In a new interview with Fresno, California's 105.1 The Blaze radio station, Wolfgang Van Halen was asked if he thinks it makes it easier or harder for him to get his music embraced with his connections in the industry and his famous last name. "I think it's a bit of both," he said (hear audio below). "It's a double-edged sword. Sometimes people will have their own ideas of what they think [my music] will be.

"There are plenty of examples of people who may have connections in the business," the 29-year-old musician continued. "For example, [pop superstar] Billie Eilish — she had family connections or something, but the reason that she stuck around is because she's cool and she's talented. And I think that's a big thing that, I guess, needs to be seen. If people end up liking my music and I stick around, then I guess it was good. But if I disappear in a year, then I guess it wasn't good enough. [Laughs]"

Wolfgang played every instrument and sang each and every note on the debut album from his solo band MAMMOTH WVH, which is scheduled for release in the spring of 2021 via Explorer1 Music Group/EX1 Records. The disc's first single, "Distance", was released last month. Wolfgang wrote the song while his late father, legendary VAN HALEN guitarist Eddie Van Halen, battled cancer, "imagining what my life would be without him, and how terribly I'd miss him," as Wolfgang explained in a statement. The video for the track was created from a collection of family home movies through the years and offers an inside look in to one of music's most notable personalities. Chronicling the family through the years, the video ends with a touching voicemail left from Eddie to his son.

Wolfgang had been preparing to release music from MAMMOTH WVH for some time. That plan was altered when his father called him and told him his cancer had returned. Wolfgang decided to put everything on hold to be with his father through his battle.

MAMMOTH WVH is a nod to family history — Eddie and his brother Alex Van Halen called their band MAMMOTH when David Lee Roth first joined it in 1974

When Wolfgang hits the road in support of MAMMOTH WVH's debut album, he will be accompanied by guitarist Frank Sidoris (SLASH FEATURING MYLES KENNEDY AND THE CONSPIRATORS), drummer Garrett Whitlock (TREMONTI) and bassist Ronnie Ficarro. Wolfgang will handle lead vocals and guitar at the shows.

Wolfgang joined his father in VAN HALEN for the band's 2007 reunion tour with Roth, replacing Michael Anthony.

Eddie died on October 6 at St. John's Hospital in Santa Monica, California. The iconic VAN HALEN axeman died from complications due to cancer, his son confirmed.

Gene Simmons is promoting public confidence in the COVID-19 vaccine's safety once it has obtained emergency-use authorization from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

"The last three presidents of these United States — [Barack] Obama, [George W.] Bush and [Bill] Clinton — are all gonna be taking the vaccine on the same day, just to prove to people, 'No, no. This is legitimate,'" the KISS bassist/vocalist told the "Jeremy White Podcast" in a new interview (see video below). "Because there are deniers, there's the Flat Earth Society, and 'Aliens ate my dog's homework' — and everything you can imagine. People who don't believe in masks, 'They're a hoax'…"

Gene went on to blast people who are defiantly skeptical of mask wearing, saying that their refusal to follow the rules is putting all of our health at risk.

"Believe what you want, but don't hang out around me," Simmons said. "Okay? If you're a denier, stay in the shadows. I don't wanna be around you. 'Cause I don't wanna catch what you've got. It's not about you. It's not whether you believe it or not."

He added: "When you sneeze, you put your hand over your mouth. If your dog poops on the ground, you'll pick it up. But you won't pick up a mask?"

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is meeting this week to decide whether to authorize a COVID-19 vaccine produced by Pfizer and BioNTech. The vaccine is already being rolled out across Britain, where a 90-year-old grandmother of four became the first person in the West to receive a COVID-19 vaccine outside clinical trials.

There are more than 2,2000 deaths from COVID-19 in the U.S. a day on average, and cases per day have eclipsed 200,000 on average for the first time on record.

Gunnar Nelson has taken issue with coronavirus lockdowns around the country, saying that Americans in high-risk groups should be "protected" while "the rest of us get back to life."

Gunnar discussed the hot-button issue during an appearance on a new interview series hosted by TNT singer Baol Bardot Bulsara.

Speaking about how deadly COVID-19 is, compared with several other causes of death in the U.S., Gunnar said (see video below): "In my experience — for real — just as far as the numbers are concerned, it's just another strain of the flu. Whether or not it was made in a lab as a bioweapon, I really don't know. All I know is that the recovery rate is 99.6 percent or something crazy. And if you look at the numbers worldwide, it's the exact same as the seasonal flu that comes in. The people that are at risk are the older folks and the people conditions. I'm not minimizing that, but those are the people, in my opinion, that need to be protected and stay home, while the rest of us go out and do our concerts and get back to life."

He continued: "The one thing they don't talk about is where we all [musicians and entertainers] come in. Our job is to make people feel great; our job is to make people feel awesome. And they love going to shows and putting their fists in the air and having a great time and feeling the community with like-minded people who like the same kind of music. We haven't had that in a year. And people are depressed. Not only are they depressed, they've had enough of being on house arrest and being dictated to about what they can and can't do. Because life is short, and no one wants to spend a percentage of their life they're never gonna be able to get back being locked in their homes, no matter how awesome their home is or isn't. Relationships are getting strained, people are getting depressed, alcoholism is up, drug abuse is up — all of these things that, being in a normal year where we actually can go out and go see shows and hang out with your friends and your family, don't seem to be as much of a factor. So 2021 can't get here fast enough, as far as I'm concerned."

COVID-19 is said to be more contagious, more deadly and causes more long-term complications than influenza.

"It kills more people," Dr. George Morris, incident commander of CentraCare's COVID-19 response, told SCTimes.com. "And it causes more death and destruction throughout your whole body."

About 2 percent of diagnosed coronavirus cases are lethal, compared with 0.1 percent of diagnosed flu cases, according to The Washington Post.

A recent study showed that COVID-19 patients had an in-hospital death rate two times higher than that of influenza patients.

Gunnar and his brother Nelson are the leaders of their band called NELSON which celebrated the 30th anniversary of the release of its double-platinum debut LP "After The Rain" this past June.

The Nelson are sons of rock royalty — their father was '50s and '60s rock and TV heartthrob Ricky Nelson — and grandsons of entertainers Ozzie and Harriet Nelson, and the nephews of celebrated actor Mark Harmon.

When Matthew and Gunnar hit No. 1 on the Billboard chart with NELSON's "(Can't Live Without Your) Love & Affection", it made the Nelsons the first family in history to have at least one No. 1 song across three generations.

NELSON had five Top 40 Billboard hits, four No. 1 MTV videos and has sold over 6.5 million albums worldwide.

During an appearance earlier today (Tuesday, December 1) on SiriusXM's "Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk", ALICE IN CHAINS guitarist/vocalist Jerry Cantrell and drummer Sean Kinney were asked about a possible follow-up to their "Rainier Fog" album, which came out in August 2018. Jerry said: "We actually planned on taking a year off. This thing that happened to us" — referring to the coronavirus pandemic — "all hit a window when we planned on being off. So we're just waiting to see how this pans out and plays out. Obviously, a lot of people are affected. We're pretty blessed and lucky where we are while we're all weathering this together. But, as you know, we're part of a community that relies on getting people together to work and have fun. So we're just seeing how this all plays out. And [we're] hopeful for the vaccines. And we don't wanna go back to work until it's safe to work, and I don't think anybody will. So I'm kind of thinking we're gonna be off again for about another year."

"We just kind of planned on taking a year off," Sean echoed Jerry's words. "Jerry had a solo thing he wanted to do. Will [singer William DuVall] was gonna go do his thing and was starting up on that. So it was kind of a plan to take this time off and people could go do whatever they wanted to do — do their own deal. And then this kind of shut those things down to a degree. So we haven't really had a discussion of if, when, where, what, why, but I would assume, probably… Like Jerry said, I don't think we're gonna magically be okay to go back and everybody get back to the life they had before within the next year. Maybe by this time next year, if there's enough vaccine.

"Our industry, as you know, is completely existent upon people having disposable income — a little extra dough to buy a ticket or something to go see something — and then cramming as many people as you can as close to each other into whatever-size venue you can fill with people," he added. "So it is the worst situation, probably, of anything."

Later tonight, ALICE IN CHAINS will be presented with this year's Museum Of Pop Culture (MoPOP) Founders Award. This one-night-only benefit will feature performances by ALICE IN CHAINS, as well as an acclaimed lineup of guest and youth musicians who will put their own twist on some of the band's most iconic songs. Set to appear are KORN, METALLICA, MASTODON, Billy Corgan, Dave Navarro and Krist Novoselic, among others.

Over the course of its remarkable career, ALICE IN CHAINS has garnered multiple Grammy nominations, sold more than 30 million albums worldwide, and amassed a diehard international fanbase whose members number in the millions. Their discography features some of the biggest and most important albums in rock history, including 1992's quadruple-platinum-certified "Dirt", 1994's triple-platinum-certified EP "Jar Of Flies", which was the first EP in music history to debut at No. 1 on the Billboard Top 200 and 1995's self-titled double-platinum-certified "Alice In Chains", which also entered the Billboard Top 200 at No. 1. They returned in grand style in 2009 with the critically acclaimed "Black Gives Way To Blue", which hit No. 1 across the rock and alternative charts, earned a Grammy nomination, was certified gold and hailed by Vice as "a record that's as powerful as anything the band has done." The band’s latest album released in 2018, "Rainier Fog", hit No. 1 across Billboard's Rock, Alternative and Hard Music charts and No. 1 on the iTunes Rock album chart and earned them a Grammy nod for "Best Rock Album." ALICE IN CHAINS remains one of the most successful and influential American rock bands of all t

JUDAS PRIEST singer Rob Halford spoke to Jonathan Clarke of New York's Q104.3 radio station about his recently released autobiography, "Confess". In the book, Halford discusses in detail what it was like becoming the first metal icon to announce he is gay in 1998 during an MTV interview, despite knowing about his sexuality since he was 10. Although his bandmates and their management knew he was gay and were accepting, he was advised to be discreet given the macho hetero nature of the metal world.

"When I read the audio for 'Confess', that's when it really started to hit me emotionally," Halford said (see video below). "'Cause it's one thing to read the words, but when you speak 'em out… Man, I've been on some of the most incredible journeys and experiences.

"I'm not unique in the issue of finding your own sexual identity, but certainly the way I've tried to balance that in my professional working life as a musician was tough; it was difficult," he continued. "And we go into detail how I couldn't go to clubs or bars for fear of recognition and that hitting the press, and blah blah blah, just because the world was a different place then. Of course, the long-term discovery, when I did come out, famously on MTV in the [late] '90s, when I was in the 2WO band with John 5, was that it was the most perfect example of the way the metal community is so accepting and inclusive and welcoming people from all over.

"There are no labels on us in the metal community; we're just all together," Rob added. "I think that's kind of attached to the fact that metal, for the longest time, was, like… In rock and roll, everybody was kicking heavy metal music: 'Oh, man, what is that stuff? It's nothing. It's got no value.' But we knew, as metal maniacs, this was our music; this is how we expressed ourselves. We love to listen to this music, be with each other at home listening to it. Most importantly, going to shows together. Man, please bring back those days as quick as possible. So, all of that is discussed in detail in 'Confess'."

"Confess" arrived on September 29 via Hachette Books. It was written with Ian Gittins, co-writer of "The Heroin Diaries" by Nikki Sixx.

Halford is not the first member of PRIEST's classic lineup to release a book. Former JUDAS PRIEST guitarist K.K. Downing released his autobiography, "Heavy Duty: Days And Nights In Judas Priest", in September 2018 via Da Capo Press.

In 2009, original JUDAS PRIEST singer Al Atkins released his autobiography, titled "Dawn Of The Metal Gods: My Life In Judas Priest And Heavy Metal". JUDAS PRIEST bassist Ian Hill penned the foreword to the book, which was written with Neil Daniels — a freelance rock writer and heavy metal fan who befriended Atkins during the writing of Neil's book "The Story Of Judas Priest: Defenders Of The Faith" (Omnibus Press).

Fan-filmed video footage of former QUEENSRŸCHE frontman Geoff Tate performing a cover of THE ROLLING STONES classic "You Can't Always Get What You Want" on December 7 at Ruth Eckerd Hall in Clearwater, Florida can be seen below.

The concert had been originally scheduled for the Bilheimer Capitol Theatre but was relocated to Ruth Eckerd Hall. Due to COVID-19 restrictions, venue capacity was limited from 2,180 to 50% and tickets were only available in pairs.

According to Creative Loafing, "probably a quarter of the scaled-down crowd began to pour out" following Tate's rendition of "You Can't Always Get What You Want", with the reviewer noting, "I guess THE STONES just don't cut it for QUEENSRŸCHE fans."

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

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

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

Last year, Geoff released the debut album from SWEET OBLIVION via Frontiers Music Srl. The project saw Tate teaming up with a stellar cast of Italian musicians led by Simone Mularoni, the mastermind of prog metal masters DGM.

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

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

Vicky Cornell and her children, Toni and Christopher, on behalf of The Chris Cornell Estate in conjunction with UMe, have released "No One Sings Like You Anymore", Chris Cornell's handpicked collection of 10 cover songs, which he personally selected and sequenced to celebrate artists and songs that inspired him. Recorded by Chris in 2016, the album, which is his last fully completed studio album, features his renditions of John Lennon's "Watching The Wheels", GHOSTLAND OBSERVATORY's "Sad Sad City", Harry Nilsson's "Jump Into The Fire", Carl Hall's "You Don't Know Nothing About Love", ELECTRIC LIGHT ORCHESTRA's "Showdown", Terry Reid's "To Be Treated Rite", Lorraine Ellison's "Stay With Me Baby" (originally released for HBO's show "Vinyl"), "Get It While You Can", popularized by Janis Joplin, and a new studio recording of "Nothing Compares 2 U", written by Prince. Chris's cover of GUNS N' ROSES' "Patience", which was released on his birthday this year, and earned him his first solo Billboard No. 1 on the Mainstream Rock Songs chart, is also included on the album.

All instruments on "No One Sings Like You Anymore" were played by Chris Cornell and Brendan O'Brien, who also produced and mixed the album. In time for the holiday's, the album is a special gift for Chris's fans and long-term supporters, but the Cornell family hopes that new fans and listeners will be inspired by Chris's powerful and unique voice in these stunning renditions.

"This album is so special because it is a complete work of art that Chris created from start to finish," said Vicky Cornell. "His choice of covers provides a personal look into his favorite artists and the songs that touched him. He couldn't wait to release it. This moment is bittersweet because he should be here doing it himself, but it is with both heartache and joy that we share this special album. All of us could use his voice to help heal and lift us this year, especially during the holiday season. I am so proud of him and this stunning record, which to me illustrates why he will always be beloved, honored, and one the greatest voices of our time."

Toni Cornell added: "When my dad was making this album, it was so fun — I remember waking up in the morning, having breakfast with him and going with him into the studio. We would take our piano lessons there, and Christopher would play video games with Brendan and my dad. We got to experience so much with him and have so many amazing memories. I'm really happy to be sharing this album. We love you, daddy."

Christopher Cornell said: "We had so much fun in the studio during this time, and on days off, we'd go to Tree People and hike around there. We would also play hide and go seek inside the Beverly Hills Hotel, and when security would show up, they would think it was so funny that my dad was running through fire escapes with us. For me, this album represents who my dad was. I'm really proud of him and his work. I hope you all love this record as much as I do."

"No One Sings Like You Anymore" is available for physical/vinyl pre-order today. The physical album will be released on March 19.

"No One Sings Live You Anymore" track listing:

01. Get It While You Can

02. Jump Into The Fire

03. Sad Sad City

04. Patience

05. Nothing Compares 2 U

06. Watching The Wheels

07. You Don't Know Nothing About Love

08. Showdown

09. To Be Treated Rite

10. Stay With Me Baby

Photo credit: Andrew Stuart

During a December 6 Headbangers Con live virtual panel, EXODUS guitarist Gary Holt revealed that "new music" from the band will be made available in June 2021.

EXODUS's upcoming album, "Persona Non Grata" will be the follow-up to 2014's "Blood In Blood Out", which was the San Francisco Bay Area thrashers' first release since the departure of the group's lead singer of nine years, Rob Dukes, and the return of Souza, who previously fronted EXODUS from 1986 to 1993 and from 2002 to 2004.

"Persona Non Grata" was recorded at a studio in Lake Almanor, California and was engineered by Steve Lagudi and EXODUS. It was produced by EXODUS and was mixed by Andy Sneap.

Speaking about the "Persona Non Grata" recording process, Holt said (see video below): "We tracked drums, and we overdubbed. We do two tracks of guitars — one left, one right. We don't fuck around with all this quadruple-track shit like we used to. We feel excessive guitar rhythm tracks takes away from the pick attack. It starts sounding softer. It sounds thicker, but it's not as aggressive. And we wanted that vibe of like when you listen to [AC/DC's] 'Powerage' — the opening chords of 'Down Payment Blues'."

Souza recently said about the musical direction of the new EXODUS material: "This album has everything that a heavy metal fan and EXODUS fan wants. It's very brutal, it's very violent, it's very fast. The lyrics are very aggressive and really deep subject matter. It doesn't disappoint.

"As for Gary Holt, him being the major songwriter and the main songwriter, I feel that he's written an absolute masterpiece — an absolute thrash metal masterpiece," he continued. "It's got all of the elements that an EXODUS record should have."

"Persona Non Grata" will feature a guest appearance by ex-EXODUS guitarist Rick Hunolt.

Longtime EXODUS fans will recall that Hunolt — the other half of the famed EXODUS "H-Team" who is on every studio recording from 1985 through 2004 and co-wrote some of the band's best-known songs such as "A Lesson In Violence" and "Deliver Us To Evil" — left EXODUS after the band's highly acclaimed 2004 reunion album, "Tempo Of The Damned". Following his departure, Hunolt was replaced by HEATHEN guitarist Lee Altus.

Back in April 2019, Hunolt rejoined Holt and other EXODUS members Hunting and Souza to perform several of the group's classic songs during a METAL ALLEGIANCE concert in San Francisco, California.

"Blood In Blood Out" was notable for featuring a guest appearance by former EXODUS guitarist Kirk Hammett, who left the band in 1983 to join METALLICA.

The original lineup of EXODUS consisted of guitarists Hammett and Tim Agnello, Hunting and vocalist Keith Stewart. Holt joined the band in 1981, while Kirk left two years before EXODUS's debut album, "Bonded By Blood", saw the light of day.

Souza is now on his third stint with EXODUS, having previously fronted the band from 1986 to 1993 and 2002 to 2004. A decade following his second departure, Souza returned to the fold in 2014, just in time to appear on "Blood In Blood Out".

"Persona Non Grata" will be EXODUS's first since the completion of SLAYER's final tour. In 2011, Holt began filling in for Jeff Hanneman at SLAYER live shows, and became the band's full-time co-guitarist as of 2013, while remaining a member of EXODUS.

The Agonist vocalist Vicky Psarakis has posted a new video along with the following message:

"'Sally's Song' video is up on YouTube! 

This is my first acapella cover and I'm really proud of the result! All vocals and vocal arrangement was done by me, and Cody Johnstone stepped up to mix the 74828483 tracks I sent him...

My job is done, weekend is coming. Time for me to go watch The Nightmare Before Christmas again."

Psarakis recently released a cover of the Devin Townsend Project's "Vampira":

"Me and Cody Johnstone had so much fun filming this. I know I could not stop smiling while editing the footage. Here we go guys... here's our tribute to the great Devin Townsend! Happy October!"




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Mork just announced the release of the band's fifth full-length, entitled Katedralen, which will drop on March 5th, 2021 via Peaceville Records. It will be the follow-up to Mork's Pesta EP, which only came out last month and it is now available for pre-order here.

Katedralen was performed, recorded & mixed by mainman Thomas Eriksen himself, with mastering once more carried out by Jack Control at Enormous Door (Darkthrone). The album also notably includes guest appearances from Nocturno Culto of labelmates Darkthrone, Dolk of fellow countrymen Kampfar, and finally Eero Pöyry of doom masters Skepticism. The suitably stark artwork once again appears courtesy of revered French artist David Thiérrée.

Norwegian black metal icon Hoest has cast some positivity into the hell that has been 2020, with the release of two Taake 10″ split EPs, one with Deathcult (on Edged Circle Productions) and one with Whoredom Rife (on Terratur Possessions), and now, as the year draws to a close, a third split has been announced with Helheim through Dark Essence Records. Titled Henholdsvis, the EP is set for release on the 5th of March 2021.

For Henholdsvis Taake has recorded two new tracks, "Brotne Bein Og Mannefall" and "Ein Baat I Foss", whose lyrics are based on poems by the famed Norwegian writer Arne Garborg (1851-1924). Helheim, on the other hand, will present two covers. The first is a remastered version of Emperor's "Heksesabbat / Witches Sabbath", which originally appeared on the tribute album A Tribute to Emperor - In Honour of Icon E in 2012. The other is a cover of "Orkan" from Taake's Noregs Vaapen album.

Recorded by Bjørnar E. Nilsen (Vulture Industries, Black Hole Generator) at his Conclave and Earshot Studios in the bands' hometown of Bergen, and with artwork by H'grimnir, the track listing for Henholdsvis is as follows:

1. Brotne Bein Og Mannefall - Taake
2. Ein Baat I Foss - Taake
3. Orkan - Helheim
4. Heksesabbat - Helheim

Sharon Osbourne has tested positive coronavirus. Ozzy Osbourne's wife and manager revealed her diagnosis on Monday (December 14) with a statement on social media.

The Emmy-winning host of "The Talk" said she was hospitalized for the infectious disease for a short time and is currently isolating away from Ozzy. She also encouraged her followers to stay safe and healthy amid the ongoing pandemic.

"I wanted to share I've tested positive for Covid 19," she wrote. "After a brief hospitalization, I'm now recuperating at I'm now recuperating at a location away from Ozzy (who has tested negative) while 'The Talk' is on scheduled hiatus. Everyone please stay safe and healthy."

Last month, Ozzy told GQ magazine that he suffers from a respiratory disease which puts him at an increased risk of severe pneumonia and poor outcomes if he was to develop COVID-19.

"I've got emphysema, so if I get this virus, I'm fucked," he said, referring to the type of COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) lung disease that makes it hard to breathe and gets worse over time.

Less than a month ago, Sharon announced that she was self-quarantining after being in contact with someone who tested positive for COVID-19.

Just three months earlier, Sharon revealed that two of her and Ozzy's granddaughters, five-year-old Andy Rose and three-year-old Minnie, had been infected with the novel coronavirus. At the time, Sharon said that Minnie contracted the virus "from somebody who works for my son." She said her granddaughter's diagnosis "just goes to show you … that children can get COVID."

In September, Ozzy said he won't have a coronavirus vaccine despite his Parkinson's disease putting him at greater risk. Speaking on Rock Classics Radio on Apple Music Hits, he said: "I'm trying to recover so I can get... The only good thing about this pandemic, I couldn't work anyway because of my injuries. I'm hoping that I'll be booking 2022, I think.

"To be honest with you, I don't think it's gonna get ship shape until the end of next year. I think this winter is gonna be fucking bad, because you're gonna have the flu. People are, 'I'm not taking the flu shot.' You know what?

"You can give me anything, but I'm not gonna be number one on that fucking new vaccine. I don't know want to be the first one to wake up with a set of fucking antlers in the morning."

This past July, Ozzy said that he was still "not back to 100 percent" after suffering from several medical issues last year, including a fall, neck surgery and hospitalization for the flu. Ozzy also said that he was looking forward to performing again once he has regained his health and the coronavirus pandemic has subsided.

In August, Ozzy blasted Donald Trump's coronavirus response, saying that America's 45th president is "acting like a fool." In an interview with Rolling Stone, Ozzy said: "In my lifetime, I've never known anything like this. It's getting worse, not better. And this guy's acting like a fool. I don't really like to talk politics that much, but I've got to say what I feel with this guy. There's not much hope left. Maybe he's got a trick up his sleeve and he's going to surprise us all, and I hope he has. [Recently], over a thousand more people died in one day [in America]. That's fucking crazy. People got to get with this social distancing and mask-wearing or else it's never gonna go away."

When the pandemic struck, Ozzy had just released his first solo album in a decade, "Ordinary Man", which he recorded late last year while recovering from surgery and related illnesses. The BLACK SABBATH singer had previously canceled all his 2019 tour plans, and the rescheduled 2020 shows have also been scrapped.




I wanted to share I’ve tested positive for Covid 19. After a brief hospitalization, I’m now recuperating at a location away from Ozzy (who has tested negative) while “The Talk” is on scheduled hiatus. Everyone please stay safe and healthy.

— Sharon Osbourne (@MrsSOsbourne) December 15, 2020

In a new interview with the "Behind The Vinyl" podcast, MEGADETH bassist David Ellefson reflected on his band's U.S. arena tour three decades ago as the support act for JUDAS PRIEST. He said (hear audio below): "We did the 'Rust In Peace'/'Painkiller' tour together for three or four months with PRIEST back in '90 and '91. And we'd be at soundcheck, and you can see the dynamics in a band behind the stage. And the PRIEST guys were lovely guys; they were just nothing but gentlemen to us. But every band's got its thing and its hierarchies and its inner workings.

"So when [JUDAS PRIEST singer] Rob [Halford] left [the band shortly after the completion of the tour], as shocking as it was, it was kind of, like, 'Well, you wanna do something different,'" he continued. "And then, of course, I've read [former JUDAS PRIEST guitarist] K.K.'s [Downing] book, and I know K.K. now pretty well, and he talked about how he was actually putting in his resignation after 'Painkiller'. He was, like, 'Fuck this! I'm done with this.' He was writing his [resignation letter] on the plane flying to L.A., and by the time he landed, the news went out that Rob had already quit the band.

"So, the 'Painkiller' tour, I could see it, actually, happening," Ellefson added. "You could tell all was not well in Disneyland. And hey, people have probably toured with MEGADETH and seen the same thing, and gone, 'Yeah, shit's fucking weird, man, in Megaland.' And again, this is behind-the-scenes stuff. You would never talk about this at the time, but now, we're 30 years later, memoirs are written, so I'm just sort of kind of echoing what they've already written about in their books."

A year ago, Halford spoke to SiriusXM's "My First Time" about his decision to leave PRIEST in 1992 before going on to record and tour with the aggressive metal group FIGHT and the industrial project 2WO before his return to traditional metal with the eponymous band HALFORD in 2000 and eventual PRIEST comeback in 2003. Asked if he needed to leave PRIEST for a while to understand the other parts of his musical personality, Rob said: "Yes. And I think that if I hadn't done that, we'd be talking about a lot of different things right now.

"Life is, to me… As I've gotten older, I'm trying to figure things out [laughs] — still," he explained. "It's a beautiful thing. And if you have the opportunity to step away and do these other adventures in your chosen career, it's teriffically valuable. Because it's all about growth, isn't it?

"There's nothing worse than 'shouda, coulda, woulda,'" Halford added. "And I know in some instances in life, it's difficult to go there — the 'shouda, coulda, woulda' thing. But I'm grateful that I had that chance to make those records with those different bands, because you make discoveries — you make discoveries about yourself, about what really is the most important to you in your music world. And for me, obviously, it led me back to JUDAS PRIEST, because that was where I felt my anchor was in life and in music."

FIGHT's initial lineup was completed by JUDAS PRIEST/RACER X drummer Scott Travis, Russ Parrish (a.k.a. Satchel of STEEL PANTHER) on guitar, Brian Tilse on guitar and keyboards and Jay Jay on bass.

FIGHT released two studio albums in the early 1990s — 1993's "War Of Words" and 1995's "A Small Deadly Space".

The 2WO project issued the much-maligned "Voyeurs" album in 1998 via Trent Reznor's Nothing Records label and sold poorly before Halford returned to his roots and formed the aforementioned HALFORD.

Although Reznor is given "executive producer" credit for the "Voyeurs" disc, the project is largely the work of Halford and co-writers John 5 and Bob Marlette.

Arnel Pineda says that he has finished recording three songs so far for JOURNEY's new studio album.

JOURNEY's most recent LP, "Eclipse", was released in May 2011. The Walmart exclusive debuted on the Billboard 200 album chart at No. 13 — eight spots lower than the band's previous album, 2008's "Revelation" — which also went on to hit No. 1 on Billboard's Top Independent Albums chart.

Pineda discussed JOURNEY's plans for new music during a new interview with Bionic Buzz. Speaking about how the virtual recording sessions have been coming along so far, the singer said (see video below): "We have finished three songs so far, and I'm on my way to studying three more songs to record with them."

Arnel, who is laying down his tracks at his studio in Manila, Philippines, while the rest of the band is in the United States, continued: "Thank God, this technology is really effective for us, so it's doing us good. But, of course, it's not as exciting or as good as when the band is together, where the spur-of-the-moment magic happens — it's, like, five minds locked in and focused to make some really great songs."

In a separate chat with Philstar.com, Pineda offered an update on the previously announced movie based on his life. He said that the screenwriter of the blockbuster movie "Joker" is penning the script of his biopic under Hollywood studio Warner Bros.

"It's ongoing," he said. "You must know the movie 'Joker' right? The scriptwriter of that movie and 'Now You See Me' is still working with his script. We're very positive that it's going to happen."

Born in the Philippines, Pineda has been fronting the legendary rockers since 2007 when JOURNEY guitarist Neal Schon discovered him leading a Manila cover band on YouTube. A vocal doppelganger for JOURNEY's longtime vocalist Steve Perry, Arnel has helped put JOURNEY back in arenas once again. But some fans were not happy about the addition of Pineda, complaining about his ethnicity and dismissing his voice as a "copycat" of Perry.

Two months ago, Schon told SiriusXM's "Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk" that the recording sessions for the new JOURNEY album are "going really, really amazing. We've got, like, 13 new tracks in the can that Arnel is now singing on. But the band is on fire, man. I'm excited about this record. And I believe we'll start releasing things after the New Year… It's been really pretty much either Jonathan [Cain, keyboards] working in his studio, sending us a track, and then we're overdubbing on it, or it's Narada [Michael Walden, drums] and I playing live together, which is working quite well — just drums and guitar. And then we send it to Randy [Jackson, bass] and to Jon, and then have Arnel on it. So, it's coming together, man. For being a virtual record, it sounds amazing."

Neal also talked about JOURNEY's recent lineup changes, with bassist Ross Valory and drummer Steve Smith having been replaced by Jackson and Walden, respectively. In early March, Schon and Cain filed a lawsuit against Valory and Smith, who have been members of JOURNEY on and off since the band formed in 1973, claiming the two attempted a "coup" in order to gain control of the JOURNEY trademark.

Asked if the legal issues with Valory and Smith have been resolved, Schon told "Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk": "It's not resolved, and we're trying to figure it out. I can't really talk much about it, like last time, but we put a more-than-generous deal on the table for them to take and accept, or not. If they don't accept, then we're going to court. And I feel very solid about our case. So that's where it's at. I'm willing to take it to the mat, all the way, for something that I've worked my whole life on.

"The way things went down was really not that kosher," he continued. "I mean, what should have happened, rather than them trying to take over at that point, was to call us up and say, 'Hey, let's sit down and talk about this.' Instead it went a different way. And both myself and Jonathan didn't appreciate it."

The new JOURNEY lineup performed a socially distanced version of "Don't Stop Believin'" for UNICEF USA's virtual event "UNICEF We Won't Stop", which aired in May on MSNBC.

JOURNEY was supposed to launch a North American tour with THE PRETENDERS in May, but canceled the trek amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Last month, Pineda released a song called "This Christmas - A Beacon Of Hope" to kick off the Christmas season.

A month ago, SYSTEM OF A DOWN released "Protect The Land" and "Genocidal Humanoidz", the band's first new songs in 15 years. The tracks were motivated by the recently erupted conflict between Artsakh and Azerbaijan, the latter aided by Turkey and accountable for the greatest violence the region has endured in 26 years. Produced by guitarist/vocalist Daron Malakian, who also wrote the music and lyrics, both songs are streaming now on all DSPs and are available for purchase on Bandcamp with band royalties earmarked for the Armenia Fund.

In a new interview with Belgium's Studio Brussel, SYSTEM OF A DOWN singer Serj Tankian was asked what it was like recording music with his bandmates again. He said (see video below): "It was great. It was not so much an artistic decision or a decision of, 'Hey, let's make music together. Let's have fun making music together.' It was nothing like that. It was more about because Azerbaijan and Turkey had attacked the peaceful, civilized people of Artsakh on September 27th. We have to do something for our people. This is bullshit. We need to get some justice. So we did it as an act of activism more so than a musical decision."

Pressed about the possibility of SYSTEM OF A DOWN recording a follow-up to its "Mezmerize" and "Hypnotize" LPs, which came out in 2005, Serj said: "We got together for the cause. We're still working for the cause. We're still fundraising for the cause. We have not talked about the future of the band. It's not something that we're thinking about right now. Right now we're still dealing with the fallout of what happened with the war, refugees, displaced people, humanitarian aid. So we're concerned about that. We're not concerned right now about music or anything else."

The music video for "Protect The Land" incorporates recent footage of the protests and on-the-ground fighting in Artsakh, but in a very personal and aesthetic way. As he did for all previous SYSTEM OF A DOWN releases, bassist Shavo Odadjian executive-produced the music video and curated the cover and brand art for the project.

"Protect The Land" a was originally written by Malakian for the next album by his other group, SCARS ON BROADWAY, while "Genocidal Humanoidz" was penned three or four years ago when Odadjian, Malakian and drummer John Dolmayan convened for a jam session that produced several songs, only to abandon them when Tankian wouldn't commit to an album.

Within a week of their release, "Protect The Land" and "Genocidal Humanoidz" landed at positions No. 1 and No. 2, respectively, on Billboard's Hot Hard Rock Songs chart. "Land" topped the chart with 2.7 million U.S. streams and 5,000 downloads sold in the week ending November 12, while "Humanoidz" garnered 1.8 million streams and 5,000 downloads.

SYSTEM OF A DOWN is planning to film a music video for "Genocidal Humanoidz" in December. "I've written out the storyline, and I've got a couple of surprises that I'm gonna be putting [in there]," Odadjian told geopolitical analyst Richard Èlmoyan in a recent interview.

Photo credit: Clemente Ruiz

JUDAS PRIEST frontman Rob Halford, who celebrated the 34th anniversary of his getting sober in January, spoke to "Across The Board", the new podcast series hosted by songwriter/producer Emiko and producer Mike Exeter (JUDAS PRIEST, BLACK SABBATH), about how he manages to stay clean on the road. "It's not easy," he said (see video below). It's very much a day at a time. You're given all the tools and resources from your rehab experience. I use 'em every day. A lot of it is just like mental notes — talking things through. Sometimes I speak 'em out; a lot of it is internal. So that's really vital on a day-to-day level of sobriety.

"When I was in rehab [in 1986], there's anonymity in rehab, but at the same time, you have to tell everybody your life story, so everybody knew what I did. And I remember we talked about the fact that I'm gonna go back to this world of sex and drugs and rock and roll and booze. I don't know how I'm gonna be able to cope, because it won't be a gradual reimmersion into society, so to speak. I won't be able to go tiny steps; I'm just gonna go straight into the deep end. I cannot go to work and say to my bandmates, 'You can't drink. You can't do this. You can't do that,' because it's control. Accept your powerlessness.

"I don't think we ever in the band had a sit-down conversation about this, but I think that there was caring and understanding — as there still is," Halford continued. "But I'd be the last person to say that I have to set a set of rules, because then this whole business of living my life on my terms [turns into something] you push on to other people: 'Well, now, you can't do this,' 'You can't do that.' That's just hypocrisy on the highest level.

"Even now, when we're flying after a show, and the guys are having a beer or a cocktail or whatever, man, I would love that cold beer. I would love a slug of Jack and Coke. I can smell it, 'cause we're in a plane together. It's like this little angel on one side and the devil on the other side. My instant thought is I never wanna be sick again. I never, ever wanna feel that bad ever again. I never want to be in that terrible, dark, lonely place ever again. So it's fleeting. But, again, it's always there.

"When I'm home, especially [during] this COVID thing, [my longtime partner] Thomas doesn't drink. When I first met Thomas, he quit drinking. So that's a support to me. I'm never really around alcohol that much, or drugs, when I'm not working. But, yeah, when my fans, or when PRIEST fans come to see us, yeah, they're gonna have some drinks; they might have a couple of spliffs [and] do whatever else recreationally. They're entitled to. And they are living their lives and they are partying and they are having the time of their lives, as they should. They don't have an alcohol problem; they don't have a drug addiction. There are people that can enjoy these things in life and it [has] no effect on them, in a physical sense and in a mental sense.

"So, it's an absolute miracle," Halford added. "I can only say it's a miracle that I've got that far from January the 6th, 1986 to December the 1st, 2020 without slipping once. And I'm not boasting, because it's all the past — that's the past; it's gone. I live in the moment. I don't think about yesterday or tomorrow; I'm living now. But I'm grateful that I've been able to get this far without failing. Not failing — that's the wrong word. Without a slip off the wagon — whatever the term is. I'm grateful that I've been able to get this far and stay clean and sober. Because if I didn't, who knows where I would have gone and where I would have ended up?"

Halford previously credited his belief in a higher power for helping him in his recovery. "When I got clean and sober, that was a major change in my life," he said during an appearance on HATEBREED frontman Jamey Jasta's official podcast, "The Jasta Show". "And part of my recovery is just having this higher-power belief. And it works. It works, man. It really, really is important."

Halford added: "There probably will be people listening to [this] podcast who don't have anything like that in their life, and that's great; it's all about acceptance. But I always say to people, if you're thinking about it, the simplest thing I do is I pray. I pray quite a bit, actually. And even if you don't believe in prayer, just have a go. Pray for a good day, or just pray for your friend, or whatever it might be. And it's amazing, man, 'cause it absolutely works. I guarantee, it genuinely does work. And now I'm sounding like [American evangelical Christian evangelist] Billy Graham, but I'm just trying to express some of the things that are important to me on a day-to-day basis that make me able to walk out on that stage each night and do my work."

In an interview with Classic Rock Revisited, Halford said that he quit using substances because he "was sick and tired of feeling sick and tired. I will always remember the first show I did clean and sober… It was in New Mexico, in Albuquerque," he recalled. "I literally felt elevated, as everything was coming with such clarity. I was able to really… enjoy the performance of JUDAS PRIEST without having all of the other things in front of it. Since that day, it has been a miracle."

Halford added, "Everybody has to face things in their lives at some point. It [doesn't have to] be booze and drugs. You can eat too much, or you can not exercise, or whatever… It is not easy staying clean and sober in rock and roll. There are temptations galore from the moment you wake up to the moment you go to sleep, especially when you're on the road. [But] I think we're some of the strongest people, my friends and my sober brothers in metal."

Rob is continuing to promote his recently released autobiography, "Confess", which arrived on September 29 via Hachette Books. It was written with Ian Gittins, co-writer of "The Heroin Diaries" by Nikki Sixx.


Across The Board EP12 - Rob Halford

Posted by Across the Board on Tuesday, December 1, 2020

In a new interview with Metal Talk, ACCEPT guitarist Wolf Hoffmann was asked if he would ever consider having old and current bandmembers onstage at the same time, like Alice Cooper did a few years ago. He responded: "It has never come up yet, so until it does, I don't know what to think of it. But you never say never.

"It is weird, you know. When someone leaves the band, you tend to never see them again. There is never any run-ins during festivals because, I don't know… it hardly ever happens. There was one time, though, we met [original ACCEPT singer] Udo [Dirkschneider] at a festival. We were performing, and it was maybe in 2011. It was bizarre, because I went over to hug Udo, to say, 'Hey, let's let bygones be bygones. Nice to see you,' that kind of thing. He didn't want to have anything to do with me. He brushed me off. It was kind of weird. But…whatever, just let it go. But generally, you never really run into each other."

This past summer, Udo told "The Rock N Ragni Show" that "it's not possible to do a reunion with ACCEPT. There is only one [original] guy left," referring to Hoffmann. "Sorry, but there is no reunion with ACCEPT. Definitely not."

Back in 2015, Hoffmann dismissed Dirkschneider's comment that the band's then-lineup — which included bassist Peter Baltes and ACCEPT's singer of more than a decade, Mark Tornillo — performed live "without any emotion." "It's just hilarious at this point," Wolf said. "It's just a big joke in our lives. And we just go on about our lives, and we do our thing, and we just… We let these things go by and laugh about it. He's actually sort of our press agent, in a way. He keeps us [in the news]."

Udo last performed with ACCEPT in 2005, when the band completed a 25th-anniversary tour with a touring lineup of Dirkschneider, Hoffmann and guitarist Herman Frank, along with Baltes and drummer Stefan Schwarzmann.

For the last few years, Udo has been touring the world and performing nothing but ACCEPT songs with his DIRKSCHNEIDER project.

The DIRKSCHNEIDER tour, which was launched in early 2016, was originally supposed to conclude with the band's North American run in January/February 2017, has now been extended indefinitely.

Asked what his thoughts are about his former bandmate playing a full set of ACCEPT classics while the Tornillo-fronted version of ACCEPT is still actively recording and touring, Wolf told SiriusXM's "Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk" radio show in a 2018 interview: "Well, I have lots of thoughts about that, but I'm not gonna share 'em with you. I'd rather not comment on that, because that seems so much 'back and forth,' and I think I should stay away from it… You can draw your own conclusions all day long, but I'm not gonna get into it; it's just not worth it.

"I get asked [about Udo] so many times, and, man, it's been so many years — it's such an old story by now," Wolf continued. "We've moved on way past that, and we've had 10 brilliant years [with Mark Tornillo], we're making cool albums; I think we're doing fine. So I don't spend any time thinking about it.

"I'm very proud of the history we have together and all that, but I'm just not gonna get into the current 'he said, she said' whatever — it's not worth it," Hoffmann concluded.

ACCEPT's new studio album, "Too Mean To Die", will be released on January 15, 2021 via Nuclear Blast. The LP will be the group's first without Baltes, who exited ACCEPT in November 2018. He has since been replaced by Martin Motnik. ACCEPT's lineup has also been expanded with the addition of a third guitarist, Philip Shouse, who originally filled in for Uwe Lulis during last year's "Symphonic Terror" tour, before being asked to join the band permanently.

"Too Mean To Die" was recorded in Nashville, Tennessee with British producer Andy Sneap (JUDAS PRIEST, MEGADETH), who has been responsible for the magnificent studio sound of ACCEPT since 2010.

ACCEPT's last album, 2017's "The Rise Of Chaos", marked the band's first release with guitarist Uwe Lulis and drummer Christopher Williams, replacing Herman Frank and Stefan Schwarzmann, respectively.

ACCEPT's latest release was "Symphonic Terror - Live At Wacken 2017", featuring the band's performance at the Wacken Open Air festival in Wacken, Germ

In a new interview with Melodic, SCORPIONS singer Klaus Meine was asked how he keeps his voice in shape after all these years. He responded (hear audio below): "When we're on the road, I do my exercises. And also, right now, being in the studio and singing every other day, recording [the new SCORPIONS album], I do my warm-ups and my vocal exercises. And so far, it got me through this pandemic times pretty good. We spent a lot of time this year working on songwriting and working on new songs in the studio.

"When we made the decision to make a new album, it's such a challenge after all these years — from many perspectives," he explained. "The voice — how you keep your voice going on this level; it's a challenge for the songwriting; and for the whole process. And so far, I must say I'm very happy especially that my voice, when I need it, like just the other day in the studio, when it comes to a song with these high-pitched vocals, and you wanna hit the tones like you get there very easy; this is what you try to do. And when that works out fine, I drive home every night going, 'Yeah. What a great day.' I enjoyed myself so much singing a new song, recording a new song, and knowing my voice is there. I mean, we're all getting older, but it looks like right now, my voice is still in a very good place, and that makes me feel really good.

"But it's quite a challenge after all these years," he admitted. "And it comes down to, once you make a decision, and we made the decision to make a new album last year — early in 2019 — but if we do it, then you wanna do it right. So in a way, we were lucky that we planned for 2020 to go into the studio. Except for a residency in Las Vegas in July, there were no other shows planned for 2020, because we said, if we wanna make a record, after all these years of touring like crazy all over the world, we have to take some time out and go into the studio and make a new album in 2020. In that way, we were lucky.

"I tell you, in these strange times we all go through, it's such a privilege when you can work, when you can take a deep dive in your own creativity and come up with hopefully something brilliant," Meine laughed and added. "You never know. But it feels really good. And we started last year writing, and we stopped around June last year when we picked up a tour… We knew this was now the time to write new songs and make a new record and then hopefully go back out on the road again with a new production and with a fresh setlist. So it was a good plan."

Meine told the Phoenix New Times in a 2017 interview that the aging process has forced the SCORPIONS to scale down their touring activities — they no longer play three shows in a row or even attempt to perform some of the earlier songs in the original key. He said: "When you listen to songs from 'Blackout', like 'No One Like You', [or] 'Big City Nights', it's physically impossible [now] to do those songs in the original keys. You want to play those songs, but you want to survive 100 shows a year. So some of the songs we play in different keys, but the energy is still there. You're still at the top of your voice. Even now, you've got to go to the edge, but maybe the edge has moved a little bit."

SCORPIONS recently entered Peppermint Park Studios in Hannover, Germany to begin recording their upcoming studio album. Tentatively due in 2021, the disc will mark the German hard rock legends' first release since 2017's "Born To Touch Your Feelings - Best Of Rock Ballads", which was an anthology of SCORPIONS' new and classic material.

SCORPIONS originally intended to record the new album in Los Angeles with producer Greg Fidelman, whose previous credits include SLIPKNOT and METALLICA. However, because of the pandemic, most of the work so far has been done remotely, with Fidelman taking part via Zoom.

Meine recently told Talking Metal that the goal with using Fidelman to produce the new LP is to bring "the old vibe from albums like 'Blackout', 'Love At First Sting' or even 'Lovedrive'. We try to focus on those albums and this attitude," he said. "If we get there, who knows — it's so many years later. But it's the spirit and it's the whole vibe around this album. This time, the focus is on the harder songs."

According to Meine, SCORPIONS' new LP will feature "no outside writers at all," unlike 2015's "Return To Forever", which was largely co-written by the album's producers, Mikael Nord Andersson and Martin Hansen.

Fidelman began his career as the guitarist and songwriter for RHINO BUCKET before launching his career as a producer, engineer and mixer, finding an early mentor in Rick Rubin.

SCORPIONS' last full-length collection of new recordings was the aforementioned "Return To Forever", partially comprising songs the band had in the vault from the '80s. It was the final recorded appearance of SCORPIONS' longtime drummer James Kottak, who was dismissed from the band in September 2016. He has since been replaced by Mikkey Dee, formerly of MOTÖRHEAD.

This past Thursday (December 10), original KISS guitarist Ace Frehley spoke to Talking Metal Live about the status of his next all-original album. The record will be the follow-up to "Spaceman", which was released in October 2018 via eOne.

According to Ace, he has spend the last few months building a full-fledged recording studio at his new house in New Jersey. "It's not the first studio I've ever built," he said (see video below). "If you remember, in the '70s, when I lived in Connecticut, I spent $800,000 building a studio underground next to my home. But studios are nothing new to me, and I design 'em wherever I go; wherever I live, I always have a place to work. But the new place I'm in now has a 3,000-square-foot basement, so I've got plenty of room. So I made a large control room and I just was finishing up the drum room today. And after the New Year, I'm gonna start recording my new album, right in the basement. The beauty of it is because of this virus, everybody's supposed to stay home," he continued. "Well, I don't have a problem staying home now, because I work from my house anyway."

Asked if he is already writing music for his next solo album or if he is planning to begin the process once the studio has been completed, Ace said: "I've been writing all along. Plus, I have tracks that I've already recorded that I have to revisit and decide whether they have a chance to make it on my new studio record — [if they] have to be rewritten or [they're] just good the way they are. And I've got people sending me song ideas constantly… So, little by little, it's an ongoing process, and it evolves as it goes."

Earlier in the year, Frehley told Canada's iHeart Radio that he has "only written about three songs" for his next LP, and he added they were "not finished." He said: "Now that I'm [living] on the East Coast [after moving to New Jersey from Southern California], my engineer only lives an hour from me, Alex Salzman, who worked with me extensively on this last record, and he played a lot of bass guitar as well, So it's gonna be even easier, 'Origins Vol. 3' and the next [original] record."

Frehley's latest release was "Origins Vol. 2", the sequel to his 2016 collection of cover songs that inspired the former KISS guitarist.

"These albums are becoming fun," he told iHeart Radio. "I just re-signed with eOne, and they want an 'Origins Vol. 3' after the next studio record. But it's become a really fun process. It's much easier than doing a studio record where you have to write the material yourself. I'm basically just taking other people's material that influenced me as a kid and putting my stamp on it."

"Origins Vol. 2" features cover versions of THE BEATLES' "I'm Down", DEEP PURPLE's "Space Truckin'", LED ZEPPELIN's "Good Times Bad Times", THE ROLLING STONES' "Jumpin' Jack Flash", THE KINKS' "Lola" and THE JIMI HENDRIX EXPERIENCE's "Manic Depression", among others. A cover of the 1975 KISS tune "She" also appears as a bonus track. Guests on the set include CHEAP TRICK's Robin Zander, Lita Ford and former KISS guitarist Bruce Kulick.

KISS bassist/vocalist Gene Simmons co-wrote two tracks on "Spaceman", "Without You I'm Nothing" and "Your Wish Is My Command", the latter of which also features Simmons's bass playing.

Frank Pané (Bonfire) guitarist of German hard rock band, Sainted Sinners, has released a guitar playthrough video by for "Early Light Of Day". The song was the third single taken from Sainted Sinners' new album Unlocked & Reloaded, which was released on December 4th via El Puerto Records. 

For the recording, Frank Pané used the PRS Custom 24 running straight through a Laney Ironheart IRT Studio Amp for the playthrough, along with Cordial Cable, Rotosound Strings, and ChickenPicks guitar picks.

Unlocked & Reloaded was mixed by Dick Dropkick at SpitFire Studio and mastered by Harry Hess (Harem Scarem, Danko Jones, Grim Reaper). The cover artwork was designed by Manfred Smietana / MS Art Design.

The album is available to order in a strictly limited edition wooden box of 333 numbered boxes, with a few surprises, here.

Tracklisting:

"Same Ol’ Song"
"Standing On Top"
"Early Light Of Day"
"40 Years"
"The Hammer Of The Gods"
"Free To Be"
"I Can’t Wait"
"Stone Cold Sober"
"Call It Love"
"Wall Of Sound"
"Farewell To Kings"

 

UK quartet Skarlett Riot return with a brand new single, "Gravity". Recorded in between periods of Nationwide lock down, "Gravity" is taken from the band's upcoming third album, due for release in April 2021. The band continues to develop their sound, embracing a much harder edge than before, with elements of metalcore infiltrating their instantly recognisable melody-fuelled modern metal.

"We are so excited to finally bring you our brand new single 'Gravity'. We've been busy working hard behind the scenes and we can finally share a small part of what we've been working on with you. We hope this brings some brightness and light to people's lives, especially in these hard times we are living in right now. 'Gravity' is about pushing through the difficult times in life. Be the fuel to your own fire. Block out any negativity and be who you want to be, not what others want to see." - Skarlett Riot

(Photo: Dean Addison)

 

Venomous has signed a global deal with Brutal Records. Their first EP, Tribus, will be released on February 19, 2021. A video for the song "Unity", from the Tribus EP, has just been issued. 

The new EP, Tribus, captures all the essential elements inherent; the unrelenting brutality, dark brooding atmosphere, the infectious riffs and guitar shredding that lays down the backbone to a solid rhythm section making... Venomous is a melodic death metal wonder to behold.  

Brazilian quintet Venomous, from São Paulo, mixes all aspects of metal with roots in Brazilian regional rhythms, creating a unique, heavy, versatile, comprehensive and aggressive combination. 

Tribus artwork and tracklisting:

"Eerie Land"
"Trinity"
"Duality"
"Unity"

For further details, visit Venomous on Facebook.

 

This summer, the Goth n' Roll Vampires, The 69 Eyes, thrilled their fans with a stunning live stream celebrating the 30th anniversary of the Finnish legends - straight outta Helsinki. Due to the high demand, the show returns for one month on demand. Tickets for The 69 Eyes'' Worldwide Live Stream Revisited are now on sale and can be purchased here.

Singer Jyrki69 states: "It was just perfect to play our 30th anniversary show at Helsinki’s House Of Culture (Kulttuuritalo). It’s a legendary venue where I saw The Ramones back in the day. All the classic rock bands have played there over the years from Jimi Hendrix to Led Zeppelin to Metallica! Now through this live stream event, we can again invite all our fans all over the world to celebrate our 30 years of rock’n’roll on that legendary stage."

The stream will be available on demand from December 18th, 2020 until January 18th, 2021.

To get yourself a little bit more into the right mood for another kind of Christmas this year, also check out The 69 Eyes' holiday anthem "Christmas In New York City" below

The 69 Eyes recently released an official music video for "Change", a track from their latest album, West End. Watch below:

Last week, Chris Cornell's estate surprise-released a new album of covers, "No One Sings Like You Anymore", featuring 10 tracks he personally selected and sequenced to celebrate artists and songs that inspired him. Recorded by Chris in 2016, the LP features his renditions of John Lennon's "Watching The Wheels", GHOSTLAND OBSERVATORY's "Sad Sad City", Harry Nilsson's "Jump Into The Fire", Carl Hall's "You Don't Know Nothing About Love", ELECTRIC LIGHT ORCHESTRA's "Showdown", Terry Reid's "To Be Treated Rite", Lorraine Ellison's "Stay With Me Baby" (originally released for HBO's show "Vinyl"), "Get It While You Can", popularized by Janis Joplin, and a new studio recording of "Nothing Compares 2 U", written by Prince. Chris's cover of GUNS N' ROSES' "Patience", which was released on his birthday this year, and earned him his first solo Billboard No. 1 on the Mainstream Rock Songs chart, is also included on the album.

Asked in a new interview with USA Today if there is more unreleased music from Chris that could see the light of day, his widow Vicky said: "Yes. All of Chris's music, including SOUNDGARDEN, will see the light of day because there's nothing in the world that lifts me most than sharing Chris's gifts, having people speak his name, and having his music out there. He's alive that way and his legacy lives on. So it's the most important thing to me, seeing how much people love him, miss him, respect him, and how much we want more of his music out there. So everything will be released."

All instruments on "No One Sings Like You Anymore" were played by Chris Cornell and Brendan O'Brien, who also produced and mixed the album.

In December 2019, Vicky Cornell filed a lawsuit against surviving SOUNDGARDEN members Kim Thayil, Matt Cameron and Ben Shepherd, alleging the group owed Cornell's estate hundreds of thousands of dollars in unpaid royalties. She called the move an "unlawful attempt to strong-arm Chris' Estate into turning over certain audio recordings created by Chris before he passed away."

Vicky claimed the seven unreleased songs were "solely authored by Chris; contain Chris' own vocal tracks; and were bequeathed to Chris' Estate" for the benefit of her and their kids.

Responding to Vicky's lawsuit, Thayil, Cameron and Shepherd claimed that they "don't have possession" of their "own creative work," and alleged that "Vicky Cornell has possession of the only existing multi-track recordings of the last SOUNDGARDEN tracks that include Chris Cornell's instrumental parts and vocals. All of the band members jointly worked on these final tracks, Vicky now claims ownership of the final SOUNDGARDEN album." They also insisted that all of the bandmembers, not just Cornell, are owed monies, but none of them will be paid until "expenses are paid and the partnership shares of earnings can be calculated and distributed."

In their court filing, Thayil, Cameron and Shepherd insisted they had been working on the unreleased songs as a band as far back as 2014. As evidence, they point to a February 2017 article where Chris himself spoke to Music Radar about SOUNDGARDEN's new material. They also claimed they last got together in the studio in April 2017 to do more work on the tracks but took a break to go on tour. A month later, Chris committed suicide by hanging himself in a hotel.

Thayil, Cameron and Shepherd also said they'd corresponded with Vicky about the songs, and she had admitted they were the band's property, not just Chris's solo work.

In her lawsuit, Vicky claimed that she had offered to share the unreleased recordings with SOUNDGARDEN, so they can be released in a way that respects Chris's wishes — including having his producer involved — but that the band refused. She also accused Thayil of putting her family in harm's way by making intentionally misleading comments to SOUNDGARDEN's "loyal, rabid fan base" and suggesting that she is the main obstacle to the band putting out another album. Vicky's suit also alleged that SOUNDGARDEN "has not produced any partnership documents, much less any documentation signed by Chris, supporting their conclusory claims of ownership." Furthermore, it noted that "there is no evidence that the [unreleased recordings]… were ever intended to be anything but Chris' sole and exclusive property."

In November 2019, Thayil told the satellite radio program "Trunk Nation" that it was "entirely possible" that a new SOUNDGARDEN album featuring the final recordings by Chris Cornell could see the light of day. "We definitely have another record in us," he said. "Stuff that's written, stuff that's demoed and recorded — certainly. All it would need is to take the audio files that are available... We can get the producers we want to make it sound like a SOUNDGARDEN record."

Cornell was pronounced dead on May 18, 2017 after being found unresponsive in his Detroit hotel room. SOUNDGARDEN had played a show earlier that evening. The 52-year-old had sedatives and an anxiety drug in his system, but died as a result of hanging himself.

The three remaining members of SOUNDGARDEN, along with METALLICA, FOO FIGHTERS and members of AUDIOSLAVE, performed together for the first time since Cornell's death at a benefit concert honoring the singer in January 2019 at the Forum in Los Angeles.

Photo credit: Andrew Stuart