British "rock royalty" have rallied to help a highly respected American guitarist who is struggling financially after suffering a stroke, reports BBC.com.

Sir Paul McCartney, Eric Clapton, Jeff Lynne and members of Led Zeppelin, The Who, Black Sabbath, Pink Floyd are among 23 stars to sign a guitar to be sold at auction. Money raised will help Jerry Donahue, who played with the folk-rock bands Fairport Convention and Fotheringay.

The guitar - a signature Jerry Donahue Telecaster - is due to go under the hammer on December 11 in Wiltshire, UK, and is expected to sell for in the region of between £10,000 and £20,000.

Donahue suffered a severe stroke in 2016 and has not been able to play guitar since. Dave Pegg, bass player with Fairport Convention and one of the leaders of the fundraising drive, said the stars had come together out of "respect for Jerry".

"They recognize he's one of the greatest guitarists in the world with a unique style," he said.

Read more at BBC.com.




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Kvaen, the melodic pagan black metal solo project from J. Björnfot, will release a new album, The Funeral Pyre, on February 28th via Black Lion Records. The first single from the album, "Yee Naaldlooshii", is streaming below.

Pre-sale for The Funeral Pyre will begin on December 1st. Stay tuned for details.

For information and updates on Kvaen go to the official Facebook page here.




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Eyehategod vocalist Mike IX Williams was recently interviewed on The Void With Christina. During their chat, which can be seen below, Mike talks about EHG's long-awaited next album, their new drummer, why Hurricane Katrina changed everything, his gratitude for the fans that saved his life, his favourite memories of late drummer Joey LaCaze, the band's notorious reputation and lots more.

When asked about the follow-up to 2014's self-titled Eyehategod album, Mike revealed that the music "is recorded. I just have to do vocals on it. We've been on tour so much. I was supposed to do it a few months ago, but something happened and things fell apart with that... So, I'm going to try and get it done. We're taking a few months off after this thing; after Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand, South Korea. But yeah, as soon as all that's done, I'm going to take some time off, and there's a studio... I know where I'm going to go."

Williams elaborated further, "I've got so many words... I write all the time. They're either on my phone, or pieces of paper, or napkins. You just throw it together... it comes to you. I don't write lyrics for a certain song; there's no narrative. It's not like I'm telling a story. It's just words that sound good to me."

Eyehategod's remaining 2019 tour dates are as listed:

November
27 - Revolver - Taipei, Taiwan
28 - We Are Louder Fest at Hanoi Rock City - Tay Ho, Vietnam
29 - De Commune - Bangkok, Thailand
30 - GBN Live House - Seoul, South Korea
 
December
1 - One Two Three Block - Mandaluyong, Philippines
27 - Tipitina's - New Orleans, LA

Looking ahead to 2020, UK grindcore pioneers, Napalm Death, who are also currently working on a new studio album, have announced an extended European headline tour in February and March. Support is coming from Eyehategod, Misery Index, Rotten Sound, and Bat.

Dates:

February
7 - Oberhausen, Germany - Kulttempel
8 - Hamburg, Germany - Gruenspan
11 - Vienna, Austria - Arena
12 - Prague, Czech Republic - Roxy
13 - Leipzig, Germany - Werk 2
14 - Berlin, Germany - Astra
16 - Antwerp, Belgium - Trix
18 - Bournemouth, UK - The Old Fire Station
19 - Cardiff, Wales - Tramshed
20 - Birmingham, UK - O2 Institute
21 - Glasgow, UK - Slay
23 - London, UK - The Electric Ballroom
25 - Haarlem, Netherlands - Patronaat
26 - Saarbrücken, Germany - Garage
27 - Lyon, France - Ninkasi Kao
28 - Nantes, France - Warehouse
29 - Toulouse, France - Metronum

March
1 - Biarritz, France - Atabal
3 - Paris, France - La Machine du Moulin Rouge
4 - Stuttgart, Germany - Im Wizemann
5 - Lindau, Germany - Club Vaudeville
6 - Munich, Germany - Backstage
7 - Zürich, Switzerland - Meh Suff! Winter Fest
8 - Cologne, Germany - Essigfabrik

 




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Frontiers Music Srl continues to expand their metal roster with the announcement of the signing of Rising Steel, a new heavy metal band from Grenoble, France. The quintet delivers a “not so” classical heavy metal sound with their influences coming mainly from the 80’s NWOBHM, hard rock, and thrash metal scenes. Solid and powerful metal music, the band is inspired by the legacies of legends like Judas Priest and Iron Maiden and is recommended for fans with diverse metal palates who like bands ranging from early Metallica, Accept, Saxon, Grand Magus, Nevermore, Slayer and beyond.

After their Warlord EP (2014) and full-length Return Of The Warlord (2016), the band shared stages with acts like Jaded Heart, Sister Sin, Nightmare, ADX, Nashville Pussy, Annihilator, and more, which garnered them more exposure to a larger international audience. After three years of gigging and writing new material, the band is now ready to kick ass with their next album, Fight Them All, which is due for release on Frontiers Records in spring 2020.

"We gave our best to keep our influences in this recording, keeping the true heavy metal spirit, but this time we tried our best to strengthen our metal sound with darker influences and go a bit beyond the classic boundaries of this style. This new album is a big step forward for the band, and signing with the Frontiers label is, for us, a true recognition. A dream-come-true story to be continued soon!"

With the new album, the Steels headed to Sweden under the direction of Rickard Bengsston and his associate Staffan Karlsson to give the music an approach closer to the unique and varied Swedish metal sounds (ie., Arch Enemy, Shining, Spiritual Beggars, Grand Magus). For mastering, the band chose to work with Mika Jussila at Finnvox studios in Finland.

If you are looking for an explosive riffing, crushing Swedish sound, then just take a listen to Rising Steel's upcoming record. Lookout for more news soon! In the meantime, if you'd like to familiarize yourself with the band, check out the official videos for "Warlord" and "Dead Or Alive", below.




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Santa Barbara, CA based heavy rock band Until The Storm has released the official music video for their debut single, "Roads To The Lost".

The video for “Roads To The Lost” was directed by Until The Storm singer Sado Rabaudi. The video itself showcases the technology of blending a series of ultra short throw projectors inside of a large, warehouse sized space to create a unique environment of visualizations and color patterns. "Roads To The Lost" was mixed by Mike Plotnikoff (In Flames, Fear Factory, Van Halen) and mastered by Niels Nielson (Ghost, Starset).

"'Roads To Lhe Lost' is about the search back to past identities, lost moments in time and the person that we used to be," says Until The Storm.

Joining vocalist / guitarist Sado Rabaudi in Until The Storm are guitarist Stacy McCullar, drummer Greg Carrillo, and bassist Eric Lamb. For further details, visit Until The Storm on Facebook.

 




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BEHEMOTH frontman Adam "Nergal" Darski has revealed how he ended up joining SLAYER on stage during the latter band's concert this past June at Arena Gliwice in Gliwice, Poland to sing the SLAYER classic "Evil Has No Boundaries". Speaking during Zippo Encore's "Dudes Talking S#*t In A Truck" segment that was filmed several days later at the U.K.'s Download festival, Nergal recalled (see video below): "It really started with Baby Nergal back in — I don't know — 30 years ago or something, when I was listening to that song. Basically, my whole [love for] SLAYER started with that song, and I loved it from the very start. As everyone, maybe you get the same — [people] ask you, 'What's your favorite SLAYER moment?' The first is your sentimental trip. It's not, like, automatically you say 'Reign In Blood'. Is it? So it started with 'Evil Has No Boundaries' with me, when I was this little kid just rocking to that song in front of the mirror. And then I brought it up when we were touring in the U.S. [with SLAYER]. We were just having our Jäger meeting after the show with Kerry [King, SLAYER guitarist] and Gary [Holt, SLAYER guitarist]. I was, like, 'Yeah, I love that song.' I love most of their catalog, but this one just does the trick to me. And every day, they would do this official soundcheck for, like, 20-30 people, VIPs. And I think I just gave them the idea that maybe they should do it. And Kerry was, like, 'Yeah. Let's do it.' He's a very straight-up guy. He said, 'Yeah, we're gonna do it.' Which I took as just courtesy [response]. So, [I didn't think it was] happening. But at least my heart was, like, 'Oh, cool.' And then, two weeks later, they were, like, 'So, when are we doing it?' And I was, like, 'Oh, shit. They were real about it.' And Gary said, 'I know the song.' And Kerry was, like, far away, 'I know it too.' And I'm, like, 'Tomorrow?' 'Tomorrow it shall be.'"

He continued: "So, I went out. It was just a soundcheck — official soundcheck — with the band jamming and 20 people in the crowd. I [had] more stage fright and [was more] paralyzed and just so excited than for the whole tour, with all our shows together — if you just sum it up together. It was, like, 'Wow!' Then we repeated it again during some other soundcheck later, so we did it twice. Nd then I remember, when we got that Polish show [with SLAYER], I approached Kerry in Australia. I was, like, 'Why don't we do it within a SLAYER set?' And he goes, like, 'Oh, shit. I have to learn it again.' But then he goes… Because he really loved my anti-Pope hate, he goes, like, 'We'll do it if you'll be wearing that.' And then I immediately answered, 'Of course.' But, of course, I wouldn't, because it wouldn't work for SLAYER. But I really wanted to do it, so I just promised, 'Yeah, of course. Anything you want, we'll do it.' So we just [stuck] to that. And then they started their tour, and I checked the setlist, and 'Evil Has No Boundaries' is in the setlist."

Last year, Nergal said that he was thrilled to support SLAYER during the band's farewell tour.

"It makes me sad to see SLAYER go," he said. "It was a huge honor to be part of it. It was amazing on one hand; on the other, it was pretty sad. I just can't imagine a world without SLAYER. I can imagine a world without God, but I can't imagine a world without SLAYER."

He continued: "Things change. People come and people go and we better get used to the idea that BLACK SABBATH is no more, that IRON MAIDEN are counting down their days as well. All the big bands we look up to will go sooner or later — probably sooner, because they're all in their 50s or 60s.

"I've just seen THE ROLLING STONES. Mick Jagger is over 70 and he's amazing, but we're just human, we are very fragile and shit happens.

He added: "I just want to see as much of my favorite music as I can before it's gone."

BEHEMOTH is continuing to tour in support of its latest album, "I Loved You At Your Darkest", which was released in October 2018 via Metal Blade Records in North America and Nuclear Blast in Europe.

Guitarist Ron "Bumblefoot" Thal recently guested on Sonic Perspectives and discussed the forthcoming Sons Of Apollo record, as well as joining Asia as touring singer/guitarist earlier this year. Check out the audio interview below.

Bumblefoot: "The first album, Derek and I would make all these riffs that we would throw into the hat, and then we had maybe 11 days in the studio where we would put them all together and expand on the ideas and turn it into songs. And Billy (Sheehan / bass) was there for that as well once he got off tour. Then Jeff (Scott Soto /vocals) would turn all these crazy prog monstrosities into these palatable, beautiful songs, which is what Jeff does. He's just magic. And the same thing with us now. Now we did the same thing where me and Derek would come up with all these crazy ideas and just throw them into the hat and then me, Derek and Mike (Portnoy / drums) got together. This time we only had eight days, and we just busted out everything we could in eight days and there was a little more of a chance after that where I could take all my guitar parts and work on them at my studio and Derek at his, and that was just the only way we could pull it off this year.

Sons Of Apollo - former Dream Theater members Mike Portnoy and Derek Sherinian, Ron "Bumblefoot" Thal (ex-Guns N’ Roses), Billy Sheehan (The Winery Dogs, Mr. Big, David Lee Roth) and Jeff Scott Soto (ex-Journey, ex-Yngwie Malmsteen's Rising Force) - are ready to ring in the new decade with a sonic boom with their second studio album, appropriately titled, MMXX (pronounced: 20/20).

Produced by The Del Fuvio Brothers (Portnoy and Sherinian), MMXX will be released on January 17 via InsideOutMusic/Sony as a standard CD package, Limited Edition 2 CD package (which includes instrumental mixes and a cappella excerpts), 2 LP + CD package, and on all digital formats. Pre-order here. Digital pre-orders come with an instant download of the album’s first single, “Goodbye Divinity”. A video for the song can be seen below:

“Stylistically, we have followed the same path as the debut,” outlines drummer Mike Portnoy. “But we feel that it has come out stronger, simply because we know one another better. Psychotic Symphony was the first time the five of us had worked together, so there was bound to be an air of experimentation happening. Now, we can draw on having the experience not only of recording that album, but also of touring together a lot. And now there is clearly a lot more obvious chemistry going on.”

“We did 83 shows on the last tour,” adds keyboardist Derek Sherinian. “And it was so worthwhile, because we came out of it with a stronger bond, and that is certainly reflected in what we wrote.”

The writing process began at the start of the year, as Portnoy, Sherinian and guitarist Ron “Bumblefoot” Thal got together. “The three of us were at my home studio in Pennsylvania,” explains Portnoy. “And it took about three weeks to get all the music written. That was a very smooth process. The last time, it certainly must have felt a little weird for Bumblefoot to be writing with Derek and me, because we were strangers to him. Now, we know one another better and that helped things push along.”

“Because we all have our home studios, it meant everyone could record there as and when they had opportunity,” continues Sherinian. “We all had the luxury of being able to take our time to get all the parts done, which was a huge help in the way the album's come out. I suppose in all, it took about eight months to record everything.”

The lyrics were written by Soto, who also came up with the melody lines with input from Sherinian. “While Jeff was left to come up with the words on his own, as the melody lines are part of the music, it made sense for me to be involved with that part,” says the keyboard player.

There are eight tracks on MMXX, with variations in length totalling 60 minutes. “The final song is 'New World Today, which is 16 minutes long,” says Portnoy. “This one has elements similar to 'Opus Maximus' and 'Labyrinth' on the previous album. It has some insane, brilliant instrumental moments, which I am sure the fans will love.”

“We wanted to do something epic here, as we did with 'Opus Maximus' last time around,” adds Sherinian. “You have to remember that Mike and I come from Dream Theater, where we never bothered about how long a song was. So, for us doing a 16 minute track is not a problem.”

The album title was inspired by a simple chronological fact. “This will be released in mid-January 2020,” says Portnoy. “That means it will be one of the first releases in what is a new decade. So I came up with the idea of calling it '2020,’ except having it written in the Latin form of 'MMXX'.” And the album’s artwork has been created by Thomas Ewerhard (who was responsible for the cover design of Psychotic Symphony), which inevitably reflects the title. As Portnoy explains, “For the first record, we had a mythological feel. This time around though, there's a much more futuristic style to what we've got. It has a very 21st century appeal. And the band crest is more polished, cleaned up and a lot more modern than last time, when it had an old fashioned look.”

“Each member of this band has their own signature sound on their instrument,” adds Sherinian. “And when you put all of this together what you get is a wonderful five-headed beast. It makes this a sonically special band, which is definitely what comes across on MMXX. You can hear odd time signatures and amazingly crazy performances here. Overall, we've been satisfyingly more adventurous this time than we were before, and I know people are sure to love what we've done.”

MMXX tracklisting:

"Goodbye Divinity"
"Wither To Black"
"Asphyxiation"
"Desolate July"
"King Of Delusion"
"Fall To Ascend"
"Resurrection Day"
"New World Today"

Teaser:

 

In touring news, the band’s headlining MMXX World Tour will launch January 24 in Pomona, CA and will take them around the world throughout the new year. Tickets are on sale now.

Dates:

January
24 - Pomona, CA - The Glass House
25 - Los Angeles, CA - The Roxy
26 - San Francisco, CA - The Fillmore
28 - Salt Lake City, UT - The State Room
29 - Denver, CO - The Oriental Theater
31 - St. Charles, IL - Arcada Theater

February
1 - Battle Creek, MI - The Music Factory
2 - Toronto, ON - Mod Club
3 - Montreal, QC - Corona Theater
5 - Boston, MA - Paradise Rock Club
6 - New York, NY - Gramercy Theater
7 - Jim Thorpe, PA - Penn’s Peak
8 - Englewood, NJ - Bergen PAC
29 - Germany - TBA

March
2 - Drammen, Norway - Union Scene
3 - Gothenburg, Sweden - Traedgarn
5 - Kyiv, Ukraine - N.A.U Theatre
7 - Moscow, Russia - RED
8 - St Petersburg, Russia - Aurora
10 - Pratteln, Switzerland - Z7
11 - Milan, Italy - Live Club
13 - Bilbao, Spain - Santana 27
14 - Barcelona, Spain - Razzmatazz 2
15 - Madrid, Spain - La Riviera
17 - France - TBA
18 - France - TBA
19 - London, UK - Islington Assembly Hall
20 - Eindhoven, Netherlands - Prognosis Festival
22 - Show Brno, Czech Republic - Sono
24 - Kosice, Slovakia - Colosseum
25 - Budapest, Hungary - Barba Negra

(Photo - Hristo Shindov)




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Norwegian progressive black avantgardists ENSLAVED have re-signed with Nuclear Blast, renewing a collaboration that has been ongoing for around ten years and two years ago produced the universally lauded album "E".

Band founding member and guitarist Ivar Bjørnson stated about the re-signing: "It is with great pleasure we re-sign our record deal with Nuclear Blast worldwide! We have been working together for more or less a decade, and it has been an individed positive experience. They have both the heart to grasp our musical visions and the business muscles to spread them out into the world. When you add personal friendships with the wonderful people in America, U.K. and Germany, it is simply an ideal situation for us to be in. Onwards, forwards and in all directions!"

To mark the occasion, ENSLAVED presents a stunning new music video filled with atmospheric imaginery for their interpretation of "What Else Is There" by Norwegian electropop band RÖYSKOPP. The song is featured as a bonus track on the digipack CD and digital version of "E".

Watch and listen below.

An album full of revelatory moments, spine-tingling dynamics and exquisite but alien atmospheres, "E" showcased a refreshed ENSLAVED lineup via songs that took the band into unprecedented territory. From the grandiose, weather-beaten riff-scapes of 11-minute opener "Storm Son To The Wild", psychedelic frontier squall of "Sacred Horse" and the muscular, sax-powered shoegaze barrage of monstrous closer "Hiindsiight", it was both a typically bold and fearless statement from this most inventive of modern metal bands and a thrilling sideways step that harnessed the spirit of old and set it loose in a whirlwind of imagination. Conceptually, too, ENSLAVED made giant forward strides.

Alex Haber of Heavy New York conducted an interview with frontwoman Johanna Sadonis of heavy rockers LUCIFER prior to the band's March 27 concert at Saint Vitus in Brooklyn, New York. You can watch the entire chat below. A few excerpts follow (transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET).

On whether their recent "Lucifer II" studio album is the natural follow-up to their 2015 "Lucifer I" debut:

Johanna: "It's a continuation. Of course, there was a change in lineup between the first and second album, so it is a whole different animal, but I think when you see us live, we play stuff from the first and the second album, it blends in together. It ends up being the same beast, but with a little bit of a twist in the story."

On whether LUCIFER's new band members (including multi-instrumentalist Nicke Andersson of ENTOMBED and THE HELLACOPTERS fame) helped her continue in the vein of their first album:

Johanna: "No, because the original idea for LUCIFER was to actually sound way more than LUCIFER sounds now. When I was looking for a co-writing partner and [ex-CATHEDRAL guitarist] Gaz Jennings joined the band for the first album, it turned out way more doom than I had maybe planned originally for, which was great. I'm very proud of the first album; I love it. But when Gaz left, I thought that's the perfect opportunity to go back to that first initial thought for me of LUCIFER, which is a heavy rock-based band and Nicke, who I'm writing all the songs with since the second album, agreed with that. I don't think when the third album is recorded that the leap will be as big as between as the first two."

On whether she needs to hear music before coming up with a lyrical concept:

Johanna: "Yeah, but there's so many different approaches and we had all kind of cases. Often, I scribble down words that come to my head and I put them away and sometimes the music itself brings something, like I'm demoing vocals by myself and I'm trying to think, 'Okay, what does this feel like, this song?' Something comes out. I have no idea where from, but the lyrics start to already form with the first initial demoing. Sometimes, I draw a blank, then I have to go back to my notes: 'Okay, this one could be about death as well.' [Laughs] There's so many different ways to approach the music. Also with the songwriting, we do it so many different ways. Sometimes Nicke will talk about, 'Okay, we could do something that sounds like URIAH HEEP 'Look At Yourself'.' Then we sit down and it turns into something different. Usually he comes with the music, he writes some riffs and so on, then I sit down and I write the lyrics and the vocal melody, but we've had it the other way around, too. There's two songs on the new album where I gave Nicke a verse and a chorus and he wrote the music around it."

On whether her lyrics are inward or outward-looking:

Johanna: "No, they always are from my inside. They are actually all very personal, but I do shroud them in metaphors. Sometimes, I do tip my hat to something, like on 'California Son', you have the 'Born To Be Wild' and the 'Riders On The Storm', but these are purposely little hints to things that I like. But, generally, they're all from within."

On whether she's trying to leave her lyrics open to interpretation or help listeners see things from a similar point of view:

Johanna: "Both. I mean, I like when lyrics are a little bit more vague, so you can kind of make your own sense of it. But I also like songs when I listen to as a music fan, where it's a story that touches me or that I can relate to somehow."

On describing LUCIFER's sound:

Johanna: "It's always heavy rock. I think that's the basic concept. The first album, of course, had a lot of doom in it. The second album has that a little bit, but not so much. I would say it's a heavy rock band. What I don't understand is when we somehow get the tag 'stoner', because that has never had anything to do with LUCIFER. I just think it's really funny. I actually hate that word. [Laughs] I'm sorry. Nothing against people who dig that. I don't know — it's such a generalization. There's a difference between doom and stoner stuff. It seems like nowadays everything gets thrown into the same box."

"Lucifer II" was recorded at the Honk Palace in Stockholm. It was mixed by Ola Ersfjord (DEAD LORD, TRIBULATION, PRIMORDIAL) at Cuervo Recording Service in Madrid.

Although SAVATAGE has played just one official concert — a co-headlining appearance at the 2015 edition of Germany's Wacken Open Air festival — since the end of its world tour in support of 2001's Poets & Madmen", several of the group's songs have been prominently featured over the years in live performances by TRANS-SIBERIAN ORCHESTRA, whose two touring troupes feature a number of SAVATAGE alumni.

This year's TSO tour — which kicked off yesterday (November 13) — is no exception. In addition to "Christmas Eve (Sarajevo 12/24)" — the 1995 SAVATAGE song that was re-released the following year under the TSO moniker — the band is once again performing "Believe", the closing track to SAVATAGE's 1991 album "Streets: A Rock Opera". TSO has performed the song in the past and even re-recorded it for the 2009 double album "Night Castle", but yesterday's performances of the song were TSO's first since it shared the stage with SAVATAGE at Wacken.

Fan-filmed footage of "TSO East" — which features onetime SAVATAGE bandmates Chris Caffery (guitar) and Jeff Plate (drums) — performing "Believe" with vocalist Robin Borneman can be seen below, as can footage of "TSO West" (which includes longtime SAVATAGE bassist Johnny Lee Middleton and mid-to-late-'90s lead guitarist Al Pitrelli) playing the song with vocalist Nate Amor.

In addition to members of SAVATAGE, TSO's touring troupes also include a number of other notable hard rock and metal musicians, including guitarist Joel Hoekstra (WHITESNAKE), vocalist Russell Allen (SYMPHONY X), vocalist Dino Jelusic (ANIMAL DRIVE, DIRTY SHIRLEY), drummer Blas Elias (SLAUGHTER) and vocalist Jeff Scott Soto (SONS OF APOLLO, SOTO).

This year's TSO tour — during which the band is expected to play before more than one million fans — sees the group performing its triple-platinum 1996 debut album, "Christmas Eve And Other Stories", for the first time since 2011.

For a list of their remaining tour dates, visit www.trans-siberian.com.

GHOST mastermind Tobias Forge will be awarded the prestigious STIM Platinum Guitar this year.

STIM, the Swedish performing rights society, protects the interests of authors and publishers of music in Sweden.

The Platinum Guitar has been awarded since 2004 to authors who have experienced exceptional success over the year.

Forge will receive the award for "his exceptional success as a music creator."

"Artistry usually involves performing works on stage," Tobias said in a statement. "But since the songwriting is ultimately the very essence of the business, such a fine award is fantastically meaningful to get as a songwriting artist."

Previous STIM award winners include Veronica Maggio, Avicii, Max Martin and Robyn.

GHOST spent the past year and a half touring in support of its latest album, "Prequelle", which was produced by Tom Dalgety and originally released in on June 1, 2018. The album was nominated for a Grammy Award as "Best Rock Album", and for Sweden's Grammis award as "Best Rock/Metal Record Of The Year", and Dalgety received a Grammy nomination as "Producer Of The Year." Both Revolver and Kerrang! magazines named "Prequelle" the best album of 2018, and the album produced three Top 10 singles — "Rats", "Dance Macabre" (both of which went to No. 1 at Rock Radio) and "Faith". To date, "Prequelle" has accumulated some 250 million streams globally.

German metal queen Doro Pesch was presented with the "Angel Of Rock" award at the Hard Rock Hell festival in Great Yarmouth, U.K. on Saturday, The winner was decided in a fan vote for the best female rock singer in the world, and an incredible 77.8% of all participants voted for Doro. The award was handed to Doro onstage in front of a cheering audience.

Doro stated: "What a very special honor to receive an award in this country that I've felt so deeply connected with since my beginnings."

Doro was the first frontwoman to sing at the legendary Monsters Of Rock festival in 1996 at Castle Donington. Many of her favorite bands hail from the U.K., some of of which she has toured with, including JUDAS PRIEST, SAXON and MOTÖRHEAD.

You can watch a video of Doro accepting the award below.

The "Angel Of Rock" award is the fifth award Doro has received this decade. She was previously presented with the "Legends Award" at the Metal Hammer Golden Gods Awards in London in 2013; the Metal Hammer "Legend Award" in Berlin in 2013; the "Metal Goddess Legends Award" in Las Vegas in 2016; and the "Hall Of Heavy Metal History" award at Wacken Open Air in Germany.

Doro's successful "Forever Warriors, Forever United" tour will end on November 24, but will continue in March 2020.

Doro's latest album, "Forever Warriors, Forever United", was released in August 2018. The long-awaited follow-up to 2012's "Raise Your Fist" was the German singer's first release since 2016's "Love's Gone To Hell" single.

Today, November 14, MINISTRY marks another important milestone with the 30th anniversary of revolutionary album "The Mind Is A Terrible Thing To Taste". Released in 1989 and featuring hit singles "Thieves", "Burning Inside" and "So What", the record further cemented MINISTRY and Jourgensen as music innovators ahead of their time and produced a voluminous, aggressive sound that became a trademark for the industrial music genre.

To celebrate, MINISTRY has released a 30-second montage video, which can be seen below.

As well, the MINISTRY store offers a special "Mind Is A Terrible Thing To Taste" anniversary collection, available here.

MINISTRY has added several of the songs from "The Mind Is A Terrible Thing To Taste" to its latest tour, joining SLAYER on the thrash metal band’s final dates of its farewell world tour. In addition, MINISTRY has several headlining dates on the trek.

Al Jourgensen also has an upcoming one-night-only appearance to celebrate the release of the new fully authorized visual history book "Ministry: Prescripture". Due to overwhelming fan demand, the event will now be held at a bigger space, Morgan's On Fulton in Chicago's West Loop neighborhood, on Friday, December 13.

Jourgensen will be signing books alongside author and designer Aaron Tanner. The event is open to the public and will begin at 6 p.m. After the signing, there will be an afterparty with DJ Scary Lady Sarah spinning industrial, gothic and new wave tracks from 8pm to midnight.

Tickets are free but attendees must register here.

Only 2,000 copies will be printed of "Ministry: Prescripture". The limited-edition book includes 248 pages of anecdotes from MINISTRY's music contemporaries plus rare and unseen photos, artwork and other ephemera that spans MINISTRY's entire career. As well, a special seven-inch of the MINISTRY classic "(Every Day Is) Halloween" featuring Dave Navarro is included with the purchase of the deluxe edition of "Ministry: Prescripture". There will be copies available for purchase at the December 13 event, and out-of-town fans can also purchase copies at this link.

Chicago's Kuma's Corner is also joining in on the celebration at their nearby West Loop location by re-launching the infamous Ministry burger during the week of December 9-13. The 10-oz. beef patty (or choice of protein) is topped with bacon fat aioli, applewood smoked bacon, fried smoked gouda cheese, caramelized vegetable medley, red wine gravy and fresh thyme.

Steel Mountain Crossing, featuring former Quiet Riot vocalist Mark Huff, have released their new album, Gora Zima, via Dragon City Demo. Get the album here.

Tracklisting:

"Last Rites"
"Let Go"
"Forever"
"Blood Red Moon"
"Wicked Thy Wizard"
"The Serpent And The Sword"
"Last Call Sally"
"Starlight"

"Last Rites" video:




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Legendary vocalist, Graham Bonnet, will be inducted, and will perform at the 2020 Metal Hall Of Fame Gala. The Gala takes place on Wednesday, January 15, 2020 at the Marriott Delta Garden Grove in Anaheim, CA.

Geoff Tate, Don Dokken, Stephen Pearcy, and Joe Satriani, will be Inducted along with Bonnet at the 2020 Metal Hall Of Fame Gala. Additional Inductions and performances by hard rock and heavy metal Legends, an All-Star Jam, and other surprises will be announced over the next few weeks.

Graham Bonnet who replaced Ronnie James Dio in Rainbow, has a legendary career involving some of the most well known guitarists in rock. From Ritchie Blackmore’s Rainbow to Michael Schenker, and with his own band Alcatrazz, which established Yngwie Malmsteen and Steve Vai.

The 2020 Metal Hall Of Fame Gala will be hosted by iconic television and radio personality Eddie Trunk, and co-hosted by Whiskey A GoGo Ultimate Jam Night / Almost Fama Show Host, Jes Fama.

Proceeds from the Gala go to The Non-Profit organization D.A.D. (Drums and Disabilities). D.A.D. brings free music programs and therapy services to disabled children and wounded veterans in various hospitals and community centers throughout the United States.

Tickets:

$45.00 at the Door / $35.00 in Advance

Pre-order here.

Pat Gesualdo, Metal Hall Of Fame Founder/CEO, says, “The 2020 Metal Hall Of Fame Gala is going to be amazing!! As always, there will be numerous hard rock and heavy metal idols, and many exciting performances!!"

Previous Metal Hall Of Fame Inductees include Judas Priest, Ronnie James Dio, Randy Rhoads, Bill Ward, Scorpions, Motörhead, and Doro Pesch, among other hard rock and heavy metal icons.




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Volbeat have released a new Rewind, Replay, Rebound tour recap video. Says the band: "Here’s a recap from that memorable night in Berlin!"

The itinerary for Volbeat’s Rewind, Replay, Rebound World Tour can be found at this location.

Volbeat recently debuted their new music video for “Die To Live”, directed by Adam Rothlein at Ghost Atomic Pictures and taped at Futura Studio in Roslindale, MA. The song and video both feature appearances by Clutch’s lead singer Neil Fallon, as well as Raynier Jacob Jacildo and Doug Corcoran of JD McPherson’s band. The video, as well as behind-the-scenes footage, can be seen below:

The band's seventh studio album Rewind, Replay, Rebound is out now.

The album was produced by long-time collaborator Jacob Hansen and co-produced by Rob Caggiano and Michael Poulsen. This marks the first studio album with Kaspar Boye Larsen on bass. Ultimately, Volbeat have not lost their passion to create and progress. It’s that which keeps them hungry - and musically honest on the new album.

"Pelvis On Fire":

“Cheapside Sloggers” video:

"Last Day Under The Sun" video:

"Leviathan" video:

"Parasite" lyric video:




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Icon Coins has introduced the officially licensed Eric Carr commemorative collectors coin.

Carr, KISS drummer from 1980 until his untimely passing in 1991, contributed his talent to the bands many gold and platinum albums during his tenure, and can be heard on the band's many hit songs from the 1980s, including "Lick It Up", "Heaven's On Fire", "Crazy Nights", "Tears Are Falling" and "Forever", to name a few. In addition to his musical contributions, Carr was equally known for his inviting personality and genuine love for the fans. From the time he joined the band to this very day, Carr remains one of the most beloved members of the KISS family.

Each Eric Carr commemorative collectors coin is die struck in heavy solid brass with an antique silver finish. The front design features a beautiful sketch portrait of Eric Carr while the back design features his name, birth and passing years, Fox and Chikara icons representing his musical personas, over a shattered glass background reminiscent of the "Crazy Nights" album cover.

Each coin will also include an exclusive backstage-pass-style laminate that will act as the coins certificate of authenticity featuring design elements from the coins themselves as well as an Eric Carr mini-bio.

This addition to the Icon Coins family is limited to 100 coins minted.

Icon Coins designer Ralph Asbury has a long history when it comes to keeping the memory of Eric Carr alive. It started in the late 1990s with an action figure. At the time, McFarlane Toys had released the first set of official KISS action figures as KISS was back on top of the world with the reunion tour. To help fans complete the set, Ralph created one of the earliest custom-made Eric Carr action figures by re-purposing the Paul Stanley figure to represent the Fox character. (One of these custom creations can be seen on the Eric Carr documentary "The Eric Carr Story: Inside The Tale Of The Fox".) This led to an introduction to Eric's family and the next effort to honor The Fox…

In 2000, Eric Carr tribute album "Prophecy" was released. This project was a collection of songs written and performed by Ralph (under the name Ralph E. Carle) and dedicated to Eric Carr. The packaging was designed as a fantasy version of the 1978 KISS solo albums featuring Ralph on the cover as a fictional KISS character presented as a portrait similar to the existing albums. As the bandmembers dedicated their solo albums to the other members, "Prophecy" was dedicated to Eric. The album opens with a rare radio ID the was recorded prior to Eric's passing in 1991. Also included on the album are two different versions of the song "Your Turn To Cry", as pre-KISS song recorded by Eric Carr with his teenage band THE CELLARMEN. The first version on the album is a cover version of the song, and the second version is the original recording featuring Eric on drums and vocals. "Prophecy" was well received by KISS and Eric Carr fans alike. Ralph appeared at KISS Expos around the U.S. and Canada performing the songs and meeting fans of The Fox.

In 2011, "Eric Carr: Unfinished Business" was released. This project featured various artists and friends of Eric Carr completing demos and incomplete songs left behind by Carr. Ralph Asbury was called on to design the packaging CD as well as coordinating some of the guest musicians who contributed to the album, including A.J. Pero of TWISTED SISTER and Kee Marcello of EUROPE.

During today's (Monday, November 25) episode of her daytime TV talk show "The Talk", Sharon Osbourne dished on husband Ozzy's performance with Post Malone and Travis Scott at last night's American Music Awards.

The BLACK SABBATH singer, who has spent much of 2019 recovering from health issues and surgeries, returned to the stage for a flame-filled performance of "Take What You Want", from Post Malone's latest album, "Hollywood's Bleeding".

"Obviously, it's the American Music Awards, so it's all pop music and pretty little girls coming on one after the other with their little dances," Sharon said. "And then suddenly there's ugly — a lot of guys get up there. And they nailed it. There was more pyro than I've ever seen. And then I'm, like, 'Oh god, Ozzy. Please don't move. Everything has happened to you except set on fire. Please don't move. Don't move.' And then, of course, he's moving around, and I'm going, 'Oh god, please. Did we put hair spray on him?' And then, at the end of it, [Andrew] Watt, the guitar player, goes boom with his guitar, and I'm, like, 'Yes!'" Sharon added: "You know what? To be able to get up with Post and Travis Scott, it was just amazing."

Three days before his American Music Awards appearance, Ozzy joined Post Malone onstage at a show at the Forum in Los Angeles to perform the same song. The performance marked the first time Ozzy stepped on stage since a New Year's Eve performance nearly a year ago.

"Take What You Want", which debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 chart at No. 8, marked Osbourne's first Hot 100 top 10 in over 30 years, as the BLACK SABBATH singer broke the record for the most time between top 10s in the chart's 61-year history.

One of Post's producers, Watt connected with Osbourne after meeting Ozzy's daughter Kelly at a friend's party and pitching her on the idea of Post and Ozzy collaborating together.

DEF LEPPARD guitarist Vivian Campbell has revealed in a new interview with the "Pat's Soundbytes Unplugged" podcast that his LAST IN LINE side project is seeking a new record label home after issuing two albums through Italy's Frontiers Music Srl.

"We are gonna be looking for a new record label, so that's an exciting thing for us," he said (hear audio below). "We've done a couple of records with Frontiers, and we did not renew our contract with them. So we're in negotiations with some major players, so that will be exciting for us — to do a new record and be on a new label and hopefully get more of a global reach. It's all part and parcel of hard work. We've been working very, very hard for the last few years with LAST IN LINE, and it'll be nice to actually take it to the next level."

Asked if LAST IN LINE has considered forming its own record label to release the band's future recordings and make sure the group is compensated properly, Vivian said: "It's not about the money. I mean, there's not a lot of money in records — even for a band like DEF LEPPARD. There's very, very few people who sell a lot of records nowadays. Maybe if you're Adele or someone like that. It's more about getting music to people's ears. That's the hardest part — distributing music and promoting music. And that's the reason to go with an established label.

"In large part, when you're a musician, the music itself is a reward," he continued. "You create something beautiful, and if it means something to people and it resonates with people, then you've done your job.

"We're in a very enterainment-heavy age, with three million television channels and the Internet and everyone's got a smartphone. Everyone kind of focuses on what is of interest to them, and the hardest thing is getting new music to people's ears and making people aware of it and actually getting your music to the kind of people who would wanna hear it. And that's promotion. It can be difficult, it can be challenging, and it's a constantly changing environment. New platforms come along every year or two, and you've gotta kind of adapt. The one thing that will never change is live music. I'm happy to say that's one thing that — you can't package it."

According to Campbell, LAST IN LINE has already composed most of the music that will appear on the band's third album, which, he says, will "expand" on the material that was included on this year's "II" effort.

"I think we're getting very ambitious with our writing, as we did on the 'II' album over the first album, which was 'Heavy Crown', with [late LAST IN LINE bassist] Jimmy [Bain]. Ever since Phil's [Soussan, Jimmy's replacement] been in the band, I think we're stretching more. We're taking some chances; we're experimenting on some stuff. And Andy [Freeman, vocals] is such a flexible writer that he's able to write a melody across sometimes what are very unusual musical progressions. And riffy — more intricate. So we're definitely pushing ourselves. I'd say at this point, we probably have 80 or 90 percent of the music [written] for the record. Obviously, Andy's gotta do a lot of work and write a lot of the melodies and lyrics, but he's very, very quick with that. We were hoping to start the record in January-February."

LAST IN LINE was formed in 2012, when Campbell, Bain and drummer Vinny Appice — Ronnie James Dio's co-conspirators and co-writers on the "Holy Diver", "Last In Line" and "Sacred Heart" albums — teamed up with Freeman. "Heavy Crown" was released in February 2016, landing at No. 1 on Billboard's Heatseekers chart. Initially, the release had been preceded by tragedy when Bain unexpectedly passed away at the age of 68 on January 23, 2016. LAST IN LINE, honoring what they knew would be Bain's wish to keep the band moving, brought in Soussan and committed to sustained touring in support of the album, hitting festivals, headlining clubs, and sharing the stage with metal luminaries such as SAXON and MEGADETH.

In a recent interview with Australia's Heavy magazine, STONE TEMPLE PILOTS drummer Eric Kretz shared more information about the band's follow-up to their 2018 self-titled album, the first with new vocalist Jeff Gutt. The new effort is not expected to arrive before early 2020.

"Yeah, it's an acoustic-ish record," he said (hear audio below). "I mean, it's not all acoustic. There's some electric guitars and some keyboards in there. It has strings in there and just some beautiful other instrumentation. It's something that we kind of delved on 25 years ago when we starting doing the [MTV] 'Unplugged' thing in New York. We just love being able to present songs in that genre, so we wanted to do not only just a few songs like that, but we said, 'Why don't we do a whole album so we can do a tour?' We're going to do about a three-week tour we're looking at for America. Being able to present the songs in just a different light and just try things a little different and maybe be able to play some material that we haven't been able to touch in 25 years or 20 years. Songs that I don't necessarily… songs that will be really fun to play maybe with some extra players onstage. We haven't worked it all out yet. You'll be hearing bits and pieces of the new record really soon."

Kretz then went on to discuss what Gutt has brought to STONE TEMPLE PILOTS. The 43-year-old Michigan native beat out 15,000 other hopefuls for the vacant STP singer slot after an extended search that lasted for more than a year.

"When we were auditioning singers, not only was his voice a mile wide when he first hit the first mic, but he was the only guy that every time we wrote a song on the spot, he could come up with a melody and lyrics for it," he said. "It was, like, 'Oh, man this is great!' It was very similar to what we had with [original vocalist] Scott [Weiland] in the early '90s where he could come up with ideas and start coming in with a melody right away and not say, 'Oh, I have to think about this for a few days before I even come up with a melody.' That's not the way we work. We work really fast. If someone has a riff, we all just jump in and change it sometimes, or sometimes we stick with it or turn it upside down, add some Tabasco to it and a little bit of spices and do our thing. Writing with Jeff was so important. We didn't want to do catalog. We wanted to be able to forge forward with new music. It just worked out great. I'm really happy with the 2018 self-titled and the new record. He's really, really shining on that one. He's the real deal."

STONE TEMPLE PILOTS recently completed a co-headlining North American tour with RIVAL SONS. The trek kicked off in Baltimore on September 13, with stops in Philadelphia, New York City, New Orleans and more, before wrapping up in STONE TEMPLE PILOTS' former hometown of San Diego on October 9.

Canadian rock legends TRIUMPH were inducted into Canada's Walk Of Fame during an event in Toronto on Saturday, November 23.

The 21st annual ceremony and gala took place at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre, where there was a celebration of Canadians who have achieved excellence in their respective fields on both national and international stages. The show will be broadcast in December on CTV.

STYX frontman Lawrence Gowan paid tribute to TRIUMPH by performing a medley of the band's best-known songs with a nine-piece Rock Army.

The Walk Of Fame event was held exactly a week after drummer Gil Moore, guitarist Rik Emmett, and bassist Mike Levine played together publicly at an invite-only event to approx 300 "superfans" at MetalWorks studio in Mississauga (a suburb of Toronto), Ontario, Canada. The three-song set — which was taped for the forthcoming documentary "Triumph: Lay It On The Line" — was not only TRIUMPH's first performance in 11 years, but also its first as a pure three-piece power trio in 31 years. The tracks played were "When The Lights Go Down", "Lay It On The Line" and "Magic Power".

Asked by ET Canada on the red carpet of the Walk Of Fame how it felt for TRIUMPH to perform again, Levine said (see video below): "That was just so much fun. It was a lot of hard work, because we hadn't played together as a three-piece in forever — almost. But we worked hard at it, and when the fans saw us, they just went crazy. And we played pretty good. We had a great time doing it."

Moore talked about TRIUMPH's decision to make "Lay It On The Line", explaining that "it kind of came together over time, over stages. But we really developed the narrative with the director, Sam Dunn, which was to kind of find a way to embrace the fans that had embraced us for all those years. And that became the theme of every nuance that they went down. So it was a phenomenal experience. [It was] very emotional to meet them. There was a lot of tears. There wasn't really a dry eye in the house, to be honest. It was very touching."

Asked if there are any plans for TRIUMPH to perform again in the future, Emmett said: "I think we're gonna try and do it every 11 years or so. That's the length of time it had been since we did a reunion in Sweden. And [Canadian comedian] Rick Mercer says, 'Yeah, TRIUMPH does a reunion and they do it in Sweden. That's great.' So, we did that. Then we did Oklahoma, I think, or Rocklahoma. That was in July of 2008. Now we did this thing. So, like I say, every decade or so."

Moore, Levine, and Emmett formed TRIUMPH in 1975, and their blend of heavy riff-rockers with progressive odysseys, peppered with thoughtful, inspiring lyrics and virtuosic guitar playing quickly made them a household name in Canada. Anthems like "Lay It On The Line", "Magic Power" and "Fight The Good Fight" broke them in the USA, and they amassed a legion of fiercely passionate fans. But, as a band that suddenly split at the zenith of their popularity, TRIUMPH missed out on an opportunity to say thank you to those loyal and devoted fans, a base that is still active today, three decades later.

"Triumph: Lay It On The Line" is produced by Banger Films in association with Revolver Films, Bell Media's Crave, Live Nation Productions and NBC Universal Canada. It is produced with the participation of the Rogers Documentary Fund and Slaight Communications Inc. International distribution by Round Hill Music.

Due in 2020, the film will be right at home in the Banger Films catalogue, among such esteemed rock docs as "Rush: Beyond The Lighted Stage", "Super Duper Alice Cooper", "Iron Maiden: Flight 666", and, most recently, "ZZ Top: That Little Ol' Band From Texas".

Volbeat have released a new Rewind, Replay, Rebound tour recap video. Says the band: "Danke Hamburg for having us for 2 nights! We are still smiling 😈 from how much fun we had!"

The itinerary for Volbeat’s Rewind, Replay, Rebound World Tour can be found at this location.

Volbeat recently debuted their new music video for “Die To Live”, directed by Adam Rothlein at Ghost Atomic Pictures and taped at Futura Studio in Roslindale, MA. The song and video both feature appearances by Clutch’s lead singer Neil Fallon, as well as Raynier Jacob Jacildo and Doug Corcoran of JD McPherson’s band. The video, as well as behind-the-scenes footage, can be seen below:

The band's seventh studio album Rewind, Replay, Rebound is out now.

The album was produced by long-time collaborator Jacob Hansen and co-produced by Rob Caggiano and Michael Poulsen. This marks the first studio album with Kaspar Boye Larsen on bass. Ultimately, Volbeat have not lost their passion to create and progress. It’s that which keeps them hungry - and musically honest on the new album.

"Pelvis On Fire":

“Cheapside Sloggers” video:

"Last Day Under The Sun" video:

"Leviathan" video:

"Parasite" lyric video:




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Finnish death metal band Necropsy has finished recording a 4-song EP titled Exitus, which will be released January 21st, 2020 through Xtreem Music in CD format.

The first advance single "Butcherado", shows the classic style of Necropsy - hard and overwhelming death metal with catchy riffs in the vein of Finnish bands such as Convulse, Abhorrence, and Depravity. Although, the other three songs display a remarkable change of style in the band, which for this EP have decided to try slower sounds entering purely doom realms, that you can hear in their next single due mid-December.

Tracklisting:

"Meat Ceremony"
"Fucking Dead"
"206 Motives"
"Butcherado"

 




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Australian noise makers Mental Cavity have dropped a crushing new song from their forthcoming second album Neuro Siege, due out on December 6th via Brilliant Emperor (LP), Oblivious Maximus Records (CD) and Medusa Crush Records (Tape).

Titled “Artificial Integration”, this crushing new track features Taylor Young from Nails and Twitching Tongues:

If you missed it previously, here's the title track “Neuro Siege”:

Two years following the release of their debut album Aneurysm, the four-piece group continue to grow and push further out of the shadow of their slumbering musical-brethren I Exist. Recorded in country New South Wales with renowned producer Mike Deslandes (YLVA, Pagan, Tropical Fuck Storm), Neuro Siege sees Mental Cavity continue to explore the possibilities of smashing abrasive speed-driven death metal riffing, together with tar-laden sludge passages and a clear tip of the hat to bands such as Autopsy, Tragedy, Morbid Angel and Crowbar. Pre-orders are now available at this location.

Tracklisting:

"Infiltrators"
"Neuro Siege"
"Subjected To Irritants"
"Searing Wire"
"Writhe"
"Spoiled"
"Artificial Integration"
"Dismantled"
"Corroded"
"Eradicate & Replace"
"Terra Immundus"

For further details, visit Mental Cavity on Facebook.

 




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Century Media Records has announced the signing of Nasty. With their tireless work ethic and positive attitude, the metallic hardcore powerhouse from Germany and Belgium has become an international force, playing anywhere from Europe, US, Russia, Brazil, Japan, China and Korea. They also joined in countless well-known festivals such as Wacken Open Air, Hellfest, Graspop Metal Meeting, With Full Force, Resurrection Fest and many more.

Fellow friends from other bands are excited to welcome Nasty to the Century Media roster:

Heaven Shall Burn: “After just visiting us in the studio to lay down some tunes for our upcoming album they have joined the same label. Congratulations! Welcome to the pack!”

Caliban’s Marc Görtz (guitars): ”One of the, if not THE heaviest and most aggressive band from Germany! They are hard-working and a guarantee for energetic live shows! Matthi’s vocals on ‘Ich blute für Dich’ were one of a kind!”

Andy Dörner (vocals) adds: “Finally! It was high time and I am happy that our Circle of Friends within the Century Media family has been extended by another ferocious power and force. I have a lot of respect for the guys in Nasty. It doesn’t get much heavier when it comes to breakdowns… Chapeau and welcome to the family!”

Stay tuned for more news from four dudes doing fucked up music for a fucked up world.

Nasty are:

Paddy - Guitar
Nash - Drums
Matthi - Vocals
Berri - Bass




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In remembrance of Spongebob Squarepants creator Stephen Hillenburg on the one-year anniversary of his passing, a brand new, free special version of the anthem “Sweet Victory” will be available as a tribute to his memory.

Penned by Grammy Award-winning producer / guitarist Bob Kulick (KISS, Motörhead, Meat Loaf) and celebrated hard rock singer David Glen Eisley (Giuffria, Dirty White Boy), the song, originally featured in the 2001 episode “Band Geeks”, is presented as a new remixed version.

Upon hearing “Sweet Victory”, Hillenburg was inspired to write the entire episode around this epic song. Eisley’s passionate vocals were sung by Spongebob himself, in a football stadium performance at the Bubble Bowl, starring all the Bikini Bottom characters. The scene has become hailed as one of the most memorable moments from the series.

“The episode exemplified Stephen Hillenburg’s talents,” says Kulick, “so we, the ‘Sweet Victory’ creators, along with Doug Katsaros (orchestration and background vocals), Katie Katsaros (background vocals), and Mike Gillies (mixer) humbly present to you this new abbreviated version (1:54) in tribute to Stephen Hillenburg.”

Debuted almost 20 years ago, “Sweet Victory” continues to resonate with listeners. In November 2018, a petition was created via Change.org urging fans to rally behind a Super Bowl performance of the song in Hillenburg’s memory. Although Maroon 5 did not perform the song during their halftime set, streams of “Sweet Victory” jumped 566% after the band included a Spongebob teaser in a halftime show promo clip on their Twitter feed.

“May you ALL have a happy Holiday season,” concludes Eisley. “May the new decade find you all celebrating your own ‘Victories’ in your lives, your hearts & your souls.”




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Fan-filmed video footage of HELLYEAH covering PANTERA's "I'm Broken" and "Walk" on November 19 at Phoenix Concert Theatre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada can be seen below (courtesy of YouTube user " JIM SYMINGTON").

HELLYEAH's sixth studio album, "Welcome Home", was released on September 27 via Eleven Seven Music. The disc marks the group's final effort with drummer Vinnie Paul Abbott (formerly of PANTERA), who passed away a year and a half ago.

Like the last two records, 2016's "Unden!able" and 2014's "Blood For Blood", "Welcome Home" was recorded at The Hideout Recording Studio in Las Vegas, Nevada with producer Kevin Churko.

Vinnie Paul died in June 2018 at the age of 54 in his sleep at his home in Las Vegas. The official cause of death was dilated cardiomyopathy, an enlarged heart, as well as severe coronary artery disease.

HELLYEAH guitarist Tom Maxwell recently paid tribute to Vinnie on the first anniversary of the drummer's death. Maxwell wrote in part: "I'm writing you this letter to tell you how much I miss and love you. Never could I have imagined you not being here with us anymore. There's so much all of us lost when you left us. Your smile, your infectious laugh, your always steadfast care of all those around you. Everything has changed now.

The guitarist continued: "Our family is just shards of what it used to be. It seemed like every day was harder then the one before it. It's hard just knowing that you're not here to lift everyone up and make everything better with just the simplest things you always used to do. It's hard waking up and trying to navigate through such murky waters. We're doing our best — some better than others, some not so much."

HELLYEAH's May 11 concert in Las Vegas marked the first time the band took the stage since Vinnie's passing and the debut of STONE SOUR member Roy Mayorga as Vinnie's replacement.

HEART guitarist Nancy Wilson has confirmed to Ultimate Classic Rock that there are plans for the band to make new music in 2020. It will mark HEART's first fresh material since 2016's "Beautiful Broken" LP, which contained a mix of new songs and re-imagined versions of the band's classic album cuts.

"I've got a lot of song ideas in my head and in my notes on my phone, and [I've been] singing into my phone," Nancy explained. "So I think that new HEART material would be really great, because the last album we did was [2016's] 'Beautiful Broken', [where] we kind of redid some of our favorite [songs from HEART's catalog]."

HEART toured North America this past summer after a nasty split that kept the Wilson sisters estranged for three years. According to Nancy, there are plans for HEART to return to the road in 2020, hitting some of the cities that weren't included in this year's itinerary.

"I think the next smart move would be to get some new HEART stuff going and then take it out on the road again," she said. "But not the same shed tour. Canada wants us up there ... and probably some European dates and some other festivals and stuff like that. Things that don't imitate what we just did."

Ann and Nancy had a falling out during HEART's 2016 tour, when Ann's husband Dean Welter was arrested for assaulting Nancy's then-16-year-old twin sons in a backstage altercation at a gig near their hometown of Seattle. He pleaded guilty to two lesser assault charges to avoid jail time.

After completing HEART's 2016 tour, Nancy formed a new band called ROADCASE ROYALE and released an album, "First Things First". ROADCASE ROYALE featured three members of HEART along with Liv Warfield from Prince's NEW POWER GENERATION band and her guitarist Ryan Wilson.

Ann's 2018 solo album, "Immortal", contained cover versions of classic songs by artists who have passed away.

Meltdown of Detroit's WRIF radio station recently conducted an interview with drum legend Dave Lombardo (SUICIDAL TENDENCIES, DEAD CROSS, MISFITS, MR. BUNGLE, FANTÔMAS, GRIP INC., SLAYER). A few excerpts follow (transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET).

On whether he will ever transition out of full-time touring into studio and film scoring work:

Dave: "No. Come on, man. I love playing drums and being onstage and going on tours, visiting all these fine cities. It's part of my life. It's going to be difficult to slow me down. Here I am, 54, and my wife is, like, 'Wow, you are the Energizer Bunny. You are just always going.' It's, like, 'Well, hey, it's just my nature.' I realized several years ago I put myself in a different perspective. Instead of I'm always the hyper one: 'Oh, god. You're so hyper. You're so full of energy.' It's, like, 'No. You are all slow. That's the problem.' [Laughs] I'm just at a different tape speed than you are. I'm running at 45. You guys are at 33 and a third."

On whether doing the score for Nicholas Brennan's "Los Últimos Frikis" documentary on Cuban metal band ZEUS was close to his heart:

Dave: "It is. People know I was born in Havana, Cuba. My parents in the middle of the revolution that was going on there at that time decided to immigrate to the United States. So, I found that this documentary really hit home. It felt very personal because what these guys endured — while I was in the States starting SLAYER and playing in that band and doing shows — I had two bands before I even joined SLAYER. So, as a child, as a kid, I was here flourishing. To know these guys had the same passion, had the same drive that I had and they were being oppressed. The singer was jailed for six years for playing metal music. It just goes to show what these guys have gone through for the love of music and what at times, we all take for granted, and take for granted some of the freedoms that we have. It really hit home. It felt very natural for me to dive into this project wholeheartedly and with the same passion that when I play on stage and with the same love. It was a treat. It was really awesome to be part of it."

On whether "Los Últimos Frikis" reminds him of ANVIL's 2008 "The Anvil! The Story Of Anvil" documentary or METALLICA's 2004 "Some Kind Of Monster":

Dave: "Actually, no. I stay away from a lot… I've never watched the ANVIL documentary and I'm really sorry; I apologize. Maybe I should. Same with the METALLICA documentary. I hear so much from the underground and it resonates and I want to leave my perception of these bands, leave it alone. There's some things I don't want to see. And I have deep love and respect for not only METALLICA and for ANVIL and everything they've gone through. I have respect for them. I don't like it being tarnished or anything. It is what it is."

On whether he plans on attending SLAYER's final show on November 30 at The Forum in Los Angeles:

Dave: "No. Come on, man. No. [Laughs] Yeah, no. I think I have a show on that day. I'm playing Knotfest in Mexico City [with SUICIDAL TENDENCIES], then heading over to El Salvador and playing another festival. I'm onstage."

On working with FAITH NO MORE vocalist Mike Patton in DEAD CROSS, MR. BUNGLE and FANTÔMAS:

Dave: "He's one of the most kindest humans I've ever met. He's an amazing artist. He's a dear friend whom I love and respect. To work with him, it's an absolute pleasure to work with the guy. He's so creative and so musically inclined on various instruments and his vocal range, my god, seven-octave range. The guy is a master at his art. This is the honest truth: I'd say it if I met him once, twice, and I've known him for 20-some years, probably longer. He's definitely a great human and I'm very fortunate to know him and play in two bands with him. I've actually played in three, maybe four or five because I've done improvisations and random improvisations whether it's with saxophone or a violin player or Bill Laswell, the bass player, or John Zorn. We've done so much together that I really cherish our friendship."

"Los Últimos Frikis" captures an intimate portrait of ZEUS, a heavy metal band from Havana, Cuba. After fighting for two decades for the right to play their once-forbidden music, ZEUS embarks on a journey across the island for their first national tour. While on tour, the band confronts their own fragile place in the country's shifting culture as a new generation turns to newer, sexier sounds. Returning home to Havana on the cusp of their 30th anniversary, the band comes to terms with how they've dedicated their lives, as the film becomes a reflection on time, art and life's purpose.

Lombardo, who currently splits his time between crossover pioneers SUICIDAL TENDENCIES, horror-punk icons MISFITS and hardcore supergroup DEAD CROSS, was effectively fired from SLAYER after sitting out the group's Australian tour in February/March 2013 due to a contract dispute with the other bandmembers. He has since been replaced by Paul Bostaph, who was previously SLAYER's drummer from 1992 until 2001.

Photo credit: Dean Karr

Waiting For Monday is a new melodic rock band formed by vocalist Rudy Cardenas and guitarist/singer August Zadra. The band hails from Los Angeles and was brought to the attention of Frontiers by Jeff Scott Soto, with the label moving quickly to sign them based on their outstanding talents.

Musically, you can expect classic chart topping melodies ala Journey, Styx, and Foreigner, but with a decidedly modern approach. And if you are looking for sunny, meaningless lyrics, then you probably best look elsewhere as the band has stories to tell, and not all of them happy.

The band's self-titled debut album will be released on February 14. First single, "End Of A Dream", is out today and can be streamed and/or downloaded on your preferred digital retailer here. A music video for the song can be seen below.

Originally from Venezuela, Rudy Cardenas is an incredible vocal talent. His pipes carried him to the finals on Season 6 of American Idol and he has been heard on TV and movies ranging from Family Guy to Real Steel. For five years, Rudy was the power alto for the multi-award winning vocal group, M-pact, who was named Vocal Group of the Year at the 2005 L.A. Music Awards. More recently, Rudy was the featured vocalist for the Gold-selling Hungarian rock album by Mr. Zsolt.

August Zadra is best known for handling lead guitar and vocal duties in iconic singer Dennis DeYoung's solo band since 2010. Since the age of 15, guitar playing has been a passion that carried August from Fairbanks, Alaska to Hollywood, California, where he attended and graduated from the Guitar Institute of Technology. He has been a regular feature in the Los Angeles music scene for the past 20 years, playing with a variety of bands, and is often sought out as a guitarist/vocalist collaborator for writing and recording projects.

Completing the lineup are Joe Travers (drums), Walter Ino (guitar and keyboards), and Eric Baines (bass).

Tracklisting:

"Until The Dawn"
"End Of A Dream"
"Shattered Lives"
"Found You Now"
"Right In Front Of You"
"Must Have Been"
"Pick Your Lies"
"Inside Your Head"
"Make It Better"
"Love You Forever"
"One More Round"

"End Of A Dream" video:

Lineup:

Rudy Cardenas/August Zadra/Walter Ino - Vocals
August Zadra - Guitars
August Zadra/Walter Ino - Lead guitars
Joe Travers - Drums
Eric Baines - Bass
Walter Ino - Keys




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