Earlier today, Sabaton announced the limited-edition, live-in-concert, double-DVD/Blu-Ray, The Great Show, and The 20th Anniversary Show, both set for release on November 19 (Nuclear Blast). Both titles were filmed during the band’s 2019-2020 The Great Tour world trek, and both feature special guest performers. Tracklistings are below; pre-orders begin today and can be placed here.


The band have since premiered the official live video for "Great War", filmed at the 20th Anniversary Show at Germany's Wacken Open Air festival in 2019. Watch below:







The 20th Anniversary Show (see trailer below) is comprised of Sabaton’s jaw-dropping, two-hour headline concert filmed in front of 75,000 fans at Germany’s Wacken Open Air Festival - coincidentally, celebrating its 30th anniversary - on August 1, 2019. The Great Show, with a running time of about 90-minutes, was recorded at Sabaton’s sold-out performance at the O2 Arena in Prague on January 26, 2020. With two varied setlists chosen from the band’s extensive catalog, The Great Show and the 20th Anniversary Show, limited to 9,000 copies each, will be available as individual purchases or bundled together as The Great Show Stage Collector's Edition box set (limited to 5,000 copies), that includes a building bricks version of the Sabaton stage so fans can build their own stages.





For the greater part of the Wacken concert, Sabaton commandeered the festival’s two main stages, the side-by-side-and-connected Faster and Harder Stages, becoming the first artist in Wacken's 30-year history to utilize both stages simultaneously in this way. Vocalist Joakim Brodén, guitarists Chris Rörland and Tommy Johansson, drummer Hannes Van Dahl, and the 20-voice Great War Choir, fitted out in a variety of military uniforms, performed on the Faster Stage. At the same time on the Harder Stage, bassist Pär Sundström welcomed back previous Sabaton members Thobbe Englund and Rikard Sundén/guitars, Daniel Mÿhr/keyboards and Daniel Mulback/drums - all nine musicians, plus the choir, giving an intense and impassioned en masse performance. Sabaton was also joined by the internationally acclaimed Grammy-nominated virtuoso cellist Tina Guo for the encore. Prague’s The Great Show reunited Sabaton with Finland’s multi-Platinum cello-rockers, Apocalyptica, who provided a fiery orchestral backing to several of Sabaton’s songs.


In support of Sabaton’s most recent chart-topping album, The Great War, The Great Tour saw the band setting the barre sky-high for live rock’n’roll stage production. Both sets of discs effectively capture the visually electrifying in-concert experience that is a Sabaton show. Sabaton’s cinematic songs transport fans onto the battlefield, encountering the horrors of war as well as acts of heroism and bravery, based on historical fact and told as if through the eyes and minds of soldiers in the line of fire. For “The Great Tour,” and as seen on both of these DVD/Blu-Ray sets, Sabaton’s live stage production was forged as a battlefield, with barbed-wire stretched across the front of the stage, stacks of sandbag barricades, mic stands fashioned after the period’s rifles and trench guns, a two-ton military tank complete with a battery of rocket launchers and flame jets that doubles as a drum riser, a keyboard built into the body of The Red Baron’s iconic blood-red tri-plane, and Brodén armed with a giant bazooka. Live rock’n’roll at its finest.





The 20th Anniversary Show (Wacken) tracklisting:


"Ghost Division"
"Winged Hussars"
"Resist And Bite"
"Fields Of Verdun" (with Thobbe Englund)
"Shiroyama" (with Thobbe Englund)
"The Red Baron"
"The Price Of A Mile"
"Bismarck"
"The Lion From The North"
"Carolus Rex"
"40:1"
"The Last Stand"
"The Lost Battalion"
Drum Battle (Hannes Van Dahl vs. Daniel Mullback)
"Far From The Flame"
"Panzerkampf"
"Night Witches"
"The Art Of War"
"82nd All The Way"
"Great War"
"Attero Dominatus"


Encore:
"Primo Victoria"
"Swedish Pagans" (with Tina Guo)
"To Hell And Back" (with Tina Guo)





The Great Show (Prague) tracklisting:


"Ghost Division"
"Great War"
"The Attack Of The Dead Men"
"Seven Pillars Of Wisdom"
"The Los Battalion"
"The Red Baron"
"The Last Stand"
"Far From The Flame"
"Night Witches"
"Angels Calling" (with Apocalyptica)
"The Price Of A Mile" (with Apocalyptica)
"The Lion From The North" (with Apocalyptica)
"Carolus Rex" (with Apocalyptica)


Encore:
"Primo Victoria"
"Bismarck"
"Swedish Pagans"
"To Hell And Back"

Frontiers Music Srl recently announced the release of Swedish band The Murder Of My Sweet's new album, A Gentleman's Legacy, on December 10. Today, the band gives fans another look at the album with the release of the song, "Kill Your Darlings". Listen below, and pre-order/save A Gentleman’s Legacy here.


A Gentleman's Legacy is a concept album that, interestingly enough, picks up where the last album from Mind’s Eye, TMOMS drummer/producer Daniel Flores' prog rock band, left off with their 2007 release, A Gentleman’s Hurricane.


Joining TMOMS on guitar for this record is none other than Mike Palace, who is a big fan of the Mind’s Eye album, and on bass, Patrick Janson, who is very familiar with the prog genre having played with Platitude for several years.




"The album took about three months to write and about five months to record from start to end and is probably the longest time I have ever taken in a studio,” says Daniel Flores. "I was afraid of the time I had to take to make a worthy record not only for Mind's Eye fans, but for our amazing TMOMS fans, the fans that actually made this whole thing possible!”





As stated above, the connection between The Murder Of My Sweet and Mind's Eye is drummer, producer, and songwriter Daniel Flores. Daniel started TMOMS after Mind’s Eye released A Gentleman's Hurricane. The aforementioned record was a concept album about Adam Evangelista, a former CIA agent and hired gun who had gone rogue. Adam's story was told throughout the album via confessions to a priest, the priest that had actually raised Adam and had done him wrong with severe punishments, probably causing Adam to become the ice cold murderer he was. In the song “Ashes to Ashes (In Land Lullaby)”, Adam gets to see his daughter Pandora for the first time, a young Mexican/American who is desperately trying to find her father.


And here is where we pick up the story with the new The Murder Of My Sweet album, A Gentlemans Legacy. Pandora is now a grown woman and is going down the same road as her father, taking revenge on the ones who were giving her father Adam his orders, the infamous Illuminati, our antagonist on this new album. The album tells the story of Pandora Evangelista and her journey, facing the challenges her father had to endure and suffering the ultimate punishment: remorse, the one thing no one can escape from.


The protagonist is played by TMOMS vocalist Angelica Rylin, whose lyrics show a woman's intuition and what she would go through in such a situation, giving the character a woman's touch while collaborating with the original creator of the story, Daniel Flores. Flores was challenged to go back to his progressive roots for this album and the sound is influenced by Queensrÿche and Genesis, but with his own personal touches highlighting strong melodies and letting the music stay in line with the development of the story.


Enjoy this magnificent, and unexpected, work of art for both the music and the storytelling!





Tracklisting:


“Six Feet Under”
“A Ghost Of A Chance”
“Damnation”
“The Wheels Of Time”
“Winged”
“Kill Your Darlings”
“Fathers Eyes”
“Rise Above”
“Trick Of The Devil”
“Heads Or Tails”
“Please, Don’t Wait Up”
“Finding Closure”


“Kill Your Darlings”:





“A Ghost Of A Chance” video:

Heavy metal is a way of life that is shaped by dedication and passion. Founded in 1987 by Markus Staiger, it was exactly that passion paired with a flair for talented artists that cemented Nuclear Blast at the top of independent metal labels for over three decades.


A new chapter starts now: Under the new name Atomic Fire, the following bands will be released by Markus Staiger and serviced by a team of metal experts who share their love for heavy metal - effective immediately: Helloween (most recently ranked # 1 in the German charts), Opeth, Meshuggah, Amorphis, Michael Schenker Group, Primal Fear, Sonata Arctica, Agnostic Front, Rise Of The Northstar, as well as respective projects Silver Lake by Esa Holopainen and White Stones.


In addition to the already announced studio albums by Sonata Arctica (Acoustic Adventures - Volume One, released January 21) and Amorphis (Halo, released February 11), the first half of 2022 will also see the releases of new works by Meshuggah, the Michael Schenker Group and Rise Of The Northstar. Markus Staiger is owner and CEO of Atomic Fire GmbH.




Simultaneously, the two former Nuclear Blast employees Florian Milz and Markus Wosgien founded the label Atomic Fire Records GmbH, where they will share CEO / label management duties. Not only will they be developing new artists, but also enlisting a variety of established acts.


Collaborating under the mutual banner Atomic Fire, the goal of all parties is to strengthen the physical product, as well as drive the digital sector forward with innovative ideas and attention to detail. Atomic Fire partners with major sales experts Warner Music (GAS) and ADA (rest of the world), with the exception of Japan, where the company is licensed to Ward Records.


Additionally, the label will operate its own mail order shops in Germany/Europe, UK, Australia and North America with immediate effect. Furthermore, Atomic Fire will look after the roster of the label Reaper Entertainment, led by Florian Milz and Gregor Rothermel, featuring acts such as Tankard, Memoriam and Metal Church.


The Atomic Fire headquarters are located  in the South German town of Donzdorf, where a new record shop, and thus, a meeting point for metal fans will also be launched in the spring of 2022.


International offices and representatives are located in England (director: Dan Tobin), the USA (director: Liz Ciavarella-Brenner), Sweden (director: Darren Edwards), France (director: Olivier Garnier), Italy (director: Barbara Francone) and Spain (director: Sergi Ramos).


The new company’s staff contains the following positions: Ute Linhart (sales & merchandise), Patrick Walch and Sarah Wohlfahrt (digital), Philipp Adelsberger (press promotion & publicity), Gregor Rothermel (graphic design & product management), Timo Beisel (publishing), Thomas “Zwini” Zwirner (mailorder & wholesale), Markus Wielandt (IT & new media), Siggi Popp (accounting) and Heiko Heike/Zimmermann & Decker (legal affairs). Mat Sinner (senior consultant), Achim Köhler (A&R) and Iris Bernotat (product management & promotion) are providing consulting support.


Atomic Fire Records announces its first signings today: The young Icelandic power metal force Power Paladin, whose anthemic debut album With The Magic Of Windfyre Steel has already taken the media by storm. In addition, the Scandinavian all-star formation At The Movies was brought on board. Their line-up features musicians from established acts such as Pretty Maids, HammerFall, King Diamond, The Night Flight Orchestra and Therion, whose collaboration has immortalized well-known film hits of the 80s and 90s in a unique hard rock outfit on the two albums The Soundtrack Of Your Life - Vol. 1 (80s) and The Soundtrack Of Your Life - Vol. 2 (90s). All three aforementioned works will be released on January 7, 2022, marking the first releases of the new label. 

Billy F Gibbons, apart from his five decades-long role fronting ZZ TOP, has in recent years recorded three much-lauded solo albums for Concord Records, including "Hardware", released this past June. To cap off the year, Concord is releasing a singular single, "Jingle Bell Blues", on November 9. It's Billy's reworking of the eternal "Jingle Bells" with some significant modifications or "Kustom" touches. "Bells on hot rods ring" is one such and mention is made of a "drop-top" sleigh. While the song exudes holiday cheer, the gut- bucket vocal approach that Billy applies to the repertoire is nothing short of extraordinary. Billy's guitar solos can best be described as "epic" and should heat up virtually any holiday get-together whether indoors or out. Also of literal note is the harmonica solo that renders the recording something of an homage to Jimmy Reed in a sonically up-to-date context.

Recorded in Nashville this past June by Gibbons and Michael Fiorentino, the track is available digitally as well as a lavishly packaged 45 RPM single, pressed on red translucent vinyl. The cover art depicts multiple Cadillac Fleetwood Broughams stacked to reflect the shape of a traditional Christmas tree while the obverse is adorned by a swanky stylized wire wheel.

The use of "singular" is intentional as only one track, "Jingle Bell Blues", is offered. The "flip side" of the record is an etched surface that replicates the sidewall of a bias ply tire with raised letters spelling out the song title and Billy's name. Lastly, and of special note, is the fact that the red vinyl version comes with a Billy F Gibbons center hole adapter making it easy to play on any standard turntable.

"It dawned on us that everybody loves Christmas music," says Billy of the new single, "and everybody loves the Jimmy Reed blues vibe, so we figured we'd combine them. We threw in some hot rod references for good measure because our preferred sleigh is the horsepower-propelled kind.

"I suppose it could have been produced with a small hole and we wouldn’t have had to deal with the adapter, but this is, at its essence, a juke box record. It was even mixed with that in mind," he added.

"Around Christmas, it always seems that there are five to ten holiday selections listed in the lower right corner of a typical juke box in a typical juke joint, the song titles and artist names printed on wreath-bedecked title strips. Our hope is for 'Jingle Bell Blues' to be one of those records. Bing Crosby, David Bowie, Elvis, Brenda Lee, Jose Feliciano, Otis Redding, Mariah Carey, Nat King Cole, Gene Autry, and not forgetting Adam Sandler, need some company and we'd be thrilled to provide it in the spirit of the season."

Florida metal titans Trivium - Matt Heafy [vocals, guitar], Corey Beaulieu [guitar], Paolo Gregoletto [bass], and Alex Bent [drums] - have released a performance video for "In The Court Of The Dragon", the title track of the band's new album. Watch below:





Trivium's tenth album, In The Court Of The Dragon, is out now via Roadrunner Records. The record was produced and mixed by Josh Wilbur and recorded in autumn 2020 at Full Sail University in Orlando, Florida. Order In The Court Of The Dragon here.




The album cover is an original oil painting by French artist Mathieu Nozieres (@mathieunozieres on Instagram).





In The Court Of The Dragon tracklisting:


"X"
"In The Court Of The Dragon"
"Like A Sword Over Damocles"
"Feast Of Fire"
"A Crisis Of Revelation"
"The Shadow Of The Abattoir"  
"No Way Back Just Through"  
"Fall Into Your Hands"  
"From Dawn To Decadence"  
"The Phalanx"


"The Phalanx" video:





"Feast Of Fire" video:





"In The Court Of The Dragon" video:

Symphonic metal outfit, Ad Infinitum, recently released their bewitching second offering, Chapter II - Legacy, via Napalm Records. In this new video, drummer Niklas Müller plays through the track "Your Enemy":





Guitarist Adrian Thessenvitz plays through the track "Inferno" in the clip below:







Chapter II - Legacy once again showcases the indispensable creativity of Ad Infinitum - featuring twelve complex, tracks highlighting their sonic development and undeniable symphonic strength. Such talent can be witnessed with opener “Reinvented”, lurking with lovely piano tunes and erupting in intense riffage in the blink of an eye. Right away, the music reflects the extremely multifaceted voice of Melissa Bonny - ranging from crystal clear vocals to impressively powerful screams and menacing growls. Hailing from hell, hard-hitting “Afterlife” features the vocal power of Nils Molin (Amaranthe, Dynazty), merging in perfect harmony with Melissa’s incredibly haunting delivery. Songs like “Your Enemy” and cinematic grand finale “Lullaby” leave no scope for weakness and unveil the heaviest side of Ad Infinitum to date. This grasping hymn is far from lulling you to sleep, as the eclectically versatile sonic world of Ad Infinitum immediately induces you to listen to Chapter II - Legacy again, right from the beginning.





Chapter II - Legacy is available in the following formats:


- 1 CD Digipak
- 1 LP Gatefold BLACK
- 1 CD Digipak + Patch (limited to 200 copies worldwide)
- Digital Album


Order here.





Tracklisting:


"Reinvented"
"Unstoppable"
"Inferno"
"Your Enemy"
"Afterlife" (feat. Nils Molin)
"Breathe"
"Animals"
"Into The Night"
"Son Of Wallachia"
"My Justice, Your Pain"
"Haunted"
"Lullaby"


"Animals" video:





“Afterlife” video:





"Unstoppable" video:





Ad Infinitum are:


Melissa Bonny - Vocals
Adrian Thessenvitz - Guitars
Korbinian Benedict - Bass
Niklas Müller – Drums


(Photo - Nat Enemede - Fine Art)

English extreme metal legends, Carcass, recently released their new album, Torn Arteries, via Nuclear Blast Records. The band have released a drum playthrough video for the title track. Watch as the band's beastly drummer Daniel Wilding rips through the pummelling track below.


Wilding says: “This is the big one. 'Torn Arteries'! Starting with the drum fill was an idea I had after we were struggling to find a way to begin the song. I came up with the fill after just messing around with some basic ideas at home. When we eventually tried it all together it just worked. I never expected it to the be the start of the album though haha! Another one of my favourites! Very intense, drums are all over the place in this one. A lot of fast stuff, tempo changes and a lot of fills! Exhausting to play but so much fun! I feel it’s a great mixture of intensity and musicality!”







Torn Arteries can be ordered in a variety of bundles and formats, including CD, Box Set and limited edition vinyl pressings. Order here.





Tracklisting:


"Torn Arteries"
"Dance Of IXTAB (Psychopomp & Circumstances March No. 1 In B)"
"Eleanor Rigor Mortis"
"Under The Scalpel Blade"
"The Devil Rides Out"
"Flesh Ripping Sonic Torment Limited"
"Kelly's Meat Emporium"
"In God We Trust"
"Wake Up And Smell The Carcass / Caveat Emptor"
"The Scythe's Remorseless Swing"


"The Scythe's Remorseless Swing" video:





"Dance Of IXTAB (Psychopomp & Circumstance March No. 1 In B)" video:





"Kelly's Meat Emporium" visualizer:





Lineup:


Bill Steer - Guitars
Jeff Walker - Bass/Vocals
Daniel Wilding - Drums
Tom Draper - Guitars


(Photo - Ester Segarra)

Guitarist Toby Knapp has announced the November release of a surprise EP, Psychic Contagion, via Shredguy Records.


States the guitarist: "I felt really inspired and recorded four instrumental tunes that I might have tried to add to my forthcoming coming Moribund Records solo album, From The Aether. It's too late to do that, that album is in production. Shredguy Records agreed to release the EP and it's kind of a companion to the Moribund album coming in January."







The guitarist continues regarding live dates: "I have a whole show with pre-recorded bass and drum tracks to accompany my guitar playing. I play everything from Johnny Winter to Yngwie Malmsteen and my own material. It's kind of a tribute show to my favorite guitarists.


"Getting booked regionally was a bit difficult because this is neither a cover band gig nor some local thrash band, it's totally eclectic. I have been having some luck though, I've found some great venues to play in Sheridan, WY, Casper, WY, and Billings, MT. The clubs that are hosting me "get it" and are very supportive"


Dates will be added and exact venues will be announced soon.

Seattle-based melodic black metal outfit, The Devils Of Loudun, have announced their first full-length album, Escaping Eternity, which will see a February 11 release via The Artisan Era. The debut LP from one of metal's most promising up-and-comers is the follow up to the band's 2015 EP, Entertering Oblivion, and 2016's Enduring Creation EP. To celebrate the announcement, the band has released a lyric video for the first single off the record, titled "Incarnate". Watch below.





Commenting on signing with The Artisan Era, the members of DOL state: “We are beyond stoked to be releasing our first full-length album on The Artisan Era - the sickest record label in the metal scene right now. It is truly an honor to join their ranks alongside such a prestigious roster of bands and musicians. We have spent the last 5 years meticulously writing, refining, and recording this eclectic monster of an album and we believe these efforts have paid off. The new record far surpasses everything on our previous two EPs and we couldn’t be happier to have The Artisan Era’s support in its release."




Speaking about their debut full-length, the band shares: "Having been 5 years since our last release, we wanted to make sure our first full-length album would far surpass our older material and make it well worth the wait. 'Escaping Eternity' takes all the best elements of our previous music as well as some new influences drawn from the far end of the metal spectrum and turns it all up to 10."


Pre-order here.





Tracklisting:


"The Scourge Of Beasts"
"Ex Nihilo"
"Incarnate"
"Anamnesis"
"The Death Of Sleep"
"Evolving Wilds"
"Praise The Eternal Nightmare"
"Abysswalker"
"Formless"
"Arcana Imperii"


"Incarnate" lyric video:





Lineup:


Vance Bratcher - Vocals (Aethereus)
Scott Hermanns - Guitars (Aethereus)
Drew Tuel - Guitars
Ben Velozo - Keyboards
LJ Cline - Bass

Carmine Appice & Fernando Perdomo have released a video for "Flower Child", featured on their new album, Energy Overload, out now via Cleopatra Records. Watch the clip below.


Fiery guitarist Fernando Perdomo meets cool as ice drummer Carmine Appice on this once in a lifetime clash of the titans. This all instrumental album features some mindblowing original material plus killer cover versions of Paul McCarney’s “Maybe I’m Amazed", Rod Stewarts “Da Ya Think I’m Sexy?” (which was co-written by Appice), and more.


Order/save the digital edition here, order on CD here.







Tracklisting:


"Blow Speaker Boogie"
"Funky Jackson"
"Energy Overload"
"Flower Child"
"Rocket To The Sun"
"Pure Ecstasy"
"The Triumph"
"Maybe I’m Amazed"
"Little Havana, Big Havana"
"Da Ya Think I’m Sexy?"
"Starstream"
"Thunder"
"Reprise"


"Flower Child" video:





"Rocket To The Sun" video:





(Photo - Joel Barrios)

KORN will release a new album, "Requiem", on February 4, 2022 via Loma Vista Recordings. The official music video for the disc's first single, "Start The Healing", directed by Tim Saccenti (FLYING LOTUS, RUN THE JEWELS, DEPECHE MODE), can be seen below. The clip is a live action and animated visual feast about death and re-birth amidst an array of preternatural creatures, humanoids and KORN's electrifying live performance symbolizing the dawn of a new era for the band.

In a statement, Saccenti explained of the visual, "Our idea for this video was to mutate that aspect of the DNA of KORN, of what makes them so inspiring, their mix of raw power and transportive aesthetics and human emotion. I wanted to take the viewer on an emotional journey, as the song does, a visceral, cathartic death and rebirth that will hopefully help transport the listener through whatever their personal struggles are. Collaborating with 3D artist Anthony Ciannamea, we tapped into KORN's mythology and explored their vast well of light and darkness to create a surreal, liminal-pace body-horror nightmare."

"Requiem" was created during the COVID-19 pandemic while KORN could not tour or play live shows for the first time in the band's career. Because of the time afforded to them, and without the pressure, KORN embraced a new creative process and took the time to experiment together and more.

KORN had been teasing "Start The Healing" since last week within an augmented reality filter and billboards bearing the band's logo.

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

"Requiem" track listing:

01. Forgotten

02. Let The Dark Do The Rest

03. Start The Healing

04. Lost In The Grandeur

05. Disconnect

06. Hopeless And Beaten

07. Penance To Sorrow

08. My Confession

09. Worst Is On Its Way

Last month, KORN drummer Ray Luzier missed three of the band's shows after testing positive for COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus. Filling in for him was FEVER 333's Aric Improta.

Luzier was the third member of KORN to sit out shows on the band's recent tour after being diagnosed with COVID-19. A month earlier, guitarist James "Munky" Shaffer missed several dates and was temporarily replaced by J.R. Bareis, who is also in the band LOVE AND DEATH with KORN guitarist Brian "Head" Welch. Bareis previously stepped in for Shaffer in August 2019 when Munky was forced to miss several KORN shows due to the impending birth of his child. In early August, singer Jonathan Davis contracted the virus, forcing the postponement of six dates and cancelation of two on KORN's U.S. tour.

Bareis and Improta weren't the only session musicians to play with KORN on the latest tour. Bassist Roberto "Ra" Díaz (SUICIDAL TENDENCIES) was filling in for Reginald "Fieldy" Arvizu after Fieldy announced in June that he would sit out the trek in order to "heal" after "falling back" on some of his "bad habits."

In a new interview with the "That Metal Interview" podcast, David Ellefson once again opened up about his dismissal from MEGADETH six months ago, just days after sexually tinged messages and explicit video footage involving the bassist were posted on Twitter. At the time, Ellefson released a statement on Instagram denying all social media chatter that he "groomed" an underage fan. He also filed a report with the police department in Scottsdale, Arizona alleging unlawful distribution of sexually explicit images of him by unknown offenders. In the report, Ellefson admitted that he had been exchanging sexual text messages with a Dutch teenager, who captured a video of several of their virtual "masturbating encounters" without his consent and shared them with friends. (According to Ellefson, the woman was 19 at the time of their first virtual sexual encounter.) Ellefson, who lives in Scottsdale, first became aware of the video on May 9, when the claim "David Ellefson of MEGADETH is a pedophile" appeared on Instagram. Ellefson told police he was notified on May 14 by MEGADETH that the band would be parting ways with him. Three days later, he was fired.

Speaking about how he is doing half a year after news of his dismissal from MEGADETH announced, Ellefson said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "I'm okay. I just went dark. I took the time to just sort of process it all, heal up from it. I've obviously never had anything quite like that happen to me before. And the fact that it was happening like that was just… I couldn't believe the level of just shittiness of humankind; I just couldn't even believe it, man. I was, like, 'Yeah. All right. Now I…' Not to use a religious reference, but I guess I know how Jesus felt. Carry your cross and then kill him. Shit, we got the wrong guy. Not to make it a religious thing, but it's just one of those things, I couldn't even believe it. I'm not gonna lie — I deserve better than that. Which is why I got off social media and I got away from all that stuff. And I was just, like, you know what? I have poured my whole life into my craft and my work and my art and being a performer and entertainer, and no one deserves to be treated like that. That's just absolutely uncalled for on any level."

Asked how he felt when he found out that MEGADETH was going to remove his bass tracks from the band's upcoming studio album following his departure from the group, Ellefson said: "I know what I recorded [for the album]. It's fucking amazing. [Laughs] And I don't say that because it's just me because no record is just one person; it's a team of people that do it. That was a collective work of a few years, putting that stuff together. And especially to record with Dirk [Verbeuren, MEGADETH drummer]. But you know what? At the end of the day, I am not the boss of that record, I'm not the producer of that record, I'm not in control of that record, so if they wanna take my parts off and have someone else play it, they have every right to do so. I don't feel it was necessary, but again, I'm not in control of that record, so they made the decision that they wanted to do that. So let it be what it is.

"Obviously, I have more music in me," he continued. "So if they don't wanna use my parts, trust me, other people will. I've already got other people that I'm making music with.

"Quite honestly, at this point — and I've said this before; I said this even a few years ago — at this point, it's about making music I like with people I like, and people where there's a synergy and a commonality and we can all head in the right direction.

"Look, situations change, life changes," Ellefson philosophized. "Sometimes our ages, our experiences and our relational abilities, they also change the music. And if that's the end for me with MEGADETH, I'd like to think with 'Dystopia' and winning a Grammy and everything else, I definitely say I went out on top with MEGADETH."

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.

Last month, Ellefson told SiriusXM's "Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk" that there is a perception that people of faith must set a higher standard of how they live with and treat others. "It's almost like you're this entity that's floating up toward the heavens: 'Oh, he's such a wonderful man. He's a man of faith. He's got his family. And then this happens.' It's, like, 'What the hell is this?'" he said.

"I mean, look, admittedly I've sort of trained the public to think that I'm one of the more well-behaved rock stars out there, and for the most part I have been," he continued. "But at the same time, and this isn't to claim anything other than just, oops, shit happens. That is what it is."

Ellefson laid down his bass tracks on MEGADETH's sixteenth LP in May 2020 at a studio in Nashville, Tennessee.

In July, Mustaine announced during an episode of his Gimme Radio program "The Dave Mustaine Show" that Ellefson's bass tracks would not be used on the new MEGADETH LP.

Two days after Mustaine announced Ellefson's latest departure from MEGADETH, the bassist released a follow-up statement in which he vowed to file a "defamation lawsuit" against the person who "illegally posted a very private video" of the bassist and made "false allegations" against him. He also said he was working with the police in Scottsdale "in their investigation into charges regarding revenge pornography to be filed against the person who posted the video. This person will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law," Ellefson wrote. He went on to say that he was "taking this time to be with my family" and wished his "bandmates" the best with their tour.

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

In July, Mustaine addressed the possibility of Ellefson returning to MEGADETH while filming a video message on Cameo, which lets users hire celebrities to record brief, personalized video messages about virtually any topic. Asked by Rock Feed if Ellefson could once again play with MEGADETH at some point down the line, Mustaine said: "Any chance on Ellefson coming back later on? The answer to that is no."

DISTURBED frontman David Draiman says that he is "dying" to begin work on material for the band's next studio album.

Draiman, who resides in Hawaii with his wife and their son, discussed DISTURBED's plans for the follow-up to 2018's "Evolution" album while promoting the band's November 4 show in Gary, Indiana.

"I'm very, very much loking forward to this next run because in between the Hard Rock dates and our festival [Welcome To Rockville] that we're playing in Daytona Beach [on November 13], we plan to kind of start writing again," he told Chicago's Rock 95.5 radio station (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET). I'm looking forward to it. I've been dying — as I've been saying in the press on numerous occasions — I've been dying to write more new DISTURBED material. And I think now everybody is finally in the headspace to do it. And I can't wait."

Draiman went on to say that the members of DISTURBED have used their downtime during the coronavirus pandemic to spend time with their families and recharge their batteries.

"We'll always love playing and we'll always love creating, but, like everybody, we need to balance it with who we are as human beings," he explained. "The past couple of years have been challenging for everyone. All of us have had our collective amounts of shit we've had to [deal with]."

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

Four months earlier, Draiman told Download Festival TV that he has spent some of his downtime during the coronavirus pandemic "having conversations with the other guys in DISTURBED about getting some new material going, and we've got some stuff in its infancy. One song, definitely, that's killer in our back pocket; we just haven't tracked it," he said. "And we've got a few more song ideas, [but] nothing that's been hashed out enough."

Draiman went on to say that making music over the Internet had presented its own set of problems, especially since most of DISTURBED's last couple of albums were composed with the core members in a room together bouncing ideas off each other.

"We kind of need to get back into the rhythm of being able to do stuff like this in Zoom format or online as opposed to in person," he said at the time. "At least it's some kind of real-time connection so that you can be creating together improvisationally to an extent, but there's still issues with audio — it's not as clear as you want it sometimes, there's too much compression and you lose level; it's a challenge — and the vibe isn't there. There's nothing that replaces you being in front of your co-songwriter and being able to feed off each other's energy and create in person."

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

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

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

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

Indian Folk Metal rising stars, Bloodywood, will be releasing their debut full-length, Rakshak on February 18, 2022! Today they are pleased to premiere the first single off of the upcoming album, "Gaddaar". Check out the video below


Bloodywood is a Folk Metal band from India known for pioneering a sound that seamlessly fuses Indian Folk instruments with Metal to devastating effect. Expect to hear the percussive power of the mighty Dhol, the melancholic Flute, the single stringed Tumbi and several other uncommon yet distinctively characteristic sounds from India. A combination of thunderous Hindi/Punjabi Choruses and meaningful yet unforgiving Rap verses along with the ethnic instrumentation, makes Bloodywood a truly unique experience.


The band comments on the new single: "It's been a while since our last song, so we wanted to come back heavy with 'Gaddaar'! It's a song that's aimed at a complete separation of religion and politics across the world. Everyone deserves equal rights and equal treatment at the hands of their governments no matter who and how they worship. We've seen the use of religious and divisive politics globally in recent years and it needs to be spoken about.




It's the first single we're releasing in the build up to the album because musically speaking you'll hear something familiar, but there's also enough to hint at the evolution of our sound. That'll become evident across the release of the next couple of singles and the album itself. We gave the album everything we had and can't wait to unleash it all."





And on the album: "Rakshak means 'protector' or 'guardian' in Hindi. We've always been as passionate about the message of our music as much as the music itself, and our goal has and always will be to make a positive impact in people's lives and on the planet.  


You'll hear songs that talk about combating mental illness, overcoming divisive politics, battling the poverty crisis, crushing corruption, eliminating sexual assault, hope, belief and undying determination. Musically we've taken more than a few risks and pushed the limits of our sound both vocally and instrumentally. Besides having a few songs with our signature sound, we have also experimented heavily by writing our fastest, heaviest and angriest music yet while also incorporating elements and instruments from genres that lie on the other end of the musical spectrum.


We were lucky enough to be in a position to do something positive with our time at home during the pandemic, now we're ready to explode outwards. Rakshak being our debut album, we've strived to deliver one with no fillers."





Tracklist:


"Gaddaar"
"Aaj"
"Zanjeero Se"
"Machi Bhasad" (Album Version)
"Dana-Dan"
"Jee Veerey" (Album Version)
"Endurant" (Album Version)
"Yaad" (Album Version)
"BSDK.exe"
"Chakh Le"


Rakshak will be released on February 18, 2022. Copies can be pre-ordered at the following locations:


- US
Europe / International

Hailing from Greece, experimental/progressive black metal outfit Aenaon, comprising members of Varathron and Katavasia, has inked a record deal with Agonia Records. The band plans to end the five-year hiatus that followed 2016's Hypnosophy, by putting out a new album of "heavily textured black metal.”


"Through our 15 years of bizarre existence, we have collaborated with great musicians, amazing visual artists and passionate underground labels. We feel like this album marks a different chapter after a long hiatus and what a better way to start than signing with one of the best extreme metal record labels out there," comments Aenaon's Achilleas C. "Agonia Records has an amazing diverse roaster of well-known and respected dark artists and we are very proud to become part of the family."


Serving as the mastermind behind Aenaon, guitarist/bassist Achilleas C holds ties to noteworthy Varathron - alongside drummer Haris - and Katavasia - together with vocalist Astrous. The line-up is completed by saxophonist Orestis Zyrinis.




The name Aenaon derives from the Greek word "Αέναον," which translates to "the Eternal". The band's history dates back to 2006 and encompasses, on top of several smaller releases, three studio albums; the debut, Cendres et Sang (2011), the lauded, Extance (2014) and the most recent, Hypnosophy (2016).





(Photo: Evi Savva)

Capitol Chaos TV has uploaded live footage of NWOBHM legends Raven performing Rock Until You Drop classic “Tyrant Of The Airways” and Wiped Out cut “Faster Than The Speed Of Light” in Petaluma, CA on their Metal City U.S. tour.










The tour began October 20 in Louisville, KY and runs through November 18 in Brooklyn, NY. 


Founder and frontman John Gallagher comments on the upcoming run, "After an 18 month covid layoff, we had our 1st show back at the Alcatraz festival 3 weeks ago and we’re firing on all six cylinders! Really looking forward to this U.S. run ... will be unveiling some more Metal City songs and dust off a few classics! Also... if you don’t see your city here -hang in as we may well be doing a second leg early in 2022!!!”


The band are touring in support of their latest release Metal City, which is out now through SPV/Steamhammer as CD DigiPak, LP version, download and stream.





Dates:


November
9 – Portland, OR – Bossanova Ballroom
10 – Seattle, WA – Funhouse
12 – Salt Lake City, UT – Liquid Joe’s
14 – Lincoln, NE – The Royal Grove
15 – Des Moines, IA – Leftys Live
17 – Clifton, NJ – Dingbatz
18 – Brooklyn, NY – Monarch 

Rev Jones releases the music video for the first single “Lollygagging”, taken from his new solo album In The Key of Z on Dark Star Records.





In a recent interview with Metal Shock Finland, Rev discussed the video and single, "One of my favorite movie scenes of all times is from Blazing Saddles where Burton Gilliam is yelling at the workers for ‘Lollygagging around like it’s 120 degrees.’ So when I started working on my new album I decided I wanted to write a song called ‘Lollygagging’. I actually wrote the music first, I knew I wanted it to be a Boogie kind of groove with a busy riff but a lazy feel. I also thought it would be funnier if the drums, bass, guitar, and vocals were all the opposite of Lollygagging, meaning lots of notes. So I started working on the music which came almost immediately as did the lyrics. The song was complete in about 45 minutes. 




“It was harder to stop laughing than it was to write it. I knew right away I had to do a video for it. After the album was complete I was out on tour and me and Shawn Berman (video director) started shooting footage. Like always we had no real story board plotted out, we just knew it had to represent all forms of laziness and it had to be humorous. I personally think Shawn did an awesome job creating exactly that. It came out perfect."





"Life In The Key Of Z":





Lineup:


Rev Jones - Vocals, Bass, Guitar, Double Bass, Keyboards, Mandolin, Ukulele, Tamborine
Jeff Martin - Drums, Percussions
Lennon Jones - Speaking Voice, Laughing


Guest Artists:


Michael T Ross (Lita Ford, Missing Persons, Hardline) = Keyboards track 2
Scott McClellan (Tony Martin) = Guitar Solo track 1
Jack Frost (Savatage, Seven Witches) = Guitar Solo track 2
Robby Lochner (Fight, Jack Russell’s Great White) = Guitar Solo track 3
Ira Black (Metal Church, Lizzy Borden) = Guitar Solo track 4
Tom Potter (Gundriver) = Guitar Solo track 5
Rowan Robertson (Diorites, Bang Tango) = Guitar Solo track 6
Uros Raskovski (Steelheart) = Guitar Solo track 7
Russ Parrish (Steel Panther, Fight) = Guitar Solo track 8
Bill Leverty (Firehouse) = Guitar Solo track 9
Jim Suhler (George Thorogood, Monkey Beat) = 1st Guitar Solo track 10
Paige Harwell (Reckless) = 2nd Guitar Solo & Fills track 10
Kristen Capolino (solo artist) = Guitar Solo track 11


(Photo - Joe Schaeffer Photography)

Bristol, UK-based band Rxptrs, who blend rock, metal, punk, and hardcore with a seamlessness that is enviable, creating something that is unique that seethes with boundless energy - have signed with Blacklight Media / Metal Blade Records.


The band has shared the video for the new single "Gutterflies." Watch the clip, directed by Nathan Roach below:







"'Gutterflies' is a middle finger to the abusers and an anthem for the abused," the band explains about the song's deeper meaning. "No stone is ever gonna be left unturned, and this band refuse to stand by idly. This one's for the voiceless, this one's for the silenced. Now is the time to be loud, now is the time to be deafening."


Regarding their partnership with Metal Blade and Blacklight Media, the band says, "Rxptrs are honored to be joining the Metal Blade Records family and starting our journey with Blacklight Media. Those that know the band know we work our knuckles bloody, stand up for everything we believe in, and leave the bulls**t at the door, so there's no other team we'd rather be a part of."





Blacklight Media Records' Chris Santos comments, "I'm so excited that Rxptrs has joined the Blacklight Media/Metal Blade Records Family! I was instantly hooked the first time I heard and saw them, by their unique blend of infectiously heavy riffs, insanely catchy lyrics, and their all around rock 'n' roll swagger! This is a band that's going places and I couldn't be happier to take the ride with them! 2022 will be the year of the Rxptr!"


Rxptrs (pronounced "Raptors") are a new wave of British rock. The energetic quintet combines ferocious grit with an ear for melody. Built upon the backdrop of the UK, the fiercely creative, long-term friends set out with a sonic mission statement to not succumb to a single barrier, to push boundaries and go beyond the limit of genres, creating a raw sound that is unmistakably their own. Each raucous track is laced with lyrical depth as Rxptrs lay it all on the line. They state, "Music is a vessel, this is how we channel the experiences that have shaped us. This is how we bare our scars." Quickly becoming renowned for their explosive live performances, the group's hardcore following continues to grow. Their workhorse mentality towards touring has seen them light up stages across the UK and Europe alongside the likes of Escape the Fate, King 810, As It Is, Light the Torch, and more. Rxptrs' visceral energy continues to infect the population as they cut their teeth on the live scene, with no sign of slowing, they're truly hellbent on showing everyone the way of the Rxptr.

Gore fueled death metallers Pathology recently announced their 11th studio album, The Everlasting Plague, to be released on November 19 via Nuclear Blast. Today, the band discusses the songwriting and recording process for the album:





The Everlasting Plague will be available in the following formats:




- CD Jewel Case
- Re-Agent Green Vinyl
- CD + T-Shirt Bundle





Pre-order your copy of The Everlasting Plague here. Pre-save the album here.





The Everlasting Plague tracklisting:


"A Pound Of Flesh"
"Perpetual Torment"
"Engaging In Homicide"
"Procession Of Mangled Humans"
"Viciously Defiled"
"Diseased Morality"
"Submerged In Eviscerated Carnage"
"Corrosive Cranial Affliction"
"As The Entrails Wither"
"Dirge For The Infected"
"Death Ritual Deciphered"
"Decomposition Of Millions"


"Dirge For The Infected" lyric video:





"As The Entrails Wither" lyric video:





"Engaging In Homicide" video:

Frontiers Music Srl will release Swedish rock band Cap Outrun's new album, High On Deception, on December 10. High On Deception is a distinctive record filled with playful odd time signatures and interesting harmonies, but it never loses its core of strong melodies and an exceptional groove.


Today, the band has released the video for "Crazy Enough" (Stereo Version). Watch the video below, and pre-order/save High On Deception here.


”It feels great to work with Frontiers on this release and I’m anxious to hear what the label’s followers will say about it. Ever since Mr. Big, who’s one of my all time favorite bands, released their What If record, I’ve been following the label’s awesome releases and I’m both impressed and grateful for what they’re doing for the rock music scene today. I’m thrilled about joining them with Cap Outrun and everybody in the band is very excited about this!” says guitarist Andrée Theander.







The writing and production process for the album was a very successful collaboration between founding members Andrée Theander and Erik Gafvelin Wiss. Although Erik is still involved in Cap Outrun, he has decided to take a step back as the main keyboardist to focus on his production work. His spot has been given to the very talented session player André Egbo. Vocalist Chandler Mogel (Double Vision, Outloud), bassist Linus ”Mr. Gul” Abrahamson (Andromeda, Constanica), and drummer Johan Ludvig Rask round out the line-up.


Musical influences are everything from Swedish progressive rock bands Kaipa and Karmakanic to legendary American bands like Toto and Boston. Some of Andrée’s and Erik’s friends have even mentioned Dirty Loops when they’ve dropped around Erik’s studio in Stockholm while the album was still in the making. [Who knows, maybe it could have something to do with bass player Linus’ close collaboration with the Dirty Loops members Henrik Linder and Aron Mellergård for their newly released bass and drum transcription books?]


Cap Outrun formed in Sweden in 2007 when Andrée Theander and Erik Gafvelin Wiss met at a Swedish university for music production and started to make music together. The two youngsters wrote and recorded a lot of songs and with a little help from a bunch of friends, six of the songs ended up on the very first Cap Outrun release, Influence Grind (2008). The music was somewhat complex with odd time signatures and unexpected song structures, but still contained memorable melodies and pop-flavored choruses. This perfect blend of rock, metal, and jazz made them fairly well-known within the underground world of prog rock lovers for a period of time. Andrée and Erik graduated from university and they decided to go their separate musical ways. Since then, they have stayed good friends, but were working on their own careers: Andrée as a session player, guitar teacher and with his own AOR/Westcoast project Theander Expression, while Erik started to build his own studio and mainly focus on producing and mixing records by other bands, like Creye, Cruzh, and Arctic Rain to name a few. Cap Outrun was essentially on hiatus after that self-released EP… until now.





Tracklisting:


"Crazy Enough"
"High On Deception"
"Disaster Mindset"
"In The Shade Of The Masquerade"
"Shadows On The Wall"
"Our Brightest Day"
"My Destination"
"Run Before We Walk"
"As Long As You Believe"
"Dopamine Overflow"


"Crazy Enough" (Stereo Version) video:





"Crazy Enough" (Mono Version) video:





"High On Deception" video:





Lineup:
Chandler Mogel - Lead vocals
Andrée Theander - Guitars and backing vocals
Linus Abrahamson - Bass
Johan Ludvig Rask - Drums and percussion
André Egbo – Keyboards

The Dead Daisies are currently on their UK tour, the first since 2018. The band have released the second in a series of weekly recap videos from their Like No Other UK tour. Watch below:





UK tour dates:




November
10 - Shepherd’s Bush Empire - London, England (with The Quireboys)
11 - Tramshed - Cardiff, Wales (with Gun)


Tickets here. Find The Dead Daisies' complete tour itinerary here.

METALLICA has announced the 2022 installment of its very own Vinyl Club.

As huge music fans, the METALLICA members have been super excited to experience the resurgence of vinyl and the enjoyment of collecting, exploring and connecting with other fans mining for lost treasures.

The 2022 Vinyl Club subscription will be available exclusively to members of METALLICA's Fifth Member fan club between now and the end of this year. Each subscription includes a digital download card and a series of four 12-inch records shipped throughout the year.

METALLICA shared the news of the 2022 installment of the Vinyl Club earlier today. The band wrote: "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 us to give you more consistent, higher quality audio and the opportunity to include more music in each release. Starting today, subscriptions are open to Fifth Members for year two: Vinyl Club 2022!

"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!"

What the 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.

For more information, visit Metallica.com.

KISS frontman Paul Stanley says that "self-preservation" was the main reason he and KISS manager Bill Aucoin turned down the opportunity to work with VAN HALEN in 1976.

While KISS was in Los Angeles to tape a three-song performance for ABC Television's "The Paul Lynde Halloween Special", Stanley and Gene Simmons received an invitation from DJ and club impresario Rodney Bingenheimer to watch two unsigned local acts, THE BOYZ and VAN HALEN, at Starwood club. After the show, Simmons was introduced to VAN HALEN and he expressed a desire to work with the group, offering to sign them to his management label, Man Of A Thousand Faces, and to produce a demo for them to shop to record labels. Simmons ended up flying VAN HALEN to New York to record a demo at Electric Lady Studios, with Gene at the production helm. But he ended up not working with the group after Stanley and Aucoin expressed little interest in his demos.

Gene and Paul reflected on the episode during the question-and-answer session on this year's Kiss Kruise, which concluded earlier this month. While looking back on KISS's five-decade career, Simmons said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "We made one big mistake — one. There was a band called VAN HALEN. They were signed to Man Of A Thousand Faces Inc. There was a 24-track demo. They were owned lock, stock and barrel and signed and happy and wanted to sign with us, and we said no."

Stanley chimed in: "Thank goodness. The reason we said no was because part of Gene's joie de vivre, which means love of life, is he likes to look and do all different things. And sometimes that means reining him in, especially early on in the band's career where getting involved in other projects was really going to hurt the band. You couldn't listen to VAN HALEN and not think they were great. Bill knew it. I was with Gene when he first saw VAN HALEN at the Starwood. But the idea of managing or producing bands when we really were still at the beginning of our career was something that was… The move is called self-preservation."

Gene previously told the Los Angeles Times that he knew there was something special about VAN HALEN the moment he heard them.

"I was thinking, 'My fucking God, listen to these guys,'" he said. "As soon as Eddie started playing, the thing that struck me right away was that the guy was amazingly fast and light on touch… Eddie was just swimming over that fretboard, and I couldn't believe the control he had. Everybody's head just turned around like Linda Blair in 'The Exorcist': what is that?"

Gene told Paul Brannigan, the writer of the Eddie Van Halen biography titled "Unchained" (U.S.) / "Eruption" (U.K.), that he couldn't believe it when Stanley claimed not to hear anything special about VAN HALEN. "Everybody shrugged their shoulders and went, 'So what?'" Simmons said. "And I'm going, 'You're killing me! Whaddya mean, 'So what?' Listen to that!'"

"I tore up the contract and said, 'You guys are free,'" Simmons told Brannigan. "I said, We're going out on tour, and when I get back, if you don't have a deal, I'll come back and I'll try to help you. But right now, I don't feel ethical in shopping your tape because the rest of the guys don't get it.'"

Vocalist Kyle Thomas of New Orleans-based thrash metal pioneers EXHORDER has confirmed to Heavy New York that the band is preparing to enter the studio to record the follow-up to 2019's "Mourn The Southern Skies" album.

"We have been working very hard on new material since the [start of] the pandemic," he said. "We've been demoing songs, doing pre-production, preparing for when we finally do record the actual album. So, yes, new EXHORDER will be coming at some point."

Last February, Thomas told "The Dan Chan Show" that he and his bandmates — guitarist Marzi Montazeri, bassist Jason Viebrooks and drummer Sasha Horn — have been "writing at home" and "piecing everything together" for the upcoming LP

"Mostly what I do for EXHORDER songs is I write parts, and then I submit them, and then they might get used here and there," he said. "That's how it always was done in the past. There are some parts of mine that made it on to the old albums. But most of what I write, when I'm writing, ends up being more like the FLOODGATE stuff. On occasion, when there's something that I've written, they'll use. I'm not that worried about it. I just want great songs handed to me so I can do what I do.

"My biggest part, outside of writing vocals and lyrics, is the arrangement — helping to piece the song into the format that it needs to be in," he explained. "And just the overall production side of it, especially vocally, I like having input on — what part here, the intro should be this…

"EXHORDER's always been a team effort; it's never been one person writing all the music, one person writing all the vocals. It's not like that at all. It's always been a collaborative effort, and I think that's what makes us so good at what we do — you get all those different flavors melding into one dish, and then it's something special."

Thomas is now the sole remaining founding member of EXHORDER, which released its debut album, "Slaughter In The Vatican", way back in 1990. In February 2020, EXHORDER parted ways with its original guitarist Vinnie LaBella, who wrote much of the material on "Mourn The Southern Skies". The remaining members of the group later issued a statement saying that they would fulfill their "touring and recording obligations for 2020 and beyond."

Asked if it's "strange" for him to be the only remaining founding member of EXHORDER, Kyle told "The Dan Chan Show": "At this point, I've jammed with so many people over the years — so many different lineups for this and that, fill-ins and all this stuff. To me, it doesn't really matter as much who's there, as long as the material that's being played is being played within the spirit of that band in particular. And the stuff that we're writing now, it's amazing. I play it for a lot of people that are my confidants, people love the band, and they're gonna shoot me straight. And the new stuff that we're working on, everybody's, like, 'Wow. It sounds like EXHORDER to me.'"

EXHORDER released two albums in the early 1990s through the Roadrunner label — the aforementioned "Slaughter In The Vatican" and 1992's "The Law" — before breaking up, with Kyle going on to form FLOODGATE and also briefly appearing live as the vocalist for TROUBLE, which he later joined on a full-time basis (and is still a member of).

EXHORDER, which is cited by many as the originator of the riff-heavy power-groove approach popularized by PANTERA, will return to the road later this month on a U.S. headlining tour. The journey runs from November 24 through December 19 and will see the band performing "Slaughter In The Vatican" in its entirety.

Photo by: Stephanie Cabral

COHEED AND CAMBRIA has unveiled a new track titled "Rise, Naianasha (Cut The Cord)". Available today on all streaming platforms, the song finds COHEED AND CAMBRIA channeling their progressive roots and is accompanied by a lyric video streaming now on the band's YouTube channel.

COHEED AND CAMBRIA vocalist/guitarist Claudio Sanchez elaborated on the genesis of "Rise, Naianasha (Cut The Cord)", explaining, "'Rise, Naianasha' explores the reach of love and loyalty and the reality that sometimes you need to be more than a shoulder to lean on — you need to become the destroyer."

"Rise, Naianasha (Cut The Cord)" arrives on the heels of the group's skyrocketing 2021 single "Shoulders". After scaling the Top 40 at the format since the summer, the recent single vaulted into the Top 15 at Active Rock radio, marking the group's career highest radio chart position to date and fueling anticipation for a larger release on the horizon. Sanchez recently sat down with Grammy.com for an in-depth interview discussing details of the band's imminent new album while also examining Vaxis — an emerging central figure in the sci-fi universe of "The Amory Wars" — previewing his origin story and expanding the mythos.

"Shoulders" shows no signs of slowing down either. "A total banger… as explosive and catchy as anything they've ever released," declared Revolver which placed "Shoulders" in its weekly "Best New Songs Right Now" round-up. "COHEED AND CAMBRIA are back, and they're heavy as ever," asserted Billboard, with Guitar World attesting "COHEED AND CAMBRIA have come out swinging." Brooklyn Vegan observed, "It finds the band embracing their love of classic heavy metal riffage, before exploding into the kind of soaring chorus that COHEED have been churning out since day one… they sound pretty damn inspired."

For the last 20 years, COHEED AND CAMBRIA has continuously broken the mold of what a rock band can be, forging its own path and building a universe around its music unlike any other. Whether it is in the way its genre-spanning approach to songwriting has allowed it to bridge worlds without being contained to one, or the multifaceted story arc of its albums and comic book series which mark the longest-running concept story in music, COHEED AND CAMBRIA has consistently shaped new standards, never conformed. "Shoulders" touches on the highs and lows of this journey, and how at times it can be frustrating to be an outsider to trendy circles, but in the end, doing it your own way has the biggest rewards.

It's been almost three years since COHEED AND CAMBRIA's 2018 album, "Vaxis I: The Unheavenly Creatures", was released as the band's "return to concept" album. After stepping away with a more introspective album in 2015, Sanchez and the band returned to the conceptual narrative of "The Amory Wars" in what was said to be the first of a five-part series of albums. With the release of "Shoulders" and "Rise, Naianasha (Cut The Cord)", the volume of fans' chatter for "Vaxis II" are loading up the band's social media pages.

Photo credit: Jimmy Fontaine

THE ROLLING STONES have announced an exciting new collaboration with Tommy Hilfiger, Tommy Jeans. The "Tommy Revisited: Music Edition" collection combines the Tommy Jeans streetwear aesthetic with tour merchandise-inspired apparel, honoring musical legends that include legendary rock band THE ROLLING STONES.

From the start, music has played a crucial role in the life and work of designer Tommy Hilfiger as well as in the brand DNA of Tommy Jeans, and THE ROLLING STONES were one of the first bands Hilfiger fell in love with. The collection celebrates the iconic 1999 Rolling Stones X Tommy Hilfiger "No Security" tour merchandise with a Tommy Jeans streetwear twist.

Launching at the global flagship store, RS No.9 Carnaby, at 9 Carnaby Street and online at carnaby.therollingstonesshop.co.uk on Friday, November 12, the collection consists of six styles of tees and sweatshirts in strong, bold colorways. All products feature the iconic ROLLING STONES tongue-and lips logo and are available in both unisex and female sizing, and made from organic cotton.

Three limited-edition standout pieces from the collaboration have been produced exclusively for sale only at the global flagship store RS No.9 Carnaby, including a printed black tee, denim jacket and long-sleeve sweat both embroidered all over with THE ROLLING STONES logo. These three exclusive pieces will sit alongside the wider collection in-store.

All items will be available to purchase in store at RS No.9 Carnaby from Friday, November 12. Prices range from £40 to £140.

THE ROLLING STONES opened their world-first flagship store in September 2020, RS No. 9 Carnaby at 9 Carnaby Street in London's Soho. The store, created in partnership with Bravado, Universal Music Group's merchandise and brand management company, features all of the hallmarks of the iconic band and includes exclusive new fashion label RS No. 9 Carnaby.

Jointly curated by THE ROLLING STONES and Bravado, the shop fit follows the brand colors of red and black. The glass floor features many of the band's lyrics, and the fitting rooms are adorned with iconic album artwork, "Exile On Main Street" (1972) and "Some Girls" (1978). Inside, there is an exclusive and curated mix of collections and collaborations for fans of all ages.

Sound, vision and lighting are key store components. Five 90-inch portrait screens display a film made exclusively for the store showing footage across the rich history of the band. Speakers from high-end British audio brand Bowers & Wilkins play tracks from the greatest rock 'n' roll band in the world.