FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH has announced its first European tour since early 2020. Kicking off at Nova Rock festival in Austria in June, the Las Vegas-based metallers will perform throughout the continent, bringing their incendiary shows to festivals and arenas in 19 cities in 16 countries.

FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH European tour dates 2022:

Jun. 12 - Nova Rock, Nickelsdorf, Austria

Jun. 14 - Sparkassenpark, Moenchengladbach, Germany

Jun. 15 - Wuhlheide, Berlin, Germany

Jun. 17 - Hellfest, Clisson, France

Jun. 18 - Graspop Metal Meeting, Dessel, Belgium

Jun. 20 - Ahoy, Rotterdam, Holland

Jun. 22 - Prague Rocks, Prague, Czech Republic

Jun. 24 - Download, Hockenheim Ring, Germany

Jun. 25 - Tons Of Rock, Halden, Norway

Jun. 27 - Goransson Arena, Sandviken, Sweden

Jun. 28 - Royal Arena, Copenhagen, Denmark

Jun. 29 - Frauenfeld Rocks, Frauenfeld, Switzerland

Jul. 02 - Tasmajdan, Belgrade, Serbia

Jul. 05 - Budapest Arena, Budapest, Hungary

Jul. 11 - Saku Arena, Tallinn, Estonia

Jul. 12 - A2, St. Petersburg, Russia

Jul. 08 - 26th - Parklive Festival, Moscow, Russia

Jul. 16 - U Park Festival, Kiev, Ukraine

MEGADETH, which previously joined FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH as special guest on the latter band's headlining tour across Europe in early 2020, will again provide support in Berlin, Moenchengladbach and Rotterdam.

VIP packages are available now and general onsale will take place at 10 a.m. local time on Friday, October 29.

FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH performed for the first time in a year and a half on August 20 at the Iowa State Fair in Des Moines, Iowa.

The band recently entered the Hideout Recording Studio in Las Vegas, Nevada to begin recording its new album for a 2022 release. In addition, FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH has commenced re-recording its debut LP, 2007's "The Way Of The Fist", for its 15th anniversary.

FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH's upcoming album will be the group's first with its latest addition, renowned British virtuoso Andy James, who replaced Jason Hook last year. James was previously featured on "Broken World", a song that was included on the second installment of FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH's greatest-hits collection, "A Decade Of Destruction - Volume 2", which came out last fall.

Each of FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH's first six albums — "The Way of the Fist", 2009's "War Is The Answer", 2011's "American Capitalist", 2013's "The Wrong Side Of Heaven And The Righteous Side of Hell, Volume 1" and "Volume 2", and 2015's "Got Your Six" — has gone either gold or platinum in the U.S.

The band has had two dozen songs hit the Top 10 on the Mainstream Rock or Hard Rock Digital charts, starting with "The Bleeding". FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH's 2010 cover of BAD COMPANY's "Bad Company" was certified platinum for accumulating a million certified units.

FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH's No. 1 hits include "Coming Down", "Lift Me Up", "Battle Born", "Wash It All Away", "Sham Pain", "When The Seasons Change" and "Blue On Black".

FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH's most recent album, 2020's "F8", debuted at No. 1 on rock charts around the world, with Top 10 mainstream chart debuts in the U.S., Austria, Australia, Canada, Finland, Germany, Sweden, Switzerland, the U.K. and more. "F8" features No. 1 hit singles "Inside Out", "A Little Bit Off", "Living The Dream" and "Darkness Settles In".

With a strong sense of vintage country, Aaron 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."

Slated for January 28 release, 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)

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

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

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

Mar. 18 - Milan, Live Club

Mar. 19 - Padova, Padova Hall

Mar. 23 - Bilbao, Santana 27

Mar. 24 - Murcia, Sala Gamma 3

Mar. 25 - Barcelona, Razzmatazz 1

Mar. 26 - Madrid, La Riviera

Mar. 30 - Dublin, Vicar St.

Mar. 31 - Belfast, Ulster Hall

Apr. 01 - Wolverhampton, KK's Steel Mill

Apr. 02 - Manchester, Academy

Apr. 03 - Nottingham, Rock City

Apr. 05 - Glasgow, O2 Academy

Apr. 06 - Newcastlee, O2 City Hall

Apr. 07 - Bristol, O2 Academy

Apr. 08 - London, Rou-House

Apr. 09 - Eindhoven, Effenaar

Apr. 10 - Copenhagen, Amager Bio

Apr. 12 - Malmö, Moriskan

Apr. 13 - Huskvarna, Folkets Park

Apr. 14 - Sundsvall, Sporthallen

Apr. 15 - Umeå, Idun

Apr. 16 - Oulu, Teatria

Apr. 17 - Tampere, Pakkahuone

Apr. 18 - Helsinki, Kulttuuritalo

Apr. 20 - Gävle, Gasklockan

Apr. 21 - Eskilstuna, Lokomotivet

Apr. 22 - Örebro, Conventum

Apr. 23 - Karlstad, Nöjesfabriken

Apr. 25 - Oslo, Rockefeller

Apr. 28 - Stockholm, Stora Fållan

Apr. 29 - Norrköping, Arbis

Apr. 30 - Gothenburg, Trädgårn

May 01 - Bremen, Aladin

May 02 - Mannheim, Capitol

May 04 - Saarbrücken, Garage

May 05 - Oberhausen, Turbinenhalle

May 07 - Geiselwind, Music Halle

May 08 - Munich, Backstage Werk

May 17 - Bucharest, Arenele Romane

May 18 - Sofia, Universidada Sports Hall

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

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

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

German power metal kings Orden Ogan have released an epic orchestral version of the band's classic song, "Fields Of Sorrow". The track is available on all digital platforms now.


"We were asked about this very version a lot, as it was our live outro on all our shows since the release of our 'Gunmen' album," Orden Ogan singer Seeb states. "So far it was only available as bonus track on the Japanese edition of Gunmen and we're happy to make it available to a bigger audience now."


"Fields Of Sorrow (Orchestral Version)" will also be part of AFM Records' upcoming 25th anniversary label  compilation, 25 Years Metal Addiction, which includes 30 rare or previously unreleased songs.










Despite tough competition (the entire top ten consisted of new entries), power metal masters Orden Ogan prevailed and secured a sensational #3 in the official German album chart back in March. This was the best result the band ever had. BraveWords caught up with frontman Sebastian "Seeb" Levermann to discuss the achievement.


"Hitting #3 on the charts was amazing considering who was behind us: Rob Zombie at #4, Blackmore's Night at #7, Eisbrecher was #1... and then there were acts like Selena Gomez that didn't even make it into the Top 20. I think it says something about the strength of the metal scene in Germany. But, I'm not a super competitive guy. It's much more important to me that I can work on my art - it sounds cheesy when I say that - so my main goal in life has already been achieved. I do what I love to do and make my living from it, so a chart number like that is great and I'm very happy about it, but I don't feel like I'm the greatest musician in the world."





Final Days was preceded by the four singles: "Let The Fire Rain", "In The Dawn Of The AI", "Heart Of The Android" and "Inferno". It also features guest appearances by Brothers Of Metal vocalist Ylva Eriksson (on the song "Alone In The Dark") and Firewind guitarist Gus G. (who contributed a solo for the track "Interstellar").


"Let The Fire Rain" video:





"In The Dawn Of The AI" video:





"Heart Of The Android" lyric video:





"Inferno" video:

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

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

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

Watch for PRIEST's new full-length album, produced by another GHOST alumni Simon Söderberg (GHOST guitarist and producer/engineer of debut album "Opus Eponymous") as well as a full-scale U.S. tour in summer 2022.

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

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

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

Fan-filmed video footage of LAST IN LINE's October 22 performance at Penn's Peak in Jim Thorpe, Pennsylvania can be seen below.

Formed in 2012 by drummer Vinny Appice, guitarist Vivian Campbell and bassist Jimmy Bain — Ronnie James Dio's co-conspirators and co-writers on the "Holy Diver", "Last In Line" and "Sacred Heart" albums — LAST IN LINE's initial intent was to celebrate Ronnie James Dio's early work by reuniting the members of the original DIO lineup. After playing shows that featured a setlist composed exclusively of material from the first three DIO albums, the band decided to move forward and create new music in a similar vein.

LAST IN LINE's debut album, "Heavy Crown", was released in February 2016, landing at No. 1 on Billboard's Heatseekers chart. Initially, the release had been preceded by tragedy when Bain unexpectedly passed away at the age of 68 on January 23, 2016. LAST IN LINE, honoring what they knew would be Bain's wish to keep the band moving, brought in Phil Soussan and committed to sustained touring in support of the album before beginning work on the follow-up release, 2019's "II".

This past June, Soussan spoke to Metal-Net.com about the progress of the writing and recording sessions for LAST IN LINE's third album. The LP is tentatively due in 2022 via an as-yet-undisclosed record label.

"I've been quite motivational with the band," Phil said. "I'm trying to keep things happening. We wanted to work on a few different aspects [during the pandemic]. I find things that we could do… We had some considerations with LAST IN LINE. I was trying to plan a streaming show. We were not able to do it because Vivian [Campbell, LAST IN LINE and DEF LEPPARD guitarist] has some preexisting health issues and he's not really able to travel until we have some assurance that he's going to be healthy and able to do so. So, out of respect, we tried to do some other things. We have a TV show, which was like a Zoom chat show that we would do occasionally, and that was fun. And we also had to go about getting a new record deal — we were changing labels — so that's something we're in the process of doing, and we're getting pretty close now. But part of that was writing a third record. So we've been hard at work trying to write a third record and even record that third record while we've been in different locations around the world. And, obviously, this band works as a unit in every sense of the word, so it's a real handicap not being able to be in the same room as everybody and trying to make it happen."

In February, Appice told Metal From The Inside that former DOKKEN and current FOREIGNER bassist Jeff Pilson, who produced both "II" and 2016's "Heavy Crown", is not involved with the upcoming LAST IN LINE album. "We made a change," he said. "Actually, the guy who mixed the last record, Chris Collier — he's great; he's working with KORN — he recorded this record. And we're kind of producing it ourselves, between all of us.

"Jeff is great — Jeff's a great producer, and [he has] great ideas and stuff, but we just felt that we could probably do what we wanna do now that we're a band, we've been on the road, and we know what we wanna hear," he explained. "But it's coming out great. The stuff sounds fantastic.

"And yeah, I've been through a lot with Jeff Pilson. I've known him for years. He's a great guy. He's like my brother."

Also in February, Soussan told the "Pat's Soundbytes Unplugged" podcast that the band was working on "a very, very special song that we're gonna be putting out fairly soon. I can't tell you any more than that, but it is something in the interim between us coming out with a new album, or releasing a new album, and now," he said. "So we'll do this as a video single."

As for the musical direction of the new LAST IN LINE material, Phil said: "The songs are another progression from the last album — the difference between 'Heavy Crown' and 'II', and now 'II' and whatever this next album is gonna be called; we don't know yet, by the way. But it's definitely evolved even more; it's gone into even more of an evolution, but we are always trying to keep the characteristics of LAST IN LINE there. I mean, you can't shake those things — you can't shake Vinny's drumming, you can't shake Vivian's playing. And I'd like to say the same thing about myself, and, of course, Andrew."

Some of the early recording sessions for LAST IN LINE's third album took place in January 2020 at Steakhouse studio in North Hollywood, California.

Germany's WDR Rockpalast has shared Thundermother's August 26th livestream show from the  Ausbesserungswerk in Wedau. Check out the entire show below.


Setlist:


"Whatever"
"Dog From Hell"
"Into The Mud"
"Back In 76"
"Hellevator"
"Heat Wave"
"Deal With The Devil"
"Rock'n'roll Heaven"
"Shoot To Kill"
"Revival"
"Mexico"
"Give Me Some Lights"
"Thunderous"
"Driving In Style"
"We Fight For Rock'n'roll"







Thundermother recently made the following announcement:


 


 


"After two years and one album we have now together with Majsan decided to go our separate ways. She has done an incredible job and really made a mark in the TM history, and for that we are forever grateful. We wish her nothing but the best in her future projects. Love Emlee, Filippa, and Guernica."


 


 


Personally from Majsan: "I wish to see a Thundermother world domination and I can't wait to get a ticket and see them from a crowd position. All my love to the girls!"


 


 





 

Sweden's symphonic extreme metallers Zornheym have just released their sophomore album, The Zornheim Sleep Experiment, via Noble Demon. The band celebrates the record's arrival with the debut of a brand new lyric video for the track "The Revelation", which band mastermind Zorn (Dark Funeral, Devian) describes as, "The heaviest Zornheym track to date. A mesmerizing horror theme of epic proportion!"





With ten new tracks of powerful, cinematic and mesmerizing symphonic extreme metal, The Zornheim Sleep Experiment is a musical as well as dramatic and storytelling work of art that revolves around the horrors of a mental institution and its prisoners. Once again, Zornheym create their very own wall of sound by using a real choir and a string quartet and bring the album's story to life in a graphic novel that accompanies and expands upon the stories behind the record. So get lost in the world of Zornheym and join the band on their distracting journey straight into the depths of the asylum!




The Zornheim Sleep Experiment is out now on Noble Demon and available to purchase physically and digitally at this location.





Tracklisting:


"Corpus Vile"
"An Evil Within"
"Dead Silence"
"Keep The Devil Away"
"Slumber Comes In Time"
"Black Nine"
"The Veiling Of Bettelheims Eye"
"The Revelation"
"Keep Cutting"
"The Madness That Lurks Within" (Epilogue)








 

Vancouver, British Columbia technical death metal outfit Atrae Bilis presents an official video for “Open The Effigy”. The song is found on the band’s debut LP, Apexapien, which saw release earlier this month through 20 Buck Spin.


Directed by RZ Cinema (Archspire, Comeback Kid), the new video showcases Atrae Bilis in a high-energy performance setting. “Open The Effigy” captures the band at its vehement core. In this chapter of the Apexapien story, a ceremonial trepanation shifts the terrestrial unto morbid clairvoyance. Tune in and writhe, as “skull and steel bathe in herbs, initiate the opening of the gold leaf effigy.”







Atrae Bilis’ Apexapien was recorded by Matt Roach at Rain City Recorders, engineered by Matt Roach and Christian Donaldson with assistant engineering by Emily Ryan and Jonathan Mazzeo and drum technician Alex Glassford. The record was mixed and mastered by Christian Donaldson (Cryptopsy, Despised Icon, Beneath The Massacre) and completed with stunning cover art by Eliran Kantor (Atheist, Bloodbath, Hate Eternal, Sodom, Kreator), layout and design by Dan Fried, and photography by Rob Zawistowski. 





Apexapien is available now on CD and cassette at the 20 Buck Spin webshop and through all digital providers. The vinyl version will see release on December 3rd.


The band also announces the departure of bassist Brendan Campbell, and now encourages interested applicants to connect with them: “Brendan is no longer handling bass duties and the Atrae Bilis circle is now open. To be clear, the band is firing on all cylinders and this transmogrification has not impeded songwriting or bookings. Positive, proactive and professional initiates are encouraged to contact the triumvirate's management at atraebilis@gmail.com."


On Apexapien, the follow-up to the 2020 Divinihility EP, angular, blackened dissonance, exhilarating experimental progressivism, and crushing guttural savagery merge into a cacophony of violently discordant death metal, all held together with a strict focus, discipline, and astonishing percussive momentum. Thoroughly modern in scope and mercilessly severe in execution, the heinous battering inflicted on Apexapien establishes Atrae Bilis at the vanguard of a new breed of forward-looking death metal bands not content to simply pay tribute to or completely abandon the genre’s towering progenitors.


 

American-Canadian alternative metal outfit, Set The Sun, have released the second single from their soon-to-be-announced debut EP. The track, titled "New Condition" features guest vocals from Michael Lessard of The Contortionist, and explores familiar territory to the ideas expressed in the band's first single, "Invisible".


Speaking about Lessard's contributions to "New Condition", the band says: "We have always admired Michael's voice and unique style, and we felt that he would be a perfect complement to the song. He added the perfect emotion to the song, and we're thrilled to have him on it."


The creative duo at the heart of Set The Sun, known only as Arc & Eris, wrote and recorded the upcoming record during last year's COVID-19 lockdown, which would inspire them to delve into subjects ranging from isolation, division amongst communities, misinformation, and unspoken conflict. On "New Condition", the band seeks to confront the uncomfortable truths of how much pain and confusion can be inflicted through the constant distortion we often subject ourselves to through our own technology.




Expressing the onus behind "New Condition", Set The Sun comments, “All of us are surrounded by information and disinformation at all times. It can be overwhelming and maddening, and we wanted this video to embody what that feels like."


On "New Condition", Set The Sun once again welcomes Thomas Freckleton of Silent Planet into The Collective, with Freckleton playing bass on the track. The band is also grateful to have collaborated with Clint Lowery of Sevendust, who co-wrote "New Condition" with Arc & Eris.





Watch the video for the first single "Invisible" (feat. Ryan Clark):

Japanese thrash metal combo, Shady Glimpse, have signed a licensing deal with Wormholedeath for the reissue of their album, Supreme Gift, which is due for re-release on December 17 via Wormholedeath worldwide.


Shady Glimpse' music is based on the 80's Bay Area: digests and absorbs punk, funk, disco, hard rock, and death metal. As the name Shady Glimpse suggests, it will be a light that gives color to the underground.







Tracklisting:


"The New World"
"DIOVig-C"
"S.S.D -System Shakedown-"
"Solar & Green"
"Killing After Midnight"
"Shocking!"
"Silver & Gold"
"Route 56"
"Liar's Desire"
"Stairway To Stupid"
"One Night Magician"
"H8! I'm D1"
"G.G Blues"


"DIOVig-C" video:





Shady Glimpse are:


Shinya Sakai - Guitar
Yuichi Takei - Vocals
Tomohide Shimizu - Bass
Yasuhiro Nishiyama - Drums

Negură Bunget have released a product presentation video for the black vinyl edition of the Romanian black metal pioneers' final album and conclusion of their Transylvanian trilogy, Zău ("Old God"), slated for release on November 26. Watch below:





Zău is the legacy of drummer and mastermind "Gabriel "Negru" Mafa, who tragically passed far too early at the age of 42 years on March 21, 2017. This album has been completed and respectfully created upon Negru's original drum-track recordings by the last lineup of Negură Bunget.




"After the tragic passing of Gabriel 'Negru' Mafa we all felt compelled to fulfil his legacy according to his ideas and wishes, which meant that we had to complete the Transylvanian trilogy", writes the band collectively. "Working on this album, we all felt Gabriel's guiding presence among us. We all knew the details directly from him, because as the very organised person that Gabriel was, he had written everything down. The drums that you hear on Zău are played by Gabriel as he had already recorded the pilot for the album before his passing. The rest of us just contributed with our parts as usual, although it was a difficult time and process for all of us. We missed the musical and philosophical debates with Gabriel. In the end, we succeeded to complete his work. The title of the third part of the Transylvanian Trilogy Zău means 'Old God' in Romanian but it also designates a wonder. This album focuses on Transylvanian landscapes, mythology, and spirituality. 'Brad', which translates as 'fir tree' represents the most cinematic track of this album. The symbolism of the fir tree in Romanian traditional culture is vast and complex. For example, it can represent immortality and the circle of life as it accompanies all the important stages: birth, marriage, and death. Our friend, the artist Daniel Dorobantu created the stunning video for this song."


Martin Koller adds: "In many ways, Zău is unlike most other albums", writes the label's founder. "We felt it important that this record would be released in the 25th anniversary year of Prophecy Productions as it somehow felt that this would add to the special tribute we intended it to be to the late Gabriel 'Negru' Mafa. He spoke so many times about the Transylvanian trilogy and how much it meant to him that we knew, we had to get it right. It was so very important to Gabriel, it had become very important to us, his label family. We want to honour all those years of friendship and fruitful collaboration with this posthumous release. We are therefore beyond grateful from the bottom of our hearts for the band to be able to finish what they had started with Gabriel: A stunning testimony of the innovative power and musical creativity of Negură Bunget. We also want to express our deep gratitude towards everybody else, not at least Gabriel's wife Alina, who helped in the making of this amazing record and its artwork. We are glad that we will make it happen before this year is over and we sincerely hope, you will come to love Zău as much as we do."





Zău will be available as a hardcover 36-page CD/DVD artbook, gatefold white vinyl LP, gatefold black vinyl LP, and on Digipak CD. Pre-order here.





Tracklisting:


"Brad"
"Iarba Fiarelor"
"Obrăzar"
"Tinerețe Fără Bătrânețe"
"Toacă Din Cer"


"Brad" video:





Lineup:


Gabriel "Negru" Mafa - drums, percussion
Tibor Kati - vocals
Adrian "OQ" Neagoe - guitars, keyboards
Petrică Ionuţescu - kaval (flute), nai (pan flute), tulnic (alphorn), duduk


Guest musicians:


Manuela Marchiș - vocals on "Brad"

Michael Schinkel's Eternal Flame present their official video for the single, "Rage”. The track is taken from the band’s upcoming album, Gravitation, out on October 29 via ROAR! Rock of Angels Records. Watch the clip below.


Gravitation will be released as trifold digipack CD and digital streaming and download formats. Order the album here







Tracklisting:


"Awakening"
"Rage"
"Hard Times For Dreamers"
"Love Returns"
"Damien"
"No Way To Hide"
"I’m Gonna Miss You Tonight"
"Strange Game Called Love"
"Stay In The Middle Of The Night"
"Higher Fire"
"Fallin"
"Hungarian Dance #5"


"Rage" video:





Michael Schinkel's Eternal Flame lineup:


Michael Schinkel – All Guitars and Vocals
Helmut Kohlpaintner – All Keyboards and Backing Vocals
Thomas Keller – Bass & Vocals
Tommy Wagner – Drums & Vocals

Supreme Unbeing is a mysterious 5-piece metal band led by vocalist/prophet Zac Red, with his fellow prophets D.Vine (Lead Guitar), D.Sciple (Rhythm Guitar), Unknown (Bass) and Al Mytee (Drums). Although the band just recently transformed from animated characters into real flesh and blood entities, their impact has been felt in the physical domain since the release (October 2020) of their debut full-length album Enter Reality.


Highly demanded, Supreme Unbeing have released the first, daunting and ominously sounding, single, "Face Of Evil", from their upcoming, second, full-length album, Enduring Physicality (to be released 5.5.22). Supreme Unbeing sees their songs as important messages to the people of the Earth, and yet again has an important message to share through the song.







“This song is about self-proclaimed kings, tyrants, societal leaders… and your friends. Whether you have your own life-agenda or not, they’ll manipulate and rob you of your free will to get what they want with their – as the song goes – ever-changing Face Of Evil. Humans are dual in nature, it’s nothing to be ashamed of, we all have a good side and an evil side, which side, and face, you decide to show at any given moment is yours to balance carefully on this grand stage. How do you want to be remembered?,” says Zac Red.


Not much is known about the people behind the band, but their animated videos for singles "You’ll Never Make It" and "Animals" have been wildly successful leaving the bands following to expect the same type of visual presence in their new music video for Face Of Evil, which also released today, staring Swedish actor Dragomir Mrsic (known from “Snabba Cash”, and “Edge Of Tomorrow” where co-starred along Tom Cruise).


“When the band asked me to play the leading role in their video, I immediately accepted, the bands messages are too important to ignore. Besides, my naturally looking evil eyebrows made me feel at home with the character in the video," says Dragomir Mrsic.


Mixed and mastered by Sebastian “Seeb” Levermann, singer/guitarist of German metal outfit Orden Ogan, the track is available today on Spotify, Apple Music, Deezer and all major streaming services.


“A smile is always there to greet us. A smile will always hide the truth,” concludes Zac Red of Supreme Unbeing.


Listen here, and watch the video below:

Red Fang have done it again. Celebrating the spooky season, the four band members mark their “demise” the only way they know how, via one of the year’s cleverest music videos. Watch “Rabbit in Hives” below.


“When I showed up at the funeral shoot I had no idea that all of these rock luminaries from the Pacific Northwest would be lavishing such heartfelt praise on the corpse of our band. It was an honor to say the least. It’s nice to know that when our number is up we will be missed!,” said Bryan Giles of the Ansel Wallenfang directed clip. Wallenfang also directed the band’s “Why” video, documenting the sad story of pizza parlor mascot Arnie Von Party.


Portland’s heavy music community comes out in force in the five-minute clip. Guests include members of High On Fire, Yob, Ils, Gaytheist, Lord Dying, and Danger Ehren. Bend, Ore.’s Boneyard Beer provide the magical, re-animating brew that insures Red Fang’s future into the new year.







Arrows, the Portland-based band’s first album in five years and fifth album overall, arrived in June. Physical orders are available via Relapse’s webstore here, while digital downloads and streaming links can be found here.


Arrows album cover, artwork by Orion Landau.





Tracklisting:


"Take It Back"
"Unreal Estate"
"Arrows"
"My Disaster"
"Two High"
"Anodyne"
"Interop-Mod"
"Fonzi Scheme"
"Days Collide"
"Rabbits In Hive"
"Why"
"Dr. Owl"
"Funeral Coach"


"Why":





"Funeral Coach":





"Arrows" video:





Red Fang is:


Aaron Beam (bass/vocals/guitar/keyboards)
Bryan Giles (guitar/vocals),
John Sherman (drums)
David Sullivan (guitars)


(Photo - James Rexroad)

Robby Steinhardt and Solar Studios announce Robby's first and only solo recording, Not In Kansas Anymore.


You know him as the legendary violinist, vocalist and frontman for the band Kansas, recording nine albums which reached gold, platinum and double platinum status, and is now making another mark on the world with his first and only solo album.


The new album, Not In Kansas Anymore is a powerful, well thought-out offering of prog rock magic. Timely songs with incredible arrangements and virtuoso performances. Robby’s vocals and signature electric violin come through on this continuous work labeled a “Prog Opera”.







In his only interview for the project, he spoke with Bill Shafer of PBS. Steinhardt was asked what the meaning behind the title Not In Kansas Anymore was. Steinhardt responded, “It’s no slight against the band, no never! My time with Kansas defined a big part of my life, of which I am very proud of. Ever since The Wizard of OZ, those words have become an American axiom for moving forward, you can never go back etc.” Robby laughed, “I guess it has a special meaning when it is fixed to me.”


The album, produced by Michael Thomas Franklin, is his latest production since the highly acclaimed Jon Anderson 1000 Hands Chapter One. Franklin used a similar approach using a large cast of renown musicians to lend their talents. Ian Anderson of Jethro Tull, Steve Morse of Deep Purple/Dixie Dregs, Billy Cobham of Mahavishnu Orchestra, Bobby Kimball of Toto, Chuck Leavell of The Rolling Stones, Liberty Devitto (Drummer on Billy Joel’s hits), Jim Gentry, Pat Travers, Billy Ashbaugh (Moody Blues/Pat Benatar), Lisa Fischer (longtime vocalist for The Rolling Stones), 1000 Hands members Michael Franklin, Tommy Calton, Tim Franklin, Jocelyn Hsu, Rayford Griffin and Benoit Lajeunesse and many others including Orchestra and Choir.


The songs provide powerful lyrics, hard to forget choruses, combined with crafty playing. All this combined with Franklin’s lavish and complicated arrangements makes listening to Not In Kansas Anymore a wonderful hour well spent. The stunning album artwork created by Tom Lupo of Magnificent Pictures and subliminal song quotes from the Wizard of OZ, are another added feature to this complex Prog Opera. Currently four videos are in the works.


Steinhardt was in a reborn state of mind in the months prior to finishing the record. He and wife Cindy were looking forward to a new chapter in their lives. He had started rehearsals and was preparing to hit the road in August when he became ill in May. Robby’s musical vision, voice and violin lives on with his first and only solo album, Not In Kansas Anymore! Release was delayed due to Steinhardt’s passing July 17, 2021.


Order Not In Kansas Anymore on digital download, CD and LP with free digital download (available in December) can be ordered here, and/or here.

Tampa, Florida-based melodic death metal band, The Absence, has fired long-time bassist Mike Leon (Soulfly, Cavalera Conspiracy, ex-Havok) after 15 years of touring and recording.


“My departure from The Absence is anything but amicable,” said Mike regarding the separation. “To be perfectly honest I’m probably better off not wasting my time on a sinking ship. I’ve invested countless hours, money, and time away from my loved ones trying to work towards what I thought was a common goal with The Absence, but as it turns out I was wrong to think anyone in that band was on the same page. I’m going to continue to focus on my work with Soulfly, Cavalera Conspiracy, streaming on Twitch, and other upcoming music projects.”


Mike currently streams live three days a week on Twitch.TV as MikeLeonShreds and has established himself as a quickly rising metal personality, amassing over 5k followers shredding, interacting with fans, and performing on numerous charity streams and events.




Soulfly recently released a digital EP entitled Live Ritual NYC MMXIX recorded in February 2019 at the Gramercy in NYC and completed a North American tour in 2021 with Dino Cazares of Fear Factory on guitar. Soulfly will be releasing their 12th studio album later this year, worldwide on Nuclear Blast Records.


(Photo - Deidra Kling)

Just in time for its 10th anniversary, German power metallers Iron Savior will release a special edition of their classic album, The Landing. This new 10th Anniversary Edition includes three bonus tracks and was also remixed / remastered by frontman / founder Piet Sielck. It also features revised artwork by Felipe Machado Franco.


The Landing became one of the most successful albums of the Hamburg-based band and was heralding a kind of resurgence for Iron Savior back then. It contains several classic tracks such as "Starlight", "Hall Of The Heroes", and the metal hymn "Heavy Metal Never Dies" – a song that has been streamed over 10 million times.


The Landing - 10th Anniversary Edition“ will be released on November 19th on CD and limited double vinyl via AFM Records.







Tracklisting:


"Descending" (Intro)
"The Savior"
"Starlight"
"March Of Doom"
"Heavy Metal Never Dies"
"Moment In Time"
"Hall Of The Heroes"
"R. U. Ready"
"Faster Than All"
"Before The Pain"
"No Guts No Glory"
"Coming Home" (re-recorded)
"Atlantis Falling" (re-recorded)
"Underneath The Radar" (Bonus Track)





(Photo - Thomas Sprenger)

Former JUDAS PRIEST guitarist K.K. Downing has wished his replacement, Richie Faulkner, a "speedy recovery" after Faulkner suffered an acute cardiac aortic dissection during the band's performance at the Louder Than Life festival.

After being rushed to the UofL Health - Jewish Hospital on September 26, Faulkner underwent an approximately 10-hour surgery — an aortic valve and ascending aorta replacement with hemiarch replacement — by the hospital's cardiothoracic surgery team, led by Dr. Pahwa, and also including Drs. Brian Ganzel and Mark Slaughter.

Asked in a new interview with The Blog Of Rock if he "sent any prayers" to Richie in the days after his surgery, Downing said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Yeah, absolutely. All I could do is I've been saying to people that it's very sad. Everybody wishes Richie well and a speedy recovery. I think the guys had over 20 shows [left to play on the U.S. tour], so I hope for the guys, when Richie recovers, they can get back out there. Because, obviously, I feel for the fans and, of course, SABATON, who was playing as well. It's a terrible thing, but we can only wish Richie well. But I know he's young and he's strong, and I'm sure that everything's gonna be fine."

Faulkner had "an aortic aneurysm and complete aortic dissection" while performing the closing song of PRIEST's set on the final day of Louder Than Life in Louisville. Faulkner later said in a statement: "As I watch footage from the Louder Than Life Festival in Kentucky, I can see in my face the confusion and anguish I was feeling whilst playing 'Painkiller' as my aorta ruptured and started to spill blood into my chest cavity."

Aortic aneurysms are "balloon-like bulges in the aorta, the large artery that carries blood from the heart through the chest and torso," according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control. Dissections happen when the "force of blood pumping can split the layers of the artery wall, allowing blood to leak in between them."

After Louder Than Life, JUDAS PRIEST postponed the remainder of the U.S. dates on its rescheduled 50th anniversary tour, dubbed "50 Heavy Metal Years". The trek kicked off on September 8 in Reading, Pennsylvania and was slated to run through October before concluding on November 5 in Hamilton, Ontario.

In 2019, Faulkner dismissed the criticism he received for supposedly trying to look too much like Downing.

"Obviously, you get the [haters] — the 'clone' comments," Richie told the "Let There Be Talk" podcast. "I've got long blond hair, playing a flying V [guitar]… [Michael] Schenker, Zakk [Wylde], K.K., Randy Rhoads — all those guys. To say I was a Ken clone was fairly narrow-minded. There's tons of guys who have flying Vs and long hair.

"The thing is if I had dyed my hair black to be different, I would have been shot down," he continued. "You've gotta be real; you've gotta be who you are. And I grew up on Ken, I grew up on Glenn [Tipton, JUDAS PRIEST guitarist] and the guys that I mentioned. So you've just gotta be who you are. And I grew up with those guys, and I'm not ashamed. I wear it on my sleeve — they're all my influences, and I'm not afraid of that… There's no point in trying to hide it. But it's gotta be natural as well. And I think somehow it worked out organically. I didn't try to copy him. And as it goes on, you always try to do your own thing and make your own statement."

Three years ago, Downing said that he felt like he was "being cloned" when he first found out he was being replaced by Faulkner. The 69-year-old, who announced his retirement from PRIEST in April 2011 after nearly 42 years in the job, admitted to the "Appetite For Distortion" podcast that he was taken aback when he first saw his replacement.

"Richie, as far as I know, is a nice guy and obviously an excellent player," Downing said. "I was a bit disappointed when, basically… I think the idea was to replace me [with a lookalike], so I did feel as though I was kind of being cloned. But I'm not sure that was exactly fair to Richie. I mean, I could be off the mark here, but I think Richie had the right to bring himself to the stage with his own… portray his own image and ability to play the instrument the way that he does. But it is what it is."

He continued: "When Glenn retired from touring [in early 2018], the same didn't happen — obviously, [Tipton's replacement] Andy [Sneap] doesn't look anything like Glenn; he doesn't wear the same clothes, the red pants, guitars or anything like that. So I don't really know what's going on. But it is what it is."

In a 2011 interview with the Finnish newspaper Ilta-Sanomat, PRIEST singer Rob Halford stated about Faulkner's physical resemblance to a younger Downing: "People are saying, 'It's a clone. You've got some of K.K.'s DNA.' It's just the way it turned out. We made, like, a secret search. When we knew K.K. was not gonna be making the tour, we did a lot of secret, kind of, searching for another player. And Richie just happened to be the guy. And he just happens to look a little bit of the K.K. image, you know?! I think it would be silly to say, 'We looked for a guitar player that looks like Ken.' What we want is a very good metal guitar player, and that's what Richie Faulkner is."

Nita Strauss, the guitar shredder for the ALICE COOPER band, was the featured guest on BBC's "The Rock Show With Johnnie Walker" during the "Rock God" segment. Nita picked Steve Vai and stated about her choice: "Steve Vai has been my favorite guitar player since I first started playing guitar and always been my biggest inspiration because of not just his technique but the joy and passion in his guitar playing. That's something that I try to emulate in my own playing every day, and I think all guitar players could benefit from that as well. So, Steve Vai, you are my rock god."

In a 2018 interview with Sweetwater, Nita talked about how she was inspired as a teenager by Vai's performance in the 1980s film "Crossroads". She said: "When I watched that movie, I was super into gymnastics. I was an alternate on the Junior Olympic team — that's how serious I was about doing gymnastics. The next day after watching that, I walked into the gym where I had been going as a child. Let's say that practice started at 5 o'clock. I walked in [at] probably 5:10, 5:15. My coach looked at me like, [taps wrist], and I said, 'I know. Yeah, yeah, I know.' And I got my stuff out of my locker and I left, and I never went back. All I did from that moment forward was play the guitar. I never even thought about doing anything else. I loved it. I was that kid that was practicing every hour of the day. You could not take the guitar out of my hands. At the dinner table, under the cover with the lights out after bedtime, I was always playing. Taking the guitar to school, practicing at lunch... I didn't start out being any good at this instrument. Everybody starts out at exactly the same level, and that's something I love about music. No one can do your push-up for you. No one can practice for you. No one can run those hours of scales for you. No one starts out any better than anyone else."

Nita also cited Vai as the inspiration for her debut solo single "Pandemonium", saying: "Steve is actually the reason I did 'Pandemonium'. I was so focused on launching WE START WARS, my original band, and I always wanted to do a solo record. All my heroes are instrumental guitar players, but I sort of had that 'I'm not ready' feeling — I was like, 'I don't feel like I'm the guitar player that I want to be when I put this out.' That's just called fear. Fear has no place in what we do here. The first time I met Vai was at 'Generation Axe' [his 2016 tour with Zakk Wylde, Yngwie Malmsteen, Nuno Bettencourt and Tosin Abasi]. Steve said, 'I'm putting together this compilation of female guitar players. Would you be willing to contribute a song to it?' I said, 'Oh yeah, absolutely. I definitely have something.' [My boyfriend/manager] and I were walking to the car, and he goes, 'So, do you have something?' I said, 'No. Not a clue.' [Laughs] 'I have nothing. I don't even have an idea.' But I went home, and in the next few days, I formulated what would become 'Pandemonium', and I had so much fun doing it."

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

TWISTED SISTER guitarist Jay Jay French spoke to Brazil's Wikimetal about the fact that in today's day and age when anyone and everyone floods the musical market, it becomes increasingly hard for one band, artist or songwriter to stand out in the flow to be heard and earn a living by making music.

"First of all, the good news is anybody can make a record," he said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET). "But the bad news is anybody can make a record. And so there's so much out there that how do you rise above the noise? That becomes the issue. Now, we happen to have two songs — 'We're Not Gonna Take It' and 'I Wanna Rock' — that have raised above the noise to the point where they are standard bearers in the world of popular music, in much the same way that JOURNEY's 'Don't Stop Believin'' is just a standard bearer. Whether you like them or not, that's not the point — it's a standard-bearer song. QUEEN 'We Will Rock You', 'We Are The Champions', these are standard bearers — these are massive hits that people sing in stadiums.

"Very much the mentality of Europe and South America as it pertains to stadium-sounding anthems is one of the reasons why TWISTED SISTER is successful today," he continued. "Even though our music is played in American football stadiums and baseball stadiums, it is almost tailor made for South America and Europe, because in South America and Europe, at soccer games, everyone puts their arms around each other and they sing these songs. So this is one of the ways that our songs become standards. But also we license them for movies and commercials and soundtracks.

"In the '60s, counter-culture groups were offended by corporations: 'We'll never give our music to Chevrolet. We'll never give our music to Ford. We're never gonna do that, because that's beneath us. We're not part of the corporate stuff.' Well, nowadays, I'm saying, what we're saying, [is] anything we can do to get our music out there is important — any avenue," French added. "It just so happens licensing music is the last bastion of real money in the music industry, because it's old-time money. The way they pay you is just the way they've been paying you for the last 30, 40, 50 years. It's not like streaming or anything else — you get real money. So the benefit of it is twofold — one is you get paid a lot; and the other side of it is you get broadcast a lot.

"So, if you would ask a 10-year-old kid do they know TWISTED SISTER, maybe they don't. You start singing 'We're Not Gonna Take It', the kid's gonna be singing 'We're Not Gonna Take It'. So if our consolation prize is that our music is standardized around the world, and young kids know it and it shows up in commercials and TV shows, then you know what? That doesn't suck. That's a good thing. So that's what we're lucky in possessing — between 'I Wanna Rock' and 'We're Not Gonna Take It' — two international anthems that are standardized."

"We're Not Gonna Take It" has been used in commercials for hotel chain Extended Stay America, Claritin, Walmart, Stanley Steamer and Yaz birth control.

The song's lyrics say in part "Oh you're so condescending/Your gall is never ending/We don't want nothin'/Not a thing from you."

"We're Not Gonna Take It" was first released as a single (with B-side song "You Can't Stop Rock 'N' Roll") on April 27, 1984. The "Stay Hungry" album was released two weeks later, on May 10, 1984. The single made No. 21 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart, making it TWISTED SISTER's only Top 40 single, and the song was ranked No. 47 on VH1's "100 Greatest '80s Songs".

"We're Not Gonna Take It" was written solely by singer Dee Snider. As influences for the song, he previously cited the glam rock band SLADE, the punk band SEX PISTOLS, and the Christmas carol "O Come, All Ye Faithful".

TWISTED SISTER called it quits in 2016 after completing a farewell 40th-anniversary tour. The band's last-ever concert took place in November of that year — 20 months after the passing of TWISTED's longtime drummer A.J. Pero.

French's new "bizoir" — part memoir and part business primer — "Twisted Business: Lessons From My Life In Rock 'N' Roll", was released last month via RosettaBooks.

According to Reuters, a copyright infringement lawsuit over NIRVANA's use of a C.W. Scott-Giles illustration from a 1949 English translation of Dante's "Inferno" on merchandise has been dismissed. "Inferno" is the first part of Italian writer Dante Alighieri's 14th-century epic poem "Divine Comedy".

On Thursday (October 21), U.S. District Judge Dale Fischer dismissed the case and said the United Kingdom was a more appropriate jurisdiction for the copyright claims brought by British citizen Jocelyn Bundy over the pioneering grunge rockers' alleged use of her grandfather's British art. The judge made the dismissal contingent on NIRVANA agreeing to U.K. jurisdiction if Bundy sued there.

Last April, Bundy sued Nirvana LLC, Live Nation Merchandise LLC and its Merch Traffic LLC unit, along with Silva Artist Management LLC, saying NIRVANA had been using Scott-Giles's drawing since 1997 on shirts, mugs, vinyl records, and other merchandise sold at stores including Walmart, H&M and Hot Topic. The drawing depicts Dante's circles of Upper Hell.

The complaint stated: "On or about January 20, 2021, Plaintiff discovered that Defendants NIRVANA and Live Nation Merchandise are (and have been) licensing, promoting, selling, manufacturing, and distributing vinyl records, t-shirts, sweaters, hoodies, key fobs, mugs, patches, buttons, and other merchandise items depicting an image virtually identical to the Illustration both in the U.S. and abroad.

"On or about March 11, 2021, Plaintiff discovered that, sometime after February 13, 2021, Defendant Merch Traffic also started promoting, licensing, selling, and distributing Infringing Products in the U.S. and abroad."

The complaint added: "Further research revealed that some of the unauthorized uses of the Illustration on NIRVANA-branded merchandise date as far back as 1989. Further research also revealed that over the years, the band NIRVANA and parties acting on its behalf have routinely made false claims of ownership of the copyright in the Illustration by placing false copyright notices on the Infringing Products in substantially this form '© [Year] Nirvana'.

"Finally, in documents filed in two other copyright actions before this Court, Defendant NIRVANA has implied that Kurt Cobain created the Illustration or, in the alternative, that the Illustration is in the public domain in the United States, and that, therefore, NIRVANA and its licensees are free to use it without authorization or compensation. NIRVANA and some of the other Defendants have maintained this position in their responses to Plaintiff’s continuing requests to cease their wrongful conduct in the U.S. and abroad."

This is not the only copyright-infringement battle NIRVANA is currently involved in. For the past three years, NIRVANA has been embroiled in a long-running legal clash against fashion company Marc Jacobs over its "happy face" t-shirt designs. NIRVANA's dispute with Marc Jacobs centers on a design featuring a squiggly yellow smiley face, which is very similar to the trademark owned by the band since 1992. The Marc Jacobs version features an M and a J instead of Xs for its eyes (as in the NIRVANA version), and it reads "HEAVEN" instead of "NIRVANA" in a typeface similar to the band's font.

Fan-filmed video footage of DOKKEN's Octoebr 21 concert at The Canyon in Agoura Hills, California can be seen below.

DOKKEN recently announced a seven-date fall 2021 tour of California. The trek kicked off in Agoura Hills and will conclude with a pair of shows at the legendary West Hollywood venue Whisky A Go Go. The Whisky dates will see DOKKEN reunited with guitarist George Lynch.

Tour dates:

Oct. 22 - The Canyon - Santa Clarita, CA

Oct. 23 - The Canyon - Montclair, CA

Dec. 03 - Sycuan Casino - El Cajon, CA

Dec. 04 - The Canyon at Oxnard PACC - Oxnard, CA

Dec. 17 - Whisky A Go Go - West Hollywood, CA*

Dec. 18 - Whisky A Go Go - West Hollywood, CA*

* With special guest George Lynch

Lynch previously rejoined DOKKEN on stage in July in Ashland, Virginia and in Moline, Illinois as well as in early June at the Live United Live Music Festival in Sunbury, Pennsylvania.

DOKKEN's classic lineup — Lynch, Don Dokken, , Jeff Pilson and Mick Brown — reunited for a short Japanese tour in the fall of 2016. The trek marked the first time in 21 years the four musicians had hit the road together.

A DOKKEN concert DVD focusing on the band's reunion tour, "Return To The East Live (2016)", was made available in 2018. In addition to the Japanese performance, the set included footage from the classic lineup's only U.S. show in September 2016 at Badlands in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, as well as newly recorded acoustic reworkings of "Heaven Sent" and "Will The Sun Rise". Also featured on "Return To The East Live (2016)" was "It's Just Another Day", the first DOKKEN track featuring the group's classic lineup since 1997's "Shadowlife".

Since completing the Japanese reunion dates, DOKKEN has continued to perform with the group's current lineup — including bassist Chris McCarvill, guitarist Jon Levin and drummer BJ Zampa (HOUSE OF LORDS).

DOKKEN is currently working on material on a new studio album, tentatively due next year via Silver Lining Music, the label owned by Thomas Jensen, one of the founders of Germany's Wacken Open Air festival. It will mark the group's first disc since 2012's "Broken Bones".


















































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Canadian innovative metallers VOIVOD have completed recording their new album at RadicArt studio in Notre-Dame-du-Mont-Carmel, Quebec with producer Francis Perron. The LP, expected for release in 2022 via Century Media Records, is now being mastered at Maor Appelbaum Mastering in Los Angeles.

On Thursday (October 21), VOIVOD guitarist Daniel "Chewy" Mongrain shared a few photos from the studio on his Facebook page and he included the following message: "New VOIVOD album is done and at the Mastering with Maor Appelbaum Mastering!

"Crazy intense past 4 months of writing demoing recording mixing!

"Thanx to the Francis Perron, RadicArt Recording Studio for his total dedication, hard work and passion! Thanx to Lapointe amplification for the amazing guitar tone I got from your amp! And Bond Instruments for making my beautiful guitars and DiMarzio pickups to make my finger sing! Sophia Tremolos for enable me to express myself in total control with their amazing trems! and Graph Tech Guitar Labs for the total reliable gear, helping my guitars staying in tune and making my life easier!"

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

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

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

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

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

"The Wake" was released in September 2018 via Century Media Records. The disc was recorded and mixed by Francis Perron. The album's artwork was once again created by Away.


New Voivod Album is done and at the Mastering with Maor Appelbaum Mastering!

Crazy intense past 4 months of writing...

Posted by Dan Mongrain on Thursday, October 21, 2021

BREAKING IN A SEQUENCE, the Huntington Beach, California-based alternative hard rock/metal band featuring former KORN drummer David Silveria, has released a new single called "Twine". The official visualizer video for the track, which was produced and mixed by Chris Collier at Mint Potion Studios in Santa Clarita, California and CMC21 Productions in Las Vegas, Nevada, can be seen below. The clip was created by Clint Collins of Clintodarko.

BREAKING IN A SEQUENCE said in a statement: "We released this strictly for our fans to have something new before the end of the year. This is just a taste of things to come for our new EP. Stay tuned..."

Joining David in BREAKING IN A SEQUENCE are bassist Chris Dorame, guitarists Joe Taback and Mike Martin and singer Rich Nguyen.

"Twine" marks BREAKING IN A SEQUENCE's first new music since the band's debut EP, "Acronym", which came out in January. That EP has since been streamed over 560,000 times on Spotify.

"Acronym" included BREAKING IN A SEQUENCE's cover of FAITH NO MORE's "Midlife Crisis" and was accompanied by a frame-for-frame recreation of the iconic '90s classic video. Director Matt Zane replicated the live performance shots using similar color composition and color shift effects, and utilized modern editing techniques and cuts to recreate the original mood and atmosphere.

BREAKING IN A SEQUENCE made a big splash with its first two singles "Pity" and "Change Your Mind", which came out in January 2019. "Pity", the edgier track of the two, peaked in the Top 25 on the Billboard (BDS) Indicator chart and Top 10 on the Foundations (SMR) chart.

Silveria previously told OC Weekly about BREAKING IN A SEQUENCE's musical approach: "We definitely have our own unique sound, but at times there are hints of the early sound of KORN. I feel this band is a new fresh sound on the rock scene that is lacking right now. We have a new sound for sure, but we aren't reinventing the wheel."

Nguyen described his lyrical themes as "both personal and abstract. Every song I write has two meanings; mine and your interpretation," he explained. "I try to write my lyrics vague enough for people to relate to and form their own opinions. However, if you know me personally, you may be able to figure what I'm talking about, maybe."

In a new interview with Vikram Chandrasekar of Tales From The Road, former MEGADETH guitarist Marty Friedman, who has been living and recording music in Japan since 2003, was asked about BABYMETAL's unstereotypically "happy" lyrics and why they work so well within the context of the Japanese band's pop-metal sound. He responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Metal has gone through a long history of lyrics [being] all almost interchangeable; they have to be dark and they have to be kind of scary and sort of negative and protesting everything. And it kind of works with the sound of aggressive music, but we've kind of really all heard that for a long time. And why wouldn't it work with something with a much simpler and happier and maybe a more positive outlook? Why wouldn't it work? And actually, it does happen to work. So that kind of gave the sound of metal a few more decades of life, I believe. Yeah, it just works — it just works."

Back in 2015, Friedman told Metalholic.com that he was a huge supporter of BABYMETAL, whose members wear gothy schoolgirl costumes, do choreographed dance routines and bang their heads violently.

"I think the best thing about BABYMETAL is the fact that it's very polarizing: you have to either absolutely love 'em or you totally hate 'em," Marty said. "And I think that's the mark of great things. Of course, I love them and have supported them since the beginning. The guitarist in my solo band over [in Japan] is also the guitarist in BABYMETAL. So I definitely… I'm a huge supporter of them, and I think they are a fantastic, fantastic unit. But I could totally see a metal purist go, 'Hey, this is not right. This is not what metal is supposed to be. I can't stand it. It's just not… No. No way. No fucking way.' I totally get it. But that's what I also love about them. I mean, it breaks a lot of rules, and I'm all about breaking rules."

He continued: "If you've seen some of the stuff I've done in Japan, I have injected my own metal into very, very pop situations, where metal shouldn't go, but because it's me, and because it's the way I did it, it worked, and it happened, and it existed. So I kind of forced it. And I think that spirit is very metal. But there are a lot of purists out there, especially in America, who look at that and just go, 'No fucking way!' And I totally get it; I don't have a single thing against these people. But that's what I love about BABYMETAL: it's very polarizing. And I think that my whole musical concept is also very polarizing. But I can tell you that it's just the way that I am as an artist, and you really can't go out there trying to please anyone other than yourself. If people wanna join the party, it's great, and you love 'em when they do, but I certainly don't think any less of people who disagree with my opinion."

Many heavy metal fans have been reluctant to embrace BABYMETAL — which also includes producer Kobametal and a backing band of corpse-painted virtuosos — with some Internet forums calling them "the definition of a gimmick", "awful" and "metal for hipsters."

Rufus Publications and Ross Halfin have announced a new limited-edition book, "The Black Crowes", featuring thousands of unseen images from Ross's extensive library.

Produced alongside Chris and Rich Robinson, the book is a huge photographic essay on the band, formed in Marietta, Georgia in 1984. The book features introductions from both brothers. Chris writes in the book: "To say that THE BLACK CROWES & Mr. Halfin have a long history together is most definitely an understatement. Here in these photographs you will see & feel."

Ross comments: "Could I tell you stories about this band? I could probably tell you a hundred, and one of the highlights was seeing them opening for THE ROLLING STONES at Wembley Stadium and whilst doing an hour's set they did a 25-minute version of 'Thorn in My Pride'. In hindsight, perhaps not the best idea to warm up 90,000 people, although I did think it would be funny if they put it out as a single and called it the 'radio edit' — but that's not really the point to this. It's something I remembered which made me laugh. Then again I saw them at The Forum in London when they did a really succinct and great rendition of the Joe Tex song 'Hush' made famous by DEEP PURPLE."

Two editions of the book will be available: A huge 600-page-plus edition, numbered and signed by Chris and Rich Robinson complete with a luxury slipcase and lenticular print; and a stripped down 300-page version, unsigned. Both books measure 245mm x 345mm. The deluxe version will cost £300 and the standard edition will cost £89 plus delivery worldwide.

For more information, visit www.rufuspublications.com.

Produced by Live Nation, THE BLACK CROWES' 37-date "Shake Your Money Maker" tour ended on September 25 at Bethel Woods Center for the Arts in Bethel, New York.

Joining Chris and Rich Robinson in the new BLACK CROWES lineup are longtime bassist Sven Pipien, who played with the band live from 1997 up until the band's hiatus in 2015, along with Brian Griffin on drums, Joel Robinow on keyboards and Isaiah Mitchell on guitar, plus backup singers Mackenzie Adams and Leslie Grant.

Rich told Cleveland.com that he and his brother wanted to re-start THE BLACK CROWES with a clean slate. "There was a strong agenda in the band [previously] to keep Chris and I apart and keep Chris and I fighting," he said. "We just didn't want to have to deal with any of that negative [stuff], so it had to be this way in order for it to be what we want."

"Shake Your Money Maker" was re-released in multi-formats sets in February through UMe/American Recordings. The album, fueled by singles "Jealous Again", "Twice As Hard", "She Talks To Angels" and a cover of fellow Georgian Otis Redding's "Hard To Handle", has sold over five million copies.

Chris Robinson recently confirmed to SiriusXM's "Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk" that there are tentative plans to record a new BLACK CROWES album.

JUDAS PRIEST and Rufus Publications have published the first-ever official book documenting the band's extensive history over the last 50 years. Titled "Judas Priest - 50 Heavy Metal Years", the book has been put together by David Silver, Ross Halfin and Jayne Andrews.

This huge, 648-page coffee table book chronicles the history of the world’s foremost heavy metal band using hundreds of previously unseen, unpublished photographs from rock's greatest photographers including Halfin, Neil Zlozower, Mark Weiss, Fin Costello, Oliver Halfin and many more. With a linking text by renowned journalist Mark Blake, the book explores the bands exciting history on stage and off in a unique photo documentary designed to excite fans and devotees of true heavy metal the world over. Current bandmembers have all contributed to the book, with written pieces detailing their love and passion for the band, making this an extraordinary artefact for their legions of followers. The book features an exclusive cover by Mark Wilkinson, who has worked with the band for many years now.

Halfin says: "I've photographed JUDAS PRIEST from 1978 until now, and of all the bands I've worked with, they are one of the most enjoyable to me. You have to love the mighty PRIEST."

PRIEST guitarist Glenn Tipton comments: "We spearheaded the visual image of metal, breathing new life into it, and it has been captured forever in the pages of this book."

"Judas Priest - 50 Heavy Metal Years" can be ordered at www.rufuspublications.com.

JUDAS PRIEST frontman Rob Halford's autobiography, "Confess", arrived in September 2020 via Hachette Books.

Former JUDAS PRIEST guitarist K.K. Downing released his autobiography, "Heavy Duty: Days And Nights In Judas Priest", in September 2018 via Da Capo Press.

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

PRIEST's current touring lineup consists of Hill, Halford, guitarists Andy Sneap and Faulkner, and drummer Scott Travis.

Asked by VintageRock.com if writing his autobiography provided him with a sense of closure concerning his time in JUDAS PRIEST, Downing replied: "Yeah, I think so. I guess it's the same with any long-term relationship — whether it's a husband or wife, or father or son or whatever — you spend enough time together, and idiosyncrasies show up. I guess there was no particular right or wrong — some people have more tolerance than others, and it takes a bloody miracle really to stay together for 40 years. Someone has to give. And it has to be give-and-take. But inevitably, it becomes a bit of an imbalance, and I like to think that democracy is always the best policy. And there wasn't enough of it there, I don't think."

Last year, Halford was asked by Sea Of Tranquility about the reason for Downing's relative absence from "Confess". He replied: "We did not steer of any avoidance, per se. We just talked about every aspect that we felt was important and useful to the book itself. So there was never, 'Oh, we won't talk about that person.' There was never any kind of dismissiveness for whatever reasons. So I think there's my answer."

SLASH FEATURING MYLES KENNEDY AND THE CONSPIRATORS will release their new album titled "4" on February 11, 2022, via Gibson Records in partnership with BMG. "4" is Slash's fifth solo album and fourth overall with his band featuring Myles Kennedy (vocals), Brent Fitz (drums), Todd Kerns (bass, vocals) and Frank Sidoris (guitar, vocals).

Speaking about the decision to call the LP "4", Slash told Germany's Rock Antenne (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "I just called it '4' because it's our fourth record which I think is an important milestone. And then also because I didn't want to give it a nice sort of cool, clever title that relates to something in particular because so much shit happened in 2020 that there's no one sentence or one word that defines all of it. So rather than even try, I just said, 'Let's just call it '4', because it's more about this record being about something that we've accomplished at this point and it's not really about all of that.'"

Last week, SLASH FEATURING MYLES KENNEDY AND THE CONSPIRATORS released the opening track and first single from "4", "The River Is Rising". The accompanying music video was shot on location in downtown Los Angeles with Gibson TV director Todd Harapiak.

For "4", Slash and the band traveled across the country together to Nashville, Tennessee and recorded the new album at the historic RCA Studio A with producer Dave Cobb (Chris Stapleton, John Prine, Jason Isbell, Brandi Carlile). Cobb shared the band's desire to lay down the tracks live, in the studio including guitar solos and vocals — a first for the group.

The band's previous albums over the last decade — "Apocalyptic Love", "World On Fire" and "Living The Dream" — have continued on an upward trajectory, all achieving Top 5 Billboard charting debuts in the U.S. and reaching the Top 10 on 12 major charts across the globe. To date, the three SLASH FEATURING MYLES KENNEDY AND THE CONSPIRATORS albums have now garnered 10 consecutive Top 5 Radio singles, spawned sold-out world tours, and have earned Slash and the band the best critical acclaim of their career with their latest album "Living The Dream" (2018) singled out by the Los Angeles Times, Classic Rock, Guitar World, Loudwire, LA Weekly, and more, as their best songs to date.

The new album "4" has the added history-making distinction of being the first-ever album to be released on the new Gibson Records label, which is headquartered in the iconic American instrument brand Gibson's hometown of Music City, Nashville. In light of the 30-year partnership between Gibson and the Grammy Award-winning Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame inductee Slash, it makes sense the new SLASH FEATURING MYLES KENNEDY AND THE CONSPIRATORS' album "4" will be released via Gibson Records.

SLASH FEATURING MYLES KENNEDY AND THE CONSPIRATORS will kick off a North American headlining tour on February 8, in Portland, Oregon and hit 28 major cities, including Los Angeles, New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Chicago, Denver, Nashville, Dallas, Austin, Houston, and more, before wrapping up March 26 in Orlando, Florida.

Welsh metallers BULLET  FOR MY VALENTINE will release their new, self-titled studio album on November 5. The follow-up to 2018's "Gravity" was previously described by frontman Matt Tuck as "brutal, heavy and technical" as well as "more visceral and passionate than it's ever been."

Asked by the "Everblack" podcast how the switch to a more aggressive approach came about, Tuck said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "It just was what it was. We just kind of hit upon this sound and this way of writing songs right now in our career which we couldn't be happier with. I just feel like the last six albums in 15 years plus has just all been channeling to this. That's how it sounds to me. It's got everything that you would expect from BULLET but just on a completely different level. The melodies are stronger, the riffs are more intense, the drumming is ferocious, just the feel of the record as a whole is pretty intense. There are moments of calm, like 'Can't Escape The Waves' and 'Rainbow Veins' and moments where you get a bit more melody for your buck. We're just in a good place creatively and musically right now; it just keeps pouring out of us. We've got so much more stuff that's not on the record that we can release post-record as well; [we've got] another six tracks ready to go. We're just a songwriting machine right now. So it feels good, man."

As for the decision to make the new album a self-titled affair, Tuck said: "It just feels like the band is in a different place, man. It feels fresher and more energized than ever. After we'd recorded the record and lived with it, the management were, like, 'It's time, boys.' We didn't think about it, really, but it was suggested to us by a lot of people around us. They're not emotionally involved in the writing and recording of it like the band; they just kind of hear it like you guys are hearing it, and they're, like, 'Fuck.' It just feels like the time is right to really put the band's name as a stamp on what we do and it just feels like the time is right. And I don't feel like the record could be any better, and I don't feel it could [better] represent where the band is and who it is right now in 2021."

Tuck began writing the album in September 2019 before the coronavirus pandemic brought things screeching to a halt in early 2020. But in June 2020, Tuck and longtime producer, Carl Bown, who co-produced the band's 2015 album, "Venom", and produced and mixed "Gravity", picked up the pace again. Together, they hunkered down at Treehouse Studio in Chesterfield, where the remainder of the album was written.

"Gravity" saw the metal juggernauts' catalog surpass one billion streams in the U.S. That accomplishment solidifies BULLET's hard-earned status as one of the most elite bands in the hard rock scene.

On the last cycle, BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE played its biggest shows to date, including a U.K. arena tour and a massive show at London's Alexandra Palace.