Tygers Of Pan Tang have released a promotional video for the recently released reissue of the 2002 album, Ambush. Watch below:

Ambush (2020 reissue) comes newly remastered at Medley Studios, Copenhagen, with extensive sleeve notes from all of the band members. Four bonus tracks complete the package including two live tracks featuring the lineup that recorded the album:

Jacopo Meille - vocals
Robb Weir - guitars
Gav Gray - bass
Craig Ellis – drums
Dean Robertson - guitars

Order here.

“Keeping Me Alive“
“These Eyes“
“One Of A Kind“
“Rock ‘N’ Roll Dream“
“She“
“Man On Fire“
“Play To Win“
“Burning Desire“
“Hey Suzie“
“Mr. Indispensable“
“Speed“
“Cruel Hands Of Time“ (Studio Outtake)
“Keeping Me Alive“ (Live)
“These Eyes“ (Live)
“Rock 'N' Roll Dream“ (Demo)

“Cruel Hands Of Time” lyric video:




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Last month, JUDAS PRIEST and Rufus Publications announced the publication of the first-ever official JUDAS PRIEST book documenting the band's extensive history over the last 50 years. Titled "Judas Priest - 50 Heavy Metal Years", the book has been put together by David Silver, Ross Halfin and Jayne Andrews.

The official trailer for "Judas Priest - 50 Heavy Metal Years" is available below.

This huge, 648-page coffee table book chronicles the history of the world’s foremost heavy metal band using hundreds of previously unseen, unpublished photographs from rock's greatest photographers including Halfin, Neil Zlozower, Mark Weiss, Fin Costello, Oliver Halfin and many more. With a linking text by renowned journalist Mark Blake, the book explores the bands exciting history on stage and off in a unique photo documentary designed to excite fans and devotees of true heavy metal the world over. Current bandmembers have all contributed to the book, with written pieces detailing their love and passion for the band, making this an extraordinary artefact for their legions of followers. The book features an exclusive cover by Mark Wilkinson, who has worked with the band for many years now.

Halfin says: "I've photographed JUDAS PRIEST from 1978 until now, and of all the bands I've worked with, they are one of the most enjoyable to me. You have to love the mighty PRIEST."

PRIEST guitarist Glenn Tipton comments: "We spearheaded the visual image of metal, breathing new life into it, and it has been captured forever in the pages of this book."

Rufus Publications is making four editions of the book available, including an edition designed to raise money for the Glenn Tipton Parkinson's Foundation and a giant 410mm square edition supplied in a beautiful black metal slipcase. The book will ship in early December in time for Christmas.

* The Standard Edition: 648-page book, 12" square printed on art paper - supplied in a cloth slipcase with red foil.

* The Deluxe Edition: 500 numbered copies, 12" square, bound in black leather with a 3D lenticular to the front, gold foil and an exclusive fold-out poster. Each copy is personally signed by Rob Halford, Glenn Tipton, Ian Hill, Richie Faulkner and Scott Travis.

* The Glenn Tipton Parkinson's Foundation Charity Edition: 100 numbered copies, 12" square, printed on art paper with a special blue cover supplied in a cloth slipcase with blue foil. Each copy is personally signed by Rob Halford, Glenn Tipton, Ian Hill, Richie Faulkner and Scott Travis. All proceeds from this edition will go to the Glenn Tipton Parkinson's Foundation.

* The Epic Leather and Metal Edition: 100 numbered copies, 16" square, bound in luxurious padded black leather with a 3D lenticular to the front, gold foil and an exclusive fold-out poster. The book comes in a die cut black metal slipcase. Each copy is personally signed by Rob Halford, Glenn Tipton, Ian Hill, Richie Faulkner and Scott Travis.

"Judas Priest - 50 Heavy Metal Years" can be exclusively pre-ordered at www.rufuspublications.com. Special priced bundle editions will also be available to pre-order and a 10% pre-order discount can be used at the online checkout with the code PRIEST50.

JUDAS PRIEST frontman Rob Halford's autobiography, "Confess", arrived on September 29 via Hachette Books.

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.

Celebrating 25 years as a solo artist: Mike Tramp announces the ultimate best of Tramp album: Trampthology. 

Christmas comes early this year. On December 18th 2020, the all new best-of album Trampthology from the White Lion / Freak Of Nature frontman will be released on double gatefold 180g vinyl and double CD.

This will be a very special treat for all fans of Mike Tramp with 16 of the biggest hits from his amazing solo career, four brand new songs, and fresh liner notes.

Mike Tramp comments: "As I started the process of writing songs for my first solo album Capricorn in late 1995. I was both apprehensive and curious of what the result would be like. For 20 years, I had been part of three bands and a collective songwriting team. But now I was on my own, and writing just for me, no one else. It became a wonderful journey where I both would discover who I am and where I come from, and also what my true inspirations and goals are. Now, 25 years and 11 solo albums later, I feel safe and secure knowing that I am my songs and my songs are me. They are a musical scrapbook of the life I have lived and the life I continue living. They are not about paying the rent or alimony, they are a true and confident representation of the man I am."

There will be four brand new tracks on Trampthology. One of them, entitled "Take Me Away", will be released as a single on October 23rd.

Trampthology will be released on 180g double gatefold black vinyl and double CD by Target Records on December 18th, 2020. It will be exclusively available through Targetshop and all pre-orders will be delivered with one exclusive postcard.

Trampthology artwork and tracklisting:

"Give It All You Got"
"If I Live Tomorrow"
"More To Life Than This"
"The Road"
"Ain't Done Yet"
"Dead End Ride"
"Maybe Tomorrow"
"Mr. Death"
"Mother"
"Take Me Away"
"Cobblestone Street"
"Trust In Yourself"
"New Day"
"Bow And Obey"
"Every Time"
"Coming Home"
"Lay Down My Life For You"
"Better Off"
"The Way It Was Before"
"I'll Never Be Young Again"

(Top photo: Eddie Malluk, Trampthology photo: Jakob Muxoll)

 




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Canadian melodic power metal quartet, Unleash The Archers, recently released their fifth full-length album, Abyss, via Napalm Records. Today, the band is following up on the album's successes by throwing fans a hefty bonus in the form of a new video for the post-drop fan favorite "Legacy" - one of Abyss' standout anthems.

Searing in with breakneck blastbeats, cosmic guitar work and frontwoman Brittney Slayes' impeccable vocal delivery, the pop-tinged anthem single-handedly proves the band's position as one of this generation's premier heavy acts, bar none. The new video provides an introspective live-action backdrop to the track's conceptual lyrics.

Brittney Slayes explains: "This song means a lot to us as a band, it's pretty different from everything that we've done before and really set the tone for the sonic exploration that is Abyss. When Andrew first brought the intro riff to us we immediately loved it, but we were a little hesitant as we felt our fans might not understand why we were choosing to include this style of track on the album. The hesitation was momentary though, as we all very quickly decided it was too cool not to continue writing, and luckily it seems like our fans have fallen in love with it as well. It's quite theatrical, and yet somehow very simplistic as well."

Slayes adds about the video: "When it came time to choose the next song for a music video, 'Legacy' was the resounding winner, but we wanted to do something a bit more than the traditional lyric video. The band all agreed that this is the kind of track that you put on when you're commuting, when you're wandering through the city just vibin', when you're on that long bus ride or skytrain ride staring out the window at the world passing by... So that's what this video is. It's you hanging out in our heads as we walk the streets of Vancouver, traveling towards something, or away from something, but always moving forward. We hope 'Legacy' can be your soundtrack to those everyday moments in life, when you've finally put the phone away to really look around and enjoy the beauty of the world that surrounds you. We genuinely hope it can be a small light in this seemingly never ending darkness, even just for a moment."

Abyss was engineered, mixed and mastered by Jacob Hansen of Hansen Studios in Denmark (Volbeat, Delain, Amaranthe), with production by guitarist Andrew Kingsley. Order Abyss in available formats here.

Abyss tracklisting:

"Waking Dream"
"Abyss"
"Through Stars"
"Legacy"
"Return To Me"
"Soulbound"
"Faster Than Light"
"The Wind That Shapes The Land"
"Carry The Flame" (feat. guitarist Andrew Kingsley on guest vocals)
"Afterlifev (feat. orchestration by Francesco Ferrini)

"Faster Than Light" video:

"Soulbound" video:

"Abyss" video:

Lineup:

Brittney Slayes - Vocals
Scott Buchanan - Drums
Grant Truesdell - Guitar, Vocals
Andrew Kingsley - Guitar, Vocals, Synth

(Photo - Shimon Karmel)




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Stockholm, Sweden's Metalite have released a video for the song, "We Bring You The Stars". Watch below.

Says the band: "A couple of days ago we released the previously unreleased song, 'We Bring You The Stars', on all digital music platforms. We are really happy about how well it was received by all of our fans! So happy that we now release a video on YouTube! We gathered a bunch of clips from some recording/video/photo sessions that we think you'll like! Stream it and share it!"




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Killer Be Killed - Max Cavalera (Soulfly/ex-Sepultura), Ben Koller (Converge/Mutoid Man), Greg Puciato (The Dillinger Escape Plan/The Black Queen) and Troy Sanders (Mastodon/Gone Is Gone) - debut a second single from the band’s forthcoming album, Reluctant Hero, unveiling a fiery live performance video for “Dream Gone Bad”.

Troy said of the song: “Dissecting the idea of uncertainty and how you pull from that to find your way. ‘Dream Gone Bad’ was initially spearheaded by Max and I, and as I listen back, through the collaborative process this creation’s final form has now become a dream-come-true.”

The video, which was shot in Arizona last month, was directed by Jim Louvau and Tony Aguilera.

Reluctant Hero will be released on November 20 viaNuclear Blast Records. Reluctant Hero pre-orders are available here, with the release available in a variety of limited edition vinyl variants, as well as on CD and a 2LP black vinyl version. Pre-save, listen and download on all digital platforms here.

Reluctant Hero tracklisting:

"Deconstructing Self-Destruction"
"Dream Gone Bad"
"Left Of Center"
"Inner Calm From Outer Storms"
"Filthy Vagabond"
"From A Crowded Wound"
"The Great Purge"
"Comfort From Nothing"
"Animus"
"Dead Limbs"
"Reluctant Hero"

"Deconstructing Self-Destruction" visualizer:

(Photo - Jim Louvau)




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Howling Giant have premiered "Lord Of This World", taken from the forthcoming MER Redux series instalment, Best Of Black Sabbath. Listen below.

"Ozzy is the biggest vocal influence for us, blending the clean melodic vocals with heavier pentatonic based riffery, which is one of the core flavors of Howling Giant and directly influenced by Sabbath", writes drummer and vocalist Zach Wheeler. "Usually, when we do a cover, we like to chop and screw everything from the song form, musical arrangement, and sometimes will even add in our own melodies. We feel that the only reason to do a cover is to make it your own and offer a different experience than the original. When it comes to Black Sabbath, they're so revered within our scene that we decided not to alter the riffs or song form too much. We used our classic HG tone and added some sax on the low end riff to offer a slightly different sound palette. We also recently worked with Ben from All Them Witches on our Ripple Music split album, 'Masamune & Muramasa', so we wanted to get him shredding dual solos with Tom over some extended sections."

In a tumultuous celebration of Black Sabbath's 50th anniversary, Magnetic Eye presents Best Of Black Sabbath, a double-album featuring 15 heart-stopping renditions of classic tunes from across the discography of the godfathers of metal by some of the riff-heaviest bands in today’s stoner doom scene.

A companion to Vol. 4 [Redux], Best Of Black Sabbath features both faithful takes and almost unrecognizable re-creations, all in devotion and tribute to the beloved metal pioneers from Birmingham.

Pre-order here.

Best Of Black Sabbath tracklisting:

Earthless - "Never Say Die"
Caustic Casanova - "Wicked World"
Summoner - "A National Acrobat"
Black Electric - "Sweet Leaf"
Rwake - "The Rwrit"
Ginsburg/Margera/Reeder/Rota - "NIB"
Year Of The Cobra - "Planet Caravan"
Hippie Death Cult - "Fairies Wear Boots"
Leather Lung - "Hole In The Sky"
Mooner - "The Wizard"
Solace - "Electric Funeral"
Howling Giant - "Lord Of This World"
Elephant Tree - "Paranoid"
Brume - "Solitude"
Saint Karloff - "Sleeping Village"

Howling Giant - "Lord Of This World":

(Photo - Kim Wheeler)




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Heavy metal act, Crystal Viper, have inked a new multiple album deal with Listenable Records. Their new studio album, entitled The Cult will be released in January 2021. CD and digital version will include an exclusive bonus cover version of King Diamond classic "Welcome Home" (recorded with special guest, King Diamond guitarist Andy La Rocque), while the vinyl bonus track will be a cover version of legendary UK act Satan's ultimate classic, "Trial By Fire".

Band leader Marta Gabriel comments: "I’m super excited about this new album, as it marks a new era of the band. First of all, it’s our first album for Listenable Records, and It’s also our first album with new drummer Cederick who joined us last year. I’m also back to playing guitar, and I couldn’t be happier! When it comes to style and music, we decided to do something we feel very comfortable and honest with, and show everyone where we belong and where we come from. So yes, The Cult marks Crystal Viper’s return to its roots, pure classic heavy metal! You might even want to call it old school, as we feel we‘ve never had as many catchy guitar riffs and harmonies than on any of our other albums."

"The Cult cover artwork was painted by Mario Lopez, and it kind of reveals what’s inside” continues Marta. "It’s a classic looking heavy metal artwork, and yes, one look at it and at the song titles, and you will know that it’s all about. H.P. Lovecraft!"

Tracklisting:

"Providence"
"The Cult"
"Whispers From Beyond"
"Down In The Crypt"
"Sleeping Giants"
"Forgotten Land"
"Asenath Waite"
"The Calling"
"Flaring Madness"
"Lost In The Dark"
"Welcome Home" (King Diamond cover - CD bonus)
"Trial By Fire" (Satan cover - vinyl bonus)

Crystal Viper are:

Marta Gabriel - vocals, guitars
Andy Wave - guitars
Eric Juris - guitars
Blaze Grygiel - bass
Cederick Forsberg - drums




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Phil Campbell And The Bastard Sons have released a video for the title track of their new album, We're The Bastards. The album will be released on November 13 via Nuclear Blast. Watch the new clip below.

The album will be available as CD, limited digipack including four bonus tracks, 2LP Gold, 2LP Sparkle (UK exclusive), digital album, 2 LP Orange/Black Splatter (Mailorder + Wholesale exclusive) and 2LP Black.

Pre-order here. Pre-save on all digital streaming platforms here.

Tracklisting:

"We're The Bastards"
"Son Of A Gun"
"Promises Are Poison"
"Born To Roam"
"Animals"
"Bite My Tongue"
"Desert Song"
"Keep Your Jacket On"
"Lie To Me"
"Riding Straight To Hell"
"Hate Machine"
"Destroyed"
"Waves"

Bonus tracks (limited digipak):
"Big Mouth" (Live)
"Freak Show" (Live)
"Dark Days" (Live)
"Rock 'n' Roll" (Live)

"We're The Bastards" video:

"Son Of A Gun" video:




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SMASHING PUMPKINS have released two more songs from their upcoming double album, "Cyr". "Anno Satana" and "Birch Grove" arrived Thursday night alongside the third episode of the band's five-part animated series "In Ashes".

"Anno Satana" and "Birch Grove" come on the heels of previously released "Cyr" tracks "Confessions Of A Dopamine Addict", "Wrath", "The Colour Of Love" and the title track.

"Cyr" will be made available on November 27 via Sumerian Records. The 20-song follow-up to 2018's "Shiny And Oh So Bright, Vol. 1 / LP: No Past. No Future. No Sun." was produced by singer-songwriter Billy Corgan.

"'Cyr' is dystopic folly," Corgan said in a statement, "one soul against the world sort of stuff, set against a backdrop of shifting loyalties and sped up time. To me it stands as both hopeful and dismissive of what is and isn't possible with faith."

"Cyr" track listing:

01. The Colour Of Love

02. Confessions Of A Dopamine Addict

03. Cyr

04. Dulcet In E

05. Wrath

06. Ramona

07. Anno Satana

08. Birch Grove

09. Wyttch

10. Starrcraft

11. Purple Blood

12. Save Your Tears

13. Telegenix

14. Black Forest, Black Hills

15. Adrennalynne

16. Haunted

17. The Hidden Sun

18. Schaudenfreud

19. Tyger, Tyger

20. Minerva

"Shiny And Oh So Bright, Vol. 1 / LP: No Past. No Future. No Sun." was SMASHING PUMPKINS' first album in over 18 years to feature founding members Corgan, Jimmy Chamberlin and James Iha, along with longtime guitarist Jeff Schroeder.

Earlier this year, Corgan told Tennessean about SMASHING PUMPKINS' upcoming studio album: "When we got back together with James, we went in with Rick Rubin and did eight songs. It was put out as a formal album, but I said at the time — and I did mean it — in my eyes, it wasn't an album. We didn't approach it like we've approached every other album we'd ever done, which is more like making a movie.

"In many ways, this is the first real album [since the reunion] where we've hunkered down and made a classic, 'Let's throw it all at the wall and see what happens' type of PUMPKINS record. I've been working on it for over a year.

"This is the first album since the album that came out in 2000, 'Machina', where me, James and Jimmy worked on something for a very long time," he added. "It's got a greater conceptual base, and it's probably a wider swath of music. The last one was kind of like, 'Let's just jump in, record some stuff real fast, and let it be what it is,' ... so I'm excited about this, because we're kind of back in the lane of taking a risk, and trying to bring something new to the table, as opposed to just aping what we're known for."

As the rock world continues to deal with the shock of the passing of guitar god Eddie Van Halen, tributes to the man and his talent continue to pour in. Following is an excerpt from guitarist Dweezil Zappa's thoughts on Eddie: 

"Every so often a guitarist comes along who does something so unexpected, even the guitar itself has no choice but to surrender. Edward Lodewijk Van Halen was such a guitarist and arguably, he inspired more people to play guitar than anyone in history. A perennial rule-breaker with a name mightier than most mythical beasts, he commanded the instrument to perform as a pure extension of his unbridled creativity all while smiling wider than the Grand Canyon. It was as if he space docked himself to the guitar prior to launching into the 'zone' where he was able to effortlessly summon otherworldly riffs.

Music was changed forever when Edward Van Halen was introduced to the world and now it is forever changed by his early departure from our world. To this day, there isn’t a more original guitar intro than 'Mean Streets'. It’s as perplexing now as it was 39 years ago when it forced all of us to ask ourselves, 'How is he doing that?' Which by the way, he had all of us asking the same question since the first VH album, when we all heard 'Eruption'. Because he was such an innovator, we may never stop asking that question.

For those of us old enough to remember living in an analog world where we listened deep and hard and caught all the nuances on every recording because we didn’t have search engines to offer us ubiquitous visual references yet, take a moment to cherish that feeling of being so completely blown away by Edward Van Halen's contributions to music. We lined up at record stores to pay for as much music as we could afford and camped out in the snow, in long lines with other worshipers to buy tickets for concerts we couldn’t imagine missing. We took binoculars with us hoping to catch a fleeting glimpse of Edward Van Halen demonstrating what in the actual fuck he was doing. We couldn't get enough and couldn't wait to see what he would come up with next. He changed our lives.

As athletic as his playing could be it was never flash over substance. He epitomized the fusion of technical precision and musicality. His intense rhythmic bond with his brother Alex fueled their music in a way that can't be accurately described in words but can most definitely be felt emotionally. It was glorious to watch the virtuoso Van Halen brothers doing what they do best and when Wolfgang joined the mix, the DNA trifecta was one of Edward's proudest moments. He loved playing music with them and we should all take a moment to recognize that the Van Halen family loss is deep. If 'Unchained' used to fire you up, it might make you cry your eyes out now.

We are the benefactors of Edward Van Halen's groundbreaking and timeless music, innovations, and design. We are the awestruck bystanders who witnessed a once in lifetime culmination of groove from the soul, harmonic complexity, and wicked tone wrapped up in a childlike grin. Edward Van Halen didn’t play the electric guitar like us, the guitar was filtered through him and his deft guidance. He made it look easy - we know it wasn't. For many, he will always be the king. Long Live The King!"

Read Zappa's tribute to Eddie Van Halen in its entirety here.




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Adam Lambert says that his collaboration with QUEEN is more of a tribute to the music of the iconic theatrical rock group than an attempt at imitation, even with two of QUEEN's original members, guitarist Brian May and drummer Roger Taylor, accompanying him on stage.

Lambert, Taylor and May first performed together during "American Idol" in May 2009 for a rendition of "We Are The Champions". They teamed up again in 2011 at the MTV European Music Awards in Belfast, Ireland for an electrifying eight-minute finale of "The Show Must Go On", "We Will Rock You" and "We Are The Champions" and in the summer of 2012, the singer performed a series of shows with QUEEN across Europe as well as dates in Russia, Ukraine and Poland. They have since completed a number of tours and performed at some of the biggest festivals in the world.

Lambert, who was the openly first gay man to have a No. 1 album on the Billboard 200 chart, spoke about his ongoing stint with QUEEN in a recent interview with BBC Sounds.

"Right away, when this first started about seven years ago, I was so excited and anxious to get onstage with these guys, but I remember I was thinking to myself, 'Oh, wow! Will the fans accept this? How is the band gonna accept me?'" he said. "And one of the first conversations we had was what their expectations were, and they said right away, 'Please, just make it your own. You don't have to worry about exactly how Freddie did it on the record.' And that was a green light to me to just make sure that I didn't mimic him — that's not what they were interested in.

"We all agreed that there's no replacing Freddie — he's irreplaceable," Adam continued. "So one of the things that we've done is feature him in the show. We have his voice and video playing in the show, and it's very exciting. It keeps the fans realizing that this is a celebration."

According to Lambert, it took him a little bit of time to get comfortable delivering QUEEN's classic songs with conviction while paying tribute to the band's legendary singer.

"For the first couple of years, it was finding that balance between making it my own and then sort of not straying too far from the original spirit," he said. "And once I figured out that balance, that's when it really started to take off, I think."

May previously described Lambert as the only singer the band had found capable of filling the shoes of QUEEN's original frontman Freddie Mercury, who died in 1991 of complications from to AIDS. "Adam is the first person we've encountered who can do all the QUEEN catalog without blinking," said May. "He is a gift from God." Taylor echoed the guitarist's sentiments, adding: "[Adam's] incredibly musical, and we certainly take anything he says quite seriously."

QUEEN + ADAM LAMBERT released their first-ever live album, "Live Around The World" on October 2 in CD, CD+DVD, CD+Blu-ray and vinyl formats. The set presents a compilation of concert highlights captured the world over personally selected by Taylor, May and Lambert from over 200 shows they have performed with several featured here becoming available for the very first time.

Burton C. Bell says that he is "done" with FEAR FACTORY, explaining that he is "just moving forward" with his life.

Late last month, Bell issued a statement officially announcing his departure from FEAR FACTORY, explaining that he "cannot align" himself with someone whom he does not trust or respect.

Bell's exit from FEAR FACTORY came more than two weeks after FEAR FACTORY guitarist Dino Cazares launched a GoFundMe campaign to assist him with the production costs associated with the release of FEAR FACTORY's long-awaited new album.

Asked in a new interview with Kerrang! if his walking away from FEAR FACTORY had been on his mind for some time, Bell said: "It's been on my mind for a while. These lawsuits [over the rights to the FEAR FACTORY name] just drained me. The egos. The greed. Not just from bandmembers, but from the attorneys involved. I just lost my love for it.

"I've been working [intensely] on [the ASCENSION OF] THE WATCHERS [project] for the last two years. Working with people who I can trust and who I love, and with whom I have grown to find a niche musically definitely pushed me towards it," he continued. "There are a lot of surprises. I've had a lot of surprises for the last four years.

"With FEAR FACTORY, it's just constantly been, like, 'What?!' You can only take so much. I felt like 30 years was a good run. Those albums I've done with FEAR FACTORY will always be out there. I'll always be part of that. I just felt like it was time to move forward."

Pressed about whether there is any chance of a reconciliation with FEAR FACTORY down the line, Burton said: "I'm done. I haven't spoken to Dino in three years. I haven't spoken to Raymond [Herrera, drums] and Christian [Olde Wolbers, bass] in longer than that, and I have no intention to. I'm just moving forward with my life."

Earlier this month, Dino issued a statement in which he said that the door for Burton to come back to FEAR FACTORY wouldn't "stay open forever." He also explained that Burton "lost his legal rights" to the FEAR FACTORY name "after a long court battle" with Herrera and Olde Wolbers. "I had the opportunity to do something right, and I felt that obtaining the name in full was the right thing to do for the both of us, so after nearly four years we can continue as FEAR FACTORY, to make more records and to tour," he said. "That is why it is sad to hear that he decided to quit and, in my opinion, for whatever issues he has it seems like it could've been worked out."

In explaining his reasons for starting a fundraising campaign, Cazares said that all donations will go toward covering newly incurred production costs involved with the making of the new FEAR FACTORY LP, including re-recording the drums, guitars, bass and keyboards, as well as mixing and mastering by Andy Sneap. Burton's original lead vocals, which were recorded in full in 2017, will remain on the new version of the album.

FEAR FACTORY's fundraising campaign marks the first public activity from the band since it completed a 2016 U.S. headlining tour on which it performed its classic second album, "Demanufacture", in its entirety.

With tickets and seat assignments in hand, DIRTY HONEY was set to fly to Australia last March to begin recording a second batch of new tunes when they got word that all flights to Australia had been canceled due to COVID-19. Plans were to again meet up with Nick DiDia — who produced the band's self-titled debut EP that included the single "When I'm Gone" — at his studio in Byron Bay. Now, six months later, with a travel ban between the U.S. and Australia still in place, DIRTY HONEY has just gone into a Los Angeles recording studio with DiDia producing via Zoom.

"Back in March, we had a handful of songs that were in various states of completion," said the band's vocalist Marc LaBelle, "but now, not being able to tour, we've had the time to finish them, feel really confident about them, and write more. We're going into the studio with twice as many new songs as we had back in March. The pre-production for this new music has been handled exactly the same way as it was for the EP; Nick was in Australia, we were here in Los Angeles, and we were sending demos back and forth. Recording the music remotely is what's different this time. But Nick brought in Brendan O'Brien's engineer, Tom Syrowski (AC/DC, Chris Cornell), who's been in the room with some incredible artists, so it's going to be great."

Added DIRTY HONEY's guitarist John Notto: "We really know these new songs, because we played most of them live, every night when we were on tour — that's where we did a lot of the pre-production, in front of the fans. Getting feedback from fans at the merch table after the shows, and watching the YouTube videos they shot and posted all helped us finalize the new songs. And the songs that we've written since our tour ended, we've been playing the crap out of them in rehearsal. We've got a few tracks where we stretched a little more, but all in all, I think fans can expect a shot in the arm, kick-ass rock'n'roll."

"The adventure factor of the past two years definitely played a role in the new songs," said LaBelle. "I look back over that time, and it's been an incredible ride...All of the support we've had, being played on our hometown radio station, something I never really thought would happen, it's just crazy."

To say that 2019 was a breakout year for DIRTY HONEY would be an understatement. The band released its self-titled debut EP in March 2019. Over the course of the last year-plus, DIRTY HONEY opened for THE WHO, GUNS N' ROSES and SLASH FEATURING MYLES KENNEDY & THE CONSPIRATORS, performed at more than a dozen major summer festivals, including Welcome To Rockville, Louder Than Life, Heavy Montreal, Rocklahoma, Sonic Temple and Epicenter, and played to SRO crowds at every show on its first-ever headline tour in December and January and February this year. DIRTY HONEY also made music history when it became the only unsigned artist ever to hit #1 on Billboard's Mainstream Rock Chart with its debut track "When I'm Gone". Additionally, the band was named Canadian Rock Radio's #1 International Breakout Artist of 2019. DIRTY HONEY's second single, went all the way to No. 4 at Rock Radio, and the music video has racked up more than 4.5 million YouTube plays.

Photo credit: Owen Cox

In a new interview with United Rock Nations, DREAM THEATER guitarist John Petrucci was asked what keeps him motivated to write music and perform live after all these years. He responded (see video below): "I think the thing that drives me the most is that I enjoy it so much. I think that I've always been a creative person. Even when I was younger and I didn't play guitar, I was into drawing and painting. It's just something that is part of what I am, what I do.

"I love playing guitar," he continued. "The whole process of creating music on the instrument and then going into a place and building it into something, I always find it very inspiring and just a lot of fun and engaging. And then the performance side is a whole different thing. Some people really enjoy performing; some musicians don't. It depends. I know people that don't. But for me, I just love getting onstage and playing guitar — with my friends, with my bandmembers or with other guitar players, with [the] 'G3' [tour].

"The whole thing about guitar specifically and all the gear that's associated with that — getting into tones and sounds and effects, and developing things, like guitars and amplifiers, like I've done, it's just really cool," John added. "I guess that's what keeps me driven — is that I really enjoy doing it. I like the challenge of it. I like the creative and artistic satisfaction of it, and I like the joy of playing music. Music is such a big part of who I am."

Petrucci released his second solo album, "Terminal Velocity", on August 28 via Sound Mind Music/The Orchard. The follow-up to 2005's "Suspended Animation" features guest musicians Mike Portnoy (SONS OF APOLLO, ex-DREAM THEATER) on drums and Dave LaRue (DIXIE DREGS) on bass. The effort marks the first time Petrucci and Portnoy recorded together in over a decade, as well as their first time playing together since Portnoy departed DREAM THEATER.

AC/DC will release their new album, Power Up, on November 13 via Columbia Records. Limited Edition Deluxe Lightbox, CD, Vinyl and Digital Downloads are available for pre-order here. The official AC/DC store also has an array of pre-order options, which can be viewed here.

Power Up is the long awaited new album from AC/DC, and the band’s 17th studio album. For Power Up, the band reunited with producer Brendan O’Brien who helmed the double-platinum Black Ice in 2008 and the gold Rock Or Bust in 2014. Charged up for the next decade, AC/DC cut twelve new tracks for the album, proudly maintaining their signature sound and all of its powerful hallmarks.

Power Up is announced with the release of the album’s first single, “Shot In The Dark” (listen below), and features the lineup of Angus Young (lead guitar), Brian Johnson (lead vocals), Cliff Williams (bass guitar), Phil Rudd (drums), and Stevie Young (rhythm guitar) firing on all cylinders once again.

The band's label selected "Shot In The Dark" as the first single, although Brian Johnson teases there are plenty more like it on the full album.

Speaking to USA Today, Johnson states: "I wouldn't like to be the boy responsible for picking from the 12 songs, I really wouldn't," Johnson says good-naturedly. "That's the record company – they're usually pretty good at that stuff. Like Angus said, as soon as you turn this one on, you're like, 'That's AC/DC! Forget about it!' Nobody makes music like that. I think it's a great single, but I mean, there's a lot of good singles on there. I think that's why the album is such a hottie."

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.

Tracklisting:

"Realize"
"Rejection"
"Shot in the Dark"
"Through the Mists of Time"
"Kick You When You're Down"
"Witch's Spell"
"Demon Fire"
"Wild Reputation"
"No Man's Land"
"Systems Down"
"Money Shot"
"Code Red"

"Shot In The Dark":




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Supergroup Flying Colors recently released their new live album, Third Stage: Live In London, available via Music Theories Recordings. Order here, and watch the video for "Blue Ocean" below.

Third Stage: Live In London was filmed during their 2019 US and European tour and the footage captures the exhilarating sold-out final night, on the December 14 at the iconic Grade II Listed, Shepherd’s Bush Empire, London. The album is available on several formats including, orange transparent 3LP, Blu-ray, digitally, 2CD/DVD and a 40-page Earbook which includes 5 discs; 2CD album, 2DVDs and a Blu-ray. The Blu-ray and DVDs in the Earbook also include bonus material of music videos and concert footage of their Morsefest 2019 performance in Cross Plains, Tennessee.

Third Stage: Live In London captures the band in all their uncompromising glory, five musicians that when they come together prove that they have a special and breath-taking connection. In the words of Mr. Portnoy, it’s the “rarest of all sightings,” but what a sight to behold.

Tracklisting:

“Blue Ocean”
“A Place In Your World”
“The Loss Inside”
“More”
“Kayla”
“Geronimo”
“You Are Not Alone”
“Forever In A Daze”
“Love Letter”
“Peaceful Harbor”
“Crawl”
“Infinite Fire”
“Cosmic Symphony”
“The Storm”
“Mask Machine”

“Blue Ocean” video:

"You Are Not Alone" video:

"More" video:

“Kayla” video:

"Mask Machine" video:




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On October 16, Eagle Rock Entertainment are releasing standalone audio versions of Hysteria At The O2 and Hits Vegas, Live At Planet Hollywood, from British Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame inductees Def Leppard. Initially paired in an audiovisual boxed set this past May (London To Vegas), these will be available as limited edition 2CDs. Additionally, Hits Vegas will also be released as a limited edition transparent blue vinyl LP on December 11.

A video for "Now" from Hits Vegas can be seen below:

Hysteria At The O2 was recorded in December 2018, at Def Leppard’s long-awaited debut at the famed O2 Arena in London. For this historic homecoming event, the band performed their groundbreaking diamond-certified 10x platinum album Hysteria in its entirety. Joe Elliott (vocals), Phil Collen (guitar), Rick Savage (bass), Rick Allen (drums), and Vivian Campbell (guitar) set the crowd alight with fan favorites “Pour Some Sugar On Me”, “Rocket”, “Love Bites”, and “Animal”, as well as additional hits like “Photograph” and “Let’s Get Rocked”.

Hits Vegas, Live At Planet Hollywood took place six months later, just after Def Leppard was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame. Captured during their residency at Planet Hollywood’s Zappos Theatre, this 28-song set showcases the band delivering high octane performances of their greatest hits and rarities. Highlighting the breadth of their stage prowess, Hits Vegas features the band not only on a two-stage set with huge video displays, but transporting the audience with intimate, acoustic versions of rare tracks, such as “Let Me Be The One” and “We Belong”.

These limited edition releases provide audio proof of the power of a live Def Leppard concert.

Pre-order via the links below:

- Hits Vegas 3LP
- Hits Vegas 2CD
- Hysteria Live At The O2 2CD

Tracklisting:

Hysteria At The O2 CD:

Disc 1:
Intro (Medley)
"Women"
"Rocket"
"Animal"
"Love Bites"
"Pour Some Sugar On Me"
"Armageddon It"
"Gods of War"
"Don’t Shoot Shotgun"
"Run Riot"
"Hysteria"
"Excitable"
"Love and Affection"

Disc 2:
"Wasted"
"When Love and Hate Collide"
"Let’s Get Rocked"
"Rock of Ages"
"Photograph"

Hits Vegas CD:

Disc 1:
"Die Hard The Hunter"
"Animal"
"Excitable"
"Foolin’"
"Too Late For Love"
"Billy’s Got A Gun"
"Slang"
"Promises"
"Paper Sun"
"Let It Go"
"Mirror, Mirror (Look Into My Eyes)"
"Bringin’ On The Heartbreak"
"Switch 625"

Disc 2:
"Let Me Be The One"
"We Belong"
"Have You Ever Needed Someone So Bad"
"Two Steps Behind"
"Now"
"Rocket"
"Let’s Get Rocked"
"Hysteria"
"Love Bites"
"Armageddon It"
"Pour Some Sugar On Me"
"Action"
"Let’s Go"
"Rock Of Ages"
"Photograph"

Hits Vegas 3LP:

Side A:
"Die Hard The Hunter"
"Animal"
"Excitable"
"Foolin’"
"Too Late For Love"

Side B:
"Billy’s Got A Gun"
"Slang"
"Promises"
"Paper Sun"
"Let It Go"

Side C:
"Mirror, Mirror (Look Into My Eyes)"
"Bringin’ On The Heartbreak"
"Switch 625"
"Let Me Be The One"
"We Belong"

Side D:
"Have You Ever Needed Someone So Bad"
"Two Steps Behind"
"Now"
"Rocket"
"Let’s Get Rocked"

Side E:
"Hysteria"
"Love Bites"
"Armageddon It"
"Pour Some Sugar On Me"

Side F:
"Let’s Go"
"Action"
"Rock Of Ages"
"Photograph"

"Have You Ever Needed Someone So Bad" (Hits Vegas) video:




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Ozzy Osbourne recently sat down with co-host Billy Morrison for another episode of "Ozzy Speaks" on SiriusXM's Ozzy's Boneyard. During the episode, Ozzy discussed BLACK SABBATH's history, local Los Angeles restaurants, recording new music and more.

The "Ozzy Speaks" episode, which premiered on Ozzy's Boneyard on Tuesday, October 6, is available On Demand on the SiriusXM app and will rebroadcast on Ozzy's Boneyard throughout the week.

Speaking about the lack of touring activity amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Ozzy said (hear audio below): "I'm looking forward to getting back on the fucking stage [once] get this coronavirus under control. We can do some fucking gigs.

"Please, if you're listening to this show, please, don't be a numskull and go to one of them stupid COVID fucking parties. That's for fucking fools. Because it is real, it ain't a conspiracy, and it'll kill your ass."

Two of Ozzy's granddaughters have tested positive for COVID-19. In addition, Osbourne's producer, Andrew Watt, was infected with the novel coronavirus back in early March.

This past 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.

Founding KISS guitarist and Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame inductee Ace Frehley has announced the "Space Truckin'" picture disc EP, a title exclusive to Record Store Day on November 27, in the form of a 12-inch vinyl picture disc for his single "Space Truckin'", a cover of the DEEP PURPLE classic. The limited-edition vinyl release also features additional bonus tracks such as "Mission To Mars" and "The Return Of Space Bear". To celebrate the announcement, Ace has shared an extended double music video for "Mission On Mars" and "Space Truckin'".

"Space Truckin'" is taken from Frehley's newest album, "Origins Vol. 2", out now via Entertainment One (eOne), which continues Ace's reflections on a lifetime in music and inspiration. No stranger to cover versions throughout his musical history — having recorded, rebranded and repossessed such notable nuggets as "New York Groove", "Do Ya" and "I Wanna Go Back" throughout his eight previous studio efforts — this new collection presents a thoughtful and exciting selection of songs that inspired and helped shape the legendary guitarist. That spirit of fun is carried through with exquisite execution, and guitar aficionados will enjoy Frehley's fresh interpretations of these classic songs.

"Space Truckin'" was recorded at The Creation Lab in Turlock, California with drummer Matt Starr and keyboard player Rob Sabino.

"'Space Truckin' was recorded years ago, and then I just re-recorded some parts and changed it a little," Frehley said in a statement. "We never ended up putting it on a record, so it was just sitting around. It turned out very well. Rob Sabino is a very accomplished studio musician, and we actually grew up in the Bronx together, so we go way back."

"Space Truckin'" picture disc EP track listing:

01. Space Truckin'

02. Space Invader (Radio Edit)

03. Mission To Mars

04. Space Truckin' (Radio Edit)

05. The Return Of Space Bear

Frehley's latest collection of all-original material, "Spaceman" — a title suggested by KISS bassist/vocalist Gene Simmons himself — features two songs the pair wrote together, and the duo completed a joint summer tour of Australia, after which Frehley fired his solo backing band and hired Simmons's. KISS frontman Paul Stanley, meanwhile, appeared on Frehley's previous studio album, the 2016 covers set "Origins Vol. 1".

The four original members of KISS were inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame in April 2014 by RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE guitarist Tom Morello.

KISS did not perform — the Hall Of Fame wanted the original quartet only to play, while Simmons and Stanley insisted on the current lineup — which also includes guitarist Tommy Thayer and drummer Eric Singer — performing as well. In the end nobody won that battle.

Platinum-selling recording artist and world class guitarist, Orianthi, will release of her new album, O, on November 6 via Frontiers Music Srl. This will be Orianthi's first new studio album in seven years and her first new music as a solo artist in six years.

During a conversation with Ultimate Guitar's Justin Beckner, Orianthi talked about joining Michael Jackson's band back in 2009 for the late singer's This Is It concert residency. A string of 50 shows was booked at the O2 Arena in London between July 13, 2009, and March 6, 2010. However, none of the concerts took place due to Jackson's unexpected passing in June 2009.

UG: You did rehearsals for that tour and we missed out on it, unfortunately. What did Michael have in store for that tour? Were there some surprises that we, regretfully, were never able to see?

Orianthi: ""There were a lot of surprises. Obviously, we had to sign non-disclosure agreements and I don't know if they still stand or if I can talk about everything freely these days. But there were a lot of things that were going to be pretty epic. It was going to be one of the greatest shows on Earth. That's for sure."

UG: What did you learn from working with Michael, as far as being a musician and being a professional on that level?

Orianthi: "I learned so much. I can't even really... there was so much I learned from him. It was truly an honor and I'm so grateful to have had that time with him because he pushed everyone to be better. He would tell us to step into our light and reach higher. He would tell me to reach my highest note, keep pushing, and be the best performer you can be. He was so precise about everything - from the dancing to the sounds. He had this photographic memory for every part of every one of his songs. It was pretty incredible working with him like that."

Read more here.

Pre-order Orianthi's new album here. Get autographed bundles at the US or EU stores, here.

Orianthi recently dropped the second single and video, for the track "Impulsive" Watch the clip below.

"'Impulsive' is a fun track, I wrote it pretty fast with my friend and producer Marti Frederiksen. The video was was a blast to make at the Dollhouse in Los Angeles with the great director Jim Louvau," says Orianthi.

"The album O is a very inspired album... kept things pretty raw and didn't overthink it. Marti [Frederiksen, producer, mixer, songwriter] and I wanted to create a unique sound and vibe with every track and we experimented a lot with synths and different guitar tones. Lyrically, a lot of this record comes from life experience and other people’s stories. It’s going to be so fun to play these songs live!," says Orianthi.

In addition to her album release with Frontiers this fall, Orianthi also has a signature acoustic guitar being released in partnership with Gibson Guitars with first-of-its-kind engineering that will be revealed later this year.

Tracklisting:

"Contagious"
"Sinners Hymn"
"Rescue Me"
"Blow"
"Sorry"
"Crawling Out Of The Dark"
"Impulsive"
"Streams Of Consciousness"
"Company"
"Moonwalker"

"Sinners Hymn" lyric video:




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JUDAS PRIEST singer Rob Halford recently took part in a SiriusXM Volume virtual town hall with host Mark Goodman. During the chat, Halford discussed bands holding virtual concerts amid the coronavirus pandemic and how they compare to actual live shows. He said (see video below): "It just shows you the strength and power of music that we'll go to extraordinary lengths to make a connection. And I love this virtual thing, but it is virtual. I love it when I see [you] in person, and you're sitting across the mic and I'm sitting… It's a real tangible experience, isn't it? And that's the way music is intended to be experienced from a live performance aspect of it.

"Look, I love to watch bands on my laptop and watch bands on the television or whatever, but you can't beat a live concert experience," he continued. "And we will get back to that. It might take some time, but we will get back to that. It's like anything in life that you're going through that's a challenge and that's a difficulty — it's not gonna last forever.

"This horrible thing started in March. It's now October. The thing about it is it feels like it's been going on for years, doesn't it?" Halford added. "Is it me, or it just seems like it's been going on for years. And I think a lot of that is due to the fact that it's disrupted every aspect of our lives, particularly in music, where we could look at the calendar and go, 'On this day, I'm gonna see JUDAS PRIEST at the blah blah place, and I can't wait. There's my focus for this month. Next month, I'm gonna go and see blah blah.' That's gone. But it's not gone for good. We will get back there to that point and to that experience. And hope is the word. It prevails. And we'll be in each other's company again and we'll be rocking and rolling and screaming and roaring and having the best times of our lives live with each other."

Halford's autobiography, "Confess", was released on September 29 via Hachette Books. The book has already been described by the U.K.'s The Telegraph as "one of the most candid and surprising memoirs of the year."

Frontiers Music Srl is pleased to introduce Brazil’s Sculptor, a melodic death metal band who joins the label’s rapidly expanding metal roster. While hailing from South America, the band’s sound is more akin to a different part of the globe, specifically the early years of the revered Göthenburg sound emanating from Sweden and popularized by bands like Dark Tranquility, Soilwork, In Flames, and the like.

The band's label debut, Untold Secrets, is out December 4. Today, fans can hear/see the first single and video from the album, "No Control". Find the video below, and pre-order/save "Untold Secrets" here.

Based in the city of Curitiba (coincidentally also the home of labelmates Semblant, Landfall, and Electric Mob), Sculptor was founded in 2015 by Rick Eraser (vocals) and Vinne (vocals/guitars), who was joined by Caco Ramos (bass), Fabricio Reis (guitars), and Mateus Schran (drums). The band debuted with the single "Oblivion,” which became a blueprint for the songs that would comprise their debut album, Untold Secrets.

"Untold Secrets is a very special album because the lyrics talk about our own secrets, because sometimes we are afraid to talk about how we feel, sometimes we want to give up on everything. But we need to fight and move on. When I wrote these songs I was battling depression and music helped me to overcome. I hope everybody who listens to these songs can talk about their own Untold Secrets," says frontman Rick Eraser.

Untold Secrets was recorded at the band's studio in Curitiba, produced by Rick and Vinne, and mixed by Linus Corneliusson at Fascination Street Studios located, appropriately enough, in Sweden.

“The name "Sculptor" means that we are the sculptors of our lives, we can shape them and transform them into what we want. The lyrics also address this subject and how everything we do impacts our world,” says the band.

Untold Secrets showcases the complex influences the musicians acquired through their previous musical projects. For the uninitiated, once again, the band's style can be described as musically akin to early era albums from Dark Tranquillity, In Flames, Soilwork, and Tiamat.

For melodic death metal fans and metal fans in general, Sculptor are a band to keep an eye on.

Tracklisting:

"Interlude"
"No Control"
"Redemption"
"Beyond Madness"
"Born To Be Slave"
"Embrace Yourself"
"Empty Space"
"Requiem"
"Untouchable Truth"
"Wake Me Up When The Pain Goes Away"
"Watch Rope"

PHIL CAMPBELL AND THE BASTARD SONS, the band featuring MOTÖRHEAD guitarist Phil Campbell alongside his sons Todd, Dane and Tyla, plus vocalist Neil Starr, will release its new album, "We're The Bastards", on November 13 via Nuclear Blast. The official music video for the first single from the disc, "Son Of A Gun", can be seen below.

Starr says: "It's definitely great to know that we have an audience now. We know there are people that want to hear it, but the truth is that we just had fun with it. Once again, we made the record we wanted to make and it's been really exciting. It was awesome to take our minds off everything and just concentrate on recording a kick ass album for the fans to enjoy"

Phil Campbell states: "We're really excited to announce the release of our new single, 'Son Of A Gun'. It will blow your head off!"

The album is available as CD, limited digipack including four bonus tracks, 2LP gold, 2LP sparkle (U.K. exclusive), digital album, 2 LP orange/black splatter (mailorder + wholesale exclusive) and 2LP black.

Track listing:

01. We're The Bastards

02. Son Of A Gun

03. Promises Are Poison

04. Born To Roam

05. Animals

06. Bite My Tongue

07. Desert Song

08. Keep Your Jacket On

09. Lie To Me

10. Riding Straight To Hell

11. Hate Machine

12. Destroyed

13. Waves

Bonus tracks (limited digipak):

14. Big Mouth (Live)

15. Freak Show (Live)

16. Dark Days (Live)

17. Rock 'N' Roll (Live)

Formed in the aftermath of MOTÖRHEAD's dissolution, following the death of Lemmy Kilmister in 2016, PHIL CAMPBELL AND THE BASTARD SONS were always going to draw a crowd at any discerning rock or metal festival. Led by one of the genre's most respected guitarists, the band emerged onto the 2017 touring circuit powered by a huge amount of good will, a smattering of MOTÖRHEAD covers and a handful of new songs that crackled with passion and swagger. Landing themselves a prestigious support slot on GUNS N' ROSES 2017 summer stadium run, the BASTARD SONS hit the ground running.

Fast forward to 2020 and, just like everyone else, PHIL CAMPBELL AND THE BASTARD SONS had to cancel a lot of carefully laid plans when the global pandemic descended on us all. But as if to confirm their absolute dedication to blowing people's heads off with thunderous rock 'n' roll, the band refused to cancel plans to record a follow-up to their widely lauded debut. Recorded and engineered during lockdown by guitarist Todd Campbell, the second BASTARD SONS album may be just the tonic people need right now. It's called "We're The Bastards" and it's bigger, better and even more raucously uplifting than its predecessor. In fact, it's the sound of a great band hitting their stride and buzzing with confidence.

PHIL CAMPBELL AND THE BASTARD SONS are:

Phil Campbell - Guitar

Todd Campbell - Guitar

Tyla Campbell - Bass

Dane Campbell - Drums

Neil Starr - Vocals

Dutch symphonic metallers EPICA will release their new album, "Omega", on February 26, 2021 via Nuclear Blast. The follow-up to 2016's "The Holographic Principle" was once again produced by Joost Van Den Broek (POWERWOLF, AYREON) in part at Sandlane Recording Facilities in Rijen, Netherlands. EPICA has also released the first single from the album, titled "Abyss Of Time", with an amazing accompanying video that was made in collaboration with Grupa 13.

Vocalist Simone Simons comments: "Finally we can show you the video for our newest single 'Abyss Of Time'!

"We flew all the way to Poland to work with Grupa 13 for the first time.

"Shooting videos is one of my favorite parts of creating the visual side to our music. The costumes were insanely beautiful. It was so much fun and I hope that you like the video."

About the new album, guitarist/vocalist Mark Jansen comments: "I am very proud of this album, as I am convinced we have written a very refreshing and well-balanced album even after so many years of existence.

"Our strength is that we have many great songwriters in one band. We have managed to combine each other's strongest qualities and select the best songs. It was a fruitful period of spending time together to work as one team on those tracks. I think this has made the biggest difference compared to our previous albums. Still using the advantages of comfortably sending files by the Internet to each other but combining that with coming physically together again to work on all the tracks.

"I think I have listened to 'Omega' about 50 times already and still can't get enough of it!"

"Omega" track listing:

01. Alpha - Anteludium

02. Abyss Of Time - Countdown To Singularity

03. The Skeleton Key

04. Seal of Solomon

05. Gaia

06. Code Of Life

07. Freedom - The Wolves Within

08. Kingdom Of Heaven, Part 3 - The Antediluvian Universe

09. Rivers

10. Synergize - Manic Manifest

11. Twilight Reverie - The Hypnagogic State

12. Omega - Sovereign Of The Sun Spheres

Last fall, EPICA celebrated the 10th anniversary of its milestone album "Design Your Universe". To mark this special occasion, EPICA re-released this fan-favorite LP as a "gold edition" through Nuclear Blast. This edition contains the album remixed and remastered by Joost Van Den Broek with updated artwork and a second disc containing newly recorded acoustic versions of "Design Your Universe" songs.

November 2019 saw the release of "The Essence Of Epica", a lavishly designed and fully illustrated, high-quality hardback which tells the story of EPICA in bandmembers' own words. The book is available in two distinct editions: the Classic is a 208-page, hardback with foil detailing, filled with over 200 images; the Signature hardback is signed by the band and comes in a deluxe clamshell box with three exclusive, original art prints created by Stefan Heilemann.

Matthew Kiichi Heafy, the Japanese-American musician best known as the guitarist and lead vocalist for the Grammy-nominated heavy metal band TRIVIUM, has released new solo material. The three-track "My Mother Told Me" bundle is available today on all streaming platforms.

"My Mother Told Me" is a cover of a song that appeared on the show Vikings. Heafy offers up three dramatic iterations of the track — one in the heavy metal style that is his signature, along with an acoustic rendition and an a cappella version that demonstrates his versatility as a vocalist and musician.

"Vikings is one of the greatest series out there," Heafy shares about the reason he selected this track. "Everything about it truly takes the viewer on a journey to a time we so often dream about. I consider Vikings a very 'metal' show with its thematics being something many heavy bands want to write about."

He continues, "When I first heard King Harald singing 'My Mother', I immediately looked for a recorded version. I only found a transformed version, but I wanted the folk version. I decided to create 'My Mother' in three interpretations. I hope everyone enjoys it as much as I do."

Track listing:

01. My Mother Told Me

02. My Mother Told Me (Acoustic)

03. My Mother Told Me (A Cappella)

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

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

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

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

GRETA VAN FLEET has released its first new song in more than a year, "My Way, Soon", via Lava/Republic Records. The song is a liberating and jubilant track that celebrates and reflects the band's personal transformation over the past three years. Also released is the track's companion music video, which was shot, edited, and directed by the band.

Says GRETA VAN FLEET vocalist Josh Kiszka: "This song was inspired by what three years of touring did by opening so many doorways. This is my truth, how I feel about all of our travels, but I know it echoes the experiences and changes of perspectives for Jake, Sam and Danny as well."

When GRETA VAN FLEET released "Highway Tune" in March of 2017, a song that they wrote in their parent's garage before any of them had turned 18, they had no idea the change it would bring to their lives. The song would go on to become an international hit and top Billboard's Mainstream Rock Singles chart. "Highway Tune" would be followed by three more consecutive No. 1 singles, a debut album that entered Billboard's Top Rock Albums and Top Album Sales charts at No. 1, a Grammy Award for "Best Rock Album," appearances on "The Tonight Show" and "Saturday Night Live", a gold-certified debut album, an overflow crowd at their Coachella debut, a personal phone call from Elton John inviting them to perform at his Academy Awards Viewing Party, and most consequentially, 246 sold-out tour dates in 13 countries over five continents.

The four GRETA VAN FLEET bandmembers — Josh and his twin brother Jake Kiszka (guitars), younger brother Sam (bass, keyboards), and longtime family friend Danny Wagner (drums) — were still under the legal drinking age, and two of them hadn't yet graduated from high school. However, within a few months, they left their safe and familiar family homes in Frankenmuth, Michigan, and entered a whole new — and entirely unanticipated — whirlwind of a world. A world where they would learn and grow beyond their wildest imagination.

As Danny explains: "The definition of 'normal' has very much broadened over the past couple of years, and it has affected us as musicians, especially in the writing and recording of this new album. We realized that while growing up, we had been shielded by a lot of things, we were unaware of a lot of things. And then we were thrown out into this huge world, and it was a bit of a culture shock at first."

"We've seen how people live in different parts of the world," adds Sam, "and we've developed intrinsic respect for different cultures and people. We've gone from driving down a highway to a show and seeing endless miles of shantytowns in Sao Paulo, to playing some of the richest places on earth."

Says Jake: "The more we've seen — different cultures, people, and traditions — we've also seen a similarity between ourselves and these different cultures. It surprises me how similar we all are."

According to Billboard, U.S. sales of VAN HALEN's catalog of albums and songs increased more than 6,000% on the day of guitarist Eddie Van Halen's death.

The albums and songs sold 40,000 copies on October 6, with 9,000 of those being just album sales, including 2,000 copies of VAN HALEN's self-titled 1978 debut.

The top 10 biggest-selling songs on October 6 were: "Jump" (3,000), "Panama" (2,000), "Eruption" (2,000), "Runnin' With The Devil" (2,000), "You Really Got Me" (2,000), "Dance The Night Away" (1,000), "Why Can't This Be Love" (1,000), "Hot For Teacher" (1,000), "Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love" (1,000) and "Jamie's Cryin'" (1,000).

Eddie died at St. John's Hospital in Santa Monica, California. 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.

Eddie and Alex formed VAN HALEN in 1972 in Pasadena, California, with David Lee Roth on lead vocals and Michael Anthony on bass.

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.

After undergoing hip replacement surgery in 1999 due to a chronic joint problem, Eddie was diagnosed with mouth cancer in 2000 and had to have part of his tongue surgically removed. He later battled throat cancer and reportedly had been receiving radiation treatment in Germany. It is believed that his heavy smoking over the years led to his long battle with cancer.

"The whole recording of the new album is officially done," says Swedish death metal stalwarts The Crown. "We did it all in 7 days. No other album by us has been made so smoothly and it all sounds amazing. We had an awesome time in the studio and we would like to thank Fredrik Nordström and Studio Fredman for making this happen. Now mixing and mastering awaits. Stay tuned for more updates. Cheers!"

The as-yet-untitled album will serve as the follow-up to Cobra Speed Venom from 2018. The Crown has released behind the scenes video from the studio; all available footage can be seen below:

Day One:

Day Two:

Days Three - Five:

The Crown 2020 lineup:

Johan Lindstrand - vocals  
Marko Tervonen - guitar
Robin Sörqvist - guitar
Magnus Olsfelt - bass
Henrik Axelsson - drums

(Photo courtesy of The Crown's Facebook page)

 




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