Dual twin harpists Camille And Kennerly are back with another cover, this time Metallica’s “Fade To Black”, from the album Ride The Lightning.

The twins comment on the song and video, “Our new silver Electro-Acoustic Pedal Harps make their YouTube debut! ‘Fade To Black’ is our most requested song of all time, our 5th Metallica cover, and our longest Metallica cover to date! We wanted to do justice to this amazing song – and not just the most well-known portions. So, we arranged the whole song – some parts were definitely more harp-friendly to arrange than others, but we love how it turned out!  We think the harps give the song a beautiful, ethereal and haunting quality. We also included some distortion since these harps can be electrified! Our video camera broke while we were filing our last music video, so this video was filmed by our mom entirely on our iPhone and edited by us.”

This single will soon be available on iTunes, Amazon, Google Play, CDBaby, and Spotify.

Their first ever Holiday / Christmas album Winter Lights is out now. It includes ten new arrangements and two new original songs.

It's Halloween, the night of the living dead. To celebrate it Crest Of Darkness and My Kingdom Music present a big dose of horror music in the classic extreme way the Norwegian band uses to play and we do it with the lyric video of "The Noble Art" one of the most amazing songs taken from their last acclaimed album Welcome The Dead.

Recorded at the at MLP Studio by Nils H. Mæhlum, and mastered at the Kvålsonic Lab by Tom Kvålsvoll, the nine-track album is the heaviest, darkest and most introspective album in the band's 20+ year history.

The artwork for Welcome The Dead features the extraordinary Zombie Foetus sculptures created by the Italian artist Andrea Falaschi.

Listenable Records has announced the signing of Crescent, a very hard working band and death metal pioneers in their own country.

Crescent was formed in 1998 by Ismaeel Attallah and Amr Mokhtar with the infatuation by bands like Death, Bolt Thrower and particularly the Swedish black metal scene. 
 
Crescent performed in various gigs in Cairo and Alexandria, mainly performing a few original songs along with a dedicated set list of Dissection songs. Abruptly, they decided to wipe it off completely and to work on achieving a style that marks their own sound. That new inception needed persistence and time on a journey seeking Crescent’s identity. 
 
Crescent recorded their debut album Pyramid Slaves in 2013, which totally embraced the black/death metal genre mixed with of their Egyptian sound. Pyramid Slaves uniqueness in composition and writing stands on its own for its richness in melodies and complexities. It tackles versatile subjects like Egyptian mythology, wars, religion, human nature and how history clearly repeats itself till today in nuances.

As The first Egyptian band to tour Europe, Crescent covered Germany, Austria, Belgium, Holland and Czech Republic. Shortly after, they won the local Wacken Metal Battle and represented Egypt for the first time at Wacken Open Air 2014. 
Reaching a new level of maturity in striking a new balance between aggression and melody. 'The 

Order of Amenti' is a tribute to the Ancient Egyptian gods. It is their thought of contribution to Egypt and to the Metal world as they have always wanted to create something to pay homage to their history and country. 
 
Mixed and mastered at Vamacara studio in France, with its artwork created by Michal 'Xaay’ Loranc, Crescent’s The Order Of Amenti is scheduled for a February 2018 release on Listenable Records.

Tracklisting:

“Reciting Spells To Mutilate Apophis”
“Sons Of Monthu”
“Obscuring The Light”
“Through The Scars Of Horus”
“The Will Of Amon-Ra”
“Beyond The Path Of Amenti”
“The Twelfth Gate”
“In The Name Of Osiris”

No, this is not just another pirate metal band, this is Rumahoy ye landlubbers!

Rumahoy's music mixes bustling pagan metal-riffing mixed with exotic ancient instrumentation, producing melodies that run like the swell of stormy seas!  Make sure to beware of dancing peg legs when Captain Yarrface asks for a fervent "Forest Party," or you and your parrot might be thrown overboard! Oh, and what about Netflix and Chill .. oh let's better say Netflix and Yarr!

Well back to business: Rumahoy have unveiled first details of their upcoming album including title, track listing, available formats, preorders and YARRRR!
 
Their first full-length studio album entitled and Napalm Records debut The Triumph Of Piracy will be released on February 9th, 2018.
 
Captain Yarrface unveils: "Ahoy landlubbers! It's time to drink some rum, fire a gun, and sail the high seas in search of pirate heritage and gold! Yarr! Join our crew, and together we'll quest for a new pirate age on our debut album The Triumph Of Piracy!"

The Triumph Of Piracy is available as 1CD jewel case and digital album. Preorders available here.

Tracklisting:

“AHOY!”
“Quest For Heritage”
“Forest Party”
“The Haitian Slam”
“Huffman, The Pirate King”
“Kill The Trolls”
“Netflix And Yarr”
“Pirateship”
“The Triumph Of Piracy”

Load all of your gun barrels and light them up as Rumahoy have teamed up with their label mates and pirates in Alestorm to hit the seven seas for a stormy tour in the UK early 2018.

BEHEMOTH frontman Adam "Nergal" Darski has been brought in for questioning by Polish authorities for allegedly disrespecting one of the country's national symbols.

According to the guitarist/vocalist, the band's "The Republic Of The Unfaithful" t-shirt design is said to be insulting to the national coat of arms of Poland, a stylized white eagle with a golden beak and talons, and wearing a golden crown, in a red shield.

Polish symbols are protected against public profanation and insult. According to Lexology.com, any public use that could be damaging or insulting may be considered a criminal offense. Therefore, it is important not to use any national symbol (even if artistically processed) in a way that could be deemed as disrespectful or offensive.

Nergal revealed his latest legal challenge in an October 30 social media post. He wrote: "So here I go again. On my way to the prosecutor's office in Gdansk to be questioned as a suspect in 'The Republic Of The Unfaithful' case. Me and my partner in 'crime' Maciek Manticore Gruszka is showing up too. Several individuals have been already questioned, including heraldists who have made their statement clear: THIS IS NOT A POLISH EMBLEM. Apparently it's not [enough] for the decision makers in the court.

"Are they looking for a scapegoat? Is this another attempt of the Polish government to convict Nergal and give an example for other artists? What's the hidden message of those actions, may I ask? 'Do NOT fuck with us'? 'Polish emblem as well as other religious symbols are meant to be untouchable'? 'Art has its strict borders and thou shalt obey, Nergal!'?

"Weird times, weird country, weird vibes… I do NOT feel safe and comfortable here, I must admit, but do I feel guilty? Fuck no. I worship the reason and I'm a massive fan of logic, therefore it is OBVIOUS that the eagle that has NO crown can NOT be a Polish emblem. Period.

"Sadly we have stopped selling shirts with this motive (but hey, it's ALREADY the best-selling shirt in our catalogue! huurraaay!) but what we are gonna do with fans who have tattooed 'The republic of the unfaithful' on their back? Shall we arrest them? Peel the skin off? Cover it up? These rhetorical questions I'm gonna leave unanswered here and go to do what I do best: piss stupid people off with sincere and honest art and I shall NEVER give up on my freedom to do so."

In 2011, Nergal was acquitted in Poland on charges he insulted religious sentiment when he called the Catholic Church "the most murderous cult on the planet" during the band's September 2007 performance in Gdynia and tore up a copy of the Bible, calling it "a book of lies."




"So here I go again. On my way to the prosecutors office in Gdansk to be questioned as a suspect in “The republic of the...

Posted by Adam Nergal Darski on Monday, October 30, 2017

So... no. The stars have been a mainstay of the Polish Coat of Arms since 1927. #politics #Poland pic.twitter.com/MXYcykXOQQ

— Baba Jaszątróbiegało (@Sztrb) March 8, 2017

SLIPKNOT has "seven or eight" full songs written for its next studio album, Shawn "The Clown" Crahan has revealed.

SLIPKNOT's touring cycle in support of 2014's ".5: The Gray Chapter", ended in November, with singer Corey Taylor returning to his other band STONE SOUR this year.

".5: The Gray Chapter" was released following a six-year hiatus during which founding SLIPKNOT bassist Paul Gray died and drummer Joey Jordison was dismissed.

Asked in a brand new interview with Metal Hammer about the progress of the songwriting sessions for SLIPKNOT's next disc, Crahan said: "'The Gray Chapter' was pretty much the final learning velocity of our career. We had to replace a bass player, we had to replace a drummer — one of them was walking the earth, the other was buried in the earth. It was a very hard time. People were telling us, 'How is the band gonna write? Joey and Paul are gone.' Fuck you. We made a fucking awesome album that we love. And we're gonna continue to do that. I actually have a date that some of us are gonna get together in a studio and get things going for the next one."

According to the percussionist, he, guitarist Jim Root and drummer Jay Weinberg went to Los Angeles earlier in the year to "organize everything we had written out on the road. We wrote fifty fucking ideas," he said. "We spent two weeks organizing all that, and also adding some stuff that was written a year ago."

Shawn added: "We have over twenty-seven ideas ready to go — seven or eight of them are full songs. These songs can change, they can be written over, nothing is in stone. But it's great that we have concrete ideas to begin with. So the future has never been sweeter for SLIPKNOT music.

"I don't know what Corey's got in mind, because he will bring his own songs, too, but we're just writing music and getting ideas and moods and soundscapes — getting it all fucking together," he said.

In a recent interview with Metal Wani, Taylor spoke about a possible musical direction for SLIPKNOT's next album, saying that nothing has yet been decided. "I know I wanna write something violent, to be honest," he said. "I wanna do something that feels uncomfortable. I wanna go somewhere where we haven't been in a long, long time. I don't know what that means, but I think when I hear it, I'll know what it is."

".5: The Gray Chapter" sold around 132,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release to land at position No. 1 on The Billboard 200 chart. The CD arrived in stores in October 2014 via Roadrunner.

Gray died in 2010 from a drug overdose, while Jordison was let go in December 2013, just before SLIPKNOT began recording the last album.

SLIPKNOT recently premiered "Day Of The Gusano", a documentary about the band's first-ever visit to Mexico City, focusing on the importance of its fan base of "maggots" and featuring a catalog of live performances from the concert.

Bruce Dickinson says that his claim that IRON MAIDEN was "better than METALLICA" was just about "throwing down the gauntlet" and wasn't directly aimed at the San Francisco-based metal giants.

Back in 2011, the IRON MAIDEN frontman elaborated on a past comment in which he boasted that his band was superior to METALLICA. Refusing to back down from the stance, he explained to Metal Hammer: "I got into trouble for saying that we're better than METALLICA… and it's true. They might be bigger than us and they might sell more tickets than us and they might get more gold-plated middle-class bourgeoisie turning up to their shows, but they're not MAIDEN. I did say it's a bit of a windup. I thought, 'If I'm going to turn into an asshole, I might as well, you know, go for it.'"

Now, in a brand new interview with Rolling Stone, Dickinson was asked for his current take on his past comments about the James Hetfield-fronted outfit. He said: "Look, I'm acutely conscious that when you say things in print, people are going to pick up on things. The stuff about METALLICA, quite frankly, was a really good windup. We have a great relationship with METALLICA. It wasn't aimed at METALLICA. It was aimed at the rest of the world to say, 'We're back and we mean it. We mean it so much that we're going to say something pretty outrageous, so why don't you come to the show and find out. We dare you.' It's throwing down the gauntlet, and I'm the lead singer. It's my job. It's what I do.

"So is it arrogant? Uh, yeah," he admitted. "You're the lead singer of IRON MAIDEN, and you're going to be arrogant every now and again, because it kind of goes with the territory, yeah. Mick Jagger, is he arrogant? Yeah, probably — it's Mick Jagger, for fuck's sake. Do I make a distinction between me walking down the street and me onstage with IRON MAIDEN? Yeah."

When questioned about Dickinson's initial comments, METALLICA drummer Lars Ulrich took the high road, telling The Guardian: "I will never argue with that. I will always support Bruce Dickinson in whatever nonsense he says. That's part of the fun. So go IRON MAIDEN! It's fine."

Dickinson is promoting his autobiography, "What Does This Button Do?", which was released in the U.S. on October 31 via Dey Street Books (formerly It Books), an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers.

Sammy Hagar says that he has lost hope there will ever be another VAN HALEN reunion, explaining that Eddie and Alex Van Halen do not want to reconnect with him as friends.

Best known for replacing David Lee Roth in VAN HALEN and helping steer the band towards a more polished pop direction in the late '80s and early '90s, Hagar celebrated his seventieth birthday on October 13, an occasion he marked by rocking out with a variety of his musical friends at the latest installment of his annual birthday bash concert series at his Cabo Wabo Cantina in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico.

During an appearance on SiriusXM's "Trunk Nation", Hagar revealed that he didn't hear from the Van Halen brothers on his birthday, which he interpreted as them having no interest in rekindling their friendship.

"People say, 'What's going on with VAN HALEN?' Okay, absolutely nothing," he said (hear audio below). "I have no idea. I haven't heard from the guys.

"To me, they made a real strong statement by not wishing me a happy birthday for my seventieth," Hagar continued. "Especially amongst the fact that so many people have died. I mean, a week before that Tom Petty died. Tom Petty's birthday was the next Thursday after mine, and he was still a young man, as far as I'm concerned.

"With all them people dying, if somebody turns seventy, that's a monumental thing," Sammy said. "It's, like, you would think if they ever wanted to be friends, it would be so easy. And even if they didn't wanna be friends, it's just something that would be the right thing to do."

According to Hagar, "the other clincher" that confirmed to him the Van Halen brothers weren't interested in a reunion was the fact that former VAN HALEN bassist Michael Anthony never heard from Eddie and Alex after he lost his two-week-old grandson to heart disease in April. "Even Dave [Lee Roth] sent 'I'm sorry' to Mike. And, you know, Dave's not the friendliest guy in the world [laughs], but at least he had the class to do that," Sammy said.

Hagar, who went out of his way last year to push the subject of a VAN HALEN reunion tour featuring Anthony along with sets by both him and Roth, said that he is putting the idea to rest.

"I don't know what's wrong with those two brothers, man," Sammy said. "For them not to do anything for [Michael's grandson], and then again on my birthday… I didn't expect it, but then I kind of thought, 'Yeah…' I really didn't think about it. But people keep bringing it up: 'Oh, you must have heard from the brothers. Did Eddie wish you…?' No.

"All that says to me is that it's over, man," he added. "Those guys do not want to be friends, and if they don't wanna be friends, then we certainly ain't gonna do a reunion. 'Cause that would mean I would just do a reunion for some money or something? I mean, I would love to do it for the fans — I really would — but other than that… nah. I'm over it, man. If they don't wanna be friends… We've gotta be friends before we can do any kind of business together. So, I don't know… To me, it's kind of put the nails in the coffin. It's kind of, 'Hmm, well, that's done. Put foreclosure on that.'"

Hagar and Roth actually toured together in 2002, when neither one of them was in VAN HALEN, although Hagar told The Pulse Of Radio at the time that they weren't exactly pals.

Hagar, who exchanged tweets with Eddie Van Halen in January 2016, hasn't made music with Eddie or Alex since his final tour with VAN HALEN back in 2004.

In 2007, the Van Halen brothers, Wolfgang Van Halen and Roth announced they would be hitting the road for a reunion tour. Anthony later told Music Radar that he "found out about that tour like everybody else did — in the press."

Anthony has played primarily with Hagar in the thirteen years since he last performed with VAN HALEN, in groups like CHICKENFOOT and THE CIRCLE.

According to TMZ, EVANESCENCE singer Amy Lee was awarded more than a million dollars in legal fees in connection with a lawsuit brought against her by her former management company.

110 Management Inc. sued Amy last year for unpaid commissions and fees. 110 originally sought $1.5 million from the singer, and eventually lowered the demand to $335,000. An arbitrator finally ruled the management company was owed only $4,863.66.

Amy asked the court to award her attorney fees from 110 for the lengthy legal battle, and the judge finally decided that she was entitled to $1,036,773.68. But, according to TMZ, that's all going to her legal expenses — $885,000 in attorney fees, $72,000 for expert witnesses and other administrative costs.

Lee is currently on the road with EVANESCENCE in support of the band's next album, "Synthesis", which is due on November 10. The disc features two new EVANESCENCE songs in addition to fan favorites re-recorded with a live orchestra and electronica.

PAPA ROACH guitarist Jerry Horton has slammed fans who film concerts with phone cameras, saying that he finds the practice "annoying."

One of the most pronounced changes at concerts in recent years has been people who record performances on their cell phone. Most music fans — and a fair share of artists — have a big problem with this, with a number of musicians coming forward and denouncing the habit as disrespectful.

Asked by Finland's Kaaos TV if PAPA ROACH gets many people at its shows who film the performances on their phones, Horton said (see video below): "We do see a lot of it, and it's kind of annoying to me, only because I feel like you're paying money for the experience, then you should have the experience and not… I feel like if you're gonna watch it on a screen, you can always just go on YouTube and watch it on YouTube. But I guess people want to have that memory forever, maybe, so I can't be too critical. But, for me, I just couldn't do it."

One of the most outspoken critics of cell phone usage at concerts has been SLIPKNOT and STONE SOUR singer Corey Taylor who said in a recent interview that he didn't have a problem with people taking pictures at shows. "But why are you filming it?" he said. "It's one thing to film it, it's another thing to just be staring at your screen while you're filming it. It's right there. Are you so terrified of real life that you can't do anything unless it's on that little four-by-four screen? Ugggh. It's very weird."

Legendary rocker Peter Frampton made headlines in 2014 when he got so fed up at being snapped by a fan's smartphone that he took the man's phone and threw it backstage.

PAPA ROACH recently confirmed that it has already been in the studio writing and recording material for the follow-up to this year's "Crooked Teeth" album.

"Crooked Teeth" was released on May 19 via Eleven Seven Music. Written and recorded in a cramped North Hollywood studio, the disc was produced by first timers Nicholas "RAS" Furlong and Colin Brittain, with the exception of "Born For Greatness", which saw the band collaborate with writer/producer Jason Evigan (Jason Derulo, Demi Lovato, Zedd, MAROON 5).

"Thunder High On The Mountain", a brand new song from world-renowned guitar virtuoso Joe Satriani, can be streamed below. The track is taken from his sixteenth solo album, "What Happens Next", which will be released on January 12, 2018 via Sony/Legacy Recordings.

The new, instrumentally electrifying album features a power trio of legendary status; Satriani on guitar and Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame inductee bassist Glenn Hughes (DEEP PURPLE, BLACK COUNTRY COMMUNION) and drummer Chad Smith (RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS), the latter reuniting with Satriani for the first time since their work in the supergroup CHICKENFOOT. Satriani is once again joined by producer/engineer/mixer Mike Fraser, his frequent collaborator over the last 20 years, on "What Happens Next". Fraser is well-known for recording/mixing every AC/DC album since 1990's "The Razors Edge" along with his classic works with Satriani going back to the release of "Crystal Planet" in 1998.

"The song 'Energy' shows the power, fun and excitement of true and spontaneous musical chemistry," Satriani says. "Chad, Glenn and me rockin' out, not holding back, reveling in the moment."

"I said to Chad in an early text, 'No odd time signatures, no progressive stuff, pure rock and soul. The last two records really showed that I was enjoying playing with progressive elements, and when I reached the end of 'Shockwave Supernova', I said, 'I think I've done it. For some reason, I don't feel like going back over that anymore.'"

These new tracks literally vibrate the soul with an energy rarely found these days. From the dynamic opening track, "Energy", to the majestic crunch of "Thunder High On The Mountain", and the easy, sensual chords of "Smooth Soul". This unparalleled rock-rhythm section gives "What Happens Next" a depth of groove that sets it apart from Satriani's other work.

Just a day prior to the album release, Satriani revives his G3 tour entity, inviting DREAM THEATER's John Petrucci and DEF LEPPARD lead guitarist Phil Collen to join him. The G3 tour launches on January 11 in Seattle, Washington and continues across the U.S. before winding up on February 25 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Since its debut in 1996, Satriani's G3 tour has featured the world's greatest guitarists (everyone from Steve Vai and Eric Johnson to Steve Lukather and Robert Fripp) and has become a consistent concert hall sell-out attraction in the U.S., South America, Europe, Australia and Japan. "I could say that I'm surprised at the durability of G3 and how much it's grown, but in a way I'm not," Satriani says with a laugh, "I think part of its charm and its mojo is in the chemistry of having three top guitarists share what they do on stage. It's fun, it's unpredictable, it's wild — it's everything you could want in a show."

Satriani's "Strange Beautiful Music: A Musical Memoir" first released in May 2014 will now be available in paperback. Pre-orders are available now with the official release on November 7. The paperback version includes a new chapter focusing on Satriani's last album, "Shockwave Supernova".

For two decades, the guitar virtuoso has traveled the world, playing to sold-out crowds as both a headliner and as founder of the all-star G3 guitar extravaganza. Satriani's studio and live recordings have sold more than ten million copies worldwide to date and of his many solo albums, two have gone platinum and four others went gold, with fifteen Grammy nominations between them. His side project, CHICKENFOOT, featuring former VAN HALEN frontman Sammy Hagar, former VH bassist Michael Anthony and Chad Smith saw their debut album certified gold and their second studio album debuted at #9.

"What Happens Next" track listing:

01. Energy 02. Catbot 03. Thunder High On The Mountain 04. Cherry Blossoms 05. Righteous 06. Smooth Soul 07. Headrush 08. Looper 09. What Happens Next 10. Super Funky Badass 11. Invisible 12. Forever And Ever

"What Doesn't Kill You", the new video from VANDENBERG'S MOONKINGS, can be seen below. The song is taken from the band's sophomore album, simply titled "MK II", which will be released on November 3 via the Mascot Label Group.

"What Doesn't Kill You" is a call to action; combining a hypnotic melody, soaring chorus and a timelessness that evokes a sense of empowerment and determination. You will prevail, you will be strong, you will get through this it cries to you; "What doesn't kill you makes you stronger, you're a survivor, your mind set to carry on," proclaims Jan Hoving as you are whipped up into a captivating whirlwind of infectious hooks into a journey of self-belief. Talking about the song and video, Adrian Vandenberg says: "In this video, the lyrics, the powerful music and the expressive performance of the band call for images and symbolism just as powerful. All these elements reinforce each other in order to get the message across. The owl, the wise creature of the night and as such the talisman of MOONKINGS, breaks free of the confinement of the band logo and flies unhindered over cities like New York, Paris, London and Los Angeles to eventually circle around the Statue of Liberty. Nighttime fireworks symbolize the celebration of freedom and the determination to survive, no matter what goes on in the world."

Four years after Adrian Vandenberg made a spectacular comeback with VANDENBERG'S MOONKINGS, the band returns with "MK II". The disc has all the qualities of the debut: once again the four-piece band manages to create a perfect mix of vintage seventies hard rock and current styles of heavy rock. Adrian Vandenberg shines as a bonafide guitar virtuoso, while the rest of the band also delivers in spades. Yet "MK II" has even more to offer than the highly praised first album. It shows how the band grew into a strong unit during the world tours of the recent years. "The last few years have been very important indeed," confirms Adrian Vandenberg, who previously gained world fame as the guitarist and songwriter of VANDENBERG and WHITESNAKE. "We just got to know each other when we recorded out debut album. I think we all exceeded each other's expectations. But you really get to know each other while on the road. It was then that I really became impressed by the abundance of energy that this band has. We tried to capture this on our new album. At the same time, we all grew individually. I am really amazed by the way Jan Hoving has grown even more in his role as a singer and as a frontman. I've played with the best bass players and drummers in my extensive career, but, with all respect, I dare to say that Sem Christoffel and drummer Mart Nijen Es form the best rhythm section I ever had the pleasure of working with." The comeback gets a worthy follow-up with "MK II". It was (partly) recorded in the famous Wisseloord Studio in Hilversum, Holland, where the band also worked on the debut album. Once again produced by Adrian Vandenberg, engineer/ soundmixer Ronald Prent used his magic again and the mastering was done by Darcy Proper. "The fantastic response to our debut received also gave us a major boost," said Adrian. "We felt confident to loosen things up quite a bit. Sem and Mart really go for it of at the end of 'The Fire'. Previously, I would have called for a fade-out in the mix, but this time we decided to keep it and put it on the record. It somehow reminded me of the '70s CREAM and LED ZEPPELIN jam sessions that nobody seems to do anymore these days. I allowed myself to rip all over the end section of 'If You Can't Handle The Heat'. I've always found that as a guitar player you should be able to tell a story in about twenty seconds, so this time it was great to break this rule for a change and let myself go completely. Never before in my career I have done this on an album. All in all, working on this album was a wonderful experience. The notorious 'second album syndrome' never reared its ugly head." The release of "MK II" will be supported with club tours and appearances on festivals worldwide. "I've been a professional musician for over forty years, but I am still as eager as I have always been and still have the feeling that I'm just getting started," added Adrian. "I am convinced that we have many good years ahead with this band."

"MK II" track listing:

01. Tightrope02. Reputation03. Angel In Black04. The Fire05. Walk Away06. All Or Nothing07. What Doesn't Kill You08. Ready For The Taking09. New Day10. Love Runs Out11. If You Can't Handle The Heat

Dave Mustaine, the Grammy Award-winning guitarist, lead singer, songwriter and founder of legendary band MEGADETH, is joining San Francisco-based startup Gimme Radio, the world's only 24/7, all-metal streaming radio station as DJ and host of "The Dave Mustaine Show". His first show will air at noon PT / 3 p.m. ET on Thursday, November 9, with a new show airing at that time every Thursday.

During each episode of the "The Dave Mustaine Show", thrash metal's forefather will play whatever he wants for two hours. Dave will showcase the music that has inspired him and influenced him as a musician, while also entertaining listeners with his deep knowledge of the genre, years of war stories from the road, and personal stories of the artists, tours, producers and other celebrities he has met throughout his illustrious career.

Mustaine explains: "I've always wanted to do radio that is strictly my show, my songs, my way. Gimme Radio lets me play what I want to play, and say what I want to say... no restrictions."

Metal is one of the world's most popular music genres, with one of the most dedicated and passionate fan-bases. Despite this fact, music services have largely ignored metal and its sub-genres in favor of mainstream music and computer-generated playlists. In the process, these services promote the same artists and same albums; they have become homogenous and feel similar to commercial radio. They leave fans of music that sits outside the mainstream without a way to discover new, exciting music in the genres they love.

Gimme Radio is different. It plays exclusively metal, and is focused on building a community of energized and connected metalheads from around the world. By enlisting the expertise of DJs like Mustaine, Gimme Radio listeners are treated to the stories and context that bring music to life and make the discovery of new music possible. And Gimme Radio makes it easy metal fans to purchase a vinyl copy of whatever the DJ is playing, and other unique merchandise related to the music.

Since Gimme Radio's launch in June, it has become metal fans' premier destination for music discovery and community. Because Gimme Radio is focused solely on metal, in that time it has forged close alliances with metal labels, news outlets and fans. Now, with the addition of Mustaine to their DJ roster, Gimme Radio is well-poised to reach millions of metal fans from around the globe.

"It's amazing to think that the guy behind 'Killing Is My Business' and 'Peace Sells' and last year's killer record 'Dystopia', a guy who basically invented the thrash genre, is joining Gimme Radio," says Gimme Radio's co-founder and CEO Tyler Lenane. "We've had a preview of what Dave is planning to talk about on some of these shows, and heard some of his stories — and we know that our listeners and his fans are going to be blown away. This show shouldn't be missed by any metal fan."

Today, Gimme Radio is also launching a new mobile app that brings the service to iOS users. Now, it's easier than ever for metal fans to listen to the best in extreme music and connect with other metalheads all over the world. The free app gives listeners a more convenient way to listen to Gimme Radio on the go and in the car. Through the app, fans can listen to their favorite DJs' shows, purchase a vinyl copy of whatever the DJ is playing, add records to their wish-list for purchase at a later time, and participate in the Gimme Live feed to communicate directly with DJs, artists and other fans — and they can headbang 24/7. The Android app with the same features will launch in the coming weeks.

For more information, visit www.gimmeradio.com.

Los Angeles hardcore quintet STRIFE will release a special "Live At The Troubadour" DVD and album through WAR Records on Record Store Day. A trailer for the set can be seen below. Recorded live at the legendary Troubadour in Los Angeles, California on February 5, 2005, STRIFE's "Live At The Troubadour" showcases the band at their most ferocious, with an equally energetic hometown crowd surging on all cylinders for the entire set. Featuring the original lineup of STRIFE playing songs spanning their Victory Records-released first three albums — 1994's "One Truth", 1997's "In This Defiance", and 2002's "Angermeans" — the forty-three-minute performance delivers eleven of the band's most iconic tracks recorded to twenty-four-track audio to accompany a five-camera DVD shoot. After a twelve-year wait, "Live At The Troubadour" will finally see the light of day.

Featuring fully mastered audio and video versions of the set, the audio for "Live At The Troubadour" was recorded by John St. James, mixed by Mike Sarkisyan and Tommy Decker, and mastered by Arthur Rizk (POWER TRIP, TRAPPED UNDER ICE, CAVALERA CONSPIRACY), and the live footage was filmed by Nate Weaver, Matt Bass, Mark Kienlen, and director of photography, Brian Hodge. Todd Jones from INTERNAL AFFAIRS at the time — now of the juggernaut NAILS — provides guitar on the track "Force Of Change". "Live At The Troubadour" will see release through guitarist Andrew Kline's own WAR Records for Record Store Day, Black Friday, November 24. The Record Store Day-exclusive version comes in a run of five hundred copies on red LP+DVD, and the label will issue a CD+DVD version as well. "Live At The Troubadour" track listing:

01. Waiting02. Grey03. Will To Die04. Untitled05. Rise Again06. Angel Wings07. Blistered08. Lift09. Through And Through10. Force Of Change11. What Will Remain

KING DIAMOND's November 2015 concerts in Philadelphia and Detroit during the "Abigail In Concert 2015" tour were filmed for the band's forthcoming DVD. The massive, multi-camera shoot was directed by Denise Korycki, who has previously worked with CANNIBAL CORPSE and KILLSWITCH ENGAGE).

A performance clip of the song "Halloween", taken from the Philadelphia shoot, can be seen below. According to a post on KING DIAMOND's Facebook page, the footage is a "work in progress," the "sound is unmixed and video part is not necessarily final."

The "Abigail In Concert 2015" tour saw KING DIAMOND performing the classic 1987 album "Abigail" in its entirety.

KING DIAMOND's singer and namesake told Vanyaland in a 2015 interview that the idea to perform "Abigail" came about innocently enough. "It's not like some big thing came around," he said. "We planned on doing a headline tour and after we did Mayhem [Festival], we were, like, 'Do we do this and not do our headline tour?' And then it was, 'No fucking way'; we had to do our headline tour that we talked about doing. It was there I came up that it would be nice to do a very different set and that would be the right way to do it. We have never done it. And I know some people are writing in comments, 'Oh, I saw it back in 1987.' Well, you really didn't, because we never played all the songs in one go — never. Not even when the album first came out. It's become a thing that is really good seeing, and I don't think we ever did anything that was this awesome to watch. It's turned out to be amazing."

Asked what he thinks makes "Abigail" so enduring thirty years after its original release, King said: "It was the first concert we ever did. 'Fatal Portrait', half the album, say, was a mini-concert. But that was the first concert where we jumped in with both feet, you know? It had a heavy impact as such, and it was the first horror concert — ever. I don't know any other band that had a horror concert as an album. And no band still sounds like us, in my opinion. It's like the first time I ever heard BLACK SABBATH; I had never heard anything close to it — such a heavy band, that first album. But after you do the he second, the third, the fourth, the impact is less, even though the albums may be just as striking. That's how it is, so it has a lot to do with that, I'm sure."

KING DIAMOND in 2002 released an album called "Abigail II: The Revenge", which was said to feature a storyline that was the sequel to the original "Abigail" LP.



King Diamond - Halloween
Work in Progress from Philadelphia. Sound is unmixed and video part is not necessarily final.Hope you enjoy and have a Haunted Halloween! King Diamond

Posted by King Diamond on Tuesday, October 24, 2017

Heavy metal legends Heavy Load are back! Heavy Load is widely held as the band that started the whole Swedish heavy metal wave with their first album in 1978. In addition, they are regarded as the first Viking metal band in the world.

Heavy Load was founded in the depths of midwinter 1974-75 by the two brothers Ragne Wahlquist (vocals, keyboard and guitar) and Styrbjörn Wahlquist (vocals and drums). The brothers’ vision has always been the core of what Heavy Load was all about. In 1978, Heavy Load released their first album entitled Full Speed At High Level, and after expanding the line up with a second guitarist, they founded their own recording facility, the famous Thunderload Studios, along with their own label, Thunderload Records. On their own label, they released timeless Heavy Load classics, such as: Metal Conquest (1981), Death Or Glory (1982) and Stronger Than Evil (1983).

Now, due to an epic pact between the band and No Remorse Records, the legendary Heavy Load back catalogue will be made available again. The series of ultimate reissues will start with their last album Stronger Than Evil, and will continue back through their production. These first ever official reissues will be expanded with bonus tracks: some of these tracks have never been heard by the public before - demos, and songs recorded for the albums which had to be dropped due to the limited playing time on the LPs. In order to guarantee the best sound quality, the reissues have been remastered - by the Wahlquist brothers themselves - directly from the original analogue tapes, at the Atlantis Studio in Stockholm, which is one of the few studios that still have the capacity to handle recordings the old analogue way.

At last, the date of the official re-release of Stronger Than Evil (1983) is set. January 26th, 2018, it is to be unleashed upon the world. It will be available in Digipak CD, Jewel Case CD, LP + CD package, limited edition box set and in digital download format. The reissue will contain six bonus tracks out of which four never have been available publicly before. Both the CD version and the LP version will contain very extensive booklets designed by the Wahlquist brothers themselves. The booklets will feature previously unpublished photos, as well as the band’s memories and ideas about the songs. In fact, the CD-booklet will be in 32 pages and the LP-booklet will be in full LP-size. The rest of their four albums are soon to be re-released in similar ways.

The amazing legacy of Heavy Load will also be celebrated live on stage.The Wahlquist brothers have yielded to their own passion due to the cravings of their fans. They will play a very limited number of bombastic concerts during 2018. This year also marks the 40th anniversary of their first LP. Heavy Load will announce a series of shows, with an epic and majestic stage production. The first shows in over three decades will take place on the following dates and venues: April 28th, 2018, when Heavy Load will headline the legendary Keep It True XXI festival in Lauda-Königshofen, Germany; and one month later, on May 26th, when the band will headline Up The Hammers festival, in Athens, Greece, and will also be one of the main acts at Sweden Rock festival, Friday evening, June 8th.

 

Founding Thin Lizzy guitarist Eric Bell will release his new solo album 'Standing At A Bus Stop' on December 1st, via Of The Edge Productions/Cargo Records UK. 'Standing at a Bus Stop' is legendary guitarist, musician and songwriter Eric Bell’s second album for Of The Edge Productions.

The follow-up to 2016’s Exile - Eric’s first studio recording for more than ten years - Standing At A Bus Stop gives fans more of what Eric does best - bitter sweet lyrics, gorgeous melodies and fantastic guitar riffs. Featuring nine brand new tracks written by Eric - plus two wonderful covers of Howlin Wolf's “Back Door Man”, and Elvis’ “Mystery Train” - this latest album showcases Bell’s talent for song writing and his desire to keep moving forward with his music.

“It would have been very easy to become Thin Lizzy part II,” says Eric, “but I’ve always gone my own way. You shouldn’t be scared to take a chance and experiment. Whatever talent I possess, I want to use it and you can’t do that if you’re always looking to the past.”

Once again, Eric draws heavily on his own life for inspiration on this record (and his extraordinary life has certainly produced plenty of song writing material!), crafting songs that are highly personal yet completely universal - songs of love and loss, dreams and memories, good times and bad. Some are recent creations, reflecting Eric’s thoughts on the modern world; some were written years ago, forgotten and rediscovered for this album.

“You get a free razor blade with every copy!” laughs Eric. “The songs on this album might be a bit melancholic but they’re not miserable. They are honest, they’re about real people and places and capture certain points in my life that meant something and made me who I am.

“I was never really considered a songwriter until Exile,” he adds, “so it’s amazing to have the chance to do another record. It feels like a natural progression for me. Like maybe I can write after all.”

Tracklisting:

“Back Door Man” (Howlin Wolf cover)
“Changing Room”
“In Memory Of Django”
“Frustration”
“Golden Days”
“Mystery Train” (Elvis cover)
“One Day Too Early”
“Pavements Paved With Gold”
“Reality”
“Standing At A Bus Stop”
“Walking In The Park”
“Golden Days”

Danish death metal cult band Iniquity will rerelease their classic 1996 debut album Serenadium on CD and LP on November 10th via Mighty Music and will play their final show in Copenhagen on the same day.

Iniquity is one of the first death metal bands to emerge from Denmark. Established in 1989, the band were pioneers in the genre and made quite an impact with their albums worldwide. The debut album Serenadium from 1996 is by many death metal fanatics considered a classic album. The story of Iniquity is known to have been very chaotic with many line-up changes, drug and alcohol abuse, bad luck, bad decisions, and in 2011, founding member Brian Petrowsky died, just 37 years old. Besides Serenadium, the band released The Hidden Lore MCD in 1998, Five Across The Eyes in 1999 and finally Grime in 2001. After many years of silence, the band came back from the grave in 2013 to perform a few shows with The Hidden Lore lineup. In connection with the 20 year re-release of Serenadium the band will perform their last ever gig in Copenhagen on November 10th with special guests.

"Finally it's here... Both fans and the band has been waiting for this for 20 years. Our debut album Serenadium from 1996 is coming out on vinyl through our old trusty label Mighty Music who've released all previous iniquity releases as well! Needless to say we are very excited by this and despite us actually laying the band to rest in 2016 we will of course be back to play a few shows in connection with this - as a final salute to the band and to the people who've helped build this monster. We hope this release will please the fans - old and new - maybe even make a few youngster turn their heads! 'Serenadium of the deathless, you will slowly transpire...' and so will we.” Martin Rosendahl, Iniquity

"This was the first ever album I released. I was 19 years old when I signed Iniquity, knew close to nothing about the music business, and used most of my savings to fund everything around this album. It was released it on my old label Emanzipation Productions back in 1996 and made quite a stir in the international death metal scene. I of course have a lot of memories about Serenadium, mostly good but also quite a few bad once, since it was a very turbulent time in the band.  But you can't take away the fact that is a classic death metal in all aspects and it feels like a big relief for me finally to release it on vinyl and finish the Iniquity chapter." Michael H. Andersen, Mighty Music.

Iniquity’s Serenadium will be rereleased on LP and CD including the The Hidden Lore EP from 1998 as bonus. All songs remastered at Medley Studio (Artillery, Electric Guitars).

Kirk Hammett and Robert Trujillo paid tribute to hometown legends BLACK SABBATH during METALLICA's concert last night (Monday, October 30) at the Genting Arena in Birmingham, England. Hammett and Trujillo covered "War Pigs" during their solo section and allowing the fans to sing in full support. Check out fan-filmed video footage below.

METALLICA members Lars Ulrich and James Hetfield inducted BLACK SABBATH into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame in March 2006 in New York City.

In a moving speech, Hetfield choked up as he painted a picture of himself as a nine-year-old introvert who found salvation in the din of Tony Iommi & Co. "He was drawn to them... like a shy boy to his own loud voice," Hetfield said at the event. "Those monstrous riffs lived inside him and spoke the feelings he could never put into words, sending chills of inspiration through him, from those gloomy lyrics and outlaw chords and all."

In addition to inducting SABBATH into the Rock Hall, METALLICA performed a medley of SABBATH songs ("Hole in the Sky" and "Iron Man") during the ceremony.

The European leg of METALLICA's "WorldWired" tour kicked off in Copenhagen, Denmark on September 2 and will run through November. After a break, the trek will pick up again on February 1, 2018 in Lisbon, Portugal, and continue through May, finishing up in Helsinki, Finland.

The Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame band is touring in support of its tenth studio album, "Hardwired... To Self-Destruct", which came out last November.

FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH last week confirmed a December 1 release date for its greatest hits collection, "A Decade Of Destruction", and released one of two new tracks included on the album, a song called "Trouble". Guitarist Zoltan Bathory told The Pulse Of Radio that singer Ivan Moody's lyrics for the song were inspired by Moody's own recent struggles to stay sober. "Ivan is the hand grenade without the, you know [laughs], without the pin, so he wrote the lyrics, obviously, and I think it's about himself, that he is trouble. You know, he's straightening out. It's good to see him getting sober, getting straight, and so I guess this song now is in a — now it's a past-tense song."

The other new song included with the set is titled "Gone Away".

Drummer Jeremy Spencer told Razor 94.7 that he was unsure about doing a greatest-hits LP at first, saying, "I was, like, 'Do we even have enough hits?' And then we looked and we have, like, thirteen or fifteen radio hits. It just seems like it just started, even though it's been ten years. We're always wrapped up in our vacuum, in our cocoon of our daily life, so you don't pay attention to that stuff. And now we're, like, 'We have a greatest hits.' And the label thought it was the right time, so we were, like, 'Cool. Let's put some new songs on it, though.' We don't wanna make… 'Cause people can pretty much… You know, they have the records already. But now this is a cool package with different stuff on it. The artwork's really rad. It's cool."

The hits collection and an already-completed new studio album are part of a deal to settle a legal dispute and close out the band's contract with its label, Prospect Park.

FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH's seventh full-length LP, which was finished nearly a year ago, will follow up 2015's "Got Your Six" and will be released in spring 2018.

The band is currently preparing to embark on a European arena tour with IN FLAMES and OF MICE & MEN.

FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH signed a new North American recording deal with Rise Records last year.


Listen to "Rockcast at Aftershock - Jeremy Spencer of Five Finger Death Punch" on Spreaker.

Amon Amarth has a long history with Metal Blade Records, that goes back to 1998 when they released their debut album, Once Sent From The Golden Hall. That album, along with 1999's The Avenger, were the first two Amon Amarth records that received the Metal Blade "Originals"-treatment, followed by The Crusher, Versus The World, Fate Of Norns and With Oden On Our Side. Now it's time for Surtur Rising and Twilight of the Thunder God to receive the same treatment. 

Both Surtur Rising and Twilight of the Thunder God will be released with 400g heavy cardboard spine sleeves (inside out print), 60x60cm two-sided artwork posters and 250g inserts. 

See below for an overview of all versions. Preorder your copies now via Metal Blade Records (USA), EMP (EU) or at their eBay store (EU). 

Surtur Rising "Originals-Series" LP reissue: 
--180g Black Vinyl
--Clear Signal Orange Vinyl (EU exclusive - ltd. 500) 
--Brown-Marbled Vinyl (EMP exclusive - ltd. 300) 
--Flame-Splatter Vinyl (eBay exclusive - ltd. 200) 
--Clear Vinyl (US exclusive - ltd. 200) 
--Orange Vinyl (US exclusive - ltd. 200) 
--Clear-Flesh Vinyl (US exclusive - ltd. 100) 

Twilight Of The Thunder God "Originals-Series" LP reissue: 
--180g Black Vinyl
--Clear Seablue-Marbled Vinyl (EU exclusive - ltd. 500) 
--Olive Green-Marbled Vinyl (EMP exclusive - ltd. 300) 
--Flame-Splatter Vinyl (eBay exclusive - ltd. 200) 
--Clear Vinyl (US exclusive - ltd. 200) 
--Orange Vinyl (US exclusive - ltd. 200) 
--Grey-Brown Vinyl (US exclusive - ltd. 100)

For fans planning to collect all of the releases, a limited, specially designed slipcase-box is available (exclusively at EMP) that fits the complete Amon Amarth back catalog.

"Jesus Retreats", the new video from BIG DUMB FACE, the side project from LIMP BIZKIT guitarist Wes Borland, can be seen below. The song is taken from BIG DUMB FACE's latest album, "Where Is Duke Lion? He's Dead...", which is being released today (Tuesday, October 31) via Edison Sound.

"Where Is Duke Lion? He's Dead..." is BIG DUMB FACE's first full-length release since "Duke Lion Fights The Terror!!" (2001), and tells the story of the powers of evil triumphing, killing our hero. "Where Is Duke Lion? He's Dead..." once again features Wes's brother Scott Borland.

This is Wes Borland's first release since his 2016 solo record, "Crystal Machete".

Rarely has a side project provided such a creative outlet for the madcap, surreal and bizarre. "Where Is Duke Lion? He's Dead..." is an album which redefines musical eccentricity, genre-less and unbounded — noise, death metal, electronic, steel pan samples, grindcore and more all collide in a maelstrom of musical images. This is not to say though that the record is without direction; indeed, the pacing and track order makes for a compelling listen — from the rip-snorting "Zargon Moth" or the off-kilter melodicism of "Jesus Retreats" to the relatively more tranquil "The Blood Maiden" or the whack-ballad of "WDATGGG".

Unsurprisingly, for an artist overflowing with as many ideas as Wes Borland (with his brother Scott), "Where Is Duke Lion? He's Dead..." is a multi-layered record which rewards on multiple listens. Listen once and you're carried away on a tide of musical energy and riffs; twice, and you begin to appreciate the unique production, mixing and sheer level of varied sounds and samples within.

Nowhere is this better summed up than in the behemoth of a closer: "Whipping The Hodeus". An eighteen-minute monster, the track combines a grotesque southern country ballad with cinematic rural soundscape, disco funk, and finally, grind/deathcore. You really do have to hear it to believe it.

Ozzy Osbourne and Zakk Wylde recently guested on MÖTLEY CRÜE and SIXX:A.M. bassist Nikki Sixx's syndicated rock radio show "Sixx Sense With Nikki Sixx". The entire chat can be seen below. A few excerpts follow (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET):

On the origins of Ozzfest:

Ozzy: "How it happened was that [Ozzy's wife and manager] Sharon [Osbourne] tried to get me on Lollapalooza, and they said, 'That music's dead — it's over.' So Sharon said, 'Screw you, we'll do our own [festival)."

On what he credits for his longevity:

Ozzy: "Not drinking and not doing all that... I don't smoke, drink, do dope..."

Zakk: "A while ago, Ozz quit doing everything at one point. This is when we were staying at the house — me and [Zakk's wife] Barb. The girls were out — Sharon and Barb, they went out to the movies or went out somewhere — and me and Ozzy are just sitting there. He has a cup of tea, and he goes, 'Look at me. I don't drink; I don't do drugs; I quit smoking — I never thought I'd do that; I don't even drink coffee anymore.' He goes, 'Zakk, why am I alive?'"

Ozzy: "I know what's going to happen if I start that again — I'm going to wake up covered in piss and puke, on my own somewhere. I can sit here and go, 'A glass of wine would be good,' and the next thing you know, I'm waking up somewhere I didn't intend to be, in a bad state. 'Cause I can't stop. [It's like] a switch — from fun to necessity."

On getting sober:

Ozzy: "I'm coming up on five years. I don't want it [now].. I don't know how we did it. For a while it was fun, but when you cross that invisible line... one day, I wake up in a fucking jail in England. I'm going, 'Where the fuck am I? What have I done?' I said to the cop, 'Why am I here?' He goes, 'I'll read you a charge — John Michael Osbourne has been arrested for attempting murder.' I went, 'What? Who did I try and kill?' 'Your wife.' I never believed in blackouts. I thought it was just a scare tactic. But I started having them."

On MTV's "The Osbournes":

Ozzy: "Having a camera crew in your house 24/7, you feel like a fucking experiment... I said to the guy one day, 'This is driving me fucking nuts. I've got to have a safe room where I can scratch my ass without being on TV.' I go in there one day, and I get this fucking weird feeling, you know? I look in the corner, and there's a camera hidden in the wall. I said, 'I thought this was a safe room?' He goes, 'We wanted to know where you were at all times.' 'Then why is the mic next to the fucking camera?' We pulled the plug because we started to run out of ideas, and plus the fact that it was my own house and I didn't feel safe."

On un-retiring:

Ozzy: "I retired for about one fucking... I couldn't even retire from this. It's not a job. I'll be here until they put a lid on my box. It's what I do — I've done it for forty-nine years. I don't know anything else."

Earlier this year, Ozzy reunited with Wylde, who played on studio albums such as "No Rest For The Wicked", "No More Tears" and "Ozzmosis" and who has toured on and off with Ozzy for nearly thirty years.

Ozzy has played a handful of solo shows since doing his final concerts with BLACK SABBATH last February. The legendary band wrapped up its forty-nine-year career with a year-long farewell tour, ending with two shows in its hometown of Birmingham, England.

A CD/DVD package called "The End", capturing the final SABBATH concert on film and as a live album, will be released on November 17.

Ozzy will next headline the first day of Ozzfest Meets Knotfest on November 4 in San Bernardino, California.

BLACK SABBATH guitarist Tony Iommi says that his cancer will likely come back — more than a year after he announced that he was in remission.

Iommi was diagnosed with lymphoma in early 2012, shortly after SABBATH announced a reunion tour and album. He underwent treatment throughout the recording of the disc, titled "13", and the subsequent tour to promote it.

Eight months after BLACK SABBATH brought its farewell tour to an end in the band's hometown of Birmingham, England, Iommi told Loudwire that he had to retire from the road because he could no longer travel for extended amounts of time.

"Well, for me, it's always hard traveling," he said (see video below). "Since I was diagnosed, I have to sort of be careful and not stay up too late and get some rest, which I wasn't, because we were traveling after the show. So by the time you get to the hotel, [it's] three or four o'clock in the morning. And I normally wake up early — I wake up when it's light — so you don't get many hours sleep. But, you know, there's nothing I can knock about it. I love playing on the road, I love being in the band, I love playing to the fans, but it's just the other side. You can only do what you can do and your physical side takes over and you get tired. And after doing so many shows, I really did get tired."

Speaking about how his cancer diagnosis has changed his perspective on life, Iommi said: "Well, to me, it's never gonna go away; it's always gonna be there. According to my oncologist, the professor, he said it's probably gonna come back. So it's hard to sort of go, 'Oh, well, that's brilliant then.' But I do live [day] by day now, and just every day is a winner, really. And we'll see. I hope it doesn't come back, but you never know."

Iommi said in 2016 interview that "the lowest moment" for him was being diagnosed. He explained: "You automatically wind yourself up saying, 'That's it then,' but that is not always the case. When they tell you, you think, 'Oh God.' That was a low time. I have had a few low times in my life like everybody has, but that was one that stuck in the head."

SABBATH singer Ozzy Osbourne told The Pulse Of Radio in 2014 that Iommi never let his condition slow him down: "My hat goes off to him 'cause he really is Iron Man. I mean, that chemotherapy knocks you sideways, you know. I mean, when my wife had cancer a few years back, she was having three chemo things a month and it would knock the life out of — literally every time she'd have a treatment, she'd have a seizure. It's scary stuff. But he came down, plugged in and carried on. He's my hero, I swear to God he is."

The BLACK SABBATH guitarist successfully underwent an operation in January 2017 to remove a noncancerous lump from his throat.

Legendary German guitarist Michael Schenker has set "Resurrection" as the title of the upcoming album from his MICHAEL SCHENKER FEST project. The disc, which was produced by Michael Voss, is tentatively due in early 2018 via Nuclear Blast.

"Resurrection" was recorded in four different locations over a five-month period and features a guest appearance by METALLICA's Kirk Hammett along with contributions from three original MSG (MICHAEL SCHENKER GROUP) singers — Gary Barden, Graham Bonnet and Robin McAuley — plus Doogie White, who plays with Michael in MICHAEL SCHENKER'S TEMPLE OF ROCK.

"It's not like three singers [where] each one sings three songs," Schenker explained to "Rock Talk With Mitch Lafon" (hear audio below). "We actually ended up having all singers together on a few songs, which is really, really unique and interesting. It's really entertaining, because you hear these different types of voices coming in to the same song, singing… Basically, Gary maybe sings the bridge, Robin sings the verse and Graham sings the chorus or whatever. We did this on about three songs or so."

According to Schenker, "Resurrection" will contain all brand new songs, including the projected first single "Warrior", which he describes as "really, really good and really powerful." The track will be made available several weeks prior to the album release and will come with a behind-the-scenes video.

The studio album will follow the release of "Michael Schenker Fest Tokyo", a concert recording filmed in August 2016 at Tokyo, Japan's International Forum, which was made available this past March via Inakustik.

"It was so funny when [Gary, Graham and Robin] all had to sing their lines and we were shooting behind-the-scenes footage, to see them how they get on," Michael recalled. "You can actually see it on the ['Michael Schenker Fest Tokyo'] DVD already, but it just continues to be as if these people have been together forever."

Michael added that he is celebrating his music career and life itself with MICHAEL SCHENKER FEST. "It seems like everybody's celebrating their life and their career at the same time," he said. "But it's all the most popular music of Michael Schenker, and the best I can do at the moment is to have Gary and Graham and Robin and now [with the addition of] Doogie White."

IN THIS MOMENT's video for the song "Roots" can be seen below. The clip was directed by Maria Brink and Robert Kley.

"Roots" is taken from IN THIS MOMENT's latest album, "Ritual", which was released this past July by Atlantic Records in partnership with Roadrunner Records. The disc features a guest appearance from JUDAS PRIEST frontman Rob Halford on the song "Black Wedding".

"Ritual" was produced by IN THIS MOMENT's longtime collaborator — and multiple Grammy Award nominee — Kevin Churko (FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH, OZZY OSBOURNE).

Asked how the material from "Ritual" has been going over live, guitarist Chris Howorth told Fuel The Scene magazine: "The reception has been overwhelmingly good all across the board. It's kind of weird now… Because album sales are so different, with streams and everything, you don't really notice it, except for on the live front, you see the people showing up and singing the songs, and you know that they're getting it and hearing it. Otherwise, it's hard to kind of tell."

Added guitarist Randy Weitzel: "When we play a song for the first time, people are just sort of staring at you. But as tours go by, they start to get to know the lyrics and it livens up a little bit. So I think it's going pretty good."

The official video for "Hard To Kill", the title track of the fourth studio album from Los Angeles-based hard rockers HEAVEN & EARTH, can be seen below. The disc was released on October 6 via Quarto Valley Records.

Founded by British-born, blues-rock guitar virtuoso Stuart Smith, HEAVEN & EARTH specializes in melodic, hard rock in the vein of DEEP PURPLE, RAINBOW and BAD COMPANY. HEAVEN & EARTH's recording lineup includes Joe Retta (lead vocals, guitar, harmonica), Stuart Smith (guitars), Lynn Sorenson (bass and vocals), drummer Kenny Aronoff (John Mellencamp, THE ROLLING STONES, Lady Gaga, Bruno Mars) and keyboardist Ty Baillie (Katy Perry, Robbie Robertson). On tour, HEAVEN & EARTH features musicians Mike Mangan (Hammond organ and keyboard) and Steven Wilson (drums, percussion, vocals).

Taking "Hard To Kill" as a whole, the eleven original songs ring true and the melodies unfold like you have known them your whole life. The title track serves as the band's anthem, a testament to perseverance and the power of rock. "L.A. Blues" exposes the pitfalls of living in the City of Angels, while "The Game Has Changed" dramatically contrasts the past with the present. Meanwhile, "Til It's Over" will earn the admiration of longtime rock listeners, just as the attitude in "Bleed Me Dry" and "Walk Away" will speak to any modern music fan. "We feel that 'Hard To Kill' is definitely the band's best work yet, and we're excited to see how it’s received," says Smith. "We're looking forward to going on tour and playing selections from all four HEAVEN & EARTH albums, as well as a few surprises."

Photo credit: Shelby Carol

U.K. industrial metal pioneers GODFLESH will release their new album, "Post Self", on November 17 via Justin K. Broadrick's Avalanche Recordings on CD, digital and LP formats, with a cassette version incoming on Hospital Productions.

Over two years in the making, "Post Self" explores the less "metal" side of GODFLESH, taking in the formative influences and spitting out something more informed by late '70s early '80s post-punk and industrial than it is anything metal-related. Lyrically, the album deals with anxiety and depression, fear, mortality and paternal and maternal relationships.

"Post Self" track listing:

01. Post Self02. Parasite 03. No Body 04. Mirror Of Finite Light 05. Be God 06. The Cyclic End 07. Pre Self 08. Mortality Sorrow 09. In Your Shadow 10. The Infinite End

You can listen to the "Post Self" title track below.

GODFLESH's last album, "A World Lit Only By Fire", was released in October 2014 via Avalanche Recordings.

Photo credit: Kevin Laska


Post Self - single by GODFLESH

PAINTED DOLL, the new band formed by comedian/guitar shredder Dave Hill and extreme metal veteran Chris Reifert (AUTOPSY, DEATH), has inked a deal with the New York City independent label Tee Pee Records. The group's self-titled debut, recorded and mixed by Tom Beaujour at Nuthouse Recording in Hoboken, New Jersey, will be released on February 16, 2018.

PAINTED DOLL came to life when "a death metal guy and a power-pop guy got hammered together at a GOBLIN concert in Texas." Soon after, Reifert and Hill began trying to out-deep cut each other with late '60s/early '70s Dutch and British psych pop before Chris suggested the two musicians form a band together inspired by the music they'd been trading.

What does PAINTED DOLL sound like, you ask? Let's let the band do the talking...

"The PAINTED DOLL record was a blast to make," says Hill. "Chris is a death metal legend from the Bay Area and I'm a guy from Cleveland who worships THE KINKS. Throw in our mutual love for obscure Dutch bands from the seventies and you've got PAINTED DOLL. We're super psyched to be working with Tee Pee Records to unleash our stone-cold jams on the masses."

"After getting to know Dave and talking about psychedelic bands and stuff, it was clear that PAINTED DOLL needed to happen," adds Reifert. "The powers of rock gave us our mission, which we gladly accepted. Now you can hear the visions that we had bouncing around in our heads. Foxes and rabbits, velvet and leather, smoldering rock and spacey psych....what else do you need? Play it loud and proud, babies!"

Luckily, there's zero waiting period to hear the culmination of this peculiar pairing as PAINTED DOLL has released a video for the record's lead track "Together Alone". Check it out below.

Swedish black metallers WATAIN will release their new studio album, "Trident Wolf Eclipse", on January 5, 2018. The effort will be made available as an LP, standard CD, limited CD digipak, digitally as well as in a limited deluxe box set of three thousand copies. The album will also be available in a variation of different vinyl colors from selected mailorder/retail stores.

"After twenty years of carving our own path through and out of the world, 'Trident Wolf Eclipse' feels like a worthy point of arrival indeed," says WATAIN. "One of power and force, shining a new harsh light upon all that has been, those that perished along the way, the life altering struggle and triumphant ecstasy of WATAIN. 'Trident Wolf Eclipse' is, however, not about the past, nor the future, it is about here and now, and we sincerely look forward to show you all what that implies. To all those that are as impatient as we are for that day to come, thank you for your unending support and see you soon."

"Trident Wolf Eclipse" track listing: 01. Nuclear Alchemy (3:10)02. Sacred Damnation (4:41)03. Teufelsreich (4:26)04. Furor Diabolicus (4:43)05. A Throne Below (4:09)06. Ultra (Pandemoniac) (4:01)07. Towards The Sanctuary (4:54)08. The Fire Of Power (4:42)

The "Nuclear Alchemy" single (released as a seven-inch and digitally) is available today. Order your copy from CM Distro or the band's own merchandise store Wolf Wear. This release is strictly limited to two thousand copies.

The brand new video for "Nuclear Alchemy" can been seen below.