Long-running power metallers Drakkar are pleased to announce that they have signed a record deal with Punishment 18 Records. The latter will release the group's long-awaited new studio album in 2021.

A couple words from guitarist/founding member Dario Beretta: "We are very happy to have found a new home at Punishment 18 for Drakkar. I've been very satisfied with their work on the last 2 Crimson Dawn records. I've known Corrado Breno for ages and he's a real professional who is always truthful, and never afraid to speak his mind, which is something I value immensely. He and the rest of the P18 staff have been very supportive of our efforts, and also of the launch of our Patreon page, so it was only natural to ink this new deal with them."

Canadian atmospheric black metal duo Keys Of Orthanc is ready to unleash their fourth studio album, titled Of The Lineage Of Kings. The 8-track music effort will see the light on February 5th, 2021 via Naturmacht Productions.


Track listing:

01. Of The Lineage Of Kings
02. Shards Of Narcil
03. Her Mighty Heart
04. To The Paths Of The Dead
05. The Last Alliance
06. King Of The Reunited Kingdom
07. I've Seen The Dragons Fly
08. Book Of The Fallen (Caladan Brood cover)

On March 26th 2021, Danish black metal horde Solbrud will be releasing Levende I Brønshøj Vandtårn live album worldwide through Eisenwald and Moondrop Records in Denmark. The effort was recorded on November 23rd and 24th (2019) inside Brønshøj Vandtårn, edited and mixed by Marcus Ferreira Larsen, and mastered by Flemming Rasmussen at Sweet Silence Studios. The whole video filming and editing work was done masterfully by Martin Goltermann.

The release will be available on gatefold 180g double LP - black and silver vinyl editions. Also included is the full concert footage on DVD and a 16-page booklet with outstanding live shots by Adriana Zak and Naya Buch. And on a deluxe digipak concert DVD+CD with a 20-page photo booklet.


Tracklist is the following:

01. Øde Lagt [11:28]
02. Skygge [2:25]
03. Menneske [2:19]
04. Sortedøden [11:48]
05. Klippemennesket [13:05]
06. Bortgang [11:56]
07. Sjæleskrig [8:07]
08. Besat Af Mørke [8:22]

awn’s first light begins to unwind its weary fingers through the splayed branches of the naked, sleeping trees.

The winter air is like crystal, numbing your mouth, freezing your throat and riming your lungs in a fragile cage of hoar frost.

The pale sun holds no warmth and your blood becomes sluggish, like an ice choked stream, as you stand at the end of your path – slowly, quietly dying. Your last breath drifts between your lips in a small, soft cloud and a lone, black bird begins to sing an unheard lament for your passing.

As time gently draws a pall of velvet darkness across the closing eyes of this broken year, Nre, the bard of And Now The Owls Are Smiling, emerges from his solitude once more.

He brings with him “Dirges”, a new collection of songs for the heavy-hearted who shield their sorrows from the world like a flickering flame in a storm, to whom the sadness is a treasure, a pathway of memory, a gift never to be relinquished.

“Dirges” is the distilled essence of that deep melancholy, a bleakly beautiful landscape of tears painted in shades of grey. Once again Nre has entwined the sweepingly majestic with agonizing intimacy to create the stunning sound of And Now The Owls Are Smiling and as last year’s powerful offering, “The Comforting Grip Of Misery”, took great strides beyond debut release “Desolation”, so “Dirges” towers over its predecessor in turn.

The entrancing sound of songs like “Dirge VI: Pointlessness” wrap you in an embrace of black thorns, their curved ebony points cruelly puncturing your skin as they comfort you.

This is Black Metal at its most emotionally charged and magically bewitching, steeped in an atmosphere of solitude and sombre reflection. “Dirges” is a landmark release for And Now The Owls Are Smiling, an album that will touch the fractured hearts of the lost and alone.

Clobber Records have once again reached out to Nre and will release “Dirges” into the night on January 29th of 2021, to carry its messages of cold solace to yearning souls, waiting in the darkness.

This album will transport you to moments in time that both frighten and entice you. It will unlock the boxes in your mind where the most beautiful and painful memories reside. The owls are smiling again and it is time to become undone…

Italian Progressive Metallers Oceana, featuring Novembre’s guitarist Massimiliano Pagliuso, will release their new album “The Pattern” on CD, 2LP and Digital formats on January 29th 2021 via Time To Kill Records.

The video of the album’s first single, “You Don’t Know”, is now available here:


“The Pattern” was recorded at Blue Noise Studios by Massimiliano Pagliuso and at The Outer Sound Studios by Giuseppe Orlando. Mixing and mastering were handled by renowned Swedish producer Dan Swanö at Unisound Studios AB. The album evocative artwork is by Travis Smith.

Tracklist “The Pattern”:
01. Hiding Lies
02. Fall To Silence
03. Violet
04. Tragicomic Reality
05. A Friend
06. Carousel
07. A Lament
08. Spoiled
09. Atlantidea Suite Part 1
10. The Unforgiven
11. You Don’t Know

Imagine the great Seattle’s Grunge era meeting the Alternative Metal scene of the 2000’s, place them straight into the Californian desert, and you’ll get the sound and vision of Italy’s Stoner Rock overloads Mars Era.

Formed in 2014 in Florence, the band burst into the Heavy Rock scene with their critically acclaimed debut “Dharmanaut”. Now, Mars Era has announced the release of their sophomore full-length titled “Oniro”, which will be out on February 19th, 2021, via Argonauta Records!

Close before the world went on lockdown, Mars Era started to work on their forthcoming album, which was recorded and mixed by Marco Leggio, and was mastered at the GreenFog Studio in Genoa. While the four-piece collective continues to combine both Heavy and Psychedelic sounds from various influences, with “Oniro” they step forward to create their very own way to express music.

This is Mars Era in a new chapter; full of words, music and emotions. Give ear, as the band just released a first single and video for “Brighter Than the Sun”! Watch the video below.

METALLICA's Lars Ulrich says that it could be a year "at the earliest" before rock bands are allowed to play arena concerts in front of tens of thousands of fans.

Speaking Tuesday (November 10) at CNBC's Evolve Summit, the drummer said: "As we unfortunately have to come to grips with, the last thing that will happen are big concerts, you know 20,000 people in an arena, 50,000 people in a stadium." He went on to say that liive sporting events are much easier to bring back than concerts, given they are "slightly more orderly" than a sold-out rock show tends to be.

"The good news on the live concert front, when METALLICA and other bands like METALLICA play big arena or stadium concerts again, then you can pretty much count on the fact that COVID, as we know it now, is over," he said.

Although METALLICA's drive-in concert, which was pre-recorded and played at more than 300 outdoor theaters in Canada and the U.S. in August, was "a success," Ulrich doesn't see it as something that he and his bandmates can keep doing indefinitely.

"I don't know what kind of legs that kind of experience will have because I think it's more of a one-off event," he said. "I don't think it’s something you could do too often. The burnout factor is too big."

Ulrich said that concerts will return "slowly," possibly once a vaccine has been rolled out to the general public.

"What we know now compared to three months ago, six months ago, is that the wait is unfortunately going to continue to be long," he said. "I would say ... third quarter, fall of next year, at the earliest, is what we're betting on right now."

As previously reported, METALLICA's "Live & Acoustic From HQ: Helping Hands Concert & Auction" will be streamed live from the band's headquarters in San Rafael, California on Saturday, November 14.

In early May, the four members of METALLICA overcame social distancing to record a new version of their song "Blackened", with each member separated in his own home. The split-screen video was posted to the band's social media channels. That same month, Ulrich told Swedish talk show host Fredrik Skavlan that he and his bandmates were "sending ideas to each other via e-mail and via Zoom and [trying to] make music in these unusual situations."

In August, METALLICA broadcast the aforementioned show to hundreds of drive-in and outdoor theaters across the U.S. and Canada, as part of the "Encore Drive-In Nights" series. The concert was filmed nearly three weeks earlier, on August 10, at the Gundlach Bundschu winery, about a 30-minute car ride from the band's headquarters in San Rafael, California, and was subsequently edited and mixed by the band's award-winning production team to the highest standards possible.

Japanese drum prodigy Yoyoka Soma, who has become a YouTube sensation and has attracted the attention of KISS icon Gene Simmons and Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl, has posted two new covers: the Deep Purple classic "Burn" and Led Zepelin's "Dazed And Confused".

Yoyoka on the "Dazed And Confused" cover:

"Led Zeppelin changed my life. For me, Bonzo's groove is the most natural and comfortable. ‬This song is one of my favorite songs."

Both clips are one-take recordings.

Yoyoka previously teamed up with Paulie Z, bassist Koichi Terasawa (ex-SLY) and guitarist Satsuma3042 to record a lockdown cover of Ozzy Osbourne's "Over The Mountain". Check it out below.

In the clip below, Annihilator frontman / founder Jeff Waters performs his hit new song, "2020 Medical Blues".

Waters: "It's an epic so sit back and get to see what life as a 'Metal Legend' has been like for Jeff in 2020! Don't worry, he's fine now and looking forward to the same thing you are = 2021!"

Waters recently took to social media with a justifiable rant that can be read below.

Waters: "I'm usually oblivious to awards shows and the like, unless I hear that a talented musician or band of talented musicians are playing. but I couldn't possibly ignore this one:

The American Music Awards did not even acknowledge the passing of the greatest guitar player to ever live!  How can they pretend to include the 'Rock' genre and not even nominate rock bands, let alone ignore Ed's passing? Add to this, the SAME NIGHT OF THIS JOKE awards show, AC/DC had the biggest record in North America! WOW!

This is nuts. Wake up, people!

The future generations are going to be stunned at how the masses have acted towards each other, music and the earth! I have faith in humanity, though; stupidity at this unheard of level has to cycle out soon!"

The American Music Awards of 2020 - also known as the 48th American Music Awards - were held on November 22nd at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles. According to their press release, the awards show was "recognizing the most popular artists and albums of 2020."

Eddie Van Halen passed away on October 6th following a long battle with cancer, and to this day the tributes to his musical talents and genius continue to pour in from all over the world.

The Plague have joined Bitter Loss Records for the release of their debut album, Within Death, scheduled to hit the ground in April 2021.

Hailing from Sydney, Australia and formed in 2016, The Plague deliver Swedish inspired old school death metal in the vein of  Dismember and Entombed. Within Death is the follow up to 2017’s Mass Genocide EP and sees the band further develop their OSDM sound with 10 classic tracks of misanthropy.

Listen to "Spawn Of Monstrosity" from Within Death now:

Spawn Of Monstrosity by The Plague

Within Death will be released on vinyl and CD with limited pre-sale bundles - including hand-numbered vinyl, CD and an exclusive pre-sale t-shirt design - on January 15th via BitterLossRecords.com.

The Plague is:

Shane Piercy - rhythm guitar
Mike Ryan - vocals
Tommo Singleton - bass
Zac Sale - drums
Ross Chinchella - lead guitar

For further details, visit The Plague on Facebook.

 

Guitarist / vocalist Richie Kotzen (The Winery Dogs) has taken to social media with the following message:

"Julia and I just kicked the living PISS out of Covid-19! Self Quarantined, Chicken Soup, Hot Tea, ... ALL THAT!....still can’t taste a fucking thing but I’ve never been much of a food guy! Today I feel 110%! Back to business as usual...Feeling refreshed, 15 lbs lighter and ready to grab 2021 by the fucking balls! Who’s in?"

Earlier this month, BMG announced that two of rock’s most admired musicians have joined forces for an exciting new side-project. Smith / Kotzen is the electrifying collaboration between guitarists and vocalists Adrian Smith and Richie Kotzen. Part-time LA neighbors, full time friends with a healthy mutual respect.  Both artists are seasoned performers on the global stage, having honed their skills throughout their careers to create their own unique musical sound.

Debut track, "Taking My Chances",  sets the tone for this brand new partnership between two rock music trail-blazers. Recorded in Turks & Caicos at the start of 2020, the song is evocative of the classic rock bands of the '70s, brought bang up to date with punchy hooks, harmonies and sheer guitar virtuosity.

Adrian Smith is best known as one of Iron Maiden’s principal guitarists, having also enjoyed success as a solo artist. Richie Kotzen is the frontman for The Winery Dogs as well as having been the guitarist for both Mr. Big and Poison during his long and acclaimed career, which has to date seen him release more than 20 solo albums. Both artists are also prolific songwriters.

Adrian comments: "I think Richie and I complement each other really well. He’s a virtuoso guitarist but he’s got a great sense of melody - the whole thing just felt very natural."

Richie adds: "We found common ground in classic and blues-based rock – we both come from that mentality. We’ve been writing and recording together for the past year and I’m ecstatic with the results."

As the gloriously heavy and brilliantly catchy "Taking My Chances" shows, rock fans around the globe will be delighted at the first taste of this marriage-made-in-guitar and vocal heaven.

"Taking My Chances" is available on all digital platforms found here.

Stay tuned for more news to come from Smith / Kotzen early in 2021.  

(Photo - Larry Dimarzio)

 

Germany's Coldun has released a lyric video for the song "The Forest And The Soul", from their new album Grand Sun Ritual, which is set for release on January 15, 2021.

Frontman Coldun says, "It's about a transcendental journey in the transition between life and death, which is interwoven with the symbolism of the forest as a place of connection with creation. The song describes the beautiful feeling of walking this transition - like flying through a forest perfectly." 

Grand Sun Ritual is a real soul slurper, showing influences from doom to post metal, connecting both worlds, which the tasteful creators love so much. Thus, Coldun let atmospheric and deeply rich ambient sounds come together with wild rock / metal guitar riffs and drums in an amazingly fluid way, deliciously refined with the classic aroma of '70s guitar and Hammond feeling.

The necessary edge in the often majestic sound image is provided by hard, sometimes even post-black stagings, which can ultimately bring a modern, but always fully genuine and down-to-earth high-class sound to brilliant radiance.

In terms of content, the new long-player revolves around the eternally topical questions of humanity about the respective meaning of life and death. The thought-provoking lyrics of the songs show a radically positive basic tenor, which stands for Coldun's personal conviction that in death nothing is absolute - and certainly not an end.

Tracklisting:

"Grand Sun Ritual"
"The Forest And The Soul" 
"Down Below" 
"Salvation Day" 
"Stories Untold"
"Hail Out To Thebes" 
"I Dreamed That Dream" 

"Grand Sun Ritual":

 

 

German heavy/power metallers, Black & Damned present their official music video for the single, "Liquid Suicide”. The track is taken from the band’s upcoming full-length debut album, Heavenly Creatures, out on January 29 via ROAR! Rock Of Angels Records.

Roland "Bobbes" Seidel comments on the song: "A good friend is alcoholic only he does not notice it. For him I wrote this song and lyrics. Maybe he can still be saved."

The video, written, directed and edited by Menschbilder, can be seen below. The digital single for “Liquid Suicide” is now available across all digital and streaming platforms!

Heavenly Creatures tracklisting:

"Salvation"
"Liquid Suicide"
"Born Again"
"The Wardress"
"War Is Just Another Word For Hell"
"A Whisper In The Dark"
"The 13th Sign"
"Decide On Your Destiny" (CD exclusive track)
"The World Bleed"
"Dreams To Stay Alive" (CD exclusive track)
"We Are Warriors"
"Heavenly Creatures"

"Liquid Suicide" video:

"Salvation" video:

British melodic metal band, The Raven Age - featuring Iron Maiden bassist Steve Harris' son George Harris on guitar - performed inside Bullhead City Circus at the 2016 edition of Germany's Wacken Open Air festival. Pro-shot video of the band's full set can be seen below.

Setlist:

"Uprising"
"Promised Land"
"The Death March"
"Eye Among The Blind"
"Angel In Disgrace"

Dutch death metal masters, Phlebotomized, have released a teaser video for their upcoming Pain, Resistance, Suffering EP, due in March. Watch below.

Phlebotomized return with songwriting originality and mesmerizing musicianship blended together in melodic death metal with hints of brutality.

Phlebotomized were formed back in 1989, but formally changed their name to the current one in 1990. During the the 90's the band released several demos, EPs and full length albums full of brutal yet melodic death metal laced with keyboards and violins.

After disbanding in 1997 the band reformed in 2013 and started playing shows again. In 2019 the band released their album Deformation Of Humanity, and this comeback hit home hard! Phlebotomized's unique blend of aggression and melody makes them a stand-out band in the scene.

Smackbound, the hard rock/metal band from the robust and acclaimed Finnish music scene, released their debut album, 20/20, via Frontiers Music Srl back in June. Watch a live performance video for "Drive It Like You Stole It" below:

The 20/20 album was recorded at Sonic Pump Studios, produced by Tuomas Yli-Jaskari mixed and mastered by Jesse Vainio (Sunrise Avenue, Apocalyptica, Poets Of The Fall).

Tracklisting:

"Wall Of Silence"
"Drive It Like You Stole It"
"Close To Sober"
"Run"
"The Game"
"Those Who Burn"
"Hey Motherfuckers"
"Troublemaker"
"Date With The Devil"
"Wind And Water"

"Run" video:

"Wall Of Silence" video:

"Close To Sober" video:

"Those Who Burn" lyric video:

"Drive It Like You Stole It" video:

"The Game" video:

Lineup:

Netta Laurenne - Vocals
Teemu Mäntysaari - Guitars
Rolf Pilve - Drums
Vili Itäpelto - Keyboards
Tuomas Yli-Jaskari - Bass

Ecuador-based hard rock band, Kill City, have released their debut album, Last Man Standing. Check it out on Spotify.

Tracklisting:

"Paradoxical Dream"
"Wake Up"
"Countdown"
"Against Myself"
"When The show Is Over"
"Grey"
"Believe Me"
"Empezar de Nuevo"
"Follow Your Heart"
"Last Man Standing"
"Sigue la Voz" (Bonus Track)

"Grey" video:

"Sigue la Voz" lyric video:

The band is composed of old time Ecuadorian rockers Juan Iturralde (worked with Kai Hansen), Xavier Diab, Andres Miranda, Luis Neme, and Chemel Neme (worked with Kai Hansen and Timo Tolkki), and their sound is in the style of Helloween, Journey, Stryper, Judas Priest.

Extreme Management Group (EMG), home to bands like Suffocation, Cattle Decapitation, Rings Of Saturn, and more, has announced their partnership with Italian melodic death metallers, Reality Grey.

Hailing from South Italy, Reality Grey stands tall in the Italian metal scene. Formed in 2004, Reality Grey began their quest to redefine melodic death metal. As a tight-knit 5-piece band, Reality Grey incorporates a modern hybrid of extreme music: melody, brutality; blending complex, yet catchy songwriting. Fearsome death growls & clean vocals give way to razor sharp guitar riffs and fusion-oriented solos, Reality Grey set out to create something all their own.

With the release of the debut full-length album Darkest Days Are Yet To Come in 2006, in the heat of the melodic death metal revolution, Reality Grey managed to secure their first record deal with Razar Ice Records USA. Songs like "Reality Grey" and "Never Again" racked up hundreds of thousands of plays on the old MySpace allowing the band to tour, gaining popularity well beyond the Italian borders. Following up with EP Day Zero', Reality Grey began to push their own boundaries. Ferocious, yet melodic, with no-hold-barred songwriting attitude. Songs like "Day Zero" and "Slavery" emerged the band's experimental side, synths, melancholic pianos and acoustic guitars; perfectly fused with an intoxicating sonic aggression.

After years of non-stop touring alongside bands like Deicide, Unearth, Municipal Waste, Sadist, Malevolent Creation and more, the critically acclaimed Define Redemption is released by Bakerteam/Scarlet Records; sending the band on their first headline tour in Japan. Reality Grey then released 2018's The Void.

Reality Grey has completed work on their upcoming full-length, due in late 2021. Looking ahead with tours and festival appearances on their sights, Reality Grey will continue to push ambitiously, earning their place among the pantheon of heavy music.

Now, having inked a worldwide deal with Extreme Management Group (EMG), the band says: "We’re thrilled to announce that we have started working with Extreme Management Group! Definitely the right place for us. Big news is coming very soon. Stay tuned!"

EMG said, "We are excited to be working with Reality Grey. They have some really fantastic music. We expect big things to come from this partnership."

In a new interview with RocklandSound, Steve "Lips" Kudlow of Canadian metal legends ANVIL spoke about the persistence, tenacity, endurance and commitment that has kept him and drummer Robb Reiner going for more than 40 years despite falling short of the commercial success achieved by some of the bands they influenced. The guitarist/vocalist said (see video below): "I just had a conversation with Jon Z, [founder of] CraZed Management, the guy that basically discovered METALLICA. We've been friends for 40 years, maybe more, and we were just talking about all this last night. It's doing this all for the right reasons. You don't do this because you wanna make millions of dollars; it's not what it's about. It's not about who sells the most records or anything like that. It's not a competition; it's not a horse race. It's art.

"In the whole end of the day, the guy that wins is really not the guy that makes the most money; it's probably the guy that's the most prolific and writes the most," he continued. "If you can be that creative, I think that that's the ultimate winning person — the guy that can write the most tunes, really."

ANVIL, a Toronto-based group, was formed in 1978 by childhood friends Kudlow and Reiner. Both came from Jewish families and had been playing music together since their teens.

Though initially a four-piece band, ANVIL's current lineup includes Kudlow, Reiner and bassist Chris Robertson.

ANVIL gained popularity and new fans since the 2008 theatrical documentary, "Anvil: The Story Of Anvil", which is currently available on Netflix. The film focused on how ANVIL got together, and stayed together, through decades of hard work and setbacks.

ANVIL's latest album, "Legal At Last", was released in February via AFM Records. The disc was recorded at Soundlodge studios in Rhauderfehn in the northwest of Germany.

In a new interview with Goldmine, TWISTED SISTER guitarist Jay Jay French discussed the band's 2006 album "A Twisted Christmas", which featured metal versions of Christmas songs, including the holiday carol "Oh Come All Ye Faithful", which heavily inspired TWISTED SISTER's biggest hit, "We're Not Gonna Take It". Also appearing on the LP were such holiday chestnuts as "Silver Bells" and "Let It Snow", propelling the album's sales to more than 150,000 copies and spawning a live Christmas show the band performed annually for several years.

Jay Jay said: "Dee [Snider, TWISTED SISTER singer] had this idea years ago to get JUDAS PRIEST and IRON MAIDEN and all these bands to each do a Christmas song. When you listen to our Christmas album, if you really listen to it carefully, what we did with the Christmas [album] was, it was two things. One was we only used famous songs, [so] everybody could sing along with it. Number two, we would arrange each song to make it sound like the bands that we would love would play it. So, when you hear 'Silver Bells', it sounds like AC/DC would do 'Silver Bells'. When you hear 'I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus', it's like JUDAS PRIEST was doing 'I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus'. When you hear 'White Christmas', it's like IRON MAIDEN doing 'White Christmas'. It was done deliberately as an homage to all the bands that we loved. So if you really kind of get into the minutiae of the album and the way the songs peeled themselves out, then you have to understand it was done that way. So, there was a lot going on on that Christmas record — a whole lot going on."

French went on to say that he "loved" the entire Christmas project. "Not only did I love the Christmas album, I loved the Christmas DVD," he said. "I loved playing the Christmas songs live. They're so much fun. It's a lot of fun. That stuff was really fun. That's what made the reunion such a good thing for us, when we came back, 'cause we were able to really come back as friends. And that Christmas record became the biggest metal Christmas [album]. When we did it, I think a lot of metal bands thought we were nuts."

Asked why TWISTED SISTER hasn't released a follow-up Christmas LP, Jay Jay said: "We thought about it — we thought about it years ago, and the idea petered out. But here's the amazing thing — next year is the 15th anniversary of the Christmas album, and we're fondling the idea of recording a couple of new songs and re-releasing it. We also may have in the vaults an instrumental of the Hallelujah chorus, which would be, if we have it, the last A.J. Pero [late TWISTED SISTER drummer] track that we have, which would be great. So we're looking to see if that is a practical reality."

In 2016, TWISTED SISTER embarked on one final trek, titled "Forty And Fuck It", in celebration of its 40th anniversary. These shows featured the band's "core lineup" of French, Snider, guitarist Eddie Ojeda and bassist Mark Mendoza, along with drummer Mike Portnoy. The band's last-ever concert took place in November of that year — 20 months after the passing of Pero.

TWISTED SISTER's original run ended in the late '80s. After more than a decade, the band publicly reunited in November 2001 to top the bill of New York Steel, a hard-rock benefit concert to raise money for the New York Police And Fire Widows' And Children's Benefit Fund.

Former GUNS N' ROSES and current SIXX:A.M. guitarist DJ Ashba recently released a couple of singles from his ASHBA project, which mixes his rock guitar with electronic music in what he previously described as the "perfect blend of rock and EDM." Asked by "The Mark And HooGie Show" if he has gotten any pushback from his rock fans over the musical direction of his new venture, Ashba said (see video below): "Honestly, I'm at a point in my career where I could give two fucks. I could care less. If people don't like it, kiss my ass. Go listen to SIXX:A.M. If what I'm doing right now isn't rock enough, I've got a rock band. They can go listen to that then.

"My fanbase, thank God, has been, throughout my whole career, just very, very accepting," he continued. "They know me — they know I'm always trying to really push myself as an artist outside the box.

"If I had to live within this box, I'd rather honestly not play music. Playing music is a form of art, and if I can't truly be an artist and be true to what it is inside — whatever that is that keeps me going… I have to stay inspired. You can only write so many three-chord rock songs. So, to me, this is something that I'm kind of more doing for myself, and I feel like I kind of have earned that at this point in my career. And I'm just having fun.

"Surprisingly… It was weird. I was totally expecting for all my fanbase just to hate it — not get it," Ashba added. "'Cause I really, really go deep down in EDM — I stayed very, very true to the EDM sound — and I really thought they were gonna hate it, and I was okay with that. 'Cause in my mind, I'm writing this for the EDM, the young kids that go to those festivals. This is full-on festival music. And surprisingly, I got no pushback. My rock fans really, really were freaking out on it, which kind of freaked me out. I was expecting them to really not get it or maybe push it aside. But they've been nothing but supportive. I'm very thankful that they gave it a chance."

ASHBA's "Let's Dance" single featured a guest appearance by James Michael, co-founder and lead singer of SIXX:A.M., which he and DJ formed with Nikki Sixx (MÖTLEY CRÜE).

"Hypnotic" and "Let's Dance" will appear on ASHBA's first full-length effort. According to DJ, he will promote the LP by embarking on a tour on which he will be joined only by a VJ.

Ashba told the Las Vegas Review-Journal about the musical approach of his new effort: "I would go to a lot of EDM concerts, and their shows are so over the top and, you know, all these young kids just losing their minds, right? And the one thing that I've noticed is … it lacks guitar, you know, and I saw an opportunity, like five years ago, going, 'If I could take what I do and somehow inject it into this world.' A lot of kids are not being exposed to a lot of guitar in that world."

Although Ashba initially started work on the project as a collaboration with Michael — under the band name PYROMANTIC — it has since evolved into an Ashba solo venture, with Michael announcing in 2018 that he was stepping away from the group.

Photo credit: Michael Pool

KISS frontman Paul Stanley recently spoke to SPIN about how he has been dealing with the coronavirus crisis and what he expects life to be like post-pandemic.

"Initially, I was in shock," Stanley admitted. "I think it just was so surreal that it kind of stopped everybody in their tracks and we had to get reoriented. Initially, I did very little. I pretty much stayed in the house. Nobody knew the parameters of what we could do. I'm sure we all remember wiping down shopping bags and groceries. Time has a way of getting away from you during this pandemic.

"People, I think, are seeing this light at the end of the tunnel of vaccines, but sadly, a vaccine doesn't do any good unless you're vaccinated, and most of us haven't been," he continued.

"One of the best things to come out of this horrible situation is people hopefully realizing how important we are to each other. And that human contact and support is really essential. And maybe, hopefully, that's one of the lights we can carry through once this is over — appreciating one another and realizing how much we really need each other."

Last month, KISS announced a New Year's Eve concert at the Atlantis resort in Dubai. Landmarks Live Presents will produce the show live from The Royal Beach at Atlantis Dubai. The show producers claim the event, which will apparently attempt to set the world's record for largest pyro, will be filmed with more than 50 cameras and 360-degree views. It will be seen via livestream, with a ticket purchase on any computer, mobile device, or Apple TV.

KISS launched its farewell trek in January 2019 but was forced to put it on hold earlier this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

"End Of The Road" was originally scheduled to conclude on July 17, 2021 in New York City but is now expected to last well into 2022.

KISS's current lineup consists of original members Stanley and Gene Simmons (bass, vocals), alongside later band additions, guitarist Tommy Thayer (since 2002) and drummer Eric Singer (on and off since 1991).

Formed in 1973 by Stanley, Simmons, Peter Criss (drums) and Ace Frehley (guitar), KISS staged its first "farewell" tour in 2000, the last to feature the group's original lineup.

In its 47-year career, KISS has accumulated 23 gold and platinum albums — more than any other U.S. b