Kingdom Immortal is the new album from New Jersey metal hoard Midnite Hellion. The album is due for release on January 21, 2022 via Power Chord Productions. BraveWords is premiering the video for the blazing “Speed Demon”; watch below!





The band comments:




"First cut from Kingdom Immortal is short, sweet, hard 'n heavy. ‘Speed Demon’, prepare for a wild ride. How fast are you willing to go?"


Kingdom Immortal will be available on LP, CD, limited edition cassette, and digital. Preorder on Bandcamp.


Midnite Hellion will support Loudness on February 20, 2022 at Dingbatz in Clifton, NJ. 


Tracklisting:


“H.M.O” 
“She-Demon” 
“Phantomland” 
“Rapscallion” 
“Speed Demon” 
“Resurrected”
“Army Of The Dead” 
“In Sickness And In Hell”


Established in 2011 by drummer Drew Rizzo, Midnite Hellion took shape with the addition of bassist and vocalist Rich Kubik in 2016. Joined by lead guitarist Charles Koegler in June 2019, the band entered Pyramid Sound Studios in Ithaca, NY in August 2019 with producer Alex Perialas (Anthrax/S.O.D, OverKill, Testament, Joe Bonamassa). Recording for Kingdom Immortal was completed in six days, with mixing and mastering taking place in March and May 2021, respectively. The vinyl mastering was cut at Infrasonic Mastering by Daniel Bacigalupi (Barry Gibb, Dolly Parton, Stray Cats, Willie Nelson) and manufactured at Third Man Records (Jack White/The White Stripes).


Their debut album, Condemned To Hell, catapulted Midnite Hellion into the metal markets in 2017. The album was featured on the coveted “New Music Mondays” program on 89.5 FM WSOU. Heavy regional and national touring in support of the album was in order, most notably supporting Otep and The World Over in December 2018 in the Midwest and Mountain regions of the US.

Wacken TV has shared pro-shot video of Swedish bashers Unleashed performing at Wacken Open Air 2019. Check out the band's entire set below.


The setlist was as follows:


"Blood of Lies"
"Dead Forever"
"Don't Want to Be Born"
"Lead Us into War"
"The Longships Are Coming"
"They Came to Die"
"Stand Your Ground"
"Hammer Battalion"
"The Dark One"
"Your Children Will Burn"
"I Have Sworn Allegiance"
"The Hunt for White Christ"
"Execute Them All"
"Into Glory Ride"
"Death Metal Victory"







Unleashed is led by founding frontman Johnny Hedlund, and features drummer Anders Schultz and two guitarists Tomas Måsgard and Fredrik Folkare – delivering and defining supreme death metal for over 32 years. On No Sign Of Life, the band formed of Viking descendants transports the listener straight into an outraging battle with 11 forceful tracks that revive the essentials of death metal, facing the sheer brutality of war. Unleashed are back to defend their throne, forging another uncompromising musical weapon that continues the marvellous legacy of Vikings.


The silence gets crushed right within the first notes of the album opener “The King Lost His Crown” and invents a paving rage that leaves no time to catch your breath during its entire playing time. The album unfolds with “Where Can You Flee” as an unstoppable war battalion and builds upon Unleashed’s well established trademark sound and strong lyrics. Bare boned screams are accompanied by epic shouts praising Odin and heavy guitar riffs as the journey of clashes continues in “The Highest Ideal”, until the album reaches its glorious peak with “Here At The End Of The World” as a fading hymn for the victorious march that leaves the battlefield behind in ashes.


The Chief Vikings of Swedish death metal leave no doubt that they are still true to their roots after 32 years of existence. Unleashed proves that they indeed are and will stay the unchallenged leaders of Sweden’s death metal forefathers.


Unleashed on the album: “It is our hope that our warriors all over the world will enjoy the new album just like they have our previous ones. We have, as always, tried to stick to our roots while testing our steel to develop the genre of Viking death metal even further. Hail Odin!





Tracklisting:


"The King Lost His Crown"
"The Shepherd Has Left The Flock"
"Where Can You Flee?"
"You Are The Warrior!"
"No Sign Of Life"
"The Highest Ideal"
"Midgard Warriors For Life"
"Did You Struggle With God?"
"Tyr Wields The Sword"
"It Is Finished"
"Here At The End Of The World"


“Where Can You Flee?” lyric video:





"The King Lost His Crown" lyric video:





Unleashed are:


Johnny Hedlund – bass, vocals
Anders Schultz – drums
Tomas Måsgard – rhythm guitar
Fredrik Folkare – lead guitar

Back in April, old school death metal revivalists, Carnation, teamed up with Belgium's Galaxy Studio for a very special virtual performance.


Carnation have announced the physical release of their Galaxy Studio Sessions. The live album will be available on all digital platforms and a limited edition vinyl version. Pre-orders are now available here, and here.


Carnation comment: "To celebrate the excellent experience we had during our livestream event at the Galaxy Studios, we have decided to release the entire recording as a standalone live album. We consider this performance as an important milestone during our Where Death Lies album cycle, as we were finally able to present the new tracks in a live capacity after multiple unsuccessful attempts. We hope you will enjoy this recording, and let it be a reminder to stay persistent against all odds."




Watch a live video for "Napalm Ascension" below.





Tracklisting:


"Reincarnation"
"Iron Discipline"
"Serpent’s Breath"
"The Whisperer"
"Malformed Regrowth"
"Sepulcher of Alteration"
"Napalm Ascension"
"Fathomless Depths"
"Where Death Lies"


"Napalm Ascension" live video:





"Reincarnation" live video:

In a new interview with Metal Musikast, former IRON MAIDEN singer Blaze Bayley was asked for his opinion of the band's latest album, "Senjutsu". He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "I've only listened to it a couple of times; I just haven't had much time to [check it out in full]. But I've liked [what] I've heard. I like 'Death Of The Celts' and 'Hell And High Water', I think is the other one [Editor's note: presumably referring to 'Hell On Earth'], and the single ['The Writing On The Wall'] as well. So, yeah, there's some great music on there."

He continued: "I think it's a deep album, and it's not something that gives itself easily on the first time through. I think you've gotta give it a chance; there's a lot going on, and there's a lot of mood changing with the chords that they've done and the instrumentals. So it's an album that I feel you have to go, what is the story? And then when the instrumental part comes, it's just like an orchestral piece. What are they talking about now? What does this music make me feel? Why has it gone into this dark place? So I don't think it gives itself up easily, but I think it's a good album. And the things that I've heard so far I really like."

"Senjutsu", IRON MAIDEN's first album in six years, came out on September 3. It was recorded in 2019 in Paris with longstanding producer Kevin Shirley and co-produced by bassist Steve Harris.

"Senjutsu" bowed at No. 3 on the Billboard 200 chart, charting higher than even the band's early classics like "Powerslave" and "The Number Of The Beast". Nearly 90 percent of the LP's 64,000 equivalent album units earned came from pure album sales. The critically acclaimed double album debuted one place higher than 2015's "The Book Of Souls" and 2010's "The Final Frontier", which both peaked at No. 4.

"Senjutsu" was MAIDEN's 13th album to top in the Top 40 in the U.S.

MAIDEN's first two Paul Di'Anno-era albums, "Iron Maiden" (1980) and "Killers" (1981), as well as with those recorded with Bayley, "The X Factor" (1995) and "Virtual XI" (1998), all failed to dent the Top 40 in the U.S.

The 58-year-old Bayley, who was born in Birmingham, recorded two studio albums with IRON MAIDEN — the aforementioned "The X Factor" and "Virtual XI" — before Bruce Dickinson returned to the group. The MAIDEN albums he appeared on sold considerably less than the band's prior releases and were their lowest-charting titles in the group's home country since 1981's "Killers".

Since leaving IRON MAIDEN in 1999, Bayley has released a number of albums, including several under the moniker BLAZE and more than a handful under his own name. He also appeared on 2012's "Wolfsbane Saves The World", the first album of new material by WOLFSBANE since the group's self-titled 1994 effort.

Blaze's latest solo album, "War Within Me", came out in April. All songs were written and produced by Blaze and guitarist Christopher Appleton.

Nightwish vocalist Floor Jansen is featured in a new interview with Metal Hammer. She looks back on her early days as a professional singer and discusses the possibility of a reunion with her first band, After Forever, which officially called it quits in 2009. Following is an excerpt from the interview.


Q: You joined After Forever when you were only 16. Did you already know that this was what you wanted to do?


Floor: "No. Think of a bunch of teenagers that wanted to play music, and think before the internet. I liked metal. And I wanted to sing in a metal band. That was my ambition; I used to play guitar and write my own acoustic songs, then I played at parties of friends. And one day when I did that, somebody said, ‘I know a bunch of guys that have a metal band, and they are looking for a female background singer’, and that was After Forever. And so that’s how I joined."




Q: Is there any chance at all of After Forever reuniting?


Floor: "No, not as far as I’m concerned. I’m very content with where I am. It’s good to leave things in the past. Many After Forever albums have been re-released, unfortunately without my consent. But now the latest (self-titled) album will be re-released next year and all members were involved, which is a huge difference. So that’s something I can heart-warmingly recommend to fans or nostalgics. Something’s coming."


Read the complete interview here.

Anders Fridén, frontman of Swedish melodic death metal band IN FLAMES, has launched his new project under the moniker IF ANYTHING, SUSPICIOUS. The project's new album, "Offair: Lullabies For The Damned", will be released on December 3 via Offair Records. The launch comes alongside two calming and serene tracks, "Farewell" and "Nodes Of Yesod". "Offair: Lullabies For The Damned" is the second album released by Offair Records, a new label centering on mood music and intentional listening experiences created by noteworthy artists exploring instrumental and experimental sounds outside of their typical genre.

The graceful, glitchy piano-led melancholy of "Farewell" and haunting "Nodes Of Yesod" hold a mirror up to the beautiful yet strange and often times terrible world.

"Offair: Lullabies For The Damned" is an expression of the pure joy of creation. It's a passion project that explores Fridén's love of making electronic music, and captures the sentiment of rebirth — because this was like nothing he'd ever done before, he was doing so for the very first time again.

Fridén says on the new project: "Dive into the unknown and dare to challenge yourself… I've been playing metal music for more than 30 years, always judged by previous trials and errors, loved and hated for my choices. But this is a first, a time that will never come again. Something new, something different. I want you to close your eyes, breathe and let the sounds take you on a journey. A journey without borders or restrictions."

Offair Records is a joint venture between Universal Music Canada (UMC) and Versus Creative, globally distributed by UMC and Virgin Music Label + Artist Services.

Photo credit: Jerker Josefsson

earMUSIC will release MARILLION's 20th studio album, "An Hour Before It's Dark", on March 4, 2022. A first peek into the album is available as of now with the single "Be Hard On Yourself".

Whether it's the last hour you were allowed to play outside as a child before you had to go home, a reference to the fight against time in relation to the climate crisis or the last minutes in a person's life, MARILLION once again put their finger on the pulse of time. Be it social, political, or personal issues, MARILLION have never minced words and have always found a way to combine them with their own unique sound, known for incredible songwriting, melodies and top-notch musicianship, while swimming against the tide, not bending to norms and limitations. "Be Hard On Yourself" couldn't be a better example of this.

"Despite the seemingly bleak contemplations across this album — the virus, our mortality, medical science, care, AND Leonard Cohen (ha ha) — the overall feeling of the music is surprisingly upbeat," said singer Steve Hogarth. "I think the band are as on form as they ever were really, and the addition of Choir Noir has added another new soul and color to things."

Like its predecessor, 2016's critically acclaimed and chart-topping album "F*** Everyone And Run (F E A R)", "An Hour Before It's Dark" was recorded at Peter Gabriel's Real World Studios, which also provided the perfect backdrop for the carefully chosen selection of behind-the-scenes footage in form of a documentary on the making of the album and a performance of "Murder Machines" from Real World that will be released together with the album.

MARILLION is currently on the road with the "Light At The End Of The Tunnel" tour in the U.K., which will be followed by several MARILLION weekends until summer 2022 and a major European tour in autumn 2022.

Founded in 1979, British rock band MARILLION has, over the course of 19 studio albums, become one of the most commercially successful progressive rock acts of the 1980s and is still one of the most outstanding representatives of their genre. MARILLION embraced the potential of the Internet for both their commercial approach and to interact with their audience, long before most of their peers.

"An Hour Before It's Dark" track listing:

01. Be Hard On Yourself

i. The Tear In The Big Picture

ii. Lust For Luxury

iii. You Can Learn

02. Reprogram The Gene

i. Invincible

ii. Trouble-Free Life

iii. A Cure For Us?

03. Only A Kiss (Instrumental)

04. Murder Machines

05. The Crow And The Nightingale

06. Sierra Leone

i. Chance In A Million

ii. The White Sand

iii. The Diamond

iv. The Blue Warm Air

v. More Than A Treasure

07. Care

i. Maintenance Drugs

ii. An Hour Before It's Dark

iii. Every Call

iv. Angels On Earth

The popular vinyl collectible company Funko — best known for its big-headed Pop! figures — has announced its latest artist collaboration: Joan Jett.

Pop! Joan Jett is about to drop a "bomb" on your music collection with her greatest hits and iconic look. Commemorate the classic rock legend as a Pop! in your music lineup today. Due in April 2022, the vinyl figure is approximately 4.5 inches tall and is available for pre-order from Walmart.

Other artists who have gotten the Pop! treatment in the past include KISS, IRON MAIDEN, METALLICA, GUNS N' ROSES, AC/DC, Ozzy Osbourne, DEF LEPPARD, Rob Zombie, SLIPKNOT, SLAYER, GHOST and MOTÖRHEAD.

A Funko vinyl Pop! figure, or popularly known as a "Pop!", is packaged carefully inside a box with a transparent front. The figurine is made out of vinyl and may come as a bobblehead.

Headquartered in Everett, Washington, Funko is a leading pop culture consumer products company. Funko designs, sources and distributes licensed pop culture products across multiple categories, including vinyl figures, toys, plush, apparel, board games, housewares and accessories for consumers who seek tangible ways to connect with their favorite pop culture brands and characters.

Funko reportedly holds more than 150 licenses, including Lucas Films, Marvel, Hasbro, Disney and more. The company reported having 777 full-time employees at the end of 2020, 617 of which were based in the

Swedish glam metal/sleaze rockers CRASHDÏET recently signed to Golden Robot Records and are currently in the studio working on their sixth album, due out early 2022. The band has just released the first taste of what is to come in the form of a new single, "No Man's Land", which is out now on all digital platforms. "No Man's Land" is also accompanied by a music which can be seen below.

"No Man's Land" is the first new music from CRASHDÏET since the release of 2019's "Rust" album. The single is sung with powerful and precise vocals, surrounded by thick driving bass, heavy guitar chops, rock-solid drums and scintillating production. "No Man's Land" is a story about looking inwards and moving forward, no matter the cost.

"Rust" marked CRASHDÏET's first full-length effort with vocalist Gabriel Keyes, who joined the band in December 2017.

CRASHDÏET was originally founded in 2000 by late vocalist Dave Lepard and guitarist Mary Goore, better known as GHOST's Tobias Forge. The group's 2005 debut album, "Rest In Sleaze", debuted at No. 12 in the band's home country, but eight months after its release, the 25-year-old Lepard committed suicide. CRASHDÏET then recruited Finnish vocalist H. Olliver Twisted (RECKLESS LOVE) for its 2007 sophomore album, "The Unattractive Revolution", but after touring in support of the LP, Twisted exited the group. The band then welcomed Simon Cruz, who appeared on 2010's "Generation Wild" (which reached No. 3 in Sweden) and 2013's "The Savage Playground" (which reached No. 2) before leaving the band in the midst of a Japanese tour in 2015.

CRASHDÏET 2021 is:

Gabriel Keyes - vocals

Martin Sweet - guitars

Peter London - bass

Eric Young - drums

Ex-BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE bassist Jason "Jay" James has joined KILL THE LIGHTS, the group featuring his former BULLET bandmate, drummer Michael "Moose" Thomas.

KILL THE LIGHTS released its debut album, "The Sinner", last year on Fearless Records. The band and record were lauded for "statement songs" (Distorted Sound) and for being "broad in scope and technically accomplished in its execution" (Sonic Perspectives).

Today, KILL THE LIGHTS returns to share a new song called "Chasing Shadows".

"'Chasing Shadows' is the perfect song, lyrically, to re-introduce Jay and his talents to the world," KILL THE LIGHTS says in a statement. "The lyrics discuss the mental struggle of living with past decisions and failures, and the effort it takes to get back to the top. 'Chasing Shadows' is about proving the doubters wrong and showing the world through sweat, blood, and tears that you are and always were good enough."

KILL THE LIGHTS is:

James Clark (ex-THROW THE FIGHT) - Vocals

Jordan Whelan (STILL REMAINS) - Guitar

Michael "Moose" Thomas (ex-BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE) - Drums

Jason "Jay" James (ex-BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE) - Bass

Travis Montgomery (ex-THREAT SIGNAL) – Guitar

BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE announced Jay's departure in February 2015 during the recording sessions for the group's fifth album, "Venom", and recruited Jamie Mathias as his replacement in May of that same year.

In July 2015, BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE frontman Matt Tuck told Revolver: "We parted ways with [Jay] a long time before we announced it. We wanted to make sure we were comfortable making that decision, and comfortable with making that statement publicly. We wanted to get the album ready to be recorded before we said anything…"

Tuck described the split with James as "the most difficult thing we've ever had to do, and not just in the band or in our careers, but in our lives, personally. It was awful. Losing a long-term member — and our best friend, which was much more important to us — was a very powerful moment that we'd never been through before, and it was a decision that we deliberated over for, like, three months; we kept fighting and fighting to find valid reasons for him to stay, but eventually it was just impossible.

"I'm not going to go into detail," Tuck continued, "but it was in Jay's best interest personally, more than ours, that he was not in the band. People can read into that what they want, which they will anyway; but it was just stuff going on that was jeopardizing the band's career, and it had to stop. And, unfortunately, it came to the point where enough was enough, and we just had to make that call."

In December 2017, BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE announced that it was officially parting ways with Thomas and replacing him with Jason Bowld (PITCHSHIFTER, AXEWOUND). Bowld had toured with the group since November 2015, filling in for Thomas, who had taken a leave of absence as he and his wife were expecting their first child.

In February 2020, Thomas told the "No Fuckin' Regrets With Robb Flynn" podcast that he didn't leave BULLET FROM MY VALENTINE of his own accord.

"We'd done the last album [in 2015], which was 'Venom', which was kind of more back-to-the-heavier-roots type of thing, which I was a lot happier with; I think everyone was," Thomas explained. "And it was on that album we left — Jay, and then I left a year later. So we finished 'Venom' and then started touring 'Venom'. It was on the European tour cycle of 'Venom' that I left and didn't return. I would have gone back [on tour], but no one answered my e-mails."

DISTURBED frontman David Draiman joined Nita Strauss, the guitar shredder for the ALICE COOPER band, on stage last night (Thursday, November 18) at the Whisky A Go Go in West Hollywood, California to perform their collaborative song "Dead Inside". Video footage of his appearance can be seen below.

Released last month, "Dead Inside" is Nita's first new music since the release of her critically acclaimed debut solo album "Controlled Chaos" in 2018. It kicks off with Nita's inimitably intricate lead guitar work and, as the intro builds, begins to snake its way around the ground-shaking, headbanging lead riff as Josh Villalta's technical and bombastic drums kick in. Then comes the unmistakable vocal prowess of Draiman as he delivers his unique signature brand of enormously catchy vocal melody and a stadium-conquering chorus. The song ebbs and flows through sonic and emotional dynamics and culminates with a brutally heavy beatdown into a final rendition of the chorus, ensuring that the lead hook will be replaying over and over in the listener's head for days.

Speaking about the collaboration, Strauss previously said: "This is my first time releasing my own music with a vocalist, and I am so honored to take this step alongside a legend like David Draiman. David's voice and powerful lyrics took this song to a level I could never have imagined! And we are so excited to unleash this song on the world."

Draiman added: "Serendipity can be really cool. We've been friends for years. Nita sent me the track… I didn't have time to work on it right away… then, in literally a couple of days, while killing time in Santa Monica, the whole thing just came together. Incredibly proud of how it turned out and honored to be a part of it."

When the pandemic hit, being the force of nature that she is, Nita took the adversity of no touring and being at home and turned it in to a positive. During the past 18 months, Nita launched her online guitar learning course, "Rock Guitar Fundamentals", which takes the learner through everything from picking up the guitar for the first time all the way through to learning songs and playing solos. Taking her passion for health and fitness to the next level, Nita also launched her Body Shred Fitness Challenge, a three-month fitness challenge that pairs a love of music with passion for getting healthier in your body and mind! Participants have the chance to win prize packages valued at over $2,500 while becoming a part of a fun, supportive worldwide fitness community.

And, as if that wasn't enough, Nita launched her Patreon which gives fans access to weekly livestreams, lessons, signed photos and behind-the-scenes looks at the album recording process.

On top of these digital initiatives, Nita also became the official in-house guitarist of the Los Angeles Rams, playing every home game at the brand new SoFi Stadium, performed the national anthem at WWE's "NXT Takeover: Stand And Deliver" event, released two new signature Ibanez guitars, JIVA Jr and JIVA X, was featured on the cover of Guitar World's "Guitarists Of The Decade" issue and performed with Cooper at the Fire Fight Australia benefit for the bush fires that ravaged Australia in 2020.

Nita released "Controlled Chaos" in 2018 to mass acclaim from fans and media alike, with Metal Injection calling it "a great debut that — as its creator intended — leaves no doubt", and Guitar World stating "'Controlled Chaos' is a panoramic view of Nita Strauss's many strengths". To date the album has clocked up 6.7 million streams worldwide, with music videos for singles "Our Most Desperate Hour", "Pandemonium", "Alegria" and "Mariana Trench" generating over 3 million YouTube views.

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

David Draiman of DISTURBED, which recently played its first pandemic-era shows, spoke to Meltdown of Detroit's WRIF radio station about the progress of the songwriting sessions for the band's follow-up to 2018's "Evolution" album. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "We spent the past week [or] two coming up with some pretty amazing new DISTURBED material that we are very, very excited about. There's nothing like playing live to inspire you, and it definitely seemed like it broke the seal. And now we're all guns blazing. We're very, very excited."

As for how far into the songwriting process DISTURBED has come at this point, Draiman, who resides in Hawaii with his wife and their son, said: "We have about six to eight skeletal song structures and ideas. So, like progressions and melodies. No actual definitive lyrics finalized yet. It's very much in infancy. But we can already tell from the combination of riffs and melodies and rhythms that a bunch of these ideas are just as good [as] or better than anything we've done. It's right in the zone of traditional DISTURBED — it's rhythmic, powerful, syncopated, anthemic. It's exactly what we were kind of thirsting for."

According to Draiman, he and his bandmates talked about doing some writing during the pandemic but ultimately wanted to wait until they could come together as a group and hash ideas out in person.

"Everybody had their own basket of wonderful stuff to deal with during the past couple of years," he explained. "I think that we needed to spend more time focusing on our families for ourselves during that particular period of time. We didn't have a whole lot of ability to come together as a band to create; there was just too much going on in everybody's respective situation. So now that the smoke is clearing and things are starting to crawl back toward some sense of normalcy together with, again, re-embracing the live experience, it's very refreshing. And we couldn't be more inspired."

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Chuck Wright, longtime bassist for multi-platinum rockers QUIET RIOT, has released the first single from his upcoming solo album, "Chuck Wright's Sheltering Sky". A hard-rocking, intense interpretation of Björk's 1995 hit "Army Of Me", it is accompanied by a video that represents Wright's exploration into disorder and parallels with the recent chaotic state of world affairs. The visuals include a 3D animation of an "army" of Ruth Bader Ginsburgs, the late Supreme Court Justice, feminist icon, and steadfast advocate for women's rights and gender equality.

"I chose to recognize the late Justice Ginsburg in this video as she was such a formidable presence on and off the bench," Wright says. "She challenged the status quo knocking down legal obstacles to women's equality and inspired an army of believers."

"Army Of Me" features several of Wright's musical peers, including the late Pat Torpey (MR. BIG) on drums, guitarist Lanny Cordola (HOUSE OF LORDS) and keyboardist Seven Martin (Jonathan Davis) along with songstress Whitney Tai, the recent "Best Vocalist" winner at the Intercontinental Music Awards.

Wright, who has also worked alongside such rock music luminaries as Alice Cooper, Greg Allman, Ted Nugent, and various members of GUNS N' ROSES and KISS, to name a few, will release "Chuck Wright's Sheltering Sky", in 2022 via Cleopatra Records. The LP will feature over 30 guest performers, including members of MR. BIG, SKID ROW, TESLA, DREAM THEATER, GREAT WHITE, ASIA, JEFFERSON STARSHIP, acclaimed solo artists Allen Hinds, Toshi Yanagi, and many others.

Wright is finally stepping out on his own with a wide range of genres, from jazz fusion, prog, funk to in-your-face hard rock, which was in itself one of the things that led him to want to forge his own way and create this unique collection of songs within his "Sheltering Sky" project.

Wright has been a part of QUIET RIOT, on and off, since 1982, having initially been involved in the "Metal Health" recordings (he played bass on the tracks "Metal Health" and "Don't Wanna Let You Go").

Wright appears on nine QUIET RIOT albums. He was a contributing songwriter on 1986's "QRIII" and was featured in the band's video for "The Wild And The Young", among others. Wright has also been involved with over 100 recording projects throughout his stellar career.

In May 2020, Wright released his first-ever solo music video, for a song called "The Weight Of Silence".

Photo credit: Mari Kawaguchi

On SILVERSTEIN's visceral new single "It's Over", the legendary post-hardcore outfit deftly balances its core sound — an intensely dynamic mix of melody and aggression, rooted in the energy of punk and the unabashed earnestness of emo — with its natural growth as songwriters and evolving inspirations.

Guitarist Paul Marc Rousseau comments: "This song is the spiral that leads to giving up. Those anxiety packed hours when you can't feel anything but the low, steady crescendo of panic that eventually gets so intense your fingertips lose sensation. It's hopeless to feel but pointless to endure. I didn't learn anything from feeling that way. I just wanted it to stop."

Forged in their longevity, the confidence SILVERSTEIN members have in one another enables the band to find a careful songwriting alchemy. They recently hit 20 years as a band, marking two decades of relentlessly pushing themselves from their underground roots to becoming one of the most influential bands in their scene.

SILVERSTEIN saw the milestone as a time to appreciate how far they've come, while channeling all those years of experience into something new as proven on their most recent singles "Bankrupt" and "It's Over" which is available across all digital platforms via UNFD.

Throughout the course of its career, from Ontario basement shows to touring the world and selling over a million records, SILVERSTEIN has always managed to be completely comfortable in their own skin while never being afraid to challenge themselves.

SILVERSTEIN's Shane Told (vocals), Paul Marc Rousseau and Josh Bradford (guitars), Billy Hamilton (bass), Paul Koehler (drums) are well into their extensive North American tour which includes postponed dates from their 20th-anniversary tour and sold-out dates at venues with 1500-plus capacity worldwide.

They are a band known for crossing borders, overstepping genre taboos, and keeping the (metal) world in suspense: Today, French avant-garde black metallers Celeste take their immersive experience one step closer to the edge: January 28th will see the release of the band's new long-player Assassine(s), produced by Chris Edrich (Gojira, Tesseeract, The Ocean, Leprous)  and a long-awaited follow-up to 2017's Infidèle(s). With their unique mix of black metal, sludge, and post-hardcore, and over 500 shows played since their inception in 2005, Celeste has cemented their status as one of France's most important underground acts, and now deliver the first single off their upcoming piece of art, Assassine(s).


Driven by almost djenty rhythms, the band instantly proves their subtlety on this first excerpt "Des Torrents De Coups" and brings overwhelming emotions through bleak yet occasionally blissful soundscapes.







"We're glad to unleash our first single", Celeste states. "This track is the first one we've started writing for the new album, but it's also one of the last we've finished. It's pretty representative of the reflection we had all along the creation process of Assassine(s), I hope you'll enjoy the new sonorities and our new approach to songwriting."


"This epic song is coming with the video clip it deserves, 'Des Torrents De coups' is the first part of a video triptych to be released in the coming months, produced in collaboration with video artist Gregoire Orio. Those video clips totally emphasize our well known imagery."


Assassine(s) is now available for pre-order at this location in the following formats:

• Digipak CD with a satin coated finish


• LP in gatefold with satin coated finish in four color variants


• Stream or download

Asasassine(s) artwork and tracklisting:





"Des Torrents De Coups"
"De Tes Yeux Bleus Perlés"
"Nonchalantes De Beauté"
"Draguée Tout Au Fond"
"(A)"
"Il A Tant Rêvé D’elles"
"Elle Se Répète Froidement"
"Le Coeur Noir Charbon"


Catch Celeste together with their new label mates Conjurer on the upcoming 2022 European tour:





 

Athens-based metal unit W.E.B. today unveils their new full-length, Colosseum, in its entirety. The premiere comes in advance of the record's official release this Friday, November 19th via Metal Blade Records.


Uniting the brutal with the catchy and drenching it in orchestrations that only serve to expand its epic scale, Colosseum is a thrilling, gripping listen with each of its nine tracks playing an important part in the album as a whole, making it clear that W.E.B. stands toe-to-toe with anyone in their genre.


Stream Colosseum in full now:







W.E.B.'s Colosseum will be available on CD, Fruit Punch-colored LP, and digital formats. Find pre-ordering options at this location. The cover art and tracklisting are as follows:





"Dark Web"
"Murder Of Crows"
"Pentalpha"
"Colosseum"
"Dominus Maleficarum"
"Necrology"
"Ensanguined"
"Exaudi Luciferi"
"December 13th"


"Dark Web" video:





"Dominus Maleficarum" visualizer:





In titling the record Colosseum, W.E.B. draw comparisons with the past and present, in typically brutal style. "The Colosseum was the famous gigantic arena in Rome to give the people 'food and spectacle,' whereas what it truly did was to quench the mob's thirst for blood and violence and keep their minds away from thinking; kind of an ancient TV-brainwash machine," notes Sakis. "People nowadays seem to be thirsty for blood more than ever. They seek violence in almost everything. You can see it in social media, in the streets - even a simple fight between kids in a schoolyard attracts the other kids, not to separate but to watch. Humans miss the Colosseum and what it gave to their violent nature, even though they will never admit it. The title Colosseum is the irony of giving them what they secretly desire. Maybe then they will start to understand what they see in their mirror and hopefully it will bother them."


Colosseum was recorded, mixed, and mastered in Sound Abuse Production Studio in Athens by Psychon and produced by Sakis Prekas. While Sakis admits it was the most difficult record they've ever made, it was also the smoothest of all recording sessions, largely due to being so prepared. "It also had to do a lot with the chemistry between us and the way Psychon works with us: keeping the recordings on a strict schedule, and at the same time making us always feel comfortable to express ourselves."


Still, there were obstacles to overcome when it came to orchestrations and arrangements. "When you enter the rabbit-hole of symphonic orchestra and synths, you are in a chaos of sounds, and new ideas are always born through this. We had to spend hours on sound design and decisions like never before, yet the outcome speaks for itself."


W.E.B. lineup:


Sakis Prekas - guitars, vocals
Hel Pyre - bass, vocals
Sextus A. Maximus - lead guitars
Nikitas Mandolas - drums


(Photo by Georgina Staikou)


 

In 2019, Hatebreed vocalist Jamey Jasta released his second installment of The Lost Chapters, featuring an array of guests across the 12 metal and hardcore tracks. Today, Jasta is back with a lyric video for the album track, "They Want Your Soul featuring George "Corpsegrinder" Fisher", which can be viewed below.


Jasta comments to Apple Music: "I'm doing this melodic sort of metal chorus on this song, so I wanted to get the dynamic of the most brutal vocal in the verses. I reached out to George and he hit me right back. When he sent me the tracks, I was freaking out. I felt like a kid; when I booked my first Cannibal Corpse show with George in the band, it was the first tour that he did with them. His voice is just so brutal and has held up - if not gotten better - throughout the years. I was so psyched that he wanted to do it."







For The Lost Chapters, Volume 2, Jasta took inspiration from his Jasta Show podcast to create a record with the feel of a compilation. "I wanted to make it like a playlist," Jasta tells Apple Music. "The songs have vocalists from all different subgenres of metal, so they all sound completely different." Additionally, for the closing track - a cover of Megadeth's "Holy Wars...The Punishment Due" - Jasta recruited guitarist Joey Concepcion as a special guest. See below for the complete tracklisting.





"They Want Your Soul" (feat. George "Corpsegrinder" Fisher)
"Return From War" (feat. Max Cavalera)
"Strength To Draw" The Line (feat. Jesse Leach)
"Cleansed By The Waves" (feat. Zoli Teglas)
"When The Contagion Is You "(feat. Matthew K. Heafy)
"Spilled Blood Never Dries" (feat. Kirk Windstein)
"Heaven Gets What It Wants" (feat. Howard Jones)
"Silence Is The Enemy" (feat. BillyBio)
"Just Breathing" (feat. Frank Palmeri)
"Our Guardian Angel" (feat. Phil Rind)
"13 Appears" (feat. Tommy Victor)
"Holy Wars... The Punishment Due" (feat. Joey. Concepcion)


Purchase and stream The Lost Chapters, Vol. 2 now at jameyjasta.com. A new vinyl version of the album will also be available in July 2022; Jasta is currently giving fans the opportunity to contribute to it by getting their names immortalized in his "thanks" list. For more information about how to participate, visit martyrstore.net.








 

The first teaser trailer has been released for "Pam & Tommy", Hulu's upcoming limited series about MÖTLEY CRÜE drummer Tommy Lee's and "Baywatch" star Pamela Anderson's infamous leaked sex tape.

Sebastian Stan and Lily James star in the series as Lee and Anderson, while Seth Rogen also appears as the man who stole the tape, and produced with his partner Evan Goldberg. The series also stars Nick Offerman, Taylor Schilling, Andrew Dice Clay, Pepi Sonuga, Spencer Granese and Mozhan Marnò.

Three of the series' eight episodes were directed by Craig Gillespie, who helmed 2017's "I, Tonya" — which also starred Stan.

"Pam & Tommy" premieres February 2 on Hulu.

Two months ago, Tommy said that he had no problem with "Pam & Tommy". Speaking with ET's Rachel Smith at the 2021 MTV Video Music Awards, Tommy admitted that he hadn't seen the photos of 39-year-old Stan portraying him, but he said: "I know Sebastian; he's playing me. And from what he's told me, it's a really beautiful story. I think a lot of people would think that it's one thing, but it's really about privacy and how things got crazy then. And there's different laws now. The story's actually cool. What actually happened wasn't, but he told me it's pretty wild."

Asked if he is surprised the story is being told now, Tommy said: "Yeah. It's such a… God, I feel like it was forever ago. But it's a cool story, and people need to know. I mean, it's cool. I'm stoked. That's cool."

The series focuses on the duo's salacious relationship in the 1990s, including the leak of the private honeymoon video and the legal battle that ensued.

Lee and Anderson are not involved with the series, which was written by Robert Siegel and DV DeVincentis and produced by Annapurna.

Anderson and Lee got married on a beach in Mexico in 1995 after dating for just four days. The couple, who divorced in 1998, share two sons, Brandon, 24, and Dylan, 22.

The sex tape Lee made with Anderson during their 1998 honeymoon ended up finding its way online after being stolen from their home by an electrician. Pamela later sued the distribution company, but ended up settling, and the tape continued to be available online as a result. The tape reportedly made $77 million in less than 12 months.

"I've never seen it," Anderson said on "Watch What Happens Live" in 2015. "I made not one dollar. It was stolen property. We made a deal to stop all the shenanigans. I was seven months pregnant with Dylan and thinking it was affecting the pregnancy with the stress and said, 'I'm not going to court anymore. I'm not being deposed anymore by these horny, weird lawyer men. I don't want to talk about my vagina anymore or my public sex — anything."

Social Disorder have released a lyric video for "Raise A Glass", featured on their new album, Love 2 Be Hated, out now via AFM Records. Order the album here, and watch the clip below:





Social Disorder combine in a very famous lineup the years of experience of the band members to a great sound of pure hard rock with an unmistakable personal touch.




Social Disorder are an explosive, tough mixture of prestigious musicians with an unknown diamond on the mic. Honest and direct, bandleader Anders LA Rönnblom (Killer Bee, X-Romance, Wolfpakk) describes on this extremely personal album his experiences in the music business from depression and alcohol addiction to discovering a new zest for life.


He is supported, among others, by Thomas Nordin - Vocals, Tracii Guns - Lead & Rhythm Guitar (Guns N' Roses, L.A. Guns), Shawn Duncan - Drums (DC4, Odin), Rudy Sarzo - Bass Guitar (Quiet Riot, Ozzy Osbourne, Whitesnake), Jeff Duncan - Lead & Rhythm Guitar (Armored Saint, Odin), Snowy Shaw - Drums (King Diamond, Dream Evil, Mercyful Fate), Dave Stone - Keyboard (Rainbow, Max Webster), Leif Ehlin - Keyboards (Perfect Plan), Johan Niskanen - Lead & Rhythm Guitar (Dust), Fredrik Tjerneld - Lead Guitar (X-Romance), Thomas Widmark - Keyboard (X-Romance) and finally Kenta Karlbom - Drums (X-Romance, Goatess).





Tracklisting:


"Windy Road"
"Dreaming"
"Scars"
"Love 2 Be Hated"
"Raise A Glass"
"Sail Away"
"Down On My Knees"
"Out Of Love"
"The One"
"Wings Of Serenity"


"The One" video:





"Dreaming" video:





"Love 2 Be Hated" lyric video:





"Windy Road" video:





Lineup:


Anders LA Rönnblom - Bass & Rhythm Guitar (Killer Bee, X-Romance, Wolfpakk)
Thomas Nordin - Vocals
Tracii Guns - Lead & Rhythm Guitar (Guns N’ Roses, L.A. Guns)
Shawn Duncan - Drums (DC4, Odin)
Rudy Sarzo - Bass Guitar (Quiet Riot, Ozzy Osbourne, Whitesnake)
Jeff Duncan - Lead & Rhythm Guitar (Armored Saint, Odin)
Snowy Shaw -  Drums (King Diamond, Dream Evil, Mercyful Fate)
Dave Stone - Keyboard (Rainbow, Max Webster)
Leif Ehlin - Keyboard (Perfect Plan)
Johan Niskanen - Lead & Rhythm Guitar (Dust)
Fredrik Tjerneld - Lead Guitar (X-Romance)
Thomas Widmark - Keyboard (X-Romance)
Kenta Karlbom - Drums (X-Romance, Goatess)

Frontiers Music Srl announces the release of the new studio album, Katharsis, from long-running UK hard rockers, Praying Mantis. The album will be released on January 28. This will be their 12th studio album and sees the band steadily progressing from the sonic signatures of their last release, Gravity.


Fans can get their first taste of new music from the band with the release of the single and video, "Cry For The Nations". See the video below, and pre-order/save Katharsis on CD/LP/Digital, here.


Katharsis features the same lineup that has been featured on the previous two albums, with vocalist John ‘Jaycee’ Cuijpers and drummer Hans in ’t Zandt cementing themselves as part of the band's ongoing legacy. The two have truly provided a new dimension to the writing process and musical performances delivered by the band. Together with founding members Tino and Chris Troy and guitarist Andy Burgess, who has been with the band since 2008, they have been instrumental not only in the writing of the new songs, but in providing a new vision in terms of sound engineering and production.




To hear and see the band now, fans will experience both the spirit and energy of the early '80s together with a technical style that brings the band into the modern era.


Praying Mantis are now a well-established band of melodic hard rockers. Formed by brothers Tino and Chris Troy in 1973, together with bands like Iron Maiden, Def Leppard, Saxon, and others they spearheaded the NWOBHM (New Wave Of British Heavy Metal) movement. While they did not see the same dizzying heights of success as some of their contemporaries, Praying Mantis nonetheless became one of THE most influential bands of the NWOBHM. The band has remained active over the years and still records and plays live regularly, while evolving their style from their early beginnings to a more melodic hard rock style.





Tracklisting:


"Cry For The Nations"
"Closer To Heaven"
"Ain’t No Rock ‘N’ Roll In Heaven"
"Non Omnis Moriar"
"Long Time Coming"
"Sacrifice"
"Wheels In Motion"
"Masquerade"
"Find Our Way Back Home"
"Don’t Call Us Now"
"The Devil Never Changes"


"Cry For The Nations" video:





Lineup:


Tino Troy - Guitars & Vocals
Chris Troy - Bass & Vocals
Andy Burgess - Guitars & Vocals
John ‘Jaycee’ Cuijpers - Lead Vocals
Hans in 't Zandt - Drums


(Photo - Stefanie Gadow Photography)

Sabaton have released a lyric video for "Christmas Truce", featured on the band's upcoming new album, The War To End All Wars, out on March 4 via Nuclear Blast Records. Watch the video below, and pre-order the album here.


Number One positions in 11 countries with their last record, Swedish Grammis nominations, sold-out arena shows: Sabaton indisputably wrote their very own fairytale during the last years, making it to the top of modern metal and beyond.


Written and recorded during the COVID global pandemic, Sabaton has crafted a concept album of 11 brand-new songs that once again dive deep into the atrocities, miracles, and events tied to the early 20th century’s World War I. The tenth album of the Falun-based five-piece will be available in an impressive variety of exclusive formats, including CD, vinyl, and cassette, with most available in limited editions. See below for all formats.







The War To End All Wars will be available in the following formats:


- Jewelcase CD
- Limited Gold CD [Supporter Edition - various versions with translated booklets]
- History Edition
- NB Mailorder Exclusive Edition [ltd. to 1500 copies]
- Earbook [limited to 6000 copies]
- Black Vinyl
- Azure Blue Vinyl [bandshop exclusive, ltd. to 300 copies]
- Inca Gold Vinyl [bandshop exclusive, ltd. to 500 copies]
- Copper Vinyl [ltd. to 500 copies]
- Fluorescent Orange Vinyl [ltd. to 500 copies]
- Leaf Green Vinyl [Sweden exclusive]
- Fluorescent Yellow Vinyl [Ginza exclusive]
- Dusk Vinyl [Levik exclusive]
- Soft Grey Vinyl [Nordics exclusive]
- Lavender Vinyl [FNAC exclusive]
- Rosewood Vinyl [Mystic exclusive]
- Fluorescent Green Vinyl [UK exclusive]
- Pacific Blue Vinyl
- Polar White Vinyl [limited to 300 copies]
- Dewdrop Vinyl [limited to 500 copies, EMP exclusive]
- Blue cassette [limited to 100 copies, bandshop exclusive]
- Green cassette [limited to 100 copies]
- Grey cassette [limited to 300 copies]
- Red cassette [limited to 500 copies]
- Black cassette [limited to 250 copies]
- Smokey cassette [limited to 200 copies]
- White cassette [limited 100 copies]





The War To End All Wars tracklisting:


"Sarajevo"
"Stormtroopers"
"Dreadnought"
"The Unkillable Soldier"
"Soldier Of Heaven"
"Hellfighters"
"Race To The Sea"
"Lady Of The Dark"
"The Valley Of Death"
"Christmas Truce"
"Versailles"


"Christmas Truce" lyric video:





"Christmas Truce" music video:





Following a 29-date headline tour of Sweden, Sabaton will launch the March 4, 2022 release of the new album with The Tour To End All Tours, a massive five-week European trek supported by The Hu and Lordi. Complete dates and ticket information are available here.


(Photo - Christian Ripkens)

EXODUS frontman Steve "Zetro" Souza has weighed in on his band's legacy and standing within the metal scene.

The long-running Bay Area thrashers have recently been the topic of discussion on whether they should be part of a proposed expanded "Big Five" of thrash alongside METALLICA, SLAYER, MEGADETH and ANTHRAX. The band arguably has only one classic album to its credit — their 1985 debut "Bonded By Blood", which featured vocalist Paul Baloff. By the time Souza took over the vocalist position in 1986 for the release of the following year's "Pleasures Of The Flesh", EXODUS's sales figures were dwarfed by their competitors and the band failed to make a commercial breakthrough. And like most thrash bands, EXODUS was not immune to the Seattle grunge wave and experienced a sharp drop in popularity by the time of their initial 1993 disbandment.

In a recent interview with Dead Rhetoric's Matt Coe, Steve — who is promoting EXODUS's upcoming album "Persona Non Grata" — was asked to assess the band's career and whether EXODUS now carries a certain amount of "respect and credibility." He said: "I think I explain things very simply: In the '80s, we were rock stars; in the '90s, we were has-beens; and now we are considered legends. You have to go through that and appreciate that whole process. As stupid kids, you don't know you are 18, writing all these songs, all these people around telling you how great you are while they put your money in their back pockets — it's all a learning process. Now we value what we've done and we know what it's worth for us. We know what we are capable of musically and we know what the fans expect from us and we deliver to them. It's a mutual appreciation from both sides. We would never give them a record that sucked or didn't have any of our feeling for what we wanted to do. Now we know what we want — musically the direction is there."

Regarding EXODUS's musical direction on "Persona Non Grata", Souza said: "I hear aspects of 'Tempo Of The Damned' [2004] and 'Exhibit B [The Human Condition]' [2010] in this new album. That's just me personally — the mentality seems that way. But I can see a little 'Fabulous Disaster', [1989] there are some songs that have a bit of 'Cajun Hell' atmosphere. Anger, tempo, and intricacies. Gary [Holt, guitar], talk about compositions on an album — this is why it took seven years, but wow. I like it better now. The focus is completely into EXODUS and these songs prove it."

You can read the entire interview at Dead Rhetoric.

"Persona Non Grata" will be released on November 19 via Nuclear Blast Records. The LP was recorded at a studio in Lake Almanor, California and was engineered by Steve Lagudi and EXODUS. It was produced by EXODUS and was mixed by Andy Sneap. For the third time in the band's history, they returned to Swedish artist Pär Olofsson to create the album artwork.

"Persona Non Grata" is the follow-up to 2014's "Blood In Blood Out", which was the San Francisco Bay Area thrashers' first release since the departure of the group's lead singer of nine years, Rob Dukes, and the return of Souza, who previously fronted EXODUS from 1986 to 1993 and from 2002 to 2004.

"Persona Non Grata" was recorded at a studio in Lake Almanor, California and was engineered by Steve Lagudi and EXODUS. It was produced by EXODUS and was mixed by Andy Sneap. For the third time in the band's history, they returned to Swedish artist Pär Olofsson to create the album artwork.

In July, EXODUS drummer Tom Hunting underwent a successful total gastrectomy in his battle with squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) of the stomach. He rejoined his bandmates on stage on October 7 at the Aftershock festival in Sacramento, California.

EXODUS tapped John Tempesta to play drums for the band at Psycho Las Vegas in Las Vegas, Nevada in August and at Full Terror Assault in Cave In Rock, Illinois in September while Hunting was recovering from surgery. Tempesta was a member of EXODUS from 1989 until 1993 and played on the band's albums "Impact Is Imminent" (1990) and "Force Of Habit" (19

This past February, BEHEMOTH frontman Adam "Nergal" Darski was convicted for offending religious feelings by a court in Warsaw. The charges stemmed from an image the Polish musician posted on social media showing a foot stamping on a picture of the Virgin Mary. At the time, Darski was ordered to pay a fine of 15,000 złoty (approximately $4,000) and court costs of almost 3,500 zloty (approximately $942). Darski later contested the judgement and the case was eventually dismissed.

This wasn't the first time Nergal had encountered legal problems in Poland related to his social media activities. Back in January 2018, it was announced that Nergal was being formally charged by Polish authorities in a case involving BEHEMOTH's "Republic Of The Unfaithful" tour artwork and merchandise, which was said to be "insulting" to the national coat of arms of Poland, a stylized white eagle with a golden beak and talons, and wearing a golden crown, in a red shield. Seven years earlier, Nergal was acquitted in Poland on charges he insulted religious sentiment when he called the Catholic Church "the most murderous cult on the planet" during the band's September 2007 performance in Gdynia and tore up a copy of the Bible, calling it "a book of lies."

"It gets painful, it gets more and more annoying," Nergal told U.K.'s Telegraph about his legal battles in his home country. "And trust me, I'm an energetic person, and I'm up for a fight. It just gets to the point where it's just stupid. Some of the accusations are just dumb, or completely irrational, and you can only laugh about it. It's like, seriously, you're gonna use your time and public money — because this is public money — to prove what? It's aimless. It's stupid.

"They would love to see their favorite scapegoat, which I am, to be metaphorically crucified," he continued. "They'd love to see me nailed to a tree [so they can say], 'Hey, if you're a bad guy, if you're an evil person — like yours truly — you're gonna end up paying, or being punished in some legal ways, or [find yourself] limited."

Poland is a predominantly Catholic country and the ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party's policies are strongly in line with Catholic teachings.

Article 196 of Poland's penal code says that "Whoever offends the religious feelings of other persons by publicly insulting an object of religious worship, or a place designated for public religious ceremonies, is liable to pay a fine, have his or her liberty limited, or be deprived of his or her liberty for a period of up to two years."

Amnesty International has previously called on the Polish authorities to repeal or amend legal provisions, such as article 196 of the Criminal Code, that criminalize statements protected by the right to freedom of expression.

According to Human Rights Watch, international human rights law permits states to impose certain restrictions on the exercise of the right to freedom of expression only if such restrictions are provided by law and are demonstrably necessary and proportionate for the protection of certain specified public interests (national security, public order, protection of health or morals) or for the protection of the rights of others (including the right to protection against discriminati

GODSMACK frontman Sully Erna spoke to Minneapolis. Minnesota's 93X radio station about the progress of the songwriting sessions for the band's new studio album. He said (transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "People always ask us about this gap of how come it takes GODSMACK four years to put out new music. Well, for us, it's a blink of an eye. And the reason is because we take about six months to a year to write and record a record, 'cause we go for quality most of the time, not quantity. And then it's touring on it, which lasts another 18 months to two years. And then, obviously, when coming off a big world tour like that, before we do another record, we're taking six months off or something like that, and then it's another six months to a year to write [a new album]. So four years goes by very quickly is my point. Obviously, with COVID, it even bumped it up a little bit more. So, in a nutshell, the plan is gonna be we have some shows we're gonna honor this April and May coming up from back when COVID hit and we had to cancel some — just a handful. And then we are planning to hopefully release something late '22, with the intentions of getting out there by early '23 — in the States. We may start a little sooner in Europe first, but the States, I think, '23 for a big new-look world tour kind of thing [in support of a] new album."

Erna went on to say that GODSMACK had originally planned on putting out new music in 2021 but decided against it once it became obvious that touring would be delayed further by the ongoing pandemic.

"When this [pandemic] thing happened, then we were, like, 'Okay, well, this gives us some time, 'cause I wanna set up this place and get the band ready in a new studio' and whatever," Sully explained. "Then we finished the studio and we went right to work. We were in there for two, three months or whatever, and we started grinding and pumping out music, and then we were going, like, 'Wait a minute here. Why are we in such a hurry? We're not gonna tour yet for a while.' And Tony [Rombola, guitar] was, like, 'Yeah, I wanna kind of do some projects around my house,' and Shannon [Larkin, drums] the same, and Robbie [Merrill, bass] was going through something, rebuilding his personal life. And I'm, like, 'There's no reason. We just toured for more than two decades straight, and now we're rushing to get right out there during a pandemic when we're not gonna be able to get out there?' So we just went, 'Eh. Shut it off. See you next year. Let's go enjoy our summer. Let's enjoy our families and our friends and our houses.' And we took this year off. So now we've committed to getting in there January 2nd and we're gonna work through the end of April to try to button up a record. And that's why we're looking at probably like a late summer, early fall release for a new single. And then [a full-length] record following that."

This past September, GODSMACK's latest album, "When Legends Rise", was certified gold on by the RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America) for sales in excess of half a million copies. In addition, two more of the LP's singles (the title track and "Under Your Scars") were also officially certified gold by the RIAA. The album's first single "Bulletproof" earned a platinum digital single award in September 2020 and was previously certified gold in the U.S.

"When Legends Rise" was the seventh studio album from GODSMACK. Produced by Erik Ron and Erna, it was the band's first release in four years and was recorded at their now-former headquarters (GSHQ) in Derry, New Hampshire. The album went on to garner a multitude of career milestones for the group: four No. 1 rock tracks (an accomplishment that makes GODSMACK one of only four rock acts to achieve this), and a record 11 No. 1 singles in the band's career with the album's fourth single, "Unforgettable". "When Legends Rise" entered the Billboard Top 200 album chart in the top ten (No. 8), with four No. 1 placements on other charts: Top Rock Albums, Top Hard Music Albums, Top Independent Albums and Top Alternative Albums.

During an appearance on a recent episode of Bill Burr's "Monday Morning" podcast, former METALLICA bassist Jason Newsted was asked if there was a particular concert that stood out in his mind as being particularly memorable. He responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "The ones that have been glorified over time and sensationalized, like the big Russian show and that stuff — unforgettable, of course, [and] quite well documented. But there's other ones that are personally huge for us as a unit. Day On The Green in Oakland [on] October 12 of '91. That was [legendary concert promoter] Bill Graham's last proper show that he put on — period. That's a big goddamn deal to Bay Area, man. He took a chance on METALLICA back in '82, '83. '84, whatever it was. And then they came back home to headline that thing. We'd been on the road for the Black Album a couple of months. We just started firing on all cylinders. MTV came there with 19 freakin' cameras and did their thing and recorded it nice and it sounded so killer on the TV. I remember playing a big Alembic six-string bass with a string on the top as big and as round as your fucking finger — like a telephone cable on that fucker — but tuned down for 'Sad But True', and just taking people's freakin' fillings out, man. You could see their sternums come flying up onto the stage. They were standing next to the bass bins in the front, just getting destroyed. We were hitting right then with such precision."

Jason left METALLICA back in 2001 but was inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame, along with guitarist/vocalist James Hetfield, drummer Lars Ulrich, guitarist Kirk Hammett, and the man who replaced him, bassist Robert Trujillo, in 2009.

Newsted's exit from METALLICA was documented in the band's 2004 documentary, "Metallica: Some Kind Of Monster", which followed the members of the group through the three most turbulent years of their long career, during which they battled through addiction, lineup changes, fan backlash, personal turmoil and the near-disintegration of the group while making their "St. Anger" album.

Newsted was METALLICA's third bassist, following Ron McGovney and the late Cliff Burton. Trujillo took over in 2003 after Newsted's exit.

Jason spoke in detail about the reason he left METALLICA in a 2013 interview with Scuzz TV. Newsted said that his eventual split with the group was over the way his then-side band, ECHOBRAIN, was handled.

Newsted told The Pulse Of Radio a while back that he never saw how ECHOBRAIN could have interfered with METALLICA. "I never felt that it was going to affect METALLICA in any way," he said. "There was no way that it could. The monster and the integrity and the legend that METALLICA's built, it would take a lot more than that to ever affect it."