In a new interview Belgium's Graspop Metal Meeting, FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH guitarist Zoltan Bathory was asked if he and his bandmates are working on the follow-up to their 2022 album "AfterLife". He responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "We are working. So there's definitely a new record coming, hopefully next year. We'll see when, but we've been working on some stuff. There's always things in the vault — we're always doing something. And when it's not time yet, then we just put it in the vault.

"I do believe that we have to record an album every two years, maybe three at the most," he continued. "Because we are in a fast lane. Every band is in a fast lane. Time changes, [and it's] very different for us. And so I feel like every two years is about the time when we are kind of different people. A lot happens to a band in two years. And so every record is a snapshot. And I feel like you have to — if you wanna follow a band, it's like it's about the right time. Every two, three years, you put out a record and people can follow where you are. If it's a longer period, I'm not sure that they can, because in three, four, five years, a lot changes."

Zoltan added: "For us, another thing is that everything that we write about is either socially, politically or personally relevant. We're not writing about historical events. So that means that whatever we're working on has to be relevant right now. And the world, obviously, like we all know, changes in six months. It's a different world, right? So that's another reason that we work that way, that we kind of take snapshots of the world and where we are in the world every two years."

FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH recently announced a headlining U.S. tour this summer with support from MARILYN MANSON and SLAUGHTER TO PREVAIL. The trek will kick off on August 2 in Hershey, Pennsylvania and run through September 19 when it will conclude in Houston, Texas.

Prior to the U.S. run, FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH is touring Europe as the support act for METALLICA on the latter act's "M72" world tour in addition to headlining shows with special guest ICE NINE KILLS and select appearances at major festivals.

FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH is continuing to tour in support of its ninth album, "AfterLife" which was released in August 2022 via Better Noise.

On April 5, FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH released the digital deluxe edition of "AfterLife", featuring the original 12 tracks recorded with the band's longtime producer Kevin Churko (OZZY OSBOURNE) in addition to four bonus tracks: three acoustic versions of the album's songs "The End", "Judgement Day" and "Thanks For Asking" plus a brand new song, "This Is The Way", featuring the late rapper DMX.

Earlier this month, "This Is The Way (Feat. DMX)" hit the No. 1 spot at Billboard's Mainstream Rock radio chart, notably landing the Las Vegas-based band their 11th straight No. 1 hit on the chart. This extends the band's 2023 record of holding the longest streak of No. 1s in the chart's history. "This Is The Way" is the first No. 1 on the Mainstream Rock Airplay chart for legendary late rapper DMX and his very first appearance on the chart altogether. The single also claimed the No. 1 spot at Active Rock Radio, giving FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH its 16th overall No. 1 single at the format.

Photo credit: Hristo Shindov

In a new interview with Canada's The Metal Voice, TESTAMENT singer Chuck Billy spoke about the progress of the recording sessions for the band's follow-up to 2020's "Titans Of Creation" album. Chuck said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "The drums are finished and half the vocals are done and most of the guitars. No leads or bass yet. Steve's [DiGiorgio, bass] out on tour with DEATH TO ALL, and Alex [Skolnick, guitar] usually waits till Eric's [Peterson, drums] done with all rhythms. But we're trying to get it accomplished — we leave [for tour] July 10th, so we're trying to get it all recorded before then."

Regarding the songwriting process for TESTAMENT's upcoming album, Chuck said: "We started since November — since about November, we started working and through the holidays, Chris [Dovas, drums] has been coming out, working with Eric a lot. And then into this beginning of this year, he's came out dozens of times and really has put a lot of fire under Eric and got him fired up and writing some pretty aggressive stuff, some really challenging stuff for Eric."

Billy continued: "Chris is — he's a young guy, 25 years old, a really fast, great drummer. So it's given a little breath of some new life into the band and into the writing, really, which is exciting. We always write different things for every record, and once again, this is another TESTAMENT record that's gonna have some new stuff that we're exploring and stepping into. So we're looking forward to this one."

Asked if the new TESTAMENT material is "a progression from the last album," Chuck said: "Yeah, but I think last record, I think I stayed in one vocal tone and range where this one, I'm doing a little bit of everything — some death metal vocals, classic TESTAMENT-style vocals. And then we actually have — I don't wanna say 'ballad', but we have a slower song that has a lot of feeling. How's that? [Laughs] And we haven't done that in a long time. So, there's a little bit of everything, but staying true to the band."

Asked if he is writing all the lyrics for the new TESTAMENT songs, Chuck said: "I write most of them with — I've been writing with Del James. Del, he works with GUNS N' ROSES. He's been working with them and wrote with them a long time ago. I think he had big hits like 'November Rain' with them. And we've been working [together] for over 20 years. So I always go down and work with him because I come up with a lot of the ideas and concepts, but he really interprets and gets the right words, how to say what I'm thinking. And we work fast. When we get together, we'll knock out like two songs in a day. So we don't mess around. We get there, say hello to each other, we sit down and we go right to work. It's about what we do."

Chuck also talked about how TESTAMENT's songwriting approach has evolved in the last couple of decades. He said:  "I honestly have to say after I beat cancer [more than two decades ago] and we had the original lineup back together, everything kind of changed because… We've always been in a friendly competition with other artists, watching what's going on and who's doing what. And I think around that point, once we got together and I felt like… I didn't think I was gonna play music anymore, first of all, and once I had the chance to get back with the original band, I felt very blessed, like, 'Wow, I'm getting an opportunity to do what I love to do again, but also with the guys I started with. It's kind of odd that we're gonna go back at this now, maybe try to finish something that we all started together.' And once we did that, it was enjoying our company. We never fight. We never argue. It was just, like, relaxing. And the critics, we didn't care what the press thought or a lot of people. I mean, we wrote for ourselves. So a lot of those records were just making us happy. The songs we were writing, we weren't thinking about, 'Okay, this has to be, for this,' and 'where's our radio song?' and 'What's the fans gonna think if we went and did a ballad?' All that went out the door. And I think over the time, it's really just about making good music, having fun at this point. And every record is a challenge 'cause you always wanna do better and make the next record sound better, have better songs. And I think where we're at today, once again, especially having Chris, the new drummer, we are progressing. Me and Eric actually said, like, I don't know, about three weeks ago, we were hanging out and like I said, the music's pretty aggressive and we're doing some heavy stuff, and he said, 'Did you ever think, in our sixties, we're gonna be playing thrash metal music, writing songs like this?' And I'm, like, 'Actually, no,' but that's a good thing that we still feel young at heart and young in our minds and still we're not struggling to do it."

In January, Skolnick told Radioactive MikeZ, host of the 96.7 KCAL-FM program "Wired In The Empire", about the progress of the songwriting sessions for TESTAMENT's new LP: "Well, we got delayed a little bit by the fact that 2020 basically didn't exist [due to the coronavirus pandemic]. It's a year that went away. And then there was so much touring to make up for. And for about a year of that, we had Dave Lombardo [ex-SLAYER] on drums, which was fantastic. And he's become a great friend and a great musician, but he's also spread very thin in many different bands. And now we have Chris Dovas [playing drums with us]. And he's a guy old enough to be any of our sons. But he is just unbelievable. He really brings the right energy. I mean, he brings the energy that the music had in the early days."

Last August, Dovas was asked by Pod Scum if it was "unnerving" to step into a group whose list of previous drummers includes such heavyweights as Lombardo and Gene Hoglan. He responded: "It was, especially at first because I knew that a lot of eyes were on me, and also I looked up to the band since I was a kid. Especially Lombardo and Gene — those are two of my favorite drummers right there. So to be put in that situation of taking over for them, I felt like I had a lot of responsibility and a lot of… I felt like I had something to prove a little bit, and I'm still practicing a lot and I just wanna do the best that I can do. Right now I'm not really nervous anymore because I've done two full tours with them now and we're working on the [new TESTAMENT] album and the friendship has been developing now and we all get along super well. They've welcomed me with open arms and it's been great and the fans have been great. I've been putting hours and hours of practice into it to make sure that I can do the best that I could do. And I look up to Dave and I look up to Gene as well, so, yeah, I just wanna play the songs well live and keep making the band sound good."

Asked what his role has been so far in the creative process for TESTAMENT's next album, Chris said: "I don't know exactly what I'm allowed and what I'm not allowed to share yet, but what you've seen publicly, though, right now is that Eric and I have been working on a lot of stuff together. And so it's been really cool to get into their brains, in a way, and how they write stuff. I'm used to people sending me tracks with scratch MIDI drums or programmed drums or something, and I've gotta put my drums to them and then hop on a Zoom call and we can edit things and move stuff around. But with them, Eric and I, he set a timer at one point for, like, 20 minutes and we would just jam random ideas. And then sometimes we'd make mistakes and stuff and that would be cool, and we could take that… It's very organic, though, and it's very involved, I guess. It's a different way of writing and I'm super excited to be a part of that method of writing. And I could see why they're so successful for all these years, now finally being a part of this current writing cycle, I guess."

Prior to joining TESTAMENT as a full-time member, Dovas previously filled in for Lombardo on the first six dates of TESTAMENT's summer/fall 2022 leg of "The Bay Strikes Back Tour".

Photo credit: Stephanie Cabral

Trafalgar Releasing has announced the record-setting success for GHOST's "Rite Here Rite Now". Inclusive of the screenings on June 20 through 23, the unique feature-length concert/narrative film entered the worldwide Top 10 box office at No. 9 with a total gross of $5.04 million worldwide from limited showtimes.

"Rite Here Rite Now", which screened in over 1,800 cinemas across 49 territories, combines never-before-seen 2023 concert footage of Grammy Award-winning rock band GHOST with a narrative story that picks up plot threads from the band's long-running "Chapters" series, directed by GHOST's Tobias Forge and Alex Ross Perry ("Her Smell").

"Rite Here Rite Now" entered the Top 10 of the North America box office with a cumulative total gross of $2.65 million, making it the highest-grossing hard rock cinema event ever in North America. The film reached No. 3 at the June 20 box office with a gross of more than $1.12 million and a per-screen average of $1,492 across 755 movie theaters. On June 21, it grossed more than $238,000 across 366 movie theaters. Continuing its success, it landed at No. 7 at the June 22 box office with a gross of more than $1.03 million and a per-screen average of $1,376 across 751 movie theaters. Finally, on June 23, it grossed over $257,000 and a per-screen average of $718 across 358 movie theaters.

Regional highlights also included U.K. and Ireland with a $606,000 gross and No. 5 at the box office, Germany with a $332,000 gross and No. 3 at the box office, Mexico with a $326,000 gross and a No. 5 box office position for the weekend, and Australia with a $178,000 gross and No. 6 at the box office.

Due to demand, further screenings have been added in select markets for this and next week. Full details are available at www.ritehereritenow.com.

Forge said: "Having wanted to make a movie for most of my life, I was overwhelmed to see the interest our fans showed in the film before it was even released. Now as people seem to have not only seen it, but also seem to dig it… That really gets my motor humming. Thank you all!"

Kymberli Frueh, SVP of programming and content acquisitions at Trafalgar Releasing, said: "We're thrilled to be part of this historic moment for GHOST and their fans across the globe. 'Rite Here Rite Now' proves there's a huge appetite for concert films that deliver an unforgettable experience. It's a testament to the power of music and the magic of seeing incredible concerts on the big screen and together with other fans."

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

Shot over the course of GHOST's two sold-out shows at Los Angeles's hallowed Kia Forum, "Rite Here Rite Now" fully immerses viewers in the technicolor melodrama of the vaunted live ritual that has helped to propel Sweden's foremost theatrical rock export to Grammy-winning, chart-topping, arena-headlining status the world over.

"Rite Here Rite Now" is, however, so much more than a concert movie. GHOST's debut feature film combines live performance from the two-night finale of the band's "Re-Imperatour" U.S.A. 2023 with a narrative story that picks up plot threads from the band's long-running "Chapters" series. The result is an utterly unique phantasmagorical blend: Flesh and bone renditions of favorites from all five of GHOST's albums as well as the RIAA platinum-certified "Mary On A Cross" and more are interwoven with the silver screen debuts of a few faces familiar to the band's legions of fans — all interacting behind the scenes with GHOST's Papa Emeritus IV, as his future and fate lay in the hands of the Ministry.

Whether you're a devoted disciple looking to relive treasured memories of the GHOST live spectacle or among the curious uninitiated, "Rite Here Rite Now" will put you right there: putting your phones down and living in the moment — as a shadow of uncertainty looms — completely spellbound and in the thrall of this bombastic yet intimate cinematic portrait of GHOST.

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

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

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

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

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

Florida-based Gods Of Centaurus (GOC), which morphed out the band Dark Matter, is currently mixing their second effort at Morrisound Recording, Tampa, FL., with Jim Morris at the helm. The album, entitled Volition, is set to be released this fall with the first single due out mid-Summer.


The band's lineup consists of Paul Beach (lead vocals), John Beach (keyboards and backing vocals), Terry Schambers (guitar), Jeff Lords (bass), and GJ Gosman (drums). Jeff Lords, who is also bassist/co-songwriter and founding member of the prog-metal band, Crimson Glory, supplies the subject matter and concepts around which the band's songs are composed. Topics include child abuse, martyrdom, self-determination, sensationalism, in conjunction with concepts of the purely abstract.


The new album follows in the wake of their self-titled GOC debut, which featured the single and video "Sleeping Wide Awake," about the Radium Girls, and how young, female factory workers who painted watch dials during WWI were mysteriously dying, when it was later discovered that the glow in the dark paint that they were using contained trace but deadly amounts of radium.  




Song titles for the upcoming album include: "Rogue Star", "Another Planet's Hell", "Suffer The Cost", "Die Martyr Die", which will show that the band are continuing this theme of interesting and thematic lyric writing


Jeff Lords is also currently involved in the resurrection of Crimson Glory with new singer Travis Wills fronting the band, along with Mark "Borgy" Borgmeyer who replaced original guitarist Jon Drenning for an early 2025 release.


Find the official Gods Of Centaurus website here.

Guesting on the Sh!t Talk Reviews podcast, Johnny Kelly (Type O Negative, Danzig, Quiet Riot) reveals that he, Kenny Hickey and Josh Silver of Type O Negative have gone into the studio with Black Sabbath drum legend, Bill Ward, to record a tribute song to Peter Steele, who passed away from heart failure at the age of 48 in April 2010.


Asked if he's friendly with Bill Ward, and when he last spoke to him, Johnny Kelly responds, "When did I speak to him last? I spoke to him... we text a lot. It was about a month ago. There was an article, a video came out from... I don't know if you're familiar with Drumeo, it's a drum website, you know, they do instruction videos, and they have subscription service and stuff, anyway they've been putting together these documentaries of different drummers, and they did one on Bill Ward, and it was about 45 minutes long, and it was fantastic. It was really well put together. And I sent a link to Bill, and I was like, 'it's about damn time.'"


Asked if he's ever been in the studio with Ward, Kelly reveals, "Yes, I've recorded with him. He wrote a song a few years ago, he wrote it after Peter (Steele) died, and he wrote it as a tribute to Peter, and he got me, Kenny, and Josh to play on it. I don't know when it's coming out or anything like that. You know, Bill operates on his own plane, and he does his own thing. But yeah, it was cool. Kenny and I, we went out to L.A. for like five days or whatever, worked on the song. The best part of the whole experience was driving to and from the studio with Bill. We would sit there and trade war stories. Bill is actually a really big Type O fan, so he loved hearing the stories, with me and Kenny telling war stories, and stuff like that. And then Bill would say, 'Oh yeah, there was this one time...' and just completely blow our minds."




Check out the full podcast, as well as the above mentioned Drumeo video, below:

"From Nashville, TN to Roseville, CA we’ve had the best time at our Light ‘Em Up shows," says The Dead Daisies. "We’ve had some laughs, we’ve torn up some venues and loved seeing you guys Light Up! Thanks for comin' along. We’re back home recharging and getting ready to ignite the UK in September, and can’t wait for you guys to hear the new album! See ya soon."


The Dead Daisies - currently comprised of vocalist John Corabi, guitarists David Lowy and Doug Aldrich, bassist Michael Devin, and drummer Tommy Clufetos - have issued a video recap of the third week of their recent tour of The United States.







Over a decade ago, The Dead Daisies burst onto the music scene. Their mission, to create some good old fashioned '70s style rock, gather some of the finest musicians in the world, and have a great time keeping rock music alive. The name was inspired by Jon Stevens and an old phrase ‘pushing up daisies’ as well as the Mexican celebration ‘Day Of The Dead’ with this theme influencing the logos and artwork throughout the years.


The Dead Daisies have gone from strength to strength since the release of their self-titled album in 2013. They have released six studio, one live and one covers album to a growing army of fans worldwide and are praised by the global media in an era where rock has been declared dead time and time again.


The Dead Daisies will release their new album, Light 'Em Up, on September 6, 2024. It will be distributed globally by SPV Germany, and Ward Records in Japan. 


In May 2024, The Dead Daisies dropped the first single and video from their new album Light 'Em Up, which was also the title track. Check it out:








The Dead Daisies' most ambitious and biggest UK Tour to date will launch on September 6th, with special guests The Treatment and The Bites, which will coincide with the release of the album Light ‘Em Up.


The band will then embark on a run of mainland Europe kicking off on November 1st with the final show of the year in Frankfurt, Germany. Special guests for these shows are Beasto Blanco and Mike Tramp (Performing The Songs Of White Lion).


“Our 2024 Tour has been locked and we’re gonna have some great nights of kick ass rock! Can’t wait to play the new songs for you guys! See ya there!” - Doug Aldrich





The Dead Daisies 2024 Tour Dates:


September
6 - Chalk - Brighton, UK
7 - The Foundry - Torquay, UK
8 - The 1865 - Southampton, UK
10 - Picturedrome - Holmfirth, UK
11 - SWG3 - Glasgow, UK
13 - Rock City - Nottingham, UK
14 - KK’s Steel Mill - Wolverhampton, UK
15 - Boiler Shop - Newcastle, UK
17 - O2 Ritz - Manchester, UK
18 - Patti Pavilion - Swansea, Wales
20 - O2 Academy - Bristol, UK
21 - O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire - London, UK
 
November
1 - Metropool - Enschede, Netherlands
2 - De Casino - Sint Niklaas, Belgium
3 - Gruenspan - Hamburg, Germany
5 - Essigfabrik - Cologne, Germany
6 - Technikum - Munich, Germany
8 - Bibelot Poppodium - Dordrecht, Netherlands
9 - RuhrCongress - Bochum, Germany
10 - Z7 - Pratteln, Switzerland
11 - Élysée Montmartre - Paris, France
13 - Palac Akropolis - Prague, Czech Republic
15 - Barba Negra - Budapest, Hungary
16 - Simm City - Vienna, Austria
17 - Gibson - Frankfurt, Germany


 

UK alternative metal act, Neonfly, is celebrating the release of their brand new live EP, Master Tapes - 10 Years Live At Masters Of Rock, out now via Noble Demon.


In support of the band's new release, Neonfly has revealed a brand new video for the track "This World is Burning", captured in 2022 at the Masters of Rock festival. Watch below.


"‘This World is Burning’ was the 1st single off our third album The Future, Tonight and led the way in articulating our adoption of a more contemporary hard hitting sound", vocalist Willy Norton states. "Written at a time of great upheaval around the world its lyrics, allied with a powerful video, were our attempt to make sense of that chaos. The song now closes Neonfly’s live set with that mixture of melodicism and raw energy that fans have come to expect."







Having graced the festival for the fourth time in ten years back in 2022, this digital EP commemorates their decade-long journey since their first captivating performance on the international stage. Masters Of Rock festival holds a special place in Neonfly's hearts as it provided them with a crucial platform that kick-started the band's global presence. With each performance, Neonfly has established a profound connection with their fans and the festival community, culminating in this special EP that commemorates their decade-long adventure at Masters Of Rock festival from humble beginnings to the here and now.





Tracklisting:


"Highways To Nowhere" (Live at Masters of Rock 2022)
"This World Is Burning" (Live at Masters of Rock 2022)
"A Gift To Remember" (Live at Masters of Rock 2015)
"Heart Of The Sun" (Live at Masters of Rock 2013)
"Morning Star" (Live at Masters of Rock 2015)


"Highways To Nowhere" video:





(Photo by Rakkan)

Frontiers Music Srl presents the release of Nikolo Kotzev’s Nostradamus Live In Sofia and The Rock Opera original double album reissue on 2CD/DVD, Blu-ray, both out on July 19.


The second single, "The Inquisition", is out now.


Nikolo Kotzev shares: “Dear friends! Here’s the second single from the Nostradamus live show - 'The Inquisition'! A mid-tempo rocker, led by a full-blown orchestra and a choir. One of the best duets between the Inquisitor and Nostradamus! Enjoy!”




Listen here, and watch the video below:





Nostradamus, the famous three acts rock opera written by virtuoso musician Nikolo Kotzev (Brazen Abbot, Kikimora), was originally released on double CD in 2001 and reaped glowing reviews in the international press. The album went on to sell over 50,000 copies on several continents.


The original participants included some legendary vocalists of the metal/rock scene such as Glenn Hughes, Joe Lynn Turner, Goran Edman, Jorn Lande, Doogie White, Alannah Myles and Sass Jordan. Three of the members of the group Europe also appeared throughout the album (Mic Michaeli on keyboards, Ian Haugland on drums and John Leven on bass). Sustained throughout by a 35-piece orchestra, each song is more fantastic than the next. As proof, the sublime Pieces “Of A Dream”, which opens the album immediately after a beautiful intro, starts the journey through this monumental opus.


Fifteen years after the original album release, the rock opera was performed live for the first time in Sofia, Bulgaria, on November 18 and 19, 2016. The world live premiere coincided also with the 450th anniversary of the death of the French prophet Michel de Nostradamus, whose life and times are narrated throughout the opera.


Live In Sofia was recorded on May 27, 2017 in the hall of the State Opera – Rousse, Bulgaria, in conjunction with Maestro Nayden Todorov. Three more shows were staged in 2017 in venues in Bulgaria. The release sees the famous Nostradamus opera performed in its entirety, for over two hours of a blinding performance of a cast of 120 people.





Tracklisting:


CD1
"Overture"
"Pieces Of A Dream"
"Desecration"
"Introduction"
"Home Again"
"Henriette"
"Caught Up In A Rush"
"The Eagle"
"Plague"
"Inquisition"
"The King Will Die"
"I Don’t Believe"
"Try To Live Again"


CD2
"War Of Religions"
"The Inquisitor’s Rage"
"Chosen Man"
"World War II"
"World War III"
"Because Of You"
"The End Of The World"
"I’ll Remember You"
"I’ll Remember You" (Encore)





Live Stage Characters:


Alexander Atanasov (Bulgaria) – Nostradamus
Zvezdi Keremidchiev (Bulgaria) – The Inquisitor
Amalia Nenova (Bulgaria) – Anne Gemelle
Björn Lodin (Sweden) – The Storyteller
Thomas Vikström (Sweden) – Soldier / Ghost
Mehmet Kaya (Turkey) – King Henry II
Nora Karaivanova (Bulgaria) - Catherine de Medici
Ben Cross (Chariots of Fire, First Knight, Star Trek etc.) – The Narrator


Kikimora Band Members:


Nikolo Kotzev – guitars
Angel Dyulgerov – guitars
Anthony Georgiev – keyboards
Radoslav Todorov – keyboards
Nikolay Todorov – drums
Nikolai Tsvetkov – bass


Other Credits:


The State Opera – Rousse - orchestra, choir, ballet, choreography, costumes
Orlin Dyakov - director of the play
Nayden Todorov – conductor
Ivan Ivanov – Johani – scenographer
Nikolay Buzov - costume designer
Nikolo Kotzev - musical director





Nostradamus - The Rock Opera tracklisting:


CD1
"Overture"
"Pieces Of A Dream"
"Desecration"
"Introduction"
"Home Again"
"Henriette"
"Caught Up In A Rush"
"The Eagle"
"Plague"
"Inquisition"
"The King Will Die"
"I Don’t Believe"
"Try To Live Again"


CD2
"War Of Religions"
"The Inquisitor’s Rage"
"Chosen Man"
"World War II"
"World War III"
"Because Of You"
"The End Of The World"
"I’ll Remember You"


Cast:


Alannah Myles - Anne Gemelle
Sass Jordan - Catherine, Queen of France
Göran Edman - Ghost
Glenn Hughes - Henry II, King of France
Jørn Lande - Inquisitor
Joe Lynn Turner - Nostradamus


Doogie White - Storyteller


Musicians:


Nikolo Kotzev - Guitars, Violin
Mic Michaeli - Organ
John Levén - Bass
Ian Haugland - Drums
The Sofia Strings Symphonic Orchestra conducted by Nelko Kolarov

Gory Blister is pleased to officially announce the reissues of their album Art Bleeds (2001) and Cognitive Synergy EP (1997), set to be released in early 2025 via Dusktone Records, a label specializing in death metal.


This special reissue will be available in a 2CD format featuring remastered tracks and bonus content. In addition to Art Bleeds and Cognitive Synergy, the 2CD set will also include the debut demos Spoilt By Greed (1991) and Hanging Down The Sounds (1992), offering fans a comprehensive look at Gory Blister's legendary early years.


A message states: "This reissue represents a unique opportunity to rediscover and appreciate the music of one of Italy's most influential death metal bands. We invite all fans to stay tuned for further updates and exclusive previews that will be released in the coming months."




Gory Blister released their seventh album, Reborn From Hatred, last September via Eclipse Records.

Machine Head performed at the Graspop Metal Meeting 2024 in Dessel, Belgium on June 23rd. Pro-shot video of the band's entire show can be viewed below.


Setlist:


"Imperium"
"Ten Ton Hammer"
"Choke On The Ashes Of Your Hate"
"Now We Die"
"Is There Anybody Out There?"
"Locust"
"The Blood, The Sweat, The Tears"
"No Gos, No Masters"
- guitar solo -
"Darkness Within"
"Bulldozer"
"From This Day"
"Davidian"
"Halo"







Machine Head's European summer festival schedule is as follows: 


June
26 – Viveiro, Spain – Resurrection Festival
28 – Clisson, France – Hellfest
29 – Lisbon, Portugal – Evil Live Festival


July
4 – Athens, Greece – Rockwave Nights


Find additional information and tickets at machinehead1.com.

Québec black metal horde, Spectral Wound, is pleased to reveal that their fourth studio album, Songs Of Blood And Mire, will be released on August 23 via Profound Lore Records.


To celebrate this revelation, the band is now unleashing the visceral first single from the offering, "Aristocratic Suicidal Black Metal". Listen to the track below.


Pre-orders are now live, here. The cover artwork was created by Spectral Wound and can be found below along with the tracklisting.







Songs Of Blood And Mire tracklisting:


"Fevers And Suffering"
"At Wine-Dark Midnight In Mouldering Halls"
"Aristocratic Suicidal Black Metal"
"The Horn Marauding"
"Less And Less Human, O Savage Spirit"
"A Coin Upon The Tongue"
"Twelve Moons In Hell"


"Aristocratic Suicidal Black Metal":





Spectral Wound play black metal. Furious and visceral, untrammelled by esoteric posture or grasping idealism. It is music for the poisoned, the futile, the debauched and profane. The blooming of a flower of corruption, torn by cold winds.


Following the raw early offering of Terra Nullius (Arcane Angels/Out of Season 2015) Spectral Wound continued their path of creeping, opulent decay and searing melody, weaving strands of Métal noir Québécois with the weft of the Scandinavian canon. Refining its sound over Infernal Decadence (Vendetta, 2018) and the towering, exultant melancholy of A Diabolic Thirst (Profound Lore, 2021), with Songs Of Blood and Mire (Profound Lore 2024) the band delivers an elegy of the void, seething with the venom and clamour of an ever-emptying world.


The album was recorded and mixed by Patrick McDowall (Guitarist in Spectral Wound) at his studio Black Gate and mastered by James Plotkin.


Lineup:


Jonah - vocals
Illusory - drums
Patrick - guitars
Sam - bass
A.A. - guitars


(Photo - Ben Zodiazepin)

SLIPKNOT's new drummer Eloy Casagrande has shared a drum-cam video of him performing the song "The Heretic Anthem" with his bandmates during one of their recent festival appearances. Check it out below.

In a recent interview with Tone-Talk, SLIPKNOT guitarist Jim Root spoke about how Casagrande came to join SLIPKNOT and his impact on the band's overall sound. He said: "We didn't even try anybody else. Eloy's name came up. He contacted us, actually, about wanting to be a part of it and started sending a bunch of videos in. I think him and our bass player [Alessandro 'Vman' Venturella] might've had a little bit of a relationship before. I think they knew each other. They had mutual friends. And Vman's really in tune with a lot of really great, proggy, heavy musicians that are passionate about their instruments. And it just seemed like a no-brainer. And he's really respectful of the legacy of [SLIPKNOT's original drummer, the late] Joey [Jordison], and Joey was a huge influence on him. And he's so humble. The dude has so much humility. And you could tell he just lives and breathes his craft, to the point where I see his passion and it ignites my passion for my instrument. And Brazilians, South Americans in general, are so passionate about what they do. Our manager told me, he was out to dinner with four or five promoters from South America, and they were all really stoked. They're all, like, 'It's so good you've got a Brazilian drummer in SLIPKNOT now. We kind of feel like we've won the World Cup.' It's a cool feeling. And God, he just fits in so well. I don't know, man. I mean, there's a lot of things I can say about it. I'm just glad it happened when it did. And we're lucky to have him — we are really lucky to have that dude."

For its 2024 gigs so far, SLIPKNOT adopted a classic look, bringing back the 1999 red jumpsuits and elements of their early masks into their modern versions, tying into the fact that SLIPKNOT is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year.

After parting ways with Jay Weinberg last November, SLIPKNOT teased fans with a hint about a new drummer more than two months ago, posting a photo of a single broken drumstick online with the caption "Rehearsal."

The band explained in a statement that the split with Weinberg was a creative decision. Jay followed up with a statement of his own, saying that he was "heartbroken and blindsided" by his dismissal.

Weinberg has since joined SUICIDAL TENDENCIES and INFECTIOUS GROOVES.

Casagrande abruptly quit SEPULTURA three and a half months ago, shortly before he was supposed to begin rehearsals for the band's recently launched 40th-anniversary farewell tour.

"February 6th, a few days prior to the first rehearsal, drummer Eloy Casagrande informed the band that he was leaving SEPULTURA to pursue a career in another project," the band said in a statement.

Casagrande joined SEPULTURA nearly 13 years ago as the replacement for Jean Dolabella.

SLIPKNOT's latest album "The End, So Far", arrived in August 2022. It marked the band's the last full-length LP before the departure of both keyboardist Craig Jones, who left the group in June 2023, and Weinberg.

SLIPKNOT recently announced the North American portion of the "Here Comes The Pain" tour. The band is celebrating the 25th anniversary of its seminal debut album, "Slipknot", which catapulted the band back in 1999.

In addition to recently announced dates across the globe, the "Here Comes The Pain" tour, produced by Live Nation, includes arena plays nationwide this summer. Highlights include New York City's Madison Square Garden, Los Angeles's Intuit Dome, Austin's Moody Center and more with direct support from Kentucky's young and vibrant hardcore/metal forerunners KNOCKED LOOSE. ORBIT CULTURE and VENDED are confirmed as support on select dates.

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A post shared by Eloy Casagrande (@eloycasagrande)

Fan-filmed video of AC/DC's June 23 concert at Ernst Happel Stadion, Vienna, Austria can be seen below.

The setlist for the show was as follows, according to Setlist.fm:

01. If You Want Blood (You've Got It)
02. Back In Black
03. Demon Fire
04. Shot Down In Flames
05. Thunderstruck
06. Have A Drink On Me
07. Hells Bells
08. Shot In The Dark
09. Stiff Upper Lip
10. Shoot To Thrill
11. Sin City
12. Rock 'N' Roll Train
13. Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap
14. High Voltage
15. Riff Raff
16. You Shook Me All Night Long
17. Highway To Hell
18. Whole Lotta Rosie
19. Let There Be Rock

Encore:

20. T.N.T.
21. For Those About To Rock (We Salute You)

The "Power Up" European tour marks AC/DC's first with the band's new touring lineup consisting of singer Brian Johnson, guitarists Angus and Stevie Young, drummer Matt Laug and the latest addition to the group's touring lineup, bassist Chris Chaney.

The 24-date trek will run through August. The trek will hit Germany, Austria and Switzerland before landing at London's Wembley Stadium for a pair of shows on July 3 and 7, then moving on to Germany, Slovakia and Paris and winding down at Croke Park in Dublin, Ireland. The European tour is the first run of gigs since AC/DC's return to the stage at last year's rock Power Trip festival in Indio, California.

AC/DC's last tour took place in 2015 and 2016 and had a $180 million gross, with 2,310,061 sold tickets reported to the Pollstar box office.

Laug is an American drummer who has played with many bands/artists such as Alanis Morissette, Alice Cooper, SLASH'S SNAKEPIT and Vasco Rossi. Matt moved to Los Angeles after graduating from South Florence High School in 1986 and after attending college in L.A., Matt became a sought-after studio drummer.

In 2001, Laug supported AC/DC as part of SLASH'S SNAKEPIT on the North American and European legs of the "Stiff Upper Lip" tour.

In its announcement about Laug's addition to the band's Power Trip lineup, AC/DC offered no explanation for the absence of the band's longtime drummer Phil Rudd, who rejoined AC/DC for the recording of the group's comeback album, "Power Up", which came out in November 2020.

Rudd was ousted from AC/DC when he was sentenced to eight months of home detention by a New Zealand court in 2015 after pleading guilty to charges of threatening to kill and drug possession. He was replaced on the band's "Rock Or Bust" tour by Chris Slade, who had previously served as AC/DC's drummer between 1989 and 1994, playing on the album "The Razor's Edge".

Rudd, who appeared on all but three of AC/DC's 18 previous studio albums, toured in support of his 2014 solo debut, "Head Job". It was the release of that album that led indirectly to Rudd's arrest, with the drummer allegedly so angry at a personal assistant over the way the record was promoted that he threatened to have the man and his daughter killed.

AC/DC postponed the last 10 dates of its spring 2016 North American trek after Johnson was advised to stop playing live or "risk total hearing loss." The band went on to complete the European and North American legs of its "Rock Or Bust" tour with GUNS N' ROSES frontman Axl Rose as a "guest vocalist." At the time, Johnson had been AC/DC's singer for 36 years, ever since replacing the late Bon Scott in 1980 and making his debut on the classic "Back In Black" album.

To enable him to perform live with AC/DC again, the now-76-year-old Johnson worked with audio expert Stephen Ambrose, who said he could help resolve the singer's hearing problems.

Ambrose, who invented the wireless in-ear monitors that are widely used by touring artists today, claimed to have invented a new type of ear-bud that would allow Johnson to perform without causing further damage to his eardrums. After three years of experimenting and "miniaturizing" the equipment, Johnson previously said the technology could allow him to tour again.

Chaney is best known as the bassist of JANE'S ADDICTION and as a member of Alanis Morissette's touring and recording band. Chaney was also a member of TAYLOR HAWKINS AND THE COATTAIL RIDERS and CAMP FREDDY, as well as being a prolific and versatile session musician, having played with artists including Joe Cocker, Shakira, Slash and Avril Lavigne to Sara Bareilles, Gavin Degraw, Cher, SHINEDOWN and Celine Dion. Chaney is also a founding member and partner in the all-star supergroup ROYAL MACHINES along with Dave Navarro (JANE'S ADDICTION),Mark McGrath (SUGAR RAY),Josh Freese (FOO FIGHTERS) and Billy Morrison (BILLY IDOL).

Bassist Cliff Williams announced his retirement at the end of AC/DC's 2015-2016 "Rock Or Bust" tour, which also saw Johnson leaving. However, Williams — and Johnson — took part in the recording sessions that resulted in "Power Up". Both of them were also part of the AC/DC lineup that performed at Power Trip.

During an October 2020 interview with Dean Delray's "Let There Be Talk" podcast, Cliff was asked if Johnson's departure from the road was what led to his desire to stop touring. Cliff responded: "It was before then. I spoke to Angus about it initially. I was at a point — and this is at the beginning of the 'Rock Or Bust' tour — that I just felt, for me, it was time to hang it up. I knew that I didn't wanna keep doing these two-year tours, and I didn't wanna hold them back, so I made them aware of the fact that this was gonna be my last go-round. It was a tough tour to finish. God bless Axl for coming in and helping us out, finish it up. He did a great job. And at the end of that, I was definitely — that was it for me. Done — just done. That compounded the whole thing."

According to Williams, he wanted to take part in the recording sessions for "Power Up" as a tribute to Angus's late brother, founding AC/DC rhythm guitarist Malcolm Young, who died in 2017 from effects of dementia at age 64. Malcolm is credited as a writer on all 12 tracks on "Power Up".

"If 'Back In Black' has [late AC/DC singer] Bon Scott all over it, for me, 'Power Up' has got Malcolm Young," Cliff said. "This is for him. And it's the band that we played together with for 40-plus years. And I wanted to do that — I wanted to come back and do that.

"We did some rehearsals earlier [in 2020] before this darn COVID thing popped up, and we had great rehearsals," he continued. "The band was playing really well. So [they asked me], 'Do you wanna do a few shows? 'Sure'. A few shows. We were planning on doing that. Everyone goes home to their respective homes, and bang, we've been here ever since [because of the coronavirus-related shutdown]."

Cliff went on to confirm that his commitment to AC/DC was only for "a few" dates in support of "Power Up".

"For both [my mental and physical] health," he said. "I definitely have some physical issues, which I won't bore you with the details of. But, yeah, it's tough. I'm very grateful for everything. It's been fantastic. But I just don't wanna do that anymore."

Williams previously revealed that a "terrible" bout with vertigo contributed to his 2016 retirement. He also admitted the return of both Johnson and drummer Phil Rudd convinced him to rejoin the group. "It was like the old band back together," he told Rolling Stone. "It was not like starting over again, but as close to the band that's been together for 40-plus years as we can possibly make it. I didn't want to miss that."

The follow-up to 2014's "Rock Or Bust", "Power Up" was recorded over a six-week period in August and September 2018 at Warehouse Studios in Vancouver with producer Brendan O'Brien, who also worked 2008's "Black Ice" and "Rock Or Bust".

DOWN played the second of two Louisiana "pop-up" shows last Friday night (June 21) at Varsity Theatre in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Fan-filmed video of the concert is available below (courtesy of Adam Lancaster YouTube channel)

The band's setlist was as follows, according to Setlist.fm:

01. Eyes Of The South
02. Pillars Of Eternity
03. Lifer
04. Hail The Leaf
05. Temptation's Wings
06. Underneath Everything
07. There's Something On My Side
08. Losing All
09. Rehab
10. Swan Song
11. New Orleans Is A Dying Whore
12. Stone The Crow
13. Bury Me In Smoke

DOWN announced two pop-up shows for last week in Louisiana after the band's previously announced concert in Mescalero, New Mexico was postponed due to a pair of rapidly growing wildfires which are converging on a village inside a tribal reservation in the state.

The long-running heavy metal supergroup, which features vocalist Philip H. Anselmo, guitarists Pepper Keenan and Kirk Windstein, drummer Jimmy Bower and bassist Pat Bruders, was supposed to perform on Thursday, June 20 at Inn Of The Mountain Gods Resort And Casino in Mescalero, New Mexico. But the show was called off after thousands of residents in southern New Mexico were ordered to evacuate their homes and the fires prompted the partial closure of U.S. Highway 70 south of the village of Ruidoso.

The South Fork Fire started Monday on the Mescalero Apache Reservation, where president Thora Walsh Padilla declared a state of emergency.

$5 per ticket from each of the DOWN pop-up shows will go to Mescalero Apache Nation - South Fork Fire relief fund.

In a video message announced the pop-shows, Keenan said: "Hey, guys, this is DOWN. We're in a strange predicament right now and we were adapting by the minute as we talk here. But our show at the Inn Of The Mountain Gods clearly has been canceled because there's a horrific wildfire that is raging through the entire Apache reservation, the South Fork fire. So we have had to adapt and jump ship and try and figure another way to not only to not — postpone the show, but now we're trying to also help out as what we can. And being from Louisiana, we know how evil Mother Nature can be sometimes. So we are going to do two pop-up shows. One of them is on [June] 20th, Thursday, at Southport Music Hall in New Orleans. The second one will be on the 21st at the Varsity Theater in Baton Rouge, Louisiana."

When DOWN's concert at Inn Of The Mountain Gods Resort And Casino was first announced in April, the band said that Windstein would sit out the show due to his commitments with CROWBAR. Filling in for him at this week's gigs is former DOWN guitarist Bobby Landgraf.

Prior to the June 20 Southport Hall concert in New Orleans, DOWN's last concert took place in September 2022 at the Blue Ridge Rock Festival in Alton, Virginia.

DOWN made a handful of rare live appearances in the spring and summer of 2022. The band launched a three-date U.S. run of shows in May 2022 at the Welcome To Rockville festival in Daytona Beach, Florida. After playing in Atlanta and Dallas immediately after Rockville, DOWN took a three-week break before regrouping for three European festival appearances in June. The aforementioned appearance at that year's Blue Ridge Rock Festival followed in September 2022.

In August 2021, DOWN took part in a very special in-person live and virtual experience. "NOLA Town Throwdown" was held at the Fillmore in New Orleans, Louisiana and featured fans attending the show in person as well as watching it in real time from the comfort of their living room.

In August 2020, DOWN celebrated the 25th anniversary of "NOLA" with a special livestreamed event. Dubbed "The Quarter Century Throwdown", the high-production, multi-camera event took place using cutting-edge streaming technology to create a one-of-a-kind virtual concert experience.

A founding member of DOWN, Windstein left the band in 2013 in order to focus on CROWBAR and his family life. He was replaced by Bobby Landgraf, DOWN's former guitar tech who was previously in GAHDZILLA MOTOR COMPANY, a 1990s outfit also featuring Jason McMaster (DANGEROUS TOYS, WATCHTOWER),and HONKY.

Windstein announced his return to DOWN in 2019, with the band confirming a number of festival appearances for 2020 to celebrate the 25th anniversary of "NOLA", all of which were later canceled or postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic which swept the globe.

Prior to the August 2020 livestream, DOWN's last live appearance took place in August 2016 at the Psycho Las Vegas festival in Las Vegas.

The supergroup hasn't issued anything since the arrival of the "Down IV – Part Two" EP in May 2014.

"Down IV – Part Two" sold around 10,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release in May 2014 to debut at position No. 23 on The Billboard 200 chart.

The band's previous EP, "Down IV Part I – The Purple EP", opened with around 12,000 units in September 2012 to land at No. 35.

"Down IV – Part Two" was recorded at Nodferatu's Lair — Anselmo's home studio — and produced by Michael Thompson. It was released via Down Records/ADA Music.

DOWN pop up shows THIS week!!! $5 per ticket goes to Mescalero Apache Nation - South Fork Fire relief fund
Thursday June 20th - @southportmusichall NOLA
Friday June 21st - Varsity Theatre - Baton Rouge, LA

Posted by Down on Tuesday, June 18, 2024

Orianthi has released her new single, "Ghost", via Woodward Avenue Records. Listen to the track below.


With an all-star history that includes an almost historic run of shows with Michael Jackson and extensive collabs with icons like Alice Cooper, Dave Stewart and Richie Sambora, there’s no way Orianthi will ever outrun her glorious reputation as a shredder who takes the electric guitar to otherworldly levels. Longtime fans will always want to hear her work her emotionally charged magic, and those who have only casually heard about her history will want to hear what the fuss is all about. The point of her signing with Woodward Avenue Records was not to put those accolades behind her but to find a way to integrate her legendary talents on the guitar with her continued emergence as a heartfelt and soulful singer/songwriter sharing her longtime passion for organic, 60’s-70’s blues-rock sound.


On her debut label single, “First Time Blues” (which featured her in a dual firepower match with fellow guitar great Joe Bonamassa; video below) and even more now on her second release “Ghost”, Orianthi is making her mark as a multi-faceted artist who can create and inspire as much raw emotion as a singer and storyteller as she does with her axe. Her lyrics and vocal on the heartbreaking, soul-searing song are so compelling that listeners may not even notice that she doesn’t even introduce the electric guitar until a little over a minute in – and then only as subtle enhancement for the searing heartbreak she’s expressing vocally. It’s a slow building power ballad about the ongoing, painful, spiritual presence of a lost romantic partner.




As she posted on her Facebook page, “My new single #Ghost is about a love that didn’t last long, but the memories haunt every time you feel love again…thinking it will leave you out of nowhere. I guess we have all felt that…when you look back you realize all the signs were there but didn’t pay attention to intuition, which is our strongest life compass.”





Orianthi is not a gospel performer, but “Ghost” finds her taking us to church from the start so convincingly that we wouldn’t be surprised to see her incorporate more of that style into her future music. Using the seductive piano and slow simmering organ sounds of Michael Bearden’s keyboards as a foundation, she shares pure vulnerability as she brilliantly and poetically paints the sorrowful internal scene: “There’s love on my mind/But a war in my heart/Every thought of you tears me apart.” Rather than the guitar, on the first iteration of the incisive chorus (“Did you hold me hold me hold me/Like you’d never leave me leave me leave me”), she enhances her vocals with the small yet powerful choir of Sharlotte Gibson, Luke Edgemon and Maiya Sykes. It comes across like a painful prayer, addressing the lover who abandoned her but also crying out to God/The Universe with an eternal “Why?”


After a subtle guitar interlude, Orianthi eases into the second verse where she partially takes blame (“dug our own graves/broke each other’s hearts”) for the split but continues to suffer the consequences and literally cries out “God help me with what I’m gonna do.” On this verse, she enhances her sensually cool vocal with an undercurrent of electric guitar crackle – like she’s trying to hold it together before the feelings in her heart literally explode in a burst of fiery rage – some aimed at herself, some at the lover/leaver.


The second run of the chorus features the great gospel-style background vocals, this time underscored with more vibrant guitar expressions. Once she declares her need for closure “’cause I’m still living with your ghost,” all hell breaks loose and Orianthi unleashes the full power of her guitarisma. Perfectly reflecting the dynamics of the song, the last part has her quietly resigned to enduring lonely nights dreaming she’s still lying with him, followed by a final emphatic run through the hard questions of the chorus.


Considering the trademark blistering excitement that happens every time she picks up her guitar, it’s doubtful that Orianthi will ever record a full song without incorporating it. But the other elements of “Ghost” – the lyrics, keyboards, her raw voice, the gospel vibe and backing vocals– are so powerful here that, believe it or not, the song would impact us just as much even without that element.








(Single photo by Alex Brown, Artwork by James Silvera)

At the world premiere of GHOST's debut film, "Rite Here Rite Now", on June 18 at London, United Kingdom's Picturehouse Central, GHOST leader Tobias Forge spoke to The Upcoming about his expectations for the movie. He said (transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "I hope that people are happy with what they're seeing and not perplexed or disgusted. There are elements in this film that might come off as, I guess, unorthodox if you're super traditional. And I'm not making that as traditional as in 50 years ago or 60 years ago, like old school that way. I really set out to make like an unreal fictional live concert film that was gonna be unlike anything else you've ever seen. That doesn't mean that it's better than anything you've ever seen, but it is not gonna be reminiscent of exactly something else that you've seen previously before seeing this, and I think I've done that. But that is one thing. Another thing is to see… Obviously, people are excited, but we just know that people are excited about seeing the film that they still have not seen. So, right now I just want all these people who have believed in the film coming out [of the theaters] and saying, 'It was better than I thought.' That would be amazing."

Referencing the fact that "Rite Here Rite Now" contains a narrative that picks up plot threads from GHOST's long-running webisode series, Tobias said: "Had people reacted poorly to the episodes once we started doing them, of course, we might not be standing here today, or we might have looked at a completely different film. I don't know. But people have been engaging throughout the years that we've been telling these episodal stories, and that has become part of, what I guess, uh, a lot of fans think is, is like the totality of GHOST. Obviously there are a lot of people who like a song or two, or like our music, but [don't] give a toss about the story or the lore and have never really gone into that. So, of course, there's a duality between those who are in the know and those who are not. And those who have never heard about this and would expect just a normal show, a lot of this might come complete news and complete weirdo territory. There you go. You can't please everyone, so if people think it's wack… It's kind of a goofy film, so that's correct. But, of course, you want as many [people] as possible to think it's a great wack. [Laughs]"

In a separate chat with Rock Sound, Tobias said about the making of the movie: "As any semi-gargantuan task, as fun as it is, it's also draining. I'm used to working towards deadlines, but filmmaking is definitely a lot… You can release records into the society and people will buy it or not, whereas tickets you have to sell too, but cinemas are a little bit like venues. So you can't just release a film or move it like a week. If you don't deliver on time, it would be delayed, like, months. So we've been sort of zoning in on this date, basically today, for the last nine months. So it feels like a giant relief because at points during the making of the film, there was definitely a sense of urgency, especially for everyone who had to answer to someone, which I guess I had to too, but I also understood the urgency of things having to be delivered on time. But now we're finally here, against all odds."

Director Alex Ross Perry stated about working with Forge and GHOST: "I am a fan. I was first and foremost a fan. If anything keeps me humble and honest about working with him several times on various different projects, I'm just happy to be there. I'm not there to make a name for myself or build up my resume as a great rock/metal filmmaker, get other jobs. It's really just, I'm a fan. If I can be of service here, I am ready to be of service. I think that's a good attitude to bring to something that there's room for a lot of other voices and a lot of collaboration, but you don't need two bosses in that. You just need one boss, and then someone who's happy to be there. It's just about translating what he wants, because what he wants is vast, visual, creative but not always practical or possible. He's the first one to admit that, and he knows that. So it's never, 'Here's what I want. Do it.' It's, 'Here's what I want,' and then me saying, 'Well, here's a version of that we can do. If we had all the time and money in the world, we could do exactly what you just said, but we don't.' And I'm here to say, 'Well, if we did it this way, is that good enough? Is that basically correct?' And, 'Yeah, yeah, we can do that.' And then sometimes there's ideas that were in place from our first conversation, moments that never changed, and then there's things in the movie that we thought of five minutes before we started filming, or I thought of 20 minutes before we started filming and said, 'Something like this?' 'Yeah, let's do that. Let's try that this time.' So it's just being there to sort of be open and say, 'Tell me exactly what you want and tell me where there's room to be flexible.' If you had an ego about it, that would be very difficult, but I'm just happy to help out."

Directed by Forge and Perry ("Her Smell"),"Rite Here Rite Now" combines never-before-seen 2023 concert footage of GHOST with a narrative story that picks up plot threads from the band's long-running "Chapters" series.

Shot over the course of GHOST's two sold-out shows at Los Angeles's hallowed Kia Forum, "Rite Here Rite Now" fully immerses viewers in the technicolor melodrama of the vaunted live ritual that has helped to propel Sweden's foremost theatrical rock export to Grammy-winning, chart-topping, arena-headlining status the world over.

"Rite Here Rite Now" is, however, so much more than a concert movie. GHOST's debut feature film combines live performance from the two-night finale of the band's "Re-Imperatour" U.S.A. 2023 with a narrative story that picks up plot threads from the band's long-running "Chapters" series. The result is an utterly unique phantasmagorical blend: Flesh and bone renditions of favorites from all five of GHOST's albums as well as the RIAA platinum-certified "Mary On A Cross" and more are interwoven with the silver screen debuts of a few faces familiar to the band's legions of fans — all interacting behind the scenes with GHOST's Papa Emeritus IV, as his future and fate lay in the hands of the Ministry.

Whether you're a devoted disciple looking to relive treasured memories of the GHOST live spectacle or among the curious uninitiated, "Rite Here Rite Now" will put you right there: putting your phones down and living in the moment — as a shadow of uncertainty looms — completely spellbound and in the thrall of this bombastic yet intimate cinematic portrait of GHOST.

The original motion picture soundtrack to "Rite Here Rite Now" will be released on July 26 via Loma Vista Recordings. A fitting 18-song complement to GHOST's debut feature film, the band's first-ever original soundtrack will be available on all formats (digital, CD, 2xLP). Pre-orders are live now, and include the soundtrack's live version of "Absolution", captured at that now-legendary two-night stand at the Forum, as an instant grat track available on YouTube.

"Rite Here Rite Now" is produced by Popecorn Cinematic Pictures. Producers include Kristen Mulderig, Rick Sales, Craig Butta and Jonas Åkerlund.

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

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

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

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

Tobias was also asked if the GHOST film will be similar to METALLICA's "Through The Never", which starred members of the iconic rock band and Dane DeHaan ("Chronicle", "The Amazing Spider-Man 2"). DeHaan played a young band crew member who is sent out on an urgent mission while the band is playing a rousing live set in front of a sold-out crowd and unexpectedly finds his world turned completely upside down. Forge replied: "In the sense that it's a concert with something else combined."

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

During an appearance on the June 20 episode of SiriusXM's "Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk", DEF LEPPARD guitarist Phil Collen spoke about the band's latest single, "Just Like 73". The track, which features a guest guitar solo from Tom Morello, can be heard below.

"We started it when we were doing [2022's] 'Diamond Star Halos' [album], and anyone who doesn't know, that's a line from a Marc Bolan song [from] T. REX," Phil said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET). "He says 'hubcap diamond star halo'. And me and Joe [Elliott, DEF LEPPARD singer] have always used that phrase to describe the time that we got really baptized into music. I remember seeing [David] Bowie on 'The Old Grey Whistle Test' and 'Top Of The Pops' and was, like, 'Oh my God. This is my guy.' I was, like, 14 or 15. I'd already seen DEEP PURPLE; it my first concert, which was amazing. So, then all of a sudden this glam stuff came out. So we would always describe that as 'Diamond Star Halos'."

Phil continued: "I was writing a song with Dave Bassett, who I wrote 'Kick' with. And the same deal — I really want to put a SLADE slant on the backing vocals and just make it very much about '72 or '73. And Joe heard the demo and he's, like, 'Why can't you have both?' So we did, and then Joe started writing some lyrics because he's obviously really tapped into that, and all the verse lyrics and all the imagery from exactly that 'Diamond Star Halos' period ends up on this song. We actually hadn't finished it, so the rest of the band hadn't even heard the demo, and we played it to everyone and they all loved it. They all put their stuff on it. Viv [guitarist Vivian Campbell] played guitar, Sav [Rick Savage] did [his bass tracks], Rick [Allen, DEF LEPPARD drummer] put his part on and then we had some vocals — everyone had sung on it — and before you know it, it came out like this. So, we're really thrilled. It actually sounds better than the stuff on 'Diamond Star Halos', to my ears. So I'm really excited about that. And it seems that everyone really digs it as well."

Asked if this is a one-off single or the seed of another DEF LEPPARD full-length album, Phil said: "Oh, it's absolutely the seed of another DEF LEPPARD record. I mean, it was a leftover from the album before, but it was also the start of a new album. So, without a doubt. [Joe and I] write all the time. We send each other things. Sav gets in on there. Just between the three of us, there's just a lot of stuff floating around already. So we've, yeah, got a bunch of stuff. It's really exciting. And it's a great place to be. It's never that thing where, 'Well, we've got to sit down and write an album.' It's, like, 'Wow, I can't wait to play this to the guys and see what the reaction is.' And we keep pushing the boat out even further."

Regarding whether he envisions a new DEF LEPPARD full-length album coming out this year, Phil said: "This year would be pushing it, I think this year. But once we kind of get into the groove, I think — yeah. Who knows? Next year [or] early the year after. But you know how these things go. We have these tours and everything, but we've got a new song. So that's really exciting. So that'll be on the go pretty soon."

"Just Like 73" will arrive on seven-inch vinyl on August 2, 2024 and will be available in a special color variant only through the band's D2C store and in black at all retailers.

"Just Like 73" notably marks the first collaboration between the iconic rock titans and the legendary guitarist, sonic innovator and co-founder of RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE and AUDIOSLAVE. The single revolves around a classic DEF LEPPARD stomp fueled by a robust stadium-size beat, thick riffing, and a signature chant, "Rock with me, just like 73!" Meanwhile, a knockout gang vocal gives way to a signature fret-scorching solo from Morello. The instantly recognizable whammy bar wheezes as he shreds at lightspeed into one last head-nodding hook.

Of the collaboration, Elliott previously shared: "It encapsulates a time that burned deep into our DNA. We wanted to celebrate that very important and glorious time."

Morello said: "I had a blast rocking a solo on 'Just Like 73'. I played 'Rock Of Ages' in my college cover band almost 40 years ago and here DEF LEPPARD are still killing it in stadiums with a brand new tune that's one of their best."

DEF LEPPARD teased "Just Like 73" on social media earlier this month, sharing an image with two different phone numbers for U.S. and U.K. fans to call.

"Light up the fuel. Just Like 73. Hotline Now Open," the band wrote in an accompanying caption.

Fans who called the phone numbers were able to hear Elliott singing lyrics from the song, which marks the band's first new original music since 2022's "Diamond Star Halos" album.

DEF LEPPARD's 23-city trek with JOURNEY is scheduled to begin on July 6 in St. Louis, Missouri and continue through September 8 in Denver, Colorado. Along the way, the two Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame inductees will bring their show to stadiums in major cities like Chicago, Nashville, Boston, Toronto, New York City, Los Angeles, San Francisco and more. CHEAP TRICK will play two shows at the beginning of the tour and two concerts at the end of the trek, while STEVE MILLER BAND will join the bill for the majority of shows and HEART will appear on three dates.

Elliott previously shared that DEF LEPPARD's set on the 2024 tour will celebrate specific parts of the rockers' history. "We may even have a surprise or two up our sleeves," he said in a statement.

JOURNEY recently completed a number of dates as part of its 50th-anniversary "Freedom" tour.

The DEF LEPPARD/JOURNEY tour is being promoted by AEG Entertainment.

Both bands are offering VIP packages through their respective web sites.

DEF LEPPARD's VIP experiences include a premium seat, personal photo with the band, exclusive merchandise and more.

DEF LEPPARD's 12th studio album, "Diamond Star Halos", came out in 2022. A year later, the band followed it up with "Drastic Symphonies", a collection of reimagining of some of DEF LEPPARD's greatest hits with London's Royal Philharmonic Orchestra at Abbey Road. The album spent 15 weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Current Classical chart.

DEF LEPPARD's 2022 stadium tour across North America with MÖTLEY CRÜE reportedly sold more than 1.3 million tickets.

Photo credit: Ross Halfin

In a new interview with Graspop Metal Meeting, FEAR FACTORY guitarist Dino Cazares spoke about how A.I. (artificial intelligence) has changed the way we work and improved our lives by making it easier to do business. "Well, we kind of knew that things like that were gonna eventually change," he said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET). "And I hope that I'm alive long enough to actually see androids alongside us and to see how that works. Because we've been using technology forever to better our lives. I think the next thing would be these little nanobots that they would actually inject into your blood and they would be able to fight cancer and help you clean your liver and things like that. That, I think, would be the next breakthrough that would be really helpful for us humans. But how A.I. and how that's changing a lot of stuff, it could get really scary. There's gonna be a lot of changes coming up and people need to be prepared for it."

Last year, Dino said that the next FEAR FACTORY studio album — which will mark the band's debut release with singer Milo Silvestro, whose addition to FEAR FACTORY was officially announced in February 2023 — "will continue the theme of what FEAR FACTORY is about: the relationship between man and technology and where that's gonna take us. 'Cause now we have a whole new influx of A.I. and how much A.I. is effecting change in our day-to-day life. I mean, you [saw] all the strikes over here in Los Angeles — the writers' strike… So it's gonna get crazy because A.I. is definitely changing where we are headed as people."

He continued: "Ever since our 'Obsolete' record, we've always been talking about change, we've always been talking about how certain things, because of technology, is gonna become obsolete. So it's very interesting to see what's gonna happen with the movie industry and the video game industry, to see where that's gonna go. And that's kind of what we're gonna be singing about in our new record — just where AI is gonna take us and how it's gonna affect us in our day-to-day lives. So, we'll see. We'll see where this goes."

At this month's Download festival in the United Kingdom, Cazares spoke to Primordial Radio about how things are going with FEAR FACTORY's current lineup, also featuring Silvestro, Tony Campos on bass, and Pete Webber on drums. He said: " 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."

Asked what is left for FEAR FACTORY to do, Dino said: "New record with Milo Silvestro. That's what we're gonna do next. New record. And then conquer the world again."

FEAR FACTORY played its first headlining concert with Silvestro and 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."

During an appearance on the June 18 episode of SiriusXM's "Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk", Chris Daughtry spoke about the progress of the recording sessions for the follow-up to DAUGHTRY's latest album, 2021's "Dearly Beloved". He said: "We have the first half done, and I don't have the exact date, but we're looking at sometime in September to drop the first half of the record. So we're dropping it in two parts. The first part will come out sometime in September. And then we're still currently working on the second half right now. And the first half, I'm just — man, I am so happy with it. I'm so stoked, and I can't wait for everybody to hear all of it. I can't wait to play some of these songs live. And yeah, so it's coming along great. It's just that we've been really, really deliberate and taking our time with this to get it right."

Asked if DAUGHTRY is planning to release the new music as two separate EPs, Chris said: "Yeah, I think it's two EPs that kind of come together as one when it all comes out."

This past April, DAUGHTRY released the official music video for its latest single, "Pieces". The song is the second track to be made available from the band's upcoming EP, due later this year on Big Machine Label Group.

Fronted by Chris Daughtry, DAUGHTRY has been winning fans around the globe since he burst on the scene in 2006. The new single "Pieces" is a deeply personal song for Chris as it was written shortly after the loss of his mother and daughter. The evocative lyrics "I'll never get over it. It's hard to move on, but I'm learning to live with the pieces of me" are delivered with passion and is sure to be another chart-topping hit for the band.

"At some point in our lives, we will all experience trauma of some kind," explained Chris Daughtry. "Something that chips away at the essence of who we are. Sometimes it's an event so devastating that it shatters our reality and rips a hole through our soul. This is about finding the strength to pick up those broken pieces, face the darkness head on, and fight your way toward the light."

DAUGHTRY had previously reached No. 1 over the years on other Billboard airplay charts, including four on Adult Pop Airplay ("It's Not Over", "Home", "Feels Like Tonight" and "No Surprise"),one on Pop Airplay ("It's Not Over") and one on Adult Contemporary ("Home").

DAUGHTRY's debut album, the self-titled "Daughtry", was the top-selling album of 2007 and was the fastest-selling rock debut album in SoundScan history. It was also nominated for four Grammy Awards and won four American Music Awards and seven Billboard Music Awards, including "Album Of The Year". Subsequent albums "Leave This Town" (2009),"Break The Spell" (2011) and "Baptized" (2013) have all gone platinum, with "Cage To Rattle" (2018) certified gold.

"Dearly Beloved" marked a return to DAUGHTRY's rock roots and a return to the top of the rock charts with their singles "World On Fire", "Heavy Is The Crown" and "Changes Are Coming", each reaching the Top 10 on Billboard's Rock Airplay chart.

Photo credit: Darren Craig

CRAZY TOWN frontman Shifty Shellshock has died at the age of 49.

According to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner's web site, Shellshock — whose birth name was Seth Binzer — died at his home on Monday, June 24. A cause of death was not disclosed.

CRAZY TOWN's biggest hit was the 1999 single "Butterfly", which reached No. 1 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart. The song sampled RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS' 1989 instrumental track "Pretty Little Ditty". CRAZY TOWN's debut album, "The Gift Of Game", sold 1.6 million units.

CRAZY TOWN split up up in 2003 but reformed in 2007 and released its third album, "The Brimstone Sluggers", in 2015.

Binzer had long struggled with substance abuse issues and appeared on various reality shows focusing on his efforts to beat his addiction, including "Celebrity Rehab" and "Sober House". In 2012, he was admitted to the hospital after losing consciousness and fell into a coma before recovering. Two years ago, he was arrested for a DUI.

In a 2001 interview with Rolling Stone, Binzer admitted that he had been arrested for shoplifting.

Seth is survived by his three children, Halo, Gage and Phoenix.

SHINEDOWN frontman Brent Smith and guitarist Zach Myers recently stopped by the 99.7 The Blitz radio station to perform a short acoustic set consisting of the songs "A Symptom Of Being Human" and "Second Chance". Check out video of their appearance below.

In a recent interview with "The Mistress Carrie Podcast", SHINEDOWN drummer Barry Kerch said that he has laid down "six songs of drums" for the band's follow-up to 2022's "Planet Zero" album. "We're actually further along than I thought we'd be this early in the year," he added. "So I think new SHINEDOWN music will probably be by the end of the year, early next year. So, it's kind of exciting."

In a separate interview with WMMR's Brent Porche, Kerch spoke about the musical direction of the new SHINEDOWN material. He said: "It's gonna be what SHINEDOWN does, which every record is completely different than the last one. It still sounds like SHINEDOWN. You're never going to change Brent Smith's voice, but I can't make 'Leave A Whisper' again. I can't make 'Planet Zero' again. I can't make 'Sound Of Madness' again. That was then, that was that snapshot of time… We definitely try to grow and evolve and do something different because at the same time, we're artists, we're musicians. We want to create what we hear in our heads, and that's what we do. So it's coming soon, and it's going to be cool."

Kerch also noted that bassist and producer Eric Bass, who helmed SHINEDOWN's last two albums, is on board to produce the next LP.

SHINEDOWN's "A Symptom Of Being Human" single, taken from "Planet Zero", recently landed at No. 1 at Active Rock. This marked SHINEDOWN's record-breaking 21st No. 1 song on the Mediabase Active Rock chart and extended the band's record for the most No. 1s in the history of Billboard's Mainstream Rock Airplay chart with 19 total. The "Planet Zero" album also featured the pop-rock anthem and No. 1 rock hit "Daylight", which People called one of "the most powerful of pop-rock songs created to remind us that we are truly all in this together."

SHINEDOWN, who recently appeared at this year’s iHeartRadio Music Awards where they were nominated for multiple awards including "Rock Artist Of The Year" and presented/introduced their good friend Jelly Roll on the live broadcast, will play select tour dates this summer.