In a new interview with Germany's Rock Antenne, BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE frontman Matt Tuck was asked what keeps him and his bandmates motivated to keep writing new music more than 25 years after the group's formation. He responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "I don't think there's a secret. Everyone does things their own way, and being in a band, there's so many ways of songwriting and having a dynamic. For our band, I just like to take charge of the majority of the songwriting. It's just so much easier to have one person who's focused and has the style. From [BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE's debut album, 2005's] 'The Poison', I was the songwriter of the band, so my songwriting is in the songs and people can hear it. And I think that's what creates an identity of a band, which is super important. So for me it's just about wanting my songwriting to evolve and change, and as long as I'm like excited about writing, I'll keep doing it. If I feel like I'm regurgitating stuff or it's boring or I've done that before, I don't find that challenging enough to do. and I think relying on a formula from the past, it's easy, but it's also quite dangerous to do. I think as a songwriter and a creative person, I like each moment to be as different and as unique and as in the moment as it can be. So I think that that's what keeps me motivated all these years later, is just discovering new things that make me excited as a songwriter and as a musician. But I think diversity for me is a key part of that."

Last month, BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE and TRIVIUM announced the North American dates for "The Poisoned Ascendancy" tour. Support on the trek will come from AUGUST BURNS RED, with SYLOSIS and BLEED FROM WITHIN appearing on select shows.

BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE and TRIVIUM will celebrate the 20th anniversary of "The Poison" and "Ascendancy" albums, respectively, by playing them in full.

Produced by Live Nation, the 26-city tour kicks off on March 30 at PNE Forum in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, making stops across North America in Las Vegas, Chicago, New York and more before wrapping up in Raleigh, North Carolina at Red Hat Amphitheater on May 18.

"The Poisoned Ascendancy" will launch in the U.K. in late January 2025 for six shows, before the two bands, along with support act ORBIT CULTURE, head over to mainland Europe for 18 more concerts.

Released in 2005, the impact of both albums on the evolution of modern metal is undeniable. For BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE, "The Poison" was their debut album, which saw the band propelled to unimaginable heights. That year saw the Welsh metallers graduate from supporting FUNERAL FOR A FRIEND on their U.K. run in the summer, to ending the year headlining the very same venues just months later. Dropping in October 2005, "The Poison" hit number 21 in the U.K. album charts, becoming a late contender in end of year polls, placing at number seven on Kerrang!'s "Albums Of The Year" list, and since achieving gold status.

With the release of their third single, Finnish modern metal act Arctis is prepared to unleash their fast approaching self-titled debut album, out this Friday, November 1 via Napalm Records.


The feeling of being lost and hurt, especially after a betrayal can be devastating – but can also inspire a hymn for the strong-hearted as Arctis proves with their new earworm “Tell Me Why”. Despite the pain, stunning vocalist Alva Sandström insists she won´t be brought down and will keep fighting through tough times. An anthem for facing challenges while trying to stay strong, making it relatable to anyone who has felt heartache or confusion.


Arctis is set to take listeners on an exhilarating journey, blending the essence of nature with technological innovation. Inspired by Finland's dramatic seasonal changes, their storytelling captivates fans in ways that go beyond just the music. Arctis features production by Jimmy Westerlund (Sturm und Drang), mixing by Stefan Glaumann (Rammstein), and mastering by Svante Forsbäck (Rammstein).  This fall, the band will join forces with Finnish metal legends Apocalyptica for an exciting tour, showcasing their self-titled debut album live on stage and solidifying their reputation as a must-see act.




Arctis comment on their new single: “We’re almost there. ‘Tell Me Why’ is the last echo before the ice shatters and the full force of Arctis is unleashed. Step into the cold, feel the frost creeping closer and let the shadows guide you. The album looms on the horizon... are you ready?”


Watch the official video for “Tell Me Why”:





Arctis is more than just a band—it’s an otherworldly experience, led by the enigmatic and powerful Ice Queen, Alva. Draped in her shining white battle suit, Alva’s ethereal presence transcends the stage, her voice weaving through realms both known and unknown, pulling her followers into a captivating journey. By her side stand the dark-clad warriors: Björn the Captain, whose unshakable command leads the band into uncharted sonic territories; Michael the Magician, a mysterious figure whose fingers conjure sounds that transport audiences across time and space; Mats the Rambler, the wild-hearted spirit who channels untamed energy into every note; and Mika the Sage, whose rhythmic pulse guides Arctis through the mystical realms they explore.


Together, these figures form a force unlike any other—a powerful and dynamic energy that blurs the lines between reality and fantasy. On stage, they do not simply perform, they create an experience—one that immerses fans in the Arctis universe, where music, story, and atmosphere collide, leaving a lasting imprint on all who witness their journey. Arctis is not just a sound; it is a feeling, a moment suspended in time, an escape into a world where legends come to life.


Drawing inspiration on northern themes as metaphors, Arctis explores mental struggles and the internal battles within modern chaos. The strong opener, “I’ll Give You Hell”, delves into the complexities of romance, highlighting the inevitable downfall that arises from a relationship, where honesty and commitment are lacking. With its original version already amassing 5 million streams to date, Finnish modern metal act Arctis is set to add to the song's impressive reception with the release of their own rendition of “Bimbo" (Lambretta cover). With a 2000s pop-rock vibe, “Remedy” addresses drug addiction and the steep price one is willing to pay for it. The mystical “Tell Me Why” paints a starry landscape of anger and self-deception while the enchanting “Frozen Swan” showcases personal musical talent while exploring the concept of self-freedom. This smoothly transitions into the upbeat “Fire”, which explores the risks of drug consumption, before flowing seamlessly into “When The Lights Go Out” lyrically exploring nocturnal metaphors through vivid passages. Closing the album, “Theatre Of Tragedy” features powerful guitar riffs, underscoring the limitations of personal human struggle.


Whether through music, artwork, or storytelling, Arctis creates a multi-dimensional world that fans can immerse themselves in and explore, transcending genre boundaries and offering a truly unique experience. Prepare for an onslaught of powerful riffs, epic melodies, and the raw energy that has never been seen before.


Arctis about their debut album: “The moment we've been dreaming of is finally here, and we couldn’t be more excited to share it with you all. It’s been a long road, filled with hard work, late nights, and an unbreakable passion for music, but we’re thrilled to announce that our first single is out, our debut album is on the way, and we’re hitting the road for our first tour. Now, we’re ready to take on the world, bring our music to life on stage, and connect with each and every one of you. This is just the beginning, and we’re so happy to have you with us as we start this next chapter. Get ready, because we’re coming in full force – and we can’t wait to see you on the road.”





Arctis will be available in the following formats:


- 1LP Gatefold Aquamarine
- 1LP Gatefold Black
- 1CD Digisleeve
- Digital Album


Pre-order Arctis here.





Arctis tracklisting:


"I'll Give You Hell"
"Bimbo"
"Remedy"
"Tell Me Why"
"Frozen Swan"
"WWM"
"Fire"
"Child Of The Night"
"When The Lights Go Out"
"No Slave"
"Theatre Of Tragedy"


“Bimbo” video:

Fan-filmed video of KING DIAMOND's entire October 25 concert at The Eastern in Atlanta, Georgia can be seen below.

Featured songs:

Funeral 0:00:00
Arrival 0:01:25
Mansion In The Darkness 0:07:20
Intros 0:12:14
Halloween 0:14:20
Voodoo 0:19:30
Them 0:24:17
Spiderlily 0:27:34
Two Little Girls 0:32:00
Sleepless Nights 0:35:00
Out From The Asylum 0:40:00
Welcome Home 0:41:46
The Invisible Guests 0:47:56
The Candle 0:53:13
Masquerade Of Madness 1:01:00
The Eye Of The Witch 1:06:09
Burn 1:10:40
Electro-Therapy 1:16:08
Abigail 1:23:42
Insanity 1:28:44

KING DIAMOND kicked off its long-awaited North American headlining tour on October 15 at Boeing Center at Tech Port in San Antonio, Texas. The "Saint Lucifer's Hospital 1920" trek will run through December 6 in Dallas, Texas. Support is coming from OVERKILL and NIGHT DEMON. Additional backing vocals for the KING DIAMOND set are provided by the special guest Myrkur.

KING DIAMOND's setlist for the current tour includes two new songs, "Spider Lilly" and "Electro Therapy".

When the tour was first announced, KING DIAMOND's namesake frontman said about what fans can expect: "This is Saint Lucifer's Hospital. Enter if you dare!

"We have been busy putting this ever-growing horror story together, and it's still growing. I know the end of it, but how we will get there will be a long trip. There are so many characters, and so many unexpected things along this journey. It's a crazy family on another timeline in 1920, where I experienced some hard times, and they have to come to our time to steal from us to survive. This is the most elaborate thing we have ever done, that goes for the stage production as well.

"There will be additional backing vocals by Myrkur and she'll be playing organ for songs that need it. There will be some horrific surprises taking place on stage, but we are not to be held responsible since we are on a whole different timeline in 1920. It was back at the time when medicine was going through a dark period with lots of testing on human beings in order to progress medicine.

"This is Saint Lucifer's Hospital, also known as The Institute. Enter if you dare!"

KING DIAMOND 2024 touring lineup:

Andy La Rocque - guitar
Mike Wead - guitar
Pontus Egberg - bass
Matt Thompson - drums
Myrkur - additional backing vocals, keyboards

Titled "The Institute", KING DIAMOND's first studio LP in 18 years is tentatively due in 2025 via Metal Blade. It will be made available as a two-LP horror concept story, with the second part arriving at a later date.

In October 2023, KING DIAMOND released a music video for the 2019 single "Masquerade Of Madness". The clip was directed by David Brodsky and Allison Woest of MyGoodEye Visuals.

At the time of the video's release, King commented: "'Masquerade Of Madness' was released digitally in 2019 before our North American tour. During rehearsals, we took one full day to film 'Masquerade Of Madness' with David Brodsky and Allison Woest. We spent all day and all night recording while performing the song with our full tour stage show choreography. After the tour, Covid happened.

"The video was all but forgotten as the world came to a standstill — we never saw a single frame from all the footage. Years later, as things began to pick up and writing began for both new MERCYFUL FATE and KING DIAMOND records, we wondered, what happened to that video from four years ago? So we decided to check in with David Brodsky and a couple of weeks later, we had the first cut of the video.

"I was speechless! I had nothing to criticize and after just a few notes from Andy La Rocque, the video for 'Masquerade Of Madness' was finished! There's so much mood and black and white is used in a perfect way with Jodi's performances. The visuals fit the music flawlessly and this is now among my favorite KING DIAMOND videos along with 'Sleepless Nights' and 'Welcome Home' — and not to forget of course, our double live DVD."

A month after KING DIAMOND released "Masquerade Of Madness" in November 2019, KING DIAMOND guitarist Andy La Rocque told The Metal Voice that he came up with the music for the track first before passing it off to King, who "needed to arrange a few things and change just a small few things for making it work with his vocals. And then, of course, he wrote the lyrics for it," the guitarist revealed. "So we [went] a little back and forth until he felt like, 'Okay, this is cool, man. This is the right key to sing in,' and all that."

At the 2022 Bloodstock Open Air festival at Catton Park, Walton-on-Trent, United Kingdom, King spoke to Bloodstock TV's Oran O'Beirne about his plans for "The Institute". "Something with KING DIAMOND, we have a very special thing [planned] for that album," King said. "It's gonna be a two-album story. But KING DIAMOND, we are building something that you will never have seen on a stage before — not that way. And with the light guy, he's never done it that way either. … It's very different, very sick. You will not have seen musicians standing on stage in that type of light. It's gonna be very dark. They have to learn to play in dark areas. It's crazy. I know that our light guy, he can't wait for us to do it. I showed him some pictures that have the kind of feelings I want, the kind of backdrops I want, stuff like that. … This is gonna blow people's minds when they see it, I am a hundred percent sure."

La Rocque, whose real name is Anders Allhage, discussed his vision for the new KING DIAMOND album with The Metal Voice, saying that it will be filled with great "melodies, of course. Super important. Without melodies, there is no music," he explained. "I'm also envisioning a more organic sound of the album. If you look back to the older albums, when Mikkey [Dee] played [drums for the band], for example, it's, like, a little bit up and down in tempo, and that makes it dynamic and also organic. So that's one thing that I would like to hear on the next album, for sure. But building up a dynamic, kind of organic feel, the drummer is a really important thing here, of course. And I know that Matt Thompson [current KING DIAMOND drummer] is the right guy to do this, for sure."

In March 2019, King told Full Metal Jackie's nationally syndicated radio show that the next album from his namesake band will be "absolutely gruesome" with a story set in a 1920s mental institution. "I chose that because I think it's a very creepy scenario," he explained. "And some of the things that go on that we're gonna show onstage is also things that certainly was going on back then, when medicine was beginning to take a beneficial turn in history and actually being able to help human beings live longer. But there was some experimentation going on, too, that was absolutely gruesome. Some of that is involved in the story, but it's something totally different. Once you get to the second part of the story, you will begin to suddenly understand that, 'What the hell is going on here? What is this really about?' 'Cause there's a whole different story that will not come to you till second part. But in the first part, you're gonna get to know a lot people at a certain place… Some of it takes place here, this world, and some of it takes place in a parallel world. And there's a correlation between what happened to me and what happens to some people in this place and where they suddenly appear. And you will find out why they are there, how they appear there and the places down the road. I won't say too much right now, but it's gonna be very creepy."

KING DIAMOND received a Grammy nomination in the "Best Metal Performance" category for the track "Never Ending Hill" off the band's last album, 2007's "Give Me Your Soul … Please".

"Give Me Your Soul ... Please" sold 4,500 copies in the United States in its first week of release to debut at position No. 174 on The Billboard 200 chart.

KING DIAMOND released a DVD/Blu-ray, "Songs For The Dead Live", in January 2019 via Metal Blade Records. The set captures 1987's seminal "Abigail" album in its entirety, twice, and in very different locales: Belgium's Graspop Metal Meeting in June 2016 and Philadelphia's Fillmore in November 2015. The performances feature KING DIAMOND's current band, comprising of guitarists La Rocque and Mike Wead, bassist Pontus Egberg and Matt Thompson.

GOD FORBID, a New Jersey-based band who helped pioneer the metalcore and New Wave Of American Heavy Metal sound in the late '90s and early '00s along with band like LAMB OF GOD, KILLSWITCH ENGAGE and SHADOWS FALL, broke up in 2013. The band reunited in 2022 for the Blue Ridge Rock Festival in Virginia. A new mini-documentary — directed, filmed and edited by Hector Gallardo for Subharmonic City Productions — tells the story of how that reunion came together and what the experience was like for the band members.

GOD FORBID will perform more reunion shows in December 2024 celebrating the 20th anniversary of the band's breakout album, "Gone Forever".

Headlining shows:

Dec. 12 - Sacramento, CA @ Harlows (w/ SKINLAB, THROWN INTO EXILE
Dec. 13 - Los Angeles, CA @ The Regent (w/ Burton C. Bell, SKINLAB, EXMORTUS, THROWN INTO EXILE)

Shows with BLEEDING THROUGH, CARNIFEX, NEKROGOBLIKON, I DECLARE WAR and LAST OF OUR KIND

Dec. 14 - Anaheim, CA @ House of Blues
Dec. 15 - San Diego, CA @ Observatory

Nearly a year ago, GOD FORBID guitarist Doc Coyle was asked by Scott Penfold of Loaded Radio if there were plans for him and his bandmates to work on new music in the near future. He responded: "Um, nothing officially. We've essentially been taking things one event at a time. 'Cause for some of the guys, it's just — they have kids, they have jobs. It's not the easiest thing for them to really invest a lot of time into this. So I don't wanna presume that people can do that. I'd love to do it. But if we're gonna do it, everyone has to kind of be on the same page about taking on that responsibility, 'cause it is. If you sign a record deal, there are expectations, there are responsibilities with that. And, obviously, if we did something, you want it to be great. You don't want it to be just okay. You want it to really be something we commit to and take seriously. But there is interest on the table. So it's something if we were really ready for, there's great opportunities out there. And I think there's actually kind of a relevant desire and demand for the band right now, which is, for me, just very pleasantly surprising. I was really not expecting that."

He continued: "It's just cool, 'cause I feel like for a very long time, we felt underappreciated, and it's cool that people seem like they're really into the band. It's, like you create this material and you see if it has any legs, you see if it stands the test of time. And I feel like our stuff has aged pretty well. I never thought I'd have the opportunity to kind of do the things we're doing right now. So it's a real blessing. I just love to spend time with the guys. I love the guys, and just on a pure friendship level, it's a real wonderful thing."

GOD FORBID's performance at the Blue Ridge Rock Festival in September 2022 at the Virginia International Raceway in Alton, Virginia marked the band's first live appearance in over nine years.

GOD FORBID's lineup for its recent concerts has included Doc Coyle (guitar),Byron Davis (vocals),Corey Pierce (drums) and John "Beeker" Outcalt (bass),along with Nick Hipa (guitar; ex-AS I LAY DYING),who joined the group in July 2022.

GOD FORBID officially called it quits in August 2013 following Doc's departure.

Two and a half years ago, Doc told the "Drinks With Johnny" podcast that he didn't rule out putting out new music with GOD FORBID.

"I was kind of the main kind of riff writer [and] songwriter for the band for a good portion of those last few records," he explained. "So me as a writer, there's always stuff [I'm working on that] I'm, like, 'That sounds like a GOD FORBID thing.' So there's always stuff that I'll just kind of put to the side or kind of [have] in the back of my [head] that theoretically could be that. So there's definitely some material that definitely could exist, but I am very much taking it one step at a time.

"I have a tendency to have a lot of big ideas and go [down] a lot of rabbit holes [in] my head, but unfortunately — not even unfortunately — you want to make sure everyone's a part of that, not just it's my little kind of… Sometimes I get all hyped up in my head, but it's. like, it takes a village, and everyone has to be on board," he continued. "It's important to make sure everyone is excited about anything you're doing; that's just very, very important to me.

"I really enjoy the band dynamic and having everyone be involved and be excited about stuff because I really believe in the synergy of that. I think GOD FORBID was one of those bands where the sum was better than the parts, that everyone together made something that outpaced our actual talent and ability, you know, because of the chemistry."

GOD FORBID's latest album, "Equilibrium", was released in March 2012 via Victory Records. The bulk of the CD was recorded by Mark Lewis (THE BLACK DAHLIA MURDER, WHITECHAPEL, DEVILDRIVER, TRIVIUM),with Jason Suecof (TRIVIUM, ALL THAT REMAINS, THE BLACK DAHLIA MURDER, CHIMAIRA, DEVILDRIVER) stepping in during the the vocal-tracking stage. The effort was mixed by acclaimed Swedish producer Jens Bogren, who previously worked with such acts as KATATONIA, OPETH, PARADISE LOST and AMON AMARTH.

"Equilibrium" sold 3,400 copies in the United States in its first week of release to debut at position No. 156 on The Billboard 200 chart. The effort landed at No. 7 on the Top New Artist Albums (Heatseekers) chart, which lists the best-selling albums by new and developing artists, defined as those who have never appeared in the Top 100 of The Billboard 200.

Photo courtesy of Headbangers Boat

In a new interview with Shawn Ratches of Laughingmonkeymusic, CLUTCH frontman Neil Fallon spoke about the band's upcoming touring activities and plans to make the group's follow-up to the "Sunrise On Slaughter Beach" album, which was released in September 2022. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "This last tour we did, we were playing [2004's] 'Blast Tyrant' in its entirety. And in hindsight, I don't think we did a very good job of kind of promoting that or letting people know that was happening. So, we're gonna do it again for a little bit, just like four more shows, in kind of Mid-Atlantic in New York, and Baltimore, the area, because it was the [20th] anniversary of the record. And then we're gonna take a considerable amount of time off, pretty much until April, and then we're gonna kind of do the same thing with the [1995] self-titled record because that'll be the [30th] anniversary for that and we were given the rights to re-release that on vinyl properly. I mean, we don't own that record outright, but it's getting closer. And in the spaces in between, we're writing the new record. It's hard to kind of do that when you're constantly touring. You would think it'd be easier to write on the road, but at this point, that's kind of the last thing I wanna do."

Elaborating on the difficulties of writing music while on tour, Neil said: "Sure, there might be some ideas that come out. The thing is with being in a band, it's a hive mind. It'd be one thing if you were the only person you had to answer to and you understood what kind of mood you're in. Like, 'I'm in a sour mood. I don't wanna write music. Or 'I'm in a great mood and I could bang out five songs.' But when you're dealing with personalities, particularly personalities that have been with each other for 30 years, you kind of have to wait for the stars to align. And we don't wanna just put out a record for the sake of putting out a record. We wanna put out an awesome record, and if that takes longer than, let's say, usual, then so be it."

In an August 2024 interview with The Razor's Edge, CLUTCH bassist Dan Maines said about the songwriting sessions for the next CD: "We've been pretty busy this year getting together when we're not touring, getting together and just kicking ideas around. And we have a nice setup at home to where we are basically rehearsing — I shouldn't say 'rehearsing', 'cause we don't rehearse, but jamming — in a studio setting so that whenever we're together and one of us comes up with an idea that we like, we can record it immediately. And so we just kind of are constantly creating this bank of ideas. And we don't dwell on it as it happens. When something comes up that seems worthy of documenting, we record it and then we forget it, move on to something new. And then, after a month or so, having collected these ideas, we'll start going through them. And we've been doing that since the beginning of this year. And I would say we have at least half of an album's worth of solid ideas, and probably more than that. But yeah, I'm excited about it. The stuff that we're cooking up right now, I think it's really good. The plan, if all goes well, is to record something, album-wise, if not the end of this year, then early next year."

Earlier in August, Fallon confirmed to Bloodstock TV's Oran O'Beirne that he and his bandmates recently completed the first demoing session for CLUTCH's next LP with producer Tom Dalgety. He said: "We're gonna try to maybe do [another session] in January and then another one right before we record. Hopefully we'll have 15 tracks and then we'll pick maybe the 10 best release those and maybe save some for a rainy day."

Regarding CLUTCH's working relationship with Dalgety, Neil said: "Tom's great. I think sometimes working with a producer, personality is half the battle because they can have all the skills in the world but if they're an asshole, you don't wanna work with them. Tom is anything but that."

As for whether CLUTCH fans can expect to see the band's next studio LP in the spring or summer of 2025, Neil said: "No, it would be probably the third quarter. Nowadays, you've gotta have such a buffer. It's getting better with vinyl, but we have to plan that in way in advance."

O'Beirne also asked Fallon about the possibility of CLUTCH playing some of the new material live before it is released. He said: "Yeah. we try to. That doesn't always happen. Playing a song live in front of people is a much different animal than doing it in a studio where you can stop and say, 'I have to go to the bathroom.' There's an urgency that will change a song. Sometimes something sounds great and then you put it on stage and it may be not so much, or vice versa. So we like to do that."

In July, Fallon told Neil Jones of TotalRock that he and his bandmates have "been getting together, on and off this year, just writing. And then that sometimes that just means writing a riff, not necessarily a song," he explained. "But right now, as we speak, behind me, Tom Dalgety, he flew in from Bristol [United Kingdom] a couple nights ago and he's done a load of albums, he did our last record, 'Sunrise On Slaughter Beach'. We're doing a pre-production session this week. We'll do another one probably in January. And then again, right before we record, hopefully in March. And what that means is we're just kind of fleshing out these demos. So when it comes time to record them, we know them and don't have an excuse to say, 'I don't know how to play this song.'"

Asked how far back the musical ideas on those demos were originally captured, Fallon said: "I think maybe the first ones are maybe from March of last year, but it was pretty piecemeal 'cause we'd go out on the road and then no one really wants to get together after a show and say, 'Hey, let's jam.' So, it was kind of piecemeal, like I said. But there's a riff that Tom said we did on the last session almost three years ago that he'd like to kick around that was actually from — I think we've been kicking that riff around since [2015's] 'Psychic Warfare'. It's sort of like this orphan riff that — it's good; it just needs to find some friends to live with."

Regarding how he comes up with the themes for his lyrics, Fallon said: "I wish I knew there was a very succinct system on doing this. But I'll come up with lyrical ideas. I'll jot 'em down in a notebook or in a voice memo on my phone and I'll come up with an idea for lyrics. And sometimes they seem to write themselves. Other times I'll say, 'Well, they don't really sound that good. Let's try it on this song.' And eventually, it's like… I don't know. You whittle away at stuff until you find its final form. I find that songs that have stood the test of time are the ones that were the quickest to write. The ones that take months, but usually those don't last very long as far as live rotation on stage."

Asked if he and his CLUTCH bandmates are thinking at all, while they are working on new material, about how the songs are going to go down in a live setting, Fallon said: "No. And I think that's one of the things that CLUTCH fans like about us. I think there's a sincerity. If you kind of premeditate it, then it becomes less of an artistic enterprise and more of a marketing scheme. And I think because if we like it, then by extension CLUTCH fans like it, because that's what we're all here for, as far as this band goes. There's been occasions where we've had songs and I've listened to it, and I said, 'I don't know. I don't know about this thing.' And then that became to be some of the most popular songs that we put out. And so I'm not a good judge of that."

Earlier in July, CLUTCH drummer Jean-Paul Gaster told Colombia's El Expreso Del Rock about his relationship with his bandmates: "We see each other all the time… Typically, we will finish a tour and maybe take a week, maybe two weeks off. We just kind of go home and do home stuff, but then we're back in the jam room again, and it's usually three times a week. And usually when we get together, we're writing new music. Unless there's a show coming up, we just start playing riffs. And we have all the equipment always mic'd up, the computers, they're ready to go. So the minute somebody has an idea, boom, I go push 'record' and we document that idea. And sometimes that idea becomes a song, and sometimes that idea is just something that we did for an hour. But it's okay, because you have to keep playing."

He continued: "Sometimes I play with musicians in projects and stuff, and they become sort of very focused on one idea: 'Oh, this is the song and this is the idea, and this is the only one that there is.' We try not to do that. We try to come up with many ideas. 'Okay, that idea is cool. Great. Let's try something else. Let's see what this idea will be like.' And we just try to put as many of these things together. And then when it comes time to make a record, then we go through those things. We say, 'Oh, well, that thing we did last month was really cool.' And then, 'Neil, you have this new riff. Okay, well, let's put those together. That might be cool.' And that's the way it works. It's very organic. There's not a set way that things come together."

In a separate interview in July, Maines told Chile's iRock that he and his bandmates were "in the middle of some deep writing sessions. We've been getting together quite a bit, but it's all focusing on new material, trying to write songs for a new album," he revealed. "It's going really well. We get together in a studio and we are just recording every single idea that we have. If it gets to the point where we've got two parts together that kind of resemble a verse and a chorus, and everyone's happy with it just music-wise, we'll record those ideas. And then we put that aside and move on to something else. And we upload those files so that all four of us can listen to them at home. And Neil will take a good hard listen to them and think about vocal ideas for those parts. And we start piecing together things. Sometimes he'll listen to something from one day that he thinks might work really well with something from the previous week. And if it requires tempo changes or key changes to kind of blend those two parts together, we'll work on that. But, yeah, it's kind of a very organic process. Right now I would say we have probably about a solid 10 ideas that you could call songs, but they definitely need a little more fleshing out. But, yeah, it's exciting."

Asked what music inspires him and his CLUTCH bandmates these days, Dan said: "Anything, everything. Between the four of us, we kind of draw from a lot of different sources and we try to take those influences, whether it's blues or something more heavy, doom-oriented or something funky, and just kind of put it in a blender and create something new out of it. But sometimes, like the last time we got together, we were thinking, 'Well, let's try to write something uptempo, something above 100 beats per minute.' And at the end of the day, we came out with something that we all thought was great, but the tempo was, like, 70. So you can go in with one idea or one direction, but at the end of the day, what you end up with could be completely different. You just never know what's gonna come out."

"Sunrise On Slaughter Beach", which was recorded at the The Magpie Cage Recording Studio in Baltimore, Maryland, was produced and mixed by Grammy-nominated producer Tom Dalgety (GHOST, ROYAL BLOOD, PIXIES),with additional engineering by J Robbins (JAWBREAKER, AGAINST ME!, THE SWORD).

This past April, Fallon confirmed to TotalRock's "Hobo On The Radio" show that he and his bandmates were working on new music. "I am definitely the slowest out of the bunch as far as writing lyrics, 'cause I try the same lyrics on different songs and try to find out where they can live," he said.

He continued: "We probably — we won't be recording until next year. And I'm gonna say hopefully the album will come out in the third quarter or fourth quarter of 2025. Which sounds like it's far away, and I guess it is, to a degree, but that's gonna come around pretty quick for us. We're gonna do it with Tom Dalgety again. He was awesome. But that never stops us from playing these [new songs] live, which they'll inevitably will be everyone's favorite version and they'll hate the record's version, but that's just the way it goes."

Finnish gothic metal band, For My Pain…, announced their comeback in December 2023, exactly 20 years after their debut album. The first new single after the reunion, "Recoil Into Darkness", was released in April, 2024. Now the band will continue their journey with a new full-length album, which is anticipated for release in 2025.


For My Pain... celebrates Halloween by releasing a new single "WitchBitch Elite", which will also appear on the album. A special live show at Toppila-Klubi, Oulu Finland will accompany this release.


Stream the single here, and watch the official lyric video below.







Vocalist Juha Kylmänen commented: “When I heard the WitchBitch demo version for the first time, it hit me immediately with similar feelings that I got from 'Dear Carniwhore' on our debut album. It's a sexy goth rock piece that’s flirting with dark humor. That feeling and mood inspired the lyrics writing and I finished them almost overnight. The song got polished into its final form when we started to rehearse it together and we added some ”sweet spots” with keyboards and backing vocals. And as we expected, Mikko Karmila's mixing blew the candybag completely open once again!”

d BOBBY LIEBLING">
Just one week before embarking on the second leg of their 2024 "Satanic Panic" European Tour and right on time for spooky season, heavy occult rock congregation, Lucifer, have unveiled a stunning cover version of a song by by the late great Leonard Cohen.


"Who By Fire" features none other than doom metal legend Bobby Liebling of Pentagram as a duet partner for Johanna Platow Andersson. Witness two generations of occult rock and doom metal joining forces for a unique take on this classic tune from 1974. Stream the track here, and listen below:


Johanna commented: "Growing up with Leonard Cohen's music, as my mother was a passionate fan, I have always been profoundly touched by his lyrics and of course especially gravitated towards this extremely haunting death theme. Bobby Liebling and I have been talking about collaborating for quite a few years now. When I knew I wanted Lucifer to cover 'Who By Fire', Bobby was the perfect one to interpret this very eerie song and I am so glad he said yes. Being a huge Pentagram fan, this is quite something for me! We are extremely pleased how 'Who By Fire' turned into a Lucifer song and Halloween was the perfect occa

Portland, Oregon's Unto Others released their triumphant new LP Never, Neverland last month and now, the band announce a North American tour in support of the album. This November and December, Unto Others will traverse the U.S. and Canada featuring stops in Spokane, Vancouver, Calgary, Louisville, Montreal, Los Angeles and more, with additional dates to be announced very soon.  Tickets go on sale on November 1 at 10 AM local time.


Unto Others' Gabriel Franco comments, "As many of you already know, 5 weeks ago our previously planned North American tour fell through. With very little time our excellent team has managed to keep us on the road. We are making a point on this run to hit cities we do not travel to very often, or have never played at all. There are still a few TBA's right now, but we will keep you updated as we finish up the booking process. This will be our first headlining tour of the USA in 3 years, so expect a long set that covers our entire catalog, in small sweaty venues. If you don't see your town here, we have plans to hit as many major U.S. cities as we can in 2025. Until then, thanks for your support."


Additionally, Unto Others have shared a music video for their Never, Neverland Digital Deluxe Bonus Cover "Pet Sematary" which you can check out below.







Never, Neverland marks a new epoch for Unto Others (rounded out by guitarist Sebastian Silva, bassist Brandon Hill and drummer Colin Vranizan). Having emerged in 2017, the band turned heads with the Don't Waste Your Time EP, followed by the beloved 2019 full length Mana and 2021's heavy hitting Strength LP.  Now, Unto Others build upon the seductive and beguiling foundation they've hewn out of a bedrock of goth, classic rock, punk, black metal and heavy metal.  


See Unto Others on the road to close out 2024; more dates to be announced soon.





Dates:


November
15 – Spokane, WA – The Big Dipper
16 – Vancouver, BC – Wise Hall
18 – Calgary, AB – Dickens
19 – Edmonton, AB – The Starlite Room
21 – Winnipeg, MB – The Park Theatre
25 – Louisville, KY – Mag Bar
27 – Mechanicsburg, PA – Lovedraft’s Brewing Co.
29 – Syracuse, NY – The Song & Dance
30 – Montreal, QC – Cabaret Fouf


December
1 – Quebec City, QC – L’Anti Bar & Spectacles 
3 – Portland, ME – Geno’s
6 – Greensboro, NC – Hangar 1819
8 – Memphis, TN – Growlers
10 – Albuquerque, NM – Launchpad
11 – El Paso, TX – Lowbrow Palace
12 – Tucson, AZ – The Rock
13 – Los Angeles, CA – Knucklehead Hollywood 


Order Never, Neverland on Bandcamp.





Tracklisting:


“Butterfly”
“Momma Likes The Door Closed”
“Angel Of The Night”
“Suicide Today”
“Sunshine”
“Glass Slippers”
“Fame”
“When The Kids Get Caught”
“Flatline”
“Time Goes On”
“Cold World”
“I Am The Light”
“Farwell”
“Raigeki 雷撃”
“Hoops”
“Never, Neverland”
“Pet Sematary” (Bonus cover version)


"Momma Likes The Door Closed":





"Angel Of The Night":

Singer, poet, songwriter, visual artist, film producer, activist and author Serj Tankian, lead singer and lyricist for the Grammy Award-winning rock band SYSTEM OF A DOWN, has released the official music video for "Life's Revengeful Son". The track is taken from "Foundations", his latest EP of new music, which came out in late September worldwide via Gibson Records.

"Foundations" track listing:

01. A.F. Day
02. Justice Will Shine On
03. Appropriations
04. Cartoon Buyer
05. Life's Revengeful Son

"Foundations" mines music and lyrics from previous decades and reframes them in a hard-hitting, intensely focused collection. Like all of Tankian's work, the five songs that comprise "Foundations" encompass a wide range of sounds and styles. It is music that traverses multiple eras and vast swaths of emotions. It is also very much a rock album — "music of rebellion," says Tankian.

"Foundations" kicks off with "A.F. Day", a raging, heavy-riffing track that sounds like classic Tankian. The origins of the song date back almost three decades, to his earliest days with SYSTEM OF A DOWN. Tankian never brought it to the band to record, and when he happened upon "A.F. Day" more recently he "felt it should finally be released." In doing so, he retained much of the original music, including his vocals — a decision that was partly pragmatic: "My voice has naturally changed over time," Tankian explains. As the lyrics demonstrate, his attitude has not. "Medieval educators locking horns at the playground at 5 / Real live police crime shows submission of the population at large," he rails, expressing disgust with indoctrination and blind deference to authority at every turn.

"A.F. Day" is followed the album's most anthemic track, and also its emotional centerpiece: "Justice Will Shine On". Another song whose compositional roots date back to the early SOAD days, the impassioned hard rocker is nonetheless instilled with a message that is as hard-hitting and vital today. Over potent riffs and pummeling rhythms, Tankian grapples with the atrocities of the Armenian genocide experienced by his grandparents firsthand. He addresses their suffering in jarringly personal and direct terms, singing, "Can you tell me dear grandfather of your childhood so far away / You can see the death of laughter in his teared eyes disarray / Can you tell me dear grandmother of your childhood from hunger and pain / Of the orphans you called brothers in her teared eyes disarray." As the song launches into its soaring chorus, Tankian declares that his grandparents' torment, and the anguish experienced by all Armenian victims, will not be in vain. "We are the children of all the survivors / Justice will shine on!"

Elsewhere on "Foundations", "Appropriations" (an older song I've 're-appropriated' to modern times," he says) juxtaposes a snake-y, arpeggiated verse with a crushing chorus in a clash of eastern and western modalities, as Tankian unspools lyrics that play off complementary sounds and contrasting sensibilities: "Resignation, provocation, segregation… imagination and creation," he croons. And "Cartoon Buyer", which dates to a period just prior to Tankian's first solo record, 2007's "Elect The Dead", begins in hushed, almost folk-y mode, and gradually builds — both in intensity and actual tempo — before exploding in sonic and spiritual catharsis. Throughout the track, Tankian scrutinizes the divides within humanity ("You see me without emotions / I see you across the oceans," he intones) before ultimately declaring our oneness: "California to Argentina…Saudi Arabia to Tunisia…Armenia to Australia…Israel to Indonesia / They are us and we are them."

Finally, "Life's Revengeful Son", originally recorded prior to Tankian's 2010 "Imperfect Harmonies" album, incorporates a variety of instrumentation, including acoustic and electric guitars and dramatic orchestration, into an epic closer with unmatched imagery: "The final revolution will occur when the arms of the clock fall," Tankian sings. "Jesus seen in the streets, dragging a car axel instead of the cross."

A true creative tour de force, Tankian recorded "Foundations" primarily at his own Serjical Strike Studios in L.A. He wrote, performed, orchestrated and produced all the material, as well as contributed the artwork — an original piece titled "Sunburst" — that adorns the album cover. Additional instrumentation on the record was provided by Dan Monti (guitars, bass and drum programming) and, on "Cartoon Buyer", by bassist Mario Pagliarulo and SOAD drummer John Dolmayan.

"Foundations", Tankian says, is "a retrospective of songs from different eras of my life, meant to complement the memoir," and caps what has been an incredibly prolific year for Tankian, from the release of his memoir The New York Times bestseller "Down With The System", to the massive, sold-out SYSTEM OF A DOWN headlining show at Golden Gate Park in San Francisco with over 50,000 fans. But even as he is now revealing his "foundations," Tankian is already looking ahead. "The next record will likely be a record of covers, collaborations and collages," he envisions.

Credit his restless, ever-curious creative spirit. "I'm always moving in different directions," Tankian says. "Repetition is boring, and the death of art."

As previously announced, on November 1, Tankian will release a diverse selection of limited-edition variants of the "Foundations" EP on colored vinyl with an etching featured on Side B of every package. The "Foundations" vinyl package includes a red-and-black starburst vinyl available on Tankian's own official webstore, and an opaque purple version only available in U.S. record stores nationwide.

In celebration of Tankian's fall 2024 Revolver magazine cover story, an exclusive and limited-edition vinyl in a striking dark blue marble, is bundled with a special edition of the cover story wrapped in a one-of-a-kind photo slipcase.

Mexico and US-based extreme metal band, Siglos, will release their second EP, Renacer De Las Cenizas, independently via all major streaming platforms and Bandcamp on November 15. Consisting of five tracks rooted in black metal, doom metal and industrial metal, the quintet are also releasing the featured single and music video for "El Paso De Mis Ancestros".


The second EP follows on the heels of the their debut EP, Rituales Sagrados, and singles "Morir Para Vivir" and "Por Los Siglos", and was also produced, mixed and mastered by Alex Crescioni of Stygian Sound. In reference to teaming up with Crescioni again for Renacer De Las Cenizas and Siglos’ evolving career, Grammy-nominated guitarist, songwriter and founding member Sin Quirin said this EP is about pushing boundaries.


“Throughout my career, I’m often thought of as that guitar player from Ministry, and there’s so much more music inside me that I’m starting to flex now with Siglos,” said Quirin. “I don’t want to be complacent and stagnant when it comes to songwriting, and this new EP {and Siglos} helped me to push myself and continue to do so."




One of the f

Rock & Metal From The Front Row has uploaded video of OPETH's October 27 concert at the Mission Ballroom in Denver, Colorado. Check out the clips below.

OPETH's setlist for the show was as follows:

01. §1
02. The Leper Affinity
03. The Grand Conjuration
04. Demon Of The Fall
05. Eternal Rains Will Come
06. In My Time Of Need
07. Face Of Melinda
08. Heir Apparent
09. §3
10. Ghost Of Perdition

Encore:

11. Sorceress
12. Deliverance

OPETH's North American tour kicked off on October 11 in Milwaukee, and includes stops in New York, Los Angeles, Toronto, Washington, D.C., Atlanta, New Orleans, Austin and more.

OPETH's new album, "The Last Will And Testament", will arrive on November 22 via Reigning Phoenix Music/Moderbolaget. Speaking to United Rock Nations about his decision to include growling vocals in the recently released first single from the LP, "§1", guitarist/vocalist Mikael Åkerfeldt said: "I wanted to try it out. I had been thinking, and we had been talking in the band that we should, maybe we could try and see what happens if we write something that's slightly heavier. And I felt I wanted to try and see if I could write music and fit that type of vocals on to new music. And I hadn't done that for many years… It's been a while. So I wrote a few parts and tried the death metal vocals, and it sounded awesome. Besides, it also provided a different voice to this character in the story. It became an asset that I haven't really had the need for, for the last four albums. But now it was an asset that actually could be beneficial for the whole concept, for the whole record. It sounded awesome too. I'm happy."

Last month, Åkerfeldt addressed the fact that OPETH fans have reacted positively to his return to growling vocals on "§1", telling "Coffee With Ola": "I don't have social media. Obviously, the record is not out yet, so I haven't read any reviews, but I'm on YouTube, believe it or not, every now and then, so I've seen some comments and videos, 'Oh, my god, OPETH is back. Mikael's back,' that type of thing. And yeah, there are some screams on there. And it's cool that they appreciate it. It's also slightly annoying."

Elaborating on why he finds it "annoying" that so much of the focus has been on the fact that he is growling on an OPETH album again, Mikael said: "I choose not to get upset. I'm an old guy. I decided I'm just gonna take in, like, 'You love it? You love that I do that stuff? Fine. I'm gonna be happy about it. But it's also, is that all we are? We've done four records in a row without that type of vocals, which people have liked, but it's been… It's so much focus on the screams, I almost feel like I wanna troll, just do a shit record, like really shit, obvious shit, with great screams and see what they think."

He continued: "But I'm really happy with the record. The screams sound really good. They fit this music and the concept of the record. So, all in all, I'm happy."

When host Ola Englund noted that there are "a lot" of growling vocals on "The Last Will And Testament", Mikael concurred. "Yeah, maybe it's 50-50, maybe more. But it was fun doing it again. I hadn't done it on an OPETH record for quite some time. 'Watershed' was the last [album] with that type of vocals. I wrote the songs. I started with the one called 'Paragraph One' ['§1']. So I tried some screams to see if it fit with the music, because I hadn't written music with the intention of having that type of vocal for a long time. So I didn't know if it was gonna work, but it sounded great to me. So I was, like, 'Okay.' Besides, it's a concept record and it gave a voice to that main character in the story. So that felt, like, 'Okay, I'm gonna try.'"

Regarding the concept for the new OPETH album, Mikael said: "People heard that first song, 'Paragraph One'. It starts with footsteps leading up to a door. A door opens and then off we go. And a patriarch, a father has died. He's a rich, conservative, stern old fucker who's passed away and the album starts when his children, his three children, arrive to attend the reading of his last will and testament, basically to see what they're, so to speak, getting. And then throughout the album, through his testament, all the lyrics are written as if they were written like a proper testament, with paragraphs, which explains the titles, or the lack of titles. And throughout the reading, he will reveal secrets about himself mostly, but many of these secrets will immediately affect his children and kind of turn their lives upside down. And then there's a twist to the story as well in the end."

"The Last Will And Testament" was written by Åkerfeldt, with lyrics conferred with Klara Rönnqvist Fors (THE HEARD, ex-CRUCIFIED BARBARA). "The Last Will And Testament" was co-produced by Åkerfeldt and Stefan Boman (GHOST, THE HELLACOPTERS),engineered by Boman, Joe Jones (KILLING JOKE, ROBERT PLANT) and OPETH, with Boman, Åkerfeldt and the rest of OPETH mixing at Atlantis and Hammerthorpe Studios in Stockholm. The strings on "The Last Will And Testament" were arranged by Åkerfeldt and returning prog friend Dave Stewart (EGG, KHAN) and conducted by Stewart at Angel Studios in London. Not one to miss a beat, visual artist Travis Smith returns to the fold, crafting his 11th cover, a haunting "photograph" reminiscent of Stanley Kubrick's infamous "Overlook Hotel" photograph. Miles Showell (ABBA, QUEEN) also revisits mastering and vinyl lacquer cutting at Abbey Road Studios in London.

Åkerfeldt rolls out the red carpet for storied flautist and JETHRO TULL mainman Ian Anderson. Not only do Anderson's signature notes fly on "§4" and "§7", he narrates on "§1", "§2", "§4", and "§7". Joining Anderson, EUROPE's Joey Tempest lends a backing vocal hand on "§2", while Åkerfeldt's youngest daughter, Mirjam Åkerfeldt, is the disembodied voice in "§1".

"The Last Will And Testament" is a concept album set in the post-World War I era, unfolding the story of a wealthy, conservative patriarch whose last will and testament reveals shocking family secrets. The narrative weaves through the patriarch's confessions, the reactions of his twin children, and the mysterious presence of a polio-ridden girl who the family have taken care of. The album begins with the reading of the father's will in his mansion. Among those in attendance is a young girl, who, despite being an orphan and polio-ridden, has been raised by the family. Her presence at the will reading raises suspicions and questions among the twins.

"The Last Will And Testament" is the darkest and heaviest record OPETH has made in decades, and it is also the band's most fearlessly progressive. A concept album recounting the reading of one recently deceased man's will to an audience of his surviving family members, it brims with haunting melodrama, shocking revelations and some of the wildest and most unpredictable music that Åkerfeldt has ever written.

The follow-up to 2019's widely acclaimed "In Cauda Venenum", "The Last Will And Testament" is set in the shadowy, sepia-stained 1920s. It slowly reveals its secrets like some classic thriller from the distant, cobwebbed past, with each successive song shining more light on the stated machinations of our dead (but definitely not harmless) protagonist. The emotional chaos of the story is perfectly matched by OPETH's vivid but claustrophobic soundtrack, which artfully winds its way towards a crestfallen but sumptuous finale. Masters of their own idiosyncratic musical domain, OPETH have never sounded more unique.

"The Last Will And Testament" is destined to be a milestone in OPETH's illustrious recorded history. The band's first out-and-out concept record, it features guest cameos from JETHRO TULL legend Ian Anderson and Joey Tempest, frontman with Swedish rock gods EUROPE. Only one of the album's eight songs has a title: closing ballad "A Story Never Told". The rest are simply labeled as numbered chapters in this slowly unfolding saga of deceit, recrimination and betrayal. Enigmatic, unsettling and immersive, "The Last Will And Testament" is a turbulent, prog metal tale like no other.

Making his recorded debut alongside OPETH's long-established lineup of Mikael Åkerfeldt, guitarist Fredrik Åkesson, bassist Martin Mendez and keyboard maestro Joakim Svalberg on "The Last Will And Testament" is new drummer Waltteri Väyrynen, who joined the band in 2022.

In an interview with Pod Scum, drummer Danny Schuler of the reunited metal/hardcore band BIOHAZARD, which recently inked a deal with Frontiers Label Group's new imprint BLKIIBLK, spoke about the group's songwriting process. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "It's really all over the place in BIOHAZARD. Sometimes one guy brings in a couple of songs and we kind of go with that. Sometimes somebody has an idea and we're all together in the jam room and we kind of all work through it together. It kind of happens a lot of different ways, but all four guys are very creative, some more than others, but everybody creates and brings in stuff. So there's no one writer in BIOHAZARD. There's never really been. But we all write. And now we're getting ready to record a new record and we have so much new stuff. And it's been really cool lately — a very creative environment lately to be around with everybody writing new stuff and getting psyched for a new album. It's cool right now."

Asked why he thinks right now is the best time for a new BIOHAZARD album, Danny said: "Well, I don't know if right now is the best time. I don't think in terms of, like, 'Oh, well, let's do an album out now because now's the best time.' I don't know that stuff. I don't know when's a good time to do a record. I just know when I feel inspired and I know when I'm coming up with stuff that I feel is real strong and meaningful, and lately it's been a good time for that kind of creative process. So, for me, when the ideas are flowing and everything feels real natural, real strong, that's a good time to do a record. Business-wise, I don't know when's a good time to do a record. I'm not a businessman, in that regard with the music business."

In a recent interview with France's Loud TV, BIOHAZARD bassist/vocalist Evan Seinfeld confirmed that he and his bandmates were "making a new album". Evan said: "I'm really excited about it. I'm writing a lot of lyrics right now, working on some music. All the guys are writing. It's exciting."

Evan previously discussed BIOHAZARD's plans for new music this past April in an interview with El Planeta Del Rock. At the time, he said: "We're working on our process on a couple of really cool songs, and when something is special enough and we are excited about it, I imagine we'll release a single before release an album, but there's a full-length album in the works. That's the mission… We wanna go into the studio and really lock ourselves down, like we used to do in the '90s, and spend some time really [making a strong album]. For us, it's not about one song, one song. Making an album is still something that we care about."

He continued: "I know it's not the popular [way of doing things]. How many people buy new albums by artists and listen to the whole album from beginning to end? Young people don't really ingest music like that so much. But BIOHAZARD is about authenticity. We do what we do, and we're gonna make the best album we can make in 2024."

The first reunion gig from guitarist/vocalist Billy Graziadei, guitarist Bobby Hambel, Schuler and Seinfeld took place on May 26, 2023 at the Milwaukee Metal Fest at The Rave/Eagles Ballroom in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

In 2022, Graziadei said in an interview that there had been "talk" about putting BIOHAZARD back together.

The group, which is acknowledged as one of the earliest outfits to fuse hardcore punk and heavy metal with elements of hip-hop, had been out of the public eye since Scott Roberts left the band more than eight years ago.

Roberts, who played guitar on BIOHAZARD's 2005 album "Means To An End", rejoined the group in June 2011 as the replacement for Seinfeld. Scott fronted BIOHAZARD for nearly five years before exiting the band in February 2016.

In a new interview with Chuck Armstrong of Loudwire Nights, EXODUS and SLAYER guitarist Gary Holt spoke about the status of his memoir, which is due next year via Hachette Books. "A Fabulous Disaster: From The Garage To Madison Square Garden, The Hard Way" is described in a press release as "a no-holds-barred memoir from the preeminent thrasher's life in metal, from its humble (but not quiet) beginnings in the San Francisco Bay Area through today's current resurgence in worldwide popularity, as he lived big, played fast and crashed hard, written in collaboration with Adem Tepedelen."

Holt said about his upcoming book (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "We're right in the final review stage in that. You can hear all the like horror stories of my own self-destruction and stuff, but the redemption as well.

"My story is a different one than most — and I hate to use the word 'rock star' 'cause I'm not — but most books involve someone achieving great success and then a freefall into the gutter," he explained. "My freefall came after marginal success, and then years in the gutter. And then I went from there to [playing] Madison Square Garden with SLAYER, of course. It's an interesting arc. The book came out really good. I'm real happy with it."

When Holt first shared the news of his upcoming memoir on social media in March 2023, he wrote: "Super stoked!!! The announcement in book circles has gone out today, so I'm sharing it in MY circle! The book about my life is under way, from the beginnings of EXODUS and thrash metal, to the drug fueled fall, to the unexpected and tragic circumstances that led me to @slayerbandofficial to the bounce back to Madison Square Garden with and @exodusbandofficial charting at number 20 on the MAIN Billboard charts, all will be told! No holds barred, all the lows and highs will be retold! Been a project very close to me, and I'm stoked to be working with @ademtepedelen_ @lauramazer @bschafer714 @hachettebooks and @wendysherman to make this a reality!"

Holt joined EXODUS in 1981, shortly after the band's formation, and has been the group's main songwriter ever since. Holt has performed on every EXODUS album, and is considered highly influential in the world of thrash metal.

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

In a June 2012 interview with Full Metal Jackie's nationally syndicated radio show, SLAYER's Kerry King stated about Holt: "I always regard Gary as the Glenn Tipton of our era — really good, really polished and nobody talks about him. To this day, nobody really references [JUDAS] PRIEST and Tipton that much as guitar players and I feel the same way about Gary. EXODUS have a huge following but a little more overlooked than METALLICA, MEGADETH, SLAYER, ANTHRAX — the 'Big Four,' so to speak, so [it is great] to be able to bring him to the forefront and shove him down people's throats and say, 'Hey, this motherfucker kicks ass. Pay attention.'"

EXODUS's latest album, "Persona Non Grata", came out in November 2021 via Nuclear Blast Records. The LP was recorded at a studio in Lake Almanor, California and was engineered by Steve Lagudi and EXODUS. It was produced by EXODUS and was mixed by Andy Sneap. For the third time in the band's history, they returned to Swedish artist Pär Olofsson to create the album artwork.

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

BODY COUNT frontman, hip-hop legend, actor and director Ice-T has weighed in on the upcoming U.S. presidential election, with Democrat Kamala Harris and Republican Donald Trump locked in a fiercely competitive contest. He told Classic Rock magazine in a new interview: "You know, I despise Trump. I think Trump is an absolute piece of shit. I think people vote with their wallets, so they believe that he's gonna potentially put money in their pockets and some shit. But it didn't happen last time.

"I think the good thing about Trump is that he let the world see how fucked up the United States is," Ice-T continued. "He let the world see how racist and how scandalous a great portion of our country is. Nobody can just look at dude and say he's a solid motherfucker. He's got more fucking felonies than all my criminal friends put together and doesn't even have an ankle bracelet on. It's just showing us how this country is operated and run, so it's crazy."

Back in February 2017, shortly after Trump was inaugurated as the 45th president of the United States, Ice-T was asked by Playboy.com if he was surprised that the billionaire real estate mogul won the U.S. presidency. He responded: "I think we all were surprised that Trump won, because dude be lying. He's a motherfucker. He didn't never show his taxes. He's the ultimate con artist. He's the kind of rich person, when people say they don't like rich people — that's what they mean. I know Richard Branson, I know Mark Cuban — billionaires that you can sit up and kick it with. But Trump is an elitist. He's a demagogue. And yeah, it's scary, man. He's got a lot of power. I come from the gang world, you know. You can't just be talking shit and think the other gangs don't hear you. You can't talk the way he talks and think the rest of the world doesn't see him as their enemy. Once the dude told the world, 'I'm smarter than the generals,' I knew we were up shit creek. But I predict his own supporters will turn on him in six to eight months. So let's just cross our fingers."

In March 2017, Ice-T's BODY COUNT bandmate, guitarist Ernie Cunnigan, better known by his stage name Ernie C, also weighed in on Trump's presidency based on his first six weeks in the Oval Office. Speaking to Metal Wani about how the political climate in the United states had affected the lyrical content of the band's then-new album, "Bloodlust", Ernie said: "We kind of felt that we would have the president that we would have now — just 'cause of the way the climate of the country felt. It just felt like it was going in the wrong direction. So when he got elected, it wasn't a big surprise, 'cause everything was going in the wrong direction, with him running for office. So he brought up a lot of undercurrent; it came up bubbling up to the top."

He continued: "We had Obama for eight years, and everyone got kind of of comfortable. He was a good president, and we got a little comfortable, and we didn't actually notice all the underlying things that were going on. But Trump got here, and in six weeks — it seems like he's been president for a long time, but it's been six weeks — and he kind of tipped over the table, and everyone's kind of looking around, saying, 'What's going on?' But we felt it all along. You know what I mean?"

The guitarist added: "Twenty-five years ago, we did 'Cop Killer' as a warning. So now, twenty-five years later, it's still going on. Now we're saying, on this record, 'Watch out.' 'Civil War' and songs like that, it's kind of warnings of what we feel. 'Cause being a musician, you get the opportunity to travel to different places, travel around the world. We've gone around the world, and we felt that America, something was happening and it's not exactly right. And it's happening in a lot of different places now — from France to Italy to… even Sweden. A lot of things are happening."

Calling the process of making albums "a way of venting," Ernie praised protesters demonstrating against Trump's executive orders and offered his opinion on why Trump was elected in the first place.

He said: "We need for people to get out and about and get out and protest and even vote, but do it in a positive way and have a direction. You can't just say, 'I don't like the president.' You've gotta get out and vote and find something better. 'Cause this last election here in America, we didn't really have a good choice. That's why he won. There's no good choices anymore. People don't want to be in public office — good people. Every once in a while, you get good people in there."

He continued: "Obama was a good man. I always say, whether you liked him as a president or not, he was a good man, he had good values. Right now we've lost all our values. We have someone that's lying… He's on television right now lying. He's just lying and you know it's a lie, but there's still 40 percent of people who follow a person that lies, and they know it's a lie, and they're not worrying about it. They're worrying about getting a job and things like that that are more important. That's more important than morals. And morals help out in a lot of different ways."

BODY COUNT's new album, "Merciless", will be released on November 22 via Century Media.

Indiana-based doom metal trio, The Gates Of Slumber, return with their eponymous new full-length, set for release on November 29 via Svart Records. The record serves as the band’s first new output since 2011’s The Wretch, and their sixth overall.


In advance of the record’s release, the band has shared their second single, “Full Moon Fever”, perfectly timed for the Halloween season.


Comments founding guitarist/vocalist Karl Simon, “If my memory serves me right, ‘Full Moon Fever’ was the first song for the new album. The music was written around about when Tom Petty died. And yes, the song is dedicated to him. Not inspired by his music per se, but I was always a big Petty fan and yeah. Figure it out on your own time… The first set of lyrics I did for the song had more of a comical feel to them. More of a Motörhead treatment: A werewolf chasing cars and shit like that. But that’s not the feel I wanted for the song in the end. The band was always meant to be a serious band. But I would be denying the truth if I said that it didn’t have a lot of tongue in cheek moments. That wasn’t what we wanted to do with it at all. Part of the fun is playing it straight. So, I reworked the lyrics a few weeks before we actually recorded the album. I have to pat myself on the back. I think the break down is one of the best bits I ever came up with.”




Stream/download the single here, and listen below:





The Gates Of Slumber was formed by Karl Simon in 1998. Various people were in and out of the group between 1998 and 2001, when the Blood Encrusted Deth Axe demo was recorded with Jamie Walters of Boulder on drums and Dr. Phibes/Athenar (later to form the cult black metal band Midnight) on bass. In 2003 Jason McCash took over the bass duties and was a long-time member of the band until his untimely demise in 2014, after which Simon decided it was time to call it quits.


That was until 2019 when the renowned metal festival Hell Over Hammaburg wanted to bring the band back on stage to perform at the festival’s 2020 edition. Simon reformed the band with its original drummer Chuck Brown and bassist Steve Janiak. “We’d been asked several times to play Hell Over Hammaburg. But there was no “we” to play. The germ of the idea started. We started re-learning songs from the first LP. It wasn’t too long into the rehearsals that we started coming up with new songs,” states Simon.


Following a short reunion tour, the COVID pandemic decelerated the band’s writing process. Half of the album was written however the remaining half was left to stew in its juices. But they toiled on ultimately composing six wholly engrossing new hymns of true doom metal excellence. With chest quaking songs honoring such greats as Saint Vitus and Penance, straight forward bangers, and lyrics inspired by t

On October 26, BLACK STONE CHERRY was inducted into the Kentucky Music Hall Of Fame. As a band that has always embraced and celebrated their home state, this was a tremendous honor.

BLACK STONE CHERRY comments: "We started this band in middle of the woods in 2001, in a dry county, and no driver's license between us. Playing restaurants, gymnasiums, coffee shops, and anywhere that would allow us to set up our gear. We made our own t-shirts, we made our own backdrop, we made our stickers, and we made our own music. Our 'always say WHEN, not IF' mentality coupled with the support of Jesus, our families and communities have allowed us to do some incredible things so far in our career. However, having our band name forever etched inside the walls of our state's music Hall Of Fame is incredibly humbling and something we will carry with us forever. It is also a testament to pouring absolutely everything you have into whatever passion burns inside you. We are extremely thankful, honored, and blessed for this achievement."

Over the past two decades, the Kentucky Southern rockers have shaken stages from arenas to festivals across Europe, North America and other territories across the globe. The band just completed a tour in the U.S. with CLUTCH and RIVAL SONS and today head out on a run of performances from October 29 through November 15 with AYRON JONES. On November 17, SKILLET will join the bill for appearances through November 23.

BLACK STONE CHERRY's latest album, "Screamin' At The Sky", was released on September 29, 2023 via Mascot Records. The opus was made available in white solid vinyl, limited edition vinyl boxset, CD and digitally.

Earlier last year, BLACK STONE CHERRY released the album's lead single, "Out Of Pocket", which went on to be a crowd favorite on the band's U.K. arena shows.

The Kentucky-based band, featuring Chris Robertson (lead vocals/guitar),Ben Wells (guitar/backing vox) and John-Fred Young (drums/backing vox),are joined for the first time on an album recording by Steve Jewell Jr.. The band's fanbase will be more than familiar with Steve, as he has been touring with BLACK STONE CHERRY since 2021.

"He is just fantastic," Wells told the Richmond Register of Jewell, who had previously played guitar in the band OTIS, but was asked to switch to bass when he joined BLACK STONE CHERRY. "He has brought the musical ability of the band up an extra level. His bass playing is unreal — and you can hear it all over this record. He knocked it out of the park… He makes our sound a little grittier. He plays with a different attack. It's really great."

"Screamin' At The Sky" features all-new material written collaboratively while on tour, but when it came time to record, BLACK STONE CHERRY decided to try something it's always dreamed of doing: tracking an album at The Plaza Theater in Glasgow, Kentucky — a legendary 1020-seat venue built in 1934 that boasts meticulous acoustics.

Photo courtesy of Steve Karas / SKH Music

AVENGED SEVENFOLD frontman M. Shadows says that he longer regrets the way the band's 2016 album "The Stage" was marketed. The surprise release of the disc, which was announced the night it went on sale eight years ago, earned the lowest sales of an AVENGED SEVENFOLD album in eleven years. It sold seventy-six thousand copies in its first week, seventy-three thousand of which were physical.

After M. Shadows marked "The Stage"'s eighth birthday with a post on X (the platform formerly known as Twitter),one of his followers chimed in: "I remember this, M. Shadows said he liked how Beyonce secretly released her album, so he wanted to follow suit but ultimately regretted it and said he'd never do it again lol." This prompted Shadows to respond: "I take that back now…. It couldn't have happened any other way and I'm so proud of this album and the way it was released."

M. Shadows addressed AVENGED SEVENFOLD's decision to secretly release "The Stage" in a 2017 interview with Revolver magazine. He said at the time: "I think it came down to being off for two and a half years, and sitting at home and watching what other people were doing. And I hate throwing other bands under the bus, but with a lot of bands I would get excited by the announcement that a new record was coming — but then there would be teaser after teaser after teaser after teaser, and there would be three or four singles before the album came out. It just became one of these things that we didn't want to do. We were, like, 'Well, we're going into the studio, but we don't really want to put up an Instagram pic, because what does that really do for us?' All it does is get a bunch of people hyped up about that you're in the studio, and saying things like, 'Look at the guitar they're using — it must be a thrash record.' And then that takes off in the press, and all of these things get so blown out of proportion… Eventually, we got so far down the line with the record that we were, like, 'Let's just put this thing out as a surprise.' It was exciting to us; you had five guys who were actually excited about releasing a record, instead of dreading [having to do] all the advance press and everything that comes with a record release. It's not that we didn't want to do the work — it's that you get asked a bunch of questions by a bunch of guys that have never heard the record. 'Is it fast? Is it melodic? Is it heavy? Are you screaming?' I feel like it's been easier to let people hear it first and form their own opinions on it, and then talk to them about it."

"The Stage", AVENGED's debut for Capitol, sold less than half as many copies in its first week as the group's two previous efforts, 2010's "Nightmare" and 2013's "Hail To The King".

The group made the album available at midnight on October 27, 2016 with almost no promotion beforehand, save for the arrival of a new song one week earlier.

In October 2017, M. Shadows admitted in an interview that the band "definitely dropped the ball in terms of the casual fan" when it came to the marketing of "The Stage". Shadows told ABC Radio: "Do I think it was a good strategy for the casual fan? No, it was horrible for the casual fan. Most casual fans don't even know about it, or they've written it off as… 'Why would you release a record secretly? It must not be good.' And we weren't expecting that at all."

The singer admitted that it's unlikely AVENGED SEVENFOLD would ever do the surprise release again.

"If we were to do it over, I would've tried to do something that encompasses the casual fan that's not living and breathing what bands like us are doing," he said.

Shadows told The Pulse Of Radio that the band did the surprise release partially out of a desire to let fans hear it and form their own opinions. "It's almost like the jury has already, you know, decided if they like a record or not before it even comes out, because there's so many reviews and opinions," he said. "And we just wanted people to hear it for themselves and make their own opinions."

The deluxe version of "The Stage" arrived in December 2017. This edition featured seven additional studio songs plus four previously unreleased live tracks recorded during the band's shows at The O2 arena in London. Among the seven bonus tracks was the band's cover of the PINK FLOYD classic "Wish You Were Here".

Shadows defended "The Stage" in a 2018 issue of Metal Hammer magazine. He said at the time: "I think it will stand the test of time in terms of AVENGED's legacy and I think that at some point it will be a lot of people's favorite record. I just think that when you're in the middle of the process of writing a record and you know that things are going to be a little complex or a little over people's heads, then you've got to know that a backlash is coming. And it did. But you know that going into it. I just wish that we didn't do so many crazy things at once."

He continued: "I feel that all of the initial backlashes that we've had, people have grown into it. They try it on and see how it fits. The backlash to 'City Of Evil' was insane — and then the next one was insane because it wasn't 'City Of Evil'. The next one was actually fine because Jimmy ['The Rev' Sullivan, drums] had died. We didn't get much of a backlash because I think that people felt bad for us. But then when 'Hail To The King' came out, there was a huge backlash. The different thing on the backlash with 'The Stage', though, was it was the first time that we had a great critical response and more of a fan backlash."
I take that back now…. It couldn’t have happened any other way and Im so proud of this album and the way it was released. 🙏

— Shadows (@shadows_eth) October 28, 2024