On Saturday, November 1, Ivan Moody and Zoltan Bathory of FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH joined Japanese metal sensation BABYMETAL at their sold-out Intuit Dome show in Los Angeles, California to celebrate a major international milestone as their collaborative single "The End" reached No. 1 on the Japanese iTunes Metal chart and climbed to No. 18 on the Japanese All-Genres chart — a landmark achievement for an international rock release. In addition to its success in Japan, the track is making history in the United States as the first song featuring Japanese lyrics to chart at U.S. Rock radio, where it has already broken into the Top 5. The artists came together a special plaque presentation to honor this cross-cultural breakthrough and the worldwide momentum behind "The End" featuring BABYMETAL confirming that music truly is universal.

Bathory says: "This was such an amazing way to celebrate a collaboration that turned into a chart-topping moment for both of us. We're working on our tenth studio album right now, and with the 20th-anniversary world tour coming up, we were already planning to go back to Japan… a place that's always shown us so much love. But with how well this song connected there, let's just say the story might not be over yet. Who knows… maybe we'll even share a stage with BABYMETAL. Life's a wild chain of coincidences, and sometimes the next chapter just writes itself."

BABYMETAL vocalist Su-Metal shares: "We were invited to take part in a 20th-anniversary collaboration project featuring guest artists on past songs. FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH and BABYMETAL had performed at the same festival overseas back in 2015, so I was really happy thinking they might have remembered me from then. I sang Japanese lyrics inspired by the original lyrics of 'The End' and spent a lot of time experimenting to find the voice that best fit such a deep, cool track. My favorite moment is the flow from 'Negai o kakete' into the break, where my voice is gradually engulfed by Ivan's growl — it gave me chills. I hope listeners feel that too."

FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH is celebrating its 20th anniversary with the release of two definitive greatest-hits collections: "Best Of - Volume 1" (released in July) and "Best Of - Volume 2" (out today). Both albums feature newly re-recorded versions of FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH's biggest anthems, created in response to the sale of the original song masters — made without the band's knowledge or opportunity to reclaim them.

Instead of remixing or remastering, FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH turned the setback into a positive by fully re-recording fan favorites across two volumes — both as a tribute to the songs and the fans who've stood with them over two decades. While honoring the originals and those who helped create them, the band brings renewed intensity to tracks like "Sham Pain", "Blue On Black", "Trouble" and "Burn MF". Together, the two collections pay respect to the past while reintroducing the music for a new era. "Best Of - Volume 2" includes 16 re-recorded classics plus three previously unreleased live versions of "Wash It All Away", "Wrong Side Of Heaven" and "Jekyll and Hyde".

Earlier this year, "Best Of - Volume 1" led with the 2025 version of "I Refuse" featuring Maria Brink of IN THIS MOMENT, which hit No. 1 on the rock charts in July. With over 13 billion streams, countless No. 1 hits, and multiple gold and platinum awards, FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH remains one of the 21st century’s most dominant rock acts.

"Best Of - Volume 1" and "Best Of - Volume 2" are available worldwide in multiple formats, including standard CD and vinyl, a limited-edition CD exclusive to Walmart, multiple collectible vinyl editions available at Best Buy, Walmart, the FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH webstore, indie retail and a Revolver magazine exclusive.

To commemorate FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH's 20th anniversary, a special merchandise collection is also available now in the official webstore.

Photo credit: Sarai Kelley

Influential black metal band MAYHEM will release its seventh studio album, "Liturgy Of Death", on February 6, 2026 via Century Media. With this new opus, MAYHEM reaffirms its status as the most uncompromising force in extreme metal music. Four decades into their career, MAYHEM turns its focus toward the inescapable reality of death. "Liturgy Of Death" examines loss, fear of dying, powerlessness and the fragility of existence through a stark and unrelenting lens.

"Weep For Nothing", MAYHEM's new first single, turns the fear of mortality into revelation, a hymn to nothingness where grief becomes meaningless. With its cold and fast grandeur, razor-sharp riffs and a suffocating atmosphere, the band channels it channels the essence of mortality without offering solace or escape.

With Necrobutcher (bass),Hellhammer (drums),Attila Csihar (vocals),Teloch (guitars) and Ghul (guitars) locked into a unit tighter than ever, "Liturgy Of Death" celebrates MAYHEM's own legacy, a continuation of the raw and uncompromising sound that defined their beginnings. The result is a merciless record — dark, fast, and unrelenting — that captures the band in their most dangerous and vital form. Forty-one years since the band's formation in Langhus, MAYHEM remains a defining force in Norwegian black metal, continuing to shape the sound it helped create.

"Liturgy Of Death" is the follow-up to MAYHEM's sixth studio album, "Daemon", which came out in October 2019 via Century Media. A live album, "Daemonic Rites", arrived in September 2023.

"Liturgy Of Death" track listing:

01. Ephemeral Eternity
02. Despair
03. Weep For Nothing
04. Aeon's End
05. Funeral Of Existence
06. Realm Of Endless Misery
07. Propitious Death
08. The Sentence Of Absolution
09. Life Is A Corpse You Drag (bonus track)
10. Sancta Mendacia (bonus track)

MAYHEM will embark on the "Death Over Europe" European headlining tour in February 2026. Support on the trek will come from MARDUK and IMMOLATION. The dates are as follows:

Feb. 05 - NL - Groningen - Spot
Feb. 06 - NL - Utrecht - TivoliVredenburg
Feb. 07 - DE - Herford - KulturWerk Herford
Feb. 08 - BE - Liège - OM
Feb. 10 - UK - London - Electric Ballroom
Feb. 11 - FR - Paris - Elysée Montmartre
Feb. 12 - FR - Toulouse - Le Bikini
Feb. 14 - PT - Lisbon - LAV Lisboa Ao Vivo
Feb. 15 - ES - Madrid - La Riviera
Feb. 17 - IT - Milano - Alcatraz
Feb. 18 - CH - Solothurn - Kulturfabrik Kofmehl
Feb. 19 - AT - Vienna - Simm City
Feb. 20 - DE - Regensburg - Airport Eventhall
Feb. 21 - CZ - Prague - PAVILON C
Feb. 22 - DE - Berlin - Huxleys Neue Welt
Feb. 24 - PL - Gdansk - B90
Feb. 25 - LV - Riga - Spelet
Feb. 26 - FI - Helsinki - Kulttuuritalo
Feb. 28 - SE - Gothenburg - Eriksbergshallen

In the fall of 2024, MAYHEM canceled its previously announced North American 40th-anniversary tour "due to a member of the band having a medical emergency that requires immediate surgery."

The North American dates were scheduled to kick off on November 12, 2024 in Montreal, with stops in Toronto; Queens, New York; Chicago; and Los Angeles before and wrapping up November 23, 2024 in Denver.

MAYHEM launched a short European tour on December 4, 2024 in Paris, France. An Australian tour followed in January.

When MAYHEM's North American tour was first announced in August 2024, the band said that its 40th-anniversary show would be "a once-in-a-lifetime experience for fans, featuring a setlist that spans their illustrious career, from their groundbreaking debut album, 'Deathcrush', to present day."

MAYHEM is:

Attila Csihar - Vocals
Ghul - Guitar
Hellhammer – Drums
Necrobutcher - Bass
Morten - Guitar

Photo by Agnes Köhler, Nima Taheri, Joyce Van Doorn. Editing by Daniele Valeriani

In 2026, "Sventevith (Storming Near The Baltic)" — the seminal debut album by Polish extreme metallers BEHEMOTH — will rise again in a series of exclusive festival appearances across Europe, including Beyond The Gates in Bergen, Norway. Marking the 30th anniversary of its original release, BEHEMOTH frontman Adam "Nergal" Darski will revisit the dark origins of his musical legacy, performing "Sventevith (Storming Near The Baltic)" in its entirety.

This extraordinary series will see Nergal joined by Icelandic black metal visionaries MISÞYRMING, whose raw energy and uncompromising intensity have reshaped the modern black metal landscape. Together, they will summon the primal spirit of the 1995 release — an album that laid the foundation for BEHEMOTH's evolution from underground obscurity to global extremity.

Performed live for the first time as a full conceptual work, "Sventevith" will return as both a tribute and a transformation: a rare convergence of heritage and renewal, honoring BEHEMOTH's roots while embracing the ferocity of a new generation.

On July 29 - August 1, 2026, Beyond The Gates will be held for the 14th time, showcasing why the festival has grown into the international metal gathering it has become. Attracting visitors from 50 different countries around the world, the extreme metal festival has become a global phenomenon. The festival takes place the city center of Bergen, using several venues spread across town, including the legendary Grieghallen and USF Verftet. Gold passes for the festival are running low.

BEHEMOTH's latest album, "The Shit Ov God", came out in May via Nuclear Blast Records.

BEHEMOTH have always been known for not shying away from controversy, and they most certainly remain true to this approach with their 13th full-length. Here's a band that, 34 years in, is releasing its most inflammatory and extreme record to date. Eight songs that go into the fathoms of humanity, divinity, and what defiance means in an age where individuality is prized but everyone is clinging to their saviors — musically, politically, or otherwise. The title of the album is in line with those sensibilities.

"It's like me at the age of 15, when I turned the cross upside-down," Nergal explained to Kerrang! magazine earlier this year. "It's the simplest, most fucking atavistic reaction of disagreement, of rebellion. It's primitive, it's primal, it's vulgar. You invert the cross, so I used the same semantic tool here. I took this acronym that is probably the most sacred for all the Christians, but I just turned it upside-down. And there's some existential philosophy there, too. If there is a God, then we are the excrement. But being the lesser being is not a reason to mourn or to be depressed. We're gonna wear it as a badge of honor."

Nergal added of the album title: "Some people said it's too simple. But then we did 'The Satanist', everyone said that was as well. They said it was not creative. Well, it came over 30 years into extreme metal history, and nobody had used it yet. I think that's pretty brilliant of me, actually."

BEHEMOTH meticulously chose the audiovisual artists involved on the album. Production on the album was helmed by the inimitable Jens Bogren of Fascination Street Studios (EMPEROR, ENSLAVED, KREATOR, ROTTING CHRIST et al.). Working closely with the band, Bogren's deft hand underscored the band's natural sound while sacrificing none of the mayhem and ferocity which permeates the band's essence. As is always the case with BEHEMOTH, the visuals were as carefully constructed as the sound. The band tapped long-time collaborator and partner in crime Bartek Rogalewicz (BLACK.LODGE.IS.NOW) as well as Dark Sigil Workshop to make the beautifully ominous and unique cover art.

In a new interview with Chaoszine, former SEPULTURA and current SOULFLY frontman Max Cavalera spoke about how diminishing music sales in the streaming age have affected new bands' chances of surviving and thriving. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "It's tough, man. It's tough. The record sales nowadays compared to what was 25 years ago. When SOULFLY came out, [the first] SOULFLY [album] was a gold record in America. [SEPULTURA's] 'Roots', [SOULFLY's] 'Primitive' [were both] gold records [which] sold many, many thousands of copies. That doesn't happen now. You have to do all the things now. You have to use social media. You have to go on tour. You have to sell shirts. You have to be creative. It's tough.

"I think for a young band starting out right now, it's very difficult," he continued. "Much harder [than it used to be]. But it is what it is. They created this monster and they don't know how to fix it. And it sucks that the musicians end up paying the price for it. I'm glad that at least we're still making albums. And there's fans that love vinyl — they love the physical copy. And there's still a passion for this music, and I love that. And that's why I will continue making records, because I believe in the album, I believe in the power of a record. I believe in the power of an album. It's a magical thing. It's a cool thing. It's an amazing thing. I listen to my old records, I listen to new records. I'm always inspired by albums. I think it's amazing."

SOULFLY's thirteenth album, "Chama", came out on October 24 via Nuclear Blast Records.

This past weekend, SOULFLY kicked off the "Favela Dystopia" 2025 West Coast tour with GO AHEAD AND DIE. The 17-date trek launched on November 1 in Roswell and will head to Denver, Spokane and Fresno, among other cities, before concluding in Flagstaff on November 23.

SOULFLY drummer — and Max's son — Zyon Cavalera co-produced "Chama", which was recorded at the Platinum Underground Studio in Mesa, Arizona by John Aquilino. John has worked with Max and company multiple times before and is not only a talented engineer but a family friend. The album was produced by Zyon and Arthur Rizk. The latter was also responsible for the mixing and mastering. Rizk has not only worked with the Cavalera family numerous times before, but has also helped to shape the world of heavy metal in the modern day. SOULFLY enlisted Carletta Parrish to create the album artwork. For the album, Igor Amadeus Cavalera (GO AHEAD & DIE, NAILBOMB, HEALING MAGIC) played bass and Mike De Leon played guitar.

SOULFLY's lineup on "Chama" is:

Max Cavalera - Vocals, Guitar
Igor Amadeus Cavalera - Bass
Zyon Cavalera - Drums
Mike De Leon – Guitar

This past May, SOULFLY recruited Chase Bryant (WARBRINGER) to play bass on the band's European tour, which kicked off on June 7 at the South Of Heaven festival in Maastricht, Netherlands.

A month earlier, SOULFLY parted ways with the band's longtime bassist Mike Leon.

Leon, formerly of HAVOK, joined SOULFLY in September 2015 as the replacement for STATIC-X bassist Tony Campos, who left SOULFLY in May of that year.

Guitarist Mike DeLeon has been touring with SOULFLY for more than two years. Prior to hooking up with SOULFLY, DeLeon had been a member of PANTERA singer Philip Anselmo's solo band PHILIP H. ANSELMO & THE ILLEGALS, which he joined in 2015 as the replacement for Marzi Montazeri. More recently, Mike filled in for Zakk Wylde at the first rehearsal for the fall 2022 PANTERA shows.

Photo credit: Jim Louvau

In a new interview with Sakis Fragos of Rock Hard Greece, vocalist Nick Holmes of British gothic metal pioneers PARADISE LOST spoke about the band's 17th album, "Ascension", which came out on September 19 via Nuclear Blast Records. PARADISE LOST's first album in five years, following 2020's critically acclaimed "Obsidian", was produced by guitarist Gregor Mackintosh and mixed/mastered by Lawrence Mackrory. Regarding PARADISE LOST's songwriting approach on "Ascension", Nick said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "I think when we re-recorded the 'Icon' album [to celebrate its 30th anniversary], actually just physically singing it and the guys physically playing it, it sort of brought us back to the time when we wrote that album and when we were young guys and how we used to write songs. And I think it was quite inspiring, to a degree, and it made us change our approach to the songwriting with this. Not that we wanted to kind of just copy anything from that album, but the approach that we had, it slightly changed and it kind of helped to shape many of the songs on this album. So, I think that, more than anything, not that it's like the 'Icon' album, but — we've obviously done a lot since then and learned a lot since then. But I do think that kind of put us on to a pathway where we thought, 'Oh, hang on a minute. Let's maybe some songs approach a similar vibe to those days.' But there's a song on there that it could be off the 'Shades Of God' album as well. That's another album which we always really liked that kind of went under the radar a little bit."

He continued: "Yeah, [after] 17 albums or something, there's a lot of stuff. I guess everything you do is like a chapter and it leads to the next one. But when we write albums, we don't sit down and think, 'Okay, what album are we gonna try and sound like?' Or, 'Which album was most successful?' We don't think like that. We like to keep moving forwards. And ultimately we are our own worst and heaviest critics. The band's biggest critics are ourselves. No one criticizes like we do. So, we are the first hurdle, and if it gets past us, then there is a chance or maybe a possibility that the general public will like it. But you never know."

Asked if PARADISE LOST consciously avoids any trends in heavy metal while writing new music or if the band kind of absorbs and reinterprets them, Nick said: "We just don't care. I think if you try and jump on any trend, it's, like the kiss of death. I think it's important to keep your ear to the ground and see what people like, and then if all of a sudden you become totally unfashionable and you don't understand why, you need to know what people are listening to. You need to know what the market is, the sales markets, what people are buying. I think that's important to know. But at the same time, when we write music, we don't really care what anyone else is doing. There has been, obviously, times in our career where we thought, 'Oh, this band, what are they doing? What are they doing?' But we there's just no point. I mean, we've been going for so long, and we're known for a certain way of writing, and that's what we do now.

"When you start a band, most interviews that you do usually mention other bands all the time, 'cause they say, 'Oh, you sound like this band. You sound like that band,' but I haven't actually heard one person mention another band in our interviews referring to the [new] album, apart from our own music, which is great," he said. "So it just means we are in our own kind of little ecosystem."

This past August, Gregor told Jerry Kurunen of Rauta about "Ascension": "Something that really changed the approach to this record was… It was 30 years since our 'Icon' album a year or two ago, and we had to do a re-recording. But having to do that, re-learn those songs in such depth and re-record it put me in the headspace of '92, '93, 'Shades Of God', 'Icon' era, and that kind of influenced the songwriting for this record a little bit. So probably over half the album is very much in that vein."

After Kurunen noted that PARADISE LOST has come "full circle" by returning to the band's "death/doom" roots on some of its recent albums, Mackintosh said: "Well, when you say full circle, the first time that was mentioned to me was when we did 'The Plague Within' [2015] album, which is — I don't know what year; it was 2014 or something — and I'd say that's true. That's pretty true. But since then we have been trying to maneuver around it, all our influences from all the past in different ways. Like 'Medusa' [2017] was far more of kind of sludgy record, and then the last one before this one, 'Obsidian' [2020], kind of has more gothy influences again, and this one, because of the 'Icon' re-recording, like I said, is kind of traveling somewhere between the 'Shades Of God', 'Icon' era-ish, but with a twist of now."

Asked what it felt for him and his PARADISE LOST bandmates to be inspired by their own music while making "Ascension", Gregor said: "It wasn't inspired by our own music. It was kind of — I said this before — it is kind of puts you in the headspace of where you were at that time, what your influences were at that time, how you felt. And at that time, around 'Shades Of God' and 'Icon', we were very much into the… Even the name 'Paradise Lost'. We even went back to that, It's from the book. What does the book mean? What's it about? What are the themes? This religious imagery, over-the-top religious imagery, even though we're all atheists. So we kind of went down that path. And with the music, it was just a case of… I never used to play the same thing as any of the other… It was, like, we were all playing our different bits and there wasn't too much riffage. It was there, but I was more of this harmony guy all the time. So we delved into that on this record. So it was more like the headspace. It wasn't really being influenced by our own stuff. It was just, like, 'Huh, this is interesting.' 'Cause over the years, incrementally, your style of playing changes, your style of songwriting changes, and you forget certain things. And then just revisiting it makes you think, 'Ah, okay.' … I mean, you try not to repeat yourself, obviously, but it gives you a warm feeling… So if you're getting that, it must be a good thing."

Mackintosh added: "I had half this album written three years ago. I had six or seven songs written, and I scrapped the whole lot because I wasn't happy with it. And then I just gave up for a year. And then we did the 'Icon' [re-recording] thing, and I was, like, 'Ah, okay. This is what it should be about. This is how it should go.' And so I've never used anything from those six or seven songs. If you're not feeling it, you're not feeling it. And we're in a lucky position that we haven't got a label saying, 'You've got to release this.' We do it in our own time. So if you're gonna live with something, it's better that you're comfortable with it."

"Ascension"'s album cover fittingly features the painting "The Court Of Death" (1870-1902) by renowned British artist George Frederic Watts, which hangs in the Tate Gallery in London. The painting depicts Death as an enthroned angel flanked by allegorical figures of Silence and Mystery guarding sunrise and the star of hope, while a warrior surrenders his sword and a duke his coronet, showing that worldly status offers no protection. The painting's bleak, prophetic vision embodies "Ascension"'s dark, tormented soundscapes as mournful verses collide with dire, foreboding riffs.

PARADISE LOST performed alongside KING DIAMOND and at festivals in Europe this summer before embarking on the first part its "Ascension Of Europe" tour this fall.

Photo credit: Ville Juurikkala

The FirstRowConcert channel on YouTube has uploaded video of San Diego hard-rock/nu metal veterans P.O.D. performing their cover of THE BEATLES classic "Don't Let Me Down" during their November 1 concert at the Fillmore Auditorium in Denver, Colorado as the support act for SEETHER and DAUGHTRY. You can now watch the clip below.

P.O.D. released a studio version of its rendition of "Don't Let Me Down" in late September. At the time, P.O.D. guitarist Marcos Curiel stated about the band's decision to cover the Fab Four: "As cliché as it may sound, we've always admired THE BEATLES from the very beginning of our songwriting journey. Their melodies, the hooks, and fearless experimentation inspired us to craft our own take on the classic 'Don't Let Me Down', with nothing but the utmost respect. Thank you for helping lay the foundation of what we all know today as rock 'n' roll, pop and metal."

Regarding P.O.D.'s fall 2025 North America tour with DAUGHTRY and SEETHER. Curiel said: "Touring is a gift, a blessing to share P.O.D.'s music live with the world. Absolutely nothing compares to the energy of a crowd feeling and vibing every note. We're ecstatic to join an amazing lineup that embodies the true essence of rock 'n' roll fusing the familiar with the new — a real evolution. We are proud to be part of it. Let's jam, let's sing, let's rock."

The trek kicked off October 1 in Virginia Beach and runs through mid-November, hitting major cities across the U.S.

P.O.D. joined U.S. hard rockers GODSMACK as special guests on their March/April 2025 European tour. The trek kicked off on March 22 with a sold-out show at the Sofia Arena in Bulgaria and then made stops in Romania (Bucharest),Hungary (Budapest),Poland (Gliwice),Austria (Vienna),Croatia (Zagreb),Czech Republic (Prague),Germany (Munich, Berlin, Offenbach),U.K. (London),Belgium (Brussels),before finishing with two shows in Germany, Hamburg, and finally April 12 at the Turbinenhalle in Oberhausen.

In May last year, P.O.D. released its 11th album, "Veritas", via Mascot Records. The album was a Top 10 hit across the U.S. Billboard Current Hard Rock, Current Rock, and Current Alternative album charts, and has already surpassed 48 million streams.

P.O.D. has released several singles from the album including "Drop", "Afraid To Die", "I Got That" and "I Won't Bow Down".

"Drop" features a vicious vocal feature from LAMB OF GOD singer Randy Blythe, while the equally eruptive single "Afraid To Die" features JINJER vocalist Tatiana Shmayluk.

As well as releasing "Veritas", P.O.D. has toured with SKINDRED, who between them brought the party in a major way to the U.K. They bulldozed through Europe with euphoric festival sets at Graspop Metal Meeting, Summerside and Rock For People. They supported MUDVAYNE, took on their blistering U.S. "I Got That" headline tour with special guests BAD WOLVES and NORMA JEAN, and festival stops at Louder Than Life, Aftershock, Sonic Temple, Welcome To Rockville and made waves on the ShipRocked cruise. They spent October 2024 touring Latin America, playing Knotfest and headline shows in Brazil as well as shows in Chile, Colombia and Mexico.

In a new interview with Austria's Stormbringer TV, guitarist Esa Holopainen of Finnish melancholic progressive metallers AMORPHIS spoke about the band's fifteenth studio album, "Borderland", which came out on September 26 via Reigning Phoenix Music. Asked what the reactions from the press and the fans have been like so far, Esa said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "The reactions have been really good. I guess mostly all the reviews we've gotten and we read have been really positive and really good."

He continued: "I'm really happy how the 'Borderland' album turned out. It was great to work with [producer] Jacob Hansen — the first album with him, and, yeah, it was a really, really good experience. But it's always when you release the album, then you start the tour, you need little time when you can actually say where 'Borderland' is standing amongst the other AMORPHIS albums. But, yeah, we are really, really happy with the result and with the feedback."

Regarding why AMORPHIS chose to work with Hansen on "Borderland" after using Jens Bogren for so long, Esa explained: "We decided to change because we did three great albums with Jens Bogren. It was great to work with him, but AMORPHIS is a band that always tries to search at least something new. And we thought that, okay, now we've done three albums with Jens, so probably it would be a good time to start to search another producer or somebody who can find something else from us. And I actually spoke with Jens, 'cause we are good friends, like, 'How do you feel if we try another producer?' And he was very encouraging. He told us, 'Of course, if you guys feel like you have to try.' And, yeah, that's how it happened.

"I heard a lot of good things about Jacob from Michael Poulsen from VOLBEAT," Esa added. "And he really encouraged us to try Jacob, as he's a really nice person and a great producer. So I think that was one of the reasons why we ended up with Jacob. Plus I really do like, and we all do like the stuff, what he has done. It's not like every album is made with the same formula. He's been producing D-A-D, which is a Danish rock band, AMARANTHE, Swedish female-fronted metal band, VOLBEAT… There's a lot of variety in the albums that he has produced. And for us, it was really important, because our music is also a little bit like a soup, [with] every possible influence. And it was a good relationship, yeah. I think what he really nailed was everything in the mix. And he really made everything sound a little bit more fresh. And I guess 'Borderland' is a bit more straightforward and more melodic album than, for example, [2022's] 'Halo', what we did with Jens."

In a separate interview with Portugal's Look magazine, Holopainen and AMORPHIS keyboardist Santeri Kallio discussed "Borderland". Regarding how the process of making "Borderland" was different to the way AMORPHIS created some of its previous LPs, Esa said: "Yeah, it was the first album now that we did with a Danish producer, Jacob Hansen, and it was a very nice experience. We did three albums with Jens Bogren. He's a splendid producer as well, but we wanted to sort of find some new nuances and elements to our production. So we switched over to a Danish producer, and Jacob was a great guy, amazing guy, and it was really nice to work with him. [He's a] really easygoing guy, and he pretty much brought that extra little flavor, I guess, what we were looking for, to our sound. Creative-wise, I think we worked pretty much as we have before. Each guy works on their own with the songs and then we put all the songs to Google drive and the producer goes from there."

Asked how AMORPHIS chose the 12 tracks to record for "Borderland" after coming up with 24 songs during the pre-production process, Santeri said: "Well, that's one of the reasons why we use the producer… We self-produced 'Far From The Sun' and 'Eclipse' and 'Silent Waters' and 'Skyforger' and 'The Beginning Of Times', and actually making the albums was relatively easy, but we couldn't agree… We had a lot of fights and disagreements about the bonus tracks and which will end up to the album and which will be singles and which order we have. And then we started to use the external producer in the circle with Peter Tägtgren. And I think the main reason to start to use the producer was that he makes the big decisions because we can't really… There's six guys in the band. Everybody has a strong mind, and we listen to all kinds of different music and we don't agree about… and some songs are somebody's babies, some songs you like because they're heavy. And so the producer actually has to select the songs for the production from the 25-song pile, and then he has to select the songs for the album. And then he has to select a track list, like which order and the bonus tracks. So that's one of the producer's jobs in AMORPHIS, because we maybe could do it, but with endless fights."

The follow-up to 2022's "Halo" was recorded in late 2024 and early 2025 at Hansen Studios in Ribe, Denmark with producer Jacob Hansen. The cover artwork was designed by Dutch artist Marald Van Haasteren (METALLICA, BLACK SABBATH, KVELERTAK, ALCEST).

Photo credit: Sam Jamsen

Connecticut metalcore outfit CURRENTS has released a new EP, "All That Follows", via SharpTone Records. The band has also shared the video for "Rise & Fall", which features career archival footage.

CURRENTS singer Brian Wille comments: "'All That Follows' is the end of [the 2023 CURRENTS album] 'The Death We Seek'.

"These are some of our favorite songs thus far and the beginning of a new chapter for us.

"We kept this close to our hearts and trusted our guts on what we really wanted.

"These songs are an exercise of independence, experimentation and collaboration within the band to lengths we haven't gone before. Here we explore disillusionment, inequality, betrayal, and the ambiguity of life and its purpose.

"This world can be both a great and terrible place; and good or bad, we pour all of those experiences into our music. While the result is rarely a happy story, sharing it all with you is always such a positive and cathartic experience.

"We're proud to put this out into the world and to see you connect with it in your own way."

Long before tallying hundreds of millions of streams and playing to sold-out crowds, the spark behind CURRENTS began to flicker as early as 2011. Wille had joined the fold during 2015, and the band pushed forward with a series of critically acclaimed fan favorite releases such as "The Place I Feel Safest" (2017),"I Let The Devil In" EP (2018),"The Way It Ends" (2020) and "The Death We Seek" (2023). Following the latter's release, Everything Is Noise raved, "CURRENTS are one of the few that are capable of crafting a modern metalcore sound that is unrelenting in every which way whilst still being incredibly accessible." Beyond praise courtesy of MetalSucks and more, Distorted Sound rated it "9 out of 10," proceeding to profess, "It makes the future of this brilliant set of musicians one of the most exciting prospects in music to this day." Along the way, they shared stages with everyone from PARKWAY DRIVE and BEARTOOTH to ICE NINE KILLS, WE CAME AS ROMANS and MISS MAY I.

"All That Follows" EP track listing:

01. It Only Gets Darker
02. My Severance
03. Making Circles
04. Can't Turn Back
05. Rise & Fall

CURRENTS is:

Brian Wille - Vocals
Chris Wiseman - Guitar
Ryan Castaldi - Guitar
Christian Pulgarin - Bass
Matt Young - Drums

ALL THAT FOLLOWS is out now on all platforms.

https://bfan.link/all-that-follows

Music Written, Produced, &...

Posted by Currents on Friday, October 31, 2025

In a new interview with Troy Patrick Farrell of the "This That And The Other" radio show, TRIXTER guitarist Steve Brown, who collaborated with Ace Frehley on the KISS legend's latest solo album, "10,000 Volts", reflected on Frehley's recent passing. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Very, very sad times. It was a tragic ending for Ace. I didn't expect it. And we're all still grieving. I was just on the phone before with Jeremy [Asbrock], Ace's guitar player, and we were sort of commiserating. But it almost doesn't feel real. I'm looking around my studio. I have stuff around and stuff that we were working on. I've got guitars that he gave me and stuff. And we were set to start, in a couple months, working on the follow-up to '10,000 Volts'. I'd already sent him a couple of ideas. But that's not to be, sadly."

Steve continued: "I miss my buddy already. I miss the stupid texts back and forth. And again, it still almost doesn't feel real. But I was lucky enough to be able to go to the wake and pay my last respects to him. And I got to say some heartfelt things to him, because being my first guitar hero and the guy… I've always said that KISS and VAN HALEN were the two bands that changed my life forever, and becoming friends with Ed Van Halen and Ace Frehley, I feel so blessed. And they left us too early, I think, and Ace, again, it's just one of those things where… I think it's a lesson to all of us to cherish every day because you never know when your time is gonna come and your card… As my dad said, 'Sometimes that's when your card gets pulled, Stevie boy,' and sadly for Ace, that's the way it was. But it was a beautiful, beautiful wake. The priest said some wonderful things about Paul Daniel Frehley."

Brown added: "I've known Ace for a long time, but over the last couple years we've become so tight and telling each other things that most people don't know. And him just being here, I still feel his spirit all the time, because he was here. And he lived about 45 minutes away from me, so we would work at his place and then work at my place. And it really was fabulous. But I thanked him — more than anything, I thanked him for just being a great guy.

"Look, we all have our flaws, and his has been well documented, but deep down in his heart, he was a great guy. And some of the best moments I had were right here where I'd cook him dinner upstairs, and it would be just me and him, or he'd be doing down here doing card tricks for my daughters. He was a really, really special guy. And the music world lost a rock and roll superhero, that's for sure. But the music and his character will live on forever. So God bless Ace."

Asked by Farrell if there is anything unreleased from the "10,000 Volts" sessions that might eventually see the light of day, Steve said: "Yeah. There are a couple things that we didn't get to finish. That's not really up to me. I'm still very much in contact with the record label. And we'll see. I've gotta believe that in a couple of months, there has to be some sort of tributes to him, musically. And I know [SiriusXM radio personality] Eddie Trunk and I have already talked about, and Eddie's talked about it many times, about a memorial show. So that's definitely gonna happen at some point. But right now it's still too fresh and we're all still grieving and, of course, we all feel for [Ace's] daughter Monique and [ex-wife] Jeanette and [ex-fiancée] Lara, all of his family and close friends."

Back in March 2024, Ace shot down rumors that almost all of the songwriting on "10,000 Volts" was done by Brown. The original KISS guitarist told Canada's The Metal Voice: "I got aggravated the other day 'cause I heard that people were saying I didn't write any of the songs on the record. And [they were saying] it was all Steve Brown. And Steve, he was doing [the] 'Three Sides Of The Coin' [KISS-centric podcast], and he kind of confirmed that by saying, 'Yeah…' The [interviewer] said, 'Well, how much did Ace bring to the table?' And he goes, 'Well, I pretty much brought about 97 percent.' And I was really shocked when he said that, because that's not the case. And I called him up and he apologized to me."

Ace continued: "[Steve is] a wonderful guy. I love him. He was so excited about the record, and they were asking him questions that weren't rehearsed; he had no idea. Everybody sometimes toots their own horn a little more than they should sometimes without thinking. He was so excited about the record, he made that statement, but he admitted to me last night that that wasn't the case. And I brought up 'Up In The Sky' and several other things. What's that one song that everybody's jumpin' on bandwagon now? 'Fightin' For Life', saying it's one of the best songs on the record. I rewrote the whole chorus for that.

"I'm a very good lyricist," Frehley explained. "I always have been, but when it came to this album, if Steve brought a song to me with lyrics, ultimately I ended up rewriting at least 50 percent of the lyrics, just because I'm a better lyricist, and I think he'd be the first one to admit that. But he's definitely a much better engineer and producer than I am, and a great guitar player. And a good songwriter and very knowledgeable on Pro Tools — much more so than myself.

"I like to give credit where credit's due," Ace added.

Asked by interviewer Jimmy Kay if the songwriting split was more like 50-50 in terms of how much each person contributed to it, Ace said: "We just decided, no matter how much one of us brought to the table, we're gonna split everything in half — because it's a lot easier doing it that way than… Because I don't need the money that bad. And I know Steve worked really hard, because not only did he co-produce it, but he engineered the whole record himself. And I didn't have to pay for an engineer, so that saved me thousands of dollars. Whatever one guy brought to the table or the other guy, it really didn't matter. To me, the most important thing is the end result. I sang lead on all the songs. I played guitar solos on 80 percent of the songs, 75 percent. A couple of solos that he came up with, they were guide solos for me to copy. And I said, 'Steve, those solos are so good, let's just leave 'em.' He goes, 'Well, I don't want any credit.' [He's] humble. And I said, 'I'm gonna give you credit, because I like to give credit where credit is due. I don't wanna take credit for your solo if I didn't write it.' That's the kind of relationship we have. And it really doesn't matter who came up with what first. I always end up Ace-ifying it, putting my stamp on it. You can't get away from my voice; the minute you hear my voice, you know it's Ace Frehley."

Ace went on to bring up a few specific instances on the record where his contributions made a significant difference.

"We did a cover song, which was my idea, a song by [French actress] Nadia called 'Life Of A Stranger' [for the 2002 action film 'The Transporter'], which turned out great," he said. "And I wrote 'Back Into My Arms Again'. I wrote that 20, 35 years ago or something, with Arthur Stead.

"When [Steve] brought me 'Walkin' On The Moon', there was one line in the chorus called 'Walkin' on the moon,' but it wasn't the crux of the chorus. And I said, 'This song has to be called 'Walkin' On The Moon'.' He came over to my house and we worked it up and I rewrote most of the lyrics. And it turned out great.

"As far as I'm concerned, it really doesn't matter who does what, as long as the end result is what I want and what Steve wants," Frehley explained. "And we're always on the same page, for the most part. Of course, we'd have our differences from time to time. I mean, he wrote a song, and I can't remember which one it was, he brought a song to me, and it was kind of finished, but it was like a drum machine, and I wanted to bring in a different drummer and change a few things on it. And I said, 'This song needs a bridge.' And he said, 'Nah, it doesn't need a bridge.' I said, 'Trust me, it needs a bridge. I've been writing songs for 50 years.' I wrote a bridge in 10 minutes, and we inserted it after the second chorus, and he goes, 'Wow, that's really good.' So, that's the way we worked… We didn't use any Auto-Tuning, like some people are saying. I have perfect pitch, so I can tell if I'm singing flat. I just redo it."

Earlier in March 2024, Ace dismissed rumors that most of the guitar work on "10,000 Volts" was laid down by Steve, telling Ultimate Classic Rock: "Listen to previous albums by Steve Brown. Do they sound like this record? I don't think so. Number one, I'm doing all the vocals. Number two, I'm doing the majority of the solos. You know, Steve grew up idolizing me. And he's a wonderful human being and a great producer and a great engineer and a great guitar player and singer and songwriter. And working with him was such a pleasure. Sometimes he'd come up with his solo idea and I'd recreate it, because he's been studying my guitar style since he was a little kid, you know?"

Frehley did admit that Brown played "a couple of" guitar solos on "10,000 Volts", explaining: "A couple of times he laid down a solo, but he played it like me, in my style, because he studied my style his whole life. As far as I'm concerned, it really doesn't matter who plays what, you know ... as long as the cut sounds great. A couple of them, I thought Steve laid down so well that I said, 'Let's just keep it.' But that's as far as that goes. I played the majority the guitar solos on the record, absolutely."

A couple of weeks earlier, Brown told Thomas S. Orwat, Jr. of Rock Interview Series about his collaboration with Frehley: "Yeah, it's been an incredible journey, the last year and a half with Ace. Ace and I have been friends for 30-plus years, but it's over the last year and a half of making this record, we've become best friends and brothers and an incredible songwriting and production team."

Steve went on to say that "the response to the record has been overwhelming. And what I love about it — and of course, I knew this was gonna happen — the love for it, and there's also a lot of hate for it," he explained. "I haven't seen this much sort of, let's say, controversy over a record in a long time, so I'm happy to be a part of it. 95 percent of it is all positive. But even the negative, you know what? All you haters out there, first thing, all the hate that you do, it just sells more records because people are curious now."

Regarding his mindset going into the project, Brown said: "I told Ace this the day we started working together, when we finished working on 'Walkin' On The Moon'. I said to him, I said, 'Listen, man. I'm one of your biggest fans. I'm a huge KISS fan. You and Ed Van Halen are the reasons that I started playing guitar, you two guys, and KISS and VAN HALEN were the two bands that got me going in 1978.' I said, 'If you trust me, I promise you, we will make the best record that we possibly can, and it will probably be the best thing that you've done since your '78 solo record.' So, I really, honestly, in my heart, I believe we accomplished that.

"Now, the KISS world and everything, all I've said all along is I made this record, I brought in most of the ideas for the songs and stuff like that, but it was — every idea that I brought in was as a KISS fan, and as an Ace fan, and my whole thing was, I've listened to everything Ace has done since he left KISS. And it's, again — I've said it before and I'll say it again, and I say it with love — there are moments of brilliance, one or two, maybe three great things on some of these records, surrounded by a ton of mediocrity. So my goal, and Ace said this to me the first day we were working, we got done. He said, 'I wanna make sure every song is great. And that was music to my ears, because, look. I told him, I said, 'Listen, brother, I can't do anything if the whole record is not awesome. We're doing 11 songs. They're all gonna be great. Even the cover song and even the instrumental.' And he was all about it."

Brown said that both he and Frehley are thrilled with the final result.

"From day one, we set out to make the record that we made, but in all honesty, in my heart, and I know Ace feels the same way, we exceeded all of our expectations, and the fan response all around the world has just been, it's been spectacular," he said. "So thank you to all the KISS fans out there, all the Ace fans. We love you. And again, like I said, I made this record — I helped, and Ace did too — when we made this record, we made this for all of us. And like I said, as a KISS fan and as an Ace fan, this is not just for me and Ace — this is for the world. This is for all of us fans who have kind of been, like, over the last 30 years, 'Man, yeah, there's some good things there, but kind of missed the mark,' you know what I mean? So, this is for you guys."

Ace reflected on the writing process for "10,000 Volts" in an interview with Guitar World magazine. He said: "It was mostly the combination of Steve and me who brought completely new elements. Most of the harmonies are Steve's, and his songwriting and lyrics, along with my guitar work and his combined, took '10,000 Volts' to another level."

Frehley added that "there was a trust factor" between him and Brown. "On the first day, [he] said, 'Dude, if you trust me, I fucking promise you we're gonna make the best record we can make,'" Ace told Guitar World. "And we did. It's possibly the best record of my career."

Ace's first album of original material since 2018's "Spaceman", "10,000 Volts" contained 11 tracks, including the aforementioned cover of "Life Of A Stranger". Frehley and Brown played most of the instruments on the LP, joined by a handful of drummers and other musicians.

"Steve and I clicked so magically that I really can;t put it into words," Frehley told Billboard. "He lives, like, 40 minutes from me [in New Jersey]. He has a studio in his basement; I have a studio in my basement. We bounce back and forth. He's a great engineer, a strong writer, singer, guitar player. Every song just came together really easily. If I couldn't come up with a great solo, he'd play something that was real similar to the way I would've played, and sometimes I'd double it or duplicate it. I think I left one or two of his solos on the record because they were so good."

Frehley, whose real name was Paul Daniel Frehley, passed away peacefully on October 16 surrounded by family in Morristown, New Jersey. He reportedly died nearly two weeks after a second fall at his home, which led to him being placed on life support after a brain bleed. The musician's family made the heartbreaking decision to take him off the ventilator.

Paul Rodgers has announced that he will skip BAD COMPANY's Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame induction ceremony.

Last week, the English rockers said that would be reuniting to play two songs at Saturday's event in Los Angeles, marking their first performance together since 2019. Drummer Simon Kirke told Gold Derby he and Rodgers would be appearing together at the ceremony, along with other, as-yet-undisclosed musicians. However, earlier today (Monday, November 3),the legendary vocalist released the following statement via his social media: "My hope was to be at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony and to perform for the fans, but at this time I have to prioritize my health. I have no problem singing, it's the stress of everything else.

"Thank you for understanding.

"Simon along with some outstanding musicians will be stepping in for me - guaranteed to rock."

The now-75-year-old Rodgers suffered his first major stroke in 2016 and a second in October 2019, which required him to undergo a major surgery to recover from. At the time, Rodgers underwent a carotid endarterectomy, a procedure to remove plaque from the arteries running through your neck to your brain, according to the Cleveland Clinic.

This past August, Kirke told Defenders Of The Faith about finally being inducted into the Rock Hall: "We're very pleased. We're very honored. Quite honestly, I think it's about time [laughs], but I don't want to appear ungrateful.

"BAD COMPANY, as you know, have been around 50 years. We influenced a couple of generations of bands, so it's about time and we're very happy," he continued. "I'm also happy, because dear old Mick Ralphs, our guitarist who passed away a couple of months ago, learned that BAD COMPANY was going to be inducted just a couple of weeks before he finally passed away. That made us very, very happy indeed."

This past June, Ralphs died at the age of 81 due to complications from a stroke he suffered in 2016.

Other inductees in the Performer category are SOUNDGARDEN, Chubby Checker, Joe Cocker, Cyndi Lauper, OutKast and THE WHITE STRIPES.

BAD COMPANY has been eligible for induction since 1999 and received its first nomination this year.

The induction ceremony will once again stream live on Disney+, and an edited version will air on ABC at a later date.

Asked by U.K. radio veteran Paul Stephenson of VRP Rocks if he ever got a reason why BAD COMPANY hadn't been nominated earlier, Simon said: "No. Well… Hmm. There are several reasons. One of them being, I think because BAD COMPANY had three lineups, it kind of diluted our currency, if you will. If you can imagine a band like CREAM and they change Ginger Baker or they change Jack [Bruce] or Eric [Clapton], God forbid, a couple of times, it would kind of dilute and muddy the waters of the committee. So as I'm told by this insider, they wanted to do a FREE-BAD COMPANY doubleheader, as it were, like [when] THE FACES and THE SMALL FACES were inducted, but for some reason it didn't show up. There was also a political thing that I can't really go into without getting kind of into hot water, but it was a combination. I think the main thing was the triple lineup… It just wasn't a clear-cut 'Let's induct BAD COMPANY.' There were factors that now have dissipated."

Back in November 2023, Kirke was asked by "The Bob Lefsetz Podcast" how he felt about BAD COMPANY not having been inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame. He responded: "I think it's such a travesty, quite honestly. And not just that, but FREE — FREE certainly should be [in the Hall], because FREE has been around since 1968, and the two bands have been responsible for influencing a lot of bands who are already in the Hall. So I feel pretty bad about it. But I'm not gonna go on too much about it. It's just I think we should be in. Certainly FREE. And I think Paul Rodgers should be in on his own merits, as one of the great rock vocalists of all time. If Eric Clapton and Rod Stewart and Jeff Beck can be inducted as solo artists, then certainly Paul Rodgers should be in there. That's my two cents."

Later in the chat, Kirke offered one possible explanation for why BAD COMPANY had been overlooked by the Rock Hall.

"I think because of BAD COMPANY's changing lineups over the 50 years that we'd been together, it kind of devalued our currency a little bit," he said. "You had the Brian Howe era, you had the Paul Rodgers era, one and two, when Paul rejoined the band, we had Robert Hart. So I honestly don't know why we have not been nominated — not even inducted; you have to be nominated first, as you know."

In September 2023, Rodgers told SiriusXM's "Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk" that he wasn't bothered by his absence from the Rock Hall. "Well, it doesn't affect my daily life. It doesn't affect what I do in any way at all," he said. "It's one of those things. But I remember years and years ago, Ahmet Ertegun, who was the head of Atlantic Records [and a co-founder of the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame], said to me, 'Paul, we're making this museum of rock and roll. Do you guys wanna be part of it?' And I said, 'What, a museum of rock and roll? What's it called?' He said, 'Well, it's called the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame.' I said, 'Well, I don't think rock and roll belongs in a museum.' So it's my bad, I guess. And he asked me a couple of times, and I kind of like refused, I guess, basically. So, you know, there you go. Onwards and upwards."

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In a recent interview with Reigning Phoenix Music's Reigning TV, SLAYER guitarist Kerry King spoke about his plans for a follow-up album to his solo debut, "From Hell I Rise", which came out in May 2024 via Reigning Phoenix Music. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET):  "Well, it's vague because there's planning, there's a record company's perspective, but we have enough material for the next one already. I just started writing lyrics on it. I sent 'em to [singer Mark Osegueda]. He got the first song the other day. So, as long as I can get off my ass and get some lyrics happening, I would love to record before New Year's and then just give it to the record company and say, 'Whenever you want, there it is.' If it becomes January, February, that's fine too, because I don't think we're gonna be doing any shows. But I wanna keep these guys working because you've gotta keep the train rolling… [Mark] likes the lyrics too." Osegueda concurred, saying: "I do. The lyrics to the new song are vicious."

Joining Kerry in his new band are Osegueda (DEATH ANGEL),guitarist Phil Demmel (MACHINE HEAD, VIO-LENCE),bassist Kyle Sanders (HELLYEAH) and drummer Paul Bostaph (SLAYER).

All material for "From Hell I Rise" was written by the 61-year-old SLAYER guitarist. The LP was recorded in 2023 at Henson Recording Studios in Los Angeles.

This past April, King was asked by Igor Miranda of Rolling Stone Brasil if he would like to "maybe explore some different influences, like going a little more into punk rock" on the next album. Kerry said: "I don't know. I think punk was pretty well covered on ['From Hell I Rise'], from 'Everything I Hate About You' to 'Two Fists', two very different punk styles. So it wouldn't surprise me if that shows up 'cause it's part of my history. And I think, overall, my thought would be just make an extension from what 'From Hell I Rise' is, just keep doing [things the same way], see what the next 10 or 12 [songs] sound like."

King also talked about his working relationship with "From Hell I Rise" producer Josh Wilbur, who had previously worked with KORN, LAMB OF GOD, AVENGED SEVENFOLD and BAD RELIGION, among others. He said: "A lot of musicians say he's like the extra person in the band; he was like member number six. And he really was. His skill at the Pro Tools rig — he's so fast. He would get on his computer, and I'm just sitting there with my guitar, trying to figure out how to play something better. And he's just doing [something on] his computer, and he's, like, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam. 'How's this?' I'm, like, 'I don't even know where you are.' He's so fast and so good, I don't know what he did. He would have to show me, and I'm, like, 'Yeah, it sounds great.' But I could not follow what he was doing. His mind is going a million miles an hour, and he definitely became familiar with the songs before we recorded 'em. He came in with suggestions before the last week of rehearsals, and [I] shot most of them down, but we kept one or two. It's, like, I'm open to ideas — usually I've thought of 'em, but he had a couple that I didn't. I'm, like, 'I like that. I can't believe I didn't think of that.' So, yeah, he was very hands-on, very cool guy. I loved working with him and he loved working with us. So we're hoping the windows line up to where we're both free [to make the second album together]."

King kicked off his first-ever headlining tour on January 15, 2025 at the Regency Ballroom in San Francisco, California. The trek, which featured MUNICIPAL WASTE as special guest and ALIEN WEAPONRY supporting, wrapped at House of Blues in Las Vegas on February 22, 2025.

King authored all the lyrics on "From Hell I Rise", mainly for logistical reasons. "I finished everything before Mark knew he had the gig," he explained. "But that's not to say he will or won't write on record two." Circumstances dictated that King sing on all "From Hell I Rise" demos. "I did scratch vocals on everything," King said, adding, "I'm not a singer. I'm a guitar player. I've got conviction when I sing, but I have no range, and I need some distortion to help me out a little bit. There was always, 'I got this if whatever we're looking for doesn't work.' Luckily, we didn't have to go that route."

Last year, Kerry said that he knew people would compare "From Hell I Rise" to SLAYER. "I'm not afraid of that because I think it stands up to anything we've done in our history, musically, performance-wise," he said. But he was quick to add: "There will be people complaining, 'Why does it sound like SLAYER?' And 'why doesn't it sound more like SLAYER? That's just what people do."

In early May 2024, the KERRY KING band performed its first live show at Reggies in Chicago. In the days following, the band went from playing an intimate venue to performing at the huge U.S. festivals Welcome To Rockville (Florida) and Sonic Temple (Ohio).

KERRY KING launched a European tour on June 3, 2024 — King's 60th birthday – in Tilburg, The Netherlands. The trek combined headline shows in the U.K., The Netherlands, Germany, Italy and Spain but also festival appearances such as Rock Am Ring, Hellfest, Tuska, Download, Sweden Rock Festival and many more.

The SLAYER guitarist's solo band played its first concert as the support act for LAMB OF GOD and MASTODON on July 19, 2024 at the Texas Trust CU Theatre in Grand Prairie, Texas. The six-week "Ashes Of Leviathan" tour wrapped on August 31, 2024 in Omaha, Nebraska.

The official DEATH ANGEL channel on YouTube has just uploaded exclusive content from the band's 2024 "Another Death Angel Xmas Show" livestream during which DEATH ANGEL frontman Mark Osegueda was asked by host Daniel Dekay to recount being invited to audition for ANTHRAX in 1992 after the first departure of Joey Belladonna. Mark said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Well, when they had their parting of ways the first time with Joey back when, I was living in New York and they called me. And I was no longer in DEATH ANGEL, and they called me and asked if I was interested in auditioning. I remember at one time they had a large cattle call for everyone, but there were certain people they flew in. I was one of 'em. I went down to Burbank, I believe, and auditioned. It was a great hang. It was a great jam. I know at one point, from what I heard from other people, they narrowed it down to me, John Bush [from ARMORED SAINT] and this guy, at the time, Spike [Xavier] from the band MIND OVER FOUR. That's what I heard. And then I also heard from people in the band that they narrowed it down to me and John Bush. Yeah, and to tell you the truth, I think they made the right decision. For the era and the time, they made the absolute right decision going with John Bush."

Mark added: "I'm friends with all the ANTHRAX guys, I'm friends with all the ARMORED SAINT guys and I love John. And that era was perfect. What they were looking for, that was the guy they were looking for."

Referencing the fact that ANTHRAX's Scott Ian wrote about Mark's ANTHRAX audition in his memoir where the guitarist explained that Mark "had a great voice but was strangely too metal for us", Osegueda added: "I've signed that page in Scott's book, and he even says, 'We got down to Mark, and he was too metal for us. He sounded too metal for us.' And I was, like, 'Well, there you go.' That's a compliment. I've signed that page at signing sessions, that I was too metal for 'em."

Mark previously discussed his ANTHRAX audition in an April 2024 interview with Argentina's Rocktambulos. He stated at the time:  "That was a long time ago. Gosh, that was maybe '92 or '93. I left San Francisco after I quit DEATH ANGEL. I moved to New York, and I was living in New York. And I think that was the first time that Joey and ANTHRAX had parted ways. And they did a big open call with people they were auditioning, I know that. But I was one of the few people they called to actually jam with them. And I flew out to L.A., like Burbank area, and met them at a studio out there. And we jammed for a couple of hours. They gave me some songs, some ANTHRAX songs to jam. What could I remember was there? Maybe 'Death From Above'. God, I'm trying to think. I know 'Indians' was one, 'Time' was one. Maybe 'Metal Thrashing Mad', maybe. Yeah. But we did that, and then we did a bunch of cover songs, just jamming — not ones that we rehearsed or anything. Like, 'Hey, try this one.' 'Cause we were all metal fans, so we grew up on the same stuff. So it ended up being a great afternoon and we jammed, had a blast."

Mark continued: "I'm friends with those guys, and much more so now. We were kind of friends then, acquaintances more, and since then we've become really, really, really good friends. And it's funny, but apparently I made it down to the top two. And eventually it got down to me and John Bush, and they picked John Bush, which I think was a great choice. I love John Bush. He's another friend of mine. Fantastic voice. And I think they made the right decision to go with Bush, for sure. But just knowing that they chose me to come fly there and sing with them and knowing that I made it to the top two, I think that's awesome. And it's funny 'cause now, in one of Scott Ian's books, it mentions my audition, and at the time they said, 'We auditioned Mark and we didn't go with Mark 'cause he was a bit too metal for us,' which I love. I had a fan at a signing session have me sign that page of Scott Ian's book. And I never knew that. I love that. I think that's pretty hilarious, because I'll take being too metal. [Laughs] Apparently I'm not too metal for Kerry King. [Laughs]"

Elaborating on why he might not have been the right choice for ANTHRAX in 1992, Osegueda added: "Time's interesting. Everything happens in due time. And when that was happening with ANTHRAX, it was an odd time for thrash metal in general, like early '90s. That was an odd time for all thrash bands. And I think they made the absolute right decision, for sure. And I love ANTHRAX and I love SLAYER, and I love the fact that I'm friends with all the guys. And I really look forward to my opportunities and all the adventures I'm gonna have with Kerry King. And I look forward to all the adventures and upcoming stuff I have with DEATH ANGEL, for sure."

ARMORED SAINT disbanded in 1992 after Bush left to join ANTHRAX. The team-up took place a decade after Bush turned down the offer to join METALLICA, with both ANTHRAX and METALLICA getting their big breaks from Megaforce Records founder Jon "Jonny Z" Zazula.

"I was the one to call John for ANTHRAX," Jonny later told Metal Hammer magazine. "Really, that was the great call. I called him and said, 'Lightning doesn't strike twice.' And that became a reality."

Bush himself left ANTHRAX in 2005, having rejoined the reunited ARMORED SAINT six years earlier.

ANTHRAX has had a number of vocalists — including Bush, Belladonna, Neil Turbin and Dan Nelson — over the last 44 years, with Ian and drummer Charlie Benante remaining the sole bandmembers who have appeared on every one of the group's studio albums.

Turbin sang on ANTHRAX's debut LP, 1984's "Fistful Of Metal", before getting booted and being replaced by Belladonna. Belladonna performed on four ANTHRAX albums, including the fan favorite "Among The Living" (1987) before he himself was fired over creative and stylistic differences. Bush fronted ANTHRAX between 1992 and 2005 but was sidelined when the band reunited with Belladonna for a 20th-anniversary tour. When that collapsed, and relationships disintegrated with next frontman Nelson, Bush returned for a time before Belladonna took the job back in 2010.

In addition to fronting DEATH ANGEL, Osegueda is the singer of SLAYER guitarist Kerry King's solo band.

King's debut solo album, "From Hell I Rise", came out in May 2024 via Reigning Phoenix Music. Joining King and Osegueda on the record are drummer Paul Bostaph (SLAYER),bassist Kyle Sanders (HELLYEAH) and guitarist Phil Demmel (formerly of MACHINE HEAD).

DEATH ANGEL's first new music in six years, a song called "Wrath (Bring Fire)", was made available in May.

As previously reported, DEATH ANGEL will celebrate the 35th anniversary of its "Act III" album by performing it in its entirety on a fall 2025 U.S. tour. The trek, which will feature support from VIO-LENCE (replacing originally announced support act TOXIC HOLOCAUST),LIONS AT THE GATE and MISFIRE, will kick off on November 26 at the Oriental Theater in Denver, Colorado and wrap with two Christmas shows on December 18-19 at The Fillmore in San Francisco, California.

DEATH ANGEL's latest album, "Humanicide", was released in May 2019 via Nuclear Blast. The LP saw DEATH ANGEL returning to producer and friend Jason Suecof (DEICIDE, TRIVIUM) of Audiohammer studios for the recording and mixing, along with the mastering of the legendary Ted Jensen (SLIPKNOT, PANTERA) of Sterling Sound, who added the final touches and brought it all to life, with artist Brent Elliott White (LAMB OF GOD, MEGADETH) providing the cover art.

DEATH ANGEL was nominated for a Grammy Award for "Best Metal Performance" for the "Humanicide" title track. It was the group's first Grammy nomination.

In a new interview with "Reckless" Rexx Ruger of the Pod Scum podcast, vocalist Kyle Thomas of thrash and groove trailblazers EXHORDER was asked about a possible follow-up to the band's fourth full-length album, "Defectum Omnium", which came out in March 2024 via Nuclear Blast Records. The 55-year-old New Orleans-based singer, who also fronts doom metal legends TROUBLE, said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET) "At the moment, I'm kind of in the middle of recording a new TROUBLE album. I gotta get back on to it and get busy with it again. We're planning on releasing that next year and doing some touring. But EXHORDER is back in the mindset of, okay, in March it'll be two years since this album was released. Touring cycles for albums are typically a two-year run now instead of a one-year run like it used to be. So we're feeling that, okay, now it's time. The good news is, is we've fulfilled our contractual obligation to our label. But we've already talked with them about, 'Well, if y'all wanna work again, let's talk.' So I have no concern of whether or not we're gonna have a record deal. It's just a matter of how it's gonna happen and when. We have just really kind of gotten started on the content for that next album. I've got probably fewer cohesive ideas than [bassist] Jason [VieBrooks] does. Jason's got probably four to six structures and skeletons of songs that will eventually be songs, and he's recorded four of those with [drummer] Sasha [Horn], just to kind of see what's gonna work and what's not — just pre-production, normal pre-production. My stuff's a lot more jumbled. I've got so many videos of riffs — a lot of good stuff, and I know a lot of it's probably not gonna make it to the album, but I haven't had the time really to focus on it that Jason has, and I'm okay with it because Jason, musically, has been the one carrying the weight on his shoulders, as far as coming up with songs for last couple of albums. So I'm happy that he's good at that and enjoys doing it because it takes a lot of responsibility and burden off of me if I'm not able to get to it soon enough. So it doesn't matter to me if this time I only have two songs instead of four that made it to the album. And now that we've got [former CANNIBAL CORPSE guitarist] Pat [O'Brien] interested [in contributing to the songwriting], say Pat's got two of 'em. Let's say Pat's got two or three of 'em, I got two or three of 'em, and Jason's got four or five of 'em, already we've got more songs than we need."

Asked if it feels realistic that fans will get a new album from EXHORDER in 2026 or more likely 2027, Kyle said: "I'm gonna say 2027. We don't wanna ever be in a rush."

Featuring 12 tracks and ominous cover artwork by Travis Smith (KATATONIA, OPETH),"Defectum Omnium" followed EXHORDER's critically revered 2019 release "Mourn The Southern Skies".

"Defectum Omnium" was recorded in part at Fat Track Studio in Cincinnati, Ohio with engineer Rob Nadler. The LP marked EXHORDER's first with O'Brien, who made his live debut with the group at the 2022 Maryland Deathfest.

The Maryland Deathfest gig took place three months after guitarist Marzi Montazeri left EXHORDER, explaining at the time in a statement that he "decided to no longer be a part of it."

Shortly after the Houston-based Montazeri announced his departure from EXHORDER, the remaining members of the band — Thomas, VieBrooks and Horn — said that they and Marzi had been "moving in different directions" and assured fans that they would "continue to thrive"

Thomas is now the sole remaining founding member of EXHORDER, which released its debut album, "Slaughter In The Vatican", way back in 1990. In February 2020, EXHORDER parted ways with its original guitarist Vinnie LaBella, who wrote much of the material on "Mourn The Southern Skies". The remaining members of the group later issued a statement saying that they would fulfill their "touring and recording obligations for 2020 and beyond."

EXHORDER released two albums in the early 1990s through the Roadrunner label — the aforementioned "Slaughter In The Vatican" and 1992's "The Law" — before breaking up, with Kyle going on to form FLOODGATE and also briefly appearing live as the vocalist for TROUBLE, which he later joined on a full-time basis (and is still a member of).

EXHORDER, which is cited by many as the originator of the riff-heavy power-groove approach popularized by PANTERA, completed a U.S. headlining tour in late 2021 during which it performed "Slaughter In The Vatican" in its entirety.

Photo credit: Erik Hernandez (courtesy of Nuclear Blast Records)

In a new interview with Luisina Reynoso of Argentina's Cuero Y Metal, DARK TRANQUILLITY and THE HALO EFECT frontman Mikael Stanne spoke about the recent passing of AT THE GATES vocalist Tomas "Tompa" Lindberg. Asked what Lindberg meant to the metal scene in Gothenburg, Sweden, Stanne said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "We kind of grew up in the same part of town; he was a very close neighbor to me. And he was two years older, and he had a lot of experience. He started in the metal scene early. He had a fanzine. He had a band when he was 15. And he was just such a dedicated and passionate music fan, and it was really contagious. The way that he spoke about music and the way that he thought about music and kind of lived through music was infectious. Everybody around him kind of started to feel the same way, and he loved to kind of spread the music that he loved. So we spent a lot of time just at home in his room listening to demos and cassettes and live tapes and things that he got through his fanzine or that he would collect or buy from all over the world. And I was a collector as well, and we bonded over that."

Stanne continued: "He had GROTESQUE, his first band, and it was this insane black metal band. And I went to see them all the time. And I couldn't believe it because he was such a nice, gentle, very courteous and well-mannered, soft-spoken guy, but on stage he was an absolute beast. And it was pentagrams and inverted crosses and blood and skulls and shit, and it was the coolest thing in the world. And I was 15, 16, as I went to these shows, and it was the coolest thing in the world. And, of course, once AT THE GATES started, that inspired us a lot, but I think in general he was kind of the hub that we all gathered around. The metal community was small but very, very passionate at the time."

Stanne added: "There was this bus line that went from the suburb where we lived to the city, and me and Tompa got on the first stop, then the next stop was Anders Fridén and the other guys from DARK TRANQUILLITY. Two more stops and there was the guys from TIAMAT and Peter Iwers from IN FLAMES. And two more stops was Anders and Jonas [Björler] from AT THE GATES. And then we were in town. And then we would sit in a park with a tape recorder and listen to music and drink beer, basically. That's how we grew up and how we all became friends and how this scene kind of started and how the Gothenburg metal scene started to come alive. And he was the kind of hub that brought people together because his passion and his kind of serious… He took it very seriously. This music should be serious, even though it was all about very random stuff, like anything from grisly death metal, like AUTOPSY or political punk or whatever, he was into it and he took it seriously. And so did we, because of him. And he started working at the local record store and he would always recommend stuff. And then I started working there as well. And it was just one of those things that he inspired and encouraged. And, of course, we always went to their rehearsal room, and then we had rehearsal rooms next to each other for years, so we were hanging out in each other's rooms and talk about music, listen to whatever new songs, they were cooking and while we were writing. And it was the same for all the bands in Gothenburg. And then, of course, the way that he was on stage and the way he sang was also for me, as a wannabe singer at the time, that's everything I wanted. Even though at the time it was just black metal, but it was deadly serious, and it was incredible to see how into it he was, and that inspired me to become a vocalist as well. And then, of course, in the last 20 years or so, it's been something else. We've just been friends going to shows together and going out to drink together and hanging out, but he's always been an incredibly important part of the Swedish metal scene, because he everybody knows him and he knows everybody. It's that simple."

Referencing the fact that Tomas died after being diagnosed with adenoid cystic carcinoma (ACC),a rare, slow-growing but aggressive cancer that typically develops in the salivary glands, particularly the minor salivary glands of the head and neck, Mikael said: "Of course I've known that he was sick for years, or a year and a half, and so it's been really difficult to kind of live with that and knowing that the worst might happen. But we always kind of remained very hopeful and positive up until the end. So, yeah, it's been really difficult, but, fortunately, all of his friends are also my friends, of course. And so it's been a good community to kind of talk to and hang out with them. We have a lot of kind of gatherings planned that we can just sit and talk about him and kind of remember the good stuff."

Stanne previously spoke about Lindberg this past September in an interview with Chile's PowerOfMetal.cl. Mikael said at the time: "I met [Tomas] when I was 14. I went with a friend to their rehearsal room in the basement of Kristian Wåhlin, [also known as] Necrolord, who's the cover painter for [DARK TRANQUILLITY's] 'The Gallery' [album], for instance. And they were rehearsing with GROTESQUE that later became [AT THE GATES], or before [they formed] AT THE GATES. And it blew me away. I saw a band that played music live in a basement. And I'd never seen that before. And it was crazy, insane black metal stuff. And I was so inspired by it and kind of awestruck by it. And so we started hanging out, and Tomas showed me tons of music that he had found through his fanzine and through his kind of tape-trading and record collecting. And yeah, we became instant friends, and [we'd been friends] since then."

Mikael continued: "More than anything, I think Tompa really inspired the scene, because he was kind of that central figure for everything that kind of went on in Gothenburg at the time. He was so passionate about it, and he was so into it, and he knew every band, and he knew about everything that was going on in the scene. So, if you needed anything, if you had any questions or you wanted to know something, or you wanted to kind of be inspired, you just go to him. And he was always there. So without him, there would be no Gothenburg death metal scene; that's just a fact. [With] his kind of integrity, he took this music very incredibly serious. And when I kind of discovered extreme metal through bands like KREATOR and CANNIBAL CORPSE, whatever it was, I was kind of, like, 'I don't know what this is. I love it, but I don't know if it's serious or not.' But he showed me that, 'No. Come on. This is serious.' There are some bands that take this very seriously, and there are lyrics that matter. It's not just horror movie stuff. And so when I started writing, I wanted it to matter and be serious and with serious issues or problems or what have you. And it's because of how he showed me what music could and should be. So, yeah, without him there would be no [Gothenburg] death metal scene. So we're eternally grateful. And I miss him like crazy."

Speaking about Tomas's death, Mikael said: "It's been a horrible two years knowing that he was struggling and kind of battling this disease. And everybody thought, of course, 'Yeah, it's gonna be fine. [He's] gonna power through [it].' But a couple months ago we realized that it's worse than we thought. And now this happened. And, yeah, it's devastating."

Lindberg received the diagnosis in December 2023, which led to a major surgery that removed a large portion of the roof of his mouth. He had also undergone radiation treatment and had been on a path to recovery, but then doctors found traces of the cancer in early 2025. In May 2025, an undisclosed "setback" placed Tomas in long-term care.

AT THE GATES released its definitive album, "Slaughter Of The Soul" — often regarded as one of the all-time greatest metal albums — on Earache in 1995, before touring the world and abruptly disbanding. Members of the band went on to play major roles in other notorious metal acts such as THE HAUNTED and CRADLE OF FILTH, before reforming in 2008, with Lindberg juggling his day job as a teacher with being a death metal frontman.

AT THE GATES' latest studio album, "The Nightmare Of Being", came out in 2021.

Lindberg revealed in a statement earlier this year that AT THE GATES recorded a new album before he underwent mouth surgery.

"The last version of the vocals, the ones that will end up on the album, were recorded in ONE day, mostly one takes, the DAY before the surgery, just to make sure we HAD the album, so to speak," the statement said. "So the vocals were actually recorded BEFORE the rest of the album.... a bit different, but it felt good to have it done."

In a new interview with NINE:32 | Music Magazine, Mr. Lordi of the Finnish hard rock band LORDI, whose members never appear without their elaborate ghoulish skeleton and zombie masks and makeup, spoke about the importance of sticking to his guns when it comes to the songwriting process. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET):  "Yeah. 'cause the main thing is that because everything that comes out under the name of LORDI is true and genuine. That's what it is, because everything that I write, I write it for the smallest fucking target audience in the world, which is one person, which is myself. And everything I'm doing, whether it's music or the visuals or anything, it's just to please myself. And if anybody else likes it, it's a plus."

Asked if he is influenced by any modern rock artists, Mr. Lordi said: "No, no. I've gotta be honest. No. I mean, no — there's no modern artist that [I was influenced by]. I couldn't even name any fucking names. I don't know any bands or artists of today. I feel like an old geezer, but that's how it is. I'm soon 52, and I guess by the time I was, like, fucking 25, that's when my welcome center closed its doors and nothing new had come in."

LORDI's 19th studio album, "Limited Deadition", was released on March 21 via Reigning Phoenix Music (RPM).

Known for their theatrical style and unique blend of 1980s-inspired rock and heavy metal, LORDI's latest creation is a nostalgic celebration of retro '80s toys, infused with a fresh and powerful energy. Building on the success of their 2023 album "Screem Writers Guild", "Limited Deadition" ventures into heavier riffs and faster tempos, creating a soundscape that is both familiar and invigorating.

Recorded at IluSound Studio and Finnvox Studios in Helsinki, "Limited Deadition" was produced by Mr. Lordi, mixed by Ilkka Herkman and mastered by Pauli Saastamoinen. As always, Mr. Lordi took charge of the album's striking artwork and layout, channeling his passion for '80s memorabilia into every detail.

The thematic heart of "Limited Deadition" lies in Mr. Lordi's lifelong obsession with collecting, inspired by the action figures and toys of his childhood.

The album opens with "SCG XIX The Hexecutioners", setting the stage for an exciting blend of cinematic and melodic heavy rock. Tracks like "Legends Are Made Of Clichés" and "Skelephant In The Room" highlight LORDI's knack for creating larger-than-life anthems. Meanwhile, the poignant ballad "Collectable" reflects on the fleeting value of physical objects in a digital world, while the title track, "Limited Deadition", makes a bold statement celebrating collectors and their passion.

Earlier this year, Mr. Lordi was asked by Metal Covenant how he personally has been affected by how the music industry has changed over the last couple of decades. He responded: "Well, digitalization is the root of all evil. You know, it started slowly, but when it hit over the music business, it hit hard. And the music business wasn't ready. And I still feel grudge against that. You know, if I get angry at something, I will never recover from that. I will never forgive. I mean, there are so many levels on this shit.

"I think that the whole streaming of music, the whole not paying the artists that is there, the whole downfall of the physical albums, all that, it's just because of fucking digitalization and Internet, and then later on social media," he continued. "And I refuse to be part of that. I have to be, but in my personal life I'm not. I have never, for example, been on social media, for a second in my life. I've never had Facebook. Never been on Facebook, never been on Instagram, never been on any of that shit, and I will never fucking do it. I don't even read my fucking e-mails, unless somebody calls me and tells me that, 'Hey. You have an e-mail. Go read your e-mails.' And all my bills still come on paper to me. I pay extra for the companies to send me paper bills."

Brian "Head" Welch, co-founder of the nu metal band KORN who left the group in 2005 after becoming a Christian amid his struggle with drug addiction, only to rejoin KORN eight years later, took to his social media earlier today (Sunday, November 2) to share a two-minute video dubbed "Religious people will pile guilt on you, I've seen it countless times… But Christ is different". In the clip, which can be seen below, Welch said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Religion versus relationship. Religion and religious people will pile on you — loads and loads of guilt. They tower over you with their self-righteousness to make you feel that you are way beneath them in order to keep you in that spirit of control over your life. I've seen it countless times. It's a cancer to spirituality and chases so many people away from even the thought of a relationship with Christ. Now, Christ, on the other hand, is a real heart-to-heart relationship. It's your heart connected spiritually in union with Christ's heart. He leads you to himself by kindness while acknowledging your flaws. He will definitely ask by leading you spiritually to lay down some things in order to take away the fun in your life. It's never about taking the fun away in your life. It's about getting the things in your life out, completely out of your life, so that you can have a healthier form of existence on this planet. It's never about taking things away from you so that you have a more boring life. But he leads you by kindness, he leads you to acknowledge your flaws, and then he empowers you to lay those flaws down."

Welch continued: "That's the whole thing. We don't have to do it in our own strength. Christ empowers us, through his spirit, to live a better life, to live a healthier life. And that's what grace is — it's the empowerment of God through the spirit that gives us the ability to do this.

"Religion is corrupting this world; it has been for countless centuries," Brian added. "But there there is a lot of people waking up to the true fact of relationship, especially in the last, like, 20 years. I just see so many people latch on to the real, to the real.

"So, just my little two cents today. Hope you guys are having a good weekend."

This past April, Welch was asked by the Stand Up Dude podcast to name one reminder that he would give men, especially young men, out there that would enable them to be the men that they're created to be. Welch said: "I think just developing and actually spending time to develop a relationship with Christ one on one. That has been the pivotal piece of my journey. Going to church and praying before you go to bed during the week, going to church on Sunday, it's not enough, in my opinion, for what Jesus died for. He wants to lead and guide you, and he wants you to talk to him. It is a mystery, and we're getting guided, but we sometimes miss it. And that chasing and that trying to hear his voice or his messages, his signs, trying to see his signs and wonders of what we're supposed to do, where we're supposed to go, is the most important thing."

He added: "Church is supposed to be the gas station to fill us up for the rest of the week. We're supposed to read books, listen to books, listen to messages, podcasts. There's so much information out there to help you grow. And so develop that personal daily walk with Christ."

Welch went on to say that opening one's heart to receive God's love is a transformative experience.

"What's God's message in the Bible? It's love. Love. Over and over — love, love, love," he said. "And as guys, it's hard for us, 'cause we think, when we find a woman, we love them, we date them, we hopefully marry them and we open our heart to 'em. It's harder for sometimes guys, for the concept to open our heart to God. But we've gotta remember, Jesus, he walked the earth as a man, but he's more than that. He's the son of God where male and female came from God. He's other than. So we just need to open our heart to learn how to receive his love as a God and give that love back to him.

"When I came to the place where I was ready to open up my heart to God, I didn't necessarily know as opening my heart, but I was begging for help because I was in such a dark place where I wanted my life to be over," he continued. "I wanted to sleep and never wake up. And so I got to that place where I was, like, 'Please, help me.' And that opened my heart a little bit. And then once I started going to church, learning what the Bible was saying, that's when I found out that God is love. It says God actually is love. Not that just God loves us, that he is love. So his very nature is love. And so being a tough guy or trying to portray a tough guy all the time with the heavy metal music and all that, I slowly, by the Holy Spirit's help, started to learn to be able to open my heart. And then I wanted this love, because I did so many drugs and drank so much alcohol over the years that it was like I wanted to escape. And meeting God and learning that God is love, it started to fill that place, the empty place in me that the drugs and the alcohol were trying to fill. And so it was like — sometimes I describe it as the best high I ever felt. It was God's love entering, when I opened my heart. And so it's done spiritually."

Welch left KORN in early 2005, at the same time announcing that he kicked his addictions to drugs and alcohol by becoming a born-again Christian.

Less than a month after leaving KORN, Welch — wearing a white robe and sporting a long beard — was baptized in Israel's Jordan River, along with about 20 other members of the Valley Bible Fellowship, the Bakersfield, California, church in which he spoke two weekends earlier. At the time, Brian told MTV News that he decided to be baptized in the Jordan after receiving a divine message.

Welch officially returned to KORN in 2013, one year after joining the band onstage at the Carolina Rebellion festival in Rockingham, North Carolina to perform "Blind".

Since his conversion to Christ 20 years ago, Welch has been very open about how God changed his lifestyle and restored his relationship with his daughter.

In recent years, Brian has been preaching that people don't have to wait until they die to see if having an encounter with the presence of God is real.

Both Welch and KORN bassist Reginald "Fieldy" Arvizu have had highly public, though separate, conversion experiences, ones that have been greeted with a certain amount of skepticism.

In a new interview with Robert Cavuoto of Myglobalmind, legendary guitarist George Lynch (DOKKEN, LYNCH MOB) was asked if late KISS axeman Ace Frehley was an influence on his playing. George responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "No. And I feel bad saying that, that he just died, but he wasn't. The only thing that impressed me — not impressed me, but the thing that really actually transfixed me with KISS in the early days was their image and their show… The first album, I just looked at, 'Who are these demons? What the hell? It's so cool.' And it influenced, I think, all of us, just like VAN HALEN influenced us, and [LED] ZEPPELIN influenced everybody. It was one of those things."

Lynch added: "I was watching last night, somebody sent me a link to some old STP [STONE TEMPLE PILOTS] concert where they all painted their faces and dressed up like KISS. That was just fascinating. I love it."

In the late 1970s, George's pre-DOKKEN band THE BOYZ reportedly played a showcase gig for KISS bassist/vocalist Gene Simmons. Lynch later reflected on the experience in an interview with the "Cobras & Fire" podcast, saying: "[Gene] made us change our names. He was just, like, 'All your names suck. You need new names.' So he gave us all new names. I became Adam Wolf — actually, the singer became Adam Wolf, I became John Lynx. I think [drummer] Mick [Brown] or the bass player was Nikki Thunders — I think Mick was Nikki Thunders. And the bass player was Trevor Roxx. And that lasted for a couple of days, and we changed our names to our real names."

Asked if he had any run-ins with Gene after DOKKEN became a success, George said: "Yeah, we did a freaking tour with them. I did read some — I don't normally read rock biographies, but I did read the VAN HALEN one. And there was a thing in there where Gene just made a really quick mention about us being the band that he actually came to see a second time with Ace [Frehley]. And he talked about signing us. He didn't really discuss that in the book, which was the case. Unfortunately, VAN HALEN came out after us, and they just shifted gears and got VAN HALEN, but his mention in the book was, 'Yeah, XCITER [George's other pre-DOKKEN band] was on that too and they sucked.' That's all he said. I think the first time he saw us we might have been THE BOYZ, and he liked us and talked to us, we were playing Starwood, and I think by that time we changed our name to XCITER and got a different singer."

More than a decade ago, George talked about DOKKEN's 1985 tour as the support act for KISS, telling the KissFAQ.com web site: "[KISS guitarist/vocalist] Paul Stanley invited [then-DOKKEN bassist] Jeff Pilson and I up to his hotel room to write songs after one of the shows. We were very excited, knocked on his door, pushing our recording rack on wheels that we toured with. He let us in wrapped in a towel and soaking wet. He suggested we put on towels too and jump up and down on the beds to get our creative juices flowing, which we did, but then we never wrote any songs. That was weird."

George's long-running band LYNCH MOB will release its ninth and final full-length studio album, "Dancing With The Devil", on November 28, 2025, via Frontiers Music Srl.

As was the case with LYNCH MOB's eighth studio album, 2023's "Babylon", "Dancing With The Devil" features Lynch alongside vocalist Gabriel Colón, bassist Jaron Gulino (TANTRIC, HEAVENS EDGE) and drummer Jimmy D'Anda (BULLETBOYS).

The current touring lineup of LYNCH MOB includes Lynch, Gulino, vocalist Andrew Freeman (LAST IN LINE) and drummer Brian Tichy (WHITESNAKE, FOREIGNER, OZZY OSBOURNE).

The concertsrock channel on YouTube has uploaded video of Sebastian Bach's October 30 concert at Hard Rock Hotel at Universal Orlando in Orlando, Florida. You can now watch the clips below.

In a recent interview with Australia's The Break Down With Nath & Johnny, Bach once again spoke about the inspiration for the title of his latest solo album, "Child Within The Man", which came out in May 2024 via Reigning Phoenix Music. The former SKID ROW singer said: "I don't know what it is about music, but it definitely keeps you young in some weird way. I don't understand why or how, but when I look at Angus Young on stage with AC/DC in 2025 and he's banging his head, or I look at Mick Jagger [THE ROLLING STONES], who's in his eighties, and he's running out there and he this little — he's so skinny and he's doing all his Mick Jagger stuff… I don't know what it is, but there is something about rock music. It keeps you young… I don't know what the hell it is, but when I listen to an old album, like ROSE TATTOO 'Rock 'N' Roll Outlaw' or RUSH or any music I listened to as a kid, it makes me feel the same way as I felt when I was a kid. I don't know what the fuck it is. But that's the title, 'Child Within The Man'. Rock and roll makes me feel like a child. [Laughs]"

He continued: "Physically, mentally… I'm not a guy who goes to the doctor all the time, but my wife makes me go and get checkups all the time. And I've been rocking for 45 years straight and my doctor tells me, he goes, 'Sebastian, you are the healthiest person in your fifties that we have ever taken care of.' And my wife's, like, 'That can't be right. This is bullshit. There is no way.' They go, 'Your blood sugar, your heart rate…' The doctor said, 'The enzymes that are coming out of your liver could not be healthier.' And if you knew what I've done to my liver in 45 years — so, I don't know if that's part of rock and roll. I don't know. I do hot yoga, but, man, I love drinking red wine. I don't drink anything else. I don't drink beer. I don't do shots. But I love a glass of red wine with a great meal at a great restaurant. I'm just saying a lot of rockers die young, and I'm still rocking. I'm still here. And rock and roll, I think, keeps you young. I don't know what to tell you. [Laughs]"

Bach previously talked about the inspiration for the "Child Within The Man" album title in an April 2024 interview with "Whiplash", the KLOS radio show hosted by Full Metal Jackie. He said at the time: "Well, my wife calls me man-child. That's kind of been a theme for me my whole career. I bring a youthful energy to the stage when I get up there. People are smiling and excited and hooting and hollering. But the line 'child within the man' is a line of one of the songs on the record. And I scream it like bloody murder. And it kept haunting me. "

Sebastian also talked about the "Child Within The Man" artwork, which holds special meaning since it was designed by Bach's father, noted visual artist David Bierk.

"I have a lot of my dad's artwork," Bach said. "He's no longer alive. And we all, all of his kids, we got a lot of his art when he passed away. And I unrolled a roll of paintings that I knew had the SKID ROW 'Subhuman Race' painting in it, and I wanna take care of it and make sure it's preserved. But in that roll was this painting that I remember my dad doing of me when I was 10 in a field next to this beat-up old Cadillac car in the field and then behind the car, it's Jesus ascending into heaven, and I'm running next to the car. It looks like an album cover. And then he also did a painting of me from Circus magazine, the first centerfold of me on stage at Giants Stadium. He did a gigantic painting of that, like 12 feet high. And so the cover is gonna be me running as a child into me on stage as a man, and it's child within the man. And it just reminds me of the '70s, like child in time, and it just reminds me of a good '70s album cover. And the fact that I can bring back a painting from the year 1978 and make it into artwork in 2023, 2024, that's really mind-blowing to me."

"Child Within The Man" was recorded in Orlando, Florida; produced and mixed by Michael "Elvis" Baskette; engineered by Jef Moll, assistant engineered by Josh Saldate and mastered by Robert Ludwig of Gateway Mastering. Bach wrote or co-wrote all the album's 11 tracks and sang all lead and backing vocals.

"Child Within The Man" features guest appearances from John 5 (MÖTLEY CRÜE, ROB ZOMBIE, MARILYN MANSON),Steve Stevens (BILLY IDOL) and Orianthi (ALICE COOPER, MICHAEL JACKSON) — who all co-wrote their respective tracks with Bach — and two tracks co-written with ALTER BRIDGE's Myles Kennedy ("What Do I Got to Lose?" and "To Live Again"). Devin Bronson (guitars),Todd Kerns (bass) and Jeremy Colson (drums) round out the players on the album. The album was made available on jewelcase CD, cassette, and double LP in a variety of colour options.

The album's first single, "What Do I Got To Lose?", was co-written by Sebastian, Kennedy and Baskette, the latter of whom also served as the track's producer.

Bach performed "What Do I Got To Lose?" live for the first time during his February 24, 2024 concert at Palace Theatre in St. Paul, Minnesota.

Bach released the official music video for "What Do I Got To Lose?" in December 2023. The clip was directed by Jim Louvau and Tony Aguilera. For the video, which shows Bach cruising through the desert in a convertible and performing with a full band, Sebastian was joined by his former SKID ROW bandmate, drummer Rob Affuso. The clip also features an appearance by actor and comedian Craig Gass and Sebastian's wife Suzanne, who plays a scantily clad car wash attendant.

Prior to the arrival of "Child Within The Man", Bach hadn't released a full-length disc since "Give 'Em Hell", which came out in March 2014. Like its predecessor, 2011's "Kicking & Screaming", the disc was released through Frontiers Music Srl, the Italian label which specializes in what's commonly called AOR, a term that once signified a popular radio format ("album-oriented rock") but nowadays applies to acts whose airplay is marginal.

Celebrate your love for rock and roll at our Halloween Velvet Session with Sebastian Bach! Don’t miss this night of music and Halloween fun 🎸🎃😎

Purchase tickets today! ➡️ https://bit.ly/3HposK0

Posted by Hard Rock Hotel at Universal Orlando on Tuesday, October 7, 2025

On Thursday, October 30, "A 60th Anniversary Doors Celebration" was held at the Greek Theater in Los Angeles. This one-night-only event honored 60 years of THE DOORS with a special homage to the groundbreaking Los Angeles band's 1970 release "Morrison Hotel" — which features the classics "Roadhouse Blues", "Waiting For The Sun", "The Spy" and "Peace Frog" — along with other DOORS classics, some of which were never played live by THE DOORS.

Special guests joining Robby Krieger, legendary guitarist of THE DOORS, included Billy Idol and Steve Stevens, Greg Gonzalez (CIGARETTES AFTER SEX),Perry Farrell (JANE'S ADDICTION),Fantastic Negrito, Chris Goss (MASTERS OF REALITY),Kevin Martin (CANDLEBOX),John Doe (X),Deryck Whibley (SUM 41),Haley Reinhart, Robert DeLeo (STONE TEMPLE PILOTS),Carmine Appice (VANILLA FUDGE),Steven Adler (GUNS N' ROSES),Adam Kury (CANDLEBOX) and Orianthi.

The show kicked off with a performance from TRIPFORM featuring Pablo Manzarek (son of original DOORS member, the late Ray Manzarek). Next, Krieger — along with his sensational band featuring Ed Roth, Dan Rothchild, Ty Dennis and Waylon Krieger — and the guest performers took the stage.

The Greek Theater show capped off THE DOORS' 60th-anniversary celebration which Krieger kickstarted earlier this year by performing five sold-out shows at the Whisky A Go Go, the legendary venue where it truly started for THE DOORS.

Sixty years after their formation, THE DOORS' music and legacy are more influential than ever. Helmed by Jim Morrison (vocals),Ray Manzarek (keyboard),Robby Krieger (guitar) and John Densmore (drums),THE DOORS exploded on to the scene through timeless classics such as "Light My Fire", "Break on Through (To The Other Side)" and "Riders On The Storm", ultimately releasing six studio albums. Icons of rebellion and creative freedom, THE DOORS have sold over 100 million albums.

In the summer of 1965, Ray Manzarek had a chance encounter on Venice Beach with Jim Morrison, a young poet whom he knew when they were both students at UCLA's film school. Jim told Ray he had been living on a friend's rooftop writing songs. Though Morrison had never intended to be a singer, he sat down on the beach and sang the new songs to Ray, including "Moonlight Drive". Manzarek thought they were the best rock and roll lyrics he ever heard. At that moment, they both agreed to start a rock band and call it THE DOORS, taking their name from Aldous Huxley's psychotropic monograph "The Doors of Perception" and William Blake's "The Marriage Of Heaven And Hell". Guitar player Robby Krieger and drummer John Densmore, who'd played together in the PSYCHEDELIC RANGERS, were recruited soon thereafter. After months of rehearsals, they landed a gig as the house band at a small Sunset Strip club called the London Fog. By May 1966, they had graduated to their dream gig — house band at the Whisky A Go Go. Soon after, Elektra Records president Jac Holzman and producer Paul A. Rothchild saw the band performing at the Whisky and signed THE DOORS to the label. Over the course of a week, THE DOORS recorded their debut album at Sunset Sound Recording Studios in Hollywood, putting on tape the songs they had been playing night after night at the Whisky.

THE DOORS' eponymous debut album — which the BBC and Rolling Stone have each hailed as one of the greatest debuts of all time — was released in January 1967 and features the chart-topping smash hit "Light My Fire", the bluesy, growling "Back Door Man" and seminal live-set showstopper "The End", with its legendary Oedipal spoken-word section.

Having cemented their place in the rock pantheon and the psychedelic rock revolution, THE DOORS returned to the studio resulting in the anticipated follow-up, "Strange Days", which went to No. 3 on the U.S. Billboard 200 and featured "Love Me Two Times" and "People Are Strange".

In 1968, the band released "Waiting For The Sun", their first No. 1 album featuring the chart-topping single "Hello, I Love You", along with "Love Street" and "Five To One".

THE DOORS then dove further into uncharted psychedelic territory with 1969's string and horn-laden album "The Soft Parade", which included the Krieger-penned hit "Touch Me".

1970's "Morrison Hotel", which boasts fan favorites "Roadhouse Blues" and "Peace Frog", took the band back to its bluesy roots. 1971's "L.A. Woman", the band's final album with Morrison and recorded in the band's rehearsal space, features "Riders On The Storm", "Love Her Madly" and the title track.

During their brief time together, THE DOORS delivered six studio albums before Morrison's untimely death in Paris in 1971. Their electrifying achievements in the studio and onstage remain unmatched in the annals of rock, and today they remain as one of the best-selling bands of all time with over 100 million records sold worldwide.

In 1993 the band was inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame. Several years later, the songs "Light My Fire" and "Riders On The Storm" along with THE DOORS' debut album were inducted into the Grammy Hall Of Fame. The Library of Congress also recognized the band, selecting their self-titled album for inclusion in the National Recording Registry in 2014. THE DOORS also received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award and a star on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame in 2007.

With an intoxicating, boundary-pushing sound, provocative and uncompromising lyrics, and mesmerizing stage presence, THE DOORS would go on to have a transformative impact on both music and culture.

Florida metallers TRIVIUM played their first show with their new drummer Alex Rüdinger (formerly of WHITECHAPEL) on Friday (October 31) at the opening concert of the band's "Struck Dead" North American tour at the House Of Blues in North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Fan-filmed video of the performance can be seen below.

On October 27, Rüdinger took to his social media to share a photo of his current drum setup, and he included the following message: "Quick shot of the setup I'll be using on this run with @triviumband !

"Last couple of weeks have been pretty crazy (in a good way!). As [TRIVIUM] mentioned in their initial post [announcing Rüdinger's addition to the band], there's some history between us. Nearly 10 years ago, I was asked about playing with TRIVIUM, & it was honestly one of the most conflicting situations of my career. My band at the time, GOOD TIGER, had just launched, & we had just completed this crowdfunding campaign that raised us a ton of money to start this new band.

"I honestly didn't know what to do. Part of me was worried about how it would look — start this new band, then bail to join an already established band. That was definitely one thought that I had. But more than anything, at the time — I didn't want to let my friends down. The whole reason I did GT was because we were friends, first & foremost.

"I was totally upfront with GT — they even encouraged me to go & meet TRIVIUM. They didn't want me to leave, but they didn't want me to stay and regret it. So I did — I flew down to Florida, & spent some time with Matt, Corey, & Paolo.

"In the end, I made the decision that I thought was right, & not what was truly best for myself. If I had been honest with myself, the truth was that I wanted to do this back then. But that's not the decision that I made, & it's something I did in fact come to regret (quite a lot).

"But life goes on, & while I often looked back on it & wondered what might have been, you can't change the past. So I did my best to move on, & life took me where it took me.

"Then two weeks ago, that all changed. I saw that they parted ways with their drummer, I immediately reached out, & here I am.

"To say I'm thrilled to be doing this is truly an understatement. I feel as though I have an incredibly rare opportunity — a second chance at something that I always wanted. It's honestly quite surreal.

"I'm just incredibly thankful, excited, & can't wait to play these 13-14 songs that I've learned thus far (& in time, even more!).

"Thank you Matt, Corey, & Paolo for trusting me to do your music justice, & welcoming me (again) with such enthusiasm.

"That's all for now, ya'll - hope to see you at a show!

TRIVIUM frontman Matt Heafy chimed in below Alex's post: "Thank you so much Rudi-san. It took us a decade — but we're finally making music together. Here's to the future!"

Earlier in October, TRIVIUM parted ways with longtime drummer Alex Bent and replaced him with Rüdinger.

Rüdinger is sitting behind the kit for TRIVIUM's entire "Struck Dead" fall 2025 North American tour. He will also be part of the writing sessions for the next TRIVIUM album.

In a recent interview with Belgian Jasper, TRIVIUMbassist Paolo Gregoletto was asked what the process of going through another drummer change has been like for him personally, being one half of the band's rhythm section. He responded: "You've gotta start from square one again in a lot of ways because the first thing you've gotta do is get people up to speed on the music you've done, 'cause you're touring, probably, so that takes a bit of effort. I feel like it's made me a lot more aware of every aspect of our band because I know the drum parts pretty, pretty well, down to little, little things that I'll kind of bring up from time to time, like, 'Hey, actually, this part has this' blah, blah, blah. And I don't know — it's just something I've started to retain in my head. And also maybe it's because, as a bass player, you focus in on the rhythm a lot more than… I don't know if a guitar player wouldn't, but you focus in on the little things like that because you often are playing off of what they're doing."

Paolo continued: "Yeah, you just have to kind of pick back up, start again. I guess for us it's a lot easier, being a band for 20 years. We have a pretty established thing. We have our records. We know them really well. It's, like, we know who we are. It was harder going through that in the beginning, but now it's… I don't wanna say that we're used to it, because it's been nine years [since the last time we had to change drummers], so it's not something we were expecting, but you, I guess, can weather and handle these kind of things a lot better. I think being our age, that's part of it too. Maybe when you're younger, it's a lot more of an emotional thing. But I don't feel like that now. I just know what we've gotta do, and I wanna get to it and I wanna get to the tour. I wanna make sure this tour, for the people coming out, this is the best TRIVIUM show you've ever seen. And it's gotta be that level."

In a separate interview with Australia's Wall Of Sound, TRIVIUM guitarist Corey Beaulieu stated about the band's split with Bent: "It just kind of happened, and it was kind of a surprise. I don't think anyone was really expecting it. But it is what it is. When it all kind of went down, we all wished each other the best. There's no hard feelings. It was just kind of one of those things where it's, like, life changes paths. And it's all positive. We made three amazing records together. The [upcoming 'Struck Dead'] EP is amazing, which it will be his last thing. He started working on the [next TRIVIUM full-length] record with us, so hopefully when that's finished and done, he'll feel a part of that."

Corey continued: "When [Alex] came into the band, we had a great chemistry, a great writing team. I think all the music we did together is — hopefully the fans just are really excited about what was created in that time. And Alex, he's a great drummer, a great person and stuff, and I'm sure he's got plans for whatever his next chapter is."

Gregoletto told Thunder Underground about TRIVIUM's split with Bent:  "I don't feel like I want fans to be, like, Hey, okay, we're over it. We expect you to be over it,' kind of thing. I'm like, no. I'm, like, we made a lot of great music and there's a lot of history between us. He was almost in the band as long as Travis [Smith, former TRIVIUM drummer] was and almost made as many albums, I believe. So that's a pretty big chunk of our history right there. And I think 'The Sin And The Sentence', of the stuff we all did together, is maybe one of my favorite records we've done. And I think the [upcoming] EP ['Struck Dead'], too — if that's the end of the chapter, I'm, like, that's a great ending right there, 'cause I think it's a very, very cool EP. And I can say without a doubt, I feel that the albums and EP has been an incredible run. I don't feel we had a real weak point. I can't say that's something I feel like for our whole career. So I'm, like, I feel very proud of that. It was a lot of effort and work and everyone's part."

At this year's Aftershock festival, Paolo told Baby Huey and Chasta of the San Francisco radio station 107.7 The Bone about Bent: "We've had a great nine years together. I feel like it's kind of a weird thing because, obviously, being in a band together, but I feel like because we've all had families and stuff, there's a tighter connection there that even just what people see. So I think it's one of those things, we all were kind of sad, but at the same time, we said, 'Alex, we want you to kind of make the statement. You kind of lead how you'd like to handle all this stuff.' And I didn't wanna put words in his mouth or say whatever. He made the statement. I feel like we ended on great terms. And that's really kind of it. I mean, there's no juicier CRADLE OF FILTH [-style] drama [with former hired musicians sharing their grievances online]. And, again, it's one of those things where we wanted him to make a statement."

Paolo continued: "In the past we've always been very, like — we don't really like to get into any behind-the-scenes stuff with that. And, of course, we've had changes before, but we felt like in this instance, rather than just saying 'we're parting' or whatever, we [told Alex], like, 'Well, you've been around for so long, our fans would wanna hear from you.' And so that made it more important to us to be, like, 'Okay, you are gonna say whatever you'd like to say.' We didn't [tell Alex], 'You can't say this or that.' And then just give it 24 hours."

When Bent announced his departure from TRIVIUM on October 3, he said in a statement: "I am beyond grateful for the incredible past nine years with TRIVIUM — filled with unforgettable moments, music, and friendships that I'll always carry with me. I'm so proud of every record and tour we created together, and I know TRIVIUM will continue to dominate the world; they'll always have my support.

"While this chapter has come to a close, this is by no means the end of my path as a musician. I'm excited for this new chapter, and I look forward to continuing to create, perform, and share music in new ways.

"Thank you to everyone who has supported me along the way. Your encouragement means the world."

In December 2016, TRIVIUM parted ways with Paul Wandtke and welcomed Bent, a former member of BATTLECROSS and DECREPIT BIRTH who had previously played with TESTAMENT as a fill-in for that band's longtime drummer Gene Hoglan.

"Struck Dead" arrived on October 31 via longtime label Roadrunner. The effort was produced by TRIVIUM and recorded with Mark Lewis at the band's Hangar Studios in Orlando, Florida. It was mixed and mastered by Josh Wilbur.

JUST ANNOUNCED! ⚔ Trivium is bringing the Ascend Above The Ashes Tour to a House of Blues Myrtle Beach on October 31...

Posted by House of Blues Myrtle Beach on Tuesday, June 17, 2025

Los Angeles quartet VOLUMES — Michael Barr (vocals),Raad Soudani (bass),Myke Terry (vocals) and Nick Ursich (drums) — will release its fifth album, "Mirror Touch", digitally on December 12 via longtime label Fearless Records. The physical album will arrive on February 27, 2026.

Today, VOLUMES have dropped the visualizer for the new single "S.O.A.P.". Watch it below.

VOLUMES have never sounded as confident and assured as they do on this riff-roaring new single. Crunchy, industrial-tinged production, screamed vs. melodic vocal interplay, and a thunderous breakdown signal the beginning of the new era of VOLUMES. If MESHUGGAH or FEAR FACTORY entered into a cage match with the "Terminator: Judgment Day"'s T-1000 liquid antagonist, it would sound a lot like "S.O.A.P."

"'S.O.A.P.' is about pure and impure indulgence," the band explains. "Good versus evil. Playing with fire or magic — the lines are blurred here. We self-nurture habits that are deemed immoral, although who is the person making that decisions for us?"

"Mirror Touch" track listing:

01. Sidewinder
02. Bottom Dollar
03. Bad Habit
04. California
05. Adrenaline
06. Stitch
07. S.O.A.P.
08. Dream
09. Worth It
10. Suffer On (feat. Black Sheep Wall)

15 years into their career, VOLUMES have weathered ups, downs, time, trends, and everything else life could throw at them only to come out stronger on the other side. Against all odds, a devout audience has ridden shotgun and grown with them every step of the way, waiting for this moment.

Through a decade and a half, VOLUMES' quiet impact has been felt, with over 167 million streams in the U.S. alone, widespread acclaim, and sold-out shows. They've carved out their own corner of heavy music with an inimitable hybrid of head-crushing polyrhythmic prog-spiked metal, hardcore spirit, and unbridled attitude. They have assuredly leveled up over the course of albums such as "Via" (2011),"No Sleep" (2014),"Different Animals" (2017) and "Happier?" (2021). Kerrang! hailed the latter as "an album that gives a nod to the band's past while still bringing in new ideas." Meanwhile, the group shared stages on tour with everyone from ICE NINE KILLS and BORN OF OSIRIS to DANCE GAVIN DANCE and COUNTERPARTS. The Los Angeles group continues to fortify a full-on sensory assault with thick riffing, chilling soundscapes, and the venomous bite of its incomparable two-headed vocal hydra.

Photo credit: Lindsey Byrnes

On October 31, 1975, QUEEN's masterpiece "Bohemian Rhapsody" was released and began the journey to becoming one of the greatest songs of all time. Brilliant and completely unique, its creative and technical complexity sent shockwaves throughout the music industry, taking everyone by surprise. Everyone, that is, except the band, who by this point had become well used to QUEEN singer Freddie Mercury's extraordinary flights of fantasy. In exclusive interviews for "Queen The Greatest", QUEEN guitarist Brian May and drummer Roger Taylor highlight the songs that paved the road to "Bohemian Rhapsody".

While to the outside world "Bohemian Rhapsody" is regarded as QUEEN's masterstroke, for May and Taylor, talking in this first episode of a new series of "Queen The Greatest", this was very much a typical day's work with Freddie.

"You didn't know where Freddie was coming from," says Brian. "He comes in and goes 'there's this bit, and there's another bit we'll do, and there's the operatic and then there's another bit we will do.' 'Oh, yeah, okay, Freddie.' And basically, you have two choices, either going 'well we're really not feeling it,' which we sometimes would do, or we all dive in, and the whole QUEEN machine swings into action."

Clearly for Freddie, Brian, Roger and QUEEN bassist John Deacon, "Bohemian Rhapsody" was part of the natural evolution of QUEEN, and in these interviews Brian and Roger explain where from a songwriting point of view this evolution began.

May points to the band's first album, QUEEN and its track "My Fairy King": "Piano based, quite complex, lots of mood changes and a fantasy lyric."

Taylor concurs: "I think it was certainly part of Freddie's journey. Obviously when we did 'Bohemian Rhapsody' we didn't know we were going to end up with that. Part of our thing was really experimentation, and it's very much on our first album, the track 'My Fairy King', which I think is one of the more interesting tracks, it was complicated, had a lot of difficult vocals, and it had fantastic elements."

Taylor continues: "On the second album, 'Queen II', there's a monumentally long and complicated track, 'March Of The Black Queen', which involved a lot of rehearsal, a lot of singing and so many different little sections. It's a lot more complicated in many ways than 'Bohemian Rhapsody'. It had all the different ingredients 'Bohemian Rhapsody' had. It's a track I like to listen to because of the complexity of it. I can't believe we learned it all; it was so bloody long and laborious but satisfying."

May points to a further example of Freddie's evolution as a songwriter: "Now 'The Fairy Feller's Masterstroke' is incredibly complex, and ought to be just as shocking to people as 'Bohemian Rhapsody', because it's unique. No one's ever done anything like that, and all these little pieces that come in and go out and tings and contrapuntal things, and he's doing something over here, I'm doing something over here. We just remixed it all, and it's fascinating to make it all work."

Taylor agrees: "It's incredibly complicated. There are swooping, counter six-part harmonies here, there, coming in and crossing. It's very bloody complicated that song — and rather wonderful in its eccentricity, I think. Yeah. It's a nice, interesting track. It didn't come across as big as we thought it would, but it's an interesting exercise in eccentric over-elaboration."

"But this is Freddie and this is QUEEN," adds May, "because this is the kind of music we're evolving as we go along quite gradually."

While neither "March Of The Black Queen" or "The Fairy Feller's Masterstroke" enjoys the same profile as "Bohemian Rhapsody", they undoubtably laid the path to QUEEN's most famous song.

The new series of "Queen The Greatest" will continue weekly throughout November.

"Bohemian Rhapsody" was released on heavyweight blue 7" and 12" single, 12" picture disc and blue cassette single on October 31.

ALKALINE TRIO marked Halloween with the release of new single "Surprise Surprise". The third of the band's current triptych of standalone seven-inch vinyl and digital singles, "Surprise Surprise" lives up to its name with one of the most sonically subdued and viscerally vulnerable performances in ALKALINE TRIO's storied history.

ALKALINE TRIO singer and guitarist Matt Skiba said of the song: "'Surprise Surprise' was inspired by and written for a friend of mine who grew up poor and entrenched in gang life only to become a Navy SEAL and eventually an astronaut. It's his story combined with my own thoughts regarding how a sort of alchemy takes place when someone takes the experiences of a bad situation and is able to turn them into something profound and beautiful. The rough sketch of the song had only verse and chorus parts but no bridge which was written by Dan in the studio. This song was the last one of the three we did in this session with Travis Barker and was even more of a collaboration and studio creation than the previous two."

"Surprise Surprise" follows "Bleeding Out" and "Oblivion" as the third and final of three songs ALKALINE TRIO recorded with producer Travis Barker of BLINK 182 — the first studio sessions to feature the current TRIO lineup of founding guitarist/vocalist Matt Skiba, longtime bassist/vocalist Dan Andriano and drummer Atom Willard.

Available now across digital platforms, "Surprise Surprise" will also be released by Rise Records as a limited edition D2C color vinyl seven-inch, featuring an exclusive demo version on the B-side. Also unveiled on Halloween was the official "Surprise Surprise" music video. Watch it below.

Travis Barker said of the sessions: "Recording with ALKALINE TRIO was such a treat. Bringing these songs to life from the demos Matt recorded was so exciting. Both Matt and Dan are incredible lyricists, two of my all-time favorites. The studio never feels like work, just a magical place to create. The process was so natural and easy, I could've kept going forever. Really proud of these songs me, Matt, Dan and Atom recorded. Excited for what's ahead for ALKALINE TRIO and for fans to hear these special songs we made."

ALKALINE TRIO recently completed a North American tour supporting BLINK 182 — as well as a few select headline shows and festival dates.

Press photo credit: Jonathan Weiner (courtesy of Nasty Little Man PR)

CROBOT has released a new song, "Gun To My Head". The track is the lead single from the Pennsylvania hard rock act's upcoming sixth album, the details of which will be announced soon.

"Gun To My Head" marks the recording debut of CROBOT's new rhythm section consisting of brothers Willie Jansen (bass, vocals) and Nico Jansen (drums, percussion).

There's a special kind of madness that happens when a band circles back to its roots — that wild-eyed realization that the thing you were chasing was behind you the whole damn time. CROBOT are standing right there now, staring down the beast they built, grinning through the smoke.

Brandon Yeagley still preaches his gospel from behind the mic like some back-alley shaman with a harmonica holstered for punctuation. Christopher Bishop remains the riff conjurer — tone soaked in engine grease and snake oil, as if the guitar itself were trying to escape the song. And with the arrival of Willie and Nico, the band's pulse has started to sound downright dangerous again — thick, swinging, and impossible to fake.

Every band says they're "getting back to their roots." Most of them mean they're out of ideas. CROBOT means it like a blood oath. They've stripped it all down to the muscle and marrow, rediscovering that holy intersection where BLACK SABBATH's weight meets FUNKADELIC's freak, where CLUTCH's swagger shakes hands in the "Blood, Sugar, Sex, Magic" era of RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS. This isn't nostalgia — it's resurrection. The past few years have sanded off a lot of pretense. What's left is a band that's learned how to breathe again, how to groove again, how to trust the dirt under their boots. They've been through the industry grinder, the touring trenches, the ego traps, and the inner wars — and somehow came out grinning wider, riffing harder, and sounding more alive than they have in a decade.

That rebirth roars to life on "Gun To My Head", the first shot fired from their upcoming album. It's CROBOT at their most unfiltered — hook-heavy, groove-drenched, and thick with the kind of swagger that makes amps sweat. The song's chorus swings like a pendulum between surrender and salvation, the sound of four musicians testing their own limits and finding freedom on the other side. It's not about violence — it's about the pressure of transformation, the push and pull between love, truth, and the kind of pain that forces you to evolve.

"Sometimes you're forced to take a step back and reflect on what really matters," explains Yeagley. "Every note has a reason, every word a purpose. We're etching something in-blood into the CROBOT discography — and 'Gun To My Head' felt like the best taste of what's to come."

CROBOT launched a co-headlining tour with THE ATOMIC BITCHWAX on October 24. The "Bastards Of The Holy Riff" tour kicked off will wrap up on November 23 at Milkboy in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Press photo courtesy of TAG Publicity

Emerging from the global success of FIRE FROM THE GODS, the band's former frontman AJ Channer has launched a new solo project called CHNNR, which lights the fuse on a bold new era with the explosive debut single "FUKT". This isn't just music — it's a raw, unfiltered rallying cry for anyone facing turmoil, demanding change in a world on edge.

"FUKT" is the first taste of Channer's solo journey under the CHNNR banner, fusing the raw power of rock and metal with the streetwise grit of hip-hop. Known for his unmistakable voice — an instrument of both fury and vulnerability — Channer channels his American, Jamaican, and British roots, weaving those diverse influences into a boundary-defying new sound with collaborator/producer Sahaj Ticotin (RA, NOTHING MORE, STARSET). At its core, the music hits with unrelenting honesty, telling stories of resilience, hardship, and the relentless fight to rise above adversity.

CHNNR's debut is more than just a single — it's a movement born from struggle, survival, and fierce authenticity. Having endured battles with addiction and mental health, CHNNR emerges not just undefeated, but transformed — stronger than ever, with a message that refuses to be silenced. Every lyric is a testament to coming out the other side, offering hope and raw truth for the voiceless and the unheard.

With "FUKT", CHNNR delivers a sonic rebellion fueled by experience and driven by purpose. This is the next evolution in heavy music: unapologetic, real, and fearless. No lies told.

The official video for "FUKT", directed by Dale Restighini (METHOD MAN, FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH, BUSTA RHYMES, MUDVAYNE, NICKI MINAJ),will debut November 11 on CHNNR's brand new VEVO and YouTube channel.

In a new interview with Rolling Stone, Geddy Lee of RUSH spoke about the band's decision to reunite for a tour next year. The limited run of summer and fall dates — Lee and guitarist Alex Lifeson's first official shows under the RUSH banner in 11 years — will begin at the Kia Forum in Los Angeles, site of the last RUSH concert on the legendary Canadian band's "R40" anniversary tour. Joining the duo on the trek will be German drummer Anika Nilles, who toured with legendary guitarist Jeff Beck in 2022 and has been rehearsing with Lee and Lifeson in preparation for the tour, dubbed "Fifty Something".

Regarding which songs RUSH will play on the "Fifty Something" trek, Geddy said: "I don't really want to give our setlist away because we are learning at the moment our set list contains over 38 songs, because we plan on changing the set every night. There will be a large percentage of songs that we will switch between nights. So if you come to say four shows in Toronto, you're going to hear four different sets. That's going to include a lot of songs, obviously. They are obviously the big favorites that you sort of have to have in the set list every night. But we really want to keep the set fresh. And right now, I'm working on five different sets for the shows. So we're going to move things around quite a bit and have a lot of fun, and hopefully that'll keep Alex and I fresh."

Asked what it means to him that RUSH's 2026 tour has been embraced so fervently by the band's fans, Geddy said: "Honestly, it's blown me away. I was shocked at the overwhelming response and the welcoming response from fans, especially the way they have welcomed Anika Nilles into the RUSH family. It's a tough thing for RUSH fans. They know us as Alex, myself and, of course, Neil Peart. And it was a very difficult decision for us to make to come back."

Geddy continued: "It's been 11 years since we've even contemplated the tour. So there was a lot of emotional back and forth. There was a lot of work. There was a lot of gnashing of teeth, wringing of hands. But then we finally decided that life is short, we love this material, we haven't played these songs in a long time, and we know how many fans want to hear these songs. So it became a joyous decision in the end. We hope to carry that atmosphere through on this tour, making it a celebration of our past. And I hope fans just get what they're after when they come to see us."

Earlier in the month, Geddy was asked by CBC News how he is feeling about the prospect of going back on the road for the first time in more than a decade. Lee said: "Well, I'm a bit overwhelmed right now, to be honest. Alex and I took a long time trying to figure out if we could actually do this ever again. And when we did finally decide, of course people were optimistic, but we really didn't expect the kind of overwhelming response our announcement has brought forth out of our fanbase. It's just been a remarkable few weeks around our homes, but very exciting — very exciting."

Regarding what it is like to playing with a new drummer, following the 2020 death of RUSH's iconic drummer and lyricist Neil Peart, Geddy said: "Well, of course it was a very difficult decision to go back on the road, and that was the main stumbling block, obviously. How do we replace the irreplaceable, so to speak? And we have been fortunate to have been introduced to the name Anika Nilles through one of my road crew — my bass tech Skully [John McIntosh], who was on tour with Jeff Beck, and she was the drummer for Jeff Beck on his last tour. And he came home from that tour raving about her. And so when we made the decision to see what it's like to play with another drummer, we contacted her, and she's just a fantastic person. And she came to Canada and we very surreptitiously snuck into a studio and worked out for about a week. And by the end of it, we were convinced that this would be a go for us. Yeah, she's just a tremendous player."

Asked if he gets a sense at all that Anika is a little intimidated by the challenge of stepping into RUSH as a replacement for such a legendary musician as Peart was, Lee said: "Oh, of course. When she first came over here [to Canada], we started playing some of the songs, trying to translate RUSH music to someone who didn't really grow up as a RUSH fan; she was not a RUSH fan. She knew, of course, of Neil's playing — every drummer knows who Neil is, or Neil was, I should say — so it was a bit of a daunting task. And we had to go through each song and explain the nuances of the song and the idiosyncratic nature of how our songs are put together. So at times she was a bit overwhelmed, but she's an incredibly hard worker. She's got great technical facility and she's just got a really positive attitude, and that's really good for Alex and I to be around right now."

Lee, a known baseball and Toronto Blue Jays superfan, who has attended nearly every home game the baseball team has played this season, was asked if occasionally hearing "the incredible roar of the home crowd" at baseball games made him think that he "misses that sound" from audiences at RUSH concerts. He responded: "Actually, no. It never answers my mind, to be frank. The one thing I miss about touring is actually the job itself and that marvelous feeling of being in the middle of a 10-minute song and you're caught up on your playing and you're trying your best and everything is working and all your bandmates are clicking. It's that adrenaline that I miss. I had kind of settled into a nice life without the roar of the crowd, and I think I adjusted pretty well to it. But, of course, I'll be very happy to hear that once again."

Geddy also talked about the physical rigors of performing and whether he will be ready to hit the road for an extensive run of shows starting in June 2026. He said: "I'm getting ready. I've been playing diligently for about a year and a half now. And it wasn't that we had planned this tour that long ago. I had just decided that after writing all these books and having the experience of doing television shows that I needed to make some music again. So I've been working out pretty regularly trying to get my fingers, these little digits, back in shape. And, of course, since we did make the decision to tour, I'm hitting the gym pretty hard, and so is Alex. But we're gonna be ready. We're working at it. We're gonna put a lot of hours into that."

RUSH will perform multiple shows in cities across Canada, the United States and Mexico, beginning June 7, 2026 at The Kia Forum in Los Angeles. These special "evening with" shows will find the band playing two sets each night. Each show will feature a distinct selection of songs and RUSH will build each night's setlist from a catalogue of 35 songs including their greatest hits and fan favorites.

After Lee and Lifeson announced RUSH's initial 2026 tour dates in early October, they instantly sold out. They then doubled the tour's length due to increased demand before adding even more dates to the trek.

At the moment, the "Fifty Something" tour is scheduled to stretch into the fall and early winter, with sold-out shows in Chicago, Cleveland, Fort Worth, Los Angeles, New York and Toronto, as well as dates in Atlanta, Boston, Philadelphia, and Washington D.C., to name a few.

During an invite-only gathering of 150 fans, media and dignitaries at the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame's Foster Theater in Cleveland, Ohio on October 5, Geddy and Alex of RUSH spoke about their decision to reunite for a tour next year. Regarding how they decided to tour as RUSH again, more than five years after iconic RUSH drummer Neil Peart's death, Alex said: "When we finished the ['R40'] tour [in 2015], it was difficult for Neil, and he'd had enough by that point. I think Ged and I still had gas in the tank and we still wanted to continue working. But it was what it was, and the further I got away from it, the more I thought, 'It's okay. We had 40 years. I'm tired of hanging around a hotel, being away from family and all of that stuff.' And I felt that way for most of the last 10 years, really. I thought we had a great legacy, and it's okay. Then this guy" — referring to Geddy — "came along and had some big ideas. And we talked and we started playing. And then I realized that I love it so much — I love playing so much. And I've continued, over these last years, doing other projects and still playing a lot. But when we sat down and started playing some of the RUSH stuff and I realized how hard it was to play these songs… When you do it every day for 40 years, it's not a big deal, really — you're used to it — but when you're away from it and you are a little more objective about the intense complexity of the music and the feel and the nuances and all the things that go into making a RUSH song and performance, to be challenged with that again was really, really exciting. And the more we started rehearsing and playing, the more I just fell in love with the idea of playing again."

Added Geddy: "It was a very difficult decision on many levels, first of all, because what it entails in terms of work, but also what had transpired. Losing a member like Neil, it was devastating and it was a very sad time, and it took time for us to even contemplate it. I mean, this is a relatively recent decision. And I would say it was kind of out of the question for the longest time because of those circumstances. And how do you replace someone who's irreplaceable? So, we would joke about it sometimes, and Al was doing other things, I was writing books and something happened in the last couple of years that brought us back to jamming in the studio. He would come over, drink my coffee, hang around, we would jam and we would laugh. And then one day — I don't know why — we started playing some RUSH songs for fun. And God, we were laughing so hard and we were enjoying it so much. And it was almost like playing those songs dispelled the dark clouds. It was not an easy decision to come to, and this is really the first time we're talking about it out loud in front of other people. So, yeah, it feels right, and we're gonna do it."

Asked how they found the right drummer to step in for Neil on the "Fifty Something" tour, Geddy said: "Well, our idea was not to try to be RUSH 2.0, just to pay homage to our music, pay homage to our lost brother and represent the songs and celebrate the songs.

"I haven't talked about this before, but… So, my bass tech Skully [John McIntosh] was working with Jeff Beck. He was on tour with him for a few years. And on the last tour he was playing with this drummer named Anika Nilles — an incredible drummer. And he would come home, he would rave about her, what a brilliant player she was and great person, and blah, blah, blah. So I kind of looked her up. And she's all over YouTube. She's fairly well known in her own world of music. And then we started talking about playing again. I said to Al, I said, 'Check her out. Maybe that's an interesting way to go.' And so one thing led to another, and when we made the decision we wanted to see if it would work, what's it like to play with another drummer — we'd had that experience, of course, at the Taylor Hawkins tributes [in September 2022]. So we know how difficult it is — no matter who the drummer is, they all have their own perception of what it's like to play a RUSH song, and they may not line up with the way we play RUSH songs. So whoever we were going to choose was going to be difficult and there's going to be like a translation. And so we very secretly brought Anika to Canada. And it wasn't an audition, 'cause at that point we weren't really sure that we were going to tour. It was all an experiment. Anyway, I'm very happy to say that she is fantastic to play with. And we've had now a number of sessions with her and we are going to go on the road with her. I think she's a remarkable story. And she's much younger than us… And I like that, that she came to RUSH music without any preconceptions. It also made it very difficult, 'cause we had to explain nuances and work on subtleties, and she had to really try to get into Neil's headspace and his feel. A lot of drummers can play Neil's drum fills, but to combine that with the feel of those songs, so that it feels the way you guys wanna hear those songs, that's work — that requires work. And so she's winning."

As for what RUSH fans can expect from the upcoming concerts, Geddy said: "I don't think we can do a three-hour show the way we did when we were in our younger years, but we're certainly gonna play over two hours. And we'll get a lot of songs in, for sure."

Lee went on to say that "it's not an accident" that he and Alex chose Los Angeles's Kia Forum — where RUSH played its last-ever show with Peart in 2015 — as the location of the first gig of the tour.

"It'll be, I think, quite an emotional moment," Geddy said. "And I have to say also a thank you to [Neil's widow] Carrie Nuttall and [daughter] Olivia Peart who have been very supportive and are supporting us for this tour, and we really appreciate that, and that makes things better. And we also plan to pay tribute to Neil at least a couple of times during the show in our own way. And that'll happen every night, we'll pay tribute to him.

"After Neil passed, COVID hit and we never really were able to do any kind of tribute to him — not a tribute concert," Lee explained. "And so this is one way that we pay homage to the music and the lyrics and the incredible drumming of our pal and partner, and at the same time celebrate the music that [the fans] have thankfully shown up for, for all these years. And we'll just endeavor to do our best to make [the fans] happy."

When the "Fifty Something" tour was announced on October 6, Carrie Nuttall-Peart and Olivia Peart said in a statement: "We are thrilled to support the 'Fifty Something' tour, celebrating a band whose music has resonated and inspired fans for generations, and to honor Neil's extraordinary legacy as both a drummer and lyricist.

"Neil's musicianship was singular. Compositions of intricacy and power that expanded what rhythm itself could express. As both drummer and lyricist, he was irreplaceable. Inimitable in his artistry, and unmatched in the depth and imagination he brought to the lyrics that inspired and moved so many, he profoundly shaped how fans connected with him and the band, giving voice and meaning to their own lives.

"As the band enters this new chapter, it promises to be truly unforgettable. We are excited to see how their new vision unfolds, and to hear this legendary music played live once again."

On October 6, fans got the news via a RUSH newsletter from a home video that announced the celebration of upcoming dates with Lee and Lifeson at Geddy's home studio.

Peart died in January 2020 after a three-year battle with glioblastoma, an aggressive form of brain cancer. He was 67 years old.

RUSH waited three days to announce Peart's passing, setting off shockwaves and an outpouring of grief from fans and musicians all over the world.

Since Peart's death, Lifeson and Lee have not recorded any new music or performed live under the RUSH name, although both of them confirmed that several drummers reached out to them in the days after the legendary drummer's passing about the possibility of stepping in for Neil.

Photo credit: Richard Sibbald

Original KISS drummer Peter Criss will release a new solo album, simply titled "Peter Criss", on December 19.

"Peter Criss" was co-produced by Criss alongside Barry Pointer, who has worked with Ozzy Osbourne, John 5, MÖTLEY CRÜE, Steve Stevens, Pearl Aday and Dolly Parton. Joining the legendary KISS musician on the LP are Billy Sheehan and Matthew Montgomery (a.k.a. Piggy D.) on bass, John 5 and Mike McLaughlin on guitar and Paul Shaffer on piano. The record also features the talents of backing vocalists Dennis and Sharon Collins, and Cat Manning of CAT 5.

"'Peter Criss' represents the Catman's return to form, and his most rock driven solo album ever and it includes appearances by John 5, Billy Sheehan and Paul Shaffer," reads a statement on the project's Bandcamp page. "All CDs and the download album of 'Peter Criss' include the bonus track 'Hard Rock Knockers', all vinyl editions include a download card for this bonus track, as well."

"Peter Criss" track listing:

01. Rock, Rockin', Rock & Roll (feat. Billy Sheehan and Paul Shaffer)
02. In The Dark (feat. Billy Sheehan and Paul Shaffer)
03. For The Money (feat. Billy Sheehan and Paul Shaffer)
04. Murder (feat. Billy Sheehan and Paul Shaffer)
05. Walking On Water (feat. Billy Sheehan and Paul Shaffer)
06. Creepy Crawlers (feat. John 5, Billy Sheehan and Paul Shaffer)
07. Justice (feat. John 5, Billy Sheehan and Paul Shaffer)
08. Cheaper To Keep Her (feat. Billy Sheehan and Paul Shaffer)
09. Sugar (feat. Billy Sheehan and Paul Shaffer)
10. Rubberneckin' (feat. John 5, Billy Sheehan and Paul Shaffer)
11. Hard Rock Knockers (feat. Billy Sheehan and Paul Shaffer) (bonus track)

A trailer for the album's first single, "Creepy Crawlers", is available below.

This past April, Peter told The Rock Experience With Mike Brunn about his upcoming rock solo album: "Yeah, I'm excited. I got great players on it. I got Billy Sheehan, Paul Shaffer, Johnny 5, Michael, my guitarist, [and] I got Piggy from ROB ZOMBIE. So it's like a dream team band. And it's a real Peter Criss album. It's an album I always wanted to do. And hopefully the fans will like it."

The album will be Criss's first solo release since 2007's "One For All", which arrived 13 years after his previous solo release.

"I had an absolute blast doing this album, and everyone was so much fun to work with — they were just amazing," Criss told Rolling Stone of the upcoming LP. "I will be doing a more in-depth interview closer to the release date in the fall."

The first details of Criss's new rock solo album were released in April by famed KISStorian Julian Gill, who has been running the KissFAQ.com web site since the mid-1990s.

Criss had previously touched upon a new solo album back in 2014, promising at the time that the LP would be "heavier" than the stuff he had done in the past. Speaking to an audience of fans at a question-and-answer session at the All Things That Rock festival in Oaks, Pennsylvania, Criss stated about the progress of the recording sessions for the follow-up to "One For All": "I've been sitting on a record … I'd done this thing, like, five years ago and I'm still messing with it. I'm not done, because I don't wanna rush it."

Criss revealed at the time that he had been working with John 5, but added: "I wanna take my time with it. I'm constantly putting time into it. I want it to be heavier than I've usually done my stuff, and then I'll get, 'It's too heavy. You should go back and do light stuff.' Because fans are never happy. You guys aren't! No matter what we ever do, you're like, 'Oh, that sucks. I want this.' [Or] 'He's playing that ballad shit again.'"

Criss first left KISS in 1980. Since then he's worked with other bands and released solo albums. He teamed up with KISS again for a reunion tour in the 1990s and most recently in 2004. He was replaced by Eric Singer.

In addition to playing drums in KISS, Peter also provided lead vocals for a number the band's most popular and memorable songs, including "Beth", "Black Diamond" and "Hard Luck Woman".

Criss, who was known as "Catman," released his last solo CD, titled "One For All", in 2007. Peter produced the album himself for the first time, and was joined by guest musicians that included keyboardist Paul Shaffer and bassist Will Lee of "Late Night With David Letterman". The album featured a range of styles, from rock and jazz to blues and Broadway, and included covers of "What A Difference A Day Makes" and "Send In The Clowns".

Criss played what was being billed as his final full U.S. concert in June 2017 at the Cutting Room in New York City.

Peter last appeared onstage with KISS when the group was inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame in 2014, though he and his former bandmates didn't perform at the event.

On April 25, Criss was presented with the Legacy Award at Raven Drum Foundation's event at New York City's famed Cutting Room.

Criss and the other original members of KISS are slated to receive a Kennedy Center Honor at a December 7 ceremony which will air on December 23 on CBS.

Image courtesy of KissFAQ.com

French progressive metallers GOJIRA recently celebrated the 20th anniversary of their third studio album, "From Mars To Sirius", by performing three of the LP's songs at GOJIRA frontman Joseph Duplantier's Silver Cord Studio in Ridgewood, Queens, New York. Watch video of the session below.

Featured songs:

01. Ocean Planet - 00:00
02. From The Sky - 06:17
03. Where Dragons Dwell - 12:12

Released in September 2005, "From Mars To Sirius" was GOJIRA's third studio album. It is a concept effort addressing environmental issues and the rebirth of a dead planet through a space travel storyline, with the underlying theme of a transition from war to peace. The LP has since been named one of Rolling Stone magazine's" 100 Greatest Metal Albums Of All Time".

At the 2025 edition of the Bloodstock Open Air festival in the United Kingdom, GOJIRA drummer Mario Duplantier spoke to Bloodstock TV's Oran O’Beirne about the progress of the songwriting and recording sessions for the follow-up to the French progressive metallers' 2021 album "Fortitude". He said:  "We already did record some drums and guitars and basses.

"It took us a long time. We needed that time, I think, just to make sure we are all on the same page, make sure what is GOJIRA is bringing next is strong enough," he explained. "Also, we don't have that much pressure. We are not a young band anymore. We're not like SLEEP TOKEN or LORNA SHORE where the next album is so important. We've been a band for 30 years, so GOJIRA is already an established band. It doesn't mean that we can be lazy — it doesn't mean that — but it's very crucial to take the time to bring something fresh and new and powerful."

Mario added: "For the new songs, we took so much time just to make sure everything is fine and powerful enough and — I don't know — smart enough as well. But it's on the way, it's on the way. 2026, for sure."

More than a year ago, Mario's brother, Joseph Duplantier, told Chuck Armstrong of Loudwire Nights that he and his bandmates were "in the middle" of working on their next studio album. He said at the time: "We're trying to deliver something that is meaningful and impactful. We're very ambitious in terms of writing songs and the quality of it. And we wanna take a clear step forward and upward with this album. So we're putting all our love and energy on it."

This past February, GOJIRA was honored with a Grammy in the "Best Metal Performance" category in the pre-telecast ceremony at the 67th annual Grammy Awards, which was held at the Crypto.com Arena (formerly the Staples Center) in Los Angeles, California. GOJIRA was nominated for "Mea Culpa (Ah! Ça Ira!)" — a version of the French Revolution-era standard "Ah! Ça Ira!" — which the band performed at last year's Olympic Games opening ceremony.

In July 2024, GOJIRA performed a surprise rendition of "Ah! Ça Ira" alongside opera singer Marina Viotti as well as a number of beheaded figures representing the slain Queen Marie Antoinette. The performance took place outside the Conciergerie, a former prison and residence of French kings during the French Revolution where Antoinette was held before she was beheaded in 1793.

GOJIRA made history as the first metal band to ever perform at the Olympic Games. The performance made international headlines and was widely regarded as one of the most talked about moments from the 2024 summer Olympics.

Prior to winning this year's Grammy, GOJIRA had been nominated for a Grammy Award three times — twice in 2017, for "Best Metal Performance" and "Best Rock Album" ("Magma") and once in 2022 for "Best Metal Performance".

GOJIRA is considered a standard-bearer for French rock and bringing French rock to an international audience. Metal Hammer declared GOJIRA "metal's most important band" in 2016.

"Fortitude" entered Billboard's Top Albums chart at No. 1 in May 2021, while also claiming the No. 1 spot on Billboard's Top Current Albums, Current Rock Albums and Current Hard Music Albums tallies. The release also marked a career high debut on the Billboard 200 for GOJIRA, arriving at No. 12, with several career high chart positions and Top 10 debuts in countries around the globe including: France (No. 2),United Kingdom (No. 6),Australia (No. 3),Germany (No. 8),Belgium (No. 2),Netherlands (No. 4),Denmark (No. 3),Portugal (No. 4),Finland (No. 2) and Norway (No. 10).

Furthermore, GOJIRA concluded a month-long fundraising initiative in support of the indigenous-owned NGO The Articulation of Indigenous Peoples of Brazil (APIB) who advocate for environmental and cultural rights of indigenous tribes in the Amazon. Working with the social good-focused digital platform Propeller, the charitable campaign raised over $300,000 through an auction and raffle of one-of-a-kind items from the band and their friends in METALLICA, TOOL, SLIPKNOT, SLAYER, Slash and more. All proceeds were donated to APIB to support their work aiding the indigenous tribes of the Amazon who have suffered immensely — victims of deforestation, land loss, forced labor, violence, and harassment.

Recorded and produced by Joseph Duplantier at Silver Cord Studio — GOJIRA's Ridgewood, Queens, New York headquarters — and mixed by Andy Wallace (NIRVANA, RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE),"Fortitude" is GOJIRA's first album in five years and the follow-up to 2016's Grammy-nominated LP "Magma". A collection of songs urging humanity to imagine a new world and then make it happen, "Fortitude" has been earning widespread critical praise with Rolling Stone naming it one of their best albums of April 2021 and remarking "It's all the rage of death metal mixed with the conscience of punk rock and the musicality of progressive rock." NPR hailed "Another World" as "an apocalyptic banger," and Paste called "Into The Storm" a "much-needed revolutionary anthem." Stereogum declared, "hearing this band operating at their peak is a life-affirming thing," while Revolver attested "Fortitude" "could spark a revolution."

DISTURBED guitarist Dan Donegan says that he and his bandmates will "take quite a bit of time off next year".

The 57-year-old musician made his comments just two days after DISTURBED singer David Draiman wrote on X (formerly Twitter) that he wasn't sure when the group would tour again, explaining, "We all need a nice long break."

Earlier today (Friday, October 31),Donegan took to his Instagram Live to reflect on DISTURBED's just-completed European headlining tour celebrating the 25th anniversary of the band's debut album, "The Sickness", with support from MEGADETH. He said in part (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "[We had a] very successful run out there in Europe — packed shows, packed arenas and a bunch of sold-out ones. [We had an] amazing time. The MEGADETH guys were great. Dave Mustaine is a legend. He's got a great band behind him — really cool guys. And, yeah, it was a really fun tour to be on. Everybody was healthy, feeling good. David [Draiman] was singing strong. Sometimes it gets tricky traveling that much and going from country to country to try to stay healthy, being in different time zones, trying to get adjusted to the time change and being on planes and tour buses and all the traveling can get tricky to stay healthy. And luckily everybody did, for the most part. I think we held up pretty good and sounded strong. I think we were playing our best; I think we've gotten better. So it's been an amazing run."

As for DISTURBED's plans for the coming months, Dan said: "We are done [playing shows for now]. We are done with 'The Sickness', done with the anniversary tour. [We'll be] home for the rest of the year, and probably gonna take quite a bit of time off next year. So no discussions of doing anything else. We just feel like we could use a break. It's been a pretty strong run earlier this year. We started in the U.S. and a little bit into Canada and finishing this European run, we just feel we could enjoy some time home. And [we've] got a lot of stuff going on in our personal lives. [We've] got holidays coming up. Unfortunately, a handful of us had some relatives pass away while we were in Europe. So I had an uncle pass away last week. My guitar tech had his father and a cousin, a week apart from each other, both passed away. So those are the things that happen when you live life on tour and on the road. And it's such a heartbreaking thing, to be away from home and you get that kind of phone call when somebody close to you or a family member passes away."

DISTURBED kicked off the U.S. leg of "The Sickness 25th Anniversary Tour" on February 25 at Ford Idaho Center Arena in Nampa, Idaho. The trek celebrated 25 years of DISTURBED's seminal debut album which launched the band into public consciousness and is one of the most important and influential heavy metal albums of all time.

Since "The Sickness" was released in 2000, the album was certified five times platinum by the RIAA, spent a total of 106 weeks on the US Billboard 200 chart, and Revolver named it one of "Top 25 Debut Hard Rock Albums." Billboard said of the title track upon release: "'Down With The Sickness' is, of course, the quintessential DISTURBED song, harnessing all the band's seethe and its now-famous tribal beat and guitar chug into three and a half minutes of alt-metal mayhem. It's menacing, it's rhythmic, it's rebellious."

In February, DISTURBED released a new single, "I Will Not Break", via the band's own label, Mother Culture Records.