FOZZY guitarist Billy Grey has praised Donald Trump as the "best president" of his lifetime.

Grey, who has previously shared memes questioning mask mandates and suggesting the presidential election was somehow stolen, made his comments as Trump left the White House for the final time of his presidency, ahead of the inauguration of Joe Biden. He then took a helicopter to the nearby Andrews base, where he spoke, and then boarded the Air Force One plane for Florida.

Earlier today, Billy took to his Facebook page to write: "I don't care what you think about this and I'm gonna say it, GODBLESS TRUMP! BEST PRESIDENT IN MY LIFETIME!"

Grey is apparently not the only member of FOZZY to have supported Trump in his re-election efforts. Singer Chris Jericho, who was born in Manhasset, New York before his family moved to Canada (he currently resides in Florida), reportedly donated thousands of dollars to Trump's 2020 presidential campaign, as well as to WinRed and Trump committees.

Last November, Jericho received criticism for claiming that he isn't "a political person" despite it being known that he was donating money to Trump.

Earlier this month, Sebastian Bach took a swipe at Jericho, suggesting that the FOZZY singer and wrestling superstar bears some responsibility for the violent siege of the U.S. Capitol.

After writer and comedian Tony Posnanski tweeted that all supporters of President Donald Trump, including those who voted for Trump, donated to Trump, and wore any "MAGA" merchandise "are to blame for what happened at the Capitol," Bach chimed in: This includes wrestlers".

FOZZY spent the last few months putting the finishing touches on its new studio album for a 2021 release.

Chris recently revealed that FOZZY's next LP will contain 12 songs, including one cover.

Guitarist Rich Ward and producer Johnny Andrews are once again "doing the lion's share" of the songwriting for the new LP, which is being recorded primarily in Atlanta, Georgia.

Released in August 2019, "Nowhere To Run" was FOZZY's third single to hit Top 10 on rock radio, following "Judas" and "Painless".

In addition to producing "Judas", Andrews previously co-wrote FOZZY's "Lights Go Out" track back in 2014. He has also written songs with the likes of ALL THAT REMAINS, THREE DAYS GRACE and HALESTORM.

FOZZY is Jericho, Ward, Grey, Frank Fontsere (drums), and Randy Drake (bass).


I don't care what you think about this and I'm gonna say it,

GODBLESS TRUMP! BEST PRESIDENT IN MY LIFETIME!

Posted by Billy Grey on Wednesday, January 20, 2021



Posted by Billy Grey on Monday, January 18, 2021



Posted by Billy Grey on Saturday, December 5, 2020



Posted by Billy Grey on Monday, November 30, 2020

SYSTEM OF A DOWN singer Serj Tankian has slammed Donald Trump for granting Turkey legal rights over the vast religious-cultural heritage of the region's indigenous peoples and other minority populations, among them Armenians, Greeks, Assyrians, Chaldeans, Syriacs, Arameans, Maronites, Jews and Kurds. The move was strongly opposed by a host of cultural rights and museum groups.

The U.S.-Turkey Memorandum Of Understanding was signed by the Trump administration in its final hours, and it came in response to a request by the government of Turkey, submitted over a year ago.

An Armenian immigrant born in Lebanon and re-rooted in Los Angeles, Serj took to his social media late Tuesday (January 19) to share a statement from the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) about the "disastrous" cultural property agreement, and he included the following message: "Thanks Trump. In your last minute you decided to grant Turkey my people's indigenous cultural heritage including ancient churches and stone crosses as a reward for them trying to exterminate us. Never seen a president suck so much cock."

Tankian's views on the Trump presidency are diametrically opposed to those of SYSTEM OF A DOWN drummer John Dolmayan, who has repeatedly defended America's 45th president, saying that Trump opponents "perpetuated and instigated a total shutdown of the economy" in the hopes that it would crash and that he would be blamed. Dolmayan also praised Trump and accused Democrats of "demonizing" the president and "blaming him for everything under the sun." In addition, John called Democrats "the true bigots" who "fought to maintain slavery" and were "directly responsible for 70 plus million abortions, a large majority of whom were black." Dolmayan also supported Trump's claim that his administration had done more for the African-American community "than any president since Abraham Lincoln."

In October, Serj told Forbes that it was "frustrating" for him to see John so publicly supportive of Trump, especially considering Dolmayan is Armenian as well. "But that's having to do with American politics," Serj explained. "When it comes to Armenian issues, we're on the same exact page. We know what injustice is happening, we work together. We're doing different auction activities and working together on many fronts. The Armenian nation is united, whether you voted for Republican, Democrat or neither."

Last year, Tankian called for Trump to resign and described him as "completely useless" over his handling of the coronavirus outbreak.


Thanks Trump. In your last minute you decided to grant Turkey my people’s indigenous cultural heritage including ancient...

Posted by Serj Tankian on Tuesday, January 19, 2021

Five CHEVELLE singles were certified gold by the RIAA (Recording Industry Association Of America) on January 15 for accumulating 500,000 certified units. The songs in question are "Vitamin R (Leading Us Along)" (originally released in January 2005), "Jars" (April 2007), "I Get It" (June 2009), "Face To The Floor" (October 2011) and "The Clincher" (August 2004).

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

As a testament to CHEVELLE's sustained success and influence, the band also recently scored other multiple platinum and gold certifications. Their now-classic 2002 album "Wonder What's Next" and breakout single "The Red" both reached double-platinum status, the single "Send The Pain Below" garnered a platinum certification, 2004's "This Type of Thinking (Could Do Us In)" went platinum, and 2007's full-length "Vena Sera" is now gold.

CHEVELLE has transformed rock music as tried-and-true outliers. The multiplatinum Chicago rock band has generated nearly half a billion streams, earned seven No. 1 hits, and sold out shows worldwide. They've landed four Top 10 debuts on the Billboard Top 200, including "Sci-Fi Crimes" (2009), "Hats Off To The Bull" (2011), "La Gárgola" (2014) and "The North Corridor" (2016). The latter two each captured No. 1 on the Top Rock Albums chart.

Earlier in the month, CHEVELLE released its new single, "Self Destructor". The track is taken from CHEVELLE's upcoming follow-up to "The North Corridor", "Niratias", which is due on March 5.

"Niratias" stands out as CHEVELLE's most pummeling and provocative record yet. Teaming with longtime producer Joe Barresi (TOOL, QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE), CHEVELLE recorded throughout 2019 and 2020 and pieced together an intriguing and inimitable body of work, with themes that will reveal themselves soon. The album artwork is by Boris Vallejo, the famed and award-winning artist who was responsible for the posters used for films like "Knightriders" and "National Lampoon's Vacation", as well as iconic '70s and '80s science fiction novel covers and magazines (such as Heavy Metal).

"The North Corridor" debuted at No. 8 on the Billboard 200 album chart and produced a No. 1 Mainstream Rock single, "Joyride (Omen)".

The band's album of rarities from 2002-2016, "12 Bloody Spies: B-Sides And Rarities", was released in October 2018 via Epic.

In September 2019, CHEVELLE bassist Dean Bernardini announced that he would "take a break from the road" after completing that year's shows with his bandmates. He added that he would "continue to work" in music in some form or another while also putting time into his art and furniture business at home.

Bernardini had been with CHEVELLE since 2005, even though 2007's "Vena Sera" marked his first studio recording with the b

TWISTED SISTER guitarist Jay Jay French has called Donald Trump a "white supremacist president" whose tenure at the White House was a "long national nightmare."

Early this morning, Trump left the White House for the final time of his presidency, ahead of the inauguration of Joe Biden. He then took a helicopter to the nearby Andrews base, where he spoke, and then boarded the Air Force One plane for Florida.

Late Tuesday night (January 19), French took to his Twitter to write: "in a little over 12 hours, the long national nightmare of the Trump presidency will be over. The stain he leaves behind will need time to be exorcised from our lives. A White supremacist president and the racism he has endorsed has been exposed needs to be ultimately eradicated."

This is not the first time French has blasted Trump in one of his tweets. Last July, the musician, who had written a bi-weekly column for Inc. magazine's web site for nearly six years, wrote: "I'm so tired of people writing about #LeadershipMatters #leadership #leadershipskills who recycle the same old cliche's but have never ever run a company. Stop #Phonyleadership advice NOW!! Especially those who have run companies into the ground, had racist hiring practices, filed multiple bankruptcies, sexually harassed dozens of women, paid off porn stars and screwed every vendor and lending institution. Who is Trump international!!"

French is not the only member of TWISTED SISTER to be openly critical of Trump. Singer Dee Snider, who got to know Trump personally after appearing more than once on "The Celebrity Apprentice", said that he was "extremely disappointed" with the way Trump handled the coronavirus pandemic. "A lot of this could have been avoided," he said. "I mean, certain things were inevitable — the virus was coming, sickness was coming, death was coming. That was inevitable, but the way it was handled, many deaths could have been prevented and we could have been ahead of things instead of behind things. Right now, it feels like, in my country, that we're constantly trying to catch up to the virus as it does what it does. This could have been very different, but we didn't learn from the lessons of others, unfortunately."

Back in November 2017, Snider said that he could no longer be friends with Trump because he did not share the president's views on important issues, including the Trump administration's harsh immigration policy.

Snider found himself in the middle of controversy in 2016 when he asked Trump to stop using the 1984 TWISTED SISTER anthem "We're Not Gonna Take It" in his campaign. The singer said at the time that Trump was very gracious about the request.

French has four decades of experience as the manager, guitarist and director of licensing, publishing and touring for TWISTED SISTER. He is also a keynote and motivational speaker, reinvention expert and entrepreneur, as well as the founder of The Pink Burst Project, a nonprofit.




in a little over 12 hours, the long national nightmare of the Trump presidency will be over. The stain he leaves behind will need time to be exorcised from our lives. A White supremacist president and the racism he has endorsed has been exposed needs to be ultimately eradicated.

— Jay Jay French (@jayjayfrench) January 20, 2021








Money doesn't buy morality.

Stay ignorant...

— Jay Jay French (@jayjayfrench) January 20, 2021

Whitesnake celebrates the blues sound that helped inspire its multi-platinum career on a new collection that features remixed and remastered versions of the group’s best blues-rock songs. The Blues Album is the third and final release in the band’s Red, White and Blues Trilogy, a series of compilations organized by musical themes that began this year with Love Songs (red) and The Rock Album (white).

The Blues Album is available for pre-order now, and will be available on February 19 digitally and on CD and as a double-LP set pressed on 180-gram, blue vinyl. Like The Rock Album and Love Songs, all the tracks on The Blues Album have been revisited, remixed, and remastered.

An HD video for the 2021 remix of "Slow An' Easy" can be found below.

Whitesnake’s singer-songwriter David Coverdale says, the music reflects how blues artists like Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf, and the three Kings (Albert, B.B. and Freddie) continue to inspire him. In the album’s liner notes, he writes: “It’s hard to find the words to show how profoundly they connected with my soul. But ‘blues’ to me is a beautiful word that describes emotional expression… feelings, be it feelings of sadness, loneliness, emptiness… but, also those that express great joy, celebration and dance, sexiness and Love!!!”

The new compilation delivers a potent mix of hits and deep tracks that originally appeared between 1984 and 2011 on six Whitesnake studio albums and Coverdale’s solo album, Into The Light.

The Blues Album showcases two of the band’s biggest songs: “Slow An’ Easy,” a Top 20 Mainstream Rock hit in 1984 from Whitesnake’s double-platinum album Slide It In, and a brand new guitar based remix of the smash hit “Give Me All Your Love” from the band’s 1987 self-titled album, which was certified multi multi platinum. Other choice tracks from Whitesnake are also featured: “Looking For Love” and “Crying In The Rain,” and “Steal Your Heart Away” (video below).

Restless Heart (1997), Good to Be Bad (2008), and Forevermore (2011) are all represented on The Blues Album by multiple tracks (“Too Many Tears,” “A Fool In Love” and “Steal Your Heart Away”). The collection also includes “If You Want Me,” a studio recording released in 2006 as a bonus track on the live album, Live… In The Shadows Of The Blues. Coverdale also taps his 2000 solo album, Into the Light, for “River Song.”

Pre-order here

CD tracklisting:

“Steal Your Heart Away”
“Good To Be Bad”
“Give Me All Your Love”
“Take Me Back Again”
“Slow An’ Easy”
“Too Many Tears”
“Lay Down Your Love”
“The River Song”
“Whipping Boy Blues”
“If You Want Me”
“A Fool In Love”
“Woman Trouble Blues”
“Looking For Love”
“Crying In The Rain”

LP tracklisting:

Side One
“Steal Your Heart Away”
“Good To Be Bad”
“Give Me All Your Love”
“Take Me Back Again”

Side Two
“Slow An’ Easy”
“Too Many Tears”
“Lay Down Your Love”

Side Three
“The River Song”
“Whipping Boy Blues”
“If You Want Me”
“A Fool In Love”

Side Four
“Woman Trouble Blues”
“Looking For Love”
“Crying In The Rain”

"Slow An' Easy" video:

"Steal Your Heart Away" video:

Heart's Ann Wilson has release a new original song, "Tender Heart", available now at all DSPs and streaming services here. Find a lyric video for the song below.

“‘Tender Heart’ came out of a personal struggle,” says Wilson, “but quickly evolved into a greater, more universal meaning. We as the human race are coming to realize realities we never dreamed we’d have to face – environmentally, culturally, financially, and health-wise. Humanity is coming to terms with uncomfortable, heartbreaking, terrifying truths. This song is for the soul whose heart is blindsided by reality, but is still soft and innocent. I hope people will identify with this song and feel they are not alone.”

Widely regarded as one of the greatest voices in the history of rock ‘n’ roll, Wilson will discuss “Tender Heart” and much more in a special interview with The Washington Post national arts reporter Geoff Edgers on his weekly Instagram Live show, Stuck With Geoff, set for today at 2 PM, ET/11 AM, PT exclusively via the official Washington Post Instagram page.

Metal icons, Soulfly, have entered the studio to record their follow-up to their 2018 release, Ritual. For the twelfth album, the band is working with producer Arthur Rizk (Cavalera Conspiracy, Power Trip, Code Orange) at Platinum Underground in Phoenix, Arizona.

Max Cavalera comments, "I’ve been working on this record with my son, Zyon, since June of last year. We are in the studio now with producer Arthur Rizk, creating a really wild record. Expect the unexpected! No rules, no limits, not holding anything back, just pure Soulfly!”

The as-of-yet-untitled-record is tentatively scheduled for a late 2021 release via Nuclear Blast Records. Stay tuned for more updates.

U.D.O. return with their upcoming fifth live album. The year 2020 faced many with tough challenges, but U.D.O. managed to play a great show under pandemic conditions in front of the breathtaking backdrop of the amphitheater in Plovdiv/Bulgaria, making it not only one of the world's grandest shows under Corona, but also certainly beyond compare. This is exactly the feeling that the live recording captures.

There are certain events that put bands into the spotlight, even experienced musicians who have been in the business for over 40 years. This is one of those events, and happened on September 18, 2020 with U.D.O.

U.D.O., the band featuring German rock icon Udo Dirkschneider (the original voice of Accept) played a concert in the stunning Roman Amphitheatre in Plovdiv, Bulgaria in front of 2500 fans - in the middle of a year that is one of the quietest ever for musicians and bands, both at home and internationally.

Live In Bulgaria 2020: Pandemic Survival Show will be released on March 19, and will be available as CD/DVD, Blu-ray/CD and very limited vinyl (audio only). Pre-order here, and watch a video for "Man And Machine", below.

Tracklisting:

CD1
"Tongue Reaper"
"Make The Move"
"Midnight Mover"
"Wrong Side Of Midnight"
"Metal Machine"
"Independence Day"
"Rose In The Desert"
"Vendetta"
"Rising High"
"Prologue: The Great Unknown"
"In The Darkness"
"I Give As Good As I Get"
"Princess Of The Dawn"

CD2
"Timebomb"
Drum Solo
Bass Solo
"Hungry And Angry"
"One Heart One Soul"
"Man And Machine"
"Animal House"
"They Want War"
"Metal Heart"
"Fast As Shark"
"Balls To The Wall"
Outro ("Stillness Of Time")

"Man And Machine" video:

Former Anathema duo Darren White and Duncan Patterson have reunited under the moniker Antifear. The band describe the music as "doomy gothic punk" and are currently working on two 7" EPs to start things off. The pair worked together on classic releases such as The Crestfallen EP, Serenades and Pentecost III in the early 90s, and toured extensively when the gothic doom scene was still in its infancy. Patterson will also release his second solo album "Grace Road" later this year.

Patterson recently spoke to Cultartes about Antifear. Following is an excerpt from the interview.

Q: Can you recall the moment when you and Darren White thought you could be in a group together again? Was it hard to think of the Antifear name that you both agree on?

Patterson: "We were on an overnight train in Romania in 1994 and we discussed doing a project together, more punk and raw. Something Hellhammerish but with a more political theme. We have been in touch a lot more since the Resonance Tour and sometime this year decided to record a 7″ in the vein of that conversation we had back in 1994. I started writing and the music came quickly. I suddenly had three tracks worth of music. Then more ideas came and I had all these songs written in my head, and using pen and paper to write down the chord structures etc. So I bought and borrowed some equipment so that I could record demos at home and send them to Darren. The whole idea has grown wings now and we are working on a full-length album. 

The Antifear stuff is more riff-based. Like gothic punk, influences from Hellhammer, Celtic Frost, Discharge, Christian Death, Fugazi, The Cure."

As for the name, it took us a while to come up with a name that stuck with both of us. But with the whole thing, we have agreed to do it without pressure, to work freely and let ideas come and go. Darren came up with the name Antifear and we agreed it was strong but continued to look for ideas. After a while, we decided to stick with it, and here we are."

Read the complete interview here. Go to the official Antifear Facebook page here.

In September 2020, Anathema issued an official statement regarding their decision to go on "indefinite hiatus."

Mascot Label Group announced the signing of Anathema in 2019. The band have released 11 studio albums of fearless and uncompromising beauty. Ever since their debut Serenades in 1993, they’ve refused to be pigeonholed and have continuously evolved;  all the way up to their most recent studio album, 2017's conceptual masterstroke The Optimist,  which revealed some of the darkest, most challenging music they ever put their name to, as well as a series of live albums and compilations.

Led by brothers’ Daniel (Vocals, Guitar, Keys) and Vincent Cavanagh (Guitar, Keys, Vocals) along with John Douglas (Percussion), Lee Douglas (Vocals) and Daniel Cardoso (Drums), they were due to head into the studio in 2020 to work on a new album.

Anathema was founded as Pagan Angel in 1990 by the three Cavanagh brothers, drummer John Douglas, and singer Darren White, as a death/doom band. At the time White was the only singer of the band. The following year, Jamie Cavanagh left and was replaced by Duncan Patterson. Under this line-up, Anathema released their first EP, The Crestfallen (1992), and their first album, Serenades (1993). However, White left in 1995; Vincent decided to act as Anathema's vocalist in addition to his guitarist function in the albums The Silent Enigma (1995) and Eternity (1996), which were going into a more gothic metal direction.

In 1997, John left the band, and was replaced by Shaun Steels for the album Alternative 4 (1998). Both Patterson and Steels left the same year, replaced by Dave Pybus and a returning John Douglas, while former My Dying Bride keyboardist and violinist Martin Powell also joined the band (Daniel Cavanagh was also acting as the band's only keyboardist, and shared this position since). The only album released with this line-up was Judgement (1999): the same year Powell switched positions with Cradle of Filth's keyboardist Les Smith who joined Anathema, and Lee Douglas, John's sister, was added to the line-up as a backing and occasional lead vocalist.

The band released their sixth album A Fine Day to Exit in 2001, turning to an alternative sound. Shortly after the release, Pybus announced his departure and was replaced by the band's original bassist, Jamie Cavanagh, reuniting the three brothers in the band for the first time since 1991. There were no new members for the next ten years, with the albums A Natural Disaster (2003) and We're Here Because We're Here (2010) all being recorded and released by the same line-up, with the sound turning even more towards progressive rock; however, Daniel Cavanagh left Anathema in 2002 to join Antimatter, returning in 2003. Smith left Anathema in 2011, and Vincent and Daniel both assumed the function of keyboardist for the band's ninth album, Weather Systems, in 2012. The same year, Cardoso, the band's live keyboardist since 2011, joined as a full-time member.

The band's tenth studio album, Distant Satellites, was released in June 2014. Their eleventh album, The Optimist, won Album Of The Year at the 2017 Progressive Music Awards.

HUM are planning to release remastered versions of their 1993 sophomore album “Electra 2000” and its 1995 follow-up, “You’d Prefer An Astronaut“. Both of those records are expected to get updated vinyl pressings later this year. A re Speaking on that yesterday (January 20th), the band’s guitarist Tim Lash commented:

“Hi all,
First off, the band sincerely appreciates all of the generous support and kind words we’ve received after releasing Inlet. We’re not the best at responding, but it means a lot. So thanks again, from all of us!

- ADVERTISEMENT -
Over the last few months, we’ve successfully navigated through some licensing stuff allowing us to re-release updated versions of Electra 2000, and You’d Prefer An Astronaut on vinyl. Our plan involves re-mastering and cutting higher quality pressings of these two records.

Our hope is to do CD’s as well if possible. We’ll post another update once we iron out all of the details on release dates, label, etc… Since we’ve seen some inflated prices on the secondary market for our older records, we wanted to let people know as soon as possible.

If folks don’t mind waiting a little longer, we’ll be able to produce a higher quality pressing that we have control over, and are proud of. We’ll also have more copies of our Downward is Heavenward re-issue available in the near future as well.

We hope you all are healthy and well, and 2021 turns out to be a little easier for everyone. Take care.
–Tim“

HUM‘s first full-length album in over twenty years, “Inlet“, saw a release this past June.

Fuath, the atmospheric black metal offshoot of Saor’s Andy Marshall, will be releasing its upcoming full-length II, on March 19 via Season of Mist Underground Activists. The album artwork, tracklist, and details, can be found below. In addition, Fuath has shared the official music video for "Prophecies," the first single from the upcoming opus.

Originally slated as a one-off project after the release of 2016’s I, Marshall has decided to turn Fuath into a serious project. Early 2021 will see the release of the band’s second album, II, via Season of Mist’s Underground Activists sub-label.

Written during the winter of 2019 and then recorded in August and September 2020 at Fortriu Studios in Scotland, II features Marshall handling vocals and all instrumentation except for drums, which were performed by Carlos Vivas in Spain. Whereas I dutifully remained within the boundaries of conventional black metal, II finds the songs going further into the frozen plains with elaborate doses of melody, ominous riffing and hypnotic blast-beat sections. II marks a huge progression for Fuath from I. When writing the debut album, Marshall was treading Fuath as a side-project and didn’t have a formalized idea of how he wanted it to sound. In contrast, II is an improvement across the board with better-crafted songs, sharper black metal vocals from Marshall and enhanced production values.

Artwork by Luciana Nedelea:

Tracklisting:

“Prophecies”
“The Pyre”
“Into The Forest Of Shadows”
“Essence”
“Endless Winter”

“Prophecies” video:

Italian power metal trailblazers Airborn have dropped the story video for “Star A Star” from their new record Lizard Secrets: Part Two - Age Of Wonder (Fighter Records/Spiritual Beast), out on December 10, 2020, to thank their fans for showing great support and enthusiasm since the release. The almost 12-minute-long closing track is the longest the band released to date, and can be considered a musical work on its own.

In 2020, Airborn celebrate their 25th anniversary by releasing Lizard Secrets: Part Two - Age Of Wonder, their sixth full-length as well as second chapter of the Lizard Secrets trilogy.