METALLICA's Lars Ulrich, BLACK SABBATH's Tony Iommi, IRON MAIDEN, SAXON, FEAR FACTORY's Dino Cazares and Doro Pesch are among the heavy metal musicians who have reacted on social media to the passing of longtime music journalist Malcolm Dome. The veteran U.K. writer died over the weekend at the age of 66.

Dome has written about rock and heavy metal since 1979. In addition to publishing several books on such artists as AC/DC, METALLICA and LED ZEPPELIN he had contributed to a number of magazines, including Record Mirror, Metal Hammer, Kerrang! and Classic Rock.

Dome is credited with inventing the term "thrash metal" while writing about the ANTHRAX song "Metal Thrashing Mad" in February 1984. Up until that point, bands like ANTHRAX and METALLICA had referred to their sound as "power metal." Malcolm also provided a sleeve notes for various reissues, including those by German thrashers KREATOR, whose frontman Mille Petrozza wrote: "Shocked to hear about Malcolm Dome’s passing today. Malcolm wrote all liner notes for the recent @kreatorofficial reissues, including 'Enemy Of God' and 'Hordes Of Chaos', still on the horizon. We talked on Skype for hours and Malcolm knew more about my band's past, than I could remember myself. He was a true music lover and one of the funniest people out there. Working with Malcolm never felt like actual work."

Ulrich said: "Extremely sad to hear of Malcolm Dome's passing. Not only was he an incredible talent who helped guide my relationship with heavy music, but he was also a great person. Today, I'm thinking of the fun, memorable times we spent together back in the day."

Iommi wrote: "Malcolm was a lovely guy, he interviewed me many times and was always positive about the music. He was one of the first journalists to totally get metal. We even worked together last year when he helped me sort out my Wikipedia entry. Sadly missed."

In 1980, Malcolm co-wrote the book "Encyclopedia Metallica", which some believe served as the inspiration for the METALLICA band name.




Words cannot express how sorry I feel to hear about the passing of Malcolm Dome. Rest In Peace. God Bless

— Ozzy Osbourne (@OzzyOsbourne) November 1, 2021








Extremely sad to hear of Malcolm Dome’s passing. Not only was he an incredible talent who helped guide my relationship with heavy music, but he was also a great person. Today, I’m thinking of the fun, memorable times we spent together back in the day. https://t.co/9chlIVjSMm

— Lars Ulrich (@larsulrich) November 1, 2021








So sad to hear of the passing of Malcolm Dome, one of rock and metal's great journalists. It was always a pleasure giving interviews and generally having a chat. RIP Malcolm, you will be missed. pic.twitter.com/cmNGQ6bedp

— Geezer Butler (@geezerbutler) November 2, 2021








Malcolm was a lovely guy, he interviewed me many times and was always positive about the music. He was one of the first journalists to totally get metal. We even worked together last year when he helped me sort out my Wikipedia entry. Sadly missed. - Tonyhttps://t.co/Te8hippkxB

— Tony Iommi (@tonyiommi) November 1, 2021








We are all very much saddened and shocked to hear about the passing of our friend Malcolm Dome. He was fearless, intrepid, passionate and forthright as a journalist and latterly a broadcaster and we respected him immensely. pic.twitter.com/NMRWqGT1zV

— Iron Maiden (@IronMaiden) November 1, 2021








Sad to hear about the passing of Malcolm Dome. He was such an important figure for all things rock and metal and championed so many bands over the years. RIP Malcolm https://t.co/Ogy4HSr7Eb

— Mötley Crüe (@MotleyCrue) November 2, 2021








"Very very sad news regarding the passing of iconic metal journalist Malcolm Dome today... a tireless promoter of so many bands .. ourselves included... and a genuine good guy" @official_raven https://t.co/ZJQ7aDTvCJ

— Raven (@official_raven) November 1, 2021








RIP to the great Malcolm Dome. He helped spread the word on us when MA first started and had this to say about our debut album "...one of the year’s best metal albums” in his @ClassicRockMag reivew back in 2015. After all, Malcolm did coin the term "thrash metal" pic.twitter.com/kowVSewtNP

— Metal Allegiance (@metalallegiance) November 1, 2021








I'm #so #sorry to hear of the #passing of #MalcolmDome. He was one of my best journalist friends. We knew each other since the early 80s. He was always so supportive & kind to me. I will miss you terribly. Keep on rocking in heaven.

???????

Love, Doro#doropesch#warlock pic.twitter.com/NX41q8Ta6w

— DORO (@DoroOfficial) November 1, 2021








I am deeply saddened to hear of the passing of Malcolm Dome. I have known Malcolm well over 30 years from the early days of The Almighty right up to the present day. He was a fine journalist and a fine human being. Condolences to Malcolm’s family. Rest easy mate.

— RICKY WARWICK ? (@rickywarwick) November 1, 2021








So sad to see Malcolm Dome has left us. He was an amazing writer, a passionate supporter of UK rock music and a great sport, even after we trashed his desk at the Kerrang! offices.

Another very dark day for UK rock music. I will miss him so much. ?

— Ginger Wildheart (@GingerWildheart) November 1, 2021






Very sorry to here that Malcolm Dome has left us. He was a champion of great rock music and a supporter of ⁦@myMotorhead⁩ all the way through to ⁦@PCATBS⁩. RIP Malcolm. https://t.co/C6v5F2eSqg

— Phil Campbell (@MotorheadPhil) November 1, 2021








We are saddened to hear of the passing of our friend Malcolm Dome.

Malcolm was a great supporter of Saxon, and will be missed by all.

Our sympathies to his family and friends in this terrible time.

Saxon https://t.co/RPHO3v6z0Z

— Saxon (@SaxonOfficial) November 1, 2021








Extremely sad to hear about the passing of legendary journalist/writer Malcolm Dome. He was a lovely, gentle man and time spent with him was always time well spent. We'll all miss him, a huge loss to the music world.

— THERAPY? (@therapyofficial) November 1, 2021








Today we lost another legend, Malcolm Dome is a great journalist who’s written many stories on Fear Factory since 1992 R.I.P. pic.twitter.com/BsJYFi0xBK

— Dino Cazares (@DinoCazares) November 1, 2021








R.I.P. #MalcolmDome. One of great rock journalists of his time. I first met him in ‘90 and we did countless interviews over the years. Last saw him for an Arch Enemy interview in 2017. I always enjoyed our talks, the man REALLY knew his stuff… A sad day for Rock’N’Roll this. pic.twitter.com/xDxGpw1QCS

— ??????? ????? (@Michael_Amott) November 1, 2021








Shit. RIP Malcolm Dome. ?

— Devin Townsend (@dvntownsend) November 1, 2021








Saddened to hear of the passing of Malcolm Dome. I’ve done countless interviews with him throughout the 30+ years we’ve known each other and always enjoyed our discussions. RIP Malcolm ? pic.twitter.com/uwJddSPv1E

— Mike Portnoy ? (@MikePortnoy) November 1, 2021








Thank you and goodnight to Malcolm Dome. He was the first journalist to ever write about Thunder and a thoroughly nice bloke who genuinely cared about rock music.

— LukeMorley1 (@luzmor01) November 1, 2021








Very sad to hear about the passing of Malcolm Dome. Apart from his incredible knowledge of everything metal, he was also behind @OfficialPL right from the beginning, and always pleasant company to hang out with on our frequent weekend trips to London in the early '90s.

— ???? ?????? (@NickHolmesPL) November 1, 2021








Long time friend and Twisted Sister champion #MalcolmDome has just died. His liner notes are in many TS albums including our new release called #tearitloose. incredible loss of a champion of the metal community. RIP Mr. Dome

— Jay Jay French (@jayjayfrench) November 1, 2021








So sorry to hear of the passing of Malcolm Dome.

I knew Malcolm for forty plus years, he loved his music, was an accomplished writer and a fervent football man, so we had a lot in common.

I, and all he knew, mourn him. My deepest condolences to his family & many friends. RIP. ❤️ pic.twitter.com/i9gw7jnKjk

— Bernie Marsden (@Bernie_Marsden) November 1, 2021








R.I.P. Malcolm Dome. Legendary rock journalist https://t.co/t5zIX6v6Ul

— Gus G. (@gusgofficial) November 1, 2021








The man who invented the term thrash metal & most importantly, a dear friend, has passed away. A genuinely kind person with an encyclopedic mind for metal & a true legend. Rest In Power Malcolm Dome. Sending love to all who had the pleasure to know him ? https://t.co/WsLsKTdUKL

— Nuclear Blast Records (@nuclearblast) November 1, 2021








Malcolm Dome RIP. Really saddened by this news. We are forever grateful that Malcolm embraced and supported our label in the early days, and offered support and kind advice. A top journalist and fine fellow, he will be missed. https://t.co/ziI5X2vi6P #malcolmdomeRIP

— Earache Records ♠️ (@EaracheRecords) November 1, 2021








We are extremely sad to report the passing of our dear friend and colleague Malcolm Dome. He was a legend in the rock music world, a great writer and rock DJ, Malcolm's passion for music was boundless and his positive energy filled the lives of those of us close to him. pic.twitter.com/Gwv7H5ErMX

— [email protected] (@RockCandyMag) November 1, 2021








I never met Malcolm Dome, but whenever he was in a music doc I liked his views on things. Sounds like he was a good one.

— Jay Ruston (@jayruston) November 1, 2021








Malcolm Dome was one of the kindest people I've ever met. He always had time for people -- a generous giant of heavy metal, a good man and a real friend. The word legend is overused and for him it is inadequate. I wish I could summon better words but I will miss him dearly.

— Alexander Milas (@alexandermilas) November 1, 2021








Probably the hardest thing I've ever had to write. I shall miss my dear friend terribly but am thankful that I am left with over 30 years of amazing memories of this unique and wonderful man... https://t.co/uRwo4FXmlX

— Jerry Ewing (@TheJerryEwing) November 1, 2021








One of my favourite people. One of my favourite guests. One hell of a hole to fill. Sometimes when you've known someone so long, 30 years, you take them for granted. Not Malcolm, I always treasured our time together.

Miss you already mate #MalcolmDome pic.twitter.com/QczSgiHOAF

— TalkingBollocks (@TalkingBollockz) November 1, 2021








I'm sad to hear about the passing of legendary British rock journalist Malcolm Dome. He was only 66. We got connected through our weekly phone calls for @TotalRockOnline and later "The Art Of Metal" book. He loved heavy rock and enjoyed what he did. He lived for the music! R.I.P. pic.twitter.com/uP4HwTkeFO

— Bryan Reesman (@BryanReesman) November 1, 2021








Ah hell, RIP Malcolm Dome. Malcolm was one of the metal journalists I revered in my early life. Later he contributed to a couple of my books and I spent a couple of my best nights ever sucking down Jagermeister at the bar in the Crobar with him. Terrific journalist and a good man pic.twitter.com/niXe7U6vf0

— mark eglinton (@MarkEglinton) November 1, 2021








I hope he didn't die alone. He lived so much of his life alone, it was the first thing that went through my mind when I got the news. I hope someone was with him... BLOG: Malcolm Dome Is Dead https://t.co/9Z9vl7dmnW

— Mick Wall (@WallMick) November 1, 2021








We are sad to hear of the death of music journalist Malcolm Dome. A pioneering rock & heavy metal writer, we enjoyed working with him & relied on his encyclopaedic knowledge of music. He always had a kind word to say about CR & we'll miss him very much.

https://t.co/KizfNCNRCk pic.twitter.com/hcaggNvKiy

— Cherry Red Records (@CherryRedGroup) November 1, 2021








Listen up. Without Malcolm Dome, metal and metal journalism as you know it would not exist. #RIP #legend https://t.co/OSa1Q8GFU0

— Prosthetic Records (@ProstheticRcds) November 1, 2021








I'm so very sorry to hear that Malcolm Dome, one of my very favourite rock journalism colleagues, has passed away. Will write more about the legend that is Malcolm, once I've gathered my thoughts.

— Jason Arnopp - Ghoster and Jack Sparks author ? (@JasonArnopp) November 1, 2021




























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Exodus frontman Steve "Zetro" Souza recently spoke with Heavy New York about the band's new album, Persona Non Grata. he also looked back on the band's Good Friendly Violent Fun live album, which is celebrating its 30th Anniversary this year


On the band's 1989 tour for Fabulous Disaster


Zetro: "There were no rules - none - and we thought we were invincible. I shit you not, it was like... I would get a call from Gary (Holt / guitars): 'Guess what we're going to go do...?' One of those types of things. 




I remember one time we had to go to Cabo Wabo and play this four-day thing, and all we had to do was just play one set and show up for four days and go to all these cool events that fans pay to go to, to hang out with you. And I was like, 'Oh my god, come on, mom, give me a break, I'm flying to fucking Mexico. I'm 26 years old but getting paid for fans to hang out with me, I have to play one set, get fucked up, party, screw everything in fucking sight, oh my god!' That was the time period, and it was just one of those things... I would never change it for the world, but I don't know how the fuck we survived.


I remember the road manager going, it was the dawn of AIDS, and I remember him putting a fucking huge case of Trojans condoms up in the cabinet in the bus: 'Look, you fucking morons, make sure if you're going to slap it, wrap it. They're all fucking right here, use them, and I mean it, you idiots. You fucking guys want to fuck these girls, you go put these on your dicks - I mean it!' It was funny, and we had a name for him; we called him Johnny. We were like, 'Give me a Johnny, go on the bus and get a fucking Johnny and go do it.' It was a different mentality."








Literally translating to “an unwelcome” or “unacceptable” person, Persona Non Grata touches on themes of modern societal disgust and degradation. The band gathered at Tom Hunting's house in the mountains where they produced and recorded Persona Non Grata from three home-built studios . Steve Lagudi was at the helm of engineering while the band enlisted Andy Sneap of Backstage Studios to mix the album. For the third time in the band’s history, they returned to Swedish artist Par Olofsson to create the album artwork.





Persona Non Grata will be available in the following formats:


- CD Jewel + Blu-ray Bonus Disc (Jam Camp!)
- T-Shirt + CD Jewel + Blu-ray Bonus Disc (Jam Camp!)
- T-Shirt
- Cassette – Tinted Red
- CD Jewel + Blu-ray Bonus Disc (Jam Camp!) Long Box (Decibel Magazine Exclusive)
- Double LP
 * Black
 * Red & Mustard Swirl W/ Black Splatter
 * Electric Blue W/ Black & Bone
 * Gold & Bone Swirl W. Black and Mint Green Splatter
 * Green in Mustard W/ Red Splatter
 * Mint Green & Brown W/ Cyan Splatter (EMP Exclusive)
 * Purple & Yellow Swirl W/ Mint Green & Bone Splatter (UK Indie Exclusive)
 * Bone & Beer Swirl W/ Red & Brown Splatter (Revolver Magazine Exclusive)
 * Red & Mustard Swirl W/ Black Splatter (Rebellion Republic Exclusive)
 * Blue Swirl W/ Bone * Black Splatter (U.S. Indie Exclusive)
- Mail Order Boxset – Limited to 2,000 pieces worldwide
 * Orange, Red Swirl W/ Black Splatter
 * 20 page booklet
 * Slipmat
 * CD + Blu-ray Bonus Disc
 * Patch
 * Flag


Pre-order here. Pre-save here.





Tracklisting:


"Persona Non Grata"
"R.E.M.F."
"Slipping Into Madness"
"Elitist"
"Prescribing Horror"
"The Beatings Will Continue (Until Morale Improves)"
"The Years of Death and Dying"
"Clickbait"
"Cosa Del Pantano"
"Lunatic-Liar-Lord"
"The Fires of Division"
"Antiseed"


"Clickbait" lyric video:





"The Beatings Will Continue (Until Morale Improves)":





"The Beatings Will Continue (Until Morale Improves)" video:

SEPULTURA has just released "Sepulnation: The Studio Albums 1998-2009", which celebrates the Derrick Green era of the band. A five-album box set (across eight slabs of vinyl or five CDs), it contains the albums "Against", "Nation", "Roorback", "Dante XXI" and "A-Lex", all of which are half speed cut, remastered and back on 180-gram vinyl for the first time in a decade and also as a collector's CD box. In addition, the "Roorback" album features the rare "Revolusongs" EP, which is available for the first time digitally and saw the band celebrate their influences with covers of bands as musically broad as DEVO, EXODUS, U2 and MASSIVE ATTACK.

Speaking to V13.net about his first impressions of Brazil shortly before he officially joined SEPULTURA in 1998, Derrick said: "It was incredible. I'd never been to Brazil. I knew nothing about the culture [or] the language. I didn't have any Brazilian friends. I didn't know anything about it. I was completely ignorant [of] Brazil. I probably even thought that they spoke Spanish there, [like] a lot of people assumed. But I went to the library, got out a few books, because there was no real Internet at the time. I had my library card. I was, like, 'Okay, let me see what this place is about.' And it didn't do it justice. It didn't really exist in my mind until I was actually able to set foot in the country and meet people and start to talk to them. And then the realization of what this place is about started to brew in my head. And then, after living there for 20 years, it radically changed my view of Brazil."

He continued: "From the first time being there, where I didn't really live there, and I was just getting interactions with people who were super fans of SEPULTURA, which was the whole country, it semed. And walking around with [the guys in SEPULTURA] and everyone recognizing them and honking their horns and asking for autographs all the time, that was a trip. I was, like, 'Oh my God. These guys are getting…' I didn't know that, because, again, there was no Internet or anything; it was just, like, I had to be there. Then, [after] moving there, that started happening to me. 'Cause it had been a few years; people started to know, like, 'Okay, this is the new face of SEPULTURA.' So I had to adjust my life [to] getting recognized and kind of analyzed every time I went out of the house. And that takes some getting used to. I never imagined that; I never thought that would be my life. So it was rough. I have to say I was a little depressed because I'm not that type of person. I kind of like to be the fly on the wall and kind of check everything out. So, I was, like, 'Oh, man. I don't wanna draw any attention,' but it was impossible not to. [I'm this huge guy], like, 6'3 with dreads and tattoos. And they were just, like, 'You're huge. It's impossible not to see that's you from over there.' So that drew attention as well — just the way that I looked, and not only being in the band. But it was every day. [And] the majority of the time, [the reaction from the people was] positive, positive, positive — I mean, 99 percent of the time. Brazil was a place that always kept its faith in SEPULTURA with all the changes that happened. They always wanted to see the best for the band because [SEPULTURA is] such a strong representation of Brazil outside of Brazil."

Despite being Brazil's biggest-ever heavy music export, when SEPULTURA lost its original frontman and founder Max Cavalera in 1996, and Max's brother and drummer Igor Cavalera in 2006, many thought the band would not recover from their departures. However, in Cleveland, Ohio punk and hardcore scene veteran Green, SEPULTURA found a formidable, towering force that would lead the band with power and conviction through this new era of their career.

Any fans who feared that this new lineup of SEPULTURA would see the band taming its intense and heavy approach were not left disappointed when "Against" came out of the traps in 1998. With the powerhouse that is Igor Cavalera still on drums (he remained for four of the five albums), Andreas Kisser's grinding guitars and bassist Paulo Jr.'s heavy bottom end powered behind Derrick Green's guttural roar and SEPULTURA sounded heavier and more forceful than ever. This period would see the band continue to push their sound forward and challenge new sounds and styles, but they never lost sight of what was the core of the band. The righteous, rebellious nature remained with the 1998 album "Nation" calling for "one nation, Sepulnation," — a rallying cry that stayed with the band throughout their long and challenging career.

"Sepulnation: The Studio Albums 1998-2009" brings the focus back on a period of the band that may have been missed by early supporters and shows that the fire continued to burn bright throughout.

Order "Sepulnation: The Studio Albums 1998-2009" here.

In a new interview with Anne Erickson of Audio Ink Radio, MÖTLEY CRÜE bassist Nikki Sixx was asked if he and his bandmates were surprised by the success of their "The Dirt" biopic. He responded: "Well, at that time, we'd been in the game 36 years — we're around 40, 41 years together now. We understand the allure [of] the moth to the flame. And it was accidental, but we were wired for fire and wired to fight and wired to drink and, in my case, wired to experiment with drugs. And there was no repercussions from destroying hotel rooms, rolled cars, drug overdoses, jail sentences. So when we survived ourselves and survived our youth, that became such a part of the culture of MÖTLEY CRÜE, and at times, frustrating, because we were, like, 'Have you heard how great the songs are that are on the new record?' And people were, like, 'Tell me about the time.' So, we knew that was gonna happen, that people wanted to watch the film for the blood and guts, but we also knew it was an opportunity to tell a story about a family, and that's my band. My band was my family after my family abandoned me."

As for what he thinks is the glue that has kept MÖTLEY CRÜE together all these years, Nikki said: "God if I know. [Laughs] I mean, honestly, I have no fucking idea. It's, like, I think we are on the plane, it's on fire, we're heading towards the mountain, we're gonna crash and burn, and then next thing you know, we're on another world tour, and we're together and we're getting along like brothers. And then it changes again. So we've been through so many versions. I think now that we're getting older... we're just happy to play together. [Laughs]

"[It was] very painful for me when the band has been on the verge of breaking up, because the band is — I threw my life into this band. And I threw my life as a lyricist into this band and exposed things about myself or things that I saw in this band," he continued.

"I'm so lucky that I met Tommy [Lee] and Vince [Neil] and Mick [Mars], and they've changed my life, and I've hopefully helped change their life. And we, really, maybe changed a lot of other people's lives, even on an entertainment level. So, yeah, the idea of MÖTLEY CRÜE not being in my life feels very strange."

Sixx is currently promoting "The First 21: How I Became Nikki Sixx", his new book which looks back at his formative years.

Two years ago, Sixx said that the CRÜE biopic sparked a renewed interest from younger fans who wanted to see the band live, contributing to the group's decision to renege on its infamous "cessation of touring" contract.

After vowing in 2015 never to play together again, CRÜE announced in December 2019 that they would be touring with fellow hard rock veterans DEF LEPPARD and POISON.

"The Stadium Tour" 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.

Released in March 2019, "The Dirt" currently has a 36% critic score from 74 reviews on Rotten Tomatoes, the online review aggregation service that allows both critics and the public to rate movies. The same site has an 94% audience score for "The Dirt" from more than 6,000 reviews.

John Bush has spoken about his part in ANTHRAX's 40th-anniversary celebrations, calling the experience "really cool to be part of." The singer also talked about reconnecting with some of the ANTHRAX members, and how he's even in touch with current ANTHRAX singer Joey Belladonna. John, who fronted ANTHRAX between 1992 and 2005 but was sidelined when the band reunited with Belladonna for a 20th-anniversary tour, made his comments while talking to Eonmusic about ARMORED SAINT's recently released "Symbol Of Salvation Live" album.

ANTHRAX's 40th-anniversary celebrations saw the thrash metal pioneers revisit their career with a weekly YouTube series, which went album by album, from their formation in the early 1980s until the present day.

Said John: "It was really cool to be part of the documentary. I think the way they did that was really cool in the sense that they went record by record. I think that was really a cool idea. Obviously, I made some records [with them], so it's cool that those records got some props and talked about, so I dug that. I was interviewed and got to tell some stories and share some funny memories."

When asked if he would have liked to have guested with the band during the ANTHRAX global livestream event in July, Bush commented; "The live performance, I wasn't too concerned about that. I know there was a couple of guests, but I didn't really feel slighted by it. They approached it the way they wanted to, and my relationships with those guys have all gotten a lot better, and I'm happy about that because there was a period of time where it was basically non-existent."

Elaborating on his harmonious relationship with his former bandmates, he continued: "Me and Scott [Ian, guitar] have always stayed in contact because he lives out here in L.A., and we run in some similar circles, but there was a period of time with Charlie [Benante, drums] and Frankie [Bello, bass] where we just didn't speak, and every now and then we'll text something funny, and then there's banter, and the relationship is a lot better. Especially after Charlie came up and played the METAL ALLEGIANCE show that we did in San Francisco, and he came up and played 'Only' and that was an awesome moment. So that kind of let the waters rest, and I was happy about that."

Bush further revealed his respect for Belladonna, stating: "I don't speak to Joey too often, but my wife and his wife have developed this relationship, and they're friends, which is ironic. They text and they just shoot the breeze, and they're always talking about kind of 'defusing' this battle that people like to create, and it's just not necessary because Joey's great, and I have the utmost respect for him."

He concluded: "I always say that he is the guy that should be in ANTHRAX — of course. It's the classic lineup! It's all worked out right. I yearn to not have too many enemies in my life, period, and I really don't think I do, and I certainly don't want those guys to be, because we just have too much history".

Read the entire interview, where John talks about the making of "Symbol Of Salvation", the new live set, plans for vinyl reissues, and more, on Eonmusic

EXODUS guitarist Gary Holt says that he agrees with Kerry King that SLAYER called it quits too soon.

Earlier this month, Kerry made headlines in the metal world when he said that SLAYER retired "too early." While recording a short video message to congratulate MACHINE HEAD on the San Francisco Bay Area act's 30th anniversary, SLAYER's founding guitarist said: "So, I hear congratulations are in order for my friends in MACHINE HEAD. Apparently, it's 30 years, which is quite an achievement. Not a lot of bands get there. We did, and then we quit too early. Fuck us. Fuck me. I hate fucking not playing."

Holt, who spent almost nine years touring with SLAYER, was asked about Kerry's comment in a new interview with Metal Hammer. He said: "I'd have to agree. We were still playing at the top of our game, we were totally killing it. The band had a lot of years left in it, but I guess when it's time, it's time. When you decide to walk away from something, walk away. I can't tell anybody they made the wrong decision. Better to go out on top than go out unable to play your own songs, and this shit isn't easy. Playing 'Angel Of Death' at 70 years old would be fucking hard. But it was time for me to come back, let's put it that way. I was really missing my first family."

Holt began filling in for SLAYER guitarist Jeff Hanneman at live shows in 2011, and became the band's full-time co-guitarist as of 2013, while remaining a member of EXODUS. Holt played on SLAYER's final album, "Repentless", which came out in 2015.

Back in March, Gary told Headbangers Con that he would be open to playing with SLAYER again if the band ever decided to come back. "Look, if the powers that be ever — like, in a year or something — said, 'Hey, you know what? We feel like playing some shows,' I'm there to do it," Holt said. "But those aren't decisions for me to make, or even me to really speculate on. As far as my knowledge, the band is over, and the final show was November 30th, 2019. And I'm full speed ahead with EXODUS now."

SLAYER played the final show of its farewell tour in November 2019 at the Forum in Los Angeles. One day later, Kerry's wife Ayesha King said that there is "not a chance in hell" that the thrash metal icons will reunite for more live appearances. In August 2020, she once again shot down the possibility of her husband and bassist/vocalist Tom Araya sharing the stage ever again under the SLAYER banner.

After Ayesha shared three photos of Kerry holding their cat in slideshow-type Instagram post, a fan wrote: "No Tom, No SLAYER Kerry. Stop thinking SLAYER without @tomarayaofficial". Ayesha then replied: "don't worry, they'll never be SLAYER again! You can rest easy".

That same month, SLAYER drummer Paul Bostaph confirmed that he is involved in a brand new project headed up by Kerry King. The duo spent much of the last year and a half working on music with the hopes of recording it properly once the coronavirus pandemic has subsided.

SLAYER's final world tour began on May 10, 2018 with the band's intention to play as many places as possible, to make it easy for the fans to see one last SLAYER show and say goodbye. By the time the 18-month trek wrapped at the Forum, the band had completed seven tour legs plus a series of one-off major summer festivals, performing more than 140 shows in 30 countries and 40 U.S. sta

In a new interview with the KLAQ radio station, GHOST mastermind Tobias Forge spoke about how the extraordinary world events of the last couple of years have served as an inspiration for the band's new material. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "The album that I have been working on, I came up with that concept years ago. We played in Seattle in 2013, 2014 — something like that — we played at Showbox At The Market. [Editor's note: The concert took place in April 2013.] I remember that day I came up with the idea for this record, this upcoming record. Because I got a book called 'The Rule Of Empires'. So, basically, I wanted to make a record about the rise and ultimately the unescapable fails and falls of empires. And an idea like that can take — at least me — quite far. So once you get that idea of, like, 'Oh, now I know what the pile is gonna look like. I know now what not to put in there.' And it was the same thing with [2018's] 'Prequelle' [album]; it was gonna be about the great death, a medieval, primordial threat of annihilation which was, I guess I wouldn't say carnal but maybe a tiny tad more spiritual and philosophical death, with the ever presence of actual termination, whereas this record about the empires was gonna be a little bit more practical, I guess; a little bit more, I don't wanna say political. So it wasn't really hard to be inspired by the last couple of years."

The book Forge referenced is apparently "The Rule Of Empires: Those Who Built Them, Those Who Endured Them, And Why They Always Fall", in which author Timothy Parsons gives a sweeping account of the evolution of empire from its origins in ancient Rome to its most recent twentieth-century embodiment. He explains what constitutes an empire and offers suggestions about what empires of the past can tell us about our own historical moment.

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 arrived on 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" plays 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".

Former FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH guitarist Jason Hook spoke to the "Making Waves" podcast about his new project for which he has been writing music for much of the past two years. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "That's been the only agenda I've had, really, since leaving DEATH PUNCH. I'm still working with the same team of people at [record label] Better Noise [Music] and [management company] Tenth Street. I just went right to work writing songs. I've got 30, 35 songs. And they've heard a lot of the material, and they're excited about it. Where I'm getting stuck is I've had many singers come through and I'm just really trying to be patient to pick the right guy. They were, like, 'Don't be in a hurry to pick your singer. Make sure you find the right guy.' And I don't disagree with that because it really is the make-or-break element. So, that's top priority right now."

He continued: "I've done my work. I've got all the material prepared; some are completed songs, some are just music. But I really wanna find a co-writer, a partner, somebody that I have that chemistry with and that we're both on the same page musically. I've got the facility. That's the only element that's missing."

Asked what kind of singer he is looking for, Hook said: "I like heavy music, but I also like melodic music. And I think that's one of the things that [FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH singer] Ivan Moody was fantastic with, is that he sells his lyrics, he can sing really well, and he can get heavy but you can still decipher what he's talking about; you can follow the storyline. It's not like that guttural [death metal-style vocal]; you can really understand what he's saying even when he's singing with his heavy voice. And Ivan Moodys don't just grow on trees [laughs]; it's hard to find.

"I like guys like Dave Grohl," he added. "I certainly like Corey Taylor. I always loved Adam Gontier's voice, from THREE DAYS GRACE; those early records and the power and the grit of his voice. But most importantly, I'm just looking for somebody that has something above and beyond, something that's magic. There's a lot of good guys out there — I've certainly had them over here — but I'm looking for something that's magic, not just good."

Hook went on to say that he is not trying to simply launch another version of his former band. "I'm not necessarily looking to recreate FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH," he said. "That band is an anomaly, and I think it would be foolish to try to clone it. The music will have familiar sounds and elements from what they sound like, but that's only because I had a pretty decent hand at writing that music. So it's inevitable that I'm gonna take me over here, and it's gonna have some familiarity, obviously. But as far as a singer goes, it's kind of like when Tom Morello found Chris Cornell, you've got two guys that are extremely good at their role; that was destined to succeed. Now, when Eddie Van Halen had Sammy Hagar, they got very lucky 'cause that clicked, that worked. But when they got Gary Cherone — not so cool."

In October 2020, FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH confirmed that it had officially parted ways with Hook eight months earlier during the band's sold-out European arena tour. He has since been replaced by renowned British virtuoso Andy James, who is featured on "Broken World", a song that was included on the second installment of FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH's greatest-hits collection, "A Decade Of Destruction - Volume 2".

After his recovery from emergency gallbladder surgery at the end of 2019, Hook had to leave midway from the group's tour of Europe to address further complications.

Jason, who joined FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH in 2009, said about his exit from the band: "As for the reason I'm leaving… well, there really isn't just one. I've been in bands my entire life and I feel like I've done all the good that I can here. It's time to pass the baton and move on to new challenges."


Making Waves w/ Jason Hook

Hey, hey, hey everybody!!! We're back!! Live with Jason Hook formerly of 55DP letting us into his home studio and telling us all the cool stories!!! Join us!!

Posted by ShipRocked Cruise on Wednesday, October 27, 2021

Video footage of METALLICA's Kirk Hammett and Robert Trujillo jamming Edgar Winter's classic instrumental "Frankenstein" can be seen below.

"Frankenstein" was recorded for THE EDGAR WINTER GROUP's 1972 album "They Only Come Out at Night" and topped the Billboard Hot 100 chart as a single in May 1973.

During a June 2020 appearance on "Drinks With Johnny", the Internet TV show hosted by AVENGED SEVENFOLD bassist Johnny Christ, Trujillo spoke about the so-called "doodle," the fun and unusual feature METALLICA added to its shows on the band's last few tours. At each stop, Trujillo and Hammett have been covering songs from some of the local artists — often choosing tracks that are far removed from the band's traditional metal sound. The "doodles" have been showing up right before Trujillo's solo on "(Anesthesia) Pulling Teeth". The songs are pared-down interpretations — just bass and guitar and sometimes Trujillo singing in front of music stands.

Asked how the idea for the "doodle" came about, Robert said: "We were in Europe — this wasn't the last European tour, but the tour before that. We were in Amsterdam, and we had tried a couple of... There was a duet moment, where we were supposed to play a METALLICA song that's maybe, like, a deep cut, so we'd play 'I Disappear' or something, and we started noticing that we weren't getting the result we wanted. It was, like, we'd go up there and we'd start playing, like, 'Eye Of The Beholder' or something, and then the crowd's expecting James [Hetfield, METALLICA frontman] to come out and sing, and it's, like, 'Man, this ain't working.' They were feeling like it was a prelude moment, and I started thinking, 'We've gotta do something different.' So Kirk came out this one night, and he started playing that song by CHIC ['Le Freak'], and it totally caught me off guard. And I'm, like, 'Oh, damn. Okay, I see where he's going.' He's walking out to the front of the snake pit playing this funk jam. He got me the first night, 'cause I didn't exactly know the bass line, so I improvised it. And then the second night, I got it."

He continued: "So it kind of started there for a split second, though we were still doing the METALLICA deep cuts. And then we got to Europe, and we were in Amsterdam, and one of our management team members suggested, 'Why don't you play [a song by the Dutch rock band] GOLDEN EARRING, 'Radar Love'? Check that out.' And we were, like, 'Really?' So I started played the bass line, and then the crowd started singing, and it was, like, 'Hold on a minute. There's something here.' So then we started to kind of formulate some local bands from each city. Like, one of the highlight moments was in Prague [Czech Republic — we played a country song called 'Jožin Z Bažin' [by Ivan Mládek], which was huge. And then we played, in Barcelona, a gypsy kind of flamenco acoustic song, by an artist called Peret — it's called 'El Muerto Vivo', And I'm singing in Spanish, I'm doing my best, and the people went nuts. And we go, 'Hold on. We've got something here.' So what we ended up doing… We came out of that tour — we scraped through it; it wasn't perfect, but we scraped through it. And then when we got home, we did some U.S. dates, we did all that, but we knew we were going back to Europe where it really worked. I said, 'I'm going deep.' So I did a bunch of research, and I researched every single city, even Estonia, and I found out what cool either punk, alternative, country — it didn't matter the style — and I learned the fucking language, and I did the phonetic with the lyric, and we went out and did full arrangements. I'm talking about if there was an accordion solo, Kirk was playing it. So we did our homework, and we really, really went into it. I was going to [Kirk's house in] Hawaii to work with him on the arrangements. I spent, like, five days there strictly on the [songs]. We weren't even surfing, we were just 'boom.' So we put a lot of hard work in it. I mean, we were surfing a little bit, but that wasn't the priority. We were actually really spending time on this.

"So I would say on that last tour run, 'cause we were in these massive stadiums, sold-out shows… And every night was great, but there was a handful of grand slams where people were crying and it was this heavy… Like, you're paying tribute to somebody in, like, Moscow, who is like the David Bowie of Moscow, and people are just, like, 'Oh my god.' They don't know what they're gonna get. All of a sudden, we surprise them, and they get what they didn't expect. [Playing a song by] Johnny Hallyday in Paris, at Stade De France, [in front of] 85,000 people. So to be up there and to feel that energy and emotionally connect with the crowd on that level was special. But it was such hard work. I don't know how we [pulled it off].

"I was meeting with people, like, I would even sometimes do it by phone, and I'd be there for two hours getting the language pronunciation right. So it was a lot of work… And sometimes you'll take some beatings," he admitted. "I remember a couple of the shows when we first started doing it, man — beatings, bro; beatings… I remember, there was a couple of 'em, but there was one… It was in Pennsylvania. It was like college — it was over where Penn State is. And holy cow, man. I thought we would play like the fight song for Penn State. Man, we got, like, 10 seconds into that thing, and nobody cared. It was, like, 'Oh my god.' And I stopped playing — I literally stopped playing. I was so embarrassed. And Kirk kept playing. And then, luckily, we kind of went into a METALLICA… Like, in the U.S., we would parlay it with a local song — these are U.S songs — and then we would always kind of justify it by going into a METALLICA [track], like 'Dyers Eve' or something. Just like, 'Okay, we screwed that up, but we got this.' So it was kind of our savior in the States."

In 2019, Hammett told Cosmo Music about his live "doodles" with Trujillo: "We never really know what the response is going to be. You have to understand, we're going into a country; we're picking some song that's seemingly random and abstract to us, and we're learning this song that we've never heard before from this artist that we've never heard before, and we're taking a chance and playing it in a stadium in front of 60,000 people, and we're hoping that we make the right choice. The last, I would say, three legs [of the tour], we've been hitting it out of the park, but before that, there were some growing pains. There have been a few times we've picked the wrong song and played it and people go, 'Huh?' We'll go into a place like Indianapolis, and we'll play a song by an obscure punk band called THE ZERO BOYS, because we think they're cool... We played the hell out of it, and it was really cool, but we looked out at the audience, and they were just like, 'Huh?' Rob and I always tell each other and people don't recognize it, it's not the end of the world as long as we play it well, and they're entertaining in the way we play it, so we have that to fall back on... We were in Nashville, and we played a Loretta Lynn song... The next day, we got a message from Loretta Lynn, who said she was actually at the show with her family and was so tickled when we broke into her song. She said she might think about covering one of our songs sometime, but in the meantime, we should do more of her songs."

Not every artist that has been spotlighted in the "doodle" has been flattered by the Trujillo/Hammett version of their music. Former CELTIC FROST frontman Tom Gabriel Fischer (a.k.a. Tom G. Warrior) was not impressed with the rendition of the group's "The Usurper" that Hammett and Trujillo performed during METALLICA's May 2019 concert in Zurich, Switzerland. "They butchered it, and it was humiliating," Fischer told Rolling Stone. "Why don't they leave their millionaire fingers off it? They've long lost the ability to play true metal in my opinion. Maybe I should go onstage and do a really miserable version of [METALLICA's] 'Hit The Lights' with, like, 200 mistakes to set the balance."

In the clip below, Billy Idol performs his 1984 hit "Eyes Without A Face" live and acoustic for SiriusXM's The Spectrum, accompanied by longtime guitarist Steve Stevens.





Billy Idol recently released a lyric video for "Rita Hayworth", the opening track of his new 4-song EP, The Roadside, out now via Dark Horse Records. Watch the new clip below.




Available on CD, vinyl, and limited edition blue vinyl, the EP can be pre-ordered here.





Tracklisting:


"Rita Hayworth"
"Bitter Taste"
"U Don't Have To Kiss Me Like That"
"Baby Put Your Clothes Back On"


"Rita Hayworth" lyric video:





"Bitter Taste" video:

Dream Theater keyboardist Jordan Rudess has shared a portion of his October 27th livestream with bandmate / vocalist James LaBrie. Check it out below. It can be viewed in its entirety via his official Patreon page.





Dream Theater's new album, A View From The Top Of The World, is available in a limited Deluxe 2CD+Blu-ray Artbook, Special Edition CD Digipak, Gatefold 180g 2LP+CD+LP-booklet. The Blu-ray contains a 5.1 surround sound mix with full album animations, plus ‘Digging For A Spark - A View From Inside DTHQ’, a specially filmed documentary that gives a glimpse behind the scenes of the band’s new home-base and the making of the new album.




A View From The Top Of The World was produced by John Petrucci, engineered and additional production by James “Jimmy T” Meslin and mixed/mastered by Andy Sneap and is available for pre-order here.


Dream Theater - comprised of James LaBrie, John Petrucci, Jordan Rudess, John Myung and Mike Mangini - was in the middle of a sold-out world tour in support of their last release Distance Over Time and the 20th anniversary of Scenes From A Memory when a Global Pandemic brought the world to a stop. The musicians found themselves at home with LaBrie in Canada and the rest of the group in the States. As fate would have it, they’d just finished construction on DTHQ (Dream Theater Headquarters) - a combination live recording studio, rehearsal space, control room, equipment storage, and creative hive. With LaBrie in Canada, he initially wrote with the band via ZOOM on a monitor in DTHQ. In March 2021, he flew down to New York, quarantined, and recorded his vocals face-to-face with Petrucci. The album ultimately threaded together lean and uncompromising hooks with tried-and-true technical proficiency.


“We just love to play our instruments,” observes Petrucci. “That never goes away. I love to be creative, write, and exercise that part of my mind. We’ve been able to do this for a long time, and we don’t take it for granted. Whenever we get together, we know we can’t disappoint ourselves or our fans, so we manage to try even harder.”


“We approach every album like it’s our first,” adds LaBrie. “It’s been such a great ride, but we’re not going to stop.”





A View From The Top Of The World tracklisting:


"The Alien" (9:32)
"Answering The Call" (7:35)
"Invisible Monster" (6:31)
"Sleeping Giant" (10:05)
"Transcending Time" (6:25)
"Awaken The Master" (9:47)
"A View From The Top Of The World" (20:24)


"Invisible Monster" video:





“The Alien” video:





Deluxe Box Set trailer:

Rock supergoup, Mr. Big, is celebrating the 30th anniversary of their chart-topping Lean Into It album with a remastered and expanded anniversary edition reissue, available digitally, on CD and as a highly collectible limited edition box set made up of five individual colored 7” singles via evoXS.


The 30th anniversary release of Lean Into it includes the previously unreleased track, "Stop Messing Around", fully produced by Kevin Elson, from Mr. Big’s 1990 Lean Into It studio session. Check out the just released official lyric video below.







First released in 1991, Lean Into It is the second studio album by the group, consisting of Paul Gilbert, Eric Martin, Billy Sheehan and Pat Torpey. This is the band's breakthrough album, with Lean Into It peaking at #15 on the Billboard 200 charts, while the single “To Be With You” hit and remained number one on the Billboard Hot 100 for three weeks. The follow-up single, “Just Take My Heart,” was a Top 20 hit, peaking at #16 on the Billboard Hot 100.


The million-selling album also contains the popular tracks “Daddy, Brother, Lover, Little Boy,” “Alive and Kickin” and “Green-Tinted Sixties Mind.” Lean Into It shows that Mr. Big could also strip away all the flash and 7-minute solos and simply create well-written songs with rhythm, groove and good melodies, making the band one of the iconic new wave of progressive “musician’s bands” who could play mind-blowing complicated riffs on their instruments at lightning speeds.


evoXS has remastered the album using the hi-resolution digital transfers from the original analogue master tapes for MQA-CD (2 CD), hybrid SACD, 180g Vinyl LP and Hi-Res digital. The hybrid multi-channel SACD plays on both SACD and regular CD players. MQA is an award-winning technology that delivers the sound of the studio. MQA-CD plays on all CD players. When a conventional CD player is connected to an MQA-enabled device, the CD will reveal the original master quality. The SACD has a new multi-track mix in 5.1 surround sound which provides the ultimate sound quality experience. The MQA-CD (2 CD) - Disc 1 contains the remastered tracks from the original album and Disc 2 contains the previously unreleased Kevin Elson produced tracks, “Stop Messing Around” and “Wild Wild Women,” hard to find bonus tracks and versions minus bass and guitar tracks, specially made for musicians to jam with.





Lean Into It MQA-CD tracklisting:


Disc 1
"Daddy, Brother, Lover, Little Boy (The Electric Drill Song)" (2021 Remastered)
"Alive and Kickin’" (2021 Remastered)
"Green-Tinted Sixties Mind" (2021 Remastered)
"CDFF-Lucky This Time" (2021 Remastered)
"Voodoo Kiss" (2021 Remastered)
"Never Say Never" (2021 Remastered)
"Just Take My Heart" (2021 Remastered)
"My Kinda Woman" (2021 Remastered)
"A Little Too Loose" (2021 Remastered)
"Road to Ruin" (2021 Remastered)
"To Be With You" (2021 Remastered)


Disc 2
"Stop Messing Around"
"Wild Wild Women"
"Just Take My Heart" (acoustic)
"Shadows" (2021 Remastered)
"Strike Like Lighting" (2021 Remastered)
"Love Makes You Strong" (2021 Remastered)
"Alive and Kickin’" (early version)
"Green-Tinted Sixties Mindv (early version)
"To Be With You" (reggae version)
"Daddy, Brother, Lover, Little Boy (The Electric Drill Song)" (minus guitar version)
"Green-Tinted Sixties Mind" (minus guitar version)
"Love Makes You Strong" (minus bass version)
"Daddy, Brother, Lover, Little Boy (The Electric Drill Song)" (minus bass version)


Lean Into It SACD tracklisting:


"Daddy, Brother, Lover, Little Boy (The Electric Drill Song)"
"Alive and Kickin'"
"Green-Tinted Sixties Mind"
"CDFF-Lucky This Time"
"Voodoo Kiss"
"Never Say Never"
"Just Take My Heart"
"My Kinda Woman"
"A Little Too Loose"
"Road to Ruin"
"To Be With You"
"Love Makes You Strong" (Original Japan Bonus Track)


The Lean Into It - The Singles 7” box set contains four 7” colored vinyl singles with their European picture sleeves: “Just Take My Heart (edit),” “Daddy, Brother, Lover, Little Boy (The Electric Drill Song),” “To Be With You” and “Green Tinted Sixties Mind,” plus the bonus single “Strike Like Lightning” from the movie Navy Seals, which has never been released on 7” vinyl. The B-sides include the original hard to find tracks “To Be With You (live at NHK Hall Tokyo 1991)” and “Just Take My Heart (acoustic).”


The box set, which also includes a guitar pick and poster, is limited to 2,000 numbered copies.





Lean Into It - The Singles tracklisting:


Single 1


Side A: "Daddy, Brother, Lover, Little Boy (The Electric Drill Song)"
Side B: "Road to Ruin"


Single 2


Side A: "To Be With You" (Single Version)
Side B: "Baba O' Riley" (Live at NHK Hall, Tokyo, Japan, September 26, 1991)


Single 3


Side A: "Just Take My Heart" (edit)
Side B: "To Be With You" (Live at NHK Hall, Tokyo, Japan, September 26, 1991)


Single 4


Side A: "Green-Tinted Sixties Mind"
Side B: "Just Take My Heart" (Acoustic)


Single 5


Side A: "Strike Like Lightning"
Side B: "Shadows"

New Jersey six-piece, Fit For An Autopsy, will release their new album, Oh What The Future Holds, on January 14 via Nuclear Blast Worldwide and Human Warfare Australia/NZ. They have released an official video for the new single, "Pandora". Check it out below.


The band comments on the track:


"This is one of our favorite new ones as it touches on a lot of our influences all at once and represents a collective of our musical tastes.




Lyrically this song describes the inevitable path to environmental destruction via the mechanisms we’ve permitted to control society. It’s not an unfamiliar topic for FFAA, but an important one nonetheless and one we will continue to write about. The video clip directed by Max Moore paints this theme in a symbolic way, with the relationship between the characters acting as a parallel to our relationship with the earth. 


A world driven by extinction only ends in extinction. 


Thanks for listening."





Vinyl and apparel pre-orders here.





Tracklisting:


"Oh What The Future Holds"
"Pandora"
"Far From Heaven"
"In Shadows"
"Two Towers"
"A Higher Level of Hate"
"Collateral Damage"
"Savages"
"Conditional Healing"
"The Man That I Was Not"


"Far From Heaven" video:

Arjen Lucassen (Ayreon) is back with a new Star One album, titled Revel In Time. The album comes more than 10 years since the previous release and is due out on February 18 via InsideOutMusic.


The album will be available for pre-order on December 17, and it will come as Ltd. 2CD Digipak, Ltd. Deluxe 3CD+Blu-Ray Artbook (incl. a poster of the cover artwork), and as 180g Gatefold 2LP (incl. the album on CD & an LP-Booklet).


CD2 features alternate versions of the same songs as CD1, but with different vocalists. Also available will be a 5.1 mix, a high-res audio version, and an exclusive, hour-long Behind The Scenes video, on the Blu-ray included in the Artbook.




For this Star One release, Arjen has decided to use a different singer for each song, and those singers as well as the instrumentalists are slowly being revealed on Arjen’s Facebook page.


Arjen has checked in with the following teaser:


Arjen: "Timo Somers plays all the guitar solos in the track '28 Days (Till the End of Time)' on the new Star One album, Revel in Time. Check out this video to see him play this truly brilliant solo and don’t miss his video message! For me Timo is one of the best players in the world right now, a tasteful combination of power, melody and virtuosity."





Arjen explains the decision to return with a new Star One album: “Ayreon is like the mothership for all my music. It contains all the different musical styles that I like to listen to and that I love to create. But I’m always looking for challenges and trying to create something new and original as well. Working within a set of constraints forces you to do that, so sometimes I like to limit myself and focus on just one style. For example, with Star One I focus on the metal-side of Ayreon. That means you won’t hear the exuberantly liberal use of acoustic instruments that are so often featured on Ayreon albums, like violin, woodwinds, cello, horns, dulcimer, mandolin, etc.”





The artwork was designed by Ayreon artist Jef Bertels, Arjen explains: “As always, Jef’s painting is wondrously labyrinthine; I can sit in front of it for hours and discover new details all the time. Now you might be thinking “Hey, isn’t Jef Bertels the designated artist for Ayreon, but not for Star One?” Of course I thought about that myself. But when I realized how much I liked this album I felt that it deserved a painting of its own and a special place alongside Jef’s other front-cover masterpieces. And anyway, I’ve been breaking rules ever since the very beginning of Ayreon. So… there you have it!”


Arjen recently share the first single and video, for the album’s closing track, “Lost Children Of The Universe", which you can see below. He has this to say about the track: 


"This 10-minute epic is the first video clip/single of the new Star One album Revel in Time. The lyrics are inspired by the movie Interstellar. This is a slightly different version than on the CD. On CD1, Roy Khan sings the lead vocals and on CD2, Tony Martin sings the lead vocals. For this YouTube version I combined their voices. Both such great singers, I just couldn’t choose! Hope you enjoy it. Thanks for your attention!"

Power Quest, the renowned melodic power metal band based in the UK just released a brand new digital single called "Bound for Glory" via Inner Wound Recordings. The single is available on all digital platforms.





Steve Williams of Power Quest comments on the new single:




"'Bound for Glory' was written during lockdown and lyrically it is very much inspired by the memory of my dear friend Paul Finnie who passed away just over 2 years ago now. Musically it's the first song we have written remotely as the band haven't been in the same room since Nov 2019 and I'm really thrilled how it's turned out. I hope you guys enjoy it too!"





 

Today one of the biggest names in modern hardcore Comeback Kid announce their seventh studio album Heavy Steps which will be released on January 21, 2022, via Nuclear Blast worldwide (and New Damage Records in Canada). Alongside the album announcement, the influential punk rock heavyweights have unveiled the tone-setting dynamic title track and its humorously entertaining accompanying video.


Says lead vocalist Andrew Neufeld of the new single “I think of our new single 'Heavy Steps' as a bold statement of a riff right off the bat and lyrically coming from an unhinged perspective about tearing through life. Instinct over reason - without even realizing how easily our worlds could implode from under our feet. A bit of a "just test me" type sentiment is being echoed in this song.”


Picking up where the comedic mini-thriller video for their riff-heavy banger “No Easy Way Out” left off (spoiler; Comeback Kid are chased in a forest and kidnapped) the video for 'Heavy Steps' which is also directed by Kevin Keegan kicks off with a mysterious masked individual walking towards a stage carrying a couple of guitars while eerie unnerving horror-esque score plays in the background. To everyone’s surprise and for pure comic relief it becomes clear that the band has been kidnapped by an over eager father in order to play his son Skip's 10th birthday party.




Heavy Steps, the follow-up to 2017’s critically acclaimed full-length Outsider, sees the hardcore veterans returning to their roots both geographically and musically. Although the members of the band are currently residing on different sides of the country in Vancouver and Toronto, the band decided to write and record their latest effort in the band’s originating city of Winnipeg, Manitoba at Private Ear Recording Studio and once again enlisted the services of producer John Paul Peters (Cancer Bats, Propagandhi) who recorded the band’s debut album Turn It Around. In addition to co-production by Peters, on Heavy Steps, Comeback Kid collaborated with prominent Grammy award-winning mixer and long-time fan of the band Will Putney (Knocked Loose, Every Time I Die). Featuring a guest appearance by Gojira’s Joe Duplantier, "Heavy Steps" is no longer a prerequisite to realizing Comeback Kid’s influence on modern punk, but a delivery of pure anthemic chaos, sheer speed, and force. It is a statement of intent. 


“It’s about hitting the ground running, not knowing when or where the ground could break from underneath you.” summarizes Neufeld. “It's heavy steps on thin ice. 'Heavy Steps' on hollow ground.”


Kicking off with the pummeling title track that features punishing bass lines, masterful drumming, sludgy guitar riffs, and an infectious singalong chorus, the 11 tracks that is "Heavy Steps" embody all the things that make Comeback Kid so revered in their genre. It’s fast, fun, beautiful crafted melodic hardcore.


Heavy Steps will be available in the following formats:
-CD Jewelcase incl. O-Card
-White Vinyl (Retail)
-Clear/Purple Marbled Vinyl (Mailorder & Selected Shops)


Preorder / presave Heavy Steps here.





Tracklisting:


“Heavy Steps”
“No Easy Way Out”
“Face The Fire”
“Crossed” ft. Joe Duplantier
“Everything Relates” ft. JJ
“Dead On The Fence”
“Shadow Of Doubt”
“True To Form”
“Inbetween”
“Standstill”
“Menacing Weight”


“Heavy Steps”:





(Photo by: Avrinder Dhillon)

Stang is a blues based hard rock power band from Los Angeles, CA. Imagine if The Band of Gypsys, AC/DC and Royal Blood all got together and had a band love child; that would be Stang. Stang is making their name playing the sunset strip in Hollywood, California, with a passion for hot riffs, fuzzy guitars and banging drums. 


Stang has an old school blue-collar approach to rock, but new riffs, new faces and new voices. All Stang songs are written in the frontman Drew Southern’s KoreaTown apartment, dubbed “The K Town Swamp House” in honor of Lynyrd Skynyrd. Stang has dropped a new single “Cold Lover '' recorded live in East LA, and mixed by Jaimeson Durr who’s been Sammy Hagar’s mixing engineer for the last 12 years. The upcoming Stang album will be out on digital outlets on November 27, with a special release party at the Whiskey A Go Go that night. A vinyl release is slated for December.







Stang is all about the live show. Stang recently received an encore at the famous
Whiskey A Go Go in Hollywood California opening up for the Hollywood Roses. After
Stang’s set, The PA announced shouted into the microphone “Good luck Roses following that!” With ambitions of opening for AC/DC in 2022 and already new music being made, the future looks exciting for Stang.

"‘Advent’ is a testimony of all the raw energy accumulated within this band since the release of our latest album,” Dynazty vocalist Nils Molin describes the band’s highly anticipated new single. “When the pandemic stopped us from touring in 2020 we decided to put our efforts into creating the best and most absolute album and version of ourselves. And so we have done. ‘Advent’ is an aggressive and fiery first taste of all things to come!” Molin concludes. 


The music video for “Advent” was directed by Grupa 13, a film company known for their stunning visuals. “Advent” is also available on all streaming platforms now.







Dynazty’s latest album The Dark Delight became the band’s strongest and most successful release to date. It was entering the official album charts in Switzerland on #12, Germany on #33, Sweden (#2 physical albums) and Finland (#3 physical albums) in 2020.

In March 2021, Swedish heavy metal commando Enforcer released its second live album, Live By Fire II, which included a truly triumphant show captured in Mexico City, 2019. But Enforcer has not been reveling in past glories during the last couple of months, quite the opposite! 





Brothers Olof and Jonas Wikstrand have been locked up in their own Hvergelmer Studio, crafting new songs, and now, following their latest heavy metal anthem, "Kiss Of Death", the band unleash their next single "At The End Of The Rainbow". The song was picked as a single based on their fans’ reactions after releasing demo snippets of several tracks they currently work on. The beautiful single artwork was created by Subhuman Illustrations.







Olof Wikstrand comments: “'At The End Of The Rainbow’ is a high energy heavy metal tune in line with the melodic Swedish metal tradition. It was by far the most requested song in our previous fan poll so this one is for you all! Enjoy the hell out of it. Heavy metal rules the universe!” 


Previous single “Kiss Of Death”:





See Enforcer live on their Kings Of The Underground Tour in 2022 with Skull Fist and Ambush.





Dates:


May
5 - Essen, Germany - Turock
6 - Rotterdam, Netherlands - Baroeg
7 - Dijon, France - La Vapeur
9 - Barcelona, Spain - Salamandra
10 - Madrid, Spain - Caracol
11 - Montpellier, France - Secret Place
12 - Weiher, Germany - Live Music Hall
13 - Leipzig, Germany - Hellraiser
14 - Hamburg, Germany - Kulturpalast
15 - Hasselt, Belgium - Muziekdroom
16 - Hannover, Germany - Subkultur
17 - Berlin, Germany - Lido
18 - Warsaw, Poland - Progresja
19 - Vienna, Austria - Viper Room
20 - München, Germany - Backstage
21 - Milan, Italy - Slaughter Club

After releasing their digital EP We Are Nøt Okay in early 2021, rising German-Austrian band Oceans unveil their brand-new digital single, "Sulfur", via Nuclear Blast.


Following the fashion of their previous releases, "Sulfur" is both harsh and emotional, driven by heavy guitars, brutal drums, desperate screams, and eventually uplifting clean vocals. The single comes with a haunting music video, that you can watch below. Get the single digitally, here.


Timo Rotten comments: “'Sulfur' is a love song but in a very unconventional way. You know the situation: you and your loved one get into a serious fight, doors slamming and all. And then sometimes, things are being thrown at each other that shouldn’t have been said… words that sting like knives. This is where love burns like sulfur.”




Get the official "Sulfur" merchandise, here.





The We Are Nøt Okay EP contains four different songs dealing with all aspects of mental illness. Each track features a special guest adding his very own style to the new output of Oceans.





Exclusive physical bundles of the EP, including a Ltd. CD Digipak + Shirt (ltd. to 200 copies), are available here.














Oceans is:


Timo Rotten - Vocals, Guitar
Patrick Zarske - Guitar
Thomas Winkelmann - Bass
J.F. Grill - Drums

Waltari have shared their second output from their upcoming album, 3rd Decade - Anniversary Edition. “Below Zero 2021” is featuring the one and only Marko Hietala.


A message states: "The 2021 re-recording of 'Below Zero' is premiering right now and features none other than the our countrymate Marko Hietala - a rock legend in his own right, known from symphonic metal masters Nightwish and hard rock stalwarts Tarot. Our friendship goes back as far as 1991, "Marko himself chose the song" according to our Kärtsy Hatakka. "He had a vision about how the new version should sound, and we then - in a very good common spirit - wanted to definitely fulfill his wishes as best as we could. I think this turned out more than okay!"


"Kärtsy, the mainman of Waltari, asked me about a year ago if I’d be interested in guesting on their tribute album project. 'Below Zero' was chosen as the song to work on and the new chorus sounds way massive! I agreed to do it with the guys of course," Marko says.




"Below Zero 2021" (originally the title track of the band's 2009 studio album) is going to be featured in Waltari´s 30th anniversary album, 3rd Decade - Anniversary Edition.





In 2021, Waltari are celebrating their 30th anniversary of their very first space journey in true style.


This means that even though a best-of compilation might be in order on such an occasion, they weren’t themselves if they hadn't cooked up something special. The band noticed it was 30 years since the release of Monk-Punk and are not going to honor the anniversary with a special album.


They revisited material from all creative phases, choosing some of their finest songs (plus one new track) to give them an overhaul with the help of like-minded musicians from every stripe. Be it Sami yoik duo Angelit or electro hip hop stars Bomfunk MC ́s, German industrial pioneer Jürgen Engler from Die Krupps or other countrymen of theirs such as former Nightwish bass player and vocalist Marko Hietala, humppa legends Eläkeläiset as well as Korpiklaani front man Jonne, The 69 Eyes singer Jyrki, German crossover newcomers April Art, Mr. Lordi himself and his band plus members from Skyclad, Amberian Dawn, Hanoi Rocks, Negative and Beast In Black.


On November 26 the special album will be released.





Tracklisting:


“Merry Go Round” (feat. Jürgen Engler)
“Below Zero 2021” (feat. Marko Hietala)
“Skyline” (Remix by Bomfunk MC’s)
“Ehtoopuolella” (feat. Eläkeläiset)
“So Fine 2021” (feat. Kevin Ridley and Youth Choirs Sykkii and n.u.k.u.
“Step Outside” (feat. Angelit)
“In The Cradle 2021” (feat. Jonne Järvelä and Jyrki 69)
“Misty Man 2021” (feat. Niki)
“Lights On 2021” (feat. Lordi)
“The Stage 2021” (feat. Tampere All Stars)
“Helsinki 2021” (feat. April Art)


(Cover photo by Jani Mahkonen / Cover layout by Aino Korpinen)

Atmospheric black metallers, Ghost Bath, have released their fourth full-length album, Self Loather, via Nuclear Blast Records. With the album, the band closes out the trilogy - tragedy, ecstasy, and dread/hatred - and hosts their most devastating and dark music to date.


Today, the band releases a visualizer for "A Crystal Lattice", which can be seen below:







Order your copy of Self Loather here. Save the album here.





Self Loather is available in the following formats:


- CD Jewel
- CD Digipak
- Vinyl
 * Grey | White Swirl With Black Splatter
 * Clear With Red Splatter
 * Black | Grey Swirl
 * Purple With Black Swirl
- Cassette
 * White
 * Black
- CD Jewel + T-Shirt





Self Loather tracklisting:


"Convince Me To Bleed"
"Hide From The Sun"  (Feat. CJ McMahon Of Thy Art Is Murder)
"Shrines Of Bone"
"Sanguine Mask"
"Crystal Lattice"
"Sinew And Vein" (Feat. Graf Of Psychonaut 4)
"I Hope Death Finds Me Well"
"For It Is A Veil"
"Unbearable"
"Flickering Wicks Of Black"


"Hide From The Sun" visualizer:





"Convince Me To Bleed" video:





Ghost Bath is:


Dennis Mikula - Vocals, Guitar, Piano, Synths, Lyrics
Tim Church - Guitar
John Olivier - Guitar
Josh Jaye - Bass
Jason Hirt - Drums

BEAST IN BLACK, the Helsinki, Finland-based metal group led by former BATTLE BEAST guitarist Anton Kabanen, released its third album, "Dark Connection", last Friday (October 29). The official music video for the LP's third single, "Hardcore", can be seen below.

Kabanen comments: "Welcome to the next century. Dark connections and prohibited pleasures is the name of this ultimate game, a reality within reality. Some things are just too irresistible not to taste, even when it's your own life that is at stake. Time to reveal the naked truth and face the judgment. What you're about to witness is the result of an unapologetic and unforgiving vision inspired by the mind-bending works of Hajime Sorayama and raw cyberpunk animes of the '90's, namely 'AD Police Files: The Phantom Woman'. For your pleasure, or your slight, we present you: 'Hardcore'!"

Produced, recorded and mixed by Kabanen and mastered by Emil Pohjalainen (Amethyst Sound Productions), "Dark Connection" features the most prominent synths of all of BEAST IN BLACK's recordings so far, especially in the form of the Italo disco, Euro beat and symphonic elements that the band is so widely loved for. Despite that, at its core, it's still all about simple heavy metal. The kind of ageless melodies that Kabanen has always been able to create once again melt with heroic stories that are rooted in sci-fi, fantasy and cyberpunk, that are represented in the artwork of the band's longtime collaborator Roman Ismailov.

Kabanen previously said about "Dark Connection": "Enter cyberpunk. Flying cars, sprawling metropolis, valleys of neon lights, emotionless killers, gynoids, femmes fatales, shadowy characters, lethal lust, forbidden passion, love larger than life, space travel... All this and much more is what 'Dark Connection' holds within. Such cyberpunk animes as Armitage III, Cyber City Oedo 808, AD Police, Battle Angel Alita and Bubblegum Crisis have essentially served as sources of inspiration, as well as the immortal classic film by Ridley Scott, 'Blade Runner'. And as always, a BEAST IN BLACK album wouldn't be a BEAST IN BLACK album without a heavy impact of Berserk, the manga and anime creation of Kentaro Miura. Sadly, the beloved author passed away while we were still making this album. Thus, 'Dark Connection' is dedicated to Kentaro Miura."

Anton stated about the artwork: "The instantly captivating album artwork was once again done by Roman Ismailov. Its visual emphasis significantly correlates with the recurring themes of 'Dark Connection'. The tense gaze shared between the Beast and the drop-dead gorgeous femme fatale gynoid Cynthia speaks of an exciting, arousing, dangerous, mysterious and even questionable connection on a physical, emotional and moral level. They say a picture is worth a thousand words, well, this certainly is the case!"

"Dark Connection" track listing:

01. Blade Runner

02. Bella Donna

03. Highway To Mars

04. Hardcore

05. One Night In Tokyo

06. Moonlight Rendezvous

07. Revengeance Machine

08. Dark New World

09. To The Last Drop Of Blood

10. Broken Survivors

11. My Dystopia

12. Battle Hymn (MANOWAR cover)

13. They Don't Care About Us (MICHAEL JACKSON cover)

BEAST IN BLACK is:

Yannis Papadopoulos - vocals

Mate Molnar - bass

Atte Palokangas - drums

Kasperi Heikkinen - guitar

Anton Kabanen - guitar, vocals

With a career that spans more than a decade, Sinaya had been known for its sound strongly influenced by thrash and death metal. In the midst of the pandemic, the band found itself facing its own obstacles. The end result was their complete redesign, with a great transformation and evolution in their sound.


With the fusion of death metal and deathcore in their most recent work - currently inspired by a more modern strand of metal - Sinaya becomes then the first deathcore band in the world formed only by women.


“Afterlife” is the first single from Sinaya’s upcoming second studio album, featuring CJ McMahon from Thy Art Is Murder.







Vocalist Mylena Monaco comments on the band’s new era:


''Deathcore is a style that I've been listening to a lot in the last few years, and I'm falling in love with more and more every day. It's a newer style, but more difficult to sing because it covers a lot of vocal techniques, and I've been studying a lot lately. With Helena Nagagata joining the band in 2020, migrating to this style made it even easier, as she is a very versatile guitarist who has a background in progressive metal and its variations. She brought to this new album songs with heavier tunings, which lined up very well with my vocal ideas in this more deathcore style. After a lot of talking, we have decided together to start taking the band to this new modern sound."


"When we went to Fusão Studio in April 2021 to start recording the new album with the old lineup, we faced some technical unforeseen events and had to hire a sub to record the drums at the very last minute. Now migrating to this style, we needed a drummer who, technically, could live up to the new sounds. Two months later, after many auditions with drummers from all around the world, Amanda Imamura officially joined the band. She's a drummer that I've been trying to bring to Sinaya for four years and now it finally happened. She has already played a lot of this modern style, she is very technical and precise and at the same time, she’s very strong and has a heavy hand."


"Amanda Melo is a bassist who was already a fan of Sinaya, and is an extremely competent musician - in September 2021 - two months after she joined the band, we went back to the studio so she could record the bass lines and she managed to play amazingly, recording the songs mostly in one take."


"With this new album, we’re here to show that the woman in extreme metal is technical, has a lot of strength (both physically and mentally), and knows how to take a high-level band seriously."


"Now we're exploring another style of metal that we like, at a much higher level than what we used to do, and for that reason, I've decided to be a full-time vocalist, to be able to explore these new techniques even further. We had the support of great members of renowned deathcore bands, and one of them was CJ McMahon, lead singer of Thy Art Is Murder, who you'll be able to check out on this release. We are very happy with his featuring, as he is a huge reference for us and for the deathcore scene worldwide."


"With this work, we still play metal for all tastes. Some of the songs still sound mostly death metal, others sound more deathcore. But the next ones will be focused much more on deathcore and its strands."





For the single's artwork, the band opted for a more minimalist concept, fleeing from the idea of traditional metal covers. Purple was chosen for this work, because of the symbology of the colors, it refers to spirituality - since the song deals with the theme ‘’Afterlife’’. This color also means freedom from internal fears and other human concerns and transformation, which is what the band and the world faced after the beginning of the pandemic.


The artwork was done by Artur Fontenelle from Dead Mouse Design, who has already worked with Brazilian bands such as Oitão, Torture Squad and Claustrofobia.


The full-length album is scheduled to be released in 2022, more details will be announced shortly.


 

VOLBEAT's Michael Poulsen has confirmed that the band's new song "Becoming" is a "tribute" to the legendary Swedish death metal band ENTOMBED, whose lead singer Lars-Göran "LG" Petrov died eight months ago after a battle with bile duct cancer. He was 49 years old.

In a new video explaining the inspiration for "Becoming", Poulsen said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "[The song] is, as you probably noticed, a tribute to the mighty ENTOMBED and our good friend L.G. Petrov who sadly passed away. But, yeah, it's one of those riffs where you can definitely hear the inspiration from the 'Clandestine' album, which [was] L.G.'s favorite ENTOMBED record, which is quite funny because he doesn't sing on this album.

"L.G. was a great guy, a great human being, a good friend. And wherever you are out there, friend, dear brother, I hope that you're doing good down there or up there.

"Let's all raise our glasses for Mr. L.G.

"'Becoming' is for you, my dear friend. Cheers!"

"Becoming" is taken from VOLBEAT's eighth studio album, "Servant Of The Mind", which is due on December 3 via Republic Records.

A few years ago, Poulsen, who played extreme metal with his first band, DOMINUS, back in the early '90s, said that he wouldn't rule out a return to death metal in future. "I do have things at home — I can pick up some few death metal riffs here and there," he told Heavy TV. "I've got so many good friends in the death metal scene, and I've been talking to some of them to one day, when the time is right, sit down and write some old-school death metal. When that's going to happen, I don't know. It will happen; it's just timing is everything."

Back in 2011, Poulsen told Soundspike about his pre-VOLBEAT act: "[DOMINUS] was straight metal. On the third record, we were starting to flirt around with making a little bit with some rock 'n' roll stuff. What I wanted to do was keep the door wide open and see what happens. I didn't want to paint myself into a corner. If I wanted a song to start like a country song and let it burst into a metal song, that's what I did. Right now it comes very naturally. That's the most important thing — that you don't sit and try too hard to provoke it out of you. It has to come as a normal flow, and that's actually what happened."

Zakk Wylde reportedly plays on every song on the upcoming Ozzy Osbourne album.

The guitarist, who has been a member of Ozzy's solo band on and off for nearly 35 years, was excluded from the legendary heavy metal singer's 2020 LP "Ordinary Man", which was the first Osbourne effort to be produced by Andrew Watt.

After Ozzy recently confirmed that Zakk makes an appearance on his "work-in-progress" follow-up to "Ordinary Man", which is tentatively due in 2022, Diary Of The Madmen - The Ultimate Ozzy Osbourne Podcast recently posed the question on social media: "Does Zakk play all of the rhythm guitars on the new album?" Someone handling Ozzy's verified account apparently responded" "Yes Zakk plays on the entire new record" and added, "He was home from tour this time unlike when I did Ordinary Man". You can see a screenshot of the exchange below.

Ozzy recently revealed that 15 songs have been recorded for his upcoming LP. He is once again working with Watt on the album, which will include additional guest appearances by Jeff Beck, Eric Clapton and Tony Iommi.

Asked about his contributions to the new Ozzy LP, Zakk told Music Radar: "The new Ozzy stuff is sounding great. And for sure, it's an honor to play on a record with all my heroes. It's pretty cool… I can't wait for everyone to hear it. I've always loved 'Blow By Blow' and 'Wired', but honestly, every record Jeff Beck has put out is amazing."

Wylde went on to say that Beck "definitely sounds slamming" on the upcoming Ozzy album. "The same goes for all the guys — what Tony Iommi played, and then Eric Clapton and Jeff Beck, it's all killer, for sure. On those tracks I'm playing rhythm guitar for my heroes… it's crazy! It sounds awesome and I'm beyond honored to be doing it."

Last month, Ozzy told Metal Hammer magazine that his new album will be "similar in tone to 'Ordinary Man', but I can't describe it completely. I've not heard it for a while because it keeps going over to the next person to add their parts — we're fucking around with it all the time," he said.

Watt connected with Osbourne after meeting Ozzy's daughter Kelly at a friend's party and pitching her on the idea of Post Malone and Ozzy collaborating together.

Seven months ago, Ozzy told U.K.'s Metal Hammer magazine that he and Andrew had completed more than a dozen for his next studio LP. "My only concern right now is finishing the bloody thing," he said. "We've got the same production time as the last time, so there's definitely going to be some similarities. But you'll just have to wait and see what you think."

In December 2020, Watt told Guitar World that he and the BLACK SABBATH legend were "halfway through" the new LP. "There's some songs on there that are like eight or nine minutes long that are these really crazy journeys. I'm really excited about it," he said.

Like "Ordinary Man", which featured Watt on guitar, Duff McKagan (GUNS N' ROSES) on bass and Chad Smith (RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS) on drums, Ozzy's next album will feature guest appearances by a number of other notable musicians. "There's a bunch of people involved," Andrew told Guitar World. "I can't say for sure until the end, but I started doing a bunch of basic tracks with Chad and Robert Trujillo [METALLICA], who used to play in Ozzy's band. And Taylor Hawkins [FOO FIGHTERS] also came in and played a bunch on the record as well, which adds a different flair — it kind of harkened back to Ozzy's '80s era, in a great way. And I think it's so cool for a rock fan to be able to listen to half an album with Chad Smith on drums, and then you flip it over and you get to hear Taylor Hawkins. And you know, the last album was really special for everyone involved. And so there was no point in Ozzy or me doing this again unless we thought we could bring something new to the table. And I feel like we're achieving that."

Wylde previously told Classic Rock that he wasn't disappointed to be excluded from "Ordinary Man". "Not at all," he said. "I thought he and Andrew Watt did a great job. And I'm not on the new one either. Again it's Ozz and Andrew. I understand why I'm not in the studio. Ozz once said to me that he didn't want to be the lead singer in BLACK LABEL SOCIETY: 'You have your own thing now, so go to it.'

"I don't have to be involved in everything Ozz does. I'll always be there for him and Sharon. If they call now and ask me to go over to feed their dogs for three days… I'm there."

This past April, Zakk told SiriusXM's "Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk" that he checked out some of the songs on "Ordinary Man" and liked what he heard. "It came out cool," he said. "I saw the videos and everything like that. It's cool, man. And Andrew and everything like that — yeah, it was rocking."

Photo credit: Mark Weiss Photography


Ozzy CONFIRMS directly to Diary of the Madmen - The Ultimate Ozzy Podcast that Zakk Wylde does indeed play guitar on every track on his upcoming album! ?#Ozzy #ZakkWylde

Posted by Diary Of The Madmen - The Ultimate Ozzy Osbourne Podcast on Friday, October 29, 2021

The Metal Voice East Coast journalist Kenny Kessel conducted an interview with former MEGADETH bassist David Ellefson and filmmaker Drew Fortier at the Chiller Theatre convention at the Hilton Parsippany in Parsippany, New Jersey on October 30. Asked if he he is bothered by the fact that MEGADETH removed his bass tracks from the band's upcoming studio album following his dismissal from the group, Ellefson said: "They did what they did. I don't think they had to do that. I asked them not to. But they did what they did. It's the path they chose."

As for whether he would ever return to MEGADETH if he got the call again from MEGADETH leader Dave Mustaine, Ellefson said: "Look, I don't have — believe it or not; people might find this hard to believe — I don't have any ill will toward him [Mustaine] or them [the rest of MEGADETH]. I really don't."

Ellefson laid down his bass tracks on MEGADETH's sixteenth LP in May 2020 at a studio in Nashville, Tennessee.

In July, Mustaine announced during an episode of his Gimme Radio program "The Dave Mustaine Show" that Ellefson's bass tracks would not be used on the new MEGADETH LP.

Ellefson was fired from MEGADETH five months ago, just days after sexually tinged messages and explicit video footage involving the bassist were posted on Twitter. At the time, Ellefson released a statement on Instagram denying all social media chatter that he "groomed" an underage fan. He also filed a report with the police department in Scottsdale, Arizona alleging unlawful distribution of sexually explicit images of him by unknown offenders. In the report, Ellefson admitted that he had been exchanging sexual text messages with a Dutch teenager, who captured a video of several of their virtual "masturbating encounters" without his consent and shared them with friends. (According to Ellefson, the woman was 19 at the time of their first virtual sexual encounter.) Ellefson, who lives in Scottsdale, first became aware of the video on May 9, when the claim "David Ellefson of MEGADETH is a pedophile" appeared on Instagram. Ellefson told police he was notified on May 14 by MEGADETH that the band would be parting ways with him. Three days later, he was fired.

Earlier this month, Ellefson spoke to SiriusXM's "Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk" about the circumstances that led to his exit from MEGADETH. He said: "I ran toward the bullets and dealt with it right away. The night [the messages and video were leaked online], a couple of people said, 'Hey, don't say anything.' In particular, the MEGADETH camp didn't want me to say anything. But my legal [advisers] said, 'Hey, I think you should say something. I think some people have done some really shitty things here and made some false allegations about you, and you have every right to defend yourself.' And I did. Ultimately, that led to my dismissal from MEGADETH. But I have every right, as anyone does, to defend yourself, especially when somebody is making false allegations about you like that. So I dealt with it that night, and quite honestly, that was it — it was over, and it was really kind of done. But then, as the MEGADETH camp in particular jumped in and had addressed it — and not that they shouldn't, but they did. That pretty quickly led to them making the decision to part ways with me and to move away from it.

"We had originally talked about doing a joint statement of sorts, and, of course, that was not what happened," David continued. "So I was disappointed in probably the way it went down.

"Ironically, things are fine between [me and MEGADETH]. We parted ways, and they took their road. And there's not ill will between us, believe it or not. And I think any fights and those things, that was 20 years go — lawsuits and all that crap.

"Look, they moved forward [with 'The Metal Tour Of The Year']," Ellefson added. "I wished them well in my [original] statement to them, and I mean it. It's a group I helped form almost 40 years coming up here for the band. And the songs that are on the radio that I see come up are songs that I had a participation in, and we built a big legacy. I still consider them family, and my DNA is all over that. I don't think you build something of that size together and then suddenly you're just out and that's it."

Ellefson also talked about the statement Mustaine — who formed MEGADETH with Ellefson in 1983 — released on May 24 announced the bassist's departure from the band. In the statement, Dave said: "We do not take this decision lightly. While we do not know every detail of what occurred, with an already strained relationship, what has already been revealed now is enough to make working together impossible moving forward." Asked if he was aware of any tension between him and Mustaine and whether he "felt like the ice was getting ready to break again," Ellefson said: "I did not. I think one of the things — and this probably started 20 years ago, when MEGADETH was disbanded in 2002 and then put back together in 2004, it was very clear in 2004 that it was gonna be reframed around Dave unilaterally, one hundred percent being the boss and running the show. Gone were the days of the partnership, the '90s, where it was me, Nick [Menza], Marty [Friedman], Dave — kind of 'the four horsemen ride again' kind of mentality… That day was done; it was not gonna be that anymore. And that's where we fell apart in 2004 and I wasn't with the group through those years. Coming back to it in 2010, now we're a few years older, [with] a little more maturity in the situation, realizing that we're better together, that even though it's not, on paper, a partnership, there's a kind of visual partnership — the optics of it are kind of, like, 'Yeah, this looks better as MEGADETH with me and Dave together. We're one of those bands that, although Dave is the quarterback and the quarterback still plays, the overall feeling and likability and I think everything about it just feels better when it's Dave and Dave together, because we've been together from the beginning for so many years. And I think that worked really well for the last decade. At the same time, Dave and I are grown men, and we have opinions. It's not the thing where it's just Dave and three side guys when it's me and the band. And apparently, they didn't want that anymore — they wanted it to not be that. And I can't speak for them, 'cause I don't know. I'm not trying to put words in anybody's mouth about that. But it just seemed like 'there's just too much history here, and let's just part ways now and let MEGADETH move forward on a new day with kind of a new marching order.' So rather than fight it, which is what happened 20 years ago, 'cause we were dissolving a partnership at that point, we're not dissolving a partnership [this time]. It's, like, 'Hey, we don't want you here. There's the door. Don't come to work on Monday.' So, it's, like, 'Okay. Fine.' And that's just how I viewed it, and that's how I view it today. I don't have any sour grapes over it, and I'm not bitter about it."

Two days after Mustaine announced Ellefson's latest departure from MEGADETH, the bassist released a follow-up statement in which he vowed to file a "defamation lawsuit" against the person who "illegally posted a very private video" of the bassist and made "false allegations" against him. He also said he was working with the police in Scottsdale "in their investigation into charges regarding revenge pornography to be filed against the person who posted the video. This person will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law," Ellefson wrote. He went on to say that he was "taking this time to be with my family" and wished his "bandmates" the best with their tour.

Ellefson was in MEGADETH from the band's inception in 1983 to 2002, and again from 2010 until his latest exit.

In July, Mustaine addressed the possibility of Ellefson returning to MEGADETH while filming a video message on Cameo, which lets users hire celebrities to record brief, personalized video messages about virtually any topic. Asked by Rock Feed if Ellefson could once again play with MEGADETH at some point down the line, Mustaine said: "Any chance on Ellefson coming back later on? The answer to that is no."