During an appearance on the latest episode of Gabbing With Girlfriends, the podcast hosted by Geezer Butler's wife and manager Gloria Butler, the legendary BLACK SABBATH bassist was asked if he and his bandmates ever made a proper studio recording of "Scary Dreams", the slow and bluesy number they performed during the Ozzfest tour in 2001. He responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Yeah, I think we had about eight [new] songs written [during those sessions]. We did them in Monmouth, down in Wales. And we had at least six [tracks] completed and I think a couple of more in the works. That's when [producer] Rick Rubin first got in touch with us. He wanted to do that album back in — I think it was 2002. And we went to his house to play him what we had, and as we were playing them, I was thinking, 'What a load of crap.' [Laughs] I just didn't like them at all. I just completely went off them. I don't know if it was 'cause I was playing them to somebody else. And I just went, 'Nah, after all these years to come out with this, I don't think it's right.' So we knocked it on the head."

Butler previously touched upon "Scary Dreams" during a 2023 interview with Ultimate Classic Rock. Asked how much material there was in the vaults from SABBATH's later years that fans haven't heard, Geezer said: "Well, if you haven't heard [the songs], then they're not good enough to go on the record. I mean, 'Scary Dreams', you know, it wasn't great. That was when we were trying to throw an album together; I think it was in 2001. It just wasn't working. It just felt really forced. 'Scary Dreams' is probably the best we came out with. I was so disinterested in it that I didn't want to write the lyrics or anything. Geoff Nichols, the keyboard player, came out with the vocal line and the lyrics. [Laughs] That's how disinterested everybody was. It was just too forced. We had about five or six songs and I didn't really like them, but I just went along with it for Tony [Iommi, SABBATH guitarist] and Ozzy's [Osbourne, SABBATH singer] sake. We went to play them to Rick Rubin and I just thought, 'God, these are really crap.' I think Tony and Ozzy might have liked them, but they just weren't up to scratch. I didn't think so. The four of us have to like something for it to be good. It can't just be two of us, so that's as far as it went."

A founding member of BLACK SABBATH, Butler is also the lyricist of such SABBATH classics as "War Pigs", "Iron Man", "Paranoid" and others.

Geezer's autobiography, "Into The Void: From Birth To Black Sabbath - And Beyond", arrived in June 2023 in North America via HarperCollins imprint Dey Street Books.

1995 saw the release of Geezer's first solo album, "Plastic Planet", followed in 1997 by "Black Science", with "Ohmwork" completing the trilogy in 2005. In October 2020, all three albums were made available for the first time ever on vinyl via BMG, with both CD and LP using newly updated cover artwork.

At last year's "Back To The Beginning" concert, Geezer and the other original SABBATH members performed four songs for more than 40,000 people at Villa Park in the band's original hometown of Birmingham, United Kingdom and 5.8 million more on a livestream. Ozzy also played a five-song solo set while seated in a bat-adorned throne.

Los Angeles-based hard rock band STITCHED UP HEART will release a new full-length album, "Medusa", on June 12 via Judge & Jury Records, the powerhouse record label founded by esteemed producer Howard Benson and THREE DAYS GRACE drummer Neil Sanderson.

The official music video for the LP's latest single, "Glitch Bitch", featuring CONQUER DIVIDE, can be seen below.

"Glitch Bitch" is a tribute to Internet-era confidence, where online identity becomes a space for fearless self-expression. Driven by heavy guitar and a bold attitude, the song captures emotions of navigating the digital world.

Singing "This is for the twisted e-girl misfits", STITCHED UP HEART leans into its known audiences, even in the music video. Featuring Kiarely and Kristen from CONQUER DIVIDE and several popular goth/emo influencers, the music video follows the band as the night unfolds at a house party, with tattoo artist Miao inking guests amid the chaos.

"'Glitch Bitch' is a love letter to every fierce e-girl baddie out there shattering expectations, and leaving a trail of broken hearts in your digital wake," STITCHED UP HEART shares, and continues, "You're the queens of turning pixels into power, and making the Internet pretty. Reminding us all that code is confidence and beauty's a weapon."

Benson adds: "When I heard the amazing forward-thinking record Mixi recorded with Cameron Mizell, I immediately loved the track 'Glitch Bitch'! The video was fun to shoot and having Kiarely and Kristen from CONQUER DIVIDE on it just ramps up the excitement."

Formed in 2010 by powerhouse vocalist Alecia "Mixi" Demner, STITCHED UP HEART is known for blending heavy riffs, anthemic choruses, and introspective lyrics.

The loaded "Glitch Bitch" video cast brings a combined 10 million followers across all platforms and includes Dani Divine, Annie Miao, Miss Merder, Ashley Pagliuso, ALYXX, Lyric Noel, Eve vice, StayMaced, Black Widow, Stef w/ an F, Kat Coats, Farrah Fix, Rebecca Reed, Bibi, Michael Starr, Kitty LA, Julia Sallee and Darrin "Mayhem Jesus" Perry.

"Medusa" track listing:

01. Love & Death
02. Sick Sick Sick
03. Glitch Bitch
04. Cannibal
05. Meet Me After Life
06. Medusa
07. Beast
08. Dead To Me
09. Devilicious
10. Ex-Termination

STITCHED UP HEART wrapped its tour with EYES SET TO KILL, Lauren Babic and LYLVC in December 2025, but will return to the road this spring with Sebastian Bach.

During a recent appearance on the "Mohr Stories" podcast, hosted by comedian and actor Jay Mohr, ZZ TOP legend Billy Gibbons confirmed that the ad wizards at the Gillette razor company offered him and then-ZZ TOP bassist Dusty Hill $1 million each to shave off their famously thick, long beards for a commercial. "It's true," he said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET). "[Gillette] deny it. It was a million dollars per man. But we called Mr. Merlis [music industry veteran Bob Merlis]. I said, 'Bob, we got this offer.' 'What?' I said, 'We've been offered a million dollars each to shave on TV.' He said, 'Well,' he said, 'The money's good.' He said, 'You might as well consider doing it, but I'm not so sure you guys — any of you guys — know what's under there.' So we passed. We passed, and our fans loved it. Word got out."

When adjusted for inflation, one million dollars in 1984 is equivalent to approximately $3.1 million today.

Gibbons previously shared his reaction to the Gillette offer in a 2012 interview, saying that he never seriously entertained it. "No dice," Gibbons said. "Even adjusted for inflation, this isn't going to fly. The prospect of seeing oneself in the mirror clean-shaven is too close to a Vincent Price film — a prospect not to be contemplated, no matter the compensation."

Billy also aired sentiments about the Gillette offer during an interview with KLRU Public Television in Austin, Texas, saying, with his tongue firmly planted in his cheek: "We're too ugly. We don't even know what's under here. Not at this point."

A few years ago, Gibbons was asked by award-winning journalist Dan Rather how ZZ TOP's "beard" look was conceived. Billy responded: " One word: lazy." He went on to explain: "We started ZZ TOP in 1969. We carried on without stop up until the bicentennial year of '76. And at that time, we were looking at an invitation to join the ranks of the Warner Brothers Group. And it was the decision by management to take a brief break after literally seven years of nonstop touring. Maybe a 90-day hiatus would give us a little breathing room, which turned into 120 days later. It was one year, and we all kind of scattered, keeping in touch only by telephone. Now it's two years running and all the machinations to join the ranks of Warner Brothers were still underway. In the meantime, as I mentioned, the word 'lazy' came in. Now there's one telltale photograph. Our first official release for Warner Brothers contained a photograph on the little sleeve inside the 12-inch long-playing album — actually, the only evidence of [ZZ TOP drummer] Frank Beard with a beard is hiding inside of that 'Degüello' record. He quickly grabbed the razor and went to town. But Dusty and I — what started out as a disguise turned into a trademark."

The 72-year-old Hill died on July 28, 2021 in his sleep at his Houston, Texas home.

ZZ TOP played its first show following Hill's death on July 30, 2021 in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.

ZZ TOP's longtime guitar tech Elwood Francis, who had worked with the group for more than two decades, made his live debut as ZZ TOP's new bassist on July 23, 2021 at the Village Commons in New Lenox, Illinois after Hill was forced to return to Texas to address a hip issue.

Hill joined ZZ TOP a year after its formation in 1969.

The Swedishstokie channel on YouTube has uploaded video of Lor Productions' concert marking the 40th anniversary of THIN LIZZY legend Phil Lynott's passing. Check out the clips below.

The event, which took place this past Sunday, January 4, 2026 at Dublin, Ireland's at 3Arena, saw a plethora of artist performing, including ex-THIN LIZZY members Eric Bell and Darren Wharton.

The night kicked off with Lawrence Archer and GRAND SLAM bringing the house down. Next up, there was an all-star lineup featuring Ricky Warwick from BLACK STAR RIDERS, THE ALMIGHTY and THIN LIZZY, Marco Mendoza from THE DEAD DAISIES, WHITESNAKE and THIN LIZZY and Richard Fortus from GUNS N' ROSES.

After a short video, the 45-piece powerhouse RTÉ Orchestra added a whole new dimension to the classic LIZZY tracks. Also appearing was a talented selection of Irish singers, including Peter Smith from the hit musical production "Moonlight - The Phil Lynott Enigma".

To wrap up the night, it was Wharton and his incredible band RENEGADE playing all the big LIZZY hits, with a few special guests joining in, including Bell.

Phil died in 1986 at the age of 36 after years of drug abuse.

THIN LIZZY are unquestionably one of the true icons of British rock. Nobody has ever sounded like them, yet they have influenced countless others.

Lynott's poetic lyricism, the unmatchable dual guitar precision, the ability to joust with epic melodies and make them memorably intense, all of this is part of the LIZZY heritage. And what they have left behind is peerless, powerful and influential. The invocation of an era, the evocation of timeless music.

It all began in 1970 when Lynott (bass/vocals),Eric Bell (guitar),Brian Downey (drums) and Eric Wrixon (organ) got together in Dublin. Wrixon left shortly after the band had recorded their first single "The Farmer". By the end of 1970 they'd signed to Decca Records, and released their self-titled, debut album in 1971. This record was swiftly followed the next year by second album "Shades of A Blue Orphanage". Neither record charted but did showcase a band that were finding their own style.

However, early in 1973, LIZZY had their first hit single, when their version of the traditional Irish song "Whiskey In The Jar" reached No. 6 in the U.K., as well as topping the chart in Ireland. Later the same year, "Vagabonds Of The Western World" came out as their third album. Although it failed to chart nonetheless, it proved there was something unique about what they were doing. Much to everyone's surprise, Bell quit on New Year's Eve 1973 and Gary Moore temporarily rejoined to help the band finish their tour, which ran into '74.

There was to be a further shake-up, though. The band portentously decided to expand the lineup to a four-piece, with Scottish teenager Brian Robertson and American Scott Gorham both coming in on guitar. They also changed labels, signing to Vertigo. Their fourth album, "Nightlife", came out in late 1974; it also featured Moore playing lead guitar on "Still In Love With You".

While the much-needed album commercial breakthrough still eluded them, it was finally achieved in 1975 when "Fighting" made it to No. 60 in the U.K. And more importantly, the unmistakable sound that we now associate so closely with LIZZY was beginning to take shape. And we headed the second half of the '70s, the band were poised for their big break.

Sure enough, their 1976 album "Jailbreak" proved to be the moment that THIN LIZZY arrived as a magical, unstoppable force. All the ingredients were now in place and the album stormed to No. 10 in the U.K. and No. 18 in America. Moreover, the supreme anthem "The Boys Are Back In Town" was a transatlantic hit single. It got to No. 8 in Britain and No. 12 in the States. The album's title song was also successful as a single, reaching No. 31 in the U.K.

Unfortunately, an American tour in June '76 with RAINBOW had to be cancelled when Lynott contracted hepatitis, but they were soon back on track when the album "Johnny The Fox" came out in late '76. It peaked at No. 11 in Britain and made it to No. 52 Stateside. And the single "Don't Believe A Word" put them back in the U.K. Top, as it reached No. 12.

A planned U.S. tour in December 1976 had to be cancelled when Robertson suffered a hand injury. Moore was brought back for a subsequent American tour early in 1977, as LIZZY opened for QUEEN. And the band recorded their next album "Bad Reputation" with Gorham commandingly handling the guitar parts. But Robertson did return in time to contribute lead and rhythm guitar parts as well as keyboards.

LIZZY headlined the Reading Festival in August '77, and a month later the new album was released. It reached No. 4 in the U.K. and No. 39 in the States, with the single "Dancing in The Moonlight (It's Caught Me In The Spotlight)" again making the Top 20 in Britain, reaching number 14.

In 1978, the band released "Live And Dangerous" which is rightly regarded as one of the all-time great live albums. The album reached number two in the U.K. but Downey had to miss tours later in the year due to illness, with Mark Nauseef being temporarily brought in. More importantly, Robertson was replaced by Moore, and this time the latter stayed for the recording of the next album "Black Rose: A Rock Legend". This was released in 1979, making it to No. 2 in Britain and No. 81 in the States. There were three U.K. hit singles from it as well, namely "Waiting For An Alibi" (No. 9),"Do Anything You Want To" (No. 14) and "Sarah" (No. 24).

Moore left the band once again after they played in Oakland at the Day On The Green festival in July 1979 and with only a couple of days notice ULTRAVOX's Midge Ure filled in for the remaining tour commitments. Dave Flett was added as another guitarist later in the year, to allow Ure to play keyboards when required.

Snowy White, who had played live with PINK FLOYD, was chosen as the band's new permanent guitarist, with teenager Darren Wharton drafted in on keyboards. The new lineup released the album "Chinatown" in late 1980, which got to No. 7 in Britain and No. 120 in the U.S. The title track peaked at number 21 in the U.K., with "Killer On The Loose" doing even better, reaching No. 10.

A year later, "Renegade" made it to No. 38 in the British album charts, with the U.K. single "Hollywood (Down On Your Luck)" reaching No. 53. Three months earlier, the band had created history by being the first to headline the first ever show at Slane Castle in Ireland on August 16.

In August 1982, White left LIZZY, and former TYGERS OF PAN TANG man John Sykes was brought in for the next album, "Thunder And Lightning". This record had a heavier sound than was usually associated with LIZZY, but when put out in March 1983, it had a massive impact, reaching number four in Britain. The single "Cold Sweat" made it to No. 27 in the U.K., while the title track reached No. 39 and "The Sun Goes Down" peaked at No. 52.

A live album, "Life", came out in October 1983 and reached No. 29 in the U.K. but the band had already split up the previous month after playing at the Monsters Of Rock festival in Nuremburg on September 4; their final British performance was a headline slot at the Reading Festival on August 28.

On January 4, 1986, Lynott tragically died, at the age of 36. It shattered any chance for a full LIZZY reformation. However, in 1996, the band were reactivated as a formidable live concern. Since then, they've delivered a stunning celebration of the THIN LIZZY heritage. Not only have former members Gorham, Downey, Sykes and Wharton been involved, but a rich cavalcade of rock luminaries has also been keen to add their talents. Ricky Warwick has done a magnificent job on vocals, while among others to perform with them over the past two decades are bassists Tom Hamilton (AEROSMITH),Troy Sanders (MASTODON) and Marco Mendoza (TED NUGENT, WHITESNAKE),drummers Tommy Aldridge (WHITESNAKE, OZZY OSBOURNE),Scott Travis (JUDAS PRIEST) and Ian Haugland (EUROPE),plus guitarists Vivian Campbell (DEF LEPPARD) and Richard Fortus (GUNS N' ROSES). The fact such high-profile names have been delighted to play a role in commemorating the history of THIN LIZZY underlines the indelible impact it's had on succeeding generations.

What this band have left behind is remarkable. They have inspired the likes of METALLICA, Jon Bon Jovi, ALICE IN CHAINS and countless others, and their legacy has become more vital with each passing year.

An unforgettable show to mark the 40th anniversary of Phil Lynott's passing is coming to 3Arena, Dublin on 4 January...

Posted by Ticketmaster Ireland on Friday, August 15, 2025

In a new interview with Tom Power, host of "Q" on Canada's CBC Radio One, lead singer Burton Cummings and guitarist Randy Bachman spoke about their upcoming tour together as THE GUESS WHO for the first time in 23 years.

After settling a trademark lawsuit with two other members of the band in 2024, the pair will tour their native Canada starting on May 26 at the Avenir Centre in Moncton, New Brunswick. The tour will visit Halifax, Laval, Toronto, Hamilton, London, Winnipeg, Saskatoon, Calgary and Edmonton and wrap with festival appearances in Ottawa and Vancouver. Prior to this tour, THE GUESS WHO will perform on January 31 at the OLG Stage at Fallsview Casino in Niagara Falls, Ontario.

As principal songwriters of THE GUESS WHO's early hits, Bachman and Cummings helped propel the band to international success with songs such as "These Eyes", "Laughing", "Undun", "American Woman", "No Sugar Tonight/New Mother Nature" and "No Time". Their 1970 album "American Woman" reached No. 1 in Canada, and the title track became the first Billboard number one hit by a Canadian group.

Three years ago, Bachman and Cummings filed a lawsuit accusing a band calling itself THE GUESS WHO — led by original drummer Garry Peterson — of falsely advertising "a group of hired musicians who have been touring and recording using the band's name." In September 2024, it was announced that Bachman and Cummings had settled their long-running dispute with former bandmates Peterson and Jim Kale.

Asked by Power how it felt for them to finally reclaim THE GUESS WHO name, Burton said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Well, first of all, Randy and I were both very upset with what the fake band had done. At first, it didn't bother me so much, but it went on and on. We kept thinking it would end, and the fake band went on and on and on. And Garry Peterson, I think, was sanctioning a lot of that. And it was just — enough was enough already. So Randy and I, we got together and we decided, 'Look, this has to stop.' He has kids and grandkids and they were seeing online THE GUESS WHO, and they were kind of wondering, 'Well, is Randy gonna be there tonight? Is my grandfather gonna be there?' And this fake band, they used to actually take our albums to meet-and-greets after the shows and sign their names on our pictures. So we had — for me, anyway, and I can't speak for him, but I know he feels a lot of the same things — I had just had enough. I said, 'Whatever it costs, let's get the best lawyers. Let's stop this.'"

Randy chimed in: "We would get fan mail but after the fact. But because of COVID and everybody getting their own phones, we would get things like, 'We just drove 300 miles with our family and our grandkids to hear this song they've been hearing all their life, and here are these guys on stage saying how they wrote 'These Eyes' and 'American Woman'. They weren't even alive when you had to hit songs.' And they would send us the clips… They did own the name. They had copywritten [sic] and trademarked the name. We couldn't do that, but we got them on false impersonation, fraud — they're fraudulating [sic] the fans, using [Burton's] voice and songs we wrote to promote the show."

Burton added: "See, that's another thing. They used our real records to promote their fake shows. And that singer, whatever his name was, the blonde, he was walking around like it was his band. You know what he said in an interview one time? They were talking to that singer, and he said, 'Well, what's the matter? I've been in THE GUESS WHO longer than Burton was.' No, you've been in a GUESS WHO cover band longer than Burton was in the real GUESS WHO. See, they got to the point where they believed it was their stuff."

Circling back to how he felt when they were able to reach an agreement with the two other members of THE GUESS WHO about who would carry on with the name, Randy said: "Well, it was, like, 'Finally it's over.' It wasn't over. It took months and months. We had to go to the web site and shut down web sites and get passwords. And you had to go and find all the trademarks and all the filings, which had changed over the years, and null and void them. And then us started over again as the team was BACHMAN-CUMMINGS. So there was an over. But I've gone through a couple of divorces — I hope you never have to go through that — but it's never over until it's over. It's like Yogi Berra said, 'It ain't over until it's over.' We decided to finally go to mediation in L.A. and not leave the room until it was decided. 'Cause I'd go to divorce, you can do an agreement and so-and-so is supposed to provide something, the next day they don't, and you don't have a divorce. And then six months go by and it costs you more money. The lawyers make a lot of money doing this stuff."

Burton added: "Let me say one thing about what he mentioned — the mediation. This is unbelievable. A lot of people have a hard time believing this is true. We went and started mediation one morning at 9:00 a.m. We were in the same room. You know what time we left that same room? 6:00 a.m. the next morning. We were arguing and fighting that whole time, with two sets of lawyers — from nine in the morning till 6:00 a.m. the next morning.

Randy continued: "And we would take a break and say, 'Let's pass out,' and we'd sleep for 10 minutes, like on an airplane. 'Let's take a bathroom break' and we'd go back in and hammer and hammer and hammer and hammer away."

Kale reportedly registered THE GUESS WHO as a trademark in the United States in 1986, without Bachman and Cummings's knowledge or consent.

In their original suit, Bachman and Cummings argued that Kale's iteration of THE GUESS WHO was engaging in false advertising, attempting to boost ticket sales by giving the impression that Cummings and Bachman were still part of the band. They also noted that Kale had not performed publicly with the band since 2016, while Peterson appeared "infrequently."

In 2023, at the height of his legal battle with Kale and Peterson, over THE GUESS WHO name, Cummings — who owns his publishing rights — took the extreme and unprecedented step of terminating his performance license agreements with his performing rights organization, which meant sacrificing royalties but effectively preventing Kale's GUESS WHO from performing the band's hits at concert venues. (The vast majority of concert venues in the U.S. have licensing agreements with performing rights organizations which allow them to host live performances of any music in the catalogue of those performing rights organizations.)

Mark Farner, a founding member of GRAND FUNK RAILROAD, has announced the official companion release to his audio rollout of "Same Game". Originally Farner wrote the lyrics and infused his creation with his signature lead guitar work. He took the new song to James Romeo of J Romeo Media and laid out his vision. James took it from there and presented Mark with a cinematic video presentation that matched his vision. Never one to shy from backing the people of the world the new video drives home the message "lies, lies, lies" with its rock funk presence and over-the-top charismatic visual architecture.

Farner will begin his 2026 tour in Florida in February and cap off the first six months with his just-announced "Six Cities In Six Days" in Brazil.

Having written more than 90 percent of the GRAND FUNK RAILROAD music catalog, Farner has always been known as the energetic driving force on stage, the engine that pulled the original GRAND FUNK RAILROAD to the top of the charts. From his soulful voice and power rock riffs, to fueling the FUNK with his atomic stage presence. His story and his imprint on music starts with Flint and since 1969 from his humble beginnings and a blue-collar outlook, Farner has captained a global crusade for love, peace and freedom and became a rock 'n' roll icon.

More than 60 years later, he commands the stage with the same intensity performing epic hits that defined a generation: "I'm Your Captain (Closer To Home)", "Bad Time", "Some Kind Of Wonderful", "Foot Stompin' Music", "Heartbreaker", "Rock & Roll Soul", "Locomotion", "Mean Mistreater" and "We're An American Band". MARK FARNER'S AMERICAN BAND continues to tour, celebrating the 55th anniversary of the ground-breaking hit "I'm Your Captain (Closer To Home)" .

Farner's first years in music were with the bands TERRY KNIGHT AND THE PACK and THE BOSSMEN. When GRAND FUNK RAILROAD formed in 1969, they named the group after the Grand Trunk & Western Railroad that runs through Flint. Like a Spartan, Farner was intent on bringing rock destined for arenas. What began as rehearsals at Flint's Federation of Musicians Union Hall led to some of rock music's watershed moments. At the 1969 Atlanta International Pop Festival, they shared the stage with rock luminaries such as LED ZEPPELIN, Janis Joplin and CREEDENCE CLEARWATER REVIVAL. The same year they formed — 1969 — the band further defied expectations by releasing two albums (via Capitol Records) in a four-month period. Farner wrote all but two songs from "On Time" and the platinum-selling "Grand Funk". He said they wanted to take advantage of the meteoric rise that was building in terms of the band's popularity.

"It wasn't much pressure because the songs were coming fast," Farner said. "I had nothing but time for songs."

By 1970, Farner's songs were pivotal to the band's success. The epic composition "I'm Your Captain (Closer to Home)" became an anthem for Vietnam War veterans and audiences alike. Farner would later perform the iconic song at the Vietnam Memorial Wall, on the 25th Anniversary of the Vietnam Memorial Wall. Farner also received the Vietnam Veterans of American Presidents Award for Excellence in the Arts.

In July 1971, the trio sold out Shea Stadium in New York; 55,000 tickets were sold in a record 72 hours — besting THE BEATLES' previous record.

The Farner-penned composition "Bad Time" was GRAND FUNK's last Top 10 single, reaching No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 in June 1975. Although it never topped the charts, the song was the most played tune on radio that year due to demand.

Farner is a three-time Michigan Rock And Roll Legends Hall Of Fame member — inducted as a solo member in 2015 and an inductee as part of GRAND FUNK RAILROAD and TERRY KNIGHT AND THE PACK.

GRAND FUNK laid the groundwork for such bands as FOREIGNER, JOURNEY, VAN HALEN and BON JOVI with its signature hard driving sound, soulful vocals, muscular instrumentation and forceful pop melodies. The fact that GRAND FUNK's legacy still reigns over the classic rock landscape fifty years after its 1969 birth in Flint, Michigan is a testament to the group's influence and staying power. Mega-hits "We're An American Band", "I'm Your Captain/Closer To Home", "Locomotion" and "Some Kind Of Wonderful" still receive continuous airplay on classic rock radio. "We're An American Band" has received notoriety in recent years being used in movie soundtracks and in television/radio advertising. The huge hit was featured in a General Motors national TV ad campaign and in Disney's animated feature film "The Country Bears". "We're An American Band" was featured in the Cuba Gooding Jr. film "Radio", and in the swash buckler "Sahara" starring Matthew McConaughey.

In a new interview with Scott Itter of Dr. Music, former ANTHRAX and current ARMORED SAINT singer John Bush was asked if he has thought about releasing a book. He responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Yeah. It's one of those things I've thought about but I haven't really put into motion. For years I keep a journal of basically just the live performances I've done. So it goes back… I mean, I have done it from back in the day, like in the '80s… It's just a calendar of dates and stuff on it. And I've been doing something [like] that since the '80s. And what I'll do is I'll just write the city and the venue and then I'll just do a little snippet, like, 'The voice sounded like crap tonight. It was really cold in the venue,' and just maybe six or seven sentences associated with that show. And again, I've been doing that since the '80s. I can't find the ones that I did from the '80s and the '90s when I was in ANTHRAX. I don't know where they're at — somewhere maybe. Although I don't think they're in my garage, or they're probably in somebody's garage. But I've been doing it again since ARMORED SAINT resumed playing shows again since the early 2000s. And I have all those in my garage. And I do it all the time. So that's kind of my journal. It's not full-on story journal. Talking and doing interviews and talking about people kind of allows those stories to come out. But, yeah, maybe one day I'll put out a book of all those shows. And that would be probably amusing. But here's the only problem, is that it's my writing. I can't even read my writing. So I'm writing stuff, and I look back and [I'm], like, 'What does that say? I can't read it.' That's me who wrote it. So I guess maybe that'll give us some charm. I think if I could find the '80s books somewhere… I don't know where those are. 'Cause I have done that from the beginning."

Bush also spoke about the status of ARMORED SAINT's long-awaited documentary "Armored Saint: Band Of Brothers", which had its world premiere in May 2023 at the Harmony Gold Theatre in Hollywood, California. Director Russell Cherrington introduced the film and held a question-and-answer session after the film with members of the group. Asked what the timeline is for the official release of the documentary, John said: "Well, the timeline is now. It should come out, because otherwise it becomes slightly out of date, because there was a lot of interviews that were of a certain time and you don't want those interviews to seem like they were several years old. I don't, actually. I think then it becomes this kind of dated piece. And granted, we're already a dated piece, right? It goes back to '82, '81, '83, whatever. So, that being said, I know Russell Cherrington, the guy who put it together and did a great job of getting all the interviews and directed it, he's doing his best to try to get it completed and out there. There was some legal stuff that they were trying to sort out with getting some people's approvals and agreeing [to have it released]. But that was something they were trying to iron out, and I think they were getting close to getting that completed, 'cause there was some pretty big people they interviewed that they needed their approval to say, 'We're cool at this' — to dumb it down. But, in any case, I'm hoping it comes out, 'cause it's really cool. There's a lot of great interviews, not only with the band, but a lot of people that were part of our history. From Ron Fair, the guy who signed us [to Chrysalis], to Brian Slagel [head of Metal Blade Records], who discovered us, to Cliff Burnstein, who was our manager in the early days, to Lars [Ulrich] and James [Hetfield of METALLICA] and Scott Ian [of ANTHRAX] and the late Bob Nalbandian, and just various people that were part of our life. Max Norman, who produced 'Delirious Nomad'. So a lot of people were there. And there's some really cool interviews there to listen to and have people talk about ARMORED SAINT in all kinds of ways."

ARMORED SAINT's ninth studio album is tentatively due in April through Metal Blade Records. The LP was mixed by Jay Ruston, who previously worked on 2020's "Punching The Sky" and 2015's "Win Hands Down".

At the end of September 2025, ARMORED SAINT joined W.A.S.P. for a trio of U.K. shows before returning to the States to support legendary guitarist Michael Schenker on his "My Years With UFO" U.S. tour. ARMORED SAINT was celebrating the 40th anniversary of its second album, "Delirious Nomad", with a five-song micro set of songs from the record throughout the tour.

In June 2024, ARMORED SAINT released a rendition of "One Chain (Don't Make No Prison)". The classic track was originally written by Dennis Lambert and Brian Potter and was first released by PEOPLE in 1970. Additional covers include THE FOUR TOPS (1974),SANTANA (1978) and THE DOOBIE BROTHERS (1989).

"One Chain (Don't Make No Prison)" was produced by Vera, mixed by Jay Ruston and mastered by Maor Applebaum.

ARMORED SAINT released the "Symbol Of Salvation Live" CD/DVD in 2021 via Metal Blade Records. The release came in celebration of the seminal album's 30th anniversary. "Symbol Of Salvation Live" was a combination live album and video of the band playing the album in its entirety at New York City's famed Gramercy Theatre during its 2018 tour.

In July 2023, ARMORED SAINT was inducted into the Metal Hall Of Fame at the legendary Whisky A Go Go in West Hollywood, California.

During BLACK SABBATH drummer Bill Ward's January 2026 radio show as part of the LA Radio Sessions, which will air on Saturday, January 10 at noon (Pacific Time) on 99.1 KLBP-FM in Long Beach and also online at KLBP.org, he talked about the drumming of MASTODON's Brann Dailor. Ward said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET):  "First of all, Brann, before I met him — I met him first through listening to [MASTODON's] music, and everything about him, his orchestrations, his jazz, his rock, all of those parts that obviously live inside him are so well put together. When I heard [MASTODON's] 'The Last Baron' — we've played 'The Last Baron' so many times on our [radio] show — and I was blown away. I think that's where I really met Brann in terms of listening astutely to where he was going, what he was doing, how he would push, how he would retrieve, how he would give way. And I listened to, and I thought, 'My god, this guy's really learned how to play drums.'"

Ward continued: "Learning to play drums is not that easy. Coming out the box, we can all start by banging. Mine was trying to learn how to play 'Peggy Sue' by Buddy Holly. But we all have our hurdles to get over. But Brann's articulation, I think he's worthy of all the praise that he gets. I think now everyone has recognized that he is an outstanding drummer on a world level. His intuition and his interaction with other instruments is foreboding and always just enough. I've never heard him overplay a part where he could take something else away from another musician. That's the sign of a really good fucking drummer… He intuitively knows when to, and I feel that from him, when he doesn't overplay or he doesn't push on something and he allows air to pass through, and he allows notes to pass through, the other members of the band. That's what being a drummer is — learning to play with the other musicians. You have to play with the other musicians. I had to learn to play with [BLACK SABBATH's] Tony [Iommi] and to learn to play with Terry, Geezer [Butler], and I learned to play with Ozzy [Osbourne]. You have to play with wherever they are as well. You have to be respectful as a drummer, and Brann is respectful. And I can't wait to hear whatever he is going to do next. And I'm a drummer that loves drummers. So, anyway. Thanks, Brann."

In a 2019 interview with Music Radar, Brann said that he considers himself "in the Bill Ward camp of metal drumming as opposed to the Vinnie Paul [PANTERA] side. Both amazing players, but I hear more of myself on that side when metal was first being born," he explained.

"For the people who were playing it, metal didn't exist yet. They knew jazz, but they were trying to compete with Marshall stacks so they have that fusion thing happening," Brann explained. "I feel like that’s where my sensibility lies as far as drumming."

The original lineup of BLACK SABBATH — Ward, singer Ozzy Osbourne, guitarist Tony Iommi and bassist Geezer Butler — played its final concert last summer. Dubbed "Back To The Beginning", the charity show was held at Villa Park in Birmingham, United Kingdom on July 5, 2025.

"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.

Kam Lee, who was a member of an early version of DEATH as well as the pre-DEATH band MANTAS alongside guitarist/vocalist Chuck Schuldiner and guitarist Rick Rozz, will perform live and re-record the entirety of the MANTAS's "Death By Metal" demo. As part of a significant music legacy initiative, Kam's post-DEATH band MASSACRE will bring to life the demo and other MANTAS classics, which have not been performed live for over 43 years. This endeavor aims to commemorate the foundational songs and music of the death metal genre.

"Massacre Plays Mantas Death By Metal Demo" is a powerful tribute to one of the most influential demo recordings in death metal history, featuring Kam — the original vocalist and drummer on the legendary "Death By Metal" demo. This unique collaboration brings together Lee and MASSACRE to perform the entire "Death By Metal" demo live, capturing the raw energy and primal intensity of the earliest days of Florida death metal. For the first time ever, fans will witness Lee revisiting this seminal work from his long and influential career, alongside MASSACRE's crushing sound.

The first show this year where "Massacre Plays Mantas Death By Metal Demo" will be performed will be the Kill-Town Death Fest XI, set to take place September 3-6, 2026 at at Pumpehuset in Copenhagen, Denmark.

Kill-Town Death Fest XI organizers said: "We are beyond elated to announce that Kam Lee and MASSACRE will be performing the MANTAS 'Death By Metal' demo for the very first time ever! Besides being the first performance of this legendary material that lead the way for the formation of DEATH, it will be the only performance worldwide for all of 2026! This will be a historical moment in death metal history, so be sure not to miss out!"

Lee commented: "I'm extremely proud of the material we've created. Throughout my career, I've consistently felt proud of the legacy and music that MANTAS and DEATH produced. These songs hold a significant place in the history and culture of death metal's origins. I appreciate the collaborative work we accomplished and recognize it as a substantial part of my legacy, similar to those who contributed to its creation.

"As MASSACRE brings these classics to the forefront, our objective is to pay homage to this material through live performances and re-recordings, thus securing its lasting impact.

"I'm cognizant that my perspective won't be universally shared, and some individuals may hold unfavorable opinions. However, I don't invest time in trying to alter the opinions of those with preconceived notions about me, deeming it an exercise in futility. My primary focus is on showcasing this material in a positive light, leveraging the expertise of top-notch musicians to execute these songs impeccably.

"As always I thank my fans and those who have supported me throughout my journey all these years. Thank you!"

Last August, Lee was asked by Soundterror what it was like working with Chuck in the early 1980s. He responded: "We were kids, so I only knew him as a teenager. So, I can't really expand on him as an adult. I can only tell you that we were teenagers, we were 15-, 16-year-olds just having fun playing music in the garage. We never thought it was gonna become what it did, what it's become."

Asked why he left DEATH, Kam said: "Why did I leave DEATH? [Chuck] kicked me out because I tried to get him to go out with a girl."

After the interviewer noted that many people consider the early MANTAS and DEATH demos "the birthplace of death metal growling", Kam said: "Well, in DEATH and MANTAS, when we started in DEATH, I basically just started kind of mimicking a lot of what we were taking influences from, which was… We were tape trading for one. I was a tape trader, so I was getting a lot of stuff from all over the place. So you'd get tapes from like POSSESSED, of course, was a big influence. There was stuff from SACRIFICE coming out of Canada. There was stuff from Paul Speckmann [DEATH STRIKE, MASTER] coming out of Chicago, and there was stuff overseas like early HELLHAMMER. There was stuff like VENOM. It was a big influence on MANTAS in the beginning. So it was kind of like a combination of trying to like combine all that stuff. Plus being underage and 16, you're just kind of screaming and you have all this angst and anger, and I come from the punk world, so I just wanted to kind of like express it that way. Plus I was playing drums at the same time. So it was a lot of trying to do that. But then when I found the growl, it really wasn't until MASSACRE that I really started… I changed it because earlier, prior to that was more screechy-type vocals, and Chuck started to sing as well, and he took it more in a more of his influence from [POSSESSED's] Jeff Becerra and was trying to sound more like Jeff, where I was, like, 'I don't wanna do that. I don't wanna sound like somebody else.' So I tried to come up with my own thing. And I thought, what was the most primal thing that I could think of? A lot of people will always say, oh, well, there was demonic movies like 'The Exorcist', or stuff like that. But to me, it was more or less about being primal, being natural. And to me, the most natural thing that was hair-raising is — I was raised around a lot of large dogs, like rottweilers and pitbulls, and I knew that the scariest thing that I ever felt as a 14-year-old was being between four or five rottweilers during feeding time, where you had to go out and give them food. And if you've ever been around large dogs, when you bring out a bowl of food, they all begin to growl this low growl because one wants to be the alpha, wants to be dominant, and it's kind of hair-raising. And I thought, that's what I wanna do with vocals. I wanna do something that's hair raising. I want to do something that sounds primal, sounds raw, sounds natural. And I started to mimic dogs. That's literally how I got the growl."

Lee went on to say that he didn't know anybody else at the time who had adopted quite the same style of death metal growling. But he clarified: "I took phonetic enunciation influences from Tom G. Warrior, only because I heard the HELLHAMMER demo and I really liked how he phonetically spoke, even though at the time I didn't realize it was 'cause he was from Switzerland and English wasn't his natural language. I just liked the way that he phonetically said things. So I took that, and there's a lot of his nuances, like his little 'ooh' and his 'hey', and I just took that and I expanded it. Instead of just going, 'Hey,' I went, 'Heeeey.' I kind of brought it out more. So there was that influence. And just the general influence of everything coming out in that late '80s time. Like I said, everything from VENOM to Lemmy from MOTÖRHEAD, just anything that was really raspy and raw I was attracted to. So I tried to kind of take all of those influences all together and put 'em all together."

Asked what the reaction was from other people to the kind of music he, Chuck and Rick were making at the time, Kam said: "Chuck and I and Freddie [Frederick 'Rick Rozz' DeLillo] at the time, we knew we were doing something that was completely different, and everybody hated it. Everybody hated it. I remember people would say, 'This is shit. This will never last. This will never catch on. This is garbage.' And look — 40-something years later, it's one of the biggest influential music in metal today. We didn't realize we were doing something that was going to have this much impact, but we knew at the time we were doing something different because everything that was popular at the time was hair metal, everything like MÖTLEY CRÜE and that kind of stuff, and we just wanted to be the completely polar opposite of that. So we just gravitated to more underground music, and that's literally… We did our own thing. My influences, especially lyrically, came from horror movies 'cause I'm a big horror movie fan. So I loved the Lucio Fulci films and stuff like that. And Chuck too — a lot of the stuff on [DEATH's debut album] 'Scream Bloody Gore' literally comes from our love of Lucio Fulci and 'Evil Dead' and all those '80s films that just came out during that timeframe."

Back in August 2022, Kam once again weighed in on the never-ending debate on who can lay claim to being the first "true" death metal band: DEATH or POSSESSED. He said: "POSSESSED came first, because we all heard the POSSESSED demo in the tape trading. We were tape trading and we got the POSSESSED demo. And there's where you can hear the change, because we were sounding different — we were sounding very much like VENOM in the first MANTAS demo; very, veryVENOM cloning. As soon as we heard that POSSESSED demo… It was two bands, actually, that literally changed everything in DEATH — the POSSESSED demo and SLAYER's 'Show No Mercy'. Those two things right there changed everything. Because once we heard SLAYER's 'Show No Mercy', as far as the speed and aggression, and we heard POSSESSED, as far as the technicality of the guitars and the way that Jeff was singing, that's when we changed. We said, 'Okay, we need to be a combination of all three of these — we need to be a combination of the rawness of VENOM, the fast energy of SLAYER and that just evil, screechy and guitar ripping ways of POSSESSED. That literally was it. There's the three bands that are the blueprint of death metal, as far as I'm concerned."

A little over a month earlier, Kam was asked to elaborate on his comment during an appearance on "That Metal Interview" podcast that "Chuck ripped off POSSESSED. "I guess that was actually a bad choice of wording," Kam admitted to VWMusic. "Saying 'ripped off' makes it sound bad. I guess the proper wording should be 'took heavy influence from.' Although you could say that I ripped off HELLHAMMER and Tom G. Warrior, and I'm not going to get butthurt about it. I won't because it's fact. Yet some people don't care about facts. They just want to keep believing the fiction they bought into because it fits the messianic mold their 'hero-worshipping' icons have been fitted for. It disrupts their ideology and topples the tower when they hear their gods might not be as almighty as they once believed. It's that same sunken feeling when a kid for the first time is discovering that just maybe Santa Claus is not real. It hurts their feelings. Worse yet are those others out there manipulating those people who are hurt. Some people are just trying to jump on the pity party bandwagon with that one."

He continued: "I got a lot of hate from that statement, though it wasn't intended to downplay Chuck's influence on music, but rather to end the debate of who came first, DEATH or POSSESSED. Sadly, morons spun it to change the narrative, to fit their agenda, and to further instigate and cause strife."

Lee added: "Do I feel Chuck's influence is overstated? Let me put it this way — for the 'product and commodity,' his legacy became post mortem. In order to keep reselling and repressing albums, it's exactly what it's being marketed as. No, it's actually exactly what one should expect from a product sales pitch. I mean, you've got to make sure that your product is the people's choice, right? It's Coca-Cola vs Pepsi. McDonald's vs Burger King. Starbucks vs Dunkin Donuts. In the end, the company with the better commercial is always going to win over the masses."

A landmark declaration: the world premiere news!! MASSACRE is scheduled to perform live and re-record the entirety of...

Posted by Massacre_TheOfficial_BandPage on Sunday, January 4, 2026

Original QUEENSRŸCHE singer Geoff Tate rang in the New Year with his second annual New Year's Eve celebration. Held on December 31, 2025 at the Deco Ballroom & Event Center in San Antonio, Texas, the evening blended rock history, vintage elegance and nonstop revelry.

The night began with a red-carpet arrival, with Tate taking the stage around 8:00 p.m. for a powerful acoustic set featuring some of his most beloved and influential songs. With a career spanning decades, multiple Grammy nominations, and a voice considered one of the greatest in rock and metal history, Geoff delivered a truly intimate performance.

Later in the evening, John Moyer — longtime bassist of multi-platinum metal giants DISTURBED — joined Geoff's band on bass.

Guests showed up in style for the "Best Dressed Costume Contest", followed by the final countdown to midnight, a champagne toast, and dancing that carried on well into the New Year.

Fan-filmed video of the event can be seen below, courtesy of the Matthew Mumme channel on YouTube.

In a recent interview with Mark Strigl, Moyer confirmed that he was producing the upcoming the upcoming third and final chapter in the classic "Operation: Mindcrime" album series from Tate. He said in part: "I recorded these songs during the summer between tours. [DISTURBED] finished [the North American leg of] our 'The Sickness [25th Anniversary] Tour' in the spring. I spent the summer in Europe recording a bunch of these songs. Then we went to Europe to tour with DISTURBED, so I took a break from the songs. Now I'm in the final stages of mixing and putting everything together."

Elaborating on how the material for "Operation: Mindcrime III" came together, John said: "Obviously [Geoff is] not in QUEENSRŸCHE anymore. 'Operation: Mindcrime' was released under the QUEENSRŸCHE name years ago, the first two records. Well, when the band split up, basically Geoff got all the rights to 'Mindcrime'. That's his story to tell. And so anything that moves forward with 'Mindcrime' is his to do with as he wishes. I know some people are, like, 'How can he do that? That was a QUEENSRŸCHE thing.' Well, 'cause it's his; he owns it. That's his baby.

"So, 'Operation: Mindcrime III', he has these songs that he's been working with a handful of great songwriters that have been guitar players for him," John continued. "And so these songs he's been sitting on for, like, four or five years, and they've been sort of percolating over time. And then he sends 'em to me, and I'm, like, 'Oh my God. These songs are great, Geoff.' And [I was] really blown away by 'em. And he sends me another, and I'm, like, 'That's another great song', and 'another great song.' And he's just been holding on to these songs 'cause he knew that these were the songs for a future 'Operation: Mindcrime III'. Even though he's had other releases and has put out other material, these are the songs he's been saving for this record. And so he sends 'em to me. I start going through 'em. And then I worked with one of his guitar players, Amaury Altmayer, in France. Amaury and I combed through the material. We redid all the guitars, we re-polished everything. [We] basically took the demos [and] rebuilt 'em from the ground up through a producer's eyes. And then I went to Italy and I recorded Geoff on a handful of songs. We are eight songs in right now on the record. It's gonna be a full 10-song album. We have pretty much final mixes on three of 'em. We have rough mixes on all the other ones, on the other five. And so we're just going back and forth with our mixer. We're using Juan Urteaga, who mixes TESTAMENT and other bands like that, a West Coast guy. 'Cause I wanted that older-school sound, I wanted to go back to sort of that era. And I love what Juan does."

Regarding the musical direction of the "Operation: Mindcrime III" material, Moyer said: "I have a handful of friends who I've played it for, and when anyone listens to it, they go, 'It sounds like 'Operation: Mindcrime', but modern.

"A lot has happened since the late '80s with sonics and technology and how we record things," John explained. "Obviously, to me, that's the greatest concept record of all time. So, to me, that's why it's so important that we do this record correctly. So a lot of it is continuing the story of Dr. X. And 'Operation: Mindcrime III' basically is 'Operation: Mindcrime' but from Dr. X's point of view. I just got chills saying that, but that's exactly it. So it's a darker, heavier, kind of a more evil-sounding record, but with all of the themes from 'Operation: Mindcrime'. It very heavily is influenced from 'Operation: Mindcrime'… The lyrics are so incredible on this record. He's really bringing it. I'm so honored to be a part of it."

Moyer also addressed the fact that it has taken so long for Geoff to complete the "Operation: Mindcrime III" project after initially announcing it more than a year ago.

"There's a lot of pressure on this record, I'm not gonna lie to you, that I put on myself, that I feel me and Geoff both feel," John said. "And we want it to be perfect, but we also want it to be timely. We don't want it to sit here, like, 'Hey, 'Operation: Mindcrime III',' and then three years go by, nothing comes out. But at the same time, things that are great sometimes take a little time. So it's not that the record's not being written; it's that it takes a little time to make it what we want it to be. So there's remixes sometimes. Sometimes we get something and we'll re-record a little section. Just we're, like, 'That's not quite perfect,' and we'll go back and we'll re-record it. But it's getting there. Honestly, I feel like we're 85% there, if not 90% there, done with this record. I'm about to get another track from him, in the next two weeks, which will make song number nine. And the song number 10 is out of my hands. Song number 10 is a song that the way it's put together and his vision for it and my vision for it are a little different. So I told him, I said, 'Okay, for this song in particular, I want you to work with someone else on this song.' I feel like he and I are just gonna battle each other too much about it. And right now, he and I have a cohesive vision on these nine songs. And we're killing it. And then when he and I kind of discussed song number 10, which is sort of… It's a thing. [Laughs] Some of these songs are things, man. It's not a song; it's like a dramatic movement. It's like a operatic storyline. And I hear it a totally different way than he hears it. And so I was, like, 'Okay, for this one song, I want you to go back to the original songwriter,' who's a producer of his own right, and I said, 'Why don't you just work with him? And you guys finish that song on your own.' And his name's Kieran [Robertson], and Kieran's out with Geoff right now anyways touring. So I'm just, like, 'You're already out with Kieran. Just work with him and do this last song.' So I'll end up doing nine songs on the record, production-wise."

John went on to say that he is "so excited" for people to hear "Operation: Mindcrime III". "The first single is so fricking good, I can't get over it," he said. "Everyone I play for just goes, 'Wow. Geoff Tate is back and he's killing it.' And it's so 'Operation: Mindcrime', bro. It's with all the vocals and everything over it, the sound effects.

"There's this one song… And a lot of the songs are sung… It's basically sung from Dr. X's point of view," Moyer explained. "So Geoff really gets into character, and you can hear this menacing tone and sort of this 'do as I say, I know what's right' attitude that happens throughout the record. It's really powerful.

"I'm so proud of it and I think it's gonna do very well, and I think it's something the fans have been waiting for," John added.

Last October, Tate told Shawn Ratches of Laughingmonkeymusic that he was "days away" from releasing the first single from "Operation: Mindcrime III". "And we have a whole bunch of new songs that we're gonna kind of release one at a time," he explained. "Rather than putting everything together in one disc and selling it right off the bat, we're gonna kind of spread it out over the next year and release track by track, kind of thing. And we're actually just days away from [putting out the first song] right now. We're excited. When everything comes out [in the form of several singles], by that time we'll have put it together as a one-piece package."

Geoff confirmed that his upcoming album will be released under the "Operation: Mindcrime III" banner, explaining: "It's the continuation and the final chapter of 'Operation: Mindcrime'. And it's the story told from Dr. X's perspective. So the previous two albums were from the perspective of Nikki, the lead character. And this is Dr. X's perspective, so it's quite interesting."

In January 2025, Tate told 96.1 KLPX afternoon jock Larry Mac about the upcoming third chapter in the "Operation: Mindcrime" album series: "Well, I wouldn't call it a sequel. I'd call it a continuation of the story. We're doing it in kind of an interesting way. We're not gonna release an album, so to speak, right off the bat. We're going to release the album once all the songs are released, if that makes sense. We're gonna release a song a month or every quarter, and then when it's all finished, we're gonna do a special presentation with all the songs included."

Regarding how he comes up with the musical and lyrical ideas for his albums, Geoff said: "It's all different, really. Sometimes it's a musical figure that you're fiddling around with in the studio that leads to a complete song or a few songs. And sometimes it's the lyrical idea. Sometimes it's a sentence that just sparks your imagination and gets you rolling on something. With the 'Operation: Mindcrime' albums, it was a story that came about really quickly, actually — I wrote it very quickly — and then expanded on it over the years to explain a little bit more in depth as to what was happening within the story. 'Cause the first album is a little bit vague in what it's talking about in it. The second album explains even more as to what the characters are going through. And the third album, again, will be even more explanation, but taken from a number of different viewpoints, which kind of is interesting, I think."

Originally released in May 1988, QUEENSRŸCHE's third studio album, "Operation: Mindcrime" took the quintet to an entirely new level. The concept, revealed through the songs, revolves around the character of Nikki, a recovering drug addict disillusioned with a corrupt society. Drawn into a cult-like revolutionary group headed by Dr. X (voiced by the late and beloved British actor Anthony Valentine),Nikki is manipulated to assassinate political leaders until his friendship with nun Sister Mary finally opens his eyes to the truth. Regarded as one of the greatest concept metal albums of all time, "Operation: Mindcrime" was certified platinum in 1991 in the U.S. and was ranked in the "Top 100 Metal Albums Of All Time" by both Kerrang! and Billboard magazines. Rolling Stone included it on a similar list, noting that "nearly 30 years after its initial release, 'Mindcrime' feels eerily relevant."

The original "Operation: Mindcrime" album weaved themes of religion, drug abuse and underground, radical politics. By contrast, 2006's "Operation: Mindcrime II" was regarded as an unnecessary sequel that many felt cheapened the original album, despite being a decent record in its own right.

Tate previously discussed his plans for "Operation: Mindcrime III" in a November 2024 interview with "Rock Of Nations With Dave Kinchen And Shane McEachern". Speaking about the musical direction of his new solo material, Geoff said: "I would say it has more of an early QUEENSRŸCHE feel. [The new songs are] super heavy, and some of 'em are incredibly technical. They're like algebra. [Laughs] You need a calculator when you're listening to the song. [Laughs] And, of course, some of them are very emotional. It's the last chapter in the 'Mindcrime' series. So it's following the exploits of Dr. X and Nikki and Sister Mary, and picks up at a particular point in their story and kind of does the microscope of what is happening at that particular time with them. And I am just in love with it. I am so happy with everything so far, and I can't wait for people to hear it."

Asked if there will once again be "some of those political interplays" within the lyrical themes on "Operation: Mindcrime III", Tate said: "Oh, I think so. Yeah, I think that people will be able to detect little bits of what's happening around them. And it's an interesting time right now — very interesting. Especially next week [after the 2024 U.S. presidential election], it's gonna be really interesting [laughs] what happens. So, we'll see."

Pressed about whether "a familiar voice" will play Dr. X on "Operation: Mindcrime III", Geoff said: "I can't tell you, actually. But thanks for asking. [Laughs]"

In a 2016 interview with East Valley Tribune, Tate said that he looked back fondly on "Operation: Mindcrime II". "I haven't listened to that album since I recorded it," he admitted. "However, it was a new story. Overall, it went down well live with the audience. I have no complaints or regrets about it."

During QUEENSRŸCHE's 2012 legal battle with Tate over the rights to the band's name, guitarist Michael Wilton submitted a sworn declaration in which he said the idea to make "Operation: Mindcrime II" was first brought to the table by Geoff's wife and QUEENSRŸCHE's then-manager Susan Tate. "The band was hesitant and did not want to lessen the original," the guitarist claimed. "But Susan Tate and Geoff Tate hired a budget producer and took control without really any other input. Scott Rockenfield [drums], Eddie Jackson [bass] and I were squeezed out of having any input in the musical direction or business decisions, thus the project suffered. During the initial writing phase, I would show up to bring my input to the creative process only to find that the producer, the new guitar player (who were both staying with the Tates at the time),along with Geoff Tate had been up late the night before or up early that morning and had written the songs without me. I was then told my ideas were not needed as the songs were now done. I could, however, 'bring my own style' in during the recording after learning to play what they wrote for me. In frustration, I gave up on the writing process knowing that I would at least get to make changes in the studio to bring back the QUEENSRŸCHE sound into these songs that we were known for. The final straw was when they refused to let me to be a part of the final recordings and mixes. I was shut out and they had the nerve to replace some of my parts on my songs. They denied me flying to San Francisco to be a part of my band, telling me that everything was ready to go and I was not needed. Had the communication been better, and had I been aware that parts needed to be recorded or rewritten, I would have been there. It was not until years later that I even became aware of the issues during the final recording and mixing of 'Operation: Mindcrime II'. It was all under the control of Geoff and Susan Tate. Call it delusions of grandeur, but they were convinced that this was going to sell three times more than the original, and to date (six years later) this album has sold fewer than 150,000 copies. The original album sold over 500,000 copies within a year."

In April 2014, Tate and QUEENSRŸCHE announced that a settlement had been reached after a nearly two-year legal battle where the singer sued over the rights to the QUEENSRŸCHE name after being fired in 2012. Wilton, Rockenfield and Jackson responded with a countersuit. The settlement included an agreement that Wilton, Rockenfield and Jackson would continue as QUEENSRŸCHE, while Tate would have the sole right to perform "Operation: Mindcrime" and "Operation: Mindcrime II" in their entirety live.

Tate's replacement, Todd La Torre, has released four albums thus far with QUEENSRŸCHE: 2013's "Queensrÿche", 2015's "Condition Hüman", 2019's "The Verdict" and 2022's "Digital Noise Alliance".

🎉✨ **WHAT. A. NIGHT!** ✨🎉
Geoff Tate rang in the New Year with his **2nd Annual New Year’s Eve Celebration**—and it was...

Posted by Geoff Tate on Sunday, January 4, 2026

Posted by Deco Ballroom on Tuesday, April 1, 2025

Founding VIO-LENCE guitarist Phil Demmel has denied demanding of VIO-LENCE singer Sean Killian that the group be disbanded following Phil's exit from VIO-LENCE nearly two years ago. Phil's final concert with the San Francisco Bay Area thrash metal veterans took place in February 2024 at Carioca Club in São Paulo, Brazil.

In a social media post on Sunday (January 4),Demmel wrote: "I asked Sean to end the band with me, then perform the material as solo act as I felt the rapid turnover of the band wasn't something I wanted to be involved with. When he told me he didn't want to, I didn't ask again. It was a request, not a demand.

"For my last few years of my time in VIO, Sean was doing the scheduling/ booking, I wasn't making any band decisions. He'd ask me if I was available to play and I was able to cherry-pick the gigs I wanted/could do until it was time for me to stop. I was in no way 'controlling' the band or making unilateral band decisions (except maybe getting [former FEAR FACTORY bassist] Christian [Olde Wolbers] on board to fill in) that I can recall. Sean and I decided on things together.

"VIO-LENCE is forging ahead as am I. Can everyone else?"

Phil's online post was made in direct response to an interview Killian gave to Robb Chavez of Robbs MetalWorks where the VIO-LENCE singer spoke about Demmel's departure. Asked if he was "adamant" about wanting to keep VIO-LENCE going after Phil's exit, Sean said: "[Phil] wanted me to shelve the band. And then we sold out the Whisky [A Go Go in February 2023] in L.A., and he brought it up in the green room after we played. And I was, like, 'No, I'm not shelving anything.' 'Cause we never really toured back in the day, so there's so many places around the world that haven't seen VIO-LENCE or heard it live. For him, it's a garage thing that — I don't know… He's kind of a selfish guy. And if you've seen some of his interviews. he even brings it up himself."

Asked why VIO-LENCE's previous reunion in 2001-2003 didn't last, Sean said: "Well, we actually were writing music at the time, so we had Perry [Strickland] on drums and Phil [on guitar], Deen [Dell] playing bass, me singing and we had Ray Vegas playing guitar to fill in, 'cause Robb [Flynn, former VIO-LENCE guitarist] was already taking off with MACHINE HEAD. And we wrote some music and then Robb, he came to Phil and tapped him and said, 'You wanna play [with MACHINE HEAD]?' And then Phil called me and I was, like, 'Look, dude, I'm just a guy that loves to play music. You're a musician.' I've never told him, 'You can't do this' or 'you can't do that,' 'cause he's filled in for LAMB OF GOD [in later years] and a bunch of stuff. And I've always supported him a hundred percent. But when he told me that he wanted me to shelve it [two and a half years ago], that's when I was just kind of, like, 'This relationship…' Like [THE MENTORS legend] El Duce would say, 'This relationship is over.' [Laughs]"

After Chavez noted that it's "really surprising" to hear that Demmel wanted Killian to stop playing shows with VIO-LENCE in 2023, Sean said: "It's an internal thing with him. It's not about me. It's when he started doing interviews. So when [VIO-LENCE] played the Mystic Festival [in June 2024] in Poland, MACHINE HEAD was playing [at the same event], so I text Robb, 'Hey, man, why don't you play [the classic VIO-LENCE song] 'World In A World' with us?' 'Cause he always shows up a day before [MACHINE HEAD is scheduled to play]. And [Robb was], like, 'Fuck yeah.' So we did it. And so then the next week [Phil] does an interview, and it's just nothing but him talking bad about [VIO-LENCE]. And I just finally had it with him and told him, 'Man, you got issues. And I don't want any part of it.' I'm 61. I don't want people like that in my life. And so here we are today. And I'm happy. And the group that I'm playing with are enjoying themselves, and the fans really respond every time."

VIO-LENCE released three studio albums between 1988 and 1993. The group reformed soon after Demmel acrimoniously left MACHINE HEAD seven years ago.

Formed in 1985, VIO-LENCE helped define and refine what came to be known as the Bay Area sound, dropping three seminal albums before splitting in 1993. Leaving behind a heady legacy, they reformed briefly a couple of times in the intervening years before becoming a full-time going concern once more in 2019. After playing a string of successful shows, the quintet started to think about new music and delivered "Let The World Burn", showcasing their first new material in 29 years.

Filling out the band's ranks on "Let The World Burn" alongside Killian and Demmel were drummer Perry Strickland, Olde Wolbers and former OVERKILL guitarist Bobby Gustafson.

Killian is the only VIO-LENCE member from the "Let The World Burn" recording lineup who is still touring with the band.

For VIO-LENCE's recent U.S. tour as the support act for DEATH ANGEL, Killian was joined on stage by Ira Black (LIZZY BORDEN, VICIOUS RUMORS, METAL CHURCH) on guitar, Jeff Salgado (PSYCHOSOMATIC) on bass, Nick Souza (HATRIOT) on drums and Toby Swope on guitar.

"I've got a great group of guys," Sean told Robbs MetalWorks. "Claudeous Creamer's usually [playing guitar] with us, but POSSESSED is in Europe right now, and so anytime POSSESSED plays, we have Toby join us. And he's a great guitar player. He also plays drums. He tells me he plays drums better than guitar. And they're all professionals — Ira, Jeff, Nick Souza, Zetro's son. Great drummer, great attitude. And so it's, like, I'm happy that I have the guys we have because now it's finally, like, okay, this is my band and we're moving forward. And we're taking it to places that people haven't seen it before."

Killian continued: "Look at my Instagram. I'm not constantly on it. I'm not a hound for attention. When we do our tours, you see video or live pictures of us and stuff like that, but in between, you really don't see a whole lot. I don't post a whole lot about stuff. So that's kind of the difference. I'm not a social media rock star. I'm just a guy that fucking loves to play thrash metal."

In June 2024, Demmel told Nikki Blakk of the San Francisco Bay Area radio station 107.7 The Bone about his decision to leave VIO-LENCE, the band that he formed nearly four decades earlier: "The VIO-LENCE thing just became… Perry left, or Perry's no longer in the band, and it just became — and I love Christian — it just became something not familiar anymore. And it hit me when we played the Whisky [A Go Go in February 2023 in West Hollywood, California] and it was Adrian [Aguilar], the drummer's first show. And we were having this kid Miles Dimitri Baker, who plays in ICE NINE KILLS right now, come down, and he was gonna be my fill-in [for some dates]. And so he was gonna play on a song or two. And I show up to the show and I walk backstage and, man, there was 50 people backstage and I knew maybe [the guys in] the band and a couple of other people. It was just, like, 'Man, this isn't my home anymore. This doesn't feel like home.' And no slight against the dudes, 'cause I loved playing with Adrian, I loved playing with Christian, and Ira really worked hard for the band and was a big — he was a big fighter for the band. He worked hard. He cared a lot. Ira was a very productive member of VIO-LENCE. But with everything that was happening, it was just time for me to go… The Kerry [King] thing was firing up, the CATEGORY 7 thing was firing up, and [I] just [did] not [want to] let that be a distraction from [the other stuff I was doing]."

Demmel added: "I loved the VIO-LENCE EP ['Let The World Burn'] that I wrote, and me and Sean wrote and we recorded with the dudes. And I'm super proud of those songs and the way that the recording came out. [Producer/engineer] Juan [Urteaga] did a tremendous job."

Circling back to the high turnover of members in VIO-LENCE, Demmel said: "Bobby [Gustafson was in the band for a couple of years] and Miles and this kid Jesse's playing now. Ira, Adrian, Nick Souza has played, [former CANNIBAL CORPSE and current EXHORDER guitarist] Pat O'Brien's been in. And this is all within the past couple years. So it just wasn't the thing that I started in high school, and the songs meaning the same."

Phil added that "it was cool traveling and doing the stuff that we did. And Sean wants to continue and travel and do the fun stuff. I'm still a partner with him in the business."

As for the possibility of VIO-LENCE making new music without Demmel being an official member of the band, Phil said: "That's all something that remains to be [seen]."

When Demmel announced his exit from VIO-LENCE a few days before the São Paulo concert, he said in a video message he shared to his social media: "It's been, I guess, in the works for a bit. My status has been undefined for a while. I'm kind of doing things that I felt comfortable or fell into my schedule or whatever. But given just the latest state of the band and where I feel I belong with it or feel tied to it, I just think that my time is at an end."

Demmel continued: "I'll always identify with the band. Me and [drummer] Perry started this band in high school. It's cool to be going to places that we haven't been.

"I'm feeling that Sean is… We've gone far on different pages. I guess we've always been on different pages. But I don't feel like I fit in with what the objective of this is anymore. And in light of some current events [laughs], I felt compelled to make the break."

Phil went on to say that he "thought about maybe doing a home show" with VIO-LENCE as a way of "saying goodbye," but ultimately concluded that "I don't feel like I need that. I feel like playing those [comeback shows in Oakland in April 2019] with Perry and Deen and Ray and having those two magical days and doing some other stuff that we've done, writing the five songs, doing the EP, I feel fulfilled," he said. "And anything further kind of feels forced. Actually, before this [Latin American] tour [kicked off], I honestly didn't wanna come. [But] I was committed to it. I wasn't gonna back out. I'm committed to the dudes. But I think I'm done. I think that I've done what I wanted to do with this band."

Demmel added: "June 1st, 1985 to February, what will be 11th, 2024. 39, almost 40 years. So, never say never again. Try not to say that. Sometimes you do. It's been life defining, it's been a pleasure, it's been an honor being Phil from VIO-LENCE."

VIO-LENCE played the São Paulo concert as a four-piece after an alleged altercation between Black and Olde Wolbers resulted in Ira being sent home from the tour a few days early.

In February 2023, Demmel addressed VIO-LENCE's future in an Instagram Live video, saying it was "kind of weird playing these shows" with "a bunch of fill-ins and me and Sean." He added that while Adrian is "awesome" and the Whisky gig "was packed", he is "just kind of really torn right now in the sense of what VIO-LENCE is and what it's gonna be and what my role is gonna be in that and how I feel about that." Demmel went on to say that he told Killian he "wanted to shut [VIO-LENCE] down," but then he realized "that to ask that of those dudes to not do it anymore is selfish on my part."

Released in March 2022, "Let The World Burn" was VIO-LENCE's first original release since 1993's "Nothing To Gain".

Demmel was in MACHINE HEAD for nearly 16 years, during which time he played on five of the group's studio albums: "Through The Ashes Of Empires" (2003),"The Blackening" (2007),"Unto The Locust" (2011),"Bloodstone & Diamonds" (2014) and "Catharsis" (2018).

Although Flynn was part of VIO-LENCE's classic incarnation and played on the band's debut album, "Eternal Nightmare", he wasn't approached about taking part in of VIO-LENCE's 2018 reunion.

Photo credit: James Willard (courtesy of Metal Blade Records)

U.K. progressive rockers HAKEN have parted ways with guitarist Charlie Griffiths and bassist Conner Green.

Griffiths and Green's exits from HAKEN were announced in a social media post earlier today (Monday, January 5). The band wrote: "It's with heavy hearts that we announce the departure of Charlie Griffiths and Conner Green from HAKEN. We are tremendously grateful for the time we've spent together, creating music and touring the world, achieving things we thought weren't possible.

"Both Charlie and Conner are irreplacable, as musicians and individuals, and they have given so much to make this band what it is today. We cannot thank them enough, but we wish them all the best with any future endeavours. They will always be a part of the HAKEN family.

"New music coming this year."

Last October, HAKEN canceled its U.K. tour dates as the support act for U.S. progressive rockers COHEED AND CAMBRIA.

Griffiths had been a member of HAKEN since 2008 and appeared on all of the band's albums so far. He released his debut solo LP, "Tiktaalika", in 2022.

Green joined HAKEN in 2014 as the replacement for the band's original bassist Thomas MacLean.

HAKEN spent 2024 celebrating its most recent acclaimed studio album, 2023's "Fauna", as part of "An Evening With" run throughout the world. Playing two sets each night, the band performed "Fauna" in full, before returning to the stage to run through a selection of the best-loved cuts from its catalog. In a homecoming of sorts for HAKEN, on September 21, 2024 the band played London's legendary O2 Forum, and the document of that special evening — filmed by Paul Green Productions (Devin Townsend, Steve Hackett) and mixed by Jens Bogren (BETWEEN THE BURIED AND ME, Ihsahn) — was made available as "Liveforms: An Evening With Haken".

HAKEN press photo credit: Max Taylor-Grant

It's with heavy hearts that we announce the departure of Charlie Griffiths and Conner Green from Haken. We are...

Posted by HAKEN on Monday, January 5, 2026

EXTREME has commenced work on its seventh studio album.

The upcoming effort will be the follow-up to "Six", which was released in June 2023 via earMUSIC.

Earlier today (Monday, January 5),EXTREME guitarist Nuno Bettencourt shared a photo of him in a recording studio and he included the following message: "DAY 1 2026 EX7REME".

This past November, EXTREME released the official music video for the song "Here's To The Losers". The clip completed the band's mission to create 12 visual interpretations of the songs from "Six".

"Six" propelled EXTREME to new heights, driven by standout singles such as "Rise" — featuring a solo by Bettencourt praised by the press as "the guitar solo of the century" — alongside "Banshee" and "Other Side Of The Rainbow", and supported by a globe-spanning tour across the U.S., Europe, India, Japan and Australia. Bettencourt also reaffirmed his stature as one of rock's most commanding players with a historic performance at Ozzy Osbourne's "Back To The Beginning" farewell concert. That milestone appearance led to his invitation to serve as music director and guitarist at the 2025 MTV VMAs, where he delivered a powerhouse tribute to Osbourne alongside Steven Tyler, Joe Perry and Yungblud.

"Six" landed at position No. 10 on Billboard's Top Album Sales chart with first-week sales of 12,500 copies. The set marked EXTREME's first studio album since 2008. The act was last in the Top 10 with "III Sides To Every Story", which debuted and peaked at No. 10 back in October 1992.

In 2023, Nuno told Tiago Ribeiro, that he was thrilled with how "Six" turned out. "I would put our album up against anybody's album; I feel that confident," Nuno said. "And I think the album itself — never mind me or EXTREME — if I heard that album and it wasn't us, I would think the same way I think about the album now. I think it belongs there. I think it's a well-made album. I think the songs are there. I think that the musicianship, the chemistry and the guitar playing. But I think, more importantly, what's really there and what people are connecting with is the mythology of rock and roll. I think that's really what's missing a lot in guitar-driven music, is that…

"I think when people saw a guitar player that's in a band with songs and arrangements and the videos and everything, it was almost like seeing something that… People are saying it's so fresh, but for us, it's, like, this is like going back for us," he explained. "This is more of a reminder than it is anything else that you can still be passionate and have fire and do all those things. And the people are letting us know that they're starved — they're starved for rock and roll like this, I think."

In September 2023, Nuno told American Musical Supply about the long delay in getting "Six" released: "The recording [of 'Six'], a lot of people are saying like, 'Man, [it took] 15 years,' obviously, minus a few of the handmaid's tale years, pandemic years. But the album itself probably, if you add it up, it took the same length as an album takes to record. It didn’t take 15 years to record the album. It's just that we probably had, like, three albums' worth of material. The guys kept coming out to L.A., and we would do a crop of songs, and we'd write another crop of songs or record another couple crop of songs."

Bettencourt went on to say that he and his EXTREME bandmates had "set a bar" for themselves. "You really have to be super proud and super excited to share your music with anybody, even if it's your brother or it's your family member or if it's Tom Morello that you happen to know," he explained. "Once you have that feeling of, 'Would you play these songs in front of your peers?', then you kind of know you got something there and you're ready to go."

EXTREME will hit the road in 2026 as the support act on tours by DEF LEPPARD and MÖTLEY CRÜE.

Photo credit: Jesse Lirola (courtesy of earMUSIC)

DAY 1

2 0 2 6

E X 7 R E M E

Posted by Nuno Bettencourt on Sunday, January 4, 2026

In a recent interview with Metal Covenant, guitarist Esa Holopainen and keyboardist Santeri Kallio of Finnish melancholic progressive metallers AMORPHIS weighed in on a debate about people using an A.I. (artificial intelligence) music generator as a tool to create melodies, harmonies and rhymes based on artificial intelligence (A.I.) algorithms and machine learning (M.L.) models. Santeri said: "Well, I don't see any[thing] wrong with that. I get it that you have to be careful not to use it, because at the moment, A.I. uses the same themes for everybody, basically. But, for example, for music videos the budgets are going down because of diminishing record sales and streaming services, so the bands don't really get that much of a budget. So in music videos, actually, the A.I. is pretty good. You can save money and you can save time. And the videos actually look phenomenal sometimes. Obviously, you have to be careful not to overuse it, but there are places you can use that. But for album covers and shit like that, oh no. I think that doesn't make any sense, because it kind of lacks personality.

Esa chimed in: "I guess many people have, like, played with A.I. themselves, like, 'Draw this, and this, and all these ideas,' and then you get like a fantasy artwork."

Santeri continued: "Especially a lot of fantasy bands aren't using A.I., because it's basically impossible to build a setup with all the fucking dragons and wolves and shit. But on a small scale, you can make better-looking videos and build some atmospheres like a snowstorm pretty easily."

Esa went on to say: "Nothing to do with music, but overall, the A.I., that's a pretty scary idea where the whole thing is leading us into. It'll probably be the world's destructors. [Laughs]"

Santeri added: "Terminators are coming, or Matrix. But we are old-schoolers. I haven't even tried the A.I. music programs, because my biggest fun in life is I'm enthusiastic. I like to make it myself. I'm such an old guy. I've lived in the '80s. You learn that it's the most fun part to do. So why the hell would you get rid of that and start using A.I.? But I understand the younger people. They will see the world totally different in 20 years, because they've lived through those times. Personally, I have no interest in that, because what I enjoy the most in life is to take a guitar and build a song for yourself and jam with the guys and play the shows with the guys. That's the most fun part. Why destroy the most fun part in the world, even though it's possible?"

This past September, AMORPHIS vocalist Tomi Joutsen told Jovan Ristić of Altnote, about people using A.I. in music: "Well, to be honest, I don't know how much the machines can do already. It's difficult, because, of course, everyone would like to hear band using real amplifiers, real guitars, real drums, real instruments, but nowadays I think most of people are using plugins and stuff like that out to everything. So it's not like totally pure art, if you think of it that way.

"I think computers and stuff, they can be a great inspiration, and if someone wants to do everything with computers and programs, it's okay for me," he explained. "But personally, I think that pure art, it's coming from people, not from the machines. I think what machines cannot do is create real emotions. They don't understand what it's like to feel, what it's like to really love or hate or suffer. So I think you need all of that, all of the emotions, if you want to bring something unique or true, and that's my opinion about it."

AMORPHIS's latest album, "Borderland", came out in September. The follow-up to 2022's "Halo" was recorded in late 2024 and early 2025 at Hansen Studios in Ribe, Denmark with producer Jacob Hansen. The cover artwork was designed by Dutch artist Marald Van Haasteren (METALLICA, BLACK SABBATH, KVELERTAK, ALCEST).

Since forming in Helsinki in 1990, the Finnish sextet has fearlessly explored musical frontiers — from raw death metal roots to melodic, progressive and folk-tinged heavy rock, and far beyond. At every turn, AMORPHIS has expanded musical and lyrical boundaries without compromising their artistic identity.

AMORPHIS's fifteenth studio album marks both a continuation and a reinvention of the band's legacy. With acclaimed Danish producer Jacob Hansen (VOLBEAT, ARCH ENEMY, AMARANTHE) at the helm for the first time and a revitalized creative spark within the group, "Borderland" sees AMORPHIS fully embracing their melodic sensibilities while venturing into fresh, uncharted sonic landscapes.

AMORPHIS is:

Tomi Joutsen - vocals
Esa Holopainen - guitars
Tomi Koivusaari - guitars
Olli-Pekka "Oppu" Laine - bass
Santeri Kallio - keys
Jan Rechberger - drums & percussion

Photo credit: Sam Jamsen

NEFARIOUS, which features Rick Hunolt (EXODUS, DIEHUMANE) and Doug Piercy (HEATHEN, ANVIL CHORUS) on guitar, Tom Gears (BLIND ILLUSION, ANCIENT MARINER) on bass and Will Carroll (DEATH ANGEL) on drums, played its first concert with new vocalist Sean Rivera Saturday night (January 3) at the DNA Lounge in San Francisco. Video of the show can be seen below (courtesy of Walter Morgan).

Rivera joined NEFARIOUS last fall as the replacement for Katon W. De Pena (HIRAX),who sang on NEFARIOUS's debut album, "Addicted To Power".

When Rivera's addition to NEFARIOUS was first announced in December, Piercy said in a statement: "We wanted someone who could be in the room with us — creating, rehearsing, and ready to play. It's hard to get tight as a band when they can't rehearse on the regular. The Bay Area has always thrived on that energy, and now we've got it. Long-distance situations can get complicated when there's simply no communication."

Hunolt added: "Sean Rivera has brought NEFARIOUS to the next level. The metal gods gave us a true musical wizard. Not only is he an amazing singer, and absolute stellar musician (guitar, keyboards),but he is an amazing human to work with and I can't wait for you all to hear this man sing. C'ya on the road in '26 .. Lfgoooooo!"

Rivera commented: "When Doug and Rick reached out to me and asked if I wanted to try out for NEFARIOUS on vocals, I was excited and nervous. Everyone in the band are fantastic players and have such seasoned musical histories, and stepping into that felt really significant to me. After listening to the album I thought the songs were great and knew it was a project I wanted to be a part of. Thankfully, everyone liked what my vocals added and I was really stoked when they asked me to join. They're all really great people and have been super supportive with the whole process of learning the songs and becoming a part of the band. I feel really fortunate to be given this opportunity and I'm really excited for all we can accomplish together on the road ahead!"

NEFARIOUS will embark on a full European tour in August/September 2026, kicking off at the legendary Alcatraz festival in Belgium.

During a recent livestream, De Pena stated about his departure from NEFARIOUS: "Yeah, NEFARIOUS was great. I'm glad I did the record. I'm very proud of the record. And I did one show with them. That was awesome too. But I have to focus on HIRAX. That's my band. It's been my band for 40 years, and that's where my heart's at and that's what I gotta do. But I wish NEFARIOUS all the best. Great band and great musicians."

Carroll discussed the NEFARIOUS singer switch during an appearance on Zetro's Toxic Vault, the YouTube channel of former EXODUS frontman Steve "Zetro" Souza. He said in part: "Things didn't work out [with Katon]… HIRAX is touring, and they're pretty busy. So that played a part in it. But it was a communication thing that was really the problem. He would not talk to us for months at a time… He just broke off communication with us. So we took that as he didn't wanna be in the band… And we did waste some time waiting and sitting around… But we had to move on. And that's where Sean comes in."

Regarding NEFARIOUS's new vocalist, Will said: "His name is Sean Rivera. And he sings for a band, or he's in a band called COFFIN HUNTERS. Not to be confused with the [side band of EXODUS bassist] Jack Gibson, COFFIN HUNTER. This one's plural, COFFIN HUNTERS, and they're more of a traditional heavy metal band. They play a lot in Santa Rosa. Rick discovered him. Rick went to one of their shows and saw him sing. And we knew things were kind of going south with Katon."

In a social media post, Carroll stated about his appearance on Zetro's Toxic Vault: "I didn't say anything out of line or untrue. In fact, I gave a very vanilla version of the whole Katon thing."

The Katon-fronted version of NEFARIOUS played its first — and only — show on July 19, 2025 at the DNA Lounge in San Francisco.

"Addicted To Power" came out on July 18, 2025 via Relentless "Metal" Records, with the collector vinyl available through Hectic/Bleeding Priest Records.

Regarding how NEFARIOUS came together, Katon told The Metal Crypt: "I think it was going to be a solo record for Doug Piercy at first. We had all run into each other from years of playing in the same scene. It seemed like the timing was really what it was. I did a couple of benefits. I did one for Tom Hunting from EXODUS where we raised money for his hospital bills. We did another one for Sean Killian, the singer from VIO-LENCE. At those benefits, I saw a lot of these musicians. We talked to each other and obviously talked about music. Then it came around to where we played some shows together. I think that's what made us all notice each other a little bit more, like, 'Hey, I wonder what it would be like to play with those guys.' Even though I live in Los Angeles, I go up to San Francisco quite often. It's been working out pretty well. We're just going to keep writing music. The one thing that we all have in common is we love writing music. I think that's what keeps us so motivated to do this."

On the topic of NEFARIOUS's musical influences, Katon said: "We all listen to a lot of music. Some of it would surprise people. Obviously, there's going to be heavy metal influences in there because we all grew up on DEEP PURPLE and early SCORPIONS. We love Uli John Roth, obviously, BLACK SABBATH and THIN LIZZY, bands like that. You can't help it. When you play music for as long as we have, other styles of music are going to come into play, whether it's classical music or jazz. Myself, I love stuff like Luciano Pavarotti. There's going to be those things. It also helps the songwriting because you take from some of your heroes, like Jimi Hendrix or, like I said, back to opera music or classical music, you can't help but intertwine some of that in the music. That is in the roots of the music. Then, obviously, thrash metal plays a very big part of it, because we all came from a lot of the early bands. There's going to be some of those influences. People will hear a little bit of the EXODUS thing; they will hear a little bit of the HIRAX thing. Even with Doug, he's just a well-rounded guitar player, and his songwriting skills are majorly off the charts. This guy's got a big brain, and he really has a great way of looking at music. People are going to hear the stuff that we grew up on, whether it's BUDGIE or any of that kind of stuff. They're also going to hear thrash metal mixed in with elements of classical music."

Describing NEFARIOUS's sound, Katon said: "I think we're a cross between, obviously, early thrash metal, but also a lot of the heavy metal influence is there as well. You will hear some harmonies, bands like [IRON] MAIDEN and THIN LIZZY. We'd be lying if we said that wasn't there, because we grew up on that stuff. DEEP PURPLE's a big influence. RAINBOW. Obviously, Ritchie Blackmore, stuff like that. It's going to be in there. I think we also have a different way of looking at it, because we've been doing it for so long. We're not trying to be like a lot of the other bands, and we're not trying to be modern. There are modern sounds, because we're recording in modern studios. The music's definitely coming from the right place. I think that people hear that when they listen to this new song 'One Nation Enslaved', you can hear that we definitely have stuck to our guns. We're not trying to do commercial music, but we also are writing songs that are memorable."

The music for "Addicted To Power" was recorded at Subterranean Studio in Oakland, California and Pyramid Studio in San Francisco, California. It was mixed by Damien Rasmussen of Smoke And Mirrors Productions.

De Pena previously stated about NEFARIOUS: "We're not a band. We are a gang ready to crush skulls and make eardrums bleed ... Necks will be sore ...!!"

Nefarious 1-3-26
DNA Lounge SF
Lots of Friends and Family
Last Night with Nefarious
Ripping the Bay Area with their
New Singer Sean Rivera

Posted by Walter Morgan on Sunday, January 4, 2026

In a recent interview with Brazil's Bate Cabeça, AVANTASIA mastermind Tobias Sammet was asked if it was always his intention to use the project to unite musicians from different nations, having previously featured notable vocalists like Jørn Lande, Michael Kiske, Bob Catley, Dee Snider, Klaus Meine and Sharon Den Adel, plus many others from the global metal/rock scene. He responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Well, it's certainly united people from Finland, from Brazil, from America, England and all the people who are on stage with me and in Norway and Denmark and Italy and Canada. Now Tommy [Karevik, KAMELOT singer and current AVANTASIA touring vocalist], he's residing, Tommy Karevik is in Canada.

"It was not meant to be something political," Tobias explained. "In general what I wanna say is that heavy metal and hard rock unites people, because wherever you go, you meet people who are like you, you meet people who share the same values, you meet people who share the same love for music. It doesn't matter if you grew up in Australia or Canada, Brazil, Argentina, Italy, or — I don't know where — in South Africa, it's just we all agree that the 'Turbo' album of JUDAS PRIEST is a great album [laughs] — and things like that. We all agree that our type of music started with [HELLOWEEN's] 'Keeper Of The Seven Keys: Part I' — period; no discussion. We all agree that HELLOWEEN is not spelled with an 'A' and has nothing to do with a holiday. HELLOWEEN is spelled with an 'E' and has to do with German-made power metal. So that's what the whole world agrees on."

Sammet added: "Apart from that, my approach is just not to divide people and not to spread negativity. I wanna spread positivity. My music, personally, is very personal music. It's always been music speaking from my heart as the underdog that I always felt I was as a kid, bullied kid or whatever you have. And I think I spoke on behalf, without intending it, on behalf of other people who feel the same way, who didn't feel too comfortable in the world of the mainstream, of the bold and the beautiful, but who, just like me, felt like, 'I'm living in the shades and I'm probably a bit different to everybody else. And my musical taste is not exactly what is being played on radio. I'm maybe a bit different, but I got a right to be myself.' And that's something, I think, that a lot of people can identify with, and I think that's a very uniting feeling and it comes from the heart."

AVANTASIA's tenth studio album, "Here Be Dragons", was released in February 2025 via Napalm Records. The 10-track offering was written and composed in its entirety by Sammet himself, produced and recorded by Sammet together with Sascha Paeth, mixed by Paeth and mastered by Michael Rodenberg. The cover art was once again created by acclaimed British fantasy artist Rodney Matthews.

AVANTASIA's impressive success story has seen nine previous studio albums (including the 2019 offering "Moonglow" that charted at No. 1 in Germany),gold awards, hundreds of millions of streams as well as headline shows at all important metal festivals and worldwide sold-out arena tours with tens of thousands of devoted fans.