KORN guitarist Brian "Head" Welch has weighed in on the encore ritual at live music events.

Returning to the stage for the encore has become all but a formality at almost every concert, whereby a band will finish its regular set, walk offstage and then come back a few minutes later and play another couple of songs. In fact, the encore — which comes from French and means "again" — has become so automatic that musicians know before a show even begins how many encores they'll play and what songs they'll include.

Speaking to the "Bringin' it Backwards" podcast, Welch expressed his dismay at the prospect of the auto-encore, saying (hear audio below): "We never have been an encore band, man. We would debate about it, saying, 'It's so cheesy, man. It's so cheesy. They want it so bad, but…' We don't do encores. We would tell people in the press, 'We don't do encores. We give it our all, and then we're done.' And then fans started getting mad, especially fans in different countries. They're, like, 'It's disrespectful if you don't come back out.' So we had to do it. And to this day, we don't really love it. 'Cause everybody expects it, and they don't really cheer for it now. They're just, like, 'Okay.' … It's, like, you wanna be done, and then the crowd to demand you back out with applause. That's what the encores were meant for. But that's all gone to shit now."

Other bands, such as THE STROKES and the ARCTIC MONKEYS, had previously refused to play encores.

Encores are generally thought to have been popularized during opera performances in the 19th century, when singers would repeat arias if the audience enjoyed them enough.

Back in 2018, a California-based indie rock band said a man threatened to kill the members of the group for not playing an encore during a show in Houston.

Welch's LOVE AND DEATH project released its new album, "Perfectly Preserved", on February 12 via Earache Records.

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

THE DEAD DAISIES' Doug Aldrich has once again spoken out about the recent departure of Deen Castronovo. The drummer announced his exit from the group two days after THE DEAD DAISIES' publicist revealed that Tommy Clufetos (BLACK SABBATH, OZZY OSBOURNE, ROB ZOMBIE, TED NUGENT, ALICE COOPER) will rejoin the band when they hit the road in support of their new album, "Holy Ground". Clufetos previously toured with THE DEAD DAISIES in 2015.

In a new interview with Jeff Gaudiosi of MisplacedStraws.com, Aldrich stated about Castronovo's decision to leave THE DEAD DAISIES: "We got to rehearse, actually, in October. It cooled down a little bit in Los Angeles, and everybody came in; me and Glenn [Hughes, bass/vocals] were already here. And we got to rehearse. But Deen was having a hard time [with his back problems]. It was bumming him out. It's just like anything — like, if I had a problem with my fingers, it would bum me out; I can't do what I'm supposed to do. So he was definitely not feeling good about that. But also last year, he had started up a thing with some other guys called THE RISE ABOVE. It was a band where he was going to be singing more; he would be kind of the main singer, I think. He's got a great voice for this kind of melodic rock, like [our side project] REVOLUTION SAINTS. So I think he wants to do that; he wants to go sing. And that's fine.

"That's the whole thing about THE DEAD DAISIES — it's been kind of a revolving door, and people can come and go," Doug explained. "[Deen] played great on ['Holy Ground']. But I've gotta say, I'm really excited to have Tommy Clufetos come in. He's a monster player. I've always wanted to work with him. I couldn't believe it. I know that he had been busy with SABBATH, and he's been in Ozzy's band for quite some time. And I've seen him play, and I was just, like, 'Dude, that guy is insane!' He's very powerful.

"Everybody's got their strengths, [Deen], obviously, was a super percussionist, kind of in a sense like Ian Paice [DEEP PURPLE], where Tommy Clufetos has got his own thing, which, I think, it's probably gonna lend itself to being a little bit heavier, with Tommy, just because he's been playing with Tony Iommi and Ozzy," Doug added. "Glenn's bass tone is ferocious. He doesn't even need a guitar, and now he's got two guitars, which is actually cool. It's the first time Glenn has been in a situation with two guitar players. But, yeah, it's gonna be thunderous. I can't wait."

"Holy Ground" was released on January 22. 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).

Castronovo's 17-year tenure with JOURNEY ended in 2015 when the group fired him after his arrest for a variety of charges involving his now-wife (including physical abuse, coercion, and unlawful use of a weapon).

The clip below features Cyhra guitarist Euge Valovirta's playthrough for "Heartrage", taken from the band's debut album, Letter To Myself, released in 2017. It is the live arangement for two guitars.

Valovirta has released the third single from his forthcoming second solo album, Shooting From The Hip, due out on June 30th. Check out "A Song For An Absent Friend" below.

Valovirta originally posted the track on line shortly after the news broke that Children Of Bodom frontman Alexi Laiho had passed away at the end of December along with the following message:

"This one is for Alexi, but also for all the late friends. And to my Grandpa, who passed away some time ago. This song actually got its start after my Grandpa’s passing and I came back to it after Alexi passed away ‘cos I felt that I had to 'play my feelings out' somehow.

Alexi and I weren’t the closest friends but every time we met we always had such a great time. Whether it was playing on each of other’s albums, doing guitar clinics or playing occasional live shows or just hanging out. He was one of the most caring, humble and nicest guys I’ve ever met and it feels so unfair that he isn’t with us anymore. And he was one of the best guitar players. Ever."




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Trailight mastermind Omer Cordell, who recently announced that former Strapping Young Lad members Devin Townsend and Jed Simon will guest on the new album currently in the works, has checked in with a new update:

"As Steven (Parent) is finishing up his drum parts and Cory (McBain) is building a mountain of guitars on all the tracks, I am starting to receive the performances of the guest musicians. And so this is as good time to introduce guest #3 on the album, my good buddy, Mr. Toño Tejeda.

Hailing from Mexico, Toño plays guitar for the bands Archetype and Minerva.  He was also member of Metal Tribute, Oblivion Requiem, Tenzion, Vitruvius and Erogena with whom he participated co-writing and performing for several years. I'm very happy to have Toño contribute his talents to this album!"

Cordell released a new Trailight album, Sophia, in late 2020. Check it out below.

Sophia by Trailight

Tracklist:

"Eon"
"Aftershock"
"Truth"
"The Three Waves"
"Sleepwalkers"
"Island"
"Up In The Air"
"Dance"
"Birth"




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On July 2, German/American metallers ACCEPT played their first pandemic-era concert at Penn's Peak in Jim Thorpe, Pennsylvania as a warm-up for their appearance at the M3 Rock Festival the following day. Due to COVID-19 restrictions, guitarist Uwe Lulis — the only member of ACCEPT who doesn't reside in America — was unable to enter the U.S. and join his bandmates for the gig.

Fan-filmed video footage of the concert can be seen below.

The setlist was as follows:

01. Zombie Apocalypse

02. Too Mean To Die

03. Restless & Wild

04. London Leatherboys

05. Overnight Sensation

06. No Regrets

07. The Undertaker

08. Final Journey

09. Shadow Soldiers

10. Princess Of The Dawn

11. Midnight Mover

12. Pandemic

13. Fast As A Shark

Encore:

14. Metal Heart

15. Teutonic Terror

16. Balls To The Wall

ACCEPT's latest album, "Too Mean To Die", came out in January via Nuclear Blast. The LP is the group's first without bassist Peter Baltes, who exited ACCEPT in November 2018. He has since been replaced by Martin Motnik. ACCEPT's lineup has also been expanded with the addition of a third guitarist, Philip Shouse, who originally filled in for Uwe Lulis during 2019's "Symphonic Terror" tour, before being asked to join the band permanently.

"Too Mean To Die" was recorded in Nashville, Tennessee with British producer Andy Sneap (JUDAS PRIEST, MEGADETH), who has been responsible for the magnificent studio sound of ACCEPT since 2010.

ACCEPT guitarist Wolf Hoffmann recently told France's Loud TV about the "Too Mean To Die" album title: "It's more or less our answer to the whole corona vibe in the land, in the world. Of course, it's not meant serious — we said, 'We're too mean to die. We can't be bothered by any little virus that's out there.' Of course, it's not meant to be totally serious. But it sounded like a metal album, it sounded like a metal title, and we liked it. So we decided to go that route and give the metal fans a fresh and in-your-face sort of statement and a metal album that doesn't really deal with anything corona-related. 'Cause I think people had enough of all the corona stuff by now. It's time to move on."

Regarding ACCEPT's decision to release "Too Mean To Die" during the COVID-19 pandemic, Wolf said: "It's gonna be a while until we can do a proper headlining tour. But we decided to go ahead and release it, because maybe fans will enjoy it now that they're in lockdown, and maybe it's gonna take their mind off everything. And it's better than waiting until who knows when — until we can tour again. So let's have the album out now. Fans can enjoy it and listen to it, and then one day we'll be on tour and we'll meet each other again."










ACCEPT Rockin Penn's Peak - (Restless and Wild) . Thanks for the invite Scotty Black . You da Man ???

Posted by Phil Wax on Friday, July 2, 2021





Una noche increíble después de esperar más de un año para el espectáculo. #pandemic #metaldisease #ballstothewall #pennspeak

[email protected]_hersh

Posted by Accept Latinoamerica on Saturday, July 3, 2021

In celebration of 35 years of WARLOCK's "Triumph And Agony" album, Doro Pesch will release "Triumph And Agony Live" in various formats, including CD, vinyl, cassette, DVD, Blu-ray, and a huge box set, on September 24 through Doro's own label, Rare Diamonds Productions.

The "Triumph And Agony" artwork centers on Geoffrey Gillespie's famous original drawing of the "Warlock" embracing the blonde rock star.

Doro says: "The cover and the whole artwork including booklet and inlay are a combination of live shots and the amazing iconic Warlock paintings of my favorite artist, Geoffrey Gillespie, who did all the classic DORO / WARLOCK artworks. It worked out great. I am so happy with it."

Regarding "Triumph And Agony Live", Doro says: "It's one of my favorite records we've ever done! It includes some of our big classic anthems like 'All We Are', 'Für Immer' and 'I Rule The Ruins' as well as fan favorites like 'Metal Tango', 'Three Minute Warning', 'Kiss Of Death' and 'East Meets West', not to forget headbanging album opener 'Touch Of Evil'. I'm super excited to let the fans hear and see it!

"It was always my dream to play the 'Triumph And Agony' album in its entirety live," she adds. "The order of the tracks is different from the original album, but we're playing all ten songs in new, powerful versions. The first time we did it was at Sweden Rock followed by a big tour in the USA and Spain, and more large festival shows like Graspop and Norway Rock. It was fantastic. There was a killer atmosphere!"

"Triumph And Agony Live" track listing:

01. Legacy (Intro)

02. Touch Of Evil

03. I Rule The Ruins

04. East Meets West

05. Three Minute Warning

06. Kiss Of Death

07. Für Immer

08. Cold, Cold World

09. Make Time For Love

10. Metal Tango

11. All We Are

Prior to an appearance at the 2017 Sweden Rock Festival, Doro stated about why that was the right time to go out and play the "Triumph And Agony" songs again: "Well, because we have our 30th anniversary of this big record. It was called 'Triumph And Agony', and it was the biggest record. I think it was one of the best records. And I thought, 'Man, we have to play one time the whole album in its entirety,' and we never did before. And then I called my old guitar player, Tommy Bolan, and he played on the whole record, he played all the solos. And I asked him if he was into that idea, doing a couple of shows with just the 'Triumph And Agony' album and then some encores. And he said, 'Oh, let's do it. I'm ready.' And then we were rehearsing all, yeah, the last week, and I think it sounds really good. We are playing some songs we've never played before, but I think they will sound really amazing. And I'm very excited."

In a 2000 interview with Metal Rules, Doro stated about WARLOCK: "I loved that so much and my heart and soul was so much into it. I was totally devastated when it broke up and it broke up not because of the band but because of all the bullshit around it. It was the record companies, the management, everything. The band had no control anymore — everybody else had, and the band did not. It was really tough and there were a lot of problems and I was totally heartbroken about it. But those times were awesome, man, it was awesome! I will always treasure them. I love to think about the great times."

Doro told Get Ready To Rock! that "everything fell into place" for WARLOCK after "Triumph And Agony" was released. "The record company was totally behind it, MTV put our song 'All We Are' on heavy rotation, which was a big plus, I must say, the fans were there and metal was at its peak between 1987 and 1988. Sometimes you do wish for everything to fall into place, but it's very rare that this happens as things need to work like a watch."

Doro is currently working on material for a new studio album, tentatively due in 2022. The LP will be the follow-up to "Forever Warriors, Forever United", which came out in 2018. The double album featured 19 regular tracks and six bonus songs.

Photo credit: Tammy Green

THE PRETTY RECKLESS singer Taylor Momsen recently spoke with Kerrang! Radio's Sophie K about recording the band's new album "Death By Rock And Roll". They discussed the troubling times that inspired the LP, as well as the joy that rock music can bring, the state of rock music right now, their hope that Download festival 2021 will go ahead, and Taylor's long-term plan to move to the U.K. (and realistic expectations about the food). You can now watch the chat below.

Speaking about her love of rock and roll music in general, Taylor said: "First of all, rock and roll is just awesome, and if you disagree with me, I think you're wrong. Because rock and roll is so much more than a genre. And I think that everything wants to define, especially nowadays, with the way that music is distributed and listened to and heard…

"Rock and roll has always been there — it's just always been on the outskirts of society; it's always been there for the underdogs; it's something you had to search for," she continued. "And it has its moments in the sun where it takes over. But pop's the mainstream thing, and that's fine. Because rock and roll is so much more important than that. It has so many layers to it; it has so much depth. It's soul food. It's something that you need, at least for me. I need it the same way I need food and water and oxygen — I need it to survive. And it surpasses just a genre, especially now that there's active rock and modern rock and hard rock… I don't know. How many versions of rock can you name? To me, it's all rock and roll, where it really just encompasses everything, 'cause rock and roll is one of the original art forms; it stems from the blues. So it's blues and it's jazz and it's funk and it's pop and it's hip-hop — dare I say it — and it's country and folk. It's all of those things put together in one. And as a writer and as a musician, it's just the most freeing thing in the world to play rock and roll music, because you don't have to put any limitations on yourself; you can go in any direction you want to. And that's what's so amazing about being an artist — is being able to express yourself in any way that you see fit. And we get to crank electric guitars, which, there's nothing cooler than that. And I stand by that."

Asked if she thinks rock is still alive, Taylor said: "I think rock will never die; I don't think it can. I think that it takes on different forms in different time periods, and it has lulls, for sure, but I don't think that it's something that can ever disappear, because it's primal. There's something about it that is unexplainable in words. It's something you just have to hear, and it's something that you feel.

"I think that rock and roll has certainly been in a bit of a slump for a while, but I think that, especially with everything that's happening in the world, I think we need rock and roll more now than ever," she added. "And I think that it can only go up."

"Death By Rock And Roll" was released today (Friday, February 12) via Fearless Records in the U.S. and Century Media Records in the rest of the world. It is THE PRETTY RECKLESS's first LP to be made without longtime producer Kato Khandwala, who died in April 2018 from injuries sustained in a motorcycle accident.

"Death By Rock And Roll" features guest appearances by Tom Morello of RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE, and Kim Thayil and Matt Cameron of SOUNDGARDEN.

Florida death metallers CANNIBAL CORPSE will release their 15th studio album, "Violence Unimagined", on April 16 via Metal Blade Records. Erik Rutan, one of the death metal's most acclaimed guitarists who is known for his time as part of MORBID ANGEL throughout the '90s and early 2000s, as well as handling vocals/guitars for HATE ETERNAL, lent his guitar as well as production skills to the effort, which was recorded at his Mana Recording in St. Petersburg, Florida. Rutan previously produced four CANNIBAL CORPSE albums (in addition to "Violence Unimagined"), alongside the likes of GOATWHORE, SOILENT GREEN and BELPHEGOR. Filling in live on guitar since 2019, in 2020 he became a full member, contributing to the writing process.

Speaking to Eclectic Arts, CANNIBAL CORPSE guitarist Rob Barrett stated about Rutan's addition to the band (hear audio below): "We've been friends for so long, and I always thought, like, 'Wow, man. It would be cool to do a project with Erik some day.' It was always just in the back of my mind that it would be really cool doing something with him instead of just working with him on recording stuff. And now we're in a band together. So, yeah, it's just a great fit.

"I'm not intimidated by him at all," Rob explained. "I respect him as a guitar player, and I think we work well together. I respect his opinion, he respects mine, so I think we're both benefiting off of playing in a band together, 'cause we respect each other.

"I will add that he's definitely the better guitar player — I won't shy away from saying that — but it is what it is," he added. "We both have different things to offer. I'm not the best guitar player, but I think my strong point is songwriting. So that's where I come in."

Rutan joined CANNIBAL CORPSE as the replacement for longtime guitarist Pat O'Brien, who was arrested in Florida more than two years ago on charges of aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer and burglary of an occupied dwelling with assault. Deputies said he burglarized a house and charged at a deputy with a knife.

O'Brien allegedly broke into a Northdale, Florida home on December 10, 2018 and shouted that "the rapture is coming" before pushing a woman to the ground. He ran toward a responding deputy with a knife and was subdued with a stun gun.

Less than half a mile from where O'Brien was arrested, a fire broke out at the house he was renting, sending flames billowing into the night sky from the roof. Fire marshals found a large cache of weapon, locked safes and potential explosive devices inside O'Brien's home.

The owner of the home where O'Brien was arrested wouldn't go on camera but told ABC Action News he thought the guitarist was hallucinating when he spoke to him and claimed "someone was after him." The homeowner added O'Brien seemed scared and at one point even hid in his closet.

MEGADETH mainman Dave Mustaine spoke to the "Appetite For Distortion" podcast about how GUNS N' ROSES guitarist Slash ended up writing the foreword to Mustaine's new book, "Rust In Peace: The Inside Story Of The Megadeth Masterpiece". Released on September 8 via Hachette Books, the book details the making of MEGADETH's iconic record "Rust In Peace".

Mustaine said (hear audio below): "I think anybody would have wanted to have Slash write [the foreword]. But the thing is that actually was part of an interview that he did with somebody else and who was part of our team. They said that 'it was just a really great thing that Slash had been talking about you,' and, 'Why don't you use that?' And when I read it, I was just gloating; it was just great. It's great to have people say nice stuff about you like that, but guys that you really look up to. Not just because they're successful — because I'm successful too — but we were close; we spent a lot of time together [in the 1980s]. David [Ellefson, MEGADETH bassist] spent more time with Slash than I did, but I think that we had that guitar player bond."

In his autobiography, Slash wrote about spending time with Dave when the two were living in the same part of Los Angeles. "We became friends; he was strung out on smack and crack and he lived in the same neighborhood, so we hung out and wrote songs," Slash said. "He was a true, complete fucking maniac and a genius riff writer. We'd hang out, smoke crack, and come up with MAJOR heavy metal riffs, just fucking dark and heavy as hell. Sometimes Dave Ellefson would join us; we got along great, we wrote some great shit. It got to the point, in our drug-fueled creative zone, that we started seriously entertaining the idea of me joining MEGADETH."

He added: "Dave Mustaine is still one of the most genius musicians I have ever jammed with, but still, in my heart of hearts, I knew I couldn't leave GUNS."

Asked in a 2018 interview with Loudwire if there is any potential for a future collaboration between him and Mustaine, Slash said: "I don't see myself guesting on a MEGADETH song. I don't think it would work in the context of what MEGADETH does. But maybe Dave on one of my things — I don't know."

Mustaine later disagreed, telling the same site: "Slash is a terrific talent and I disagree wholeheartedly with what he said: that he couldn't play on a MEGADETH record. He's a brilliant guitar player."

Mustaine also revealed that some of that material he and Slash jammed on in the 1980s actually ended up on "Rust In Peace".

"When we played together, I seem to remember that there were couple riffs that showed up around the 'Rust In Peace' period that he and I were noodling around on," he said. "That's when all this went down: during the 'Rust In Peace' era. Might be why [Slash] says that he can't do it, but he certainly can. He makes it look effortless, and it makes me mad. It just looks like water running over a smooth stone; it's just perfect. He's done this every day of his life, and he was made for the exact moment to stand on that stage and play that solo and have all those thousands and thousands of eyes focused on him."

Metal Injection has posted a performance video for Slayer's "Epidemic", taken from Slay At Home Fest in support of Musicares / The Iggy Fund / NAMI / Cancer Research Institute. 

The song is performed by:

Kenny Hickey - vocals (Silvertomb / Type O Negative)
Dave Witte - drums (Municipal Waste)
Phil Demmel - guitar (Vio-lence)
Anders Odden - bass (Cadaver)
Monte Pittman - guitar (Madonna)

Donate to the Slay At Home Fest here.

Since beginning the Slay At Home series one year ago as a personal mission to create an entertainment fundraiser to aid the music industry and charities, mastermind Frank Godla has helped raise over $200,000 in donations for various charities through the virtual concert platform. The finale aired on June 18 and 19 in support of four great causes; Musicares, The Iggy Fund, The Cancer Research Institute and National Alliance On Mental Illness.




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Primal Fear frontman Ralf Scheepers has checked in with an update on the band's current activities. Check it out below.

"It’s a bit quiet and silent these days because we are simply very busy in writing and composing new material. Regarding the touring situation, there will be news pretty soon, so stay tuned. Meanwhile, enjoy the summer time in the Northern hemisphere and you guys from South America and Downunder, stay safe during the winter time."

On April 9th, Primal Fear released a 5-track single built around an exclusive new rendition of their achingly beautiful ballad "I Will Be Gone", re-recorded with none other than Finnish metal diva extraordinaire, Tarja Turunen. The band has checked in with the following update:

"It’s impossible ….. well, let’s make the impossible possible. What never happened before... for the first time Primal Fear entered the official German Single Charts and we’re more than excited! Thanks to Tarja Turunen Markus Staiger Markus Wosgien Flori Milz Nuclear Blast Ingo Spörl Stan W Decker Hansen Studios and of course our fans & friends! Much love."

“There were three famous vocalists on our final wish list,” Mat Sinner comments. “That it was Tarja who got involved in this song is a matter of pure joy for all of us. Working together on the song and video was totally relaxed and professional – a great experience also because Tarja’s and Ralf’s voices go together incredibly well. Now, we can expand the Metal Commando saga with a unique chapter. We’re all really proud of this single.”

The Finnish icon can only agree: “I was very happy to receive the invitation to take part in Primal Fear’s beautiful song ‘I Will Be Gone’. We started our careers nearly at the same time many years ago, and finally got a chance to work together. I love the song and personally it helped me to stay connected and rock again, even if at the studio this time. I really hope that people will like this collaboration and that it will bring them joy especially during these difficult times we are living through at the moment.”

The song, fragile and touching, gets an altogether new and deeply melancholic vibe with Tarja’s unbelievably emotional performance, showcasing a different facet of Primal Fear. Yet, it’s not the only gift they deliver on this 5-track sensation - just take "Vote Of No Confidence" for example, an all-new, previously unreleased beast of a song. Clocking in at over six minutes, this storming, furious anthem gives a brilliant glimpse of things to come. Previously only available as bonus tracks on the limited Metal Commando digipack, three more tracks complete this release; enchanting guitar instrumental "Rising Fear", massive mid-tempo smasher "Leave Me Alone", and heavy metal monument "Second To None", making "I Will Be Gone" so much more than just another off shoot of a successful album.

Tracklisting:

"I Will Be Gone" (feat. Tarja Turunen)
"Vote For No Confidence"
"Rising Fear"
"Leave Me Alone"
"Second to None"




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British crust punk/death metal outfit Pray U Prey is preparing to release their second full-length, The Omega Kill, through Selfmadegod Records in early August. The cover art, tracklisting, and more have been issued.

Pray U Prey, based in Cheltenham England, features scene veterans of such luminaries as thrash outfit Suicide Watch, grind legends Prophecy Of Doom, noise-mongers Alehammer, and more. The band was formed in the autumn 2014 with the sole intention of laying down some of the most brutal death metal and grindcore the UK had ever produced. With over thirty years recording and touring experience between the various band members, it wasn't difficult to come up with an EP worth of songs. Within six months the band had the Black Light Of Time Demo demo MCD ready to go and an incendiary live set to boot. Their debut album Figure The 8 saw the band stepping up their aggression to even more intense levels, and the record saw release through Polish extreme label Selfmadegod Records in 2017.

Over the past few years, Pray U Prey was hard at work writing the successor to Figure The Eight, and in 2019 and 2020 they wrote and recorded twelve new songs for their second full-length, The Omega Kill. Returning to Studio 6 where they recorded its predecessor, The Omega Kill delivers top-tier brutal and blisteringly death metal/grindcore; a heady mix of brutal riffs, breakneck speed and lyrics to blow your mind.

Selfmadegod Records will release The Omega Kill on CD and digital platforms on August 6. Watch for new audio premieres, videos, preorders, and more to post over the weeks ahead.

Tracklisting:

“Earth Roulette Wheel”
“Hidden In Plain Sight”
“Life Within The Reflection”
“Internal External”
“The Overlay Cracks”
“Living Library”
“Veils Of The Mind”
“Instrumental”
“Active Suppression”
“The Omega Kill”
“Zero Point Witness”
“Reset To Nothing”




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Fell Harvest has announced the release of their second album Pale Light In A Dying World and ahead of that, offer “Thy Barren Fields” as a second sample of what’s to come. The single is the second track on the album and the only one that was not written in its entirety by bassist/vocalist Joseph Fell. 

Some of the inspiration for the lyrics in the track comes from a poem Fell wrote, which shares its title with the band’s name. Guitarist Liam Duncan wrote a part for the song, which Fell built the rest of the piece around. Fell explains the track in further detail:

“I think it proved to be the strongest and most complex song on the record and I’m hopeful that future songs will have more contributions from Liam and Angel. For a long time, I have put rails around my writing. I would write a riff that I loved but shelve it because it wasn’t what I imagined the band I was in at the time to be. I made a conscious effort not to do that with this record. Any the idea was on the table as long as it was good and could flow with the rest of the material.”

Fell continues to explain that this is likely his favorite song on the album and the one he is most proud of. It encompasses a broad scope of influences while never feeling like it’s reaching or forcing anything. Listeners should be able to connect to this song, with its progressive elements alongside very straight forward doom and death metal tropes, vocal styles and lyrical concepts. 

Suitable for fans of slow-paced and sorrowful doom, Fell Harvest is recommended for listeners of Opeth, My Dying Bride, and Agalloch.

Pale Light In A Dying World is out on July 16, 2021.

Tracklisting:

“Titanicide”
“Pale Light In A Dying World”
“The Lark At Morning”
“The Wind That Shakes The Barley”
“Thy Barren Fields”
“The Ghosts Of Scapa Flow”

“Thy Barren Fields”:

(Photo by: Sean Castenad)




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On January 24, 2020, more than a decade after its predecessor The Darkness, Finnish death and gothic doom metal icon Tuomas Saukkonen returned with Waves, his sophomore solo-album under the flag of Dawn Of Solace. Praised by fans and critics alike as one of the best albums of the year, the release and the band's resurrection raised high hopes that it won't be another 14 long years until a new full-length is out. Today, the composer, multi-instrumentalist, and producer announced the release of Flames Of Perdition, the third studio album by Dawn Of Solace, out on November 12 via German label Noble Demon. Pre-save the album here.

"Past year has dug a hole in the soul when all touring was stopped and the whole music business suddenly stood still" Tuomas Saukkonen states. "As a proper Fin you either dig yourself out of it or aim deeper. Never stand still! I did not and wrote a new Dawn Of Solace album inspired by that void and loss."

On Flames Of Perdition, Dawn Of Solace takes listeners on a memorable journey full of electrifying melancholy that evokes profound sadness, a musical trip of incomparable emotion and despair. More news and tunes to follow in the weeks ahead.




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Swedish melodic rock combo, Rian, will release their sophomore album, Twenty-Three, on July 16 via Frontiers Music Srl. Stream the song "We Belong" below, and pre-order/save Twenty-Three here.

"Music is all about creating feelings. On this album we wanted to give credit to the desperate feeling we got listening to music when we were much too young to understand it," says vocalist/guitarist Richard Andermyr.

Twenty-Three took shape under the direction of producer Daniel Flores (Find Me, The Murder Of My Sweet) with these new songs being written during 2018-2020. They are based on melodies and lyrics written by vocalist/guitarist Richard Andermyr. The initial ideas from Richard were crafted into songs that the band arranged together, first with Richard and drummer Jan Johansson and later on with the full band.

Rian released their debut album Out Of The Darkness in July 2017, which was well received by fans and melodic rock media alike. The band made its live debut during 2018, which began the process of the band becoming more and more of a live unit. Add the amazing lead guitars of Tobias Jakobsson into the mix with the band and you have the cocktail that makes up the Rian 2.0 sound.

"We are really pleased to sign with Frontiers Music Srl. Since our first contact, the label has been nothing but helpful. We feel right at home with the support we’ve received so far and look forward to using this relationship to enable us to provide our fans with a steady supply of quality music for the years to come. Our sound can, in the easiest way, be explained as a modern version of classic melodic rock music, the way it was produced in the second half of the 80’s. The sound is American, but the melodies and chord progressions have very strong Swedish roots. Influences such as Bon Jovi, Dokken, Europe, Queensryche, Survivor, and Winger can be heard in the sound. Also, more modern vibes the likes of Alter Bridge have a presence in our music,” explains Richard Andermyr.

Tracklisting:

"Stop"
"In The Dark"
"Where Do We Run"
"Twenty-Three"
"For Your Heart"
"We Belong"
"My Ocean"
"Body And Soul"
"The Passenger"
"Stranger To Me"
"Your Beauty"

"We Belong":

"In The Dark" video:

"Stop" video:

Lineup:

Richard Andermyr: Vocals / Guitar
Jan Johansson: Drums
Jonas Melin: Bass
Tobias Jakobsson: Lead Guitar




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Dharma, a Buddhist death metal band from Taipei, Taiwan, have released their debut EP, Bhaisajyaguru. Buy/stream the EP at Bandcamp. Listen below.

Says vocalist J.W. Henley: "We take Buddhist mantras selected from the various Buddhist texts and structure extreme metal songs around them, employing traditional death metal, Taiwanese instrumentations, and Buddhist chanting to come up with our sound. All members of the band are Buddhist/Taoist, and on backup chants, performing live with the band, is a Buddhist nun, Master Miao-Ben, who also acts as the band's spiritual consultant and guide."

BHAISAJYAGURU by Dharma

Pro-shot live footage from the band's first show, in October of 2020, when they opened for Marduk, can be seen below:




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Cruz Del Sur Music has announced the signing of cult US power metallers, Onward. The label will release their studio album, Of Epoch And Inferno, sometime in 2022.

Formed in 2000 by guitar hero Toby Knapp, Onward broke onto the international metal stage with 2001’s Evermoving and 2002’s Reawaken, both of which were released via Century Media Records. The albums showcased Knapp’s superlative guitar skills that blended neoclassical and melodic sensibility, as well as original vocalist Michael Grant’s smooth delivery.

Grant sadly passed away in 2012, leaving Knapp to issue his final recordings on 2014’s New Fathoms Dawn. The band went dormant after its release. But, after several false starts in reviving Onward, Knapp says the 2020 death of bassist Chris Payette spurred him to start new writing music as a coping mechanism. Now joined by new vocalist Robert Van War and drummer Bart Barkac, Knapp feels as though he has a batch of songs that pay appropriate tribute to Grant and Payette while staying true to Onward’s sound.

“The consensus among most fans seems to be that if I create quality traditional heavy metal under the Onward banner, it’s still a legitimate Onward,” he says. “The new songs are in the vein of traditional heavy metal with doses of speed metal, thrash and neoclassical-inspired guitar work. Robert has an Udo (Dirkschneider, ex-Accept) and Bobby “Blitz” (Ellsworth, Overkill) vibe to his vocals and I’m really excited about it. The music hasn’t changed; I’m still using the same guitars and refusing to tune down! I hear a bit of early Loudness and Annihilator going on... maybe even some nods toward Metallica's Kill ‘Em All.”

Van War came to Knapp’s attention through social media. Knapp regularly posted the progress of his new compositions and expressed frustration in finding a suitable vocalist. Van War got in touch then offered to provide guest vocals on a new song, but Knapp went one further and offered him the Onward gig.

“I floated the idea to him of working under the Onward name and joining me for live shows,” says Knapp. “Now things are coming together. Onward always flowed naturally. Doors are opening and it feels kinda like the early days. I just go with it. I am also in the process of selecting a setlist and live band situation. We have to get out there and play. Onward was more popular a few years after disbanding and I would really enjoy performing some of the early tunes for those that never saw us live. It's a new Onward, but the spirit is very much there and we will respect our lineage.”

Knapp says he sought out Cruz Del Sur Music to do a vinyl pressing of the album. When the label heard some of Knapp’s camera phone-recorded samples, the discussions went to the next level and a deal was struck.

“That’s more of the way things happened in Onward back in the day,” says Knapp. “Things just clicked. Even the original album cover artist, Ioannis, got in touch with me about the new album. The engineer/co-producer of Reawaken, Brett Hansen, contacted me, too! I just think ‘Man, this is cool!’ Everyone is coming together for the cause.”




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In a new interview with Brazilian music journalist Igor Miranda, VOLBEAT drummer Jon Larsen spoke about the progress of the recording sessions for the band's follow-up to 2019's "Rewind, Replay, Rebound" LP. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "The album is done; it's ready. But I can't reveal the release date yet. Of course, in modern times, you'll find out online. But it's all set, it's ready to go, and I'm pretty sure it's gonna blow your socks off."

Asked if VOLBEAT's recently released two new singles, "Wait A Minute My Girl" and "Dagen Før", will also appear on the upcoming album, Jon said: "Oh, yeah. Of course they will. Why shouldn't they? I don't think they really represent how the total of the album sounds, but it's two typical VOLBEAT songs — straight-up rock and roll. Good for the summer — sit outside, have a cold one, some barbecue or whatever, tap your feet along, sing along. But, yeah, of course those two songs will be on the album as well."

Larsen was also asked if there is any truth to VOLBEAT frontman Michael Poulsen's previous claim that the group's new material was shaping up to be more aggressive and more thrash-oriented than the last two LPs. He responded: "Well, it's definitely heavier — let me put it that way. I wouldn't really call it more aggressive. It might be — I'm not really sure — but it's definitely got some of the old vintage VOLBEAT heavy elements to it. There's definitely some really heavy songs on it. Yeah, there might be a little bit of thrash on it as well — might be even a little venture into Swedish death metal perhaps. A little bit, yeah. Don't get too scared, though. But, yeah, I think it's a very mixed album, because you've definitely got the more heavier sound. We still have the more happy, punkish, even maybe pop songs, if you wanna call it that. And there's also, I think, a few surprises on there that will definitely make people go, 'Okay, I didn't see that coming.' But, yeah, I think it definitely has a mix of everything we've done up until now. And the vibe for the album, I think it sounds maybe more spontaneous this time, perhaps. And it definitely has a few nods and winks to our past. But, yeah, 'heavy' is probably the right word for it."

"Wait A Minute My Girl" and "Dagen Før" were written and recorded while the world was in lockdown during the pandemic. Poulsen, Larsen and Kaspar Boye Larsen (bass) recorded their parts with longtime producer Jacob Hansen in Denmark, while Rob Caggiano (guitar) worked remotely from New York.

"Wait A Minute My Girl" features saxophone player Doug Corcoran and piano player Raynier Jacob Jacildo, who both perform with JD McPherson's band and previously appeared with VOLBEAT on 2019's "Die To Live (feat. Neil Fallon)". Singer Mia Maja, who has worked with the band since "Seal The Deal & Let's Boogie", also appears on backing vocals. "Dagen Før" features guest vocals from Danish artist Stine Bramsen, who is known for her solo work as well as being a member of the band ALPHABEAT. The song, in the tradition of "The Garden's Tale", "Maybele I Hofteholder" and "For Evigt", features both English and Danish lyrics, and marks the first commercially released song that features Stine singing in her native Danish.

Polish death metal legends, Vader, will see their sophomore album, De Profundis, reissued via Nuclear Blast on July 30. The "re-edition" of De Profundis will be available in a number of formats, including CD, cassette, and for the first time in history - on vinyl.

Says the band: "Regarding De Profundis we could not forget about single "An Act Of Darkness", including the extraordinary Vader version of Depeche Mode cover, 'I Feel You', named as 'I.F.Y' on our release. The single will be also available as digipack and 12” vinyl. New and special merch will also be available with all mentioned new releases. Let's celebrate the 25th anniversary of  De Profundis together."

A new visualizer for "An Act Of Darkness" can be found below. Pre-order De Profundis here. Pre-save at a digital service of your choice here.

Tracklisting:

"Silent Empire"
"An Act Of Darkness"
"Blood Of Kingu"
"Incarnation"
"Sothis"
"Revolt"
"Of Moon, Blood, Dream And Me"
"Vision And Voice"
"Reborn In Flames"

"An Act Of Darkness" visualizer:




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British metalcore 5-piece, The Five Hundred, have released a video for "Wall Of Jericho", a song from their new album, A World On Fire, out July 30 via Long Branch Records. The song and video features Cabal's Andreas Bjulver on vocals. Watch the clip below.

Aggressive yet euphoric, empowering yet simultaneously enslaving, The Five Hundred are renowned for overcoming adversities and laying siege to every stage they play. Their debut album Bleed Red told the story of a band struggling with Tourette’s, OCD, and drug addiction. It's now the band’s time to share with the world how they’ve battled through their vices and come out on top. After successful tours up and down the country, Eastern Europe / Russia, and an appearance at the iconic Download festival in 2019, the quintet are back and angrier than ever with their follow-up album.

Tracklisting:

“Black Dogs”
“The Rising Tide”
“Our Demise”
“The Warmth”
“Walls Of Jericho” (feat. Andreas Bjulver)
“Your Apocalypse” (feat. Jeremy Gomez)
“With Scars”
“Our Curse”
“Agony”
“A World On Fire”

“Walls Of Jericho”

“Our Demise” video:

“Black Dogs” video:




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Six long years following the release of their critically acclaimed debut full-length album, Heavy Over The Home, Perth-based death-metal band Sanzu finally break the silence and announce a new album, Our Behaviour When Drowning, tentatively set for release in early 2022. 

The band comments: "When is the new album coming out? Well, after we tour our 2015 release, Heavy Over the Home. After we take a year to write, shelve a few songs and struggle with the question of where to go next. After we try to make touring actually work. Mostly failing. After we succumb to internal conflicts, not about music but character. After losing two key members and calling it done, without saying it, even to ourselves. After parting ways with our record label on the grounds that we would barely scrap a single together. After new talent comes volunteers in and a former invaluable member returns, breathing new life into this. After Covid19 washed away the music industry and its distractions on our mentality, rendering few priorities left - music. And after 6 years and still finding ourselves utterly indebted to try.

Anyway, we wanted you to know that it’s actually happening. At this moment we're in final pre-production on a dozen or so songs. Some have been rewritten a dozen times over the years, some are fresh from the void. Maybe not all will make the cut.

It’s heavier, darker, free and for us, ever more brave. And you can bet that thematically it draws on a lot of the above. Believe us that some of its elements have truly been incubating for over half a decade with its just never being the right time, we are sorry for the wait. Even the art work has been on the shelf since about the time Hoth was released, made by the inspiring Tammy Andrews. We can’t wait to get this out. But in true modern Sanzu fashion, it’s still just in good time."

Forged in 2013 in Perth, Australia, Sanzu is a unique beast that has unleashed heavy music in a way that utilizes diversity and originality without straying too far from its death metal foundation. Melodic saw-blade riffs meet savage bass lines and earth-quaking percussion manifesting a rhythm section that thunders and grooves in unison with unrestrained vocal assaults akin to some malformed diabolic beast MetalSucks likened to Gojira and Morbid Angel.

 

The band self-released one EP, Painless, and their debut full-length, Heavy Over The Home, in 2015 to wide-spread critical acclaim, also leading them to a record deal with Listenable Records, who reissued their debut album on cd and vinyl in early 2016.

More details will be announced soon. 

Check out the official Sanzu Facebook page here.




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German genrefluid visionaries, Lord Of The Lost, have released a second trailer for their new album, Judas, released today (July 2nd). Check it out below.

After releasing the first single “Priest”, followed by sophomore “For They Know Not What They Do” (with nearly a combined 900k views on YouTube), the German frontrunners prove their exceptional standing as free spirits and artists once more, far away from any sort of genre boundaries and musical fetters. The recently released music video for "The Gospel Of Judas” serves as a strong statement against discrimination and oppression of any kind, further illustrating the unit’s outspoken support of the LGBTQIA+ community and related hypocrisies in society and religion.  

Together, all songs on Lord Of The Lost’s Judas form a grand narrative of black and white, good and evil, and loud and quiet, that represent the band’s most innovative and mature record to date.

Pi Stoffers on the video for “The Gospel Of Judas”: "The biblical figure "Judas Iskarioth" is considered in the conventional narrative of the Bible not only as a traitor, but above all as "the outcast". Our song 'The Gospel Of Judas' is primarily about this designation, but in a social sense rather than a biblical one. While we like to boast about being tolerant, open-minded and individual, it is mainly these people who live out their individual way of loving, believing and looking, who are outcast by society.

"Why? Because there is no way to assign these people to a pigeonhole, which people desperately seek in order not to feel disoriented themselves, or to have to question them. However, we would like to question whether it is important at all to be able to categorize people, let alone oneself. The real strength lies in our diversity and individuality. We have recognized that for ourselves as a band. And with 'The Gospel Of Judas' we want to remind everyone that one's own limits only begin where one gives up one's individuality."

On Judas, Lord Of The Lost tell of this conflict from the perception of the character of Judas Iscariot, known as highly diverse, and the so-called Gospel of Judas, a paper that's said to consist of conversations between Jesus Christ and Judas Iscariot and casts a different light on religious history as it's told in the Bible's New Testament.

Lord Of The Lost on Judas: “Don’t judge a book by its cover. This sentence could hardly apply any better to someone in theological history than to the figure of Judas Iscariot, who represents only one thing at first glance: Betrayal. If you take a closer look, almost endless possibilities of interpretation open up here: from "Judas the murderer" to "Judas the redeemer" and "Judas the actual martyr", who, if you believe in it, could only find room in hell for his salvific betrayal after dying for what he did, in complete contrast to Jesus Christ. This field of tension and the apocryphal writings of the "Gospel of Judas" are the basis for a double album that not only illuminates the dark and light side of history, but above all the grey areas in between, in which we move emotionally and ideologically throughout our lives and try to find our place.”

Judas is available in the following formats:

- Deluxe Box (incl. 2-CD Mediabook, 1 CD The Sorrows Of The Young, 2 CD LOTL+, DVD Becoming Judas, Cover Alu Print) - strictly limited to 1500 copies worldwide
- 4 CD Earbook - strictly limited to 500 copies worldwide
- Double Music Cassette - strictly limited to 100 copies worldwide
- 2-CD Mediabook
- 2-CD Sleevepack
- Vinyl Box incl. 2x 2LP Recycled Black Vinyl Gatefold
- Digital Album

Judas tracklisting:

CD1: Damnation
"Priest"
"For They Know Not What They Do"
"Your Star Has Led You Astray"
"Born with a Broken Heart"
"The 13th"
"In the Field of Blood"
"2000 Years a Pyre"
"Death Is Just a Kiss Away"
"The Heart Is a Traitor"
"Euphoria"
"Be Still and Know"
"The Death of All Colours"

CD2: Salvation
"The Gospel of Judas"
"Viva Vendetta"
"Argent"
"The Heartbeat of the Devil"
"And it Was Night"
"My Constellation"
"The Ashes of Flowers"
"Iskarioth"
"A War Within"
"A World where We Belong"
"Apokatastasis"
"Work of Salvation"

"Priest" video:

Next to the 2-CD Judas Mediabook and a cover alu print, the strictly limited deluxe box includes the special CD, The Sorrows Of The Young, double extra CD LOTL+, as well as the six part behind the scenes documentary bonus DVD, Becoming Judas. The Sorrows Of The Young features ten unreleased songs, written by Chris Harms at the age of 18, that have now been re-recorded, whereas LOTL+ showcases 32 completely different interpretations in terms of vocals and lyrics on the original song “Viva Vendetta”, written and performed by artists like Megaherz, Equilibrium, Lacrimosa, Subway To Sally, Nachtblut, Unzucht and many more.

The Sorrows Of The Young tracklisting:
"Catharsis"
"Syringes in the Sand"
"Deus Absconditus"
"Die Without Your Love"
"This Piece of Art"
"The Last Saviour"
"All I Am Is The Void"
"Obscularum Infame"
"Infinity"
"Supernova"

LOTL+ tracklisting:

CD1:
"Living a Lie" feat. A Life Divided
"Consume Hate" feat. Aesthetic Perfection
"Vergissmeinnicht" feat. AnnA Lux
"Still Life to Die For" feat. Ben Christo (The Sisters Of Mercy / Diamond Black)
"The Darkest Hour" feat. Chemical Sweet Kid
"Into the Dawn" feat. Simon Moskon (Cryptex)
"The Warrior" feat. Daria Trusova
"Old-School Pagan Spirit" feat. Robse (Equilibrium)
"Entität" feat. Erdling
"Doomed Love" feat. Erk Aicrag (Hocico / Rabia Sorda)
"Crimson Masque" feat. Face Time Police
"Your Skeleton Grin" feat. Faderhead
"A Pain That I Know" feat. Florian Grey
"Ohne Zweifel" feat. Heldmaschine
"Sadly Ever After" feat. Hell Boulevard
"Stolen" feat. Jaani Peuhu (Mercury Circly, Swallow The Sun, Iconcrash)

CD2:
"Alles wird gut, aber…" feat. Lacrimosa
"Dein Blick" feat. Letzte Instanz
"Pale Rider" feat. Lolita KompleX
"Revenge" feat. MajorVoice
"Aus und Vorbei" feat. Megaherz
"Bloody Flower" feat. Nachtblut
"Abandon Ship" feat. Night Laser
"The Shadow and the Sun" feat. OH FYO!
"Digging Deeper" feat. Scarlet Dorn
"It Starts with a Crack" feat. Solar Fake
"Fake Gods" feat. Soulbound
"Träume zu Tränen" feat. Subway To Sally
"Die Flamme" feat. Sündenrausch
"Feuerrot" feat. Tanzwut
"Während die Welt in Flammen Steht" feat. Unzucht
"Today" feat. Saku Solin (Turmion Kätilöt / Fear Of Domination)

Lord Of The Lost are:

Chris Harms - vocals, guitar, cello
Pi Stoffers - guitar
Class Grenayde - bass
Gared Dirge - piano, synthesizer, percussion, guitar
Niklas Kahl - drums




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Metal Injection has posted a performance video for Slayer's "Chemical Warfare", taken from Slay At Home Fest in support of Musicares / The Iggy Fund / NAMI / Cancer Research Institute. 

The song is performed by:

Travis Ryan - vocals (Cattle Decapitation)
Logan Mader - guitar (Once Human / ex-Machine Head)
Brandon Ellis - guitar (The Black Dahlia Murder)
Diego Soria - bass (Broken Hope)
Frank Godla - drums (Metal Injection)p>

Donate to the Slay At Home Fest here.

Since beginning the Slay At Home series one year ago as a personal mission to create an entertainment fundraiser to aid the music industry and charities, mastermind Frank Godla has helped raise over $200,000 in donations for various charities through the virtual concert platform. The finale aired on June 18 and 19 in support of four great causes; Musicares, The Iggy Fund, The Cancer Research Institute and National Alliance On Mental Illness.




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AC/DC's Angus Young and Brian Johnson join Zane Lowe on Apple Music's Essentials Radio to discuss their most celebrated songs, like "Highway To Hell" and "It's A Long Way To The Top"; one of the most successful albums of all time, "Back In Black"; dealing with the loss of bandmate and lead vocalist Bon Scott; and the addition of Brian to the band. You can now watch highlights from the chat below.

Speaking about how AC/DC was affected by Scott's untimely 1980 death, Angus said: "It was like it put you in shock, because you always kind of think the people around you and being young, you have that thing of you're almost kind of fearless and a little bit of... I don't know what it is when you're in your youth — you don't think of dying. And so it was a kind of shock to us all and it affected everyone in different ways. But the one element of it that held it probably together for me is [founding AC/DC rhythm guitarist and Angus's brother] Malcolm, because after a few weeks, he called me and he said, 'What are you doing?' And I just said, 'I'm just moping about it, Mal.' And he said, 'Listen, why don't the two of us do what we were doing before?', which was we'd been in a rehearsal room. It's strange — that was one of the last places that we had seen Bon, was in the rehearsal room. And he said, 'Why don't the two of us go back to that and just work on songs and ideas and just sit and do that?' And I thought, 'Okay, I'll give it a shot.' So that's what the two of us did that kept us going through the whole process, because he said, 'We won't think of anything. We'll just do that. We won't think of what we're going to do. We'll shut off managers and record people and whatnot. We just shut all of that away and just concentrate on, focus on doing these song ideas.' And that's what we did."

Scott was invited to join AC/DC by Malcolm and Angus Young in 1974, and achieved international stardom before his death at the age of 33 from alcohol poisoning.

He sang on AC/DC's first six studio albums, including "High Voltage", "Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap", "Let There Be Rock" and "Highway To Hell".

Scott died of acute alcohol poisoning after a night of heavy drinking at a club in London, just days after attending a session with Malcolm and Angus Young where they began working on music for what became the "Back In Black" album.

According to the AC/DC FAQ web site, Bon and the friend, a musician named Alisdair Kinnear, had been drinking the evening of February 19, 1980 and Bon apparently fell asleep during the ride home. Kinnear could not wake Bon, so he left him in the car to sleep. Kinnear awoke early in the evening on February 20, checked on Bon, and found him unconscious in the car. Bon could not be revived, and was pronounced dead.

Angus told The Pulse Of Radio a while back that the band almost didn't get past Scott's death. "Bon was the big… He was a full-on frontman, plus he had this great character, you know. I mean, he just lived that rock 'n' roll life. With Bon, what you saw was what you got, and, yeah, it was pretty, pretty tough."

In a 2010 interview, Angus stated about Bon's influence on the band more than three decades after the singer's death: "I think it's just something that is part of you. It's like you lost someone close to you, in your family or a very close friend. You've always got that feeling they're there but you just, I suppose, miss them in the physical sense. There's always memories that keep coming back to you, and it doesn't matter what the situation is. You could be traveling, you could be relaxing somewhere, or going to play or being in the studio, there's always something that reminds you."

In a new interview with Ampeg SVT Time Live, former PANTERA bassist Rex Brown spoke about how he scaled down his touring activities in the last few years prior to the release of his debut solo album and his departure from KILL DEVIL HILL.

"After Dime [late PANTERA guitarist 'Dimebag' Darrell Abbott] got murdered, instead of going to some place like freakin' Wyoming or somewhere to get my head together, I had to keep working," he said (see video below). "I had a friend, the guy that [produced DOWN's] 'Down II' [album], Warren Riker, had moved out to California, and so I drug the family out there and I just used a different name and I played on probably 50 records at Ocean Way [studios]. So I've always kept busy. And then DOWN came right after that, and I did that for another six years. And then I did KILL DEVIL HILL. And finally, by the end of that, I was going, 'I've been doing this on-the-road [thing] for damn near 30 years.' And I was just burnt.

"I've got twins," he continued. "The kids were about 14. I just said, 'Let's just take two years off.' Eight months later, I was back in the studio. It's just always been my deal. Since then, I haven't been back on the road except for one European tour in 2017.

"I miss the camaraderie of playing with guys in a room and jamming. I do plenty of that. But I don't miss all the grinding 22 hours of the day, sitting around wondering what you're gonna eat. I don't miss that at all."

Despite his distaste for the touring life, Rex said that he wants to play some "select shows" in support of his upcoming second solo LP.

"We've got some things in the coffer that are looking good as soon as this thing will open up," Rex said. "It's about safety for everyone. For me, it is. I don't wanna get anybody sick. These super-spreader things I definitely don't wanna have any part of. That's just where I'm at right now. I definitely wanna tour on this next record."

Rex, who is currently promoting the 20th-anniversary reissue of PANTERA's final opus, "Reinventing The Steel", has completed work on a "a really introspective" follow-up to his debut solo album, "Smoke On This…", which was released in July 2017 via Entertainment One (eOne). The effort marked the first time in Brown's career where he served as both lead vocalist and guitarist in a band.

In a 2019 interview with Loudwire, Rex stated about his upcoming second solo album: "I went through a totally different songwriting process on this one and yes, it's very introspective, but at the same time it's kind of dark… It's a darker record for me, but it's one of those things where you've just got to let it out when it comes out… I'd say it's still bluesy, but the songs are more well rounded. We just wanted to get my feet wet the first time. But this one's got its rockers on there and some doomy kind of [PINK] FLOYD stuff on it — that kind of vibe. I wanted to use the studio kind of more as a palette for what I was doing rather than the other way around… It's a trippy record."

In a brand new interview with MACHINE HEAD frontman Robb Flynn's "No Fuckin' Regrets With Robb Flynn" podcast, TESTAMENT singer Chuck Billy reflected on his band's first-ever U.S. arena tour, which took place in 1990, with JUDAS PRIEST as the headliner and MEGADETH as additional support.

Billy said (see video below): "For the PRIEST tour, we decided we were gonna spend some time on production. We bought a big, fancy Voelker Rack drum set. We bought two new scrims, full-on backline — the whole deal. Nice-looking show. And we get to the first show, and [MEGADETH mainman] Dave Mustaine sees us have it up, and he says we can't use it. [So] we had a little problem the first week of the tour."

He continued: "I was pissed, because we just spent all this money, and those were the days when they were hand-painted backdrops — these backdrops were 15, 20 grand; they weren't cheap then. So we were, like, 'We're coming out to represent. PRIEST tour in arenas, man. We're coming out.' But Dave threw his weight around and said we can't use all of our new stuff. So for the first week, we were, like, tails between our legs, playing. And all the guys in our band said, 'Chuck, you seem to be friends with [JUDAS PRIEST singer] Rob [Halford]. Go in there and tell him. He keeps telling you guys, 'If you guys need anything, just ask.' Go in there.' And I'd had it. And I said, 'You know what? I'm gonna.' So, I went in there. It was, like, three or four days into the tour. I go in the [PRIEST] dressing room. I said, 'Hey, Rob. You got a minute? I need to talk to you.' I go, 'I don't know who to talk to, but I'm gonna come to you. And if it's your guys' decision, hey, I'm down with it, but I thought I would just bring it up. We bought all this stuff for this tour to put on a nice show, and the MEGADETH guy says we can't play, 'cause they said you guys wouldn't let us use it.' And he was, like, 'What? Who said that?' Right there, he went and got his tour manager and said, 'Get in here.' [Rob] said, 'Do you know anything about this? Them not letting TESTAMENT not use their gear?' [The tour manager] says, 'No.' And [Rob] goes, 'You make sure tonight they get the damn gear up there.' So we had a full-blown show. And who comes sidestage to watch the show? There goes Mr. Mustaine. Mr. Mustaine is standing there, just pissed off — he just had that look. And we were looking over just, like, 'Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah, Dave.' We were putting it on, throwing it down. And that's how that tour started."

Billy added: "This was, like, our first step into an arena: 'Oh, man. Maybe we're making it. We're doing it.' And to get shut down the first time, we weren't having it."

According to Chuck, it was a "great" experience touring with PRIEST for the first time. "They always came in the dressing room, every day, and said, 'How are you guys doing? Are you guys good? Do you guys need anything?'" he said. "And we were just too shy to ask. We did find out that they really were who they were. They stepped up and made it happen, and we had the full show the rest of the tour, man — and [full] sound at that point too."

At the time of TESTAMENT's first tour with JUDAS PRIEST, Billy and his bandmates were on the road in support of their fourth album, "Souls Of Black", which was written and recorded over the course of several weeks in early 1990.

TESTAMENT's latest album, "Titans Of Creation", was released in April via Nuclear Blast.

Earlier in the year, TESTAMENT completed "The Bay Strikes Back 2020" European tour with EXODUS and DEATH ANGEL.

Joe Berlinger, who co-produced the METALLICA documentary "Some Kind Of Monster", has opened up about how the film ended up becoming such an honest examination of one of the world's most successful heavy metal bands.

Originally intended to be a promotional video paid for by Elektra Records to document the members of METALLICA going back into the studio for the first time in five years, "Some Kind Of Monster" ended up following METALLICA through the three most turbulent years of their long career, during which they battled through addiction, lineup changes, fan backlash, personal turmoil and the near-disintegration of the group during the making of their "St. Anger" album.

Berlinger, who directed the documentary with Bruce Sinofsky, discussed the making of "Some Kind Of Monster" during a recent appearance on Tom Cridland's "Greatest Music Of All Time" podcast

Joe said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "I think we had started this project early 2001. So, it's two and a half years later — September of 2003 — it's really the first time, other than the one time we showed James [Hetfield, METALLICA frontman] a scene that you see in the film where we showed him the footage and had that conversation and let them know, like, 'We have to do it our way or we need to go too. But if you wanna do it our way and just let us make the film, we'd love to do it.' And he said yes. So now it's a year and a half later. We have a rough cut of the film. It's September of 2003. A couple of weeks away is the Sundance Film Festival deadline, to submit a rough cut, 'cause the festival is in January of 2004. It's now September of 2003, and we are at George Lucas's Skywalker Ranch in northern California because Lars [Ulrich, METALLICA drummer] is good friends with George Lucas and we needed a screening room. And the whole band has assembled, and the managers. And Bruce and I are really nervous, because they haven't seen anything, and there's some raw honesty in the film.

"We have a screening, and each bandmember is in a different corner of this big screening room, and the management is kind of up in the back, huddled in the back," he continued. "It's a longer cut. The movie was ultimately, I think, two hours and 20 minutes. This was probably a three-hour-and-15-minute rough cut, because we wanted everything in there. We knew we had more editing to do, but we wanted to know if any scenes were gonna trouble them. We were basically looking for their blessing, which is a very precarious position for a filmmaker to be in.

"So, the movie plays. It's a three-hours-plus screening. [There was] literally not a peep through the whole screening — not a laugh, not a moment of recognition — just total silence. And it wasn't feeling good.

"We had agreed that at the end of the screening, we would all travel back to where [METALLICA's] headquarters is in San Rafael, which is about a half-hour drive from where we were. And Lars just kind of looks at me, pats me on the back and just kind of shakes his head. James just kind of looks at me — like, this stare — and walks out. The management looked a little nervous.

"So, on the ride to their headquarters to talk about the film, Bruce and I are regaling ourselves with the worst notes we've ever gotten from network executives, because we feel like, 'Oh my God. This is not gonna be good.' And sure enough, we sat around the table for hours. 'You can't tell our fans that we paid [then-new METALLICA bassist] Rob Trujillo a million bucks.' 'We can't show Lars auctioning off his art. They're not gonna understand.' 'We can't show this. We can't do this.' And the whole film was just crumbling before our eyes with lots of people airing concerns. Other than Lars — I mean, Lars was the one guy who was kind of pretty chill about the whole thing, I have to say. And I don't remember exactly what I said, or Bruce said, but we defended ourselves really well; we had an answer for everything, why that scene is important in the film. And at a certain moment, I happened to look over at James Hetfield at the right moment, because I saw this moment of clarity come over him. And he pushed himself out from the chair, stood up — and this is after hours of conversation — and he said, 'Look, it's painful to watch. But you guys did exactly what you said you would do. It's an honest, raw, truthful portrait of what we went through. I'm not sure I ever wanna look at it again, but we either treat this movie like 'Cocksucker Blues' [the unreleased documentary film chronicling THE ROLLING STONES' 1972 American tour] and lock it away in the drawer and nobody gets to see it, or we let these guys make the film they wanna [make]. We can't sit here and tell them what scenes to cut and put in and take out or whatever. Let them make the film they wanna make. And I'm good with that.' And he walked out of the room. And Lars looked at me and gave me a 'good job' [look]; he gave me great affirmation in that look, like, 'You got your film.' And Kirk [Hammett, guitar], who was a little nervous about it, also was in agreement. And I think the management was a little nervous about it but saw the power of the film."

Berlinger added: "It went from a conversation where literally every scene was either gonna be changed or put on the chopping block to, 'You know what? We're not gonna ask for any changes. Make the film you wanna make, and we're happy with it.' And they asked for zero changes.

"So there is nothing in 'Metallica: Some Kind Of Monster' that is in the film because we don't want it, and there's nothing on the cutting-room floor that was taken out because they requested it. It is truly our film. And that was a magic moment of just going full circle and James realizing that, 'Let's put it out there.'"

While initially helping METALLICA towards restoring band harmony, "Some Kind Of Monster" shows "performance coach" Phil Towle, a former psychotherapist who was brought into the picture in January 2001 to help Hetfield, Hammett and Ulrich repair their relationship with then-METALLICA bassist Jason Newsted, attempting to increasingly insert himself into the band's creative process, submitting lyrics for the album and even attempting to join them on the road.

"The presence of the cameras helped keep the process on track," Ulrich told The Wrap in a 2014 interview. "There was another set of eyes and ears there. Sometimes when somebody else is in the room, you watch your p's and q's a little more. I think it kept the whole thing from derailing in some peculiar way.

"We were at a crossroads," Ulrich added. "We had been really good at being able to compartmentalize a lot of this stuff. Suppress it with drinking or other extravagances. This was the first time we had to talk to each other, get to know each other and work stuff out … The cameras were there catching all of it."

"Some Kind Of Monster" also documented Hetfield's spiral into alcoholism and decision to check himself into a rehab facility. Hetfield's re-emergence from rehab is when the film really gets into gear, with the chief worry in his mind whether or not he could do METALLICA sober.

"Hetfield went away, but we said, 'Why don't we keep filming? Because we think it's interesting,'" Ulrich said. "We said, 'We trust you guys.' And they ended up being another set of eyes and ears in those rooms for the next 18 months as we dealt with the aftermath of Hetfield going away and all of the subsequent domino issues that came in the wake of that."

According to Ulrich, METALLICA had no idea how fans would respond to seeing footage of the band's touchy-feeling therapy sessions that ultimately healed the group and kept METALLICA from splitting up.

"As much as you want to control how people react, there are always things that throw you for a loop," Ulrich explained. "The fact that the music world was a little bewildered by it and the fact that the movie world sort of embraced the film was not something we would've predicted."

METALLICA released a tenth-anniversary two-disc Blu-ray edition of "Some Kind Of Monster" in November 2014. The new edition of the film was made available digitally and via VOD for the first time. It also contained a new bonus feature, "Metallica: This Monster Lives", a 25-minute follow-up segment filmed at the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival during the premiere of the band's second film, "Metallica Through The Never". The segment featured interview footage with the band and Berlinger and Sinofsky in which they all looked back at the decade since the release of the film.

Janet Gardner has opened up to "Waste Some Time With Jason Green" about her departure from VIXEN. The singer, who released her debut self-titled solo album in 2017, broke the news of her exit in a social post in January 2019.

Elaborating on her reasons for leaving the band, Janet said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "There's a lot of personal things — not with them, but in my life. [My husband] Justin [James] and I, between the two of us, we have three kids. Nobody in VIXEN has kids. I can only contribute so much and do everything else that's going on in my life. A lot of people, they're saying right now, 'Well, you can do your solo stuff.' But that's [a collaboration between] Justin and [me] — we live together. We're here together every day, so for us to sneak down in the basement and record a couple of songs, it doesn't take that much time.

"I was very stressed, and there was some conflicts between, you know, if I was playing a [solo] gig somewhere, then VIXEN couldn't play there within a certain amount of time," she explained. "Booking, all kinds of things like that, it all got very stressful, and it got to the point where I couldn't even see straight. I was, like, 'I can't do this anymore. Something has to go.' So I made the decision to do that.

"In hindsight, sure, I miss them, but I don't regret it," Janet added. "It was definitely the right thing to do. My life is good; everything's in balance. I feel good. I'm not stressed."

According to Gardner, it wasn't very hard for her to decide to walk away from VIXEN at this point in her life.

"People were saying, 'Oh, I can't believe she gave all that up,'" she recalled. "It's not like I was giving up a six-figures-a-year pile of cash. It wasn't a huge financial decision to make. It was more of a sad-not-to-be-part-of-that-anymore kind of decision. That's what kept me being a part of it. But it's been much better for my life in general."

Janet went on to say that her split with VIXEN happened amicably and that she harbors no resentment toward her former bandmates.

"There was no reason to get [into] mudslinging or anything," she said. "And I didn't have any desire to fight over the name or anything like that too, so that was a bullet that we all got to dodge. It was just, 'You guys go ahead. I'll go my way, and we'll part as friends. And onward we go.'"

Asked if she thinks there will ever be a reason for her to go back to VIXEN one day, Janet said: "I'm a never-say-never kind of person. I can't imagine that happening, but I don't know… There's all these bands, like, 'We're breaking up and we're never gonna get back together,' and then, two years later, they're back together. So, what's the point? You don't know [what can happen]. 'I would never do that,' and then there you are doing it."

When Janet announced her departure from VIXEN, she said in a statement that it was time for her to step aside and let drummer Roxy Petrucci and bassist Share Ross "pursue their vision for the future of VIXEN."

Gardner, Petrucci and Ross are considered to be part of VIXEN's classic lineup, along with founding guitarist Jan Kuehnemund, who died of cancer in October 2013.

Gardner contributed lead vocals to VIXEN's most commercially successful studio albums — "Vixen" (1988), "Rev It Up" (1990) and "Tangerine" (1998) — as well as the group's latest release, 2018's live album "Live Fire".

In January 2018, Gardner underwent surgery to remove blood clots in her brain, a condition known as a subdural hematoma.

While Gardner was recovering from her surgery, VIXEN played a show in Durant, Oklahoma in March 2018 with a fill-in singer, Lorraine Lewis of FEMME FATALE. In January 2019, Lewis was announced as Gardner's official replacement.

Last year, Janet's collaborative project with her husband, GARDNER/JAMES, released its latest album, "Synergy", via Pavement Entertainment.

"Synergy" is the first Gardner/James album to be released under the GARDNER/JAMES banner. The couple previously collaborated on Janet's first two solo albums, 2018's "Janet Gardner" and 2019's "Your Place In The Sun".

In a new interview with "The Jeremy White Podcast", CHEAP TRICK singer Robin Zander was asked to weigh on a recent comment made by KISS frontman Paul Stanley about how "there isn't a real reward" in classic rock bands making new music, with fans preferring to hear the hits.

Zander said: "I think the difference is that we make records for ourselves, not necessarily for fans and stuff. We've always just made records for ourselves. I think if we stopped making records and stopped writing songs, we'd probably quit. That's the point; that's the way we look at it. Paul, he'd just soon rest on his laurels and go out there and play and cash in. But I just don't feel that way — that's all."

Robin's latest comments echo those he made last November when he told AXS TV's "At Home And Social With": "We've made a lot of records, and we just continue making records — for ourselves mostly, but also for our immediate fans that still cling to us. It's something, I think, that is our lifeblood; it keeps us going… And I believe that we still make quality records. If we didn't, we probably wouldn't do it anymore."

Last month, Stanley told USA Today that he doesn't really see a "reason" for KISS to make any new music. "For the most part, when classic bands put out new albums, they're looked at and listened to and thrown away because they don't have the gravitas, they don't have the age that comes with something being a time capsule or being attached to a certain period of your life," he said. "I'm not alone in that. When you see any classic bands on TV or if there's a concert video, turn off the sound and I'll tell you every time they're playing a new song because the audience sits down.

"So it's odd to me that people always want you to do a new album, but then they go, 'That's great. Now play your hits.' So honestly, at this point, there isn't a real reward in it. There's much more of a reward in changing lanes — I'm still going forward. But in terms of recording more KISS material, I kind of go, 'Why?' I thought 'Modern Day Delilah' or 'Hell Or Hallelujah' were as good as anything I've written and as good as anything we recorded, but understandably, it's like new wine. It just hasn't aged. So I'd rather not try to roll a stone up the hill."

CHEAP TRICK will release its 20th studio album, "In Another World", on April 9 via BMG.

The band's current lineup includes three of its original members: Zander, guitarist Rick Nielsen and bassist Tom Petersson. Drummer Bun E. Carlos stopped touring with the band in 2010 and was replaced by Nielsen's son Daxx.

Founded in 1974, CHEAP TRICK are an indisputable American institution, beloved around the globe for their instantly identifiable, hugely influential, brand of pop rock 'n' roll. The band are true pioneers with an unparalleled streak of certifiably classic tunes, from "He's A Whore", "California Man" and "Dream Police" to "Surrender", "I Want You To Want Me" and the worldwide #1 hit single "The Flame".

CHEAP TRICK's nearly five-decade career has earned them more than 40 international gold and platinum certifications, myriad awards and industry honors, featured appearances on over 20 movie soundtracks, and total record sales well in excess of 20 million.

Alex Skolnick, lead guitarist for TESTAMENT, wrote a popular essay for Newlines Magazine about the importance of artists speaking up at a time of political turmoil. In the latest conversation with Newlines Magazine's Faisal Al Yafai and Idrees Ahmad, Alex explains why artists should speak honestly about social and political upheaval, why he doesn’t worry about losing fans who disagree with him, and why he wrote a rap song called "Trump Sucks".

Asked if he is concerned about possibly alienating some TESTAMENT fans with his political opinions, Alex said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "It gave me pause at one point, when it first started happening. There's another phrase by an athlete — one of the greatest athletes — Michael Jordan, who once said, 'Republicans buy sneakers too.' I think he said that to turn down an invitation to speak at a rally for a Democratic candidate, something like that. So, at first, I thought of that — I thought, well, I have some fans that... I don't know how anybody could be behind Trumpism — as much as I could talk about Trump; let's talk about Trumpism — I don't get that. But do I really want to drive them away? And then I just thought, well, I don't wanna play this game and just have to suck it up and smile and sort of tailor my social media presence to make them happy. It actually felt like a relief to just say, 'You know what? No.'"

He continued: "I think it's beyond politics 'cause I'm not attacking traditional conservative politics. It would be very different if this was the '80s or even the '90s and I was talking about people who believe in lower corporate tax rates. Now it's gotten so disingenuous. And the whole belief in the right-wing news echo chamber and these headlines. Current headlines on Fox — one example, [President Joe] Biden just gave a press conference, and one of the banner headlines on Fox: 'Biden gives press conference full of lies.' These are the same people when Trump was giving his public appearance, they were praising it, falling over. So it's so disingenuous. And these same people that are criticizing me and threatening to not listen to my music, they're buying into that. And I can't support that. And I can't pretend to support that."

Ahead of the 2020 U.S. presidential election, Alex frequently tweeted against then-President Donald Trump's policies, including the last administration's handling of the outbreak of of COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus first observed in China. In March 2020, the 52-year-old guitarist blasted Trump for not being able to "convey a sense of reassurance during a time of emergency."

Last fall, Skolnick released two anti-Donald Trump rap songs called "Trump Sucks" and "Wear A Fucking Mask".

TESTAMENT's latest album, "Titans Of Creation", was released in April 2020 via Nuclear Blast.