Finnish metal icons Waltari have shared their third output from their upcoming album, 3rd Decade - Anniversary Edition. 


Waltari's Kärtsy Hatakka comments: "We are excited to share our third single from our upcoming album 3rd Decade - Anniversary Edition: 'Helsinki 2021' is featuring the amazing German alternative rock band April Art.


'Helsinki' has been our most famous song on Spotify. It's a kind of love song about Waltari's headquarter in Finland, filled with romantic phrases in Finnish about the local atmosphere ('Atmosfear'). The German April Art wanted to create their vision about the song and we helped with the basic tracks and the basic programming. Very notable is the awesome vocal performance by Lisa-Marie, also her Finnish!"




April Art: "We were super excited when being asked by Waltari to contribute to this album. Frankly, there’s very little opportunities (maybe none?) to ever work with the Finnish genre pioneers, so we took the chance the minute we could. Once we chose 'Helsinki' as the song, it was quite a challenge for Lisa to sing in Finnish for her very first time. Still – it was super fun to do this production and we are proud to be a part of this anniversary album!"


"Helsinki" was initially featured on Waltari's 2005 record, Blood Sample. The video is edited by Olex Smith from ALM studios.





In 2021, Waltari are celebrating their 30th anniversary of their very first space journey in true style.


This means that even though a best-of compilation might be in order on such an occasion, they weren’t themselves if they hadn't cooked up something special. The band noticed it was 30 years since the release of Monk-Punk and are not going to honor the anniversary with a special album.


They revisited material from all creative phases, choosing some of their finest songs (plus one new track) to give them an overhaul with the help of like-minded musicians from every stripe. Be it Sami yoik duo Angelit or electro hip hop stars Bomfunk MC ́s, German industrial pioneer Jürgen Engler from Die Krupps or other countrymen of theirs such as former Nightwish bass player and vocalist Marko Hietala, humppa legends Eläkeläiset as well as Korpiklaani front man Jonne, The 69 Eyes singer Jyrki, German crossover newcomers April Art, Mr. Lordi himself and his band plus members from Skyclad, Amberian Dawn, Hanoi Rocks, Negative and Beast In Black.


On November 26 the special album will be released.





Tracklisting:


“Merry Go Round” (feat. Jürgen Engler)
“Below Zero 2021” (feat. Marko Hietala)
“Skyline” (Remix by Bomfunk MC’s)
“Ehtoopuolella” (feat. Eläkeläiset)
“So Fine 2021” (feat. Kevin Ridley and Youth Choirs Sykkii and n.u.k.u.
“Step Outside” (feat. Angelit)
“In The Cradle 2021” (feat. Jonne Järvelä and Jyrki 69)
“Misty Man 2021” (feat. Niki)
“Lights On 2021” (feat. Lordi)
“The Stage 2021” (feat. Tampere All Stars)
“Helsinki 2021” (feat. April Art)


(Cover photo by Jani Mahkonen / Cover layout by Aino Korpinen)

THE OFFSPRING has unveiled a live performance video for "Gone Away". The clip, directed by Sean Sheetz, was filmed over two nights in September at Nashville's Brooklyn Bowl and the Buckhead Theatre in Atlanta.

A reimagined version of the song (which was originally recorded for the band's 1997 platinum-selling album "Ixnay On The Hombre") appears on THE OFFSPRING's acclaimed, chart-topping tenth studio album "Let The Bad Times Roll", released earlier this year. The new arrangement of "Gone Away" — which transforms the song into an elegiac piano ballad — has re-emerged as a fan favorite, and during this extended period of collective grief, the song has taken on a particular emotional resonance for many people.

In his introduction to the song, lead singer Bryan "Dexter" Holland notes: "Many of you have lost someone close to you, I know that I certainly have. When I've been singing this song lately, I've been thinking about that."

And as guitarist Kevin "Noodles" Wasserman recently observed: "'Gone Away' may not be the biggest song we've ever done, but it's probably touched people more profoundly than any song we've ever done. It's a heavy song about losing someone in your life, and that happens to everybody. Unfortunately, it's part of the human experience and people can relate. To all the fans that love that song and have experienced that loss, our heart goes out to you. We've been there, and we share your grief."

THE OFFSPRING's latest album, "Let The Bad Times Roll", arrived in April via Concord Records. The follow-up to 2012's "Days Go By" was once again produced by Bob Rock, who also worked on the band's last two LPs.

Holland, Wasserman, drummer Pete Parada and new bassist Todd Morse wrote and recorded "Let The Bad Times Roll" in the last few years at various locations, including the band's studio in Huntington Beach, California.

Further cementing their place as one of the best-selling rock bands of the 21st century, 12-times-platinum rockers SKILLET are seeing their RIAA certifications multiply yet again. Their latest milestones include the new triple-platinum status of their landmark album "Awake", with three of its hit tracks also accumulating more certs as "Awake & Alive" goes double-platinum, "Hero" triple-platinum, and "Monster", already one of the most-streamed rock songs in history with over four billion global audio streams, hits quadruple platinum status.

SKILLET's latest single, "Surviving The Game", the first from their forthcoming album "Dominion" (due on January 14 via Atlantic), has made a strong debut, already accumulating over 6.5 million streams. Its music video has been viewed over 2.7 million times, and has seen some great sport sync usage, including a recent MLB hit. Now, their second instant grat track, "Standing In The Storm" is available upon pre-ordering "Dominion". Fans also have access to a lyric video for "Standing In The Storm", which swirls around the key line "I've still got some life in me", culled from one of Korey Cooper's journals.

SKILLET frontman John Cooper comments: "We're getting older, our kids are getting older, and the world is falling apart, so there's a part of me that's like, 'Do you really want to go back on the road in the midst of a pandemic?' Do we want to keep this business going? Then, she showed me this passage in her journal. I was really impacted. I started to think, 'Yes, there's a lot of crazy things going on, but I'm not done.'"

"Dominion", produced by Kevin Churko (PAPA ROACH, DISTURBED, FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH) with songs written by John Cooper, Korey Cooper, Kevin Churko and Kane Churko, was created 100% remotely between the band's tour dates, home studio in Wisconsin, and the Churkos' studio in Las Vegas.

"'Dominion' is about the celebration of freedom, a liberation from fear — to be who we want to be, say what we want to say, believe what we want to believe," John Cooper says. "In some ways, it's a reminder of the God-given rights that we were born with. It's time to regain some sort of control over our lives and not be a slave to fear. I hope this record is going to make people feel empowered, inspired, uplifted and want to rock their faces off."

"Dominion" track listing:

01. Surviving The Game

02. Standing In The Storm

03. Dominion

04. Valley Of Death

05. Beyond Incredible

06. Destiny

07. Refuge

08. Shout Your Freedom

09. Destroyer

10. Forever Or The End

11. Ignite

12. White Horse

By 2019, SKILLET not only garnered a pair of Grammy nods and sold over 12 million albums worldwide, but they also took home a Billboard Music Award for the double-platinum "Awake". Its breakout single, "Monster", remains one of the most streamed rock songs of all time, with over three billion global audio streams.

2016's "Unleashed" bowed at No. 3 on the Billboard Top 200. Hitting No. 1 on rock radio, the lead single, "Feel Invincible", cracked 643 million global audio streams and went platinum. Meanwhile, the gold-certified "Unleashed" became their fourth consecutive album to receive either a gold, platinum, or double-platinum status.

Their 2019 release, "Victorious", included the Top 10 rock radio hit "Legendary", which lived up to its name with over 108 million streams. To date, nine original tunes earned RIAA recognition in tandem with high-profile syncs by everyone from WWE and Marvel to ESPN and NFL.

Photo by Jimmy Fontaine

STAIND frontman Aaron Lewis has released the official music video for his new solo single "Pull Me Under". The track is taken from him upcoming album, "Frayed At Both Ends", due on January 28.

With a strong sense of vintage country, Lewis has spent the last ten years committed to making the kind of country he was raised on. Merle Haggard, Waylon Jennings, David Allen Coe and early Hank Williams Jr. inform the Springfield, Vermont star's take on the genre that started with the No. 1 Billboard Country Albums debut with 2011's "Town Line".

That same passion for the unseen and the unrecognized drives the guitar-playing songwriter. Having spent the last year focused on writing, often with friends he's made over the decade he's spent making country music, he's putting the finishing touches on "Frayed At Both Ends".

"There's so much great music in Nashville, which I think everybody knows. But until you really live here, get to know people, you don't realize how deep it runs," Lewis says of the dozen songs on his upcoming record. "It's inspiring to be around people who are drawn to that same hard kind of country, the stuff that digs down and looks at life with some of the paint knocked off it."

"Frayed At Both Ends" also strips back Lewis's sound, taking it to the bare minimum. With guitarists Tom Bukovac, Biff Watson and Seth Taylor, dobroist Ben Kitterman, acoustic slide and baritone from Sturgill Simpson veteran Laur Joamets, keyboards from Jim Moose Brown, acoustic guitar and mandolin from Dan Tyminski, some of Nashville's best players make less do more.

"Goodbye Town", an acoustic guitar shuffle that looks at a love that's gone, and the echoes that linger after it's over, is the first advance track. With Mickey Raphael's harmonica and a dobro rising from the mix, Lewis's weathered delivery more than carries the enduring ache.

"Big heartache is part of it," says the man cited for "his mournful baritone" by the Los Angeles Times. "Country music takes on the tough stuff, the doubts and the working harder to just stay where you are. Writing with guys like Dan Tyminski, who's sung on some of my earlier records, Jeffrey Steele, Ira Dean, David Lee Murphy and Chris Wallin all have the same sense of what this is, so I can't wait for people to get to hear this record."

Fans can pre-order the album now and receive "Goodbye Town", the project's first teaser track. They will also receive "Am I The Only One", Lewis's anthem of frustration that spent the 4th of July at No. 1 on iTunes all-genre chart, as well as being only the ninth song since 1958 to debut at No. 1 on Billboard's Hot Country Songs chart.

"This is an album of saying things that need to be said about how people actually live," Lewis explains. "Life isn't easy. Most people drink to forget, or drive for hours trying to get away from what they can't let go of or leave behind. Work takes it out of you. Love falls short or destroys you. Disappointments stack up. But still you have to keep going — and how you do that says everything about the man that you are."

The 12 songs are joined by a bonus: the previously released CreatiVets-penned "They Call Me Doc". The bare witness of a triage soldier who holds people together at their darkest moments honors the fighting men and women who've been injured and those who care for them. With just an acoustic guitar, Lewis is joined by Tyminiski and Vince Gill for the homage.

"I've never wanted to be the face of a song, or a time," Lewis offers. "I'm a lucky man. I survived my first record deal, and I can make music on my terms. One of those terms is singing for other people, the things they need to say or the heroism they've lived and no one ever really noticed. If I can put the light in those places, then the music is doing its best work."

Mixed by Chris Lord-Alge, the five-time Grammy-winning engineer burnished the warmth of the playing and found the depth in the room. For a largely unplugged project, its presence is undeniable.

"I played an acoustic show at the Ryman Auditorium," STAIND's founder/frontman remembers, "and Scott Borchetta, the head of my label, had never seen me like that. When we were done, he came backstage and said, 'You need to do a record like that.' I'd never really thought about it, but once he planted the seed..."

"I didn't have a master plan, just these songs that I'd been writing with friends. I'd never really co-written in all my years of being an artist. Sometimes writing with somebody else dials you even more into yourself, or more the reality that's all of us. And with the world being such a mess, I figured 'frayed at both ends' sounds about right. No matter who you are or what you believe, I think we all feel like the knot's coming undone."

"Frayed At Both Ends" track listing:

01. Again (Aaron Lewis, Ira Dean, David Lee Murphy)

02. Goodbye Town (Aaron Lewis, Randy Montana)

03. Everybody Talks To God (Craig Monday, Chris Wallin)

04. Am I The Only One (Aaron Lewis, Ira Dean, Jeffrey Steele)

05. Kill Me Like You Love Me (Aaron Lewis, Ira Dean, Dan Tyminiski, Chris Wallin)

06. Pull Me Under (Aaron Lewis)

07. Life Behind Bars (Aaron Lewis, Josh Hogue, Matt McGinn)

08. Waiting There For Me (Aaron Lewis, Ira Dean, Dan Tyminiski, Chris Wallin)

09. They Call Me Doc (featuring CreatiVets, Vince Gill, Dan Tyminiski) (Shaun Bott, Richard Casper, Brian Carper, Jourdan Walker, Johnny McGuire)

10. Get What You Get (Aaron Lewis, Ira Dean, Dan Tyminiski)

11. Sticks And Stones (Aaron Lewis, Paul Barber, Matt McGinn)

12. One In The Same (Aaron Lewis, Trent Tomlinson)

13. Someone (Aaron Lewis, Paul Barber, Matt McGinn)

In the latest episode of the 80's Glam Metalcast, host Metal Mike catches up with former Yngwie Malmsteen’s Rising Force drummer, Anders Johansson. He talks about what it’s like playing with his sons in his band, Tungsten, and looks back on the classic Yngwie albums he played on: Marching Out (1985), Trilogy (1986), and Odyssey (1988).


On his favorite Yngwie album he played on, and the stories of Yngwie being difficult 


Anders: "Marching Out is my favorite. It was the first one I did with him. I think it was raw and had a band feeling to it. Back then, it was kind of a band. Yngwie was the boss of course. He was always really cool to me. I read things about him now that aren’t always so positive. I never seen any bad side of him. He was never rude to me or my brother. When we quit, I think he became more of a dictator, no more compromising." 




On the vocalist and style changes from Marching Out to Odyssey 


Anders: "It wasn’t weird having a different singer on every album. We got along great with all those guys. It was kind of a natural thing. We didn’t think it about much back then. It probably would have been better for Yngwie’s career if Jeff (Scott Soto) had stayed in the band for all those albums. It was interesting though having different singers, because it made all the records sound different. Jeff was like 19 when he quit. He was really young and immature. He thought he was going to make it big with something more commercial; a band called Driver with Tommy Aldridge. We tried to persuade him not to quit. Then we got Mark Boals, who was a great singer and a great guy, too." 


On the Odyssey album


Anders: "When we did the album with Joe Lynn Turner, Yngwie did a lot of compromising. I don’t think he liked it. He thought it was too commercial. Then again, that one is his best selling album. It was the label that wanted him to be more commercial. Yngwie wanted to do stuff more like the first album, more progressive and fusion. The label wanted the new Bon Jovi. They wanted to make money, but nobody in the band really wanted to play that style. We also didn’t want to create bad vibes with the label. They almost threatened us to be more commercial or they wouldn’t support the album. When Joe came, he wanted even more pop songs. We compromised and put some fast stuff on there to balance it out. 


I think it came out great and that’s the one most people like the best. The label also wanted an all star band for that one. They wanted to bring in Bob Daisley and Eric Singer. They didn’t like that we spoke Swedish. Once Joe was in, they really wanted to create an American band. They really couldn’t get rid of my brother because their wasn’t a better keyboard player out there. For drums, I’m sure Eric Singer could have pulled it off. I talked to him before and he said he had no interest in doing it. He said the stuff was too fast for him. He ended up in KISS, so I think he did okay! Bob Daisely was in the band for a short while, we actually rehearsed with him. Yngwie didn’t think he played fast enough, either." 


On Yngwie doing most the playing and singing on his albums today 


Anders: "I think Yngwie needs a producer. When you hear him now, it’s just pretty much him on it everywhere, in every position. You need someone to bounce ideas of course. With Yngwie singing - he took singing lessons for 7 years. He asked Mark Boals what he was doing wrong. Why didn’t he sound like him, like a world class singer? Mark told him there was nothing wrong with his pitch or vibrato. Mark said it was his vocal chords. You just sound that way, there’s nothing you can do. His voice just isn’t as pleasant as someone like Joe Lynn Turner. He just sounds like an average guy.  His voice is deep, it doesn’t blend well with power metal. When he sings bluesy stuff, I think it works better."

This weekend on Deep Hidden Meaning Radio with Nile Rodgers on Apple Music 1, Richie Sambora joins Nile to share the stories behind some of Bon Jovi's most iconic songs. During the interview he discusses winning the Apple Music Special International Award at the Ivors, writing hits like "You Give Love A Bad Name", "Livin' On A Prayer" and "Bad Medicine", reflects on his relationship with Jon Bon Jovi, shares his continuing admiration for Cher, and more.





In the following excerpt, Sambora tells Nile Rodgers about his relationship with Jon Bon Jovi...




Nile Rodgers: "It's strange because when a band has a front guy, and the band has the front guy's name, you think that all the singing is the front guy."


Richie Sambora: "And all the writing."


Rodgers: "And all the writing, that's true."


Sambora: "Exactly. That was part of my deal, to shut the - up. If I had a coffee place, the sign would say, "Have a hot steaming cup of shut the - up." That would be my coffee place. And you know what? Guess what?"


Rodgers: "You did."


Sambora: "I did it. And it worked out because that's what he needed for whatever reason. And I was working with him and if he needed that kind of thing."


Tune in and listen to the conversation in full for free this Saturday (November 13) at 8 AM, PST / 11 AM, EST / 4 PM, GMT, or listen back on demand with an Apple Music subscription: apple.co/_DHMRadio.

Cradle Of Filth performed at the 2021 edition of Bloodstock Open Air at Catton Park in Derbyshire, UK on August 14th. Pro-shot video of the band's entire set is available below.


The setlist was as follows:


"At the Gates of Midian"
"Cthulhu Dawn"
"Nemesis"
"Blackest Magick in Practice"
"Crawling King Chaos"
"Nymphetamine (Fix)"
"Lilith Immaculate"
"Heartbreak and Seance"
"A Bruise Upon The Silent Moon"
"The Promise of Fever"
"Cruelty Brought Thee Orchids"
"Her Ghost in the Fog"
"From the Cradle to Enslave"

John 5 has explained his decision to pull out of his previously announced U.S. tour as the support act for legendary Swedish guitarist Yngwie Malmsteen. The trek, also featuring IMAGES OF EDEN and SUNLORD, was slated to kick off on November 16 in Atlanta, Georgia and conclude on December 18 in Houston, Texas.

In a new interview with "Whiplash", the KLOS radio show hosted by Full Metal Jackie, John 5 said about the circumstances that contributed to his decision to scrap his touring plans for the remainder of 2021: "Well, what it was is — to be completely, a thousand percent honest, I lost some very close friends to COVID. And it was just going crazy and going rampant. And I was gonna be touring in these places where there's a lot of people. And I love to meet people — I love to say hello to people; I love to give people hugs. And I didn't wanna restrict people of that; I didn't wanna be, like, 'Oh, back up, buddy.' Because I wanna say hello to people as well. So I'm just gonna wait till the spring till everything hopefully calms down so I can get out there and do it right and feel comfortable about it.

"Touring is supposed to be something really fun; I love it more than anything," the former MARILYN MANSON and current ROB ZOMBIE guitarist continued. "I never wanna look at it as a job or a stress. And that's why I chose just to wait a little bit longer. 'Cause everything's gonna be fine very soon. I mean, I'm no doctor or scientist — that's for sure — but I really believe that everything's gonna be okay next year… We have to keep that mentality, because if we don't have that mentality, it's gonna be really, really hard."

When John 5 first announced his withdrawal from the Yngwie tour last month, he said in a statement: "Due to unforeseen circumstances and out of an abundance of caution I am sad to announce that i will no longer be joining Yngwie on the upcoming US tour.

"The health concerns for artists and their crew that come with travelling extensively from city to city during this time have meant that myself and my team feel this is the best course of action to keep everybody on my tour team safe and well.

"I am certain that these Yngwie shows will be amazing, as they always are. I'm sorry i won't be there to share my new music with you all. I'll be back out on the road as soon as is safe and possible."

John 5 released his new solo album, "Sinner", on October 29 via Big Machine Records. The first single from the album, the epic "Qué Pasa", revolves around a distinctive vocal refrain. Originally built with a sample, John opted to have it reworked by Grammy-winning MEGADETH leader Dave Mustaine.

"Sinner" was produced and mixed by Barry Pointer at Riott House Studio in North Hollywood. Drums were engineered by ex-GUNS N' ROSES guitarist Gilby Clarke at Redrum Recording in Los Angeles. The LP also features a guest appearance by original KISS drummer Peter Criss on a cover of "Georgia On My Mind", a 1930s classic by Hoagy Carmichael and Stuart Gorrell that's become famous thanks to Ray Charles decades later.

John 5 has worked with a varied range of artists, performing as guitarist for some of the biggest headlining rock bands in the world such as ROB ZOMBIE and MARILYN MANSON, as well as playing session with Paul Stanley, Rod Stewart, LYNYRD SKYNYRD and more. Slash has called John 5 "one of the most mind-blowing guitarists around," and Rob Zombie has dubbed him "a fucking shredder." John 5 has released ten solo albums to date, as well as a remix album, and has written music for the likes of Avril Lavigne, GARBAGE, Ricky Martin and others.

Iconic musician, Mark Stein, is set to shine with a new collection of songs about Hope, Unity, Concern and Redemption. Sidelined by the Covid-19 pandemic and unable to perform live with popular rock band, Vanilla Fudge, lead vocalist and keyboardist Mark Stein decided to put his down time to good use. He wanted to write and record songs about what was going on in America and the rest of the world. He saw social unrest, racial disparity, political division, violence, widespread sickness, and an entire world on the brink of an economic disaster due to the spread of a disease like no other. Yet, at the same time, Stein saw a great opportunity.


The second single from the album, “Ball Of Confusion”, is an interpretation of The Temptations classic done only in a way that Mark Stein could do. He is no stranger for making new classics out of remakes, much like he had done with the Vanilla Fudge remake of The Supremes song “You Keep Me Hangin On”.


Mark had this to say about why he decided to do this song, “I had produced and arranged 'Ball Of Confusion' for a film called Rockin' The Wall .... and although this was a huge hit by the Temptations in the early '70s, the lyrics are still relevant in today's volatile world and fits well with the theme of my solo album, There A Light."







There’s A Light, Mark’s first ever solo album is a thematic collection of ten songs which weave a remarkable story of what America was, has become, and may or may not face in its future. Aside from the aforementioned “Ball Of Confusion”, and first single “We Are One” Stein has written and recorded songs whose titles pretty much sum up what they are about. Including “We Are Survivors,” “Lyin’.” “Let’s Pray for Peace,” along with a powerful new version of The Rascal’s “People Gotta Be Free”.


Mark Stein first came to prominence in Vanilla Fudge, formed with Carmine Appice, Tim Bogert and Vince Martell. Sold out world tours; hit albums and singles; and a reputation as a group steeped in cutting-edge musicianship has allowed Vanilla Fudge to be one of the most influential acts to rise from the revolutionary 1960s. In addition to his many years within Vanilla Fudge, Stein has also worked extensively with such rock legends as Alice Cooper, Dave Mason, and the late guitarist Tommy Bolin. He has also made guest appearances with Deep Purple, Carl Palmer, Steve Miller and once recorded and sang with Michael Jackson.


There are limited edition bundles (while supplies last), which can be ordered via the Mark Stein Store, here.


Product Includes:


- One (1) Mark Stein – There’s A Light CD (Autographed)
- One (1) Mark Stein – There’s A Light T-Shirt
- One (1) Mark Stein – There’s A Light Bandana
- One (1) Mark Stein – Exclusive "We Are One" Bracelet
- One (1) Mark Stein – "You Keep Me Hangin’ On" Book





There’s A Light tracklisting:


"We Are One"
"Ball Of Confusion"
"We Are Survivors"
"Lyin'"
"Racism"
"All Lives Matter"
"Let's Pray For Peace"
"People Got To Be Free"
"Break It Down"
"America The Beautiful"


"We Are One" video:





(Photo - Marek Hofman Photography)

Earlier this month, Frontiers Music Srl released the latest stroke of musical genius from the inimitable Jim Peterik: Jim Peterik & World Stage - Tigress: Women Who Rock The World. A lyric video for the album opener, "Tigress" featuring Kate French, Jennifer Batten, and Abigail Stanshmidt, can be found below.


Order/save Tigress: Women Who Rock The World on CD/2xLP Orange Vinyl/Digital here. (Please note, due to worldwide delays with the manufacturing of vinyl, the LP version will be released on December 10, 2021.)


The concept behind Tigress: Women Who Rock The World is that Jim wanted to showcase women in music whom he admires. The seeds for the album were planted in late 2020 when Serafino Perugino, President and Head of A&R for Frontiers, reached out to Peterik to see if he wanted to start work on a new World Stage album. A light bulb went on in Jim's head and he said, "Ya know, Serafino, how about a Women's World Stage album?" They both loved the idea right off the bat and thus the initial steps for the album began.




Peterik has always loved a musical challenge and pursuing new ideas and the fresh idea for this album really inspired him. He made a wishlist of artists he wanted to work with and began crafting musical ideas that could work for their styles. In Jim's words, "I discovered that I needed to write songs that reflected the female perspective more than the male. It was gratifying when talented women from all over the world, heroes of mine such as Janet Gardner (ex-Vixen), Cathy Richardson (Jefferson Starship), Jennifer Batten, Mindi Abair, Kate French, Kimi Hayes, Chez Kane, Rosa Laricchiuta (Black Rose Maze, Trans-Siberian Orchestra), and so many others gave me the big thumbs up! Up-and-comers like Lindsay Kent, Leslie Hunt, Chloe Lowery, Marine Lacoste, and so many others all added their unique personalities to make this a landmark album in my career."


The full list of performers on the album can be seen in the tracklisting below.


"I hope you enjoy Tigress: Women Who Rock The World as much as I enjoyed creating it. Much love and Rock & Roll!" concludes Peterik.


Jim Peterik, through the years, has written or co-written some of rock's most memorable songs: "Vehicle" by the The Ides Of March (on which he was lead vocalist, guitarist, and songwriter), "Eye Of The Tiger," "The Search Is Over," "High On You," and "I Can't Hold Back”, hits for .38 Special such as "Hold On Loosely," "Caught Up In You," "Fantasy Girl," and "Rockin' Into The Night", "Heavy Metal" with Sammy Hagar, and many many more. Peterik, now a part of Pride of Lions with vocalist Toby Hitchcock, is one of the most esteemed and loved recording artists and songwriters, not only on the Frontiers label, but in the larger melodic rock community.





Tracklisting:


"Tigress" - Kate French - Jennifer Batten - Abigail Stanshmidt (Violin)
"Prom Night In Pontiac" - Chloe Lowery - Anika Nilles (Drums) - Ashley Reeve (Bass)
"A Cappella" - Chez Kane
"Living For The Moment" - Cathy Richardson - Jennifer Batten - Linda Mcdonald (Drums)
"Against The Grain" - Rosa Laricchiuta
"Strong Against The Wind" - Kate French
"Full Moon Crazy" - Cathy Richardson - Jennifer Batten
"Lazarus Heart" - Janet Gardner
"Taller" - Leslie Hunt
"The Best In Us" - Cathy Richarson - Kimi Hayes
"Dear Life" - Lindsay Kent – Sina (Drums)
"Walk Like Royalty" - Kimi Hayes - Nile Brosh (Guitar)
"Music In The Aire" - Chloe Lowery
"Sin To Believe A Lie" - Cathy Richardson - Madden Klas (Drums)
"Stronger At The Broken Places" - Marine Lacoste - Jennifer Batten - Linda Mcdonald (Drums)
"Brave Is Beautiful" - Leslie Hunt - Mindi Abair (Sax And Harmony Vocal)


"Tigress" lyric video:





"A Cappella" lyric video:





"Prom Night In Pontiac" video:





Additional lineup:


+ Ed Breckenfeld - Drums: Tigress, Music In The Aire, Brave Is Beautiful, Against The Grain, Full Moon Crazy, Taller, Lazarus Heart, A Cappella
+ Mike Aquino - Additional Guitar: Prom Night In Pontiac, Dear Life, Taller, Lazarus Heart, A Cappella, Against The Grain
+ Joel Hoekstra - Additional Guitar: Strong Against The Wind, Music In The Aire, Sin To Believe A Lie
+ Colin Peterik - Drums: The Best In Us
+ Scott May - B3: Stronger At The Broken Places
+ Tom Yankton - Additional Guitar: Full Moon Crazy
+ Christian Cullen - Orchestration And Sound Design: Tigress
+ Jim Peterik - Guitars, Backing Vocals, Additional Instruments: Against The Grain - Bass, Full Moon Crazy - Additional Guitar, Dear Life - Bass Synth And Bass Guitar, The Best In Us - Bass, Lazarus Heart - Mellotron

Guitarist  Thomas Zwijsen has released the new video below, featuring an acoustic performance of Iron Maiden's "Purgatory" on classical fingerstyle guitar and violin by Thomas and Wiki Violin. "Purgatory" is featured on Iron Maiden's Killers album, released in 1981.





Zwijsen previously released the video below, featuring an acoustic cover of Iron Maiden's "Heaven Can Wait". The song originally appeared on Maiden's 1986 album, Somewhere In Time.

Barry Kuzay has released a lyric video for “The Virtues Of Greed”, which features an epic shredfest of a guest appearance by Joe Stump.


The song is from the new Barry Kuzay album, The Movers Of The World, an epic concept album inspired by the infamous and iconoclastic Ayn Rand novel Atlas Shrugged. The album features Barry Kuzay on vocals and guitar, Matt Thompson (King Diamond) on drums, and Ben Kuzay (ex-Monstrosity) on bass guitar, along with a guest appearance by Tim Ripper Owens (ex-Judas Priest, KK’s Priest, ex-Iced Earth, ex-Yngwie Malmsteen).







The Movers Of The World album is available on CD and digital download. Order at barrykuzay.com, iTunes, Amazon, and Bandcamp. A lyric video for for "Wyatt's Torch" featuring Tim "Ripper" Owens, can be seen below.





Tracklisting:


"Overture 2021"
"The Movers Of The World"
"Alone In The Mountains"
"The Virtues Of Greed"
"The Pirate"
"The Twentieth Century Motor Company"
"Who Is John Galt?"
"Enigmatic Engine"
"Wyatt’s Torch"
"Superspreader" (Bonus Track)


"Wyatt’s Torch" lyric video:





"Superspreader" video:





This is the second studio release from Barry Kuzay. Production on this album began in January 2020 and concluded in June 2021. Barry explains, “When world tours were needlessly made illegal by pathetic loser tyrants controlled by the CCP, I took full advantage and collaborated with some of my favorite musicians and influences on this album. I’m incredibly proud of the results, and it was a thrill to work with such highly skilled musicians.”





Barry Kuzay is a civil engineer in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin who works with steel by day and metal by night. He is the monarch of a micro-nation that has surrendered militarily to a foreign occupying power. The ceasefire agreement allows him to remain on the land with his family in exchange for paying protection money to the criminal gangs that claim dominion over that territory. He considers The Movers Of The World to be an artistic knife to the heart of those gangs of looters.

Iron Maiden are among a list of artists credited in helping Warner Music Group’s recorded music revenues top $1 billion for the fourth straight quarter, reports Music Business Worldwide.


Published today (November 15), WMG’s fiscal results for the three months to end of September (its fiscal Q4, but calendar Q3), reveal that the company’s quarterly recorded music revenues - including streaming, digital and physical sales, plus ancillary income - hit $1.172 billion, up 22.3% year-on-year (or up 21.1% at constant currency).


Major sellers across the quarter included Iron Maiden, Dua Lipa, Ed Sheeran, Masked Wolf and Ava Max.




In the previous quarter - calendar Q2 - WMG’s quarterly recorded music revenues from streaming, digital and physical sales, plus ancillary income reached $1.152 billion, up 34% year-on-year (or 27.6% in constant currency). And in calendar Q1 (the three months to end of March), WMG generated recorded music revenues of $1.059bn, up 16.8% (or 12.9% in constant currency). In calendar Q4 2020 (WMG’s fiscal Q1 2021), the company’s recorded music revenues were up 4.5% at constant currency YoY to $1.16bn.


Read the full report at Music Business Worldwide


Iron Maiden frontman, Bruce Dickinson, will be taking his spoken word tour, An Evening With Bruce Dickinson, on an extensive US and Canada run early next year.


Split into two parts, the first section of the show sees Bruce taking a humorous and often satirical look at the world from his own very personal perspective, treating the audience to private insights into his drive and ambition, peppered with plenty of Maiden anecdotes, and a myriad of other experiences encompassing not just the giddy heights but also the extreme lows, told first-hand in his inimitable anarchic style, punctuated with photographs and sometimes even erupting into song a-capella, to illustrate a point.


The final section of the evening is devoted entirely to a Q&A session, with the opportunity to pose questions on any subject whatsoever. As Bruce’s answers will all be completely improvised – the more left-field and quirky the question, the more interesting and compelling the response is likely to be!


Tickets on sale now.





Dates:


January
17 - Ft Lauderdale, Florida - Parker Playhouse
18 - Orlando, Florida - Plaza Live
20 - Tampa, Florida - Theatre
21 - Jacksonville, Florida - Florida Theatre
23 - Atlanta, Georgia - Tabernacle
24 - Raleigh, North Carolina - Meymandi Concert Hall at Duke Energy Center
26 - Nashville, Tennessee - Polk Theater
27 - Columbus, Ohio - Jo Ann Davidson Theatre
29 - Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania - Carnegie Music Hall of Homestead
30 - Detroit, Michigan - The Fillmore


February
1 - Buffalo-Niagara Falls, New York - Buffalo State Performing Arts Center
2 - Albany, New York - The Egg
4 - New York City, New York - The Town Hall
5 - Boston, Massachusetts - Schubert Theatre at the Boch Center
7 - Philadelphia, Pennsylvania - The Fillmore
8 - Washington, DC - Warner Theatre
10 - Cleveland, Ohio - MGM Northfield Park
11 - Chicago, Illinois - Vic Theatre
13 - Minneapolis, Minnesota - Pantages Theatre
14 - Milwaukee-Racine, Wisconsin - Pabst Theater
16 - Des Moines, Iowa - Hoyt Sherman Place Theatre
17 - Oklahoma City, Oklahoma - Rose State College Hudiberg Chevrolet Center
19 - Kansas City, Kansas - Uptown Theater
20 - Denver, Colorado - Paramount Theatre
22 - Dallas, Texas - Majestic Theatre
23 - Houston, Texas - Stafford Centre
24 - Austin, Texas - Paramount Theatre
26 - Phoenix, Arizona - Mesa Arts Center
28 - San Diego, California - Balboa Theatre


March
1 - Los Angeles, California - Orpheum Theatre
3 - San Francisco, California - Palace of Fine Arts
4 - Portland, Oregon - Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall
6 - Seattle, Washington - The Moore Theatre
12 - Las Vegas, Nevada - House Of Blues
14 - Vancouver (New Westminster), British Columbia - Massey Theatre
16 - Victoria, British Columbia - Royal Theatre
18 - Edmonton, Alberta - Winspear Centre
20 - Winnipeg, Manitoba - Burton Cummings Theatre
21 - Calgary, Alberta - Jack Singer Concert Hall
23 - Montreal, Quebec - MTELUS
26 - Ottawa, Ontario - Algonquin Commons Theatre
27 - Quebec City, Quebec - Palais Montcalm
29 - Hamilton, Ontario - FirstOntario Concert Hall
30 - Kitchener, Ontario - Centre in the Square

Metallica have released this new live video, featuring their performance of "Master Of Puppets" from Hard Rock Live at Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Florida on November 4.





Sonic Perspectives previously uploaded footage of Metallica performing "Welcome Home (Sanitarium)" at the same show:







Metallica are set to perform during Triller Fight Club's debut of "Triad Combat" on Saturday, November 27 at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas.





Says Metallica: "Here’s something different for you and is definitely a first for us! We’ll be hitting the stage before the main bout at the Triller Fight Club debut of Triad Combat on Saturday, November 27, 2021, at Globe Life Stadium in Arlington, Texas. We hope you can join us in person that night, but if you can’t be there, enjoy the event from the comfort of your own sofa as the show and the fights will also be live on pay-per-view.


Triller’s first major event was held in April of this year, with a main bout between Jake Paul and Ben Askren along with performances by The Black Keys, Diplo, Doja Cat, Justin Bieber, Major Lazer, Saweetie, and Mt. Westmore - a supergroup featuring Snoop, Ice Cube, Too Short and E-40. That’s some incredible company we’ll be keeping!


Advance tickets on sale now through TrillerFightClub.com and Ticketmaster.com.


For those not familiar with Triad Combat, it’s a new team sport incorporating boxing and MMA rules in an aggressive, fast-paced manner. Professional boxers compete against professional mixed martial arts fighters in a specially designed, triangular ring over two-minute rounds. It’s sure to be a wild, exciting, and unique evening no matter where you watch!"


For complete details, head here.





Metallica's Vinyl Club is back.. and it’s bigger and better than before. Bigger, literally, as in all releases for Vinyl Club 2.0 will be on 12” vinyl instead of 7”. Better, as in pressing on 12” vinyl allows them to give you more consistent, higher quality audio and the opportunity to include more music in each release. Subscriptions are open to Fifth Members for year two: Vinyl Club 2022!





Says the band: "When we launched the Vinyl Club in March of 2020, it was a labor of love as we are huge music fans ourselves and are so excited about the resurgence of vinyl. Those of us who love the look, feel, and sonic warmth of vinyl are sorta in our own little, exclusive club. So with that in mind, we thought it would be fun to start adding to our collections on a regular basis, and the Vinyl Club was born. We had a few delays along the way in year one, but we learned a ton. We’ve been working behind the scenes to improve everything about our Vinyl Club and are psyched to finally be back for year two.


The 2022 Vinyl Club Subscription will be available exclusively to Fifth Members between now and the end of this year. It will include four 12” singles featuring music that has never been released on vinyl before. As with year one, you’ll have the option to receive your four singles one at a time in quarterly shipments, or we’ll hold them and ship them to you all at once at the end of the year to save you a little coin on postage.


Join The Metallica Vinyl Club now; membership sign-ups for year two are open through Friday, December 31 at 11:59pm ET. Don’t wait! New memberships won’t be available again until the 2023 subscription year.


We’re excited to kick off a new chapter. Whether you get the subscription for yourself or a friend (it makes a great gift, and we have a nifty certificate to print up for your recipient!) we hope you have a blast collecting some good old-school vinyl.


More details: As you may have encountered elsewhere, vinyl production around the world is severely delayed. There are very few quality vinyl presses out there, demand is high, and making really cool vinyl records is a slow, manual process. With all of this said, even though we’re planning for these inevitable delays, the first release of 2022 will likely not hit your mailboxes until April of 2022. The following three releases will come a little faster, and our goal is to ship all of them to you before November 1 of 2022.


Also, behind the scenes, we have completely rebuilt our registration/subscription software. This will make for a more seamless experience for shipping your records and for tracking your membership. However, this means that all current Vinyl Club members will need to re-register for year two. When you register, you’ll have the option to set up automatic renewal for future years.


We can’t wait to get rolling and share what we have in store for you this year!"


Subscription includes:


- Four 12” vinyl singles featuring music that has never been released on vinyl before, made to play at 45 RPM

- Digital Download Card

- The opportunity to purchase exclusive Metallica Vinyl Club merch


Join here.

Today, Lord Of The Lost once again provides a music video of the utmost quality and direction, arriving just before their upcoming Christmas store livestream on November 18. With the surprise music video for "My Constellation", Lord Of The Lost present a gripping, cinematic Christmas blockbuster that first spreads contemplation through frontman Chris Harms' mesmerizing voice before subsequently ending in a shockingly unusual case, unraveled by the expertise of famous forensic biologist Dr. Mark Benecke.


This summer marked the release of their most successful album to date, Judas (#2 on the German album charts), and Lord Of The Lost is set to publish their nearly two-hour Sinister Summer streaming concert, The Sacrament Of Judas, on BluRay, out December 10. Their latest video for "My Constellation" joins a great lineup of impressive videos released by Lord Of The Lost this year. Foremost among them are the successful videos for "Viva Vendetta", of which the Hamburg-based band has released in two versions, each with a brand new respective production.


Chris Harms from Lord Of The Lost about the new video: "This video is so absurd, I can't even add anything to it."







The Sacrament Of Judas will be available on December 10 in a limited edition format exclusively via Napalm Records Mailorder, as well as the band’s store as a digipack including BluRay, DVD and 2 CDs.





Pre-order here.





The Sacrament Of Judas tracklisting:


"Priest"
"For They Know Not What They Do"
"Born With A Broken Heart"
"2000 Years A Pyre"
"Viva Vendetta"
"The Heartbeat Of The Devil"
"The Gospel Of Judas"
"Euphoria"
"A World Where We Belong"
"Your Star Has Led You Astray"
"In The Field Of Blood"
"And It Was Night"
"My Constellation"
"Loreley"
"Morgana"
"Drag Me To Hell"
"Die Tomorrow"
"One Day Everything Will Be Okay"
"Dry The Rain"
"Prison"
"Six Feet Underground"
"Sex On Legs"
"La Bomba"
"Ordinary World"


"Viva Vendetta" video:





 Lord Of The Lost are:


Chris Harms - vocals, guitar, cello
Pi Stoffers - guitar
Class Grenayde - bass
Gared Dirge - piano, synthesizer, percussion, guitar
Niklas Kahl - drums

King Crimson founder Robert Fripp and his singer wife Toyah Willcox are back with another episode in their "Toyah & Robert’s Sunday Lunch" series. This time they take on Metallica's "Master Of Puppets". Watch below:





A selection of Robert & Toyah's previous Sunday Lunch videos can be seen below:

Nightwish finally returned to the stage on November 14th in Oslo, Norway at Spektrum. Fan-filmed video from the show is available below.


The setlist on the night was as follows:


"Noise"
"Planet Hell"
"Tribal"
"Élan"
"Storytime"
"She Is My Sin"
"Harvest"
"7 Days to the Wolves"
"Dark Chest of Wonders"
"I Want My Tears Back"
"Ever Dream"
"Nemo"
"How's the Heart?" (Acoustic)
"Shoemaker"
"Last Ride of the Day"
"Ghost Love Score"
"The Greatest Show on Earth"
















Remaining tour dates are as follows:


November
22 - Amsterdam, Netherlands - Ziggo Dome (SOLD OUT) 
23 - Amsterdam, Netherlands - Ziggo Dome (SOLD OUT) 
30 - Budapest, Hungary -  Budapest Sportaréna


December
10 - Antwerp, Belgium - Lotto Arena
13 - London, England - SSE Arena Wembley
19 - Vienna, Austria - Stadthalle
20 - Prague, Czech Republic - O2 Arena
29 - Tampere, Finland - Uros Areena (SOLD OUT)
30 - Helsinki, Finland - Ice Hall


Nightwish: "These are the only shows for 2021. Due to various Covid restrictions, we have had to postpone the rest of the European tour dates to 2022 and we will announce the new dates as soon as possible. Hold on to your tickets!


We would also like to kindly remind you that proof of vaccination and / or recovery will be required to enter these shows. We heartily thank you for your patience in these peculiar times and hope to see as many of you as possible very soon!"

Alestorm guitarist Máté “Bobo” Bodor has completed work on his debut solo album Oh Wow! to be released on November 26 via H-Music Hungary. Máté has been an integral part of Alestorm in the last 6 years, playing on the albums No Grave But the Sea (2017) and Curse of the Crystal Coconut (2020) and also formed the band All But One with Heaven Shall Burn drummer Christian Bass and singer Joe Carter-Hawkins. 


He has used the free time given by the lockdowns to write and record his first instrumental solo album, which he recorded with bass player Soma Schiszler (of the 2018 Eurovision participant band  AWS) and drummer Márk Maczák (Leander Rising, AMIGOD). The album is now available for preorder, and the first song and music video is out now, check out The Forgotten Ones below. Preorder at merch.alestorm.net.







Máté’s comments about his album:


“The idea of an instrumental solo album was born around 4-5 years ago, but the continuous touring with Alestorm and Leander Kills has made it unrealistic to make time for it, so it remained a vision only, for a long time. After we’ve completed work on the 2020 Alestorm album and I got home, the first Covid lockdowns started immediately. Because of that I was stuck at home, and for the first time after 5 years I’ve felt I have nothing to work on. In May 2020 I’ve deliberately started working on instrumental songs, initially one or two at a time, to see where this is going. I’ve completed the songs and recorded the demos all by myself, but eventually I found myself constantly coming up with new ideas and completing new ones. I thought I should do this only as long as this “natural flow” is there, and I will stop as soon as I feel it’s forced. By the end of the year I’ve completed the songwriting part of the project.


“With the finished demos I’ve contacted Soma Schiszler (AWS), who I toured together with before, so I knew he was a professional producer and is very adapted when it comes to guitar music. Together we have started discussing this album more seriously. We’ve started working with Márk Maczák, who recorded all the drums by the end of spring, so the second half of summer was about recording all the other instruments. The main concept was not to involve many people so that I could supervise the whole process and I can learn from it to improve my skills for the next albums. Eventually Soma and I recorded all guitars and bass over a few weeks. The album was also mixed and mastered by Soma. 





“I really wanted to make an instrumental album that is not about ‘over-playing it for the sake of over-playing.’ The main aspect was to deliver songs with good, well-built structures, and not some kind of improvised mass that someone just played something on top of. The order of songs was not changed, they can be heard in chronological order so there is an arc to the album that can describe my feelings of that one year period. If I had to characterize this album, I’d say I’ve managed to put together songs with a certain ‘feelgood / travelling’ mood where there are only technical / complex parts where it’s really needed and has a place naturally. 


“The main concept behind the album’s cover art was to include as many of my favourite things in life as possible: guitars, sea animals, basketball and donuts. Basically these are the things that make me happy, so it was clear these are the elements to make my dream world from. Polish artist Aleksandra Klepacka made this imaginary idea into reality, who had an extremely good perception of what was in my head, and delivered the basic design for the album in merely a few days.”





Máté is a Hungarian guitar player, known as the member of the internationally touring pirate metal band Alestorm, the melodic metalcore band All But One and formerly of Hungarian metal band Leander Kills.


Máté started touring at a young age with various bands internationally supporting bigger bands in the UK scene. After joining the power metal band Wisdom they were part of multiple major tours across Europe with acts such as Sabaton, Powerwolf and Eluveitie.


Joining Alestorm in 2015 brought on more performing around the globe on a much larger scale. The band has since played main stages at most of the biggest festivals in the world such as Wacken, Summer Breeze, Hellfest, Graspop, and Heavy Montreal. All accompanied by tours in Russia, Australia, South America, Asia, the United States and Canada. 


Máté has been endorsed by Ibanez guitars since 2016 and mostly plays his LA Custom Shop “Bobo” model, loaded with EMGs. Since the relationship with Ibanez and EMG started, Máté has done two workshop tours around Europe to promote their products.

Albert Bouchard is best known as a founding member of Blue Öyster Cult, along with his brother and bassist Joe Bouchard. The original lineup sold millions of albums for Columbia Records, with such classic songs as “(Don’t Fear) The Reaper” and the #1 hit on the Billboard Mainstream Rock chart “Burning For You”, with both contributing to songwriting, and lead vocals on some of their greatest songs, such as “Cites On Flame With Rock and Roll” and “Hot Rails To Hell”.


Albert Bouchard is back with Imaginos 2 - Bombs Over Germany (minus zero and counting), continuing the Trilogy of Imaginos, a concept album about an alien conspiracy that is brought to fruition during the late 19th and early 20th century through the actions of Imaginos, an agent of evil. The album weaves scripts and poems by the late Sandy Pearlman.


Albert has just released a video for the track “OD’d On Life Itself” and describes it as follows, “This video was made with the invaluable assistance of Kenny the puppet, the evil sock monkey (who has traveled all over the world with me), flying violins, the Shadow, two years worth of prescription bottles and homemade special effects. It tells the story of those people with too vivid imaginations mashed up with bad cases of insomnia.”







To celebrate this new release and all things Blue Öyster Cult, both Albert and Joe will be making a rare in-store appearance at Blue Raven’s Art Rock Revival in Frenchtown, NJ on November 20 from Noon - 2 PM where they will be on hand to meet with fans and sign memorabilia. This will be followed by a special free livestream event at 3:30 PM (EST) hosted by Sirius XM’s Keith Roth and presented by Deko Entertainment and Volume.com. The guys will premier a recently recorded Bouchard Brothers show covering new material and all the BÖC classics, and will take questions in a Live Q&A that you will not want to miss.


In-store appearance details here. Free tickets to Bouchard Brothers livestream, here.


To celebrate Imaginos II, there are limited edition bundles (while supplies last), which can be ordered here.


Product includes:


- One CD Album of Albert Bouchards - Imaginos 2
- One Imaginos II Tee
- One Albert Bouchard Guitar Pick
- One Imaginos II Poster (Autographed)





Tracklisting:


"When War Comes"
"Independence Day"
"7 Screaming Dizbusters"
"O'D On Life Itself"
"II Duce"
"Bombs Over Germany"
"Before The Kiss (A Redcap)"
"Three Sisters"
"Quicklime Girl (Mistress of the Salmon Salt)"
"The Red and the Black"
"Dominance and Submission"
"Shadow of California"
"Cities on Flame (With Rock and Roll)"
"Half Life Times"


"Independence Day" lyric video:





"OD'd On Life Itself" lyric video:

In a recent interview with Japanese music critic and radio personality Masa Ito of TVK's "Rock City", JUDAS PRIEST singer Rob Halford spoke about the progress of the songwriting sessions for the follow-up to 2018's "Firepower" LP. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "This next PRIEST album will be just as full of separate character. JUDAS PRIEST is 'Painkiller'; JUDAS PRIEST is 'British Steel'; JUDAS PRIEST is 'Screaming For Vengeance'; JUDAS PRIEST is 'Sin After Sin'. Every album has its own legs, its own metal boots.

"We've always said that even though we're a heavy metal band, we don't let that confine us; we don't let heavy metal put us in a box," he continued. "We think heavy metal is freedom — musical freedom. So when we played [the] Bloodstock [Open Air festival in August] and twenty thousand metal maniacs were singing 'I'm your turbo lover,' it's metal. And then, twenty minutes later, twenty thousand metal maniacs are going, 'He is the painkiller,' it's metal. From two different worlds — from the 'Turbo' world and from the 'Painkiller' world — but it's still heavy metal. And this, I feel, has always been what sets JUDAS PRIEST in a place that no one else explores. And that's why I feel that when our Japanese fans hear that JUDAS PRIEST is making a new metal album, they know they're going to get something that they have never heard before, they're going to get the sounds, they're going to get the songs, they're going to get the compositions and the arrangements in a way that, again, is new; it's fresh.

"I feel that's also a part why we've lasted 50 years in own world, in the PRIEST world — is because when we start to sit down and write, like I've been writing with Glenn [Tipton, PRIEST guitarist] and with Richie [Faulkner, PRIEST guitarist], internally, we know, we think about our fans, we think about the excitement that our fans are feeling, we think about what our fans are wondering this next PRIEST album will contain. And we know that our fans are also as full of adventure and acceptance and open-mindedness and freedom as JUDAS PRIEST is when we [come together] to make these new metal songs.

"So, yeah, every single PRIEST album — if you look at the cover of 'Point Of Entry', you can hear the songs in your head; if you look at the cover of 'Firepower', you can hear the songs in your head. It's the same band, but they're two different dimensions. And this is what makes JUDAS PRIEST, again, unique. There is no other band in heavy metal like JUDAS PRIEST, and we're very proud of that."

This past March, Halford confirmed that PRIEST's next album will see the band reuniting with the "Firepower" production team consisting of British producer Andy Sneap, longtime collaborator Tom Allom and engineer Mike Exeter (BLACK SABBATH).

Halford recently went public with his battle with prostate cancer. 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.

PRIEST was forced to cancel the remainder of its fall 2021 U.S. tour after 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.

Sweden’s power metal masters, Insania, return with their fifth album, the aptly titled V (Praeparatus Supervivet), which is their first with Frontiers Music Srl. Order/save V (Praeparatus Supervivet) here, and watch a lyric video for "Entering Paradise" below.


After a 14 year hiatus and feeling energized and inspired, Insania are back with a powerful new record full of speedy, soaring tracks in the classic European power metal style with double-bass drums, great hooks, and amazing solos. The band's current lineup consists of Mikko Korsbäck (drums), Tomas Stolt (bass), Niklas Dahlin (guitar), Ola Halén (vocals), Dimitri Keiski (vocals), and Peter Östros (guitar).


The first version of Insania was formed in 1992 by drum player Mikko Korsbäck and guitar player Henrik Juhano. Bass player Tomas Stolt was added to the line-up shortly after and a few other musicians were also part of the band for short periods of time. The band initially started off playing covers of their favorite bands such as Helloween and Iron Maiden, but eventually Mikko´s classmate Niklas Dahlin joined as a second guitar player and they started writing their own tunes. The band then added keyboard player Patrik Västilä and began to pursue a more melodic style. Mikko took it upon himself to sing, even if he was playing the drums at the same time, as the band had not found a vocalist to match their ambitions.




In 1997, the band approached singer David Henriksson to join the band. The union between the band's ambitions and David’s vocals were a match made in heaven. The band felt complete now and sought to find a way to reach a bigger crowd. Later, the band was offered a deal with House of Kicks (later known as MNW and then Sound Pollution) and their debut album "World of Ice" was released in 1999. The band would go on to release three more albums over the course of the coming years while enduring some line-up changes and eventually going on hiatus in 2007.


Now the band has reformed and is ready to bring their power metal stylings back to metalheads around the globe!





Tracklisting:


"Praeparatus Supervivet"
"Solur"
"Prometheus Rise"
"Moonlight Shadows"
"My Revelation"
"We Will Rise Again"
"Like A Rising Star"
"Blood, Tears And Agony"
"Entering Paradise"
"Power Of The Dragonborn"
"The Last Hymn To Life"


"Entering Paradise" lyric video:





"Solur" lyric video:





"Praeparatus Supervivet" video:





Lineup:


Ola Halén – Vocals  
Dimitri Keiski - Vocals
Peter Östros - Guitar
Niklas Dahlin - Guitar
Mikko Korsbäck - Drums
Tomas Stolt - Bass

The At The Movies project - launched by Pretty Maids guitarist Chris Laney due to the COVID-19 pandemic - caught fire over the course of 2020, featuring movie soundtrack cover songs from the '80s and '90s performed by members of Soilwork, Therion, HammerFall, Pretty Maids and King Diamond.


The core At The Movies players are:


Björn "Speed" Strid (Soilwork) - lead / backing vocals
Linnéa Vikström Egg (Therion) - lead / backing vocals
Chris Laney (Pretty Maids) - guitars
Allan Sørensen (Royal Hunt, Pretty Maids) - drums
Morten Sandager (Pretty Maids) - keyboards
Pontus Norgren (HammerFall) - guitars
Pontus Egberg (King Diamond) - bass




They have checked in with the following update:


"We are proud to finally announce the release of our second baby, Soundtrack Of Your Life - Vol. 2, on January 7th, 2022 through our partner - the new founded label Atomic Fire. You have been asking for this second album for a long time but as you know good things take some time. 


On the same day we will officially reissue our first album Soundtrack Of Your Life - Vol. 1  with the bonus track 'Last Christmas'. As the world seems to go mad again these days we strongly hope we will give you the chance to escape reality with our takes on some movie hits from the last century.


Today we are kicking of the pre-order for both albums as well as for the limited 7" coloured vinyl single 'Last Christmas' (B-Side: 'Waiting For A Star To Fall'), which is available from November 19th, 2021 on at the Atomic Fire Records webshop.


Both albums are available as CD/DVD digipak (DVD with all tracks as video clips), coloured vinyl, digital."





The Soundtrack Of Your Life - Vol. 1 (Re-Release) tracklist:


"Intro"
"No Easy Way Out"
"Maniac"
"St. Elmo's Fire"
"A View To A Kill"
"(I've Had) The Time Of My Life"
"Wouldn't It Be Good"
"We Don't Need Another Hero (Thunderdome)"
"The Power Of Love"
"The Heat Is On"
"The Neverending Story"
"Far From Over"
"Last Christmas" (Bonus Track)


Pre-order Vol. 1 (re-release)





The Soundtrack Of Your Life - Vol. 2 tracklist:


"Waiting For A Star To Fall"
"King Of Wishful Thinking"
"The One And Only"
"When You Say Nothing At All"
"(I Just) Died In Your Arms"
"(You Drive Me) Crazy"
"Heaven Is A Place On Earth"
"Crush"
"I've Been Thinking About You"
"Venus"
"I Want It That Way"


Pre-order Vol. 2

L.A. Guns have released their new album, Checkered Past. Order / save your copy on CD / Color Vinyl / Digital here, and listen to the song, "If It's Over Now", below:





Written and recorded during late 2020 and early 2021, Checkered Past sees Tracii Guns, Phil Lewis, and company continuing with the darker lyrical tone of the preceding studio albums, The Devil You Know and The Missing Peace, while incorporating their classic rock influences into the mix. Heavier songs are mixed with bluesier, boogie inducing tracks and dark, introspective ballads, often harkening back to the first three albums the band made, but also pushing the band forward. When fans absorb the album as a whole, they'll see that the tracklisting is divided up into 'sets' or 'suites', where a sonic style is explored across multiple songs before moving on to the next, making for a remarkable listening experience.




Feeling inspired and excited like they did when they first started out, but with many years of wisdom and experience under their belts, and most importantly, a renewed and stronger creative and personal relationship, Guns and Lewis are maintaining a creative peak that started with The Missing Peace. Checkered Past shows a band invigorated and ready to bash you over the head, as well as “wow” you with some epic, slower songs, and even make you dance a bit to some rock 'n roll.


Since their self-titled debut in 1988 to the widely praised comeback albums The Missing Peace and The Devil You Know, L.A. Guns, led by Tracii Guns and Phil Lewis, have always delivered solid rock ‘n roll to their fans. This current incarnation of the band has been touring non-stop, with a notable break coinciding with all other touring bands, and the cohesiveness of the unit, not to mention Phil’s stunning and unique vocals and Guns’ mind-bending guitar playing, are on full display here. A must hear and listen for all fans of the band, both new and old.


L.A. Guns never looked like the pretty poster boys that so many of their peers did, but more the band that you would be terrified to bump into in an alley as they would likely be carrying switchblades and ready for a fight. But despite having many songs to back up that image, the band could also write powerful ballads (see the smash hit, “The Ballad Of Jayne” for Exhibit A of this argument) that showed there were some serious songwriting chops in the band. Those chops are on full display on the band's two most recent studio albums and the upcoming new album, Checkered Past, arguably one of the most vital and exciting releases in the band’s catalog.





Tracklisting:


"Cannonball"
"Bad Luck Charm"
"Living Right Now"
"Get Along"
"If It's Over Now"
"Better Than You"
"Knock Me Down"
"Dog"
"Let You Down"
"That Ain’t Why"
"Physical Itch"


"Get Along" video:





"Cannonball" video:





"Knock Me Down":





Tour dates:


November
12 - Indio, CA - Fantasy Springs Resort Casino
26 - San Juan Capistrano, CA - Coach House
27 - Long Beach, CA - Gaslamp


December
3 - Las Vegas, NV - Count's Vamp'd
4 - Las Vegas, NV - Count's Vamp'd
31 - West Hollywood, CA - Whisky A Go Go


February
9-14 - Port of Miami, FL - Monsters of Rock Cruise 2022


Lineup:


Phil Lewis - vocals
Tracii Guns - guitar
Ace Von Johnson - guitar
Johnny Martin - bass
Scot Coogan - drums


(Photo - Dustin Jack)

Frontiers Music Srl has released the sophomore album from Groundbreaker, entitled Soul To Soul. The melodic rock project centered around the vocal talents of Steve Overland (FM) are streaming the song, "Captain Of Our Love". Listen below, and order/save Soul To Soul here.


Groundbreaker's new album, Soul To Soul, is once again centered around the fantastic vocal talents of Steve Overland (FM) with stunning production by Alessandro Del Vecchio. While the self-titled debut was a collaboration with Robert Sall (Work of Art, W.E.T), on the songwriting side, joining Steve and Alessandro this time are Stefano Lionetti (Lionville), Pete Alpenborg (Arctic Rain), Jan Akesson (Infinite & Divine), and Kristian Fyhr (Seventh Crystal). The resulting album is simply everything that a melodic rock fan could hope and dream for. Expect nothing less than soaring hooklines, magnificent melodies, and amazing instrumental performances. Mixing the best of the European melodic rock traditions, Soul To Soul is easily one of the melodic rock highlights of the year.


The lineup on the new album includes Sven Larsson (ex-Street Talk) on guitars, Nalley Pahlsson (ex- Vindictiv, Therion) on bass, Herman Furin (Work of Art) on drums, and Alessandro Del Vecchio on keyboards. Steve Overland plays lead guitar on the track “Wild World” too.




Groundbreaker started with a conversation between Frontiers President Serafino Perugino and Overland. Perugino was eager to start a top notch collaboration with well-respected musicians from the European melodic rock scene and highlight Overland's absolutely stunning vocal talents. Robert Sall of Work of Art was brought into the picture to craft the songs and to be paired with Alessandro Del Vecchio’s production. Overland immediately loved the material that was submitted to him and consequently, they started to work on finishing the songs. The band's debut album was greeted warmly by the melodic rock community and now, those same fans can prepare themselves for another delightful entry into the melodic rock realm.





Tracklisting:


"Standing On The Edge Of A Broken Dream"
"Soul To Soul"
"Captain Of Our Love"
"Evermore"
"Wild World"
"Carrie"
"Fighting For Love"
"It Don't Get Better Than This"
"There's No Tomorrow"
"When Lightning Strikes"
"Til The End Of Time"
"Leap Of Faith"


"Captain Of Our Love":





"There's No Tomorrow" video:





"Soul To Soul":





"Standing On The Edge Of A Broken Dream" video:





Lineup:


Steve Overland - vocals, lead guitar on Wild World
Sven Larsson - guitars
Nalle Pahlsson - bass
Herman Furin - drums
Alessandro Del Vecchio - keyboards

Gypsy Pistoleros, the swashbuckling renegade flamenco rock rumba punk 'n' roll pioneers are aiming for the Christmas #1 spot with a cracking version of the world anthem and Ricky Martin hit, “Livin’ la Vida Loca”.





These sleazers are unashamedly going for a Christmas hit, with a “Day Of The Dead” inspired video. The single will be fully released on December 17. It is backed by the Guru of XMas Hits Jon Morter. With all proceeds going to Shelter.




Morter is best known for his gatecrashing of the music industry in 2009 with his phenomenal Rage Against The X Factor campaign, sweeping rap/metal band Rage Against The Machine into the sought after UK Christmas No.1 spot.  This success opened the door for Jon to work on campaigns for some big artists in the industry including Nirvana, Sex Pistols, Rod Stewart, David Essex, a No.1 album for The Rolling Stones, AC/DC's highest-ever chart placing in the UK singles chart, Rik Mayall's 2010 World Cup single (which incidentally Jon campaigned for again after Rik's death making the UK No.7 in 2014), and the 2012 Christmas No.1 campaign for The Justice Collective.


Gypsy Pistoleros may be best described as being the ideal house band for the fictitious Titty Twister bar of Rodriguez's From Dusk Til Dawn. Between the nods to Morricone's tense, tumbleweed atmospheres and the Gypsy Kings' manic Mediterranean energy, a New York Dolls raw glam spark and a surplus of prime G 'n' R attitude.


The sound is flamenco & rumba in a head-on collision with punk/rock riffs, pounding bass and thrashing drums. The songs span madly in the best rock 'n' roll tradition with big hooks, attitude, and sleaze. Yet those flamenco breaks got into your head and refuse to leave - this unique hybrid rocks.

Arjen Anthony Lucassen (Ayreon) is back with a new Star One album, titled Revel In Time. The new album comes more than 10 years since the previous release and is due out on February 18 via InsideOutMusic.


Arjen has issued the following update: "Joe Lynn Tuner sings lead vocals on the track ‘The Year Of ‘41’ of the new Star One album Revel In Time. Check out this video to hear part of his vocals and don’t miss his wonderful message at the end! I’m so excited about this, I’ve been a fan of Joe’s soulful melodic voice ever since I first heard the Rainbow album Difficult To Cure back in 1981. Another dream come true!"







Revel In Time will be available for pre-order on December 17 and it will come as Ltd. 2CD Digipak, Ltd. Deluxe 3CD+Blu-Ray Artbook (incl. a poster of the cover artwork), and as 180g Gatefold 2LP (incl. the album on CD & an LP-Booklet).


CD 2 features alternate versions of the same songs as CD 1, but with different vocalists. Also available will be a 5.1 mix, a high-res audio version, and an exclusive, hour-long Behind the Scenes video, on the Blu-ray included in the Artbook.





Revel In Time tracklisting:


CD1:


"Fate Of Man"
"28 Days (Till The End Of Time)"
"Prescient"
"Back From The Past"
"Revel In Time"
"The Year Of ’41"
"Bridge Of Life"
"Today Is Yesterday"
"A Hand On The Clock"
"Beyond The Edge Of It All"
"Lost Children Of The Universe"


CD 2 features the same songs as CD 1, but with different vocalists.


"Lost Children Of The Universe" lyric video:

Enuff Z’Nuff's fondness for the legendary rock 'n roll band The Beatles has been more than well documented over the years. The band, now led by co-founder Chip Z'Nuff, decided to go all in on that fandom and have released Enuff Z’Nuff’s Hardrock Nite, a covers album of some of their favorite Beatles songs as well as songs from Beatles’ members post-Beatles bands.


Another taste of music from the album is available with the release the cover of the Paul McCartney & Wings classic, "Jet". Listen below, and order/save Enuff Z'Nuff's Hardrock Nite on CD/Color Vinyl/Digital here. Please note, due to worldwide delays with the manufacturing of vinyl, the LP version will be released on December 10.


On Enuff Z'Nuff's Hardrock Nite, the band offers their reinterpretation of tracks from the world famous Liverpool musician's repertoire with no samples, no synthesizers, no wizards behind the curtain, just four cats in the studio paying respect to their heroes. Enuff Z’Nuff’s Hardrock Nite is a colorful Cadillac Escalade driving 100 mph on the freeway without rules or regulation and just livin' the dream.




When the band first emerged on the wider scene, Enuff Z’Nuff were acclaimed as rock’s 'Next Big Thing'. They were power-pop princes in glam-metal clothing and aptly described as The Beatles and Cheap Trick combined and reinvented for late 80’s US hard rock musical landscape. Long-time fans of the band have yearned, begged, and wished for a Beatles covers album from the band and now, finally, Enuff Z’ Nuff pay tribute to their main inspiration and musical heroes with Enuff Z’Nuff’s Hardrock Nite in their own inimitable and rocking fashion. Enjoy the ride!


Enuff Z’nuff are the living, breathing example of what a rock ‘n roll group should be. Now centered around bass player and vocalist Chip Z’nuff, Enuff Z’nuff are still delivering the band’s patented power pop melded with hard rock stylings. Originally formed in 1984 in Chicago, IL, the band received their big break in 1989 when they signed to Atco/Atlantic Records. Founding members, Chip Z'Nuff and Donnie Vie were joined by guitarist Derek Frigo and drummer Vikki Foxx and they commenced work on their major label debut. The self-titled album was a monster hit and spawned two evergreen singles, “New Thing” and “Fly High Michelle”. Both received constant airplay on radio and heavy rotation on MTV, spending over 60 weeks in the Top 10. 1991 saw the band release their sophomore album, Strength. The album had more of a hard rock overtone and sustained the success achieved on the first album. The band made high profile television and radio appearances on the likes of David Letterman and Howard Stern and were featured in Rolling Stone’s Hot Issue as ‘The Next Big Thing'. The band soldiered on during the new musical climates of the ‘90s and have since gone on to release over a dozen more studio records.





Tracklisting:


"Magical Mystery Tour"
"Cold Turkey"
"Eleanor Rigby"
"Live And Let Die"
"Dear Prudence"
"Helter Skelter"
"Jet"
"Revolution"
"Back In The U.S.S.R."
"With A Little Help From My Friends"


"Jet":





"Back In The U.S.S.R." video:





"Cold Turkey" video:





Lineup:


Chip Z’Nuff – Vocals, Fender bass, & electric guitar
Tony Fennell – Rhythm & lead guitar, vox, keyboards, & strings
Tory Stoffregen - Lead guitar, slide
Daniel Benjamin Hill – Drums & Percussion

Led Zeppelin have released Episode 4 of the new video series, The History Of Led Zeppelin IV.


A message states: "This is Zeppelin's all-time classic and undoubtedly one of the finest tracks by any group this year." - NME, November 1971







Watch Episodes 1 - 3 below:

Helloween have released a lyric video for the song "Indestructible", featured on their new self-titled album, available via Nuclear Blast. Watch the clip below, and head here to order Helloween in your format of choice.





Tracklisting:




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


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


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


"Indestructible" lyric video:





"Rise Without Chains" lyric video:





"Angels" lyric video:





"Mass Pollution" lyric video:


   


"Best Time lyric video:





"Fear Of The Fallen" lyric video:





"Skyfall" video:





(Photo - Martin Häusler)