In a brand new interview with TheMorningSun.com, AC/DC singer Brian Johnson spoke about the possibility of the band's current "Rock Or Bust" world tour being the group's last hurrah.

"Y'know, retirement is like anything," Johnson said. "A good footballer, a good ice hockey player, they don't want to retire, but unfortunately, sometimes there's a time when you have to call it quits. So it's an ongoing thing with us; we never say no, and we never say never."

He continued: "The thing about the boys in AC/DC, you've got to remember, is we're constantly surprised and amazed at how we keep the success going. We don't know what we're doing — I mean, we literally don't know what we're doing except what we're doing is we just play 100 percent every night and give it everything we've got. If that's the secret of success, we'll pass it on.

"But we never expect the crowds. We never take anything for granted. How can you? Times change. You've just got to keep doing what you're doing, basically, and just hope they come back for more."

AC/DC's sixteenth studio album, "Rock Or Bust", has sold around 545,000 copies since debuting at No. 3 on the Billboard album chart back in December.

It's the band's first album without founding guitarist Malcolm Young, who is suffering from dementia. He has been replaced by nephew Stevie Young.

AC/DC drummer Phil Rudd was arrested last November at his home in Tauranga on charges of threatening to kill and possession of methamphetamine and cannabis.

Although Rudd played on "Rock Or Bust", he did not appear in photos or videos for the disc.

One-time AC/DC drummer Chris Slade officially joined the band's lineup for its performance on the February 8 Grammy Awards telecast. Slade is also behind the kit for the group's current world tour.

The band's North American tour will wrap on September 28 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles.

Los Angeles, CA’s Elitist have announced their decision to call it a day. The band released the following statement:

“Hey guys, after 5 years of being a band we have decided to close the book on Elitist.

To everyone who supported us over the years, Equal Vision Records, and to all of the former band members who contributed along the way, we thank you dearly. Recording albums and being able to tour with bands we’ve looked up to for years, was more than enough for us.

Keep an eye on the members of the band as we will be undergoing new musical ventures in the future.

We will leave you with with a few re-recorded / re-interpreted instrumentals of “Caves“, “Principles” and a few unused demos and unreleased material….because why not!

Link to the free goods:

Julian, Ben, Chris, Brian“

SLAYER frontman Tom Araya has "set the record straight" with regards to the latest departure of the band's original drummer, Dave Lombardo, explaining that the group "had to move forward" because Dave "was beginning to put us into a bad spot."

Lombardo sat out SLAYER's Australian tour in February/March 2013 due to a contract dispute with the other members of the group. Filling in for him was Jon Dette (TESTAMENT, ANTHRAX). Dave has since been replaced in the band by Paul Bostaph, who was SLAYER's drummer from 1992 until 2001 and recorded four albums with the group.

Lombardo released a statement in February 2013 revealing that he "discovered 90 percent of SLAYER's tour income was being deducted as expenses, including the professional fees paid to management, costing the band millions of dollars and leaving 10 percent or less to split" among the four members of the group. He added: "In my opinion, this is not the way a band's business should operate. I tried rectifying it by letting my bandmates know, and Tom and I hired auditors to figure out what happened, but I was denied access to detailed information and the necessary backup documents. I was told that I would not be paid until I signed a longform contract which gave me no written assurance of how much or on what basis management would deduct commissions, nor did it provide me access to the financial budgets or records for review. It also forbade me to do interviews or make statements having to do with the band, in effect a gagging order."

In a brand new interview with The Skinny, Araya spoke about the circumstances that led to Lombardo's 2013 exit from SLAYER. He said: "I'm just going to set the record straight on that. Going back a long time now, fifteen years nearly, we were looking for somebody to sit in for Paul Bostaph — that's how long ago it started with Dave. Paul decided to move on, but he stuck with us until we could find a replacement. Dave said, 'Yeah, I'll sit in for a tour or two,' and in the process of doing that, we drew up a contract for Dave, because that's what you've got to do — make sure everybody's taken care of, everybody's happy. We came up with a simple agreement that lasted a while, and then we were in the process of trying to make it better for Dave, because after so many years of playing with us, you figure, well, shit — we should redo this, we should figure out how we can make it better for Dave. We came up with a deal and he basically was getting everything he wanted, but it was a three-year term, and three years into that, we still hadn't been able to get him to sign it."

He continued: "We had some obligations that came up and when you're given an ultimatum or put on the spot, you have to do something, so we moved forwards, and Dave got really upset. We went back to him again and told him that if he signed the deal, we could move forwards, but he had other plans, so we made a phone call to him and ended it, because he was beginning to put us into a bad spot. We managed to find somebody to sit in, we went off to play in Australia and Dave went on a rant and told a lopsided story, and we let him talk and do what he does best."

Araya added: "I hate to say anything bad about him, but he did what he did and we had to move forwards. He was beginning to put us in a really bad light, and we didn't want to stop the wheels from turning."

SLAYER's new album, "Repentless", will be released on September 11 via Nuclear Blast.

Legendary guitarist Richie Blackmore has confirmed to Noisey his plans to regroup with members of RAINBOW and DEEP PURPLE for what will probably be four shows next year in Europe.

"I am doing four dates in June, which will be all rock," Blackmore said. "I have the band basically together and it will be [the best of] RAINBOW and DEEP PURPLE. It's just having fun, but it's only four dates in Europe. I don't want to do anymore because I take what I'm doing now [with BLACKMORE'S NIGHT] much more seriously."

Asked why he decided to do the DEEP PURPLE and RAINBOW dates now, Blackmore said: "I turned 70. And arthritis is starting to set in. Jon's [Lord, late DEEP PURPLE keyboardist] not around. So many others aren't around. You start to see your friends pass and just feel it's time to play some of the old songs. Nostalgia is a big reason to do it, but not the only reason."

Blackmore quit rock and roll in 1997 to form a medieval folk band called BLACKMORE'S NIGHT with then-girlfriend and now-wife Candice Night. Since then, BLACKMORE'S NIGHT has released nine studio albums, with a new CD, "All Our Yesterdays", due in September.

Over the past few months, RAINBOW has been the frequent subject of reunion rumors, with singer Joe Lynn Turner — who fronted RAINBOW from 1980 until 1984 and was a member of PURPLE from 1989 until 1992 — repeatedly claiming that Ritchie was "intching" to play rock music and insisting that he was in talks with the guitarist about a renewed collaboration.

German power metallers PRIMAL FEAR have set "Rulebreaker" as the title of their new album, due on January 29, 2016 via Frontiers Music Srl. The CD was recorded at Hansen Studio in Ribe, Denmark with producer (and PRIMAL FEAR bassist) Mat Sinner and engineer Jacob Hansen.

PRIMAL FEAR recently parted ways with Brazilian drummer Aquiles Priester (HANGAR, ANGRA) and replaced him with Francesco Jovino (U.D.O.). In addition, founding PRIMAL FEAR guitarist Tom Naumann — who has been touring with the group for the past two years — has now officially rejoined the band as a full member.

Said PRIMAL FEAR in a statement: "We knew it would be a hard mission for us [to make it work with Aquiles], but we've given it a try, and, unfortunately, to combine our present obligations and our future endeavors, it has become impossible to have a cohesive band together. Due to our schedules and the distance between the continents, we have decided to part ways. From both sides, we do not have any regrets at all and we are very happy that we have tried our best to make it happen. We are all still good friends and we wish all the best for each other in the future."

Guitarist Magnus Karlsson will remain a member of PRIMAL FEAR.

Priester made his live debut with PRIMAL FEAR on December 20, 2014 at the Knock Out Festival in Karlsruhe, Germany.

Priester joined PRIMAL FEAR in September 2014 as the replacement for Randy Black, who left the group a month earlier.

Black joined PRIMAL FEAR in 2003 and played on the band's last six studio albums beginning with 2004's "Devil's Ground".

PRIMAL FEAR's tenth studio album, "Delivering The Black", was released on in January 2014 via Frontiers. The follow-up to 2012's "Unbreakable" landed at position No. 16 on the Top New Artist Albums (Heatseekers) chart, which lists the best-selling albums by new and developing artists, defined as those who have never appeared in the Top 100 of The Billboard 200.

Rick Santorum, the former senator from Pennsylvania, says that he accepts the "endorsement" of MEGADETH leader Dave Mustaine in his bid for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination.

Santorum, who is known for his anti-abortion extremism and his equally extreme views on immigration, has in the past argued that women were ill-suited to combat because of "emotions that are involved," said the NBA was corrupting American culture, and declared that consensual sex between gay people should be illegal.

During an appearance at the Sharpshooters shooting range in Greenville, South Carolina, Santorum was asked by Cinco Sanders if he embraced or denounced Mustaine's "endorsement" of him in the 2016 presidential race. He responded (see video below): "One of the things I learned a long time ago is that anybody that wants to support my campaign is free to do so. I used to say this a long time ago... When I started getting involved in politics, I would ask people why they were voting for me, and after doing that a few times, I stopped, because I realized you really don't wanna know. Sometimes people have the most interesting reasons why they support you. So [what you do now] is say thank you very much and you move on."

Pressed on whether he accepted the MEGADETH mainman's "endorsement," Santorum said: "I accept the endorsement."

In a 2013 interview with Revolver magazine, Mustaine denied having any party affiliation despite having made earlier statements that suggested the contrary. He said: "People think I'm a Republican. I'm not a Republican. I'm just a grownup who loves my kids and loves my country. The point is, why does that make me have any kind of political persuasion?"

He continued: "Somebody said something in an interview the other day: 'So why'd you endorse Mitt Romney?' And I went, 'What did you say?'

"The press said I endorsed Rick Santorum. [But I] never did. [I] talked to Rick on the phone and I said, 'Look, bro, I think it's kind of cool that you left the campaign to take care of your sick daughter.' That's what I said."

Mustaine added: "I don't align myself with any political party, because I'm a musician. If I have something to say, I'll sing about it. I don't talk about it much in the press."

In April 2012, Santorum announced he would end his first quest for the White House after his then-3-year-old daughter, Bella, had fallen sick again and was in the hospital.

Rick Santorum photo courtesy of Twitter.com/RockSantorum

Crown The Empire‘s latest album “The Resistance: Rise Of The Runaways” will be getting a new deluxe edition on October 30th through Rise Records. Four bonus tracks will be featured upon it, witch Vocalist/keyboardist Andrew “Andy Leo” Velasquez sharing:

“For us, the new songs on the deluxe edition of The Resistance are about closure. So much has changed over the last few years, and up until this point, I think we’ve been searching for who we were as artists. “Cross Our Bones“, “Prisoners Of War” and “Machines (re-invented)” are just the surface level of what we feel we’ve uncovered creatively as songwriters and as individuals. As we bring The Resistance to an end, we hope these songs excite you for what is to come.”
A music video for the new song “Prisoners Of War” has been made available below, along with the cover art and track listing. The band are currently out on the road with Hollywood Undead, get those dates here.

Frontiers Music Srl will release the new album from VOODOO HILL, "Waterfall", on October 16 in Europe and North America. The third release from the musical alliance between Italian axeman and producer Dario Mollo and legendary DEEP PURPLE bassist/vocalist Glenn Hughes is the culmination of a 30-plus-year career for Mollo as a musician, songwriter and producer.

The lyric video for the "Waterfall" title track can be seen below.

Mollo's career started in 1981 with the heavy metal band CROSSBONES. He continued to develop his abilities with musical giants like Tony Martin (BLACK SABBATH), Graham Bonnet (RAINBOW, MSG), Don Airey (RAINBOW, OZZY OSBOURNE, DEEP PURPLE) and several others. With the first VOODOO HILL album in 2000, Dario, for the first time, had the chance to have a proper international release, while the follow-up effort, "Wild Seed Of Mother Earth", is probably the heaviest and strongest release ever from Dario. Both albums came out via the Italian label Frontiers, with whom Dario has built a strong relationship during the years. "Waterfall" came about as a result "of the most prolific and creative period I had in my entire career," says Dario. "I wrote and recorded more than 35 song ideas in a very limited amount of time, leveraging from all the experiences I gathered as a guitar player, writer and producer. This creative phase had a further development when Dario Patti (keyboardist, bass player and orchestra arranger) came into the picture. He brought the songs a new palette of sounds and some superb arrangements. I also wanted the songs to sound as fresh as possible, trying my best to preserve the feeling of the overall performances, so I used very old school recording methods, including recording acoustic drums in rooms with natural reverb."

He continues: "It was right in the middle of this creative spring that Serafino of Frontiers called me to see whether I wanted to finally work on a third VOODOO HILL album after all these years. He said Glenn Hughes was available in principle, so the next thing I did was to choose the 11 songs which I thought suited the project the best.

"In comparison to the previous albums, I wanted to have Glenn more involved in the artistic decisions, so I sent him the songs before the final mixes in order to have his advices on the final result. That was a precious process that brought substantial changes. For instance, on 'Last Door', where I literally changed the entire guitar riff to make it work better with the vocal melodies. In the end, the song was basically rewritten and dramatically improved.

"It was a fabulous creative process, which I am truly confident will last more than a bunch of listening sessions and will offer a lot of enjoyment to all those will want to follow VOODOO HILL in this exciting musical venture”. "Waterfall" is a strong and straightforward hard and heavy rock album which is equally split between aggressive and heavy moments and beautiful melodies. "Waterfall" track listing:

01. All That Remains02. The Well03. Rattle Shake Bone04. Underneath And Down Below05. Waterfall06. Karma Go07. Evil Thing08. Eldorado09. White Feather10. Sunflower11. Last Door

In a brand new interview with The Boston Globe, SCORPIONS guitarist Rudolf Schenker spoke about his plans for after the band completes its 50th-anniversary tour. He said: "My brother [guitar hero Michael Schenker] is already very angry at me, because I said to him when we were on the farewell tour, let's make a Schenker Brothers album. I haven't played with my brother for a long time — maybe here and there on a SCORPIONS stage, like in Wacken [at the Wacken Open Air festival], but not in the studio. I think it would be a great thing to do, and there's a lot of people waiting for it."

Asked by RockSverige.se earlier this year if he and Rudolf were in competition with each other when they were younger, Michael said: "Not me. Absolutely not. Maybe he did. I don't know. For me, music is just about expression. If you're focusing on a trend, then you're in a race, and that's different. I guess my brother was focusing more on trends and maybe he studied anything that would keep him within the trend, but I would do the exact opposite. I would do anything to stay away from that and just focus on self-expression. That's the only thing that makes sense to me, and that's the only place I wanted to be in, and it's the only place where I can enjoy myself. There's no pressure and complete freedom. That's the reward in itself right there."

He continued: "We had two completely different visions. My brother had the vision of being in a famous band and my vision was to become a great guitar player. I'm six and a half years younger than my brother, so maybe I was born to help him out. I jumpstarted the SCORPIONS with my songs, then I left for UFO and then I came back to jump start them for America. Then I went on my own and came back in '93 to do a tour with them in England and get the houses full. Whenever he needed me, I was available to help him, but it was not a necessity for me to have. I admire my brother's success and how he made it with so little. He's more like a magician than a musician."

SCORPIONS are celebrating 50 years of rock with the release of their 19th studio album, "Return To Forever" (Sony Music/Legacy Recordings), on September 11. Produced by their two favorite Swedes, Mikael Nord Andersson and Martin Hansen ("Sting In The Tail", "MTV Unplugged"), the 19-song collection will be available in various formats including digital, deluxe CD, and vinyl. The North American configuration boasts three exclusive tracks alongside four bonus tracks previously available only in specific territories. The first single, "We Built This House", was released digitally on July 3, and was made available to fans as an instant-grat for the album preorder, available at Amazon.

Jimmy Kay and Alan Dixon of Canada's The Metal Voice recently spoke to Y&T frontman Dave Meniletti; a couple of excerpts follow:

On Ozzy Osbourne begging Dave Meniketti to join his band after the passing of Randy Rhoads - “We were playing with AC/DC in 1982 and the last show in The UK, Ozzy was waiting for us as we got off stage and he was there with Sharon. And Ozzy got down on his knees in front of me, of course the band members standing only a few feet away, did the up and down thing with the hands in the air, 'please join my band.' It was something to be proud of, but I kindly declined. I got my own fish to fry, but I appreciate the offer.”

On the road map and release date for a new Y&T album - "We need to have time off from the road to spend two or three months straight so we can sit down and concentrate on writing for the next record. That is gonna happen next year. We are going to spend a good period of time off the road and just finish this record and try to get something done by the end of 2016."

Enjoy the complete interview courtesy of YouTube:

 

 

"How The Years Condemn", the new video from British grindcore pioneers NAPALM DEATH, can be seen below. The clip is composed by live footage shot in North America by Doug Brown and enhanced by animation courtesy of Costin Chioreanu of Twilight Media. The song is taken from the band's 15th studio album, "Apex Predator - Easy Meat", which was released on January 27 (one day earlier internationally) via Century Media Records. The CD's striking artwork was created by Danish designer Frode Sylthe (Friktion.com), who has previously worked on the band's "Utilitarian" album as well as with such other acts as AT THE GATES, TOTALT JÄVLA MÖRKER, THE HAUNTED and BURST.

Says NAPALM DEATH singer Mark "Barney" Greenway: "Subject-wise, I think this is one of the more open-ended of the tracks that we have in the sense that everybody has their own ideas toward living a vibrant and fulfilling life. To me, Costin expertly captured some elements that can be detrimental to that and keep us in a bubble: becoming progressively stupefied by television / mass media... leaving unnecessary burdens upon another person sharing life with us... only seeing an altered perspective through the bottom of a bottle or suchlike."

He continues: "Don't misunderstand, this is not an anti-alcohol / intoxicant song — as some might conclude — but more to understand that any form of stimulant that controls us rather us controlling it (from TV to drugs and many things inbetween) really can impair and reduce the quality of life that is possible for our finite time on earth."

Adds NAPALM DEATH bassist Shane Embury: "'How The Years Condemn', I guess, is a term that's used for many reasons. For me, I first heard it from a guy who later became a friend of mine in a hospital bed next to me three years ago, as we passed the time talking about why we had both ended up there! It was at that point and then the following six days afterwards that I said to myself that enough was finally enough! I thought about how lucky I was to be doing what I had always dreamed of doing, and in doing so, the awesome people, friends and loved ones that I had met and who now accompany me on this strange journey called life. To my loved ones I realized I had been selfish and it was time for a change, a realization that we are not invincible nor are we indestructible."

Vocalist Jasen Moreno (DROWNING POOL) and guitarist Billy Grey (FOZZY) have joined forces in a brand new project called CYBERSTAR. The group, whose current lineup is completed by drummer Dusty Winterrowd (ALLELE), is in the process of recording an EP. The first two songs laid down during the sessions are "Eye For An Eye" and "Floods", tentatively due this fall. Show announcements will soon follow.

CYBERSTAR was spawned when Moreno and Grey met while on tour together in Europe and decided to collaborate on some songs.

DROWNING POOL recently inked a worldwide deal with eOne Music. The band is currently in the studio with renowned producer Jason Suecof (AUGUST BURNS RED, DEICIDE, DEATH ANGEL) working on its as-yet-untitled follow-up to 2013's "Resilience" for an early 2016 release.

FOZZY's latest album, "Do You Wanna Start A War", sold around 5,600 copies in the United States in its first week of release to debut at position No. 54 on the Billboard 200 chart. The CD was released on July 22, 2014 via Century Media. Produced by guitarist Rich Ward, the album features 12 tracks, including the debut single, "Lights Go Out".

The first part of GHOST live performance at l'Album de la Semaine was broadcasted yesterday (Monday, September 7) on the French TV channel Canal +.

You can now watch "From The Pinacle To The Pit" below.

More songs will be broadcasted this week as follows:

* Sept. 8 - song #2 with an intro + interview segment @ 6.35 p.m. CET (Paris, France local time)* Sept. 9 - song #3 with an intro + interview segment @ 6.35 p.m. CET (Paris, France local time)* Sept. 10 - song #4 with an intro + interview segment @ 6.35 p.m. CET(Paris, France local time)* Sept. 11 - song #5 with an intro + interview segment @ 6.35 p.m. CET (Paris, France local time)

On Saturday September 19, the full performance (seven songs) will be broadcasted around 11.35 a.m. CET for subscribers only (over 6 million people pay have a Canal + subscription). Then it will be available via the different Canal + replay platforms.

GHOST's third album, "Meliora", has entered The Billboard 200 chart at position No. 8 with first-week sales of just over 29,000 units — nearly all from pure album sales. The set follows the No. 28-peaking "Infestissumam", which was released in 2013 and has sold 66,000 copes in the U.S. to date.

The Billboard 200 chart ranks the most popular albums of the week based on multi-metric consumption, which includes traditional album sales, track equivalent albums (TEA) and streaming equivalent albums (SEA).

"Meliora" was released on August 21 via Loma Vista Recordings. The CD was helmed by Klas Åhlund, a prolific songwriter, producer and guitarist who is also a member of the Swedish rock band TEDDYBEARS, and was mixed by Andy Wallace (SLAYER, NIRVANA, SEPULTURA, LINKIN PARK, GUNS N' ROSES).

Asked if there was a particular direction GHOST was looking to go in on "Meliora", one of the Nameless Ghouls told Guitar World magazine: "Yes. There were a few guidelines we were working off of. The main one was that we felt on 'Infestissumam', there was definitely a shortage of… I don't know what the word is… let's say riffage. Whereas that was not the case on the first one ['Opus Eponymous']. So we wanted to make a record that had more riffs on it, because the guitar took a bit of a backseat on 'Infestissumam'. And the main reason for that was the production. The guitars were just put in the back. If we were to take all the tapes from that album and go into a different studio and remix the whole thing, I'm sure it would sound very different. So this time we wanted to focus on the guitar aspect from the start. Secondly, from a thematic standpoint, we wanted the whole record to have something of a futuristic feel. So there are organs and things like that, but there are also other things that we excluded, because this is not, you know, our medieval record. This is our futuristic, urban-dystopia-metropolis record. So we knew it had to possess a certain sort of flair. Because if you want to make a futuristic record that is sort of '80s-sounding, you would do that by using a lot of chorus everywhere. But that's not what we were trying to do. Or you could make a JUDAS PRIEST or IRON MAIDEN–style record that sounds very futuristic. But that's not what we were trying to do either. Sometimes you have to know what to leave out."

Regarding GHOST's sound, a Nameless Ghoul told Rolling Stone magazine: "We sort of came up with this mixture where we could combine basically all our favorite childhood and adolescent music styles. And we grew up listening to a lot of different music. A lot of Swedish music, and also a lot of '60s and '70s bands — AOR things like KANSAS and YES and CHICAGO and BOSTON. JOURNEY. TOTO. Professional-sounding music. And with all of that we found a way, for us at least, to make sense of having an extreme-metal riff and then throwing a pop melody over it. So that was the initial thing. After that it was, 'Oh, shit! Maybe we could turn it into a horror-rock band, and we could throw in this very childish sort of fascination of horror films! And also ALICE COOPER! And KISS!"

Photo credit: Philippe Mazzoni / Canal+



Album de la semaine du 07/09 - Ghost - From the pinacle to the pit

The chart topping anti-Nazi song "Schrei Nach Liebe" (translated: "Cry For Love") released by veteran German punk band Die Ärzte over 20 years ago is back on the charts in their homeland. According to a report filed by Rick Noack at The Washington Post, the song is being recirculated as a statement of support for the refugees currently fleeing to Germany from war torn Syria, and against right-wing extremists.

The renewed attention to the song originated in an initiative by German music teacher Gerhard Torges, who says he was shocked by how some Germans had stirred hatred against refugees. Using various social media platforms, Torges and his supporters urged Germans to download the song, share it and  call on radio stations to play it more often. On Amazon, Google Play and iTunes, the song achieved the top spot in music downloads within days.

Meanwhile, the band has answered critics who complain that it is benefiting financially from the campaign. "We certainly do not want to make money out of this, and will donate all earnings (generated by the song) to Pro Asyl," the band wrote on its Web site, referring to an organization that is helping refugees. "We wish all Nazis and their sympathizers bad entertainment," the band added.

Go to this location for the complete article.

Thanks: John "Kornburger" Garcia

METALLICA frontman James Hetfield was interviewed by Andy Langer of Time Warner Cable News prior to the band's June 6 performance at the X Games in Austin, Texas. You can watch the chat at this location.

Asked what it feels like to get such a strong reaction from the crowd every time METALLICA performs live, Hetfield 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."

Hetfield also talked about METALLICA's longevity and whether he and his bandmates thought the group would still be around after all this time. He said: "You know, it was all dreams, and dreams… I believe that if you think it can happen, it''ll be happening. The power of attraction… We wanted this to be our calling, we wanted this to be what we were doing in life and contributing, making a living off of, raising our family with. This is where our passion lied, and the fact that we are still here after 33, 34 years, we're totally blessed and extremely grateful for that. But, honestly, when we were just starting out. We just wanted to play that day. If I played that day, I was happy. Whatever happened the next day was a new adventure. We never thought way too far ahead — and even now. We never looked back either, really, but I think the last few albums… The older we get, the more we kind of look back and get inspired from it as well."

METALLICA currently has three dates on its calendar between now and mid-September: two shows in Quebec City, Canada and an appearance at the Rock In Rio festival.

Despite insisting that work has been proceeding on a new CD, METALLICA has spent a lot of time outside the studio in the last year, with activities that included a string of European all-request shows last summer, a week-long residency on "The Late Show With Craig Ferguson" and stints at both the Rock In Rio USA and Lollapalooza festivals.

Rock Meets Classic, the annual European tour featuring classic rock artists backed by a band and full orchestra, have issued the following update:

"Dan McCafferty started this event together with us again in 2010, and now the time has come that one of the most legendary singers in rock history will say 'good-bye' to his fans and audiences in Germany and Switzerland. Be prepared for some of the most emotional moments - Dan McCafferty of Nazareth!"

Rock Meets Classic have announced the dates for their 2016 run. Tickets go on sale September 18th, more shows are expected to be announced soon.

Europe vocalist Joey Tempest, former Kansas frontman Steve Walsh, German metal queen Doro, and Thin Lizzy's Scott Gorham and Ricky Warwick are also confirmed for Rock Meets Classic 2016.

Rock Meets Classic features the Bohemian Symphony Orchestra Prague and The Mat Sinner Band, the latter including Primal Fear members Mat Sinner and Alex Beyrodt (guitars), and also featuring Trillium / Avantasia's Amanda Somerville (backing vocals), Avantasia's Oliver Hartmann (guitars), Voodoo Circle's Jimmy Kresic (keyboards), Sinner's Moritz Müller (drums), Tiffany Kirkland (backing vocals), Kolinda Brozovic (backing vocals) and Sascha Krebs (backing vocals).

This summer Rock Meets Classic performed two special festival shows in Germany at Rock Of Ages and the Wacken Open Air on July 31st and August 1st respectively.

Featured artists for these two exclusive shows included Dee Snider (Twisted Sister), Joe Lynn Turner (Rainbow), Michael Kiske (Unisonic, ex-Helloween), Marc Storace (Krokus) and Jennifer Haben (Beyond The Black).

Check out footage of Kiske performing the Helloween classic "I Want Out" at Wacken Open Air 2015 below:

Watch the official Rock Meets Classic Facebook page here for updates.

Long-running rockers Nazareth have checked-in with the following about vocalist Dan McCafferty:

“There still seems to be some doubt regarding Dan's status in the band, so to set the record straight once and for all: Dan has officially left the band as he can no longer perform live due to the fact that he is suffering from COPD. Dan is now the EX singer of Nazareth, and Linton (Osborne) is the current, permanent vocalist.

Dan sings lead vocals on all the tracks on our forthcoming album Rock 'n' Roll Telephone, and has bowed out in rip roaring, classic Nazareth fashion.

Dan's swansong is sure to please all of you, just as Linton's performances on stage and on future recordings will as well.

We will of course miss Dan enormously but he was the first to insist that the show must go on, and it is, with his full support and blessing.”

Rock ‘N’ Telephone tracklisting:

Disc 1 / LP 1
‘Boom Bang Bang’
‘One Set Of Bones’
‘Back 2B4’
‘Winter Sunlight’
‘Rock ‘N’ Roll Telephone’
‘Punch A Hole In The Sky’
‘Long Long Time’
‘The Right Time’
‘Not Today’
‘Speakeasy’
‘God Of The Mountain’

Disc 2 / LP 2 Bonus tracks
‘Just A Ride’
‘Wanna Feel Good?
‘Big Boy’ (live)
‘Kentucky Fried Blues’ (live)
‘Sunshine’ (live)
‘Expect No Mercy’ (live)
‘God Save The South’ (live)

Baltimore, MD based progressive rock and metal band Odin's Court's has announced a crowd sourcing campaign to release two albums: Deathanity (R3) and Turtles All the Way Down Vol, II. Deathanity (R3) is a “reboot” of the original ProgRock Records album released in 2008, consisting of a remix (original recording), new recording (e.g., vocals), and a re-master. Turtles All The Way Down, Vol. II continues the concept started in 2015’s album by the same name.

Rewards for campaign backers include CDs, digital releases, shirts, signed drum heads, vinyl banners, coasters, picks, an invitation to a listening party, and more. Samples and further details may be found at KickStarter.

Band leader Matt Brookins commented on the decision to revisit Deathanity: “This was an important album to the band – we worked hard independently, and then shopped it to labels. It was picked up by ProgRock Records (2008), and to date remains our best selling and most popular release. While we were, and still are, proud of what we did, there are some factors that made us want to revisit and improve the quality of the album… mainly, the addition of Dimetrius LaFavors (lead vocals), but also my improvements as an engineer and producer. Additionally, the concept of the album is becoming increasingly important in today’s world, so hopefully we will reach even more ears with this re-release. Stylistically, this album is heavy, progressive, and artsy.”

Turtles All the Way Down, Vol. II continues where the last album left off, exploring the concept of infinite regression and individuals’ methods of finding their place and coping in such a vast universe. Brookins comments: “The creation of 2015’s album was therapeutic to me. I was so enthusiastic about the concept, that I ended up writing two albums worth of music and lyrics. While we discussed putting out a double album, our financial situation and time constraints prohibited it at the time. Rather than letting these ‘extra’ songs go unheard, we thought it would be nice to complete them. While some songs didn’t make the final cut, many did – and I wrote some new ones as well. We also have a couple of alternate versions of songs from the 2015 album. Stylistically, this album strikes me as a bit AOR with a hard edge.”

(Photos by Paul Muirhead)

 

 

 

Currently Tobias and producer Sascha Paeth are in the studio to work on the new AVANTASIA album "Ghostlights", out in January 2016. A world tour with many guest stars will kick off in March (tour dates at www.avantasia.net).

Tobias: "Hello from the dark cellar! It's going great. We have recorded a lot of parts of the album, that being said there are many pieces of the puzzle to be put together yet. It's a very exciting stadium of the production. And in addition to the material we already have, there are new ideas floating around every day. I am currently working on some chord progressions of a bridge, and once again I realize how beautiful electrical guitars can be. I mean, of course we all love the sound, but they feel and look great, my Fullerton in particular. Honestly, I don't get paid anything to say this, but: the Duesenberg Fullerton must be one of the classiest instruments ever built! I had to take a photo while playing around. Looks like an oldtimer car, right? Like an old Porsche out of some James Dean movie... Somehow... But it can sound like a beast if you want it to. Guitar porn, I know... Boring stuff to some, but I am a man and men are kids and kids love toys!!

Anyway, the album production is going great, listening to the great stuff we already have - right now it's more of a challenge to choose which songs to take off the album (harsh), there's simply too much material that I love. Dilemma! Смайлик «wink» all my favourite albums of my youth had 8-10 songs and a playing time of 35-40 minutes. WHAT ABOUT YOUR FAVOURITE ALBUM OF ALL TIME? LET ME KNOW! For sure 'Ghostlights' is gonna be a rather loong Avantasia album. I'll keep you posted! -T"

I, The Breather have decided to call it a day and will be embarking on a farewell tour with Chasing Safety & Novelists in November. They issued the below statement on that:

“Friends, family, fans –

We’ve come to the collective decision that it is time to bring I, the Breather’s 6-year career to a close.
After performing on three different continents, participating in major national tours such as Vans Warped Tour and Rockstar Mayhem Festival, and releasing three albums that bring us immense pride, we have accomplished our goals as a band. Truthfully, we never expected to have been able to do a fraction of these things when we started. We all have goals that we are currently pursuing – some of us will continue to carve out our paths in the music industry and some of us have out our focus elsewhere.

We’re happy to announce this farewell run with our friends Chasing Safety & Novelists. We may also have a few other things in the works that we will announce later on. If we’ve brought any value to you, we’d absolutely love to celebrate I, the Breather’s career with you at the upcoming shows. We’ve got some surprises planned for a few of the dates in particular.

Thank you to everyone who has shown us support in any way. We couldn’t have done this without you. You have been just as big of a part of I, the Breather as we have.
Love,

Shawn, Conor, Kyle, Aaron“
‘Farewell To Breather Tour‘:

11/07 Freehold, NJ – Loud Fest (I, The Breather only)
11/08 Clifton Park, NY – Trickshot Billiards
11/09 Ottawa, ON – Maverick’s
11/10 Kingston, ON – Overtime Sports Bar
11/12 Pittsburgh, PA – The Smiling Moose
11/13 Toledo, OH – Frankie’s
11/14 Lacrosse, WI – The Warehouse
11/15 Chicago, IL – Beat Kitchen
11/17 Erie, PA – Basement Transmissions
11/18 Buffalo, NY – Broadway Joe’s
11/19 Worcester, MA – The Palladium
11/20 Frederick, MD – Cafe 611
11/21 Fredericksburg, VA – KC’s Music Alley
11/22 Allentown, PA – Crocodile Rock

One week after announcing the December 3rd release of their first full-length album, Heavy Over The Home, Australian death-metal goliaths Sanzu now drop the first single and video from the ten-track record titled “Those Who Sleep In The East”.

Pre-orders for Heavy Over The Home are now available in various bundles at this location.

Recorded by Sanzu in Perth, Australia, and mixed and mastered by George Lever from G1 Productions in Somerset,UK, the new album Heavy Over The Home follows up this year’s Painless EP.

“Ever since the release of the Painless EP, we have been working around the clock writing, recording and preparing for the album,” commented vocalist Zachary Andrews. “Painless came from a place of spiritual and musical naivety. The title was chosen to almost make fun of ourselves for thinking 'yeah this will be easy, piece of cake, painless!' When in fact, Sanzu almost didn't make it through the production phase and it’s possible we wouldn't still be here today. It wasn’t intentional but Heavy Over the Home is significantly darker in theme and sound. Although we still very much have retained the Sanzu sound, this record feels like a different place entirely. This is a concept we hope to continue with each album if possible, exploring the different realms of music and art within the vessel of this band, without sacrificing what is loved in our sound.”
 
The album artwork for Heavy Over The Home was created by Andrews, who said the following about its concept: “The artwork we chose is the antidote to the harmonic character of the Painless EP. Far more chaotic and violent in nature, the spirit has been disturbed and has taken it upon itself to tamper with the limits of reality. Now a more primal energy is tearing it’s way through matter in the midst of a cosmic tantrum, looking for answers. Finding itself dissatisfied and uncomfortable within any space. It brings unto the world all that which it brings unto itself.”

Heavy Over The Home tracklisting:

“Old Orchard Floor”
“Phenomena”
“Ubiety”
“Tailor”
“Those Who Sleep In The East”
“Heavy Over The Home”
“Arrival”
“The Chill”
“Loss”
“Colorblind”

For further details, visit the official Sanzu Facebook page.