Drummer Thomen Stauch (ex-Blind Guardian, Mentalist, Dawn Of Amber) has released the video below, in which he and friends Tino Hevia (Reveal, Darksun, ex-Nörthwind), Rob Lundgren (Mentalist, Reveal) and Dani Fernandez (Dark Moor, Holycide) perform a cover of Iron Maiden's "Stranger In A Strange Land" from the 1986 album, Somewhere In Time.



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With a bond forged in youth and decades-old friendship, the undisputed masters of thrash metal return with their eleventh studio album, Persona Non Grata due to be released on November 19 via Nuclear Blast Records. In the new video trailer below, Tom Hunting talks about the making of the album:





In a previously trailer we here from Gary Holt on the making of the album:


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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"


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





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








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Dream Theater's new album, A View From The Top Of The World, is set for release on October 22, and can be pre-ordered in various configurations including a limited Deluxe Box incl. Gatefold 2LP (180g bright gold vinyl) with exclusive alternate cover, limited deluxe 2CD+Blu-ray Artbook with exclusive alternate cover, Zoetrope Slipmat, Beanie, Enamel Keychain, 8 x Artcards, Poster, Hand-Numbered Certificate of Authenticity in a Lift-off Lid Box.


Watch a trailer for the Deluxe Box Set:





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The album is also 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.


The album is also available for pre-order digitally and fans that pre-order the digital version will receive an instant download of “The Alien”.


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 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)


“The Alien” video:





Dream Theater have revealed further touring plans, intending to traverse Europe in spring 2022, following their autumn/winter US trek. Special guests are yet to be announced.





The UK leg includes three arena shows in April 2022, in Belfast, Newcastle, and London. Tickets go on general sale on Friday, September 3 from all good box offices and online here. A number of pre-sales will kick off before that, including with SeeTickets, Ticketmaster, Gigantic, AXS, and Planet Rock.


More information on all dates, tickets for all upcoming shows, as well as VIP packages can be found here.





The Top Of The World Tour of North America kicks off on October 28 in Mesa, AZ and runs through December 14 where it concludes in St. Petersburg, FL. The tour will make stops in Seattle, WA; Chicago, IL; Washington, DC; New York, NY and Orlando, FL among others. Information on tickets for all upcoming shows as well as VIP packages can be found at dreamtheater.net.





(Photo - Rayon Richards)





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The third episode of "The Metallica Podcast: Volume 1 - The Black Album" has just been released in conjunction with the 30th anniversary of the band's self-titled fifth LP, better known as The Black Album. The podcast's weekly episodes explore the stories behind and the legacy of the best-selling album in the history of Nielsen Soundscan.

Official description of episode three: "The Black Album was a totally different beast from the quartet – lyrically, musically, and instrumentally. This episode explores the band recording together in the same room for the first time and how it changed the way they played — and in perfect alignment with the '80s turning into the '90s, no less. Guests include: Bob Rock, Ross Halfin, Lzzy Hale, and Bob Rock's son, Mik Rock, whose secret role on 'Enter Sandman' is revealed for the first time anywhere."

Speaking about "Metallica"'s more streamlined direction compared to the thrash metal ovetones of METALLICA's first four albums, drummer Lars Ulrich said: "It was a good 14, 15 months from when we started writing till we wrapped the record up. The battle cry was just 'simply.' All four of us share a love and appreciation for bands like THE ROLLING STONES, for bands like AC/DC and for stuff that is much more traditional blues-based rock and roll. It's a part of all of our schooling. We talked about shorter songs and the MISFITS. I remember at some point, we were talking about a song like 'Jumpin' Jack Flash'. So a lot of stuff that showed up, obviously, was just probably fairly thematic of all of what we're talking about here just for the first time on our horizon, on our radar."

He continued: "Take a band like STATUS QUO. STATUS QUO were a huge, huge part of my childhood. And so whether it's the harder — when you get into songs like 'Down Down' or 'Rain' or 'Caroline' or 'Roll Over Lay Down' [and] some of those mid-'70s albums like 'Hello!' or 'Quo' or 'On The Level', it's all blues-based hard rock and roll. The amplifiers are a little more distorted and it's turned up to sometimes 12 instead of 11, but again, it all comes from the same three Chuck Berry riffs and the same Muddy Waters and Willie Dixon riffs, and so on and so forth. And just like AC/DC and just like THE ROLLING STONES, that part of METALLICA's musical lineage is something that we're, obviously, very open about and very proud of. And I think it certainly explains how we sort of have one foot in a lot of these different musical worlds. It was a combination of the shorter songs, the simpler songs, the songs that drums… I was more, like, 'Okay, I just wanna set up the riffs rather than trying to lead.' Okay, '…And Justice For All', this whole thing starts with a crazy drum beat and the guitar follows the drums. It's, like, 'Okay, I'm just gonna sit back there and put the best drum beat behind these gargantuan guitar riffs.' It starts with the songs, 'cause the songs have to have the foundation to allow for the subtleties, to allow the space and to allow for all those types of things. So it was a convergence of all these different energies coming together just at the right time."

METALLICA's self-titled LP in 2014 became the first album to sell 16 million copies since Nielsen SoundScan started tracking sales in 1991.

"Metallica" was the first of four collaborations with Rock, with whom the band clashed throughout the recording of the disc.

METALLICA performed The Black Album in its entirety at a number of European festivals in 2012.

IRON MAIDEN singer Bruce Dickinson, who tested positive for COVID-19 last month after being fully vaccinated, discussed his battle with the disease in a new interview with SiriusXM's "Trunk Nation Virtual Invasion".

"I had my double shot of vaccine back in May, and everything [was] hunky-dory, and then I got what people are calling a breakthrough COVID infection, which was just like a… It's a bit more than a flu," he said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET). "I would really caution against people who go, 'Oh, it's just a flu.' No, it's not. And I know a lot of people who were not vaccinated — not because they didn't want to be, but they were too young to get it initially. You know, 22-, 23-, 24-year-old people who have not been able to get out of bed for six to eight weeks after it — they've been really sick, ongoing. They're not in hospital, but their life is really screwed up. And there's all kinds of… People are talking about long-term COVID causing diabetes, causing stuff with your brain, even — dare I say it — erectile dysfunction. There you go. They didn't tell you about that when they said go and get vaccinated. There's a really good reason to go [and get the vaccine] 'cause [COVID] makes your willy shrivel. Because the blood vessels with COVID can become really inflamed, so they get blocked up and your extremities don't get enough blood, and, obviously, there's one extremity which is dear to our heart as men, and if that doesn't get enough blood, then, boy, you're in for a world of pain — or not.

"So there's a lot of reasons, for me, why [getting] the vaccine [is the right thing to do]," he continued. "Again, anecdotal. People say, 'Oh, yeah, but you still got COVID.' I said, 'Yeah, but I'm not in hospital.' I got over it in 10 days. It took me about a week after that to get my smell back, to start feeling more normal — get energy and stuff. But this is not just an ordinary commoner garden flu.

"Honestly, it's my personal opinion — I'm not forcing anybody to go and do stuff — but I would advise anybody to just go ahead and get the vaccine."

Dickinson previously told Rolling Stone magazine that he doesn't personally believe that fans attending concerts should be required to get vaccinated, calling it "a personal choice," However, he said that he hopes everyone will get the shot. "Personally, I think people are just very badly advised if they don't go and get themselves double jabbed as quickly as possible, not for the reasons of going into concerts, but for their own health," he said. "Having said that, even if you've had a double jab, you can still get COVID, and therefore you can spread it to other people who might not have been vaccinated and they might get very sick and die. Now you cannot legislate against mortality. There are many things in this world that kill people and they're not illegal but are unfortunate. Cancer kills a lot of people. Heart attacks kill a lot of people. Obesity kills a lot of people. Malaria kills a shitload of people every year… So at some point, we have to just go, 'We're probably going to have to live with this. And if we're going to live with it, then you have your vaccination.'"

IRON MAIDEN's new album, "Senjutsu", was released on September 3 via BMG. It was recorded in Paris with longstanding producer Kevin Shirley and co-produced by bassist Steve Harris. The video for the LP's first single, "The Writing On The Wall", was 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 conc

San Francisco Bay Area thrashers EXODUS were rejoined by drummer John Tempesta for their appearance on August 22 at Psycho Las Vegas at the Michelob ULTRA Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. Tempesta was filling in for EXODUS's regular drummer Tom Hunting who recently underwent a successful total gastrectomy in his battle with squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) of the stomach.

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).

John discussed his temporary return to EXODUS in a new interview with DEATH ANGEL's Ted Aguilar as part of the "Alive & Streaming" YouTube series. Speaking about the Psycho Las Vegas concert, Tempesta said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "That was crazy, man. It was really exciting. I got a call from Tom Hunting. Like, 'Wow!' I go, 'Tom is calling me about drums or something.' I knew about the surgery. And we started talking. He goes, 'Hey, dude. We've got this gig coming up in Vegas. If I can walk, I can play, basically. There might be a chance I can't. Would you be able to do it?' I'm, like, 'Woah!' He caught me off guard. I'm, like, 'Wow, man!' First of all, it was an honor to be asked by Tom Hunting; it was really nice of him. [I told him], 'I really appreciate it. But let me see what's happening with my band. Give me, like, a week, and I'll get back to you.' And I remember going to my buddy's house in Malibu the next day and listening to songs. I was excited. I'm, like, 'I can do this. I can do this.' And I called Tom [and told him], 'I can fucking do this, man.' So, I just started listening and listening and everything.

"It was a bit nerve-racking," John continued. "I put myself under a lot of pressure, 'cause I hadn't played in a while. Plus I hadn't played a show since December of 2019 — like, a whole, full live show. And to play this type of music again…

"Gary [Holt, EXODUS guitarist] came over. We jammed for a couple of days. He came over to my place. I have a rolling kit, and he borrowed an amp from my brother, and we just jammed and went through the songs. And it went great. And we jammed the next day for a bit. I'm, like, 'Yeah.' And then, the next following week, we had one rehearsal in Vegas, and that was it, with the full band, and got up and played. It was, like, 'What the hell happened?'"

When EXODUS first announced on August 16 that Tempesta was temporarily returning to the band, they said in a statement: "Due to Tom's continued recovery from his surgery, we are announcing that for our show in Vegas and Full Terror Assault, we will be joined by @johntempesta on drums! John was Tom's ( and our) number one choice to jump behind the kit in his absence, and John will kill it while Tom continues his recovery, which is going very well! Looking forward to seeing everyone who is coming to Vegas for the show. And looking forward to getting Tom healthy and back behind his kit as soon as possible! But let's welcome John back for two shows where he started!"

Hunting added at the time: "Hey Y'all. I'm 5 weeks out from the surgery and on the mend. I'm feeling stronger all the time and I'm beyond excited to get back to working out on the drums. Unfortunately I won't be ready for the upcoming Vegas and Full Terror Assault shows. Originally I thought if I could walk, I could play. 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. I wanna express my undying love and gratitude to our brother Johnny Tempesta for agreeing to play in my absence. I'm 100% sure he will crush playing this music! I'll check in again very soon. Thanks Soooo Much And CHEERS EVERYONE!!!!"

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.

After Hunting went public with his diagnosis, Holt said that EXODUS will "delay" the release of its recently completed new album, "Persona Non Grata", "so that when Tom has defeated this, he will be back to full strength to hit the road and pummel his drums like only he can! When he has kicked cancer's ass like we know he will, we will resume kicking YOUR asses with the sickest record yet!" he said.

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

According to San Francisco Chronicle's Datebook, GUNS N' ROSES had its headlining set cut short at BottleRock Napa Valley on Saturday, September 4, by festival promoters after bumping up against the festival's hard 10 p.m. curfew.

The abrupt ending came while GUNS N' ROSES was performing the final song of the two-and-a-hour set, "Paradise City", with special guest Dave Grohl of the FOO FIGHTERS.

A wave of boos from the crowd could be heard as the musicians tried to complete the track, with GUNS N' ROSES and Grohl continuing to play through 10:03 p.m. Following the performance, singer Axl Rose threw his mike off stage, took a bow and walked off with the rest of the band trailing behind.

Located in a residential area, with houses that face the main stage, the curfew at the Napa Valley Expo was set when neighbors complained about the noise after BottleRock's inaugural year in 2013.

Previous artists who had broken BottleRock's curfew include Neil Young (in 2019), FOO FIGHTERS (in 2017) and THE CURE (in 2014).

BottleRock organizer Dave Graham said in a 2017 radio interview after cutting the FOO FIGHTERS' set short: "I was responsible for making sure that we ended at 10 and it pained me to have to do that. I would have happily paid a big fine to keep them playing. It's less about the money and it's more about the trust within the community and the credibility that our festival has within the community."

Prior to a partial reunion of GUNS N' ROSES' classic lineup in 2016, the band had a reputation for extreme tardiness but has since become unexpectedly punctual. Rose and his bandmates took the stage at about 7:30 p.m. at BottleRock.

Dubbed "We're F'N Back!", GUNS N' ROSES' current tour comes on the heels of the "Not In This Lifetime" run that began in April 2016 and became the No. 3 highest-grossing tour in the history of Billboard Boxscore.

As was the case with "Not In This Lifetime", the current GUNS N' ROSES tour features classic-lineup members Slash (guitar), Duff McKagan (bass) and Rose backed by guitarist Richard Fortus, drummer Frank Ferrer, keyboardist Dizzy Reed and second keyboardist Melissa Reese.

The massive touring production will wrap up with two shows in Hollywood, Florida, at the Hard Rock Live Arena on October 2 and October 3.

On August 6, GUNS N' ROSES officially released a new song called "Absurd" across all digital music providers. The studio version of "Absurd" — which is a reworked version of a previously unreleased GN'R track called "Silkworms" — arrived three days after the band performed the tune live for the first time during its concert at Boston's Fenway Park.

During an appearance on the "Riffs Or Die" podcast hosted by HAVOK's David Sanchez, vocalist Freddy Cricien New York hardcore veterans MADBALL discussed his band's recent announcement that they will not perform in any venue that requires audience members to be vaccinated against COVID-19. At the time, MADBALL said that it will likely not make any live appearances in its hometown "for a very long time" because it "cannot in good conscience play shows that require personal/private medical information (like vaccination status) for entry."

In early August, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced that New York will be the first U.S. city to to require COVID-19 vaccinations for concert attendees, although the city will not enforce the mandate until mid-September. Proof of at least partial vaccination will be required.

Addressing the fan reaction to MADBALL's stance on the issue, Freddy said: "I saw a lot of positive responses, but I did see some people speaking against it. Others were pushing their agenda, whatever it was.

"Vaccinated or unvaccinated, I'm not down with the process, what they're trying to implement, what they're trying to mandate, what they're trying to do," he explained. "I can't co-sign that."

Like antivaccine activists, talk show hosts, and far-right politicians, Freddy made the vaccines' "experimental" nature a talking point. He also suggested that rising COVID-19 cases are proof that vaccines are at least a partial failure.

"Here, take this shot that doesn't work," Cricien said. "Maybe I'm overstating that; maybe it works to some degree. But it's crazy. Take this experimental thing that has recently been proven to not do what a vaccine is supposed to do. Very weird. And then beyond that, there's some people that just don't get down with that stuff, and you have to respect that — be it for religious reasons, be it for personal reasons. Some people have medical reasons why they can't get vaccinated — legit medical reasons. I know many people that their doctors are, like, 'If you get this, you're not gonna do well.' So there's a multitude of reasons why people don't wanna get it, or can't. But now we're creating this situation where you have to get it to participate in society. That doesn't feel right to me on so many levels… It sets a bad predecent. It sets a bad example. Besides infringing upon human rights and civil rights, it's just morally, in every way, not right; it's wrong."

Freddy also spoke about the fact that some music venues across the U.S. are implementing requirements for attendance, including having audience members either provide proof of vaccination or a negative COVID-19 test.

"Look, I know people that run venues," he said. "Some of them are close friends of mine. Some of them are guys I grew up with. I don't wanna see them lose their jobs. So I don't wanna see the people that are just trying to keep their jobs, I don't wanna see them fail personally, especially if they're friends of mine, people close to me. But when you enable to do stuff like this, there's a bigger picture to it. People just think, 'It's just a technicality.' No, behind the veil, there's a lot more going on. And so if you support it, you're essentially enabling this system to come into place."

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.

This past April, TWISTED SISTER frontman Dee Snider said that he was in favor of some kind of a coronavirus vaccine passport program whereby concert venues can ask patrons to show proof of testing or vaccination before attending certain events. Snider addressed the hot-button issue in a tweet, writing: "I get that some people are wary of this, but I want a vaccine passport in the worst fucking way! I wave my vaccination card around like a flag! I've got nothing to hide and if a vaccine passport will let me go places without all these covid protocols sign me the fuck up!"

Earlier that same month, TESTAMENT guitarist Alex Skolnick said that the recent announcement by various clubs and promoters around the country that they would begin staging events for only those guests who show proof of full vaccination was "what we need to do." He explained: "To go to certain countries, we need to get a yellow fever shot, and we carry this card that's put out by the World Health Organization that is proof of vaccination. What's the difference? We've been doing this for years. We wouldn't think otherwise. We don't wanna risk getting somebody else sick. So why would there be an issue here? And then, when people complain about the vaccine — 'I don't know what's in it. I'm suspicious…' Well, are you suspicious of the polio vaccine? 'Cause I think everybody gets that. I don't think you leave the hospital without getting certain vaccines."

Alex added: "I'm just amazed how people aren't aware of this. There's measles, mumps, polio… There's vaccines that we've been getting for years, and that's why we're not getting measles or mumps, or why we're not being forced to not be able to walk because of polio — because we get these vaccines. And the same medical and scientific communities that are behind those vaccines are behind these vaccines.

"My patience is running thin for these types," Skolnick concluded.

Experts have repeatedly said that a COVID-19 vaccine is the single most important tool for preventing infections and protecting against moderate and severe disease. Some variants, such as delta, may be more likely to cause breakthrough infections, but vaccinations have shown protection against symptomatic disease caused by delta. Unvaccinated people are more likely to be hospitalized or die from COVID-19 than people who are fully vaccinated. In the United States, 97% of the hospitalizations over the past three months, since delta came on the scene, have been in unvaccinated people. Ninety-nine percent of the people who have died of COVID-19 in the last three months were unvaccinated.

In a brand new interview with Talk Radio Europe's Giles Brown, ANTHRAX singer Joey Belladonna spoke about what it was like to tour the world with legendary heavy metal acts like DIO, OZZY OSBOURNE and IRON MAIDEN.

"[Ronnie James Dio is] from a town] an hour and a half from me here in Ithaca [upstate New York], which actually is where I ended up with ANTHRAX and where I actually was in a band before ANTHRAX, which was BIBLE BLACK, which really never got off the ground for me. [Ronnie was in a band called] ELF… Ronnie, he's a special person. He's just a unique singer. We toured together. We had good times together just doing things. In fact, I just did a livestream for Ronnie Dio's cancer fund — I did five songs, and that was in July. That was awesome.

"Touring with any of those bands, especially DIO, OZZY [OSBOURNE], for sure. IRON MAIDEN, we did so much together — it was so great," he continued. "Even South America, being on their plane, there was nothing like it, to be able to do that type of stuff; it was amazing. Not to mention other bands. Anybody we were out with that we had some good times with was really cherishable, to be able to tour together.

"I remember being in breakfast quite a few mornings, if not most of the mornings, and [MAIDEN singer] Bruce Dickinson] would be all dressed and ready to go. And just to chat for two hours, it was something — you kind of chuckle, to be able to do that. I'll never forget, in Rio, it was just me and him around lunchtime, 'cause we didn't go down till late. And just the discussion. And we were talking about singing, and he'd be singing something to me about something. And I'd look around and [think], 'There's nobody here to hear this.' It was just so great. To be that cool to be able to not shrug me off or something because we're the opening act or something — they never did that with us. They were always friendly to us. I remember going to [IRON MAIDEN bassist] Steve Harris's house. He asked me at Donington. And I'd never even met him before. So to think that he was so polite to invite me to his home, I'll never forget that."

Formed by guitarist Scott Ian and bassist Dan Lilker in Queens, New York on July 18, 1981, ANTHRAX was one of the first thrash metal bands to emerge from the East Coast and quickly became regarded as a leader in the genre alongside METALLICA, SLAYER and MEGADETH.

Active over the past five decades, ANTHRAX has released 11 studio albums, been awarded multiple gold and platinum certifications, received six Grammy nominations, toured the world since 1984 playing thousands of shows, including headlining Madison Square Garden and playing Yankee Stadium with the "Big Four".

ANTHRAX's latest album, "For All Kings", was called by some critics ANTHRAX's strongest album to date. Its arrival followed a five-year period during which the group experienced a rebirth of sorts, beginning with ANTHRAX's inclusion on the "Big Four" tour, and continuing with the 2011 release of comeback LP "Worship Music".

In a new interview with The Morning Call, JUDAS PRIEST bassist Ian Hill spoke about the progress of the songwriting sessions for the follow-up to 2018's "Firepower" album. He said: "There's at least an album or two of new material. The big problem has been COVID over the last year. We haven't been able to get together, you know? Some of the guys live in the [United] States and a couple of others live in Britain, so we can't really get together to rehearse. It's just opening up now, just easing a bit now, which is a bonus."

Ian added that guitarists Richie Faulkner and Glenn Tipton "have pooled their ideas, and they sort of formulate songs out of those ideas. And when they have sort of a rough working track, myself and Scott [Travis, the drummer] get a copy of that and we'll put our bass lines and drum patterns down and we'll go from there.

"But that's what we haven't been able to do," he explained. "You can send them backwards and forward, but it's such a messy process. It's much easier to be there in the room with everybody and them tell you to your face, 'That's a load of crap, start again.' Or 'We love it, don't touch a note.' It's much easier and it's more real doing it that way, as well. You pick up off everybody's vibe anyway. So it's preferable to do it face-to-face, when we're all together."

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).

"That was a great experiment," Rob told the "In The Trenches With Ryan Roxie" podcast about the "Firepower" recording experience. "We didn't even know it was gonna work. Tom's classic old-school metal. Andy is from more recent times. And Mike, of course, just came [from doing] the '13' album with [BLACK] SABBATH; he had done a lot of work with SABBATH. So there's three heads working together. And we thought, 'This is either gonna be a trainwreck or something glorious,' and it turned out to be something glorious. So we're gonna at least recreate those same production moments. But having said that, it is all about the songs, and right now, the songs feel really, really strong."

Halford resides in Phoenix, Faulkner in Nashville and Tipton and 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. The British heavy metal legends, who are celebrating their 50th anniversary, were rejoined by Tipton for three songs. The band also 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).

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

Sebastian Bach says that "there is no reason" why a reunion of SKID ROW's classic lineup shouldn't materialize.

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

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

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

Asked in a new interview with Florida's 98.7 The Gater radio station if he can see himself ever reuniting with SKID ROW, Bach said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Well, there's no reason not to — there's none. When those guys [in SKID ROW] try to say [about me], 'He's difficult to work with,' let me just say this one more time. We have not been in the same room together since the year 1996. Shut the eff up about you thinking you know what I'm like. You don't know anything about what I'm like. And the 'Gilmore Girls' think I'm okay to work with; Broadway thinks I'm okay to work with; the 'Trailer Park Boys' think I'm okay; GUNS N' ROSES think I'm pretty cool. We're not getting any younger."

Sebastian went on to say that a SKID ROW reunion "should" happen "for the fans. And we are absolutely running out of bands — bands that can play in sheds," he said. "The fact that we are all still alive and we are all in our 50s — some closer to 60 than others — but that, to me, is selfish that we're not together.

"I can play with anyone. I do play with everyone [laughs] — except for them."

As previously reported, Bach will celebrate the 30th anniversary of SKID ROW's classic second album, "Slave To The Grind", on a U.S. tour this fall. He will perform the LP in its entirety at all shows on the trek, which will kick off in October.

Bach previously performed "Slave To The Grind" in its entirety in October 2019 at the Whisky A Go Go in West Hollywood, California. Earlier that fall, he completed a U.S. tour during which he celebrated the 30th anniversary of SKID ROW's self-titled debut album.

In June 2019, Bach issued an "open invitation" to the other members of SKID ROW's classic lineup to "get onstage and jam" during the vocalist's last tour. A few days later, during an interview with Finland's Kaaos TV, guitarist Dave "Snake" Sabo confirmed that he would not accept Bach's overture. "I'm working with my band," he said. "This is SKID ROW, and this is what I do."

Drummer Rob Affuso — who left SKID ROW in 1998 and claims to be "the only former member that keeps in contact with all former SKID ROW bandmates and is still good friends with them all" — subsequently joined Bach in September 2019 at Sony Hall in New York City to play the band's classic song "Makin' A Mess".

Asked by Rolling Stone if he thinks his former bandmates are offended that he put his invitation out there publicly, Bach said: "No. I think it's an ego thing. They don't like when I get attention, and they don't get attention. It's always been like that. I can already see them getting mad, because I'm selling out shows, and they're not part of the show, and blah, blah, blah."

In February 2019, Sabo told "Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk" that SKID ROW came "pretty close" to reuniting with Bach after Harnell's exit from the band. But then he clarified: "I said 'pretty close,' and that's actually not true. Because we didn't get beyond text messaging each other, to be quite honest. The same old stuff just seemed to exist where there was this confrontational sort of demeanor going back and forth between myself and Sebastian.

"I'm so proud of what we were able to create throughout the entire history of this band, and that will never change," he continued. "But some things just don't work anymore and people go their separate ways and you can't get that back together. And I'm fine with that.

"I play music to be happy," Sabo added. "I don't play music for a paycheck. It's great to get paid to do what you love. But I've never done it for the money. It's always been about my love of music, and that's what it still is. At my old crusty age, it's still because I love the guitar and I love creating. And I love the response. I love being able to connect in some way with an audience. That's why I started playing music — because I didn't know how to communicate, so it came out through music, through songs.

"Playing with [ZP] in the band has brought a real joyousness back to our lives. You can see it — it's not faked or phony. You can see it when we play. And that's what I live for — I live for those moments of just absolute joy.

"A reunion [with Sebastian] would have been great for a lot of other people who have wanted to see that happen," Snake said. "But for us, it would not have been pleasurable, to be quite honest."

JUDAS PRIEST singer Rob Halford is the latest legend to sign on to front a single from the rock supergroup BAD PENNY, which features former QUEEN + PAUL RODGERS bassist Danny Miranda, BLUE ÖYSTER CULT drummer Jules Radino and guitar virtuoso/songwriter Mike Holtzman. BAD PENNY's previous releases feature former JOURNEY lead singer Steve Augeri and QUEENSRŸCHE vocalist Todd La Torre.

Halford took time prior to rehearsals for JUDAS PRIEST's upcoming tour to drop the vocals to the BAD PENNY's "Push Comes To Shove", a metallic, Arabic-tinged track featuring a syncopated guitar-drum battery.

"This song just grabbed me," Halford said. "It's mysterious, dark, and sexy." New York-based metal singer Militia Vox, who has been dubbed one of the greatest female rock vocalists of her generation, rounds out a powerhouse duet.

"Danny and I came up with the music and melody for this one," said Holtzman. "We knew we had something special… these exotic world-music elements, the inner dialogue, the heavy groove…it just needed extraordinary voices to bring it home. We are thrilled Rob and Militia agreed to sing it. They absolutely killed it."

After scoring radio hits with their debut singles, the bluesy rocker "Voices In My Head" (sung by La Torre) and the power ballad "Lose Myself" (sung by Augeri), BAD PENNY took a turn towards classic metal with "The Mirror Lies", again featuring La Torre on vocals. "Push Comes To Shove" delves further into dark and heavy territory.

"The object of this band is to tap into sounds and genres we love, and not to pigeon-hole ourselves as this-or-that," said Holtzman. "We want to keep ourselves and our listeners surprised and challenged. There are a few more cool twists and turns ahead."

BAD PENNY plans to release the single "Push Comes To Shove" (featuring Rob Halford and Militia Vox) for pre-order on September 20.

For more information, visit Badpennyband.com

TESTAMENT's Chuck Billy has contributed "additional voices" to "What If... Doctor Strange Lost His Heart Instead Of His Hands?", the fourth episode of the first season of Marvel's new animated series "What If …?" The Disney+ series devotes each of its episodes to a different alternate-universe scenario in which things are utterly changed in ways large and small.

Billy discussed his contribution to "What If …?" during an appearance on a recent episode of "The Jasta Show" podcast. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "That was an experience, because the producer was actually a TESTAMENT fan, and he actually seeked [sic] me out. And it was so great and made it so easy. I'd never done that for a movie and action part. So when you go in there, they got this — it's like a barricade you stand in front of, a padded barricade, and there's the screen and the microphone. So you can use the barricade to kind of move and get into character. And I was doing a lot of flying and yelling and fighting and shit like that. So it was great, 'cause the producer was, like, 'All right, so on this part, do the 'Demonic' voice.' And I'm, like, 'Oh, okay.' So I'd do that. 'Okay, on this one, do the 'Practice What You Preach' voice.' It was so cool that he could give me direction like that. It was the easiest thing. And I had a blast. And it was right the middle of COVID.

"It's gonna be out on the Disney network channel, so I went down to Disney in L.A.," he explained. "Total protocol. At least I got to go in there and do my own thing with them. But it was really cool. And if it goes well, I'm gonna get second season. So that's something I'm looking forward to. It was badass. I think people are gonna dig it when this comes out."

Chuck is not the only metal musician to have done voiceover work. ARMORED SAINT/ex-ANTHRAX singer John Bush has famously voiced Burger King TV commercials, while TWISTED SISTER's Dee Snider has narrated the popular rock docuseries "Breaking The Band" which airs on Reelz and chronicles the breakups of A-list bands.

"Me and John actually have the same voiceover agent," Chuck told "The Jasta Show". "That's who kind of stepped in to put this all together as well.

"The voiceover stuff is great," Billy continued. "I almost got — AC/DC 'Black Ice', when that came out, back then I almost got a Taco Bell commercial. Out of a couple of thousand people, it was down to me and one other guy for this video game with a Native American gas station attendant. So I almost got that one. I was, like, 'Oh, this is right up my alley. I'm gonna get this one.' But it was great. It was fun. Those things, they pay very well."

TESTAMENT's "The Bay Strikes Back Tour" with EXODUS and DEATH ANGEL will kick off on October 6 at the Fremont Theater in San Luis Obispo, California and make stops in Austin, New York, and Detroit before concluding on November 27 at The Fox in Oakl

Former MANOWAR guitarist Ross "The Boss" Friedman has apologized for his disparaging comments about the band in a recent interview, explaining that it's not his "style" to say "things like that."

A founding member of MANOWAR, Ross recorded six albums with the band before leaving after 1988's "Kings Of Metal". His work with MANOWAR included such classic LPs as 1982's "Battle Hymns", 1983's "Into Glory Ride" and 1984's "Hail To England".

Friedman discussed his time with MANOWAR during a chat with Waste Some Time With Jason Green. Recalling the circumstances surrounding his exit from the group more than three decades ago, he said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "When a band gets big and the money hits, greed, avarice and evil takes place. A guy that I thought was my partner wasn't," he said, referring to MANOWAR leader and bassist Joey DeMaio. "So he wanted me [out]. He goes, 'You've gotta go.' I go, 'Really? I've gotta go why? I've gotta go why? We're equal partners, 50 percent. Why do I have to go? Why don't you go?' The whole thing is he was so — his antics and his bullshit was so insane that I had it up to [my neck] with him. When you have it up to [your neck] with someone, you've just gotta go, 'Get the fuck outta here. I can't take this anymore.'

"[It was] ego, greed, avarice, evil [that caused me to depart]," he explained. "When [Joey] met me, I had already four major albums. He had done zero. Joey DeMaio was nobody. When he met me, I had already done four. I had no will to fight him. If I were to fight him, I would have killed him. He's just a fucking pariah… You can't live with that. My heart couldn't take it. I can't take evil. And I know people are gonna be… [It's gonna be] hard [for them] to hear that, but I'm better off now. I really am."

Ross went on to say that he has never been approached about returning to MANOWAR. As for whether he would consider playing with the band again, he said: "Well, if the financial arrangements were right. But [Joey is] the kind of scumbag that would never have that… I'll never say no, but you never know. I just called him a scumbag, so… It's not gonna happen. He's secure in the fact that MANOWAR are mediocre fucking pieces of shit right now. What they're putting out to the public [is] just terrible."

After BLABBERMOUTH.NET published Ross's comments from the Waste Some Time With Jason Green interview, he sent a short statement conveying a more conciliatory tone.

"I would like to apologize to MANOWAR, the fans and Joey for the insult," he wrote. "If anyone knows me, you know that's not my style for saying things like that. I violated my own rule. Again, I am truly sorry."

Ross was one of the pioneers of both punk rock and heavy metal. First crashing on the scene with THE DICTATORS and with such classic albums as 1975's "Go Girl Crazy!", 1977's "Manifest Destiny" and 1978's "Bloodbrothers", Ross helped trailblaze punk rock (just to put it all in perspective, "Go Girl Crazy!" arrived a full year before the RAMONES' debut, and two years before THE CLASH's and SEX PISTOLS' debuts). By the end of the '80s, Ross had reconnected with his DICTATORS bandmates in MANITOBA'S WILD KINGDOM, which served as a bridge between his love of punk and metal, as heard on the group's popular 1990 debut, "…And You?" Throughout the remainder of the decade, Ross also played with such groups as THE HELLACOPTERS and THE SPINATRAS, before THE DICTATORS reunited, which resulted in several new releases starting from the late '90s all the way through the early 21st century. Also around this time, Ross joined forces with former of BLUE ÖYSTER CULT drummer Albert Bouchard in the band BRAIN SURGEONS. With Ross's main focus turning to metal music at this time, two additional projects were launched — DEATH DEALER and his solo outfit, ROSS THE BOSS.

RATT singer Stephen Pearcy and his solo band performed on September 3 at Warehouse Live in Houston, Texas. Fan-filmed video footage of the entire concert can be seen below (courtesy of YouTube user "Carlos Live Metal TV").

This past June, Pearcy spoke to Vintage Rock Pod about his upcoming follow-up to 2018's "View To A Thrill" solo album. He said: "So much time has passed since we started writing, Erik [Ferentinos] and I — my guitar player and co-writer guy [for] most of my solo [stuff]. It was so long ago. And the record was done; we had the songs written, like, six months ago. And that was a year process. Since then, I've been writing like a fool and writing with him, and all these new songs [came out]. So I figure let's do a double record and give it all you've got — just go in there and lay it down and say, 'Here. This is what happens in two years when you write tunes.' 'Cause they're way different. It goes all over the place, this record. Our new bass player, Jerry Montano, he did time in HELLYEAH; he's more of an aggressive writer/player. So these songs could be real heavy, heavy or they could be RATT sounding, obviously, if I write 'em. I'm trying to take 'em outside. I'm trying to do a lot of different things. And it's gonna be interesting, because it's gonna go all over the place, so good luck."

According to Pearcy, fans shouldn't expect to see his new solo LP until sometime in 2022. "It's been put off," he explained. "We're gonna try to get through this year. I've got some things to take care of with what the band RATT's gonna do… And once I get in the studio, I don't mess around. That's one thing I learned from [producer] Beau Hill, is you make shit happen. Don't waste time. And we don't. I crack a whip."

Less than five months ago, the 65-year-old founding RATT vocalist, who has been focusing mostly on his solo career while the band has been off the road, dropped the official music video for a previously unreleased solo song called "Don't Wanna Talk About It". The track was written "circa 2000s" entirely by Pearcy and features Stephen on vocals and guitar, Ferentinos on lead guitar, Mike Duda on bass and Greg D'Angelo on drums.

"Don't Wanna Talk About It" arrived two months after the release of Pearcy's cover version of DURAN DURAN's 1981 hit "Girls On Film". Prior to that, Pearcy issued another new solo single, "Night Flight", a collaboration between Pearcy and Ferentinos, which is expected to appear on Stephen's upcoming LP.

Pearcy's fifth solo LP, "View To A Thrill", came out in November 2018 via Frontiers Music Srl. The follow-up to 2017's "Smash" was produced by Matt Thorne and Pearcy and was mixed and mastered by Thorne and Ferentinos.

Pearcy and bassist Juan Croucier are the sole remaining original members in RATT's current lineup, which made its live debut in July 2018 in Mulvane, Kansas. Joining them in the band are drummer Pete Holmes (BLACK 'N BLUE, RATT'S JUAN CROUCIER) and guitarists Jordan Ziff (RAZER) and Frankie Lindia.

In January, Pearcy told SiriusXM's "Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk" that he was open to the idea of making a new RATT album with all the surviving members of the band's classic lineup.

RATT hasn't released any new music since 2010's "Infestation" LP.

On September 24, Rivers Of Nihil will release their fourth full-length, The Work, via Metal Blade Records. The band has released an instrumental playthrough of the new track "MORE?", which can be viewed below.





Reading, Pennsylvania's Rivers Of Nihil have never fit neatly into a box, but with 2018's Where Owls Know My Name, they transcended all labels applied to them. Returning in 2021 with The Work, they have forged further into new territory, delivering an album that is as cerebral as it is visceral, and that covers a staggering sonic range, definitively placing them in a category of their own. Inarguably a very dense, heavy collection, The Work is far too dynamic to be considered a solely metal record, and there is a genuine warmth that shows through, particularly on "Wait" and the gorgeous "Maybe One Day," and the band have included far more clean vocals alongside the screaming that tears through many of the heavier tracks. Courtesy of their friend Zach Strouse, saxophone once again adds extra layers of atmosphere to the collection, utilizing baritone, soprano and alto saxes to great affect.


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With guitars and synths/keys tracked at Uttley's home studio, the band then we went back for the third album in a row to Carson Slovak and Grant McFarland at Atrium Audio to do drums, vocals, bass, sax, and mixing.


"We've done so many sessions with those guys that they're basically an extension of our band at this point. They usually know what we like, and we always encourage them to roast us to make stuff better," says guitarist Brody Uttley.


Alongside the band, James Dorton from Black Crown Initiate provided some vocals on "Episode," Grant McFarland played cello on "The Void From Which No Sound Escapes", and Uttley's friend Stephan Lopez helped out with all of the field recordings, an integral part of the sonic textures of the record.





The Work can be pre-ordered here in the following formats:


- digipak-CD
- deluxe box set (hardcover box includes: CD digipak (w/ bonus track), blue w/ black & white splatter vinyl, 52-page photo book, slipmat, and exclusive download content)
- 180g black vinyl (EU exclusive)
- silver w/ blue & black splatter vinyl (EU exclusive - limited to 500 copies)
- natural clear w/ black & red splatter vinyl (EU exclusive - limited to 300 copies)
- crystal clear w/ white & turquoise splatter vinyl (Kings Road exclusive - limited to 200 copies)
- red / white melt vinyl (EMP exclusive - limited to 200 copies)
- transparent orange w/ black swirls vinyl (Eyesore exclusive - limited to 300 copies)
- silver / black marbled vinyl (Impericon exclusive - limited to 200 copies)
- aqua blue / canary yellow galaxy vinyl (US exclusive)
- white / cyan blue galaxy vinyl (US exclusive)





The Work tracklisting:


"The Tower (Theme from "The Work")"
"Dreaming Black Clockwork"
"Wait"
"Focus"
"Clean"
"The Void from Which No Sound Escapes"
"MORE?"
"Tower 2"
"Episode"
"Maybe One Day"
"Terrestria IV: Work"


"Clean" video:





Rivers of Nihil lineup:


Jake Dieffenbach - lead vocals
Brody Uttley - lead guitar, keyboards
Adam Biggs - bass, backing vocals
Jon Topore - rhythm guitar
Jared Klein - drums, backing vocals


(Photo - Mike Truehart)





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KORN singer Jonathan Davis is still struggling with COVID-19 after-effects, nearly three weeks after it was announced that he tested positive for the novel coronavirus. As a result of his infection, the band postponed six dates and canceled two on its current U.S. tour.

Davis, who was reportedly fully vaccinated, addressed his COVID-19 battle during KORN's concert last night (Friday, September 3) in Burgettstown, Pennsylvania. Prior to launching into the song "Falling Away From Me", Jonathan told the crowd: "It feels so good to be back, y'all. Some of you might know, some of you don't, but I'm recovering. I got COVID, and that shit kicked my motherfucking ass. But I decided I'm not gonna fucking cancel. … So I might be standing up, I might be sitting in my chair, but I'm gonna give you a hundred motherfucking percent. So let's scream and have a good motherfucking time tonight."

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

In the past a couple of months, a number of other high-profile hard rock and heavy metal artists — including IRON MAIDEN's Bruce Dickinson, TESLA, LYNYRD SKYNYRD, SHINEDOWN and LIMP BIZKIT — have also called off shows or played concerts without members who have tested positive for COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus. The cancelations and the increased number of COVID-19 infections are driven in large part by the fact that the delta variant of the coronavirus, now the most common strain circulating in the United States, has a supercharged transmissibility, driven in part by how the mutated virus behaves in the body after infection.

Experts have repeatedly said that a COVID-19 vaccine is the single most important tool for preventing infections and protecting against moderate and severe disease. Some variants, such as delta, may be more likely to cause breakthrough infections, but vaccinations have shown protection against symptomatic disease caused by delta. Unvaccinated people are more likely to be hospitalized or die from COVID-19 than people who are fully vaccinated. In the United States, 97% of the hospitalizations over the past three months, since delta came on the scene, have been in unvaccinated people. Ninety-nine percent of the people who have died of COVID-19 in the last three months were unvaccinated.

Masks reduce the risk of an infected person's spreading the virus and provide some protection for the wearer against becoming infected. A new study found that increased mask-wearing led to a significant reduction in the percentage of people with COVID-19, based on symptom reporting and SARS-CoV-2 antibody testing. The researchers tested both cloth and surgical masks and found especially strong evidence that surgical masks are effective in preventing COVID-19.

FEAR FACTORY guitarist Dino Cazares says that former CANNIBAL CORPSE singer Chris Barnes is "wrong" to criticize Kourtney Kardashian after the reality TV personality and social media star was photographed wearing one of CANNIBAL CORPSE's t-shirts.

In the widely circulated photo, Kardashian is seen sporting an "Eaten Back To Life"-era long-sleeve T-shirt from the death metal veterans while she and her boyfriend, BLINK-182 drummer Travis Barker, were in Venice for the Dolce & Gabbana show. Her stylist, Dani Michelle, has since confirmed to Vogue that Kourtney borrowed the shirt from Barker, who has a large collection of punk and metal t-shirts. "Kourt has told me before that his closet is an archive itself. She can pick any t-shirt to wear and it's the softest, coolest thing ever," Michelle told Vogue. "Sometimes she just wants to raid it."

On Friday (September 3), Barnes shared an article about Kourtney's latest wardrobe choice and he wrote simply: "Posers." He also tagged Vogue writer Liana Satenstein and wrote in a separate tweet, "here's my response", adding a thumbs down emoji to really express his disapproval.

Earlier today (Monday, September 6), Cazares tweeted out a link to an article about Barnes's reaction to Kourtney's t-shirt, and he wrote in an accompanying message: "He has it all wrong, why wouldn't u want exposure for your music even tho he's not in the band anymore. I wish she was wearing one of my bands tees, great exposure".

After one fan agreed with Dino, writing "the exposure alone makes up for the fact she's wearing it for the wrong reasons", Cazares retorted, "How do we truly know she's not a fan ? Or Maybe she's heard of death metal by now? The whole family has been wearing DM shirts for years now. Yes they have a stylist but that doesn't mean they just can't have it hanging in there closet and just throw it on. Surly Travis is aware".

He continued: "Females wear clothes if it's fashionable, comfortable or looks great on them. The Kardashians have been wearing more death metal T-shirts than I have ever worn. Someone must be a fan maybe the stylist is a fan either way that's great exposure for the genre … I'll say it again, someone is a fan or at least a fan of the style of DM shirts. Either way it's great exposure. The Kardashians have been wearing more death metal shirts than I ever wore in my 55 years of living on this earth".

He added: "How many times have you seen the Kardashians wear death metal T-shirts? Lots !!! they're always in the metal media for wearing death metal T-shirts morbid angel etc… I dont wear DM shirts at all and I'm a fan. … The K's have been wearing Metal shirts for years now and no one in the actual band is complaining. Unfortunately there are so many DM elitist that don't want there favorite music exposed and then get judge mental on a person wearing a death metal tee. I know Metal heads that wear a Taylor swift shirt to get a ride out of people at a metal show.

"The point is its hypocritical for a metal head to judge a popular person for wearing a metal shirt when metal heads are the ones being judge by others for the way they look or dress?"

Former JUDAS PRIEST singer Tim "Ripper" Owens seemingly agreed with Dino, chiming in: "Funny thing is people wear sports teams and can't name a player or they get free shirts from a company or products and wear them and don't use them. I see Harley shirts on people who don't own a Harley! But god forbid someone has a band shirt on. Hahah. Crazy".

Kourtney is just the latest in a growing trend of celebrities wearing heavy metal t-shirts as high fashion. Rapper Kanye West has previously been criticized for repping vintage band tees, and Kourtney's sister Kim Kardashian is regularly spotted wearing METALLICA t-shirts. Kim's maternal half-sibling Kendall Jenner was seen getting around in a SLAYER tee, and EXODUS guitarist Gary Holt — who also played with SLAYER for nearly a decade — apparently responded by wearing a t-shirt onstage that read "Kill The Kardashians".

After Kanye was seen wearing a TESTAMENT t-shirt in 2016, the band's guitarist Alex Skolnick reacted negatively in an online post, writing: "Goodness gracious. This whole decrepit clan must have picked up a pile of old concert t-shirts (the same pile Kourtney K's SLAYER shirt came from) which have somehow become a 'thing' in trendy fashion (who'd have thought?!!). Inconceivable that any of these pop-culture vultures know who the heck any of the bands are. My guess is he thinks it's a religious group (not the first time that's happened). That is, if he thinks at all, which lately seems unlikely. And I thought this time period couldn't get any weirder..."

Barnes exited CANNIBAL CORPSE in 1995, one year after the release of the band's "The Bleeding" album. He has since been replaced by George "Corpsegrinder" Fisher.




He has it all wrong, why wouldn't u want exposure for your music even tho he's not in the band anymore. I wish she was wearing one of my bands tees, great exposure https://t.co/y9yZ0HuHw6

— Dino Cazares (@DinoCazares) September 6, 2021








That's a closed minded attitude a t- shirt is a fucking t-shirt, funny is that u don't hear anyone in the actual band complaining. https://t.co/UG6o2mc2X9

— Dino Cazares (@DinoCazares) September 6, 2021








Exactly, Metal gets enough people looking down on it https://t.co/j08qXM0p2Z

— Dino Cazares (@DinoCazares) September 6, 2021








Unfortunately not we are not as popular as CC https://t.co/kl1s4kleFB

— Dino Cazares (@DinoCazares) September 6, 2021








No exposure for any of his bands, he hasn't been in CC for yeeeaaarrrsss https://t.co/k40UYjP68t

— Dino Cazares (@DinoCazares) September 6, 2021








? https://t.co/aku8NClQsL

— Dino Cazares (@DinoCazares) September 6, 2021








How do we truly know she's not a fan ? Or Maybe she's heard of death metal by now? The whole family has been wearing DM shirts for years now. Yes they have a stylist but that doesn't mean they just can't have it hanging in there closet and just throw it on. Surly Travis is aware https://t.co/aku8NClQsL

— Dino Cazares (@DinoCazares) September 6, 2021








Killer https://t.co/Mow8aCrWId

— Dino Cazares (@DinoCazares) September 6, 2021








Probably but why would he want to promote and band he hasn't been in for yeeeaarrrss ? https://t.co/1x2ibfXljx

— Dino Cazares (@DinoCazares) September 6, 2021








What new gig ? Females wear clothes if it's fashionable, comfortable or looks great on them. The Kardashians have been wearing more death metal T-shirts than I have ever worn. Someone must be a fan maybe the stylist is a fan either way that's great exposure for the genre https://t.co/zrBkgpWyiQ

— Dino Cazares (@DinoCazares) September 6, 2021








That's your choice not to wear those types of shirts so why can't she have the same choice to wear whatever she fucking likes ? https://t.co/yVPNifajQq

— Dino Cazares (@DinoCazares) September 6, 2021








I'll say it again, someone is a fan or at least a fan of the style of DM shirts. Either way it's great exposure. The Kardashians have been wearing more death metal shirts than I ever wore in my 55 years of living on this earth https://t.co/3FJid9tSs3

— Dino Cazares (@DinoCazares) September 6, 2021








I've never understood DM elitist https://t.co/Cqj0iNlJIo

— Dino Cazares (@DinoCazares) September 6, 2021








Exactly https://t.co/Z4ctTG9pdG

— Dino Cazares (@DinoCazares) September 6, 2021








You are only assuming she is a poser, you don't know her and the Metal Media doesn't know her or the person complaining that she's wearing a t-shirt doesn't know her. https://t.co/QBL8P69hui

— Dino Cazares (@DinoCazares) September 6, 2021








How many times have you seen the Kardashians wear death metal T-shirts? Lots !!! they're always in the metal media for wearing death metal T-shirts morbid angel etc… I dont wear DM shirts at all and I'm a fan. https://t.co/qgdVoG8iVn

— Dino Cazares (@DinoCazares) September 6, 2021








CC become popular ? they are already popular. Enough to where a Kardashian is wearing there shirts. The K's have been wearing Metal shirts for years now and no one in the actual band is complaining. https://t.co/JHViRtYmaF

— Dino Cazares (@DinoCazares) September 6, 2021








Or the victim https://t.co/QciLLkkhe0

— Dino Cazares (@DinoCazares) September 6, 2021








What do u care what she wears? The kardashians have exposed more metal then u, they probably wore more metal shirts then u. I meet so many female fans that tell me they got into the band cause or there BF's , Husbands etc… https://t.co/R9YJTKw6Au

— Dino Cazares (@DinoCazares) September 6, 2021








You are right , how judgmental Metal fans are. https://t.co/rDaiTOk7u5

— Dino Cazares (@DinoCazares) September 6, 2021








Yeah but that's being very close minded and being judgmental on what she wears. U don't know her the media doesn't know her u don't know what she likes. But I can tell u that the K's have exposed more metal to the masses then the small metal media has. https://t.co/5980FQLi2d

— Dino Cazares (@DinoCazares) September 6, 2021








Fuck Yeah https://t.co/Lw2rm2snNy

— Dino Cazares (@DinoCazares) September 6, 2021








Ok whatever I don't give a shit what team u represent, people wear whatever the Fuck they want and u can hate or complain or not understand why and people still wouldn't or shouldn't care what u wear. https://t.co/7jWjxgdh9R

— Dino Cazares (@DinoCazares) September 6, 2021








Unfortunately there are so many DM elitist that don't want there favorite music exposed and then get judge mental on a person wearing a death metal tee https://t.co/aCMlyzGNeQ

— Dino Cazares (@DinoCazares) September 6, 2021








I know Metal heads that wear a Taylor swift shirt to get a ride out of people at a metal show.The point is its hypocritical for a metal head to judge a popular person for wearing a metal shirt when metal heads are the ones being judge by others for the way they look or dress? https://t.co/l0BKTz1qUR

— Dino Cazares (@DinoCazares) September 6, 2021








When did the Kardashians make fun of metal heads ? https://t.co/NDeLPXDq5M

— Dino Cazares (@DinoCazares) September 6, 2021








BINGO Dino ??????

— Tim 'Ripper' Owens ?? (@TimRipperOwens) September 6, 2021








Funny thing is people wear sports teams and can't name a player or they get free shirts from a company or products and wear them and don't use them. I see Harley shirts on people who don't own a Harley! But god forbid someone has a band shirt on. Hahah. Crazy

— Tim 'Ripper' Owens ?? (@TimRipperOwens) September 6, 2021

Former CANNIBAL CORPSE singer Chris Barnes has blasted Kourtney Kardashian after the reality TV personality and social media star was photographed wearing one of the band's t-shirts.

In the widely circulated photo, Kardashian is seen sporting an "Eaten Back To Life"-era long-sleeve T-shirt from the death metal veterans while she and Barker were in Venice for the Dolce & Gabbana show. Her stylist, Dani Michelle, has since confirmed to Vogue that Kourtney borrowed the shirt from Barker, who has a large collection of punk and metal t-shirts. "Kourt has told me before that his closet is an archive itself. She can pick any t-shirt to wear and it's the softest, coolest thing ever," Michelle told Vogue. "Sometimes she just wants to raid it."

On Friday (September 3), Barnes shared an article about Kourtney's latest wardrobe choice and he wrote simply: "Posers." He also tagged Vogue writer Liana Satenstein and wrote in a separate tweet, "here's my response", adding a thumbs down emoji to really express his disapproval.

Kourtney is just the latest in a growing trend of celebrities wearing heavy metal t-shirts as high fashion. Rapper Kanye West has previously been criticized for repping vintage band tees, and Kourtney's sister Kim Kardashian is regularly spotted wearing METALLICA t-shirts. Kim's maternal half-sibling Kendall Jenner was seen getting around in a SLAYER tee, and EXODUS guitarist Gary Holt — who also played with SLAYER for nearly a decade — apparently responded by wearing a t-shirt onstage that read "Kill The Kardashians".

After Kanye was seen wearing a TESTAMENT t-shirt in 2016, the band's guitarist Alex Skolnick reacted negatively in an online post, writing: "Goodness gracious. This whole decrepit clan must have picked up a pile of old concert t-shirts (the same pile Kourtney K's SLAYER shirt came from) which have somehow become a 'thing' in trendy fashion (who'd have thought?!!). Inconceivable that any of these pop-culture vultures know who the heck any of the bands are. My guess is he thinks it's a religious group (not the first time that's happened). That is, if he thinks at all, which lately seems unlikely. And I thought this time period couldn't get any weirder..."

Barnes exited CANNIBAL CORPSE in 1995, one year after the release of the band's "The Bleeding" album. He has since been replaced by George "Corpsegrinder" Fisher.

WHITESNAKE has announced more concerts as part of its upcoming "farewell" tour. The David Coverdale-fronted outfit will be joined by special guests EUROPE across Europe next spring and summer. The trek will kick off on May 27, 2022 in Germany, and continue through June, with more dates to be announced in the coming weeks.

Said Coverdale: "After all the extraordinary challenges we've been through together over the last year and a half, I am beyond excited to be able to announce the start of our 2022 EU dates!!! I pray every day we can all make this happen and once again, share unforgettable evenings together and celebrate the amazing journey we have been on for almost 50 years!!!"

New 2022 tour dates:

May 27 - Arena, Oberhausen, Germany

May 29 - KB Hall, Copenhagen, Denmark

May 31 - Partille Arena, Gothenburg, Sweden

Jun. 02 - Tjuvholmen Arena, Hamar, Norway

Jun. 04 - Hovet, Stockholm, Sweden

Jun. 06 - Ice Hall, Helsinki, Finland

Jun. 08 - Saku Arena, Tallin, Estonia

Jun. 10 - Aren, Kaunas, Lithuania

Jun. 12 - Tauron Arena, Krakow, Poland

Jun. 14 - O2 Universum, Prague, Czech Republic

Jun. 19 - Zenith, Munich, Germany

Jun. 21 - Samsung Hall, Zurich, Switzerland

Jun. 28 - Lorenzini, Milan, Italy

Previously announced U.K. and Ireland dates:

May 10 - 3Arena, Dublin

May 12 - SEC (SSE Hydro Arena), Glasgow

May 14 - Utilita Arena, Newcastle

May 16 - The O2 Arena, London

May 18 - AO Arena, Manchester

May 20 - Motorpoint Arena Nottingham

May 22 - Utilita Arena Birmingham

May 25 - Motorpoint Arena Cardiff

Coverdale, who turned 69 last September, recently confirmed that he plans to retire from touring after WHITESNAKE's next batch of concerts around the world.

David discussed his plans to stop performing with WHITESNAKE while accepting the inaugural "Rocks Honours" award as part of The Rocks 2021 awards ceremony in June.

Speaking to Planet Rock's Wyatt about his five-decade-plus career, which included a stint with legendary British hard rockers DEEP PURPLE, Coverdale said: "I've been very passionate about what I do. I try not to let my audience down. We've got a really loyal hardcore fanbase around the world.

"Last year, we were supposed to do what was gonna be my farewell tour, and it was sold out; it was amazing. Of course, everything was canceled due to COVID. So, God willing, I'll be able to do it hopefully next year. I'm gonna show my appreciation and gratitude for the support that I've had, 'cause you can't do it without an audience supporting you — it's that simple. And they know — the hardcore [fans] who follow me know — I do my best, the best I can do at that time. And that's been my work philosophy for as long as I can remember."

After Wyatt brought up other bands who previously announced "farewell" tours, only to change their minds, David replied: "Mine's gonna be the farewell tour 'cause I'm knocking on 70. Are you kidding?! It's hard enough now to get into my jeans."

Although Coverdale will no longer perform with WHITESNAKE, he is still planning on writing and recording fresh material once he has retired from the road. "I'll be still involved in music," he said. "We've got a relatively long-term deal with Warners. We have a poopload of projects to do under the WHITESNAKE banner. It's just the touring. It's not the performing so much that is exhausting, it's the touring, and I can't tour any more comfortably than I do. So I spoke to my agent and said, 'I wanna do this [farewell tour] more than anything. It's after 50 years of incredible support for me.' Not to be able to say thank you to the U.K., not to be able to say thank you to Germany, to Japan, Brazil, it would be heartbreaking.

"I'm getting up there for this kind of stuff, and so it's gonna have to be an easier tour schedule for me to be able to handle and recharge the batteries so I'm not hobbling around or doing wheelies in a chair," he explained.

"I play guitar every day. The moment I start playing, I come up with ideas for songs. It's impossible for me not to [play music]. It's like my hobby. It's something that I'm supposed to do; otherwise, I think I wouldn't receive all these amazing ideas for melodies and naughty lyrics, including 'Slide It In', darling."

Early last year, WHITESNAKE was forced to cancel its U.S. tour with SAMMY HAGAR & THE CIRCLE and NIGHT RANGER so that Coverdale could undergo surgery for bilateral inguinal hernia. Eventually, all of the shows were canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Coverdale had both his knees replaced with titanium in 2017 after suffering from degenerative arthritis. He later explained that he was in so much pain with arthritis in his knees that it hampered his ability to perform live.

WHITESNAKE had been touring in support of its latest album, "Flesh & Blood", which was released in May 2019 via Frontiers Music Srl.

MASTODON drummer, singer and songwriter Brann Dailor has teamed with Revolver to publish his first book, "Brann Dailor's 101 Clowns Of The Coronavirus".

Featuring over 100 pages of artwork by Dailor — plus commentary by Sean Ono Lennon, METALLICA's Lars Ulrich, QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE's Josh Homme, DEFTONES' Chino Moreno and others — the first-print, limited-edition 10"x13" hardcover coffee table book is available for order now. Expected ship date is October 4.

The chaos of the pandemic and forced break from touring inspired Dailor to make visual art regularly for the first time since he was a teenager. Channeling his lifelong obsession with clowns, he drew a clown a day for 101 consecutive days, texting a picture of his daily clown to a mailing list of friends and family. "Brann Dailor's 101 Clowns Of The Coronavirus" collects those drawings, making them all finally available to those outside of that tight circle. The images Dailor drew include a clown version of IRON MAIDEN's "The Number Of The Beast" album cover, a clown-inspired "Jaws" poster and his dog Thriller depicted as a clown.

"The clowns kept me from spiraling out during all the uncertainty," Dailor says. "They kept me from sinking into a deep depression or experiencing crippling anxiety. The clowns were perfect for that — even the dark ones.

"I'd get up every day and have my glass of water, two tangerines and a cup of coffee," he explained. "Then I'd crack the sketchbook open. In my notes on my phone, I probably had 10 or 15 clown ideas I could pull from if I hadn't thought of something the night before.

"The thing that I came to find out is that anything is clown-able. The clown is such an icon that you can turn anything into a clown."

MOTIONLESS IN WHITE frontman Chris "Motionless" Cerulli spoke to Ethan Jackson of the Topeka radio station V100 about the progress of the recording sessions for the band's follow-up to 2019's "Disguise" album. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "All that's really left to do is record the vocals, which I'm gonna start right after this tour. I was in California working with our producer Drew [Fulk] throughout a lot of the summer. And now it's just, like, okay, well, we've got everything in place, all of the stuff's written. Now it's just time to record the vocals. The music's all good. So, yeah, as soon as this tour is over, I'm going right there and working on it till it's done."

Asked if the upcoming MOTIONLESS IN WHITE album will include any "sequel songs," as has become somewhat of a tradition on the band's previous releases, Chris said: "There is currently one that is, but it's kind of on the chopping block. We narrowed it down to 16 or 17 songs and we have to cut some of them. So as I'm in the studio and as everybody's digesting these songs more and more, we're gonna start cutting, and the sequel one is one of the ones that's not locked. I love the song — I think it'd be great on the record — but it is a departure from what the vibe of the rest of the record is. So, I don't know. We'll see. But it is written."

As for a possible release date for the new MOTIONLESS IN WHITE LP, Chris said: "In my ideal scenario, I would love, like, February [or] March. But once it hits the label's hands, that stuff changes. But I will be pushing for February or March, for sure."

Last month, MOTIONLESS IN WHITE released a new song called "Timebomb". An accompanying music video was directed by Logan Beaver.

MOTIONLESS IN WHITE has just kicked off a U.S. tour with support from SILENT PLANET and DYING WISH.

In June, MOTIONLESS IN WHITE delivered a global livestream performance, "Deadstream #2 Pennhurst Asylum". They served up a set of fan favorites outside of one of the most notorious haunted locales in the country.

MOTIONLESS IN WHITE's first "Deadstream" happened just prior to Halloween 2020, to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the band's acclaimed debut album, "Creatures". A month earlier, the band surprised fans with a cover of THE KILLERS' "Somebody Told Me", which is available on all streaming platforms. The cover followed the arrival of MOTIONLESS IN WHITE's "Another Life / Eternally Yours: Motion Picture Collection" EP, which was produced by Justin Deblieck and mixed by Steve Sopchak. For the EP, the acclaimed Scranton, Pennsylvania band reconstructed, reimagined, and reinvigorated two fan-favorite singles: "Another Life" and "Eternally Yours". Additionally, they included brand new cinematic instrumental tracks for both. For this big screen-worthy interpretation of "Another Life", they recruited dark pop Estonian artist Kerli to contribute an emotionally charged vocal.

Last October, MOTIONLESS IN WHITE released a standalone single, "Creatures X: To The Grave".

Photo credit: Bryce Hall

Finnish rockers THE RASMUS have collaborated with APOCALYPTICA on a new song called "Venomous Moon". The track is the second single from THE RASMUS's upcoming album, recorded during the pandemic, with the bandmembers being stranded in Hawaii, Helsinki and Sydney and with the producer Joshua in England. It is co-produced by Martin Hansen who has worked with THE RASMUS on four albums, including their breakthrough single "In The Shadows". The members of APOCALYPTICA, who had also worked with Hansen before, contribute their trademark intense cello riffs to the track. THE RASMUS's singer Lauri Ylönen and APOCALYPTICA previously joined forces on the songs "Bittersweet" and "Life Burns".

Says Ylönen: "'Venomous Moon' is about isolation and being separated from the world, but I wrote it before the virus came along. I must have caught a glimpse of the future, which then added a whole new layer of melancholy to the song."

The "Venomous Moon" music video, which can be seen below, was directed by Vertti Virkajärvi and produced by No Office. THE RASMUS and APOCALYPTICA both perform in the video, which is inspired by the "Stranger Things" TV series and features spooky creatures stemming from the same deep forests as the Groke in the Moomin stories.

THE RASMUS was formed in 1995 while the members were still in high school. Their debut, "Peep", rapidly went gold in their homeland Finland, making the members rock stars at the age of 16. The follow-up, "Playboys", also went gold and earned the group an Emma, Finland's version of a Grammy. Their third album, "Hell Of A Tester", included "Liquid", a track that was voted "Best Single Of The Year" by Finland's music critics. 2001's "Into" album went double platinum in their native country, with its debut single, "F-F-F-Falling", hitting the top of the charts. An international audience started to build, and the band toured throughout Europe. Their fifth album, "Dead Letters", released in 2003, became the band's biggest breakthrough yet, due in large part to the success of the single "In The Shadows". 2005's "Hide From The Sun" went platinum in Finland. Their fourth Finnish chart-topper, "Black Roses", was released in 2008, produced by Desmond Child. After the release of compilation "Best Of The Rasmus: 2001-2009" and a 2011 solo LP from Lauri Ylönen titled "New World", THE RASMUS released its self-titled eighth album, "The Rasmus", in 2012. The band returned in 2017 with the album "Dark Matters". THE RASMUS is still one Europe's most in-demand rock acts. They have toured Scandinavia many times as well as Central Europe, Asia, Japan, Canada, USA and South America.

THE RASMUS is:

Lauri Ylönen - vocals

Eero Heinonen - bass

Pauli Rantasalmi - guitars

Aki Hakala - drums

Photo credit: Venla Shalin

The official artwork for Byron Nemeth’s new single “You Know It’s True” has been revealed. The single will be available on Spotify, iTunes and all digital platforms in October.





Created by Timo Wuerz, when he first heard the lyrics it made him think of a passage, an initiation from an old version of one self to a new one and the design was born and makes a perfect match to the music.


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The recording the new Byron Nemeth single / video "You Know It's True" began on July 12, 2021 at Blackbird Studio Studio A in Nashville. Joining Byron in the recording are some of Nashville’s finest hard rock players: Zach Ballard / drums, Luis Espaillat / bass and Steve Braun / vocals. Tim Dolbear from Eclectica Studios who has mixed records for Grammy winners and labels produced the single. The recording was done the old-school way with all four members of the band tracking in the studio at the same time for optimum musical chemistry. 


Blackbird Studio is one of the preeminent studios in the world founded by John McBride, and his wife, country artist Martina McBride. The Blackbird complex includes nine studios and The Blackbird Academy a post-secondary audio engineering school.


Video will be shot by Mark Allee who just finished a great drum video for Ray Luzier of Korn.





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METALLICA will perform with pop star Miley Cyrus on SiriusXM's "The Howard Stern Show" next week. The exact date for the performance has not yet been announced.

METALLICA and Miley will likely team up to play the band's classic song "Nothing Else Matters" in celebration of release of the remastered deluxe box set of METALLICA's self-titled fifth album — also known as "The Black Album" — due on September 10 via the band's own Blackened Recordings. Also included will be a companion set titled "The Metallica Blacklist", which will be packed with covers by major recording artists. Cyrus is among the 53 musicians included in the covers set, which will include her version of "Nothing Else Matters", also featuring Elton John, cellist Yo-Yo Ma, RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS drummer Chad Smith, frequent collaborator Andrew Watt and METALLICA bassist Robert Trujillo.

Miley performed her version of "Nothing Else Matters" at the 2019 edition of U.K.'s Glastonbury festival.

Cyrus's live rendition of the METALLICA classic came five months after METALLICA drummer Lars Ulrich said that he was "stunned" by her take on TEMPLE OF THE DOG's "Say Hello 2 Heaven" at the "I Am The Highway: A Tribute To Chris Cornell" concert at the Forum in Los Angeles.

Back in January 2019, Ulrich took to his Instagram to post a photo of him backstage with Cyrus, along with the message: "Still stunned by your next level version of 'Say Hello 2 Heaven' for Chris! Beyond inspiring."


Next Week On Howard

Catch us on The Howard Stern Show next week on #Howard100 on SiriusXM and the SXM App when we'll perform LIVE with Miley Cyrus!

Posted by Metallica on Friday, September 3, 2021

WINGER has announced that it has canceled its show tonight (Sunday, September 5) in Sauk Rapids, Minnesota due to members of the touring party contracting COVID-19.

The band released the following statement regarding the matter: "Unfortunately, while we have been practicing CDC and locally recommended COVID-19 protocols on tour, members of our touring party tested positive for COVID-19. Thankfully, everyone was vaccinated, so only experienced mild symptoms. However, for the safety of our band, crew members, venue staff and fans, we need to cancel our show in Sauk Rapids, MN tonight. FIREHOUSE will be playing instead and we wish everyone a great show! Thanks to all for your support and we apologize to those fans we won't be seeing. Can't wait to be back when it is 100% safe for everyone to do so. Stay safe!"

WINGER recently spent time recording its seventh studio album. The disc, which is tentatively due next year, will be the follow-up to 2014's "Better Days Comin'".

Last December, WINGER guitarist Reb Beach told the 213Rock Podcast that he and frontman Kip Winger had "written about seven songs for the new album. It sounds great," he said. "It's WINGER — heavy riffs with big vocals. Very catchy songs and very heavy stuff — very progressive."

A month earlier, Beach told the "Pat's Soundbytes Unplugged" podcast that he and Kip had pieced together ideas for 11 tracks for WINGER's next album, but that Kip "threw away six of 'em, saying that this has to be like the first BOSTON record where every song is undeniable. And he just wants it to be progressive and like nothing he's hard before," he said. "I brought him these riffs that are just straight-ahead rock riffs, and he said, 'I already know what the next three chords are gonna be after I've heard three chords.'

"We're going for something that's poppy and sing-along stuff yet cool, heavy, progressive riffs — kind of like [2009's] 'Karma'," Reb explained. "That's what we're going for."

In the spring of 2020, WINGER invited artists, friends and fans — including Alice Cooper and members of SCORPIONS, STEELHEART and WARRANT — to sing along to "Better Days Comin'", the title track of the band's sixth studio album. An official music video for the new version of the song was made available in late April.

WINGER formed in the late 1980s and soared to immediate success with its 1988 self-titled release. The album spawned the hit singles "Seventeen" and "Headed For A Heartbreak" and achieved platinum sales status. "Winger" also stayed on The Billboard 200 chart for over 60 weeks where it peaked at #21. Their next album, "In The Heart Of The Young", also achieved platinum status behind the singles "Can't Get Enuff" and "Miles Away". The change in musical climate of the mid-'90s, compounded with unprovoked ridicule on MTV's popular "Beavis And Butt-Head" show, led the band to go on hiatus in 1994. In 2001, WINGER reunited and has not looked back since. Kip also earned a 2016 Grammy nomination for the classical album "C.F. Kip Winger: Conversations With Nijinsky", recorded with the San Francisco Ballet Orchestra.


Posted by Winger on Sunday, September 5, 2021

German death metal band, Damnation Defaced, has released "Scorn", the second single and video from their upcoming album, They Brought Death To The Darkness.


"'Scorn' is a nice and nasty hate bomb and clearly different from the first single 'The Black Ark'. Furthermore, some German lyrics made it into this song again," says singer Philipp Bischoff.





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"The Black Ark":








 





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In early June Italian black/gothic metal act Cadaveria released the single "The Woman Who Fell to Earth" on all digital platforms. 


Now the band have premiered the video for the single. Made by Morbid Vision and shot around an old village in Piedmont, North Italy, among woods and fields, the video was inspired by a shamanic prediction.





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The images evoke the existence of parallel dimensions and of a multifaceted female presence, at times mysterious, who visits our sick planet to give new energy.





The video also shows a preview of some handmade jewels, a necklace and a pendant worn by Cadaveria herself, which are now available to order at cadaveria.com.


"The Woman Who Fell to Earth" is available for streaming from a digital outlet here.





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English extreme metal legends and pioneers of goregrind and death metal Carcass have released a new album trailer today, in which they discuss the evolution of their sound over their celebrated 35 year career. The clip comes less than two weeks from the release of their massively anticipated album, Torn Arteries, due out September 17 from Nuclear Blast Records.





Ferocious and uncompromising in their execution, Carcass’s ability to intricately dissect the innards of death metal, and display them for us to sonically understand has been their point of excellence for over three decades. In 2019 the band released their first single in over 5 years “Under The Scalpel Blade,” followed by a 4-song EP entitled Despicable (October 2020), setting a potent precedent for the full length album coming in September: Torn Arteries. With the album title itself referencing an old demo created by original drummer Ken Owen back in the 80’s, 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.  


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“I think as our 7th album, it does stand out from the others both sonically and stylistically,” says Jeff 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. 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 1 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 is available for pre-order in a variety of bundles and formats, including CD, Box Set and limited edition vinyl pressings. Pre-order here.





Tracklisting:


"Torn Arteries"
"Dance Of IXTAB (Psychopomp & Circumstances March No. 1 In B)"
"Eleanor Rigor Mortis"
"Under The Scalpel Blade"
"The Devil Rides Out"
"Flesh Ripping Sonic Torment Limited"
"Kelly's Meat Emporium"
"In God We Trust"
"Wake Up And Smell The Carcass / Caveat Emptor"
"The Scythe's Remorseless Swing"


"Dance Of IXTAB (Psychopomp & Circumstance March No. 1 In B)" video:





"Kelly's Meat Emporium" visualizer:





Lineup:


Bill Steer - Guitars
Jeff Walker - Bass/Vocals
Daniel Wilding - Drums
Tom Draper - Guitars


(Photo - Ester Segarra)





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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 Marco 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.


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On November 26 the special album will be released. 





Tracklisting:


“Merry Go Round” (feat. Jürgen Engler)
“Below Zero 2021” (feat. Marco 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 and top photo by Jani Mahkonen / Cover layout by Aino Korpinen)





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