Life Of Agony performed live in Stuttgart, Germany on November 9, 2019 as part of The Sound of Scars World Tour. You can listen to the set below, recorded by Simon Ruhland, mixed and mastered by Joey Z at The Nest Studio, NY. Photo by Tess Wiegerinck.

Setlist:

Intro
"Scars"
"River Runs Red"
"Bad Seed"
"Love To Let You Down"
"Black Heart"
"Weeds"
"Damned If I Do"
"Lost At 22"
"Eliminate"
"My Mind Is Dangerous"
"My Eyes"
"Empty Hole"
"Method Of Groove"
"Lay Down"
"This Time"
"Other Side Of The River" (featuring Doyle Wolfgang Von Frankenstein)
"Underground"
"Through And Through"

(Top photo - Renaldo Markus)




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Eventually, there comes a time when the hype about a band becomes superfluous and their status alone speaks volumes. Such is the case with Emperor, the black metal gods.

Emperor are one of the originators of symphonic black metal that Norway is internationally renowned for and their 1992-released Wrath Of The Tyrant is considered a classic. It has been out of press for over two decades... until now. The reissued vinyl arrives on August 7. Pre-order here.

The album has been remastered by Turan Audio with full guidance from the band, with all vinyl artwork being carefully restored to how it originally came out by Dan Capp Design and Illustration to create beautiful vinyl reissues in multiple configurations. There's Wrath Of The Tyrant black vinyl, limited edition transparent red vinyl, and limited edition clear vinyl with black and red splatter.

Tracklisting:

Side A
Introduction
"Ancient Queen"
"My Empire's Doom"
"Forgotten Centuries"
"Night Of The Graveless Soul"
"Moon Over Kara-Shehr"

Side B
"Witches Sabbath"
"Lord Of The Storms"
"Wrath Of The Tyrant"
"The Ancient Queen" (As The Shadows Rise EP)
"Lord Of The Storms" (As The Shadows Rise EP)
"Witches Sabbath" (As The Shadows Rise EP)




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A memo from massive American concert promoter and live event company Live Nation - obtained by Rolling Stone and reported on by Samantha Hissong - told its talent partners that it plans to make an array of changes next year.

Most of the new policies shift financial burdens to artists. For example, the company wants to decrease the monetary guarantees promised to artists before an event by 20% across the board. Live Nation also says that if a concert is cancelled due to poor ticket sales, it will give artists 25% of the guarantee (as opposed to the 100% that promoters are currently expected to pay).

Drum legend Mike Portnoy (Sons of Apollo, ex-Dream Theater) has slammed Live Nation for the move in a post on social media:

"Sickening. This is corporate greed at its worst. It's bad enough that streaming services have already taken away almost all revenue for artist's music, leaving the only way artists can make a living to go out and tour. Then the Coronavirus has taken away that income from us all for an indefinite amount of time this and into next year (& beyond?)

And now the greedy machine of Live Nation is changing their policies for when touring eventually does resume to remodel live shows to where the artists will have to struggle to make ANYTHING and at the same time be liable for THEIR losses!!!!

This is absolutely unacceptable."

Read the full Live Nation memo below.

Live Nation Memo to Talent Agencies

The global pandemic has changed the world in recent months and with it the dynamics of the music industry. We are in unprecedented times and must adequately account for the shift in market demand, the exponential rise of certain costs and the overall increase of uncertainty that materially affects our mission. In order for us to move forward, we must make certain changes to our agreements with the artists. The principle changes for 2021 are outlined below.

Artist Guarantees: Artist guarantees will be adjusted downward 20% from 2020 levels.

Ticket Prices: Ticket prices are set by the promoter, at the promoter’s sole discretion, and are subject to change.

Payment Terms: Artists will receive a deposit of 10% one month before the festival, contingent on an executed agreement and fulfillment of marketing responsibilities. The balance, minus standard deductions for taxes and production costs, will be paid after the performance.

Minimum Marketing Requirements: All artists will be required to assist in marketing of the festival through minimum social media posting requirements outlined in artist offer.

Streaming requirements: All artists will be required to allow their performance to be filmed by the festival for use in a live television broadcast, a live webcast, on-demand streaming, and/or live satellite radio broadcast.

Billing: All decisions regarding “festival billing” are at the sole discretion of the promoter.

Merchandise: Purchaser will retain 30 % of Artist merchandise sales and send 70% to the artist within two weeks following the Festival.

Airfare and Accommodations: These expenses will be the responsibility of the artist.

Sponsorship: The promoter controls all sponsorship at the festival without any restrictions, and artists may not promote brands onstage or in its productions.

Radius Clause. Violation of a radius clause without the festival’s prior authorization in writing will, at the festival’s sole discretion, result in either a reduction of the artist fee or the removal of the artist from the event, with any pre-event deposits returned to the festival immediately.

Insurance: The artist is required to maintain its own cancellation insurance as the promoter is not responsible for the artist fee in the event of a cancellation of the festival due to weather or a force majeure.

Cancellation by Artist: If an artist cancels its performance in breach of the agreement, the artist will pay the promoter two times the artist’s fee.

Cancellation Due to Poor Sales. If a show is cancelled due to poor ticket sales, the artist will receive 25% of the guarantee.

Force Majeure: If the artist’s performance is canceled due to an event of force majeure – including a pandemic similar to Covid-19 – the promoter will not pay the artist its fee. The artist is responsible for obtaining any cancellation insurance for its performance.

Inability to Use Full Capacity of the Venue: If the promoter – either because of orders of the venue or any governmental entity – is not permitted to use the full capacity of the venue, then the promoter may terminate the agreement, and artist will refund any money previously paid.

We are fully aware of the significance of these changes, and we did not make these changes without serious consideration. We appreciate you – and all artists – understanding the need for us to make these changes in order to allow the festival business to continue not only for the artists and the producers, but also for the fans.

Learn more at this location.

Quiet Riot drummer Frankie Banali is not taking these changes lightly. He took to social media with the following statement:

"LET ME MAKE THIS VERY SIMPLE & VERY CLEAR... DEAR LIVE NATION... GO FUCK YOURSELVES... MUSICIANS ARE NOT YOUR INDENTURED SERVANTS...."




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On July 10, Frontiers Music Srl will release 2+2 = 5: Best Of + Rarities, a 3CD set from Mark Spiro. Hear the track "Don't Leave Me In Love" below, and pre-order the collection here.

Mark Spiro is an iconic American songwriter and an established award winning producer, recording artist, and accomplished musician, with a career that spans over two decades. Among his many accomplishments are 45 Gold and Platinum Records, and nine solo albums. His songs and productions have been represented on records that have sold over 100 Million copies worldwide.

The 2+2 = 5: Best Of + Rarities compilation encompasses the best of Mark’s solo material starting from “Now Is Then, Then is Now”, originally released in 1996, until “It’s A Beautiful Life”, released in 2012. Also included are his songwriting collaborations with none other than Dann Huff (Giant), Michael Thomson (MTB), Jim Vallance (Bryan Adams), and Tim Pierce.

As a special treat for the discerning and passionate melodic rock fans, the album includes 13 unreleased songs which also includes collaborations with Dann Huff, Michael Thompson, Tim Pierce and Jason Derlatka.

Tracklisting:

CD1
“All The Love We Kill”
“Wind On The Water”
“Better With A Broken Heart”
“Don’t Leave Me In Love”
“Vendetta”
“Through My Eyes”
“Mid Western Skies”
“My Devotion”
“Valdez”
“The Rain Came Tumblin’ Down”
“The Rhythm Of Your Soul”
“Can’t Take That Away” (Stuff Version)

CD2
“I’ll Be There”
“King Of The Crows”
“When Winter Comes”
“It’s A Beautiful Life”
“Come Back To Me”
“Mighty Blue Ocean”
“Monster”
“Between The Raindrops”
“The Fisherman 3”
“Wheels May Rust”
“A Beautiful Mistake”
“Love Don’t Come Around Here”

CD3
“Take Your Time”
“Holding You”
“Cry Me A River”
“Leave My Heart Alone”
“By The Riverside”
“Watching Over Me”
“24 Hours A Day”
“Broken Home”
“Whirling Dervish”
“Whenever I Remember”
“Feels Like”
“When You Were Nothing”
“Screaming Like A Crow”

"Don't Leave Me In Love":

“All The Love We Kill”:




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French traditional heavy metal band, Dygitals, have signed with German label Golden Core Records, a division of ZYX Music, for the release of their new album, God Save The King, later this year. It's a treat for every metal and hard rock fan with strong songs and powerful, yet natural sounding production.

Dygitals is fronted by Herve Dygitals, goes back to 1984 and had their vinyl debut in 1985 with two songs on the Devil's Records compilation/split-LP, French Connection. Their last two albums were on Brennus and Mausoleum. Even the band is singing in English, Dygitals is a part of the French heavy metal history and with God Save The King they prove that they are still going strong.

Dygitals is:

Herve Traisnel - Lead Vocals
Jolly Roger - Lead Guitar
Jean-Marc Lavayssiere - Guitar
Kevin Obron - Bass Guitar
Alain Clouet - Drums & Keyboards




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Two years and countless gigs and tours later, Californian death metal act Skeletal Remains present the successor to 2018’s Devouring Mortality. On September 11, the band will release The Entombment Of Chaos, their fourth and most accomplished studio album to date, via Century Media Records worldwide.

The band comments: “We chose to work with Dan Seagrave along with Dan Swanö once again for the artwork and mixing/mastering of the album as we were very satisfied with the work they both did on our last record. This time around there are a few more songs on seven-string guitar than the last album, making it an overall heavier sounding record. We also wanted to incorporate more aggression and brutality this time around to give the album that extreme edge it needed to top our last three releases. In addition to that, we brought in our good friend Charlie Koryn (Funebrarum, Ascended Dead) on drums to add his own pummelling sound into the mix giving us an end result we’re all extremely proud of. We cannot wait to share it with all fans of Death Metal!”

The album will be released as Gatefold LP plus CD, Limited Edition Digipak CD with patch, jewelcase CD and digital album.

Tracklisting:

"Cosmic Chasm "(Intro)
"Illusive Divinity"
"Congregation Of Flesh"
"Synthetic Impulse"
"Tombs Of Chaos"
"Enshrined In Agony" (Instrumental)
"Dissectasy"
"Torturous Ways To Obliteration"
"Eternal Hatred"
"Unfurling The Casket"

Bonus track:

"Stench Of Paradise Burning" (Disincarnate cover)

Skeletal Remains formed as Anthropophagy back in 2011, released two acclaimed albums through German label FDA Rekotz and honed their skills on the road, playing an impressive amount of gigs and tours early on in the band’s career. In 2018, the band took the proverbial next step, releasing their third record, Devouring Mortality, on Dark Descent in North America and Century Media internationally. Having toured with the likes of Obituary, Hatebreed, Municipal Waste, Power Trip, The Black Dahlia Murder, and many more, Skeletal Remains have succeeded in building up a loyal following worldwide and will now excite their supporters once again with a strong sonic statement.

Skeletal Remains are:

Chris Monroy - vocals/guitars
Mike De La O - guitars
Noah Young - bass
Charlie Koryn - drums




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Canadian all-star modern metal band Imonolith's Quarantine Sessions continue with the BraveWords premiere of “Hollow”!

“When my band agreed to do the quarantine video series together, I was really excited. I’ve always wanted to make play through videos for every single song on an entire album. With Imonolith, we are making that shit happen! You get to see each member of the band performing each song on the entire album, all smashed into a cool home video. Pretty damn cool…

“The song ‘Hollow’ is up next as our weekly quarantine video release, and I decided to have some fun with this one. ‘Hollow’ was our very first music video released back in January 2019, and I wanted to play around with some of the vibe we captured on that set. Since these are quarantine videos, we shoot ourselves jamming the tunes at home, but on this session I went out to my garage to capture a different vibe! Just like the Hollow music video, I hung that same mic from the rafters and swung it around. Brought back some memories and was really fun to shoot again in a similar creepy setting.

“This is the 8th quarantine home video we’ve released so far!!! Hope you enjoy and please check out the rest of our videos. CRANK IT UP!!” - Jon Howard

Imonolith, featuring drummer Ryan Van Poederooyen (Devin Townsend Project), guitarist Brian ‘Beav’ Wadell (Devin Townsend Project), Jon Howard (Threat Signal), guitarist Kai Huppunen (Methods of Mayhem, Noise Therapy) and Scott Whalen (Econoline Crush), recently launched a new series via social media called Inside The Album, offering a look behind-the-scenes of their debut record, State Of Being. In the clip below they get into "The Reign":

State Of Being album details below.

Tracklisting:

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

"Hollow" video:

"Instinct" video:

"Dig"

(Photo - Erich Saide)




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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 31, 2008 at Auditorio John Lennon in Getafe, Spain. The footage is taken from a pair of videotapes in the METALLICA vault that archived the screen feeds from this show.

The band said in a statement, "While we're all doing our part and staying home, we find ourselves missing live music, so how about we dive back into a few of our favorite shows at a socially responsible distance?"

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."

Original ALICE COOPER guitarist Michael Bruce has released a lyric video for the new MICHAEL BRUCE GROUP song "Born Screamer". The track features former ALICE COOPER drummer Neal Smith and Arizona vocalist Christina Bärwolf as guests.

Michael says: "This group of talented musicians came together in a very natural way and we all feel like we have known each other for a lifetime.

"'Born Screamer' is a song about how I met my wife and our journey together.

"It's never too late to find perfect love or a new band.

"I feel very blessed with the new lineup of musicians.

"I hope you enjoy 'Born Screamer'."

MICHAEL BRUCE GROUP is:

Michael Bruce - Guitar/Vocals

Lynette Bruce - Bass

Steve Potts - Guitar

Jimmy Waldo - Keyboards

Matt Indes - Drums

Said Bruce: "A Grand Slam!!! I am happy to be here!!! With my wife by my side and group of great guys, we are officially off and running!

"I would like to welcome all of you to my new project, my new band and the latest of creations!

"Jimmy Waldo, songwriter, producer, engineer, keyboard player and singer. Jimmy is also one of the original founding members of the band ALCATRAZZ.

"Matt Indes, drums, From Rock and Metal to Country, live, studio, tours. Matt has played, and or recorded with Michael Bruce, Michael Schenker, and many others.

"Steven Potts, originally from London, Steve is a songwriter, performing all styles of rock and metal/jazz. Steve has recently recorded and worked with the band SYMBOLIC out of LA surrounding area.

"Lynette 'Lynn' Bruce has a history in jazz/blues and has performed extensively with various bands. She will tell you that some of her most memorable performances came from performing overseas for the USO.

"Last but not least, me... Stay tuned!!!!"

As a member of the original ALICE COOPER band, Michael co-wrote the hits that rocked a generation: "I'm Eighteen", "Under My Wheels", "No More Mr. Nice Guy", "Be My Lover", "School's Out", "Elected", "Billion Dollar Babies" and many more songs that remain a staple of classic rock today.

"School's Out", one of the most notable and iconic songs, was inducted into the Grammy Hall Of Fame in 2015.

Formed with the intention to create new music in the style of those classic COOPER records of the early 1970s, the MICHAEL BRUCE GROUP is currently working on a full-length album for an early 2021 release.

MÖTLEY CRÜE singer Vince Neil says that his five-year-old Yorkshire terrier was "brutally murdered" on his front door by "two evil neighbor dogs."

Neil and his longtime girlfriend, celebrity makeup artist and beauty educator Rain Hannah, shared the news of their pet's tragic death in an Instagram post on Sunday (June 21).

They wrote: "With a heavy heart we share the news that our beloved California Wolf Neil has gone to heaven. Her passing was tragic. She was brutally murdered on our front door by two evil neighbor dogs, which is caught on our security cameras. Our neighbors are trying to cover it up and say that she ran two football fields to their pasture and their long horn steers killed her!!

"Please pray for her justice because her killers are still running free!!

"Cali touched every person she came in contact with and was loved by all. We wish we could have her back. But we know it's the circle of life and she will come back to us in her next life.

"Thank you all for your support and love during these difficult times. We will be posting and sharing more photos of her as we have almost 6 years of beautiful memories with her. She had the 'it factor' and was perfect in every way. She had a pure soul, loved with her whole heart and could never hurt a soul. We always prayed for her protection and that she would never feel any pain. She had a beautiful life and a horrific sudden end. But she's in heaven now and she got her wings. We will be patiently waiting to see her again. #justiceforcali #rip 7-8-2014 - 6-18-2020"

Back in 2015, Cali famously made an appearance in the ABC show "Celebrity Wife Swap" which featured Neil trading partners with NELSON's Gunnar Nelson.

In 2010, Neil revealed that he spared no expense when it came to his pet dogs, saying that he purchased a private jet just to transport the two cocker spaniels. In an interview with QMI Agency, he said: "Just because of them, I had to buy a jet. I bought an airplane for the dogs because I have a home in San Francisco and Las Vegas and my [then-estranged] wife won't put them on the crate, so I bought a jet to get my dogs back and forth. I would have to charter planes for the dogs all the time, and it was getting so expensive that I realized it was cheaper to buy a plane than to keep chartering it."
























View this post on Instagram


































With a heavy heart we share the news that our beloved California Wolf Neil has gone to heaven. Her passing was tragic. She was brutally murdered on our front door by two evil neighbor dogs, which is caught on our security cameras. Our neighbors are trying to cover it up and say that she ran two football fields to their pasture and their long horn steers killed her!! Please pray for her justice because her killers are still running free!! Cali touched every person she came in contact with and was loved by all. We wish we could have her back. But we know it’s the circle of life and she will come back to us in her next life. Thank you all for your support and love during these difficult times. We will be posting and sharing more photos of her as we have almost 6 years of beautiful memories with her. She had the ‘it factor’ and was perfect in every way. She had a pure soul, loved with her whole heart and could never hurt a soul. We always prayed for her protection and that she would never feel any pain. She had a beautiful life and a horrific sudden end. But she’s in heaven now and she got her wings ??‍♀‍ We will be patiently waiting to see her again ? #justiceforcali #rip 7-8-2014 - 6-18-2020

A post shared by California Wolf Neil (@cali_neil) on Jun 21, 2020 at 9:55pm PDT






























View this post on Instagram


































I’m going to miss this little one forever. Love you Cali.

A post shared by Vince Neil (@thevinceneil) on Jun 22, 2020 at 11:13am PDT






























View this post on Instagram


































Happy Father’s Day Dad I love you and RIP @cali_neil I miss you ?

A post shared by Vince Neil (@thevinceneil) on Jun 21, 2020 at 10:56pm PDT

GWAR singer Blothar The Berserker says that late GWAR frontman Oderus Urungus wouldn't want his likeness to replace the controversial Robert E. Lee monument in Richmond, Virginia.

A fan-launched campaign to replace the Lee statue with a memorial to Urungus has garnered more than 55,000 signatures.

The Confederate general died in 1870, 20 years before his statue was erected on Richmond's Monument Avenue.

Launched on June 12, the Change.org petition seeks to have the "racist" landmark replaced with a tribute to the GWAR co-founder and longtime leader, whose real name was Dave Brockie.

Blothar The Berserker addressed the campaign to erect a statue of Oderus on Monument Avenue during a recent interview with Consequence Of Sound.

He said: "I don't think that Oderus should replace Robert E. Lee on that statue in Richmond. For one thing, he'd be in some really shitty company. It's just a parade of douchebags."

He continued: "Why would Oderus want to be in that row of losers? Even if they pulled them all down, Monument Avenue still has the reputation of being the place where losers [are honored with statues]. What kind of a county allows the losers of a war to erect a bunch of monuments and statues to themselves?"

Blothar added: "I think they should just explode the entire damn monument. Make it a big smoldering hole in the ground."

That said, Blothar would like to see "statues of Oderus everywhere" but just not on Monument Avenue.

Brockie was found dead in his home in Richmond in March 2014. According to Virginia's State Medical Examiner's Office, he died from acute heroin toxicity by accidental means.

Brockie was last remaining original member of GWAR, which was founded 36 years ago. He was 50 years old.

The satirical metal band earned a following for its macabre, over-the-top costumes, offensive lyrics and graphic, gore-soaked shows, in which the bandmembers performed as the descendants of alien warriors who arrived on Earth to enslave and slaughter the human race.

David Lee Roth has shared another piece of original artwork which was inspired by the COVID-19 crisis and protests over George Floyd 's death. The latest piece contains a tongue-in-cheek announcement of sorts, with the VAN HALEN frontman claiming to be changing his name.

According to Roth, his decision to change his name to David L. Roth or simply El Roth was influenced by Grammy -winning musical group LADY ANTEBELLUM, which is now going by LADY A as a way of acknowledging Black Americans' cultural sensitivity to reminders of a bitter past. "Antebellum" is used very often to describe the pre-Civil War, pro-slavery South. The band has said the name was meant to evoke the grand style of 19th-century architecture.

On his newest piece of artwork, Roth wrote: "David 'Lee' Roth changes name! Diamond Dave, following LADY ANTEBELLUM 's (now 'LADY A ') example, will be dropping the 'Lee.' From now on, he wants us all to call him "David L. Roth ' or simply 'El Roth..'"

For the past two months, David has been posting paintings on his Twitter account that reflect the times and channel the mass anxiety around the novel coronavirus.

This is not the first time Roth has shared some of his visual art with the public. Back in 2009, Roth released dozens of his own drawings and artwork, which he called at the time "authentic originals and incompetent imitations." He offered them up as "an official answer to the question 'what do you do in your spare time?'"

According to the Van Halen News Desk, the VAN HALEN frontman always been into art. Throughout his whole life, while touring the world, you could find him doodling on just about anything — setlists, tour riders, female body parts, etc. He was always a major part of the visual side of VAN HALEN, and always tried to make the stage show "look like the music sounds." He designed stage clothes, orchestrated photo shoots, came up with the stage choreography, etc. He also had a hand in designing VAN HALEN's early tourbooks and a few of their t-shirts.

This past March, Roth postponed the final six shows of his Las Vegas residency due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Roth performed as the opening act for the February/March North American leg of KISS's "End Of The Road" farewell tour.

Roth's Vegas residency isn't be the first time he has set up shop in Sin City. Back in 1995, Roth completed a Las Vegas engagement at Bally's Hotel and Casino and another short run at MGM Grand.

VAN HALEN has been inactive since it finished its U.S. tour in October 2015 at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles, California.

Back in September, Roth said that there were no plans for VAN HALEN to do anything for the foreseeable future. "I think VAN HALEN's finished and this is the next phase," he said, referring to his solo project.




pic.twitter.com/jOFhpo4t8y

— David Lee Roth (@DavidLeeRoth) June 22, 2020

Audio samples of all the tracks that will appear on "The Reality Of Miracles", the new album from British hard rock veterans LIONHEART, are available in the YouTube clip below. The disc will be released on July 31 via Metalville Records.

LIONHEART was founded in late 1980 by Dennis Stratton (ex-IRON MAIDEN), Steve Mann (MICHAEL SCHENKER FEST) and Rocky Newton (ex-MSG) with Clive Edwards (ex-UFO) completing the lineup a little later. The band started playing constant live shows, including regular sold-out gigs at the London Marquee Club. Between 1981 and 1984, more shows followed, including a performance at the Reading Festival 1981 and as support for DEF LEPPARD, WHITESNAKE and SAXON.

In 1984, CBS Records offered LIONHEART a contract. With the new singer Chad Brown, the debut album, "Hot Tonight", was recorded in Los Angeles. Phil Lanzon (URIAH HEEP) joined the band as a new keyboardist before Chad Brown was replaced by Keith Murrell (AIRRACE, MAMA'S BOYS) in 1985. The band was hit with managerial problems, and it was felt that the momentum was gone, and LIONHEART disbanded in 1985.

Rocky subsequently sang background vocals on the DEF LEPPARD albums "Pyromania" and "Hysteria" before joining the MICHAEL SCHENKER GROUP. Steve set up his first commercial studio and then hooked up with Rocky again in the MCAULEY SCHENKER GROUP. Dennis began a 15-year collaboration with PRAYING MANTIS. Clive went on to play with Bernie Marsden and UFO.

In 1999, LIONHEART released a double album with old demos, which sold well and once again generated interest in the band. In 2016, the organisers of the Rockingham Festival in Nottingham invited LIONHEART to play a reunion show. The four founding members seized the opportunity and brought the former SHY frontman Lee Small on board as lead singer. The show received fantastic reviews, and they decided to record another album.

"Second Nature" was released to critical acclaim in 2017 and was voted "AOR Album Of The Year" by Classic Rock magazine. This was followed by an appearance at Sweden Rock Festival, mini co-headline tours through Japan with PRAYING MANTIS, and a U.K. tour with AIRRACE.

As the Christmas single "Mary Did You Know" was released in December 2018, the musicians were already recording the follow-up album. Although most of 2019 was taken up by the other projects, the band members got together in downtime to record "The Reality Of Miracles". The 13 songs were recorded in Steve Mann's studio in Hannover. Steve also produced, mixed and mastered the album.

"The Reality Of Miracles" track listing:

01. Salvation

02. Thine Is The Kingdom

03. High Plains Drifter

04. The Reality Of Miracles

05. Five Tribes

06. Behind The Wall

07. All I Want Is You

08. Widows

09. Kingdom Of The East

10. Outlaws Of The Western World

11. Overdrive

12. The First Man

13. Still It Rains On Planet Earth (Lacrimosa)

LIONHEART is:

* Dennis Stratton - former guitarist with IRON MAIDEN

* Steve Mann - current guitarist and keyboardist with MICHAEL SCHENKER

* Rocky Newton - former bass player and backing vocalist with MCAULEY SCHENKER GROUP

* Clive Edwards - former drummer with UFO, WILD HORSES and ULI ROTH

* Lee Small - former lead vocalist with SHY and PHENOMENA

California rockers BLACK VEIL BRIDES will celebrate the tenth anniversary of their debut album, "We Stitch These Wounds", by releasing a re-recorded version of the LP, dubbed "Re-Stitch These Wounds", on June 26 via Sumerian Records. The cover artwork for the disc — which was reimagined by illustrator Luca Solo Macello — can be seen below.

"We Stitch These Wounds" was issued in July 2010 via StandBy Records and was BLACK VEIL BRIDES' only studio album to feature drummer Sandra Alvarenga before she left the band and joined MODERN DAY ESCAPE.

BLACK VEIL BRIDES frontman Andy Biersack recently told Rock Sound about the band's decision to re-record the LP: "The point of this is not to replace the first album. The idea is that the first record was made for about six grand in a jingles studio, which is a very small space that they recorded commercial jingles. And we really didn't have a pot to piss in, and we had no way of making this grandiose record that we wanted. This dates back maybe as soon as 'Set The World On Fire' [2011] came out, we were, like, 'Oh, wow! We can make big-sounding records.' We thought, 'Man, wouldn't it be great to redo the first record and make it sound this big?' And so it's always just been a passion project of ours. And Jake [Pitts, guitar] has gotten so adept as a producer over the years, and he's done such an amazing job on it. It sounds awesome. It's the way, for us, that we would have liked to have those songs sound 10 years ago. Again, it's not meant to replace it — it's meant to be a companion piece. Here's what the version was in the past; here's what we we would like it to have been. And we're hoping that it ends up more on the fun companion piece and less on the George Lucas-fucking-with-'Star Wars'-a-million-times kind of thing; we don't want it to be on that side."

Biersack went on to say that he prefers "Re-Stitch These Wounds" to "We Stitch These Wounds" because "it's the way that that I heard it in my head 10 years ago and the way that we wanted it to be. Like a song like 'Carolyn', Jake has put so much of himself into that song, and it just sounds so big," he explained. "And then one of the coolest things that exists is, for years, we've done the overtures on the records, which is all Jinxx [giotar] composing and playing these big orchestral pieces, and he's got one of those. He's kind of reimagined and redone the idea of 'The Mortician's Daughter', which is a song on the first record, and he's been working on that for months and months now. And it sounds incredible. It makes everyone cry. It made [my wife] cry, it made my mom cry — it makes everybody cry when they listen to it, it's so beautiful."

Last November, BLACK VEIL BRIDES announced the addition of bassist Lonny Eagleton to the group's ranks. He joined the band as the replacement for Ashley Purdy, who exited the group earlier that month.

Eagleton previously played with Biersack (a.k.a. Andy Black) on his solo tour.

Last fall, BLACK VEIL BRIDES released the first in a series of "duologies," essentially two-song singles that will be released with greater frequency. The first duology consisted of the songs "The Vengeance" and "Saints Of The Blood".

In light of current events, BODY COUNT, the metal band fronted by hip-hop legend, actor and director Ice-T, has announced the release of its 2017 single "No Lives Matter" to radio.

The track's message is more relevant than ever, as Ice-T states in the music video intro: "It's unfortunate that we have to say 'black lives matter.' If you go through history nobody ever gave a fuck. I mean, you can kill black people in the street. Nobody goes to jail; nobody goes to prison.

"When I say 'black lives matter' and you say 'all lives matter,' that's like if I was to say 'gay lives matter' and you say 'all lives matter.' If I said, 'women's lives matter' and you say 'all lives matter,' you're diluting what I'm saying, you're diluting the issue.

"The issue isn't about everybody. It's about black lives at the moment."

Century Media Records director Philipp Schulte adds: "As a company, we felt it was necessary to release this single as a way to actively participate in the change that is needed to combat police brutality and racism. It is a first step in doing our part to inspire unity and transformation."

BODY COUNT's seventh studio album, "Carnivore", was released in March via Century Media.

Insight Editions has set a July 28 release date for "Reclaimed Rust: The Four-Wheeled Creations Of James Hetfield". In the book, James Hetfield opens up his garage for an exclusive tour of the highlights of his incredible collection of restored and customized classic cars.

Millions know Hetfield as the frontman of METALLICA, but the acclaimed singer-songwriter has enjoyed another lifelong passion: restoring and customizing classic cars into magnificent pieces of automotive art. From cars such as the Skyscraper to the Aquarius and the Black Pearl, Hetfield's collection of beautifully reimagined classic automobiles is truly stunning. For the first time, Hetfield is opening up his garage and inviting readers to dive under the hood of some of these internationally lauded classics. Featuring dynamic, specially commissioned photography of the cars and insight from Hetfield into their creation, this book is a unique opportunity to learn about the METALLICA frontman's passion for creating bespoke classic cars.

"Reclaimed Rust: The Four-Wheeled Creations Of James Hetfield" standard-edition and limited-edition preview videos featuring Hetfield can be seen below.

As previously reported Hetfield has donated his collection of 10 highly regarded custom cars to the Petersen Automotive Museum. Additionally, James was named a Founding Member of the museum, an honor reserved for its most generous donors.

Hetfield's collection includes Voodoo Priest, based on a '37 Lincoln Zephyr, a '36 Auburn roadster named Slow Burn, a Delahaye inspired '34 Packard, Aquarius, a '36 Ford in bare metal called Iron Fist, a purple '56 Ford F-100 pickup truck, and three cars by custom fabricator Rick Dore: Black Pearl, a custom 1948 Jaguar, a '52 Olds named Grinch, and Skyscraper, a 1953 Buick Skylark.

The Hetfield cars went on display this past February in the museum's Bruce Meyer Family Gallery. Along with the cars are artifacts and memorabilia from Hetfield and METALLICA's private collections.

A few years ago, Hetfield said that he approaches building hot rods the same way he approaches writing music. "Building cars is always an escape," he explained. "It's the same with music. I don't know what I’m gonna make. Cars are like people to me; they like love. They love to be touched, they love to be handled, they love to be driven... they love to be admired… This is a form of expression and freedom, and you can get away with driving something like that but still have your personality show through. It's just like looking at art. You look at a piece and you go, 'I don't get it.' And you look at something else and say, 'That is amazing. I wish I thought of that.'"

All previously announced "The Big Rock Summer Tour" dates — featuring RATT, CINDERELLA's Tom Keifer, SKID ROW and SLAUGHTER — have been canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic that is sweeping the globe.

RATT said in a statement: "'The Big Rock Summer Tour' will no longer be taking place as originally scheduled this summer and fall. Tickets will automatically be refunded at point of purchase. Thank you for understanding."

RATT has spent the last year touring with a lineup that includes original singer Stephen Pearcy and bassist Juan Croucier, along with drummer Pete Holmes (BLACK 'N BLUE) and guitarist Jordan Ziff.

Keifer's sophomore solo album, "Rise", was released in September via Cleopatra Records. The CINDERELLA frontman was joined on the disc by his #keiferband — Savannah Keifer, Tony Higbee, Billy Mercer, Kendra Chantelle, Jarred Pope and Kory Myers.

Although CINDERELLA hasn't released a new studio album since 1994's "Still Climbing", the band started playing sporadic shows again in 2010 but has been largely inactive for the last few years while Keifer has toured as a solo artist.

Last December, SKID ROW guitarist Dave "Snake" Sabo confirmed to Paul Anthony of Planet Rock that the band is putting the finishing touches on the final chapter of the "United World Rebellion" trilogy, which will tentatively be released in 2020. The disc was tracked at a Nashville, Tennessee studio with producer Michael Wagener, who also helmed the group's 1989 self-titled debut and 1991's "Slave To The Grind".

SKID ROW's new disc will mark its first release with South African-born, British-based vocalist ZP Theart (DRAGONFORCE, TANK, I AM I), who joined the band in 2016 following the departure of Tony Harnell (TNT, STARBREAKER).

SLAUGHTER's current lineup includes lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist Mark Slaughter and bassist Dana Strum alongside Jeff "Blando" Bland on lead guitar and Blas Elias on drums.

The band's double-platinum-selling debut album, "Stick It To Ya", peaked at No. 18 on the Billboard 200 in 1990, based to the strength of its first two singles, "Fly To The Angels" and "Up All Night".

SLAUGHTER has not released a studio album since 1999's "Back To Reality".


Unfortunately like the rest of the concerts, festivals and our Tour that was pushed into 2021. www.bigrocksummertour.com will NOT happen. RATT will be announcing shows Aug 2020. #ratt #Tour #rattproblem

Posted by RATT on Monday, June 15, 2020

Earlier this month, Metallica bassist Robert Trujillo guested on Drinks With Johnny. During the chat he revealed how he and bandmate Kirk Hammett came up with their onstage Doodles, which have become an expected part of the Metallica live show. The Doodles are a mid-show interlude where Trujillo and Hammett perform a famous song from the country they are in on that night.

Trujillo: "We were in Europe - this wasn't the last European tour, but the tour before that. There was a duet moment, we (Trujillo and Hammett) were supposed to play a Metallica song that's maybe like a deep cut, and we started noticing that we weren't getting the result we wanted. It was, like, we'd go up there and we start playing like 'Eye of the Beholder' or something, and then the crowd's expecting James to come out and sing, and it's like, 'Man, this ain't working.' They were feeling like this was a prelude moment, and I started thinking, 'You got to do something different.' 

So Kirk came out this one night and it was actually in the US, and he started playing that song, and it totally caught me off guard, and I'm like, 'Oh, damn, OK, I see where he's going.' But he's walking out to the front of the snake-pit playing this funk jam, and then he got me the first night because I didn't exactly know the bass line so I improvised. And then the second night, I got it. And then it kind of started there for a split second, we were still doing the Metallica deep cuts. And then we got to Europe, and we were in Amsterdam, and one of our management team members suggested, 'Why don't you play Golden Earring (from Holland), 'Radar Love?' Check that out.' We were like, 'Really?' So I still played the 'dum, dum, dum,' started playing the bass line, and then the crowd started singing, and it was like, 'Hold on a minute, there's something here.'"

So then we started to kind of formulate some local bands from each city. Like, one of the highlight moments was in Prague [Czech Republic — we played a country song called 'Jožin Z Bažin' [by Ivan Mládek], which was huge. And then we played, in Barcelona, a gypsy kind of flamenco acoustic song, by an artist called Peret — it's called 'El Muerto Vivo', And I'm singing in Spanish, I'm doing my best, and the people went nuts. And we go, 'Hold on. We've got something here.' So what we ended up doing… We came out of that tour — we scraped through it; it wasn't perfect, but we scraped through it. And then when we got home, we did some U.S. dates, we did all that, but we knew we were going back to Europe where it really worked. I said, 'I'm going deep.' So I did a bunch of research, and I researched every single city, even Estonia, and I found out what cool either punk, alternative, country — it didn't matter the style — and I learned the fucking language, and I did the phonetic with the lyric, and we went out and did full arrangements. I'm talking about if there was an accordion solo, Kirk was playing it. So we did our homework, and we really, really went into it. I was going to [Kirk's house in] Hawaii to work with him on the arrangements. I spent, like, five days there strictly on the [songs]. We weren't even surfing, we were just 'boom.' So we put a lot of hard work in it. I mean, we were surfing a little bit, but that wasn't the priority. We were actually really spending time on this.

"So I would say on that last tour run, 'cause we were in these massive stadiums, sold-out shows… And every night was great, but there was a handful of grand slams where people were crying and it was this heavy… Like, you're paying tribute to somebody in, like, Moscow, who is like the David Bowie of Moscow, and people are just, like, 'Oh my god.' They don't know what they're gonna get. All of a sudden, we surprise them, and they get what they didn't expect. [Playing a song by] Johnny Hallyday in Paris, at Stade De France, [in front of] 85,000 people. So to be up there and to feel that energy and emotionally connect with the crowd on that level was special. But it was such hard work. I don't know how we [pulled it off].

"I was meeting with people, like, I would even sometimes do it by phone, and I'd be there for two hours getting the language pronunciation right. So it was a lot of work… And sometimes you'll take some beatings," he admitted. "I remember a couple of the shows when we first started doing it, man — beatings, bro; beatings… I remember, there was a couple of 'em, but there was one… It was in Pennsylvania. It was like college — it was over where Penn State is. And holy cow, man. I thought we would play like the fight song for Penn State. Man, we got, like, 10 seconds into that thing, and nobody cared. It was, like, 'Oh my god.' And I stopped playing — I literally stopped playing. I was so embarrassed. And Kirk kept playing. And then, luckily, we kind of went into a METALLICA… Like, in the U.S., we would parlay it with a local song — these are U.S songs — and then we would always kind of justify it by going into a METALLICA [track], like 'Dyers Eve' or something. Just like, 'Okay, we screwed that up, but we got this.' So it was kind of our savior in the States."

During a June 14 interview with "Vahe Berberian Live", SYSTEM OF A DOWN frontman Serj Tankian spoke about the importance of focusing on the right issues in the particularly hot political climate the world is in right now.

"There's not a lot of reasonable leaders left," Serj said (see video below). "I was thinking of [Germany's] Angela Merkel being one of the few. Jacinda Ardern in New Zealand, and [Armenia's prime minster] Nikol Pashinyan, he's reasonable. But there's a lot of leaders that are unreasonable. And it's kind of interesting because — I hate to put it this way, but if you look at the top 10 countries with the highest coronavirus infections, it's a lot of countries with unreasonable leadership, or inadequate leadership. And it's a scary thing to see, how one is affecting the other and how it could affect so many people's lives, innocent lives taken. It's really a horrible human tragedy in that sense. And there are people to blame, obviously. But that's not the important thing.

"I think there's a lot of polarization happening in the United States politically. I think it's gone really crazy, [and] it's dangerous.

"We've come to a time to where, coming out of this lockdown and looking at this lockdown and what it's taught us, what we've seen through it, we've come to a place where we can no longer withstand stupid leadership, we can no longer withstand brutal, oppressive leadership anywhere in the world," he continued. "We don't have time for that. Our civilization, based on unsustainable constant economic growth, will not last the way that it is, with our exploding, accelerated population rate. So we have to rein in our consumption. We don't have time for fucking brutal leaders. We don't have time for the King of Saudi Arabia, and we don't have time for this [Turkish president Recep Tayyip] Erdogan. There's just not enough time to deal with them and the climate issue. So they've gotta go — they've all gotta go."

Last week, Tankian implied in an Instagram post that fans who listen to SYSTEM OF A DOWN music and support U.S. president Donald Trump are "hypocrites."

Tankian's views are in sharp contrast to those of SYSTEM OF A DOWN drummer John Dolmayan, who has praised Trump in recent weeks.

Earlier in the month, Tankian called for Trump to resign and described him as "completely useless" over his handling of the coronavirus outbreak.

Other members of SYSTEM have also been outspoken in their criticism of the U.S. president, with guitarist Daron Malakian telling The Independent: "[Trump is] not careful with his words, and he doesn't seem to realize that everybody's listening to him. He does things that would have got another president impeached. Because we live in the social media world our attention spans are so small and so brief... that's why Trump works, because he makes himself the biggest conversation, and the biggest news, every day."

Following last week's release of their new self-titled album, Richmond, Virginia metallers LAMB OF GOD are connecting with fans through daily online activities today through Thursday, beginning with a "live quarantine video" on YouTube. The clip features three songs — "Checkmate", "New Colossal Hate" and "Laid To Rest" — recorded by the band live from quarantine.

Later today, guitarist Willie Adler will join Zia Records for a Facebook Live question-and-answer session. Visit this location at 7 p.m. EDT/4 p.m. PDT to watch.

An Instagram Live and Reddit AMA with vocalist Randy Blythe are planned for later in the week.

LAMB OF GOD's self-titled album was released on June 19 via Epic Records in the U.S. and Nuclear Blast Records in Europe.

The follow-up to 2015's "VII: Sturm Und Drang", "Lamb Of God" marks the band's first recordings with Art Cruz, who joined LOG last year as the replacement for the group's founding drummer, Chris Adler.

"Lamb Of God" was recorded with longtime producer Josh Wilbur (KORN, MEGADETH, GOJIRA, TRIVIUM) and includes special guest appearances by Jamey Jasta (HATEBREED) and Chuck Billy (TESTAMENT).

As previously reported, the first leg of LAMB OF GOD's North American tour with MEGADETH, TRIVIUM and IN FLAMES is being rescheduled for 2021 due to the coronavirus pandemic which is sweeping the globe. The 55-date trek was slated to be split into two legs. The first leg of the tour was supposed to kick off June 12 at Jiffy Lube Live in Bristow, Virginia, and wrap August 1 at the Concord Pavilion in Concord, California. The second run was due to launch October 2 at iTHINK Financial Amphitheater in West Palm Beach, Florida, and conclude on November 13 at the Reno Events Center in Reno, Nevada.

MEGADETH bassist spoke to Sydney Taylor of the "Metal From The Inside" podcast about the progress of the songwriting and recording sessions for the band's follow-up to 2016's "Dystopia" album. He said (hear audio below): "It's been long [laughs] — it's been a long process. It's interesting that in hindsight, it's all part of the story. And an album is just that — it's a snapshot that tells the story. Every song is a snapshot of a moment — they're little vignettes and little stories — and a dozen of 'em together make up an album.

"Obviously, there was a lot that happened during [the songwriting process for] MEGADETH album 16 — we had a big tour with Ozzy Osbourne last year, and that got postponed," he continued. "And now we've learned more about Ozzy's health here in recent months. He's given everything in his life to the cause of rock and roll. And in MEGADETH, Dave Mustaine had throat cancer last year, so that cleared our calendar and shut everything down. But through that, we continued to write, whether it was all of us being together in Nashville last year or individually doing things and collectively kind of tweaking and perfecting the songs.

"MEGADETH songs aren't the kind of things that just write themselves in an afternoon and we can throw 'em down real quick in a group jam session. That's not who we are.

"The biggest records that we've had, we've taken a lot of time [to make] — 'Countdown To Extinction', 'Youthanasia', 'Peace Sells', 'Rust In Peace'," he explained. "Those records that have really kind of stood out in the catalog — 'Cryptic Writings' even — they're the ones that we really took the time. And even on this one, I remember when we were first starting it back in 2018, Dave had said that to me. He said, 'I feel like lately, we've just sort of gone in the studio, we've made the record, and we're right on tour.' He goes, 'I really wanna take the time to just listen — sit back and listen and really absorb it, and take the time to make the changes that we need to make, and write or rewrite and embellish the songs to get them to their fullest potential. And I really feel like this album is for sure that album. 'Dystopia' was like that too, I guess, quite honestly. And you can tell — it won us a Grammy, it took us around the world for a good solid three years, three and a half years, almost four years, really. And you can tell when you take the time with this stuff.

"Album 16 for MEGADETH has a layer of very intriguing stories in it. And I'm glad it's underway, I'm glad it's moving forward now. We still have a while — a year probably — before it comes out. So there's a lot more of the story to still tell you."

Mustaine recently told SiriusXM's Jose Mangin that the upcoming MEGADETH album will be "up there with 'Countdown [To Extinction]', 'Rust In Peace' and probably 'Peace Sells'" and "Dystopia".

MEGADETH's new LP will be the first to feature drummer Dirk Verbeuren (ex-SOILWORK), who joined the band almost four years ago.

Guitarist Kiko Loureiro made his recording debut with MEGADETH on "Dystopia", whose title track was honored in the "Best Metal Performance" category at the 2017 Grammy Awards.

As previously reported, the first leg of MEGADETH's North American tour with LAMB OF GOD, TRIVIUM and IN FLAMES will be rescheduled for 2021 due to the coronavirus pandemic. The first leg of the 55-date trek tour was supposed to kick off June 12 at Jiffy Lube Live in Bristow, Virginia, and wrap August 1 at the Concord Pavilion in Concord, California. The second run was due to launch October 2 at iTHINK Financial Amphitheater in West Palm Beach, Florida, and conclude on November 13 at the Reno Events Center in Reno, Nevada.

DRAGONFORCE guitarist Herman Li was a guest on the latest episode of Nuclear Blast's "Saturday Night Lockdown" with host Francesco Paoli of FLESHGOD APOCALYPSE. Asked how he has been spending his coronavirus downtime, Herman said (see video below): "We played our first show [in support of our eighth full-length LP, 'Extreme Power Metal'] on the album release date [last September], which was on TwitchCon, which is a Twitch convention. And we got that streamed to, like, 1.7 million people. Everything started out great — it was awesome. We had a sold-out tour happening. Everything was going well. We were gonna film a music video for every single DRAGONFORCE song on the album, and we got halfway through it, and COVID-19 happened. So the tour stopped. And some videos, we can't complete them. We filmed all of it, but we need some more footage. So we've got videos on hold now. And instead, we're writing a new album. Why not? Just like everybody — you just write a new album when you're sitting at home. And strangely enough, it's almost finished. [Laughs]"

Speaking about the DRAGONFORCE songwriting process, Li said: "The way DRAGONFORCE work is the only time you can write is when you're not touring. So if we don't write something now and work on something now, we can never finish it, because the touring starts next March at the moment. I looked at my dates and [went], 'When is this gonna stop?' And I kind of thought, 'Well, is it really gonna start next March?' Depending on the country. So, it's, like, we've gotta get this album recorded — most of it — before the touring starts. You basically have to finish it before the touring starts — that's my view. That's only possible, obviously, if you can record yourself, and we always record most of the album ourselves."

DRAGONFORCE's recent European and North American tour dates marked the band's first with new bassist and backing vocalist Alicia Vigil (VIGIL OF WAR), who joined DRAGONFORCE in January. Last August, DRAGONFORCE parted ways with longtime bassist Frédéric Leclercq. Playing bass for the group at some its shows late last year was Damien Rainaud, who produced "Extreme Power Metal".

Photo by Vince Edwards

FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH recently launched a new video series, "Guitar Zero: Legends Of The Fail", in which singer Ivan Moody embarks on a journey to learn to play guitar. In episode seven, which can be seen below, Ivan calls an old friend, Doc Coyle of BAD WOLVES, who takes time out of a busy studio schedule to talk about organizing a few guitar lessons.

FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH's latest album, "F8", was released on February 28. The follow-up to 2018's "And Justice For None" caps a turbulent period for FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH in which Moody finally got sober after a near-fatal struggle with addiction, while co-founding drummer Jeremy Spencer bowed out of the band due to physical issues.

Much of "F8"'s lyrical content deals with Moody's battle with addiction, its aftermath and his recovery. The singer celebrated two years of sobriety in March.

FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH's spring tour with PAPA ROACH, I PREVAIL and ICE NINE KILLS has been postponed and rescheduled for the fall. The trek was originally due to run from April 8 to May 20, but will now kick off on September 28 in Sunrise, Florida.

FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH has also launched the "Quarantine Theater 2020" series. Taking inspiration from "Mystery Science Theater 3000", it features Moody, guitarist Zoltan Bathory and bassist Chris Kael offering commentary on the band's past music videos.

Charlie Benante (ANTHRAX) and his longtime girlfriend, Carla Harvey (BUTCHER BABIES), have uploaded their cover version of MASSIVE ATTACK's "Teardrop" song, filmed they were in quarantine. Playing bass on the track is Roberto "Ra" Diaz (SUICIDAL TENDENCIES).

Benante uploaded a video of the performance to his YouTube channel, writing in an accompanying message: "I was on tour in the UK/Europe when I got Mezzanine by @massiveattackofficial . I think it was 97/98 and I remember laying in my Bunk and being absorbed by the Music I was hearing. This was different than The Protection Record; It was Darker and the layered instruments created a dense listening experience...this album comes eerily close to giving me an out of body experience

'There aren't a lot of albums that can put me into a deep trance and keep me there for a long time, but this album does that amazingly well. The tracks really take their time to develop, and that mostly results in stunning instrumentals. Teardrop was one of those songs that I wish I'd Wrote, to this day it still gives me goosebumps. I always wanted to do a 'remix' or 'my version'. I had the chance during this Quarantine/Stay at home Situation to make that happen. I asked @ra_diaz and @carlaharvey to Help make it happen.

"The video is not like the normal Quarantine Videos, I wanted it to be Dark and Artsy Farsty ( like an MTV vid).

"Carla Knocks it out of the park, she brought that vibe to the song and showed a different level I knew she had. Ra is On Point with the Rumble and groove, He always makes it look so easy.

"Once again Thanks to @andylagis for the Mix, I know there was a lot to deal with but you Placed it all in the right spots

"@dlevanchuk made a great video, not like a standard 'quarantine Video'. He took his imagination and went somewhere with it.

"#massiveattack @paistecymbals @officialgretsch @monstermusic this is pushing me to do a solo record"

Benante has been using his coronavirus downtime to connect virtually with other metal musicians and share videos of them covering various pop, rock and metal tracks, including those by RUSH, IRON MAIDEN, Billie Eilish and Tom Petty.

ANTHRAX has spent most of the last four years touring in support of its latest album, "For All Kings", which was released in February 2016. A follow-up effort is expected in 2021.

Video of Bret Michaels and his solo band performing an acoustic version of the POISON song "Fallen Angel" can be seen below. The track, from POISON's 1988 album "Open Up and Say...Ahh!", reached No. 12 on the Hot 100 that year and MTV put the video into heavy rotation.

Michaels rose to fame in the 1980s as the singer of POISON, which still tours periodically. He later became a reality TV personality in such shows as dating contest "Rock Of Love" and on "The Celebrity Apprentice". Most recently, Michaels was one of the contestants on Fox's smash hit "The Masked Singer".

Michaels has just released his first book, titled "Bret Michaels: Auto-Scrap-Ography". The book, which is available in both e-book and hardcover formats, is handwritten by the artist, detailing his journey even up to and including his battle with diabetes and the coronavirus.

Earlier in the month, POISON, MÖTLEY CRÜE, DEF LEPPARD and JOAN JETT & THE BLACKHEARTS announced that "The Stadium Tour" has been postponed until the summer 2021 due to the coronavirus pandemic.

"The Stadium Tour" was scheduled 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.

In a recent video question-and-answer session with fans, EXODUS's Steve "Zetro" Souza was asked how he stays motivated after all these years. The 56-year-old singer responded (see video below): "I'm a ball of energy. I never say die. I'm not ready to die or check out yet. I have so many things that I want to do still musically, professionally, in life and everything. So I'm not ready, by any means, to check out. I believe when you slow down is when you start to think about having to check out, and I'm not into that — I'm not at all. I'm very much into keeping going and keep pushing. If you're 90 years old and you go to to the gym every day or go out walking, God bless ya — if there's a God."

EXODUS is scheduled to enter the studio in September to begin recording its long-awaited new album.

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

EXODUS guitarist and main songwriter Gary Holt discussed the band's plans for a new studio LP during a June 17 question-and-answer session on the Marshall Amplification Instagram. He said: "I'll be in the studio in September. [We're] writing right now. We've got about six songs done and about a million riffs. And it's crushing. We all say that, right? I'm not kidding. It's something else. People are gonna hear this record and they're gonna go, 'Holy shit! EXODUS is up to no good.'"

EXODUS's next album will be released in 2021 via Nuclear Blast.

Souza had an early stint as vocalist for LEGACY (later TESTAMENT), and has also played with DUBLIN DEATH PATROL, TENET and HATRIOT.

During an appearance on the latest episode of the "In The Trenches With Ryan Roxie" podcast, former GUNS N' ROSES guitarist Gilby Clarke was asked if he had any plans to write an autobiography. He responded (see video below): "Do I have any plans? No. But it has been brought up. I've had people approach me, I've had publishing companies approach me. I'm not there yet.

"It's strange, because Matt's [Sorum, ex-GUNS N' ROSES drummer] got a book coming out soon, and I kind of felt like the GN'R thing has been covered well. And I know that there's more to my life than just GN'R.

"I don't know," he continued. "At some point, it might be fun. We have some great stories about pre all of that and after, and we worked with a lot of different people. They're good stories, I think, for musicians to hear these things of how some of us came up. I didn't learn to play guitar in school or [through] a teacher — I was just playing in clubs and stuff.

"So, maybe at some point. It's definitely something in the back of my mind."

On June 29, Clarke will release "The Gospel Truth", the second single lifted from his forthcoming album of the same title.

This past April, Clarke released the official music video for his previous single, "Rock N Roll Is Getting Louder". The Christopher C. Pearson-directed clip was shot in Palmdale, California and downtown Los Angeles, while the band performance footage was filmed in Hollywood club Oh My Ribs!

Gilby's live band members bass player EJ Curse (SILENT RAGE, WHITE LION) and drummer Jimmy D'Anda (BULLETBOYS, GEORGE LYNCH) both appear in the video, along with some great cameos by Slim Jim Phantom (STRAY CATS), Taime Downe (FASTER PUSSYCAT), Jimmy Herald (HILLBILLY HERALD) and Teddy "Zig Zag" Andreadis (GUNS N' ROSES, CAROLE KING, CHUCK BERRY, BO DIDDLEY, ALICE COOPER).

"The Gospel Truth" will be released later this year via Golden Robot Records. The disc was produced and written by Gilby at his Los Angeles recording studio, Redrum Recording, where he's also helmed records for such artists as L.A. GUNS, THE BRONX, BEAT ANGELS, BULLETS AND OCTANE and many more. The album was mixed by Grammy Award winner Chris Lord-Alge and mastered by Maor Appelbaum. Joining Gilby on the LP are Muddy Stardust on bass, Kenny Aronoff (JOHN MELLENCAMP, JOHN FOGERTY, CHICKENFOOT) on drums, along with Matt Starr (ACE FREHLEY, MR. BIG) and Chad Stewart (FASTER PUSSYCAT, L.A. GUNS) on backing vocals.

Clarke replaced founding guitarist Izzy Stradlin in the GUNS lineup in 1991, during the "Use Your Illusion" tour, and stayed with the band for three years. After exiting GUNS N' ROSES, Clarke continued as a producer and solo artist, while also playing in SLASH'S SNAKEPIT, ROCK STAR SUPERNOVA, HEART and other acts.

Clarke released his solo debut, "Pawnshop Guitars", in 1994.

Photo credit: Neil Zlozower