Germany's Avantasia - led by Edguy frontman Tobia Sammet - performed at Sweden Rock 2024 on June 8th in Sölvesborg, Sweden. During their set they were joined by Kamelot frontman Tommy Karevik for "Dying For An Angel". Check out the fan-filmed video below.


Karevik comments: "Wow... huge thanks to Tobias Sammet for bringing me in to sing with his Avantasia family at Sweden Rock Festival. Tobi is a true class act, and might I say... what a frontman and singer he is! It was an absolute pleasure. What an amazing group of warm and talented people, both on and off stage!


Also, it was super cool to once again get the chance to share the stage with my good friend, monster guitar player and Kamelot brother, Sascha Paeth. I am feeling a lot of gratitude right now."




"Dying For An Angel" is taken from Avantasia's fourth album, The Wicked Symphony, and was originally performed by Scorpions singer Klaus Meine.





One of the most prestigious and legendary bands in the modern symphonic metal genre, unstoppable icons Kamelot, will bring their glorious Awaken the World Tour 2024 to Europe this October, starting in Utrecht (NL). The multinational icons founded and led by mastermind and guitarist Thomas Youngblood just announced new dates in 17 cities across 11 countries! 


Kamelot are ready to enchant and stun fans once again with their internationally top-charting melodic metal pinnacles, accompanied by powerful and unique special guests like rising modern symphonic metallers Ad Infinitum and power metal heroes Frozen Crown — both Napalm Records labelmates. As bonus support, enchanting symphonic metal rose Blackbriar will also grace the stage.


This massive, enchanting symphonic metal tour promises legendary moments to remember, chock full of musical diversity and hard-hitting melodies. The tour will begin on October 12, 2024 in Utrecht (NL) and will cross all over Europe and the UK, coming to an end on November 3, 2024 in Manchester (UK).


Tickets are available at kamelot.com/tour.


Thomas Youngblood on the upcoming tour:


“KamNation get ready for our return to Europe and first taste for the UK of the Awaken The World Tour!! We are incredibly excited about this package, all of the support bands have been on my wish list for a while now. I am sure we will have amazing memories for the fans and all the band members after this landmark tour in Europe and the UK!”


Melissa Bonny of Ad Infinitum adds: 


“We are excited to join Kamelot on this exciting European tour and even more so with the participation of our friends and tour mates from Blackbriar. Completed by Frozen Crown, this package promesses an epic experience for all the fans of symphonic and melodic metal who will join the party!”


Frozen Crown state: 


“We are delighted to announce we're joining Kamelot on their European tour 2024. This is a super exciting news for us, not only because of the privilege to open for one of the bands that influenced our music and lyrics. But also cause we get to share the stage with Ad Infinitum and Blackbriar as well, making this our first "full Napalm" tour after joining our new label. We can't wait to be part of this! See you guys on the road in October!”


René of Blackbriar comments: 


“We've got exciting news to share with you! We'll join Kamelot's 'Awaken The World' tour this year as a special guest alongside Ad Infinitum and Frozen Crown! This tour will take us to many new and familiar countries, and to say that we're looking forward to this feels like an understatement. Kamelot is a band we've been looking up to for so long, and we feel honored to join them on their tour. We've never had the pleasure of meeting them before, just as we never met Frozen Crown, and we can't wait to do so! We did have the pleasure of being tour buddies with Ad Infinitum last year, and we're looking forward to continuing these unforgettable times! We can't wait for these new adventures, see you on the road!”





Dates:


October
12 – Utrecht, Netherlands
13 – Munich, Germany
15 – Berlin, Germany
17 – Bratislava, Slovakia
18 – Zlin, Czech Republic 
19 – Ljubljana, Slovenia
20 – Milan, Italy
22 – Bilbao, Spain
23 – Madrid, Spain
25 – Lyon, France
26 – Pratteln, Switzerland 
27 – Oberhausen, Germany
29 – Hamburg, Germany
30 – Antwerpen, Belgium


November
1 – Wolverhampton, UK 


Kamelot lineup:


Tommy Karevik - Vocals
Thomas Youngblood - Guitars
Oliver Palotai - Keyboards
Sean Tibbetts - Bass
Alex Landenburg - Drums

Codex Mortis has unleashed the newest single off their forthcoming album, Tales Of Woe. Stream "It Dies With Me" now:





Black Lion Records will release Tales of Woe on June 21st. Pre-order / pre-save the album here.




Brace yourself for a chilling journey through an album that tells the harrowing story of demonic possession and mind control. Tales of Woe, the album from Dutch black metal band Codex Mortis, tells about an evil spirit that tortures a man through demonic possession and mind control. With horrific visions of its previous victims, the evil spirit tries to turn the man into a murderer. The man escapes its hold by taking his own life, as a desperate attempt to end the circle of terror...


In Tales Of Woe, a harrowing history filled with injustice, agony, violence, and death unfolds as a tortured soul, the antagonist of the story, finds itself in an undying state, compelled to inflict suffering and death upon others trying to undo its own misery. It describes the troubles of its latest victim, the protagonist, as he is possessed and haunted by horrid visions.





Tracklisting:


“Forsaken”
“Capricious Disembodied Villain”
“Chosen”
“Trenched In Blood”
“Fire Screams And Death”
“It Dies With Me”








Tales Of Woe was mixed and mastered by Björnström Ljud & Produktion. Artwork by Vladimir 'Smerdulak' Chebakov.


For further details, visit Codex Mortis on Facebook.


 

Darryl "DMC" McDaniels (RUN/DMC) has joined former Type O Negative drummer Johnny Kelly and Dan Lorenzo (Hades, Non-Fiction) on the new Patriarchs In Black single, "Welcome To Hell Again".


Patriarchs In Black's third album Visioning, will be out July 19th on MetalVille Records. The project utilizes Kelly and Lorenzo on bass and guitar, and then numerous singers and bassists including Karl Agell (COC Blind), Kyle Thomas (Exhorder), John "JD" DeServio (Black Label Society) among others. 


The song "Welcome To Hell Again" also features Kelly Abe who was on the TV show, Search For The Next Ozzfest Opener. 




Regarding the lyrics DMC said, "I'm basically saying it’s a choice to live in hell! We sometimes create our own hell. Regardless of what’s going on, we can speak life or death and positivity or negativity. The spirit I spit is how I live my life. How I can carry myself. I’m basically telling the devil and evil to bring their best! I can handle whatever they bring at me! I love working with Patriarchs In Black because they’re great musicians and I love the content of their songs. A lot of emotional stuff I can relate to."


Lorenzo returned the favor by co-writing DMC's next solo single and video out soon, "teRIFFic". "It's amazing to me that not only am I writing with DMC, I actually get a shout out in the first verse of his next single. Mind blowing!" said Lorenzo.





Visioning artwork and tracklisting:





"Entry"
"What Do They Know? (For The Champions)"
"Before I Go"
"Heart Of Spite"
"Low Price"
"Welcome To Hell Again"
"Whiskey On My Mind"
"Empty Cup"
"Curse My Name"
"A Few Good Men"
"Birth"


"Visioning""What Do They Know? (For The Champions)":





 

SLIPKNOT's new drummer Eloy Casagrande has shared a drum-cam video of him performing the song "Eyeless" 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)

During an appearance on the latest episode of the "Lipps Service With Scott Lipps" podcast, BLACK VEIL BRIDES singer Andy Biersack spoke about how artists feel judged and fear being blamed in cultures regulated by political correctness. He said in part (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "People feel like they need to be infallible and they need to be perfect and without fault and they need to have a stance on everything that's the exact right stance and they need to have the exact right thing to say when something happens in the world or whatever else, because if they don't, then their whole audience will leave them. And that has made it so — generally speaking, everyone is really sort of anodyne and boring because nobody can say anything for fear of upsetting everybody… And you can't even acknowledge that something makes you laugh, because the person that made you laugh may have, at one time, been in a podcast with somebody who was on a podcast that said something that you don't agree with. And how could you?"

He continued: "I've been screaming since 2013, I am incredibly insecure and fucked up and I try my best and I would love more than anything to be a good person and positive and ethical and moral and I try really hard but there are gonna be some times where I'm wrong about something or I said something wrong. I was a huge asshole when we first got popular. You can't give a 19-year-old a world where you're successful in rock music and you're constantly told that you're attractive and you're constantly told that you have the microphone and you're constantly cheered for everywhere you go. That's the recipe to create one of the worst people in the whole world. And I lived up to that for some time. And it took a lot of my life. It took a lot of experience and time. I would give my wife [Juliet Simms, a.k.a. Lilith Czar] a tremendous amount of credit in terms of helping me to find myself the version of me that is more true to me, the version of me that just loves to buy action figures and watch the Bengals. And I mention her in particular because we're both lead singers, and we were both crazy people when we got together. And our growth happened at the same time where we were both, like, 'We need to become the best versions of ourselves.' And so we moved past it. But there was a whole period in my life when I'm sure I was mean or shitty to half the people in a day. But right now in my life, I wanna be nice, and I wanna be nice to people that come to the shows, and I'm going to try my hardest, but I'm not always gonna know what to do or say."

Biersack also reflected on his acceptance speech at the 2013 Revolver Golden Gods where he called out people in the audience who were booing his band. After BLACK VEIL BRIDES was honored with the "Song Of The Year" award for the band's "In The End" track, Biersack went into full-rant mode, flipping the audience off and throwing the f-bombs all over the place (see video below).

"Here's the thing — you motherfuckers should have voted for somebody because BLACK VEIL BRIDES won three years in a row," Biersack shouted. He then called out individual members of the audience, saying: "I know that you fat motherfucker and you right there, you hate us, but I'm holding a heavy-as-shit award so fuck with me right now motherfuckers!"

He added: "Here's the thing — BLACK VEIL BRIDES have a song on the radio, you have a fucking fat ass, fuck me, come on! I don't care about what any of you fat bearded motherfuckers say, BLACK VEIL BRIDES won the 'Best Song Of The Year', 'In The End'. This one goes out to Urban Flanders [Andy's grandfather]. Fuck you!"

Asked by host Scott Lipps if he regrets his Revolver Golden Gods speech now or if he feels like what he said made sense at the moment, Andy said: "I regret the contents being about somebody's body and weight. But three things: when you wrote a song about your grandfather's death and then that song wins an award and you're gonna give a speech that you wrote about his death and you're so excited to honor him, and then you get really drunk beforehand, and then everyone in the whole crowd boos you and spits on you before the cameras pick it up. Because what people don't realize is we had to stand at the barricade for 20 minutes while the changeover happened to the commercial break and then they brought up Sebastian [Bach] to present the award. And at that time the audience already knows that we're winning the award, and the audience is people who have been waiting around all day to watch METALLICA and could give a shit about what's happening at this award show. And now they've gotta sit through this band that they hate give some big speech about their song. So they were already spitting, throwing, booing. All of a sudden, I come up on stage and it looks like I've just heel turned out of nowhere, but it was years of — it was kids putting raw fish in my lockers and it was people making fun of us or bands ripping on us, the singer of FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH using the 'F' slur about us on Facebook every other day or whatever band is saying some terrible thing about us every day. And it was all those things built together to where my cup had run over with anger and I turned into — as Chris Jericho described — a professional wrestler heel turn. And I don't regret doing that because if you're not gonna stand up for yourself, who is going to? And that's the thing, beyond anything else, that I want people to understand about what our message is."

Biersack continued: "In this world today, we exist in the capacity where there are a lot of people who really honestly want to be the person that they are. And I believe that they should be, but I also want everyone that listens to me to know that you need to stand up for yourself and insist on the person that you are. You cannot let other people take away from the way in which you see yourself, the things you like, the way you wanna dress, the things you listen to. You can't let them take that away from you. And you cannot assume that they are going to agree with who you are. When I was a kid, I was told that by my dad: 'You can't assume that people are gonna love your 'Clockwork Orange' outfit.' But if you're a kid that wears a BLACK VEIL shirt to school, you cannot assume that you're never gonna get fucked with. And I'm sorry about that, but that's just the way the world is. What you should do is know that you love this band, and don't let those people tell you that you shouldn't listen to this band."

Last month, BLACK VEIL BRIDES released the title track from their new EP, "Bleeders", inspired by Stephen Sondheim and Hugh Wheeler's "Sweeney Todd". The band paid tribute to the classic musical with a music video for the title track that is inspired by the musical's 2007 Tim Burton-directed film adaptation.

Due on June 21, the three-track EP, which will include "Bleeders", a cover of "My Friends" from the Sondheim classic, and a cover of U2's "Sunday Bloody Sunday", will be BLACK VEIL BRIDES' first release for Spinefarm.

KISS bassist/vocalist Gene Simmons joined CHEVY METAL on stage last night (Sunday, June 9) at The Canyon Club in Agoura Hills, California to perform the KISS classic "Deuce". Fan-filmed video of Gene's appearance can be seen below.

Also performing with CHEVY METAL at last night's show, which was a very special charity event benefiting the Rock N Roll Rescue dog shelter/adoption service, was Shane Hawkins, the son of late FOO FIGHTERS drummer Taylor Hawkins.

CHEVY METAL was ignited in 2002 by the rhythmic prowess of Taylor Hawkins and his longtime friend and musician Wiley Hodgden. Taylor, recognized worldwide as the iconic drummer for the FOO FIGHTERS, brought a relentless energy to the stage fueled by his infectious passion for classic rock. Wiley, both singer and bass player, was the drum tech for Hawkins at this time. While playing and touring with the FOO FIGHTERS, Taylor joined with Wiley to form CHEVY METAL as a side hustle cover band that focused on quintessential rock classics mixed with deep cuts. As the band evolved, Taylor and Wiley welcomed into the fold the extraordinary talents of guitarist Brent Woods, who is a seasoned touring/session guitarist and student of the legendary Randy Rhoads as well as a current member of Gene's solo band.

CHEVY METAL spent the first ten years as a band playing dive bars and small clubs. Eventually, Taylor took the band from the intimate atmosphere of bowling alleys to the grandeur of arenas, festivals and even stadiums, inviting other rock stars to join in their shows. They have shared the stage with rock luminaries such as Dave Grohl, Joan Jett and even the legendary Mick Jagger.

When the band was faced with the untimely passing of Taylor, its members came together to honor and pay tribute to him at the Taylor Hawkins memorial shows, held at Wembley Stadium and The Forum. These were thought to be their final performances, but Taylor's son, Shane Hawkins, decided that the band must endure, thus taking his father's place as their drummer.

With Shane at the helm, and all the dynamic energy that comes with him, CHEVY METAL continues to pay homage to the Hawkins legacy. Together, the band's members channel the spirit of old-school rock and roll, delving into the rich soundscape of the 1970s and 1980s as they continue their dedication to preserving and celebrating the timeless magic of classic rock.

In a 2019 interview with Forbes, Taylor said that CHEVY METAL "started out as kind of a goof. And it still really is a goof, but if we can go do a fun trip or if I can go do an autism benefit or scoliosis benefit or cancer benefit or if I can have fun and play all of those things are good," he said. "It wasn't meant for anything other than to keep my hands loose in between FOO FIGHTERS gigs. That's how it started, really. Obviously, it's not my first priority in life, but it's fun."



OK. So here’s Gene Simmons. #TheCanyon Agoura Hills CA #Chevy_Metal 🙌

Posted by Steve Wexler on Sunday, June 9, 2024

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🤘 They’re Baaaaaack ! 🤘
Chevy Metal Returns to Canyon Club Agoura on June 9th for The 2nd Annual Rock n Roll Rescue...

Posted by The Canyon Club & Special Events Center on Thursday, May 9, 2024

Finnish cello rockers APOCALYPTICA celebrated the release of "Apocalyptica Plays Metallica, Vol. 2" — the hotly anticipated sequel to their legendary debut record — on Saturday, June 8 at the Black Box of Helsinki Ice Hall in Helsinki, Finland. Fan-filmed video of the concert can be seen below.

Issued on June 7 via Throwdown Entertainment, "Apocalyptica Plays Metallica Vol. 2" continues the journey that began in 1996 when cellists from Helsinki's world-renowned Sibelius Academy played symphonic tribute to the biggest of the big four–heavy metal titans METALLICA.

In a stunning development, the "One" single sees METALLICA frontman James Hetfield joining proceedings for a soul-stirring, spoken word of those inimitable, now-immortal lyrics. More than a unique collaboration, this is history in the making.

Speaking to Mexico's Summa Inferno, APOCALYPTICA's lead cellist Perttu Kivilaakso explained how Hetfield's involvement with his band's version of "One" came about. He said:  "I all the time had this idea of, I want to make a very epic cinematic version, like a movie type of soundtrack type of a version out of 'One', because it's one of absolute most important and beloved tracks for me personally, as for so many others too. And that's why I actually thought that the story of 'One' is really important and interesting, exciting and touching story that for a movie aesthetics or cinematic aesthetics, it would be so cool to have a narrator in the track to talk the lyrics. And we didn't really even consider having anything sung in this album, but this narrator idea, I think what the approach is really cool because it brings a different type of flavor to this soldier's story and kind of inside his mind. And, of course, in the very starting point, James Hetfield naturally was kind of the number one choice for us when we were speaking: 'It would be so cool if James does his own lyrics.' But we didn't even consider that he would ever step away from METALLICA to do something else. And that's why, at some period of time, we had maybe other ideas of involving some cool actor — Mads Mikkelsen or somebody like that — with a great charismatic voice there. But then, when our recordings were all done and we came into the finalizing the post-production of the album, all of a sudden James informed us that, basically, like, 'Why wouldn't you ask me to do [it]?' It kind of felt even that he wanted to do it — he really, really wanted [to do it]. And that was a mind-blowing experience."

He continued: "For me, I remember when I received, actually, all the files James had recorded in States, and I was working at my home in Finland, and I got all his tracks and I imported them to my session and I started to edit Hetfield at home, I fell to my knees crying because it felt like, in a way, of course, like a dream come true and the full circle going on. And eventually Trujillo wanted to play also bass to 'One' because they apparently loved the version, the demo, the original demo that I sent to the guys. And even that was exciting because I had spoken those lyrics or the poetic approach, the narrative with my own sound, with my everything else but perfect English. [Laughs] And I'm just sending these own demo versions to James and [I said], 'Oh, I hope you don't mind that I had to do it myself. But this would be the idea. Please do whatever you want. It's gonna be amazing.' But also, yeah, still speaking about 'One', it was very fascinating and highly exciting to get to work with the wonderful special effects person Jussi Tegelman, who works in Los Angeles and he has been working for Skywalker Sound and made sound effect designs for many, many great movies, starting from Marvel and 'Dr. Strange' and 'Spider-Man' and stuff like that. So we also had this element in there. I'm a big movie fan and big Marvel fan, actually, as well, and to work with absolutely greatest people in the world, having a great orchestra from Budapest to make it, it's by far the most bombastic and biggest thing we have done, this this particular song, for sure."

When APOCALYPTICA's version of "One" was first released, APOCALYPTICA's Eicca Toppinen said in a statement: "I think it's incredible that James wanted to do it. We were always thinking, 'It'd be great to someday do something with METALLICA!' I think the excitement for him came from the different approach we were taking — sometimes the craziest ideas are what excites

The album's lead single was "The Four Horsemen", a song that originally appeared on METALLICA's 1983 debut "Kill 'Em All". It features a guest appearance by METALLICA bassist Robert Trujillo.

Kivilaakso told the DJ Force X Podcast about how Trujillo's involvement came about: "This album concept has, in a way, been in our minds for throughout the whole career. We always knew that there are still a lot of cool [METALLICA] songs that we wanted play our style one day. So, but now after the pandemic and everything, this felt the exact right moment to dive back to the roots."

He continued: "We have always had a wonderful relation with METALLICA — they have been enormously supportive towards us always — but still we approached them to ask that would they agree, would it be fine for them if we make such an album. And through those conversations, actually, eventually Rob even offered that he could play something for us. And that's an enormous, amazing feature, of course, to be treated like that. And it really, really shows respect also from their side. And we are very, very thankful for it."

When "Apocalyptica Plays Metallica Vol. 2" was first announced, APOCALYPTICA said in a statement: "The first single we want to present to you is 'The Four Horsemen'. And we couldn't be more excited to have a great feature guest on it: Rob Trujillo himself, who is probably THE greatest bass player in this whole wide world! We've always enjoyed sharing our love for METALLICA. Now, this is next level for us as well!"

Toppinen commented: "It's the coolest thing. We didn't push; it was offered. We played the first album live and it was so much more fun and exciting than we expected, so we got the idea to do something like the first album, but we couldn't do it in exactly the same way; we needed to challenge ourselves and bring a totally new perspective to the original energy and emotion of METALLICA."

Kivilaakso added: "We've been talking about making another METALLICA album for around 20 years, as there were still so many great songs we wanted to play! We waited for the perfect moment to do it. Thinking of that teenage me who is now getting to play his favorite tracks gives me goosebumps!"

This album will be the APOCALYPTICA's final studio release with the band's longtime member, drummer Mikko Sirén, who amicably departed after the new LP's completion. "Plays Metallica Vol. 2" was produced by longtime collaborator and studio supremo Joe Barresi (QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE, SOUNDGARDEN, NINE INCH NAILS, TOOL).

Sirén started performing live with APOCALYPTICA in 2003 but didn't become a full-time member of the band until 2005, after playing over 200 concerts with APOCALYPTICA and recording an album with the group.

In a 2019 interview with Australia's Heavy magazine, APOCALYPTICA's Paavo Lötjönen spoke about the impact of the band's 1996 "Plays Metallica By Four Cellos" debut. Consisting solely of METALLICA covers, the album cast a spotlight on the group's classically trained abilities, setting the stage for them to release their own material in ensuing years. Since the 20th anniversary of "Plays Metallica By Four Cellos" in 2016, APOCALYPTICA has been playing the album in full at select live dates.

"It's been really fantastic," he said about playing "Plays Metallica By Four Cellos". "If we are talking about music in common, if you listen to music you used to listen to 20 years ago, it's a weird thing somehow, it brings all the same feelings back. Like, you are feeling when we were 20 years younger. I would call music a time machine in that sense. The same happens for us when we play those songs. Somehow the same feelings come back to us when we felt like we were 25 years or 20 years old and touring with a shitty van around Europe playing venues. This time, all the venues are bigger and really portioned nice. There's lots of people, and it's not too hot and shitty on the stage. It's a lot of joy and fun to play those songs. The magic of METALLICA has not disappeared anywhere. It's still really strong and passionate music. It's a lot of fun to play. We have never played this well as we are playing at the moment. I'm happy to see we have learned something during these years."

In 2015, Lötjönen and Kivilaakso spoke to Austria's Mulatschag about what it was like to join METALLICA on stage at the Fillmore in San Francisco as part of the week-long celebration of the band's 30th anniversary in December 2011. Perttu said: "Of course we felt very privileged being included amongst all those amazing artists. And after the thing, what we have done during our career, it has been pleasant to realize and notice that, actually, the METALLICA guys, who are the reason for us to start to do something like this, that they do respect us at least that much that they wanted us to be a part of this big celebration of their career. Of course, it was crazy. I remember that when we started to play 'One', I'm starting this song and James Hetfield is just next to me, and I'm thinking, when I was 13 years old, he was my biggest idol and now we are playing together. So it's absurd, but just natural and logical in other terms."

Added Paavo: "You know, the connection to METALLICA has been really super great all these years. We played first time as a support to them already in '96. It was actually our fifth show for a proper rock and roll audience, and we were supporting METALLICA, so it was quite crazy. And since that, we have played many times with them at same festivals and… Let me say that the connection with METALLICA is really cool and really nice."

"This Is The Way (Feat. DMX)", the latest single from multi-platinum, chart-topping hard rock powerhouse FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH, has 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 this week, giving FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH its 16th overall #1 single at the format.

FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH is currently on tour across Europe for stadium dates with METALLICA, stops at some of Europe's largest festivals, including Sweden Rock Festival, Graspop Metal Meeting and With Full Force, as well as several headline shows with support from ICE NINE KILLS. The band will return stateside for a late summer/fall headlining tour from August 2 to September 19 with support from MARILYN MANSON, SLAUGHTER TO PREVAIL and THE FUNERAL PORTRAIT.

FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH's music video for "This Is The Way" was directed by none other than highly influential filmmaker Hype Williams, a longtime friend and close collaborator of DMX. Hailed by The New York Times in 2024 as "The Nineties Wunderkind," Hype Williams is known for his seminal work with luminaries like Tupac, Wu-Tang Clan and Jay-Z, among others.

"This Is The Way (Featuring DMX)" appears on the digital deluxe edition of "AfterLife", the band's critically acclaimed ninth studio album, which was released in April via Better Noise Music. The deluxe version includes 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 the aforementioned "This Is The Way" featuring DMX.

"Music is meant to be universal and without boundaries, and it starts at the top with us, the artists," FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH guitarist Zoltan Bathory said at the time of the song's initial release. "We have always embraced the mixing of genres, whether it be the remake of LL Cool J's 'Mama Said Knock You Out' featuring Tech N9ne as a guest, or our collaboration with blues warrior Kenny Wayne Shepherd, country star Brantley Gilbert, and Brian May, the legendary guitarist of QUEEN, on the song 'Blue On Black'.

"The idea of collaborating with DMX had been in discussion for years, and it was a long and winding road to turn this particular item on our wish list into reality. He was a lyrical warrior, a true original who spoke his mind incorruptibly. We have always viewed DMX as 'the metalhead of hip-hop' because of his aggressive, raw, and untamed style. He growled and snarled, aiming to rattle some cages–an attitude we share, as FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH has always been drawn to the fearless and the real. It made all the sense in the world, but today this is more than just a song; it's a salute to a legend, a way to honor DMX's memory."

When playing the song for other hip-hop legends, DMC of RUN-D.M.C., one of the originals to do it first with "Walk This Way" with AEROSMITH, said: "The sound of the music, what Ivan [Moody, FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH singer] is singing about, and what X is talking about, is how X lived his life. The struggle, the dark with the light, the bad with the good, the pain with the joy. This song is very emotional, very musical; it's very well rounded."

"AfterLife" is FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH's first album with its latest addition, renowned British virtuoso Andy James, who replaced Jason Hook in 2020. James was previously featured on "Broken World", a song that was included on the second installment of FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH's greatest-hits collection, "A Decade Of Destruction – Volume 2", which came out in the fall of 2020.

FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH played its first show as the support act for METALLICA on the "M72" tour on August 6, 2023 at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey.

FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH was originally supposed to support METALLICA on several European shows in the spring of 2022 but ended up canceling the dates in order to allow Moody to fully recover from a hernia surgery.

Photo credit: Travis Shinn

In a new interview with Australia's Heavy, guitarist Oscar Dronjak of Swedish metallers HAMMERFALL spoke about the band's upcoming album, "Avenge The Fallen", which is due on August 9 via Nuclear Blast Records. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "We've been working on it really hard. I've been living with the songs for — some songs are five years old, too, so I've had them around for a while. I've been living with the material for so long, and we actually recorded in November, December and January as well, a little bit. So it's been done for a while. Now I'm getting anxious to just — I wanna show people what we've done because I'm very proud of the album. I think we've done one of our strongest albums in recent years, in my opinion. Of course, this can vary a lot for everybody else."

He continued: "I'm very happy because of three things. First, all the songs on the album, they serve a purpose, so if you take one away, the whole is gonna collapse in the middle somehow, even if it's one of the the non-single ones, so to speak, the ones that we don't think are the strongest — even the other ones would have an impact if you take them away. And also I think that the production of this album is — and [by] production, I mean the performance as well from us. Because we start with the drums, recording the drums, and then everybody else builds their stuff on top of that. And David [Wallin] came into this so focused and so energetic and his drumming is so powerful that when he was done, everybody was, like, 'Whoa, shit. We've gotta step it up now as well,' 'cause he put the bar up here. So we kept on going and feeding off of that, of course, when we recorded the bass and guitars. And then during these recordings, Fredrik Nordström, the producer, and he was gonna do the mixing at the end as well, he said, 'Oh, shit, guys. I feel pressure now to take it up a level as well now, because you've already reached it.' So for us, the production is… I think when we recorded the previous album, [2022's] 'Hammer Of Dawn', we did a good job with that one too, but it was kind of hard to get the energy because we'd recorded that during the pandemic. So the pandemic had laid a bit of a filter on top. I mean, it's not noticeable when we released that album, but I think if you compare the two, you can feel the difference, 'cause this one is so much more energetic and so much more powerful in every way. And I think also the songs — I'm very happy with the songs this time. I think they are diverse, they are well written.

"Joacim [Cans, HAMMERFALL singer] and I write the songs together," Oscar added. "So I do a demo of the song with the instruments and a drum machine. Then whatever vocal melodies I have or a chorus, whatever it is, I send it over to him and then he finishes it. So I'm very happy with my work, and I usually am, 'cause if I'm not happy with it, I don't send it off to somebody else. But what I got back from Joacim this time is better than I think I've ever heard him do songwriting-wise. He gave every part on every song the perfect mix of the lyrics with the melodies that he created. That's part of the reason. 'Cause when I send off my songs, I know I think it's a good song, but I just don't know how good it will be until his stuff comes on top of it, 'cause we write the songs together. So once I got back these songs from him, the ideas, and we had a bit of a back-and-forth with both the music and the vocal melodies and lyrics and stuff, once we were all satisfied, I think we both felt that this is a strong album from start to finish."

When "Avenge The Fallen" was first announced in April, Cans said in a statement: "This is our 13th album. How do you still stay relevant after 13 albums? It's very much like the opening line to the song 'Avenge The Fallen': 'What is the worst, be the one who died, or be the one who survived.' Think about it, because it is a tough question".

He continued: "Do we want to be a band who releases new music just for the sole reason of getting out on the road again or do we want to keep pushing and challenging ourselves? In times where people have less and less attention span, we still think in the form of full-length albums. A few good songs don't make a strong album. A strong album comes from an album full of great songs and that's what we're delivering with 'Avenge The Fallen'."

In April, HAMMERFALL unleashed the first single and video from "Avenge The Fallen", "Hail To The King", a song that was born on the road.

"I began working on 'Hail To The King' while on tour in the U.S. with HELLOWEEN," Dronjak recalled. "By the end of the tour, I was getting close to wrapping the song up, so straight after the Los Angeles gig, I headed to the bus where I worked like a mad man to get the last pieces together. That turned out to be the show where one of my favorite wrestlers, Chris Jericho, came to visit. It was also the show where Fredrik met his idol Frank Bello from ANTHRAX and Joacim met Jay Ruston, producer for ARMORED SAINT, AVATAR, ANTHRAX, Corey Taylor and more and whom after this meeting agreed to produce the vocals for 'Avenge The Fallen'. I missed all that, but I at least got a great song out of it, haha!"

"Avenge The Fallen" track listing:

01. Avenge The Fallen
02. Burn It Down
03. Capture The Dream
04. Hail To The King
05. Hero To All
06. Hope Springs Eternal
07. Rise Of Evil
08. The End Justifies
09. Time Immemorial

In December 2022, HAMMERFALL, which started its career in 1997 on Nuclear Blast with its debut album "Glory To The Brave", announced that it was returning to the long-running German label.

HAMMERFALL's entire Nuclear Blast catalog, from "Glory To The Brave" to the 2014 album "(r)Evolution" was certified with a diamond award for over 1.5 million worldwide sales.

Following on from "Renegade" (2000),"Crimson Thunder" (2002) and "No Sacrifice, No Victory" (2009),HAMMERFALL's fifth studio album, "Chapter V: Unbent, Unbowed, Unbroken" from 2005, became the band's fourth album to go gold in Sweden, while "Crimson Thunder" even went platinum, surpassing 60,000 sales in the group's home country.

In April 2023, HAMMERFALL released a special platinum edition of "Crimson Thunder" with tons of bonus material.

"Hammer Of Dawn" was released in February 2022 via Napalm Records. The LP was produced by Nordström, who handled mixing, mastering, drum recording, and shared the duty of recording guitars and bass with guitarists Pontus Norgren and Oscar Dronjak. Jacob Hansen (VOLBEAT) produced the lead vocals.

As part of Jonathan Montenegro's "My 3 Questions To" series, Chris Broderick was asked if he found the "artistic freedom" he wanted in IN FLAMES after he left MEGADETH a decade ago or if he is "pursuing those interests in some other way". The 54-year-old guitarist responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "I think they [IN FLAMES singer Anders Fridén and guitarist Björn Gelotte] definitely give me a lot more freedom because I can pursue them in my own ways. I think, though, at the end of the day, they're going to always write an album that is IN FLAMES. And so they're going to be the ones really kind of scrutinizing what that will be. And I understand that to no end, because they are one of the original bands of that sort of Swedish sound, and nothing I could do could really create that. I would love to add to it, and they've already allowed me to do that, and I love that. At the same time, they're, like, 'Oh, if you wanted to go and write a solo album or anything like that,' I have the opportunity to do that as well."

Only hours after drummer Shawn Drover announced his exit from MEGADETH on November 25, 2014 to "to pursue [his] own musical interests," Broderick revealed he also quit the legendary metal band, saying that he was leaving the group "due to artistic and musical differences."

Seven and a half years ago, Broderick spoke to Ultimate-Guitar.com about the circumstances that led to his decision to exit MEGADETH. He said: "I wouldn't say it's necessarily artistic and musical differences as much as it is the ability to express my musical and artistic choices. Everybody knows that MEGADETH is really Dave [Mustaine] and that's fine."

He continued: "I knew that [Mustaine was captain of the ship] going in. But there comes a time where you're like, 'I've done this and it's great but I'm a musician and artist at heart and I need to express myself that way. So I need to have that outlet for myself and not just do it in support of another person.'"

Regarding how MEGADETH was run, Broderick said: "It wasn't a democratic or an equal band in terms of the decision-making process. And again, I was totally fine with that at the time. It was awesome for my career and it was great playing for all those fans but at some point, when do you decide you're gonna be a musician and really create your own music or are you just going to record what somebody else wants?"

Asked if he would stayed in MEGADETH if he had been given more input and creative freedom, Chris said: "Oh, yeah. Definitely."

Broderick previously told Zombitrol.com about the three MEGADETH studio albums that he played on, 2009's "Endgame", 2011's "TH1RT3EN" and 2013's "Super Collider": "Ultimately, I didn't feel the freedom to be able to express myself musically on those CDs. So, for me, I have fond memories of really, more [than] anything, getting out and meeting the fans and being a part of that live culture, where they were so nice, they were so welcoming to me. You know, when you fill in somebody else's shoes, not everybody's gonna be there to congratulate you. And I felt like, overall, the fans really did, and I appreciate that to no end. But as far as the discography goes, I don't feel like I really had a lot of creative input on that end."

In a 2015 interview with Guitar World, Broderick said that "there definitely was a dress code that [Mustaine] wanted to maintain for a MEGADETH look. For me, with everything in this camp, I saw very early on that Dave is the owner of the company and he is the one that has the right to say how the company is presented and how it should look. The only time we had any issues was when I didn't know a specific thing about how he wanted my appearance to be, and then I would find out as we went along. I saw it very early on as a job requirement and I felt that if the job is worth it to me then I would make those changes."

Regarding whether he had considered leaving the band in the past, Broderick said: "I was constantly weighing the positives against the negatives. I likened it to a lawyer that's working for a firm and finally wants to break out and start his own firm or a chef that wants to open up his own restaurant. You have to deal with the corporate mannerisms from the company you're working for. And once it gets to a point where you feel like you would be happier on your own, that's when you finally to cut the cord. I had been thinking about what to do for a long time, but up until I decided to leave, I always felt the positives outweighed the negatives."

Asked when that balance tipped, Broderick responded: "Not until the last quarter of 2014. I was dwelling on my lack of musical creativity in the band. Dave was getting ready to go in and do another CD and my heart just wasn't in it because I knew I wasn't going to have any artistic say in the definition of the album and the music. He was calling, saying, 'Hey, I want to get you guys down there.' The last thing I wanted to do was go down there and work on a partial CD and then say, 'Hey, this isn't for me.' It was just the right time to leave."

In a 2022 interview with Sweden's RockSverige.se, Broderick was asked what he learned from the time that he spent as the lead guitarist for MEGADETH. He responded: "I took a lot away from it, because it really showed me that there is a lot more to music than the music, which I both appreciated and hated at the same time. Prior to that, I was just, like, I'm a musician. I'm a guitarist and I play the guitar.' And when I joined MEGADETH and got into that camp, it really showed me how interested people are in your personality and who you are as an individual, and that was shocking to me. How you present yourself and stuff like that. So that's like one of the biggest things I learned from my time in MEGADETH."

Broderick joined IN FLAMES in early 2019 as the replacement for Niclas Engelin.

In an interview with Hells Headbangers' Justin Horval at last month's Maryland Deathfest, vocalist Matti Karki > of Swedish death metal pioneers DISMEMBER spoke about a possible follow-up to the band's 2008's album "Dismember". He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "I know we have to do something. First of all, we need to, or we want to, keep our style, but still it has to be different in a way, because there's a lot of bands who does the old stuff. So we have to find our new niche, what we're doing. But at this moment, I think we have a couple of riffs. The guys have been writing at home. We haven't heard it. We haven't done anything. The only thing we've been talking about, yeah, we need to do a new album. And we have to find a way to make songs across three different countries — Fred [Estby, DISMEMBER drummer] in the States, three of us in Sweden, and one in Belgium… We'll see what happens since we only talked about it."

Last month, DISMEMBER bassist Richard Cabeza was asked by RichardMetalFan if there is any possibility of fans getting some new music from the band soon. He responded: "For sure, man. It's happening. When, I can't tell you right now. But we have talked about writing new music. We are writing new music individually, but we haven't started to write music together as a band. We have been so busy with playing shows the past couple of years and doing all this other stuff. But I think we're getting closer and closer. Let's see what happens next year in 2025. Maybe we'll actually start putting some songs together. But a hundred percent, a new DISMEMBER album will happen. No doubt, no doubt. But we have very high expectations on ourselves as a band to release a new album."

Last August, Estby was asked by Arto Lehtinen of Metal Rules if it is harder to write new songs because DISMEMBER has a huge legacy. Fred responded: "It's not hard at all. So the thing is, we have a license deal with Nuclear Blast. We have an option to do one or two more albums. Great. We can do whenever we want, which is even more perfect for us. So we can take our time and we're going to take our time because we're not going to release something that is half-assed. We're going to be very critical about [it], especially since it's been such a long time since the last album. And I love the DISMEMBER album that I'm not even on that was released in 2008. It's a great album. If you're going to release an album now as a reunited band in two thousand and fucking twenty-three, twenty-four, you're going to have to try to match like ever before. You cannot be shy of that. We're going to be very critical about it and that's going to take some time because we don't live in the same cities like we hang out every day."

In July 2022, it was announced that DISMEMBER had once again partnered with Nuclear Blast Records, the label that released the band's 1990 demo, "Reborn In Blasphemy", their 1991 debut album, "Like An Everflowing Stream", as well as the four records that would follow. In celebration of this announcement, a fully remastered version of "Like An Everflowing Stream" was made available on streaming services worldwide after it had been absent for quite some time.

"Like An Everflowing Stream" — hailed by many as one of the best death metal albums of all time — was the first entry in a reissue campaign of the entire DISMEMBER back catalog, which was recently remastered from the original albums.

Between 1988 and 2011, DISMEMBER earned a notorious reputation as the "MOTÖRHEAD of death metal", through eight classic albums and furious live shows around the globe. The band was formed by Robert Sennebäck, David Blomqvist and Fred Estby in Stockholm, Sweden, in 1988 and has long since been regarded as one of the originators of the trademark Swedish death metal sound, next to other pioneering bands such as ENTOMBED, GRAVE and UNLEASHED. DISMEMBER recorded a couple of independently released demos before their 1990 demo cassette, "Reborn In Blasphemy", with Matti Kärki on vocals and ENTOMBED's Nicke Andersson taking over most lead guitar parts, got picked up for a wider release by Nuclear Blast Records. In 1991, "Like An Everflowing Stream" saw the light of day, which was recorded by Tomas Skogsberg at the now-legendary Sunlight Studios, and featured Richard Cabeza (UNANIMATED) on bass. DISMEMBER released its acclaimed sophomore album, "Indecent & Obscene", in 1993, which to this day remains their most successful output. Three more albums would follow on Nuclear Blast, "Massive Kiling Capacity" (1995),"Death Metal" (1997) and "Hate Campaign" (2000),until the band decided to switch labels. They released two more albums, "Where Ironcrosses Grow" (2004, Karmageddon Records) and "The God That Never Was" (2005, Regain) before Estby announced his departure for family reasons in 2007. Their last album, "Dismember", followed in 2008 and the band officially broke up in 2011. After an eight-year hiatus, the band's original lineup reunited for a 30th-anniversary gig at Scandinavia Death Fest in October 2019, performing together for the first time in over 20 years.

DISMEMBER is:

Fred Estby (Drums)
David Blomqvist (Guitars)
Robert Sennebäck (Guitars)
Matti Karki (Vocals)
Richard Cabeza (Bass)

Fan-filmed video of AC/DC's June 9 concert at Olympiastadion in Munich, Germany 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".

W.A.S.P. frontman Blackie Lawless performed while seated during the band's first concert in 13 months, which took place this past Thursday, June 6 at this year's Sweden Rock Festival in Sölvesborg, Sweden. Fan-filmed video of the show can be seen below.

During an appearance on the May 29 episode of SiriusXM's "Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk", Lawless was asked for an update on his health, nearly 10 months after he underwent a successful surgery to treat two herniated discs and a broken vertebra. Lawless said: "It's been a long road. Anytime you go through rehab, and we've done it for 35, 40 years, every time you have an injury, you've gotta go through rehab. And any athlete will tell you that it's a lonely walk. Nobody can help you when you do it. You're with your trainers two hours a day. That leaves you 22 hours of every day to just sit and think in rehab. And a lot of funny things go through your head when you're doing that. And, like I said, it's a lonely walk. And it's incremental, the healing process — you don't see it all overnight. And when you start with the trainers, they tell you, 'Just be patient, just be patient,' because, as any warrior will tell you, your natural instinct is to run, and you just cannot do that when you've gone through something that's pretty serious like that. But we're getting there. And we're pretty much up to speed now."

Confirming that Sweden Rock Festival would be W.A.S.P.'s first show back, Lawless said: "Like I said, you've gotta remember, I've been in rehab for nine months now. What those guys do to you, that's a torture chamber. It really is. And they're making sure that I'm up and running because… I mean, the guys that I'm working with here are also part of the U.S. Olympic team, the doctors. And the best way to put it is they're quite thorough with what they have you do, but I would strongly suggest to anybody that's had any kind of physical injuries like this, don't try to do rehab on your own. You really need some professionals to work with, because you can go online and look at those exercises all you want, but until you've got somebody with you monitoring you, correcting you, keeping you in line, it's natural for the body to cheat, especially if it's had an injury. And these guys will stand there and they will not let you cheat. And that's really for your own good, because they'll tell you that they have people that will come to them three, four months after that person's had an injury and has been in the gym the whole time and wasted their time for that three to four months because they weren't doing the exercises right and they weren't seeing any results. So it's really important that you get some pros next to you that… I mean, I know everybody's not gonna be able to get Olympic doctors to look after 'em, but still, there's qualified folks out there. You've gotta really get somebody that knows what they're doing."

2024 marks the 40th anniversary of the release of W.A.S.P.'s first album. To celebrate this classic metal album, W.A.S.P. will, for the first time in 40 years, play the entire album from top to bottom, start to finish, on a fall 2024 North American tour, dubbed "Album ONE Alive", this fall. Support on the trek will come from DEATH ANGEL and UNTO OTHERS.

Along with bassist Mike Duda and lead guitarist Doug Blair, whose tenures in the band are 29 and 26 years respectively, W.A.S.P. is joined by longtime drummer extraordinaire Aquiles Priester.

The 39-city run kicks off on Saturday, October 26 in San Luis Obispo, California, making stops across North America in Vancouver, British Columbia; Toronto, Ontario; Minneapolis, Minnesota; Dallas, Texas; New York City; Orlando, Florida; and more before wrapping up on Saturday, December 14 at the Hollywood Palladium in Los Angeles, California.

W.A.S.P. will again offer fans VIP tickets that give fans a chance to meet Blackie Lawless, get a personal photo with Blackie, autographs and take part in a very personal question-and-answer session with Blackie. VIP tickets can be purchased at waspnation.myshopify.com.

Because of the extensive back injuries Lawless suffered during the European leg of W.A.S.P.'s 40th-anniversary tour, the band's previously announced 2023 U.S. tour was canceled.

W.A.S.P.'s massive European leg of the 40th-anniversary world tour wrapped on May 18, 2023 in Sofia, Bulgaria at Universidada Sports Hall.

W.A.S.P. wrapped up its first U.S. tour in 10 years with a sold-out show on December 11, 2022 at The Wiltern in Los Angeles. This marked the 18th sold-out shows for the U.S. tour, which kicked off in late October 2022. W.A.S.P.'s performances included the return of the band's classic song "Animal (Fuck Like a Beast)", which hadn't been played live in over 15 years.

W.A.S.P.'s latest release was "ReIdolized (The Soundtrack To The Crimson Idol)", which came out in February 2018. It was a new version of the band's classic 1992 album "The Crimson Idol", which was re-recorded to accompany the movie of the same name to mark the 25th anniversary of the original LP's release. The re-recorded version also features four songs missing from the original album.

W.A.S.P.'s most recent studio album of all-new original material was 2015's "Golgotha".

W.A.S.P. @ Sweden Rock Festival 🤟

(Photo: Tom Blytt)

Posted by Helvete Magazine on Thursday, June 6, 2024

W.A.S.P. Nation (Official) på Sweden Rock Festival 2024-06-06

Foto: Effie Trikili

Posted by Rocknytt on Saturday, June 8, 2024

On Saturday, June 8, Swedish metallers HAMMERFALL brought up around 60-70 fans to the stage at this year's Sweden Rock Festival in Sölvesborg, Sweden to help them sing the backing the vocals to the song "Hail To The King", the first single from their upcoming album "Avenge The Fallen". Video of their appearance can be seen below.

In a recent interview with Australia's Heavy, HAMMERFALL guitarist Oscar Dronjak spoke about "Avenge The Fallen", which is due on August 9 via Nuclear Blast Records. He said: "We've been working on it really hard. I've been living with the songs for — some songs are five years old, too, so I've had them around for a while. I've been living with the material for so long, and we actually recorded in November, December and January as well, a little bit. So it's been done for a while. Now I'm getting anxious to just — I wanna show people what we've done because I'm very proud of the album. I think we've done one of our strongest albums in recent years, in my opinion. Of course, this can vary a lot for everybody else."

He continued: "I'm very happy because of three things. First, all the songs on the album, they serve a purpose, so if you take one away, the whole is gonna collapse in the middle somehow, even if it's one of the the non-single ones, so to speak, the ones that we don't think are the strongest — even the other ones would have an impact if you take them away. And also I think that the production of this album is — and [by] production, I mean the performance as well from us. Because we start with the drums, recording the drums, and then everybody else builds their stuff on top of that. And David [Wallin] came into this so focused and so energetic and his drumming is so powerful that when he was done, everybody was, like, 'Whoa, shit. We've gotta step it up now as well,' 'cause he put the bar up here. So we kept on going and feeding off of that, of course, when we recorded the bass and guitars. And then during these recordings, Fredrik Nordström, the producer, and he was gonna do the mixing at the end as well, he said, 'Oh, shit, guys. I feel pressure now to take it up a level as well now, because you've already reached it.' So for us, the production is… I think when we recorded the previous album, [2022's] 'Hammer Of Dawn', we did a good job with that one too, but it was kind of hard to get the energy because we'd recorded that during the pandemic. So the pandemic had laid a bit of a filter on top. I mean, it's not noticeable when we released that album, but I think if you compare the two, you can feel the difference, 'cause this one is so much more energetic and so much more powerful in every way. And I think also the songs — I'm very happy with the songs this time. I think they are diverse, they are well written.

"Joacim [Cans, HAMMERFALL singer] and I write the songs together," Oscar added. "So I do a demo of the song with the instruments and a drum machine. Then whatever vocal melodies I have or a chorus, whatever it is, I send it over to him and then he finishes it. So I'm very happy with my work, and I usually am, 'cause if I'm not happy with it, I don't send it off to somebody else. But what I got back from Joacim this time is better than I think I've ever heard him do songwriting-wise. He gave every part on every song the perfect mix of the lyrics with the melodies that he created. That's part of the reason. 'Cause when I send off my songs, I know I think it's a good song, but I just don't know how good it will be until his stuff comes on top of it, 'cause we write the songs together. So once I got back these songs from him, the ideas, and we had a bit of a back-and-forth with both the music and the vocal melodies and lyrics and stuff, once we were all satisfied, I think we both felt that this is a strong album from start to finish."

When "Avenge The Fallen" was first announced in April, Cans said in a statement: "This is our 13th album. How do you still stay relevant after 13 albums? It's very much like the opening line to the song 'Avenge The Fallen': 'What is the worst, be the one who died, or be the one who survived.' Think about it, because it is a tough question".

He continued: "Do we want to be a band who releases new music just for the sole reason of getting out on the road again or do we want to keep pushing and challenging ourselves? In times where people have less and less attention span, we still think in the form of full-length albums. A few good songs don't make a strong album. A strong album comes from an album full of great songs and that's what we're delivering with 'Avenge The Fallen'."

In April, HAMMERFALL unleashed the music video for "Hail To The King", a song that was born on the road.

"I began working on 'Hail To The King' while on tour in the U.S. with HELLOWEEN," Dronjak recalled. "By the end of the tour, I was getting close to wrapping the song up, so straight after the Los Angeles gig, I headed to the bus where I worked like a mad man to get the last pieces together. That turned out to be the show where one of my favorite wrestlers, Chris Jericho, came to visit. It was also the show where Fredrik met his idol Frank Bello from ANTHRAX and Joacim met Jay Ruston, producer for ARMORED SAINT, AVATAR, ANTHRAX, Corey Taylor and more and whom after this meeting agreed to produce the vocals for 'Avenge The Fallen'. I missed all that, but I at least got a great song out of it, haha!"

"Avenge The Fallen" track listing:

01. Avenge The Fallen
02. Burn It Down
03. Capture The Dream
04. Hail To The King
05. Hero To All
06. Hope Springs Eternal
07. Rise Of Evil
08. The End Justifies
09. Time Immemorial

In December 2022, HAMMERFALL, which started its career in 1997 on Nuclear Blast with its debut album "Glory To The Brave", announced that it was returning to the long-running German label.

HAMMERFALL's entire Nuclear Blast catalog, from "Glory To The Brave" to the 2014 album "(r)Evolution" was certified with a diamond award for over 1.5 million worldwide sales.

Following on from "Renegade" (2000),"Crimson Thunder" (2002) and "No Sacrifice, No Victory" (2009),HAMMERFALL's fifth studio album, "Chapter V: Unbent, Unbowed, Unbroken" from 2005, became the band's fourth album to go gold in Sweden, while "Crimson Thunder" even went platinum, surpassing 60,000 sales in the group's home country.

In April 2023, HAMMERFALL released a special platinum edition of "Crimson Thunder" with tons of bonus material.

"Hammer Of Dawn" was released in February 2022 via Napalm Records. The LP was produced by Nordström, who handled mixing, mastering, drum recording, and shared the duty of recording guitars and bass with guitarists Pontus Norgren and Oscar Dronjak. Jacob Hansen (VOLBEAT) produced the lead vocals.



Vi skulle aldrig trott det var sant om vi inte varit där. Sweden Rock Festival, det var magi från första sekund till sista! 🇸🇪🔨🤘

#HammerFall #HeavyMetal #SwedenRockFestival #Sverige #WeMakeSwedenRock Sweden Rock Festival

Posted by HammerFall on Sunday, June 9, 2024

On Saturday, June 8, IRON MAIDEN singer Bruce Dickinson was joined by the Hårdrockskören choir from Stockholm for his solo band's performance of the song "Rain On The Graves" at this year's Sweden Rock Festival in Sölvesborg, Sweden. Fan-filmed video of their collaborative rendition of the track can be seen below.

"Rain On The Graves" was the second single from Dickinson's latest solo album, "The Mandrake Project", which came out on March 1 via BMG. Riding on a towering guitar riff, with dramatic keyboards and a commanding vocal performance, it was inspired by a rainy visit to Romantic poet William Wordsworth's grave in the Lake District. The song grew into a rumination on the nature of mortality and the deal with the devil that artists have come to feel themselves making ever since Robert Johnson proved it worthwhile back in the 1930s.

"I had the chorus lyric since I visited Grasmere for a wedding back in 2012," explained Bruce, "and it wasn't difficult years later to create the rest of the song with so much rich imagery in my head." It is a classic collaboration between Bruce and his longtime guitarist and collaborator Roy "Z" Ramirez; a catchy but heavy piece — full of melody but stripping out the spoken vocals of the verses in almost poetic fashion — maybe a further ode to the great wordsmith who inspired the title, somehow juxtaposed with music fit to raise the ghost of Robert Johnson at his metaphorical crossroads.

The official music video for "Rain On The Graves", which was released in January, was shot entirely in a wintery Cornwall — again with director Ryan Mackfall — and it shows Bruce the actor, a preacher no less, making his own deal with the devil and dragging his HOUSE BAND FROM HELL into the bargain.

After playing two warm-up shows at the Whisky A Go Go in West Hollywood, California, Dickinson officially kicked off his first solo tour in more than 20 years on April 15 at The Observatory in Santa Ana, California.

Joining the IRON MAIDEN singer on the trek is his current backing band, featuring Dave Moreno (drums),Mistheria (keyboards) and Tanya O'Callaghan (bass),alongside the group's latest additions, Swedish guitarist, songwriter and multi-platinum-credited producer Philip Näslund and Swiss session and touring guitarist Chris Declercq (who played on Dickinson's "Rain On The Graves" single). Roy Z is not part of the touring lineup.

Prior to the April 12 Whisky A Go Go show, Bruce last performed with his solo band on in August 2002 at the legendary Wacken Open Air festival in Germany.

During an appearance on the April 16 episode of SiriusXM's "Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk", Bruce was asked if there are plans for him to stage a full U.S. tour in support of "The Mandrake Project". He responded: "I brought the [booking] agents and the promoters, and everybody came down and saw the Whisky show [in West Hollywood, California over the weekend], and now they know what they've got to deal with in terms of doing a U.S. tour. So, we're looking at it, we're planning it.

"I absolutely wanna do a full U.S. tour with 'The Mandrake Project'," he added. "I obviously can't do one for the rest of this year [due to commitments in other parts of the world and MAIDEN's upcoming touring activities], but there's '25 and there's numerous opportunities that will crop up. So the answer to that is yes, of course, we wanna come and do the U.S."

Roy played guitar on Dickinson's 1994 album "Balls To Picasso" and went on to produce, co-write and perform multiple instruments on Bruce's subsequent three solo albums, "Accident At Birth" (1997),"The Chemical Wedding" (1998) and "Tyranny Of Souls" (2005).

O'Callaghan is an Irish musician who joined WHITESNAKE in 2021 and toured with the David Coverdale-fronted outfit the following year. She also hit the road with Dickinson last year as part of a performance of Jon Lord's "Concerto For Group And Orchestra" on nearly a dozen dates in Europe and South America.

Californian drummer Moreno previously played on "Tyranny Of Souls" and has worked with BODY COUNT, Jizzy Pearl, Dizzy Reed and Steve Stevens, among others.

Italian keyboard wizard Mistheria has collaborated with an array of artists live and in the studio, including Rob Rock, Mike Portnoy, Jeff Scott Soto and Joel Hoekstra.

Bruce and Roy recorded "The Mandrake Project" largely at Los Angeles's Doom Room, with Roy doubling up as both guitarist and bassist. The recording lineup for "The Mandrake Project" was rounded out by Mistheria and Moreno, both of whom also featured on Bruce's last solo studio album, "Tyranny Of Souls", in 2005.

Dickinson made his recording debut with IRON MAIDEN on the "Number Of The Beast" album in 1982. He quit the band in 1993 in order to pursue his solo career and was replaced by Blaze Bayley, who had previously been the lead singer of the metal band WOLFSBANE. After releasing two traditional metal albums with former MAIDEN guitarist Adrian Smith, Dickinson rejoined the band in 1999 along with Smith.



Bruce Dickinson - Rain on the Graves Live with HÅRDROCKSKÖREN STOCKHOLM VT-24 sluten grupp för medlemmar at Sweden Rock Festival

Posted by David van Mil on Sunday, June 9, 2024

Thank you Sweden Rock Festival 💙 That was epic!! 🤘🔥

A huge shout out to the Hårdrockskören choir from Stockholm who...

Posted by Mistheria on Sunday, June 9, 2024

Fan-filmed video of SATYRICON's June 8 concert at the Mystic Festival in Gdansk, Poland can be seen below.

ANTHRAX bassist Frank Bello made his live debut with the Norwegian black metal veterans on Thursday, June 6 at the Sweden Rock Festival in Sölvesborg, Sweden.

Bello is playing bass for SATYRICON for the latter band's summer 2024 European festival appearances, including Hellfest in France and Tons Of Rock in Norway.

When Bello's addition to SATYRICON's touring lineup was first revealed on May 27, SATYRICON wrote in an online post: "There is smoke in the chimney at the SATYRICON HQ every day. Next week we will fire up the engine again, starting at Sweden Rock and Mystic Festival. From there we go to Hellfest, Tons Of Rock, ARTmania Festival, Grieghallen/Beyond The Gates (two nights in a row),Brutal Assault, Hellsinki Metal Festival, Alcatraz Festival, Bloodstock Open Air and finally Næstved Metal Fest. In November we come to Latin America.

"As you can imagine, we look immensely forward to seeing all SATYRICON Ultras across the world again.

"If we're not playing anywhere near you, maybe you will travel to see us, if not we will meet later some day. This is going to be THE summer!"

When one of Bello's Instagram followers asked him if he was in SATYRICON now, Frank responded that he was "just playing some shows with them".

In April and early May, Bello sat out ANTHRAX's South American tour as well as two U.S. festival dates due to "personal reasons." Filling in on those shows was ANTHRAX founding member and original bassist Dan Lilker, marking his first appearance with the band in 40 years. Lilker, who co-wrote and played on ANTHRAX's debut album "Fistful Of Metal", was also a member of STORMTROOPERS OF DEATH with ANTHRAX drummer Charlie Benante and guitarist Scott Ian.

In a recent interview with Finland's Chaoszine, Lilker was asked about the announcement that Bello was going to play a few festival shows with SATYRICON this summer and whether that meant that Dan would play more gigs with ANTHRAX in the future. Lilker responded: "I think it's only that because ANTHRAX had no plans in the summer anyway. They weren't doing all the Euro fests or anything. So, during the summer, everybody in ANTHRAX would go do something else. So, I think Frank had that plan anyway. So it's funny, because SATYRICON are old friends of mine from the Norwegian scene. Scott had told me, though, that Frank might do something like that. And I, of course, was surprised, but I think SATYRICON has changed from the very grim, dark stuff to more kind of like dark rock and roll. So I think that's cool. And I think he'll be great with that. He's a great bass player."

Last July, Frank and his wife Teresa celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary. They share a son, Brandon, who just turned 18 last month.

Bello released a memoir, "Fathers, Brothers, And Sons: Surviving Anguish, Abandonment, And Anthrax", in October 2021 via Rare Bird. The foreword to the book was written by KISS bassist/vocalist Gene Simmons.

Born into a family of five, Frank grew up in difficult circumstances. His father abandoned his wife and children, and Frank's mother moved heaven and earth to keep them fed and educated. Left with no male role model, Frank found inspiration in heavy metal bass players, following their example and forging a career with ANTHRAX from his early teens — first as a roadie, and then as the group's bass player.

International stardom came Frank's way by the mid-to-late 1980s, when he was still in his early twenties, but tragedy struck in 1996 when his brother Anthony was murdered in New York. Although the case went to trial, the suspected killer was released without charge after a witness, intimidated by violent elements, withdrew his testimony.

Bello's mother Rose died in April 2023.

Rosie was the older sister of Benante, who enlisted Frank to join ANTHRAX in 1984.

Canadian modern power metal icons, Unleash The Archers, released their massive sixth studio album, Phantoma, on May 10 via Napalm Records. They kicked off their first ever Australa / New Zealand tour on June 5th in Canberra, Australia. 


On June 6th they performed at Manning Bar in Sydney, Australia. Fan-filmed video of the entire show can be viewed below.


Setlist:




"Abyss"
"Through Stars"
"Soulbound"
"Faster Than Light"
"The Matriarch"
"Awakening"
"Green And Glass"
"Ghosts In The Mist"
"Seeking Vengeance"
"Tonight We Ride"
"Apex"
"Carry The Flame"
"Afterlife"





Tour dates are as follows:


June
8 - The Zoo - Fortitude Valley, Australia
9 - Lion Arts Factory - Adelaide, Australia
10 - Amplifier - Perth, Australia
13 - Galatos - Auckland, New Zealand
14 - Valhalla - Wellington, New Zealand

At last month's Sonic Temple festival in Columbus, Ohio, DISTURBED guitarist Dan Donegan was asked by Ronni Hunter and Lewis of the 99.7 The Blitz radio station if he and his bandmates have commenced work on material for the follow-up to 2022's "Divisive" album. He responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "When we're out here [on the road], we just have to switch gears. Right now it's been focused on the tour and the shows and the production. I do have probably a thousand riffs in my phone because I'll just record stuff in the moment. I won't get too married to it. I'll just kind of put it in the vault. I'll revisit it later — if I'm having a dry moment when I'm writing, I might revisit it and see if something strikes me again — but we'll start out, a lot of times, of just going back to improvising and trying to capture something new in that moment. So I'd rather wait for that to happen first. And if I need to grab a riff here or there, if something's not coming together, then I've got something to fall back on."

This past March, DISTURBED garnered its 19th No. 1 on the Active Rock radio chart with "Don't Tell Me", the band's latest single, which features a guest appearance by Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame inductee and HEART co-founder Ann Wilson. The song is DISTURBED's fourth No. 1 off "Divisive".

This is the second time DISTURBED has earned four No. 1s on a single record, having previously accomplished the same feat on 2015's "Immortalized". Only nine rock albums since 1992 have been able to secure four No. 1 songs on the Mediabase Rock charts and two of them have been DISTURBED's.

Released in November 2022, "Divisive" was recorded earlier that year with producer Drew Fulk (MOTIONLESS IN WHITE, LIL PEEP, HIGHLY SUSPECT) in Nashville, Tennessee.

"Divisive" sold 26,000 equivalent album units in its first week of release, with 22,000 units via album sales. On the all-format Billboard 200 chart, "Divisive" debuted at No. 13.

DISTURBED has had five No. 1s on the all-genre chart, beginning with "Believe" in 2002.

According to Billboard, DISTURBED's "Take Back Your Life" summer 2023 tour grossed $17.4 million and sold 336,000 tickets.

DISTURBED averaged 11,573 tickets sold per show, up from 6,901 in 2019 and 4,404 in 2016. The average ticket price for the "Take Back Your Life" tour was $51.07.

DISTURBED's biggest headlining concert ever happened on September 2, 2023 at Ruoff Home Mortgage Music Center in Noblesville, Indiana, where the band drew more than 20,000 fans.

AOR sensation Issa, aka Isabell Øversveen, has released an official visualizer for "The Road To Victory", taken from her new album, Another World, which was released on June 7. Check it out below.





Issa has etched her name as a leading force in the genre, captivating audiences worldwide with her commanding vocals and enthralling melodies. With a remarkable track record of eight albums released under Frontiers Music, Issa consistently delivers music that strikes a chord with fans of melodic rock and AOR.




In discussing her latest musical endeavour, Issa commented: “The new album is my favourite yet, everything was recorded and written in house by Tom and James Martin. We went for a straight up 80s inspired AOR album with a few hard rockers in for good measure, think prime Bon Jovi, Richard Marx and Heart, with even a bit of synthwave in the production. Tom and James really capture the spirit of the 80s and prime melodic Rock. We were lucky to have some great guest musicians get involved, Melvin Brannon Jr, Dennis Butabi Borg, Pete Newdeck, josh Tabbie Williams Leon Winteringham, Phil o' Dea, and Robert Sall to name just a few amazing players.”


Another World follows the global triumph of her seventh studio album, Lights Of Japan, where Issa heralded a 'rebirth' of her sound, seamlessly blending influences from her roots with the evolving musical landscape. Once again, the new album showcases Issa's versatility and artistic growth.


Renowned for her powerhouse vocals, soaring melodies, and infectious hooks, Issa remains steadfast in her commitment to delivering melodic rock brilliance. With each release, Issa's musical evolution continues to captivate audiences, with Another World promising to be yet another jewel in her illustrious career.


Order here.





Tracklisting:


"Armed & Dangerous"
"All These Wild Nights"
"Only In The Dark"
"Never Sleep Alone"
"The Road To Victory"
"Another World"
"Kick Of Fire"
"Got A Hold On Me"
"A Second Life"
"The Hardest Fight"
"Lost & Lonely"


"All These Wild Nights" video:





"Armed & Dangerous" video:





Produced By: Martin Bros Productions
Studio: Revival Studios York
Recorded By: Martin Bros Productions
Mixed By: Martin Bros Productions
Mastered By: Alessandro Del Vecchio At Ivory Tears Music Studios


Band Members:


Issa: Vocals
James Martin: Synths and BVs
Tom Martin: Guitars and Bass and BVs
Leon Robert Winteringham: Guitars and BVs


Additional Musicians:


Melvin Brannon Jr.
Steve Grocott
Dennis Butabi Borg
Josh Tabbie Williams
Robert Sall
Phil O Dea
Colin Parkinson
Pete Newdeck

Five Finger Death have released the new video from their 2024 European tour. It features a behind-the-scenes look at the band preparing to play I-Days Festival to 80,000 people in Milan, Italy.





Find the band's tour itinerary here.




Five Finger Death Punch recently released the digital deluxe version of their acclaimed album, Afterlife, via Better Noise Records. Stream/download Afterlife: Deluxe here.


In the video below, FFDP take fans behind-the-scenes of their music video for "This Is The Way (Feat. DMX)":





The deluxe edition includes the original 12 tracks recorded with the band’s longtime producer, Kevin Churko (Ozzy Osbourne, Disturbed), in addition to four bonus tracks including three acoustic versions of the album’s songs "The End", "Judgement Day", and "Thanks For Asking", plus the brand new highly anticipated single, "This Is The Way", featuring the late legendary rapper DMX. Five Finger Death Punch recently shared the music video for "This Is The Way (feat. DMX)" directed by none other than highly influential filmmaker Hype Williams, a longtime friend and close collaborator of the late DMX. Hailed by the New York Times in 2024 as "The Nineties Wunderkind", Hype Williams is known for his seminal work with luminaries like Tupac, Wu-Tang Clan, and Jay-Z amongst others. Watch the video below.





“Music is meant to be universal and without boundaries, and it starts at the top with us, the artists,” says Five Finger Death Punch guitarist Zoltan Bathory. “We have always embraced the mixing of genres, whether it be the remake of LL Cool J's "Mama Said Knock You Out" featuring Tech N9ne as a guest, or our collaboration with blues warrior Kenny Wayne Shepherd, country star Brantley Gilbert, and Brian May, the legendary guitarist of Queen, on the song ‘Blue on Black.’”


“The idea of collaborating with DMX had been in discussion for years, and it was a long and winding road to turn this particular item on our wish list into reality. He was a lyrical warrior, a true original who spoke his mind incorruptibly. We have always viewed DMX as “the metalhead of hip-hop’ because of his aggressive, raw, and untamed style. He growled and snarled, aiming to rattle some cages–an attitude we share, as Five Finger Death Punch has always been drawn to the fearless and the real. It made all the sense in the world, but today this is more than just a song; it's a salute to a legend, a way to honor DMX's memory.”


When playing the song for other hip-hop legends, DMC of Run DMC, one of the originals to do it first with “Walk This Way” with Aerosmith said, “The sound of the music, what Ivan is singing about, and what X is talking about, is how X lived his life. The struggle, the dark with the light, the bad with the good, the pain with the joy. This song is very emotional, very musical, it’s very well rounded.”


Order/save AfterLife: Deluxe here.





AfterLife: Deluxe tracklisting:


"Welcome To The Circus"
"AfterLife"
"Times Like These"
"Roll Dem Bones"
"Pick Up Behind You"
"Judgment Day"
"IOU"
"Thanks For Asking"
"Blood And Tar"
"All I Know"
"Gold Gutter"
"The End"
"This Is The Way" (feat. DMX)
"Judgment Day" (Acoustic)
"The End" (Acoustic)
"Thanks For Asking" (Acoustic)


"Judgement Day" (Acoustic):

Hard-hitting progressive metal band, The Aphelion, from Ottawa, Canada proudly announces the release of their upcoming album Nascence coming out on August 9, 2024, and have two music videos already out for the debut singles “Deserter” and “Flight”. The album is one half a pair, an enrapturing concept album that tells the story of a man’s descent into madness and his own mind in response to the mundanity and repetitiveness of the world around him. They dive into the singles:


“‘Deserter’ was the obvious choice for a lead single; it’s a great cross-section of what the rest of the album has in store and a barnstormer of a tune from the first second to the last. The live reception to this song has always been big so we tried to capture that energy on the record. ‘Flight’ is by far the heaviest piece of music we’ve ever released, and one of our favourite live songs as well.”


The album finale “Deserter” is a culmination of all of the sounds across this album, and features indulgent non-linear songwriting tied together with catchy choruses. The song pushes each member to their limit at one point or another across its runtime and features complex polymeters and incredibly fast passages. “Flight” is by far the heaviest song on the album, an homage to thrash metal and prog death giants such as Gojira. It moves at a near break-neck pace across its nearly seven-minute track time across blistering solos, thrashy riffs, and pummeling breakdowns.




Since their formation in 2015, The Aphelion has built a reputation for their innovative sound, dramatic flair, and emotional depth. Their music is complex, with unexpected shifts in genre to create contrast and bring levity. The singles are available on YouTube and recommended for fans of Haken, Leprous, and Opeth.


Preorder Nascence on Bandcamp.





Tracklisting:


“Prenascent”
“Nascence”
“The Seed Of Doubt”
“Fragility”
“The Heavy Mist”
“Flight”
“The Interloper”
“Deserter”


“Deserter” video:





“Flight” visualizer:





(Photo – Dark Moon Productions)

In a new interview with France's RTL, GUNS N' ROSES guitarist Slash, who is promoting his new blues album, "Orgy Of The Damned", spoke about British blues music, which emerged in the 1960s as a distinct genre that combined traditional American blues with elements of rock and roll. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "I think the British discovery of the American blues and their take on it really reinvented the blues altogether because that became very popular. I don't really think about it. I just think about it in terms of it's just music. Even the label, the blues, and you start thinking about where that has gone, it's all sort of blues based. Everything in rock and roll very much comes from the blues, but there's a lot of different interpretations of it. So I just consider it just music in general."

Slash went on to say that there are "so many" blues musicians that he was inspired by when he first started playing guitar. "Jeff Beck, Jimmy Page, Eric Clapton, Mick Taylor, Keith Richards, Johnny Winter, Billy Gibbons, these guys were all a huge influence on me and they're all blues musicians," he explained. "But I think it's just because blues is really, really important music in and of itself; there's nothing quite like it. And there's a certain honesty and there's a certain danger and there's a certain sexiness to it that everybody wants to pick up on. But it was interesting that in the in the '60s that the Brits really picked up on it and managed to turn it into a really broad spectrum of blues-based music that covers a lot of different styles and a lot of different flavors and sounds. It's really, really, really cool."

Released on May 17 via Gibson Records, "Orgy Of The Damned" features guest appearances by AC/DC's Brian Johnson, AEROSMITH's Steven Tyler, Iggy Pop, Chris Stapleton, THE BLACK CROWES' Chris Robinson, ZZ TOP's Billy F. Gibbons, BAD COMPANY's Paul Rodgers, Demi Lovato and Gary Clark Jr.Slash is backed on the album by prior collaborators Johnny Griparic (bass) and Teddy Andreadis (keyboards),as well as drummer Michael Jerome and singer/guitarist Tash Neal.

Regarding the inspiration for the "Orgy Of The Damned" album title, Slash told Germany's Rock Antenne: "It's the only title I came up with. It was just because blues and rock and roll have always been considered taboo and devil's music and all that kind of stuff. And it's 'hide your kids from that.' And I wasn't raised to think that, but I know society at large has always had that kind of attitude towards it, but of blues especially. And so when I thought about having a collaborative thing with all these different artists doing a blues record — 'Orgy Of The Damned', right? It seems so obvious to me, and I actually Googled it to see if somebody else had already used it, but they hadn't."

When the interviewer suggested that it must have been a "logistical nightmare" getting all those guest musicians to appear on the LP, Slash said: "It's difficult. I mean, you basically just have to get on the phone, and if they say 'yes', then okay. So that's really the hardest part, is calling people up and asking the question and seeing if they'll do it. And I was fortunate doing this, because I picked songs that… What I would do is I'd have the song and then go, 'Okay, who should sing this?' And whoever came to mind as being the appropriate singer, I would call them up. But, fortunately, I picked the right song for them to sing and so they would identify with it automatically. And so then that would make them feel more obligated to get involved and sing it properly or whatever goes through one's mind. But it was great because all the different artists were so open to the material and it really meant something to them. So, what happened was the vocal delivery really came from the heart; they were really singing from a place of connecting with the material."

Asked if there was anybody he wanted to get to appear on the album but couldn't, Slash said: "Well, the biggest one, really, the one that bums me out was [late MOTÖRHEAD leader] Lemmy. That was because there was a moment there where [I thought], 'Fuck, man, Lemmy would be great.' And I still haven't gotten used to the fact that he's not here, 'cause I'm so used to him being there. So that was the big one. I try not to make a big deal out of it. There's some people that I couldn't contact until after the record was done. And then they showed up, and [I would tell them] the record's done already. But other than that, everybody that I thought of were there."

Although he grew up in England, Slash's American grandmother turned him on to the blues early on and he was immediately taken with B.B. King. At the same time, his parents raised him on a healthy diet of '60s British rock 'n' roll, from THE WHO to THE KINKS. Once he moved to Laurel Canyon, Slash found himself surrounded by rock and folk singers like Joni Mitchell, CROSBY, STILLS & NASH and Neil Young — all of whom eventually inspired his playing and songwriting. It wasn't until he began playing guitar himself that Slash realized all of his favorite musicians had been influenced by the same B.B. King blues records he'd listened to as a young kid.

"Orgy Of The Damned" encompasses a broad range of styles within the blues genre, veering from an upbeat, rowdy take on Robert Johnson's "Crossroads" to a plaintive, twanging rendition of T. Bone Walker's "Stormy Monday". Some of the songs, like STEPPENWOLF's "The Pusher", Charlie Segar's "Key To The Highway" and Albert King's "Born Under A Bad Sign", had been performed by SLASH'S BLUES BALL while others, like Stevie Wonder's "Living For The City", were longtime favorites for Slash. "Hoochie Coochie Man", written by Willie Dixon and made famous by Muddy Waters in 1954, showcases the in-the-moment nature and unrestrained energy of "Orgy Of The Damned", with ZZ TOP's Billy F. Gibbons stepping in on guitar and vocals. The group went into a rehearsal room in North Hollywood and began hashing out soulful, rollicking takes on the classic songs. Everything was played live in the room, with an emphasis on improvisation which resulted in a collection of dynamic, energized songs that are immediate, raw, and distinctly familiar.

As Slash was considering vocalists, he approached his old friend and collaborator Iggy Pop, who had long wanted to record a blues song. Pop suggested Lightnin' Hopkins's 1962 track "Awful Dream", a sparse, drawling number originally laid down on acoustic guitar. The duo decided to recreate that stripped back vibe and recorded their own languid, emotionally-resonate version sitting on two stools in Slash's studio.

Elsewhere on "Orgy Of The Damned", Demi Lovato lends her powerhouse voice to "Papa Was A Rollin' Stone", a fervent, soulful version of the 1972 single by THE TEMPTATIONS that Slash admired as a kid. Although the song veers more towards R&B, the guitarist wanted to give it his own impassioned spin. The album concludes with a soaring original instrumental number, "Metal Chestnut", penned specifically for "Orgy Of The Damned" by Slash.

The first single, "Killing Floor", features Johnson on vocals and Tyler on harmonica.

"Orgy Of The Damned" track listing:

01. The Pusher (feat. Chris Robinson)
02. Crossroads (feat. Gary Clark Jr.)
03. Hoochie Coochie Man (feat. Billy Gibbons)
04. Oh Well (feat. Chris Stapleton)
05. Key To The Highway (feat. Dorothy)
06. Awful Dream (feat. Iggy Pop)
07. Born Under A Bad Sign (feat. Paul Rodgers)
08. Papa Was A Rolling Stone (feat. Demi Lovato)
09. Killing Floor (feat. Brian Johnson)
10. Living For The City (feat. Tash Neal)
11. Stormy Day (feat. Beth Hart)
12. Metal Chestnut

This summer, Slash will bring his brand-new "S.E.R.P.E.N.T." festival to cities across the U.S. throughout 2024. S.E.R.P.E.N.T. is an anagram and stands for Solidarity, Engagement, Restore, Peace, Equality N' Tolerance. The festival is a celebration of the blues, featuring an all-star line-up that will vary. On all dates, Slash will perform alongside his blues band featuring bassist Johnny Griparic, keyboardist Teddy "ZigZag" Andreadis, drummer Michael Jerome and singer/guitarist Tash Neal.

Slash formed the "S.E.R.P.E.N.T." festival to bring fans together to celebrate the spirit of the blues, and to perform with other blues artists he admires who share his love of the genre. Slash also has a strong desire to give back to charities that he has supported over the years, as well as to help lift marginalized communities that share his restorative focus of elevating lives for the benefit of all. A portion of the proceeds from each VIP package and "S.E.R.P.E.N.T." festival ticket sold will directly benefit the following charities that Slash has selected: The Equal Justice Initiative, Know Your Rights Camp, The Greenlining Institute and War Child. "S.E.R.P.E.N.T." festival has partnered with Plus1.org to support these charitable endeavors.

Joining Slash at various stops on the tour will be WARREN HAYNES BAND, Keb' Mo', Larkin Poe, Christone "Kingfish" Ingram, Samantha Fish, ZZ Ward, Robert Randolph, Eric Gales and Jackie Venson.

The trek will kick off on July 5 in Bonner, Montana and wrap up on August 17 in Grand Prairie, Texas.

Although Slash's latest LP is his second under the "Slash" banner, he has released a handful of albums with his long-running band SLASH FEATURING MYLES KENNEDY & THE CONSPIRATORS, in which he is joined by ALTER BRIDGE frontman Myles Kennedy.

In February, Slash resumed touring with SLASH FEATURING MYLES KENNEDY & THE CONSPIRATORS.

SLASH FEATURING MYLES KENNEDY & THE CONSPIRATORS' latest album, "4", was released in February 2022 via Gibson Records in partnership with BMG.

"4" was Slash's fifth solo album and fourth overall with his band featuring Kennedy, Brent Fitz (drums),Todd Kerns (bass, vocals) and Frank Sidoris (guitar, vocals).