Northeast based agents of terror Vomit Forth are driven to create the most visceral death metal the world has ever experienced. They have announced their new album Terrified Of God, set for release October 11 through Century Media Records. In the deep winter of early 2024, the band headed into a cabin in the woods with Randy Lebouf (The Acacia Strain, Jesus Piece), who recorded, mixed, mastered and produced the album. Vomit Forth had an unabashed goal to make “the most unsettling, brutal and scary death metal record of all time” and across the album’s twelve tracks, they surpass it.


Preorder Terrified Of God here.


On the album’s themes, vocalist Kane shares:




“The biggest thing I want to get across with this record and that humanity doesn’t know everything. We are flawed, and in a lot of ways disgusting.  We act like we aren’t afraid of what happens after we die. I know most people like to think nothing happens and we just conduct heat.  That there’s no consequence other than how we effect other people during our time here, but I know there’s a hint of fear in the back of everyone’s mind.  Everyone feels it.  Not a single person on this earth lives without being Terrified of God at one point or another in their life.”


Vomit Forth shared the brutal early single “Blood Soaked Death Dream” in late May, and now follow it with “Rotting Wool.” The track is an exercise in brutality, pummeling audiences with angular riffs and relentless drums from the first beat of the song. The vocals effortlessly shift from guttural howls to anguished screams and moments of grunge-tinged clean vocals. A willingness to explore and incorporate influences from across a wide sonic landscape has always set Vomit Forth apart from their metal peers, with this latest song expanding on that ambition even further. The official music video shifts between gore filled 'found footage' montages and grainy shots of the band performing the song, creating an aura of disgust and terror throughout.


Kane adds on the dark and introspective track:


“‘Rotting Wool’ is about how even though we try to deceive ourselves and each other we can’t ultimately hide from the truth.  In the end we all find out if it was all worth it.  We can’t hide from it. Our own failures, insecurities, and inner pain.  We can put the wool over our eyes, but it will eventually fall away.”





Tracklisting:


“Victim Impact Statement”
“Sacred Apple”
“Blood Soaked Death Dream”
“Negative Penance”
“Blood Lead Index”
“Poison Child”
“Fixation On The Narrative”
“Non Responsive”
“Terrified Of God”
“Fear Of Retaliation”
“Rotting Wool”
“Salt”


“Rotting Wool” video:





(Photo – Fin Geiger)

Tonight’s Decision, Katatonia’s debut release for Peaceville Records, was the band's fourth album and found the Swedes further developing the more structured style explored on their previous album Discouraged Ones. 


Immediately heralded as a classic by fans, Tonight’s Decision stylistically builds on the refined 'shoegazing' qualities of their previous album, while simultaneously exploring the more impactful metallic possibilities of the evolving Katatonia sound. Jonas's growing interest in singer/songwriters is reflected in the album's sound, and wonderfully exemplified by the thoughtful and moving rendition of Jeff Buckley’s Nightmares By The Sea. The brilliant combination of Anders’ haunting guitar work and Jonas's potent lyrics evokes images of urban decay and emotional turmoil in a way unique to this always searching band.


Tonight's Decision was recorded at the legendary Sunlight Studios in Sweden, with drums on the album performed by metal maestro, Dan Swanö.




This limited blue marble pressing of Tonight's Decision marks the album's 25th anniversary and features a new half-speed master for improved sound clarity.





Tracklistsing:


Side A
“For My Demons”
“I Am Nothing”
“In Death, A Song”
“Strained”
“This Punishment”
“Right Into The Bliss”


Side B
“No Good Can Come Of This”
“Had To (Leave)”
“A Darkness Coming”
“Nightmares By The Sea”
“Black Session”

After an extended period of frantic inactivity on the recording front, Swiss/German avant-garde extreme metal group Triptykon are convening in 2024 to focus on the completion and recording of material for the band's long-awaited fourth album.


The album is scheduled to be released by long-time music industry partners Century Media Records/Sony Music Entertainment in 2025. For this purpose, Triptykon (via the group's own label Prowling Death Records) signed a new, vastly enhanced licensing agreement with CMR/SME on 1 June 2024. It is likely that an EP or onstage glimpses of Triptykon's new music will precede the album.


Once the songwriting and arrangement sessions at the band's base in Zurich, Switzerland, are concluded to the band's satisfaction, Triptykon will relocate to guitarist V. Santura's own studios in Bavaria, Germany, to conduct recording and mixing sessions. The album will again be produced by V. Santura and Tom Gabriel Warrior.




In light of the fact that Triptykon was established as the direct successor to Celtic Frost, there also exists an emblematic undertone to these sessions, as they are taking place exactly 40 years after Celtic Frost commenced work on that band's debut album, "Morbid Tales".
Triptykon: Tom Gabriel Warrior (voice/guitar), Vanja Slajh (bass), V. Santura (guitar/vocals), Hannes Grossmann (drums/percussion). Triptykon are managed by Miles Hackett and represented by Jörg Düsedau for Dragon Productions.


Triptykon's previous album releases: Eparistera Daimones (2010), Melana Chasmata (2014), Requiem - Live At Roadburn 2019 (2020).


(Triptykon line-up shot by Roland Moeck/Arkana PhotoArt, Sweden, 2023)

With their fourth album, Dancing With Angels, just a breath away (out July 24), LA-based collective Beauty In Chaos throws open the gates to the darkwave realm, sharing a stunning music video for "Holy Ground". A lush offering that features the unforgettable vocals of Patrik Mata of seminal darkwave band Kommunity FK, this marks a thrilling departure from BIC's signature goth rock / postpunk sound.


Formed in 2018 by guitarist Michael Ciravolo (formerly of Human Drama and Gene Loves Jezebel and currently President of Schecter Guitars) with Grammy nominated producer Michael Rozon (Ministry), Beauty in Chaos is a revolving evolving sonic entity. To date, BIC has involved numerous luminaries from The Cure, Ministry, Cheap Trick, The Offspring, Gene Loves Jezebel, Marilyn Manson, Human Drama, Bauhaus, Nine Inch Nails, Van Halen, A Flock of Seagulls, dUg Pinnick (Kings X), Ice-T, guitar icon Zakk Wylde, Rolan Bolan, among others.


“I love swinging the pendulum as far opposite as possible from our previous video. I think 'Holy Ground' faithfully captures the sights and sounds of the great mid ‘80s darkwave scene that revolved around Los Angeles’ famed Scream club. This was such a great time in music. This is when I actually first met Patrik, as we shared several bills with them when I was a member of Human Drama," says Michael Ciravolo.




Both Human Drama and Kommunity FK appeared on Geffen’s 1987 Scream Compilation, with the latter gaining well-deserved fame for their MTV and club hit "Something Inside Me Has Died". Patrik Mata is currently working with Dave Roberts (Sex Gang Children) in a new project, called Kult Children Ov The Damned.  


As for the story behind "Holy Ground", Patrik Mata shares, "A Watcher, a Supernatural Being, descends upon the planet below. He became transfixed, curious, & seduced by the women & Earthly pleasures & mysteries found. Ever since The Beginning this Being roamed the Earth creating Nephilim. What seems like an Eternity, The Being becomes a Fallen Angel, jaded, decadent, & tired having used & having been through every Earthling on the planet. The Fallen Angel shares its interpretation ov how this planet used to be considered Holy Ground, but now it is not. The only thing that The Fallen Angel yearns for is to return back Home. Back to The Gate.”





Released via 33.3 Music Collective, the Dancing With Angels album cements BIC's legacy for crafting captivating and imagination-stirring music with eight diverse, riveting tracks on offer. Michael Ciravolo explains, "The title was inspired by a painting from a talented German artist Maren Platzhoff, which also became the album’s cover.  As Michael Rozon and I began writing the music for this release, I knew I wanted to blend artists from our first two releases with some amazing new members to our BIC family."


This eight song release features BIC alumni Ashton Nyte, Holy Wars firecracker Kat Leon, and both Wayne and Cinthya Hussey.  Ciravolo shares, “I love bringing in ‘less famous’ but certainly no less talented artists to the fold, and I think this album does just that." Leo Luganskiy (Strangelove), Julian Shah-Tayler (The Singularity), former Silence In The Snow frontwoman Cynthia Isabella, The Bellwether Syndicate’s William and Sarah Faith, and Patrik Mata (Kommunity FK) bring immense and diverse talents to Dancing With Angels.  


Ciravolo describes this album as sort of a "sonic regression and a sonic progression", noting, “I meant this as a positive thing, taking some of the post-rock elements of our debut album, the stark dark bits that run through ‘The Storm Before The Calm' and the gothy dreamy-gaze of  'Behind The Veil’. It was definitely going a bit backwards to take a few steps forward!”  


Speaking of going forward, this album in its CD format includes something that Ciravolo has long wanted to do... joining the songs together with musical interludes, which he has dubbed ‘Halos’. Ciravolo explains, “These are unique soundscape interludes that sonically tie each song together, along with the album’s coda.  I do have this… probably unrealistic romantic idea that the listener will give this album at least one top-to-bottom uninterrupted listen”.


The album's lead track 'Diving For Pearls' features The Mission's Wayne Hussey and Cinthya Hussey, his wife and partner in Archeometre, accompanied by an overlapping-reality video, created by Vicente Cordero / Industrialism Films, The ‘single version’ was mixed by legendary producer Tim Palmer (The Cure, U2, David Bowie, Robert Plant, HIM, The Mission). Hussey's fourth BIC collaboration, Ciravolo says this “may just be the best we’ve written together”.





Tracklisting:


"Present Tense" ft. William Faith and Sarah Rose Faith
"The Devil You Know" ft. Kat Leon
"Diving For Pearls" ft. Wayne Hussey and Cinthya Hussey
"Echoes And The Angels" ft. Leo Luganskiy  
"Kiss Me (Goodbye)" ft. Julian Shah Tayler
"Hollow" ft. Cynthia Isabella
"Holy Ground" ft. Patrik Mata  
"Made Of Rain" ft. Ashton Nyte


"Diving For Pearls" video:





"Kiss Me (Goodbye)" video:





(Photo - Kevin Estrada)

Legendary US thrash metal band, Hirax, have released a video for their new single, "Relentless". It was directed by Domenic Giorgi at Side B Films (Australia). Watch below:





"Relentless" is taken from the new 7" vinyl EP, Faster Than Death, for the band's upcoming European tour in August. First single, "Drill Into The Brain", is streaming below.




Details:


- Two coloured versions, each strictly limited to 250 copies
- First four tracks from upcoming full-length album
- Exclusively mixed by legendary producer Bill Metoyer
- Housed in a noble gatefold with glossy lamination
- Artwork by Thomas Pinheiro.
- Includes Hirax / Exumer tour 2024 poster





Tracklisting:


"Drill Into The Brain"
"Drowned Bodies"
"Faster Than Death"
"Relentless"


"Drill Into The Brain":





This release will be available August 1 on doomentia.com, and on the band's tour with Exumer.





Tour dates:


August
3 - Wacken, Germany - Wacken Open Air
5 - Krakow, Poland - Kamienna 12
6 - Warsaw, Poland - "Hydrozagadka
7 - Jaromer, Czech Republic - Brutal Assault Festival
8 - Vienna, Austria - Escape
9 - Passau, Germany - Zauberberg
10 - Selb (GER) "Nordclub Bayern
11 - Kortijk, Belgium - Alcatraz Fest
12 - London, UK - 02 Islington Academy (with Exodus)
13 - Plymouth, UK - Junction
14 - The Hague, Netherlands - Musicon
15 - Doetinchem, Netherlands - Engelenbak
16 - Rheine, Germany - Hypothalamus (with Flotsam And Jetsam)
18 - Carhaix, France - Motocultor Festival

Me And That Man - the folk outfit fronted by Behemoth's Adam "Nergal" Darski - played upon the W:E:T Stage at the 2022 edition of Germany's Wacken Open Air festival, and welcomed a special guest.


Professionally-filmed video of the band performing the tracks "My Church Is Black", "Burning Churches", and "Losing My Blues" (feat. Frank the Baptist), can be viewed below:







Behemoth are currently out on their "O Father, O Satan, O Svmmer" European tour, minus drummer Zbigniew Robert Promiński (stage name Inferno), who was forced to set out the trek due to health issues. Stepping in is Jon Rice (Uncle Acid & The Deadbeats).


Remaining dates for Behemoth's "O Father, O Satan, O Svmmer" European tour are listed below.





July
16 - Uppsala, Sweden - Parksnäckan (with Testament)
18 - Laukaa, Finland - John Smith Rock Festival
19 - Tallinn, Estonia - Noblessner Foundry (with Testament)
21 - Warsaw, Poland - Progresja Summer Stage (with Testament, Gaerea)
23 - Kosice, Slovakia - Kulturpark (with Testament, Gaerea)
25 - Tolmin, Slovenia - Tolminator Festival
27 - Sofia, Bulgaria - Arena Sofia (with Testament, Pestilence)
28 - Athens, Greece - Release Festival (with Testament)
30 - Rasnov, Romania - Rockstadt Extreme Fest


August
1 - Bergen, Norway - Beyond The Gates
3 - Wacken, Germany - Wacken Open Air
4 - Saint-Maurice-de-Gourdans, France - Sylak Open Air
7 - Villena, Spain - Leyendas Del Rock
9 - Schlotheim, Germany - Party San Open Air
10 - Jaromer, Czech Republic - Brutal Assault
11 - Heidelberg, Germany - Halle 2 (with UADA, Imperial Triumphant)
13 - Fontaneta D'Agogna, Italy - Phenomen (with Unto Others, Imperial Triumphant)
15 - Dinkelsbühl, Germany - Summer Breeze
16 - Vallamand, Switzerland - Rock The Lakes
17 - Sulingen, Germany - Reload Festival

Germany’s Lord Of The Lost  have revealed their live cover version of “Ruins”, cut from their upcoming live album, Live At W:O:A, out August 2 via Napalm Records! The single is originally featured on their Napalm Records studio album debut, Thornstar (2018, #6 Official German Album Charts).


After two European tours with Iron Maiden, participation in the Eurovision Song Contest finals, a #1 charting album, and an almost completely sold out European tour, the band played their first ever mainstage performance at Wacken Open Air in 2023, when they closed the festival day as “deadliners” after Iron Maiden. The set was recorded and will be released as Live At W:O:A, which is “a dream come true”, as Chris Harms stated during the show.







Live At W:O:A will be available in the following formats:


- 3-CD Digipak (CD/DVD/BD), 12p Booklet
- 3-CD Earbook (CD/DVD/BD)
- Digital Album





Pre-order here.





Live At W:O:A tracklisting:


"Lighting The Way" (Intro)
"The Curtain Falls"
"Morgana"
"Kill It With Fire"
"The Future Of A Past Life"
"Dry The Rain"
"Under The Sun"
"Herz An Herz"
"The Look"
"Ruins"
"Blood & Glitter"
"Full Metal Whore"
"Destruction Manual"
"Blood For Blood"
"Loreley"
"Die Tomorrow"
"Drag Me To Hell"
"La Bomba"


"Herz An Herz" + "The Look" video:





"Drag Me To Hell" video:





Lord Of The Lost are:


Chris Harms – Vocals, Guitar
Pi Stoffers – Guitar
Class Grenayde – Bass
Gared Dirge – Piano, Synths, Percussion, Guitar
Niklas Kahl – Drums
Benjamin “Benji“ Mundigler – Keyboard, Guitar


(Photo - Lennard Schmitt)

German metal outfit, Knife, have once again entered into an alliance with the devouring depths of black and speed metal and unleash another angry beast, their new EP, Live Leather Hounds, out August 23 via Napalm Records.


Recorded during their “Evil Obsession Tour” with the mighty Sodom in 2023, this offering celebrates Knife's raging and boisterous live performances and unveils a powerful studio cover and feature with black thrash icons Desaster.


Knife return in full force with their official live video for “White Witch/Black Death”. This electrifying live experience captures the raw energy of the brutally infectious single and is a must-watch for any metal enthusiast. Don’t miss the chance to experience Knife's unyielding live spirit during their festival run or on their “Deutschland Into Dust Tour”.




Knife on the single and live music video: “‘White Witch/Black Death’ features all the trademarks of the Knife sound. Ferocious speed, howling guitars, thunderous bass, violent drums and screaming vocals – the essence of true Knife metal. This song is a highlight of our live shows, driving the crowd into pure metal mania. When the witch is calling, the pit is raging!”


Watch the official live video for “White Witch / Black Death” below.


Recorded at the Turbinenhalle in Oberhausen and the Obertraubling Eventhalle Airport in Regensburg, Live Leather Hounds showcases an energetic and organic mix of Knife's discography. The EP opens with the demonic “White Witch / Black Death”, followed by the swift transitions of dark, throbbing punk chords and dual tracks that sustain the tension on “Inside The Electric Church”, while “Black Leather Hounds” offers rough vocals infused with furious elements of heavy and black metal. Next track, the latest raging album title track, “Heaven Into Dust”, delivers the sharpest speed metal and is topped by the dashing punk attitude of “I Am The Priest”. The EP wraps up with the studio track and cover “Metalized Blood”. Accompanied by the vocalists of Desaster and Sacred Steel, the track guarantees the authentic sound of raw extreme metal.


Live Leather Hounds captures Knife's raw energy and relentless intensity, promising an electrifying experience for fans of extreme metal. Get ready to be blown away.


Knife on the release of their EP Live Leather Hounds: “With the release of the Live Leather Hounds EP, we want to say thank you to all our fans for the support for the past five years. After the pandemic, we played many shows and met so many great people, so we thought that capturing these moments was a fine way to raise the Knife to the true Black Leather Hounds. The EP gives you the true raw Knife experience, no bullshit. So, join the pack! The Leather Hounds are still on the prowl! See you on the road." - Ferli, Gypsy, Laz, Vince Nihil





Live Leather Hounds will be available in the following formats:


- 1LP Translucent Red Slipcase (Napalm Records Mailorder exclusive) – strictly ltd to 100 copies worldwide
- 1LP White Slipcase (Napalm Records Mailorder exclusive) – strictly ltd to 100 copies worldwide
- Digital Album


Pre-order here.





Live Leather Hounds tracklisting:


"White Witch / Black Death"
"Inside The Electric Church"
"Black Leather Hounds"
"Heaven Into Dust"
"I Am The Priest"
"Metalized Blood" feat. Guido "Sataniac" Wissmann, Gerrit P. Mutz
 
"White Witch / Black Death" live video:





Knife are:


Ferli Coltello - Drums
Laz Cultro - Guitars
Vince Nihil - Vocals
Gypsy Danger - Bass


(Photo - Samira Chiara Tax)

Nightrage have released a lyric video for "Nocturnal Thorns", a track from their 10th album, Remains Of A Dead World, released back in May via Despotz Records worldwide as CD, LP and digital. Find the clip below.


With the great help of their past bandmate and now producer, sound engineer, Fotis Benardo (Rotting Christ, Septicflesh, Sakis Tolis, Nightfall, On Thorns I lay, Suicidal Angels) at his Devasoundz studio in Athens Greece, and with his great producing skills, Remains Of A Dead World is a mixture of all the things that makes Nightrage a beast of integrity, they prove to be one of the last remaining true masters of the melodic death metal genre, fully unstoppable riffing, and great hooks with bigger than life guitar melodies with brutal vocals that represents the honesty and pure musical delivery, that comes straight from the heart.


The album has been mastered by a great friend of the band George Nerantzis (Abbath, Dark Funeral, Pain Of Salvation, Sakis Tolis) and his great skills gave the album a huge sound with clarity, power and analog flavor.







Tracklisting:


"Euphoria Within Chaos"
"Persevere Through Adversity"
"Nocturnal Thorns"
"A Throne Of Melancholy"
"Dark Light"
"Echoes Of Broken Words"
"Deadliest Sin"
"Pierce The Soul"
"Obey The Hand"
"Remains Of A Dead World"


"Nocturnal Thorns" lyric video:





"Persevere Through Adversity" video:





"A Throne Of Melancholy" video;





"Euphoria Within Chaos" video:

Today, esteemed rock vocalist and guitarist, Mike Tramp, shares "Lonely Nights", a new single from his upcoming album, Songs Of White Lion - Vol. II, which will drop on August 23 via Frontiers Music Srl. The album's ten tracks once again see Tramp re-imagining select cuts from his former band White Lion. "Lonely Nights" is accompanied by a new visualizer, available below.


Mike Tramp comments on the new release: "Would Leonardo Da Vinci have re-painted Mona Lisa, if he had gotten a second chance? That we will never know, but I can say for sure, that I am beyond thrilled to have gotten a second chance to re-record and sing the songs I wrote between 1983 -1990. Today I have such a better understanding of how I want to express the songs in my voice than I had when I was in my 20’s, it’s just a fact, and I’ve grabbed the chance. 'Songs Of White Lion' is a whole new chapter, matter of fact it is current."


Tramp will embark on an extended tour supporting Songs Of White Lion - Vol.II starting in the mid-August. A current list of dates can be found here.




Mike Tramp came to prominence in the music world with White Lion, who formed in 1983. After signing to Atlantic Records, the band enjoyed great success with their second album Pride in 1987, which included the hits "Wait" and "When The Children Cry". The band's third album, Big Game (1991), and fourth album, Mane Attraction (1992) continued the band's winning streak, but ultimately White Lion disbanded in 1992.


After White Lion, Tramp formed the hard rock band Freak Of Nature, who had a decidedly darker and harder vibe than White Lion. Freak Of Nature would release three studio albums before disbanding in 1996. In 1998, Tramp kicked off his solo career with the album, Capricorn; in 2002, his second solo album Recovering The Wasted Years was released. Tramp would then take a break from his solo career from 2004-2008 to tour and record under the name Mike Tramp's White Lion and eventually under the name White Lion, releasing the album Return Of The Pride in 2008.


Since 2009, Tramp has been writing and recording as a solo artist releasing nine studio albums, including his most recent, 2022's For Første Gang. He has also been a consistent presence on the road, both as an acoustic solo artist and with a backing band, with no plans of slowing down anytime soon.


Pre-order Songs Of White Lion - Vol. 2 here.





Tracklisting:


"Lights & Thunder"
"Lonely Nights"
"Till Death Do Us Part"
"El Salvador"
"The Road To Valhalla"
"Don't Give Up"
"You're AII I Need"
"Out With The Boys"
"All You Need Is Rock'n’Roll"
"Farewell To You"


"Lonely Nights" visualizer:





"Lights & Thunder" video:





(Photo - Jakob Muxoll)

Dublin, Ireland-based Pagan metallers, Primordial, today unveil their video for "Nothing New Under The Sun". The track comes by way of the band's How It Ends full-length, released last fall via Metal Blade Records.


Comments vocalist A. A. Nemtheanga, "We knew the world would not be the same. A few people laughed, a few people cried, most people were silent. I remembered the line from the Hindu scripture, The Bhagavad-Gita; Vishnu is trying to persuade the Prince that he should do his duty and, to impress him, takes on his multi-armed form and says, 'Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds.' I suppose we all thought that, one way or another."







The "Nothing New Under The Sun" video comes in advance of Primordia's upcoming European festival run. The journey begins Friday, July 19, at Rock Unter Eichen and includes stops at some of Europe's most prestigious festivals including Wacken Open Air, Brutal Assault, and many more. Find the band's tour itinerary here.


Order How It Ends here.





How It Ends tracklisting:


"How It Ends"
"Ploughs To Rust, Swords To Dust"
"We Shall Not Serve"
"Traidisiúnta"
"Pilgrimage To The World's End"
"Nothing New Under The Sun"
"Call To Cernunnos"
"All Against All"
"Death Holy Death"
"Victory Has 1000 Fathers, Defeat Is An Orphan"


"Death Holy Death" video:





"How It Ends" video:





"Pilgrimage To The World's End" lyric video:





"Victory Has 1000 Fathers, Defeat Is An Orphan" video:





Primordial lineup:


A.A. Nemtheanga - vocals
Ciarán MacUilliam - guitar
Michael O'Floinn - guitar
Pól MacAmlaigh - bass
Simon O'Laoghaire - drums


(Photo - Fergal Flannery)

A Rising Force is an all-original Minnesota rock act that signed their initial record deal with the HighVolMusic Label in December of 2020 in the middle of the Covid pandemic. Their debut CD, Undertow, was originally released in May of 2021, and spawned three singles including "Love And War", "Crushed" and "Yesterdaze Hell".


Both “Crushed” and “Yesterdaze Hell” charted in rock radio at #2 and #5 for the entire month of August on internet radio 97 Underground. Unfortunately, the untimely death of their Record Company President and Vice President Bill and Lori Chavis to Covid 19 put the release of their next single and video for the title track “Undertow” on hold, forcing the band to navigate through the legal challenges of retaining full ownership of their assets and rights to their music back.


The band then signed a new two+ album deal with Dark Star Records/Sony/Universal and re-released the first album, Undertow, after the first of the year along with the video that has a memorial to their late record company President and friend Bill Chavis. In May 2022, the band released their follow up Album, Eclipse,  and toured briefly in support of Warrant, Kix, Tesla and Firehouse. The song “Believe” spent 8 weeks on the Billboard rock charts.




After a successful run in 2022, the band was thrown a curve ball by their singer, and parted ways with David Reed Watson over “musical differences and direction”. Original bass player Brian Lorenson retired from performing live, and guitarist Billy Schlump joined forces with Legacy Of The Loud. Their second drummer, Petar Pouki, returned to his Led Zeppelin tribute band.


After a few months off, Leni DiMancari Was approached by his good friend Steve Philbrook from Platinum Overdose, to start writing and recording a new album together, with Matt Jacobs on bass and Michael Scott on drums. On the advice of the label, the band exercised their option album, and decided to call it A Rising Force instead of doing it as a solo effort between DiMancari & Philbrook.





Truth will be released on August 9 via Darkstar/Sony/Universal. Pre-order here.
 
The music on this album is incredibly well written and a hard driving effort, that has a very positive message to it. Stand out tracks include the first single, “Thrill Of A Lifetime", as well as “Come Alive”, and “Winters Calling".


Over the last four years, the band has performed for thousands of fans, capacity crowds and they sold out of the first pressings of the album Undertow and Eclipse, to become one of Darkstar Records best-selling artists. Guitarist Leni DiMancari is part of the ESP artist roster.


The music is guitar-driven commercial hard rock combined with 4-part harmonies, and all fronted by an arena rock lead vocalist.


Members:


Steve Philbrook - Lead Vocals/Guitars/Keys
Matt Jacobs - Bass/Vocals
Michael Scott - Drums/Vocals
Leni DiMancari - Lead Guitars/Vocals

It’s been almost four decades since their very first demo, Behind The Dark Mist. Yes, that long. And yes, 2025 will mark Loudblast's 40th birthday, with plenty of special events and surprises planned. But that will be next year.


For the time being, Loudblast have chosen instead to still live in the now and release in the meantime maybe the most surprising and daring album of their long career.


Even if he voluntary describes the material as “pretty old-school”, Stéphane Buriez talks about Altering Fates And Destinies as a very personal album. "It’s a good synthesis of what we stand for in 2024. We don’t forget where we come from yet we didn’t set any boundaries and vowed to do whatever the fuck we wanted.”




He continues : "Altering Fates And Destinies is a very dark album, powerful and more mid paced than its predecessors , it’s definitely one of our heaviest album so far in terms of patterns, sound and production wise."


A lyric video for the song "From Beyond II (The Return)" will be released on July 24. Watch a teaser below:





The band comments: "The opening song of  Altering Fates And Destinies has a “pretty old-school” vibe, this is a very organic and straight to the point song ‘From Beyond II (The Return)’ is also dwelling back in the Lovecraft mythos but also referencing Loudblast’s own history by offering a sequel to a track of our 1989 debut album, Sensorial Treatment which can also be read as the story of the beginning as a band."


Altering Fates And Destinies was produced and mastered by HK Krauss at Vamacara Studios. Artwork Khaos Diktator.





Tracklisting:


"From Beyond II (The Return)"
"Putrid Age of Decay"
"Crystal Skin"
"Miserable Failure"
"He Who Slumbers"
"Son Of Nameless Mist"
"Dark Allegiance"
"Inhale The Void"
"Cursed And Veiled"
"Fortress"
"They'll Never Catch The Glint of Sunlight Again" *
"The Path To The End" *
"Forbidden Pleasure" *


* Bonus track


Loudblast is:


Stéphane Buriez: Guitars/vocals
Frédéric Leclercq: Lead guitars/Bass
Nicklaus Bergen: Lead guitars
Hervé Coquerel: Drums


(Photo - Anthony Dubois)

Hailing from Brazil, female-fronted symphonic metal sensation Revengin is thrilled to announce their signing with Wormholedeath Records for the release of their highly anticipated new album, Dark Dogma Embrace, set to drop in early 2025. More details on this groundbreaking release will be revealed soon.


Formed in 2008 by a collective of seasoned musicians hailing from Rio de Janeiro, Revengin is here to melt your face with their brand of symphonic brutality.


To celebrate this monumental signing, the band unleashes their first single, "Circle of Mistakes", a sonic masterpiece that serves as a powerful introduction to the forthcoming album.




"Circle of Mistakes" is an anthem for self-awareness. Heavy, pummeling verses lay the foundation for a soaring, powerful chorus that lays bare the complexities of human nature. The song is a call to confront our weaknesses, for it's only through acceptance that we can truly break free. The track's closing section beautifully reflects this liberation, a soul unburdened from the shackles that held it back, ready to embrace its full potential.


The song's emotional depth is further amplified by the stunning music video. Scripted by Bruna Rocha and brought to life by director Felipe Borges, the video utilizes a striking color scheme of cyan and amber to symbolize human duality. Shadows and smoke weave a tapestry of emotional intensity, perfectly complementing the song's lyrical themes.





Revengin has already established themselves as a force to be reckoned with in the global heavy metal scene. They've toured extensively across Europe and South America, leaving audiences in awe in Slovakia, Poland, Hungary, Netherlands, Germany, and Argentina. Their impressive festival appearances include the legendary Rock in Rio, where they shared the stage with titans like Iron Maiden, Dream Theater, and Gojira.


The current lineup of Revengin features the formidable Bruna Rocha (vocals), the gutturally gifted Thiago Contrera (guitar), the shredding Themys Barros (guitar), the groove master Diego Pirozzi (bass), and the powerhouse Nacife jr (drums).


"Circle of Mistakes" is available now on all major digital platforms

In a new interview with El Cuartel Del Metal, EPICA singer Simone Simons discussed her upcoming debut solo album, "Vermillion", on which she collaborated with her longtime musical partner Arjen Lucassen (AYREON). Asked how long she has been planning the project, Simone said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Well, actively for, I guess, one and a half years, or one year even, with Arjen. We started, yeah, last year, I think springtime or so. But I talked to him about working together, I asked him if he wanted to work with me on my solo album already years ago, if he would be interested. And he was, but we were both just too busy. And last year, we also did the AYREON shows together; I was part of that. But already before those took place, we met up because he already started writing songs, and he always kind of wrote two, three songs and then I would come over to him to record vocals. And then a couple of months later he would have more songs. So it was not that all songs were there all at once. But we did it in a couple of sessions. And, yeah, EPICA was not touring a lot. And writing a new record for EPICA was kind of a little bit like at the end of the last vocal recordings for 'Vermillion'. EPICA was also in the studio, or writing camps, writing albums. So, for me, I guess this was the freest I could get my calendar, but I still had things going on. And in the past we were just touring too much. So the wish was always there, but not the time, also for Arjen because he's very busy as well. But now we were both motivated and had the time. The time was right now."

Regarding the first two singles from the LP, "Aeterna" and "In Love We Rust", Simone said: "Well, 'Aeterna' was the idea of Arjen to release as a first single track, because it is a little bit of a perfect blend of AYREON and EPICA; there's quite some similarities of both our music career, I guess. So it would be kind of a soft introduction to both our fans, to get warm with the project. But it's definitely not an indication of how the whole album sounds like; it's still very, very different. And 'In Love We Rust' is one of both Arjen and my favorite tracks of the album, and it's a beautiful ballad. Who doesn't like a ballad? And this month, there will be a third single, which will be a very heavy song. So I'm curious to see what people are gonna say about that. But all songs are brilliant and I like 'em all. They're like all babies in a way. But 'Aeterna', I felt a little bit sorry for Patric [Ullaeus] who did the video because it's a long song to do a video for. Nowadays singles are always three, max four minutes, and EPICA is always surpassing that, but, yeah, six minutes of supernovas, planets and many dresses. [Laughs]"

Arjen is no stranger to Simone's soaring operatic voice, one that can stir even a gargoyle's stone heart to tears. Together they have crafted a sonic universe that befits the influential figure she is. Due on August 23 via Nuclear Blast Records, "Vermillion" emerges as a gargantuan goose-bump generator, a universally touching, stellar tour de force.

Simone and Arjen previously stated about "Aeterna": "'Aeterna' is the big, epic opener of the album and it comes with this amazing video too, directed by Patric Ullaeus. It definitely sounds the closest to EPICA and AYREON, blending powerful Latin lyrics with a touch of an oriental feel. We've tried to strike a balance between the mighty, bombastic sounds and the more atmospheric parts. Since it's the first track people will hear from this album, it's super important to us and we're really excited for people to hear it!

"'Aeterna' takes the point of view of a star about to go supernova to explore how everything in the universe is interconnected, like a cosmic web made from stardust. It deals our deep emotions, consciousness and other mysteries of life that science still can't fully explain. Essentially it's a reflection on our place in the vast universe and the connections that bind us together, as we're all, to quote Carl Sagan, 'made of starstuff.'"

About "In Love We Rust", Simone and Arjen said: "The video was filmed in just one take to keep it as pure and raw as possible. We opted to keep it in black and white so as not to distract from the song or the performance.

"'In Love We Rust' is quite different from our first single 'Aeterna', which shows how diverse this album is. This is one of our favorite songs. We hope you love this as much as we do."

For more than 20 years, ever since she was a teenager, Simons has been carving her own path as a woman within the world of metal. As a lead singer, icon, and role model for a whole generation of female metalheads, the EPICA lead singer remains one of the most prominent key figures in all things metal. After eight albums and countless global tours with her band, Simone Simons finally found the time to release her first solo album — a moment 15 years in the making. Her breathtaking debut "Vermillion" is a stunning feat chronicling her storied past as well as her rise to fame, and showcasing her many different influences ranging from prog rock to film scores to metal to electronic elements.

Of the timing for her eagerly awaited foray into the realms of a solo career, the Dutch singer says with a disarming grin: "EPICA has my priority and I always have the liberty to do other musical projects besides my career in EPICA. Yet I never had the time to dive into a project to this extent."

"Vermillion" track listing:

01. Aeterna
02. In Love We Rust
03. Cradle To The Grave (feat. Alissa White-Gluz)
04. Fight Or Flight
05. Weight Of My World
06. Vermillion Dreams
07. The Core
08. Dystopia
09. R.E.D.
10. Dark Night Of The Soul

In a new interview with Anne Erickson of Audio Ink Radio, ex-FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH guitarist Jason Hook was asked if he still keeps in touch with any of his former bandmates. He responded: "I have the occasional text message with Ivan [Moody, FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH singer]. He's kind of the only one I really communicate with."

As for the possibility of his new band, FLAT BLACK, playing shows with FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH, Jason said: "That would be up to them. My guess is they probably wouldn't do that. But you never know. Whatever."

He added: "I don't know where their heads are at. I've just been completely disconnected from the whole thing since 2020."

Hook previously reflected on his exit from FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH earlier this month in an interview with the TODDCast Podcast. He said at the time: "Yeah, at the point where it happened, it was actually — I think it was time, on both sides. There were problems.

"I'm a leader, and there's a few leaders in that camp," he explained. "And I felt the urge to lead without my hands tied behind my back. And so it got to a point where it wasn't working for me anymore."

Asked how much of that was just looking for a new challenge, Hook said: "Well, I'm always looking for a new challenge, but the thing is we work so hard to get to that level of success. It's kind of, like… I'm also not delusional. You can't just keep creating that; that's a once-in-a-lifetime thing. And with that kind of a thing, you would work very hard and get to that level, and then it's sort of just like on a maintenance program. And so the heavy lifting had already been done.

"But, again, I just reached a point where I sort of wanted to have control over the things I was doing," he added. "So it was time for me."

Also earlier this month, Hook revealed to Talkin' Bout Rock that his December 2019 surgery to have his gallbladder removed was somewhat of an eye-opening experience in terms of his relationship with his then-bandmates. Hook's operation took place just hours after FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH was forced to postpone a show in Duluth, Minnesota. The final two concerts of FIVE FINGER's fall 2019 tour were also postponed: at CHI Health Center in Omaha, Nebraska and at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines, Iowa.

"It was horrible," Hook recalled. "In most cases, our body is just listening to our brain, and I was experiencing a tremendous amount of stress at that phase of that situation, and it caught up to me. Because I had asked, 'What makes something like this happen?' I'm, like, super healthy, take care of myself, blah, blah, blah, blah. And all the analysts and the doctors are, like, 'Well, stress can be a big component.' I'm, like, 'Well, that makes sense.' And it kind of freaked me out too, because I realized that you can die in a hotel room in the middle of nowhere and that's how it ends."

He continued: "I didn't feel like I was surrounded by anyone who cared about me. I was just sort of, like, 'Go see if he can play.' And then I'm, like, 'I can't. I've gotta go to the hospital.' And then everyone left. So, it's fine. But right after that, we were supposed to go to Europe and start all up again, and I'm just, like… [I thought] 'I'm not dying this way.' I'm not trying to be overly dramatic, but I saw what it was. And quality of life is everything."

Last October, Hook told The Mistress Carrie Podcast, about his exit from FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH more than four years ago: "There's no animosity there. There's nothing there. It's like everything. Over time, relationships and policies change. With extreme success, popularity, finances, it affects egos and personalities and roles and all that stuff."

Hook added that it's more difficult to be in a band than it is to be in a marriage. "Because with a marriage, if there's a problem, you only have to work it out between the other party," he explained. "In a band, you could be solid with this guy, but it's still a mess with [one of the other guys]. It's okay with him. It's a mess with this guy. Of course, it's way harder. It's like having four wives."

In October 2020, FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH confirmed that it had officially parted ways with Hook eight months earlier during the band's sold-out European arena tour. He has since been replaced by renowned British virtuoso Andy James, who made his recording debut with FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH on "Broken World", a song that was included on the second installment of the group's greatest-hits collection, "A Decade Of Destruction - Volume 2".

After his recovery from emergency gallbladder surgery at the end of 2019, Hook had to leave midway from FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH's tour of Europe to address further complications.

Jason, who joined FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH in 2009, said about his exit from the band: "As for the reason I'm leaving… well, there really isn't just one. I've been in bands my entire life and I feel like I've done all the good that I can here. It's time to pass the baton and move on to new challenges."

FLAT BLACK will release its debut album, "Dark Side Of The Brain", on July 19 via Fearless Records.

"Dark Side Of The Brain" was produced by Hook and Chris Collier (KORN),and recorded at both Hook's home studio and The Hideout Recording Studio in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Hook is joined in FLAT BLACK by singer Wes Horton, bassist Nick Diltz and drummer Rob Pierce.

FLAT BLACK made its live debut on August 24, 2023 at the FivePoint Amphitheatre in Irvine, California as the support act for GODSMACK.

MR. BIG — Eric Martin (lead vocals),Paul Gilbert (guitar, vocals),Billy Sheehan (bass, vocals),Nick D'Virgilio (drums, vocals) — is closing out its 35-year career in a BIG way… with not one, but two album releases.

First up is the band's tenth studio album, "Ten", which was released July 12. MR. BIG's last-ever live album release will be "The BIG Finish Live", which is due out September 6 via the Evolution Music Group.

"The BIG Finish Live" is a brand-new live album and concert film of MR. BIG's "The BIG Finish" farewell tour, where the band played their million-selling "Lean Into It" album in its entirety, plus additional MR. BIG classics. Filmed in 4K at the Budokan in Tokyo, Japan on August 26, 2023, this historic performance will be available in many different multiple high-quality formats: 180g black vinyl (3-LP),Hybrid Stereo Multi-Channel SACDs (2),MQA-CDs (2),MQA-CDs + Blu-ray (2),4K Ultra HD Blu-ray (featuring behind-the-scenes and interview footage),and cassette (2). All of these formats will come with a booklet/insert that includes previously unreleased photos from their Budokan performance, as well as a sticker or postcard gift for fans.

Last year, MR. BIG put on their signature top hats and old shoes for the launch of their last worldwide tour, aptly titled "The BIG Finish". The first leg kicked off July 20, 2023 in Nagoya, Japan, which took them throughout Southeast Asia where the band performed for hundreds of thousands of loyal fans at 11 sold-out shows. MR. BIG then brought "The BIG Finish" to South America, an initial run of European shows, and two separate East Coast/West Coast tours of the U.S., with their last-ever stateside concert happening June 6 in Sheehan's former hometown of Buffalo, New York. MR. BIG's remaining shows started July 13 in Bulgaria and will roll through August 23 in Romania.

One particular aspect of this final run that MR. BIG have been most excited about is the decision to perform the entirety of their breakthrough platinum-selling 1991 album "Lean Into It" from start to finish as a featured highlight of the live setlist, along with other MR. BIG classics.

Joining MR. BIG on drums for this special final world tour has been longtime friend of the band Nick D'Virgilio (SPOCK'S BEARD, BIG BIG TRAIN),stepping in for founding drummer/vocalist Pat Torpey, who sadly passed away in 2018 following his heroic battle with Parkinson's disease.

After 35 years of bringing the MR. BIG sound across the world and back, it's time to come together for one final, extended curtain call with a live album to live on for the ages.

"The BIG Finish Live" track listing:

01. Addicted To That Rush
02. Take Cover
03. Undertow
04. Daddy, Brother, Lover, Little Boy (The Electric Drill Song)
05. Alive And Kickin'
06. Green-Tinted Sixties Mind
07. CDFF - Lucky This Time
08. Voodoo Kiss
09. Never Say Never
10. Just Take My Heart
11. My Kinda Woman
12. A Little Too Loose
13. Road To Ruin
14. To Be With You
15. Big Love
16. The Chain
17. Promise Her The Moon
18. Where Do I Fit In
19. Wild World
20. Paul Gilbert Guitar Solo
21. Colorado Bulldog
22. Billy Sheehan Bass Solo
23. Shy Boy
24. 30 Days In The Hole
25. Good Lovin'
26. Baba O'Riley

D'Virgilio is missing most of the final European leg of the band's "The BIG Finish" tour due to his commitments with his band BIG BIG TRAIN. He is being temporarily replaced on the trek by Edu Cominato, an experienced drummer from São Paulo, Brazil who has previously played with Sheehan and Martin, Jeff Scott Soto and Geoff Tate (QUEENSRŸCHE),among others.

Former GREAT WHITE singer Jack Russell's long-awaited autobiography, now titled "The True Tale Of Mista Bone: A Rock + Roll Narrative", has just been released via Gatekeeper Press. Penned by author Katelyn Louise "K.L." Doty, it features a sentimental foreword by Lita Ford, with additional commentary from Eric Singer, Eddie Trunk, John Kalodner, Kip Winger and others. The book, with a cover photo by legendary rock photographer Mark Weiss, is available in paperback, hardcover and e-book form.

Official book description: "Jack Russell attended military school with high hopes of becoming an archaeologist, but the gift of THE BEATLES' 'Help!' on vinyl changed the course of his future. With the record dizzily spinning, Russell recalls: 'Music filled the room... I had a vision, an extraordinary rush of feeling. I knew exactly what was to become of me... I knew who I was going to be.'

"Russell joined his first band at the age of eleven, not long after finding love for drugs. After continually bumping heads with school and the law, he moved to Los Angeles, where the focus shifted from rebellious suburban antics to unruly nights on the Sunset Strip. After years of gigging in Hollywood came the birth of GREAT WHITE and the break of a lifetime. Russell and the gang signed with Capitol and quickly saw platinum success, moving on to tour with POISON, DOKKEN, JUDAS PRIEST, and others. But the road was an invitation for continued substance abuse, relationship problems, and trouble in the limelight.

"Jack Russell's story is incomplete without a candid retelling of his experience during the three-year trial linked to the Station Nightclub Fire in 2003. Catching most of the blame for the improper use of pyrotechnics displayed at the band's Rhode Island show in February of that year, Russell, by default, became the face of a tragedy that claimed the lives of 100 people in just 60 seconds.

"From drug abuse and jail time to a record deal and MTV fame, 'The True Tale Of Mista Bone' is the long-awaited autobiography of a man with something to say. Penned by author and journalist Kate Catalina, fans of Jack Russell and GREAT WHITE will be given a thorough look into the dream, rise, success, fall, and return of one of rock's most powerful voices.

"Backed by commentary from major industry names such as John Kalodner, Kip Winger, KISS's Eric Singer, and others, Russell's story is one of colossal heartache, healing, and redemption."

For more information, visit www.jackrussellbook.com.

In a recent interview with George Dionne of KNAC.COM, Russell stated about the status of his autobiography: "A girl named Katelyn Doty is working on it with me. We started writing this together about three years ago, I wanna say. I don't know if it's been that long, but it seems like it. Sorry, Katelyn, if I messed that one up. But we've been working on it for a long time. She's a brilliant writer, just brilliant. She knows how to put pen to paper, I'll tell you — just has a flair for it. I wanted somebody that had finesse with writing, not just, 'One day I was working on my car and then I got oil on me.' I wanted [to] let the pen be the voice."

Asked if he is going to dish any dirt in his autobiography, Jack said: "You know what? I said a few things that some people are gonna lift their eyebrows about, but I pretty much kept most of the dirt under the rug. There's no point in pointing fingers and calling people out on stuff. I mean, everybody's got skeletons in their closet, and probably me more than most. So, what's the point in talking bullshit about other people when you don't really necessarily need to? I don't need to fill up the pages, that's for sure. I've got enough stories without doing that. I think I may even have to do a second book. There's that much involved. I mean, you've got a lot of years of work on the big testimonial."

Back in December 2021, Russell told Tulsa Music Stream that he gets along with Doty, who is Chip Z'Nuff's wife, "like peas and carrots. So it's gonna be a really great book," he added. "What I've read is really great. We've got a lot of people that have done interviews for it. Even [A&R guru] John Kalodner came out of the closet [to be interviewed for it]. No, he didn't come out of the closet — I didn't mean the 'closet' closet."

Russell exited GREAT WHITE in December 2011 after he was unable to tour with the group due a series of injuries, including a perforated bowel and a shattered pelvis. Jack largely blamed these injuries on his alcohol and painkiller addictions as well as the prednisone drug he was prescribed.

Russell sued his onetime bandmates in 2012 over their continued use of the GREAT WHITE name after Jack had taken a leave of absence from the band for medical reasons. A short time later, Russell was countersued by guitarist Mark Kendall, rhythm guitarist/keyboardist Michael Lardie and drummer Audie Desbrow, claiming the vocalist's self-destructive behavior was damaging the GREAT WHITE name (they also alleged he was charging promoters less for his own touring version of GREAT WHITE). The parties settled in July 2013 without going to trial, with Russell now performing as JACK RUSSELL'S GREAT WHITE while the others are continuing as GREAT WHITE.

Russell previously discussed his book in a 2016 interview, saying: "I'm just dumping everything in this book. And there might be a couple of lawsuits out of it, I would imagine. I'm gonna have to have my lawyers check it out before I release it. But, I mean, I don't really think that's gonna happen. 'Cause the book is about myself and what I've [gone through] and not so much about other people. But there are gonna be spots where somebody might raise an eyebrow and go, 'Hmmm….' It's gonna make some people upset. But it'll make more people laugh. If you're the butt of the joke, that's just the way it goes. [Laughs]"

Six years ago, Russell said that one of the main reasons he was writing a book was "because I want people to know that no matter how far down the ladder you fall you can always climb back up. You don't have to stay down," he told Daily Boom. "Whether you have a drug an alcohol problem or anything else for that matter, you can pull yourself out of it. You can accomplish so much in life if you just believe in it and visualize it. Nothing happens by chance, and I believe that everyone that you meet has some sort of message for you, if you listen closely enough. It might be a stranger that says something random to you that you shrug off, but if you sit and think about it, maybe they said something that you were supposed to hear. You just never know when you are being used as that voice of encouragement for someone else. I don't believe that anything happens by coincidence; it's all for a reason, both good and bad. Life isn't random; it's very well choreographed and we're here to learn."

Photo courtesy of Frontiers Music Srl

“It is with long-awaited excitement and a heart full of joy that I announce the official release of Jack Russell’s...

Posted by Jack Russell's Great White on Monday, July 15, 2024

In a new interview with Metal Mad TV, vocalist Zak Tell of the long-running Swedish rap-metal combo CLAWFINGER was asked if he and his bandmates will ever release a follow-up album to 2007's "Life Will Kill You". He responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Well, [GUNS N' ROSES'] 'Chinese Democracy' took a long time too. I don't know. The thing is we don't really have a record deal anymore. We have a management. We release stuff via his label whenever we feel like it. We have maybe like five songs almost ready now. Maybe we'll release that as an EP.

"I don't know if there will be an album," he continued. "I don't know if there won't be an album. We're not planning an album. We write songs whenever we have ideas. Most of us have full-time jobs and do other stuff. So it's a question of time, and we have families. It's just putting the life puzzle together. So we don't have an album in the making. But we do have a few songs that are ready, more or less."

Asked if he and his CLAWFINGER bandmates still play small club shows, Zak said: "We only we only play really big festivals, because it's more people and it's more fun. No. To be honest, right now it's just festivals over the summer. Maybe there'll be some club dates later in the year.

"It's different times," he explained. "Buses cost more, planes cost more, crew cost more — everything has become more expensive And we've done pretty much everything. But there's one thing we refuse to do in our old age, and that is pay to play. We will not pay to play. But we've done that in the past. We did that in certain territories back in the '90s and early 2000s. We're not doing that again. We don't need to make big money or be rich fucking rock stars or anything, but we wanna come back with something. And also, what a lot of people don't realize is to put on a show, it costs you money. I mean, it probably costs us at least two thousand euro to do a gig — just in costs for crew members and flights. And it's probably even more than that. I don't know the figures, 'cause I'm just a stupid vocalist. But it costs money to play. It's not free. You don't just leave home and walk up on the stage, plug a guitar in and then go, 'Okay.' There's a lot of work behind it. And especially in this streaming and TikTok age, people don't realize that. They think everything is easy and simple."

In March 2022, CLAWFINGER released the official music video for its latest single, "Environmental Patients". The track marked the first new music from CLAWFINGER in more than two years.

Prior to the arrival of "Environmental Patients", CLAWFINGER released a single called "Tear You Down" in September 2019 and "Save Our Souls" in 2017. "Save Our Souls" was made available four years after CLAWFINGER announced it was calling it quits.

During the break from the studio, the members of CLAWFINGER were reportedly taking care of their families while performing sporadic reunion shows, mostly at European festivals. "CLAWFINGER no longer is our main job," the band explained at the time. "We all have other jobs and families to love."

CLAWFINGER's last studio album, the aforementioned "Life Will Kill You", was released in the U.S. in July 2008 via Locomotive Records. The CD, which entered the German Media Control chart at position No. 89 upon its European release in 2007, was recorded and produced at Sweden's Fear And Loathing Studios, a facility that CLAWFINGER runs along with the members of MESHUGGAH.

METALLICA's self-titled album, commonly known as the "Black Album," has now spent 750 total weeks on the Billboard 200 chart (No. 178 this week). It is the fourth album in history to reach the milestone, after PINK FLOYD's "The Dark Side Of The Moon" (990 total weeks),Bob Marley's "Legend" (843 total weeks) and JOURNEY's "Greatest Hits" (813 total weeks).

Back in September 2021, "Metallica" re-entered the Billboard 200 chart at position No. 9. It marked the first time in 29 years that the LP had cracked the Top 10 following the set's 30th-anniversary reissue on September 10, 2021.

Prior to September 2021, "Metallica" was last in the top 10 in August 1992 after spending four weeks at No. 1.

The Black Album is one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed records of all time. Its 1991 release not only gave METALLICA its first No. 1 album in no fewer than 10 countries, including a four-week run at No. 1 in the U.S., its unrelenting series of singles — "Enter Sandman", "The Unforgiven", "Nothing Else Matters", "Wherever I May Roam" and "Sad But True" — fueled the band's rise to stadium headlining, radio and MTV dominating household name status. The album's reception from the press was similarly charged, building over the years from the top 10 of the 1991 Village Voice Pazz & Jop national critics poll to becoming a constant presence in the likes of Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums Of All Time. The album's impact and relevance continue to grow — as proven by one indisputable fact: The Black Album remains unchallenged as the best-selling album in the history of Nielsen SoundScan, outselling every release in every genre over the past 33 years.

To commemorate its 30th anniversary in 2021, the Grammy-winning, 16-times-platinum-certified Black Album received its definitive re-release via the band's own Blackened Recordings.

METALLICA's self-titled LP in 2014 became the first album to sell 16 million copies since Nielsen SoundScan started tracking sales in 1991.

"Metallica" was the first of four collaborations with producer Bob Rock, with whom the band clashed throughout the recording of the disc.

METALLICA performed The Black Album in its entirety at a number of European festivals in 2012.
.@Metallica's 'Metallica' has now spent 750 total weeks on the #Billboard200 (No. 178 this week).

It's the fourth album in history to reach the milestone, after @pinkfloyd's 'The Dark Side of the Moon' (990 total weeks),@bobmarley's 'Legend' (843) and @JourneyOfficial's…

— billboard charts (@billboardcharts) July 15, 2024

The zztopeurope YouTube channel has uploaded video of DOKKEN's July 12 concert at Four Winds Casino Resort in New Buffalo, Michigan. Check out the clips below.

Last month, DOKKEN postponed what was being billed as the band's European "farewell" tour due to frontman Don Dokken's ongoing health issues.

On June 21, DOKKEN released the following statement via social media: "It is with heavy hearts we have to inform you that all scheduled DOKKEN European Summer dates need to be postponed.

"Due to ongoing complications after extensive neck surgery and a recently fractured ankle, Don will not be able to stand for prolonged periods time nor travel overseas at this time.

"Don believes the European fans deserve the best possible farewell. With this in mind, he will do his best to make good in 2025. Thank you for your understanding and continued support."

In a recent interview with Shawn Ratches of Laughingmonkeymusic, Don spoke about the difficulties he has had preserving his voice as he gets older and the issues he has encountered trying to reproduce DOKKEN's classic material in a live setting. He said in part: "I've had a lot of complaints. I see fans, when I go, 'The kiss of…' [in the song 'Kiss Of Death'] and I hit this B flat above A, this super soprano note, and I wouldn't hit it, and you see people go, 'Well, hey, you didn't hit the note.' I'm, like, 'Dude, I've done, like, three thousand concerts. It's like a motor car. It's getting worn out.'"

He continued: "When you're in your twenties, I don't know if we're gonna have another record or another hit or anything — I don't know. So here I am just singing up [in the high register]. I was trying to copy [Rob] Halford [JUDAS PRIEST], or all those bands and Klaus [Meine, SCORPIONS by singing] so high, but you go on the road for a year and a half and do four hundred shows and five albums and then you start — like me, I'm husky today just from talking to everybody. And that's just the way it is. And you get older. I'm 70, man. And some of these fans go… I've had people say, 'Don needs to give it up. He can't hit the high notes.' I'm, like, 'Let's see you hit those high notes 24-year-old. Go ahead. Go for it.'"

Don went on to say there would still be the naysayers even if he sang "perfect like [he] did in '83". He added: "My daughter used to go on our web site and we used to have an open forum. So anybody could say anything they wanted. And a guy called Acorn, who didn't even use his real name, and he made a comment when he goes, 'I went to five DOKKEN shows this summer and Don sucked.' And I went, 'Then why'd you come to five shows?' And my daughter would fire back. And we finally blocked him. And I said, 'Sweetie, you've gotta remember, this guy works at Subway and he makes tuna sandwiches all day, and he has this new thing called the Internet and he can go on and post whatever he wants,' 'cause I wasn't censoring, 'and that's their way of getting attention.' Then you get the people to say, 'Screw you' and 'I agree with you.'"

Don said that he plans to "keep going until it's not fun anymore", and he had a special message to those DOKKEN fans who are disappointed that he can't reproduce his vocal performance from four decades ago.

"If I can't sing the way they remember me, then just don't come to the show," he said. "I've got no problem with that."

Back in April 2022, ex-DOKKEN bassist Jeff Pilson addressed Don's vocal issues in interview with Tulsa Music Stream. He said: "Well, listen, to be fair, not all vocalists keep their range… You don't have a lot of Glenn Hugheses and Ronnie Dios out there in the world, whose voices seem to just never get affected. I can't sing like I could 35 years ago. So you've gotta keep that in mind.

"With that, I hope Don takes care of himself and I hope he can keep singing for as long as possible and I hope he has a little bit of a breakthrough," Jeff continued. "I know he's had a lot of health issues and he's had — it's just a lot of issues — so there's a reason why he's probably had some difficulties. But I wish him the best; I really do. I think he's just got a wonderful voice, and when it's working, it's a unique, magical voice. So I hope he has less problems in the future."

Don previously talked about his vocal issues in a 2020 interview with Antihero Magazine. At the time, he said: "Yes, it's been a problem. We get older, and our voices are not like they were when I was 27 or 30 or 35 or 40. When you get older, your voice is not as high as it used to be, so you lose your high notes. And I know every singer in this business, there's only a few singers that I know that when I see them live, I say, holy shit, they sound just as good as they did when they were 30, and now they're 70. Klaus Meine still sings amazing. He's got an amazing voice. He still sounds the same. So I guess it's a God thing. Maybe God just gives people a gift."

He continued: "You see Glenn Hughes go out and do DEEP PURPLE songs. And Glenn Hughes, he's [72]. He sings amazing. Ronnie James Dio, to almost the end of his life, when he had cancer, he did a concert at Radio City Music Hall [with HEAVEN & HELL] and he was fighting cancer, and he still sounded amazing, just like he did forever. So I guess some people are blessed and some people are not.

"In my world, I have good days and I have bad days, and I don't want to put the blame on anybody," Don added. "But when you're flying on an airplane for five hours in a pressurized cabin, and then you go to a hotel and the air conditioning's on, and it's 100 degrees outside, and then you go in your room and it's 60 degrees, then you get back on a plane, your voice goes out."

After DOKKEN's previous studio album, 2012's "Broken Bones", failed to meet his expectations commercially, Don publicly questioned whether the band should or would make another record. He was also ruthlessly criticized by fans after radiation treatments from a bout with stomach cancer and eventual vocal-cord surgery hurt his performances.

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

"I was getting so bad I had to say, 'Guys, I'm just destroying our brand. I suck,'" Dokken said. "I put on 40 pounds. I couldn't sing. I just didn't look good; I didn't feel good. I just had to get the radiation over with and rehab and come back."

Don underwent neck and spine surgery in November 2019, leaving him unable to play guitar.

DOKKEN released its 13th studio album, "Heaven Comes Down", on October 27, 2023 via Silver Lining Music. The follow-up to "Broken Bones" was produced by Bill Palmer and Don Dokken and was mixed by Kevin Shirley (AEROSMITH, IRON MAIDEN).

New VIXEN singer Rosa Laricchiuta, who joined the band last month as the replacement for Lorraine Lewis, spoke to the "All Bets Are Off" podcast with Robby Vegas about her experience so far with the long-running all-female rock outfit. She said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Oh, it's amazing. I'm absolutely loving my time on stage, but I have to say it has been challenging — probably the most challenging of my entire career. [Laughs] I haven't had to learn 11 songs in such a short period of time, but the songs are amazing. I love the songs. I love melodic rock, and every song I was learning just got better and better. And I was, like, 'Oh my God. I love this. I love this. I love this melody and I love this song.' And I worked really hard. But I'm really proud of myself. And singing them — next level. The girls welcomed me from day one rehearsal, right from the start. And now I have — what? — three performances under my belt. And I honestly feel like I found a family."

Laricchiuta made her live debut with VIXEN on June 21 at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California alongside GREAT WHITE, SLAUGHTER and QUIET RIOT. Asked what was going through her head at that first show, Rosa said: "Well, I was really excited because I'm all over the place because I'm so overwhelmed and it's all so surreal. But growing up, I always wanted sisters, so now I feel blessed to have three sisters. And I feel — this is funny, but I feel like I'm a part of an incredible hockey team doing what I love. [Laughs]"

As for the vibe on stage, Rosa said: "My heart was beating so fast and I was really grateful that the first show was only six songs. [Laughs] Oh my goodness. Of course it was adrenaline and the good stress. But, like I said, the girls really welcomed me from the start. And immediately, when we were on stage, I felt the energy. Britt's [Lightning, a.k.a. Brittany Denaro, VIXEN guitarist] infectious vibe, Julia's [Lage, VIXEN bassist] energy is just wow. And sometimes I had to tell myself, 'Rosa, focus on the crowd,' because I was so — I forgot. I was so lost in the energy that I forgot there's a good crowd in front of us. And then Roxy [Petrucci] on the drums, it's so fun. I just wanted to jump on her riser, but I couldn't because the riser was so incredibly high. And then the second and the third show, I had a moment. I like to look everyone in the eye. And I'm telling you, it's intense, it's amazing, but most of all, I'm having a blast."

Asked if she was aware of VIXEN's legacy prior to being asked to join the band, she said: "Sadly, no… The first thing, the first thing I said was, 'Oh my God. It's an all-female band. Is this really happening?' Because, again, growing up, I never had a sister, and I always dreamed of being in an all-girl, all-female band, always. And then the second thing that came out of my mouth was, 'This is so badass.'"

Laricchiuta is a singer, songwriter, and performer from Montreal, Quebec. After several years cutting her teeth with live shows, she auditioned for the third season (2015) of "La Voix", Quebec's version of the popular TV show "The Voice". Rosa had an instant connection with the legendary francophone rocker Éric Lapointe and chose him as her coach. Rosa showed a solid stage presence, with remarkable intensity and a voice so powerful it sent her straight to the Grand Finale where she shared the stage with DEF LEPPARD, Kelly Clarkson, Jean Leloup and her idol, Melissa Etheridge. She left a lasting impression as she won over millions of viewers who named her the new "it" female rocker of Quebec. She then released one album in the Quebec market before beginning work on her first English language album in 2016. That album, "Free", was released the following year and at the end of the year, she joined the popular American band TRANS-SIBERIAN ORCHESTRA for their annual mega tour of the United States.

Laricchiuta's hard rock project BLACK ROSE MAZE released its self-titled debut album in August 2020 via Frontiers Music Srl.

VIXEN has more than a dozen more shows scheduled for the summer and early fall.

Laricchiuta's hard rock project BLACK ROSE MAZE released its self-titled debut album in August 2020 via Frontiers Music Srl.

VIXEN has more than a dozen more shows scheduled for the summer and early fall.

During a recent appearance on the Battleline Podcast, Britt discussed the decision to part ways with Lewis. Asked what she would say to fans who are concerned that VIXEN bears little resemblance to the band that broke through in the late 1980s, with Roxy as the sole remaining member from VIXEN's classic lineup, Britt said: "Yeah, well, I think Roxy is definitely dedicated to maintaining the musical integrity of the classic VIXEN. And she said that. And I think for whatever reason, she feels that this change is gonna be a positive one… So, I'm excited. I trust her. She's been doing this a long time, and she knows what feels right."

Britt continued: "Sometimes things run its course. And, again, I'm not involved in in this decision or at liberty to really speak about … the reasons in it. But at the end of the day, it doesn't matter, I guess. We're forging forward, we're forging ahead, and there will be new music. And I think it's gonna rock. So I'm very excited."

Britt went on to discuss the importance of getting along with VIXEN's new singer on a personal level, explaining: "At the end of the day, obviously you have to be talented, but just being a good person and being a cool person, 'cause we spend a lot of time together. I mean, that saying, musicians, we get paid to travel and then we play the gig, but what do we get paid for? The travel. I mean, I've flown to South America for one 30-minute show and then flown right back. So that's a lot of travel time and not a lot of playing. And that's a lot of time that you have to be with each other, and if you're with somebody that just drives you nuts, that's the worst thing ever. And then you can tell on stage too. So you know there's good chemistry when — you can feel it, is what I'm saying, on stage. And I think the audience can always feel it too."

In January 2019, VIXEN recruited Lewis as its new lead singer following the departure of Janet Gardner.

Lewis had already performed with VIXEN in March 2018 in Durant, Oklahoma while Gardner was recovering from surgery.

Prior to Lewis's addition to VIXEN, Petrucci, bassist Share Ross and Lightning vowed to "expand upon the VIXEN legacy while remaining true to our musical roots."

Gardner, Petrucci and Ross are considered to be part of VIXEN's classic lineup, along with founding guitarist Jan Kuehnemund, who died of cancer in October 2013.

Gardner contributed lead vocals to VIXEN's most commercially successful studio albums — "Vixen" (1988),"Rev It Up" (1990) and "Tangerine" (1998) — as well as the group's latest full-length release, 2018's live album "Live Fire".

More than two years ago, Ross announced that she was "taking a hiatus" from VIXEN. Her replacement is Lage, formerly of the Latin Grammy-nominated Brazilian rock group BARRA DE SAIA and wife of Richie Kotzen. Lage made her live debut with VIXEN on February 8, 2022 at the pre-Monsters Of Rock cruise concert at Magic City Casino in Miami, Florida.

Last year, VIXEN released a new single called "Red". The official music video for the track, which was written and produced by CINDERELLA drummer Fred Coury, was directed by Drew Johnston and Vicente Cordero and edited by Ryan Conion.

In a new interview with The Bay Ragni Show, former VIXEN singer Lorraine Lewis opened up about her recent exit from the band, saying she was "definitely shocked and surprised" by her dismissal from the group.

In January 2019, VIXEN recruited Lewis as its new lead singer following the departure of Janet Gardner.

Lewis had already performed with VIXEN in March 2018 in Durant, Oklahoma while Gardner was recovering from surgery.

Speaking about her time with VIXEN, Lewis told The Bay Ragni Show (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "I did my first show with them in 2018 when Janet had a brain issue. And I think that I can remember it was Choctaw, Oklahoma, and it was a fabulous show and really great. And then Janet decided to leave and do her own thing. And I was invited to be the lead singer of VIXEN, which was a great honor and a privilege and a pleasure for sure. And, yeah, and that's basically what happened. So I was invited to come into the camp. I think that they needed me at that time. Yeah, and five years of rocking and rolling and having a blast."

Asked if she was surprised when she was let go from VIXEN, Lorraine said: "You said that a lot of people were shocked or surprised. I was definitely shocked and surprised. I thought that my statement [that I released announcing my departure] was pretty clear. I think that a lot of people have misunderstood it. So I guess it's important for me to say, because, look, the bottom line for me, I had the best time, I love the girls. We had an amazing time. We totally kicked ass together and I am really proud, really proud of what I brought to the brand. And I know that I did a great job. No one can tell me that I didn't. I know this. You can say whatever you want about me, whatever, but I know I brought it and I brought it every night and I do what I do, which I am a rock and roll singer through and through and I love the crowd and I love the people. I live for the people. I mean, I live for the music, too — don't get me wrong; it's all about the music at the end of the day — but I'm here for the people. I'm an entertainer. I'm born to entertain. That's what I do. So, for me, I wanted to let the fans know that I was no longer going to be the front person for the band."

She continued: "It was not my decision to leave. And I think that that's something that I do want to have be clear and known, and that's not for anybody else or any musicians or anything. It's for the fans, 'cause I had a lot of fans reach out to me and say, 'Why did you quit? Why? Why did you leave? Why?', and upset that I 'left'. And plain and simple, it was not my choice to leave. And I think that that is all I really need to say about that. It was not my choice. I was surprised. I thought we were getting ready to go out on tour for the summer. So, I was ready to rock and roll. And again, I miss the girls. I love the girls. And we had the best ride. And I am still honored and so humbled and grateful to have been a part of VIXEN and what I brought to the table and the amount of touring that I got to do with them and have a blast. And I think that the fans really loved it."

Lewis added: "Here's to the fans and the friends of the band. You are the people that really matter to me and I love you all so much. And it was important for me to let people know, because shows were coming up and I felt it was my right to say what I wanted to say as gently as I could, and so I released that statement on a Sunday and let people know. And yeah, I'm sure that people were surprised and shocked. I know that they were, because my phone blew up like crazy and hasn't really stopped. But that's really all I can say about that. I had a great ride with them."

Lorraine, a former singer for the 1980s hard rock band FEMME FATALE and current senior casting producer at the production company Renegade 83, went on to say: "That band is a chapter of my life. That's a chapter. My life is pre-that, my life is television, my life is vast. I've been on the planet a very long time and I have lived many lives. I've worn many different hats. I am a million different people from one day to the next… Yeah, I'm a million different people and this is just a segment of my life that I've enjoyed to the fullest and to the max. And now it is on to the next."

Asked if she was fired from VIXEN in a phone call or an e-mail, Lorraine said: "I'm not really wanting to talk about all that yet. I just really have no need to talk about all the details. I think that a lot of people really want to know, and I think that there might be a time and place to do that. But I heard a quote from Cher recently, and I posted it, actually, today. And she said — she gave someone advice, she gave a really famous actress some really good advice, and she said, 'If it's not going to matter in five years, if it doesn't matter in five years, it doesn't matter.' And that hit me like a ton of bricks, because that was a message I felt for me, because in the big picture of my life, this is a segment that I have just stepped away from and that's okay. Life goes on life."

Lewis continued: "My life has been up and down and all around. So this is nothing that fazes me in the least. Yes, I can say I was surprised. Yes, I didn't know this was gonna happen; I thought we were just killing it. But, really, in the big picture and what Cher said, in five years, will it matter? No. In five years, this segment, this chapter is definitely not going to matter. So that's really how I choose to live my life. That's it."

VIXEN's new singer Rosa Laricchiuta (TRANS-SIBERIAN ORCHESTRA, HEADPINS) made her live debut with VIXEN on June 21 at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California alongside GREAT WHITE, SLAUGHTER and QUIET RIOT.

During a recent appearance on the Battleline Podcast, VIXEN guitarist Brittany Denaro (a.k.a. Britt Lightning) discussed the decision to part ways with Lewis. Asked what she would say to fans who are concerned that VIXEN bears little resemblance to the band that broke through in the late 1980s, with drummer Roxy Petrucci as the sole remaining member from VIXEN's classic lineup, Britt said: "Yeah, well, I think Roxy is definitely dedicated to maintaining the musical integrity of the classic VIXEN. And she said that. And I think for whatever reason, she feels that this change is gonna be a positive one… So, I'm excited. I trust her. She's been doing this a long time, and she knows what feels right."

Britt continued: "Sometimes things run its course. And, again, I'm not involved in in this decision or at liberty to really speak about … the reasons in it. But at the end of the day, it doesn't matter, I guess. We're forging forward, we're forging ahead, and there will be new music. And I think it's gonna rock. So I'm very excited."

Britt went on to discuss the importance of getting along with VIXEN's new singer on a personal level, explaining: "At the end of the day, obviously you have to be talented, but just being a good person and being a cool person, 'cause we spend a lot of time together. I mean, that saying, musicians, we get paid to travel and then we play the gig, but what do we get paid for? The travel. I mean, I've flown to South America for one 30-minute show and then flown right back. So that's a lot of travel time and not a lot of playing. And that's a lot of time that you have to be with each other, and if you're with somebody that just drives you nuts, that's the worst thing ever. And then you can tell on stage too. So you know there's good chemistry when — you can feel it, is what I'm saying, on stage. And I think the audience can always feel it too. So, I know it'll be great though. Roxy also is more familiar with her as a person, and if she greenlighted it, then I know it's gonna be good."

When VIXEN announced Lewis's exit from the band on May 27, the group said in a statement: "First of all we want to extend a special thank you to Lorraine Lewis. We're grateful for her contributions to VIXEN and wish her all the best in her career moving forward."

On May 26, Lewis released the following statement via her social media: "VIXEN Tribe and devoted fans: The band has taken a different direction, and as much as I will miss you please know that more Rock & Roll from me is on the way!

"It has been an honor to front the band since that first show in 2019 & I am forever grateful for the opportunity and memories that came with it! I've had the time of my life and have loved rockin' with ALL of you! I can't wait to rock your faces off again soon cuz trust me babes, I'm not going anywhere!! I love you."

Prior to Lewis's addition to VIXEN, Petrucci, bassist Share Ross and Lightning vowed to "expand upon the VIXEN legacy while remaining true to our musical roots."

Gardner, Petrucci and Ross are considered to be part of VIXEN's classic lineup, along with founding guitarist Jan Kuehnemund, who died of cancer in October 2013.

Gardner contributed lead vocals to VIXEN's most commercially successful studio albums — "Vixen" (1988),"Rev It Up" (1990) and "Tangerine" (1998) — as well as the group's latest full-length release, 2018's live album "Live Fire".

More than two years ago, Ross announced that she was "taking a hiatus" from VIXEN. Her replacement is Julia Lage, formerly of the Latin Grammy-nominated Brazilian rock group BARRA DE SAIA and wife of Richie Kotzen. Lage made her live debut with VIXEN on February 8, 2022 at the pre-Monsters Of Rock cruise concert at Magic City Casino in Miami, Florida.

Last year, VIXEN released a new single called "Red". The official music video for the track, which was written and produced by CINDERELLA drummer Fred Coury, was directed by Drew Johnston and Vicente Cordero and edited by Ryan Conion.

IRON MAIDEN's Bruce Dickinson met the singer he replaced in the band, Paul Di'Anno, for the first time earlier tonight (Saturday, July 13) in Croatia.

Bruce, who is promoting his new solo album, "The Mandrake Project", performed with his solo band on Saturday at Hala Zagreb in Zagreb, where Di'Anno has been receiving treatment after undergoing major knee surgery nearly two years ago.

Stjepan Juras, a MAIDEN fan and author of many MAIDEN-related books, who has been managing Di'Anno and taking care of Paul while he has been getting physiotherapy treatments in Croatia, shared a photo of today's encounter between the two heavy metal legends. In a caption, Stjepan wrote simply: "History is rewritten once again! For the first time ever!"

In his book "666 Days With The Beast", Stjepan described all the key moments of Paul's recovery and new life, including Di'Anno's 2022 meeting in Croatia with Steve Harris. A special limited edition of this book can be ordered exclusively at www.maidencroatia.com/666days.

In a recent interview with Joel McIver for Record Collector magazine, Bruce was asked when he first encountered IRON MAIDEN. He responded: "The first time I saw MAIDEN was at what was then the Music Machine in Camden. SAMSON [Bruce's then-band] were headlining because our management had bankrolled the gig and said, 'We want the top slot,' although we didn't really deserve it. That became obvious when MAIDEN came on, because the whole place was rammed. I'd heard rumors about how good they were, and I thought I'd better see them. When they came out, I thought, 'I've never seen DEEP PURPLE, but this is what it must have felt like to see DEEP PURPLE in their prime, rocking up a storm.'"

Asked what he thought of MAIDEN's then-frontman Di'Anno as a singer, Bruce said: "He was okay, but he didn't have a lot of flex to his voice. I thought his voice had come as far as it was going to get. I saw what the rest of the band were capable of straight away, and I remember thinking, 'Good God, I'd love to front that band.' And as soon as they finished playing, everybody in the venue left and we were headlining to about three people."

Di'Anno recorded two classic albums with IRON MAIDEN before being replaced by Dickinson. He went on to front a number of other bands, including KILLERS and BATTLEZONE, and released several solo records.

In 2005, Di'Anno was asked by Classic Rock Revisited editor Jeb Wright about his previous comment that Bruce is a better singer for MAIDEN than he was. He said: "Yeah, I did admit that Bruce is a better singer for MAIDEN than me. I still do think that but only related only to the MAIDEN albums that were made after my first two initial MAIDEN classic albums. My feeling is that I could never have stamped my mark properly on the MAIDEN albums that came after 'Iron Maiden' and 'Killers' because Bruce's voice is much better suited to that material than my voice ever could be. However, that aside, I am not actually comparing our voices against each other either, as I feel as much as I could not sing Bruce's period of MAIDEN songs, Bruce definitely does not have — and never did have — the voice to replace me on the first two classic albums either. My voice is, and always will be, mega aggressive and that is what helped make those first two classic albums what they are. On the other hand, Bruce's high-pitched, and sometimes operatic voice, is what has helped give the later albums their different character. I will say this though: Bruce sounds incredible on many later MAIDEN tracks such as 'The Trooper', 'Number Of The Beast' and 'Two Minutes To Midnight' but let's face it — without meaning to sound arrogant here, just saying what everyone knows — when Bruce tries to emulate me on classics such as 'Remember Tomorrow', 'Running Free', 'Wrathchild', 'Killers' or anything from the first two MAIDEN albums, he just does not have the tools for the job as the aggression just isn't there. Your voice can often explain a lot about your background, and I think my voice shows the kind of rough, lower-class background I came from. Bruce's voice kind of gives an impression of a public schoolboy background."

In a 2022 interview with Sakis Fragos of Greece's Rock Hard magazine, Di'Anno addressed the circumstances that led to his departure from MAIDEN and whether it's true that it has something to do with his vocal performance. He said: "My record stands for itself. I've played more shows than IRON MAIDEN have ever played… They play a lot of concerts, but I played a hell of a lot more than they ever had. So it was nothing to do with my voice. It was nothing to do with that. I was just upset about certain things, which were private things in the band. And the way I dealt with them maybe was not right, but I dealt with them. And that's the end of it. And that's as much as I'm gonna say."

Pressed about whether it's true that he wasn't properly compensated for his work on the first two IRON MAIDEN albums, Paul said: "I have nothing to comment on that at all, because, to be honest with you, it's nobody's damn business. I got paid very well. I'm very happy with that. See, if I try to say, 'Oh, IRON MAIDEN didn't pay me enough money,' it's a bad reflection on IRON MAIDEN. And I'm not taking that. I got paid very well. They looked after me. End of story."

In December 2022, Di'Anno spent time in Split, Croatia recording an album with his new project called WARHORSE. The band was formed earlier that year by Di'Anno and two guitarists/authors, Hrvoje Madiraca and Ante "Pupi" Pupačić. The resulting LP will be made available on July 19, 2024 under the PAUL DI'ANNO'S WARHORSE banner.

Photo courtesy of Stjepan Juras

History is rewritten once again! For the first time ever! If you want to see and hear more details click here:
www.maidencroatia.com/666days

Posted by Stjepan Juras on Saturday, July 13, 2024

GREAT WHITE recently appeared on the KLOS Helpful Honda Rock Room stage, the exclusive concert series featuring private interviews and performances. Check out the band's performance and interview with Matt Pinfield below.

In an April 2024 interview with George Dionne of KNAC.COM, GREAT WHITE guitarist Mark Kendall confirmed that he and his bandmates are working on material for the follow-up to 2017's "Full Circle" album. He said: "I've been having [our new singer Brett Carlisle] out recording new stuff. Because I want him to be inspired and just not singing our [old] songs perfect but put his name on some new stuff. So we've been recording. I got a friend, his studio is a little bit more upgraded than mine. This guy Tracy G [Grijalva], he's like a teenage friend of mine who was in DIO. He just has a better studio. So I go down there and lay down ideas and then I have Brett out and go, 'Check this out,' and we sit together. And it's coming out amazing."

Regarding how GREAT WHITE is planning to release its new music, Mark said: "We're not sure how we're gonna put it out, with this day and age. We're talking to a lot of people about it. 'Cause we don't want the music to kind of get lost, with this downloading world. It's not like when we were growing up, we'd buy a record and sit there and listen to [LED ZEPPELIN's] 'Physical Graffiti' all day. Now they just download a couple of songs from this [album], a couple of songs [from that record]. So we're thinking maybe the idea could be [to] just put two or three songs out, maybe a video, and just keep coming with three at a time or something. That way, the music isn't wasted; it actually gets to the people. That's all we're concerned about. We know it's gonna be free on the Internet immediately."

He continued: "Even in our heyday, I was always more interested in the feedback. I want people to tell me, 'Man, I really like this song' or, 'I hate it,' or whatever. I used to go straight to a friend of mine, as soon as we were done, before it was out or anything, because you've gotta wait about four months. So I'd ask him, I go, 'Man, please tell me I'm great. Tell me something good.' He would always pick the singles. And the guy can't — he can't hold a tune in a bucket. I mean, he's so tone deaf, it's insane. But he can listen and he could always pick the singles. I'm going, 'What are you judging by? Is it the beat?' He goes, 'I don't know.' So there's no answer there. But I always like to get the feedback 'cause I wanna know… You have to wait this waiting period after you finish a record to find out if you're good or not, or if people are gonna be accepting. So it is a frustrating time. So I always race all my friends and play it for 'em. So that's what I'm more interested in than the dollars, really, is what people think. And maybe we have a chance to create some more memories."

Asked if he and his bandmates were "a little bit apprehensive" about the fact that Carlisle is only 27 years old while GREAT WHITE, as a group, has been in existence more than four decades, Mark said: "He's in his late 20s, but, believe it or not, he's kind of an old soul in a way. Nothing overwhelms the guy. He just goes out and just totally handles it every night, engages the crowd. He's real good with the interaction. He sings perfect all the time. And he's got really good song sense for a young man. I'm used to feeding people melody ideas when I write a song because that's the way I do it. Everybody has their own way to do it, but I always know that there's a lot of melody available, and he sometimes comes up with something way better than I had. So that's a good sign. And the way he delivers the new stuff, he really has a good handle on the music. And I don't know — I think he was born in the wrong time or something. In other words, we can stand together. It's not like he's standing next to his grandpa or something. It's not like we're CROSBY, STILLS & NASH, and, 'What's that 13-year-old doing there?' When we stand together, it just looks like a band. It doesn't look like we're with a little kid or anything. He's a little better-looking than us, but apart from that…"

Carlisle was officially named GREAT WHITE's new vocalist in October 2022. Brett joined the group as the replacement for Andrew Freeman (LAST IN LINE),who sang for GREAT WHITE for only five months.

Regarding what it has been like working with a singer who wasn't even born when some of GREAT WHITE's classic songs were written, the band's rhythm guitarist and keyboardist Michael Lardie told Robert Miguel of Uvalde Radio Rocks: "Well, I think he gets what we're trying to do. It's been a godsend to have someone with his youth, but at the same time he has what a lot of people would deem as an older soul. His parents did a great job bringing him up on '70s and '80s rock, so he's pretty well versed in that. And he comes from the South, so he's got a little bit of that blues and gospel edge to him."

Michael went on to say that he is "really looking forward" working on the new GREAT WHITE album with Carlisle. "In fact, before we were going on the other night, I was playing him a little bit of a thing that he and I are working on, and he's going, 'Oh, yeah, I got this idea,'" Lardie said. "So he's really psyched about working with us. And it's a joy to be onstage with him. He's turned into a great little performer, and when he's offstage, he's the most down-to-earth, righteous young man that I've come across in a while. And it's been a joy."

Michael added that Carlisle has the singing ability to handle anything from GREAT WHITE's catalog. "With his energy and his vocal range, we can do pretty much anything," he said. "If somebody throws out a tune, no matter how obscure it might be or how high it might be in terms of range, he's, like, 'Yeah, I can do that.' Like one of the songs we are doing from the very, very first record is 'Stick It'. And he hits every one of those notes spot-on every night. So it's awesome."

Regarding the musical direction of the new GREAT WHITE material, Lardie said: "It's hard to say. I would love the album to be kind of an amalgam of '...Twice Shy' [1989], 'Hooked' [1991] and 'Psycho City' [1992]. I mean, that, to me, would be a great combination of things."

In March, Kendall told The Logan Show about Carlisle: "Even though he's younger than us, he's kind of, like… Nothing overwhelms the guy. He's respectful and everything, but he's not, like, 'Oh, my god. Look at this. Oh, my god. [Look at] that.' He just goes out and just totally handles it every night. Yeah, he's younger than us and whatnot, and, like you said, he wasn't even born in our heyday or whatever, probably, but he just goes out, he really brings the crowd into the show. He's really good and natural at… He doesn't have a script when he goes out there; he just kind of whatever he's feeling, and he sings like perfect, no matter what. It's pretty incredible, really. We're looking forward to doing an album with him, I can tell you that much."

After interviewer Logan Crosland noted that "quite a few people online" have commented that Brett is "probably the closest-sounding singer to Jack Russell," GREAT WHITE's original vocalist, and asked if that was a criteria when hiring Brett to front the band, Mark said: "Not necessarily. What it was is he just sang the songs correctly and he has the range to sing 'em. I don't think his voice sounds that much like Jack, but he has the range of Jack in his heyday. And so we're able to play anything we want, and we really haven't been able to do that in the past. Like we're playing 'Stick It' off the first album, which is up in the astral planes with the vocal range, and he's hitting all those notes full power. I mean, it's not like a falsetto, weak high notes. He's like straight from the gut just like screaming these notes, like full power from A to Z. There's not a song in our catalog that he can't totally handle. And I've been writing with him."

Regarding whether he has any songs already completed, Mark said: "Oh, yeah. I probably have seven complete songs on tape right now. [They're] just absolutely killer. But we haven't collaborated. The way we do it is we get together and we sit in a circle and say, 'What do you got? Let's hear it. What do you got?' And if a riff kind of pokes out, we say, 'Let's work on that. That's badass, dude. That's killer.' And that way it's more of a group effort."

Carlisle made his live debut with GREAT WHITE on September 24, 2022 at the Cannery Casino Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada.

According to Brett, he felt welcomed by his new bandmates and the GREAT WHITE fans from the get-go.

"After meeting [the GREAT WHITE guys], they're all super-cool dudes," he told Kevin McKay of the 99 Rock WKSM FM radio station. "In Vegas, we had a rehearsal the day before, and I already knew half the songs well enough to be able to do it. So I wanted to do the best that I could on 'em. But after we hung out, everybody was cool and stuff. I mean, it's a big crowd. I love big crowds; they're fun."

Carlisle has been playing guitar and singing since the age of eight and counts bands like VAN HALEN, SKID ROW and METALLICA as his main influences.

In May 2022, GREAT WHITE announced that it had parted ways with singer Mitch Malloy and had replaced him with Freeman. Malloy had been in GREAT WHITE for nearly four years, having joined the group in 2018 following the departure of Terry Ilous.

Ilous, frontman of '80s L.A. hard rockers XYZ, joined GREAT WHITE in 2010 after stepping in for touring vocalist Jani Lane (WARRANT).

The Ilous-led GREAT WHITE released two albums, 2012's "Elation" and 2017's "Full Circle", before Terry was dismissed from the group.

This version of GREAT WHITE is not to be confused with JACK RUSSELL'S GREAT WHITE, which features original GREAT WHITE singer Jack Russell.

In January 2023, Kendall told the "Mark 2.0" podcast that he was surprised by the overwhelmingly positive response to Carlisle's addition to GREAT WHITE. "It was world news," he said. "I'm seeing stuff on the Internet from Italy, Germany, the U.K. And even some of the more online dirt-seeking-type entities that normally are just huntin' for the headline to say, 'He said his singer sucks'. That's the article. That's the way it starts. These guys actually said good things and posted some of the [fan-filmed videos]. They're cellphone cameras, so the quality probably isn't… But you can hear it. You need to sing great."

In October 2022, Carlisle was asked in an interview with AL.com about his approach to singing GREAT WHITE's classic songs. He said: "I just want to do the songs justice, because that's what people expect to hear. They want to go to the shows and hear the songs the way they remember them, the way they know them. It's not about me and how many high notes I can hit or anything like that. I just want to do the give the people, and the band, what they want."

Brett went on to say that he is honored to be singing for a band whose songs — including "Save Your Love", "Rock Me" and "Lady Red Light" — he had previously covered with his other band ALL OR NOTHING.

"I just want to learn from them," Carlisle said of his new bandmates "It's just really cool to be included in what I've grown up listening to, like looking at the CDs and everything. And then now people are coming up after the shows asking me to sign like original GREAT WHITE cassettes and stuff. And I'm sitting here feeling like I'm not worthy. Because I didn't record that. But I'm like, I just sang with them, so, sure, if you want me to."

Greek guitar virtuoso Gus G., who served as Ozzy Osbourne's lead guitarist from 2009 to 2017, joined STEEL PANTHER on stage last night (Friday, July 12) at the Moni Lazariston festival in Thessaloniki, Greece to perform the Ozzy classic "Crazy Train". Video of his appearance can be seen below.

In a recent interview with Radioactive MikeZ, host of the 96.7 KCAL-FM program "Wired In The Empire", Gus was asked if there is a "signature song" on Ozzy's 2010 album "Scream" where he "really put [his] stamp" on. He responded: "I think the main single, the lead single, 'Let Me Hear You Scream', that's the one. Because I remember recording the album in Ozzy's studio and spending four or five weeks there doing guitars. And I remember flying back to Greece, 'cause that's where I live, and I remember, I was, like, 'Okay, I'm done with guitars. Everything is done.' And then I got an e-mail from Sharon [Osbourne, Ozzy's wife and manager], and she was, like, 'We need you to come back to re-record one solo for 'Let Me Hear You Scream'.' And I'm, like, 'Why? I thought it was great.' And she's, like, 'Well, look, this is gonna be the first song that people will hear you on. You're gonna be the new guy and people will be checking you out on that one. So, I just think you can do better.' And, man, she was right. I was taken a back for a little bit. I was, like, 'What?' But then I sat down — I don't know. I just dissected each part down. It was a different vibe of going into it. Like, 'Okay, I have to think that this is gonna be the first thing that somebody is gonna hear me on that has no idea who this guy is. So we have to grab their attention.' So I think that solo is very representative of my style. There's a lot of those kind of things that I do a lot on my playing. And it's just such a cool track. It's a big song, man. So I'm really proud of that."

Asked if he is a guy who normally writes out the solos or he just "freeforms" it, Gus responded: "I do write the solos. I do. I come from the Randy Rhoads kind of school — construct the solos part by part. I do think the parts out. I mean, I do improvise a little bit over the backing track to get some initial ideas and stuff, and then I kind of narrow it down to what it would be like and then piece it all together."

Back in November 2019, Gus was asked during a clinic in Copenhagen, Denmark about the experience of recording the "Scream" album. He said: "You can say it was nerve-racking. They made sure that I was very comfortable. We were recording in Ozzy's house. He had this amazing million-dollar studio in his basement. And they were, like, 'Just take your time. Play your guitars. Take as long as you like.' So it was cool. I was hanging out there for a few weeks with his producer, Kevin Churko. It was great times. He didn't stress me. He just let me do my thing down there. We had a lunch break, and he would come down and take a listen to what I'd done for the day and tell a joke.

"It was also an interesting album for me, because I'm so used to writing the stuff," he continued. "But [the basic music] was already there. It was kind of weird, because the songs were there — the basic song structures — but they had no solo parts, and the riffs were not really there either; just like themes. The producer would come and chop them in Pro Tools. So my job was to come in and replay this and make it sound as natural as possible. I redid all the stuff. I did all the solo sections; there was no solo parts or melodies or anything like that. So it was a very fun experience.

"Of course, when you're there, you can't help but think of all the guys that were there in that band," Gus added, referring to previous Ozzy guitarists like Randy Rhoads, Jake E. Lee and Zakk Wylde. "You're, like, 'Oh my God. How are we gonna release this? How can that thing compare to any of that?' So it's always there; that ghost is there somehow. But at the end of the day, you just do your best. It is what it is for the time being.

"I look at music albums as photo albums, in a way, of your life and where you are at a certain point, how your playing is, how your style [is], how your feelings come out. At the end of the day, you do what you can do for the time being, and then you obviously want to get better for the next album."

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 seven years ago. "I was just kind of tired of waiting around for all these years, not hearing anything about potential tours or recording activities," Gus said at the time. "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."

Gus's band FIREWIND released its latest studio album, "Stand United", in March via AFM Records.



Steel Panther και Gus G on stage !
Raising hell on crazy train .....

Posted by Elias Aravides on Friday, July 12, 2024

In a new interview with Brazil's 89FM A Rádio Rock, DREAM THEATER keyboardist Jordan Rudess was asked about the band's reunion with founding DT drummer Mike Portnoy, who rejoined the progressive metal titans last October after a 13-year absence. Jordan said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "I feel, in a way, like we haven't even missed a beat with this lineup. Having Mike Portnoy come back to us just feels like he's coming home. He was so welcome and we were so happy, we just jumped right into it. From day one, when he walked in the studio and we started to work, literally it was like there was no break. I mean, he just belongs here and he is so engaged, so passionate about what he does, and having that energy come into our group has been a beautiful thing."

Rudess also talked about DREAM THEATER's upcoming sixteenth album, which will mark the progressive metal legends' first LP since Portnoy's return to the group. Asked if the recording process has changed with Portnoy coming back to the band, Rudess said: "Well, it's definitely changed because he's a very strong musical personality and a strong personality in general. And so he has a lot of thoughts about things. He's a very conceptual thinker, and I think that as fine as we were just doing our own thing when he was gone, having him back, it's just like, wow, this is so great to have your mind and your spirit involved in it. It really does change things. So I think when people hear the new album that we're working on, they'll kind of see that and they'll feel that. I definitely think it's reconnecting with some of the spirit of the magic that we produced in the years that he was in the band."

Regarding whether Portnoy's time away from DREAM THEATER will help Mike bring new things to the group now that he has rejoined his longtime bandmates, Rudess said: "Well, I think everybody grows, everybody changes and we bring what we learn into the mix. So, I think while we're revisiting and kind of enjoying this feeling of connecting with who we were, we're also different people, we've been through all these different experiences, so there's a lot of other things we all bring to the situation — on every level, just musically, personally, everything."

Portnoy co-founded DREAM THEATER in 1985 with guitarist John Petrucci and bassist John Myung. Mike played on 10 DREAM THEATER albums over a 20-year period, from 1989's "When Dream And Day Unite" through 2009's "Black Clouds & Silver Linings", before exiting the group in 2010.

Mike Mangini joined DREAM THEATER in late 2010 through a widely publicized audition following the departure of Portnoy. Mangini beat out six other of the world's top drummers — Marco Minnemann, Virgil Donati, Aquiles Priester, Thomas Lang, Peter Wildoer and Derek Roddy — for the gig, a three-day process that was filmed for a documentary-style reality show called "The Spirit Carries On".

Rudess previously spoke about Portnoy's return to DREAM THEATER earlier this month in an interview with Serbia's Highwaystar Magazine. Jordan said at the time: "Well, it was so great to have him back. In many ways it feels like we never lost a beat. Because he was one of the ones who started this band, and he loves it so much, the welcoming process was really immediate and we're all so happy to kind of re-establish what we had. I mean, it feels like getting the core band together again."

Rudess also talked about DREAM THEATER's upcoming "40th Anniversary Tour 2024 - 2025". The trek — presented as "An Evening With Dream Theater" — is the first outing since Portnoy's return to the band. The European leg of DREAM THEATER's "40th Anniversary Tour 2024 - 2025" consists of stops in 23 cities, including in Zagreb, Croatia, and kicks off on October 20 and runs through November 24. Asked what fans can expect from the Zagreb show, Jordan said: "Well, it's gonna be a very, very exciting concert, as you know, because everybody's so excited about this reunion of all of us. And Mike will also have a lot to do with helping to pick the songs that we play in the setlist. That's one of his great talents, to decide things like that. And it'll be just a celebration. We're gonna play a bunch of songs from our catalog. We'll pick some ones that everybody really wants to hear. And, yeah, I think they can expect probably one of the most exciting DREAM THEATER shows that they've ever been to. I can almost guarantee it."

Asked by Brazil's Marcelo Vieira and Matheus Ribeiro if DREAM THEATER's upcoming LP picks up from where the last DT album he played on, 2009's "Black Clouds & Silver Linings", left off or if it's a different thing entirely, Portnoy said: "If I'm being honest, I think it picks up right where 'Black Clouds' left off, to be honest. There's a certain style that the five of us have when we write together. And if you listen to the album with this lineup from 1999, '[Metropolis Pt. 2:] Scenes From A Memory', through 2009's 'Black Clouds & Silver Linings', if you look at that string of five or six albums, that's the sound and style of these five people. So I think that's a good indication of what you can expect with the new DREAM THEATER album. It definitely sounds like classic DREAM THEATER."

Last month, Portnoy told The Prog Report about the writing and recording sessions for DREAM THEATER's sixteenth studio album: "It's going great. The writing is done. My drum tracks are done. Guitars are done. So, this week we're in bass land. I'm home at the moment. So I'm kind of jumping back and forth between the studio as needed. I'm not there 100 percent of the time. But I'm gonna go back for keyboards in a few weeks and then we're gonna start the vocals, I think, next month."

He continued: "So, yeah, it's a long process. I haven't spent this much time making an album in a long time, because usually [Mike's other projects] NMB [NEAL MORSE BAND] or FLYING COLORS or whatever, you kind of get together, do the writing and the tracking, and everybody does it at home. But DREAM THEATER is still old school where the band is in the studio the whole time. And it's not like anybody's doing anything at home separately. We do it all together, coming in one at a time to work and record. So, yeah, it's a longer process than I've had in quite some time. But it's great… It's the old way. It's the way I always made records with DREAM THEATER. I just hadn't done it that way in so long, but it is good. And the process is really detailed this way. All these other bands and projects, everyone kind of just does their own thing on their own time at their own place. But this really gives a real unified kind of band vibe. Even a couple of weeks ago, James [LaBrie, DREAM THEATER singer] flew back out, came down from Japan and we spent time collaborating on vocal melodies, so lyrics can be written to those melodies, which is kind of the way the process is in DREAM THEATER. So, yeah, it's nice to just be a part of each one of these steps, like the old days. It's been a while since I made a record this way."

Portnoy went on to say that he "can't give away much details" about DREAM THEATER's next LP, "but we are all just really, really excited about it, really proud of it. And just can't wait to unleash some info, but I can't do that just yet," he added.

In April, DREAM THEATER singer James LaBrie was asked by Rolling Stone magazine why he and his bandmates wanted Portnoy to return. He said: "I think we had to return the band back to its strongest form." Petrucci added: "It wasn't one singular thing; it was sort of a series of life events that caused an organic conclusion. We all talked about it. It was like, 'Yeah, this makes sense right now.'" Keyboardist Jordan Rudess chimed in: "There's so many factors involved, and each of us has our particular relationships. And it was just a moment when everything seemed to come together, and we went, 'You know what? Let's do this. Now's the time.'" Myung concurred, saying: "It was a collective moment of certainty."

Asked if he was surprised when he was invited back into the band, Portnoy said: "Before the Covid pandemic, if you had asked me or any of these guys, 'Was a reunion in the cards?' I probably would've said I doubted that it could happen. I think if the lockdown hadn't happened, you guys probably would've been on tour, and I would've been on tour with one of my 48 bands. But once we were all locked down, John asked me to play on his solo album. Then, from there, Jordan, John, and myself did the LIQUID TENSION EXPERIMENT album. And then I did John's tour. So there were just these series of events of reconnecting us — not only on a musical level but also on a personal level for many years prior to that.

"All of our families are friends," he continued. "And my daughter and John's daughter shared an apartment together for many, many years. And John Myung lives right down the block from me, and his wife's at my house every night. There was just a series of events both personally and musically that started to feel like, 'Well, maybe this really is in the cards. Maybe this is the right time.'"

Asked if they see this reunion as healing a fractured band, Portnoy said: "I don't want to be over-philosophical about it, but as we're all getting older. Here we are in our 50s and 60s. You start to think of the reality of, 'How much time do we have left?' I would hate it if this were to become a Roger Waters-PINK FLOYD or Peter Gabriel-with-GENESIS situation where the fans want it, but it never happens."

Petrucci added: "When Mike left the band, it was traumatic for all of us. We had to figure out how we were going to move our career forward. And those years that went by, they were also healing years because you don't just have something like that happen, and all of a sudden, you're all best buddies a week later. There's some trauma there that had to heal. Thirteen years was enough time for that to happen and be, like, 'Hey, you know what, man? We love each other like we're brothers.'"

HALESTORM's Lzzy Hale joined I PREVAIL on stage on July 9 at the Coastal Credit Union Music Park in Raleigh, North Carolina at the opening concert of the two bands' joint North American tour to perform their collaborative song "Can U See Me In The Dark?" Fan-filmed video of the performance can be seen below.

"Can U See Me In The Dark?" is an epic and explosive pairing, just like the tour itself, thanks to the vocal chemistry between I PREVAIL's Eric Vanlerberghe and Hale, stormy riffs, and unforgettable chorus.

Produced by Live Nation, HALESTORM and I PREVAIL's summer 2024 co-headlining tour runs through August 17 in Las Vegas. HOLLYWOOD UNDEAD and FIT FOR A KING are serving as support.

When "Can U See Me In The Dark?" was first released in June, Vanlerberghe said in a statement: "We're excited to finally have a song come out. It was a fun challenge to blend the HALESTORM and I PREVAIL sounds together. We really focused on creating a music bed that felt very much I PREVAIL and letting Lzzy just shine and do what she does best. I feel we found a very sick way to blend the two identities of our bands into one massive song. I'm really looking forward to this tour and possibly playing this song live together for everyone."

Hale added: "In celebration of our upcoming tour together, we joined forces with the boys of I PREVAIL and wrote an original song together. 'Can U See Me In The Dark?' is written for our collective fan bases, our community, our family. We want you to know that you are seen and you are not alone shining through life's myriad of joy and pain. We can't wait to feast our eyes on you this summer!"

HALESTORM has partnered with mental health organization Sound Mind Live to engage fans to pledge support that will provide free-to-the-community mental health programming across the country for fans and the broader community.

Regarding the inspiration for "Can U See Me In The Dark?", Lzzy told "The Mistress Carrie Podcast": "We were talking a lot about the analogy of we're all in the same circus together, as in this is all of our shows. It's not just we're saddling up our wagon against a band, 'We're playing. Here's your set. Here's my set.' We really wanted to create this this haven, this sanctuary for our collective fan base, be, like, 'Hey, he's my buddy too. We come from different walks of life, but here's how we come together,' [and] really showcase that togetherness, especially considering, we all have this different flavor and these different influences. And so it's a really beautiful, powerful song that we're gonna be able to just kind of, like, 'Hey, here's something special for the tour.' So we're very much looking forward to being out with each other. And those guys inspire me to no end. Every time I hear their songs the radio, I'm, like, 'How did they do that?' I want a drop like that' — you know, that kind of stuff. So I'm looking forward to being inspired every night and hanging out with all those boys."

Having amassed over 2.5 billion streams globally, the Grammy Award-winning band HALESTORM has grown from a childhood dream of siblings Lzzy and Arejay Hale into one of the most celebrated rock bands of the last two decades. Most recently, the band released "Back From The Dead", their fifth full-length studio album which has tallied over 100 million streams worldwide. Rolling Stone called the title track "a biting but cathartic howler about overcoming all obstacles," and that song as well as "The Steeple" marked their fifth and sixth number ones at rock radio, respectively. Associated Press said the album "will definitely be in the running for best hard rock/metal album of the year." Their previous album, "Vicious", earned the band their second Grammy nomination, for "Best Hard Rock Performance" for the song "Uncomfortable", the band's fourth #1 at rock radio, and led Loudwire to name HALESTORM "Rock Artist Of The Decade" in 2019. Fronted by the incomparable Lzzy Hale with drummer Arejay Hale, guitarist Joe Hottinger and bass player Josh Smith, HALESTORM's music has earned multiple platinum and gold certifications from the RIAA, and the band has earned a reputation as a powerful live music force, headlining sold-out shows and topping festival bills around the world, and sharing the stage with icons including HEAVEN & HELL, Alice Cooper, Joan Jett and JUDAS PRIEST. Additionally, Lzzy was named the first female brand ambassador for Gibson and served as host of AXS TV's "A Year In Music".

I PREVAIL have established themselves as the forerunners of the genre in the 21st century. Their latest release, "True Power", once again produced by Tyler Smyth, features the sort of stadium-sized riffs that will rattle your teeth loose from your gums and unforgettable, supremely catchy melodies that will camp out in your brain for weeks at a time. The band also alternately mixes screamed vocals that sound as though they crawled from the depths of hell with soaring, emotional vocals and heartfelt, intimate lyrics that go so deep, they hit marrow. The end result is an album that resonates with the listener in the most personal way. Rising to an arena level and receiving two Grammy nominations — "Best Rock Album" for "Trauma" and "Best Metal Performance" for crushing lead single "Bow Down" — I PREVAIL proved that they were built to last. To date, they've racked up more than 4.1 billion global streams, are approaching 716 million YouTube views, and saw both "Hurricane" and "Bad Things" singles top Billboard's Mainstream Rock Airplay chart in 2020 and 2022, respectively. A number of their singles and album "Lifelines" have now been certified gold and platinum, and they have been praised by press far and wide, including Forbes, Billboard, Hollywood Reporter and NPR.

In a new interview with Germany's MoreCore.TV, FEAR FACTORY guitarist Dino Cazares was asked what the response has been to the live performances so far with the band's new lead singer, Milo Silvestro. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Well, the funny thing is we missed [what was supposed to be] our first show [with Milo in February 2023]. Because in California we got some really bad snow weather, so we got stuck in the snow. So we missed our first show. And it was really unfortunate because a lot of people from other parts of the world flew in to see him at his first show — people from Holland, people from Germany. So they were very upset. But luckily, we went back and made it up. But we missed our first show. But the reaction has been 100 percent positive ever since."

Milo concurred, saying: "We were all very thankful to the fans that they accepted this new era, because you don't take such thing for granted, because you're replacing a member, a singer in a such iconic band. It's always almost like a Russian roulette. Dino was, like, when we were doing the audition, 'Get ready for some backlash,' and stuff like that. Fortunately, the majority of the fans were, and still are, super happy about it. And I'm so thankful to them."

Added Dino: "I think people are happy just in general for us to be back. And because of Milo, to get these opportunities, and, of course, the legendary status of FEAR FACTORY that we're able to come back and do these well-established, legendary festivals."

Asked about what fans can expect from FEAR FACTORY in the future, Dino said: "Classic FEAR FACTORY record. Next year. For sure. We've been touring since February of 2023. We've been touring non-stop. And I think we're very lucky that a lot of the promoters and a lot of fans are happy to have us back, and we're excited to get out there and play for them."

At last month's Download festival in the United Kingdom, Cazares told Primordial Radio about how things are going with the band's current lineup, also featuring Silvestro, Tony Campos on bass, and Pete Webber on drums: " At the moment, smooth sailing. And it's been great. Everybody's on point. Pete Webber's on drums. He's sick. He came from a thrash metal band called HAVOK. Killer drummer. We call him Pete The Feet. Milo Silvestro — new kid on the block. He came straight from Rome, Italy. He sounds like a young Burton [C. Bell, original FEAR FACTORY singer], you know what I mean? [He sounds like Burton did] back in the day. He sounds amazing. He's probably the most musically talented in the band. And then Tony Campos, my old friend. He's been with the band since, like, 2015. He comes from a band called STATIC-X. He's been my mate for 30-plus years, and it's always good to play with him, and I'm glad he's with us."

Dino continued: "It's a great place right now. We are trying to avoid any of that drama. And luckily we have for the past year and a half since we came back."

Silvestro's addition to FEAR FACTORY was officially announced in February 2023.

In a recent interview with Brutal Planet Magazine, Dino was asked whether Milo is a "good lyricist". Cazares responded: "Oh, yeah. He's got some other little projects that he works on and the lyrics are really good. So we're not gonna have any issues with that. That was one of the main things that a lot of people have been complaining — not complaining, but the Internet type of bitching. It was, like, 'Okay. Yeah, he could sing great live. He could do all the songs great live. But what's it gonna be like when he does the record? How's his lyrics gonna be? How's this gonna be?' Relax. It's all gonna be good. Don't worry."

Cazares went on to say that FEAR FACTORY fans can definitely expect to hear new music in 2024. "We've gotta at least put a single out before the end of the year," he said.

Last fall, Dino told Nyva Zarbano that Milo "brings obviously a freshness that FEAR FACTORY needed. The last singer that we had [Burton C. Bell], obviously he had a lot of vocal issues and he really couldn't sing or do any of this kind of heavy touring," he explained. "It just was a big setback for us. So bringing Milo into the band, obviously he's got a great voice, he's very talented, he's a multi-instrumentalist. He could play more than one instrument. The kid's very talented. Of course, the story is I found him on the Internet. He was releasing videos of him doing FEAR FACTORY covers and he was posting them on all the FEAR FACTORY fan sites. And I saw him there, and I was, like, 'Okay, that's really got my attention.' But we had many people audition, but he was the one that really stood out. And he's a huge fan of FEAR FACTORY. And he pretty much learned from listening to our older vocalist. So he learned a lot of his stuff. And so, I mean, if you close your eyes, you think it's the original singer."

In a separate interview with Australia's "Everblack" podcast, Cazares was asked if Silvestro was "getting more comfortable" with his position as the frontman of the long-running California metal act. Dino responded: "Oh, yeah. I mean, from the first day, we talked about a lot of stuff. Before the tour started, we rehearsed, and we were, like, 'Okay, these are the kind of things that we've done before. And I think you need to do this, this, this.' And he goes, 'Okay.' So then the first day [of the tour] comes, he just goes wild. And I'm, like, 'Oh, shit.' I was, like, 'Calm down.' I go, 'You don't need to go insane everywhere. Just focus on singing, focus on getting everything, giving the crowd all equal attention,' blah, blah. There's certain things you just gotta teach him a little bit, right? And so he pretty much nailed it the first day."

FEAR FACTORY played its first headlining concert with Silvestro and touring drummer Pete Webber on May 5, 2023 at the Whisky A Go Go in West Hollywood, California.

Earlier last year, FEAR FACTORY completed the "Rise Of The Machine" U.S. tour as the support act for STATIC-X marked the Cazares-led outfit's first run of shows with Silvestro and Webber.

Webber had been filling in for FEAR FACTORY's longtime drummer Mike Heller who was unable to play with the band due to "scheduling conflicts."

Photo credit: Stephanie Cabral