DragonForce guitarist Herman Li recently invited guitarists Miku Kobato and Kanami Tōno of Japan's Band-Maid to guest on his Twitch livestream. This included his unoffcial "audition" to join Band-Maid. Check it out below. 

Band-Maid formed in July 2013. Guitarist / vocalist Miku Kobato, formerly an employee of a Japanese maid café, envisioned forming a band that juxtaposed the maid image with rock music. They have released seven albums since 2014, their latest being Unseen World, which was issued in January 2021 through Pony Canyon.




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KAMELOT's Tommy Karevik spoke to #MetalTalk about what it was like to replace Roy Khan nearly a decade ago. The Swedish singer has appared on the band's last three studio albums, 2012's "Silverthorn", 2015's "Haven" and 2018's "The Shadow Theory".

"I never thought about it as, 'I'm gonna replace someone,' to be honest," Tommy said (see video below). "I thought about it as I wanna honor the legacy that was already there but bring something new into the fold as well. I thought of it as a huge challenge, of course. But my view on it was never, 'I'm gonna go in and replace this guy,' because I know he was loved, and he is still loved, in the metal community, and he will always be loved because of his talent and what he brought to the table with [Roy's pre-KAMELOT band] CONCEPTION and KAMELOT. I never thought that that was my job to go in and replace him. I just wanted to take on what he had going for the band and just bring me — my personality and my energy.

"In many ways, it's a different band," he continued. "It's a little bit of a different energy now. But still, people have all these albums that they can listen to from the beginning, and they have new albums, and they will continue to have new albums with great songs. That's kind of my take on it."

Karevik also talked about the KAMELOT fans' response to his addition to the band. "I have to say, it's never an easy thing, especially coming in after someone that was so renowned," he said. "Thinking back, in hindsight, it couldn't have gone any better, to be honest. I'm so happy that the fans were so accepting and really welcomed me with open arms. So I have only positive things to say about that. I thought it was gonna be more stressful, with the metal community often maybe living in the past a little bit, here and there.

"If I think about my favorite albums, for example, of my favorite bands, I also live in the past," he admitted. "Let's just be real — I glorify some of the stuff in the past. And I think, 'Ah, it's never gonna be the same again.'

"If my favorite band had to replace its singer, I don't know what I would do. So I come from the same thought. So that's why I'm so happy that everyone, or most of the people, were so welcoming."

Khan announced his exit from KAMELOT in April 2011 after taking several months off to recover from a "burnout."

After his departure from KAMELOT, Khan, who is a devout Christian, joined a church in the coastal town of Moss, Norway. He has since reformed his pre-KAMELOT band CONCEPTION and released an EP, 2018's "My Dark Symphony", and a full-length album, 2020's "State Of Deception".

In a 2018 interview with Italy's SpazioRock, Roy called leaving KAMELOT "the best decision I have ever made" and praised Karevik, saying he "really" liked some of KAMELOT's newer material with Tommy on vocals. "Sounds classical KAMELOT in my ears, and Tommy is a great singer," Roy said.

Karevik currenty resides in Calgary, Alberta, Canada with his wife, KOBRA AND THE LOTUS lead vocalist and songwriter Kobra Paige.

Karevik and Paige got engaged in June 2019 when he popped the question in his former hometown of Stockholm, Sweden.

Tommy and Paige apparently met when KOBRA AND THE LOTUS supported KAMELOT on a European tour in 2015. Since then, Kobra has frequently appeared as a guest vocalist at KAMELOT shows.




Roy Khan and Tommy Karevik pt 2 ?

Posted by Roy Khan Fan-Page on Sunday, June 16, 2019

Former MORBID ANGEL drummer Pedro "Pete" Sandoval has released an Instagram video in which he addresses some of the most commonly asked questions regarding his time with the legendary extreme metal outfit.

In the two-minute clip, which can be seen below, Sandoval — who was forced to leave MORBID ANGEL in 2010 after undergoing surgery for a prolapsed disc — says: "I'm here to ask you for a very special favor. I have received many questions, and I have been tagged in many posts and videos, MORBID ANGEL photos and stuff, and I've been asked about who's my favorite singer or which era is my favorite one — the era with David Vincent or with Steve Tucker. Well, I wanna tell you that I love both eras. I had fun. I had a great time working with David Vincent, and I had a great time working with Steve Tucker as well. So, from 'Altars Of Madness' [1989] to 'Heretic' [2003], they're all masterpieces for me. We worked hard [on] those albums. So I'm telling you my answer that I don't have a favorite album, I don't have a favorite era, I don't have a favorite singer — I love 'em all. I had a great time in both eras with every album.

"[On] this site, please, I don't wanna promote hate, arguments," he continued. "This site is to promote my music, the things that I use for my music and help animals and stuff."

Sandoval, who now lives his life as a born-again Christian, added: "And as far as the album released in 2011" — referring to MORBID ANGEL's controversial "Illud Divinum Insanus" LP — "please don't ask me any questions about it, because I have no comments about it — no comments at all, man. I stay what I am, I did what I did, and I am so happy and grateful that I did what I did with these guys."

Former MORBID ANGEL bassist/vocalist David Vincent told Invisible Oranges in a December 2013 interview that "Pete has found Jesus," which meant that Sandoval and MORBID ANGEL were no longer "compatible."

Sandoval is continuing to record and tour with TERRORIZER, whose latest studio album, "Caustic Attack", was released in October 2018 via The End Records.

In a 2011 e-mail chat with Brazil's Som Extremo, Sandoval was asked for his opinion of "Illud Divinum Insanus", which incorporated industrial and electronic elements into MORBID ANGEL traditional death metal sound. "No comment! I don't play on that album," he wrote. He was then questioned about what he thought he would have done different on "Illud Divinum Insanus" had he played on the record. "More exreme deathgrind metal and less DJ, boring awful typical I care less industrial experimental same as everybody boring bull!" he said. "This is not what MORBID has been all about! ...Hmmmmmm, and I really care less...!"
























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Former QUEENSRŸCHE singer Geoff Tate was a guest on a recent episode of the "Hangin' & Bangin': Artists On Lockdown" online show, where he was joined by Vinny Appice (BLACK SABBATH, DIO), Carmine Appice (OZZY OSBOURNE, VANILLA FUDGE) and Denny Seiwell, a founding member of PAUL MCCARTNEY & WINGS. You can now watch the discussion below.

Asked which musicians — other than the members of his current band and the drummers on the "Hangin' & Bangin'" panel — he would pick for his "all-star band", Tate responded: "I played an acoustic show a couple of years ago, just me and Bumblefoot [former GUNS N' ROSES guitarist Ron Thal]. And he is incredible. I love his guitar playing, and as a person, he's just a gentleman. I really, really enjoyed playing with him. So I'd pick him on guitar. [Instead of a bass player] I'd probably take a keyboard bass, actually. So I'd probably take somebody like Claude Schnell [DIO]. 'Cause Claude could play a mean left hand and take care of the bass parts and also do cool keyboard stuff too… Drummers… probably… What's that kid that plays for DREAM THEATER? What's his name?" When the rest of the panel said, "Mike Portnoy," Geoff countered with, "No. The other guy." Tate then added: "I'd probably take Portnoy, 'cause he's so flamboyant. I like that about him."

Last week, Tate announced around a dozen U.S. dates in late summer and fall as part of a tour celebrating the 30th anniversary of QUEENSRŸCHE's "Empire" and "Rage For Order" albums.

For more information, including ticket links and links for meet-and-greet passes for purchase to meet Geoff and his band after the live shows, visit www.geofftate.com.

Early last year, Tate was forced to postone a number of his tour dates due to the coronavirus pandemic that is spreading across the globe.

Tate spent the first two months of 2020 performing the QUEENSRŸCHE albums "Rage For Order" and "Empire" in their entirety on the "Empire 30th Anniversary Tour", which kicked off in January in Norway. Prior to that, Geoff celebrated the 30th anniversary of QUEENSRŸCHE's "Operation: Mindcrime" album on European and U.S. tours.

Tate's post-QUEENSRŸCHE band OPERATION: MINDCRIME released three albums over three years as part of a trilogy: "The Key" (September 2015), "Resurrection" (September 2016) and "The New Reality" (December 2017).

In 2019, Geoff released the debut album from SWEET OBLIVION via Frontiers Music Srl. The project saw Tate teaming up with a stellar cast of Italian musicians led by Simone Mularoni, the mastermind of prog metal masters DGM. The second SWEET OBLIVION album, "Relentless", will arrive on April 9 via Frontiers Music Srl. This time the production was handled by Italian metal maestro Aldo Lonobile (SECRET SPHERE, TIMO TOLKKI'S AVALON, ARCHON ANGEL).

In April 2014, Tate and QUEENSRŸCHE announced that a settlement had been reached after a nearly two-year legal battle where the singer sued over the rights to the QUEENSRŸCHE name after being fired in 2012.

Tate was replaced in QUEENSRŸCHE by former CRIMSON GLORY singer Todd La Torre.

Ex-AMON AMARTH drummer Fredrik Andersson has apologized to his former bandmates for "the grievance" he has caused by publicly pleading for them to hand over what he believes is his "rightful share of the rights and publishing" to the AMON AMARTH recordings he appears on.

Andersson was fired from AMON AMARTH in March 2015, just as the band was preparing to enter the studio to begin work on its 2016 album "Jomsviking". AMON AMARTH opted to enlist a session drummer, Tobias Gustafsson (VOMITORY, CUT UP), during the recording sessions for the disc, but hired Jocke Wallgren to join them on the road. Wallgren was named a permanent member of AMON AMARTH in September 2016.

On Wednesday (February 24), Andersson took to his social media to write: "This will be my final post on the AMON AMARTH issue, and it's a positive one for me as I have come to a realization. I wrote to the members (got no reply) but want to close the book also publicly. As Einstein said, if you expect a different result you have to try a different approach.

"And for the longest time I expected the guys would change their minds or regret their decision. I have now come to terms that they won't. They already made up their minds that they are right and are hell-bent on their position. It's pointless to try to change their minds.

"Backstory: After [AMON AMARTH's second full-length album, 1999's] 'The Avenger' we had a deal that we would share everything equally. We shared all money equally so that it would never be a fight about who would have their songs on the album (on the avenger the split was 100% music to Olli [guitarist Olavi Mikkonen] and 100% lyrics to [singer Johan] Hegg). The idea was that the best material would always end up on the albums no matter who wrote it. Unfortunately most (not all) of my riffs and ideas were rejected, but with this deal it didn't matter so much to me, and they were obviously rejected cause they were not good enough.

"Five years ago, after a year of fighting about royalty shares, publishing, rights and them asking for a non-disclosure, we sat down with our lawyers trying to come to an agreement. I tried to claim my 20%, but I could not prove which songs I had actually written - the drums are not legally part of the music -hence I lost my share of the rights and had my name removed as songwriter. They did offer me to keep my share of the songs I had written riffs for but being so few I told them to keep them too. I don't regret that, but I have to confess I never expected them to actually go through with removing me. They did.

"Why I felt entitled to my share: I was never 'hired', I was asked to join the band when there was no income. There was no business. In fact the first five or so years in the band there was no income. The years 1999-2008 my average yearly income was $15000/year due to low income and lost income from my day-job because of time off for tours etc. No one in the band made big cash. This was the reason we could not record fate of norns together as a band; no one of us could afford to take three weeks off from work if we wanted to also tour on the album.

"In 2007 we registerred our business, and started 'making it' around 2008. (With an average $30.000 yearly income) The band progressively got bigger from there on bit we kept a rather low payout and invested alot of our earnings back into the band. One could argue that the shares I claimed would be compensation for lost income/lost pension during the early years. And one could argue that my share from those albums are pretty small compared to what the band makes now. But me and the other members obviously have different opinions about this. Their standpoint is that we never actually said that any member would get to keep their shares of the music rights if they are no longer in the band. This is true, we never did.

We also never said we WOULDN'T get to keep the shares after a departure. This is something I assumed. Both these facts are true, but they can't co-exist. So, I will back down now.

"At one point I will know for sure as they will have to adjust their shares too if anyone else of the four members leaves the band or when they collectively retire. If they don't it will be obvious that they just wanted to rip me off of my share. But time will tell if they will get to keep their 25% each -for life- (and 70 years after death). Being the youngest I guess I'll outlive them. Until then, I give them the benefit of the doubt.

"So, with all that being said and my final airing of the issues; I apologize to the members and to the fans for the grievance I have caused fighting a lost case. It was wrong of me to assume I should get to keep my share. I'm now closing the book and I wish the band a continued great success.

"Please remember that my anger was never about losing my spot in the band, that has never been the case. I'm glad to not be in the band anymore, and I will gladly never be a part of it again. (Sorry to any fans wanting otherwise, but I think Jocke deserves all the attention he gets and I wish him all the best!)

"I'm only disappointed it ended the way it did, and realize it could have ended differently if I had admitted being wrong earlier. Albeit that would've been to an even greater economic loss for me.

"I will not, however, apologize for calling Johan Hegg a liar. The things he said about me in Sweden Rock Magazine are not true, and he has yet to apologize to me about it."

In 2019, Andersson spoke to Greece's The Gallery about the circumstances that led to his departure from AMON AMARTH, Fredrik said: "There had been some friction between me and the other members for quite some time. It seemed to me like they were ganging up on me, even if they never really truly let me in to be 'one of them,' not even in the early years. But at least back then we could hang out together and we called each other friends. In later years, and I can only guess, but perhaps they started to feel that since we were splitting all money equally, either I should be more grateful and do what they told me to or they simply started to think it was wrong that I should get equally paid. I don't know. But in the end, whatever I did or say — it was wrong."

He continued: "I specifically remember one of the last times I played in Greece. It was the last day of the tour, and we were flying home the next day. While I was warming up for the show, Olli came up to me and said my snare hits were not consistent enough. He said I played too soft during soundcheck and too loud during the show, or more specifically, he said the individual hits were either low or loud. Since I know for a fact this is bullshit, I got really pissed off. I might not be the most technical drummer, but if something, at least I'm consistent. I thought it was really untactical to come with these complaints five minutes before show, and it ruined the whole show for me. And there were lots of other occasions like this where they would just say I'm wrong about something, that my opinion were wrong or simply silly. It got very frustrating, and it built up to really strong friction."

In a 2016 interview with Brazil's "Wikimetal" podcast, Mikkonen stated about AMON AMARTH's split with Andersson: "I don't really wanna go into details regarding Fredrik, but, basically, we just separated. It's kind of like a marriage that doesn't work, and you get divorced. And that's kind of what happened to our band."

AMON AMARTH bassist Ted Lundström described Wallgren as "a super-solid drummer" who is "very professional" and "very on-the-spot all the time." He added: "It is much easier to play if you have a drummer who is [tight]. It makes our lives easier."


This will be my final post on the Amon Amarth issue, and it's a positive one for me as I have come to a realization. I...

Posted by Fredrik Andersson on Wednesday, February 24, 2021

Legendary rocker Alice Cooper has revealed to showbiz reporter Richard Arnold on Friday's (February 26) episode of "Good Morning Britain" that he is scheduled to receive his second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine this coming Tuesday, March 2.

"I can't wait," Alice said (see video below). "To me, I hate shots more than anything in the world. But this is one I'll gladly get, just to get rid of [the virus].

"They do a lot of press on me getting my shot, because it encourages people to go ahead and do it," he added. "I don't know what they'd be afraid of. The shot doesn't even hurt."

Earlier in the month, AZCentral reported that Alice and his wife got the first COVID-19 vaccine after previously contracting the novel coronavirus.

In a video statement, the 73-year-old singer revealed that he and Sheryl Cooper received the vaccine at a facility in Phoenix. They got their shots through Team Rubicon, a nonprofit organization that pairs military veterans with first responders to help in times of need.

Arizona allows people 65 and over to make appointments to get the vaccine.

Last March, Cooper told Arizona Republic that he felt "less vulnerable" in his house than he does in a different hotel every day. "You don't know who's been there, what they've touched," he explained. "When I was in Europe, I spent all day doing Purell, washing my hands. Every time you would touch something, you'd realize 'Well, how do you know that wasn't infected?'"

As to whether he was concerned about the possibility of contracting COVID-19, Cooper told Arizona Republic: "I'm not scared of this thing. ... But you've got to consider everybody. You never know what the guy next door's health problems are."

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.

Former DOKKEN and current FOREIGNER bassist Jeff Pilson says that he doesn't understand why so many people are defiantly skeptical of mask wearing.

While more than 500,000 Americans have died so far as a result of COVID-19, a number of people have come out against COVID-19 response measures, including lockdowns, physical distancing and mandatory mask policies, saying that they violate constitutional rights. Former president Donald Trump's own skepticism of mask wearing contributed to a politicization of the issue, causing many of his followers to see mask mandates as an attack on individual freedom.

Asked in a new interview with Jamie Rodriguez where he stands on the issue of mask wearing, Pilson said (see video below): "I'm pretty cautious. I don't understand the thinking of not wearing a mask at all. Even if you were unsure, wouldn't you err on the side of caution? That's kind of the way I look at it. If you really don't believe this stuff, okay, but do your neighbors a favor. Do a little team thinking here, 'cause certainly all the evidence and science points to the fact that it helps. So I don't understand why you wouldn't. So I'm pretty cautious.

"My wife's parents live down the street, and they're in their 70s and 80s," he continued. "So we try to be really careful around 'em, but we are around 'em without masks, 'cause we're family. And that's about it. We're really good beside that."

According to the latest scientific brief from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), face coverings can reduce the risk of coronavirus infection by more than 70%. Some people have even started "double-masking" to increase their odds of staying COVID-free, although very little scientific data points to any benefits or drawbacks of wearing more than one face mask.

Pilson and the rest of FOREIGNER are next scheduled to perform at the Frontyard Festival at Dr. Phillips Center in Orlando, Florida on March 23 and March 24. The new purpose-built, live entertainment event is designed to re-engage artists and guests in a safe, socially distanced setting.

Live Nation Entertainment, Inc. today released financial results for the quarter ended December 31, 2020. The company's concert revenue plunged to $1.46 billion for 2020 from $9.43 billion the previous year, and ticketing dropped to $188.4 million from $1.54 billion in the same period, and sponsorship and advertising was down to $203.7 million from $590.3 million. Live Nation ended 2020 with $1.86 billion in revenue, down 84% from from the previous year, with a 92% drop in revenue in the fourth quarter.

Live Nation CEO Michael Rapino said in a statement: "Over the last year, leaders across all our business lines of concerts, ticketing and sponsorship have been analyzing ways to improve their businesses. Some of our key initiatives include: re-organizing to become more nimble while also reducing our cost structure by $200 million; Building concert streaming and direct to consumer businesses to expand our revenue streams; Advancing our technology initiatives globally while accelerating the shift to digital tickets to meet changing needs of fans, venues and artists; and reinforcing our balance sheet to endure this period, while maintaining a strong position to build our business for the future and act on opportunities as we identify them, such as our recent acquisition of the streaming platform Veeps and a continued pipeline of bolt-on acquisitions throughout the globe.

"So while this past year has been challenging for the company, our employees, fans, artists and so many others globally impacted by COVID, I have never been more excited about the opportunities in front of us.

"We continue to have a substantial tailwind in the live event industry, as consumers more than ever are looking to spend on experiences. The supply-demand fundamentals of the concerts business remain strong, with artists ready to get back on the road and fans eager to reconnect at events. All our data continues to show that there is substantial pent-up demand for concerts on the consumer demand side. The $2.4 trillion projected surplus in savings in the U.S. alone by June is a key indicator of consumer spending potential. At the same time, surveys demonstrate the high demand for concerts globally, with 95% of fans likely to attend a show when restrictions are lifted. This is proving out in fan behavior as well, with 83% of fans continuing to hold onto their tickets for rescheduled shows.

"On the artist side, there is a broad desire to get back on stage — to connect with their fans and to provide economic support to their bands, crew, and the hundreds of others employed each night putting on the show. Given the limited touring activity in 2020 and 2021, the pipeline for 2022 is much stronger than usual, with almost twice as many major touring artists on cycle in 2022 than a typical year — about 45 artists versus the usual 25. And there remains plenty of scheduling availability at arenas, amphitheaters and stadiums to accommodate these additional tours, with over two-thirds of these venues' nights unused by sporting events or major concerts in a typical year.

"It appears that the timing to release the pent-up supply and demand is now approaching. Vaccine distribution is accelerating and declines in Covid cases throughout most of the world gives us even more confidence that a safe and meaningful return to shows will soon be possible. For both the U.S. and U.K., projections indicate that everyone who wants to get vaccinated will be able to do so by May or June, with Europe and most other markets following a few months later. Given the massive social and economic toll that the lockdown has had on the public, we believe there will be strong momentum to reopen society swiftly as soon as vaccines are readily available. And we believe outdoor activities will be the first to happen.

"So while the timing of our return to live will continue to vary across global markets, every sign points to it beginning safely in many countries sometime this summer and scaling further from there."

At the end of the fourth quarter of 2020, Live Nation had total cash and cash equivalents of $2.5 billion, which includes $643 million of free cash. This free cash, along with $962 million of available debt capacity and taking into account the additional $417 million of net cash added to the balance sheet with the debt raise in early January, gives the company $2.0 billion of available liquidity. The company believes this level of liquidity provides it with the ability to fund operations until the expected return of concerts in the summer of 2021, preceded by ticket sales earlier in the year.

The global refund rate for the company's concerts that are rescheduled and are in or have gone through a refund window is 17% through the end of the fourth quarter of 2020. Festivals have generally canceled this year's event, but for festivals where fans can retain their tickets for next year's show, approximately 63% of fans are keeping their tickets.

Across both concerts and festivals, since March the company has refunded $282 million for rescheduled Live Nation shows and $842 million for canceled Live Nation shows. Of this $1.1 billion total, $460 million was from funds held by third-party venues and $663 million was from Live Nation-held funds.

The company still has some shows in the process of rescheduling, or that are rescheduled but not yet offering refunds. In addition, refunds may occur in the future for additional cancelations or rescheduled events resulting from the global shutdown of our live events. Based on current and estimated future impacted events and fan behavior, Live Nation has recorded $102 million in additional fan refunds from Live Nation-held funds. As a result, the company has reclassified these funds from deferred revenue to accrued ticket refunds as of the fourth quarter of 2020.

The company's deferred revenue for events over the next 12 months was $1.5 billion as of December 31, 2020 as compared to $1.4 billion as of September 30, 2020. This increase was due to ticket sales for future events, sales for events scheduled for Q4 2021 shifting from long-term to current deferred revenue as well as currency impacts on Live Nation's international deferred revenue balan

AVENGED SEVENFOLD singer M. Shadows spoke to Pablo of the Minneapolis, Minnesota radio station 93X about the progress of the recording sessions for the band's long-awaited follow-up to 2016's "The Stage" album. He said (see video below): "We're working on stuff. We have pretty much 70 percent of the record done. We have some things we can't finish right now 'cause of COVID — string players, et cetera. We know Andy [Wallace, AVENGED SEVENFOLD's longtime mixer] doesn't wanna travel, or his management doesn't want him to travel because of COVID. So there's just a lot of things going on."

As for when fans can expect to see the new AVENGED SEVENFOLD LP released, M. Shadows said: "It doesn't make sense for us right now to put out a record and not be able to tour it. The world has changed. Putting out a record on Spotify without touring for a rock band, it just doesn't make sense to us. So we're gonna wait till everything is back, then we'll come out with the record, finish it up, and all will be good."

Earlier this month, AVENGED SEVENFOLD guitarist Zacky Vengeance told Detroit's WRIF radio station that he and his bandmates have done "lots and lots of writing — at a lot slower pacer than usual' — during the coronavirus pandemic. "Now that we are a little bit older, we move around a little bit slower, but [we've done] tons of writing," he said. "We've gone to the studio. It was kind of a weird time to do anything in 2020, but that's when we felt like it was a good time to go out there and start tracking all the stuff that we had in us.

"But, like I said, we're doing it at a slow pace, so we're still in the process of recording," he explained. "We're taking it really, really slow, making sure everything is the way we like it. We're not in a big rush to get anything out, mainly 'cause we wanna get on the road, and we wanna be able to bring it to life. We wanna tour, we wanna travel, we wanna play songs that people wanna hear; we wanna expose them to some new stuff. 'Cause I just feel like rushing to put something out right now and letting it dissipate because of the void, while people are worried about where their next meal is coming from or the paycheck, the last thing in the world on people's minds is, 'AVENGED SEVENFOLD's gonna put out a new album, and that's gonna be the saving grace for us all.' And I feel like we'll take it slow, let the world get a little bit back to normal, and when people are ready, we'll know — we have a good sense of that. We'll slowly finish it up, and then unleash it when the world's ready."

Last December, M. Shadows told Kerrang! magazine about the musical direction of the new AVENGED material: "The [new] record sounds nothing like 'The Stage' — it's a completely new direction, and it sounds nothing like anything we've done. That's all I'll say about it: it's over the top, and it's very eclectic and wild."

AVENGED SEVENFOLD kept a low profile during 2019 and will likely not return to the road until the end of this year or early 2022. A blood blister on M. Shadows's vocal cords forced the band to cancel a summer 2018 tour with PROPHETS OF RAGE and THREE DAYS GRACE.

Asked if he is fully healed up now, M. Shadows told 93X: "I feel good, man. I'm just working on a new technique so that I can make sure I don't have any problems anymore. For the last year, that's what I've been doing — is switching up a lot of things, singing from a different place, and just making sure that when I hit the stage again, I don't resort back to old bad habits."

"The Stage" was surprise-released in October 2016. The release of the disc, which was announced the night it went on sale, earned the lowest sales of an AVENGED SEVENFOLD album in 11 years. It sold 76 thousand copies in its first week, 73 thousand of which were physical.

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

JOURNEY's classic song "Don't Stop Believin'" has reached 1 billion listens on Spotify.

JOURNEY guitarist Neal Schon commemorated the milestone by posting a screenshot of the band's Spotify page, and he included the following message: "Wow!!! Thank you Fans!! We are Over 1 Billion Streams on Spotify Don't stop Believin QUEEN is the ONLY other band at this point. Congratulations guys".

He added in a separate tweet: "JOURNEY and QUEEN the Only 2 Bands Ever to Attain more then 1 Billion Streams individually for 'Dont stop Believin' and 'Bohemian Rhapsody' Cheers Friends".

In a 2009 interview with CBC's "Q" cultural affairs show, former JOURNEY singer Steve Perry said he always thought "Don't Stop Believing" — which is also the top-selling digital download of a track not originally released in this century, according to Nielsen SoundScan — had potential as a single. It was always a hit with live audiences, though it didn't get great radio play at the time it was issued, he said.

"When we were doing the song in 1981, I knew something was happening, but honestly, when I saw it in the film 'Monster' with Patty Jenkins, I started think, 'Oh my goodness there's really something.'"

He added: "The lyric is a strong lyric about not giving up, but it's also about being young, it's also about hanging out, not giving up and looking for that emotion hiding somewhere in the dark that we're all looking for. It's about having hope and not quitting when things get tough, because I'm telling you things get tough for everybody."

Current JOURNEY singer Arnel Pineda, who has been fronting the band for 14 years, told CBS News in 2012, "Even before I discovered 'Don't Stop Believin'', it has been my motto — you know, to never stop believing in myself. The life that I've gone through, all those hardships, I never stopped believing that someday there is something magical that will happen in my life."

Last year, at the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, "Don't Stop Believin'" had become a rallying call for patients recovering from COVID-19 at two hospitals in New York and Michigan. The 1981 hit was being played at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit, Michigan and the New York-Presbyterian Queens Hospital during celebrations for patients prevailing over the coronavirus.




Wow!!! Thank you Fans!! We are Over 1 Billion Streams on Spotify Don’t stop Believin Queen is the ONLY other band at this point. Congratulations guys ???????♾?@NealSchonMusic @JourneyOfficial @TheJonathanCain @StevePerryMusic @Spotify pic.twitter.com/FKoinW7XpX

— NEAL SCHON MUSIC (@NealSchonMusic) February 25, 2021








JOURNEY and QUEEN the Only 2 Bands Ever to Attain more then 1 Billion Streams individually for “Dont stop Believin” and “Bohemian Rhapsody” Cheers Friends ♾ pic.twitter.com/PdCa1nWIlR

— NEAL SCHON MUSIC (@NealSchonMusic) February 25, 2021

RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE guitarist Tom Morello will serve as the executive music producer of the upcoming Netflix film "Metal Lords".

The movie a coming-of-age comedy, was written by D.B. Weiss and produced by Weiss and Greg Shapiro. David Benioff is one of the film's executive producers. Weiss and Benioff are the co-creators of the hit series/pop culture phenomenon "Game Of Thrones". Peter Sollett ("Nick And Norah's Infinite Playlist") is set to direct.

Jaeden Martell, Isis Hainsworth and Adrian Greensmith star in the film about two kids who want to start a heavy metal band "in a high school where exactly two kids care about heavy metal."

Back in August 2019, Benioff and Weiss signed an exclusive multi-year deal with Netflix to produce a series of new TV shows and films.

"We are thrilled to welcome master storytellers David Benioff and Dan Weiss to Netflix," Netflix chief content officer Ted Sarandos said in a statement at the time. "They are a creative force and have delighted audiences worldwide with their epic storytelling. We can't wait to see what their imaginations will bring to our members."

In May 2019, Morello joined ANTHRAX's Scott Ian, EXTREME's Nuno Bettencourt and Brad Paisley to record a hard rock version of the "Game Of Thrones" theme song. The foursome were joined in a video by Weiss and "Game Of Thrones" composer Ramin Djawadi

Former AC/DC drummer Simon Wright says that he was never approached about playing drums for the band after Phil Rudd was arrested for drug possession and threatening to kill an employee. "The phone didn't ring at all," Simon told SiriusXM's "Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk". "I get asked that quite a lot. No, it didn't ring. I wasn't looking for it. I don't know. I wasn't expecting a call — put it that way — and I didn't pursue it, I must admit. I did hear some things about what was going on, but to have put my foot in it wouldn't have been cool. So, that's it. That's the way it goes. They didn't call. That's no problem for me. I've got lots of stuff to do."

Chris Slade ended up playing drums for AC/DC on the legendary hard rock band's "Rock Or Bust" world tour. Since then, AC/DC has recorded and released a new album, "Power Up", with Rudd sitting behind the kit in the studio.

Wright, who played drums for AC/DC in the 1980s, went on to say that he has no contact with his former bandmates anymore. "No, I haven't been in touch for years," he said. "I did text [AC/DC bassist] Cliff Williams four or five months ago. I don't know why. I just congratulated him on his retirement and wished him well. And he texted me back and said, "Thanks. It's good to hear from you. I hope you're well.' But no, I don't really keep in touch with them. They've got their lives, and I've had my life for quite some time now. But if I ran into 'em, I'm sure we'd say hello."

According to Wright, fans shouldn't be surprised to know that he is no longer in regular communication with the AC/DC camp. "There's people that I've played with that I haven't kept in touch with," he explained. "And it's not a problem. You just move on. They've got their lives, and I've got mine. And I'm busy trying to figure stuff out and keep moving forward and all the usual stuff. I don't think it's unusual."

Wright, who joined AC/DC after the departure of Rudd in 1983, also reflected on his time with the iconic hard rock group. "It was just a working band," he said. "There were long, hard shows — obviously very enjoyable. And it was possible back then, being that young. There were some fantastic shows. I mean, come on — it's, like, Rock In Rio, there was three hundred thousand [people] there. And then lots and lots of other big, big shows. And it was very comfortable. You were looked after. It was an amazing time. I will always thank them for the time that they gave me and let me play that stuff. So, yeah, it was an amazing time — no doubt — and I have total respect in the world for them."

Wright, currently of DIO DISCIPLES and also known for his work in DIO, RHINO BUCKET and UFO, lasted in AC/DC for six years. Wright, a then-unknown drummer whose first credits included Manchester, England metal outfit A II Z, joined AC/DC in time for the touring cycle for "Flick Of The Switch" and played with the Australian rockers throughout the '80s before leaving to join DIO in 1989.

Slade originally followed Wright in AC/DC's lineup, joining in time to play on 1990's "The Razor's Edge" album. When Rudd returned in 1995, Slade was shown the door and harbored some bad feelings about that for a wh

QUEENSRŸCHE singer Todd La Torre has once again denied that Scott Rockenfield is officially out of the band, saying the drummer asked for paternity leave almost four years ago and just never came back.

Last month, Rockenfield shot down suggestions that he quit QUEENSRŸCHE or retired from playing music. The drummer, who hasn't performed with QUEENSRŸCHE since early 2017, took to his Facebook page to say that fans "have not been given the facts by any means" and implied that he would offer more details at a later date.

Scott's comments marked the first time he has publicly addressed his status with QUEENSRŸCHE, which has used former KAMELOT drummer Casey Grillo for touring purposes since April 2017.

In a brand new interview with "The Eddie Trunk Podcast", Todd — who is promoting his debut solo album, "Rejoice In The Suffering" — was asked if anybody in QUEENSRŸCHE has heard directly from Scott regarding his status with the group. The vocalist replied (hear audio below): "Not to my knowledge. All I can tell you is he took paternity leave, saying he would be gone for about six months, and that was four years ago. [Laughs] Casey shows up every day. He shows up to songwrite, he shows up to record, if needed, and he shows up for the live gigs. So that's all that I can tell you.

"I haven't communicated with [Scott] in years. So I have no idea what he's up to. I couldn't even tell you."

When DJ Eddie Trunk said that he heard from Rockenfield nearly two years ago and that the drummer expressed an interest at the time in telling his story, La Torre replied: "I don't know what story there is to tell. People ask, but, honestly, it is literally like déjà vu. Go play the answer I gave you four years ago, because, literally, nothing has changed.

"As far as I understand, there really isn't communication [between Scott and the QUEENSRŸCHE camp]. And I couldn't tell you anything more than that. Some people think, 'They're not telling us more.' I don't have anything to say, 'cause I don't talk to him; he doesn't talk to me. Casey's been playing with us for four years — going on four years — and he shows up. The guy is doing an awesome job.

"I guess I'd revert back to you," Todd continued. "If you left your radio show saying that you needed six months paternity leave but you never communicated when you were coming back for four years, would the radio station stop running because you quit showing up to work? And keep in mind, you weren't fired, and you didn't give official written notice that you're never gonna come back; you just don't come back or communicate. Does your key still work? Is your name on the door? Or are they gonna find adequate talent replacement to keep things going?

"So I don't have anything bad to say," La Torre clarified. "I don't really have anything to say, other than he asked for paternity leave and just hasn't come back."

The drum tracks on QUEENSRŸCHE's latest album, 2019's "The Verdict", were laid down by La Torre.

Last year, former QUEENSRŸCHE singer Geoff Tate expressed his doubt that Rockenfield will ever play drums again, telling Metal Rules that Scott "has a lot of medical problems and things like that now." In 2019, Tate told 88.1FM WESU's weekly syndicated radio show "Noize In The Attic" that he was "pretty sure" Scott "didn't leave" QUEENSRŸCHE of his own accord. "I can tell you that there's lawsuits involved; I know that," he said. "He's in kind of a really dark place, and I hope he gets some help, 'cause he's really unraveled, you know? In my opinion. It's too bad — he's an incredibly talented drummer, and unfortunately, he never was happy with that. It wasn't good enough for him."

"Rejoice In The Suffering" came out on February 5 via Rat Pak Records.

Legendary guitarist Steve Vai recently sat down for an interview with Cassius Morris on "The Cassius Morris Show". You can now watch the chat below.

Speaking about his current and upcoming projects, the 60-year-old Vai, who recently underwent trigger finger surgery, said: "I always had this desire to one day just do an acoustic record — just me playing acoustic guitar and singing; nothing virtuostic [sic]. There's a certain melody DNA that I have that whenever I come across a song idea that falls into that category, I kind of put it on the shelf under a different category. And I had a whole bunch of these, and I said, 'Okay, now it's time to make this acoustic vocal record with these songs.' So, that's what I'm working on. But I also have all the songs put aside and ready to record for an instrumental guitar record that I'm hoping will be the next record I work on. And then a tour. Like every other artist, I'm itching to get back on tour. And I've got a huge tour booked. We just don't know when we can start... [It will be] about 250 shows in about 52 countries. I have the itinerary, but it just keeps moving."

He continued: "The other project I'm working on that I'm very excited about is I'm recording a bunch of my orchestra music. I've got about four hours of orchestra music that I've had performed and I've had recorded, but I wasn't really crazy with the recordings. It's for a series of records that I'm releasing called 'Sound Theories'. And I've released 'Sound Theories Vol. I & II'. And now, with this music, once it's recorded, I'll have enough, I think, probably up to 'Vol. VI' — I'll have 'III', 'IV', 'V', 'VI' [and] maybe 'VII'. I'm really excited about that."

In September 2019, Vai released a Blu-ray edition of his 2015 live DVD, "Stillness In Motion", via his personal record label Light Without Heat, distributed by The Orchard. The release features Vai's complete performance at Club Nokia in Los Angeles on October 12, 2012.

As a virtuoso guitarist, composer and producer, Vai has sold over 15 million albums and won three Grammy Awards. Vai has toured the world with Frank Zappa, ALCATRAZZ, David Lee Roth, WHITESNAKE and the "G3" tour. He appeared in the acclaimed movie "Crossroads", and also established the Make A Noise foundation. Vai owns the Favored Nations Entertainment record label, and has created music for blockbuster films, best-selling video games, national sports franchises, and corporate brand initiatives.

SLIPKNOT and STONE SOUR frontman Corey Taylor is featured in "Live The Madness", the new music video from MOONSHINE BANDITS, the American country rap group composed of Dusty "Tex" Dahlgren and Brett "Bird" Brooks. The clip, which can be seen below, also features Corey's wife Alicia Taylor, a professional dancer and a member of the all-girl dance group CHERRY BOMBS.

"Live The Madness", featuring Corey on guest vocals, is taken from MOONSHINE BANDITS' latest album, "Fire", which came out in 2020.

Since their formation in Los Banos California in 2003, the MOONSHINE BANDITS have continued a campaign of crossover genre-bending musical mayhem that appeals to the eclectic, color-outside-the-lines tastes of listeners, a.k.a. The Shiners, and they fiercely refuse to have their tastes confined and filed into categories.

The MOONSHINE BANDITS have crisscrossed the country performing hundreds of shows a year, ventured into branding their own beef jerky and moonshine, collaborated with some of the music business’s most prolific artists, outshined in the face of record industry roadblocks, earned a fiercely loyal fan following, and embrace the unconventional. It's all part of a journey filled with good, bad and even some ugly, but ultimately the MOONSHINE BANDITS philosophy is summed up by Tex and Bird's joint statement: "We always felt there aren’' stops or boundaries if you pave your own lane."

The organizers of the U.K.'s Download festival have confirmed the cancelation of this year's event.

The announcement comes just days after U.K. prime minister Boris Johnson said that June 21 is when he hopes to lift all restrictions and allow large events to go ahead.

Earlier today, the Download organizers issued a statement saying that they "never gave up hope of bringing the festival back to Donington this June and had been working so hard behind the scenes to make this happen, but we now know it's not possible." They also revealed that the 2022 installment of Download will take place June 10-12, 2022, with KISS, IRON MAIDEN and BIFFY CLYRO headlining.

The full statement reads as follows:

"We can confirm that Download Festival will no longer be taking place this year. But we do have exciting news for 2022.

"We never gave up hope of bringing the festival back to Donington this June and had been working so hard behind the scenes to make this happen, but we now know it's not possible. We're heartbroken for everyone in the Download family, from artists to supplier and of course our passionate Download fans.

"We'll be back on 10th-12th June 2022, as strong as ever, with an amazing set of headliners — KISS, IRON MAIDEN and BIFFY CLYRO.

"We'd like to take this opportunity to thank the NHS for their extraordinary efforts in rolling out the vaccine, as well as thanking all of you for your patience and for keeping the spirit of Download alive until we can be together again.

"You are very welcome to retain your ticket and carry it over to next year. Alternatively, you will be able to receive a refund from your ticket agent. Look out for an email from them very soon and please only contact them if you have not been contacted after 5 days as they are very busy at this time.

"Horns up. We'll see you in 2022.

"Team Download".




We’re sorry to announce that Download 2021 will no longer be taking place. Please read the full statement below.

Download will return stronger than ever 10th - 12th June 2022 with headliners @kiss, @IronMaiden and @BiffyClyro. ? pic.twitter.com/eQ3xb0Djke

— Download Festival (@DownloadFest) March 1, 2021

MÖTLEY CRÜE bassist Nikki Sixx says that the band's "The Stadium Tour" with DEF LEPPARD, POISON and JOAN JETT & THE BLACKHEARTS will happen when it's safe to go to concerts again.

"The Stadium Tour" was originally scheduled to take place last summer but has been pushed back to this year due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

"The Stadium Tour" is now scheduled to kick off on June 19, 2021 in Nashville, Tennessee and conclude on September 12, 2021 in San Diego, California.

Asked by a fan on Twitter on Friday (February 26) if there have been any updates on whether "The Stadium Tour" will go ahead this summer, Nikki responded: "Our concern is the safely [sic] of not only our fans but everybody involved in a tour. The bands, crews etc etc. As soon as we get the green light we're excited to get out and tour."

Last month, DEF LEPPARD guitarist Phil Collen told the "Jeremy White Podcast" that he was "really confident" "The Stadium Tour" would take place in 2021 provided that the COVID-19 vaccine was successfully rolled out. "It's the same way anywhere around the world," he said. "You go, 'Hey, are you coming to so and so?' Well, I don't know if we're allowed to travel and whether we would be allowed on the plane or even in that country. So, it's looking good — or not. We really don't know. It really comes down to how everyone deals with approaching this pandemic and stuff."

As of January 30, 2020, "The Stadium Tour" had already grossed $130 million from one million tickets sold, plus another $5 million worth of VIP seats, according to Billboard.

Tickets ranged from $150 to $400, not counting some varied pricing that reflected demand as part of "dynamic pricing."

When it happens, "The Stadium Tour" will mark the CRÜE's first live dates since wrapping its 2014/2015 farewell tour. CRÜE toured with POISON back in 2011 and DEF LEPPARD teamed up with POISON for a string of road dates in 2017 — but the upcoming jaunt marks the first time all four acts have hit the road together for an extended tour.

In the face of the coronavirus pandemic, thousands of concerts and festivals have either been postponed or canceled, as social distancing and self-quarantining make performing live music and attending live shows all but impossible.

U.S. officials have repeatedly urged Americans to heed what federal, state and local officials are asking of them in order to curtail the spread and dampen the impact of the virus on the population.

Last month, Dr. Anthony Fauci said that theaters and other live entertainment venues could reopen "some time in the fall of 2021."

The director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases gave an update on when he thinks the performing arts will be able to reopen during a virtual conference held by the Association of Performing Arts Professionals.

According to The New York Times, Fauci said that the country will have to reach an effective level of herd immunity, which requires vaccinating from 70 percent to 85 percent of the population, before theaters and other venues will be able to reopen.

"If everything goes right, this is will occur some time in the fall of 2021," Fauci said, "so that by the time we get to the early to mid-fall, you can have people feeling safe performing onstage as well as people in the audience."

Fauci went on to say that if vaccine distribution succeeded, theaters with good ventilation and proper air filters might not need to place many restrictions for performances by the fall — except asking their audience members to wear masks, which he suggested could continue to be a norm for the foreseeable future.

Photo credit: Dustin Jack




Hi David. Our concern is the safely of not only our fans but everybody involved in a tour. The bands, crews etc etc. As soon as we get the green light we’re excited to get out and tour.?? https://t.co/8S0dA5gVSk

— ? (@NikkiSixx) February 26, 2021

With live music in lockdown and the return of tours still uncertain, rock group QUEEN has come up with a safe alternative — no masks, no social distancing, just the good old fashioned live experience, with "Queen: Rock Tour", the band's first ever official game for Android and iOS devices.

The arrival of the play-along rhythm game comes at a significant landmark for QUEEN. With 50 years now having passed since the 1971 recruiting of John Deacon, completing QUEEN's classic lineup, 2021 marks a QUEEN Golden Jubilee that the band was hoping to celebrate with fans. A massive 29-date European stadium and arena tour planned for this year has been forced to be delayed to 2022.

"Queen: Rock Tour" gives players a chance to experience the majesty and might of the QUEEN (live) experience on their phones supported by extensive attention to detail contributed by the official QUEEN archives and experts. Hit the stage and perform with the entire band as you unleash your music talents to play thrilling guitar riffs, heart-pounding drum solos and much more. All you need to do is tap the tiles in time with the rhythm!

"Be a lockdown rock star! No turning back !!!" enthused QUEEN's Brian May on the game launch.

The game allows users to fully immerse themselves into the world of QUEEN. Progress and score points by playing along to 20 of their most popular hits, including "Bohemian Rhapsody", "We Will Rock You", "Radio Ga Ga", "I Want to Break Free" and "We Are The Champions", while performing at 10 historic concert venues from around the world.

Style your performances with over 40 official and iconic costumes from the band's history and help unlock fun trivia facts and exclusive images from the official QUEEN archives, by scoring highly in the game.

QUEEN's music has been featured in major mobile music games before, but for the first time ever the band will be releasing their own dedicated mobile experience in "Queen: Rock Tour".

QUEEN remain one of the most popular groups in the world today, transcending multiple generations of fans, a position further buoyed by the phenomenal global success of their Academy Award-winning 2018 biographical film "Bohemian Rhapsody", which tells the incredible story of the band's historic career and quickly became the highest grossing music biopic in history.

The film's title was inspired by their iconic 1975 single "Bohemian Rhapsody", the world's most streamed song from the 20th Century and the first pre-1980s song to achieve more than 1 billion video views.

"Queen: Rock Tour" was created in association with Universal Music Group, Hollywood Records and developed by industry-leading mobile gaming developer and producer Gameloft.

Cedric Ratajczak, creative director at Gamesloft, said: "Our ambition was to push the boundaries of music and gaming with a fun and rewarding experience that would put players in QUEEN shoes at pivotal points in their career, and make them perform in real-time QUEEN's live music unlike ever before. The creative challenge was to modernize the traditional rhythm-game genre with innovative and mobile-friendly twists inheriting from hyper-casual gaming, and with a unique and happy visual style that offers a timeless look to the band, appealing to the new generation of players. We devoted enormous attention to the details of QUEEN's history, authenticity and artistry to craft a fitting tribute to one of the most significant bands in rock history and aim at setting new standards for how band-focused music games could be executed on mobile today."

Andrew Kronfeld, executive vice president of marketing at Universal Music Group, said: "Today, QUEEN are globally recognized as one of the most iconic and important bands in history. Decades after their first live shows together and following on from the huge worldwide box office success of the 'Bohemian Rhapsody' biopic, their popularity continues to grow every year. We hope the launch of 'Rock Tour' will introduce their inimitable rock legacy and catalogue to a new generation of fans, through this unique new gaming experience."

Ken Bunt, president of Disney Music Group, said: "We are excited to partner with QUEEN, UMG and Gameloft to let QUEEN fans experience the bands legendary music in a new way."

"Rock Tour" is certain to appeal to fans old and young alike and is sure to find a place in the hearts of the millions of QUEEN fans around the world.

Vocalist Kyle Thomas of New Orleans-based thrash metal pioneers EXHORDER has confirmed to "The Dan Chan Show" that he and his bandmates are "in pre-production for a new album" at the moment. He said (hear audio below): "I'm writing at home. Marzi's [Montazeri, guitar] writing at home. Jason [Viebrooks, bass] and Sasha [Horn, drums] are writing at home. They work together as well. So everybody's kind of piecing everything together. We share the files, we make recommendations to each other and tweak it. We're just throwing it to the wall and seeing what sticks. But so far, we've got some really, really good stuff [in the works]."

Asked if EXHORDER fans should expect to see the follow-up to 2019's "Mourn The Southern Skies" later this year, Kyle said: "If it's not released this year, it will probably be released in 2022. But Marzi's got probably close to 10 songs written on his own. Jason and Sasha put together about a half a dozen. Mostly what I do for EXHORDER songs is I write parts, and then I submit them, and then they might get used here and there. That's how it always was done in the past. There are some parts of mine that made it onto the old albums. But most of what I write, when I'm writing, ends up being more like the FLOODGATE stuff. On occasion, when there's something that I've written, they'll use. I'm not that worried about it. I just want great songs handed to me so I can do what I do.

"My biggest part, outside of writing vocals and lyrics, is the arrangement — helping to piece the song into the format that it needs to be in," he explained. "And just the overall production side of it, especially vocally, I like having input on — what part here, the intro should be this…

"EXHORDER's always been a team effort; it's never been one person writing all the music, one person writing all the vocals. It's not like that at all. It's always been a collaborative effort, and I think that's what makes us so good at what we do — you get all those different flavors melding into one dish, and then it's something special."

Thomas is now the sole remaining founding member of EXHORDER, which released its debut album, "Slaughter In The Vatican", way back in 1990. In February 2020, EXHORDER parted ways with its original guitarist Vinnie LaBella, who wrote much of the material on "Mourn The Southern Skies". The remaining members of the group later issued a statement saying that they would fulfill their "touring and recording obligations for 2020 and beyond."

Asked if it's "strange" for him to be the only remaining founding member of EXHORDER, Kyle said: "At this point, I've jammed with so many people over the years — so many different lineups for this and that, fill-ins and all this stuff. To me, it doesn't really matter as much who's there, as long as the material that's being played is being played within the spirit of that band in particular. And the stuff that we're writing now, it's amazing. I play it for a lot of people that are my confidants, people love the band, and they're gonna shoot me straight. And the new stuff that we're working on, everybody's, like, 'Wow. It sounds like EXHORDER to me.'"

EXHORDER released two albums in the early 1990s through the Roadrunner label — the aforementioned "Slaughter In The Vatican" and 1992's "The Law" — before breaking up, with Kyle going on to form FLOODGATE and also briefly appearing live as the vocalist for TROUBLE, which he later joined on a full-time basis (and is still a member of).

EXHORDER is cited by many as the originator of the riff-heavy power-groove approach popularized by PANTERA.

Photo by: Stephanie Cabral

After more than 30 years, Toronto-based Chyld - who were part of the scene that gave us Slik Toxik, Sven Gali, Winter Rose and Slash Puppet - made a comeback in 2019 with a new single, "Burning Alive". The band have released a new single, "In The Field of Fire"; the official lyric video is available below.

Chyld: "World War One was the first war of the industrial revolution age and it delivered new weapons of mass destruction never seen before. From mechanized killing machines like tanks and planes to poisonous gas, with one of the most deadly and menacing being the flame thrower."

Line-up:

Nick Walsh - lead vocals
Pete Dove - bass 
Todd Lefever - guitars
Neal Busby - drums

Chyld recently released an official video for new song "Ride Out". The song features Famous Underground / ex-Slik Toxik frontman Nick Walsh on vocals. Check it out below.

Walsh: "After a hang with my old friend and Slik Toxik band mate Neal Busby, catching up and sharing stories, Neal talked about how he and another old friend of mine, Pete Dove (Slash Puppet), were resurrecting their traditional heavy metal band from the '80s, Chyld. That day and conversation led to what you are about to hear and see. A song that I believe was written in 1983 at the height of that 'new' sound called heavy metal is now primed up for 2020. When I had the opportunity to take part, I couldn't pass up feeling 16 yrs old again."

From that era Chyld was born after guitarist Glen Cunningham met singer Rob Villemaire and joined forces with drummer Neal Busby. After a lengthy search bassist Pete Dove joined the ranks after his departure from another band. Chyld began rehearsals in Toronto with a diligent schedule that produced results very quickly, and with an arsenal of original songs they were ready to take on the Toronto metal club scene centered around the infamous venue, Larry's Hideaway.

In 1986 they recorded three songs, which resulted in the debut 7 inch single "Lite The Nite / Ye Morlok" being released on their own independent label Chyldysh Records. Sadly, it never got the attention it deserved at the time, but later achieved legendary status in the European metal world and sold on eBay for hundreds of dollars. Sadly, Chyld packed it in sometime in 1986 for reasons even the band cannot remember.

In 2012, inspired by the surge of interest in the old 7" single, Chyld reformed and recorded one old song, "Burning Alive". Tragically, it was the last song that singer Rob sang, as he passed away in 2017. His vocals sat in a computer for 7 years until drummer Neal Busby took the reins and decided the song had to be finished and recruited super fret demon Todd Lefever to record the guitars and get the song ready to be released to the world.




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Firewind guitarist Gus G. has posted a new video along with the following update:

"I called up my friend and ex-Dream Evil bandmate Snowy Shaw for a chat and see what he's been up to. We discussed his book release, upcoming projects, the pros and cons of being a solo artist vs being a hired gun, and much more!"

They also discuss livestreams, touring versus creating, Nightwish, Therion, Mercyful Fate. and the perfect metal band line-up.

Renowned from bands like King Diamond, Sabaton, Mercyful Fate, Therion, Dream Evil, Dimmu Borgir, Notre Dame, Memento Mori, Denner/Shermann etc., multi-instrumentalist Snowy Shaw released his autobiography, The Book Of Heavy Metal (named after his most popular anthem to date, written for former band Dream Evil). 

From the camps of all the aforementioned bands, Snowy is the first to spill the beans and tell it all. His version of the truth. It's an extremely openhearted and revealing story of all the ups and downs a crazy rock n' rollercoaster life at 'Tivoli Shaw'. Often draped in cynical sarcasm, awkward truths and black humour.

The multi-talented Snowy Shaw has been called a "Worldwide Underground Superstar". After more than 30 years of touring the world he has earned himself a rock solid reputation as one of the most hardworking, multifaceted artist with loads of groundbreaking creativity and integrity.

In 2018, his highly acclaimed solo debut, White Is the New Black, got nothing but absolutely top notch reviews worldwide, and was nominated “Best Rock/Metal Album of the Year” in no less than 5 countries.

The book’s foreword is by Shaw’s longtime friend, youth idol and mentor Mikkey Dee (Motörhead, King Diamond, Scorpions). According to him, like too many rock biographies in the last few decades, this is not the typical romanticized Cinderella story, this is the real deal. A must read!




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The clip below features Nightwish vocalist Floor Jansen covering "Oblivion", originally performed and written by M83 & Susanne Sundfør for the movie Oblivion - released in 2013 - featuring Tom Cruise, Olga Kurylenko and Morgan Freeman.

Jansen: "Covering 'Oblivion' might have been the most fun I have had creating a cover so far. The epic, electronic vibe together with the dreamy vocals of Susanne was a perfect opportunity for me to adapt and perform in my vibe! Hope you enjoy!"

Jansen recently uploaded a new episode of Floor Finds. She posted the following overview for the clip below.

"Mental health, depression and difficult times are topics which are often not touched upon as much as they should. I sat down with Tom Englund from Silent Skies and Evergrey to discuss these heavy topics. Tom has a background in helping people with psychological issues and also got himself through a hard time. Hope you all enjoy this talk and are taking care of yourselves."

Jansen guested on the Evergrey track "In Orbit" for the band's 2016 album, The Storm Within. Check out the official video below.




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Turkish metallers Pitch Black Process, formerly known as Affliction, have re-issued their Hand Of God? album which was originally released in 2013. The album was recorded and co-produced by Daniel Bergstrand at Dugout Productions, Sweden. Furthermore the band has revealed a new lyric visualizer for "Deceiver", taken from Hand Of God?. "Deceiver" features Swedish songwriter / guitarist Niclas Engelin (In Flames, Engel, Gardenian).

Recently, Pitch Black Process released the official video "Heroes Of 2020" (Feat. Cengiz Tural), in case you missed it, watch it now:

For further details, visit Pitch Black Process on Facebook.

 




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Stars Unhinged has released the video for their second single "Run", from the forthcoming album Rise. "Run" features special guest Zachary Throne (Corey Taylor, Bruce Kulick Band) on background vocals.

"Run" was produced by drummer Chiko Misomali (Bif Naked) at Rancho Relaxo Studios in Vancouver, BC. It was mixed by Doug Fury (Bif Naked) at Fortissimo Sound, and mastered by Jamie Sitar (D.O.A., Swollen Members, Bif Naked) at Outta Town Sound.

The track was recorded pre-pandemic. Due to COVID-19 travel restrictions, bassist Frank Cusenza could not appear in the video, which can be seen below. "Run" is available on all music platforms.

Stars Unhinged is a Canadian modern hard rock band from Vancouver, formed in 2018 by Chiko Misomali (drummer for Bif Naked). What originally began as a song writing project, quickly became a full-fledged recording act with the inclusion of bassist Frank Cusenza, vocalist JB Mason and guitarist Mike Federici.

Though often compared to artists like Stone Sour, Sixx:A.M. and Velvet Revolver, it's each member's wealth of varied musical experience and influence which gives Stars Unhinged its fresh yet familiar rock ‘n’ roll sound.

Stars Unhinged's debut album Rise is scheduled for release in spring 2021. Check out their first single / video, "Fall In Line":

For further details, follow Stars Unhinged on Facebook.

 




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Introducing The Dirty Movies. This fabulous foursome features half of Toque - vocalist Todd Kerns (Slash Featuring Myles Kennedy And The Conspirators, The Age Of Electric) and drummer Shane Gaalaas (Yngwie Malmsteen, Michael Schenker) - along with guitarist Toshi Yanagi, and bassist Coray McComic.

In the video below, The Dirty Movies cover "On Fire", which is the final track on Van Halen's self-titled debut album from 1978.

Get your own digital copy of The Dirty Movies' version of "On Fire" now at this location.

 




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SION, the new project featuring former KILLSWITCH ENGAGE singer Howard Jones and modern guitar virtuoso/content creator Jared Dines, will release its debut single and accompanying music video, "The Blade", on March 11. A short teaser for the track is available below.

Speaking about how their collaboration came about, Dines told Rock Feed: "Way back [in] 2018 was the TRIVIUM tour that I filled in for that Howard was on with his band LIGHT THE TORCH. And, of course, we met and we talked and we just kind of randomly started talking [about working together]. I think Howard mentioned, 'Down the road, let's maybe talk about doing something.' And, of course, I was, like, 'Yeah, that sounds awesome.' So that's kind of where it started. And then maybe just until [early 2020], I think [he] reached out and had said that [he] had some free time, and I had some free time, so we figured why not start now and start writing some songs. So that's kind of how it started. It was just very casual, and it's just been that way — very natural, and not, like, [with] any type of real plan."

Regarding SION's musical direction, Dines said: "I think there's a lot of natural influence I have from bands like KILLSWITCH ENGAGE, AS I LAY DYING, et cetera, et cetera, because that's the era I grew up on, so that's kind of imprinted into my playing as it is. So it's very natural for me just to flow out these very, you could call it KILLSWITCH ENGAGE-sounding songs, but that's not the intent, what we were going for. But, yeah, they're going to sound, when you hear them, of course, because of Howard and because of my influence and my style, they will be similar to that sound — just naturally. [KILLSWITCH ENGAGE's third album, 2004's] 'The End Of Heartache', of course, for me, was my favorite and what influenced me the most, so I would say it's probably gonna sound more like that, as far as instrumentally. And whatever Howard wants to do with it, it's gonna sound like Howard. It's gonna sound like me and Howard, whatever that sounds like."

Jones left KILLSWITCH ENGAGE in 2012 and battled manic depression and bipolar disorder before forming a new project, DEVIL YOU KNOW, with guitarist Francesco Artusato (ALL SHALL PERISH) and drummer John Sankey (DEVOLVED). Along with bassist Ryan Wombacher (BLEEDING THROUGH), they recorded and toured behind two well-received albums, 2014's "The Beauty Of Destruction" and 2015's "They Bleed Red". In 2017, the band changed its name to LIGHT THE TORCH following a bitter dispute with Sankey, a part owner of the name.

Asked what made him get back into music after leaving KILLSWITCH ENGAGE, Howard told Heavy New York: "Honestly, I think it was because I was just kind of tired of doing nothing and I don't do much else other than music. I felt like I needed to venture out because I was basically agoraphobic for three years. It's kind of well known. I went off the grid. I didn't have a cell phone for three years — I was gone. It felt, like, 'Okay, maybe I should dip my toe in. I don't have to do it full time. I don't have to do what I don't want to do.' That's all I was thinking. I started moving, I started doing things. It was definitely a struggle, especially for the first few years. I was, like, 'What am I doing?' There's been few things in my life that has been consistent other than music. I just did it. It just took some time, then all of the sudden, the spark showed up. I fell back in love with what I was doing. I really can't explain it. It just sort of happened."

In a 2014 interview with Fishing World, Jones stated about his musical influences: "Well, just about anything I can listen to. AC/DC and KISS were the first bands that introduced me to heavy music. After that, I just absorbed anything I could get my hands on. Some favourites are FAITH NO MORE, HIM, ALICE IN CHAINS, PORTISHEAD ... My taste is kind of all over the place."

Jones makes an appearance on KILLSWITCH ENGAGE's latest album, "Atonement", contributing guest vocals to the song "The Signal Fire".

Dines has redefined the very idea of a guitar hero online. His YouTube channel boasts a staggering 2.92 million subscribers and more than 700 million views. He also has collaborated with everyone from Post Malone to BREAKING BENJAMIN. His recorded output includes "Rest", "Repose", "Daddy Rock" and "Dissimilator", to name a few. He made history as "the first YouTuber" to grace the cover of Guitar World magazine. Meanwhile, he teamed up with Music Man for a signature Stingray guitar.

American heavy rock band The L.A. Maybe - fronted by lead singer Alvi Robinson, made famous when he was nearly selected to front AC/DC in 2016 - have released a guitar playthrough video featuring Dallas Dwight and Drizzle Silvera for their debut single, "Mr. Danger".

Directed by Ridge Beck, the official video for "Mr. Danger" from the band's upcoming, debut album, Dirty Damn Tricks, due out March 26th, can be seen below.

"'Mr. Danger' is our ode to living fast and loose. As our debut single, it serves as a call to arms for rock n’ roll fans everywhere to stand up, get loud, and to never let the genre die without a hell of a fight." - The L.A. Maybe

The L.A. Maybe is a six-piece rock n' roll band hailing from the southern heat of the Carolinas. If you’re a fan of Guns N' Roses, The Black Crowes, or Van Halen…you will feel right at home adding LAM to your record collection.

Lead vocalist Alvi Robinson (who was one of only four singers to audition to replace Brian Johnson in AC/DC in 2016) lays down gritty, passionate vocals while the rest of the band back him up with slithering riffs, huge catchy hooks, and ripping guitar solos.

LAM firmly plants its feet at the very forefront of the New Wave of Classic Rock movement and you’re sure to have at least one of their choruses stuck in your head at any given moment.

Drawing influence from nearly every style of music, The L.A. Maybe put on an electrifying live show and stand for everything you love about rock music, old and new.

For further details, visit The L.A. Maybe on Facebook.

 




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During an appearance on a recent episode of "Another FN Podcast", MEGADETH's David Ellefson discussed the sound of METALLICA's "...And Justice For All" album. While "...And Justice For All" is considered one of METALLICA's classics, it has been criticized almost since the day it was released in 1988 for the lack of any bass guitar on the record. Jason Newsted's playing is virtually buried in the mix — and many fans feel that drummer Lars Ulrich, who had very specific ideas for how he wanted his drums to sound, is to blame.

Ellefson said (see video below): "There is something on YouTube that [Jason] did — an interview that's very candid — and he talked very openly about… 'Garage Days' was his first [recording with METALLICA], and he said, he goes, 'Look, [on 'Justice'] I played everything… I matched a lot of the guitar parts, but it was very aggressive. The tone was exactly dialed the same as it was on 'Garage Days',' and then, for whatever reason, it wasn't prominent on [the 'Justice' album]. And that could probably be discussed for another 10 podcasts.

"Look, we all know Jason's a great player," Ellefson continued. "I knew him from FLOTSAM AND JETSAM. He was a great player. He was a band leader, so when he joined METALLICA, he then had to come back to being an Indian and not a chief, which, I'm sure, knowing him, was probably difficult. I mean, look, you're in the biggest heavy metal band in the world, but you still have a different role being in that group, as big as it is. So there's definitely a mental adjustment I'm sure that he had to go through with that."

Ellefson also talked about the more progressive nature of much of the "…And Justice For All" material, with the album's nine songs clocking in at about 65 minutes. He said: "Lars was openly giving nods to DEEP PURPLE and RUSH at that point, and you could tell they were going off on these sort of heavy metal 'Cygnus X-1' explorations on a lot of these tracks, which was clever, because with metal, to do that and still keep it interesting and not run out of ideas was… That, to me, was probably the thing I like about the record the most, is it was a very progressive record. And then it's kind of like they got that out of their system, and then they made the 'Black' album. The same maybe could be said for MEGADETH, that we did that with 'Rust In Peace', and then we went and made 'Countdown To Extinction', which we explored slower tempos, bigger grooves — just kind of writing verse-chorus-verse-chorus rather than [going through] five tempos and going down all those other roads. So, on some level, we probably were kind of walking side by side, METALLICA and MEGADETH, on that sort of level — maybe that same kind of compositional mindset from these two records."

Two years ago, METALLICA frontman James Hetfield defended the sound of "...And Justice For All", saying that he and his bandmates simply "wanted the best-sounding record" they could make. "It was not all about, 'Fuck [Jason]. Let's turn him down.' That's for sure," he said. "We wanted the best-sounding record we could make. That was our goal. We were burnt. We were frigging fried. Going back and forth [between touring and mixing the album]. Playing a gig. No earplugs, no nothing. You go back into the studio, your hearing is shot. If your ears can't hear any high end anymore, you're gonna turn it up. So we're turning the high end up more and more and more and all of a sudden, low end's gone. So I know that played a bigger part than any hazing or any ill feelings towards Jason, for sure. We were fried. We were burnt."

Hetfield also addressed some of the criticism leveled at METALLICA by one of the "...And Justice For All" album mixers, Steve Thompson. In a 2015 interview with Ultimate Guitar, Thompson suggested that Ulrich was the culprit for the lack of any bass guitar on the record, claiming that Lars wanted his drums to sound a certain way — even if it meant cutting out the bass.

"We wanted it tight," James explained. "We wanted it fucking tight. That's what we wanted. We wanted the snare, we wanted the guitar, we wanted everything up front and in your face and really tight. And we thought we got it. And, you know, we kinda know what we want to sound like. Can we sit behind a desk and make it happen? No. We ask people to do it, and they do it. So [Thompson] did his job. He's got nothing to apologize for or point fingers at. No one's to blame for 'something.' It is a piece of art. It happened and it ended up the way it is for a reason. And for reasons we were just talking about. We were burnt. We're traveling, we're playing a gig, our ears were fried. We were not sleeping. He doesn't need to defend himself. He was a part of an awesome album in history, so I think he should be maybe be a little easier on himself."

James also once again dismissed calls for METALLICA to remix "…And Justice For All" so that Newsted's contributions are more audible.

"All this [bass discussion] is after the fact, and it's, like, who gives a shit, man, really?" Hetfield said. "And why would you change that? Why would you change history? Why would you all of a sudden put bass on it? There is bass on it, but why would you remix an album? You can remaster it, yes, but why would you remix something and make it different? It'd be like… I don't know. Not that I'm comparing us to the Mona Lisa, but it's, like, 'Uh, can we make her smile a little better?!' You know?! Why?"

In a 2008 interview with Decibel magazine, METALLICA guitarist Kirk Hammett attempted to explain the lack of bass on "…And Justice For All", saying that "the reason you can't hear the bass so well is because the bass frequencies in Jason's tone kinda interfered with the tone that James was trying to shoot for with his rhythm guitar sound, and every time the two blended together, it just wasn't happening. So the only thing left to do was turn the bass down in the mix. It was unfortunate, but for some reason or another, that album is known for the low end being there without the bass being very high up in the mix. It was an experiment, too — we were totally going for a dry, in-your-face sound, and some people really like that sound. A lot of the newer-generation bands, especially, think that album sounds great. But at the end of the day, it was an experiment. I'm not really sure it was 100 percent successful, but it is a unique sound that that album has."

In the Ultimate Guitar interview, Thompson said that he spoke out because he was tired of being blamed for the lack of bass. He remarked: "They flew us out [to METALLICA's Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame induction in 2009] and I'm sitting with Lars. He goes, 'Hey, what happened to the bass in 'Justice'?' He actually asked me that. I wanted to cold cock him right there. It was a shame because I'm the one getting the shit for the lack of bass."

Ulrich told The Pulse Of Radio a while back that fans were extremely vocal about the sound of the album at the time of its release. "I mean, it was unbelievable, you know, '...And Justice For All', " he said. "People were saying, 'That's the worst-sounding record, where's the bass, and it sounds like it was recorded in a garage, and...' But, you know, listen, you do the best you can in the moment and then you move on."

Legendary rock band ANGEL is preparing to enter the studio to begin recording its brand new album, to be released on Cleopatra Records. This will be ANGEL's second LP for Cleopatra and the follow-up to 2019's "Risen". Founding members Punky Meadows and Frank DiMino have been working with new partner and bandmember, guitarist Danny Farrow, to write and craft 13 tracks for the next LP.

"We've written some great songs and are excited for all you guys to hear," says Meadows. "We're recording our second album for Cleopatra Records and couldn't be happier about it. They're an awesome record company and we can't wait to get started." Farrow states: "We are all super excited to be working with Cleopatra Records again on a follow-up album to 'Risen'. It will be great to get back in the studio again with the band as well as working on lots of positive things for the future of ANGEL."

In 2020, ANGEL also signed with veteran artist manager Ron Rainey in Beverly Hills, California. "Ron is the real deal and has already done great things for us," Punky says. The respect goes both ways, says Rainey. "I'm happy to be working with ANGEL again," he states. "The group is sounding great live and they are prodigious writers, testified by the success of their 2019 Cleopatra album 'Risen'. They are now writing songs for their next Cleopatra album and we at Ron Rainey Management are proud to be a part of their resurgence."

Part of that resurgence will be the eventual return to touring, and Ron has already hired Mike Weinstein from American Artists Corporation to help bring ANGEL's show to fans across the USA.

Meadows says: "We have a great team now and are looking forward to an amazing year, and, of course, we'll be back out on the road to blow the roof off in a town near you.".

ANGEL is an American rock band from Washington, D.C. Discovered by Gene Simmons of KISS and then signed to Casablanca Records, ANGEL came to be known for its elaborate stage show and all-white costumes. For Casablanca, ANGEL released six albums and toured non-stop playing American arenas with such global superstars as AEROSMITH, RUSH, JOURNEY, STYX, TED NUGENT and more. They even headlined two nights at Japan's legendary Budokan. ANGEL appeared on the television shows "American Bandstand", "Don Kirshner's Rock Concert", "The Midnight Special" and in the film "Foxes"