FEVER 333 drummer Aric Improta played his first show with KORN Friday night (October 15) at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. He is filling in for regular KORN drummer Ray Luzier, who is sitting out three of the band's concerts after testing positive for COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus.

Improta will play with KORN again tonight (Saturday, October 16) at Save Mart Center in Fresno, California and again on Monday (October 18) at Oakland Arena in Oakland, California before Luzier's anticipated return on October 22 at the Banc Of California Stadium in Los Angeles, California.

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

At some of KORN's shows, Davis had been taking a seat on a custom throne near the drum riser due to lingering effects of his bout with COVID-19. In video footage of KORN's August 27 concert in Tinley Park, Illinois — his first gig back after revealing his positive diagnosis — Davis could be seen walking slowly around the stage, coughing and appearing to take a minute to catch his breath. According to TMZ, Davis also took occasional hits from an oxygen tank set up near this throne.

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

Fan-filmed video footage of Bruce Dickinson belting out an a cappella version of the IRON MAIDEN song "The Writing On The Wall", the first single from the band's latest album, "Senjutsu", during his October 16 spoken-word show in London, England can be seen below.

Earlier this month, Dickinson spoke to Pablo of the Minneapolis, Minnesota radio station 93X about his current spoken-word tour, which kicked off in his native United Kingdom in August. "It's hopefully reasonably amusing," Bruce said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET). "It's a look at how a spotty kid from the middle of nowhere ended up being the singer in IRON MAIDEN wearing crazy trousers, and all points in between. And it covers the cancer thing. It covers a lot of the early-days stuff, like how I learned to sing, all the weird stuff that happened to me at school and what formed your personality [and] character — all done with a very dark sense of humor, I hope. And then we take a break, and then the last 45 minutes, one hour-ish is basically improv. And so what I do is I take cue cards from the audience they write on the night, and I arrange them into kind of an improv script. Then I do that. That's the show."

Asked if there is a chance that he could bring his current spoken-word tour to the U.S. in the not-too-distant future, Bruce said: "The answer to that is we haven't actually done the press release yet and tickets aren't on sale yet, but there's a possibility of around about 35 shows in the depth of winter… So, I'm just saying that, I'm raising that possibility, I'm flagging that up so people can get their winter woolies out and think how they're gonna get to the middle of nowhere when it's raining and snowing. Just pretend you're a postman."

Back in October/November 2017, Dickinson read from his autobiography, "What Does This Button Do?", talked about the experience of writing it and answered questions from the audience at half a dozen U.S. appearances, including in New York City and Los Angeles.

Dickinson is considered one of the world's most storied musicians. Aside from decades spent delivering high-octane performances with his larger-than-life persona in IRON MAIDEN, Bruce has lived an extraordinary off-stage existence too. A true polymath, his accomplishments include: pilot and airline captain, aviation entrepreneur, beer brewer, motivational speaker, film scriptwriter, twice-published novelist and Sunday Times best-selling author, radio presenter, TV actor, sports commentator and international fencer… to name but a few. So there's plenty to be entertained by, throughout the evening's cornucopia of fascinating tales and derring-do exploits, all delivered by Bruce with characteristically infectious enthusiasm and wry wit.

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

The final section of the evening is devoted entirely to the aforementioned question-and-answer session, with the opportunity to pose questions on any subject whatsoever. As Bruce's answers will all be completely improvised — the more left-field and quirky the question, the more interesting and compelling the response is likely to be.

Six years ago, Dickinson had surgery to remove a cancerous lump on his throat. The rocker, who had a golf gall-size tumor on his tongue and another in the lymph node on the right side of his neck, got the all-clear in May 2015 after radiation and nine weeks of chemotherapy.

Bruce previously told iNews that he wanted to cover his cancer battle in his 2017 autobiography to raise awareness of the condition, which affects people who often have no or minimal history of tobacco or alcohol abuse. The individuals with HPV-related oropharyngeal cancer who undergo treatment have a disease-free survival rate of 85 to 90 percent over five years. Dickinson also expressed disdain for some of the media outlets that suggested he may have gotten tongue cancer from performing oral sex on women.

IRON MAIDEN's 17th studio album, "Senjutsu", was released on September 3 via BMG. The band's first LP in six years was recorded in 2019 in Paris with longstanding producer Kevin Shirley and co-produced by bassist Steve Harris.

To celebrate MACHINE HEAD's 30th anniversary, fan Anas Al-Ethawi teamed up with some of his fellow fans from around the world to put together a video of what the San Francisco Bay Area metal band means to them. The resulting 19-minute video has been uploaded to MACHINE HEAD's official YouTube channel and can be seen below.

Says MACHINE HEAD: "We are blown away by the sentiment, love and time taken by everyone involved to create this video and it was, quite frankly, a little overwhelming to watch. We feel so honored to have the Head Cases in this video, and hundreds of thousands more like them around the globe, in our corner. Thank you all for your support over these last 30 years and beers up for many more to come!"

On October 12, 1991 at the Oakland, California "Day On The Green" concert, a young Robb Flynn stood watching METALLICA perform the "Black" album for the first time and made the decision to start and mastermind his own band. Originally intended to be just a side project, after paying his dues in the underground Bay Area thrash scene as lead guitarist in both FORBIDDEN and VIO-LENCE, by February '92 MACHINE HEAD would become Flynn's full-time project and under his stewardship grew to become a worldwide force in metal.

Now some 30 years later, MACHINE HEAD is recognized as one of metal's most influential and pioneering bands, with countless sold-out world tours, gold and silver records, Grammy nominations, hundreds of millions of streams and over four million records sold under their belt, and that's without even mentioning their legions of devoted fans worldwide, affectionately known as "Head Cases."

Says singer/guitarist Robb Flynn: "Thank you so much to the friends, tourmates and brothers and sisters in metal, that contributed to this. We are beyond grateful, genuinely humbled, and honored by your words. To all the bandmembers past and present who contributed riffs, ideas, melodies and lyrics, thank you for everything you brought and bring to the table. To Tony Costanza, who I wish was here to celebrate this moment with us, rest in power. Massive respect to the Head Cases that have fought side by side with us, stood with us through thick and thin, and believed for 30 years. We love you crazy motherfuckers."

This past June, MACHINE HEAD released the "Arrows In Words From The Sky" single. Featuring the tracks "Become The Firestorm", "Rotten" and "Arrows In Words From The Sky", the effort was recorded at Sharkbite Studios in Oakland, California. Joining Flynn and MACHINE HEAD bassist Jared MacEachern during the sessions were drummer Navene Koperweiss (ENTHEOS, WHITECHAPEL, ANIMALS AS LEADERS) and producer Zack Ohren.

In November 2020, MACHINE HEAD released a new single, "My Hands Are Empty", via Nuclear Blast. The song marked the first musical collaboration between Flynn and original "Burn My Eyes" guitarist Logan Mader in 24 years.

"My Hands Are Empty" was just one in a line of singles to be released by MACHINE HEAD, which issued "Do Or Die" in October 2019, "Circle The Drain" in February 2020, and the two-song digital single "Civil Unrest", consisting of "Stop The Bleeding" and "Bulletproof", in June 2020. "Stop The Bleeding" featured guest vocals from KILLSWITCH ENGAGE frontman Jesse Leach, and was written and recorded just days after the murders of George Floyd and Ahmaud Arbery.

Four months ago, MACHINE HEAD announced that it was abandoning plans to resume its "Burn My Eyes" 25th-anniversary tour now that the pandemic is slowing down. Flynn said that the "Burn My Eyes" tour, which saw him and MacEachern play the band's classic debut album in its entirety for the first time ever, with original "Burn My Eyes"-era drummer Chris Kontos and Mader joining in, would not pick up at such a time as MACHINE HEAD can continue touring. Flynn also confirmed that MacEachern is still a member of MACHINE HEAD alongside new recruits, guitarist Wacław "Vogg" Kiełtyka (DECAPITATED) and British drummer Matt Alston

SYSTEM OF A DOWN played the songs "Protect The Land" and "Genocidal Humanoidz" live for the very first time during its October 15 concert at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. Front-row fan-filmed video footage of the performance can be seen below.

"Protect The Land" and "Genocidal Humanoidz" are the only two songs the Los Angeles-based outfit has managed to record since ending its hiatus in 2011. Released last November, the tracks were motivated by the recently erupted conflict between Artsakh and Azerbaijan, with all proceeds supporting humanitarian efforts in SYSTEM OF A DOWN's ancestral homeland of Armenia. Along with other donations from fans on their social pages, they have raised over $600,000.

This past April, SYSTEM OF A DOWN singer Serj Tankian once again spoke about his band's inability to record a full-length follow-up to its "Mezmerize" and "Hypnotize" LPs, which came out in 2005. Asked by Consequence Of Sound whether it was rewarding recording the aforementioned two songs with SYSTEM, Serj said: "Honestly, I'm extremely proud of us getting together for our people and the cause, at a time where Azerbaijan and Turkey not only attacked Armenians in Artsakh with military equipment, but they also attacked the Armenian nation with disinformation around the world, using caviar diplomacy over the years. Azerbaijan bought off a lot of politicians and they tried to create false parody in journalism and in the media — and it succeeded for a little while. So, I'm proud to say that our songs coming out, especially the video for 'Protect The Land', really kind of bit into that all in one day — just kind of boom, let the world know that these are people living on their own indigenous land, they're being attacked, they're trying to protect their families, and they're dying because you got the second largest NATO ally Turkey basically attacking them along with Azerbaijan — both dictatorships attacking a democratic, progressive, first Christian nation society."

He later added: "So, I'm really proud of the work that we've done with SYSTEM OF A DOWN, and it does give me hope that one day we might be able to get it together and do something again together. I think we were able to do it because we were able to put aside our philosophies and our creative differences even, and just go, 'Who's got a song that'll work?,' because at this point it's just a weapon for truth and not about us. And it worked."

In 2018, SYSTEM guitarist/vocalist Daron Malakian publicly accused Tankian of not wanting to record, with Tankian responding that creative and financial issues with Malakian led to the stalemate. In a message on Facebook, Tankian wrote that Malakian wanted to control SYSTEM's creative process, take more of the publishing money and be the only band member to speak to the press.

In a recent interview with Guitar World magazine, Malakian was asked about the chances of more new music from SYSTEM OF A DOWN in the near future. He responded: "I never say never, but at the same time, I'm not expecting to do any more with SYSTEM OF A DOWN right away or immediately after [these two songs]. It really does seem like our fans like these new songs. That's important to me."

He continued: "We've added two new songs to the SYSTEM catalog that are on the level with everything else that we've put out and our fans have accepted it that way, which means a lot to me. That's kinda where we're gonna leave it for now. If more happens later on, then we'll talk about that, but for now I will continue doing what I'm doing and everyone else will just continue what they're doing. It's all cool though, I'm really pleased with the response we got."

Andréa Meyer, the German recording artist, writer, actress and model who released several albums under the Nebelhexë moniker, is one of five people who were killed in a bow-and-arrow attack in a quiet Norwegian town earlier this week. She was 52 years old.

Espen Andersen Braathen, a 37-year-old Danish citizen, was arrested Wednesday night (October 13), after he began his deadly rampage targeting random people at a supermarket and other locations in Kongsberg, where he lived.

Brathen, a Muslim convert, has been detained in a medical facility pending psychiatric evaluation.

Police inspector Per Thomas Omholt described Brathen as "'not very social" and told the media that "all the indications are that he chose his victims at random" and acted alone.

Although Brathen allegedly posted a video to social media in 2017 in which he issued a "warning" and declared his Muslim faith, Omholt told reporters that "the thinking is that he did not take [the conversion] very seriously. By this we mean that he did not follow or practice the traditions that are common in this culture and religion," the inspector said.

Last year, a court reportedly granted a restraining order for Braathen to stay away from his parents for six months after he threatened to kill one of them. He is also said to have a conviction for burglary and drug possession.

Meyer, who also lived in Kongsberg, was previously married to EMPEROR guitarist Tomas "Samoth" Haugen, with whom she shared a daughter, Alva.

Under the Nebelhexë banner, Andréa released three albums: "Laguz - Within The Lake", "Essensual" and "Dead Waters". She was also a writer of thought-provoking articles about the darker aspects of human nature, animalistic instincts and other esoteric/taboo subjects which became quite popular in the alternative and metal music scenes. In addition, she wrote a book about the understanding of northern myths, traditions and goddess worship. She had a column in a Norwegian gothic magazine called "Seriously - The Things That Irritate Nebelhexë".

Originally looking at a model career in London, Andréa soon quit that "shallow scene" in search of dares, pure life and the human spirit. Always shocked by human ignorance and apathy, and always spiritual, mystical and with a deep connection to animals, she found her kindred spirits in diverse magical and esoteric circles and soon after enchanted and impressed the elite of the "left hand path". Exploring her fascination for the "dark and animalistic" a wee bit further, she got involved with Anton La Vey's church, became a fetish model and a known act with notorious artistic performances (such as CRADLE OF FILTH shows).

Andréa started to express herself through music, and under the name of Nebelhexë, she initially made an impact with the obscure, ghostly dark ambient music project AGHAST, which was released in 1994. Then she took a big detour and explored pagan folk music elements with HAGALAZ' RUNEDANCE before she "came back to herself again." Andréa also made guest appearances on CRADLE OF FILTH's "The Principle Of Evil Made Flesh" and SATYRICON's "Nemesis Divina" albums.

Former MORBID ANGEL frontman David Vincent was among the fellow musicians who paid tribute to Meyer in the wake of her passing. He wrote on social media: "Sad to learn that my friend was amongst those senselessly murdered in Norway terror attack. She was a beautiful, creative artist and she will be missed dearly. Goodbye for now Andrea".

CRADLE OF FILTH wrote: "R.I.P. Andrea Meyer.

"Andrea guested on our debut album 'The Principle Of Evil Made Flesh' and also modelled and danced for us onstage as well as presiding over ritual back in our formative years.

"She will be sadly missed and our deep felt love and sympathies go out to her kith and kin."


































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Sad to learn that my friend was amongst those senselessly murdered in Norway terror attack. She was a beautiful, creative artist and she will be missed dearly. Goodbye for now Andrea

Posted by Official David Vincent on Saturday, October 16, 2021



Andrea Meyer. You created pagan inspired music, 15 years before everyone else thought it was cool. Rest in peace, old friend ?.

Posted by Mortiis on Saturday, October 16, 2021

Fan-filmed video footage of SLIPKNOT's entire October 8 concert at Xfinity Center in Mansfield, Massachusetts as part of the band's headlining "Knotfest Roadshow" U.S. tour can be seen below.

Featured songs:

00:00 Insert Coin

00:28 Unsainted

04:44 Disasterpiece

13:29 Nero Forte

18:37 Before I Forget

25:34 The Heretic Anthem

29:21 Psychosocial

35:55 The Devil In I

45:09 Solway Firth

53:22 Wait And Bleed

56:06 Vermilion

1:04:16 All Out Life

1:10:06 Duality

1:14:49 Spit It Out

Encore:

1:22:19 515

1:24:13 People=Shit

1:28:00 (Sic)

1:32:47 Surfacing

1:36:46 R.I.P Joey And Paul

1:37:13 'Til We Die

Late last month, SLIPKNOT launched the 2021 incarnation of the "Knotfest Roadshow" with support from KILLSWITCH ENGAGE, FEVER 333 and CODE ORANGE. The 28-date run, produced by Live Nation, kicked off following the band's Knotfest Iowa hometown show in Des Moines on September 25, and will wrap up in Arizona in early November.

SLIPKNOT has spent the last few months working on a new studio album, tentatively due in 2022. Singer Corey Taylor stated about the musical direction of the follow-up to 2019's "We Are Not Your Kind": "I actually like this one better than the last one. I loved the last one. It's really good. There's some darker, heavier shit on it. There's some tunes that are actually really outside the realm of what we've done before. But it all fucking coheses together — it all works together. And there's some fucking savage heavy shit, which I'm really stoked on. So it's gonna be rad."

In July, Corey told Consequence Of Sound about SLIPKNOT's next LP: "I think I talked about it somewhere else where this is the first time in a long time on a SLIPKNOT album where I'm not just talking about things from my point of view; I'm trying to look at things from other people's point of view and tell different stories again. I'm kind of getting back to that, and it feels very freeing. It's very liberating, man. And it's gonna be rad. There's a couple of songs on here that people are gonna be, like… There's definitely some pit openers that are gonna fucking freak people out. It's gonna be rad."

"We Are Not Your Kind" came out in August 2019. The disc sold 118,000 equivalent album units in the U.S. in its first week of release to land at position No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart. Furthermore, the album made an impact worldwide with No. 1 debuts in the United Kingdom, Mexico, Australia, Canada, Japan, Ireland, Belgium, Portugal and Finland, as well as Top 5 debuts in Germany, France, Norway, Italy, Austria, Sweden, Switzerland, The Netherlands, Poland, Spain and New Zealand.

"We Are Not Your Kind"'s sales in the U.S. were boosted by a concert ticket/album sale redemption offer with SLIPKNOT's summer 2019 tour.

Professor Reggie Almeida of the Gracie Barra Brazilian jiu-jitsu school in Spring Hill, Tennessee, who traveled with MEGADETH on the recently completed "The Metal Tour Of The Year", has uploaded video footage of MEGADETH leader Dave Mustaine's 60th-birthday party, which was held on September 13 backstage at the band's concert at the Leader Bank Pavilion in Boston, Massachusetts. The nine-minute clip, which includes backstage jam footage featuring MEGADETH guitarist Kiko Loureiro, bassist James Lomenzo and Gibson brand president Cesar Gueikian, can be seen below.

At the Boston concert, the audience sang "Happy Birthday" to Mustaine, after which a five-minute video was played in which a number of other musicians shared their best wishes to Mustaine, including GUNS N' ROSES' Slash, Ozzy Osbourne, MÖTLEY CRÜE's Nikki Sixx, KORN's Brian "Head" Welch, Ice-T and members of LAMB OF GOD and TRIVIUM.

Dave was born on September 13, 1961 in La Mesa, California.

An early member of METALLICA before being kicked out in 1983, Mustaine feuded with his former bandmates for more than two decades before finally patching things up over the last decade.

In 2009, Dave was ranked No. 1 in Joel McIver's book "The 100 Greatest Metal Guitarists".

Commenting on MEGADETH's nearly four-decade existence, Mustaine told New Zealand's Stuff in a 2013 interview: "Time flies. 30[-plus] years seems like a long time, but boy, it's over so quick. Sometimes I sit back and think how many things have happened over the years, and I guess the thing that makes me feel the best is when I see how many people who'll say, 'We met at a concert,' 'We got engaged at a concert,' 'We got pregnant at a concert,' all these things that they share. These landmarks, these mementoes, they're really cool."

He continued: "I never thought I'd be doing this this long; it's crazy. And the fact we can have fun doing what we do, on top of that, just makes it so much more enjoyable."

Asked in a 2016 interview with FaceCulture to explain his longevity, Mustaine said: "I don't know. I'm sure there's a lot of people that wanna know. [Laughs] I think it's just being honest to people. Sometimes people don't want you to be honest with them. [I am honest] sometimes to a fault. I think sometimes I can be blunt, and I think that it's hurt people. It's hurt me. There's things I've said I regret. But would I change anything? No. I love being right here at this moment, and if I changed anything, who knows where we'd be?"

MÖTLEY CRÜE singer Vince Neil is "back home and resting" after breaking his ribs during a concert Friday night (October 15).

Fan-filmed video showed the 60-year-old rocker walking to the front of the stage while performing with his solo band at the Monsters On The Mountain festival at LeConte Center in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. With his guitar strapped around him, Neil was encouraging the crowd to clap along while playing the 1989 MÖTLEY CRÜE hit "Don't Go Away Mad (Just Go Away)" when he suddenly fell and dropped out of the camera's view almost instantly.

TMZ later reported that there was a small gap between the speaker and the stage that Neil didn't notice. His roadie and a security guy helped him get to his feet, and Vince "limped away."

Earlier today (Sunday, October 17), MÖTLEY CRÜE's official social media was updated with the following message: "Vince is back home and resting after breaking a few ribs on Friday night. Our love and best wishes for a speedy recovery and ready to rock in '22!!"

At Friday night's concert, the bassist for Neil's solo band, Dana Strum, told the crowd that "Vince fell and broke ribs when he fell," adding that Vince "can't breathe" and will be "dealt with medically."

Vince's band finished its Monsters On The Mountain set, with guitarist Jeff Blando taking over lead vocal duties.

MÖTLEY CRÜE's "The Stadium Tour" with DEF LEPPARD, POISON and JOAN JETT & THE BLACKHEARTS was originally scheduled to take place last summer but ended up being pushed back to 2021, and then to 2022, due to the coronavirus pandemic.
























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That explains why I lost track of him in this video. I apparently captured the fall at the end of this clip. Totally agree that he looked great and was singing great. Hope the X-rays are clear and you bounce back quickly @thevinceneil pic.twitter.com/jfWT6c3rVb

— Darrell Jenkins (@bigdoftn) October 16, 2021








So, Vince Neil took the stage tonight and into the third song he fell off the stage and broke his ribs.

Check it out

Posted by Joe Wintrow on Friday, October 15, 2021





Breaking News from Metal Sludge!

Vince Neil has fallen at tonight’s Monsters on the Mountain festival and is being taken to a local area hospital now. pic.twitter.com/ahERWH34jr

— metalsludge (@MetalSludge) October 16, 2021

Legendary progressive rockers YES — consisting of Steve Howe, Alan White, Geoff Downes, Jon Davison and Billy Sherwood — have unveiled the video for "Future Memories". It marks the third single and video from their new album "The Quest", which came out October 1 on InsideOut Music/Sony Music and produced by Steve Howe.

Much of the music for "The Quest" was "written in late 2019 with the rest in 2020," says Howe. "We commissioned several orchestrations to augment and enhance the overall sound of these fresh new recordings, hoping that our emphasis on melody, coupled with some expansive instrumental solo breaks, keeps up the momentum for our listeners."

"The Quest" was recorded across the globe. The sessions took place in the U.K. with Howe, Downes and Davison, while White and Sherwood got together in the studio in the U.S. "Billy Sherwood and myself did all the rhythm sections, bass and drum, in America," says White, "down in Los Angeles at Uncle Studios, where he works a lot. It helps when you've got a good place to work," Alan laughs, "and Billy's really good on the recording desk, so we got things down relatively quickly. I spent quite a while studying the music before I went down to L.A. so I was prepared."

The cover artwork was designed and created by the band's longtime collaborator Roger Dean.

"The Quest" 2CD digipak track listing:

CD1:

01. The Ice Bridge 7.01

02. Dare To Know 6.00

03. Minus The Man 5.35

04. Leave Well Alone 8.06

05. The Western Edge 4.26

06. Future Memories 5.08

07. Music To My Ears 4.41

08. A Living Island 6.52

CD2:

01. Sister Sleeping Soul 4.51

02. Mystery Tour 3.33

03. Damaged World 5.20

For half a century, YES has been the definitive band of the progressive music genre, the band by which all others are judged. Their groundbreaking albums of the 1970s set the standard for the genre and influenced countless others who followed in their wake.

The current lineup of YES was completed in 2015 when Sherwood replaced founder member Chris Squire, at Squire's insistence, as he bravely fought a losing battle with leukaemia. Since then, YES has concentrated on touring with their Album Series tours, each featuring a classic YES album in its entirety. During this period, YES has released three live albums, "Topographic Drama - Live Across America" (2017), "Yes Live 50" (2019) and "The Royal Affair Tour: Live In Las Vegas" (2020).

Photo credit: Gottlieb Bros

MÖTLEY CRÜE singer Vince Neil suffered a serious injury when he fell off the stage during his solo band's performance earlier tonight (Friday, October 15) at the Monsters On The Mountain festival at LeConte Center in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee.

According to Metal Sludge, the incident occurred early into the set — while the group was performing "Don't Go Away Mad (Just Go Away)", a CRÜE classic which has been a staple of the singer's solo shows. In fan-filmed video of the episode, which is available below, Vince can be seen encouraging the crowd to clap at the end of the song while taking a step or two forward toward the front left side of the stage before losing his footing and falling off.

According to TMZ, it "turns out there was a small gap between the speaker and the stage that Vince didn't see and he fell through the crevice onto the floor…. His roadie and a security guy helped him get to his feet, and Vince limped away."

A short time later, bassist Dana Strum addressed the crowd about the extent of Neil's injuries, saying: "The truth is Vince fell and broke ribs when he fell. He can't breathe and he's gonna get dealt with medically. Now, that sucks for us, and him. He was so excited to be here. He lives in Tennessee. But he was willing to stick it out and tough it out when the people back here were telling him 'Don't do it.' Let's have one good round of applause, please, for this guy."

According to sources cited by Metal Sludge, Neil was taken away in an ambulance. Monsters On The Mountain event co-host Eddie Trunk later tweeted that Neil is "at hospital now getting care & X Rays."

Vince's band reportedly finished its Monsters On The Mountain set, with guitarist Jeff Blando taking over lead vocal duties.

Last month, Vince revealed that he was trying out a new toning machine in an apparent effort to get in shape for MÖTLEY CRÜE's upcoming "The Stadium Tour". The singer said he was using Emsculpt Neo, a revolutionary new treatment which supposedly builds muscle and reduces fat using both radio frequency and high-intensity electromagnetic energies.

Four months ago, Neil made headlines when he struggled to complete his solo concert at the Boone Iowa River Valley Festival in Boone. Based on fan-filmed video footage of the May 29 gig posted on YouTube, the 60-year-old rocker, who hadn't performed in more than a year and a half due to the COVID-19 pandemic, began losing his voice several songs into his set, which consisted exclusively of CRÜE classics and cover songs previously recorded by the band.

MÖTLEY CRÜE's "The Stadium Tour" with DEF LEPPARD, POISON and JOAN JETT & THE BLACKHEARTS was originally scheduled to take place last summer but ended up being pushed back to 2021, and then to 2022, due to the coronavirus pandemic.






That explains why I lost track of him in this video. I apparently captured the fall at the end of this clip. Totally agree that he looked great and was singing great. Hope the X-rays are clear and you bounce back quickly @thevinceneil pic.twitter.com/jfWT6c3rVb

— Darrell Jenkins (@bigdoftn) October 16, 2021








So, Vince Neil took the stage tonight and into the third song he fell off the stage and broke his ribs.

Check it out

Posted by Joe Wintrow on Friday, October 15, 2021





Breaking News from Metal Sludge!

Vince Neil has fallen at tonight’s Monsters on the Mountain festival and is being taken to a local area hospital now. pic.twitter.com/ahERWH34jr

— metalsludge (@MetalSludge) October 16, 2021

Gene Simmons narrowly avoided a fall during the opening song of KISS's concert last night (Saturday, October 9) in Tampa, Florida.

The show opened with "Detroit Rock City", with each of the bandmembers lowered to the stage by hydraulic platforms, decked out in their signature silver- and crystal-studded garb and iconic face paint. As the pods on which Simmons, Paul Stanley and Tommy Thayer were standing were lowered to the stage, Simmons' platform suddenly tilted to one side, nearly throwing him off balance. Fortunately, Gene's pod was eventually was lowered far enough for him to be able to step off without incident.

Simmons is no stranger to KISS concert mishaps. Back in 2016, the bassist/vocalist fell on stage while performing with the band in Bozeman, Montana. The incident happened during the closing song of KISS's set, "Rock And Roll All Nite", which featured cannons shooting a blizzard of confetti into the air.

Asked in a recent interview with Parade if any of the KISS members have ever gotten injured during a concert, Simmons said: "Not seriously. [Original guitarist] Ace [Frehley] was semi-electrocuted in Lakeland, Florida, before the days of grounding. Back then, all the guitars were connected with long wires to the amplifiers, and if not grounded properly, if you touched a metal railing on the side, which he did, you got knocked on your ass."

Earlier this year, Simmons told Art & Object that he hoped KISS would play another 200 shows before finally calling it quits.

"If I was in U2 or THE [ROLLING] STONES, both amazing classic bands, I could be Keith [Richards] or the Edge, wear a pair of comfortable sneakers and a t-shirt, and you're done, no fuss, no muss, easypeasy, no sweat," he said. "But no, I have to wear eight-inch platform heels. Each of the dragon boots weighs as much as a bowling ball. So you're walking around with two bowling balls on your feet, 40 pounds of armor studs, guitar, and all that stuff. Then I got to spit fire, fly through the air, it's exhausting. THE STONES, god bless 'em, can keep doing this into their eighties."

A couple of weeks ago, Stanley said that the final concert of the "End Of The Road" tour will likely happen within the next year and a half.

KISS launched its farewell trek in January 2019 but was forced to put it on hold last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

"End Of The Road" was originally scheduled to conclude on July 17, 2021 in New York City but has since been extended to at least the end of 2022. The trek was announced in September 2018 following a KISS performance of the band's classic song "Detroit Rock City" on "America's Got Talent".

EMIGRATE, the side project of RAMMSTEIN guitarist Richard Z. Kruspe, will release its fourth album, "The Persistence Of Memory", on November 5.

The LP's third single, a cover of the classic song "Always On My Mind", featuring a guest appearance by RAMMSTEIN singer Till Lindemann, can be streamed below.

"The Persistence Of Memory", which was named after a Salvador Dalí painting, features the following tracks:

01. Rage

02. Always On My Mind (feat. Till Lindemann)

03. Freeze My Mind

04. Yeah Yeah Yeah

05. Come Over

06. You Can't Run Away

07. Hypothetical

08. Blood Stained Wedding

09. I Will Let You Go

As a member of RAMMSTEIN, the music world's most explosive live act, Kruspe has been part of a ground-breaking global success story that continues to build and to ignite; along the way, he's turned his attention to a number of parallel projects, such as constructing a studio (and a home) in his native Berlin, but it's his decision to launch the EMIGRATE setup that has given him the greatest chance to satisfy creative instincts outside of the parent group.

The first EMIGRATE album appeared in 2007 (a self-titled record that went Top 10 in Germany, with single/video "My World" appearing on the soundtrack to the third "Resident Evil" movie); "Silent So Long" followed in 2014, featuring guest vocals from such high-profile artists as Marilyn Manson, Jonathan Davis, Peaches and the legend that will always be Lemmy. EMIGRATE's third album, "A Million Degrees" came out in November 2018 and was described as "less a successor to 'Silent So Long' and more a re-booted take on the overall concept, continuing Kruspe's desire to craft something personal."

"I really want the freedom to collaborate with different people and to explore different kinds of music," Kruspe explained when "A Million Degrees" was first released, "to express myself as both a writer and a singer away from deadlines, timelines and other such restrictions. The idea is to keep experimenting and to keep challenging myself. Plus, EMIGRATE works in an organic way, so musicians can come and go, and it's still okay, it's positive…"

RAMMSTEIN's seventh, untitled album came out in May 2019 via UME/Spinefarm in Europe and Caroline Records in the U.S.

RAMMSTEIN will bring its full-scale stadium production to North America for the first time ever in the summer of 2022.


























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BEHEMOTH set the world on fire when the Polish masters of black metal took an abandoned church in rural Poland to perform a worldwide stream event in the heart of the pandemic lockdown. After over a year since the show's premiere, "In Absentia Dei" returns on to a range of deluxe formats for fans to relive the danger and drama that took place on that fateful night in 2020. The live release will hit the shelves on December 17.

BEHEMOTH frontman Adam "Nergal" Darski states: "'In Absentia Dei' was a massive challenge and a huge risk, but it was a great artistic and commercial success. The response was absolutely brilliant — we made a statement with this performance and set the bar high. I hope that we can continue to raise the bar with the projects to come!"

A performance clip of another track from "In Absentia Dei", "Bartzabel", can be seen below.

"In Absentia Dei" will be available as digital album, digibook and 3LP vinyl in various colours. All Nuclear Blast triple LPs come with a premium 20-page booklet and a cut-out, build-at-home model of the actual church that BEHEMOTH performed in.

The event was said to set a new standard for streaming events in the future and this was something BEHEMOTH set out to achieve from the start. Produced by Grupa 13, "In Absentia Dei" was presented as a show of four parts, woven with high-production theatrics and even hellish flames emanating from all parts of the sacred building.

BEHEMOTH released its latest full-length, "I Loved You At Your Darkest", in 2018 to vast critical acclaim. "I Loved You At Your Darkest" marked a milestone in the history of the band, being not only their most successful album, but also an audiovisual masterpiece: from its detailed, blasphemous artwork to the highly vicious yet deeply emotional tracks.

BEHEMOTH's latest EP, "A Forest", came out in May 2020 via Metal Blade. The EP's title track was a cover of THE CURE classic, and it featured a guest appearance by SHINING frontman Niklas Kvarforth. The "A Forest" EP also included a live version of the title track as well as two songs from the "I Loved You At Your Darkest" sessions.

BEHEMOTH supported SLIPKNOT on an arena tour of Europe in January and February 2020.

In a new interview with Pablo of the Minneapolis, Minnesota radio station 93X, GHOST mastermind Tobias Forge spoke about how he spent the downtime during the COVID-19 pandemic. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Obviously, most of this year has been working in the studio with a [new GHOST] record that we're not talking about [right now]. But the year before, which forced most people [to stay home], staying domestic was actually a quite nice recuperation for me. I'd been on tour for pretty much a decade, [so] just being home and just being with my family and all that, which I feel very invigored by."

He added: "[Touring] is great. It's fun as hell, and I miss that as well. But sometimes you need to go back to harbor and just remember why you're out there pirateering. [Laughs]"

Last month, GHOST released a new single titled "Hunter's Moon" which is featured in the latest blockbuster installment of the legendary film franchise "Halloween Kills". The "Halloween Kills" soundtrack is set to arrive October 15 via Sacred Bones, with the film hitting theaters (and Peacock) the same day as well.

Produced by Klas Åhlund and mixed by Andy Wallace, GHOST's "Hunter's Moon" will play as the "Halloween Kills" end credits roll, and will be released January 21, 2022 as a collectible seven-inch single by Loma Vista Recordings. "Hunter's Moon" can be streamed, purchased, and/or pre-ordered in its vinyl incarnation. The retail version of the seven-inch will feature the special B-side "Halloween Kills (Main Title)", performed, produced and engineered by John Carpenter, Cody Carpenter and Daniel Davies.

"Hunter's Moon" features OPETH's Fredrik Åkesson on guitar and THE SOUNDTRACK OF OUR LIVES founder Martin Hederos on the piano. Producer Max Grahn and "A Ghoul Writer" are listed as the song's composers and lyricists.

The official music video for the infectious first new track from GHOST since 2019's "Seven Inches Of Satanic Panic" was directed by Amanda Demme.

Last month, GHOST announced a 26-date co-headlining U.S. arena tour with VOLBEAT and special guests TWIN TEMPLE, coming to cities including Seattle, Denver, Chicago, Houston, and Phoenix.

In March 2020, at final show of GHOST's "Prequelle" tour in Mexico City, Mexico, the band officially introduced Papa Emeritus IV, the new character who will front the act for its next LP phase.

Forge performed as a "new" Papa Emeritus on each of the band's first three LPs, with each version of Papa replacing the one that came before it. Papa Emeritus III was retired in favor of Cardinal Copia before the release of 2018's "Prequelle".

Having recently celebrated the 30th anniversary of his "No More Tears" album with an expanded digital audio release, Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame inductee and Grammy-winning singer and songwriter Ozzy Osbourne will mark another album anniversary this month. To commemorate the 20th anniversary of 2001's "Down To Earth", three rare Ozzy tracks — "No Place For Angels", "Dreamer" (Acoustic Version) and "Gets Me Through" (Single Version) — will be released on October 15 on digital platforms as part of a 20th anniversary expanded digital edition.

The platinum-selling "Down To Earth" was Ozzy's eighth album and reached #4 on the Billboard Top 200 chart in the U.S and #19 on the U.K. Albums chart. It produced two Top 10 singles on the U.S. Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks chart: "Gets Me Through" and "Dreamer". Recorded in Los Angeles and produced by Tim Palmer, who co-wrote some of the album's songs with Ozzy, the album's players include Ozzy's longtime collaborator and guitarist Zakk Wylde along with bassist Robert Trujillo (METALLICA) and drummer Mike Bordin (FAITH NO MORE).

Rolling Stone said of the album: "Ozzy Osbourne is the most sentimental man in metal — and tough enough to let it show in 'Gets Me Through' and 'Dreamer', the two best songs on 'Down To Earth'. The first is a thumping thanksgiving, Osbourne's admission that he is nothing like you think and would be even less without his fans… 'Dreamer' is Osbourne imagining himself as John Lennon: pleading for calm and sense over piano, strings and, at the end, an ELO-style choir… He writes and sings about looking into the abyss — so you know which way to run. He's never done it better." Elsewhere, Amazon.com said: "'Down To Earth' displays enough eccentricity to keep one entertained and brimming with respect."

As previously announced, last month, Ozzy's sixth solo album — the Top 10 (No. 7) and quadruple platinum "No More Tears" (Sony) — was celebrated with an expanded digital audio album and two special editions — a 2LP black vinyl version and a special yellow and red 2LP vinyl version with a specially created booklet (exclusively at www.towerrecords.com).

The expanded "Down To Earth" track listing is as follows:

01. Gets Me Through

02. Facing Hell

03. Dreamer

04. No Easy Way Out

05. That I Never Had

06. You Know... (Pt. 1)

07. Junkie

08. Running Out Of Time

09. Black Illusion

10. Alive

11. Can You Hear Them?

12. No Place For Angels **

13. Dreamer (Acoustic Version) **

14. Gets Me Through (Single Version) **

** Previously unavailable for streaming

Photo credit: Nitin Vadukul

TRIVIUM guitarist Corey Beaulieu spoke to Finland's Chaoszine about the band's recently completed U.S. tour with MEGADETH, LAMB OF GOD and HATEBREED. The trek marked the four groups' first run of shows since the start of the pandemic.

"Before the tour, all the bands and management and stuff were… With every tour that's going out, they can be as strict or unstrict [as they want to be] — whatever protocols the headliner deems how they wanna roll — and everyone wanted to make sure that we got through the tour," Corey explained (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET). "So we had pretty strict [protocols] — not super strict, but it was basically no one was doing in-person meet-and-greets, we weren't doing any guests or anything backstage. And basically, backstage was if you were indoors going to your dressing room or catering or something, it was, like, 'Make sure you wear a mask.' We'd go into catering, grab our food and then we would go eat outside. It was kind of bubbling up where each band and crew kind of stayed to themselves, so there wasn't a lot of cross-band mingling or something like that. And when the crew guys were onstage working and stuff, everyone was masked up. And then we would wear masks to stage and go onstage and play and mask up as we walked away. So everyone just stayed away from each other's camp as much as possible. And if you do talk or hang out or something, everyone was out in the backstage parking lot or something. We just wore masks and there was sanitizer everywhere and everything like that. And then we tested a lot as well. It was kind of a pain in the ass to test that much, but the payoff of playing shows and playing big shows like that was definitely worth the hassle."

Corey went on to say that all musicians and crew members complied with all applicable local health and safety regulations as well as requirements from the venues in which "The Metal Tour Of The Year" played.

"They did some mandatory testing some places where it was, like, everyone on the tour had to test before… As soon as you got off the bus, you'd go test, and then as soon as you got a negative test, you got a wristband and you were able to go backstage and stuff like that," he said. "We had someone in our crew that the first weekend of the tour ended up testing positive. So we got tested every day before we were allowed to be in — just to make sure no one else got sick from being on the bus. But everyone on our bus is vaccinated, so no one caught it from them. So we just kind of left him at a hotel for two weeks and he came back when he was better. We're all vaccinated, so no one caught it. He was vaccinated, so he was pretty much fine. He felt a little shitty for a couple of days, but he just had to stay away for a while till he… He obviously was, like, 'I feel fine, but I'm still not testing negative.' Just shit like that, where you just had to take a little extra precaution — 'cause there's so many people involved on the tour, and if someone in the band… Luckily, no one on any of the bands got sick or anything, but you don't wanna… There's a lot of money on the line when you have to cancel shows. So, we soldiered on, and it was a successful tour. So we were happy to show people that you can make it through and it's not all doomsday out there for touring acts."

The last three shows of "The Metal Tour Of The Year" — in Toronto, Laval and Quebec City — were postponed to spring 2022 due to restrictions in the Quebec province and international logistical issues.

TRIVIUM's tenth album, "In The Court Of The Dragon", was released on October 8 via longtime label Roadrunner Records. The record was produced and mixed by Josh Wilbur and recorded in the fall of 2020 at Full Sail University in Orlando. The album cover is an original oil painting by French artist Mathieu Nozieres.

Last month, TRIVIUM shared the album's title track, "In The Court Of The Dragon", which featured an epic intro composed and orchestrated by Ihsahn (EMPEROR) and was accompanied by an official short film music video directed by Ryan Mackfall. Loudwire called out the song as "a skillful blend of dynamics. And blast beats just sound really, really good beneath Matt Heafy's soothing clean singing" while Revolver labeled it "epic." Guitar World christened second single "Feast Of Fire" as "pummeling" and "quintessentially TRIVIUM," as Metal Injection declared it "really, really catchy."

Cruz Del Sur Music will release legendary former TROUBLE singer Eric Wagner's posthumous solo album, "In The Lonely Light Of Mourning", in March 2022.

Recorded at Alpha Sound Services and Aardvark Recording, "In The Lonely Light Of Mourning" was completed and delivered to Cruz Del Sur Music a month before Eric's untimely passing. Initially scheduled for a November 2021 release, Cruz Del Sur Music — in cooperation with Eric's manager, Mike Smith — agreed to move the release date to March 2022 to give it the attention it deserves.

"It has been a great honor to have the chance to work with Eric," says Cruz Del Sur Music owner Enrico Leccese. "He has been a reference in my life since, as a fan, I bought his TROUBLE albums back in the 1980s. I must give WHILE HEAVEN WEPT's Tom Phillips 100 percent credit for Cruz Del Sur Music being able to release Eric's solo album. Eric really put all himself, his passion, his deepest emotions and his skills into this release. I must also thank Mike and Ron Holzner for the extremely mature talk we had after Eric's passing. His loss has been a tragic event and we hope that this album gives justice to his career."

The solo endeavor — a longtime goal of Eric's — serves as a fitting testament to one of doom metal's most respected voices. Eric tapped former TROUBLE/current BLACKFINGER drummer David Snyder to help him assemble the album's eight cuts. Along the way, Eric brought in some of his favorite musicians as guests — including past and present members of TROUBLE, BLACKFINGER, THE SKULL, LID, PENTAGRAM, DEATH ROW and PLACE OF SKULLS.

"In The Lonely Light Of Mourning" travels down Eric's hallowed, familiar doom roads, flanked by melancholic acoustic guitar arrangements. It makes for an album of color, depth and heaviness that will please fans of Eric's work. "I'd say this album is an amalgamation of TROUBLE, BLACKFINGER, LID and THE SKULL," says Phillips. "There's a little bit of each all swirled together. Basically, there's a little something for everyone!"

"He was excited about the songs," adds Snyder. "He and I worked on this project for a little over four years. It took that long, mostly because we did it over the phone. Either he would be in Chicago or New Mexico, and I'm in West Virginia, so I'd send him demo riffs, and if he liked something, he'd give me arrangement ideas, and I'd re-demo to fit his vision to place the lyrics. I already miss the process of working with him! Before Eric left for the last THE SKULL tour this summer, he told me about the record and said, 'It jams. I'm turning it into Cruz.'"

Smith says that if Eric was ever going to do a solo record, it would need to involve the people he's worked with — and some he hasn't. The wealth of guest musicians explains why he was particularly excited about having a "family reunion" that tapped into nearly every era of his storied career.

"We have guests representing every band Eric has worked with over the years, and even extended family member Victor Griffin, which really brings things full circle," says Smith. "This was not the original plan by any means, but as the process started to unfold, it became apparent that this was exactly how it should be. How it was meant to be."

Eric's THE SKULL and former TROUBLE bandmate Ron Holzner, guests on the album. Ron says "In The Lonely Light Of Mourning" was "more personal" to him than his BLACKFINGER and LID output, two albums that enabled the frontman to work outside of the boundaries of TROUBLE.

"The LID record [1997's 'In The Mushroom'] was a break from TROUBLE and his first tastes of freedom. The BLACKFINGER records were more of a sideband to express himself differently than THE SKULL. It's been a long journey lyrically for Eric and his story was coming towards the end. He sensed his time was short. The new record was his career coming full circle, in a sense. He included musicians from all his records and never intended this record to be a band. It was more a solo record than anything he ever did before. He needed to share his journey since this record was to be the end — he was contemplating retirement. The new THE SKULL record would be the epitaph to his story."

Eric's untimely passing this past August left behind a musical legacy that has influenced countless bands while providing comfort and solace for those impacted by his lyrics. Alongside CANDLEMASS, TROUBLE is arguably the most impactful post-BLACK SABBATH doom band. Their first four albums are undisputed classics, making Eric the solitary voice for the downtrodden and disaffected.

"There's no doubt that he will be rightly remembered as one of the most iconic voices of metal — not just doom metal considering he had the power to traverse anything he sang over from psychedelic to somber, from acoustic tenderness to bone-crushing metal," says Phillips. "Of course, he'll always be tied to the legacy of TROUBLE and thus, considered by nearly everyone — including myself — as one of the founding fathers of the doom metal genre. But for those who knew him, we'll also never forget his laid-back personality, sense of humor and 'Eric-isms.' It's a staggering and totally unnecessary loss, but he lived by his own rules and spent 2021 doing all of the things he loved doing the most, so there's some solace in that."

"He did what he wanted, said what he wanted, lived like he wanted and wrote what he wanted…his way," says Holzner. "He touched a lot of souls with his life and death."

"He was a friend to everyone he met," adds Snyder. "He always would hang out with fans and, through his music, helped a lot of people through tough times, including myself. His lyrics were always thought-provoking and his voice was one of a kind. When you heard it, you knew it was Eric Wagner! Ultimately, his legacy to me is his work with TROUBLE. I am eternally grateful to have been close to him at times, to have finished this record and to have worked with what many call the 'Godfather of Doom.'"

"Eric was a dear friend, and I miss him immensely," closes Smith. "This solo album became so much more than we initially expected, and I hope fans will be able to listen with open hearts and realize how lucky we all were to have Eric in our lives.

When Eric and I signed off on the album back in July and delivered it to Cruz Del Sur Music, Eric said something I will never forget: 'If this were to be my last one, it's a perfect final chapter to the story.'"

"In The Lonely Light Of Mourning" track listing:

01. Rest In Place

02. Maybe Tomorrow

03. Isolation

04. If You Lost It All

05. Strain Theory

06. Walk With Me To The Sun

07. In The Lonely Light Of Mourning

08. Wish You Well

"The Edge of Spring" is a collection of 17 songs by Sally Doherty, a Sheffield / UK based artist that worked in the past with Sieben, Sol Invictus and Planet Funk amongst others. She's also very close to Richard Hawley, who's musicians are also Sally's live-band in Sheffield.

Finally available now - the CD comes as a deluxe digipack, and each order will contain a numberous copy of a lovely mini postcard with a picture of the artist

"With her warm and intimate voice, soaring and operatic at times, and accompanied by a variety of instruments from gentle piano to baroque string ensembles to Spanish guitar and percussion, Sally Doherty is one of the most outstanding singer / songwriters and will appeal to anybody who enjoys the music of Kate Bush, Lhasa or Antony and the Johnsons."

tracklist :
1. This is what she said
2. The Shore
3. La Llorona
4. Gold
5. The mourning I
6. Oh Camino
7. Our senses
8. Lowlands of Holland
9. The endless night
10. Some never know
11. Lagan love
12. I am a river
13. An open boat
14. Silver
15. Black is the colour
16. Voice
17. One voice I

THE OFFSPRING guitarist Kevin "Noodles" Wasserman says that the band canceled its concerts in Denver and Salt Lake City earlier this month after he tested positive for COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus.

On Saturday (October 9), Noodles took to his Twitter to write: "I tested positive for Covid on the 27th of last month. I was in Philly with my wife & we were supposed to travel to NYC for a couple of days. I had a slight cold & thought I better get tested before traveling. My wife tested negative, but not me.

"I immediately reached out to management, the band, & crew," he continued. "We canceled the Denver & SLC shows at that time out of an abundance of caution. My positive test led to others getting tested. I'm not going to divulge who got what. So don't ask me for any information about anyone else. If anyone else wants to talk about their health it is up to them. The important thing is everyone isolated until we were safe to be around. Earlier this week everyone on our tour tested negative.

"Most of our tour party never got sick," Noodles said. "My wife who slept next to me while I had it never caught it. I was sick for 2-3 days at most. Runny nose & sore throat. By Wednesday the 29th I was fever free and my symptoms were almost entirely gone.

"Everyone on our tour is vaccinated, thankfully, but I still managed to get it. There's always that risk, especially with the Delta variant. Because I am vaxxed I got over it very quickly and was less likely to spread it to someone else.

"I'm sorry that we had to cancel a couple of shows but we have to do what we can to minimize the risks," he added.

"Stay safe, take care of each other, & get vaccinated. The vaccine might've just saved my life. It certainly made it easier."

Two months ago, longtime THE OFFSPRING drummer Pete Parada announced that was being dropped from the band's current tour after refusing the COVID-19 vaccine for medical reasons.

Pete said a doctor had advised him not to get the shot because he has a rare autoimmune disorder. The musician said he first experienced Guillain-Barré syndrome, where a person's immune system damages their nerves, in childhood and the effects had got "progressively worse over my lifetime". He also revealed that he contracted COVID-19 over a year ago and only had mild symptoms, "so I am confident I'd be able to handle it again", he wrote.

Parada wrote on social media that he's "unable to comply with what is increasingly becoming an industry mandate". As a result, "it has recently been decided that I am unsafe to be around, in the studio and on tour", he said.

Parada added that he had "no negative feelings towards my band". He wrote: "They're doing what they believe is best for them, while I am doing the same."

It is not clear if Parada, who joined the group in 2007, has now left THE OFFSPRING permanently.

Earlier this year, THE OFFSPRING encouraged fans to receive their COVID-19 vaccines by reworking the chorus of its 1994 classic "Come Out And Play" to say "you gotta go get vaccinated." The new version of the song was shared in March on THE OFFSPRING's Instagram, featuring a snippet from the song's music video with the reworked lyrics.

THE OFFSPRING singer Bryan "Dexter" Holland has a Ph.D. in molecular biology and wrote his thesis on microRNA in HIV genomes. The 175-page research paper, titled "Identification of Human MicroRNA-Like Sequences Embedded within the Protein-Encoding Genes of the Human Immunodeficiency Virus", had been published in PLoS One. Holland had received his Ph.D. from University of Southern California in 2017.

THE OFFSPRING's tenth studio album, "Let The Bad Times Roll", arrived in April via Concord Records.




I tested positive for Covid on the 27th of last month. I was in Philly with my wife & we were supposed to travel to NYC for a couple of days. I had a slight cold & thought I better get tested before traveling. My wife tested negative, but not me.

— Noodsferatu (@TheGnudz) October 9, 2021








I immediately reached out to management, the band, & crew. We canceled the Denver & SLC shows at that time out of an abundance of caution. My positive test led to others getting tested. I’m not going to divulge who got what.

— Noodsferatu (@TheGnudz) October 9, 2021








So don’t ask me for any information about anyone else. If anyone else wants to talk about their health it is up to them. The important thing is everyone isolated until we were safe to be around. Earlier this week everyone on our tour tested negative.

— Noodsferatu (@TheGnudz) October 9, 2021








Most of our tour party never got sick. My wife who slept next to me while I had it never caught it. I was sick for 2-3 days at most. Runny nose & sore throat. By Wednesday the 29th I was fever free and my symptoms were almost entirely gone.

— Noodsferatu (@TheGnudz) October 9, 2021








Everyone on our tour is vaccinated, thankfully, but I still managed to get it. There’s always that risk, especially with the Delta variant. Because I am vaxxed I got over it very quickly and was less likely to spread it to someone else.

— Noodsferatu (@TheGnudz) October 9, 2021








I’m sorry that we had to cancel a couple of shows but we have to do what we can to minimize the risks. Stay safe, take care of each other, & get vaccinated. The vaccine might’ve just saved my life. It certainly made it easier.

— Noodsferatu (@TheGnudz) October 9, 2021

Legendary punk rock band MISFITS headlined the Aftershock festival last night (Saturday, October 9) in Sacramento, California. Fan-filmed video footage of the concert can be seen below.

The initial comeback performance by MISFITS members Glenn Danzig, Jerry Only and Doyle Wolfgang Von Frankenstein took place at the 2016 Riot Fest. The estranged bandmates played together for the first time since 1983 and were backed by former SLAYER drummer Dave Lombardo and guitarist Acey Slade.

Since then, the original lineup of the MISFITS has reunited for scattered dates, with the most recent pre-Aftershock one taking place in December 2019 at Wells Fargo Arena in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Prior to the Riot Fest concerts, Glenn, Jerry and Doyle Wolfgang Von Frankenstein last performed together on October 29, 1983.

A year and a half ago, Danzig told Rolling Stone magazine that he was happy with the way the MISFITS shows have been going. "Shit, we sold out Madison Square Garden," he said. "As a matter of fact, we oversold it. Back in the day, all the bigwig promoters and record label people were, like, 'A punk band will never headline Madison Square Garden.' And, of course, we're the first punk band to headline there. And not only did we sell it out, we oversold it. So a big fuck you to all those assholes, who are probably selling hotdogs on Sixth Avenue."

The original MISFITS band broke up in 1983, and Only brought forth a new version of the MISFITS in 1995. Various members have come and gone, but Only, along with BLACK FLAG's Dez Cadena, has kept some form of the MISFITS in the recording studio and on the road for most of the last two and half decades.

In a 2016 interview with Rolling Stone, Only said about working with Danzig again: "Glenn is Glenn. We dealt with Glenn in the beginning and it's the same dealing with Glenn now. It doesn't change. It's just a different perspective. If we let Glenn be Glenn and do what we're supposed to do, it's gonna work. You don't argue with each other. I think we're over that. I think we're old enough now."

Asked what it was like keeping the MISFITS going for 20 years without Glenn, Only said: "There was always that hole. When Glenn split, there was always that feeling we were missing a component of what makes us what we are. And I'm sure the same goes on for him. In the other bands he was in, he's changed people left and right. When we play together, it's just us."

MUDVAYNE played its second reunion show last night (Saturday, October 9) at the Aftershock festival in Sacramento, California. Fan-filmed video footage of the concert can be seen below.

MUDVAYNE canceled its appearance at last month's Louder Than Life festival in Louisville, Kentucky after the band's singer Chad Gray and "a few staff members" tested positive for COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus.

MUDVAYNE played its first show in 12 years on September 11 at the Inkcarceration Music & Tattoo Festival in Mansfield, Ohio.

The band is still scheduled to appear at one more festival this fall: Welcome To Rockville (November 11-14 in Daytona Beach, Florida).

MUDVAYNE formed in 1996 and has sold over six million records worldwide, earning gold certification for three albums ("L.D. 50", "The End Of All Things To Come", "Lost And Found"). The band is known for its sonic experimentation, innovative album art, face and body paint, masks and uniforms. MUDVAYNE is Chad Gray (vocals), Greg Tribbett (guitar, backing vocals), Matthew McDonough (drums, synthesizer) and Ryan Martinie (bass).

It's been more than a decade since MUDVAYNE released its self-titled fifth album and little had been heard about the group during that time.

Gray has spent the past 15 years fronting HELLYEAH, which released its sixth studio album, "Welcome Home", in September 2019 via Eleven Seven Music. The disc marked the group's final effort with drummer Vinnie Paul Abbott, who passed away more than three years ago.

In 2018, Tribbett said that fans who are calling for a MUDVAYNE reunion "just need a little more patience." He explained: "We're all flattered that everybody still wants MUDVAYNE to tour and do a new record and come out and do all that stuff. The thing is is that everybody is in three different bands and kind of doing their own projects, and there's no time for that right now."

Tribbett's most recent focus was AUDIOTOPSY, which released its second full-length album, "The Real Now", in November 2018 via Megaforce Records. He is joined in that band by MUDVAYNE drummer Matt McDonough, SKRAPE vocalist Billy Keeton and bassist Perry Stern.

MUDVAYNE did not tour behind its fifth album, which was barely promoted and sold weakly upon release.

Gray previously expressed skepticism about the possibility of a MUDVAYNE reunion, noting in a 2015 interview that "the only way I personally would want to do MUDVAYNE is if everybody licked their wounds and got over it."

Tribbett was also part of HELLYEAH with Gray but was fired from that band in 2013.

Asked in Revolver magazine if Greg's exit from HELLYEAH hit him especially hard, seeing as the two of them started off playing together in MUDVAYNE, Chad said: "Yeah, man. He has always been my right-hand man. He's been the back I look at when I'm writing songs and the sounding board for my ideas. When everything went sideways, it was like losing a great friend. I was filled with fear and I had mixed emotions. At first, I was, like, 'Goddamn, I don't know if I'm ever gonna be able to do this without him.'"

YouTube user Greg Perry has uploaded front-row video of Ace Frehley's October 9 performance at Daily's Place in Jacksonville, Florida as the support act for Alice Cooper. Check out the footage below.

Ace's setlist was as follows:

01. Rocket Ride (KISS song)

02. Parasite (KISS song)

03. Strutter (KISS song)

04. Rip It Out

05. Never In My Life (MOUNTAIN cover)

06. Good Times Bad Times (LED ZEPPELIN cover)

07. Detroit Rock City (KISS song)

08. New York Groove (Russ Ballard cover)

09. Shock Me (KISS song)

10. Ace Frehley Guitar Solo

11. Cold Gin / Black Diamond (KISS song)

12. Deuce (KISS song)

Frehley's band features guitarists Ryan Cook and Jeremy Asbock, bassist Philip Shouse and drummer Matt Starr.

When Ace's tour with Alice was first announced in May, Frehley said in a statement: "I've known Alice for over 30 years. We're good friends, and we've toured together numerous times and always had a blast. Our musical roots are very similar, and the combination of our two bands make for a great event that nobody is gonna want to miss. Being off the road for more than a year because of the pandemic has been tough on everyone in the music industry, and I'm really looking forward to seeing all of the fans happy, healthy, and ready to rock."

Last December, Frehley told Talking Metal Live that he would begin recording his next all-original album "after the New Year." The record will be the follow-up to "Spaceman", which was released in October 2018 via eOne. Ace is laying down the effort at the newly built studio at his new house in New Jersey.

Earlier last year, Frehley told Canada's iHeart Radio that he has "only written about three songs" for his next LP, and he added they were "not finished." He said: "Now that I'm [living] on the East Coast [after moving to New Jersey from Southern California], my engineer only lives an hour from me, Alex Salzman, who worked with me extensively on this last record, and he played a lot of bass guitar as well, So it's gonna be even easier, 'Origins Vol. 3' and the next [original] record."

Frehley's latest release was "Origins Vol. 2", the sequel to his 2016 collection of cover songs that inspired the former KISS guitarist.

KISS bassist/vocalist Gene Simmons co-wrote two tracks on "Spaceman", "Without You I'm Nothing" and "Your Wish Is My Command", the latter of which also features Simmons's bass playing.

In a new interview with The Guardian, RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE guitarist Tom Morello was asked how he felt about the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. He responded: "We came within a baby's breath of a fascist coup in this country. Interestingly, one of my dreams has always been to storm the Capitol, but not with a bunch of all-white, rightwing terrorists, you know? The ugliest part about it is how they have co-opted the idea of standing against the Man, at least in the U.S. There can be no nuanced thinking, like: 'Yes, Big Pharma is horrible, but getting a vaccine to save your grandma is good.' It's a dumbed-down version of resistance. But I grew up in Trump country [in suburban Illinois], I know people from there. They're decent people. It's not their fault for being fucked over by the oligarchy for decades. Now what do we do to find a way to really resist the stuff that is destroying the planet, that's causing working people's lives to be worse than their parents' were? Poverty and hunger kill more people than anything else on the planet and they are human-made problems. Those are the things that we need to be digging into, rather than being sidetracked by this carnival barker bullshit."

Morello, who is a member one of the most militant left-wing rap/rock/metal bands of all time, also mocked a pair of pro-Trump "Stop The Count" protesters — draped in pro-cop Blue Lives Matter flags and MAGA hats and waving a Trump flag — who were videotaped last November dancing to the group's "Killing In The Name" song in Philadelphia.

"First of all, there's no accounting for stupidity," Tom said. "There's a long list of radical left anthems that are misunderstood by bozos who sing them at events like that, from Woody Guthrie's 'This Land Is Your Land' to Bruce Springsteen's 'Born In The USA' to John Lennon's 'Imagine' — those people have really no idea what the hell they're singing about. The one thing that I speak to in all of those instances is that there's a power to the music that casts a wide net, and that's a good thing, not a bad thing. In that net, there will be the far-right bozos, but there will also be people that have never considered the ideas put forward in those songs and are forced to consider those ideas because the rock 'n' roll is great. You can either put a beat to a Noam Chomsky lecture — no one wants that, but there's going to be no mistaking what the content is — or you can make music that’s compelling."

Morello has made no secret of his distaste for Donald Trump, taping the message "Fuck Trump" to the back of his guitar for live shows and calling him an "orange-faced demagogue" in an interview with NME.

In the past, Morello had called out other Republicans for listening to RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE's music, most notably in 2012 when Paul Ryan, a former vice presidential candidate and leading Republican, said he was a fan. Morello responded with an op-ed in Rolling Stone which read in part: "Paul Ryan's love for RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE is amusing, because he is the embodiment of the machine that our music has been raging against for two decades."
























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Last month, METALLICA bassist Robert Trujillo played "Worth The Hype" with SiriusXM to rate his career firsts, including his first red carpet, first stadium tour, first time being recognized in public and more. Check out the clip below.

Speaking about his first stadium tour, Trujillo said: "Opening for ANTHRAX in Germany with SUICIDAL TENDENCIES, I could not believe the energy. I had never experienced anything like that to the point where I started laughing, kind of thinking to myself, 'This is a very surreal moment.' Because you grow up playing air guitar, and then all of a sudden you're standing in front of thousands of people and they're loving your music. Like for instance, Munich, Germany — I remember being on that stage and seeing the same stadium that I saw on TV for the Olympics."

Trujillo, who was born on October 23, 1964 in Santa Monica, California, tasted success as the bassist in punk-funk pioneers SUICIDAL TENDENCIES and Ozzy Osbourne's band. But in 2003, he successfully auditioned to replace Jason Newsted in METALLICA, a process chronicled in the warts-and-all documentary "Some Kind of Monster".

METALLICA's much-loved former bassist Cliff Burton died in 1986 when the band's tour bus crashed travelling through Sweden on the "Damage Inc. Tour" in support of "Master Of Puppets".

Trujillo told Exclaim! in a 2016 interview that he feels no pressure when compared to his low-end predecessors. "Whether it's Jason or myself or Cliff, we're all different types of players coming from a different place, but delivering what is best for the band," he said. "That's all I ever do, just try and do the best I can and cater to the song, cater to the music."

METALLICA frontman James Hetfield praised Trujillo during a 2017 interview with the 94.5 The Buzz radio station, saying: "Who else could [have come in and done the job]? I mean, there were a few people we auditioned, I know. It might have worked out with other people, but it's hard to find people that are, say, your age; kind of your upbringing, musically, obviously; ability-wise; they've been on the road. It's not like you're bringing some kid out for his first time, and it's, 'Oh my God!' He's going through all the stuff that you did twenty-five years ago. He's got kids. He's married. It just jelled, and it's still jelling. And his personality is probably one of the best contributions, I think, to the band, 'cause he's so chill, he's so up for anything, he's always in there rehearsing. So he does fit in."

During a recent appearance on the "Reinvented With Jen Eckhart", FOZZY singer and wrestling superstar Chris Jericho was asked if any of the other rock musicians he is friends with have offered him any helpful words of advice as his band was making its name in the business. He responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "I think there's been a lot of guys that I was fans of that I've become friends with — someone like Paul Stanley [KISS], who's always cool. I talk to Lars [Ulrich] from METALLICA; he's a very good friend of mine.

"I don't really ask any advice from these guys, but you kind of follow in their footsteps.

"When you've been in show business as long as I have — 31 years coming up this week, next week, whenever it may be — you pick and choose the qualities and the ideas from the different guys that you admire," he explained. "As a frontman, for example, I was a big [fan of] Paul Stanley, David Lee Roth [VAN HALEN], Mick Jagger [THE ROLLING STONES], Freddie Mercury [QUEEN] — those type of guys. Bruce Dickinson [IRON MAIDEN]… You watch how these guys perform and how they captivate a crowd, and there's a real art form to it. And it's not easy. It's like being a podcast host. It's not easy being a podcast host. And people think it is, because there's literally a million podcasts, and a lot of 'em come and go so fast. So there's a real art form to it, and there's an art form to being a frontman of a rock and roll band. Yes, it's important to sing. Yes, it's important to have that power. But you also have to be the party host, the ring leader, get people involved in the show. That's what people want. That's what I always wanted as a fan, and I still do.

"Like I said, it's the same thing when I first started wrestling — you take the inspiration and you add it to your own little blender and put a lot of yourself in it and kind of shake it all up and that's what you get. And Chris Jericho the wrestler is different from Chris Jericho the singer, but there are qualities that kind of interact and blend in both.

"Being a live performer, whether you're a comedian, a wrestler, a singer, a Shakespearean actor, there is a real element that you have to connect to the audience," Jericho added. "If you can connect to the audience, you'll always have them as fans. If you can elicit that emotion from them where they're excited to see you, then you'll always have them the next time you come to town."

Last month, FOZZY guitarist Rich Ward was was forced to sit out several of the band's shows for personal medical reasons. FOZZY still performed in his absence as a four-piece.

In May, FOZZY dropped a video for its first new song in two years, "Sane", which hit one million views in its first two weeks. This first-of-its-kind video was filmed on the longest wooden roller coaster on the planet today.

This past February, Jericho told Detroit's WRIF radio station that FOZZY's follow-up to 2017's "Judas" album would "continue with the momentum that [the] 'Judas' [title track] started for us [four] years ago."

Last summer, Chris revealed that FOZZY's next LP will contain 12 songs, including one cover.

Ward and producer Johnny Andrews once again did "the lion's share" of the songwriting for the new LP, which was recorded primarily in Atlanta, Georgia.

In addition to producing "Judas", Andrews previously co-wrote FOZZY's "Lights Go Out" track back in 2014. He has also written songs with the likes of ALL THAT REMAINS, THREE DAYS GRACE and HALESTORM.

In November, FOZZY appeared in its first global live streaming event from Madison Studios in Atlanta, Georgia.

FOZZY is Chris Jericho (vocals), Rich Ward (guitars, vocals), Frank Fontsere (drums), Billy Grey (guitars) and P.J. Farley (bass).

Nikki Sixx spoke to Yahoo! Entertainment about MÖTLEY CRÜE's "The Stadium Tour" with DEF LEPPARD which was originally scheduled to take place last summer but ended up being pushed back to 2021, and then to 2022, due to the coronavirus crisis.

"We thought we were gonna tour this year," the CRÜE bassist said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET). "Then the delta variant came. And some of my friends went out and did it, and some have had no problems, some have had big problems.

"On a business level, you can't get COVID insurance. So if you've got a big show — MÖTLEY, DEF LEPPARD, POISON and JOAN JETT — that's generating a lot of… If that show goes down because somebody whatever, you just lose money, and you can only lose so many shows and then you're basically on tour for free. So we chose to stay back, waiting to see how AEGs and Live Nations and how other bands were gonna handle it. And I think we made the right decision.

"We restart designing the show in April," Nikki continued. "It's basically designed, but there's some new technology that happened in the last few years we might wanna involve. And then we've already got our set — it's done — so it's not like we have to have that meeting where it's, like, 'I wanna play this song' or 'I wanna play this song.' Everybody agreed on these songs, and it's a really cool set, and there's some medleys in it.

"We start band rehearsals in May," Sixx added. "I don't know what that looks like. We like to rehearse for three or four weeks. Even if we have four weeks and we're pretty tight at three weeks, sometimes you lose a day here and there — a guy gets sick or someone's car breaks down — so we always [give ourselves] four weeks. And then we go to Atlanta where the tour opens and we do pre-production with everybody on the bill and we set the show up and tear the show down so it all fits. And then June 19th, I think, the tour starts. And I can't wait."

This past July, Sixx told Marci Wiser of the 95.5 KLOS radio station that MÖTLEY CRÜE "really did wanna go" on the road "this year. It's a little scary to go out there and have the tour maybe get canceled half way," he said. "And I know a lot of bands are out there and they're testing the water and it looks really positive; I'm super excited.

"We have 30-some stadiums in America [booked for the tour]," he continued. "And we'll see. Maybe we might even drag it to Europe, South America, Japan — we don't know yet. Right now it's a little far off. But us and DEF LEPPARD are super close; that's great. And we'll just see what version of 'The Stadium Tour' might fit for other countries, if we decide to go. Maybe it'll be the same lineup. I know people are super stoked for the lineup. It's a good outdoor fun party evening."

As of January 30, 2020, "The Stadium Tour" had already grossed $130 million from one million tickets sold, plus another $5 million worth of VIP seats, according to Billboard.

Tickets ranged from $150 to $400, not counting some varied pricing that reflected demand as part of "dynamic pricing."

When it happens, "The Stadium Tour" will mark the CRÜE's first live dates since wrapping its 2014/2015 farewell tour. CRÜE toured with POISON back in 2011 and DEF LEPPARD teamed up with POISON for a string of road dates in 2017 — but the upcoming jaunt marks the first time all four acts have hit the road together for an extended tour.

KING'S X frontman Doug Pinnick spoke to Talking Metal about the progress of the recording sessions for the band's follow-up to 2008's "XV" album. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "It's been mastered. It's at the record company, and they're starting the campaign. We're taking it slow 'cause we're trying to figure out with this whole COVID thing and all the things that are happening. We wanna put the record out without a lot of distractions and getting sick on the road or just all the controversy. We just wanna wait a little bit longer and do this right."

Regarding the musical direction of the new KING'S X material, Pinnick said: "Every song is completely different than the other — mixed and sonically; everything. We took every song and tried to do like THE BEATLES 'White' album and just sit down with a song and go, 'Let's give it what it needs.' I don't have to have my Doug Pinnick gravelly tone if I need a Paul McCartney-type sound. Ty [Tabor], he would fix his guitars to make… 'This is like a whatever song. Let's make it what it is but still be KING'S X.' So I think that it sounds like KING'S X but hopefully everyone will feel that we took another step forward. The whole point is just to try to push forward [while] still looking back. There's a lot of things on this record that are reminiscent of KING'S X totally, but then there's this new KING'S X, I think. Sonically, we're really excited because it's a complete analog record except with Pro Tools. It was laid down with analog — everything — and it was mastered on analog tape and even EQed with analog tube EQs to saturate the tape to get compression instead of digits. So there's no digits on this record. So when you hear it, it's gonna take you back a little bit. It sounds like you put a real record on in the '70s, sonically. It's, like, things jump out at you, and then they don't. It's, like, you go, 'Wow, the bass is huge, but I can hear everything else,' 'cause you can put your hands in it, almost. [Producer and engineer] Michael Parnin just did an amazing job — a painstaking job — to get it to sound like a record that you can put on and play forever."

As for a possible release date for the new KING'S X album, Doug said: "2022. That's all we can really say at this point. Because we don't wanna commit to something 'cause we just don't know what's going on. People have waited [laughs] so long. It's terrible, but hopefully good things come to those who wait. 'Cause we haven't put a KING'S X record out in 13 or 14 or 15 years — I lost count."

The new KING'S X LP was mastered in June at the Bernie Grundman Mastering facility in Hollywood, California,

This past April, Pinnick told Shawn Ratches of Laughingmonkeymusic about the new KING'S X material: "I had some pretty crazy songs, time-change-wise, 'cause I've been listening to a lot of MESHUGGAH and shit like that. It's not KING'S X, but that flavor comes in. Imagine John Bonham playing with MESHUGGAH… But Ty and Jerry [Gaskill, drums] are singing a lot too. I tell people, it's like from [THE BEATLES' classic song] 'Penny Lane' to the heaviest MESHUGGAH — it's a blend of something in between there. And one song to another almost sounds different, almost to the point where they're individual pieces themselves, like PINK FLOYD used to do. We've got violins and other things in it. I've got some keyboards and all kinds of things to enhance things — piano. Nothing overboard, but just like [Jimi] Hendrix did and people like that — big things coming in and out that gives it that longevity, I would say. Things that you hear and go, 'Oh, wow. That's cool.' That little thing over there. So it's taken Michael a long time to mix it, 'cause he's got a lot of tracks."

KING'S X was sidelined by several health scares in recent years, including Pinnick's two hernia operations and two near-fatal heart attacks suffered by Gaskill.

In October 2019, KING'S X canceled all of its previously announced tour dates for the year so that Gaskill could undergo undisclosed heart "procedures."

"XV" was KING'S X's highest-charting album since 1996's "Ear Candy".

In 2005, VH1 included KING'S X in its list of "100 Greatest Artists In Hard Rock."

Former SKID ROW singer Sebastian Bach, who recently kicked off a U.S. tour celebrating the 30th anniversary of the band's double-platinum album "Slave To The Grind", was asked in a new interview with Rockin' Metal Revival if he ever regrets writing such high vocal parts that he now has to reproduce live on stage three decades later. He responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "All I can tell you is that I've been singing so much in the last four or months. I can't tell you exactly what I was doing yet, but I will be able to. My voice is the same it's always been.

"I've gotta say just a couple of things answering your question — a couple of things come to mind," he continued. "For a guy like me or a guy like Bono [U2] or a guy like — I don't know, Geddy Lee [RUSH] or somebody like that, making a record is not the same as doing a show; it's not the same thing; it's a different thing. Making a record is you standing in an air-conditioned room with water next to you and coffee and you've got the lights perfect. And you're standing as still as you can, and you get to sing it as many times as you want until it's perfect. [Laughs] Nothing can be more different than a show — unless you're using [backing] tapes. But I'm proud to tell your audience that we will not be using any tapes anytime soon, so it's a real rock show. But doing a show is more like communicating the spirit of the song and the music to the audience, and everybody gets into it. And I'm not just gonna stand there and try to be perfect. I'm gonna run all over the place and I'm gonna put on a show.

"As singers get older, I don't like changing the key of the song because, to me, that makes it sound like a different tune, and I'm not interested in that," Sebastian explained. "If I'm gonna change a little vocal part in the same key, to me that's a cooler way of doing it instead of making it into the key of KORN. That works great for KORN.

"I have to sing every day properly and do it for many weeks in order to get my voice to the top of its abilities, and that's what I've been doing. I just played and I had no problems doing all those tunes. I've got no problems — knock on wood."

Bach fronted SKID ROW until 1996, when he was fired. Instead of throwing in the towel, the remaining members took a hiatus and went on to play briefly in a band called OZONE MONDAY.

In 1999, SKID ROW reformed and, after a bit of shuffling over the years, featured a lineup consisting of bassist Rachel Bolan and guitarists Dave "Snake" Sabo and Scotti Hill, alongside drummer Rob Hammersmith and singer Johnny Solinger.

SKID ROW fired Solinger over the phone in April 2015, a few hours before announcing ex-TNT vocalist Tony Harnell as his replacement. Eight months later, Harnell exited the band and was replaced by South African-born, British-based singer ZP Theart, who previously fronted DRAGONFORCE, TANK and I AM I.