Founding TYKETTO guitarist Brooke St. James "came very close to death" during his recent battle with COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus.

St. James, who played on TYKETTO's first four albums before exiting the group in 2014, opened up about his experience with the respiratory disease while appealing to his fans and friends on GoFundMe for help with costs associated with medical expenses and lost income.

Brooke wrote in part: "In mid late September 2021 my now 17 year old daughter returned home from school ill. Within a few days most everyone in my home was sick. The kids tested positive first, then my wife. Ok, no need to panic.. from what we all knew at that point, we, as relatively healthy individuals should be fine. The kids bounced back immediately. My wife was sick for about 5-6 days with typical cold symptoms. I, however, after experiencing my first symptoms on September 23, 2021 tested positive on September 24th and began a frighteningly rapid decline. Unfortunately, this virus affected me very differently than it did my family.

"I was hospitalized Oct 4 and finally, by the Grace of God, discharged on Oct 30. During my stay I came very close to death according to my doctors and while I was moved to ICU at one point somehow some way I managed to skirt intubation and ventilator status.

"That brings us to here and now. I am currently at home recovering from Covid and double pneumonia. This is a game of patience unfortunately. For now I am tethered to an oxygen machine and moving around with the assistance of a walker. I have every reason to believe things are improving daily although it's difficult to measure in such small increments."

COVID-19 affects everyone differently — while one in three people are asymptomatic and won't develop any symptoms at all, 5% of people become critically unwell. Some of those people still have symptoms months later. Older adults are more likely to fall seriously ill, particularly if they smoke, are obese or have diabetes. Exposure to a high concentration poses a higher risk for infection.

St. James began playing at age nine. A self-taught musician, St. James grew up listening to and playing along with records by AEROSMITH, JOURNEY, QUEEN, CHEAP TRICK and KISS, among many other classic rock acts, and joined his first working band at age sixteen. A few years later, St. James moved to Milwaukee and found regional success with popular 1980 rock act MOXY ROXX, but major label interest fizzled. St. James then went to New York and formed TYKETTO, with whom he took part in numerous tours. After St. James left the band, he went on to a three-year stint in Las Vegas with classic rock act YELLOW BRICK ROAD. St. James currently lives in Milwaukee where he plays with several popular local rock acts and is pursuing a solo career.


ATTENTION TYKETTO FANS NEAR AND FAR:

We've kept this quiet for the past month out of respect for his privacy but after...

Posted by Tyketto (The Official) on Friday, November 5, 2021

American veterans Bloodgood confirmed via their Facebook page that their drummer Kevin Whisler has passed away. Kevin was diagnosed with Lymphoma followed by testing positive for COVID-19, formed a blood clot on his brain, causing him to have a stroke a week ago.

Statement from Kevin Whisler's wife Elaine: ''Dear Family & Friends, Iit is with a heavy heart that I share the loss of our dear Kevin. My loving husband, best friend, loving father, grandfather, brother and faithful friend to all. Kevin's fight was a witness and testimony to all. His stellar strength, dignity and warrior spirit was conveyed through this entire journey. This journey has been challenging and at times unimaginable, yet he continued to reflect a level of strength and peace that continued to build on our faith every day. Kevin continued to witness to staff at both Seattle Cancer Care and St. Joseph’s and through his entire journey and even last week as he would ask to pray with care staff.

"Kevin fought the good fight with dignity and warrior strength. I am honored and forever grateful for the time, the years and the battles that we fought together with swords drawn. I am honored to have experienced life with this mighty man of God. Out of respect for the family we ask that you limit your questions, however, feel free to express any thoughts, memories or words of
encouragement that you may have. We will follow up with our plans to celebrate this mighty Man of God.

"Please know Kevin loved you all dearly and found peace from all your prayers. Love, Elaine and our entire family.''

After 23 years of silence, Finnish cult black/epic metallers DARKWOODS MY BETROTHED, who feature in their ranks NIGHTWISH keyboardist Tuomas Holopainen, are making their long-awaited comeback with a new full-length album, "Angel Of Carnage Unleashed", to be released on November 12 via Napalm Records. The LP sets free a unique blend of brutal, fast-driven black metal and epic anthems in which eerie screams merge with heroic clean vocals, monumental choirs and majestic keyboards along with gory stories of famine, war, plague and the inescapable brutality of Finland's nature in the era of the Great Northern War (1700-1721). It features the old horde from the original 1993 lineup, now augmented by Holopainen as a full member of the band and Kai Hahto (also of NIGHTWISH) as session drummer.

The record's final song, "Black Fog And Poison Wind", offers an appropriate, hard-hitting and thunderous ending to the album. The track, which can be streamed below, features mad, high-pitched screams, evil riffing, mind-blowing blastbeats and eerie choirs.

DARWOODS MY BETROTHED on their new single: "This is one of our favourite songs from the new album. Lyrically, it tells the story of the so-called 'Death March of the Carolinians' where 3000 soldiers of the Swedish army froze to death when withdrawing from Norway across the fells in the winter of 1718. We chose to approach this topic from an anthropomorphic perspective: the storyteller is the poisonous icy wind which — in the service of the Angel of Carnage — mercilessly murdered the soldiers in the snowy mountains. The story is accompanied with a black metal anthem that combines brutal blastbeat-driven passages with slower and melodic eerie parts featuring choirs and female vocals. We feel that the song captures the atmosphere of the lyric perfectly."

The new full-length contains eight songs written by the three musicians who founded the band in 1993: Pasi Kankkunen, Jouni Mikkonen and Teemu Kautonen (with substantial creative inputs from Holopainen). The lyrics are based on the human history of the Great Northern War of 1700-1721: how Finns experienced the many manifestations of the Angel of Carnage, sent by God to punish them for their sins.

Bassist Teemu Kautonen on the album: "The lyrics are based on the work of the renowned Finnish historian Teemu Keskisarja. His research inspired us both to carefully embed all lyrics in the appropriate historical context and to bring forth the human dimension by focusing on stories of individual people and how they experienced this perhaps darkest period of Finnish history."

Vocalist/guitarist Pasi Kankkunen adds: "It was very important for us to have the original lineup on the comeback album. We also agreed right at the beginning of the process to share the songwriting in equal proportions — just as we did on the 1996 classic album 'Autumn Roars Thunder'."

The album opener "Name The Dead" sets off with atmospheric organ tunes but leaves no scope for weakness, as only a few seconds later storming drums, aggressive riffs and raging growls set the stage for everything that is about to come: brutal soundscapes spliced with epic accents! The second track, "In Evil, Sickness And In Grief", pierces through the core with a poisoning vocal attack and contrasting operatic female background layers. "Murktide And Midnight Sun" marks folk and Viking reminiscence with its clean and catchy vocal presentation, grand choirs and mystic atmosphere, followed by the heavily stomping "You Bitter Source of Sorrow" and "Where We Dwell" with its haunting, all-consuming keyboard passages. "In Thrall to Ironskull's Heart" showcases the multifaceted character of DARKWOODS MY BETROTHED with an almost balladic start, which evolves into an uptempo, epic journey into the Battle of Napue (1714). The title of the penultimate track "Massacre" conveys the track's musical direction with precision: expect in-your-face blastbeats and gory lyrics. The final song, "Black Fog And Poison Wind", unleashes a sonic monster once more, combining aggression, haunting soundscapes and evil melodies, before "Angel Of Carnage Unleashed" ends with the tunes of a soundtrack-like outro.

"Angel Of Carnage Unleashed" track listing:

01. Name The Dead

02. In Evil, Sickness And In Grief

03. Murktide And Midnight Sun

04. You Bitter Source Of Sorrow

05. Where We Dwell

06. In Thrall To Ironskull's Heart

07. Massacre

08. Black Fog And Poison Wind

09. Outro

DARKWOODS MY BETROTHED is:

Pasi Kankkunen - vocals, guitar

Jouni Mikkonen - guitar

Teemu Kautonen - bass, backing vocals

Tuomas Holopainen - keyboards

Kai Hahto - drums (session)

Photo credit: Antti Ilvonen

JUDAS PRIEST singer Rob Halford spoke to Spain's Mariskal Rock about his decision to go public with his battle with prostate cancer. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "It's in remission. I count my blessings — thanks to God. It was a time when… You know, timing is everything in rock and roll and heavy metal. And, of course, this was going on during the pandemic — the initial stages of the pandemic — so the world was completely closed down. PRIEST would have been on a bit of a hiatus anyway, because we had just been around the world three times with [PRIEST's latest album] 'Firepower', so we were gonna be on a kind of a break although we were writing for the new album. And so I was able to take care of three things, really — promote [my autobiography] 'Confess', do some writing with the band before I came back [home] to Phoenix, and then get this cancer business sorted out."

Rob, who previously mentioned his cancer battle in the new chapter added to the updated paperback edition of "Confess", continued: "It's just a miracle what they can do with health care these days; it's absolutely remarkable. So in my story, my main message is to guys everywhere around the world, when you get to a certain age, it's very important that you get your prostate checked, your bloodwork checked, get a colonoscopy. It's all these things that old blokes like me go, 'Wait, wait, wait.' That's the worst thing to do. So that was part of the reason I wanted to push the message out. And the fact that it's been out for a while anyway — it's been out since last September in the final edition of the 'Confess' paperback — so it was gonna surface anyway."

Halford also touched upon Richie Faulkner's recovery after the PRIEST guitarist suffered an acute cardiac aortic dissection during the band's performance at the Louder Than Life festival in late September. Faulkner was rushed to the UofL Health - Jewish Hospital where the cardiothoracic surgery team needed approximately 10 hours to complete a life-saving surgery.

"Along with my issues and just talking about the way that incredible things have happened in my lifetime with medical science especially, when you think about what Richie has just been through recently and the miracle doctors, surgeons, nurses, everybody that have brought him back to us, these people are just unbelievable," Rob said.

"Everything's relative in life. And you never get through life by yourself; you've always got people with you helping you along the way. The fans have helped PRIEST along the way for our entire 50 years. And in other areas of your life, particularly with your health, people are there ready to help, people are there ready to fix you, to get you released for the road again and do all the things that you wanna do.

"So, yeah, I feel good," Halford added. "I feel positive. Richie feels good. He feels positive. I spoke with him just a couple of days ago. He sounded great on the phone. We had a long chat about the tour and all the things we've gotta do still with PRIEST. The journey never ends."

In "Confess", Halford revealed that he was diagnosed with cancer after experiencing symptoms for at least a couple of years.

"I felt a combination of shock, horror, and oddly, relief — at least now I know!…'Am I going to die?'" he wrote. " It was all I could think of. I know blokes who've died of prostate cancer. 'No, you're not going to die, Rob,' said Dr. Ali."

In July 2020, Rob underwent prostatectomy, an operation where the entire prostate gland is removed plus some of the tissue around it, including the seminal vesicles. After more cancer was found earlier this year, he went through radiation treatments in April and May and eventually got then all-clear in June. He also had an appendectomy after a tumor was discovered on his appendix.

"It's been a draining year, I can't deny it, but I'm delighted to have come through it," Halford wrote in the book. "I feel like I've had the most thorough MOT that a Metal God can have."

The 70-year-old said that his outlook on his cancer battle changed after watching a commercial for the Phoenix Children's hospital. "It showed kids with cancer," he said. "Some only babies. They were lying there, with tubes coming out of them, fighting for their lives. They didn't know what was going on…It made me feel totally ashamed of myself; Rob, how dare you be so selfish? And from that second, I change my entire mental attitude towards my disease."

Halford's cancer battle and Faulkner's acute cardiac aortic dissection are not the only health scares the members of PRIEST have had to deal with in recent years. PRIEST guitarist Glenn Tipton was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease seven years ago — after being stricken by the condition at least half a decade earlier — but announced in early 2018 he was going to sit out touring activities in support of "Firepower". He was replaced by "Firepower" producer Andy Sneap, who is also known for his work in NWOBHM revivalists HELL and cult thrash outfit SABBAT.

"Confess" was released in September 2020 via Hachette Books. It was written with Ian Gittins, co-writer of "The Heroin Diaries" by Nikki Sixx.

EXODUS's Steve "Zetro" Souza talked to The Razor's Edge about his band's decision to postpone the North American leg of its "The Bay Strikes Back Tour" to 2022. The 30-date trek — also featuring TESTAMENT and DEATH ANGEL — was originally scheduled to kick off on October 6 at the Fremont Theater in San Luis Obispo, California and make stops in Austin, New York, and Detroit before concluding on November 27 at The Fox in Oakland.

Speaking about EXODUS's plans to play shows in support of its new album, "Persona Non Grata", which will be released later this month, Zetro said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "I think what we're gonna try to do is do regional stuff. There are areas that in the United States especially that are not necessarily playing by the rules that other places are — the South especially. Florida, Alabama — [I] love you, guys. There's places to go play where the restrictions aren't as stringent as, say, here in California. In California, you cannot go — in San Francisco [and] Oakland, you cannot go to a movie, you cannot go to a concert, you cannot go to anything without showing proof of vaccinations. Not just proof of a negative test — proof of vaccination. So, there's a lot of people torn about the Constitution and 'the government tells us what to do' — there's a lot of that going back and forth.

"For now, we're playing it by ear," he continued. "For now, we're just gonna play it by ear and just hopefully something will pop up. But I think the next actual thing other than… We're gonna play [at the end of November] here in Oakland with 'The Bay Strikes Back Tour'; that was the only thing that was safe. And then the next thing will be April 9th with 'The Bay Strikes Back Tour', unless we do something in January, February, March — which I'm told we are. Again, we're playing it by ear. Who knows? It changes every day."

"The Bay Strikes Back Tour" dates have been rebooked beginning in April and will include additional cities not originally scheduled for the tour.

Earlier this month, Souza railed against the federal and local vaccine mandates that have been implemented across the U.S. over the past few weeks, telling Australia's "Scars And Guitars" podcast: "They're forcing you to get a vaccine. Do we live in a socialist society? What happened to 'my body, my choice'? I don't understand it. And it's not about the vaccine not being effective or whatever; it's about the choice that you're telling me to. We're playing a concert with TESTAMENT and DEATH ANGEL in Oakland, California [at the end of November]. You have to show proof of vaccination to even come in. I think that's socialist right there. That's bullshit. What about people that have AIDS? What if people have Hep C? How come they don't have to show [any kind of proof]…? To me, it's like anything else — why is this all of a sudden [something that] the government can mandate you?"

Souza clarified that he is not denying that COVID-19 exists and he is not denying that it's transmissible. "Yes, it's real. Yes, it kills people," he said. "It's no worse than the flu, though. You can't shut the world down. You can't ruin people's businesses that they built. Little mom-and-pop donut shops, how are they supposed to survive? I'm just using that as an example. My take is you cannot run from something. You need to hit it head-on. And once you hit it head-on, you're gonna beat it. You're gonna beat it. [But instead they are, like], 'Let's keep locking it down. Let's not do it anymore. Let's [postpone] the festivals till next year, and then the next year, and then the next year.' Just do it. What are you gonna do? Hide from this thing your whole life? It's been two years now — two years. It's fucking November. The shit hit in fucking December '19. I know 'cause I was in Europe when it went down. I had to fly home in the beginning of March [2020].

"Get it together, people," he concluded. "I just don't think our governments or our officials or the heads of the world really know what they're doing or know what to do with this. I wish they would just say they don't instead of trying to act like they do."

"Persona Non Grata" will be released on November 19 via Nuclear Blast Records.

A year ago, David Lee Roth included five previously unreleased songs in The Roth Project, an online comic narrated by the legendary VAN HALEN singer, with music from John 5 on guitar and bass, Greg Bissonette on drums, Brett Tuggle on keyboards, and Luis Conte on percussion. The tracks "Giddy-Up!", "Somewhere Over The Rainbow Bar And Grill", "Alligator Pants", "Lo-Rez Sunset" and "Manda Bala" were recorded several years ago at Henson Recording Studios in Hollywood, California.

Asked in a new interview with Darren Paltrowitz — host of the "Paltrocast With Darren Paltrowitz" — if he gets a "notice" every time one of the previously unreleased songs from his Roth sessions is officially made available, John 5 said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "I don't get a notice, which is funny. I just find out on Blabbermouth or something. But there's a song that I just can't wait for Dave to release. It's called 'Nothing Could Have Stopped Us' and it's about VAN HALEN. It's my favorite song that I've ever done with Dave, and it is beautiful. I don't know why he's not releasing that one yet. And I just can't wait for people to hear that one. 'Cause it's about VAN HALEN. It's just absolutely wonderful. I just am really looking forward to him releasing that one."

John 5 went on to talk about the recording sessions for the unreleased Roth record, saying: "We had a great time. We had a blast — a lot of laughs, a lot of fun. I'm just so happy that I had that cool working vibe with Dave that we can just jump into the studio anytime and knock out some songs. And I'm very lucky 'cause not a lot of people get a chance to do that with Dave.

He added: "We were all in there together — I remember we were just all in there together. And that's how it was. We were all just doing it together — kind of like the old days, and he wanted to do it like that. And it really was a lot of fun. We had so much fun doing it. And it's one of my fondest memories."

This past August, John 5 told AL.com that the rest of the unreleased Roth record is in the same vein as the songs that have come out, which have a singer/songwriter sound. "[Dave] wanted to do this kind of a more California sessions type of thing," the guitarist explained. "And he's such an artist, I was, like, 'Whatever you want to do, I'm there for you.' So it is that kind of vibe. But there's a lot of multi tracks and different acoustic parts that all work together. It's kind of orchestrated, if you will."

John 5 got his first big break playing on Roth's solo album, "DLR Band", before landing stints with Marilyn Manson and now Rob Zombie. His latest sessions with the iconic VAN HALEN frontman apparently took place at least seven years ago, with John 5 unveiling a snippet of the album during an interview with Masters Of Shred back in May 2019.

Two years ago, Roth was asked by Meltdown of the Detroit radio station WRIF if his LP with John 5 will be made available at some point. He responded: "It will. There's been a revision of things, and I can start making real plans and start marching into the future. And, of course, you'll start hearing that material. This is material that we wrote variously for me solo and for VAN HALEN, and it's quite a bank of stuff."

Roth, who was promoting his Las Vegas residency at the time, didn't offer a possible time frame for the release of the record, explaining that his priority was "getting out on the road first. Let's see the band, let's show ourselves off, let's travel all over the world."

Back in 2015, John 5 told Guitar Player magazine that the sessions for his latest Roth album were remarkably relaxed. "I would just go to his house and I'd write these songs with him, and he would say, 'Let's go into the studio,'" John 5 explained. "So he would go to Henson studio and record these songs. They came out… They're so good. They're so good. And we've got Gregg Bissonette playing drums on it, and I played the bass, and they're really great songs."

The guitarist said that Roth's vocals on the album sound "like nothing you've ever heard. It's old VAN HALEN — sounds like 'Could This Be Magic?' or anything like that. It's just that sound, that tone."

In a 2014 interview, John 5 described the LP as "11 of the greatest songs you'll ever hear, and it's just me and Dave, and we had Gregg Bissonette play drums on it. And it's unbelievable," he said. "You know, just great, great songs."

Chris Holmes says that W.A.S.P. became all about frontman Blackie Lawless in the years after the release of the band's classic debut album.

Holmes joined W.A.S.P. in 1982 and remained with the group until 1990. In 1996, the guitarist returned to W.A.S.P. and stayed with the band until 2001. Chris has not played with W.A.S.P. since.

Holmes discussed his tenure with W.A.S.P. in a brand new interview with TotalRock Radio. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Blackie, while I was in the band, made some really bad decisions — really bad decisions — that killed the band.

"I've known him since I was 18, 17 — when he supposedly got done playing with the [NEW YORK] DOLLS or whatever; I knew him them. And not in my farthest dream could I think in the first album that that would have happened with him. It got so unbearably about him than anything else. It was radical. The band was four people when it started; that's what made us. And then with Tony [Richards, drummer] gone; [Blackie] has to be on the cover [of W.A.S.P.'s second album, 1985's 'The Last Command']. His idol was Muhammad Ali. And that's only one person; it's not a team. That's what he wants. On the road, he's made some bad decisions. And I even would tell him about it, and he wouldn't listen to me.

"W.A.S.P. could have been a good band if he could have kept all the people together. I guess it's a good band now."

Holmes went on to say that he learned "a lot of things" from playing in W.A.S.P. However, he is quick to point out: "If I would have understood what was going on in the beginning, about what happens after a record is done and what happens in between — you record it and it goes out from the label, what they do — if I would have known what goes on there, I would have only done one album. That's it. I would have said, 'Fuck you. I'm not doing it that way.' But I didn't know. And if you're not told there's a meeting, well, you don't go to the meeting, right?"

Earlier this year, Holmes told SiriusXM's "Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk" that W.A.S.P. was "a group, a band" on the first LP. "And after that, the second album, it wasn't a group — it was a one-man show," he said. "And it's been a one-man show after that ever since. It's the way it is. Look at the records. It's the way it is in that band.

"W.A.S.P. never played any shows until I was in the band, so where does a band start — when they record or when they do their first show?" he continued. "I came in before the first show, and it was 'one for all, all for one.' But then when money came into it and fame, people changed — they change real bad. And I never changed. I don't change. I haven't changed the way I think, the way I am. I'm not gonna change. I am what I am.

"During the [making of the] second [album], I was told the manager wants to use Blackie's [Lawless, W.A.S.P. frontman] image [on the cover], which the manager didn't tell me that — Blackie told me that."

According to Chris, he, guitarist Randy Piper, drummer Tony Richards and Blackie were all part of W.A.S.P. initial management contract, but Blackie was the only one signed to the record label. "Everybody thinks we [all] signed to the label, but it wasn't [like that]," Holmes told "Trunk Nation".

"I never learned about the business till about 10 years ago," he explained. "How do you learn about the business? You've gotta be in there with the manager and all that stuff, so I was always kept from that… I put my trust into somebody, and [I found out later that he was] sticking a knife in my back. I didn't find that out until 2010 or '11.

"Once [W.A.S.P.] became [all about] one person, [my attitude was] 'Hey, I'll just do my thing, and leave me alone. I'll play my guitar.'"

Despite the fact that he only got songwriting credit on a a couple of the songs on each of the first four W.A.S.P. records, Holmes was adamant that his input was essential to the band's overall sound.

"If I would have quit after the first album, the way I play guitar, the way I play is really important to writing those songs," he told "Trunk Nation".

"If I hadn't joined in the beginning, it would have never worked. Blackie told me that the first day, when he came and talked to me to play in W.A.S.P. He says, 'I've got this band. It's not gonna work unless you're in it.' He told me that to my face."

In October 2020, Chris said that he would never consider returning to W.A.S.P. unless Lawless agreed to pay him the publishing royalties that he allegedly owes him. He told Canada's The Metal Voice: "A lot of people think I made money from W.A.S.P. I've never gotten my royalties, or even my songwriting. All the stuff that I wrote, I've never gotten paid one penny. And you know whose fault it is? It's my my fault for not knowing the business, how it is. I trusted somebody.

"After every album, when the album is done, how they split up the publishing with the publishing contracts, the publishing companies — that's where the money comes from," he continued. "I was never told about when that meeting was. Because the other guys in the band never wrote — I was the only one [other than Blackie]. So I'm the only one that they have to screw over to get all the publishing. So I was never told. Then when I dug into it in about 2006 or [2007], I went into Sanctuary Music, had a lawyer go in to find out where all my publishing is, and I was written in as a session player into all the records. And if you don't know about it, and you're not told, and you don't see, you don't know. So I trusted Blackie Lawless about that. And when I found out, it really kind of yanked me wrong. It yanks me wrong — it makes me see he was sticking a knife in my back from the first day, from the first album, and not telling me, and being my best friend."

During a November 2017 press conference in Moscow, Russia, Lawless was asked what he would say to those W.A.S.P. fans who continue to call for the band to reunite with Holmes. He responded: "People get divorced for certain reasons, and there's times when the kids want the parents to get back together, but sometimes it never happens. And this is one of those [times]. Sorry."

Open Road Films has acquired worldwide rights to horror comedy "Studio 666", starring Dave Grohl, Taylor Hawkins, Nate Mendel, Pat Smear, Chris Shiflett and Rami Jaffee. The all-star cast also includes Whitney Cummings, Leslie Grossman, Will Forte, Jenna Ortega and Jeff Garlin. The film, directed by BJ McDonnell, is set for a wide domestic theatrical release in more than 2,000 theatres on February 25, 2022. The film's international release date will be announced soon.

The announcement was made by Open Road's Tom Ortenberg and FOO FIGHTERS.

In "Studio 666", the legendary rock band FOO FIGHTERS move into an Encino mansion steeped in grisly rock and roll history to record their much-anticipated 10th album. Once in the house, Dave Grohl finds himself grappling with supernatural forces that threaten both the completion of the album and the lives of the band.

"After decades of ridiculous music videos and numerous music documentaries under our collective belts, it was finally time to take it to the next level… A full-length feature horror comedy film," said Grohl. "Like most things FOO, 'Studio 666' began with a far-fetched idea that blossomed into something bigger than we ever imagined possible. Filmed at the same house where we recorded our latest album 'Medicine At Midnight' (told you that place was haunted!), we wanted to recapture the classic magic that all of our favorite rock and roll movies had, but with a twist: hilarious gore that fucking ROCKS. And now, with the help of Tom Ortenberg and the team at Open Road Films, we can finally let this cat out of the bag after keeping it our best-kept secret for two years. Be ready to laugh, scream, and headbang in your popcorn. 'Studio 666' will fuck you up."

"We couldn't be more excited to team up with FOO FIGHTERS for a movie sure to make audiences scream and laugh," said Ortenberg. "The FOOs bring their comedic chemistry and the musical talent we all love to the big screen in this hysterical horror film."

Commented McDonnell: "'Studio 666' is a perfect combination of all things I love. Rock, horror, and comedy all tied together in a very thrilling motion picture. I am so excited to have teamed up with the FOO FIGHTERS to create an old school 'band' movie. It's been years since we've seen something like THE BEATLES 'Help!', THE MONKEES 'Head', or 'Kiss Meets The Phantom Of The Park'. Take that '60s / '70s old-school band film fun, mix it with horror and 'Studio 666' is born! I am so ecstatic for audiences of film and music to come together and enjoy our film."

"Over the past decade we have had the good fortune to collaborate with FOO FIGHTERS on a variety of great projects," said producers John Ramsay and James A. Rota. "Whether it be documentary films, TV series or music videos, they always bring their great talents and legendary sense of humor. 'Studio 666' takes this to a whole new level and we couldn't be more proud of this movie. We can't wait to share it with the world."

Based on a story by Grohl and screenplay by Jeff Buhler and Rebecca Hughes, "Studio 666" is produced by Roswell Films' and Therapy Studios' John Ramsay and James A. Rota. Executive producers are John Silva, Kristen Welsh, John Cutcliffe, Gaby Skolnek, Dave Grohl, Nate Mendel, Taylor Hawkins, Pat Smear, Chris Shiflett, Rami Jaffee, James Masciello, Matthew Sidari, Mitchell Zhang and Tom Ortenberg.

The deal was negotiated by Tom Ortenberg and Matthew Sidari on behalf of Open Road Films and by WME Independent on behalf of the filmmakers.

For lovers of Candlemass and Black Sabbath, the new video from Arkenstone, entitled “Tree Of Witches,” reanimates souls of a million passed to deliver a skull crushing song of epic proportions - which is the second clip overall issued from their forthcoming EP, Ascension Of The Fallen, out December 3. Watch the video below.





The Australian based band features the incredible talent of singer Louie Gorgievski, guitarist/producer Stu Marshall (Death Dealer, Dungeon,  Night Legion), Mike Lepond (Symphony X, Death Dealer) on bass, and drummer Clay T (Night Legion).




As Marshall explains: "There is no doubt Candlemass has been a huge influence and in turn that must also mean Black Sabbath, right? Well, ‘Tree of Witches’ was one of the first riffs I presented to Louie and he conjured some incredibly powerful vocals that instantly found itself as the first song we wrote together for this band. It's dark, evil, and a headbanger.”


Gorgievski adds: “This is the track that reignited our song writing partnership and essentially is the creation of Arkenstone. ‘Tree of Witches’ is the foundation of the ‘Ascension of the Fallen’ EP. It inspired power, emotion, and delves in the dark realms of witchcraft. Stu Marshall’s musical genius delivers a timeless and riffy classic – ‘Tree of Witches’ presents as the ultimate rock anthem”.


The EP comes with a huge label sampler disc as a special bonus and is available for pre-order here.





Tracklisting:


"Ascension Of The Fallen"
"Tree Of Witches"
"Lord Impaler"
"The Arkenstone"


"Tree Of Witches" lyric video:





"Ascension Of The Fallen" lyric video:

After THE CULT recorded 2001's "Beyond Good And Evil" album, the band broke up and singer Ian Astbury performed with Ray Manzarek and Robby Krieger in THE DOORS OF THE 21ST CENTURY, which was later renamed RIDERS ON THE STORM. Asked in a new interview with Tigman of the WPDH radio station in Poughkeepsie, New York if there is a chance he might work with Astbury again, Krieger said: "I'd like to. I've actually recorded some stuff with him, and we haven't put it out yet, but we're thinking about it.

"[Ian] was really great to work with — except every night, we're at the show, we're ready to go on, and there's Ian ironing his clothes before the show," Robby added. "He was late every show. 'Wait, I have to iron my shirt.'"

In a 2016 interview with Newsweek, Astbury stated about his collaboration with THE DOORS: "Working with them was huge. Ray Manzarek is grounded in classically trained piano and jazz. With them, you see the influence of jazz and space. They weren't really working for a radio format [in THE DOORS]. A lot of artists coming up write the work for the format available. They were free to express themselves on a much broader canvas, and space is very important for that. I think when you create space, you create more dynamics, more awareness."

Two years ago, THE DOORS drummer John Densmore told Daily Camera that balked at Krieger and Manzarek touring with Astbury and THE POLICE drummer Stewart Copeland as THE DOORS OF THE 21ST CENTURY and using late DOORS singer Jim Morrison's image to promote shows.

"That's when," Densmore said, "I made the very difficult decision to sue my bandmates for running off with the name. My premise was, THE DOORS without Jim is ludicrous, just as ludicrous as THE POLICE without Sting, THE [ROLLING] STONES without Mick [Jagger]."

The court eventually sided with Densmore, and Manzarek and Krieger adopted the name D21C.

Densmore's case against his fellow surviving members of THE DOORS — and their $40-million counter-suit against him — was the basis of Densmore's 2013 book "The Doors Unhinged: Jim Morrison's Legacy Goes On Trial".

Last month, Krieger published his memoir, "Set The Night On Fire: Living, Dying, And Playing Guitar With The Doors". It follows two previous tomes from Densmore (1991's "Riders On The Storm" and the aforementioned "The Doors Unhinged") and another by Manzarek (1998's "Light My Fire").

Manzarek died in 2013 of cancer of the bile duct. Densmore later revealed that he and the iconic keyboard player had a chance to reconcile before his death. Since Manzarek's passing, Densmore and Krieger have also reconciled, and they've even performed together.

Threads Of Fate, featuring Redemption keyboardist Vikram Shankar, will release their first full-length album, The Cold Embrace Of The Light, which is to be released on March 11th 2022 via Layered Reality Productions. The first single and music video for the title track of the album was released on October 31st. 


The band has checked in with the following update:


"Our lead single,'The Cold Embrace Of The Light' has been out for one week now! Let us know what you think of the song in the comments, and make sure to listen if you haven't already on YouTube and Bandcamp. Check out the beautiful lyric video created by our friends at Layered Reality Productions and pre-order our upcoming album and donate to help make The Cold Embrace Of The Light" possible! Many thanks to all who have shown us love so far, and more music to come soon.




Below you will find the link to our brand new website and webstore, where you may pre-order the album as well as other merchandise. Pre-orders go directly towards the manufacturing and production costs of the album and merchandise, so pre-order now!


There will also be a donation option in the webstore. All who donate, please contact Jon Pyres via Facebook to receive other cool stuff from the band as a thank you!"


- US pre-order
- Europe pre-order





Tracklist:


"Beneath A Starless Sky"
"Moonrise"
"A Ghostly Portrait" 
"The Horrors Within" 
"Against The Shores of Le Monde" 
"The Cold Embrace of The Light"
"Love Held Hands With Hatred" 
"Ashes"


"The Cold Embrace Of The Light"





Photo by Kyle Finlan Photography

The Haunted guitarist Ola Englund has shared a new video to his Youtube channel, this time featuring himself learning how to play Behemoth's "Ov Fire And The Void". Check it out below.





Englund released his second solo album, Starzinger, earlier this year. Mixed and mastered by Clawfinger’s Jocke Skog, Starzinger follows-up Englund’s debut solo album, Master Of The Universe, released in early 2018 and features Delta Empire on drums along with a number of guest appearances, including guitar virtuoso Jeff Loomis (Arch Enemy, Nevermore).




Check out a playthrough video of "Balegmah" from the album featuring Loomis in action.





Portraying the artwork of Costin Chioreanu (Paradise Lost, At The Gates, Emperor), Starzinger sees Englund merging influences of prog with '80s rock and metal.





Tracklist:


"Stars & Ponies"
"Cringy AF"<
"Space Invaders"
"Demon(etized)"
"Bane of Skeletor"
"Bluesy McBluesface"
"Balegmah"
"Sun & The Moon"
"A Bid Farewell"


Stream Starzinger in full below:





"I’m extremely excited to see the release of my second solo album Starzinger, this album being a little bit more metal oriented than my first Master Of The Universe album. It’s a weird feeling because it’s basically just showing the current state of me and where I am in life. Hoping that the people that follow what I do can see the parallels. This one is for you," says Englund about this new effort.


With over 300K subscribers on his tech/music Youtube channel, over the last few years, Ola Englund has also built a strong reputation in the music scene by playing in several bands, most prominently in Feared and The Haunted. Just recently Englund also founded his own guitar company called Solar Guitars, which was meet with great success and currently sponsors artists like Exhorder, The Haunted and At The Gates.

SHINEDOWN has completed recording and mixing its seventh studio album for an early 2022 release. The follow-up to 2018's "Attention Attention" was recorded in part at a new studio in Charleston, South Carolina spearheaded by the group's bassist and producer Eric Bass.

SHINEDOWN frontman Brent Smith offered an update on the new LP's recording sessions in an interview with Rock Titan TV. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "I can tell everybody right now, 'cause people have been asking about it. So SHINEDOWN 7 is completed. We're finishing up a couple of things as far as the mastering is concerned with our boy Ted Jensen, who's a mastering engineer in Nashville. So we've got a couple of tweaks here and there, but you're gonna get a new SHINEDOWN record [in] early 2022.

This past August, Smith said that the first single from SHINEDOWN's seventh studio album would arrive in January 2022.

In September 2020, Smith told the KLOS radio show "Whiplash" that he and Bass were looking to make a more organic-sounding album this time around. "We've kind of proven that we can make these very large records, these very cinematic, orchestrated records with this wall of sound," he said. "What we wanna try to do with this album is we do want to hone it back down to drums, bass, guitar and vocals and the best songs that we can write and the freshest songs we can write with the most tenacity and the most ferociousness that we can express. So I don't think this time around we're going to necessarily look at the handbook of, 'Let's layer this record like we've layered other records, and let's keep adding to it so that it grows.' I think more the idea of big mono on this album, it's more about stereo and putting all of the sonics down the middle. But you don't have a hundred tracks on a song; you don't take a 22-piece orchestra and bring it in there. We've done that, and we've done those kinds of records, and we love those records, and we love that sound, but I think what we wanna do with this next record is we really want to focus on being a four-piece band, and let's see if we can peel the paint off of the walls with just the fury of the four of us in a room."

Last month, SHINEDOWN announced its 2022 North American tour, "Shinedown Live In Concert". Kicking off in San Francisco on January 26, the upcoming 22-date outing will see the acclaimed quartet travel throughout the West Coast, Canada, and more, with stops in Los Angeles, Phoenix, Denver, Las Vegas, Seattle, Calgary, Toronto, and Montreal. POP EVIL and AYRON JONES will support on select dates.

SHINEDOWN's film "Attention Attention", a cinematic experience of the band's 2018 studio album of the same name, premiered worldwide in September.