As the search for the perfect gift kicks into high gear, Los Angeles, California-based footwear manufacturer LAKAI and BLACK SABBATH dropped a surprise capsule collection inspired by professional skateboarder Riley Hawk and the infamous heavy metal band's albums "Master Of Reality", "Never Say Die!" and "We Sold Our Soul For Rock 'N' Roll". Paying homage to the iconic band through footwear, matching apparel pieces, accessories and a skateboard deck, the LAKAI x Black Sabbath collection is now available at retail stores and skateshops and on lakai.com/black-sabbath on December 11.

Considered by many as the best metal album of all-time, "Master Of Reality" influenced Riley Hawk's third LAKAI Pro model shoe and fans around the globe since its 1971 release. As Riley's favorite band of all time, the LAKAI x Black Sabbath collection includes design cues of black, gradients, purple and imagery of the band. The LAKAI x Black Sabbath capsule also arrives in four distinct silhouettes: Telford, Owen VLK, Riley 3 and Newport HI.

As a notable wearable collector's item, the live show imagery on the LAKAI Owen captures the energy of the concert fueled by BLACK SABBATH's signature metal golden era.

From his early Shep Dawgs days to his various video parts for LAKAI and Baker, Hawk continues to hold his own as skateboarding royalty. As an "all-terrain" skater with a naturally relaxed style, Riley is notorious for shredding any spot or obstacle in his path.

The LAKAI x Black Sabbath collection ranges from $12 to $90. The collection is now available at local retailers and skate shops while supplies last.

LAKAI enjoys a rich history in the skateboarding lifestyle. Founded by professional skateboarders Mike Carroll and Rick Howard in 1999, LAKAI is built on the dedication and pride they have always invested into their skateboarding and the Girl and Chocolate brands. With a focus on creating an atmosphere that is supportive and motivating while developing a product line that team riders can be proud of, LAKAI has maintained a unique level of integrity and respect within the skateboarding community since its inception.

In celebration of the 40th anniversary of Ace of Spades, MOTÖRHEAD are releasing a limited batch of cask strength bourbon in collaboration with Global Brews and the award winning Hillrock distillery.

The release is limited to 1100 bottles, each bottle is hand numbered and comes packed in a bespoke Ace of Spades gift box.

About the bourbon: A lush and velvety expression of Hillrock’s Solera Aged Bourbon amplified by this undiluted proof. Specially selected for its delicate balance of proof and flavor, as well as its incredibly long finish. A truly decanter worthy bottling. Cask #1 was bottled at 115.6ᵒ and limited to 599 bottles, ABV of 57.8%. Cask #2 was bottled at 115.3ᵒ and limited to 623 bottles, ABV 57.65%.

About Hillrock: Hillrock Distillery is one of the few “field-to-glass” whiskey producers in the world. Based in historic Hudson Valley they are the first U.S. distillery since Prohibition to floor malt and hand craft whiskey on site from estate-grown grain. To date, Hillrock has won over 80 gold medals in major competitions and has established an outstanding reputation for premium quality and innovation.

Available for a limited time at this location.

Canadian thrash legends Anonymus' 12th studio album La Bestia (Bam&Co Heavy) has won two GAMIQ Awards (Gala Alternatif de la Musique Indépendante du Québec) for "Metal Album of The Year" and the first-ever "Piggy Award", named in honour of late Voivod guitarist Denis "Piggy" D'Amour for career recognition in the Quebec music industry. The full list of winners from the 15th annual GAMIQ awards can be found here along with the viewing of the event online here that was hosted on Sunday, December 6.

GAMIQ - Metal Album of The Year Nominees:
Anonymus - La Bestia - Winner
Obey The Brave - Balance  
Sandveis - Saboteur
Scare - Not Dead Yet, Probably...
Souphl - Commerages
Warsenal - Feast Your Eyes

Celebrating his birthday on the same night of the awards event, Anonymus drummer Carlos Araya comments on winning the GAMIQs:

"At the start of this adventure for La Bestia, which began not long after the release of our 2019 Sacrifices album, the question arose... What do we do afterwards, do we change the pattern? Are we going to push elsewhere and differently? So, Carlos Ponte, our manager proposed to do something different, to make an album totally in Spanish, which will naturally attract the attention of a Canadian band with a wide history along with all of us being tri-lingual (Spanish, French, English)… Starting from there, things were instinctively created in what we do and what we know in metal.

“We're very thankful and honoured to have won Metal Album of the Year, we want to thank those who worked with us on this, our label Bam & Co, including Steve, Dany, Virginie and company, Propagande, Believe, Soundblast Media, Asher Media Relations, Background Noise and Omv Networking who helped put us forward. Benoit Nantel for the live recordings, which served us well, Mat Charest for the video "Bicho Loco" and Anthony Chognard for the recording along with Colin Richardson and Jean-Francois Dagenais of Kataklysm for their co-producing contributions.

“I like to add, we are extremely honoured to win GAMIQ's first ‘Piggy’ for career recognition. ‘Piggy’ aka Denis D’Amour of Voivod was and still is a big influence on our metal culture in Quebec and beyond, so we feel very privileged to receive this award.

“What more can I say, but that Anonymus is a feat from over thirty years ago when I received my first drums from my parents and from the band's founding. That the band is together with only one change after all these years is also an achievement so let's underline the undeniable contribution of Marco Calliari in the band for the first 17 years. Continuing to make music with the Souto twins who have been my friends since I arrived in Canada at the age of 8 is a fate few can dream of. Our friend Carlos Ponte who has been helping us since day one is also remarkable. Marco's departure was not easy, but Jef Fortin was able to bring stability and efficiency to the riff and the songs. Wow, how lucky we are to have him as a guitarist, songwriter and producer. Above all, he quickly became a member of our tightly-knit family.

“There are lots of highlights from our career. We like to thank a brother-in-arms, Mononc ’Serge with whom we shared the stage on three tours, two albums and two DVDs; what a divine collaboration ... Many thanks to Nadine Methot, Kaz Choucri, Pierre Rémillard. All the promoters, presenters, bookers, festivals, technical teams, bands, people from the community that we met; you know who you are, thank you.

“And the biggest thank you without a doubt goes to our FANS. Without you, this band would be really anonymous…. Eternal Thanks."

Imonolith features drummer Ryan Van Poederooyen (Devin Townsend Project), guitarist Brian ‘Beav’ Wadell (Devin Townsend Project), Jon Howard (Threat Signal), guitarist Kai Huppunen (Methods of Mayhem, Noise Therapy) and Scott Whalen (Econoline Crush). They have checked in with the following update:

"Back in the studio with JVPsounds in his custom home studio in Vancouver, BC, Canada. He’s dialled up some insanely heavy guitar tones for the new Imonolith recordings. The music has gotten heavier and more experimental at the same time, so we’re progressing the sonic sound of the band. too. Exciting times. Stay posted for more studio updates."

The collective of heavy-hitting players is at the top of their game recently releasing their debut album, State Of Being. The album features special guest appearances from Jens Kidman (Meshuggah) and famed Swedish vocalist Johannes Eckerström and is made up of 10 hook-laden, riff-heavy tracks that center around the theme of how people deal with various stages of life.

Tracklisting:

"State Of Being" (intro)
"Becoming The Enemy" (feat. Johannes Eckerstrom)
"Instinct"
"Dig"
"The Mourning"
"Forgone"
"Breathe"
"The Reign" (feat. Jens Kidman)
"We Never Forget"
"Hollow"
"Persevere"

"Hollow" video:

The clip below is piano recording footage of the recording session for "Distance", originally written and released by Evergrey on their 2016 album, The Storm Within. It was recorded in Gothenburg, Sweden, plus footage captured in vocalist Tom S. Englund's studio recorded outside of Gothenburg, Sweden. Video production by Hannes Van Dahl, Vikram Shankar and Tom S. Englund.

Silent Skies is Tom S. Englund and Vikram Shankar. They will release their debut album on December 11th.

If you voice Scandinavian melancholy and let it run through the virtuosic fingers of an Oberlin Conservatory film score graduate, you get Silent Skies. It is the sum of two individual musical journeys that came together by coincidence; some would even call it fate.

Tom S. Englund, vocalist of Swedish band Evergrey, and Vikram Shankar's ways crossed when Englund saw Shankar re-interpret one of his compositions on piano on YouTube. A swift email suggesting a collaboration gave birth to ideas of a musical landscape rooted in cinematic, film score music, driven by Shankar's tender and emotive piano playing, but with the added sound of Englund's unique and charismatic vocals and strong melodic sensibility.

The compositions are both bleak and hopeful, setting a sombre tone, and with lyrics that stem from self-reflection and existential contemplation, the atmospheric music of Silent Skies is engrossing and hypnotizing, evoking in the listener visions for the inner eye.

"Horizons"
"Endless"
"Dreams"
"Us"
"Solitude"
"Oceans"
"Here Comes The Rain Again"
"Walls"
"Distance"
"1999"

Satellites will be available as Digipak and ltd. black/white double Vinyl. Pre-order here.

German blackened death metal one-man project, Bloodred, released the new album, The Raven's Shadow, on September 25th via Massacre Records. The official video for "Hör Den Tod" has been released and can be viewed below. The clip was filmed and directed by Alexander Krull / Mastersound Entertainment with a special appearance by Joris Nijenhuis (Leaves' Eyes, Atrocity). 

Bloodred was founded in 2009 by mastermind Ron Merz, who is responsible for the songwriting and also acts as the vocalist, guitarist as well as bassist since the band's formation. He's supported by session/studio musician Joris Nijenhuis on drums.

The first EP, entitled The Lost Ones, was released in 2014, followed by the debut album Nemesis in 2016.

For the second Bloodred album, The Raven's Shadow, Ron Merz once again teamed up with renowned producer Alexander Krull, who made sure that the songs sound as heavy as possible. Photographic artist Stefan Heilemann once more captured the very essence of the music and lyrics and created a timeless and impressive artwork.

The album is available as CD Digipak as well as in digital formats. Preorder here.

Tracklisting:

“The Raven’s Shadow”
“Immense Hall Of Agony”
“Hör Den Tod”
“Blood On Thy Hands”
“Raise The Mound”
“We Who Ruled The North”
“Shadow Warrior”
“Under This Sun”
“The North Star Whispers (To The Blacksmith’s Son)”

(Photo - Stefan Heilemann)

AC/DC's music video for "Demon Fire" can be seen below. The song is taken from the band's latest album, "Power Up", which recently hit the No. 1 spot in 18 countries, including in the U.S., where it sold over 117,000 copies in the first week.

AC/DC is the only Australian group in history to have had a No. 1 album in its home country across five decades: "Back In Black" (1980s), "Ballbreaker Live" (1990s), "Black Ice" (2000s), "Rock Or Bust" (2010s) and "Power Up" (2020s).

"Power Up" holds Germany's biggest first week of 2020 and the biggest first week for an international act in four years, as well as being the U.K.'s fastest-selling album of 2020 and the biggest first week of the year. In the U.K., it opened with first-week sales of 62,000. 52,955 units of these were on a physical format (CD, vinyl, cassette).

"Power Up" was recorded over a six-week period in August and September 2018 at Warehouse Studios in Vancouver with producer Brendan O'Brien, who also worked 2008's "Black Ice" and 2014's "Rock Or Bust".

"Power Up" is a tribute to Malcolm Young, who died in 2017 from effects of dementia at age 64. Malcolm is credited as a writer on all 12 tracks on "Power Up", along with his brother Angus Young.

"Power Up" is available in multiple configurations, including digital, CD, and deluxe versions. The limited edition, one-of-a-kind deluxe "Power Up" box is the ultimate fan package. Hit the button on the side of the box and watch the flashing neon AC/DC logo light up while the opening bars of "Shot In The Dark" blast out of the built-in speaker. Inside the box is the full CD package in a soft-pack with a 20-page booklet that features exclusive photos and USB charging cable allowing the box to remain powered up and on display. The vinyl LP was pressed on 180-gram vinyl and housed in a gatefold jacket. Limited-edition variants of the LP are available at select retailers nationwide, as well as the band's online store.

GRETA VAN FLEET performed its fifth consecutive Top 5 single, "My Way, Soon", on last night's (Tuesday, December 8) episode of "Late Show With Stephen Colbert". For the appearance, the Michigan rockers dressed in matching white jumpsuits and played the song in the round. Check out video below.

"My Way, Soon" is the first single from the band's second album, "The Battle At Garden's Gate", set for an April 16, 2021 release via Lava/Republic Records.

A bold evolution from the band's 2018 full-length debut "Anthem Of The Peaceful Army", "The Battle At Garden's Gate" came together primarily on the road or while in the studio after the runaway success of 2017's "Highway Tune" led to the band packing up, leaving home, and eagerly soaking up new experiences on an extended road trip around the world.

Over the past three years, GRETA VAN FLEET — vocalist Josh Kiszka, guitarist Jake Kiszka, bassist Sam Kiszka, and drummer Danny Wagner — played to hundreds of thousands of people across North America, Europe, Japan, Australia, South America and New Zealand. While driving to gigs, the first-time world travelers passed many unfamiliar sights, from the favelas in Sao Paulo to the Gold Coast of Australia and everywhere in between, meeting and enjoying conversations with fans and other musicians that opened up new worlds to them. To cap off the change-filled era, the quartet moved from Michigan to Nashville, immersing themselves in Music City's rich history. The melding of all these experiences opened their eyes to amazing new worlds of culture, history, philosophy and spirituality — and ushered in an entirely new way of looking at life and the approach to their music.

Accordingly, GRETA VAN FLEET poured everything they experienced into these new songs - the music reflects their spiritual and intellectual growth, increased awareness of the inequalities plaguing the modern world, and deep empathy for what other people are going through.

"We realized that while growing up, we had been shielded by many things, and we were unaware of a lot of things," says Wagner. "And then we were thrown out into this huge world, and it was a bit of a culture shock at first. But as we started to travel a lot, meet new and different people and experience different cultures, our definition of 'normal' changed."

"I suppose that everything has changed except what got us here in the first place," adds Sam Kiszka. "Everything — our perception of the world, perception of life itself, what it means to be an artist, what it means to be part of a beautiful, gorgeous society. We've gained a larger understanding of why we're all here."

In general, the album's arrangements are spacious and leisurely, giving the music pleasing dynamics, as the band touches on all manners of rock 'n' roll. "The Battle At Garden's Gate" is cinematic, capturing the breathtaking energy of an exciting fight scene or the smoldering passion of a brooding, heroic protagonist saving the day. The new music also illustrates that the members of GRETA VAN FLEET are paving the way for a new generation of musicians — ones that use rock 'n' roll's foundational elements to build an entirely new sonic blueprint.

Sonically, "The Battle At Garden's Gate" also feels bracingly modern, an embodiment of genre-blended musical freedom. Recorded in Los Angeles with Greg Kurstin (FOO FIGHTERS, PAUL MCCARTNEY), the album is ambitious and expansive, marked by epic journeys such as the second single, "Age Of Machine", released today, and the Top 5 rock hit "My Way, Soon", which boasts a towering chorus hook and rip-it-up-and-start-again lyrics.

Josh explains: "It's very dynamic, lyrically speaking. And that's the human experience. It's much more than pain or fear; it's also beauty. People need people, and love is important." Lyrically, "The Battle At Garden's Gate" muses about the influence of technology on modern life; the role conflict plays in the global sphere; the deceptive fulfillment of tangible riches; and philosophical questions about life, love and power.

"There was a lot of self-evolution happening during the writing of this album that was prompted by experiences I had, experiences we all had, so a lot of contemplation occurred," Josh says, while Jake adds, "It's reflecting a lot of the world that we've seen, and I think that it's reflecting a lot of personal truth. What Josh does very well with the lyrics is telling ancient tales with a contemporary application."

For Josh, working with Kurstin provided the confidence he needed to push his songwriting into these vivid dimensions. "I'm always a little bit hesitant about my abilities as an artist; I think a lot of artists feel that way," he says. "But Greg hovering over me while I'm on the piano, taking an interest in what I was doing — that was really important for me."

That added confidence is obvious. Josh sounds commanding on each song, stretching his already-acrobatic voice to newer heights, while the instrumentalists fearlessly push themselves into new territory. Easy going organ and acoustic folk-rock riffs drive one song, while another ends in a torrent of guitar noise that rivals Neil Young's onstage guitar freakouts with CRAZY HORSE. "For all of us, the performances — and the aspects of them that are captured — preserve where we're at musically in time right now," Jake says.

The future is unwritten, and the sky's the limit for these curious travelers and truth-seekers. Josh says, "certainly after this, we've grown in so many ways. This album has taught us a lot, about life in general, about ourselves, about all of us, about the world we live in."

Buffalo-based hardcore heroes EVERY TIME I DIE have shared two powerful new tracks, "A Colossal Wreck" and "Desperate Pleasures". Produced and mixed by Will Putney (BODY COUNT, KUBLAI KHAN, THE GHOST INSIDE), the tracks offer a glimpse at the band’s forthcoming ninth studio record.

According to vocalist Keith Buckley, the songs are "two sides of the same reactionary coin. While 'A Colossal Wreck' looks around at the current state of the world and says 'life is a punishment and only the worst of us thrive,' 'Desperate Pleasures' takes a more optimistic approach and renounces the nihilistic/accelerationist attitude of the voice that came before. It says that without hope, even in the face of such universal anguish, only death is certain and to give up now when those around us need it most is a treacherous act of pure cowardice. That said, I'm not sure which is worse, being a coward or being a cynic. Probably a coward. At least cynics have a sense of humor."

Acclaimed for its energetic and intense live shows, EVERY TIME I DIE has announced a livestream event for December 19 at 2 p.m. PT/5 p.m. ET. Tickets for "Every Time I Die's Online Telethon Extravaganza" can be purchased at this location.

EVERY TIME I DIE has been forging its own musical path for over 20 years. Since establishing in 1998, the band has released eight studio albums: "Last Night In Town" (2001), "Hot Damn!" (2003), "Gutter Phenomenon" (2005), "The Big Dirty" (2007), "New Junk Aesthetic" (2009), "Ex Lives" (2012), "From Parts Unknown" (2014) and "Low Teens" (2016).

EVERY TIME I DIE is Keith Buckley (vocals), Jordan Buckley (guitar), Andy Williams (guitar), Steve Micciche (bass) and Clayton Holyoak (drums).

In a new interview with the "Classic Metal Show", MEGADETH's David Ellefson spoke about the fact he has pursued a number of business ventures outside of the band, including running a record label, launching a line of coffee, producing a horror film, writing books and releasing his first solo album. Asked if his his decision to expand the Ellefson "brand" was "a reaction to the fallout" that he and MEGADETH leader Dave Mustaine had years ago when the bassist left the band for a little under a decade, Ellefson said: "One hundred percent. Honestly, as the saying goes, 'Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me.' So if I got caught with my pants down a second time, I've got no one to blame but me. And not that I was ever in the blame game, because the truth of it is I knew that back in 2000… I saw problems coming in 2001, and by 2002, MEGADETH was disbanded — Dave had walked away from it, for reasons that he needed to, and I understood. And so for me to sit there and go, 'Oh my God. How am I gonna pay my mortgage? How am I gonna do this? I've got a young family. How am I gonna do all this?' I've got no one to blame but myself for being in that position.

"The good news is, the good Lord provides," Ellefson continued. "Part of me went, 'Ah, thank God that's over.' And I needed a relief — I neeed to step away from it — for my own personal reasons. And maybe, in some ways, Dave disbanding MEGADETH, he did for me what I couldn't do for myself, which is take a break from it. I didn't see it as an end; I saw it as a sort of temporary break, which, obviously, it turned out to be. Even in the years I was away from it, I never felt like it was over. I felt like it was just a season apart that I needed to grow in. I think I came back to MEGADETH in 2010 a much stronger human being, a stronger performer, singer, bass player, writer — all the things I got to do in those, I guess, seven [or] eight years, whatever it was. And keep in mind MEGADETH was non-existent for a couple of those years, so, really, it was only about five years that I wasn't participating in the band.

"The scariest thing was [thinking], 'Who am I? What am I gonna do? What's gonna become of me?'" David added. "Those are kind of the three big questions. And what turned out to happen was, everything was taken care of. I'm not gonna lie, and I don't mean this to sound like a religious show, but I put G.O.D. — good orderly direction — as number one. Stay tethered to the master, and he will provide all that needs to be provided. And sure enough, my bills were paid. I was making a fraction of the money that I was in MEGADETH, and somehow the bills were paid. It's kind of like the loaves and fishes — it just sort of appeared. And I got the job with Peavey [in the artist relations department]. I went to college. I got my degree. 'Cause I noticed now, not being a rock star and working kind of in the corporate world, even though I was working just as a contractor and I was mostly hired because of my phone book and my contacts in the business, I realized if I ever wanted to make any other lateral move here, I'm gonna probably need to check the box, like, yeah, I went to college. And so I did that — I stepped up and I did that. And then, all of a sudden, these music things started happening — F5; I had a little cover band called HAIL! with some other famous dudes. We did all these different things… I kept the faith, and I stayed true to just, provide for my family, take care of first things first, do that, and suddenly all the music stuff started coming back. 'Cause I was prepared to walk away from it. I didn't want to, but I was going, 'Maybe this is this big-boy time. I'm in my late 30s. Maybe I've gotta put the guitar down, grow up, cut my hair and be like a real guy now. And the truth of it is, again, somehow the good Lord brought that back to me. And next thing you know, I started playing more and more; I was playing with different people; it broadened my horizons… So when I did come back to MEGADETH, I suddenly was a much better MEGADETH member, because I think in the early days, I only had that one group for 20 years, and I think there was always a part of me that I wanted to step out and try some other things. But it's funny — here I am in this big, multi-platinum, Grammy-nominated band, insecure that I could go out and play with other people. And so finally one day, sort of like the good Lord took me off the chain and said, 'Well, I'm taking your house' — not literally my house away — but 'I'm sort of taking the house of MEGADETH away from you and I'm gonna force you out, and you're gonna have to trust me.' Again, it's sort of a biblical story."

Ellefson was in MEGADETH from the band's inception in 1983 to 2002, when the group briefly broke up because Mustaine suffered severe nerve damage that left him unable to play. After Mustaine reformed MEGADETH with an all-new lineup in 2004, Ellefson sued his former bandmate for $18.5 million, alleging that Mustaine still owed him substantial merchandise and publishing royalties. In January 2005, the case was dismissed in court, and five years later, Ellefson rejoined MEGADETH.

Ellefson has been open about the fact that he became a salaried employee upon his return to MEGADETH in 2010, something he shared with the world in his latest book, "More Life With Deth".

Six years earlier, Ellefson declined to rejoin MEGADETH upon the band's reformation, citing concerns with the business structure he had in place with Mustaine.

When Ellefson eventually rejoined MEGADETH, he was no longer as involved in the band's composing process and business affairs like he was prior to the group's breakup.

PUDDLE OF MUDD frontman Wes Scantlin, who previously credited God with saving his life, spoke to Andy Hall of the Des Moines, Iowa radio station Lazer 103.3 about the importance of faith in his life. He said (hear audio below): "God is real, believe me. I have prayed to God my whole life and basically thank him for anything and everything that happens, and ask him for a little favor, and actually say, 'I'm with you too, God. I'm on your team.' I appreciate everything that's happened in my life."

After the arrival of 2009's "Volume 4: Songs In The Key Of Love And Hate", Scantlin endured his share of issues with both substance abuse and the legal system. In 2018, Scantlin said that he finally got his life together after years of legal troubles, canceled or disrupted shows and arrests for disorderly or drunken behavior.

Last year, Scantlin told U.K.'s Kerrang! magazine that God got him through being incarcerated. "God's always been here for me the entire time," he said. "I just got done praying for the day, and I'm pretty sure that he probably just put me there. I was trying to escape from a bunch of really whack-ass, freaky-deaky people, and I think He was just, 'Hey, I'll do this for you and you can get away from everybody like that for the rest of your life.' So I'm blessed by God for having to endure that kind of incarceration, which is mind-blowing and crazy, but it's obviously helped me get to another chapter in my life which is filled with love and positivity and joy and happiness."

According to Wes, he never lost faith in God or cursed him out when he was going through the bad times.

"I would never curse God," he explained. "You don't want to do that, because he's pretty awesome. So I never did that. I just thanked him every day for the struggles that I was going through and I thank him for everything that's ever happened in my life. I thank him a bunch and thank him a bunch and then throw in a little, 'Maybe you could make this happen…' for some happiness in my life."

PUDDLE OF MUDD's first studio album in ten years, "Welcome To Galvania", was released in September 2019 via Pavement Entertainment.

PUDDLE OF MUDD broke into the mainstream with 2001's "Come Clean", which yielded three hits — "Control", "Blurry" and "She Hates Me".

Michael Sweet, singer, guitarist and primary songwriter of the openly Christian hard rock band STRYPER, says that he is planning to record an album of woship music.

The 57-year-old musician revealed his interest in writing a collection of songs that are generally thought to be too theologically specific for the mainstream market in an Instagram post earlier today (Monday, December 7).

He wrote: "Something I've always wanted to do is to record a worship album. I led worship at my home church for a few years a while back and it was one of the most gratifying moments of my musical history. It strengthened my own faith and brought me closer to God. I'm definitely planning on recording one and I hope you all will join me on this journey. It will be my first 'official' worship album and I've got a really good feeling about this one". He went on to say that the record would consist of "all originals".

Even though STRYPER's third album, 1986's "To Hell With The Devil", made Sweet and his bandmates the first contemporary Christian act to score a platinum album, the group has often felt unwelcome in Christian circles, with some members of the church feeling that Christianity and heavy metal are incompatible.

In a 2018 interview with the Detroit Free Press, Michael said that STRYPER was never fully embraced by the heavy metal and hard rock communities, largely because of the band's Christian lyrics.

"We've never been accepted by either side," he said. "The secular side, the mainstream, they've never accepted us to this day. We're probably that band that everyone's going to go to whenever there's a time to mock. We'll be the band used for that in most cases. Now on the Christian side, we've never really had the full support of the Christian side because we don't fit into their little club. We're not wearing suits and ties and going to every church and preaching."

Formed 37 years ago, STRYPER's name comes from Isaiah 53:5, which states: "But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed."

STRYPER's albums include "To Hell With The Devil", "Second Coming", "No More Hell To Pay", "Fallen", "God Damn Evil" and the band's latest effort, "Even The Devil Believes".
























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John Cooper, the frontman and bassist for SKILLET, a Grammy-nominated Christian rock band with three gold-certified albums and one double-platinum-certified album to its name, spoke to "The Eric Metaxas Radio Show" about his recently released debut book, "Awake & Alive To Truth (Finding Truth In The Chaos Of A Relativistic World)". Regarding his inspiration for writing the book, John said (see video below): "My mom was a Jesus freak, so I was raised in a Christian family. My mom taught me about the Bible ever since I was a kid.

"For 20 years on the road, people always ask, 'What's the best advice you've ever been given?' And I say the best advice I've ever been given is seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and everything else will be added to you," he continued. "It is the foundation of life. If you build your life on top of the words of Jesus Christ — and, of course, the Scriptures — then you will be unshakeable, because you are in line with the Creator. But if you don't build your life on that foundation, then everything else is going to fall. And I think we're even seeing that in America. We're even seeing it in the Christian church in America at large. The Christian church no longer believes in the absolute truth of the word. We've replaced it with emotionalism; we've replaced it with the way we feel like we want things to be; and we've replaced it with putting ourselves on the throne.

"This book talks about some of the philosophies of the day, a little bit about critical race theory, a little bit about post-modernism, identity politics, how that's coming, but it leads to that. So you can break those things down and then get to authority of Scripture. Because without authority of scripture, we don't have anything to put our lives on.

"The reason I'm so passionate about it is, in my line of work, I ran into so many professing Christians who said, 'John, I'm totally into Jesus. I'm just not into the Bible.' And I kept thinking, 'That's not even possible. That doesn't even make any sense.' Jesus is the word.

"I call this book 'Theology For Dummies'," John added. "Maybe you can't sit through a John Calvin book. You can sit through my book, and I hope that it can help people who are outside of faith, maybe not even familiar with Christianity, understand authority of scripture and the person of Jesus Christ, who is fully man but also incarnate of God."

After traveling the world for 23 years as the lead singer/bassist for SKILLET, the Memphis, Tennessee-born Cooper, who lives in Kenosha, Wisconsin, says he has noticed one consistent issue: people are desperately confused. "Awake & Alive To Truth" tackles the reigning philosophies of our day of post-modernism, relativism, and the popular view of the goodness of man-and combats these viewpoints by standing on the absolute truth of the Word of God. "Awake & Alive To Truth" answers some of the most asked questions in modern culture. Cooper takes readers on a journey through personal stories, the doctrine of original sin, the authority of Scripture, the danger of trusting your emotions, and ends with the greatest news possible: God wants to rescue you from the chaos and the darkness and bring you into His glorious light.

In the fall of 2019, Cooper launched his "Cooper Stuff" podcast following the chain reaction to a popular post he titled "What In God's Name is Happening in Christianity?" dealing with faith leaders and 'influencers' falling away from their faith. Since then, Cooper has taken hot-button issues head-on, and gained an ever-growing audience. One of his more recent episodes, currently with over 500,000 views, came when an outbreak of violence took over downtown Kenosha, just blocks from his home, after the Jacob Blake shooting. Other topics/titles have included "Cancel Christianity," "Falling Into The Abyss Of Wokeness," "Christian Leaders Are Failing Us," "Civil War In The Church, "Equity, Diversity And Inclusion Is The New Sex, Drugs And Rock 'N Roll," and many more.

"In an era of tolerance and self-proclaimed love, why are we getting angrier and lonelier?" Cooper asks. "One big reason is because relative truth doesn't work. If nothing is absolutely true, then anything can be viewed as good. Political and social movements create a popular opinion that through social media and the news media are promulgated as virtuous, only to be changed the next day.

"I wrote 'Awake & Alive To Truth' because we live in a culture that is more concerned with tone rather than honesty, emotion rather than critical thinking, and empathy rather than truth. I believe truth is revealed by God and God alone. The identity you belong to — the color of your skin, your gender, or your economic status — cannot be a prerequisite for understanding the truth."

KISS recently 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 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.

In a new interview with Kyle Meredith, Stanley spoke about how the idea for the New Year's Eve pay-per-view came about. "My whole philosophy of life has always been not 'why' but 'why not,'" he said (see video below).

"Look, we've all come through 2020, and nobody has been unscathed. Some people have been inconvenienced, and other people have been devastated. What this has done to the economy, to people's health, to loved ones, to basically all walks of life has been just excruciating. So, here we are at the end of 2020, and we can celebrate that we've made it through, although not unscathed, and we are looking forward to some light at the end of the tunnel. We see a vaccine coming. I wanna caution everybody that it is not here yet, so we still have to remain prudent. But I think more than ever, it's a great time to celebrate where we are. It's not a crime to be jubilant and have a great time in the midst of this because God knows we need it.

"What we're doing on New Year's Eve is the largest KISS show — if you can believe that — we've ever done, a worldwide pay-per-view from Dubai," he continued. "And we will be breaking Guinness world records for all kinds of things. First of all, most importantly, we're gonna play all the songs that everybody loves. And the band is in great, great shape and anticipating this more than pretty much anything we've done in recent past. To that end, we'll have a million dollars' worth of pyro, which is even a lot for us, by the way. And if you don't do the pay-per-view, you'll probably hear the pyro anyway. That being said, again, this will be a night for people to remember.

"Look, if you go see any band, if you go to see any superstar act, you're basically seeing a KISS show, because KISS DNA is in every show that's out there," Stanley added. "But nobody does it better than us. And in the midst of this worldwide 'End Of The Road' tour, we said, 'Let's kick it up some notches,' and we've been able to do that safely. And that's most important, because with everything that's going on, it's important not to lose sight that safety comes first, and taking COVID really seriously up until the time that we have a vaccine, and beyond that, because people need to realize that with COVID, you don't know what you're getting. One person gets the sniffles and somebody else, unfortunately, dies. So, we are taking all that very seriously, and we have given that task to Dan [producer/director Daniel E Catullo III]. And he knows that the most important thing to us was to make sure that people involved — 500 workers putting this thing together, 3,000 people attending at a safe distance, and yours truly — we wanna be safe, and that was paramount to us."

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 46-year career, KISS has accumulated 23 gold and platinum albums — more than any other U.S. band.

Concert image courtesy of DeadMike.com

It was recently reported earlier that singer Doogie White (Michael Schenker, Yngwie Malmsteen, Tank, Rainbow) was recruited for all Alcatrazz touring for 2021. The lineup features White, guitarist Joe Stump, drummer Mark Benquechea, keyboardist Jimmy Waldo, and bassist Gary Shea. The band reformed in 2019 and released the album, Born Innocent, in July 2020.

Original vocalist Graham Bonnet issued a statement shortly after the news broke, saying that he will still be recording and performing with Alcatrazz in the future, causing some confusion. He has followed that up with a new statement, found below.

Bonnet: "Hi everyone! Since my last post, I've received many emails expressing confusion about the band situation and again, rather than respond individually, I will clarify here. 

When my manager resigned in June, I asked the band collectively if they would be interested in touring to support the new album. They informed me that they were only interested in touring if my former manager was included. No one was 'fired,' we just parted ways. As that signaled the end of this version of Alcatrazz,  I immediately began to seek new players for yet another new Alcatrazz line-up. I have performed with other versions of Alcatrazz since the demise of the original band, this was just the first time I played with any original members and the first time I recorded using the name Alcatrazz. 

The day my manager resigned, he also removed me as admin of the Graham Bonnet and Alcatrazz band FB page, so I was unable to let fans know what was happening until recently when FB returned my page. The first misunderstanding happened when I posted on the band page that Graham Bonnet and Alcatrazz were no longer associated with Giles Lavery management. When I said that, I wasn’t referring to the recent line-up. They had already informed me months earlier that they would only tour with my former manager and to me, that meant that they had quit. My reference was to my new version of Alcatrazz. 

I have no plans to relinquish the name Alcatrazz and I expect that they don’t either. This is an old story; bands break up and there becomes two versions. I’m not bothered by it. I’ve toured with Doogie the past few years with Schenker Fest and he is a good friend and a damn fine performer. In my opinion, there is no such thing as too much music. People can listen to one or the other or both versions and choose whatever they like. I’m not interested in squabbling over a name, I’d rather just make music."

Sweden’s Tribulation announce a change in the band lineup with the following message:

"After 16 years of creative, expressive, artistic and spiritual exchange and co-operation, Jonathan Hultén has decided to leave the band to pursue whatever else life has in store for him in the future. We know that whatever he decides to do in the future, he will do it in the same wholehearted, immersive and meticulous way that he has tackled all the trials and tribulations that are Tribulation, and we truly wish him the best of luck in those endeavours.

"The idea and concept of death and rebirth has always played a big role in the band mythos, and while Jonathan leaving leaves a big chunk of what has built, maintained and nurtured the creature that is Tribulation behind, we are confident in our vision for the times to come, and we will build something new and once again ride the frightening yet powerful waves of creative uncertainty into the new decade!

"'Vetera transierunt: ecce facta sunt omnia nova.'"

Says Jonathan Hultén: "Friends. After 16 years of playing together, the time has now come for me to part with Tribulation. For some time, I've been swinging between doubt and determination in a recurring questioning of whether I am the right person in the right place, and in the end, this is the conclusion that has been reached. This year made it more clear than ever that first and foremost I have to follow my heart rather than the mind - even if it means walking away from a lot of things I love doing and people I love. Life is too short to not follow your heart, wherever it might lead. I don't know what the future holds, the only thing I do know is that I have to try to live in a way that makes me happy.

"I wish Johannes, Adam and Oscar all the best in the world. I'm looking forward to seeing them continue on the adventurous cruise on the ship that is Tribulation, and all the glorious moments they will experience along the way. I am also very happy to pass the torch to the amazing Joseph Tholl, one of my favorite songwriters of all time. The magic he will introduce into Trib will be an invaluable treasure, and I couldn't imagine a better addition to the band.
And most importantly - I would like to express my gratitude to everyone who has supported, appreciated and helped us along the years. I thank you from the bottom of my soul, you made this journey into what it has been. Thank you for everything!

"However, this is not a goodbye. I won't stop creating music and art as long as there is a heartbeat left in this body, that's a promise. Much love..."

Joseph Tholl states: "As a long-time fan and friend of the band, it's sad for me to see Jonathan leave, but it's also an honour that I'll get to cherish his great work. I'm thrilled to join this assembly of old friends, and I'm looking forward to be a part of what the future holds for Tribulation."

Tribulation lineup (from left to right at top):

Johannes Andersson - vocals, bass
Adam Zaars - guitars
Joseph Tholl - guitars
Oscar Leander - drums

On January 29, Tribulation will release their new album, Where The Gloom Becomes Sound, via Century Media Records (worldwide excluding North America). For a first impression of the album, the video for its first single "Leviathans" (produced by Ulf Lundén) can be seen below.

Where The Gloom Becomes Sound is also available for pre-order here in the following formats:

* Ltd. Deluxe bone colored LP & Bonus Zoetrope LP Artbook feat. bonus tracks
* Ltd. CD Mediabook feat. bonus track
* Standard CD Jewelcase
* Ltd. black LP with 16-page-booklet
* Digital Album
* Ltd. deep blood red LP with 16-page-booklet - limited to 200 copies, only available at CMDistro EU
* Ltd. dark green LP with 16-page-booklet - limited to 400 copies
* Ltd. transp. red LP with 16-page-booklet - limited to 100 copies, only available at Kingsroad
* Ltd. transp. magenta LP with 16-page-booklet - limited to 200 copies, only available at Bengans
* Ltd. transp. sun yellow LP with 16-page-booklet - limited to 100 copies, only available at CMDistro EU
* Ltd. trans. petrol green LP with 16-page-booklet - limited to 200 copies, only available at EMP
* Ltd. neon orange LP with 16-page-booklet - limited to 200 copies, only available at Nuclear Blast

Tribulation checked in with the following comment about "Leviathans": "Your first morsel to the gloom-made soundscape of our new album is something that we conjured up from the cataracts and that comes in the shape of a torrential flood, an oblation to the 'spirits of the sea and of change', to the Leviathans!"

Tribulation entered Linus Björklund's Studio Ryssviken in April and exited (informally) nearly two months later. The group - guitarists Adam Zaars and Jonathan Hultén, Johannes Andersson (vocals/bass), and Oscar Leander (drums) - used the first 10 days of their studio time to rehearse. Once the bone-oil had sufficiently run its course, the group and co-producer Jamie Elton started to hammer into the rudiments of the recording process. Elton, who also serves as Tribulation's soundman and is a long-time friend, took the reins from Martin Ehrencrona, who helmed the 2018 Down Below sessions. Together, they crafted a well-appointed production, one that's luxuriously grim and auricularly inviting. Where The Gloom Becomes Sound”was then given to Grammy-nominated producer Tom Dalgety (Ghost, Rammstein) to mix at Psalm Studios. Once the mixing was finished - Dalgety would send over versions from his studio in Wales - Tribulation re-enlisted Magnus Lindberg at Redmount Studios in Stockholm to master.

The band's resulting fifth full-length indisputably elevates the Swedes to the highest echelons. The source of their glinting darkness: a yawning, bottomless rift deep within. "We immersed ourselves in the world of myth and magic," says Zaars. "With a specific focus on elemental magic, and the elements, in general, from both the Western and Indian esoteric traditions, not the Buddhist four elements but the five elements. Myth and magic are obviously not something new in the world of Tribulation, but it got a bit more specific on this album. We just present it from a slightly different perspective."

Where The Gloom Becomes Sound isn't representative of monumental change, but rather the accrual of ambition over time in conjunction with continued exposure to and profound experiments with crossroads devilry. Being their most expressive and inventive album to-date, where it will take them is only to greatness and with reverence.

In a new interview with Full Metal Jackie's nationally syndicated radio show, JUDAS PRIEST frontman Rob Halford spoke about what it was like recording the audiobook version of his recently released autobiography, "Confess".

"Well, here's the test," Rob said. "When you read a book next time, try reading it out loud, because it's a completely different [experience], I tell you.

"It took me just over a week of about four or five hours a session. And it was amazing — it really was — because I'm now reading the complete book, and there were many, many moments where I had to kind of regain my composure, because the book is full of emotion — a lot of raw pure emotions down to the bare bones. [It's one thing] to kind of read that from the page but another to speak it out. And it was amazing.

"I was encouraged by the producer who was over in New Jersey, and I was in Phoenix, and we had link-ups going all over the place, because I wanted to give my best performance like I've always tried to do," he continued. "So we got through it.

"I haven't heard the audiobook yet. I'd be interested to hear the sound of my own voice. Which I've told you before, Jackie — I hate the sound of my own voice," Halford added. "It's like I hate watching myself on stage and video or anything. But the time will come when I do that. And I would like to think that it gives it a little bit of extra value in the human connection. And I know a lot of metal maniac readers do enjoy the audio experience."

"Confess" arrived on September 29 via Hachette Books.

Known as "The Metal God" by his devoted, global fan base, Halford has always subverted the norm, and "Confess" offers readers a compelling, heartfelt and honest look at the struggles Rob has faced with addiction and his sexuality as well as exploring his music and his many brushes with controversy.

Written with Ian Gittins, co-writer of "The Heroin Diaries" by Nikki Sixx, the book charts Halford's rock and roll lifestyle from the late eighties to the band's 50th anniversary in 2020.

Halford explained: "'Confess' is a unique once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for me to expose every facet of myself. Digging deep with nothing to hide and nothing to fear was in many ways exciting, fun, disturbing, terrifying and cathartic. I've held nothing back. It's time for me to 'Confess'."

In a recent interview with Robert Cavuoto of Sonic Perspectives, Halford stated about the book's title: "I would like to feel there are parts of this book which are relatable to others. Everybody is the same, as we all share similar life experiences. There are so many things that happen to us; we are almost identical no matter where we are from. I've traveled the world and seen how our music can touch people from all walks of life and professions. Confessing these stories or episodes is important, and it gives the reader a look-see into this guy that you only see from one point of view."

Asked if he has any regrets about sharing some of his stories with the world, his friends, his family and bandmates, Halford said: "That's a really great question. When I was sitting with [co-writer] Ian [Gittins, who also co-wrote The New York Times bestseller 'The Heroin Diaries' by Nikki Sixx], I was very open and honest. It just flows out of me. Being clean and sober for 30 years, I don't lie anymore, nor do I hold anything back. I like people to be the same towards me.

"I don't doubt for one minute that some people will be shocked by what's in 'Confess'. This is my life, and me telling you all the important parts of it. It's up to you to decide how to interrupt and utilize it.

"Going one step further, when I was having these long sessions with Ian, I would stop and go, 'Why did I say that?' particularly with some of the family incidents. I really had to let that go.

"When you are confessing, it's exactly what you are doing. To protect certain individuals, we just changed their names out of respect.

"It's crazy — some days I feel great that it's all out there. Some days I would like to rewrite a paragraph or part all over.

"I'm sure I'm not the first person who has made this kind of book.

"Quite frankly, if I weren't feeling that way, I would think there is something wrong with me."

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).




























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“Confess audio book recording done and dusted!”(preorder available now at all major online sites and bookstores)???????#heavymetal #ink #tattoo #read #books #listen #learn #life #story #true #facts #open #up #love #family #friends #fans #one #world #peace #respect #all @headlinebooks @hachetteus @hachettebooks

A post shared by Metal God (@robhalfordlegacy) on Aug 4, 2020 at 9:10pm PDT

In a new interview with the "Sappenin' Podcast With Sean Smith", Max Cavalera once again confirmed that he and his son Zyon have commenced the songwriting process for the next SOULFLY album, to be recorded in 2021. "Right now, [we're] in the early stages of writing," he said (hear audio below). "It's just riffs — we're just doing riffs. And the cool thing about Zyon, the way he plays drums, is he's a bit like a wild animal — he has no restraint, man, and he just unleashes on the drum kit. Pure, pure brutality power drumming, and I love that. So that takes me back to a lot of the early records that I like — a lot of the old ENTOMBED stuff and CARCASS and NAPALM DEATH; out-of-control shit. So I think we have that kind of spirit going on on a lot of the new tracks."

According to Max, he has also taken inspiration from "Max Trax", the twice-weekly Internet video series he recently launched in which he discusses the inspiration for many of the songs spanning his nearly 40-year music career.

"I get inspired by the old songs," he said. "I think the old material becomes an inspiration. So I think we're gonna be able to create something unique from all that experience — from the old stuff to the new stuff. KILLER BE KILLED will probably be somehow an influence on the record, in some parts of the record," he added, referring to his side project which has just released its sophomore album, "Reluctant Hero", via Nuclear Blast. "So we're just gonna maybe bring all that into the new SOULFLY."

As for a possible release date for the new SOULFLY album, Max said: "I don't know when it's gonna come out. I know we're gonna record it next year, but I'm not sure it's gonna come out next year. I don't know yet. We've gotta kind of wait and see. But I'm using the time to write, which is great. It's all we can do right now — is write music."

This past June, SOULFLY released a new digital EP, "Live Ritual NYC MMXIX". The effort was recorded at The Gramercy in New York City on February 11, 2019 while SOULFLY was on tour in support of its most recent full-length album, "Ritual". The audio for the EP was mixed and mastered by Charles Elliott (ABYSMAL DAWN) from Tastemaker Audio. Cover artwork was comprised of live photos taken by Rodrigo Fredes.

"Ritual" was released in October 2018 via Nuclear Blast. The follow-up to 2015's "Archangel" was produced, recorded and mixed by Josh Wilbur (KILLER BE KILLED, LAMB OF GOD, GOJIRA).

Max is joined in KILLER BE KILLED by Troy Sanders (MASTODON), Greg Puciato (THE DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN), and Ben Koller (CONVERGE, ALL PIGS MUST DIE, MUTOID MAN).

IRON MAIDEN has uploaded a video of guitarist Adrian Smith playing the song "Gangland" for the first time in many years. The track is taken from MAIDEN's 1982 album "The Number Of The Beast", which was the band's first LP to feature vocalist Bruce Dickinson and the songwriting contributions of Smith, who had joined the group two years earlier.

In the clip, Smith introduces his "Gangland" playthrough by saying: "Back in the early with MAIDEN, there was a song called 'Gangland', which is on 'The Number Of The Beast' album. We were rehearsing at a place called Hollywood Studios near where I grew up, actually — for 'The Number Of The Beast' album, we were writing songs there. Clive and I got to rehearsal early — Clive Burr, the drummer with MAIDEN at the time; sadly, no longer with us — and he said, 'Let's do a song this tempo,' and he started playing that drum pattern to 'Gangland'. And I just picked up a guitar, which was, actually, this guitar — I've had it since I was 18 years old; I still use it — and I started playing the music to this. I don't know where it came from. I think Clive was listening to a lot of Cozy Powell at the time, and he loved Ian Paice as a drummer, so I think it was an inspiration from that. And I kind of took inspiration from something that maybe Gary Moore would have done over that drum pattern."

He added: "I'm gonna play it now. I haven't played it for donkeys' years. I've got it on a backing track here. And it might be fun just to go through it and see if I can remember it."

Earlier this year, IRON MAIDEN bassist Steve Harris reflected on the pressure he and his bandmates felt while writing and recording "The Number Of The Beast". "It was the fact that we'd used up the material, pretty much, from the times before that," he told SiriusXM's "Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk". "Before the first album [1980's 'Iron Maiden'], it was a four-and-a-half-year period before we got signed and all that. And so we had a lot of material that we were doing that was already there, playing in the live set, so we recorded all that. And the second album [1981's 'Killers'] was only, I think, three new songs that were on that album, 'cause the rest of it was stuff we'd been playing [live] as well. So when you get to the third album, it's, like, 'What are we gonna do now?' But that pressure was pretty fierce pressure, and we didn't have a lot of time either. Back in those days, it was just album-tour, album-tour and whatever, and it just worked. So we thought, 'You know what? That worked really well. We'll do the same thing again.' … It has to be done. And if you've got a tour coming after it, that's it — it has to be done."

IRON MAIDEN's latest double live album, "Nights Of The Dead, Legacy Of The Beast: Live In Mexico City", was released on November 20 via BMG. The set was recorded during the band's three sold-out arena shows in Mexico City in September 2019 and is a celebration of the "Legacy Of The Beast" world tour which began in 2018 and will finish next summer in Europe.

Last year, it was rumored that IRON MAIDEN had completed work on a new studio album. The group hasn't issued any fresh music since 2015's "The Book Of Souls" LP, which was recorded in late 2014 in Paris, France with longtime producer Kevin "Caveman" Shirley.

If the reports of a new MAIDEN album are true, it will mark the band's 17th studio effort and the sixth to be produced by Shirley, who has worked with MAIDEN for the past two decades.

"The Book Of Souls" was the longest MAIDEN album, clocking in at 92 minutes, with lyrics heavily based in the themes of death, reincarnation, the soul and mortality.

Last week, BON JOVI's concert documentary "On A Night Like This - Bon Jovi 2020" was seen by more than one million viewers who tuned into the BON JOVI Facebook page to watch the band's first-ever full album performance of its critically acclaimed release "2020". This week, Rock And Roll Hall Of Famer Jon Bon Jovi is giving fans an early holiday gift with the release of his covers of three holiday songs — Tom Petty's "Christmas All Over Again", Elvis Presley's "If I Get Home On Christmas Day" and THE POGUES' "Fairytale Of New York" — available Monday, December 7 on all streaming and digital platforms. Recorded this fall to cap off the 2020 holiday season, the song's accompanying music videos can be seen exclusively by members of the "The JBJ Experience", which also features outtakes and never-before-seen content.

"2020" was released in October via Island Records. Originally due in May, it was a completed album with a breadth and depth of songwriting, titled for a challenging and pivotal election year. Along with all of America, Jon Bon Jovi found himself unexpectedly experiencing a world-altering coronavirus pandemic, followed quickly by the staggering events of George Floyd's death and the ensuing national movement for racial equality. He knew there was even more to say about 2020. Writing from a home studio, two new songs were born: "American Reckoning" and "Do What You Can" encompass these events and made the album a complete body of work.

On "2020", Jon Bon Jovi delves into socially conscious matters such as soldiers dealing with post-traumatic stress disorder ("Unbroken", featured in the documentary "To Be Of Service"), gun violence ("Lower The Flag"), our shared social experience ("Let It Rain", "Brothers In Arms") and the political climate ("Blood In The Water").

The album — which follows the band's 2016 No. 1 release, "This House is Not For Sale" — also finds the group coming out of the other side of a period of great change.

Once again co-produced by John Shanks and Jon Bon Jovi, the record features the entire touring band — keyboardist David Bryan, drummer Tico Torres, bassist Hugh McDonald, guitarist Phil X, percussionist Everett Bradley, and guitarist John Shanks.

Over an illustrious career spanning more than three decades since its formation in 1983, BON JOVI has earned their place among global rock royalty and was inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame as well as the Songwriters Hall Of Fame. With over 130 million albums sold worldwide, and extensive catalog of hit anthems, thousands of concerts performed in more than 50 countries for more than 35 million fans, and ticket grosses well over $1 billion around the world in the last decade alone, BON JOVI is the consummate rock and roll band.

DEEP PURPLE bassist Roger Glover has confirmed that he is still planning on releasing his autobiography. "I've been toying with writing a book for several years, but not really doing much about it," he said in a new fan interview which was posted on the YouTube channel of the band's record company, earMUSIC (see video below). "But since this pandemic situation and being stuck at home, I've actually started with a great deal of energy and I've made great progress. The only problem is, as much progress as I make, I realize how much there is yet to come that's very important. I've got to about the point now where I'm joining PURPLE. And a lot of that was easy, because I kept diaries in the '60s. So a lot of notes and gig lists and stuff were in the diaries. But when I joined PURPLE, I stopped writing, so it's all gone. It's all whatever I can think of now, so it's difficult. But I'm gonna do it — I'm determined."

In 2018, Glover told Music Radar that he had been working on his autobiography "for about five years now." He said: "It's not easy, because I didn't want a ghostwriter, but I enjoy good writing, and it's a pleasure to write. It's hard to look back and capture who I was years ago. I look at videos of myself playing and I think, 'Who is that person?'

"It's not possible to capture what was in your mind at the time, because memories aren't always reliable," he added. "I've found a load of diaries from the '60s, and I've kept a journal for the last 30 years or so. I just have to work out what I did in the '70s."

DEEP PURPLE's latest album, "Whoosh!", was released this past August via earMUSIC. The LP was once again helmed by Canadian producer Bob Ezrin (KISS, PINK FLOYD, ALICE COOPER), who also worked on the band's previous two studio albums, 2017's "Infinite" and 2013's "Now What?!"

Last week, Glover said that PURPLE is planning to enter the studio in 2021 to begin work on another album.

"All this COVID situation has meant that we can't tour," he said in the first part of the earMUSIC fan interview. "We're twiddling our thumbs, really, for over a year, and the idea was to possibly go back in and do another album. And so we're just working towards that. It's so quick after we'd done the last album, [and] maybe that will spoil things, but we're gonna try and do another album at some point next year. We're experimenting with stuff."

X Japan drummer Yoshiki has been releasing his signature wines, Y by Yoshiki, since 2008 in collaboration with Napa Valley winemaker and 4th generation vintner Rob Mondavi Jr. On December 3rd he unveiled five new vintages, which are now available:

- Russian River Valley Pinot Noir 2017
- Russian River Valley Chardonnay 2018
- California Cabernet Sauvignon 2018
- California Chardonnay 2019
- Oakville Cabernet Sauvignon 2017

Y by Yoshiki has already been released in four series and nine types since 2009, but it is sold out instantly every time it is released, and it is also called "phantom wine." When it was released last time in August 2019, it garnered exceptional achievement in the wine industry, such as recording the shipment volume of 25,000 units in just two weeks from the release date. In addition, it has appeared one after another on the wine list of top hotels and restaurants, and its high quality has been praised.

The success of Yoshiki and Rob Mondavi Jr.’s twelve year partnership has produced three core brands – Y by Yoshiki California, Y by Yoshiki Oakville, and Y by Yoshiki Russian River Valley.

Go to the official website to order here.

On October 29th, Yoshiki uploaded pro-shot video of the band performing their classic single "Week End" live without an audience. This was part of a live broadcast. Check it out below, watch for more footage in the near future.

Teutonic thrash metal legends, Destruction, are ready give the year 2020 one final, well-deserved kick in the butt with their event “Thrash Into 2021 - The Ultimate Live Stream Attack”. The live stream of the show at Z7 in Pratteln, Switzerland, will be broadcasted worldwide on New Year's Day via MANDOLIN.

January 1st, 2021 - 8 PM, CET (2 PM, EST/11 AM, PST in the US)

Tickets for the event, as well as more information, can be found here.

Ticket buyers around the globe will be able to watch the show on demand for 48h after its end!

Here's what frontman Schmier has to say: "We are excited to announce, that our MANDOLIN streaming ticket is on sale now. Also Merch Factory has two exclusive event shirts and a merch bundle ready for you. We are all new to this. At the moment an event like this is the only thing that can keep the flame burning, that gives us hope, keeps us busy and entertained and can hopefully help us to survive this crisis that paralyzed our industry and profession.

"The show itself will be filmed at the Z7, the Swiss premier concert temple in Pratteln. We will deliver you an “over the top” concert, a once in a life time event, with extra length, special setlist, some surprises and the full headliner production with top notch picture and sound quality!

"THANK YOU for being a part of this. Your support is the key for any of our future projects, we really appreciate to have such loyal fans all over the world! Hopefully see you all in the near future in person at a real live concert again, cause we all know nothing can beat the tension, the energy, the power and the experience of an attended live gig! UNITED WE STAND!!!

"Enjoy the event and stay healthy and sane!"

Latvian hard rockers, Bloody Heels, have released a "live from the studio" video for "Criminal Masterminds", a track from their new album, Ignite The Sky, out now via Frontiers Music Srl. Watch the clip  below, and order the album here.

Formed in 2012 in Riga, Latvia, Bloody Heels have a musical style that could be best described as a sort of missing link between Crashdïet and Crazy Lixx, with heavier elements like early W.A.S.P. and Kissin’ Dynamite. The band have already made a name for themselves with the EP Summer Nights (2014) and the album Through Mystery (2017). They’ve played shows all around Europe including Sweden, Finland, Norway, Germany, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Poland, Netherlands, Belgium, and the Baltic States.

Tracklisting:

"Ignite The Sky"
"Criminal Masterminds"
"No Matter"
"Sugar & Spice"
"Farewell To Yesterday"
"Black Swan"
"Stand Your Ground"
"Thin Line"
"Silhouette"
"Healing Waters"
"Streets Of Misery"

"Black Swan" video:

"Farewell To Yesterday" 360° video:

"Ignite The Sky" video:

"Criminal Masterminds" video:

 
Lineup:

Vocals - Valts Berzins (Vicky White)
Guitars - Haralds Avotins (Harry Rivers)
Bass - Gunars Narbuts (Gunn Everett)
Drums - Gustavs Vanags (Gus Hawk)
Cello on track "Silhouette" - Erna Daugaviete
Saxophone on track "Healing Waters" - Dagnis Rozins

Reel Art Press has announced the new book, Led Zeppelin Vinyl: The Essential Collection By Ross Halfin, to be released on April 17. All pre-orders placed before April 17 will be signed by Ross Halfin. Pre-order here.

“Collecting vinyl is an addiction. Nothing beats listening to vinyl and pouring over the cover art and inner sleeve. The first album that I ever bought was Led Zeppelin II when I was 13. I have at least 40 different versions of it now.” - Ross Halfin

Led Zeppelin released only eight studio albums and no singles over the course of their 12-year career, but to date there are more than 1,000 singles and 2,000 LPs in the market.

This definitive volume illustrates in full colour some of the rarest and most interesting vinyl releases, including one-of-a-kind rarities, bizarre regional variations, official albums and historic recordings of legendary concerts, sometimes featuring handmade artwork or colored vinyl. All the vinyl, labels and covers have been documented by photographer Ross Halfin in superb detail and are annotated with details of their release. A labour of love, Led Zeppelin Vinyl is a must-have for fans of the group as well as for any vinyl enthusiast.

Ross Halfin is one of the best-known photographers in the world and has been working in the music industry since 1976. He has a record collection almost as extensive as his photo archive.

- 300+ illustrations
- 180pp; Hardback; 300 x 300 mm / 12 x 12 in.
- ISBN: 978-1-909526-80-8

Eclectic Norwegian hard rock band, White Void, have signed a worldwide deal with Nuclear Blast Records. Their debut album, Anti, is set to be released on March 12.

White Void is the new brain child of Lars Are Nedland (Borknagar, Solefald) who comments as follows: “Life is absurd, which means that sometimes strange coincidences occur. Like the fact that the paths of White Void and Nuclear Blast crossed at the perfect time within the strange year that is 2020. I'm stoked to be working with the world's biggest and most renowned hard rock and metal label on getting White Void into the ears and minds of music lovers all around the globe, and I'm confident that this will be a prolific endeavour for everyone involved. We have some pretty special tricks up our sleeves when it comes to this whole enterprise, so step over the event horizon and get drawn into the Void. You're in for a ride!"

Jens Prueter, Head Of A&R for Nuclear Blast Europe, adds: "Lars Nedland has always surprised me ever since he formed Solefald and joined Borknagar a few years later. A free musical mind with a great sense of songwriting. And I was even more surprised when I heard the first White Void mixes. Haven't expected a modern version of Blue Öyster Cult with a twist of New Model Army - combined with Albert Camus' philosophy of absurdism. In case that sounds a bit too heavy, we could also joke about Douglas Adams' “Answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, The Universe, and Everything”: it's 42. Very happy to join Lars and his bandmates on their journey through the void. A void that is perfectly filled with some of the best songs I have heard this year."

Watch a teaser for the upcoming Anti album below:

White Void is the absence of direction and sense in life. It's a description of the fundamental disharmony between the individual's search for meaning and the meaninglessness of the universe.

Eclectic hard rockers White Void are a curious bunch. Forged in the space between the occult rock of the seventies, the no-excuses-hard rock of the eighties and the British New Wave movement, they balance on the event horizon that separate old from new. Aggression from melody. Dream from drive.

Add to that the fact that the band members of White Void have their backgrounds in Norwegian black metal, chiptune electronica, pop music and blues, and you'll see why Anti is an album that's hard to pin down. It's darkly melodic, it's driven, and it's infused with earworms, hooks and licks. Boasting a shameless attitude, though, it comes forth as deeply true to the core of our shared hard rock heritage.

In the center of White Void stands Lars Are Nedland, long time member of Borknagar and Solefald. Leading a team of musicians including Tobias Solbakk of IHSAHN fame, electronica staple Vegard Kummen and blues rock virtuoso Eivind Marum, he navigates the waters of hard rock riffs, new wave harmonies and blues rock solos with determination and elegance.

Still, Anti probably doesn't sound like you think. It's an album riddled with contrasts and references, musically as well as philosophically. The concept is based on Albert Camus' Absurdism and deals with how you cope with an existence that is absurd in its core. Musically it draws on the past while forging towards the future. And the result? Well, enter the Void to find out!

White Void is:

Lars Nedland- Vocals
Tobias Solbakk - Drums
Vegard Kummen - Bass
Eivind Marum - Guitar

(Photo - Jørn Veberg)

In an new interview with Pierre Gutiérrez of Hablas ROCKas, ex-KORN drummer David Silveria, who left the band nearly a decade and a half ago, was asked for his opinion on the KORN albums that were recorded after his departure from the group. He responded (see video below): "I have not listened to a single song full through since I left KORN — honest to God. I'd be pulling up places in my car and on the station there would be KORN, and I would just turn it off. I can't name one KORN song [from the albums I didn't play on]."

He continued: "No offense to KORN — I don't hold any grudges or whatever — but I just haven't listened to any of their music since I've been gone… It wasn't out of spite or anger or anything like that. For some reason, I wasn't interested in what they were doing. I had people tell me and describe their music and all that, but I've never listened to a whole song… And I definitely don't mean that in any kind of insulting way. I just haven't."

Last year, Silveria revealed that he apologized to his former bandmates for the "wrong and mean" things he had said about them since his split from KORN. The drummer was said to be especially upset over the fact that the band welcomed back guitarist Brian "Head" Welch seven years ago but wouldn't do the same for him. Welch left the group in 2005 and continued as a solo artist before rejoining in 2013.

"I was immature, hurt and mad that after Head [rejoined KORN,] they wouldn't let me back in," Silveria wrote in an Instagram post. "Specifically, because the year before Head came back, I personally talked to Head and tried to get him to, along with me, talk to the guys about both of us going back to KORN. At that time, Head said, 'David, you and I are good friends. But don't call me if you are only going to try to get me to go back to KORN. I will never go back.' Then, less than a year later, he goes back to KORN. On our phone call, he said very negative things about KORN, which I won't repeat. The things I said were wrong and mean. I haven't said anything negative about KORN in years now. I have the utmost respect for the guys and an appreciation for every one of those guys."

In June 2019, Silveria, said that he would be willing to mend fences with his former bandmates. "Yeah, I would have no problem with it any way whatsoever," he said during an appearance on the "Appetite For Distortion" podcast. "I have no problem with anybody whatsoever. I just think at some point our comminications broke down so bad that our managers were calling other bandmembers, saying, 'Okay, we talked to Jon [singer Jonathan Davis] about this or that. He wants to do this or that.' And I'm thinking, 'Why isn't Jon talking to us? Why is it happening like this?' And it just got worse and worse, to the point where we weren't even talking at all — nobody was even talking. It was so weird. I don't even know why the hell it ever got like that. It was so many years ago, I couldn't even imagine, at my age, ever having a relationship break down that bad and not just go up and say, 'Hey, we've gotta work this shit out. This is ridiculous.'"

Asked why he couldn't rekindle his relationship with his former bandmates, even if it's just on a friendship level, David said: "I really don't know why. I guess you have to ask those guys."

Silveria, who left KORN in 2006, told "The Ex-Man" podcast that his relationship with his bandmates started deteriorating around the time he suffered a serious back injury in the mid-2000s, which left him with debilitating pain that eventually led to his exit from the KORN.

Silveria sued KORN in February 2015, insisting that his exit from the group was merely a hiatus and that he was rebuffed when he tried to return to the band in 2013. David said he still had ownership interest in KORN and asked a judge to force the band to reveal how much money they've made since he left so that he can get his rightful share. KORN countersued and the two sides reached an agreement in 2016 that called for Silveria to give up his rights to KORN royalties going forward in exchange for a lump sum.

A few years ago, Davis told The Pulse Of Radio that he believed Silveria had lost his passion for playing music, saying, "The first two albums, I think, he really enjoyed playing drums and then after that he just lost his love for playing drums. It happens."

David told fans in 2013 that KORN was not the same since he left, saying, "Until they have the real 'funky drummer' it's just not gonna groove the way it could. I've made it clear that I would come back and restore the groove."

Silveria recently launched a new band called BREAKING IN A SEQUENCE (a.k.a. BI*AS). He is joined in the Orange County, California-based group by bassist Chris Dorame, guitarists Joe Taback and Mike Martin and singer Rich Nguyen.

Last month, BREAKING IN A SEQUENCE released its cover version of FAITH NO MORE's classic song "Midlife Crisis".

Shockfest Film Festival 2020 will present the "Shocker Award" to Rob Zombie at this year's "Shockfest Spookshow" on Friday, December 11. Rob will be a guest of honor for the night's festivities.

Shockfest Film Festival is an annual horror film festival held every year, showcasing shocking and horrifying films from all over the world. This year's event will take place virtually, and is by invite only

Festival organizers said: "Thank you Rob Zombie for being a part of Shockfest Film Festival 2020 during such a tumultuous year for the world and for sharing our poster on your page."

A musician, filmmaker, and author, Rob Zombie has directed eight feature films, including last year's "3 From Hell", 2016's "31" and 2012's "The Lords Of Salem". His other directing credits include the cult favorite "House Of 1000 Corpses" and its companion, "The Devil's Rejects", along with the 2007 re-imagining of John Carpenter's "Halloween", plus its sequel, "Halloween 2". Zombie also developed his own comic book series into an R-rated animated feature, "The Haunted World Of El Superbeasto".

Zombie admitted to The Pulse Of Radio a while back that it's been tough for him to break out of the horror genre. "The movies I've made up to this point have been pretty dark and pretty much in that world because those are the opportunities that were presented," he explained. "You know, the people that put up the money for these things know that if I stick to that sort of thing, it's easily more profitable. So it's a much bigger challenge to break out of it."

Zombie will release his seventh studio album, "The Lunar Injection Kool Aid Eclipse Conspiracy", on March 12, 2021 via Nuclear Blast. The LP marks his first new album in nearly five years.

Photo credit: Travis Shinn


Rob Zombie will be awarded the Shocker Award at Shockfest Film Festival 2020 on Dec. 11th.

Posted by Rob Zombie on Thursday, December 3, 2020

Eddie Van Halen's son Wolfgang, who recently released the first single from his MAMMOTH WVH solo project, says that his father was actually a pretty lame guitar teacher.

"He didn't teach me" how to play guitar," Wolfgang told "The Afternoon Program" on the 102.9 The Hog radio station (hear audio below). "He was a terrible teacher. He only taught me how to do power chords on a guitar, and then I taught myself. [Laughs] I would ask him how to play something, and then he would just be himself, which is be a legendary guitar player. He couldn't really help me connect point A to point B; he would just do it and go, 'Do this,' because it's so easy for him. And I would just laugh and be, like, 'Okay.' [Laughs]

"I guess it's the same thing with [Albert] Einstein," he added, referring to arguably the greatest scientist of all time. "[Einstein] couldn't tie his shoes. There's a saying where it's, like, you're such a genius that it's hard to impart that to others; it's just kind of what you are. [Laughs]"

Wolfgang, who played all the instruments on MAMMOTH WVH's upcoming debut album, went on to say that he picked up guitar when he was just 12 years old, "because I wanted to learn how to play '316', the song [my father] wrote for me, at a talent show at my school. I think it was sixth grade."

At the age of 16, Wolfgang joined his father in VAN HALEN for the band's 2007 reunion tour with singer David Lee Roth, replacing bassist Michael Anthony.

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.

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

MAMMOTH WVH's first single, "Distance", was released last month. Wolfgang wrote the song while his late father battled cancer, "imagining what my life would be without him, and how terribly I'd miss him," as Wolfgang explained in a statement.

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

In a new interview with BBC Radio 6 Music, SMASHING PUMPKINS frontman Billy Corgan was asked if he ever got a chance to meet Eddie Van Halen and whether the legendary VAN HALEN axeman was an influence on his guitar playing. Billy responded (hear audio below): "Oh my God! For American guitar players, he was the supreme thing. He's the one who pushed us to be better than we probably would have been.

"I was lucky because, around 1997 [or] '98, there was a guitar magazine in America, and I went to them, and I said, 'I'd really like to interview Eddie Van Halen,'" he continued. "And they said, 'Why do you wanna interview Eddie Van Halen?' I said, 'Because I'd really like to introduce him to a generation of alternative guitar players.' To me, he really is an alternative guitar player; I know he gets kind of lumped in the other way. And so they allowed me to basically have a four-hour interview with Eddie at his studio. I got to sit two feet away from Eddie and watch him play, and I'm telling you, it was like a religious experience. I mean, the man was so gifted, so kind."

Corgan added: "I'll tell you a quick story. Towards the end of the interview, I said to him, 'There's all those stories about the amp you used on 'Van Halen I' and tada tada da. I said, 'Do you still have the amp?' He goes, 'Oh, yeah.' He takes me around the corner, kind of near the dustbin, and he's, like, 'There it is.' I go, 'What about all the stories that you did all this special modification?' He goes, 'Oh, it's not true at all.'"

Eddie died on October 6 at St. John's Hospital in Santa Monica, California at the age of 65. His wife, Janie, was by his side, along with his son, Wolfgang, and Alex, Eddie's brother and VAN HALEN drummer.

The iconic VAN HALEN axeman died from complications due to cancer, his son confirmed.

VAN HALEN was inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame in 2007.

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