In a recent interview with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, STAIND frontman Aaron Lewis said that he wouldn't have had a problem playing Donald Trump's inauguration "like Beyoncé and everyone that would've."

Lewis — who is widely considered to be one of the most politically conservative musicians in rock — described himself as a fiscally conservative, socially libertarian, constitutionally driven patriot.

"Freedom means freedom," Lewis said in the interview. "Get out of my business."

He added that he wanted "capitalism with a conscience" and after backing Senator Ted Cruz, Trump's closest competitor in the Republican nomination race, in the Massachusetts primary, he "proudly jumped into the basket of deplorables and voted for Trump."

The STAIND frontman had been a staunch critic of President Barack Obama, telling a crowd at one of his solo concerts last year: "For the last eight years, I thought our country was going fucking crazy. Barack Obama should have been impeached a long fucking time ago. Every fucking decision he makes is against the Constitution, it's against what's good for our fucking country, and he is truly the worst fucking president that we have ever had in the history of this fucking country. And a hundred years from now, our fucking grandkids will be looking back at this, going, 'What the fuck was going on?' I truly believe that he was elected over three hundred years of guilt… because he is the least qualified, most inept, completely useless president we have ever fucking had."

Lewis told Billboard last year that he would support Trump in the U.S. presidential race, even though he was "disappointed" by the real estate mogul "with the bickering and the name-calling."

It was widely reported that the Trump transition team had trouble attracting A-list talent to appear at his inauguration, with artists like Elton John, Justin Timberlake and others rejecting offers.

Although other rock artists like Kid Rock and Ted Nugent had voiced their support for the former reality TV star, they were absent from the inauguration.

President Barack Obama's first inauguration in 2009 featured Jon Bon Jovi, Bruce Springsteen, Mary J. Blige, Garth Brooks, U2, Usher, Stevie Wonder, Denzel Washington and Tom Hanks, among others.

Lewis released a new country music solo album called "Sinner" in September.

American singer David Reece, who fronted ACCEPT in the late '80s, says that he is "proud" of the album he made with the band, even though he initially "hated everything about it."

The current SAINTED SINNERS vocalist was recruited for ACCEPT's "Eat The Heat" LP in 1989 following the departure of Udo Dirkschneider. Reece's higher-pitched delivery was in sharp contrast to Dirkschneider's distinctive style, and overall, the album was a critical and commercial disappointment,

Midway through the "Eat The Heat" tour, differences between the band and Reece had come to a head, leading to the altercation between the singer and bassist Peter Baltes in Chicago. By the end of 1989, ACCEPT had hung it up.

Asked by Canadian rock journalist Mitch Lafon of the "One On One With Mitch Lafon" podcast (Facebook page) if he is proud of "Eat The Heat", Reece said (see video below): "You know what? It's weird, because the bad blood happened at the end of it, and I hated it — I hated everything about it. I knew it opened a bunch of doors for me, but… I, on a daily basis, get people telling me what that album means to them now. At the beginning, they hated me, but now it's, like, they have this rebirth of how great it is. And I listened to it the other day, and I went, 'That's a pretty dang good album for a first.'"

He continued: "Yeah, I'm proud of it. I mean, that's a… I mean, it's not ACCEPT — okay, let's be honest — but there's some cool stuff on there. And I still get paid royalties for that album. They [re-released] it on vinyl. I get these statements; people buy it from the old crowd and the new crowd. And I'm, like, 'Ooooh…' So it's got legs to this day, and that was '88… 1988, '89. Amazing."

SAINTED SINNERS' self-titled debut album will be released on February 24 via El Puerto Records. The group's lineup is rounded out by guitar player Frank Pané, keyboardist Ferdy Doernberg (AXEL RUDI PELL) and the dynamic rhythm section of the two former PURPENDICULAR members Malte Frederik Burkert (bass) and the Hungarian drum maestro Berci Hirleman.

Ozzy Osbourne has backtracked on claims he had a sex addiction, less than six months after he said he was suffering from the disorder when a long-term affair was made public.

In a new interview with The Times, Ozzy said he doesn't have a problem — it just comes with the territory of being a rock star.

"I'm in a fucking rock band, aren't I?" he said. "There have always been groupies. I just got caught, didn't I? It was a bump in the road."

He added: "I don't think I'm a fucking sex addict."

Ozzy last August apologized to the women with whom he has had extramarital sexual relationships and admitted to undergoing therapy for sex addiction. Ozzy's statement came out in the wake of the first interview given by Michelle Pugh, the celebrity hairstylist whose four-year affair with the BLACK SABBATH singer was discovered by Sharon and nearly ended their 33-year marriage.

"Over the last six years, Ozzy Osbourne has been dealing with a sex addiction. He is sorry if Ms. Pugh took their sexual relationship out of context," Ozzy's representative told People magazine at the time.

"He would like to apologize to the other women he has been having sexual relationships with," continued the statement. "Out of the bad comes good. Since his relationship with Ms. Pugh was exposed, Ozzy has gone into intense therapy. Ozzy is mortified at what his behavior has done to his family. He thanks God that his incredible wife Sharon is at his side to support him."

Speaking to The Times, Osbourne said his marital woes were partly a result of Sharon's busy schedule.

"She's stronger than me or any man, for sure. I am more needy," Ozzy said. "Sharon is a workaholic and that's great. But if she comes home from 'X Factor' [where she was part of the judging panel] and wants to go to bed, what the fuck am I supposed to do? I'm sitting with my thumb in my arse waiting for her, aren't I? That's why men do stupid things, when they're on their own."

Ozzy reportedly pursued Pugh for a year after she first colored his hair in late 2011.

Sharon reportedly learned of Ozzy's affair by having a private investigator look into his activities. A source told In Touch that Sharon "found out that Ozzy was spending a lot of money. She wanted to know what he was buying and who he was buying it for. The investigator discovered that he was basically living a double life."

Ozzy is at the tail end of a year-long farewell tour with BLACK SABBATH and has also reportedly been working on a new solo album.

During an interview with Professional Music Technoology conducted at this year's NAMM show, EXTREME guitarist Nuno Bettencourt revealed that he doesn't listen to his own music once it has been written and recorded. "I've never listened to any [of my records]… or watched any live footage of anything I've ever done," he said (see video below). "I can't do it. I don't wanna know about it. I remember what happened when I was there, and I wanna remember it that way. When I listen to it, I just start, like, picking it apart, I start going, 'Why did we record it? I hate all of it.' So I tell, 'Nobody send me anything. Don't send me links. Don't send me clips. I don't wanna see myself. Thank you very much.'"

EXTREME's long-awaited follow-up to to 2008's "Saudades de Rock" album is tentatively due in late spring or early summer.

EXTREME singer Gary Cherone told Metalholic last October that the band's fans will be pleased with the musical direction of the group's new material. He said: "There will be, like all EXTREME records, familiar elements, but also stuff… Over the years, when Nuno and I write, we're affected by our environment and music changes throughout the years, so those elements… There will still be some new elements to the band as well. Hopefully that always happens; you always wanna grow and evolve and move on. But the guitars will be there, the harmonies will be there, the songs, the hooks, the lyrics… There'll still be elements of the past, but certainly new elements [as well]."

A live package celebrating EXTREME's "Pornograffitti" album was made available last October. Titled "Pornograffitti Live 25 / Metal Meltdown", it includes a DVD, Blu-ray and audio CD recorded at the band's show at the Las Vegas Hard Rock Casino on May 30, 2015, where they performed the record in full.

Professionally filmed video footage of vocalist C.J. McMahon's comeback performance with Australian extreme metallers THY ART IS MURDER — which took place on January 14 at the Unify festival in Tarwin Meadows, South Gippsland, Victoria, Australia — can be seen below.

McMahon recently blamed his drug addiction for his departure from the group and has vowed to move forward as "a new man." He wrote on his Instagram account: "You made me a rock star, you made me a God, you made me immortal. I owe my fans everything. I made myself a drug addict, I made myself a liar, I made myself lose and destroy friendships, I made my family and friends hurt. I come back to the world a new man who, with my closest friends (THY ART IS MURDER), will prove that we are the greatest, strongest, and most powerful force in metal, I will take no prisoners, we will crush all charts and expectations. We will take over the game and raise the bar so no one will touch it or us. I am C.J. McMahon and I will stand as a king with my brothers for the rest of time."

To cement McMahon's return to his rightful throne, the band has released a brand new song titled "No Absolution".

Guitarist Andy Marsh spoke on McMahon's return and the brand new track: "A little over a year ago, we were left in a pickle when C.J. had finally reached his breaking point — the physical, emotional and mental stresses of touring, and the lifestyle had taken its toll on him. After the dust had settled, we had time to speak amongst ourselves, and with him, and we were all able to get on the same page. He was able to take time off from the road and work consistently, tick off some life goals like getting married, and enjoy the routine and familiarity of life at home with his friends and family. Conversely, the rest of us kept going, touring relentlessly, playing bigger tours to more people than ever before, going to new countries for the very first time, and had a blast taking a few great vocalists and mates out for the ride with us while we weathered the storm and figured things out. Special thanks must go out to Monte Barnard, Nicholas Arthur, Lochlan Watt, and every other vocalist who took the time to apply in our discrete vocalist auditions. "After a few months away from the chaotic life on the road, C.J. reached out to us and we started maintaining more regular communication. He mentioned how he had started cleaning up, was focused on working hard and saving for his wedding and enjoying time at home, but he also mentioned he missed the shows, the friends, and us — his band. "After months of working things out, gaining his voice back, and mending wounded friendships, we are overwhelmed with excitement to announce that we have completed writing for a new record to be released later this year, featuring the one and only Christopher John McMahon. Welcome back, C.J.!"

In regards to the song "No Absolution", Marsh stated: "'No Absolution' is a rich tapestry, intertwined in faith, scripture and doctrine, and a story about the process that we have endured throughout the last year. We recorded this during the session for 'Holy War' but quite simply ran out of time to finish writing lyrics and recording vocals for it in order to make the record. This song now stands alone, without a record or release — a gift from us to you, thank you for your continued support, we can't wait to show you what we're making for 2017."

THY ART IS MURDER's third album, "Holy War", entered the official Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) chart at position No. 7 — the highest-ever position for an Australian extreme metal act. The Sydney-based band has generated controversy for the strong anti-religious stance of the title track's video, as well as the album cover which features references to a suicide bomber.

"Holy War" was released in Australia via UNFD and in other parts of the world through Nuclear Blast.

BLACK SABBATH guitarist Tony Iommi says that he wants to bury the hatchet with the band's former drummer, Bill Ward.

Ward was on board for the SABBATH reunion when it was first announced in November 2011, but backed out soon after. He later claimed that he sat out the recording and touring sessions because of unfair contractual terms, although the members of SABBATH have hinted in other interviews that he wasn't physically up to the task.

SABBATH has used singer Ozzy Osbourne's regular touring drummer Tommy Clufetos since then for live work. RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE's Brad Wilk laid down the drum tracks on the band's comeback album, "13", which came out in June 2013.

In a new interview with Mojo magazine, Iommi made it clear he was keen to make amends with Bill as the band prepares for the two final shows in its native Birmingham, England on February 2 and 4.

"Bill seemed to feel he was getting a bad deal," Tony told Mojo. "We never dealt with that, we left all that to management. We just wanted to play together and enjoy it. We were playing with Bill for a bit and then he never turned up…"

He continued: "It would have been nicer to have Bill with us, but, unfortunately, it never happened… At some point, I wanna call him. I still love him, he's still my brother, but you have arguments. To be honest with you, I don't know what the fuck happened, because I don't do the business side of it."

It was rumored that SABBATH wanted to bring a second drummer on the road to share duties with Ward, which he allegedly balked at.

Ward in 2015 released his first solo album in 18 years. Titled "Accountable Beasts", the record can be purchased on iTunes.

More recently, Ward launched a new new three-piece band called DAY OF ERRORS. The group, which was formed by Ward "in the desire to have my drumming spirit continue to live," also features Joe Amodea on guitar/vocals and Nick Diltz on bass/lead vocals.

SABBATH played its last show ever in the U.S. on November 12 at AT&T Center in San Antonio, Texas. The gig took place nearly five years to the day that the legendary act announced their reunion.

METALLICA drummer Lars Ulrich is featured in Amoeba Music's "What's In My Bag?" segment in which he talks about some of the records, books and movies he is into. In the clip below, he can be seen shopping at Amoeba in Hollywood, where he talks about Bruce Springsteen's "Born To Run" book as well as various records from RADIOHEAD and DEEP PURPLE, among others.

METALLICA's latest album, "Hardwired... To Self-Destruct", came out in November. The effort consists of two discs, containing a dozen songs and nearly 80 minutes of music.

METALLICA has shows booked in Denmark, Mexico and South America over the next three months, but has yet to unveil its full 2017 tour plans, including its first North American tour in eight years.

The band's sole North American date so far is May 21 at the Rock On The Range festival in Columbus, Ohio.

Luxury sock company Stance has released a new line of footwear from its "Legends Of Metal" range, featuring designs that were approved by SLAYER, MOTÖRHEAD and IRON MAIDEN.

Available to purchase for $18 a pair, the socks feature designs taken from classic albums by MOTÖRHEAD, IRON MAIDEN (both of which display the artwork from their respective self-titled albums) and SLAYER's "Show No Mercy".

Stance's "Legends Of Metal" description: "Our 'Legends Of Metal' collection pays tribute to the first albums of the worlds most idolized bands SLAYER, IRON MAIDEN and MOTÖRHEAD during a time when their unpredictable and unfiltered behaviour was about to lead them to heavy metal immortality. SLAYER features the original artwork from their debut album which continues to reign in metal glory."

According to the Los Angeles Times, Stance features socks with wild patterns and colors that can cost as much as $50 a pair. The company signed a multiyear licensing agreement with the NBA to include team logos.

Stance in November 2015 opened its first retail store in New York's SoHo district. It ended the year with an estimated $180 million in revenue.

Stance's co-founder and president, John Wilson, is the former president of Reef and has been an executive at Oakley.

HIM, SUICIDAL TENDENCIES, MAYHEM, APOCALYPTICA, DIRKSCHNEIDER and SONATA ARCTICA are among the confirmed bands for the 20th-anniversary edition of the Tuska festival, set to take place June 30 - July 2 in Helsinki, Finland.

The festival billing is shaping up as follows:

Friday, June 30:

More bands will be announced soon.

The 2016 edition of the Tuska festival saw 28,000 fans gathered at Suvilahti, formerly an energy production area, a present-day venue for festivals, flea markets and graffiti, located in Helsinki's Sörnäinen district.

The festival offers a variety of ticket options: from 255 euros for the three-day Tuska Turbo VIP package to 129 euros for a normal three-day ticket and 105 and 75 euros for a two- or one-day ticket, respectively. Tickets can be exchanged for wristbands at the festival site.

In a 2016 interview with Festicket, Tuska organizer and promoter Eeka Mäkynen stated about Finland's mainstream acceptance of the heavy metal genre: "It has been [big for] a really long time. This is our nineteenth year so I think it was about nineteen years ago that there were some really underground things going on in the true metal scene; when the guys started up the Tuska festival. That was about 1998 when we started to see that something was happening, something was 'vibrating.'"

He continued: "The first Tuska was held at a club in Helsinki with a capacity of 750, and they had two stages over two days. The guy who owned the club and ran the festival realized that it was growing and so already by the second festival it was arranged outdoors for a couple of thousand people per day. It started to blast off really quickly from then."

Asked if he thinks Tuska fans want to see a lot of Finnish music, or if they prefer to see a representation of the whole worldwide scene, Mäkynen said: "That's a really good question. It's always been sort of 50/50. Foreign people who come to the festival want to see local bands; if you come to Finland, you want to see Finnish bands, the big names like STAM1NA, MOKOMA, LORDI, CHILDREN OF BODOM. But if you're wondering how most Finnish people see Tuska, they're probably thinking about the big-name foreign bands. In Finland, it's known as an international festival. And we want to grow it bigger for the international fans and expand the whole feeling that you can come to festival, spend a weekend here, explore Helsinki and have a good trip to Finland. So that's something we've been growing in the last couple of years, and I think we're doing a good job so far."

For more information, visit Tuska.fi.

"Whitesnake In Full Flight" is a fully independent publication in collaboration with bassist Neil Murray. It is a combination of behind-the-scenes shots and dynamic gig photos from the early years of David Coverdale's band, beautifully presented in a 128-page, full-color hardback book.

Limited to only 300, each book is individually numbered and sits neatly encased in foam within its own metal flight case — a beautiful addition to any WHITESNAKE collection.

The book contains over 130 U.K. concert photos from 1978-1981, including the third-ever gig in Wolverhampton on the first "back to the roots" tour and from Birmingham and Liverpool during the band's first full scale U.K. tour promoting the debut album "Trouble", by which time Coverdale's former DEEP PURPLE bandmate Jon Lord had joined.

The DEEP PURPLE connection continued when drummer Ian Paice joined in 1979 in time for the band's first appearance at the Reading festival in 1979 which is also captured here. There are also shots from their appearance at the 1981 Monsters Of Rock festival.

But "Whitesnake In Full Flight" also contains a superb range of photos from the personal collection of Murray, who is collaborating on this publication. Armed with his trusty Pentax, Neil was always on hand to catch the band in many different situations and locations. His collection includes photos from several recording sessions — the "Lovehunter" album at Clearwell Castle, "Come An' Get It" at Startling Studios and the sessions for the "Saints & Sinners" album in the autumn of 1981. Neil's collection also includes many backstage, offstage and soundcheck shots from the first Japanese tour in 1980, U.K. and German tours from the same year as well as the U.S. tour where they supported JETHRO TULL.

Neil kept diaries during his years in the band, and aside from contributing a foreword, these diaries have helped Neil to add his memories and recollections to go alongside many of the photos.

If that wasn't enough, this unique publication also includes a set of 7 A4 photos printed on high quality 400gsm premium board and perfect for framing. One full band shot and one each of Coverdale, Lord, Paice, Micky Moody, Bernie Marsden and a signed photo of Murray.

"Whitesnake In Full Flight" will be released on April 7.

Pre-order the book at this location.

California Rock News has uploaded video footage and photos of original KISS guitarist Ace Frehley's January 29 performance at The Canyon in Agoura Hills, California. Check out the clips below.

Rumors about Frehley's return to KISS gained strength lasty year after he teamed up with KISS lead singer Paul Stanley on a cover of FREE's "Fire And Water", marking their first collaboration since 1998's "Psycho Circus".

Asked if there is a chance that he will re-team with KISS, Frehley told "Talking Metal" at last month's Revolver Music Awards in New York City: "I haven't heard anything from Paul and Gene [Simmons, KISS bassist/vocalist] — although I did get a text from Gene the other day. He wanted to come see me perform this January. So, you know, maybe he'll pop the big question. Who knows? [Laughs]

He added: "Whatever happens, we're all good. It's all good."

Ace's latest comments echo those he made in November when he told Eddie Trunk of the "Trunk Nation" radio show: "I haven't been contacted [about a reunion]. I'm not ruling it out. It's a possibility, I guess. But the ball's in Paul and Gene's court. If that's something that they would like to do to end off the career of KISS, I think it could be… if it was handled correctly, it could be great. But those guys pretty much run the show these days. And I'm doing my thing, and they're doing their thing. And if it happens, it'd be great, and if it doesn't, I'll be fine and they'll be fine."

Ace told "Trunk Nation" that his relationship with his former bandmates was never bad as it was portrayed by the media. "However the press colors the fact that we don't get along, in reality we do," he said. "You know, we have disagreements and things are said sometimes, taken out of context. But I've always been friends with those guys and they've been friends with me. We may not have agreed about certain things over the years and maybe there were times we didn't talk. I mean, we created something amazing that withstood the test of time."

Frehley's version of "Fire And Water" appears on his covers collection "Origins, Vol 1", which received great reviews and landed in the Top 25 on the Billboard album chart.

Century Media Records has set February 24 as the release date of "Inception", the official prequel to 1988's classic debut "Refuge Denied" from the legendary U.S. metal act SANCTUARY. "Inception" contains presumed lost 1986 studio recordings, which guitarist Lenny Rutledge discovered recently and which were magically restored, remixed and remastered by Chris "Zeuss" Harris (QUEENSRŸCHE, HATEBREED).

The lyric video for the song "Dream Of The Incubus", taken from "Inception", can be seen below.

Rutledge comments: "'Dream Of The Incubus' was one of those forgotten SANCTUARY songs. It's awesome to see it finally get released.

"I believe we only played 'Incubus' live one time.

"This video footage was from our first Seattle show in the late '80s at a venue called The Oz.

"The introduction at the beginning is Jeff Gilbert from the radio show 'Brain Pain'. Jeff was a huge help to SANCTUARY and many other Seattle bands from that time frame."

Recorded in March of 1986 ("Soldiers Of Steel", "Battle Angels") at Triad Studios in Redmond, Washington and Studio One in White Center between April and July 1986, "Inception" offers such previously unreleased highlights as "Dream of The Incubus" and "I Am Insane" as well as several classic "Refuge Denied" songs that are burning with fervor and intensity. Apart from being expanded by art courtesy of Ed Repka, "Inception" is filled to the brim with tons of rare photos, flyers, early art designs, sketches plus detailed liner notes allowing you to delve deep into SANCTUARY's history.

"Inception" will be released as gatefold LP on 180-gram black and limited colored vinyl, including an extensive LP-size booklet, poster, and the album on CD as additional extra. Apart from that, it will be available as a special-edition CD digipak and digital album.

Rutledge comments: "I found the masters in my barn. The second floor of the barn is on top of our current recording studio and is very rough and open to the elements. The ground level is where we recorded the bulk of 'The Year The Sun Died'. We found the masters in an unknown box in the barn, full of water and just wasting away." Zeuss explains further how the "Inception" album was realized: "I got a call one day and Lenny said that he had discovered these tapes and had them transferred to digital. I was in the area and stopped over to check it out. The recordings were still in decent shape.

"We agreed that we wanted it to sound as good as possible without taking away from the original vibe and vision of what the band had back then.

"After a year of mixing on and off, we were able to resurrect these original demos.

"I hope everyone enjoys these recordings as much as I did working on them, especially being a huge fan myself." Lenny concludes: "For me personally, I just wanted fans to be able to hear proper versions of the demos. They had a certain energy that was captured during the early days, maybe even more so than 'Refuge Denied'.

"It's no secret that you can find these on the Internet, but the quality is horrible.

"I think most people are under the impression that these are remastered or re-recorded versions of 'Refuge…', but this is all a prequel!" "Inception" track listing:

01. Dream Of The Incubus02. Die For My Sins03. Soldiers Of Steel04. Death Rider / Third War05. White Rabbit (JEFFERSON AIRPLANE cover)06. Ascension To Destiny07. Battle Angels08. I Am Insane09. Veil Of Disguise

German thrash titans KREATOR have released the official music video for the song "Fallen Brother" from their latest album, "Gods Of Violence". The track features Swiss singer/songwriter Dagobert and pays respect to fallen music icons such as Lemmy, Jeff Hanneman, Cliff Burton, Peter Steele, Prince, David Bowie and Bon Scott, among others.

KREATOR frontman Mille Petrozza recently told Ghost Cult about the group's insistence on making music videos: "I love videos. I always have, and I always will. I think that it's a great way to support the music, and visually make it come to life. I know there aren't any outlets on television anymore, but YouTube is huge, and people still watch them, and it gets them talking. Some people love them, some don't. Either way, it brings up discussion, which is a good thing. We will continue to release videos for as long as we can. It's an important thing in KREATOR, and the two we've released so far [for the new album] came out spectacular."

The cover artwork for "Gods Of Violence" was created by renowned artist Jan Meininghaus, who also made the limited-edition artwork for KREATOR's last album, 2012's "Phantom Antichrist", and has lent his talents to bands like BOLT THROWER, ACCEPT and OVERKILL in the past.

The exclusive North American cover was created by renowned artist Marcelo Vasco, who has previously worked with SLAYER, MACHINE HEAD, SOULFLY and HATEBREED.

KREATOR will tour Europe in support of the new CD beginning in early February. Petrozza and his crew will be accompanied by a varied as well as iconic billing. Brazilian-American extreme metal pioneers SEPULTURA are direct support to the headliners, followed by visionary Swedish melodic death metallers SOILWORK and Belgium's finest death/grind outfit ABORTED.

KREATOR will headline this year's edition of the annual Decibel Magazine Tour. Support on the trek will come from Florida death metal legends OBITUARY, old-school Ohio brutalizers MIDNIGHT and celebrated progressive death prodigies HORRENDOUS.

Danish heavy metal legends MERCYFUL FATE were honored with the "Pioneer Prize" (Pionerprisen) at this year's Steppeulven, an annual award ceremony established by the Foreningen Af Danske Musikkritikere (Association Of Danish Music Critics), on January 28 at Bremen Teater in Copenhagen, Denmark. Accepting the award at the event were original MERCYFUL FATE members Hank Shermann, Michael Denner, Kim Ruzz and Timi Hansen, along with the band's longtime manager Ole Bang.

Video footage of the award presentation and acceptance speeches can be seen below.

MERCYFUL FATE's last studio album, "9", was released in 1999.

MERCYFUL FATE will be remembered for its unquestionable mark on the history of metal with its innovative sound, complex arrangements, memorable melody, and its influence on bands that later took the genre to new heights.

In 1998, METALLICA paid tribute to MERCYFUL FATE by recording a medley of classic MERCYFUL FATE songs on the album "Garage Inc." Titled "Mercyful Fate", the medley included parts from "Satan's Fall", "Curse of the Pharaohs", "A Corpse Without Soul", "Into the Coven" and "Evil".

Lars Ulrich of METALLICA (a fellow Dane) played drums on a new version of MERCYFUL FATE's "Return of the Vampire" on the "In the Shadows" album, which came out in 1993.

The official video for "Heavy Fire", the title track of the third studio album from BLACK STAR RIDERS, can be seen below. The disc will be released on February 3 via Nuclear Blast.

BLACK STAR RIDERS frontman Ricky Warwick comments on the track: "Only fools would believe that rock 'n' roll can rejuvenate a world in the throes of a collapsing civilization that's coming under heavy fire from all asunder. But what if the would-be fools are right?"

BLACK STAR RIDERS' previous album, "The Killer Instinct", was released in 2015 to widespread critical acclaim and went on to score multiple radio playlists. A solid year of worldwide touring culminated in December 2015 in an U.K. arena tour alongside DEF LEPPARD and WHITESNAKE. 2016 saw BLACK STAR RIDERS — Ricky Warwick, Scott Gorham, Damon Johnson, Robert Crane and Jimmy DeGrasso — return to the studio with "The Killer Instinct" producer Nick Raskulinecz (RUSH, FOO FIGHTERS, KORN), at his studio just outside Nashville. The resultant album is BLACK STAR RIDERS' most accomplished work to date. From the immediate riffs of album opener "Heavy Fire" to the instant hooks of first single "When The Night Comes In", from the dirty bass groove of "Thinking About You Could Get Me Killed" to the familiar and trademark dual guitars of Gorham and Johnson on "Testify Or Say Goodbye", this is an album that will further cement BLACK STAR RIDERS' reputation as one of the world premiere rock acts. "Angst, passion, power, glory, love, truth, lies, loyalty, questions that begged to be answered. There's a guitar army coming…and it's bringing the 'Heavy Fire'!" said Warwick. "Not many new bands get to record three albums these days," added Gorham. "Without doubt, this is BSR's best album so far. We had a great time recording it and can't wait to play the new songs live on tour in March." Following on from their critically acclaimed albums "All Hell Breaks Loose" and "The Killer Instinct", which have paved the way for BLACK STAR RIDERS to be recognized as a power force in the modern day of rock and roll, "Heavy Fire" will be once again released by Nuclear Blast Entertainment. The band have also brought in PledgeMusic, one of the most innovative and successful platforms of the modern music world, to give fans extra special product and experiences to go along with the album's release. CD

01. Heavy Fire02. When The Night Comes In03. Dancing With The Wrong Girl04. Who Rides The Tiger05. Cold War Love06. Testify Or Say Goodbye07. Thinking About You Could Get Me Killed08. True Blue Kid09. Ticket To Rise10. Letting Go Of Me The limited-edition digibook CD will have above track listing plus the bonus track "Fade" Limited-edition gatefold vinyl and limited-edition picture disc

Side One

01. Heavy Fire02. When The Night Comes In03. Dancing With The Wrong Girl04. Who Rides The Tiger05. Cold War Love

Side Two

01. Testify Or Say Goodbye02. Thinking About You Could Get Me Killed03. True Blue Kid04. Ticket To Rise05. Letting Go Of Me After a full year off the road, BLACK STAR RIDERS are back with a 16-date U.K. and Ireland run, joined on the first five dates by Scottish rockers GUN and THE AMORETTES and then Sweden's own BACKYARD BABIES with GUN on the remaining 11 shows.

Photo credit: Robert John

Photograve Management has checked in with the following Immortal update:

"Horgh has completed the recordings of the drums for the upcoming Immortal album. Drums were recorded at Abyss Studios in Sweden, together with Peter Tägtgren, who already worked with IMMORTAL several times before. More news coming soon..."

Norwegian black metal legends, Immortal, started recording their ninth album in January. After the announced split with vocalist/guitarist Abbath in 2015 guitarist Demonaz will now handle vocal duties while Horgh will continue to play the drums.

Demonaz and Horgh state: "The songs have been ready for some time, but we wanted to record it at the right place and time. We will once again work with Peter Tägtgren at Abyss Studios. who produced our last four albums. The band will enter the studio during wintertime to have the right atmosphere. We look forward to recording and presenting the new album to the Immortal hordes sometime in 2017."

Tracks to appear on the new album include:

“Northern Chaos Gods”
“Into Battle Ride”
“Gates To Blashyrkh”
“Blacker Of Worlds”
“Where Mountains Rise”
“Grim And Dark”
“Called To Ice”
“Ravendark”

Stay tuned for more details.

Novembers Doom will release their 10th studio album, Hamartia, on April 14th via The End Records. The album track “Plague Bird” is available for streaming below. The new album was recorded with Chris Djuricic (Jungle Rot, Malevolence) at Belle City Sound in Racine, WI, then sent to metal legend Dan Swano (Opeth, Dissection, Katatonia) for mixing.

Tracklisting:

“Devils Light”
“Plague Bird”
“Ghost”
“Ever After”
“Hamartia”
“Apostasy”
“Miasma”
“Zephyr”
“Waves In The Red Cloth”
“Borderline”

“Plague Bird”:

Double Crush Syndrome, fronted by former Sodom guitarist Andy Brings, will release their first official full length album, Die For Rock N' Roll, on March 17th. It is now abailable for pre-order via iTunes and Amazon Germany.

 

Tracklist:

 

"Gimme Everything"
"Die for Rock N' Roll"
"Unfriend Me Now"
"She's a Pistol"
"On Top of Mount Whateverest"
"Yeah! Pain!"
"I Wanna Be Your Monkey"
"Slow Suicide"
"Can't You Be Like Everyone Else"
"Blood On My Shirt"
"Revolution"

Bonus Tracks:
"And They Say We Are the Freaks"
"Fuck You Is My Answer"
"Right Now"

Double Crush Syndrome have announced a string of Germany tour dates for 2017 and released an official video for "On Top Of Mt. Whateverest", taken from their forthcoming album Die For Rock N' Roll. Check out the video below, tour dates are as follows:

March
17 - Frankfurt, Germany - 11er
18 - Hamburg - We Rock The North Party 
22 - Köln - Kleine Essigfabrik
23 - München - Garage Deluxe
24 - Wachenroth – Toxicity
25 - Hameln - Mad Music
31 - Berlin - Wild At Heart

April
1 - Dresden - Puschkin
2 - Düsseldorf - The Tube
5 - Münster - Sputnik Café
6 - Hannover - Lux
8 - Stuttgart – Zwölfzehn
9 - Saarbrücken - Garage Club

The band recently issued the following update:

"Finally we can announce it: Double Crush Syndrome signed a worldwide deal with Arising Empire / Nuclear Blast Records, and we couldn´t be happier about it! We got some amazing stuff planned, and the craziness will just get crazier! Booking is now in the hands of Contra Promotion, which is just as cool!"

DCS has released an official video for their song "We Die For Rock N' Roll". Check it out below.

Dark Funeral has won P3 Guld, the biggest music award in Sweden, for best Rock/Metal 2016 for their latest album, Where Shadows Forever Reign.

Watch a clip below where Lord Ahriman and Chaq Mol receiving the award live on SVT1, Swedish National TV on Jan 21st below:

The band comment: “Thanks to P3 Guld, the jury and all of you who gave us your support and voted, you're the best!”

In other news, today it is exactly 21 years since we released the legendary The Secrets of The Black Arts album. Original release date, January 28th, 1996 through No Fashion Records.

(Photo above of Chaq Mol and Lord Ahriman by Lisa Sihlberg)

Dutch rockers have released a new single and video for “Once We Were Dead”.

The band's raw and challenging style is a blend of the classic heavy rock from the giants of the past and their own unique and powerful expression. Strong vocals, heavy riffs, catchy choruses, twin guitar soloing and a mission to keep the guitar led rock alive, combine into making the band a huge adrenaline boost into the Danish music scene.

"Some songs take months to perfect, but ‘Once We Were Dead’ took 30 minutes. Once the riff started rolling the rest came naturally. This is the result. Enjoy!" - Anders Brink, SEA.
 
Soon the band will be back with their second album. It was recorded in Vibe Factory Studios in Copenhagen with producer Jakob Winther who is primarily known for his work with artists like Justin Hawkins (The Darkness) and Lukas Graham.
 
Even though the sound is heavy and energetic, the forth coming record titled The Grip Of Time (out May 12th) explores more mellow, melancholy and melodic elements.

Swedish dark occult blackened death metal act Hetroertzen have released a lyric video for “Zealous Procreation”.

The track is taken from their forthcoming release, Uprising Of The Fallen, which will bring you back to the deepest roots of the genre with eight black, extreme, emotional and creepy new tracks.

Due out February 24th via Listenable Records, Uprising Of The Fallen will see release on digipack CD, digital, limited edition 180g vinyl formats (Including a 16 page A4 booklet with lyrics and artwork.) and a Ltd box.

This limited edition box of 100 copies worldwide contains: exclusive cassette version only available in this box along with exclusive flag, The Path Bearer pendant and digipack CD. Preorders can be placed at the Listenable Records shop.

Trackisting:

“Uprising”
“Zealous Procreation”
“The Fallen Star”
“Path Bearer”
“The Trial”
“Upon The Thresholds”
“Perception Of The Unseen”
“Lost And Betrayed”

“Zealous Procreation” lyric video:

Junius have released a video for “The Queen’s Constellation” (see below), a track from their new full-length album, Eternal Rituals For The Accretion Of Light (ERAL), due out March 3rd via Prosthetic Records.

The album marks the completion of their conceptual trilogy which began in 2009 with their evoking LP The Martyrdom Of A Catastrophist, followed by 2011's Reports From The Thresholds Of Death. Next in line was Junius' latest release, the 2014 EP Days Of the Fallen Sun.

Recorded, mixed and mastered with longtime friend and producer Will Benoit (Caspian, Rosetta, Ellie Goulding), Eternal Rituals For The Accretion Of Light takes inspiration from Elisabeth Haich's autobiography Initiation, whilst touching on topics including karma, reincarnation and spiritual development across it's ten melodically divine tracks. Following the departure of former member Mike Repasch-Nieves (guitars), the album was entirely wrote and performed by vocalist / guitarist Joseph E. Martinez, excluding drums / percussion which were completed by Dana Filloon. The album also features guest appearances from Drew Speziale (Circle Takes The Square) and Gian Minardi (General Public).

 

 

Tracklisting:

"March Of The Samsara"
"Beyond The Pale Society"
"A Mass For Metaphysicians"
"Clean The Beast"
"All That Is, Is Of The One"
"The Queen's Constellation"
"Telepaths & Pyramids"
"Masquerade In Veils"
"Heresy Of The Free Spirit"
"Black Sarcophagus"

"The Queen's Constellation" video:

Junius will embark on a headlining jaunt across the East Coast following the albums release in mid-April with support to be announced shortly. Dates can be found listed in the below tour admat. For tickets and further information, please visit this location.

 

Rochester, NY-based rockers, Unwill, are streaming the new song “Back Again”, featured on the upcoming Past Life album, out on February 10th via Entertainment One Music / Lifeblood Inc. Listen to the new track below. Fans can pre-order album bundles at the band's merch store here.

The Past Life album will be the follow up to the band’s 2015 debut single and video for “Calm”, directed by Josiah Moore (Ice Nine Kills, Sirens and Sailors, It Lives, It Breathes). That year the band expanded its touring across the Northeast, exposing its unforgiving live performance alongside such acts as Letlive, He Is Legend and Norma Jean. Musically, Unwill has been compared to the likes of Linkin Park, Deftones, Chevelle and Underoath. But the band doesn’t shy from putting its own spin on alternative rock.

Past Life features eleven songs that are unrelenting in their grim honesty. The album deals with themes of identity, faith, self-doubt, solipsism, regret, and the truest parts of our natures. Beneath the dark exterior of these songs, however, are shreds of light.

Within the eleven-song journey of Past Life, listeners will come across the many sides of Rocco Sylvio’s voice, smooth on one end and coarse on the other. They will also hear cleaner guitars mixed in with the dirtier tones, and soaring melodies alongside unapologetic heavy riffs.

Wherever listeners come to face Unwill, whether it be through live performance or studio recording, they can be sure to always be met with relentless force.

Past Life tracklisting:

“Doubt”
“Bitter Truth”
“The Way”
“Tomb”
“Back Again”
“You Wanted Out”
“Drifting”
“On My Own”
“Soul”
“Past Life”
“Go”

“Back Again”:

“Tomb”:

“Soul”:

(Photo - Josiah Moore)

HALESTORM frontwoman Lzzy Hale joined THE EAST SIDE GAMBLERS on stage last night (Friday, January 27) at The Mercy Lounge in Nashville, Tennessee to perform covers of classic songs from AC/DC, AEROSMITH, HEART and PAT BENATAR, among others. Check out fan-filmed video footage of her appearance below.

HALESTORM's third covers EP, "ReAniMate 3.0: The CoVeRs eP", was r eleased on January 6 via Atlantic. The effort was produced by Nick Raskulinecz (FOO FIGHTERS, ALICE IN CHAINS, KORN).

"ReAniMate 3.0: The CoVeRs eP" follows HALESTORM's previous covers EPs, 2011's "ReAniMate" and 2013's "ReAniMate 2.0".

Hale recently told Swedish outlet RockSverige that HALESTORM is continuing to write material for its next album, tentatively later this year. Hale revealed: "You have no idea the weird songs I've been writing, subject matter and musically. Musically, it's kinda been a long journey to the beginning, so we're kinda going back to our total roots. We're gonna do a rock record this time. It's like total balls to the wall, but lyrically, it's been a little weird and that's my fault."

The new record will follow up 2015's "Into The Wild Life", which was criticized by some fans for veering too far into pop music territory.

On February 3rd, London-based progressive metal band Haken will release their first two albums, Aquarius and Visions, as new remastered 2CD editions as well as on vinyl for the very first time. They now reveal a stream of the remastered version of “Streams”, taken from Aquarius:

The first in a series of interviews with the band looking back on their first two albums and 10 years as a band has also now been launched. Watch guitarists Rich Henshall and Charlie Griffiths talk about Aqaurius below:

Vocalist Ross Jennings commented on the releases: "As advocates of the physical format and fellow record collectors, it seems almost criminal that our first two albums have never had a vinyl release until now, so we are thrilled to finally give these albums a fresh presentation on the format they deserve. We have taken this opportunity to polish the sound of our beloved concept albums without going back over every little detail and rewriting history. In essence we wanted to give these albums a chance to stand shoulder to shoulder in sonic quality with The Mountain and Affinity. In addition to this and due to popular demand, both releases will also be available again on CD with instrumental, or "Karaoke" versions of every track. This release marks 10 years since we formed the band and started putting together our first demos so it's a perfect time to reflect on these releases and appreciate what we've achieved so far.

“The Aquarius concept was drawn from conversations about our favourite albums and the way in which the songs flow that make those particular records work. This lead to ideas about having our album be about the flow or journey of water from mountain spring to oceans and evaporation, which in turn lead on to a deeper concept about human life and reincarnation. The themes of water helped us to create aqueous soundscapes and as the music and lyrics started coming together a narrative was formed in the shape of Mermaids & natural disasters. Aquarius will always have a special place in our hearts. It's where our journey really began.

“When writing for Visions came around, we set about the process with the same formula, although we hadn't set out to write another concept album at the time. As themes found themselves recurring in the music it only felt right to go in the narrative direction, although this time around we drew from our science fiction influences such as Minority Report and 12 Monkeys and was inspired by real recurring dreams I had been having around the time. It's always a joy to revisit these tracks in our live sets, so much so that we will be performing it in its entirety later this year at ProgPower USA, Atlanta!"

Newly remastered by the renowned Jens Bogren (Devin Townsend Project, Between the Buried & Me) both are available as 2CD Digipaks, digital album including the entire albums as instrumentals, and on vinyl, arriving as Gatefold heavyweight 2LP editions with the full album on CD included.

Buy limited colored vinyl and the 2CD digipak here.

Make sure to catch Haken live on the band's 10th anniversary tour kicking off in March, with support from The Algorithm and Next To None (except Israel).

Tour dates:

March
22 - Rescue Rooms - Nottingham, United Kingdom
23 - O2 ABC 2 - Glasgow, United Kingdom
24 - Manchester Academy 3 - Manchester, United Kingdom
25 - O2 Academy 2 Birmingham - Birmingham, United Kingdom
26 - Islington Assembly Hall - London, United Kingdom
28 - Le Splendid - Lille, France
29 - La Maroquinerie - Paris, France
30 - La Laiterie - Strasbourg, France
31 - Kiff - Aarau, Switzerland

April
1 - Keller Klub - Stuttgart, Germany
3 - Zona Roveri - Bologna, Italy
4 - Szene - Vienna, Austria
5 - Durer-Kert - Budapest, Hungary
6 - Futurum - Prague, Czech Republic
7 - Beatpol - Dresden, Germany
9 - Chez Heinz - Hannover, Germany
10 - Kesselhaus - Wiesbaden, Germany
11 - Turock - Essen, Germany
12 - Rockhal - Esch Sur Alzette, Luxembourg    
13 - Melkweg OZ - Amsterdam, Netherlands
15 - Bascula Club - Tel Aviv, Israel (Haken only)

The band will also be heading out on Cruise To The Edge from February 7th, and will be performing Visions in its entirety at Prog Power USA on September 6th.

Fan-filmed video footage of MÖTLEY CRÜE singer Vince Neil performing with his solo band on January 28 at at the Wolf Den in Uncasville, Connecticut can be seen below.

In a recent interview with TheArnoldFans.com, Vince stated about the conclusion of CRÜE's "The Final Tour" and his plans for this year: "We finished up New Year's Eve, just about a year ago. Within ten days, I was on the first show of my solo tour.

"I'm someone who likes to be on tour constantly. [I am] taking a little bit of a break with the holidays right now, and actually next week, I start up again.

"I have over a hundred shows booked for [2017], so [there will be] a lot of touring."

Neil explained to GreeleyTribune.com why he continues to play MÖTLEY CRÜE's hit songs during his solo live performances.

"I could play a lot of my solo stuff, and I'd get a lot of people in the crowd saying, 'What is he doing that for?' Neil said. "They'd be saying, 'Play [swear word] 'Dr. Feelgood', you [swear word].

"But I don't want to be that guy," he continued. "I want to be someone who shows appreciation for all our fans. Those people have all the love for the CRÜE stuff, and I was the guy singing those songs. That gave me a great life for 30 years."

Neil was also full of praise for his solo band, which continues to include Dana Strum and Jeff Blando from SLAUGHTER and drummer Zoltan Chaney.

"They're really energetic, and we're friends," Neil said. "There's none of the [bad] blood and the crazy ups and downs with MÖTLEY. We all get along really good."

MÖTLEY CRÜE bassist Nikki Sixx told RiffYou.com last year that his new band, SIXX:A.M., "[doesn't] play MÖTLEY CRÜE music" and will "never play MÖTLEY CRÜE music, explaining that he wanted to make a clean break from touring with CRÜE out of the deep respect he had for all he had accomplished with his bandmates.

Ariel Araya, the 20-year-old daughter of SLAYER frontman Tom Araya, has defended her father against accusations of homophobia, saying that Tom was merely repeating what "many other people have been saying online."

A controversy arose when a photoshopped picture of Donald Trump and the members of SLAYER appeared on their Instagram account. Tom Araya posted the image and later criticized fans who objected to the photo, saying that he "thought it was funny" and that anyone who disagrees should keep quiet. "I never would have guessed that there where so many snowflakes commenting their distaste for the new president," he wrote. "Like him or not he is the president."

The same image first appeared on the official SLAYER Instagram account on inauguration day, but was mysteriously removed before being reposted on Tuesday.

Tom later appeared to make a homophobic joke while replying to fans in the post's comments section. "Mike Pence turning fruits into vegetables," he wrote with laughing emojis. He added: "Thanks ... to everybody that has commented thanks for insight... this is how fake news gets started, not once did I say that I supported Trump... and assuming I speak for the band you are mistaking [sic] .. the picture did exactly what I thought it would do... piss some of you off."

A SLAYER band representative told Rolling Stone that Tom took it upon himself to post the photo and stressed that the image was "not something the band would have posted if asked," insisting that such a picture "does not belong on a SLAYER social page." The representative added: "We all have our personal opinions, some of which we have voiced in the past, but SLAYER has never endorsed any political party or any candidate, and the band intends to keep it that way." SLAYER guitarist Kerry King also chimed in via his wife's Instagram account, saying that "my opinion is that our war of words should be with people who don't believe what SLAYER is about. NOT with our own fan base."

Earlier today, Ariel addressed the controversy by explaining that her father never said he supported Trump and insisting that Tom's "snowflake" comment "was directed at whoever removed" the original photo when it was first posted.

She wrote on the BLABBERMOUTH.NET Facebook page: "I'm gonna make this post public, in hopes y'all would share this and MAYBE get the hardheaded people to FINALLY listen to all the nonsense surrounding my Dad.

"To be frank, I've been defending my dad from the media in an effort to try and reach the hard-headed people that chose to ignorantly read a title and not actually try to understand my Dad's caption to the photo.

"He never supported anybody. He simply wants people to stop crying and complaining about something that can't be changed.

"[Trump's] president whether people like him or not.

"[My Dad] thought the picture was funny and posted it, and someone removed it. So the snowflake comment was directed at WHOEVER removed it. But people took offense anyways. And the gay 'joke' wasn't, because he's homophobic. He isn't homophobic, but simply put what MANY OTHER PEOPLE have been saying online. He doesn't like bullying. He doesn't like idiots. He's just a man that was taken out of context. But people live to destroy others in an effort to validate their opinions.

"If you want to bash my Dad for apparently 'supporting' Trump (which he wasn't), then don't forget that Kerry endorsed Hillary [Clinton] in a Rolling Stone interview, and Gary [Holt, SLAYER guitarist] endorsed [Bernie] Sanders in a Blabbermouth interview as well.

"Think what you will, because most people just blindly follow what the media says anyways. But it's cool. Go ahead and lose your shit over it. We're just doing our own thing."





Posted by Ariel Araya on Monday, December 19, 2016

SLAYER guitarist Kerry King has issued a personal statement in response to the controversy that arose when a photoshopped picture of Donald Trump and the members of the band appeared on their Instagram account. SLAYER frontman Tom Araya posted the image and later criticized fans who objected to the photo, saying that he "thought it was funny" and that anyone who disagrees should keep quiet. "I never would have guessed that there where so many snowflakes commenting their distaste for the new president," he wrote. "Like him or not he is the president."

A SLAYER band representative told Rolling Stone that Tom took it upon himself to post the photo and stressed that the image was "not something the band would have posted if asked," insisting that such a picture "does not belong on a SLAYER social page." The representative added: "We all have our personal opinions, some of which we have voiced in the past, but SLAYER has never endorsed any political party or any candidate, and the band intends to keep it that way."

The same image first appeared on the official SLAYER Instagram account on inauguration day, but was mysteriously removed before being reposted on Tuesday.

"Believe it or not, this picture was posted by me Tom Araya on 1/20 'cause I thought it was funny," the SLAYER frontman wrote. "I was amazed at the comments about the picture some positive some negative more amazing was in two hours there was 10,000 likes ... But I never would have guessed that there [were] so many snowflakes commenting their distaste for the new president. Like him or not he is the president ... Woke up the next morning and found someone had deleted the post ... Can someone please explain why...?"

In response to the ongoing controversy, King decided to release a statement of his own via his wife's Instagram account. He wrote Thursday night: "Ahhh, the election... This one has definitely been the most divisive and polarizing event I have ever experienced.

"My thoughts on the last few days are simple. To me, social media has more benefits than detriments. There is a gigantic upside to band social media, but band social media is just that. Not for everyone's personal tastes. And by that, I mean that I'd rather talk face-to-face with you so that there is no misunderstanding about what either of us are saying. That's why I don't post on personal OR band social media. With social media, there's too much room for misinterpretation, and we all just had a giant taste of that.

"Joke or not, my opinion is that our war of words should be with people who don't believe what SLAYER is about. NOT with our own fan base.

"Make no mistake; this is NOT a Kerry vs. Tom thing. Tom is my bro — PERIOD. Difference of opinion about the photo? Absolutely. End of the world? Not hardly. I LOVE the relationship that SLAYER has with our fan base. Best in the world by far! Let's just concentrate on Slaying our COLLECTIVE enemies."

King last year told Rolling Stone that Hillary Clinton was "the safe, correct choice" for president of the United States. He explained at the time: "Trump is just a sideshow. I'm not even going to apologize to all the Trump followers. I think the reason he's so popular is because he's like the politics version of WWE. He's sensational like wrestling and that's why middle America loves him. He's the biggest liar I've ever seen in politics. I mean, most of them are liars, but he just outright in-your-face lies."

King's words were echoed by his SLAYER bandmate Gary Holt who described Donald Trump as a "serial liar" who refused to disavow former Ku Klux Klan grand wizard David Duke. He said: "People might think some of the things he says, but you can't have a president calling Rosie O'Donnell a 'fat bitch.' [Laughs] It's, like, dude, do you even hear yourself? He won't even condemn David Duke's support. He pretended he doesn't know who he is. I'm a fucking headbanger who's done more drugs before getting sober than most people have ever seen on TV, and I've been drinking since I was 17, although in recent years much less, and I know who the fuck he is. Donald Trump is running for president and he [doesn't] know who the former grandmaster of the KKK is. That was your moment, Donald Trump, to say… you know, to condemn the man, basically, but you pretended you were just ignorant of who he was, 'cause you don't wanna fuck with that vote. There are some fucking hillbillies out there who you want voting for you."

Holt went on to say that he is "in many ways a Republican" but that he hasn't been able to find "a candidate up there who wasn't walked around on a leash by the Christian evangelicals, because they're the death of the conservative movement anyway. And if they just stay out of women's wombs and just actually concentrate on running a country and not being beholden to those people, I would vote Republican in a second."

SLAYER will hit the road in South America and Europe this spring before returning for more dates in the U.S. this summer.

During last week's appearance on "Trunk Nation", Eddie Trunk's show on SiriusXM channel Volume (106), POISON singer Bret Michaels spoke about the band's upcoming North American tour with DEF LEPPARD and TESLA. A few excerpts follow (transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET).

On why now was the right time to reconnect with the other guys from POISON:

Bret: "It's two things. One, it will be awesome — honestly — it will be awesome to see Bobby [Dall, bass] and C.C. [DeVille, guitar] and Rikki [Rockett, drums] again. We always have fun. I know there's notorious stories of… You know, the great thing about us, if we have any problems, we don't bother to air it out backstage, we just wait until we're onstage to beat the hell out of each other. So I've always laughed and told you, it's great music, there's always a great energy, and occasionally you get a lot of pyro and a good prizefight once in a while. But, honestly, to me, we're mixing up with the solo dates and with POISON/DEF LEPPARD… We had such a great time out with DEF LEPPPARD last time, and obviously with TESLA out there, it's just a great early summer… I call it early summer, but it's starting off… kicks off first week of April, I believe in New Hampshire, and I'm really looking forward to it — playing all the greatest hits and just being out there and having fun."

On how much contact he's had with the other members of POISON in the years that the band has been inactive:

Bret: "We go and do some of the private [gigs as POISON], and it's really great. And every time we do it, we get together [and] we rehearse, everyone's having fun, it's great to catch up, but not on a daily… You know, I don't see them on a daily basis. It's like I said, we're four guys that if you asked us for direction to any place, we would give you four completely different directions to get to the same location. It's just our personalities. But also that energy — the fact that none of us are 'yes' men to the other person, we all have our own individual identity, but when we get out there on that stage and it's working, there's a certain energy in the air and a certain party and feeling that everyone's on their feet, hands in the air. And it's truly a great time. And probably of all of 'em, Bobby's the one I'm in the most contact with. You know, we're all friends, but Bobby's probably the one I speak to the most about… not just about POISON; just about life in general."

On how he felt when Rikki, Bobby and C.C. went out and performed POISON songs without him at several shows under the name THE SPECIAL GUESTS (with Brandon Gibbs handling lead vocals):

Bret: "I think it's an amazing idea, and here's why. I even told 'em, I said, 'Look, neither of us are using the POISON name. Keep that to the four of us being out there.' They went out under THE SPECIAL GUESTS. Brandon has actually, before then and since then, been on shows with me as a solo artist. And then when Pete [Evick, guitar] had to step out for a few shows for personal reasons, [Brandon] came in after he played with POISON, or the guys from POISON — with C.C. and Rikki and Bobby — he came in and was my guitarist in the solo band. So there's no funk. I love and feel blessed that we grew up together. We all grew up in areas that were probably very little chance of us making it, and we all stuck it out together, and they're still my… In a weird way, although our lives go separate ways, we're still best buddies and I have an immense amount of respect for for all of them. And without them, I wouldn't be here talking to you on the phone."

On where he sees POISON going after the DEF LEPPARD tour:

Bret: "We would all have to go do this and have a great time together and say, 'Look, next year I think we're gonna go out, just headline, pick out twenty or thirty dates, and go play.' But I think we have to go through this… I think you just simply go through this. This isn't gonna be one of those scenes where — God forbid — we're ever inducted into the [Rock And Roll] Hall Of Fame and no one will show up or this; there's none of that. It is truly as real as it gets. Those moments that we're having a great time are real, and when it goes ugly, it's real; it's not a pre-thought-out thing. And I think we just go through this, have the best time in April, May and June. We've added more dates through Canada and a bunch of stuff, and just see where it goes. I would literally, when it's done, say, 'Hey, guys, I think it would be killer next year to go out, pick out some great headlining dates and have an amazing time again.'"

On whether he has any interest in making new POISON music:

Bret: "Very simple. You know with me that I still live and breathe for the creativity and making new music. A lot of the reason, for me, to be able to go out with Pete Evick and all the guys in the solo band… We get on that bus and we truly get up there, and even before and after shows, we're up there at soundcheck writing new music, playing new music. And, of course, one day it would be awesome. I don't look at the business of it. It would be great if we could sit down as POISON and say, 'Look, let's just make a really fun, upbeat new 'Nothin' But A Good Time' or 'Talk Dirty To Me'…' I'm not saying the same song, but something that just feels like what we do, obviously with modern production, and have a great time making a new song. But in the meantime, I'm gonna keep creating with what I do, with the solo band."

POISON's tour with DEF LEPPARD will kick off on April 8 in Manchester, New Hampshire and will wrap on June 25 in Indianapolis, Indiana.

POISON and DEF LEPPARD first hit the road together back in 2009, and then again three years later.

POISON appeared at the 2013 Indy 500 Miller Lite Carb Day, but has otherwise been mostly playing private shows, including one in January 2015.

The band hasn't done any major touring since taking part in the 2012 "Rock Of Ages" trek with DEF LEPPARD and LITA FORD.

Rockett was recently declared cancer free after undergoing an experimental treatment. He was diagnosed with oral cancer back in 2015.

A hologram of the late Ronnie James Dio will make its U.S. debut at the 28th annual Pollstar Awards on February 2 at the The Novo (formerly Club Nokia) in Los Angeles, California. Created by Eyellusion, the appearance of the heavy metal icon will take place during a performance by DIO DISCIPLES, which pays tribute to Ronnie and is fully supported by his widow/manager, Wendy.

Pollstar Awards honors the best of the worldwide concert industry as the concluding event of Pollstar Live!, which will be held January 31 to February 2 at the J.W. Marriott hotel.

DIO DISCIPLES features former DIO members Simon Wright (drums), Craig Goldy (guitar) and Scott Warren (keyboards) alongside vocalist Tim "Ripper" Owens (JUDAS PRIEST, ICED EARTH, YNGWIE MALMSTEEN) and bassist Bjorn Englen (YNGWIE MALMSTEEN). They are joined by singers Oni Logan (LYNCH MOB) and Joe Retta (SWEET, HEAVEN & EARTH).

Wendy and Eyellusion's Jeff Pezzuti will discuss the Dio hologram earlier that day at a Pollstar Live! panel, "The Hologram Experience", where they will be joined by APA's Troy Blakely and TKO's Andrew Goodfriend, among others.

The Dio hologram was first introduced at last year's Wacken Open Air festival in Germany.

Pezzuti recently revealed plans for a 2017 tour featuring the hologram, which will showcase various eras of the legendary metal singer's career.

"For the tour, he's going to have different looks," Pezzuti told the "Talking Metal" podcast. At Wacken, the hologram was built around Dio's image from "somewhere around '88, the 'Dream Evil' era. For this next tour, we're going to be somewhere later than that for certain songs and maybe earlier than that for other songs."

Pezzuti went on to promise "an over-the-top, mind-blowing experience. We are going to have both live singers with Ripper Owens and Oni Logan as part of the show, as well as Ronnie appearing throughout the show at different parts, some duets. It's going to be mind blowing from the fans' perspective. We are going to bring album covers to life. We are going to bring things that are known to Ronnie to life onstage."

The concerts will include several classic tracks from Ronnie, Pezzuti revealed. "Ronnie will be involved in each show from probably six to seven songs a night that he will be singing on," Jeff said. "Some of the ones we can expect are 'We Rock', 'Holy Diver' and 'Rainbow In The Dark'."

Wendy, who manages DIO DISCIPLES and is affiliated with the Eyellusion team, said last year that she was blown away by the initial public appearance of the Ronnie James Dio hologram. "When I first experienced the full production of Ronnie performing with his band as a hologram, I couldn't believe my eyes and ears," she said. "We have been able to get Ronnie back up on stage where he belongs, ensuring that his music and memory live on."

Goldy defended DIO DISCIPLES' decision to perform with the Dio hologram, saying: "We know how much the fans miss Ronnie and the special and unequaled element that he brought to his live performances. Being able to recreate that same kind of magic for his fans at Wacken was incredible. For so many years, Ronnie always invested big in his live shows as his way to give back to the fans, and that is exactly what we aimed to do with this latest performance. We can't wait to bring this experience to even more of his fans and perhaps even a newer generation when we bring this incredible live experience on the road."