Tony Iommi and Xerjoff launch the second chapter of the Xerjoff Blends venture, with the release of Deified, the brand new perfume, accompanied by a new track of the same name written by Tony Iommi together with a mind-blowing music video, directed by Donato Sansone.

Xerjoff's founder and CEO Sergio Momo worked alongside BLACK SABBATH's Tony Iommi in the second experiment between sound, scent and sight on the creation of a new scent to enter the Xerjoff Blends collection, while Tony Iommi wrote the new song, produced by Iommi and Mike Exeter, with Sergio Momo also playing on the track which can be seen in the mostly animated music video.

Iommi says: "Here we go again, another collaboration with my dear friend Sergio Momo (Xerjoff) with a new perfume called Deified. I'm really excited about our new perfume and after the success of our last one (Monkey Special) I hope that you'll like Deified as much as I do. We've gone through the same process of trying different samples of perfume over the last year until we came up with this one and I really like it."

Momo adds: "Everything has its own cycle. A riff, a melody, a perfume. In the '70s, playing a vinyl backwards was a phenomenon that became a popular way to hide subliminal messages. The palindromic nature of a riff and backmasking became the catalyst for the creation of this journey with Tony."

Mystery possesses the mind in a dark and decadent experience that casts subliminal shadows on the wearer.

"Deify: to worship or regard as a god." A forceful combination of multisensory elements that play on the palindromic nature of sound, scent and sensorial sequences see the theme of back and forth in the music, scent and video. Tony Iommi Deified is the second perfume to be created by the duo after a huge success with the first Xerjoff Blends perfume created together, Monkey Special.

Created on a duality of leather and spice, Deified perfume plays in a loop with no beginning and no end, its notes hitting emotions in the same way a music track uses notes to hypnotise and mystify the senses. Authentic and warm accents of saffron meet powdery and leathery facets that dance with the delicate touch of gourmand freshness. Cinnamon exalts spicier notes, complemented by gentle rose at the heart. The woody base of papyrus and patchouli leaves the senses longing for more in a rhythmic exchange of back and forth.

The scent can be purchased on Xerjoff.com and in Xerjoff boutiques worldwide. After the crystal collector's edition, Deified Tony Iommi Signed Edition, sold out, Deified was released in a dark and gothic flacon following the limited edition of the signed flacons.

Especially for the release of the music video on July 26, another 25 Tony Iommi Signed Edition Crystal flacons will be available to purchase on Xerjoff.com.

"Deified", the new track written by Tony Iommi and produced by Iommi and Mike Exeter, is a heavy and mysterious masterpiece that, like the scent, possesses the mind in a dark and decadent vortex of mystery and wonder.

Iommi says: "'Deified' is a heavier, more medieval track than 'Scent Of Dark'. We've added voices and beefed up the overall sound."

With a heavy and hard riff throughout the track, Iommi sparks incredible heights with the intricate and mystifying bridge which leads to haunting voices, drawing the whole composition to a climatic close.

"Deified" music and video credits:

Guitar, producer - Tony Iommi
Keyboards, producer - Mike Exeter
Drums - Karl Brazil
Bass - Laurence Cottle
Orchestration - Ben Andrew

Animation director - Donato Sansone
Production and art direction - Sergio Momo, Xerjoff Group CEO

Recorded at Tone Hall and Pig Music Studios

In an animated music video starring Tony Iommi and Sergio Momo, directed and animated by Donato Sansone, "Deified"'s concept is given strength and delivers a powerful message that implies a theme that continually repeats itself throughout history.

The video's foundation is that of the entire project, the way man destroys itself is witnessed through a child's eyes. The story unfolds only for the child to want to go back to the beginning. The concept for the music video was created by Donato Sansone and Sergio Momo.

Sansone says: "The 'Deified' music video born from the Xerjoff and Tony Iommi collaboration is a strong and powerful experience that I had the opportunity to personally experience as director of the project. The meeting with Sergio Momo, a brilliant scent artist with whom I have been collaborating for some time, led us to develop a video concept that was the visual and narrative extension of a truly powerful perfume and musical track. When I listened to the piece, I had the feeling of being faced with something threatening and fascinating at the same time and in the little brainstorming session we had with Sergio we felt the need to tell something "dramatic" and emotionally strong without losing hope towards the future. Thus a story is born that somehow tells of a disastrous event, like that of the wars that infest our world, with notes of positivity and optimism towards the future. Deified is a palindrome word that can be read in both directions and the idea of the video lies precisely in this mirror game whereby it ends as it began, with the idea of being able to start rewriting a human story that seems to have a continuous decline towards the abyss."

Iommi and Momo recently chatted about "Deified" — the new track, perfume and music video — with Julian Marszalek and Suzy Nightingale. Check out the discussion below.

Regarding how the "Deified" song came together, Iommi said: "Well, it's the same way as I've done most stuff, really. I come up with a riff, and then [my engineer] Mike Exeter, I'd put the riff down, and he'd put a programmed-drum thing to it. And he'd play bass or keyboards or something, just to make it something to present, really. And then, in our case, then it would go to Sergio and see if he likes it, and then he'd do his part. And then we'd go in the studio with the drummer, and he'd put the drums on and bass. So we do it that sort of way, really."

He continued: "Doing the [recordings] live [in the studio], I haven't done [anything] where we all played live for a good many years. Well, the last album, '13', when we'd done that with SABBATH, was all live. But you tend to sort of, especially in our state, where Sergio's in Italy and we're here in England. It works just to send the ideas and see what he thinks. Or when he's come over, play him something. And he said, 'Oh, I like that.' As we did with [our first collaboration] 'Scent Of Dark'. We played a few things. And that's it. And he went away and came up with some bits."

In a November 2021 interview with Rolling Stone, Iommi stated about his interest in cologne: "Ever since [BLACK SABBATH] went on tour to the States, really, I started getting more and more into it. I'd go to the mall or stores, and I'd buy some different perfumes and scents until I'd find one that I really like. And then I'd stick to one for a while. Then I'd change, from Cartier to Tom Ford, or whatever. I've been doing that for years. Now I've got my own custom ones — an abundance of them now."

Asked which aromas he liked best when he first started working with Sergio, Tony said: "Oh, God. I think some of them threw him because a couple of the samples were horrible. But others were great. I like the smell of when you get in a new car, the leather smell, and obviously coffee and just stuff like that. Patchouli is the main ingredient in this perfume, which just goes back to the '60s. I knew the smell of patchouli in them days; they used to use it to mask the smell of people smoking dope. [Laughs]"

More than just a perfume collection, Xerjoff Blends is a journey which transports the wearer into universe that plays with all the senses, creating a space for sensory projects that break ordinary social patterns. Part of Xerjoff's uniqueness lies in the exploration and creation of multisensory experiences through blending perfumes with various forms of art, including; music, cuisine, art, automotive and much more, each perfume containing its own unique chapter in the Xerjoff story told through multisensory experiences to embrace in their totality.

Founded in Turin in 2007, Xerjoff was launched by Sergio Momo and Dominique Salvo with the aim of blending the most luxurious raw materials to complement the most affluent global lifestyles through the combination of old world craftsmanship, the finest raw ingredients and a contemporary artistic sensibility resulting in a collection of some of the most exquisite, unique scents available in the world today.

ALICE IN CHAINS guitarist Jerry Cantrell will release a new solo album, "I Want Blood", on October 18 via Double J Music.

"This record is a serious piece of work. It's a motherfucker," Cantrell says of the collection. "It's hard, no doubt, and completely unlike 'Brighten'. And that's what you want, to end up in a different place. There's a confidence to this album. I think it's some of my best songwriting and playing, and certainly some of my best singing."

A preview of "I Want Blood" comes with today's release of "Vilified". The album opener showcases an energy that rivals any of Cantrell's previous work — powerful, nuanced, and electric — setting the tone for the 45-minute album.

"'Vilified" travels a lot of places in just four and a half minutes," Cantrell continues. "It's got a ferocity and really aggressive vibe to it."

"I Want Blood", co-produced by Cantrell and Joe Barresi (TOOL, QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE, MELVINS),was recorded at Barresi's JHOC Studio in Pasadena, California. The album also features contributions from bass heavyweights Duff McKagan (GUNS N' ROSES) and Robert Trujillo (METALLICA),drummers Gil Sharone (TEAM SLEEP, STOLEN BABIES) and Mike Bordin (FAITH NO MORE),and backing vocals from Lola Colette and Greg Puciato (BETTER LOVERS, ex-THE DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN).

"I Want Blood" track listing:

01. Vilified
02. Off The Rails
03. Afterglow
04. I Want Blood
05. Echoes Of Laughter
06. Throw Me A Line
07. Let It Lie
08. Held Your Tongue
09. It Comes

Album pre-orders, which include CD, digital and multiple 2LP variants are available here. Exclusive to the 2LP vinyl versions of "I Want Blood" are atmospheric, spoken-word versions of each song on the album.

Cantrell kicks off a North American tour this evening, joining BUSH for a seven-week trek across the continent.

Cantrell's latest solo album, "Brighten", came out in October 2021. The LP was Jerry's first project without ALICE IN CHAINS in 19 years. "Brighten" was co-produced by Jerry with film composer Tyler Bates and Cantrell's longtime engineer Paul Figueroa. They welcomed a dynamic cast of supporting players, including drummers Gil Sharone and Abe Laboriel, Jr. (Paul McCartney),pedal steel master Michael Rozon, Vincent Jones on piano, Wurlitzer, and organ. Other rock legends added to the fun of this LP, including Duff McKagan (GUNS N' ROSES) on select bass tracks, Puciato handling all of the background vocals and Barresi overseeing the mixing of "Brighten". Together, they recorded eight originals and the LP closes with an approved-by-Elton John cover of his classic "Goodbye" as the finale.

Cantrell's band for his 2022 "Brighten" solo tour consisted of Tyler Bates (guitar),Greg Puciato (backing vocals),Gil Sharone (drums),George Adrian (bass),Michael Rozon (pedal steel) and Jason Achilles (keyboards). The set included songs from "Brighten", along with favorite hits from Jerry's catalog.

Jerry's career outside of ALICE IN CHAINS has consisted of two other solo albums and contributions to major film soundtracks. Cantrell's first solo album, "Boggy Depot", was released in 1998, followed by his second album, the aforementioned "Degradation Trip". In addition to his solo artist work, Jerry has released music on soundtracks for several films, including "Spider-Man", "The Cable Guy", "John Wick 2", "Last Action Hero" and "The Punisher".

ALICE IN CHAINS regrouped in 2006 with William DuVall joining the band, and released its third LP with DuVall in the lineup, "Rainier Fog", in August 2018.

Earlier this month, it was announced that STONE SOUR and MINISTRY drummer Roy Mayorga will sit behind the kit for Cantrell during the ALICE IN CHAINS guitarist's summer 2024 tour.

The trek, which will be headlined by BUSH, will launch on July 26 at Hayden Homes Amphitheater in Bend, Oregon and will conclude on September 15 at the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles, California. Also appearing on the bill will be CANDLEBOX.

Mayorga announced his addition to Cantrell's band in a social media post on July 8. He wrote: "Super excited to announce that I'll be hitting the road this summer with Jerry Cantrell supporting BUSH for their 'Loaded: The Greatest Hits' tour, which means I'll be taking break from MINISTRY for a while, but I shall return at some point. Look forward to rocking out with you all this summer."

Mayorga joined STONE SOUR in 2006 and was a touring drummer for HELLYEAH after Vinnie Paul Abbott passed away in 2018. Five years ago, he played drums on three tracks on LAMB OF GOD guitarist Mark Morton's solo album.

Mayorga played on MINSTRY's last two studio albums and has toured with the group since 2021.

Photo credit: Darren Craig

SYSTEM OF A DOWN frontman Serj Tankian has released the official music video for his new solo single "Justice Will Shine On". The track is taken from Tankian's upcoming solo EP, "Foundations", which is due on September 27 via Gibson Records.

The 56-year-old Lebanese-born Armenian-American musician and songwriter, who spent the last few months promoting his autobiography "Down With The System", told Metal Hammer magazine about the EP: "It's five songs. We just shot five videos for it with members of the FCC, my back-up band, which was really fun, and we're going to put it out in September."

He added: "The reason I'm putting it out is that archival nature of writing a book made me look into songs from different periods of time. So one of the songs is from early SYSTEM days, for example, that I've never put out, that I'd never worked with SYSTEM on. A couple of the songs are from my early 2007-2008 solo record period, but didn't fit the record ['Elect The Dead', released in October 2007].

"It's an interesting retrospective of rock music that I've never released from different times, and it's called 'Foundations' basically because it's the founding of my musical life," Serj added. "They're very interesting songs, very different from each other: one is really heavy, one is like, really progressive, there's just different elements to each of them. But I think they work in tandem."

The first single from "Foundations" , a song called "A.F. Day", was made available on May 17 digitally everywhere via Gibson Records.

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

Tankian is best known as the lead singer of the Grammy Award-winning rock band SYSTEM OF A DOWN, but he is also a solo artist, composer, activist, painter, poet, and filmmaker. Since launching on to the rock scene in 1993, he's performed for millions of fans and sold more than 42 million albums worldwide. He's also a proud Armenian-American and a dedicated activist; along with Tom Morello, Tankian co-founded the non-profit organization Axis Of Justice, which strived to bring together musicians, music fans, and grassroots political organizations to fight for social justice. He has composed scores for many films and television series, had his paintings exhibited in galleries in the U.S. and New Zealand, and released two books of his own poetry. He has also been an executive producer on multiple documentaries, including "I Am Not Alone", which tells the story of Armenia's 2018 revolution and which won awards at the Toronto International Film Festival, DOC NYC, American Film Institute Festival, and the Palm Springs International Film Festival, among others. Tankian lives with his wife and his son, splitting their time between Los Angeles and New Zealand.

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

SYSTEM OF A DOWN co-headlined the second installment of the Sick New World festival in Las Vegas on April 27.

The quartet will next co-headline a one-off concert with DEFTONES at the Golden Gate Park in San Francisco, California on August 17.

POWERWOLF has shared the official music video for the third single, "We Don't Wanna Be No Saints", from its new studio album, "Wake Up The Wicked", which is being released today (Friday, July 26) via Napalm Records.

POWERWOLF's cinematic new video showcases their iconic style, combining striking church visuals with sinful, sacral atmosphere, shot in the same monastery, where classic movie "The Name Of The Rose" was filmed. This high-quality production captivates the senses, perfectly complementing the release of "Wake Up The Wicked" and indulging in a taste for sin.

POWERWOLF guitarist Matthew Greywolf comments: "'Wake Up The Wicked' is not only the next POWERWOLF album, but also a chapter of the band where we focus even more on perfecting our trademarks, especially within the individual songs. The orchestral side of us is still omnipresent, but this time the heaviness of the album is given even more space. We've also tried out completely new elements, such as in 'We Don't Wanna Be No Saints', which features a children's choir for the first time and underlines the theme and atmosphere of the song in a completely new way. In general, there's a hell of a lot to discover on 'Wake Up The Wicked', so get ready for a wild listening experience!"

"Wake Up The Wicked" — the highly anticipated follow-up to the extremely successful "Call Of The Wild" (2021) — comes a little over a month before the launch of the award-winning band's first-ever full North American tour, starting in August 2024, followed by their biggest European headline tour to date, the "Wolfsnächte 2024".

"Wake Up The Wicked" was once again produced by Joost Van Den Broek at Sandlane Recording Facilities and marks a new benchmark and undisputed career highlight for the band. The new album is hard, surprising and full of variety. While staying true to their established, loved sound, POWERWOLF go one step further and showcase a different facet of their deft musical and technical skills. This is evident, for example, on the outstanding single "1589", which is based on a true story from the 16th century.

20 years after their formation in 2004, POWERWOLF are expanding their repertoire with the highest quality and adding many future live hits to their extraordinary discography. "Wake Up The Wicked" is yet another statement cementing the status of the band as a leading force in the world of heavy metal.

The first single from "Wake Up The Wicked", "1589" tells the story of Peter Stump, who lived near Cologne, Germany in the 16th century and is known today as the Werewolf Of Bedburg. After being defamed as a werewolf, the farmer confessed to several murders under torture and was cruelly executed on October 31, 1589. This morbid story has fascinated people all over the world ever since and has been picked up by National Geographic, among others.

For the video for "1589", POWERWOLF traveled to England to stage Stump's fate in the dark woods in a cinematic way. With carefully selected locations, countless actors and crew members, and impressive special effects, it marks the most elaborate music video production in the band's history to date.

"Wake Up The Wicked" track listing:

01. Bless 'Em With The Blade
02. Sinners Of The Seven Seas
03. Kyrie Klitorem
04. Heretic Hunters
05. 1589
06. Viva Vulgata
07. Wake Up The Wicked
08. Joan Of Arc
09. Thunderpriest
10. We Don't Wanna Be No Saints
11. Vargamor

POWERWOLF are undoubtedly one of the most celebrated and successful heavy metal bands of the last decade. Multiple No. 1 album chart entries, gold and platinum records, huge sold-out arena shows, as well as headline slots at the biggest festivals have paved their way. In less than 20 years of band history, POWERWOLF has made it to the very highest league of heavy metal.

POWERWOLF has conquered countless stages at the world's biggest summer festivals, and their last "Wolfsnächte" headline tours (2019, 2022),as well as their aforementioned North American debut in early 2023, were almost completely sold out — resulting in a massive triumph. They have performed headlining sets at Wacken Open Air and Summer Breeze, as well as held premium slots at genre festival giants such as Hellfest, Graspop Metal Meeting, Masters Of Rock and many more, captivating enormous audiences. No other German metal band has been able to write a success story even remotely comparable in recent years.

Following their onslaught of North America, POWERWOLF will embark on their most impressive European tour yet in celebration of their highly anticipated 2024 studio album. Amid 16 shows in total, the tour will visit colossal venues in Munich, Paris, Amsterdam, Berlin, Prague, Hamburg and Antwerp. POWERWOLF will be accompanied by Swedish heavy metal legends HAMMERFALL as special guests, with support from viral rising stars, dwarven metallers WIND ROSE.

The story of the frontrunners of today's German metal scene, POWERWOLF, began in 2004 and only knows one direction: ever upwards. Their trajectory may seem like something out of a fairytale, but it is the result of the band embodying the highest quality of heavy metal in the universe. Outstanding album production, bombastic live shows and a tireless drive for perfection on and behind the stage are what this exceptional band is known for around the world.

Over the course of their career, the band has not only fascinated metal fans, but has also won over international press and critics. Countless cover stories in the most important magazines, critics' awards such as the Metal Hammer Award, and effusive album and concert reviews underpin POWERWOLF's outstanding international status.

POWERWOLF is:

Attila Dorn - vocals
Falk Maria Schlegel - organ
Charles Greywolf - guitar
Matthew Greywolf - guitar
Roel van Helden - drums

Photo credit: VDPictures

In a new interview with Colombia's El Expreso Del Rock, CLUTCH drummer Jean-Paul Gaster spoke about the progress of the songwriting sessions for the band's follow-up to the "Sunrise On Slaughter Beach" album, which was released in September 2022. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "At the moment, we have about eight or nine new song ideas, and our friend Tom Dalgety, the same producer from before, he's gonna come and hang out with us next week. And we're gonna start working through those ideas. And we will not record an album [next week], but we will work on these ideas and sort of refine them, perfect them, and then at that point, we're gonna set those songs aside and then we'll write another batch. And then from there, we will make the record."

Gaster also talked about his relationship with his CLUTCH bandmates, saying: "We see each other all the time. This week we are off because some people are off on vacations and holiday. But on Saturday afternoon, we get back together again. We will rehearse, and then we will get ready for Tom to come in, 'cause he will come in on Monday and we will work all week. Typically, we will finish a tour and maybe take a week, maybe two weeks off. We just kind of go home and do home stuff, but then we're back in the jam room again, and it's usually three times a week. And usually when we get together, we're writing new music. Unless there's a show coming up, we just start playing riffs. And we have all the equipment always mic'd up, the computers, they're ready to go. So the minute somebody has an idea, boom, I go push 'record' and we document that idea. And sometimes that idea becomes a song, and sometimes that idea is just something that we did for an hour. But it's okay, because you have to keep playing."

He continued: "Sometimes I play with musicians in projects and stuff, and they become sort of very focused on one idea: 'Oh, this is the song and this is the idea, and this is the only one that there is.' We try not to do that. We try to come up with many ideas. 'Okay, that idea is cool. Great. Let's try something else. Let's see what this idea will be like.' And we just try to put as many of these things together. And then when it comes time to make a record, then we go through those things. We say, 'Oh, well, that thing we did last month was really cool.' And then, 'Neil [Fallon, CLUTCH singer], you have this new riff. Okay, well, let's put those together. That might be cool.' And that's the way it works. It's very organic. There's not a set way that things come together."

Earlier in the month, CLUTCH bassist Dan Maines told Chile's iRock that he and his bandmates were "in the middle of some deep writing sessions. We've been getting together quite a bit, but it's all focusing on new material, trying to write songs for a new album," he revealed. "It's going really well. We get together in a studio and we are just recording every single idea that we have. If it gets to the point where we've got two parts together that kind of resemble a verse and a chorus, and everyone's happy with it just music-wise, we'll record those ideas. And then we put that aside and move on to something else. And we upload those files so that all four of us can listen to them at home. And Neil will take a good hard listen to them and think about vocal ideas for those parts. And we start piecing together things. Sometimes he'll listen to something from one day that he thinks might work really well with something from the previous week. And if it requires tempo changes or key changes to kind of blend those two parts together, we'll work on that. But, yeah, it's kind of a very organic process. Right now I would say we have probably about a solid 10 ideas that you could call songs, but they definitely need a little more fleshing out. But, yeah, it's exciting."

Offering a rough timetable for the rest of the writing sessions for CLUTCH's next LP, Maines said: "We'll go down to South America for the week's worth of shows [in late July 2024] and then come back and try to do some more writing before we get into full kind of tour mode, which is summertime. We're heading over to Europe for European festivals, and then we have a lot of touring that picks back up in the fall here in the U.S. So we're trying to get all of our writing done now as much as possible. And it's going pretty good."

Asked what music inspires him and his CLUTCH bandmates these days, Dan said: "Anything, everything. Between the four of us, we kind of draw from a lot of different sources and we try to take those influences, whether it's blues or something more heavy, doom-oriented or something funky, and just kind of put it in a blender and create something new out of it. But sometimes, like the last time we got together, we were thinking, 'Well, let's try to write something uptempo, something above 100 beats per minute.' And at the end of the day, we came out with something that we all thought was great, but the tempo was, like, 70. So you can go in with one idea or one direction, but at the end of the day, what you end up with could be completely different. You just never know what's gonna come out."

"Sunrise On Slaughter Beach", which was recorded at the The Magpie Cage Recording Studio in Baltimore, Maryland, was produced and mixed by Grammy-nominated producer Tom Dalgety (GHOST, ROYAL BLOOD, PIXIES),with additional engineering by J Robbins (JAWBREAKER, AGAINST ME!, THE SWORD).

This past April, Fallon confirmed to TotalRock's "Hobo On The Radio" show that he and his bandmates were working on new music. "I am definitely the slowest out of the bunch as far as writing lyrics, 'cause I try the same lyrics on different songs and try to find out where they can live," he said.

He continued: "We probably — we won't be recording until next year. And I'm gonna say hopefully the album will come out in the third quarter or fourth quarter of 2025. Which sounds like it's far away, and I guess it is, to a degree, but that's gonna come around pretty quick for us. We're gonna do it with Tom Dalgety again. He was awesome. But that never stops us from playing these [new songs] live, which they'll inevitably will be everyone's favorite version and they'll hate the record's version, but that's just the way it goes."

In a new interview with the Brutally Delicious podcast, Carmine Appice spoke about the guest appearance of Ted Nugent on CACTUS's latest album, "Temple Of Blues - Influences & Friends", which was released on June 7 via Cleopatra Records. Carmine said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "He's a really great guitar player, in my eyes. And people put him down for his politics. But you know what? He's very vocal about it, and I kind of agree with him. To be that vocal… It's America. To be able to have your freedom to say whatever you want and do whatever you want. And his audience is right with him. I mean, I saw him play a gig [where he changed the lyrics to his song 'Come And Take It' to reflect his disdain for the current U.S. president]. It was, like, 'Fuck Joe Biden.' The whole audience was saying 'Fuck Joe Biden.' I said, 'Wow.' I said, 'That's ballsy.' I mean, the guy's got balls. I appreciate that."

Last October, Tom Werman, who produced several of Nugent's classic early albums, was asked by Greg Prato of Songfacts if he thinks Ted's guitar talents tend to get overlooked due to his publicized political beliefs. He responded: "Yes. I do think he's among the better guitarists I've worked with — or the best. He has his own unique style. I think he was respected in the beginning, but when he started being political, that definitely overshadowed his guitar playing. You say Ted Nugent's name now and people only think of one thing, which is his political posture."

He continued: "I'm a Democrat, and sometimes my friends will say, 'You still talk to Ted Nugent? How can you even work with him?' And I explain that we got along really well musically and otherwise. We didn't talk about politics. He's got a lot of integrity, especially compared to some of the other individuals I've worked with. He's a talented guy and he loves life. I think he's way too outspoken, but that's what he feels he must do. We don't relate on that level."

In May 2023, Derek St. Holmes, the legendary guitarist and vocalist known for his time working with Nugent in the 1970s, was asked by AL.com if he thinks Ted's politics have diminished his guitar legacy. Derek responded: "The answer to your question is yes, I do. I was leery of doing an interview with somebody in Alabama because didn't he have a gig banned or boycotted or something there [recently]? I think it hurts us a little bit. It hurts the brand to get yourself involved in politics and try to play music and rock and roll."

He continued: "I want to go to a concert and have a good time — I don't want anybody to bring the six o'clock news by me again, especially over a loud mic. All I want to do is play music and have fun, and to make everybody else have fun. I think that's why we were so big. Now when I go back and listen to the 'Double Live Gonzo!' album and I think, wow, if we could have just gone back to that, to everybody having a good time. And if you're not having a good time, well, then you can turn around and get the bleep out of here. That raucous kind of stuff. It just made us huge."

Touching upon Ted's exclusion from the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame, Derek said: "Should we be in the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame? Oh, yeah. But we won't be in this because of politics and rhetoric. But maybe one day they'll pull their heads from underneath their armpits.

"Do I think it [being far-right politically outspoken] hurt Ted's legacy? Yes, I think it did a little bit. But hopefully his guitar-playing and his attitude will supersede all that craziness as time goes on."

Ted has repeatedly said that his political views are one of the main reasons he hasn't been inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame.

The conservative rocker, who been eligible for the honor as a solo artist since 2000, has enjoyed a remarkably successful and eventful musical career over the past five decades, but his music is increasingly overshadowed by his political outbursts.

Believe. !!

Posted by Carmine Appice on Sunday, July 14, 2024

In a recent interview with Romania's Rock FM to promote his acoustic shows in the country with RAINBOW frontman Ronnie Romero, Greek guitar virtuoso Gus G., who joined Ozzy Osbourne's band a decade and a half ago, spoke about how he looks back on his time with the legendary heavy metal singer. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "It was a big step up and a big challenge to go from one level to another as a performer, as a guitar player. I came from a background of having my own bands and kind of like always feeling secure in that, but getting a gig like that, for me, was a big challenge, obviously, and intimidating. So I had to step up my game very quickly. I had to dissect my own playing style and figure out what it is and try to improve it. It made me a better professional, so to say, better performer. I just one-upped everything that comes together with being not only a musician, but as an entertainer and performer. So it definitely, that gig helped me to bring out the stage persona a bit more to the front — because that stuff only exists on stage, in my opinion, not off stage. So it made me work hard on that and develop that. It was a great opportunity."

Less than two years ago, Gus told Czech Republic's Backstage TV that he had some "really good times" playing with Ozzy. "It was a really highlight of my career, obviously, playing at such a big level and, of course, to play with one of the fathers of this music, heavy metal," he said. "So, just to be a part of that legacy is incredible; it's mindblowing. I still cannot believe it happened. I learned a lot.

"I'm not a guy who thinks so much about the past," Gus explained. "I think I have evolved since then; I have become a better musician, better person, better performer. That was a big stepping stone for me. I look at those days with a lot of joy, and I have nice memories, nice feelings about Ozzy and Sharon [Ozzy's wife and manager] and the [rest of the] Osbournes; they treated me very nice. And it was some of the best years of my life with them; I got to see and experience things that not many musicians do, so I was lucky in that sense. But I'm doing my thing now and I've had my own thing for a long time. And I'm happy where I'm at in life right now."

In 2021, Gus was asked by Guitar World how he found out he was no longer in Ozzy's group. "Sharon called me at home," he said. "I was kind of expecting it. They had announced a festival, and I was waiting to hear back what was going to happen. And then eventually, she gave me a call. I think it was in the middle of the night, because we have such a time zone difference. She called me in Greece, and said, 'I just wanted to let you know personally, so you don't find out online, we're going to do the farewell tour, and Zakk is coming back for that.' And I was, like, 'No worries at all. No problem.' And I thanked her for everything they had done for me. We're still on good terms, so, no problem at all."

Asked if he would ever consider working with Ozzy again, Gus said: "I think that's more of a question that you have to ask him. [Laughs] It's pretty obvious, I wouldn't say no if he called me up and wanted to play a show or for an album. I loved my time with him, and of course I would do it again. I think it's more of a question for him — because he gets to pick and choose who he works with. I don't think there is a guitar player on earth that would turn that down…or maybe there would be, I don't know. [Laughs]"

Back in 2018, Gus told TrueMetal.it that "it was a little bit of a relief" to find out that Ozzy was getting back together with his longtime axeman Zakk Wylde. "I was just kind of tired of waiting around for all these years, not hearing anything about potential tours or recording activities," Gus said. "Of course, [Ozzy] was very busy with BLACK SABBATH — I understand that — but then in between of all that, there would be all these one-off [solo Ozzy] shows popping up and I had to make myself available for that. But there was never any… I felt like there was no… I didn't see stuff coming up for the future, you know? So, as much as I loved being in that band and working with him, in a way, it was a little bit of a dead end for me, speaking personally. Of course, now he's gonna go on a big tour again and do his farewell thing, and that's great for him, but it was not a creative thing for me."

It was announced in April 2017 that Wylde would be rejoining Ozzy's backing group for all his upcoming solo show dates. Osbourne's most recent touring lineup also included Rob "Blasko" Nicholson on bass, Tommy Clufetos on drums and Adam Wakeman on keyboards.

Gus, who played on Ozzy's latest studio album, 2010's "Scream", told TrueMetal.it that part of his frustration stemmed from the fact that he wasn't told far in advance when his services would be needed by Ozzy, making it difficult for the guitarist to make long-term plans with any of his other projects. "There was never any definite announcement, like, 'Hey, guys, we're gonna see you next year' or something; it was always, like, 'We'll see what happens,'" he said. "So that's a bit of an uncertainty right there, and, of course, I had my own band [and] I had stuff to do, but I could never really book stuff too far ahead into the future just in case something [with Ozzy] came up. So it was really hard to get some info at some points… Anyways, you know, that's how it is; that was the situation. So, yeah, in a way, like I said, it was a relief, because now I can totally control what I'm gonna be doing, and that's a much nicer feeling."

Wylde originally joined Osbourne's band three and a half decades ago and backed the legendary frontman from 1987 to 1995, then again in 1998, from 2001 to 2004 and also from 2006 to 2009.

Fan-filmed video of MASTODON's entire July 21 performance at the 713 Music Hall in Houston, Texas can be seen below.

Featured songs:

"Leviathan" album:

01:10 Blood And Thunder
05:10 I Am Ahab
08:10 Seabeast
13:05 Ísland
17:21 Iron Tusk
20:56 Megalodon
25:47 Naked Burn
30:07 Aqua Dementia
35:35 Hearts Alive
49:42 Joseph Merrick

54:02 More Than I Could Chew
1:00:37 Circle Of Cysquatch
1:05:08 Steambreather

MASTODON launched its "Ashes Of Leviathan" co-headlining tour with LAMB OF GOD on July 19 in Austin, Texas. The trek, dubbed "Ashes Of Leviathan", also features openers KERRY KING and MALEVOLENCE.

"Ashes Of Leviathan" celebrates the 20th anniversary of MASTODON's "Leviathan" and LAMB OF GOD's "Ashes Of The Wake" albums, both of which were released on the same date in 2004 (August 31).

"Ashes Of Leviathan" will take MASTODON and LAMB OF GOD through the U.S. and Canada, culminating on the exact 20th anniversary of each album on August 31 in Omaha, Nebraska at the Astro Amphitheater. The tour will notably make stops at iconic venues such as Denver, Colorado's Red Rocks Amphitheatre and Los Angeles, California's Kia Forum.

In addition, both bands are supporting a charity of their choice throughout the tour, and fans have the opportunity to opt-in to donate at check out when buying their tickets.

MASTODON is supporting the Hirshberg Foundation For Pancreatic Cancer Research. After their manager Nick John tragically passed away from pancreatic cancer in 2018, MASTODON partnered with the organization and has raised nearly $60,000 to fight the disease and support researchers and patients around the globe. The Hirshberg Foundation For Pancreatic Cancer Research is focused on finding a cure for pancreatic cancer, and empowering patients and families whose lives are touched by this disease. Founded in 1997, the Hirshberg Foundation funds groundbreaking scientific research, provides patient education and support, and sustains hope that this cancer will be eradicated once and for all.

"Leviathan", released on Relapse Records, was MASTODON's first concept album, loosely based on the 1851 novel "Moby-Dick" by Herman Melville. Three magazines named the LP "Album Of The Year" in 2004: Revolver, Kerrang! and Terrorizer. In 2009 and 2015, MetalSucks named "Leviathan" the best metal album of the 21st century. "Leviathan" was also released with an audio DVD in a limited-edition set with a black-and-gold slipcase.

In a recent interview with Chuck Armstrong of Loudwire Nights, MASTODON drummer Brann Dailor was asked what is next for him and his bandmates after the completion of "Ashes Of Leviathan". He said: "Riffs. Drum beats and riffs. I can't really divulge too much. It's a hush-hush operation, very top secret.. I don't wanna spoil it.

"There's lots of music, that's all I can say," he continued. "There's tons of music. We've been writing pretty much this whole time that we've been off since we got home from South America [in November 2023]. And after we got home from South America with GOJIRA, we opened Christmas presents and then, since like February or so, we've just been working hard making two different projects — not a double album, but two different projects. So that's the nugget I can share with you. Whatever those projects are, nobody knows. But there's riffs involved. Some of the riffs are, like, really heavy and tasty and I really like 'em. I'm the metalhead in the band, so when we get some real heavy stuff, I'm, like, 'Oh, yeah, I like that. It's cool.'"

MASTODON's latest studio album, "Hushed And Grim", a double LP recorded at the band's Atlanta studio, West End Sound, was produced by David Bottrill (TOOL, RUSH, MUSE, PETER GABRIEL). This album, their most expansive song-cycle to date, features 15 distinct tracks and achieved their third consecutive No. 1 debut on the Billboard Hard Rock Albums chart. "Hushed And Grim" also earned them a Grammy Award nomination for the track "Pushing The Tides". Additionally, the album's single "Teardrinker" secured a top 10 position on the rock radio charts, a further testament to the band's widespread acclaim.

In a recent interview with Matt Pinfield of 95.5 KLOS's "New & Approved" show, legendary GUNS N' ROSES guitarist Slash was asked to name his favorite AC/DC album starting out. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "[1978's] 'Powerage'. Still probably one of my favorite AC/DC records. But at the time when I got into 'em, the record that came out was [1979's] 'Highway To Hell'. And that's how I became familiar with them. And then, because of that record, I heard 'Powerage', and I was like, 'Whoa, this record.' That was, really, that got me into the whole AC/DC catalog. And then [AC/DC singer] Bon Scott died. And that was just… It was, like, 'I just got into these guys.' And then really in pretty quick succession, Brian [Johnson, current AC/DC singer] came into it."

Slash continued: "One of the biggest years for metal in the '80s was 1980, and you had 'Back In Black' come out and then you had Ozzy's [Osbourne] 'Diary Of A Madman' come out and all that. And [BLACK] SABBATH's 'Heaven And Hell'. It was a huge, huge year for rock.'

Circling back to his love for "Powerage", Slash said: "'Down Payment Blues' was the song that really stuck with me. It's still, to this day, one of my favorite all-time rock and roll songs."

Back in November 2020, Slash praised the then-just-released AC/DC album "Power Up", calling it "a really inspired" effort.

The GUNS N' ROSES guitarist was asked for his opinion on AC/DC's latest LP during an interview with Consequence Of Sound. He said: "I obviously have a long history with AC/DC, and then Axl [Rose, GUNS N' ROSES frontman] was singing with them for a minute when Brian was out, so we got reacquainted during that period. So, the first bit of great news, I talked to Brian and he was telling me about this hearing [device] that he got, and that he's back in AC/DC. And that was just fucking awesome news."

He continued: "And the tragedy of losing Malcolm [Young, AC/DC's founding rhythm guitarist]… the fact that Angus [Young] and company would survive that and keep it going, in the spirit of probably what Malcolm would have done, was great. I just love those guys because as far as rock 'n' roll is concerned, they just are driven.

"They're a great influence on people who think that rock 'n' roll is sort of just fun and games, and then as soon as any kind of mishap happens, [bands] break up or they fall apart or they quit," he said. "AC/DC is a great example of longevity. They're a great example of tenacity and perseverance, a great example of talent, and a great example of what rock 'n' roll is all about. So, I'm so stoked that they just continue to do it."

Touching upon "Power Up" specifically, Slash said: "Then, on top of it, they make such a great fucking record at this point in the game. It's a really inspired album. I've had it in the car for the last couple of days and it's probably gonna sit there for a while. It's exciting for me. I'm happy for them, and I can't wait for this virus situation to end so we can go check them out on tour somewhere."

In a new interview with Spain's Mariskal Rock, SCORPIONS guitarist and founder Rudolf Schenker spoke about the band's upcoming 60th anniversary in 2025. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "60 years of SCORPIONS. Sounds like very old band. Maybe on one hand it is, maybe. But on the other hand, we always kept our mind fresh, to be on the spot. That's the very important point. Many bands came up and exploded and were so successful. But the problem is success is a very dangerous thing because the egos fighting in the band together. [THE] BEATLES, as an example. [THE ROLLING] STONES managed to stay together. So, and the same with the SCORPIONS. We started from Germany, very slowly. It was not easy for us to go in other countries then, but we managed it. By doing this, we made our personal SCORPIONS logo so strong that we, as people, Klaus [Meine, SCORPIONS singer] and me, and Matthias [Jabs, SCORPIONS guitarist], we became partners in crime, partners in friendship. And because we know how difficult it is to go around the world and make it, make success happening, but we made it with our own power, not make big managements or stuff like this in the first place. No — we did by our own. Out of that, we know what success is all about, and I think that's the important point. And that's the situation, is that when we celebrate next year's 60 years of SCORPIONS, there will be some interesting things happening."

Earlier this month, Jabs told Graspop Metal Meeting about the secret to SCORPIONS' longevity: "Uh, we don't know when to finish. No, we tried. In 2010, we announced the final tour, which lasted only two and a half years. And then, you know, nobody wanted to let us go, which is nice. All the promoters from around the world said, 'You can't leave us now.' And the fans especially said, 'SCORPIONS, don't stop.' And that's 12 years ago [since the completion of the 'final' tour]. And we have so much fun doing what we are doing. And this year is the 'Love At First Sting' anniversary tour, a great new show. And then we are looking forward to next year where we are planning a few things like the big birthday parties with SCORPIONS and friends, but nothing definite yet."

Jabs also talked about the importance of making new music for a band like SCORPIONS, which released its latest studio album, "Rock Believer", in 2022. He said: "It's always to have good song material when you go out on the road, because, of course, we have to play the hits again and again and again; we couldn't do it without it. But for us it's nice, and I think for the fans too, to hear one or the other new songs. The 'Rock Believer' tour, we started with five or six new songs from that album. Now, since it's the 'Love At First Sting' anniversary tour, 40 years of 'Love At First Sting', we concentrate more on those songs and cut out a few of the 'Rock Believer' ones. But it's for us also — to keep being creative and play something that is new on stage."

During an April 2024 appearance on SiriusXM's "Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk", Schenker confirmed that there was no more talk of retirement within SCORPIONS, as there was back in 2010 with what was purported to be a final album and a farewell tour that never quite took hold. He said: "You have to think about that what we didn't know when we made [that] farewell tour [almost 15 years ago], it was exactly the time when WhatsApp came up, when all this new technology [on the] Internet came, that people watching the SCORPIONS on WhatsApp and seeing young kids between 16 and 24 or whatever, [they were] finding [out about] the SCORPIONS. So, and what was happening on the final tour, on the tour, kids were in front of the stage. We said, 'What's happening here?' The older [fans] were up in the balcony or whatever, and we said, 'Hey, it's a complete new feeling on stage.' So then 'MTV Unplugged' came and then we said, 'Hey…' The chemistry was right, no question about this. That's a very important point, when the band has a great chemistry. And then you have fun when you go on the road."

Last September, Rudolf also seemingly dismissed any talk of possible retirement but acknowledged that SCORPIONS would not be able to continue indefinitely. The 75-year-old guitarist told Vikram Chandrasekar of Tales From The Road: "It's not a never-ending road. The road will be finished sooner or later; it's up to you and to our gods. But in 2025, that could be a great time for our 60th anniversary. 2025, it's the time when SCORPIONS is 60 years old. So, then, to celebrate 60 years of SCORPIONS could be a possibility, because I'm in contact with our very old drummer, who was playing on [SCORPIONS' 1972 debut album] 'Lonesome Crow', and the bass player, and use them also on stage to see the different kind of states we went through. Because we are very much connected still in all the different musicians, and that shows again, when we can make it, that music is always there for making friendships."

Back in May 2022, Meine told Jorge Botas of Portugal's "Metal Global": "We scratched that word [retirement] out of our [vocabulary]. It's not there. We don't think about it and we don't talk about it and we take it as it comes.

"We're just growing older and we do what we do and we hope our fans enjoy it as much as we do," the now-76-year-old Klaus continued. "But who would have thought we're still around after celebrating 50 years of being recording artists — our first album came out in 1972 and now 'Rock Believer' looks like it hits the big time with the fans and so many positive reviews from all over the world. And after all these years, who would have thought? And it's a wonderful thing.

"But all we know is [that] the road ahead is way shorter than what's behind us," Meine added. "And we never take it for granted — we never take success for granted. We work hard on what we do because we still love it and we still enjoy it. But it's what it is. And I think every artist knows what I'm talking about, because to go out there, play a great show for the fans and not let 'em down, it takes a lot of preparation, takes a lot of work. And being the singer, you try to make sure your pipes are in a good condition.

"It's a lot of things," Meine said. "And we don't know what the future will bring. Take a look at the next corner, and you never know what's going on. But right now, life is good. We have a great new album out there. And we have a lot of fun. We enjoy it."

Meine previously discussed SCORPIONS' aborted retirement in a 2018 interview with SiriusXM. "The thing is we have a much different view now," Klaus said. "And it's a young generation — that's the fuel that keeps us going, and it's really motivating.

"To be honest, every other year, you take a look around the corner: 'Can we do this?' 'Can we still deliver on the same high level, the way we used to do it?'" he admitted. "And that's the only way, and it's only fun if you can go out there and play a great rock show, wherever you do it. Like in the last couple of weeks, we had so much fun. But then you get sick on the road, like I did last year with the severe laryngitis. What can you do? There's not a chance. And then sometimes, of course, you ask yourself, 'How long can we do this?' Especially for singers — and I know I'm not the only one. But it's always, sometimes you ask yourself, 'Klaus, c'mon, how long can you keep up this level?' And then you go out there, everything feels good."

Circling back to SCORPIONS' 2010 "farewell tour" announcement, Klaus told SiriusXM: "Of course, we had our moment of doubt when we said, 'Okay. Maybe we should retire. Maybe this is a good moment.' And then we realized we were wrong, because there's still a lot of sting in the tail, so to speak, and it still feels good. There's such a demand for the SCORPIONS, and we're one of the few bands who play this global stage. If there wasn't this kind of demand, of course, there's no point after so many years, and you'd better go, 'Well, I go home and take it easy.' But there's such a strong demand and that really feels good and challenging — it's a challenge. Of course, you don't do it for the business. It's a good business, yes, but you don't do it for the business and for the money — you do it for the fun, you do it for what's inside of you, what's in your blood, what's in your veins, and that's the rock and roll music. And you wanna go out and play in front of an audience, because that's what it's all about."

SCORPIONS' only continuous member has been Schenker, although Meine has appeared on all of the band's studio albums, while Jabs has been a consistent member since 1978, and bassist Paweł Mąciwoda and drummer Mikkey Dee have been in the band since 2003 and 2016, respectively.

"Rock Believer" was released in February 2022. The album was recorded primarily at Peppermint Park Studios in Hannover, Germany and was mixed at the legendary Hansa Studios in Berlin, Germany with engineer Michael Ilbert, who has earned multiple Grammy nominations for his mix work with producer Max Martin on albums by Taylor Swift and Katy Perry.

Canadian metal legends ANVIL kicked off their summer 2024 U.S. tour on July 10 at Stone Church in Brattleboro, Vermont. Fan-filmed video of the entire concert can be seen below (courtesy of Airrick Nh).

ANVIL released its 20th studio album "One And Only", on June 28 via AFM Records. The effort was recorded in the summer of 2023 with longtime producer Martin "Mattes" Pfeiffer and Jörg Uken at Uken's Soundlodge studios in Germany. The same production team was responsible for ANVIL's last four albums, "Anvil Is Anvil" (2016),"Pounding The Pavement" (2018),"Legal At Last" (2019) and "Impact Is Imminent" (2022).

When it comes to the most influential bands in the history of heavy metal, authorities on the subject regularly vote ANVIL among the top positions. The group from Toronto, Canada, with its two masterminds, guitarist/vocalist Steve "Lips" Kudlow and drummer Robb Reiner, and bassist Chris Robertson, not only looks back at an impressive career with countless highlights — as well as a number of well-documented difficulties — but has also had a lasting influence on lots of internationally renowned musicians, from METALLICA to SLAYER and beyond.

ANVIL are and will always be one of a kind and are continuing to shape the contemporary metal scene just as impressively as they did at the beginning of their career. How they achieve this? Thanks to their straightforward metal fueled by cutting riffs and catchy hooks, which the musicians continue to celebrate with admirable effortlessness and great passion.

"We're more like our old selves than weve been in years," comments Lips on the new album, adding: "We've dropped all our more modern aspects, particularly the '90s version of ANVIL. No sexual topics and no thrash speed songs like they featured on past albums."

"One And Only" sees the band provide first-rate ANVIL entertainment: While Lips is considered to be one of the most creative and interesting storytellers of the metal genre, Robertson and Reiner keep the up the pace with their usual confidence, providing the perfect rhythm section for Lips. Although they have experienced the tough and frequently merciless side of the music industry on a number of occasions, ANVIL never lost their idealism, motivation and energy, which is immediately evident on "One And Only".

Regarding ANVIL's continuing collaboration with Pfeiffer and Uken, Lips said: "[Pfeiffer and Uken are] our one and only choice. As usual, Mattes and Jörg did a great job in choosing our best playing and making sure it has top notch sound. Great guys who understand the band and know what suits us best."

In a recent interview with rob wog, Lips spoke about the band's new LP. He said in part: "What's really fascinating, this particular album, and I'm not gonna be like most musicians, you always hype up what you've done most recent. Usually I don't — usually, and most usually, like on the last album, I just said it's another ANVIL album. What the hell do you want? And the album, a couple of albums ago, [we called it] 'Anvil Is Anvil'. Fuck it. You know what I mean? You want something different? You're not gonna get it. It's almost like tongue in cheek. And after 45 years, you're not thinking about things like you did when you're 20."

He continued: "This particular time, I went about it from a different perspective. And what do I mean by that? In going in, instead of going into rehearsal with bits and pieces and then work my way through it, I put everything together at home before I went there. I knew exactly how many riffs go in the verse, how many choruses, where they go. The songs were totally written before I went in and showed the other guys. And that's something that I never really — only the last two albums have I done that with. And the difference is they're pure, and they're not interrupted, because they're uninterrupted writing.

"When you write with a group of guys, there's interruptions. And I can give examples. And not only are there interruptions, but also interjection of parts and stuff that doesn't actually really belong, and you end up with early ANVIL. Well, actually, middle-era ANVIL where I've got — there's too many cooks. There's just too many cooks. And it's actually so true. But I'm two in one — I'm the vocalist and the guitar player. That's usually what writes in a band. Why are you asking a bass player for parts — unless you're gonna have the song really predominantly be bass. And having said that, it's the same thing as you're expecting the drummer to write the songs, or help you write the songs, but there's no musicality. It's only arrangement or tempos or segments of songs or bridges. So it's not like asking the vocalist, which is the most important guy to ask when you're writing a song. Where does the singing go? That's what you're doing. The singing is the most important thing. Why are you putting the thought for singing in last? It's a great instrumental, and now you're gonna stick some vocals on it and hope it works… [But] you don't say intervention is bad. It depends on what it is. But as the main songwriter, it's gonna have to be up to me. And you have to take the bull by the horns and you have to take the responsibility for this shit. Plain and simple."

In a new interview with Razor of the Tucson, Arizona radio station Rock 102.1 KFMA, MÖTLEY CRÜE bassist Nikki Sixx clarified his recent comment about not seeing "a reason right now to go" back "in the studio" with his bandmates and record more new music. He explained (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "I don't have a lot of respect for the way media handles themselves in general, whether it's political or rock media or whatever it might be."

Nikki continued: "When somebody takes a conversation of mine and they say, 'Hey, are you planning on going in the studio?' And I say, 'We don't see a reason to go in the studio right now.' 'Cause we just recorded three songs [in April 2023]. We were just in the recording studio. We have a second single coming. We have a third single coming. So we're not in a rush to… Vince [Neil, MÖTLEY CRÜE singer] lives in Tennessee. I live in Wyoming. We're on tour. So what I said was, like, well, first of all, we're always creating — always creating. And I was working on something this morning. I was just playing bass. My daughter was getting ready for school and I'm, like, 'Whoa, what's that?' And I put it on my little voice messages and I will eventually show it to the band or [our longtime producer] Bob [Rock] or whatever.

"But that's what I don't like about media is they don't do their research," Sixx continued. "And then people are going, 'Oh, MÖTLEY CRÜE is not going in the studio.' We didn't say that. We said we just got out of the studio. So if LED ZEPPELIN just got out of the studio and you ask Jimmy Page, 'Hey, when are you going back to the studio?' and he goes, 'Well, I don't really see the need to. I just recorded an album.' And they're, like, 'Jimmy Page says LED ZEPPELIN's never gonna make music again.' It's really messed up. But I hate that for the fans."

Sixx also addressed his recent tongue-in-cheek comment that new music from his band had been described as "a powerful cross between country and hip-hop". The 65-year-old CRÜE bassist, who is the band's chief songwriter, said: "I have a personality disorder called sarcasm, and sometimes it doesn't come across in a tweet or a Facebook post. And somebody just asked me, 'What's the new MÖTLEY CRÜE record sound like?' And I said, 'Country and hip-hop.' And I think I even put a smiley face, and it took off.

"Now what's really interesting is when we were doing the media for [MÖTLEY CRÜE's new single] 'Dogs Of War' coming out, that was the main question for everybody. So here's the question to you: is maybe not doing stupid stuff the only way to reach people now? It's, like, crazy. So you struggle — you struggle with it."

Sixx's original comment about not seeing a reason for MÖTLEY CRÜE to return to the studio at the moment came during a June 2024 interview with Riff X 's "Metal XS". He said at the time: "We have a few singles [already recorded], so I don't see us [recording any new music right now]… We're not gonna be around. I live in Wyoming and Vince lives in Tennessee, two guys in California, so I don't… I don't actually see a reason right now to go in the studio, 'cause we've got two more singles [recorded and ready] to [release]. And I always wanna be sure that if we go in the studio, we have a reason or we have something we're really inspired by, but it's a lot of scheduling, and we tour and we have families. For me specifically, I have a five-year-old daughter, and I really wanna be with her as much as possible. So when the time came to go do these demos of these three songs and then go in the studio with [producer] Bob Rock, it was like a perfect time. And that time will happen again, but there's no rush."

Nikki previously explained the "country and hip-hop" comment as it relates to MÖTLEY CRÜE's new music in a June 2024 interview with Janne Innanfors of the Swedish radio station Rockklassiker. He said at the time: "When we were doing some interviews, when we were getting ready to drop the ['Dogs Of War'] single, I said to Tommy [Lee, MÖTLEY CRÜE drummer], I said, 'You know…' 'Cause we kept getting asked that question [about the sound of the new CRÜE music]. And I said, 'Man,' I go… I'm the most sarcastic human being I know. And that sometimes doesn't always come across in a tweet or something. And I said we got so much media because it was such a lark, such a weird thing that was a joke. And I'm, like, God, that's really kind of fucked up where we're at today. No media checked, nobody called the office and said, 'What's going on? I hear they got new music. It sounds like country and hip-hop.' I mean, everybody at the label and management company would have just started laughing. They would have gone, 'You fell for one of Nikki's jokes.' But the irony is, isn't that how people get pressed now? People just love negativity. And I find it interesting. I don't wanna play in to it, to be honest with you, but that was a fun one… People run with whatever they think they can get some juice out of, and it's okay. Hey, if you're talking about our band, that's a good thing, negative or positive."

Regarding the mixed response to "Dogs Of War" from the MÖTLEY CRÜE fans, Nikki said: "We like the fact that there was kind of a knee-jerk reaction, because at least people were listening. It's a very strange time now where, whether it's a news cycle or socials, everybody has turned into a critic. And I always say, they've never erected a statue of a critic. It's never happened, right? It's always the artist. But now everybody's a critic. So within a short amount of time, we get, 'We love it.' 'We hate it.' 'You're over.' 'You've reinvented yourself.' 'It sounds like 'Shout At The Devil'. 'It sucks.' And we just kind of sit there and go, 'That's cool, guys, but we didn't really ask for any input from you.' We're just artists writing music, and we're pretty cool. I'm happy with it. I like it."

"Dogs Of War" was made available on April 26 via the band's new deal with Nashville's Big Machine Records

The "Dogs Of War" music video is an animated, all-CGI affair directed by Nick DenBoer.

In addition to "Dogs Of War", MÖTLEY CRÜE's April 2023 recording sessions with Rock produced a new song called "Canceled" and a cover of BEASTIE BOYS' "(You Gotta) Fight For Your Right (To Party!)", the latter two of which have not yet been released.

MÖTLEY CRÜE's deal with Big Machine sees the band and the label working together again after making the 2014 project "Nashville Outlaws: A Tribute To Mötley Crüe", which featured CRÜE tracks covered by country stars RASCAL FLATTS, FLORIDA GEORGIA LINE, Darius Rucker and more. Big Machine also partnered with MÖTLEY CRÜE's new guitarist John 5 for the release of his 2021 album "Sinner".

MÖTLEY CRÜE's last studio album was 2008's "Saints Of Los Angeles", which was followed by a 2009 "Greatest Hits" compilation.

In 2018, MÖTLEY CRÜE recorded four new songs for "The Dirt" movie, including the single "The Dirt (Est. 1981) (Feat. Machine Gun Kelly)", "Ride With The Devil", "Crash And Burn" and the band's own spin on Madonna's "Like A Virgin".

John 5 joined MÖTLEY CRÜE in the fall of 2022 as the replacement for the band's co-founding guitarist Mick Mars. Mick announced his retirement from touring with MÖTLEY CRÜE in October 2022 as a result of worsening health issues.

CHEVELLE drummer Sam Loeffler has told TribLive.com that the band's new album is tentatively due in September or October. The follow-up to 2021's "Niratias" will mark CHEVELLE's first release through Alchemy Recordings following a long run with the Epic label. Alchemy Recordings is a record label created in partnership between Dino Paredes, former American Recordings vice president of A&R, and Danny Wimmer, the founder of Danny Wimmer Presents, the premier production company for rock music festivals in the United States.

"We kind of did expect to have it done [already]. It's like pulling teeth," Sam told TribLive.com about the progress of the recording sessions for the new LP. "This is what I described: Writing an album and doing all that is like pulling your hair out and then trying to put it back in. Writers love having written, is what I learned. It's just torturous on my brother [CHEVELLE frontman and main songwriter Pete Loeffler]. It's torturous because there's just so many factors to making something great. And then the longer you can live with it, the more changes you're gonna make. So that makes you never want to put it out. You never want to pull the pin and throw the grenade because you're like, well, it gets better every time I look at it."

As for what the 10-song album — which was produced by the CHEVELLE members themselves — sounds like, Sam said: We're always skewing towards heavy. [But] these [last] two songs that we've been working on right now are definitely different from everything we did, although 'Niratias', our last album, I think was a really important snapshot of what we've been learning about writing and about music and stuff. This one definitely sounds different than just rock music, definitely different."

Back in 2022, Sam told Knotfest's Cori Westbrook about CHEVELLE's songwriting process: "Well, Pete's our songwriter so he's our lyricist and everything. Basically, he just writes about what's going on around him. If he's taking the garbage out that night or has a bad day driving, he's watching a documentary that really affected him, he hears a podcast — so he's writing about those kinds of things. So if you're able to internalize that kind of a thing, I think you have a lot to write about. It doesn't just have to be a relationship that — a relationship with your dad or your significant other. I think those are some pretty powerful feelings — I get it — but if you are able to bring in all those other things in from your everyday life, there's a lot more to write about. So as far as inspiration goes, it's not hard to find; it's everywhere; it's all around you. And especially nowadays, we have so much access to what's going on around us that there's even more ideas to pull from."

In a separate interview with Heavy New York, Sam said that he and Pete had "a whole bunch of music written... Because that's what we do — you put music out, you write… It'll be our first record in a long time not with a major label, which is just neither here nor there," he added. "Epic Records did a lot of good stuff; we were with them for a long time, but we're finished with that contract now. So now we're doing something different. And we'll see how different it is."

Released in March 2021 via Epic Records, "Niratias" was recorded throughout 2019 and 2020 with longtime producer Joe Barresi (AVENGED SEVENFOLD, QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE). The album artwork was designed by Boris Vallejo — the famed and award-winning artist is responsible for the posters used for films like "Knightriders" and "National Lampoon's Vacation", as well as iconic '70s and '80s science fiction novel covers and magazines (such as Heavy Metal).

Over the course of its career, the Chicago rockers have generated nearly half a billion streams, notched seven No. 1 hits, and sold out shows worldwide. Their catalog spans the double-platinum "Wonder What's Next", which boasts the double-platinum smash "The Red" and the platinum hit "Send The Pain Below". "This Type Of Thinking (Could Do Us In)" attained platinum status, while "Vena Sera" was certified gold. CHEVELLE has landed four Top 10 debuts on the Billboard 200, including "Sci-Fi Crimes" (2009),"Hats Off To The Bull" (2011),"La Gárgola" (2014) and "The North Corridor" (2016). The latter two each captured the No. 1 slot on the Top Rock Albums chart.

Reunited California thrash metal pioneers DARK ANGEL have officially entered the studio to begin recording their long-awaited new album.

Earlier today, DARK ANGEL shared a video message from drummer Gene Hoglan from the studio, in which he said: "Hey, everybody. It's your big buddy Gene here, and I just wanna let you know that I just finished the drums to the new DARK ANGEL record. It's coming."

This past May, Hoglan told Rocking With Jam Man, Gene Hoglan that he had "been working diligently for the last couple of years on some projects that are gonna make DARK ANGEL fans really happy, I think. So, everybody, just sit tight," he said. "I just don't wanna nebulously announce something and then have circumstances beyond my control come along and make things delayed. I just wanna be able to be able to say, 'Yes, this is gonna be a solid date that we can announce for people, and we're gonna be able to stick to that date.' That's what I'm all about. So, keep your eyes and ears peeled, everybody."

Asked what it has been like making new DARK ANGEL music more than 30 years after the release of the band's last album, 1991's "Time Does Not Heal", Gene responded: "Well, that's one thing. It's like we had a choice. I had an entire DARK ANGEL album written that was ready to start getting recorded after the 'Time Does Not Heal' record, and circumstances occurred where the band just had to dissolve. So, I had a bunch of material written. And when [DARK ANGEL guitarist] Jim Durkin and myself — Jim is no longer with us, but when we put DARK ANGEL back together and we started talking about, like, 'What do we wanna do for the future? Do we wanna write some new material?' And 'I've got some ideas, Gene, and you probably have some ideas.' And I have a number of songs that I sent to Jim. And when Jim heard that — I sent it to him on a CD — he freaked out and he was, like, 'My God, here's our new album. This is gonna be our next record. Hell yeah.' And he got really excited about that material. But I was, like, 'Hey, Jim, tell you what. I feel really strongly about my writing chops, and the songs I'm hearing from you right now are crushing. So how about we just write new stuff, get together and start writing new material?' And so we kind of went that route."

He continued: "For my elements of what I wanted DARK ANGEL to sound like, Jim Durkin is a huge influence on my writing style. So I wanted this to have a lot of the Jim Durkin influence on it. In terms of riffs, there's not as many from Jim as we were hoping for, but Jim's entire presence is all over the new DARK ANGEL material that I've been working on. And he's a huge guitar influence on me, as well as a lot of people. So, there's definitely gonna be a pretty hardy Jim Durkin influence. And I just wanna write a kick-ass metal album. So what I've tried to do is not go back 35 years or 37 years or whatever, 'Darkness Descends' or even 'We Have Arrived', those early albums, or 'Leave Scars' or 'Time Does Not Heal', I've not tried to duplicate anything from any of those albums, but I tried to put myself in the mindset of what if DARK ANGEL just kept writing albums for the last 30-whatever years, 32, 33 years, where would we be at now? And so that has been my approach on the new DARK ANGEL material."

Durkin died on March 8, 2023 at the age of 58. An original member of DARK ANGEL, Durkin played on the band's first three albums — 1985's "We Have Arrived", 1986's "Darkness Descends" and 1989's "Leave Scars" — before departing the group in 1989. He was part of DARK ANGEL's lineup when the band reformed in 2013, and had been playing with them, on and off, ever since.

Prior to his death, Durkin had been sitting out some of DARK ANGEL's gigs. He was replaced at the shows by Hoglan's wife Laura Christine, who has since joined DARK ANGEL as a permanent member.

DARK ANGEL released two albums with Don Doty on vocals — the aforementioned "We Have Arrived" and "Darkness Descends" — before he exited the group and was replaced by Ron Rinehart (after a brief stint with Jim Drabos in 1987). The band issued two more studio LPs — "Leave Scars" and "Time Does Not Heal" — before calling it quits in 1992.

Hoglan previously talked about DARK ANGEL's upcoming LP in May 2023 in an interview with Friday 13th. He said at the time: "Jim and I, we had gotten together a number of times to write some new material for DARK ANGEL. And we weren't able to get it down on tape too much. If DARK ANGELhas any new material, there's a song that he's got on there that is pretty darn DARK ANGEL-esque.

"In tribute to Jim, DARK ANGEL's new material will have a ton of his spirit all over it — his feel. Whether he actually wrote stuff on the new stuff or not, his spirit is very there. His imprint is felt throughout thrash metal, I feel. Even before I was in DARK ANGEL, I'd see Jim's influence on bands. Absolutely. So his legacy will live forevermore in the realm of extreme metal. His style will always be a part of DARK ANGEL, absolutely, big time."

Asked how the next DARK ANGEL album will compare to the band's previous efforts, Hoglan said: "Well, I can't really even comment on the fact that there might or might not be an album yet. But put it this way — if I were to have any new DARK ANGEL material, I would want it to be an extension of where the band is at now and where I'm at now. And I would probably approach the writing of it in a way as if DARK ANGEL never disappeared for a decade, two decades, three decades, or whatever it's been. It's just like we just kept doing what we do, and this would be where we're at right now. Which I would want to be putting out the most savage, heaviest material that DARK ANGEL could. And I'm no slouch with writing psychotic, heavy material. So I would be very, very excited with where DARK ANGEL's new material would be if that would be able to confirm."

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GHOST has released an animated music video for a new song called "The Future Is A Foreign Land".

The Swedish band's "newly uncovered 1969-era" track is featured on the soundtrack to GHOST's debut film, "Rite Here Rite Now".

According to GHOST, "The Future Is A Foreign Land" was penned by the fictional character Papa Nihil, who also "wrote" previously released GHOST songs "Mary On A Cross" and "Kiss The Go-Goat" but the track but had never been made available — until now.

While its wicked twangy guitar figures and portentous lyrics of an impending 1984 render the song instantly recognizable as an artifact of the era, "The Future Is A Foreign Land" is suffused with presciently modern signatures of the contemporary GHOST sound. Ending with an optimistic nod to 2024, "The Future Is A Foreign Land" was revealed to the children of the world during the end credits of "Rite Here Rite Now"'s world premiere, and is the sole previously unreleased studio track to be included on the movie's original soundtrack.

"The Future Is A Foreign Land", like the animated video for "Mary On a Cross", was directed by animator Sean Donnelly.

"Rite Here Rite Now" premiered globally in cinemas on June 20 through 23, with additional screenings added due to insatiable fan demand. It's an unforgettable, immersive event that combines narrative storytelling with live performances from the sold-out two-night finale of the band's "Re-Imperatour" U.S.A. 2023 at Los Angeles's iconic Kia Forum.

A phantasmagorical blend of live performance and cutaway sequences that immerses viewers in the technicolor melodrama of GHOST's vaunted live rituals, the film picks up plot threads from the band's long-running Chapters webisode series. It captures flesh and bone renditions of fan favorites from all five of GHOST's albums, as well as the RIAA platinum-certified "Mary On A Cross", interwoven with the silver screen debuts of familiar faces — all interacting behind the scenes with GHOST's Papa Emeritus IV, as his future and fate lay in the hands of the Ministry.

Whether a devoted disciple reliving treasured memories of the GHOST live spectacle or a curious newcomer, "Rite Here Rite Now" transports viewers into the heart of the performance. The film captures the essence of living in the moment, with a shadow of uncertainty looming, leaving the audience completely spellbound and enthralled by this bombastic yet intimate cinematic portrait of GHOST.

For its theatrical run, which was distributed by Trafalgar (Taylor Swift's "Eras" tour and Beyoncé's "Renaissance"),"Rite Here Rite Now" entered the Top 10 of the North America box office with a cumulative total gross of $2.65 million, making it the highest-grossing hard rock cinema event ever in North America. After its opening weekend, it entered the worldwide Top 10 box office at No. 9 with a total gross of $5.04 million worldwide. Regional highlights also included U.K. and Ireland with a $606,000 gross and No. 5 at the box office, Germany with a $332,000 gross and No. 3 at the box office, Mexico with a $326,000 gross and a No. 5 box office position for the weekend, and Australia with a $178,000 gross and No. 6 at the box office. The film has captivated audiences, receiving a stellar 99% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes.

"Rite Here Rite Now: The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack", mixed by Rich Costey, will be released worldwide on July 26 via Loma Vista Recordings. A fitting 18-song complement to GHOST's debut feature film, the band's first ever original soundtrack will be available on all formats (digital, CD, 2xLP). Pre-orders are live now, and include the brand new studio recording "The Future Is A Foreign Land", revealed to the world during the film's opening night, and the live version of "Absolution" as instant-grat tracks.

Last October, GHOST mastermind Tobias Forge confirmed that footage from the band's September 2023 two shows at the Kia Forum in Inglewood, California would be used as part of the film.

"When I first started putting it together, I was, like, 'Oh my god, I'm going to faint because there's so much to think about,'" Forge told Metal Hammer magazine. "Then it was, like, 'No, no, just don't think about it at all.'"

Both GHOST shows at the Forum were device-free experiences. Use of phones and smart watches was not permitted in the performance space. Upon arrival at the venue, devices were secured in individual Yondr pouches that were opened at the end of the event.

"I have never seen a crowd interact the way that they did since I was in a club band," Forge said. "They were the best shows I've ever done with GHOST, just because I didn't have to see those fucking mobile phones."

At the Forum shows, GHOST performed the song "Twenties" live for the very first time live. They also played their cover of Roky Erikson's "If You Have Ghosts", which was originally reimagined by GHOST for their 2013 EP "If You Have Ghost". The band's version of the track at the Forum featured two cellists with a piano playing, and it was performed on a separate stage from the rest of the set.

Fan-filmed video of Kerry King's July 24 performance at the Orlando Amphitheater in Orlando, Florida can be seen below.

The setlist for the concert was as follows:

01. Where I Reign
02. Trophies Of The Tyrant
03. Residue
04. Toxic
05. Idle Hands
06. Shrapnel
07. Raining Blood (SLAYER song)
08. Black Magic (SLAYER song)
09. From Hell I Rise

The SLAYER guitarist's solo band played its first concert as the support act for LAMB OF GOD and MASTODON on July 19 at the Texas Trust CU Theatre in Grand Prairie, Texas.

Earlier this month, LAMB OF GOD guitarist Mark Morton told theHeavy Consequence's "Two For The Road" series about the fact that King's new group is serving as the support act for the North American "Ashes Of Leviathan" tour: "It speaks to the character of Kerry King, a legend in this game. [I have the] utmost respect [for him]. [He was] part of some of the greatest metal songs in history. SLAYER [was] absolutely formative in my understanding and my love for metal. And SLAYER has taken LAMB OF GOD out on multiple occasions, MASTODON out on multiple occasions, at some point together. And so now SLAYER is defunct or on hiatus, whatever it is that they're doing, or not doing. I don't know how to characterize that, but they've not been around, they've not been actively working."

Morton continued: "First of all, it speaks to who he is as a musician and as a songwriter and as an artist and as a performer that he doesn't just like kick back and go play with the snakes or whatever he does for fun. He puts a new band together, writes a new album, records a banger of an album, and now he's gonna go out on tour opening for these guys that opened for him. No pretense, no ego, none of the behind-the-scenes stuff, prima donna stuff — none of it. Because that's who he is.

"If there's any question, to the fans that are watching this or hearing this, but understand that that dude is a real one," Mark added. "He's an absolute real one. He's doing this not for the money — it's none of that. He's doing this because that dude is, in the truest, realest, most genuine sense of the concept, a heavy metal guitar player, songwriter. And if he can't do it with that band [SLAYER], he's gonna do it with this band. And if he can't do it headlining, he's gonna open up. It does not fricking matter. 'Cause that's who he is. And out of all the things I could say out of respect and accolades for Kerry King, that, to me, hits the hardest. That is the most impressive thing to me."

The six-week "Ashes Of Leviathan" tour will wrap on August 31 in Omaha, Nebraska.

Joining Kerry in his new band are Mark Osegueda (vocals; DEATH ANGEL),Phil Demmel (guitar; MACHINE HEAD, VIO-LENCE),Kyle Sanders (bass; HELLYEAH) and drummer Paul Bostaph (SLAYER, TESTAMENT, EXODUS).

In early May, the KERRY KING band performed its first live show at Reggies in Chicago. In the days following, the band went from playing an intimate venue to performing at the huge U.S. festivals Welcome To Rockville (Florida) and Sonic Temple (Ohio).

KERRY KING launched a European tour on June 3 — King's 60th birthday – in Tilburg, The Netherlands. The trek combined headline shows in the U.K., The Netherlands, Germany, Italy and Spain but also festival appearances such as Rock Am Ring, Hellfest, Tuska, Download, Sweden Rock Festival and many more.

King's debut solo album, "From Hell I Rise", was released in May. All material for the LP was written by the 60-year-old SLAYER guitarist. Helming the sessions at Henson Recording Studios in Los Angeles last year was producer Josh Wilbur, who has previously worked with KORN, LAMB OF GOD, AVENGED SEVENFOLD and BAD RELIGION, among others.

On a recent episode of the "Talk Louder" podcast, hosted by veteran music journalist "Metal Dave" Glessner and lifelong hard rock/metal vocalist Jason McMaster (DANGEROUS TOYS),TESTAMENT singer Chuck Billy was asked what album or concert or TV appearance had such a big impression on him that it got him into playing rock and roll. Chuck responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Well, I think it's probably like every musician I hear. It was my first KISS concert when I was 12 years old. My aunt dropped me and my cousin off in San Francisco at the show. I didn't smoke weed and [it was] the first time I see smelled weed and people were smoking weed around us. And we made our way down, and I think I got a shirt with Gene Simmons spitting blood on me and it was something, like, 'Oh my God.' Spitting fire, spitting blood, just this demon up there, and it really captured me. So after that point, I was in my garage of the backyard with my tennis racket, trying to be Gene Simmons. And originally I wanted to be a guitar player. I started playing guitar early and apparently I wasn't good enough. So I had to switch up to trying to be a singer, make my way to do that. But, of course, I think it was probably KISS. But I was always a guitar player. I loved UFO. Michael Schenker's one of my favorite guitar players of all time. And THIN LIZZY — I'm big THIN LIZZY fan. I love that stuff. And I still listen to that stuff today. I'm not much of a [fan of] modern-day [music]; [I don't] go out and buy and see what's current. I listen to what brings a smile and brings some cool memories back to me."

TESTAMENT is working on the follow-up to 2020's "Titans Of Creation" album for a tentative 2025 release.

Last month, Billy told Nikki Blakk of the San Francisco, California radio station 107.7 The Bone that TESTAMENT's next LP will likely contain 11 tracks along with "some covers".

The remastered versions of TESTAMENT's seminal albums "The Legacy" and "The New Order" are available both digitally and now on vinyl via Nuclear Blast Records.

"The Legacy" and "The New Order" were remastered by Justin Shturtz at Sterling Sound. Each album is available digitally and on 180-gram vinyl. "The Legacy" on red and white swirl with black splatter and "The New Order" on blue and purple swirl with black splatter, both limited to 1500 units worldwide. These special, limited-edition remastered LPs include alternate cover artwork, gatefold packaging with new liner notes, and an oversized booklet with never-before-seen images.

This fall, TESTAMENT and KREATOR will join forces for the "Klash Of The Titans" North American tour. The 33-date trek will kick off on September 12 in Reno, making its way across the U.S., and will include seven Canadian dates before concluding in San Francisco on October 27. Special guests on the run will be Bay Area death metal pioneers POSSESSED.

French progressive metallers GOJIRA will perform at tomorrow's (Friday, July 26) Paris 2024 Olympics opening ceremony.

According to the French newspaper Le Parisien, GOJIRA's appearance at the event will consist of an "original" collaboration with opera singer Marina Viotti.

Sortir À Paris reported on GOJIRA's inclusion at the ceremony under the headline: "Who is GOJIRA, the metal band tipped for the opening ceremony?" The site goes on to say that the rumored collaboration with Marina is "a wonderful artistic proposition, and one that will surprise many if it is confirmed!"

According to the biography on her web site, Marina has previously "experimented with jazz, gospel and heavy metal".

Also set to perform at the ceremony are Céline Dion, Lady Gaga and Aya Nakamura.

"The opening ceremony is orchestrated by renowned stage director Thomas Jolly," Time Out reports, "who has invited a stellar cast of local and international stars to celebrate the rich history and diversity of French musical culture."

The opening ceremony of the 2024 Paris Olympics will air on NBC beginning at 1:30 p.m. EDT Friday and stream on Peacock and NBC Olympics platforms.

GOJIRA's latest album, "Fortitude", entered Billboard's Top Albums chart at No. 1 in May 2021, while also claiming the No. 1 spot on Billboard's Top Current Albums, Current Rock Albums and Current Hard Music Albums tallies. The release also marked a career high debut on the Billboard 200 for GOJIRA, arriving at No. 12, with several career high chart positions and Top 10 debuts in countries around the globe including: France (No. 2),United Kingdom (No. 6),Australia (No. 3),Germany (No. 8),Belgium (No. 2),Netherlands (No. 4),Denmark (No. 3),Portugal (No. 4),Finland (No. 2) and Norway (No. 10).

"Fortitude" is highlighted by the singles "Another World", "Born For One Thing", "Into The Storm", "Amazonia" and "The Chant", a slow-burning track featuring some of GOJIRA's most melodic material to date.

Furthermore, GOJIRA concluded a month-long fundraising initiative in support of the indigenous-owned NGO The Articulation of Indigenous Peoples of Brazil (APIB) who advocate for environmental and cultural rights of indigenous tribes in the Amazon. Working with the social good-focused digital platform Propeller, the charitable campaign raised over $300,000 through an auction and raffle of one-of-a-kind items from the band and their friends in METALLICA, TOOL, SLIPKNOT, SLAYER, Slash and more. All proceeds were donated to APIB to support their work aiding the indigenous tribes of the Amazon who have suffered immensely — victims of deforestation, land loss, forced labor, violence, and harassment.

Recorded and produced by Joseph Duplantier at Silver Cord Studio — GOJIRA's Ridgewood, Queens, New York headquarters — and mixed by Andy Wallace (NIRVANA, RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE),"Fortitude" is GOJIRA's first album in five years and the follow-up to 2016's Grammy-nominated LP "Magma". A collection of songs urging humanity to imagine a new world and then make it happen, "Fortitude" has been earning widespread critical praise with Rolling Stone naming it one of their best albums of April 2021 and remarking "It's all the rage of death metal mixed with the conscience of punk rock and the musicality of progressive rock." NPR hailed "Another World" as "an apocalyptic banger," and Paste called "Into The Storm" a "much-needed revolutionary anthem." Stereogum declared, "hearing this band operating at their peak is a life-affirming thing," while Revolver attested "Fortitude" "could spark a revolution."

Original BLACK SABBATH drummer Bill Ward says that he "would love to play" one final concert with the band.

Earlier today (Thursday, July 25), Ward took to his social media to write: "Hey ya, Bill Ward checking in regarding all the updates on a possible SABBATH show in England.

"I'm in for playing some of everyone's old favorites. Loved playing them then, I'd love to play them one last time.

"I'm not going to talk about my health publicly except to say, everyday I'm pretty good for 76 years old, I'm active musically every day, and I have a very busy and gratifying life.

"Love you all, all the fucking time."

During an appearance on the May 22 episode of SiriusXM's "Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk", BLACK SABBATH guitarist Tony Iommi was asked about Ozzy Osbourne's recent comment that he would like to play one final SABBATH concert with Ward. Tony said: "It's a funny old thing, really. I mean, God, we'll be 90 by the time we do that. [Laughs] It'd be a nice idea, but you're gonna get everybody going, 'Oh, they're doing it for the money. They're doing it for this, they're doing it for that, they're doing it…' Well, it wouldn't be. I mean, it'd be something that'd be a nice thing to actually do, but whether it happens will be another thing. But we'll see. I mean, who knows?"

Asked if he misses performing live, Tony said: "It's great to see the audience. I love to play live. But I have been playing. You obviously know about the BLACK SABBATH ballet. And it was great for me to go on at the end — I was playing on the end of the show, which was really good to get out and play live again. And then I did a gig with Johnny Depp when he came over [with HOLLYWOOD VAMPIRES]; I played on one of their shows, which was great. It's really good to be able to do that. But, yeah, for me, I've always loved playing live. But I have to look at it realistically at my age. I can't go out and do a two-year tour like we were doing before. And to put something together like the original SABBATH or this or that or the other, you've gotta do it a long time because of the cost of everything. But it would be nice, yes, to do a one-off, if that ever happens, yeah."

On the topic of his health, Iommi — who was diagnosed with lymphoma in early 2012, shortly after SABBATH announced a reunion tour and album — said: "It's up and down at the moment, to be honest. I'm going for a heart check tomorrow. I've been getting these, like, sort of, um… I can't breathe properly and can't get my breath out, so they recommended I go and get this checked tomorrow. But, apart from that, yeah, I've been fine."

Ozzy discussed Ward's absence from SABBATH's final album, "13", during a recent episode of the new Internet TV show "The Madhouse Chronicles". Released in 2013, it was SABBATH's first LP in 35 years to feature Osbourne, Iommi and bassist Geezer Butler. Ozzy said: "I can't remember why Bill didn't do it. I've gotta be truthful. It wasn't really BLACK SABBATH because Bill wasn't there. I mean, if you had Ginger Baker playing with THE BEATLES, it wouldn't be THE BEATLES."

Ozzy also talked about the final show of SABBATH's "The End" tour, which took place in February 2017 in the band's original hometown of Birmingham, England. Asked if he was glad it was done at that moment, Osbourne said: "Yeah, but I was sad that Bill wasn't there. I mean, I mean, Tommy [Clufetos], my drummer [for my solo band], did a great job [stepping in for Bill], but he ain't Bill Ward."

Pressed about whether he is happy with the arc of the legend of BLACK SABBATH, Ozzy said: "No. Because it wasn't BLACK SABBATH that finished it. It's unfinished. If they wanted to do one more gig with Bill, I would jump at the chance. Do you know what would be cool? If we went to a club or something unannounced and we just got up and did it. We started up in a club."

Back in September 2022, Ozzy was asked by Stereogum if he still feels good about where "13" left things with SABBATH. He responded: "Not really, because, to be perfectly honest, I didn't really get a charge from the album. Although ['13' producer] Rick Rubin is a good friend of mine, I wasn't really… I was just singing. It was like stepping back in time, but it wasn't a glorious period. Though Geezer did a lot of lyric writing for me, which he's very, very good at. It wasn't an earth-shattering experience for me."

As for whether BLACK SABBATH is "totally done" in his mind, Osbourne: "I would like to say it's completely done. I think it's time. The only thing I really regret, to be honest, is that Bill Ward didn't play on the ['13'] album. It wasn't really a BLACK SABBATH album. I'm not saying that one day we might not all go in a room and come up with the perfect BLACK SABBATH album. But I'll say, ['13'] wasn't recorded the way BLACK SABBATH recorded records. We'd gone right back past the point where we took charge, back to when someone else had full control of our recording. Which we never did from 'Vol. 4' onwards."

Ward in May 2012 announced that he was declining to join his former SABBATH bandmates for its scheduled dates, as well as the recording of the new album, due to a contractual dispute. After SABBATH shot down Rubin's suggestion to replace Ward with Ginger Baker (CREAM) ("I thought, 'Bloody hell?'" Iommi told Rolling Stone magazine. "I just couldn't see that."),Rick suggested RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE drummer Brad Wilk.

In March 2021, Bill admitted to SiriusXM's "Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk" that he no longer had the "chops" and the "ability" to perform with BLACK SABBATH. "I have to be back to 60 years old to be able to do that," he said.

"I would love to do a studio album with SABBATH, with all the original members," he continued. "I'm just saying that — I'm just floating that out there. But I'm not done. So, the other three might be done, and I respect that, but no, I'm not done. I think as long as we all exist [laughs] and we're still breathing in air, I think we have every possibility of making some great music together."

Ozzy told The Pulse Of Radio during SABBATH's last tour that Ward was not in shape to participate. "Bill Ward has got the most physically demanding job of the lot of us, 'cause he's the timekeeper," he said. "I don't think personally he had the chops to pull it off, you know. The saddest thing is that he needed to own up to that, and we could have worked around it, whether we had a drummer on the side with him or something."

It was rumored that SABBATH wanted to bring a second drummer on the road to share duties with Ward, something that Iommi confirmed in 2017 during a question-and-answer session about SABBATH's "Ten Year War" box set.

Hey ya,

Bill Ward checking in regarding all the updates on a possible Sabbath show in England.

I’m in for playing some...

Posted by Bill Ward on Thursday, July 25, 2024

In a recent interview with TalkShopLive, legendary BLACK SABBATH bassist Geezer Butler opened up about his past battles with depression. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Unless you've experienced true depression, you can't describe it. It's like you're going to this awful black hole. And people would say, like, 'Oh, just go and have a drink or take the dog for a walk.' That's what the doctors used to say. 'Well, go and watch television or read a book.' And, of course, you've got no interest in anything. So the only way I could express myself was writing the lyrics for [BLACK SABBATH's classic song] 'Paranoid'. I mean, I wasn't depressed all the time, but when I used to get the bouts of depression, you just couldn't explain it to anyone, and you were terrified that you go to a mental health person, maybe, and they put you in hospital for years, in a mental institution. So you'd never go to doctors or anything like that. And so you just had to get on with it. And the only way I could get it out of my system was to write the lyrics."

Asked how he is doing today, Geezer said: "Good now, yeah. 'Cause in 1999, I was finally properly diagnosed, and they put me on Prozac for six weeks. And the doctor says, 'It's not gonna work straight away. Keep taking it for six weeks and eventually you'll start feeling like normal again.' And I said, 'Well, what's normal?' After six weeks, this big cloud seemed to lift off me. It was great."

Butler previously discussed his depression battles last August in an interview with NPR's "Bullseye With Jesse Thorn". He said at the time: "Well, I wasn't depressed all the time. Just the occasional bout would come on me. At first, when it was getting really bad… Back then nobody ever said anything about depression or anything like that, and people were terrified to mention that you might be depressed 'cause you automatically thought you were gonna be taken away to a mental hospital and be locked away forever. So you couldn't talk about it to people in case that happened. One day I got a really bad bout of depression and I went to the doctor and he said, 'Oh, go down the pub and have a couple of pints. Or take the dog for a walk or something. You'll be all right.' And it was, like, 'No, I'm not gonna be all right. It doesn't work like that.' And that kept happening. And it wasn't until, I think in the 1990s. I was living in St. Louis at the time, and I had a bit of a nervous breakdown. And I went to this doctor, the usual doctor, and I just explained everything to him and he told me that I was clinically depressed and he put me on Prozac. And after six weeks, I finally came out of the depression. And I thought, 'Oh, yeah. This is what I'm supposed to feel like.' And ever since that, I've been okay."

Butler reiterated that he "couldn't talk about" his depression with anyone. "And when I did get depression, people used to think I was moody and miserable," he said. "And they'd be going, 'Well, what's the matter with you? What's happened to you?' And nothing bad had happened. So they were saying, 'You've got all the money you want, you've got your house, you've got your cars and everything. What's wrong with you? Cheer up.' And they couldn't understand that it's nothing like that. You can have everything you can possibly want in the world, but when you get into those dark, depressing days, nothing matters. All you think about is, like, 'So I'll just end it or what.' And luckily I used to come out of it."

Asked if he felt any shame about the way that he had felt and behaved when he was depressed, Geezer said: "Not really shame. I just wish people could have [understood] that I wasn't miserable at the time. 'Cause if you're a rock star or whatever, if you're in a band, you're supposed to be this happy person and you're up all the time and everything is available to you and you can do this, you can do that. And you're not supposed to get depressed if you're a rock star and all that kind of thing. It was just hard coming to terms with it and admitting that's where it was. And it was just the occasional thing. I wasn't depressed all the time or anything like that. It's just that when I'd get into those black holes, I just couldn't get out of it. And it wasn't until it was diagnosed that I finally found a way out of it."

A couple of months earlier, Geezer told Uncut that he "started cutting" himself to get relief from his depression because he couldn't talk to anybody about how he was feeling. "Nobody talked about it and nobody understood it," he said. "One day I cut myself so deeply that I couldn't stop the blood. People used to think I was really moody, but it was when the depression hit me I couldn't get out of it, I couldn't talk to people. People used to think I was miserable.”

Butler explained how he started taking antidepressants during a tour of America and has remained medicated since. He said: "Then I wrote the song 'Paranoid' which is all about mental health stuff and it wasn't until ages after that that I went to the doctor and they gave me pills. I had a mental breakdown, went to a doctor in America and he put me on Prozac. After about six weeks on that, the depression started lifting. I've been on various antidepressants ever since."

The bassist added that he has a "big black hole" inside of him and called it a disease. Butler added: "I enjoyed the success of the album, absolutely. People would say, 'You've got all this money coming in. You've got a No 1 album. What have you got to be depressed about?' It's like a disease. There's nothing you can do about it, no matter how much money you've got or how happy you are with your job.

Butler continued: "When you're in it, you don’t think you're going to get out of it. I'd go into this big black hole. And once you're in it, you can't remember what normal life was like. People used to think if you were depressed, that you were antisocial, miserable."

Butler is promoting his autobiography, "Into The Void: From Birth To Black Sabbath – And Beyond", which was released in June 2023 in North America via HarperCollins imprint Dey Street Books.

BLACK SABBATH guitarist Tony Iommi recently announced a new signature cologne, another collaboration with Italian luxury perfume house Xerjoff.

A combination of forces that play on the palindromic nature of sound, scent and sensorial sequences, Tony Iommi Deified is the new Xerjoff venture that presents Deified perfume with a soon-to-come soundtrack and music video.

Created on a duality of leather and spice, Deified plays in a loop with no beginning and no end, accompanying the wearer with its omnipresent aura. Authentic and warm accents of saffron meet powdery and leathery facets that dance with the delicate touch of gourmand freshness. Cinnamon exalts spicier notes, complemented by gentle rose at the heart. The woody base of papyrus and patchouli leaves the senses longing for more in a rhythmic exchange of back and forth.

Step into a parallel universe where mystery possesses the mind in a dark and decadent experience that casts subliminal shadows on the wearer.

The official "Deified" soundtrack and music video will arrive on Friday, July 26 at 4 p.m. BST.

A new video in which Iommi and Sergio Momo, acclaimed perfumer and designer for Xerjoff, chat about "Deified" — the new track, perfume and music video — with Julian Marszalek and Suzy Nightingale can be seen below.

Regarding how the "Deified" song came together, Iommi said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Well, it's the same way as I've done most stuff, really. I come up with a riff, and then [my engineer] Mike Exeter, I'd put the riff down, and he'd put a programmed-drum thing to it. And he'd play bass or keyboards or something, just to make it something to present, really. And then, in our case, then it would go to Sergio and see if he likes it, and then he'd do his part. And then we'd go in the studio with the drummer, and he'd put the drums on and bass. So we do it that sort of way, really."

He continued: "Doing the [recordings] live [in the studio], I haven't done [anything] where we all played live for a good many years. Well, the last album, '13', when we'd done that with SABBATH, was all live. But you tend to sort of, especially in our state, where Sergio's in Italy and we're here in England. It works just to send the ideas and see what he thinks. Or when he's come over, play him something. And he said, 'Oh, I like that.' As we did with [our first collaboration] 'Scent Of Dark'. We played a few things. And that's it. And he went away and came up with some bits."

For more information, visit www.xerjoff.com.

Iommi's first signature cologne arrived in 2021. At the time, it was described as the product of a friendship struck up during the pandemic between Iommi and Momo. Sergio is also an accomplished guitarist, and his fine fretwork could be heard on "Scent Of Dark", a song Iommi released to promote is first cologne.

While the realm of high-end fragrancies and the uncompromising heavy music that Iommi is known for might not at first seem to make viable bedfellows, the guitarist's interests in fragrances actually stretches far back to the early days of BLACK SABBATH.

"It's something I've always been interested in, ever since the early days of products like Brut and Old Spice, which I'd always get given for Christmas," remembered Tony. "Once I started touring the world with SABBATH though, I started discovering different sorts of fragrancies from other countries and began collecting them on tour.

"I met Sergio through another friend of mine Jimmy Crutchley (who plays bass on 'Scent Of Dark') and Sergio kindly sent me a box of his fragrances and asked if I'd be interested in creating my own, which I certainly wasn't expecting," laughed Iommi. "I had no idea how that would work, but Sergio suggested I come up with a list of things I like the smell of, which I did. He developed some different samples made up from my suggestions and I picked the one I liked; the project moved forward from there."

For his first cologne, Tony brought in the aromatic reminiscence of rock in the 1960s and 1970s, festivals and gatherings, amber and patchouli. The final result harmoniously characterized the dark sound of Iommi's original famous '64 Monkey Special guitar with the spicy and seductive scents.

From the start, Tony has been instrumental in creating his fragrance. "I wouldn't put my name to something that I haven't been involved in and didn't personally like or use," he explained. "That's been the same with all of the projects I've done from guitars onwards, this is no different."

In a November 2021 interview with Rolling Stone, Iommi stated about his interest in cologne: "Ever since [BLACK SABBATH] went on tour to the States, really, I started getting more and more into it. I'd go to the mall or stores, and I'd buy some different perfumes and scents until I'd find one that I really like. And then I'd stick to one for a while. Then I'd change, from Cartier to Tom Ford, or whatever. I've been doing that for years. Now I've got my own custom ones — an abundance of them now."

Asked which aromas he liked best when he first started working with Sergio, Tony said: "Oh, God. I think some of them threw him because a couple of the samples were horrible. But others were great. I like the smell of when you get in a new car, the leather smell, and obviously coffee and just stuff like that. Patchouli is the main ingredient in this perfume, which just goes back to the '60s. I knew the smell of patchouli in them days; they used to use it to mask the smell of people smoking dope. [Laughs]"

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KINGS OF THRASH, the band featuring former MEGADETH members David Ellefson (bass) and Jeff Young (guitar),kicked off a five-date tour of Australia on July 23 at The Baso in Canberra. 4K fan-filmed video of the entire concert can be seen below.

For his first time in Australia, another former MEGADETH member, guitarist Chris Poland, has joined KINGS OF THRASH to perform the MEGADETH album "Peace Sells... But Who's Buying?" in its entirety plus a best-of set.

If you were lucky enough to catch KINGS OF THRASH on the band's last tour of Australia in 2023, the shows were packed to the rafters and the VIP experience packages were sold out across the board. The fans were left wanting more. So, the promoters asked the fans: What would they want for a follow-up tour of KINGS OF THRASH in Australia? The resounding, definitive answer was what will now be known as the KINGS OF THRASH "Wake Up… Australia!" tour.

Remaining tour dates:

July 25 - Sydney - Crowbar
July 26 - Adelaide - Lion Arts Factory
July 27 - Melbourne - Max Watts

KINGS OF THRASH recently completed a couple of tours during which it performed MEGADETH's classic albums "Killing Is My Business… And Business Is Good!" and "So Far, So Good… So What!" A live CD/DVD package called "Best Of The West…Live At The Whisky A Go Go" was recorded and filmed live at the legendary Whisky A Go Go in West Hollywood, California on October 15, 2022 and was released in March 2023 via Cleopatra Records. The DVD, which was directed by Michael Sarna for Inmotion Entertainment, includes an appearance by Poland.

"Let me put it this way: What's happening now is a win for all of us — Dave [Mustaine, MEGADETH leader] included," Young told Metal Edge in August 2023. "He gets to make money off the publishing from the MEGADETH songs we play. Dave knows that, so he's very aware of us."

Young continued: "He hates what KINGS OF THRASH is doing. But it doesn't matter because, eventually, we'll delete a lot of the MEGADETH from our set, and we'll keep writing new stuff. But Dave is feeling the heat because we're getting attention, and the KINGS OF THRASH album will be better than anything MEGADETH has done recently. And we're playing all the MEGADETH songs better than he has in years. It's not just me saying that — read the reviews."

In January 2023, Young told Ultimate Guitar that he and Ellefson had not received any feedback from Mustaine about their new band or their recent live shows. "We couldn't care less… and it's a win-win for him," Jeff said. "Because all the publishing, for example, on the 'Best Of The West', he's getting all that money. We're making him money and he doesn't have to do anything. So, we're performing the songs because they're part of our history and the fans want to hear them and we will benefit from that, and so will he, so it's a win-win. How much cooler can anything be than that? So, if he has something to say about it… I wouldn't imagine it would be very objective… not that anything he's ever said has been objective."

Jeff's recent comments were similar to those he made in 2022 when he told Thomas S. Orwat, Jr. of the Rock Interview Series that he and Ellefson were "really not concerned" about Mustaine's reaction to KINGS OF THRASH. "I don't pay attention," he said. "I haven't really paid attention or followed MEGADETH since, I think, I heard the 'Rust In Peace' album a couple of times, and then what you might hear on the radio or in the press.

"For us, this isn't about any spite or retaliation; it's a celebration of the music that we were all a part of, that we helped create," he explained. "And it's fun for us to do this.

"People said, 'You should do this.' And we said, 'Hey, yeah, you're right. We should do this.' It's a win-win — it's a win for us, and it's a win for [Mustaine], because any performance royalties, anything… If we did include live tracks, he would make money off that. It's promoting albums that hopefully fans will go back and buy, which is putting money right in his pocket. Especially 'Killing Is My Business', I think a lot of people are gonna go back and wanna rediscover that album after this tour.

"For us, it's all about positivity," Young added. "We're all in this moment — we're living in the moment, and we're not looking beyond. We're not reading any of the comments on Blabbermouth or any of the stuff. Because we know what our intent is, and intent is everything. And our intent's positive. We like playing together. We know we're crafting original music. We're not relying on this; we don't need to ride the coattails of this. This is just something that the fans wanted, and you wanna give fans what they want."

Ellefson told Yes! You CAN Play Guitar! that the intention behind KINGS OF THRASH is not to stick it to his former bandmates. "This is a celebration, not a retaliation," he explained. "This is a good moment. This is a happy moment, to celebrate these songs and these tracks and these records. So we go at it with just fun… It's, like, 'Wow. Wouldn't it be fun if we went out and played these records?' And we're doing it. So it's meant to be this celebration and bringing people together. And honestly, that was kind of always my role in MEGADETH. Dave [Mustaine] always called me 'The Ambassador', and I was always that guy, and I am that guy. So it's, like, let me just continue that role in our community and have one of good will."

Ellefson was fired from MEGADETH almost three years ago after sexually tinged messages and explicit video footage involving the bassist were posted on Twitter.

David was in MEGADETH from the band's inception in 1983 to 2002, and again from 2010 until his latest exit.

In 2004, Ellefson filed an $18.5-million lawsuit against Mustaine, alleging the MEGADETH leader shortchanged him on profits and backed out of a deal to turn Megadeth Inc. over to him when the band broke up in 2002. The lawsuit was eventually dismissed and Ellefson rejoined MEGADETH in 2010.

Young's entire career with MEGADETH was spent recording and touring in support of the band's 1988 platinum-selling album "So Far, So Good...So What!"

Jeff made headlines in December 2009 for accusing Mustaine of, among other things, "dissing, exaggerating and just plain lying on some level about nearly every talented musician that has passed through his dysfunctional little ensemble." He also disputed Mustaine's claim in an interview that Young's drug problem led to MEGADETH's 1988 Australian tour being called off and the group being "banned" from performing in the country.

In some recent interviews, Ellefson suggested that the upcoming original material from KINGS OF THRASH, which also includes drummer Fred Aching as well as guitarist/vocalist Chaz Leon, may be released under a different moniker. "Because, look, it doesn't have to be thrash," he told KNAC.COM. "It doesn't even have to be from a MEGADETH origin, really. Even though that was kind of the origin story, it doesn't have to sound like that. It should be us, who we are now today, I think. So, we've decided KINGS OF THRASH, for sure, is this [touring project] playing the music of yesterday. And then we're just deciding now, okay, this new music, to fit within that, should it be Jeff Young and David Ellefson doing something together? You know — ELLEFSON-YOUNG."

Italian metallers LACUNA COIL are putting the finishing touches on their new studio album.

Earlier today (Wednesday, July 24),LACUNA COIL bassist and main songwriter Marco "Maki" Coti-Zelati took to Instagram to share a photo from the studio, and he included the following message: "Getting closer to the end of the new album. I'm super happy about the result and super proud about my fellas! Few more days of editing, arrangements and mixing then finally we will be ready for the mastering. Thank you guys".

Last month, LACUNA COIL announced the departure of guitarist Diego Cavallotti.

Cavallotti, who joined LACUNA COIL in 2016, initially as a fill-in guitarist following the exit of Marco "Maus" Biazzi, later said in a social media post that "this decision is not the result of my dissatisfaction or desire to explore new opportunities."

When LACUNA COIL announced Cavallotti's departure on June 17, the band wrote in a statement: "As we step into a new cycle, writing and recording our next album, we are parting ways with Diego 'DD' Cavallotti. We thank him for the many unforgettable moments shared over the years and wish him the best of luck in his future endeavours.

"All future live plans remain unchanged and the new songs are taking form, we can't wait to share them with our fans."

LACUNA COIL recently completed the "Ignite The Fire" U.S. tour with support from NEW YEARS DAY and OCEANS OF SLUMBER.

In April, LACUNA COIL released another new single, "In The Mean Time", featuring Ash Costello of NEW YEARS DAY. The song's title is a reference to the mean times the world is living in, as well as a reference to the state the band itself is in, between cycles.

Last July, LACUNA COIL released the official lyric video for a new track called "Never Dawn". For the song, the band partnered with CMON, the renowned board game publisher behind the popular game "Zombicide".

In a recent interview with Brazil's Sonoridades Inc., LACUNA COIL singer Cristina Scabbia spoke about the progress of the writing and recording sessions for the band's follow-up to 2019's "Black Anima" album. She said: "I can't really tell you a lot. I can tell you that we are progressing very fast. We are almost, like, 100… We completed, let's say, the demoing. We still have to record the rest of the songs, but we will soon — probably after the tour, after the [May 2024] North American tour. And if everything goes as projected, before the end of the year [it] will be released. And that's already a big news, because we always say, 'We don't know. Maybe.' … I absolutely love the songs. I'm part of the process. But I'm very pleased."

Asked if "Never Dawn" will be on the upcoming album, Cristina said: "I think it will be. I think it will be, 'cause it will make sense. And it also fits with the other songs — it really fits with the other songs. Many heavy songs."

LACUNA COIL has spent some of the last couple of years promoting "Comalies XX", the "deconstructed" and "transported" version of the band's third album, "Comalies".

"Comalies XX" was made available on October 14, 2022 via Century Media Records.

LACUNA COIL celebrated the 20th anniversary of "Comalies", by performing it in its entirety at a one-night-only concert on October 15, 2022 at Fabrique in Milano.

"Comalies" was originally released on October 29, 2002 through Century Media Records. The LP, which featured the band's breakthrough single "Heaven's A Lie", has reportedly gone on to sell over 300,000 copies in the United States alone.

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Fan-filmed video of LAMB OF GOD's entire July 21 performance at the 713 Music Hall in Houston, Texas can be seen below.

The band's setlist was as follows:

"Ashes Of The Wake" album

01. Laid To Rest
02. Hourglass
03. Now You've Got Something To Die For
04. The Faded Line
05. Omerta
06. Blood Of The Scribe
07. One Gun
08. Break You
09. What I've Become
10. Ashes Of The Wake
11. Remorse Is For The Dead

Encore:

12. Memento Mori
13. Redneck

LAMB OF GOD launched its "Ashes Of Leviathan" co-headlining tour with MASTODON on July 19 in Austin, Texas. The trek, dubbed "Ashes Of Leviathan", also features openers KERRY KING and MALEVOLENCE.

"Ashes Of Leviathan" celebrates the 20th anniversary of LAMB OF GOD's "Ashes Of The Wake" and MASTODON's "Leviathan" albums, both of which were released on the same date in 2004 (August 31).

Roundly regarded as a cornerstone of modern metal, "Ashes Of The Wake" also features beloved songs such as "Now You've Got Something To Die For", "Omerta" and the blistering "Hourglass". On August 30, Epic Records and Legacy Recordings mark the two-decade anniversary of the pivotal release with "Ashes Of The Wake (20th Anniversary Edition)", featuring new mixes by Justin K Broadrick (GODFLESH, JESU),HEALTH and KUBLAI KHAN TX and MALEVOLENCE, as well as demo and live versions of the album's classic songs.

LAMB OF GOD's webstore features a trio of exclusive items marking the 20th anniversary: Yellow Smoke 2LP vinyl, a 2CD set, and a commemorative "Ashes Of The Wake" t-shirt. Two additional vinyl variants, a standard black and a Project M exclusive white/black/red swirl offering, as well as 2CD, and digital, are also available now for preorder/pre-saves at this location. All formats include the trio of new remixes and live recordings of "Remorse Is For The Dead" and "Now You've Got Something To Die For", while the 2CD and digital versions include demo versions of "Laid To Rest", "Ashes Of The Wake" and "Remorse Is For The Dead".

Revolver recently announced a special issue dedicated to LAMB OF GOD and "Ashes Of The Wake". The limited-edition print magazine features commentary from JUDAS PRIEST's Rob Halford, GOJIRA's Joe Duplantier and "Ashes Of Leviathan" touring partner Troy Sanders (MASTODON),as well as multiple behind-the-scenes photos and the history behind the seminal album.

LAMB OF GOD is Randy Blythe (vocals),John Campbell (bass),Mark Morton (guitar),Willie Adler (guitar) and Art Cruz (drums). Formed in 1994, the Richmond, Virginia-based band have released nine critically acclaimed albums, received five Grammy Award nominations and are widely regarded as one of the most influential and innovative forces in heavy music. The band's most recent collection, "Omens", arrived in late 2022, with Kerrang! noting that the album finds the band "as reliably heavy, violent, and pissed off as ever," and Consequence saying the "album will break you down to nihilistic pieces."