On March 11, METALLICA's Lars Ulrich joined Apple Music's global creative director and Apple Music 1 lead anchor Zane Lowe at SXSW (South By Southwest) conference and festivals for a session at the Austin Convention Center in Austin, Texas titled "Breaking The Fourth Wall". Lars and Zane explored how the band is continuing to use revolutionary technology to connect more deeply with fans, bringing them truly inside their dynamic live performance. In this candid chat, attendees heard from Lars how METALLICA has leaned into technology throughout their career to the present day, to reinvent storytelling and redefine the fan experience that ultimately breaks the fourth wall.

Discussing METALLICA's relationship with the band's fans, Lars said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Going back to growing up in Copenhagen, Denmark, I used to go to rock shows, started going to rock shows when I was really young. My dad took me to see DEEP PURPLE when I was 10 years old, 1970-something. And so I would see all these shows, and I found myself just kind of wanting to get close to the music, close to the band, close to the players, close to the experience and try to sort of immerse myself into all of it.

"When DEEP PURPLE would stay in Denmark — all the rock bands in the '70s stayed at the Plaza Hotel, and I would park myself outside of the Plaza Hotel and I would wait for Ritchie Blackmore and David Coverdale and bands like THIN LIZZY and KISS and whoever else was coming through, BLACK SABBATH," he continued.

"There was just something about that when you were drawn to the music and drawn to the experience, you wanted to try to just get as close as you could. And anyway, so when we then subsequently later formed a band, the bands that we were inspired by and that made us want to be METALLICA and play music were also the ones that had the most transparency and the most open doors. A lot of the bands, as you know, that directly affected METALLICA's sound and attitudes in the very early days — bands like MOTÖRHEAD, IRON MAIDEN, a lot of the bands in the New Wave Of British Heavy Metal, which really at core was sort of the punk aesthetic, the punk attitude, the punk sort of DIY approach, but played heavier and set obviously in a heavy world. But all those bands, they had that door — let's call it the transparency door — wide open, wide open. So come in. Be part of what's going on. And if you like the music, you also had access to the band. And that was the attitude that we took with us when we started. We just wanted to be on the same level as anybody who was interested in listening to the music and being part of the ride. The fans, the kids, as the English would call 'em at the time, but it was all about being on an even playing field.

"A lot of the bands that, if you go a little bit back for sort of more understanding the threads and the history of music, the punk movement in itself was sort of an answer or a middle finger to how larger than life all the mid-'70s rock bands and how far from reality they were and how far removed from their audiences," Lars explained. "The bands were these elevated characters and the fans were down here, and the punk movement was all about bringing everybody down. And you guys know the RAMONES and the SEX PISTOLS and all that was about, 'I could do that. I could play those three chords. I could be that.' And so it was all about doing away with that separation, doing away with that kind of the pretend barrier. I kind of see it often as a barricade that separates the fans from the bands and vice versa, about doing away with that sense of separation. And that has really been our sort of driving force for the 40-plus years, is just trying to stay on the same level, do away with whatever it is that separates the bands and the fans, and that is still what gets us out of bed to this day."

Back in July 2023, METALLICA put out a casting call for "superfans" of the band to possibly appear in an upcoming documentary. The filmmakers were looking for "big personalities, unique characters and unexpected stories from METALLICA fans who consider METALLICA to be their favorite band, real 'Fifth Member' types. All stories and walks of life" were "welcome and encouraged to reach out."

The documentary was reportedly being produced by METALLICA and Mercury Studios, powered by Universal Music Group.

Two years ago, Ulrich credited the use of "Master Of Puppets" in 2022 in the hit Netflix series "Stranger Things" with creating a whole new generation of METALLICA fans.

As a result of the song's appearance in the show, "Master Of Puppets" — the title track of METALLICA's 1986 album — went on to top of the iTunes Rock Chart and crack the Spotify Top 50.

Ulrich told Japan's TVK: "I'm just so happy that hard music and hard rock still has a place. To see so many young people connecting with music again. . . I can see it my kids; I can see it, in the last nine months, the 'Stranger Things' phenomenon of so many young kids discovering 'Master Of Puppets' and that being a gateway to maybe more METALLICA music or to more heavy music or heavy rock music."

Lars went on to say that the possibility for METALLICA's music to reach a new audience seems endless.

"I see that there's still so much, all over the world, a coming of age when kids are 12, 13, 14 years old, to get into music and for us to be part of that discovery is an incredible thing," he explained.

In a 2015 interview with Time Warner Cable News, METALLICA frontman James Hetfield was asked what it feels like to get such a strong reaction from the crowd every time the band performs live. He said: "Well, it's like an ultimate family for us — especially for me. When I'm able to just be honest and ask, 'Hey, help sing this part,' or I screwed up the words and they sing it for me. It's, like, 'Man, they really do have our back.' And we don't look at things as mistakes. There are no mistakes that happen. There's just unique ways of doing it for that day. We go up there and we play it. So there's just such a freedom when you have… When the crowd has your back, there's such a freedom to be able to even explore more up there or to even do better. 'Cause you know you're not out there to impress people, you're out there just to deliver what you've got in you."

In 2016, Ulrich told Vice that he and his bandmates don't make a concerted effort to bring in new fans or win over naysayers whenever they release a new album. "I mean, we are all aware kind of aware of the fact of how wide the net is cast," he said. "And like I said, most things that I see in the world is in grays, so it's pretty easy with this stuff. So 40-year-olds, 50-year-olds, 30-year-olds, 20-year-olds, teens, it's fine. We don't go out of our way to do one thing more than the other. I think that there still there seems to be a rite of passage for 13 and 14-year-old boys and in lots of places around the world. There are still a lot of young kids. When I occasionally check our social media, I can tell that a lot of them are younger, which is cool. So I think we got a pretty good balance. There are certain places like in Scandinavia, they're really young and there is like 14-year-old girls down in the front row. Sometimes parents bring their kids, or kids bring their parents. It's fun."

DIRKSCHNEIDER, the band featuring former ACCEPT members Udo Dirkschneider (vocals) and Peter Baltes (bass),along with drummer Sven Dirkschneider (Udo's son) and the talented guitar duo of Andrey Smirnov and Fabian "Dee" Dammers, is celebrating the 40th anniversary of "Balls To The Wall" — originally released in late 1983 and the most commercially successful and best-known album by ACCEPT — by performing the LP in its entirety on a European tour which kicked off on February 26 in Vienna, Austria.

Fan-filmed video of DIRKSCHNEIDER's entire March 4 concert at Quantic in Bucharest, Romania is available below.

Featured songs:

0:00:02 Fast As A Shark
0:03:32 Living For Tonite
0:07:51 Midnight Mover
0:11:12 Breaker
0:15:52 Flash Rockin' Man
0:20:10 Metal Heart
0:26:44 Breaking Up Again (Peter on vocals)

"Balls To The Wall" album

0:31:59 Intro
0:32:51 Balls To The Wall
0:40:53 London Leatherboys
0:45:29 Fight Back
0:49:26 Head Over Heels
0:54:30 Losing More Than You Have Ever Had
0:59:30 Love Child
1:03:31 Turn Me On
1:08:53 Losers And Winners
1:13:32 Guardian Of The Night
1:18:04 Winterdreams

1:24:40 Princess Of The Dawn
1:35:45 Up To The Limit
1:41:06 Burning

In a recent interview with Andrew McKaysmith of the Scars And Guitars podcast, Udo and Sven spoke about the recently released reimagining of "Balls To The Wall" to celebrate the LP's 40th anniversary. The band's founding member and former frontman reinterpreted this classic with a fresh and star-studded twist. Far from a simple remake, this project was born out of countless conversations with prominent artists across the global rock and metal scene, who frequently asked: "Are you planning anything special for the 40th anniversary of 'Balls To The Wall'?" These discussions sparked the idea to re-record the album's legendary tracks alongside a stellar lineup of guest musicians, transforming the project into a heartfelt tribute.

Asked if there were any "complications" with ACCEPT guitarist Wolf Hoffmann and ACCEPT's management about releasing a reimagined version of "Balls To The Wall", Udo said: "No… Everybody can record [their own version of] the 'Balls' album, if they don't change arrangements or stuff like that. You can do that, my brother can do it, my sister, whatever — you don't have to ask."

He continued: "No, about this, there was no communication [with Wolf]. In a way, with Peter [Baltes, former ACCEPT bassist and current member of U.D.O. and DIRKSCHNEIDER] and with me singing and playing on this album, and, of course, a third member of ACCEPT, [former ACCEPT drummer] Stefan Kaufmann, was behind the scenes. He was very much involved in recording the drums and showed Sven how he had to play ACCEPT songs right. [Stefan] was [also] very much involved in guitar stuff — he was sitting together with the guitar players and told them, okay, how they had to play the rhythm guitars exactly, that it's getting nearly perfect. Stefan, he was a member of U.D.O. — I don't know — for a long time. And I know he's a really brilliant rhythm guitar player. He's a machine. And also Stefan is definitely a guy, he's really critical."

Added Sven, who plays drums in both U.D.O. and DIRKSCHNEIDER: "Stefan will always tell you if he doesn't like something. He will tell you right away. And he's very straightforward. So if he doesn't like something, when we record, he's very straightforward as well. So, that makes it more productive because you don't have to see what the guy's actually meaning, and is he telling me the truth? Is he just saying this is good, but he thinks it's bad or whatever? So it makes it easier in the studio, but also you have to face facts. If he doesn't like something, then you have to keep up with it and say, 'Okay, I will have to do it better.' So it was very productive working with Stefan. I was nervous when I recorded the drums because I had the original [ACCEPT drummer] sitting there on the mixing desk recording my tracks. But, yeah, it was really cool to have him and to hear his feedback on what he thinks and put my touches on it. He let me do that, which I really appreciate, and it's a big honor."

The reimagined "Balls To The Wall" was made available on February 28, 2025 via Reigning Phoenix Music.

In a separate interview with Jorge Botas of Portugal's Metal Global, Udo and Peter spoke about the new version of "Balls To The Wall". Asked what led to the decision to release a reimagined version of the LP, Udo said: "Normally it was not planned to do an album; it was only planned to do a tour about the 40-years anniversary of 'Balls'. And so on some festivals, a lot of singers [from other bands] came up [and asked], 'Oh, you do something special for the 40th anniversary.' And then we said, 'Yeah, touring, definitely.' And then they said, 'Oh, I would love to sing a song of the 'Balls' album.' And then the idea came up very slowly. We said, 'Yeah, it can be interesting.'"

Udo continued: "To re-record the 'Balls' album, it's like, 'Don't touch the holy cow.' But with the guest-singer thing now, what we did, I think it worked out very well. The reactions are very good so far. And so I think I'm happy with the result of everything."

Asked if he enjoyed the process of hearing different guests singing with Udo, Peter said: "I enjoyed it tremendously. I also was nervous touching the album again. But after we started recording, I felt really into it. And I played it the way I play live today, the songs. I decided not to copy the original, on my bass playing specifically, because these songs evolved over so many years to what I'm playing today. And that was one of the reasons. The other as much as the holy cow and iconic it is, it also sits on the shelf somewhere and everybody's behind you and it hasn't been moved in 20 years. So it is an honor for us to be able to reintroduce the album to a younger generation, to a whole new world today. And I think it gives the album a great honor that it deserves, where it stands."

Udo added: "I was quite nervous when I started recording the album, with vocals. I mean, I was not quite sure that I'd hit all the notes [laughs], the high notes and all that. But in the end, I think it works. So I'm lucky. And I think especially the whole atmosphere between the guest singers and my vocals, I think it gives the whole thing a new dimension, a new atmosphere. And yeah, I like it very much."

Speaking with The Brutally Delicious Podcast, Udo stated about "Balls To The Wall - Reloaded": "Let's say in the beginning it was just planned to do a tour [celebrating] the 40 years of 'Balls To The Wall'. But then on festivals, some musicians came up and said, 'Oh, you do something special for this 40-years anniversary of 'Balls'. And I said, 'Yeah, touring.' 'Yeah. You know I love this song. I would love to sing on this,' and blah, blah, blah, blah. And then I think it developed."

Sven added: "The idea came together. We had so many great vocalists that wanted to participate on this album. So we sat down and had a thought if we can — because it's very tough in managing all this. I mean, everyone is busy, everyone is doing their own records and whatnot. So it was quite challenging, but in the end it worked out. I think we got the last vocals in last minute to get this done. But yeah, we have really good people on this album and we appreciate that they wanted to do it. And I think they're great new versions of the legendary album."

Asked if they had certain vocalists in mind for certain songs, Sven said: "We had a very long list. And stuff like [SAXON's] Biff Byford on 'London Leatherboys' was kind of obvious, that we wanted to have him for this. And, yeah, we're going on tour with SAXON as well in November this year. So, it all makes perfect sense. And, yeah, [there are some] very, very good collaborations."

Udo continued: "All the singers, they did a great job on it. For example, Joakim [Brodén] from SABATON, 'Balls To The Wall', he did a great job. And also [TWISTED SISTER's] Dee Snider on 'Losers And Winners'. And also Biff on 'London Leatherboys'.

"The thing was we did not tell them, 'Okay, you have to sing this line and this line and this line and this line.' [We told them to] sing the whole song and then we can see which parts fit together with my vocals," Udo explained. "And then, when you listen, for example, to the vocals of Biff for 'London Leatherboys', it can be a SAXON song… I mean, Doro [Pesch] did a great job on 'Winter Dreams'. And also Mille [Petrozza] of KREATOR, 'Fight It Back'. And also Michael Kiske, from HELLOWEEN, he was singing 'Losing More Than You've Ever Had'. He did a great job. Also for me, especially, it was interesting to hear this. 'Wow, okay. Good.' Yeah, I think we are happy and I think also the guest singers, I think they really enjoyed to do this. And that was the most important thing. And also that they put their own character on each song, not trying to be Udo. That makes no sense."

Referencing the new version of "Balls To The Wall" featuring Brodén, Sven said: "We called [Joakim] up because we have a long relationship with SABATON. We played their festival multiple times and we've always had a good time with them. So that was kind of natural, and he was totally up for it. But it was also very interesting. He, for example, did the speaking part. And then he came back to us and said, 'No, use Udo's, because he does it better.' But it was super cool that, yeah, everyone put his character and his style of singing on to the songs. So that was great."

Sven also talked about the overall approach when it came to the production of "Balls To The Wall - Reloaded", saying: "'Especially with the drum sound, we tried to get as close as possible from this old-school vibe, but still, I mean, now we have modern technology recording stuff, so it definitely sounds up to date, but it's still with the old-school vibes. It's natural. I mean, when Peter [Baltes, former ACCEPT and current DIRKSCHNEIDER and U.D.O. bassist] plays bass, it's Peter playing bass. So it is that sound. And as soon as Udo's kicking in… And our guitar players, they're doing it for such a long time that they also are totally into the vibe of this kind of music. So it came along naturally, I would say, the sound of this album. But still, it's modern quality, which I think is awesome."

Ten years ago — in 2015 — Udo announced that he would embark on a special tour during which he would perform ACCEPT songs one last time under the DIRKSCHNEIDER banner before closing that chapter for good. Since then, the former ACCEPT frontman has continued to play ACCEPT material at select shows, including at the September 18, 2020 U.D.O. concert in Plovdiv, Bulgaria, which was released on DVD and Blu-ray.

When he first announced the original DIRKSCHNEIDER tour in 2015, Udo said that had "to make a clear break for myself — close the book and this is it. And I have the problem that people come to me and ask me to play more ACCEPT songs," he explained. "Other people ask me why I play ACCEPT songs at all, because there are [more than] fifteen U.D.O. records. I want to avoid such things and avoid the repeating questions concerning ACCEPT. I just can't stand that anymore. There is nothing more to be said. U.D.O. exists longer than ACCEPT. We have more records than ACCEPT."

While acknowledging that some ACCEPT fans want to hear the band's classic songs performed by the group's original singer, Dirkschneider explained that "you always have these comparisons [between how these songs are played by ACCEPT and U.D.O.]. I don't want this anymore either. [The current lineup of ACCEPT] also play 'Metal Heart', they play 'Balls To The Wall' and 'Princess Of The Dawn'. And then some people tell me, 'Oh, [current ACCEPT singer Mark Tornillo] is doing it better than you.' And I go, 'That's fine. Enjoy yourself.' But I don't want this anymore. And to avoid all of this in the future, I said, 'We are doing this one more time.'"

Dirkschneider said that his vow to never play ACCEPT material again came with one caveat. "If the band ACCEPT dissolves one day in the near future and I am still around with U.D.O., then there is a chance that I put ACCEPT songs back in the setlist," he said. "But currently there is ACCEPT, so go see them [if you want to see those songs performed live]. They are playing these songs."

Udo previously said the original plan was for DIRKSCHNEIDER to only "a few shows," and "then [the tour] got bigger and bigger [due to demand]." But, he added, "I don't want to complain about that."

According to Law360, DISTURBED frontman David Draiman has filed a lawsuit against his former landlord, alleging that mold in a rental home in Coral Gables, Florida caused him to suffer health issues that negatively affected his singing career.

In the lawsuit, which was filed on March 11 in a Miami-Dade County court, Draiman said had been paying $18,500 a month for the 5,200-square-foot home beginning in December 2022. On or about September 4, 2024, Draiman submitted a claim for termination of the lease, claiming that he had discovered that the house had mold and leaks that weren't previously disclosed to him. He is accusing his former landlord of fraudulent misrepresentation, fraud, unjust enrichment, and negligence.

"None of the items complained of… were disclosed to [Draiman] by the [landlord] prior to moving in and went uncorrected after moving in such that [Draiman] had to leave the property since it was not habitable," the lawsuit reads. "The uninhabitability and mold concerns, among others, resulted in impacts to [Draiman's] singing career, recording and studio time with medical concerns."

The lawsuit adds: "[The landlord] affirmatively made material misrepresentations of material facts to [Draiman] regarding the Property such as a watertight roof, non-leaking ceilings and deterioration due to water intrusion. The existence of these defects described above, such as mold and water intrusion, constitute material misrepresentations. Two other minor undisclosed defects are and were equally disturbing: to wit; leaving the dishwasher unattached such that it swung out if used and failing to place certain elements beneath the refrigerator freezer causing water damage and more mold. They were not disclosed because they would have dramatically affected the rental and pricing of the Property. [The landlord] knew the nature of the defects to the Property and was patently aware of the falsity of the material misrepresentations made to [Draiman]."

"Despite being notified on multiple occasions of necessary repairs", the landlord failed to act in a timely manner, forcing Draiman to move out.

The DISTURBED singer claims he has yet to recover his $37,000 security deposit from the landlord.

Three years ago, Draiman and his then-wife and son moved to Miami, Florida after living in Honolulu, Hawaii for a few years.

Draiman first announced his family's decision to relocate to Miami in February 2022, explaining on his Facebook page that he and his then-wife "gave it our best shot, but between the extraordinarily long travel times for business, island fever, and a bunch of other factors, we've decided to move on." He also shared a link to a video tour of his then-Honolulu home which had just been listed. That house has since sold for more than $6 million, according to public records.

In April 2023, Draiman confirmed that he finalized his divorce from his wife of 11 years, Lena Draiman.

In September 2023, Draiman sold his house in the Miami suburb of Pinecrest for $5 million. David bought the modern Spanish-Moroccan villa for $5.22 million in March 2022 and first listed it for $5.75 million in January 2023. It was last asking $5.19 million.

DISTURBED kicked off the U.S. leg of "The Sickness 25th Anniversary Tour" on February 25 at Ford Idaho Center Arena in Nampa, Idaho. The trek celebrates 25 years of DISTURBED's seminal debut album which launched the band into public consciousness and is one of the most important and influential heavy metal albums of all time. Each night features two sets of music, opening with DISTURBED playing the five-times-platinum "The Sickness" in full, followed by a full set of greatest hits. Openers on the U.S. shows include THREE DAYS GRACE, SEVENDUST, DAUGHTRY and NOTHING MORE, depending on the date.

On February 21, DISTURBED released a new single, "I Will Not Break", via the band's own label, Mother Culture Records.

Swedish thrash metal pioneers THE HAUNTED will release their tenth studio album, "Songs Of Last Resort", on May 30, 2025 via longtime partners Century Media Records.

With music recorded by Oscar Nilsson at Studio Bohus, main vocals recorded by Björn Strid at The Cellar Studio, "Songs Of Last Resort" was mixed and mastered by Jens Bogren at Fascination Street Studios (KREATOR, ARCH ENEMY, SEPULTURA). Artwork was once again provided by longtime visual collaborator Andreas "Diaz" Pettersson.

The official music video for the LP's first single, "Warhead", directed by Patric Ullaeus of rEvolver (IN FLAMES, ARCH ENEMY, DIMMU BORGIR),can be seen below.

THE HAUNTED vocalist Marco Aro comments: "This is the first single of our new album 'Songs Of Last Resort'. The song is called 'Warhead' and it's an aggressive statement about the absolute horrors of the world we now have to live in!”.

THE HAUNTED guitarist Patrik Jensen added: "When writing this song, I knew that we were on to writing a good album. The main riff came to me at work, and I had to take the afternoon off that day to immediately get it recorded and worked on while the inspiration from this one riff was still creating goosebumps. Lyrics are about various people in charge being 'warheads', thriving in one way or another off of waging war. The intro sound FX were created together with Örjan Örnkloo (ex-MISERY LOVES COMPANY, who also performs on 'To Bleed Out' and the title track 'Letters Of Last Resort'). I think it's not a stretch to say that this song stand a real chance of becoming a fixture of our live set for many years to come."

"Songs Of Last Resort" track listing:

01. Warhead (03:39)
02. In Fire Reborn (03:18)
03. Death To The Crown (02:56)
04. To Bleed Out (04:29)
05. Unbound (03:34)
06. Hell Is Wasted On The Dead (02:53)
07. Through The Fire (03:01)
08. Collateral Carnage (04:03)
09. Blood Clots (01:30)
10. Salvation Recalled (03:26)
11. Labyrinth Of Lies (03:30)
12. Letters Of Last Resort (04:06)

"Songs of Last Resort" will be available as a limited CD mediabook and poster (including the bonus track "Feeding The Furnace"),as a standard CD jewelcase, as a digital album and as a 180g LP and poster.

Upcoming THE HAUNTED live shows:

June 06 - Reichenbach, Germany - Chronical Moshers Open Air
July 05 - Kalmar, Sweden - Metal Theatre
July 25 - Wasa, Finland - Kaaos Festival
October 04 - Athens, Greece - Gagarin 20
November 01 - Vara, Sweden - Vara in Rock
November 07 - Umeå, Sweden - House of Metal
November 09 - Manchester, UK - Damnation Festival

THE HAUNTED 2025 is (left to right in photo)

Ola Englund – rhythm, lead guitar
Jonas Björler - bass, backing vocals
Marco Aro - lead vocals
Adrian Erlandsson - drums
Patrik Jensen - rhythm guitar

THE HAUNTED's upcoming LP will be the follow-up to the band's ninth studio album, "Strength In Numbers", which was released in August 2017 via Century Media. That disc was recorded at Parlour Studios in the U.K. with producer Russ Russell (NAPALM DEATH, DIMMU BORGIR, THE EXPLOITED). The artwork for "Strength In Numbers" was created by THE HAUNTED's longtime designer Andreas Pettersson.

Back in 2017, Englund told Heavy Music HQ about the differences between "Strength In Numbers" and its predecessor, 2014's "Exit Wounds": I think with 'Exit Wounds' that there was a hunger and urge to just show that THE HAUNTED is not slowing down or done, for that matter. That album is full force throughout. For 'Strength In Numbers', we definitely had more time to reflect and not rush into the studio in the same way. The songs slowly developed over time and overall it feels like it's a more mature album. Also, of course, the guys let me take a much bigger role for the album writing with this one, and I definitely felt more comfortable to take more space."

Photo credit: Linda Florin

During an appearance on a recent episode of the Make It Perfect podcast, HALESTORM frontwoman Lzzy Hale revealed that she is working on her first book. "I've been writing my biography, but it is also a fantasy novel because all the names have been changed, but the stories are true," she said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET)." And this is how I feel comfortable doing my biography.

"The thing that makes me sad about reading people's biographies, especially in the music business, is that then you know their secrets, you know they've been raped, or you know their parents don't like them, or you know that they have to struggle to be sober, or they almost died," she explained. "And it's, like, it ruins the magic, because when I think about [Ronnie James] Dio or I think about David Lee Roth or I think about Eddie Van Halen or I think about Alice Cooper, I think about them as being the gods of rock and roll — you know, BLACK SABBATH, Tony Iommi. I don't wanna know that their mom didn't let 'em suck on their thumb when they were kids."

Asked by host Ryan Rado why she doesn't want to know that stuff, Lzzy said: "Well, because I think that it ruins the joy. Because people always focus on people's struggle and not on their recovery or not on their joy. And I feel like a lot of fans and people that aren't willing to understand and deep dive are seeing people like Eminem or people like my good friend Rob Halford [of JUDAS PRIEST]. He just celebrated his — I don't know — 25th anniversary from when he got sober, but everyone's, like, 'Well, you know, here's… ' It's, like, they focus on the alcoholism or they focus on the drug use or they focus on the drug use, and they're not focusing on the fact that they're celebrating themselves."

Earlier this year, Lzzy and her HALESTORM bandmate Joe Hottinger completed "Halestorm's Lzzy And Joe: The Living Room Sessions" tour featuring the duo performing acoustic, stripped down versions of HALESTORM favorites and the music that inspired the band.

HALESTORM has spent the last few months recording the follow-up to 2022's "Back From The Dead" album with producer Dave Cobb.

Cobb has shared in nine Grammy wins, including four for "Best Americana Album" and three for "Best Country Album". He's also been named "Producer Of The Year" by the Country Music Awards, the Americana Music Association (twice) and the Music Row Awards, and has been a Grammy nominee in the category.

Last summer HALESTORM and I PREVAIL completed a co-headlining tour. Produced by Live Nation, the trek was also the catalyst and the creative spark for HALESTORM and I PREVAIL's collaborative track "Can U See Me In The Dark?", which was released last June.

"Back From The Dead" has tallied over 100 million streams worldwide. Rolling Stone called the title track "a biting but cathartic howler about overcoming all obstacles," and that song as well as "The Steeple" marked their fifth and sixth number ones at rock radio, respectively. Associated Press said the album "will definitely be in the running for best hard rock/metal album of the year." Their previous album, "Vicious", earned the band their second Grammy nomination, for "Best Hard Rock Performance" for the song "Uncomfortable", the band's fourth #1 at rock radio, and led Loudwire to name HALESTORM "Rock Artist Of The Decade" in 2019.

Fronted by Lzzy with drummer Arejay Hale, Hottinger and bass player Josh Smith, HALESTORM's music has earned multiple platinum and gold certifications from the RIAA, and the band has earned a reputation as a powerful live music force, headlining sold-out shows and topping festival bills around the world, and sharing the stage with icons including HEAVEN & HELL, Alice Cooper, Joan Jett and JUDAS PRIEST. Additionally, Lzzy was named the first female brand ambassador for Gibson and served as host of AXS TV's "A Year In Music".

In a new interview with I Ask No One With Kevin Re LoVullo, former VOLBEAT and ANTHRAX guitarist Rob Caggiano was asked about his current activities. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "[I'm] just keeping busy, doing a lot of recording, writing, all kinds of stuff. There's a couple of things I can't really talk about yet, but there is a young artist that I've been working with working with for a minute now. We're about to start releasing stuff. His name is Grant Dawson. It's like a pop/alternative type of vibe. I've been writing songs with him and recording, producing him for a little bit now, but we're finally ready to start putting stuff out. So I'm pretty excited about that. But besides that, yeah, I've been doing a lot of stuff. [I've been] keeping busy. [I've been] just experimenting in the studio with musical ideas and recording techniques and all kinds of stuff. [I've] just been having a lot of fun lately. But, yeah, you'll see me out there at some point. [Laughs]"

Regarding what he is looking forward to most before he turns 50 in 2026, Rob said: "Yeah, just, I guess, figuring out my next adventure, musically speaking. And, yeah, I'm excited for the future.

"A lot of people, I guess, fear the unknown or however you wanna say it, but there's something really exciting to me about — the world of possibilities is something that I find really intriguing and exciting," he added. "So, yeah, I'm looking forward to everything the future brings."

Caggiano's exit from VOLBEAT was officially announced on June 5, 2023. He has since been replaced on the road by Flemming C. Lund (THE ARCANE ORDER).

On June 12, 2023, Rob — who played on VOLBEAT's last four studio albums: 2013's "Outlaw Gentlemen & Shady Ladies", 2016's "Seal the Deal & Let's Boogie", 2019's "Rewind, Replay, Rebound" and 2021's "Servant Of The Mind" — issued a statement in which he said he was "extremely proud of everything" he and how now-former bandmates "accomplished together over the last 10 years."

As for why his time with VOLBEAT had come to an end, Rob said: "Sometimes relationships simply run their course. Sometimes certain obstacles, people or circumstances get in the way of the greater good. Sometimes people change and priorities shift. Sometimes it's unavoidable. We had a very special undeniable magic together as a band. It's not something that comes around too often in this life and it's not something to be taken lightly. I certainly do not. However, while this is really a very emotional time for me I'm also extremely excited about what lies ahead in the future. Lots of exciting things happening right now. I really couldn't be more fired up!!"

An acclaimed musician, songwriter and producer, Caggiano joined ANTHRAX as lead guitarist in 2001, appearing on 2003 album "We've Come For You All" and 2004's "The Greater Of Two Evils". He was onstage with the band during the famous 2010-2011 "Big Four" tour alongside SLAYER, MEGADETH and METALLICA, and he played on and produced ANTHRAX's 2011 critically acclaimed album "Worship Music".

Over the years, Caggiano has also garnered five Grammy nominations as a record producer/guitarist and has worked with a very wide range of artists including CRADLE OF FILTH, ANTHRAX, VOLBEAT, THE DAMNED THINGS, H20, Jesse Malin and even Bruce Springsteen.

When Caggiano was enlisted as producer for Danish heavy rock quartet VOLBEAT in early 2013, the collaboration was so phenomenally successful that he was quickly invited to join the band as well. The resulting album, "Outlaw Gentlemen & Shady Ladies", achieved major chart success on both sides of the Atlantic, as did "Seal The Deal & Let's Boogie".

In a 2022 interview with Metalshop TV, Caggiano spoke about how he went from his previous gig with ANTHRAX to producing the VOLBEAT album "Outlaw Gentlemen & Shady Ladies" to joining the Danish band as their guitarist. He said: "I decided to leave ANTHRAX back then because I kind of felt like… At that point I had been in the band for a long time, and I kind of felt like my role in the band ran its course, so to speak. And I just kind of felt like I was hitting my head up against a glass ceiling a long time. And it just felt like I needed a change. I wasn't feeling inspired. Don't get me wrong — I love those guys and I loved every minute of my time with them. It was such an amazing, wild ride. But I just felt like I needed to do something else at that time. And the VOLBEAT thing just happened, and it was organic, and it felt right. So, here I am."

Regarding what it was about VOLBEAT's music that appealed to him, Rob said" "I think for me, the thing with VOLBEAT, it's like a mixture of all the sounds that I like. [Laughs] It's a lot of stuff that I grew up listening to all wrapped into one package. When I first VOLBEAT, I heard the MISFITS, I heard METALLICA, I heard a little bit of the RAMONES… There's some SLAYER-vibe riffs. There's just a lot of different stuff. And it's all fun — it's a lot of fun; the music is a lot of fun. And it definitely connects with a lot of people. That's why I do it."

On Thursday (March 13),KISS bassist/vocalist Gene Simmons took over Los Angeles meteorologist Adam Krueger's weekend report on Fox 11.

Wearing a denim shirt, sunglasses and a black cap, Gene opened the segment opened by roasting Krueger ("You look much better in real life than you do on TV"),while Kreuger slipped in relevant KISS puns and lyrics into the forecast, including "There's been a lot of rain lately, and the rain you drive us wild, we'll drive you crazy talking about this rain," borrowing a line from the KISS classic "Rock And Roll All Nite". Simmons seemingly approved, telling Kreuger, "Hey, I wrote that. I like that.'

After the broadcast, Krueger shared some behind-the-scenes photos with the rock legend on Instagram and wrote, "Do weather with @genesimmons" along with a checkmark emoji.

This is not the first time Gene has tried his hand at meteorology. Lat September, he joined KTLA 5 Morning News to read the seven-day forecast.

Simmons and his solo band, aptly named GENE SIMMONS BAND, will kick off a U.S. tour on April 3 in Anaheim.

In addition to Simmons, the GENE SIMMONS BAND members include guitarists Brent Woods (WILDSIDE, SEBASTIAN BACH, VINCE NEIL) and Zach Throne (COREY TAYLOR) alongside drummer Brian Tichy (LYNCH MOB, THE DEAD DAISIES, WHITESNAKE, BILLY IDOL, FOREIGNER, PRIDE & GLORY, SLASH'S SNAKEPIT).

Back in 2017 and 2018, the GENE SIMMONS BAND played a number of shows with a lineup that consisted of Simmons alongside guitarist/bassist Jeremy Asbrock, guitarist Ryan Cook, guitarist Phil Shouse and drummer Brent Fitz.

KISS played the final concert of its "End Of The Road" farewell tour on December 2, 2023 at Madison Square Garden in New York City.

✅Do weather with Gene Simmons

Posted by Adam Krueger on Friday, March 14, 2025

In a recent interview with Headbangers México, ADEMA guitarist/vocalist Tim Fluckey was asked if he and his bandmates are working on new music at the moment. He responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Last year, we signed a record deal with Cleopatra Records, which is a label up here in the U.S. And so all the music is written and done, all the pre-production's done. So now we are getting ready to go into the studio and record the album here soon. We have a tour coming up, so we're gonna try to get a lot of it done before the tour, but then probably finish it after the tour — it's a six-week tour coming up. And so it should be all ready to be out middle of the year, maybe late summertime, we're hoping. But all the music's there."

Regarding the musical direction of the new ADEMA material, Tim said: "We have approached the last few years with that vibe of kind of, like, 'Okay, what's the best things that we've done in the last 20 years?' and just try to make sure that we're doing that. 'Cause we have a lot of hardcore fans and we wanna make sure that we're taking care of them.

"It's always fun to experiment in music, and we always do that, and we've done a couple of records where they were kind of not quite like the first records, but now we're just really concentrating on just bringing out the ADEMA sound and making sure, like I said, all those things are [there], when it comes to the groove of the songs, to the lyrics of the songs, to all that stuff," he added. "So we're excited about having a new album out."

On the topic of what has kept ADEMA going for 25 years, Tim said: "Now the four [core members], we've had a lot of changes at vocals. And Marky [Chavez], our original singer, came back and left and came back, and he essentially kind of retired. But for the four of us, this is what we were always going to do.

"I think that in a lot of bands, there's always two or three guys that, when adversity comes or when it's not as quote-unquote amazing as it was in the beginning or whatever, they kind of just give up," he explained. "The four of us, none of us have ever been that way. Ironically, it's kind of why you get to a certain point in the first place — you kind of don't give up; you keep on trying to evolve, write music. And that goes with anything. You're going to suck at the start of anything. When you start playing guitar or writing music, it's not gonna be good. But if you just keep working at it and you keep on being honest with yourself and saying, 'Okay, I need to do this. I need to change this. This needs to happen,' you're gonna have so much success, you're gonna reap the benefits of doing all that stuff. And like I said, we know how music goes. There's only a few bands — two or three bands — out of every genre that keep going and really are always successful. So we knew at some point there was gonna be something like that, but we also knew that we were gonna have fans no matter what, and that it didn't really matter what level you're at or whatever. We don't really keep track of that anyway. None of that really mattered to us. We just knew that we wanted to play music, and if people kept coming and people were still into our band, we were not gonna stop. And maybe if people weren't into our band, we probably wouldn't stop."

Last June, Fluckey spoke to Radioactive MikeZ, host of the 96.7 KCAL-FM program "Wired In The Empire", about the departure of the band's previous singer, Ryan Shuck, who joined the group in 2019. Asked what happened to cause the "divorce", Tim said: "I don't know if I would characterize it as a divorce. And Ryan — I'll start by saying we wish Ryan and Amir [Derakh, Ryan's bandmate in JULIEN-K] the best, for sure. It's nothing like that. And there's maybe a kind of a divergence of —and he can say what he wants to say — just kind of things like… We knew from the beginning, let's say, that he was in another band and that he was helping us out, and that we needed somebody in the band, including Amir, to be around. And for people don't know Amir was in ORGY with Ryan and they've been partners for years. And they don't just do music together; it's kind of definitely a package thing. But it just came to a point where, and even in his own words, he knew that it was somehow temporary. We just didn't know how temporary. And so it just came down to our band was heading in one direction as far as how we wanted to do what we're gonna do — like massive amounts of touring, get these new songs out and take advantage of what our band's about. And then his band was doing his thing. And it really was one of those things, we just [went], 'Do we do this now or do we do it six months from now? Do we do it two years from now? And so it was just pretty much, 'We're doing it now.'"

Regarding the progress of the songwriting sessions for ADEMA's long-awaited new album, Tim said: "We've been writing music for years now, and so we have a bunch of music. But also it was logistics of kind of putting it out. As soon as we parted ways with Ryan, we signed a record deal. And so we're on a timeline to do a record and get it done, and like any other record deal, get it out there. And so we've been sitting on a lot of music. And so we kind of focused on the timing of the Ryan thing and we were focused on the tour that we just did. And then now that we're back, we're doing some one-off shows. But most of what we're doing is concentrating on just getting this record done and making sure it's the best thing we can do."

Last May, Tim told the 97.7 QLZ radio station about the musical direction of the new ADEMA material: "I don't know if everybody knows, but everybody in the band is original members. So we really want it to be just an all-in ADEMA record where everybody goes, 'That's ADEMA.' We've strayed a little bit over the years, 'cause we had different members, but I think now that we're back together, it's gonna be back to those days of the real ADEMA sound."

Asked if he will be handling lead vocals on the upcoming ADEMA album, Fluckey said: "On the new one, I will be, yeah. We're done picking singers. We're terrible at it."

In February 2024, ADEMA "abruptly" parted ways with Shuck. A short time later, the remaining members of ADEMA — Fluckey, Dave DeRoo (bass),Kris Kohls (drums) and Mike Ransom (rhythm guitar) — posted a message on social media in which they said: "ADEMA has made the decision to move forward without Ryan Shuck. Our plan is to continue on indefinitely as a four-piece, and we sincerely wish Ryan all the best in the future."

In June 2022, ADEMA released a new song, "Violent Principles". It was the follow-up to ADEMA's first single in nearly a decade, "Ready To Die", which came out in August 2021. Both tracks were planned for inclusion on ADEMA's upcoming album, which was tentatively titled "360 Degrees Of Separation".

Original ADEMA frontman Marky Chavez first
left ADEMA in 2004 due to "creative differences" after two successful albums, "Adema" and "Unstable". The singer — who is the half brother of KORN frontman Jonathan Davis — quit ADEMA again in January 2011 in order to pursue his "solo project." He rejoined the group again six years later and played his first comeback show with ADEMA in May 2017 at the Whisky A Go Go in West Hollywood, California.

After Chavez's original exit from ADEMA, the other members of the band found their way with new lead singers Luke Caraccioli and later Bobby Reeves, while Mark founded MIDNIGHT PANIC with his cousin Peter Shubert. He also produced fellow artists.

ADEMA's last official release was 2013's "Topple The Giants" EP. The group's first CD since 2007's "Kill The Headlights" contained brand new tracks plus re-worked versions of ADEMA's chart-topping hits "Giving In" and "Unstable". A three-song EP, "The Cerberus", was sold exclusively on ADEMA's 2023 "Nu Metal Madness 2" tour.

Photo courtesy of ADEMA

In a new interview with Scott Itter of Dr. Music, acclaimed hard rock vocalist Jeff Scott Soto spoke about the status of the second album from ELLEFSON-SOTO, his collaborative project with ex-MEGADETH bassist David Ellefson. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "The record's in the can.

"The way Erik Martensson, he's the ringleader, the overseer [of Soto's W.E.T. project], David is that with ELLEFSON-SOTO," Jeff explained. "He pulls the songs together, he gets the timing together, he gets the label side, all the industry-side stuff together. I just have to relax and sit back while I'm doing all the million of other things that I'm doing, and I come in and then I dive in and I put my input.

"I love working with David and Andy [Martongelli], who's our guitar player and also co-writer in the band. And I love the fact that they allow me to be me.

"I've proven myself as an artist, producer, writer, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, but there are still times where I'll do something and they'll go, 'Hmm, [it's] not really what I thought you were gonna do. Can you try more of this? Try more of that?' I don't mind that at all, because whatever is good for the song, the best thing for the song, of course. But when it comes to ELLEFSON-SOTO, I'm really, really headstrong on the ideas I come up with, and when I send it to David, [I'm] like, 'Oh, God, I hope he doesn't say, 'Oh, I don't know, man.'' And every time, him and Andy say, 'Home run. You knocked that one out of the park. That's awesome.' And that's what motivates me to wanna do more and to give my all into that, even that situation, because I know if I'm making them happy with what I'm turning in, I know in the end, it's gonna be a cohesive sound and project."

Regarding the songwriting approach on the second ELLEFSON-SOTO album, Jeff said: "It's weird because the first album, when we did it, it wasn't supposed to be an album. I was doing songs with David and Andy. We were just writing songs and recording songs during the pandemic. And it turned into, 'Hey, we're on to something here. We can't give these songs to someone else or just use 'em as catalog music. We have something here.' And that's what made us put that out as an album. This time around, we actually went in to record and write an album. We didn't say, 'Let's just write songs and see where it goes.' We actually went in and said, 'This is the sound. This is what we created on the first album. Now let's expand on it.'"

He added: "It's really, really good. I don't listen to my own stuff that often unless I have to learn songs for a tour or a show, but I actually find myself listening to this record just to listen to it."

As for a possible release date for the new ELLEFSON-SOTO LP, Jeff said: "We're getting together next month to do photo sessions and videos and stuff like that. So I believe it's late May. I'm not exactly sure of the exact timing."

ELLEFSON-SOTO's debut album, "Vacation In The Underworld", was released in October 2022 via Rat Pak Records. The duo was joined by Martongelli on guitar and keyboards and Paulo Caridi on drums. Giada Jade Etro from the Italian power metal band FROZEN CROWN made a guest appearance on the song "The Day Before Tomorrow". Steve Conley and Ken Mary from FLOTSAM AND JETSAM performed on the title track, "Vacation In The Underworld".

"Vacation In The Underworld" was produced by Chris Collier and featured eleven tracks and three bonus recordings.

The official music video for the "Vacation In The Underworld" title track can be seen below. The clip was produced by Jamie Brown at Smokin' Gun.

To officially launch the project, Ellefson and Soto played concerts in September 2022 in Italy where they performed some of the music as well as ran through various catalog highlights, including selections from MEGADETH and Yngwie Malmsteen. They were joined by Martongelli as the musical director, as well as Caridi on drums and Valerio De Rosa on rhythm guitar.

In March 2021 — two months before David was fired from MEGADETH — Ellefson and Soto announced that they had been collaborating on some new material under the moniker ELLEFSON-SOTO. The ELLEFSON-SOTO version of the RIOT classic "Swords & Tequila" was simultaneously released across all digital streaming outlets via Ellefson's Combat Records.

When Ellefson's collaboration with Soto was first announced, David said in a statement: "Jeff and I have been friends for so many years that it's great to finally collaborate on some material together. He has such a distinctive voice and perfect style for some new ideas my guitarist Andy Martongelli and I have been composing. We are excited about the progress of it all and thought this would be a perfect time to give a little sneak preview."

At the time, Jeff added: "As COVID-19 became a big negative around the globe, it actually offered many artists a chance to finally collaborate with one another that might have never happened otherwise… As I have known David for many years, I knew from our other efforts outside of our day jobs that we could come up with some badass jams…and here we are, letting you in on our cool little secret."

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

Former W.A.S.P. guitarist Chris Holmes is perhaps best known for the infamous scene in the 1988 movie "The Decline Of Western Civilization Part II: The Metal Years" in which he was interviewed while floating in a swimming pool, fully clothed and visibly quite intoxicated while his mother sat poolside. The interview stood out in stark contrast to the more light-hearted and humorous interviews conducted by director Penelope Spheeris, which mostly portrayed rockers as good-natured, though often dimwitted or deluded, party animals. During the interview, Holmes smiled drunkenly at the camera, deeming himself "a full-blown alcoholic" and "a piece of crap" despite his band's success, and punctuated his remarks by guzzling from three bottles of vodka. At the end of the interview, Holmes upends a full bottle of Smirnoff over his head as he rolls out of his inflatable chair and into the water.

Asked in a new interview with Dawn Osborne of TotalRock about "The Decline Of Western Civilization Part II: The Metal Years" scene, Holmes said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "To me, the movie is a movie that's — I'm not gonna say 'stupid' movie. She could have got somebody that lived in L.A. that knows deep underneath the rock scene, that knows a lot about it and filmed it way better. She should have asked me where to film it instead of got — she got [the band] LONDON… She could have filmed it a different way and it would have been way better… She could have gotten a lot more scenes like that from other people."

Referencing some of the other musicians who were interviewed for the movie, Chris said: "You've got Lemmy [MOTÖRHEAD] sitting there. He ain't drunk and fucked up. You've got Steven Tyler [AEROSMITH] — he ain't drunk and messed up. You've got Gene Simmons [KISS] walking around — where was he? The porno place — and Paul Stanley [KISS] laying in the bed with the chicks."

When Osborne noted that his interview is the one that she still remembers, while she has no recollection of the others, Chris said: "Well, that's why. Because mine was a funny part. She could have got a bunch more of those if she would have talked to me about where to go and what to do."

After Osbourne opined that Holmes's scene in the movie has "come back in dividends" due to it being a highlight of the film, Chris said: "It probably went to sell W.A.S.P. records, which goes back into somebody's bank account somewhere that I don't know. And about me not getting paid [for my appearance in the movie] — [Spheeris] said she paid me 300 bucks, that she wrote a check to the management… She called me by phone [to appear in the film]. And she can fucking pay me personally. She called me personally [to film the scene], [so] she can pay me personally. Not call me, do a job and pay the management.

"So, fuck you," Chris added. "Penelope, you owe me 300 bucks. I don't care if you paid the management. I don't care. You could have paid them a million dollars. You still owe me 300 dollars. That's what I look at it."

Back in May 2021, Holmes was asked by Full In Bloom if that was "real vodka" he was pouring all over his face in the movie. Holmes responded: "Yeah. If you look at the footage, it burns my eyes. I have seen other interviews where Penelope, she's told somebody it wasn't, and it blows my mind. Why would I pour pool water down my throat? That'll make you barf; it has chlorine in it.

"I'm not the kind of person to really do too much fake," he added. "I'm sure you've probably noticed that by [my] documentary. It's the way my mom raised me."

A few years ago, Spheeris spoke to Goldmine magazine about the Holmes scene in "The Decline Of Western Civilization Part II: The Metal Years". She said: "When I shot Chris Holmes, you know, I thought we didn't get the interview. I remember saying, 'We're going to have to reshoot this.' Because we didn't get anything. The guy's just sitting there screwing off and we didn't get anything. And then I saw Jon and Val [Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris], who are the producers, and I told them, we're going to have to reshoot that interview with Chris Holmes. And they said, 'Well, too bad, because we don't have enough money to reshoot it.' So I tried to cut something together and include it. I would never have imagined it would be the most talked about and kind of most memorable moment of the movie."

Asked what happened in the five or ten minutes after she finished the interview with Holmes, Spheeris said: "I think I was so stunned… You know how when you're in shock and you don't remember what happened? I don't remember! I don't remember him afterwards. Because I was just horrified that I didn't get an interview. I'm sure somebody must've given him a towel and… you know, most of that, [Penelope's daughter] Anna [Fox, who was instrumental in assembling the bevy of extras for the elegant box for the 'The Decline Of Western Civilization' trilogy], when she put the DVD extras together, she pasted together all of the interviews from beginning to end. And so you can see in there the entire progression — or I should say digression — of his interview. And most of that clear liquid was pool water, by the way."

Spheeris offered more details about how the scene was shot during a separate interview with Rolling Stone. She said: "I don't remember if the pool was my idea or Chris's idea, but it was my idea to have his mom come down, 'cause I knew Sandy [Holmes]. She looks like she knows how far she can go with what she says to him. Like, she can't be too critical or he's just gonna go off on her.

"I didn't know he was going to be as drunk as he was. When we finished the interview, I took [cinematographer Jeff] Zimmerman behind a tree and said, 'I don't got this interview. We're gonna have to film him again.' But the great thing about doing documentaries is you just have to let them lead you. It turned out to be the most memorable thing.

"What I liked about the scene is you had all these younger kids talking about how they were gonna make it, but Chris was sort of an example of, 'Okay, I made it. Are you sure you want this?' That's why I liked it just from a filmmaker's standpoint. It counterbalanced all those crazy dreams that those kids had that were not gonna happen. It was a reality check.

"By the way, the first half of the bottle of vodka was real, and after that he was filling it up with pool water."

In a 2014 interview with Metallväktarna, Holmes stated about his appearance in "The Decline Of Western Civilization": "I get a lot [of questions] about that. [People wanna know], 'Was it alcohol? Were you drunk?' Or whatever. Yeah, I was drunk. I'm not known to be a liar. In fact, I was real drunk; I couldn't even talk. So a lot of people ask me, 'How do you feel about that being on TV?' or whatever. The only thing I don't like is where some kid will come up to me and go, 'Man, that's the coolest! I wanna live like that.' And, to me, personally, that's, like, me going down the tubes. And why would somebody wanna live like that?"

STEEL PANTHER singer Michael Starr told The Verge that the Holmes scene in "The Metal Years" "shaped my whole career, to be quite honest with you. At that point, heavy metal was at its peak. It was awesome to be drunk, floating in a pool. You knew you had a disease and you were going to kill yourself eventually, but that was cool back then. People just looked at that and said, 'Wow, this guy knows how to party. Everybody knows how to party.'"

Holmes joined W.A.S.P. in 1982 and remained with the group until 1990. In 1996, Holmes rejoined W.A.S.P. and stayed with the band until 2001. Holmes has not played with W.A.S.P. since.

"The Decline Of Western Civilization" received a deluxe box set release in June 2015 from Shout! Factory. The four-disc set was made available in both Blu-ray and DVD formats, and contains Penelope Spheeris's "The Decline Of Western Civilization" (1980),"The Decline Of Western Civilization Part II: The Metal Years" (1988) and "The Decline Of Western Civilization Part III" (1998),a 40-page book containing an essay written by rock historian Domenic Priore ("Riot On Sunset Strip: Rock 'N' Roll's Last Stand In Hollywood"),rare stills, and bonus features, including extended interviews, a commentary recorded by Dave Grohl in February 2015, and more. This was the first-ever official Blu-ray or DVD release of the films.

GUNS N' ROSES has announced the arrival of Isaac Carpenter, its newest drummer who will hit the road with the band throughout their 2025 European, Asian, and Middle East tour, headlining stadiums and festivals throughout the spring and summer.

Carpenter, born in Washington's Tri-Cities, is an accomplished American drummer and songwriter known for his dynamic contributions to alternative, hard rock, and beyond. He rose to prominence in 1995 by co-founding LOUDERMILK while in high school, only to be signed to Rick Rubin's label American. Carpenter's career spans an impressive roster of acts, including live and studio work with Duff McKagan's LOADED, AWOLNATION, Adam Lambert, the hardcore metal outfit BARBARIANS OF CALIFORNIA, A PERFECT CIRCLE, THE EXIES, OURS and BLACK LAB, in addition to his large session film and TV roster. Carpenter has made a name for himself by uniquely blending versatility and groove with crushing force and technical skill, cementing his reputation as a multifaceted drummer in the industry.

GUNS N' ROSES will launch the "Because What You Want & What You Get Are Two Completely Different Things" tour on May 1 in South Korea. The trek will hit the Middle East and Europe in late spring and early summer, concluding on July 31 in Germany.

Earlier this week, GUNS N' ROSES announced the amicable exit of Frank Ferrer, the longest-serving drummer in the band's storied run.

Frank first joined GUNS N' ROSES during a show in June 2006, helping anchor the rhythm section during subsequent tours, including their recent outings featuring the reunited trio of singer Axl Rose, guitarist Slash and bassist Duff McKagan. Ferrer's last show with the band took place November 5, 2023 in Mexico.

Ferrer laid down drums tracks on five songs on GUNS N' ROSES' most recent studio album, 2008's "Chinese Democracy". He also appeared on the live portion of 2022's "Hard Skool" EP, with former drummer Bryan "Brain" Mantia appearing on the studio tracks and GUNS' ROSES' 2023 singles "Perhaps" and "The General".

During a May 2020 appearance on the "Appetite For Distortion" podcast, Ferrer was asked to name "the most challenging song to play" in GUNS N' ROSES' live set. He responded: "That's a really good question, because there's three eras in GUNS — there's the 'Appetite [For Destruction]' [era] with Steven [Adler], there's the '[Use Your] Illusion' [period] with Matt [Sorum], and then there's the Brain [Bryan Mantia]- Josh Freese 'Chinese Democracy' [era]. And all three eras are really unique. The 'Appetite' songs don't sound like the 'Illusion' songs — they don't have the same feel. So, the toughest part… I mean, in a weird way, it's almost kind of like all of 'em, especially from the Sorum-Adler era. And what I try to do as a groove drummer is try to sit somewhere in between both drummers, so you still have a punk rocky, off-the-rails kind of feel, but then a nice, solid, dependable foundation, like Sorum gives you. So, it's kind of challenging. Now, the 'Chinese Democracy' stuff is more straight ahead. The challenges I have with that is playing it more like Brain played them, even though I was able to add some stuff myself later on, once I joined the band."

He continued: "The toughest part is finding the right groove in between those two eras — the first two eras — I think. And I think especially with Slash [guitar] and Duff [McKagan, bass] in the band now, because it was their era — they wrote that stuff; it's their music — I'm able to find a nice spot where those guys are really comfortable playing the songs, but I'm also comfortable playing from my heart without being cerebral and having to think too much about the parts. So, I would say somewhere in between those two drummers."

Ferrer joined GUNS N' ROSES in 2006 as a temporary fill-in for Mantia. Before he knew it, Ferrer was a permanent member of GN'R, contributing to the "Chinese Democracy" album.

When not touring with GN'R, Ferrer played with a couple of side projects, THE COMPULSIONS and his personal band PISSER.

In 2016, Ferrer spoke to Music Radar about his approach to playing some of GUNS N' ROSES' classic songs. He said: "I really try to keep the spirit of the way the song was played. When we play the 'Appetite…' stuff, I try to have the push and pulls. Steven's [Adler] punk rock bits are great.

"Adler's playing was one of the greatest rock drumming performances in the history of music," he continued. "You can put it in the top ten. His playing on 'Appetite…' is perfect. Then with [Matt] Sorum, it's a little more tight and more reserved kind of playing. I do try to keep that spirit, though.

"I have tremendous respect for the drummers in GUNS N' ROSES. I love Brain [Bryan Mantia] so much. What Brain told me was to try and make the songs my own. I never forget that. Obviously my own personality comes through, especially on some of the funkier stuff. I might give a more New York hip-hop kind of feel to it."