FOZZY frontman and wrestling superstar Chris Jericho has released an orchestral version of the band's hit song "Judas". The accompanying video, which was created by composer J.D. Spears, can be seen below.

"Judas" was the title track of FOZZY's last studio album, which came out nearly four years ago. In a 2018 interview with Distorted Sound, Jericho stated about the song: "The single came out in May 2017 and the record was October [of that year]. It's been amazing, it’s taken us to a completely different level all across the board. [It's] what I call the 'Judas effect', you know? It's the right collection of songs in the right place at the right time for us, and it just took us to a completely different level, and was basically all anchored around the reception it received in the States on the radio. We knew eventually it was going to happen. We've had popular songs before, but things now have just gone completely through the roof. It's kind of become our signature song, and that's fine. I mean, once you're lucky enough to have that happen for your band, it takes things completely… It's like our 'Stairway To Heaven', our 'Enter Sandman', something along those lines. But you know, like I said, when you're lucky enough to get to that point where you have a song that everyone equates with you, it's just a great thing. It's one of those things where if people only know one FOZZY song, that's all right; we don't have a problem with that. And it just continues to build and continues to grow and to get bigger."

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

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

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

In May 2020, Jericho told Australia's Triple M radio station that FOZZY has "so many great songs" written for the new LP that "it's gonna be hard to pick the singles."

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

Released in August 2019, "Nowhere To Run" was FOZZY's third single to hit Top 10 on rock radio, following "Judas" and "Painless".

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

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

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

Industrial metal pioneers MINISTRY will release their 15th studio album, "Moral Hygiene", on October 1 via Nuclear Blast Records. The 10-track follow-up to 2018's "AmeriKKKant" was recently described in a press release as frontman Al Jourgensen's "societal manifesto and plea for civilization to get back to a set of standards that lives up to and embraces our humanity."

In a new interview with Australia's Heavy, Jourgensen stated about the new LP's musical direction: "Same old stuff. Just a progression of the MINISTRY sound that's been refined for the last 30 [or] 40 years. And I think we hit a good one this time. There's a couple that I wish I could have back, and there's a couple that I'm really gung-ho about. But this one's in the 'gung-ho' category. This one makes a lot of sense for the times that we're living in."

As for the lyrical themes covered on "Moral Hygiene", Jourgensen said: "We cover everything — from the actual pandemic to climate change to the political climate now. And I don't mean so much the politicians as much as the rise of fascist tendencies all over the world and in various countries. And a lot of life topics like that."

The album's first single, "Good Trouble", was released in early July. The song, inspired by the 2020 Black Lives Matter protests and the activist work of the late congressman John Lewis, was accompanied by a video that includes sampling from last year's demonstrations in Los Angeles as captured by Jourgensen and his partner Liz Walton. "Moral Hygiene" also includes the previously released "Alert Level" that sounded the alarms about our collective dissonance towards the pandemic, climate change and the man formerly in the White House, bolstered by the song's overarching question posed to listeners: "How concerned are you?" The new album also adds perspective to the countless lives that were tragically lost to the COVID-19 pandemic on the haunting track "Death Toll" while "Disinformation" describes the too frequent willingness to accept everything — even mistruths — as fact.

Other musical jewels on the upcoming release include a collaboration with Jello Biafra (Jourgensen's cohort in side project LARD) on "Sabotage Is Sex" and a unique take on THE STOOGES' "Search And Destroy" that features guitar virtuoso Billy Morrison (BILLY IDOL, ROYAL MACHINES). Morrison is also heavily featured on a number of songs on the album.

"Moral Hygiene" was recorded with engineer Michael Rozon (also behind the boards on "AmeriKKKant") at Scheisse Dog Studio, Jourgensen's self-built home studio and creative lab. As with all MINISTRY albums, all songs are written and performed by Jourgensen. Additional contributions come from Morrison, Cesar Soto (MAN THE MUTE), John Bechdel (KILLING JOKE, FEAR FACTORY), Roy Mayorga (STONE SOUR, SOULFLY, NAUSEA), Paul D'Amour (TOOL, FEERSUM ENNJIN), Arabian Prince (N.W.A.), Jello Biafra (DEAD KENNEDYS) and sitar player Flash.

"Moral Hygiene" will be available in CD, vinyl and digital download formats.

Fan-filmed video footage of STAIND's August 11 performance at Jiffy Lube Live in Bristow, Virginia as the support act for KORN can be seen below. The two bands' 28-date joint tour will make stops in Long Island, Detroit, Irvine, Phoenix, Austin and more, before wrapping up with a performance at Dallas' Dos Equis Pavilion on September 21. Furthermore, both bands will perform at Louisville, Kentucky's Louder Than Life festival on September 23.

Two months ago, STAIND's Mike Mushok told Anne Erickson of Audio Ink Radio that he and his bandmates were working on their first studio album since 2011's self-titled effort. "Aaron [Lewis, STAIND frontman] is finishing up a country record; he's just about done with it," he said. "I think the idea is once that's completed, we're gonna… There's a bunch of [new] songs kicking around. It's just kind of [a matter of] sorting through that stuff and seeing what, if anything, we like, and figuring out… I imagine, having not put out a real record of new music in 10 years, we're gonna be pretty critical of what it is and wanna make sure that it's great. But, yes, there is talk of that. We actually signed a record deal and have a deal to do a new record."

This past March, Lewis told SiriusXM's "Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk" that he "would certainly love to" have the new STAIND album "recorded and done by the end of this year, to be released next year. All of our plans that were kind of semi on the books and on the table, everything just had a year taken off of it [due to the pandemic]," he said. "We were gonna have a record come out sometime in 2020 or certainly in 2021, and there was a schedule that was on the table that, just like everything else, got burned to the ground as soon as [the lockdown] started."

STAIND has released seven albums since 1995, the latest being 2011's self-titled effort. The band has had a number of hit songs during its first two decades, including the Top 10 smash "It's Been Awhile" from the No. 1 album "Break The Cycle". Follow-up LPs "14 Shades Of Grey" and "Chapter V" also topped the Billboard chart.

STAIND released its first album in nine years, "Live: It's Been Awhile", on May 7 via Yap'em/Alchemy Recordings. The "Live: It's Been Awhile" album was accompanied by "The Return Of Staind", a two-part global streaming series in partnership with Danny Wimmer Presents. The series launched with STAIND's "Live: It's Been Awhile (From Foxwoods)" concert, which streamed globally on May 1. The "Live: It's Been Awhile" album and concert were recorded at the band's comeback show at Foxwoods Resort Casino in Mashantucket, Connecticut in October 2019. The never-before-seen concert celebrated the band's reunion after a five-year hiatus. STAIND also performed its iconic multi-platinum 2001 album "Break The Cycle" in its entirety for a May 8 streaming event, exactly 20 years after the album's release. The "20th Anniversary Of Break The Cycle, Performed In Its Entirety" took place at Mill 1 in Open Square in Holyoke, Massachusetts, bringing the band back to their Western Mass roots.

STAIND played its first full live show in five years in September 2019 at the Louder Than Life music festival in Louisville, Kentucky.

The band was scheduled to support DISTURBED on "The Sickness 20th Anniversary Tour" throughout North America last summer. The amphitheater trek has since been canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic which is sweeping the globe.

British extreme metal veterans CARCASS have released an animated video — created by Costin Chioreanu (OPETH, NAPALM DEATH) — for a new single, "Dance Of IXTAB (Psychopomp & Circumstance March No. 1 In B)", from their upcoming seventh studio album, "Torn Arteries", due out September 17 via Nuclear Blast Records.

CARCASS's founding vocalist/bassist Jeff Walker states about "Dance Of IXTAB (Psychopomp & Circumstance March No. 1 In B)": "The song is a foot-stomping festival anthem that will go unheard in an empty, vacuous, post-COVID world 'stadium', where used lateral flow tests blow around as litter in the breeze."

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

"Torn Arteries" track listing:

01. Torn Arteries

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

03. Eleanor Rigor Mortis

04. Under The Scalpel Blade

05. The Devil Rides Out

06. Flesh Ripping Sonic Torment Limited

07. Kelly's Meat Emporium

08. In God We Trust

09. Wake Up And Smell The Carcass / Caveat Emptor

10. The Scythe's Remorseless Swing

"Torn Arteries" is available for pre-order in a variety of bundles and formats, including CD, box set and limited-edition vinyl pressings.

Photo credit: Hannah Verbeuren

METALLICA has shared "Nothing Else Matters (Orchestra/Clean Guitar/Vocal Mix - July 8th, 1991)", taken from the "Rough & Alternate Mixes" 2CD included in the remastered deluxe box set of its self-titled fifth album — also known as "The Black Album" — due on September 10 via the band's own Blackened Recordings. Check it out below.

The Black Album is one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed records of all time. Its 1991 release not only gave METALLICA its first No. 1 album in no fewer than 10 countries, including a four-week run at No. 1 in the U.S., its unrelenting series of singles — "Enter Sandman", "The Unforgiven", "Nothing Else Matters", "Wherever I May Roam" and "Sad But True" — fueled the band's rise to stadium headlining, radio and MTV dominating household name status. The album's reception from the press was similarly charged, building over the years from the top 10 of the 1991 Village Voice Pazz & Jop national critics poll to becoming a constant presence in the likes of Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums Of All Time. The album's impact and relevance continue to grow — as proven by one indisputable fact: The Black Album remains unchallenged as the best-selling album in the history of Nielsen SoundScan, outselling every release in every genre over the past 30 years.

To commemorate its 30th anniversary, the Grammy-winning, 16-times-platinum-certified Black Album is receiving its definitive re-release. Remastered for ultimate sound quality, The Black Album remaster will be available in multiple configurations including 180-gram double vinyl LP, standard CD and 3 CD expanded edition, digital, and limited-edition deluxe box set (containing the album remastered on 180-gram 2LP, a picture disc, three live LPs, 14 CDs (containing rough mixes, demos, interviews, live shows), 6 DVDs (containing outtakes, behind the scenes, official videos, live shows), a 120-page hardcover book, four tour laminates, three lithos, three guitar picks, a METALLICA lanyard, a folder with lyric sheets, and a download card).

Much more than a mere tribute album, "The Metallica Blacklist" celebrates the enduring influence of this musical milestone with one of the most ambitious projects ever conceived by the METALLICA team: An unprecedented 50+ artists spanning an unbelievably vast range of genres, generations, cultures, continents and more, each contributing a unique interpretation of their favorite Black Album cut.

"The Metallica Blacklist" offers up new dimensions of the record whose gravitational pull first drew the mainstream to METALLICA — and provides new insights into the universal and timeless appeal that kept it there: the boundary-smashing influence these 12 songs have had on fans and musicians of all stripes. "The Metallica Blacklist"'s 53 tracks find singer songwriters, country artists, electronic and hip hop artists sharing their love of these songs alongside punk rockers, indie darlings, icons of rock, metal, world music and many, many more… and for 50+ good causes: Profits will be divided evenly between charities of the artist's choice and METALLICA's All Within My Hands foundation.

"The Metallica Blacklist" is a fitting and limitless homage, one that features bands who've shared stages with METALLICA alongside artists who are younger than the original album. It's a truly staggering, at times mystifying assemblage of musicians, dozens of whom have little to nothing in common other than the shared passion for the music that's united them for this album: 1 Album. 12 Songs. 53 Artists. Unlimited Possibilities.

"The Metallica Blacklist" will be available in formats including digital, four-CD and a limited-edition seven-LP vinyl pressing. Pre-orders will instantly receive multi-platinum selling recording artist, songwriter, philanthropist and trailblazer Miley Cyrus's version of "Nothing Else Matters" featuring Andrew Watt, Elton John, Yo-Yo Ma, Robert Trujillo and Chad Smith, and Colombian-born rock/pop superstar, and winner of 20+ Grammy and Latin Music Grammy Awards Juanes's interpretation of "Enter Sandman".

All profits from "The Metallica Blacklist" will be split evenly between the All Within My Hands foundation and 50+ charities chosen by the artists who play on the album. All Within My Hands was founded by the band in 2017 as a way for the entire METALLICA family to give back to communities that have supported the band by supporting workforce education, the fight against hunger, and other critical local services.

"The Metallica Blacklist" features the following tracks:

* ALESSIA CARA & THE WARNING - Enter Sandman

* MAC DEMARCO - Enter Sandman

* GHOST - Enter Sandman

* JUANES - Enter Sandman

* RINA SAWAYAMA - Enter Sandman

* WEEZER - Enter Sandman

* SAM FENDER - Sad But True (Live)

* JASON ISBELL - Sad But True

* MEXICAN INSTITUTE OF SOUND FEAT. LA PERLA & GERA MX - Sad But True

* ROYAL BLOOD - Sad But True

* ST. VINCENT - Sad But True

* WHITE REAPER - Sad But True

* YB - Sad But True

* BIFFY CLYRO - Holier Than Thou

* THE CHATS - Holier Than Thou

* OFF! - Holier Than Thou

* PUP - Holier Than Thou

* COREY TAYLOR - Holier Than Thou

* CAGE THE ELEPHANT - The Unforgiven

* VISHAL DADLANI, DIVINE, SHOR POLICE - The Unforgiven

* DIET CIG - The Unforgiven

* FLATBUSH ZOMBIES FEAT. DJ SCRATCH - The Unforgiven

* HA*ASH - The Unforgiven

* JOSÉ MADERO - The Unforgiven

* MOSES SUMNEY - The Unforgiven

* J BALVIN - Wherever I May Roam

* CHASE & STATUS FEAT. BACKROAD GEE - Wherever I May Roam

* THE NEPTUNES - Wherever I May Roam

* JON PARDI - Wherever I May Roam

* SEBASTIAN - Don't Tread On Else Matters

* PORTUGAL. THE MAN FEAT. AARON BEAM - Don't Tread On Me

* VOLBEAT - Don't Tread On Me

* THE HU - Through The Never

* TOMI OWÓ - Through The Never

* PHOEBE BRIDGERS - Nothing Else Matters

* MILEY CYRUS FEAT. WATT, ELTON JOHN, YO-YO MA, ROBERT TRUJILLO, CHAD SMITH - Nothing Else Matters

* DAVE GAHAN - Nothing Else Matters

* MICKEY GUYTON - Nothing Else Matters

* DERMOT KENNEDY - Nothing Else Matters

* MON LAFERTE - Nothing Else Matters

* IGOR LEVIT - Nothing Else Matters

* MY MORNING JACKET - Nothing Else Matters

* PG ROXETTE - Nothing Else Matters

* DARIUS RUCKER - Nothing Else Matters

* CHRIS STAPLETON - Nothing Else Matters

* TRESOR - Nothing Else Matters

* GOODNIGHT, TEXAS - Of Wolf And Man

* IDLES - The God That Failed

* IMELDA MAY - the god that failed

* CHERRY GLAZERR - My Friend Of Misery

* IZÏA - My Friend Of Misery

* KAMASI WASHINGTON - My Friend Of Misery

* RODRIGO Y GABRIELA - The Struggle Within

Back in 2017, METALLICA announced that it was preparing deluxe remastered versions of its "…And Justice For All" (1988) and "Metallica" (1991) albums and reached out to its hardcore fans for help to get content for the new editions. "…And Justice For All" has since been reissued for its 30th anniversary in 2018.

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 already certified 16 times platinum on December 13, 2012 by the RIAA (Recording Industry Association Of America) for shipments in excess of 16 million copies in the U.S.

The album in 2009 surpassed SHANIA TWAIN's 1997 record, "Come On Over", as the best-selling CD of the SoundScan era.

"Metallica" was the first of four collaborations with producer Bob 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.

Grammy-nominated band TRIVIUM will release its tenth album, titled "In The Court Of The Dragon", on October 8 via longtime label Roadrunner Records. The record was produced and mixed by Josh Wilbur and recorded in the fall of 2020 at Full Sail University in Orlando. The band has also shared the new song "Feast Of Fire", which is accompanied by an official music video. The footage was filmed at the band's headquarters — The Hangar in Orlando. It was shot by director John Deeb.

"There's always that one song you aren't expecting when you begin writing a new album," says bassist Paolo Gregoletto about the song and, in turn, sharing an inside look at the band's songwriting process. "It could be a riff written on the spot in the rehearsal space, a lyric that pairs just right with a melody, or in the case of 'Feast Of Fire', sitting right there in front of us in the middle of a demo that Corey [Beaulieu, guitar] brought in. We were well into pre-production at Full Sail when we all decided that something about the demo we had tracked was good but could be even better. Our producer Josh Wilbur even had in his notes: 'Bridge is special, maybe so special it needs its own song.' We tore the song apart and began again on the spot."

He continues: "We went into this album knowing we had time to consider everything and anything that came about during this period, and if need be, we could start again if it didn’t feel right given that no touring was on the horizon."

Further pulling back the curtain, he says: "I had the words 'Feast Of Fire' written in my running list of notes for lyric ideas that I try to amass before we record. Something about the phrase stuck out to me. It felt like the missing piece of the story we were trying to tell with this album, a climactic moment and a real centerpiece for the narrative."

He finishes: "After all these years, I'm still blown away at how a song can really appear out of thin air and take the album to a place you weren't expecting. Those are the moments we are always looking for when making a record."

The album cover is an original oil painting by French artist Mathieu Nozieres (@mathieunozieres on Instagram)

"While the music of 'In The Court Of The Dragon' was taking shape, we knew we needed epic artwork of the type that you might see on the wall of an important museum from a long dead renaissance master," says guitarist/vocalist Matt Heafy. "After extensive research, we found one of the few living artists who is capable of creating artwork like Caravaggio and Gentileschi — painter Mathieu Nozieres. Mathieu took our song title and created an original oil painting on canvas unlike anything we could have ever imagined. It's so staggeringly breathtaking and epic and it looks like what the song and album sounds like."

The oil painting, which is also featured in both new videos, will be on display at the Bloodstock Open Air festival from August 11 through 15 at the on site R.A.M. Art Gallery. This marks the painting's first public showing. The first 100 fans to view it in the gallery will receive a free poster of the image.

Last month, TRIVIUM shared the album's title track, "In The Court Of The Dragon", which featured an epic intro composed and orchestrated by Ihsahn (EMPEROR) and was accompanied by an official short film music video directed by Ryan Mackfall.

"In The Court Of The Dragon" track listing:

01. X

02. In The Court Of The Dragon

03. Like A Sword Over Damocles

04. Feast Of Fire

05. A Crisis Of Revelation

06. The Shadow Of The Abattoir

07. No Way Back Just Through

08. Fall Into Your Hands

09. From Dawn To Decadence

10. The Phalanx

TRIVIUM will make its long-awaited return to the road this summer with MEGADETH, LAMB OF GOD and HATEBREED.

In celebration of the 15th anniversary of LAMB OF GOD's "Sacrament" album, Epic Records is issuing an anniversary edition of the album and short documentary.

The remastered "Sacrament (15th Anniversary)" will contain the original album tracks, as well as previously unreleased bonus live tracks recorded at House Of Vans Chicago in the band's only live performance of 2020. The album is scheduled for a digital release on August 20, with a vinyl edition slated for early next year. The "Making Of Sacrament" feature, originally included on the "Walk With Me In Hell" DVD, will premiere on YouTube on August 20. Watch the trailer below.

Originally released on August 22, 2006, "Sacrament" debuted at #8 and sold nearly 65,000 copies in its first week. The album spawned the popular track "Redneck", which brought LAMB OF GOD their first Grammy Award nomination for "Best Metal Performance". The album was certified gold by the RIAA in September of 2019.

"Sacrament (15th Anniversary)" track listing:

01. Walk With Me In Hell

02. Again We Rise

03. Redneck

04. Pathetic

05. Foot To The Throat

06. Descending

07. Blacken The Cursed Sun

08. Forgotten (Lost Angels)

09. Requiem

10. More Time To Kill

11. Beating On Death's Door

12. Walk With Me In Hell (Live from House of Vans Chicago)*

13. Redneck (Live from House of Vans Chicago)*

14. Descending (Live from House of Vans Chicago)*

* Previously unavailable on DSPs

Released in April via Nuclear Blast Records, LAMB OF GOD's "Live In Richmond, VA" included a live version of the self-titled album with two bonus tracks, along with a DVD that features the first of LAMB OF GOD's two ultra-successful live stream events from September 2020, in which the band performed its latest album, "Lamb Of God", in full, plus an encore of four songs including "Ruin", "Contractor", "512", and the debut live performance of "The Death Of Us", a newer song the band wrote and recorded in quarantine for the "Bill & Ted Face The Music" movie and soundtrack. The DVD includes a new director's cut with bonus material.

"Lamb Of God" was released in June 2020 via Epic Records in the U.S. and Nuclear Blast Records in Europe. The follow-up to "VII: Sturm Und Drang" marked LAMB OF GOD's first recordings with Art Cruz, who joined the band in July 2019 as the replacement for the group's founding drummer, Chris Adler.

"Lamb Of God" was recorded with longtime producer Josh Wilbur (KORN, MEGADETH, GOJIRA, TRIVIUM) and includes special guest appearances by Jamey Jasta (HATEBREED) and Chuck Billy (TESTAMENT).

World-renowned guitarist/songwriter Mark Tremonti will release the fifth album from his solo band TREMONTI, titled "Marching In Time", on September 24 via Napalm Records. The official live video for the LP's first single, "If Not For You", can be seen below. The song tells the story of a father having a child during a global pandemic and how he prepares for life during that time — something Tremonti recently experienced in his own life.

Tremonti is no stranger to storytelling. Throughout his years with top-charting bands ALTER BRIDGE and CREED, and most recently his solo band, Mark has never strayed from his love of writing memorable songs. With "Marching In Time", the band looks to continue this trend while exploring their love for heavy music, drawing from current events from the last year to form the basis of each song. While its predecessor, "A Dying Machine", was an overall concept album seeped in darker sentiments and story, the vibe of "Marching In Time" is different — emerging as a charging rock/metal offering that takes the listener on 12 individual journeys.

From the driving drum beat of opener "A World Away" to the epic closer "Marching In Time", the new album is a reflective look at the world around us today. TREMONTI's unmatched musicianship bleeds through the album, showcased on tracks like "Thrown Further", "In One Piece" and the thought-provoking "Would You Kill". Alternatively, the band displays their softer side on pensive tracks "The Last One Of Us" and "Not Afraid to Lose". Epic title track "Marching In Time" tells the story of a father having a child during a global pandemic and how he prepares for life during that time — something Mark Tremonti recently experienced in his own life — while upcoming single "If Not For You" shows the evolution of the TREMONTI sound in 2021.

"Marching In Time" was produced by longtime friend and collaborator Michael "Elvis" Baskette — the producer Mark has worked with exclusively since 2007.

"Marching In Time" track listing:

01. A World Away

02. Now And Forever

03. If Not For You

04. Thrown Further

05. Let That Be Us

06. The Last One Of Us

07. In One Piece

08. Under The Sun

09. Not Afraid To Lose

10. Bleak

11. Would You Kill

12. Marching In Time

TREMONTI will hit the road in advance of the release of "Marching In Time", starting on September 3 in the U.S. with longtime friends SEVENDUST.

THE DEAD DAISIES have released an inspiring new short film, "Like No Other". Joining the band on the road for three weeks, a journalist and videographer captured shows across the U.S. for the first time since the global pandemic stood the music industry on its head. Every night the band did what they do best: play great rock! The "Like No Other" short film reflects on past memories and modern-day heroes that instill hope and happiness to people around the world.

The world has gone a bit crazy of late with a lot of people feeling trapped and alone. Hard times often bring out the best in people and music has always been a healer. We all need to cherish the moments that make your heart skip a beat. As THE DEAD DAISIES frontman Glenn Hughes has said for decades: "Love is the answer and music is the healer. Let's rock and roll together."

THE DEAD DAISIES are about to kick off 20 nights of rock and comedy across the U.S. with a bill featuring rock trio THE BLACK MOODS and the host of "That Metal Show", comedian Don Jamieson. Come late October, the "Like No Other" world tour will see their return to the U.K. for the first time since 2018, with a set brimming with songs from their latest album, "Holy Ground", and so much more. Joining them on this leg as very special guests will be hard rockers THE QUIREBOYS. In November they set off to the rest of Europe, taking in Russia and traversing the continent until mid-December.

Hughes made his live debut with THE DEAD DAISIES on June 23 at Boca Black Box in Boca Raton, Florida.

THE DEAD DAISIES' current lineup also includes Doug Aldrich (DIO, WHITESNAKE) on guitar, Tommy Clufetos (BLACK SABBATH, OZZY OSBOURNE) on drums and David Lowy (RED PHOENIX, MINK) on guitar.

"Holy Ground" was released in January. Recorded at La Fabrique Studios in the south of France with producer Ben Grosse, the LP is the band's first to feature Hughes, who joined the group in 2019 as its new bassist and vocalist, replacing John Corabi (MÖTLEY CRÜE) and Marco Mendoza (THIN LIZZY).

Drummer Deen Castronovo announced his exit from THE DEAD DAISIES in January, two days after the band's publicist revealed that Clufetos will rejoin THE DEAD DAISIES when they hit the road in support of "Holy Ground". Clufetos previously toured with THE DEAD DAISIES in 2015.

In an interview with "The Blairing Out With Eric Blair Show", Hughes spoke about how he came to be involved with THE DEAD DAISIES. He said: "They wanted someone in, and they were asking me [in early 2019] if I would be interested in doing this. And I've been doing the 'Glenn Hughes Performs Classic Deep Purple' [shows] for a couple of years, and I thought it would be appropriate for me to take a break from that and do something other than [that]. And I got together with the guys and we had a play. I've known Doug a long time. And it just fell together beautifully. It's a beautiful piece of music."

Hughes told "That Jamieson Show" about the lyrical themes covered on "Holy Ground": "Since I've been clean and sober now almost 30 years, I think in PURPLE, in the '80s and '70s, I wrote about fiction. Then, when I got sober, the more time I have under my belt, and the years I have under my belt, I'm really, really honing in on life — what happens between life and death: fear, no fear, love, faith, hate, giving. And THE DEAD DAISIES album is one story after another.

"So the album is self-explanatory," Hughes added. "It's about autobiographical stuff. I do write stuff about what happens in my life. But I think people will hear it and they will relate to it, because they're probably going through the same [stuff] — whether it's fear or happiness or sadness or whatever. I'm a 'feelings' kind of dude."

OVERKILL bassist D.D. Verni spoke to SiriusXM's "Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk" about the progress of the recording sessions for the band's new album. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "We're still recording. The record's done, for the most part, but we're still recording — still some bass, still some vocals, a good amount of that to be done. We'll probably start mixing in the fall, is what I would think — something like that. And we have Colin Richardson set up to mix the record. He's done a few records for us in the past, and we're psyched about it. He's done a ton of stuff — SLIPKNOT, MACHINE HEAD… Just a great mix guy. So we're psyched to get him back on board."

As for when fans can expect to see the new OVERKILL LP released, D.D. said: "We're probably looking at a record and tour… Like everybody, we've had tours all around the time [of the pandemic] that we just keep canceling and moving. So the newest moving one is to be out in the States in March, with the record, and then after that in Europe end of April into May. That's currently what's on the books. But as the months go by, as it gets better, as it gets worse — who the hell knows? That's the current plan."

Asked how comfortable he is with going back out on tour amid a nationwide spike in coronavirus infections and hospitalizations attributed to the delta variant, Verni said: "It's hard to say. I just get so many conflicting reports about what's okay and what's not okay. If you're on a bus and you're traveling with your guys and you're going from state to state where the rules are different in every state. And then not only that, the rules are different from venue to venue in every state. And then when you start going overseas, it's not even just states — it's this country has this rule and this country has this rule. It's hard to put a tour together and have it make sense financially when every third show could be an issue: 'Oh, that one got canceled.' 'Oh, that one got canceled or moved because there's a new this or there's a new that.' I know some bands have just said, 'Screw it. We're not putting anything on the books until fall of '22. We've tried to stay ahead of it so that the soonest that we can get back out there we can. We're just gonna kind of look at the news and see what the guidelines are and kind of go from there. A lot of people are in the same boat.

"I know sometimes you talk to other bands… I remember even through the years with some of the '80s bands that were making a lot of money on records, just royalty checks coming in, the world has changed where it's, like, 'Damn, I have to get out on the road,'" he continued. "And that was always the way with OVERKILL. There was no sitting at home and letting the checks come [in]. We need to make a record and get back on the road, make a record and get back on the road. That's why we have 20 records. So this is the longest I've gone without doing a show since I was probably 15 years old. I mean, it's crazy. But we're all in the same boat. So, as soon as it opens up and everything is safe and the people are safe to come out to the shows, we're gonna be doing 'em."

Richardson previously worked with OVERKILL on 1997's "From The Underground And Below", 2000's "Bloodletting" and 2003's "Killbox 13".

In June 2020, OVERKILL singer Bobby "Blitz" Ellsworth told A&P Reacts that the band's new songs were "a natural progression from 'The Grinding Wheel' [2017] and 'The Wings Of War' [2019]. I think when we had done the 'Ironbound' record [2010], it almost became like a trilogy in there — it was kind of like 'Ironbound', 'The Electric Age' [2012] and 'White Devil Armory' [2014], and they seemed to be the Father, Son and the Holy Ghost kind of a thing," he said. "I think we kind of broke the mold a little bit with 'The Grinding Wheel', and then I think a little bit more with 'The Wings Of War'. And on this one, I see it way more. And what I mean by that is that we've used other tools from our toolshed in the past, and that's the slow grind that is coupled with that fast gallop. So it feels like a natural progression, but maybe two records ahead of what 'The Wings Of War' is. And that's probably as objective as I can be."

OVERKILL spent most of 2019 and early 2020 touring in support of its 19th studio LP, "The Wings Of War", which was released two and a half years ago. The disc was recorded at Gear Recording Studio in New Jersey, SKH Studio in Florida and Jrod Productions with engineering handled by Verni and guitarist Dave Linsk. The album was produced by the band while Chris "Zeuss" Harris took care of the mixing and mastering. Travis Smith (NEVERMORE, OPETH, SOILWORK, DEATH) was again enlisted to create the artwork for the album.

"The Wings Of War" marked OVERKILL's recording debut with drummer Jason Bittner (SHADOWS FALL, FLOTSAM AND JETSAM), who joined the band in 2

BLACK VEIL BRIDES have released the official music video for another new song, "Torch". The track is taken from the band's upcoming album, "The Phantom Tomorrow", which will be released on October 29 via Sumerian Records.

The "Torch" clip is the final installment in the initial "Blackbird"/9 story arc. "Torch" also marks the second time BLACK VEIL BRIDES frontman Andy Biersack got behind the camera to direct a video for the band alongside longtime visual collaborator Patrick Fogarty.

Biersack states: "We wanted to create something that felt like a fitting ending to the four-video story arc that started with 'Scarlet Cross', and while this is the end of the original 'Blackbird' video chronology, it certainly is not the end of 'The Phantom Tomorrow' narrative that plays out on the record and in our upcoming comic book series. It's been one of the greatest joys of my professional life getting to dream up these concepts. For us as a band to work with such amazing individuals and to see this story realized on the screen is an absolute honor."

The cover artwork for "The Phantom Tomorrow" was created by Eliran Kantor, known for his work with TESTAMENT, HATEBREED, HAVOK and Andy Black, to name a few. "The Phantom Tomorrow" was produced by Erik Ron (GODSMACK, DANCE GAVIN DANCE, BUSH) and co-produced by guitarist Jake Pitts.

"The Phantom Tomorrow" track listing:

01. The Phantom Tomorrow (Introduction)

02. Scarlet Cross

03. Born Again

04. Blackbird

05. Spectres (Interlude)

06. Torch

07. The Wicked One

08. Shadows Rise

09. Fields Of Bone

10. Crimson Skies

11. Kill The Hero

12. Fall Eternal

BLACK VEIL BRIDES singer Andy Biersack told "Cutter's Rockcast" about the lyrical themes covered on "The Phantom Tomorrow": "It's a concept record. There is a comic book happening as well. We're developing all the artwork and everything for that. The story is essentially the idea… In our society, especially now, we have this love of building up heroes and obsessing over other people who often don't give a shit about you or anybody else, and we kind of have these false idols and heroes. And so the story is kind of about taking this mythological character and the people putting all of this power on to them, and then ultimately turning their back on the character because nobody can fulfill the dreams and ideas that you put on somebody else. So it's an alternate version of our own timeline where our obsession with heroes and the iconography of somebody that's aspirational kind of gets out of control and becomes our whole society."

Regarding how he came up with "The Phantom Tomorrow" concept, Andy said: "In January of last year, I just kind of sat down and started writing this story. I do a lot of drawing when I'm writing as well. I'm not great, but I like to be able to represent my ideas in that way. So I wrote out this whole story and drew character designs, and then, about a week and a half later, we were set to enter the studio, and it just kind of coincidental that this whole rush of this idea came to me. And so I went to the studio with everybody and said, 'Look, this is what I think we should do,' and laid out the story and the plot and the ideas. 'Cause we've done concept records before. The kind of method that we've found is best is I give the concept and the ideas, as far as the narrative perspective, to the band, and then that is how we write as a band together, to get tone and how we are gonna get through this journey. I will take those songs and then go basically write the lyrics to serve the story and plotlines along the journey from song one to the last song.

"There are unfortunate kind of shackles that are put on it — meaning that you've gotta write within the context of what you're writing," he continued. "But I tried to keep this one more open-ended where it's applicable… 'Cause I didn't wanna write about stuff I don't know; I wanted it to be about my experience. And there's really nothing about our story that doesn't mimic the current situation, whether it's on a personal level with people that I've known, or on a sociopolitical level, with the craziness of the world right now. The ideas are universal, and so that made it a little bit easier to kind of get through the journey. But as far as the comic book goes, it's kind of the same thing — I come up with the story and the artwork ideas, and then work with people who are much more talented than I am to make that a reality."

BLACK VEIL BRIDES celebrated the 10th anniversary of their debut, "We Stitch These Wounds", with a brand new, reimagined, re-recorded 2020 edition of the album titled "Re-Stitch These Wounds", released in July 2020 via Sumerian Records.

In November 2019, BLACK VEIL BRIDES announced the addition of bassist Lonny Eagleton to the group's ranks. He joined the band as the replacement for Ashley Purdy, who exited the group earlier that month.

Eagleton previously played with Biersack (a.k.a. Andy Black) on his solo tour.

Biersack's memoir, "They Don't Need To Understand: Stories Of Hope, Fear, Family, Life, And Never Giving In", arrived in December via Rare Bird Books.

Photo credit: Joshua Shultz

Chicago health officials said the city's Lollapalooza concert wasn't a superspreader event for COVID-19, with only 203 cases being reported by attendees so far.

In a Thursday morning briefing, Chicago Dept. of Public Health Commissioner Dr. Allison Arwady said 127 vaccinated people who attended Lollapalooza later tested positive. An additional 76 unvaccinated people who attended tested positive.

Only 0.0004% of vaccinated attendees tested positive, and 0.0016% of unvaccinated attendees tested positive.

"There's no evidence at this point of a super-spreader event, and there's no evidence of substantial impact to Chicago's COVID epidemiology," Arwady said. "Clearly with hundreds of thousands of people attending Lollapalooza, we would expect to see some cases."

Lollapolooza took place from July 29 to August 1 and drew an estimated 385,000 people, approximately 90% or more of whom were vaccinated, based on measures taken at the site.

"We would have seen a surge if we were going to see a surge at this point, by my estimation," Arwady said.

To attend this year's Lollapalooza, concert-goers had to show proof of being vaccinated or having tested negative for the coronavirus within the previous three days.

"We obviously will continue to do further investigation if necessary. … Any person diagnosed with COVID-19 on or after attending Lollapalooza is included in the analysis," Arway said. "So these cases may or may not have resulted from transmission at Lolla itself. We've been very broad here. Anybody who is potentially associated, we want to investigate.

"If we were more than 90% vaccinated as a city, as a country, we would probably be done with COVID," she added.

"If folks are going to large events, please get vaccinated. It helps reduce risk for everybody," she said.

Times have truly changed.
This last year and a half has been challenging to say the least, and we've all had time to think over our decisions and motivations in all aspects of life. When removed from what you take for granted, it becomes clear that you realize what is truly important in life.
And this is different for everybody.
Anders Jivarp and Anders Iwers have decided to move on to other things and not be a part of the band anymore.
These are two of the most amazing, loyal and dedicated friends and musicians you could ever find and as sad as we are seeing them go, we know that if passion leads you elsewhere you should follow it.
Anders Jivarp has of course been there from the very beginning, being instrumental in creating the sound that eventually became our own. His songs are some of our most beloved and with the exception of one insane evening in Istanbul 20 years ago he has played every single show since the band's inception. We're excited to hear what will come out of Anders' future musical projects.
Anders Iwers has been with us for the last six years but since we have known each other from the very early days of the band it felt like he had always been there. He played on our two latest records, not to mention being an integral part of our live shows.
We love you guys so much and we wish you the absolute best in everything that you do.
Mikael
dark tranquillity

As the drummer of the legendary rock band SCORPIONS, Herman Rarebell was the rhythmic backbone of the band for many years and remains one of the most influential drummers in the rock world today.

Fans of Herman's can now enjoy the official video for his song "I'll Say Goodbye", originally released in 1977. "I'll Say Goodbye" is the closing track taken from Herman's solo album "Nip In The Bud" and was also released as a single prior to the album in 1981. Both the audio and video for this track have been restored and remastered, and are available digitally on YouTube and everywhere else for the first time!

Herman says this about "I'll Say Goodbye": "One of my favorite songs of all time. The story is about what happens when you die. Sort of life after death. People think you'll be around forever, but we know this is not true. This topic has always fascinated me and still does."

Recorded 40 years ago, "Nip In The Bud" will be re-released this year, remastered and available digitally for the first time. "Nip In The Bud" will be released on August 27 via Aviator Management.

"It was an amazing feeling," Rarebell describes the moment of holding his own solo record in his hands. "I'm extremely proud of this album. Even after 40 years, the album sounds totally fresh and exciting and tracks like 'I'll Say Goodbye' or the ballad 'Messing Around' are still absolute hard rock classics, even today."

Rarebell's drumming style was influenced by bands such as LED ZEPPELIN and he has always felt at home playing classic hard rock. A clear and direct sound is still his passion today. Many of the songs, which were written by Rarebell in the early '70s, did not fit into the concept of the SCORPIONS at that time and so the idea of a solo album was born.

To mark the announcement, Herman has released the single "Rock Your All" and you can listen to it below.

Herman says: "'Rock Your All' is one of my favorite-ever singles and contains one of my favorite riffs of all time."

The two other musicians on his album were Pedro Schemm alias George Philips (vocals and bass) and David "D.H." Cooper (guitarist). Rarebell and George Phillips were childhood friends and played together in bands such as THE MASTERMEN and the legendary krautrock band RS RINDFLEISCH with George on vocals and Rarebell on drums. Both later moved to England, where they played in various bands and met guitarist David "DH" Cooper.

Rarebell knew immediately that this trio would be the optimal lineup for his first solo album.

"Nip In The Bud" was recorded live in a 16-track studio in Rarebell's hometown of Lebach. The chemistry between the musicians was perfect with all three working in harmony to create an honest, live hard rock album. Within two weeks, the basic tracks were finished. The last overdubs were done in Dieter Dirks's studio near Cologne and Herman Rarebell's first solo album was ready to mix. The final mix was done by Gerd Rautenbach, who was also responsible for the unique sound on the legendary SCORPIONS albums "Blackout" and "Love At The First Sting". Both Rarebell and Rautenbach's goal was to give the songs the LED ZEPPELIN sound, "so the drums are way up front in a big room," Herman says. "The idea was to capture both the live feeling as well as the pressure from the drums."

The artwork was created by Storm Thorgerson's team at Hipgnosis, who also created legendary album covers for PINK FLOYD, ELECTRIC LIGHT ORCHESTRA and LED ZEPPELIN.

Track listing:

01. Messing Around (remastered version)

02. Two Timer (remastered version)

03. Havin' A Good Time (remastered version)

04. Rock Your All (remastered version)

05. Triangle (remastered version)

06. Slob (remastered version)

07. Junk Funk (remastered version)

08. Do It (remastered version)

09. Pancake (remastered version)

10. I'll Say Goodbye (remastered version)

Rarebell was born on November 18, 1949 (a Scorpio) in Saarbrucken, Germany. He wrote the lyrics for some of SCORPIONS' most classic songs such as "Rock You Like A Hurricane", "Make It Real", "Dynamite", "Blackout", "Arizona", "Bad Boys Running Wild", "Don't Stop At The Top", "Tease Me Please Me" and other songs. In 1981, he released his first solo album "Nip In The Bud" (which he later re-recorded as HERMAN ZE GERMAN & FRIENDS). In April 1996, he left the SCORPIONS after an incredible 32 million sold albums. Together with Prince Albert of Monaco he co-founded Monaco Records releasing a second solo album under the label Stings Like a Scorpion.

The SCORPIONS reunited their classic lineup at the Wacken Open Air festival on August 3, 2006, billed as "A Night To Remember: A Journey In Time". Herman was invited by his old friends to join them on stage and the band performed many classic songs also featuring Uli Jon Roth and Michael Schenker.

Photo credit: Nico Mass

Fan-filmed video footage of KORN's August 11 performance at Jiffy Lube Live in Bristow, Virginia can be seen below. KORN and STAIND's 28-date joint tour will make stops in Long Island, Detroit, Irvine, Phoenix, Austin and more, before wrapping up with a performance at Dallas' Dos Equis Pavilion on September 21. Furthermore, both bands will perform at Louisville, Kentucky's Louder Than Life festival on September 23.

KORN played its first show with Roberto "Ra" Díaz (SUICIDAL TENDENCIES) on July 16 at the Upheaval festival in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Díaz is filling in for Reginald "Fieldy" Arvizu on KORN's current tour. Fieldy announced in June that he would sit out the trek in order to "heal" after "falling back" on some of his "bad habits."

"We appreciate your kind words of support in response to the recent tour update about @Fieldykorn," KORN wrote in a social media post on July 12. "While our brother takes some time to heal, we wanted to let you know that we are bringing our friend @Ra_Diaz from @SuicidalTendencies out with us this summer to fill in on KORN bass duties. We've all been rehearsing to get ready to bring the heat, and we can't wait to see you next month."

On June 21, Fieldy broke the news of his absence from the trek, writing in a social media update: "To all KORN fans worldwide. The past 6 years I've been dealing with some personal issues that at times have caused me to fall back on some of my bad habits and has caused some tension with the people around me. It's been suggested to me to take some time off to heal. I'm going to respect what was asked of me and take that time. Unfortunately you will not see me on stage with my band. I will be working towards getting the bad habits out of my system. In the meantime I will be staying creative to keep my mind & soul in a good place.

"I'm thankful for all of your support, patience & understanding as we all have something that we deal with.

"Jonathan, Munky, Ray and Head, I love you and I don't want to bring any tension or bad vibes to the circle."

A short time later, KORN's official social media shared Fieldy's statement, along with the following message: "We love and support our brother, Fieldy. Health and family always comes first."

Back in 2017, METALLICA bassist Robert Trujillo's then-12-year-old son Tye Trujillo filled in on bass for KORN's South American tour after Fieldy was unable to make the shows due to "unforeseen circumstances."

Fieldy's 2009 memoir, "Got The Life: My Journey Of Addiction, Faith, Recovery And Korn", detailed his struggles with drug and alcohol addiction during KORN's early years and how he became a born-again Christian to help get his life together and get sober.

Fieldy's STILLWELL side project released its third album, "Supernatural Miracle", last September.

KORN's latest LP, "The Nothing", arrived in September 2019 via Roadrunner/Elektra. The follow-up to 2016's "The Serenity Of Suffering" was once again produced by Nick Raskulinecz.

FIREHOUSE singer CJ Snare will undergo an unspecified surgical procedure on September 1. While he is recovering, the band will continue to perform select shows with good friend Andrew Freeman of LAST IN LINE filling in for CJ on lead vocals.

Andrew performed two shows with FIREHOUSE in July after CJ came down with an undisclosed illness, and will play again with the band in Aurora, Illinois on September 10. CJ will perform all FIREHOUSE shows in August.

In addition to playing with LAST IN LINE, Freeman has performed with three of BULLETBOYS' original members (guitarist Mick Sweda, bassist Lonnie Vencent and drummer Jimmy D'Anda) in LIES, DECEIT & TREACHERY and famously filled in for Joe Elliott when DEF LEPPARD played on the "Hysteria On The High Seas" cruise in January 2016.

FIREHOUSE hasn't released a studio album since 2011's "Full Circle", which featured re-recorded versions of some of the band's older songs. The group's last collection of new material, "Prime Time", came out in 2003.

FIREHOUSE reached stardom during the early '90s with hits like "Reach For The Sky", "Don't Treat Me Bad" and "All She Wrote", as well as its signature power ballads "I Live My Life For You", "Love Of A Lifetime" and "When I Look Into Your Eyes".


"The show must go on” that’s the Rock n Roll way. Our band mate, friend and singer, CJ Snare, is having a surgical...

Posted by FireHouse on Thursday, August 12, 2021

Korpiklaani have released a drum playthrough video for "Kiuru", a track from the band's new album, Jylhä.

Drummer Samuli Mikkonen comments: "'Kiuru' is not a typical Korpiklaani song drum wise. It is a fun combination of fast aggression and longing melancholy. There is a lot of stuff happening in certain parts of the song. I had a thought of making something cool like what Hoglan or Reinert did on their Death albums. I also invented ”The Heavy Shuffle” used at the end of the song. I'm sure I'm not the first one to play that kind of a beat but at least I made up a cool name for it! Special thanx to Teppo Ristola for making a huge job for filming and editing this one! ENJOY!"

Order Jylhä here.

Jylhä tracklisting:

"Verikoira"
"Niemi"
"Leväluhta"
"Mylly"
"Tuuleton"
"Sanaton Maa"
"Kiuru"
"Miero"
"Pohja"
"Huolettomat"
"Anolan Aukeat"
"Pidot"
"Juuret"

"Tuuleton" video:

"Niemi" video:

"Mylly" video:

"Leväluhta" video:




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In My Life In Dire Straits: The Inside Story Of One Of The Biggest Bands In Rock History (Diversion Books; November 9, 2021; $30.00 Hardcover), bassist and founding member John Illsley goes behind the music with never-before-told stories tracing Dire Straits’ rise from the spit-and-sawdust pubs of London to the best-known venues and concerts in the world, and inside the studio recording some of the greatest rock albums of all time.

With wry humor and soulful reflection, Illsley captures a phenomenal musical legacy, the shattering demands of global tours and life in the spotlight, and his friendship with Mark Knopfler, the band’s lead singer, songwriter and remarkable guitarist.

“This book above all is about passion and pursuing your dreams – taking the unpredictable path, not the easy option,” Illsey says. “It charts the journey from my innocent teens strumming a few chords, to playing on the biggest stages in the world; a chance meeting in 1976 with Mark Knopfler that created a musical partnership that lasted 20 years, and a strong friendship that continues to this day. Dire Straits was an idea that created a phenomenal musical legacy, an extraordinary journey of joy, fun, companionship and surprises. I am immensely proud of my contribution to this journey.”

With a foreword by Mark Knopfler himself, this the first, and only, inside story of one of the greatest bands in rock history.

“For us, it was a huge adventure and a hell of a ride, with all its comedy, absurdity, exhaustion, madness, and sadness….” Knopfler writes in the foreword. “This ride is not for everyone, not for those who can’t take the pressures and the pace…. It was a different world. And John has remembered a pretty big chunk of it.”

There was, quite simply, no bigger band on the planet throughout the eighties. Brothers in Arms was one of the best-selling albums of the decade and songs like “Sultans of Swing,” “Money for Nothing” and “Romeo and Juliet” remain rock classics. But the Dire Straits rags-to-riches story has never been told by one of their own until now.

Illsley rose to fame as the bass guitarist for the critically acclaimed band and has received multiple Grammy Awards. As a founding member and - along with Knopfler - one of two band members to stay the 15-year distance, Illsley played a major role in the development of the band’s sound. Since the band’s last tour in 1993 he has earned a reputation as a painter, with solo exhibitions in London, New York, Sydney and across Europe. Illsley also has eight solo albums to his name, and he now owns a pub in the New Forest, United Kingdom.

“A forensic and uplifting journey through the sheer hard work, pitfalls, and thrills of navigating a great rock and roll band to the pinnacle of success. I so enjoyed the ride! Onwards, John!” - Roger Taylor, drummer, songwriter and founding member of Queen




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Hamburg, Germany's GAMMA RAY has delivered impressive statements of its own musical philosophy to the worldwide heavy metal community for more than 30 years now. Founded and fronted by Kai Hansen after his departure from the famous German power metal band HELLOWEEN, GAMMA RAY recorded 11 studio albums between 1989 and 2015. Alongside Dirk Schlächter (bass), Henjo Richter (guitar), Michael Ehré (drums) and Frank Beck (vocals), Hansen is the band's lead vocalist, guitarist and chief songwriter.

The expressive power of the band's music is reflected in their energetic live shows. There's hardly a renowned metal festival where GAMMA RAY hasn't rocked the crowds and hardly a European metal magazine which hasn't featured at least one GAMMA RAY cover story.

On GAMMA RAY's upcoming live album "30 Years Live Anniversary", the band would like to invite everyone to the party that was their exclusive and only show in 2020. Due to COVID-19, the band was not able to play shows so they decided to do a livestream event and set up a big stage in the ISS Dome in Düsseldorf, Germany. This event took place on August 27 and was streamed to fans all over the globe.

Check out "Lust For Life" from that livestream event below.

Several cameras recorded the very best of power metal with guest keyboard player Corvin Bahn and former (and first!!) GAMMA RAY singer Ralf Scheepers as a very special guest. This livestreamed show will be released as a double live album on both audio and video via earMUSIC.

Due to COVID-19, this concert, like so many others, took place without an audience. This is why the band decided to invite the fans to send in recordings of screaming, hailing, and whistling to their favorite GAMMA RAY songs, which will be added to the end of the show and gives fans the chance to participate on this release.

"30 Years Live Anniversary" will be released as a digipak CD, as 3xLP on black vinyl, and digital. Furthermore, there will be a limited edition 3xLP on colored vinyl. Each of the three LPs will be pressed on a different vinyl color.

The CD/DVD and vinyl will be available November 12; the digital version will be out September 10.

The long-awaited autobiography from heavy metal music icon Ronnie James Dio, the powerhouse voice of ELF, Ritchie Blackmore's RAINBOW, BLACK SABBATH and his longtime namesake band DIO, was recently by published by Permuted Press in the U.S. and Canada and Constable in the U.K. and is now set for publication in a number of other countries and languages. Co-written with British music journalist Mick Wall and Dio's widow and longtime manager Wendy Dio, "Rainbow In The Dark: The Autobiography" is now available at amazon.com, barnesandnoble.com or wherever books are sold.

"Rainbow In The Dark: The Autobiography" debuted at #12 on Publisher's Weekly's Hard Cover/Non-Fiction Best Sellers last week, its first week of release. Next up will be its August 27 publication in Germany. In addition, there are plans for the book to be published in Finnish, Bulgarian, Portuguese (in Brazil), Japanese, Swedish, Italian and Polish in the coming months and in Hungarian in the first quarter of 2022. Because Ronnie James Dio toured all over the world with his various band incarnations, this will be exciting news for his many fans outside of the United States.

"Rainbow In The Dark: The Autobiography" has been well received by the media. "The book has a casual, conversational tone that is all Ronnie," comments NYSMusic, and "'Rainbow In The Dark' (is) a fully immersive, engaging and entertaining story of one of rock's greatest figures," per PhilsPicks. According to Rock And Roll Globe, "What 'Rainbow In The Dark' brings to Dio's story is the emotional elements and personal dynamics of him as a musician and a person. These paint a nuanced and detailed story of the pocket-sized individual with the widescreen vocal chords and confident presence," while Heavy Consequence concludes that "'Rainbow In The Dark: The Autobiography' is certainly required reading for Dio fans, and both Wendy Dio and Mick Wall should be commended for helping finish the book that, sadly, the man himself did not live long enough to complete." Finally, Under The Radar concludes that "Ronnie James Dio's personality and charisma shine through, making 'Rainbow In The Dark' a perfect posthumous tribute to the late singer. The book is worth the wait."

Ronnie James Dio, who actor/musician Jack Black has referred to as "the Pavarotti of heavy metal," had begun writing the manuscript several years before being diagnosed with cancer. Born in Portsmouth, New Hampshire and raised in an Italian-American family in the upstate New York town of Cortland, his journey to international fame was hardly pre-ordained. He first began playing trumpet and then guitar and bass in local bands at parties, bars and clubs while still in high school, surviving life-changing setbacks — among them the loss of his bandmate and best friend in a car accident that put his own life in jeopardy. These events only made him more focused and determined to succeed. He documents how he evolved from sideman into singer and frontman to not one, but three, internationally renowned multi-platinum-selling bands while writing candidly about the many excesses of the rock 'n' roll life.

"Rainbow In The Dark: The Autobiography" is illustrated throughout with photographs, largely never-before-seen, derived from family photo albums and personal archives, plus an eight-page color insert devoted to additional rare photographs from Ronnie's life and career.

To bring the book to completion, Wendy Dio, whom Ronnie met in 1975, married in 1978 and became his manager following his painful departure from RAINBOW, fleshed out certain unfinished sections with additional details and her own observations of specific events covered in the book. Over the past 30 years, Wendy Dio has been involved in many aspects of the music business, receiving awards for stage set design and concert video production, along with serving as executive producer on numerous gold and platinum albums. In 2010, she co-founded the Ronnie James Dio Stand Up And Shout Cancer Fund in Ronnie's memory to raise money for cancer research, education and early detection screenings. She worked with esteemed British music journalist and author Mick Wall, who, as a rock music writer for publications such as Classic Rock, Mojo, The Times and a variety of others, had interviewed Ronnie countless times, to finalize the manuscript. In addition to writing for many of the U.K.'s major music publications, Wall has produced award-winning television and radio documentaries and has written biographies of musicians and bands, among them "When Giants Walked the Earth: A Biography Of Led Zeppelin" and "Two Riders Were Approaching: The Life & Death Of Jimi Hendrix".

Photo credit: Gene Kirkland

George Lynch has scrapped his previously announced shows in August and September amid a nationwide spike in coronavirus infections and hospitalizations attributed to the delta variant.

The legendary guitarist, who recently set ELECTRIC FREEDOM as the new name of his "touring entity," shared the news of the cancelation via social media earlier today.

"Due to covid concerns and the rising rate of cases of the delta variant and it's ease of transmission, George Lynch's ELECTRIC FREEDOM & management have decided it's in the company's best interest to cancel public performances for the next few weeks out of concern for festival staff and fans," the statement reads. "We hope to see you in the near future."

Affected shows:

Aug. 14 - El Paso, TX - Speaking Rock

Aug. 21 - Springfield, IL - Illinois State Fair

Sep. 03 - Pryor, OK – Rocklahoma

In the past week, a number of high-profile hard rock and heavy metal artists — including TESLA, LYNYRD SKYNYRD, SHINEDOWN and LIMP BIZKIT — have 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.

New variants of the virus that causes COVID-19 illness are spreading in the United States and other countries. Current data suggest that COVID-19 vaccines authorized for use in the United States offer protection against most variants. However, some variants might cause illness in some people after they are fully vaccinated.

According to Healthline, data so far suggests efficacy rates against the delta variant of more than 67 percent for the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, 72 to 95 percent for the Moderna vaccine, and 64 to 96 percent for the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.

Even though vaccines offer different ranges of protection, experts say getting fully vaccinated is crucial.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said last Sunday that while vaccinated people can carry and spread the virus in what is known as "breakthrough infections," people largely driving the current surge were unvaccinated.

As the virus spreads, it can mutate and create more dangerous variants. Consequently, "there could be a variant that's lingering out there that can push aside delta," Fauci said.

Photo credit: Cat Parker




pic.twitter.com/5OOJHHUUSK

— George Lynch (@lynchrocks) August 12, 2021

When people heard METALLICA's self-titled 1991 album, better known as the "Black Album," the positive public feedback was overwhelming. For many fans worldwide, a focal point was the uniquely large, daring, and groundbreaking drum sound. Its heartbeat was a snare that helped drive the songs with weight and verve, and the fans responded in their millions to ensure that the Black Album would leave an indelible mark on rock music.

As a tribute to this special and distinctive sound approach, and commemorating the 30th anniversary of the Black Album, Tama has released the Lars Ulrich limited-edition signature Black Album snare drum. With only 300 available worldwide, the drum features an all Matte Black finish, 3mm Diamond Plated Steel Shell, and specially designed Black Album badge. Tama is proud to celebrate its long and storied history with Ulrich, and to honor the Black Album's legacy with this unique and special drum.

Ulrich chimed in via Instagram: "As some of you know, it's the 30th Anniversary of the Black Album today….and I'll be forever proud not only of the tunes and the vibe, but of the big, weighty and crazy cool drum sound!

"I'm psyched that my longtime family at Tama has commemorated the 30th Anniversary with this next level cool signature Black Album snare drum. There are only 300 available worldwide and it features an all Matte Black finish, 3mm Diamond Plated Steel Shell, and specially designed Black Album badge.

"Thank you everyone at @officialtamadrums for going above and beyond to make this happen."

For more information, click here.

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 already certified 16 times platinum on December 13, 2012 by the RIAA (Recording Industry Association Of America) for shipments in excess of 16 million copies in the U.S.

The album in 2009 surpassed SHANIA TWAIN's 1997 record, "Come On Over", as the best-selling CD of the SoundScan era.

"Metallica" was the first of four collaborations with producer Bob 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.

To commemorate its 30th anniversary, the LP will receive its definitive re-release on September 10 via METALLICA's own Blackened Recordings.
























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A post shared by Lars Ulrich (@larsulrich)

Social Disorder have released a video for "The One", featured on their new album, Love 2 Be Hated, out now via AFM Records. Order the album here, and watch the video below.

Social Disorder combine in a very famous lineup the years of experience of the band members to a great sound of pure hard rock with an unmistakable personal touch.

Social Disorder are an explosive, tough mixture of prestigious musicians with an unknown diamond on the mic. Honest and direct, bandleader Anders LA Rönnblom (Killer Bee, X-Romance, Wolfpakk) describes on this extremely personal album his experiences in the music business from depression and alcohol addiction to discovering a new zest for life.

He is supported, among others, by Thomas Nordin - Vocals, Tracii Guns - Lead & Rhythm Guitar (Guns N' Roses, L.A. Guns), Shawn Duncan - Drums (DC4, Odin), Rudy Sarzo - Bass Guitar (Quiet Riot, Ozzy Osbourne, Whitesnake), Jeff Duncan - Lead & Rhythm Guitar (Armored Saint, Odin), Snowy Shaw - Drums (King Diamond, Dream Evil, Mercyful Fate), Dave Stone - Keyboard (Rainbow, Max Webster), Leif Ehlin - Keyboards (Perfect Plan), Johan Niskanen - Lead & Rhythm Guitar (Dust), Fredrik Tjerneld - Lead Guitar (X-Romance), Thomas Widmark - Keyboard (X-Romance) and finally Kenta Karlbom - Drums (X-Romance, Goatess).

Tracklisting:

"Windy Road"
"Dreaming"
"Scars"
"Love 2 Be Hated"
"Raise A Glass"
"Sail Away"
"Down On My Knees"
"Out Of Love"
"The One"
"Wings Of Serenity"

"The One" video:

"Dreaming" video:

"Love 2 Be Hated" lyric video:

"Windy Road" video:

Lineup:

Anders LA Rönnblom - Bass & Rhythm Guitar (Killer Bee, X-Romance, Wolfpakk)
Thomas Nordin - Vocals
Tracii Guns - Lead & Rhythm Guitar (Guns N’ Roses, L.A. Guns)
Shawn Duncan - Drums (DC4, Odin)
Rudy Sarzo - Bass Guitar (Quiet Riot, Ozzy Osbourne, Whitesnake)
Jeff Duncan - Lead & Rhythm Guitar (Armored Saint, Odin)
Snowy Shaw -  Drums (King Diamond, Dream Evil, Mercyful Fate)
Dave Stone - Keyboard (Rainbow, Max Webster)
Leif Ehlin - Keyboard (Perfect Plan)
Johan Niskanen - Lead & Rhythm Guitar (Dust)
Fredrik Tjerneld - Lead Guitar (X-Romance)
Thomas Widmark - Keyboard (X-Romance)
Kenta Karlbom - Drums (X-Romance, Goatess)




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On September 3, Portrait will release their new album, At One With None, via Metal Blade Records. For a preview of At One with None, a video for the new single "Curtains (The Dumb Supper)" can be viewed below.

Pre-orders are available at MetalBlade.com for the following formats:

- jewelcase-CD
- deluxe box set (hardcover box, white vinyl, exclusive 7", back patch, art print, hand-signed photo card - limited to 500 copies)
- 180g black vinyl (EU exclusive)
- gold vinyl (EU exclusive - limited to 300 copies)
- silver vinyl (EU exclusive - limited to 200 copies)
- red w/ black dust vinyl (EU exclusive - limited to 200 copies)
- green vinyl (US exclusive)

When it comes to modern heavy metal, there are few bands operating at the same level as Portrait. For a decade and a half, the Swedish unit have been forging their own path, and in the process, infusing life into a longstanding, well-established genre and taking it in new directions. Following up 2017's acclaimed Burn The World, they return with the mighty At One With None, which was recorded at JFK Studios in Kristianstad, Sweden with Tommy Hansen (Helloween, Hatesphere) handling the mixing. While Portrait fans will immediately recognize it as the work of their heroes, they are not simply rehashing old ideas and treading where they have before.

"One simple 'rule' that I have had personally is that no song written for this album and onwards should be similar to any song that we have already written and released. We have been doing this for 15 years now, and I am proud to say that I think we have managed to find our own identity and sound, which can't really be said about that many bands today. This is our greatest achievement, and the goal is to keep exploring and developing our own sound, without repeating ourselves." The results of working with this philosophy are undeniable, making for an essential addition to the Portrait canon.

Artwork by Adam Burke:

Tracklisting:

“At One With None”
“Curtains (The Dumb Supper)”
“Phantom Fathomer”
“He Who Stands”
“Ashen”
“A Murder Of Crows”
“Shadowless”
“The Gallow’s Crossing”

“Curtains (The Dumb Supper)” video:

“Phantom Fathomer” video:

(Photo - Stefan Johansson)




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Progressive music titans DREAM THEATER have released their new single, "The Alien". You can now listen to it below. The official music video for the song will follow at 9:00 a.m. EDT / 6:00 a.m. PDT.

"The Alien" is taken from DREAM THEATER's 15th studio album, "A View From The Top Of The World", which is due on October 22. "A View From The Top Of The World" is DREAM THEATER at its musical finest expanding on the sound they helped create while maintaining the elements that have garnered them devoted fans around the globe. The seven-song album also marks the second studio album with InsideOut Music/Sony Music. The artwork was created by longtime cover collaborator Hugh Syme (RUSH, IRON MAIDEN, STONE SOUR). "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.

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" track listing:

01. The Alien (9:32)

02. Answering The Call (7:35)

03. Invisible Monster (6:31)

04. Sleeping Giant (10:05)

05. Transcending Time (6:25)

06. Awaken The Master (9:47)

07. A View From The Top Of The World (20:24)

DREAM THEATER is also planning to hit the road in support of the new album. The "Top Of The World" tour of North America kicks off on October 28 in Mesa, Arizona and runs through December 14 where it concludes in St. Petersburg, Florida. Information on tickets for all upcoming shows as well as VIP packages can be found at www.dreamtheater.net.

Former Korn Drummer David Silveria’s chart-topping, hard rock band, Breaking In A Sequence, are culminating their six-song video series for their debut EP Acronym with the release of what they hail as the most “infectious” track on the album.

The “Anything But Right” video can be seen below. According to Frontman Rich Nguyen, the concept, much like the song itself, examines self-growth and the importance of expanding one’s mindset.

“This song was the last one we wrote for the EP, right when we had started to find our groove,” he said. “When we first started this band, we were aiming to be a rock band, but we naturally started gravitating to a hard rock, alt metal style. ‘Anything But Right’ was the bridging point between our initial, melodic-rock style into hard rock.”

To film the video, the band turned to Director and Producer JP Brasca, who shot it in two locations in downtown Los Angeles and in Norco, CA. According to Nguyen, this was done purposefully to give the video a sense of duality and offer fans multiple meanings, depending on one’s perspective.

“The initial idea was to show someone feeling down, completely unsure of himself and then have him eventually work through it... to come out successful in the end. However, the final product holds a much deeper meaning to me. My take on it, is the contrast between narrow and expansive mindsets as in, you can start off narrow-minded, but then open to see the bigger picture of things and adapt as necessary.”

In addition to “Anything But Right,” Breaking In A Sequence released five other songs from their debut EP, including their hit single "Pity", which reached #23 on the Billboard Indicator chart and #9 on the Foundations chart upon its initial release. Additional tracks like “Delusional” and “Hesitation” solidified the band as one of the industry’s top emerging artists, while their homage to Faith No More’s “Midlife Crisis,” complete with a recreation of the iconic video, propelled them to the next level.

Breaking In A Sequence, which is rounded out by guitarists Mike Martin and Joe Taback and bassist Chris Dorame, have much more in store for 2021. They have plans to release a second EP by year’s end and are currently working on new material for a 2022 release.




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IRON MAIDEN singer Bruce Dickinson has tested positive for COVID-19 after being vaccinated.

The 63-year-old musician, who lives London, England, revealed his positive diagnosis in an interview with Rolling Stone earlier today.

Dickinson tested positive for COVID-19 just days after he abruptly postponed the last two dates of his U.K. spoken-word tour because a member of his immediate household contracted the disease caused by the novel coronavirus.

Bruce said he took a lateral-flow COVID test after he started feeling like he was getting a cold, and it came back positive. "I thought, 'Oh well, shit,'" he said. "I was kind of sneezing a bit. For a couple of days, I felt a bit groggy, kind of like the flu, and that was it. And I'm 63 years old. I've pretty much got no doubt that had I not had the vaccine, I could be in serious trouble."

Dickinson went on to say 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", will be 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 concept.

IRON MAIDEN hadn't released any fresh music since "The Book Of Souls", which was recorded in late 2014 in Paris, France with Shirley.

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

Iron Maiden will release an exclusive limited edition collectors box of their upcoming studio album, Senjutsu, which will be available for Fan Club members only. Only 2021 copies of the box were made, and they will go on sale this Friday, August 13. The boxes are priced at 333GBP / 400EUR / 450USD and will be strictly limited to one per person.

The boxes will be released in two batches via the FC shop in order to give people in different time zones a fair chance to order. The first batch will go live at 10 AM, BST, and the second batch will go live at 5:30 PM, BST.  They will appear here.

With less than 24 hours to go ahead of the pre-order for the Limited Edition Collectors Box, here are a little more details on what makes them so unique:

As you’ll know by now, the Limited Edition Collectors Box contains an illustrated print inspired by Japan’s ukiyo-e tradition by Masumi Ishikawa who also worked on two previous original Maiden art pieces in 2016. His other collaborations include Star Wars, David Bowie, and KISS.

Born in Japan in 1978, Masumi became a disciple of master artist Utagawa Toyokuni VI in 2000, but due to Utagawa Toyokuni VI's sudden passing he has continued to pursue the Utagawa aesthetics on his own, a style with deep roots. The Utagawa school was the largest ukiyo-e school of its period founded by Utagawa Toyoharu in the middle of the 18th century. According to the Mitsui Agency, who provided the services of Mr Ishikawa, there aren’t any artists dedicated to just ukiyo-e. Although contemporary ukiyo-e are being produced today, a lot of them are not in the typical aesthetic that can be found in historical works from the Edo period and Meiji era, which makes Masumi something of a rising star, but if you think you know what’s coming then guess again. Unlike the two Iron Maiden ukiyo-e pieces created in 2016, which depicted Eddie having time-travelled to the Edo period and for which the band showed great appreciation, you can expected something very different when the FC Exclusive box arrives. As Masumi explains, “with this specific Samurai Eddie request in mind, I personally wanted to create something with a different mood than the two previous works by using different colour schemes. The pattern used on Eddie’s attire is a pattern that is often used in musha-e (a genre of ukiyo-e that depict samurai warriors), which I occasionally use in artworks myself. After much trial and error as to how I should design Eddie into this work, this was the pattern I decided to use in the end.”

The finished piece will also include three Japanese words:

「穢行銘傳  Phonetically, these characters spell out, ‘Iron Maiden’, and mean, ‘works of Darkness.’ There is also the drawing of an actual iron maiden torture device next to them.

「壊泥」 Phonetically, these spell out, ‘Eddie,’ literally meaning, “a dirty/stained person who crushes or destroys.’

One thing you will not see is the Japanese symbol of death which present on Eddie’s breastplate on the cover of Senjutsu. Japanese symbolism exerts a strong influence on Japanese culture, Mr Ishikawa refused to use it because he deemed it too intense to be used.

The Tsuba: The Hilt Of A Samurai Sword

An object of much speculation and curiosity is the tsuba, which is the removable sword mounting and hand guard of a samurai sword, but as with so much in Japan there’s more to it than that. Usually round, occasionally square, and essential to the balance of these legendary weapons, the tsuba at its most basic level protects the hand from sliding onto the sword blade, and from attack, and its history goes back nearly 2,000 years. It was only relatively more recently though, during Japan’s Sengoky period (1467-1615) that these items seemed to take on greater significance, becoming more ornate during the Azuchi-Momoyama period (1568-1600), and by the Edo period (1603-1868) they became nothing less than an art form in and of themselves.

Initially tsubas were made of iron but over the years they came to include a wide variety of alloys, brass, bronze, silver and gold, and featured a wide variety of motifs from dragons to pagodas to more natural themes like leaves, and flowers.

A Toe-tally Awesome Dragon...

In designing the tsuba for this FC exclusive, Mark drew inspiration from the red Japanese symbol for ‘death’ that he had used on Eddie’s breastplate to create the basic form of the tsuba and wrapped a traditional Japanese dragon around it. The dragon head is taken from the samurai sword hilt Eddie carries, but there’s more to the dragon than that.

In Japan, dragons are water deities associated with rainfall and bodies of water, and are consequently often depicted as serpentine creatures with three claws on each foot and no wings.

The reason why Japanese dragons only have three claws is because Japanese people believe Eastern dragons originated in their native homeland and grew toes as they moved North. Comparatively, Chinese folklore presents the opposite story, whereby dragons originated from China and lost toes the farthest away from China they went.

This particular dragon has three toes: just one facet which is indicative of the huge level of care, historical accuracy, and attention to detail that makes the Limited Edition Collectors Box so very special.

The box, pictured below, will contain:

- The CD digipak version of Senjutsu
- The Blu-Ray digipak of "The Writing On The Wall", including a making-of video and sleeve notes
- A decorated board portfolio containing the following:
* A Japanese hanko-style Eddie stamp, made of teak and engraved, in an engraved teak case
* An exclusive Mark Wilkinson print, signed and stamped by the man himself
* A unique artwork print in Japan's Ukiyo-e tradition illustrated by Masumi Ishikawa, who previously created 2 pieces of Iron Maiden ukiyo-e works
- An Eddie lenticular  
- A Japanese-style tsuba - a decorated metal sword hilt typically worn by the Samurai
- A Senjutsu Eddie pendant necklace
- A printed canvas banner with wooden ends
- And last but not least, a certificate of authenticity presented in an envelope inspired by Japanese celebratory Shugi Bukuro envelopes and featuring an intricate bow: a mizuhiki.

BMG will release of Iron Maiden’s 17th studio album, Senjutsu, their first in six years, on September 3. It was recorded in Paris with longstanding producer Kevin Shirley and co-produced by Steve Harris.

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

Steve says: “We chose to record at Guillaume Tell Studio in France again as the place has such a relaxed vibe. The setup there is perfect for our needs; the building used to be a cinema and has a really high ceiling so there’s a great acoustic sound. We recorded this album in the same way we did The Book Of Souls in that we’d write a song, rehearse it and then put it down together straight away while it was all fresh in our minds. There’s some very complex songs on this album which took a lot of hard work to get them exactly as we wanted them to sound, so the process was at times very challenging, but Kevin is great at capturing the essence of the band and I think it was worth the effort!  I’m very proud of the result and can’t wait for fans to hear it.”

Bruce continues: “We’re all really excited about this album. We recorded it back in early 2019 during a break in the Legacy tour so we could maximize our touring yet still have a long set up period before release to prepare great album art and something special as a video. Of course the pandemic delayed things more - so much for the best laid plans – or should that be ‘strategies’!?  The songs are very varied, and some of them are quite long. There’s also one or two songs which sound pretty different to our usual style, and I think Maiden fans will be surprised -  in a good way, I hope!"

Senjutsu will be released on the following formats and is available to pre-order/pre-save at IronMaiden.com.

- Standard 2CD Digipak
- Deluxe 2CD Book Format
- Deluxe heavyweight 180G Triple Black Vinyl
- Special Edition Triple Silver And Black Marble Vinyl (Details to follow)
- Special Edition Triple Red and Black Marble Vinyl (Details to follow)
- Super Deluxe Boxset featuring CD, Blu Ray and Exclusive Memorabilia
- Digital album [streaming and download]

Tracklisting:

"Senjutsu" (8:20) - Smith/Harris
"Stratego" (4:59) - Gers/Harris
"The Writing On The Wall" (6:13) - Smith/Dickinson
"Lost In A Lost World" (9:31) - Harris
"Days Of Future Past" (4:03) - Smith/Dickinson
"The Time Machine" (7:09) - Gers/Harris
"Darkest Hour" (7:20) - Smith/Dickinson
"Death Of The Celts" (10:20) - Harris
"The Parchment" (12:39) - Harris
"Hell On Earth" (11:19) - Harris

"The Writing On The Wall" video:

Steve Harris, Bruce Dickinson and Kevin Shirley talk about the making of Senjutsu:




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This fall, Cannibal Corpse will release vinyl reissues of their classic records Eaten Back To Life (1990), Butchered At Birth (1991), and Tomb Of The Mutilated (1992) via Metal Blade Records. See below for available versions; pre-order your copies (which will be shipped in October, exact date will vary by retailer) here.

Eaten Back To Life vinyl reissue versions:
- bloodshot translucent vinyl
- sunspot (orange w/ red watercolor ink spots) vinyl

Butchered At Birth vinyl reissue versions:
- clear smoke vinyl
- shark attack (clear w/ red watercolor ink spots) vinyl

Tomb Of The Mutilated vinyl reissue versions:
- red slushie (red w/ white edging) vinyl
- iridescent blue vinyl




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Following the underground success of its 2018 debut, Between The Winds, Ohio, US-based project Untamed Land - the world’s very first metal band incorporating the feral sounds of classic, old western cinematics - will unbridle its sophomore release, Like Creatures Seeking Their Own Forms, via Napalm Records on October 8.

While exploring influence and nuances from various strains of atmospheric metal, Untamed Land traverses wild new frontiers - evoking the ambiance of classic Ennio Morricone/Spaghetti Western soundtracks and traditional old western instrumentals. While some listeners may be quick to label this a purely black metal album before diving into its depths, this description only scratches the surface.

Take a listen to brand Untamed Land’s new single, “Clothed In Smoke”, and witness the track’s new music video today. The nearly 10-minute epic soars before peaking with a player piano-interlaced closing passage backed with fiddle, warning drums and electrifying guitars, adding a layered folk-like element to the already diverse offering.

Patrick Kern says: "This song is probably the one most similar to the ‘epic’ atmospheric black metal approach taken by bands such as Summoning and Caladan Brood, but lots of other strains found their way in, such as doom metal, minimalism, and European/Celtic folk music. The title of the track, like the title of the album itself, is a phrase from McCarthy's novel ‘Blood Meridian’, one of the darker western stories out there, and it perfectly fits the foreboding and mounting dread the music seeks to express."

Watch the music video for “Clothed In Smoke” below.

Untamed Land mastermind, composer and sole performer of all instruments (except for accented violin performances by Rita Torrens and vocal contributions by Caroline Joy and Jacob Wherley), Patrick Kern, was initially inspired by what he describes as pagan, cosmic and even “doomy” black metal when writing the album, but the material bloomed in a way that is much more multifaceted to be categorized so singularly.

Patrick Kern adds about the album: “I would hesitate to call this a black metal album. It's meant to be a cinematic journey into a dark and fantastical old west setting, and various genres and sounds are used to bring that story to life. Lyrically, whereas the previous album dealt with the eternal struggle of the solar hero, this time we delve into a sort of gnostic "Beauty and the Beast" story, ultimately revolving around the feminine role in creation and the tension between the world of matter and the world of forms. The album ended up reflecting my own spiritual journey that occurred all throughout the writing and production process. I had a great time experimenting with many different styles and sounds for this release and am excited to share this new chapter in the Untamed Land world!"

The album begins with a haunting, yet whimsical old western inspired introduction, “Once Upon A Time In The Kenoma”, before ascending into the grimly epic, piano-laden "A Nameless Shape" - blending ghostly acoustics, doom-drenched riffs and icy screams as it cascades into a wave of blast beats, rhythmic guitars and operatic accent vocals. The track closes with a backing of dominant horns before leading into the introductory organs and forsaken rhythms of the dynamic, ebbing and flowing "Clothed In Smoke" - one of the album’s most movielike offerings. 15-minute standout “The Heavenly Coil” entrances with organ, harpsichord and acoustics before intertwining with progressive blackened metal ingredients instilled with outlaw temper. Like the veil of first dawn’s light, Spanish guitar and spirited drums close the track before effortlessly crossing into triumphant album closer “Achamōth”.

Like Creatures Seeking Their Own Forms is unique in all its facets - not only is it original, inspiring and an impressively eclectic album, it’s poised to cast the name Untamed Land on the lips of every experimental metal fan upon its release. In a dry landscape of repetitive noise as far as the eye can see, Like Creatures Seeking Their Own Forms is an aural oasis.

Like Creatures Seeking Their Own Forms will be available in the following formats:

- CD Jewelcase
- Digital Album

Pre-order here.

Like Creatures Seeking Their Own Forms tracklisting:

"Once Upon A Time In The Kenoma"
"A Nameless Shape"
"Clothed In Smoke"
"The Heavenly Coil"
"Achamōth"

"Clothed In Smoke" video:

(Photo - Nicholas Romito)




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