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"

According to The Republic reporter Jordan Morey, Jon Schaffer is still awaiting extradition extradition to Washington D.C., five weeks after U.S. Magistrate for the Southern District of Indiana judge Mark Dinsmore signed an order for the ICED EARTH guitarist to appear in D.C.'s district court. Indianapolis law enforcement confirmed Schaffer was still being held by the U.S. Marshal Service at the Marion County Jail on Thursday (February 25).

The 52-year-old musician, who resides in in Edinburgh, Indiana, is facing six federal criminal charges after he was accused of spraying a police officer with a pepper-based bear repellant during the January 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.

Schaffer waived his preliminary hearing as well as his rights to an identity hearing and production of a warrant five weeks ago in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana, court documents state. He will soon be transported by a United States marshal to Washington, D.C. where government lawyers and Schaffer's legal team have mutually agreed to handle all proceedings.

Schaffer is entitled to a hearing on the issue of pretrial detention upon his arrival in D.C., court documents said.

Five weeks ago, government lawyers asked the judge to not offer Schaffer a bond when he goes in front of U.S. magistrate.

Schaffer must prove to the federal magistrate that he is not a threat to himself or the public before being released on bail. Others who have been charged for insurrection at the Capitol have been given bail but ordered to surrender their firearms, avoid contact with other alleged Capitol rioters and stay away from all state capitol buildings. Some other alleged rioters have been prohibited from using social media and participating in any political rallies.

Earlier this month, a man resembling Schaffer was seen in newly released security footage from the U.S. Capitol riot that the House impeachment managers obtained and submitted as evidence for former President Donald Trump's second impeachment trial.

The clip in question, which was released by CNN on February 15, shows rioters charging through a breached entrance and engaging and pushing officers. Schaffer can be seen near the front of the mob, wearing a blue hooded sweatshirt, a tactical vest and black leather fingerless tactical gloves, and pointing his finger while yelling at the officers.

Schaffer was photographed wearing an "Oath Keepers Lifetime Member" cap during the insurrection. The Oath Keepers describe themselves as an association of former law enforcement and military personnel dedicated to "support and defend the Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic." But the Anti-Defamation League describes it as "a large but loosely organized collection of right-wing anti-government extremists who are part of the militia movement, which believes that the federal government has been coopted by a shadowy conspiracy that is trying to strip American citizens of their rights."

Schaffer has been held in the Marion County Jail since surrendering to police on January 17. He made his first court appearance the following day.

Just hours after the insurrection, ICED EARTH fans recognized Schaffer in a photo released by federal investigators.

Schaffer is believed to be one of at least 400 people who are being investigated by FBI officials over their roles in the insurrection.

More than 230 criminal cases have been filed so far. Charges include unauthorized access, theft, damage to government property and assault on law enforcement officers.

THE END MACHINE, the new band featuring two members of the classic DOKKEN lineup — George Lynch (guitar) and Jeff Pilson (bass) — along with former LYNCH MOB and current WARRANT singer Robert Mason, will release its sophomore album, "Phase2", on April 9 via Frontiers Music Srl. The official music video for the disc's first single, "Blood And Money", can be seen below.

"Phase2" features drummer Steve Brown, younger brother of former DOKKEN drummer "Wild" Mick Brown, who played on THE END MACHINE's self-titled 2019 debut.

The new LP builds on the great bluesy hard rock music of the debut, but sees THE END MACHINE move more towards more towards a classic '80s hard rock sound and the result is a 2.0 reboot of a killer music machine.

Says Pilson: "On this record, we set out to make the very best songs possible and are more than excited with how it turned out. We also weren't afraid to let elements of the DOKKEN sound come through loud and clear. As a result, not only was it a very organic and collaborative process, but it was a helluva lot of fun as well!!! I feel these are some of the best songs we've ever written and I'm blown away by all the performances. George was on fire throughout, Robert makes it clear he's one of the very best rock vocalists around, and Steve delivered with all the passion and enthusiasm any band could ever desire. All in all, it is a musical statement we can and will stand behind for a very long time!!!"

Adds Lynch: "Jeff, Robert and I had discussions prior to pre-production and writing sessions that we would make a concerted effort to emphasize hooks and accessibility in our writing. We made sure to constantly remind ourselves of the self-induced parameters we'd created for ourselves so as not to get sidetracked and lose focus. I think that that guidance served us well. I'm very proud of what we’ve accomplished with THE END MACHINE 'Phase2'."

State Mason: "I feel that 'Phase2' is a logical progression from our debut record, and I echo Jeff's point that, in the writing process, none of us felt we had to distance ourselves from our past nor our collective roots. That hit making Lynch/Pilson chemistry and song lineage is surely powerful and present, while allowing me freedom to both embrace it and show my own musical and lyrical flavors. This record shows us solidly in each other's musical pockets and grooves, and speaking of, Steve Brown showed up to crush it on drums...and he can sing some mighty background vocals! We hope fans of all of our catalogs will embrace THE END MACHINE and 'Phase2'!"

Originally born from an idea of Frontiers Music Srl president and A&R director Serafino Perugino, who wanted to have the classic lineup of DOKKEN team up with a killer vocalist, THE END MACHINE's self-titled debut impressed mightily upon release. Far from being a simple rehash of the members resumes, THE END MACHINE proved to be a jelled unit who sounded exactly like the seasoned pros they are, while taking their hard rock past and putting a stamp of modern production on things courtesy of Pilson.

For their debut album, THE END MACHINE's sound developed through several initial songwriting sessions between Pilson and Lynch, with Mason later partnering with them. While the lineup may have had fans making assumptions about the sound of the band, things took a different turn. Said Pilson at the time: "The real truth of it is that George and I have this great songwriting partnership that's been going on for 35 years, and we love to work together. Robert really jelled with us too, thus making the process smooth."

Track listing:

01. The Rising

02. Blood And Money

03. We Walk Alone

04. Dark Divide

05. Crack The Sky

06. Prison Or Paradise

07. Plastic Heroes

08. Scars

09. Shine Your Light

10. Devil's Playground

11. Born Of Fire

12. Destiny

"Phase2" recording lineup:

George Lynch - guitar

Jeff Pilson - bass, keyboards and background vocals

Steve Brown - drums and background vocals

Robert Mason - lead and background vocals

Initially released in December 1967 and described latterly by Rolling Stone as "THE WHO's finest album," "The Who Sell Out" reflected a remarkable year in popular culture. As well as being forever immortalized as the moment when the counterculture and the "Love Generation" became a global phenomenon and "pop" began metamorphosing into "rock."

The new Super Deluxe Edition of "The Who Sell Out" features 112 tracks, 46 of which are unreleased, an 80-page, hard-back, full-color book, including rare period photos, memorabilia, track-by-track annotation and new sleeve notes by Pete Townshend with comments from the likes of Pete Drummond (Radio London DJ), Richard Evans (designer) and Roy Flynn (the Speakeasy club manager).

The Super Deluxe package also includes nine posters and inserts, including replicas of 20" x 30" original Adrian George album poster, a gig poster from The City Hall, Newcastle, a Saville Theatre show 8-page program, a business card for the Bag o' Nails club, Kingly Street, a WHO fan club photo of group, a flyer for Bath Pavilion concerts including THE WHO, a crack-back bumper sticker for Wonderful Radio London, Keith Moon's Speakeasy club membership card and a WHO fan club newsletter.

As a taster for the set an EP of Pete Townshend's previously unreleased demos has today been released on all streaming services including "Pictures Of Lily" (new remix, previously unreleased), "Kids! Do You Want Kids?" (a.k.a. "Do You Want Kids, Kids?") (previously unreleased) and "Odorono" (previously unreleased).

"The Who Sell Out" was originally planned by Pete Townshend and the band's managers Kit Lambert and Chris Stamp, as a loose concept album including jingles and commercials linking the songs stylized as a pirate radio broadcast. This concept was born out of necessity as their label and management wanted a new album and Townshend felt that he didn't have enough songs.

The groundbreaking original plan for "Sell Out" was to sell advertising space on the album but instead the band opted for writing their own jingles paying tribute to pirate radio stations and to parody an increasingly consumerist society.

The homage to pop-art is evident in both the advertising jingles and the iconic sleeve design created by David King who was the art director at the Sunday Times, and Roger Law who invented the "Spitting Image" TV show. The sleeve features four advertising images, taken by the renowned photographer David Montgomery, of each band member Odorono deodorant (Pete Townshend), Medac spot cream (Keith Moon), Charles Atlas (John Entwistle) and Roger Daltrey and Heinz baked beans. The story goes that Roger Daltrey caught pneumonia from sitting in the cold beans for too long.

"The Who Sell Out" is a bold depiction of the period in which it was made, the tail-end of the "swinging-'60s" meets pop-art mixed with psychedelia and straight-ahead pop. It's a glorious blend of classic powerful WHO instrumentation, melodic harmonies, satirical lyrical imagery crystallized for what was only the group's third album. The album's ambition and scope is unrivalled by THE WHO, or any other act from that period.

Within the bold concept, were a batch of fabulous and diverse songs. "I Can See For Miles", a Top 10 hit at the time, is a WHO classic. "Rael", a Townshend "mini-opera" with musical motifs that reappeared in "Tommy" and the psychedelic blast of "Armenia City In The Sky" and "Relax" are among the very best material anyone wrote during the 1960s

One of the most extraordinary albums of any era, "The Who Sell Out" is THE WHO's last "pop" album. Two years later came "Tommy" — a double concept album about a deaf, dumb and blind kid.

"The Who Sell Out" Super Deluxe Edition

Disc 1 - Original mono mix, mono As & Bs and unreleased mono mixes

Disc 2 - Original stereo mix and stereo bonus tracks

Disc 3 - Studio outtakes, "fly-on-the-wall" versions of early takes of songs from the album sessions, "studio chat" etc.

Disc 4 – "The Road To Tommy" will contain stereo mixes of the studio tracks recorded in 1968 — some previously unreleased — plus 1968 As and Bs mono mixes (all tracks remixed from original 4 and 8-track session tapes in THE WHO vault)

Disc 5 - 14 of Pete Townshend's original demos, previously unreleased and exclusive to this set

Bonus 7" discs:

1. Track U.K. 45 repro "I Can See For Miles" (early mono mix with single-tracked vocal) and "Someone's Coming" (original U.K. track single mix with single-tracked vocal)

2. Decca U.S.A. 45 repro "Magic Bus" (U.S./U.K. mono) and "Dr Jekyll And Mr Hyde" (original U.S. Decca single mix)

80-page, hard-back full-color book, including rare period photos, memorabilia and track annotation and new liner notes by Pete Townshend with comments from from Pete Drummond (Radio Caroline DJ), Chris Huston (Talentmasters Studio), Richard Evans (designer), Roy Flynn (Speakeasy Club manager), Arnold Schwartzman (designer) and Andy Neill (WHO biographer)

Memorabilia:

Nine posters and inserts, including replicas of 20" x 30" original Adrian George poster; Gig poster — City Hall, Newcastle: THE WHO, TRAFFIC and THE TREMELOES; Saville Theatre 8-page program; Business card for the Bag o' Nails club, Kingly Street; fan club photo of group; flyer for Bath Pavilion concerts including THE WHO; crack-back bumper sticker for Wonderful Radio London; Keith Moon's Speakeasy club membership card; WHO fan club newsletter.

Other "The Who Sell Out" formats:

* 2LP deluxe (stereo) vinyl version, featuring the original album and extras highlights from box set.

* D2C 2LP deluxe (mono) vinyl version featuring the original album and extras highlights from box set pressed on colored vinyl; disc 1 "Odorono" red / disc 2 "Baked Bean" orange.

* 2-CD edition six-panel digi-pak with a 16-page booklet.

Also available in a variety of digital formats

Matthew Kiichi Heafy, the Japanese-American musician best known as the guitarist and lead vocalist for the Grammy-nominated heavy metal band TRIVIUM, has released the "In Waves" acoustic EP, featuring reworked versions of six songs from the group's 2011 album of the same name. You can now listen to it in the YouTube clip below.

Featured songs:

00:00 In Waves

04:50 Built To Fall

07:58 Caustic Are The Ties That Bind

13:16 Of All These Yesterdays

17:16 A Grey So Dark

19:48 Shattering The Skies Above

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

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

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

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

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

Singer Ronnie James Dio joined BLACK SABBATH in 1979 which resulted in two back-to-back classic albums: "Heaven And Hell" and "Mob Rules". On those memorable albums, Dio's soaring tenor and gothic songwriting were the perfect foil for the band's bone-crushing mix of razor-sharp riffs, intense grooves, and dark imagery.

Rhino salutes the long shadow cast by this short-lived lineup with newly remastered versions of both albums expanded with rare and unreleased music. "Heaven And Hell: Deluxe Edition" and "Mob Rules: Deluxe Edition" will be released separately on March 5. Each album will be available on 2-CDs ($19.98), or a 2-LPs ($31.98). Due to space constraints, both vinyl editions include a selection of bonus material from the CDs. The music will also be available via digital download and streaming services the same day.

"Lady Evil" (7" Mono Edit) from "Heaven And Hell: Deluxe Edition", and "Die Young" (Live B-Side) from "Mob Rules: Deluxe Edition" can be streamed below.

Dio joined BLACK SABBATH for the first time in 1979 and quickly found kindred spirits in guitarist Tony Iommi, bassist Geezer Butler, and drummer Bill Ward. When "Heaven And Hell" was released in April 1980, the album was met with effusive reviews for the band's return to form on metal masterpieces like "Neon Knights" and the title track. The album reached #9 in the U.K. and #28 in the U.S., where it was also certified platinum.

"Heaven And Hell: Deluxe Edition" adds several bonus tracks that have never been released in North America, including versions of "Children Of The Sea" and "Die Young" recorded live in 1980 in Hartford, Connecticut. The set concludes with live rarities like "E5150" and "Neon Knights" that originally appeared in 2007 on the Rhino Handmade's limited edition collection "Black Sabbath: Live At Hammersmith Odeon".

To follow up "Heaven And Hell", the group returned to the studio in 1981 to begin recording "Mob Rules", with drummer Vinny Appice joining the band for the first time. Released in October 1981 and certified gold, the album was another SABBATH classic, including standouts like "The Sign Of The Southern Cross", "Turn Up The Night" and the title track.

"Mob Rules: Deluxe Edition" boasts an expansive selection of rare and unreleased recordings. Along with additional tracks from "Live At Hammersmith Odeon", the collection also includes a newly mixed version of "The Mob Rules". The cherry on top is an entire concert recorded in 1982 in Portland, Oregon. Highlights include stellar performances of "Neon Knights", "Heaven And Hell" and "Voodoo".

The Dio-fronted lineup disbanded in 1982 but reunited a decade later to record "Dehumanizer" and tour before going on hiatus again. The group came together again in 2006 to record three new songs for Rhino's era-spanning collection "Black Sabbath: The Dio Years". The collaboration led to a highly anticipated world tour in 2007 where the group was billed as HEAVEN & HELL. Their final album of new material, 2009's "The Devil You Know", again demonstrated the musical bond between the band members was unparalleled.

"Heaven And Hell: Deluxe Edition" 2-CD track listing

Disc One: Original Album (2021 Remaster)

01. Neon Knights

02. Children Of The Sea

03. Lady Evil

04. Heaven And Hell

05. Wishing Well

06. Die Young

07. Walk Away

08. Lonely Is The Word

Disc Two: Bonus Tracks

01. Children Of The Sea – Live B-Side Of "Neon Knights" *

02. Heaven And Hell – Live B-Side Of "Die Young" *

03. Lady Evil – 7" Mono Edit (unreleased on CD)

Hartford Civic Center, Hartford, CT (August 10, 1980)

04. Neon Knights *

05. Children Of The Sea *

06. Heaven And Hell *

07. Die Young *

Hammersmith Odeon, London (Dec 31, 1981- Jan 2, 1982)

08. E5150

09. Neon Knights

10. Children Of The Sea

11. Heaven And Hell

2-LP Track Listing

Side One

01. Neon Knights

02. Children Of The Sea

03. Lady Evil

04. Heaven And Hell

Side Two

01. Wishing Well

02. Die Young

03. Walk Away

04. Lonely Is The Word

Side Three

01. Children Of The Sea – Live B-Side Of "Neon Knights" *

02. Heaven And Hell – Live B-Side Of "Die Young" *

03. Lady Evil – 7" Mono Edit (unreleased on CD)

04. Neon Knights – Live 1980 *

Side Four

01. Children Of The Sea – Live 1980 *

02. Heaven And Hell – Live 1980 *

03. Die Young – Live 1980 *

"Mob Rules: Deluxe Edition" 2-CD track listing

Disc One: Original Album (2021 Remaster)

01. Turn Up The Night

02. Voodoo

03. The Sign Of The Southern Cross

04. E5150

05. The Mob Rules

06. Country Girl

07. Slipping Away

08. Falling Off The Edge Of The World

09. Over And Over

Bonus Tracks

10. The Mob Rules – Heavy Metal Soundtrack Version

11. Die Young – Live B-Side Of "Mob Rules" 7" *

12. The Mob Rules – New 2021 Mix **

Live At The Hammersmith Odeon London (31/12/81 - 2/1/82)

13. Country Girl

14. Slipping Away

15. The Mob Rules

16. Voodoo

Live At Portland Memorial Coliseum, Portland, OR, April 22, 1982

17. Intro **

18. Neon Knights **

Disc Two: Bonus Tracks

Live At Portland Memorial Coliseum, Portland, OR, April 22, 1982

01. N.I.B. **

02. Children Of The Sea **

03. Voodoo **

04. Black Sabbath **

05. War Pigs **

06. Drum Solo **

07. Iron Man **

08. The Mob Rules **

09. Heaven And Hell **

10. Guitar Solo **

11. Sign Of The Southern Cross/Heaven And Hell – Reprise **

12. Paranoid **

13. Children Of The Grave **

2-LP Track Listing

Side One

01. Turn Up The Night

02. Voodoo

03. The Sign Of The Southern Cross

04. E5150

05. The Mob Rules

Side Two

01. Country Girl

02. Slipping Away

03. Falling Off The Edge Of The World

04. Over And Over

Side Three

01. The Mob Rules – Heavy Metal Soundtrack Version

02. Die Young – Live B-Side Of "Mob Rules" 7" *

03. The Mob Rules – New 2021 Mix **

04. Sign Of The Southern Cross/Heaven And Hell – Reprise **

Side Four

Live At The Hammersmith Odeon London (31/12/81 - 2/1/82)

01. Country Girl

02. Slipping Away

03. The Mob Rules

04. Voodoo

* previously unreleased in North America

** previously unreleased

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 will make its online debut on Monday, March 1, 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."




CT and I were asked to team up with Moonshine Bandits for a fun track/video. “Live The Madness” premieres March 1st! ? pic.twitter.com/g7mKodvRhf

— uh-lee-see-yuh Taylor (@AliciaETaylor) February 26, 2021

LAST IN LINE drummer Vinny Appice spoke to Metal From The Inside about the progress of the recording sessions for the band's third album. The follow-up to 2019's "II" is tentatively due next year via an as-yet-undetermined record label.

"We were able to get together a number of times in Las Vegas [prior to the pandemic]," Vinny said (see video below). "When DEF LEPPARD played in Las Vegas, Viv [LAST IN LINE and DEF LEPPARD guitarist Vivian Campbell] would have a couple of days off, so we were there. Our singer, Andrew Freeman, he lives there. Now Phil [Soussan] lives there, the bassist. So two of them are there. So we were able to hook up in Vegas, hang out, and then when Viv finished the gigs, we were able to write and rehearse. And then, at the beginning of [last] year, we went to the studio here in L.A. and recorded six songs. So we've still got half of it to do. We haven't done a file exchange, really, 'cause we don't work that way. We're trying to finish up what we've got, and then we'll continue."

According to Appice, former DOKKEN and current FOREIGNER bassist Jeff Pilson, who produced both "II" and 2016's "Heavy Crown", is not involved with the upcoming LAST IN LINE album. "We made a change," he said. "Actually, the guy who mixed the last record, Chris Collier — he's great; he's working with KORN — he recorded this record. And we're kind of producing it ourselves, between all of us.

"Jeff is great — Jeff's a great producer, and [he has] great ideas and stuff, but we just felt that we could probably do what we wanna do now that we're a band, we've been on the road, and we know what we wanna hear," he explained. "But it's coming out great. The stuff sounds fantastic.

"And yeah, I've been through a lot with Jeff Pilson. I've known him for years. He's a great guy. He's like my brother."

Earlier this month, Soussan told the "Pat's Soundbytes Unplugged" podcast LAST IN LINE was working on "a very, very special song that we're gonna be putting out fairly soon. I can't tell you any more than that, but it is something in the interim between us coming out with a new album, or releasing a new album, and now," he said. "So we'll do this as a video single."

As for the musical direction of the new LAST IN LINE material, Phil said: "The songs are another progression from the last album — the difference between 'Heavy Crown' and 'II', and now 'II' and whatever this next album is gonna be called; we don't know yet, by the way. But it's definitely evolved even more; it's gone into even more of an evolution, but we are always trying to keep the characteristics of LAST IN LINE there. I mean, you can't shake those things — you can't shake Vinny's drumming, you can't shake Vivian's playing. And I'd like to say the same thing about myself, and, of course, Andrew."

Some of the early recording sessions for LAST IN LINE's third album took place in January 2020 at Steakhouse studio in North Hollywood, California.

Formed in 2012 by Appice, Campbell and bassist Jimmy Bain — Ronnie James Dio's co-conspirators and co-writers on the "Holy Diver", "Last In Line" and "Sacred Heart" albums — LAST IN LINE's initial intent was to celebrate Ronnie James Dio's early work by reuniting the members of the original DIO lineup. After playing shows that featured a setlist composed exclusively of material from the first three DIO albums, the band decided to move forward and create new music in a similar vein.

LAST IN LINE's debut album, "Heavy Crown", was released in February 2016, landing at No. 1 on Billboard's Heatseekers chart. Initially, the release had been preceded by tragedy when Bain unexpectedly passed away at the age of 68 on January 23, 2016. LAST IN LINE, honoring what they knew would be Bain's wish to keep the band moving, brought in Soussan and committed to sustained touring in support of the album before beginning work on the follow-up release, the aforementioned "II".

In a new interview with Metal Godz Radio, former DOKKEN guitarist George Lynch was asked if ever got a chance to bond and hang out with Eddie Van Halen at all. He responded (hear audio below): "Absolutely. I mean, we kind of came up through the ranks together. We were both [in] SoCal bands and played the same bills and same clubs and hung out a little bit and have common connections and friends and different things and acquaintances. But the time that we spent the most together was on the 'Monsters Of Rock' tour [in 1988, where DOKKEN and VAN HALEN shared the bill with SCORPIONS, METALLICA and KINGDOM COME]. Eddie and I would spend a lot of time in the hotel rooms just jamming and staying up all night drinking beers and smoking and playing guitar. So that was a really cool hang."

Lynch previously talked about Eddie's influence in a 2009 interview with Guitar Player magazine. Asked if he was jealous of VAN HALEN's success in the late 1970s and early 1980s, George said: "We were jealous and we were all trying to play catch up. We thought, 'Oh boy, we better get on board. This guy's going to change the world.' I remember my reaction when I first heard Eddie. I had been hearing about this guy with the weird European name. He's got a torpedo onstage, the bass player wears clogs, they have bombs onstage, and the guy's unbelievable. I saw him and it blew my mind. They were still doing covers at the time — RAINBOW, MONTROSE — and their original stuff was as good or better than their cover stuff, which was pretty exceptional. After their show, I went back to our band room and played my guitar until the sun came up. I thought, 'Man, how can I get that tone?'"

Asked if he tried to copy Eddie, George said: "What I really did was sort of bounce off his stuff rather than emulate it. I've done that with a lot of players. Instead of copying them, I react to them. I'll think, 'Well, Di Meola does this thing. I can do some alternate picking, so I won't copy it but I'll embed that a little bit into my toolbox and do it my own way.' I've tried to do that with any player who has influenced me: Clapton, Hendrix, Schenker, Eddie, Holdsworth. I couldn't play any of their stuff note for note to save my life, but I can capture the gist of what they're doing by being exposed to it. I can get the essence."

Eddie died in October at the age of 65 after a long battle with cancer.

Rolling Stone magazine ranked Van Halen No. 8 in its list of the 100 greatest guitarists.

Video of KORN guitarist Brian "Head" Welch's LOVE AND DEATH project performing the song "Down" during its February 12 livestreamed concert can be seen below. The track is taken LOVE AND DEATH's latest album, "Perfectly Preserved", which arrived on the same day via Earache Records.

"Perfectly Preserved" is described in a press release as "a blistering but accessible full-length follow-up, driven by the spiritual resilience inherent in the first record, combined with an even starker depiction of real-life struggle." Anger, broken relationships, lowered self-worth, and the collision of optimistic values with oppressive systems are all on display, from the arresting refrains of "Tragedy", "Death Of Us" and "Affliction" to the bold, conqueror driven anthem of "White Flag".

LOVE AND DEATH harness soaring melodies and crushing riffs, weaponizing them like a supernatural dagger to strike at the blackened heart of disillusionment from both within and without. With an instantly recognizable relatability, for anyone who has felt discarded or without value, the band crafts invigorating anthems filled with earnest pleas for mercy and certainty amidst the chaos of an uncertain world. This is heavy music to vigorously confront depression, heartbreak, and pain.

The band began with similar raw, authentic emotional honesty to what drove Welch to multiplatinum and Grammy Award-winning heights as a co-founder of genre trailblazers KORN. Forged as an outlet for recovery and redemption in a season of change, the creation of LOVE AND DEATH resulted in the powerful and dynamic 2013 debut "Between Here & Lost". The album spoke plainly to the hearts of similarly disenfranchised fans all across the world.

"Perfectly Preserved" marks the introduction of guitarist, bassist and co-songwriter Jasen Rauch as a full-fledged member of the band, as well as second time producer for LOVE AND DEATH (co-produced by Joe Rickard). Jasen, best known as an integral part of chart-topping rockers BREAKING BENJAMIN, produced LOVE AND DEATH's first album in 2013. The duo first met a year or two after the release of Head's solo album, "Save Me From Myself" (2008). As Head experimented with synthesizers, it was Rauch who encouraged him to pick up his guitar and churn out new riffs.

"Jasen and I started writing together. I was trying to do new things, writing music on a keyboard at my house," Welch recalls. "I credit him with the rediscovery of my love for the guitar."

LOVE AND DEATH charge into this new chapter with a definitive lineup, which sees Head and Jasen side by side with the band's original guitarist, JR Bareis, also on vocals and guitar, and powerhouse drummer Isaiah Perez. It was a perfect storm of friendship and creativity, as they all worked on the album in Nashville, Los Angeles, and Chicago, over several years.

Like A PERFECT CIRCLE or STONE SOUR, LOVE AND DEATH isn't a "side project" or replacement for the guys' respective bands. It's an extension and companion, offering each of them a unique outlet to explore different aspects of their creative passions. "There are certain things we can do melodically in LOVE AND DEATH that might not work in KORN," Rauch explains. "For me, there are certain creative risks I can take with the arrangements and production that wouldn't fit with BREAKING BENJAMIN. In this band, we don't worry about how long a song might be, for example."

It's also an opportunity for further collaboration with their friends from other bands. "The Hunter" features Jasen's BREAKING BENJAMIN bandmate (and solo artist) Keith Wallen, who was also a major co-writer on the project. And Longtime comrade Lacey Sturm, formerly of FLYLEAF, sings on a metallic rendition of a surprising pop cover.

As with the "Lo Lamento" single released in 2016, Bareis steps up vocally, sharing frontman duties with Welch, whose own delivery draws on jaw-dropping life experience. From the heights of rock stardom to the depths of addiction, through an exciting resurrection to the daily battle to stay above water, every moment of truth is evident in his brutally honest screams. Bareis, by contrast, delivers anthemic and even haunting melodic vocals.

"Everybody knows my foundation," says Welch, regarding the contrast in lyrical themes between "Perfectly Preserved" and the first LOVE AND DEATH album. "I feel like what our world needs most in this very unique moment in time are real storiesabout overcoming struggle. These are honest songs co-written by our group of friends targeting depression/mental health, challenging relationships, trauma, loneliness, and related issues."

As their fans have learned to expect, LOVE AND DEATH is fearless in its open examination of contradictions and failure, making confessional music with an underlying anchor of purpose and hope. Like the band's very moniker suggests, both "Love" and "Death" are very present in all that they do.

Track listing:

01. Slow Fire

02. Infamy

03. Down

04. Death Of Us

05. Lo Lamento

06. The Hunter (feat. Keith Wallen)

07. Tragedy

08. Let Me Love You (feat. Lacey Sturm)

09. Affliction

10. White Flag (feat. Ryan Hayes)

LOVE AND DEATH is:

Brian "Head" Welch - Vocals, Guitar

Jasen Rauch - Bass

JR Bareis - Guitar, Vocals

Isaiah Perez - Drums

"Eleventeen", the debut solo album from late OZZY OSBOURNE and URIAH HEEP drummer Lee Kerslake, has just received a posthumous release via HNE Recordings, the hard rock and heavy metal arm of Cherry Red Records.

"Eleventeen" is a collection of eight songs, seven of them written or co-written by Lee. Lee offers notes and insights for each track, saying "Take Nothing For Granted" "is based around my wife and then some," evidently with tongue firmly in cheek. Elsewhere, "Where Do We Go From Here", according to Lee, is about how "ot's all too late to realize… where do we go from here? I've had to many argumentative girls in my life!!!" "You May Be By Yourself (But You're Never Alone)" was written "when Bob Daisley gave such a loving look to Squish, his daughter. It moved me all those years ago." According to URIAH HEEP guitarist Mick Box's dedication on the album, "The song 'Port And A Brandy' made me smile as we have shared many of them together over the years." Next up is a heartfelt rendition of Carole King's timeless "You've Got A Friend", which Lee dedicates to "all of my friends past and present who I have loved through music." "Eleventeen" concludes with the instrumental "Mom", which Lee wrote for "all the mums in the world who we should never take for granted."

Standing down from drumming full-time for URIAH HEEP in 2007 due to ill health, Kerslake commenced his debut solo album in 2015 with Jake Libretto, completing the album in 2019. At the time, Lee stated about the effort: "WOW, I have to say now the album is finished, there is a great sense of achievement. It's been a little over three years to record and finish it. It took so long because I could only manage two days a week and sometimes nothing for a period of time as the chemotherapy without my permission kept me away. Never mind, it's done, and I am very proud of the songs."

With a career that goes back to the 1960s, Kerslake's first step into the rock limelight was with THE GODS, recording "Genesis" in 1968 and "To Samuel A Son" in 1969. Joining TOE FAT for their self-titled debut in 1970, via 1970's "Orgasm" by HEAD MACHINE, so far Lee had shared his musical journey with multi-instrumentalist and song writer Ken Hensley. This musical connection and friendship would be further cemented in 1972 when Lee joined Ken in URIAH HEEP for the classic "Demons & Wizards" LP, remaining behind HEEP's drum kit for the best part of 30-plus years. Lee also found time to make cameos drumming for Ken Hensley and David Byron solo records along the way, and most notably as a founder member of Ozzy Osbourne's solo band, drumming on the multi-platinum "Blizzard Of Ozz" in 1980 and "Diary Of A Madman" in 1981. He also appeared with supergroup LIVING LOUD, a band featuring bassist Bob Daisley, guitarist Steve Morse, singer Jimmy Barnes and keyboard player Don Airey.

Lee sadly passed away in September 2020 at the age of 73. Box said of his longtime bandmate: "It fills me with great pride that he achieved this as his last final musical legacy."

"Eleventeen" track listing:

01. Celia Sienna

02. Take Nothing For Granted

03. Where Do We Go From Here

04. You May Be By Yourself (But You're Never Alone)

05. Port And A Brandy

06. You've Got A Friend

07. Home Is Where The Heart Is

08. Mom (Instrumental)

Steve Von Till has made a life's work out of seeking the elemental. With a solo discography that stretches back more than two decades, he has toiled in a shadow realm, peeling back layers of reality in a never-ending search for true meaning and raw emotion. Due on April 30, "A Deep Voiceless Wilderness" strips back the veil even further. An achingly beautiful ambient work with neo-classical leanings, the album is a hallucinatory and elegant rumination on our disconnect from the natural world, each other, and ultimately ourselves.

For some listeners, the album may recall the work of modern composers like Jóhann Jóhannsson, Brian Eno or Gavin Bryars. For Von Till, it's about surrendering to the spirit of place — and to the original intent behind his 2020 solo album, "No Wilderness Deep Enough". That album marked a significant first for Von Till: It was his first solo record without a guitar in hand. Instead, Von Till intoned powerful and thought-provoking lyrics over piano, cello, mellotron and analog synthesizers. "A Deep Voiceless Wilderness" is that same album without Von Till's words.

"This is how I originally heard this piece of music," he says. "Without the voice as an anchor or earthbound narrative, these pieces have a broader wingspan. They become something else entirely and unfold in a more expansive way. The depth of the synths, juxtaposed with the strings and French horn, have space to develop and allow the listener to imagine their own story."

"A Deep Voiceless Wilderness" track listing:

01. Called From The Wind

02. We'll Always Have The Sea

03. The Emptiness Swallows Us All

04. Shelter In Surrender

05. Nightshade High Country

06. The Spiraling Away

Also a first for Von Till was "Harvestman: 23 Untitled Poems And Collected Lyrics", his first book of poetry. Published by the University of South Dakota's AstrophilPress, the book established Von Till as a formidable and thoughtful author of verse — a fact that NEUROSIS fans knew all along, but the wider world was only just becoming aware of.

"There is a depth of hope, acceptance and loss that permeates these poems," Joseph Haeger said in his review for The Inlander. "Like any great piece of art, 'Harvestman' contains multitudes, and that's exactly what I was hoping for when I cracked it open. Von Till has already established himself as a great musician, and he's about to put his stake into the ground proving himself to be a damn good writer."

For 2021, Von Till has reimagined "Harvestman" in a new format, delivering an intimate and captivating reading of the collection with sound enhancements.

"Being a constant sound-seeker, I thought it would be more interesting to have some textures and treatments to break up the intimate voice recordings," Von Till says of his decision to add some atmosphere to the spoken-word version of "Harvestman". "The background sounds used on some of the tracks were pieces related to 'No Wilderness Deep Enough' that were either not used or repurposed to interweave further connections between my artistic output at this time of my life."

Photo by James Rexroad

The music video for the single "Cold Sacrifice" by the late Ken Hensley can be seen below. Taken from his upcoming album "My Book Of Answers", "Cold Sacrifice" is the third track to be released from Hensley's collaboration with Russian fan Vladimir Emelin whose poems have been turned into an album's worth of songs, a series of videos, a concert and an illustrated lyric book (available later this year). "My Book Of Answers" will be released on March 5 as a CD/DVD and vinyl album through Cherry Red Records.

For half a century, Hensley was a major influence in the rock world. An original member of URIAH HEEP, Hensley was keyboard player, guitarist, vocalist and principal song writer with URIAH HEEP for ten years. His subsequent solo career saw Hensley work with leading artists across the globe and he became known as an inspiration for encouraging other talented artists.

"My Book Of Answers" is a wonderful tribute to this rock legend. The album is the intriguing result of a collaboration with one of Hensley's fans, following a chance meeting at an airport, as he turns dreams into a reality. Over a two-year period, the collaboration with Russian fan Vladimir Emelin has seen Hensley turn Emelin's poems into an album's worth of songs, a series of videos, a concert and an illustrated lyric book charting the progress of each piece from Russian poem to English rock song. And all of this has been produced in the midst of a worldwide pandemic.

Hensley was clearly excited when speaking shortly before his death. "It's been fascinating since day one," he said. "It's somewhat miraculous how it all came together and how it's continued to grow and develop, even through the crisis, to where it's at today and where it's going tomorrow."

This unique project came about following Hensley's chance meeting with Emelin at Alicante airport in early 2018, as he explained. "Vladimir has a home up on the Costa Blanca and he's here as often as visas will permit," Hensley said. "I was flying to Moscow, he was on his way home and he saw me at the airport. I guess I'm his idol and he's been a fan since he was a kid. Well, he asked me for an autograph and a picture, which I was happy to give him, and for an e-mail address."

At a meeting in Alicante later in the year, Emelin asked if Hensley could turn a couple of his poems into songs. "I tried a couple of songs, although I didn't know if I could do it because I've never done it before," Hensley recalled. "He loved it and he wanted me to do more and more until we finally ended up with an album's worth of songs.

"I made most of the album under lockdown, coronavirus restrictions, which was easy because it was just file-sharing over the Internet with the musicians, the singers and my engineer and it was relatively easy. What we had to do was make sure we didn't compromise any quality. I popped it over to my manager Steve Weltman and typically, before I know it, he's got the guys at Cherry Red interested in it! The whole thing takes on another dimension."

Emelin also suggested a video and they would, eventually, make a video for each track together with a concert of all of the songs which was filmed, with social distancing, close to Hensley's home in Spain.

"I've never done anything like this before and, to the best of my knowledge, I don't recall anybody else who has," Hensley added. "I'm also developing a lyric book which will be a beautiful piece. Each song features the original Russian lyric, the translation by Vladimir's friend in Siberia and my notated stuff where I changed the words of the poem into a song and created verses, bridges and choruses. The fans can see all the changes I made, and understand why I made them, and then there's the final lyric that appears on the album. Alisia Vaselieva, a wonderful illustrator and friend of Vladimir's, has done an illustration for each song, so five pages for each song and it will be a deluxe hard-back package — a collectors' item.

"To begin with, it was hard to find the time to really concentrate on the project because 2019 was one of the busiest years of my career, but, as it happens, the coronavirus actually solved the problem for me, at the same time as it created terrible problems for so many others. I was forced to stay home and spend all my time on this project with Vladimir, the restrictions of the virus meant I was able to do that.

"I'm really happy with it and I have a huge yardstick to measure it by! It seems as though it was meant to happen."

Track listing:

01. Lost (My Guardian)

02. Right Here, Right Now

03. Cold Sacrifice

04. The Silent Scream

05. Cover Girl

06. Light The Fire (In My Heart)

07. Stand (Chase The Beast Away)

08. The Darkest Hour

09. Suddenly

10. The Darkest Hour (Acoustic)

Hensley was URIAH HEEP's keyboard player and principal songwriter, responsible for such classics as "Lady In Black", "Easy Livin'" and "Look At Yourself", and providing them with much of their musical direction. Leaving the band in 1980 to pursue a solo career, he also collaborated with Florida-based hard rock band BLACKFOOT, L.A. heavy metal band W.A.S.P. and CINDERELLA. "Ken Hensley wrote the rule book for heavy metal keyboards as far as I'm concerned," W.A.S.P.'s frontman Blackie Lawless is quoted as saying.

Following his departure from URIAH HEEP, Hensley lived in America where he met his wife-to-be Monica. Speaking just days before his death, Hensley said: "I lived in America for 20 years after I left URIAH HEEP and I really needed time to rediscover myself, get rid of my drug habit and see if there was anything left of a human being in there after my life had been buried in URIAH HEEP for ten and a half years. It took a long time to get there but I got there in the end. I met Monica and we lived together for a couple of years. I wanted to move back to Europe to be closer to my family."

The Hensleys settled on a farm near Alicante, Spain, and married in 2004. A very spiritual person, Hensley became an inspiration to many and known for encouraging talented artists and enjoyed the love and respect of fans the world over. "It's enduring and I'm happy that most of them are still alive," he said. "I love to meet them when I go out on the road but at the moment that's not possible."

Reflecting on 50-plus years in the music business, he added: "It's been a great career. I can't look through the (URIAH HEEP) box set without having a huge smile on my face! To be celebrating my music 50 years on is quite something. We weren't a hit with the critics but we listened to the people who bought tickets and albums and, unfortunately, the critics ignored them. It just went on and on and on. We pulled together and achieved everything we set out to do. It was a wonderful life and career. My life has been fantastic, but it's not been easy. It was a lot of hard work, but when you do what you love best it doesn't seem like hard work."

Venom Inc. frontman Tony "Demolition Man" Dolan has checked in with the following announcement:

"BMG have re-released Prime Evil, Tear Your Soul Apart, Temples Of Ice and The Wastelands albums (from Venom) all on digital media. In the following months will be coming a new and exclusive box set of all my era materials. Exciting times after almost 30 years!!! AVE! Enjoy your weekend and eyes peeled for the coming tsunami!"

Dolan fronted UK extreme metallers Venom from 1988 - 1992, replacing original vocalist / bassist Cronos. He appears on Prime Evil (1989), Temples Of Ice (1991), The Waste Lands (1992), and the Tear Your Soul Apart EP (1990).

In April 2015, in anticipation of an M-pire Of Evil show - the new band featuring Dolan and original Venom guitarist Jeff "Mantas" Dunn - at the Keep It True Festival in Germany, the organizers asked the duo if they would play some Venom songs with original drummer Abaddon. Mantas and Abaddon hadn't spoken since 1998. They agreed to do an unrehearsed set, which was the relaunch of the 1988–1992 Venom line-up under the name Venom Inc. 

It was reported in January that Venom Inc. has entered the studio to record their new album. The follow up to their 2017 debut release Avé will once more be released on Nuclear Blast Records. The recording is being done between England, Portugal, and America, and it will have guitarist Jeff “Mantas” Dunn at the helm as producer once again.

During a recent appearance on the Heavy Demons Radio Show, Dunn provided a progress report on the new Venom Inc. album: "So far, we have 24 brand new songs, and they are all at the first preliminary mix stage. But we need to get the vocals done. Tony ('Demolition Man' Dolan) usually comes to Portugal to do vocals in my studio, but with all the restrictions at the moment (due to the COVID-19 pandemic), it's just not possible. So we're just gonna have to wait."

Elaborating further, Dunn said, "The tracks are sounding great. Dare I say this, it sounds better than Avé. I think it does. Obviously, we don't have any release date for it at the moment. It's pointless saying to people, 'Oh, yeah, it'll be out in the spring. Yeah, it'll be out in the summer.' We just don't know — we really don't know. At the moment, The UK looks like it's possibly locked down until March, so nobody's going anywhere. And Portugal have shut their borders to a lot of countries, so getting in and out of places is just so difficult at the moment. So it may come down to Tony having to find a studio somewhere in London or whatever. I really don't know."

"Like what we did with Avé, I had a lot of the lyrics written for that album already, and then when Tony came over, then any gaps that were there, we filled them in together. We tend to work on the vocals and the phrasing and all that kind of stuff together. So maybe it'll just be down to Tony this time. I don't know. We'll have to see how the restriction situation goes. We'll have to keep a close eye on it and see what happens."

The new, currently untitled album marks the second recording under the name Venom Inc., while guitarist Mantas and frontman Demolition Man have a long history as recording artists together in Venom, M:Pire Of Evil and Mantas solo projects. It also marks the recording debut on a major label for multi-instrumentalist, Venom Inc. drummer Jeramie “War Machine” Kling (also of Massacre) who joined the band in 2018.




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