Newcomers on the Quebec metal scene, Empress has released their first single "Your Prize".  Led by the cristallin voice of Karina Charbonnier, and epic guitar work courtesy of Fred Riverin and Dave Bergeron, "Your Prize" is a metal ballad meant to please fans of Epica, Evergrey and Tristania. Check out the official lyric video:

Empress began working on their first EP with Jon Howard (Threat Signal, Vise Versa) at Woodward Studios in May 2017.

Visit Empress on Facebook for further details. 

(Photo by Alexis Bourdages-Chabot)

 

In 1983, Star Licks Productions created a series of instructional videos featuring well-known musicians demonstrating their unique musical styles and techniques. The portfolio debuted with a wide-ranging group of players including Steve Lukather of Toto, Black Sabbath’s Tony Iommi, guitarist Albert Lee, and acclaimed guitarist/educator Wolf Marshall.

In one of the videos, Queen’s Brian May discussed his equipment and techniques, and demonstrates a number of his guitar solos. He covers both famous and lesser known Queen songs, including “Brighton Rock”, “Tie Your Mother Down”, “Somebody To Love”, “It's Late”, “Dead On Time”, “Put Out The Fire”, “It's A Hard Life”, “Keep Yourself Alive”, “Jesus”, “Father To Son” and “Crazy Little Thing Called Love”.

Watch a clip featuring “Modern Times Rock ’N’ Roll” below.

The programme was produced and directed by Mark Freed and Robert Decker, and recorded at Sarm West, London, England. The video was originally released in 1983 and later reissued in 1993/4.

Note from Brian: “Mark initially came to me with an idea for making audio cassettes of guitarists explaining their techniques. It seemed a good one and we arranged to meet and make it happen. But I said ... if we’re going to the trouble of recording this stuff, why not film it as well, and make it into a Video Cassette ?! So we made a ‘pilot’ video, and people liked it, and this became the template for a whole collection of videos which, I think, stand up very well to this day. Maybe we should do an update?!”

Subscribe to Brian May’s channel here.

Queen + Adam Lambert Tour Dates 2017:

June
23 - Phoenix, AZ - Gila River Arena
24 - Las Vegas, NV - T-Mobile Arena
26 - Los Angeles, CA - Hollywood Bowl
29 - San Jose, CA - SAP Center

July
1 - Seattle, WA - Key Arena
2 - Vancouver, BC - Pepsi Live at Rogers Arena
4 - Edmonton, AB - Rogers Place
6 - Denver, CO - Pepsi Center Arena
8 - Omaha, NE - CenturyLink Arena
9 - Kansas City, MO - Sprint Center
13 - Chicago, IL - United Center
14 - St. Paul, MN - Xcel Energy Center
17 - Montreal, QC - Bell Centre
18 - Toronto, ON - Air Canada Centre
20 - Detroit, MI - The Palace of Auburn Hills
21 - Cleveland, OH - Quicken Loans Arena
23 - Uncasville, CT - Mohegan Sun Arena
25 - Boston, MA - TD Garden
26 - Newark, NJ - Prudential Center
28 - New York, NY - Barclays Center
30 - Philadelphia, PA - Wells Fargo Center
31 - Washington D.C. - Verizon Center

August
2 - Nashville, TN - Bridgestone Arena
4 - Dallas, TX - American Airlines Center
5 - Houston, TX - Toyota Center

November
1 - Prague, Czech Republic - O2 Arena
2 - Munich, Germany - Olympiahalle
4 - Budapest, Hungary - Sportarena
6 - Lodz, Poland - Atlas Arena
8 - Vienna, Austria - Stadhalle
10 - Bologna, Italy - Unipol Arena
12 - Luxembourg, Amneville - Galaxie
13 - Amsterdam, Netherlands - Ziggo Dome
17 - Kaunas, Lithuania - Zalgiris Arena
25 - Dublin, Ireland - 3 Arena
26 - Belfast, Ireland - SSE Arena
28 - Liverpool, England - Echo Arena
30 - Birmingham, England - Barclaycard Arena

December
1 - Newcastle, England - Metro Radio Arena
3 - Glasgow, Scotland - The SSE Hydro
5 - Nottingham, England - Motorpoint Arena
6 - Leeds, England - First Direct Arena
8 - Sheffield, England - Motorpoint Arena
9 - Manchester, England - Arena
12 - London, England - 02 Arena
15 - London, England - The SSE Arena, Wembley

Boston tech-metal quartet, The Summoned, have released the official video for "Faradic”, a song from the forthcoming album, Sessions. The video was directed, edited, and filmed by Stephen Thompson. Check it out below.

The Summoned will release their sophomore full-length, Sessions, on June 16th. Pre-order the album here.

Sessions is a concept album about the journey through the mind of a troubled mental patient who is struggling to confront his own personal demons through a series of sessions with a psychiatrist. Each individual song resembles those sessions. Whether they're spastic (to give the feeling of panic the patient is feeling), or offering triggering the epiphany that is his own reality, Sessions is not just an album... it's an experience. A lyric video for album cut "Fractal Patterns" is also available for streaming below.

Often compared to a plethora of bands and genres, The Summoned are no strangers to pushing the boundaries of traditional heavy metal. With technical riffs, head bobbing grooves, sing-along choruses, jazzy interludes, and epic solos, there is always something for the discerning listener to grasp, resulting in a sound that will appeal to a variety of fans.

Sessions was produced by The Summoned and Evan Sammons. The album was engineered, mixed and mastered by Evan Sammons in Belgrade Maine.

Tracklisting:

“The Pendulum Swing”
“Faradic”
“Fractal Patterns”
“The Grave Mistake”
“Built Of Glass”
“Vertiginous”
“Primogenial Birth”
“Recollection”
“Satori”

“Faradic” video:

“Fractal Patterns” lyric video:

Additional Engineering on "Recollection" by Jarred Sullivan
All songs written and performed by The Summoned
All lyrics written by Stephen Thompson and Shaun Murphy
Clean Vocals on "Fractal Patterns" and "Built of Glass" by Shaun Murphy
Orchestration and Synth by Shaun Murphy and Evan Sammons
Artwork and Concept by Joseph Schmalke
Layout by Joseph Schmalke and Stephen Thompson
Logo design by Adam Cutler at Motionless Visions

Lineup:

Stephen Thompson - Vocals
Shaun Murphy - Guitars and Vocals
Jarred Sullivan - Guitars
Sam Hang - Drums

British gothic metal pioneers PARADISE LOST will release their new album, "Medusa", on September 1 via Nuclear Blast. With this fifteenth full-length release, the legends are returning to their early beginnings, delivering their heaviest record of the past fifteen years, melding crushing doom metal with Nick Holmes's harsh death growls and raw organic sounds, heralding a new era of pure Northern misery.

The artwork was created by Branca Studio and shows the infamous Gorgone Medusa from Greek mythology, carrying venomous snakes as hair and turning anyone into stone who would dare to look into her eyes.

PARADISE LOST guitarist Greg Mackintosh states about the artwork: "Whilst we were writing 'Medusa' and realizing what the new songs were becoming, we had to find an artist to reflect this direction. After searching around for a while, I found Branca Studios. They have a keen eye for design and their modern take on retro artwork really fit the bill. What they have come up with is a blending of colorful-yet-retro styling, whilst maintaining the classic PARADISE LOST feel."

About the choice to make her the figurehead of this new album, Holmes adds: "I was intrigued about a greater meaning and thinking more along the lines of what Medusa represents metaphorically. 'Medusa' as a title works in many ways. From a nihilist perspective, when I read the description of 'Medusa' on the Wikipedia page: 'Attempts to avoid looking into Medusa's eyes represents avoiding the ostensibly depressing reality that the universe is meaningless.' The title was pretty much in the bag!"

In other news, PARADISE LOST has announced a very special release show that will take place in Stuttgart at the iconic LKA Longhorn. Only on this night of September 1, PARADISE LOST will perform its entire new album. A short time later, PARADISE LOST will embark for an extensive European journey and bring their label mates and U.S. doomsters PALLBEARER, as well as SINISTRO from Portugal.

Regarding the sound of "Medusa", Nick told Italy's Linea Rock: "I would say if you've ever heard every album by PARADISE LOST, it's closest to the 'Shades Of God' album, our third album. It's an album carrying on from that, but hopefully it's a lot more sophisticated and it's better produced and better played than that album." Lead guitarist Gregor Mackintosh added: "Style-wise, it's more between 'Gothic' and 'Shades Of God' era, with modern touches to it as well."

The lyric video for "Syrian Nightmare", a new song from the German alcohol-soaked thrash metal act TANKARD, can be seen below. The track is taken from the band's seventeenth studio album, "One Foot In The Grave", which was released on June 2 via Nuclear Blast. The follow-up to 2014's "R.I.B. (Rest In Beer)" was recorded at Gernhart Studios in Troisdorf with producer Martin Buchwalter (DESTRUCTION, ACCUSER, PERZONAL WAR, SUIDAKRA).

"One Foot In The Grave" track listing:

01. Pay To Pray02. Arena Of The True Lies03. Don't Bullshit Us!04. One Foot In The Grave05. Syrian Nightmare06. Northern Crown (Lament Of The Undead King)07. Lock`Em Up!08. The Evil That Men Display09. Secret Order 151610. Sole Grinder

This time, the album has a serious streak, not only filled with humor but criticizing today's society. Even the traditional beer song "Secret Order 1516" displays some critical elements. But don't worry: fans of the typical TANKARD humor won't be disappointed! With songs like "Sole Grinder", the band hasn't forgotten their raison d'être. This song pays tribute to the band's manager Buffo (Gerre: "The funniest choleric person in Germany") in an ironic way.

The cover artwork for "One Foot In The Grave" was created by Patrick Strogulski, who is a student of Sebastian Krüger, the recent artwork designer of TANKARD. He also created the cover artwork for the "A Girl Called Cerveza" and "R.I.B." albums. With this, the iconic band mascot, the TANKARD Alien, celebrates his return after about 13 years of absence. The alien was born in 1989 with the "Alien" EP and has already graced five album covers. The TANKARD fan club "Maniac Aliens" is also named after it.

States TANKARD vocalist Andreas "Gerre" Geremia: "Mister Strogulski has once again created a real masterpiece and surpassed himself. Our first plan was that I would be on the cover instead of the alien... but, lucky me, it ended up being the alien..."

MOTÖRHEAD, in partnership with developer Haemimont Games, is delighted to announce its own videogame experience, "Motörhead Through The Ages", is available now. Included as part of "Victor Vran: Overkill Edition", "Motörhead Through The Ages" is available for the PlayStation 4 computer entertainment system, Xbox One, the all-in-one games and entertainment system from Microsoft, Windows PC and Mac.

Take a journey with "Motörhead: Through The Ages" in the all-rock trailer below.

Conceived in 2014 by longtime MOTÖRHEAD fan Achim Heidelauf, Lemmy Kilmister and the team at Haemimont, "Motörhead Through The Ages" is a videogame experience like no other. An expansion to the critically acclaimed "Victor Vran", "Motörhead Through The Ages" includes some of the band's most iconic tracks as you've never heard them before, uniquely mastered for the game from the band’s original studio recordings and accompanied by a collection of worlds, weapons, special abilities and bosses inspired by MOTÖRHEAD.

"Lemmy was so excited about this game, and when he wasn't having the time of his life, he would always be sending new designs over to the game studio," said MOTÖRHEAD guitarist Phil Campbell. "I'm delighted with the result, as I know Lemmy would have been, and for any MOTÖRHEAD fan, this is another amazing way to connect with the band."

"'Motörhead Through The Ages' lives and breathes MOTÖRHEAD, head to toe!" said Jens Drinkwater, Global Merchandising Services, "The team at Haemimont took incredible care to deliver a truly authentic experience, with the help of the band I have no doubt this has been accomplished."

The track list featured in the game is:

"Motörhead" - "Motörhead", 1977"Overkill - "Overkill", 1979"Stay Clean - "Overkill, 1979"Bomber - "Bomber", 1979"Ace Of Spades - "Ace Of Spades", 1980"Jail Bait - "Ace Of Spades", 1980"Love Me Like A Reptile - "Ace Of Spades", 1980"We Are The Road Crew - "Ace Of Spades", 1980"Killed By Death - "No Remorse", 1984"Iron Fist - "Iron Fist", 1985"End Of Time - "Aftershock", 2013"Paralyzed - "Aftershock", 2013"Queen Of The Damned - "Aftershock", 2013

Fans of the world's greatest band can purchase the Motörhead Collector's Edition — full to the brim with exclusive MOTÖRHEAD swag and enshrined in a stunning Snaggletooth embossed collector's tin – from the official Wired Productions Store.

New York-based death metal behemoths Afterbirth - featuring within its ranks members of Helmet, Artificial Brain, and Buckshot Facelift - will release their brutalizing The Time Traveler's Dilemma debut full-length via Unique Leader Records this summer.  

The Time Traveler's Dilemma - set for release on July 28th on CD, digital, and vinyl formats - was recorded, mixed, and mastered by Joseph Cincotta at Full Force Studios (Suffocation, Dehumanized, Mortal Decay) and comes sheathed in the cover art of Kishor Haulenbeek (Black Harvest). The vinyl edition was mastered by James Plotkin (Old, Scorn, Khanate). As an extra bonus, Frank Rini (Internal Bleeding) performs backing vocals on the track, "Timeless Formless".

Pre-orders for The Time Traveler's Dilemma are currently available at this location. Additionally, you can sample "Maggots In Her Smile" via the Bandcamp audio player below.

The Time Traveler's Dilemma by Afterbirth

Among the earliest purveyors of brutal death metal, Afterbirth was forged on Long Island, New York during the Summer of 1993. The following year, the band released the Psychopathic Embryotomy studio demo which has since become something of a cult-like classic among the extreme metal underground. Due to various issues among its members however, Afterbirth disbanded shortly thereafter the recording.

After a near-20-year hiatus however, the band reunited in 2012 and began composing new material for an unknowable future and a then as-yet untitled debut. It became immediately apparent that the creative magic among the Afterbirth members remained - it had never left - resulting in some of their heaviest and most dynamic material to date.

Not only was the music heavier and far more aggressive than it had been during the band's initial short-lived run, but new elements like progressive metal, space rock, jazz, and noise began to rise to the surface of their song writing. Following a 2014 demo and 2015's Maggots In Her Smile EP, Afterbirth is set to release their debut withThe Time Traveler's Dilemma, an otherworldly combination of sounds that shift between the discordant and the melodious; the alluring and the disfigured; the eccentric and the methodical.

Heavy, complex guitar work; atypically inspired bass rumblings; skillful, fast, and tastefully groovy drums/percussion; otherworldly growls from beyond known dimensions of time and space... All of this and more combine to form the basis of Afterbirth's current musical output. While the subject matter doesn't stray too far from what some might call "typical" of the death metal genre - murderous grotesqueries, pain, and horrors unimaginable still certainly abound - the band's vision has expanded far beyond the classic death metal template to include ideas and archetypes found in philosophical, religious, and scientific fiction/horror literature. "Just as our musical prowess had strengthened and amplified over the years," notes the band, "so had our desires to express ourselves lyrically and conceptually. Gore and mutilated fetuses are always great and rich subject matter but we've all branched out and discovered other avenues of knowledge and inspiration we wanted to explore within the framework of the band."

The Time Traveler's Dilemma tracklisting:

"Eternal Return"
"Maggots In Her Smile"
"Drills And Needles"
"Discarded Astral Body"
"Multiverse Dimentia"
"The Time Traveler's Dilemma I"
"Sifting Through The Sands Of The Unholy"
"Timeless Formless"
"Transcendental Object At The End Of History"
"Devouring The Hungry Ghost"
"Time Travelers Dilemma II"

Afterbirth is:

Cody Drasser - guitars
David Case - bass
Keith Harris - drums
Will Smith - vocals

Video footage of Norway’s Combichrist, performing at Germany’s Wacken Open Air festival in the summer of 2015, is available for streaming below.

The band performed the following set:

“We Love You”
“Just Like Me”
“No Redemption”
“Zombie Fistfight”
“Can't Control”
“Maggots At The Party”
“Retreat Hell”
“Never Surrender”
“Blut Royale”
“What The Fuck”
“Razorblade”

Formed in 2012, Arizona-based rock 'n' rugged five piece, As Thick As Thieves, have crafted a unique and honest sound with innuendos throughout their lyrics that encourage their listeners to think twice before making decisions. They launched with their debut record The Space Between Seconds in 2013, which was produced by Hiram Hernandez.

With the success of the record it caught the attention of Escape The Fate and The Dead Rabbits, where they toured across the country together in 2014. With significant praise the band continued to push on and opened for national acts: Devil You Know, Mushroomhead, Powerman 5000, Orgy, John5, Wednesday 13 and more.

After spending several years on the road the band unleashed their latest EP Whiskey Bent in 2016 which was also produced by Hiram Hernandez and featured single "Take You Down”.

Today, the band unleash their follow-up single for "Straight To Hell”, which has been featured on 98KUDP Arizona's hard rock station. The band dives in to their latest single, "Straight To Hell" by stating, “This is a song about someone completely losing tour with them self and with reality. The subject of the song alienates herself from family and friends and finds herself involved in even darker and dangerous situations."

Fans can watch the brand new "Straight From Hell" music video below:

On June 16th, Igorrr - the brainchild of French musician and eclectic composer Gautier Serre - will release their new album, Savage Sinusoid, via Metal Blade Records. On this record, electronic manipulations, accordion, saxophone, sitar, harpsichord, mandolin and strings sit comfortably alongside ruthless blastbeats, chunky riffs, death grunts and soaring operatic vocals - and as chaotic as this might sometimes seem, there is no lack of heart behind everything thundering from the speakers.

For a preview of Savage Sinusoid, a video for the new single, "Cheval" (featuring guest vocals by Cattle Decapitation's Travis Ryan), can be watched below.

The album can be pre-ordered here in the following formats:

- Digipak CD
- pale skin clear vinyl (limited to 500 copies)
- cream/white splatter (limited to 200 copies - EU exclusive)
- golden yellow vinyl (limited to 100 copies - Bandcamp exclusive)
- tan-marbled vinyl (limited to 200 copies - US exclusive)

* exclusive bundles with a shirt, plus digital options are also available.

Savage Sinusoid tracklisting:

“Viande”
“ieuD”
“Houmous”
“Opus Brain”
“Probleme d'emotion”
“Spaghetti Forever”
“Cheval”
“Apopathodiaphulatophobie”
“Va te foutre”
“Robert”
“Au Revoir”

"Cheval" video:

“ieuD” video:

Savage Sinusoid “making of” videos:

Part 1:

Part 2:

To realize Savage Sinusoid as a completely sample-free record, Serre reunited with vocalists Laurent Lunoir and Laure Le Prunenec, along with drummer Sylvain Bouvier, and collaborated with more musicians than on any of his previous releases - one of those guests being Cattle Decapitation's Travis Ryan, who lends his vocals on "Cheval", "Apopathodiaphulatophobie" and "Robert".

While Savage Sinusoid draws from a plethora of genres, Serre has no intention of baffling or alienating potential listeners. As he explains: "I just want to make the music I love, without asking myself if it's gonna be too complex or too far from what people like. I want to make the music which has sense to me, with no restrictions, like a big party with metalheads, electronics nerds, classical and baroque-heads and gypsy violinists getting drunk and joining together to bring the best of every genre."

Igorrr tour dates can be found at this location.

Less than two weeks remain until the cosmic synth/psych collective known as Arcadea unleashes their mind-bending album, and in anticipation the band is streaming the new song, “Magnificent Facade”. The track is found on the band’s debut, self-titled record that will be released June 16th via Relapse Records. The record is available now for pre-order at this location.

"A dark planet soon finds its way into a dying solar system. Feeding on the disaffected moons of cold planets, it grows stronger. Driven by an intergalactic being at its core, it works out its dark machinations to challenge the sun, gravity and time itself." - Core Atoms on the celestial story behind “Magnificent Facade”

“Magnificent Facade” is the latest chapter in the band’s epic space opera that foretells stories of space travel and celestial battles 5 billion years in the future where galaxies have collided, leaving catastrophic disorder in its wake as war is waged among gods and planets.

Arcadea was born when drummer-vocalist Brann Dailor (Mastodon) teamed up with upside-down guitarist & keyboardist Core Atoms (Zruda) to create a synth-laden progressive, heavy psych band. Adding guitarist Raheem Amlani (Withered) on synth, the three recorded their visionary, 10 song synth odyssey at Orange Peel Studios in Atlanta, GA.

Tracklisting:

“Army Of Electrons”
“Gas Giant”
“Rings Of Saturn”
“Neptune Moons”
“Infinite End”
“Electromagnetic”
“Motion Of Planets”
“The Pull Of Invisible Strings”
“Through The Eye Of Pisces”
“Worlds Can Go On”
“Magnificent Facade”

“Army Of Electrons” video:

“Infinite End”:

“Gas Giant”:

Unlike their other bands, Arcadea uses only keyboards in a unique blend of crushing, organic drums and psychedelic synthesizers. The music is at once electronic but not electronica, synthetic but not processed, heavy but not metal.

The album envisions a future 5 billion years from now, where the impending collision of galaxies creates a new order of planets. Where cold, distant moons pledge alliance to new suns and expanding gas giants implode into black holes. Ancient drones, forever adrift, record toxic tales of love between dying stars. Where lifeforms in suspended animation, dream among the ice rings of Saturn and cosmic war wages among gods and planets. It is in this universe that Arcadea reign supreme as the last surviving space wizards since the final extinction.

(Photo - Jenny Bishop)

American progressive metal act, The Contortionist, has released a new music video for the track “Reimagined”. Directed by Erez Bader, it is the first music video from the band from their forthcoming LP, Clairvoyant, due out later this year. The video is available for streaming below.

“Clairvoyant is the product of not only months of writing and recording dozens of song ideas over the last year, but also a definitive creative artifact outlining the artistic confluence of the six members of The Contortionist for our past and future endeavors,” says keyboardist Eric Guenther.

“Collectively, we're feeling proud, apprehensive, but ultimately excited to finally have this record speak for us as a meticulously sculpted voyage into our musical psyche. On album and stage, between the art's presentation, zealous and even forceful sonic immersion, and interpretable lyrical and visual metaphor, we are attempting to bring the listener deeper into the world and musical language of The Contortionist. “Reimagined” struck everyone simply as the most truthful and sincere place to start in this new universe.”

"Reimagined" is available on all streaming services today and is available as an iTunes Instant Gratification track, meaning, fans who pre order the LP via iTunes receive "Reimagined" as an instant download. The cover art and tracklisting can also be found below.

The Contortionist will release Clairvoyant on September 15th via Entertainment One Music / Good Fight Music. The new LP is the follow-up to Language, the genre defying LP that continues to garner critical acclaim. Clairvoyant, which reunited the band with producer Jamie King (Between The Buried And Me, Through The Eyes Of The Dead), takes the best elements of The Contortionist’s past and reshapes them as the band follows their individual creative muses toward the future.

Pre-order the new album at the following links: Digital, Official Band Store, Good Fight Store.

Tracklisting:

“Monochrome (Passive)”
“Godspeed”
“Reimagined”
“Clairvoyant”
“The Center”
“Absolve”
“Relapse”
“Return To Earth”
“Monochrome (Pensive)”

“Reimagined” video:

The band just wrapped up a European tour with Periphery and are currently playing some intimate UK headline shows before their first ever Download Festival performance on Friday, June 9th. This fall the band will support Between The Buried And Me on the Colors Ten Year Anniversary Tour. Click here for all tour dates.

Infectus 13 have released the second in a series of tributes to some of their favourite bands that influenced and inspired them throughout their own careers.

This time it’s Black Sabbath's “After All (The Dead)”, off of the 1992 album, Dehumanizer. Although everyone in the band were originally hesitant to record any songs featuring Dio, out of respect for his unique style and talent, they decided that he has been such a huge influence on everyone involved, that it would be criminal not to pay tribute to the greatest singer and lyricist of all time. The band, again, tried to stay very respectful of the original recording.

The song was mixed by Jörgen Kristensen of Dead Awaken, at Wide Awake Studio in Sweden. This song sees the return of John Gallagher of Raven on bass.

Since these songs will no longer become bonus material for the album, they will not be available for sale. They are simply the band, playing some songs from some of their favourite artists, and putting them on YouTube for people's enjoyment.

The tribute/cover songs were originally meant to be used for bonus material for their debut album, Last Rites, but due to numerous delays because of health issues suffered by Sid Falck, the most recent a back fusion surgery, the band decided to go ahead and release them to their YouTube channel one by one, while Sid recovers and the band can return to the studio to finish recording the last few songs.

All the drum tracks for these tracks were recorded during downtime between 2013 - 2016.

For those living in Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland, Faroe Islands, where the new video has been blocked, an alternative version of the video
with just a static cover picture can be found here.

The band previously released their take on Mötorhead’s “The Hammer” (streaming below). This song also features a guest appearance by Raven’s John Gallagher of Raven on bass.

For more on Infectus 13 go to this location.

Queen continue to release new lyric videos for their classic songs, this time for “We Are The Champions”, featured on the band’s 1977 album, News Of The World. Watch the new clip below:

Queen previously released official karaoke style lyric videos for their songs “Somebody To Love”, “Bohemian Rhapsody”, “Radio Ga Ga”, “The Show Must Go On”, “I Want It All”, “Don’t Stop Me Now”, “Another One Bites The Dust”, and “We Will Rock You”, all available for streaming below:

Queen + Adam Lambert Tour Dates 2017:

June
23 - Phoenix, AZ - Gila River Arena
24 - Las Vegas, NV - T-Mobile Arena
26 - Los Angeles, CA - Hollywood Bowl
29 - San Jose, CA - SAP Center

July
1 - Seattle, WA - Key Arena
2 - Vancouver, BC - Pepsi Live at Rogers Arena
4 - Edmonton, AB - Rogers Place
6 - Denver, CO - Pepsi Center Arena
8 - Omaha, NE - CenturyLink Arena
9 - Kansas City, MO - Sprint Center
13 - Chicago, IL - United Center
14 - St. Paul, MN - Xcel Energy Center
17 - Montreal, QC - Bell Centre
18 - Toronto, ON - Air Canada Centre
20 - Detroit, MI - The Palace of Auburn Hills
21 - Cleveland, OH - Quicken Loans Arena
23 - Uncasville, CT - Mohegan Sun Arena
25 - Boston, MA - TD Garden
26 - Newark, NJ - Prudential Center
28 - New York, NY - Barclays Center
30 - Philadelphia, PA - Wells Fargo Center
31 - Washington D.C. - Verizon Center

August
2 - Nashville, TN - Bridgestone Arena
4 - Dallas, TX - American Airlines Center
5 - Houston, TX - Toyota Center

November
1 - Prague, Czech Republic - O2 Arena
2 - Munich, Germany - Olympiahalle
4 - Budapest, Hungary - Sportarena
6 - Lodz, Poland - Atlas Arena
8 - Vienna, Austria - Stadhalle
10 - Bologna, Italy - Unipol Arena
12 - Luxembourg, Amneville - Galaxie
13 - Amsterdam, Netherlands - Ziggo Dome
17 - Kaunas, Lithuania - Zalgiris Arena
25 - Dublin, Ireland - 3 Arena
26 - Belfast, Ireland - SSE Arena
28 - Liverpool, England - Echo Arena
30 - Birmingham, England - Barclaycard Arena

December
1 - Newcastle, England - Metro Radio Arena
3 - Glasgow, Scotland - The SSE Hydro
5 - Nottingham, England - Motorpoint Arena
6 - Leeds, England - First Direct Arena
8 - Sheffield, England - Motorpoint Arena
9 - Manchester, England - Arena
12 - London, England - 02 Arena
15 - London, England - The SSE Arena, Wembley

SYSTEM OF A DOWN frontman Serj Tankian joined PROPHETS OF RAGE on stage on Saturday, June 3 at the Rock Im Park festival in Nuremberg, Germany to perform AUDIOSLAVE's "Like A Stone" as a tribute to Chris Cornell.

Professionally filmed video footage of the performance — which was posted on the PROPHETS OF RAGE YouTube channel earlier today — can be seen below.

AUDIOSLAVE featured Cornell alongside RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE members Tim Commerford (bass), Tom Morello (guitar) and Brad Wilk (drums). The latter three are all in PROPHETS OF RAGE, alongside PUBLIC ENEMY's Chuck D and CYPRESS HILL's B-Real.

Tankian and Cornell last saw each other on April 12 when the both attended a red-carpet premiere in Los Angeles for "The Promise", a historical drama about the Armenian genocide. Both men had recorded music for the film. "He was doing great, doing press – fighting the good fight" for the project, Tankian told Rolling Stone. Cornell was "one of those guys," he added, who "tried to make everyone in the room feel comfortable with themselves. He was generous that way, with his emotions and time."

Prior to that, Tankian and Cornell were guests at a star-studded 70th-birthday gala thrown by Elton John in L.A.

"We had this long chat, sitting next to each other," Tankian remembered. He and Cornell talked about touring. "For myself, it's fun but nothing new under the sun," Tankian admitted. Cornell "was just the opposite: 'I'm really excited. I'm doing this tour with SOUNDGARDEN. I've got these other ideas.' He had plans, man."

AUDIOSLAVE came together in 2001 following the then-dissolution of both SOUNDGARDEN and RAGE, releasing three studio albums and a historic concert set recorded in Cuba before Cornell exited in 2007, ending the band.

AUDIOSLAVE performed together for the first time in over a decade on January 20, reuniting at the Teragram Ballroom in Los Angeles as part of the Anti-Inaugural Ball, a star-studded concert protesting the swearing-in of Donald Trump as the nation's 45th president. The band played three of its best-known songs: "Cochise", "Like A Stone" and "Show Me How To Live".

Cornell was found dead in his hotel room after performing a show with SOUNDGARDEN in Detroit on May 17. Officials later confirmed he had hanged himself.

Danish/American rock 'n' rollers VOLBEAT have uploaded short video clip of the band playing a new riff in their rehearsal room. Check it out below.

Asked about the new riff by Nivens of the 98.9 The Rock radio station at this past weekend's (Saturday, June 3) Rockfest at Kansas Speedway in Kansas City, VOLBEAT frontman Michael Poulsen said (see video below): "We do have, I believe, around five new songs that we're jamming, working on, and we've got that one riff also. We always, when we go out on tour, bring a little bit new stuff with us, just to tease the audience a little bit, but also just to try it out on stage."

Poulsen told the 99.7 The Blitz radio station at last month's Rock On The Range festival that three of the five already completed tracks for VOLBEAT's upcoming seventh album "are very heavy [and] more uptempo" while the remaining two are "more melodic rock songs."

VOLBEAT's sixth full-length album, "Seal The Deal & Let's Boogie", was released in June 2016 via Republic Records. The discs is their highest charting in the United States.

VOLBEAT is currently supporting METALLICA on its stadium tour but is also performing a select few headlining gigs.

Fan-filmed video footage of SKID ROW's June 2 performance at Harrah's Cherokee Resort Event Center in Cherokee, North Carolina can be seen below.

SKID ROW recently entered the studio to begin recording the final installment of its "United World Rebellion" trilogy of EPs, to be released later in the year. The follow-up to 2014's "Rise Of The Damnation Army - United World Rebellion: Chapter Two" and 2013's "United World Rebellion: Chapter One" will mark the band's first release with the South African-born, British-based vocalist ZP Theart (DRAGONFORCE, TANK, I AM I), who joined SKID ROW in December 2015.

Despite having played sporadic shows with SKID ROW for a year, Theart wasn't officially announced as the band's new frontman until this past January.

Theart said in a statement: "[SKID ROW's] music was the soundtrack to the largest part of my younger years and many a crazy adventure. Now I get the chance to re-live all of them for a hour and a half every night! I am beyond honored to be given this opportunity. Think I'm a bit jealous of my actual self."

Theart's involvement with SKID ROW was exclusively reported by BLABBERMOUTH.NET on December 31, 2015. He stepped into the group following the departure of Tony Harnell, the TNT frontman who joined SKID ROW in April 2015 as the replacement for Johnny Solinger, the band's singer for fifteen years.

SKID ROW guitarist Dave "Snake" Sabo told News-Press.com that Theart has been doing a great job on the road. "He's come in," the guitarist said, "and he's a really great source of positive energy. He knew all of our songs coming in, and he knew them well. He started singing the crap out of all of them, and we were all very impressed."

British heavy metal legends IRON MAIDEN played the second show of the 2017 North American leg of "The Book Of Souls" tour last night (Sunday, June 4) at Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Fan-filmed video footage of the concert can be seen below.

The band's setlist was as follows:

01. If Eternity Should Fail02. Speed Of Light03. Wrathchild04. Children Of The Damned05. Death Or Glory06. The Red And The Black07. The Trooper08. Powerslave09. The Great Unknown10. The Book Of Souls11. Fear Of The Dark12. Iron Maiden

Encore:

13. The Number Of The Beast14. Blood Brothers15. Wasted Years

IRON MAIDEN bassist and main songwriter Steve Harris recently told Express & Star about the band's current trek: "We are really looking forward to returning to North America for a full tour. We had always planned to go back there and to the U.K. as last year, due to the global nature of the tour and the period it took, we just didn't have time to cover them properly and we do still like to get to fans in as many places as possible.

"We will, of course, be bringing the full production with us, including all the Eddies and the Maya-themed stage sets. There's been a great reaction from everyone to this tour's theme, people really seem to love it. We're still deciding on the final set list and we'll work that out once we get into rehearsals.

"Most of our North American fans haven't seen the show yet, so as we want to give them the same 'Book Of Souls' live experience that we took around the world, it's unlikely we'll change much. And, of course, we know our fans appreciate us playing a lot of the older songs too, so we will continue to do that."

MAIDEN's recent European tour consisted of a total of sixteen dates, including three shows in Germany, eight in England, two in Scotland and one each in Ireland and Wales. The U.K. leg marked MAIDEN's first full U.K. arena tour in six years.

"The Book Of Souls" is MAIDEN's first ever double studio album and their most successful chart-wise to date, debuting at the No. 1 spot in over 40 countries around the world and No. 4 in the U.S.A.

Richard Fortus says that the reunited partial classic lineup of GUNS N' ROSES has begun "assembling ideas" for a new studio album.

Fortus, who joined GUNS N' ROSES in 2001 and became the band's longest-serving post-Slash guitarist, spoke about the possibility of new music from GN'R during an interview with the new "StageLeft" podcast.

He said: "We haven't started recording anything. I mean, when I say that, as far as in the studio, doing an album… We've been recording a lot of stuff, just ideas, sort of assembling ideas, but not going into a studio and actually tracking a new record."

Asked if he thinks a new GN'R album will happen, Fortus said: "Yeah, I do. It's sort of too good not to happen at this point — that's how I feel about it. This band is really a force right now, and I definitely hope that we do, and I think we're all sort of counting on it, and we're also planning on it."

Fortus was also full of praise for GUNS singer Axl Rose, saying that "the genius of Axl is his ability to assemble songs from different parts and make them feel cohesive as a song. And I've never seen anybody able to do that in the same way."

A St. Louis native, Fortus got his big break when his band PALE DIVINE opened for THE PSYCHEDELIC FURS. This led to Fortus forming the band LOVE SPIT LOVE with PSYCHEDELIC FURS frontman Richard Butler and future GN'R drummer Frank Ferrer. In 2000, Fortus and Ferrer became touring members of the reformed PSYCHEDELIC FURS before Fortus hooked up with GUNS N' ROSES. Ferrer himself joined GN'R in 2006.

GUNS kicked off its long-rumored and long-awaited reunion tour in April 2016 with a club show in Hollywood and appearances in Las Vegas and at California's Coachella festival.

The "Not In This Lifetime" tour features classic lineup members Slash (guitar), Duff McKagan (bass) and Rose backed by Fortus, Ferrer, keyboardist Dizzy Reed and new second keyboardist Melissa Reese.

Fan-filmed video footage of MONSTER MAGNET performing a brand new song called "Mindfucker" on May 23 in Leeds, England can be seen below. The track will appear on the band's next studio album, tentatively due before the end of the year or in early 2018 via Napalm Records.

In an interview with Metal Express Radio conducted on May 22 in Newcastle, England, MONSTER MAGNET guitarist Phil Caivano stated about the band's planned follow-up to 2013's "Last Patrol": "It's finished. The mixes are just getting done. I think there's one more song to mix, and it's done."

Regarding the musical direction of MONSTER MAGNET's new album, Phil said: "It's very aggressive, very straight-ahead, very 'Detroit.' Once again, [it's] back to some of our American roots. We did the 'space rock' thing on the last couple of records. Being the huge HAWKWIND fans we are, AMON DÜÜL fans, GROUNDHOGS fans… that whole thing. 'Last Patrol' was very, very influenced by space rock, and there'll always be elements of space rock in MONSTER MAGNET stuff, but we brought it back to what we were influenced by as kids, which would be the Detroit thing: STOOGES, MC5, GRAND FUNK RAILROAD. Very punchy, American… That's really what it is. All I can say is the word 'Detroit' always keeps coming to mind."

Caivano's comments echo those made by MONSTER MAGNET frontman Dave Wyndorf earlier in the year. Speaking to the "Talking Metal" podcast, Wyndorf described the band's new material as "full-on rock [with] shorter songs. Yeah, it's 'fight' music. Still 'psych' in a kind of garage-rock kind of way and sound, and you'll hear echoes and stuff like that, but it's less longform."

He continued: "The last bunch of records, I went on a psychedelic tinge, as is my right to do. But after I do a couple of records that are completely psychedelic, it just overtakes me to just rock — just go out there and pummel it. So it's fast tempo and a lot of Detroit-style… That's the best way I can describe it, 'cause Detroit had this spirit to it, and even a sound — kind of droney strings, but still rocking. It's what I needed to do in order to live continually in 21st Century, which is completely out of its mind. So I needed something… I take the psychedelic stuff and get all cerebral and kind of ruminate on what's going on in the world in my head and in my music. And then, when I get so disgusted with the way the world is, then I strike back with my music, or me, in this way. So it makes sense."

MONSTER MAGNET's next disc will be the final release under the band's current contract with Napalm. "And then I'll see if they wanna continue or somebody else will wanna continue," Wyndorf told Sofia Live last year.

MONSTER MAGNET's last release was "Cobras And Fire (The Mastermind Redux)", which came out in October 2015. The album was dubbed an "alternative listening experience" to the band's 2010 effort "Mastermind". The approach was similar to what MONSTER MAGNET did in 2014 when they took "Last Patrol", pulled the songs apart and rebuilt them as "Milking The Stars: A Re-Imagining Of Last Patrol".

Don Dokken performed an acoustic set at the special "A Nightmare On Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors" event on Saturday, June 3 at Underground Arts in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Fan-filmed video footage of his appearance can be seen below.

The ultimate Wizard World Horror Fest celebration marked the 30th anniversary of the Chuck Russell-directed "A Nightmare On Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors" film and included a live commentary and question-and-answer session with both Russell and the movie's star Heather Langenkamp.

DOKKEN performed the infamous hit single "Dream Warriors" on the film's soundtrack. The song was released as a single in 1987, landing at No. 22 on the Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks chart, and also appeared on DOKKEN's fourth album, "Back For The Attack".

"Dream Warriors" was recorded by the classic lineup of DOKKEN — Don Dokken, guitarist George Lynch, bassist Jeff Pilson and drummer "Wild" Mick Brown — which completed a short Japanese tour last fall.

A DOKKEN concert DVD focusing on the band's reunion tour is tentatively due before the end of the year or in early 2018. 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.

GREAT WHITE's video for the song "Big Time" can be sen below. The clip was filmed in Yucaipa, California and was directed by Todd E. Braley.

"Big Time" is taken from GREAT WHITE's new album, "Full Circle", which was released on June 2. The effort sees the band re-teaming with its original producer, Michael Wagener. It's an honorable nod to their first EP, "Out Of The Night" (Aegean Records, 1983) and debut self-titled full-length record (EMI, 1984). Wagener, is, of course, the legendary producer behind ALICE COOPER, MEGADETH, METALLICA, OZZY OSBOURNE and a slew of other rock gods.

"Full Circle" was recorded in January and February 2017 at Wagener's Nashville-based WireWorld Studio. The album's packaging includes a must-have companion DVD called "Making Of Full Circle". Rockslide Entertainment (produced by Todd Sadowski) captured the band developing the songs in the studio — a never-before-seen band access.

Much like 2012's "Elation" (Frontiers) the core songwriting team of Mark Kendall, Michael Lardie and Terry Ilous worked heavily alongside Audie Desbrow and Scott Snyder.

In total, the ten songs on "Full Circle" range from the gut-punching "Give It Up" to the bass-heavy "Cry Of A Nation", the easily embraced, more acoustic "Let Me In" to the dynamic "This Is The Life".

"Full Circle" track listing:

01. I'm Alright02. Movin' On03. This Is The Life04. Let Me In05. Moonshine06. Cry Of A Nation07. Give It Up08. Big Time09. Never Let You Down10. I've Got Your Back

This version of GREAT WHITE is not to be confused with JACK RUSSELL'S GREAT WHITE, which features original GREAT WHITE singer Jack Russell alongside Robby Lochner (FIGHT) on guitar, Dan McNay on bass, Tony Montana on guitar and Dicki Fliszar on drums.

GREAT WHITE guitarist Mark Kendall recently told the "Music Mania" podcast about Terry Ilous (also of XYZ): "He's a blues-rock singer. He's like Ian Gillan meets Paul Rodgers meets Glenn Hughes or something, and a little bit of Steve Marriott. So when he was filling in, I kind of fell in love with that right away, 'cause that's kind of the school I come from. So I know his strengths, and that is in the power region of his voice."

He added: "We didn't really want a [Jack Russell] clone. We wanted the Mach II — kind of like the way DEEP PURPLE brought in [David] Coverdale and Glenn Hughes, and they made one of the best albums of their career, apart from that first 'Machine Head' record; I mean, nothing's gonna beat that. But I really felt 'Burn' was a super-strong record and the songs were just amazing. So the more play with Terry, the more we write, it just keeps getting better. And I'm looking forward to doing the next one. I think we could keep beating the last one, you know what I mean?"

Photo credit: Neil Zlozower

Former SKID ROW singer Sebastian Bach has recruited Andy Sanesi to play drums in his solo band. Bach says: "Andy Sanesi was recommended to me by my friend Adam Jones from the band TOOL. Andy Sanesi is the drummer who replaced Terry Bozzio in the incredible Los Angeles band MISSING PERSONS. He is a great guy and an extremely talented percussionist!"

Sanesi made his live debut with Bach this past weekend in Council Bluffs, Iowa and Walker, Minnesota.

Bach's drummer for the past twelve years had been Bobby Jarzombek, who had previously played with FATES WARNING, HALFORD and ICED EARTH, among others.

Sebastian recently confirmed that he was preparing to make the follow-up to his 2014 album "Give 'Em Hell".

The singer said in a 2015 interview that he was "really dying to make a record that sounds like the records of the '70s that I always listened to." He told the "Iron City Rocks" podcast: "What I mean [by that] is recording it in a way that… Like, when I listen to 'Women And Children First' by VAN HALEN, the guitar's all the way on the left, and the vocals are in the middle, with the drums who knows where, and it's just very different sounding, recording-wise, than the way albums are made today. So I think the next time I make an album, that's really what I'm gonna be going for."

He continued: "BLACK SABBATH's '13' sounds like a '70s BLACK SABBATH album, as much as it could in 2014. So whatever the fuck they were doing, I just would love to have an album of mine that sounds like that.

"I love 'Give 'Em Hell'… 'Give 'Em Hell' is like 'Star Wars'; it's, like, 'Holy shit!' I mean, it's a very modern-sounding record. And when it really got that sound was when it went to mastering with Tom Baker; he made it sound so fucking 'spacey,' and I totally love it. But my taste, as a fan, a rock fan, the next one I do, I'm gonna be going for, like… If I could have a BLACK SABBATH '13' kind of production, that's what I'll be looking for."

Sebastian Bach's autobiography, "18 And Life On Skid Row", came out last December via Dey Street Books (formerly It Books), an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers.




Sometimes it all comes together just right. I would like to personally thank the people of Walker Minnesota for an...

Posted by Sebastian Bach on Monday, June 5, 2017

HALESTORM frontwoman Lzzy Hale performed a surprise solo rendition of "I Will Always Love You", the love ballad made famous by Whitney Houston and Dolly Parton, during the band's May 28 concert at HerrinFesta Italiana in Herrin, Illinois. Fan-filmed video footage of Lzzy's version can be seen below.

HALESTORM is collaborating with Nick Raskulinecz on material for the band's fourth album. At least some of the sessions are taking place at the Dark Horse Recording studios just outside Nashville.

Raskulinecz is an acclaimed producer who has previously worked with RUSH, KORN, ALICE IN CHAINS and DEFTONES, in addition to having helmed HALESTORM's third covers EP, "ReAniMate 3.0: The CoVeRs eP", which came out in January.

Lzzy recently told the 97.7 WQLZ radio station that HALESTORM was "about half way" through the production process for the band's next album. She said: "We have a lot of tracks. We've been kind of doing both [recording and working on pre-production]. We've been writing in my personal studio, at my house, and then we've been going into an actual studio with a producer and doing kind of pre-pro as we go along, which we've never really done. 'Cause usually, it's, like, 'Okay, we have all the songs together, and then we'll go in the studio.' And this time we have like half-songs and then we go in the studio and we finish them. We have some keeper song takes and there's maybe some vocal or guitar takes that we won't redo later, but, yeah, it's everything all at once at the same time, so we're multitasking."

"ReAniMate 3.0: The CoVeRs eP" featured an eclectic mix of songs from artists like METALLICA, SOUNDGARDEN, JOAN JETT & THE BLACKHEARTS, SOPHIE B. HAWKINS, TWENTY ONE PILOTS and WHITESNAKE.

"Into The Wild Life" was criticized by some fans for veering too far into pop music territory.

A teaser for "Ritual", the new album from IN THIS MOMENT, is available below. Due on Friday, July 21, the band's sixth studio effort will be released by Atlantic Records in partnership with Roadrunner Records and is available for pre-order now.

All pre-orders will be joined by an instant grat download of "Oh Lord", with additional instant-grat downloads becoming available in the weeks leading up to the album's release. Exclusive pre-order bundles, which include custom IN THIS MOMENT branded rosary beads, are available now at the band's webstore. Produced by longtime collaborator — and multiple Grammy Award nominee — Kevin Churko (FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH, OZZY OSBOURNE), "Ritual" sees IN THIS MOMENT pushing their inimitably dark sound forward with a provocative sense of pervading doom and metallic blues power.

Highlights include a dramatic reimagination of the Phil Collins classic "In The Air Tonight" as well as "Black Wedding", a walk down the aisle of musical madness that sees lead singer Maria Brink sharing the mic with legendary JUDAS PRIEST frontman Rob Halford. "It's like we're going into the next realm," says Brink. "I had a conviction of feeling empowered in my life and with myself. I always write from a personal place, and I needed to share that sense of strength. I've never been afraid to hold back. Sometimes I can be very suggestive. However, I wanted to show our fans that this is the most powerful side of myself and it's without overt sexuality. It's that deeper serious fire inside of my heart." "When fans hear this, I want them to feel the music, whether they take away sadness, anger, or happiness," adds lead guitarist Chris Howorth. "As a kid, I remember listening to records and putting them on repeat over and over again. I'd love for the world to listen and absorb this as a piece of work." IN THIS MOMENT will herald "Ritual" on a major North American tour, beginning June 20 at Peoria, Illinois's Limelight and featuring support by such like-minded bands as MOTIONLESS IN WHITE, VIMIC, LITTLE MISS NASTY and STARSET. As if that weren't enough, IN THIS MOMENT is also set for two exciting support dates, joining AVENGED SEVENFOLD on June 19 at Mt. Pleasant, Michigan's Soaring Eagle Casino and PAPA ROACH on June 23 at El Paso, Texas's Streetfest. The upcoming dates follow the just-wrapped "Half God Half Devil Tour", the nearly sold-out trek marking IN THIS MOMENT's first full-scale live assault since serving as special guest on last year's blockbuster "Return Of The Dreads" tour with KORN and ROB ZOMBIE. The band's own hugely successful "Black Widow" headline tour included a wide range of sold-out shows and stage-stealing festival appearances.

"Ritual" track listing:

01. Salvation02. Oh Lord03. Black Wedding (feat. Rob Halford)04. In The Air Tonight05. Joan of Arc06. River of Fire07. Witching Hour08. Twin Flames09. Half God Half Devil10. No Me Importa11. Roots12. Lay Your Gun Down

SUICIDAL TENDENCIES' free concert in Los Angeles was cut short yesterday afternoon (Sunday, June 4) after police pulled the plug on the performance less than half an hour into the set. According to ST drummer Dave Lombardo, the band "got to play four songs before the riot squad and helicopter aka Ghetto birds broke up the event," apparently in response to some of the audience breaking through one of the security gates.

The concert was staged in connection with the unveiling of a mural of SUICIDAL TENDENCIES singer Mike Muir, who was being honored by councilmember José Huizar and Los Angeles-based artist Robert Vargas.

Located on Santa Fe Avenue in the Arts District, the Mike Muir mural is adjacent to the future 6th Street Bridge and park space. Councilmember Huizar worked with the City's Department of Cultural Affairs to work with Robert Vargas, a prolific muralist whose work is displayed throughout the city, to paint a mural of Muir. Vargas is painting the mural freehand, without using stencils, projections or grids.

SUICIDAL TENDENCIES' latest album, "World Gone Mad", was released last September. The follow-up to 2013's "13" disc was the band's first to feature former SLAYER drummer Dave Lombardo and guitarist Jeff Pogan, who replaced Nico Santora in May 2016.

Legendary KISS bassist/vocalist Gene Simmons played a special concert dubbed "An Evening With Gene Simmons And His Band" on June 2 at Trocadero Theatre in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania as part of a partnership with Wizard World, Inc., the preeminent producer of Wizard World Comic Cons across North America. Fan-filmed video footage of the show can be seen below.

"This is gonna be a first for me," Simmons told CantonRep.com about playing his own shows. "Outside of KISS, I've never done a solo tour. I never did anything like that. Every once in a while, I'll jump up on stage and do a song with somebody. Johnny Depp and I did a few songs together, a few other knuckleheads, but that's about it. When Wizard World and I agreed to do five events together, the idea of jumping up onstage and gulping it on for an hour or so came up. And I got a great bunch of guys, real rocking guys who are gonna get up with me, and we'll play all the hits and have ourselves a good old time."

Simmons also spoke about performing some of the deeper cuts live with his solo band, such as "Charisma" and "Got Love For Sale". He told Michael Cavacini: "When the masses show up at our concerts, they're the diehards who've been with me since day one. If you're five years old, fifteen years old or even twenty years old, you still don't scratch the surface because we've been around for forty-three years. If KISS played what they used to call in the music industry a b-side of an album, some of the more obscure stuff, most of the people wouldn't know it. If you go to [see] THE [ROLLING] STONES and they play something obscure, everybody sits down because they don't know it. They know 'Satisfaction', 'Jumpin' Jack Flash' and a few others. Doing these smaller concert halls, which hold a thousand to three thousand people, means they get filled up by real diehard fans. They don't want to hear the same-old, same-old. They want to hear nuggets, as they say. It's a hoot for me because I've never really had a chance to do this stuff live. It's been a lot of fun. There's nothing like playing 'Charisma' and seeing a few thousand fans mouth every single word. Lot of fun."

Simmons said in a recent interview that he was still working on his box set that will include "a hundred and fifty songs that have never been released. That news is gonna be released soon."

DIRKSCHNEIDER — the band fronted by former ACCEPT singer Udo Dirkschneider — made its live debut with new guitarist Bill Hudson Sunday, June 4 at the Rock Hard Festival in Gelsenkirchen, Germany. Fan-filmed video footage of the concert can be seen below.

Hudson was in the middle of a European tour with I AM MORBID — the new band featuring former MORBID ANGEL members David Vincent (vocals, bass) and Tim Yeung (drums) — and was forced to miss a couple of shows with that group in order to make the DIRKSCHNEIDER gig at Rock Hard. Hudson will rejoin his I AM MORBID bandmates on stage on June 5 in Mörlenbach, Germany.

Hudson hooked up with DIRKSCHNEIDER and U.D.O. as the replacement for the recently departed Finnish guitarist Kasperi Heikkinen.

U.D.O. and DIRKSCHNEIDER said in a statement: "Bill fits in, in every way, perfectly with us and builds a fantastic guitar team together with Andrey Smirnov. He is very experienced and has shared the stage with several known bands, most notably CIRCLE II CIRCLE, JON OLIVA'S PAIN and TRANS-SIBERIAN ORCHESTRA for the last few years. It's not really necessary to talk about his skills; simply check it out on our next tour and you will see what we're talking about!

"After Kasperi left the band, we have received many suggestions and applications from great guitar players from all over the planet. At the same time, we started getting hints from different and unrelated people in the business pointing straight into the same direction, telling us to check out this Brazilian/American guy. Once in Germany, he convinced everybody from the get-go and it was very clear that this guy had all the requirements to become the new band member."

U.D.O. has commenced work on the follow-up to 2015's "Decadent" album for a tentative late 2017 release.

Heikkinen left U.D.O. and DIRKSCHNEIDER in February for personal reasons.

Udo spent the last year touring under the DIRKSCHNEIDER banner, performing classic ACCEPT songs for the last time.

"Decadent" was released in Europe in January 2015 via AFM. The disc was recorded in Udo's current home, Spanish island Ibiza, and also at Redhead Audio Productions in Wilhelmshaven.

The current U.D.O. lineup includes Udo's 23-year-old son Sven Dirkschneider, who joined the group as the replacement for drummer Francesco Jovino.

DIRKSCHNEIDER released a live album called "Live - Back To The Roots" in October via AFM Records. The effort, which was recorded on April 2, 2016 at Kaminwerk in Memmingen, Germany, was made available as two-CD digipak and gatefold three-vinyl in four different colors (black, gold, silver and clear).

The official music video for "Everybody Needs A Little Trouble", a brand new song from MR. BIG, can be seen below. The track is taken from the band's ninth studio album, "Defying Gravity", which will be released on July 7 via Frontiers Music Srl. The effort will be available at traditional retail and all digital service providers, as will a deluxe edition version with CD and bonus DVD that features music videos and a behind-the-scenes look at the making of the new album. The album will also be made available on vinyl in the coming months.

"Defying Gravity" deftly showcases that patented MR. BIG blend of crunch and melody, from the freight-train ride of opening cut "Open Your Eyes" to the harmony-laden wonderment of "Damn I'm in Love Again" to the grateful/wistful nostalgia of "1992" (recalling the days when the band was flying high atop the singles charts with their international No. 1 smash "To Be With You") to the barnburning slide-blues closer, "Be Kind". Overall, "Defying Gravity" is prime evidence that the only thing MR. BIG remains tethered to is their ongoing pursuit of achieving creative excellence. Original members Eric Martin (lead vocals), Paul Gilbert (guitars), Billy Sheehan (bass) and Pat Torpey (drums) reunited with producer Kevin Elson (who was behind the boards for the band's 1989 self-titled debut, 1991's "Lean Into It" and 1993's "Bump Ahead") for an intensive six-day recording session in Los Angeles. While Torpey was unable to perform some of the songs on "Defying Gravity" due to a recent diagnosis of Parkinson's disease, Matt Starr has been filling in for him on a majority of the album. Starr also been touring with the band for the past couple of years, with Torpey able to play a couple of songs at each stop. "It was great to get back in the studio with our original producer, Kevin Elson," says Gilbert. "Kevin recorded all of our original classic albums from the '80s and '90s, and we immediately felt that magic chemistry with him on 'Defying Gravity'. We basically played live in the studio.

"Over the years, we've all had a chance to experiment with every recording technique possible, but it's still always the best just to play together as a band. Most of my guitar solos were tracked live with the band. I've worked hard on my improvisation in the last few years, and it really paid off on this record… both melodically and on the face-melting stuff." MR. BIG is gearing up for the launch its latest worldwide tour, which starts May 31 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin at the Potowatami Casino. "2017 is filling up quickly with tour dates all around the world," proclaims Gilbert. "I can't wait to play the new songs, and, of course, our favorites from the old days, like 'Daddy, Brother, Lover, Little Boy', 'Just Take My Heart', 'Green Tinted Sixties Mind', 'Wild World' and 'To Be With You'." "Defying Gravity" track listing: 01. Open Your Eyes02. Defying Gravity03. Everybody Needs A Little Trouble04. Damn I'm In Love Again05. Mean To Me06. Nothing Bad (About Feeling Good)07. Forever And Back08. She's All Coming Back To Me Now09. 199210. Nothing At All11. Be Kind

Photo credit: William Hames