French melodic death metal act Misanthrope confirmed that their former bassist Lionel Bolore(1990-1992) has passed away after battling with a cancer for the last five years.

The band comments: "Lionel notre frère, bassiste des années "Hater of Mankind - Deus Puerilis" nous a quitté hier soir emporté après 5 années de lutte contre le cancer. R.I.P brother Lionel Bolore (forever mon Lili forever notre Docteur Bollocks forever notre Yo 666).

"Sincères condoléances à sa famille, son épouse, ses 4 enfants, ses proches et ses amis.

"Passes le bonjour à Jeff Hanneman et Lemmy Kilmister pour nous!"

Translation: "Lionel our brother, bass player during the "Hater of Mankind - Deus Puerilis" years, left us yesterday evening after a five year-long battle with cancer. R.I.P brother Lionel Bolore (forever my Lili, forever our Dr Bollocks, forever our Yo 666).

"Sincere condolences to his family, his wife, his four children, his close ones and his friends.

"Say hello to Jeff Hanneman and Lemmy Kilmister for us!"

Greece's gothic doomsters Daylight Misery have released a standalone single in memory of Dimitris Theodoropoulos, founder and guitar player of the band Rex Mundi, who died on May 31st, 2021. The sales from this release will go to "Floga Parents' Association Of Children With Cancer". The song "Cancerworm" features vocals from Aaron Stainthorpe (My Dying Bride) and Sakis Tolis (Rotting Christ), a guest solo by Gus G., and keyboards by Kostas Panagiotou (Pantheïst).

You can check out the single through the YouTube player below and download it at Daylight Misery's Bandcamp page over here.

Former MEGADETH bassist David Ellefson says that he was recently given the title of baron by Sealand — described as the smallest independent state in the world.

Sealand is a WWII defense platform off the coast of Britain, consisting of a large steel deck sitting atop two concrete towers. It was seized and proclaimed a nation by a pirate broadcaster named Roy Bates in 1967. His grandson Liam Bates currently holds the title of Prince Of Sealand.

To fund Sealand's operational costs — including two full-time security personnel who live on the micronation year-round — Sealand's online store sells t-shirts, stamps and royal titles. A lord, lady, baron or baroness peerage costs $44.99. To receive the title of sir or dame, you will need to cough up $129.99.

Ellefson discussed his Sealand lordship in a new interview with Drew Stone of The New York Hardcore Chronicles Live! he said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Drew [Fortier, musician, filmmaker and actor], one day we were talking, and I was talking about castles across Europe. And he said, 'Dude, you can go to Sealand' — look it up online — 'you can buy like a square foot of land of Sealand.' So I became a lord, 'cause that's what a landowner is, is a lord. And then I upgraded to becoming a baron. And then I even paid another couple of hundred bucks and became a sir. So now I'm Sir Lord Baron David Ellefson, the royal and noble title of the royal family. So I [paid] a few hundred bucks and became a sir as opposed to Paul McCartney and Elton John; they have to pay — I don't know — a million pounds to the Queen or something to become a sir. So you can refer to me now as award-winning [film] producer Sir David Ellefson."

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.

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.

Fan-filmed video footage of PRIEST, the synthwave act featuring former members of the Grammy Award-winning Swedish rock act GHOST, performing this past Friday, November 26 at Hus 7 in Stockholm, Sweden can be seen below.

Hailing from the same icy darkness of the Scandinavian inland that birthed GHOST, PRIEST consists of a trio of musicians — vocalist Mercury, who was known as Water when he played bass for GHOST, keyboardist Salt, formerly known as GHOST keyboardist Air, and programmer/ keyboardist Sulfur — who came together in 2017 and started releasing their own unique brew of electronic music that bears little sonic resemblance to their former band yet still shares the same creative DNA. But whereas GHOST borrowed their theatrics from old school horror and '80s rock, PRIEST comes steeped in cyberpunk and industrial music.

PRIEST recently inked a deal with Cleopatra Records. The band's new full-length album, tentatively due in 2022, will be produced by another GHOST alumni, Simon Söderberg (GHOST guitarist and producer/engineer of debut album "Opus Eponymous")

Cleopatra owner Brian Perera stated: "We've been living in this genre since the '90s so we have a pretty good feel for when bands do it right, and as soon as we heard PRIEST, we knew they were something special. We see an extremely bright future ahead for the band and are thrilled to be partnering with them to make that happen."

PRIEST concurred, saying: "Signing with such a legendary label like Cleopatra will probably be the biggest step in our career. With great knowledge of the genre we're in, we can't think of a better match for PRIEST. Our next album is by far the best yet and we can't wait to unleash it to a wider and more diverse audience."

Last year, PRIEST released a new album called "Cyberhead", the follow-up to its debut, "New Flesh". "Cyberhead" was the first album since original singer Tom Åsberg (also known as Ginger Khan) left the band to pursue other projects. PRIEST mastermind Linton Rubino has taken over on vocals, which are performed by a masked character they call Mercury.

Back in 2017, GHOST leader Tobias Forge was sued by four former members of the band after being dismissed by the group's founder the previous December. They accused the singer of cheating them out of their rightful share of the profits from the band's album releases and world tours. The lawsuit was filed in the district court of Linköping, Sweden, where GHOST was originally based. It claimed that a partnership agreement existed between Forge and the four former members, all of whom performed anonymously in the band as Nameless Ghouls. As a result of the lawsuit, Forge was forced to reveal his identity after years of performing in a mask as Papa Emeritus. He has maintained that "no legal partnership" ever existed between him and the other members.

In May 2018, Linton, who played bass live in GHOST from 2013 to 2014 in the role of the Nameless Ghoul Water, blasted the band's latest album, "Prequelle", saying he was "ashamed to have been part of that" and calling the music "a joke" and "mainstream shit."

Drummer Jon Dette (TESTAMENT, SLAYER, ANTHRAX) has uploaded an eight-minute video in which he offers a "small but powerful drumming tip" on what he believes is a staple to the SLAYER drumming sound: the ruff or the diddle or grace notes.

In the clip, which can be seen below, the 51-year-old Dette — who played as a full-time member of SLAYER from 1996 to 1997 and as a touring member in 2013 — says in part (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "A tip for this week is a SLAYER tip, for SLAYER songs. And in my opinion, it's one of the coolest little things that you hear in SLAYER drumming, particularly Dave's [Lombardo, original SLAYER drummer] drumming. And that is what we could either call a ruff or a diddle or grace notes — whatever you wanna call it. It's just one of those little things, almost like you hear it but maybe you don't hear it, if that makes sense. It's just this little thing — it's brilliant; it's amazing; I love it. It's one of my favorite things to do, whether I'm playing a SLAYER song or even ANTHRAX songs or any other songs. But what I wanted to point out is not only what's done but a mistake that I see some people making. I made the same mistake early in my drumming journey as well.

"So I'm going to demonstrate the correct way and what we would call the incorrect way," he added. "Again, there's no right or wrong way to do stuff, but if you wanna learn the right way that we do it, then I'm gonna show you the way that it's done. So with that, then you can roll however you want to at that point."

In a 2013 interview with Metal Rules, Dette revealed that he worked with SLAYER guitarist Kerry King on some of the early ideas for what became the band's final studio album, 2015's "Repentless", before he was replaced by a returning Paul Bostaph. "I actually started working with SLAYER after we had gotten back from Australia [in early 2013]," he said. "We started working for demo and music for their new record. And then obviously what happened with Jeff [Hanneman, guitar] passing away, that changed some things. But it was definitely moving in that direction for me to be working with SLAYER [again]. But as I said there are just some things that changed with that once Jeff passed away, and I think, ultimately, they felt more comfortable with ‎Paul Bostaph, just because Paul had been in the band for longer. I think it was not going to be as much of a shock to their fans, because first Dave is gone, and now Jeff is gone, the band, it's now down to two original members. So if Paul makes them feel more comfortable and at home, then more respect to him and I wish them the best with that."

King confirmed that he worked with Dette early on in the songwriting process for "Repentless" before deciding to re-hire Bostaph instead. "We pursued it," Kerry said in a 2015 interview. "We got back from Australia. I did demos with Jon Dette, I did demos with Paul — the same two songs, under the same circumstances; they each had, like, 24 to 36 hours to learn 'em — and just see where it went. And Tom [Araya, SLAYER bassist/vocalist] and Jeff [Hanneman, SLAYER guitarist] both decided Paul, and in hindsight, that was the right choice."

Dette originally joined SLAYER in 1996 when Paul Bostaph left to work on his side project THE TRUTH ABOUT SEAFOOD. Dette performed with SLAYER at the 1996 Ozzfest to promote the band's covers album, "Undisputed Attitude".

Prior to joining SLAYER, Dette appeared on TESTAMENT's "Live At The Fillmore" album, which came out in 1995.

In recent years, Dette had played sporadic shows with ANTHRAX as a temporary replacement for Charlie Benante, who had been undergoing physical therapy in his continuing battle with carpal tunnel syndrome.

Former MÖTÖRHEAD and current SCORPIONS drummer Mikkey Dee received the honorable title "Gothenburger Of The Year" in his hometown of Gothenburg, Sweden on Saturday, November 27.

"Gothenburger Of The Year" is an honorary title awarded to a resident of the city who has gained special distinction during the year and acted in a praiseworthy manner that has inspired pride and given pleasure to many people.

As part of yesterday's festivities, Mikkey got his name on his very own tram. He drove 40 tons of metal to the Queens Square where he was honored in front of fans and the people of Gothenburg. The award is given by the Gothenburg city council and Gothenburg tram association.

"We, the people of Gothenburg, feel an enormous pride that we have an artist of the world of this caliber in our city," Gothenburg city officials said in a statement. "For over 40 years, Mikkey has performed with an amazing passion in some of the biggest bands in the world. He is true inspiration for all of us as well as young musicians."

Photos and video footage of yesterday's ceremony can be found below.

Dee, who has been a member of SCORPIONS since 2016, played drums for KING DIAMOND from 1985 until 1989. The Swedish-born drummer also played with MOTÖRHEAD from 1991 until the band's dissolution in December 2015.

Dee played on the classic KING DIAMOND albums "Fatal Portrait", "Abigail" and "Them" until he left in 1988 to join Don Dokken. He returned a year later as a session player on KING DIAMOND's "Conspiracy".


I dag har vi varit och firat vår vän och årets GÖTEBORGARE 2020

Posted by Thomas CaleoRex on Saturday, November 27, 2021



Idag gratulerar vi Mikkey Dee som fått stadens kulturpris och sitt namn på en spårvagn.

På plats var även den...

Posted by Magnus Ax on Saturday, November 27, 2021

TESTAMENT, EXODUS and DEATH ANGEL played the sole 2021 date of "The Bay Strikes Back Tour" last night (Saturday, November 27) at the Fox Theater in Oakland, California. Fan-filmed video footage of the concert can be seen below. The gig took place less than two months after the three bands shared the stage at the Aftershock festival in Sacramento.

"The Bay Strikes Back Tour" was originally scheduled to kick off on October 6 at the Fremont Theater in San Luis Obispo, California and make stops in Austin, New York, and Detroit before concluding in Oakland. The tour has since been rescheduled to take place in April and May 2022.

When "The Bay Strikes Back Tour" was postponed from its original time frame, TESTAMENT guitarist Eric Peterson said in a statement: "We were really on the fence with this decision. But seeing other bands make it through with a few mild cases and other bigger bands just canceling their entire tours, we felt it is in our best interest to postpone these shows to '22."

Added TESTAMENT guitarist Alex Skolnick: "It gives none of us any pleasure to be the bearers of bad news yet again, but here we are. Although 'Bay Strikes Back' is a top tour package for theaters, the reality is this: It can’t afford to take the risks that top-grossing larger venue tours have been taking. The type of disruptions KISS and other large outdoor venue tours have experienced could cause our shows to be permanently canceled — a lose/lose for everyone. The fact that a lower budget tour such as ours is limited to indoor venues with tight backstage space only adds to the risk. It should go without saying that calling off these dates was a 'last resort' decision, and everyone involved would much rather this weren't the case. However, this is the new reality we're all in. All we can do is hope for everyone's understanding, which we ask for sincerely."

EXODUS guitarist Gary Holt said: "We are saddened to announce that 'The Bay Strikes Back Tour' is being postponed, but the risk of cancelled shows due to positive tests leading to tour personnel being quarantined and isolated is just too great at this time. We want to feel safe, enjoy the tour and be able to hang out with our close friends. The silver lining in this is that [EXODUS's cancer-stricken drummer] Tom Hunting no longer needs chemo and will have more time to work his way back to doing a full tour."

"Usually when I'm asked to contribute a quote to an announcement, it pertains to something I'm extremely excited about," said DEATH ANGEL vocalist Mark Osegueda. "In this case, I'm gutted… It pains me to announce that 'The Bay Strikes Back' U.S. tour is being postponed. No one was looking forward to this more than me. But, on the brighter side of things, the tour is in fact going to happen — just at a later time. And I can assure you that the already ravenous to play live members of DEATH ANGEL promise to provide a crushing set during a crushing tour. The Bay WILL Strike Back!"

"The Bay Strikes Back Tour" dates:

Apr. 09 - San Luis Obispo, CA - Fremont Theater

Apr. 10 - Anaheim, CA - House of Blues

Apr. 12 - San Diego, CA - House of Blues

Apr. 13 - Las Vegas, NV - House of Blues

Apr. 15 - Tucson, AZ - Rialto Theatre

Apr. 16 - Albuquerque, NM - Sunshine Theater

Apr. 19 - Oklahoma City, OK - Diamond Ballroom

Apr. 20 - Houston, TX - White Oak Music Hall

Apr. 21 - Austin, TX - Emo's

Apr. 22 - Dallas, TX - Amplified Live

Apr. 23 - New Orleans, LA - House of Blues

Apr. 25 - Orlando, FL - Hard Rock Live (new date)

Apr. 26 - Atlanta, GA - The Masquerade

Apr. 27 - Raleigh, NC - The Ritz

Apr. 28 - Chattanooga, TN - The Signal (new date)

Apr. 30 - Sayreville, NJ - Starland Ballroom

May 01 - Baltimore, MD - Soundstage

May 02 - Boston, MA - House of Blues

May 03 - Philadelphia, PA - Theater of Living Arts

May 05 - Huntington, NY - The Paramount

May 06 - Buffalo, NY - Town Ballroom

May 07 - Cincinnati, OH - Madison Theater

May 09 - Pittsburgh, PA - Stage AE

May 10 - Cleveland, OH - The Agora

May 11 - Columbus, OH - Newport Music Hall

May 12 - Detroit, MI - The Majestic Theatre

May 14 - Joliet, IL - The Forge

May 15 - Joliet, IL - The Forge

May 17 - Minneapolis, MN - Skyway Theatre

May 19 - Denver, CO - Summit

May 20 - Salt Lake City, UT - The Depot

May 22 - Seattle, WA - Showbox (new date)

May 23 - Portland, OR - Roseland (new date)

May 25 - Sacramento, CA - Ace of Spades (new date)

All tickets purchased for the original dates will be honored for the new dates. Refunds will be available at point of purchase.

Last month, TESTAMENT's Chuck Billy and EXODUS's Steve "Zetro" Souza released a 40-minute video in which they went in depth about the two bands' decision to postpone the North American leg of teir "The Bay Strikes Back Tour" to 2022. Speaking about the thought process behind pushing back the tour, Chuck said: "I called Zet and I called Will [Carroll, drums] and Ted [Aguilar, guitar] from DEATH ANGEL and just wanted to hear what everybody's thoughts were. And the most important thing, I think, came back as that when we did the European leg [in February/March 2020], we all had such a great time. It was the first time where you go out and there's not a band that you met that you've gotta get to know and hang out with. Where we came into it as, like, 'Hey, buddy.' We're all pals flying out together. It didn't feel like starting a tour. And at the end of it, we all had a good time. No attitudes, no problems.

"We said, 'This has gotta go to America. This has to go everywhere,'" he continued. "We were saying that. The most key thing was, you know what? Remember how much fun we had? I was talking to Tom [Hunting, EXODUS drummer] about it and Gary [Holt, EXODUS guitarist]. We had a great time. Do we wanna do America and not have fun, not enjoy ourselves?

"'Cause I did talk to other [bands who were recently] on tour, and the consensus was it wasn't fun. And we were, like, do we wanna go do that? We wanna have fun. I think we're bands that like to go out and talk to the fans. We don't hide and run from fans."

Added Zetro: "Then there's the whole cost factor. Buses cost money. Crew cost money. We're not rich rock stars. We live off the business, and we're very fortunate to do so, but we still have to look at it from that angle. And if we go out for three weeks, and we've printed all this merchandise with the dates on the back, and Chuck gets sick. Are you gonna get a new singer for TESTAMENT? You can't do that. You can't replace it. So the tour's now over with. 'Cause DEATH ANGEL and EXODUS are not gonna go, 'Well, TESTAMENT's dropping off. We're just gonna continue.' That's not the package. That's not how it works. Gary gets sick. Over with. Zetro gets sick. Over with. Tom, who's just coming back from his whole ordeal with cancer. Tom gets sick — done, over, tour over.

"And, again, we're talking to our friends on other tours. We're getting the feedback from the crews. And they're telling us what's going on and what a nightmare it is. 'And yes, we're there working, but we're isolated on the bus.'

"I've always said, as soon as it's not fun anymore, I don't wanna fucking do it anymore," Zetro said. "So if we're gonna go out there for five weeks, and you're gonna basically put me in a rolling prison, I can't do that. On days off, we have to be accountable for. I like going to the movies or going to games and stuff on days off. I can't do that, 'cause if I go out and I get exposed and I expose everybody, it's just the way… We have to tour in a bubble, basically."

Continued Chuck: "We really took our time thinking about, 'Do we wanna go and do this?' And I think at the end of the day, after all this talk, it just came down to, 'Let's go out and do this right. Let's go out and have some fun. Let's go out and do it for the fans that got to hang out that we've been doing this for for all this time.' And it just made more sense [to postpone it].

"So many restrictions in venues in different cities are different. You've either gotta have the shot or show proof… So, as time goes by, I think it's all gonna open up better.

"First of all, we've seen the world change. 'Okay, there's daylight. Things are getting normal.' And then the delta variant hits," Chuck added. "We're, like, 'Oh, here we go again.' Things are changing — shutdown, restrictions are coming back. We thought we booked this tour knowing by the time October comes around, it's gonna be free and clear. And it changed on us. So that was the sucky part for us."

Guitarist Oscar Dronjak of Swedish metallers HAMMERFALL has confirmed that the band has completed work on a new studio album, to be released in 2022. The music for the disc was once again recorded with Fredrik Nordström of Studio Fredman at Castle Black Studios, while the vocals were laid down with Jacob Hansen at Hansen Studios in Denmark.

Dronjak discussed the making of the new HAMMERFALL LP in the latest episode of Hammerfall TV, which was uploaded to the group's YouTube channel. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "COVID obviously fucked up life for a lot of us. We have tried to stay as healthy and as happy as possible, and one thing that we could do that by was working on a new album, which is what we have done since March this year, I think. Obviously, we started writing songs a lot sooner than that. I actually started writing songs… Some parts of this album are older, but I started writing songs during the vocal recordings for 'Dominion'; when Joacim [Cans] was recording his vocals for the previous album, 'Dominion', I set up my stuff and I just started… I caught the creativity bug when it happened, basically. A couple of songs were even older than that. Two songs were ready already for 'Dominion', for that session, but I decided to hold them back because we felt that they needed more spotlight than they would have gotten if they came at the tail end of the 'Dominion' recordings. So we pulled them back and we brought them out for this one. And I'm really glad we did. I can tell you guys that you will be really glad we did too, once you hear everything."

More information about the new HAMMERFALL album is expected to be made available on Wednesday, December 1.

"Dominion" was released in August 2019 via Napalm. For the disc, HAMMERFALL re-teamed with James Michael to do vocals at Red Level Three studios, and Nordström for the instruments.

In a 2019 interview with The Metal Observer, Dronjak stated about "Dominion": "I think it follows in the same path as we were going with both '(r)Evolution' and 'Built To Last'. It's pretty much an extension of that. What I do think we managed this time is that we captured a lot of energy on the album: a lot of the live energy that you have when you're performing on stage. We tried to get that in the album recording as much as we could. And we have tried that a lot in the past couple of years, or probably for as long as I can remember, but I don't think we've managed to capture it as much as we did this time. And if you're talking about, like, the music and stuff, I believe this album might be the strongest one that we've ever released. At least up there with it, because it's got a lot of variety and I like that in an album… You don't have any downtime on the album, you know; it's all really good in its own right. Not just in the context of the album, but they can stand alone and I think that's something that we're really proud of that we've managed to achieve this time."

HAMMERFALL released a new live set, "Live! Against The World", in October 2020 via Napalm.




Breaking news: new studio album coming early next year!

?????

If the journey is challenging the result can be...

Posted by HammerFall on Saturday, November 27, 2021



Breaking news: new studio album coming early next year!

?????

Riffing made easy with @sandbergguitars! The Gibson was...

Posted by HammerFall on Friday, November 26, 2021

CHILDREN OF BODOM frontman Alexi Laiho was honored with a posthumous lifetime achievement award by the Finnish radio station SuomiRock. Accepting the award on Alexi's behalf was his sister Anna, who said in her speech: "Thank you very much, both from Alexi and from the whole family. It's really great that Alexi's precious musical heritage is being honored in such a wonderful way."

The Finnish metal musician passed away in December 2020 in his home in Helsinki, Finland. He died of alcohol-induced degeneration of the liver and pancreas connective tissue. Furthermore, Laiho had a cocktail of painkillers, opioids and insomnia medication in his system. The 41-year-old had suffered from long-term health issues leading up to his death.

Alexi and drummer Jaska Raatikainen founded CHILDREN OF BODOM in 1993, and the band was one of the most internationally acclaimed metal acts in Finland up until their very last farewell concert in December of 2019. Last year, Alexi put together BODOM AFTER MIDNIGHT, which recorded three songs and shot one music video, all of which were released posthumously.

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

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

Three years before his passing, Alexi reportedly married Australian-born music publicist Kelli Wright. However, according to Finnish law, Laiho and Wright would not have been able to wed, as Laiho and Goss had never terminated their marriage.


Alexi Laiho toi soittotyylillään uusia tuulia metalliin. Soitossa kuuluivat vaikutteet aina klassisesta musiikista black...

Posted by SuomiRock on Friday, November 26, 2021

This past Thursday (November 25), BLACK SABBATH guitarist Tony Iommi released "Scent Of Dark", his first musical composition since writing a classical piece for the Birmingham Cathedral in 2017 and his first rock song since SABBATH's "13" album in 2013. To coincide with "Scent Of Dark"'s arrival, Iommi announced that he would also release a fragrance, designed in collaboration with luxury Italian perfume house Xerjoff and Sergio Momo.

In the six-minute video below, Iommi and Momo discuss the collaboration, with Tony saying: "Sergio's idea was maybe to have a tune to go with it, some music to go with the perfume, to create more of a vibe for it. And I had some ideas that Sergio heard and he liked the idea. So it allowed me then to elaborate from what we've got into more of what it was meaning towards the perfume… It was very mystical, which I think the perfume is — it's a mystical sort of smell. It comes from within. It just all seemed to fit well; it just seemed to be the right thing for it. And I'm very pleased with it. And, of course, Sergio is playing on it as well — he's playing guitar on it as well as I am. And the whole combination — with Jimmy Crutchley playing bass and Ash [Sheehan] on drums, it was a new, different direction for us. And then I felt it was nice to have some strings added to it, 'cause it gives it that more dramatic sort of sound and it emphasizes the whole thing, really."

While the realm of high-end fragrancies and the uncompromising heavy music that Iommi is known for might not at first seem to make viable bedfellows, the guitarist's interests in fragrances actually stretches far back to the early days of BLACK SABBATH. "It's something I've always been interested in, ever since the early days of products like Brut and Old Spice, which I'd always get given for Christmas," remembers Tony. "Once I started touring the world with SABBATH though, I started discovering different sorts of fragrancies from other countries and began collecting them on tour.

"I met Sergio through another friend of mine Jimmy Crutchley (who plays bass on 'Scent Of Dark') and Sergio kindly sent me a box of his fragrances and asked if I'd be interested in creating my own, which I certainly wasn't expecting," laughs Iommi. "I had no idea how that would work, but Sergio suggested I come up with a list of things I like the smell of, which I did. He developed some different samples made up from my suggestions and I picked the one I liked; the project moved forward from there."

Tony brought in the aromatic reminiscence of rock in the 1960s and 1970s, festivals and gatherings, amber and patchouli. The final result harmoniously characterizes the dark sound of Iommi's original famous '64 Monkey Special guitar with the spicy and seductive scents.

"Sergio is a really creative chap, he plays great guitar on 'Scent Of Dark' and has one of my collectable models, the 64 Gibson with the cartoon monkey image," Tony says. "He said it would be great to incorporate that, and he's even managed to get it onto one of the bottles."

From the start, Tony has been instrumental in creating the "Scent Of Dark" fragrance. "I wouldn't put my name to something that I haven't been involved in and didn't personally like or use," he explains. "That's been the same with all of the projects I've done from guitars onwards, this is no different."

Made with the finest materials, handpicked rare ingredients and exquisite packaging, this exclusive edition Xerjoff blends for Tony Iommi is the world's first multisensory experience between sound, scent, and spirit. Tony wanted to encapsulate in a bottle the evocation of emotions, alongside a new music track and video, and even a bespoke cocktail.

The various aspects of this multi-sensory experience successfully inspired the musical visualization of "Scent Of Dark", developed at Iommi's home studio with longtime collaborator and producer Mike Exeter, and recorded at Gospel Oak and Pig Music Studios.

"I've had the riff for 'Scent Of Dark' for quite a while and I'd never done anything with it, but it gave us a base to start from," explains Tony. "We built up the track with programmed drums at first and then Mike Exeter demoed bass and keyboards on it, and I added my guitar solos, just to give us an idea of how it was going to sound. Eventually Jimmy [Crutchley] added his bass. Jimmy knew drummer Ash Sheehan and he fitted in perfectly, adding the final real drum track on top of our work. Then we added the strings. I'd worked with string sections on SABBATH albums before, but this was a whole new experience."

The blend of the beautifully played cello and violins and Iommi's colossal guitar tones elevate "Scent Of Dark" into a whole new realm that incorporates and complements every taste, smell and sound of this exciting new union. The video for 'Scent Of Dark' captures the musicians at work in the studio, crafting the music, alongside footage of Tony and Sergio sampling the fragrance, shot at the grand Sudley Castle in Winchcombe, near to Cheltenham in Gloucestershire. The film conveys the mood of the music and tells the story of the project perfectly.

"It's been a really interesting project for me that has combined many of my different interests and a direction I'm really enjoying gong in," concludes Tony. "I've got so many riffs; it would be great to do more instrumental and soundtrack work."

Tony Iommi Signed Crystal by Xerjoff Blends with a limited edition of 200 flacons, will be available from November 29 in selected retails and at Xerjoffuniverse.com. Tony Iommi Monkey Special by Xerjoff Blends will be available from November 29 in selected retails and at Xerjoffuniverse.com

"Scent Of Dark" features the following musicians.

Tony Iommi - Guitar

Sergio Momo - Guitar

Jimmy Crutchley - Bass

Ash Sheehan - Drums

Rebecca Rose - Cello

Julianne Bourne - Violin

Mike Exeter - Keyboards & Producer

Recorded at Gospel Oak and Pig Music Studios

Track written by Tony Iommi

Iommi + Momo photo credit: Max Sticca

In a new interview with Marci Wiser of the 95.5 KLOS radio station, Nita Strauss, the guitar shredder for the ALICE COOPER band, was asked if she is okay with using sexuality to promote her music. She responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "I think it's important to embrace who you are as a woman, especially in this industry, but in any industry. And I spent a long time trying to figure out where my role was in all that. And I've gone down both sides of the spectrum. I've done stuff that I was, like, 'You know what? I feel like I don't need to put myself out there that much.' And then I've gone the opposite direction and, like, 'I need to be more covered up and be taken more seriously and not wear makeup and not feel pretty and wear a men's size large shirt and just go and be known as a guitar player.' And that's not who I am either.

"I think you just have to be true to yourself," she continued. "I think it's important to be a woman and embrace your femininity. And some women are ready to go out there and be sexy — be a sexy woman out there, badass, doing what you love to do — and there are some that don't wanna embrace that part and don't wanna have that, and that's fine too. I think the most important thing is to be authentic."

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

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

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

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