California glam metal jokesters STEEL PANTHER were joined by country star Travis Tritt on stage last night (Tuesday, September 14) at NorVa in Norfolk, Virginia to perform his 1991 classic "Homesick". Fan-filmed video footage of his appearance can be seen below.

Tritt made headlines last month when he called on Americans to fight back against mandatory vaccines. He went so far as to describe vaccination requirements as a form of "discrimination."

"In light of recently announced policies and mandates from some entertainment companies, promoters, and local municipalities which would discriminate against specific concert attendees who are not vaccinated, I feel compelled to make a statement," the 58-year-old singer told Fox News.

"I have always been a huge defender of basic human rights and liberty for all," he said. "No government, employer, or private entity should ever be allowed to infringe on those rights and liberties."

Tritt added that he believes that "all forms of discrimination need to be called out and condemned in the strongest terms possible." He went on to say he'll back "anyone who is willing to publicly stand against discrimination and the squelching of any specific freedoms and basic human rights around the world."

He also called on anyone who feels the same way as he does to "stand up" and "let your voices be heard."

"The only way these injustices can be defeated is with a unified front against them," he said. "Use your voice to stand for what is right and against what is wrong. Long live freedom!"

STEEL PANTHER specializes in imitating and exaggerating the less flattering aspects of 1980s hair metal, with unrepentantly crude, non-PC sexual content as a favorite lyrical theme.

The group's music has been described as "VAN HALEN meets MÖTLEY CRÜE meets RATT meets 'Wayne's World', complete with operatic shrieks, misogyny, shredding guitar solos and libidinal overdrive."

Thirteen years ago, STEEL PANTHER changed its name from METAL SKOOL to its current moniker and shifted the focus of its act from '80s metal covers to originals.




























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On October 15, Hate will release their new album, Rugia, via Metal Blade Records. In advance of the record’s release, today the band unveils a video for second single, “Resurgence”.  Hate's epic “Resurgence” video, directed by Błażej Jankowiak, can be viewed below:





No one combines death and black metal quite like Poland's Hate. With unflinching viciousness and a sense of atmosphere unique to the band, on Rugia, their twelfth full-length, they push the boundaries of their craft even further.


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"It was clear to me that it should build upon and evolve from our previous record, Auric Gates Of Veles (2019), both musically and lyrically. However, every Hate record stands as a separate journey, and never twice to the same place. You never know exactly where it will lead you," states vocalist/guitarist ATF Sinner, who has led the band since 1991.


Fresh blood in the band's lineup also helped contribute to Rugia's unique sound. Drummer Pavulon, who had played with the band since 2014, was forced to step down from the band due to serious health issues. The band tapped Nar-Sil (Neolith, Virgin Snatch, Embrional) to take his place. "Working with a new drummer this time around was a fascinating experience for me. Nar-Sil's technique and presence are quite different from Pavulon's, and that definitely comes across. I believe we managed to construct a refreshing new chapter to our discography, composing nine truly sinister onslaughts of pure rage."


Hate elected to once again track Rugia at Hertz Recording Studio in Poland, and it was recorded, mixed, and mastered by the Wiesłaski Brothers (Behemoth, Decapitated). Everything was laid down over about two to three weeks, with longtime collaborator Michał Staczkun providing the ambient elements of the band's sound. The only struggle came about at the mixing stage, where the final character of the record emerges. "Here we encountered many problems, contradictory visions, too. The producers had their own idea for the overall sound, which differed from what I had in mind, so we were trying to find a good compromise and it took us a few months." Given how strongly the personality of the record shines through, it is safe to say that the compromise reached was in its best interest, standing as perhaps the best sounding record in the band's long career.


Hate is also celebrating thirty years of activity with Rugia, Sinner affirming he is as driven as ever. "The fire is still burning! I'm proud that I have built a band with such strong energy, that's lasted for a long time in spite of numerous line-up changes and obstacles in our way. We are still here, and we create with ever growing consciousness and dedication. The energy speaks through us. Honestly, I think of the band as something much bigger and more profound than the individual people involved in it over any given period of time. I believe we create a channel for energies that surpass us."





Rugia can be pre-ordered here in the following formats:


- digipak-CD
- 180g black vinyl (EU exclusive)
- white / black burst vinyl (EU exclusive - limited to 300 copies)
- red / black splatter vinyl (EU exclusive - limited to 200 copies)
- blood splatter vinyl (EMP exclusive - limited to 200 copi

The Swiss folk/black metal band Morgarten just released a video for "Die Or Fight", taken from their new album Cry Of The Lost.





Cry Of The Lost is available now on CD, limited vinyl and digital via Inner Wound Recordings.


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In search of battles and victories Morgarten has been touring Europe since 2005. Besides several short European tours Morgarten appeared on international festivals, like Occultfest (NL), Brainstorm Festival (NL), Devils Rock For An Angel (BE), Mannried Open Air (CH), Winter Armageddon (DE) and Rise Of Trolls (BE). Also the band was asked as opening-act for Finntroll on their visit to Switzerland in 2018.





Morgarten now returns with their new album Cry Of The Lost, which surely won't leave fans of folk- and black metal disappointed. The album was mixed by Jens Bogren (Opeth, Dimmu Borgir, Amon Amarth) and mastered by Tony Lindgren (Opeth, Eluveitie, Sepultura). For the drums Morgarten visited Fascination Street Studio's to let David Castillo (Carcass, Opeth, Leprous) handle the recordings.


The result is a high quality release that will please fans of bands like Ensiferum, Eluveitie and Wind Rose. Morgarten proves to be the leading folk- and black metal band from the French speaking part of Switzerland and with their new album Morgarten is ready to march upon the European battlefields once more.
                 





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"The video of 'Whorehouse Blues' from Inferno had been feared lost for many years but we’ve managed to locate a copy and get it upgraded to 4K HD," states a message from Motörhead. "Look at the difference!"


"Whorehouse Blues" appears on the album Inferno and features the lineup of Lemmy, Phil Campbell and Mikkey Dee. Originally released on June 22, 2004 on SPV, it was produced by Cameron Webb.





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BMG recently announced the October 29 release of a new career-spanning Motörhead set, entitled Everything Louder Forever - The Very Best Of. The collection will be available on 2CD, 2LP and 4LP. The 2CD digipak and 4LP fold out sets will feature 42 tracks. The 2LP set will include 22 tracks in a gatefold package. Pre-orders and exclusive bundles available here.






Motörhead... a life force, an energy, an attitude and the loudest, meanest, dirtiest music to smash the 20th and 21st centuries. With a bastard sound comprising an unholy synergy of rock, punk and heavy metal, Motörhead comes coated in relentless, ear-curdling power. They were life-changing for millions, carrying a spirit and approach to life and music which proudly said, “Honey, we’re hoo-oome and don’t bother cleaning because we’re here to enjoy ourselves!” The ‘off’ switch was never employed in the Motörhead lust for life, and they became legends as a result.


Leading the charge for their entire 40 year career was the cultural icon Ian ‘Lemmy’ Kilmister, who swashbuckled around stages, streets and overseas like a glorious Mad Max pirate truthsayer, roaring for the good and screaming at the wankers. With his propulsive sound and lyrical might leading the charge, Motörhead released 22 studio albums over those four decades, amassing chart topping records worldwide, a Grammy award and racking up around 20 million sales. Their hit song “Ace Of Spades” became Motörhead’s anthem, perfectly capturing their attitude for millions, and punching giant holes in stereos worldwide to this day. Nothing was harder, nothing was faster, nothing packed more raw attitude and certainly nothing was louder, making Motörhead a cultural elixer that was regularly imbibed across all genre lines. Don’t take our word for it, look around any heavy metal, punk or alternative gig, and you’ll see the indomitable warpig logo and Motörhead gothic script on a t-shirt, a jacket, even an arm or leg or back (Motörhead tattoos are everywhere), all sitting on the bodies of rockers, metalheads, punks, bikers, rebels, outcasts, freethinkers and even athletes all around the world. Yeah, that’s right, Motörhead's cultural reach remains virtually peerless to this very day (the one you’re living right now as you read this), and it continues to span fans young and old, igniting their adrenaline and giving them both entertainment and identity.


This collection is the definitive assembly of Motörhead songs which have created this cultural phenomenon, and represents the first time all eras of the band’s recorded history have been represented in one place. And we feel that if in this mad, mad world we’re living in, some aliens decide to drop by your house for tea and demand an explanation as to, “what the fuck is this ‘Motörhead’ is that we keep hearing and feeling bits of in our extra-terrestrial houses millions of miles away,” you could happily play Everything Louder Forever and know that the question will be thoroughly answered. Buy two copies though, because you know they won’t leave without taking one themselves! Or something like that anyway…





Deluxe 4LP Vinyl tracklisting:


Side A:


"Overkill"
"We Are Motörhead"
"Snaggletooth"
"Rock It"
"Orgasmatron"


Side B:


"Brotherhood Of Man"
"In the Name of Tragedy"
"Bomber"
"Sacrifice"
"The Thousand Names of God"


Side C:


"Love for Sale"
"Killed by Death"
"I'm so Bad (Baby I Don't Care)"
"Smiling Like a Killer"
"Sharpshooter"


Side D:


"Queen Of The Damned"
"Keys to the Kingdom"
"Cradle to the Grave"
"Lost Johnny"
"The Game"


Side E:


"Ace of Spades" (40th Anniversary Master)
"Burner"
"Stone Dead Forever"
"Bad Woman"
"Just Cos' You Got

SMILE EMPTY SOUL guitarist and lead singer Sean Danielsen has once again defended his band's decision to cancel a few of its previously booked shows because the concert venues in question were requiring a COVID-19 vaccine for fans. A number of bars and clubs have adopted the new protocol because the owners say the music industry and the artists demand a safe environment to perform.

Last month, Danielsen released a statement via social media in which he explained that he was scrapping the shows because "I stand 100% for freedom, and medical freedom is especially important to me. I believe that you should get the vaccine if you want it, but should not have to if you don't want it."

Now, in a new interview with the "Cowboy Logic" show, Danielsen elaborated on SMILE EMPTY SOUL's refusal to play vaccinated-only shows, saying that he is "not gonna be the reason that even one person goes out and gets a vaccine that they're not comfortable with."

Addressing the fact that he chose to publicly oppose the idea of allowing only the vaccinated to attend concerts, Sean said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Freedom, to me, is so important, medical freedom being one of the biggest types of freedom that needs to be protected. And so if they're doing that, I'm canceling the show because I'm not gonna be the reason that even one person goes out and gets a vaccine that they're not comfortable with."

Asked if other venues in the affected markets have come forward offering to book SMILE EMPTY SOUL, Sean said: "It really depends. A lot of these venues are blaming the county, so the way it's kind of starting to look is that we're gonna have to figure out… This hasn't drastically affected our upcoming tours — we have a tour in October/November, then we have a tour in February and a tour in April. So far, we've only had to cancel a small handful of these shows, and all the venues are blaming the county. So in those scenarios, we'll just work around that and not hit those counties. And as the stuff progresses and develops, we will just have to figure out what counties and venues are gonna be on this side of the fence and what counties and venues are gonna be on this side of the fence and just book our future tours accordingly."

According to Danielsen, there has been a lot of pushback from the hard rock and heavy metal community to his position on the vaccine issue.

"I posted a big thing just explaining my stance, trying to let people know why maybe a couple of these shows might go away," he said. "I try to stay out of the political scene and just make my art, but in this case I felt like this is something I had to be vocal about 'cause it's so important. So, of course, I knew there would be a ton of negative comments and feedback, and there are, even though I just was simply standing for medical freedom and against medical tyranny. There's just so many people that just come flying at you — publications that haven't supported us in a long, long time writing smear pieces about it, and people from other bands seeing that and then talking smack as well and getting all their little friends and fans to pile on. So there's a lot of hate out there for this position, unfortunately, which seems insane to me.

"If you allow the government to mandate an injection into your body, and you think that it's just gonna stop with this one, you're insane," he continued. "You're giving them that power forever. What happens when it's a different president that you don't approve of and they've got that power over your body? Are you gonna be happy about that then? This is not just freedom of one political side or another — this is all of our freedom. This has no relevance when it comes to one side or the other; this is everybody's freedom, and everybody should want that freedom. And if you trust the government to that extent, you don't know history."

A vaccine passport is a physical or digital document that displays whether someone is fully vaccinated against COVID-19. Critics say that such passports are a violation of privacy and an example of government overreach. Meanwhile, supporters point out that federal immigration law already requires that immigrants provide proof of vaccination status for several diseases.

There's plenty of precedent for having to show proof of vaccination whether for work or travel. For a century, nearly every school in the U.S. has been requiring proof of vaccinations for students to enroll. Dozens of countries across the globe require a "Yellow Fever Card" to enter their borders.

Proponents of vaccine passports, including several high-profile heavy metal musicians, have touted them as one of the most effective ways to reopen the nation's economy in a safe manner.

A number of hard rock and heavy metal artists have canceled shows or whole tours as the concert industry is rethinking its approach to live shows while the delta variant of the coronavirus is spreading nationwide.

Last month, Live Nation Entertainment, one of the country's largest concert and ticketing companies, announced that it will require all artists and concertgoers to show proof of vaccination or a negative COVID-19 test starting in early October.

Live Nation's announcement came one day after AEG Presents said that it will be requiring proof of vaccination for entry into its owned and operated clubs, theaters and festivals. The decision was made on the heels of the dramatic surge in COVID-19 cases as the delta variant spreads throughout the United States.

While vaccines are exceptionally effective in preventing death and severe illness from the coronavirus and its known variants, some are far from foolproof in preventing infection altogether.

Most of the people with so-called "breakthrough" infections are asymptomatic.

According to Centers For Disease Control And Prevention (CDC), large-scale clinical studies found that COVID-19 vaccination prevented most people from getting COVID-19. Research also provides growing evidence that mRNA COVID-19 vaccines (Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna) offer similar protection in real-world conditions. While these vaccines are effective, no vaccine prevents illness 100% of the time. For any vaccine, there are breakthrough cases.

ARMORED SAINT's Joey Vera has reflected on the recent passing of Mike Howe, saying the METAL CHURCH singer was "a sweet guy" who "never had a mean thing to say about anybody."

Howe was found dead at his home in Eureka, California on July 26. According to TMZ, Howe's official cause of death was determined to be asphyxia due to hanging. A spokesperson for the Humboldt County Sheriff's Dept. told the site authorities are calling it a suicide. He was only 55 years old.

Vera discussed Howe's passing during a recent interview with "I Ask No One With Kevin Re LoVullo". He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "As many people have probably read about him, he was just a sweet guy. We were on tour with them a few different times in the last seven years or so — a great band to tour with, METAL CHURCH — and no matter what you were doing during the day, we were on tour and it's the daily grind and it's the same thing over and over and soundchecks and sometimes a shitty venue or it's cold and you're sick and tired… Touring is not easy, it's not for everybody, but you could always count on Mike to crack a smile for you. And he would have this way of just kind of lifting your spirits about no matter what was going on in your day that day. And so that's a testament to his personality and his heart. He was a great guy. And I always kind of counted on that from him, and I appreciated it. I had lot of time hanging out with him. He was often hanging out with us. He wasn't so much of a partier or a drinker, really, but he would still like to spend time with us and hang out with us. In fact, I think one tour we shared a bus together and it was just great times being able to just sit with him and hang out and chat about bullshit — sometimes talk politics or sometimes we would talk about nothing. And he never had a mean thing to say about anybody. And he was just an awesome guy. And he sadly will be missed.

"To be honest with you, I really had no idea that he was suffering with anything mentally; I really didn't know," Joey continued. "It wasn't something he talked about. I was just flabbergasted when I heard the news, as I think most of us are.

"Everyone says the same thing — I wish he would have reached out and I could have helped him somehow or said something, and maybe it would have changed it. Everybody wants to say that and feel that.

"I don't know much about mental illness and I don't have that much experience with it, but I know it's very real and I know it's a very difficult thing. It's harder for a lot of us who don't understand it to really grasp it. And for people that are suffering, I know that they see no way out, and it's a very difficult thing for them to go through… But we want people to stop and take a deep breath and just reach out to someone and say something. It could be the slightest little question, but it could make all the difference."

TMZ stated that cops in Eureka got a call just after 10 a.m. on July 26 reporting an unexpected death at a home. By the time deputies arrived, they found Howe dead at the scene.

According to police, drugs and alcohol are not believed to be factors in the death and no controlled substances or paraphernalia were located at the scene.

Howe, who fronted METAL CHURCH from 1988 until 1994, officially rejoined the band in April 2015.

Prior to joining METAL CHURCH more than three decades ago, Howe spent two years fronting California metal act HERETIC.

Last month, Vera's ARMORED SAINT bandmate John Bush told "I Ask No One With Kevin Re LoVullo" that he "couldn't believe" it when he heard the news about Mike passing away. "We had just [done] a tour with METAL CHURCH not too long ago — we went to play a bunch of dates in Europe with METAL CHURCH, some festivals as well as a lot of headline shows together," he said. "And we did some shows out here in America as well on the West Coast — we played Portland, Seattle, San Francisco and L.A. And Mike was just an incredible singer — powerful voice, great vibe.

"I'm still pretty flabbergasted about his passing; I just can't believe it," he continued. "We shared a bus recently, and we did a bunch of interviews together 'cause people wanted to interview the two singers when we were on tour together. I'm really bummed about that one. I don't know what to say.

"I've heard that he took his own life, and, man, I wish he would have just called me. 'Cause we did chat after the tour. He has his older son. I think his son was playing college football, and he was super proud of his kids. That one really, really hits me hard.

"Mike was one of those guys — he was just a nice man; he was just a good guy," John added. "In the music business, you meet a lot of pricks — in bands and out of bands and agents and managers, whatever. But he was a good guy. He was a really nice guy and a genuine person. And that one really bugs me."

Ensiferum released their critically acclaimed full-length, Thalassic, in 2020 via Metal Blade Records. The Finland-based group are extremely excited to bring the album on the road in the spring of 2022 on a co-headline run with Swedish metal masters, Dark Tranquillity.


To celebrate the news, the band released a new video for the fan-favourite cut "Run From The Crushing Tide" from Thalassic. The Vesa Ranta (Solstafir, Dark Tranquillity, Swallow the Sun) directed video can be seen below.


Sammi Hinka comments: "After such a long time of darkness & uncertainty in the live music scene, we are very happy to finally reveal a light at the end of the tunnel! We'll be joining forces with the legendary Dark Tranquillity for a massive co-headlining tour around Europe. It's no secret that back in the day, Dark Tranquillity was one of the bands that inspired Markus Toivonen to start Ensiferum and now we are hitting the road with our heroes. How awesome is that?! We are sure that everyone is craving some energetic and ass-kicking live music experiences (we sure are!) and with this line-up, this tour is not to be missed. So get your ticket in advance & help support the return of live music! We can't wait to see you in the front row!"


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The initial vinyl run of Thalassic has long since sold out, but a new batch of LPs have been announced for release on October 29. Fans can pre-order copies here.





Tour dates:


April
1 - Stockholm, Sweden - Slaktkyrka
2 - Oslo, Norway - John Dee
3 - Copenhagen, Denmark - Pumpehuset
5 - London, England - Heaven
6 - Dublin, Ireland - Academy
7 - Manchester, England - Club Academy
8 - Birmingham, England - Asylum
9 - Durbuy, Belgium - Durbuy Rock Festival
10 - Nijmegen, Netherlands - Doornroosje
11 - Haarlem, Netherlands - Patronaat
12 - Siegburg, Germany - Kubana
13 - Hamburg, Germany - Markthalle
14 - Leipzig, Germany - Hellraiser
15 - Berlin, Germany - Orwo Haus
16 - Prague, Czech Republic - Meet Factory
17 - Budapest, Hungary - Barba Negra
18 - Munich, Germany - Backstage Werk
19 - Salzburg, Austria - Rockhouse
20 - Wien, Austria - Simm City
22 - Lichtenfels, Germany - Ragnarög F

Swedish metal titans, Sabaton, recently announced their new collaboration with World Of Tanks and premiered a striking music video for "Steel Commanders". Pioneering hyperrealistic visuals of the band and their Grammy Award-nominated special guest Tina Guo in epic war scenes, the video clip was viewed more than 3.6 million times within the first three weeks of its release.


After offering fans and gamers the chance to see them as crew members on the new Strv K tank, the first-ever Tier IX premium vehicle in World Of Tanks, Sabaton has now answered the calls from fans asking for the song to be made available via all music streaming platforms. Hop into your tank and download or stream "Steel Commanders" here.





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In addition, today Sabaton also releases a brand new lyric video for "Steel Commanders", inspired by the sketches used for the production of the official music video for the song. You can view the lyric video below.











Sabaton is currently on tour with Judas Priest as Special Guest on its North American 50 Heavy Metal Years tour. Upcoming tour dates are listed below.





September (with Judas Priest)
17 - Youngstown, OH - Covelli Centre
19 - Detroit, MI - Fox Theatre
20 - Rosemont, IL - Rosemont Theatre
22 - Milwaukee, WI - Miller High Life Theatre
23 - Minneapolis, MN - The Armory
25 - Maryland Heights, MO - Saint Louis Music Park
26 - Louisville, KY - Louder Than Life Festival
29 - Denver, CO - The Mission Ballroom
30 - We

Singer Rob Halford of British heavy metal legends JUDAS PRIEST, who are celebrating their 50th anniversary, spoke to The Virginian-Pilot about the band's longevity. "I think anything of quality sustains itself," he said. "Right from those early kinds of ground shakers — how far can I think back? — 'United', 'Take On The World', 'Evening Star', anything from that point on where you make that connection and it starts to stick and that is also your motivation to keep making music at a very high standard. We've never approached our albums as it being about one song serving as a radio track and the rest is filler. … Good stuff lasts forever."

He added: "PRIEST is part of the fabric of music in American culture now. We have been for a long time. The longer you're around, the more that has substance attached to it. We're this heavy metal time machine and can take you back to the 1970s and literally walk through the decades together through the performances that we make now. …We want to give our fans the best experience we can."

JUDAS PRIEST's first pandemic-era tour, the rescheduled "50 Heavy Metal Years" North American trek, will kick off on September 8 in Reading, Pennsylvania and conclude on November 5 in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.

JUDAS PRIEST played its first concert in more than two years on August 15 at the Bloodstock Open Air festival, which took place at Catton Park, Walton-on-Trent, United Kingdom. The band pulled out a number of surprises in its set, including first-ever performances of "One Shot At Glory" and "Invader", as well as several tracks that hadn't been played in a long time, such as "Rocka Rolla (performed for the first time since 1976), "Exciter" (first time since 2005), "Hell Patrol" (first time since 2009), "A Touch Of Evil" (first time since 2005), "Dissident Aggressor" (first time since 2009) and "Blood Red Skies" (first time since 2012).

In early April, JUDAS PRIEST's European tour, which was scheduled to kick off in late May, was once again postponed due to "ongoing COVID-19 vaccine issues." The trek will now run from May 27, 2022 in Moscow, Russia until July 31, 2022 in Oberhausen, Germ

According to Billboard, IRON MAIDEN's latest album, "Senjutsu", has entered the Billboard 200 chart at position No. 3, making it the band's highest-charting LP ever. The British heavy metal legends previously peaked at No. 4 with their last two studio releases: 2015's "The Book Of Souls" and 2010's "The Final Frontier".

Of "Senjutsu"'s 64,000 equivalent album units, album sales comprise 61,000, making it the top-selling album of the week.

"Senjutsu" was released on September 3 via BMG. IRON MAIDEN's first LP in six years was recorded in early 2019 in Paris with longstanding producer Kevin Shirley and co-produced by Harris. It was preceded in July by a highly acclaimed animated video for the first single "The Writing On The Wall" made by BlinkInk based on a concept by Dickinson with two former Pixar executives. It followed a month-long teaser campaign and global "treasure hunt" for clues about the track title and concept.

For "Senjutsu" — loosely translated as "tactics and strategy" — the band once again enlisted the services of Mark Wilkinson to create the spectacular Samurai themed cover artwork, based on an idea by Harris. With a running time of a little under 82 minutes, "Senjutsu", like their previous record "The Book Of Souls", is a double CD/triple vinyl album.

Back in May 2019, Italian web site Maiden Concerts first speculated that IRON MAIDEN was putting the finishing touches on a new album. The site concluded that the LP was nearing completion after gathering social media evidence that all six members of the band, their wives and Shirley were in Paris at the same time. The producer even posted new pictures of Guillaume Tell Studios, where MAIDEN recorded "Brave New World" (2000) and "The Book Of Souls", saying he was finalizing a major project.

During MAIDEN's summer 2019 North American tour, Dickinson hinted at new material, telling the crowd at the group's Oakland, California concert: "New IRON MAIDEN songs — sooner than you think." At MAIDEN's Nashville show in August 2019, Dickinson said that fresh music from the band wasn't "beyond the bounds of possibility," adding that a new MAIDEN record was essentially a "certainty."

"Senjutsu" marks MAIDEN's sixth album to be produced by Shirley, who has worked with MAIDEN for the past two decades.

In addition to MAIDEN, Shirley has collaborated with dozens of notable acts, including Joe Bonamassa, JOURNEY, DREAM THEATER and LED ZEPPELIN.

U.D.O., the band led by former ACCEPT frontman Udo Dirkschneider, will release its new album "Game Over", on October 22 via AFM Records. The official music video for the disc's third single, "Prophecy", can be seen below.

Not one for embellishment. Dirkschneider strikes a sour note on "Game Over". If mankind does not rethink several aspects, it may have fatal consequences. For example, "Kids And Guns" is about the increased gun sales and little regulation in the gun industry in the USA, which also leads to higher rates of child or adolescent gun violence.

Track listing:

01. Fear Detector

02. Holy Invaders

03. Prophecy

04. Empty Eyes

05. I See Red

06. Metal Never Dies

07. Kids And Guns

08. Like A Beast

09. Don't Wanna Say Goodbye

10. Unbroken

11. Marching Tank

12. Thunder Road

13. Midnight Stranger

14. Speed Seeker

15. Time Control

16. Metal Damnation

In June, Dirkschneider told Via Nocturna about the band's upcoming follow-up to 2018's "Steelfactory" LP: "It will be a really good U.D.O. album. This is also the first time we are composing together with the two new members of U.D.O.," referring to bassist Tilen Hudrap and guitarist Dee Dammers. "Very interesting. And there are a lot of things there that will be a little bit of a surprise. But no, we are not changing the style, but a lot of little things are a little bit different. But it will be very interesting."

Last year, U.D.O. collaborated with Das Musikkorps der Bundeswehr, the military band of the German federal armed forces, on an album called "We Are One", which was released in July 2020 via AFM Records/Soulfood Music.

U.D.O.'s current lineup includes Udo's son and drummer Sven Dirkschneider, Hudrap and guitarists Andrey Smirnov and Dammers.

Udo's DIRKSCHNEIDER & THE OLD GANG project, in which he is joined be fellow former ACCEPT members Peter Baltes (bass) and Stefan Kaufmann (guitar), recently released a new single and video, "Every Heart Is Burning".

DIRKSCHNEIDER & THE OLD GANG, which is rounded out by Udo's son Sven Dirkschneider (drums), Manuela Bibert (vocals) and Mathias Dieth (guitar), issued its debut single, "Where The Angels Fly", in September 2020. A second single, "Face Of A Stranger", followed in April. On August 27, all three songs were released as the "Arising" CD, a 12-inch vinyl and a download.

During a recent interview with SiriusXM's "Trunk Nation Virtual Invasion", Bruce Dickinson discussed IRON MAIDEN's penchant for writing long, progressive intricate songs, including on the band's latest effort, "Senjutsu", which features three tracks whose running time exceeds 10 minutes each.

"Steve [Harris, MAIDEN bassist] and I are partially responsible [for that]," he said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET). "I did the whole thing about the airship disaster, the R101, which was 18 minutes or something crazy," he said, referring to the song "Empire Of The Clouds" which appeared on MAIDEN's "The Book Of Souls" album. "And that was basically arranged for an orchestra, which at the time we didn't have.

"For this album, yeah, Steve is a big fan of prog, as am I," he explained. "I was talking to somebody else about this, about the different bands that we both liked. Steve, for example, is a big fan of JETHRO TULL. I'm also a big fan of JETHRO TULL. He loves 'A Passion Play' and 'Think As A Brick'; I'm more 'Aqualung' and the early stuff. But nevertheless, we both meet in the middle there. He's a big GENESIS fan — the Peter Gabriel GENESIS, 'The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway'; he loves all that. Me, I'm not crazy about GENESIS, but I loved Peter Gabriel's, I think it was his third solo album, [with songs like] 'Intruder' [and] 'No Self Control' — scary, dark, really moody stuff. And there was a band called VAN DER GRAAF GENERATOR, who were contemporaries of GENESIS, and in a way, they were even a bit more out there than GENESIS. Well, I loved them. And I borrowed bits of Peter Hammill, their vocalist's vocal style. So we both have this prog thing spinning around our heads, along with THIN LIZZY, DEEP PURPLE, [BLACK] SABBATH. He's a great fan of NEKTAR and the SCORPIONS.

"I was not that crazy about JUDAS PRIEST until I toured with them, till I toured with them in MAIDEN. And indeed the SCORPIONS the same. I never really got into PRIEST that much apart from 'Sad Wings Of Destiny' until I toured with them, and then I went, 'Wow. They do some really cool stuff.'

"So, those are all the kind of influences that are pinging around that end up with us doing all these great long songs," he continued. "And I don't mind them because it's kind of… I mean, some of the stuff, like 'The Parchment', it's almost like self-hypnosis listening to that — it really is. [If we perform that song live], I'll be round the back having a glass of non-alcoholic water. I get a five-and-a-half-minute tea break in the middle of 'The Parchment'."

"Senjutsu" was released on September 3 via BMG. IRON MAIDEN's first LP in six years was recorded in Paris with longstanding producer Kevin Shirley and co-produced by Harris.

For "Senjutsu" — loosely translated as "tactics and strategy" — the band once again enlisted the services of Mark Wilkinson to create the spectacular Samurai themed cover artwork, based on an idea by Harris. With a running time of a little under 82 minutes, "Senjutsu", like their previous record "The Book Of Souls", is a double CD/triple vinyl album.

"The Book Of Souls" is the longest MAIDEN album, clocking in at 92 minutes, with lyrics heavily based in the themes of death, reincarnation, the soul and mortality.

"Senjutsu" marks MAIDEN's sixth album to be produced by Shirley, who has worked with MAIDEN for the past two deca

In a new interview with "The Five Count" radio show in Mankato, Minnesota, JUDAS PRIEST guitarist Richie Faulkner spoke about the progress of the songwriting sessions for the follow-up to 2018's "Firepower" album. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "It's been challenging, obviously, with everyone being split up over the last eighteen months due to the pandemic. We've had some ideas for a long time now, but we were unable to, obviously, get together and put these ideas down in the studio. So we've got a collection of songs relatively there; they'll take a bit of work, a bit of magic dust from the producers, and we've gotta get in there to record 'em, but we've got a ton of stuff that we just wanna get in and record. So we're really excited that hopefully we can all get together soon and get that done. So, yeah, there'll be new PRIEST in the near future, I'm sure."

Asked if PRIEST's Parkinson's disease-afflicted guitarist Glenn Tipton is still involved in the band's songwriting process, Richie said: "Absolutely. When Glenn found out about Parkinson's, we went out on the road for 'Redeemer Of Souls', and then after that, it got a bit too much to be able to do the whole touring cycle, as we're all aware. But he's still got his mind, he's still got his creative ideas, and if he's having a down day where the challenge of the guitar is a bit too much, then he can still direct his ideas and I can play them for him. If he's saying, 'No, we need another note there,' or, 'I'm hearing something in my head,' we can communicate that way. So the key ingredient, and we're lucky to have it, is Glenn's creative mind. As I said, even if he's having a down day, he can still get those ideas across and be involved and scratch that creative itch that he has, which, in turn, creates a better, more fleshed out JUDAS PRIEST album."

JUDAS PRIEST's first pandemic-era tour, the rescheduled "50 Heavy Metal Years" North American trek, kicked off on September 8 in Reading, Pennsylvania and will conclude on November 5 in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.

This past March, JUDAS PRIEST singer Rob Halford confirmed that the band will reunite with the "Firepower" production team consisting of British producer Andy Sneap, longtime collaborator Tom Allom and engineer Mike Exeter (BLACK SABBATH).

Halford resides in Phoenix, Faulkner in Nashville and guitarist Glenn Tipton and bassist Ian Hill still call their native United Kingdom their home.

JUDAS PRIEST played its first concert in more than two years on August 15 at the Bloodstock Open Air festival, which took place at Catton Park, Walton-on-Trent, United Kingdom.

Tipton was diagnosed with Parkinson's seven years ago — after being stricken by the condition at least half a decade earlier — but announced in early 2018 he was going to sit out touring activities in support of "Firepower". He was replaced by Sneap, who is also known for his work in NWOBHM revivalists HELL and cult thrash outfit SABBAT.

Sharon Osbourne has told DailyMailTV in a new interview that Ozzy is scheduled for a major surgery soon to help correct neck and spine issues following a 2019 fall. Those injuries have kept legendary heavy metal singer from performing and she says he is dying to get back in front of a crowd.

"The thing I'm most excited about is my hubby getting back on stage," Sharon gushed. "That's what I pray for.

Less than a year after Ozzy's fall, the family revealed publicly that the BLACK SABBATH frontman had been diagnosed with Parkinson's disease.

"It breaks your heart," she added. "He wants to get back [on the road]. He misses his friends, his musicians. They're his partners. He misses that life. But with his Parkinson's, he's fine. He's fine. He's got it under control."

Sharon also spoke about the upcoming biopic focusing the early days of her relationship with Ozzy.

"It's a movie about Ozzy's and my life, how we came together in the early days and our volatile relationship," she said. "All the fights, all the makeups, all the fights, all the arrests, all the everything. And it's a love story.

"Our fights were legendary," she said. "We would beat the shit out of each other. It stopped, must be 20 years ago, but we had a good run.

Sharon said that she hopes the biopic will begin filming this spring.

"People are going to watch it go, 'This isn't allowed. They shouldn't behave that way and put it on film,'" Sharon said. "But [we're] only talking the truth. Some people have volatile relationships and ours was very volatile."

In July 2020, Ozzy said that he was still "not back to 100 percent" after suffering from several medical issues last year, including a fall, neck surgery and hospitalization for the flu. Ozzy also said that he was looking forward to performing again once he has regained his health and the coronavirus pandemic has subsided. The BLACK SABBATH singer had previously canceled all his 2019 tour plans, and the rescheduled 2020 shows were also scrapped.

In May 2020, Ozzy's son Jack said that his father will "probably" retire "within the next five to ten years." But Ozzy, who turned 72 in December, has repeatedly said that he is not calling it quits, despite the fact that his "No More Tours 2" — whenever it ends up happening — is being billed as his last major global trek.

Ozzy was also forced to cancel an April 2020 trip to Switzerland to see a doctor who specializes in treatment of Parkinson's dise

Not even a year after their third album Unlocked & Reloaded, Sainted Sinners return with their newest collection of songs under the bands own motto The Essence Of Rock N’ Roll. With their new effort Taste It, the band continues their creative flow, powered by the great chemistry between the five internationally known and experienced musicians.


The diversity that made their previous album Unlocked & Reloaded stand out within the bands own catalogue is now further evolved on Taste It.


Album notes:
-All music & lyrics written by Frank Pané, Ernesto Ghezzi & Jack Meille.
-Produced by Sainted Sinners
-Mixed by Dick Dropkick, mastered by Harry Hess
-Cover Artwork and booklet design by Manfred Smietana
- Artwork and booklet photos by Frank Kollbi.
- Single photos by Frank Kollbi, except Ernesto Ghezzi by Enrico Uboldi, Jack Meille by Letizia Mugri


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Taste It will be released on November 26 as digipack CD and digital streaming/download format and as limited 300 copies Whiskey marbled vinyl on Febr

NONPOINT has rescheduled just under a dozen shows on its current tour after "multiple members of the band" tested positive for COVID-19.

The band shared the news of the dates being moved in a social media post on Thursday. The statement reads: "Now due to multiple members of the band testing positive for Covid, we unfortunately have no choice but to begin rescheduling more shows on the 'I'm About To Explode' Tour. We unfortunately have to postpone Battle Creek, Indianapolis, Fort Wayne, Charleston, Huntsville, Charlotte, and we will be unable to perform at Orlando's Rebel Rock. As it stands, we are hoping to be back on the road by Sept 28th, but we have to allow time for us to get healthy again and as we also had an incident with our trailer and our gear, we have to assess what we logistically can manage.

"Touring in these times has proven to be hard for our camp, so I hope you understand that we’re taking time to regroup, get healthy, and re-plan. That being said, we appreciate the support of our fans and clubs as we try to figure out our next steps. We will update again in the coming days about the health status of the band, and about any more info on this tour as it develops."

The new dates are as follows:

January 07 - Indianapolis, IN @ Emerson Theater

January 08 - Battle Creek, MI @ The Music Factory

January 09 - Ft. Wayne, IN @ Piere’s

January 11 - Cleveland, OH @ Beachland Ballroom

January 12 - Syracuse, NY @ Lost Horizon

January 14 - Hampton Beach, NH @ Wallys

January 15 - Easton, PA @ One Centre Square

January 16 - Asbury Park, NJ @ House of Independents

January 18 - Charleston, WV @ Rock City Bake Company

January 19 - Charlotte, NC @ Amos

January 20 - Huntsville, AL @ Sidetracks Music Hall

All current ticket and VIP holders will have their tickets moved forward.

Last month, NONPOINT frontman Elias Soriano told Bernard Cana of The Photo Pit about his band's plans to offer "VIP experiences" to its fans on its current tour: "I'm nervous because of what's going on with COVID, to be able to be that up close and personal on this next run. We're having a VIP experience where we're trying to give them some kind of experience where they get to see us up close and ask questions and take pictures with us without possibly catching it from one us, God forbid — if we happen to catch it. So, what we're trying to do and what we've done and decided in our camp… We're all vaccinated. We're gonna stay inside the bubble. We're gonna make sure that the backstage area is pretty much situated and taken care of, keep our crew — especially our tour manager and our merch person, who's really gonna be in and out the crowd a lot, try to keep them safe and keep people around them masked up, hopefully, if there's that ability to do so.

"Our fans are very understanding; they always have been for years," he continued. "So I think they'll understand what we're having to deal with. I'm hoping to God that [the pandemic situation] starts to turn around very, very fast, but if it doesn't, we already have a very, very strong Plan B that's gonna keep our fans very excited and happy that isn't gonna cost 'em an arm and a leg."

NONPOINT has toured with major acts like DISTURBED, PAPA ROACH, MUDVAYNE and SEVENDUST, to name a few. They have also been featured on the main stages and support stages of iconic festivals like Soundwave, Rock Am Park, Rock Am Ring, Ozzfest, Rock On The Range, Welcome To Rockville and many more.

In June, NONPOINT released the music video for "Ruthless", the title track off the band's upcoming EP. The single was made available through the group own label 361 Degrees Records LLC and was this year's featured track on AEW's "Blood And Guts" on TNT.

NONPOINT launched its independent record label 361 Degrees Records LLC in January of this year. They filmed the process of starting the label and making new music in a docu-series titled "A Path To Independence" that can be seen on the band's YouTube and official web site.
























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

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

A performance clip of the opening track from "In Absentia Dei", "Evoe", can be seen below.

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

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

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

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

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

British extreme metal veterans CARCASS have released a music video for their new single, "The Scythe's Remorseless Swing". The track is taken from the band's seventh studio album, "Torn Arteries", which is being made available today (Friday, September 17) via Nuclear Blast Records.

In 2019, the band released its first single in over five years, "Under The Scalpel Blade", followed by a four-song EP titled "Despicable" (October 2020), setting a potent precedent for "Torn Arteries". With the album title itself referencing an old demo created by original drummer Ken Owen back in the 1980s, "Torn Arteries" sits as a bookend on the modern side of the CARCASS discography, connecting directly back to where everything began over 30 years ago.

The "Torn Arteries" album artwork also rings reminiscent of the grotesque photography that appears on classic CARCASS album covers like "Reek Of Putrefaction" and "Symphonies Of Sickness". Artist Zbigniew Bielak traveled outside his normal wheelhouse to bring forth a time-lapsed set of photos showing vegetables shaped like a heart, rotting over time upon a white plate. This form of artwork was influenced by Japanese Kusôzu, meaning "painting of the nine stages of a decaying corpse."

"It's very clean, white, which we've never done before," explains vocalist and bassist Jeff Walker. "It doesn't look evil, or typically death metal, but I like how clean it is; almost like a coffee table book." This new album presents images, lyrics, and sounds that so distinctly scream CARCASS, but ferry us into a new era of production, songwriting, and art all together.

"I think as our seventh album, it does stand out from the others both sonically and stylistically," says Walker. "You can definitely tell that it's CARCASS; when you drop that needle on the vinyl, when you hear that guitar tone, you can tell it's Bill Steer, but each album is always a product of its time."

With "Torn Arteries", each track stands unique from the rest in its approach to guitar, bass, vocals and drumming, along with all the finer details. Filthy and dominating guitar work creates thick layers of tone and melody, piling on top of each other like the weight of dead flesh in tracks like "Kelly's Meat Emporium".

"The working title for 'Kelly's' was originally 'Stock Carcass'," laughs Walker. "We knew that one was a real meat-and-potatoes track for the album." Meanwhile, the elevated speed and catchy beat in "Dance Of Ixtab" tell a robust and airier story, one that is certain to get a reaction from live crowds. "We built this song around the beat. We had an approach to each song that was a definite idea," Walker says. "It's all about 'what haven't we done before?'"

Recording and production for "Torn Arteries" wasn't as simple as sitting down for a few weeks and knocking it all out, but rather spread out over the course of approximately one year bouncing back and forth between England and Sweden. Initially, drummer Daniel Wilding did session work in Sweden at Studio Gröndahl with David Castillo while guitars were recorded at The Stationhouse with James Atkinson in Leeds, England. Eventually needing some form of residential location to finalize vocals, bass, and other guitarwork, the band headed back to Studio Gröndahl in Sweden to continue work in a very relaxed atmosphere with Castillo. "There was no real big plan to do it this way, the process just organically grew on its own," says Walker.

Most will find that the only real struggle when indulging in "Torn Arteries" is fighting the desire to start it over the second it finishes. It covers substantial new ground for a band with such a reputation, while still retaining that addictive, time honored CARCASS sound that has come to represent the face of true death metal.

"Torn Arteries" track listing:

01. Torn Arteries

02. Dance of Ixtab (Psychopomp & Circumstances March No. 1)

03. Eleanor Rigor Mortis

04. Under The Scalpel Blade

05. The Devil Rides Out

06. Flesh Ripping Sonic Torment Limited

07. Kelly's Meat Emporium

08. In God We Trust

09. Wake Up And Smell The Carcass / Caveat Emptor

10. The Scythe's Remorseless Swing

Photo credit: Ester Segarra

San Francisco Bay Area thrash metal veterans EXODUS will release their new album, "Persona Non Grata", on November 19 via Nuclear Blast Records. The official lyric video for the disc's second single, "Clickbait", can be viewed below.

Guitarsit Gary Holt comments: "Very excited to launch the release of 'Clickbait' from our upcoming record! Crushing and aggressive as hell, it captures the power of the new record perfectly! Getting more excited by the day. November 19th can't come fast enough!"

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

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

In July, EXODUS drummer Tom Hunting underwent a successful total gastrectomy in his battle with squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) of the stomach.

Speaking about the long gap between the new LP's completion and its projected release date, Zetro said during a recent Zetro's Toxic Vault YouTube livestream: "A lot of you guys are wondering why it's taking so long, and yes, Tom's illness had a bit to play in it. But they haven't been able to make vinyl. Nobody worked last year. So all the bands that wrote records and now are gonna put records out, they're six months behind in producing vinyl. So it's basically what it's about. So because we're very proud of this record [and] this record is very special for us, I don't think that Nuclear Blast wanted to take any stops out on it, so they wanted multiple vinyls. But I can guarantee you it'll be out in November, and you guys will not be disappointed. I can guarantee you will not be disappointed on this."

Regarding the songwriting and recording process for "Persona Non Grata", Zetro said: "I wrote a couple of songs lyrically, but Gary Holt wrote the brunt of this record, and it exemplifies why he is the real deal in thrash metal or heavy metal. That's why all you guys that follow him and love his guitar playing and his technique and his style, you have every reason to do that. And this record, after you hear the record, you're just gonna go, 'Wow! Zetro was right.' And then performance-wise, everybody killed it on their performance. Tom was a man possessed. Jack [Gibson, bass] was too; I think it's the best bass playing I've heard on a record for Jack. And those that have heard the record think it's the best vocal performance that I've done."

"Persona Non Grata" track listing:

01. Persona Non Grata

02. R.E.M.F.

03. Slipping Into Madness

04. Elitist

05. Prescribing Horror

06. The Beatings Will Continue (Until Morale Improves)

07. The Years Of Death And Dying

08. Clickbait

09. Cosa Del Pantano

10. Lunatic-Liar-Lord

11. The Fires Of Division

12. Antiseed

Last month, EXODUS tapped John Tempesta to play drums for the band at Psycho Las Vegas on August 22 in Las Vegas, Nevada and at Full Terror Assault on September 11 at Hogrock Campground in Cave In Rock, Illinois — while Hunting is recovering from surgery. Tempesta was a member of EXODUS from 1989 until 1993 and played on the band's albums "Impact Is Imminent" (1990) and "Force Of Habit" (1992).

When Hunting announced his absence from Psycho Las Vegas and Full Terror Assault, he said in a statement: "I need to manage my own expectations, and then work my very core back into shape to be fully ready for action. I have no doubt I'll bounce back and get there."

A GoFundMe campaign to help Hunting with medical expenses had previously raised more than $108,000 — including $5,000 from Tom's former EXODUS bandmate, current METALLICA guitarist Kirk Hammett, and $1,500 from FOZZY singer and wrestling superstar Chris Jericho.

Long-running hard rockers L.A. GUNS will release their new studio album, "Checkered Past", on November 12 via Frontiers Music Srl. Fans can get another preview of the album with the release of the official music video for the second single "Cannonball".

Written and recorded during late 2020 and early 2021, "Checkered Past" sees Tracii Guns, Phil Lewis and company continuing with the darker lyrical tone of the preceding studio albums, "The Devil You Know" and "The Missing Peace", while incorporating their classic rock influences into the mix. Heavier songs are mixed with bluesier, boogie inducing tracks and dark, introspective ballads, often harkening back to the first three albums the band made, but also pushing the band forward. When fans absorb the album as a whole, they'll see that the track listing is divided up into "sets" or "suites," where a sonic style is explored across multiple songs before moving on to the next, making for a remarkable listening experience.

Feeling inspired and excited like they did when they first started out, but with many years of wisdom and experience under their belts, and most importantly, a renewed and stronger creative and personal relationship, Guns and Lewis are maintaining a creative peak that started with "The Missing Peace". "Checkered Past" shows a band invigorated and ready to bash you over the head, as well as “wow” you with some epic, slower songs, and even make you dance a bit to some rock 'n roll.

"Checkered Past" track listing:

01. Cannonball

02. Bad Luck Charm

03. Living Right Now

04. Get Along

05. If It's Over Now

06. Better Than You

07. Knock Me Down

08. Dog

09. Let You Down

10. That Ain't Why

11. Physical Itch

L.A. GUNS performed its second album, 1989's "Cocked & Loaded", in its entirety on November 28, 2020 at the Fremont Country Club in Las Vegas, Nevada. The event was livestreamed via Veeps.

In May 2020, L.A. GUNS released a new single, "Let You Down". The song was written and recorded while the band was in the midst of working on its next studio album.

L.A. GUNS is:

Phil Lewis - vocals

Tracii Guns - guitars

Ace Von Johnson - guitars

Johnny Martin - bass

Scot Coogan - drums

This past April, a settlement was reached between drummer Steve Riley and Guns and Lewis over the rights to the L.A. GUNS name. Under the terms of the settlement agreement, Guns and Lewis will continue to operate under the L.A. GUNS trademark, while Riley and his bandmates from the other version of L.A. GUNS will now operate under the new name RILEY'S L.A. GUNS.

Photo by Dustin Jack Photography

Frontiers Music Srl recently announced the release of the sophomore album from Groundbreaker, Soul To Soul, on November 12. Today, the melodic rock project centered around the vocal talents of Steve Overland (FM) have released the title track. Listen below, and pre-order/save Soul To Soul here.


Groundbreaker's new album, Soul To Soul, is once again centered around the fantastic vocal talents of Steve Overland (FM) with stunning production by Alessandro Del Vecchio. While the self-titled debut was a collaboration with Robert Sall (Work of Art, W.E.T), on the songwriting side, joining Steve and Alessandro this time are Stefano Lionetti (Lionville), Pete Alpenborg (Arctic Rain), Jan Akesson (Infinite & Divine), and Kristian Fyhr (Seventh Crystal). The resulting album is simply everything that a melodic rock fan could hope and dream for. Expect nothing less than soaring hooklines, magnificent melodies, and amazing instrumental performances. Mixing the best of the European melodic rock traditions, Soul To Soul is easily one of the melodic rock highlights of the year.


The lineup on the new album includes Sven Larsson (ex-Street Talk) on guitars, Nalley Pahlsson (ex- Vindictiv, Therion) on bass, Herman Furin (Work of Art) on drums, and Alessandro Del Vecchio on keyboards. Steve Overland plays lead guitar on the track “Wild World” too.


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Groundbreaker started with a conversation between Frontiers President Serafino Perugino and Overland. Perugino was eager to start a top notch collaboration with well-respected musicians from the European melodic rock scene and highlight Overland's absolutely stunning vocal talents. Robert Sall of Work of Art was brought into the picture to craft the songs and to be paired with Alessandro Del Vecchio’s production. Overland immediately loved the material that was submitted to h

Progressive metal powerhouse Eldritch are gearing up to release their 12th studio album, EOS, on November 19th via Scarlet Records.


From Scarlet Records:


"Hard to believe, given the exquisite quality of the entire back catalogue, but this new and unique mixture of early progressive rock elements and modern metal sounds – with hints of AOR, thrash, classic and electronic music – is is the Eldritch all-time peak.


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BRING ME THE HORIZON continues the carefully executed next phase of its highly successful EP series with the launch of a new single titled "DiE4u". Recorded remotely during the pandemic with frontman Oli Sykes stuck in Brazil and keyboardist Jordan Fish in the U.K., "DiE4u" is part of the second phase of the "Post Human" EP campaign.

The new single, out today via Columbia Records, is another perfectly crafted future emo masterpiece by the U.K. five-piece and comes with a video, shot in Kiev and directed by Sykes.

Oli says: "''DiE4u' is a song about toxic obsessions, vices and things you can't kick. I think a lot of people went through very similar struggles while in lockdown, coming face to face with yourself and seeing who you really are and what's important. The song is a triumphant and emotional one for me because it was a time of realization to kick the things that were no good, and to take the choice in bettering myself. It also connects to a deeper theme about us as a society, and how we need to look at the way we treat ourselves, each other as well as the world."

BRING ME THE HORIZON recently celebrated a U.K. No. 1 with its EP "Post Human: Survival Horror", which has been streamed over 450 million times and sold over 300,000 globally, showcasing the band's incredible drive to explore and push its own creative boundaries during the height of the global pandemic. The EP became one of their most intricate, varied pieces of music thus far and scored them critical acclaim.

The four singles alone from "Post Human: Survival Horror" racked up over 250 million streams across platforms to date.

"DiE4u" comes ahead of a sold-out arena tour in the U.K. and BRING ME THE HORIZON's appearance at SLIPKNOT's Knotfest at Los Angeles's Banc Of California Stadium on November 5.

Photo credit: Reece Owen

In a new interview with Ultimate Classic Rock, JUDAS PRIEST singer Rob Halford was asked what it was like to perform the title track of the band's debut album, "Rocka Rolla", for the first time in 45 years at last month's Bloodstock Open Air festival at Catton Park, Walton-on-Trent, United Kingdom. He responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "I threw that out. We all had a list. I threw that out, and Glenn [Tipton, guitar] went, 'I don't think that's gonna work.' I said, 'I don't think it's gonna work either.' I said, 'But wouldn't it be so cool if we did it, because there is the title track of the first album this band ever made?' And so when we got up into rehearsals and we jammed it, and then Richie [Faulkner, guitar] put a bit of a twist on it — double tempo and made this little bit of an arrangement adjustment — I thought, 'Oh, man. This is definitely gonna work.' So when I did make a little tiny of a blab before we played that song at Bloodstock and then he came in, it just felt euphoric. We'd never, ever, ever in the history of the band played it live, and yet here was… That was when your foot connected with the heavy metal football, and the game was on. So I really loved that.

"I'll tell you what I liked about the arrangement," he continued. "On the flight back to America, I was watching this really cool show that Robert Plant did with the SENSATIONAL SHAPE SHIFTERS at Austin City Limits, and the way that he takes the [LED] ZEPPELIN material and he restructures it. There are still important aspects of the songs that you connect with, but he takes you on a little bit of an adventure. And that's what I felt. When I was on the flight back, I was thinking about 'Rocka Rolla'. And then my mind's going, 'Is there anything else we can do like that?' What's another track that we can possibly look at that might take that kind of twist from something way back in the '70s to 2021. Endless opportunities in music."

For the Bloodstock Open Air appearance, JUDAS PRIEST was rejoined by Tipton for three songs.

Tipton was diagnosed with Parkinson's seven years ago — after being stricken by the condition at least half a decade earlier — but announced in early 2018 he was going to sit out touring activities in support of JUDAS PRIEST's latest studio album, "Firepower". He was replaced by "Firepower" album producer Andy Sneap, who is also known for his work in NWOBHM revivalists HELL and cult thrash outfit SABBAT.

JUDAS PRIEST's first pandemic-era tour, the rescheduled "50 Heavy Metal Years" North American trek, kicked off this past Wednesday night (September 8) at Santander Arena in Reading, Pennsylvania.

In early April, JUDAS PRIEST's European tour, which was scheduled to kick off in late May, was once again postponed due to "ongoing COVID-19 vaccine issues." The trek will now run from May 27, 2022 in Moscow, Russia until July 31, 2022 in Oberhausen, Germany.

ANTHRAX bassist Frank Bello, who is currently promoting his upcoming memoir, "Fathers, Brothers, And Sons: Surviving Anguish, Abandonment, And Anthrax", spoke to Waste Some Time With Jason Green about his desire to keep his political opinions to himself and focus on uniting people in a time of crisis.

"All I've ever wanted to do is just be a musician to make people feel good," he said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET). "And I wanna be the distraction from the rest of that world — politics, COVID. I wanna be the distraction that gets you away from that; that's what means everything to me. I want you to put on a record, or maybe pick up a bass… If I can inspire that — if this book inspires you to do something proactive and creatively, dude, come on, that's what it's about. 'Cause I think people — get everything out of the way: your politics, I don't give a shit, whatever it is.

"We have one life," he continued. "That's the way I look at it. I have some people, some good friends of mine, who passed from COVID. It's time to just get the politics out of the way and get back together again. It's really important. And think for yourself. You have one life. Use it, man."

"Fathers, Brothers, And Sons: Surviving Anguish, Abandonment, And Anthrax" is due on October 12 via Rare Bird. The foreword was written by KISS bassist/vocalist Gene Simmons.

Bello, a member of ANTHRAX since 1984, has sold over ten million albums, traveled the globe more times than he cares to count, and enthralled audiences from the world's biggest stages. His long-awaited memoir would be a gripping read even if its pages only contained stories about his life as a recording and touring musician. While those stories are indeed included — and will blow your mind — Bello also focuses on deeper subjects in "Fathers, Brothers, And Sons". Once you've heard his life story, you'll understand why.

Born into a family of five, Frank grew up in difficult circumstances. His father abandoned his wife and children, and Frank's mother moved heaven and earth to keep them fed and educated. Left with no male role model, Frank found inspiration in heavy metal bass players, following their example and forging a career with ANTHRAX from his early teens — first as a roadie, and then as the group's bass player.

International stardom came Frank's way by the mid-to-late 1980s, when he was still in his early twenties, but tragedy struck in 1996 when his brother Anthony was murdered in New York. Although the case went to trial, the suspected killer was released without charge after a witness, intimidated by violent elements, withdrew his testimony.

Two decades later, Frank is a father himself to a young son. Like many men who grew up without the guidance of a dad, he asks himself important questions about the meaning of fatherhood and how to do the job well. This is the wisdom which "Fathers, Brothers, And Sons" offers readers.

Despite the emotive nature of these topics, "Fathers, Brothers, And Sons" is a funny, entertaining read. A man with a keen sense of humor and the perspective to know how surreal his story has been, Frank doesn't preach or seek sympathy in his book. Instead, he simply passes on the wisdom gained from a lifetime of turbulence, paying tribute to his loved ones in a way that will resonate with us all.

To pre-order a copy, go to this location.

Former JUDAS PRIEST singer Tim "Ripper" Owens has clarified his recent comments about Dr. Anthony Fauci repeatedly changing his COVID-19 recommendations.

Fauci, President Joe Biden's chief medical advisor, has received criticism from Republican leaders throughout the coronavirus pandemic, with some of them asking him to resign over his handling of COVID-19.

On September 3, Owens, who frequently "likes" tweets that amplify Republican talking points and that are derogatory to Democrats, offered his opinion on the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases director while responding to a headline from conservative media outlet The Blaze about Fauci's recent comment that three doses of the COVID-19 vaccine are likely needed for full protection.

Tim tweeted: "He changes what he says over and over and over and over and over and over and over again. So we find out masks don't work and vaccines don't work. So wear 5 masks and get 5 vaccines. ( just so you know I'm vaccinated and I wore a mask, oh yea and I've had Covid )".

The 53-year-old singer, who lives in Akron, Ohio, elaborated on his Fauci comments during a brand new interview with Sofa King Cool. When the interviewer said that it's "frustrating" to see official recommendations constantly changing, Owens said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "It is frustrating. But then if you say anything about it changing every day, those people will go, 'Oh, you're anti-science 'cause you bring up that it's changing.' And it's, like, no, it just changes every day. I mean, I understand why it's changing every day: we're dealing with something that we don't know what we're dealing with."

He continued: "My girlfriend's a paramedic and my good friend's a doctor. I understand everything that goes on. But these same people that get mad at people [for pointing out the fact that recommendations are constantly changing]… If you went to [an auto mechanic] and got your car fixed, and they said, 'It's gonna be 95 dollars,' and then they called you and said, 'It's gonna be 150,' and you're, like, 'Okay.' And then you picked it up and they go, 'That's two thousand dollars you owe me.' And you're, like, 'What?' And they're, like, 'Well, we found things along the way that changed, and now it's two thousand.' Would those people be, like, 'Okay, I understand. You're a mechanic and things change'? No, they would be pissed off because it's changing.

"I think it's the way we're told," Tim explained. "We're told that this will work and then it doesn't. But instead of saying, 'This might work.' That's the issue. There was no, 'The vaccines might work.' No. When you got a vaccine originally, it was a hundred percent this was gonna clear everything up. I think it's the way it's worded [that is the problem].

"I understand things change," Owens repeated. "I got vaccinated and I wear masks when I have to, just because I wanna go back to work — I wanna tour. I got COVID last year. I had more effects from Mexican food than I did from getting COVID, but I got COVID. I believe it's there. It doesn't hurt me to wear a mask in a supermarket. But it's just things change and it's what we're told. It's crazy what's being said. So nobody knows what's going on. Right now we just wanna get some kind of normalcy. Because we do see no maks being worn when it's all right to riot and loot and protest or go to birthday parties or go to an NBA game or an NFL game or a college football game. Of course, I guess college football games, it isn't okay; now, all of a sudden, they're mad at that. We don't know what the rules are — when concerts are okay, when concerts are not okay.

"Listen, I am, like I said, vaccinated and I call myself a superspreader. Because us vaccinated people are running around town, like, 'Yeah, we're vaccinated,' spreading the shit all over the place. So, it's, like, 'Look at me go. I'm the king.' I probably killed more people last week than Charles Manson did.

"Listen, I get to say all this because I am vaccinated, I do wear a mask and I believe the COVID stuff. But I'm also not stupid to say that vaccinated people are spreading this shit all over the place."

Owens went on to say that "people should get vaccinated. I think especially if you're older or you're unhealthy or you have underlying conditions, you should get vaccinated. I want the world to go back to normal. I wanna tour. I wanna be able to go to the store now and find something on the shelf. I mean, the shelves are empty. I go to my grocery store, and they're fucking empty, man.

"It's funny 'cause you can still be pro-vaccine, believe in COVID, pro-mask, but if you say Fauci changes his mind, you get death threats. That's the way the world is now. 'Oh, you're anti-science.' No. I understand why he changes his mind, but the fucker changes his mind. I mean, one mask, two masks, three masks, eight… I mean, what do we get now? Ten vaccines to make it work? I get it why — we don't know what we're dealing with. Ten years from now, we're still gonna be learning what we're dealing with. Pretty soon, we're gonna have to have a flashing light coming out of our assholes to say that we've been vaccinated and [provide] blood samples to go get a Big Mac."

Tim stressed that he is not opposing local mandates. "I say we do anything we can now to fix things," he said. "But I think everybody's so confused. When the doctor tells people out of the gate masks don't work, and then, a month later, he says everybody wear a mask. I mean, that's the issues we have.

"This isn't about politics," he continued. "And that's the other thing: if you don't like Fauci, that means you're a Republican. If you wear a mask and believe in vaccines, that means you're a Democrat. I've got everybody fucking fucked up, because I wear a mask and got vaccinated and I don't like Fauci.

"Again, like I told you, I understand why he changes his mind. It's science. We don't understand it. Everybody's fine with that… I get it. It's science. I get why he changes things. But don't tell us. Don't come out and tell everybody, 'Masks don't work and you don't have to wear a mask.' Be a little more truthful — I think that's the issue. That's why everybody's confused."

With the original strain of the virus, the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines were about 90% to 95% effective in preventing symptomatic disease. As a result of the delta variant, that efficacy rate has dropped to 66%. Still, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that unvaccinated people are almost five times more likely to contract symptomatic COVID compared to a fully vaccinated person.

Fully vaccinated people are 29 times less likely to be hospitalized because of the virus compared to those are unvaccinated, according to a study released by the CDC this week.

Research shows that fully vaccinated people experience milder symptoms and are half as likely to develop several symptoms in the first week of illness compared to unvaccinated people.

Owens is currently in a new band called KK'S PRIEST with ex-JUDAS PRIEST guitarist K.K. Downing, along with guitarist A.J. Mills (HOSTILE), bassist Tony Newton (VOODOO SIX) and drummer Sean Elg (DEATHRIDERS, CAGE).

KK'S PRIEST's debut album, "Sermons Of The Sinner", will be released on October 1 via Explorer1 Music Group/EX1 Records.

In a new interview with the WGRD 97.9 radio station, IRON MAIDEN drummer Nicko McBrain spoke about how he and his bandmates managed to keep the details of their new album, "Senjutsu", under wraps for more than two years after completing it in early 2019 during a break in their "Legacy Of The Beast" tour. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Basically, what happened [was] Steve [Harris, MAIDEN bassist and founder] has had the only copy that he took on his computer of the album — the finished product. That was it. There were no copies sent to anyone. There was no advance media — of course, there was no advance listenings for any of the record companies around the world. So it was all kept under wraps. I got my digital download of it from Steve three and a half months ago. Only the band — each of the members of the band — had a copy of it. Bruce [Dickinson, MAIDEN singer] had a copy earlier in the year, obviously, when Steve went over to England prior to the COVID really getting bad, Bruce did have a copy of it on his computer. But we were all sworn to absolute secrecy with it. We couldn't even tell our friends about it, like, 'Oh, we've got a new album. It's done. And this is the title of it,' and whatnot. So we had to keep it a secret. And I think we did a pretty damn good job of that."

"Senjutsu" was released on September 3 via BMG. IRON MAIDEN's first LP in six years was recorded in Paris with longstanding producer Kevin Shirley and co-produced by Harris. It was preceded in July by a highly acclaimed animated video for the first single "The Writing On The Wall" made by BlinkInk based on a concept by Dickinson with two former Pixar executives. It followed a month-long teaser campaign and global "treasure hunt" for clues about the track title and concept.

For "Senjutsu" — loosely translated as "tactics and strategy" — the band once again enlisted the services of Mark Wilkinson to create the spectacular Samurai themed cover artwork, based on an idea by Harris. With a running time of a little under 82 minutes, "Senjutsu", like their previous record "The Book Of Souls", is a double CD/triple vinyl album.

Back in May 2019, Italian web site Maiden Concerts first speculated that IRON MAIDEN was putting the finishing touches on a new album. The site concluded that the LP was nearing completion after gathering social media evidence that all six members of the band, their wives and Shirley were in Paris at the same time. The producer even posted new pictures of Guillaume Tell Studios, where MAIDEN recorded "Brave New World" (2000) and "The Book Of Souls", saying he was finalizing a major project.

During MAIDEN's summer 2019 North American tour, Dickinson hinted at new material, telling the crowd at the group's Oakland, California concert: "New IRON MAIDEN songs — sooner than you think." At MAIDEN's Nashville show in August 2019, Dickinson said that fresh music from the band wasn't "beyond the bounds of possibility," adding that a new MAIDEN record was essentially a "certainty."

"Senjutsu" marks MAIDEN's sixth album to be produced by Shirley, who has worked with MAIDEN for the past two decades.

In addition to MAIDEN, Shirley has collaborated with dozens of notable acts, including Joe Bonamassa, JOURNEY, DREAM THEATER and LED ZEPPELIN.

During the making of "The Book Of Souls", Dickinson was diagnosed with a cancerous tumor at the back of his tongue. He recorded all the vocals for the album with the tumor before undergoing treatment and making a full recovery in time for the LP's release in September 2015.

The pandemic that has gripped and enveloped the world for the past year-plus has actually birthed lots of creativity and allowed artists to further execute their unique visions in other spaces. The time in quarantine has not been for naught. It has fostered ideas and encouraged art. New lifestyle company Blackgoatwear is one such positive product of the pandemic.

During the lockdown, HELLYEAH guitarist Tom Maxwell and his friends Tim Buchenroth and Luke Fletcher came up with an idea for a boutique-style merch company that leaned into the darker side of life — in terms of its imagery and aesthetics. The trio wanted to create not only wearables but also one-a-kind pieces, like shadow boxes and self-care items like handmade, all-natural soaps, as well as gourmet spice rubs and hot sauces, along with original comic prints, custom glass pieces, and more. There truly is something for everyone when it comes to Blackgoatwear's carefully curated and highly edited offerings.

Imagine if Etsy and Deviant Art procreated, without the constraints of typical e-commerce and with a passion for the mysterious, the mystical, the paranormal, the occult, and the "What Ifs" that define life as we know it. That's Blackgoatwear. It's truly a creepy and cool endeavor, one that is bound to connect with hard rock, metal, industrial, and goth music fans — and more.

If you can never quite find what you are looking for and have an appreciation for this style and aesthetic, then Blackgoatwear will be your new favorite brand. If you love being asked, "Oh my god, where did you get that?" when people visit your home or when sizing up your attire, or if you simply have a hankering for custom, one-a-kind, and totally different decor and that you can't get at the local big box retailer, then Blackgoatwear is decidedly for you.

The company's focus will be on craftsmanship as much as it will be about customer service, with the goal of offering shoppers unique pieces of art that they will be proud to wear, display, and use at their dark dinner parties.

For more information, visit www.blackgoatwear.com.

Currently out on the Butcher Babies vs Goliath Tour 2021 in the US, Butcher Babies vocalist Heidi Shepherd took to Instagram to respond to a fan for complaints regarding required Covid-19 tests at a recent show.


Heidi: "Just so everyone understands: every single venue we have played on this tour has had different requirements for live music. I am at a new venue everyday. It would be in YOUR best interest to check these requirements with the venue that you are attending. Ten times out of 10, we don't know!!! It's not our rule, it's YOUR local guideline! 


We have had our info submitted to all promoters before this tour started. Every artist on tour right now is going through the exact same shit and dealing with backlash every day. We're just trying to get back to our careers after 1.5 years. Do your part and figure it out ahead of time! This passive aggressive bullshit makes you out to be the dickhead. Not me!"


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