In a new interview with Classic Album Review, guitarist, singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Richie Kotzen was asked for his opinion on the "health" of the current rock and roll scene. He responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Well, I don't really know. I don't really follow things that way or concern myself too much with the status of rock. I mean, I always hear the conversations, and it's just something I never engage in. I'm not really sure why.

"It's interesting how when cover bands go and play and they pick songs to play, they're always going back to those like early AEROSMITH songs, early AC/DC songs, early LED ZEPPELIN songs," he continued. "It's hard to beat that, no matter what, no matter who you are. Especially for bands. I mean, there's been great bands that have made amazing records. The other day. my wife was finishing up a song and we were listening to the mix, and I said, 'Hey, listen to this OASIS song for perspective on the lead vocal.' And I just remembered that album being one of the greatest albums, rock albums, for me. But the point is that you keep going back.

"Every now and then, you have a rock album that comes out that's so badass, like the first GUNS N' ROSES album or that OASIS album — everybody has their favorite. But there's something to be said for the fact that people keep going back to those other bands that I mentioned.

"One of the things that I will say that's very interesting to me is technology has created a situation where people are making music that would never, ever, ever be able to make music," Kotzen added. "And the music is being made now by non-musicians. And when I say non-musicians, it's not meant to be an insult. It's like the criteria of what would define a musician from when you and I came up learning and playing is very different. If that was a constant, you have a lot less going on. So technology has made a thing where people that are not necessarily musicians by our definition are able to make music. Now, that's not necessarily a bad thing. It means there's more, and there's more variety, and there's more perspective. So, to find what I might like out there in music, there might be less of it because the skillset is very different. And another thing I have to say too, that's very strange with the musicians. Eddie Van Halen — great guitar player, greatest guitar player, however you wanna define him, but also in the context of making great music that people that aren't guitar players want to listen to. That's the biggest component. Unfortunately, that's the component that's missing with the new generation of quote-unquote great musicians. And by the way, great musicians in my mind should make great music. Today. the great musician plays impossible stuff really well. So that now makes them great at doing that. But what, to me, is missing is that you don't have that other component. Steve Lukather — amazing guitar player, but also making great music that stands the test of time that people still want to listen to. And so it feels like somehow the abilities in the guitar world, they're growing, going up, up, up and deeper knowledge of scales and harmony and facility and execution, but complete abandonment on making music. So it's quite strange. It's very bizarre. And I don't really care. It doesn't affect me, 'cause all the great records that I like listening to have been made. And occasionally I hear something new that I'm, like, 'Oh, wow. That's a really cool song,' or whatever. But it's just an interesting observation to look at how the musicians have abandoned the idea of creativity in making music and just solely focused on the ability to move on the instrument."

Kotzen will release his new solo studio album, titled "Nomad", on September 27 via BMG.

Written, recorded and produced by Kotzen, "Nomad" features eight new tracks showcasing Kotzen's multi-faceted musical styles with Kotzen playing almost every instrument on the album. On "Nomad", Kotzen expresses his diverse techniques and influences, from hard rock to '70s-infused soul and funk, jazz fusion to R&B. It's all intertwined with his own unique playing and songwriting approach, while retaining his ever-evolving signature style.

Instrumental heavy psych trio Kanaan have joined forces with neo-folk trio Ævestaden, in a heady collaboration combining two of Norway’s most lauded young groups.

This week Kanaan & Ævestaden have announced their beautiful album project Langt, Langt Vekk, due 11th October via Jansen Records.

In celebration, the new group have also released their new single ‘Fiskaren’.

Stream ‘Fiskaren’ here and pre-order the album: https://orcd.co/fiskaren

Courageous, meditative, and progressive, the album is an exciting new jewel in the crowns of these two award-winning bands.

With Langt, Langt Vekk (translated as far, far away) the two bands have created a singular album. Traditional Norwegian folk music and rock has been combined several times before, but nothing sounds like this. Kanaan contributes its members’ jazz/psych background, rooted in improvisation and jamming. Ævestaden’s modern folktronica utilizes several ancient traditional instruments, in addition to the incorporation of traditional Swedish folk music. The result is something truly groundbreaking, in where both bands’ identities shines through.

Langt, Langt Vekk serves up reworked old traditionals and psalms along with grand new compositions. The album is impressively coherent, given the two band’s wildly different musical backgrounds. Fiddles, cow’s horn, kravik lyre, mouth harp, synths, harmonies, heavy guitars and a thundering rhythm section: Musically, it is impressively versatile, as well as consistently tasteful.


It’s the first new material from Kanaan since their 2023 record Diversions Vol. 2: Enter the Astral Plane (Jansen Records) – their eighth studio album since forming in 2018.

The trio came to prominence with psychedelic, jazz-inspired rock, but have gradually moved in a heavier direction, where their latest studio efforts have been labelled stoner rock. The band, consisting of Eskild Myrvoll (bass, synths), Ask Vatn Strøm (guitars) and Ingvald André Vassbø (drums, speed Farfisa), won the Spellemann award (Norwegian Grammy) in the rock category in 2021.

Ævestaden are a neo-traditional folk trio, who combine ancient instruments and folk songs with electronic music in a cutting-edge and idiosyncratic sound. The band consists of Norwegian Eir Vatn Strøm (the sister of Kanaan‘s Ask Vatn Strøm) and Kenneth Lien, along with the Swedish Levina Storåkern. They have received several awards for the albums Jag är sen igjen (a collaboration with Benedikt) and Solen var bättre där.

Tracklisting:

1. Ganglåt bortåt
2. Habbor og Signe
3. Fiskaren
4. Langt, langt vekk
5. Farvel
6. Vallåt efter C.G. Färje
7. Hva har min Jesus gjort for meg
8. Dalebu Jonsson
9. Vardtjenn

In a new interview with Chuck Armstrong of Loudwire Nights, SYSTEM OF A DOWN frontman Serj Tankian was asked if all the publicity surrounding his recently released memoir, "Down With The System", has jumpstarted or changed any conversations between him and the other guys in the band about recording new music. He responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Not really. No. We're an old steam engine. We do things. We meet up at rehearsals, crack some jokes, have some food, play our music, go play a show. We've known each other for so long. All of this is one person's view coming out this way, one person's view coming out that way. There's truth in everything. And it is what it is. I feel very privileged and lucky to have partners like I have that I've been working with for so long. And the idea that everyone has to agree on everything all the time, whether it's touring or recording or anything is beyond me. For some people, they say, 'Well, that's what a band is. It's one unit, one thing.' No, it's not. No, not in my experience. I've been in it for 30 years, and I've met hundreds, if not thousands, of other bands, and that's just not how it is. But it's great to find a compromise, in a way, of even if we only do what all four of us wanna do, and that might be one show a year or two shows a year or one anything, event or non-event or recording or whatever, I'm happy with that, because it is what it is. It's a beautiful thing."

Serj continued: "Look, there are bands that tour all year round that make a record every year or two years, and their impact on music, a lot of 'em, have not been as strong as SYSTEM OF A DOWN's. You don't need to do a million things to have an impact on people's lives or music itself. You need to do one thing right."

Tankian also touched upon his unwillingness to embark on a full-length tour the way he and his SYSTEM OF A DOWN bandmates used to do in the early days of the group. He said: "We've discussed playing shows and all of that. And I've been very clear I'm not a huge fan of consistent touring for many, many reasons. And I won't go into that now because I've talked about it before many times, but it's almost like when we do play just single shows here and there, it makes it so fun, man. It's the fun that was missing in touring for me, just having it be an event. It becomes special. And the funny thing is the value of the band in terms of touring has grown exponentially the less we've toured. There's these bands touring like crazy and they're not headlining and they [play] like 200 shows a year. And it's, like, maybe you should stop for a little bit or whatever. I don't know. I mean, we're not playing the game of supply and demand. We're just doing what we, as human beings, [wanna do with] our own lives. And it just turns out that way, the way that it turns out. Not everyone's happy with the situation of not doing a lot of tours or not recording, obviously, within the band. But it is what it is. But there is something to be said about having things be an event rather than a constant."

In "Down With The System", Serj revealed that his SYSTEM OF A DOWN bandmates had auditioned a new vocalist after he had asked out of the group in 2017. Serj said that his disdain for touring led to his decision to tell his bandmates to carry on without him so they could continue living their dream. Tankian later learned that the band had begun looking at new singers, and he also shared that in "more recent years", he had pitched a close friend as a potential replacement but he didn't think the band ever seriously considered the offer.

During an appearance on the "Bullseye With Jesse Thorn", Serj reflected on his decision to ask out of the band seven years ago. He explained: "In 2017, after we played a long tour in Europe, 20-something dates, we came back and I was confident at the time that touring was not for me anymore. I had severe back problems, 'cause I hurt my back on tour, in the middle of the tour, in Belgium, I remember, and I was still reeling from it. And over time, over the number of years, because we were… We took a hiatus between 2006 and 2011, and then we kind of toured between 2011 and 2017. And at that point, I was, like, I just really don't wanna tour. I just got over the travel, the physicality of it. I love performing. I just didn't want the travel. And it also gets redundant artistically after a while, while you're on tour, if it's more than one or two shows. So we had a band meeting discussing multiple things, and I asked to add me as one item on the band meeting. And when it got to my turn, I just said, 'Who's throwing me the going-away party. Who's gonna MC it?' And they're, like, 'What?' I'm, like, 'You guys know that I don't wanna tour, and we haven't been able to make a record.' So I kind of [said], 'If you guys need to find a new singer, I'm totally open to that, 'cause I love and respect you guys and I don't wanna hold you back. The band is something very important, not just to you guys, but to me. And let's figure something out, if I can help. Let's be one of those unique situations that instead of cussing each other out and going our separate ways or me going my separate way, let me be constructive. Let me help you find someone, if necessary.' I wanted to give them an option. Now, if you asked me, if I was staying in the band at the time, in 2017, and someone else was gonna leave, I would never continue without them."

Serj continued: "I think SYSTEM OF A DOWN should always be us four. But irrespective of what I felt, because I was the one getting in their way, if you will, I wanted to give them an option. So, that's why I did that. And at the time, they were just, like, 'No, man. It's cool. If something comes up, an opportunity, we'll send it your way. We won't put pressure.' 'Cause before that, if something came up, they were, like, 'Come on, we've gotta do this tour. Come on.' There was a lot of pressure to do tours, to perform and stuff. And I just didn't want that pressure anymore. So they promised they wouldn't do that. And so that kind of changed things a little, at least at that time."

Tankian went on to say that being in a band with several other people is "a unique dynamic". He explained: "They're your creative partners. They're your business partners. No one can have the same exact vision. No one can have the same exact thought process. And trying to negotiate all that where everyone is happy is really, really not easy."

Tankian also talked about his creative partnership with guitarist/vocalist Daron Malakian who had initially written all the music for SYSTEM OF A DOWN. He said: "We had the same vision starting. Daron and I were definitely on the same page when we started. And at first, he wrote all the music and I wrote all the lyrics for our first record. Second record, I started bringing in some more music, he started bringing in more lyrics. I would say that 'Steal This Album', which is our third record, it was almost 50-50. I was bringing in half the songs with lyrics, and he was bringing the other half of the songs with lyrics, and then I would add to his lyrics, and he would add to my music, or whatever, rearrange some of the music. So it was very balanced, which is kind of why I really love that album, even though it's not the biggest hit record album, and we've never toured for it. Most of those songs were never played live, but there's something special about 'Steal This Album' for me.

"By the time we got around to 'Mezmerize' [and] 'Hypnotize', while we were working on 'Mezmerize' [and] 'Hypnotize', I told the guys, I gave them like a two-years heads up and said, 'Listen, when we're done with this next record phase, I need to do my own thing.'"

Tankian previously discussed SYSTEM OF A DOWN's inability to make a new studio album earlier last month in an interview with the "Broken Record" podcast. He said at the time: "Creatively, I keep on making music and making art and doing creatively what I'm meant to do. And if the opportunity arises for us to work together in an egalitarian fashion in the right way with the right vibe and the right influence, then we'll do it.

"In 2020, we put out two songs because there was the invasion of Artsakh and Armenia happening by Azerbaijan during COVID, and people didn't know about what was going on so we used the band and putting out new music as an opportunity to spread awareness and we were successful in doing so," he explained. "So hopefully it's not just the decimation of our people that's gonna take SYSTEM OF A DOWN writing new music, but I think when that time is, and I don't know if it is ever or if it will be, that would be amazing. But I don't get sad by it, because to me it is what it is. When it's right, then it happens. When it's not, it shouldn't happen."

Asked if he would be okay with SYSTEM OF A DOWN going on without him, with a different singer in his place, Serj said: "Absolutely. I've offered them that opportunity and been very supportive of it many years. If they wanted to do that, if they wanted to continue in a way that I didn't — for example, if they wanted to tour a lot and I just wanna do a couple of shows here and there, because I'm not into touring a lot, to be fair to them, if they wanted to do that, I'm totally open to it still. I'm not sure they want to do that. They haven't until now, and I think it would take something away from the prestige and legacy of the band itself, but as friends and as someone who cares very much about my partners, I would be okay with it."

Regarding what it is about the four members of SYSTEM OF A DOWN as individuals, the alchemy of them together, that makes the band so great as a unit, Serj said: "Everything that each person is — from their personality to their playing style to how they think, how they feel and the combination thereof — make SYSTEM OF A DOWN what it is. If you take any particle away from this compound, it's not going to be SYSTEM OF A DOWN. It could be calledSYSTEM OF A DOWN, but it's not going to really be SYSTEM OF A DOWN. Even the stubbornness and the creative differences, everything, the push and pull, the manicness, the calmness, all of the above is what makes who we are."

In June, Serj was asked by Metal Hammer magazine about comments from his SYSTEM bandmate John Dolmayan last year in which the drummer claimed that Serj "hasn't wanted to be in the band for a long time." Serj said: "John means the world to me. He's my brother-in-law, I love him, and I saw him just yesterday, but there are times he's got mad and said fucking shit. And look, there's times I've gotten mad and said fucking shit, too. The option has always been there for the band to move on without me, and John knows that.

"In the end, to me SYSTEM OF A DOWN is beyond the band," he continued. "It's our relationship together. And it means more to me than the band itself, or even the music itself. And that is hard for other people, maybe even other people in the band, to understand. But, as I saw from the stage at Sick New World [festival in Las Vegas] last year, the multi-generational appeal of the music we have made is mind-blowing, bro. Our music is more timeless than we ever imagined, and that is the hugest compliment for any artist."

Three months ago, Serj spoke to the Soul Boom With Rainn Wilson podcast about his reluctance to embrace the touring lifestyle that characterized SYSTEM OF A DOWN's early years. He said: "We've had incredible, unexpected success as a very far-flung kind of progressive metal band with our 'Toxicity' record in 2001 and touring and doing what we did. And after many years of touring, when we were making the last few records which we made together, 'Mezmerize' and 'Hypnotize' — those recordings were done at the same time, then released as two records within six months of each other in 2005 and 2006 — before those sessions, when we first started those sessions, I told the [other] guys [in the band], 'Guys, this kind of cyclical thing that we're doing with making records for a year, touring for two years at that time, doing all this promo publicity,' it was just cyclical. It was, like, 'I've gotta stop. And I also wanna do my own thing. I have other artistic adventures that I wanna get on.'"

He continued: "Part of it was we had so much creativity and input coming into the band, specifically with Daron's [Malakian, SYSTEM OF A DOWN guitarist and vocalist] songwriting and me wanting to bring in music as well, because, over time, he became a better lyricist and I became a better musical songwriter, a better composer, so it became kind of like a push and pull, which is really good for bands, actually, 'cause it's a yin-and-yang kind of thing — two strong, creative forces. And it also broken up so many bands. So, before 'Mezmerize' and 'Hypnotize', I basically told the guys, 'Listen, I'd like to take a hiatus. I'm not saying I never wanna do this, but I'm saying I can't do this right now anymore. And I wanna do my own thing and also take time off and have a life, and all of that stuff.' It wasn't taken well at the time. I won't get into that. But years later, we started touring again in 2011, and it became a fun thing, 'cause it left… Nothing was totally resolved creatively, but it became a fun thing because we at least put everything to the side and said, 'Look, we're friends, we're brothers. We've known each other for a long time. We still respect and love each other. Let's go have fun and tour together.' And we've been doing that since. Not as much as they would like, let's say, or I'm not gonna speak for each and every person of the band, because that wouldn't be fair of me either. But generally I'm the least person that wants to tour. Part of that is physical, because it's tiring. I've done it for 20, 25 years, and I had back surgery a few years ago. I'm much better now and all of that. But part of it is that. Part of it is that it's artistically redundant after a while, because it's 'Groundhog Day'; you're repeating yourself. David Bowie said the first two weeks of every tour is basically — I'm paraphrasing — creative; after that, it's redundant, kind of thing, which is correct. So it's that. But I do enjoy playing with the guys, and when it's a one-off, it's actually fun, 'cause there's no pressure to do this whole rigamarang of a long tour or press or anything. You just rehearse together, make your dumb jokes, have food together, and then go and play that one show and it becomes a hoorah. So that's what we've been doing. And I'm grateful for that."

Tankian, who is promoting his memoir, previously addressed how his relationship with Malakian has evolved over the years, particularly as it relates to their collaborative partnership, in May in an interview with Tom Power, host of "Q" on Canada's CBC Radio One. He said: "Well, changing the dynamic is basically years of time and the progression of the band, the success of the band, everything that happened in between the day that we met and now, basically, so 25, 30 years. A lot changes in that time. And so I think that's a part of it.

"Daron's been a lifer and he's incredibly serious about his music and he's incredibly protective of his music and vulnerable due to his music," Serj explained. "All of those things kind of go together. So it's those things, I think, that created some of the creative differences that we started finding. And it's also our progression. Listen, when Daron and I started working together, I didn't really write a lot of instrumental music — I mostly wrote lyrics; I was the lyricist; I was the singer. And he didn't write any lyrics; he just wrote music. But as time progressed and I played more musical instruments and I started becoming a songwriter/composer and he started writing more lyrics, we started kind of covering each other's territory. And I was okay with that. If he wrote lyrics, I was trying to encourage him to write more, because I believe in artistic growth. I believe in progression. I don't believe in things staying the same way, for music's sake. Otherwise the music becomes the same thing over and over again. That progression is necessary in every artist's life or in every group's life. So I was very encouraging of that. And I just wish that I got some of that back. And so that wasn't the case, and it was disappointing. And it became a creative difference over the band's path, and whatnot, over time."

Asked why he wanted to write about this in his book, Serj said: "A lot of it has been publicized in a very sensationalist format by media, music media mostly, and I kind of wanted to put it in a proper perspective and grounding perspective, but with love and with balance and understanding that these things happen. This is normal. You have a relationship and you have differences in opinion as [to] how you wanna go forward, whether it's a band or a marriage or whatever it is. And these things happen. And so I wanted to take that aspect out, I wanted to take the sensationalist aspect out of the whole thing and be, like, this is not only what happened, but this is how I see things."

Tankian also addressed the fact that SYSTEM OF A DOWN has toured intermittently since ending its hiatus in 2011, but has only managed to record two songs in the last 19 years, "Protect The Land" and "Genocidal Humanoidz". Released in November 2020, the tracks were motivated by the conflict between Artsakh and Azerbaijan, with all proceeds supporting humanitarian efforts in SYSTEM OF A DOWN's ancestral homeland of Armenia. Along with other donations from fans on their social pages, they raised over $600,000.

"We haven't been making new music," Serj said. "We only put out two songs when the invasion of Artsakh, Nagorno Karabakh happened in 2020 by Azerbaijan, because we felt like the Azeri trolls, the government-sponsored trolls were taking over social media and the news networks, and the victims of these attacks weren't getting the word out. So we became kind of obsessed with getting the word out, because we were seeing our people suffer. So we put out those two songs because of that and we donated a lot of the proceeds for that to the cause as well."

Asked how he balances the love and obligation he might feel toward his fans, those who love SYSTEM OF A DOWN, and the internal struggles within the band, Tankian said: "That's an incredibly smart question. It's really hard catering — when you're an artist, it's really hard catering. If you're an entertainer, catering is [what you do], but if you're an artist, then you're just creating what comes to you. You're almost unaware of what people want. Yes, if it's something heavier, you know people are gonna like it more. But if you're a good songwriter, you could do both. I do orchestral music, I do film music, I do rock music — I do it all. So I enjoy 'em all, but I know that if I do rock, more people are going to listen to it than a piano, instrumental orchestral piece of music, soundtrack kind of music. But it doesn't mean that you don't do both, as an artist. So it's hard to really cater to people's feelings. What I love is, and I know that I can speak for the rest of the guys in the band, that no matter what's going on with our creative difference or the band not making new music or not touring fully or whatever, everyone's incredibly appreciative of what we have in terms of the love that we get from our fans and the way that people react to our music and the way that we get all these e-mails about how it's changed people's lives and all of that stuff, and that is mind-blowing. It's the biggest honor. And when I meet people on the street, I'm still incredibly honored that someone would pick me out and look at me in a positive light, not knowing who I am personally, but knowing me through my music, through our music, let's say. And I think that's a great fucking honor. I feel blessed for it. But it doesn't mean that that thing should continue forever either."

"Down With The System" was released on May 14 via Hachette Books.

Rob Zombie and Alice Cooper launched the 2024 leg of their "Freaks On Parade" tour on Tuesday, August 20 at the Isleta Amphitheater in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The concert marked Zombie's first live appearance with bassist Rob "Blasko" Nicholson in 18 years.

According to Setlist.fm, the setlist for the show was as follows:

01. Demon Speeding
02. Super-Charger Heaven (WHITE ZOMBIE song)
03. Feel So Numb
04. Well, Everybody's Fucking In A U.F.O.
05. What Lurks On Channel X?
06. Superbeast
07. The Lords Of Salem
08. The Triumph Of King Freak (A Crypt Of Preservation And Superstition)
09. Never Gonna Stop (The Red, Red Kroovy)
10. Dead City Radio And The New Gods Of Supertown
11. The Satanic Rites Of Blacula
12. More Human Than Human (WHITE ZOMBIE song)
13. Living Dead Girl
14. Thunder Kiss '65 (WHITE ZOMBIE song)
15. Dragula

Blasko's return to Rob Zombie was announced in January.

Nicholson rejoined the group just hours after the shock rocker's longtime bassist Matt "Piggy D." Montgomery revealed that he was exiting the band after 18 years.

"After 18 years I am thrilled to announce that Blasko has returned," Zombie wrote on Instagram on January 30. "The original four-string Zombie monster is back. Get ready for a crazy summer of mayhem."

Blasko was a member of Rob Zombie's band from 1997 through 2006, playing bass on the first three Zombie albums: "Hellbilly Deluxe", "The Sinister Urge" and "Educated Horses".

Nicholson left ZOMBIE in May 2006 in order to join Ozzy Osbourne's recording/touring band.

Montgomery's debut performance with ROB ZOMBIE came on May 24, 2006 during an appearance on CBS's "Late Night Show with David Letterman".

Montgomery played bass on the Rob Zombie studio albums "Hellbilly Deluxe 2" (2010),"Venomous Rat Regeneration Vendor" (2013),"The Electric Warlock Acid Witch Satanic Orgy Celebration Dispenser" (2016) and "The Lunar Injection Kool Aid Eclipse Conspiracy" (2021).

In the fall of 2022, John 5 left ROB ZOMBIE to join MÖTLEY CRÜE as the replacement for that band's co-founding guitarist Mick Mars. John 5 has since been replaced in Zombie's band by returning guitarist Mike Riggs.

Rob Zombie's current band consists of Zombie, Riggs, Blasko and drummer Ginger Fish, who has played with Rob since 2011.

Jim Lindberg, lead singer and songwriter for long-running California skate punk band PENNYWISE, has recorded an 11-song album with his side-project band THE BLACK PACIFIC, titled "Here Comes Our Wave", that will be released on September 20 via Toronto-based Dine Alone Records. The LP was recorded, mixed and mastered by Paul Miner (TOUCHÉ AMORÉ, DEATH BY STEREO, H20) at his Buzzbomb Studios in Orange, California over two sessions in the spring and fall of 2023.

THE BLACK PACIFIC previously released its self-titled debut album on SideOneDummy Records in 2010, and, like this new LP, all the songs were written and performed by Lindberg, and feature his longtime friend and recording partner, drummer Alan Vega.

"I've been writing songs for PENNYWISE and various projects for many years, and I've amassed a catalog of hundreds of demos, literally boxes of cassette tapes from the last few decades," says Lindberg. "Some of the songs weren't right for PENNYWISE, and I worked on them with Alan from THE BLACK PACIFIC so it just made sense to put out under that name. I think the knee-jerk reaction will be to say it all sounds like PENNYWISE, but I wrote the music and lyrics for more than half of every PENNYWISE album we made together after Jason our bass player passed away, so I think it's more accurate to say that PENNYWISE sounds like me, not the other way around! When I pick up an electric guitar this is the music that comes out of me, regardless of what name it comes out under."

The album kicks off with the hyper-kinetic opening song and lead-off single "I Think I'm Paranoid". Lindberg says of the track: "I've had this song for a while now and it was about all the senseless violence, terrorism, government conspiracies and divisiveness that make you want to move to a desert island somewhere, but now I've updated it to include hate groups, militias and global pandemics, so it's basically just a panic attack with distorted guitars at 120 beats per minute."

The rest of the album doesn't let up from there with tracks like "No Fun" about sociopath dictators around the world inflicting chaos and death on innocent civilians, and the relentlessly pounding "Here We Come" about the encroaching threat of A.I. taking all our jobs and eventually replacing us completely. The lyrics on this album are extremely timely and reflect the millennial angst that continues to build around the world.

"I've always felt the need to purge my frustration with our self-defeating tendency to want to destroy ourselves and the planet in a never-ending quest for power, dominance and greed, and that message is more urgent than ever so I didn't want to wait any longer to put these songs out," explains Lindberg.

But there are several tracks that are about the resignation that maybe the dreams of acceptance and escape are the only things that help keep hope alive. "Float Away" is a rare love song from Lindberg about wanting to build a raft so he and his wife can float away to "Canada or Timbuktu" — and in "I Won't Let You Down" he wistfully tells her "Somehow we've made it through it all" and now they enjoy the sunsets waiting for "the flash of green, shining through the gold." The closing title track is Lindberg's 'love song to a wave." A lifelong surfer and member by proxy of Taylor Steele's Momentum Generation, it's hard not to hear that Lindberg finds his escape from all the carnage in the world by sharing the ocean waves and spending time with his friends and family.

The long-awaited follow up to their first album, "Here Comes Our Wave" is a powerful, thought-provoking collection of songs from THE BLACK PACIFIC that is at the same time resigned to our fate as a highly flawed planet, but hopeful that the bonds of love and respect for nature can hopefully guide us through stormiest of seas.

Photo credit: Brent Broza

During a recent appearance on the "Artist Friendly With Joel Madden" podcast, KITTIE frontwoman Morgan Lander discussed the overwhelmingly positive fan and media response to the band's comeback. She said in part (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Right now we're in this weird second chapter where it feels like everything that we've done so far has just been like a win. And it's the wins that we never thought that we would have been able to achieve in any other period in our career. And it's just so weird to see that happening and unfolding in real time. And being able to enjoy it and experience it as the people that we are now, with the experience and the maturity and all of those things, sort of just heading headfirst into the unknown. Things are just lining up."

Asked if she and her KITTIE bandmates are excited to once again be part of the modern metal scene, Morgan said: "Yeah. Of course. I think that we wouldn't be back at it if it wasn't exciting, if it wasn't a challenge, if it wasn't something that we didn't think was important. And ultimately, if it's exciting and fun, that's where we wanna be. That's where we're at in our career. If it's not, we don't want a part of it. I think that's a beautiful thing… And I feel like all of that experience lends to what's happening right now. We certainly have a lot of experience. We feel like veterans."

Morgan also talked about the band's decision to put KITTIE on hiatus in 2013 after almost two decades in the industry, six studio albums and several lineup changes. She said: "The last few years that we were touring, things kind of kept getting more and more diminished. We had switched labels a few years prior and we put out what I think are two of some of our best albums, but we were touring in a van, the guarantees were getting smaller and smaller, the crowds were getting smaller and smaller, and that can also weigh heavily on your psyche, having to grind it out like that night after night, and feeling like you have to do it rather than you want to do it.

"We are all great friends. We were still at that time," she clarified. "There was no interpersonal drama or anything. It was just a case of just being tired and feeling the weight of almost defeat, just from putting in so much and sort of receiving so little. And for us, it wasn't really like a conscious thing. It just like kind of just drifted, just kind of fell through our fingers. We didn't sit down one day and were, like, 'Let's break up the band.' There was no announcement or anything. It was just kind of, like, we all just started to do our own things and find our own way and it sort of just naturally kind of drifted."

Morgan previously spoke about KITTIE's decision to put the band on hiatus last month in an interview with Primordial Radio. She said: "The industry was sort of in a weird flux position when we were doing those last tours and whatnot. And it was sort of like the transition period between like people buying CDs and people streaming music. And there certainly are a lot of elements that went into it, but I think a lot of it was just personal."

She continued: "The industry is hard, and [we were] slugging it out on the road, not really feeling as supported as I think we probably could have been by our former label. I thought at the time we were putting out some of the best music that we had written up to that point with very little return, and it got tiring. It can be a really, really tough business, and expensive as well. If you're just out there in a van not making tons of money, it's like one show after another. And it is physically and can be emotionally exhausting."

Asked if KITTIE's 2022 comeback, initially only as a live act, was rooted in the band's desire to return to having fun, Morgan said: "Yeah. I think ultimately if it's not fun, then there's no point in doing it. And that's not to say that it wasn't ever fun before and we stopped because it stopped being fun. But there were elements of touring back before we took our hiatus that were not very fun. And I think being able to step away from the situation and sort of re-evaluate, and then given this opportunity, we were able to enjoy some of the fruits of our previous labors in a way that we'd never been able to experience before. And that aspect is fun. These are big festivals. We were just shocked at how many people were excited to see the band. And for me, those things are back-to-basics, fun stuff, getting together, reconnecting, playing all of these songs that we've played together hundreds of times before. And sometimes just getting into a room together as musicians and friends and jamming and just laughing and having a blast, that's at the very core of what a band should be — people that are enjoying themselves together and making and creating together. Being creative together, I think, is one of the most fun and rewarding things that you can do in life. And being able to do it with a great group of girls, yeah, that's it. We love to play live. And, so that definitely was the main thing there."

KITTIE's first album in over 13 years, "Fire", was made available on June 21 via Sumerian Records.

Last November, it was revealed that KITTIE was working on a new studio LP with producer Nick Raskulinecz at Nashville's Sienna Studios.

Raskulinecz, who moved to Nashville from Los Angeles around 16 years ago, had previously worked with such acts as RUSH, ALICE IN CHAINS, KORN, RISE AGAINST, HALESTORM, EVANESCENCE, SKID ROW and the DEFTONES.

In April, KITTIE announced an exclusive run of North American headline dates. The long-awaited shows saw the band perform in five cities across the U.S. and Canada this July and August, giving fans a very special and rare chance to see the band play a full headline set that will include their recently released singles "We Are Shadows" and "Eyes Wide Open" as well as classic hits and some deep cuts not played live since the band's early days.

KITTIE played its first concert in five years in September 2022 at the Blue Ridge Rock Festival at the Virginia International Raceway in Alton, Virginia.

Joining Morgan and drummer Mercedes Lander in KITTIE's current lineup are guitarist Tara McLeod and bassist Ivana "Ivy" Vujic.

Prior to Blue Ridge, KITTIE had not performed since its reunion show at London Music Hall in the band's native London, Ontario in 2017, celebrating the group's documentary "Kittie: Origins/Evolutions".

Vujic joined KITTIE in 2008 and appeared on the band's fifth studio CD, 2009's "In The Black". She also wrote and recorded bass for KITTIE's sixth album, 2011's "I've Failed You".

After KITTIE completed the touring cycle for "I've Failed You" album, the band entered a long period of inactivity during which Morgan focused on a marketing job for a chain of fitness clubs while Mercedes worked in real estate and more recently at a software company. The group also began work on a career-spanning documentary, "Origins/Evolutions", which finally saw the light of day in 2018 via Lightyear Entertainment in North America.

"I've Failed You" sold 3,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release to debut at position No. 178 on The Billboard 200 chart.

BLANDINI videos by Eric Hutcheson has uploaded multi-camera video ofANTHRAX singer Joey Belladonna performing the DIO classic "Holy Diver" with his tribute band to Ronnie James Dio on Sunday, August 18 at Conduit in Orlando, Florida. The new group, in which Belladonna is joined by Mike Rivera on guitar, Rob Stokes on bass, and Jim McCourt on drums, is performing music from DIO, BLACK SABBATH and RAINBOW. Check out the clip below.

A decade ago, Belladonna spoke to Jay Nanda of the San Antonio Metal Music Examiner about the ANTHRAX frontman's involvement in "This Is Your Life", the tribute to album to Ronnie James Dio. Asked why ANTHRAX chose to record a cover version of the BLACK SABBATH classic "Neon Knights", Belladonna said: "I think I suggested it. When we talked about doing something, collectively, we all like the song, so it was a no-brainer. We could pretty much pick anything… I went for the heavier."

Asked if recording the "Neon Knights" cover was a more emotional experience than some of the other cover versions ANTHRAX had recorded over the years, Belladonna said: "For me, no. I just love doing that type of thing, and it was another day for me to sing something of his. Obviously, I'm excited, because it is a record, but I don't think I did it any different. In fact, I only did a couple of takes. I mean, I actually have on video the first time I tried it, and it pretty much sounds like what it sounds like already. It was business as usual for me."

Regarding what Ronnie meant to him, Joey said: "Ronnie's an inspirational singer for me." He added: "I really believe that as you grow up, you're inspired by the people that perform and things that you would like to hear yourself be in that kind of category and have such a talent like he did and just be inspired. [He was a] great human being, great musician — just all that… He was just the slickest. He was so heavy but melodic, as well as his attitude about everything. He had great charisma."

Belladonna also spoke about the first impression Ronnie made on him. "He made me laugh big time," Joey said. "He just want[ed] to be funny. And yet he [was] so sincere and [could] have that serious point of view. You need to be enthralled with that when you're around him, to have him speak to you with that kind of attitude and spunk that he had. And I'd been around him when things weren't so good, which I won't bring up right now, but to have him share that with me, which was more private, about being in his band — things like that. Just to engage in that with me and run that by me."

Belladonna, whose most recent return to ANTHRAX was officially announced in May 2010, was originally the lead singer of ANTHRAX from 1984 to 1992, and was considered part of the influential thrash metal group's classic lineup (alongside guitarists Dan Spitz and Scott Ian, bassist Frank Bello and drummer Charlie Benante),which reunited and toured during 2005 and 2006. His voice was featured on over 10 albums, which reportedly sold eight million copies worldwide.

Grammy Award-nominated act IN THIS MOMENT has released a cinematic second part to the visual story that is "Godmode", in a magnificent new music video for "Sanctify Me", directed by Jensen Noen. They also just announced an epic headlining tour across North America this fall, featuring special guests KIM DRACULA, NATHAN JAMES and MIKE'S DEAD. "The Godmode Tour Part 2", which continues the celebration of the release of their 2023 album of the same name, will see the band perform at arenas and amphitheaters across the country.

The upcoming trek is set to kick off November 8 at Thomas Wolfe Auditorium in Asheville, North Carolina and continue through a December 7 performance at SNHU Arena in Manchester, New Hampshire.

IN THIS MOMENT hit a career milestone in their evening-closing performance at Lollapalooza this summer, and is currently on the second leg of its co-headline "Kiss Of Death Tour" with ICE NINE KILLS, featuring special guests AVATAR and TX2. The band also makes a stop at Louder Than Life festival, as well as a performance alongside EVANESCENCE and HALESTORM at Soaring Eagle Casino on September 28.

IN THIS MOMENT's latest album, "Godmode", arrived back in October via BMG. The LP was produced by Kane Churko (ROB ZOMBIE, DISTURBED, PAPA ROACH) and Tyler Bates. Bates produced, wrote songs for, and played multiple instruments on albums by MARILYN MANSON, BUSH and ALICE IN CHAINS guitarist Jerry Cantrell. He is best known, however, for scoring the box office smash "300", the Emmy Award-winning Showtime series "Californication", the "Guardians Of The Galaxy" and "John Wick" film franchises. IN THIS MOMENT's song "I Would Die For You" appeared on the soundtrack for "John Wick: Chapter 4", for which Bates wrote the score.

With a Grammy nomination ("The In-Between", 2021),platinum and gold record sales, multiple Top 25 entries on the Billboard Top 200 ("Black Widow" and "Ritual"),hits including "Whore", "Blood" and "Adrenalize" and career streams of more than 1.3 billion, you'd think IN THIS MOMENT might rest on their laurels. Instead, they've created "Godmode", 10 dynamic songs that mark a new high for the quintet, further cementing their legacy in the heavy music world. Proof positive is in "Godmode"'s first single, the industrial-heavy yet ultra-melodic "The Purge", and its darkly cinematic video directed by Jensen Noen (BRING ME THE HORIZON, DEMI LOVATO). From the portentous start of the '90s-tinged "Godmode" with Maria Brink's powerful primal scream to the pitch-perfect cover of Bjork's 1995 "Army Of Me" to the impassioned pain to partnership in "Everything Starts And Ends With You", "Godmode" is a cut above.

The L.A.-based band's eighth album finds vocalist Maria Brink and guitarist Chris Howorth writing the most powerful songs of their career.

"We're always striving for reinvention and growth. It's been 10 years since our 'Blood' album, and there's been a lot of transitions happening, this year particularly, but it all felt so meant to be," explains Brink. Top talent aided and abetted IN THIS MOMENT; Spencer Charnas from ICE NINE KILLS guests on the pointed and pained "Damaged", and several songs were co-written with Tyler Bates, the award-winning producer and composer of numerous film, television, and video game scores. In fact, the initial collaboration with Bates, the moody, haunting mid-tempo winner "I Would Die For You" ended up both on the "John Wick: Chapter 4" soundtrack and as the last cut on "Godmode".

IN THIS MOMENT, a touring juggernaut who've slayed stages worldwide at Ozzfest, Warped Tour, Download, Knotfest and Rocklahoma, put out "Mother" in 2020, during the pandemic, giving fans something to hold on in during that bleak time, and earning "The In-Between" the band's first Grammy nod. It was 2021 when Howorth and Brink first wrote with Bates on "I Would Die For You". Following that collaboration, the duo were writing organically, for pleasure, not focused on the next album. As the pandemic waxed and waned, Howorth learned programming, and created music around synthwave sounds, which Brink leaned into. Her lyrical ideas arose both from soul-searching and "humanity and so much crisis and so many heart-wrenching things in the world. That negativity and darkness is how songs like 'The Purge' came about," Brink explains.

The end result is that when IN THIS MOMENT went into the studio in January 2023, the easy flow had allowed them to compile the most songs they'd ever written at one time, songs the entire band loved. Longtime producer Kevin Churko helped shape ITM's sound starting in 2008, but for "Godmode", his son, Kane Churko, was at the helm.

"Kane's got all the strengths that his father taught him —everything, all the bells and whistles, but he's got some new tricks because he's a younger generation, he's hungry," says Brink.

Kane was the perfect match for IN THIS MOMENT's inspired songs.

"During the pandemic, just writing versus writing with a pressure that music has to be for an album, allowed us the freedom to make the record we made," says Howorth. "Godmode"'s songs gained even more strength in the studio, with Kane shaking up the band's usual m.o. even further.

"Having some songs by Tyler influenced us as well," Brink explains. "It was scary for the band, but it ended up flowing just so beautifully. We felt very experimental."

That flow gave the album its name and theme. "Godmode" isn't religious, rather it's an expression for a triumphant flow state where all comes together seamlessly, coalescing into an ultimate form. As Brink sings in "Godmode", "You got me feeling so high / You lift me off of my feet yeah / You got me feeling like, feeling like / I'm in Godmode." In video games — Howorth plays the game "Destiny" — "God mode" also refers to a code that makes a player invincible.

"There's a spontaneity in this album that you can hear. It's a little more visceral. And that we're not with Kevin, who has done all our albums except for our very first, fans will hear those differences too, which is really cool and exciting for us," Howorth says.

"We had all this built-up energy from the last three years, we felt angst, we felt we had a lot to release," furthers Brink. "And we were letting it loose organically, while also playing with different time signatures and interesting things like that." "We use an 8-string on the album, which we haven't done before," Howorth says. "We did some different tunings, and it can definitely be freeing from guitar standpoint, the way we did things this time. Working with Kane was different and more off the cuff, being in the studio, getting creative and just trying a bunch of different stuff on every song. It was a really good experience."

As fans of Brink's lyrics know, life in and around IN THIS MOMENT hasn't always been easy. As Brink recalls, "When I met Chris, I was just a starry-eyed girl with huge dreams. And he was in a PANTERA-like metal band!" She told Howorth she wanted a heavy lineup that could sell platinum and win Grammys. The band had an early manager who told them it would never happen. But his dismissiveness only fueled IN THIS MOMENT's fire, energy and fight. "We're just relentless," says Brink. "Anything's possible if you really put your mind and energy into it."

For "Godmode", that energy also went into the "The Purge" video, where director Noen brought his artistry and next-level talent to Brink's storyboard ideas. The larger-than-life video themes and sets have been translated into IN THIS MOMENT's live stage show, literally. And summer 2023 saw the band on its first arena co-headlining tour with full pyrotechnics.

"Our whole lives we've talked about being in an arena and having fire and a full show," Brink says. "And now we're doing it and it's just so beautiful."

IN THIS MOMENT certainly have nothing to prove, the lineup's authority assured live on record and onscreen. Yet, "Godmode"'s energy and scope is visceral.

"With our new ideas and excitement and Kane's energy of wanting to prove himself to everybody, we were able to show that we're heavy and just as impactful as every other new band coming out right now," says Howorth. "We can punch you right in the face, that energy is in there big, time. I think our fans are really gonna like this album, because it's taken us back a little bit where it began, but it's also more instinctive, and heavier than anything we've done a long time," concludes Howorth.

Brink, a private person, nonetheless gives and takes much strength from ITM's millions of fans. The healing is on both sides.

"It's amazing if my songs help people feel empowered. When humans share painful things that we went through and how we heal from it, we can help each other and pass that energy on," she says. "Honestly, the most beautiful thing about being in a band is being able to have that connection with strangers who become kindred spirits. Sure, I have urges to wear 'masks' and hide from everything and wear makeup, but I like to share and be honest and vulnerable. The sky's the limit," Brink concludes. "You just have to keep dreaming, keep expanding, keep pushing yourself to that next level. I feel like something is shifting right now in the band; this is such a special moment for us with 'Godmode'."

With everything they do, Swedish genre-blending rockers, Dampf, remain unique in their idiosyncrasy. It should therefore not come as a surprise for the band to release today, not one, but two brand new singles and videos.


“War With The World” and “Might As Well Have Died” juxtapose two tales, one of light and one of darkness. The two singles are taken from their sophomore album, No Angels Alive, out this Friday, August 23 via Silver Lining Music.


With Dampf there will always be contrasts and opposites, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, dreams and nightmares, comedy and tragedy… but through it all runs the common thread of theatre, of the grandiose, of the joys in the unpredictable, and an overwhelming confidence in embracing them all. Whether the gothic dungeon of “War With The World” or the snakes and misty forests of “Might As Well Have Died,” Dampf reigns supreme in telling stories of theatrical chaos and color.




The first song “War With The World” is a maritime singalong-flavored juggernaut. “Persuading people to go to war by using powerful words is obviously a complex subject. Take for example Napoleon. He made people go euphorically wild with his speeches and suddenly people were charging towards the ‘enemy’ with only pikes or other makeshift weapons even though they knew that the enemies were stronger and larger in numbers. They felt invincible thanks to those speeches: people just responding with flock mentality to those words, instead of taking a moment to think, ‘hold on, you’re going to fight that person for what?! A bottle of rum or whatever?’ Madness!” chuckles singer/songwriter A-Tron.


“The second song, ‘Might As Well Have Died,’ is probably Dampf's darkest yet,” A-Tron continues. “The lyrics are the dark thoughts you can sometimes have, for various reasons, when you can't sleep. ‘Why am I putting energy into all of this when it's done anyway?’ It can be a simple relationship that has ended, you think you have done everything that you can and it still goes to hell. Or you try to work or study for a better future, then a handful of dictators start wars in all corners of the world… threatening me with nuclear weapons when I just had a baby, what the hell? It’s a feeling of cold, empty hopelessness.”








Led by singer/songwriter A-Tron (Martin Erikson aka E-Type) and keyboardist/songwriter Beak, No Angels Alive is an all-in ten-song storytelling experience blending expansive yet tightly bound stylistic ingredients incorporating hard rock, thrash, melodic power metal, and electronic edges. Recorded at Yard Street Studios (Solna, Sweden) and produced by Jona Tee, be gloriously warned: Dampf’s second studio offering, No Angels Alive, is not - and never was - conceived to be for the faint of heart.


Completed by vocalist Bhéara aka Olivia Thörn, drummer Haderajja aka David Wallin (HammerFall), bassist Bahari aka Pontus Egberg (King Diamond, The Poodles), guitarists Skaeggyxa aka Love Magnusson (Dynazty) and Sha-Zam’s aka Sam Söderlindh, and growler Arkoūda aka Björn Åkesson, Dampf engages in a theatrical journey through the timeless historical corridors of human darkness and their opus, No Angels Alive, plays like a grand collective performance piece, with an innate sense of beautiful, catchy melody finding ample room and context alongside the overall brutality of Dampf.


Scary yet colorful, heavy yet catchy, listen to No Angels Alive with a genreless mind and an open heart; the rewards of this immense and unique album will be plentiful.


No Angels Alive will be released on CD digipak, 12” Gold And Black Splatter vinyl, digital formats, and special D2C products and bundles. Preorder here.





Tracklisting:


“No Angels Alive”
“Masquerade”
“Ghost”
“Might As Well Have Died”
“Heart Of Darkness”
“War With The World”
“Hellfire”
“Away”
“Mists Of Avalon (Don’t Wake Me Up)”
“Dark Side Of My Moon”


"No Angels Alive" video:





“Masquerade” video:





Dampf are:


Martin Erikson [A-Tron] - vocals
Olivia Thörn [Bhéara] - vocals
Beak - keys
David Wallin [Haderajja] - drums
Pontus Egberg [Bahari] - bass
Sam Söderlindh [Sha-Zam’s] - guitar
Love Magnusson [Skaeggyxa] - guitar
Björn Åkesson [Arkoūda] - growls


(Photo - Ted Lindén)







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Earlier in the month, it was announced that the original 1991 lineup of Swedish death metal pioneers GRAVE — Ola Lindgren (guitar, vocals),Jörgen Sandström (vocals, guitar),Jens "Jensa" Paulsson (drums) and Jonas Torndal (bass) — will reunite for a series of concerts in 2025 during which they will perform "an exclusive old-school set" consisting of material from the first three classic GRAVE albums: 1991's "Into The Grave", 1992's "You'll Never See..." and 1994's "Soulless". The first confirmed performance will take place at the Party.San Metal Open Air festival at Flugplatz Obermehler in Schlotheim, Germany in August 2025.

Now, Lindgren has taken to GRAVE's social media to offer "some clarity" to what the upcoming shows will entail. He wrote: "Many thanks to all of you who commented on last weeks announcement and who are as excited about this as we are. Lets bring some clarity to what this 'reunion' is about.

"So early this year I was approached by the other 3 original members for a meeting. It resulted in the plan to do a couple of rehearsals for fun to see if we were first of all capable and also of course if we enjoyed jamming again.

"I would say that playing together after all these decades went far beyond anyone's expectations so we decided to try get some shows booked and here we are.

"This is initially a plan for festival shows during 2025. At the moment there are no plans to do any touring or recording new material with this lineup but who knows where this might lead us...

"The GRAVE that imploded last year is not dead and buried, it is simply put on ice.

"Tomas [Lagrén, drums] is definitely not fired from the band and it will be his decision if he wants to be a part of any future GRAVE endevours when that time comes."

One of the very first Swedish death metal bands alongside NIHILIST, MORBID and TREBLINKA, GRAVE released its first demo in 1986 under the band name CORPSE, before they switched to GRAVE in 1988. GRAVE's debut album, "Into The Grave", arrived in August 1991 through the then-young record label Century Media.

Lindgren told the "Swedish Death Metal" book by Daniel Ekeroth about how GRAVE landed its record deal: "We sent our third demo to just every label there was. A lot of them kept in touch, such as Earache and Peaceville. But Century Media was working faster than any of them, so we just went with them without thinking too much about it. Century Media invited us down to Germany to record that single ('Tremendous Pain'),and it was only after that we started to discuss a deal. It felt amazing for us to go abroad, so in a way they lured us into their roster! But it turned out well."

After Century Media and GRAVE parted ways after seven albums with the release of 2006's "As Rapture Comes", the band launched two highly acclaimed albums, "Dominium VIII" (2008) and "Burial Ground" (2010) through Regain, before reuniting with Century Media for 2012's "Endless Procession Of Souls" and 2015's "Out Of Respect For The Dead".

In 2019, GRAVE teamed up with Century Media Records to bring back the albums "Dominion VIII" and "Burial Ground" as classy, limited colored and black vinyl editions, hand-numbered digipak CDs limited to 3,000 copies each, and digitally. Remastered in 2019 by Lindgren and mastered for vinyl by Patrick W. Engel of Temple Of Disharmony, these records offer crushing and savage GRAVE tracks that fully live up to the group's morbid legacy.

This past January, GRAVE parted ways with bassist Tobias Cristiansson and guitarist Mika Lagrén.

Many thanks to all of you who commented on last weeks announcement and who are as excited about this as we are. Lets...

Posted by Grave on Tuesday, August 20, 2024

GRAVA will release their ominous sophomore album, “The Great White Nothing”, on September 27th 2024 via Aesthetic Death (CD), Vinyltroll Records (LP) and Evil Noise (MC).

The first single, “Decimate”, is now streaming HERE.

The Faroese/Danish trio’s debut album, “Weight of a God” (2022), showcased a violent yet atmospheric type of sludge metal that was simultaneously raw in its execution and disciplined in terms of songwriting. Its follow-up continues in the same vein while adding a touch of nuance and depth to the vicious soundscape. Like its predecessor, the album was produced by Troels Damgaard Holm and mastered by Brad Boatright at Audiosiege.

Though not a concept album, the album kicks off with two tracks (“Erebus” and “White Thresher”) that revolve around the same event: the tragic Franklin Expedition, which in 1845 ventured to the northernmost Arctic to explore the Northwest Passage between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. The expedition was a disaster; both ships (HMS Erebus and HMS Terror) were lost, and all 128 crew members perished in the great white nothing to which the title and cover refer.


Throughout the album, GRAVA expand their lyrical universe, and the bleak sludge metal is accompanied by tales of a heartbreaking execution of a Swedish nobleman in 1707 (“Breaker”), a tragic train accident in the outskirts of Copenhagen in 1897 (“Mangled”), and a soldier’s final chaotic moments in one of the countless muddy trenches of World War I (“Bayonet”).

Just like on their debut album, GRAVA do not attempt to tell stories from A to Z but instead attempt to capture moments of death as seen through the eyes of the dying. The effect is a musical and lyrical drama that appears fragmented and intense but also surprisingly disciplined in terms of songwriting. In a genre often characterized by long songs, GRAVA never lose grip on their compositions, and although “The Great White Nothing” is full of interesting musical ideas, the tracks rarely extend far beyond the three-minute mark.

Tracklist:

1. Erebus
2. White Thresher
3. Decimate
4. Breaker
5. The Fall
6. Mangled
7. Bayonet
8. Ceasefire
9. Hinterlands

The 15th-anniversary expanded reissue of MASTODON's seminal "Crack The Skye" album will be made available on October 4. The reissue includes a remastered version of the original album, as well as instrumental versions of all the tracks that appear on the LP.

The Blu-ray disc includes "Crack The Skye: 10th Anniversary Animations", "Crack The Skye: The Movie" and "The Making Of Crack The Skye". The box also includes a 24"x24" poster, 10"x10" sheet with four individual custom-designed magnets and a 12-page 12"x12" booklet.

All editions feature re-imagined artwork from MASTODON's longtime collaborator Paul Romano.

Originally released in March 2009, MASTODON's fourth album features "Oblivion", "Divinations", "The Last Baron" and more.

The LP's title pays tribute to drummer/vocalist Brann Dailor's late sister Skye.

In 2019, MASTODON celebrated the tenth anniversary of "Crack The Skye" by playing the album in its entirety on tour. The band also released a range of "Crack The Skye" merchandise, including a picture disc of the record, t-shirt, jacket, poster and more. In addition, MASTODON released a documentary detailing how they made the landmark album.

MASTODON recorded "Crack The Skye" in June 2008 at Atlanta's Southern Tracks studio with veteran producer Brendan O'Brien (RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE, PEARL JAM, STONE TEMPLE PILOTS).

"We worked with Matt Bayles on our first three records because he was a good friend and has a good ear," MASTODON vocalist-bassist Troy Sanders told Revolver magazine. "But Brendan is great at helping out with musical patterns and vocal approaches. Working with him was crucial for making the kind of record we wanted to make."

MASTODON recently launched a North American tour celebrating the 20th anniversary of another album, 2004's "Leviathan". The trek, which is scheduled to conclude August 31, is co-headlined by LAMB OF GOD.

METALLICA has made a $40,000 donation to People Serving People, Minnesota's largest organization that provides services for people and families experiencing homelessness, through the band's All Within My Hands foundation.

On Monday (August 19),the non-profit posted on Instagram: "Wow! Talk about Give me fuel, give me fire! METALLICA just invested $40,000 through their All Within My Hands Foundation to People Serving People when they visited Minneapolis. Gifts like this make programs like financial literacy, emergency assistance, and high-quality childcare possible at People Serving People.

"Thank you, METALLICA, for fueling our work, firing up our community, and helping the families at our shelter achieve their desires!"

People Serving People's Amanda Finman-Palmer told KARE 11 about METALLICA's donation: "For us, it's really, really exciting to be recognized like that. Clearly they did some research and thought, 'This organization is doing some really exciting stuff."

Finman-Palmer added that portions of the $40,000 may go to People Serving People's Savings Match Program, financial literacy classes or the Emergency Assistance Fund.

Through All Within My Hands, METALLICA donates a portion of all ticket sales back into the communities visited in each city. In partnership with local promoters, the Foundation has been working diligently to find organizations that align with the AWMH mission and actively put funds to use to better the lives of people in need.

All Within My Hands was established in 2017 by METALLICA to invest in the people and places that have supported the band. It also allows METALLICA's fans to engage in philanthropy and volunteerism. The Foundation is dedicated to creating sustainable communities through workforce education, the fight against hunger, and other critical local services. All expenses of the Foundation are covered by the band, the board, and a few special friends so that 100 percent of donations go to the organizations it supports. AWMH is a registered 501(c)3 non-profit organization.

The METALLICA family and the All Within My Hands foundation board members are committed to running an organization of the highest integrity where expenses are kept to a minimum and are paid for entirely by the band, the board, and friends who have worked with the band over many years and are excited to help in this mission. As such, 100% of all donations from fans and third parties go to the organizations AWMH supports.

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Ice cold Finnish modern metal band ARCTIS have announced their self-titled debut album, set for release via Napalm Records on November 1, 2024. Drawing inspiration from the mythical winters and mystical summers of the North, the Finnish metal minds of talented misfits ARCTIS fearlessly navigate their futuristic battleship through a treacherous ocean where ferocious waves of Metal clash against reefs of Rock and Pop, birthing a sonic assault of epic proportions. To celebrate the announcement of their debut album, the first single “I’ll Give You Hell” and their first official music video ever, has been released. The song explores the complexities of romance with their catchy anthem.

ARCTIS fuses nature and technology, inspired by Finland’s seasonal extremes, capturing the imagination of fans through storytelling that goes beyond the music itself. Led by the enigmatic Alva, the eternal Ice Queen Rebel Leader who shines with an ethereal presence, the band is rounded out by the formidable Björn the Captain, Michael the Magician, Mats the Rambler and Mika the Sage. ARCTIS creates a dynamic and captivating energy and elevates to new heights.

With their talent, the band will soon head out on a tour with Finnish symphonic metal masters Apocalyptica, and the band’s self-titled debut album will be released this fall. It was produced by Jimmy Westerlund (Sturm und Drang), mixed by Stefan Glaumann (Rammstein), and mastered by Svante Forsbäck (Rammstein). Join ARCTIS on a thrilling adventure that combines elements of both nature and technology!

ARCTIS comment on their new single:
“We’re excited to drop our debut track and music video, “I’ll Give You Hell,” a powerful anthem that was one of the first songs we ever wrote. This release marks the start of something big, and we can’t wait to share more of what we’ve been working on. Stay tuned—this is just the beginning!”

ARCTIS is led by the enigmatic Alva, the eternal Ice Queen Rebel Leader, whose mesmerizing voice and shining white battle suit give her an ethereal, almost otherworldly presence that captures the imagination of fans. The dark-clad, valiant men who move beside Alva include the formidable Björn the Captain, whose unwavering leadership skills inspire the band to greatness, Michael the Magician, whose mystical abilities and lightning-fast fingers leave audiences spellbound, Mats the Rambler, whose wild and untamed spirit infuses the band’s music with a sense of reckless abandon, and Mika the Sage, whose deep wisdom and profound insights elevate ARCTIS‘ message to new heights. Together, these legendary figures create a dynamic and captivating energy that defines ARCTIS‘ unique brand of metal and makes them exceptional.

Drawing inspiration on northern themes as metaphors, Arctis explores mental struggles and the internal battles within modern chaos. The strong opener, “I’ll Give You Hell”, delves into the complexities of romance, highlighting the inevitable downfall that arises from a relationship, where honesty and commitment are lacking. With its original version already amassing 5 million streams to date, Finnish modern metal act ARCTIS is set to add to the song’s impressive reception with the release of their own rendition of “Bimbo (Lambretta Cover)”! With a 2000s pop-rock vibe, “Remedy” addresses drug addiction and the steep price one is willing to pay for it. The mystical “Tell Me Why” paints a starry landscape of anger and self-deception while the enchanting “Frozen Swan” showcases personal musical talent while exploring the concept of self-freedom. This smoothly transitions into the upbeat “Fire”, which explores the risks of drug consumption, before flowing seamlessly into “When The Lights Go Out” lyrically exploring nocturnal metaphors through vivid passages. Closing the album, “Theatre Of Tragedy” features powerful guitar riffs, underscoring the limitations of personal human struggle.

Whether through music, artwork, or storytelling, ARCTIS creates a multi-dimensional world that fans can immerse themselves in and explore, transcending genre boundaries and offering a truly unique experience. Prepare for an onslaught of powerful riffs, epic melodies, and the raw energy that has never been seen before!


ARCTIS about their debut album:
“The moment we’ve been dreaming of is finally here, and we couldn’t be more excited to share it with you all! It’s been a long road, filled with hard work, late nights, and an unbreakable passion for music, but we’re thrilled to announce that our first single is out, our debut album is on the way, and we’re hitting the road for our first tour!

Now, we’re ready to take on the world, bring our music to life on stage, and connect with each and every one of you. This is just the beginning, and we’re so happy to have you with us as we start this next chapter.

Get ready, because we’re coming in full force – and we can’t wait to see you on the road!”

Pre-Order Arctis HERE

Arctis tracklisting:
1. I’ll Give You Hell
2. Bimbo
3. Remedy
4. Tell Me Why
5. Frozen Swan
6. WWM
7. Fire
8. Child Of The Night
9. When The Lights Go Out
10. No Slave
11. Theatre Of Tragedy

Finnish classic rock band THE GRAMMERS traveled to Rockfield Studios in Wales to record their eighth album in the footsteps of mammoths. Now the album, named after the studio made famous by Queen and Rush, is previewed again with ‘DNA’ single and video. The music video was shot at Rockfield Studios Quadrangle yard – the same exact location Rush recorded ‘A Farewell to Kings’ – and in midst of the sessions by Petri Vilén.

The upcoming album was mainly recorded live and on analog in Monmouth, Wales, and many top international mixers and professionals eventually participated in its making. The second track of the upcoming album represents the heavier side of the album and is a brutal fast rocker with a melancholic, yet energetic vibe and groove. The song was mixed at Fascination Street in Sweden by Jens Bogren (Amorphis, Kreator, Dimmu Borger, Sepultura) and mastered by Justin Shturtz at Sterling Sound in Nashville.

The Grammers, founded in Säkylä, Finland in 1999, are the northern torchbearers of classic rock.The band is known as an extremely strict and uncompromising live act. The band’s strengths are based on the interpretation of Hannu Vainionpää – one of the most talented heavy rock vocalists in Finland, the highly refined and catchy composition work, and the virtuoso mastery of vintage instruments by its members.

Hannu commented on the recording process of the album as follows:
“Rockfield had a pretty magical atmosphere (even if it sounds cliché); a quiet enclosed yard, nice local people, the right kind of atmosphere that helped to focus on what was essential, i.e. making the record. It was nice to stay and watch the horses and cows in the pasture and play a little bit of billiards and table tennis on session breaks. All in all, the atmosphere was very homely. When I found out that I was going to sing to the same microphone that Ronnie James Dio sang – of course, it sent chills down my spine for a moment. That we are now part of a certain kind of great continuum. And I think you can hear it both on this first single and also on the whole album. It was a great time, a great session, good memories. And it really couldn’t have gone any better!”

In a new interview with Radioactive MikeZ, host of the 96.7 KCAL-FM program "Wired In The Empire",LAMB OF GOD frontman D. Randall "Randy" Blythe spoke about his second book, "Just Beyond The Light: Living With The War Inside My Head", which is due on February 18, 2025 via Hachette Books. It will be the follow-up to his 2015 book "Dark Days: A Memoir", which focused on his ordeal in a Czech Republic prison and his subsequent acquittal.

Asked if "Just Beyond The Light" picks up where "Dark Days" left off or if it's a completely different book, Randy said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "It's a completely different book. It's a collection of — I wouldn't call 'em essays, but different chapters about, basically different people and experiences who have [changed] my perspective for the better.

"As I get older, I try not to make the same stupid mistakes again and again and again and again," he explained. "And surprise, surprise, if you look at people who — you look at them and you think, 'Man, this person has their life together,' or, 'They've acted in a manner that I find admirable,' if you pay attention to them and follow their example, you don't do stupid things yourself. I'm not saying that I don't still do stupid things, but I'm trying fully in my old age to learn from others more."

When Radioactive MikeZ noted that it's "interesting" that Randy actually interviewed his then-94-year-old grandmother for the book, Blythe said: "Yeah, she passed away. There's a chapter. Well, I didn't interview her for the book. I interviewed her because she was 94. She lived to be a hundred and a half. And there's a whole chapter about her. She raised me for part of my childhood and she was raised during the The [Great] Depression. She did not screw around. She was a very real person who lived through a whole lot. But I interviewed her when she was 94, just for the fact that I heard so many stories from her of growing up in a different time. And I was, like, 'She's not gonna be here forever. I might as well get all this stuff down,' just for my own purposes and for my family to have. She was the last of that generation in my family. So when I started to write this book on perspective and people I've learned things from, she was a natural choice. Luckily, I had that interview to draw on. So if you have old people in your life — this is what I'm gonna tell you — if you have old people in your life, interview them now… I'm gonna have to do that with my parents soon. I mean, they're not ancient or anything, but your memory starts failing as you get older. So it's time to get that stuff before it disappears."

"Just Beyond The Light: Living With The War Inside My Head" is described by the publisher as "a riveting and revelatory memoir about self-development and maintaining proper prospective through difficult times."

In "Dark Days", Blythe unflinchingly wrote about some of the most harrowing episodes of his past. Now, in his highly anticipated follow-up, Randy shares how he works daily to maintain positivity in a world that feels like it is spinning out of control. In his own words, "Just Beyond The Light" is a "tight, concise roadmap of how I have attempted to maintain what I believe to be a proper perspective in life, even during difficult times." Written with a scathing balance of hard-edged reality offset by a knowing humor and a razor-sharp wit, voiced in in his inimitable, conversational, everyman-philosopher style, Blythe clearly breaks down his approach to life, which is a personal and idiosyncratic mix of sobriety, art, and surfing. He writes movingly of his childhood in the South, of fallen friends, of what he's learned touring the world as the vocalist of a successful heavy metal band, and of the very real ways he is doing what he can to leave the world a better place. Above all, he offers readers hope that balance, real balance, is possible, even (or especially) when things seem hopeless.

Compelling, compassionate, and refreshingly honest, "Just Beyond The Light" ultimately reminds readers that "as long as we keep our feet (and minds) planted firmly on the ground that is reality, the sky isn't falling — it never has been, and it never will."

Blythe told RVA Magazine about "Just Beyond The Light": "It is about trying to maintain a balanced perspective in the world right now, and in order for me to do that, I have to look to other people I admire. One of those people I write about is my grandmother, who was 94. I was beside her when she died, and I was grateful for that because it was post-COVID. I interviewed her over the course of two days and learned about her life. I asked her what the biggest difference is between [her generation] the modern age we're in right now — she didn't say computers or globalism; she said people are not as close as they used to be."

Asked if he feels like we've lost that sense of interpersonal connection between people," Randy said: "In many ways, but I don't think it's totally gone. I think it's dormant. I think it's buried under the iCloud of bullshit, and it's going to come back and bite us on the ass. In one way or another, you're going to need help. People don't know their neighbors; there's not the sense of community there used to be. In this hyper-connected world, people are lonelier than ever — particularly young people. They're interfacing with the world through this digital medium, and it's providing an illusion of connection, but real connection requires friction. There has to be a push and pull when you're in person, and that is absent via digital communications when there is a wall of anonymity."

Last month, Blythe was asked by Chuck Armstrong of Loudwire Nights if the upcoming book is "a memoir of sorts", similar to "Dark Days". Randy said: "I don't know if you'd call it a memoir. It's a collection of — not essays, I would guess, but individual chapters that are self-contained stories. It was a lot harder to write than my last book. 'Cause the last book, there's a narrative arc and I knew exactly what was gonna happen. I knew the story. I had already lived it. When I started writing this book, I had ideas about what I wanted to say, but I wasn't exactly sure what ground I was gonna cover. So, it was a lot harder. The last one, I had the roadmap in front of me. This one, it was a little bit more open-ended. And it's a shorter book — thank God."

"['Dark Days' is] around 500 pages," he continued. "My contract called for 80 to 100 thousand words. I turned in 257 thousand words, so he had to amputate a bunch of shit. I can get a little bit longwinded. My editor reined it in this time, which I was very happy about. I need someone to rein me in. It's like in a band when you need a producer."

Blythe explained that he wanted "Dark Days: A Memoir" to be different from other rock autobiographies by not focusing exclusively on LAMB OF GOD and the band's touring lifestyle.

"Long after LAMB OF GOD is done, I will still be writing books," he said. "So when I wrote ['Dark Days'], I wanted to write it, and I know some people were upset there's not more stuff about LAMB OF GOD and heavy metal and all that other bullshit — I wanted the book to be able to be read by a much wider audience than just metalheads, and I wanted it to stand the test of time, be a sort of universal human story that people could read and think about. If I sit there and talk about nothing but touring with this band and getting drunk here and all that, it's gonna be, like, 'Ah, great, whatever. It's another fucking music story.' But one of the most gratifying things about that book to me was that a lot of the reviews said you don't have to be a metal fan to read this, to enjoy this, you don't have to know who the band is to read this, enjoy it. 'Cause I write records for the metal fans; I already do that. I wanna write books, although they [metal fans] are a sizable contingent of the people who bought the book — I wanna write books for everyone."

Back in November 2022, Blythe told Metal Hammer magazine that he was working on two new books. The first was said to be "a long-term project" called "Frontman", which, as its title suggests, focuses on other people who share his profession. The second was a sort-of sequel to "Dark Days: A Memoir".

"The last book was about personal accountability," Randy explained at the time. "The vehicle to that was the story about me getting arrested and going to trial. This book is about perspective — the core theme is perspective and changing it to a healthy one. In recent years, I've been listening to other people's perspectives rather than just trying to figure out everything myself, because I'm not going to. The book is a collection of stories about different experiences I've had with people and what I've taken away from those experiences."

In October 2022, Blythe told the Illinois Entertainer that he was working on a new "non-fiction book." He added: "I wanted to write fiction, but my agent said, 'You need another non-fiction book.' And he was pushing me toward what they call, I guess, an 'inspirational memoir' or whatever. So I'm writing this book, and it's about different perspectives from other people that I've tried to incorporate into my own life and take something from. Something positive from — things I have learned from people other than me. And it's been very difficult to maintain any sort of positivity for a while now. It really has."

In May 2022, Blythe was asked by Full Metal Jackie's nationally syndicated radio show how writing prose is different from writing lyrics. He responded: "Well, they're two different things — two very different things. I always say that writing a book makes writing an album look like going to kindergarten. It is a much more intense, much more sustained [and] much more nerve-racking extended creative effort. There's pros and cons to it, of course. And the thing that I dislike about it, just as a lazy bum, is I'm having to do it all by myself. If there's something bad in the book or it doesn't work, then I can't blame it on my bandmates. 'Cause we're a democracy — we really are a democracy — and if someone is unhappy with something, then we won't move forward with it creatively, if they're really emphatic about that. That being said, we make a lot of compromises with each other in order to work as a band. So, if there's something that I don't particularly like in one of our songs or on an album or a song that I'm not particularly feeling great about but the rest of [the guys] love the song, then I'm, like, 'Oh well. So be it.' It's part of the business of being in a band. And then if it comes out and I still don't like it, I can be, like, 'Well it was their decision, not mine.' When you write a book, if you screw up something or something's not good or something later you review and it doesn't pass muster, that's on you. So it's a bit more nerve-racking. No, conversely, that's kind of the same thing I like about it, because I don't have to bounce my ideas off of anyone else. I say exactly what I want to say without having to go through any sort of filtration process with anyone else — it's just me. So, in a way, it's a much more creative process — or a purely creative process, I would say — because it's just you and the blank page. But it is nerve-racking — it really is. And also, as I get older, I just enjoy quiet more and more and more, and writing is a very quiet and solitary activity — at least it is for me. So I enjoy that. My ears don't ring after writing a book, but they sure as hell do after writing an album."

In July 2021, Blythe said in an Instagram post that he was about to begin writing his second book. The now-53-year-old singer wrote: "It's been six years since my 1st book, Dark Days, came out. I've been kinda busy but I can't screw around any longer- it's finally time to write a new one. The proposal is done, the publishers accepted it, & the contract is hammered out & in the mail.

"Shit- that means I actually have to write this thing! All I'll say is: A) it's another non-fiction book, & B) I just spent over two weeks utterly consumed by writing the freaking introduction. 2,296 words in 15 days- that not a lot, but I want it to be RIGHT. Plus, I'm just stretching the old muscles, getting back in shape for the brutal long haul that lies ahead. The sustained creative heavy lifting required to write a book makes writing the lyrics for an album look like preschool finger painting. Plus, if what you're doing is turning out shitty, you can't just blame the rest of your band. (sorry dudes)

"Most books on writing of are bullshit, collections of pointless 'exercises' from people who haven't sold any other books of their own (I should know, I've bought most of them.) No book on earth is gonna turn you into a good writer. There is no magic pill. Just like playing music, shooting photos, or pursuing any other creative endeavor- the ONLY way to find out if you're any good is to DO IT. You gotta write, & the hardest part of writing is sitting your ass down to do it, & then repeating that process day after day after day."

In 2012, Blythe was arrested in the Czech Republic and charged with manslaughter for allegedly pushing a 19-year-old fan offstage at a show two year prior and causing injuries that led to the fan's death. Blythe spent 37 days in a Prague prison before ultimately being found not guilty in 2013.

Blythe's prison experience inspired two songs on LAMB OF GOD's 2015 album "VII: Sturm Und Drang": "512", one of his three prison cell numbers, and "Still Echoes", written while he was in Pankrac Prison, a dilapidated facility built in the 1880s that had been used for executions by the Nazis during World War II. It also led him to write the aforementioned "Dark Days", in which he shared his whole side of the story publicly for the first time.

Obsidian Mantra is a Polish death metal band founded in 2014. Their music combines groove-centric, technical riffs with blurred black metal motifs. Avoiding catchy choruses and easy melodies, the band remains faithful to old-school death metal, but does not try to revive a bygone era.

The band’s lyrics focus on man, exploring existentialism, skepticism, individualism and the dark aspects of human nature, such as suffering, addictions, internal conflicts and self-destruction.

Obsidian Mantra is about persistence, consistency and searching for one’s own identity, regardless of momentary trends. The band has gained a reputation for its ability to play in all conditions, always delivering the same powerful load of weight and energy, which they have proven on stages alongside bands such as Vltimas and Suffocation.

Music for upcoming studio album was recorded between March and May 2024. Whole tracks were mixed and mastered by Filip Hałucha at Heinrich House Studio (Hate, Behemoth, Entropia, Masachist) with additional editing by Mateusz Łukasiewicz. Cover artwork and booklet arts by Pilar Martínez. CD layout and band logo by Marcin “Lycan” Smolarek. Band photography by Jakub Tomczak.


New album “As We All Will” will be released digitally and as jewelcase CD, September 27, 2024 in cooperation with Polish music label Via Nocturna. Pre-order is available at webstore.

Tracklist:

1. What Is Not, Is Not 4:09
2. Cult of Depression 3:51
3. Slave Without a Master 3:03
4. Who Will Become a Murderer 4:22
5. Condemned to Oppression 2:56
6. Chaos Will Consume Us All 3:42
7. Sowers of Discord 4:35
8. Weavers of Misery 3:57

Band comments their newest song: “Cult of Depression takes on the contemporary image of mental illness. The song criticizes the romanticization of depression and its presence in (social) media as a trend, where instead of real support and awareness, it’s often just about gaining attention. The lyrics delve into issues of self-isolation, treating mental illness as part of one’s identity, and the false sense of community that comes from a shared void.“

Video to the song “Cult of Depression” at Death Metal Promotion

FOREIGNER, one of the most successful bands in music history, will be inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame this fall. In celebration of this much-deserved honor, the band will release a career-spanning collection that includes "Turning Back The Time", a new song featuring original members Mick Jones and Lou Gramm.

On October 4, Rhino will release "Turning Back The Time" in 2-LP and CD configurations. The music will also be available from digital and streaming platforms on the same day. The new single "Turning Back The Time" debuts today. Listen to it below.

Jones reflects on the band's legacy in a brief note for the collection: "FOREIGNER's membership in the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame is a priceless highlight of my career… I hope that this collection of the songs that brought us here, along with some later recordings that light our way forward, will mean as much to all who listen to them as they do to me."

Starting with its self-titled debut in 1977, FOREIGNER delivered some of rock's most enduring anthems. "Turning Back The Time" includes the Top 10 hits "Feels Like The First Time", "Cold As Ice", "Hot Blooded", "Double Vision" and "Urgent". The set also features the ballads "Waiting For A Girl Like You" and "I Want To Know What Love Is", which reached No. 2 and No. 1 respectively.

The collection mainly draws from FOREIGNER's first six albums, all of which earned platinum status or higher: "Foreigner" (five times platinum),"Double Vision" (seven times platinum),"Head Games" (five times platinum),"4" (six times platinum),"Agent Provocateur" (three times platinum) and "Inside Information" (platinum). To date, FOREIGNER has sold more than 80 million albums worldwide, cementing its status as one of the top-selling bands of all time.

"Turning Back The Time" 2-LP track listing

LP One: Side One

01. Feels Like The First Time
02. Cold As Ice
03. Long, Long Way From Home
04. Hot Blooded
05. Double Vision

Side Two

01. Dirty White Boy
02. Head Games
03. Urgent
04. Waiting For A Girl Like You

LP Two: Side One

01. Juke Box Hero
02. Girl On The Moon
03. I Want To Know What Love Is
04. That Was Yesterday

Side Two

01. Say You Will
02. Can't Slow Down
03. When It Comes To Love
04. The Flame Still Burns
05. Turning Back The Time

Turning Back The Time

CD Track Listing

01. Feels Like The First Time
02. Cold As Ice
03. Long, Long Way From Home
04. Hot Blooded
05. Double Vision
06. Dirty White Boy
07. Head Games
08. Urgent
09. Waiting For A Girl Like You
10. Juke Box Hero
11. Girl On The Moon
12. I Want To Know What Love Is
13. That Was Yesterday
14. Say You Will
15. Can't Slow Down
16. When It Comes To Love
17. The Flame Still Burns
18. Turning Back The Time

This past April, it was revealed that FOREIGNER is among the 2024 inductees into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame.

The induction ceremony will be held on October 19 at the Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse in Cleveland, Ohio. It will air live on Disney+. An edited version will run on ABC at a later date, and will be available on Hulu the day after.

In an interview with News 8 WROC, Gramm stated about learning that he will be one of Rock Hall class of 2024 inductees: "It was a relief, because we have been eligible for a good long time. And we were wondering if we'd ever be in the Rock Hall Of Fame. We've aspired to be part of it, and it's very satisfying now that we're voted in. And I don't think I don't think we could be any happier."

Shortly after FOREIGNER's Rock Hall induction was first announced, Jones told Billboard that he will have no problems reuniting at the induction ceremony with Gramm, with whom he was inducted into the Songwriters Hall Of Fame with in 2013.

"On a personal level, I have no hard feelings toward Lou," Jones said. "We did perform together at the 40th-anniversary concert. It has been so many years now since Lou left FOREIGNER; I like to think that those ill feelings are in the past. There is power in letting go of hard feelings and getting on with your life. Why carry the burden of hard feelings? It serves nothing in the long run.

When FOREIGNER was first nominated for the Rock Hall in February, Gramm released a video message expressing his gratitude. In the one-minute clip, which was posted to Lou's social media, the 74-year-old singer said: "I'd like to thank the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame for the honor of nomination. And I'd like to acknowledge Mick Jones for his courage as he faces Parkinson's. I'd like to thank my friends in the music and the acting industry for their support, especially over the last two or three weeks in helping us to receive the nomination. Now I've seen a lot of the videos and I've definitely been feeling the buzz. It's really exciting and it means a lot. It means a lot to me and all the guys in the band. Now [multi-instrumentalist] Ian McDonald and [bassist] Ed Gagliardi were vital contributing members of the early FOREIGNER, and I know they're somewhere in the hereafter fist pumping and cheering for this nomination."

Earlier that same month, Jones's stepson, Oscar-nominated producer/songwriter Mark Ronson enlisted Dave Grohl, Jack Black, Slash, RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS drummer Chad Smith and QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE frontman Josh Homme (along with Ronson himself) to create a video campaigning for FOREIGNER's Rock Hall bid.

"Yes, Mick is my stepdad and I love him more than anything," Ronson wrote in a message accompanying the video. "But I'm also a MEGA fan just like Dave, Jack, Slash, Chad and Josh… Enjoy this video and VOTE BABY VOTE!"

In the clip, Homme said: "You want to know what love is? Love is putting FOREIGNER in the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame." Smith added: "I can't believe they’re not in already — oh my God."

"I've loved FOREIGNER since I got their debut record," Grohl said. "There's one drum riff that I have used in more than a few songs."

Black sang parts of FOREIGNER's "I Want To Know What Love Is" before pleading, "Hey, Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame, open the door! FOREIGNER's waiting outside. Let 'em in."

In his Instagram message, Ronson shared a brief history of FOREIGNER's influence, writing: "Everything that made me want to be a record producer came from being in the studio watching FOREIGNER make records. I'm still completely in awe of the sound of those first five albums. Guitars with swagger and bite. Heavy drums that groove like a mutha with the bass. Wide layers of synths. And then there’s that voice. And those songs. It's really crazy. It's also kind of crazy that this is the first time they've ever been on the ballot for the Rock N Roll Hall Of Fame — after 20 years of eligibility."

He added: "Fun Facts: FOREIGNER are the most played band on classic rock radio to not be in the hall of fame. They've been sung by our fave characters from the Simpsons, The Office, I, Tonya, Stranger Things and Wet Hot American Summer. They've been covered by Diana Ross and Mariah Carey (what the rock band can boast that??). They were sampled and turned into HOT FIRE by M.O.P. (remember that Cold As Ice joint?) and Tone-Loc who used them to concoct some Funky Cold Medina."

To be eligible for this year's ballot, each nominee's first single or album had to have been released in 1999 or earlier.

Eligible since 2002, FOREIGNER has had a huge number of rock hits, including "Cold As Ice", "Double Vision", "Hot Blooded", "I Want To Know What Love Is", "Juke Box Hero" and "Urgent", and has been nominated for three Grammy Awards, with no wins.

According to the Hall Of Fame, the FOREIGNER members that will get inducted include only the classic-era musicians Jones, Gramm, Dennis Elliott, Gagliardi, Al Greenwood, McDonald and Rick Wills. McDonald and Gagliardi died in 2022 and 2014, respectively.

As two of the leading figures in contemporary progressive music, Steven Wilson and Mikael Åkerfeldt have treated their fans to all sorts of thrillingly unconventional and atmospheric sounds over the years. But even by their own talismanic standards, the duo's 2012 collaboration as STORM CORROSION exists in its own psychedelic lane of peculiarity, throwing listeners into a world of haunting and unsettling ambience like no other.

Some 12 years on from its original release, the album will be reissued on September 27 via Kscope on LP, CD and Blu-ray forms with a new Dolby Atmos remix by Steven Wilson. It will include a bonus cut of "Drag Ropes" — the only song they've performed live to date — recorded when Mikael guested with Steven and his band at London's Royal Albert Hall in September 2015, plus extra documentary insights and footage. Given how the album clearly holds a special place in the hearts of both of its creators, and naturally their collective army of fans around the world, the new release will be a timely celebration of the ethereal magick encased within its six ground-breaking tracks.

A love letter to the esoteric and abstruse sounds of the past, crossing the mystifying noises of late '60s/early '70s German groups like TANGERINE DREAM and POPOL VUH with the sound of British folk heroes like Nick Drake and Bert Jansch, while also embracing the eclectic oddities of cult figures like Scott Walker, it's the kind of album that takes you on a transcendental journey that you never really come back from. For the two friends, this kind of fierce originality is precisely what they set out to achieve…

"STORM CORROSION was the 2012 album made by myself and Mikael Åkerfeldt of the band OPETH, and one which both of us considered a deeply satisfying artistic success," says Steven. "It remains one of my favorite releases in my whole catalogue. Part of what made it so much fun was that pretty much anything that either of us suggested, the other would agree it should definitely be pursued, no matter how crazy and off the wall it sounded."

That sense of pride is shared by his accomplice Mikael Åkerfeldt, who feels it's easily one of the most experimental, if not bizarre, things either of them have ever recorded, and all the better for it. For him, and countless others, these enigmatic recordings seem to exist in a genre of their own — at times sounding more acoustic and minimalistic, and others infinitely more cerebral and foreboding, but in any case, always intoxicating.

"Throughout all of my years as a musician, it's very rare for me to return to a record I have participated in myself for the sheer listening pleasure alone," notes Mikael. "STORM CORROSION is the exception. It's such a lovely record to me. I can distance myself from my own work on it and just experience it as a fan of its music. Everything about this record is strange in the best way possible."

"We'd talked many times over the years about doing a project with just the two of us," continues Steven. "In 2011 we quietly got together for a week at my studio, and started to make music, not knowing where it would take us, but knowing that the last thing we wanted to do was the obvious. Instead, we found ourselves making an album of weird psychedelic chamber folk music, almost child-like in places, with lots of dissonance, orchestral arrangements and weird bits."

"Storm Corrosion" will be available on the following formats:

* Orange & Purple vinyl 2LP, gatefold packaging, 8-page booklet (includes bonus track live recording of "Drag Ropes" from Royal Albert Hall in 2015)

* Yellow vinyl 2LP, gatefold packaging, 8-page booklet (includes bonus track live recording of "Drag Ropes" from Royal Albert Hall in 2015)

* Black vinyl 2LP, gatefold packaging, 8-page booklet (includes bonus track live recording of "Drag Ropes" from Royal Albert Hall in 2015)

* Blu-ray edition (includes high-resolution stereo, 2024 Dolby Atmos and 5.1 DTS-HD surround audio mixes and instrumental mixes of each track. Also includes a mini album documentary, the promo video for the track "Drag Ropes", alongside two demo versions and an 8-page printed booklet. Additionally, a 2015 live recording of "Drag Ropes" from The Royal Albert Hall when Mikael guested at one of Steven's solo concerts has been newly mixed for this edition)

* CD edition (digipak CD edition includes 8-page printed booklet, plus a bonus track the live recording of "Drag Ropes" from The Royal Albert Hall in 2015)

Its impact was keenly felt the world over — so much so, that there have been on-going calls for a follow-up. It's something both musicians are open to but given how busy they are in their main projects, Steven as a solo artist and Mikael in charge of all things OPETH, whether it happens anytime soon remains to be seen. And if the members of STORM CORROSION do end up working on new material, chances are it will be done behind closed doors, in a similar spirit to their brilliantly leftfield debut.

"I get the notion that some listeners are completely and utterly in love with it," continues Mikael. "I really understand that, since that's how I feel myself. It's strange and crazy in many ways. This record has got something. It's quite unique. I'm so happy to see it available again."

For Steven, who first started working with OPETH as the producer for seminal albums like "Blackwater Park", "Deliverance" and "Damnation", the sheer delight he takes from working with someone as utterly devoted to the surreal and obscure is something he has been continually vocal about. They are kindred spirits, and in more ways than one — this particular masterpiece demonstrating that in the most poignant of ways.

"That security in our collaboration could only have come from a place of mutual respect and admiration, even a sense of awe at what the other was capable of," continues Steven. "We loved the finished result. It had seemed so effortless to make it."

Once it was unveiled to the world, STORM CORROSION created just as much excitement as it did confusion. And as anyone familiar with either of these musicians will know, that's precisely what they were aiming for.

"I don't know what the people expecting a full-on heavy rock album made of it," laughs Steven. "In many ways it has become the cult classic we always intended it to be…"

Issued in 2012, "Storm Corrosion" sold 9,400 copies in the United States in its first week of release to debut at position No. 47 on The Billboard 200 chart. The CD also landed at No. 45 on the official U.K. chart.

In a 2019 question-and-answer session posted on the YouTube channel of Nuclear Blast Records, Åkerfeldt was asked about the possibility of a second album from STORM CORROSION. He said at the time: "I had dinner with Steve yesterday, and we talked a little bit about it. We always talk a little bit about it, if we're gonna do another one. But yeah, I think we'll try; at some point, we'll try. I can almost say a hundred percent that we will try, without really knowing — but just judging from how we talk about this project. That was a fun thing for both of us and a new thing for both of us. But the problem, when you have one record, is that there's a reference point. So it's likely that if we do another record, maybe there'll be another name for that project. And it's likely it will sound completely different.

"We wanna make another record, [and] if we do that, it has to be on the same premise as how we did the first one," he continued. "Nobody knows. There's no record label that knows. We don't even know if it's gonna work out and we don't know what we're doing, basically. I mean, that was almost written in real time and recorded in real time. We just had a riff. 'Okay, let's record that riff, that part, and then piece it together.' And then, in the end, it was, like, 'My God, this is strange. But we love it. What is it?'

"We had some common inspirations and common artists and bands that we said, 'Maybe around there, that's where we meet up and do something,'" Mikael added. "And it ended up sounding like nothing I can compare it to, to be honest. For good and worse, for fans. It's a weird record. And it sold a lot in the first couple of weeks, because Roadrunner picked that up. And I assume it sold a lot to fans of PORCUPINE TREE and Steven Wilson fans, who must have gone, 'What the hell is this?'

"I love that album — love it. But, yeah, we're gonna do something, I'm sure. But it's probably gonna be different."

Photo by Carl Glover

Live Rock Music Concerts has uploaded video of Alice Cooper's entire August 16 concert at Pacific Ampitheatre in Costa Mesa, California as part of Orange County Fair's Pacific Amphitheatre concert series. Check it out below.

Cooper pioneered a grandly theatrical brand of hard rock that was designed to shock. Drawing equally from horror movies, vaudeville, and garage rock, the group created a stage show that featured electric chairs, guillotines, fake blood and boa constrictors. He continues to tour regularly, performing shows worldwide with the dark and horror-themed theatrics that he's best known for.

In a recent interview with the 96.1 KLPX radio station, Cooper stated about how his stage show has evolved over the years: "It's so funny because it used to be easy to shock an audience in the '70s. Now nobody's really trying — we're not really trying to shock an audience. I don't think anybody is 'shock rock' anymore, but those elements still remain in the show because they're fun to watch. It's still fun to watch the guillotine and the fact that you really buy in to it because of what happens before that. You're really concerned about this character Alice up there, what happens. And that's what I like about it. I want the audience to get involved in the show. We don't do a lot of lasers. We don't do things like that, because I want the emphasis to be on the character Alice, what happens to him and what he what exactly he's doing. But all that happens during all these songs that everybody knows — 'Feed My Frankenstein' and 'Poison' and 'No More Mr. Nice Guy' and, of course, 'School's Out' at the end."

Fresh from the success of his latest album "Road", a concept album about the thrills and spills of touring, Alice is accompanied, as always, by his long-running live band of Ryan Roxie (guitar),Chuck Garric (bass),Tommy Henriksen (guitar),Glen Sobel (drums) and Nita Strauss (guitar).

With a schedule that has included six months year in and year out on the road, Cooper brings his own brand of rock psycho-drama to fans both old and new, enjoying it as much as the audience does. Known as the architect of shock-rock, Cooper (in both the original ALICE COOPER band and as a solo artist) has rattled the cages and undermined the authority of generations of guardians of the status quo, continuing to surprise fans and exude danger at every turn, like a great horror movie, even in an era where CNN can present real-life shocking images.

With his influence on rock and roll and popular culture long since acknowledged, there is little that Cooper hasn't achieved in his remarkable career, including platinum albums, sold-out tours and any number of honors and career achievement awards.

In a new interview with the "Thunder Underground" podcast, founding DROWNING POOL guitarist C.J. Pierce discussed the progress of the songwriting and recording sessions for the new music that he and his longtime bandmates — drummer Mike Luce and bassist Stevie Benton — have been working on with singer Ryan McCombs. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Yeah. I got the new mix [of the first song] in two nights ago…. The plan was, yes, to try to get it out by summer and June, but us being on tour so much and not having as much time to get in the studio as we wanted to — in between shows if we have a weekend off, we'll fly in there for a couple of days — so it took a little longer to get it down and done. But it's mixed and mastered, ready to go, man. So hopefully in the next four weeks, three to four weeks, we'll have it out."

Regarding the musical direction of the new DROWNING POOL song, C.J. said: "I'm so excited, man. It just came out naturally. We never tried to write like a 'Bodies Part Two' or a 'Tear Away Part Two'. We just write what we feel at the time, and the excitement that we had and the energy we have with Ryan being back in the band, the song definitely has that vibe to it. It's in drop C [tuning], and I got a new wah pedal in the studio when I was doing the song. So I'm wah-pedaling all over just like on [DROWNING POOL's] 'Sinner' record. So it has that old-school vibe to it. The people that have heard it so far, that's what they relate it to. It's got that same type of energy. It's its own song and entity. But yeah, it's intense, man. It's a banger."

Asked if the idea is for DROWNING POOL to put out standalone singles going forward or if he and his bandmatea are working on an album, C.J. said: "Well, we wanna put out some singles, and stuff that we're doing with Ryan. And yes, we wanna do a full-length record. But we have a lot of stuff coming up in the works. We just did a bunch of shows in Poland for our troops back in December and January. We did a 17-song jam and acoustic set. And I've always wanted to do that. And we kind of fell into it 'cause they asked us to do it over the holidays right before that happened. So it kind of threw us into acoustic mode, which we've never done. And I love the way that set came out. Some songs, they sound heavier, some songs sound a little different, some sound exactly the same, but acoustic style. So I wanna record that as a whole to get that out there. There's a handful of songs we're doing now with Ryan off [DROWNING POOL's] 'Desensitized' [album]. It's the 20-year anniversary. So we talked about rerecording a few songs with Ryan's voice on it since we do those now. And then we're coming up on the 25-year anniversary of the 'Sinner' record, so I've been putting a lot of stuff together with that, that we have with [original DROWNING POOL singer] Dave Williams. I have so much video and songs we did. And there's a couple of things and ideas we had with Dave I wouldn't mind doing with Ryan and making them solid as well. So there's a lot of stuff in the works, man, on top of writing new songs. So, we wanna get a couple of new things out so you can hear what we're doing with Ryan and then definitely wanna do a full-length record with him in the process of doing these other things. But the writing hasn't stopped, man. Since he's walked into my house last year, the ideas — I mean, it's been 13 years and a lot has happened to all of us in that time frame, and so there's a lot to write about, a lot to share, and it comes out through the music, dude. It's killer."

Last month, McCombs told 94 Rocks KFML's "The Dark" rock music program about the reason for the delay in releasing new DROWNING POOL music: "We've got so many different opportunities in front of us, touring-wise, and then also because of the new music, as far as how we wanna release it. We had a plan in place. We knew how we wanted to go about it. We wanna go strictly independent, but all of a sudden there's a hunger for it. So there's been all these different little things coming to the table, different outlets coming to the table, giving us different things to think about and to chew about. We're not great on making decisions to begin with, but then all of a sudden now, there's a bunch of different opportunities ahead of us and we're just trying to figure out the best way to get the music out there to everybody. Not just this time, but moving forward, because we continue. C.J. is just like a fountain over here. They all are. I mean, it's coming natural to us. We're spitting stuff out. So we're not only thinking about this song, but also the material that is yet to come and the majority that we're currently working on and everything. So it's just how to best present it. So that's what the delay has been about. It's been about the fact that we knew what we wanted to do, but then all of a sudden, there's been so many different opportunities. Now it's, like, which one's the best route to go?"

Asked if the sound of the new DROWNING POOL material harkens back to what Ryan did with the band in the past, McCombs said: "It's C.J. It's Stevie. It's Mike. It's myself. We did a couple of really — not to toot our own horn — I think we did a couple really good albums back in the day. And we pick up right where we left off.

"I think the coolest thing about DROWNING POOL is it's really easy with DROWNING POOL to separate things with the singers, as far as eras go, but there's always been the DROWNING POOL sound," Ryan continued. "There's always been a certain aspect of just the tones and everything. So it's still just like it always has been — DROWNING POOL."

In June, Pierce told Scott Penfold of Loaded Radio that he and his DROWNING POOL bandmates are once again working with producer Shawn McGhee. "He has his own studio," C.J. explained. "We did the last record with him as well. We did [2022's] 'Strike A Nerve' [with him]. And he's just a great guy to work with. He's on the same page as us and a great friend and a great musician and a killer producer and mixer. So, we love working with Shawn. He really knows how to capture what we're trying to do, man. That's the kind of producer you want. We put him in a driver's seat and somebody you can trust to have that outside ear to take what we have already and elevate it."

Asked what fans can expect from the new DROWNING POOL music, Pierce said: "It just came out naturally. We just started writing. We were all excited to be together again. And we never try to be that kind of band to [go], like, 'Okay, let's write 'Bodies Part Two' or 'Sinner Part Two'. We just write what we feel. And then this came out naturally just to have that 'Sinner' record foundation with Ryan singing on it, man. It's probably the closest thing we've had that's like that, that's a good blend of us and Ryan and stuff from the Dave Williams days. And it came naturally and organically and, dude, it's slamming."

Regarding what it has been like having Ryan step back into the band and if that familiarity was there again, C.J. said: "Yeah, it was there like that and then some, man, 'cause we're all different people. And getting to know all of us, the new us — new and improved, hopefully.

"We just did the [Welcome To] Rockville festival, and just to see friends say that, 'cause people are just now seeing us with Ryan again," he continued. "[People are telling us], 'Man, I can just tell you guys are having so much fun with it. It's awesome to see you guys'. You can tell when a band's up there doing it for real. There's no going through motions with us. And we're having fun with it."

Four months ago, Pierce told Tulsa Music Stream about the new DROWNING POOL music: "It's the first time we have new music with Ryan McCombs in 13 years. And everything's organic and natural. We just started jamming and it just came out like that. It's not trying to push anything or any agenda. We just had this great writing relationship, and it was awesome to click like that again, especially with everybody in the band. Before we finish up the lyrics and all the singing, we're all sat down at the table and bounce ideas off each other to finetune the songs. It's awesome to work with my brothers like that, to have that kind of relationship where everybody has some input and say into it. So when the song comes out, all four of us love what we do with it."

Asked if he and his bandmates usually discuss where they want their new music to go or if they just generally stick to a tried-and-tested formula, Pierce said: "It's actually none of those things at all. Sorry. The answer is none of the above. I mean, some people, they approach it like that. I know some bands have the songwriter in the band or two guys writing everything, and some people don't. I love the fact that we all just get in a room and jam. It's a feeling thing. Music's expressing what's going on at the time. So, the way ideas usually come up with us in DROWNING POOL, it's just, 'Hey, man, I have this feeling, this idea. What do you think about this or this subject matter?' If something comes up, like, 'We should write something about that.' It's different. It's not really a set formula. We need to sound like this; we need to sound like that."

He continued: "It was unfortunate that we lost Dave Williams in 2002 from cardiomyopathy, but it also allowed us to work with other singers. They all have their own style and where they fit within the music Mike, Stevie and I write, So that was also fun. I wouldn't say challenge as much as just coming up with you feel and then see how it works with the strong points of the singer that's singing to it as well. So it just comes up. Everything's, again, whatever you feel at the time; that's what we write. It's never been trying to follow the trend, which is I'm fine with bands that do that or trying to fit in here and there. We try to keep it a hundred percent original."

Pierce added: "There's a few bands out there that have that formula — like AC/DC, as an example — and that works for them and that probably works for them to stick with it. With us, we've kind of been all over the board with, obviously, singer changes and stuff. But everybody knows 'Bodies'. And that's the core sound of what we have anyway. And the excitement of Ryan coming back in the band with the new songs that we have are equal to, if not more jamming than, 'Bodies'. And not intentional, like 'we have to like write a 'Bodies Part Two'' or another song [like that]. It's we just have that fire again. So it just comes out like that."

Earlier in April, Pierce spoke to Pierre Gutiérrez of Rock Talks about how the new DROWNING POOL music compares to "Strike A Nerve", the band's first record in seven years, which came out in September 2022 via T-Boy/UMe. It marked the band's third album with singer Jasen Moreno, who joined DROWNING POOL in 2012. Asked if the material is "more balanced" than "Strike A Nerve", C.J. said: "I wouldn't say more balanced. With Jasen Moreno on the last couple of records, we just started going up a heavy thing. Plus our career, just things that were going on at that time — I write what's going on in my life at the time; it's art, it's music — and just things were getting more intense with Jasen. Not just Jasen, but the music business, everything. So the music got intense as well, as you hear. And then with Ryan back in here, we still have that same intention, but Ryan brings a different kind of aspect and the delivery to the songs. There's definitely the style that we had on the two records we did with Ryan that's there, but we still have that heaviness going on as well. So it's definitely the heaviest stuff we've done with Ryan, for sure. So it's all heavy, brother. There's definitely a few songs that may be… We had '37 Stitches' and songs like that with Ryan. We have one or two songs that are kind of more in that mellow zone with him as well that we're working on. But, yeah, the last few records, we were pretty much just slamming, just full-on super-heavy stuff, man, which I enjoy as well. So you're gonna get a mix of it. I feel like with Ryan, we can get more of a mix of styles in there as well… It's intense, man. It's intense music. That's what we write."

McCombs played his first shows back with DROWNING POOL in March 2023 at Club L.A. in Destin, Florida and at the inaugural Throwdown At The Campground festival in Fruitland Park, Florida.

The longtime SOIL frontman, who has lived in Swindon, England since 2018, originally joined DROWNING POOL in 2005 and appeared on two of the band's studio albums, "Full Circle" (2007) and "Drowning Pool" (2010),as well as a live album, 2009's "Loudest Common Denominator". He rejoined SOIL after exiting DROWNING POOL in 2011.

McCombs is continuing to front SOIL and will carry on recording and performing with both bands.

DROWNING POOL's debut album, "Sinner", was certified platinum within six weeks of its release in 2001, while the CD's first single, "Bodies", was one of the most frequently aired videos on MTV by a new band. DROWNING POOL reached out to an ever-greater audience with dynamic performances at Wrestlemania XVIII and Ozzfest during the summers of 2001 and 2002. Unfortunately, their streak of success was not to last. Shortly after rousing the crowd at Ozzfest in Indianapolis, Indiana, on August 3, 2002, vocalist Dave "Stage" Williams was found dead of natural causes on the tour bus.

Photo credit: Tricia Starr Photography (courtesy of
O'Donnell Media Group)

American death metal icons NILE will finally drop their highly anticipated tenth album, "The Underworld Awaits Us All", this Friday, August 23 via Napalm Records. In celebration of this week's album release, the band has unleashed their third single – pinnacle burner "Under The Curse Of The One God". Accompanied by a hypnotic lyric video, the track combines sinister atmospherics with breakneck pacing and vicious riff acrobatics, soaring as a technical tour-de-force with career-defining drumming from George Kollias.

NILE's Karl Sanders comments on the new track and lyric video: "We are really happy that fans will finally have a chance to hear 'Under The Curse Of The One God'. It's a ferocious and brutal NILE track, steeped in Ancient Curses. Many thanks to Ingo Sporl for once again wielding his uniquely creative visual artistry to help bring our music to blasphemous life."

Boasting airtight technicality and unrelenting brutality, "The Underworld Awaits Us All" pushes each member of NILE — founding mastermind/guitarist Karl Sanders, longtime drum master George Kollias, vocalist/guitarists Brian Kingsland and Zach Jeter, and bassist Dan Vadim Von — to their furthest extremes both in artistry and performance.

Once again produced and recorded at Sanders's own Serpent Headed Studios in Greenville, South Carolina, the band returned to "Vile Nilotic Rites" engineer Mark Lewis (CANNIBAL CORPSE, DYING FETUS, WHITECHAPEL) for mixing and mastering.

Facing the planet's inevitable end with their diehard fans at their side, NILE waste absolutely no time with histrionics on "The Underworld Awaits Us All", distilling their trademark Egyptology driven tempest down to its most streamlined essence. Charging into battle as its namesake depicts, "Stelae of Vultures" makes an immediate impact with dissonant guitar chords and supernatural drumming, teasing the auditory evisceration to come. Topped by impressive screams and gutturals, the track leads into "Chapter For Not Being Hung Upside Down On A Stake In The Underworld And Made To Eat Feces By The Four Apes", citing the Egyptian Book Of The Dead's 181st chapter. The album's most succinct track, "To Strike with Secret Fang" blends low-end punishment with blackened death metal inspiration, before album standouts such as "Naqada II Enter the Golden Age" and "Overlords of the Black Earth" breathe new life with thrash and fusion experimentation, as well as real human choirs — adding a raw element to the NILE fold. Each track soars as a technical tour de force — featuring career-defining extreme drumming from Kollias, as well as razor-sharp soloing from all three active guitarists and palpable bass exploration.

Throughout the remainder of its 11 pummeling tracks and intricate interludes, NILE masters full-tilt speed and ferocious musicality. 30 years into their heavy reign, "The Underworld Awaits Us All" proves that NILE is marching onward and undoubtedly upward, bleeding metal for their fandom for as long as the sands of time will allow.

Sanders says about the album: "We are very happy to be sharing with fans NILE's 10th album. We worked overtime making this record as killer as we could — because we sincerely felt fans deserved our best efforts. 'The Underworld Awaits Us All' — and we will see you there."

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

"The Underworld Awaits Us All" track listing:

01. Stelae Of Vultures
02. Chapter For Not Being Hung Upside Down On A Stake In The Underworld And Made To Eat Feces By The Four Apes
03. To Strike With Secret Fang
04. Naqada II Enter The Golden Age
05. The Pentagrammathion Of Nephren-Ka
06. Overlords Of The Black Earth
07. Under The Curse Of The One God
09. Doctrine Of Last Things
10. True Gods Of The Desert
11. The Underworld Awaits Us All
12. Lament For The Destruction Of Time

NILE recently announced a full European tour for September 2024, followed by a Japan tour in October 2024. The band was also just confirmed for Maryland Deathfest 2025, and will make two festival appearances this summer.

NILE has also announced its upcoming 2025 USA co-headline tour with death metal greats SIX FEET UNDER. The tour begins January 7, 2025 in Nashville, Tennessee and will feature support from PSYCROPTIC and EMBRYONIC AUTOPSY.

NILE is:

Karl Sanders - Guitar, Vocals, Keyboards
George Kollias - Drums
Brian Kingsland - Guitar, Vocals
Zach Jeter - Guitar, Vocals
Dan Vadim Von - Bass

Photo credit: Casey Coscarelli

Years in the making, Los Angeles’ acclaimed avant-garde metal band MELTED BODIES has revealed today their long-awaited 2nd album, The Inevitable Fork, will be self-released on October 18th. Comprised of 3 distinctive EPs sewn together with mesmerizing interludes and soundscapes, The Inevitable Fork is an experimental genre-blending record that pushes the limits of what’s expected of modern metal and showcases the emerging talent of one of the scene’s most innovative and volatile bands around.

Today, the band has debuted the new single “Bloodlines,” a frenzied, frantic new track with massive groove laden riffs and incredibly memorable hooks that will grab hold of listeners with its sharp teeth and never let go.

Commenting on the song, vocalist Andy Hamm (ex-LOCAL NATIVES) says:

“’Bloodlines’ toils and tussles with the idea that all of us have unique pre-loaded behaviors, emotions and traits in our bloodlines. The past addictions, traumas, bodily shapes, love, nurture, disease etc. are passed down to us generation after family generation. I find myself longing for an emotional and physical tenderness that my mother held back on at points, paying for mistakes that my father perhaps made, a history of alcoholism and depression on both sides of my family etc. We spend a majority of our lives yearning to fix, understand or struggle with these genetics we never asked for.”

Stream “Bloodlines“: https://too.fm/meltedbodies-bloodlines


Pre-Order The Inevitable Fork: https://meltedbodies.bandcamp.com/album/the-inevitable-fork-lp

“Bloodlines” follows a series of singles from the incoming record released by the band over the last year, including stand out tracks like “The Hot Dog Contract,” The Avalanche,” “State of Mind,” “Liars” and “Therapy.”

Adding about the record, Hamm says:

“We all have arrived at, or are approaching our own version of what I call ‘The Inevitable Fork’, and this overarching theme informs most of these songs in some way, much of which is very personal. Our bloodlines, mental health, past traumas, accomplishments, and regrets eventually lead us all to choose one of this fork’s many prongs to follow. Maybe we accept that it’s all imperfect, and we embrace our flaws to make anew or try again. Or perhaps we avoid, stall, numb, or overindulge. We’ve all been told “it’s now or never,” but yet we have heard that so many times. This stigma feeds our avoidance, unaccountability, and utter laziness. But rest assured ‘The Inevitable Fork’ is coming for us all whether we appreciate it or appall it.”

The Inevitable Fork is about the personal battle of survival vs. joy; our need to conform and stay afloat despite the pursuit of purpose. This is the next chapter for MELTED BODIES, but for a band designed around reflecting on the very idea of metal with glaring intensity, there’s much more to this story.

The Inevitable Fork Tracklisting:
1. Destined To Suffer
2. Bloodlines
3. The Hot Dog Contract
4. Wrath Of The Flies
5. Overinflated All The Time
6. Liars (Album Edit)
7. State Of Mind
8. Splitting
9. Vague And Easy
10. Relax You Are Lazy
11. Dreamer
12. The Avalanche (Album Edit)
13. Vital Aftermath
14. The Inevitable Fork (Album Edit)
15. Talk Some More About It
16. Think Safe
17. I Often Feel Alone While Surrounded By Other People
18. Therapy
19. There Is Something Else Here Now Too
20. Something Is Wrong

KYLESA, one of the pioneers of the Savannah, Georgia Southern sludge/psychedelic, rock/metal sound and vibe, will reform for several live appearances in 2025 celebrating its 25 years as a band. The first announced concert will take place at the Roadburn festival in April 2025 in Tilburg, The Netherlands.

KYLESA said: "After 10 years away we are excited to return to performing live: starting at Roadburn 2025. We're playing a few special shows next year celebrating 25 years as a band & it all starts in Tilburg. We have so much more to tell you about over the coming months."

In April 2016, KYLESA, which is led by guitarists/vocalists Phillip Cope and Laura Pleasants, announced that it was going on indefinite hiatus. The band broke the news to fans in a social media post, writing: "After 15 years of nonstop touring and writing, we decided that it is time for a break. A lot of you have been asking when we are coming to your part of the world and that means a lot to us. However, we feel it should be known that as of now we have no plans to play any shows or work on any new material. We have collectively decided to take a hiatus with no set date to reconvene."

In June, KYLESA revealed that it had teamed with Mythos Management and was working on "some uniquely cool projects for the future and on ways to preserve our past — excited to share more on it moving forward."

In the decade since KYLESA stopped performing live, Philip reunited DAMAD, Laura launched a new band called THE DISCUSSION and they contributed to various other projects. Earlier this year, Laura lent her voice to SLOWER, the stoner/sludge/doom metal tribute to SLAYER.

KYLESA's seventh album, "Exhausting Fire", was released in October 2015 via Season Of Mist. On the LP, KYLESA further explored and incorporated psychedelic rock, new wave, space-age twangy Americana, '80s goth and death rock into its pitch-thick DIY punk/metal roots.

Philip described "Exhausting Fire" as "an album we really put our hearts on our sleeves for. We've always done that, but emotionally, it's probably the most honest and raw album we’ve ever done."

"No band sounds like us and we don't sound like any other band", Laura said. "After all these years of experimenting with different styles and sounds, we've really developed our own thing and I can faithfully say that we sound like us. With this album, we've successfully made a record that incorporates all the elements we've always played with into a record that works on its own."

KYLESA's live show saw them perform as a five-piece, including a second drummer.

KYLESA 2015 press photo courtesy of Season Of Mist
After 10 years away we are excited to return to performing live:starting at Roadburn 2025. We're playing a few special shows next year celebrating 25 years as a band & it all starts in Tilburg. We have so much more to tell you about over the coming months.

-Phillip & Laura. pic.twitter.com/iO4CDt9BEV

— kylesa (@kylesamusic) August 20, 2024