QUEEN guitarist Brian May will issue his first new entirely solo work in over two decades next month. "New Horizons", written by Brian and Don Black, recorded and completed only this month, will receive a global digital release on January 1. The single will have its worldwide premiere from NASA control headquarters Maryland USA on New Year's Day (Tuesday, January 1). It is the legendary guitarist/songwriter's first official solo single since "Why Don't We Try Again", taken from his "Another World" album in 1998.

"New Horizons" is Brian's personal tribute to the ongoing NASA New Horizons mission, which on New Year's Day 2019 will achieve the most distant spacecraft flyby in history, in an encounter with a remote Kuiper Belt Object (KBO) named Ultima Thule, far out beyond Pluto on the edges of the solar system.

May, who has a doctorate in astrophysics, and is a New Horizons science collaborator, will be present at the New Horizons Maryland, Washington County, base of operations on New Year's Day to witness the historic final approach as it happens. Brian was also present for new Horizon's triumphal Pluto flyby in 2015, and delivered the world's first stereoscopic image of Pluto, from the ground-breaking data that the NH probe delivered.

Brian's "New Horizons" track (Ultima Thule mix) celebrates the whole 12-year journey of New Horizons probe, and includes a message from Stephen Hawking congratulating the team on their successful rendezvous with Pluto three years ago. In a broader sense, the song is an anthem to mankind's spirit of exploration, reaching ever further out into the universe.

b>"New Horizons" will have its global premiere, broadcast live on January 1 at 12:02 a.m. EST (5:02 a.m. GMT) from the New Horizons control Center in Maryland, USA, at the moment when the historic Ultima Thule encounter is confirmed.

Says Brian: "This project has energized me in a new way. For me, it's been an exciting challenge to bring two sides of my life together — astronomy and music. It was Alan Stern, the project instigator of this amazing NASA mission, who threw down the glove last May. He asked if I could come up with a theme for Ultima Thule which could be played as the NH probe reached this new destination. I was inspired by the idea that this is the furthest that the hand of man has ever reached. It will be by far the most distant object we have ever seen at close quarters, through the images which the space craft will beam back to earth. To me, it epitomizes the human spirit's unceasing desire to understand the universe we inhabit. Everyone who has devoted so much energy to this mission since its launch in January 2006 will be feeling they are actually inside that small but intrepid vehicle — only about the size of a grand piano — as it pulls off another spectacular close encounter. And through the vehicle's 'eyes,' we will begin to learn, for the very first time, what a Kuiper Belt Object is made of. And pick up precious clues about how our solar system was born."

Brian has been "teasing" fragments of the track with specially adapted "New Horizons" video clips on his Instagram and Twitter feeds, as well on Brian's well-known "Bri's Soapbox" at BrianMay.com. The first two trailers have attracted over 200,000 likes in all, and a third "episode" will be posted in the next few days.

Candlemass will release their new album, The Door To Doom, on February 22nd via Napalm Records. The band has come full circle: their first singer Johan Langquist (who left the band after singing on the legendary 1986 debut Epicus Doomicus Metallicus) has returned, and now, the epic doom metal veterans announce their 12th full length album, The Door To Doom. A new static video for the new song "The Omega Circle" can be seen below.

The Door To Doom unsurprisingly follows the plot line mastermind, songwriter and bass player Leif Edling established in the past years: epic world class doom metal that relies on slow mammoth riffing. With Johan Langquist's highly dramatic vocal style and the love for details, the band made this album to the next “Epicus”. This masterpiece is rounded off by a beautiful guest appearance by none other than Black Sabbath's Tony Iommi on "Astorolus - The Great Octopus".

Tony Iommi on his appearance: “Candlemass are a major force in Scandinavian heavy rock and have always acknowledged the influence we had on their music. They asked if I’d contribute to a track which sounded pretty good so I thought ‘why not’."

Leif Edling states: “We feel very honoured that Tony Iommi said yes to play the solo on 'Astorolus'. The song was sent to the management and amazingly enough, the master agreed to let his mighty SG sing on the track! For me personally this is  a dream come true. Tony Iommi has always been my hero and guiding light when it comes to heavy music, so to hear that he likes the song and also would like to play on it, gave me chills down the spine! I'm still in shock! But kudos to him to be so cool to even listen to it. Hats off! Tony Iommi is and will always be God!”

The album can be pre-ordered in various formats here.

Tracklisting:

"Splendor Demon Majesty"
"Under The Ocean"
"Astorolus - The Great Octopus"
"Bridge Of The Blind"
"Death´s Wheel"
"Black Trinity"
"House Of Doom"
"The Omega Circle"

"The Omega Circle" static video:

Candlemass are:

Leif Edling: Bass
Mats "Mappe" Björkman: Guitars
Jan Lindh: Drums
Lars "Lasse" Johansson: Guitars              
Johan Langquist: Vocals

(Photo - Anders Pålsson)

Norway's avant-garde metallers BORKNAGAR are finally back in the studio in order to record their 11th album, following up 2016's acclaimed "Winter Thrice" release. The disc will once again be mixed and mastered by Jens Bogren at Fascination Street Studio (OPETH, KREATOR, AMON AMARTH) in March 2019 and is expected for a worldwide release via Century Media Records in fall of 2019.

BORKNAGAR's new album will be the first to feature new drummer Bjørn Dugstad Rønnow, who has replaced Baard Kolstad. Baard announced his departure from the group in good friendship due to busy schedules, heavy touring and various other musical commitments. Bjørn Dugstad Rønnow has already recorded drums for the LP at Strand Studio in Oslo and can be seen pictured above together with BORKNAGAR mainman Oystein G. Brun.

Øystein G. Brun comments: "So, again, we are about to set sail for new musical adventures. The horizon certainly looks broader, higher and shimmers even deeper than before.

"We are all extremely excited about this new album and the material therein. The album derives as a natural continuation from 'Winter Thrice', but we'll take a huge leap forward as well. In all facets, that is.

Baard leaving the band has been known to the band for quite some while, so absolutely no drama in regards to his departure. I am truly happy for the time we shared on and off stage over the past years and wish him nothing but the best for future to come. His future is indeed bright, the young man is already a legend!

"Who is the new drummer? His name is Bjørn Dugstad Rønnow and has proven to be a stunning drummer. No wonder Baard hooked us up. A few months ago, we had our first rehearsal and during the past week, we recorded the drums for the new album at Strand studio in Oslo together with engineer Marius Strand. The recording session turned out stellar. I am deeply impressed by the level of professionalism, dedication and sweaty efforts Bjørn put into this album. A drummer of world class. Mark my words.

"Last but not least, we are stoked to once again be able to work with Jens Bogren at Fascination Street Studio. We will spend the next months doing the remaining recordings in various studios and eventually do the mix/master of the album at Fascination Street Studio in March 2019.

"This will be grandiose, in so many ways! More information will follow shortly."

Baard Kolstad comments: "With lots of different ambitious musical projects and bands at the same time, I kind of always knew that it would come a time where I had to set some priorities. There's nothing but good memories and great experiences and valuable moments from the time I had with BORKNAGAR. My first step into the professional rock and metal world! I already look forward to follow BORKNAGAR closely in the time to come, something I know I will, as I'm good friends with all members, last but not least the new drummer and roomie Bjørn Dugstad! He was strongly recommended by myself to be the new BORKNAGAR drummer, and I'm so happy on behalf of both him and BORKNAGAR that they ended up choosing him!

"Because we only made one record in the time I was a member of BORK, it was not an easy decision to choose to not join this one as the last chapter of this journey, but again, priorities for my own bands had to lead my decision and I know it would be a perfect kickstart for a new drummer to feel connected with the material in the tours to come etc. I wish them all good times to come and can't wait to follow them further from the side!"

Bjørn Dugstad Rønnow comments: "I'm honored to take over the torch after my good friend Baard in this legendary band. It's already been an absolute pleasure working on and recording the upcoming album and I'm sure we'll have a blast out on the road in 2019. I can't wait to hit the stage with these guys!"

BORKNAGAR's new album will be its first since the departure of longtime guitarist Jens F. Ryland, who left the band this past January.

"Winter Thrice" featured contributions from four vocalists, including the return of original singer and ULVER mastermind Kristoffer Rygg, a.k.a. Garm, who guested on two songs.

Newly released court documents show that CANNIBAL CORPSE guitarist Patrick "Pat" O'Brien made strange phone calls to his parents the day of his arrest, warning about "the rapture" and telling them that "aliens have landed."

O'Brien was arrested on December 10 on charges of aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer and burglary of an occupied dwelling with assault. Deputies say he burglarized a house and charged at a deputy with a knife.

O'Brien allegedly broke into a Northdale, Florida home on December 10 and shouted that "the rapture is coming" before pushing a woman to the ground. He ran toward a responding deputy with a knife and was subdued with a stun gun.

Less than half a mile from where O'Brien was arrested, a fire broke out at the house he was renting, sending flames billowing into the night sky from the roof.

ccording to the Tampa Bay Times, fire marshals found a large cache of weapon, locked safes and potential explosive devices inside O'Brien's home. The stash included about 50 shotguns — including one with a barrel illegaly sawed off to about an inch past the stock — 10 semiautomatic rifles including a couple of AK-47 variants, two Uzi-style rifles and 20 handguns. Also found at the house were two flame throwers as well as thousands of rounds of ammunition — stored in boxes, military-style metal cans and even ammunition belts — several other weapons and weapons parts and three skulls.

The day after the fire, a neighbor told News Channel 8 they believed O'Brien kept some sort of flamethrower at the house and practiced with it.

The owner of the home where O'Brien was arrested wouldn't go on camera but told ABC Action News he thought the guitarist was hallucinating when he spoke to him and claimed "someone was after him." The homeowner added O'Brien seemed scared and at one point even hid in his closet.

At a first appearance hearing on December 11, a Hillsborough County judge told the 53-year-old musician, clad in an anti-suicide vest with his hands and ankles chained together, that he would first have to pass a drug test before he would be allowed to post bail and leave jail.

O'Brien was released from Hillsborough County jail on Friday, December 14, after posting a $50,000 surety bond.

CANNIBAL CORPSE announced last week that it would be part of the next North American leg of SLAYER's farewell tour.

PUDDLE OF MUDD frontman Wes Scantlin says that fans can expect to hear fresh music from the band next year. "We're coming out with a new record and it's really badass," he told the Rock 100.5 The KATT radio station in a new interview (see video below). "We worked our butt off on it, and I can't wait to get it out. Coming soon."

Asked if he could provide any insight into the sound of the new PUDDLE OF MUDD record, Wes said: "It's just a bunch of great songs, man — heartfelt and true to PUDDLE OF MUDD form."

PUDDLE OF MUDD's last album, "Volume 4: Songs In The Key Of Love & Hate", came out in 2009. A covers disc, "re(disc)overed", followed in 2011. A standalone new song, "Piece Of The Action", was released in 2014 via iTunes.

PUDDLE OF MUDD broke into the mainstream with 2001's "Come Clean", which yielded three hits — "Control", "Blurry" and "She Hates Me".

arlier this year, Scantlin said that he finally got his life together after years of legal troubles, canceled or disrupted shows and arrests for disorderly or drunken behavior.

Scantlin said that he ended up going back to rehab and receiving treatment "because there's really nowhere else to go." He also credited his family and fans for giving him the strength to try to get better.

VENOM frontman Conrad "Cronos" Lant says that he has had no contact with the band's former guitarist Jeffrey "Mantas" Dunn after the latter underwent a successful emergency open-heart surgery in May. "We don't speak," Cronos told Loudwire. "I've had tragedies and things and we've lost crew and he didn't turn up for funerals or anything either, so [it's] best just not have anything to do with each other, really. I didn't feel the need to. If he's gonna be absent for things like that, well, then I take the hint… He lost real contact with me back in 1986 when he just completely changed his personality… But, I mean, he was the guy who just sat in the hotel room and everybody got on with it anyway. He was never a real big influence on VENOM as much; he just played the guitar and went home. He's a very private person and I'm sure that's just the way he likes to go.'

Cronos added: "To tell you the truth, I wouldn't know where to contact him anyway. I haven't got a clue. I don't know what label they're on or what they're doing. So, no."

Mantas, who is now a member of VENOM INC. alongside former VENOM frontman Tony Dolan, told DCHeavyMetal.com in a 2017 interview that he had "absolutely no contact" with Cronos. "The bridges are firmly burnt," he said.

According to Mantas, there have been no legal challenges to VENOM INC.'s continued recording and touring activities despite the similarities in the two bands' names. "Yes, we did receive a couple of lawyers' letters at the beginning and I responded to both of them and we haven't heard anything since," the guitarist said.

n a 2016 interview with Westword, Mantas said that Cronos "changed completely" when "the success of VENOM hit." He added: "There was a massive shift in personality. Both times that I've walked away from VENOM, it hasn't been because of musical differences or finances or anything like that — it was just because it's too difficult. I can't put up with that stuff, where you don't know what his personality's going to be from one day to the next. There's never been a massive camaraderie between the three original members."

Mantas also shot down the possibility of a reunion with his one-time bandmate, saying: "Cronos is doing what he does. The last few interviews I've seen, all he does is attack us in the press and call us names, and he's got his little minions, his guitarist, calling us a pale imitation, and it's like, actually, you're playing my parts and [drummer] Abaddon's parts. So who's the fucking tribute band around here?"

VENOM's 15th full-length studio album, "Storm The Gates", was released on December 14 through Spinefarm Records.

Sweden-based atmospheric doom/sludge/post metal band, The Moth Gatherer, are streaming the first single from their recently announced third studio album, Esoteric Oppression, due out on February 22nd via Agonia Records. Listen to "Motionless In Oceania" below.

The Moth Gatherer is a band of varying genres, centered on atmospheric doom, sludge and post metal. Their prolific approach includes electric musical stylings, along with traces of melodic post-rock.

The band commented on the new album: "We’ve put our very fabric into it. Its creation has been a path paved with distress and frustration; one that has left us totally exhausted. But all our effort shows in the music and we can now say that it was worth the turmoil. We’re extremely proud to present Esoteric Oppression to you all. We hope you love it as much as we do.”

Esoteric Oppression was worked on in several recording studios. Guitars, bass and drums were tracked at Studio Underjord with Joona Hassinen, who later mixed the entire album. Electronics and vocals were recorded at The Lifestream Studio. Magnus Lindberg (Cult Of Luna) mastered the album at Redmount Studios, while the production was laid out by The Moth Gatherer. The recording features a guest appearance from Messy Mathi (Barst) on the track "The Drone Kingdom". SCG prepared the album's cover artwork and layout.

Pre-order the album here in the following formats:

- regular CD
- gold slipcase CD + patch
- black LP
- gold LP
- t-shirt
- digital

Tracklisting:

“The Drone Kingdom”
“Motionless In Oceania”
“Utopia”
“The Failure Design”
“Phosphorescent Blight”

"Motionless In Oceania":

Almost two decades after the release of cult albums such as At The Gates Of Utopia and The Gorgon Cult, Scarlet Records has announced the return of Stormlord to the label’s roster. Known for their unique blend of extreme metal and warlike epic elements, the band is ready to burn old and new fans’ hearts with a record that was expected for over five years. Stormlord are currently busy putting the final touches to it between Time Collapse Recording Studio (with Riccardo Studer) and OuterSound Studios (with Giuseppe Orlando Official). The album will be mixed by Giuseppe Orlando and Riccardo Studer. Here are the first statements of frontman Cristiano Borchi and bassist Francesco Bucci:

"Those who follow us know that we don’t like to repeat ourselves, that each of our albums has a different color while maintaining the usual epic feel to it. I can anticipate that this will be a more direct and in your face record. Get ready for the battle!" (Cristiano Borchi)

"We have merged modernity and tradition, solemn atmospheres and furious blastbeats, power and melody. The new record will bring back the cult we have always been devoted to: Extreme Epic Metal." (Francesco Bucci)

Kissin' Dynamite have released a music video for their cover of Powerwolf's "Let There Be Light". Check it out below:

Kissin' Dynamite will support Powerwolf on their European run in January. Dates below.

January
10 - Toulouse, France - Bikini
11 - Bordeaux, France - Le Rocher De Palmer
12 - Barcelona, Spain - Razzmatazz 1
13 - Madrid, Spain - La Riviera
15 - Lille, France - L'Aernoef
16 - Nantes, France - Le Stereolux
17 - Rouen, France - Le 106
19 - Manchester, UK - Academy 2
20 - Glasgow, UK - SWG
21 - Bristol, UK - SWX
22 - Birmingham, UK - Digbeth Mill
24 - Reims, France - La Cartonnerie
25 - Dusseldorf, Germany - Mitsubishi Electric Hall
26 - Nancy, France - L'Autre Canal
27 - Marseille, France - Espace Julien
28 - Lyon, France - Transbordeur
29 - Strasbourg, France - La Laiterie

Then, catch Kissin' Dynamite live on their upcoming European headline tour in March and April.

March
15 - Osnabruck, Germany - Bastard Club
16 - Enschede, Netherlands - Metropool
20 - Berlin, Germany - BiNuu
21 - Nurnberg, Germany - Hirsch
22 - Leipzig, Germany - Hellraiser
23 - Vacha/Eisenach, Germany - Vachwerk
28 - Aschaffenburg, Germany - Colos Saal
29 - Eindhoven, Netherlands - Effenaar
30 - Hannover, Germany - Musikzentrum

April
4 - Saarbrucken, Germany - Garage
5 - Koln, Germany - Kantine
6 - Hamburg, Germany - Markthalle
10 - Milano, Italy - Legend Club
11 - Pratteln, Switzerland - Z7
12 - Munchen, Germany - Backstage
13 - Stuttgart, Germany - LKA-Longhorn
16 - Bratislava, Slovakia - Randal Club
17 - Wien, Austria - Flex
18 - Budapest, Hungary - Durer Kert
19 - Graz, Austria - Explosiv
20 - Worgl, Austria - Komma

BLACK SABBATH is among the artists who will receive a Recording Academy Lifetime Achievement Award next year.

According to the Recording Academy, the Lifetime Achievement Award honors musicians who have "made outstanding contributions of artistic significance to the field of recording" over the decades.

Also receiving the Lifetime Achievement Award next year are George Clinton & PARLIAMENT-FUNKADELIC, Billy Eckstine, Donny Hathaway, Julio Iglesias, Sam & Dave and Dionne Warwick.

A special award presentation ceremony and concert celebrating the honorees will be held on May 11, 2019, in Los Angeles. Additional details regarding the ceremony will be announced in the coming weeks.

n a press release, the Recording Academy wrote about BLACK SABBATH: "From their power riffs to their dark, gothic imagery, BLACK SABBATH arguably invented the heavy metal signposts and influenced every heavy rock band that followed."

Neil Portnow, president and CEO of the Recording Academy, said in a statement: "Each year, the Recording Academy has the distinct privilege of celebrating music industry giants who have greatly contributed to our cultural heritage. This year, we have a gifted and brilliant group of honorees and their exceptional accomplishments, contributions, and artistry will continue to influence and inspire generations to come."

In February 2017, SABBATH finished "The End" tour in Birmingham, closing out the quartet's groundbreaking 49-year career.

"The End" was SABBATH's last tour because guitarist Tony Iommi, who was diagnosed with cancer in 2012 and is currently in remission, can no longer travel for extended amounts of time.

SABBATH wrote and recorded its 2013 reunion album, "13", and toured it all over the world while Iommi was going through treatment for his illness, with the guitarist having to fly back to England every six weeks.

The original lineup of SABBATH came together in 1969 with Iommi, Ozzy Osbourne on vocals, Geezer Butler on bass and Bill Ward on drums. That lineup recorded and toured through 1978, and periodically reformed through the '90s and 2000s for live work.

They regrouped again in late 2011 for a new album and tour, although Ward dropped out after a few months over financial issues. SABBATH has used Ozzy's regular touring drummer Tommy Clufetos since then for live work. RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE's Brad Wilk laid down the drum tracks on "13", which came out in June 2013.

Ursinne, the death metal band featuring ex-Bolt Thrower vocalist Dave Ingram and Wombbath/Nattraven mastermind Jonny Pettersson, have recorded and released an Xmas single via Transcending Obscurity Records. All the money will be going to the Many Tears Animal Rescue, a UK-based animal shelter.

Whether or not you like Xmas music, when you make a donation you'll be helping out the rescue - a dog is for life, not just for Xmas.

To additionally help support this initiative, Ursinne's debut full length, Swim With The Leviathan, is now up for free download here - thanks to Kunal at Transcending Obscurity Records.

Listen to two classic Xmas songs you all know and love/hate, recorded in Ursinne's own inimitable style. It features guest vocals by Dave's wife Trille Ingram, and Dave's Metal Breakfast Radio co-hosts Kent and Bob. More info on the radio show here.

Donate and get the Ursinne Xmas charity single here.

Xmas Charity Tracks by URSINNE (International)

Prior to the upcoming first-ever Ozzfest New Year's Eve celebration, Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame inductee and Grammy Award-winning singer and songwriter Ozzy Osbourne sat down to talk about the festival created in his name.


Q: How you do feel about working through the holidays?


Ozzy: "I've always wanted to work through Christmas — it's a good start to the New Year. Ozzfest at the Forum, New Year's Eve, with us, two stages with [MARILYN] MANSON, ROB ZOMBIE, ZAKK SABBATH, ICE-T, a bunch of different people."


Q: This year's lineup features a lot of Ozzfest alumni.


b>Ozzy: "Yeah, that's the beauty of it — it's kind of like the all-stars of Ozzfest. That's one thing I'm really proud of, because of how this all started. Many years ago, when we tried to go on Lollapalooza and they said we don't have enough space for Ozzy and this kind of music. So we took a chance and did it all our own and it took off. And here we are, 21 years later. My God."


Q: There seems to be a real camaraderie among the hard rock world.


Ozzy: "You know, people look at heavy metal guys and they think, 'Oh, they're bad people.' But we're really not. I mean, if something bad happens, I'll get phone calls, 'Are you okay? Do you need any help?' This goes back years to even when Randy [Rhoads] got killed. I recently contacted Jonathan [Davis of KORN] after his wife passed away. It means a lot to support each other."


Q: Let's talk a little bit about Zakk and what it's like having him back out with you. On Ozzfest, he'll be pulling double-duty, performing on the second stage with ZAKK SABBATH and then with you for the final set of the night.


Ozzy: "It's good to have him back. Zakk's like a member of my family and it's a joy to work with him now that we're both sober. You know, he's the longest player — guitar player — I've ever had both with [BLACK] SABBATH and my solo gig.'


Q: What are you looking forward to with Ozzfest this year?


Ozzy: "I wanna give them a great show, I wanna have fun. I mean, I'm bringing the New Year in with a big bang!"


Q: And you'll be onstage when the New Year rings in?


Ozzy: "Yeah. i got to time it, because when you rehearse, you know, I'll play through songs. but then when you go on stage, you start to just go with it. We've got to time it so we can stop for the countdown."


Set for Monday, December 31 at The Forum in Los Angeles, Ozzfest will kick off 10 hours of live music at 2:30 p.m. with sets from ZAKK SABBATH, DEVILDRIVER and WEDNESDAY 13 on the outdoor stage. Everything shifts indoors at 6:00 p.m., where Ozzfest alumni ROB ZOMBIE, MARILYN MANSON, Jonathan Davis and BODY COUNT featuring Ice-T (in their Ozzfest debut) will take the stage. The night will conclude with a performance from Ozzy.


Tickets for the Live Nation-produced Ozzfest 2018 are on sale now here.

Special holiday ticket prices runs from Friday, December 14 at 10:00 a.m. (PT) through Sunday, December 16 at 10:00 p.m. (PT), with a limited number of tickets available at the New Year's Eve price of $20.19.

The Ozzfest lineup is as follows:


OZZY OSBOURNE

ROB ZOMBIE

MARILYN MANSON

JONATHAN DAVIS

BODY COUNT

ZAKK SABBATH

DEVILDRIVER

WEDNESDAY 13

Diamond Oz of Metal Underground conducted an interview with frontman Tom "Angelripper" Such of German thrash metal veterans SODOM after the band's December 6 concert at Electric Ballroom in London, England, United Kingdom during the MTV "Headbanger's Ball" tour alongside EXODUS, DEATH ANGEL and SUICIDAL ANGELS. You can watch the entire chat below. A few excerpts follow (transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET).

On playing the songs live from their recent "Partisan" EP:

Tom: "That was a big question — if we're going to do the new songs. Playing both of the songs with just one hour — we have to promote the new songs, we want to show the people what we're going to do next, keep the direction for the next album, whatever, so it's always hard to choose songs for a setlist for one hour. There is so much material. We want to change the setlist from time to time. I remember playing in Russia a couple of weeks ago. We played two hours, so we could put everything in. This tour is explosive with great bands, so we just have an hour. An hour is 11 songs, maybe 12."

On the lyrical themes on "Partisan":

b>Tom: "I think it's about the partisan fighters in Germany where they were fighting against the regime, against the government for their own rights, against opposition military. The whole world is getting out of control, so that's what I write down. Sometimes I wake up in the middle of the night and I write something down. I hate the situation in this world. I'm scared. I'm not scared for myself — I'm scared for the kids and the next generation. It's nothing serious. There is no message, but being a singer in the band gives you the chance to scream it out."

On the status of the band's next studio album:

Tom: "We'll start writing the new songs, but we have no release date confirmed with the record label. I talked to the record label. I don't want to work with all this pressure. We just start writing the songs and if the songs are arranged, we can talk about it before we start mixing and mastering or whatever. So, it could be the end of next year or beginning of 2020. I can't work with a date. If you say, 'If you want a release next year.' The record company then tells me 'Okay, we need a master in August or September.' I don't know…that's the deal. Record companies told me, 'Okay, you get your time. Start writing the songs, start writing the material and then we'll see."

On whether SODOM has any plans to play shows in North America:

Tom: "We have to think about a North America tour because it's a long time since we've been there. The timing has to be right. We always have problems with paperwork and working licenses, papers, shit and all that stuff. We have to find a serious promoter. That's the thing. The promoter will want to tell us we can go to North America as tourists, but we can't. If there is some metal festival around, they'll know exactly we're a band. We want have to find a serious promoter in America who is going to help us and do a good job and then we will go. It works in South America, it works in Australia, it works in Russia. It never works in America. I don't know why. We are sitting at home when we get good offers, then we off we go."

Such is joined in the band's current lineup by guitarist Frank "Blackfire" Gosdzik (also formerly of KREATOR, ASSASSIN), drummer Stefan "Husky" Hüskens (ASPHYX, DESASTER) and second guitarist Yorck Segatz (BEYONDITION). Blackfire previously played with SODOM on the seminal albums "Persecution Mania", "Mortal Way Of Live" and "Agent Orange".

Former SODOM guitarist Bernd "Bernemann" Kost and drummer Markus "Makka" Freiwald released a joint statement in January claiming that they were fired from the band by Tom via messaging platform WhatsApp even before Tom had a chance to hear any of the material the duo had been working on for the group's next album.

Metallica has posted MetallicaTV video of the band peforming "Whiskey In The Jar" live at the Opera House in Toronto on November 29th, 2016. Check it out below.

The show is available for download via LiveMetallica.com here.

The setlist on the night was as follows:

"Breadfan"
"Creeping Death"
"Battery"
"Sad But True"
- Kirk solo -
"Fade to Black"
"Atlas, Rise!"
"Harvester Of Sorrow"
"Moth Into Flame"
- bass solo -
"One"
"Master Of Puppets"
"For Whom The Bell Tolls"
"Enter Sandman"
"Whiskey in the Jar"
"Hardwired"
"Seek and Destroy"

BraveWords’ Martin Popoff was on hand for the Opera House concert. You can read his review of the show at this location. Popoff also interviewed Kirk Hammett during the band’s visit to Toronto. Read the interview here.

In the video below, Banger TV's Sam Dunn, Daniel Dekay and Bradley Zorgdrager check out the scene outside the show:

Korean symphonic black metal group Dark Mirror Ov Tragedy have released their frist official video, culled from their forthcoming album The Lord Ov Shadows, due worldwide via Sliptrick Records on January 22nd, 2019.

The track is the six-and-a-half minute opus "I Am The Lord Ov Shadows" and shows the band in all their dark, heavy and progressive beauty. Classical gothic music is the outstanding essence of Dark Mirror Ov Tragedy, with anguished vocals and brooding instruments performing chapters and poems which evoke nothingness and wholeness, darkness and daylight, beauty and ugliness.

The Lord Ov Shadows is currently available for pre-order at this location. Check out the cover art and tracklisting:

"Creation Of The Alter Self"
"Possession"
"The Annunciation In Lust"
"Acquainted With The Nocturnal Devastation"
"I Am The Lord Ov Shadows"

For further details, visit Dark Mirror Ov Tragedy on Facebook.

In 2016, Within Temptation performed at the 013 in Tilburg, Netherlands, as part of their annual Black X-mas show.

A message from the band: "Since we are not doing a Black X-Mas show this year, we do want to give you a Black X-Mas treat: we are wrapping up this year with 12 live videos each day until X-Mas! But that’s not all. We will also look back on all our highlights of 2018! Want to join our feast?"

Watch the band perform their cover of Black Sabbath's "Sabbath Bloody Sabbath" live at Black X-Mas 2016, below:

"Frozen" live at Black X-Mas 2016:

"Stand My Ground" live at Black X-Mas 2016:

Within Temptation recently announced their 2019 North American tour plans. The band will embark on a tour of the US and Canada this coming winter. The tour kicks off February 28th in Baltimore and runs through March 19th in Los Angeles. The trek makes several stops in Canada.

Special guests will be In Flames and Smash Into Pieces. All confirmed tour dates are below.

February
28 - Baltimore, MD - Rams Head Live

March
1 - Philadelphia, PA - The Fillmore
2 - New York, NY - Playstation Theater
3 - Boston, MA - House of Blues
5 - Montreal, QC - Olympia
6 - Toronto, ON - Rebel
8 - Chicago, IL - House of Blues
9 - Minneapolis, MN - Skyway Theater
11 - Denver, CO - The Summit
12 - Salt Lake City, UT - The Complex
14 - Portland, OR - Roseland Ballroom
15 - Vancouver, BC - The Vogue Theater
16 - Seattle, WA - Showbox SODO
18 - San Francisco, CA - The Warfield
19 - Los Angeles, CA - The Wiltern Theater

The band will now release its new album, Resist, on February 1st via Spinefarm/Universal Music in North America. Pre-order the album here.

Resist marks a departure from the Within Temptation's past. The record is armed with 10 anthemic tracks, driven by grand melodies and dark hooks. It brings a futuristic take on metal to the table - both instrumentally and thematically.

"Resist is a true milestone for us. If it wasn't for Resist, Within Temptation wouldn't be here anymore," the band stated.

"With this record, we've taken inspiration from modern music and gave it a face - a very dark one," said singer Sharon den Adel. "Sometimes, it feels that today's pop music lacks a rebellious edge. Our main goal was to collect pieces from sounds we did like and roughen it up as much as we could, resulting in a surprisingly new musical world that is heavier, dirtier and more futuristic than we’ve ever created before. Resist is our take on metal in a new way: to give modern music its rebellious edge.”

Resist tracklisting:

"The Reckoning" (feat. Jacoby Shaddix)
"Endless War"
"Raise Your Banner" (feat. Anders Fridén)
"Supernova"
"Holy Ground"
"In Vain"
"Firelight" (feat. Jasper Steverlinck)
"Mad World"
"Mercy Mirror"
"Trophy Hunter"

"Firelight" (feat. Jasper Steverlinck):

"Raise Your Banner" (feat. Anders Fridén) lyric video:

"The Reckoning" video "making of":

"The Reckoning" video:

"The Reckoning" lyric video:

Dutch blackened death doom metallers, Soulburn, have announced a change of member in their ranks, as longtime drummer Bob Bagchus (ex-Asphyx) decided to leave the group.

Says the band: ”Bob Bagchus decided to call it quits and parted ways with Soulburn. It came a bit as a surprise, but we totally respect his decision and wish him all the luck with his other musical and hellish endeavours. We thank Bob for all the effort he put into this band from the start on, and also simply for being this amazing legendary guy he is. Onwards!"

Bob Bagchus added: “A little musical update from my side: I recently decided to leave Soulburn. There is no "big" story behind it or any of that blablabla, I just thought it was time to quit since I did not feel connected with it anymore. I wish the guys all the best in the near future and welcome their new drummer Marc Verhaar. Thanx Eric, Remco and Twan for the great times and praise the Goat!"

Soulburn consequently added Marc Verhaar (Graceless, Nailgun Massacre, ex-Xenomorph) as new drummer to the fold. They commented: “He’s no stranger to the Soulburn camp as he was often present helping out at our shows. He’s a great guy and above all, a more than great drummer and we’re very much looking forward continuing our blasphemous noise together. A new era has arrived..."

Most recently, Soulburn released a 7” EP entitled Carpe Noctem, featuring two brand-new songs via Floga Records, who had previously also reissued the group‘s 1996 demo on 12“ vinyl in 2016. Currently, Soulburn are working on their upcoming fourth album and will also be playing selected shows throughout 2019.

Tour dates:

February
16 - Arnhem, Netherlands - Willemeen

March
23 - Erfurt, Germany - Club From Hell (+ Asphyx)

July
27 - Steenwijk, Netherlands - Stonehenge Festival

Band lineup (from left to right on photo above):

Eric Daniels - guitar
Twan van Geel - vocals/bass
Marc Verhaar - drums
Remco Kreft - guitar

(Photo - Lenn Kralt)

On January 9, 2019, Universal Music Japan will release Conspiracy Series Volume 1 by Slash Featuring Myles Kennedy And The Conspirators. This greatest hits collection will feature 13 songs, and can be pre-ordered at this location. The cover art and tracklisting are as follows:

"World On Fire"
"One Last Thrill"
"30 Years To Life"
"Apocalyptic Love"
"Sahara" (feat.Koshi Inaba)
"Doctor Alibi" (feat. Lemmy Kilmister)
"Watch This" (feat. Dave Grohl and Duff McKagan)
"Bad Rain"
"You’re A Lie"
"Too Far Gone"
"Crucify The Dead" (feat. Ozzy Osbourne)
"Shadow Life"
"Mind Your Manners"

Slash Featuring Myles Kennedy And The Conspirators' 2019 Tour Dates:

January
8 - Hard Rock Coliseum - Singapore, Singapore
10 - GMM Live House - Bankok, Thailand
13 - YES 24 Live Hall - Gwangjin-gu, South Korea
15 - Namba Hatch - Osaka, Japan
17 - Studio Coast - Tokyo, Japan
20 - Beijing Exhibition Hall - Beijing, China
22 - Modernsky Lab - Shanghai, China
25 - Baypark Arena - Tauranga, New Zealand
26 - Spark Arena - Auckland, New Zealand
28 - Qudos Bank Arena - Sydney Olympic Park, Australia
30 - Brisbane Convention Exhibition Centre - Brisbane, Australia

February
1 - Margaret Court Arena - Melbourne, Australia
3 - RAC Arena - Perth, Australia
7 - Stadthalle - Offenbach, Germany
9 - O2 Arena - Prague, Czech Republic
10 - Gasometer - Vienna, Austria - SOLD OUT
12 - Atlas Arena - Lodz, Poland
16 - O2 Apollo - Manchester, United Kingdom - SOLD OUT
17 - SEC Hall 3 - Glasgow, United Kingdom
19 - The Dome - Doncaster, United Kingdom - SOLD OUT
20 - Eventim Apollo - London, United Kingdom - SOLD OUT
22 - Zenith - Paris, France
23 - Cirque Royal - Brussels, Belgium - SOLD OUT
24 - AFAS Live - Amsterdam, Netherlands - SOLD OUT
27 - Sentrum Scene - Oslo, Norway - SOLD OUT
28 - Annexet - Stockholm, Sweden

March
3 - Sporthalle - Hamburg, Germany
4 - Verti Music Hall - Berlin, Germany
7 - Samsung Hall - Zurich, Switzerland
8 - Fabrique - Milan, Italy - SOLD OUT
10 - Zenith - Toulouse, France
12 - St. Jordi Club - Barcelona, Spain
13 - Wizink Centre - Madrid, Spain
15 - Campo Pequeno - Lisbon, Portugal

May
5 - Movistar Arena - Bogota, Colombia
7 - Arena Costa Verde - Lima, Peru
10 - Teatro Caupolican - Santiago, Chile
12 - Arena Maipu - Mendoza, Argentina
14 - Plaza de la Musica UNC - Córdoba, Argentina
15 - Metropolitano Rosario - Rosario, Argentina
17 - Teatro Gran Rivadavia - Buenos Aires, Argentina
18 - GEBA - Buenos Aires, Argentina
21 - Pepsi On Stage - Porto Alegre, Brazil
22 - Stage Music Park - Florianópolis, Brazil
24 - Live Curitiba - Curitiba, Brazil
25 - EDA - São Paulo, Brazil
27 - Sabiazinho Arena - Uberlândia, Brazil
29 - Net Live - Brasília, Brazil

June
1 - Classic Hall - Recife, Brazil
3 - Centro de Eventos do Ceará - Fortaleza, Brazil
7 - Rock im Park - Nord, Germany
8 - Rock am Ring - Nürburg, Germany
12 - Ormeau Park - Belfast, Ireland
14 - Download Festival - Castle Donington, United Kingdom
16 - Nova Rock - Kleylehof, Austria
19 - Swiss Life Hall - Hannover, Germany
22 - Graspop Metal Meeting - Dessl, Belgium
25 - Rockhal - Esch-sur-alzette, Luxembourg
26 - Volt Festival - Sopron, Hungary
28 - TopFest - Piešťany, Slovakia

July
9 - Bitan 1 - Tel Aviv-yafo, Israel

 

GUNS N' ROSES' "Not In This Lifetime" is now believed to be the second-highest-grossing tour of all time, having generated an estimated $562 million since it began two and a half years ago.

According to Pollstar, "Not In This Lifetime" topped $82 million in sales during 2018 alone, having grossed an average of $3.7 million per show over the course of the 24-date run.

At least four other tours have topped $500 million in sales: U2's "360" ($735 million), THE ROLLING STONES' "A Bigger Bang" ($558 million), Ed Sheeran's "Divide" ($555 million) and COLDPLAY "A Head Full Of Dreams" ($523 million) tours.

Sheeran's "Divide" tour resumes in 2019, and with 45 headlining stadium dates already booked, the British singer will likely overtake U2 and claim the title of highest-grossing tour of all time.

b>"Not In This Lifetime", which launched in April 2016, topped the $475 million mark in gross sales with the final show of the band's 2017 touring schedule in November of last year in Los Angeles.

About 70 people travel with the "Not In This Lifetime" show in addition to the truck drivers; that number goes upwards of five hundred, including the local workers, by show date once catering, security, etc. are factored in, according to the GN'R tour's production manager, Dale "Opie" Skjerseth.

GUNS kicked off its long-rumored and long-awaited reunion tour in April 2016 with a club show in Hollywood and appearances in Las Vegas and at California's Coachella festival.

The "Not In This Lifetime" tour features classic lineup members Slash (guitar), Duff McKagan (bass) and Axl Rose (vocals) backed by guitarist Richard Fortus, drummer Frank Ferrer, keyboardist Dizzy Reed and second keyboardist Melissa Reese.

During an appearance on the "Walking The Floor With Chris Shiflett" podcast, original KISS guitarist Ace Frehley once again confirmed that he hasn't been asked to take part in the band's "End Of The Road" farewell tour. "When Paul [Stanley] and Gene [Simmons] call me up and say, 'Do you wanna do a reunion tour?' and write me a big check, you know, I'll probably be there," Ace said. "If it doesn't happen, it doesn't happen. What are you gonna do?"

If he does take part in a KISS reunion, his return with come with a stipulation: that the guys apply their makeup together, like the old days. "The last thing I heard is that Paul has his own dressing room, and that completely shocked me, because we always used to put on our makeup together, like four girls in a beauty parlor," Frehley said. "We'd be talking while putting makeup on. It was a ritual... If I was to be asked to come back to the band, I'd want everybody to put on makeup together, like we used to."

Frehley first left KISS in 1982. He rejoined in 1996 and parted ways with the band once again in 2002 after the conclusion of their first "farewell tour." Since his departure, guitarist Tommy Thayer has assumed the role of the Spaceman.

Frehley's new solo album, "Spaceman", was released on October 19 via eOne. Simmons co-wrote two tracks on the disc, "Without You I'm Nothing" and "Your Wish Is My Command", the latter of which also features Simmons's bass playing.

hoto credit: Jay Gilbert

KORN guitarist Brian "Head" Welch spoke to Revolver about the progress of the songwriting sessions for the band's follow-up to 2016's "The Serenity Of Suffering" album. He said: "The new record I'm very stoked on. I can't wait to get that done. There's a lot left to do. What we have is really encouraging. We have been writing and we have tracked most of the drums. But we'll probably write a couple more songs — that always happens. At the beginning of the year, we're going to really focus and get it done.

Asked where the album is being recorded, Welch responded: "We're doing it all over. We've been to Nashville a few times, we've done a lot in L.A. We actually wrote with John Feldmann, too, for the demos. Travis Barker laid the temporary drums for some, and that was cool. We've known John Feldmann since '87 — he was in ELECTRIC LOVE HOGS. So we're writing with different people. We grabbed [producer] Nick Raskulinecz, and he's very hands-on and such a fan of music. It's not a job or a gig to him."

According to Welch, KORN's new album "should be out by next fall." He explained: "We have to get it out, because we want to get back to the fans next year and do our thing. We're working hard. We've been through a lot. Now it's time to get all those emotions and turn them into a positive with music. Jonathan [Davis, KORN singer] is really good at that."

Davis's estranged wife's died in August at the age of 39. The former girl-on-girl porn star suffered with sobriety and substance abuse throughout her life.

b>Welch told Good Company earlier in the year that KORN's next disc would likely be "a combination of maybe both ['The Serenity Of Suffering'] and [2013's 'The Paradigm Shift']. We'll try some new stuff though, but we're gonna definitely focus on guitars again."

Earlier in the year, Davis said that there were "really good ideas" and "cool grooves" in some of the early material that had been written for KORN's next album. The singer also shot down as false Internet speculation that the band is using outside writers for material for its next studio album. "We're writing everything; we're still writing our own music," he said.

"The Serenity Of Suffering" marked the second KORN album since the return of Welch.

Lita Ford says a full reunion of iconic seventies rockers THE RUNAWAYS will probably never happen.

Speaking on Daily Mail at the Las Vegas F.A.M.E Awards last month, Ford outlined in great detail her relationships with former bandmates Joan Jett, Cherie Currie, Jackie Fox and Sandy West and the previous attempts to get the band back together.

Lita said: "Joan Jett is very much in 'Joan Jett land,' I guess you could say. Will she ever come out of Joan Jett land? I don't think so. I think her [longtime] manager [Kenny Laguna] controls that and it's really up to him and her. It seems to me like Joan Jett's manager just runs her life in every way, shape, or form. He's very controlling and he has a real problem with me. He has a real issue with me. He sees me as a threat, which is ridiculous, because she's like my sister and I love Joan. It's ridiculous, it's uncalled for, and it's caused a little bit of rivalry between her and I, which is totally uncalled for. It's his fault."

Ford claims that Jett's manager has prevented her from even talking about a RUNAWAYS reunion with Jett.

The hard part is just trying to communicate with Joan without her manager involved," she added.

"We had dinner a couple of years ago, what was supposed to be a girl's night out, and she brought her manager with her.

"So it's like, "Dude, answer the question. I'm trying to ask you a question. Are you interested in putting THE RUNAWAYS back together?' She never answered the question."

Although Ford admits to feeling "pissed off" at not having been able to speak to Jett alone about a RUNAWAYS reunion, she denies being upset. "I have my own life with her or without her, with THE RUNAWAYS or without THE RUNAWAYS," she said. 'I have my own life and I will continue on with my own life, because I have a kick-ass life, but it could be great too with THE RUNAWAYS, you know? Why not?"

Currie told the "White Line Fever" podcast in 2016 that RUNAWAYS came close to reunining more than two decades ago. "Lita had reached out to us to convince us, me and Joan, to do a RUNAWAYS reunion. And we did, with Kenny Laguna basically at the helm, he secured a tour and Lita, she just basically doesn't get along with Kenny and she just walked away from that."

In a 2015 interview with with the WHMH (Rockin' 101) radio station, Lita explained that she decided against a possible RUNAWAYS reunion in the early '90s because "NIRVANA was just kicking in, and it was really bad timing; it wouldn't have worked. People would have just turned their nose up at it."

A movie about THE RUNAWAYS' brief history, starring Dakota Fanning as Currie and Kristin Stewart as Jett, came out in 2010.

Photo credit: Dustin Jack

On February 15, 2019, MEGADETH will reissue two of its iconic records, 2001's "The World Needs A Hero" and 2004's "The System Has Failed", through BMG.

MEGADETH's ninth studio album, "The World Needs A Hero" was originally released in May 2001 and was critically acclaimed as a return to a heavier musical direction for the band. It charted at No. 16 on the Billboard 200 and received positive reviews across the music press.

Track listing

01. Disconnect

02. The World Needs A Hero

03. Moto Psycho

04. 1000 Times Goodbye

05. Burning Bridges

06. Promises

07. Recipe For Hate…Warhorse

08. Losing My Senses

09. Dread And The Fugitive Mind

10. Silent Scorn

11. Return to Hangar

12. When

13. Coming Home (CD Bonus Track)

The full album has been newly remastered by Ted Jensen (GUNS N' ROSES, MASTODON, MACHINE HEAD, TRIVIUM).

* Includes rare live bonus track "Coming Home" on the CD and digital versions.

* First time ever on vinyl in North America.

* CD has been out of print for five years.

MEGADETH's tenth studio album, "The System Has Failed" was originally released in September 2004. Following the direction set by its predecessor, "The World Needs A Hero", it headed further into the bands thrashier past and was a hit amongst fans and critics alike. Debuting at No. 18 on the Billboard chart, the album received positive reviews across the board stating it as vital and solid.

Track listing

01. Blackmail The Universe

02. Die Dead Enough

03. Kick The Choir

04. The Scorpion

05. Tears In A Vial

06. I Know Jack

07. Back In The Day

08. Something That I'm Not

09. Truth Be Told

10. Of Mice And Men

11. Shadow Of Deth

12. My Kingdom

13. Time / Use The Man (Live) (CD Bonus Track)

14. Conjuring (Live) (CD Bonus Track)

* The full album has been newly remastered by Ted Jensen (GUNS N' ROSES, MASTODON, MACHINE HEAD, TRIVIUM).

* Includes rare live bonus tracks "Time/Use The Man" and "Conjuring" on the CD and digital versions.

* First time ever on vinyl in North America.

* CD has been out of print for five years.

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, 2019 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 music video for "The Great Adventure" title track 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.


s 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, 2019 in Nashville at City Winery.

Photo credit: Robert Smith

Century Media Records has announced a partnership with WOLVES IN THE THRONE ROOM and the band's label Artemisia Records to release their upcoming albums in the world outside of North America. The Olympia, Washington-based group just finished an U.S. tour with BEHEMOTH and its new labelmates AT THE GATES and will conquer Europe with the same package in early 2019.

WOLVES IN THE THRONE ROOM comments: "Century Media has brought forth so many killer albums over the years and it's inspiring to become a part of this legendary metal label. We are writing what will become the seventh WOLVES IN THE THRONE ROOM album now! We have complete faith in Century Media to deliver our music to our beloved European Wolfcult. Onward!"

Jens Prüter, head of A&R at Century Media in Europe, comments: "I'm a fan since I first saw them at the Roadburn festival in 2008. I love how they have developed their own identity of Cascadian black metal. The Pacific North West of Cascadia might bear similarities to the Norwegian origins of black metal but they went their own path to create a musical vision beyond genre definitions — which earns them my biggest respect. I am looking forward to accompany them on their future endeavors!"

Tomas Lindberg (AT THE GATES, THE LURKING FEAR) also wants to welcome his new labelmates. "WOLVES IN THE THRONE ROOM is a band that I have always respected and held in high regard, due to the amount of ambition that goes into their work," he said. "I feel a real kindred spirit when I dive into their albums, this melancholic desperation that carries a heavy weight of honesty is right down my alley. Having shared stages with them all across North America this winter just made me more of a fan. They put so much effort into everything they do and are very sincere in their art. I was super happy to hear that we have now also become labelmates here in Europe! That means that they are in good hands and also that I can keep easier track of their doings. Congratulations WOLVES IN THE THRONE ROOM, congratulations Century Media Records Europe!"

ounded in 2002 by the brothers Aaron and Nathan Weaver, WOLVES IN THE THRONE ROOM re-imagines black metal as an ode to rain storms, wood smoke and the wild energies of the Pacific Northwest. Their first studio album, "Diadem of 12 Stars" (2006), was a genre-dissolving classic that created a melancholy and psychedelic Cascadian atmosphere. Since that time, they have become one of the most potent and highly regarded bands in extreme music. The listener encounters crystalline metal riffs and ritualistic laments that sing of endless rain falling upon ancient cedars. Their music is a doorway into a mythic ethereal heathen landscape entered through music, magic and dreams.

At the dawning of their latest album "Thrice Woven" (2017), longtime touring guitar player Kody Keyworth was welcomed as a full band member. The album received high praise from the press and the band received the 2018 Metal Hammer Golden Gods award for "Best Underground Band."

WOLVES IN THE THRONE ROOM is:

Nathan Weaver - Guitar, vocals

Kody Keyworth - Guitar, backing vocals

Aaron Weaver - Drums

Drummer Jeremy Spencer has announced his departure from FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH. After sitting out the fall leg of the group's recent co-headlining tour with BREAKING BENJAMIN, Jeremy underwent a second back surgery and will need a significant amount of time to recover; the band fully supports his decision.

Spencer said in a statement: "It's with mixed emotion that I share with you the following news: I regret that I've decided to step down as the drummer of FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH. This decision has been weighing on me for months. Now the time has finally come. I've been playing drums since I was six years old. After years of the physicality leading to surgeries, I feel it's best to step down.

"As with professional athletes, when the body and mental state don't achieve the standard required to meet the rigorous demands necessary to perform at a high level, the choice is clear. I feel fortunate that my body has provided me with several decades of doing what I love: playing double-bass and shredding the drums. However, the rigorous physical wear and tear has worn down my body to the point where I feel I can no longer deliver a performance you great fans deserve and one that brings me satisfaction and joy. In addition, I feel the band deserves to get someone with fresh fire and energy — capable of delivering DEATH PUNCH music the way fans deserve. I'm confident they will! Like you, I will be cheering on the band to continue making great music as they tour the world and bring exciting shows to all our cherished fans.

"Personally, I have a number of future projects I'm excited about — all of which require that I be physically able to move fluidly and without pain. I hope you'll continue to be part of the next chapter of my life.

I sincerely wish nothing but the very best for my brothers in DEATH PUNCH family. And I encourage our fans to continue supporting whoever replaces me.

"We decided early on to do everything possible to make you fans feel special. As a result, we've always had the most supportive and dedicated Knuckleheads. I know I speak for everyone when I saw we're grateful beyond words. Personally, you have made these years the highlight of my life. Thank you for helping make this dream a reality. Please know I am eternally grateful. Thank you for everything."

For its fall tour with BREAKING BENJAMIN, FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH was joined by drummer Charlie Engen.

The 33-year-old Engen, who was previously identified only as "a drum prodigy" called "The Engine", played his first show with FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH on November 6 in Wichita, Kansas.

The Saint Paul, Minnesota-based Engen has been teaching drums for more than 15 years and currently offers private and Skype lessons at his home studio, along with playing in the bands SCALE THE SUMMIT and IDEOLOGY.

In 2014, Jeremy released his autobiography, "Death Punch'd: Surviving Five Finger Death Punch's Metal Mayhem", which hit the Top 10 on the New York Times Celebrities Best Sellers list.

Spencer told The Pulse Of Radio a while back how his book came about. "I decided to clean myself up and I went into rehab a few years ago, and the day I got out I basically just started writing my whole life as a therapeutic kind of exercise," he said. "I was writing about a thousand to two thousand words a day. I would do it on tour, in the tour bus, wherever we were, and it started to shape up into something kind of interesting."

Spencer said at the time that he'd "received dozens of messages sharing how my story has inspired others to seek help or stay clean."

FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH's latest album, "And Justice For None", debuted at No. 4 on the Billboard 200 chart back in May. The set launched with 71,000 equivalent album units earned in the U.S. in the week ending May 24, according to Nielsen Music. Of that sum, 60,000 were in traditional album sales.

OPETH vocalist/guitarist Mikael Åkerfeldt recently spoke with Owais "Vitek" Nabi of Metal Wani. The full conversation can be streamed below. A few excerpts follow (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET).

On how he's been enjoying OPETH's apparent time off:

Mikael: "I don't think, in retrospect, that I took so much time off, because we went off tour in November last year, and after Christmas, I was already in the studio working [on] new music. I didn't get the break I wanted to have, but it was more or less self-inflicted, because I decided to go down to the studio to see what happens. Since then, we've been working, and we've been putting together this live DVD ['Garden Of The Titans: Live At Red Rocks Amphitheatre'], so it's really not so much rest, even if it's been away from the touring scene since November [of 2017]."

On the motivation behind releasing "Garden Of The Titans":

b>Mikael: "I'm not the biggest fan of live albums myself, especially not our own, so I'm not sitting around every day playing the live album, like, 'Oh, I'm so good.' But I'm hoping that there's OPETH fans out there who want to hear this and see the DVD and all that stuff. It's our fourth [live] album, and I think it's relevant because it features songs from the last three albums which we haven't recorded before. That's one of the reasons why we decided to put it out — that and the fact that we have been away since the last tour. We wanted to put something out just so people wouldn't forget about us."

On playing Red Rocks Amphitheatre:

Mikael: "I thought [of] U2. That was the first thing that popped into my head when somebody mentioned Red Rocks — 'That's where U2 did the 'Under A Blood Red Sky' album.' Not that I'm a big U2 fan at all, but I knew about the place. There's certain venues around the world that you've heard about, and Red Rocks was, I would say, in the subconscious, I think it was on the bucket list that we wanted to play. It was also one of those unreachable venues because it's so special, and I figured they would never let a band like us play there — but that's also what I thought about the Sydney Opera House and what I thought about Radio City Music Hall in New York, Royal Albert Hall in London. This was one on the bucket list, and I was really happy that we were given the opportunity to play there, and also to make a recording of that night. It was a special night, and I'm really happy that we have it on film now, like proof that we've been there."

On the DVD's visual presentation:

Mikael: "To me, it's almost like live DVDs or TV shows these days, it's like they're made for children with ADHD. There's so many cuts. It's so much information all the time — so many angles — and I'm used to, like, '60s, '70s films where there's long camera takes, that type of stuff. That's my personal favorite. But seeing that we are not one of the more animated bands on stage — we basically just stand there playing the songs — you have to kind of make it a little bit interesting, so I figured maybe that's a good way to make it not as dull. Also, because it was a windy evening — it was freezing cold and windy — I think it makes it more exciting, and it makes it look more turbulent, exactly as it was and how it felt for us."

On the evolving perception of the band's decision to move away from their progressive death metal roots:

Mikael: "I can't dictate the rules of what type of music is good or what type of music people should listen to, but you have to also put it in reverse. Even if we've got fans who like a specific record or a specific string of albums that we've done, they cannot in turn dictate the rules to us of what we should do, because we just do what we want to do. I don't want to compare myself to any other artist, but the artists that I like the most are the ones who developed. I'm not the same guy that I was when I was 19. There are many similarities, but I'm not the same. I've gone through the motions with my own consummation of music and I've developed and widened my taste in music, and it would be strange if I didn't let that infiltrate the sound of the music that I write. In retrospect, I think some of these albums that we put out that got a lot of criticism — bad criticism, like [2011's] 'Heritage', for instance — with time I have met people and you see when we play songs from there now, it's different to what it was when we played it back then. When we played 'The Devil's Orchard' when the album had just come out, people were like, 'What the hell is this?' Now, it's just a song that they like. Some people — I understand not all of them, but some people have embraced 'Heritage', while in the beginning, maybe they thought that they would never play that album again. What happened in the end is that we have fans who come to the show from all fans of life. It's not just metal fans — it's rock fans, prog rock fans or whatever. Some people like this era of the band; some people like that era of the band; some people like everything. That's a good position to be in for me. That's how I am. There was a point in my life where I figured I will never listen to soft music — I will only listen to extreme grindcore, and that's it. Obviously, that wasn't true, because in the end, I discovered Joni Mitchell, and I discovered classical music and jazz music, and now, it doesn't matter what genre it is. If it's good music, I like it. I want to be in a band, in a musical environment that pushes for that — that pushes for musical expression regardless of the genre, and musical freedom. That's how I perceive things, and ultimately for me, as a musician, I am the best judge of what I should do."

On the status of OPETH's next album:

Mikael: "I don't want to rush things. I want to make sure that the music that we have is fantastic. I don't want to [settle for] anything less than fantastic. Once we feel, 'Okay, this is a great, great album,' then we'll record it."

On whether OPETH plans to commemorate the upcoming 20h anniversaries of "Still Life" and "Blackwater Park":

Mikael: "I know that fans love those things, and our manager loves those things, because those shows are a good financial thing, to be honest. I'm going to be completely honest — I don't like those kind of things. We've done that stuff, and I'm not saying I disliked it, but I don't like the idea of going out and playing an album. I'm sure we're going to do it again, and if you go to one of those shows, you might look at me thinking, 'Maybe it looks like he doesn't like it,' and part of that is true, but once I'm up there, it's okay — it's always okay. But it feels a bit like a nostalgia act, and I want to be relevant. I want to play those old songs, but I don't only want to play old songs. I want to play from all the albums."

"Garden Of The Titans: Live At Red Rocks Amphitheatre" was released on November 2 via Moderbolaget Records / Nuclear Blast Entertainment.

OPETH's latest studio album, "Sorceress", came out in 2016.

Swedish rockers BACKYARD BABIES will release their new album, "Sliver & Gold", on March 1, 2019 via Century Media Records. The disc will contain 10 sizzling new songs following the exact same recipe that has made BACKYARD BABIES one of the most consistent rock bands of our time: a perfect balance between sleazy, punky, all-out party rock 'n' roll on the one hand, and decidedly mature, thoroughly melancholic tunes on the other.

While catchy sing-a-long smashers like the first single "Shovin' Rocks", album opener "Good Morning Midnight", the anthemic "Bad Seeds" or "44 Undead" will have you fist-pumping and foot stompin' along with your left foot in a cowboy boot and your right paw in a Chuck Taylor sneaker, the beautiful ballad-like album closer "Laugh Now, Cry Later" will cause you to shed a tear or two into your Jack and Coke.

"Sliver & Gold" track listing:

01. Good Morning Midnight

02. Simple Being Sold

03. Shovin‘ Rocks

04. Ragged Flag

05. Yes To All No

06. Bad Seeds

07. 44 Undead

08. Sliver And Gold

09. A Day Late In My Dollar Shorts

10. Laugh Now Cry Later

he official music video for "Shovin' Rocks" can be seen below.

According to BACKYARD BABIES guitarist Dregen (real name: Andreas Tyrone Svensson), the "Sliver and Gold" title is a play on words.

"It is going to be a bit like if you cut yourself with a piece of sliver," he told Metal Casino. "It's a bit like our career. It's been golden moments, but it's also been kind of rough times. It's going to be hopefully the greatest BACKYARD BABIES album [yet]."

Regarding "Shovin' Rocks", Dregen said: "Since we're celebrating thirty years together as a band, the single is a bit like... it's kind of like a statement about how it is to play in a band in a three-minute song, which is kind of hard," Dregen said. "I think that the whole next album is going to be like the gold watch then you're at a [job] for a long time. It's going to be our own kind of, like, celebration — not just to our own band, but to the music form of rock 'n' roll."

Dregen said that the group approached the album's recording sessions in an unfamiliar manner. "We've done it for the first time after thirty years in a different way," he said. "Before, we've been writing the whole album, and then when we're ready with the songs, [we] choose the songs, enter the studio and start recording it. Now, we're writing songs, but when we have three or four songs that we think are great, we're entering the studio, we record these three or four songs, and we mix the songs and master the songs and they are, like, totally ready. Then we go back into writing, and we write new songs. We record, like, four EPs, and then we put it together as an album."

He added that he prefers the abbreviated studio sessions to more traditional album-length recording process. "Sometimes when you go into the studio and you have, like, 14 songs, it gets a little bit industrial," he said. "It's almost like going to work — it's like, 'Okay, drums for this song, next...' You lose kind of the heart of the song, because it gets very mechanic [sic]. Recording three or four songs, I always like. I love recording EPs or singles, because you have full control over what you do."

BACKYARD BABIES officially reunited in 2014, five years after they announced that they were going on an "indefinite hiatus." A new album, "Four By Four", arrived in 2015.

BACKYARD BABIES is:

Nicke Borg - lead vocals, guitar

Dregen - lead guitar, vocals

Johan Blomquist - bass

Peder Carlsson - drums

SOTO, the modern heavy metal / hard rock group featuring vocalist Jeff Scott Soto (YNGWIE MALMSTEEN, TALISMAN, JOURNEY, SONS OF APOLLO, TRANS-SIBERIAN ORCHESTRA), has signed a new worldwide deal with InsideOut Music.

Soto commented: "I am proud to have SOTO working with the great InsideOut Music and their partners at Century Media Records and Sony Music. Having seen what we did together with SONS OF APOLLO, I am thrilled to see what we'll do to further my own vanity band SOTO into the future. It's a very exciting time in our lives and career."

Jeff formed SOTO in 2015 as a way to return to his heavier roots. So far they've released two albums, "Inside The Vertigo" (2015) and "Divak" (2016), taking a short break while Jeff embarked on the supergroup SONS OF APOLLO, alongside Mike Portnoy, Derek Sherinian, Billy Sheehan and Bumblefoot.


A new SOTO album is currently being worked on and its material will continue to expand and move the band towards new heights while following up with their brand of power rock.


b>SOTO also recently announced the newest member of the band, bassist Tony Dickinson, who coincidentally also replaced the late David Zablidowsky in the TRANS-SIBERIAN ORCHESTRA. Jeff explains: "It was the one and only natural choice for us after losing our brother David in a horrific accident in 2017. Tony wrote and played on two singles for the first two SOTO albums, 'The Fall' and 'FreakShow'. He is phenomenally talented and a great friend. He'll fit right in with us and I cannot wait to showcase more of his contributions as we move the band forward."


SOTO, which is rounded out by Jorge Salan (guitar), Edu Cominato (drums) and BJ (keys/guitar), will be touring throughout 2019 following the release of the still-untitled new album.


SOTO is:

Jeff Scott Soto - Vocals

Jorge Salan - Guitar

Tony Dickinson - Bass

BJ - Keys/Guitar

Edu Cominato - Drums