METALLICA played the second show of the 2024 leg of its "M72" tour Sunday night (May 26) at Olympiastadion in Munich, Germany.

In support of METALLICA's latest album, "72 Seasons", the band has been playing two-night, no-repeat shows in each city— first in Europe , then in North America and now back in Europe — as part of the "M72" tour. Each concert sees METALLICA performing on a massive ring-shaped stage, with the Snake Pit in the center, and four drum sets which are equally spaced out around the circular stage so drummer Lars Ulrich can get closer to the audience at various points in the show.

At the second Munich concert, METALLICA opened the show with "Creeping Death" and continued with "Harvester Of Sorrow" and "Hit The Lights". The band also performed classic tracks like "Fight Fire With Fire", "One" and "Enter Sandman", as well as three songs from "72 Seasons": the title track, "If Darkness Had A Son" and "Inamorata", the latter of which had never been played live before.

Prior to launching into "Inamorata", METALLICA frontman James Hetfield told the crowd: "This next song, we have never, ever played live before. And, you know, in our band we don't recognize the word 'mistake', because there are no mistakes' there's just unique moments that happen, all right? That's what we need to tell ourselves. This one is from '72 Seasons'. It's one of my favorites, so I'm gonna like it."

The setlist was as follows:

01. Creeping Death
02. Harvester Of Sorrow
03. Hit The Lights
04. Ride The Lightning
05. 72 Seasons
06. If Darkness Had A Son
07. Welcome Home (Sanitarium)
08. Inamorata (live debut)
09. The Call Of Ktulu
10. No Leaf Clover
11. Wherever I May Roam
12. Moth Into Flame
13. Fight Fire With Fire
14. Breadfan (BUDGIE cover)
15. One
16. Enter Sandman

"Inamorata", which closes the "72 Seasons" album, has the distinction of being the longest METALLICA song to date, with a running time of 11 minutes and 10 seconds.

Hetfield, who wrote the lyrics to "Inamorata", stated about inspiration for the cut in the "72 Seasons" track-by-track breakdown video: "'Inamorata', having a love affair with misery. A long classic song that screamed out to end the album. Really, really cool riffs in it, really great groove. I love the way it rounds this thing out."

In an interview with METALLICA's So What! fan-club magazine, James said about the lyrics for "Inamorata": "That whole song, you know, misery as my mistress, and I'm trying to hide her. I enjoy her at certain times, but I don't want the world to know about her. I don't want to introduce her to the world because it's not okay. So misery as a mistress, it does serve a purpose in my life, but I don't want it to be my life, and I'm tired of it running my life."

METALLICA bassist Robert Trujillo told So What! about the bass breakdown in "Inamorata": "I believe James had a vision of having this sort of SABBATH-y, 'Geezer-esque' moment where the bass is sort of a naked moment, here's this beautiful-yet-dark statement coming from the bass guitar. It feels raw, but at the same time it's got this dark beauty to it. And what I tried to do was really just close my eyes and channel every note. I say to people that that song reminds me of… it's a cross between driving on Pacific Coast Highway in the sun in your convertible, a beautiful warm summer day, ocean to your right or your left, depending on what direction you're going. It has that swagger to it; it's just very cool. Nothing's rushed. It's just a beautiful drive on PCH and the California coast. And when it gets to the breakdown, it's very strong and powerful, this raw, beautiful moment. So maybe the ocean is speaking; that's what I see. I see waves, I see the power of the ocean, the sun, the coastline. And when it gets down to that breakdown, it's just this raw, beautiful moment, and I was closing my eyes, channeling every note. I was trying to be somewhat melodic, but then I was trying to create enough space so that James could slide in there, and we could work together and communicate. It's one of my favorite moments in METALLICA."

He added: "You know, I think about the incredible statements that [late METALLICA bassist] Cliff Burton was able to make with the songs that he was involved with. I feel that [we] obviously had hit a grand slam with 'Inamorata'. It's a cross between a beautiful old film with a really cool painting or something… it resonates 'California.' There's something that's beautiful about it. It has a certain flavor and feel to me."

Hetfield spoke about his mindset going into the 2024 leg of "M72", telling "The Metallica Report":  "What I'm going into is unknown. I know how big the stage is. I know we have breaks here and there. I know what we're walking into. When we first started with this, with the 'M72' stage, in the round in the stadium, from between setting up cones, walking around thinking, 'Oh, this is how big the stage is gonna be.' 'Oh, this is cool.' 'This'll be great.' 'This is too skinny,' and this and that. And then, between that time and then actually seeing it built, where it's kind of too late, 'Oh shit, this thing is so big.' The anxiety level was off the charts at the beginning of the 'M72' tour. Like, how are we gonna cover this stage? And, of course, my ego saying, 'Well, the other guys don't have to sing. They don't have to run over there. They don't have to do all this. And no one knows the woes I have and all the worries.' But as soon as I share them with the other guys, they're, like, 'Yeah, but I got this and I got this.' It's like, 'Oh, okay. Okay. I want mine back. That's okay.' So it's a known. We know what we're up against and we know what shape we need to be in. And it's just fun. Now it's just fun. We broke that stage in. It's well trodden on and it's worked fantastically. And so we just get to step back into it and do what we do best."

Asked if there have been any modifications to the "M72" stage at all since the 2023 shows, Hetfield said: "There have been a few things here and there that have changed — extra microphones, whatever monitors that we need. And that's typical on any stage, though. The lighting tends to show things that you don't see before: 'Yeah, we need to drape that off' or whatever it may be, just things to make it better. Just like anything we do, you wanna improve on it. So that that was the first couple months of the first touring with the 'M72' stage."

Regarding how he prepares for a METALLICA tour, especially when it comes to performing around 32 songs at each stop on the ongoing "M72" trek, Hetfield said: "Obviously, before heading out on tour, sitting there, trying to remember the myriad of pretty awesome songs we have, and then just trusting that once we get together, it's, like, 'Oh, yeah.' It's muscle memory. But, yeah, over the last month, I will say that the normal thing happens where I start to doubt myself. I start to feel insecure that, 'Whoa, we're old. We can't do this,' and blah, blah, blah, all that bullshit that everyone tells themselves before they go into something that they care about and is important. So having the nightmares of, 'I'm the only one who cares about what we're doing here. Where is everybody?' I show up at the gig. Everyone's goofing off or there's 200 people backstage. And where's my stuff? Where's the setlist? What songs are we doing? And then typical things like the guitar neck is made of rubber, and there's only two strings on it. And where's my roadie? And the guitar cord won't let me get to the microphone. You know, silly stuff like that that has to happen, and I don't freak out over it. All you do is you practice and that comes back pretty quickly."

After Munich, METALLICA will continue touring throughout Europe for the first part of summer, with stops in Italy, Spain, Denmark, Norway, France and Poland, among others. Another round of North American dates will begin on August 2 in Foxborough, Massachusetts, with stops in Chicago, Minneapolis, Seattle and Edmonton. METALLICA will close out the 2024 touring season with four shows in Mexico City at the end of September.

According to Billboard, METALLICA's production travels in 87 trucks — 45 for the band and its setup, plus two groups of 21 each for the steel stage and towers. There are 130 people in the band's crew, plus 40 steelworkers, local hires and truck drivers.

METALLICA's manager Cliff Burnstein told Billboard that between 80% and 90% of fans at each concert attend both shows.

The "M72" tour launched in late April 2023 in Amsterdam.

Opening acts include FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH, ICE NINE KILLS, MAMMOTH WVH, PANTERA, ARCHITECTS, GRETA VAN FLEET and VOLBEAT.

A portion of proceeds from the shows go to METALLICA's All Within My Hands foundation, which seeks to assist and enrich the lives of members of the communities who have supported the band and combat food insecurity; provides disaster relief; and bestows scholarships.

Greek guitar virtuoso Gus G., well known in rock and metal circles for his work as Ozzy Osbourne's guitarist and as leader of his own band FIREWIND, joined Glenn Hughes on stage this past Saturday (May 25) at Principal Club Theater in Thessaloniki, Greece to perform the DEEP PURPLE classic "Burn".

On Sunday, Gus took to his social media to share video of his appearance, and he included the following message "2 days ago I got a text from my friend Søren Andersen [Hughes's longtime guitarist]- 'hey Gus, wanna come jam 'Burn' with us in Thessaloniki?'. Umm, YES!

"Many thanks Legend Glenn Hughes for letting me sit in w you and your amazing band last night! Loved every second of it. Incredible show! All the best and hope our paths cross again soon. Much love, G."

Last year, Hughes launched his solo tour under the banner "Glenn Hughes Performs Classic Deep Purple Live – Celebrating The 50th Anniversary Of The Album Burn". During the trek, Glenn is performing DEEP PURPLE's legendary rock album "Burn" and also running through DEEP PURPLE MKIII and MKIV songs.

Hughes spent key years of his career as the beloved bassist and vocalist of DEEP PURPLE, appearing on the classic albums "Burn", "Stormbringer" and "Come Taste The Band".

Glenn's current solo band features Søren Andersen (guitar),Ash Sheehan (drums) and Bob Fridzema (keyboards).

A few weeks ago, Hughes revealed on his social media that he had "finished writing new music" for his upcoming solo album.

The long-awaited follow-up to Hughes's 2016 solo LP "Resonate" will be recorded in June in Copenhagen, Denmark.

Glenn, who recently played a couple of shows with his supergroup BLACK COUNTRY COMMUNION, previously discussed his plans to record a new solo album last October 2023 in an interview with Brazilian music journalist Igor Miranda. At the time, he said: "I am preparing to go in the studio next year, sometime in the summer. I'm preparing the songs in the next couple of months. I have a few ideas, and when I go in the studio, I'll be ready to go."

Asked how "Resonate" has aged for him musically since its release eight years ago, Glenn said: "I love the album. It's one of my favorite albums. I think a lot of people across the world, the rock fans love that album. I was at home writing that album and I went to Copenhagen and I had a really great time making that album. And the next one hopefully will be as strong."

In September 2023, Glenn told the "Iron City Rocks" podcast about where he draws his lyrical inspiration from nowadays: "I don't write about politics. I write about the human condition. I write about how are we feeling, what are we going through, are we going to get through this — you know, acceptance, staying in the present moment. This is the big thing for me. People call it woke, awakening, if you will… For me, it's all about staying present in this moment right now, and I'm writing about that."

"Resonate" was released in November 2016 via Frontiers Music Srl. It featured Glenn's then-live solo band members, Søren Andersen (guitars and co-producer),Pontus Engborg (drums) and Lachy Doley (keyboards),in addition to longtime friend Chad Smith (RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS),who joined them in the studio for the opening and closing numbers.

Hughes, who was inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame in 2016 along with fellow DEEP PURPLE members Ritchie Blackmore, David Coverdale, Jon Lord, Rod Evans, Ian Gillan, Roger Glover and Ian Paice, spent more than three years recording and touring as the frontman of the supergroup THE DEAD DAISIES.

Glenn's BLACK COUNTRY COMMUNION supergroup with guitarist Joe Bonamassa, drummer Jason Bonham (LED ZEPPELIN) and keyboardist Derek Sherinian (DREAM THEATER, ALICE COOPER, BILLY IDOL) will release its fifth album, "V", in June.

“Burrn” w/ Glenn Hughes

2 days ago I got a text from my friend Soren Andersen- “hey Gus, wanna come jam “Burn” with us in Thessaloniki?”. Umm, YES!

Many thanks Legend Glenn Hughes for letting me sit in w you and your amazing band last night! 🤯🤯 loved every second of it. ❤️🙏 Incredible show! all the best and hope our paths cross again soon. Much love, G.

Video credit: CTC Fanzine

Posted by Gus G on Sunday, May 26, 2024

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A post shared by Soren Andersen (@sorenandersenmusic)

Original KISS guitarist Ace Frehley played his song "Cherry Medicine" live for the first time during his concert on Sunday, May 26 at the Mohegan Sun in Uncasville, Connecticut. Fan-filmed video of the performance can be seen below.

Frehley released the official music video for "Cherry Medicine" in February. The clip was directed by Justin H. Reich of Three Thirty-Three Creative and produced by Reich and Steve Seabury.

On "Cherry Medicine", a mean palm-muted chug underlines Ace's pensive vocals where he confesses, "I knew I had to change my ways for sure to keep you by my side." The track showcases another side of Frehley with its saccharine and sweet, soaring hook as he promises, "I love you, cherry medicine. You heal my every need and some." He seals the sentiment with another powerhouse solo.

"Cherry Medicine" is taken from Ace's latest solo album, "10,000 Volts", which was released in February via MNRK Music Group (formerly eOne Music). The LP was produced by Ace and Steve Brown (TRIXTER).

In an interview with "Loudwire Nights", Ace described "Cherry Medicine" as a "fun, easygoing rock and roll song, not too complicated to play. And kids can gravitate towards that, especially kids that have only been playing guitar for a couple of years. The only tricky part about it is capturing my guitar solos."

Ace previously praised "10,000 Volts", telling VRP Rocks: "I'm very happy with the way the record turned out. Now, a lot of times I've recorded records where sometimes you look at three or four songs on the album and you consider them not as good as some of the other ones and you kind of consider them as filler. But I don't think there's any filler on this album. I think every song has merit to it."

He added:  "I think it's one of the best albums I ever did. I mean, I think it's probably as good as my solo album in 1978, which everybody seems to think is my best album to date. But I think this new album is equally as good as my 1978 solo album, and I think there's more than one hit single on the album."

Ace's new all-original album is the follow-up to "Spaceman", which was released in October 2018 via eOne.

KISS bassist/vocalist Gene Simmons co-wrote two tracks on "Spaceman", "Without You I'm Nothing" and "Your Wish Is My Command", the latter of which also features Gene's bass playing.

Frehley recently revealed that his next release will be a third "Origins" volume, covering songs by artists who influenced him. He will once again work with Brown on the project, which is tentatively due in 2025.

In an interview with Billboard, Frehley said that he is at one of the best points of his career. "Y'know, here I am at age 72 and I'm putting out one of the best records I've ever recorded," he said. "The playing is great and the singing is some of the best vocals I've ever done. It really doesn't make any sense, but I'm the kind of guy that’s always broken rules, y'know?"

IT'S ALMOST TIME!! Ace Frehley LIVE at Mohegan Sun Arena May 26, 2024 7:00pm with Slaughter & Aldo Nova. Tickets are...

Posted by Ace Frehley on Wednesday, May 15, 2024

THE OFFSPRING was joined by pop superstar Ed Sheeran on stage during the band's performance on Sunday (May 26) at the at the BottleRock Napa Valley music festival at the Napa Valley Expo in Northern California.

Prior to launching into "Million Miles Away", a song from THE OFFSPRING's 2000 album "Conspiracy Of One", which the group had not played live since 2016, THE OFFSPRING singer Bryan "Dexter" Holland told the crowd: "Ed told us that one of our records was his first CD that he ever bought when he was a kid. That really meant a lot to us, so we thought, 'Wow, we'd love to have you come out to join us on stage.' We're gonna play one of the songs you wanted to play."

Sheeran, who performed on the main JaM Cellars Stage later in the night, then proceeded to join THE OFFSPRING on the guitar, as well as to trade verses with Holland.

"I want to thank Ed Sheeran for playing with us. How cool is that?" THE OFFSPRING guitarist Kevin "Noodles" Wasserman said before the closing song of the the band's concert, "Self Esteem".

Sheeran is a noted rock and heavy metal fan, having recently collaborated with British extreme metallers CRADLE OF FILTH on a song that will reportedly be released for charity.

In July 2021, Sheeran floated the possibility of exploring a more extreme musical path while speaking to The Sun. He said: "I was really into death metal as a kid. I listened to CRADLE OF FILTH and SLIPKNOT and all that stuff. I'm not saying I could ever step into that world. I learnt all those riffs on guitar as a kid. That's something I've never thought about doing — but something I would not be opposed to creating."

Sheeran had previously dabbled in a variety of genres, including rock, dance, rap and reggae.

Sheeran admitted to his love of SLIPKNOT in a 2017 interview with Gist. Speaking about the inspiration for his then-brand new album "Divide", Ed said: "I've had the concept for 'Divide' since 2010. I wanted the whole album to feel a bit schizophrenic. My first sort of music that I got into that wasn't from my parents was rap, metal, punk… I went one day listening to 'lowa' [from] SLIPKNOT and the next day listening to Damien Rice's 'O'. It was quite a switch."

As it turns out, SLIPKNOT singer Corey Taylor is also a Sheeran admirer, as he made clear in a 2017 interview with NME. Speaking about Ed's massive commercial success, Corey said at the time: "I'm stoked for people like Ed Sheeran — that kid worked his ass off, so why shouldn't he get the recognition?"

VIXEN has parted ways with singer Lorraine Lewis.

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

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

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

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

Prior to Lewis's addition to VIXEN, drummer Roxy Petrucci, bassist Share Ross and guitarist Britt Lightning (a.k.a. Brittany Denaro) vowed to "expand upon the VIXEN legacy while remaining true to our musical roots."

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

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

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

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

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Cainites has released "Theotokos", second single taken from the debut album "Revenant" to be released on June 21 by Scarlet Records.


"Theotokos" explores a plea for salvation to the Mother of God, a desperate bid for redemption through divine intervention, symbolized by the vampiric consumption of the sacred, in search of a lost purity.


Cainites is the name of the new melodic death metal duo risen from the ashes of the Italian gothic-doom masters Motus Tenebrae and founded by Andrea Falaschi aka Frater Orion (Deathless Legacy), on vocals, drums and keyboards, and Daniele Ciranna, on guitar and bass.




Through their dark, gloomy melodic death metal – heavily influenced by the British and Scandinavian masters with a creepy Mediterranean twist too – Cainites create their own mystique, portraying the bloody mark they have to carry.


Revenant is a concept album about an old Orthodox priest who became a vampire against his will. A controversial, cruel and yet fascinating character, oscillating between a sense of abandonment by the divine and the manifestation of a faith that is still present, with continuous pleas to God to stop him from his relentless bloodshed – yearning for a redemption that cannot be reached.


Revenant will be released in the following formats:
- jewel case CD
- digital





Tracklisting:


“Darkness Awaits”
“Theotokos”
“Vampire God”
“God’s Wrath”
“We Lost Our Sanctity”
“Forgive Our Sins”
“Cainites”
“Embrace”
“Forsaken”
“Redemption”


"Theotokos":





"Darkness Awaits" video:





Cainites:
Andrea Falaschi (aka Frater Orion) - vocals, drums, keyboards
Daniele Ciranna - guitar, bass


(Photo – Frater Orion)

The IFM RAW YouTube channel has uploaded video of SHADOWS FALL performing the song "The Power Of I And I" on May 9 at the Welcome To Rockville in Daytona Beach, Florida. You can check out the clip below.

The long-running Massachusetts-based metallers, who were at the forefront of the New Wave Of American Metal scene that dominated the '00s, celebrated the 20th anniversary of their "The War Within" album by playing the LP in its entirety on March 16 at the Starland Ballroom in Sayreville, New Jersey, the site of the band's many classic shows. It also marked the first time the band has performed in the Garden State in a decade.

In an interview with the WSOU 89.5 FM radio station, SHADOWS FALL frontman Brian Fair discussed the status of the band's new music, two and a half years after he and his bandmates reunited for a concert at The Palladium in Worcester in their native Massachusetts. The 48-year-old singer, who now lives in St. Louis, Missouri with his wife and their two kids, said: "We're working on new music right now that's — you can tell it's SHADOWS FALL, but, man, it's got new vibes, it's got new influences and it's just kind of a very fresh approach.

"When we first started working on it, we were worried," Brian admitted. "We were, like, 'Is this gonna sound like us?' We hadn't written songs together in five to six years, where it's gonna be. And, man, right out of the gate, we were, like, 'This is the SHADS. We're back.'"

Elaborating on the musical direction of the new SHADOWS FALL material, Fair said: "Honestly, it's gonna be everything that we've always done, plus more. And we're probably about — I'd say we've got six or seven songs that are actually songs. They're still gonna get some some tweaks here and there, with a few other ideas still floating around that need to be worked on. But I don't know what time frame — we're not pushing any sort of deadlines on ourselves 'cause it's been, man, since 2014 since we dropped any new music so we're not in a rush. We wanna get it as perfect as we can, we wanna be as happy with it as we can, and [we're] not having label pressure to finish by a certain time. It's also a new day and age where you can release it in such different ways than we were used to back then, and that's really exciting as well. I don't know if we'll drop some songs here and there and then put it all out together on vinyl at the end. I have no idea about that stuff yet. We'll work all that out, but I'm super excited about these songs. I've also been pushing myself as a singer to really expand my range to try new ideas, and having the time to work through that has been really helpful. 'Cause even when SHADOWS FALL was doing downtime, I was doing different projects and trying to really bring some new elements to what I do, and I'm putting all that into this record. So it'll sound like SHADOWS FALL, but there'll definitely be some some new interesting ideas and approaches and stuff. So it's really exciting."

He added: "For us, it's just been great to be back in the room jamming on new material, 'cause when we got together to do these [reunion] shows, when we're rehearsing, we were, like, 'If we're putting this work in, why not see what happens with new music?' And I couldn't be happier with how it's coming out. So, really exciting."

Last December, Fair told RichardMetalFan about SHADOWS FALL's decision to reunite: "We'd wanted to play shows again for a while and we just wanted the time to be right. And once the pandemic kind of hit, we sort of realized, like, 'Why are we waiting around? It's the time.' So we were lucky that we were able to kind of get everyone's schedules together. And it was incredible. As soon as we started jamming together again, it just felt fun, it felt right. So the shows were a blast. We really rehearsed like crazy for it. And we're probably better prepared for that than anything we'd ever been for before that. And we also realized, like, man, we should have been practicing more when we were together. We used to hate practicing. We always were, like, 'Ah, we tour enough. We don't need to.' And then after we practiced a bunch, we were, like, 'All right. Maybe we really should have.' [Laughs] But then also when we started practicing, we figured if we have ideas, why not write new music as well? If we're gonna get together, let's see what we've got. So that started leading to some new stuff. So [I'm] looking forward to seeing where it heads."

Asked if the next SHADOWS FALL release will be stylistically similar to the band's last album, 2012's "Fire From The Sky", or if it will be "a new beginning" for the band, Brian said: "If you heard these songs, you'd be, like, 'Oh, that's SHADOWS FALL.' But no, it doesn't sound like… It's different. It definitely sounds different."

Fair previously discussed SHADOWS FALL's plans for new music during an episode of "Drinks With Johnny", the Internet TV show hosted by AVENGED SEVENFOLD bassist Johnny Christ. At the time, he said: "We're pretty deep into the process. I'd say I'm kind of a slacker, but I'm really focusing on getting things as good as I can vocally because we have no agenda. We have no time frame. We have no record label pressure. We're just trying to write the best music we can. And it all kind of came about as we started jamming to do the reunion shows. And these guys have — Jon's [Donais, guitar] been playing in ANTHRAX and Jason's [Bittner, drums] been playing in OVERKILL, so their chops are still at top-notch level. But they had riffs, man. And I was, like, 'If we've got riffs and they sound like SHADOWS FALL, if we're gonna get together and jam, let's make some new music.'"

He continued: "It's been a blast, man. It's funny, 'cause the older we've gotten, it's gotten a little more brutal, which was not a surprise, 'cause I just figured that would happen. We're, like, 'If we're gonna do it, we're gonna drop the hammer.' So it's been fun, man. I forgot how much of a riff machine Jon was. And he's just like — ideas are just flying out of him. And also in ANTHRAX, he just gets to solo in the studio. So he's just, like, 'Finally I get to write some riffs.' [Laughs]"

In July 2023, Bittner told the "Nothing Shocking Podcast" about SHADOWS FALL's decision to work with Zeuss again: "[Zeuss] did all of our records except for… Well, he had a hand in all of them except for 'Fire From The Sky'… So he's always been involved with SHADOWS FALL in some way, shape or form. Once this whole reunion thing kind of morphed from being just a one-show thing, we started talking with him, 'cause he still lives two minutes away from Paul [Romanko, bass]. So, it's, like, 'All right. Well, if you guys are getting back together, what's the next step? Are we making another record?' We're, like, 'Well, we don't know.' And he was, like, 'Whatever we're doing, let's get on it.' So kind of, like, we just sort of figured, 'We don't have any money to pay you, because we don't have any money because we don't have a record label or anything.' But he was just, like, 'Well, let's just start doing this and let's do it together.' So that's pretty much where we're at right now. We're just gonna start recording some material that we have and we're gonna keep working at that as the year goes on."

During an appearance on "The Jasta Show" podcast, Fair said that SHADOWS FALL is not currently signed to any record label. "We're free and clear," he explained. "We were luckily free and clear for a while, so even our last couple of records were done kind of on our own terms."

Fair and his SHADOWS FALL bandmates have played a few other reunion concerts, including at Blue Ridge Rock Festival in Alton, Virginia, at the Furnace Fest in Birmingham, Alabama, and at the Milwaukee Metal Fest in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Asked by "The Jasta Show" host Jamey Jasta if SHADOWS FALL would be open to going out on a more extensive tour, possibly as the support act for an arena band, Fair said: "We're not averse to that. It takes a lot of logistics now, with the rest of my guys being in legendary thrash bands, like ANTHRAX and OVERKILL and whatnot. But if we can do it, we would love to. Right now, festivals have been something we can pull off. But I would love to do short tours or even a month-long tour. Or at least some long weekends where we hit each coast or do New England and then Midwest and then a West Coast thing. But we'll see. We're not saying 'no' to anything. We're gonna listen. So we'll see, if things make sense and if we can make it work."

He added: "I've been in dad mode, just working nine to five for a while, so getting back on the pirate ship is pretty enticing at this point."

SHADOWS FALL released a statement in August 2014 in which the bandmembers explained that financial difficulties made it virtually impossible for the group to continue as a full-time concern.

In August 2015, SHADOWS FALL played a few reunion shows on the U.S. East Coast, one year after completing what was being billed at the time as the band's "final" European tour.

"Fire From The Sky" was released in May 2012 via Razor & Tie. The CD sold around 10,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release to debut at position No. 38 on The Billboard 200 chart.

During an appearance on the May 22 episode of SiriusXM's "Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk", BLACK SABBATH guitarist Tony Iommi was asked about Ozzy Osbourne's recent comment that he would like to play one final SABBATH concert with the band's original drummer Bill Ward. Tony said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "It's a funny old thing, really. I mean, God, we'll be 90 by the time we do that. [Laughs] It'd be a nice idea, but you're gonna get everybody going, 'Oh, they're doing it for the money. They're doing it for this, they're doing it for that, they're doing it…' Well, it wouldn't be. I mean, it'd be something that'd be a nice thing to actually do, but whether it happens will be another thing. But we'll see. I mean, who knows?"

Asked if he misses performing live, Tony said: "It's great to see the audience. I love to play live. But I have been playing. You obviously know about the BLACK SABBATH ballet. And it was great for me to go on at the end — I was playing on the end of the show, which was really good to get out and play live again. And then I did a gig with Johnny Depp when he came over [with HOLLYWOOD VAMPIRES]; I played on one of their shows, which was great. It's really good to be able to do that. But, yeah, for me, I've always loved playing live. But I have to look at it realistically at my age. I can't go out and do a two-year tour like we were doing before. And to put something together like the original SABBATH or this or that or the other, you've gotta do it a long time because of the cost of everything. But it would be nice, yes, to do a one-off, if that ever happens, yeah."

On the topic of his health, Iommi — who was diagnosed with lymphoma in early 2012, shortly after SABBATH announced a reunion tour and album — said: "It's up and down at the moment, to be honest. I'm going for a heart check tomorrow. I've been getting these, like, sort of, um… I can't breathe properly and can't get my breath out, so they recommended I go and get this checked tomorrow. But, apart from that, yeah, I've been fine."

Ozzy discussed Ward's absence from SABBATH's final album, "13", during a recent episode of the new Internet TV show "The Madhouse Chronicles". Released in 2013, it was SABBATH's first LP in 35 years to feature Osbourne, Iommi and bassist Geezer Butler. Ozzy said: "I can't remember why Bill didn't do it. I've gotta be truthful. It wasn't really BLACK SABBATH because Bill wasn't there. I mean, if you had Ginger Baker playing with THE BEATLES, it wouldn't be THE BEATLES."

Ozzy also talked about the final show of SABBATH's "The End" tour, which took place in February 2017 in the band's original hometown of Birmingham, England. Asked if he was glad it was done at that moment, Osbourne said: "Yeah, but I was sad that Bill wasn't there. I mean, I mean, Tommy [Clufetos], my drummer [for my solo band], did a great job [stepping in for Bill], but he ain't Bill Ward."

Pressed about whether he is happy with the arc of the legend of BLACK SABBATH, Ozzy said: "No. Because it wasn't BLACK SABBATH that finished it. It's unfinished. If they wanted to do one more gig with Bill, I would jump at the chance. Do you know what would be cool? If we went to a club or something unannounced and we just got up and did it. We started up in a club."

Back in September 2022, Ozzy was asked by Stereogum if he still feels good about where "13" left things with SABBATH. He responded: "Not really, because, to be perfectly honest, I didn't really get a charge from the album. Although [<>'13' producer] Rick Rubin is a good friend of mine, I wasn't really… I was just singing. It was like stepping back in time, but it wasn't a glorious period. Though Geezer did a lot of lyric writing for me, which he's very, very good at. It wasn't an earth-shattering experience for me."

As for whether BLACK SABBATH is "totally done" in his mind, Osbourne: "I would like to say it's completely done. I think it's time. The only thing I really regret, to be honest, is that Bill Ward didn't play on the ['13'] album. It wasn't really a BLACK SABBATH album. I'm not saying that one day we might not all go in a room and come up with the perfect BLACK SABBATH album. But I'll say, ['13'] wasn't recorded the way BLACK SABBATH recorded records. We'd gone right back past the point where we took charge, back to when someone else had full control of our recording. Which we never did from 'Vol. 4' onwards."

Ward in May 2012 announced that he was declining to join his former SABBATH bandmates for its scheduled dates, as well as the recording of the new album, due to a contractual dispute. After SABBATH shot down Rubin's suggestion to replace Ward with Ginger Baker (CREAM) ("I thought, 'Bloody hell?'" Iommi told Rolling Stone magazine. "I just couldn't see that."),Rick suggested RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE drummer Brad Wilk.

In March 2021, Bill admitted to SiriusXM's "Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk" that he no longer had the "chops" and the "ability" to perform with BLACK SABBATH. "I have to be back to 60 years old to be able to do that," he said.

"I would love to do a studio album with SABBATH, with all the original members," he continued. "I'm just saying that — I'm just floating that out there. But I'm not done. So, the other three might be done, and I respect that, but no, I'm not done. I think as long as we all exist [laughs] and we're still breathing in air, I think we have every possibility of making some great music together."

Ozzy told The Pulse Of Radio during SABBATH's last tour that Ward was not in shape to participate. "Bill Ward has got the most physically demanding job of the lot of us, 'cause he's the timekeeper," he said. "I don't think personally he had the chops to pull it off, you know. The saddest thing is that he needed to own up to that, and we could have worked around it, whether we had a drummer on the side with him or something."

It was rumored that SABBATH wanted to bring a second drummer on the road to share duties with Ward, something that Iommi confirmed in 2017 during a question-and-answer session about SABBATH's "Ten Year War" box set.

In a recent interview with Metal Hammer, former THE DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN singer Greg Puciato was asked how he feels about the announcement that the band's original vocalist Dimitri Minakakis will reunite with guitarist Ben Weinman, the group's lone consistent member over the years, along with fellow alumni Liam Wilson (bass) and Billy Rymer (drums),for several shows this year celebrating the 25th anniversary of their groundbreaking 1999 debut album, "Calculating Infinity". He responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "It doesn't bother me at all. When people ask me that, as if I'm gonna be bummed, I'm, like, why would I be bummed? I'm not on the record. To me, if the band was still a band, and some of those guys, obviously [original members Brian] Benoit [rhythm guitar], [Chris] Pennie [drums] and Adam [Doll, bass] aren't [part of the reunion shows], but if, if Dimitri and Ben were, like, 'Hey, we wanna do some 'Calculating Infinity' shows, what am I gonna do? Be, like, 'No!' That doesn't make any sense. I wasn't on the record."

Greg continued: "So, I hope they're wildly successful with it, and I hope that it does a lot of good for them — I hope it makes them feel good personally, those two. 'Cause, obviously, Liam and Billy were not on that record, but the ending of them before I joined, I don't think it was — it wasn't fulfilling. It wasn't a fulfilling closure. It wasn't exactly on everybody's terms involved. So I think them being able to go back and do this and celebrate what is non-arguably a fucking genre-changing milestone record that many bands would not exist if it wasn't for. They should play everywhere. They should come to London, they should go play festivals, they should do everything. Like I said, I'm all for it, man."

Puciato then quipped, "Don't play 'Miss Machine'," referencing THE DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN's second studio album, which marked his first recorded appearance with the band.

THE DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN 2024 tour dates:

June 08 - No Values Festival - Pomona, CA
June 21 - Brooklyn Paramount - Brooklyn, NY
June 22 - Brooklyn Paramount - Brooklyn, NY
June 23 - Brooklyn Paramount - Brooklyn, NY
August 24 - The Salt Shed - Chicago, IL

THE DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN, renowned for their mind-bending musical compositions and legendary high-energy live shows, officially disbanded in 2017 following three unforgettable final performances at Terminal 5 in New York City. After years of unwavering fan support, an incessant barrage of reunion appeals, and numerous reissues, the band will return, honoring the album that initiated their groundbreaking journey. With its distinctive fusion of hardcore punk, progressive metal, and jazz, which left both fans and critics in awe, "Calculating Infinity" not only defined their sound but also revolutionized the game from the outset.

"It's been a long time coming for this opportunity to perform in a project I helped create over 25 years ago," said Minakakis. "Having the chance to celebrate 25 years of 'Calculating Infinity' with my closest friends in life is just a dream turned real. I'm looking forward to seeing all the old faces, as well as all the new ones. THE DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN has always been more than just a band. We were a force of nature. This reunion show is our way of thanking the fans who have stood by us and the album we made in a small basement in NJ all those years ago."

Liam Wilson who shared the stage with Dimitri soon after the release of "Calculating Infinity" and continued to share the stage with Weinman until the band farewell shows in 2017 had this to say: "Amped to go party like it's 1999 again and give this album the birthday party it deserves! These songs are still unfuckwithable and as a musician, it's rad to have the opportunity to get back under the hood of this album and revisit my salad days, this time with more seasoning. Dimitri always had such a menacing presence and venomous voice, it's gonna be killer to rip these songs with him up there with us!"

"Dimitri has remained one of my longest and closest friends," added Weinman. "Even after leaving the band, his support and contributions through his work on our first albums have kept an everlasting spark in my heart for what we did together. I remember the first day we met. He was the new guy in school and I drove by him and gave him the finger. Then I reversed the car and asked him if he wanted to hang out and make a band. I said, you look like a singer dude. " We could have never imagined what an impact that moment would have."

He continued: "While we are all very happy with the resolve of the band in 2017 with Greg, something still feels unsaid as far as the Dimitri era of the band and with so many people talking about the album and after performing a handful of first album performances with SUICIDAL TENDENCIES, it just all made sense. This needed to happen!"

For many fans, the chance to experience the sonic atomic blast of THE DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN performing "Calculating Infinity" live with Minakakis at the helm is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. This reunion show offers fans not only the chance to witness the magic that sparked the band's meteoric rise over the past 25 years, but to experience the album that started it all performed right in front of them.

THE DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN's mastery of their craft is unparalleled. Their live shows are an explosive spectacle of precision and passion. This reunion show promises to be no different. Prepare for an unforgettable night as they revisit the album that defined a genre and marked the beginning of their legendary career.

THE DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN is a globally celebrated American metal powerhouse, recognized for their groundbreaking and uniquely intense contributions to the heavy music scene. "Calculating Infinity" stands as a genre-defining masterpiece, marking a pivotal moment not only for the band but for the entire genre. It landed on countless "Best Of The Year" lists the year it dropped including Best Metal Album of the Year by Revolver magazine. It was later listed among the Top 10 Metal Albums of All Time by Metal Injection. Loudwire has since placed the record third on their list of "25 Best Metalcore Albums Of All-Time" with writer Stephen Hill stating that "the influence of THE DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN is present at every major rock festival in the shape of any forward-thinking, heavy band and even in the current metalcore or tech-metal production line (who have aped elements of their sound in the most piss-weak and desperate way). But the fact that these bands are here at all and able to appeal to a wider audience is in no small part due to the trail blazed by "Calculating Infinity" and its utter contempt for compromise and uniformity." In 2017 Rolling Stone called the LP "one of the greatest metal albums of all time" and despite disbanding that same year, THE DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN's legacy continues to inspire musicians and fans alike.

Photo credit: Jim Louvau

The Troops Of Doom, the Brazilian death metal supergroup led by Jairo "Tormentor" Guedz, former guitarist of the original Sepultura lineup, will release their new studio album, A Mass To The Grotesque, on May 31 via Alma Mater Records, the Portuguese label run by Moonspell singer, Fernando Ribeiro.


Audio snippets for tracks from the new album can be heard in the visualizer below:







“Imagine a death metal world unaltered and pure since the 1990’s, a musical style so dear to the fans, that time, business and trend, could never hurt,“ death metal fan Fernando Ribeiro recommends. “Go back to the glorious time where death metal reigned supreme, thanks to some bands, artists, studios and an untameable will of progressing and delivering extreme music to its finest shape, like occult jewellery, filigree , brutal yet elegant in its overwhelming task of splitting your ears. The new Troops Of Doom album A Mass to the Grotesque, which Alma Mater Records is brutally proud to present, rescues this long forgotten death metal class. They are the flag carriers of the authentic Morrisound sound (the legendary Florida studio where this album was mixed and mastered) and they leave no stones unturned on this one. Brace yourself for the best and most authentic Death Metal album in ages!”


The Troops Of Doom was formed in 2020, during the pandemic, by the original Sepultura guitarist Jairo “Tormentor” Guedz. He recorded the albums Bestial Devastation (1985) and Morbid Visions (1986). Jairo left the band in 1987, making way for Andreas Kisser, who continues with the band to this day. The Troops Of Doom’s lineup also includes other significant figures from the Brazilian metal scene, such as guitarist Marcelo Vasco (Patria, Mysteriis), a globally renowned graphic artist known for his work with bands like Slayer, Dee Snider, Kreator, Machine Head, Soulfly, and many others. The vocalist and bassist Alex Kafer, former live guitarist for Matanza, and drummer Alexandre Oliveira, a former member of the band Tianastácia, complete the lineup.


Acclaimed by specialized media as a supergroup, The Troops Of Doom emerged to revive the classic death metal of the 80s, inspired by Sepultura’s early era with Jairo and other influential bands such as Slayer, Celtic Frost, Kreator, and Possessed. It serves as a time machine for those nostalgic for the golden age of death metal. In just two years since its formation, the band has released three EPs: The Rise of Heresy (2020), The Absence of Light (2021), and Prelude to Blasphemy (2023), along with their debut album, Antichrist Reborn, that was released in 2022 on CD, LP, and Cassette by Alma Mater Records and lauded by both fans and music press alike.


Now, the band is gearing up for the release of their highly anticipated second album, A Mass To The Grotesque, produced by André Moraes, a multi-talented musician known for his work on Sepultura’s Dante XXI and the soundtrack of the film “Lisbela e o Prisioneiro,” at Audio Porto studio in Porto Alegre/RS. The mixing and mastering of the album were done by Jim Morris at the legendary Morrisound Recording in Tampa, Florida, known for producing some of the greatest death metal classics of the 80s and 90s.


"The entire production and recording of the album were done in Brazil, while the mixing and mastering were handled by the great Jim Morris at the legendary Morrisound Recording in Florida. It's a production that completely diverges from today's standard productions. We are very proud of it," Jairo Guedz comments.


"Every aspect of this album was chosen meticulously," Marcelo Vasco adds. "What could be more intense than having the record mixed in the studio where the greatest death metal classics of the '80s and '90s were mixed? Our idea was to take the production of this album to another level. The sound breaths, it’s organic and lo-fi, oldschool as hell. It’s an experience!”


The cover art was painted by the acclaimed artist Dan Seagrave, responsible for numerous classic death metal album covers. Guedz reveals: "The title A Mass To The Grotesque carries the symbolism of a true ode to the ugly, the evil, the feared. It encompasses everything and everyone that doesn't fit into the molds of a so-called 'evolved' society, choosing to live in the shadows. A dark liturgy to the rejected and their followers, who find shelter and comfort in the absence of light and in the supposed dictatorship of the divine word, whatever it may be. The grotesque is resistance, where nothing is sacred!"


"There wouldn't be a more perfect artist to paint the album cover than the master Dan Seagrave, whose distinctive style is deeply rooted in the genre and has created numerous album covers for death metal that have become iconic and, of course, a great inspiration in The Troops of Doom's music. We are huge fans of his work," Vasco admits, "and it is a giant honor to have him as the cover artist of this new album. It's a dream come true."


Available as:


- CD Digipack
- Black LP ltd 300
- Yellow LP ltd 300


Pre-order here.





Tracklisting:


"Solve Et Coagula" - Introduction
"Chapels Of The Unholy"
"Dawn Of Mephisto"
"Denied Divinity"
"The Impostor King"
"Faithless Requiem"
"Psalm 78 - God Of Bizarre"
"Terror Inheritance"
"The Grotesque"
"Blood Upon The Throne"
"Venomous Creed"


"Dawn Of Mephisto" video::





"Chapels Of The Unholy" video:





(Photo - Cissa Flores @cissa_flores)

IRON MAIDEN drummer Nicko McBrain performed reimagined versions of some of the band's classic songs with The Massed Bands of His Majesty's Royal Marines on March 8 at this year's 52nd Mountbatten Festival Of Music (MFM) at the Royal Albert Hall in London, England. Nicko played his kit, named Legacy Of Royals, for the piece "The Maiden Legacy" — a medley of the heavy metal band's most popular tracks: "The Trooper", "Wasted Years" and "Run To The Hills". Professionally filmed video of his appearance can be seen below.

On March 5, during McBrain's rehearsals with the Royal Marines Band Service at HMS Temeraire in Burnaby Road, Nicko told The News about how his involvement with the event came about:  "Well, let's see, 2020, the year that we don't talk about, it was the 50th anniversary of the Mountbatten Festival, and I was in attendance as a guest… And it just came about that … the people that I met there at the event, they said, 'Oh, it'd be nice to…' 'cause it was THE PRODIGY, who did the halftime after the interval. And I was absolutely amazed at it. I thought, 'There's these guys playing PRODIGY. It's brilliant.' So that was where the idea came about. And they said, 'Well, what would you like to do next year?' And I was very honored and humbled, and I immediately agreed."

Asked how the rehearsals had been going up until that point, Nicko said: "Rehearsals have been great. Sunday was a bit of a — how do I say it? Very nervous. Because of my circumstances, my right hand doesn't work very well, so I was very, super nervous about that. We got through the rehearsals really well, and then it was, of course, time to come in yesterday with the full orchestra. And my goodness, the north wind does blow right behind me. It blew me away. The power and the sound of these great musicians and a hundred-piece orchestra jamming MAIDEN was just a joy to behold. I wanted to actually stop and listen to 'em, but I can't do that. It's been wonderful."

Nicko played a special kit made just for these shows, created by The British Drum Company. Stu Warmington, international sales manager for BDC, said: "For this kit, we've put different designs of MAIDEN's mascot Eddie as marines through history on each of the drums, from 1664 right up to the present day, so we've got the Yomper, at the battle of Trafalgar and so on. After the shows it's going to be put up for auction for the Royal Marines Charity."

The Mountbatten Festival Of Music is a major source of fundraising for the Royal Navy and Royal Marines charities and the Young Lives vs Cancer charity and takes the audience on an exhilarating ride through the world of music, often premiering spectacular new arrangements and compositions, unique to this event. When combined with traditional military marches, music from the big screen, superb solo items, all accompanied by spectacular lighting effects, the Mountbatten Festival Of Music has packed out the Royal Albert Hall annually for over 50 years.

Nicko's drumkit is being sold at auction to raise money for the Royal Marines Charity and the Grand Order of Water Rats Charity.

McBrain suffered a ministroke in early 2023 and has been recovering ever since.

When Nicko first went public with his stroke in August, the drummer said in a statement that the episode left him "paralyzed" down one side of his body and "worried" that his career with the band was over.

Four years ago, McBrain was diagnosed with stage 1 laryngeal cancer and opened up about it in a single interview in 2021 but otherwise kept it mostly under wraps. The musician received his cancer diagnosis after undergoing an endoscopy at the Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center, part of the University Of Miami Health System and the Miller School of Medicine. Within a week, McBrain's cancer was surgically removed and he now gets check-ups every few months to make sure the cancer hasn't returned.

Nicko McBrain performs alongside Royal Marines Band (Rehearsals).

Iron Maiden drummer Nicko McBrain performs alongside Royal Marines Band (Rehearsals at HMS Temeraire in Portsmouth).

Video by The News, Portsmouth.

Posted by Eddie The Head Fan Club on Saturday, March 9, 2024

In a recent interview with Brazil's Sonoridades Inc., singer Cristina Scabbia of Italian goth metal veterans LACUNA COIL spoke about the progress of the writing and recording sessions for the band's follow-up to 2019's "Black Anima" album. She said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "I can't really tell you a lot. I can tell you that we are progressing very fast. We are almost, like, 100… We completed, let's say, the demoing. We still have to record the rest of the songs, but we will soon — probably after the tour, after the [May 2024] North American tour. And if everything goes as projected, before the end of the year [it] will be released. And that's already a big news, because we always say, 'We don't know. Maybe.' … I absolutely love the songs. I'm part of the process. But I'm very pleased."

Asked if LACUNA COIL's 2023 single "Never Dawn", for which the band partnered with CMON, the renowned board game publisher behind the popular game "Zombicide", will be on the upcoming album, Cristina said: "I think it will be. I think it will be, 'cause it will make sense. And it also fits with the other songs — it really fits with the other songs. Many heavy songs."

LACUNA COIL has just completed the "Ignite The Fire" U.S. tour with support from NEW YEARS DAY and OCEANS OF SLUMBER.

Last month, LACUNA COIL released another new single, "In The Mean Time", featuring Ash Costello of NEW YEARS DAY. The song's title is a reference to the mean times the world is living in, as well as a reference to the state the band itself is in, between cycles.

When "In The Mean Time" was first made available, LACUNA COIL said in a statement: "'In The Mean Time' is a reflection on how much our society has generally 'lost the plot'. We are living in really mean times filled with unhappy people: lonely, anxious, depressed, destructive. The pressure that crushes from the outside doesn't allow us to see things with the right clarity.

"This song is like group therapy: not a lamentation, but acceptance that once broken, it's hard to put oneself back together again.

"We need to take our minds off all the inescapable toxicity and find that there's so much more to this life… and know that in the meantime, everything cannot be aligned.

"We invited Ash Costello from NEW YEARS DAY to feature on the track and we're thrilled she came on board adding exactly what we needed for this song with her warm voice and charisma."

Costello said: "I am deeply honored to join LACUNA COIL on tour for the first time, to have the incredible opportunity to lend my guest vocals to a new track and appear in the music video. Working alongside the powerhouse vocalist Cristina has been a privilege, and I may be biased in saying that 'In The Mean Time' has quickly become my favorite by LACUNA COIL. Its message about embracing individuality and not conforming deeply resonates with me."

Last July, LACUNA COIL released the official lyric video for "Never Dawn".

LACUNA COIL has spent some of the last couple of years promoting "Comalies XX", the "deconstructed" and "transported" version of the band's third album, "Comalies".

"Comalies XX" was made available on October 14, 2022 via Century Media Records.

LACUNA COIL celebrated the 20th anniversary of "Comalies", by performing it in its entirety at a one-night-only concert on October 15, 2022 at Fabrique in Milano.

"Comalies" was originally released on October 29, 2002 through Century Media Records. The LP, which featured the band's breakthrough single "Heaven's A Lie", has reportedly gone on to sell over 300,000 copies in the United States alone.

Photo credit: Patric Ullaeus

In a new interview with Ronni Hunter of the 99.7 The Blitz radio station, Morgan Lander of the Canadian metal band KITTIE reflected on how her group's initial success in the late 1990s helped pave the way for other young women to play hard rock and heavy metal music in the decades that followed. She said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "At the time, I really don't think that it struck us as something that was as monumental as, looking back now, it seems to be, but I know that people like Lzzy Hale [HALESTORM] have cited KITTIE as an influence. And we actually — I remember we played with HALESTORM very early on. They were very, very young. And it's amazing to see women like that hold power in the industry in that way. And we're all for it. We slugged it out and did it for everyone."

Speaking about the response from women in the audience to KITTIE's recent live performances, including at this past weekend's Sonic Temple festival in Columbus, Ohio, where the interview was conducted, Morgan said: "I can see that others see the power in it. I mean, there's the girls out in the pit holding the girl pit sign today when we were playing, and we were, like, 'This is amazing.'

"Yeah, we hope our music empowers everyone, and women especially, and we're happy — we're happy for it," she added.

KITTIE will release its long- awaited new studio album, "Fire", on June 21 via Sumerian Records.

"Fire" is available to pre-order now with a variety of merch bundles including exclusive vinyl colorways, t-shirts, a cassette tape, a sticker pack, guitar pick pack, laminate and two metal lunch box designs.

Last month, KITTIE announced an exclusive run of North American headline dates. The long-awaited shows will see the band perform in five cities across the U.S. and Canada this July and August, giving fans a very special and rare chance to see the band play a full headline set that will include their recently released singles "We Are Shadows" and "Eyes Wide Open" as well as classic hits and some deep cuts not played live since the band's early days.

Last November, it was revealed that KITTIE was working on a new studio LP with producer Nick Raskulinecz at Nashville's Sienna Studios.

Raskulinecz, who moved to Nashville from Los Angeles around 16 years ago, had previously worked with such acts as RUSH, ALICE IN CHAINS, KORN, RISE AGAINST, HALESTORM, EVANESCENCE, SKID ROW and the DEFTONES.

KITTIE played its first concert in five years in September 2022 at the Blue Ridge Rock Festival at the Virginia International Raceway in Alton, Virginia.

Joining Morgan and Mercedes in KITTIE's current lineup guitarist Tara McLeod and bassist Ivana "Ivy" Vujic.

Prior to Blue Ridge, KITTIE had not performed since its reunion show at London Music Hall in the band's native London, Ontario in 2017, celebrating the group's documentary "Kittie: Origins/Evolutions".

Vujic joined KITTIE in 2008 and appeared on the band's fifth studio CD, 2009's "In The Black". She also wrote and recorded bass for KITTIE's sixth album, 2011's "I've Failed You".

In January 2022, the original lineup of KITTIE — Morgan, Mercedes, Fallon Bowman (guitar) and Tanya Candler (bass) — reunited for an online chat to celebrate the 22nd anniversary of its gold-certified 2000 debut album, "Spit".

Candler left KITTIE after the release of "Spit" in order to finish high school and was replaced by Talena Atfield.

Bowman exited KITTIE in 2001 and started her own industrial/electronic project, AMPHIBIOUS ASSAULT.

After KITTIE completed the touring cycle for "I've Failed You" album, the band entered a long period of inactivity during which Morgan focused on a marketing job for a chain of fitness clubs while Mercedes worked in real estate and more recently at a software company. The group also began work on a career-spanning documentary, "Origins/Evolutions", which finally saw the light of day in 2018 via Lightyear Entertainment in North America.

"I've Failed You" sold 3,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release to debut at position No. 178 on The Billboard 200 chart.

Former MEGADETH bassist David Ellefson has weighed in on the never-ending debate about how the rise of grunge in the early 1990s forced most hard rock bands off the radio and MTV, with album and tour sales plummeting. Asked in a new interview with Greg Prato of Ultimate Guitar how he and his then-bandmates were affected by the downfall of the 1980s heavy metal scene, David said: "I loved grunge music. And I know that was not cool for a heavy metal guy to say that, especially a thrash metal guy. Because a lot of careers were pretty much upended because of Seattle music. And look, MEGADETH, we had to make some transitions. 'Cryptic Writings', in particular, was an album that was designed to reinvent the band at American Active Rock radio. Or we'd just go tour, tour, tour, and, like some of our contemporaries, took us back down to clubs and theaters. Whereas with 'Cryptic Writings', it kept us as an arena rock band. We got to headline radio station events, which were big festivals at that time. So I'm glad we did what we did, because I liked the direction that we went in, as opposed to, 'We're just going to stay true to the old school.' We kept the old school and then did what we did, which was add all the other flavors and layers that our band was capable of doing."

He continued: "So, MEGADETH, along with METALLICA for sure, not only survived it, but we thrived in it. And it still kept us at the top of the charts and the top of the bill, as young bands like CREED, GODSMACK, DISTURBED, and the new generation of nu metal stuff was coming up. Because I think that was as much of it for us. It wasn't just grunge."

"Grunge may have affected MTV, but I think overall as a hard rock, heavy metal genre, the grunge thing didn't affect us as much as you had to be aware of what was coming up behind us. And we saw it because we took KORN on tour with us on the 'Youthanasia' tour in 1995. We saw first-hand on stage that KORN, this was either going to go away tomorrow or it was going to change the world. And it changed the world. Just like when we took ALICE IN CHAINS out, when we took STONE TEMPLE PILOTS out. We took bands out with us in the '90s that were 'tomorrow's music.' We took a chance on those and we probably ushered them into their careers, which I thought was great. Because they weren't really 'heavy metal bands.' They were bands of a different flavor. I think, for us — we were able to see it coming, so we sort of adapted a bit. But we also weren't a band that was a one-trick pony. We weren't really threatened by grunge, to be honest with you."

Upon release in September 1991, NIRVANA's "Smells Like Teen Spirit" wreaked confusion upon the hair metal vanguard, putting an end to an era dominated by glamorous, androgynous and sparkly rock stars who absolutely saturated the radio waves and were almost exclusively what aired on MTV.

In a 2023 interview with Guitar World, MEGADETH leader Dave Mustaine reflected on the band's fifth album, "Countdown To Extinction", which arrived just months after a series of landmark alt-rock releases from NIRVANA, PEARL JAM, SOUNDGARDEN and more effectively transformed the music landscape. He said: "It was our biggest record. That's pretty much the way I measure it. A lot of it was because of the timing; it came out in '92, and '92 was when everything was imploding because of alternative music. You had PEARL JAM, NIRVANA, SOUNDGARDEN, MOTHER LOVE BONE and BLIND MELON fucking things up, and radio gravitated toward that. They thought the yuppies would listen to alternative music while drinking their Stella Artois. [Laughs] The types who don't drink Miller High Life and definitely don't listen to metal. And the advertisers who handled brands like Lexus, BMW and shit like that would advertise on alternative stations, which fucked metal. So, as these metal stations went the way of the great white buffalo, we had to decide, 'Are we going to be alternative? Are we going to change like every other band?' METALLICA cut their hair off, put makeup on and all that stuff, and I got little haircuts during that time, but I never chopped it off. We decided we wouldn't change to fit the trend and would tough it out. Sure, we made some minor changes at the behest of the record label, but that was as far as it went. The fact that 'Countdown' succeeded despite the shifts in popular music showed that the music was more potent than any trend. We didn't sell out like other bands. We didn't change who we were. I think that's the greatest measure of 'Countdown''s importance."

Ellefson was fired from MEGADETH in May 2021, days after sexually tinged messages and explicit video footage involving the bassist were posted on Twitter.

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

Photo credit: Maciej Pieloch

On May 24th, Iron Maiden frontman Bruce Dickinson played a solo show at at O2 Forum Kentish Town in London, England. Fan-filmed video of the entire concert can be viewed below. 


Setlist:
“Accident Of Birth”
“Abduction”
“Laughing In The Hiding Bush”
“Afterglow Of Ragnarok”
“Chemical Wedding”
“Many Doors To Hell”
“Jerusalem”
“Resurrection Men”
“Rain On The Graves”
“Frankenstein” (The Edgar Winter Group cover)
“The Alchemist”
"Tears Of The Dragon"
“Darkside Of Aquarius”


Encore:
“Navigate The Seas Of The Sun”
“Book Of Thel”
“The Tower”







Gearing up for the Brazilian leg of his solo tour for The Mandrake Project, Dickinson spoke with 92.5 Rádio Kiss FM and discussed his current run of live shows.


Dickinson: "We are having so much fun on stage. It's amazing to play with musicians who are less than half my age. So the energy and the enthusiasm is just off the chart. I mean, we've been learning new songs, and we just throw them into the set and go, 'Yep, let's do this one tonight...' whereas a lot of bands, because they have a big show and fireworks and monsters - like Maiden, for example - we don't change the set around every night. But with this project, we do. So, yeah, people who come to Curitiba to see the show, the people the next night in Porto Alegre are gonna get a different show. It's interesting for us, and it keeps us on our toes musically. We look at each other, we play off each other; it's that old-school stuff."





Dickinson's backing band features:


Chris Declerq (guitar)
Philip Naslund (guitar)
Tanya O'Callaghan (bass)
Dave Moreno (drums)
Mistheria (keyboard)


Find Bruce Dickinson's complete tour itinerary, as well as ticket links, here.

Drumeo has shared a new video featuring Dream Theater drummer Mike Portnoy. Check it out below.


Drumeo: "Watch as drumming legend Mike Portnoy attempts the impossible task of learning Tool's 12-minute masterpiece, 'Pneuma'. This song was released on Tool's Fear Inoculum record in 2019 and is known for featuring some of Danny Carey's most complex drumming to date.


How will Mike go about learning this insane drum part? How does he crack the 'code' of the song? Tune in to find out and watch Mike learn one of the most challenging drum parts ever created over the course of a Drumeo session lasting nearly six hours."







During Modern Drummer's Tribute to Alex Van Halen, Live from Ironshore Studios, at the beginning of the year, Portnoy discussed the origins of Alex's famous shuffle groove that appears in several VH songs. Enjoy this clip of Mike playing "I'm The One" from Van Halen's debut album.

Finnish female-fronted rock sensations, Ginger Evil, are thrilled to share their new single and the accompanying lyric video, “Shame Old”, today via Frontiers Music Srl.


Speaking about the track, vocalist Ella Tepponen says: “'Shame Old' is a song about mental health; it’s about coping with the cycle of shame, that can be a destructive and paralyzing pattern to a persons life. How to break free of the fear of abandonment that is after all, so deeply woven into our DNA.”


Tomi Julkunen and Veli Palevaara add: “This song presents the heavier side of album, as the guitar and bass are both tuned to drop D. It has rhythmically interesting arrangement that gives another kind of twist. This song was a load of fun to play in the studio. Will be even more fun to play it in front of huge festival audience!”







Ginger Evil began as Moonshine Inc. in 2005, in a rehearsal room in Helsinki, Finland. After a couple of years of rehearsal and composing, a fruitless search for a singer meant the songs were put on ice. 


Meanwhile, guitarist Tomi Julkunen and bassist Veli Palevaara continued gigging in Finland with The Milestones, including arena shows with Deep Purple and Whitesnake. In the aftermath of their fifth album, those Moonshine Inc. songs from a decade back emerged from hibernation, so the search began again for a vocalist.  


The powerful voice of Ella Tepponen was known to Tomi and Veli from many theatre and music projects, and drummer Toni Mustonen was already familiar to everyone. Jamming together found a shared musical passion, and a group creative process soon flourished. Ginger Evil was born.  


“From Foo Fighters to Fleetwood Mac," is how the band hears their music, with singer Ella bringing a whole new kind of twist to their rock expression. Everything was coming together. Music producer and film director Richard Stanley, known for his work with The Who heard demos of Ginger Evil and was inspired to write lyrics.  


In early 2022 Ginger Evil signed a deal with Deadfall Artist/Band management and a half year later with Frontiers Music Srl. (Def Leppard, Toto, Whitesnake, Journey). For recording the debut album The Way It Burns, Ella brought in Teemu Aalto (Insomnium) as a producer, who also handled the final mixes with final mastering by Grammy-nominated Svante Forsbäck of Chartmakers (Rammstein, Volbeat, Sunrise Avenue, Apocalyptica).  


Lineup:


Ella Tepponen - vocals
Tomi Julkunen - guitars
Veli Palevaara - bass
Toni Mustonen - drums

On May 17th, Arjen Lucassen released Ayreon's 01011001 - Live Beneath The Waves DVD / Blu-Ray and Lucassen & Soeterboek's Plan Nine album, The Long-Lost Songs. He has checked in with the following message to the fans:


"Yessss, we did it again! Both Ayreon Live and Plan Nine entered the Dutch album charts at #2 and #3 respectively! Okay, defeated by Billie Eilish, but hey, at least we left Taylor Swift behind us. As always this is all because of YOU, thanks so much for your endless support!"







Lucassen recently checked in with the following:


"And here's the final preview video from the last Ayreon Live beneath The Waves DVD/BluRay: 'Fate of Man'. Maybe it's weird to not pick a song from the 01011001 album, but this song really stood out for me... such energy on stage! The band is just amazing as we all know, I'll never know how they manage to play this complicated song with such unflappable ease. And what about these breath-taking vocals from Brittney Slayes? She's unbelievable, right? Let me know if you agree... thanks and enjoy!"





01011001 - Live Beneath The Waves formats:


- Artbook (Webshop only) - 2CD+2DVD + Bluray incl. Behind The Scenes (BTS)
- 3LP - Green vinyl
- 2CD+DVD: Full show on 2CD and DVD
- Blu-ray: Full show + BTS


"The Sixth Extinction" video:





May 17 also saw the release of Lucassen & Soeterboek's Plan Nine album, The Long-Lost Songs, via Music Theories Recordings / Mascot Label Group.


Arjen Lucassen has issued the following update: "Howdy y’all! I’m proud to present you the second Plan Nine videoclip and single, 'Ice On Fire'. It was very hard to pick a second single, because we love them all! And they are all so different from each other. So we had the label pick this one. As you can hear his track is quite different from the first bluesy song 'Before The Morning Comes'. I think you’ll agree that this track sounds quite 80’s. Which is no surprise…  because we wrote it about 35 years ago! The clip is illustrated by Elan Lopez and edited by Dionne Mokkenstorm at Mascot Label Group. We hope you will enjoy all the silliness, have a real good time and let us know what you think!"





It was the early nineties, and musical polymath Arjen Lucassen had begun working on several projects: a solo album, a progressive-rock opera and a rock album. Around this time, he watched singer Robert Soeterboek perform live with Bodine, his former early-eighties heavy metal band. "His vocals truly impressed me, a rarity!" Lucassen recalls. "He had the charisma and power of singers like David Coverdale and Robert Plant. Discovering that we really got along personally, we decided to collaborate on some songs, just for fun."


"We started writing songs together and found a natural flow, leading to a wealth of ideas," remembers Soeterboek. "Our friendship grew as we spent more time together, and I remember that there were lots of shenanigans and laughter."


Fast forward to 2022, and they revisited those recordings. The album encapsulates a glorious treasure trove of 11 original songs with a loving 70s and 80s nod. It's a blistering romp through the good time rolling rocker of "Let It Ride", the Beatles-esque "Doctor Robert's Medicine Show," the bluesy groove of "Annie Moore," the chugging glam stomp of "High-Speed Chase" to the 80s metal of "Ice On Fire”, whilst "The Preacher" would fit on a number of Arjen's back catalogue records. The bonus disc features all the demos and some more newly recorded tracks.


The Long-Lost Songs are lost no more. Plan Nine is reborn, giving the long-lost songs a second life!


Order the album here.





Tracklisting:


Disc 1:
"Doctor Robert's Medicine Show"
"The Preacher"
"Annie Moore"
"Get Down To Bizniz"
"Before The Morning Comes"
"High Speed Chase"
"Let It Ride"
"Ice On Fire"
"Long Cold Night"
"Drunker Than Whiskey"
"Die With Your Shades On"


Disc 2:
"Stand Tall
"Gimme The Nighttime"
"Annie Moore" - Demo
"Get Down To Bizniz" - Demo
"High Speed Chase" - Demo
"Gimme The Nighttime" - Demo
"Magic Moments" - Demo
"Let It Ride" - Home Demo
"My Baby Loves Me" - Home Demo
"Stand Tall" - Home Demo
"Night On Fire" - Home Demo
"Life Goes On" - Home Demo
"Doctor Robert's Medicine Show" - Instrumental Demo
"Get Down To Bizniz" - Home Demo
"Magic Moments" - Home Demo
"Drunker Than Whiskey" - Instrumental Demo
"Long Cold Night" - Instrumental Demo
"Die With Your Shades On" - Instrumental Demo 1
"Die With Your Shades On" - Instrumental Demo 2
"Unnamed 1" - Instrumental Demo
"Unnamed 2" - Instrumental Demo


"Before The Morning Comes" video:

Ignescent are thrilled to share their new single and lyric video, “Goodbye”, coinciding with the announcement of the deluxe edition of their debut album, Fight In Me, available digitally on July 26 via Frontiers Music Srl. Listen to the single here, and watch the lyric video below.


About the track, Jennifer Benson says: "Stoked to release our new song. It was awesome working with Jasen Moreno formerly of Drowning Pool, Lethal City, and Billy Grey of Fozzy. Paul Lapinski at My Platinum Sound, who has worked with Columbia Records, Warner Brothers, and bands like The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus, produced 'Goodbye'. So grateful they were all a part of this."







Ignescent is a dynamic new hard rock band hailing from Chicago. Fight In Me, originally released on November 10, 2023, includes songs co-written with Sameer of Flyleaf, along with Jeremy Valentyne and Brandon Wolfe of New Years Day among others. The band is fronted by the multi-talented singer Jennifer Benson and have released several singles and an EP in the past few years showcasing their contemporary metal sound, akin to Flyleaf, Evanescence, Jinjer and Skillet.


Since 2018, the band has been primarily touring throughout the Midwest and Nashville area. Ignescent’s last single, “Remnant” hit #46 on Billboard Rock Charts, while Ignescent’s first EP, Electrified, was produced by 4-time Dove Award winning & Grammy Nominated producer Travis Wyrick (10 Years, P.O.D.). The first song on the CD, “Calling Out to You”, was co-written with former lead guitarist of Skillet, Ben Kasica, and hit the top 30 on Billboard Rock Charts.





Tracklisting:


"Monster You Made"
"Unholy"
"Fight In Me"
"You're Not Alone"
"Under Attack"
"Triple Threat"
"Shadows"
"Carries Me"
"The Hurt"
"Woman On Fire"
"Not Today" (Featuring Kevin Young Of Disciple)
"Goodbye"
"Radio Gaga"


"Monster You Made" video:





Lineup:


Jennifer Benson – lead vocals
Tyler Hensley - guitars
Joel Seidlitz – bass guitar
Dusty Winterrowd - drums


 

Switzerland's King Zebra have released a video for "Wicked", the new single from their recently released new album, Between The Shadows. Order the album here, and watch the clip below:





King Zebra burst into the music scene with their 2019 EP, a sonic voyage marked by the standout track "Firewalker," amassing over 2 million streams and firmly establishing the band in the hearts of rock enthusiasts globally. Their presence soared as they graced renowned festivals like Rock the Ring and Rock of Ages, sharing stages with iconic acts such as Lynyrd Skynyrd, Uriah Heep, and Rose Tattoo.




In 2020, King Zebra embarked on a transformative journey to Crehate Studios in Gothenburg, Sweden, to craft their sophomore album, Survivors, under the skilled guidance of producer Oscar Nilsson. The collaboration with ex-Thundermother singer Guernica Mancini on "Wall Of Confusion" elevated their sound, resonating with fans and critics alike. The album found a home with Golden Robot Records, paving the way for extensive touring throughout Europe, sharing stages with notable acts like Crash Diet.


Now, signed to Frontiers Records, King Zebra have delivered their next sonic masterpiece, Between The Shadows, meticulously produced once again by Oscar Nilsson. This is a musical journey three years in the making.





Tracklisting:


"Starlight"
"Children Of The Night"
"Wicked"
"Dina"
"Love Lies"
"Cyanide"
"With You Forever"
"Love Me Tonight"
"Out In The Wild"
"Restless Revolution"


"Love Lies" visualizer:





"Children Of The Night" video:





"Dina" video:

In a new interview with Oran O'Beirne of Fistful Of Metal magazine, SLAYER guitarist Kerry King, who is promoting his debut solo album, "From Hell I Rise", talked about what it's like to be in the spotlight and deal with the media, particularly as it relates to answering some tough questions about the legendary thrash metal act. He said: "I was pretty much groomed during my time in SLAYER to take on all of the interviews because I can handle it, and I don't say stupid shit that people have to decipher and continue to ask more questions about. I'm used to dealing with the press, and I know when a journalist tries to put words in my mouth. I'm not gonna say who, but I'm just here to talk about the music, to celebrate the album and the live shows. At this point in my life, I know when people are looking for dirt, and I just reroute them every time. Since I'm decent at doing that, I'm just so used to it at this stage, and I know how to deal with it."

"From Hell I Rise" was released on May 17 via Reigning Phoenix Music.

Joining Kerry in his new band are Mark Osegueda (vocals; DEATH ANGEL),Phil Demmel (guitar; MACHINE HEAD, VIO-LENCE),Kyle Sanders (bass; HELLYEAH) and drummer Paul Bostaph (SLAYER, TESTAMENT, EXODUS).

Earlier this month, the KERRY KING band performed its first live show, totally sold out, at Reggies in Chicago. In the days that followed, the band went from playing an intimate venue to performing at the huge U.S. festivals Welcome To Rockville (Florida) and Sonic Temple (Ohio).

Now the KERRY KING band is ready to embark on a European tour that will start on June 3 — on King's 60th birthday. The trek will combine headline shows in the U.K., The Netherlands, Germany, Italy and Spain but also festival appearances such as Rock Am Ring, Hellfest, Tuska, Download, Sweden Rock Festival and many more.

All material for "From Hell I Rise" was written by the 59-year-old SLAYER guitarist. Helming the sessions at Henson Recording Studios in Los Angeles last year was producer Josh Wilbur, who has previously worked with KORN, LAMB OF GOD, AVENGED SEVENFOLD and BAD RELIGION, among others.

KERRY KING will be special guest on the upcoming LAMB OF GOD/MASTODON North American "Ashes Of Leviathan" co-headline tour. The six-week run will launch on July 19 in Grand Prairie, Texas and will wrap on August 31 in Omaha, Nebraska.

Photo credit: Andrew Stuart

THE AXEMAN COMETH.
Kerry King Music features in a massive 8-page feature in our new issue! And the Slayer legend has a lot to say... Out now!
https://fistfulofmetal.co.uk

Posted by Fistful Of Metal Mag on Wednesday, May 22, 2024

Legendary hard rockers AC/DC played the third show of their "Power Up" European tour Saturday night (May 25) at RCF Arena in Reggio Emilia, Italy. Fan-filmed video of the concert can be seen below.

According to Setlist.fm, AC/DC's set in Reggio Emilia consisted of 21 songs — three tracks less than was the case at Veltins-Arena in Gelsenkirchen, Germany on May 17 and May 21 — beginning with "If You Want Blood (You've Got It)" and closing with "For Those About to Rock (We Salute You)". "Givin The Dog A Bone", "Dog Eat Dog" and "Hell Ain't A Bad Place To Be" were reportedly on the printed setlist for the Reggio Emilia concert but were not played.

The Reggio Emilia and Gelsenkirchen shows marked AC/DC's first with the band's new touring lineup consisting of singer Brian Johnson, guitarists Angus and Stevie Young, drummer Matt Laug and the latest addition to the group's touring lineup, bassist Chris Chaney.

The setlist for the May 25 show at RCF Arena was as follows, according to Setlist.fm:

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

Encore:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

⚡ AC/DC - PWRUP TOUR Set list REGGIO EMILIA, ITALY - RFC ARENA 25 May 2024

#acdc #PWRUP #pwruptour #reggioemilia #italy #acdcfamily

Posted by The AC/DC Family! on Sunday, May 26, 2024

METALLICA kicked off the 2024 leg of its "M72" tour Friday night (May 24) at Olympiastadion in Munich, Germany.

In support of METALLICA's latest album, "72 Seasons", the band has been playing two-night, no-repeat shows in each city— first in Europe , then in North America and now back in Europe — as part of the "M72" tour. Each concert sees METALLICA performing on a massive ring-shaped stage, with the Snake Pit in the center, and four drum sets which are equally spaced out around the circular stage so drummer Lars Ulrich can get closer to the audience at various points in the show.

In Munich, METALLICA opened the show with "Whiplash" and continued with "For Whom the Bell Tolls" and "Of Wolf And Man". The band also performed classic tracks like "The Memory Remains", "Fade To Black", "Nothing Else Matters" and "Master Of Puppets", as well as three songs from "72 Seasons": "Lux Æterna", "Too Far Gone?" and "Shadows Follow".

The setlist was as follows:

01. Whiplash
02. For Whom The Bell Tolls
03. Of Wolf And Man
04. The Memory Remains
05. Lux Æterna
06. Too Far Gone?
07. Fade To Black
08. Shadows Follow
09. Orion
10. Nothing Else Matters
11. Sad But True
12. The Day That Never Comes
13. Hardwired
14. Fuel
15. Seek & Destroy
16. Master Of Puppets

METALLICA frontman James Hetfield spoke about his mindset going into the 2024 leg of "M72", telling "The Metallica Report":  "What I'm going into is unknown. I know how big the stage is. I know we have breaks here and there. I know what we're walking into. When we first started with this, with the 'M72' stage, in the round in the stadium, from between setting up cones, walking around thinking, 'Oh, this is how big the stage is gonna be.' 'Oh, this is cool.' 'This'll be great.' 'This is too skinny,' and this and that. And then, between that time and then actually seeing it built, where it's kind of too late, 'Oh shit, this thing is so big.' The anxiety level was off the charts at the beginning of the 'M72' tour. Like, how are we gonna cover this stage? And, of course, my ego saying, 'Well, the other guys don't have to sing. They don't have to run over there. They don't have to do all this. And no one knows the woes I have and all the worries.' But as soon as I share them with the other guys, they're, like, 'Yeah, but I got this and I got this.' It's like, 'Oh, okay. Okay. I want mine back. That's okay.' So it's a known. We know what we're up against and we know what shape we need to be in. And it's just fun. Now it's just fun. We broke that stage in. It's well trodden on and it's worked fantastically. And so we just get to step back into it and do what we do best."

Asked if there have been any modifications to the "M72" stage at all since the 2023 shows, Hetfield said: "There have been a few things here and there that have changed — extra microphones, whatever monitors that we need. And that's typical on any stage, though. The lighting tends to show things that you don't see before: 'Yeah, we need to drape that off' or whatever it may be, just things to make it better. Just like anything we do, you wanna improve on it. So that that was the first couple months of the first touring with the 'M72' stage."

Regarding how he prepares for a METALLICA tour, especially when it comes to performing around 32 songs at each stop on the ongoing "M72" trek, Hetfield said: "Obviously, before heading out on tour, sitting there, trying to remember the myriad of pretty awesome songs we have, and then just trusting that once we get together, it's, like, 'Oh, yeah.' It's muscle memory. But, yeah, over the last month, I will say that the normal thing happens where I start to doubt myself. I start to feel insecure that, 'Whoa, we're old. We can't do this,' and blah, blah, blah, all that bullshit that everyone tells themselves before they go into something that they care about and is important. So having the nightmares of, 'I'm the only one who cares about what we're doing here. Where is everybody?' I show up at the gig. Everyone's goofing off or there's 200 people backstage. And where's my stuff? Where's the setlist? What songs are we doing? And then typical things like the guitar neck is made of rubber, and there's only two strings on it. And where's my roadie? And the guitar cord won't let me get to the microphone. You know, silly stuff like that that has to happen, and I don't freak out over it. All you do is you practice and that comes back pretty quickly."

After Munich, METALLICA will continue touring throughout Europe for the first part of summer, with stops in Italy, Spain, Denmark, Norway, France and Poland, among others. Another round of North American dates will begin on August 2 in Foxborough, Massachusetts, with stops in Chicago, Minneapolis, Seattle and Edmonton. METALLICA will close out the 2024 touring season with four shows in Mexico City at the end of September.

According to Billboard, METALLICA's production travels in 87 trucks — 45 for the band and its setup, plus two groups of 21 each for the steel stage and towers. There are 130 people in the band's crew, plus 40 steelworkers, local hires and truck drivers.

METALLICA's manager Cliff Burnstein told Billboard that between 80% and 90% of fans at each concert attend both shows.

The "M72" tour launched in late April 2023 in Amsterdam.

Opening acts include FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH, ICE NINE KILLS, MAMMOTH WVH, PANTERA, ARCHITECTS, GRETA VAN FLEET and VOLBEAT.

A portion of proceeds from the shows go to METALLICA's All Within My Hands foundation, which seeks to assist and enrich the lives of members of the communities who have supported the band and combat food insecurity; provides disaster relief; and bestows scholarships.

@metallica The #M72 World Tour returns!!!

Night 1 of our #NoRepeatWeekend in Munich has finished! We’ll be back on Sunday with a completely different setlist.

#Metallica
#M72Munich
#MetOnTour
#DunlopPicks

Posted by AND HAWAII FOR ALL on Friday, May 24, 2024

IRON BUTTERFLY founding member, organist, primary composer and lead vocalist Doug Ingle has died at the age of 78.

The news of his passing was shared by his son, Doug Ingle Jr., who wrote on social media: "It's with a heavy heart & great sadness to announce the passing of my Father Doug Ingle. Dad passed away peacefully [Friday] evening [May 24] in the presence of family.

"Thank You Dad for being a father, teacher and friend. Cherished loving memories I will carry the rest of my days moving forward in this journey of life. Love you Dad".

Ingle was the last surviving original member of IRON BUTTERFLY, the American psychedelic rock band best known for the 1968 hit "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida".

In July of 1968, IRON BUTTERFLY released its debut LP, "Heavy", and went on the road with the likes of THE DOORS, CREAM and THE WHO, while the album stayed on the Billboard chart for nearly a year. Their second release in July 1968 was the monumental "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida". The 17-minute title track helped the album sell more than 30 million copies, and a three-minute version of the song became a Top 40 hit.

"In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida" was famously covered by SLAYER on the "Less Than Zero" soundtrack.

Back in 2012, guitarist Larry "Rhino" Reinhardt, who was in IRON BUTTERFLY during the 1970s and 1980s, died. Later that year, Lee Dorman, who played bass on their seminal records, also passed away.

Longtime IRON BUTTERFLY drummer Ron Bushy died in August 2021 at the age of 79. The only member of IRON BUTTERFLY to appear on all six of the band's albums, he passed away after a battle with esophageal cancer.

In Memory Of Doug Ingle 🦋 "I Love You"
This song was recorded in 1979 at Smoketree Ranch Studios, (Chatsworth CA). Doug...

Posted by Iron Butterfly Studio on Saturday, May 25, 2024

Sharing the sad news passed onto to me from my friend Doug Ingle Jrabout the passing of his father. Doug Ingle last...

Posted by Larry Lawres on Saturday, May 25, 2024

RIP Doug Ingle of Iron Butterfly. The original In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida classic of 1968. This is the year our Mom met...

Posted by Denise Christine Pelchat Stone on Saturday, May 25, 2024

I am reminiscing about the days when Daddy Ron Bushy and Mom Connie would take my brother, Dennis, and I to Doug Ingle...

Posted by Denise Christine Pelchat Stone on Saturday, May 25, 2024

On a recent episode of the "Talk Louder" podcast, hosted by veteran music journalist "Metal Dave" Glessner and lifelong hard rock/metal vocalist Jason McMaster (DANGEROUS TOYS),ACCEPT guitarist Wolf Hoffmann talked about his early interest in the Flying V guitars. Asked if he is partial to Flying Vs because of their playability or looks, or both, Wolf said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "It's definitely looks, because especially during the 'Restless And Wild' time, we kind of worked on our image and the stage show and all that.

"First of all, in those days, Flying Vs were kind of unusual," he explained. "Everybody had a Strat and everybody had a Les Paul, but Flying Vs were kind of rare, to be honest. And I think WISHBONE ASH was an influence on that, because they played twin harmonies, they played Flying Vs, and we thought, 'Oh, if we get that element in ACCEPT, that might set us…' Anything that would set us apart slightly was kind of a thing.

"We were filming our shows a lot of times on home recording videos and such, just to see the stage choreography and to check our image, visual thing, and we noticed you can't see dark guitars," Hoffmann added. "So we said, 'Well, why don't we make them white?' So we painted them white, and it's the white Flying Vs that you see on those album covers and such, and all of a sudden it became a bit of a trademark. And that's how that came about.

"But I'll tell you a little secret: they [Flying Vs] didn't sound right for me in the studio because they — I don't know — they just didn't have that bright attack that I wanted. So I always played a Strat in the studio. On 'Restless And Wild', 'Balls To The Wall', everything was recorded on a Strat… And I now still play a Flying V, but it's actually a — for that reason, when Framus, the German guitar company, came to me and said, 'Hey, man, we wanna make you your signature model,' I said, 'Well, make it look like a V, but it's really a Strat in disguise. I want the long neck. I want the single coil in the neck. I want the switches exactly where they are. I want a Floyd Rose.' So, that's why they built me that one."

Asked if fans can buy his signature Flying V guitar from Framus, Wolf said: "Of course you can buy it, yeah. But there was a bit of a lawsuit issue with Gibson [over the Flying V design], because Gibson is what it is, and they like to sue people. But Framus won, and it is available, yeah."

In 2019, Gibson lost an important trademark fight in Europe related to its Flying V guitar shape. After Gibson was initially granted a mark on its Flying V in the European Union in 2010, the mark was challenged four years later by the owner of German company Warwick, and a court later declared the mark invalid. Gibson appealed and lost in 2018 and in June 2019 had its second appeal dismissed by the Second Chamber of the EU General Court.

Back in September 2020, a documentary, "Flying V", was released, telling the story of the iconic electric guitar model through interviews with a number of metal artists who have helped to make the V famous, including METALLICA's James Hetfield, MEGADETH's Dave Mustaine, SLAYER's Kerry King and Michael Schenker. Also featured in the documentary are former JUDAS PRIEST guitarist K.K. Downing, current PRIEST members Richie Faulkner and Andy Sneap, SCORPIONS' Matthias Jabs, MERCYFUL FATE's Michael Denner and Hank Shermann, and Hoffmann, as well as DIAMOND HEAD's Brian Tatler, KING DIAMOND's Andy La Rocque, WISHBONE ASH's Andy Powell and ARCH ENEMY's Michael Amott.

Part of the "Inside Metal" series, the 67-minute documentary was directed by Peter Hansen and produced by Hansen and Michael Denner. It "chronicles the origin of the most unique guitar on earth and its incredible influence on the history of rock and roll and heavy metal," according to the product's official description.

Former Sabaton guitarist / Majestica frontman Tommy Johansson has shared his weekly cover, this time putting a metal twist on the Eros Ramazzotti hit, "Più Bella Cosa".





 




Last week, Johansson shared a cover of the ABBA classic, "Money Money Money", released in 1976.


 


 





 

Vocalist Erik Grönwall (ex-Skid Row) has released the new video below, featuring his performance of "Rehab", a hit for late UK singer, Amy Winehouse.










Grönwall joined Europe on stage last night (Thursday, May 23) at Gröna Lund in Stockholm, Sweden, for a performance of Europe's "Cherokee". Fan-filmed video can be viewed below.


Grönwall took to social media following the performance and shared the photos below, writing, "Thank you @officialeuropetheband for having me. It was an honor sharing the stage with you for a few seconds! And what an incredible show you guys did on your home turf."

Following the recent, previously released single, entitled "Wings Of Twilight", featuring a guest performance of Ad Infinitum singer Melissa Bonny, today, Finland's melodic metal frontrunners Arion are sharing their brand new, powerful track "Wildfire". 


After skyrocketing out of nowhere to the public eye as teenagers with the Finnish Eurovision qualification program UMK and now three critically acclaimed studio albums under their belt, Arion seem to be gearing up for a new full-length, to be released in the hopefully not so distant future.


"Wildfire" was written by Arion guitarist Iivo Kaipainen and was produced by Matias Kupiainen (Stratovarius).







Says Iivo about the new track: 


"‘Wildfire’: the first song I wrote for the new album is also one of my favorites from the new album. The frighteningly infectious main riff with an equally catchy chorus, which is what everybody listening to the song points out, are the building blocks for a song that's as metal as metal can be. Wildfire made its live debut at the world-renowned 70 000 tons of metal cruise proving to be exactly the most fun and the most insane live song we can think of!”

German thrash legends, Kreator, have released their new boxset featuring Enemy Of God / Hordes Of Chaos remastered, including Kreator comics and a Kreator Demon mask.


The set is available via Nuclear Blast Records. Order here, and watch an official lyric video for the band's cover of Bad Religion's "You Are The Government" below


Enemy Of God was originally released in 2005 via Steamhammer and Hordes Of Chaos in 2009 through Steamhammer.







Box contents:


1x Demon Mask
1x Comic #2
1x Comic #3
2LP Gatefold 4p Booklet (Remaster)
2CD Digipak Remaster + WOA 2005
1LP Gatefold Remaster + Bonus Tracks
2CD Digipak Remaster + Bonus Tracks + Remix Album

By Nick Balazs


Las Vegas-based rockers Crash Midnight have premiered their new music video for “Dead Aces”. In conjunction with the video release, Crash Midnight has also announced a show at The Sand Dollar Downtown in the Plaza Hotel & Casino.







Vocalist Shaun Soho spoke to BraveWords’ Nick Balazs about the video and all things happening in the Crash Midnight camp.


BraveWords: Describe the process of putting together the "Dead Aces" video and why did it take so long considering this isn't your most recent single release?


“We had so many great fans out here sending us videos they'd shot at our shows that we came up with a concept of using some of that footage for a music video. Dead Aces was originally written in homage to all the cool bars and venues we used to hang at back in Boston so we thought it'd be interesting to have the video be like a "flash forward" to where we are now, going through all our spots here in Vegas. It took a while to collect all that footage at a level of quality that was decent enough to make it work for something like this. Luckily, in the meantime I guess they've come out with some programs that can sharpen up older footage and make it look a lot better, so I think that worked out in our favor and made the video better in the end despite the wait. It also gives our fans all over the world a chance to get a taste of the energy of a Crash Midnight live show ...and maybe that puts them over the top to book a trip to Vegas.”


BraveWords: You have a huge show coming June 29th at The Sand Dollar - what can fans expect to see and hear?


“We're officially announcing the show today alongside the music video debut. Getting back to The Sand Dollar Downtown here in the Plaza Hotel has been something we've had in the works for a long time now. We're working on a long-term series over there, but there have been some hurdles with scheduling something of that scale so in the meantime, we just said f*ck it, let's do a big headline show and get the ball rolling into the summer here. We're inserting two of the new songs we're recording right now into the set – ‘Too Far Gone’ and ‘Toxic Propaganda’. Should be cool for fans to get their first chance to hear those. In general, we really do like to play each new song live a bunch for people to get some feedback on how the song is working or you know, going over with the crowd and give us a chance to tighten it up. We've also got our favorite rock station KOMP 92.3 and morning DJ, Gooch, on board for this one. Gooch will host it and you'll be hearing a bunch of ads and ticket promo giveaways on KOMP throughout the month of June.  In support is going to be this cool band Double Wide that our bass player, Drake, discovered out here. Looking forward to seeing what they bring too.”


BraveWords: How is the rock 'n' roll scene in Las Vegas and how would you compare it to other scenes?


“The Vegas music scene has been great to us. Coming from Boston where you had to scrape and scratch to build a fan base one person at a time, taking that same approach out in Vegas helped us earn a rock-solid following much more quickly out here. There are a ton of real rock fans in Vegas whereas, maybe Boston was more fragmented with the hipsters, college kids, and all that stuff. Here we have a huge number of people that are really into what we're doing. Then you add on how supportive the venues, booking agents, and radio stations, like KOMP, have been to us and it really does feel like you're part of a family out here.”


BraveWords: The creative juices are flowing - when can fans expect a new track?


Shaun: “We're about halfway through recording our next single ‘Too Far Gone’ and we've demo'd out about three more singles so it should be a busy summer. We ended up coming up with a great process for getting multi-tracked demos together so the recording process seems to be even smoother these days. Hoping to have about seven songs completed through that demo process over the summer and that should make the actual recordings go a lot faster instead of having to figure out anything on the fly in the studio. To the shock of all involved, we already have the artwork completed for the next five or six songs, which puts us in the unfamiliar position of being terrifyingly ahead of the game on that end too.”


BraveWords: Anything else you'd like to say about the band?


Shaun: “Vegas fans and those flying in for the show June 29th at Sand Dollar Downtown at the Plaza Hotel & Casino can get their tickets now at crashmidnight.com - we made it simple for everyone trying to order tickets five drinks deep at the bar, it's the first thing that pops up when you open the site.  Also, we like how this video turned out so much that we're going to keep filming at these shows so if you come on out, you might end up seeing yourself on the next video. Doors are at 7:30pm tickets are $15 advance and $20 at the door (not including taxes and fees). There's also free parking with validation at the bar, which is pretty cool for this town. We'll see you all there!”