In a new interview with Neil Jones of TotalRock, IRON MAIDEN bassist Steve Harris spoke about the book "Iron Maiden: Infinite Dreams - The Official Visual History" which was released on October 7 via Thames & Hudson. "Iron Maiden: Infinite Dreams - The Official Visual History" is described in a press release as "a magnificent visual celebration of the first 50 years of IRON MAIDEN, chronicl[ing] the evolution of heavy metal's most prestigious band, with unparalleled input from band members and management."

Asked if it was "weird" for him to have to "look backward" while putting together the book after previously stating that he always looks forward and rarely gets nostalgic, Harris said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Well, it wasn't weird, but it was difficult because I was the only one who could really do it because I was the one that had all the archive stuff and could comment about it and stuff like that, really. I suppose David [Murray, IRON MAIDEN guitarist] could comment on a few things, but I suppose back in the day I was the only sensible one at the time, because I had to be, 'cause I pulled the bull by the horns and did a lot of the driving, so I didn't get sort of too drunk back in them days. And some people working [with us back in] them days can't remember a lot because they were sort of inebriated a lot of the time — people like Dave Murray or [our old] drum road or whatever. So, yeah, it was down to me to sort of pull it all together, I suppose. And obviously I had a lot of help from Ben Smallwood, [MAIDEN's longtime manager] Rod's [Smallwood] son, and so that was great. But, yeah, it's all good stuff, really. But it's nice to get it out there, really. It's almost a relief in a way to get it out there because it's stuff that's been lying around for a long time. It needed to be sorted out and then put into some sort of perspective and some sort of formulated form so that people can just hopefully enjoy it."

Asked if he always was "a bit of a scrapbook keeper" who deliberately hung on to stuff, Steve said: "Well, I've always been sort of a bit of a hoarder, I suppose, with stuff like that, but it's come in handy in later life, I think. There's so much stuff that I've kept. And, yeah, it's just an archive of this historical stuff. And in fact I suppose these days I wish I'd kept more, even more stuff. I wish I'd kept a diary for longer as well, because I only kept a diary in the first place just because to log, really, how much we were getting paid or how much we weren't getting paid in [some] cases. And then I used to make a few notes on what the gig was like and stuff like that. But I wish I'd carried it on, really."

"Iron Maiden: Infinite Dreams" was described in a press release as "a truly spectacular and beautiful book, featuring never-before-seen items and photographs, which have been curated with enormous attention to detail over a number of years."

Organized chronologically, "Iron Maiden: Infinite Dreams" tells the story of the band from their first pub gigs in 1975 and their first record deal in 1979, through the recording and reception of groundbreaking albums, including their self-titled debut, 1982's global breakthrough "The Number Of The Beast" and the stadium-conquering "Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son", to 2021's hugely acclaimed double-album "Senjutsu" and the ongoing "Run For Your Lives" world tour.

The book traces the evolution of IRON MAIDEN's iconic Eddie mascot, alongside exclusive comments from his creator Derek Riggs, and documents the band's spectacular and complex stage productions and extensive live tours, including the "Somewhere Back In Time" world tour of 2008, which made international headlines as Bruce Dickinson piloted the band's very own Ed Force One 757.

Presenting iconic album and single artworks, photographs of the band's instruments past and present, stage props, hand-written lyrics and artefacts from the archive and the band's personal collections, as well as landmark photographs by Ross Halfin, John McMurtrie and more, "Iron Maiden: Infinite Dreams" is rife with revelatory stories and intriguing insights from pivotal band members and management. It is bookended by a foreword from Harris and an afterword by vocalist Bruce Dickinson.

Tristan de Lancey, creative director at Thames & Hudson, commented: "IRON MAIDEN is an institution. Hailed as pioneers of British heavy metal in the 1980s, the band has come to embody a spirit of fearless creative independence and ferocious dedication to their fans that has won them a huge following around the world and across generations. With astonishing archival access and more meticulous, hands-on participation from the band than I ever thought possible, we have been gifted the tools to create something beautiful, comprehensive and unique which, I have no doubt, raises the bar for illustrated books in this music genre. Every page will surprise and delight its audience — just don't expect metal fans to be the only ones who buy it…!"

"Iron Maiden: Infinite Dreams - The Official Visual History" has been curated by Ben Smallwood and co-edited by Alexander Milas and Terry Burrows, incorporating contributions by band members and creatives past and present.

Tristan de Lancey acquired world all languages rights for Thames & Hudson from Oliver Stanton at Global Merchandising Services. Thames & Hudson has sold rights in six countries thus far: in France to Editions du Chêne (Hachette Livre); in Germany to Prestel Verlag (Penguin Random House); in Japan to Kawade Shobo Shinsha; in Spain to Libros Cúpula (Grupo Planeta); in Brazil to Belas Letras; and in Italy to Rizzoli Lizard (Gruppo Mondadori). The book will be published by Thames & Hudson in the U.K., U.S. and Australia.

Iron Maiden: Infinite Dreams – The Official Visual History lands globally in autumn 2025. This epic hardback chronicles...

Posted by Iron Maiden on Monday, March 10, 2025

Mike Ness, singer and guitarist for the legendary SoCal punk group SOCIAL DISTORTION, has confirmed that the band's long-awaited new studio album will arrive next spring.

Ness briefly touched upon the band's upcoming LP during a backstage chat on December 13 with Kevin Ryder at the annual KROQ Almost Acoustic Christmas 2025 at Kia Forum in Los Angeles, California.

After Ryder asked Ness if it's true that SOCIAL DISTORTION has a new album coming out in early 2026, Mike said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "May." In a separate social media post, Ness announced that the LP's first single will arrive in January.

Ness, who revealed a diagnosis of tonsil cancer in June 2023, also offered an update on his recovery, saying: "I was afraid I was gonna not gonna live. I've been through some hard things in my life in some dangerous situations, as you can imagine, but nothing like that."

Asked if he had to learn to talk and sing again, Mike said: "I had to learn to eat, swallow — everything. I mean, they went in there — they sent a robot. I call him Ike, the robot. He went down and cut out my tonsil and the tumor. And then the second part of the surgery was, they slit my neck and cut the lymph nodes out. So I could not eat food. I mean, I came out of surgery with a drain and a feeding tube."

After Ryder noted that he is "glad" that Ness could sing again after his cancer battle, Mike said: "My voice is stronger than it's ever been. I think I'm singing like there's no tomorrow. So every show is great because I'm singing like there's no tomorrow."

Ness started SOCIAL DISTORTION as a teenager in 1979. Over the course of the next decade, Ness battled drug and alcohol addiction, spending stints in jail and rehab.

Formed as rebellious teenage punks in the working-class suburb of Fullerton, California, SOCIAL DISTORTION survived their tumultuous youth to pioneer an undeniably honest and fiery brand of rock 'n' roll that would incorporate outlaw country, classic seventies punk and primal blues. Seven studio albums and countless electrifying live shows have earned the band a dedicated worldwide fanbase and catalog of timeless anthems, including "Story Of My Life", "Ball And Chain", "Prison Bound" and more. The band's last release, 2011's "Hard Times And Nursery Rhymes", entered the Billboard 200 at No. 4, and in 2019 SOCIAL DISTORTION celebrated 40 years as a band.

In a new interview with Spain's Made In Metal, bassist and vocalist Ray Haller of Belfast metal pioneers SWEET SAVAGE spoke about how his band gained wide recognition after METALLICA covered their track "Killing Time" — co-written by SWEET SAVAGE co-founder and future DIO/DEF LEPPARD guitarist Vivian Campbell — and released it as the B-side of METALLICA's multi-platinum single "The Unforgiven". Ray said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "I speak very openly and honestly. I know where SWEET SAVAGE is and I know our place. SWEET SAVAGE was near enough gone [before METALLICA recorded our song]. I mean, the gigs were getting less, they were getting smaller, the tours were getting shorter, the money was getting less. And then METALLICA brought out 'Killing Time'. They asked our permission to do it, and they put out 'Killing Time', and all of a sudden it was like, whoa. The tours got bigger, the festivals got bigger, the money got more. That had a massive [impact]. It allowed us to go and record a record, the fact that METALLICA did that one song. And then with agents and promoters, [they approached us], 'Hi, would you like to come and do a show?' 'Would you like to do a festival?' 'Would you like to do this?' That's all because of METALLICA. If that hadn't happened, if METALLICA hadn't recorded 'Killing Time', you and I wouldn't be having this conversation. I owe so much to METALLICA for taking that one song. And to this day, when they come to town, they give me a call. 'Do you wanna come to the show?' So I go down and I see them. All being well, I'm gonna see them next year."

Haller added: "So, I can't thank METALLICA enough. I don't think they'll ever take another song, but they've really helped SWEET SAVAGE out so much by that one song."

Ray also reflected on SWEET SAVAGE's early days while Vivian was still a member of the band and before Campbell got an offer to join DIO. He said: "Well, Viv and I go back a long way, to school days. And working with Viv was great. We were beneficial to each other, because when Viv and I formed the band, the band was just a covers band. We were just playing DEEP PURPLE covers, BLACK SABBATH, THIN LIZZY, LED ZEPPELIN — we were just a covers band, and we decided we would write a song. So the two of us wrote a song, along with the other guy who was in the band with us, [founding SWEET SAVAGE guitarist] Trevor Fleming, who's now since passed. Trevor died. So we just started out like every other bunch of kids playing our heroes' songs. So we had a good influence on each other."

Ray continued: "It was great to work with [Vivian] because he's an exceptional guitar player as well and he did have a big impact on the band. But I like to feel as if I had a good impact on Viv, because my philosophy was we are as good as anyone. We can write a song. Our songs can be as good as anybody's. So it was my idea that we have a go with writing our own material, and Trevor, Viv and myself wrote the songs. And I think we all gave each other confidence. Viv gave me confidence 'cause he was a brilliant musician. He gave me confidence that I was good enough to play with him. I gave him confidence that his riffs were as good as DEEP PURPLE's or THIN LIZZY's. So we all gave each other confidence. I mean, it was a brilliant band. It was just unfortunate that it was in Northern Ireland in the height of our conflict. And we couldn't get a record deal. We couldn't get record companies to come and look at us because they were frightened. On the news, there's car bombs, there's shootings, there's killings… The biggest and best hotel in the city where the record companies would've came to stay, if they had to come, was the most bombed hotel in the world. So nobody would come. We couldn't get anyone to look at us, to listen to us. We didn't have the money. I had to borrow the money off my parents for my share of the first demo. Viv had to do the same. Trevor had to do the same, and Dave [David Bates], the drummer, had to… We had all to go to our parents and borrow money to go and do a four-song demo. The record labels were very interested in the band. They always wanted to hear more material. We couldn't afford to do it. We couldn't get them to come to us, and we couldn't afford to… There was only two recording studios in Northern Ireland, and we couldn't afford to go in. We knew we were a good band and we were a great influence on each other."

Speaking about his current relationship with Campbell, Haller said: "I'd seen Viv on Monday. He's just flown back to the States. So Viv was over here in Belfast for a week. So I'd seen Viv. I spoke to Viv yesterday. He's back home. I'll be speaking to Viv over the weekend. I've been speaking to Viv at least once, twice a month since he left SWEET SAVAGE back in the '80s, his whole time through DIO, WHITESNAKE and in DEF LEPPARD. We're still very, very, very close friends. So we were all a good influence on each other. And it didn't surprise me that Viv got asked to join DIO. He was such a brilliant guitar player. If we'd have got a record deal, he wouldn't have joined DIO. We'd have been well on the way to do our own thing, but, unfortunately, we didn't get the opportunity."

SWEET SAVAGE released a new album, "Bang", in September through earMUSIC.

Formed in Belfast in 1979 by Haller and Campbell, SWEET SAVAGE was part of the first wave of the New Wave Of British Heavy Metal. But unlike their peers, SWEET SAVAGE never released a full album during their first run. Instead, they became underground legends, gaining wide recognition after METALLICA covered "Killing Time".

On "Bang", Haller is backed by longtime drummer Marty McCloskey and guitar force Phil Edgar. The album features guitar work by former band member Simon McBride, who toured and recorded with the band before launching his solo career and joining DEEP PURPLE.

METALLICA frontman James Hetfield joined SWEET SAVAGE on stage at an August 20, 2008 concert at Marlay Park in Dublin, Ireland (where SWEET SAVAGE supported METALLICA) to perform "Killing Time".

Campbell was a member of SWEET SAVAGE from 1979 until 1982, when he joined DIO.

Vivian joined SWEET SAVAGE on stage for the first time in 30 years when the band supported THIN LIZZY in February 2011 in Belfast and Dublin to perform the classic track "Killing Time".

In a 2018 interview with Riccardo Ball of "The Metal Bar", Campbell stated about METALLICA covering "Killing Time" as the B-side to "The Unforgiven" single (the song was also included on METALLICA's "Garage Inc." covers album): "Yeah, that was incredibly flattering when that happened. I do think that there were very, very strong similarities between SWEET SAVAGE and METALLICA. I formed SWEET SAVAGE with a friend of mine who's, unfortunately, long since passed away — Trevor Fleming — back when I was 15. And we were in Belfast, Northern Ireland in the '70s, and it was a very tough environment, but we kind of put our heads down and got into music. And we sound a lot like METALLICA, so in a lot of ways, I'm really not that surprised. But it was tremendous for them to do that. It's funny when you're 15 or 16 years of age and you write a riff and you get together with your mates and it becomes a song, and then, 25 years later, you get a royalty check for it. It's funny how life works sometimes."

Photo: Mark Hylands (courtesy of earMUSIC)

In a new interview with Robb Chavez of Robbs MetalWorks, Gene Hoglan and Steve DiGiorgio spoke about their involvement with DEATH TO ALL (DTA) — which features former members of DEATH celebrating the life and music of Chuck Schuldiner. The current lineup of DEATH TO ALL includes Hoglan (also of DARK ANGEL and DETHKLOK),DiGiorgio (also of TESTAMENT) on bass and Bobby Koelble on guitar. Max Phelps (CYNIC),who has been touring with DEATH TO ALL, is once again handling the vocal and second-guitar duties. Hoglan was the drummer on the DEATH albums "Individual Thought Patterns" (1993) and "Symbolic" (1995),DiGiorgio was the bassist on 1991's "Human" as well as "Individual Thought Patterns", and Koelble was the guitarist on "Symbolic".

Asked if DEATH TO ALL has ever considered writing and recording all-new original music, Gene said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "I can't really see how that could happen, because we've got some of the coolest death metal, or metal, around to be able to play from. But even just from a flat-out, trying to look at the actual option of that, from the logistical standpoint, what would we write? Would it be 'music inspired by DEATH'? Would that be the name of the album? I don't know. But I'm not sure how much we've ever purposely… Flat out, I don't think any of us have the time to do that, really.

Steve chimed in: "We're all doing so much [other stuff]. We're super busy. With the level of talent in this band, it could go 15 different ways. To tell you the truth, we've never talked about it. We've been asked about it, so we have to kind of improvise an answer because… No, but I mean there's no real need for it right now. We treat this as what it is, and we don't wanna dilute it any by doing something that's too similar or… I don't know. We're all very, very full-time, busy, busy musicians doing stuff. So this is just a live gig, and we'll leave it like that."

DEATH TO ALL recently completed touring North America as part of "Symbolic Healing", a month-long celebration of two of DEATH's landmark albums: "Spiritual Healing" (1990) and "Symbolic" (1995).

DEATH TO ALL celebrated "Scream Bloody Gore" (1987) and "The Sound Of Perseverance" (1998) across North America in 2024.

Along with the dual album celebration, each night on the fall 2025 tour showcased classics from DEATH's catalog. The tour featured special guests GORGUTS and PHOBOPHILIC.

Founded in 1984 by Chuck Schuldiner under the original name of MANTAS in Altamonte Springs, Florida, DEATH was among the more widely known early pioneers of the death metal sound, along with California's POSSESSED. Inspired by NASTY SAVAGE, DEATH was among the first bands in the Florida death metal scene. In the late '80s, the band was both a part of and integral in defining the death metal scene which gained international recognition with the release of albums by a number of area acts.

DEATH TO ALL operates as a tribute band to the original DEATH, which dissolved in 2001 following Schuldiner's passing.

"Born Human: The Life And Music Of Death's Chuck Schuldiner", the fully authorized biography of the legendary DEATH frontman, has just been released via Decibel Books.

"Born Human", authored by accomplished journalist David E. Gehlke ("The Scott Burns Sessions: A Life In Death Metal 1987-1997", "Turned Inside Out: The Official Story Of Obituary"),features exclusive interviews, contributions, stunning new Ed Repka cover art and previously unreleased, hand-selected photographs from those who knew Chuck best. "Born Human" brings life to the dramatic story of the man who blazed an iconic path in metal music, laying the foundation for generations to come.

Fans can order their copy now at store.decibelmagazine.com.