Sweden’s The Quill will release their new album, Born From Fire, on August 25th via Metalville.

The classic lineup who created the albums Silver Haze, Voodoo Caravan and Hooray! It's A Deathtrip has reunited. Lead singer Magnus Ekwall (Ayreon) is back behind the mic, together with the dynamic power of drummer Jolle Atlagic (Hanoi Rocks, Electric Boys, Firebird), guitarist Christian Carlsson and bassist Roger Nilsson (Spiritual Beggars, Firebird).

The legendary lineup has secretly recorded a smashing new album, Born From Fire. The new masterpiece will be released on digital, CD and double vinyl in gatefold sleeve. The first single with accompanying video will be released on August 11th. Stay tuned for updates.

Tracklisting:

“Stone Believer”
“Snake Charmer Woman”
“Ghosthorse”
“Keep It Together”
“The Spirit And The Spark”
“Skull & Bones”
“Set Free Black Crow”
“Electrical Sons”
“Hollow Of Your Hand”
“Unchain Yourself”
“Revelation”
“Metamorphosis”

Canadian rock icon Lee Aaron capped off a short summer tour of Germany this past weekend with a show at the Bang Your Head Festival in Balingen. Fan-filmed video is available below.

Lee Aaron performed a couple new songs and some covers which are due to appear on her new album, due out in the fall. Check out "Diamond Baby" and a cover of Deep Purple's "Mistreated" below.

Lee aaron's guitarist Sean Kelly recently checked in with the following update:

"Here is a behind the scenes look at the new Lee Aaron album, coming later this year! Tons of big guitar, one of the best rhythm sections in the biz, and Lee Aaron singing with a power and range that needs to be heard to be believed...this record is HEAVY!"

Currently on tour in Europe and the UK, Canadian rock icon Lee Aaron has been performing a couple new songs and some covers which are due to appear on her new album, due out in the fall. Check out "Diamond Baby" and a cover of Deep Purple's "Mistreated" below.

 

Lee aaron's guitarist Sean Kelly recently checked in with the following update:

"Here is a behind the scenes look at the new Lee Aaron album, coming later this year! Tons of big guitar, one of the best rhythm sections in the biz, and Lee Aaron singing with a power and range that needs to be heard to be believed...this record is HEAVY!"

Photo by Rockingham Festival

Wayward Sons’ debut album, Ghosts Of Yet To Come, will be released on September 15th. A video for the acoustic version of the new single “Alive” can be seen below.

Wayward Sons is a UK guitar act made up of Toby Jepson (vocals, guitar), Sam Wood (guitar), Nic Wastell (bass), Dave Kemp (keys) and Phil Martini (drums). They have an impressive resume of groups they have previously worked with - Little Angels, Gun, Spear Of Destiny, Treason Kings and Chrome Molly to name a few - which is reassuring in terms of the band as players, but doesn’t really hint at their sound. Wayward Sons sound nothing like the sum of their parts. The music is hard rock but mixed with a vitality and energy - both musically and lyrically.

Ghosts Of Yet To Come is a hugely accomplished debut album - as might be expected. From the staccato riffing of “Give It Away” to the melodic intro of first single “Until The End”, from the hard rock of “Ghosts” to 4/4 rock of “Don’t Wanna Go”, the album sounds familiar yet of its own. Toby Jepson had the basis of songs written when the band formed. Together they then took these rough song ideas and forged their own sound. Lyrically the album sees Jepson treading a far more personal line than some of his previous output.

“I feel I have unfinished business, stories still left to tell, points to make, noise to create, all of the above... besides, it wasn't a choice, more of a need. My intention is very simple. I want to write about what makes me tick; about what I believe in. Hopefully you will believe in it too. It will be warts and all,” says Jepson.

The album was produced by Wayward Sons (Toby Jepson’s previous credits as a songwriter and producer include the likes of Katie Melua, The Virgin Marys, The Answer and Toseland) and Chris D’Adda (Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds).

Tracklisting:

“Alive”
“Until The End”
“Ghost”
“Don't Wanna Go”
“Give It Away”
“Killing Time”
“Crush”
“Be Still”
“Small Talk”
“Something Wrong”

“Alive” video:

“Until The End” video:

“Until The End” alternate studio video:

Wayward Sons have a series of dates through 2017, with more to follow.

July
26 - Bristol, UK - Louisiana
28 - Derbyshire, UK - Rock And Blues Custom Show Festival
29 - Kent, UK - Ramblin’ Man Fair Festival
30 - Ebbw Vale, UK - Steelhouse Festival

Travelin Jack, one of the hottest new rock acts from Germany, have released a new digital single and video for the song "Keep On Running". The track is taken from their forthcoming album, Commencing Countdown. The video was produced by renowned film producer and cover designer Andreas Marschall.

The band comments on the song as follows: "This song is for all the dancing fools out there. Forget about this crazy world for a while and don't let your life be dictated by fear! You've got the power....so keep on running!"

Founded in summer 2013, Travelin Jack have developed into one of Germany’s most unusual rock acts over the past four years, establishing their inimitable style, which is tailored to the vocals of Alia Spaceface, with two successful tours and shows at important festivals beyond the German borders. The general flair of their new album Commencing Countdown may bring to mind great rock groups from the seventies, such as Thin Lizzy, Rush, Scorpions and Deep Purple, but the Berlin band’s compositions and the warm, analogue production of their new album are both contemporary and modern.

Tracklisting:

“Land Of The River”
“Metropolis”
“Keep On Running”
“Cold Blood”
“Galactic Blue”
“Time”
“Miracles”
“What Have I Done”
“Fire”
“Journey To The Moon”

Live dates:

August
11 - Plattenburg, Germany - Aquamaria Festival
18 - Bad Kötzting, Germany - Void Fest
19 - Luckenwalde, Germany - Sky Way Jam

September
7 - Bochum, Germany - Zeche (with  Wucan)
8 - Münster, Germany - Rare Guitar
9 - Berlin, Germany - Cassiopeia
21 - Hannover, Germany - Mephisto (with Wucan)
22 - Erfurt, Germany - Tiko
23 - Dresden, Germany - Scheune (with Wucan)

October
5 - Vienna, Austria - Das Bach (with Wucan)

On June 16th, Dutch symphonic metallers Epica performed at the Graspop Metal Meeting in Dessel, Belgium. Pro-shot video is available below. The setlist on the day was as follows: 

"Edge Of The Blade"
"A Phantasmic Parade"
"The Essence Of Silence"
"Ascension - Dream State Armageddon"
"Unchain Utopia"
"Cry For The Moon"
"Sancta Terra"
"Beyond The Matrix"
"Consign To Oblivion"

With their latest masterpiece, Epica set new standards. 2016’s The Holographic Principle is the most epochal, multi-layered, courageous and successful record of the band, reaching top 10 chart position entries in the German, Dutch and Swiss album charts.

Accordingly, all the tracks written for the album process are high-quality, but not all songs have been put on the album. "This is only based on the fact that the record should not exceed 76 minutes," explains Mark Jansen.

Since the band didn’t like the idea of a double CD, they finally decided to release an EP with six brand-new numbers, which were created during the creative phase of The Holographic Principle. The Solace System EP will be released on September 1st via Nuclear Blast.

Mark Jansen about the songs: "The listeners can expect a high-quality EP - with songs that are far too good to use them only as bonus tracks. We wanted to publish these songs together in a context. It is always hard to decide at the end of a recording process which songs will be on the album, because this means that you have to miss some songs with best quality, just because they do not fit quite well into the overall flow of the record or because there are other songs that are more suited to the lyrics.”

So much the better then that Epica have chosen to publish those songs in an EP. Due to this EP, no one has to miss these damn strong songs that, just like the album, consist from a contrasting versatility, equally opulent, bombastic moments, as well as filigree emotionality.

This is proven in the new music video to the title track “The Solace System” produced by anime-master Davide Cilloni, which you can see below.

The Solace System was recorded, mixed and mastered by team Joost van den Broek and Jacob Hansen. The splendid artwork is once again by the hand of Stefan Heilemann.

Simone Simons (vocalist) comments on the EP: "During the early writing process of The Holographic Principle we found out that we were blessed with a huge amount of songs. The songs that didn't fit on our album are now available for you on this special EP! I hope you guys will enjoy these songs as much as we do!"

And if that wasn't enough, you'll be also able to purchase the new EP, The Solace System, together with the CD of their recent studio album The Holographic Principle as a box set! It will be called The Holographic Principle - The Ultimate Edition.

The box set, The Holographic Principle - The Ultimate Edition as well as the The Solace System EP are now available for pre-order here for physical or here for digital.

Tracklisting:

“The Solace System”
“Fight Your Demons”
“Architect Of Light”
“Wheel Of Destiny”
“Immortal Melancholy”
“Decoded Poetry”

“The Solace System” video:

Progressive alternative metal band Auditory Armory have released a cover of Type O Negative's classic track "Love You To Death". "Love You To Death" is featured on the band's forthcoming album Dark Matter which will be released on July 21st.

Auditory Armory is not your average female-fronted band. The influences of the band range from alternative to metal to progressive to jazz and beyond. The lyrical scope of Auditory Armory’s songs skims past the superficial love song or pop hit. Auditory Armory is doing what so little in the music industry are actually doing -- writing honestly. Auditory Armory expertly uses the symbiosis of heavy rock and melody to introspectively explore dark emotions about self-worth and one’s role in the universe.

Westfield Massacre (lead guitar Ira Black (I Am Morbid, Metal Church), Erik Tisinger (Otep), guitarist Stephen Brewer, drummer Dio Britto, and new singer Seann Nicols (Adlers Appetite, Quiet Riot) recently started their U.S. tour.

Facebook live video footage can be seen below from last night's show at The Rockbar in Scottsdale, AZ. (Video by Jessica Chase).

The band has released their first official photo (seen below) since singer Tommy Vext quit the band. The band recently announced they will be operating under the newly formed, Westfield Massacre LLC.

(Photo by: Jessica Chase)

The band stated: "We are committed to fulfilling all obligations and promises we've made to our fans. We have secured the legal right to perform and do business as Westfield Massacre. Unfortunately, it's not always easy for our fans to understand the internal workings of a band. We appreciate all of our fans support as we move forward and are anxious to deliver our record and get back on the road.”

More on Westfield Massacre at this location.

There's no shortage of bands in this industry content with merely existing, finding satisfaction from a few likes on Facebook and a free round of drinks for showing up. Last Bullet are NOT that band. They want the world, they want it now, and they’re giving it blood, sweat and tears with no fear of failure. Living and dying by the metaphor of a name that has served them well, they play every show as if it were their last, giving the Canadian rock music scene the much needed swagger and attitude it's been missing for far too long.

Influenced by Velvet Revolver, Stone Temple Pilots, Led Zeppelin, AC/DC and many more, this award-winning, self-made quintet has been part of Canadian hockey history in addition to the multiple national tours and festivals they've played over the last eight years. Sharing the stage with countless bands such as Aerosmith, Soundgarden, Jane's Addiction, Bryan Adams, Buckcherry, Monster Truck, One Bad Son, Bleeker, The Wild and more, it can be strongly stated that Last Bullet can hold their heads high in any company.

"Like the best one night stand of your life, "80-69-64" is a quick and filthy EP loaded with six rounds of high caliber rock that'll hit you harder than a rusty sledgehammer to the balls." comments vocalist Bryan Fontez

The new EP was produced and mixed by Brian Moncarz (The Trews, Our Lady Peace, Bleeker, Circa Survive) mastered by Brian Lucey (The Black Keys, Marilyn Manson, Liam Gallagher, Royal Blood) to follow their two previous EPs Love.Lust.Illusion (2012) and self-titled (2010).

Tracklisting:

“Sin”
“Gimme Time”
“Bright Lights”
“Southern Lips”
“Smoke & Ashes”
“Little Miss Filthy”

“Sin” video:

According to The Pulse Of Radio, GREEN DAY singer/guitarist Billie Joe Armstrong has teamed up with RANCID frontman Tim Armstrong — no relation — to launch a new punk supergroup called ARMSTRONGS. Billie Joe's son Joey Armstrong, who played in the punk band SWMRS, and Tim's nephew Rey Armstrong round out the quartet, which has released its first song, called "If There Was Ever A Time".

ARMSTRONGS recorded the track for the documentary "Turn It Around: The Story Of East Bay Punk", which the members of GREEN DAY helped produce.

The film focuses on Berkeley, California's legendary all-ages, non-profit punk venue 924 Gilman, where acts like GREEN DAY and RANCID got their start.

"If There Was Ever A Time" will be released on flexi-disc through Pirates Press, limited to 1,000 copies, with all proceeds from the sale of the single benefiting 924 Gilman. The song will also available on streaming services and digital music stores.

"Anything that has to do with working with Gilman and Tim and Joey Armstrong, consider me in," says Billie Joe. "This is about our home and family. Viva Armstrong!"

"It was exciting to work on this song with Billie and crew for the film," says Tim. "Stoked to share the tune with everyone out there and to be donating all the proceeds to Gilman, which is a place so near, dear, and important to us."

GREEN DAY just wrapped up a European tour in support of its latest album, "Revolution Radio", and will begin a North American trek on August 1 in Auburn, Washington.

"Replaceable", the new video from the American rock act CKY, can be seen below. The ong is taken from the band's latest LP, "The Phoenix", which was released on June 16 via eOne Music. The all-new LP is the first release since CKY put out "Carver City" in 2009. The disc was engineered and mixed at Rancho De La Luna, the highly regarded recording studio in Joshua Tree, California.

The "Replaceable" clip was produced and directed by JOFFco. The band states: "The video for 'Replaceable' captures just how ridiculous the whole process of making a music video is. And how bands have so many bad ideas pitched to them so we figured we put a bunch of them into one video. It's a comical look about our hunt to find an average director to shoot a decent music video and the struggle that ensued. Enjoy!"

The cover art for "The Phoenix" can be seen below. The band commissioned chandelier maker and artist Adam Wallacavage to create a one-of-a-kind piece for the cover.

Chad I Ginsburg steps into the frontman role with charisma, charm, and bravado, confidently delivering a diverse performance as he claims a position that was clearly rightfully his to own. He's joined in enduring partnership and musical and personal chemistry by fellow CKY co-founder, Jess Margera, the drummer whose extracurricular work in projects like THE COMPANY BAND (with guys from CLUTCH and FIREBALL MINISTRY) expanded CKY's horizons as much as Ginsburg's solo work has as well. The duo returned to their primary project refreshed and reenergized, with bassist Matt Deis (ex-ALL THAT REMAINS), who first joined CKY in 2005.

GUNS N' ROSES, METALLICA and DEFTONES have all personally invited CKY on tour, cementing a legacy as a hard-charging live act. CKY built a worldwide fanbase of dedicated acolytes, friends, and supporters, lovingly dubbed the CKY Alliance, with a broader group of musicians, athletes, and other creative types in the CKY family, both literally and figuratively.

"We're grown adults now with an eagle-eye perspective on who we are, what we do, and how to do it right," Ginsburg declares, with matter-of-fact certainty. "None of us are out there in the clouds. We're pretty well-grounded people that have an honest perspective on where we're at."

"The Phoenix" track listing:

01. Replaceable02. Days of Self Destruction03. Unknown Enemy04. Head For a Breakdown05. The Other Ones06. Wiping Off The Dead07. Lies From You08. Better Than Get Even

STEELHEART — the brainchild of Miljenko Matijevic, whose powerful voice and multi-octave range is the heart and soul of the band — will release its new album, "Through Worlds Of Stardust", on September 15 via Frontiers Music Srl. The first single from the disc, "Got Me Runnin'", can be streamed below.

Says Miljenko: "I cannot express how excited I am for you all to hear this new album. Our focus was to bring back the magic in the music with songs that have been lived, loved, laughed and struggled. I best describe this album as 'deep, sexy, loving, twisted, romantic, and hungry rock 'n' roll.' The record was recorded throughout parts of the world, including a live string section recorded in Stockholm, Sweden. I truly hope you enjoy this album as it was created from the heart and no corners were cut. Love you all; we look forward to seeing you on the road." Although they were lumped in with the glut of long-haired hard rock bands emerging in the early '90s, STEELHEART was always more forward thinking than their peers and the 2017 version of the band has a contemporary and edgy feel, while still retaining the patented powerful vocals of Miljenko. On "Through Worlds Of Stardust", Miljenko has fused his past, present, and future together, creating an undeniable piece of hard rock music. Certainly fans of the band's first three classic albums will be happy to hear those powerful pipes back in action, but fans of modern hard rock acts like HALESTORM, SHINEDOWN, ALTER BRIDGE and other melodic-minded rock heavyweights will find much here to love. STEELHEART released their self-titled debut album in 1990 and, based on the buzz around the hit single "I'll Never Let You Go", was a smashing success (for example, 33,000 albums were sold in one day in Japan) and quickly reached platinum sales. STEELHEART's sophomore album, "Tangled In Reins", was released in 1992 to critical acclaim and rave reviews, but moderate success in terms of sales in the U.S. (by early '90s standards) due to the well documented rise of grunge music; however, East Asia was a different story, where the band was widely embraced yet again. In the midst of promotion of the album, a serious accident happened on Halloween night in 1992, when an improperly secured lighting truss hit Matijevic on the back of the head, breaking his nose, cheekbone, jaw, and twisting his spine. Almost impossibly, Matijevic managed to walk off the stage of his own strength before being rushed to a hospital. STEELHEART, as it was known, ended that night. Four years later, Matijevic formed a new version of STEELHEART with Kenny Kanowski (guitars), Vincent Mele (bass), and Alex Makarovich (drums) to record and release his third album, "Wait". The album was very different musically from the previous two albums, but featured the song "We All Die Young" (millions of streams and counting on Spotify) which was later included as a re-recorded version in the movie "Rock Star", which saw Matijevic providing the singing voice for Mark Wahlberg's character. The movie soundtrack was performed by Matijevic (and Jeff Scott Soto) on vocals along with Zakk Wylde (Ozzy Osbourne's then-guitarist and frontman of BLACK LABEL SOCIETY), Jeff Pilson (DOKKEN, FOREIGNER), and Jason Bonham. "Through Worlds Of Stardust" track listing:

01. Stream Line Savings02. My Dirty Girl03. Come Inside04. My Word05. You Got Me Twisted06. Lips Of Rain07. With Love We Live Again08. Got Me Runnin'09. My Freedom10. I'm So In Love With You Lead Vocals, Acoustic Guitar, Guitars, Ebow Guitars: Miljenko Matijevic Musicians on the album:

Guitars: Uros RaskovskiBass: James "Rev" Jones, Sigve Sjursen, Jesse SternDrums: Mike Humbert, Randy CookePiano: Daniel Fouché, Ed RothGuest guitar solo and part rhythm on "My Dirty Girl" by Kennet KanowskiStrings composed and conducted by Glen GabrielOrchestrated by Anthony WeedenPerformed by Stockholm Strings

FOREIGNER performed at Giant Center in Hershey, Pennsylvania on July 15 as part of its fortieth-anniversary tour. Fan-filmed video footage of the concert can be seen below. The band — Mick Jones (lead guitar), Kelly Hansen (lead vocals), Jeff Pilson (bass, vocals), Tom Gimbel (rhythm guitar, sax, vocals), Michael Bluestein (keyboards), Bruce Watson (guitar) and Chris Frazier (drums) — is promoting a new career-spanning compilation titled "40" that features forty hits from forty years. Rhino released "40" on May 26 as a double-CD set that includes forty songs recorded between 1977 and 2017. A double-vinyl version that features twenty-three songs was made available on June 2. "40" brings together the best songs from Foreigner's nine studio albums, including all sixteen of its Top 30 hits: "Feels Like The First Time", "Urgent", "Waiting For A Girl Like You" and more. The collection features "Too Late" from the group's 2008 retrospective "No End In Sight" and "The Flame Still Burns", the title track from a vinyl EP released just last year, making its debut on CD in this collection. All prior recordings have been remastered and the album features two new tracks recorded especially for this release, "Give My Life For Love" and a new version of "I Don't Want To Live Without You".

Singer Lou Gramm recently confirmed that he and the other founding members of FOREIGNER will join the group's current lineup to perform "half a dozen songs" at several concerts on the band's current tour.

The summer trek will see Jones reuniting with original members Gramm, Ian McDonald and Al Greenwood at a few as-yet-undisclosed dates.

Gramm and Jones's June 2013 performance of "I Want To Know What Love Is" and "Juke Box Hero" at the Songwriters Hall Of Fame in New York City marked the first time the pair has performed together in a decade after Gramm left FOREIGNER for a second time. Kelly Hansen has fronted the group since 2005. Jones is the sole remaining founding member in FOREIGNER's current lineup.

FOREIGNER's fortieth-anniversary tour — with support from CHEAP TRICK and JASON BONHAM'S LED ZEPPELIN EXPERIENCE — runs through through September 9 in Auburn, Washington.

JACK RUSSELL'S GREAT WHITE is celebrating the 30th anniversary of GREAT WHITE's hit album "Once Bitten" with a tour and new acoustic album, "Once Acoustically Bitten". The acoustic LP was supposed to be released on July 14, but the band "ran into some production issues," causing the record to be delayed.

As a taste of what fans can expect from the upcoming effort, you can now listen to an acoustic version of the song "Lady Red Light", taken from "Once Acoustically Bitten". Check it out in the YouTube clip below.

JACK RUSSELL'S GREAT WHITE kicked off its U.S. tour on July 6. They will stay on the road through summer and into fall playing songs off their new acoustic release, the multi-platinum "Once Bitten" album and, on some shows, the entire "Once Bitten" LP from start to finish. "The 'Once Bitten' album for me was the album that finally put us in the musical space that I felt the band should be in," says lead singer Jack Russell. He goes on: "We had been searching prior to that... our first album was kind of similar to JUDAS PRIEST and our second album was very keyboard heavy. The 'Once Bitten' album hit and we all just knew this was our area, this was where we should be.

"This new acoustic record is an homage to thirty years of making music and thirty years since our first, big platinum album. Three decades later and we're still able to go out there and sing and play for our fans. It's a blessing." JACK RUSSELL'S GREAT WHITE's debut album, "He Saw it Comin'", was released on January 27 via Frontiers Music Srl. The disc features Jack Russell alongside former GREAT WHITE bassist-turned-guitarist Tony Montana (as a guitar player and keyboardist), Dan McNay (MONTROSE) on bass, Robby Lochner (FIGHT) on guitar and Dicki Fliszar (BRUCE DICKINSON) on drums.

JACK RUSSELL'S GREAT WHITE is not to be confused with the current touring and recording version of GREAT WHITE, which features Mark Kendall (guitar), Scott Snyder (bass), Audie Desbrow (drums), Michael Lardie (guitar, keyboards) and Terry Ilous (lead vocals).

Professionally filmed video footage of METALLICA performing the song "Hardwired" on Jul 14 at the Festival D'été De Québec (also known as by its acronym FEQ, or Quebec City Summer Festival in English), in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada can be seen below.

The Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame band is touring in support of its tenth studio album, "Hardwired... To Self-Destruct", which features the single "Now That We're Dead".

The North American leg of METALLICA's "WorldWired" trek will hit stadiums in ten more cities before ending in mid-August.

METALLICA drummer Lars Ulrich told Rolling Stone that the band was genuinely surprised to learn they could still play stadiums, saying, "It was like, 'Holy fuck, people really still care about this band in ways that you stopped taking for granted literally decades ago. It was very inspiring and kind of eye-opening."

He added: "Full stadium runs can sometimes be a little intimidating. There's all these things to worry about like, 'You should really try to play maybe only on the weekend,' and, 'Where do you play on Tuesday?' and some of those practicalities can get a little bewildering. We just threw caution to the wind. Doing a stadium run seemed like the perfect thing on the back of how well this record has been received and all the good will that's out there in METALLICA's world right now."

The next stop on the tour is Toronto, Ontario, Canada on July 16.

Support on the quartet's first North American trek since 2009 is coming mainly from AVENGED SEVENFOLD and VOLBEAT, with GOJIRA taking over for the latter group for the last six shows.

"Amaranthine", the second song from HUNDRED SUNS, the trio featuring Cory Brandan (NORMA JEAN), Ryan Leger (EVERY TIME I DIE) and Chris LeMasters (DEAD & DIVINE), can be streamed below. The track, like the previously released cut "Last Apology", is taken from the band's debut album, "The Prestaliis", which is due on August 11 via New Damage Records. Fans can catch HUNDRED SUNS performing "Last Apology" and more from the new album on their upcoming North American tour, which kicks off August 5 in Dallas, Texas. HUNDRED SUNS drown themselves in doomy groove, bass-driven power, loud guitars, and surreal sonic tribalism, with reverent worship of classic darkly romantic alt-rock bands, the scorching intensity of underground music, and the melodic clarity of the more uncompromising radio trailblazers of decades past. But HUNDRED SUNS boast disparate elements from post-grunge to the mind-expanding meditative epics churned out by critical darling progressive rock in equal measure, fused into something freshly unique. In short, the band sounds both familiar and groundbreaking. The trio responsible for HUNDRED SUNS are known for celebrating the heavier extremes of the art form with angst-fueled anthems heard around the world, in their respective projects, both past and present. But vocalist and lyricist Cory Brandan, powerhouse drummer Ryan Leger and principal songwriter/guitarist Chris LeMasters unlock grand mysteries with emotional resonance as HUNDRED SUNS, as evidenced all over their immersive and diverse debut album, "The Prestaliis". LeMasters assembled a massive stockpile of songs with Brandan's voice and sensibilities in mind after the duo got to know each other sharing a bus together while touring across Europe. As soon as the singer heard what would become "Fractional", he raced to his home recording setup to lay down ideas. Those early inspirations tracked as preproduction demos survived to the finished versions of many songs. Early adopters quickly embraced both "Fractional" and "Bedburner" (both released last year). The band recorded the album with producer/engineer Sam Guaiana (LIKE PACIFIC), vocal engineer/producer Jeremy SH Griffith (NORMA JEAN, UNDEROATH), and producer/mixer (and SAOSIN guitarist) Beau Burchell (BLAQK AUDIO, THE BRONX). Brandan said: "It was a long four-year road to get here and the album is everything I hoped it would be and more. We set out to make something unique and meaningful. I know it's at least one of those things. To me, it's both."

STEVE GRIMMETT'S GRIM REAPER, the revamped version of the cult '80s British metal act GRIM REAPER, played its first concert since the band's lead singer, Steve Grimmett, had his right leg partially amputated.

Fan-filmed video footage of the July 14 gig — which saw Grimmett walking with a prosthetic limb and using a wheelchair — at the Bang Your Head!!! festival in Balingen, Germany can be seen below.

Steve had the operation in January after an infected wound on his foot spread to the bones in his leg part way through the group's five-week tour of South America.

The life-saving surgery was carried out in Ecuador and the 57-year-old singer was in hospital for just over a month while fans raised $14,000 to bring him home after his insurance company refused to pay because of the type of work he was doing.

"It was tough but throughout it all I have kept a positive attitude," Steve told the Swindon Advertiser.

"Throughout the two operations, for which I was given epidurals, I was thinking of the soldiers who come back from war far worse than me.

"I am a big war bird buff and I thought of Sir Douglas Bader and what he achieved without either of his legs.

"While I was in hospital, I felt a bit down because I missed [my wife] Millie and my family, but not because I had lost a leg.

"At times, it could be amusing: fans were coming in to see me and I could tell when the medical workers were using the Internet to check me out because I'd hear them playing my songs."

Grimmett told the Swindon Advertiser that he was "determined" to perform at Bang Your Head!!!, because it is "one of the most important festivals in Germany and even Europe".

He added: "What's happened has been very humbling, especially when I consider the number of people who have helped me. I now look on life a bit differently. What's happened has taught me not to be impatient and to make the most out of life."





Great photos from Bang Your Head, Germany, on 15th July 2017

Posted by Steve Grimmett's Grim Reaper on Sunday, July 16, 2017

Fan-filmed video footage of DOKKEN's July 15 performance at the Bang Your Head!!! festival in Balingen, Germany can be seen below.

DOKKEN is planning to begin writing a new studio album this fall for a tentative 2018 release.

The disc will mark the band's first collection of all-new material since 2012's "Broken Bones" effort.

Speaking with AllThatShreds.com, DOKKEN guitarist Jon Levin laid out the band's schedule for the remainder of 2017. He said: "We're on the road all of July; we come back to do some U.S. dates, then were back to Europe. As November and December come and things slow down, we're going to start writing for a new DOKKEN record."

When asked if the upcoming album was going to have the classic DOKKEN sound or if it would see the group going in a new direction, Levin said: "It's definitely going to have the classic DOKKEN sound. We should have it released in May of 2018, I'm thinking."

After "Broken Bones" failed to meet his expectations commercially, DOKKEN singer Don Dokken publicly questioned whether the band should or would make another record. He was also ruthlessly criticized by fans after radiation treatments from a bout with stomach cancer and eventual vocal-cord surgery hurt his performances.

He told the Bradenton Herald that he took a year or so off after "Broken Bones" to regroup and reassess the band's place in the rock marketplace.

"I was getting so bad I had to say, 'Guys, I'm just destroying our brand. I suck,'" Dokken said. "I put on forty pounds. I couldn't sing. I just didn't look good; I didn't feel good. I just had to get the radiation over with and rehab and come back."

"Broken Bones" sold around 2,600 copies in the United States in its first week of release to land at position No. 173 on The Billboard 200 chart.

Don Dokken, guitarist George Lynch, bassist Jeff Pilson and drummer "Wild" Mick Brown completed a short Japanese tour last October, marking the first time in twenty-one years the band's classic lineup had hit the road.

A new DOKKEN concert DVD focusing on the band's reunion tour is tentatively due before the end of the year. The set will feature footage from two of the Japanese shows — including Tokyo — as well as the band's very first comeback gig, which was held on September 30, 2016 at Badlands Pawn Guns Gold And Rock 'N' Roll in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

Don told "The Classic Metal Show" that the main reason he doesn't want to continue with the classic DOKKEN lineup is that "loves" the band he has now — which features Brown, alongside Levin and bassist Chris McCarvil.

Fan-filmed video footage of MÖTLEY CRÜE frontman Vince Neil's July 14 performance at the Bang Your Head!!! festival in Balingen, Germany can be seen below.

MÖTLEY CRÜE called it quits in December 2015 following an eighteen-month tour that saw the group performing to packed houses all over the world.

A tour film about CRÜE's final shows, "The End", came out last fall, and a film adaptation of the band's 2001 autobiography "The Dirt" is still said to be in the works.

Speaking to "Trunk Nation", Eddie Trunk's show on SiriusXM channel Volume (106), Vince acknowledged that he is currently the only member of MÖTLEY CRÜE who is waving the flag for the band's music by performing CRÜE songs as a solo artist.

"It's a cool thing, because I love MÖTLEY CRÜE, I love MÖTLEY CRÜE's music, and I love singing, and I love the fans' reactions when they hear the songs," he said. "Whether we're playing in front of a thousand people or twenty thousand people, I can only see the front row anyway. So I'm happy for me and for the fans to be able to still hear that music after MÖTLEY CRÜE is finished."

Neil reiterated the fact that he doesn't mind performing in much smaller places with his solo band than he was accustomed to playing with MÖTLEY CRÜE. "I always look at it like the best of both worlds," he explained. "You know, we had the big, giant MÖTLEY stuff and everything, and then you've got… I like going out and playing… We do fifteen-hundred, two-thousand, three-thousand seaters and some festival stuff, and it's fun to go out there and just let the music do the talking, as the song goes. And I don't miss it. I like just going out there and just raw."

Even though Neil's solo set consists exclusively of MÖTLEY CRÜE material, he says that he tries to keep things fresh by occasionally throwing in "deeper" album cuts that many fans wouldn't expect to hear in a live situation.

"Like [the] songs 'Red Hot' and 'Piece Of Your Action', we didn't have [them] in the set for a long time, and then I was, like, 'Yeah, let's just go ahead and let's do this,'" he said. "Then we added 'Red Hot' and we stopped doing it for a while, and then we just added it again."

He continued: "The old songs are… MÖTLEY didn't play all these old songs, and I enjoy singing these old songs, so it's fun for me and it's fun for the band and it's fun for the crowd."

Neil's solo band includes Dana Strum and Jeff Blando from SLAUGHTER, along with drummer Zoltan Chaney.

Former PANTERA and current DOWN singer Philip Anselmo, Edwin Neal ("Texas Chain Saw Massacre"), and Wayne Abney of HAMMER WITCH handled lead vocals for Texas metal titans WARBEAST at their "Enter The Arena" record-release show this past Friday, July 14 at The Rail Club in Ft. Worth, Texas. They were filling in for regular WARBEAST frontman Bruce Corbitt, who recently announced that he's been diagnosed with esophageal cancer — a treatable though rarely curable disease — facing the likelihood that he will never be able to sing again.

Fan-filmed video footage of this past Friday's concert can be seen below (courtesy of Robert Archer).

"Enter The Arena" will be released on August 4 via Anselmo's Housecore Records. Captured at Anselmo's Nodferatu's Lair, mixed by Mike Thompson at the Riff Factory and mastered by Lee Russell, the disc features newest WARBEAST recruits, guitarist Drew Shoup and bassist Lyric Ferchaud, and stands among the band's most potent, volatile, and unrepentantly powerful offering yet. "We recorded 'Enter The Arena' exactly a decade after we formed WARBEAST," said Corbitt. "The nucleus and founding members of this band [guitarist Scott Shelby, drummer Joey Gonzalez and Corbitt] provided the essential veteran leadership that was vital for us to reach our goal of creating our magnum opus. The three of us also contributed our unique individual styles to guarantee that we still sound like WARBEAST. But with the addition of our two newest members — guitarist Drew Shoup and bassist Lyric Ferchaud — who I call the 'Youngbloods,' it was like adding a breath-of-fresh-air to our chemistry. We definitely sound like a well-oiled-machine on this album. So get prepared for the upcoming onslaught of pure, fresh, and quintessential Texas thrash!" "'Enter The Arena' is WARBEAST at its finest in performance, writing and tone quality," added Shelby. "I'm confident that it will please any rivethead out there! I believe it's mine and our best work to date."

In a recent Facebook message to fans, Corbitt revealed: "After much discussion with the doctors and specialist, they've told me there's no chance within any reasonable time that I'll ever be able to perform again. So it breaks my heart at this time that I'm forced to announce my retirement from singing.

"I'm sorry to all of my bandmates for letting them down. I'm devastated with all of this hitting me so fast. I'm still in shock.

"Thanks for all of the great support all these years," he continues. "You're the best fans and I love all of you! We at least have a great WARBEAST album and music video coming soon.

"I can't even begin to explain my feelings. You guys have given me the strength I need to even prepare for this fight. Honestly, I was close to losing hope that there was any good to come out of this. Of course, I'm scared for my life like any normal human being would be. Those moments when I can get on Facebook and scroll through all of your messages, the emotion takes over. I cry, I get stronger, I also realize what all of you mean to me. I do believe in the power prayer and positive vibes. And I have all of you to thank for that." Corbitt, who recently began an intensive schedule of radiation treatments, played his final show on May 27 at the Rail Club in Fort Worth, Texas.

Fan-filmed video footage of Michael Monroe's July 15 performance at the Lahden Yöt festival in Lahti, Finland can be seen below.

The former HANOI ROCKS frontman has just released "The Best", the first official collection of his (ongoing) solo musical exploits, featuring prime tracks from 1987 right up to 2017. It arrived June 30 via Spinefarm. "This album is a great representation of my thirty-year solo career, including four songs from the Little Steven-produced DEMOLITION 23 album, which has been unavailable for over 20 years, plus some special rarities and previously unreleased bonus tracks," Monroe said. Over his three-decades-plus in the spotlight, Monroe has befriended and performed with a whole host of artists and acts, including GUNS N' ROSES and Slash; Lemmy, Alice Cooper, AEROSMITH, Little Steven and Ian Hunter. The frontman has shared stages and studios with them all, but since that first break-up of HANOI in the mid-'80s, he's essentially been pursuing his own path, and it's this solo activity that forms the basis of "The Best". It's almost two hours' worth of career-spanning music, re-mastered by Svante Forsbäck and sequenced by the great man himself. As well as key, high-profile numbers such as "Dead, Jail Or Rock 'N' Roll" (from second solo album, 1989's "Not Fakin' It", the promo clip for which features an onstage cameo from Axl Rose) and "'78" (from 2011's "Sensory Overdrive", voted "Album of the Year" by Classic Rock magazine), this two-CD set also showcases some "from the vaults" moments for collectors and completists, with bonus tracks and previously unreleased songs strategically placed to make the journey both scenic and surprising. "There's a couple of extra special tracks like 'It's A Lie', sung as a duet with Stiv Bators (DEAD BOYS, LORDS OF THE NEW CHURCH) back in 1985, and a never-before-released second version of the STEPPENWOLF cover 'Magic Carpet Ride', featuring Slash, left over from the 'Coneheads' soundtrack project that Slash did with me in 1993. And since Slash has the biggest heart of gold in rock 'n' roll, he was kind enough to allow me to use it on this album. God bless him!," said Monroe. Two other previously unreleased songs are "Fist Fulla Dynamite" and "Simpletown", outtakes from the "Blackout States" album (2015); plus there's the new single "One Foot Outta The Grave" — an anthem of pure defiance — to bring things nicely up to date, showing the artist's continued commitment to a genre.

According to The Pulse Of Radio, RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS drummer Chad Smith was asked by podcaster Eddie Trunk on how much longer he thinks the band can continue, 33 years after releasing their first album. Smith replied: "We were riding in a van after a gig and [bassist] Flea was, like, 'How much longer do you think we should... How do you think we should end this?' [Laughs] I was, like, 'I don't know!' I want to make records, I still love making records, but the touring part… I don't know if we can continue."

Smith added: "I mean, three of us are 54 years old — Anthony [Kiedis, singer], me and Flea. Josh [Klinghoffer, guitarist] is 38 or 39, so he's a young man. But I don't know if we can continue to do the long tours — the year, year and a half we normally do. That's a good question."

Smith hinted that for their next album cycle, the CHILI PEPPERS could adopt a similar schedule as METALLICA, who limit themselves to around 50 shows a year.

The drummer continued: "We all have families and different things, your priorities shift a little bit. You kinda see that what's gonna work for you maybe doesn't necessarily work for other bands."

Smith concluded: "But again, we're just so grateful that people want to come and see us play, and we love to perform. I don't know in the future how that's gonna look."

Smith told The Pulse Of Radio a while back that he never imagined his career would go as far as it has. "Never in my wildest dreams if you had come up to me and said, 'Hey, you know, you're gonna move to California and join the CHILI PEPPERS and then 25 years later you're gonna be in the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame and you're gonna sell millions of records and travel all over the world and blah blah blah blah blah...' I'd have just said, 'You are hiiiiiigh.' I can't really comprehend it too much."

RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS are currently on the road behind their eleventh studio effort, "The Getaway", which came out in June 2016 and debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 album chart.

DOKKEN is planning to begin writing a new studio album this fall for a tentative 2018 release.

The disc will mark the band's first collection of all-new material since 2012's "Broken Bones" effort.

Speaking with AllThatShreds.com, DOKKEN guitarist Jon Levin laid out the band's schedule for the remainder of 2017. He said: "We're on the road all of July; we come back to do some U.S. dates, then were back to Europe. As November and December come and things slow down, we're going to start writing for a new DOKKEN record."

When asked if the upcoming album was going to have the classic DOKKEN sound or if it would see the group going in a new direction, Levin said: "It's definitely going to have the classic DOKKEN sound. We should have it released in May of 2018, I'm thinking."

After "Broken Bones" failed to meet his expectations commercially, DOKKEN singer Don Dokken publicly questioned whether the band should or would make another record. He was also ruthlessly criticized by fans after radiation treatments from a bout with stomach cancer and eventual vocal-cord surgery hurt his performances.

He told the Bradenton Herald that he took a year or so off after "Broken Bones" to regroup and reassess the band's place in the rock marketplace.

"I was getting so bad I had to say, 'Guys, I'm just destroying our brand. I suck,'" Dokken said. "I put on forty pounds. I couldn't sing. I just didn't look good; I didn't feel good. I just had to get the radiation over with and rehab and come back."

"Broken Bones" sold around 2,600 copies in the United States in its first week of release to land at position No. 173 on The Billboard 200 chart.

Don Dokken, guitarist George Lynch, bassist Jeff Pilson and drummer "Wild" Mick Brown completed a short Japanese tour last October, marking the first time in twenty-one years the band's classic lineup had hit the road.

A new DOKKEN concert DVD focusing on the band's reunion tour is tentatively due before the end of the year. The set will feature footage from two of the Japanese shows — including Tokyo — as well as the band's very first comeback gig, which was held on September 30, 2016 at Badlands Pawn Guns Gold And Rock 'N' Roll in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

Don told "The Classic Metal Show" that the main reason he doesn't want to continue with the classic DOKKEN lineup is that "loves" the band he has now — which features Brown, alongside Levin and bassist Chris McCarvil.

Headbanging TV conducted an interview with ANTHRAX singer Joey Belladonna on June 28 at Reflektor in Liège, Belgium. You can now watch the chat below.

Asked about the thirtieth anniversary of ANTHRAX's "Among The Living" album and why that record is so important to the band, Joey said: "It was a successful record. We had a lot of great songs on there. It kind of evolved from 'Spreading The Disease' into that album, 'cause it was a bit different. So it was just the start of a good time for the band. It's just a special record."

Regarding whether he had any idea, during the making of the "Among The Living" LP, that the album would have such a long-lasting impact, Joey said: "I had no idea about anything, to be honest with you. I was just wondering how the whole band was gonna develop, at least from my style, 'cause it was something new for me. You never know — you just don't. Even now when we do records, you have no idea what anybody's perspective on a song is gonna be. As long as we are happy… That's your main goal — to be happy when you write it and you do it. You hope for the best. But the main thing is for us to be happy. And then if everybody likes it, gosh, then you're really happy."

To coincide with ANTHRAX's current European tour, the band has released a digital two-track single titled "Leftoverthrax", including cover versions of KANSAS's "Carry On Wayward Son" and THE WHITE STRIPES' "Black Math".

ANTHRAX's cover version of "Carry On Wayward Son" is a bonus track on the new expanded vinyl edition of the band's latest album, "For All Kings".

Filling for regular ANTHRAX drummer Charlie Benante at some of the European shows is Jon Dette. Benante is forced to miss certain gigs on the band's tour due to his continuing battle with carpal tunnel syndrome.

Dette first stepped in for Benante during ANTHRAX's appearance at the Soundwave festival in 2013 and at a number of European shows in 2014.

Serbia's Agoraphobic News conducted an interview with frontman Vorph (real name: Michael Locher) of Swiss industrial metallers SAMAEL prior to the band's July 6 appearance at the Exit festival, which was held July 5-9 in Novi Sad, Serbia. You can watch the full interview below. A few excerpts follow (transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET).

On the early days of the Swiss metal scene:

Vorph: "I remember there were not many bands. The bands that still exist today, CORONER, they were around, CELTIC FROST doesn't exist anymore, but they got the project TRIPTYKON, which is going strong. That was almost about it. There was a huge thrash metal band, APOCALYPSE, maybe you heard about them. It was not as many bands as there are today. Today, it's richer."

On whether he considers SAMAEL a pioneering black metal band:

Vorph: "I don't see ourselves as pioneers. We're still today, trying to come up with something that is fresh and interesting. It's not like we've done something that is so important where we have a legacy behind us."

On the band's 1994 breakthrough album, "Ceremony Of Opposites":

Vorph: "I like it. It's probably an important album for us and we had the twentieth-anniversary thing and we did play the whole album for a couple of years. Yeah, that was great to come back to those songs. Some of them we haven't played in a long time. We'll actually play a few tonight."

On why SAMAEL gradually shifted their sound from black metal to industrial:

Vorph: "We were looking for something fresh and interesting for us, and we're still looking for something that is new for us. We got a wide range of music that we like. We just pick it up here and there and try to make our own mix. I guess there is probably some elements that define our music; I don't know what they are."

On whether he's proud of the band's black metal roots:

Vorph: "I have no issue with that. That was the music I was attracted to when I was younger. I was a bit narrow-minded at the time, but yeah, it's part of my life and it's kind of a backbone. It's the start of our band, so yeah, it is important."

On the importance of keyboards in SAMAEL's sound:

Vorph: "[They are] very important. I think since we started composing with 'Ceremony Of Opposites', it was still more guitar-oriented, but then you had songs that started with keyboards and drums, then the guitars are just an addition to it. It depends. There's a song like 'Rain', which is guitar-driven or a song like 'Ceremony Of Opposites', which is more keyboard-oriented. It depends."

On the song "Slavocracy", which appears on 2007's "Solar Soul":

Vorph: "It was the idea that democracy can sometimes turn wrong. It was not like we were seeing the future, but, I don't know how to explain much. I guess people understand it's not a perfect system, democracy, even though I don't know any system which is better at this point. Well, there is danger to it as well. We just should be aware of it and keep our eyes open."

On the song "A Man In Your Head", which appears on "Ceremony Of Opposites":

Vorph: "That was a parallel between religion and [dictatorships]. I think religion is a dictatorship; it brainwashes people. It gives a narrow-minded approach to life. It's more about separating people from each other than bringing them together. Yeah, I just made the parallel between that."

On the band's latest single, "Angel Of Wrath":

Vorph: "It is more like a fantasy song, but it's kind of a mix between some deeper meaning, maybe for us, as the name of the band is SAMAEL, it is the angel of wrath. We wanted to have something maybe to connect back to the past and start fresh. That's why we chose that one first. The new album will be more wide than just this song."

On the band's forthcoming "Hegemony" album:

Vorph: "I think it's kind of wide [sounding]. There's faster songs… probably 'Angel Of Wrath' is one of the heaviest. We have more mid-tempo songs. We try to have variation. I hope it is a varied album."

"Hegemony" will be released on October 13 via Napalm Records.

Founded in 1987 as an old-school black metal act that was influenced by the likes of BATHORY, fellow countrymen CELTIC FROST and VENOM, Vorph and drummer Xy later developed the band's style further towards a more industrial dark metal sound that found its previous high peak in those legendary albums such as "Passage" and "Eternal".

Former RAINBOW and DEEP PURPLE singer Joe Lynn Turner has once again slammed Ritchie Blackmore for the guitarist's decision to go out and perform classic DEEP PURPLE and RAINBOW material with a new group musicians instead of reforming RAINBOW with a more "authentic" lineup.

Blackmore stepped away from his Renaissance-inspired brand of music with BLACKMORE'S NIGHT for the first time last year to perform a handful of shows with a brand-new lineup of the band he had formed after quitting DEEP PURPLE.

The current incarnation of RAINBOW includes singer Ronnie Romero, originally from Chile but now settled in Madrid, Spain, as well as STRATOVARIUS keyboardist Jens Johansson, BLACKMORE'S NIGHT drummer David Keith, bassist Bob Nouveau (a.k.a. Robert "Bob" Curiano, ex-BLACKMORE'S NIGHT), and backing singers Candice Night and Lady Lynn.

Speaking to Brendan Crabb of Australia's Illawarra Mercury newspaper, Turner said: "I had worked with Ritchie's manager for over a year trying to put something together that was authentic. When I say 'authentic,' I mean authentic lineup, regardless of who was still around, who wasn't. We were going to have people that actually were in RAINBOW... And they just pulled out at the last minute really and put this thing together."

Turner added that Blackmore's change of mind was "not so [much] disappointing as it was shocking." He said: "Why would anyone of [Blackmore's] iconic nature want to come out and not be as good as he can be? Because, obviously, the reviews haven't been that good. And that's not for me to say — that's what people are saying. It's obvious that it's just not living up to snuff."

The singer went on to say: "It's a shame that they didn't see the vision that they should have put an authentic RAINBOW together, because all the fans feel disrespected in a way. They were hoping that they would get a chance to see at least some cast of RAINBOW members, all in one place, all at one time. And that just didn't happen."

Joe was the frontman of RAINBOW between 1980 and 1984 and he sang on the album "Difficult To Cure", which featured the band's most successful U.K. single, "I Surrender".

During Turner's time with RAINBOW, the band had its first USA chart success and recorded songs that helped define the melodic rock genre.

ABC's Detroit affiliate WXYZ has obtained audio of the phone call placed by an hotel employee to the police after SOUNDGARDEN singer Chris Cornell was found dead inside a Detroit hotel room. Also available are photos the police took of Cornell's hotel room during their investigation, including pictures of the bathroom where Chris died. The red exercise band he rigged on the bathroom door can be seen on the floor, surrounded by a streak of blood (courtesy of The Detroit News).

According to a police report, bodyguard Martin Kirsten kicked a hotel door open inside MGM Grand and found Cornell with the band around his neck. The rocker was already unresponsive, the report added.

"I have a non-responsive guest in the hotel, a 50-year-old male," the employee can be heard saying in the recording (hear audio below).

"Non-responsive — he's not breathing?" dispatch replied. "No," the employee answered. "They found out that the guest is attempting to hang himself, so they're trying to get him down so they can assist with CPR."

Medics attempted to perform CPR on Cornell, but it was too late.

The coroner ruled Chris's death a suicide by hanging. Although several prescription drugs were in his system at the time of his death, the medical examiner determined that they did not play a role in his demise.

Chris struggled with substance addiction since his teen years, but had been sober since 2003 and, according to his wife Vicky, had not relapsed since 2009.

The coroner's report revealed that he had the sleep aid Ativan, a mild sedative called Butalbital found in migraine medication, a decongestant and caffeine in his system when he was found dead, along with an anti-opioid called Narcan that was administered by EMTs on the scene.

Vicky told People that Chris was prescribed Ativan last year as a sleep aid but recently still seemed deprived of rest. She added that he did not seem like himself when they spoke for the last time by phone shortly before his death, saying "He was on a rant. I said, 'You need to tell me what you took,' and he just got mean. That wasn't my Chris."

In addition to Vicky, Chris is survived by three children: 12-year-old Toni, 11-year-old Christopher and 17-year-old Lily, the latter from a previous marriage. He was cremated and laid to rest on May 26 in Los Angeles.

In a brand new interview with Meltdown of the Detroit, Michigan radio station WRIF, former QUEENSRŸCHE and current OPERATION: MINDCRIME singer Geoff Tate was asked for his thoughts on the recent passing of Chris Cornell. He responded: "I really respected and admired his music. I think he was a fantastic songwriter and excellent singer. I never knew him, though. I had met him once at a show that we were both attending to see somebody else play, and I just briefly shook hands with him and introduced myself and that kind of thing; it wasn't like an extended conversation or anything. But I've always watched his work and listened to his work and admired what he did, solo and also with SOUNDGARDEN, quite a bit. So I never really knew the man. But it is really a tragic situation when somebody that young leaves us in such a tragic way."

Tate also talked about the upcoming album from OPERATION: MINDCRIME, which is due this fall via Frontiers Music Srl. The follow-up to last year's "Resurrection", is the third and final part of Tate's musical trilogy.

Said Geoff: "The third one is the conclusion of the story, so it wraps up all these unanswered questions that are lingering out there. And it's probably, I would say, my most musically adventurous album I've ever done. If you thought 'Resurrection', the last one, was musically adventurous, this one makes that one look like a preschooler."

Tate's recent acoustic tour, dubbed "The Whole Story 'Rÿche' Acoustic Tour", saw him performing songs from all seventeen albums he has done throughout his illustrious thirty-five-year career. Geoff was backed during the show by a seven-piece acoustic band of musicians from the United States and Ireland, with three guitar players, mandolin, cello, saxophone, violin and multiple percussion instruments to produce high-energy acoustic versions of some of the Tate's former band's most recognized songs, including "Silent Lucidity", "Jet City Woman", "Empire", "I Don't Believe In Love" and "Eyes Of A Stranger".

Dickerman and LT of the WJRR radio station conducted an interview with METALLICA drummer Lars Ulrich before the band's July 5 concert at Camping World Stadium in Orlando, Florida. You can now listen to the chat below.

Speaking about the reasons for the overwhelmingly positive response to METALLICA's latest album, "Hardwired… To Self-Destruct", Ulrich said: "I would say that, sitting, talking about it afterwards, most of it is… It's like the luck of the dice. We never sit down to try to have a [discussion about], 'The record's gotta be this way, and it's gotta sound like this and it's gonna have this kind of reaction.' I mean, there's never that kind of a mission statement, because you've gotta… Any kind of creative endeavor, any kind of a creative journey, there has to be a degree of flexibility, because if the creative elements have to be authentic and pure and not contrived and not overly thought out, you have to be prepared to go wherever it takes you. And so almost all the time with records and creative... whether it's some of the movies we've done or the videos we make, or whatever we do, it just sort of has a life of its own."

He continued: "I think a significant reason for this record's being received the way… and maybe people don't intellectualize it and overanalyze it, but James [Hetfield, METALLICA frontman] and I were talking about it an hour ago when we were sitting back there eating lunch, is Greg Fidelman, who engineered this record, who co-produced it with James and I, who was responsible for all the sonics and the mixing and all that. He's been with METALLICA now for over ten years. He knows us, and he knows how to make us sound the way we should sound and maximize kind of our thing. And I think that he's a significant reason for all the goodwill that's coming back our way in the last six months since this record came out."

METALLICA has just resumed its first North American tour in more than seven years.

"Hardwired... To Self-Destruct" came out last November, eight years after "Death Magnetic".

ADRENALINE MOB guitarist Mike Orlando and drummer Jordan Cannata have issued separate statements thanking fans for their support, one day after being involved in a crash that resulted in the death of the band's bassist David Zablidowsky.

The accident occurred near Micanopy early Friday afternoon when a tractor-trailer veered off Interstate 75 and struck the group's RV, which had pulled off the highway with a flat tire. ADRENALINE MOB was traveling in the RV and a van that was pulling a covered trailer.

According to Gainesville.com, a total of nine people were in the vehicles. One died, six were taken to area hospitals, and the other two declined medical treatment. The majority of those injured were listed in serious condition and one was in critical condition as of late Friday night. Those injured were taken to UF Health Shands Hospital and North Florida Regional Medical Center.

On Saturday, Orlando took to his Facebook page to write: "I can not begin to thank you all for all the prayers and thoughts. I'm trying to process and deal with this, physically and mentally … so I'm sorry for being vague. We've literally experienced hell on earth… I'm absolutely broken, both physical and mental. I love you, Dave, I will miss you more than words can say. You were one of the sweetest souls I've ever known."

Cannata posted the following statement on his personal Facebook page: "Hi everyone. I don't even know where to begin, so I will start by saying thank you for all of the love and support from everyone. We are all devastated and will need some time to physically and mentally cope but the outpouring of love has been nothing short of inspiring. David Z... I love you, I miss you, and send my heartfelt condolences to your family and friends. To the rest of my bandmates and crew, I love you all. Please keep everyone involved in your thoughts and prayers. Thank you everyone. RIP David Z."

Orlando's girlfriend Dana Griffo wrote on Facebook late Friday night that Orlando, Cannata, ADRENALINE MOB singer Russell Allen and crew member Robert Dressler were "banged up but okay."

Russell issued a statement earlier on Saturday, also thanking fans for their support and saying that he was "overwhelmed with sorrow."

ADRENALINE MOB tour manager Janet Rains, 48, known professionally as Jane Train, was critically injured in the crash. Train is also the lead singer of the bands NOT BY SIGHT and M80.

According to the police, the GMC was traveling southbound on I-75 near Mile Marker 372 with the RV, and both vehicles stopped on the shoulder. The semi collided with the vehicles that were stopped on the shoulder and the RV caught fire where the passenger died. The RV and the GMC were traveling together. The RV had a flat tire, so both vehicles pulled off the highway. The trailer that was being towed by the van was hauling musical equipment.

ADRENALINE MOB was scheduled to play Friday night in St. Petersburg.

The band was touring in support of its third studio album, "We The People", which was released on June 2 via Century Media. The follow-up to 2014's "Men Of Honor" was the first ADRENALINE MOB release to feature Zablidowsky and Cannata.