Swedish melodic death metal pioneers AT THE GATES released their latest studio album, "The Ghost Of A Future Dead", worldwide this past April via Century Media Records and the album marked a special tribute to frontman Tomas Lindberg, who tragically passed away in September 2025.

As part of the release campaign for "The Ghost Of A Future Dead", longtime AT THE GATES collaborator Costin Chioreanu (Twilight 13 Media) prepared a massive conceptual visual storyline which enhances the entire album’s music and lyrics. Having previously already released the animated paintings in videos for the songs "The Dissonant Void" and "In Dark Distortion", the rest of the videos for the other album songs as well as the "full album video" can now be experienced below.

Costin Chioreanu, who handled the painting, filming, editing and producing the project, checked in with the following comment about it: "This is by far the most intense project I've done, not only due the circumstances but also because the album is so intense and it requires an insane rhythm for the whole dynamic. It is also the first time that I am doing a full album art video and, honestly, I think it will remain singular of this kind in my career, as I've been over several of my limits with this one. But I am so happy that I could finish this monument for my friend Tomas and for his magical band, who will remain with my heart and my memory till the end of my time here and beyond."

The album's powerful opening song "The Fever Mask" was previously also launched with a heartfelt in memory tribute video to Tomas Lindberg assembled by longtime collaborator Patric Ullaeus (rEVOLVER).

"The Ghost Of A Future Dead" was recorded and mixed by Jens Bogren at Fascination Street Studios in Örebro, Sweden. The LP comes with artwork created by Robert Samsonowitz.

In other news, the music of AT THE GATES will soon be honored by the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra in a special event dubbed "The Gothenburg Sound", where several of the band’s iconic songs will be interpreted in symphonic form alongside other material by their peers IN FLAMES and DARK TRANQUILLITY. These special concerts will take place at the Gothenburg Concert Hall on December 3, December 4 and December 5.

This past May, "The Ghost Of A Future Dead" topped the official chart in AT THE GATES' home country. It marked the first time ever that AT THE GATES has entered the main Swedish album chart at No. 1.

Released on April 24 via Century Media Records, "The Ghost Of A Future Dead" also landed at No. 1 on the Swedish physical, vinyl and hard rock charts.

In an interview with Finland's Chaoszine, AT THE GATES bassist Jonas Björler reflected on the final months of Tomas's life. Jonas said: "It's like with all the cancer diseases, it's always a rollercoaster ride. It's positive news and it's bad news. And we got positive news every other week and we got negative news every other week. So it was [up and down]. So it's really unsettling… The last month, from mid-August [2025] to mid-September [2025], the situation was really bad, because he had massive infections and stuff like that, so they couldn't really treat it. So we kind of knew that it was going in the wrong direction, for sure. So, everybody in the band — except Adrian [Erlandsson, AT THE GATES drummer]; he's in U.K. — we went down to his hospital work and met him. But he was in a really, really bad shape. It was really tough."

Lindberg was diagnosed with adenoid cystic carcinoma, a rare oral cancer, in December 2023, which led to a major surgery that removed a large portion of the roof of his mouth. He had also undergone radiation treatment and had been on a path to recovery, but then doctors found traces of the cancer in early 2025. In May 2025, an undisclosed "setback" placed Tomas in long-term care.

"We entered the studio and started recording the music [for 'The Ghost Of A Future Dead'] when Tomas actually had his first surgery," Jonas recalled to Chaoszine. "And he managed to sing all the vocal demos for all the songs. So that's what we used for the album… He did good versions or good takes in a studio in Gothenburg before the surgery. So, that was done in, like, December [of 2023] or January [of 2024], and we entered the studio in February [of 2024]."

Asked if "The Ghost Of A Future Dead" is a difficult album for him to listen to now, having lost Tomas less than six months earlier, Jonas said: "No, because it's kind of Tomas's legacy and stuff. So we all want it to get out now, I think, so people can hear it… I know Tomas was proud of it and wanted it to be released. So we just waited in case his situation would improve. So that's why we waited. But we could have released it one year ago. It was fully mixed in 2024, in June, it was already done, everything. So it's been there for one and a half years, all done… I heard [the songs] for so long now, [they are] feeling kind of old to me. But it's gonna be nice to hear people's reaction to it."

Asked if Tomas was "super determined" to finish his vocal tracks for "The Ghost Of A Future Dead" before he underwent his surgery, Jonas said: "Yeah, yeah, of course. It was totally done. The only thing that wasn't done when he got the terrible news, it was missing three or four songs that [weren't] recorded yet. So he just went to the studio and did it before the surgery, because he knew that was a very invasive surgery; they took half the jaw away. So he knew he couldn't sing or would have problems singing."

Jonas went on to say that Tomas was "always positive" about his chances of beating the cancer. "And we all were," he added. "That's the only chance to survive it, I think, or get through it."

Regarding what AT THE GATES fans can expect from "The Ghost Of A Future Dead", Jonas said: "I mean, [guitarist] Anders [Björler, Jonas's brother] is back [in AT THE GATES], since three years [ago]. And I think if you like 'At War With Reality', you will like the new one, I think. There's a mixture of 'Slaughter Of The Soul', 'At War With Reality' and some progressive elements of the last two. So that's what you can expect, I think."

Asked if he and his AT THE GATES bandmates had a vision of where they wanted to go musically with the new album, Jonas said: "Me and Anders just wrote half and half. We didn't have any guidelines. We just wrote it, what we felt like. We usually don't do that because it restricts you. So I don't like to do that."

As for the possibility of AT THE GATES doing shows to celebrate Tomas's life and legacy, Jonas said: "Yeah, we haven't really discussed those things because we're gonna release the album first and then we'll see. Maybe some shows to celebrate him or something, but we are not sure about anything right now."

When the first details of "The Ghost Of A Future Dead" were announced on February 20,AT THE GATES said in a statement: "We are proud to finally share some news about our eighth studio album, 'The Ghost Of A Future Dead'. The album will be released on April 24, 2026 — more than two years after it was completed in the studio.

"As you all know, Tomas Lindberg passed away last year due to complications from his cancer treatment. Over the past few years, we worked closely with Tomas, discussing and refining every detail to ensure nothing was left to chance.

"In accordance with Tomas's wishes — including the album title, sound mix, track order, artwork, and overall presentation — 'The Ghost Of A Future Dead' remains true to form. It combines the ferocious energy and hard-hitting powerful melodies that is the essence of AT THE GATES. This album is Tomas's legacy".

AT THE GATES lineup for "The Ghost Of A Future Dead" album:

Adrian Erlandsson - Drums
Jonas Björler - Bass
Tomas Lindberg - Vocals
Anders Björler - Guitars
Martin Larsson - Guitars

Lindberg was 52 years old at the time of his death.

In August 2025, Tomas's AT THE GATES bandmates announced that the singer was receiving "around-the-clock" care at an unspecified hospital after being diagnosed with adenoid cystic carcinoma (ACC),a rare, slow-growing but aggressive cancer that typically develops in the salivary glands, particularly the minor salivary glands of the head and neck.

On August 15, 2025, AT THE GATES released a message from Tomas, written in March 2025, where he reflected on the previous 15 months and the reasons for the group's radio silence. In the message, Lindberg wrote: "Hello everyone. I guess some of you may have been wondering why it has been so silent on the AT THE GATES front lately. Well, in December 2023, I was diagnosed with Adenoid Cystic Carcinoma (a cancer in the mouth and palate) and have since then gone through a lot, it has been a very tough year. First there was a major surgery, where they took away a big part of the roof of the mouth. This was followed by radiation therapy for two months, and ever since it has been a long hard path towards recovery. Now, in the beginning of 2025, they have found some remains of the cancer, and it is inaccessible by surgery or radiation. So, we will see what the next step is, but probably some form of chemotherapy, to keep the cancer in check.

"Luckily, we recorded vocals for the demos for the new album before all of this happened. The last version of the vocals, the ones that will end up on the album, were recorded in ONE day, mostly one takes, the DAY before the surgery, just to make sure we HAD the album, so to speak. So the vocals were actually recorded BEFORE the rest of the album.... a bit different, but it felt good to have it done.

"We have now decided to not wait any longer to release this new album. We had first planned to wait with the release until we knew if/when I would be able to sing again, and we were able to support the release with shows. Now when everything about the future is a bit more unsure it feels good to deliver this album. It is an album that we all are very proud of, and it's the first time in 10 years that Jonas and I have worked together with Anders writing an album's worth of music. It is a bit more of a return to the 'roots', probably best described as a mix between the two last albums we did with Anders ('Slaughter Of The Soul' and 'At War With Reality'). Hope you all will enjoy it!"

AT THE GATES released its definitive album, "Slaughter Of The Soul" — often regarded as one of the all-time greatest metal albums — on Earache in 1995, before touring the world and abruptly disbanding. Members of the band went on to play major roles in other notorious metal acts such as THE HAUNTED and CRADLE OF FILTH, before reforming in 2008, with Lindberg juggling his day job as a teacher with being a death metal frontman.

Back in October 2022, AT THE GATES announced that founding member and guitarist Anders Björler was returning to the band's lineup after a handful of years of absence.

In August 2022, AT THE GATES parted ways with its guitarist of the previous five years, Jonas Stålhammar.Stålhammar joined the band in September 2017 as the replacement for Anders Björler, who left AT THE GATES in March of that year.

Photo credit: Ester Segarra

The official lyric video for "Here In Your Heart", a brand new song from Christian metal pioneers STRYPER, can be seen below. The track is taken from the band's 18th studio album, "Throne Of Thorns", which will arrive on September 25 via Frontiers Music Srl.

On the new track, STRYPER vocalist/guitarist Michael Sweet comments: "This song is the perfect representation of who we are now as a band. We work hard to retain our classic sound, but also mix in some modern flairs here and there. The message is always the same: God is always there. No matter what. We may not be, but he is."

Decades into their journey, STRYPER continue to reaffirm their status as one of the most influential and enduring bands in classic metal, seamlessly blending their signature message with a sound that remains as powerful and relevant as ever.

STRYPER drummer Robert Sweet said: "Soon our new STRYPER record will be out, and can you believe it? It's album number 18! I really believe you're all going to love it. Michael worked incredibly hard writing these songs and bringing everything together. Oz [Fox, STRYPER guitarist], Perry [Richardson, STRYPER bassist] and I also worked hard to make this what I feel is our best record yet. I'm confident that once you hear it, you'll agree. Thank you all for your incredible loyalty and for continuing to support what we do."

This past June, the band shared the title track from the upcoming album, alongside an official music video, available below.

On the title track, Michael Sweet commented: "'Throne Of Thorns' is a powerful message. Christ is on the throne, and we are redeemed because of the crown of thorns that He endured. This song is a perfect representation of our 43 years and who we were, and who we are. Heavy yet melodic, classic yet modern, and 100% STRYPER!"

"Throne Of Thorns" showcases the band at the height of their creative powers, delivering a masterclass in songwriting and musicianship. The album is packed with grand, meticulously crafted arrangements, where thunderous rhythms, soaring guitar harmonies, and anthemic choruses come together in a style that is unmistakably STRYPER. Each track is infused with both intensity and melody, capturing the essence of classic metal while pushing their sound forward with renewed energy and purpose.

At the forefront stands the unmistakable voice of Michael Sweet, whose passionate, powerful, and instantly recognizable delivery continues to define the band's identity. His vocal performance on "Throne Of Thorns" is nothing short of extraordinary, effortlessly moving between soaring highs and emotive depth, adding a timeless quality to every song.

Perry Richardson said: "The best music doesn't come from comfort. It comes from living, struggling, growing, and refusing to quit. I hope these songs find you exactly when you need them."

With "Throne Of Thorns", STRYPER not only honors their legacy but expands upon it, offering an album that will resonate with longtime fans and newcomers alike. It's a bold, inspired statement from a band that refuses to stand still — proof that true metal greatness only grows stronger with time.

Guitarist Oz Fox concluded: "I'm really happy with the final outcome of this record and of the heart that went into it. Michael continues to pour everything he has into the music and the message; Robert brings the power and energy that has always been the pulse of STRYPER; Perry's musicianship, vocal talents, and dedication are second to none, and I'm grateful to be on this journey with all of them."

"Throne Of Thorns" track listing:

01. Throne Of Thorns
02. Here In Your Heart
03. Falling
04. I'm Alright (I'm Okay)
05. Waiting For You
06. Carry The Flame
07. Hollywood
08. Beautifully Broken
09. Ashes To Roses
10. Alone Again
11. Shadowbreaker

Four decades and counting, STRYPER shows no signs of slowing down.

STRYPER released its long-awaited Christmas album, "The Greatest Gift Of All", in November 2025 via Frontiers Music Srl.

Michael Sweet's latest solo album, "The Master Plan", his most personal and spiritually resonant solo LP yet, was made available in April 2026 via Frontiers Music Srl.

Formed 43 years ago, STRYPER's name comes from Isaiah 53:5, which states: "But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed."

STRYPER's other albums include "To Hell With The Devil", "Second Coming", "No More Hell To Pay", "Fallen", "God Damn Evil", "Even The Devil Believes" and "The Final Battle".

STRYPER is:

Michael Sweet - Lead Vocals/Lead & Rhythm Guitar
Robert Sweet - Drums & Percussion
Oz Fox - Vocals/Lead and Rhythm Guitar
Perry Richardson - Vocals/Bass

Photo credit: Manuel Moggio, Hainecch (courtesy of Frontiers Music Srl)

THE VIOLENT HOUR, the heavy rock group formed by Carla Harvey (BUTCHER BABIES) and Charlie Benante (ANTHRAX, PANTERA),has released the official music video for its latest single, "Screenager". The track, which was originally made available in August, combines heavy riffs and commanding vocals with melodic hooks, and lyrically addresses the erosion of genuine human connection in the digital age.

Barreling out of the gate with crushing riffs and thunderous energy, the track pairs Harvey's raw, commanding vocals with relentless instrumentation before opening into soaring melodic hooks. Lyrically, it serves as a warning about what happens when the digital world begins to replace the real one, and how humanity and empathy can get lost in the process. "Screenager" explores the quiet death of real connection in the age of endless validation, where anonymity breeds cruelty and curated digital selves slowly consume human ones.

"We wanted to write something that felt as relentless as the endless scroll," Harvey says. "Musically, 'Screenager' channels the aggression and energy of early METALLICA but opens up into huge, soaring melodic choruses. Lyrically, it's about how we've traded genuine human connection for digital validation, and how anonymity has fueled a growing lack of empathy by making cruelty feel consequence-free. We're more connected than ever, yet somehow we've never felt further apart."

Harvey recounts: "We asked our friend Attila Vörös to lay down the guitar solo for 'Screenager', and he absolutely delivered with a combination of '80s shred and modern melodic metal that only he could pull off."

THE VIOLENT HOUR has just embarked on a string of festival performances this fall, including Rocklahoma in Pryor, Oklahoma on September 6, Louder Than Life in Louisville, Kentucky on September 17, and Aftershock in Sacramento, California on October 1.

THE VIOLENT HOUR was born from a moment of truth. After 15 years commanding some of heavy metal's biggest stages, Carla Harvey found herself at a crossroads: walk away from it all, or dig deep and create the album she'd always dreamed of. She chose the latter.

Teaming up with now-husband and legendary drummer and multi-instrumentalist Charlie Benante, the two hunkered down to write and what followed was electric. The songs poured out fast, raw, and real. Fueled by that spark, THE VIOLENT HOUR came to life with bandmates Kiana De León (guitar),Allie Kay (guitar),Jewel Steele (bass),and Sasha De León (drums). Kiana and Sasha previously played together in the PANTERA tribute band FAR BEYOND HOSTILE and the covers project VIXEN VENDETTA.

Blending the grit of old-school rock 'n' roll, the soul of indie and alternative, and just the right dose of heavy metal, THE VIOLENT HOUR isn't chasing trends; they're carving out their own lane. Songwriting comes first, emotion is everything, and every track is a piece of Carla's story, unapologetically honest and sonically bold.

When the touring lineup of THE VIOLENT HOUR was first announced in August 2025, Harvey commented: "As a huge fan of the '90s Riot Grrl movement, I've dreamed of having an all-girl band my whole life. After a long search, I finally found them. Four incredible women who share the same drive, passion, and fire that fuels me. We are THE VIOLENT HOUR and we are your new favorite band."

THE VIOLENT HOUR's self-titled debut EP was released in July 2025 via Megaforce Records. Carla wrote all lyrics and handled all the vocals on "The Violent Hour", while Benante wrote the music and played all instruments on the EP. The track "Sick Ones" features an absolutely shredding guitar solo from MÖTLEY CRÜE guitarist John 5, and PANTERA guitarist and BLACK LABEL SOCIETY frontman Zakk Wylde makes an explosive cameo on the track "Hell Or Hollywood".

Not many people have comic book author, embalmer and musician on their resumes. Carla boasts all three and so much more.

Carla was born and raised in Detroit, Michigan — a city known for its grit, resilience, and often deep divides. Navigating life as a bi-racial kid in a fractured environment wasn't easy, but Carla found her escape in art, music, and self-expression. By day, she hustled, attending the prestigious College For Creative Studies alongside working odd jobs like perfume counter girl and gas station attendant, and by night, she was on stage with local bands, saving every dollar she could for a one-way trip to Los Angeles.

At twenty, she put all her belongings in her car and navigated from Detroit to Hollywood with a paper map. In L.A., she landed acting roles on shows like "Rules Of Engagement", played in bands searching for her sound, and never stopped creating. But beyond the music was a driven academic. Carla had a deep love for science and eventually pursued a Bachelor Of Mortuary Science (graduating as valedictorian) and a Master Of Science in thanatology. Carla became a licensed funeral director and embalmer and founded her own grief counseling service — all while touring the world extensively as a founding member of the BUTCHER BABIES.

Today, In addition to her music career, Carla is a grief specialist for the innovative death care company Parting Stone that transforms cremated remains into environmentally friendly stones that the departed's family can hold, treasure and honor.

Beyond her professional life, Carla is a devoted collector of pop culture oddities: comics, wrestling figures, vintage Barbies, Elvira, the Incredible Hulk, and rock relics from her wildest nights in Hollywood. She still holds on to her Rainbow Bar & Grill drink tickets from the '90s and a poker chip from Lemmy's last birthday party. Her creative heroes — Russ Meyers, Robert Williams, Robert Crumb and Charles Bukowski — mirror her love of the bold and the raw.

To date, Carla has released half a dozen albums, multiple comic books and a 2014 novel, "Death And Other Dances". But if you ask her…she's still just a blue-collar kid from the Midwest with big dreams.

Photo credit: Anabel DFlux

Three-time Grammy-nominated band SPIRITBOX returns today with its new single "Mourning", out now via Pale Chord / Rise Records. The deeply affecting track marks the band's first new music since their acclaimed sophomore album, "Tsunami Sea", and offers the first glimpse into what comes next for SPIRITBOX.

Courtney LaPlante's impassioned clean vocals cascade over the atmospheric production on "Mourning", moving through delicate, restrained passages that gradually swell into heavier textures. Her performance remains at the center throughout, with layers of guitar, percussion and ambience building and receding around her as the track unfolds. It's a more subdued side of SPIRITBOX, but one that still makes room for the heaviness and dynamic contrast at the core of the band's sound.

Arriving alongside the single is a beautiful official music video co-directed by Alex Bemis and SPIRITBOX guitarist Mike Stringer. The visual signals a distinct evolution from the stark black-and-white aesthetic that defined the "Tsunami Sea" era, bringing the band into a vivid natural world. Performance-driven scenes place SPIRITBOX against a series of striking outdoor landscapes, including an ethereal, otherworldly honeycomb-like structure, while the recurring presence of a mysterious hooded figure adds an ominous undercurrent to the imagery.

"Mourning" follows SPIRITBOX's acclaimed sophomore album, "Tsunami Sea", released in March 2025. The album debuted at No. 1 on Billboard's Top Hard Rock Albums chart and No. 26 on the Billboard 200, further solidifying the band's standing as one of the most influential and forward-thinking forces in contemporary heavy music. The era also earned SPIRITBOX their third consecutive Grammy nomination for "Best Metal Performance" with "Soft Spine".

Elsewhere, LaPlante recently teamed with BRING ME THE HORIZON's Oli Sykes and producer Grabbitz for "If The Sun Burns Out Tonight", the official anthem for the 2026 Valorant Champions Tour, set for release September 16. At the end of August, she also announced her first signature vocal plugin with MixWave, a modular vocal suite developed around the tools and techniques behind her unmistakable sound.

SPIRITBOX recently wrapped a North American run supporting EVANESCENCE and will return overseas this September for the "Tsunami Sea" European tour with JINJER and DYING WISH. The run includes the band's biggest U.K. headline shows yet, including London's OVO Arena Wembley, before SPIRITBOX returns stateside to perform with METALLICA at Mohegan Sun Arena in Connecticut this November. They will close out the year in Australia with appearances at Good Things festival in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane.

SPIRITBOX has emerged as one of the most formidable and forward-thinking bands in heavy music. Since the breakout success of their debut "Eternal Blue" — which debuted at No. 13 on the Billboard 200 — the trio has continued to push genre boundaries. Their "Fear Of Fear" EP earned back-to-back Grammy nominations ("Jaded" in 2024, "Cellar Door" in 2025),while bold collaborations with Megan Thee Stallion, including the viral "Cobra" remix and explosive "TYG" (No. 5 on Billboard's Hot Hard Rock Songs),spotlight their fearless crossover vision. Their 2025 sophomore album "Tsunami Sea" (Pale Chord / Rise Records) debuted at No. 1 on Billboard's Top Hard Rock Albums chart and cemented their status as sonic innovators. Known for their incendiary live show, SPIRITBOX delivers a visceral, emotionally charged experience that continues to captivate audiences around the world.

Photo credit: Ana Massard

In a new interview with Jorge Botas of Portugal's Metal Global, ACCEPT guitarist Wolf Hoffmann spoke about artificial intelligence and its growing use in the music creation process. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "It's scary, man. I think it's a necessary development, because we all knew it was gonna come one day, and here it is now. But at the same time, I wish... I mean, we always grew up thinking, like, art can only be made by humans. But now the lines get really blurry, mainly because the quality is just overwhelming. It's so good, some of the stuff that comes out of A.I., whether it's movies or even texts and photos, of course, artwork. Some of this stuff looks amazing, but it certainly doesn't help the idea that, 'Hey, mom and dad, I wanna be an artist,' because they're gonna say pretty soon, 'What's the point?'"

Wolf continued: "Think about it nowadays — I mean, we started all these 50 years ago. Trying to learn a guitar was very, very difficult, to buy all the equipment and to go into the rehearsal room for years. And it was a dream we had, and we put so much effort into it, thousands and thousands of hours learning it, and then getting better, and making mistakes. And nowadays somebody can just go, 'You know what? I'm just not gonna bother with that. I'm just gonna hit a button on my laptop and I'm an artist. There's the music. Poof. I don't have to learn an instrument anymore.' And that's a scary thought."

Addressing the fact that synthetic songs have soared to the top of charts like Billboard's ubiquitous rankings or Spotify's various top songs lists, Wolf said: "Yeah, it sounds really, really good. And at what point are record labels gonna say, 'You know what? We don't need to sign any artists. We don't need to sign ACCEPT. We don't need to sign any real bands because we just generate the music and create a fake artist and sell that.' I don't know. Is that gonna be a thing in the future, that people buy records of A.I.? Or maybe they don't buy anything anymore. I don't know. Maybe it's all gonna be free."

He added: "Imagine you're a fan of — I don't know — ACCEPT or IRON MAIDEN or somebody, and you click on it and then Spotify will suggest similar songs, and they might play some stuff that's all fake because it sounds very similar to IRON MAIDEN or ACCEPT. So you think, like, 'Oh, that's kind of cool.' But Spotify doesn't have to pay any royalties because there's no artist behind it. It's fake. So I'm sure that's gonna be a thing, if it's not already going on to a big degree, where you think, like, 'Oh, that's a cool song,' but it's A.I."

Hoffmann went on to call for stronger regulations on artificial intelligence in the music industry, saying protections are needed for musicians' work and urging lawmakers to take action.

"I think technology is so far ahead that we don't really have the answers to all that stuff yet," he said. "[The lawmakers are] just too slow. I mean, by the time they're thinking about how to deal with stuff like that, it's already all in place already. Very similar to what — you remember what happened when Napster came in. It was the same thing. It took years to find a regulation for it."

Wolf added: "The only good thing is that you can't really fake live shows yet. In order to see a concert or if you wanna go see a ACCEPT concert, there's still five guys having to travel and setting up their gear and performing live in front of you. And I don't think that will ever change anytime soon, unless you get into the whole fake — what do you call it? — hologram thing. I'm sure it's gonna be here before long, but I don't think there will be an ACCEPT hologram anytime soon."

Back in December 2024, Wolf told Framus & Warwick about A.I.-generated music and art: "Sometimes it's a bit scary when you check it out nowadays, what computers can do. The good thing is that is still based on human — I mean, it's not completely invented by machines. Machines just take what humans created and then make a conglomeration out of it, they make their own version of what already was created by other people. But still, man, it's scary what these machines can do. And I hope that live music — that will never be replaced, but it might be. Maybe 50 years from now, 20 years from now, 10 years from now, people are gonna go see concerts just created by machines. I don't know. Nobody knows. I hope not."

Hoffmann previously addressed the positive side of A.I., particularly as it relates to the potential to drive innovation, streamline processes, enhance productivity and improve decision-making across industries, during an April 2024 press conference in Paris, France to promote ACCEPT's "Humanoid" album. He said at the time: "I wouldn't go out and say it's all good or it's all bad. It's always a mix of everything. Modern technology in general, all the digital aspects of our daily life, there's some amazing aspects of it. I'm traveling a lot, and no matter where I go, I have my little iPhone with me and it has GPS on it. And I can just type in — I don't know; 'Indian restaurant' — and I'm gonna find one two blocks down the street. I would never find that without it. I wouldn't even know where to go. I'm at the airport. I can communicate on the plane with other people. All this is beautiful, I think. Of course there's a negative side of everything. And artificial intelligence sounds a little scary right now, but I'm quite hopeful that we will find a way to deal with it that enables us to take advantage of it without having it all just be negative. I mean, there's always two sides to everything, I believe."

He continued: "The thought of artificial intelligence creating art, that is something that concerns me. I wouldn't say I'm afraid of it, but at the same time, being an artist, I'm thinking, like, 'Is it gonna take all our jobs away one day?' I'm quite hopeful it won't, because I still think only humans can really express emotions.

"I hope that artificial intelligence is not gonna advance that much more that it can actually replace human thoughts and emotions. But am I a hundred percent sure? No," he added. "I never thought it would be that good already, but it's amazing what it can do already. There's gonna be visual art being created, music's gonna be created by it. Of course there's the aspect of it that it's basically you're ripping off existing songs and existing artwork to create the new stuff. When they create 'new' NIRVANA songs, they look at all the old songs and sort of use it as a reference. Will it ever be able to create original 'original' stuff? Maybe. I don't know. I hope not. But can I help it? No. Can I stop time? No. Technology marches on, whether we want it to or not. So it's an interesting time that we live in, I believe. And we yet have to find a way to deal with it. And I think anytime, in history, that there's new technology introduced, whether it's just something like the automobile, people were scared of it. Initially, they thought, like, it's gonna be harmful to people to travel at that speed, you know, because they were just used to horses and buggies. And so the same is true with all this… Anytime something new comes along, people are always like, 'Oh, God. It's gonna destroy everything.' But I don't think it will destroy everything. We have to just catch up and deal with it."

In March 2024, Wolf told Appetite For Distortion, that he tried using A.I. for lyrical ideas. "And it's scary good, to be honest," he admitted. "You can just say, 'Hey, write me a song lyric' or something, [and] it spits out some pretty amazing stuff. But, of course, you have to say, 'Is this really what I wanted to say? And is it me? Well, then how would I really say it?' So you still have to tweak it and stuff. And we ended up never using any of it, but for songwriting and demoing stuff, I was quite intrigued; I found it intriguing. It gives you a bunch of ideas that you hadn't thought about. And, of course, I've seen some images that were done with A.I. that I thought, 'Whoa.' A designer or a human would have to spend a lot of hours creating that thing, but it spits it out like that."

He continued: "The shadow and downside of this is, of course, that people might lose their jobs over it. And the downside is also that it's not really, truly original. A.I. doesn't really think of this stuff. It just looks at all the other stuff that was created by people and turns it into a different, new version. It uses, in the case of music, for instance, existing songs and creates a new version kind of like it, but it doesn't do it out of the blue sky; it looks at your stuff that somebody created. And there's all kinds of legal issues that come up. So I'm a little concerned about all that, yeah."

Circling back to the idea that artificial intelligence poses some risks to humanity, Wolf said: "We still haven't quite figured out how this is gonna turn out, how this is gonna pan out in the future. How much of it is good, how much of it is bad. We're still at the infancy."

He added:  "This digital revolution, as they call it, I think it's bigger than the industrial revolution was, and I think it has more far-reaching consequences on society than anything… One thing is for certain: we can't stop it. It's gonna happen whether we want it to or not. It's out, and it's gonna get used. We just have to see how to deal with it. That's what we haven't figured out yet, 'cause technology is so fast. We can't keep up with how society deals with it."

ACCEPT's 50th-anniversary album, "Teutonic Titans 1976–2026", was released on September 4, 2026 via Napalm Records.

Led by Wolf, the longtime architect of ACCEPT's sound, the band is joined by a staggering 50 guests across 19 reimagined versions of their biggest tracks. "Teutonic Titans 1976-2026" is ACCEPT's most ambitious and star-studded release to date.

Chronologically progressing through albums from their formative years, from "I'm A Rebel" (1980) to "Eat The Heat" (1989),ACCEPT present their songs with an all-new, all-star lineup, alongside the signature voice of Mark Tornillo and Wolf Hoffmann's unmistakable riffs. By enlisting a who's who of metal, no two songs on "Teutonic Titans 1976-2026" are the same. Every track features a different combination of vocals, guitars, bass, and drums, giving each classic a fresh edge.

Tobias Forge (GHOST) delivers a commanding performance on the track "Save Us" ("I'm A Rebel", 1980),joined by Ray Luzier on drums. Philip Anselmo (PANTERA),Kirk Hammett (METALLICA) and Mikkey Dee (SCORPIONS) tear through the speed metal classic "Fast As A Shark" ("Restless And Wild", 1982). "Balls To The Wall" surges with the powerful range of Rob Halford (JUDAS PRIEST),alongside the guitar work of Matthias Jabs (SCORPIONS),while the reimagined "Love Child" is elevated by Billy Corgan (SMASHING PUMPKINS) and David Ellefson (MEGADETH) (both songs from "Balls To The Wall", 1983).

Other guest stars on ACCEPT's extraordinary release include K.K. Downing (JUDAS PRIEST),Bobby "Blitz" Ellsworth (OVERKILL),Hansi Kürsch (BLIND GUARDIAN),Chris Jericho (FOZZY),Ralf Scheepers (PRIMAL FEAR),Billy Sheehan (MR. BIG),Ola Englund (THE HAUNTED) and Jeff Loomis (NEVERMORE). The re-recording of "Hellhammer" ("Eat The Heat", 1989) was performed by ACCEPT's current lineup: Wolf Hoffmann, bassist Martin Motnik, guitarist Philip Shouse and drummer Christopher Williams, joined by Jason McMaster (DANGEROUS TOYS) on vocals.

Over the past five decades, ACCEPT has sold millions of albums and inspired countless musicians. Their energetic live performances and iconic albums such as "Balls To The Wall", "Restless And Wild" and "Metal Heart" have left a lasting mark on the heavy metal genre. Hoffmann's guitar style and musical vision have made the band one of the most respected on the heavy metal scene.

After a hiatus in the band's career, Wolf was introduced to New Jersey singer Mark Tornillo in 2009. The chemistry and fit between them was so remarkable, ACCEPT reformed and almost immediately rose to global success with chart-topping albums. ACCEPT continues to be celebrated for each of their new records with Mark, who is now the longest-reigning frontman of ACCEPT, placing the Hoffmann-Tornillo partnership firmly in the Metal Hall Of Fame.

For decades, ACCEPT has been recognized as a guarantee of high quality and each of their albums has reached the top of the charts, delivering energy, melodies, killer riffs and an impressively powerful stage presence for 50 years.

Tornillo joined ACCEPT in 2009 as the replacement for Udo Dirkschneider, who was the band's original lead singer. Mark can be heard on ACCEPT's last six studio albums.

Press photo credit: Robert John

The Professor of Shred, Joe Stump, returns with the pedal firmly to the metal on his new solo album, Lord Of The Strings, set for release on October 16 via Silver Lining Music.

The first single taken from Lord Of The Strings, aptly titled “Full Throttle,” kicks off the album in blistering style. An unfiltered blast of riff-driven firepower and shreddery, the track sets the tone for what’s to come, delivering a relentless introduction to the electrifying virtuosity that runs throughout the record.

“‘Full Throttle’ is a high-velocity track incorporating all the elements you’d expect to hear from me on one of my solo records,” Joe Stump affirms. “Fierce metal riffage combined with strong classically influenced melodies and of course the usual absurd amount of highly technical blazing shred guitar pyrotechnics. All of it is executed with a modern-day Ritchie Blackmore badass rock attitude. If you’re a guitar enthusiast or a metal fan, there’s certainly plenty of action on this one!”

Watch the “Full Throttle” video below.

Stump doesn’t just lay down the speed as he does in “Full Throttle” or revisit the classic grounds of traditional melodic heavy metal on tracks such as “Playing With Fire,” on this 12-track instrumental opus, Stump takes the guitar into lyrical territory with the likes of “In The Hall Of The King” and “Eternity Of Darkness” with his supremely detailed licks taking the lead narrative role. Stump also exercises moments of poetic acoustic reflection on “Den Of Vipers” and “Leipzig 1722,” but overall, Lord Of The Strings is a belting, relentless beast, and (as the man himself says) ‘a heavy metal guitar orgy’.

If you crave screaming guitars of Valhallic proportions, this one is for you. Stump is a guitarist that likes his riffs to roar and his leads to flash like lightning. Stump delivers every track with extraordinary power, precision and purpose, pushing the guitar to its limits while never holding back. From searing riffs to jaw-dropping shred, Lord Of The Strings is designed to hit hard, hit fast and leave its mark. This is guitar playing at full force and you won’t want to miss it.

Lord Of The Strings will be released on standard CD digipak, special edition CD digipak, digital download, streaming and special D2C bundles. Pre-order here.



Lord Of The Strings tracklisting:

“Full Throttle”
“Hyperbolic”
“Raise Your Glass”
“Den Of Vipers Intro”
“Den Of Vipers”
“Playing With Fire”
“In The Hall Of The King”
“Highly Combustible”
“Edge Of Your Seat”
“Leipzig 1722”
“Eternity Of Darkness”
“Storming The Castle”

During an appearance on Heretics, hosted by Andrew Gold, a long-form interview podcast that explores controversial topics and unconventional perspectives, KISS bassist/vocalist Gene Simmons addressed his recent claim that he had lost several performances with his solo band because he declined to speak negatively about U.S. president Donald Trump. Gene's original admission came this past June during a segment on the television program "We'll Do It LIVE" hosted by former Fox News commentator Bill O'Reilly. Asked by Gold if it's true that the gigs were scrapped because Gene said Trump was "okay", Simmons responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "I never actually said that. I argue with everybody about all kinds of things, but you can agree on certain things that Donald J. Trump was duly elected by more than half the population of the United States voting. He's the president of the United States, so if you don't like the man, you have to respect the office. And democracy, or at least American democracy, is built on the notion that every four years you can vote anybody out. Of course, the president's not gonna be able to run again because there's a two-term limit. Most people don't know, during World War II, FDR, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, served four terms, and then the loyal opposition, the other party, said, 'No, you shouldn't be able to. We don't want kings here. We wanna be able [to have] term limits,' which I don't necessarily agree with, but so goes the people."

Simmons also talked about a shift in his political beliefs over the past few decades, explaining: "Well, look, I grew up very liberal as a kid, 'cause you don't know anything. You don't know that there's a thing called gravity and you gotta work for a living, 'cause you're living in your mother's basement. Like all the kids that used to go and try to shut down Wall Street were using cell phones to talk to their places, which was funded by Wall Street, while they're living in their mother's basement and while their parents are paying for their education. 'Let's shut the schools down.' So as long as you've got that cushion, you're not really in the real world. Once you're out on your own, you go, 'Oh, fuck, this is hard. I've gotta go, every day, whether I want to or not, and try to make money so I can buy food' and all this stuff… So I was very liberal, very, what's called a Democrat in America. I want nothing to do with that party now. Now that they've welcomed in a socialist Democrat, I'm done."

Confirming that he is referring to New York City mayor Zohran Mamdani, Gene continued: "I think [Mamdani is] a ethically good guy. I mean, I don't think he's gonna kill anybody, but I don't agree with his politics, and I think he sounds like, business-wise, a disaster. But you know what? I hope I'm wrong, and I wish him and anybody else who defines themselves as anything I don't agree with all the best in the world. Because there's a lot of room in America. But it says a lot about New Yorkers and L.A. It's the bastion of what's called the 'blue states'. Very liberal, very progressive, and so on. In the meantime, Texas and Florida are doing great. The crime is very low. They're making tons of money, and L.A.'s, and New York, [are in] deep trouble." (Editor's note: According to the office of California governor Gavin Newsom, a July 2026 analysis using U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis data shows California posted one of the nation's strongest quarterly growth results, far outpacing Texas and Florida, while reinforcing its position as the world's fourth-largest economy. California's economy grew at a 3.7% annualized pace in the first quarter of 2026 — its best quarterly growth ranking since 2013 and one of the fastest growth rates in the nation. Meanwhile, Texas grew just 0.9% and Florida 1.6% during the same period. According to the FBI's annual Reported Crimes in the Nation publication, which compiles data submitted by more than 17,000 law enforcement agencies covering roughly 96 percent of the U.S. population, California, the most populous state, reported the largest volume of violent crimes in 2025, with 157,828 offenses, followed by Texas with 103,827 and New York with 69,274. California's violent crime rate stood at 402.6 per 100,000 residents, compared with 331.3 in Texas and 383.4 in New York. Florida reported 42,034 violent crimes in 2025, placing it among the states with the largest numbers of reported violent offenses.)

Asked by Gold why he thinks "socialist policies so popular with people on the left", Simmons said: "I think they're — and I can now say 'they' because of the new woke socialist Democratic Party, I want nothing to do with, and I wish everybody well. I think they're trying to figure out why they had their asses handed to them by Donald J. Trump. Couldn't figure it out."

After Gold noted that Democrats will be back in power at some point, Simmons said: "I don't know. I think if you keep pulling on the shirt sleeves of wanting things that middle America doesn't want, they're not gonna want that when it affects their kids. The nuclear family is still the backbone of ethics, morality and otherwise in America, even though the nuclear family's broken. But you wanna think apple pie, mom and dad, and all that. At least it's to be aspired to. And then there are other lifestyles. There's they, them. There are men that believe they can give birth and all that. And I say, 'God bless. Good luck.' Just have to figure out whether it comes through a little pee hole or the backside. 'Cause other than cutting yourself, I don't know how you're gonna give birth. But I'm all for it. I think you should go for it. I don't think anybody should go to your face and criticize you. I might think you're out of your fucking mind, but I'm not gonna go to your face and say that. It's unkind."

According to The New York Times, Trump's approval rating has been below 40 percent for months, with Democrats now registering a 10-percentage-point advantage over Republicans when voters are asked which party they identify with and when independent voters are asked which party they lean toward.

According to Ballotpedia, Trump's approval rating for the 84th week of his second term was 39.7%. At this point during his first term, his approval rating was 43%. Joe Biden's approval rating at the same point in his term was 41.9%.

During the aforementioned June 2026 appearance on "We'll Do It LIVE", Simmons said that it is fine to "love or hate" Trump, but that "you have to recognize the fact that 'of the people, for the people, by the people' means that the people have spoken. He won the election by millions, and the electoral college as well. End of story. You don't like it, you can wait until the next election and vote your conscience. [Editor's note: Trump won 77,302,580 votes, or 49.8 percent of the votes cast for president in the 2024 U.S. presidential election. Kamala Harris won 75,017,613 votes or 48.3 percent of the votes cast.]

Gene continued: "When I was growing up, nobody ever asked me, 'Who did you vote for?' What do you mean, 'Who did you vote for?' Who are you, and what business is it of yours who I vote for? There used to be a curtain. You went behind it. You pulled the curtain because it was nobody's business. You vote your conscience. Leave politics out of it when we sit around and break bread.

"I can break bread with anybody in this, other than Nazis, who completely disagree [with me]. Well, keep your feelings to yourself, and your power is the voting booth."

Asked if the Bruce Springsteen point of view regarding Trump — Springsteen has called Trump "reckless, racist, incompetent" and "treasonous" — is one that is prevalent within the music industry, Gene said: "Oh, yeah. On the [part of the] performers, not the audience."

After O'Reilly said that he puts that "on the agents and the bookers" who pressure the artists to "think a certain way to get in the clubs" that they are booking, Gene said: "I'm not sure if that's accurate, but I will say the lay of the land, I notice, is mostly they are... In the same way that if you go to California, it is a blue state. It's mostly Democrat, and as you get to the major cities, it's mostly progressive, far left Democrats. I mean, the runoff now in the Democratic Party [in California] are two people who I wouldn't vote for if you paid me for it. On the other hand, if you paid me enough, I might consider [it]… I think Steve [Hilton] should be the next governor [of California]."

Simmons clarified: "I'm not beholden to any political point of view or anything. I'm about issues, which is why I have friends from every area. I do business with all kinds of people. If I only did business with people who are Republicans and so on, it wouldn't make financial sense because people of all political beliefs do business. So business is not what your political beliefs are. It's whether or not we can both have a win-win relationship."

When O'Reilly noted that a "monolith has developed in the entertainment industry" whereby musicians, actors and directors tend to promote a progressive or liberal point of view, Simmons said: "It will swing. The pendulum swings… There's no question, because you've seen how politics — sometimes the far left takes a hold and the pendulum goes this way, and sometimes Republicans get into government and so on. And so laws keep changing state to state."

Gene continued: "People on both sides of the fence, I believe, have gone to the extreme so that it's 'my party says this is the way to do it. If you don't march along with exactly these things…' Which is why I'm much more a free thinker and closer to the center. On certain areas, I agree with either party. I'm a firm believer that the [Mexico] wall should be built. Absolutely. The previous Pope was a nice man and so on, I respected him, said that it's inhumane to have a wall between Mexico and America. Except for the fact that the Vatican has a massive wall around it for the same reason that we should. Border security. You wanna know who's coming into your border. Not that they shouldn't. Do it through the legal system."

Asked if his "freedom of intellectual thought" has cost him any work, Gene said: "Yeah. There's such a thing as being canceled."I didn't always agree with my mother, and I would give my life for my mother," Simmons explained. "This idea of always agreeing with somebody is lunacy. Sometimes they're wrong — for you."

Pressed to give examples of when his opinions cost him work, Simmons said: "There were maybe two or three shows where somebody asked me on camera locally, as I'm doing interviews, 'What do you think of the president?' And I said, 'I don't have any problem getting the Kennedy Center Awards at all. He's the president of these United States, and he was legally voted into power. And if you don't like the man, you can at least respect the presidency.' And this idea of just banding about 'Trump this' and 'Trump that'. No, it's President Trump, just like a doctor. I don't like my doctor, but he's a doctor. Doctor so-and-so. And that was not a popular sentiment."

Asked if anybody confronted him on it, Gene said: "Yes, I lost those two or three shows."

In a separate interview with Newsmax's "Ed Henry The Big Take", Gene elaborated on his viral remarks in which he told celebrities lecturing their fans on political issues to "shut their pie hole." He said: "Well, look, I have a different point of view about politicians. I do want them to speak up because I don't trust any of them. I don't care what part of the aisle. Your self-mandate is to get re-elected, so you will tend to say things that your potential voters might wanna hear… But if you're a celebrity, basically shut your pie hole — or the Joint Chiefs of Staff should sit down with Kylie Jenner, who I admire and who has got a billion dollars in her bank account; she's got a new lip gloss, we should find out what to do in Iran and body politic because she's famous, you see. And that makes about as much sense as asking a guy who sticks his tongue out for a living what he thinks about the body politic or politicians. Basically, shut your pie hole. We don't care."

Asked what his "inspiration" was for his original comments, which were first reported by TMZ, Gene said: "Well, look, I'm a legal immigrant, because there is a difference, and I live in the most enchanting place on the face of the planet. I was born in the Promised Land, but trust me, I'm the embodiment of the American Dream way beyond anything I ever dreamed of. And this country iis messy. Democracy is messy. One side is trying to get the goat of the other side and so on. So I don't subscribe, by the way, to the notion of red states and blue states because this president, who I knew before he became political, in clubs and just had enough face time with him to know that he believes in an America that is not blue or red. In fact, the president won most of the states, the popular vote and the electoral vote, so you can't say it's a red state or a blue state. People make up their minds about issues and vote their conscience. And so I believe there is no difference between red or blue. There is a difference between people who are delusional and can't... Well, I can't talk about they, them, or anything else 'cause people get so upset about everything. Everybody's upset about everything. I don't care."

Simmons, who appeared with Trump on the first season of "Celebrity Apprentice" in 2008, previously called Trump "good for the political system" in a 2016 interview with Rolling Stone.

"He is the truest political animal I've ever seen onstage," Simmons said at the time. "He has no speechwriters, no editing, no nothing. He's actually on tape going 'motherfucker.' You cannot turn away.… He has said some very vile, unkind things. But don't kid yourself. He speaks off the cuff, and what you see is what you get. And he'll double down."

Added Simmons: "He's not there to be your friend…. He's good for the political system."

Gene later offered a different assessment of Trump, telling Spin magazine in May 2022 about the president's first term: "I knew him before he entered politics. Look what that gentleman did to this country and the polarization — got all the cockroaches to rise to the top. Once upon a time, you were embarrassed to be publicly racist and out there with conspiracy theories. Now it's all out in the open because he allowed it."

Referencing his appearance on "The Apprentice", Simmons told the magazine being president is a very different job than hosting a game show. "You have a different responsibility when you're just a citizen or an entrepreneur. You don't make policy," he said. "It doesn't affect life and death. When you get into a position of power, it does affect lives. I don't think he's a Republican or a Democrat. He's out for himself, any way you can get there. And in the last election, over 70 million people bought it hook, line and sinker."

In a new interview with KOMO News' Molly Shen, guitarist Kim Thayil discussed the album he and the other surviving members of SOUNDGARDEN are working on featuring previously unreleased recordings they made with late frontman Chris Cornell before his 2017 death. Thayil, drummer Matt Cameron and bassist Ben Shepherd are collaborating with producer Terry Date, who previously helmed SOUNDGARDEN's "Louder Than Love" (1989) and "Badmotorfinger" (1991) LPs. Kim said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "It was very different from other records. You don't start at one point with song ideas and demos and kind of record the drums and build it. We kind of had to work in a different direction. We had to build our performances. I mean, the songs were by and large done, but the recordings and the performances weren't, except for what we had with the vocals and some drums. So then we had to just kind of... It was very forensic in nature. We'd kind of have to tear it all apart and kind of piece it back together. And, again, spending a lot of time in the studio listening to the material is both... It's a great pleasure. It presented a lot of enthusiasm, an opportunity for us, but it's also a little bit difficult. And you're constantly balancing the responsibility and duty towards the material and towards a beloved friend's work and our work together. So it was very unusual. It was a strange thing to do. And I know that we're not the only people that have had to explore the work and the relationships with it in a similar situation."

Asked if he has a favorite song out of these new ones, Kim said: "That's always changing. I think we've been working on this, on and off, for a few years, and I think every song has been my favorite at some point."

Regarding what fans can expect from the new SOUNDGARDEN material, Kim said: "I think all the material is, like much of our material, it's… There are quirky elements. It's very introspective, perhaps more introspective than... I mean, all of our work has been somewhat that way, but this is a little bit more so. And if you can imagine a lullaby paired with psychedelia, that's kind of what's going on there."

As for when the new SOUNDGARDEN LP will see the light of day, Kim said: "We don't [have a release date yet]. We're dealing with the record label, trying to work out contractual understandings. And you have to think about the promotion, the production... So we have to work all that out and coordinate it with ourselves, management, the record label, and all those processes are in motion. And again, it's very different. I mean, it's been so many years, a lot of these contractual obligations expired, so we have to kind of work them out again."

Mixing sessions for the new SOUNDGARDEN album recently took place with Joe Barresi, a producer, engineer and mixer who as previously worked with AVENGED SEVENFOLD, VOLBEAT, SLIPKNOT, MONSTER MAGNET, BAD RELIGION and many, many other big rock acts.

In 2010, SOUNDGARDEN reunited for new tour and released a new album, "King Animal", on November 13, 2012. The band effectively split up again following Cornell's death in May 2017.

This past May, Kim told LifeMinute editor-in-chief Joann Butler about SOUNDGARDEN's upcoming LP: "This material has been in existence for over 10 years in some cases, 14, 15 years. It was in various stages of writing, sharing, learning, recording. So what we need to do is finish that process, and most of the process, most of the writing had been complete. So it's mostly about recording. There were things that had been demoed by me, by Matt, by Chris, by Ben. But, again, demo. They're very rough. They're sketches. You start with a little pencil sketch, and you fill it in with whatever, chalks or oils or pastels. And that's what we have to do, is finish the sketches. And we're in that process. It is atypical in the way we approach it. There isn't a record label budgeting time and money, with a particular schedule. With everybody else's obligations, professionally or with family or whatever, we have to find the time and coordinate amongst ourselves to address the work. And it's being addressed."

He added: "It's very, very important to all of us. It's important for the legacy of SOUNDGARDEN. It's important for the legacy of Chris Cornell. It is doing right by our collective work. It is doing right by our partner and friend."

Cornell is credited as a writer on all eight songs which are expected to appear on SOUNDGARDEN's upcoming album, receiving sole credit on two, "Cancer" and "Stone Age Mind". He wrote "Road Less Traveled", "Orphans" and "At Ophians Door" with Cameron; "Ahead Of The Dog" with Thayil; and "Merrmas" with Shepherd.

in November 2025, SOUNDGARDEN joined the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame class of 2025 in the Performer category. The Seattle grunge legends were first nominated for the Rock Hall in 2020, and were on the ballot again in 2023 before finally being chosen for induction last year.

Thayil, Cameron, Cornell and Shepherd were included in the induction, as was original bassist Hiro Yamamoto, who was with SOUNDGARDEN from 1984 to 1989 and played on the band's first two EPs and first two albums.

SOUNDGARDEN's three surviving members performed during the event, alongside guest vocalists Taylor Momsen and Brandi Carlile in place of Cornell. The set also featured appearances by PEARL JAM's Mike McCready and ALICE IN CHAINS' Jerry Cantrell.

Last month, SOUNDGARDEN announced it will reunite to play halftime of the Seattle Seahawks' season opener on Wednesday, September 9 against the New England Patriots at Seattle's Lumen Field. The surviving members of the band will be joined by Momsen and McCready, who will once again fill Cornell's shoes.

Momsen also previously joined SOUNDGARDEN for performances at a pair of tribute concerts, including the 2019 "I Am The Highway" event in Los Angeles.

Back in September 2014, SOUNDGARDEN played a six-song set at the north plaza of Lumen Field (then known as CenturyLink Field) before the Seahawks' 36-16 win over the Green Bay Packers.

Legendary VAN HALEN drummer Alex Van Halen has called the band's former singer Sammy Hagar a "complete idiot".

The 73-year-old Alex made the comment earlier this year while speaking to Brazilian music journalist Marcelo Vieira, who translated Van Halen's "Brothers" memoir into Portuguese for the Brazilian market.

During Marcelo's chat with Alex, which was published in issue 293 of the long-running Brazilian magazine Roadie Crew, the drummer was asked about some of the other VAN HALEN-related books, such as David Lee Roth's 1997 autobiography "Crazy From The Heat" and Hagar's "Red: My Uncensored Life In Rock", which was released in 2011. About Roth's book, Alex said (as translated from Portuguese): "It's quite fun and accurately reflects [David's] sense of humor. Although the text is somewhat abstract and loses its train of thought at times, it's still a very interesting perspective on that era." Alex was less complimentary when it came to his opinion of Sammy, saying that he had no interest in reading "Red: My Uncensored Life In Rock". "I don't know what he wrote, and I don't wanna know," Alex said. "In my opinion, Sammy Hagar is a complete idiot."

Back in June 2021, Hagar was asked by Brazil's "Inside With Paulo Baron" Internet show if there were any things that he left out of "Red: My Uncensored Life In Rock" that he thinks he should have put it or any stories that he included that he later wished he hadn't. He responded in part: "More than anything, because of the untimely and tragic death of Eddie Van Halen, I apologize from the bottom of my heart for exposing his dark side to where I don't think anyone wants to hear that now, and, unfortunately, it's in the book. And it's true — it's all true. It's not like I have to say, 'Oh, I was lying' — no, no, no. If I wrote the book today, I would only put the good of Eddie Van Halen, because he was such a brilliant, genius guitar player and such a great friend and a great partner — until everything went wrong, like everything else. Anybody's that's been divorced or broke up with your girlfriend or your boyfriend, you know how it goes. Happy endings aren't always the case in a relationship. [Eddie and I] had a happy ending — thank God — but before that, it wasn't a happy ending of the band. But thank God we got it back together."

When journalist Regis Tadeu pointed out that it's important to expose the dark side sometimes because it's "reality," Sammy said: "No one knew a lot of that about Eddie, but they'd see him on stage and they would think, 'Why is he acting like that?' And I would say, 'Well, you should have seen what happened backstage. Holy fuck!' If we'd have known he was sick then, then I would have understood and I would have been a little more, 'Hey, Ed, come on,' try to reel him in. But he was impossible. He was on a track of just wild. It was tough."

Hagar added: "He was the sweetest guy in the world when I met him. When Eddie Van Halen walked into my dressing room in that show in Anaheim Stadium with BOSTON and BLACK SABBATH, that was one of the sweetest people, most humble human beings I've ever met in my life. I thought, 'How can this guy play so badass and be that humble?' I thought, 'It's impossible. He must have a fire inside of him that he's not showing.' And when that fire came out, it was quite the fire — a freakin' volcano."

Hagar replaced David Lee Roth in VAN HALEN in 1985 and recorded four studio albums with the band — "5150", "OU812", "For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge" and "Balance" — all of which topped the U.S. chart.

Sammy, Eddie, Alex and Michael last teamed up in 2004 for a U.S. summer tour. In exchange for taking part in the tour, Anthony reportedly had to agree to take a pay cut and sign away his rights to the band name and logo.

In "Red: My Uncensored Life In Rock", Hagar slammed Eddie, saying the guitarist was unkempt, hunched over, frighteningly skinny, drinking wine straight out of a bottle, missing part of his tongue (after a cancer scare) and several teeth. He told an interviewer in 2012: "What happened on that reunion tour in '04 was some of the most miserable, back-stabbing dark crap I've ever been involved with my whole life."

In a 2015 interview with Rolling Stone, Eddie questioned an "embellished" portion of "Red: My Uncensored Life In Rock" that painted the guitarist as a "very angry drunk" during the group's 2004 reunion tour.

In an April 2025 interview with Rolling Stone, Hagar spoke about his relationship with Alex Van Halen, who hadn't spoken with Hagar in 25 years, and refused to even mention Sammy by name in "Brothers". Regarding why there has been no communication between the two in the last couple of decades, Sammy said: "I've had this conversation with a few people, including [former VAN HALEN manager] Irving Azoff. I've asked him, 'What's the problem?' And some people have said to me, 'Oh, Cabo Wabo. At one time, VAN HALEN, when you built it, you guys were all partners in that. And then they didn't want it anymore when it was losing money, and they gave it to you, and you turned it around and made hundreds of millions of dollars on it. And they're angry. Alex is angry about that.' To that I said, 'How the fuck could they be angry about that? They gave me the damn thing, they walked out on me, left me with it. And they made me indemnify them in case I got sued and lost everything. They made me sign off big time.' And I'm going, 'I hope it's not that.'"

Referencing "Red: My Uncensored Life In Rock", Sammy continued: "The book has been brought up. The book was honest. It was well documented that Eddie was a mess on that tour. But I don't want to drag Eddie through no coals now. That's just water under the bridge.

"I think Al's angry because I'm out doing it, and Mike [Anthony, former VAN HALEN bassist] and I are out doing it, and he can't," Hagar added. "He's not a singer. He's not a guitar player. He is not really a band leader. And he seems like he doesn't want to play drums or can't play drums anymore, and he can't go write a new record. Alex wasn't the songwriter in the band. He was the drummer. Eddie and I wrote the songs. Dave [Lee Roth] and Eddie wrote the songs, and so we can go out and do them. And I think that really bothers him that Mike and I are still out there doing it. I would feel bad. If I put myself in his shoes, I would feel terrible if I couldn't do it anymore. But I'm the happiest guy out of all of them. That pisses people off in itself. Being too happy, people don't like that."

When interviewer Andy Greene noted that Alex has had real health issues and has reasons to feel bitter, Sammy said: "Yeah, I'd say so. And I'm okay with it. Al, you're fine. Just leave me alone. I'll leave you alone. Everything's good. I'm making you money, by the way, Al. I'm out there selling VAN HALEN records and keeping the name alive, keeping the music alive."

In December 2024, Alex Van Halen was asked by Bringing It Back To The Beatles why he made "the conscientious decision" to end his book, "Brothers", in 1984 and not cover any of the band's later years. He responded: "Because the original band was the band that was the driving force. That was the connection between the disparate parts of the musical world, if you will. And we were young. The first record going platinum — it's incredible. That's something you can really never expect to happen again. Later on, it was different — that's for another book — but the excitement and the confusion and the groping in the dark, if you will, and all the mistakes that we made, and all the B.S. we had to endure, and then to recognize at the very end, maybe we had one more record in us, it was very… You can't take it back, but those are the things that are in the back of your head. The old expression of, if you don't go over the edge, then you can't come back. You have to go too far to come back in. Does that make sense? Unfortunately, we're human and we made some bad choices. The US Festival, for instance, was just a clusterfuck. Nobody knew what the hell was going on. All we said was, 'You make sure you have enough power, and we'll play.' That's it."

When the interviewer noted that this attitude is "true rock and roll," Alex concurred. "Bingo. That's exactly right," he said. "You just hit the nail on the head. After that, that's why the book ends in 1984, because that was true rock and roll. After that, it became much more — I don't know; I can't explain it. But it's not to say that it was not any good. We always did our best at whatever we were doing, but it wasn't the same."

He added earlier in the interview: "I think I picked up where Ed left off in terms of saying… His example was that we were actually happier playing in clubs than we were when we hit the so-called big time, because in the clubs you weren't quite sure what you were doing, you could, at the drop of a hat, change directions, you can play anything you want and there's nobody that holds you accountable or they have expectations of any sort. You just go on and you play. And it's intimate. You're right there, two feet away. People are right there in front of your face. And that kind of goes away when you get to the place where you have five lines of security people. And we always kept it to a minimum, but nonetheless, that was the soup du jour."

Two months earlier, Alex gave a slightly different answer to USA Today when asked about his decision to end the book when VAN HALEN's original singer David Lee Roth first quit the band 41 years ago.

"For me, the spirit of the band ended in 1984," Alex said. "We did good work after that, but the primary spiritual aspect, the magic, the potential, the looking to the future together, all of that stuff, our mutually strange backgrounds — that's what made VAN HALEN. Ed and I were outsiders. Dave was an outsider. Those kinds of intangible things make the fabric of how we were tied together."

"Brothers" ignores Sammy Hagar's stint with VAN HALEN, as well as that of EXTREME vocalist Gary Cherone, and even VAN HALEN's reunion with Roth that started in 2007.

"What happened after Dave left is not the same band," Alex told Billboard. "I'm not saying it was better or worse or any of that. The fact is Ed and I did our best work whenever we played. We always gave it our best shot. But the magic was in the first years, when we didn't know what we were doing, when we were willing to try anything."

Alex also explained his refusal to participate in the ongoing "The Best Of All Worlds" tour that focuses largely on the music of VAN HALEN. The trek features Hagar and former VAN HALEN bassist Michael Anthony, along with guitarist Joe Satriani and drummer Kenny Aronoff.

"The Best Of All Worlds" initially came more than two years after Satriani revealed that he was approached about participating in a VAN HALEN tribute show with Alex and David Lee Roth. That project never got off the ground, reportedly because Roth was "holding up" getting everything approved.

In the Billboard interview, Alex said about why he was not responsive when Hagar and Anthony reached out about him taking part in some way in "The Best Of All Worlds": "I'm not interested. They're not doing the band justice. They can do what they want to do. That's not my business."

In a separate interview with Rolling Stone, Alex didn't even utter Hagar's name. "The heart and the soul and the creativity and the magic was Dave, Ed, Mike and me," he said. In the book, his only acknowledgment of the "Van Hagar" era reportedly came in the line, "We had a lot of other singers over the years."

Hagar mended his relationship with Eddie Van Halen months prior to the legendary VAN HALEN guitarist's October 2020 passing.

Sammy Hagar photo credit: Leah Steiger

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BLUE MEDUSA, the new band led by former ARCH ENEMY and THE AGONIST vocalist Alissa White-Gluz, made its live debut on Friday, September 4 as one of the headliners of the Corrupted Blood Club Show at Huxleys Neue Welt in Berlin, Germany.

The organizer of the Corrupted Blood Club Show, Maximilian "HandOfBlood" Knabe, kept the lineup and event concept under wraps until the very last minute — even though the event had already sold out in November after just one day. On Friday evening, the show surprised the audience with international secret headliners BLUE MEDUSA, HEAVEN SHALL BURN and KREATOR, as well as a series of major announcements regarding Corrupted Blood Records. The livestream of the event drew a total of 295,000 unique viewers, most of whom were from Germany, France and the United Kingdom.

The livestream of the Corrupted Blood Club Show was hosted by White-Gluz. She guided the audience through the evening at the sold-out Huxleys Neue Welt, which could also be watched via livestream on Twitch. At one point, the show was featured on the Twitch homepage in Germany, France, and the United Kingdom.

White-Gluz is joined in BLUE MEDUSA by guitarists Alyssa Day (MINDSCAR, ABSENTIA) and Dani Sophia (ex-Till Lindemann). Bassist Alicia Vigil (DRAGONFORCE, VIGIL OF WAR) and drummer Delaney Jaster (STITCHED UP HEART) are also taking part in BLUE MEDUSA's live shows.

Upcoming BLUE MEDUSA tour dates:

2026

Sep. 18 - Louder Than Life Festival - Louisville, KY
Oct. 02 - Aftershock Festival - Sacramento, CA

2027

July 28-31 - Wacken Open Air - Wacken, Germany
Aug. 11-14 - Leyendas Del Rock - Villena, Spain
Aug. 18-21 - Summer Breeze Open Air - Dinkelsbühl, Germany

BLUE MEDUSA has released three singles so far: "Crocodile", "Checkmate" and "Flying Monkey".

At this year's Wacken Open Air, Alissa spent her birthday weekend appearing across three different stages, including joining Bear McCreary to perform their original collaboration "Our Kingdom", the official Wacken anthem. She also appeared with Doyle Wolfgang Von Frankenstein for a special signing session at Summer Breeze.

At Sonic Temple and Welcome To Rockville, Alissa stepped up to front DRAGONFORCE, delivering two electrifying performances. She has also made multiple surprise appearances with ICE NINE KILLS throughout Europe and North America, including at Rock Am Ring, Rock Im Park, Stuttgart, Heavy Week-End, Inkcarceration and Rock The Park. At Hellfest, Alissa performed a special acoustic set with SAVAGE LANDS before making another surprise appearance alongside SEPULTURA during "Kaiowas".

Alongside these appearances, Alissa has continued developing BLUE MEDUSA, and a growing series of unexpected collaborations that have kept fans guessing throughout the year. She will front DRAGONFORCE once again for their "Inhumane Rampage" anniversary tour this fall in North America, concluding a year that proves Alissa knows exactly how to excite the metal world and intrigue the music industry. And with huge festival appearances already announced for 2027 — and more dates to be announced soon — Alissa shows no sign of slowing down.

White-Gluz, former vocalist of Canadian extreme metallers THE AGONIST, joined ARCH ENEMY in 2014 as the replacement for Angela Gossow.

ARCH ENEMY released four studio albums with White-Gluz on vocals: "War Eternal" (2014),"Will To Power" (2017),"Deceivers" (2022) and "Blood Dynasty" (2025).

Throughout her career, the now-41-year-old Alissa has consistently used her music as a vehicle for social change, addressing pressing issues such as environmental conservation, veganism, and the ethical treatment of animals.

ARCH ENEMY played its final show with White-Gluz at the closing concert of the band's European "Blood Dynasty" 2025 tour with AMORPHIS, ELUVEITIE and GATECREEPER on November 15, 2025 in Düsseldorf, Germany.

TWISTED SISTER played its second concert with ex-SKID ROW singer Sebastian Bach Friday night (September 4) at the Alaska State Fair in Palmer, Alaska. The show featured TWISTED SISTER's new touring lineup, consisting of Bach on lead vocals, Jay Jay French and Eddie Ojeda on guitar, Russell Pzütto on bass, and Joey Cassata on drums.

According to Setlist.fm, the setlist for the gig was as follows:

01. What You Don't Know (Sure Can Hurt You)
02. You Can't Stop Rock 'N' Roll
03. We're Gonna Make It
04. Shoot 'Em Down
05. Tear It Loose
06. Destroyer
07. The Kids Are Back
08. Like A Knife In The Back
09. Ride To Live, Live To Ride
10. Under The Blade
11. The Beast
12. Burn In Hell
13. The Price
14. I Remember You (SKID ROW song)
15. I Wanna Rock
16. Youth Gone Wild (SKID ROW song)
17. We're Not Gonna Take It

Fan-filmed video of the concert can be seen below.

TWISTED SISTER played its first concert with Bach on August 28 at the Starland Ballroom in Sayreville, New Jersey. The show was originally announced as a performance by BENT BROTHER — TWISTED SISTER's alter ego — before it started being officially promoted as the debut live appearance of TWISTED SISTER's new touring lineup.

TWISTED SISTER will play an additional ten shows this fall, including tonight (Sunday, September 6) at the L.B. Day Amphitheater at the Oregon State Fair in Salem, Oregon.

In a March 2026 interview with Meltdown of Detroit's WRIF radio station, Bach spoke about being chosen to front TWISTED SISTER for the band's fall 2026 shows after iconic vocalist Dee Snider resigned from TWISTED SISTER due to "health challenges". Sebastian said: "I am a fan of TWISTED SISTER. And I'll tell you right now, I'm probably a bigger fan of TWISTED SISTER than anybody watching this. I love that band. I used to go see them whenever I could. And I really love the album 'You Can't Stop Rock 'N' Roll' with songs like 'The Kids Are Back', 'Ride To Live, Live To Ride'. I love the 'Under The Blade' album. I love 'Shoot 'Em Down', 'Destroyer', 'Tear It Loose'. I mean, I love 'I Wanna Rock', I love 'We're Not Gonna Take It', but there's an earlier period of that band where they were one of the most ferocious rock bands that you will ever see. And if you saw them back then, you know what I'm talking about."

Bach continued: "When they were a club band, they would come out there like a punk rock band or a total thrash metal band. I mean, if you listen to their version of 'It's Only Rock 'N' Roll (But I Like It)' by THE ROLLING STONES, it's like a speed metal tempo… Well, that's the kind of energy that I'm gonna bring. I mean, I'm not no spring chicken, but I still have a lot of energy when I get on the stage. And I'm going to give you guys fun and energy in TWISTED SISTER.

"I'm the lead singer of TWISTED SISTER," Sebastian added. "How much fun is that to say? I love saying that, so I'm really looking forward to it. I will also say that I'll never stop singing the [classic SKID ROW] songs '18 And Life', 'I Remember You', 'Youth Gone Wild', 'Monkey Business', 'Slave To The Grind' — I'll never stop doing that. So I'm not stopping my solo band. I'm continuing my solo band, but I'm doing shows with TWISTED SISTER that are bigger than my solo band. So it's a step up for me. I'll have a nicer dressing room and stuff. [Laughs]

"So … I'm looking forward to rocking out with TWISTED SISTER, because I love the music. And you cannot even challenge me on do I love the [music]. I really do love the music. So you can't fake love — and I love TWISTED SISTER."

During an appearance on the March 3, 2026 episode of SiriusXM's "Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk", Bach stated about how he was recruited to front TWISTED SISTER: "Well, I have tears in my eyes right now. I am SMF Number Two. I was named that by Dee Snider. And I just have to say, I just got off the phone with Dee Snider. We talked for about 45 minutes, and we were both kind of getting teary eyed.

"I just put out a [solo] record called 'Child Within The Man', and one of my favorite all-time bands is TWISTED SISTER," Bach explained. "And the music of TWISTED SISTER makes me feel like a child within the man. This is what I was talking about on my new record, how rock and roll music, it has a life of its own. You're talking to a guy here — I used to go to school and I used to paint the TWISTED SISTER logo on the back of my jacket in liquid paper thinking that looked cool [laughs] — whiteout. [Laughs] So I am a real fan — I am a fan of this music, and that is really, number one, why I'm doing it. And also to honor the legacy of these songs. And I look at it like when Paul Rodgers came in [to sing] for QUEEN, or when [GUNS N' ROSES frontman] Axl [Rose] came in for Brian Johnson [in AC/DC]. I am a fan of TWISTED SISTER and I always have been, and I love this music. I love it. I love 'Tear it Loose'. I love 'Destroyer'. I love 'The Price'. I mean, you talk about [classic SKID ROW songs like] '18 And Life' and 'I Remember You'. Well, you know what? I locked myself in a room rehearsing to 'The Price'. And these songs are how I learned how to rock."

Asked for more details of his conversation with Snider, Bach said: "I said, 'I'm calling you in 10 minutes.' He goes, 'Okay.' And I called him and he goes, 'SMF Number Two.' 'Cause he's always called me that. I'm a sick motherfucker. I'm a sick motherfucking fan of TWISTED SISTER. And he's always called me Number Two. Of course, he's number one. And so I go, 'Well, I guess I really am SMF Number Two.' And then I asked him, what did the doctor say to him? And he's, like, 'No problem. I'll tell you.' He says that he has arthritis, that his knees are going out, and he has bone on bone. And the doctor said that he should not be jumping around. And he goes, 'Well, that's not an option,' 'cause he wants to do the full show moving around and stuff, and the doctor said, 'You can't do it.' So he said, 'You have my full blessing.' He goes, 'I love you.' I told him I loved him, and we were, like, teary eyed. And he told me that his family was crying when he said he couldn't do the tour. I asked him, 'Hey, you wanna come out and jam with us?' He goes, 'Yeah.' He goes, 'Yeah.' So maybe he'll be at some of these gigs on stage with us. Who knows? I don't know if that's gonna happen or not. But it's tough getting older — it's tough for everybody getting older, and I'm a lot younger. [Laughs]"

Sebastian went on to say that it was important to him to get Dee's stamp of approval before proceeding. "That's a sign of respect," he said. "I respect Dee Snider, I respect Jay Jay French, I respect Eddie Ojeda, I respect [former TWISTED SISTER members] A.J. Pero, Mark Mendoza, the whole team. And I've always been a serious fan — like, really serious. I don't just like the hits of TWISTED SISTER. I like 'Like A Knife In The Back'. I like the heavy TWISTED SISTER. And I love 'I Wanna Rock'. I love 'The Price'. 'The Price' is one of my favorite TWISTED SISTER songs. I love 'We're Not Gonna Take It'. But the album 'You Can't Stop Rock 'N' Roll', I would probably say, is my favorite one."

Pzütto, who had previously toured with Snider's solo projects, has replaced bassist Mark "The Animal" Mendoza on bass. Joe Franco, who briefly played with the group in the mid-1980s, was supposed to sit behind the drum kit, stepping in for A.J. Pero, who passed away in 2015 at the age of 55. However, Franco is not available to play the fall 2026 shows and is being replaced by Cassata, who played drums on Ace Frehley's final original solo album, "10,000 Volts".

Speaking to "Trunk Nation" about TWISTED SISTER's current touring lineup, Jay Jay said: "In the 53-year history of the band, we've had 20 people who've been in and out of TWISTED SISTER. We've had five singers, we've had three bass players, we've had four guitar players and we've had nine drummers. Half of them are dead. It's a very tough business to be a drummer with TWISTED SISTER. But we had an amazing history of the band, and this is just a continuation of the history. And the thing is the music always survives. They said Steve Perry could never have been replaced in JOURNEY. And he was. That Freddie Mercury could never be replaced [in QUEEN]. And he was. And guess what? Baz is gonna be an unbelievable replacement.

"So it's me, Eddie Ojeda and Baz," French continued. "Joe Franco had signed on for the summer, and he wasn't available in the fall. And so Joey Cassata is gonna be on drums filling in for Joe, but if Joe Franco can make it, he definitely will. And Russ Pzütto, who has been our bass tech and has filled in for Mark in the past, will be playing bass. So Russ has been with the organization for years and years and years. He also played on Dee's solo projects. So that's basically the lineup."

Snider and Bach had publicly praised each other in 2020 after they had a disagreement on social media about whether the term "hair metal" was derogatory.

"I love Sebastian Bach!" Snider wrote on X (formerly Twitter). "During the darkest period of my career, he stood tall as a Dee Snider fan when few would. I will always be grateful to him for not caring what was 'cool' at the moment and speaking our proudly for the things he loved. Thank you SMF#2!"

Bach wrote in response: "I love Dee Snider. I will always love the music he has made. No matter how much Dee sees himself as 'hair metal,' I will always see him on a much higher level than that implies. He is one of the greatest frontmen and vocalists of all time. Any corny label less than that is an insult."

Three and a half years ago, TWISTED SISTER staged a one-off reunion at the Metal Hall Of Fame in Agoura Hills, California. On hand to be inducted into the Metal Hall Of Fame were Snider, French, Mendoza and drummer Mike Portnoy. Ojeda was absent from the event after contracting COVID-19; filling in for him was Keith Robert War. TWISTED SISTER played a highly charged three-song set consisting of the staples "You Can't Stop Rock 'N' Roll" and "Under The Blade", as well as the anthem "We're Not Gonna To Take It".

TWISTED SISTER's original run ended in the late '80s. After more than a decade, the band publicly reunited in November 2001 to top the bill of New York Steel, a hard-rock benefit concert to raise money for the New York Police And Fire Widows' And Children's Benefit Fund.

TWISTED SISTER frontman Dee Snider has once again blasted bands who embark on "bullshit" farewell tours. In a video message posted on his Facebook page, Dee said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Farewell tours that never end or that end and then the artist comes out of retirement a couple of short years later and starts touring again are complete and utter dogshit. I'm not gonna name names. We all know who the scumbags are."

Dee then clarified: "Listen, you don't gotta stop playing. I'm not telling you to go away. Stay forever. We don't want you to leave. Just don't announce a farewell tour, sell us the whole bullshit farewell package, 'No More Tours' t-shirt, and a program and the ticket prices, sign it in blood, and then come back a couple years later to just milk us dry again. That's fucked up."

In a separate video message, Dee called out bands who continue to tour despite the fact that they contain no members from their original or classic lineups. He said: "Somebody asked me what my feelings were about bands that are out there playing under a big band's name with no original members, and I said, 'Hard no.' I think it's completely fucked up, it's deceptive, it's misrepresentative. They're not saying, 'We're not the original members,' but they're introducing everybody in the band. But that's the problem with something they call the corporate rock bands. They're popular for their songs, but not really for the band members."

He continued: "If you don't have any members from the classic lineup — with at least one you can say, 'Well…' Like [QUIET RIOT's] Rudy Sarzo. Rudy's been through it all. If he wants to go out there, I am certainly not gonna criticize him. But the day Rudy leaves, stay the fuck off the road and keep that band's name outta your mouth."

After Dee received some pushback from fans about his comments about bands touring with no original members, he returned to his social media to respond: "You have got to be fucking kidding me. I am getting feedback from people on my post about bands with zero original members in the band trying to justify their positions. 'They inherited the name?' That doesn't make you a bandmember. My kids are gonna inherit the name TWISTED SISTER, and if they put together a band to go out as TWISTED SISTER with nobody from the original band, I will come back from the dead and haunt their sorry asses.

Dee continued. "Roadies who are defending bands they work for with no original members in the lineup, shut the fuck up. You're a roadie. Get a job with another band.

"'Well, baseball teams don't have the original members.' It's not a baseball team," Snider added. "It's a fucking rock and roll band, baby, and you have to have people, original people from the classic lineup have to be in there. What the fuck is wrong with people?"

Back in July 2020, Snider was asked for his opinion on the then-"current trend" of bands who come out of retirement for a new tour, such as MÖTLEY CRÜE and RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE. "I think it's bullshit," he said. "When you say farewell... RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE breaks up — that's not retirement. They broke up, and they reformed, and that's great. But when you do a farewell tour, and you announce this, and you sell tickets, and you have a t-shirt that says 'No More Tours' — thank you very much, Ozzy [Osbourne], I bought one of those — and then you come back, that's bullshit. So when you say, 'We're retiring,' people now don't take it seriously. So, you know, it's like a joke, and I think that a part of it is that these artists have nothing else going on. And I realize that — without playing, they have no career."

This past February, Snider abruptly resigned from TWISTED SISTER and canceled the metal act's 2026 reunion shows because he is unable to perform live due to health reasons. The run was set to mark TWISTED SISTER's first tour since 2016 — when the band embarked on what was billed to be their "Forty And Fuck It" farewell tour — and feature the band's three core members: Snider, founding guitarist (and longest-serving member) Jay Jay French and longtime lead guitarist Eddie Ojeda.

On August 28, TWISTED SISTER's new touring lineup played its first concert, consisting of French, Ojeda, ex-SKID ROW singer Sebastian Bach, Russell Pzütto on bass, and Joey Cassata on drums.

TWISTED SISTER will play an additional eleven shows this fall with the above-mentioned lineup.

Pzütto, who had previously toured with Snider's solo projects, has replaced bassist Mark "The Animal" Mendoza on bass. Joe Franco, who briefly played with the group in the mid-1980s, was supposed to sit behind the drum kit, stepping in for A.J. Pero, who passed away in 2015 at the age of 55. However, Franco is not available to play the fall 2026 shows and is being replaced by Cassata, who played drums on Ace Frehley's final original solo album, "10,000 Volts".

In a new interview with the And Now The Band podcast, Peter Tägtgren of long-running Swedish industrial metallers PAIN spoke about his plans for new PAIN music following the release of the band's latest single, "I Don't Give A Fukk", via Reigning Phoenix Music. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "In a couple of months there will be another video and another song, and I think it's gonna feature a guest maybe. And that's how it's gonna look like for the next year. Every two months there will be a video and single, except in the silly seasons where I'll fuck up. Nothing in December, because that's impossible. Mariah Carey's occupying the, the wavelines."

Peter continued: "We have, like, five more singles that I know of that's gonna go out, and I hope everything is gonna go right, because it's not only up to me. I have a lot of people involved now. So it's not only my will. But it looks like it's gonna be pretty cool, like [release a new single] every second month."

He added: "I don't know if these will feature on the [next PAIN] album yet. Maybe they are all standalone. They will feature other people on there as well. And every song sounds really different from the other one, so it's pretty cool."

Regarding the fact that all the new PAIN songs sound so different from each other, Peter said: "I really love it. I kind of adapt to things. I mean, if I hear something, it doesn't have to be a metal song or anything, if I hear a cool rhythm or a cool melody, it gets into my mind and then I try to do my own version of it, kind of, sometimes, if I hear something cool. But with this, 'I Don't Give A Fukk', I came up with when I was on my way into the shower, because I was watching the news and I was, like, 'I don't give a fuck anymore.' So there it is. And it was just stuck. So I had to develop that. The tricky part was the verses because I'm not a talk singer or a rapper or whatever you wanna call it. So that was the most weird shit. And also I had to write different kind of words than I normally use because here it had to be more sharp and more attack in them a little bit; otherwise it gets too muddy. And I had to open my mouth when I speak. So it was a little tricky in the beginning because I wanted to have someone else guesting, doing the verses, but, yeah, I couldn't get it any time so I decided, 'Okay, fuck it. I'll do it myself.' And I tried to pardon myself with the video that someone else is forcing me to do it."

The lyrics for "I Don't Give A Fukk" offer an unfiltered snapshot of a society consumed by political theater, distrust, manipulation and competing versions of reality. Provocative conspiracy imagery collides with accusations of hypocrisy and manufactured division, capturing the feeling of being surrounded by noise while no longer knowing whom or what to believe.

Co-written by Peter and his son, PAIN drummer Sebastian Tägtgren, the single continues the pair's growing creative partnership while taking the project into another unexpected corner of its sound.

Rather than offering easy answers, "I Don't Give A Fukk" delivers a release: a blunt refusal to participate in the madness.

When "I Don't Give A Fukk" was first made available in late August, Peter said in a statement: "I'm really curious to see how people react, and I'm stoked about the new single. As most of you know, I always try not to repeat myself, and this time I'm sure people will be wondering, 'What the hell is going on?' Sebastian and I wrote the song together, and lyrically I'm throwing my view of the world and of the last ten years right in your face. Hold on tight and get ready to smile."

For nearly three decades, PAIN has operated without boundaries, welding heavy metal, industrial electronics, infectious melodies, dark humor and Tägtgren's singular worldview into music that is as immediate as it is unpredictable. Following the release of PAIN's ninth studio album, "I Am", "I Don't Give A Fukk" strips that formula down to its most direct elements: a crushing groove, a provocative message and a hook that refuses to leave quietly.

For nearly three decades, PAIN has existed according to one simple rule: there are no rules. Created by Swedish musician, songwriter and producer Peter Tägtgren, PAIN began as an outlet for ideas that had nowhere else to go. By the mid-1990s, Tägtgren was already firmly established as the frontman of death metal band HYPOCRISY, but the music taking shape in his studio was moving in a very different direction. Electronics, programmed rhythms, heavy guitars, synthesizers and an increasingly sharp instinct for melody were colliding in ways that did not belong within HYPOCRISY. Instead of forcing those ideas to fit, Tägtgren built something new around them.

PAIN's self-titled debut arrived in 1997, with Tägtgren handling the vocals, instruments and production himself. That one-man approach established the foundation of PAIN and remains central to the project today. In the studio, PAIN is still driven overwhelmingly by Tägtgren's vision, giving him the freedom to follow an idea wherever it leads without worrying about genre boundaries or expectations. Onstage, that vision has grown into a formidable live band, currently featuring Peter Tägtgren on vocals and guitar, his son Sebastian Tägtgren on drums, Jonathan Olsson on bass and Sebastian Svalland on guitar.

From the beginning, PAIN offered something markedly different from the extreme metal that had first made Tägtgren's name. The aggression was still there, but now it shared space with electronics, danceable rhythms, huge choruses, bleak humor and a pop songwriter's understanding of how to make a hook stick. That collision became increasingly defined on 1999's "Rebirth" and then exploded with 2002's "Nothing Remains The Same", the album that produced "Shut Your Mouth", one of the defining songs of PAIN's career. What could have been a contradiction, industrial metal that was simultaneously crushing and instantly memorable, became the band's identity.

PAIN continued to evolve with "Dancing With The Dead". Released in 2005, the album pushed Tägtgren's combination of metallic weight and accessibility even further with tracks including "Same Old Song", "Bye/Die" and the title track. Behind the album was a frighteningly literal encounter with its central theme. Tägtgren had collapsed in a Swedish pub after his heart stopped for roughly two minutes, an experience he later connected directly to the writing of "Dancing With The Dead". The record reached No. 3 on the Swedish album chart and marked another major step in PAIN's growth.

By this point, it was clear that PAIN was not interested in repeating a formula. "Psalms Of Extinction" followed in 2007, expanding the palette again and bringing outside musicians into the studio, including MOTÖRHEAD drummer Mikkey Dee, CHILDREN OF BODOM's Alexi Laiho and IN FLAMES bassist Peter Iwers. A year later came "Cynic Paradise", which included guest vocals from then-NIGHTWISH singer Anette Olzon and produced enduring tracks such as "Follow Me" and "I'm Going In".

"You Only Live Twice" arrived in 2011, followed by "Coming Home" in 2016. The latter revealed another side of PAIN, bringing orchestral textures and acoustic elements into Tägtgren's industrial framework while retaining the hooks and heavy grooves at the center of the band's sound. By then, PAIN had long since developed from a studio experiment into an international touring act with its own unmistakable identity.

That identity has always been inseparable from Peter Tägtgren himself. Beyond PAIN and HYPOCRISY, Tägtgren has spent decades behind the desk as one of European metal's most recognized producers. Through his work at Abyss Studio, his production credits have included artists such as DIMMU BORGIR, IMMORTAL, AMON AMARTH, AMORPHIS, DARK FUNERAL, SABATON and CELTIC FROST. He also collaborated with RAMMSTEIN vocalist Till Lindemann in the project LINDEMANN, writing and performing the music for "Skills In Pills" and "F&M" before leaving the project in 2020. The breadth of that career helps explain PAIN's refusal to stay in one musical lane. For Tägtgren, production, songwriting and experimentation have never been separate disciplines. They are different parts of the same process.

After "Coming Home", a new PAIN album would take eight years to arrive, but the project was far from dormant. Tägtgren remained occupied with HYPOCRISY, LINDEMANN and other production and recording work. Then, in 2021, PAIN released "Party In My Head". The song became a phenomenon. Built around a massive electronic hook, a pounding beat and the kind of chorus that seemed designed to lodge itself permanently in the listener's brain, "Party In My Head" introduced PAIN to an enormous new audience while reconnecting with everything that had always made the project distinctive. According to PAIN's official biography, the track went on to surpass the streaming performance of longtime favorite "Shut Your Mouth", becoming one of the biggest songs in the band's catalog.

That momentum ultimately fed into "I Am", PAIN's ninth studio album, released through Nuclear Blast Records on May 17, 2024. Rather than settling into the sound of its breakthrough single, Tägtgren used the record to demonstrate just how elastic PAIN could still be. Industrial aggression, synth pop, melancholy, heavy grooves and melody coexist throughout the album, with songs including "Go With The Flow", "Push The Pusher", "Don't Wake The Dead", "Revolution", "Fair Game" and the title track moving through markedly different moods without losing the project's identity. Tägtgren described the goal as bringing more intensity, aggression and industrial atmosphere back into PAIN after the more expansive approach of "Coming Home".

"I Am" also marked an important development inside the PAIN camp. Sebastian Tägtgren, Peter's son and the band's drummer, wrote the music for "Revolution" and "Don't Wake The Dead" and served as a co-producer on the album. His growing creative role brought a new dimension to a project that had begun decades earlier as Peter alone in a studio.

Across nine studio albums, PAIN has built a catalog that refuses to separate heaviness from accessibility. "End Of The Line", "Shut Your Mouth", "Same Old Song", "Zombie Slam", "Follow Me", "Dirty Woman", "Coming Home", "Party In My Head" and "Go With The Flow" may come from different eras and approach the PAIN formula from different angles, but they share the same instinct: make it heavy, make it memorable and never become predictable.

That same instinct carries into the next chapter with "I Don't Give A Fukk", written by Peter and Sebastian Tägtgren. Musically direct and lyrically confrontational, the song takes aim at the anger, manipulation, division, distrust and information overload that Tägtgren sees in the world around him. It is deliberately provocative, irreverent and difficult to mistake for anything other than PAIN.

PAIN is:

Peter Tägtgren: vocals, guitar
Sebastian Tägtgren: drums
Jonathan Olsson: bass
Sebastian Svalland: guitar

In a new interview with Guitar World magazine, KISS guitarist Tommy Thayer confirmed that new music from the legendary rock band is in the works.

"We did record a great new song that Paul [Stanley, KISS guitarist/vocalist] wrote," Tommy said. "That's probably about as much as I can tell you right now."

"But KISS has always believed in making things an event," Thayer elaborated. "So whatever new music comes, it has to feel special and have a reason for existing. You don't make another KISS record just because you're supposed to make another KISS record."

This past May, KISS bassist/vocalist Gene Simmons told KISSbySienna about the band's new music: "KISS is in the studio now. So we just recorded a new song, as a matter of fact, that Paul wrote. I can't tell you more about it. And that'll be coming out at some point."

In April, Gene told Pollstar magazine that "new" KISS songs will be featured the upcoming avatar-based KISS show, which is tentatively scheduled to launch in Las Vegas in 2028. The as-yet unnamed KISS experience will be the first major entry into the U.S. market for Pophouse Entertainment, the Sweden-based music investment firm co-founded by ABBA's Björn Ulvaeus.

After Pollstar writer Katherine Turman asked for clarification as to which "new" songs will make an appearance, Gene said: "Exactly what that means, written by us. We have songs done."

KISS hasn't issued a full-length disc of new music since 2012's "Monster", which sold 56,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release to land at position No. 3 on The Billboard 200 chart. The band's previous LP, "Sonic Boom", opened with 108,000 units back in October 2009 to enter the chart at No. 2. It was KISS's highest-charting LP ever.

Last November, Stanley was asked by a TMZ "what kind of vibe" the new KISS music would be if he and the rest of KISS decided to write and record something. Paul said: "I think we'd probably go for something that's classic, but everything has to have a beat. You gotta be able to dance to it, but it should still be rock."

As for the lyrical inspiration for hypothetical new KISS material, Stanley said: "Freedom, self-empowerment, enjoying life. That doesn't change. It doesn't matter how old you are. You're supposed to enjoy your life, you're supposed to do things your way. That's timeless. That's rock and roll."

Earlier in November 2025, during a question-and-answer session at the "KISS Kruise: Landlocked In Vegas" event held at the Virgin Hotels resort and casino complex in Las Vegas, Stanley said that "there may be some [KISS] music in the works. We like to tell you what we're doing, the things that are planned," he explained. "The problem is that so much of what we may bring up never comes to fruition, [but] music, yeah, that looks pretty damn… more than possible. Probable. I'm not going to give you any hints, but I only write when there's a project — and I've been writing."

Five years ago, Stanley was far more non-committal about the prospect of new KISS music, saying during a question-and-answer session on the 2021 Kiss Kruise: "Why would we need a new KISS album? Any big classic band with a history, you go, 'Oh, put out a new album.' You know, if THE [ROLLING] STONES put out a new album, you go, 'Oh, that's great. Play 'Brown Sugar'.' … Yeah, maybe not now," apparently referencing the fact that THE ROLLING STONES recently retired one of their most popular songs due to lyrics that depict the horrors of slavery. "But the same is true for us. You can have great songs on the more recent albums, but people then go, 'Great. Play 'Love Gun'Paul's comments during the November 2021 Kiss Kruise echoed those he made in March 2021 when he told USA Today in an interview that he didn't really see a "reason" for KISS to make any new music. "For the most part, when classic bands put out new albums, they're looked at and listened to and thrown away because they don't have the gravitas, they don't have the age that comes with something being a time capsule or being attached to a certain period of your life," he said. "I'm not alone in that. When you see any classic bands on TV or if there's a concert video, turn off the sound and I'll tell you every time they're playing a new song because the audience sits down.

"So it's odd to me that people always want you to do a new album, but then they go, 'That's great. Now play your hits.' So honestly, at this point, there isn't a real reward in it. There's much more of a reward in changing lanes — I'm still going forward. But in terms of recording more KISS material, I kind of go, 'Why?' I thought 'Modern Day Delilah' or 'Hell Or Hallelujah' were as good as anything I've written and as good as anything we recorded, but understandably, it's like new wine. It just hasn't aged. So I'd rather not try to roll a stone up the hill."

Paul had previously expressed uncertainty about the idea of making another KISS album in a number of other interviews a few years ago, telling the "Loudwire Podcast": "If we're going to do an album, it would be because we want to do an album, not because of sales. I think we're living in a time, obviously, now where albums don't sell what they once did, so you either do it because it's a creative outlet and because it satisfies something in you, or not. If you're doing it purely for sales, then you're probably doing it for the wrong reason."

Simmons had agreed with his bandmate, saying a while back in an interview that he was "not incentivized" to release another KISS disc unless there are some major changes in the way music is consumed. He said: "The idea that you work your ass off and then someone with freckles on their face decides they want to download your music and file share — that's not what I work for. How'd you like to be a plumber, come over somebody's house and work all day to fix their plumbing and then when it's time to get paid, they say, 'No, I just wanted to say thank you.' No."

Two years after the completion of their five-year, 250-date "End Of The Road" farewell tour with two shows at New York City's Madison Square Garden, KISS returned to the stage at their "KISS Kruise: Landlocked In Vegas" event, which was held in November 2025 at the Virgin Hotels resort and casino complex in Las Vegas. After an hourlong acoustic performance on November 14, 2025, the band played an 85-minute set — their first "unmasked" electric concert on land in 30 years — the following night, where they were joined by former KISS guitarist Bruce Kulick on two songs ("Lick It Up" and "Rock And Roll All Nite").

The 2026 edition of "KISS Kruise: Landlocked In Vegas" will be held November 13-15 at Virgin Hotels Las Vegas. This time, the event will introduce an expanded and immersive KISSperience featuring artist panels and Q&As, a look-alike contest, KISS karaoke, "Ask Doc" sessions with longtime KISS manager Doc McGhee, artist meet-and-greets and late-night DJs. The event will also include interactive exhibits, a merch store and a "Future Of KISS" panel.

"KISS Kruise: Landlocked In Vegas" will feature two unmasked shows with the band, in addition to a powerhouse lineup of special guests and performers, including an Ace Frehley all-star tribute after the original KISS guitarist died at age 74 on October 16, 2025, weeks after suffering a fall at his home.

Photo credit: Jen Rosenstein

On Friday, September 4, ANTHRAX played an intimate concert at the new Brooklyn, New York location of the Saint Vitus Bar, at 428 Troutman Street in Bushwick (the onetime home of Brooklyn Made).

Saint Vitus Bar originally opened in 2011 as a 250-capacity venue that hosted everyone from local hardcore bands to surprise sets by major acts, including members of NIRVANA, BLINK-182, MEGADETH and ANTHRAX. It eventually abruptly shut down in February 2024 when the Department Of Buildings closed the venue during a hardcore show after determining it lacked the proper permits to operate as a live music venue.

ANTHRAX's setlist for last night's show was as follows:

01. It's For The Kids)
02. Got The Time) (Joe Jackson cover)
03. Madhouse)
04. Metal Thrashing Mad)
05. Keep It In The Family)
06. Now It's Dark) (first performance since 2021)
07. The Edge Of Perfection) (live debut)
08. Caught In A Mosh)
09. Lone Justice) (first performance since 2021)
10. Everybody's Got A Plan) (live debut; first time played in full)
11. Antisocial) (TRUST cover)
12. Clobberin' Time) (SICK OF IT ALL cover) (live debut by ANTHRAX)
13. Indians)
14. NYC 93) (live debut; band played along to the album version of this song for music video shoot)
15. NYC 93) (band played along to the album version of this song for music video shoot)

Formed by guitarist Scott Ian and then-bassist Dan Lilker in Queens, New York on July 18, 1981, ANTHRAX was one of the first thrash metal bands to emerge from the East Coast and quickly became regarded as a leader in the genre alongside METALLICA, SLAYER and MEGADETH.

ANTHRAX will release its long-awaited twelfth full-length studio album, "Cursum Perficio", on September 18 via Megaforce in the U.S. and Nuclear Blast in Europe. It marks the band's first record in ten years since 2016's "For All Kings", which debuted in the Top 10 of the Billboard 200. The phrase "Cursum Perficio" is Latin for "My journey has come to an end," "My journey is over," or "I complete my journey."

"Cursum Perficio" will be available as a standard CD; Target-exclusive CD with a fabric patch of the album cover; standard black double LP with pop-up gatefold; Target-exclusive double LP, red zoetrope with pop-up gatefold; Amazon-exclusive double LP, purple zoetrope LP with pop-up gatefold; merch-exclusive lilac vinyl double LP with pop-up gatefold; Metal Injection-exclusive white vinyl double LP with pop-up gatefold; Talk Shop Live-exclusive signed with red ripple vinyl double LP with pop-up gatefold; Indie-exclusive red, orange yellow vinyl double LP with pop-up gatefold.

The band dove into recording "Cursum Perficio" in earnest during 2022, working out of Dave Grohl's Studio 606 in Los Angeles. They carefully pieced together what would be this magnum opus, mining their history with reverence, delivering on fan expectations tenfold, and broadening the scope of their signature sound. Produced by Jay Ruston and ANTHRAX, the result is an album that's as angry, aggressive, and alive as their most celebrated fare.

California thrash metal legends SLAYER celebrated the 40th anniversary of their classic third album, "Reign In Blood", with a headlining show featuring the LP performed in full on Friday, September 4 at Mystic Lake Amphitheater in Shakopee, Minnesota. Support at the gig came from DOWN, SUICIDAL TENDENCIES and HATEBREED.

SLAYER's setlist for the band's first concert in a year was as follows:

01. South Of Heaven
02. Hate Worldwide
03. Disciple
04. Mandatory Suicide
05. Repentless
06. War Ensemble
07. When The Stillness Comes
08. Jihad
09. Seasons In The Abyss
10. Born Of Fire
11. Dead Skin Mask
12. Hell Awaits
13. 213

"Reign In Blood" album

14. Angel Of Death
15. Piece By Piece (first performance since 2014)
16. Necrophobic (first performance since 2014)
17. Altar Of Sacrifice (first performance since 2015)
18. Jesus Saves (first performance since 2019)
19. Criminally Insane (first performance since 2014)
20. Reborn
21. Epidemic (first performance since 2014)
22. Postmortem
23. Raining Blood

Remaining SLAYER 2026 shows:

Sep. 6 - Pryor, OK - Rocklahoma
Oct. 21 - Mexico City, Mexico - Palacio de los Deportes
Oct. 24 - Fort Worth, TX - Sick New World
Nov. 13 - Inglewood, CA - Kia Forum
Nov. 14 - Inglewood, CA - Kia Forum
Dec. 5 - Bogotá, Colombia - Vive Claro
Dec. 10 - Santiago, Chile - Estadio Santa Laura
Dec. 14 - Buenos Aires, Argentina - Movistar Arena
Dec. 17 - São Paulo, Brazil - Allianz Parque

SLAYER's only U.S. East Coast performance of 2025 took place on September 20, 2025 at Hershey, Pennsylvania's 30,000-seat Hersheypark Stadium. Two days earlier, SLAYER performed at the Louder Than Life festival in Louisville, Kentucky. The Louder Than Life show marked the reunited thrash metal pioneers' fourth full concert of 2025, following the band's appearances the 35,000-capacity Blackweir Fields in Cardiff, U.K., London, U.K.'s 45,000-capacity Finsbury Park, and the 100,000-capacity Festival D'été De Québec in Canada. SLAYER also helped celebrate BLACK SABBATH's incredible career by playing a six-song set at SABBATH's sold-out "Back To The Beginning" final concert on July 5, 2025 at Villa Park in Birmingham, England.

The lineup for all of SLAYER's comeback shows in 2024 and 2025 was the same as the one which last toured in 2019: guitarist Kerry King and drummer Paul Bostaph, along with bassist/vocalist Tom Araya and guitarist Gary Holt.

"Reign In Blood" was released on October 7, 1986 through Def Jam Recordings. The album was the band's first collaboration with record producer Rick Rubin, whose input helped the band's sound evolve. Kerrang! magazine described the record as "the heaviest album of all time," and a breakthrough in thrash metal and speed metal.

"Reign In Blood"'s release was delayed because of concerns regarding its graphic artwork and lyrical subject matter. The opening track, "Angel Of Death", which refers to Josef Mengele and describes acts such as human experimentation that Mengele committed at the Auschwitz concentration camp, provoked allegations of Nazism. However, the bandmembers stated numerous times they do not condone Nazism, and are merely interested in the subject.

On the topic the controversy surrounding "Reign In Blood"'s lyrical content, SLAYER guitarist Jeff Hanneman previously said, "'Angel Of Death' was a big problem. I remember getting a phone call after the album was done: Sony wasn't going to release it. I remember being at home, pissed, throwing things. What the fuck? I didn't think anything was wrong with 'Angel Of Death' or anything else we did, it's a documentary! There's no 'Heil Hitler' or 'white people rule,' it's a documentary; grow up, people. It took months before they picked it up again. Finally, we got signed by a distributor."

"Reign In Blood" was SLAYER's first album to enter The Billboard 200 chart (at No. 94). The LP was certified gold by the RIAA (Recording Industry Association Of America) on November 20, 1992 for sales in excess of 500,000 copies.

In a 2009 interview with Filter magazine, Araya stated about "Reign In Blood", "On that first album [together], Rubin made sure that he recorded. He wanted to duplicate what he was hearing." King added, "It was the first time you actually heard SLAYER in its pure ferocity, and it made a big difference. One funny thing about that album is if it came out today, no one would give a shit. They'd say, 'That's cool.' But at the time it came out it made such a difference. People still reflect on that as a poignant time, where shit changed."

Back in October 2021, SLAYER drummer Dave Lombardo told Metal Injection about "Reign In Blood": "I look at that album as a masterpiece. And it's one of those albums that will stand the test of time. It's brilliant. The fire, the energy that that album has. I don't hear that in other records. I don't know if it's because I'm listening to a band that I was part of that I have this perspective that's objective. But you know, it's brilliant and I'm very appreciative … I think that album will forever be like the epitome of thrash music and part of a historic time in music history… SLAYER had a certain energy that's unlike anything else. And so that definitely is for me one of the greatest metal records ever made."

Northern California extreme metallers ALL SHALL PERISH have released their first new single in 15 years, "Be As Kings, Be As Gods". The track was produced by Zack Ohren (MACHINE HEAD, FALLUJAH) and was made available via Arson Theory, the new music company co-founded by ALL SHALL PERISH frontman Hernan "Eddie" Hermida.

ALL SHALL PERISH has just launched a Kickstarter campaign to fund the making of the band's first new album since 2011.

In a message on the Kickstarter page, ALL SHALL PERISH wrote: "Back after all these years. Ready to produce a NEW ALBUM, WITH YOUR HELP! And… WE DID NOT COME EMPTY HANDED! WE HAVE A NEW SONG!!!!"

The group continued: "Fifteen years, FIFTEEN YEARS you have been waiting for new music. Every single day on the internets, you let us know that just disappearing was unacceptable, you never let us forget that you were there, waiting…..thanks for that [by the way]…it kept us going through these seemingly endless years of lawsuits, fights, and setbacks."

ALL SHALL PERISH is planning to make the new album independently, saying that the band is currently without a record label or manager, and promising to release a second new song if the $75,000 goal is met.

According to ALL SHALL PERISH, the funds from the Kickstarter campaign will be used in the following way:

Finish recording: $30,000 (40%)
Videos: $18,000 (24%)
Promotion: $8,250 (11%)
Contingency: $7,000 (9%)
Mastering: $5,000 (7%)
Platform fees: $6,750 (9%)
Total goal: $75,000 (100%)

ALL SHALL PERISH has just embarked on "The Price Of Existence 20 Year Anniversary" tour. The trek, which launched on September 4 in Fresno, California and will conclude on October 3 in San Jose, California, celebrates the twentieth anniversary of ALL SHALL PERISH's second album, "The Price Of Existence", which came out in 2006 via Nuclear Blast. The LP was the band's first to feature Hermida and lead guitarist Chris Storey.

ALL SHALL PERISH's current touring lineup consists of Hermida, guitarists Storey and Ben Orum, bassist Adrian Oropeza and drummer Andrew Baird.

Back in October 2013, then-ALL SHALL PERISH bassist Mike Tiner told Metal Injection that the band had no choice but to fire Hermida after the singer joined SUICIDE SILENCE as the replacement for the late Mitch Lucker.

In October 2015, ALL SHALL PERISH announced the return of Hermida and Storey, alongside founding members Matthew Kuykendall, Caysen Russo and Orum. The group's press release noted that original vocalist Craig Betit would participate in some fashion as well. The band stated that Tiner declined a personal invitation to participate.

Photo by Bray Almini (courtesy of Headbangers Boat)

In a new interview with Dan Shinder of Drum Talk TV, BLACK SABBATH drummer Bill Ward spoke about his plans to release solo music in the coming months. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET):  "Currently we're mastering a new album. And I'm not gonna reveal the name or the title of the album yet. But I've been recording two or three other albums in the last five years. But we have one album that's literally at mastering stages. And then we have, like I said, two or three other albums that are ready to go once they're mastered. So we have a plethora of recordings that we haven't yet released."

Asked if he is planning to release all the albums "at once or sequentially", Bill said: "No. I don't think that'll be the case. I'm thinking about, actually packaging four or five albums in one package, or three or four albums in one package. But the newest album that we're finishing, like I say, that we're mastering now, will hopefully come out. We have to negotiate a recording company, and then hopefully that will come out to the public through all the various ways that we listen to music now, either in vinyl format or in digital format for telephones, and also possibly for CD formats as well."

Regarding what fans can expect from his upcoming LP, Ward said: "The album's got — I think it's got 18 tracks on it. So it's quite a nice album and quite lengthy… It's founded in what I know best, which is a really solid rhythm. But when I write, I go outside the box in terms of I don't need to necessarily have the same imagery that was so popular with BLACK SABBATH. So, for me, I've gone into orchestrations, choirs, rhythm groups, different vocal groups. And there's a lot of jazz on the album, as well as just straightforward rock or — I wouldn't say the word 'metal', but I don't know if I metallized it. But you can hear where I come from. You can hear where I spent a lot of my time, which was originally with BLACK SABBATH and before that [Bill's pre-BLACK SABBATH band] MYTHOLOGY and so on and so forth. So, those are my heroes back there. So those influences have carried forward. And we have tracks where we spent a lot of time with huge drum sounds, for effects and things like that. It's a very colorful album."

On the topic of the biggest changes in the music industry over the last 20 to 40 years, Bill said: "It's more difficult to get a recording contract. I don't wanna speak foul of the industry, because as things have developed from a listener point of view, then so goes the industry where it has to change. It has to be almost chameleon-like in terms of being able to ebb and flow with the requirements of the listener. So in these new industrial ideas, we have to find a place. We've been — my band and the fellows that I work with — we have to find a way that we can fit into all the requirements that have now developed, especially in the last maybe 10 years. There's been a real turnaround on even how to buy a record. It's a different world now. And for me, I'm fortunate because I have a really good crew. My crew understands what the heck's going on, but quite frankly, I don't. I'm 78 years old, so I try to just focus on writing, playing, and I do stuff like that. And I'm just truly blessed that I have a crew of much younger people that know what the heck's going on as far as the industry's concerned 'cause, to me, it's just a different world. I lived in a different world completely."

Back in June 2025, Ward spoke in more detail about his approach to the songwriting on his upcoming albums. He explained during his show on LA Radio Sessions with Mike Stark: "I've just let everything go. I basically don't give an 'F', and I think it shows up in the record. I don't have anything to swagger about. I wanted to play something that plays in my heart and then comes out of my soul. I wanted to play some things that keep me awake at night. And I've tried to grow more as a pianist and grow more as a drummer and grow more as a bass player. So I've basically written a lot of the bass work and all the piano work on the new songs. And that's been great for me. I'm trying to grow as a musician. But, like I said, I really don't give an 'F' anymore in terms of being accurate about my lineage or things like that. And I'm playing probably a little more jazz than maybe I would've done on previous albums. I'm swearing a lot. I'm using a lot of profanity on this new record, on these new records. But the profanity seems to work really well. It's just, like, yeah, this is what I'm saying about whatever's in my life."

He continued: "It's very heartfelt. I've done something where I feel like I've abandoned my critical self. I feel like I've abandoned the person that needs to be possibly afraid not to step out a little bit. So I said to that guy, 'Listen, sit down and take a chair, 'cause we're stepping out and we're gonna take more risks.' And so I've taken a lot more risks on these new records, going further into places. Some examples — I'll give you one tiny bit of an example. One of the tracks on not the first album coming out, but the next album that'll come out after that, I'm talking about when I spent time playing in the graveyards at Aston Church. When I was a child, I was a choir boy at Aston Church. Aston Church, by the way, is about 200 yards from Villa Park, which is where [the original lineup of BLACK SABBATH played its final show] in July of 2025]. And I didn't know we were gonna be playing in July [of 2025] when I wrote that song. I wanted to write it because I've been spending some time thinking about my childhood years in Aston, and I've been going back there. And so one of the songs is about being a child and playing in and around the graveyards. And I've tried to capsulize that, and I think it's a pretty good song. And it's still like a metal thing. My good friend Dave Lombardo [SLAYER] is playing on that particular track. There was some drumming that I knew Dave could play a lot better than I could, so I don't mind backing away sometimes. I play drums on pretty much — I don't know — 80 percent of all these records I'm making, but I love working with guest players, guest people, guest drummers, guest players, bass players, guitar players. I love that. I love being interactive with different musicians. So it's been a blessing for me."

Asked if his new music will be released under the BILL WARD BAND banner, the drummer clarified:  "No, [it will] just [be] Bill Ward. However, just to be accurate, we still have BILL WARD BAND stuff that is still unreleased. And one day we'll get it released."

Two months ago, Ward revealed that he is now mostly confined to a wheelchair, more than one year after the death of his longtime BLACK SABBATH bandmate Ozzy Osbourne.

The 78-year-old BLACK SABBATH drummer shared the health update with fans on July 8, explaining that he was "making myself public and transparent" while insisting that he was "not in retirement".

Ward shared a photo of himself in a wheelchair, smiling as he posed in an all-black outfit while seated in the mobility device.

After Osbourne's death, Ward shared an emotional tribute in which he said the legendary heavy metal singer is "forever in my heart."

"Where will I find you now? In the memories, our unspoken embraces, our missed phone calls, no, you're forever in my heart," Ward wrote.

"Deepest condolences to Sharon and all family members. RIP. Sincere regrets to all the fans. Never goodbye. Thank you forever."

"Accountable Beasts", Ward's first solo album in 18 years, was released in 2015 via iTunes. The CD featured Ward's drumming on seven of the album's nine tracks, as well as contributions from Bill's longtime collaborators Keith Lynch (guitar, keyboards),Paul Ill (bass) and Ronnie Ciago (drums),alongside drummer Walter Earl and an array of session singers, including Ward's daughter Emily.

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 producer Rick 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.") for the LP recording sessions, Rick suggested RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE drummer Brad Wilk.

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.

RATT founder and frontman Stephen Pearcy recently joined Tommy London and Tor of The Mighty VH podcast for a VAN HALEN-focused conversation built around his personal encounters with the band over the years. Stephen shared stories of crossing paths with Edward Van Halen and David Lee Roth, offering a firsthand look at his experiences with two of rock's most iconic personalities, both before and after RATT became one of the biggest bands of the 1980s. From unexpected knocks on his front door to sharing a bill with VAN HALEN, Stephen takes the viewers inside his own unique history with the band. Stephen, Tommy and Tor also discuss VAN HALEN's enormous influence on the 1980s rock scene at large and the impact the band had on the bands and musicians who followed in VAN HALEN's wake.

Asked if VAN HALEN changed the direction of the whole Sunset Strip rock scene once the David Lee Roth-fronted outfit broke through, Pearcy said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Yeah. They changed the whole face of rock. Seriously. I mean, what an impact, this guitar guy and this entertainment and the most solid rhythm section from two guys, and then brother Michael [Anthony], his voice. I mean, holy shit. You see them at the Whisky A Go Go and hear that, it's, like, 'Fuck, you don't need a PA, Michael.' … And then every John, Pete and Harry started to tap, tap, tap, tap, tap [on the guitar]. I mean, come on — [Eddie] changed the face of guitars… It was insane. You're just looking at it, going, 'How in the fuck is this guy doing that?' I wasn't into that technical shit… Robbin [Crosby, then-RATT guitarist] was into that shit. I wasn't. I was direct drive, and then started playing guitar less and less, and becoming a 'singer singer', once Robbin pulled in — the Jake E. [Lee] period."

Pearcy also talked about Roth's impact as a frontman and lead vocalist, saying: "Well, when you find out years and years later Jim 'Dandy' [Mangrum, lead singer for the 1970s rock group BLACK OAK ARKANSAS] had a lot to do with it, [Roth's] image and his stuff. But us singer guys, I totally went, 'I have to be the lead singer in my [pre-RATT] band MICKEY RATT.' And that was around when Jake E. was in the band. But he had his own cool thing too.

"What Dave did for everybody, all the lead singers on the Strip, or most of them, especially if you had blonde hair or something, trying to emulate Dave — I mean, he had the image, he had the rap, he had the voice — and a lot of us out there that were seeing this were going, 'Holy shit,' to all of it," Stephen added. "You had to just up your game. They set the bar for what was to happen in the '80s."

Back in February 2022, Pearcy reflected on the first time he met VAN HALEN. He told Metal Edge magazine: "It was at the Whisky [A Go Go in West Hollywood]. I lived in San Diego, but a friend of mine kept saying, 'You gotta see this band — they're playing Gazzarri's and they're amazing.' I kept missing them at Gazzarri's, but then one time he said, 'Okay, now they're playing the Whisky. You've gotta go.' So I figured, 'Okay, well, I've seen enough of how shows work in San Diego to know that the bands go to the club early and they go in backstage…' So I drove myself up to the Whisky and I just parked around the corner, on Clark Street, and waited. And soon enough, I fucking saw Dave [Lee Roth] pull up, park and walk up the steps. And I just yelled out, 'You wanna smoke a joint?' He said, 'Yeah,' and I got in. And once I was inside, I said, 'Later! Where's Ed [Van Halen]?' [Laughs]"

He continued: "I'd go up to L.A. and see them all the time after that, and I became good friends with Ed. I'd go to the house where Ed lived with his mom, and he had a little cot and a little workspace with all his guitars. It was fucking amazing. And I'd go back to San Diego and tell people, 'There's this fucking band that's gonna blow minds!' 'Yeah, yeah, sure…' And then a year or whatever later, you know, boom!"

Eddie died in October 2020 at the age of 65. The legendary VAN HALEN guitarist passed away at St. John's Hospital in Santa Monica, California.

Eddie was diagnosed with mouth cancer in 2000 and had tongue surgery. He later battled lung cancer and had been receiving radiation treatment in Germany. Things took a turn for the worse in early 2019 when Eddie got in a motorcycle accident. He was subsequently diagnosed with a brain tumor, and received gamma knife radiosurgery to treat the illness.

As the founder, lead singer, and songwriter of the metal rock band RATT, Pearcy led his creation to mega multi-platinum success year after year from 1984 to 1991. RATT climbed up the charts with "Out Of The Cellar", which generated Top 10 singles followed by sold-out tours throughout the world. Throughout RATT's nearly four decades of success with Pearcy at its helm, they released eight albums and played thousands of shows worldwide all the while selling over 20 million records.

Pearcy has released five solo albums so far: "Social Intercourse" (2002),"Fueler" (2004),"Under My Skin" (2008),"Smash" (2017) and "View To A Thrill" (2018).

In a new interview with Australia's Heavy, IN THIS MOMENT co-founder and guitarist Chris Howorth spoke about the band's ninth full-length offering and debut LP for Better Noise Music, "Witch", which is due on August 28. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Well, this album, it's been quite a journey 'cause we started out wanting this to be a really experimental, odd time signatures, really heavy, very hard to listen to album. And we went in the studio with our main producer, Kane Churko, and we recorded 12 songs that we thought, at the time we felt like what we wanted to put out. And once we got out of the studio, we were kind of listening back to everything and we realized that maybe we were trying a little too hard and pushing a little too far in certain directions. Our label agreed with us, so we decided to do some more songs. We did three new songs, and we also went back in to some of the songs on that album and redid them a little bit and just kind of worked on 'em a little bit. And at the time, the producer that we originally went in with, Kane, wasn't available, so we had to do these new songs with a new guy. So that added a new kind of flavor to the whole mix. And we ended up doing 'em with this guy named Drew Fulk, who's an amazing producer. He's super hot right now. And they kind of gave it a special energy. And I think once we combined all that stuff together, that's kind of what made the album sound the way it sounds, and have the vibe that it has."

Asked if the first three singles released from the album, "Heretic", "Sleeping With The Enemy" and "Crawl", are representative of what fans can expect from the LP, Chris said: "They definitely are. They've got both guys that produced in there. They're all heavy songs. There are some songs in there that aren't that heavy, just for everyone that maybe doesn't care about the super-heavy stuff. We have some more melodic stuff coming. The next single that we're releasing is 'I Want To Believe', with Rory [Rodriguez] from DAYSEEKER, and that one's more melodic. And some people will like that, too, I think."

On the topic of whether he would agree with the official press release which called "Witch" the "boldest chapter" in IN THIS MOMENT's musical evolution, Chris said: "Yeah, I would agree with that. We don't wanna sound the same. We tried so hard to be bold that we had to like pull back and not be so bold, with the original songs [that we recorded for this album]. Our producer Kane has those songs somewhere, andnmaybe someday we'll be able to pull 'em out and release them as B-sides, 'cause I know our fans would probably like 'em. But just almost trying too hard to be weird, and you lose kind of the musicality of the whole thing. We had to find that sweet spot."

Asked how he knows when he and his IN THIS MOMENT bandmates have "gone too far in one direction or not far enough in another", Chris said: "I don't think you know as much until you listen back. Sometimes you can tell right off the bat with something. But Maria's [Brink, IN THIS MOMENT vocalist] always afraid to have too much heavy stuff at first, and that always kind of goes layered on afterwards in her world. And in my world I'm always — the heavy's always the main, what starts it. And that's where it kind of revolves around, so we're always kind of pulling that up and down in the thing. But a lot of times we don't know until after the fact, and then you're just, like, 'I don't like that,' or, 'That's not good.' And that's tough to say to yourself sometimes."

"Witch" features guest appearances from DAYSEEKER for "I Want To Believe"; Kim Dracula for "Heretic"; and Kat Von D for a cover of the PINK FLOYD classic "Another Brick In The Wall".

"'Witch' is my declaration of inner transformation," Brink previously said. "It's about embracing the duality within — taking pain, persecution, and struggle — and alchemizing them into strength and power. The album reflects both ancient trials and my own journey — where being a 'witch' means being a creator, connected to the universe, manifesting my own reality."

IN THIS MOMENT teased this chapter with "Sleeping With The Enemy". Beyond reeling in over one million streams, it earned critical acclaim. Rock Sound hailed it as "blistering," and Revolver plugged its power.

"Witch" track listing:

01. Shame
02. I Want To Believe (feat. DAYSEEKER)
03. Crawl
04. Into The Dark
05. Sleeping With The Enemy
06. Wrapped Around Your Finger
07. Heretic (feat. Kim Dracula)
08. Father
09. Without Me There's No You
10. Another Brick In The Wall (feat. Kat Von D)
11. Something I Can Never Have

Since coming to life in 2005, IN THIS MOMENT has presided over a diehard fan base under the watch of "mother" figure and aforementioned Brink — joined by co-founder and lead guitarist Chris Howorth, bassist Travis Johnson, guitarist Randy Weitzel and drummer Kent Diimmel. They have steadily emerged as one of the most influential and impactful bands of the 21st century.

To date, IN THIS MOMENT has amassed over two billion streams globally. In addition to the gold-selling album "Blood" (2012),the quintet has also garnered seven gold and two platinum singles, followed by Top 25 entries on the Billboard 200 with "Black Widow" (2014) and "Ritual" (2017).

Between selling out headline tours coast to coast, IN THIS MOMENT performed in arenas and have appeared at countless festivals from Lollapalooza to Sonic Temple. They assembled their seventh full-length, the aptly titled "Mother" (2020) with longtime trusted collaborator Kevin Churko (OZZY OSBOURNE, FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH). "Mother" breathed the activating mantra of an unbreakable spell, commenced on first single "The In-Between", which received a Grammy nomination in 2020 for "Best Metal Performance".

In 2022, IN THIS MOMENT released "Blood 1983" (BMG),a reimagined EP commemorating the tenth anniversary of "Blood". Then in 2023, the longtime staples of heavy music released their eighth studio album "Godmode" (BMG),a 10-song record featuring the powerful lead single "The Purge", a stunning cover of Björk's "Army Of Me", the collaborative track "Damaged", which featured Spencer Charnas of ICE NINE KILLS, and "I Would Die For You", which appeared on the soundtrack for "John Wick: Chapter 4".

Photo credit: Jeremy Saffer

A new documentary about late RUSH drummer Neil Peart, "Neil Peart: No One's Disciple", will receive its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival. Directed by Scot McFadyen and Sam Dunn — who previously directed the 2010 RUSH documentary "Beyond The Lighted Stage" — the 96-minute film will premiere on September 16, with a subsequent public screening on September 19. It will also air on Canada's CBC network on September 23 as part of the series "The Passionate Eye".

The official trailer for "Neil Peart: No One's Disciple" can be seen below.

Speaking with Andria Case of CTV News, Dunn was asked why decided to go back to the RUSH "well" after directing "Beyond The Lighted Stage" more than a decade and a half ago. Sam said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Well, Neil Peart is one of the greatest rock drummers of all time. He is a remarkable lyricist, was an author, and we hope what this documentary will reveal is [that he was] also a very loyal and loving friend, an inspiration to a lot of people. And so we just felt that even though we did the RUSH documentary all those years ago, that there was a film to be made about Neil."

Asked what he thinks people don't know about Neil, Dunn said: "Well, I think people know the drummer and the lyricist and the talented artist that he was, but I don't think people really know much about him personally, 'cause he was quite a guarded person. And so in the film we pulled together a number of friends of his to really tell us about what he was like as a person, and I think what our film reveals is that — I think the word is a real inspiration to a lot of people in their lives. And so, yeah, here we go. Neil Peart story — it's time to tell it."

"Neil Peart: No One's Disciple" documents the late Canadian musician's tough start as a young artist, followed by his meteoric rise. The film includes interviews with RUSH co-founders Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson, alongside reflections of other acclaimed drummers. It also features Lee and Lifeson's new live performances of RUSH classics — with the likes of Chad Smith (RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS),Stewart Copeland (THE POLICE) and Danny Carey (TOOL) filling Peart's seat at the drum kit.

"Neil Peart: No One's Disciple" synopsis from TIFF reads as follows: "Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson team up with four revered drummers — Stewart Copeland, Danny Carey, Chad Smith, and Gavin Harrison — for an exhilarating and poignant tribute to late RUSH legend Neil Peart."

The 2026 Toronto International Film Festival runs from September 10 through September 20.

Peart died on January 7, 2020 in Santa Monica, California after a three-year battle with glioblastoma, an aggressive form of brain cancer. He was 67 years old.

RUSH announced Peart's passing three days later, setting off shockwaves and an outpouring of grief from fans and musicians all over the world.

In 2022, Lee revealed that Peart wanted to keep his cancer diagnosis a secret prior to his death.

"[Peart] didn't want anyone to know [about his illness]," Lee said on Canadian talk show "House Of Strombo". "He just didn't. He wanted to keep it in the house. And we did. And that was hard. I can't tell you it was easy, 'cause it was not easy. And it was ongoing. His diagnosis was… he was given 18 months at the most, and it went on three and a half years. And so that was a constant flow of us going to see him, giving him support."

Lee went on to say that he and Lifeson had to be "dishonest" to fans in order to protect Peart's privacy.

"What his family had to live through was really difficult, so it was a lot of back-and-forth," he said. "And when you're in that state, it's very hard to function normally, because you can't talk to anybody about it, 'cause no one's supposed to know. And so people hear rumblings and they bring things up to you, and you deflect it. And so that feels, on one hand, it feels dishonest, but on the other hand you're being loyal to your friend. So fuck the dishonesty part. That wins."

He continued: "I would say that was the most difficult time for us to move forward, during that whole thing, because we were in this bubble of grief sort of walking towards an inevitable and terrible conclusion."

RUSH is currently on the road with Anika Nilles, a German drummer who toured with legendary guitarist Jeff Beck in 2022, and newly added keyboardist Loren Gold, who is best known as touring member of THE WHO and CHICAGO. The June 7 show at Kia Forum in Los Angeles, California was the kick-off gig of the "Fifty Something" tour, which marks RUSH's first with the band's revamped lineup of classic members Lee (vocals, bass) and Lifeson (guitar) alongside Nilles and Gold.

RUSH is performing multiple shows in cities across Canada, the United States and Mexico. These special "evening with" shows find the band playing two sets each night. Each show features a distinct selection of songs, and RUSH builds each night's setlist from a catalog of around 40 tracks, including its greatest hits and fan favorites.

After Lee and Lifeson announced RUSH's initial 2026 tour dates in early October 2025, they instantly sold out. They then doubled the tour's length due to increased demand before adding even more dates to the trek.

VAN HALEN's final studio album, "A Different Kind Of Truth", will be back in print on October 23 from Rhino on CD and as a 2LP set pressed on 180-gram vinyl in a double gatefold package. A limited crystal-clear vinyl version will be available exclusively at participating indie retail stores and from Rhino.com. The lacquers were cut by Chris Bellman at Bernie Grundman Mastering.

"A Different Kind Of Truth" features Eddie, Alex and Wolfgang Van Halen and was the first original studio album with singer David Lee Roth since the band's classic multi-platinum album "1984". Originally released on February 7, 2012, the album debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 and received widespread acclaim from critics and fans alike.

Formed in Los Angeles in 1974, VAN HALEN changed the rock and roll landscape forever with the release of their self-titled, 1978 debut album displaying unparalleled stage presence, revolutionary musicianship, and extraordinary songwriting abilities. With more than 75 million albums sold worldwide, the band's record of achievement is hard to top. Presented with two diamond award RIAA certified status for their albums "Van Halen" and "1984", the band has produced a repertoire of hits that remain some of the strongest and most influential rock songs ever written that fans will admire for decades to come.

"A Different Kind Of Truth" LP track listing:

LP One

Side One

01. Tattoo
02. She's The Woman
03. You And Your Blues
04. China Town

Side Two

01. Blood And Fire
02. Bullethead
03. As Is

LP Two

Side One

01. Honeybabysweetiedoll
02. The Trouble With Never
03. Outta Space

Side Two

01. Stay Frosty
02. Big River
03. Beats Workin'

In an October 2025 interview with Paul Cashmere of Noise11.com, Wolfgang Van Halen spoke about his contribution to "A Different Kind Of Truth", the final VAN HALEN album, and how he unearthed and revived songs his father, legendary VAN HALEN guitarist Eddie Van Halen, had first written in the 1970s. The former VAN HALEN bassist, who joined the band at just 15 years old and shared the stage with his father together from 2006 until 2015, five years before Eddie's death, said: "It just felt like it was the right time [for VAN HALEN to release some music]. We had done a tour, and it was, like, 'Okay, well, the next thing we should do is record something.' And so it took — I know some of the earlier demos we started recording in 2009, so it took a long time… The fact that that record happened at all, I think, is kind of a miracle. But we pulled it off."

Elaborating on how the music for "A Different Kind Of Truth" came together, Wolfgang said: "A lot of [the songs on the album] were rooted in original demo ideas that were never completed, so I thought it was a great way of getting the band back into that mindset of how they used to write music. So it was a fun little seed to kind of grow the flower from, so to speak."

He added: "Yeah, it was a lot of fun. I'm glad I got to at least do that once with Dad and have a making-an-album thing. It was fun. It was a lot of work and it took a lot of time, but I'm very happy with how we got it done."

Back in June 2024, the 2012 LP returned to streaming platforms, almost two years after it was removed from streaming services, including Spotify, Apple Music and Amazon Music.

In October 2023, Wolfgang told SiriusXM's "Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk" that VAN HALEN's 2012 LP — the band's only studio record Wolfgang played on — was no longer on streaming platforms because of "some people involved" who "do not like that record".

"The contract ran out on putting it up on streaming services," Wolfgang said. "So we've been working on getting it back, but there are some people involved who do not like that record and are not making it easy to get it back up."

Asked if these "people" who are making things difficult "were involved in the record," Wolfgang confirmed: "Yeah." When host Eddie Trunk prompted, "Might that person commonly be known by three initials?", apparently referring to singer David Lee Roth, Wolfgang replied, "Probably. I mean, yeah, you can put it together.

"I hate to say it, because people will think I'm making stuff up, but it's, like, man, I'd love to have the record back up there, but [Roth] doesn't like it and he's not working with us to get it back up there," Wolfgang explained. "So I hope people who like it have a physical version of it. [Laughs]"

A week after blasting Wolfgang for allegedly "throwing out" some of Roth's invited guests at a couple of the concerts during VAN HALEN's final tour, David has shared a new YouTube video titled "Family Therapy.." in which he started off by mock-apologizing for "upset[ting] some people" and insisting that he "loves" his "old rock band" and misses VAN HALEN's late guitarist Eddie Van Halen, who was Wolfgang's father. He then proceeded to hold a mock therapy session between Wolfgang and a therapist in which Wolfgang complained that he had been unable to get any "streams" for his LP, presumably referring to "A Different Kind Of Truth", with the therapist telling the former VAN HALEN bassist that his album was "DOA (dead on arrival)", "KTC (kicked to the curb) and "a complete FP (faceplant)." The therapist told Wolfgang: "Son, commercially speaking, you got your ass handed to you." Roth then proceeded to imply that he and VAN HALEN drummer Alex Van Halen did not want to spend a lot of money on attorney fees to negotiate a better deal with the record company and streaming platforms for an album that is not one of the band's finest moments.

"Do you remember Leon Spinks? How about Larry Holmes or Trevor Berbick?" the mock therapist asks "Wolfgang" in Roth's video. "Well, these were the last couple of Muhammad Ali's fights, and nobody wants to remember them because they were no fun… And your albums with VAN HALEN are a lot like those last two fights."

With Wolfgang on bass, VAN HALEN embarked on lengthy tours in 2007, 2012 and 2015. The band's final run of shows took place in the summer and fall of 2015. The North American trek included 41 concerts beginning on July 5, 2015 and ending on October 4, 2015.

Back in December 2021, Wolfgang, who joined his father Eddie Van Halen in VAN HALEN at the age of 16 for the band's 2007 reunion tour with Roth, replacing Michael Anthony, was asked about David's retirement in an interview with Consequence. He said: "Dave is a… he's very much a one-of-a-kind [chuckles] sort of guy. We don't really talk, if ever. We were always cordial on tour together, but it's not like I've spoken to him at all in the last six years. But, I mean, he's fucking David Lee Roth. I'm so happy for him and for everything that he's accomplished. And he's just a phenomenal… He'll always be one of the best."

In November 2020, Wolfgang told Rolling Stone about his relationship with Roth: "We're cordial. But it was very business-related. You know, we were always cool, but we really only ever saw each other onstage."

In 2022, Wolfgang implied in an interview that David Lee Roth was largely to blame for a proposed Eddie Van Halen tribute concert never materializing. He told Rolling Stone at the time: "What I can say is that there was an attempt at doing something. But, you know, I don't like to speak negatively about people, but there are some people that make it very difficult to do anything when it comes to VAN HALEN. After being in VAN HALEN for a long time, I really have strived to have an environment where there is no walking on eggshells and there is no personality that you have to deal with. It's just guys having fun making music and just having a good time. But, you know, from my time in VAN HALEN, there was always some stuff that gets in the way from just making music and having a good time. And, I think, that's what happened.

"I would love to just sit here and say everything and say the truth," he continued. "There are plenty of interviews my dad did, where he straight up just said everything. And people hated him for it and thought he was lying. So I could just say shit, but people have already decided how they feel about things, facts or not. So I can say the facts. But that may not align with how certain people feel. I know how VAN HALEN fans get. They are very motivated by which specific people they like in the band. And it's just not worth it. Just, we made an attempt, and some people can be hard to work with, and made it not happen."

Wolfgang went on to say that he "would really like to do something" for his father, but that the tribute concert idea "never even got off the ground."

"Look at anything that's happened with VAN HALEN," he said. "And look how things have fallen apart. You know? The fact that in my tenure, in VAN HALEN, we managed to do three tours, put an album of original material and a live album out is a fucking miracle.

"People love to pin every decision VAN HALEN has ever made on Dad," he continued. "But Al's [drummer Alex Van Halen] the brain. Al has been the guy forever. He's the dude. When it comes to VAN HALEN, Dad just wanted to play guitar. But, you know, Al's mentality, and it's the mentality that VAN HALEN took for the entirety of its band, is that there's nothing worth talking about unless it's happening. So the reason that nothing has been talked about from VAN HALEN, the official channels, is because nothing's happened. And I know how that will stir people up and piss them off. But that's how the operation is run."

Asked what he would say if someone were to assume that the main problem was a certain singer with three initials — referring to David Lee Roth — Wolfgang replied: "I would say 'Do your research on the history of VAN HALEN, and come to your conclusions.'"

Eddie passed away in October 2020 at the age of 65. He had been battling throat cancer and died surrounded by friends and family at a Santa Monica, California hospital.

VAN HALEN had been inactive since it completed its U.S. tour more than 10 years ago.