Shawn "Clown" Crahan, co-founder and creative visionary of SLIPKNOT, has announced the launch of Vernearth, a sprawling, multi-mode Minecraft universe designed to redefine community-driven survival, creativity, and competition, has released a new trailer that gives Minecraft players a sneak peek into the mysterious realm of Vernearth.

Built on custom technology, handcrafted environments, and a play philosophy that rewards mastery across survival, PVP, creativity, and hardcore challenges, Vernearth launches with four major game modes: Oblivion, PVP/Event, Plotworld, and Challenge Mode. Together they form a unified ecosystem that supports every type of player. These modes will be rolled out starting at launch systematically to ensure a smooth player experience, so some of these modes may not be available right away. Explorers and builders to streamers, competitors, and high-stakes achievers will all have something innovative to experience in Vernearth, like:

Oblivion - The Core World

Oblivion is the heart of Vernearth. It's a vast, custom-generated survival world that blends realism with corrupted "clown"-inspired elements. Players explore treacherous terrain, battle custom factions, and uncover the lore behind the three great capital cities: Raziel, Seniomsed, and The City of Eternal.

PVP / Event Server - The Arena

Designed for fast, high-intensity competition, the PVP/Event server delivers recurring weekly tournaments and creator-friendly content moments. Players fight across four bespoke arena:

* The Circle Sphere
* The Blood Square
* The Blood Oval
* UnEden

There will be modes like Last Man Standing and Duels, earning "War" currency that unlocks exclusive cosmetics and items.

Plotworld - The Sanctuary

Plotworld provides a safe, collaborative creative space where players can build freely, merge plots, host social activities, and enter monthly build contests. With access to creative mode, limited WorldEdit, and a permanent Hall of Fame showcase, Plotworld gives players a way to contribute artistically to the world of Vernearth.

Challenge Mode - Vernearth's Signature Experience

Challenge Mode is a seasonal, limited-time hardcore world with only one rule: one life. Each 45-day season introduces a new SLIPKNOT-inspired theme, custom world generation, brutal mechanics, and high-stakes objectives.

Seasons:

Vernearth's Season Mode evolves from the blood-red, Heretic-Lord–ruled chaos of Season 1: The Heretic Anthem, to the twilight-shrouded decay of Season 2: The Dying Song where players fight to forge the Beacon of Life, and finally into the unpredictable madness of Season 3: Friend or Foe?, a world where mobs, loot, blocks, and consumables shift with total randomness.

Survivors earn permanent titles, exclusive cosmetics, Hall of Heroes placement, and a share of the prize pool.

Crahan is a founding member of the Grammy-winning band SLIPKNOT and a multidisciplinary creator across music, film, design, and interactive media. Vernearth continues his legacy of merging dark surrealist artistry with new frontiers in creative technology.

A BATTLE BEAST concertgoer died after suffering a heart attack during the band's performance Monday night (December 1) at Bratislava, Slovakia's Majestic Music Club.

Earlier today, BATTLE BEAST released the following statement via social media: "Yesterday in Bratislava, we were forced to stop the show due to a severe medical emergency in the audience, which tragically resulted in a person's death.

"We want to thank the local crew and promoter for responding to the situation with professionalism and care.

"To everyone who was present, thank you for your patience, respect, and understanding during such a shocking and difficult moment. We share in the grief and heaviness that many of you are feeling.

"Our deepest condolences go out to the family and loved ones of the person who passed away.

Support act DOMINUM added in a separate statement: "Bratislava, thank you for that amazing show we had together. We truly felt your energy, and we were completely hyped. Shortly after, during BATTLE BEAST's set, one person suffered a heart attack. Tragically, the person did not make it, and our thoughts are with the family.

"This is a situation we have never been in before, and we find ourselves missing the right words. But what we can say is how deeply moved we were by all of you. Thank you, from the bottom of our hearts, for staying calm, for reacting so quickly, and for trying to help without a second thought.

"We are incredibly grateful for the way you stood together in such a difficult moment. Seeing a community care for one another so naturally, so instinctively, reminded us how powerful and meaningful this connection between all of us can be — not just during the music, but beyond it.

"Thank you for being there for each other.

"Our condolences go out to the family in these tough times."

Opening act MAJESTICA also addressed the incident, writing on social media: "Bratislava, we had a great time playing for you last night! Sadly the night tragically ended too early. Just a few of songs into the BATTLE BEAST set, one person suffered a heart attack and sadly didn't make it. Our thoughts are with the family. Thank you for being so patient, staying calm and reacting so quickly to try and help."

BATTLE BEAST kicked off its European tour on October 17 with the band's biggest German headline show to date at Hamburg's Inselpark Arena. The trek, with DOMINUM as the special guest and Sweden's rising power metal force MAJESTICA as the opening act, will keep BATTLE BEAST on the road until mid-December.

BATTLE BEAST released its seventh studio album, "Steelbound", in October via Nuclear Blast.

In May, BATTLE BEAST released the first single from "Steelbound", a song called "Last Goodbye". The album's second single, the "Steelbound" title track, followed in June.

BATTLE BEAST released its first live album, "Circus Of Doom - Live in Helsinki 2023", on April 11 via Nuclear Blast Records.

Image courtesy of RunoPe

Yesterday in Bratislava, we were forced to stop the show due to a severe medical emergency in the audience, which...

Posted by Battle Beast on Tuesday, December 2, 2025

Bratislava, thank you for that amazing show we had together. We truly felt your energy, and we were completely...

Posted by Dominum on Tuesday, December 2, 2025

Bratislava 🇸🇰, we had a great time playing for you last night!

Sadly the night tragically ended too early. Just a few...

Posted by Majestica on Tuesday, December 2, 2025

On November 16, 2025 at the San Antonio Fear Fest in San Antonio, Texas, EXODUS guitarist Gary Holt spoke to Robb Chavez of Robbs MetalWorks about his friendship with fellow thrash metal pioneer Dave Mustaine of MEGADETH. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Yeah. We've done lots of tours with MEGADETH. And Dave's been one of my closest friends, musical friends, since the beginning. We hung out when he was in METALLICA. And I saw him when the last MEGADETH tour went [through]. I hadn't seen him in years. It's always like old friends."

Asked for his opinion on Mustaine's recent announcement that MEGADETH would release its final studio album and complete a farewell tour in support of it, Gary said: "He's earned it. I still love doing what I do, but I'd be lying if I said, man, the idea of retirement, after two or three more years…' 'Cause I'm 61 now. Do I wanna go till I'm 70? I don't know. But I can't retire. I need to keep working. So I'm gonna keep going as long as I can. But he's earned it, and I'm sure it's gonna be fucking awesome for him."

After Chavez noted that former MEGADETH bassist David Ellefson recently questioned Mustaine's motives for announcing the MEGADETH farewell, suggesting perhaps that it was a ploy to boost ticket sales for the upcoming tour, Holt said: "I think his ticket sales are fine without it. We're not getting any younger. And [Mustaine] said himself the tour is gonna be two to three years. I think Dave's one year older than me, so [he's] 62 — that's gonna put him to 65 years old. I have three grandkids. I'd love to spend more time at home with 'em. Next year, when the new [EXODUS] album comes out, I'm gonna be on tour more than ever. So, I'm making the sacrifices now, so that maybe by the time I am 65 I can slow down, maybe do a festival here and there. I don't know. We'll see."

Holt was also asked for his opinion about the announcement that the final MEGADETH album, simply titled "Megadeth", would include Mustaine's version of "Ride The Lightning", the title track of METALLICA's 1984 album for which Dave got a co-writing credit following Mustaine's 1983 departure from the band. Gary said: "I haven't heard it yet. [Mustaine] wrote, I guess, probably half the [original] song, so why not? I can't wait to hear it, actually… Let's wait and hear it. I bet he plays it faster. When [EXODUS] did 'Tempo Of The Damned' and stuff and we went out on tour with MEGADETH, [Mustaine] put 'Mechanix' back in the set, 'cause I asked him to. And he played it at the old tempo — super fast."

"Mechanix" was the original version of "The Four Horsemen", the METALLICA song that was co-written by Mustaine and included on METALLICA's debut album, 1983's "Kill 'Em All'. METALLICA wrote new lyrics and renamed the song "The Four Horsemen" after Dave was kicked out of the band. The track "Mechanix" later appeared on MEGADETH's debut album, 1985's "Killing Is My Business...And Business Is Good!".

Holt's former bandmate, original EXODUS guitarist Kirk Hammett, was asked to join METALLICA 42 years ago as the replacement for Mustaine.

Although EXODUS rarely gets mentioned alongside the so-called "Big Four" of 1980s thrash metal — METALLICA, MEGADETH, SLAYER and ANTHRAX — the band's debut album, 1985's "Bonded By Blood", inspired the likes of TESTAMENT, DEATH ANGEL, VIO-LENCE and many others to launch their careers and is considered one of the most influential thrash metal LPs of all time.

More than a decade ago, Mustaine was asked by Radio.com which band should have been included if the "Big Four" (METALLICA, MEGADETH, SLAYER and ANTHRAX) were expanded and considered the "Big Five". Mustaine said: "You know, people will say there's a whole another generation, like the 'Medium Four' [laughs], and I think there's a lot of great bands that fit that bill, too. But I think probably EXODUS, because there was nobody else at the time that had that kind of pull or that kind of importance in the metal community. Granted, it was with [late EXODUS singer Paul] Baloff, and Baloff had a voice that you had to have an acquired taste for, but you know, I liked him."

EXODUS and ANTHRAX will support MEGADETH on a Canadian tour in February/March 2026.

LION'S SHARE is back — stronger than ever! With six acclaimed albums and a string of successful digital singles, the Swedish heavy metal powerhouse is set to unleash its long-awaited comeback album, "Inferno", on March 27, 2026, through German label Metalville Records. This marks the band's first full-length studio album in 17 years, making it one of the most highly anticipated comebacks in the scene.

"For us, 'Inferno' is more than just a new album — it's a statement," says LION'S SHARE guitarist Lars Chriss. "We've spent years writing, refining, and pushing ourselves harder than ever. The goal was simple: make the strongest, heaviest, and most focused LION'S SHARE record of our career. I honestly feel we've achieved that. This is the album where everything fell into place."

LION'S SHARE vocalist Nils Patrik Johansson adds: "Taking 17 years between albums wasn't the plan — but it allowed us to come back with fire in our veins. We've never sounded tighter, and we can't wait to bring these songs to the stage. This album has the attitude, the hooks, the power… everything that made us fall in love with heavy metal in the first place. We're incredibly proud of 'Inferno'."

Formed in Sundsvall, Sweden, in 1987 by Chriss and keyboardist Kay Backlund, LION'S SHARE quickly carved out a unique sound through relentless rehearsals and high-voltage live shows. Their 1995 self-titled debut opened the door to extensive touring — including full-scale tours and extended runs alongside genuine metal titans such as MOTÖRHEAD, SAXON, DIO, MANOWAR, U.D.O. and Dee Snider.

Along the way, LION'S SHARE has collaborated with members of some of the most legendary bands in the world, including KISS, MEGADETH, KING DIAMOND, CANDLEMASS, SYMPHONY X and Yngwie Malmsteen. Albums like "Emotional Coma" and "Dark Hours" have earned critical praise for their razor-sharp riffing, massive hooks, and a perfect balance of heaviness and melody.

Since 2017, LION'S SHARE has operated as a dynamic duo, with Chriss on guitar and Johansson on vocals, calling on trusted friends for live and studio collaborations.

Now, with "Inferno", LION'S SHARE is ready to reclaim their place at the forefront of the heavy metal scene — a blazing comeback that promises to deliver everything fans have been waiting for and more.

"Inferno" recording lineup:

Nils Patrik Johansson - Vocals
Lars Chriss - Guitars
Andy Loos - Bass
Kay Backlund - Keyboards
Anuviel - Keyboards
Fredrik Johansson - Drums

Touring/live lineup:

Nils Patrik Johansson - Vocals
Lars Chriss - Guitar
Andy Loos - Bass
Magnus Ulfstedt - Drums

During an appearance on the latest episode of "The David Ellefson Show" podcast, founding METAL CHURCH guitarist Kurdt Vanderhoof spoke about the band's new lineup, in which he is joined by longtime guitarist Rick Van Zandt, bass icon David Ellefson (MEGADETH),powerhouse drummer Ken Mary (FLOTSAM AND JETSAM, FIFTH ANGEL, ALICE COOPER, HOUSE OF LORDS, TKO, CHASTAIN) and dynamic new vocalist Brian Allen (VICIOUS RUMORS). Regarding how the latest version of METAL CHURCH came to be, Kurdt said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Well, it was a couple years ago, after we just did our Australia run. And when we came back, things just really fell apart. Stet [Howland, former METAL CHURCH drummer] quit, Stet left, 'cause he wasn't happy with the way business was going. The other two guys kind of felt the same. I felt the same for different reasons, and for me, it was, like, 'This isn't any fun and this is no good.' And at my age, at this many years of doing this, if it's not fun. I'm out. If there's just drama and stuff like that, I'm just not interested. So I let everyone know, 'Hey, I'm shutting this down. Sorry. I'm done with this. This is not working.' And, basically, I thought we were done. And then about a year and a half later, just out of the blue, these opportunities [came up] with people that were interested that would be a good fit if I was to resurrect the band, and it kind of resurrected itself. We ended up getting Brian Allen, the singer, who came through his friend, and our friend as well, Todd La Tore from QUEENSRŸCHE. He had pushed Brian to send some kind of audition tapes or something to me and to Joe [O'Brien] at Rat Pak [Records, METAL CHURCH's record label]. And he did, but I didn't know it at the time. And all of a sudden Joe sends me a couple of MP3 files. He goes, 'Hey, check this out.' And it was 'Start The Fire' and a song off 'The Human Factor'. And I started playing 'Start The Fire', and I was, like, 'Is this an unreleased vocal track of David Wayne?' I was, like, 'Wow. All right.' And then I listened to the other one, and it's, like, 'Well, he's singing the Mike Howe stuff too.' Again, at this point, I really hadn't made any decisions on what was gonna happen. Again, I thought we were done. And so that was very inspiring. That was kind of, like, 'All right. Well, okay. That just came out of nowhere to me. What are you trying to tell me?' And then after that, it was through Rat Pak — Dave was in contact with Rat Pak because of the ELLEFSON-SOTO record. And the discussion just kind of started."

Kurdt continued: "So, I guess to make a long story endless, I had really no intentions of starting up the band again, but the band resurrected itself through those kind of channels, and it was just something that just kept going step by step. Again, very similar to what happened a few years ago with the 'Congregation Of Annihilation' [2023] lineup. Again, I didn't really plan on it. It's the band that wouldn't die. So I'm embracing it, and it's really great. And to have somebody like Dave, and then also to bring Ken Mary on, and then to have Brian, who's just really nailing the METAL CHURCH sound. It's, like, 'Well, this is definitely worth doing.' And with the new song and the reaction to the new video, it seems to be a good thing to do. So that's kind of the long and short of it, basically. Again, it just kind of happened."

Elaborating on how the material for the upcoming METAL CHURCH album came together, Kurdt said: "Like I said, I'm sitting here and all of a sudden these great people just became available and were interested in doing this. And I had to literally stop, 'cause I was, like, 'Wait. What? I hadn't planned on this.' I wrote a bunch of metal stuff and a bunch of riffs and stuff, which I do anyway.

"When everything fell apart, I went on to make other records," he explained. "I did the HALL AFLAME record, the new PRESTO BALLET record, which are different styles, but I'm always writing something. So there was this pile of stuff, and it was already kind of right there. So as this thing kind of fell into place, it was definitely ready to go. And also [former METAL CHURCH drummer] Jeff Plate was initially gonna be involved [with the new METAL CHURCH lineup] when we decided to go forward, and he started, but then as the thing started, the SAVATAGE reunion just took off, and I couldn't be happier for him. So he wasn't able to really see it through. But kudos to Jeff… 'Cause they're [SAVATAGE] kicking ass right now and it's doing great. So he couldn't be involved. And then Ken Mary became available. And Ken and I have a history, 'cause we're both from Seattle and we did shows together way back in the day, in the mid-'80s, with TKO. And while we were in the studio with [producer] Terry Date, he was in the studio with FIFTH ANGEL, with Terry Date. Terry was playing our stuff to him and he was playing [their] stuff to us, and so there's this big incestuous kind of thing. So Ken Mary being available and interested in doing it just made perfect sense."

Last month, the new METAL CHURCH lineup released its first single, "F.A.F.O.". The track was produced by Vanderhoof and mixed/mastered by Chris "Zeuss" Harris at Planet Z. Those sessions have now evolved into a brand-new METAL CHURCH album, set for release in 2026 via Rat Pak Records. Additional details will be announced soon.

METAL CHURCH plans to tour extensively in 2026 and some festival dates have already been announced with more to come.

Born out of the explosive West Coast metal scene of the early '80s, METAL CHURCH quickly established themselves as one of the genre's most formidable and musically sophisticated bands. After signing with Elektra Records, the group released two landmark albums — their self-titled debut "Metal Church" and its follow-up "The Dark" — both of which remain essential listening in the heavy metal canon. As the U.S. metal wave surged, METAL CHURCH hit the road with labelmates METALLICA, further solidifying their reputation for precision, power, and uncompromising intensity.

The band continued to evolve into the late '80s and early '90s, tackling political and social themes with vocalist Mike Howe on the acclaimed albums "Blessing In Disguise" and "The Human Factor". While many peers shifted toward the era's commercial trends, METAL CHURCH stayed true to their heavy roots — a commitment that earned them a loyal global following.

In 2016, the band reunited with Howe for their eleventh studio album "XI", which debuted at No. 57 on the Billboard Top 200 and charted internationally, marking one of the strongest comebacks in modern metal. Its 2018 successor, "Damned If You Do", continued that momentum with additional worldwide chart success and reaffirmed the band's enduring relevance.

Singer Marc Lopes joined METAL CHURCH in the summer of 2022 as the replacement for Howe, who tragically passed away in July of 2021. Lopes's first and only studio album with METAL CHURCH, "Congregation Of Annihilation", came out in May 2023 via Rat Pak Records (America) and Reaper Entertainment (Europe). The LP was produced by Vanderhoof.

METAL CHURCH made its live debut with Lopes on June 3, 2023 at the Legions Of Metal festival at Reggies in Chicago, Illinois.

Photo credit: Rick Moyer

In a new interview released today on The Sonic Road Podcast, CORROSION OF CONFORMITY bassist Bobby Landgraf revealed some of the band's plans for 2026, including a U.S. tour with CLUTCH which will tentatively take place in April. A European run will follow in June and July. Speaking with podcast host Beau McGranahan, Landgraf also confirmed that CORROSION OF CONFORMITY's upcoming follow-up to 2018's "No Cross No Crown" will be a double album. Landgraf went deep into the experience of recording the new material with renowned drummer Stanton Moore (GALACTIC). Landgraf described a revitalized energy in the studio, crediting Moore with bringing a unique, funk-driven heaviness to the classic C.O.C. sound.

"[CORROSION OF CONFORMITY guitarist/vocalist] Pepper [Keenan] has a home studio in Mississippi, and that was when I was in a room with Stanton," Bobby explained (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET). "And, man, when I was standing there to Stanton Moore and we had two weeks of living together at the house and just being in each other's heads and there was nowhere to go — there's nowhere to go get in trouble; you're just there working on the stuff. And, yeah, I learned so much from Stanton — to be a bass player, to really hit the right spots and to catch that one. And, man, Stanton is such a big inspiration to me — and Pepper and Woody [Weatherman, CORROSION OF CONFORMITY guitarist]. He did [2005's] 'In The Arms Of God' record before [with CORROSION OF CONFORMITY], so he'd already done that, which is a killer record."

Bobby continued: "To be able to play with Stanton really, I think, elevated my bass-playing game more than… I'm not talking any shit about any other drummers, but Stanton, I believe, really helped me elevate my bass game. So when we wrote all these songs together, we had the best two weeks. We had the big room. The producer was there in the house with us, so we recorded every mistake, every goof-off, every mess-around thing, and some of the stuff came right off the floor."

Asked what made CORROSION OF CONFORMITY decide to release a double album now, Bobby said: "I will just go with what I watched happen in front of me, which is that we probably did 15, 16, maybe even more, songs at the writing session, so it came time to record and we just did it all. And Pepper's got a really good relationship with the label. They trust him. He [said], 'We gotta make this a double record.' They're, like, 'Okay.' I don't recall ever hearing a pushback story from the label. Pepper said, 'This is what I wanna do.' And they said, 'Well, then let's do it.' And then that just opened it all up to really getting into the recordings."

"Pepper has a brilliant concept for the record," Landgraf revealed. "For each side, it's different. The songs on this record go together, the songs on this record go together. And it's a very conceptual record. [It's got] beautiful artwork. Fantastic artwork, and it's amazing. And it will be a serious headphone record. You'll wanna sit at home and put phones on. Don't rip off the record by just hearing it on your telephone or your white earbuds."

CORROSION OF CONFORMITY's new LP will tentatively be released in late March or early April 2026 via Nuclear Blast.

Some of guitar-recording sessions for the effort took place at a private Miami, Florida studio owned by Barry Gibb of the BEE GEES.

"Warren Riker, our producer, is so great," Bobby said. "He made us sound so great… They went to Barry Gibb's house because of our mutual friend Steve Gibb. Steve played in BLS [BLACK LABEL SOCIETY] and CROWBAR, so he said, 'Hey, man, come to my house. My dad's got the spot.' So they did guitars there. We went back to Pepper's studio and recorded some more guitars there and some vocals and this and that. So there was a lot of back and forth."

Regarding the musical direction of the new CORROSION OF CONFORMITY material, Bobby said: "There's heavy stuff that you'd expect from C.O.C., and there's some groovy stuff that you might not expect… Usually — I don't know; I'll just say the words AC/DC, and every song's gonna kind of have a thing to 'em. This is not that at all. You never know where you're going for the next song. Pepper did that by design. There's little interlude stuff, PINK FLOYD-y stuff in the middle of songs, a narration and talking and some sci-fi…"

This past September, CORROSION OF CONFORMITY released a special rendition of "Fire And Water" by English rock band FREE. The classic track was originally made availale in 1970 on the FREE album of the same name. CORROSION OF CONFORMITY's version came spontaneously in the studio during some downtime while recording their forthcoming new full-length, and serves as the first of the "Riffissippi Studio Jam Sessions", a special collection of jammed out interpretations of songs by some of the band's favorite artists.

CORROSION OF CONFORMITY recently completed a North American tour supporting JUDAS PRIEST and Alice Cooper. The trek, which commenced on September 16 in Biloxi, Mississippi and ran through October 26 in Houston, Texas, included several CORROSION OF CONFORMITY one-off headlining shows scattered throughout.

Since forming in 1982, CORROSION OF CONFORMITY has woven their distinct riffs deep into the fabric of heavy metal for over four decades. Across ten landmark, critically acclaimed albums, the band has continued evolving. From the early days of thrash to their more recent, blues-infused metal, CORROSION OF CONFORMITY has managed to progress with each release keeping fans and critics alike guessing.

CORROSION OF CONFORMITY's last full-length album, "No Cross No Crown", was released in 2018 via Nuclear Blast Entertainment. Recorded with longtime producer John Custer, the record marked the first studio recording with guitarist/vocalist Pepper Keenan in over a decade and, earning the No. 67 spot on the Billboard Top 200 chart, No. 12 on the Billboard Top Current Albums chart, and No. 3 on the Top Hard Music Albums chart upon its first week of release, is the highest-charting album of the band's career.

In October 2024, CORROSION OF CONFORMITY recruited onetime DOWN guitarist and current PANTERA bass tech Landgraf to play bass for the band on the 2024 edition of the Headbangers Boat cruise. He has since joined CORROSION OF CONFORMITY in the studio and on the concert stage.

In September 2024, CORROSION OF CONFORMITY's founding bassist Mike Dean announced his departure from the band.

Reed Mullin died in January 2020 at the age of 53. The drummer, who co-founded CORROSION OF CONFORMITY in 1982 as a hardcore punk act alongside Weatherman and Dean, had missed a number of shows in the preceding four years due to a variety of health issues, including an alcohol-related seizure he suffered back in June 2016.

In 2014, after nearly a straight decade traversing the globe as a guitarist with New Orleans supergroup DOWN, Pepper reconnected with the core CORROSION OF CONFORMITY trio of Weatherman, Dean and Mullin to hit the road hard. "Reed called me and mentioned maybe playing a couple shows," Keenan recalled back in 2017. "I said, 'Let's just go to Europe and see if it works.' So we went to Europe and then ended up going back four times in one year... We toured for a year and then started tracking."

CORROSION OF CONFORMITY recorded "No Cross No Crown" in about forty days over the course of a year at a North Carolina studio with longtime producer John Custer.

Former VENOM members Jeff "Mantas" Dunn (guitar) and Antony "Abaddon" Bray (drums) reunited for a special concert on Sunday, November 30 at Shinjuku Antiknock, a legendary music venue in Tokyo, Japan.

Dunn and Bray performed three VENOM classics alongside some of Japan's finest black metal players: Masaki "Gezol" Tachi (SABBAT) on bass and vocals, Mirai Kawashima (SIGH) on vocals, Shinji "Samm" Tachi (METALUCIFER) on drums, and Noboru "Jero" Sakuma (ABIGAIL) on guitar. Support at the gig came from SURVIVE and HELL FREEZES OVER.

Video of the "Welcome To Hell" performance from the Shinjuku Antiknock concert, courtesy of the Roppongi Rocks channel on YouTube, can be seen below.

Mantas and Abaddon recently announced that they will celebrate the 45th anniversary of VENOM's classic debut album, 1981's "Welcome To Hell", at various festivals in 2026, including Germany's Keep It True and Belgium's Graspop Metal Meeting. Speaking to MetalKaoz, Dunn confirmed that the door is open for VENOM bassist/vocalist Conrad "Cronos" Lant to take part in the reunion.  "I'll tell you right now that for 2026, the 45th anniversary of 'Welcome To Hell', Cronos has been invited," Mantas said. "He was invited by me. He was invited by the lawyers in the [recent] court case [involving Cronos and Abaddon]. His answer was, 'It's not worth my time.' That was his answer."

Mantas added that the prospect of spending time with Cronos again was not something he would ever look forward to.

"What I say to people is this. Fair enough, everybody wants to see their favorite members back together. We know that. 'And, oh, yeah, just travel separate. Just go in separate hotels.' We've done all that," Mantas explained. "We've done that. We did it on the first reunion. Okay, think of the most toxic relationship you've ever been involved in, how it made you feel. At your age now, invite it back into your life."

Mantas also touched upon the lawsuit Cronos filed against Abaddon and Plastic Head Music Distribution Ltd in June 2024 in which he accused the distributor of selling merchandise with Lant's copyrighted VENOM designs and Bray of approving the infringement through a licensing agreement. The dispute revolved around the fact that both parties were licensing and selling official VENOM merchandise featuring the contested designs.

Reflecting on VENOM's early days, Mantas said: "We were three young guys in a band, happy to be in a band and jamming. And that was it. And to us, at that particular point, it didn't matter who wrote the songs or who did the drawings or whatever. It was one for all and all for one. And that's why everything went the three ways for the first two albums. But then, when you get a bit wise at the business and everything like that, it's, like, you think, 'Wow. I wrote all that stuff and everybody else is still getting a share.' I don't mind that. That's the songs. That is the songs. And at the end of the day, you put those songs out into the world and you are giving them to the people.

"Now, it doesn't matter what your logo looks like," he continued. "It doesn't matter how good your album cover is. It doesn't matter what your image is, how much leather you are wearing or what guitar you are playing, if someone puts that album on and doesn't like the songs, you are done. A band isn't about logos and t-shirts and stuff like that — it's about music. Why do you wear the t-shirt of a band? Because you like their music. It's as simple as that.

"Now, I'm not saying that Cronos didn't write anything," Dunn clarified. "He wrote some phenomenal lyrics, and I've said this. The lyrics to 'Manitou', I think they are stunning. The lyrics to 'Nightmare' — amazing. We came up with some great songs together in the later stages, where we just bounced the ideas, and some of it just happened. We didn't have to look for it. And 'Welcome To Hell' is my first attempt at writing songs. I hadn't written anything before that — not a thing."

Asked if he and Abaddon have thought about writing and releasing new music, possibly under the VENOM banner, Mantas said: "No, no. At the end of the day, does the world need a new VENOM album? I remember reading an interview with Paul Stanley [of KISS] where he even said, 'I'll never write another KISS song.' Because as good as some of the '80s KISS material was, everybody still wants to hear 'Black Diamond' and 'Cold Gin' and 'Strutter' and 'C'mon And Love Me' and all that stuff. And I'm the same. Like JUDAS PRIEST — 'Firepower', great album; 'Invincible Shield', great album; but if I go to see PRIEST now and they kick into 'The Ripper', game over. It's, like, I'm happy. I know that's a sort of nostalgic way of looking at it, but if we are doing a celebration of this band… All I'm saying is it's a celebration of the music that we wrote 45 years ago; that's all it is. And you've got the two original members in there doing it as well."

Mantas added: "So, new music? I don't know. I don't know. I'm not adverse to maybe getting one song together or something like that. But do people really wanna hear it? It's, like, let's have a vote. I don't know."

There are now three different bands using variations of the VENOM band name. In addition to Mantas and Abaddon's new collaboration, there is the Cronos-fronted version of VENOM, in which Cronos is the sole remaining member from the band's classic era, and there is VENOM INC., which is led by bassist/vocalist Tony "Demolition Man" Dolan, who was a member of VENOM between 1989 and 1992, appearing on the albums "Prime Evil" (1989),"Temples Of Ice" (1991) and "The Waste Lands" (1992).

According to Law360.com, Lant testified in court earlier this year that he joined VENOM in late 1979 and came up with the Satanic-themed designs used in the band's logo and album covers, which included goat heads, pentagrams and inverted crosses.

Bray filed a counterclaim for infringement against Lant and Lant's distributor, Razmataz.com Ltd., arguing that Bray was the real author of the works.

Because Lant was able to produce numerous sketches which demonstrated his design process and Bray was unable to do the same, Bray was deemed the owner of the original logo, while Lant was found to be the creator and copyright owner of all but one of the other artistic works in dispute.

Nearly a decade ago, Dunn formed VENOM INC. with Bray and Dolan.

Last December, approximately eight months after suffering his second heart attack, Dunn announced that he was leaving VENOM INC., explaining in a statement that his "health and wellbeing are of paramount importance to myself and my family," but adding that "there are also more personal issues which have influenced my decision."

Dunn suffered his first heart attack in May 2018 and underwent a double bypass surgery.

Mantas sat out VENOM INC.'s fall 2023 U.S. tour after revealing that his wife had been diagnosed with cancer. He was replaced on the trek by Mike Hickey, known for his work with VENOM, CARCASS, CATHEDRAL and CRONOS.

VENOM INC. is not to be confused with the Lant-fronted version of VENOM, which is continuing to tour and make albums under the VENOM moniker. Joining Cronos in that group are Rage (a.k.a. Stuart Dixon) on guitar and Danté (a.k.a. Danny Needham) on drums.

VENOM's classic lineup trio of Dunn, Lant and Bray recorded four studio LPs, "Welcome To Hell" (1981),"Black Metal" (1982),"At War With Satan" (1984) and "Possessed" (1985),and live album, "Eine Kleine Nachtmusik" (1986). Often cited by bands such as METALLICA, BEHEMOTH, CELTIC FROST and MAYHEM as major influences, they are one of the most revered bands of their generation. VENOM is still fronted by Cronos and headlines festivals all over the globe and continues to release new music while Dunn and Dolan had joined forces in the similarly named VENOM INC.

Abaddon was part of VENOM's classic lineup from 1978 to 1992. He then returned to the band in 1995 and stayed with them for four years before joining VENOM INC. alongside Dunn and Dolan. VENOM INC. released its debut album, "Avé", in August 2017. A year later, VENOM INC. revealed that it was recruiting Jeramie Kling of the Tampa-based melodic death metal band THE ABSENCE to fill in for Bray on a European tour while Abaddon stayed home to spend time with his newborn daughter.

Dunn, Bray and Dolan released the aforementioned three albums as VENOM: "Prime Evil", "Temples Of Ice" and "The Waste Lands".

In September 2022, Bray revealed that he had been diagnosed with lymphoma.

For the April 24, 2026 appearance at the Keep It True festival at Tauberfrankenhalle in Lauda-Königshofen, Germany, Mantas and Abaddon will be joined by an all-star lineup of guest musicians:

* Tom Angelripper and Andy Brings (SODOM)
* Tom G. Warrior (CELTIC FROST, HELLHAMMER, TRIPTYKON)
* Schmier (DESTRUCTION)
* Attila Csihar (MAYHEM)
* Danny Lilker (NUCLEAR ASSAULT, S.O.D.)
* Diva Satánica (BLOODHUNTER, NERVOSA)
* and introducing Blake "Bulldözer" Arendell from the rising force INTERCEPTOR

In a recent interview with Canada's The Metal Voice, Mantas said about the fact that there are now three different bands using variations of the VENOM band name: "I'm just gonna speak the truth, the absolute truth. I'm the founder member [of VENOM]. If there's a co-founder, it's Abaddon. Cronos was the last one to join. Everyone knows that. I wrote all the early material, blah, blah, blah. And at this very moment in time, the way I look at it is there isn't a VENOM out there. There's bands out there who are playing VENOM material. And that's the honest way that I look at it."

Regarding why he and Abaddon chose to reteam for these shows right now, Mantas said: "Myself and Abaddon, we said, 'Look, why don't we just do something to celebrate this fucking band?' And that's all we're doing. It's a celebration of 'Welcome To Hell', 45 years of that album. And this stupid fucking band has missed every major anniversary in its history. We've never celebrated an anniversary of this band. So I spoke to the guys at Keep It True, Oliver Weinsheimer in particular, the owner of the festival. And I said, 'Right, here's an idea. Why don't we get some special guests, people who have been influenced by the band? All that kind of thing.' And he said, 'Great. Let's do it.' So that's how it all came about. And now we're getting offers from other places to do the same thing. So, yeah, if nobody else will do it, we're gonna go out and celebrate this band."

Asked what band name he and Abaddon will perform under, Mantas said: "As far as I'm concerned, there's no fucking name to it. There's Abaddon's VENOM logo, which is his. And underneath it, it says, 'Mantas and Abaddon.' And then special guests. And that's what we're doing."

Elaborating on the reasons he and Abaddon have chosen to play the VENOM music together again, Mantas said: "I know it's not gonna be the PANTERA thing, and I know it's not a fucking KISS reunion or anything like that, but this band has had, for whatever reason, and it still amazes me to this day, but this band has had so much influence on the metal scene from day one, especially when that album ['Welcome To Hell'] came out. And then [VENOM's second album] 'Black Metal' — black metal, as a genre, is still alive and kicking today. Extreme metal is around, people say, because of us."

On the topic of the response from VENOM fans to the announcement of the Keep It True concert, as well as the November 30, 2025 appearance by Dunn and Bray at Shinjuku Antiknock, a legendary music venue in Tokyo, Japan, alongside some of Japan's finest black metal players, Mantas said: "Every comment I've seen so far, 90 percent has been really, really positive. Like, 'Great. Go for it, guys,' all this kind of stuff. Then you get the one, 'Oh, no Cronos, no VENOM.' It's, like, okay, listen to me right now. You can you imagine the most toxic relationship and the most stressful relationship you've ever had in your fucking life, and now go back and invite it back in. And that's what we tried to do.

"If everybody knew the real reason I left in 1986, you wouldn't even fucking look at that guy again. All these people who say that about Cronos and stuff like that, yes, he was a part of the band. I appreciate that. He didn't write all the fucking early material. He didn't found the band. He was the last person to join.

"If you were having problems with your wife and you put it on the fucking Internet, I would never go, 'Oh, yeah, well, I know what's going on,' because you don't — you don't know the personalities of the people involved in it," Mantas explained. "All you see from the outside is a band. I mean, I love KISS. I love JUDAS PRIEST. Now there's fucking problems with K.K. [Downing] and all the rest of fucking PRIEST. There's problems with Ace [Frehley] and fucking Gene [Simmons] and Paul [Stanley] and Peter [Criss], but we don't know what's really gone on. And it's, like, yeah, I tell you what, get back in your mom's basement. Eat your fucking microwave meal and play your video games. This is ridiculous to comment on people's careers. And that's the way I feel about it. And all I'm saying is that myself and Abaddon, as the two original members of VENOM, we're gonna go out and we're gonna celebrate this band and its music. And that's it. Nothing more, nothing less."

Abaddon also offered his opinion on the VENOM name issue, saying: "My take on that is very straightforward. If you've got three bands using the word VENOM to sell the music… Originally, VENOM were a three-piece. Unless you've got two members of that three-piece, you can't call it VENOM because it's Cronos and some other blokes, or it's Dolan and some other blokes. If you've got me and Jeff, you've got two-thirds of the original fucking band. That's as straightforward as you can get."

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Australia's 7NEWShas uploaded professionally filmed video of AC/DC performing the song "If You Want Blood (You've Got It)" on November 30 at bp Adelaide Grand Final in Adelaide, Australia. Check it out below.

AC/DC's performance at the bp Adelaide Grand Final reportedly helped pull in a record-breaking Sunday crowd of 102,000 to the Supercars event.

As previously reported, AC/DC's first Australian concert in a decade, which took place November 12 in Melbourne, registered on a local seismograph, which detects earthquake activity.

According to Billboard, AC/DC's ongoing "Power Up" tour requires 300 tons of steel to build the production, with 28 tons of PA and speakers pumping out the sound. A crew of 155 are working each show, which consumes 500kw of power every night.

Prior to the current dates, AC/DC last toured Australia and New Zealand in 2015 as part of the band's "Rock Or Bust" world tour. That trek sold more than 520,000 tickets across 11 dates, including shows in Auckland and Wellington.

AC/DC's nine-date Australian tour will include an additional dates in Perth on December 4 and December 8, before wrapping up in Brisbane on December 14 and December 18.

The "Power Up" tour shares its name with AC/DC's 2020 album, which debuted at No. 1 on the ARIA chart in Australia and 20 other countries around the globe. "Power Up" notably notched the band's third No. 1 debut on the Billboard 200 and exploded as one of the best-selling albums of 2020 worldwide. It closed out the year on Rolling Stone's "Top 50 Albums Of 2020" and Consequence Of Sound's "Top 50 Albums Of 2020." Plus, it garnered Grammy Award nominations in the categories of "Best Rock Album', "Best Rock Performance" and "Best Music Video" for "Shot In The Dark".

In 2024, the "Power Up" tour kicked off in Europe with a staggering 1.7 million tickets sold in the first days of sales, eventually surpassing 2 million tickets sold across 24 shows. Earlier this year, AC/DC concluded 10 sold-out shows in North America and played 15 additional shows across Europe before returning to Australia.

AC/DC played its very first show on December 31, 1973 at Chequers Nightclub in Sydney, Australia. They are one of the most influential rock bands in history, with over 200 million albums sold worldwide. The band's "Back In Black" LP is the best-selling album by any band ever and the third best-selling album by any artist, with global sales of 50 million and counting.

AC/DC was inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame in 2003. The band continues selling out stadiums on multiple continents, selling millions of albums annually and generating streams in the billions.

The "Power Up" 2024 European tour marked AC/DC's first with the band's new touring lineup, consisting of longtime singer Brian Johnson, founding member and lead guitarist Angus Young, as well as rhythm guitarist Stevie Young (who officially joined the band in 2014, replacing his uncle Malcolm Young, who retired due to dementia),drummer Matt Laug (who joined in 2023, replacing longtime drummer Phil Rudd) and former JANE'S ADDICTION bassist Chris Chaney, who came on board in 2024 replacing longtime bassist Cliff Williams. Williams retired from AC/DC after the conclusion of the 2016 "Rock Or Bust" tour, although he did return to the fold briefly for the 2020 "Power Up" album and an appearance at Power Trip.

AC/DC's "Power Up" album came out in November 2020. The follow-up to 2014's "Rock Or Bust" was recorded over a six-week period in August and September 2018 at Warehouse Studios in Vancouver with producer Brendan O'Brien, who also worked 2008's "Black Ice" and "Rock Or Bust".

AC/DC's current tour came nine years after Johnson bowed out of a 2016 run of shows due to a hearing condition.

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In a recent interview with Argentina's UnDinamo, LINKIN PARK bassist Dave "Phoenix" Farrell spoke about the band's ongoing tour in support of LINKIN PARK's latest album, "From Zero", which came out in November 2024. It marks LINKIN PARK's first full-length effort since 2017's "One More Light", which was the last LINKIN PARK album before the death of lead vocalist Chester Bennington. "From Zero" features LINKIN PARK's new singer Emily Armstrong and drummer Colin Brittain, who have joined returning members co-vocalist and main producer Mike Shinoda, guitarist Brad Delson, Farrell and DJ/visual director Joe Hahn in the band's new lineup. Guitarist Alex Feder is filling in for Delson at all LINKIN PARK concerts for the foreseeable future.

Asked what his expectations were prior to the launch of the tour, Farrell said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Yeah, I think expectations-wise, before the tour got going, I didn't know what to expect. We'd spent a lot of time all together, writing together, rehearsing together, eating meals together, hanging out, having fun, that whole bit, but hadn't spent any time, obviously, on tour. And tour is its own different animal. So I didn't really know, I didn't know what to expect. And then additionally also, not only with Emily and with Colin being kind of new faces into that space, but also me, Mike and Joe just being a bit older, we hadn't toured for a while ourselves. So there's all those questions of the wear and tear that the travel and everything is gonna take on your body and for the vocalists on vocals and everything like that. So there's always a ton of question marks. Thankfully at this point, a year-plus into it, it's gone very well. Everyone has stayed relatively healthy, as healthy as you could ever ask for or hope for. And the shows have been great."

Asked if he thinks there was some risk involved in restarting LINKIN PARK again after what happened with Chester, Farrell said: "Yeah, I think there's always risk in some regard for what we do and what we're doing. I guess the risk, if you zoom out and look at it, is just feeling embarrassed or putting something out that nobody likes or doing something that everybody hates. But from my standpoint on that, going back two or three years ago, when we were talking about it, or even beginning to get together again, this being me, Mike and Joe, we didn't know if we were going to be doing LINKIN PARK at all. We'd had a couple of stops and starts, after Chester passed away, of writing music, and from my vantage point, it was just too hard. It felt emotionally challenging. I liked some of the stuff we were writing and I loved spending time with those guys, but just starting to touch upon things that still felt painful and so sensitive, it was too much. So we'd spend a week or two kind of getting together and writing, and then we wouldn't see each other for, like, six months and it was a lot of stop-starts. At a certain stage, this being two or three years ago, [we] kind of just said, 'Let's throw all that out the window. Let's just make stuff, and let's see if we even like it. Let's not make it under the headline of 'This is new LINKIN PARK music.' Let's not do any of that. Let's just test if we can still be creative together and like what we do, and let's not put any burden of figuring out what it is or what to do with it on to it.' And for me, it was so liberating because I had spent sleepless nights trying to figure out all the answers to all the questions of what it would mean or look like to do LINKIN PARK again. All of those fears, they would just get me so anxious and keep me up at night, trying to answer the 10,000 different questions that needed answers for that to go forward. And one of the big ones was, to your point, how would it be received? What would I think about it? What would other people think about it?"

Farrell continued: "I think everybody deals with grief differently and everybody has a right to do it their own way. I think our fans were dealing with grief the same way that we were, and in a million different ways. And at the end of it, for me, I just kind of felt like with the band I need to see what it could be or what another chapter might be or look like. And if it doesn't work or if at that point I don't like it, or if nobody likes it, or whatever, then at least I will know what that is or what that was. But I did not feel comfortable kind of leaving it where it was. That didn't feel right to me. That didn't feel like moving forward to me. And I felt like it was really important, for me personally, to just keep living."

Regarding whether he was concerned about what LINKIN PARK fans would think about the band's comeback or if he didn't care at all about what they had to say, Dave said: "It's probably both. When it comes to the Internet, and it's across all different places and whatever, there's always gonna be difficult things and hard things that are said that you don't wanna hear or see or that you disagree with or whatever. But for me, that's not a reason to do something or to not do something, that type of Internet feedback. But also for me, I just felt like you're gonna have differences of opinions. That's normal. That's natural. In thinking [about it], I was, like, how weird of a world would it be if you did something and online everybody agreed with it or loved it? Has that ever happened — ever? Probably not. And so you do have to have a little bit of that — and this isn't even for us. We went through a crazy thing with Chester's passing that's tragic and highly emotional and charged. But even if you take that out of the picture, if there's a band that's just releasing a second album, take away everything emotionally charged, a band is releasing a second album, you're always gonna get the feedback on that that is all over the place. And so if you were to just let that paralyze you, I feel like it would be such a — I don't know — it'd just be a difficult spot to be, to say, 'Let's not release the second album because 5, 10, 20, 50%, whatever, are gonna dislike it or are critique it or be upset by it,' or whatever. At the end of that process for us, a lot of the feedback I kind of understand, and I'm okay with different people having their own ideas or opinions. But hopefully, if I'm being myself and if I'm being — 'courageous' is not the right word, but if I'm being myself and I'm being kind of forthright as a musician or as an artist, the notion that somebody might not like it should never be a reason to not release something or do something new moving forward."

LINKIN PARK introduced its new lineup during a September 2024 live performance event, with Armstrong and Brittain, a songwriter and producer for G FLIP, ILLENIUM and ONE OK ROCK, joining Shinoda, Delson, Farrell and Hahn. LINKIN PARK also released a new single, "The Emptiness Machine", and announced "From Zero" the album, which arrived via Warner.

At the first first show of LINKIN PARK's "From Zero" tour in September 2024 at the Kia Forum in Los Angeles, Shinoda addressed the band's new chapter while reflecting on LINKIN PARK's return to the stage. "I mean, that's part of why we're back out here," he said. "We are thrilled to be back out here. It is not about erasing the past. It is about starting this new chapter into the future and coming out here for each and every one of you."

"From Zero" featured the No. 1 single "The Emptiness Machine" and propelled LINKIN PARK to be the only rock band in 2024 to exceed two billion streams. "From Zero (Deluxe Edition)" was released in May.

Delson contributed to "From Zero", but hasn't been part of LINKIN PARK's live shows in support of the LP. The live guitar position has instead been filled by Feder.

Less than two months ago, Shinoda told Recitales Argentina about what it has been like for him and his LINKIN PARK bandmates to be back on the road as part of their "From Zero" world tour: "It's been awesome. We've had a really busy year, so many of the biggest shows we've ever played. I think everybody is still very excited about touring and very excited about the shows. We've got shows lined up until the middle of next year, so it's a very aggressive and long tour for us — I think more shows than like any tour we've done for well over 10 years. Yeah, the new music, new album and everything, the reception from the fans has been better than we could have ever imagined. And we're so excited to play these shows every night."

Regarding the fan response to "From Zero", Shinoda told Recitales Argentina: "Since the beginning, everything we put out, there's always people that love it and people that don't like it. That's just part of being an artist. Since the beginning, we've realized that the most important thing, first and foremost, is just that we love it and that we're proud of what we've made and that we push ourselves to the best we can to do a great job and to make something that challenges us as writers and creators, and then do our best to communicate that in the live setting when we go on tour. So it sounds simple, but the details and the actual execution of that couldn't be more complicated or more difficult. And I have a lot of respect for all the artists that do it and do it so well. For us, coming back this past year, a few years ago, we found ourselves starting to talk again for the first time. And it was a very organic thing. It just started with getting breakfast, getting lunch, having a coffee, talking about 'what if this' or 'what if that'. And eventually we met Colin and Emily, and they just felt like one of us, they just felt like they clicked with the band."

Asked how he met Colin and Emily, Mike said: "Colin and I met in a writing session with some other people. We were sharing writing and production duties during that session. It was just for this kid, this male artist. And it was fine, but I could tell right away that Colin, I was excited to meet him. I didn't know anything about him, and when we worked together, it occurred to me that he was really smart and really talented. And so I decided to reach out to him a little more and set up some more sessions with him. And Emily, apparently somebody had reached out way back when we did the celebration of life for Chester. After Chester passed away, we did a concert and we had other people who came and sang his part on our songs, and someone had submitted her name, but they submitted it too late, and so we didn't meet her at that time because we had already filled the show; we had all the voices we needed. And then I think it was two years later, I did a session with her and I was really impressed. And that didn't go anywhere, because we didn't make anything that we wanted to put out or that I wanted to put out or she wanted to put out. It was just for fun. And then I just remembered, 'Oh, yeah, that girl was cool.' And then a few years later when we were starting to do sessions again with Dave and Joe, her name came up and we booked one session with her and they got to know her a little bit. And that led to another, and that led to another. And over a period of — I think it took many, many months to go from that to what realizing that she should be the singer. It definitely took more than months. It might've been a couple of years."

Earlier in October, Shinoda spoke to Chile's Futuro about how fans have been reacting to Armstrong joining the band in 2024, seven years after Bennington's death. The band went on hiatus shortly after. He said: " It's just a very exciting time. It's kind of a rebirth of the band.

"We had kind of started getting back together a few years ago, and it was a very slow and organic build. When it started, we didn't say, like, 'We're going to bring the band back.' We didn't say, 'We're going to go tour.' We just kind of got together and wanted to see what it would be like to get together and write music and spend time together again. And we hoped we would end up here, but a lot of things had to go right in order for that to happen. And they did. So we're very grateful for that, the opportunity, and thrilled with the new music and the tour and the way the fans have responded to it."

Regarding what it has been like working with Emily and Colin, Mike told Futuro: "It's been awesome. When they were coming into this era, this chapter, they were already so prepared, they were so ready for it. They just hadn't done it. I mean, Emily has played for — I don't know how many [years], like 10 years or more with DEAD SARA. Colin was in multiple bands before he got into producing and writing with other people. And when I met Colin, I could tell that we had a lot of similar ways of looking at music and similar ways of thinking. I was just writing and producing stuff with him, and all of a sudden he got behind the drum kit and I was, like, 'Oh my God. He's an amazing drummer.' And as it turned out, Rob [Bourdon], our previous drummer, he didn't wanna keep playing. So that was almost just like good luck for us that we knew a guy already that that was so great. Emily is a total phenomenon. For us to find a once-in-a-generation voice like Chester and then to find another one like Emily is crazy. It doesn't make any sense."

Asked how he knew Emily was "the one" when it came to finding a replacement for Chester, Mike said: "Well, it's not just the singing, 'cause there's thousands and thousands of great singers out there. And when I worked with people, I've had a bunch of experiences where I worked with lots of different singers who are so talented and I've played shows with lots of singers who are so talented, but there's an an intangible thing that happens when people get in a room and they make things together, and you just feel like the vibe is so effortless and strong and easy. It's easy to hang out with each other. Even when you have differences of opinion on something that you're making or something that you're doing, it doesn't turn into arguments. Nobody's killing the energy, the vibe. And that was the experience we had with Emily and Colin. But as we were starting to make music a couple of years ago, we just found ourselves wanting to do more with them because they were so fun to hang out with and we would always make such good stuff together."

Shinoda went on to say that he and his LINKIN PARK bandmates had no expectations that "From Zero" would turn out to be a commercial success. "When we're making things, we're not thinking about hits," he explained. "That's not part of our process at all, really. First and foremost, we wanna love what we're doing, we wanna love playing it every night, we wanna feel like it artistically represents an important chapter for the band and that we're proud of where it sits in our catalog. And that's been the way we've approached things every time since the beginning. There are, of course, moments when it's, like, 'Okay, well, the label wants to release a single,' so you have to do marketing and you have to do promotion. And I totally enjoy doing that stuff. I love making surprises and scavenger hunts. Like the timer — in the beginning of our launch [for the new era of LINKIN PARK], we did a timer [on the band's web site] that counted down to zero and then the fans expected something to happen and it didn't happen; it just bounced back up and started… It went to 3, 2, 1, 0 and then it went 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and they were, like, so mad. But they realized later, the album is called 'From Zero'. The whole point was this is an actual marking of something that's gonna start at that point and go on until whenever. It's not just a countdown to something happening and then it's over. So the process of doing these things, the creative process, making things and sharing them with people, that's an everyday thing for us. I don't get too caught up in numbers and comparisons, unless it's like just checking in to see, like, 'Oh, do people like it? How are we doing with the fans in terms of maybe the show. Are fans excited about the show?' And so far the tour has been so much fun and such an undertaking and it's a lot of joy every night, I think."

In a rare in-depth interview with Rock Candy magazine, Lou Gramm, the man with the golden voice, told editor Howard Johnson that it was just a twist of fate that led him be in FOREIGNER at all and when he was first offered the chance to audition while he was still in his pre-FOREIGNER band BLACK SHEEP, by guitarist Mick Jones, he turned it down.

Lou recalled: "I said, 'Mick, Jeez, that's very nice of you to ask me but BLACK SHEEP [signed to Capitol Records] is in a difficult spot right now. We've got our second album coming out and we've just started a tour with KISS. The problem is that we had an accident right after the first show in Boston. We've lost our truck and 80 percent of our equipment. We're trying to figure out what to do and how we can continue to tour.'" Mick Jones persevered to get Lou to audition. Gramm said: "I told Mick I was honored to have been asked and I hoped that our paths would cross again in the future. Mick asked me if he could call me back in two or three weeks to see how things were going, and I told him I'd be happy for him to do that."

BLACK SHEEP couldn't get the money from any source to replace their van and gear and then their label dropped them so Lou's bandmates did a great and noble thing. Gramm recalled: "They said, 'Lou, we have to be realistic. To all intents and purposes, BLACK SHEEP is over. You really need to get hold of Mick and see what he has to offer.'"

But amazingly the band that would become FOREIGNER weren't met with instant applause, and were turned down by numerous record labels at the beginning. "That's true," Lou said. "We sent out plenty of demo tapes and the idea was that if anyone expressed an interest we'd invite them to come and take a look at us playing live. We had maybe eight or nine labels come down. They pretty much all said the band was proficient and that we had good song ideas, but somehow they didn't quite get it." Fate intervened again at that point because a young A&R guy at Atlantic, John Kalodner (who would go on to shape and remake the careers of many bands and artists later on) had been at the showcase gig the band did for Atlantic and even though the label turned them down he got back to them and said they should shorten their songs for radio play. Lou recalled: "He said, 'Next time you hear a BEATLES song, time it. I guarantee it won't even be three minutes long... Kalodner was right. I hadn't realized how short their numbers were... Even though they were short they satisfied all your needs. So Kalodner, Mick and I went back into the songs." Then they re-presented some of the songs back to Atlantic and ended up with a three-album deal and an out of the box smash with their debut album which went Top 5 in the U.S., as did the debut single "Feels Like The First Time".

Lou has recently made some guest appearances with the current touring lineup of FOREIGNER — which includes no other original members — and he is kind and gracious when talking about them.

"At first I was angry at Mick for starting a new FOREIGNER, but so much time has gone by now, and it wasn't the fault of the guys who are now in the band, was it?", Lou said. "If I were one of them and had been offered the opportunity, I would have taken it too. So we've got a nice friendship now... After all that's happened over the years, I'm still extremely proud of my career with FOREIGNER, and at this stage of my life that's the most important thing."

Read the rest of the mega interview with Lou, as well as a big feature on 60 years of the SCORPIONS, ex-DEEP PURPLE guitarist Steve Morse on finding peace and purpose, the making of the KING'S X debut album, a reappraisal of QUEENSRŸCHE's "Operation: Mindcrime", an exclusive look at the "Back To the Beginning" show from the promoter who made it happen, and many other fascinating features inside issue 53 of Rock Candy magazine.

Rock Candy is a 100 page, full-color bi-monthly rock magazine, created in the U.K. It covers the sights, sounds and smells from the greatest era in hard rock, the 1970s, 1980s and early 1990s. It is the brainchild of respected U.K. rock journalists Derek Oliver, Howard Johnson and Malcolm Dome — all frontline writers for the legendary Kerrang! magazine in the golden era.

For more information, visit www.rockcandymag.com.