The official video for "Fear", a brand new song from former ACCEPT guitarist Herman Frank, can be seen below. The track is taken from Frank's upcoming fourth solo album, "Fight The Fear", which will be released on February 8 via AFM.

Frank has been an integral part of the German metal scene since the early '80s, from ACCEPT to VICTORY to his solo project and his work as a producer.

Featuring MASTERPLAN frontman Rick AltziRAGE drummer André Hilgers and JADED HEART bassist Michael Müller, Frank's new album contains razor-sharp riffs, sublime, hell for leather solos, consistently delivered high-class vocals between melody and heaviness, and a rhythm section, that drives every single song forward like a clockwork.

"We've never had this kind of band structure before," Herman enthuses. "Each of us plays an active part in our collaboration, and the result is a fantastic and highly constructive approach to our work."

In particular, when it comes to the group's lyrics, Frank has always believed in his proven dictum. "I feel that the vocalist should contribute the lyrics, because at the end of the day he's the one who has to get them across to the audience and fill them with life," Herman says. "That's the way I've been working with Rick since 'Right In The Guts' and the result speaks for itself."

Altzi sums up his lyrical approach: "It wasn't my intention to make any political statement on this album but my frustration concerning where we are in the world today somehow led me to write lyrics about that. How do we adapt to the threat and the fear of violence? Mankind seems to have a short memory keeps on doing the same mistakes over and over again. How we in modern time still let's religion dictate and form the decisions made by people and governments?"

With a slight grin, Rick adds, "but I only wrote eight out of fourteen lyrics, so there's enough room for love songs and pure rock 'n' roll.”

Track listing:

01. Until The End

02. Fear

03. Terror

04. Sinners

05. Hatred

06. Hail & Row

07. Hitman

08. Stay Down

09. Rock You

10. Don't Cross The Line

11. Are You Ready

12. Wings Of Destiny

13. Waiting For The Night

14. Lost In Heaven

Vocals - Rick Altzi (MASTERPLAN)

Drums - Andre Hilgers (ex-RAGE)

Bass - Michael Müller (JADED HEART)

Guitars - Herman Frank

Herman joined ACCEPT in 1982 shortly before the release of the band's "Restless And Wild" album and exited the group for the first time after the arrival of 1983's "Balls To The Wall" LP.

When ACCEPT reunited for festival appearances in 2005, Herman handled second-guitar duties alongside founding axeman Wolf Hoffmann, with Stefan Schwarzmann sitting behind the kit.

Frank and Schwarzmann were involved in ACCEPT's comeback with new singer Mark Tornillo and appeared on the reunited group's first three studio albums: 2010's "Blood of the Nations", 2012's "Stalingrad" and 2014's "Blind Rage".

The official lyric video for the song "Head Of A Pin" from New Jersey thrash metal veterans OVERKILL can be seen below. The track is taken from the band's 19th studio album, "The Wings Of War", which will be released on February 22 via Nuclear Blast. The disc was recorded at Gear Recording Studio in New Jersey, SKH Studio in Florida and Jrod Productions with engineering handled by bassist D.D. Verni and guitarist Dave Linsk. The album was produced by the band while Chris "Zeuss" Harris took care of the mixing and mastering. Travis Smith (NEVERMORE, OPETH, SOILWORK, DEATH) was again enlisted to create the artwork for the album.

Comments vocalist Bobby "Blitz" Ellsworth: "'Head Of A Pin' took a long time to come together; it is probably the tune that went through the most changes and the last one I finished. Looking back on its development, the time invested was all well worth it. The tonality of the guitar shines on it and the song goes 'other places,' traditional with a touch of the down-low-dirty riff, and a sing-along chorus... personally, one of my favorites off 'The Wings Of War'."

"The Wings Of War" marks OVERKILL's recording debut with drummer Jason Bittner (SHADOWS FALL, FLOTSAM AND JETSAM), who joined the band in 2017.

"The Wings Of War" track listing:

01. Last Man Standing

02. Believe In The Fight

03. Head Of A Pin

04. Bat Shit Crazy

05. Distortion

06. A Mother's Prayer

07. Welcome To The Garden State

08. Where Few Dare To Walk

09. Out On The Road-Kill

10. Hole In My Soul

Ellsworth said: "It was a blast making 'The Wings Of War'! It is something old feeling new again, as our chemistry was altered by the addition of Jason Bittner. I was curious from the get-go, how would it pan out? I think what we accomplished here is a new, upgraded OVERKILL that embraced the new chemistry, while taking our roots into the present. The new formula produced not only more raw power, but more places to go with melody, a win, win. The key is being not only interested in the change, but part of it. I'll tell you what, it's still fun as hell making OVERKILL records."

Last year, Ellsworth told Brian Aberback of Patch.com about the musical direction of OVERKILL's new material: "What I notice about it is that there are parts of it that delve into really classic heavy metal that are spawned off the riff. There's kind of a brutal metal riff and then there's a heavy metal riff. The brutal riff being more in the modern sense of OVERKILL but the classic riff goes back into the feel of 'Feel The Fire', 'Taking Over', 'The Years Of Decay' kind of influence.

"I think what we're doing is staying with that classic riff but adding the brutality after," he continued. "So it has the vibe of classic heavy metal with that spawned aggression off of it. Obviously, we're not going to be progressive or off the tracks with where we're going. It's OVERKILL. But the internal end of that is really exciting because we notice every little different nuance in it."

Asked what Jason has brought to the band, Ellsworth said: "He's put a lot of work into the album and his excitement has spread to all of us. He's the first person in this band who's deeply, technically trained. That's one of the most exciting things about this project. This guy is pretty close to a virtuoso when hitting the skins."

OVERKILL is:

Bobby "Blitz" Ellsworth - Vocals

D.D. Verni - Bass

Dave Linsk - Lead Guitar

Derek Tailer - Rhythm Guitar

Jason Bittner - Drums

Christian metal band DEMON HUNTER will release two new albums, "War" and "Peace", on March 1. The song "The Negative", taken from "War", and "Recuse Myself", taken from "Peace", can both be streamed below.

"War" track listing:

01. Cut To Live

02. On My Side

03. Close Enough

04. Unbound

05. Grey Matter

06. The Negative

07. Ash

08. No Place For You Here

09. Leave Me Alone

10. Lesser Gods

"Peace" track listing:

01. More Than Bones

02. I Don't Believe You

03. Loneliness

04. Peace

05. When The Devil Come

06. Time Only Takes

07. Two Ways

08. Rescue Myself

09. Bet My Life

10. Fear Is Not My Guide

DEMON HUNTER formed in Seattle in 2001. The lineup features singer Ryan Clark alongside co-founder Jonathan Dunn (bass), drummer Tim "Yogi" Watts (drums, since 2004), lead guitarist Patrick Judge (since 2008) and guitarist Jeremiah Scott (since 2011). Clark remains the primary songwriter, with increasing contributions from Judge.

DEMON HUNTER's dedicated supporters wear the group's symbol and lyrics on their shirts, vests, backpacks, and in many cases, on their skin. Based in both Seattle and Nashville, the group embraces brazenly transcendent melodies, without apology, while maintaining a defiant heaviness reminiscent of the most timeless of metal.

A regular attraction at festivals, in theaters, and clubs, DEMON HUNTER has visited Europe, Australia, and South America, while touring North America several times. They were a headlining act on "Scream The Prayer", co-headlined with the band RED, played as direct support to IN FLAMES and introduced their fans to bands like AUGUST BURNS RED and HASTE THE DAY, whom they took on tour with them early in their career.

British rockers THE WILDHEARTS will release "Renaissance Men" on May 3 May, their first full-length studio album in 10 years.

To coincide with the release of "Renaissance Men", THE WILDHEARTS' classic lineup of Ginger, CJ, Ritchie and Danny will play an eight-date U.K. tour. This intimate trek will start in Manchester at the Academy 2 on Friday, May 3 and conclude at the Riverside in Newcastle on Sunday, May 12.

"Well, fuck me, it's only been 10 years since our last release and we have a monster album on its way," CJ said. "Danny is back in the band and we hit the road in May, playing new tunes and all the old hits. Can't wait and I know the boys are super bloody excited for this. ROCK!"

Creatively brilliant, THE WILDHEARTS play a distinctive fusion of hard rock, perfectly complemented by contemporary melodies.

With a career spanning nearly 30 years THE WILDHEARTS helped change the landscape of British rock through the '90s, and to this day they haven't shown any sign of slowing down.

"The Renaissance Men" U.K. tour dates:

May 03 - Manchester Academy 2

May 04 - Edinburgh Liquid Room

May 06 - Cardiff Tramshed

May 07 - Bristol SWX

May 09 - London Brixton Electric

May 10 - Norwich Waterfront

May 11 - Leeds Stylus

May 12 - Newcastle Riverside

For limited tickets and new album preorders (discounted bundles available), go to THE WILDHEARTS' webstore.

IMPELLITTERI's music video for the song "Phantom Of The Opera" can be seen below. The track is taken from IMPELLITTERI's latest album, "The Nature Of The Beast", which was released in October via Frontiers Music Srl.

Chris Impellitteri told Guitar World: "'The Phantom of the Opera' is a song I have wanted to remake since I was a kid. Yes, I realize that other bands like NIGHTWISH have also covered it, as well as IRON MAIDEN having a song with the same title, and I respect both artists immensely, but our version of Andrew Lloyd Webber's masterpiece is very much IMPELLITTERI."

"When we created our musical arrangement for this song, our collective band vision was to basically take the phantom on a wild musical ride through Hell! We wanted to turn the song into a speed/power metal type song. I will say our version can seem fairly challenging to play as a guitarist due to the various complex scale sequences, modes and speed at which we are playing. At the same time, the lead vocals are quite brutal on our singer, Rob Rock, as he had to sing both the male tenor part as well as the female vocal part, which resides in the alto and soprano ranges.

"I am very pleased with the outcome of this song, especially my solos and tone. I used my Charvel custom shop Stratocaster and various vintage modified Marshall amps, pedals, and speaker cabs, while bassist James Pulli got a great growly bass tone with his Spector bass and vintage Ampeg SVT rigs."

30 years into their musical career, IMPELLITTERI have created a mind-blowing, highly energetic and thrilling new musical adventure with "The Nature Of The Beast". The band is on fire with their musical acrobatics, addictive riffs, shredding guitar solos, speed metal drumming, and screaming power metal vocals that are all ingredients in these killer songs!

Like many of their talented peers, IMPELLITTERI continue to carry the torch for guitar driven heavy metal. On "The Nature Of The Beast", the band shines throughout, especially on songs like the power metal driven "Run For Your Life", the highly energetic remake of BLACK SABBATH's "Symptom Of The Universe", the lunacy of "Gates Of Hell", the addictive riff of "Hypocrisy", and the speed metal cover of "Phantom Of The Opera".

"The new music was written with passion and a sincere love for heavy metal," states Chris Impellitteri. "I think as a band we grow stronger with each new album. Our artistic abilities seem to get better with age, but at the same time we seem to sound even more energetic, crazy, and youthful with this release. You could say the music on this newest musical child is an extension of our previous record, 'Venom'. I love the 'Venom' record, but I am currently obsessed by 'The Nature Of The Beast'. We are thrilled to share this new music with our FANS and friends around the world and I really hope they like it!"

IMPELLITTERI recorded "The Nature Of The Beast" in Los Angeles, California with legendary engineer/producer Mike Plotnikoff (VAN HALEN, AEROSMITH, IN FLAMES), mix engineer Greg Reely (OVERKILL, FEAR FACTORY), and engineers Jun Murakawa and Sean Shannon.

Like their childhood musical heroes, including Vivaldi, IRON MAIDEN, QUEEN, BLACK SABBATH, Al DiMeola, Paco de Lucia, John McLaughlin and Pavarotti, IMPELLITTERI strive for greatness — creating, performing and recording this new music with all four band members, Chris Impellitteri (guitars), Rob Rock (vocals), James Pulli (bass), and Jon Dette (drums) contributing stellar performances. The album was recorded in a grand fashion using large tracking rooms and vintage analog equipment to capture the bands live musical energy and performance.

"As a guitarist, I challenge myself to conquer my human limitations," continues Chris. "I practice for hours each day to improve my technique. I also spend a lot of time customizing my guitars, amps, and pedals to achieve this crazy guitar sound. On this new record my guitar sound is really me trying to create a tone that sounds a bit like a chainsaw blended with a beautiful Stradivarius violin. It is Beauty and the Beast with lots of pick attack! The guitar solos have lots of technical shredding elements, but at the same time they are very melodic and I think fun for everyone to listen too. The riffs are also exciting for me to play as there is a lot of obvious influences that I brought to this new record."

"The Nature Of The Beast" track listing:

01. Hypocrisy

02. Masquerade

03. Run For Your Life

04. Phantom Of The Opera

05. Gates Of Hell

06. Wonder World

07. Man Of War

08. Symptom Of The Universe (BLACK SABBATH cover)

09. Do You Think I'm Mad

10. Fire It Up

11. Kill The Beast

12. Shine On

IMPELLITTERI is:

Chris Impellitteri - Guitar

Rob Rock - Vocals

James Pulli - Bass

Patrick Johansson - Drums

Jon Dette - Drums*

* Appears on studio album

"Lotus", the new Costin Chioreanu-created video from SOEN, the progressive heavy rock group featuring world-renowned drummer Martin Lopez (formerly of AMON AMARTH and OPETH), can be seen below. The track is the title cut of SOEN's fourth album, which will be released on February 1 via Silver Lining Music.

"'Lotus' is a summoning of like-minded people that have reached that turning point in their lives where they have had enough. Enough of meaningless and shallow societies and their expected standards," notes Lopez of the track, "Only once you have liberated yourself from these fake ideals and leave all of that behind, one can be truly free."


Having spent the last six months digging deep into the muddy depths of their emotions, the nine songs comprising "Lotus" are intoxicating, addictive aural therapies, questioning much of today's darkness while juxtaposing them with moments of great escape and hope.


"We are all very fortunate to have this place where we can go and explore thoughts, perspectives and emotions which everyday life maybe does not have the room for," says Lopez, one of SOEN's founding members. "There are definitely things that we say, and places we go, in SOEN which would be very hard to express without us coming together and creating music."


Produced by David Castillo and Iñaki Marconi at Ghostward Studios and Studio 6 between July and October 2018, the album marks the first recorded SOEN work of new Canadian-born guitarist Cody Ford, whilst the center-point of the album remains those trademark, snap-heavy, progressive SOEN riffs. Songs such as "Rival", "Covenant" and "Martyrs" are dissertations on modern societies, fraught with poetic, finitely designed confusion and chaos, yet as the name "Lotus" suggests, there is still strength, beauty, and purity to be extracted from what at times seems like an endless cycle of human regression.


"The world right now is undeniably a very strange, tense place," says Lopez. "I think the songs clearly reflect that, but they also reflect that we must now be stronger than ever in challenging, confronting, and dealing with the pandemonium life throws at us all."


The lavish "Lotus" artwork features nothing other than an enigmatic and engaging copper-reflective pyramid, offering elements of the sixth sense and greater consciousness before gate-folding open to reveal a girl touched by the copper aura.


"We each have our own personal ideas as to what it means," says Lopez, "but we'd much rather discuss what others think, what our audience thinks, what the media thinks... I think it's extremely important that we all communicate with each other and take the time to fully conceive our own meanings and interactions with life and creativity."


"Ultimately," concludes vocalist Joel Ekelöf, "'Lotus' is about rising from whatever darkness, or dark places, you might find yourself. And its inspiration comes from a deep motivation to not just settle for the situation you might find yourself in. 'Lotus' is about changing life — both your own and your surroundings for which we must all take responsibility — and make them better rather than letting darkness pacify you and take you down."

"Lotus" track listing:

01. Opponent

02. Lascivious

03. Martyrs

04. Lotus

05. Covenant

06. Penance

07. River

08. Rival

09. Lunacy


SOEN will bring "Lotus" on the road as it tours Europe starting in March.

SOEN is:

Joel Ekelöf - vocals

Martin Lopez - drums

Lars Åhlund - keys, guitar

Stefan Stenberg - bass

Cody Ford - lead guitar

Iron Mike Savoia has uploaded video footage of Neal Schon (JOURNEY) and Joe Satriani (CHICKENFOOT) jamming the blues during Schon's January 6 concert at "Joe Satriani's G4 Experience V5.0: Rocks The Desert" at Hotel Zoso in Palm Springs, California. Check it out below.

Satriani's fifth annual event also boasted Rock And Roll Hall Of Famer Rick Nielsen (CHEAP TRICK), Carlos Alomar (David Bowie), Ron "Bumblefoot" Thal (GUNS N' ROSES), Kiko Loreiro (MEGADETH) and Lari Basilio.

Prior to this year's event, Satriani said: "The students that have come to the first four 'G4 Experiences' have been as unique and eclectic as you could imagine so for 'G4 Experience V5.0', I've put together a team of instructors that really reflects that diverse nature

"The lineup this year is probably our best yet. It's so exciting, getting to be so totally immersed and getting to be so close to these great players. You never know what's going to happen, and at the end of the week, you'll think, I went somewhere beautiful, I had fun, I made some new friends, and I grew as a musician. And there's nothing better than that."

Satriani was joined at "G4 Experience V5.0: Rocks The Desert" by his own touring band, Mike Keneally (guitar and keyboards), Bryan Beller (bass), and Joe Travers (drums), all of whom will also served as instructors and accompaniment for each night's all-star concert.

Presented annually by Dreamcatcher Events, "Joe Satriani's G4 Experience V5.0: Rocks The Desert" is an all-inclusive event with a jam-packed schedule sure to keep guests involved from morning until the wee hours of the night. "Joe Satriani's G4 Experience V5.0: Rocks The Desert" featured four days and night of activities, including multiple workshops led by each instructor, access to fully loaded jam rooms, meet-and-greets, and exclusive nightly concert performances.


Satriani's 16th solo album, "What Happens Next", arrived in January 2018 and is available now via Sony/Legacy Recordings.

Neal Schon will embark on his "Journey Through Time" tour next month. Schon will take the stage alongside founding JOURNEY and SANTANA singer/keyboardist Gregg Rolie, ex-JOURNEY drummer Deen Castronovo, bassist Marco Mendoza of THE DEAD DAISIES and THIN LIZZY, a musician named Chris Collins (on guitar and keyboards) and super-producer Marti Frederiksen (multi-instrumentalist, vocals).

"You Never Know", the new video from BEARTOOTH, can be seen below. The song is taken from the band's third album, "Disease", which was released in September via Red Bull Records. The disc was recorded at BlackBird studio in Franklin, Tennessee with producer Nick Raskulinecz (DEFTONES, KORN, FOO FIGHTERS).

Vocalist Caleb Shomo told Kerrang! that "You Never Know" was written with with Drew Fulk. "It was the first song we wrote together," he said. "We wrote it about 40 minutes. We just went and got coffee and talked about things going on in our lives and our mental states at the time and just sort of came to a common ground and the song just rolled out from there."

"It's a jammer — play it loud!" Shomo advised.

Caleb previously called "Disease" "by far the hardest" album to make so far. "This was hands down the most difficult record I've ever made — it's the most depression and anxiety-fuelled album I've ever made" he said. "It was a really, really hard thing to get through. Emotionally, I mean, good Lord! By the end, I was in a really fucking bad place. It was tough to fight through.

"Once I've committed to making a record a certain way, there's no fucking backing out," he added. "Say I'm doing a drum track, and a few of the snare hits are off, you just throw a drum sample on and nobody knows any difference. But I couldn't do that, because I chose for it to be real instruments. So I would sit there and do fucking drum take after drum take, and it was this psychotic fucking thing of, 'It probably can't be played any better, but it's not fucking good enough!' And then freaking out and playing it over and over again. There was a whole lot of stress that I felt making this album. It was basically between the fight of: 'Do I really make a fucking true and honest record?' or: 'Do I just cop out and make the singles that I know people are going to want to hear? What do I do?' But I chose to make an honest record, and I'm really glad I made that choice."

British heavy metal vocalist Blaze Bayley (IRON MAIDEN, WOLFSBANE) recently performed acoustic versions of IRON MAIDEN's "Futureal" and his solo song "A Thousand Years" live on the Brazilian TV show "A Hora da Venenosa". Check out video footage below.

Bayley will release the "Live In France" live album and DVD on March 1. The set will contain a recording of Blaze's May 25, 2018 and May 26, 2018 concerts at Chez Paulette, near Nancy, France.

The 55-year-old Bayley, who was born in Birmingham, was the original frontman in WOLFSBANE, but left in 1994 to join IRON MAIDEN. He recorded two studio albums with the Steve Harris-led group — 1995's "The X Factor" and 1998's "Virtual XI" — before Bruce Dickinson returned to the band.

In a 2017 interview with Spain's EMP Live, Blaze talked about the obstacles he faced while trying to become accepted by MAIDEN fans as Bruce's replacement.

"I think for all of us, if we fall in love with a band and we fall in love with a voice, it is very difficult to make an adjustment to a new voice," he explained. "And for me, I had incredible support from thousands of fans all over the world. But there are some fans that hated me, hated my voice and they still do. And that's okay, because it's not for everyone.

"My style is very different to Bruce, and when [IRON MAIDEN] chose me to replace Bruce, I was very surprised because my voice is so different," he continued. "But it is the most incredible job. As a heavy metal singer, it's perhaps the number one job that you can have — to be the singer of IRON MAIDEN. So my passion and my heart was there, and the music that we made on 'The X Factor' and 'Virtual XI', which have been re-released now on vinyl, was incredible. And people that perhaps didn't like the change at the time, now they go back and listen differently, with fresh ears, to the records and the music that we made then, and perhaps that's why now I've become more popular than I ever was after IRON MAIDEN. Now, more than twenty years, people really start to take notice of what Blaze Bayley is doing."

According to Blaze, his dismissal from MAIDEN in January 1999 came as a total shock, but he doesn't believe the band was completely to blame for the decision. "The main reason that I was leaving IRON MAIDEN is because of EMI [MAIDEN's record label] and the business," he said. "That is what I believe. At the time, BLACK SABBATH had the reunion with Ozzy [Osbourne], DEEP PURPLE had the original lineup with Ian Gillan reunion, and CD sales worldwire were going down. And I think the record company put a lot of pressure on the band to have a reunion. So, for me, it was a horrible time, but it is still a time I think of very fondly. And Steve Harris [IRON MAIDEN bassist] was really like a mentor to me and taught me so much about songwriting. So those values and the things that he taught me are things that I put into my own work now."

Blaze also shot down speculation that there was bad blood between him and Dickinson, insisting that the two singers have always had an amiable relationship. "Bruce Dickinson and I have been friends before [I was in] IRON MAIDEN, and Bruce Dickinson was very supportive of me when I was in IRON MAIDEN and after IRON MAIDEN," Blaze said. "When he had his own radio show, he helped me and played my music on his show. And my newest video, for 'Escape Velocity', was actually filmed at his aircraft simulator. So he had helped me a great deal."

The third album in Blaze's "Infinite Entanglement" trilogy was released in March 2018. Titled "The Redemption Of William Black", it was the tenth album of Blaze's solo career.

Rob Zombie took to Instagram earlier today (Thursday, January 17) to correct reports on various web sites that claimed he had completed work on "3 From Hell", the sequel to his earlier films "House Of 1,000 Corpses" and "The Devil's Rejects".

The confusion seems to stem from the fact that Zombie's January 14 post on Instagram included photos of him directing all three pictures, under which he wrote: "It took awhile to complete the trilogy but we did it. Top pic is shooting House Of 1000 Corpses in 2001 — shooting The Devil's Rejects in 2004 and finally shooting 3 From Hell in 2018. Quite a fucking journey to say the least."

After a number of media outlets took Rob's words to mean that he had finished "3 From Hell", the rocker-turned-filmmaker clarified his remarks, writing: "So folks seem confused by my post saying I completed my Rejects trilogy. I said the trilogy is complete but the movie 3 From Hell is not finished yet. Still got a couple months of work left. It's getting there and it is fucking awesome."

Zombie returned to the edit bay after a summer tour with Marilyn Manson to finish work on the film, which will reunite Sid Haig, Sheri Moon Zombie and Bill Moseley as the members of the psychopathic, sadistic Firefly family. Moseley told Rue-Morgue last fall that the new film was a "crowd-pleaser," adding, "From what I've heard from Rob, he's very happy and excited about what he's got, and it's chockablock with gratuitous violence."

During an appearance on "Trunk Nation", Zombie said that he didn't envision the original story being fleshed out over three movies when he first started writing it more than 15 years ago. "Every time I would finish a movie… After the second one, I thought, 'We're done with it,' but I always think that with every movie," he admitted. "And then you kind of live with it for a long time, and the movies sort of take on a life of their own, or they start getting popular and the fans really start embracing them and the characters, and you start thinking, 'Well… Hmmm… What if I did this? What if I did that?' This one, it's 14 years in between the two films, so it's been a long time; it wasn't really a rush to make it, by any means."

It's not clear whether Zombie plans to resurrect the Firefly trio from the dead in some kind of supernatural fashion in the new film or has found a way to explain that they survived the original movie's climactic shootout.

"The Devil's Rejects" is widely considered Zombie's best film. It's a semi-sequel to his directorial debut, 2003's "House Of 1,000 Corpses", which introduced the Firefly family.

"3 From Hell" was shot in California and has yet to nail down a release date.

Zombie has also completed work on a new LP, which will be out later this year and will follow up 2016's "The Electric Warlock Acid Witch Satanic Orgy Celebration Dispenser".

IMONOLITH — the new metal band featuring vocalist Jon Howard (THREAT SIGNAL, ARKAEA), drummer Ryan Van Poederooyen (DEVIN TOWNSEND PROJECT), guitarist Brian Waddell (DEVIN TOWNSEND PROJECT), bassist Byron Stroud (STRAPPING YOUNG LAD, FEAR FACTORY), and second guitarist Kai Huppunen (METHODS OF MAYHEM, NOISE THERAPY) — has released a new single, "Hollow", available to stream/download for the first time today.


"Hollow" serves as the perfect introduction to IMONOLITH, a band whose mission is simple: to write the heaviest riffs, the biggest hooks and most monstrous grooves.


Recorded and produced by Brian Howes and Jay Van Poederooyen (NICKELBACK, CHRIS CORNELL, AIRBOURNE, HINDER, DAUGHTRY) at Van Howes Studios in Los Angeles, California, "Hollow" is immediately setting the bar high.


Van Poederooyen comments: "'Hollow' is a song about the personal battles we all can face internally. Social pressures and self expectation can drive you to a point of feeling hollow inside if you don't meet specific standards in your mind. The song itself actually has a positive message built into it. It's not about feeling hollow, it's more about preventing that hollow feeling that any one of us can develop through negative thinking and limited beliefs."


Fans can expect many surprises as they unveil more music. The drummer continues: "As for 'Hollow', musically it represents the catchier side of IMONOLITH's music. We have varying influences spread throughout the band and we don't like to play just one style of music. We have a more metal crushing side, a catchier radio side and then music that fits in-between our heavy and catchier vibes. We always aim to make IMONOLITH's overall sound diverse and interesting. Most of all, we're always focused on trying to write a great song, no matter if it's heavy or catchy."


IMONOLITH was officially formed in February 2018 by Van Poederooyen and Waddell, although the pair started writing their own brand of heavy music in 2015 whilst playing together in the DEVIN TOWNSEND PROJECT. Van Poederooyen and Waddell then went on to recruit Howard, Stroud and second guitarist Jed Simon (STRAPPING YOUNG LAD) completing a fearsome lineup. Simon has since been replaced by Huppunen.


Since teasing demos and video clips online, IMONOLITH has amassed a dedicated legion of supporters worldwide, and with the release of the new single, their following is set to expand by the thousands. With their first run of shows throughout Canada announced and big international plans in the pipeline, 2019 is set to be a huge year for IMONOLITH.

"A Million Dollars", a brand new song from KING 810, can be streamed below. The track is taken from the band's upcoming third album, "Suicide King", which will be independently released on January 25. The effort is available for pre-order here via exclusive merch bundles that include limited-edition black smoke vinyl — all sold exclusively through the band's Big Cartel store.

"Suicide King" was produced by David Gunn and Josh Schroeder in the band's native Michigan.

"A Million Dollars" is the third song to be released from "Suicide King", following "Braveheart" and "Heartbeats", which were both made available last year.

"Suicide King" track listing:

01. Heartbeats

02. Braveheart

03. Bang Guns

04. A Million Dollars

05. .45

06. What's Gotten Into Me

07. Black Rifle

08. God Is Watching

09. Wade In The Water

10. Sing Me To Sleep

Spitfire Music has teamed up with BlackBoxTV to develop a new horror anthology series, "Welcome To Daisyland". Australian-American musical collective THE DEAD DAISIES will provide the soundtrack for the series, which is scheduled to premiere this Valentine's Day (February 14).

"Welcome To Daisyland" was directed by award-winning filmmaker Tony E. Valenzuela ("Silverwood", "Harper's Globe") and stars Pepi Sonuga ("Ash Vs The Evil Dead").

"In 2018, content is king," states the band's manager and series executive producer David Edwards ("Rock Star INXS"). "I'm tired of hearing the same Top 40 music in the background of every film and kept thinking, 'This scene would be so much better with a heavy rock track', so we made it happen." On deciding to go with a horror series, Edwards added: "Horror and rock go hand in hand. Alice Cooper started combining the two back in the 70's with his crazy theatrics and it's a genre we love."

The "Welcome To Daisyland" soundtrack features music from THE DEAD DAISIES' latest album, released via Spitfire Music in April 2018, and includes the tracks "Dead And Gone", "Judgement Day" and title track, "Burn It Down".

In conjunction with the premiere of "Welcome To Daisyland", THE DEAD DAISIES will release a special acoustic version of the show's theme song "Dead And Gone" on February 14 across all digital platforms.

"Burn It Down" is a muscular tour-de-force, a tornado of pounding drums, pulverizing bass, screaming guitars and in-your-face raw vocals.


THE DEAD DAISIES are: Doug Aldrich (WHITESNAKE, DIO), John Corabi (MÖTLEY CRÜE, THE SCREAM), Marco Mendoza (WHITESNAKE, THIN LIZZY), Deen Castronovo (BAD ENGLISH, JOURNEY) and David Lowy (RED PHOENIX, MINK).

Symphonic metal masters VISIONS OF ATLANTIS will release their first live album, "The Deep & The Dark Live @ Symphonic Metal Nights", on February 22 via Napalm Records. With focus on songs from the band's latest studio album, "The Deep & The Dark", this live opus pushes the mystical adventure of VISIONS OF ATLANTIS to another level — powerful and perfectly executed.

The official lyric video for the live version of the song "Words Of War", taken from "The Deep & The Dark Live @ Symphonic Metal Nights", can be seen below.

Commented the band: "After a successful tour which was the first as co-headliner, we are really excited to present 'Words Of War' in its live version.

"The promotion for our very first live album will bring VISIONS OF ATLANTIS over the Atlantic to the 70000 Tons Of Metal cruise, Mexico, a South American tour and back to the venues all around Europe as special guest for KAMELOT and EVERGREY."

Track listing:

01. Intro

02. The Deep & The Dark

03. New Dawn

04. Book Of Nature

05. Ritual Night

06. Lost

07. The Silent Mutiny

08. The Last Home

09. Words of War

10. The Grand Illusion

11. Passing Dead End

12. Return To Lemuria

"The Deep & The Dark" was released in February 2018 via Napalm Records.

Vocalist Clémentine Delauney told Metal Underground about the disc: "We all do believe this is the best album the band has ever released. We went back to a more melodic and symphonic metal style with an old-school touch and a production that suits the genre. We wrote diversified songs with rich arrangements using many different influences [and] I was finally able to take part in the creative process. I wrote many of the vocal lines, most of the lyrics together with Siegfried, and I wrote the last song of the album, 'Prayer To The Lost'. So, for the first time, I'm able to release really personal material and to sing about things that deeply matter to me. I've been waiting for this since I joined my first band in 2010."

In a separate interview with Distorted Sound, Clémentine spoke in more detail about the songwriting process for "The Deep & The Dark". "I feel more comfortable when I am writing lyrics when I have a melody because as a singer, it's easier to have a melody so you can let the words come out," she said. "Depending on the notes, I can see which one is more natural to sing an 'a,' another vowel or a specific word that contains a letter like a 'c' or a 't' where I know to project the sound. So, you have singing tricks that someone doesn't normally think about and sometimes, not necessarily in our music, in general the words match so well with the melody because they were created together. I like to make sure the words match the melody so it's easier for me to know the strength of the melody first and then I can shape the words and lyrics nicely to the melody rather than have a text that gets put on top of a melody, as that is difficult."

Photo by Emilie Garcin

A short promotional trailer for "Stray From The Flock", the upcoming studio album from former WHITE LION singer Mike Tramp, is available below.

"Stray From The Flock" will be released on March 1 via Target Records. Staying true both to the timeless roots of rock 'n' roll and his own roots, it is a record that won't disappoint fans of previous releases from the Danish singer/songwriter.

With more than a hundred shows planned in 2019 to support the new album — starting off in the U.S. in February and March with 22 shows — and a first single, titled "Dead End Ride", ready to drop on January 25 (accompanied by a top-notch video), this will be another great year for Tramp.


Stadium concerts. Number one chart entries with solo releases. History of rock'n'roll written all over him. Tramp has had it all. Right now, however, after spending the last two decades studiously carving out a solid solo career for himself, Tramp is happy being Mike Tramp.

"Many years ago, I realized that going back to basics, demanding nothing and being surprised if there was a tray of sandwiches in the dressing room was the way forward," he says.


"Stray From The Flock" is the latest in a stellar collection of records written and released by Tramp since 1997. From the excellence of his solo debut "Capricorn" to "Maybe Tomorrow", the Danish singer has been on a distinctive, solo journey that has seen him reinventing himself and reach a consistency in look, feel and a sound that centers on some of the finest, acoustic-based-yet-hauntingly melodic songs you'll ever hear.

Recorded at Ark Studio in Denmark and mixed in Sweden by Peter Masson, "Stray From The Flock" essentially takes the template of the 2013 release "Cobblestone Street" one step further. It’s also an album that pretty much wrote itself. "I picked up the guitar and the songs just started flying out of me," Tramp says. "I thought, 'Fuck! There's an album that wants to come out of here."

Mike will, of course, be touring in support of "Stray From The Flock", but, as with his previous solo excursions, there won't be any explosions, moving drum risers or confetti bombs on stage. There will just be a guy standing in the middle being the real deal.

"Stray From The Flock" will be released on on CD, double gatefold LP on black 140-gram vinyl, limited double gatefold LP on orange color LP, 180-gram (500 copies only), digital and cassette.

THE NEAL MORSE BAND — Neal Morse (lead vocals, guitars, keyboards), Mike Portnoy (drums, vocals), Randy George (bass), Bill Hubauer (keyboards, vocals), Eric Gillette (guitars, vocals) — will take fans on "The Great Adventure" with its latest double concept album, due out January 25 on Radiant Records via Metal Blade worldwide. It will be available in three formats: a two-CD package, two-CD/DVD special edition featuring behind-the-scenes video clips of the making of the album, and three vinyl LPs.

The official lyric video for the song "Vanity Fair", taken from "The Great Adventure", can be seen below.

The follow-up to 2016's critically acclaimed "The Similitude Of A Dream" will be the ninth studio album with Morse, Portnoy and George, and the third as a true collaboration with this current lineup. Together, Morse and Portnoy have launched four bands, but the one that has endured the longest and thus with the most musical output has been THE NEAL MORSE BAND.


"Let the great adventure now begin…" The closing line of "The Similitude Of A Dream" has proved to be strangely prophetic. The new album is exactly that: a perfect companion piece to "The Similitude Of A Dream"'s partial retelling of John Bunyan's "The Pilgrim's Progress". It has everything that fans would expect from an album by THE NEAL MORSE BAND, and more: rock, metal, classical and jazz elements appear throughout, as well as some killer melodies, all played faultlessly by some of the greatest rock musicians on the planet.


As Neal Morse explains: "This band continues to amaze me! I have to say it was a little daunting to follow up 'The Similitude Of A Dream' as it was such a special album and it delivered every night at our concerts, but I believe that 'The Great Adventure' will have a tremendous impact as well. This new double album is everything that I hoped it would be! I listened through last night and I was in tears at the end!"


Mike Portnoy emphatically agrees. He says: "How do you follow an epic double concept album??? Well, create another epic double concept album!! Hahaha. I always knew topping 'The Similitude Of A Dream' was going to be difficult, if not impossible, as I held it in such high regard, but alas, I am absolutely blown away with what we achieved here! We've created what is the ultimate companion to 'The Similitude Of A Dream'."


"Sometimes there are things that you just can't mess with," Randy George continues. "On 'The Similitude Of A Dream', we tapped into something special. I was sure that the follow up should be something quite different, but you have to follow your heart and follow the music where it wants to go. 'The Great Adventure' is nothing short of a miracle. It's similar to 'Similitude' in concept and form, but yet it's tougher and deeper in its tone! This is a powerful work and I look forward to playing it live!


True to the album's title, the creative process was indeed a "great adventure." Unlike many previous Morse albums, which have often been written and arranged within weeks, this time around these prolific and world-class musicians spent almost a year working on the end result, producing an abundance of top-quality material. This meant some ruthless decision-making: some already completed songs and characters had to go, and — with studio time running out–new links and ideas were being composed and recorded up to the eleventh hour. "A lot of work and re-work has gone into this," says Morse, "but I know that some of the most successful and far-reaching albums I've been involved with have been just like that. 'Sola Scriptura' and SPOCK'S BEARD's 'Snow' album come to mind."


Another key question that had to be addressed in the studio was how to pull all the ideas together into a coherent whole. In the end, what unlocked this "adventure" for Morse was the realization that 'The Great Adventure' needed a new voice and perspective. This time, it is that of the Pilgrim's abandoned son, a younger, perhaps angrier, voice than was heard on "The Similitude Of A Dream".


THE NEAL MORSE BAND will bring "The Great Adventure" to fans worldwide with a new round of headlining tour dates, which begin February 2 in Nashville at City Winery.

Photo credit: Robert Smith

Los Angeles-based metal trio ATHANASIA — featuring former members of FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH, SEBASTIAN BACH and MURDERDOLLS — will release a full-length album, "The Order Of The Silver Compass", on March 15 via Seeing Red Records and Rock of Angels Records.

One might not expect the former members of such bands to be playing extreme metal, but ATHANASIA is more than your average power trio. Questioning the moral fabric of man amidst complex narratives tackling power, corruption and greed, the band's unique amalgamation of melodic metal is enough to satisfy the desires of casual listeners and extreme metal fans alike.

Recorded and produced by Bingham at Nightmare Sound, "The Order Of The Silver Compass" embodies all things heavy, dark and stylish. The album's eight tracks were mixed by Chris Collier (PRONG, FLOTSAM AND JETSAM, METAL CHURCH) at Mission:Black Studios and mastered by Joe Bozzi (MASTODON, L.A. GUNS) at Bernie Grundman Mastering, while Jorden Haley (DÅÅTH, DEICIDE, MINDLESS SELF INDULGENCE) handled the cover art and design.

ATHANASIA was founded in California by guitarist Caleb Bingham under the band's original name ASCENSION. As a result of passing the band's early demos around L.A.'s Sunset Strip, the young guitarist landed a gig with newly formed FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH in 2005. Upon being released from the group in 2007, Bingham continued to write under the name ASCENSION, recording several more unreleased demos (and one EP) at the behest of veteran Roadrunner Records A&R Monte Conner. Largely due to the label's merger with WMG, negotiations broke down and the band was once again shelved while Bingham played with Swedish death metal act ZONARIA from 2010 to 2014. After parting ways with ZONARIA due to a leg injury sustained while playing with the group, Bingham decided to put all his efforts back into what he worked so hard to create.

Joined by bassist Brandon Miller and veteran drummer Jason West (MURDERDOLLS, WEDNESDAY 13, SEBASTIAN BACH), Bingham resurrected the project under a new moniker, ATHANASIA, diligently recording its first full-length release over the span of several years.

"I'm very proud to announce that after years of literal blood, sweat, tears and countless hours of hard work, ATHANASIA's debut LP, 'The Order Of The Silver Compass', is finally about to see the light of day," says Bingham. "Blast it in the car and you’ll notice your gas pedal hitting the floor in a matter of seconds!"


ATHANASIA is:

Caleb Bingham - guitar, vocals

Brandon Miller - bass, vocals

Jason West - drums

"The Order Of The Silver Compass" track listing:


01. Read Between The Lines

02. Spoils Of War

03. The Order Of The Silver Compass

04. Cyclops Lord (My Will Is Done)

05. The Bohemian

06. Mechanized Assault

07. Nightmare Sound

08. White Horse

Greek extreme metal veterans ROTTING CHRIST have unveiled a video for their new song "The Raven". It is the third track to be released from the band's upcoming album, "The Heretics", which will be released on February 15 via Season Of Mist.

Frontman Sakis Tolis comments on the new song: "We proudly present to you 'The Raven', the third song from our upcoming new album, 'The Heretics'. It is the epilogue of the album, and one of our most atmospheric and melodic creations. It's a tribute to one of America's most (in)famous writers — Edgar Allan Poe — and more specifically to his influential poem of the same name. Enjoy 'The Raven' and see you soon on our heretical path!"

The artwork for "The Heretics" was created by Greek artist Maximos Manolis.

"The Heretics" track listing:

01. In The Name of God (04:14)

02. Vetry Zlye (03:13)

03. Heaven And Hell And Fire (04:52)

04. Hallowed Be Thy Name (05:06)

05. Dies Irae (03:46)

06. I Believe (03:42)

07. Fire God And Fear (04:50)

08. The Voice of the Universe (05:23)

09. The New Messiah (03:07)

10. The Raven (05:23)

With "The Heretics", ROTTING CHRIST is opening a brand new chapter. Sakis, in collaboration with his brother Themis on drums, achieves a perfect balance of amalgamating the band's classic and unique style of riffing and rhythm with exciting new elements sprinkled in to keep its material exciting and fresh. The experience is enhanced by Jens Bogren's equally clear and transparent yet also massive as well as sombre mix and mastering at his widely renowned Fascination Street Studios (AMORPHIS, BORKNAGAR, MOONSPELL, DEVIN TOWNSEND).


With more than 30 years, 13 studio albums, a dozen EPs, singles and split releases, as well as more than 1,250 shows under their belt, 2018 marked the year of ROTTING CHRIST's "Their Greatest Spells", where the band musically revisited its exciting legacy to connect its past with the present.

Asked in an interview with Pavillon 666 if he thought ROTTING CHRIST would last 30 years upon the band's 1988 formation, Sakis said: "It's a full life. No, of course [not]…you don't start the band to exist for 30 years or to be famous or rich or whatever the fuck. We just started the band because I wanted to sound like my idols back then. I wanted to play only one show and now I'm in a position where I've played 1,500 shows. And, no, I didn't expect something like this, but the spirit remains the same, even if I'm not that young. I still have the spirit and the hope that if we are in good health to keep playing with the band until our death. If health permits, of course. It's not up to me. If health does not permit, then I will not serve."

ROTTING CHRIST is:

Sakis Tolis: vocals, guitar, keys

Themis Tolis: drums

George Emmanouil: lead guitar

Van Ace: bass

SAXON frontman Biff Byford has begun recording his debut solo album. The disc, which is tentatively due later in the year, will feature guest appearances by drummer Nicholas Barker (DIMMU BORGIR, CRADLE OF FILTH) and guitarist Fredrik Åkesson (OPETH, ARCH ENEMY).

Barker took to his Facebook page earlier today to write: "Just finished tracking drums for Biff Byford's upcoming solo album with Fredrik Åkesson of OPETH."

Last June, Byford told Finland's Kaaos TV that he was writing a song with Åkesson for his solo LP.

Asked which musicians he would like to work with, if he could, on the upcoming record, Biff said: "It'd have to be someone like Tony Iommi [BLACK SABBATH] or Eddie Van Halen [VAN HALEN] or something. I'm a bit of a guitar buff, so I like guitarists."

Regarding whether his solo effort will be a musical departure from SAXON, Biff said, "It'll sound like SAXON, 'cause I'm singing — you know, it'll be my voice. But it'll be a more diverse album — not quite so focused on heavy metal, but more diverse."

Byford told "Rock Talk With Mitch Lafon" in April 2018 that he had seven songs written for his solo disc, adding that the record will probably feature a number of guest musicians. "I'm gonna ask various people [to appear on the record]," he said. "It's not easy for guitarists to work with you, because they just smack down their signature solo and off you go. Singers, I might do some duets and things. We'll see. I wanna get the songs written first, and then see who wants to work on them. I'll probably have a nucleus of a drummer and a bass player, although I might play bass myself. I've still got my Rickenbacker."

Asked why he just doesn't use the extra material for a future SAXON album instead of setting it aside for his solo disc, Biff tod "Rock Talk With Mitch Lafon": "Well, I did. Actually, 'Roadie's Song' [off SAXON's 2018 album 'Thunderbolt'] was a solo album project. And I do move them across all the time. And actually, originally, 'They Played Rock And Roll' was a solo-album idea [that also ended up on 'Thunderbolt']. So I do that all the time. And I do have songs that me and Nibbs have written for SAXON that I didn't think were right for SAXON that might end up on my solo album."

In addition to Byford and guitarist Paul Quinn, SAXON's current lineup includes bassist Nibbs Carter, guitarist Doug Scarratt and drummer Nigel Glockler.

PHILIP H. ANSELMO & THE ILLEGALS, the project led by the former PANTERA and current DOWN/SUPERJOINT frontman, has announced the addition of former CATTLE DECAPITATION bassist/current SCOUR guitarist Derek Engemann to the group's ranks. Engemann — who takes the place of bass comrade Walter Howard (GRIEVED, OPPRESSIVE FORCE, VAGINAL BEAR TRAP) — will make his live debut with THE ILLEGALS beginning next week on the band's Latin American tour where the band will perform ILLEGALS tracks alongside a selection of PANTERA hits.


Comments Anselmo of the new addition: "Derek is a brother; he's solid, driven, and talented. It's awesome to have him onboard and I look forward to jamming and writing with him. We're lucky to have him."


Adds Engemann: "I'm very excited to share the stage with mi hermanos in THE ILLEGALS! It's also truly an honor to pay such a great tribute to Dime and Vinnie!"


In March, PHILIP H. ANSELMO & THE ILLEGALS will make its way to Australia and New Zealand on the "Thrash Blast Grind" tour with Australian grind practitioners and Housecore Records labelmates KING PARROT. The journey marks Anselmo's first visit to Australia in over five years and includes a headlining set at Slayfest in Perth on March 23. Additional support will be provided by PALM (Japan) and POTION (Australia).

The summer months will find PHILIP H. ANSELMO & THE ILLEGALS playing a host of European festivals, including Graspop Metal Meeting in Belgium, Hellfest in France, and Metaldays in Slovenia, with more performances to be announced in the weeks to come.

PHILIP H. ANSELMO & THE ILLEGALS' sophomore album, "Choosing Mental Illness As A Virtue", was released in January 2018 via Anselmo's Housecore Records in the U.S. and Season Of Mist in other parts of the world. The disc is the follow-up to PHILIP H. ANSELMO & THE ILLEGALS' debut, "Walk Through Exits Only", which came out in 2013 to mostly positive reviews.

Asked how his approach on "Choosing Mental Illness As A Virtue" was different to that on its predecessor, Anselmo told AXS: "Everything down from production on — even the musical direction — is, as it should be, very different. On [the first] record, I wanted to have a herky-jerky, thrash record — to a degree. [Laughs] That's what was on my mind. I think there might have been just brief glimpses of what was to come. But I also want to call attention to the fact that we also recorded a split with WARBEAST, and also we did a 'Housecore Horror' EP that not many people know about, and all of those releases sound different. And romantically, I prefer the sound of this band like an old '80s thrash metal demo more than some polished, produced thing."

ILL NIÑO has parted ways with vocalist Cristian Machado, lead guitarist Ahrue Luster and rhythm guitarist Diego Verduzco and has replaced them with Marcos Leal (SHATTERED SUN), Jes DeHoyos (SONS OF TEXAS) and Sal Dominguez (UPON A BURNING BODY), respectively.

ILL NIÑO founder and drummer Dave Chavarri said in a statement: "Being in a band is much like being married, and sometimes people grow apart, and no longer see eye to eye, and a separation becomes inevitable.

"We wish our former members the best in their musical careers.

"Our new members were chosen carefully, as they're very respected, seasoned musicians.

"We ask everyone that you please respect our privacy, as we all move forward in our careers."

Leal, who will remain a member of SHATTERED SUN, commented: "Anyone who knows me knows the love I have for this band. I got my start singing ILL NIÑO covers in my younger years and this band has always held a special place in my heart. When the opportunity arose to front one of my favorite bands of all time, it was something I needed to consider."

A new ILL NIÑO song — its first in nearly five years — called "Sangre" was released earlier today via iTunes, Google Play and Amazon and can be streamed below.

ILL NIÑO will announce two full international tours, as well as a new label home and new official video shortly. The first confirmed dates with the new lineup include appearances at the Reload and Neuborn festivals in Germany in August.

ILL NIÑO is:

Marcos Leal - Lead Vocals

Laz Pina - Bass

Dave Chavarri - Drums

Daniel Couto - Percussion

Sal Dominguez - Rhythm Guitar

Jes DeHoyos - Lead Guitar

ILL NIÑO hasn't released a full-length record since 2014's "Till Death, La Familia".

In 2016 and 2017, the band celebrated the fifteenth anniversary of its debut LP, "Revolution Revolución", with European and Australian tour dates.

In 2017, Memphis rockers TORA TORA were approached by Frontiers Music Srl about recording a proper new studio album and they enthusiastically jumped at the opportunity. The resulting LP, "Bastards Of Beale", set for release on February 22, brings back the magic of the band's blues-rooted hard rock sound that gained them a loyal following upon their debut in the late '80s. Always a far cry from their more polished mainstream peers and more spiritually connected to blue collar hard rock, the band's return picks up where they left off, while not sounding even the slightest bit dated.


The second single from "Bastards Of Beale", a song called "Silence The Sirens", can be streamed below.


Guitarist Keith Douglas stated about the band getting back together and recording a proper studio album: "The last studio album we did was 'Revolution Day' which was recorded in '94. It's hard to believe that was almost 25 years ago! Music in general was in kind of a weird place at that point and our fit within our label was questionable, so we just kind of stepped away to do other things for a while. We played one show together in 2001 for a special occasion, but it was 2008 before we started playing together again semi-regularly. We had always talked about trying to do a new project and just happened to come into contact with Frontiers at the right time to make that happen. So why not now?"


"The band recorded the new album at Sam Phillips Recording in Memphis, Tennessee," continues Corder. "Sam is, of course, recognized for his work with Sun Studios and Elvis, arguably being responsible for creating rock and roll. But after Sun Studios, he moved right down the street to create Sam Phillips Recording. He wanted to be on the cutting edge of technology with recording, while having room to expand. This building has hosted too many icons to name, but a few would be Roy Orbison, Jerry Lee Lewis, Bob Dylan and Robert Plant. While we were there, William Bell (Stax) was visiting. We were really inspired while recording there."

TORA TORA started in 1985 in the garage of then high school students Antony Corder, Keith Douglas, John Patterson and Patrick Francis. They beat out sixty other groups in a local Battle Of The Bands contest and received some free studio time at Ardent Studios. They cut one track before using the prize money they had won to record an entire independent EP called "To Rock To Roll". Ardent was so impressed with the recordings that they offered to help shop the demo and gave them even more free recording time. TORA TORA eventually singed with A&M. That debut album made the Billboard Top 100 and hovered on the brink of breaking wide open as songs such as "Walking Shoes", "Riverside Drive" and "Phantom Rider" became local anthems. They followed up with "Wild America", which produced two more singles. A third album, "Revolution Day", was recorded but never released due to label restructuring. Due to the onset of the grunge era, TORA TORA, much like many other bands of their genre, called it quits in 1994.

In 2008, all four original members reunited for some performances. One was a sold-out performance at Newby's, a local club in Memphis, to celebrate the 20th anniversary of receiving their major label recording contract. The second appearance occurred during Rocklahoma 2008 before the band played another reunion show at The New Daisy Theatre on March 7, 2009 in Memphis.


Since the reunion, TORA TORA has issued three albums of previously unreleased material — "Before & After", "Bombs Away: The Unreleased Surprise Attack Recordings" and "Miss B. Haven': The Unreleased Wild America Recordings". But fans were clamoring for new music from the band, and that is just what they will get with the release of "Bastards Of Beale".

"Bastards Of Beale" track listing:

01. Sons Of Zebedee

02. Giants Fall

03. Everbright

04. Silence The Sirens

05. Son Of A Prodigal Son

06. Lights Up The River

07. Let Us Be One

08. All Good Things

09. Rose Of Jericho

10. Vertigo

11. Bastards Of Beale


TORA TORA is:

Anthony Corder: Vocals, Background Vocals, Acoustic Guitars

Keith Douglas: Lead And Rhythm Guitar, Acoustic Guitar

Patrick Francis: Bass

John Patterson: Drums, Percussion

RAMMSTEIN guitarists Paul Landers and Richard Kruspe spoke to Guitar World magazine about the band's upcoming seventh full-length studio album. The as-yet-untitled follow-up to 2009's "Liebe Ist Für Alle Da" is tentatively due in the spring.

"It's not too sterile, not too clean," Landers said. "It has a lot of life and energy in it, but it's not all angry. The music is more than that. It's different for RAMMSTEIN. You might even say it's fun to listen to."

According to Landers, RAMMSTEIN's new disc sounds less mechanical and more "human" than the band's past outings.

"We really wanted the music to sound warmer and like us playing together," he said. "Everyone with a computer can make music at home. You can program stuff and get nice-sounding drum programs and the sound is very good off the soundcards you have at home. That's fine, but our goal was to have something that could never be done at home, where you really hear the humans behind the instruments. To see your drummer play when you work on songs and see there are real people involved in your band I think is good for us."

Kruspe said that some of the initial musical ideas for the new RAMMSTEIN album were set aside, but not used, for his solo project, EMIGRATE.

"Obviously, if you listen to the record, there are still RAMMSTEIN elements in there," he said. "It's still us. But we experimented a lot with certain kinds of harmony through the verses and a lot of melodic structures in the songs. I feel like we came up with great stuff that I wouldn't have dreamed before could be RAMMSTEIN."

Landers described the making of the new RAMMSTEIN album "much more of a real band process" than the group's past efforts, but admitted that "every time we get together, we fight. We are six guys and six opinions and we are all involved in everything, so we get angry," he said. "We're not punching each other or anything. We try to just scream, but we're not quite done yet. Hopefully we don't have to punch and we can figure it out by talking… We work with it the way it is. That's the only way for us. We are stuck with each other. None of us could leave. Then it wouldn't be RAMMSTEIN."

The new RAMMSTEIN album will be released ahead of the band's first-ever European stadium tour, which will kick off on May 27 in Gelsenkirchen, Germany and end on August 23 in Vienna, Austria.

One of the most revered metal groups of all time, RAMMSTEIN is renowned for its electrifying live shows often involving spectacular pyrotechnics.

In 2016, 2017 and 2018, RAMMSTEIN played a number of concerts where the band opened each show with a brand new song, presently only known as "Ramm 4". The track contained lyrics that seemed to be a combination of various titles of previous RAMMSTEIN songs.

Former JUDAS PRIEST guitarist K.K. Downing was recently interviewed on the "Unchained" show, which airs on the 101.8 WCR FM Wolverhampton Community Radio station in Wolverhampton, England. You can now listen to the third part of the chat below.

Asked why he made the decision to quit JUDAS PRIEST in 2011 after spending 42 years recording and touring with the band, K.K. said: "It was a lot of things — it was an awful lot of things. It was a really hard thing for me to do. And it all boiled down to the fact that things had changed in the industry to going around the world, living out of the suitcase, going over trodden ground. All that's fine, but only if you get the reward of really getting off and enjoying the shows. But I wasn't. So there were certain things that [needed to] change. Yeah, sure, we're getting older, but I didn't feel as though we were pulling our weight, really, as we should and what we normally do as a band."

Downing continued: "Certain things were happening. I just felt that some of the guys [in the band] were more going through the motions. 'Cause I always said to the guys, 'Look, the older we get, the younger we've gotta play.' I stick to that rule. But it wasn't happening. Glenn [Tipton, guitar] was drinking a few beers before [going on] and during [the show], on stage, so, musically, it was making me feel a bit nervous. And Rob [Halford, vocals] was reading all of his lyrics off teleprompters and stuff like that, so I didn't feel he was connecting with the audience like he should as a frontman. And that resulted in Scott [Travis], the drummer, looking pretty bored every time I looked around at him. And so that was a major factor. That, plus, [for] a long time, I wasn't happy with the internal things, with how decisions were made and who was making them, and stuff like that. And on top of that, you start to think, 'I made an awful lot of sacrifices.'… I didn't have children and I deprived my family of me for so many years. I was away when all of my grandparents died. I was always miles and miles away. And with my mom and stuff like that, I just thought that I wanted to give them something back — a part of me — before it's too late for them or something happened."

K.K. said that there were probably "15 or 20 reasons" why he eventually decided to leave PRIEST, adding that his relationship with some of his bandmates and members of the PRIEST management team had deteriorated too far to be repaired. "I tried to tactfully rectify problems that were there, but it just got to the point where I thought that something got to give, something's gotta change," he said. "But everything has to run its course, I guess."

Downing also once again confirmed that he never had a chance to even contemplate the possibility of rejoining PRIEST following Tipton's decision to retire from the road due to his battle with Parkinson's disease.

"There was an opportunity for me to return when Glenn retired, but that didn't happen," Downing said. "I was disgruntled about that, really, because I felt that I would have been able to return, really, if there was gonna be at least stability and security in the music and the live shows. But having said that, it didn't happen, so I guess the writing's on the wall. But I just remember and look back on, incredibly fondly, everything that was achieved."

Last summer, Downing revealed that he sent two resignation letters to his bandmates eight years ago when he decided to quit JUDAS PRIEST. The first was described as "a graceful exit note, implying a smooth retirement from music," while the second was "angrier, laying out all of his frustrations with specific parties."

Downing later said that he believed the second letter was "a key reason" he wasn't invited to rejoin PRIEST following Tipton's decision to retire from touring.

SCORPIONS guitarist Rudolf Schenker will be Uli Jon Roth's very special guest at two Japanese shows during Uli's 50th-anniversary tour.

Roth — who was in the SCORPIONS for five years before leaving the group in 1978, following the release of the live double album "Tokyo Tapes" — and Schenker will be joined on select songs by drummer Rudy Lenners, who played on SCORPIONS' "In Trance" and "Virgin Killer" LPs.

A statement on Uli's Facebook page reads: "We are very pleased to announce that Rudolf Schenker will join Uil Jon Roth as his very special guest in Tokyo [on January 21] and Nagoya [on January 22] for his 50th Anniversary shows.

"This will be a truly emotional reunion, because Rudolf and Uli have not played Tokyo Sun Plaza Hall together since their legendary 'Tokyo Tapes' shows in 1978.

"As a further special treat, Rudy Lenners — the original drummer of the 'In Trance' and 'Virgin Killer' albums — will join Uli and Rudolf for some songs. Please, don't miss that historic event!"

Uli's 50th-anniversary tour will resume with two shows in Germany next week before the guitarist jets off to Japan.

The North American leg of the trek will kick off on March 20 at Whisky A Go Go in Los Angeles and run through May.

In a 2015 interview with Noisey, Rudolf stated about the Uli Jon Roth era of the SCORPIONS: "With Uli Jon Roth, he was more of a Jimi Hendrix fan, and we had two different styles — the Klaus Meine-Rudolf Schenker sound, and the Uli Jon Roth sort of Jimi Hendrix kind of sound. And later on, when Uli left the band, we really found our style."

Former SCORPIONS drummer Herman Rarebell concurred, telling Classic Rock Revisited: "The direction [Uli] wanted to go when I joined the band was more of Jimi Hendrix style music with an orchestra. When I joined, I told Rudolf that we should become a melodic hard rock band who writes songs that people can sing along with. Uli wanted to do his own thing and he formed ELECTRIC SUN."


We are very pleased to announce that RUDOLF SCHENKER will join ULI JON ROTH as his very special guest in Tokyo and...Posted by Uli Jon Roth on Thursday, January 10, 2019

Swiss folk metallers ELUVEITIE will release their new album, "Ategnatos", on April 5 via Nuclear Blast.


On an LP both mystical and philosophical, ELUVEITIE propels mythology, pagan belief and spirituality into our modern world.

"This one almost became something like a socio-critical uncovering work," says leader Christian "Chrigel" Glanzmann, "some kind of a revelation, a doomsday prophecy. Dark and severe in its atmosphere and charisma, and also occult, arcane and elitist."

The album is a manifesto, a fast-paced, highly dramatic and embellished work on which today's society sees itself in the mirror of ancient Celtic mythology and knowledge. "The image, of course, is blood-curling," Chrigel adds with a bitter grin. "At least to those with eyes to see." Far more than a pessimistic swan song for our world, however, "Ategnatos" holds the cathartic promise of renewal.

"'Ategnatos' is the Gaulish word for 'reborn,'" Chrigel explains. "To the sharpened mind, it points out the concealed, long forgotten key to change and renewal." This, naturally, comes at a price. "There's always suffering before bliss. And always darkness before light."


A work based on archaic archetypes and the ancient concept of renewal, "Ategnatos" unfolds an elemental force to be reckoned with. "These archetypes are still within us," Chrigel says. "People didn't change that much during the last 3000 years — and men were always just men." No wonder the album follows a decidedly darker, monumental tone that suits them very well.

Of course, ELUVEITIE has long had its very own trademark sound, a sonic adventure often copied but never overcome. With "Ategnatos", the dedicated nine-piece not only worked with a real string quartet and granted Fabienne Erni's sublime mastery of the harp the room it deserved; they also undertook a holistic upgrade resulting in some of the catchiest, most aggressive and most epic tunes the Swiss metal nobility has ever offered.


Recordings took place in their beloved New Sound Studio with their engineer of choice Tommy Vetterli. "Yet it was radically different as we only had four weeks to record this time around — as compared to the eight weeks we had for 'Origins'," Chrigel says. By taking mixing duties to the skilled hand of renowned studio wizard Jens Bogren at his Fascination Street Studios in Örebro, Sweden, ELUVEITIE returned to the very spot where it mixed its now-legendary "Slania" album more than ten years ago.

ELUVEITIE in May 2016 announced the departure of drummer Merlin Sutter, vocalist Anna Murphy and guitarist Ivo Henzi.

The band's new lineup made its live debut at the Eluveitie & Friends festival in January 2017 at Z7 in Pratteln, Switzerland.


ELUVEITIE is:

Jonas Wolf - guitars

Matteo Sisti - whistles, bagpipes, mandola, bodhran

Nicole Ansperger - fiddle

Alain Ackermann - drums

Chrigel Glanzmann - vocals, whistles, mandola, bagpipes

Fabienne Erni - vocals, celtic harp

Kay Brem - bass

Michalina Malisz - hurdy gurdy

Rafael Salzmann - guitars

SONS OF APOLLO — the progressive metal supergroup featuring former DREAM THEATER bandmates Mike Portnoy and Derek Sherinian, as well as guitarist Ron "Bumblefoot" Thal (ex-GUNS N' ROSES), bassist Billy Sheehan (MR. BIG, THE WINERY DOGS) and vocalist Jeff Scott Soto (W.E.T., TALISMAN) — is working on its second album.

Portnoy wrote on his Facebook page earlier today: "What an intense writing session we've had for SONS OF APOLLO 2 over the last week!! It was a whirlwind of creativity and we managed to pull it all together and knock it out of the park (IMHO)... and wasting no time, I'm flying to L.A. today to begin recording my drum tracks! We will then spend the rest of the year crafting the album and are shooting to have it out at the end of the year or beginning of 2020... But worry not, there's the live Plovdiv release coming early this summer to tide you over until then!"

SONS OF APOLLO professionally recorded its September 22, 2018 concert at the Ancient Theatre in Plovdiv, Bulgaria for an upcoming CD, DVD and Blu-ray. During the show, in which the band played all of the material from its 2017 debut album "Psychotic Symphony" and a number of notable covers, SONS OF APOLLO performed two sets separated by an intermission — one "regular" set, and another that featured an orchestra and choir.

Thal recently told the Detroit radio station 101 WRIF that the next SONS OF APOLLO album "will still sound like us. That's not something we can get away from," he said. "It will be similar, I'm sure, to the first record, but maybe just turning up the intensity knob. I'd like to — I'd like the heavier stuff to be heavier, the crazy stuff to be crazier and just really up the intensity... I can't wait. It's going to be good. I just really want to make sure we outdo the last record, and the record after this upcoming one outdoes this one, and we just keep raising the bar and demanding more of ourselves and meeting that higher setting that we keep pushing [for]. In anything, you just always want to become better. You want to keep bettering what you've done and keep growing and keep improving and keep developing. I'm excited to take that step and see what we come up with."

Asked how the group prepares before it enters the studio, Ron said: "[We] come in with ideas, but a lot of things happen spontaneously. Most of the [first] record happened spontaneously. Even then, when we have ideas, the last thing you want to do is over-build the idea on your own — you want to leave room for it to grow as a band and [allow] everybody to contribute, and make it something that's truly us, not something where somebody runs with it and ends up writing the whole song. That can happen — and on the first record, that happened a bit, which is fine — but [the goal is] trying not to over-write, so if I come up with an idea, if I come up with a riff, I try to just leave it at that riff and resist the urge to make the next part and the part after that and say, 'Hey, check out this whole song I wrote.' We all want it to be a band effort where we all contribute so that it does sound like all of us."

"Psychotic Symphony" was released in October 2017 via InsideOut Music.


What an intense writing session we’ve had for Sons Of Apollo 2 over the last week!! It was a whirlwind of creativity and...Posted by Mike Portnoy on Wednesday, January 16, 2019

Original FOREIGNER singer Lou Gramm spoke to WXXI's Beth Adams about his recent announcement that he was retiring from performing as a solo artist.

Gramm broke the news of his decision to stop touring at the conclusion of his concert on December 29 in Schenectady, New York.

Asked what he meant when he said that he was putting an end to his solo career, Gramm told WXXI: "When I left FOREIGNER in 2003, I put together my own band and I've been playing with various versions of that band, on and off, [until] last [month]. And I decided that I've been doing this for over 45 years, and we have a little one at home, and I wanted to spend time at home with Robyn [Grammatico, Gramm's wife] and my baby girl's name is Luciana. [She's] a year and three months. She's a little redhead and she's feisty and sweet and so much fun to be around."

Pressed about whether it was a difficult decision for him to step away from the road, Lou said: "You know what? I thought it would be. But I've talked to some professionals in sports, and they tell me that they knew when it was time. And it wasn't because their skills were diminished; they just knew it was time to change courses."

Gramm made it clear that he wasn't completely retiring from performing live. "I'm still gonna be doing occasional shows with FOREIGNER," he said. "And there's other configurations. I do a show as a guest vocalist with ASIA. And there's a few other things that pop up every now and then. There's these things where there's orchestras and a rock band that play your hits and you sing with an orchestra as a background. I've done 'em over in Europe — they've been doing 'em over in Europe for about 20 years — and it's stunning how interesting it sounds. That kind of thing sounds real interesting on 'Juke Box Hero' and things like 'Cold As Ice' and stuff. Even the heavy songs sound good with strings behind them."

Gramm also confirmed that he was planning to release new music in the not-too-distant future. "I have a few little tidbits that I'm working on, massaging them into a song," he said. "But I'll tell you what I am doing. Back in the days when I did my solo albums, I put 10 songs on the album. There were probably 13 songs, and the other three weren't finished. And so those songs would be not put on the album. So between my two solo albums and SHADOW KING, there's about another album's worth of songs that were never finished. And what I'm doing is finishing them three at a time and putting them where they can be downloaded."

SHADOW KING was a collaboration between Gramm and current DEF LEPPARD guitarist Vivian Campbell. The group released a self-titled album in 1991 and performed live only once, at the Astoria Theatre in London, England on December 13, 1991.

By the time Gramm left FOREIGNER for the first time in 1990, he had already released two successful solo albums: 1987's "Ready Or Not" and 1989's "Long Hard Look". He went on to launch LOU GRAMM BAND, which released an all-Christian rock album in 2009. He followed it up with "My Baby" in 2015.

The 68-year-old Gramm left FOREIGNER for good in 2002 and has battled health issues in recent years, including the removal of a non-cancerous tumor. He told the Democrat & Chronicle last year that he was planning to retire, but still reunited with FOREIGNER for several shows in 2018 to celebrate the band's 40th anniversary.

Gramm was the voice on FOREIGNER's biggest hits, including "Feels Like The First Time" and "Cold as Ice" from the band's eponymous debut in 1977, and later songs like "Hot Blooded" and "I Want to Know What Love Is".

FOREIGNER replaced Gramm with Kelly Hansen in 2005. Guitarist Mick Jones, the only remaining original member, suffered from some health issues beginning in 2011, eventually resulting in heart surgery in 2012.

METALLICA and FOO FIGHTERS are among the artists that performed Wednesday night (January 16) at the Chris Cornell tribute concert at the Forum in Los Angeles, California. A number of pop stars also appeared at the event, billed as "I Am The Highway: A Tribute To Chris Cornell", such as Miley Cyrus, Brandi Carlile, Adam Levine, plus country artist Chris Stapleton and Ziggy Marley.

Rock artists that honored the singer included Josh Homme of QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE, Tim McIlrath of RISE AGAINST, Taylor Momsen from THE PRETTY RECKLESS, Perry Farrell of JANE'S ADDICTION, THE MELVINS, BLACK SABBATH's Geezer Butler and Ryan Adams, along with members of Cornell's bands SOUNDGARDEN, AUDIOSLAVE and TEMPLE OF THE DOG.

THE MELVINS opened the evening with a three-song set that included a cover of SOUNDGARDEN's "Spoonman", while the FOO FIGHTERS ran through SOUNDGARDEN's "No Attention", plus two songs previously covered by SOUNDGARDEN, DEVO's "Girl U Want" and CHEECH AND CHONG's "Earache My Eye", before closing the set with "Everlong".

Homme played a solo rendition of SOUNGARDEN's "Rusty Cage" while MAROON 5's Adam Levine and PEARL JAM's Stone Gossard joined forces on "Seasons", the song Cornell recorded for the "Singles" soundtrack.

Cyrus sang "As Hope and Promise Fade", before two of the surviving members of AUDIOSLAVE — guitarist Tom Morello and drummer Brad Wilk — played a five-song set with a rotating lineup of guest singers (Perry Farrell on "Cochise", Juliette Lewis on "Be Yourself", McIlrath on "Set It Off", Carlile on "Like A Stone" and Dave Grohl on "Show Me How To Live") and bassists (BLACK SABBATH's Geezer Butler, METALLICA's Robert Trujillo and JANE'S ADDICTION's Chris Chaney).

Introduced by comedian Jack Black, METALLICA opened its four-song set with a cover of SOUNDGARDEN's "All Your Lies", followed by two of its own classic tracks, "For Whom The Bell Tolls" and "Master Of Puppets", before closing with SOUNDGARDEN's "Head Injury".

Cornell's widow, Vicky, took to the stage to pay tribute to her husband.

"We all know how music can change us, but Chris did something more extraordinary — he changed music and paved the way for so many from Seattle to across the globe," she said. "And that legacy, and his influence, will live for generations to come. I am so proud that, along with his legacy, his philanthropic work continues to grow and flourish.

"Chris would be so very proud. Simply put, to me, and because of all of you, Chris lives on, a music immortal whose passion for helping others is more alive today than ever."

Chris's 14-year-old daughter Toni received a standing ovation after performing a cover of Bob Marley's "Redemption Song" while standing in front of a picture of her father.

The show was presented by Cornell's family and closest friends, with Jimmy Kimmel hosting.

Each ticket purchased online for the show included a copy of Cornell's recently released self-titled career retrospective album.

Chris took his own life in May 2017 after a SOUNDGARDEN show in Detroit.

"I Am The Highway: A Tribute To Chris Cornell" setlist:

THE MELVINS

01. Kicking Machine

02. With Your Heart

03. Not Your Hands

04. Leech

05. Heart Of Honey

06. Spoonman

Rita Wilson

01. The Promise

Nikka Costa and Alain Johannes

01. Disappearing One

Chris Stapleton

01. The Keeper

FOO FIGHTERS

01. No Attention

02. Earache My Eye

03. Girl You Want

04. Everlong (Acoustic)

Josh Homme

01. Rusty Cage

Adam Levine, Jesse Carmichael, and Stone Gossard

01. Seasons

Miley Cyrus

01. Two Drink Minimum

AUDIOSLAVE (Tom Morello and Brad Wilk)

01. Cochise (with Geezer Butler and Perry Farrell)

02. Be Yourself (with Geezer Butler and Juliette Lewis)

03. Set It Off (with Chris Chaney, Sam Harris and Tim Mcllrath)

04. Like A Stone (with Chris Chaney and Brandi Carlile)

05. Show Me How To Live (with Robert Trujillo and Dave Grohl)

Toni Cornell and Ziggy Marley

01. Redemption Song

METALLICA

01. All Your Lies

02. For Whom The Bell Tolls

03. Master of Puppets

04. Head Injury

Ryan Adams (Daphne Chen, Richard Dodd, Eric Gorfain, Leah Katz, and Don Was)

01. Dead Wishes

02. Fell On Black Days

TEMPLE OF THE DOG

01. Preaching The End Of The World (Nikka Costa, Alain Johannes, Stone Gossard, Brendan O'Brien, and Josh Taylor)

02. Can't Change Me (Nikka Costa, Alain Johannes, Stone Gossard, Eric Avery, and Josh Freese)

03. Hunted Down (William DuVall, Jerry Cantrell, Stone Gossard, Jeff Ament, and Josh Freese)

04. All Night Thing (Fiona Apple, Brendan O'Brien, David Garza, Jeff Ament, and Matt Chamberlain)

05. Reach Down (Miguel, Nikka Costa, Stone Gossard, Brendan O'Brien, Jeff Ament, and Matt Cameron)

06. Say Hello 2 Heaven (Miley Cyrus, Brendan O'Brien, Stone Gossard, Jeff Ament, and Josh Freese)

07. Hunger Strike (Brandi Carlile, Chris Stapleton, Stone Gossard, Brendan O'Brien, Jeff Ament, and Matt Cameron)

SOUNDGARDEN

01. Rusty Cage (with Taylor Momsen)

02. Flower (with Marcus Durant)

03. Outshined (with Marcus Durant and Stone Gossard)

04. Drawing Flies (with Taylor Momsen, Buzz Osbourne, Matt Demeritt, and Tracy Wanamae)

05. Loud Love (with Taylor Momsen, Tom Morello, and Wayne Kramer)

06. I Awake (with Taylor Hawkins and Buzz Osbourne)

07. The Day I Tried To Live (with Taylor Hawkins and Buzz Osbourne)

08. Black Hole Sun (with Brandi Carlile, Peter Frampton, Tim Hanseroth, and Phil Hanseroth)

During last month's appearance on RadioVegas.Rocks's "Chaotic Radio", SLIPKNOT and STONE SOUR frontman Corey Taylor was asked if he would ever consider trying to cross over to country music, like other rockers have done in recent years. "No," he responded (hear audio below). "Even coming from Iowa — fuck no! Absolutely not. And it's not to say that I couldn't write stuff like that. My interest would be more singer-songwriter kind of vibe, like SQUEEZE or something like that. Or — and I've actually been thinking about doing something like this — putting together a quartet or a quintet and doing a jazz album, like a dark jazz album, [and] recording it live in a room. It won't sell shit. It would really just be for my own fucking personal collection… 'Cause I love jazz. A lot of people don't realize that — I listen to a lot of '40s and '50s jazz. And there is this… the haunting stuff that [Billie] Holiday would do, the older stuff that Charlie Parker would do, when he was really fucked up — that would be the stuff that I would be closer to. And I've got, actually, jazzy versions of some of my own songs that I would love to try. Probably something like 'Prosthetics' [by SLIPKNOT], I think would be really, really cool. And then 'Bother' — I've got a really cool jazzy version of 'Bother' that could be really cool."

Taylor went on to say that he does occasionally come up with music that could legitimately fall into the country genre. "Honestly, I write stuff like that all the time," he said. "'St. Marie', on the new 'Hydrograd' album [from STONE SOUR], was a leftover from some stuff that I'd written that had a very country vibe to it. But it was more California country that the twangy. So it was cool. It was more like the six- or seven-chord vibe."

Taylor said in a 2016 interview that it would be "super greedy" of him to launch a solo career — at least for now. Speaking with RockSverige.se, Taylor explained: "I've been getting questions about solo stuff forever. But it's a good problem to have. But, at the same time, I'm in two fantastic bands. Why would I ever?"

He added: "Unless I wanted to get super greedy, why would I try to split off and do something else. I'm very fulfilled by the music that I get to make with both bands. Is there a solo album in me? Yes. But it's not gonna be for a few more years."

Taylor spoke a while back about what he thought a solo album from him might sound like. "For me, the stuff that I write is, it would be like a cross between the [FOO FIGHTERS], SOCIAL [DISTORTION] and THE REPLACEMENTS, you know," he told The Pulse Of Radio. "I mean, real Midwestern rock. Real, just open chords, good time rock, you know. And damn the critics, basically. That's the stuff I write and that's the stuff I've always tried to write."

Interview (audio):