre inside The Venetian Resort Las Vegas along with very special guest legendary, multi-Platinum, Rock & Roll Hall of Fame rocker, Nancy Wilson (Heart). The shows will be held on January 28 and 29 and February 2, 4 and 5, 2022. Tickets start at $45, plus applicable fees, and are available for purchase at Ticketmaster.com, VenetianLasVegas.com, any box office at The Venetian Resort or by calling 702 414 9000 or 866 641 7469.





For these special performances, Styx - Tommy Shaw (vocals, guitars), James “JY” Young (vocals, guitars), Lawrence Gowan (vocals, keyboards), Todd Sucherman (drums) and Ricky Phillips (bass), along with the occasional surprise appearance by original bassist Chuck Panozzo - has created an exclusive set list and new stage production. Nancy Wilson is also working on some exciting plans of her own during the residency. The multi-show run will pay tribute to both Styx’s and Wilson's combined 50 years as one of the most successful rock and roll bands in history and one of rock’s most illustrious guitar legends.


“We are thrilled to announce that Nancy Wilson, the super talented singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist performer we’ve enjoyed as a member of Heart, will be joining Styx on stage when we return to the Venetian in Las Vegas for five nights: January 28, 29 and February 2,4 and 5. Talk about ‘these dreams’ coming true!!! Come join us!” - Styx singer/guitarist Tommy Shaw


“Looking forward to collaborating with another artist in Las Vegas. We had great fun with Don Felder and are looking forward to rocking with Nancy Wilson.” - Styx co-founding guitarist James “JY” Young


“I’m so pleased to be part of the Styx plus Nancy Wilson collaboration. I think it’s going to be fun and really different from other shows.” - Nancy Wilson


(Photo - Rick Diamond)

Benediction singer Dave Ingram (ex-Bolt Thrower) has issued an update on the forthcoming debut album from his project, Hellfrost And Fire.





Says Ingram: "Finally, I can speak more about the debut Hellfrost And Fire full-length release, coming in December from Transcending Obscurity Records. The album goes up for pre-order soon, and you can check out one of the songs (below).




Lineup is yours truly on vocals, Rick “Dennis” DeMusis on guitar & bass, Travis Ruvo on drums, and with guest solos from Scott Fairfax. Album artwork by the darkly talented Propraetor.


The band's sound is very old school death metal, in the very distinct vein of Celtic Frost and Hellhammer - hence the band name - and you'll certainly hear that influence throughout the entire album. At some point I bet the comment "Tom G. called, and wants his 'UH!' back" is made by some wag of a reviewer.


This album has been ready for quite some time, but was delayed by the pandemic. We are very proud to be able to start promoting this, and finally getting the music out there. Enjoy!"

Carlos Santana has canceled his Las Vegas residency dates following a health scare. The guitarist was scheduled to perform eight dates at House of Blues at Mandalay Bay this month, beginning on Wednesday.

Santana said in a YouTube message Wednesday afternoon he had experienced chest discomfort Saturday and asked his wife and bandmate Cindy Blackman Santana to take him to the hospital.

"Just wanted to share with you some clarity with specificity what's been going on with my physicality," Santana said in the video. "There's been rumors flying around here and there about this and that. So, I'm here to just crystallize and make it clear. Last Saturday I had an incident where I asked my wife Cindy to take me to the hospital 'cause I had this thing happening in my chest.

"So, when we went there we found out that I needed to take care of it," he added. "So I am, and so I'm going to be taking time out for a little bit to make sure I replenish and I rest and catch up with my health so that when I play for you I would play the way I'm used to and give you 150 percent. I wouldn't show up unless I can do that. So other than that, I hope you and your family are enjoying good health, peace of mind, and joy. I know I will. Thank you for being a fan, and your oneness, and your caring. Peace."

Michael Vrionis, the president of Santana's management company Universal Tone Management, said in a statement that the legendary guitarist "had an unscheduled heart procedure that impacted his performance in Las Vegas" and added that he is "doing fantastic and is anxious to be back on stage soon. He profoundly regrets that this 'speed bump' necessitated the cancellation of his upcoming performances. He is looking forward to seeing you all very soon."

Santana is expected back on stage on January 26, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

Carlos is currently promoting his latest album, "Blessings And Miracles", which was released via BMG on October 15. The record's first single, "Move", saw the music legend and guitar icon reteamed with MATCHBOX 20 singer Rob Thomas.

Professionally filmed video of METALLICA performing the song "Enter Sandman" live during the band's second headlining set at the Welcome To Rockville festival on Sunday, November 14 at the Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida can be seen below.

Welcome To Rockville, a four-day rock festival, kicked off its 10th edition on November 11 at a new home in Daytona Beach.

METALLICA played another show at Welcome To Rockville with a different setlist on Friday, November 12.

Along with two nights of METALLICA, this year's Welcome To Rockville featured DISTURBED, SLIPKNOT, A DAY TO REMEMBER, LYNYRD SKYNYRD, LAMB OF GOD, SOCIAL DISTORTION, MASTODON and many others. The event was also livestreamed on Danny Wimmer Presents's Twitch channel, featuring select performances, interviews and behind-the-scenes content at twitch.tv/DWPresents.

This past July, METALLICA announced details of its massive 40th-birthday celebration: The band will mark this milestone by inviting the worldwide METALLICA family to join them in their hometown of San Francisco for two unique live shows featuring two different setlists December 17 and 19 at Chase Center. Tickets for these shows were made available only to registered members of METALLICA's Fifth Member fan club.

The 40th-anniversary shows see METALLICA return to Chase Center for the first time since the September 2019 "S&M²" concerts that also served as the venue's grand opening. It was impossible not to notice that fans from more than 60 countries traveled to the City by the Bay and completely took over San Francisco for "S&M²" weekend. That outpouring of positive vibes from around the world inspired METALLICA to invite those Fifth Members back — and this time, in addition to the two shows at Chase Center, METALLICA will be curating other live music and comedy events, Blackened Whiskey tastings, and so much more all around the city during the long four-day weekend of celebrations starting on Thursday, December 16.

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

METALLICA's awards and accolades include nine Grammy Awards, two American Music Awards, multiple MTV Video Music Awards, and its 2009 induction into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame. In June of 2018, the band was awarded one of the most prestigious musical honors in the world: Sweden's Polar Music Prize. METALLICA's newest release, the "S&M²" album and film, arrived in August 2020 on the band's own Blackened Recordings label. "S&M²" chronicles METALLICA and San Francisco Symphony's September 6 and September 8, 2019 "S&M²" concerts that served as the grand opening of San Francisco's Chase Center and reunited the band and Symphony for the first time in 20 years. "S&M²" brings those historic shows back to life, capturing more than two and a half hours of James, Lars, Kirk Hammett and Robert Trujillo joining forces with the nearly 80-strong San Francisco Symphony, legendary music director of the orchestra Michael Tilson Thomas and conductor Edwin Outwater.

Swedish melodic death metal pioneers AT THE GATES have released a music video for the song "Cosmic Pessimism" off their latest studio album, "The Nightmare Of Being". The clop, directed by Costin Chioreanu of Twilight 13 Media, can be seen below.

"'Cosmic Pessimism' is one of the central tracks of the new record," states AT THE GATES vocalist Tomas Lindberg. "Not only drawing the title from the Eugene Thacker book of the same name, the lyrics actually are written by Eugene himself. This is something I am very proud of, the collaboration with one of the central figures when it comes to modern-day pessimism and the idea of how it correlates to cosmic horror. It is a suffocatingly strict and repetitive song, and it displays the mood of the lyrics brilliantly, in my opinion.

"AT THE GATES have always been fans of anything eclectic and extreme, and we are finally at a moment in our career where we feel comfortable lifting in some of these, more avantgarde influences within the AT THE GATES trademark sound. Minimalistic neoclassical influences here clash with the Deutsche rock/'Kraut' and no wave sounds that we love so much. The video is once again shot by Costin, our longtime collaborator, and, once again, he managed to add extra depth and texture to the music and lyrics."

While main parts for "The Nightmare Of Being" were recorded in several different Swedish studios — drums at Studio Gröndal with Jens Bogren, guitars and bass with Andy La Rocque at Sonic Train Studio and vocals at Welfare Sounds with Per Stålberg — the LP was mixed and mastered at Fascination Street Studios (AMON AMARTH, OPETH, KREATOR) by Jens Bogren, who has previously worked with AT THE GATES on the "At War With Reality" comeback album in 2014. The album's visual concept was developed by artist Eva Nahon.

2018's "To Drink From The Night Itself" was the first AT THE GATES album written and recorded without lead guitarist/primary songwriter Anders Björler, who departed in 2017. He has since been replaced by Jonas Stålhammar.

AT THE GATES is:

Adrian Erlandsson - Drums

Jonas Björler - Bass

Tomas Lindberg - Vocals

Jonas Stålhammar - Guitar

Martin Larsson - Guitar

Photo by Ester Segarra

Canadian progressive sci-fi metal innovators VOIVOD will release their new studio album, "Synchro Anarchy", on February 11, 2022 via Century Media Records. The follow-up to 2018's "The Wake" was produced by Francis Perron at RadicArt Studio and features cover artwork created by VOIVOD drummer Michel "Away" Langevin.

Langevin comments: "We are eager to present our latest work, a real collaborative effort. The new album represents countless hours of writing, demoing, recording, mixing and so on. The band and Francis Perron at RadicArt Studio gave their very best to make it happen under unusual circumstances, which led us to call it 'Synchro Anarchy'. We feel that the sound and music are 100% VOIVOD, and we hope everyone will enjoy it as much as we had fun making it. We certainly can't wait to play it live."

"Synchro Anarchy" track listing:

01. Paranormalium

02. Synchro Anarchy

03. Planet Eaters

04. Mind Clock

05. Sleeves Off

06. Holographic Thinking

07. The World Today

08. Quest For Nothing

09. Memory Failure

Further details about the album's release formats, a first single and video, as well as the start of the pre-order campaign will be announced on Friday, December 10.

Seven months ago, VOIVOD guitarist Daniel "Chewy" Mongrain told The Metal Voice that he and his bandmates were "still in the writing process" for follow-up to 2018's "The Wake". He said: "We're still sharing files and trying to catch up and put more time into it. I think the situation will get better and maybe we'll have a chance to meet more often and jam together; that's where the magic happens, usually. But we've learned to work in this context as well. And that's cool, because I received a bunch of tracks from Away [drummer Michel Langevin], who is programming drums in Logic [audio software] with his computer, and it sounded exactly like Away's playing. I was super impressed, because sometimes when you use a computer, it kind of sounds square. But everything was perfect. So it's really fun to do. It's a different way. So it's gonna bring it different ideas, I think, if we welcome it in a creative way."

Regarding the musical direction of the new VOIVOD material, Mongrain said: "[It's] hard to tell at the moment, but personally, I feel like [injecting] a little bit more thrashy [elements and] some dirtiness, so to speak, to the sound. Compexity has always been part of my influence in songwriting — I don't know what's the problem with me, but it's always there, so I'm not worrying about that side. But maybe [make it] a bit less polished and more rock and roll, I guess."

VOIVOD released a new live album, "Lost Machine - Live", in November 2020 via Century Media Records. The disc was recorded in Québec City during the worldwide touring cycle for "The Wake".

In the summer of 2020, VOIVOD released a new three-track 12-inch vinyl and digital EP titled "The End Of Dormancy" via Century Media Records. The EP is centered around a special "Metal Section" version of the title track (off VOIVOD's latest album, "The Wake") with added trumpets, saxophone and trombones. The complementary songs on this release are exclusive live versions of "The End Of Dormancy (Metal Section)" and the group's classic "The Unknown Knows", recorded at Montreal Jazz Fest 2019.

"The End Of Dormancy" EP came with artwork by Langevin and is available on 180-fram 12-inch vinyl.

For over two decades Sweden's Cult Of Luna have forged a sound incomparable to others - ambitious, epic, visceral, and drenched in emotion. Their forthcoming album The Long Road North is one of their most beautiful and dynamic works to date and features guest appearances from composer Colin Stetson, Phoenix's Christian Mazzalai and Laurent Brancowitz plus more. On The Long Road North's opening track, "Cold Burn", listeners are immediately immersed in familiar, yet refreshingly new Cult of Luna territory. Its pulsating rhythms pummel, and Persson's roar sears through layers of guitar.


"Cold Burn" is available today alongside an otherworldly video which previews the single's gaming experience that will be released on February 11 alongside the album. The video and game, created by Linus Johansson of North Kingdom Greenhouse masterfully combines and captures Cult of Luna's ethereal soundscapes with real-time technology and interactive storytelling. Within the video, fans are able to explore the visual world created for The Long Road North. Stay tuned for more info on the game on Instagram.


The Long Road North sees its release on February 11, 2022 via Metal Blade Records and marks as a follow-up to this year's The Raging River EP. As is the case with every album from the band in recent years, there is a lot of shifting of dynamics and sonic density, and perhaps more so than usual on The Long Road North. "It's a big and cinematic sounding album. I think one of the reasons why we have been able to be so productive the last couple of years is that we have been consistently writing from the heart. We have let our instincts guide us, and I think it's getting clearer where we are heading," reveals vocalist/guitarist Johannes Persson, who has been one of the primary driving forces behind the band since their inception.




Persson continues, "The long road north is a long road home. A direction dictated by a call that penetrates rock and echoes through the forest. It flows over every lake, accelerated by the wind. When it reaches you, you know it's time. Time to move forward. You don't know where it will lead but you put the trust in it. With eyes raised towards the midnight sun it pulls you closer. The road is long and the end is uncertain."





The Long Road North Formats – preorder on MetalBlade.com:


- Digital & Streaming
- CD Digibook
- Deluxe Boxset
- 180g black vinyl (EU exclusive)
- Wine-red marbled vinyl (EU exclusive - limited to 700 copies)
- Silver vinyl (EU exclusive - limited to 500 copies)
- Clear light rust marbled vinyl (EU exclusive - limited to 500 copies)
- Clear beige-grey marbled vinyl (UK Indie exclusive - limited to 300 copies)
- Orange brown marbled vinyl (Season of Mist exclusive - limited to 300 copies)
- Clear light green marbled vinyl (Sound Pollution exclusive - limited to 300 copies)
- Tan orange marbled vinyl (Evil Greed exclusive - limited to 300 copies)
- Ochre brown marbled vinyl (Eyesore exclusive - limited to 200 copies)
- Ruby marbled vinyl (Kings Road/Metal Blade Europe exclusive - limited to 500 copies)
- Opaque light blue marbled vinyl (Band exclusive - limited to 500 copies)
- Transparent light blue marbled vinyl (Band exclusive - Tour Edition - limited to 500 copies)
- Opaque White (US exclusive)
- Light red marbled (US exclusive)





Tracklisting:


“Cold Burn”
“The Silver Arc”
“Beyond I”
“An Offering To The Wild”
“Into The Night”
“Full Moon”
“The Long Road North”
“Blood Upon Stone”
“Beyond II”


“Cold Burn” video:





Recognized for their apocalyptic live performances that unrestrainedly explore the audience's imagination, Cult of Luna will bring their stunning live show to fans just in time as The Long Road North hits shelves worldwide. Currently they are confirmed to tour UK and EU next spring with Alcest, Caspian and Holy Fawn - North American dates to follow.





Tour dates:


February (with Alcest and Svalbard)
24 - Copenhagen, Denmark - Vega
25 - Berlin, Germany - Huxley's
26 - Krakow, Poland - Club Studio
27 - Warsaw, Poland - Progresja
28 - Prague, Czech Republic - Roxy


March (with Alcest and Svalbard)
1 - Vienna, Austria - Arena
2 - Ljubljana, Slovenia - Kino Siska
4 - Lausanne, Switzerland - Les Docks
5 - Stuttgart, Germany - Wizemann
6 - München, Germany - Muffathalle
7 - Wiesbaden, Germany - Schlachthof
8 - Münster, Germany - Skaters Palace
9 - Utrecht, Netherlands - Tivoli Vredenburg Ronda
10 - Kortrijk, Belgium - Depart
11 - Paris, France - L'Olympia
12 - London, England - The Forum / Beyond The Readshift Festival


October (with Caspian and Holy Fawn)
2 - Esch, Luxembourg - Rockhal
3 - Cologne, Germany - Live Music Hall
4 - Geneva, Switzerland - Alhambra
5 - Toulouse, France - Le Metronum
6 - Biarritz, France - Atabal
7 - Barcelona, Spain - AMFest
8 - Madrid, Spain - But
9 - Porto, Spain - Amplifest
11 - Nantes, France - Stereolux
12 - Lille, France - Aeronef
13 - Strasbourg, France - La Laiterie
14 - Zwolle, Netherlands - Hedon
15 - Leipzig, Germany - Felsenkeller
16/ - Wroclaw, Poland - A2
17 - Budapest, Hungary - Durer Kert
19 - Athens, Greece - Fuzz Club


(Photo - Silvia Grav)

Legendary leaders of dark anthemic music, Within Temptation, have released "Forsaken" (taken from their online show, The Aftermath) today. "Forsaken" was originally released as a part of the band’s third studio album The Silent Force in 2004 and is a rare asset in Within Temptation's setlist.
 
However, the band played a brand new version of "Forsaken" during their audiovisual online spectacle The Aftermath which originally aired on July 15 & 16, 2021. You can now listen to "Forsaken" (taken from The Aftermath) across all streaming services ahead of a new broadcast of the highly praised online show.


"Forsaken" is available on all streaming platforms here.
 
The band received rave reviews for the spectacular original screening of The Aftermath, being praised for their unique take on a live stream show, featuring incredible stage sets, state-of-the-art digital effects and breathtaking musical performances with guest artists from all around the world.
 
"The Aftermath is a show fueled by bleeding-edge technology that takes place in different scenes of a post-apocalyptic world, in which we are witness of the aftermath of destruction of mankind," explained singer Sharon den Adel, ahead of its original broadcast. "A world in which it is unknown if anyone or anything of human race survived. It is a search for answers about both its becoming as well as its legacy."
 
As a gift for their fans during these extremely difficult times, The Aftermath will now be available for streaming from December 24 until December 31. The show will be free to watch again for fans that bought a ticket for the original dates aired in July, and new tickets are now available from €7,99. Get your ticket here.







On other news, in March 2022, the Dutch band will kick off their Worlds Collide Tour – a massive European co-headline tour together with Evanescence. The bands will tour Europe's most important venues, including The O2 in London, Accorhotels Arena in Paris, and Ziggo Dome in the Netherlands.
 
After a very busy summer festival season, the band will embark on an American stadium tour with the legendary Iron Maiden, appearing as their special guests during the second leg of the tour, taking them to the biggest stages across America in October 2022.
 
Den Adel comments: "After a few quiet years, we hope that our shows in 2022 will take place, with the icing on the cake: a tour with Iron Maiden! We have all been huge fans of the band for so long and there is no bigger compliment than being invited as a special guest for their tour. We can’t wait!”


Dates supporting Iron Maiden are as follows:


October
3 - Sioux Falls, SD - Denny Sanford Premier Center 
5 - Chicago, IL - United Center 
7 - Columbus, OH - Nationwide Arena 
9 - Detroit, MI - Little Caesars Arena 
11 - Toronto, ON - Scotiabank Centre 
12 - Hamilton, ON - Firstontario Centre 
15 - Ottawa, ON - Canadian Tire Centre 
17 - Worcester, MA - Dcu Center 
19 - Belmont Park, NY - Ubs Arena 
21 - Newark, NJ - Prudential Center 
23 - Washington, DC - Capital One Arena 
25 - Greensboro, NC - Greensboro Coliseum 
27 - Tampa, FL - Amalie Arena 

Black Lion Records has announced the signing of Swedish melodic death metallers Souldrainer. The band has issued the following statement:


"We are extremely excited to announce that we have signed a deal with Black Lion Records and they will release our fourth album, which we are working on at this very moment. Black Lion Records have proven to be very driven to promote their bands in this current climate of the music industry."


Never imitating, but building upon the bricks laid by bands like Hypocrisy, Pain, Amon Amarth, Rammstein and Samael, Souldrainer is the representation of the next breed of melodic death metal. Thick layered rhythm guitars, atmospheric angel choirs, string ensembles and ripping vocals, Souldrainer creates a distinguished harmonic aggression that hits you harder than a brick-wall-in-your-face.




Formed in 1999, by guitarist, Marcus Edvardsson, original members Johan Klitkou and Nils Fjellström, Souldrainer was at first a studio project. The foundation was Death Metal with an addition of strings and demonic angel choirs that adds to the atmosphere in a morbid mixture. It creates a feeling of “dying violently in a beautiful way.”


With three full length albums in their catalogue, followed by extensive European touring, the band is now recording their fourth album slated for release 2022.


For more information on Souldrainer go to this location.

Devin Townsend's new album, The Puzzle / Snuggles, is available as a very limited (1000 copies worldwide) high-end box set made of thick cardboard containing several exclusive items:


- a 7” full colour HD screen that automatically starts playing The Puzzle / Snuggles Movie upon opening. 


- the screen has a USB port for charging its internal battery or to swap its content manually. 




- a custom The Puzzle USB Stick that contains: An interactive menu for navigating content, The Puzzle / Snuggles movie in 5.1 DTS, The Puzzle Documentary, The Puzzle in stereo WAV files, Digital Booklet, E-Book (PDF) Interactive Subtype Paperback Novel, the writing debut of Devin’s sister Merridith Townsend. 


- a custom Snuggles USB Stick that contains: An interactive menu for navigating content, Snuggles in stereo WAV files, Digital Booklet, PDF of Making of the Artwork by Travis Smith and Devin Townsend. 


- The Puzzle 96 page glossy graphic novel by Mark Leary & Devin Townsend. 


- The Stick Men: 4 plastic figurines that play a leading part in the movie. 


- a beanbag puppet of the Puddles caracter. Its soft tushy can act as a screen wipe. (he’s a total asswipe, basically). 


- a Certificate of Authenticity signed and hand numbered by Devin





The tracklist is as follows:


The Puzzle
"Chromatic Ridge"
"Life Is But A Dream"
"Yucky Lung"
"Kittenhead"
"Shark In The Ice"
"Devil In The Details"
"Hammerhead Sugarplum"
"Me And The Moon"
"Anxiety in Pyjamas"
"The Yugas"
"Albert Hall"
"Star Chasm"
"Perfect Owl"
"Maybe Over The Void"
"Light Year Whale"
"Frog Flowers"
"Mother"
"Southern Sky Geometry"
"The Puzzle"
"Monuments Of Glitch"


Snuggles
"Beyond Measure"
"Blue Dot"
"Drifting And Dreaming"
"Sundance"
"Minds Are Changing"
"The Ocean"
"Distant, Elegant"
"Replikiss"
"I Agree"
"Tryst"
"Sunset Rump"
"The Option"


The Puzzle / Snuggles Movie (soundtrack differs from the audio)
"Chromatic Ridge"
"Yucky Lung"
"Shark In The Ice"
"Devil In The Details"
"Hammerhead Sugarplum"
"Albert Hall"
"Light Year Whale"
"The Puzzle"
"Mother"
"Anxiety In Pyjamas"
"Me And The Moon"
"Distant, Elegant"
"Life Is But A Dream"
"Monuments Of Glitch"
"Beyond Measure"
"Blue Dot"
"Drifting And Dreaming"
"Sundance"
"Minds Are Changing"
"The Ocean"
"Distant, Elegant"
"Replikiss"
"I Agree"
"Tryst"
"Sunset Rump"
"The Option"


The box set is available via Finland's Recordshop X here.





 

"Hola amigos! We've got some big news, and are excited to announce a new addition to the Faster Pussycat lineup," says vocalist Taime Downe.


"Please help us welcome Ronnie Simmons (Rose Tattoo, Richie Ramone) to the pussy posse! A longtime friend and a family member of ours already, he will be playing guitar alongside Mr. Sam Bam Koltun - it’s going to be so bad ass! We are all stoked to have him aboard!


Ronnie's first gig with us will be January 1, 2022 at the Whisky A Go Go. This will mark our first show in Hollywood since before the pandemic shutdown, and we'll be keepin' a lookout for some of you good ol’ mofos we haven’t seen in a spell!




We'd also like to send a heartfelt thanks to Critter for his time with us. You’ll be missed and always remain our brother. Good luck with your future endeavors, esè!


Lastly, the new shipment of 'Nola' vinyl has arrived, and should be posting this week! New merch is also popping up on the site as we speak, so take a gander will ya!? Hope everyone has a wonderful Season’s Beatins!"








(Photo courtesy of Faster Pussycat's Facebook page)


 

Blacktop Mojo has issued the official music video for "Rewind" from their self-titled fourth studio album, which was released earlier this year. Directed and edited by Dustin Dow, the live performance was shot at the world famous Machine Shop in Flint, MI.





Order your copy of Blacktop Mojo at this location. Cover art and tracklisting are as follows:







"Wicked Woman"
"Bed Tundy"
"Latex"
"Rewind"
"Jealousy"
"Make Believe"
"Darlin' I Won't Tell"
"Do It For The Money"
"Hold Me Down"
"Cough"
"Stratus Melancholia"
"Tail Lights"


Check out the previously released videos for "Tail Lights" and "Wicked Woman":








 

Ted Nugent has praised jurors who cleared Kyle Rittenhouse on the five charges against him — ranging from intentional homicide to reckless homicide to reckless endangerment — saying that "the most pure, righteous instinct and right to self-defense" was supported.

Rittenhouse fatally shot two people and wounded a third during a night of unrest in Kenosha, Wisconsin last year following the police shooting of Jacob Blake. Rittenhouse was acquitted on all five counts less than two weeks ago after a jury deliberated for 27 hours over the course of four days.

Nugent addressed the Ritenhouse verdict during his first post-Thanksgiving YouTube livestream on Monday (November 29). He said in part (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Now is the time to optimize the thankfulness for this unique, wonderful, one-of-a-kind American dream, by taking advantage of examples of where good overcomes evil, where good overcomes bad and the ugly. And the ultimate example of that is that Kyle Rittenhouse implemented, executed perfect self-defense.

"If you're against Kyle Rittenhouse, you're on the side of evil," he continued. "If you're against Kyle Rittenhouse, you think that evil should win over good. That's exactly what that means. If you are saying, 'Thank you, God,' 'Thank you, the Kenosha jury,' 'Thank you, the Kenosha judge,' 'Thank you, Kyle Rittenhouse,' because good people believe in good over evil, if you really believe that, a family — hallelujah — isn't enough. You've gotta call your mayor, your senator, your congressman, your governor, your attorney general. Leave a message at their office that we believe in good over evil and we are thanking God and the Kenosha jury and the Kenosha court system for proving that the most pure, righteous instinct and right to self-defense is supported.

"This is a moment in time. This is a powerful moment for good people to stand up and be counted, because those against Kyle Rittenhouse are on the side of evil. They think that paroled child molestors and rapists and felons should be let out on the street to threaten our lives. And according to the left, according to CNN, according to the protestors against Kyle Rittenhouse, we should bend over and let evil kill us. That's what the other side stands for. That's sick. People against self-defense that are voicing against Kyle Rittenhouse, those people are sick. That is an evil sickness, to think that good people should surrender to life-threatening evil. That's what we're looking at here.

"Let everybody know that we support good over evil, Kyle Rittenhouse over evil, self-defense against evil, life-threatening forces," Ted added. "Now is the time to shout that loud and proud everywhere we go."

Earlier in the month, Nugent made headlines when he said during a podcast that he wanted to give a lifetime supply of ammunition to Rittenhouse. He told "Rock Of Nations With Dave Kinchen": "I'm going to get a hold of Kyle Rittenhouse and I'm going to provide him a lifetime supply of ammunition." The 72-year-old rocker added he would also "like to begin the Kyle Rittenhouse tactical masterclass because as a young man, boy did he do good. He knew that weapon." Nugent went on to call Rittenhouse "a samurai" who "under those unbelievable, traumatic and physically assaultive conditions — he did his job."