SKID ROW bassist Rachel Bolan has launched Dirty Rocker Soap Company, which specializes in all-natural artisan soap made in small batches.

Bolan stated about his decision to start producing is own soap: "Staying in hotels as much as I do tends to put me at the mercy of hotel room soap. Harsh perfumes and dry skin became the norm. So I decided to create soaps of my own to take with me when I travel. I hope you enjoy them."

For more information, visit www.dirtyrockersoapco.com.

Last month, Bolan told We Are Hear's "Raise Your Horns With Lzzy Hale" that SKID ROW was "still working" on the final chapter of its "United World Rebellion" trilogy. The disc is being 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 LP 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).

SKID ROW's new album, which will be made available through Australia's Golden Robot Records, will feature collaborations with several outside songwriters, including Corey Taylor (SLIPKNOT, STONE SOUR) and Lzzy Hale and Joe Hottinger of HALESTORM, a group that covered the title track of "Slave To The Grind" on its "ReAniMate: The CoVeRs eP" in 2011. SKID ROW also worked with songwriter-for-hire Marti Frederiksen, who has previously collaborated with AEROSMITH, DEF LEPPARD, Jonny Lang and Sheryl Crow.

Unlike 2014's "Rise Of The Damnation Army - United World Rebellion: Chapter Two" and 2013's "United World Rebellion: Chapter One", SKID ROW's forthcoming release will be a full-length record.


LAVENILLA

The comforting effect of lavender along with the soothing warmth of vanilla.

Posted by Dirty Rocker Soap Company on Wednesday, May 13, 2020

AEROSMITH's drum tech John Douglas told the Houston Chronicle that he had six hours to learn about 16 or 17 songs before he played his first gig last summer as Joey Kramer's temporary replacement.

"Time can sometimes be your enemy," he said. "Having a lot of time can make you obsess about something like this. So having little time is an upside."

Douglas ended up playing a number of shows with AEROSMITH as part of its "Deuces Are Wild" Las Vegas residency, and joined AEROSMITH and live on stage with RUN-D.M.C. at this year's Grammy Awards.

"So that's me," Douglas added. "This drum tech guy from Montgomery, Texas, who played the Grammys with AEROSMITH. Obviously I didn't grow up wanting to be a drum tech. I wanted to be a drummer. So I was honored to fill some famous shoes in an iconic band."

Kramer reportedly twisted his ankle during rehearsal, forcing him to sit out AEROSMITH's "Deuces Are Wild" tour dates.

Last October, Douglas told Rock Titan that he had no reservation or reluctance to take on the job when he was first approached about it. "Actually, I'm not even sure they even asked me — I think they told me," he explained. "It's kind of a blur. It was a show day, and I was in the building. Obviously, the band doesn't do soundcheck typically, so the crew does — we do a crew soundcheck, a crew jam. So we had just started that when I got the phone call from Steven [Tyler, vocals], saying that Joey couldn't play. Yeah, I don't remember actually being asked. And I would have said 'yes.' Maybe I was [asked] — I don't know. I've done this before with other bands a couple of times, but it had been a while. And it's always, obviously, unexpected. So, it was just a matter of, 'Okay. Yeah.'"

Kramer sued the rest of AEROSMITH in January in a bid to perform with this bandmates at two Grammy-related events. But a Massachusetts judge eventually ruled against him and the group played without Kramer.

After Kramer got injured last year, Douglas filled in for a few gigs during AEROSMITH's residency. Kramer did, however, perform with the rest of AEROSMITH in July at the Twin Cities Summer Jam in Shakopee.

Image courtesy of Rock Titan

The "Epic Apocalypse Tour" featuring Dutch symphonic titans EPICA and Finnish cello masters APOCALYPTICA with support by Helsinki prog metallers WHEEL has been postponed to spring 2021.

EPICA's Simone Simons comments: "As we were awaiting our tour with APOCALYPTICA with great anticipation, we are now forced to have a little bit more patience. This might not come as a surprise, as you have all seen our colleagues in the music business rescheduling their tours as well. We have decided that it is the best thing to do during these uncertain times.

"We want to give you the best possible experience and value your health deeply. We will be back full force and can't wait to see all your faces again when you hear our new music live for the first time. Everybody stay strong and be patient, your waiting will be worth while."

EPICA will tour in support of its new album which will be released early next year.

"The Epic Apocalypse Tour 2021" dates:

Mar. 01 - Berlin, Germany - Columbiahalle

Mar. 02 - Leipzig, Germany - Haus Auensee

Mar. 03 - Hannover, Germany - Capitol0

Mar. 05 - Zurich, Switzerland - Komplex

Mar. 06 - Munich, Germany - Tonhalle

Mar. 07 - Milan, Italy - Fabrique

Mar. 08 - Lausanne, Switzerland - Metropole

Mar. 10 - Budapest, Hungary - Barba Negra

Mar. 11 - Vienna, Austria - Gasometer

Mar. 12 - Brno, Czech Republic - Hala Vodova

Mar. 13 - Warsaw, Poland - Progresja

Mar. 14 - Gdansk, Poland - B90

Mar. 17 - Hamburg, Germany - Docks

Mar. 18 - Copenhagen, Denmark - Amager Bio

Mar. 20 - Stockholm, Sweden - Berns

Mar. 21 - Oslo, Norway - Sentrum

Apr. 01 - Helsinki, Finland - Ice Hall

Apr. 07 - Lisbon, Portugal - Coliseum

Apr. 08 - Madrid, Spain - La Riviera

Apr. 09 - Murcia, Spain - Gamma

Apr. 11 - Barcelona, Spain - Razzmatazz

Apr. 12 - Toulouse, France - Bikini

Apr. 13 - Paris, France - Zenith

Apr. 14 - Brussel, Belgium - Ancienne Belgique

Apr. 16 - Nottingham, UK - Rock City

Apr. 17 - Glasgow, UK - O2 Academy

Apr. 18 - Bristol, UK - O2 Academy

Apr. 20 - Cologne, Germany - Carlswerk Victoria

Apr. 21 - Ludwigsburg, Germany - MHP arena

Apr. 22 - Wiesbaden, Germany - Schlachthof

Apr. 24 - Luxembourg - Den Atelier

Apr. 25 - Amsterdam, Netherlands - AFAS Live

Apr. 27 - London, UK - Roundhouse

Apr. 28 - Manchester, UK - Academy

EPICA recently entered Sandlane Recording Facilities in Rijen, Netherlands to record their new album. The follow-up to 2016's "The Holographic Principle" is once again being produced by Joost Van Den Broek (POWERWOLF, AYREON).

Last fall, EPICA celebrated the 10th anniversary of its milestone album "Design Your Universe". To mark this special occasion, EPICA re-released this fan-favorite LP as a "gold edition" on October 4 through Nuclear Blast. This edition contains the album remixed and remastered by Joost Van Den Broek with updated artwork and a second disc containing newly recorded acoustic versions of "Design Your Universe" songs.

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

The official music video for a new FILTER song called "Thoughts And Prayers" will make its online debut on Thursday, June 18 at 8:00 a.m. PDT / 11:00 a.m. EDT. The track was written as a collaboration between FILTER mainman Richard Patrick and fellow FILTER founding member Brian Liesegang, who reconnected for several months in 2018 and 2019 before scrapping their planned reunion album.

"Thoughts And Prayers" will appear on FILTER's forthcoming album, "Murica", tentatively due before the end of the year. Also set to appear on the disc is another track called "Come Take My Guns", a preview of which is available below.

Patrick said the "Thoughts And Prayers" video is "controversial" because "it's extremely blunt. I had to take some of the footage out," he said. "I directed it, and I'm really stoked."

Richard has successfully led and spearheaded FILTER for the last 20 years, releasing many platinum records, including "Title of Record" and "The Almagamut".

The reunion of Patrick and Liesegang reportedly happened after they were challenged from the stage in mid-performance by their mutual friend Louise Post of VERUCA SALT, who stopped her concert to admonish them "to bury any bullshit, forget the crap, and get their shit together." The two had an interesting conversation on the drive home. After initially treating their renewed collaboration as an experiment to see what "might happen," they rediscovered not only their friendship, but also their unique "yin and yang" working style.

FILTER's most recent LP, "Crazy Eyes", came out in April 2016 via Wind-Up Records.




























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I’m announcing a new song from Filter called “thoughts and prayers” to be released this Thursday at 11 AM eastern time!!

A post shared by Richard Patrick (@filter_richard_patrick) on Jun 12, 2020 at 3:10pm PDT

WHITESNAKE frontman David Coverdale spoke to "The Slacker Morning Show" about the band's "Red, White And Blues" trilogy, a series of fresh, new collections organized by musical themes that will include: "Love Songs" (red), "The Rock Album" (white) and "The Blues Album" (blue).

He said (hear audio below): "We've got 'The Rock Album' that's coming out June 19th. In October, we have WHITESNAKE 'Love Songs', and I've literally just received the new mastering from New York, and it's so beautiful and so sexy. Just run a hot bath and throw some bubbles in it. And then January-February, we have WHITESNAKE 'The Blues Album' — the epics like 'Crying In The Rain' and 'Slow An' Easy'. And I think those songs, hopefully, will introduce a lot of my fans to songs that they haven't heard, which I feel are as strong as anything I've had a really big hit with, 'cause they're mixed in with the songs that you're familiar with.

"It's a good ride," he continued. "I worked very hard with Chris Collier, Michael McIntyre, my team at my studio, we really worked hard to get the best out of this stuff at this time in our lives, at this time in technology, and I really feel we've upgraded and given everything — my expression I've been using is — a fresh coat of paint. It's the same house — WHITESNAKE — but it's got a beautiful fresh vibrant coat of paint on it."

"The Rock Album" will be available on June 19 on CD ($14.98), and as a double-LP set pressed on 180-gram, white vinyl ($31.98) and is available for pre-order now. The music also will be available through digital and streaming services. The collection features the debut of "Always The Same", a previously unreleased song that was recorded during the 2019 sessions for "Flesh & Blood".

In the album's liner notes, Coverdale writes: "All the songs have been revisited, remixed and remastered. Some have been musically embellished where my co-producer Michael McIntyre, my new mixer Christopher Collier and I felt it appropriate or necessary to bring out the best in these songs."

"The Rock Album" spans over three decades with songs originally released between 1984 and 2011 on six WHITESNAKE studio albums. One track — "She Give Me" — is taken from Coverdale's 2000 solo album "Into The Light".

The group's music from the 1980s is well represented by "Love Ain't No Stranger" from "Slide It In" (1984) and "Judgement Day" from "Slip Of The Tongue" (1989), as well as "Still Of The Night", "Give Me All Your Love" and the No. 1 smash "Here I Go Again" from WHITESNAKE's 1987 self-titled album, which has been certified mega-platinum.

"Restless Heart" (1997) gets its due on the collection with four songs, including the title track, the official lyric video for which can be seen below. "The Rock Album" also features music from 2008's "Good to Be Bad" ("Best Years" and "Can't You Hear The Wind Blow"), in addition to the title track from 2011's "Forevermore". Other highlights from "The Rock Album" include a remixed version of "All Or Nothing" that features additional guitars pulled from the original multi-track tapes, plus an alternate arrangement of "Tell Me How" from "Forevermore".

FEAR FACTORY guitarist Dino Cazares discussed the group's current status during an interview with Terry "Beez" Bezer of Knotfest.com's "Mosh Talks With Beez". He said (see video below): "Well, most of our fans know that we've been plagued with lawsuits, so that's been preventing the band from doing anything."

As for how he has been staying busy while in quarantine, Dino said: "I definitely have a lot more time to write music. I'm almost done with my other side band called ASESINO, which means 'assassin' in Spanish. And it's basically a grind/death project that I have with Tony Campos, who's in STATIC-X, and Emilio Márquez, who's also in a band called POSSESSED. So we have this project band. It's gonna be our third record. We're finishing that up. I've been working on my own project as well. No name for it yet. I've been auditioning singers — through video, of course. And I've got over three hundred people who wanted to be a part of this new project. Going through all those singers is a lot of work. So I'm working on that. And then I will see what the future holds for FEAR FACTORY."

When Dino first announced he was looking for a singer for his new project in April, he said it would be "in the style of FEAR FACTORY and DIVINE HERESY."

In a November 2018 interview, FEAR FACTORY singer Burton C. Bell said that the band had completed a new album tentatively titled "Monolith". He also said that "legal technicalities" needed to be sorted out before the record could be released. The effort, which is expected to once again be made available via Nuclear Blast, will mark the Californian band's first collection of new music since 2015's "Genexus" LP.

In 2016, FEAR FACTORY completed a U.S. headlining tour on which it performed its classic second album, "Demanufacture", in its entirety.

FEAR FACTORY was the subject of breakup rumors in May 2017 when the band's former bassist-turned-guitarist Christian Olde Wolbers posted a since-deleted eulogy for FF on his Instagram. He wrote "RIP Fear Factory" and appended that post with the hashtag #GrownAssMenThatCantWorkOutShit.

Cazares recently launched a Patreon page where he is providing insight on his riff technique and riff writing, as well as engaging in gear talk and sharing his inspiration and survival stories on the road as a touring musician.

MRITYU, the experimental black-metal side project of TRIVIUM frontman Matt Heafy, is "making great progress" on its long-awaited debut album. The disc is being produced by EMPEROR frontman Ihsahn, who wrote in an Instagram post earlier today (Monday, June 15): "It's #mrityumonday and me and @matthewkheafy have been tracking some killer vocals in @cubase.pro through #vstconnectpro by @steinbergmedia! The current situation prevents us from traveling, but with this technology it is almost like we're in the same studio. Matt is absolutely killing it and we're making great progress every session!! #mrityu #newmusic"

Back in 2015, Heafy told Revolver magazine about MRITYU: "MRITYU was initially intended to be a black metal band that I was never going to tell anybody I was in. I was going to make the music, and it was going to be pretty true to the '90s second wave-style-black metal — sort of like DARKTHRONE, early DIMMU BORGIR, early EMPEROR. But while MRITYU has its roots in black metal, it's become something so much more. It's not just black metal — it's anything I've ever wanted to try. Ihsahn from EMPEROR will be producing it, and he's co-written several songs with me. We'll also be recording it in Notodden, Norway, where all the EMPEROR records were done. It's just a matter of when. Ihsahn is incredibly busy and so is TRIVIUM. But he and I stay in contact and we pass things back and forth. And we have quite a few songs written and quite a few demos. It's going to be a dream come true when it happens."

Heafy previously said about his decision to launch MRITYU: "My love for black metal eventually spawned the idea of creating a side musical project based upon the same early values of Norwegian black metal: a project shrouded by anonymity — a musical venture that no one would ever know was 'me.' I think that initial idea was due to the fact that the black metal genre usually warrants some of the most elite-minded fans; the kind that… well, basically don't like anything anyone else likes — ones who even quickly turn their backs on their favorites of the black metal genre once any kind of popularity occurs. It's that close-mindedness of a small-faction of the fans that I initially wanted to try to grasp, but one day I befriended a new mentor who would help change that outlook through their musical and artistic influence."

He added: "Through [my] conversations [with Ihsahn] and the influence of his new record, the idea of the black metal 'project' I was intending to do completely took a new shape and form. No longer was I concerned what anyone would think about it — all I wanted to do was make exactly what I felt like; the principles of black metal I learned from Ihsahn all made complete sense with this attitude. Through the next few months, we would occasionally pass around more things for each other to check out, including passing back and forth the demos of MRITYU. The decision was clear — when time outside of TRIVIUM existed, Ihsahn must produce the MRITYU record."
























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It’s #mrityumonday?and me and @matthewkheafy have been tracking some killer vocals in @cubase.pro through #vstconnectpro by @steinbergmedia! The current situation prevents us from traveling, but with this technology it is almost like we’re in the same studio? Matt is absolutely killing it and we’re making great progress every session!! #mrityu #newmusic

A post shared by Ihsahnofficial (@ihsahnofficial) on Jun 15, 2020 at 7:43am PDT

ALEXISONFIRE has announced it will donate all money it earned from the sale of the band's "Complicit" single to several organizations in support of the black community.

The Canadian act decided to take action as protests against racism sparked by the death in police custody of George Floyd in Minneapolis less than a month ago continue across the United States and around the world.

Earlier today, ALEXISONFIRE released the following statement via social media:

"ALEXISONFIRE have had a lot of discussions as to what our response should be to George Floyd's murder and larger discussions of racial inequality both here and abroad.

"Last year we released a single called 'Complicit'. The song is about wanting to be an ally to people fighting for equality but at the same time, recognizing that regardless of how pure our intentions may be, we are complicit. We have benefited from a system that is inherently stacked in our favour: a system of racism, sexism, homophobia and transphobia.

"ALEXISONFIRE acknowledges that the first step of recognition is meaningless without action. We've decided to donate $11,843.84 — all money (we) earned from the sale of the single, 'Complicit', along with any associated merchandise to Canadian Civil Liberties Association, Black Lives Matter Toronto and Black Youth Pathway To Industry

"The five members of this band stand steadfast, yet imperfect, in our commitment to be better allies.

"Smash the pillars of the white hetero patriarchy until the ruins are sand."

Last month, ALEXISONFIRE released a fan-fueled music video for the song "Season Of The Flood". The clip is notably comprised of footage shot exclusively by ALEXISONFIRE concert-goers in Winnipeg, Edmonton, Calgary, and Vancouver.

"Season Of The Flood" is a seductive, hypnotic, seven-minute slow-burner anchored by haunting three-part harmonies and heavy reverb-filled guitars produced by ALEXISONFIRE longtime friend, the late Karl "Horse" Bareham (CITY AND COLOUR), and mixed by Grammy Award winning Jacquire King (TOM WAITS, KINGS OF LEON, MODEST MOUSE). The track comes on the heels of "Familiar Drugs" and "Complicit", released last year, marking the first time the band released new music in almost 10 years.


Alexisonfire have had a lot of discussions as to what our response should be to George Floyd’s murder and larger...

Posted by Alexisonfire on Monday, June 15, 2020

Rhino has set a July 31 release date for THE STOOGES' 50th-anniversary "Fun House" box set. Featured are all seven tracks from the original album, newly remastered on 2-LP 45 RPM (for highest audio quality), the vinyl debut of "The Complete Funhouse Sessions" and "Have Some Fun: Live At Ungano's", a recording of THE STOOGES performing live in New York City in August 1970, just as "Fun House" was released. Rounding out the music in this deluxe set are two mixes of the single "Down On The Street"/"I Feel Alright". The first is the "Mono Single Edit" released in France, and the other is the unique "Single Mix" that was unreleased until the original 1999 boxed set. Each one is pressed on seven-inch vinyl and presented in a sleeve with reproduction artwork.

A trailer for the deluxe edition of the 50th-anniversary "Fun House" box set is available below.

Beyond the music, the collection also includes a 28-page booklet with rare photos and extensive liner notes, featuring an essay by Henry Rollins and testimonials penned by an extensive list of rock and roll luminaries, including Flea, Joan Jett, Shirley Manson, Duff McKagan, Thurston Moore, Tom Morello, Karen O, Mike Watt and Steven Van Zandt, among others, plus posters, prints, a slipmat, and a 45 adapter.

Moore said: "From the first hit to the last breath, where the design and the aesthetic are so in focus to both reality and the magic that is the essence of true creative vision, 'Fun House' was the blueprint, the template for what I wanted in rock and roll: direct action rhythm where the bass and drums are informed by urban blues swing, fire-in-the-hole guitar shred that is way too cool to show off, and a singer who is in the fucking moment alive with all the love, rage, guts and glory that his sonic prayers could beseech. Speaking for anyone who was saved by punk-noise-art-hardcore-psyche-folk-no wave foreverness — 'Fun House' is where it begins, where we all come out to play."

Flea added: "'Fun House' is the raw and beautiful truth. It is beyond categorization, and I'll be listening to it for the rest of my life."

McKagan stated: "'Down On The Street' taught me everything I needed to know about groove to this day. 'T.V. Eye' taught me all I needed to know about how to play a guitar. 'Dirt' killed me… the slow drudge and discord. 'Loose', '1970', 'Fun House' and 'L.A. Blues' remain pure motherfucking classics on how rock 'n' roll should be done. Period. This is THE record to have, if you know what the fuck is up."

A fan-launched campaign to replace the controversial Robert E. Lee monument in Richmond, Virginia with a statue of late GWAR frontman Oderus Ungerus has garnered more than 48,000 signatures, with a goal of 50,000.

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.

"Robert E. Lee is a failed war general that supported a racist cause," the petition reads. "For too long, the city of Richmond has been displaying statues of him and other loser Civil War veterans.

“We, the scumdogs of the universe, call on the city of Richmond to erect a statue of great local leader Oderus Ungerus in its place."

Praising Brockie, the petition adds: "While Oderus comes from the planet Scumdogia, he called Richmond his home, working with the local art community and employing local artists and ladies of the night."

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.

During an appearance on a recent episode of the "Rock & Roll Beer Guy" podcast, EYEHATEGOD frontman Mike "IX" Williams spoke about how he is dealing with the coronavirus crisis. He said (hear audio below): "EYEHATEGOD was gonna take this time off anyway," Mike said. "We'd been touring for, like, three years straight, basically, and we were gonna take the rest of this year off. 'Cause I have vocals to do for the new record, and this was supposed to be the time to do that. But now the studios are closed, and it's been really hard to figure all that out. But it will get done hopefully sooner than later."

This past March, EYEHATEGOD scrapped the last three shows of its European tour due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The band later blamed "bumbling dolt" Donald Trump for announcing a ban on travel to the U.S. from 26 European countries, which caused chaos at European airports as Americans, fearing being caught up in the ban, attempted to travel home early.

EYEHATEGOD's last album, a self-titled affair, came out in 2014. It arrived a decade and a half after its predecessor, 2000's "Confederacy Of Ruined Lives".

EYEHATEGOD's 1990 "In The Name Of Suffering" and 1993 "Take As Needed For Pain" studio albums are considered their seminal works and are often cited as pillars of the American sludge sound alongside ACID BATH, BUZZOV*EN and CROWBAR.

THE DEAD DAISIES guitarist Doug Aldrich has voiced his support for both the protesters and the police in the wake of George Floyd demonstrations across the U.S.

The protests erupted after the Memorial Day killing of Floyd, an unarmed black man who died after a Minneapolis police officer pinned his neck to the ground with his knee for nearly nine minutes. In the weeks that followed, the "Black Lives Matter" movement has gone mainstream and has begun resonating with wider calls to address racism from Australia to Europe.

In a new interview with Scott Hamilton of Rockfile Radio, Aldrich stated about the ongoing fall-out from the Floyd killing (see video below): "I'm all for people protesting, and I definitely support 'Black Lives Matters.' … And hopefully there'll be some positive change that happens sooner than later… The protesting, unfortunately, turns ugly sometimes, but it takes protesting to get the word out, I guess.

"Look, I support the police — I'm so thankful for the police — but there are some bad cops, just like there's some bad whatever, and they need to be taken out," he continued.

"The thing is it's a stressful job, and some of the bad apples maybe, deep inside, just need help, and so we've gotta find a way to do that. But overall, and generally, I support the police a hundred percent. I'm thankful for them protecting us, and the fire department — these guys are heroes."

This past April, THE DEAD DAISIES released their new single "Unspoken", the first song and video to land from their forthcoming LP, "Holy Ground".

"Holy Ground" is due later in the year via Spinefarm Records. The disc was recorded at La Fabrique Studios in the south of France with producer Ben Grosse. The follow-up to 2018's "Burn It Down" will be the band's first to feature Glenn Hughes (DEEP PURPLE, BLACK COUNTRY COMMUNION), who joined the group last year as its new bassist and vocalist, replacing John Corabi (MÖTLEY CRÜE) and Marco Mendoza (THIN LIZZY).

SLIPKNOT drummer Jay Weinberg has recorded his take on the song "Puzzle" by the industrial/punk act YOUTH CODE. Check it out below.

The original track was recorded in partnership with the Isolate/Create platform, a new free resource that provides digital assets to inspire creativity and encourage collaboration amid social distancing and lockdowns in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Weinberg discovered SLIPKNOT when he was a pre-teen, through his father Max, of Bruce Springsteen's E STREET BAND, and leader of the house band on Conan O'Brien's talk show. He was hooked immediately and was a huge fan of SLIPKNOT by the time he was invited to Los Angeles to try out as replacement for Joey Jordison in 2013.

For the first few months after the release of 2014's ".5: The Gray Chapter", the members of SLIPKNOT had declined to name the musicians who were playing drums and bass on their tour, despite the fact that their identities were revealed as Weinberg and bassist Alessandro "Vman" Venturella by a disgruntled former drumtech for SLIPKNOT who posted a picture of a backstage call sheet on Instagram.

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.

SLIPKNOT has spent most of last year touring in support of its sixth studio album, "We Are Not Your Kind", which was released last August via Roadrunner Records.

Video of Bret Michaels and his solo band performing an acoustic cover version of the LOGGINS AND MESSINA classic "Your Mama Don't Dance" can be seen below. The track was previously covered by POISON on the 1988 album "Open Up and Say...Ahh!"

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.

Legendary rocker Alice Cooper spoke to "The Afternoon Program" on the 102.9 The Hog radio station about how he is dealing with the coronavirus crisis and what the touring circuit might look like post-pandemic. He said: "It's so unusual for us to have more than two weeks off. I think we canceled over 120 shows. We were in Europe at the time, and they said, 'You have 24 hours to get out of Germany before we close the borders.' And I said, 'Well, I don't wanna be stuck here for three weeks.' So we got out of there.

"I expected this thing to go maybe a month or two months," he continued. "I had no idea that it was gonna go into next year. But in some ways, for us, we tour constantly — if I'm not touring with my band, I'm out with the HOLLYWOOD VAMPIRES, with Johnny Depp and Joe Perry and those guys, and that tour was a five-week tour in Europe. So everybody gets sort of like a forced vacation right now, and for me, it's kind of nice. I'm here at home with all my family, and all the kids are here. My daughter is expecting a baby in July — our fourth grandchild. So it's kind of nice to be off, but every band out there is sort of like racehorses ready to go — we can't wait to get back on the road again."

Last month, Alice released a new single, "Don't Give Up". Produced by Cooper's longtime collaborator Bob Ezrin using remote technology, the song is a spontaneous reaction to the challenges facing us all right now.

A strictly limited "Don't Give Up" seven-inch vinyl picture disc will be released on August 14 on earMUSIC.

Cooper recently completed work on his new album, "Detroit Stories". The LP, which was once again produced by Ezrin, features contributions by such Michigan talent as the MC5's Wayne Kramer, GRAND FUNK RAILROAD's Mark Farner and Johnny "Bee" Badanjek of MITCH RYDER & THE DETROIT WHEELS. They also used the Detroit Horns and Detroit background singers.

Last September, Cooper released a six-track EP called "Breadcrumbs", described as a tribute to the garage-rock heroes of his hometown of Detroit.

Jordan Rudess says that it was "very exciting" to perform with his former DREAM THEATER bandmate Mike Portnoy on a progressive rock cruise more than a year ago.

In February 2019, Rudess and Portnoy reunited on stage for the first time in almost nine years during the Cruise To The Edge to perform "Instrumedley" from DREAM THEATER / LIQUID TENSION EXPERIMENT. They were joined by NEAL MORSE BAND guitarist Eric Gillette and HAKEN bassist Conner Green.

Rudess spoke about his onstage reunion with Portnoy while filming a video message on Cameo, which lets users hire celebrities to record brief, personalized video messages about virtually any topic.

Asked what it was like jamming with Mike on "Instrumedley", Jordan said (see video below): "It was very exciting, actually, to get back together again and play. It was a lot of preparation, but all the vibes were really good. We had a good time, and the preparation was cool, because it was interesting to go back and learn that piece again; it's a hard piece, that's for sure. But the only challenge of it is when I got to the boat, it was difficult to do a proper soundcheck; that part was hard. But we had a great time and the audience loved it. It was really, really fun."

"Instrumedley" contains excerpts of DREAM THEATER's "The Dance Of Eternity", "Metropolis", "Erotomania", "A Change Of Seasons", "Ytse Jam", "Hells Kitchen" and LIQUID TENSION EXPERIMENT's "Paradigm Shift" and "Universal Mind". LIQUID TENSION EXPERIMENT is the instrumental progressive rock/metal project featuring Rudess, Portnoy and DREAM THEATER guitarist John Petrucci alongside progressive rock icon Tony Levin (bass) of KING CRIMSON and PETER GABRIEL fame.

In February 2019, Rudess discussed his Cruise To The Edge encounter with Portnoy during an appearance on SiriusXM's "Trunk Nation", which is hosted by Eddie Trunk. The keyboardist said: "I think it's really nice. People whose music you love, you wanna see them getting along. So, even from my perspective, I see John and Mike together, and I'm, like, yeah, that makes sense. They were so close. They made so much music together."

He continued: "I told Mike the other night. I said, 'The way I look at our relationship is that we've toured around the world together numerous times, we've written all this music together, we've been on tour buses everywhere. How many people in this lifetime that we're in can you be that close to and have that many experiences with?"

Although Portnoy and his former bandmates in DREAM THEATER engaged in a public war of words following his exit from the group, Rudess said that he harbors no resentment toward his longtime friend.

"When Portnoy left the band, there was tension — natural tension — because it was a big deal," Jordan told "Trunk Nation". "But what's really important to me is finding that… especially somebody who I care about, who I had so much life experience with. And he's a really great guy. There are so many wonderful things about him. So I wanna enjoy that.

"People will say, 'Oh my God! DREAM THEATER is gonna have Portnoy back in the band.' That's not what it's about," Rudess added. "This is about people and people who spent a lot of time together being able to be close together and be friends."

Rudess acknowledged that some of his other DREAM THEATER bandmates have "their own feelings" about maintaining a connection with their former drummer. "But Mike and I enjoyed hanging out and chatting about old times and all the stuff," he said. "So it was really cool."

In November 2017, Mike told Loud that he left DREAM THEATER because he wanted to expand his musical horizons. "[I didn't] want to go to my grave and just be the drummer from DREAM THEATER," he said. "I knew there was way more to what I had to offer."

Last month, Rudess said that "it looks very good" that LIQUID TENSION EXPERIMENT will regroup in the not-too-distant future.

LIQUID TENSION EXPERIMENT has not performed live since 2008, when it embarked on a brief tour commemorating the tenth anniversary of its self-titled debut.

Drummer Simon Wright spoke to the "Talking Metal" podcast about the status of the debut album from DIO DISCIPLES, which pays tribute to Ronnie James Dio and is fully supported by Dio's widow/manager Wendy.

DIO DISCIPLES is made up of former members of DIO, along with a rotating lineup of vocalists, including ex-JUDAS PRIEST singer Tim "Ripper" Owens and LYNCH MOB frontman Oni Logan.

Billed as a "celebration of the music and legacy of the greatest singer in the world, Ronnie James Dio," DIO DISCIPLES have been playing Ronnie's music on tour in a bid to keep their old bandmate's memory alive.

Asked by "Talking Metal" if it's true that the DIO DISCIPLES are planning to work on an album of original material, Wright said (see video below): "We'd done five or six good demos. They need figuring out, the songs. Me and Craig [Goldy, guitar] wrote some stuff; Bjorn [Englen, bass] brought in some stuff too. But we kind of took a right turn to deal with the hologram, so DIO DISCIPLES is kind of [on hold] at the moment. And also, if you're talking about a DIO DISCIPLES album, the way the demos are and the songs, they're kind of different to each other — they're different kind of styles. And it was a conversation that we were having with ourselves about which direction we should go in. So I think when we resume back to DIO DISCIPLES, we have to figure out the direction that we're going in, to create a DIO DISCIPLES sound. And there are a lot of touches of DIO in it, obviously, 'cause of the way that Craig spent so much time with Ronnie, and me as well — I've had my days as well. But we wanna try and create its own sound."

Several years ago, Goldy revealed DIO DISCIPLES were planning to start work on a project of original material, and they debuted three of the new songs during their May 2016 appearance at the "Ride For Ronnie" motorcycle rally and concert in Encino. Fan-filmed video footage of one of the tracks, which is apparently called "Till The End Of Time", can be seen below.

Craig previously told "Talking Metal" that he has been collaborating with fellow former DIO member Jeff Pilson on the material for the debut DIO DISCIPLES album.

Goldy joined DIO during the "Sacred Heart" tour in 1986 after original guitarist Vivian Campbell was fired from the band following a contentious business disagreement with the singer and Ronnie's management.

Pilson is best known for playing bass with DOKKEN and FOREIGNER, but he also toured with DIO in the 1990s and performed on three of the group's albums — "Strange Highways" (1993), "Angry Machines" (1996) and the group's tenth and final studio release, "Master Of The Moon" (2004).

Owens told Canada's The Metal Voice about DIO DISCIPLES' forthcoming LP: "We're not making a DIO record. We couldn't do that. The best thing is, we've all done different types of records, but there's always some similarity to the classic metal and classic rock format, because we have this in us. But we still always move forward a little bit. But that's what it's gonna be. JUDAS PRIEST, DIO, AC/DC — all these influences are in us, and they're not gonna leave us. It's just us writing songs. It's not us writing songs to sound like something; it's us going in and writing songs."

Two years ago, Wendy said that DIO DISCIPLES' debut album would be released via BMG.

DIO DISCIPLES is:

* Tim "Ripper" Owens (JUDAS PRIEST, ICED EARTH) - Vocals

* Oni Logan (LYNCH MOB) - Vocals

* Craig Goldy (DIO) - Guitar

* Bjorn Englen (YNGWIE MALMSTEEN) - Bass

* Scott Warren (DIO, HEAVEN & HELL) - Keyboards

* Simon Wright (AC/DC, DIO, OPERATION: MINDCRIME) - Drums

ICED EARTH founder, songwriter, guitarist and producer Jon Schaffer has announced the release of his first book, "Wicked Words And Epic Tales". The book 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

Finland's Humavoid have checked in with a new update:

"Our new album will finally be released soon! We know you’ve been waiting for it for a while and we thank you from the bottom of our hearts for the patience. The first single from the album will be out this Friday (June 19th), so mark your calendar!"

Dual scream attack, haunting melodies and unexpected rhythms packed in a determined groove. Humavoid is a four-piece doomsday machine spits out a mix of high tech eight-string riffs by guitarist / vocalist Niko Kalliojärvi (ex-Amoral), the jazz fusion sound of keyboardist / lead vocalist Suvimarja Halmetoja, Heikki Malmberg’s (Diablo) polyrhythmic drumming, and the grinding bass tone of Mikki Rousi.

After a few smaller releases, the new album will present Humavoid as its most aggressive to date, but also further reveal the band’s experimental side.

Check out their latest single, "Monkey Trap", below. Check out the band's official Facebook page here, and their catalogue via Spotify.




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Earlier tonight (Monday, June 15), QUIET RIOT's Frankie Banali was admitted to the emergency room at the Kaiser Permanente Woodland Hills Medical Center in Woodland Hills, California. The drummer, who has been battling stage IV pancreatic cancer for the past 14 months, took to his personal Facebook page to share a photo of him on a hospital bed, and he captioned the picture: "Just admitted to the Emergency Room at Kaiser... It occured to me that this is just like Disneyland except the lines are shorter & the rides are painfully slow... and the price of admission... OMG!"

Banali was diagnosed with stage IV pancreatic cancer after going to the emergency room for shortness of breath, leg pain and loss of energy. A scan of his lungs caught an image of his liver, which is where the first spots were seen. Then came the discovery of a tumor on his pancreas.

He has been in treatment since last spring and recently started his 21st round of chemotherapy with the hopes of shrinking or controlling the cancer.

On June 10, Banali told SiriusXM's "Trunk Nation" about his cancer battle: "I'm still fighting the good fight. I'm still doing the chemotherapy. I switched to a different chemotherapy a few months ago. And the side effects on this one are pretty brutal, and they pretty much last into the next round of chemo. So you kind of don't get a break for about three weeks, and then you get about maybe 10 days off, and then the cycle starts again. But it's part of what I'm doing."

Asked if doctors are seeing positive results from the chemotherapy, Banali replied: "It really depends on any given cycle, whether things are going up or whether things are reducing. The situation that I'm in is not a sprint, really — it is the longest race I can possibly make out of my situation. So you have to be really, really careful how you read into some of these things, because something can look elevated, but then if you look at a scan — one of my internal scans — it's not as bad as the numbers say. But it's a deadly disease — there's no question about it — and I know that that's what eventually is gonna kill me. In the meantime, I'm just trying to put that day off as far back as I possibly can."

Banali also talked about how his latest chemotherapy sessions caused him to lose his trademark hair. He said: "I knew that when we were switching from the first chemo formula that we were doing for almost a year to the new chemo formula, I knew in advance that the different formula was really gonna wipe out the hair. So right now you probably wouldn't recognize me because not only did it take all the hair on the top of my head, but it took my beard, my eyebrows, my eyelashes. Let me put it to you this way: I have just really improved my Olympic swimming chances with the loss of body hair."

Banali went public with his diagnosis last October, writing in a social media post that the cancer treatment had forced him to miss several live shows with the band. He was replaced at those gigs by either Johnny Kelly (DANZIG, TYPE O NEGATIVE) or Mike Dupke (W.A.S.P.), depending on each musician's availability.

QUIET RIOT's shows last year with Kelly and Dupke marked the first time ever that the band performed without any of the members from its classic lineup: Banali, singer Kevin DuBrow, guitarist Carlos Cavazo and bassist Rudy Sarzo.

Banali played his first show with QUIET RIOT since he announced his cancer diagnosis in October at the Whisky A Go Go in West Hollywood, California.

The drummer resurrected QUIET RIOT in 2010, three years after the death of founding member DuBrow.

QUIET RIOT's latest studio album, "Hollywood Cowboys" was released in November via Frontiers Music Srl.

BATTLE BEAST singer Noora Louhimo is collaborating with Samuli Erkkilä on her first solo album. The sessions are taking place at JaBa Recording Studios in Hankasalmi, Finland.

Louhimo shared a photo from the studio Tuesday night (June 16), and she included the following message: "It takes sleepless nights, hard work for brain and long days to make rock music. Yes, we are at @jaba.studio with my co-writer and co-producer @samylee_erkkila making passionately some magic happen for my first solo album? Ps. Cool news to be released in couple of weeks?? Stay tuned and have a great day! #soloalbum #songwriting #nooralouhimoexperience #noexband #jabastudio #makingof #friends #bro"

Last fall, Noora spoke with Reality Check TV about her plans for a solo LP. She said: "Right now I'm in the songwriting process with my band. It's not gonna be heavy metal. It's gonna be more like going back to the musical roots of mine — going back to blues rock, country influences, a little bit of PINK FLOYD-ish vibe there. It's gonna be interesting.

"[I released] one [solo] single in 2011, maybe," she continued. "It was my first, and for now only [laughs], single… But now I'm really working to do a whole album. And, actually, that first single, called 'Relax', it wasn't even written by me, but it was custom made for me. It was a prize of this singing competition [laughs] that I was contributing. But this time, on this solo project, this is the first time I open up my soul to you people. So it's gonna be a very sensitive and personal album."

In 2012, Louhimo entered BATTLE BEAST with no previous experience as a metal vocalist but quickly acclimated herself as the replacement for Nitte Valo. She further expanded her vocal range the band's latest album, "No More Hollywood Endings", which was released in March 2019 via Nuclear Blast.
























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It takes sleepless nights, hard work for brain and long days to make rock music. Yes, we are at @jaba.studio with my co-writer and co-producer @samylee_erkkila making passionately some magic happen for my first solo album? Ps. Cool news to be released in couple of weeks?? Stay tuned and have a great day! #soloalbum #songwriting #nooralouhimoexperience #noexband #jabastudio #makingof #friends #bro

A post shared by Noora Louhimo (@nooralouhimoofficial) on Jun 16, 2020 at 11:57pm PDT

In a recent interview with A&P Reacts, LAMB OF GOD guitarist Mark Morton was asked if it's important for him to use the platform that he has, including his Twitter account, to create awareness about the things that are happening around him. He responded (see video below): "I'm starting to. I've been pretty vocal, and, I guess, at times controversial. It's its own little bubble. And if you had asked me this a couple of years ago, I would have said that it's not important; it's just kind of what I do. But I'm starting to wonder if it's not important.

"When something's really wrong or there's a discussion not being had or there's something being ignored… I have a platform, and I have a platform in our music, in what we talk about lyrically, and social media, for better or worse, is a platform — I don't know if it's the best one, but it is one, and it's one I engage in.

"So I do speak my mind," he continued. "And I try to be open to other people's opinions and the fact that not everyone's gonna agree with me. I don't think my opinions can be put into a tight, neat little box, because there are things that I'm very liberal on, things that I'm very conservative on and things that I'm in the middle on. But lately, particularly in the last week or so, I've had a hard time keeping my mouth shut. And I don't make any apologies for that."

Addressing the fact that he has at times alienated some of the LAMB OF GOD fans with his views, Morton said: "Look, if I had a nickel for every time someone told on social media to just shut up and play guitar… I always actually take it as a compliment, because I'm, like, no matter how mad I made them, they're still saying that it's worthwhile for me to play guitar. [Laughs] So I'm doing something right; that's a compliment to me.

"I get to have an opinion too — I just do," he said. "Everybody does. And hopefully we can all start learning to respect each other's opinion and even maybe find some common ground. 'Cause a lot of that seems to be getting overlooked lately, and I hope we can plug into that.

"It's a trying time, man — there's so much going on — and everybody's really tense and anxious, and there's a lot of fear and a lot of anger," he added. "And I don't know what to do except to talk about when I see something that's wrong. And I'm not always great at not riling it up — sometimes I'm venting in anger myself; I'm a human being — but I'm trying to be a little more positive as I go. That's all I can do."

LAMB OF GOD will release its new, self-titled album 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" marks LAMB OF GOD's first recordings with Cruz, who joined the band last year.

"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).






For those interested ....Here are some companies that contribute large sums of money to the Trump campaign....just pure info!

Do with this whatever you like...or do nothing at all! ?@Marvel @wwe @ufc @tacobell @Wendys @LLBean @MolsonCoors @newbalance @EsteeLauder

— Mark Morton (@MarkDuaneMorton) June 5, 2020








You know...im gettin more & more conflicted about these bitch sessions with all these crazed white supremacy fuckers & closet klansmen & even the MAGA cultists.

It’s like a strip club...it’s fun for a little while....but then it gets shitty. You just walk away feeling yucky. https://t.co/BEkMDg2SKf

— Mark Morton (@MarkDuaneMorton) June 4, 2020








I’ve always known that not all cops are bad.

But damn I never realized how many actually ARE.

— Mark Morton (@MarkDuaneMorton) June 5, 2020

SYSTEM OF A DOWN drummer John Dolmayan has defended his right to speak out in support of U.S. president Donald Trump, saying that he is "in no danger whatsoever" of losing his job because of his political views.

Two weeks after praising Trump, calling him "the most attacked president in history yet the greatest friend to minorities," Dolmayan returned to his Instagram to criticize those who think they are "coming from a morally superior position," saying that they "don't want" and "can't handle free speech" because they are "cowards and need to be herded along with the rest of the sheep."

John wrote: "The reason I post my opinions on this forum and open myself up to attack and ridicule is for you , the silent ones who think they are alone in a world where their thoughts are alien or wrong. You're not alone , millions are with you.

"For those of you who think you are coming from a morally superior position therefore any differing opinion or viewpoint is invalid think again. It's the easy path to think like you , it's in their best self interests for celebrities and politicians to support you but you will lose in the end because you are the very thing you pretend to fight against. The true fascist, the true bigots hidden in plain sight from the same party who fought to maintain slavery , Jim Crow , non voting rights for women , and who are directly responsible for 70 plus million abortions ,a large majority of whom were black.

"You don't want free speech , you can't handle free speech because you are cowards and need to be herded along with the rest of the sheep.

"I'm lucky , I'm in an industry where you CAN be honest about your views wherever they fall with little to no repercussions. I don't rely on a movie studio , label , media or anyone else who will bow down to pandering political correctness and am in no danger whatsoever of 'losing my job' because you don't like what I have to say .

"This is a dangerous time where free thought and speech is under attack but it will pass , the next generation is watching as they always do and they will overcome your insanity.

"Oh , happy birthday President Trump and good luck in November!"

Earlier this month, SYSTEM OF A DOWN singer Serj Tankian gave an interview to the "Side Jams With Bryan Reesman" podcast in which he said that he is surprised to see some SYSTEM fans taking issue with the fact that he is very vocal about his political views.

"When I get people on my socials that are, 'I love your music, but I don't wanna hear your political ideas,' that's fair enough — if they're nice enough, it's fair enough, but sometimes they're really mean," he said. "But what I don't understand, and a lot of other people that follow the music say the same thing — they're, like, 'Have you not listened to the fucking words in 20 years? He's been saying all this stuff through his music all this time. What are you, just dancing to it because it's groovy? You're not really getting the message?' And that's okay, too, obviously — people just like hard music; they wanna listen to hard music. They never even thought that [the SYSTEM OF A DOWN song] 'B.Y.O.B.' is anti-fucking-imperialist — maybe. I don't know — I don't know how you can, but I guess maybe. So it's very interesting to me, seeing that."

Tankian addressed Trump's pattern of false information and exaggeration during a separate interview with New Zealand journalist David Farrier.

He said: "[Trump is] obsessed about himself, and the economy is his barometer of his presidency, in his mind, so he doesn't want the economy to fail, and, obviously, it's going to fail. All the economy in the world is failing because of this involuntary cause," referring to the coronavirus pandemic.

"Everything that he says in his press conferences reverts back to him and how well his government is doing, or making fun of the press for… not making fun, but basically beating down on them, that they wanna replace him and this is all about his re-election," Serj continued. "It's all about him."

SYSTEM OF A DOWN has toured intermittently since ending its hiatus in 2011 but has yet to record a follow-up to its "Mezmerize" and "Hypnotize" albums, which came out in 2005.
























View this post on Instagram


































The reason I post my opinions on this forum and open myself up to attack and ridicule is for you , the silent ones who think they are alone in a world where their thoughts are alien or wrong. You’re not alone , millions are with you. For those of you who think you are coming from a morally superior position therefore any differing opinion or viewpoint is invalid think again. It’s the easy path to think like you , it’s in their best self interests for celebrities and politicians to support you but you will lose in the end because you are the very thing you pretend to fight against. The true fascist, the true bigots hidden in plain sight from the same party who fought to maintain slavery , Jim Crow , non voting rights for women , and who are directly responsible for 70 plus million abortions ,a large majority of whom were black. You don’t want free speech , you can’t handle free speech because you are cowards and need to be herded along with the rest of the sheep. I’m lucky , I’m in an industry where you CAN be honest about your views wherever they fall with little to no repercussions. I don’t rely on a movie studio , label , media or anyone else who will bow down to pandering political correctness and am in no danger whatsoever of “ losing my job” because you don’t like what I have to say . This is a dangerous time where free thought and speech is under attack but it will pass , the next generation is watching as they always do and they will overcome your insanity. Oh , happy birthday President Trump and good luck in November!

A post shared by John Dolmayan (@johndolmayan_) on Jun 14, 2020 at 8:27am PDT

SYSTEM OF A DOWN vocalist Serj Tankian has taken to his Instagram to share the lyrics to the band's early demo track "Temper". The song was originally demoed for SYSTEM's 1998 debut album, but ultimately didn't make the final cut. SYSTEM OF A DOWN ended up playing the track at several live shows in 2015.

In his Instagram post earlier today, Tankian wrote about "Temper": "A very early @systemofadown song that was on one of our demos-lyrics below: if you love this song or play along to it and love Trump, you're a hypocrite-just a simple fact :) 'Temper'" He added in the comments section: "Let me add that obviously the song was written in the 90s and refers to injustice in the US and injustice by the US via successive Democratic and Republican administrations. I just find the most current one the most repugnant."

Tankian's views are in sharp contrast to those of SYSTEM drummer John Dolmayan, who has praised Donald Trump on social media in recent weeks.

Over the weekend, Dolmayan wrote on Instagram that he is "no danger whatsoever" of losing his position with the band even though he and Tankian have wildly different stances.

Dolmayan blasted "cowards" who criticize those who think they are "coming from a morally superior position," saying that they "can't handle free speech" and "need to be herded along with the rest of the sheep." He also called Democrats "the true bigots" who "fought to maintain slavery" and were "directly responsible for 70 plus million abortions, a large majority of whom were black."

Dolmayan concluded his post by wishing Trump a happy birthday and "good luck" in this November's election. The drummer supports Trump's claim that his administration has done more for the African American community "than any president since Abraham Lincoln."

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
























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A very early @systemofadown song that was on one of our demos-lyrics below: if you love this song or play along to it and love Trump, you’re a hypocrite-just a simple fact :) "Temper" We want peace with Patriot missiles, Blown to bits are civilian targets, Parade! Laugh! Rejoice! Sing! We’re the victors of...nothing, Spend more money on a war, Your people starving, turned to whores, Slaves of the chosen one paying millions for each bomb, Country without a race , Formed from people you disgrace , White right conservative might , Killers of Kennedy's with no fright , The American way! Freedom cried the marching man, Flags ripped out of their black hands , Beaten! Slain! Tortured! Killed! Their only mistake was being born here , Invade countries just for oil , Send your troops all down to boil , Iraq! Grenada! Nam and Chile! Truman doctrine our own way , Country without a race , Formed from people you disgrace , White right conservative might , Killers of Kennedy's with no fright , The American way! The Government (FBI-CIA) here can suck my balls , Policing the world in overalls , Armed rebellion minority , Disrespected race, color, mind , Crazed loonies all walk the streets , Missing children on milk cartons , Mother selling child for crack , Mr. President check your back , Country without a race , Formed from people you disgrace, White right conservative might , Killers of Kennedy's with no fright , The American way! The American way! The American way!

A post shared by Serj Tankian (@serjtankian) on Jun 16, 2020 at 12:57am PDT

San Francisco Bay Area metallers MACHINE HEAD have released "Civil Unrest", a two-song digital single featuring A-side "Stop The Bleeding" and B-side "Bulletproof", with the former featuring additional guest vocals from KILLSWITCH ENGAGE frontman Jesse Leach. This pair of fierce protest anthems were both written days after the back-to-back murders of George Floyd and Ahmaud Arbery. They are not for the faint of heart.

The gritty "Stop The Bleeding" performance video was directed and edited by Mike Sloat, shot on location on the streets of Oakland, California, with Jesse's part filmed in Kingston, New York with David Brodsky.

Vocalist/guitarist Robb Flynn shares the inspiration behind the release: "I wrote and sang the lyrics on Wednesday, May 27th 2020, the day that the four officers who murdered George Floyd were (originally) not charged with anything. This day was engulfed in protests and riots across America. I drove into Oakland past large demonstrations already happening and in a fury wrote down everything I was feeling after watching the horrific footage. Within hours, what I wanted to say, what I needed to say had been recorded in the song.

"I decided to sing it over a song called 'Stop The Bleeding', that we had recorded back in December. 2018 with Jared [MacEachearn, MACHINE HEAD bass guitar] and Carlos Cruz [WARBRINGER] on drums."

"Stop The Bleeding" features a guest appearance from KILLSWITCH ENGAGE frontman Jesse Leach, with Flynn and Leach trading lyrical lines that spit anger and frustration at current events.

Flynn continues: "I had been speaking with Jesse for maybe six months about singing on the song, as it always had a little bit of a KILLSWITCH vibe to me. Unfortunately (or fortunately), our schedules hadn't lined up, but with the subsequent lockdown from coronavirus, we had time to make it work. After what happened to George Floyd, I sent him the lyrics I'd written and he replied saying he was '100% on board.' Jesse is someone I consider to be a pioneer and in many ways, one of the men who changed the face of metal. His contribution to this song made it extremely powerful and it's an honor to have him be a part of it."

Jesse Leach mirrors the sentiment, stating: "Being asked to be part of this song is an honor. Yes, because it's MACHINE HEAD, but more importantly, this is a message that needs to be heard and spread. These issues concerning abuses of power and racism are timeless. I have written about these previously and I'll write about them again. I think Robb really nailed this one, both lyrically and sonically. My hope is this song helps awaken those who hear it. Robb has been a frequent voice of the voiceless in these times, so teaming up with him is a no brainer. We need more of our metal community to speak out on social issues and help raise awareness, especially during these crucial times. Music is the soundtrack to our lives; it transcends language and culture. This is the reason we as musicians need to do our part to spark thought and discussion on these types of issues. We can make a difference through music and we can help stop the bleeding."

MACHINE HEAD is donating a significant portion of the streaming proceeds from "Stop The Bleeding" to Grassroots Law Project, the organization representing George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and Ahmaud Arbery.

The B-side, "Bulletproof" is a new song, also recorded with Carlos and Jared back in December 2018.

Flynn adds: "The lyrics for 'Bulletproof' were finished in the aftermath of not only the Ahmaud Arbery murder at the hands of white supremacist, but everything twisting out of control in our world. The isolation and craziness of the pandemic, the lockdown protesters storming government buildings with AR-15s, as well as the blatant lies and conspiracies pouring out of our political leaders' mouths, hour by hour, day after day."

The songs needed something visually provocative as "sleeve artwork," so the band looked to longtime collaborator Strephon Taylor who hand illustrated various elements from this moment in time, to make a powerful statement about America and the World. Both tracks were produced by Flynn and engineered by Zack Ohren at Sharkbite Studios in Oakland, California, with the devastating mix being handled by longtime MACHINE HEAD collaborator and producer extraordinaire Colin Richardson, together with Chris Clancy at Audioworks Productions UK. The tracks were mastered by Ted Jensen at Sterling Sound.

"Stop The Bleeding" lyrics

The endless scroll of human tragedy

I swipe along as the days go by

Another brother murdered out in the streets

I connect to the shame, we don't know what it's like

Born lucky cause the color of skin

America your heart is caving in

Somehow I thought this was the land of the free

Where is our humanity?

Our humanity

Beating after beating

Throat choked under knee

Help me please

Because I can't breathe

Just stop the bleeding

Body after body

Piles up in the streets

Stand and fight

Not another life

Just stop the bleeding

And some will claim it's a conspiracy

The fake news out to undermine

When riots fight off white supremacy

Never given a choice, so they're drawing a line

I stare and look out at the world in disgust

These men are dying over nothing just

Good men stand up and show your bravery

For a lost democracy

Our democracy

Beating after beating

Throat choked under knee

Help me please

Because I can't breathe

Just stop the bleeding

Body after body

Piles up in the streets

Stand and fight

Not another life

Just stop the bleeding

Our strife

Our struggle

Fight through these open wounds

Beating after beating

Throat choked under knee

Help me please

Because I can't breathe

Just stop the bleeding

Body after body

Piled up in the streets

Stand and fight

Not another life

Just stop the bleeding now

Our strife

Our struggle

Fight through these open wounds

An EPK (Electronic Press Kit) for RESIST & BITE, the new band featuring former TESLA guitarist Tommy Skeoch, is available streamed below. Joining him in the group are ex-LYNCH MOB lead vocalist Nathan Utz, guitarist Steve Stokes, drummer David Parks and bassist Brian Powell.

During an appearance this past March on SiriusXM's "Trunk Nation" radio show, Skeoch spoke about his departure from TESLA nearly a decade a half ago. Asked if he exited the group of his own accord or if he was asked to leave, Tommy said: "I was fired. I was getting fucked up and I was definitely in the wrong about a lot of stuff, and they put up with it for a long time. But at the same time, none of us were angels, and we put up with a lot of stuff from the other guys for a long time too, and they're still there. So I felt like a little scapegoated by the thing. And the other thing is they didn't want people — I guess for the benefit of my family, so it wouldn't look bad — they said, 'Tommy's just gonna spend time [with his family].' That's why nobody knows, and that's why you're asking this question. Everyone's confused on even what happened. Basically, I was fired. I was getting fucked up, and I kept fucking up, and I kept telling 'em I wouldn't, and I just couldn't stop."

Skeoch added that he accepts responsibility for the circumstances that led to his departure from TESLA. "I do, of course," he said. "But I also believe we put up with a lot of shit for a long time from almost every other guy in the band, and they're still there. So I don't know what's up with that; that's a little weird to me."

Skeoch was dismissed from TESLA in 2006 and went on to receive treatment for substance-abuse issues. He has since been replaced by Dave Rude.

Skeoch left TESLA in 2006 to spend time with his family and to receive treatment for substance-abuse issues. He has since been replaced by Dave Rude.

In a 2011 interview with Noisecreep, TESLA singer Jeff Keith stated about Skeoch: "Look, everyone in TESLA has been through their own substance-abuse issues. But Tommy got in too deep again. So the band told him that the only way we would be able to make this work is if he was clean and sober. I felt like we couldn't ask him to do that if we weren't going to commit to it too. So I was the first one to say that I wouldn't drink, or do anything else, on the tour. The next thing you know, the other guys did the same thing. Troy [Luccketta, drums] has been clean and sober for over 20 years, so it wasn't even an issue for him... Tommy couldn't stay off the stuff he was doing. It broke my heart to see it, but we knew we had to replace him."

Last year, Skeoch announced the formation of a new project called SKIN SUIT. That band, which also features vocalist Rob McManus, released its self-titled debut album this past March.

In a recent interview with Spain's The Metal Circus, WITHIN TEMPTATION singer Sharon Den Adel was asked if she feels heavy metal got "too complicated" or "too dark and "too harsh" in the last few years and that the genre as a whole is missing a little bit of that "pop aspect" and "that easy-listening sort of feeling." She responded (see video below): "Well, maybe. I don't know. The only thing what I think is that there wasn't a lot of development in metal. I think the scene would be much bigger if it would have evolved a little bit more. I'm not making complaints or anything, but it's more like that's something that we're always trying to find.

"When you try to find a way to connect with the people who are growing up nowadays and also the same audience that you had for [all these] years, to do that, you have to [evolve] sound-wise also and it has to do with everything else that's happening in the world — also topics, but also the music — and you have to go along with certain kind of development," she continued.

"I think LINKIN PARK was the last band that did something for the scene — bring something new to the table. And everybody went, 'Woah! Amazing.' And they inspired a lot of other bands. And I don't see any bands who are so different from the majority of bands. There's missing some kind of development at the moment. I think it's coming, but it's not there yet. And I think a lot of bands, like BRING ME THE HORIZON, are experimenting a lot, and ASKING ALEXANDRIA — a lot of bands. And some of them are really trying to [experiment] and some of them are really content with what they're doing and how they sound, which is also okay, because there's a certain audience for that. But I think we are a band like some of the bands I just mentioned — we're always searching for, like, okay, what can we do to make it interesting for our music, and especially for ourselves, because we want to develop ourselves and find new ways to reconnect with all generations."

Last month, WITHIN TEMPTATION released the official music video for its latest single, "Entertain You". The song was a surprisingly quick follow-up to WITHIN TEMPTATION's seventh studio album, "Resist", which came out in February 2019.

"Resist" debuted in several Top 10 charts worldwide and was the first WITHIN TEMPTATION album to ever reach a No. 1 position on the official German chart.

"Entertain You" arrived one week after the last show of the "Worlds Collide" tour was supposed to happen. The co-headline tour with American rock band EVANESCENCE was originally planned for April, but due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it has now been postponed to September 2020. The trek, for which an impressive 150,000 tickets were sold in eight countries, will go ahead as planned across venues such as the O2 Arena in London, AccorHotels Arena in Paris, Velodrom in Berlin, and Palais 12 in Brussels.

During this past Thursday's (June 11) "All Access Hits" webinar with host David Frangioni, MÖTLEY CRÜE's Tommy Lee was asked which drummers really influenced him and got him excited about drumming when he first started playing. He responded (see video below): "The hands-down guy is John Bonham [LED ZEPPELIN], and you can probably hear it in my playing. That guy, most people will talk about how heavy his foot was and how laid back his snare drum was, but not a lot of people talk about his cymbal placement. He doesn't really play a ton of cymbals, but when he does, he always seems to pick that right moment. And you can hear it in the studio — they've got the cymbals mic'd and compressed really well, so that when he does hit it, it [sounds huge]. And if you were to do that the whole time, it would be messy sounding. But he really had this amazing ability to pick and choose when those moments were when he wanted that power and that big [cymbal sound]. That's something that a lot of people don't talk about. Other than his amazing timing and just his groove, man — the way he laid back on that big heavy foot and the snare drum way, way on the back side. I mean, that's money. The first time I heard that, I'll never forget it. I was sitting there. I must have played 'Physical Graffiti' nine million times, just flipping out, like, 'Jesus, listen to this dude.'"

He continued: "And then later on, other influences… Tommy Aldridge [OZZY OSBOURNE, WHITESNAKE] was another one — just the showmanship part of his playing, the stick spinning and the cymbal grabs and all that kind of stuff. Tommy was another one. And for pure just, like a metronome — Phil Rudd [AC/DC]. Dude, that guy is like a human drum machine. I mean, you could probably clock that guy and I'll bet you it doesn't move — he's that solid. So there's different guys for different things, but I've been inspired by many drummers. And more that I could mention, but we'd be for freakin' hours. [Laughs]"

A week ago, Lee released two new solo songs. "Knock Me Down" is a collaboration with Killvein, while "Tops" features South African rapper Push Push. Both tracks will appear on Tommy's new solo album, "Andro", which is due in October.

Earlier in the month, MÖTLEY CRÜE, DEF LEPPARD, POISON 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 in a week — 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.

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.


Hope you can join this webinar with Tommy Lee Thursday 3pm EST Modern Drummer Magazine

www.moderndrummer.com/webinar

Posted by David Frangioni on Wednesday, June 10, 2020

Frontiers Music Srl has released a statement denying that it was responsible for "ruining" MR. BIG's latest album, "Defying Gravity", which came out nearly three years ago and marked late drummer Pat Torpey's final recorded appearance with the group.

Late last month, MR. BIG bassist Billy Sheehan gave an interview to the "Music Mania" podcast in which he claimed that a "mastering problem" with "Defying Gravity" made the LP "unlistenable." He went on to say that "the label ruined the record" by insisting on having the album and "putting it out when it's not ready." He explained: "If we had another day to get it to proper mastering and get it done right, it would have been fine. 'Cause I was there for the final mixes — I went in there every day and listened to mixes. Pat was there with us too. We went through the mixes, and they were sounding great. And, unfortunately, we got screwed.

"I've seen it before in many other situations with many other bands," he added. "We've got the marketing department and they're ready to go and they've gotta have the record now. And then I've also seen other bands just say, 'No. The record is not done. You're out of luck.' And I wish we would have just said that, because I just don't think the record had the kind of life it had when I heard the final mixes."

Earlier today, Frontiers Music Srl released the following statement clarifying the label's involvement in the making of "Defying Gravity":

"Recently, there have been headlines circulating about an interview Billy Sheehan of MR. BIG did with the 'Music Mania' podcast and how Billy felt the record label 'ruined' their last release, 'Defying Gravity'.

"For those who took the time to listen to the actual interview, you'll have noticed that Billy never actually names Frontiers. He simply refers to 'the record label'. Blabbermouth, Ultimate Classic Rock, and other news outlets inserted Frontiers name into their stories about the interview. We can, of course, understand why they did this because Frontiers released the album in most, but not all, of the world. It was an understandable assumption that they made, but unfortunately, an incorrect one.

"The reality is that MR. BIG had signed a separate, unrelated recording agreement with a Japanese label for the release of 'Defying Gravity'. To reiterate, this had nothing to do with Frontiers. To the best of our knowledge, said label wished to release the album one month prior to the rest of the world. Based on this, we had planned to release the album on June 21, 2017 due to a proposed May release date from the Japanese label. Ultimately, we moved the album to July 7, 2017 and finally to July 21, 2017 due to delays in delivery of components of the album. June 21, 2017 was the Japanese release date, per Discogs database.

"We really don't know what happened between the Japanese label and MR. BIG. Frontiers can only say that we had nothing to do with the circumstances that led to a rushed delivery of the final album master.

"There is no ill will or hard feelings towards anyone on our end, we simply wanted to set the record straight that we are not the label that was rushing/pressuring the band here, nor were we the ones who made final decisions on what version of the album was turned in to be manufactured and released. We always have been and remain HUGE fans of MR. BIG and the musical talents of each individual member. It's been an honor to release the records we have for them."

"Defying Gravity" was released via Wowow Entertainment, Inc. in Japan and Frontiers Music Srl in most of the rest of the world.

After announcing his Parkinson's diagnosis in 2014, Torpey continued to write, record and perform with MR. BIG, who also recruited Matt Starr to share drum duties.

MR. BIG, formed in 1988, produced numerous hit songs that ranged across a wide array of rock genres — be it ballads, heavy metal, or blues rock. Their hits include "Alive And Kicking", "Just Take My Heart" and the chart-topping ballad "To Be With You".




Regarding @mrbigmusic 'Defying Gravity'... @BLABBERMOUTHNET @UltClassicRock @EddieTrunk pic.twitter.com/QVjSiJF0VH

— Frontiers Music srl (@FrontiersMusic1) June 1, 2020

Everyone remembers their first time... What was the first album you bought? What was the first concert you attended? Everyone has an answer to these questions, including Brian Johnson of AC/DC. A new video from AXS TV in which Johnson discusses his "rock and roll firsts" can be seen below.

Earlier in the year, prior to the coronavirus outbreak, it was rumored that AC/DC was about to announce a world stadium tour. The trek will apparently include Johnson, who was forced to leave the band mid-tour four years ago due to a dangerous level of hearing loss. He was eventually replaced on the road by GUNS N' ROSES vocalist Axl Rose.

Nearly two years ago, Johnson and drummer Phil Rudd, along with Angus Young and fellow guitarist Stevie Young, were photographed outside Vancouver's Warehouse Studios. Based on the pictures, the assumption was that AC/DC was in the midst of making — or at least planning — another album, with Rudd and Johnson both back in the lineup.

Ever since AC/DC completed the tour cycle for its 2014 album "Rock Or Bust" four years ago — a turbulent trek that weathered the forced retirement and eventual death of co-founder Malcolm Young, plus the departures of Johnson, Rudd and bassist Cliff Williams — fans have wondered whether sole remaining founding member Angus Young would keep the band going or decide it was time for AC/DC to pack it in.

In February 2019, a photo surfaced on social media suggesting that Williams has also returned to AC/DC and will appear on the rumored comeback album which is expected to be released in the coming months.