Journey vocalist, Arnel Pineda, has released the video below, along with the following message:

"Now that I miss performing live in front of you guys, here's a throwback video from Auckland last 2019. This is me singing Queen's classic 'We Will Rock You'. I can't wait to rock with you guys soon! Stay safe everyone, God bless us all!"




window._taboola = window._taboola || [];
_taboola.push({
mode: 'thumbnails-rr',
container: 'taboola-below-article-thumbnails',
placement: 'Below Article Thumbnails',
target_type: 'mix'
});

On March 14, 2020, MANOWAR played its long-awaited first-ever concert in Mexico, headlining the Hell & Heaven Metal Fest in Mexico City. This historic event was recorded in highest definition, with over 15 8K and 4K cameras, a drone and immersive audio setup. The resulting footage will soon be released on Blu-ray, DVD and digital platforms under the title "Hell On Earth VI" (formerly "The Final Battle"). The latest trailer for the set is available below.

The band's setlist was as follows:

01. Manowar

02. Brothers Of Metal Pt. 1

03. Blood Of My Enemies

04. Call To Arms

05. Hand Of Doom

06. Sons Of Odin

07. Swords In The Wind

08. Bass Solo

09. Battle Hymn

10. Thor (The Powerhead)

11. Kings Of Metal

12. Fighting The World

13. Hail And Kill

14. House Of Death

15. King Of Kings

Encore:

16. Joey's Speech

17. Warriors Of The World

18. Black Wind, Fire And Steel

MANOWAR released a new EP, "The Final Battle I", in March 2019. Parts II and III of the trilogy will arrive at a later date, inspired by MANOWAR's adventures on the remainder of "The Final Battle".

In 2019, MANOWAR recruited Anders Johansson as the band's new drummer.

The Swedish musician made his live debut with MANOWAR in March 2019 in Brno, Czech Republic.

Johansson can be heard on "The Final Battle I", which was initially made available in an exclusive pre-sale at the merchandise booth of the band's "The Final Battle" world tour.

Former MANOWAR guitarist Karl Logan was arrested in August 2018 in Charlotte, North Carolina and charged with six counts of third-degree exploitation of a minor. He was jailed after pleading guilty to two child-pornography counts.

A few days after Karl's arrest was made public, MANOWAR issued a statement saying that he would no longer perform with the group. He has since been replaced by E.V. Martel, who previously played in a MANOWAR tribute band.

Rob Zombie recently spoke to Consequence Of Sound about what the concert industry might look like post-pandemic. He said: "I think it will be changed for a while. Obviously, I think it's going to be a while before people feel like, 'Yeah, I want to be packed in with a hundred thousand people [at a festival].' That's going to be a while before people feel comfortable with that. Then it'll eventually get back to normal. The big 'but' here is that if the world keeps doing what it's doing to cause these pandemics, it's not going to get back to normal. Because we'll get over this one, things will get back to normal, and then there'll be another one. It'll happen again. I mean, what happened is really a surprise to no one. You can go back and see interviews with Bill Gates and different people, even [President Barack] Obama talking about it. Everybody knew a pandemic was coming in some form. So my fear is that everybody has a short memory. So once people are vaccinated and life returns, they'll just do the same and make it happen again."

Even though then-president Donald Trump repeatedly described the coronavirus outbreak in the United States as a problem that nobody anticipated, he was warned by Bill Gates in December 2016 about the threat posed to the U.S. by pandemics. A year earlier, during a TED Talk, Gates said viruses posed the "greatest risk of global catastrophe" relative to other threats.

In early 2017, the Obama administration walked incoming Trump administration officials through a hypothetical scenario in which a pandemic worse than the 1918 Spanish flu shut down cities like Seoul and London, Politico reported.

Rob will release his seventh studio album, "The Lunar Injection Kool Aid Eclipse Conspiracy", on March 12 via Nuclear Blast. The follow-up to 2016's "The Electric Warlock Acid Witch Satanic Orgy Celebration Dispenser" was produced by Chris "Zeuss" Harris.

"The Electric Warlock Acid Witch Satanic Orgy Celebration Dispenser" was the second consecutive effort to feature Zombie and John 5 alongside bassist Piggy D. and drummer Ginger Fish.

Photo credit: Travis Shinn

"Echoes From The Void" is a fantasy graphic anthology series, comprised of 48-page deluxe comic books, each featuring two or more story adaptations from the EVANESCENCE catalog. Beginning with story themes based on songs from their upcoming March 26 release "The Bitter Truth" (BMG), and culminating in revisiting iconic material from throughout the band's career, the project is comprised of a series of short stories created by an all-star cast of graphic artists, animators, illustrators, fine artists, screenwriters, novelists, and more.

Combining bandleader Amy Lee's love of visual arts, fantasy-inspired graphics, and graphic novels with the narrative power of EVANESCENCE's music, the series is being developed in close collaboration with Amy as she oversees the creative direction of the art and stories. "Echoes From The Void" begins as a five-issue series, with each issue containing stories based on two or more of EVANESCENCE's songs, presented in a variety of visual styles and mediums. Issue #1, available in limited-edition, includes two stories inspired by the songs "Better Without You" and "Wasted On You", from "The Bitter Truth", with tales written by Carrie Lee South and Blake Northcott ("Arena Mode" saga, DC's "Catwoman"). The issue will feature illustrations from Hugo Award-winning artist Abigail Larson and highly esteemed painter Kelly McKernan.

The first print edition of each issue will be released as a prestige format limited-edition collectible comic book, with cardstock covers, specialty foil treatments, glossy pages, and individual numbering. Each first printing will be limited to 3,000 copies priced at $18.95, and available to order from this location. The first issue is available to order now and ships in June 2021.

The art of "Echoes From The Void" will also be made available to purchase through a series of archival fine art prints, the first of which is illustrated by Kelly McKernan. Incorporating symbols and themes from across the band's discography into an intricate traditionally painted work that also debuts a mysterious original character, the print features a blue tint glow in the dark base with a luminous pink UV active overlay, as part of an individually numbered 500-piece collection.

LACUNA COIL has announcing its official tabletop game, "Horns Up!"

"Horns Up!" is a tabletop (or better yet, concert floor!) party game in pure rock style. Members of the world-famous Italian band are known for being avid gamers, but "Horns Up!" marks their first foray in the gaming industry itself.

The game itself takes place at a LACUNA COIL show, where each player must fight his or her way to be the first to reach the stage. There will obviously be many "friendship-threatening" actions challenging the opponents.

LACUNA COIL bandmembers will be an active presence in the game: they are depicted on the Stage Cards, and each of these will have consequences on the whole audience!

The rules of the game are easy to understand, and each game will be able to host a maximum of nine players.

The illustrations for the whole project belong to the talented Sara Fornì, who has quite a record for books and games illustrations.

This is not the first time the band from Milan enters the geek world: they already made their appearance on multiple covers of Batman comics and they are always present at Lucca Comics & Games events.

The card game "Horns Up!" will be made in partnership with Labmasu Games and presented in a pre-order campaign that will be launched on Friday, March 26. The pre-order campaign will be live worldwide and as the number of requested copies rises, the project will become more developed, with new events and new expansions. It will ship worldwide from November 2021.

Ted Nugent has expressed skepticism about the effectiveness of face masks during the pandemic and has mocked those who wear them, despite that both the CDC and World Health Organization have urged their universal use.

In a Facebook Live video recorded earlier today, Nugent said: "Some lady stopped me the other day at the hardware story, and I wasn't wearing a mask. 'Cause I have a permit. Here's my permit to not wear a mask. [Extends middle finger to the camera] Because the mask thing is a lie. Oh my God. Who doesn't know this? When you wear a heavy-duty mask during the winter and you breathe, you can tell that your breath ignores the mask. [Laughs hysterically] Who doesn't know this shit?

"But anyhow, this lady said, 'I'm so glad you're not wearing a mask, Ted, because you're much too pretty to cover that pretty face.' And I went, 'Yeah, no shit.'," he added.

Ted, who moved to Texas from Michigan in 2005, also once again repeated the unsubstantiated claim that last year's presidential election was a fraud. He said: "We're gonna somehow get a fair election. We're the shit-kickers who believe in God, family, country, individual rights that we will finally get our votes counted.

"Joe Biden didn't win jack shit," he continued. "Joe Biden could apply for a job to shovel shit from a dog kennel and he wouldn't get the job. He doesn't know how to hold the shovel; he doesn't know the difference between shit and dirt; and he wouldn't know where to get rid of the shit.

"Joe Biden is a zombie," Nugent added. "Watch this poor, pathetic, demented, lifetime-power-abusing punk try to form a sentence. Are you kidding me? Who looks at Joe Biden and goes, 'That's the leader of my country.'

"And by the way, the Biden family — you soulless monsters subjecting Joe Biden to public ridicule every day by allowing him to make a complete ass of himself. Worse than Joe Biden is his family and his fellow Democrats who don't flinch pushing the man forward to make an idiot and an ass of himself every day for public ridiculte in his demented, braindead, soulless condition."

Leading up to the election, Nugent teamed up with Donald Trump Jr. on the campaign trail.

Ted has called Trump "the greatest president in our lifetime," and has said that the billionaire real estate mogul represents "the heart and soul of the best American families out there."

In December, Nugent said that he would refuse to be vaccinated against the new coronavirus and he railed against pharmaceutical companies and their development of the vaccine. Four months earlier, he repeated a narrative pushed by conservative media and disputed by health experts that suggested the official death count from the coronavirus was inflated.

A board member of the National Rifle Association, Nugent has drawn intense criticism for his controversial past remarks, including telling then-president Barack Obama to "suck on my machine gun." He also made inflammatory remarks about Hillary Clinton, calling her a "devilbitch" who "hates everything good about America."

In a lengthy Facebook post in 2016, Nugent said Obama and Clinton should be tried for treason and hanged over their handling of the terrorist attack in Benghazi, Libya.

In 2019, Nugent defended Donald Trump after the then-U.S. president was accused of making racist remarks about Democratic congresswomen from black and minority ethnic backgrounds.




Posted by Ted Nugent on Friday, March 12, 2021

Legendary rocker Alice Cooper spoke to Australia's May The Rock Be With You about what the concert industry might look like post-pandemic. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "First of all, I'm a very big optimist about this. I think in six months, everything's gonna be way, way better than it is now. I just think that the vaccine — I know in [my hometown of] Phoenix, there's, like, ten thousand vaccinations a day, and I'm sure that Los Angeles and all the big cities are doing this. And by that time, I would say half the population will be vaccinated. And then I think that if you show your certificate that you've been vaccinated, why couldn't you go to a concert? Show your certificate and get in the show. There's nothing to fear; everybody's covered.

"I think everybody's being very, 'Let's not rush it. Let's not this.' But I'm more of a person that's looking at the reality," he added. "I think that we're gonna have a really big resurgence of everything in the next six months."

Alice's new studio album, "Detroit Stories", was released on February 26 via earMUSIC.

Named for the city that launched the original Alice Cooper group on the road to success, "Detroit Stories" follows 2019's "Breadcrumbs" EP as a modern-day homage to the toughest and craziest rock and roll scene there ever was.

"Detroit Stories" was recorded with producer Bob Ezrin, mostly in Royal Oak with Detroit musicians and featuring a mix of original material alongside covers of songs by Bob Seger, the MC5, Mitch Ryder's DETROIT and OUTRAGEOUS CHERRY.

Cooper recently said that his next studio album will be the first to feature the current lineup of his solo band: Tommy Henriksen (guitar), Nita Strauss (guitar), Ryan Roxie (guitar), Chuck Garric (bass) and Glen Sobel (drums).

In a new interview with "Talking With Mark Strigl", KISS co-founder and frontman, best-selling author and Rock And Roll Hall Of Famer Paul Stanley, who is promoting the debut album from his SOUL STATION project, was asked about the prospect of either KISS or SOUL STATION hitting the road later this year. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "I'm optimistic, because I think the idea of big bands going out and doing arenas or stadiums, I think we've got a long way to go before that happens. KISS will pick up the 'End Of The Road' tour as soon as we can, but that's gonna be on hold. A lot of bands or a lot of people can be putting tickets on sale for concerts, but most of them are gonna wind up postponing again, 'cause it's not safe, and promoters can't get insurance. So there's so many reasons why that's not gonna happen. However, the idea of SOUL STATION doing smaller shows, I think, is much more possible. So during that time, could we be out there playing? Fingers crossed, man. I wanna go."

Due on March 19 via Universal Music Enterprises, SOUL STATION's "Now And Then" is a collection of nine classic soul covers and five original tracks. Included on the LP are the band's version of THE FIVE STAIRSTEPS' "O-o-h Child" as well as SOUL STATION's take on THE SPINNERS' "Could It Be I'm Falling In Love".

Stanley's bandmembers include Rafael "Hoffa" Moreira (guitar and backing vocals), Sean Hurley (bass), Alex Alessandroni (musical director, keyboards), Ely Rise (keyboards), Eric Singer (drums and backing vocals), RayYslas (percussion), Gavyn Rhone (backing vocals), Crystal Starr (backing vocals) and Laurhan Beato (backing vocals) and Jon Pappenbrook (lead trumpet).

KISS's farewell trek was launched in January 2019 and was originally scheduled to conclude on July 17, 2021 in New York City but is now expected to last well into 2022.

KISS last performed this past New Year's Eve in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The concert broke Guinness world records for highest flame projection in a music concert and for most flame projections launched simultaneously in a music concert.

Geoff Tate says that "Frequency Unknown", the sole album he released under the QUEENSRŸCHE banner during a period when the singer was battling his former bandmates over the rights to the group's name, was not "a very satisfying project."

"Frequency Unknown" arrived in April 2013 amidst a swarm of controversy. QUEENSRŸCHE had just split in two, with Tate leading an all-new group of musicians while the remaining members of QUEENSRŸCHE — guitarists Michael Wilton and Parker Lundgren, bassist Eddie Jackson and drummer Scott Rockenfield — carried on with a new vocalist, Todd La Torre.

Tate's studio lineup for "Frequency Unknown" included bassist Rudy Sarzo, guitarist Robert Sarzo, drummer Simon Wright, guitarist Kelly Gray, and keyboardist Randy Gane, joined by bassist/producer Jason Slater and an array of guests that included KING'S X guitarist Ty Tabor, former MEGADETH guitarist Chris Poland, Y&T's Dave Meniketti, Brad Gillis of NIGHT RANGER, ex-JUDAS PRIEST guitarist K.K. Downing, and Craig Locicero of FORBIDDEN.

Asked by 99.1 CJAM-FM's melodic metal radio show "The Signals Of Intuition" what the experience was like making an album with so many guest musicians, Geoff said (hear audio below): "Gosh, I don't know how it came together. It was just such a mess [laughs] — a mess of people working on it.

Tate also addressed the decision by his then-record label Deadline Music/Cleopatra Records to make available "new and improved" mixes of "Frequency Unknown" to any customers who purchased the original mix version and were dissatisfied with the audio.

"Who would think that the record company would have the album remixed without talking to me?" he said.

"I don't remember it as being a very satisfying project — I'll put it that way. [Laughs]

"It was an ambitious project involving a lot of different musicians," he added. "And we had some really great performances on that record.

"It was just a lot of political scenarios going on with that record. Why was it remixed? I didn't even know it was remixed until a year or so after it was remixed and put out. And why wouldn't they ask me to remix it? Why wouldn't they ask Jason to remix it? I don't know. It was so messed up in the administration of the record."

The "Frequency Unknown" artwork featured a fist brandishing three rings — one with an F, another with the QUEENSRŸCHE logo and one with a U, leading fans to surmise that it stood for something explicit and was taking a shot against Geoff's former bandmates.

A few years ago, Tate told Oregon Music News about how Deadline Music/Cleopatra Records handled the release of "Frequency Unknown": "I think what happened with 'Frequency Unknown'; the people that own the record [Deadline Music] got cold feet. Someone said, 'Oh, I don't like the mix on this.' By that, I mean people close to the record company — that person said, 'I can do a better job mixing it if you give it to me to remix.' So what it came down to is that they [Deadline Music] didn't stand by me, they didn't stand by the project; instead they passed the record along to people to remix. Well, by doing that, it reinforces the idea that it sounds bad! [Laughs] They couldn't let it be for what it was — instead they opened a can of worms."

In a 2017 interview with "The Classic Metal Show", Tabor stated about his guest appearance on "Frequency Unknown": "[It was] uncomfortable, because when I agreed to do it, I thought that I was agreeing to play a solo on one of Geoff's solo albums. I didn't realize it was that when I agreed to it. So I sort of stepped into the controversy accidentally. And I don't know if you noticed — I didn't say a word about it on any of it on my social networks, I didn't promote it or anything, because I felt bad about it. I went ahead and did it 'cause I gave my word, but I didn't realize that's what it was when I said yes. I misunderstood."

Former GUNS N' ROSES guitarist Ron "Bumblefoot" Thal has described his eight-year stint with the band as a "very intense" experience.

Thal joined GUNS N' ROSES in 2006 and played on 2008's "Chinese Democracy", an album which contained music that had been written before he came into the group. The disc took 13 years to make and was only a modest seller, moving just around half a million copies.

Thal looked back on his time with GUNS N' ROSES during a March 12 appearance on FaceCulture's "Behind The Music" livestream. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "My dream was always to be in a John-Paul-George-Ringo, not John-Paul-George-and-a-hired-guy," he said, referring to THE BEATLES' classic lineup. "Not to put it down and not to understate the eight years that I had with [GUNS N' ROSES] — and I did write and play my own parts on 'Chinese Democracy' — but for me, I need to be a founding member and a writer of the music and a creative part of it.

"When I played with GUNS, it was cool playing all the big stages and everything," he continued. 'Yes, that was wonderful, and it's what you aspire to as a kid when you start out."

Asked to describe his years with GUNS N' ROSES with one word, Thal said: "Intense. It was very intense. It was high highs, low lows and everything in between. And I made a lot of good friends. I hate to say I learned a lot of things, 'cause it's not supposed to be an education — you're supposed to be there 'cause you don't need an education, but you never stop learning, and that's the truth. And I got experiences and learned things that I didn't do yet. So that was good. But at the same time, I was touring a lot before GUNS — a good 10 years of international touring. I mean, I played Russia before GUNS did, doing solo stuff — things like that. So it's not like I was completely inexperienced. I was just inexperienced at being a hired gun in a stadium band or an arena band. So with that, that was a whole new thing. 'Cause for me, bands were your friends that you played together and you had this familial kind of relationship, and you're not just brought in to play with strangers. And I have done that kind of thing as well, where I've been called in to play gigs, but never on something on such a big scale and where it would be something that really is the biggest thing of notable name recognition or anything that I had done. So that was different. And there's lots that come with that that you didn't expect."

Asked if he still speaks with GUNS N' ROSES singer Axl Rose, Thal laughed and said: "He's doing his thing, I'm doing my thing, and I wish them all the best. And I'm so happy to see how great they're doing with [classic-lineup members] Slash and Duff [McKagan]. I'm very happy for them."

Thal never officially announced his departure from the GN'R, but a source confirmed to Detroit music writer Gary Graff back in 2015 that the guitarist had been out since the end of the band's second Las Vegas residency in 2014.

Thal later revealed that he was focusing on his solo career and other projects after spending eight years playing in GUNS.

In a 2017 interview with Meltdown of the Detroit radio station WRIF, Thal said that it would feel "kind of weird" if he went to see the reunited partial classic lineup of GUNS N' ROSES perform in concert. "I quit the band and they moved on and I moved on. It's not like we quit pretty," he explained. "And also, what am I gonna do? I'm gonna stand in the audience and everyone's gonna be, like, 'Hey, you used to be there.' It's too weird, man.

"I wish 'em well and all, but to actually physically go [and see them], after hundreds of times on the stage with them, it just feels very surreal," he continued. "I always describe it like going to see your ex-girlfriend's wedding. And I don't mean any disrespect by that, and I do wish them well and I'm happy that they're doing so, so good. But for me to go and see it, it would just stir up a lot of stuff. So it's better that I'm just doing my thing, they're doing their thing and everybody just wishes each other well from afar. And I get lots of good reports from friends and everything and I'm still in touch with people in the camp. I'm real happy for them — they're on top of the world right now, so good for them."

Back in September, Thal told Jam Man that he "sometimes did" and "sometimes didn't" get along with the members of GUNS N' ROSES while he was in the band. "When a bunch of dudes are living together for months at a time, traveling from place to place and living such an intense life while you have this whole other life that's happening back home that needs you, there's a lot of things that can wear a person down, individuals," he explained. "And when that person gets worn down, they're not gonna be at their best. And other people, depending on who they are, the way they react to people who are worn down and not at their best, it will trigger things in them and maybe not bring out their best. And it's very easy for the stress to get the best of people in a group environment — whether it's a band, whether it's an office, whether it's anyting. That's just the nature of human beings. The way we feel is very contagious. If one person is foul, everyone gets foul. If one person is happy, everyone can get happy. If one person is laughing, everyone starts laughing. So it's very easy for us — and when I say 'us,' I mean any group of people — to react to each other in any direction.

"So, yeah, there were times when we got along great, [and] some times when we really didn't, and everything in between," he continued. "But ultimately, when you get on stage, most of the time, you forget everything and you just get lost in the music and you're having a great time in that moment, just making music and being a part of something that's bigger than ourselves and more meaningful than whatever you're going through. And you're there for hundreds or thousands or tens of thousands or whatever it is, that many people, that are there to be happy. And it's hard not to be when you're part of that."

Thal is currently a member of SONS OF APOLLO, which also features drummer Mike Portnoy, keyboardist Derek Sherinian and bassist Billy Sheehan. SONS OF APOLLO released its second studio album, "MMXX" (pronounced: 20/20), in January 2020 via InsideOut Music/Sony.

PAPA ROACH singer Jacoby Shaddix spoke to Germany's Radio Bob! About the band's recently completed follow-up to 2019's "Who Do You Trust?" album. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "We rented a house in August [of 2020], in the summer, and we wrote a ton of music. We all lived in [the house]. We all got COVID-tested. We had a friend that's like a cook. He came out. We bought all the food. We stayed there — everybody. No one left for a month. And it was music 24 hours a day.

"This record, in my opinion, we've taken it to the next level," he continued. "Our vision for this is, how do we take rock into the future? We see other bands like ARCHITECTS; they have their version of how they're bringing rock into the future. BRING ME THE HORIZON is doing their version of taking rock into the future.

"Over the last two records, [2017's] 'Crooked Teeth' and 'Who Do We Trust?', we've been really setting the bar a little bit higher for ourselves in the evolution of what we believe where rock's headed. And this album is a testament to that. So I think we're gonna blow people's minds with this new record. It's so dope, man. I can't wait for people to hear it."

Last month, Shaddix has told Germany's Rock Antenne that PAPA ROACH would not release a new album until the coronavirus pandemic has subsided.

"The touring is not coming back for the rest of this year," he said. "I mean, there'll be some pop-up shows here and there, but we're not gonna drop a new album and tour until 2022. We're just gonna wait it out."

In January, a snippet of a brand new PAPA ROACH song called "Stand Up" was included in commercial for Ultimate Fighting Championship's (UFC) partnership with ESPN.

PAPA ROACH's second greatest-hits collection, "Greatest Hits Vol. 2: The Better Noise Years", is due on March 19 on Better Noise Music.

"Greatest Hits Vol. 2 - The Better Noise Years" includes 12 of the band's top 10 hits released between 2010 to 2019 as well as three previously unreleased remixes and two unreleased acoustic recordings recorded live at the YouTube Studios in New York City.

"Who Do You Trust?" was released in January 2019. The disc was produced by Nick "RAS" Furlong and Colin Cunningham except for the song "Top Of The World", which is helmed by Jason Evigan.

In December, PAPA ROACH released a five-song EP, "20/20", featuring "new takes on old jams," including "Last Resort" and "Scars".

Photo credit: Bryan Roatch

Tracii Guns (L.A. GUNS) recently spoke to Talking Metal about SUNBOMB, his collaboration with STRYPER's Michael Sweet. Regarding how the project came about, Tracii said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "The greatest thing about Michael and I is that we have the same influences in music, we're great friends, and we have completely opposite ideologies — completely; on every level. And we laugh about it. We are two guys, when put together, we do discuss these things without any judgment. It's just, like, 'Hey, I respect your opinion. Cool.' Whether it's religion, politics — it doesn't matter; we get along.

"It kind of came to be where when we did 'The Devil You Know' record, which is [L.A. GUNS'] last studio album, I wanted to tour with STRYPER," he continued. "Of course I wanted to tour with STRYPER — it's like the 'Heaven And Hell' tour. And Michael wanted to do it too. We couldn't get promoters to okay it. They were just, like, 'Oh, man. C'mon.' It's, like, what happened to the music industry? It's, like, this is fun. This is great. This is literally combining two rock audiences that love the same style of music, but two separate audiences; a great opportunity. So, anyways, we couldn't make it happen. So Michael and I just kept talking. And then I got a solo deal with Frontiers, who L.A. GUNS is on, and STRYPER has done records with Frontiers. And I started writing this stuff that's super metal, man. It's awesome; I totally love this album. And I sent Michael a couple of tunes and said, 'Hey, I want you to sing on this stuff.' I go, 'It's a great opportunity for us to do something together after talking about it for two years.' And he goes, 'Yeah. Totally. This is insane. This music is insane.' And I'm, like, 'All right. Cool.' So, a lot of time went by, and finally I started getting the tracks back from him, with his vocal. And it's mindblowing."

Regarding SUNBOMB's musical direction, Guns said: "I compare it — in my catalog, my personal catalog — to BLACK SABBATH's 'Born Again' album. That album is so different than any other BLACK SABBATH album, yet it's BLACK SABBATH. It's a hundred percent Tony Iommi, but Ian Gillan is singing. That's what this record is like — I hear my riffs and my style times a hundred; it's what I do normally, but extra strength. And Michael's voice is insane, man — he's so good."

SUNBOMB will release its debut album, "Evil And Divine", on May 14 via Frontiers Music Srl. The lyric video for the first single, "No Tomorrows", can be seen below.

According to a press release, "Evil And Divine" is "an absolute blinder of a heavy metal album, melding influences of classic metal bands such as BLACK SABBATH and JUDAS PRIEST, with Tracii's love of metal subgenres, specifically doom metal."

Initiated and conceived after Serafino Perugino, president and A&R director of Frontiers Music Srl, reached out to Tracii about working on a new musical project for the label, the idea of a classic heavy metal-sounding album was born. The music style on "Evil And Divine" is much heavier than what one would expect from these two musicians and is firmly planted in the "metal" category. While Tracii wrote the music for the album, the fact that Michael Sweet has been writing/playing in an increasingly heavier style in the latter era, and extremely well-received STRYPER albums made him a very logical choice to sing for the band. And since doom metal, often known for having powerful singers like Messiah Marcolin from CANDLEMASS, was a massive influence on Tracii's songwriting here, Sweet's ability and range were a perfect match.

Michael said: "Hard to believe that I met Tracii for the first time just a few years ago. We hit it off right away and we obviously share the same love for metal.

"Tracii sent me a song and I loved the vibe and then he eventually asked me to sing on the entire album.

"What I love about it is it's definitely different not only for me, but for Tracii as well. I think fans will love this album, and although it's reminiscent of some of the greatest metal bands of the past, it also has a fresh spin to it. I can't wait for everyone to hear it! I'm honored to be a part of it."

Tracii leaked the news of the new project in a March 2019 tweet, where he described the project's debut LP as "the metal record I would have made when I was 17 years old." In May 2020, he mentioned on "Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk" that "the SUNBOMB record is really kind of like 'The Devil You Know' times three. It's more on the heavy side of 'The Devil You Know' album. And Michael Sweet, he's a really fantastic metal singer."

Drums on the album were handled by Tracii's old L.A. GUNS bandmate Adam Hamilton, and bass was recorded by Mitch Davis, with the exception of the track "They Fought", which features current L.A. GUNS bassist Johnny Martin.

"Evil And Divine" track listing:

01. Life

02. Take Me Away

03. Better End

04. No Tomorrows

05. Born To Win

06. Evil And Divine

07. Been Said And Done

08. Stronger Than Before

09. Story Of The Blind

10. World Gone Wrong

11. They Fought

Recording lineup:

Tracii Guns - Guitars

Michael Sweet - Vocals

Adam Hamilton - Drums

Mitch Davis - Bass

Johnny Martin - Bass (on "We Fought")

In a new interview with SPIN, Tony Iommi was asked if BLACK SABBATH plans to follow in the footsteps of QUEEN, MÖTLEY CRÜE and Elton John by making its very own biopic. He responded: "Yes, there was talk of it, and I don't know what happened. It sort of went out the window when all this thing [COVID-19] started. But we were talking about probably 18 months ago, about doing the biopic. I haven't heard much else."

Last year, SABBATH singer Ozzy Osbourne said — apparently jokingly — that he wanted Holywood legend Denzel Washington to play him in a hypothetical biopic. Ozzy made the comment while speaking to fans during a Reddit AMA session to promote his latest album, "Ordinary Man".

The massive success of the QUEEN biopic "Bohemian Rhapsody" — which grossed over a billion globally — has ensured that there will likely be movie studios continuing to bet on rock nostalgia in the coming years.

MÖTLEY CRÜE's 2019 biopic "The Dirt", an adaptation of the book of the same name about the iconic rock band, has been credited with sparking a renewed interest from younger fans who wanted to see CRÜE live, contributing to the group's decision to renege on its infamous "cessation of touring" contract.

In February 2017, SABBATH finished "The End" tour in Birmingham, closing out the quartet's groundbreaking 49-year career.

"The End" was SABBATH's last tour because Iommi — who was diagnosed with lymphoma in late 2011 — can no longer travel for extended amounts of time.

Iommi revealed his cancer diagnosis in early 2012, shortly after SABBATH announced a reunion tour and album. He underwent treatment throughout the recording of the disc, titled "13", and the subsequent tour to promote

Original BLACK SABBATH drummer Bill Ward has confirmed that he is working on an autobiography.

The 72-year-old rocker revealed his plan to tell his life story in book form during a March 12 appearance on SiriusXM's "Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk".

Regarding what fans can expect from his autobiography, Ward said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "It's not [going to be], like, 'In 1968 we became famous, and then we did this and then we did that.' In the book, I'm trying to be as careful about what I'm saying in order not to harm anybody — either the reader or anybody else that I've ever made contact with in my life. And right in the front of the book, there's a great big notice to self, which is do not discriminate or do not say undignified things about your fellows or anything else. So it's not gonna be a dirt book that puts me right down way below everything else, where the publishers — or some publishers — like it to be. I'm trying to write something that's dignified."

He added: "There are [things in the book that are] more pinpointed rather than all the other things about rock and roll — things that are, to me, distasteful now. I have grandchildren, so I'm writing it, more or less, for the grandchildren, so they can understand that I worked with some great men, some great players, some great musicians — I've worked with so many good musicians. And so far, I still continue to do that. So I hope it'll be a book about being honorable and being worthwhile to other musicians and to interested readers."

Ward said that he had completed another book a while ago for which he has secured a publisher and which doesn't yet have a release date. In addition, he is "writing two or three other books," he said. 'I write all the time. Some of them are very personalized things. Some of them are sarcastic looks at life."

Bill was on board for the SABBATH reunion when it was first announced nine years ago, but backed out soon after. The drummer later claimed that he sat out the recording and touring sessions because of unfair contractual terms, although the members of SABBATH have hinted in other interviews that he wasn't physically up to the task.

All four original members of SABBATH were present when the band announced its reunion in late 2011. But Ward split from the group in 2012, citing an "unsignable" contract, and singer Ozzy Osbourne, guitarist Tony Iommi and bassist Geezer Butler carried on with their Rick Rubin–produced "13" LP and extensive international touring without him.

It was rumored that SABBATH wanted to bring a second drummer on the road to share duties with Ward, something that Iommi confirmed in 2017 during a question-and-answer session about SABBATH's "Ten Year War" box

Reach Music Publishing has acquired a 50% interest, as well as worldwide administration rights, to the Glenn Tipton song catalog.

The acquisition covers Tipton's songwriting catalog of almost 200 songs as a member of JUDAS PRIEST, including works dating back to 1977, beginning with the album "Sin After Sin" and continuing through to the band's last studio album, "Firepower", released in 2018.

Tipton's solo albums, "Baptizm Of Fire" and "Edge Of The World", are also included in the acquisition.

As a member of JUDAS PRIEST, Tipton has written or co-written iconic tracks and radio staples including "Breaking The Law", "Heading Out To The Highway", "Hell Bent For Leather", "Living After Midnight" and "You've Got Another Thing Coming", all of which are included as part of the Reach agreement.

JUDAS PRIEST remains active today, with the band getting ready to go back on tour later this summer, continuing their 50-year anniversary celebration.

Also planned for the summer is a career-spanning 42-CD box set containing bonus tracks and a 132-page book with photos and memorabilia. This follows the recent release of a 648-page photo book of the band, covering the past 50 years.

Michael Closter, president and owner of Reach Music, said: "I'm ecstatic to be in business with Glenn Tipton — a metal legend, guitar icon and elite songwriter who has written works that will always be known, relevant and rediscovered.

"I particularly want to thank Jayne Andrews, the manager for JUDAS PRIEST. She gave me this opportunity, and the deal would not have happened without her support."

Reach's Scott Rubin added: "I first saw JUDAS PRIEST perform live when I was 15 years old, and I saw them on their last tour at age 50, watching Glenn Tipton get on stage during the encore. It's a true honor to get to work on a catalog that you know intimately and have been a fan of from 15 to 50... and beyond!"

Jayne Andrews said: "When I first met Michael Closter around three years ago in Nashville, I really believed that he and his team at Reach Music would be the right fit for Glenn if he ever decided to sell any of his publishing. Glenn felt the same way when I introduced them last year and we look forward to a long and happy relationship with Reach Music."

Glenn Tipton said: "I deliberated for a long time on whether to relinquish 50% of my publishing to another company and realized as soon as I had a conversation with Michael Closter and Scott Rubin from Reach Music just how knowledgeable they are of both mine and JUDAS PRIEST's catalog and that they would be really pro-active with the songs. I believe I now have a team who understand and are geared up to deal with metal and look forward to working together in the future!"

Reach was represented in the transaction by attorney Jeff Sacharow, partner at Lapidus, Root & Sacharow, LLP with support from U.K. counsel Rupert Sprawson of James Ware Stephenson. Glenn Tipton was represented by Simon Esplen, managing partner at Russells.

Tipton was diagnosed with Parkinson's seven years ago — after being stricken by the condition at least half a decade earlier — but announced in early 2018 he was going to sit out touring activities in support of "Firepower". He was replaced by "Firepower" album producer Andy Sneap, who is also known for his work in NWOBHM revivalists HELL and cult thrash outfit SABBAT. Tipton occasionally joins PRIEST onstage for its encores, performing "Metal Gods", "Breaking The Law" and "Living After Midnight".

In 2018, Tipton's former PRIEST bandmate K.K. Downing sold his share of the royalty rights to 136 of PRIEST's tracks, including classic songs "Breaking The Law", "Living After Midnight" and "Painkiller", to Round Hill Music. The rights consist of the guitarist's publishing and writer's share, and his artist royalties from the master recordings.

K.K., who is a founding member of the British heavy metal legends and was part of the group since 1969, announced his retirement from PRIEST in April 2

KISS co-founder and frontman, best-selling author and Rock And Roll Hall Of Famer Paul Stanley will release the debut album from his SOUL STATION project on March 19 (postponed from previously announced March 5) via Universal Music Enterprises. A collection of nine classic soul covers and five original tracks, "Now And Then" will feature the band's acclaimed version of THE FIVE STAIRSTEPS' "O-o-h Child" as well as SOUL STATION's take on THE SPINNERS' "Could It Be I'm Falling In Love".

The official music video for the third single from the album, "I, Oh I", can be seen below. Written, arranged and orchestrated by Stanley, "I, Oh I" is the first original song to be released from "Now And Then".

Stanley has spent the last few years developing this project close to his heart. SOUL STATION is a band gathering some of today's leading musicians to pay tribute to the greatest artists and songs from the R&B and soul catalog to keep this vital music current. While a surprise to many, Stanley's early pivotal roots in this music has quietly turned this passion into a celebrated touring and recording band. Stanley's 15-piece ensemble group has toured the U.S. and Japan, and recently recorded an album of nine classic soul songs and five new original songs.

Speaking about the new music, Stanley said: "Between us doing some great SOUL STATION shows and starting the album, I started to think that neither the band or the music we love should depend only on the past so I started writing with the goal of seamlessly taking songs into the present. From what a lot of people I respect have told me, that mission was accomplished."

When Stanley conceived SOUL STATION, the group excelled in the live venue setting, playing smaller, intimate clubs — a setting where Paul Stanley would reflect on those classic hits that were his early inspiration, playing the songs with a reverence and respect for how he and the band believe they should be performed and heard.

"Long before I ever heard the great British bands, I grew up listening to Philly Soul, Motown and so much more," he said. "I was lucky to see Otis Redding and Solomon Burke among others. That music and its storytelling gave me strength and hope even in some tough days. The great classics of that era are magical medicine for most and I felt myself drawn back to that era for some sorcery I think we could all use."

Stanley's bandmembers include Rafael "Hoffa" Moreira (guitar and backing vocals), Sean Hurley (bass), Alex Alessandroni (musical director, keyboards), Ely Rise (keyboards), Eric Singer (drums and backing vocals), RayYslas (percussion), Gavyn Rhone (backing vocals), Crystal Starr (backing vocals) and Laurhan Beato (backing vocals) and Jon Pappenbrook (lead trumpet).

The band is augmented by three string players and two horn players of the same stature enabling SOUL STATION's wall of sound to be firmly rooted in the past while staking claim to both the present and future.

"Now And Then" track listing:

01. Could It Be I'm Falling In Love

02. I Do

03. I, Oh I

04. Ooo Baby Baby

05. O-o-h Child

06. Save Me (From You)

07. Just My Imagination (Running Away With Me)

08. Whenever You're Ready (I'm Here)

09. The Tracks Of My Tears

10. Let's Stay Together

11. La-La – Means I Love You

12. Lorelei

13. You Are Everything

14. Baby I Need Your Loving

Speaking about how the idea for SOUL STATION came about, Paul told Scott Lipps: "I was really lucky, because, before I ever saw [LED] ZEPPELIN or any of the British bands that I grew to love, or the blues bands that I saw, I saw Otis Redding as a kid, I saw Solomon Burke and THE TEMPTATIONS. So that really is the core of what I do. It's not all that I do, but it's in there, and it always has been. SMOKEY [ROBINSON] AND THE MIRACLES; early Stevie Wonder; Philly soul; Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff, all the things that they produced — Thom Bell. So you have THE DELFONICS, STYLISTICS, BLUE MAGIC, THE TEMPS, FOUR TOPS, and on and on. So, for me, that music, unfortunately, has been relegated to becoming samples in somebody's rap songs. Those songs deserve so much more, not only respect, but to be listened to, because when we play those songs live, everybody's faces light up, because they're just great, great songs.

"SOUL STATION is 15 people, and everybody's played with everyone from Smokey to Stevie Wonder to Natalie Cole to TEMPTATIONS, Whitney Houston, and on and on and on," Stanley continued. "And it really is like a family. We hang out at my house and have a great time. But what really bonded us together was this love of that music and wanting to recreate it accurately, respectfully. Even some of those bands, when they wound up playing live, did these uptempo, kind of soulless versions of their own songs. And we're playing those songs the way they're supposed to be, and it's glorious.

"Look, I started doing it selfishly, 'cause I love that music, and to have it surrounding me, and to get to sing those songs, is crazy. And then to also write some new tunes that really marry so well to the old tunes is like writing another page.

"Will it surprise some people? Yeah," Paul added. "But, honestly, I'm not… Somebody said, 'Oh, you're reinventing yourself.' I'm not the champion of blues rock or hard rock or metal or this. I did 'Phantom Of The Opera'. I'm a singer, and I choose to sing whatever I choose to sing at any given time. So, really, honestly, it's as natural for me to sing Philly soul as it is to sing rock. It's just I haven't done it publicly."

Last May, Stanley released a cover version of Smokey Robinson's classic song "Ooo Baby Baby", recorded by SOUL STATION. In a statement accompanying the clip, Stanley said: "These are challenging times. Long before I ever heard the great British bands, I grew up listening to Philly Soul, Motown and so much more. I was lucky to see Otis Redding and Solomon Burke among others. That music and its storytelling gave me strength and hope even in some tough days. The great classics of that era are magical medicine for most and I felt myself drawn back to that era for some sorcery I think we could all use."

He added: "While it's hard to connect physically, some of SOUL STATION decided to reach out and make a virtual and emotional connection on a great Motown and Smokey Robinson classic, Ooo Baby Baby."

In 2019, Stanley told the Real Radio 104.1 radio station that he wanted to wait for the right time to release the SOUL STATION LP. "It really deserves full attention and my full commitment," he explained. "So until we can do great live performances — the band is amazing live — and until we can promote it the way we should, it's just going to simmer."

Asked if he gets any hate from KISS fans for making an album that is stylistically far removed from the music his main band is best known for producing, Stanley said: "I'm sure there are some people who'd rather me doing a KISS album or something like that, but when you sign on with me, you understand that we're both in this together, and sometimes I have to do what I need to do. And that's part of the joy and the reward for me. So I would rather do a great SOUL STATION album right now than tamper with KISS or the KISS legacy and do something that I'm really not feeling at the moment."

Drummer Paul Mazurkiewicz of veteran Floridian death metallers CANNIBAL CORPSE has doubled down on his statement that he is in no rush to get the COVID-19 vaccine to help stop the novel coronavirus from spreading.

Earlier this month, Mazurkiewicz made headlines in the metal world when he told Finland's Kaaos TV that "it kind of stinks" that he may be "forced" to take the vaccine in order to be able to tour internationally with CANNIBAL CORPSE.

"In a personal sense, I don't know if I would [get the vaccine], per se," he said. "It's a good question. I'm not sure. The flu shot has been readily available, obviously, for years, and so many people always just got a flu shot, and I know a lot of them as well. But it wasn't anything that I felt that I neeed to get. So, yeah, I'm just weird about being forced to take something. It's a touchy subject, of course, so I don't know if I will get one or not, unless I have to."

After Mazurkiewicz's comments were first published on BLABBERMOUTH.NET and later picked up by other metal web sites, he was accused by some fans on social media of being an anti-vaccine conspiracy theorist. He has since addressed the controversy in a new interview with Pierre Gutierrez of Rock Talks, saying that he was aware that his original comments had generated heated comments from both sides of the vaccination debate.

"I saw it on Blabbermouth, and I didn't even read any of the replies or the comments," Paul said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET). "I was just, like, people are gonna talk no matter what; they're gonna have opinions. So I'm, like, I'm not even gonna bother. So I don't even really know what was said other than… Who the heck am I to even cause controversy, kind of a thing. So I don't know, man. It's just silly, I think, that it would cause any stir, I guess. But it is what it is… I said what I said, I guess. I guess that's what I believe, because I said it, right?!

"Everyone's got different views and everything," he continued. "And I'm not sitting here going, 'My God, I can't wait to get the shot.' I'm not — that's the truth. Will I get it? Maybe. I don't know. If I have to get it, I guess I have to get it. But I'm not sitting here going, 'Right, I'm going to get it,' or I'm thinking about it, like, 'Oh, as soon as it's available, I'm going tomorrow to get it.' I just don't think that way. So, who knows?"

A new poll from the Pew Research Center showed that more than two-thirds of U.S. adults plan on getting the COVID-19 vaccine.

The poll, released on March 5, found that 69 percent of adults say they are going to receive the coronavirus vaccine.

The Pew poll showed that 19% of adults have received at least one dose of the vaccine, 32% say they will definitely get the vaccine and 17% say they will probably get it.

The nation's top infectious disease expert, Dr. Anthony Fauci, has estimated that about 70-85% of Americans would need to be vaccinated to reach herd immunity.

America's two main vaccines have shown 95% efficacy against the coronavirus.

As of late January, the CDC discovered that only 11 per 1 million people experienced severe reactions from the Pfizer vaccine, and only 2.5 per 1 million people who received the Moderna dose.

Johnson & Johnson's vaccine, which became available in the United States earlier this month after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration gave it emergency use authorization, was tested with new variants of COVID-19, and has shown to be effective against them; Pfizer and Moderna were tested prior to the emergence of these variants.

In a new interview with Christina Rowatt of The Void With Christina, KILLSWITCH ENGAGE frontman Jesse Leach was asked if he and his bandmates are working on new music during the coronavirus pandemic. He responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "No, we're not. There's a couple of factors. One I can't really speak of, 'cause health had something to do with one of the bandmembers. We had a little hairy situation there. But we're doing better now. We are not writing, and there's a couple of reasons for that," he repeated. "Number one is we've all just been through the wringer this year mentally and physically for some. So that has been the last thing on our mind."

Leach continued: "We've recently regrouped via Zoom and talked and hung out and have started to talk about the potential of a concert online, like all these bands have done already. We may eventually do that. And we've come up with creative ideas on how to make it different, and interesting songs to play and concepts. So that conversation started. It's something that'll be in the future. But another reason why there's not a ton of incentive to write new music right now — number one, we're not together; number two, TIMES OF GRACE is getting ready to roll out [a new] record," he said, referring to his side project with KILLSWITCH ENGAGE guitarist Adam Dutkiewicz. "So in order for that to breathe and have its time, and then KILLSWITCH will have its time after, they very, very graciously understood that when TIMES OF GRACE comes out, we're gonna allow TIMES OF GRACE to breathe. Adam and I are focusing on putting visuals together. And we've got the first single and visual done. So we're very much gonna cater this record to an online experience, allowing TIMES OF GRACE to have their time in the press and the media. So that's another reason why KILLSWITCH is not working on anything right now."

KILLSWITCH ENGAGE's latest album, "Atonement", was released in August 2019 via Metal Blade Records in the U.S. and Sony Music Entertainment in the rest of the world. The disc features guest appearances by the band's former lead singer Howard Jones and TESTAMENT frontman Chuck Billy. It marks the band's third full-length release since the return of Leach, who rejoined the group in 2012.

Last summer, three singles from KILLSWITCH ENGAGE reached new sales milestones in the U.S. "My Curse" was certified platinum by the RIAA (Recording Industry Association Of America) on September 10 for accumulating a million certified units. That same day, "The End Of Heartache" and KILLSWITCH's cover of the DIO classic "Holy Diver" were both certified gold for accumulating half a million units.

According to the RIAA, one equivalent song unit is equal to a single digital song sale, or 150 on-demand audio and/or video streams.

KILLSWITCH ENGAGE recently celebrated two decades as a band with a comprehensive and in-depth 20-year timeline that documented so many of the band's memorable career milestones and storied history with plenty of captivating images. The clickable, scroll-through timeline boasts flyers from early shows, live shots from festival appearances, and fan tattoos. It also traces major tours, video shoots, album releases, Grammy nominations, lineup changes, and beyond. The timeline functions as a digital museum that effectively tells the complete KILLSWITCH ENGAGE story. The timeline was created specifically for KILLSWITCH ENGAGE fans to enjoy and to reminisce.

Jeremy Spencer, former drummer and co-founding member of FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH, discussed his late 2018 decision to exit the band during a recent appearance on "That Jamieson Show". He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "I had some back issues, and I had to get a couple of surgeries. And the second one was brutal — I had to get disc replacement and fusion. I had deteriorating discs, so it was really painful to play, and I wasn't playing very good. So it was, like, 'I'm not enjoying this. And I don't feel like I'm doing it like I used to be able to.' It's kind of like an athlete when they're aging, and they can't just quite do it like they used to. I mean, the brain's working, but it's just not connecting with the limbs. And I was, like, 'Fuck, man. All right. It might be time to recognize that I need to step off.' So I did."

Spencer, who now fronts his own group called PSYCHOSEXUAL, said that he never intended to completely walk away from writing music and performing live. "I love music, and I was making my own music forever," he explained. "So I've always done that. It's just, as far as that touring lifestyle and that machine, doing what I had to do physically for so long, I had to step off the train, and I had to address the surgeries. And it was really depressing — it was a hard surgery. It was a big setback. I was depressed for a while. It hurts. It's painful. It sucks. I didn't get hooked on pain meds or anything; I would take, like, Advil and shit. But it sucked. And they had to go in through the front and the back, so they took my guts out on the table and everything. It was a brutal surgery."

Spencer recently removed all the previously released music and videos from PSYCHOSEXUAL ahead of the arrival of the band's new single, "Devil From Hell", at the end of the month.

PSYCHOSEXUAL released its debut album, "Torch The Faith", last July. It was co-produced by Spencer and Shawn McGhee (DROWNING POOL) and released via Spencer's 6eX Records. The debut premiered at No. 150 on the Billboard 200 chart, reaching No. 5 on the Hard Music Albums, No. 12 on Top New Artist Albums and No. 30 on Current Rock Albums.

PSYCHOSEXUAL's last release was the covers EP "Songs To Stalk You By", which came out last November. The EP reunited Spencer with former FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH guitarist Jason Hook, who contributed solos on the KISS classic "Watchin' You" and QUEENSRŸCHE's "Gonna Get Close To You". The recordings marked the first time the pair had worked together since both parted ways with FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH.

Spencer, who sports a Mephistophelian mask as Devil Daddy, is joined in PSYCHOSEXUAL by guitarist Crucifer, bassist Astaroth and drummer Volac.

Spencer's replacement in FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH is Charlie "The Engine" Engen. Engen made his recording debut with the band on the "F8" album, which came out in February 2020.

THE EXPLOITED drummer William "Wullie" Buchan, the younger brother of the band's lead singer Walter "Wattie" Buchan, suffered a heart attack Thursday night (March 11). Wattie revealed in a social media post earlier today that he is currently "in hospital waiting to see what's happening next" with his 56-year-old sibling, who has been a member of THE EXPLOITED, on and off, since 1983.

A punk rock band from Edinburgh, Scotland, THE EXPLOITED was formed in 1979 by Stevie Ross and Terry Buchan, with Buchan soon replaced by his brother Wattie. They signed to Secret Records in March 1981, and their debut EP, "Army Life", and debut album, "Punks Not Dead", were both released that year. THE EXPLOITED maintained a large cult following in the 1980s among a hardcore working class punk and skinhead audience. Originally a street punk act, THE EXPLOITED eventually became a crossover thrash band with the release of the "Death Before Dishonour" album in 1987.

Although THE EXPLOITED continues to perform live, it has not released any studio material since its last album, "Fuck The System", which came out in 2003.

Wattie's own health has made headlines in the past, including in 2014 when he suffered a heart attack while on stage. In 2017, while THE EXPLOITED was on tour, the singer again had to be hospitalized for what the band called a "very serious heart condition," adding that their frontman "almost died."


sending best wishes to Wullie Buchan

our drummer and my brother who had a heart attack last night

now in hospital waiting to see what's happening next with him

Posted by The Exploited on Friday, March 12, 2021

THE OFFSPRING singer Bryan "Dexter" Holland and guitarist Kevin "Noodles" Wasserman spoke to Lou Brutus of HardDrive Radio about the band's upcoming tenth studio album, "Let The Bad Times Roll", which will arrive on April 16 via Concord Records. The follow-up to 2012's "Days Go By" was produced by Bob Rock, who also worked on the band's last two LPs.

Speaking about the inspiration for the "Let The Bad Times Roll" album title, Dexter said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "We had a song two albums ago [on 2008's 'Rise And Fall, Rage And Grace'] called 'Shit Is Fucked Up'. We wrote that 'cause we thought how terrible things were in the world back then. But it actually got worse. So we had to come up with a new title, 'Let The Bad Times Roll'.

"You can apply it to a lot of things," he explained. "I mean, we're not a political band. Some people would apply it to the last administration. Some people would apply it to things that are going on today, or just how messed up everything is, trying to fix our pandemic and all that kind of stuff."

Added Noodles: "But really, it's not just an American-centric thing either, cause you're seeing stuff happening around the world. There's unrest happening literally everywhere — on all continents. You're seeing unrest, and then you're also seeing anti-democratic forces kind of taking power in some places, in which case causes more unrest. So, yeah, the whole world is a little bit of a scary place right now."

Dexter continued: "That's right. Climate change, climate deniers, vaccine, anti-vaxxers — whatever you want, it's out there."

Holland, Wasserman, drummer Pete Parada and new bassist Todd Morse wrote and recorded "Let The Bad Times Roll" in the last few years at various locations, including the band's studio in Huntington Beach, California.

In December, THE OFFSPRING released the official music video for its Rock-produced cover version of "Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)", a rock song originally sung by Darlene Love and included on the 1963 seasonal compilation album "A Christmas Gift For You" from Phil Spector.

Last April, THE OFFSPRING jumped on the "Tiger King" bandwagon by recording a cover version of THE CLINTON JOHNSON BAND's "Here Kitty Kitty", a song made popular by Joe Schreibvogel — better known as Joe Exotic, the "Tiger King" — through the Netflix docuseries.

Two years ago, bassist Gregory "Greg K." Kriesel, who hasn't performed with THE OFFSPRING since 2018, filed a federal lawsuit against Noodles and Dexter alleging trademark infringement and breach of partnership agreement over the rights to THE OFFSPRING name. In response, Holland and Wasserman filed a cross-complaint, denying basically everything Kriesel alleged and asking the court to appoint "three disinterested appraisers to appraise the fair value" of Kriesel's shares of THE OFFSPRING.

THE OFFSPRING has sold more than 40 million albums worldwide, won countless awards, and has toured consistently, playing more than 500 shows in the last decade alone. Their music has had a lasting impact across film, television, and video games.

In the nine-minute video below, ANTHRAX drummer Charlie Benante breaks down the song "Gung-Ho" from the band's classic second studio album, 1985's "Spreading The Disease". The clip was originally produced for Modern Drummer magazine.

Produced by ANTHRAX with Carl Canedy, the 44-minute "Spreading The Disease" marked the first ANTHRAX album to feature singer Joey Belladonna and bassist Frank Bello (joining drummer Benante and guitarists Dan Spitz and Scott Ian), and set into motion the core elements that would become the essence of ANTHRAX. In addition, the album also introduced the ANTHRAX writing partnership of Benante and Ian (that eventually evolved into Benante, Ian and Bello).

For Bello, "Spreading The Disease" was his full-on album recording baptism. Only 18 at the time, he hadn't yet fully realized his own style of playing, but over the course of the sessions, he developed it. "You can hear all of my influences on every song, Steve Harris, Geddy Lee, Geezer Butler, all of them." Bello said. He remembered that "Spreading The Disease" didn't quite come of age until later on, but it was definitely "simmering." "What we were doing was so fresh, so different — we had heavy songs with these great, melodic vocals — and eventually, people caught on and loved what we were doing. I think every song on 'Spreading The Disease' still stands up today," he said.

"Spreading The Disease" represented a turning point in rock. It came during a time when the landscape was transitioning from the "hair band scene" to a new composite of metal, punk and hardcore — thrash metal. The album was compelling and utterly fresh to the 1985 music fan with its speedy rhythms, savage riffs, blistering solos, punishing drum work and a killer melodic performance by Belladonna. Unlike the thrash bands sprouting up on the west coast that focused on speed, ANTHRAX's focus was on catchiness, hooks, and a hot and sweaty, New York mosh sensibility. And it wasn't just the music that was morphing, it was a whole new culture that was being birthed. And ANTHRAX, along with METALLICA, SLAYER and MEGADETH, was right at its nucleus.

"Spreading The Disease" contains several ANTHRAX standouts: "A.I.R.", with its great riffs and abundance of melody, "Madhouse", a testament to the band's top-notch song-writing skills that showcased their grasp of melody, and "Armed And Dangerous", a soulful ballad with its singalong chorus and spine-tingling performance by Belladonna. "Aftershock" is probably the album's punkiest song with its blistering guitar solo, and the closer, "Gung-Ho", with its out-and-out speed-kills blitzkrieg, is a superb piece of thrash metal.

"We didn't know what we were doing, but we totally knew what we were doing," said Ian. "I know that doesn't make sense, but it's where we were at, a bunch of 21-year-old kids making our major label debut on a shoestring budget with nothing but a dream and a bunch of songs that we thought killed. We were right and our dream came true. Thank you to all the fans that put this record and ANTHRAX on the map way back when and still support us today."

The 30th-anniversary edition of "Spreading The Disease" was made available in November 2015 via Universal.

Matthew Kiichi Heafy, the Japanese-American musician best known as the guitarist and lead vocalist for the Grammy-nominated heavy metal band TRIVIUM, has released the "Vengeance Falls" acoustic EP, featuring reworked versions of five songs from the group's 2013 album of the same name. You can now listen to it in the YouTube clip below.

Featured songs:

00:00 Strife

04:16 At The End of This War

08:33 Through Blood And Dirt And Bone

13:00 Wake (The End Is Nigh)

18:28 Losing My Religion

According to Heafy, there will be an acoustic EP for every record except 2020's "What The Dead Men Say".

Heafy is also an avid gamer who steadily built his Twitch profile to massive success in the past few years. His Twitch efforts have been featured by Microsoft, TechCrunch, Forbes and beyond. He is also a practitioner of Brazilian jiu-jitsu and a food connoisseur. Heafy streams daily on his Twitch channel "matthewkheafy," displaying the behind-the-scenes work it takes to stay in shape to play guitars and do vocals. He plays TRIVIUM songs by request and every day is a new show made by the fans, for the fans.

Some of Heafy's notable accomplishments include hosting the first-ever full metal gaming village at Wacken Open Air, competing against Ninja in the Twitch Rivals Summer Skirmish, competing and celebrating the opening of Full Sail's esports arena, creating Shroud's theme song, being Streamlab's top streamer merch seller of all time, being in the top 100 most subscribed to channels on Twitch, leading the charge as the pioneer of music streaming on Twitch (also partnering with Twitch to make the official how-to guides on streaming music on Twitch's help page), and co-founding the Metal & Honey Foundation, which supports the Orlando Health Arnold Palmer Hospital for children. 100% of the proceeds directly benefit the music therapy program.

Heafy also recently appeared on "The Drew Barrymore Show", where he surprised a fan and gifted him with a guitar.

TRIVIUM's ninth full-length album, "What The Dead Men Say", is available now via Roadrunner Records.

The official music video for the song "Picture Yourself" Danish vocalist Ronnie Atkins can be seen below. The track is taken from his new solo album, "One Shot", which is being released today (Friday, March 12) via Frontiers Music Srl.

"To be honest, I initially had no intention to do a solo album to begin with, but for various reasons, and in particularly my own personal health situation, I finally decided to have a crack at it," says Atkins.

"Around Easter 2020, and only some six weeks after I was told that everything seemingly looked very positive for my health, I was, unfortunately, diagnosed with stage 4 cancer and told it was incurable, which was devastating news for me. Needless to say, that was a total game changer and I went into kind of a panic situation for a while. But when the dust had settled, I realized there were two ways to approach the situation. I could sit down, accept the facts, and feel pity for myself or I could pull myself up, set some goals, pursue my dreams, and carry on living. And with fantastic backup from my family and true friends, I went for the latter."

With the global pandemic shutting down touring for the foreseeable future, Atkins knew a tour promoting the latest PRETTY MAIDS album, "Undress Your Madness" (2019), was not going to be in the cards anytime soon. Suddenly, the timing for working on a new solo album seemed to have presented itself.

"Well, I couldn't change the way things were, by any means," he says. "The whole world was on a lockdown and the future prospects of concerts were very uncertain and still is to this day. Basically, that meant that if I was gonna carry out the idea of a solo album, it had to be now since I don't necessarily have all the time in the world. I had all these ideas recorded on my iPhone that I felt were too good to never see the light of day and I was writing a lot at the time to help ease my frustrations."

Ronnie's next step was to hook up with good friend and PRETTY MAIDS bandmate and producer Chris Laney to begin the work of putting these ideas together into songs. Chris is overseeing production, Jacob Hansen will mix, and musicians/singers appearing on the album include, in addition to Laney, Allan Sørensen, Morten Sandager, Pontus Egberg, Pontus Norgren, Kee Marcello, Olliver Hartmann, John Berg, Anders Ringman, Linnea Vikström Egg and Björn Strid.

"Not being able to handle the recordings myself since I'm old school and a complete idiot when it comes to IT, Pro Tools, etc. I hooked up with my PRETTY MAIDS friend and firesoul Chris Laney, who literally cheered me up and convinced me to go ahead with it," Ronnie says. "So, I decided to get moving and literally recorded my ideas on either piano or guitar and with a mellotron click to keep the beat and the accompanying vocal. Then I would send these along to Chris, who did the instrumentation in Stockholm and would then send back demos to me. Then I recorded the vocals first, which is totally the opposite of what you'd normally do, but based on the uncertainty of my health situation, I wanted to get them down. After that we did the basic tracks, drums, guitars, keys, backing vocals, etc. Odd way of doing it, for me at least, but it worked. And so, this procedure slowly moved on during the summer and finally turned into an album of 12 new songs."

"I wouldn't have been able to carry out this project without the enthusiasm of Chris, who has been my constant partner in this project from day one," Atkins adds. "On top of that, I had the pleasure of working with a variety of great musicians/singers such as Pontus Norgren, Kee Marcello, Olliver Hartmann, Pontus Egberg, Linnea Vickström Egg, Björn Strid, and at last, but not at least, my PRETTY MAIDS relatives Allan Sørensen and Morten Sandager.

"Musically and lyrically, this album has been a different process for me, considering everything going on. Musically, it could have gone in various directions. It's always a question of what you want it to be. A good song is a good song, so it's really a matter of how it is packaged. But I decided to make it appeal to the fans, the supporters who've been following me for almost 40 years, so this is basically a melodic rock album with a heavy twist. Lyrically, it also has a different approach. I found it hard to write about sex, drugs, and rock'n'roll, etc. due to the situation I'm wrapped up in, so I guess it turned out a bit more personal and maybe melancholic at times. But it reflects my thoughts at the given time these lyrics were written."

"One Shot" track listing:

01. Real

02. Scorpio

03. One Shot

04. Subjugated

05. Frequency Of Love

06. Before The Rise Of An Empire

07. Miles Away

08. Picture Yourself

09. I Prophesize

10. One By One

11. When Dreams Are Not Enough

Lineup:

Ronnie Atkins: Lead and backing vocals

Chris Laney: Rhythm guitars, keyboards and backing vocals

Allan Sørensen: Drums

Morten Sandager: Keyboards

Pontus Egberg: Bass

Acoustic guitars: Anders Ringman

Lead guitars/solos: Pontus Norgren, Kee Marcello, Olliver Hartmann, John Berg, Chris Laney

Additional backing vocals: Chris Laney, Linnea Vikström Egg, Olliver Hartmann, Björn Strid

Produced by: Chris Laney

Mixed by Jacob Hansen

The 56-year-old Atkins was diagnosed with lung cancer in 2019 and underwent at least 33 radiation and four chemotherapy treatments in the fall of that year before being declared cancer-free. In October 2020, he announced that his cancer had returned.

Photo credit: Tallee Savage

A 16-minute documentary that takes fans behind the scenes of the recording of SAXON's upcoming covers album, "Inspirations", can be seen below. Due on March 19 via Silver Lining Music, the 11-track effort contains some of the superb classic rock songs that influenced singer Biff Byford and the rest of the band.

"Inspirations" was recorded at Brockfield Hall, near York in the U.K., which was built in 1804 and holds the largest collection of paintings by Yorkshire's impressionist artists — the Staithes Group. For Byford, recording "Inspirations" all together within such a rich historical environment was a major ingredient of the project. "The warmth and feel of 'Inspirations' had so much to do with being together in this magnificent place and doing it 'old-school' style," Byford explained. "This is how many bands back in the day —including some of the ones covered here — made such great albums, so it just felt really good to be able to do this somewhere like Brockfield Hall."

From the super-charged melodic romp of THE BEATLES' "Paperback Writer" to their freeway mad take on Jimi Hendrix's "Stone Free", SAXON show their love and appreciation with a series of faithful, raw and ready tributes. Maintaining a firm eye on the old-school way using Marshall cabs, Marshall amps, real drums and produced by Byford with Jacky Lehmann recording and mixing, SAXON approach the likes of MOTÖRHEAD's "Bomber" (with added whistle!), AC/DC's "Problem Child", BLACK SABBATH's "Evil Woman" and a raucous DEEP PURPLE's "Speed King" with refreshingly warm, unfiltered, "vintage"-sounding renditions.

"We wanted to do an album based on our influences, the songs and bands that inspired us to write what we did and still do," continued Byford, "and it was also interesting to see what my voice could do as I haven't sung many of these songs before."

Byford does, indeed, take on some new vocal challenges, which he duly smashes on the likes of THIN LIZZY's "The Rocker". The net result is that whether cranking up a heavyweight take on LED ZEPPELIN's "Immigrant Song" or throwing down AC/DC's "Problem Child", SAXON does a supreme job of entertaining both themselves and their audience throughout Inspirations.

"We didn't want to change any of the songs too much, just play them more like SAXON," concluded Byford, "and we also think it's very important to have — and share with the fans — some fun in these dark times."

You want even more proof of the validity behind that statement? Wrap your ears around their sparkling take on TOTO's "Hold The Line" and consider SAXON's "Inspirations" a mission accomplished.

"Inspirations" will be made available on vinyl, CD, digital formats and limited-edition D2C products.

Track listing:

01. Paint It Black

02. Immigrant Song

03. Paperback Writer

04. Evil Woman

05. Stone Free

06. Bomber

07. Speed King

08. The Rocker

09. Hold The Line

10. Problem Child

11. See My Friends

Frontiers Music Srl and STRYPER have announced that they have extended their working relationship for the release of more new studio albums together.

STRYPER and Frontiers originally joined forces in 2013 for the release of "Second Coming", an album comprised of new recordings of 14 songs from the band's early years, as well as two brand new songs. What followed has been a string of critically and commercially successful studio albums, including "No More Hell To Pay" (2013), "Fallen" (2015), "God Damn Evil" (2018) and "Even The Devil Believes" (2020). Additionally, a live album and long-form video, "Live At The Whisky" (2014) was made available. Every one of the albums released on Frontiers in the past eight years has successfully charted on the Billboard 200 chart and topped the Hot 100, Rock, Hard Rock, Current and Christian Music album charts.

STRYPER is one of the most well-known metal bands to emerge from the fertile '80s metal renaissance over three decades ago. The band first landed on the global scene in 1984 and and is responsible for such classic '80s metal albums as "Soldiers Under Command", "To Hell With The Devil" and "In God We Trust" and hit singles/videos such as "Calling On You", "Free" and "Honestly". To date, the band has sold upwards of eight million records worldwide and is a Dove Award winner and Grammy nominee. STRYPER was also the first band to have two songs in MTV's "Top 10 Video Countdown" simultaneously.

After being on a hiatus for much of the '90s, STRYPER returned stronger than ever in the early 21st century. Musically, the band has progressed and grown their fan base steadily and continuously, being one of the few "classic" metal bands of the '80s that managed to keep themselves front and center thanks to the consistency of their musical output.

Singer, main composer, guitarist and producer Michael Sweet says; "We're honored to be working with Frontiers again on the next STRYPER album. Serafino and the team at Frontiers has always believed in what we do and we've made some incredible albums together over the past eight years. They understand who we are and are passionate about our band and our brand. We're very grateful for that. We're so excited to be able to continue our relationship and I've always believed that the best is yet to come. We've released seven STRYPER albums together and it's been an amazing journey so far. I can't wait to get started on what will be our best album yet! We've strived to stay true to our roots and deliver what the fans expect — the classic STRYPER sound! Although we wish to continue doing so, we also want to branch out a little bit more and try something different as well. We'll keep stretching out and working hard to stay close to who we are yet experiment a bit more and try a few different things along the way. I know it will be an amazing album!"

Frontiers president Serafino Perugino says: "I second Michael's words. Working with STRYPER has been nothing but an absolute pleasure and an honor. They have vision, strong guidance and an outstanding work ethic and of course musically the guys are on fire! They have released outstanding albums and worked hard to promote them with countless interviews and on the road. Michael in particular is a major talent as singer, guitarist, performer, producer and songwriter and shares with me the vision of working on his output creatively. We will soon see him for new albums with Tracii Guns (SUNBOMB), Nathan James, Joel Hoekstra, Marco Mendoza and Tommy Aldridge (the name of which will be revealed soon), then for an album with Alessandro Del Vecchio, and finally also with SWEET & LYNCH for his third album with George Lynch. I can only admire and thank you and the guys for the trust and the faith they have put in our work. Long live STRYPER!"

Michael is joined in STRYPER by his brother Robert Sweet (drums), Oz Fox (guitars) and Perry Richardson (ba

Norwegian metal avant-gardists ENSLAVED have paid tribute to Lars-Göran "LG" Petrov. The pioneering ENTOMBED and ENTOMBED A.D. singer died on Sunday, March 7 after a battle with bile duct cancer. He was 49 years old.

Earlier today, the members of ENSLAVED shared a couple of photos of them hanging out with Petrov, and they included the following message: "Dear LG, dear friend, when we heard about your unfortunate passing, we felt we lost a part of ourselves. Your impact on us, for more than 30 years, has largely contributed to shape our musical DNA. When we picked up 'Left Hand Path' in the summer of 1990, we just thought 'This is our musical path, this is where we are heading'. The energy and madness you unveiled with your bone chilling vocals on this album has never left us. This is still THE to-visit-album when we feel nostalgic and beer-thirsty.

"'Left Hand Path' was the first mutual ground for us. When we met at the first PHOBIA rehearsal in 1990, Ivar wanted to sound like Uffe and Alex, and Grutle wanted to sound like LG. Robert Plant and Freddie Mercury wasn't the biggest vocalists in 1990, it was Chris Reifert and LG Petrov, period.

"Some years later we would meet each other at festivals around the globe, and we became friends. We even had some collaborations! At an ENSLAVED/ENTOMBED gig in Gothenburg in 2006, Grutle joined LG on vocals on 'Left Hand Path', and when ENSLAVED assembled a special show, including cover songs, at Hole In The Sky 2009, LG was the first one we contacted. He ended up doing vocals on, of course, 'Left Hand Path'. That was a huge moment for us, and stands out like a monolithic milestone in our career.

"On a personal-off stage manner, meeting LG was like an injection of vitamins and positivity! Whenever we met him (like on this pic of a hungover-like-a-freakin'-baboon-moment from an early morning on an airport somewhere) we always ended up having a laugh and we all cheered up, always.

"LG, you had an absolutely unique down-to-earth precence as well as being an out of this world talented musican and frontman. We were all lesser men beside you.

"Shine on LG, you crazy diamond".

Last year, Petrov revealed his cancer diagnosis, writing in a note on a GoFundMe page that doctors were unable to remove the cancer, but were trying to "control it with chemotherapy."

Petrov originally fronted the cult Swedish death metal band NIHILIST in the late 1980s, before the group split and reformed as ENTOMBED.

ENTOMBED's acclaimed debut, 1990's "Left Hand Path", landed at No. 82 on Rolling Stone's list of the "100 Greatest Metal Albums Of All Time".

ENTOMBED A.D. was formed in 2014 when Petrov and other members of ENTOMBED decided to change the band's name in order to avoid a legal battle with ENTOMBED guitarist Alex Hellid who didn't want his former bandmates to use the ENTOMBED moniker.
























View this post on Instagram









































A post shared by Enslaved (@enslavedofficial)

According to TMZ, Gene Simmons has relisted his house in the Benedict Canyon area of Los Angeles for $25 million. The KISS bassist/vocalist previously put the home up for sale back in October for $22 million, but it never sold and he reportedly invested a lot of money in making improvements.

When Gene originally put the house on the market, he told The Wall Street Journal that he and his wife, Shannon Simmons, were moving to a 24-acre estate in Washington, near Mount Rainier, to escape the tax burden of living in California.

"California and Beverly Hills have been treating folks that create jobs badly and the tax rates are unacceptable," Gene said. "I work hard and pay my taxes and I don't want to cry the Beverly Hills blues, but enough is enough."

Gene bought the house in 1984 for $1.35 million and reportedly put as much as $12 million into the property over the last three and a half decades. In addition to a 16,000-square-foot mansion, there is a swimming pool with a 60-foot slide, a tennis court and parking for 35 cars.

Last summer, Simmons put his hillside home in Laurel Canyon on the market for $2.2 million.

Gene and Shannon, a former Playboy Playmate Of The Year in 1982, were married in 2011 after dating since 1975. They have two children, Nick, 31, and Sophie, 28.

Gene, Shannon and their kids all appeared on the reality TV series "Gene Simmons Family Jewels" from 2006 until 2012.

For the past few months, Gene has been vocal about people taking the COVID-19 outbreak seriously. He has also blasted Americans who are defiantly skeptical of mask wearing, saying that their refusal to follow the rules is putting all of our health at risk.

In its 48-year career, KISS has accumulated 23 gold and platinum albums — more than any other U.S. band.




Gene Simmons Selling Renovated Beverly Hills Mansion for $25 Million https://t.co/qNKEWEAvyE

— TMZ (@TMZ) March 12, 2021

Ace Frehley recently checked in with AXS TV to show viewers a few of the pieces in his rock and roll memorabilia collection. From a specially made and aged replica of his 1959 Les Paul guitar (don't worry, he has 12 of them) to his favorite vintage piece of art, the KISS founding member joins AXS TV on its version of "show and tell," "Rock & Tell".

Last December, Frehley told Talking Metal Live that he would begin recording his next all-original album "after the New Year." The record will be the follow-up to "Spaceman", which was released in October 2018 via eOne.

According to Ace, he has spent the last few months building a full-fledged recording studio at his new house in New Jersey. "It's not the first studio I've ever built," he said. "If you remember, in the '70s, when I lived in Connecticut, I spent $800,000 building a studio underground next to my home. But studios are nothing new to me, and I design 'em wherever I go; wherever I live, I always have a place to work. But the new place I'm in now has a 3,000-square-foot basement, so I've got plenty of room. The beauty of it is because of this virus, everybody's supposed to stay home," he continued. "Well, I don't have a problem staying home now, because I work from my house anyway."

Asked if he is already writing music for his next solo album or if he is planning to begin the process once the studio has been completed, Ace said: "I've been writing all along. Plus, I have tracks that I've already recorded that I have to revisit and decide whether they have a chance to make it on my new studio record — [if they] have to be rewritten or [they're] just good the way they are. And I've got people sending me song ideas constantly… So, little by little, it's an ongoing process, and it evolves as it goes."

Earlier last year, Frehley told Canada's iHeart Radio that he has "only written about three songs" for his next LP, and he added they were "not finished." He said: "Now that I'm [living] on the East Coast [after moving to New Jersey from Southern California], my engineer only lives an hour from me, Alex Salzman, who worked with me extensively on this last record, and he played a lot of bass guitar as well, So it's gonna be even easier, 'Origins Vol. 3' and the next [original] record."

Frehley's latest release was "Origins Vol. 2", the sequel to his 2016 collection of cover songs that inspired the former KISS guitarist.

"These albums are becoming fun," he told iHeart Radio. "I just re-signed with eOne, and they want an 'Origins Vol. 3' after the next studio record. But it's become a really fun process. It's much easier than doing a studio record where you have to write the material yourself. I'm basically just taking other people's material that influenced me as a kid and putting my stamp on it."

"Origins Vol. 2" featured cover versions of THE BEATLES' "I'm Down", DEEP PURPLE's "Space Truckin'", LED ZEPPELIN's "Good Times Bad Times", THE ROLLING STONES' "Jumpin' Jack Flash", THE KINKS' "Lola" and THE JIMI HENDRIX EXPERIENCE's "Manic Depression", among others. A cover of the 1975 KISS tune "She" also appeared as a bonus track. Guests on the set included CHEAP TRICK's Robin Zander, Lita Ford and former KISS guitarist Bruce Kulick.

KISS bassist/vocalist Gene Simmons co-wrote two tracks on "Spaceman", "Without You I'm Nothing" and "Your Wish Is My Command", the latter of which also features Simmons's bass playing.