Swedish rockers Eclipse have shared a new single “Still My Hero”, taken from their new studio album Megalomanium II, set for release on September 20, 2024, via Frontiers Music Srl. The track is accompanied by a new music video, available below.


About the new single, lead singer Erik Mårtensson shared this:


"When I wrote this song I had the phrase 'still my hero' on my original scrap demo. The only hero I've ever had was my dad, so I made the whole song about him. He sadly passed away much too young in 2014. This is a tribute to a great man.”




Eclipse, the heavy rock powerhouse out of Stockholm, is renowned for its signature sound of massive hooks and stellar musicianship, quickly becoming one of Sweden's largest heavy rock bands with well over 100 million streams on streaming services.


Following on from the release of Megalomanium last September and, most recently, of the exclusive 7’’ vinyl “Apocalypse Blues” and the single “Falling To My Knees”, the band's trajectory to craft memorable anthems is bound to stay intact.


Erik commented on the upcoming release:


“If you thought the title of our previous record was proof of us suffering from delusions of grandeur, then you’re absolutely right. The only way we could top it was to make another one. Ladies and gentlemen, we present to you, Megalomanium II.”


Guitarist Magnus Henriksson continued:


“This band is on a continuous journey trying to find new avenues to explore. Having said that, 'Megalomanium II' is probably closer to what people mostly associate Eclipse with. It’s filled to the brim with large choruses, beautiful melodies, and some amazing guitar playing. I’m totally unbiased, by the way.”


After a sold-out headline tour across Europe at the end of 2023, the band continues to fill its busy live schedule in 2024. Following a successful run in Japan and South America, Eclipse is currently touring across Europe and will be headed to central Europe and the US after the summer. Additional dates will be added as the year moves on. For a full list of tour dates, head here.


Pre-order Megalomanium II here.





Megalomanium II tracklisting:


"Apocalypse Blues"
"The Spark"
"Falling To My Knees"
"All I Want"
"Still My Hero"
"Dive Into You"
"Until The War Is Over"
"Divide & Conquer"
"Pieces"
"To Say Goodbye"
"One In A Million"


"Still My Hero":





"The Spark" video:





"Falling To My Knees" video:





Eclipse are:


Erik Martensson - vocals, guitar
Magnus Henriksson - guitar
Philip Crusner - drums
Victor Crusner - bass


(Photo - Martin Darksoul)







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Portland, Oregon's Unto Others have spent their seasons in the abyss and arise from the other side with their third full-length and Century Media debut Never, Neverland - incoming September 20, 2024.


The record is equally dreamy while never letting go of the energy and darkness that is Unto Others; one that owes as much to The Cure as it does to self-professed influences like The Sisters of Mercy and Iron Maiden. Simply put: this is the record where Unto Others prove themselves far more than just a one-trick, blackened steed, but instead, a band on the verge of something wickedly terrible and utterly timeless.


Today, the album's epic new single "Momma Likes The Door Closed" arrives alongside a cinematic music video by Brock Grossl.




Unto Others' Gabriel Franco comments, "Honestly surprised I wasn’t high when putting this together, cause it’s a weird one." He continues, "With elements of punk/thrash/hardcore/post punk/goth and metal, 'Momma Likes The Door Closed' is our attempt to recreate an ‘80s B-movie horror flick in musical format. Brock knocked it out of the park with the video, which must be watched with the song for the full experience. Shadows dance across the floor, don’t you ever open up the door!!"  


When writing began for the record, Unto Others' Gabriel Franco & Co. were staggering away from two years of post-pandemic touring and personal hells. Not only did they survive that time, they also came back stronger and more resolute than ever.  “My goal was to push this thing so hard that more people know us as Unto Others,” says Franco, alluding to the band’s moniker shift from Idle Hands. But hard work came with a price: “At the end of it, I was burnt out, full of anxiety and raw nerves," Franco relates. That ineffable pressure funnelled itself into what became the foundation for Never, Neverland. Signing with Century Media and hiring British producer Tom Dalgety (Ghost, The Cult), what began as an exaltation of exhaustion blossomed into the band’s most diverse and fulfilled work to date.


Never, Neverland, continues to not only mark Unto Other as the successors to Type O Negative or the Sisters of Mercy, but as a band on the verge of something unholy and massive.


Unto Other's third LP, following underground classics, Mana and Strength, it's the sound of harsh light breaking through the Portland quartet's darkened gothic and classic metal motifs.  The band has teamed up with producer Tom Dalgety (Ghost, The Cult), taking the next step from dark sunglasses and chugging metallic riffs to the more melodious gloom of lead track, "Butterfly", the crunching, punkish abandon of "Suicide Today" or the grandiosity of "Angel Of The Night".


Find preorders on Bandcamp.





Tracklisting:


“Butterfly”
“Momma Likes The Door Closed”
“Angel Of The Night”
“Suicide Today”
“Sunshine”
“Glass Slippers”
“Fame”
“When The Kids Get Caught”
“Flatline”
“Time Goes On”
“Cold World”
“I Am The Light”
“Farwell”
“Raigeki 雷撃”
“Hoops”
“Never, Neverland”
“Pet Sematary” (Bonus cover version)


"Momma Likes The Door Closed":





"Angel Of The Night":





“Raigeki 雷撃” video:





See Unto Others on tour across the globe this summer and fall. Buy tickets here.


October
28 - Portland, OR - Roseland Theater *
29 - Seattle, WA - Moore Theatre *
30 - Vancouver, BC - Vogue Theatre *


November
1 - Calgary, AB The Palace Theatre *
2 - Spokane, WA - Knitting Factory *
3 - Boise, ID - Knitting Factory *
4 - Salt Lake City, UT - The Depot *
5 - Denver, CO - Paramount Theatre *
7 - Minneapolis, MN - The Fillmore *
8 - St Charles, IL - The Arcada Theatre *
10 - Detroit, MI - Royal Oak Music Theatre *
11 - Toronto, ON - History *
13 - Montreal, QC - MTELUS *
14 - Quebec City, QC - Theatre Capitole *
15 - Boston, MA - Orpheum Theatre *
16 - New York, NY - Hammerstein Ballroom At Manhattan Center *
17 - Philadelphia, PA - Franklin Music Hall *
19 - Cleveland, OH - The Agora Theater *
20 - Pittsburgh, PA - Stage AE *
21 - Stroudsburg, PA - The Sherman Theater *
22 - Silver Spring, MD - The Fillmore *
23 - Charlotte, NC - The Fillmore *
24 - Orlando, FL - The Plaza Live *
26 - Nashville, TN - Ryman Auditorium *
27 - Atlanta, GA - The Eastern *
29 - Houston, TX - House Of Blues *
30 - San Antonio, TX - Aztec Theatre *


December
1 - Dallas, TX - The Factory in Deep Ellum *
3 - Little Rock, AR - The Hall *
4 - Wichita, KS - The Cotillion *
6 - Albuquerque, NM - REVEL *
7 - Tempe, AZ - The Marquee Theatre *
9 - Tucson, AZ - The Rialto Theatre *
10 - San Diego, CA - House Of Blues *
11 - Reno, NV - Grand Sierra Resort and Casino *
12 - Las Vegas, NV - Brooklyn Bowl
13 - San Francisco, CA - The Warfield *
14 - Los Angeles, CA - Hollywood Palladium *


* with W.A.S.P.


Unto Others lineup:


Gabriel Franco - Vocals, Guitars
Sebastian Silva - Guitars
Brandon Hill - Bass
Colin Vranizan - Drums


(Photo - Artur Tarczewski)







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Eliminated is the latest full-length album by the ferocious beast of the north, Saber Tiger, which is their first full-length album since 2018's Obscure Diversity. Eliminated is due for release on September 25 via Walküre Records. Preorder at diskunion.net.


Music video for “斑の鳥” is streaming below.


Following the release of the 5th re-recording album series Paragraph V to commemorate their 40th anniversary, and live footage, this release is a new masterpiece that is a Saber Tiger style explosion with mainly Japanese lyrics. 




The strongest twin lead of Kinoshita Akihito (Gt) & Tanaka Koji (Gt), the technical and ironclad rhythm section of hibiki (Ba) and Mizuno Yasuhiro (Ds), and the supreme singing of Japan's world-class singer Shimoyama Takenori (Vo) will shake the souls of all listeners. The DVD included with the deluxe edition contains a large amount of rare footage, including the completely unreleased music video "From The Past To Tomorrow" and interviews with all the members.





Tracklisting:


“斑の鳥” 
“Resist The Pressure” 
“昏い箱庭” 
“孤独と霧の彼方” 
“鮮やかな軌跡” 
“鬼哭の亡霊” 
“From The Past To Tomorrow” 
“Malicious World”
“The Moonlight Shines” 
“Power Of Silence” 
“Strike Back”


“斑の鳥”:










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The collective of renowned musicians from Norway's west coast known as Whispering Void is releasing the single “Vinden vier” ('The Wind Sanctifies') that features Abbath guitarist Ole André Farstad. The track is taken from their forthcoming debut album At The Sound Of The Heart, which has been chalked up for release on October 18, 2024.


"This song began to form when I repeated the words 'Vinden vier', which is kind of a play on words", vocalist Kristian Espedal explains. "This can mean 'The Wind Sanctifies' but it can also be read as: 'The Wind Unites'. As the lyrical loop goes on, it also becomes 'Vi er vinden', which means 'We Are the Wind'. Then Lindy added her wonderful vocals in a 70s or even 60s style. At first, she just sang the ghost vocals, but once we had set the lyrics for the song, she also gave her voice to them. We all felt that this song also needed more of an Eastern energy, which is the very reason as to why we invited Ole André Farstad to play guzheng and Indian slide-guitar. This has added even more of that late ‘60s vibe to the song and I really like the result."


Preorder here.




It was well known in Nordic traditions that the voice holds magical power. With their debut album At The Sound Of The Heart, a collective of renowned musicians from the west coast of Norway explores and embodies these ancient ways. Guided by music created by guitarist Ronny Stavestrand, each of its members have brought a part of their own background to Whispering Void.


Many different musical strands have been woven into a sonic entity that is both new and greater than the sum of its parts. The distinctive voices of Wardruna vocalist Lindy-Fay Hella and her male counterpart Kristian "Gaahl" Espedal spellbind the listener with an enormous range of techniques and sounds. Ronny Stavestrand and Enslaved drummer Iver Sandøy combine ambient, psychedelic prog, and rock with notes of dark folk and metal on "At the Sound of the Heart" into something essentially Nordic but extending beyond already explored dimensions. 


The ancestry of Whispering Void obviously goes back to the Norwegian metal scene that has been highly productive ever since the so-called second wave of black metal began its triumphant victory march around the globe in the early nineties. Over the following decades, this groundbreaking genre saw several bands rising from underground obscurity to headlining positions at festivals.


The creative spark that lit the fire of Whispering Void burning came from a long time of creating new music by Ronny Stavestrand. The guitarist had shared many years in the legendary underground black metal act Trelldom with outstanding vocalist Kristian "Gaahl" Espedal, who rose to fame with Gorgoroth and has meanwhile also established Gaahls Wyrd as a channel for his creativity. Therefore, it was only natural that Stavestrand asked Espedal to contribute to Whispering Void – to which the latter chose to agree.


While exploring new musical territories together, the need for a female voice arose. Having been part of Wardruna in the early years, Espedal was quick to note that vocal powerhouse Lindy-Fay Hella with her characteristic voice and unique contributions, which she has also shared in her own projects, was the perfect match for Whispering Void. Hella was duly invited and luckily heeded the call.


The quartet was completed by Iver Sandøy on battery and bass, who had put his impeccable musical sensitivity and timing into the service of Enslaved some years back but already made himself a name with the progressive outfit Emmerhoff & The Melancholy Babies.





Tracklisting:


“Vinden vier”
“Vi finnes”
“Whispering Void”
“At The Sound Of The Heart”
“Lauvvind”
“We Are Here”
“Flower”


"Vinden Vier":





“Vi finnes” video:





Line-up
Ronny Stavestrand – guitars
Lindy-Fay Hella – vocals
Kristian Eivind Espedal – vocals
Iver Sandøy – drums & percussion, bass, guitar, keyboards 
 
Guest musicians
Ole André Farstad – guzheng, Indian slide guitar on “Vinden Vier”,”Lauvvind”
Matias Monsen – cello on “Whispering Void”, “At The Sound Of The Heart”, “We Are Here”
Silje Solberg – Hardanger fiddle on “Vi finnes”, “The Vines”







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Robot Monster Army, the longtime project of ex-Wargasm frontman Bob Mayo, have released a lyric video in support of their third album entitled Assembly Required. The "Day Of The Robot" video was created by Tad Leger, former drummer of NY thrashers Toxic.


Fans of ‘80s Boston thrashers Wargasm, known mainly for their underground classic debut Why Play Around? may be surprised that Assembly Required is not an all-out modern thrash assault. 







But fans of RMA's first two albums know what to expect here: an album of songs written and performed in a late-1970's hard rock/heavy metal style, as in UFO, Judas Priest, Scorpions, Thin Lizzy, Aerosmith, Blue Oyster Cult, and Motörhead, to name just a few examples. 


"That's the music that I grew up with," says Mayo, "And the music that inspired Wargasm as well. These records should take you right back to somewhere between 1978 and 1980."  


Assembly Required is available via streaming and download via all major streaming services and digital outlets; a limited edition CD is also available, along with CD versions of RMA's first two albums Robot Monster Army and Monsterpiece.


Head to Bandcamp for updates and album purchases.










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French Progressive metallers Kozoria are proud to unleash its brand-new track Demonize Them taken from their band’s upcoming album The Source out October 11th via Black Lion Records, Pre-order CD/Digital at https://music.blacklion.nu/Kozoria

Check out the live session video for the track Division below! The official video can be seen at https://youtu.be/pPGKX5w4uXc

Kozoria comments: DEMONIZE THEM

– The song encapsulates the state of confusion one plunges into when plagued by destructive thoughts. Hatred toward hurting violence inhibits any expression of empathy or resilience, to such an extent that fueling the anger becomes an end in itself, to avoid facing fragility at all costs.


In “The Source,” Kozoria paints a romantic and dramatic universe throughout the tracks. Each story depicts the anxieties of human beings facing the violence of their own emotions. The hostility of these environments often mirrors internal conflicts intertwined with paradoxes. Songwriting serves contemporary narratives. The polyphonies create contrasts, they induce dual meanings, they evoke irony or invigorate the main melodies. However, these generally dark themes are consistently punctuated by luminous breakthroughs, glowing with hope and vitality.

Tracklist
1 Pandora’s Box
2 Demonize Them
3 Division
4 Leviathan
5 Dawn
6 Reborn
7 We’re Wolves
8 Fading Embers
9 The Source

Horror Pain Gore Death Productions are set to release the debut full length album from Rochester NY's blistering grindcore act, Sully. The self-titled album is up now for pre-order and will be released September 13 on CD and digital formats along with merch. Sully features members of Brutal Truth, Nuclear Assault, Sulaco and Psyopus.


A new music video for the first single, "DeadPan", can be viewed below.


Official description:




Horror Pain Gore Death Productions are proud to present the long awaited debut full length album from Sully! Formed during the COVID-19 pandemic, Sully hail from Rochester New York and feature experienced metal veterans Erik Burke (Sulaco, Brutal Truth, Nuclear Assault), Adam Frappolli (Psyopus), Alex Perez on drums and Ed Jusko on bass. Following up on the well received debut The Tony Demo, "Sully" showcases 12 tracks of intense, blistering grindcore with hardcore elements, resulting in a distinctive and aggressive musical style that sets them apart from other acts. Despite the intensity of their music, Sully maintains a fun-loving approach to their craft, and their live performances are known for their high-energy delivery, which has been well-received by their growing fan base. For fans of Brutal Truth, Burnt By The Sun, Discordance Axis, Human Remains, Pig Destroyer, Psyopus, The Red Chord and Sulaco.





- Pre-order the CD for only $10 here.
- Pre-order the Digital Download for only $6.66 here.
- Pre-save this release on Spotify here.
- Pre-order the T-Shirt for only $15 here.
- Pre-order the T-Shirt + CD Bundle for only $23 here.





Tracklisting:


"DeadPan"
"Blanket"
"Judas Kiss"
"Dredge The Lake"
"Cowardly The Cat"
"King Of Terrors"
"He's An Asshole, But So Are You"
"Circle The Drain"
"Stool Pigeon"
"Three Hits"
"Bedlamite"
"Tinker's Dam"


"DeadPan" video:










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German hard rockers, The New Roses, have unveiled the title track from their upcoming album, Attracted To Danger, out on October 4 via Napalm Records.


"Attracted To Danger" is one of the new album’s absolute highlights, combining smashing guitars with a raging hymn-like refrain and a stunning guitar solo, all topped with frontman Timmy Rough's unmistakable raspy voice, capturing the essence of classic rock.


Vocalist Timmy Rough states: “We‘re thrilled to release the second song from our album, and we chose the title track of this record. 'Attracted To Danger' is a hard rocking track with a little darker and meaner vibe than the first single 'When You Fall In Love', so we get to show the broader spectrum of the whole album. So crank it up and let it roll…”







The New Roses’ newest onslaught, Attracted To Danger, starts off with the catchy and classy opener “When You Fall In Love”, setting the tone for an album that convinces with a rebellious free spirit, timeless melodies and catchy hooks. Overall, The New Roses present a heavier, rougher side, as is evident on the stomping “Four Wheels” with its heavy riffs, or closing track “Whiskey In The Backseat”, offering a heavier melody and dramatic audacity, like strong whiskey running down your throat. But still, the quartet stays true to their trademarks, delivering timeless hard rock hymns while unleashing a fiery energy and heavier touch on tracks like “Bring The Thunder”, then hitting differently when Timmy Rough presents the full range of his vocal skills on “This Heart”. Next, “Spirit Of A Rebel” creates a lighter atmosphere and invites listeners to celebrate life together under the sun. There’s room for calmer and more emotional sounds as “Natural Born Vagabonds” creates an authentic bonfire-like atmosphere. A more romantic side manifests often in the lyrics, but culminates in the deeply moving “Hold Me Up” - a duet with Scotland-based lead singer Gill Montgomery (The Hot Damn, The Amorettes). As her soft voice melts tenderly with Timmy’s rough timbre, the track succeeds as an emotional masterpiece of a rock ballad, marking a romantic ending to a wild love story. The album is wrapped up by a cover version by Neil Young’s iconic hit single “Rockin’ In The Free World”, making it their very own - and by that claiming their rightful place in the upper echelons of the international hard rock scene.


Attracted To Danger is an outstanding hard rock album providing everything the band is loved and appreciated for: catchy sounds, true rock anthems, authentic emotions and an incredible rock’n’roll energy that can only be delivered by The New Roses. Get ready for an outstanding highlight as the Germans turn the intensity up to 11 and beyond, taking no time to rest and delivering a more explosive and rebellious sound than ever before.


The New Roses on their new album: "I think Attracted To Danger has everything a good rock & roll record needs. We tried to show the whole spectrum of rock & roll emotions. Good times, hard times, the traditional road vibe, a ballad and some harder riffs. So If you wanna have a rock & roll party this record is the soundtrack for it..."





Attracted To Danger will be available in the following formats:


- 1LP Gatefold Yellow Transparent
- Bundle: 1CD Digipak + Cover shirt
- 1LP Gatefold Black
- 1CD Digipak


Pre-order here.





Attracted To Danger tracklisting:


"When You Fall In Love"
"Natural Born Vagabonds"
"Attracted To Danger"
"Four Wheels"
"Bring The Thunder"
"This Heart"
"Hold Me Up feat. Gill Montgomery"
"Spirit Of A Rebel"
"Rockin' In The Free World"
"Whiskey In The Backseat"


"When You Fall In Love" video:





The New Roses are:


Timmy Rough - vocals
Dizzy Daniels - guitar
Norman Bites - guitar
Hardy - bass
Urban Berz - drums


(Photo - Vera Friederich)







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Perth, Australia-based death metal purveyors, Crypt Crawler, have dropped another massive track from their upcoming album, The Immortal Realm, coming on September 13.





"Higher Society", featuring a guest solo from the legendary James Murphy (Death, Obituary, Testament, Disincarnate), tells the story of a group of wealthy individuals who welcome fresh blood, only to use them as sacrifices to extend their own lifespans. This song was inspired by Brian Yuzna's 1989 film Society with additional references to Clive Barker's Hellraiser (1987).




Stream/download the single here, and watch the music video below. Pre-order the new album here, or here.





The Immortal Realm tracklisting:


"The Immortal Realm"
"Summary Execution"
"Forced Metamorphosis"
"Maze To Insanity"
"Higher Society"
"Shrine Of Sacrifice"
"Abhorrent Abominations"
"Gateway Of Souls"


"Higher Society" video:





"The Immortal Realm" video:





"Shrine Of Sacrifice" video:





Conjuring an old school sound together with a modern approach, Crypt Crawler has been carving their path since forming in 2018. Unleashing a relentless assault of neck snapping riffs, blistering solos, technical drums and an undeniable sense of melody, they quickly cemented their place in the Australian extreme metal scene.


The release of their debut album, To The Grave, in 2019 showcased their mastery of the genre, incorporating elements of old school death metal with modern nuances. It was followed up in 2020 with the release of the Blood Sustenance EP which further showcased their ability to craft catchy hooks and merciless riffs. 2021’s offering, Future Usurper, showed the band's musical maturity and songwriting prowess, delving into more intricate and progressive arrangements, while maintaining their signature brand of death metal.


Now in 2024, Crypt Crawler are pushing the envelope even further with The Immortal Realm. Sharper riffs, heavier harmonies and a wall of sound that’s been sorely missing in modern death metal.


Crypt Crawler's blistering live performances have earned them opportunities to support acclaimed acts including US death metal kings Obituary, Gatecreeper and Skeletal Remains, as well as playing Hammersonic 2024, the biggest heavy music festival in Southeast Asia. This October sees them opening for US death metal titans Nile when they come through Perth. Get tickets here.


 


Tour dates:


September
20 - Marrickville Bowling Club - Sydney, Australia
21 - The Gasometer Hotel - Melbourne, Australia


October
5 - Electric Eye Heavy Fest - Fremantle, Australia
15 - Milk Bar - Perth, Australia #*
24 - Tomcat - Brisbane, Australia *
25 - Vinnies Dive - Gold Coast, Australia *
26 - Crown & Anchor - Adelaide, Australia *


# supporting Nile
* featuring Ashen







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Brian Wheat, the founder and bassist of the multi-platinum selling band TESLA, has announced an exciting new musical venture with AleX, an emerging singer/songwriter from the U.K. The duo has joined forces to create a new band called VIOLET BREED, with their debut single, "Awake", set to be released on all major platforms on September 13, 2024.

VIOLET BREED represents a powerful collaboration between Wheat, a seasoned rock icon, and AleX, a fresh and dynamic voice in the music industry. The pair have spent the last five years meticulously crafting an album that draws from their own life experiences, creating music that resonates with listeners of all ages. With honest and emotive lyrics, VIOLET BREED's sound blends rich rock and pop influences, promising a unique and compelling listening experience.

The debut album, which features TESLA's own guitarist Dave Rude on guitars, will showcase the musical prowess of the duo. Fans of both TESLA and AleX will be eager to hear the new material, as VIOLET BREED looks to make a significant impact on the global music scene.

"Awake", the lead single, will give audiences a taste of what's to come from VIOLET BREED, delivering a track that's both musically engaging and lyrically profound.

Brian and AleX are able to tap into experiences from these diverse generations, which add to the depth of the music they produce. Their passion and inspiration for music is born from a shared love for records by THE BEATLES, Paul McCartney, QUEEN and MY CHEMICAL ROMANCE. Influences from these bands is subtly interwoven into their music.

Over his successful forty years in the music industry, Brian has crafted an enviable music career. Performing live, author to autobiography "Son Of A Milkman" and managing the multi-platinum selling rock band TESLA, alongside side projects such as SOUL MOTOR and now VIOLET BREED, Brian has maintained an impressive consistency in the music industry over multiple decades resulting in an abundance of sellout tours across the U.S. and world.

Over the last ten years, Brian has acted as a close mentor and peer to AleX, notably being a huge influence in the studio, producing and co-writing songs. His oversight has helped refine the music AleX creates and brought priceless industry for AleX to further improve his craft. With his own individual success on active rock radio, numerous successful tours and festival appearances, and constantly performing to a demanding live schedule, Brian notices the potential of AleX's talents and commitment, and recognizes snippets of his younger self in the artist. Having displayed a unique range of vocal performances, heavily inspired by Freddie Mercury, plus a natural talent for songwriting, the opportunity to form a new band seemed inevitable.

Steve Harris stated that Iron Maiden never really considered down-tuning for vocalist Blaze Bayley, reports Ultimate Guitar.


In an appearance on the Scars and Guitars podcast (listen below), Harris was asked about Blaze Bayley's tenure in Iron Maiden, and how things were handled. The Iron Maiden founder was asked if the band ever considered down-tuning to accommodate Bayley's voice.


Harris stated that the members never really thought about it and that they didn't notice any issues with his singing until they were on stage (transcribed by Ultimate Guitar):




"Not really, no. Maybe on some things in retrospect, we could have done, but no we didn't really think about it. It wasn't really till we got out and played live that we realized it was a couple of things. The weird thing is that he was really confident when we were rehearsing, and then a couple of times on a couple of songs, we got out live, and there was maybe an issue or two here and there. But in general, he just handled it really well."


Harris continued: "It is what it is, I suppose. In retrospect, you can do all kinds of things, but Blaze helped keep the band alive through that period, so we owe him a lot."





Steve Harris' British Lion recently announced new tour dates including first-ever tour stops in Australia and New Zealand starting in Perth on August 31 with dates in Adelaide, Melbourne, Brisbane, Sydney and a stop in Auckland, NZ on September 15.


The band will then return to Japan for the first time in six years with shows in Osaka and Tokyo before returning to the US for their long-awaited live debut on the West Coast with shows at San Diego’s Brick By Brick on October 3, the world-famous Whisky A Go Go in Los Angeles on October 7, and an appearance at Aftershock Festival in Sacramento on October 10. Tony Moore’s Awake will be the special guest on all dates with the exception of British Lion’s performance at Aftershock.


"We're really excited to be able to play our first ever shows in Australia and New Zealand” says Steve Harris. “We've been to the U.S. before, but this is our first time to the West Coast! And to top it off,” continues Harris, “we'll also be returning to Japan to complete what I'm sure will be a fantastic tour! We look forward to seeing you all on the road!"


Tickets can be purchased here.





Dates:


August
31 - Perth, AUS - Magnet House


September
3 - Adelaide, AUS - Lion Arts Factory
5 - Melbourne, AUS - Croxton Bandroom
9 - Brisbane, AUS - The Triffid
11 - Sydney, AUS - Manning
15 - Auckland, NZ - Paraoa Brewing Co
23 - Osaka, JAP - Big Cat
25 - Tokyo, JAP - O-East


October
3 - San Diego, CA - Brick By Brick
7 - Los Angeles, CA - Whisky A Go Go
10 - Sacramento, CA - Aftershock Festival







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During an appearance on the August 20 episode of SiriusXM's "Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk", TESTAMENT guitarist Alex Skolnick spoke about the progress of the recording sessions for the band's follow-up to 2020's "Titans Of Creation" album. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Well, I think everybody knows we went through a couple different drummers the past couple years, I know it's very 'Spinal Tap'… Life imitating art. There were scheduling conflicts with Gene Hoglan. Then we got Dave Lombardo, who was amazing, but when it came to going all in on a next record, Dave was overbooked. And we needed somebody [who could step in]. And we've got a new drummer. His name's Chris Dovas. He wasn't even born when the first TESTAMENT record came out. But I've gotta say he is lighting fires. He's lit a fire under everybody and just great to play with. He nails everybody's parts from before, but he has his own style. And I'm excited about the next record. It's actually gonna come out next year. The drum tracks are done. Just rhythm guitars, bass, leads and some vocals need to be done. But it is in progress. It'll be turned in before the end of the year, and it will be listenable next year."

This past June, TESTAMENT singer Chuck Billy told Nikki Blakk of the San Francisco, California radio station 107.7 The Bone that the band's next LP will likely contain 11 tracks along with "some covers". Regarding the timetable for the completion of the new TESTAMENT album, Chuck said: "We've took off from November last year to write the record. It took a while. We just got in the studio in May and June. So we're finishing up. And right now, once we leave [for tour] in July, we won't really have time until December, which is a good thing. We'll be busy, but we'll have like a week or two between tours to do any extra overdubs or anything. We're gonna live with the record, which is really the first time we get to do this, because usually we'll record it and it's written in stone where now we know… Usually we have Andy Sneap mix it and he's not available. So we kind of have some time to select somebody else. But in that time, we're gonna live with the songs and come between tours to make any adjustments or changes, if we have to… We go to Europe and we come home in August and we start the U.S. tour. So we have 10 days or 11 days there before we start. And then after that, we have about 10 days before we start a European tour with KREATOR and ANTHRAX, and that'll go through December 16th. And then we're home for the holidays. And then we'll start thinking about mixing and finishing, getting it out there next year."

On the topic of when TESTAMENT fans can expect to hear the first taste of the new material, Chuck said: "We hope to have a single maybe, just towards the end of the year. Give whoever we select [to mix the album] one song, 'Let's see how you do, see if we're happy,' before we do the whole record maybe. It's a pain in the butt, but it's still a little more convenient for us this time."

As for the musical direction of the new TESTAMENT material, Chuck said: "The record is very aggressive. With this one, we have a new drummer, Chris Dovas, who's really putting a fire under Eric [Peterson, TESTAMENT guitarist] and really, really got some really heavy, fast — I don't know if it's the word 'modern', maybe. I don't know, but… 'Current', how about that? Current-sounding. So, Chris is adding to that.

"I never know what the record is gonna be until we mix it," he explained. "'Cause they're all just individual songs, and I go, 'Okay, they're great.' But until we mix it and listen to it as an album, that's when we realize, 'Wow, this came out better than I thought. Wow, this is really good.' But this one, I'm excited going in before the mix, because I just know each song is one step up from the last record, as far as aggression, maybe."

On the topic of the songwriting process for the new TESTAMENT record, Chuck said: "Chris has been coming out since probably December, maybe a little before that, and going to Eric's house; he's got an electric drum set there. So they've been working, writing, putting all this stuff together. And at the beginning of May, once Eric started tracking, we decided that, let's bring Alex and everybody in' except for Steve [DiGiorgio, TESTAMENT bassist], 'cause he's on tour, let's bring Alex and everybody here to the studio and let's just go through all the music, all the songs and make sure we're all happy with the arrangements. And every song got changed as well. Once Alex got here, we all started putting our heads together till we were all happy with the arrangements. And then he left and we said, 'Okay, Chris, now here's the new stuff. Let's do it and track it.' And he knocked it out last month, and now it's the rest of us that [are tracking our parts]. So we've been a little more thoughtful on this record. We have the time to do it. So I think it's gonna be a killer record."

Speaking about Dovas's involvement in the songwriting process with Eric, Chuck said: "A lot of it is Eric's riffs, but they're put in the proper places or cut out if we don't need it. And it's good for me because I didn't really get to sit with Eric. I just let them guys jam and just come up with as much as you can and we'll sort it out later, which that's what they did. But once Chris came out, then we knew, okay, it has to change or we're gonna just have the same record, and maybe we wouldn't be happy when it was all done. And also Eric's actually been going to New York — he actually went to work with Alex out there, which he hasn't done that in the past. And I think having Chris be available because like Gene [Hoglan] or whoever we worked with didn't have the time to come up as much as Chris has. Chris has spent a lot of time here, which has been good and really pushing Eric to make music. And we're at a point now to where Eric's, like, 'You know what? This has been fun. I think I'm just going to keep bringing Chris out. Let's just keep writing songs. Even after this record's done, let's just keep making songs,' which I think is great because that means we can get a jump on the next record. 'Cause not spring chickens. It's, like, let's get it done now while we can."

As for the lyrical themes covered in the new TESTAMENT songs, Chuck said: "[It's] not as focused [on], like, the aliens, creating mankind and that kind of stuff, but there is some of that. There's a lot. Each song definitely has its own identity lyrically. And again, we're writing stuff that is real, that happens with the environment; we're singing about that again. A.I., we're singing stuff about that. That's a big thing. So, there's always an inspiration for songs. I think it's a little easier. There's so much going on in our world to write about now. It's a crazy world today, so there's a lot of stuff to talk about. And I like singing about what's real and what's going on instead of some fantasy lyrics, because, for me, I think when I sing 'em, I have more conviction, I believe in 'em a little more. And maybe it's easier for me to remember the lyrics live. [Laughs]"

Naming specific tracks, Chuck said: "There's a song, 'Havana Syndrome', which is about the Havana Syndrome. People, look that up. There's 'Infanticide A.I.', which is another song going A.I. direction. And there's actually a slower song. We haven't done a slower song. I'm not gonna say 'ballad', but I'm gonna say a slower song that has a lot of groove and soul, called 'Meant To Be'. And it's like a classic TESTAMENT-type ballad, I guess, if you wanna use that word. But we've got a little bit of everything, but, again, I think it's really sticking to TESTAMENT, having to have some melodic stuff, even though there's some really brutal lyrics and real brutal, more of a death voice. I still put the hook in with more of a melodic hook or something. It's still classic TESTAMENT. If you listen to it, you'll go, 'That's TESTAMENT, but a little more octane to it.'"

Also in June, Chuck told Canada's The Metal Voice that he writes most of TESTAMENT's lyrics with Del James. "Del, he works with GUNS N' ROSES," Chuck said. "He's been working with them and wrote with them a long time ago. I think he had big hits like 'November Rain' with them. And we've been working [together] for over 20 years. So I always go down and work with him because I come up with a lot of the ideas and concepts, but he really interprets and gets the right words, how to say what I'm thinking. And we work fast. When we get together, we'll knock out like two songs in a day. So we don't mess around. We get there, say hello to each other, we sit down and we go right to work. It's about what we do."

Chuck also talked about how TESTAMENT's songwriting approach has evolved in the last couple of decades. He said:  "I honestly have to say after I beat cancer [more than two decades ago] and we had the original lineup back together, everything kind of changed because… We've always been in a friendly competition with other artists, watching what's going on and who's doing what. And I think around that point, once we got together and I felt like… I didn't think I was gonna play music anymore, first of all, and once I had the chance to get back with the original band, I felt very blessed, like, 'Wow, I'm getting an opportunity to do what I love to do again, but also with the guys I started with. It's kind of odd that we're gonna go back at this now, maybe try to finish something that we all started together.' And once we did that, it was enjoying our company. We never fight. We never argue. It was just, like, relaxing. And the critics, we didn't care what the press thought or a lot of people. I mean, we wrote for ourselves. So a lot of those records were just making us happy. The songs we were writing, we weren't thinking about, 'Okay, this has to be, for this,' and 'where's our radio song?' and 'What's the fans gonna think if we went and did a ballad?' All that went out the door. And I think over the time, it's really just about making good music, having fun at this point. And every record is a challenge 'cause you always wanna do better and make the next record sound better, have better songs. And I think where we're at today, once again, especially having Chris, the new drummer, we are progressing. Me and Eric actually said, like, I don't know, about three weeks ago, we were hanging out and like I said, the music's pretty aggressive and we're doing some heavy stuff, and he said, 'Did you ever think, in our sixties, we're gonna be playing thrash metal music, writing songs like this?' And I'm, like, 'Actually, no,' but that's a good thing that we still feel young at heart and young in our minds and still we're not struggling to do it."

In August 2023, Dovas was asked by Pod Scum if it was "unnerving" to step into a group whose list of previous drummers includes such heavyweights as Lombardo and Gene Hoglan. He responded: "It was, especially at first because I knew that a lot of eyes were on me, and also I looked up to the band since I was a kid. Especially Lombardo and Gene — those are two of my favorite drummers right there. So to be put in that situation of taking over for them, I felt like I had a lot of responsibility and a lot of… I felt like I had something to prove a little bit, and I'm still practicing a lot and I just wanna do the best that I can do. Right now I'm not really nervous anymore because I've done two full tours with them now and we're working on the [new TESTAMENT] album and the friendship has been developing now and we all get along super well. They've welcomed me with open arms and it's been great and the fans have been great. I've been putting hours and hours of practice into it to make sure that I can do the best that I could do. And I look up to Dave and I look up to Gene as well, so, yeah, I just wanna play the songs well live and keep making the band sound good."

Asked what his role has been so far in the creative process for TESTAMENT's next album, Chris said: "I don't know exactly what I'm allowed and what I'm not allowed to share yet, but what you've seen publicly, though, right now is that Eric and I have been working on a lot of stuff together. And so it's been really cool to get into their brains, in a way, and how they write stuff. I'm used to people sending me tracks with scratch MIDI drums or programmed drums or something, and I've gotta put my drums to them and then hop on a Zoom call and we can edit things and move stuff around. But with them, Eric and I, he set a timer at one point for, like, 20 minutes and we would just jam random ideas. And then sometimes we'd make mistakes and stuff and that would be cool, and we could take that… It's very organic, though, and it's very involved, I guess. It's a different way of writing and I'm super excited to be a part of that method of writing. And I could see why they're so successful for all these years, now finally being a part of this current writing cycle, I guess."

Prior to joining TESTAMENT as a full-time member, Dovas filled in for Lombardo on the first six dates of TESTAMENT's summer/fall 2022 leg of "The Bay Strikes Back Tour".

The official music video for "Turn The Tide", the new single from long-running heavy metal titans SATAN, can be seen below. The track is taken from the band's upcoming album, "Songs In Crimson", which is due on September 13 via Metal Blade Records.

SATAN's history is storied, their albums and incendiary live shows iconic. The Newcastle, England-bred lineup may quip that their career has been "forty-four years of prolonged mayhem with a twenty-year lunch break" — forming in 1980, eventually pausing before reuniting in 2011 — but circa 2024 finds the band thriving, writing, recording, and touring at the top of their game.

Proof positive is their seventh studio album and third for Metal Blade, "Songs In Crimson". If 2022's "Earth Infernal" album was brutal, up-tempo and with loud guitars, guitarist Russ Tippins calls "Songs In Crimson" "concise. It's more to-the-point and gets there quicker. One of the reasons behind the album title is that this record is very 'song' focused. There's more punch this time around. Each chorus speaks for itself." With influences from KING CRIMSON to MERCYFUL FATE, SATAN's own stylings remain unique, the band's NWOBHM origins a springboard for musical and lyrical creativity, commentary, and nonconformity.

While "Songs In Crimson" features lyrics including "a once-great nation is going down" and "this is the end of an era," SATAN offers no quick fix. "There is always hope; solutions are not for us musicians to proclaim," Tippins believes. "Each song has its own different theme. While there is no title track as such, the song 'Deadly Crimson', which is an anti-capitalism narrative, is as close as it gets to that. As a concept, making money from money is fatally flawed in that it depends on constant growth," Tippins says. "But constant growth is obviously impossible; a conveyor belt of sacrificial lambs."

Tippins continues, "'Turn The Tide' is the classic 'King Canute' scenario — the deluded head of state who believes himself to be divine and sets out to prove it by standing in front of the sea and ordering the waves to retreat. They don't of course. We are kind of using that as an allegory to illustrate the ridiculous standpoint of certain Jingoistic Brits who believe that foreigners have no place in our country. It's the shortest song on the album. And also the fastest!"

"Songs In Crimson" was produced by the band and Dave Curle of First Avenue Studios who also engineered, mixed, and mastered the record.

"Songs In Crimson" will be released on jewel case CD (USA),digipak CD (EU),and digital formats as well as spined sleeve vinyl with insert, poster and download card.

"Songs In Crimson" track listing:

01. Frantic Zero
02. Era (The Day Will Come)
03. Whore Of Babylon
04. Sacramental Rites
05. Martyrdom
06. Turn The Tide
07. Captives
08. Curse In Disguise
09. Truth Bullet
10. Deadly Crimson

SATAN 2024 is:

Brian Ross - vocals
Russ Tippins - guitars
Steve Ramsey - guitars
Graeme English - bass
Sean Taylor - drums

Originating from Newcastle, England in 1980, SATAN is known as part of the New Wave Of British Heavy Metal movement. Though generally obscure throughout their career, the band is considered influential for playing a form of proto-thrash metal that was fairly advanced by the standards of the early 1980s, influencing major acts like METALLICA, EXODUS and DEATH ANGEL.

The original "Court In The Act" lineup of SATAN got together for an exclusive "one-off" reunion show at Germany's Keep It True festival in 2011 in what marked their first performance together in 28 years. The band was somewhat overwhelmed with the response — 10 minutes into headliners CRIMSON GLORY's set, the crowd could still be heard chanting, "SATAN! SATAN!" The SATAN bandmembers immediately booked more shows in Germany, Holland, Belgium and London, and have since released four studio albums: "Life Sentence" (2013),"Atom By Atom" (2015),"Cruel Magic" (2018) and "Earth Infernal" (2022).

Photo by Stefan Rosic

Paramount+ today released the official trailer for the new docuseries "Nöthin' But A Good Time: The Uncensored Story Of '80s Hair Metal", and announced the series will premiere September 17 exclusively on the service in the U.S. and Canada and September 18 in additional international Paramount+ markets. Directed by Jeff Tremaine ("Jackass", "The Dirt"),the three-part series showcases the notoriously wild '80s hard rock phenomenon and features interviews with those who lived it, including Bret Michaels (POISON),Stephen Pearcy (RATT),Nuno Bettencourt (EXTREME),Dave "Snake" Sabo (SKID ROW) and Riki Rachtman (MTV's "Headbangers Ball"),along with Corey Taylor (SLIPKNOT) and Steve-O, among many others.

"I'm honored to be part of this docuseries, named after the hit POISON song 'Nothin' But A Good Time'," said Michaels. "I'm excited for viewers to take a fresh look at the fans and bands, highs and lows, and to celebrate the music and good times of the '80s and beyond. I hope the audience enjoys it as much as I did, and I can't wait for them to have insight into some of those notoriously crazy moments!"

Based on the acclaimed book "Nöthin But A Good Time: The Uncensored History Of The '80s Hard Rock Explosion" by esteemed rock journalists Tom Beaujour and Richard Bienstock, the series delivers a fresh and shockingly candid behind-the-scenes look at one of music's most iconic eras. Each episode showcases the insanity and blazing ambition that has enthralled generations of music lovers and continues to influence culture to this day.

"This docuseries is a celebration of the most outrageous decade in rock 'n' roll. It's my love letter to the '80s," said Tremaine.

"Nöthin' But A Good Time: The Uncensored Story Of '80s Hair Metal" is executive produced by Jeff Tremaine and Shanna Newton for Gorilla Flicks; Eric Wattenberg, Scott Lonker and Will Nothacker for Wheelhouse's Spoke Studios; Erik Olsen; and Bruce Gillmer and Michael Maniaci for MTV Entertainment Studios. Richard Bienstock and Tom Beaujour serve as co-executive producers.

When the "Nöthin But A Good Time: The Uncensored History Of The '80s Hard Rock Explosion" book was released, Pearcy said in a statement: "If you want to relive the explosive decade, this is as close as you're gonna get. All right here, right now."

Michaels added: "From the streets to the Strip, the studio to the stage, this is an epic tale told by the people that lived it. It's a backstage pass to the wildest and loudest party in rock history ― you'll feel like you were right there with us!"

Paramount+, part of Paramount's global portfolio of multimedia entertainment and news brands, is a direct-to-consumer digital subscription video on-demand and live streaming service, combining live sports, breaking news and A Mountain Of Entertainment. The streaming service features an expansive library of original series, hit shows and popular movies across every genre from world-renowned brands and production studios, including BET, CBS, Comedy Central, MTV, Nickelodeon, Paramount Pictures and the Smithsonian Channel. Paramount+ with Showtime, the service's cornerstone plan, is also home to Showtime content, including scripted hits and critically acclaimed nonfiction projects and films. This premium plan includes unmatched events and sports programming through the local live CBS stream, including golf, basketball and more. All Paramount+ subscribers have streaming access to CBS News Network for 24/7 news and CBS Sports HQ for sports news and analysis.

For more information about Paramount+, please visit www.paramountplus.com, and follow @ParamountPlus on social media.

In a new interview with Marko Syrjala of Metal-Rules.com, DEATH ANGEL singer Mark Osegueda was asked about the feedback from fans to him joining Kerry King's solo band, especially the diehard SLAYER fans. He responded: "The feedback since we've been touring has been absolutely incredible. A lot of people who have the record actually prefer the live performance, and it's made them appreciate the record even more. Of course, many have seen us live and noticed our progression because we're a relatively new band. How we work together and play off each other on stage has improved leaps and bounds over the last few weeks. So, when we're up there, we're like a machine, and we're killing it. The fan reaction has been absolutely incredible.

"I've talked to many of the diehard SLAYER fans, and they've said, 'We didn't know what to expect, but you're doing those SLAYER songs justice,'" he continued. "That's the main goal for me — obviously, to pull off what we did on the record live. But I know there are always going to be naysayers when it comes to SLAYER's material. When we perform live, you can see some of their faces gradually change by the end, and they're, like, 'Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.' To me, that's a huge compliment."

Asked if it is technically challenging for him to sing the old SLAYER material, Mark said: "I love to do it. I love singing Tom's [Araya, SLAYER bassist/vocalist] stuff. I say that because I'm a SLAYER fan, plain and simple. I think Tom has an iconic voice, one that I've always liked and respected. When I perform those songs, I try to do him justice. I'm very confident that I can do him justice. The most difficult part tends to be the phrasing, especially when he does the fast bits. There's some rapid-fire delivery in those songs, and that's probably the most challenging aspect. But range-wise, I think we're pretty similar, though maybe some of my highs reflect younger Tom. I love doing it, for sure. As I said, I just try to do my best for the SLAYER legacy and the fans who love SLAYER."

The setlist for the King's solo shows usually includes two or three SLAYER tracks as well as several of the 13 songs that appear on King's debut solo album, "From Hell I Rise", which came out on May 17 via Reigning Phoenix Music.

In a recent interview with Metal Hammer magazine, King stated about the setlist for his solo band's shows: "[We're doing] like nine or 10 tracks from the ['From Hell I Rise'] album and, depending on set length, fill[ing] it with stuff I've done — something I wrote in SLAYER or co-wrote. So nobody can say 'he's playing Jeff [Hanneman, late SLAYER guitarist] songs,' because although I love Jeff songs and he was such a big part of my life, I don't want to rely on it this year, this album cycle. At some point, I will play 'Angel Of Death', but there's so many fucking faceless haters on the Internet, I don't want to give them ammunition."

All material for "From Hell I Rise" was written by the 60-year-old SLAYER guitarist, who was accompanied during the recording sessions by the rest of his solo band, consisting of Osegueda, drummer Paul Bostaph (SLAYER),bassist Kyle Sanders (HELLYEAH) and guitarist Phil Demmel (formerly of MACHINE HEAD). Helming the sessions at Henson Recording Studios in Los Angeles last year was producer Josh Wilbur, who has previously worked with KORN, LAMB OF GOD, AVENGED SEVENFOLD and BAD RELIGION, among others.

In an interview with Glide Magazine, King said that he liked the "similarity between Tom and Mark," but he clarified that "that's not why I picked Mark. I just picked Mark because, you know, number one, he's my friend. Number two, lots of people call him the best singer in thrash metal. And, you know, he's definitely in there. But he came in, he was hungry, and wanted to do it. And I knew his performance would add to the product."

Regarding the setlist for King's solo concerts, Kerry said: "Well, it depends on the set. Like this [summer 2024 tour] with LAMB OF GOD and MASTODON, we're playing nine total songs. In that set, we played two SLAYER songs. We've done as many as seven, I believe, when we were headlining some places in Europe. But first and foremost, either songs I wrote or co-wrote. And I had to think of, historically, what people are into. The first one is 'Raining Blood' because everybody wants to hear that. The second one on my list was 'Disciple', because the chorus is so — the fans want to chant that. It's really cool to be on stage and see thousands of people screaming, 'God hates us all.' I love it! I did 'Hate Worldwide' because I like that song a lot. That's a guilty pleasure. I did 'Repentless' because it's the title track of the last album we put out. We were doing 'Chemical Warfare', we were doing 'At Dawn They Sleep'. They're classics. And I think the other one we did was 'Black Magic'. When we go into that after 'Raining Blood', people, once they figure out what it is, they're blown away that we're playing that song. Which I love. I love to be able to surprise people."

PANTERA bassist Rex Brown has denied that the band's club show in Minneapolis, Minnesota was recorded for a future live album.

Prior to PANTERA taking the stage on August 15 at First Avenue, comedian Craig Gass performed a stand-up set during which he told the crowd: "Announcement number one. The band you are seeing tonight is not called COWBOYS FROM HELL," a reference to the fact that First Avenue announced the PANTERA gig by tweeting out PANTERA's CFH — Cowboys From Hell — logo on Tuesday, placed over the band's star on the wall outside the venue. "You are about to watch an exclusive show from the band PANTERA. The rumors got out quickly, [and] you guys bought up all the tickets. And you may have heard this rumor. And this is also true. We are recording our first-ever live album right here at the First Avenue. So, there's a couple things you need to know about it. First of all, you will all, for eternity, be heard on a live PANTERA album. That's the good news. The bad news, you're not gonna get paid for this. Welcome to the music business."

Brown has since taken to social media to confirm that Gass's announcement of a PANTERA live album was in fact just a ruse that was part of his stand-up routine. The bassist shared a few photos from the Minneapolis show and he wrote in an accompanying caption: "Photos from @firstavenue ! What a great night! And no, we didn't record a live album that night. That was a joke that @craiggasscomedy made!"

Had the PANTERA live album materialized, it would have marked PANTERA's first release with the band's reformed lineup, featuring classic-lineup members Philip Anselmo (vocals) and Rex Brown (bass),along with Zakk Wylde (guitar) and Charlie Benante (drums)

During the First Avenue concert METALLICA's Robert Trujillo and Kirk Hammett joined PANTERA on stage for a performance of the song "Walk". The club show took place the night before the reformed band opened for METALLICA at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis.

According to Setlist.fm, PANTERA's setlist for the concert was as follows:

01. A New Level
02. Mouth For War
03. Strength Beyond Strength
04. Becoming
05. I'm Broken
06. Suicide Note Pt. II
07. This Love
08. Fucking Hostile
09. Walk (with Robert Trujillo and Kirk Hammett on backing vocals)
10. Domination / Hollow
11. Cowboys From Hell

Encore:

12. Yesterday Don't Mean Shit

The classic PANTERA lineup played First Avenue several times, including twice in 1990 around the time the band's major-label debut, "Cowboys From Hell", was released, one with EXODUS and SUICIDAL TENDENCIES in the Mainroom and a headlining show in the smaller 7th Street Entry.

In July 1997, PANTERA released a live album called "Official Live: 101 Proof", recorded throughout the "Tourkill" trek the band embarked on in support of 1996's "The Great Southern Trendkill" album.

In a recent interview with Brazilian music journalist Igor Miranda, Wylde was asked about Benante's recent comment that there has been talk of the current lineup of PANTERA releasing a live album. Zakk said: "Yeah, whatever the fellas wanna do, we knock it out. Let's be real — it's a live album every night. People with their phones and everything are recording it anyway, so it doesn't [matter] to me. You go up there and you play to win every night."

As for the possibility of new songs from the current PANTERA lineup, Zakk said: "No, we haven't sat and talked about, like, 'Oh, guys, let's get together and write songs,' or whatnot; there hasn't been anything like that. I mean, the only discussions we'll have is just what other new songs we wanna put in the setlist. Like when we put 'Floods' in and then we got together at rehearsals, got together over at Phil's house, we just rehearsed everything. But no, nothing like… We haven't been sitting around writing riffs and things like that."

Miranda also asked Wylde about whether he views the current PANTERA lineup as a tribute or something else. Zakk responded: "Yeah, that's what I feel it is. It's not even a tribute. It's more just a PANTERA celebration. Like whenever we go out and do the 'Experience Hendrix' [tours], which I always have a blast when I do that, it's all of us going out and celebrating Jimi's greatness. To me, this is [a] PANTERA celebration. We're celebrating all the mountains that PANTERA conquered. So that's what this is."

Wylde also addressed the fact that he doesn't exactly reproduce the parts originally written and recorded by late PANTERA guitarist "Dimebag" Darrell Abbott. He said: "Oh, yeah, even if Dime was up there playing the solo to 'No More Tears' or 'Mama I'm Coming Home', it's gonna sound like Dime playing the solo to 'No More Tears'. 'Cause he has his touch and his feels. Like when Randy Rhoads was playing BLACK SABBATH songs, it sounds like Randy Rhoads playing BLACK SABBATH songs. You listen to the 'Tribute' album [from Ozzy Osbourne], when Saint Rhoads was playing 'Iron Man' and he was playing 'Paranoid' and 'Children Of The Grave', it sounds like Randy playing BLACK SABBATH songs. It's Randy's guitar tone and Randy's touch and Randy's playing. But that's what makes it cool. Yeah, to me, it's just common sense. Dime just sounds like Dime no matter what he's playing."

The reformed PANTERA is headlining a number of major festivals across North America, South America and Europe and staging some of its own headline concerts. They are also supporting METALLICA on a massive stadium tour in 2024.

It was first reported in July 2022 that Anselmo and Brown would unite with Wylde and Benante for a world tour under the PANTERA banner.

Up until his passing in June 2018, Vinnie remained on non-speaking terms with Anselmo, whom the drummer indirectly blamed for Dimebag's death.

Vinnie Paul and Dimebag co-founded PANTERA. On December 8, 2004, while performing with DAMAGEPLAN at the Alrosa Villa in Columbus, Ohio, Dimebag was shot and killed onstage by a troubled schizophrenic who believed that the members of PANTERA were stealing his thoughts.

Vinnie, who was Dimebag's brother, and Anselmo had not spoken since PANTERA split in 2003. But the relationship got even more acrimonious when Vinnie suggested that some remarks the vocalist had made about Dimebag in print just weeks earlier might have incited Dimebag's killer.

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On August 17, German thrash legends, Sodom, performed at Summer Breeze 2024 in Dinkelsbühl, Germany. ARTE Concert has uploaded professionally-filmed video of the band's full set, which can be viewed below.


Sodom's setlist (as per Setlist.fm):


"Procession To Golgatha"
"S.O.D.O.M."
"Jabba The Hut"
"The Crippler"
"City Of God"
"The Saw Is The Law"
"Outbreak Of Evil"
"Agent Orange"
"Wachturm"
"Get What You Deserve"
"Remember The Fallen"
"Ausgebombt"
"Bombenhagel"












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SEVEN HOURS AFTER VIOLET, the new band led by SYSTEM OF A DOWN bassist Shavo Odadjian, will release its self-titled debut album on October 11 via the Sumerian Records imprint 1336 Records. Shavo is joined in the group by vocalist Taylor Barber (LEFT TO SUFFER),WINDS OF PLAGUE guitarist Michael Montoya (a.k.a. Morgoth Beatz, a producer and songwriter who has previously collaborated with Travis Barker, JuiceWrld, Lil Xan, Jonathan Davis, ISSUES and many more),guitarist/backing vocalist Alejandro Aranda (a.k.a. Scarypoolparty, "American Idol") and drummer Josh Johnson (WINDS OF PLAGUE).

The announcement of SEVEN HOURS AFTER VIOLET's debut album comes alongside the release of the band's ethereal second single, "Radiance", which is available now on all major streaming platforms, accompanied by a visually stunning music video. It is the follow-up to SEVEN HOURS AFTER VIOLET's debut single, "Paradise", which arrived in June.

Shavo comments: "This album is the culmination of years of creative exploration. With SEVEN HOURS AFTER VIOLET I wanted to return to my roots in heavy music but also bring something entirely new to the table. 'Radiance' and its precursor, 'Paradise', are but a small glimpse of the intensity, musical diversity and emotion that run through this album. We can't wait for everyone to hear it in full and to bring these songs to life on stage at our first live performance at Mayhem Fest."

"Seven Hours After Violet" track listing

01. Paradise
02. Alive
03. Sunrise
04. Go!
05. Float
06. Glink
07. Cry...
08. Abandon
09. Radiance
10. Gloom
11. Feel

Shavo recently told RIFF Magazine about how SEVEN HOURS AFTER VIOLET came about: "It was funny. My number's 22, so that's why I have the [cannabis] brand 22Red. So on February 22nd, 2022, we threw a party and the day of the party, I did a live radio show on KROQ here in Los Angeles. And that evening, we were throwing the party for 22Red, but I did that show before and I invited the host to the party. He asked me if he could bring a friend. I said, 'Sure.' He brought his friend. It was Morgoth Beatz who ended up being the producer and now my rhythm guitar player in the band and co-songwriter in some of them songs and stuff. So he and I decided we can write music that day together. So we exchanged numbers and we got together like a month later, wrote a song, and then we did another one a week later. And then it just became this thing where it was gonna be like one song we were going to sell to another artist, 'cause that's what he does; he writes a lot of music and he passes it on. But it became this thing. And he mentioned, he's, like, 'Man, why don't you do a Shavo record? Like something with all of the songs that you wrote instead of just one or two songs. These are coming out great.' And at that point, I wasn't really thinking about doing my own record like that, 'cause I've done so many other projects. And another thing is I've never done heavy music outside of SYSTEM. It's been heavy, but never the same genre. I've always tried to stay against the grain, and I've done EDM, I've done hip-hop, I've done rock-metal shit, but I haven't really just focused on that, which actually is my forte. I close my eyes and it just happens, which is how we did this."

Shavo continued: "So I was at his studio. I have my own studio. I gave him the key. I said, 'Come through. We're gonna start working on this record.' And a year and a half later, we have a full record, plus another half a record for album two. We have a full band. I started my own label and I signed it to Sumerian, who has worldwide distribution to Virgin, which is amazing for me. That's what I kind of wanted with the control. I've been doing this for 30 years, so I kind of knew how I wanted it, and I'm building it. And that's how it started. And that's where we're at right now. It started off as a passion project [and it] became my thing."

Regarding how the songwriting process for SYSTEM OF A DOWN was different from how he approached his previously projects, Shavo said: "Yeah, usually I'll write at home and then I'll bring it to the band. Or my other projects, I've just written at home and then brought it to the rest of the guys. This one, I would just have him play a beat that he made, or even just a 4/4, or even a loop or something, and then I just kind of… I mean, I just started strumming and the music just came out of me. So we just recorded everything I did. And whenever something was amazing, we knew it. I was, like, 'Okay, make that a thing.' So we highlighted that moment. And then afterwards I wrote a part that goes with that, and then kind of arranged it, wrote it all in the studio. So artistically it was really refreshing. There was no boundaries, no law, no rules. I just did it. It just came out so organically. Everything about it has been organic and not planned. And that's what the beauty of SEVEN HOURS AFTER VIOLET."

On the topic of how he came up with the name of the SEVEN HOURS AFTER VIOLET, Shavo said: "He [Morgoth Beatz] wanted to call it SHAV or SHAVO, so people know it's me, and I wrote 95 percent of it. But still, I always like a unit, I like a band. I think it's cooler. And plus he helped me a lot. These guys, they came in and did their part, and it just works perfectly. So I like the collaboration. I've never had the ego, where it's, like, 'me, me, me.' I've never done that. I've never said that. So I like it. It's us. And it became a band. And SEVEN HOURS AFTER VIOLET, the acronym, is S.H.A.V. So that's cool. So they got what they wanted and I got what I wanted. I got a band, the cool name mysterious, but it also has a meaning, but I'm never gonna explain the meaning. It's kind of one of those things. There's many meanings you can think of what 'Violet' is — it could be a female, it could be a thing, the color, an event, it could be anything, and it's kind of cool. So there is some deep meaning to it and maybe one day we'll explain it, but at the moment, I like it where we are."

Shavo also talked about the first single from SEVEN HOURS AFTER VIOLET, "Paradise", which was made available in June. The release marked the launch of Shavo's new joint label venture 1336 Records in partnership with Sumerian Music Group.

"That's one of the heaviest songs on the record," Odadjian said. "I have a few really heavy ones. But I wanted to release something brutal first, 'cause… I don't know… I just kind of like the heaviness of it, and I think the world needs to hear really heavy music from me right now. They've heard a lot, so I kind of wanted to drop that first. I feel like after that we can move into the other stuff, because it does have the melodic, it has the grooves, it has the heavy, heavy stuff."

Regarding the other members of SEVEN HOURS AFTER VIOLET, Shavo said: "My singer, Taylor Barber, he comes from the world of deathcore and the growling. His voice is an instrument, and he's a wonder. He's like the new wonder of the world that no one knows yet that's there. He does have a following and he comes from another band called LEFT TO SUFFER, which is a grindcore band. But he sings like a canary as well. His range is so huge. He's the perfect member. He's the perfect singer that came in and can do all the parts. And then also we got Alejandro Aranda, who, he is just this musical genius who came in. He was the last member, and I didn't even know I needed that member, but, now it's, like, of course I needed him. Of course he fit perfectly. He does side vocals. He sings along with Taylor perfectly. So it's like a two-vocal band now, two-vocalist band. And we got Josh Johnson on the drums, and he's amazing. He hails from a band called WINDS OF PLAGUE; he used to play with them. So he's talented as hell. So, yeah, I'm honored and lucky to have these guys around me and for us to be able to do this music together."

SEVEN HOURS AFTER VIOLET will make its live debut at this year's Mayhem festival, set to take place on October 12 at the Glen Helen Amphitheatre in San Bernardino. "And we are gonna do some shows around it, and then we do have some outside-of-the-U.S. stuff already planned," Shavo explained. "So, yeah, this will be a touring band. 'Cause that's kind of the purpose why I put the band together the way I did. The original idea was to make the music and then have like a DJ Khaled kind of album, but rock and metal, where I have features, guest vocalists coming on; each song has somebody else. But when the songs started developing, I was, like, 'This should be a tour. This should be a touring road band as well.' But you could never do that with guest vocals, so we needed someone to be the singer. So that's why we went ahead and searched for the singer. And that's how we got Taylor. So, yeah, we got the Mayhem coming up. That one's announced, but we are booking a little U.S. thing around it. 'Cause you don't wanna just do one show, but that would be the big one. We're on the main stage. I can't wait. And then we've got some outside-of-the-U.S. ideas too. So yes, more coming."

The music video for "Paradise" is a collaborative effort with creative direction being overseen by Shavo and Adam Mason, who also shot the video. Editing was handled by Arben and Kuj Durollari of BOND, who are also working with the band to design their creative assets.

When the universe aligns, magic happens. This was certainly the case when Odadjian, the legendary bass player of SYSTEM OF A DOWN, crossed paths with platinum-selling producer, songwriter and guitarist Morgoth at a party on 2.22.22. Their initial sessions were a spontaneous combustion of creativity, transforming from a potential solo venture into a full-fledged band. Shavo recalls: "We wrote a song right away. It wasn't like any writing session I had been part of before; riffs were just flowing out of me without me even having to try. Every time I felt like I couldn't write anything. Morgoth would hand me a guitar and say, 'Go, go, go'. I needed that, you know? I needed someone to push me when I wasn't pushing myself. "

As music continued to pour out in torrents, with Shavo writing and performing all the guitar and bass parts and Morgoth producing and providing the beats, atmospherics and FX, Morgoth suggested they turn it into a Shavo solo project. However, with his eye now firmly set on the live arena, Shavo decided to create a full band.

Finding the right vocal talent to complement the musical landscape created by Shavo and Morgoth was crucial. Morgoth's recommendation of Taylor Barber from LEFT TO SUFFER was a game changer. Shavo was blown away. "He was singing in falsetto one minute and growling the next — it was ridiculous," the bassist states. "He became the singer because he knocked every song out of the park."

With Shavo on bass and Morgoth on guitar, the band also brought in Morgoth's WINDS OF PLAGUE bandmate Josh Johnson on drums and Alejandro Aranda, known for his solo project SCARYPOOLPARTY and as runner-up on "American Idol", as lead guitarist and backing vocalist.

Once the new music was complete, mixed by Zach Jones and mastered by Maor Applebaum, Shavo partnered with Avildsen to create 1336 Records, with SEVEN HOURS AFTER VIOLET being the first signing.

SEVEN HOURS AFTER VIOLET is:

Taylor Barber - Vocals
Morgoth - Guitar, Production
Shavo Odadjian - Bass
Alejandro Aranda - Guitar/Backing Vocals
Josh Johnson - Drums

In April 2023, Odadjian spoke to the 96.7 KCAL-FM program "Wired In The Empire" about his solo LP, saying: "I started this solo project with Morgoth Beatz; he's my producer and he's also the guitar player for the group. And it's heavy. I'm back to my roots — no hip-hop. I think it's the heaviest I've ever been, and it's just flowing out of me.

"We have a track with — I'm gonna say it — Jonathan Davis [of KORN]," Shavo revealed. "I'm working on that one right now. We have the choruses and the first verse, and I'm gonna do a little breakdown, and I think we've got one. That's 12 — number 12. So we're 12 songs into the solo record. I'm very excited about that."

Photo credit: Max McGuire

In a new interview with Paul Salfen of AMFM Magazine, MEGADETH bassist James Lomenzo spoke about the band's current lineup, which also includes guitarist/vocalist Dave Mustaine, guitarist Teemu Mäntysaari and drummer Dirk Verbeuren. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Dude, we're psyched. It's kind of weird because theoretically I'm part of the new blood, but that's what MEGADETH is. We revolve around Dave Mustaine, the godfather of thrash, and we're here to bring the best version of MEGADETH that we can. We have Teemu Mäntysaari right now playing guitar and he's just a phenom. And Dirk's on the drums, and he's an animal is an understatement. He's an amazing technician and a beautiful musician and a great person. And, of course, you've got Dave there, and, man, he is the anchor that makes this boat roll into port every night."

Regarding how MEGADETH found Teemu, James said: "Actually, when Kiko [Loureiro, former MEGADETH guitarist] had to leave, he had suggested Teemu as his replacement. And at the time, we didn't know that Kiko was going to go permanently, but at that time, as a replacement, he seemed like the guy who could do the job. And he proves it every night. But he was a quick study. He's really very adept at learning all this music and playing it impeccably."

On the topic of the setlist for MEGADETH's "Destroy All Enemies" summer 2024 U.S. tour, which launched on August 2 at Walmart AMP in Rogers, Arkansas, James said: "Yeah, we try to hit as many of the hits that people expect to hear, and lately we've been reaching back into the catalog and trying to pull out some of those less-played songs that the real fans wanna hear. And surprisingly, as the years go on, people catch up with all those album tracks. So we've been picking up a lot of deeper tracks, and we're always excited to do it. Now the Internet is wide open — it's no secret we started playing 'Liar' just the other day. I think it's, like, 20 years before we were playing that one."

Produced by Live Nation, "Destroy All Enemies", which features MUDVAYNE and ALL THAT REMAINS as support, is hitting 33 cities, including Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Boston and St. Louis, before wrapping up on September 28 in Nashville, Tennessee.

Mäntysaari joined MEGADETH last September after the band's longtime axeman Loureiro, announced earlier that month that he would sit out the next leg of MEGADETH's "Crush The World" tour in order to stay home with his children back in Finland. It was later revealed that Mäntysaari would continue to play guitar for MEGADETH for the foreseeable future, with Loureiro seemingly having no plans to return.

The 37-year-old Mäntysaari was born in Tampere, Finland and began playing guitar at the age of 12. In 2004, he joined the band WINTERSUN. He has also been a member of SMACKBOUND since 2015.

MEGADETH played its first concert with Mäntysaari on September 6, 2023 at Revel in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Loureiro officially joined MEGADETH in April 2015, about five months after Chris Broderick's exit from the group.

Since its inception in 1983, MEGADETH has ascended from its raw thrash metal roots to become an unstoppable force in the heavy metal world. With founder Dave Mustaine at the helm, MEGADETH's journey has been marked by a penchant for pushing the boundaries of speed, technicality, and complexity in their music. Their groundbreaking album "Rust In Peace", released in 1990, is frequently cited as a seminal work in the thrash metal genre. Along with the critically acclaimed "Peace Sells... But Who's Buying?", it cemented MEGADETH's place in the annals of metal history.

Over four decades, the band's discography has earned numerous certifications, including platinum and multi-platinum awards, with albums like "Countdown To Extinction" and "Youthanasia" achieving widespread critical acclaim. 2016's "Dystopia" not only marked a high point with their first Grammy Award for "Best Metal Performance" after twelve nominations but also set the stage for their latest triumph, "The Sick, The Dying... And The Dead!" in 2022. MEGADETH's status as part of the "Big Four" of thrash metal underscores their trailblazing role in the genre, laying the groundwork for countless bands and musicians who have followed in their wake.

HELMET has canceled its previously announced U.S. tour with LOCAL H. According to a statement from HELMET posted on the Facebook page of Wally's in Hampton, New Hampshire, where the two bands were scheduled to perform on September 19, "the cancelation is caused by a mix of significant financial concerns and lower-than-expected ticket sales which is a common problem for many artists this year. We look forward to getting back out on the road in 2025," HELMET wrote. "In the meantime, our European tour this November goes ahead as planned."

HELMET frontman Page Hamilton commented: "As much as we'd love to be getting back out on the road and playing, this one was not lining up well for us. We're excited about our upcoming November/December European tour which is looking great and we will reconvene in 2025 for more U.S. dates."

HELMET's fall 2024 European tour will celebrate the 30th anniversary of the "Betty" album. The setlist will feature the "Betty" album together with favorites from the band's catalog. North American plans for a 2025 "Betty" anniversary tour are under consideration but nothing is scheduled yet.

HELMET's latest album, "Left", was released last November via earMUSIC.

After the critically acclaimed "Dead To The World" in 2016, HELMET is back with their signature blend of heavy, riff-loaded rock and evocative lyrics that have resonated with fans worldwide for over three decades. "Time for your holiday serial murder / How time slips away", resonate the opening lines of "Holiday". HELMET take no prisoners in their direct and unfiltered expression, leaving listeners with a lasting impact and a sense of urgency to examine the world around them.

"Left" sees HELMET — comprising frontman Page Hamilton, drummer Kyle Stevenson, guitarist Dan Beeman and bassist Dave Case — carve out a musical landscape that is taut, muscular, and direct. Hamilton's lead guitar lines feel like everything from downed power lines arcing to exploding resistors in shortwave radios. On "Left", every snare crack hits like gunfire, every solo seemingly a manifestation of rabies-induced psychosis.

Guided by Hamilton alongside co-producers Jim Kaufman and Mark Renk, and mastered by Howie Weinberg, the 11 songs on the new album are leaner and meaner in their execution than previous aural throwdowns. "Left" is powered by unbridled determination, a renewed sense of purpose and a desire to create more new dialects within the musical language Hamilton invented via his use of drop-D tuning.

HELMET's first official live album, "Live And Rare", was released in November 2021 via earMUSIC. It was made available on heavyweight black vinyl as well as a CD digipak edition and digital.

Although HELMET disbanded in 1997, Hamilton revived the band in 2004, and the group has continued to tour and record.

"Dead To The World" was released in October 2016 via earMUSIC. The effort was produced by Hamilton and mixed by Jay Baumgardner.

In 2021, HELMET released a cover of GANG OF FOUR's 1981 song "Into The Ditch". The track was recorded for a tribute album to GANG OF FOUR's guitarist Andy Gill, "The Problem Of Leisure: A Celebration Of Andy Gill And Gang Of Four".

Having cut his teeth playing with avant-garde guitar icon Glenn Branca and indie stalwarts BAND OF SUSANS, Hamilton launched HELMET in 1989, and the band released its debut album, "Strap It On", on the independent Amphetamine Reptile label the following year. HELMET soon became the subject of an unprecedented major-label bidding war, ultimately signing with Interscope and releasing "Meantime" in June 1992.

Even while the band was absent from the spotlight, HELMET continued to exercise considerable influence on multiple generations of bands. Their songs have been covered by the likes of CHEVELLE, DEFTONES, FAITH NO MORE, PIG DESTROYER and SOULFLY, and the band inspired a 2016 HELMET tribute album titled "Meantime Redux". HELMET has also been cited as a key influence on such bands as GODSMACK, KORN, MARILYN MANSON, MASTODON, PANTERA, QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE, SEPULTURA, SLIPKNOT, STAIND, SYSTEM OF A DOWN and TOOL.

Helmet regrets to announce we are having to cancel the upcoming US tour with Local H. The cancellation is caused by a...

Posted by Wally's on Wednesday, August 21, 2024

Yes, this is bad news. But fear not! Good news is on the horizon. Especially if you’re a WHATEVER HAPPENED TO P.J. SOLES...

Posted by Local H on Wednesday, August 21, 2024

In a new interview with Sean P McKenna, host of "Rimshots With Sean" on Barstools And Bandtalk, Michael Sweet of Christian metallers STRYPER spoke about the lasting damage to the live entertainment industry caused by a variety of economic problems, including inflation and high shipping and transportation costs. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "The economics in this country, and in the world, but specifically in this country, just to kind of focus on that, because we tour mostly in the U.S., aren't good right now. And that affects what we do. Everything's more expensive. I don't remember the days when buses cost as much. And I'm not talking about the '80s. Of course, you go back that far, it is a night-and-day difference in in the cost of everything. I'm talking about within the past two years, three years. The cost of everything, some things have doubled. And it's very, very costly and very expensive to tour. And when you're only making so much money, a band like us, we're not BON JOVI and an arena band selling out arenas anymore. So we're playing clubs, pulling five, six, seven, eight hundred people. And when you get a 10-thousand guarantee or a 15-thousand-dollar guarantee and you've already spent 10 or 15 thousand dollars and you're in the red, it makes it very difficult to continue touring. And it's not really anything to do with the music business, but it's to do with the U.S. business."

Sweet, who has publicly stated that he voted for Donald Trump in the 2016 U.S. presidential election, then went on to suggest — unsurprisingly — that he won't be voting for the presumed 2024 Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris this time around.

"The U.S. is in a world of hurt right now — a world of hurt — and why anyone would wanna repeat that and continue down that path just makes my head spin, spin in circles," Sweet said. "It's, like 'Wow, let's change it.' I'm not getting political or anything. I'm just saying it's not a good situation at all. So it's very hard. We've felt since the pandemic, and I don't think anything to do with the pandemic many times — some times but many times, most times nothing to do with the pandemic — just the economy, it's very hard to tour right now. Very hard."

In the early stages if the pandemic, global inflation declined sharply amid a collapse in demand and oil prices, according to World Bank. In mid-2020, however, it started to pick up as demand bounced back, supply disruptions deepened, and oil prices rebounded.

Two years ago, compounded by Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022, inflation reached a 40-year high in the United States. Globally, it grew in 179 out of 194 nations compared to 2020.

Despite high interest rates and inflation, the economy has been surprisingly resilient in the U.S. as a result of strong job and wage gains that have provided consumers the wherewithal to keep spending. Earlier this year, the Dow Jones, the S&P 500 and the NASDAQ all reached record highs with the Dow crossing the 40,000 threshold for the first time. The markets have rallied back from the recent lows of 2022 and the Dow is about 40 percent higher than when the pandemic started.

Trump has promised to fix inflation and bring back prosperity if he returns to the White House but has released few hard numbers and no real policy language or legislative blueprints. Last week, he told voters that he would bring prices back to pre-COVID levels if elected, drawing heavy skepticism from economists who have studied his proposals, according to Salon. His key policies — a combination of tariffs, tax cuts and a crackdown on immigration — are likely to cause a flare-up in inflation, according to many Wall Street economists.

Earlier this month, Sweet spoke to Ernest Skinner of Canada's Border City Rock Talk about the upcoming U.S. presidential election and alluded to his previous support for Trump, despite the fact that America's 45th president — with his history of casino ventures and two divorces, as well as allegations of sexual misconduct, one of them affirmed by a civil court verdict — could be seen as incompatible with the stated values of the Christian faith.

"Vote for policies. Stop voting for personalities," Sweet said. "If we voted for personalities, we wouldn't like anyone. We wouldn't vote for anyone. The personalities of a lot of the candidates, you dig deep and you find out things about them where they all have issues, and you may not like a particular person, but it doesn't mean that they're the wrong person for the job. Look at their policies, look at what they stand for, look at what they've done, look at what they haven't done and go with that."

Michael continued: "The presidents throughout time that weren't great people per se, they had a lot of sins, a lot of skeletons in the closets, a lot of things that happened that no one would be proud of, but at the same time, they were good presidents. They did great things for [the country], and they certainly tried to. And that's my point.

"When you're looking for an attorney to win a case, you're not hiring that attorney because he's a nice guy or because he doesn't say mean things," Sweet added. "You're hiring that attorney because he's won every case and you just want the best and you wanna win your case. That's what America needs right now. We need an attorney that's gonna win our case. And that's who you should vote for."

Last fall, Sweet was asked by Real Music With Gary Stuckey how he goes about working together in harmony with fellow musicians like Tracii Guns (L.A. GUNS) who represent completely opposing viewpoints. He responded: " I've said this before. I just said it recently in a post. It comes down to respect. And I make mistakes. I blow it. I say things that might come across as disrespectful, so I'm not perfect. I'm not saying I am. But it comes down to respect. You either respect people or you don't. I see a lot of disrespect from all sides."

He continued: "I see disrespect towards Christians. I see Christians disrespect non-believers. I see Republicans disrespect Democrats, Democrats disrespect Republicans. I'm a Republican. I voted for Trump first time around. I don't know who I'm voting for this time around. But when I say publicly, if someone asks me, 'Who'd you vote for?' I'm not gonna sit there and fidget and lie.

"I'm not a believer in you can't mix politics with music," Sweet added. "That's just stupid. It's part of your life. Talk about that. Be open about it. What are you so afraid of? And I said, 'Yeah, I voted for Trump,' and boy, I took a beating for that — some of my friends. Some of my friends were, like, 'Oh, what a moron. He's a Trumptard,' or whatever these disrespectful words are that you can use that you've heard. That's mindblowing to me, man. That's why we have so many issues in our world. Everyone talks about peace and a better world and being politically correct and being respectful of everybody, but yet people are more disrespectful now than they've ever been. It's insane."

Stuckey also asked Sweet why he thinks his public opinions on religious, social and political issues have made so many headlines in the rock and metal world in recent years. He responded: "I mean, honestly? Because of my faith, mostly. Because I take a bold stand for Christ. And that's an easy target. That's something that's funny, something that's easily mocked. 'Oh, my God. What a whack job. He believes in a genie in the sky. What a kook. Oh, my God. F this guy. They suck.' And then it leads to that. Like, we've got gold and platinum albums on the wall, but we suck because we stand for Christ."

He continued: "It's just so hypocritical and such a joke. But that's the world we live in. This is the way it's always been from the very beginning, and it's the way it still is. So all you can do is try to change it, try to be a light in the dark and try to inspire people and encourage people and always take the high road instead of the low road. And I fail at that. I totally fail at that, 'cause it gets under my skin, and I'll react the wrong way or say the wrong thing. But, man, I really try not to. I try hard to be a good guy and to spread love and light instead of negativity and despair. I'm working on it. I'm trying."

Four years ago, Sweet defended his support of Donald Trump, saying that the real estate mogul had "done a lot of good things for America."

Despite the fact that he is twice divorced and had faced over two dozen accusations of sexual misconduct, Trump was white Christians' preferred candidate for the 2020 presidential election, with some insisting that the president was a Christian hero who was standing up for religious rights.

Asked in an October 2020 interview with Slabber.net why he voted for Trump in 2016 and why he believes Trump is a Christian, Sweet said: "I have put it out there already that I voted for Donald Trump four years ago. I voted for him because I had really become fed up with politicians. I feel like most, if not all, politicians are there to tell us what we want to hear so they can get into office, and once they get there they don't deliver. So, when Donald Trump came around, I thought, okay, this guy is not a politician and he's going to be different, and that's why I voted for him.

"I don't think his delivery is often good," Sweet continued. "I wish he would stay off Twitter. The way he presents himself, the way he speaks, and some of the things he says get under my skin as much as anyone else. But I do feel Donald Trump has done a lot of good things for America, especially for the economy.

"I think it's very easy to blame someone for the economy tanking due to a pandemic that's not their fault. This pandemic would have come along regardless of who the president is, and the economy would have tanked regardless. No president in the world could stop the coronavirus coming but Donald Trump has been easy to blame. I don't feel that is justifiable and I feel that it's wrong.

"Joe Biden is an example of someone using Trump and this virus to suit his agenda of getting into office," Michael added.

"There's a lot of people out there who don't like their boss, but their boss is in that position because they do a good job for the company they work for. That's kind of how I view Donald Trump. I don't love everything he says or does, but I voted for him. But by saying all of that, and being Michael Sweet of STRYPER, that opens the door for me to be attacked. I'm okay with that. I'm not gonna run from what I do or say. I'm not afraid to be challenged for my decisions."

Back in November 2016, Sweet drew criticism from some STRYPER fans for posting a picture of Donald Trump and congratulating the real estate mogul for "working his ass off for the presidency of the United States of America."

In March 2020, Sweet praised Trump's actions that served to ramp up the federal government's response to the COVID-19 epidemic — even after Trump was criticized by some parts of the media for downplaying fears about COVID-19 or actively spreading misinformation about its repercussions.

In May 2020, Sweet said that he would like to see his band represented by Trump's fourth White House press secretary, Kayleigh McEnany.

In October 2020, Sweet praised Amy Coney Barrett, who narrowly won confirmation to fill the vacancy left by the death of liberal Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, for answering questions during confirmation hearings "with poise, grace, patience, humility and intelligence."

In 2017, USA Today reported that nearly three-quarters of Republicans are white Christians, but white Christians account for fewer than one-third of Democrats.

Photo courtesy of Frontiers Music Srl

Nigelpoll has uploaded video of Steven Adler's entire August 16 concert at the Northwest Washington Fair in Lynden, Washington. Check it out below.

Joining Adler to bring songs like "Paradise City", "Welcome To The Jungle", "Sweet Child O' Mine", "Civil War", "My Michelle", "Mr. Brownstone" and "Rocket Queen" to life are guitarists Michael Thomas and Alistair James, bassist Cristian Sturba and singer Ariel Kamin.

"You don't bet better than Michael Thomas and Alistair James; they are two of the best guitarists in rock," noted Adler.

Thomas previously delighted music fans as the lead guitarist for ENGINES OF AGGRESSION, BEAUTIFUL CREATURES and FASTER PUSSYCAT. In addition to providing Adler with smooth rhythms, James has engineered recordings for HOLLYWOOD VAMPIRES — the supergroup featuring Johnny Depp, Joe Perry of AEROSMITH, and Alice Cooper.

Kamin was a well-known rocker in Argentina with such bands as CRIATURAS SALVAJES and GN'R tribute act SON OF A GUN when he was selected to come to the U.S. and join Adler in electrifying audiences with the music of GUNS N' ROSES. Audiences have been blown away.

"Ari Kamin is the total package. He's everything a rock 'n' roll front man is supposed to be," Adler said. "Not only does he have an incredible voice, he really connects with the audience. He's one of the best you'll ever experience."

In 2021, Adler told the M3 Rock Festival YouTube channel about how he ended up recruiting Kamin to front his ADLER solo band: "Actually, I went to Argentina [in November 2016] — my wife's from there; her family lives there — and the GN'R guys invited me to do a couple of songs. And so I had a little party at a club called the Roxy in [Buenos Aires], and he was the singer [that played with us that night]. You can go on my web site and see — the Roxy in Argentina. He was so great. I was, like, 'You're coming with me.' And the guitar player from the band that opened up for GN'R was so amazing. I told him, 'Come down. I wanna jam with you.' And he came down. I tell you, if [GUNS N' ROSES guitarist] Slash would have seen him playing, he would have been in the back, in the dressing room, practicing. That's how good he was."

Kamin replaced Constantine Maroulis of "American Idol" and "Rock Of Ages" fame, who was the vocalist for ADLER'S APPETITE for a dozen or so dates in May 2018, including an Australian tour.

Although he wasn't included in the lineup that launched the "Not In This Lifetime" trek in 2016, Adler rejoined GUNS N' ROSES at several shows on the tour, including three stops on the U.S. leg and one gig in Buenos Aires, Argentina, playing drums on "Out Ta Get Me" and "My Michelle".

In February 2017, Adler revealed that he was originally supposed to appear at more than just a handful of shows on the GUNS N' ROSES reunion trek. He claimed that he expected to play all the "Appetite For Destruction" material during the entire tour, only to be told he was out after he hurt his back during rehearsals.

Speculation was rampant that Adler would participate in at least a portion of the reunion tour ever since GUNS made it official in January 2016. The regular GUNS drummer for several years has been Frank Ferrer, who is also part of the current lineup.

ACE FREHLEY IN WASHINGTON TOMORROW! Legends Ace Frehley and Steven Adler take the stage at The Northwest Washington Fair...

Posted by Ace Frehley on Friday, August 16, 2024

In a new interview with Metal Blast, NILE founding mastermind/guitarist Karl Sanders reflected on the fact that he was forced to miss the band's June 29 performance at Hellfest in Clisson, France after becoming "seriously ill." The other three members of NILE's current touring lineup — drummer George Kollias, guitarist/vocalist Zach Jeter and bassist/vocalist Dan Vadim Von — played the show as a three-piece. Asked if Hellfest 2024 marked NILE's first live performance without him, Sanders said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "It's the first time that the [other] guys have had to play without me since 1996. [Back in 1996] I had to miss a couple of shows because I was in a custody battle in court over the custody of my infant son. So I had to be in court. You can't miss that. Then, in 2005, we all got food poisoning in Arizona and I was really, really, really sick. So we just didn't play, which that was a costly endeavor. When you don't play, you still have to pay all the expenses; you just don't get paid. [Laughs] So it's not good. That's what they say: the show must go on. Well, the show must go on. But this thing after Graspop [Metal Meeting in Belgium] and before Hellfest, it's the first time they've had to play without me. The expenses on that trip were so costly this time that we would have lost so much money if they didn't try to save the show. It was just insane. So, hats off to my bandmates. They did what they had to do under very difficult circumstances. And they did it. So I've got some good bandmates."

Regarding what happened to cause him to miss the Hellfest show and how he is doing in his recovery, Karl said: "Well, I don't necessarily wanna bore people with, 'Oh, you got this' or 'You got that.' I'm doing better now. But it was about a month of recovery this time. I feel very cheated out of my summer. I was gonna enjoy this summer. 'Cause the [new NILE] album's finished, and July I was gonna be home. But it was not to be."

After the Hellfest performance, Jeter took to his social media to write: "@hellfestopenair 2024 was one for the books, to say the least. Due to illness, our brother Karl was unfortunately unable to join us on stage. As much as we missed him, the show had to go on. Alongside @georgekolliasofficial and @danielvadimvon we crushed this show as a 3 piece!

"To the Hellfest crowd, you guys were fucking awesome and made it all worthwhile. We'll be back in Europe with Karl in September for 'The Underworld' tour, see you out there!"

NILE will release its tenth album, "The Underworld Awaits Us All", on August 23 via Napalm Records. The LP was once again produced and recorded at Sanders's own Serpent Headed Studios in Greenville, South Carolina. The band then returned to "Vile Nilotic Rites" engineer Mark Lewis (CANNIBAL CORPSE, DYING FETUS, WHITECHAPEL) for mixing and mastering.

"The Underworld Awaits Us All"'s art was once again envisioned and created by Michał "Xaay" Loranc, with reference to the cycle of life and judgment at its end.