Enigmatic dark metal outfit, Deathwhite, has shared a brand new video for the song "Among Us", taken from the band's latest album, Grave Image, which was released earlier this year. The video, which was made by Guilherme Henriques, can be seen below.

Deathwhite comments: "As we are often wont to do, many of the songs on Grave Image were revised and tinkered with until we were satisfied, but no song received a bigger overhaul than 'Among Us.' The song's original tempo was half of its current state; it was doomy, perhaps excessively so. Common sense ultimately prevailed and we were able to not only speed the song up (a term we should use loosely in this context) but also work in a somewhat basic chorus by our standards. The song itself has a fairly simple message: Ignorance, falsehoods and gaslighting are not to be tolerated. Unfortunately, these people are still 'among us,' spreading their untruths and grievances in very public and far-reaching forums. May it all fall on deaf ears."

Oder the Grave Image album here.

Tracklisting:

“Funeral Ground”
“In Eclipse”
“Further From Salvation”
“Grave Image”
“Among Us”
“Words Of Dead Men”
“No Horizon”
“Plague Of Virtue”
“A Servant”
“Return To Silence”

"Plague Of Virtue":

"Funeral Ground" video:

“Further From Salvation”:




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Hellenic black metal masters, Varathron, have released a music video for the first single taken from their upcoming 30th anniversary live album, Glorification Under The Latin Moon. The album is set to be released on September 25 via Agonia Records. Watch a music video for "Son Of The Moon" below:

Recorded in its entirety on August 4, 2019 in São Paulo (Brazil) during the final show of Varathron's 30 Years Of Darkness Tour, the historic setlist boasts some of the band's finest compositions, from 1988 and beyond, most notably including the entirety of classic His Majesty At The Swamp from 1993, to most recent songs, taken from the acclaimed Patriarchs Of Evil album, which made it to an awful lot of year-end lists in 2018.  

Varathron had this to say about its first live album since its 1988 inception: "During these weird and uncertain days we wish to all our friends, brothers, and sisters health and better days to come. In recent years we had the chance to meet wonderful people! We are happy to share with you some important news especially dedicated to you, our supporters and friends: we present to you our new - first time ever - live album! Glorification Under The Latin Moon was recorded in Sao Paulo, Brazil, the last show of our 2019 adventure in South America. The album includes a historic setlist with songs since 1988, our latest opus Patriarchs Of Evil and His Majesty At The Swamp in its entirety. The show was organized by our tour manager and friend Robson Calura and Storm Productions. Lots of thanks to every photographer, engineer and organizer who helped us create something truly special!”

The artwork that graces the cover was created by Juanjo Castellano. Achilleas Kalantzis mixed and mastered the album at Suncord Audiolab.

Formats:
- Digipak CD
- Gatefold DLP
- Limited Red Splatter Gatefold DLP
- Limited Royal Blue Gatefold DLP
- T-shirt

Pre-order here.

Tracklisting:

“Cultum Deus Aeternum (Intro)”
“Ouroboros Dweller”
“Cassiopeia’s Ode”
“Tenebrous”
“Saturnian Sect”
“His Majesty At The Swamp”
“Son Of The Moon”
“Unholy Funeral”
“Nightly Kingdoms”
“Lustful Father”
“Flowers Of My Youth”
“The River Of My Souls”
“The Tressrising Of Nyarlathotep”
“Genesis Of Apocryphal Desire”
“Sic Transit Gloria Mundi (Outro)”

(Photo- Evi Savva)




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Rumahoy  has just released their new single, “Treasure Gun”, fresh off their upcoming album, Time II: Party, to be released via Napalm Records on July 17.

“Treasure Gun” shines with a steady rhythm, smashing drums and quick guitars - this track has it all. The single is accompanied by a minimalistic though tasteful lyric video that will bring the story of the legendary gun closer to the viewer. Standing out due to the fact that, instead of shooting bullets, this firearm shoots diamonds after being loaded with valuable gems, the “Treasure Gun” is still just as deadly and can (and will!) be used by Captain Yarrface to plunder more treasures to make him an even more legendary pirate!

Captain Yarrface on “Treasure Gun”: “Now is the time for the story of the greatest weapon ever to grace the earth!! My treasure gun!! Welcome to the sea!!”

Time II: Party will be available in the following formats:

- Digital Album
- Jewel Case
- Jewel Case + Cover Shirt bundle

Pre-order here.

Tracklisting:

"Cowboys Of The Sea"
"Time To Party"
"Treasure Gun"
"The Legend Of Captain Yarrface"
"Harambe, The Pirate Gorilla"
"Poop Deck Party"
"The Beer From My Town Is Better Than Yours"
"1000 Years Of Dust"
"Full Mast"
"Stolen Treasure"

“Cowboys Of The Sea” video:

"Harambe, The Pirate Gorilla" lyric video:

Lineup:

Captain Yarrface - Vocals
Bootsman Walktheplank - Guitars
Cabinboy Treasurequest - Bass
Swashbuckling Pete - Drums

(Photo - Elliot Vernon)




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Germany's Primal Fear will release their 13th studio album, Metal Commando, on July 24. A new video trailer can be seen below:

The title of the new album speaks for itself - Metal Commando contains 110% Primal Fear and is full to the brim with power and energy. The album was produced by Mat Sinner and mixed by Jacob Hansen - an experienced dream-team.

The album will contain 11 tracks. Pre-order here.

Tracklisting:

“I Am Alive”
“Along Came The Devil”
“Halo”
“Hear Me Calling”                                     
“The Lost & The Forgotten”
“My Name Is Fear”
“I Will Be Gone”
“Raise Your Fists”
“Howl Of The Banshee”
“Afterlife”
“Infinity”

Bonus CD (Ltd. Edition 2-CD Digipak):

“Rising Fear”
“Leave Me Alone”
“Second To None”
“Crucify Me”

"I Am Alive" video:

"Along Came The Devil" lyric video:

Lineup:

Ralf Scheepers - Lead & Backing Vocals
Tom Naumann - Guitars
Alexander Beyrodt - Guitars
Magnus Karlsson - Guitars
Michael Ehré - Drum
Mat Sinner - Bass & Vocals

(Photo - Heiko Roith)




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Over the last couple months, the At The Movies project - launched by Pretty Maids guitarist Chris Laney due to the COVID-19 lockdown - has caught fire, with many fans asking / demanding / pleading that the '80s soundtrack covers be made available as digital platoform streams, or on CD and vinyl. They have issued the following update:

"Greetings people of Movieland! Since we started At The Movies in the wake of the Corona lockdown we have received a lot of requests to make the music available on CD, vinyl or other physical formats. We really want to make this happen but as we are just a bunch of Corona-stranded musicians trying to have fun with good music, we don’t have a label or anything behind us and we basically need to raise some money to make this a reality. 

So, starting Wednesday, July 1st you can order our music, all ten songs plus one bonus track, in a variety of formats listed below. To start with we will keep this open for six weeks and as soon as we have reached the start-up cost we will start production and send the items out to you as fast as possible.

Available items:
• Hi-res digital album download
• CD
• Colored Vinyl A
• Colored Vinyl B
• T-shirt A (sizes S-XXL)
• T-shirt B (sizes S-XXL)
• CD + Bonus DVD (with all the videos plus interviews) in a retro VHS cover
• CD + T-shirt bundle
• Vinyl + T-shirt bundle
• CD + DVD + T-shirt bundle
• The BIG bundle (CD, DVD, Vinyl A, Vinyl B, T-shirt A, T-shirt B

As a bonus we are also offering a few 'Super Specials' at this time. How about the chance to have your song mixed by our own star producer Chris Laney, or to have Allan play drums on your favorite track, or keyboards by Morten? Or better yet, how about the chance to have dinner with a few of the guys at Garlic And Shots in Stockholm?"

The core At The Movies players are as follows:

Björn "Speed" Strid (Soilwork) - lead vocals
Linnéa Vikström Egg (Therion) - backing vocals
Chris Laney (Pretty Maids) - guitars
Allan Sørensen (Royal Hunt, Pretty Maids) - drums
Morten Sandager (Pretty Maids) - keyboards
Pontus Norgren (HammerFall) - guitars
Pontus Egberg (King Diamond) - bass

Stay tuned for updates.




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German speed metal band Iron Angel returns this year with their fourth studio album Emerald Eyes, which is set for release in October of 2020 by Mighty Music.

The follow-up to their 2018 comeback album Hellbound, sees the band maturing and refining their sound without compromising intensity and aggression, quite the contrary. The new release brings back a lot of the thrashiness, that has been somewhat absent from anything the band has done since their 1985 debut Hellish Crossfire. On the other hand, the songwriting, the performances, and the overall package, everything has reached a new level in quality and with it’s clear (though not sterile) production, the band sounds fresh, hungry, and energetic.

"We wanted to improve in every way possible," says drummer Maximilian Behr. "On one hand we wanted to even further go back to the sound of Hellish Crossfire, but on the other hand we also wanted to play to our own strengths, rather than the ones of others and I think we really managed to do that. With Emerald Eyes we married the past with the present at last and now we set our eyes onto the future."

Emerald Eyes will be released in digital, CD, and vinyl formats by Mighty Music on October 2nd. The cover art and tracklisting can be seen below.

"Sacred Slaughter"
"Descend"
"Sands Of Time"
"Demons"
"What We're Living For"
"Emerald Eyes"
"Fiery Winds Of Death"
"Sacrificed"
"Bridges Are Burning"
"Heaven In Red"
"Dark Sorcery"

"Sands Of Time" video:

 




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EVANESCENCE has released "The Game Is Over", the second song from its upcoming album, "The Bitter Truth" (BMG). The band's first collection of new original music in nine years, "The Bitter Truth" will be made available incrementally throughout 2020.

The iPhone-shot, neon nightmare of a video for "The Game Is Over" will go live Friday, July 3 at 12 p.m. ET / 9 a.m. PT during a live YouTube premiere featuring a fan question-and-answer session with EVANESCENCE singer Amy Lee.

A guitar-driven anthem commanded by Lee's peerless mezzo-soprano and Will Hunt's heavy arena percussion, "The Game Is Over" is a protest against the facades we are pressured to put on by society. In the face of depression and anxiety — and especially in a world that seems to crumble further each day — it's a cry to end the charade that everything’s fine.

The accompanying video is a nightmarish, effects-laden look at the emotional havoc that this period has wrought. Despite being restricted to shooting themselves on iPhones, the band, in collaboration with director P.R. Brown, managed to achieve a highly stylized production literalizing the metaphorical monsters within us. The video is astonishing proof of the creative spark of working with limited resources and a testament to the band's commitment to its craft. Spotlighting the mental darkness behind the false smiles, it's a disturbing, technicolor tribute to the light at the end of the tunnel — if you're willing to face the terrors that line its walls.

Lee says of "The Game Is Over": "This song is about being sick of the facade. The disguises we wear for others to make them feel comfortable, the inside feelings being so different than what we show on the outside to fit within the boundaries of what's socially acceptable, or what's not going to make you unpleasant or too 'weird' to be around.

"'The Game Is Over' is a promise to myself and out loud that I'm going to be more of my real, inner self on the outside — not lock her up because she can't be contained anymore. It's also a prayer to become better, to not feel so messed up, locked up, and hurt inside."

EVANESCENCE's new music is being produced by Nick Raskulinecz, who also worked on 2011's self-titled LP.

Lee told Loudwire about the musical direction of the new EVANESCENCE material: "It's a combination of a lot of things. It's definitely one hundred percent us, but it's also taking risks. And I think it's meaningful — it's deeply meaningful. But at the same time, a lot of it has attitude. I don't know if I can explain that super well, but some of our music is like that. If you can listen back and think about, especially some of the later music, like 'What You Want' or 'Call Me When You're Sober', there's a track or two in there that is the next step from that in its feeling, I would say."

This past January, EVANESCENCE returned with its first new rock recording in eight years, "The Chain (From Gears 5)". The band recorded its signature-rock version of the FLEETWOOD MAC classic following Lee having lent her vocals to the launch trailer for the Xbox Game Studios' "Gears 5" for Xbox One, Windows 10, and Steam, from the massively popular "Gears Of War" series.

EVANESCENCE spent much of the last two years recording and touring in support of 2017's "Synthesis", which contained some of the band's best-loved songs — as well as a couple of new ones — reinvented with full orchestra over a deep electronic landscape.

METALLICA bassist Robert Trujillo spoke to "The Vinyl Guide" about the progress of the songwriting sessions for the follow-up to the band's 2016 album "Hardwired… To Self-Destruct". He said (hear audio below): "We communicate every week, which is really great, so we have our connection intact. And what we've started doing is basically just really concentrating on our home studios and being creative from our homes and navigating through ideas and building on new ideas. And that's where we're at right now. We're excited about cultivating new ideas, to be honest. And everybody's in a good headspace, for the most part, and that's pretty much our focus now — let's have fun with this. That's part of the reason I got some updated recording gear and I'm putting ideas together and we're checking kind of each other's vibes out on new stuff. And that's pretty much where we're at. We haven't talked about touring lately…

"I'll tell you, we just did nearly three years on the 'Hardwired' album, and, of course, Australia is one of my favorite places on the planet to go play, and South America as well, so we will get back down there," he continued. "I'm not too worried about that — I know we will. Obviously, we've gotta get through this quarantine and all this stuff that's happening with that. In the meantime, we're creating, and I think that is really cool, 'cause sometimes it takes a while to get the band together and get four individuals who are living in different places in the same room. But it's, like, 'Hey, guess what? We don't have to be in the same room right now.' We can make music from our homes and work together and build stuff — and then we'll get in that room together and we'll bang the stuff out, but we'll be 40 steps ahead."

According to Trujillo, METALLICA is "working towards" eventually entering a studio and recording the new LP. "There's no definite plan as to a release date," he said. "I mean, we're just sort of now cultivating the terrain and getting kind of excited about it, to be honest. It's kind of a cool thing that we've been able to start focusing on that, 'cause it's new for us — we haven't done it this way. I don't think many people have done it this way. Everybody's gotta kind of restructure their routines and their creative flow. And at some point, all this will transition into what it's gonna transition into, and we'll have live shows again. And I'm sure there's gonna be a lot of new music coming, 'cause most musicians are writing new stuff right now, and that's exciting to me."

Last month, METALLICA drummer Lars Ulrich told Swedish talk show host Fredrik Skavlan that he and his bandmates were "sending ideas to each other via e-mail and via Zoom and [trying to] make music in these unusual situations."

Asked what the differences would be between making a "normal" METALLICA album and a quarantine album, Ulrich said: "So far, at least the sonic side of it and the practical elements are in surprisingly good shape, actually. So now we've just gotta figure out how much we can create without being in the same space. The difference, obviously, between bands like ourselves and people that are still bands, like the U2s of the world or the RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS or COLDPLAY or IRON MAIDEN or whatever is that you really are bands, and you rely on the group format to really move everything forward. So unlike if you're a solo artist and it's just you and your guitar or whatever. So it's a different thing."

In early May, the four members of METALLICA overcame social distancing to record a new version of their song "Blackened", with each member separated in his own home. The split-screen video was posted to the band's social media channels.

METALLICA has been largely out of the public eye since last fall when the band canceled an Australian tour and announced that frontman James Hetfield was returning to rehab for the first time since 2002 to battle his addictions.

In March, METALLICA announced that its South American tour, which was originally planned for April, was postponed until December. In addition, the band's appearances at four Danny Wimmer Presents-produced festivals in May and September were canceled: Epicenter in Charlotte, Welcome To Rockville in Daytona, Sonic Temple in Columbus and Louder Than Life in Louisville.

STRIKER was honored in the "Metal/Hard Music Album Of The Year" category at this year's Juno Awards (the Canadian equivalent of the Grammy Awards). The 49th annual event was held Monday (June 29) as a special virtual presentation.

"Thank you so much everyone!" STRIKER said in a social media post. "We are so grateful to win the Metal/Hard Music Album Of The Year at the 2020 The JUNO Awards!! Congratulations to all the other nominees. We're gonna post a lot more about this over the next few days and weeks but for now it's beer time. THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!!"

"Play To Win" was released in October 2018 via STRIKER's independent label Record Breaking Records. The LP was produced by the band, with mixing and mastering by Hendrik Udd (FIREWIND, POWERWOLF, HAMMERFALL, DELAIN).

Artists who released albums between September 1, 2018 and November 8, 2019 were eligible for nominations.

Eligible musicians must be Canadian citizens. This is defined by CARAS as 50 percent or more of group members holding Canadian birth certificates, passports or are Canadian Permanent Resident(s) with residency in Canada during the last six months of the eligibility period.

"Metal/Hard Music Album Of The Year" nominees were as follows:

* KOBRA AND THE LOTUS - "Evolution" (Napalm/The Orchard)

* LINDSAY SCHOOLCRAFT - "Martyr" (Cyper Proxy/Independent)

* SINGLE MOTHERS DINE ALONE - "Through A Wall" (The Orchard)

* STRIKER - "Play To Win" (Record Breaking Records/Independent)

* THE AGONIST - "Orphans" (Rodeostar/The Orchard)

A complete list of Juno Awards winners can be found here.

In a new interview with Metal Express Radio, former ACCEPT and current U.D.O. frontman Udo Dirkschneider, who turned 68 in April, was asked if he can see himself retiring anytime soon. He responded (hear audio below): "No. [Laughs] I don't think so. A lot of people ask me, 'Are you thinking about retiring?' No. I mean, I still have fun to do this. At the moment, with this album [U.D.O.'s upcoming 'We Are One'], I'm very excited about this, and I can't wait to go on tour again. Everything is canceled. We planned to do a long American tour in November-December, in Canada, and Russia, along with a European tour together with HELLOWEEN. Everything is canceled, so that means I'm really looking forward and hopefully everything getting normal next year and then there will be a lot of touring coming up."

He added: "I always said, as long as I still have fun to do this, as long as I'm healthy and my voice is working, so… I don't know. Maybe another 10 years or whatever — I have no idea."

Early last year, Udo used a walking cane during some of his concerts after dealing with a "serious health" issue. The singer reportedly couldn't walk at all for an extended period after experiencing pain in his left knee. He later ignored doctors' advice when deciding whether to return to the road and joined his bandmates as they kicked off a European run of headlining shows in January 2019 in Madrid, Spain.

Although it has been reported that Dirkschneider suffered a heart attack nearly 30 years ago, he told Metallian that the reality was a bit different. "Around 1990, I had — what is the word — a body breakdown and not a heart attack. I was overworked, singing, recording, writing songs, producing and even being a manager. I was working on other albums. It was too much. It was not a a heart attack. I remember the reports. I don't know where the report on a heart attack came from. In a way, I am lucky. I have never had a problem with my voice. I have managed to stay healthy. I also stopped smoking [in 2003]. Especially, while on tour, you have to do your best to stay healthy. I always say that I am lucky, I am very lucky. Of course, we get drunk sometimes, but I never party or take drugs or something like that. I have always been a healthy man."

U.D.O.'s current lineup includes Udo's son and drummer Sven Dirkschneider, bassist Tilen Hudrap and guitarists Andrey Smirnov and Dee Dammers.

U.D.O.'s latest studio album, "Steelfactory", was released in August 2018 via AFM.

On the heels of the announcement of his first-ever book "Wicked Words And Epic Tales", ICED EARTH founder, songwriter, guitarist and producer Jon Schaffer has released the second lyric video from the audio CD that accompanies the book. The video for the track is a compilation of footage from early day "Wolfman" horror films that provides the perfect visual bed for the haunting re-imagining that Schaffer has created for the song. The original version of "Wolf" can be found on ICED EARTH's 2001 concept album "Horror Show". The video is the second of three that Schaffer will release as part of his Kickstarter campaign to promote "Wicked Words And Epic Tales". The video can be seen below.

"Wicked Words And Epic Tales" is the debut release from Schaffer's new publishing company Wicked Words, LLC and is the first of many original concepts planned for future release by Schaffer.

"Wicked Words And Epic Tales" is a collection of lyrics, interviews and pages of artwork that Schaffer's work has inspired throughout the years. The book is an anthology of lyrics from Schaffer that span his 35 years in making music in various projects, including ICED EARTH, DEMONS & WIZARDS, SONS OF LIBERTY and PURGATORY. The book comes in two unique covers: one created by Jonboy Meyers, and another by Jim Balent and Roy Young, and is over 200 pages. The coffee-table art book also features original drawings from some of the most notable artists, including Todd McFarlane, Greg Capullo, Monte Moore and numerous others. The book also features an audio CD of 15 tracks that is exclusively available with the purchase of the deluxe edition book. Dubbed "A Narrative Soundscape" by Schaffer, these recordings are a completely re-imagined delivery of the lyrics of ICED EARTH songs created exclusively for this release. Longtime collaborator Jim Morris worked with Jon Schaffer of these versions.

Fans can pre-order "Wicked Words And Epic Tales" at this location.

"I wanted to put something together that would be a truly unique experience not only for the fans of my bands, but for newcomers as well," explains Schaffer.

Featured tracks in "Wicked Words And Epic Tales" are:

01. Dystopia (A Narrative Soundscape)

02. Declaration Day (A Narrative Soundscape)

03. Wolf (A Narrative Soundscape)

04. Dante’s Inferno (A Narrative Soundscape)

05. Melancholy (Holy Martyr) (A Narrative Soundscape)

06. Dracula (A Narrative Soundscape)

07. Raven Wing (A Narrative Soundscape)

08. Angels Holocaust (A Narrative Soundscape)

09. The Clouding (A Narrative Soundscape)

10. Something Wicked Trilogy (A Narrative Soundscape)

11. Watching Over Me (A Narrative Soundscape)

12. Seven Headed Whore (A Narrative Soundscape)

13. Damien (A Narrative Soundscape)

14. A Question of Heaven (A Narrative Soundscape)

15. Come What May (A Narrative Soundscape)

Artists that have contributed pieces for "Wicked Words And Epic Tales":

Jim Balent

Jonboy Meyers

Roy Young

David Newman-Stump

Todd McFarlane

Greg Capullo

Tim Vigil

Monte Moore

Danny Miki

Sun Khamunaki

John Gallagher

Emile Levaique

Richard Ortiz

John Giang

Felipe Machado

Jamie Tyndall

Dylan Andrews

Lucio Parrillo

Travis Smith

Nathan Perry

Leo Hao

Eliran Kantor

Axel Herman

Photo credit: Tim Tronckoe

LINKIN PARK's Mike Shinoda will release a new solo record, "Dropped Frames, Vol. 1", on July 10 via his Kenji Kobayashi Productions label. The LP will feature the first batch of instrumentals inspired by Shinoda's live Twitch streams from his home studio, with assistance from his fans.

"'Dropped Frames' is just as much about the live channel as it is about the 'album," Mike said in a statement. "The collection of songs is a highlight reel of the tracks I make on the channel, but a big part of the experience is the stream itself.

"When I start, I usually have very little idea of where it will go. What comes out is a product of the viewers' suggestions, my spur-of-the-moment ideas, and whatever inexplicable magic is floating in between."

You can now listen to the first three songs from "Dropped Frames, Vol. 1" — "Open Door", "Osiris" and "Super Galaxtica" — below.

"Dropped Frames, Vol. 1" track listing:

01. Open Door

02. Super Galaxtica

03. Duckbot

04. Cupcake Cake

05. El Rey Demonio

06. Doodle Buzz

07. Channeling Pt. 1 (feat. Dan Mayo)

08. Osiris

09. Babble Bobble

10. Session McSessionface

11. Neon Crickets

12. Booty Down

Mike's full-length solo album called "Post Traumatic", came out last year. Some of the disc was inspired by the death mnearly three years ago of LINKIN PARK singer Chester Bennington. The latter was found dead in his Los Angeles-area home on July 20, 2017 after hanging himself. LINKIN PARK headlined an all-star tribute concert for Bennington in October 2017 in Los Angeles but has not announced any future plans for recording or touring.

The official Suzi Quatro documentary feature "Suzi Q", which charts the 54-year career of the pioneering female rocker who burst on to the scene in the 1970s, is set to receive a one-night-only virtual premiere on July 1 via Altavod.

A brand new trailer for "Suzi Q", courtesy of Gibson TV, can be seen below.

"Suzi Q" is the definitive, unexpurgated story of the girl from Detroit City who redefined the role and image of women in rock 'n' roll when she broke through around the world in 1973. Singer, songwriter, bass player, author, actress, radio presenter, poet, still touring and recording music — there is only one Suzi Q.

From Australian filmmakers Liam Firmager and Tait Brady, "Suzi Q" features Suzi Quatro, Alice Cooper, Deborah Harry (BLONDIE), Joan Jett, Cherie Currie (THE RUNAWAYS), Tina Weymouth (TALKING HEADS), Donita Sparks (L7), Henry Winkler ("Happy Days"), Kathy Valentine (THE GO-GO'S), KT Tunstall, members of the Quatro family, and many more.

"Suzi Q" positions Suzi as the trailblazer and inspiration for a generation of women who were to follow after her in the next decade, but whose trailblazing status was not sufficiently recognized by the music industry and contemporary audiences, especially in North America. "Suzi Q" reminds contemporary audiences of her pioneering influence, white-hot talent and string of incandescent rock hits, like "Can The Can", "48 Crash" and "Daytona Demon" that were the vehicle for her explosion of gender stereotypes in rock n roll, rewriting the rule book for the expected image of women in rock music and reaching millions of people worldwide in the process.

Brady says: "Over the four-plus years making the film, the idea that Suzi's status had been forgotten in the USA slowly dawned on us — because in the rest of the world everyone knows that she is the first and one of the most important trailblazers in rock 'n' roll! And that then influenced the direction the film took — it became our mission to redress history. Getting the film out to American audiences ultimately became our major goal, so Liam and I are thrilled that Utopia are taking it out in the U.S. In the U.K., Europe and Australia, the film is a celebration — for North America the film should play like a rediscovery story."

In a new interview with Meltdown of Detroit's WRIF radio station, former TYPE O NEGATIVE and current DANZIG drummer Johnny Kelly remembered TYPE O's late frontman frontman Peter Steele who passed away in April 2010 from heart failure at the age of 48.

"Peter, for the most part, he was a clown," Johnny said. "He was always joking around — sarcastic, very self-deprecating humor. Just the opposite of what the music portrayed. When we were working on music and stuff, the end result, he was very serious about what he wanted, how he wanted something to sound. Other times, he was a clown.

"I always said that he wanted to be a normal person, but because he was Peter, that was just not in the cards for him; it was completely impossible," he continued. "I bet he would love to just be able to hang out, go to the bar, have a few drinks. And we would try to do that, and the minute he would come out to the bar, everybody gravitated towards him. He couldn't go to the store by his house without something happening to him."

Asked if that was because of Peter's size, Johnny said: "I think so. He just had this very striking look. He didn't look normal. And he had fangs. [Laughs] He was six and a half feet tall, [had] long black hair and fangs. You're not gonna get the normal reponse when you're going grocery shopping."

Steele was born Petrus T. Ratajczyk on January 4, 1962 in Brooklyn, New York. He stood 6' 7" (201 cm) tall, and had a low, bass-heavy voice, which was one of the most recognizable features in TYPE O NEGATIVE's music.

Before forming TYPE O NEGATIVE, Steele played for the metal group FALLOUT and the thrash band CARNIVORE.

"Going through a midlife crisis and having many things change very quickly made me realize my mortality," Steele told Decibel magazine in 2007. "And when you start to think about death, you start to think about what's after it. And then you start hoping there is a God. For me, it's a frightening thought to go nowhere. I also can't believe that people like Stalin and Hitler are gonna go to the same place as Mother Teresa."

In a new interview with Consequence Of Sound, HALESTORM frontwoman Lzzy Hale spoke about the progress of the songwriting sessions for the follow-up to 2018's "Vicious" album.

"We have been writing a lot, so there will be new music at some point. Maybe there will be a double record, because of all this," she said, referring to the coronavirus pandemic which is sweeping the world. "I think it's important to stay connected, not just in a musical sense, but to let everybody know you're here and connected."

Asked what has changed most for HALESTORM as a result of the pandemic, Lzzy said: "The biggest thing is the future is unknown for us. HALESTORM is usually booked way ahead and has our plans, and we know where and when we're going to go on tour. This absolutely rocked our world, even though we were one of the lucky ones. We had finished most of our tour cycle for our last album, 'Vicious', and planned most of this time to write another record.

"The funniest thing for us is that since this pandemic stated, we're busier now than maybe we would have been," she added. "I've never had to learn so much technical stuff and videos and Zoom etiquette and all that. In a lot of ways, I've been enjoying putting myself out there and us out there as a brand. I had kind of inadvertently been preparing for something like this, and there will be a rollout of releases and duets and projects I've been working on for the past year or so that now have an opportunity to shine."

HALESTORM guitarist Joe Hottinger recently told the "In The Trenches With Ryan Roxie" podcast that he and Lzzy have written "four or five new songs" that they really like. "We've written 20 or 30, or I don't even know how many — just so many — but there's four or five that we're, like, 'All right. We're on to something here,'" he explained. "And they're exciting, 'cause they are different.

"We didn't exactly know where we were gonna go on this next record that we're writing — we still don't totally know, but the haze is clearing, the fog is clearing, and it's starting to reveal itself," he continued. "And it's rock and roll music, and it's exciting. And it's very us and HALESTORM, but it's a different flavor of us."

HALESTORM has been writing and demoing material since January, with Hale saying she can record almost everything except drums in her home studio.

The band has hinted at recording one or two EPs in the interim, but have not revealed any further information on whether they've been completed or what they contain.

Lzzy Hale and her brother Arejay (drums) formed the band in 1998 while in middle school. Hottinger joined the group in 2003, followed by bassist Josh Smith in 2004.

They originally started off as a side project for Leif Edling of Candlemass, but over the years Avatarium have grown and flourished in their own right.  Their latest album, The Fire I Long For, sees the band taking a huge leap forward producing the most fulfilling and diverse album of their career to date. Metal Express Radio's  Mick Burgess spoke with vocalist Jennie-Ann Smith about the album, coping with life in a COVID-19 world, and balancing life in a rock band with a career as a psychosocial counsellor while being a new mother.

MER: You are planning on doing a live stream show with Candlemass in the near future. When do you hope to stream this?

Smith: "That is the plan. We want to have optimal conditions for that so discussions are ongoing. We hope to do it sometime after the summer holiday in August. That will be great. Candlemass are like our big brother and we`re their obnoxious little sister. Of course, Marcus works closely with Leif Edling of Candlemass in different projects, and we worked for a few years with Leif in Avatarium, but we are more independent now. He`s still contributing with a couple of songs on our last album but it`s nice to still have that connection."

MER: Your latest album, The Fire I Long For, has been out for a few months and is your most varied, diverse album that you`ve done. Was that the plan when you started writing the album?

Smith: "We had many ideas and when it comes to making an album, we have quite a strong pop tradition is Sweden, and we have a strong heritage of prioritising strong melodies, so we wanted to make an album that`s built on that. We wanted to do one that we would want to listen to from the beginning to the end. We wanted it to be that interesting that you`d want to listen to it. There`s no fillers or space and it needs to demand your focus. I just wanted to make good songs and write good music that`s stimulating for me to make and listen to."

MER: How did you feel when you finished the album?

Smith: "I`m very proud of the album and think that it`s quite amazing that we did it. It was huge step for me as a songwriter and to have the courage and energy to finish it and put it out there. With previous albums it was so much less and as Leif Edling was so experienced and well established you could rely on him knowing what to do. On this record we felt that it was time to write and be independent but still have his input. He was like a mentor to us.  He still wrote two songs that really suited the record and I`m proud of what we have made. I think that the material is strong with good melodies. Of course, I`m so pleased with that."

Read the complete interview here.

Avatarium recently released their new dark gospel, The Fire I Long For, via Nuclear Blast. Founded in 2012 by Leif Edling of Candlemass, Avatarium soon saw the arrival of Marcus Jidell (producer Candlemass) and Jennie-Ann Smith who brought an air of charisma with her soulful grace. By now, the band has become an entity of its own and while Leif still contributed three songs for the new album, the band’s current nucleus consists of Marcus and Jennie-Ann, who are accompanied on this record by organist Rickard Nilssonand new drummer Andreas ‘Habo’ Johansson (The Doomsday Kingdom). Together, this open-minded, yet doom-laden collective draws elements of folk, jazz and psychedelic brilliance into a grandiose amalgamation that manages to maintain an almost pop-like elegance.

Recorded at Studio DeepWell in Stockholm, the album was produced by Marcus Jidell, mixed by Grammy Award winner Niklas Flyckt and mastered by Svante Forsback (Rammstein).

Tracklisting:

"Voices"
"Rubicon"
"Lay Me Down"
"Porcelain Skull"
"Shake That Demon"
"Great Beyond"
"The Fire I Long For"
"Epitaph Of Heroes"
"Stars They Move"

"Lay Me Down" lyric video:

"Voices" visualizer:

"Rubicon" video:




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Don Dokken spoke to Myglobalmind about the lyrical themes covered on DOKKEN's upcoming follow-up to 2012's "Broken Bones" album. He said: "We are about halfway done with the record, and a lot of my lyrics are about what is going on now. Whether you are a fan of Trump or not, I see him as a little unhinged and trying to take over the planet, so I wrote a song called 'Hail To The King' about him. He has a king mentality.

"I'm not a political person at all — I don't get involved in politics — but when you see the craziness of the government and the guy firing his people daily, like the attorney general and the prosecutor, it's bizarre," he laughed. "I wrote a tongue-in-cheek song about a guy who is running the country and feels he has no limitations or rules. That he can do whatever he wants like a king. I wrote another song about the insanity of these demonstrations.

"People have the right to march and protest the George Floyd situation, but you get these people who use it as an opportunity to rob and loot. They don't care about George Floyd; they just want to go down there with a hammer and bust out windows to grab TVs, so I wrote a song called 'Rampage'. They are thugs, gang bangers and crooks who want to take advantage of the situation while the police are doing their best to keep the crowds under control."

Don also talked about DOKKEN's upcoming "socially distanced" concerts this summer and what it means for the fans.

"I don't think it means anything," Don said. "How are you going to get 2,500 people to stay six feet apart from each other at these outdoor venues? It's impossible. The governor of Arkansas said he would let the outdoor venues open up. We are not doing any meet-and-greets or shaking hands with fans. We have to be safe as well as on the plane. They allowed both of the shows to be a half-filled capacity. They are both 5,000-seat venues, so they will only let in half. I keep thinking any day I'll get a call that the shows have been canceled. Look at what is happening now — COVID is spiking because of all these protests and demonstrations, with 10,000 people marching arm in arm. If this continues, they will cancel these fucking shows."

DOKKEN's new studio album will be released via Silver Lining Music, the label owned by Thomas Jensen, one of the founders of Germany's Wacken Open Air festival.

DOKKEN's classic lineup — Don, guitarist George Lynch, basist Jeff Pilson and drummer "Wild" Mick Brown — reunited for a short Japanese tour in the fall of 2016. The trek marked the first time in 21 years the four musicians had hit the road together.

A DOKKEN concert DVD focusing on the band's reunion tour, "Return To The East Live (2016)", was made available in 2018.

Since completing the Japanese reunion dates, DOKKEN has continued to perform with the group's current lineup — including guitarist Jon Levin, bassist Chris McCarvill and drummer BJ Zampa (HOUSE OF LORDS).

GREAT WHITE guitarist Mark Kendall spoke to the "Music Mania" podcast about what it's like to be a conservative voice on social media despite the stereotype of the musical community as a haven for liberals. He said (hear audio below): "My parents were full-blown liberals. I've never been into politics at all. I've just always kind of considered myself hopefully sensible. And when things are so out of whack that it makes no sense at all even to the most illogical person, I feel like I have to say something, 'cause I really want my grandson to grow into a regular-type world and not one that's dangerous or whatever.

"I try not to get too outrageous, but I do get a little bit upset," he continued. "I'd rather promote helping alcoholics, to tell you the truth. Lately, I've been laying back a little bit on it, 'cause I don't really feel like I'm gonna change the world or whatever, but I just think it's getting a little too dangerous out there, getting a little too out of control. There's gotta be a better way to do it."

Kendall also touched upon the racial unrest in the United States following the deaths of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, Tony McDade and many other black people who have died at the hands of the police.

"I wish everybody could come together," he said. "I know there's two sides or whatever, and I totally get that — it's always been that way. But I don't think leveling our country is the answer. I don't want people to be mad at me. I hate to see innocent people losing their businesses and losing their livelihood, and they really have nothing to do with anything except they're just trying to make a living. I don't think that's fair, and I don't think that's out of whack to feel that way.

"We all saw what happened to the George Floyd guy, and we were all sickened by that. But I just don't feel that we have to just destroy our country and turn it into Afghanistan over it. I like the idea of maybe doing police reform, doing things that… maybe body cams.

"I have a buddy who's a detective in Reno, and what he told me is, he goes, 'If some guy that's not quite there mentally, but he skates through the academy, usually they'll fail the mental test.' Like, they might ask him something like, 'What if you found out your partner's gay?' And he'd say something like, 'Before or after I kicked his ass?' That guy would not be a police officer — [he'd be] outta there in a second. But occasionally a bad apple slips through. They'll usually get him early, but somehow this guy that did what he did obviously needed to be dealt with earlier. But I just don't think every cop is bad or whatever. And again, I'm just trying to be logical.

"I try to treat everybody well, so I'm not out there trying to injure anyone by speaking my piece. I want things to go well for everybody. But I'm a little concerned about what's going on out there right now."

Last month, Kendall made political headlines when President Donald Trump retweeted a video Mark posted of a man being assaulted by a group of protestors in Dallas after he had initially charged at them with a machete while reportedly trying to protect a store. Kendall reportedly labeled the Dallas incident — without proof — as the work of Antifa. Through his publicist, Kendall declined to say what basis he had for his Antifa claim, according to The Dallas Morning News.

On Twitter, Kendall lauded the president for vowing to treat Antifa as a terrorist group, writing: "Democrats & progressives support Antifa financially who are destroying our country day by day."

GREAT WHITE is currently working on material for its next album. The effort will mark GREAT WHITE's first collection of new songs with singer Mitch Malloy, who joined the group in 2018 following the departure of Terry Ilous.

Ilous, frontman of '80s L.A. hard rockers XYZ, joined GREAT WHITE in 2010 after stepping in for touring vocalist Jani Lane (WARRANT).

The Ilous-led GREAT WHITE released two albums, 2012's "Elation" and 2017's "Full Circle", before Terry was dismissed from the group.

This version of GREAT WHITE is not to be confused with JACK RUSSELL'S GREAT WHITE, which features original GREAT WHITE singer Jack Russell alongside Robby Lochner (FIGHT) on guitar, Dan McNay on bass, Tony Montana on guitar and Dicki Fliszar on drums.






What Obama meant to say is, Trump blew my 8 yrs away as president in 18 months!!Congratulations President Trump, you’re doing it my good man,

keep up the great work???...

— Mark Kendall (@MarkKendall_GW) September 7, 2018

SYSTEM OF A DOWN bassist Shavarsh "Shavo" Odadjian spoke to Good Company new side project called NORTH KINGSLEY. Joining him in the band are Ray Hawthorne and Saro Paparian.

"The initial idea was to make beats for other artists," he said (see video below). "It has a hip-hop edge, it has trap beats, but it's got the heavy guitars sometimes. It's not rap-rock, 'cause it's got trap in there — it just has these heavy elements. It's weird. It's something new.

"Ray came in and he threw a verse, and I was, like, 'Fuck, dude.' His thoughts aligned with mine, the words he's using. He's very politically, socially aware. It's kind of like the next place to go from SYSTEM. Serj [Tankian, SYSTEM OF A DOWN singer] said a lot of stuff that I believed in, and then I kind of went in my own thing. Now I feel like this is another way. He's so great, Ray, where I can give him a topic. I'm, like, 'This happened to me at the gym the other day.' And he'll take that and he'll write a straight song about it, like, 'Is it like this?' I'm, like, 'Fuck, bro.' It's such a great situation.

"We don't take sides in this band," he added. "We're not trying to be all left, we're not trying to be all right, we're not trying to be anything except tell you what's going on and tell you our opinions and our views on what's going on. It's pretty simple."

Regarding how he plans to make NORTH KINGSLEY's music available to the masses, Shavo said: "Once we had 12 songs, I'm, like, 'How do we drop this?' I could have gone the regular route and shopped it, got label distribution to take it the easy way. I was, like, 'You know what? I'm gonna invest in myself.' I'm the record company also. I'm hiring the marketing company. I'm paying for everything. The record's all on us. I'm doing everything on my own. I hired a publicist. I did what a label would have done on my own. And I got an independent distribution deal, so I kept most of our percentages instead of giving it away, like we did in SYSTEM. No literally, but you know what I mean. When Sony comes to you when you're a little baby band, you don't have much choice. And I decided instead of dropping 12 songs at once, because nowadays there's a lot of A.D.D. going on. So I decided why don't I drop 12 songs within a year — do three songs every three or four months. Every song gets a digital video, some lyrics stuff. And with it, I'm, like, 'Let's do limited merch. Let's have some really cool ideas with visuals that we can create for each song.' And we're kind of in the middle of designing all that. We've got a cool merch company that's helping us."

NORTH KINGSLEY's music will be released through Shavo's 22Red label. 22Red is also the name of his southern California-based cannabis brand and lifestyle brand, which he launched in late 2018.

Shavo has repeatedly expressed his frustration over the lack of a new studio album from SYSTEM OF A DOWN. The band has yet to release a follow-up to "Mezmerize" and "Hypnotize", which came out in 2005.

In a new interview with Sam Coulson, JUDAS PRIEST's Richie Faulkner was asked which three guitar players, living or dead, he would like to invite to a dinner party. He responded (see video below): "I think if I could invite any guitar player, living or dead, to a dinner party, I think [one] would be Jimi Hendrix. Purely, I'd love to pick Jimi's brain about where he comes from musically, what inspires him as a guitar player and a songwriter. Obviously, he came from the blues, but, to me, that musical influence, I'm not sure where that came from — what took it from the blues to something else. So I'd love Jimi to come. Phil Campbell from MOTÖRHEAD. I always have a good time with Phil Campbell from MOTÖRHEAD. He's a friend of mine. He's from the U.K. — he's from Wales — and I always seem to have a good time with Phil; he's a lovely, lovely guy. We've toured a couple of times with MOTÖRHEAD in the past, both in Europe and in South America. I love Phil; [I] always have a good time. And the third person I'd like to invite is probably K.K. Downing. I've never met K.K., and if I'm having a dinner party, I'd love to meet him for once and pick his brain about some stories in PRIEST and that sort of stuff — purely 'cause I've never got the opportunity to meet and to talk to Ken. So, yeah, they're my three."

Last fall, Faulkner dismissed the criticism he received for supposedly trying to look too much like Downing.

"Obviously, you get the [haters] — the 'clone' comments," Richie told the "Let There Be Talk" podcast. "I've got long blond hair, playing a flying V [guitar]… [Michael] Schenker, Zakk [Wylde], K.K., Randy Rhoads — all those guys. To say I was a Ken clone was fairly narrow-minded. There's tons of guys who have flying Vs and long hair.

"The thing is if I had dyed my hair black to be different, I would have been shot down," he continued. "You've gotta be real; you've gotta be who you are. And I grew up on Ken, I grew up on Glenn [Tipton, JUDAS PRIEST guitarist] and the guys that I mentioned. So you've just gotta be who you are. And I grew up with those guys, and I'm not ashamed. I wear it on my sleeve — they're all my influences, and I'm not afraid of that… There's no point in trying to hide it. But it's gotta be natural as well. And I think somehow it worked out organically. I didn't try to copy him. And as it goes on, you always try to do your own thing and make your own statement."

Two years ago, Downing said that he felt like he was "being cloned" when he first found out he was being replaced by Faulkner.

Downing, who announced his retirement from PRIEST in April 2011 after nearly 42 years in the job, admitted to the "Appetite For Distortion" podcast that he was taken aback when he first saw his replacement.

"Richie, as far as I know, is a nice guy and obviously an excellent player," Downing said. "I was a bit disappointed when, basically… I think the idea was to replace me [with a lookalike], so I did feel as though I was kind of being cloned. But I'm not sure that was exactly fair to Richie. I mean, I could be off the mark here, but I think Richie had the right to bring himself to the stage with his own… portray his own image and ability to play the instrument the way that he does. But it is what it is."

He continued: "When Glenn retired from touring [in early 2018], the same didn't happen — obviously, [Tipton's replacement] Andy [Sneap] doesn't look anything like Glenn; he doesn't wear the same clothes, the red pants, guitars or anything like that. So I don't really know what's going on. But it is what it is."

In a 2011 interview with the Finnish newspaper Ilta-Sanomat, PRIEST singer Rob Halford stated about Faulkner's physical resemblance to a younger Downing: "People are saying, 'It's a clone. You've got some of K.K.'s DNA.' It's just the way it turned out. We made, like, a secret search. When we knew K.K. was not gonna be making the tour, we did a lot of secret, kind of, searching for another player. And Richie just happened to be the guy. And he just happens to look a little bit of the K.K. image, you know?! I think it would be silly to say, 'We looked for a guitar player that looks like Ken.' What we want is a very good metal guitar player, and that's what Richie Faulkner is."

SHINEDOWN frontman Brent Smith spoke to Singapore's LAMC Productions about the racial unrest in the United States following the deaths of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, Tony McDade and many other black people who have died at the hands of the police.

He said (see video below): "I think that it truly comes down to the lack of leadership.

"It's interesting — it's very, very interesting — because at this moment in time, with what's going on, the public, the people of America are coming together, and that is the most important element in all of this.

"Our Constitution says on the front page — it's the biggest lettering on the Constitution — it says 'we the people.' This is a democracy in the United States.

"I think what's going on is you have an element of an unknown virus that, not just in America but the entire world literally had the rug ripped out from underneath all of us in a very violent way and in a very quick way too. And now you see, 20 weeks later, in this where the media is changing their stories even more, in the last 72 hours, because of just what is going on."

He continued: "I wish — I so wish — that it wouldn't have taken something as barbaric as what happened to George Floyd to completely turn and twist the narrative back on people's human rights.

"A week and a half ago, with the lockdown and everybody just being inside, everyone being confused, having no plan, being told to just stay away from one another for the better part of the last three months with really no end in sight. Everything is about social distancing: stay away from one another; stay inside. As human beings, that's not what we're supposed to do. We're not supposed to shelter inside and stay away from each other; we wanna be with each other. I've often said that human beings are at our best when we need each other, and that couldn't be any more apparent than right now in regards to what is going on in government right now and how there is a mass divide between the government and the people of the U.S. But the same rule applies to the virus.

"Three months ago, I had no idea what the coronavirus was. I didn't understand what COVID-19 was, or is. I had never heard the term 'social distancing.' I began to educate myself on what it actually means and what was actually going on. And inside of that, we're working with an incredible organization called Direct Relief, which is working all over the world to help the medical and the scientific community — these men and women that need resources on the ground during times of crisis.

"That word [crisis] is being used so much, not only in America, but globally. It's a crisis."

Smith added: "I'm not speaking for any other country, I'm only speaking for the U.S. when it comes to the lack of leadership, the lack of having a plan. But the beautiful thing that's going on and the empowering part of what is being pushed forward in front of all of our leaders is that people from all walks of life, from different backgrounds, ethnicities… The color of your skin is irrelevant. It's about who you are inside, and it should always be about that. No matter what, it should always be about the character, it should always be about the individual inside — man, woman. We're on this planet together. Not only do we need to take care of each other, we need to take care of the planet itself.

"I am beside myself with the lack of leadership that is being presented to this country right now. But you know what? I'm watching the people take that, and I'm seeing a lot of leaders starting to rise up in the communities all over the world right now, especially in the United States. The people are taking it back, and they're making their voices heard, and for the most part, they're trying to do it in a civil way."

Late last month, SHINEDOWN's 2012 song "Atlas Falls" arrived on digital services, after being available since March only as part of a charity T-shirt bundle sold through the band's merch site.

One hundred percent of the proceeds from the bundle, totaling more than $300,000, has already gone to non-profit medical supplier Direct Relief. The band also donated $20,000 of its own money. Direct Relief supplies healthcare workers with crucial protective items and equipment.

Roger Taylor thinks QUEEN would still be making music if Freddie Mercury was alive. The drummer told BBC Radio 6 Music: "I do believe that. Me and Freddie… he was my closest friend and we were very, very close. We came up together and we literally lived in each other's pockets and clothes some of the time. I do believe we would still being doing stuff together because it was a great collaboration. I don't know if John Deacon would allow… of course, John wasn't quite mentally suited for it, [but] the other three were. I would like to think we were still doing stuff together, whatever it might be. I think Brian May and I with Adam Lambert, we just loved doing the show, just seemed to get better and better, while we still can do it, we still will do it."

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

QUEEN + ADAM LAMBERT recently recorded a new version of "We Are The Champions" — retitled "You Are The Champions" — as a tribute to workers on the frontline fighting coronavirus. All proceeds made from the song will go towards the COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund for the World Health Organization.

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

THE OFFSPRING vocalist/guitarist Bryan "Dexter" Holland spoke to Kylie Olsson of Download TV about the status of the band's long-awaited tenth album. The follow-up to 2012's "Days Go By" was once again produced by Bob Rock, who also worked on the band's last two LPs.

Dexter said (see video below): "It's basically done. We were kind of just doing some last-minute tweaks and stuff and getting ready. We had a single scheduled to be released and all that stuff, and then this [coronavirus pandemic] happened. So it's on hold at the moment."

This past April, THE OFFSPRING jumped on the "Tiger King" bandwagon by recording a cover version of THE CLINTON JOHNSON BAND's "Here Kitty Kitty", a song made popular by Joe Schreibvogel — better known as Joe Exotic, the "Tiger King" — through the Netflix docuseries.

Last summer, THE OFFSPRING guitarist Kevin "Noodles" Wasserman talked to Finland's Kaaos TV about the musical direction of the band's new material. He said: "It's definitely an OFFSPRING record. There's songs that you're gonna hear that are gonna be easily recognizable as vintage-sounding OFFSPRING, for sure. We're doing a song live every night called 'It Won't Get Better'. We would like to do more of the stuff live, but we want the fans to hear the songs the way we recorded them, the way we want them to hear it rather than a shitty cellphone recording…. One of the songs on there is gonna be 'Coming For You', which we released about four years ago, and that song is a good indication as well. Both those songs are pretty much dead center in what this record's gonna be like."

Speaking about THE OFFSPRING's working relationship with Rock, Noodles said: "We hit it off with him immediately. It's been a real comfortable relationship. He makes us work and he makes us try harder to be as best as we can, but he does it in a way that's cool — he's not being a dick about it. He makes us feel like we can do it. Rather than making us feel like, 'Oh, man, we're not playing good enough,' or whatever, or, 'We're not coming up with the best parts for this,' he makes us feel like we've got more in us and we can bring more to the table. So it's great working with Bob. We love that guy."

THE OFFSPRING debuted "It Won't Get Better" live in concert in June 2018 and has been performing it ever since. Noodles described the track as "kind of like a straight-forward OFFSPRING song."

THE OFFSPRING's last single, the aforementioned "Coming For You", dropped in 2015.

Last year, THE OFFSPRING bassist Gregory "Greg K." Kriesel, who hasn't performed with the band since 2018, filed a federal lawsuit against Noodles and Dexter alleging trademark infringement and breach of partnership agreement over the rights to THE OFFSPRING name. In response, Holland and Wasserman filed a cross-complaint, denying basically everything Kriesel has alleged and asking the court to appoint 'three disinterested appraisers to appraise the fair value" of Kriesel's shares of THE OFFSPRING.

Tommy Lee says that 2019's Netflix biopic "The Dirt", about MÖTLEY CRÜE's formative years, sparked a renewed interest from younger fans who wanted to see them live, contributing to the band's decision to renege on its infamous "cessation of touring" contract.

After vowing in 2015 never to play together again, CRÜE announced last December that they would be touring in 2020 with fellow hard rock veterans DEF LEPPARD and POISON.

Speaking to Australia's Triple M about how the success of "The Dirt" affected the CRÜE's planned comeback as part of "The Stadium Tour", Lee said: "I think that definitely spiked and maybe had some effect on the sale of 'The Stadium Tour', because I really believe it invigorated or brought in a newer audience also that maybe hadn't — obviously maybe heard about us, but had never been to a show or never really knew our story. And I know for a fact, 'cause people have written to me about it, going, like, 'Dude, I can't even believe that's what it was like in the '80s. Fuck! Nothing is like that anymore. It was, like, anything goes.' And I believe a whole younger generation of kids are, like, 'Oh, I've gotta see this.' I mean, it was such a fucking awesome time that I think a lot of kids are bummed that they missed out on that, they didn't get to experience it. So maybe now is their chance to come and give it a taste. Who knows? I'm just guessing. But I know for a fact a lot of kids are, like, 'Dude, man, that's crazy you guys are even alive. Woah!'"

"The Dirt" currently has a 38% critic score from 71 reviews on Rotten Tomatoes, the online review aggregation service that allows both critics and the public to rate movies. The same site has an 94% audience score for "The Dirt" from 6,661 reviews.

The movie, which was helmed by "Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa" director Jeff Tremaine, was picked up by Netflix after being previously developed at Focus Features and before that at Paramount.

"It is really crazy, man," Tommy told Triple M about the film. "And I'm grateful that the movie even got made, for one, and how Jeff Tremaine, the director, packed in years of mayhem into an hour and a half — whatever it was; close to two hours — into that amount of time. How he did that is beyond me. It's just fantastic — fucking fantastic."

Earlier in the month, MÖTLEY CRÜE, DEF LEPPARD, POISON and JOAN JETT & THE BLACKHEARTS announced the rescheduled dates for their "The Stadium Tour".

"The Stadium Tour" was slated to kick off on June 18 at TIAA Bank Field in Jacksonville, Florida and run through September 5 in Los Angeles. The bands reportedly also booked time at VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville to rehearse for the tour.

As of January 30, "The Stadium Tour" had already grossed $130 million from one million tickets sold, plus another $5 million worth of VIP seats, according to Billboard.

Tickets ranged from $150 to $400, not counting some varied pricing that reflected demand as part of "dynamic pricing."

When it happens, "The Stadium Tour" will mark the CRÜE's first live dates since wrapping its 2014/2015 farewell tour. CRÜE toured with POISON back in 2011 and DEF LEPPARD teamed up with POISON for a string of road dates in 2017 — but the upcoming jaunt marks the first time all four acts have hit the road together for an extended tour.

METALLICA has posted another video as part of its new concert series, "#MetallicaMondays", where the band is streaming a complete live show for fans on the group's YouTube channel and on Facebook every week. The latest concert to be shared was recorded on May 2, 1999 at at Parque Simón Bolívar in Bogotá, Colombia.

Says the band: "We dug through the dusty, old VHS tapes in Lars' [Ulrich, drums] vault to uncover this show, which was not only the first time we played in Bogotá, but anywhere in Colombia."

METALLICA has been largely out of the public eye since last fall when the band canceled an Australian tour and announced that frontman James Hetfield was returning to rehab for the first time since 2002 to battle his addictions.

Hetfield made his first major public appearance since entering rehab on January 30, when an exhibit featuring 10 of his classic custom cars opened at the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles.

In March, METALLICA announced that its South American tour, which was originally planned for April, has been postponed until December. In addition, the band's appearances at four Danny Wimmer Presents-produced festivals in May and September have been canceled: Epicenter in Charlotte, Welcome To Rockville in Daytona, Sonic Temple in Columbus and Louder Than Life in Louisville.

Guitarist Kirk Hammett told The Pulse Of Radio not long ago that METALLICA has to be in better than average shape to play its music live. "There's a physicality to our music that we cannot ignore, so we just kind of have to keep ourselves in a certain sort of physical sort of state where that we can't let ourselves get to a point where we can't play these songs," he said. "That's just not allowed. When we write this music, we have to make sure that we can play it and play it when we need to play it."

Twenty years ago, Joe Bonamassa took the music world by storm when he released his debut solo album, "A New Day Yesterday". Though he'd already been on the scene for years as a child prodigy and even opened for B.B. King at the age of 12, the album launched a career that, two decades later, has seen Bonamassa rise to the top of his field with most recently being named Guitar World's No. 1 top blues guitarist in the world. Now, the blues-rock titan has announced a revamped version to be released on August 7 via J&R Adventures, completely re-sung by Bonamassa and remixed and remastered by longtime producer Kevin Shirley.

In custom Bonamassa fashion, Joe has shared a personal message to fans, straight from his "Nerdville" home. "The reason we went back and remixed it, and re-sang it, and pulled from the original masters was because I never felt like I deserved a guy like Tom Dowd to produce my first album," he confessed. "I was an infant as far as being an artist. Tom saw a little pebble in a stream, that could travel down and eventually become this nugget of gold, if you want to call it that, and he had a vision for me that I didn't see. I appreciate that and I wanted to pay tribute to him as a man who mentored me through that time. I hope you guys enjoy it."

He continued: "Tom Dowd was a master of everything he endeavored on. There was no second rate, there was no compromise on quality of absolutions and results. I wasn't developed enough as a musician myself to rise to his level. I certainly gave it my all and rose to the occasion grading on the curve of the musician I am today, the musician Tom always knew was inside my soul. I decided to enlist the help of another producer and mentor that has significantly impacted my life both on a personal basis and professionally, Mr. Kevin Shirley to help remix, re-sing and finally pay tribute to Tom as I tried to so hard to when he was alive. I have been extremely fortunate in my life to have been surrounded by two of the best most brilliant record producers anyone could have dreamed to be associated with. We included some crude demos and recordings I did at 75 Campbell Ave when I was just a teenager, and alternate versions of songs you are familiar with partly because some of the master tapes have been lost. Yes, I did say tapes. It is never lost on me how lucky I have been and continue to be by your support over these past 20 years. Enjoy the trip down memory lane… I know I did."

Shirley added: "As time has gone by, Joe's vocal style, particularly, has changed enormously. He's grown from an adolescent shouter to a very mature and soulful singer. From early on in our working relationship, Joe has mentioned that he would really like to have another shot at those vocals, and asked that if he did redo them, would I remix his first solo album."

When "A New Day Yesterday" was initially released, Chuck Taylor of Billboard was an early supporter, praising Bonamassa as "a bold talent, who rises above narrow radio formatics." The album includes six original tracks written by Bonamassa, along with six cover songs from historically renowned blues and rock artists. In addition, Shirley noted, "added to this album are three bonus songs which Stevie Van Zandt produced for Joe. They're a terrific look at where Joe was coming from, what he was looking for and how he has developed over the years." The bonus tracks are unreleased demos from a 1997 studio session before Joe had any record deals. They have never been heard before and come from a time when Zandt was Bonamassa's biggest cheerleader in the industry.

Now, even as Bonamassa continues to release new music from his recordings at Abbey Road Studios, including last month's intricate ballad titled "When One Door Opens", he takes a moment to shine light on the album that started it all. "A New Day Now" is a chance for the icon to revisit his past and revitalize the indelible anthology with his years of experience and artistry.

The Abbey Road studio recordings and "A New Day Now" follow Bonamassa's recent instrumental side project called THE SLEEP EAZYS, which released its critically acclaimed debut album, "Easy To Buy, Hard To Sell", this spring. The album, which the Associated Press touted as making "instrumental dreams," was produced by Bonamassa and features some of his frequent collaborators, along with his all-star touring band. THE SLEEP EAZYS project is Joe's second time in the studio as a producer, after Reese Wynans's long-awaited debut solo album "Sweet Release".

Never a dull moment, Joe is still cranking out weekly programming for Sirius XM's Bluesville channel for his radio show "Different Shades Of Blue". In the early weeks of quarantine, Bonamassa took to social media to give a special behind-the-scenes look at his "Nerdville" home in California. More recently, he kicked off a new at-home series "Live From Nerdville" on his Facebook and YouTube page, featuring episodes with Neal Schon of JOURNEY, John Oates of HALL & OATES, Walter Trout, and esteemed singer-songwriter Dion. On June 5, Bonamassa released music icon Dion's new album "Blues With Friends" on he and his manager Roy Weisman's new record label Keeping The Blues Alive Records and Dion's first single "Blues Comin' On" also features Bonamassa on slide guitar.

In prior months, Bonamassa was touring relentlessly, up until coronavirus took its hold on the music industry, stopping him just short of a few final dates on his spring tour in the U.S. To battle the tough times brought on by COVID-19, Bonamassa's non-profit Keeping the Blues Alive Foundation (KTBA) is providing financial support to qualifying touring musicians who are suffering financial hardship and whose careers have been put on hold. The program, called Fueling Musicians, is an emergency relief program designed to support musicians by providing immediate cash payments for essential living expenses of $1,000, as well as pre-paid gas cards of $500 to help them stay afloat and get back on the road again when it is safe. With $270,000 raised to date, Bonamassa surpassed his personal goal of $250,000.

"The more money raised means more musicians will receive funding to help them get through these challenging times and ultimately back onto the road when the time is right," Bonamassa said.

"A New Day Now" track listing:

01. Cradle Rock

02. Walk In My Shadows

03. A New Day Yesterday

04. I Know Where I Belong

05. Miss You, Hate You

06. Nuthin' I Wouldn't Do (For A Woman Like You)

07. Colour And Shape

08. Headaches And Heartbreaks (remixing)

09. Troubled Waiting

10. If Heartaches Were Nickels (remixing)

11. Current Situation

12. Don't Burn Down That Bridge

Bonus tracks:

13. Hey Mona

14. I Want You

15. Line Of Denial

KILLING JOKE's Jaz Coleman has announced his new project BLACK & RED, a collaboration with Ondrej Smeykal.

BLACK & RED's debut single, "On The Day The Earth Went Mad", is available across all digital platforms. The single is also available as a limited-edition numbered red vinyl 10-inch via Cadiz Music.

Coleman said: "The BLACK & RED project was born in Australia in 2010 when I set out to find the greatest virtuoso of the didgeridoo, only to find the maestro of the instrument resided in Prague where I lived. Upon my return to Czech Rep, I was introduced to Ondrej Smeykal. We ended up not just developing an ancient instrument but recording the BLACK & RED project (adding only Indian Harmonium) and an explosive duo was formed which could recreate the recording live perfectly. The funny thing is BLACK & RED only made sense after lockdown."

Jaz began this project with a single challenge: to create and develop a new therapeutic musical system whose primary function was healing. The project was called the Dodecahedron as a dual tribute to the Russian scientists Morasov and Makarow who began to examine the globe to see if any pattern should emerge linking significant places in history.

Coleman said: "A complex geometry was discovered in the shape of a dodecahedron linking major sacred sites around the world, which I considered appropriate considering the project's development of the didgeridoo — a 20,000-year-old instrument used by the Australian aborigines to activate the earth grid (referred to as song lines). The aboriginal people were amongst the last cultures to follow the song lines and literally sang the power places alive up until 1944. Secondly, the project title perfectly encapsulated my personal homage to Pythagoras who did not hesitate to influence the mind and body in what he termed as 'musical medicine' (expounded on in detail in his seminal work 'Music Of The Spheres'). Thus the hermetic tradition was adopted as a logical approach to the aforementioned challenge as it is most likely that the Pythagorean mystery school derived its knowledge of the healing power of music from the Egyptians who attributed the God-form Hermes (Thoth) as the founder of their art (the Egyptians confined their sacred songs to the seven primary sounds and planets, forbidding any other to be uttered in their temples)."

To order the new 10-inch vinyl single alongside exclusive merchandise, go to Coleman's new official web site.

Sweden's Thundermother have posted a music video of their new single "Sleep", taken from their forthcoming album, Heat Wave.

High Voltage Rock 'n' Roll – Thundermother from Stockholm are the breathing and living embodiment of rock ‘n’ roll. Founded in 2009 by guitar-heroine Filippa Nässil, the band started to rise steeply on the international stage after singer extraordinaire, Guernica Mancini, joined two years ago. With her blues-soaked voice that has invited comparison to several classic queens of rock music, these Swedish ladies have hit the jackpot. Driven by the hard-hitting pounding of drummer Emlee Johansson, these heavy rocking girls are sticking it to anyone claiming that rock ‘n’ roll is a male domain.

Former SLIPKNOT drummer Joey Jordison has reflected on the 21st anniversary of the band's classic debut album.

"Slipknot" arrived in 1999 via Roadrunner Records and was eventually certified double platinum by the Recording Industry Association Of America (RIAA). Although it is considered by many to be SLIPKNOT's official debut, it was preceded by the independently released "Mate. Feed. Kill. Repeat." in 1996, an effort which was recorded prior to singer Corey Taylor's addition to the band.

Jordison took to his official Instagram on Monday (June 29) to share a photo of the "Slipknot" double-platinum plaque from the RIAA, and he included the following message: "It's almost hard to believe how these years have flown by like blast beats. That album was & will always be some of the absolute best memories of my life. There's nothing out there quite like it, and what it did for all of us & the Metal world. It made all of our dreams come true, and the overall reaction from the fans almost collapsed venues & stadiums worldwide. We didn't expect it, but it absolutely exploded! We were so determined, hungry, and ready to take on the world and we did. We feared no one, and it showed when we took the stage. It was just 'that' time. Total mystery it was.

"Thank you to Monte Conner, Dave Rath, and all at Roadrunner Records... Sophia John, Ross 'The King' Robinson & Chuck Johnson. To the fans, you guys made this happen for all of us, and I dedicate this anniversary to YOU!!! Metal Forever. Thank you eternally! Joey Jordison no.1."

SLIPKNOT announced its split with Jordison in December 2013 but did not disclose the reasons for his exit. The drummer subsequently issued a statement saying that he did not quit the group.

Back in 2014, Taylor told Metal Hammer that firing Jordison after 18 years was "one of the hardest decisions" the group ever made, adding that Joey is "in a place in his life" which is "not where we are."

SLIPKNOT's current drummer is Jay Weinberg, son of longtime Bruce Springsteen drummer Max Weinberg.

A couple of years ago, Joey revealed that he was working on his first-ever book.

In 2018, the 48-year-old musician completed a European tour with the international death metal supergroup SINSAENUM.
























View this post on Instagram


































It’s almost hard to believe how these years have flown by like blast beats. That album was & will always be some of the absolute best memories of my life. There’s nothing out there quite like it, and what it did for all of us & the Metal world. It made all of our dreams come true, and the overall reaction from the fans almost collapsed venues & stadiums worldwide. We didn’t expect it, but it absolutely exploded! We were so determined, hungry, and ready to take on the world and we did. We feared no one, and it showed when we took the stage. It was just ‘that’ time. Total mystery it was. Thank you to Monte Conner, Dave Rath, and all at Roadrunner Records... Sophia John, Ross ‘“The King” Robinson & Chuck Johnson. To the fans, you guys made this happen for all of us, and I dedicate this anniversary to YOU!!! Metal Forever. Thank you eternally!Joey Jordison no.1. ??

A post shared by Joey Jordison (@thejoeyjordison) on Jun 29, 2020 at 5:12pm PDT

NIRVANA will get the jigsaw puzzle treatment this summer.

"Nevermind" and "In Utero" will be made available on September 4, 2020 as 500-piece puzzles, plus there will be a 1000-piece version of "Nevermind" out on September 18, 2020.

Zee Productions will release the album covers as jigsaws via its Rock Saws imprint. The iconic arts of some of rock's most influential and highly regarded albums is presented in puzzle form for the first time ever. All puzzles come in a vinyl-box-set-sized box, perfect to fit alongside a vinyl record collection.

Back in April 2019, Zee Productions launched its new range of rock and metal jigsaw puzzles, Rock Saws.

The first collection included jigsaws based on some of the greatest albums in heavy metal history from IRON MAIDEN, MOTÖRHEAD, JUDAS PRIEST and SLAYER.

Released in September 2019 were the first four classic METALLICA album covers as 500-piece jigsaws ("Kill 'Em All", "Ride The Lightning", "Master Of Puppets" and "…And Justice For All") as well as four classic RUSH album covers ("Fly By Night", "A Farewell To Kings", "Permanent Waves" and "Moving Pictures").

For more information, go to this location.