Tim “Ripper” Owens’ Traveler's Tavern, located in Akron, OH, will be closing on September 3rd. Co-owner Micah Posten has posted the following message via the establishment’s Facebook page:

“It comes with a heavy heart and a huge amount of considering many options, but Tim and I have decided to close our venue. Words can not express the gratitude we have for everyone who came out and supported the restaurant and the local music scene. A lot of work went into making this place great, lots of blood sweat and tears (literally) to bring Akron a place it could be proud of. I believe we were successful at that, but at this time Tim and I are being pulled away from that focus to concentrate on our main jobs.

“Tim is touring more and more and I am needed at my landscape company. Both of these are very positive for Tim and I but creates a negative for the bar/restaurant. We have both agreed to sell to another person who will be more focused on creating a cool restaurant and possibly keeping the stage rocking a couple times a month. I personally will be contacting any acts we have booked to help find other venues for them to perform.

“Tim and I are very sorry for the inconvenience and hope everyone is understanding. Our last day for food will be September 2nd (huge party), our last live music show will be September 3rd . LETS BLOW IT OUT!”

Says Tim “Ripper” Owens: “It is with deep regret that Micah and I have had to make the difficult decision to close the Traveler’s Tavern on Sept 2nd.

“In the last few months and the months to come, my music schedule and Micah's landscaping business have kept us and will continue to keep us from being available to focus on the Tavern as required. It is a tremendous commitment of time and resources to maintain a Restaurant and Music Venue and unfortunately, we are not able to commit the time and energy to this business that it deserves. We have had to make the difficult decision to commit our time and resources to our main careers.

“We are lucky that we have had 3 great years with a amazing staff and wonderful memories and we will close being a successful restaurant and music venue! We thank all our great employees who have worked so hard for us and we wish them all great success in everything they do.

Much love, respect and gratitude to everyone for all they have done! Thank you everyone.”

Annihilator frontman/founder Jeff Waters has posted audio snippets from the band's forthcoming live album / DVD via Facebook. Check out "WYTD" and "Refresh The Demon" below.

Waters recently checked in with the following update:

"In answer to a good question on the Annihilator Facebook page, here is my response. The question was why didn't our former touring bassists play on the studio records?

When I write the songs, I don't just write a guitar riff, I write the drums, bass and mostly the vocals/melodies/lyrics. Since I would, for example, write the bass guitar parts entirely, it made no sense to me to let a bassist do it when I wanted it a certain way and got it when I played the part! Another thing people occasionally don't understand is that a live touring musician can also be a not-so-good or even a bad studio musician. They are two different jobs and art forms. Some can do both, of course, but I was always looking for touring players, not writers, so often I would get guys that were good for touring but not so good under the studio scenario.

Often, out of being nice or occasionally being blackmailed, I would give credit to the occasional singer or musician who wrote nothing (actually not kidding), but sometimes a guy like Ray Hartmann (wickedly awesome drummer) would contribute something, drum-wise, that was so good you had to give him credit, even though the songs were already written. Or some of the singers were good writers; just didn't spend the time doing it! I offered ALL Annihilator singers the opportunity to write ALL the lyrics on ALL the Annihilator records... only some wrote a few songs. Hard to imagine, but some were lazy or had a home or party life that would not let them work hard at their craft. The frustrating part was that guys like Padden and Comeau were AWESOME at writing lyrics, and when I pushed them to write, they came up with VERY cool stuff; and a breath of fresh air to the writing (when one guy does most all of it, it can get repetetive or boring at times!). They just didn't offer many songs.

On the other hand, only some people have that certain insane drive to do this! Thus, many musicians in Annihilator did not go on to other things in the music business, except a few that come to mind. Neil Goldberg was on the Set The World On Fire CD and touring; he went on to make some killer music-related software and also played some killer guitar on the STWOF record, and the amazing solo on the 'Fantastic Things' song off a 1992 demo. Mike Mangini, of course, Steve Vai / Extreme / Dream Theater were only some of his achievements! Randy Black went to Primal Fear for a while and is a killer drummer. John Bates has had a great career with his rockabilly-style band. Joe Comeau went on to work as a techncian for a well known artist. I might be missing someone; apologies... but out of 40 musicians I've hired into this beast Annihilator, there are not really many that moved up the music biz ladder!"

Annihilator previously posted the following:

"First Annihilator 'Alison Hell' recording live in Val D'or, Quebec, April 16th, 1986. This was a live off the board recording of the band (Jeff Waters - guitar, John Bates - vox, Dave Scott - bass, Paul Malek - drums) and the first full recording of this legendary song. As you can hear, they are kids! Sloppy, messy and full of mistakes but that is how history is made! Note the lyrics and arrangements changed years later, as Jeff Waters changed them to the version we've all heard on the Alice in Hell record 1989."

Photo by Jasmina Vrcko

Phantom Elite features intense and powerful vocals by Marina La Torraca (Avantasia live), in-your-face guitars by Ted Wouters and Goof Veelen, unique keys and orchestration by Erik van Ittersum (The Theater Equation), and furious groove-heavy drums by Eelco van der Meer (Stream Of Passion live). These young, talented, and experienced musicians present the lyric video for their debut track, "Siren’s Call"; watch it now.

"Siren’s Call" showcases the band’s versatility and musical creativity. Mythological creatures are invoked in the many different moods of the song as a hypnotic metaphor for the various passionate desires and vices of humans.

After her guest appearances with Avantasia in Germany at the Tollwood Festival in Munich, and Rock Of Ages in Seebronn, Marina La Torraca will join them once more at the Schiffenberg Kloster in Giessen, Germany on August 26th and for the final show of their Ghostlights tour , at the Czadfestival in Poland, on August 27.

 

Garden State death metal faction Cognitive is the latest addition to Unique Leader Records' expanding roster of sonic malevolence. The band will release their new full-length late this Fall.

Issues Cognitive of their union with the label, "It is with extreme pleasure that we announce our signing with Unique Leader Records! It is an honor and a privilege to be a part of the label that many bands have called home such as: Deeds Of Flesh, Fallujah, Psycroptic, The Kennedy Veil, Decrepit Birth, Ingested, Inanimate Existence, and so many more! This has been a long journey for us. We've gone through vehicle breakdowns, member shifts, two full United States tours, countless week-long-plus tours, Las Vegas Death Fest, Building Temples From Deathfest, and recording our second full-length album all in the last year. We couldn't be more excited to share our newest release with our long-time local fans as well as with the people all around the world who haven't heard us. Working with Unique Leader Records is a dream come true from five New Jersey and Philly guys who want nothing more than to make you mosh, hardcore dance, or headbang to the sound of our music. We hope this album will live up to our long standing reputation of brutal death metal!"

Entitled Deformity, Cognitive's sophomore full-length was recorded at Full Force Studio by Joe Cincotta (Suffocation, Internal Bleeding, Dehumanized) and mastered at West West Side Studios by Alan Douches (Cannibal Corpse, Converge, Black Breath, Mastodon), and boasts nine tracks of unrepentant heaviness.

"We poured a lot of blood, sweat, and tears into this album," the band elaborates, "and the emotion really came through within the songs as well as our approaches to each song. It's a concept album based around New Jersey's folklore, but we still left it open for some interpretation."

Deformity will see release on Unique Leader Records on October 28th. Track teasers and pre-orders to be unveiled in the weeks to come.  

Deformity tracklisting:

"Awakening The Miscreation"
"Birthing The Deformity"
"Haunted Justice"
"Beneath The Floorboards"
"The Forgotten"
"Dead Soil"
"The Cull"
"Wraiths"
"Merciless Forest"

Hailing from South Jersey, Cognitive was born in 2011 with the sole intent to create heavy, intensely technical music, while maintaining an edge of creativity that separates them from the over-produced sea of subgenres. Combining technicality, guitar solos, grooves, and abstract ideas within their song writing, Cognitive is continually pushing itself to think outside of the proverbial box while maintaining an organic and unapologetically brutal edge. Cognitive seeks only to advance itself musically and export New Jersey's undying hatred globally.

 

METALLICA frontman James Hetfield has once again defended "Lulu", the band's controversial collaborative album with former THE VELVET UNDERGROUND frontman Lou Reed, saying that he is "still blown away" Reed wanted to work with METALLICA.

"Lulu" polarized fans around the world and earned METALLICA some of the most scathing reviews of its career. The effort featured the former THE VELVET UNDERGROUND frontman's spoken-word poetry and lyrics combined with METALLICA's musical assault for a jarring experience that didn't sound like anything METALLICA had ever attempted before.

Less than five years since its release, "Lulu" has only sold around 35,000 copies in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan.

Speaking to Pioneer Press, Hetfield said about working on "Lulu": "Lou was such a character and, just like any artist, was really insecure. That's why he had a real frigging attitude! He was certainly not afraid to tell you what he was thinking. At one point, [METALLICA drummer] Lars [Ulrich] said, 'You've got to trust me on this.' And Lou said: 'Trust you on this? Fuck you, I don't trust anyone.' I knew we had to handle him with some kid gloves. But we earned his trust and he earned ours. I'm still blown away he wanted to collaborate with us."

Hetfield previously told METALLICA's fan-club magazine So What! that he had no regrets about making "Lulu".

"We've been extremely either bullheaded or lucky or something," he said. "We've been maybe very jaded in that things have worked pretty well for us. We're perfectionists. We're really extremely self-critical. It's gotten us to where we are, but it's also the curse. When something doesn't go right, I come down so hard on myself.

"'Lulu' wasn't accepted as much as we accepted it," he continued. "I'm really proud that we did it. It was fun, it was an adventure. And there are a lot of bands out there that do adventures that kill them, whether it's choosing the wrong management or making a bad investment or something like that.

"We've got this dedication and loyalty to this band that no matter what, nothing can kill us. Whether it's Cliff Burton [dying], Jason [Newsted] leaving, 'Some Kind Of Monster' [movie], the drama that's going on now, there's always something that we stick together with and survive through. So 'Lulu' brought us together even more."

Hetfield added: "There's certain artists that stand up with you and say, 'Hey, I like it. They're artists! They had fun! It's something they wanted to do and they did it.' You don't have to like it, I get that, and there are people that are articulate enough to be able to say it that way: 'I might not like the project, but I'm really glad, as an artist, they took a risk and went for it.'

"I think it comes down to personalities. You either want things to be safe, and you invest in them so much that if it's not safe, it rocks your whole world, or you look at life as an adventure."

METALLICA guitarist Kirk Hammett said that he was unfazed by the fact that most of the band's fans found "Lulu" to be virtually unlistenable, saying "I love that album to death. It's unfortunate that other people don't see it the same way as I do, but what can I do about it? I can't do anything about it. I can just keep on loving it. And if people like it, great. If people don't like it, that's great too. It's only music."

In a 2012 interview with Spin, Ulrich admitted that the band was caught off guard by the vehement reaction to "Lulu", saying, "It was more spiteful than anyone was prepared for. Especially against Lou. He is such a sweet man. But when METALLICA do impulsive riffing and Lou Reed is reciting abstract poetry about German bohemians from 150 years ago, it can be difficult to embrace." Asked whether the band had second thoughts over some of Reed's lyrics, like "I swallow your sharpest cutter / Like a colored man's dick," Ulrich said, "I understand that to some 13-year-old in Cape Girardeau, Missouri, it can all seem a little cringe-worthy, but to someone raised in an art community in Copenhagen in the late '60s, that was expected."

The collaboration between METALLICA and Reed was sparked by their performance together of Reed's "Sweet Jane" and "White Light/White Heat" at the 25th anniversary of the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame at Madison Square Garden in October of 2009.

The songs were all written by Reed with extensive arrangement contributions by METALLICA.

Only two songs on the album are under five minutes in length, while two are more than 11 minutes long and the closing cut, "Junior Dad", clocks in at 19 minutes.

Reed died in October 2013 at the age of 71, five months after he had a life-saving liver transplant, according to his wife, Laurie Anderson.

STAIND has been mostly inactive since 2011 and guitarist Mike Mushok said in a new interview that the band is probably going to stay that way for the foreseeable future. Asked by Canadian journalist Mitch Lafon if STAIND's current hiatus is a permanent one, Mike — who has spent the last year touring with his new band SAINT ASONIA — responded (see video below): "I remember '09, we stopped touring, and we did a record after that. We did the self-titled 'Staind' record [in 2011], which we did a little touring on. It was one of my favorite STAIND records we had done. Aaron [Lewis, STAIND frontman], I know, has another country record coming out in September. So… You know, we say we're gonna do something else [with the band], but there's no real plan for it right now. I know he's pursuing [his solo career]. And I know we're [SAINT ASONIA] writing another record."

Pressed about whether it has been frustrating having to put STAIND on hold while Aaron continues to record and tour as a country solo artist, Mike said: "Honestly, it was was a little frustrating, you know what I mean? But, listen… And people come to me [and say], 'Don't you get mad? Aren't you angry…?' And I'm, like, 'Well, I can't be. He has to be happy with what he wants to do.' And if [he's] not happy… No matter what I do, when I go to Aaron, I can't [say to him], 'Dude, we have all these offers. We've gotta play these shows.' I can't make him. And if I did make him, he'd resent me. And it wouldn't be fun, and it wouldn't be what they're supposed to be. So when the day comes that he decides, 'Hey, man, let's do this again,' either I'll be ready or I won't. It's either, 'No, man, I'm doing this [SAINT ASONIA] now, because you had your thing,' or we'll be on a break, or whatever it is, and I'll say, 'Okay, we can do it.' So I'm really just kind of playing it as it goes."

Lewis told The Pulse Of Radio recently that he's not really sure what the future holds for STAIND. "I mean, I don't know," he said. "We survived our record contract, and we put out eight records. Do I think that there's more music there? Sure. Do I want to go down that road? Not particularly at this moment, no."

Lewis will release his second full-length solo country album, "Sinner", on September 16.

The singer made his debut as a country artist with the 2010 EP "Town Line", which he followed up in 2012 with his first full-length solo album, "The Road".

Mushok and ex-THREE DAYS GRACE vocalist Adam Gontier unveiled SAINT ASONIA in early 2015, releasing a self-titled debut album last year and scoring a Top 10 rock single with "Better Place".

SAINT ASONIA is currently in the early stages of writing its sophomore effort.

Felicity Hall of GetYourRockOut conducted an interview with FEAR FACTORY vocalist Burton C. Bell at this year's edition of the Bloodstock Open Air festival, which was held August 11-14 at Catton Hall, Walton-On-Trent, West Midlands, United Kingdom. You can now watch the chat below.

Asked if the current political climate around the world has made him reconsider his previous vow to keep politics out of FEAR FACTORY's music, Bell said: "I'm gonna keep them separate, because you never know what people believe in or what they follow. But I believe that the social nature is what all people can understand and the social behavior of how we interact as human beings and how we interact with authority [is something] everyone can understand. So I'm gonna keep it that way. You know, politics, that's a whole another beast that… Politics is just a joke."

Bell, however, made it clear that he will continue to write about topics that are close to his heart, even if his message sometimes falls of deaf ears.

"I have the opportunity in this life given to me, and I'm gonna not waste my voice," he explained. "I wanna use it to speak passionately about what I believe in. And if I can have at least one person hear me, that's worth it."

FEAR FACTORY's latest album, "Genexus", was released on August 7, 2015 via Nuclear Blast Entertainment. The follow-up to 2012's "The Industrialist" was co-produced by longtime collaborator Rhys Fulber, along with guitarist Dino Cazares and Burton C. Bell and mixed by Andy Sneap (ARCH ENEMY, TESTAMENT, EXODUS, MACHINE HEAD). Artwork was once again handled by Anthony Clarkson. Drums on "Genexus" were performed by Mike Heller (MALIGNANCY).

FEAR FACTORY recently completed a U.S. headlining tour on which it performed its classic second album, "Demanufacture", in its entirety.

Alice Cooper has not yet decided which candidate to vote for in the U.S. presidential race, explaining that "nobody wants to vote" for either nominee.

The legendary rocker, who previously criticized other rock musicians for wearing their politics on their sleeves, told Rolling Stone that he stood by his 2015 comment that he expected to see the "funniest election of all time" unfold this year. He said: "It's funny in a Kurt Vonnegut kind of way. It's also funny and kind of seriously demented that nobody wants to vote for a candidate; they want to vote against the other candidate. I can't think of anybody that's going, 'I really like Hillary. I'm going to vote for her.' No, it's: 'I'm voting for Hillary 'cause I hate Trump.' Or it's: 'I hate Trump, but I hate her worse.' Nobody's actually for anybody."

Asked for his opinion of Trump, Cooper said: "He's an interesting character. It seems like he shoots himself in the foot every single day and gets more popular by doing it. It's the weirdest. Like I said, it's like Vonnegut: Everything that shouldn't happen is happening. It's the same with her. Every time she gets a little bit ahead, something else comes out that makes her look worse 'til you're sitting there going, 'I honestly have no idea who to vote for this time.'"

He continued: "I honestly cannot in my head look at either candidate and say, 'Oh, yeah. I'm behind that.' So it's weird. I'm going to vote, but it's really going to be one of those last-minute decisions going, 'Ah.' [Pauses] You know, I'm voting for Tom Hanks. I just think he would be a great president."

Cooper told "The Strombo Show" last year that Trump was "not a sayer, he's a doer. I think that's what the American public are looking at. The American public always votes with their wallets. They're looking at a guy and going, 'Why don't we put a billionaire in there that knows how to run a business? Because America is basically a corporation, and that's what they're thinking right now. They don't want some vanilla politician in there anymore doing business for us that's milk toast. They want a guy that is going to do something. I don't know how much he knows about foreign policy and that's what worries me, and I think [it worries] a lot of people."

KISS frontman Paul Stanley spoke to the Cleveland Scene about whether there are any plans for the band to record a follow-up to 2012's "Monster" album. He said: "Records at this point are really something that if we do, we do it for us more than anybody else. The market, the sales aren't there… the delivery system isn't there. There really is no music industry. It's a guy who ran Tropicana last year that may run a record company this year. It's not a bunch of people who love music. It's a commodity at this point. So if we do an album, it's because we feel there's a reason. 'Sonic Boom', there was definitely a reason to do. 'Monster', there was a reason to do. We're toying, certainly I'm toying, with the idea of doing another album. I think it will happen. The only thing I'm adamant about is that it's not 'Son Of Sonic Boom' or 'Son Of Monster' or son of any other album. I'm not interested in making a concept album, but I'm also not interested in just rehashing the last two albums, so it has to be something fresh. Because initially, the people we're doing it for are us."

Stanley said last month that "it's only worth [making a new studio album] if, artistically, you wanna do it. Every time we finish an album, I kind of go, 'Well, that's it.' Whenever we've done an album… When we did 'Sonic Boom', it was because the band was so good that I just thought to not capture the band and do new material would be a shame. But once we did 'Sonic Boom', I said, 'Well, we've made the point.' And then, a few years later, it was, like, 'Wow, why don't we dig deeper and get a little closer to the roots and the people that we loved and kind of do something else,' so we did that, and then I said, 'We're done.' But lately I've been thinking, yeah, we should do another."

"Monster" sold 56,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release to land at position No. 3 on The Billboard 200 chart.

KISS' previous CD, "Sonic Boom", opened with 108,000 units back in October 2009 to enter the chart at No. 2. This marked the band's highest-charting LP ever.

Canadian prog outfit, Heaven’s Cry, have released a guitar playthrough video for “The Day The System Failed Part I & II”, featured on their new album, Outcast, out now via Prosthetic Records.

Continuing where their 2012 full-length Wheels Of Impermanence left off, Outcast is a concept album that examines the corruption of governments around the world and incites humankind to rally up and fight as this will be the key to our survival and growth. Outcast was self-produced by the band along with Yannick St-Amand.

Album stream:

“Outcast” lyric video:

“The Human Factor” lyric video:

Teaser:

Brazil’s Hangar have released the new video for the song “Just Like Heaven”, featured on their new album, Stronger Than Ever, out now via FC Metal Recordings.

Tracklisting:

“Reality Is A Prison”
“The Revenant”
“Forest Of Forgotten”
“A Letter From 1997 (MHJ)”
“Just Like Heaven”
“The Silence Of Innocent”
“Beauty In Disrepair”
“We Keep Running The Course”
“The Hangar Of Hannibal”
“Just Like Heaven” (Acoustic)

“Just Like Heaven” video:

"Reality Is A Prison" video:

"The Hangar Of Hannibal" lyric video:

Fear Factory have launched a new video series documenting their European summer tour. The first two episodes can now be seen below:

Remaining Fear Factory summer dates include:

August
22 - Voxhall - Aarhus, Denmark
23 - John Dee - Oslo, Norway
24 - Klubben - Stockholm, Sweden
25 - Pumpehuset - Copenhagen, Denmark
26 - Reload Festival - Sulingen, Germany

On October 7th, an immortal Century Media Records classic, the gothic metal masterpiece Irreligious by Moonspell returns on vinyl for the first time since its original release back in 1996.

In cooperation with the band, Century Media Records decided to re-visit the band’s quintessential 1996 album Irreligious as original vinyl editions have been hard to find and are very expensive nowadays. This 20th anniversary edition includes various additional treats that should make it a real highlight for all the band’s new and old fans worldwide.

Irreligious comes housed in a wide spine LP sleeve including the 180 gram vinyl with the album mastered for vinyl by Patrick W. Engel (Iced Earth, Tiamat, Grave), the entire album on CD, a 4-page LP-sized booklet with an introduction and commented live and promo photos by Fernando Ribeiro plus all lyrics. Apart from that, a replica of an original 1996 promotional poster was added resulting in the ultimate edition of this masterpiece.

Moonspell comments: “None of us really thought it through. The possibility of being years, twenty years after, celebrating an album and, why the hell not, a decade of great music, fusion, experiment, freedom. Irreligious will always be our highlight, our piece-de-resistance. Not that the other albums were mistakes in any form. Just that we are still sure that with Irreligious we helped shaping a style, a new thing in underground metal, something European, classic and mystical, a beautiful beast, laid to birth after an eternal night of passion and doom between metal and goth. We will be playing some twenty years shows on selected dates in Europe and Portugal. Come vista the wolves! And …finally thanks to the good chaps of CM we will be releasing the Opium maxi for the first time ever on vinyl (out November 25th)! So plenty of reasons to be celebrating with us, because when you celebrate music you celebrate life, a value which was never so fragile but also so precious as today in a world that has never learnt how to get rid of religion. So, consequently embrace better values, avoid terror and choose beauty over it.”

Irreligious will be released in the following vinyl colours and limitations:

black – not limited, available worldwide
transparent red - 100 units, exclusive to Century Media’s European webstore: www.cmdistro.com
transparent orange - 500 units, Moonspell exclusive, available via www.Moonspell.rastilho.com
transparent green - 200 units, exclusive to EMP: www.emp.de
gold - 200 units, exclusive to Century Media’s US webstore www.cmdistro.com

European pre-sale starts on September 9th. North American pre-sale starts on August 26th so stay tuned to cmdistro.com.

Stay tuned to the band’s Facebook page for pre-sale announcements of the transparent orange vinyl and the Opium vinyl edition.

Moonspell – Irreligious (Vinyl-Reissue 2016) side-split / tracklisting:

Side A
“Perverse….Almost Religious”
“Opium”
“Awake”
“For A Taste Of Eternity”
“Ruin And Misery”
“A Poisoned Gift”

Side B
“Subversion”
“Raven Claws”
“Mephisto”
“Herr Spiegelmann”
“Full Moon Madness”

CD
“Perverse….Almost Religious”
“Opium”
“Awake”
“For A Taste Of Eternity”
“Ruin And Misery”
“A Poisoned Gift”
“Subversion”
“Raven Claws”
“Mephisto”
“Herr Spiegelmann”
“Full Moon Madness”

Moonspell are Portugal’s most prominent metal act and are still highly successful these days! When Irreligious was released back in 1996, it probably left the whole metal scene awestruck. The black metal feeling of Wolfheart was more or less gone. Instead of taking the next logical step towards brutality and grimness, Moonspell took a turn to the side and offered eleven songs of beautiful melodies, bewitching lyrics and majestic gloom. Be it “Opium”, “Raven Claws”, “Mephisto” or the monolithic “Full Moon Madness”, every single song on Irreligious was and still is a proof of why Moonspell achieved massive success with this album and beyond.

For more bittersweet nostalgia, check out the classic video for “Opium”:

Professionally filmed video footage of METALLICA performing its new song "Hardwired" live for the first time Saturday night (August 20) during the band's headlining concert at the U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, Minnesota can be seen below.

"Hardwired" is taken from METALLICA's tenth studio album, "Hardwired...To Self-Destruct", which will be released on November 18 via Blackened Recordings. The long-awaited follow-up to 2008's "Death Magnetic" consists of two discs, containing a dozen songs and nearly 80 minutes of music.

METALLICA drummer Lars Ulrich told Fox 9 that the band played "Hardwired" "all in the same room" for the first time this past Monday, August 15 in preparation for the Minneapolis concert. He said: "This is as fresh off the assembly line as rock and roll gets."

The drummer talked to Rolling Stone about the creation of "Hardwired". He said: "That's actually the last song we wrote for the record. We started this album by throwing different ideas around. The shape of it, as a collection of songs, didn't come into focus until we were deep into it. At that point, the songs were getting tighter, shorter and leaner."

He continued: "A couple of months ago, we were sitting there taking stock of the record and thought maybe we should write one more fast, little crazy song, and that became 'Hardwired'. It just kind of happened. I think James [Hetfield, METALLICA frontman] and I wrote and recorded it in less than a week, which, for us, is basically a nanosecond."

"Hardwired...To Self-Destruct" was produced by Greg Fidelman with Hetfield and Ulrich. The band recorded the disc at its own studio and is still putting the finishing touches on the LP.

According to Ulrich, METALLICA wrote most of the songs for "Hardwired...To Self-Destruct" in the fall of 2014 and the spring of 2015. The band's initial goal with the new record was "to continue where we left off," the drummer said. "Since 'Death Magnetic', we've been on a roll: We did the Lou Reed stuff, a Ronnie Dio-RAINBOW medley, a DEEP PURPLE cover and obviously the ['Through The Never'] movie took two years. Greg Fidelman has been working with us full time since then. We haven't had time to sit down and asses what we're doing. So it wasn't until farther into the process that we took stock of what we were doing and asked what we were trying to say with the album. That's when things came more into shape and became more coherent. But we didn't work with a mission statement."

Asked about his previous comment that the songs on "Hardwired" would sound "less frenetic" than those on "Death Magnetic", Ulrich explained: "Most of the songs are simpler. We introduce a mood and we stick to it, rather than songs we've done where one riff happens and we go over here and then over there and becomes a journey through all these different soundscapes. The songs are more linear. And by 'less frenetic,' I mean there are certainly less starts and stops in the songs. It cruises along a little bit more than the last record."

"Hardwired...To Self-Destruct" will be issued on double CD, vinyl and digital download. A deluxe version will feature a bonus disc containing the riffs that formed the origins of the album along with "The Lords Of Summer", which the band debuted on tour a couple of years ago.

Finnish-based symphonic metallers NIGHTWISH were rejoined by drummer Jukka Nevalainen during their unofficial 20th-anniversary concert at Himos Park in Jämsä, Finland. Fan-filmed video footage of his appearance on the song "Last Ride Of The Day" can be seen below.

Nevalainen announced in August 2014 that he was taking a break from his duties as NIGHTWISH's drummer in order to deal with his health issues. He explained at the time that he had "suffered for a number of years from occasional but very difficult insomnia, something that has been my unwanted companion during many of our tours, too. I've done my best to try to control it or at least to cope with it. Still, we don't even really know why we need sleep, so unfortunately there's not much information available on why some of us suffer from sleeplessness. There is no 100% cure for the problem."

He added: "It has become evident for me that due to my insomnia, I can't fulfill my duties as a musician in the way that I'd want and with the precision that the music deserves. Thus I have decided to step aside from my duties as the drummer of NIGHTWISH. I will still be involved in managing the day-to-day affairs of the band, but the dearest and the most important thing, playing, is, for the time being, not possible. Time will tell what the future holds."

Kai Hahto (WINTERSUN) played drums on NIGHTWISH's latest album, 2015's "Endless Forms Most Beautiful", and subsequent tour.

NIGHTWISH will release "Vehicle Of Spirit" on November 4. The DVD will feature the band's performance from London's Wembley Arena in the U.K., along with their show at Tampere, Finland's Ratina Stadion.

"Eyes Of Malevolence", a brand new song from the Syracuse-based metal outfit FREYA, can be seen below. The track is taken from the band's fifth studio full-length album, "Grim", which will be released on September 30 via Fast Break! Records. The CD was once again mixed and mastered by Jason "Jocko" Randall at More Sound Recording Studio in Syracuse, and features the intense graphic cover artwork by FREYA's Brendon Flynn. Expanding upon the thematic scope of FREYA's previous release, "Paragon Of The Crucible", "Grim" derives inspiration from the historical origins of Grimm folktales. Grizzled veteran founding frontman Karl Buechner (EARTH CRISIS, THE PATH OF RESISTANCE) breathes life into these cautionary tales, delving deep into their macabre realities and the harsh circumstances of their genesis. Newly recruited drummer Dirk Verbeuren (MEGADETH, SOILWORK), the one-man stampede of savagery, lends his machine gun percussive virtuosity to the album, his complex timing and imagination a perfect complement to the diverse riff-work of guitarists Brendon Flynn and Thom Turner.

A trailer for "Grim" featuring the opening track "The Alchemist" is available below. "Grim" track listing:

01. The Alchemist02. The Spectre Of The Plague03. The Sentinel04. Gnawing From Inside05. Skeleton's Key06. To Pyre With Them All07. Hunter In The Dark08. Swallowed Alive09. To Burgeon Feathered Wings10. The Silken Web11. Eyes Of Malevolence Since 2001, FREYA has crossed metal and hardcore audiences on stage and on record with a plethora of mind-expanding works, incorporating fantasy and reality with thunderous grooves. The band released its debut album, "As The Last Light Drains", in 2003 through Victory Records, where they would remain signed for years to follow. Their second release came in the form of a split with HOODS the following year. Their second album, "Lift The Curse", saw release in 2007, and its follow-up, "All Hail The End", in 2010. Each album saw the band elevate their songwriting and delivery to no sonic territory, and expanded their fanbase into new realms of the metal underground and mainstream. 2013's "Paragon Of The Crucible", saw the band lashing out harder than ever, becoming the band's most lauded LP to date within the media and band's fanbase alike.

Photo by Shada Gale Photography

Germany's Finsterforst will release their new EP, #YØLØ, on September 16th via Napalm Records. A full audio preview can be found below.

The new EP tears apart all genre boundaries in a totally unconventional way with outrageous fun. With a concentrated amount of pure love for music, #YOLO is ear popping. The four brand new songs plus five extremely unusual cover songs chosen show crazy experimentation from the band: From Miley Cyrus and K.I.Z. to Michael Jackson, #YOLO has so much to offer!

As Lemmy already clearly stated: “This entire generation seems to have become pussies, you know? Nobody seems to enjoy themselves much anymore." You’ve never experienced Finsterforst this way before. Love it or leave it, there’s nothing in between.

Norwegian black metallers, Ancient, are streaming the new track “Death Will Die”, featured on their upcoming seventh album, Back To The Land Of The Dead, to be released September 16th in North America via Megadeth bassist David Ellefson’s EMP Underground / EMP Label Group, and in the rest of the world by Soulseller Records. The new track can be found below.

The album is currently available for preorder (in North America only) from EMP Label Group at EMP Merch in various CD, LP, and bundle configurations, with a European preorder to follow.

Tracklisting:

“Land Of The Dead”      
“Beyond The Blood Moon”           
“The Sempiternal Haze”                 
“The Empyrean Sword”                                           
“The Ancient Disarray”                             
“Occlude The Gates”                                   

The Excruciating Journey:
“Part I - Defiance And Rage”
“Part II - The Prodigal Years”
“Part III - The Awakening”   
“Death Will Die”   
“The Spiral”                                   
“Petrified By Their End”

Bonus track:
“13 Candles” (Bathory cover)

“Death Will Die”:

"Land Of The Dead":

Land Of The Dead by Ancient

Ancient is:
Zel (aka Aphazel) - vocals/guitars/keyboards
Dhilorz - guitars/bass
Nick Barker - drums
Ghiulz Borroni - session lead guitars

Rage Against The Machine bassist and founding member Tim Commerford’s new band Wakrat will release their self-titled debut on November 11th via Earache Records. Various pre-order options are available at this location. Listen to the album track “Sober Addiction”, now streaming below:

Something is missing from today's current rock scene. At a time when corruption amongst the elite is rampant, self-serving politicians are allowing tax breaks to their wealthy associates whilst imposing budget cuts to public services, austerity measures including slashing benefits to those most in need, and having the gall to claim that they're "taking our country back" when they and their friends in the media blame their nation's problems on immigration, the distinct lack of politically-charged rock bands is even more astounding.

Enough is enough - now is the time to join the Republic of Wakrat! Founded by Tim Commerford, responsible for arguably the most iconic protest song in the last 30 years during his time with Rage Against The Machine, the band self-described as 'two French nationals and one American anarchist', namely Laurent Grangeon and Mathias Wakrat, are promising to shake up the system with their aggressive and abrasive approach.

With a tight mix of punchy, rhythmic and dynamic punk rock, fuelled by political dissent and an undiminished subversion and questioning of authority, Wakrat are providing a much needed battle cry of societal angst wrapped in sonic urgency. Their UK live debut has just been announced, and will take place on July 26th at the Black Heart in London, with all proceeds going towards the homeless charity Shelter, before they set off on tour in the US with Commerford's other band, Prophets Of Rage.

Commerford comments: "We are gearing up to be on the offensive, assaulting the populous with our debut album on Earache Records. We have put a shitload of blood and sweat into this, and we want it back! Our mission is to attack modern music and smash the grid. Unapologetic, unrelenting, unbridles and uncensored. Understood?"

Wakrat tracklisting:

"Sober Addiction”
"The Number”
"Generation Fucked”
"Nail In The Snail”
"La Liberté ou la Mort”
"The Thing”
"Knucklehead”
"New Clear”
"Pigs in a Blanket”

"Generation Fucked” lyric video:

"Knucklehead” video:

Band introduction video:

Wakrat tour dates with Prophets Of Rage:

August
23 - Montreal, QC - Bell Centre
24 - Toronto, ON - Molson Canadian Amphitheatre
26 - Holmdel, NJ - PNC Bank Arts Center
27 - Brooklyn, NY - Barclays Center
28 - Uncasville, CT - Mohegan Sun Arena
30 - Quebec City, QC - Centre Videotron

September
1 - Clarkston, MI - DTE Energy Music Theatre
3 - Tinley Park, IL - Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre
4 - St. Louis, MO - Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre
5 - Kansas City, MO - PMCA
7 - Morrison, CO - Red Rocks Amphitheatre
10 - Auburn, WA - White River Amphitheatre
11 - Ridgefield, WA - Sunlight Supply Amphitheatre
13 - Mountain View, CA - Shoreline Amphitheatre
15 - Los Angeles, CA - The Forum
17 - Phoenix, AZ - Ak-Chin Pavilion
25 - Dallas, TX - Gexa Energy Pavilion
27 - Nashville, TN - Bridgestone

October
1 - Tampa, FL - MidFlorida Credit Union Amphitheatre
2 - West Palm Beach, FL - Perfect Vodka Amphitheatre
4 - Atlanta, GA - Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre
5 - Cincinnati, OH - Riverbend Music Center
8 - Houston, TX - Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion
9 - San Antonio, TX - AT&T Center

(Photo - Ashley Beliveau)

Long-running Swedish death metallers Deranged are currently at Berno Studio (Amon Amarth, The Crown, Witchery) recording what will be their their ninth full-length album and first for Agonia Records. The successor to Cut Carve Rip Serve (2011) is expected to be released on October 28th and will be titled Struck By A Murderous Siege.

Today, the band have revealed a rough mix excerpt from one of the new songs, "Hello From The Gutters", accompanied by a video from the studio. It can be watched below:

While full album details will be revealed over the next weeks, drummer and founder Rikard Wermen issued the following update on Deranged's current proceedings:

"We're right now caught in good ol' Berno Studio located in our hometown Malmö, working on the new full length (titled Struck By A Murderous Siege) and things are going rather smooth. Mean, we record the way we've done the last 20+ years. We go in and just fucking play. That's it! Not trying to overproduce anything. We want our shit to sound alive and (in)human. Eight songs of adrenalin and filth soaked death metal straight from the sewers of a cruel and malicious world.

To sum the whole thing up...

Rikard Wermén (drums): Who are you?
Berno Paulsson (producer): I am Berno.
Rikard Wermén: Have you come for me?
Berno Paulsson: I have long walked by your side.
Rikard Wermén: So I have noticed.
Berno Paulsson: Are you ready?
Rikard Wermén: My body is ready, but I am not.”

Deranged was formed in 1991 by a couple of bored teens in the southern parts of Sweden, that basically wanted to do something in their spare time. Inspired by the bloodiest and most violent bands of the period, like early Carcass, Napalm Death, Impetigo, Suffocation, and even bloodier horror movies, they started to grind. The early fascination proved to be a particularly long-lasting and fruitful one, with a short break between 2007 and 2009.

Deranged is led by drummer Rikard Wermén, the band's mastermind and sole remaining member from the original 1991 lineup. With more than twenty years in the business and eighth full-length albums under the belt, Deranged remains as one of the cult-status Swedish death metal acts around.

Upcoming shows:

March
30 - Madrid, Spain - Sala Silikona
31 - Salamancea, Spain - Nave Bunker

April
1 - Tondela, Portugal - Tondela Rocks II
2 - Vigo, Spain - Transylvanie Club

KORN's Ryan Valdez-directed video for the song "Insane" can be seen below. The track is taken from the band's upcoming album, "The Serenity Of Suffering", which will be released on October 21. The follow-up to 2013's "The Paradigm Shift" was helmed by Grammy Award-winning producer Nick Raskulinecz, who has previously worked with FOO FIGHTERS, DEFTONES, MASTODON and RUSH, among others. The CD features a guest appearance by SLIPKNOT frontman Corey Taylor on the song "A Different World".

"The Serenity Of Suffering" marks the band's return to Roadrunner, which previously released 2010's "Korn III - Remember Who You Are" and 2011's "The Path Of Totality".

"The Serenity Of Suffering" track listing:

01. Insane02. Rotting In Vain03. Black Is The Soul04. The Hating05. A Different World (feat. Corey Taylor)06. Take Me07. Everything Falls Apart08. Die Yet Another Night09. When You're Not There10. Next In Line11. Please Come For Me

The official video for the song "Rotting In Vain", which stars actor Tommy Flanagan ("Sons Of Anarchy", "Gladiator"), can be seen below. The clip, which taps into the dark underbelly of a bizarre world, was lensed by famed rock video director Dean Karr.

The cover art for "The Serenity Of Suffering" was created by acclaimed artist Ron English. It depicts a teenage KORN fan at a dystopian acid-nightmare funfair who is clutching a disembowelled and skeletal version of the doll who adorned 1999's "Issues". KORN frontman Jonathan Davis told Rolling Stone about the track: "'Rotting In Vain' was written about being in that black place, being in situations that I don't like in life — be it relationships, or feeling when you're stuck and you're just being abused or you don't like where you're at, and you just sit there and rot. It takes you years and years to figure out how to claw your way out. That's where 'Rotting In Vain' came from. I'm just sitting there, fucking dying and letting it happen for years and years and not helping myself to get out of that place. That's the vibe that inspired the song."

"The Serenity Of Suffering" marks the second KORN album since the return of guitarist Brian "Head" Welch, who said, "This is a record to me that the intensity of KORN is back, and the live energy. Raw energy is there."

KORN's co-headlining tour with ROB ZOMBIE, "Return Of The Dreads", kicked off on July 19 in Englewood, Colorado. That trek winds down on September 3 in Bristow, Virginia.

KORN will also hit the road this fall with co-headliners BREAKING BENJAMIN for the "Nocturnal Underground Tour", which will kick off on September 24 in Fargo, North Dakota and run through late October.

Zakk Wylde (BLACK LABEL SOCIETY, OZZY OSBOURNE) has released an all-new video for the track "Sleeping Dogs", featuring a guest appearance on vocals by SLIPKNOT and STONE SOUR singer Corey Taylor. The song is featured on Zakk's "Book Of Shadows II" album, which was released in April via Entertainment One Music (eOne Music).

Asked why he doesn't appear on the first radio version of "Sleeping Dogs", Corey recently told the WRIF radio station: "It was weird. 'Cause they wanted to go with it as a single, and my record company, my record label, was worried about them going right away, because they didn't want it to clash with one of my songs. It's so stupid, the politics, man. I was, like, 'C'mon! It's a killer tune!' If it wasn't, I wouldn't have done it, especially being friends with Zakk. So it was just one of those things where they kind of had to hold it back. They did a version without me that… it was actually the one that I heard, that Zakk sent to me. He was just, like, 'I want you to sing on that.' I was, like, 'Yeah! Goddamn it!' So, either way, it sounds great. It's such a great song. And it really represents everything about him that you love, especially that tune. It's got that somber, almost like an ALLMAN BROTHERS vibe to it. And plus, he's just shredding like crazy. And he's such a great singer, too, so it was really cool to be on that."

Taylor also talked about his Zakk collaboration in a separate interview with WZOR. He said: "It's something that we've been threatening to do for a long time. [Zakk] and I go way, way back — like 2001 is when we really started to become friends. And over the years, we've both been through some serious stuff, and we've landed on the other side of it, and it's just gotten better and better. So when he hit me up, he was just, like, 'I've got this tune. I think it'd really be great [for you] to be a part of it.' And I was, like, 'Absolutely.' 'Cause I've always wanted to do something with him. I love his guitar playing. I love the fact that he's got one foot in the greasy heavy metal and also another foot in his love for just that southern rock roots. And I'm the way; that's a part of the stuff that I grew up listening to. And it was perfect. That song was so good, and it was something that I'd never really done before, and I was just, like, 'I could really get into that.' And that's why I love doing tunes like that that are so left of what people would expect from me. And, honestly, that's the only reason I do guest spots — if it's different. Plus it was Zakk, and it was just fun."

Zakk's first solo release in 20 years, "Book Of Shadows II" was the follow-up to 1996's "Book Of Shadows", a classic album Wylde released between his work with Ozzy Osbourne that has since become a fan favorite.

Guitarist Troy Seele has announced his departure from ICED EARTH due to family responsibilities.

He says: "After close to ten years as a guitarist in ICED EARTH, the time has come for me to step away.

"Some of you know, but many do not, that I have a child with autism. In the past, I had a great support system that has allowed me to pursue a career in music. That is no longer the case and it has forced me to make a difficult decision.

"I've always believed that family comes first, and now it is time for me to focus on that.

"The demanding lifestyle of being in a professional heavy metal band is no longer an option for me.

"Knowing the band is focused on a new album and touring cycle, and given my circumstances, this is the best time for me to step down.

"Playing in ICED EARTH has been a great experience. It's taken me around the world many times and given me the chance to meet many of my heroes, as well as play in front of crowds larger than I ever dreamed of.

"I personally want to thank Jon [Schaffer, ICED EARTH mainman] and the guys for the music and the amazing times through the years. Thank you to the fans for understanding and for your support."

ICED EARTH singer Stu Block comments: "It's very sad that Troy is leaving. He will be missed and will always be considered family to us. I wish him the best of luck in everything he does."

Adds Schaffer: "Troy was a good friend before he became a part of the team, and always will be. I understand and respect his decision. We shared some of the most amazing times of our lives together. We laughed hard, and we laughed often. Be well, brother. We all wish you the very best."

Seele's last gig with the band will be at Knotfest in Mexico City on October 16.

ICED EARTH will headline the "MTV Headbangers Ball" European tour in December. Support on the trek will come from ENSIFERUM, KATAKLYSM and UNEARTH.

ICED EARTH took a break from touring in 2015, primarily due to Schaffer's second cervical fusion surgery.

Fans can expect the next ICED EARTH album, tentatively titled "The Judas Goat", to be released in 2017.

The first trailer for "The Violent Sleep Of Reason", the new album from Swedish extreme tech-metal pioneers MESHUGGAH, is available below. The CD, which will be released on October 7 via Nuclear Blast, was inspired by a Goya painting called "The Sleep Of Reason Produces Monsters".

MEHUGGAH drummer Tomas Haake comments: "Basically, the whole idea of why we chose the title is it kinda connects with the lyrical content of the album. Which is, to a fair degree, about current events and what you see is going on as far as terrorism today, extremist views on ideals, and religious dogma and the violent implications that you get from being asleep, so to speak, and not acting/reacting to what is going on in the proper way."

"The Violent Sleep Of Reason" was produced by the band and was engineered by Tue Madsen of Puk Studios in Kaerby, Denmark.

For "The Violent Sleep Of Reason" cover, MESHUGGAH once again enlisted Keerych Luminokaya who created the artwork for "Koloss" and "The Ophidian Trek" as well as the new images for each of the seven albums and three EPs featured in the "25 Years Of Musical Deviance" box set.

"The Violent Sleep Of Reason" track listing:

01. Clockworks02. Born In Dissonance03. MonstroCity04. By The Ton05. Violent Sleep Of Reason06. Ivory Tower07. Stifled08. Nostrum09. Our Rage Won't Die10. Into Decay

Haake told Metal Hammer that MESHUGGAH recorded "The Violent Sleep Of Reason" live in the studio — marking the first time they have done that "in 20-25 years." He said: "It was time limitations that stopped us doing it before. And it's been interesting.

"If you put it all together using computers, then you often have to fix problems after the fact. I've gone back to records where I've not known every drum part. And once you do that, you can start with drums and then just add layers of guitars and then bass and it all sounds perfect.

"'Obzen' and 'Koloss' are great albums, but, to me, they are a little too perfect. It didn't really capture what we sounded like honestly. But where we recorded live, you get to hear the push and pull, one person might be a little ahead and the other might be a little behind. If you kill that, you can kill the energy."

He added: "So for us it was just about going back to those albums that inspired us when we were growing up, that were important to us in our formative years, and all of those bands had that energy. The albums in the '80s and early '90s had the rawness that I'm talking about — that's what we wanted to recapture."

Megadeth were forced to cancel their August 20th show at the Jockey Club in Asuncion, Paraguay after swarms of fans crashed through the security gates protecting the stage in a stampede that left several injured. According to the report by Interaksyon.com, it had already been a rowdy concert at the Sport Colombia stadium in Asuncion, where vendors were selling alcoholic beverages in glass bottles -- which some fans hurled onto the stage, according to witnesses.

It came to an abrupt end when hundreds of fans broke through the security barricade, crushing several people and leaving them injured, according to police.

Megadeth frontman Dave Mustaine announced on Twitter that the band had called off the show with a series of Tweets:

"Dear Paraguay, after all three barricades broke and hundreds of fans crushed three security guards, almost killing one female fan, we regretfully had to cancel the show. 

Please understand that your safety is just as important as ours and after all the security went in the pit someone ran onto the stage, a bottle was thrown, and we'll let you know as soon as we can reschedule and come back. Lo siento.

This is out of our hands and we will make sure when we return to use a different venue, security, and promoter. Again, Lo siento mucho."

The global Dystopia tour, which is currently in full swing, will have visited five continents by the end of 2016. Current tour dates are listed below:

August
22 - Luna Park - Buenos Aires, Argentina
23 - Luna Park - Buenos Aires, Argentina
26 - Estadio Jorge “El Magico” Gonzales - San Salvador, El Salvador
29 - Pepsi Center - Mexico City, Mexico

September
1 - Plaza de Toros Santa Maria - Santiago de Queretaro, Mexico
3 - Mexico Metal Fest - Monterrey, Mexico
20 - Casper Events - Center Casper, WY
22 - The Joint - Las Vegas, NV
24 - “Ozzfest” San Manuel Amphitheater - Devore, CA
27 - WaMu Theater - Seattle, WA
28 - Matthew Knight Arena - Eugene, OR
29 - City National Civic - San Jose, CA

October
1 - 1st Bank Center - Broomfield, CO
3 - Mid America Recreation & Conv. Complex - Council Bluffs, IA
4 - Roy Wilkins Auditorium - St. Paul, MN
5 - Sears Centre - Chicago, IL
7 - iWireless Center - Moline, IL
8 - UWM Panther Arena - Milwaukee, WI
9 - Joe Louis Arena - Detroit, MI
11 - Sands Event Center - Bethlehem, PA
12 - DCU Center - Worcester, MA
13 - Mohegan Sun Arena - Uncasville, CT
14 - Prudential Center - Newark, NJ
16 - BB&T Pavilion - Camden, NJ

In other news, Megadeth have released a video for "Post American World", from their latest album, Dystopia.

FAITH NO MORE celebrated the reissue of its landmark debut, "We Care A Lot", by reuniting with its former singer, Chuck Mosley, for two special performances: on Thursday, August 18 at the Great American Music Hall in San Francisco, California and on Saturday, August 20 at The Troubadour in West Hollywood, California. Video footage of the West Hollywood concert can be seen in the YouTube playlist (consisting of ten clips) below.

FAITH NO MORE and Mosley are also scheduled to perform this Saturday, August 20 at The Troubadour in West Hollywood, California.

"We Care A Lot", which was initially released in 1985 and has been out of print for 20 years, sees an August 19 reissue via Bill Gould's Koolarrow Records.

"This was an album that started as a demo, before any label had any interest in us," explained FAITH NO MORE bass player Bill Gould. "There were a couple of reasons we decided to release this now: first of all, it's been 20 years since it has been commercially available. Secondly, when cleaning out my basement, I discovered the original master reels, and we all thought that resurrecting this from the original tapes would be a great way to reintroduce 'We Care A Lot' into the world. Lastly, this has been a band effort; we are releasing this in the same way as we recorded it, deciding everything amongst ourselves and getting our hands deep into the nuts and bolts… just like we used to." The original 10-song album, remastered by Maor Appelbaum via the original reels Gould alluded to, is enhanced with nine bonus tracks including demo versions (taken from the original 8-track tapes) of "Greed", "Mark Bowen", "Arabian Disco" and "Intro", live versions of "The Jungle" and "New Beginnings" and new mixes, via Matt Wallace, of "We Care A Lot", "Pills For Breakfast" and "As The Worm Turns". Liner notes from keyboard player Roddy Bottum and behind-the-scenes photos will be included with the physical release.

"We Care A Lot" arrived in November 1985 via Maximum RocknRoll editor Ruth Schwartz's Mordam Records. The seminal album, boasting the timeless title track, which can still be heard daily on radio stations worldwide, confounded music fans and critics alike. As Pitchfork said in a 2015 article dubbed "The Misunderstanding of Faith No More," the unpredictable and hard-to-define band "had radically altered the parameters of popular music years before the fabled alternative revolution." Rolling Stone called it a "raw punk album" while Select magazine dubbed it "a lustful marriage of mutoid metal and dance floor verve." "When strangers ask what FAITH NO MORE is, I've always said, 'well, it's kind of an art band…' I say that mostly to distance us from the hard rock world that we're often times lumped into. I mean, hard rock, sure, that was part of it, but our roots most definitely and pointedly stem from a specific freakout art time and place in San Francisco, a time that no longer exists. In 1982, the hippies mingled with the punks, the artists hung out with the musicians, the dance people and the punks were one and the Satanists and the sexual pioneers… all part of the same scene," Bottum explains, colorfully setting the scene for the original inspiration for the band and "We Care A Lot". "That weird SF window provided a platform from which we were free to express and cultivate a really uniquely odd sound experience. In Los Angeles, no one really cared much, but SF was always super supportive, encouraging us, directly and not, to get our collective freak on." "We felt like it was time to take the next step," adds drummer Mike Bordin. "We raised as much money as we were able and booked time at Prairie Sun Studios just north of San Francisco. I can't remember how long it took us to record the album, but not a lot, maybe a few days. The songs were sharp from having played most of them at various shows. Very stripped down, basic as could be. The place was on a farm in chicken country (Petaluma). Hard work, but a ton of fun too."

Said Chuck Mosley: "With 'We Care A Lot', I always felt like I was part of something new and different than anything else out there at the time. It made me feel privileged to be a part of it. The other guys were so cool, and there was so much camaraderie. And that came across in the music; Bordin's drums battling it out with Billy's bass in antagonistic harmony, Roddy's melodic atmosphere, swallowed up by Jim's crunchy metal riffs. I found my place somewhere between them all, and when the album was finished, it didn't sound like anything else." "We Care A Lot (Deluxe Band Edition)" track listing: 01. We Care A Lot02. The Jungle03. Mark Bowen04. Jim05. Why Do You Bother06. Greed07. Pills for Breakfast08. As The Worm Turns09. Arabian Disco10. New Beginnings11. We Care A Lot – 2016 Mix12. Pills for Breakfast – 2016 Mix13. As The Worm Turns – 2016 Mix14. Greed – Original Demo15. Mark Bowen – Original Demo16. Arabian Disco – Original Demo17. Intro – Original Demo18. The Jungle – I-Beam, SF, 198619. New Beginnings – I-Beam, SF, 1986





Thanks for coming out everyone. We had a blast.

Posted by Faith No More on Sunday, August 21, 2016

Capital Chaos TV has uploaded video footage of SUICIDAL TENDENCIES' August 20 performance at X Fest in Stockton, California. Check it out below.

SUICIDAL TENDENCIES' new album, "World Gone Mad", will be released on September 30. The follow-up to 2013's "13" disc will be the band's first to feature former SLAYER drummer Dave Lombardo and guitarist Jeff Pogan, who replaced Nico Santora in May.

"World Gone Mad" track listing:

01. Clap Like Ozzy02. The New Degeneration03. Living For Life04. Get Your Fight On!05. World Gone Mad06. Happy Never After07. One Finger Salute08. Damage Control09. The Struggle Is Real10. Still Dying To Live11. This World

Lombardo recently told Metal Wani about ST's forthcoming CD: "I think it's very typical and very traditional SUICIDAL TENDENCIES. It's that style. It's [SUICIDAL TENDENCIES frontman] Mike Muir and he was a very special style in which he writes his music and his lyrics and his structures. And I love it; I love it. It takes me back to how it all started, which was that punk attitude. I'm very happy to be a part of his organization. I feel very welcomed. I feel very much appreciated, and there's a lot of respect amongst the musicians, and camaraderie. We have a really good time together. We hang out as a band, which is important; I feel it's very important."

In an interview with Jump Metal, Muir stated about Lombardo's musical contribution to the upcoming SUICIDAL TENDENCIES album: "It's interesting, because a lot of people, obviously, associate [Dave] with the SLAYER sound. On some of the SUICIDAL songs, it's different musically, and you can see how really a tremendously diverse drummer that he is. I think some of the songs, obviously, people that love his drumming, they're gonna hear it and they're gonna really, really, I think, enjoy it. He's really excited about it. He's getting to play some different kind of things, and it just brings a whole different intensity and rhythmic feel to the band. And he's definitely got the Cuban thing going on, that Latin flavor, where he gets to do a little bit more in SUICIDAL than he did in SLAYER. I think you hear it and you definitely know it's Dave, but it definitely takes us to another level."

SUICIDAL TENDENCIES' last album, "13", came out in March 2013. The band's first studio CD in 13 years sold around 3,200 copies in the United States in its first week of release to debut at position No. 187 on The Billboard 200 chart.

Dee Snider of Twisted Sister is helping famed illusionist Criss Angel generate awareness and funding for his new charity by collaborating on a new video (which can be seen below) for “We’re Not Gonna Take It”, performed in a measurably slower tempo, directed by Angel and set in the desert outside of Las Vegas, reports John Katsilometes of The Las Vegas Review-Journal. 

Snider will sing the new variation of his hit song on September 12th, when Angel hosts his first Johnny Chrisstopher Charitable Foundation H.E.L.P. (Heal Every Life Possible) charity event at his Criss Angel Theater at Luxor. The foundation is named for Angel’s 2-year-old son, who is currently in remission from a rare form of leukemia.

“We’ve known each other since the 1990s, and he was a strong proponent of mine for years,” said Angel. “We are both from Long Island, or as we like to think of it, ‘Strong Island,’ and his record publishing company gave me the rights to the song and it is our anthem for gratis. Dee was unbelievably generous with his time and participation.”

Learn more at this location, and click here for further information.

 

 

 

Guitar legend Paul Gilbert's 2016 Great Guitar Escape 3.0, took place from July 25th - 29th at the Cambria Pines Lodge in Cambria, CA. Performance footage below features Gilbert on drums, Andy Timmons and Ron "Bumblefoot" Thal on guitar, and Craig Martini on bass performing the KISS classic "Detroit Rock City".

Gilbert released his newest record, I Can Destroy, on May 27th via earMUSIC on CD and digital. Snippets of the new songs “Love We Had” and “I Am Not The One (Who Wants To Be With You)”, as well as the bonus track “Great White Buffalo”, are streaming below.

From platinum album sales and number one chart success as a founding member of Mr. Big, to frightening the guitar community with new levels of ferocious picking technique with shred-pioneers Racer X, to exploring punk, pop, classical, blues, jazz, and progressive instrumental styles in his solo career, Paul Gilbert has recorded a massive amount of stunning guitar music, all while circling the globe to play sold-out arenas from Japan to Jakarta.

Gilbert’s style stands out for its rare combination of accuracy, creativity, and power – all which are balanced with Paul’s sense of humour and pure love of music.

Although Paul is best known for his work with Mr. Big and Racer X, he has also toured with Joe Satriani’s G3, played in a host of tribute concerts with legendary drummer Mike Portnoy, and been integral in the design of his signature Ibanez PGM and Fireman guitars.

Paul’s legacy as a guitar instructor began when he was eighteen, when he was hired to teach at Hollywood’s Guitar Institute of Technology. His groundbreaking “Intense Rock” videos and DVDs have inspired legions of guitarists to improve their accuracy, speed, and phrasing. Years as a columnist for Guitar Player magazine, and most recently, Premier Guitar magazine, along with giving countless clinics, private lessons, and serving for five years as the dean of MI Japan, have given Paul Gilbert deep experience in the art of communicating music to all levels of guitarists.

Over 25 years in the music business have only increased Paul’s passion to explore the possibilities of music and the art of playing the guitar. Whether he’s playing to 10,000 fans or jamming one-on-one with a student, Paul Gilbert is living his childhood dream of taking the sounds in his head and bringing them into reality – on the electric guitar.

I Can Destroy is Paul’s next solo-masterpiece and will be his 18th solo album. The album features 13 very diverse rock-tunes. With Kevin Shirley producing, and an amazing band of Freddie Nelson and Tony Spinner on guitars and vocals, Kevin Chown on bass, and Thomas Lang on drums, Paul rocks with more power and emotion than ever before.

Tracklisting:

“Everybody Use Your Goddamn Turn Signal”
“I Can Destroy”
“Knocking On A Locked Door”
“One Woman Too Many”
“Woman Stop"
“Gonna Make You Love Me”
“I Am Not The One (Who Wants To Be With You)”
“Blues Just Saving My Life”
“Make It (If We Try)”
“Love We Had”
“I Will Be Remembered”
“Adventure And Trouble”
“Great White Buffalo” (Bonus Track)

“Love We Had” snippet:

“I Am Not The One (Who Wants To Be With You)” snippet:

“Great White Buffalo” snippet:

“Knocking On A Locked Door" snippet:

“One Woman Too Many" snippet:

"Blues Just Saving My Life" snippet:

"I Will Be Remembered" snippet:

“Gonna Make You Love Me” snippet:

“Make It (If We Try)” snippet:

"Everybody Use Your Goddamn Turn Signal" video:

“I Can Destroy”:

Pre-roll video: