Earlier this year, SHINEDOWN drummer Barry Kerch was asked by My Weekly Mixtape if he was disappointed or relieved to know that the band's upcoming follow-up to 2022's "Planet Zero" album won't be another concept LP. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Thank God it's not a concept record. [Laughs] I had a great time with [2018's] 'Attention [Attention]' and 'Planet Zero'. 'Attention' was purposely a concept record. 'Planet Zero' just happened to become one because of the time period, recording it during COVID. We were talking about what's going on in the world, and, 'Oh, shit. We wrote another concept record.' We purposely said, 'Can we just get a collection of songs together that are fun and put out a record, like old-school rock and roll record?' And that's what this one will be."

Asked if SHINEDOWN's recently released singles "Three Six Five", "Dance, Kid, Dance", , "Killing Fields" and "Searchlight" are "a strong representation of the sound and style that fans can expect" from SHINEDOWN's upcoming eighth album, Barry said: "No, not at all. It's as eclectic as we always do. There's gonna be things that you're gonna be, like, 'Oh, I didn't expect that.' And there's gonna be some that are, like, 'Oh, that took my head off.' Is it a reflection of where we're at right now? Sure. But every song is its own little animal, and I think that's kind of the excitement of it. I think there's gonna be some fun stuff that comes out that fans are gonna really glom on to. And there's certain ones I'm thinking of in the back of my head that are, like, it's different, that one's different, but I love it. And then there's some that, oh, yeah, that's just a straight-ahead, hit-you-over-the-face SHINEDOWN rock song, which I think 'Dance, Kid' is, in a lot of ways. Get ready for a ride, just like we always do."

Asked if "Eight" is the working title for the new SHINEDOWN album or if he and his bandmates have an actual title in mind for the upcoming LP, Barry said: "That's literally the working title, is 'Eight'. [Laughs] We have no idea what we're gonna name it yet. Initially there was talks of 'Dance, Kid, Dance' being the title of it, 'cause it kind of had that vibe in some respects. With 'Planet Zero' and even with 'Attention Attention', they just quickly raised their hands. It was, like, 'Oh, yep, that's gotta be the album title. That just fits.' This one also not being a concept and just being a collection of songs, that one thing hasn't raised its hand yet. And each one of us, 'cause SHINEDOWN is a democracy — we're all 25-percenters, but we're all very opinionated 25-percenters — we'll see what happens. I'll give Brent [Smith, SHINEDOWN singer] the 26 [percent], 'cause you have to have a leader, and he is the leader of SHINEDOWN proudly, and should be. He's got the vision more so than anybody."

Last month, SHINEDOWN released a new single, "Searchlight", via Atlantic Records. The song was first performed live during the band's Opry debut in October where SHINEDOWN's fans packed the infamous venue and the song became the most talked-about moment of the night.

Written by Smith, SHINEDOWN bassist/producer Eric Bass and Dave Bassett and produced by Bass at his Big Animal Studio in Charleston, South Carolina, "Searchlight" channels the emotional depth and anthemic power that have become SHINEDOWN's signature but with new sonic elements fitting of the Opry's stage. In the song's music video, shot by Andrew Donoho, you can see each member performing their own instruments including a steel pedal guitar and banjo. Filmed in Nashville, Tennessee the day after their Opry debut, the video showcases the band's live performance as well as the emotional power behind the song.

2025 was a defining year for SHINEDOWN, with "Searchlight" following their powerful global hit "Three Six Five", which topped multiple radio formats including No. 1 at Alternative, Top 10 at Hot AC and AC, and Top 20 at Top 40. The band also released "Dance, Kid, Dance" and "Killing Fields" — both of which hit No. 1 — further cementing their dominance at radio. SHINEDOWN currently holds the record for the most No. 1 songs on Billboard's Mainstream Rock chart (21 No. 1s to date),making them the top artist in the chart's history, as well as the most No. 1s on the Mediabase Active Rock chart (23 No. 1s to date),along with the records for the most Top 5s and Top 10s in the chart's history.

In addition, this year SHINEDOWN sold out and performed at Madison Square Garden for the first time during the band's "Dance, Kid, Dance" arena tour — a career milestone for the band. As part of the tour, they donated $1 from every ticket sold to Musicians On Call, resulting in a $300,000 contribution that helped launch a new bedside music program in partnership with HCA Florida Healthcare. Smith and SHINEDOWN guitarist Zach Myers recently performed at the program's kickoff event. Earlier this year, the band also took home multiple iHeartRadio Awards, further solidifying their standing as one of the most impactful bands of today.

Recently the band announced their first-ever curated festival event — Shinedown's Lunatic Ball Beach Weekend, taking place October 23-25, 2026 in Miramar Beach, Florida. The three-day destination experience will feature performances from SHINEDOWN (two headlining sets),BUSH, HANSON, FLYLEAF (with Lacey Sturm),LIVING COLOUR, FROM ASHES TO NEW, GUARDIANS OF THE JUKEBOX, NEON MOONERS and more.

Not to mention, SHINEDOWN recently announced they will be headlining the unparalleled Sonic Temple festival. They'll take the main stage on Friday, May 15, 2026, marking their first time headlining the iconic Ohio event. Their momentous performance will anchor the festival's second night, with MY CHEMICAL ROMANCE, BRING ME THE HORIZON and TOOL leading the other days of the lineup.

Photo credit: Ryan Camp

Norwegian singer Silje Wergeland, who has been fronting Dutch rockers THE GATHERING since early 2009, has announced her departure from the band.

Earlier today (Sunday, December 28),Silje shared the following statement via her social media: "It's a new dawn and a new year. After 16 years of creating and playing great music with THE GATHERING, it's time to move on to new ventures.

"I have had so many awesome experiences and made great memories with this band that will stay with me for the rest of my life.

"I wish my band mates all the best for the future.

"Thanks for all the great support and the lovely conversations with all you wonderful [THE GATHERING] fans around the globe.

"Lots of love, Silje".

Prior to joining THE GATHERING, Silje sang for the Norwegian band OCTAVIA SPERATI.

To celebrate the 30th anniversary of their "Mandylion" album, THE GATHERING musicians who recorded the LP — including singer Anneke Van Giersbergen — reunited for several shows in their home country this past summer.

The "Mandylion" lineup of THE GATHERING has already announced more than two dozen concerts for 2026, including in Europe, South America and at the ProgPower USA festival in Atlanta in September.

The lineup for the concerts will consist of the following musicians:

* Anneke Van Giersbergen - vocals
* Hugo Prinsen Geerligs - bass
* Frank Boeijen - keyboards, backing vocals
* Hans Rutten - drums
* René Rutten - guitar
* Jelmer Wiersma - guitar

This past September, René Rutten was asked by Chile's Radio Futuro if he had always kept in contact with Anneke during her time away from the band. René said: "Yeah, sometimes, because you've made albums together, so you have some moments that you talk a bit. But not that much. Only last year, the old record label, finally they said, 'Okay, we can't hold it anymore, but your album become a gold record here in the Netherlands.' So we got a gold record last year. So then we saw all the bandmembers again. And I keep contact with Anneke — sometimes we did some lunch, just meeting — and then one moment we said, like, 'Yeah, let's do something next year, if the album becomes 30 years old.' And that's what now is gonna happen with the five shows here in Nijmegen. But we had contact with all the other members as well. Hugo [Prinsen Geerligs] came back earlier already for being playing bass guitar. Frank [Boeijen, keyboards] was always there. And Jelmer [Wiersma, guitar], we asked him, like, 'Hey, do you like to join us in this?' And yeah, he loves it. So he also is very enthusiastic about it to play this album ['Mandylion' in its entirety] and more."

After the interviewer noted that it's unusual for a band like THE GATHERING — which is known for constantly moving forward musically and evolving its sound — to celebrate a moment from the group's past by performing it in its entirety live, René concurred. "I can't make music with the same kind of feeling [as something we have already done]," he explained. "That's not into me. You make that chapter. It's like you're writing a book, and you wrote that part, and then you start with something new. And that's more what my feeling is about music. I can't make two albums — no, I can't make it twice."

THE GATHERING's "Mandylion" lineup officially kicked off its run of five reunion shows on August 27 at Doornroosje in Nijmegen, The Netherlands.

The "Mandylion" lineup of THE GATHERING previously played a kick-off "try-out" concert on June 29 at Dynamo in Eindhoven.

THE GATHERING's third studio album, "Mandylion" was released in August 1995 via Century Media Records. It was the band's first LP to feature Van Giersbergen.

In a recent interview with Femmetal - Goddesses Of Metal, Anneke spoke about THE GATHERING's 2025 reunion concerts to celebrate the 30th anniversary of "Mandylion". She said: "Well, actually, I'm quite excited… This idea came kind of spontaneous. We were having conversations, we had just coffee and talking about life, other things, and then we talked about 'Mandylion' turning 30 and because time flies, we didn't really think about it. And then we said, 'Maybe we can do something nice with it,' because it's such an important album for us personally because we had a great time at the beginning of THE GATHERING career with me, of course. And we said, 'Well, if we do something, we have to do it now, because next year it's not such a good reason because now 'Mandylion' is 30 years old, and let's do something nice.' And so we made this plan, and we made these ideas for these shows. And then a lot of people wanted to come to the shows. I mean, I know THE GATHERING is still a popular band and I know it's alive — people really like THE GATHERING's music now and back then. But we didn't expect this many people to react on it and want [to buy] a ticket [to see us perform live again]. And so we are so happy. And we're gonna make a few beautiful shows and gonna have lots of fun playing together again, 'cause it's been a long time. It's been 10 years, I think."

When the interviewer inquired about the possibility of a show from THE GATHERING in Spain, Anneke said: "Everybody's asking. I mean, it's fantastic. It's a great problem to have, that a lot of people want us to come to their country. But we focus on these shows here, and a lot of people are traveling for it, so that's really, really wonderful. And then we'll see. But we just focus on these shows and take it from there."

Asked which THE GATHERING song she was most excited to play again, Anneke said: "It's kind of a wide variety of atmospheres on this album ['Mandylion'], but I like songs like 'On Most Surfaces' [from 1997's 'Nighttime Birds'], because they're heavy and we can let all the energy flow on this one. I like the more heavy songs as well, but 'In Motion #1' and '[In Motion] #2' are, for instance, very, very melodic — they're carrying you through a story — and I also like that so much. So, different vibes on the album, and I like all of it. But I like also the heavy songs, especially for playing live, 'cause I can sing really loud and headbang and have fun."

THE GATHERING previously said in a statement: "After so many years, we are very excited to celebrate this anniversary together, an album that still means so much to us."

In November 2014, THE GATHERING celebrated its 25th anniversary with a one-time special show at Doornroosje in Nijmegen. All past and present members of THE GATHERING — from 1989 until 2014 — appeared on stage and performed in this unique show together.

Van Giersbergen announced her departure from THE GATHERING in 2007. She has since released several albums on her own and with her AGUA DE ANNIQUE solo project.

In 2005, Century Media celebrated the 10th anniversary of "Mandylion" by releasing a special deluxe edition of the album. The double-CD set featured new artwork, a 16-page booklet with song-by-song liner notes from the band and never-before-seen photos from the album's recording sessions. CD2 contained the first demo recordings THE GATHERING did with Van Giersbergen in June 1994 and early 1995. "Solar Glider" was a previously unreleased instrumental while "Third Chance" appeared two years later in a different version on the "Nighttime Birds" album.

In a 2007 interview with PopMatters, Van Giersbergen stated about her decision to leave THE GATHERING and launch AGUA DE ANNIQUE: "I had been in THE GATHERING for 13 years, and I had never done anything for 13 years in my life. It's been my whole adult life, so to leave that, on one hand, was a very clear decision and a very strong feeling, and I was ready. In 13 years, things had changed in my personal and musical life. It was difficult as well, because the guys, they were like brothers, so to leave that and to change that relationship has been a long process and was probably one of the hardest things I did.

"I told them at the beginning of March, and so we really took some time to assess the situation," she continued. "Also, the guys, they wanted to see what their plans would be next. Of course they were not happy with my decision, but they are respectful and they have good spirits to continue. Of course, I put a big stamp on the sound and the look of THE GATHERING, but on the other hand I'm not the only singer in the world, so it's going to change, but it's not going to stop."

Regarding her reasons for leaving, Anneke said, "There were a lot of physical reasons, but they all came out of one big feeling in my heart that it was time to change. I was supposed to do this record besides THE GATHERING, and I was given time and it was all okay, but I like to do other small projects and work with other people a lot. I had some plans, and the feeling became stronger to develop that more seriously and also especially to be with my family a little bit more. Now, I can direct everything I do from this one agenda, and it feels very good to be the director of your own life. In a way THE GATHERING was officially a bigger band, and we were day and night constantly working with it, and it was quite intense, all the processes. So a lot of small things became one big feeling, like, 'Okay, I'm ready.'"

Posted by theGathering on Thursday, December 18, 2025

In a new interview with Bonnie Laufer, MÖTLEY CRÜE drummer Tommy Lee spoke about the band's longevity. Asked what the "secret" is to the secret to MÖTLEY CRÜE's ability to stay together as a band for 45 years, Lee responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "I don't know, sweetheart. I pinch myself on a daily basis. Truly. The fact that we're all still here doing this, and our fans are so awesome. They've stuck with us. We're all very fortunate and blessed because this doesn't happen very often. It just doesn't."

Regarding how he keeps things "fresh" for himself after playing in the same band for more than four decades, Lee said: "That's a really great question. Not a lot of people ask that because, look, if you're out there and you're rehearsing or, whatever, or you're performing, I'm always looking for some way to update it. I would play it differently now than I did when we recorded it. So I'm always constantly pushing the band to, like, 'Let's do a new version of this,' even though some people wanna hear the original version. But I don't know — it inspires me to keep things fresh, because I don't know if people understand. You got these guys that are playing these songs and then playing 'em the same way over and over and over and thousands and thousands of times, we, as artists, we gotta keep it fresh too. There's nothing worse than watching a band phone it in."

Asked if he and his MÖTLEY CRÜE bandmates are "more patient with each other" as they get older, Tommy said: "Well, like any good brotherhood or marriage or whatever you wanna call it, we have our moments, of course. The one thing that is very exciting for us is [MÖTLEY CRÜE's new guitarist] John 5. With all due respect to [original MÖTLEY CRÜE guitarist] Mick Mars, when [John 5] came in, he lit a fire under everybody. It was just this new energy, new fire. So I can tell you that that's been really inspirational. And we feed off that — we all feed off that. So, we're actually closer now than we've ever been."

John 5 joined MÖTLEY CRÜE in the fall of 2022 as the replacement for Mars.

When Mars announced his retirement from touring with MÖTLEY CRÜE, he maintained that he would remain a member of the band, with John 5 taking his place on the road. However, in April 2023 the now-74-year-old musician filed a lawsuit against CRÜE in Los Angeles County's Superior Court claiming that, after his announcement, the rest of CRÜE tried to remove him as a significant stakeholder in the group's corporation and business holdings via a shareholders' meeting.

Mars suffers from Ankylosing Spondylitis (AS),a chronic and inflammatory form of arthritis that mainly affects the spine and pelvis. After years of performing through the pain, he informed the other members of MÖTLEY CRÜE in the summer of 2022 that he could no longer tour with them but would still be open to recording new music or performing at residencies that did not require much travel.

In 2026, MÖTLEY CRÜE will embark on the "The Return Of Carnival Of Sins" tour celebrating the 20th anniversary of CRÜE's groundbreaking 2005-2006 "Carnival Of Sins" tour and the 45th anniversary of the band. The 33-city Live Nation-produced trek will kick off on July 17, 2026 in Burgettstown, Pennsylvania at the Pavilion at Star Lake and will feature support acts EXTREME and TESLA.

MÖTLEY CRÜE said that $1 from every ticket sold for "The Return Of Carnival Of Sins" will be donated to ASAP! (After School Arts Program) through the Mötley Crüe Giveback Initiative to fund hands-on arts programs for young people.

MÖTLEY CRÜE's Las Vegas residency launched on September 12 and at Dolby Live at Park MGM and ran through October 3. The shows had initially been set for spring but were rescheduled after frontman Vince Neil revealed he had suffered a stroke on Christmas 2024.

In September, Vince said that he had actually had a series of strokes before he suffered the "big one" in his sleep the Christmas night of 2024, rendering him unable to get out of bed when he woke up the next day.

When MÖTLEY CRÜE originally postponed the Las Vegas residency, the band said it was because Neil needed a "medical procedure," but offered no further details.

In a recent interview with Belgische Radio Unie, original AC/DC frontman Dave Evans was once again asked how the band got its name. He responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Well, we were trying to find a name because the guy that was gonna manage us at the time, he said, 'Look, I've got you a show coming up in two weeks' or something. 'You'd better get a name for yourselves because I've got a gig at the famous Chequers nightclub.' It was the number one nightclub in Australia. And so he said, '[You'd] better get a name.' So at rehearsals we were all tossing around names, and no one could agree with the other one. And I'd come up with a great name, but they didn't like it. And then Malcolm [Young, AC/DC's founding rhythm guitarist] would come up with a name, and I didn't like it. So we couldn't agree on a name. So we said, 'We've gotta get a name. So next rehearsal, we're gonna have three names each. We're gonna put them in a hat. And then we're just gonna pull one out and whatever the name is, that's gonna be the name of the band. 'Cause we've gotta make big posters up all over town for the Chequers nightclub.' We said, 'Okay.' So the next rehearsal, I had three names in my pocket, and we got to rehearsals. And before we could do that, Malcolm said, 'Oh, by the way,' [Malcolm and Angus Young's] sister-in-law, [their older brother] George's wife, I think [her name was] Sandra, 'She has a name that she suggested.' 'So what is it?' And Malcolm said, 'AC/DC.' And it was just went off like that, yeah. Because AC/DC is an easy name to remember. AC/DC, AC/DC, A-B-C-D. It's easy. And it means power — AC/DC, alternate current, battery, direct current, plug it into the wall. And I had an AC/DC record player that I could plug into the wall or take it down the park and be a hippie and sit in the grass and under the tree and be a hippie and play it on batteries. So that's what a AC/DC means. It means you can power it by batteries and take it wherever you want or be at home and just plug it into the wall. And I thought, 'That's great. It means power.' And I thought to myself — this is all going very quickly through my mind — and I thought, 'And we're getting free advertising all over the world because all these appliances have got AC/DC on the side of them.' AC/DC. Yeah. I thought free advertising, it means power, easy to remember. And I remember quickly going, 'Yeah, I like it. I like it.' And then Malcolm goes, 'Okay. What about you, [then-AC/DC drummer] Colin [Burgess]?' And Colin said, 'Yeah, I like it too.' And then, [then-AC/DC bassist] Larry [Van Kriedt], what do you think?' And Larry went, 'Yep. Okay.' So Malcolm said to us, 'Well, shall we call ourselves AC/DC?' And we all put our hand up like that. He said, 'Okay.' And we all shook hands. And he said, 'We are now AC/DC.'"

Asked if he still remembers his first concert with AC/DC, Dave responded: "Yeah, of course I do. You never forget your first. Anyway, yeah, I remember, of course. It was Chequers nightclub, the number one nightclub in Australia, and it was New Year's Eve, which was massive. It was packed to the rafters. It was just everyone, just crazy. And we had to go on at 11:30 on the 31st of December. So it was the 31st of December, 1973, and we're gonna go through midnight into 1974. And I [did the countdown], all that stuff, and blah, blah, blah. So I remember it distinctly because we didn't have enough songs. We had two sets to do. We were gonna do that one and another one. And Malcolm said, 'We haven't got enough songs. What are we gonna do?' And I said, 'Well, look, I'll make up some names of songs, and I'll just announce them during the set. We'll do the ones we know. Then I'll just announce a name.' I said, 'You just start jamming, and I'll make the song up on the spot.' I used to do that when I was a kid. I said, 'I can make songs up right now if you want me to.' It's just something I could always do, just make up a song quickly, and it just happens. So I said, 'I'll just announce the titles and you just start jamming something and I'll sing the song.' So that's what we did."

In the past, it had been reported that AC/DC got its moniker when Malcolm and his brother, AC/DC lead guitarist Angus, were hunting for a catchy name, and their sister Margaret saw the letters AC/DC on either her sewing machine's power adapter or on the back of a vacuum cleaner. The Young brothers reportedly thought it was a good name for their band, because "it had something to do with electricity, so it seemed to fit".

Dave recorded AC/DC's first two singles, "Can I Sit Next To You Girl" and "Baby, Please Don't Go". But in October 1974, less than a year after AC/DC's first gig, Evans was out of the band. He was replaced by Bon Scott, who sang on AC/DC's first six studio albums and became a legend himself after his death in 1980.

Evans discussed his stint with AC/DC in an interview with Brazil's Guarda Volume podcast. Speaking about the way his time with the band ended, Dave said: "We were very young — we were all very, very young. And our ambitions were forever. I didn't go, 'Oh, I'm gonna be in a band.' No. I had my whole career, my whole life to sing. I've been singing since I can remember. It ain't gonna stop because of a band I was with, I split from. I was in bands before AC/DC, of course. I was with bands before AC/DC. I split. VELVET UNDERGROUND [not to be confused with Lou Reed's group] I was with, a top band. AC/DC, Okay, I kept going. RABBIT, my own career. I never thought about splitting or stopping to sing. It was just another band I was with, but a very successful band. We had a hit record, 'Can I Sit Next To You Girl' was named as the best Australian group record of the year. First up. Great. Fantastic. It was a hit record. And to have a young band, first record, against all the other bands in Australia, [named] the best Australian group record of the year. That was fantastic. But there were different reasons why I split from the band, mostly because I wasn't getting paid any money."

He continued: "The manager was the third manager at that time. We weren't getting paid for the shows, and we were doing the biggest shows in Australia. The Sydney Opera House, the famous Sydney Opera House, Hordern Pavilion in Sydney, Festival Hall down in Melbourne, all the shows. Where's the money? Show me the money. No money. We toured with Lou Reed from the USA. [We played] the biggest venues, sold out — all sold out. How about some money? No money. So in the end, I couldn't stay with the band, because I was paying off my car in Sydney, paying my car off, my flat, and I'm working hard. So we had a bit of a meeting one night and had a few drinks and stuff. And the manager was there. And he was making money because he was getting money off the top. The rest of the money, I don't know what happened to it. We didn't have any. So, the manager, nice new permed hair, new jeans, bell bottom jeans, leather valise, flying around the country, us in trucks. He had the money. We had no money. So at, I said to him, 'What's happening here?' I confronted him. We were all bitching about it. And he got up and smart-mouthed to me. So I got up and bang, knocked him down. And the other boys got me and pulled me off the manager. So it was decided that when that tour we were on finished that this had to be resolved. This had to be resolved. I said, 'If I'm not getting paid, I am not gonna go on tour again.' So I said, 'I'm not going.' Who would? I'm not stupid. So at the end of the tour, no resolution. They weren't gonna give me what I wanted. So I split from the band. I said, 'Well, that's it.' I said, 'Okay. See you later.' I wasn't gonna take it."

Elaborating on his reasons for walking away from AC/DC, Evans said: "It's like any job. If you're a carpenter or you're a teacher or something, and they don't pay you, what are you gonna do? 'Oh, it's okay.' No. How are you gonna feed your children? No children for me, but if you had children, how would you feed your children? How would you pay your car off? You can't. And you're working hard. [AC/DC founders] Malcolm and Angus Young lived at home with their parents. They lived at home with their parents. They didn't have to pay any money. I did. I had my apartment in Sydney, so I had to pay. Otherwise I was gonna lose it. My car, they'd come and take it away. But Malcolm and Angus, [they had] no car. And they lived at home with their parents. So it didn't matter so much to them, but it mattered to me. And I wasn't gonna take it. So I stood up for myself."

Regarding the iconic singer who replaced him, Dave said: "Poor Bon Scott. Bon Scott joined the band and he went through a lot of crap too. And he ended up dead. He was working, working, working, working, working, working. And he was depressed, sad. He looked happy, 'cause he was drunk all the time. Bon Scott drank all the time. Alcoholic. You see photographs of Bon Scott, he's always got a bottle or a drink all the time. Sad. Sad. But it killed him in the end. But he was going through a lot of hell, too, with the band.

"I spoke to Bon Scott after he joined [AC/DC]," Evans revealed. "We had a private conversation about things, which will remain private. And so when I found out what happened to Bon Scott, when I read about it, and I spoke to his wife about it too — I saw his wife who told me what happened and stuff — I wasn't surprised. I was not surprised."

Evans previously talked about his exit from AC/DC in a 2021 interview with DJ Grant from New Zealand's Galaxy 107 FM. At the time, he said: "You've gotta remember that Bon Scott did a lot of the songs that I already did, like 'Baby, Please Don't Go', we already did that. That's the song that I got Angus up on my shoulders, and, of course, he used to watch us doing our show, so he copied that. I understand that he copied what I was doing. And the songs too, and re-recorded them and re-wrote the lyrics to some of the songs that I had already put down. But he was told to do that. I know that he was under instructions to do this, so I don't really hold it against Bon Scott for that, because when he joined the band, he was washed up at the time, and he got a great chance to do something, and he did too. He did a great job, but his lifestyle just let him down."

Evans also talked about the enduring popularity of "Can I Sit Next To You Girl", which was originally released as a single in July 1974 and featured drums by Colin Burgess and bass by George Young (older brother of AC/DC co-founders Malcolm and Angus Young).

"It's one of those songs, I play it around the world — I still do, of course, every show I do — and people love the song," he said. "And it's amazing how many people say to me that's their favorite AC/DC song. I can't believe it. [AC/DC has] 'T.N.T.' and all those great songs, 'Highway To Hell' and all these other great songs, and fans come up to me and say that that's their favorite song."

Earlier in 2021, Dave was asked in an interview with The Rocker Diaries if he thought "that would be it" for AC/DC after Bon's death in 1980. He responded: "No, not at all. I mean, we all keep going. And AC/DC has had that many players through [the history of] the band. I don't know how many. 20? And three singers, plus a stand-in singer as well.

"We were always ambitious when we first started," he continued. "We always wanted to be the best in the world — all of us. And after me, Bon Scott got his chance. He did great with the band. And when he died, I just thought, 'Who are they gonna get?' I never thought [I would be approached about it] myself, because that's water under the bridge. And I was busy with bands as well at the time, and doing my own music and recording. I was just wondering who it would be. I had heard of [Brian Johnson's pre-AC/DC band] GEORDIE — just the name GEORDIE. I'd never heard of Brian. And then Brian popped up and, of course, the 'Back In Black' album came out, which was a massive album around the world, and they were off and running with Brian. But if Brian quit, they'd get another singer, and another singer. [They've gone through] different bass players [and] different drummers.

"The drive was always Malcolm Young," Dave added. "I remember Malcolm when I first met him. He was such a driving force. Just a tiny little guy — just a little touch over five foot tall — but, boy, he had a big heart and a big personality. And he was tough, too — Malcolm was very tough. And no matter what, he was AC/DC through and through. And, of course, once he passed away, which is very sad, AC/DC, of course, will never, ever be the same without Malcolm. How can it be?"

E-FORCE, the band led by ex-VOIVOD vocalist/bassist Eric Forrest, is putting the finishing touches on a new album, "Voivod Revisited". In an interview with Chile's iRock, Forrest said the effort will contain re-recordings of songs from the two VOIVOD albums he appeared on, 1995's "Negatron" and 1997's "Phobos", as well as a new original track and a cover version of an as-yet-unspecified song. Furthermore, current VOIVOD guitarist Daniel "Chewy" Mongrain will contribute a guitar solo to E-FORCE's new recording of the "Negatron" track "Nanoman", the lyrics to which were originally written by Ivan Doroschuk of MEN WITHOUT HATS.

Regarding why E-FORCE is re-recording songs from VOIVOD nearly 25 years after his departure from the band, Forrest told iRock (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Well, throughout the E-FORCE career, I've always played a couple of VOIVOD songs in the set. The majority is E-FORCE [material], and [there are] two three VOIVOD songs in the [set]. I guess it was kind of like going to [see], back in the day or whatever, when he was alive, [former IRON MAIDEN singer] Paul Di'Anno, you wanna hear some IRON MAIDEN, of course. So I've always put a few songs in the set. But, say the last four or five years, since our last release, 'Mindbender' record, with all this COVID shit, it really fucked everything up for us and many bands. And we were kind of doing this 'Voivod Revisited' shows for the last four or five years. So the timing seems right just to do."

Reflecting on his time with VOIVOD, Eric said: "It was a real honor and privilege to be part of it. Many, many great experiences that I really lived and learned a lot from those guys. And what an incredible experience, to say the least. It was the first time I'd seen a drummer do drum tracks with no ghost guitar guides or nothing. [VOIVOD drummer Michel 'Away' Langevin] would do his tracks with just playing the drums. It's just, like, wow, I'd never seen that — ever, because people have the ghost track, the demo to play along with. Away would just play the song, memorize the whole thing in his head and play. It's just, like, wow. That's special. And, of course, riff master Piggy [late VOIVOD guitarist Denis D'Amour] would just come up with these riffs and experiment with stuff. And sometimes he's just fucking around and he creates something [great]. Wow. Really, really really cool."

Regarding how his songwriting approach has evolved since his time with VOIVOD, Forrest said: "Well, it's very similar but yet different. It's kind of what I see my vision of what I wanted to write. I mean, when I was with VOIVOD, I kind of followed those guys and contributed what I could. But in E-FORCE, I'm the boss, so I write what I want lyrically or musically, and it's different. It's more work, but when it's finished, it's very gratifying and a good feeling. So I just roll with it and do what I can."

"Voivod Revisited" is tentatively due next spring via Mighty Music.

E-FORCE's fifth studio album, "Mindbender", was released in November 2021.

E-FORCE was formed in Montreal, Canada in 2001 by Forrest upon his departure from the legendary Canadian cyber metallers VOIVOD. In all, Eric appeared on two VOIVOD studio masterpieces, "Negatron" and "Phobos", on the live album, "Voivod Lives" and on the compilation "Kronik". When leaving VOIVOD, Forrest used his nickname, E-Force, as the name for his new band.

Forrest's wide array of musical influences and vocal capabilities set E-FORCE apart from the pack and ensure that this band is very original. E-FORCE released their debut album "Evil Forces" to widespread critical acclaim in 2003. Soon after, Forrest relocated to France, resulting in a lineup change.

In 2008, E-FORCE released their follow-up, "Modified Poison". The album further expanded the intensity of the band, impressing both fans and critics alike.

In 2014, the band released their third album, "The Curse", on Mausoleum Records. "Curse" was a concept album based on a collection of songs describing the power and temptation of, and obsession with the female race.

The fourth album was released in 2015 on Mausoleum Records: "Demonikhol", lyrically another concept album with alcohol as the subject matter, illustrating the ravages and destruction of all kinds it is capable of causing. Musically, E-FORCE has become an intense and shatteringly percussive killing machine, driven by battering ram guitars, supporting Eric's primal screaming vocal assault.

In 2017, to celebrate the anniversary of VOIVOD's legendary album "Phobos", Forrest led a European tour performing songs from "Negatron" and "Phobos" albums by VOIVOD. The band assembled for that tour was operating under the name "E-FORCE Performing VOIVOD". In 2018 the tour achieved by participating to the Brutal Assault festival (Czech Republic).

Brazilian guitarist Kiko Loureiro, who is best known for his work with MEGADETH and ANGRA, has shared a trailer for the upcoming film "Theory Of Mind", which he executive produced. Kiko is also responsible for the movie's soundtrack.

Movie synopsis: Seven influencers from around the world (rivals and ideological opposites) are invited to participate in a global social experiment for the launch of the most advanced A.I.-powered smartphone ever created. But when a critical bug is activated, the experiment spirals out of control, turning technology into a deadly psychological test.

Due in 2026, "Theory Of Mind" was created and directed by Leo Liberti. The movie stars Kane Hodder, who portrayed Jason Voorhees in four "Friday The 13th" films, and "Devil's Rejects" star Bill Moseley.

In addition to the "Friday The 13th" series, Hodder portrayed Victor Crowley in the "Hatchet" series. Moseley is best known for playing Chop Top in "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2", in addition to his work in Rob Zombie's films.

"Theory Of Mind" was the title of Loureiro's 2024 solo album.

When the "Theory Of Mind" LP was first released, Kiko commented: "When I set out to write this album, 'Theory Of Mind', it felt more like an exploration than a project. Music, for me, has always been about uncovering the hidden layers of thought and emotion, and this album took me into new territories — ones where psychology and technology intersect with the core of what makes us human. But this wasn't just a conceptual or intellectual exercise for me. I had personal experiences that led me to create this music, experiences that reshaped how I see the world and how we understand each other.

"The concept of 'theory of mind' isn't new. It's a psychological term, first developed to describe the unique human ability to recognize and interpret the mental states of others. We use it every day, often unconsciously, to navigate the social world, to empathize, to predict what others might feel or think. It becomes even more profound when applied to those who experience life differently for whom 'theory of mind' may not come naturally. In them, the gaps in understanding can be bridges to deeper ways of seeing the world. This album seeks to capture that complexity — the struggle, the beauty, and the unknown that comes with interpreting the minds of others. I've seen this first-hand, both in my own life and through people close to me. Watching someone struggle to connect with others on an intuitive level or seeing how people are often misunderstood because they process the world differently — it all started to shape my thinking. How do we understand those whose minds work in ways we can't immediately grasp? How do they understand us? These questions weighed heavily on me and became a driving force behind this album. I wanted to reflect on those personal experiences musically, creating an emotional landscape where the listener could step inside that journey, even if just for a moment. But there's another layer to this album that extends beyond psychology and into the future of technology.

"We are on the verge of a new era where machines — artificial intelligence — are approaching what scientists refer to as 'theory of mind'. This marks the moment when A.I. not only calculates and processes information but begins to perceive, empathize, and interact as humans do. What intrigued me is how A.I., now convincingly mimic human understanding of mental states, even outperforming humans in 'theory of mind' tests. It's one thing to create music that evokes human emotion, but what does it mean when a machine can understand and resonate with those emotions too? Imagine a world where technology not only responds but feels.

"Each track on the album is a chapter in this story, and I hope listeners feel the evolution. The opening song begins with an intricate awakening motif, almost like the first realization of self-awareness, like when a child first grasps that other people have thoughts, emotions, and experiences separate from their own. The music builds from there, layering with complexity, much like how we learn to navigate the minds of others — tentative at first, and then more certain, with moments of tension and harmony. There's a rhythmic pulse throughout the album. It represents that shared essence we all have the need to connect, to feel understood. I incorporated melodies and counter-melodies, verses and choruses, peaceful and aggressive, dissonant or consonant that mirror the interplay of thoughts in dialogue, where communication is imperfect but still profound. The tension and release echo the internal conflicts we all experience—wondering if we truly understand others or if we're just projecting our own thoughts onto them.

"There's a vulnerability in the tracks' melodies, a fragile but fierce will to connect. In a way, it's a meditation on empathy, on the effort it can take to truly see someone for who they are. The use of A.I. as an inspiration for some of the album's themes might seem abstract. As I wrote and composed, I kept coming back to the question: What happens when machines learn to understand us on an emotional level? When we teach them to interpret our mental states? Does it make them more human, or does it reveal more about what it means to be human ourselves? Should I let A.I. start making all the music, what about me, how can I express myself?

"'Theory Of Mind' isn't just about understanding — it's about the desire to understand. Whether it's a person who feels misunderstood, or a future A.I. learning to perceive our emotions, the album is an invitation to explore that space. To sit with the complexities, to feel the tension, and ultimately, to wonder — where do we go from here?"

One of the most internationally recognized Brazilian guitarists, Kiko has received the highest rankings in countless polls such as "Best Guitarist" and landed the front cover of major guitar magazines such as Young Guitar, Guitar Player and Guitar World. In early 2017, while still a member of MEGADETH, Kiko became the first Brazilian musician to receive a Grammy for playing in a rock/heavy metal band. He is known as a tireless and complete musician who is constantly looking to push his limits and discover something new.

Kentucky rockers BLACK STONE CHERRY have launched All I'm Dreamin' Of Foundation.

The band states: "This is something we have been passionate about and wanted to make happen for some time, and we thought this was as great a time as any to launch it."
All I'm Dreamin' Of Foundation exists to empower and inspire local artists, musicians, and dreamers alike. The Foundation's mission is help fund and champion community arts and music programs, ensuring that creativity, expression, and opportunity remain accessible to all.

BLACK STONE CHERRY will release a brand-new EP, "Celebrate", digitally on March 6, 2026 via Mascot Records.

"Celebrate" was produced by the BLACK STONE CHERRY bandmembers themselves and recorded at High Street Studios in Bowling Green, Kentucky. The effort consists of six original tracks and a cover of SIMPLE MINDS' "Don't You (Forget About Me)" featuring Tyler Connolly (THEORY OF A DEADMAN).

BLACK STONE CHERRY is an American rock band formed in June 2001 in Edmonton, Kentucky. The founding members were Chris Robertson (vocals, guitar),Ben Wells (guitar),Jon Lawhon (bass) and John Fred Young (drums). The band originally rehearsed in a house previously used by THE KENTUCKY HEADHUNTERS and began performing in local clubs.

In 2003, they released their first demo, "Rock N' Roll Tape". Their debut studio album, "Black Stone Cherry", was released in 2006 through Roadrunner Records. This was followed by the albums "Folklore And Superstition" (2008),"Between The Devil And The Deep Blue Sea" (2011),"Magic Mountain" (2014),"Kentucky" (2016),"Family Tree" (2018),"The Human Condition" (2020) and "Screamin' At The Sky" (2023). In addition, the band has released two EPs.

In 2021, bassist Jon Lawhon left the group and was replaced by Steve Jewell Jr. Since 2016, the band has been working with Mascot Label Group.

In October 2024, BLACK STONE CHERRY was inducted into the Kentucky Music Hall Of Fame.

With our hometown shows approaching this weekend, we are incredibly proud to announce that this year’s portion of...

Posted by Black Stone Cherry on Thursday, December 18, 2025

During a December 16 appearance on SiriusXM's "Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk", former KISS guitarist Bruce Kulick was once again asked if he was ever approached to rejoin the band after Ace Frehley left for good back in 2001. He responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Clearly, when I heard that Ace was probably not showing up [for the gigs in 2001], and all of a sudden the understudy, Tommy [Thayer], who could throw the outfit and the makeup on to pop in on a few things before Ace just left, I was, like, 'Are they gonna ask me?' I remember talking to a couple of my friends that had the inside scoop on the band, and I don't know what they were gonna do, but I thought about it and I was, like, 'Could I do that? Could I become the Spaceman? That seems not really right.' I remember [feeling] conflicted. On the other hand, I was, like, 'I'd really enjoy being back in KISS, playing huge arenas and private jets and all the perks and what fame comes with that. And then, of course, I was not considered, which was a blessing in disguise."

Asked if he was "hurt" by the fact that he wasn't approached to rejoin KISS, Bruce said: "No. I really did understand them going to Tommy. I knew Tommy very well. He used to work a lot with the band creatively — write songs and tour manage, and he worked on 'Kisstory', the big nine-pound book or whatever. And knowing that he was in a tribute band [called] COLD GIN, for KISS, and could play the Ace riffs…"

Bruce continued: "Here's a perfect example: when Paul Stanley told me, 'You're the new guitarist of KISS,' back in '84, days before 'Animalize Live [Uncensored]' [concert video]. 'We want you to play competitive. You know what's going on in the guitar world. You know what we need. You have one foot in the kind of vintage material, and then I need you to play like the modern guitar players.' And clearly Tommy got a little different kind of job application kind of checkbox: 'Play Ace's riffs.' So, in conclusion, knowing that that mine was be me with my face with no confusion, no character, and the other side of it being… I would've pooped on my era if I suddenly did take that job, if it was offered to me. And I couldn't tell you, I swear to you, if they said, 'No, we really want you. And here's the pay and here's your commitment.' I might've said yes. I mean, how could I deny that I would love to be in the band? But at that cost… And you gotta remember, looking back in — what year would that have been? 2000-ish; 2001 or something around there — I don't know where my headspace be. But looking back all these years and seeing how my era has been more embraced and more celebrated, and I also think Pophouse [the Swedish company which bought the KISS catalog, brand name and intellectual property in early 2024] really wants to support all 50 years of the band, meaning my era will get more of a spotlight than during those makeup years where Gene [Simmons] and Paul and Doc [McGhee, KISS's longtime manager] were controlling basically the narrative of the band. Understandably. I was never bitter at them. Why should they do 'Revenge' songs if they don't want to or if it doesn't feel right? I get it. But boy, it makes it special when I play that stuff [with other musicians now]."

In 1984, Bruce joined KISS, where he remained as their lead guitarist for twelve years, accompanying the band on the "Animalize" tour and continuing with the band until the 1996 reunion tour. Bruce is heavily featured on "Kissology – Vol. 2" and "Vol. 3", the band's DVDs spanning their historic 45-year career.

Back in November 2024, Bruce was asked by Loaded Radio why he wasn't ever approached to rejoin the band after Ace left for good back in 2001. He responded: "That's a great question. And not everyone's aware of some of the backstory. I would hear things about them having problems with Ace and Ace was getting erratic or difficult. And Tommy Thayer was actually tour managing with them; he was on the road with them. Because even during my era, he was involved with the band, helping with 'Kisstory' and doing things for the group. He wrote some songs with Gene and was always part of the inner circle, shall I say. So from what I understood, there was one or two things that KISS did — not a concert, even though once Ace was almost not gonna make it and they made Tommy get the outfit on. [He had a] similar build — tall and thin — and Ace made it to the show. But there were a couple of other things they needed to do. I believe 'That '70s Show', when they were taping, Ace didn't show up. 'Tommy, get the outfit on.' And then I think there was a private gig, too, that no one would really know about — one of those things where you go to an island and play for some rich people. And Ace wouldn't go. And KISS wasn't gonna say, 'All right, we're not gonna take the gig.' So if they ever had a thought of me, I think they would have known that that probably would have been a lot harder. Tommy was younger, there already, if you know what I mean, working with them. And Tommy, not everybody knows that he was in a tribute band for fun at times called COLD GIN as Ace Frehley."

Bruce continued: "So if they would have went to me, I can't say I absolutely would have said 'no.' I miss being in KISS. I do realize it would have kind of pooped on my era because then I'd have to kind of play the role of the 'Spaceman' and shoot rockets and play more like Ace. I was never given that direction from Gene and Paul, where Tommy knew that it actually was more comfortable with his natural style of guitar playing. He wasn't a Floyd Rose, play-some-flashy-riffs king of the mountain. So I never felt like they made the wrong choice — ever. I always felt that was the right way to go 'cause then Tommy could assume the role of the Spaceman in the group. Eric [Singer, KISS drummer] sometimes gets some criticism, like Tommy has, but Eric being behind the drums and having five years in the band without the makeup, maybe he gets a little less. Neither of them really deserve criticism because they're talented players doing a great job. And it was Gene and Paul's choice to say, 'And now you're the Catman,' 'And now you're the Spaceman.' It wasn't [Tommy and Eric] saying, 'Please, I wanna be the Spaceman.' And to new generations, Tommyis the Spaceman. Even though Eric has a lot of credibility from 'Revenge' and 'MTV Unplugged' and 'Carnival Of Souls' and all the work that we did together for those five years. So, I actually kind of lost the big gig on many levels for the right reasons though. And I was never fired the first time. It was simply, 'Well, we're making all this money. Now we're selling out from arenas to stadiums in makeup.' So my era ran its course."

In an April 2020 interview with Sleaze Roxx, Kulick said that he was "relieved" he wasn't approached to rejoin the band after Frehley left for good back in 2001.

"When I had to leave in '96 after the success of the KISS 'Unplugged' performance, people were aware of the musicianship that existed in the band between Eric Singer [drums] and I, but after 20 years of people hearing about KISS in makeup, it was kind of like 'Star Wars' when it was rebooted people went to see what it was all about," he said. "I understood that it was the original guys, they put the makeup on and people were excited to either see it again or see it for the first time. That carried on, then it carried on and it carried on. [Laughs] It then reached a point where Gene [Simmons] and Paul [Stanley] couldn't continue with Peter [Criss] so they called on Eric Singer to step into the role and the makeup.

"Eric is such a tremendous drummer," he continued. "I was genuinely happy for him. I still am. Then when Ace started dropping the ball, it was seamless for them to go with Tommy Thayer who does such a fantastic job as the 'Spaceman.'

"If I had been asked to step into the 'Spaceman' role, it would have been really awkward for me. I get asked by the fans a lot, 'Well, why aren't you there?' I think Tommy stepping into the role was a lot more natural than Bruce Kulick becoming the 'Spaceman' and shooting rockets off of my guitar. I would have had to play the songs note for note like Ace. I don't think I could do that and remain happy in the band. Tommy does that to perfection. I was never required to learn the classic stuff note for note, but if you're going to be the 'Spaceman,' it would have to stay true to the way Ace plays it. That's not to say that I don't play the classic songs with respect. I play the GRAND FUNK RAILROAD songs with respect, while injecting my own style into them, like I did in my time in KISS. I would lose my 'liberties' if I stepped into the 'Spaceman' role.

"I'm friends with Tommy, Bruce added. "We've gotten closer over the years on the 'Kiss Kruise'. We've spoken a lot on the 'Kruise'. He once said to me, 'Hey, I never got into the Floyd Rose whammy bar thing. How do you play 'Crazy Nights'?' I said, 'Don't worry about it. Play it how you play it. It's what works for you. I don't take any offense and you don't need to copy how I do it.'

"Tommy's style is so much closer to Ace's than mine. I have a unique style to my approach you can hear it on 'Tears Are Falling', 'Who Wants To Be Lonely', 'Unholy' and even the acoustic solo on 'Forever'. I am proud of my body of work for that era of KISS. I'm embracing it. The fans are embracing it. It's all good."

Kulick went on to say that he is at peace with the fact that he will never be part of the makeup era of KISS.

"I was relieved [when they didn't ask me to step in after Ace left]," he said. "I think if I had been asked and done it, I think it would hurt. I know that Tommy and Eric avoid… I'm close to both but I'm closer with Eric. They avoid reading things online. Their best medicine is to just do a great job every night and not read that stuff. I'm shocked that sometimes someone will leave a snarky comment toward me. I'm, like, 'Really?' I don't get into that stuff and I don't like anything negative on social media and I never do or post anything negative. I won't allow anything negative. There's times I read something and I choose to ignore it. Everyone has a voice these days. They have a laptop, a tablet or a smartphone.

"I was relieved, but how could I not have 'entertained' the idea if I was asked? At the time when they swooped Tommy right in, I was already in GRAND FUNK RAILROAD and I was pretty happy with my role in the band. Sure, it wasn't KISS, but it's a great gig. Now think of it from this angle. Let's say they made the right proposition and I took it, then Ace wanted back into the band. Where would that have left me? No KISS gig and no gig in GRAND FUNK."

In some of his interviews, Bruce confirmed that he wasn't asked to perform at KISS's final show and wasn't invited to attend the event, which was held in December 2023 at New York City's Madison Square Garden.

In a new interview with Australia's Flying The Metal Flag, vocalist/guitarist Mille Petrozza of German/Finnish/French thrash metal veterans KREATOR spoke about his recently released official German-language autobiography, which he wrote with journalist, author and presenter Torsten Groß. Titled "Your Heaven, My Hell - Mein Leben, Heavy Metal Und Wie Das Alles Passieren Konnte", the book was published on August 28 via Ullstein Verlag. Mille said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "I had a co-author, a friend of mine, Torsten Groß, who is a journalist for the German Rolling Stone magazine. There was this publishing company here in Germany, which is one of the bigger ones, Ullstein books, they asked me to write an autobiography. And I was, like, 'You know what? I think it could be a little bit repetitive and it could be a little boring to write like a book with 1,200 pages or something, talking about each album, and anything from 1985 to 2025.' So I asked them, 'You know what? I'm gonna do it different. I'm gonna make it more like a novel-style, coming-of-age book that ends in the year 1993. So it's from my birth to the year 1993, which is when our album 'Renewal' came out, the book ends. So there might be a part two — or maybe not. We'll see. So it keeps it really short.

"Most people, when they talk about metal, they wanna know about the '80s, because, for some people, that's the golden days of metal," he explained. "So we kept it in the '80s. We only went to the beginning of the '90s to make it more exciting, make it more of a unique autobiography.

"No disrespect, but sometimes when you read autobiographies by other artists, and I'm a big sucker for autobiographies — I read a lot of those — sometimes it gets a little boring," Mille added. "There's only so much that happens in the life of a musician. You go into a studio, you go on a tour, and if you do it like for, like, 40 years of career, then it's, like, okay, okay, more of the same. So I wanted to keep it short and sweet. And so the book ends in the year 1993… And like I said, everybody that I talk to and everybody that wants to know about the glory days and the golden age of metal, they always refer to the '80s."

Petrozza also talked about the official KREATOR documentary, "Hate & Hope", which was shown on July 2 at the 42nd Munich International Film Festival and received a theatrical premiere on September 4. The 110-minute film was directed by Cordula Kablitz-Post. Mille said:  "That came out in the summertime. It was in the movie theaters over here in Germany. And it kind of gives you like a little bit of an insight, behind-the-scenes kind of look — you can sneak and see how we work in the studio, how we write songs and life on the road. The director came to us, and she followed us around the world, really. She shot footage in Los Angeles. She followed the band to India and Japan. So, it was exciting. It was pretty cool. I mean, it's same with the book. It's very entertaining. You watch the movie and you're not bored. And to me, that's always the most important thing, that people are enjoying the stuff, that people, when they watch the movie, they go, like, 'Wow, now I wanna go see the band live.' That would be the perfect scenario."

KREATOR's sixteenth studio album, "Krushers Of The World", will arrive on January 16, 2026 via Nuclear Blast Records. The LP was recorded at Fascination Street Studios in Örebro, Sweden with producer Jens Bogren. Bogren previously helmed KREATOR's "Phantom Antichrist" (2012) and "Gods Of Violence" (2017) LPs. The "Krushers Of The World" cover artwork was created by Polish genius Zbigniew Bielak (GHOST).

KREATOR has released three singles so far from "Krushers Of The World": "Seven Serpents", "Tränenpalast" and "Satanic Anarchy".

"Tränenpalast" features vocal coach Britta Görtz of extreme metal band HIRAES on guest vocals.

KREATOR will promote "Krushers Of The World" with a monumental European tour across 20 countries, joining forces with fellow metal powerhouses CARCASS, EXODUS and NAILS. The trek will kick off on March 20, 2026 in Lisbon, Portugal, at MEO Arena and wrap up on April 25, 2026 in Copenhagen, Denmark, at Poolen. Highlights include shows in London, Manchester, Glasgow, Paris, Milan, Berlin, Stockholm, and more.

KREATOR will also embark on a U.S. tour next spring. The band, which last conquered American audiences and venues in 2024, will embark on a headline tour in 2026, with stops at key festivals, including Welcome To Rockville, Sonic Temple and Maryland Deathfest. The tour kicks off on May 7 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and runs through May 23 in Huntington, New York.

The "Krushers Of The World" cover sees Zbigniew Bielak, renowned for his work for GHOST, art and design, offer an interesting twist to KREATOR's history. Transforming classic visual trademarks dedicated fans will recognize from "Coma Of Souls" (1990),"Out Of The Dark... Into The Light" (1988) and "Pleasure To Kill" (the font!) into a highly detailed tapestry garnered with occult symbolism, Bielak crafted an outstanding piece paying homage to a band he loves since his teenager days yet with a daring and unique flair. The cover of "Krushers Of The World" rewards everyone willing to analyze the grandiose sleeve design.

KREATOR's upcoming effort will be the follow-up to 2022's "Hate Über Alles", which was recorded at Hansa Tonstudio in Berlin, Germany. Helming the sessions for that LP was Arthur Rizk, who has previously worked with CAVALERA CONSPIRACY, CODE ORANGE, POWER TRIP and SOULFLY, among others.

"Hate Über Alles" marked KREATOR's first album with bassist Frédéric Leclercq, who joined the group in 2019.

Photo credit: Robert Eikelpoth

In a recent interview with Kadin McElwain of Autism Digest, POISON drummer Rikki Rockett spoke about the fact that people with autism are highly creative, imaginative individuals who often have special talents in areas such as art and music. Explaining that autism may be disabling for musicians on the spectrum in social settings, but it doesn't hinder them when it comes to making music, Rikki said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "I think there are artists that are autistic. There's artists that are ADHD [Attention-Deficit / Hyperactivity Disorder], I think I'm probably ADD [Attention Deficit Disorder] myself.

"Here's the thing: a lot of autistic people can multitask in ways that people that don't [have autism] can't," Rikki continued. "And I've found that sometimes it's a superpower — literally. And you cannot judge a book by its cover. And the cool thing is, is that at least for the most part — and this isn't across the board — but for the most part, I feel like musicians who are a little more open to all kinds of different people, as long as they have something to contribute and they're being creative, I think other musicians listen to other musicians, and if they don't, they usually don't last that long. You can usually pick 'em out. They're usually not the ones that are the cream of the crop. It's the ones that are very open-minded. And I would recommend that artists listened, if a neurodivergent artist had a great song idea, for example, listen to the song. Listen to the song. Maybe it's not good. Maybe it's something that you never, ever would've thought, because it's coming from somebody that perceives things just a little bit different than you do, and that's key."

Rikki's new rock project THE ROCKETT MAFIA recently signed a deal with Pavement Entertainment. The partnership includes live show engagements, merchandise, and upcoming music releases.

In addition to Rockett, THE ROCKETT MAFIA includes Brandon Gibbs (DEVIL CITY ANGELS) on vocals and guitar, Mick Sweda (BULLETBOYS) on guitar and backing vocals and Michael Adams (PUDDLE OF MUDD) on bass.

THE ROCKETT MAFIA performs a powerful mix of classic rock from the 1970s and 1980s, often reimagining songs from that era with a heavier, more contemporary feel. Their live set also features deep cuts from POISON's catalog — songs the legendary band rarely performs — giving fans a rare and exciting experience.

Rikki's memoir, "Ghost Notes", which was written with writer duo Leif Eriksson and Martin Svensson, is due in April 2026 via Rare Bird Books.

POISON exploded into the highly competitive Los Angeles music scene in the 1980s, making a name for itself in the clubs on the Sunset Strip.

POISON has sold over 50 million records worldwide, releasing eight studio albums, four live albums, and four compilations. The band has charted 10 singles on the Top 40 of the Billboard Hot 100, including six Top 10 singles and one Hot 100 number-one smash hit, "Every Rose Has Its Thorn".

In a recent interview with Chris Williamson of the "Modern Wisdom" podcast, Eric Vanlerberghe, vocalist, songwriter and founding member of the band I PREVAIL, was asked for his opinion of artificial intelligence-generated music, particularly since A.I. or A.I.-assisted artists have regularly appeared on the Billboard charts in the past few months. Eric said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Oh, man. Don't get me started. It's a little frightening, man. I just came across… A friend of mine went on a rant and posted all these bands on Spotify that were A.I. bands. And whether it's a band that's feeding prompts and getting it and playing it or it's one guy that just used ChatGPT, Grok, whatever, to create everything, and then you go look at the monthly listeners and there's 700,000 monthly listeners. And it's not the fear that someone's gonna go, 'I'd rather listen to this A.I. band over a real human band,' it's the fact that it's just gonna get slipped into playlisting, and it's just gonna be on your playlist, and it's just gonna just accumulate more and more of all these other fake bands. And by the time you go and look through your playlist, you're, like, 'Oh, who's this? Who's this? Who's this?', and there's no real musicians. But my ultimate worry is that who's to say that someone who owns a streaming platform doesn't just start making music off A.I. himself or herself and feeding it into the playlisting, and now there's even less of the pie. Artists are getting fractions of a penny on the dollar for streams. Well, now that those playlists that these bands are fighting hard for, who's to say the CEOs of Apple Music, Spotify, Tidal, whatever, aren't just making their own music, feeding it into the algorithm, putting it into the playlisting. And now how are we supposed to fight that?"

Eric also addressed the dilemma of A.I.-generated music as it relates to A.I.'s ability to enhance creativity, efficiency and personalization in music creation and the significant ethical, legal, and economic challenges it poses to human artistry. He said: "Yeah. That's an interesting slippery slope you get down, 'cause you like to think that inspiration you hear, like these bands [I grew up listening to] — yeah, I loved all those bands and I took influence from them, the style of music we wanna play, from lyrics to melody and all that. But back then there was no A.I., so it was something that they were inspired by and then that band was inspired by, and it just water falls down, cascades down into our creative process. And then it's up to us to put it through our filter and use our own words and generate the same emotion or feel that we're going for, that we are inspired by. But it all ultimately is through the human experience. And then you have the opposite where it's you just go to a computer and be, like, 'I'm sad. Write a sad song like MY CHEMICAL ROMANCE,' and it's, like, here's the options. And it's, like, well, now I'm just picking and choosing, like I'm going down the grocery store and going, 'I'll take that one. I like that brand. I'll take that one. I'll take that one.' Yeah, it's, like, where does artistry stop when you start using tools? But then at the same time Melodyne [pitch correction software] pitch correcting on a track or when you're demoing songs and you program the drums — bands have done that for the last 20 years — and you program the drums, and, 'Oh, man, actually, let's track the drums.' 'Well, the programmed drums, I think, sound better.' Well, you run with it. And well, where's that line? So it's a very blurred line right now."

I PREVAIL's latest album, "Violent Nature", was issued in September via Fearless Records. The LP marked a major turning point for the band as they usher in a new chapter, with Vanlerberghe as the only lead singer tackling both clean and unclean vocals.The entire record was produced by the band's bass player Jon Eberhard, and it boasts a total of ten hard-hitting tracks.

Brian Burkheiser had handled the clean vocals in I PREVAIL since the band's formation but was forced to step away from the group's touring activities due to his battle with Eagle's syndrome, a condition associated with the elongation of the styloid process or calcification of the stylohyoid ligament, clinically characterized by throat and neck pain, radiating into the ear. In Burkheiser's absence, co-vocalist/growler Vanlerberghe had handled the bulk of the singing in I PREVAIL, with the help of guitarist Dylan Bowman.

This past summer, I PREVAIL completed the "Summer Of Loud" tour alongside BEARTOOTH, KILLSWITCH ENGAGE and PARKWAY DRIVE as co-headliners. Main support on the trek came from THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA, THE AMITY AFFLICTION and ALPHA WOLF.

In October 2024, I PREVAIL released an expanded edition of its 2022 album "True Power", featuring one new song and three reimagined tracks. The updated version included the new single "Hate This Song", the band's collaborative track with ALL TIME LOW, along with reimagined versions of the album singles "Bad Things", "There's Fear In Letting Go" and "Deep End".

Rising to an arena level and receiving two Grammy nominations — "Best Rock Album" for "Trauma", and "Best Metal Performance" for "Bow Down" — I PREVAIL saw its "Hurricane" single top Billboard's Mainstream Rock Airplay chart in 2020, officially the top song on U.S. rock radio at the time. A number of their singles have since been certified gold and platinum, and they have been praised by press far and wide, including Forbes, Billboard, The Hollywood Reporter and NPR.

In a recent interview with Radioactive MikeZ, host of the 96.7 KCAL-FM program "Wired In The Empire", TRIVIUM bassist Paolo Gregoletto was asked which METALLICA album he thinks is better, "Ride The Lightning" or "Master Of Puppets". He responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "'Master', for me. I can see why some people maybe lean towards 'Ride The Lightning', but I'm, like — oh, it's just so hard. I just feel like 'Master Of Puppets' is the ultimate record. So, yeah, that's an easy one for me. It's a perfect record."

Paolo went on to reflect on TRIVIUM's cover of the "Master Of Puppets" title track, which was recorded in 2006 for the Kerrang! magazine 20th-anniversary tribute to the "Master Of Puppets" album.

"We covered 'Master', because when we got the opportunity to do that Kerrang! tribute, I was, like, 'Well, if we're doing that, we've gotta do 'Master'," the bassist recalled. "I'm, like, 'That's the ultimate song and the ultimate record.' And we actually did it this past run in the summer over in Europe. We were dropping in part of our 'Master Of Puppets' cover."

Asked if the "Master Of Puppets" title track is his favorite song on the METALLICA album, Paolo said: "Yeah, I'd probably say so. But it's one of those records where I'm, like, you don't really listen to one song, if you start. You'd better sit down for a bit and be ready to listen to the whole thing. I'm definitely more of a full-record guy with listening to stuff. I mean, I will pop around to singles and stuff here and there, but if I start something I like, I'm just, like, I wanna just go — I wanna hear the whole thing."

TRIVIUM opened for METALLICA at the heavy metal giants' "intimate" concert on November 4, 2021 at Hard Rock Live at Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Florida. Tickets for the 7,000-seat-theater show went on sale on July 30, 2021 and quickly sold out. Speaking to El Cuartel Del Metal about how the Orlando metallers landed the opening slot at the METALLICA gig, TRIVIUM frontman Matt Heafy said: "It was Sunday afternoon [four days before the show]. I think we were just about to watch a movie with the kids. And I got an e-mail from our manager. He's, like, 'METALLICA asked if you can be available for this Thursday.' We were, like, 'Yes. Yes, we can. Let's do everything we can.' But we had to keep it quiet 'cause it wasn't fully confirmed yet. It didn't get confirmed until, I think, 30 minutes before we started driving down to South Florida. So we had to get our crew back down to Florida, get our gear back together, rehearse again. Luckily, we all rehearse so much individually, it's not like we're ever sloppy; it's not like we take time off. So we were ready to go. And we made it happen. We got down there. We weren't able to say 'hey' [to the guys METALLICA], but METALLICA left us an amazing handwritten letter and gave us a box of [METALLICA's] Blackened [whiskey]."

He continued: "To be able to see them at a quote[-unquote] small show; I mean, a small show for them is seven thousand people. That's more people than we can do on a big show. So, to be able to watch them that close — I was able to be on the floor and watch them — it was incredible. They're all amazing, but [James] Hetfield's [METALLICA frontman] voice sounds better than ever. I don't know how the hell that happened, but he sounds like a better singer now than he's ever been. And it's just so amazing. The vibe was great."

Heafy added: "They're truly the greatest band in the world and [have] always been the greatest band in the world. And it's awesome that they thought of us. They were, like, 'Hey, let's get TRIVIUM down here.' For METALLICA to have an opening band, that's usually just their decision; it's whatever they wanna do. And the fact that they picked us was really cool."

Asked if TRIVIUM has ever gotten feedback from any members of METALLICA about their music, Heafy said: "Way back in 2006, we did festivals with them. I remember we'd never met them before. Lars [Ulrich, METALLICA drummer] pops his head in the dressing room. We were, like, 'Holy crap.' He starts talking to us. He said how they really liked the 'Master Of Puppets' cover we did for Kerrang! [magazine]. They obviously liked the band 'cause they brought us out. I remember they brought us, AVENGED [SEVENFOLD] and BULLET [FOR MY VALENTINE] out for a couple of off dates and they kind of looked at the three of us as the next generation of metal bands, which was really cool. They've always been complimentary. I've been able to hang out with Kirk [Hammett, METALLICA guitarist] a couple of times. Kirk took us out to an incredible sushi dinner on that tour. Kirk has taken us out to an incredible Chinese place in San Francisco years and years and years later. We've always kept good casual contact with them, and they're the kings. They've always been nothing but truly wonderful, welcoming, amazing people."

Back in April 2021, Gregoletto reflected on what it was like to meet his heroes in METALLICA. Recalling the night in 2006 when he and his bandmates ended up having dinner with Kirk Hammett in Amsterdam, he told Epic Footnote Productions' "There Goes My Hero" podcast: "It was at the hotel they were staying at. It was in Amsterdam. It was at a really fancy place, and they had a fancy sushi restaurant. Kirk really loved [TRIVIUM's] 'Ascendancy' [album], and he just wanted to come out and hang out with us. So we went to dinner at that place in the hotel and pretty much just ordered everything on the menu — like, every single thing… I don't know how long we were there, but it was quite awhile. It was crazy. And then at the end, he kind of jokingly handed me the bill, like, 'Here you go.'

"It was pretty wild to just hang out with this dude," Paolo continued. "I don't even remember what we talked about; that's the craziest thing. It's almost like one of those experiences [where] you know it happened, but you don't really remember. It was like waking up from a dream and being, like, 'Wow, that was wild. What happened?' You don't remember all the details, but you know something happened."

Asked how old he was when he first discovered METALLICA's music, Paolo said: "I think it was '96 — I'm pretty sure that's when I found METALLICA. So I was probably about 11 or 12 when I discovered them. It was right when I started playing bass. I saw [METALLICA's] 'King Nothing' [video] on MTV, and I was just, like, 'That's the band. That's the coolest thing ever. And these dudes are playing in the snow, and they look cool.' At that point, all I knew was pop-punk and whatever was popular on MTV. So they were very different. And, of course, metal in the '90s — this is before I discovered PANTERA and anything like that — metal is not on MTV anymore at that point; it was starting to slowly filter out. And I wasn't watching 'Headbangers Ball', if it was even around in '96. So that was it. METALLICA was kind of flying the flag in the mainstream world, and thank God I found them, 'cause I don't know if I would've gotten into music the way I did. To me, that was what made me serious about it, like, 'Okay, I wanna play this type of music. I wanna do what these guys are doing.' And pretty much after that, that was my homework after school — was to just watch METALLICA videos and watch [METALLICA's] 'Live Shit: Binge & Purge' [concert videos] and all that stuff, and just try to emulate them with my own local band and trying to figure out how to make it work."

Robert DeLeo, bassist and principal songwriter of the iconic band STONE TEMPLE PILOTS, has confirmed that he is working on his second solo album. The upcoming LP, which is tentatively due in 2026, will be the follow-up to "Lessons Learned", which came out in October 2022.

Asked in a recent interview with the "100 Guitarists" podcast which projects he is working on right now, Robert said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "I am trying to finish up a second solo record that I'm doing right now. And like I did on my first one, I have different singers that I'm getting to come in. People always ask why I don't sing my own songs, [and it's] 'cause I really can't. And that's why, fortunately, I have some great friends with amazing voices. So I'm trying to finish that up right now. I'm doing all the guitars."

Pressed about the singers that will be involved with the making of his new solo album, Robert said: "I've got Jimmy Gnecco, and I've got Jay Buchanan from RIVAL SONS, Pete Shoulder, who sang on my last record, Tim Bluhm from THE MOTHER HIPS; he'll be singing on there. I've got some other in mind. I'm trying to get Trey Hensley… Trey is an amazing person, an amazing guitar player and an amazing singer. So I got a song for Trey that I sent to him. Great, great talent, great talent that guy. And then there's Jon Regen on some keys, from New York, and Tristan Cappel on some flute, and Omar Velasco. Omar Velasco is a great singer too, a great songwriter. He's singing on there too. Yeah, so, I'm just trying to get that finished up."

Robert played virtually all the instruments on "Lessons Learned", complemented by guest musicians and vocalists, all of which lent to the undeniable intimacy of the music.

Asked in a January 2023 interview with Bass Magazine what inspired him to write a solo album at that point in his career, Robert said: "Really, it was the state of the world these past couple of years. Everyone was allowed a lot of time to sit down and rethink life, which has definitely been rearranged. I had that time to pull out these instruments and not only appreciate them, but start playing all of them again. After touring for so long, I had an urge to get back into my guitar playing again. I play so much bass at all times, but I've written a whole lot of songs on guitar, and I draw a lot of inspiration from that. I got back into my finger playing on my acoustic and got back to where I once was with that. This album basically sparked from all of that. I acquired a couple of new instruments, and every time you get something new, it steers you in a direction or speaks to you in a different way. I was on the hunt for a great couch guitar, and I found an old nylon-string that was perfect. Sitting down with it, I immediately wrote 'She Brings The Rain', which was the first song I tracked for the record. I ended up using that guitar in the studio to record the song. That was the start of this journey."

Regarding the different musical styles covered on "Lessons Learned", Robert said: "For me personally, I've always delved into those areas, even since 'Core' [STONE TEMPLE PILOTS, 1992]; 'Creep' was almost a country-inspired song, if you really listen to it. All the way through to now, I've been integrating my inspirations into STP, which is a lot of acoustic-based bossa nova and samba. I hate to label music, but I just wanted to make a record that was purely me and acoustically pure. That's really what acoustic instruments do — they bring out the purity of a song. It's one of the ingredients I appreciate about Brazilian music and country music. The acoustic aspects of these genres speak purely."

STONE TEMPLE PILOTS features three original members — Robert DeLeo, guitarist Dean DeLeo and drummer Eric Kretz.

Singer Jeff Gutt, a 49-year-old Michigan native who spent time in the early-2000s nu-metal act DRY CELL, among other bands, and was a contestant on "The X Factor", joined STONE TEMPLE PILOTS after beating out roughly 15,000 hopefuls during an extended search that began more than a year earlier.

Original STONE TEMPLE PILOTS singer Scott Weiland, who reunited with the group in 2010 after an eight-year hiatus but was dismissed in 2013, died in December 2015 of a drug overdose.

Chester Bennington, who joined STP in early 2013, departed nearly three years later to spend more time with his main band LINKIN PARK. Bennington committed suicide in July 2017.

STONE TEMPLE PILOTS released their first all-acoustic album, titled "Perdida", in February 2020. The disc was Gutt's second with STP. His recording debut with the group was on its self-titled seventh album, which arrived in March 2018.

In a recent interview with the I-Rock 93.5 radio station, DEATH ANGEL singer Mark Osegueda, who also fronts SLAYER guitarist Kerry King's solo band, was asked what keeps him and his DEATH ANGEL bandmates motivated to make new music and tour, more than four decades into the group's existence. Mark responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "It's the love of the music, and the love of performing. You're built for it or you're not. I think with this type of music, the adrenaline and the release, it's almost an addiction. But I think you hear that from all performers across the board. With metal, though, it's so grounding to me because I get out my frustrations every night when we play it. And that goes for everyone. And that's why they're going."

Referencing the fact that SLAYER stopped touring in 2019 and that MEGADETH will embark on a "farewell" tour in 2026, Mark continued: "MEGADETH said, yeah, they're calling it quits, but I just recently saw an article where Dave [Mustaine, MEGADETH leader] said the farewell tour is gonna last anywhere from three to five years. So I'm, like, well, there you go. So you just kind of go till your body lets you. And SLAYER the same. They're no longer touring, but they're doing a handful of shows every year. And I think that's awesome for SLAYER fans who never got to see them, 'cause there is a young generation of metalheads that keep cropping up every year. And some of them missed opportunity to see these guys and now they get to, so it's pretty awesome. And what keeps us going is pretty much the same thing — just the love for the music and the love for this scene and all this music has brought to us and selfishly how it makes me feel when I'm on stage. I'm gonna go till my body literally can't do it anymore."

DEATH ANGEL released two new singles in 2025, "Wrath (Bring Fire)", which was first made available in May, and "Cult Of The Used", which came out in November.

DEATH ANGEL's fall 2025 U.S. tour featured support from VIO-LENCE (replacing originally announced support act TOXIC HOLOCAUST),LIONS AT THE GATE and MISFIRE. The trek kicked off on November 26 at the Oriental Theater in Denver, Colorado and wrapped with two Christmas shows on December 18-19 at The Fillmore in San Francisco, California.

DEATH ANGEL pulled out of its fall 2024 tour as the support act for W.A.S.P. because of scheduling conflicts with King's solo band.

Osegueda is the featured singer on King's debut solo album, "From Hell I Rise", which arrived in May 2024 via Reigning Phoenix Music.

DEATH ANGEL released a live album titled "The Bastard Tracks" in November 2021 via Nuclear Blast. Recorded live at The Great American Music Hall in their hometown of San Francisco on May 22, 2021, and streamed live soon after, "The Bastard Tracks" was described in a press release as "a deep-cuts collection of rarely and never performed songs from the band's catalog" that was released digitally and on CD, vinyl and Blu-ray.

In October 2020, DEATH ANGEL released a four-song EP, "Under Pressure". The effort included a cover of QUEEN + David Bowie's "Under Pressure", followed by a new track titled "Faded Remains", plus acoustic versions of "Act III"'s classic "A Room With A View" and "Humanicide"'s "Revelation Song". The EP was mixed by Max Norman (OZZY OSBOURNE, MEGADETH, BAD COMPANY) and mastered by Ted Jensen (LAMB OF GOD, MACHINE HEAD, HALESTORM).

DEATH ANGEL's latest album, "Humanicide", was released in May 2019 via Nuclear Blast. The LP saw DEATH ANGEL returning to producer and friend Jason Suecof (DEICIDE, TRIVIUM) of Audiohammer studios for the recording and mixing, along with the mastering of the legendary Ted Jensen (SLIPKNOT, PANTERA) of Sterling Sound, who added the final touches and brought it all to life, with artist Brent Elliott White (LAMB OF GOD, MEGADETH) providing the ominous cover artwork.

DEATH ANGEL was nominated for a Grammy Award for "Best Metal Performance" for the "Humanicide" title track. It was the group's first Grammy nomination.

In a new interview with Costa Rica's Backstage Magazine, DREAM THEATER keyboardist Jordan Rudess spoke about the touring cycle for the progressive metallers' latest album, "Parasomnia", which arrived in February 2025. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET):  "Well, it's been a very exciting year. We've been on tour for over a year now… We've been having a great year. It's been wonderful to have [original DREAM THEATER drummer] Mike Portnoy back in the band after so many years. He kind of like came back home, if you will, which has just felt so good. So, the whole last — whatever it's been — 15 months of running around the world and playing shows and putting out our 'Parasomnia' album has been pretty, pretty awesome. It's been a great time in a very long career. And I guess to kind of like top it off, 'cause when we see all of you [in Central and Latin America], it'll be the last phase of the world tour, it'll be a nice way to do it because we know the fans are really great and they'll be excited. And I'm sure that'll just be a great celebration for everybody."

On the topic of DREAM THEATER's mindset while performing live, Jordan said: "What we do is pretty interesting because when you think about people like us, bands or any entertainer, artist being in front of large audiences and getting the kind of love and emotion and energy from the audience, plus the emotions that we feel just in our internal world, just the band by being together and making music for this many years and all that, you can really get hit with a big wave of kind of intensity, and it can be very joyful. It can be really amazing."

Rudess continued: "It's always been an interesting thing for me and something that I've tried to even share a lot with younger people, younger musicians or anybody who has to get in a situation where they have to be in front of the public and have to deal with emotions that are more than just sitting in their own home and just hanging out or being with a friend, because we all get kind of pushed into these situations where life can get kind of challenging and challenging not always in a bad way, but even in a way, like, something's happening, and it's a big emotion and you have to know how to kind of deal with it and keep thinking clearly and keep kind of being aware and, in our case, being able to play intricate music while there's a lot of stuff going on, whether it's the audiences cheering or there's noises or we're playing a really hard section of the music. So, for me, that kind of being able to focus and being able to absorb those emotions and still remain calm is probably one of the biggest lessons in life. It's allowed, I think, all of us in the band to kind of become the people who we are and to refine our craft in a way that we can get up there and we can play a complicated DREAM THEATER song. And I mean, we're human beings — we make mistakes certainly — but just to be able to perform at a high level and to do it and to feel the joy and to put out the energy and to share that with everybody, it's kind of a big deal."

On DREAM THEATER's upcoming spring 2026 tour of Latin America, the progressive metal giants are continuing their "An Evening With Dream Theater" run that celebrates DREAM THEATER's latest album, "Parasomnia", by performing the LP in its entirety, as well as playing the entire seven-movement masterpiece "A Change Of Seasons" for the first time since drummer Mike Portnoy's return as well as other classics and fan favorites from the band's catalog.

DREAM THEATER played its first concert with Portnoy in 14 years on October 20, 2024 at the O2 Arena in London, United Kingdom. The drummer, who co-founded DREAM THEATER, played on 10 of the band's albums over a 20-year period, from 1989's "When Dream And Day Unite" through 2009's "Black Clouds & Silver Linings", before exiting the group in 2010. Portnoy returned to DREAM THEATER in October 2023 after being replaced by Mike Mangini, who played with DREAM THEATER across five studio albums and accompanying world tours.

DREAM THEATER kicked off its summer/fall 2025 "An Evening With Dream Theater" U.S. tour on September 5 at Santander Performing Arts Center in Reading, Pennsylvania. The 30-city trek ran through October 25, when it wrapped in Long Island, New York.

DREAM THEATER launched the spring/summer 2025 leg of its "40th Anniversary European Tour" on June 3 at Logomo in Turku, Finland.

"Parasomnia" came out on February 7, 2025 via InsideOut Music. The LP was produced by John Petrucci, engineered by James "Jimmy T" Meslin, and mixed by Andy Sneap. Hugh Syme returned once again to lend his creative vision to the cover art.

"Parasomnia" is an eight-song, 71-minute set which was recorded at DREAM THEATER's DTHQ studio on Long Island, New York. It is the follow-up to 2021's "A View From The Top Of The World", which debuted at in the top 10 of Billboard's Top Hard Rock Albums, Top Rock Albums and Independent Albums charts. Six songs on "Parasomnia" are over seven minutes and the closing epic "The Shadow Man Incident" clocks in at nearly 20 minutes.

The North American leg of DREAM THEATER's 40th-anniversary tour kicked off on February 7 at The Met in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The trek was "An Evening With Dream Theater" and was the first tour of North America since Portnoy's return to the lineup,. The tour concluded on March 22 in New York City.

Portnoy, Petrucci and bassist John Myung started DREAM THEATER as MAJESTY in 1985, after meeting at the Berklee College Of Music in Boston. Singer James LaBrie came on board in 1991, while Rudess joined in 1999.

Prior to Portnoy's return to DREAM THEATER, the drummer and Petrucci worked together on the latter's 2020 solo album, "Terminal Velocity", and toured together. Portnoy and Petrucci also joined Rudess and bassist Tony Levin for a third studio album as LIQUID TENSION EXPERIMENT in 2021.

In a recent interview with MuchMusic, Adam Gontier from Canadian rockers THREE DAYS GRACE was asked how much "social media and the trends and platforms" affect how he and his bandmates approach music now. He responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Well, for us, we're just trying to make the best music we can, so, we still sit together in a room, we write songs, we record them all and then get them out there. And the way that the music gets out there is a little bit different than it was before. But for us, it's basically the same thing. We're still still just trying to write the best songs we can. And it's pretty amazing that the whole world is at your fingertips to be able to get it out there. So, yeah, it's really cool. It is a bit of a different world from when we first started, though, for sure."

Gontier also talked about the fact that THREE DAYS GRACE's 2003 single "I Hate Everything About You" recently surpassed one billion streams on Spotify. The song, which explores the tension of a love-hate relationship, originally appeared on the band's self-titled debut album. Asked what it is like to perform the song live now, Adam said: "Yeah, it's just one of those songs, everybody sings it. I try to get the whole crowd to sing it with us. It's still pretty surreal to play that song and have just people really freak out when we play that song. And it's wild. It's crazy. It's still hard to believe."

Asked to name one thing he loves about THREE DAYS GRACE, Gontier said: "We grew up as friends in a small town in Ontario — Norwood, Ontario. A lot of bands just kind of come together and make a band and try to be a band. We were friends before the band ever took off. So that's one thing that I think is really special about us, is that we're all really good friends before we're bandmates, and that's pretty important."

Pressed about whether he thinks rock is making a comeback, with the renewed activity from such bands as 2000s emo legends MY CHEMICAL ROMANCE and British rockers OASIS, Adam said: "It does feel kind of like rock is making a bit of a comeback, especially with CREED and bands from that era are starting to tour again and make new music. So, yeah, I think it feels like there's a resurgence of those bands from the late '90s, and just rock in general. I mean, people have said quite a bit over the last decade or so that rock is dead, and it's the opposite of that."

THREE DAYS GRACE balances moments of extreme emotion on an axis of pummeling hard rock anthems and pensive balladry. Along the way, the multi-platinum record-breaking Ontario, Canada band have amassed billions of streams and millions of album sales, sold out arenas on multiple continents, and reached unprecedented heights The band also has earned now staggering 21 total No. 1 entries on the Mediabase Active Rock chart.

To date, THREE DAYS GRACE's veritable arsenal of Billboard No. 1s includes "Just Like You", "Pain", "Animal I Have Become", "Never Too Late", "Break", "Good Life", "World So Cold", "Misery Loves My Company", "The High Road", "Chalk Outline", "I Am Machine", "Painkiller", "The Mountain", "Infra-Red", "Right Left Wrong", "So Called Life", "Lifetime", "Mayday", "Apologies" and the aforementioned "Kill Me Fast".

THREE DAYS GRACE surprised fans with the return of the band's original singer Adam Gontier and along with singer Matt Walst, guitarist Barry Stock, drummer Neil Sanderson and bassist Brad Walst released their eighth studio album, "Alienation" (RCA Records). The 12 tracks on the record all play a pivotal role in defining this significantly new, but nostalgic, chapter of the band.

THREE DAYS GRACE continues to achieve new levels of success, performing at sold-out arena shows with massive festival crowds, a sold-out co-headlining tour in Canada, and hitting the stage at some of the largest venues of their career in Europe.

Last month, THREE DAYS GRACE announced the 2026 "Alienation" tour, kicking off in Fort Wayne, Indiana in February, before hitting Canada and Europe and wrapping up the tour in November for the final show in Los Angeles, California. The U.S. tour dates will receive support from I PREVAIL and THE FUNERAL PORTRAIT, and Canada will see support from FINGER ELEVEN and ROYAL TUSK on select dates.

THREE DAYS GRACE played its first full show with Gontier in 12 years on February 25, 2025 as the support act for DISTURBED on the U.S. leg of "The Sickness 25th Anniversary Tour" at Ford Idaho Center Arena in Nampa, Idaho.

In 1992, Gontier, Brad Walst, Phil Crowe, Neil Sanderson and Joe Grant formed GROUNDSWELL while most of the members were still in high school. That band broke up in 1995, but two years later Gontier, Sanderson and Walst reformed as THREE DAYS GRACE. Gontier left the band in 2013 and was replaced by Matt, the vocalist from another Norwood band, MY DARKEST DAYS.

Gontier initially went into rehab in 2005 in Toronto after admitting an addiction to Oxycontin. The rehab stint influenced some material which would appear on THREE DAYS GRACE's "One-X" album, including the songs "Pain" and "Over And Over".

Gontier left THREE DAYS GRACE in the spring of 2013. At the time, the Canadian rockers cited unspecified "health issues" when his departure was announced. Adam later released a statement explaining he exited THREE DAYS GRACE to pursue new projects, and not to deal with addiction.

In a recent interview with Mark Strigl, DISTURBED bassist John Moyer addressed the band's recent announcement that it was taking "quite a bit of time off next year". John said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Yeah, you know, every band takes a break after they tour. It's pretty standard. Some people are trying to make — honestly, it's so weird. Social media, and some of these news outlets, they try to blow things up, 'DISTURBED are taking break after' blah, blah, blah, and I'm just, like, uh, every band takes a break after a tour. There's nothing special about this. It's not that big a deal. [Laughs] It's just, like, I don't understand sometimes some of these headlines that come out, I mean, I get it — it's for clicks, and it's, like, 'Oh, is something wrong with DISTURBED?' There's nothing wrong. Everything's great. Dave [DISTURBED singer David Draiman] just got married. He might wanna enjoy some time with his wife before we jump out back on the road again. I don't know. Just a thought. [Laughs]"

Asked about the possibility of new music from DISTURBED after the release of the a new single, "I Will Not Break", in February 2025 via the band's own label, Mother Culture Records, John said: "There's no shortage of music coming from DISTURBED, I'll tell you that right now. I know that for a fact. We've got stuff. We've got a lot of stuff that… Now I'm letting cats out of the bag, but even though there's not a record that's coming out, there's no announcement of anything, the band's been working in the studio now for the last two years, and there's a lot of material that is sitting there, that's gonna get released. And it's some great stuff. It's just a matter of the timing of it and which songs are right for us and what the concept is and all the things that go with creating that art and pushing it."

In late October, DISTURBED guitarist Dan Donegan said that he and his bandmates would "take quite a bit of time off next year". The 57-year-old musician made his comments just two days after Draiman wrote on X (formerly Twitter) that he wasn't sure when the group would tour again, explaining, "We all need a nice long break."

On October 31, Donegan took to his Instagram Live to reflect on DISTURBED's recently completed European headlining tour celebrating the 25th anniversary of the band's debut album, "The Sickness", with support from MEGADETH. He said in part: "[We had a] very successful run out there in Europe — packed shows, packed arenas and a bunch of sold-out ones. [We had an] amazing time. The MEGADETH guys were great. Dave Mustaine is a legend. He's got a great band behind him — really cool guys. And, yeah, it was a really fun tour to be on. Everybody was healthy, feeling good. David [Draiman] was singing strong. Sometimes it gets tricky traveling that much and going from country to country to try to stay healthy, being in different time zones, trying to get adjusted to the time change and being on planes and tour buses and all the traveling can get tricky to stay healthy. And luckily everybody did, for the most part. I think we held up pretty good and sounded strong. I think we were playing our best; I think we've gotten better. So it's been an amazing run."

As for DISTURBED's plans for the coming months, Dan said: "We are done [playing shows for now]. We are done with 'The Sickness', done with the anniversary tour. [We'll be] home for the rest of the year, and probably gonna take quite a bit of time off next year. So no discussions of doing anything else. We just feel like we could use a break. It's been a pretty strong run earlier this year. We started in the U.S. and a little bit into Canada and finishing this European run, we just feel we could enjoy some time home. And [we've] got a lot of stuff going on in our personal lives. [We've] got holidays coming up. Unfortunately, a handful of us had some relatives pass away while we were in Europe. So I had an uncle pass away last week. My guitar tech had his father and a cousin, a week apart from each other, both passed away. So those are the things that happen when you live life on tour and on the road. And it's such a heartbreaking thing, to be away from home and you get that kind of phone call when somebody close to you or a family member passes away."

DISTURBED kicked off the U.S. leg of "The Sickness 25th Anniversary Tour" on February 25 at Ford Idaho Center Arena in Nampa, Idaho. The trek celebrated 25 years of DISTURBED's seminal debut album which launched the band into public consciousness and is one of the most important and influential heavy metal albums of all time.

Since "The Sickness" was released in 2000, the album was certified five times platinum by the RIAA, spent a total of 106 weeks on the US Billboard 200 chart, and Revolver named it one of "Top 25 Debut Hard Rock Albums." Billboard said of the title track upon release: "'Down With The Sickness' is, of course, the quintessential DISTURBED song, harnessing all the band's seethe and its now-famous tribal beat and guitar chug into three and a half minutes of alt-metal mayhem. It's menacing, it's rhythmic, it's rebellious."

According to People, Perry Farrell and his JANE'S ADDICTION bandmates Dave Navarro, Eric Avery and Stephen Perkins have reached a settlement over the singer's onstage altercation with Navarro in September 2024 that forced the cancelation of JANE'S ADDICTION's reunion tour.

The Superior Court of California, County of Los Angeles, dismissed the lawsuit on Monday, December 22.

The dismissal came about a week after Perry, Navarro, Avery and Perkins announced that they had "resolved their differences" over the infamous on-stage brawl where Farrell punched Navarro on stage in what became JANE'S ADDICTION's final show.

On December 17, JANE'S ADDICTION released the following statement via social media: "We would like to clarify the events surrounding the cancellation of the tour after the show in Boston in September 2024. After that show, without notice to Perry, we unilaterally determined it would be best to not continue the tour and made inaccurate statements about Perry's mental health which we regret.

"Today we are here to announce that we have come together one last time to resolve our differences, so that the legacy of JANE'S ADDICTION will remain the work the four of us created together.

"We now look forward to the future as we embark on our separate musical and creative endeavors. JANE'S ADDICTION will forever live in our hearts. We are proud of the music we created together.

"You, the fans, are our lifeblood, and we will always appreciate you."

Perry added in a separate statement: "To everyone in Boston, and around the world. I'd like to address what happened on stage last year. I've reflected on it and know I didn't handle myself the way I should have. I apologize to our patrons and my bandmates for losing my temper and for disrupting the show.

"JANE'S ADDICTION has been at the center of my life for decades. The band, the songs, the patrons and the impact that we've had on music and culture mean more to me than any words I could ever possibly write down.

"My aim has always been to give our audience the best possible show, something real, honest and positive. In Boston, we fell short of that, and I'm truly sorry to everyone who was impacted.

"From the bottom of my heart, I want to thank each and every one of you for your continued love and support."

This past summer, Navarro, Avery and Perkins filed a lawsuit against Farrell over the Boston concert, claiming intentional infliction of emotional distress, negligence breach of fiduciary duty and breach of contract, while claims from Navarro included allegations of assault and battery over the incident.

Perry later responded to the lawsuit, listing 35 affirmative defenses, including claims that Navarro had "unclean hands," "fail[ed] to state facts sufficient to constitute a cause of action against" and "failed to exercise reasonable care and diligence to mitigate [the] alleged claims and damages." The 66-year-old vocalist also said he acted in "good faith and without malice" toward the guitarist.

Navarro, Avery and Perkins filed their lawsuit this past July in Los Angeles County Superior Court, alleging that the group lost over $10 million as a result of the tour's cancelation. The JANE'S ADDICTION members also alleged in their lawsuit that Farrell was often unable to deliver on stage as a result of his alcohol consumption.

In a statement shared with Variety, Farrell said of the trio's lawsuit: "As a founding member and creative force behind JANE'S ADDICTION, Perry Farrell has always prioritized the band's legacy and its supporters, which is why the events of September 13th, 2024 in Boston and the resulting fallout was so devastating. Without warning or consultation and using Perry as a scapegoat, Dave Navarro and the other band members took it upon themselves to abruptly cancel the remaining tour dates — violating contracts and disregarding all professional obligations. Perry was blindsided by not being allowed to vote and be heard, leaving him unable to plead his case to continue the tour for their fans. If that was not harmful enough, Dave Navarro then intentionally and publicly blamed Perry for the canceled tour dates effectively destroying Perry's reputation and causing him irreparable harm. Despite this continued bullying perpetuated by Navarro, Perry's dedication to JANE'S ADDICTION and the preservation of its positive impact on the music industry remains unshaken. He is actively exploring ways to address the situation and ensure accountability."

JANE'S ADDICTION's September 13, 2024 concert at Leader Bank Pavilion in Boston came to a sudden end after Farrell bumped Navarro's shoulder with his own before seemingly yelling at the guitarist. Navarro then placed a hand between himself and Perry before Farrell appeared to throw a punch at him. Another man then jumped between them, breaking up the fight. A couple of days later, JANE'S ADDICTION announced that it was scrapping the rest of its tour dates following the incident. The band said it "made the difficult decision to take some time away as a group," therefore scrapping the rest of the dates of their tour. A short time later, Navarro, along with drummer Stephen Perkins and bassist Eric Avery, posted a joint statement to their respective Instagram accounts in which they said the cancelation of the tour is a result of a "continuing pattern of behavior and the mental health difficulties of our singer Perry Farrell."

"Our concern for his personal health and safety as well as our own has left us no alternative. We hope that he will find the help he needs," the statement read.

Navarro, Perkins and Avery expressed "regret" for the cancelation but added that they "can see no solution that would either ensure a safe environment on stage or reliably allow us to deliver a great performance on a nightly basis."

"Our hearts are broken," the statement concluded.

Later that same day, Farrell wrote in a statement posted to his Instagram story that "this weekend has been incredibly difficult and after having the time and space to reflect, it is only right that I apologize to my bandmates, especially Dave Navarro, fans, family and friends for my actions during Friday's show."

His statement added: "Unfortunately, my breaking point resulted in inexcusable behavior, and I take full accountability for how I chose to handle the situation."

A few days after the tour cancelation, JANE'S ADDICTION released a new single, "True Love". The track, which was performed live for the first time in 2023 and had been played at a few other shows since, was the second new single from the band's classic lineup of Farrell, Navarro, Perkins and Avery, following "Imminent Redemption", which arrived in July 2024.

"True Love" was written by Farrell, Navarro, Avery and Perkins, with assistance from touring guitarist Josh Klinghoffer.

"Imminent Redemption" was tracked at Sweetzwerland Studios in Hollywood, California.

Prior to "Imminent Redemption"'s arrival, Avery's last time in the studio with JANE'S ADDICTION was for the classic 1990 album "Ritual De Lo Habitual".

"Imminent Redemption" was first performed live when JANE'S ADDICTION's classic lineup played its first show in 14 years on May 23, 2024 at London, United Kingdom's Bush Hall.

Navarro sat out JANE'S ADDICTION's 2022 and 2023 shows due to his battle with long COVID. He was replaced at that year's gigs by Klinghoffer, a former member of RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS who also records with Eddie Vedder and performs with PEARL JAM. 2022 saw QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE's Troy Van Leeuwen step in for Navarro.

The fall 2022 "Spirit On Fire" tour marked the first JANE'S ADDICTION run of shows in more than a decade to feature returning Avery. Prior to that, Avery last played with the band for a short stint in the 2000s before departing again in 2010.

LAMB OF GOD guitarist Mark Morton is celebrating seven years of sobriety.

Earlier today (Saturday, December 27),the 53-year-old musician took to his social media to write: "This morning I woke up 7 years clean & sober. I genuinely owe my life to the addicts & alcoholics in recovery who taught me how to free from addiction…one day at a time.

"I've been asked….Why still focus on it? Why count time? Why not just be sober and move on? Fair questions… Here's why… Right now there are countless people out there who have lost all hope that they can live a life without drugs or alcohol. I know this to be true because I was one of them. So when I talk about getting sober, it's never to solicit 'congratulations' or to suggest that anyone else should. It's so that one person might hear that recovery IS possible for all who seek it. Someone out there right now needs to hear that message & I hope they do. I was that person. If [I] can do it, you can too…I promise it's worth it."

In his memoir "Desolation: A Heavy Metal Memoir", Morton credits Slash for making "sobriety look cool" and helping him along his recovery journey. Speaking to the GUNS N' ROSES-centric podcast "Appetite For Distortion" about how the GN'R guitarist was instrumental in getting Morton to stay sober, Mark said: "I didn't actually check with Slash before I wrote that part of the book, so I hope he doesn't mind me sharing that story. Maybe I should have reached out, but I don't think it's anything…

"Slash has been pretty open about his experience with some of these things," Morton continued. "And so when I was trying to get sober and well before I was able to accomplish any kind of sustained sobriety or recovery, Slash was very helpful. He was very compassionate, very kind and made himself available to me with some insight and perspective that he shared.

"Let me add to that, that I think Slash and some other people who have been open about their experience with addiction… I'm the kind of person that has to think something's cool to wanna pursue it, because, see, I have a low self-esteem, so I want you to think I'm cool," Mark explained. "'Cause I'm not sure that I am. So when something's cool, I'm gonna chase it 'cause I wanna be that. And people like Slash, who's cool and people that put themselves out there and shared their story and shared their experience made it look cool, made sobriety look cool to me. And I'm grateful for that. 'Cause that's part of what it took. I'm just being genuine.

"It's not an intellectual decision," Morton added. "Addiction's not an intellectual issue. Some of the smartest people I know are addicts and alcoholics. People that aren't addicts and alcoholics tend to overlook that. It's not a matter of reason or, in my experience, rational thinking or intellect. It's something deeper than that. And so, for me, having an example of people that I admired that I said, 'Hey, there's something on the other side of this that can still be cool.' Because, see, I thought being a drug addict and an alcoholic was what rock and roll was [and was] part of what it was supposed to be. And it turns out it's not."

"Desolation: A Heavy Metal Memoir" was released in June 2024 via Hachette Books. Co-written with Ben Opipari, the book explores both Mark's life in music and his tumultuous path through addiction and into recovery.

Morton addressed his sobriety in the lyrics to the song "All I Had To Lose", which appeared on his "Ether" solo EP, released in 2020.

"When I was in that kind of mindset of drinking and drugs and all that, I tended to have this sort of negative filter," Morton told ABC Audio about the track, which he described as among the "most personal" songs he's ever written. "I could make anything 'woe is me,' or 'it should be this way,' just entitled, very addict sort of viewpoint on things."

He continued: "You get a little bit of clarity and you get a little bit of gratitude, and you start seeing, like, 'Wow, I still have so much going on. It's amazing that I didn't mess this up.'"

"Desolation" was described by the publisher as "the story of Morton's lifelong quest for clarity and self-acceptance, and shows how the pressures of career success and personal battles eventually came into conflict with Morton's dedication to the creative process."

Morton co-founded LAMB OF GOD, which was initially called BURN THE PRIEST, in 1994.

In 2019, Morton released his debut solo album, "Anesthetic".

LAMB OF GOD's latest LP, "Omens", came out in 2022.

Morton and the rest of LAMB OF GOD released two new singles this fall, "Sepsis", which arrived in October, and "Parasocial Christ", which came out in November.

Last month, LAMB OF GOD announced a 2026 North American tour, produced by Live Nation, featuring support from KUBLAI KHAN TX, FIT FOR AN AUTOPSY and SANGUISUGABOGG. Kicking off in Maryland on March 17, the trek will run across North America, hitting cities like Toronto, Portland, Albuquerque, Nashville, and Buffalo. The tour will conclude in Boston on April 26.

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During an appearance on the latest episode of The SDR Show, Don Dokken joined hosts Ralph Sutton and Aaron Berg to discuss DOKKEN performing at the first Rocklahoma festival, growing up in an orphanage until he was six years old, starting out as a drummer and guitarist and coming from a musical family, working as a sous-chef for his uncle before getting into music, getting sent to juvenile hall for stealing quarters, then being sent to live with his dad in Los Angeles, how DOKKEN came together, writing "Dream Warriors", Don having a paralyzed arm and an ankle broken in four places, the possibility of one more EP with George Lynch and other members of the classic DOKKEN lineup before retiring, Don's first concert, first drug and first sexual experience and more. You can now watch the chat below.

Asked if he thinks there is still a chance of the classic lineup of DOKKEN reuniting for a new album, the 72-year-old musician responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Well, the last 20 or so shows we've [the current lineup of DOKKEN] done in the last few months, George was coming on as special guest. And he would play two songs with us, or three. And we're old — we're too old to bicker and fight, even though a couple years ago he went at it again with the lawsuits. But that's in the past. So, we're both gray haired now. And then the last show he just did, he brought his whole band, the LYNCH MOB, and they opened for us. And he still came on stage at the end of the night and did two songs, or three maybe. He did three songs… So we talked about it. And I said, 'But the problem is I can't play guitar anymore.' And I said to George very openly, I said, 'And you don't write like I write.' He's got his own trip. If you listen to the last four LYNCH MOB albums, they have nothing to do with DOKKEN. And you listen to [former DOKKEN bassist] Jeff Pilson solo albums, they have nothing to do with DOKKEN. It comes out of your mind, your spirit, God. I can't stand when people go, 'How do you write a song? You get a piece of paper and you sit down and you start playing your guitar and that sounds cool. And start writing lyrics.' I've never written like that. I wait — I wait for the moment. And the bitch is sometimes it doesn't happen for, like, three weeks. I'll write four songs. I'll come back to 'em in my studio and go, 'It's crap.' Or 'I just repeated myself.'"

Don continued: "So I talked to George — to answer your question — and a lot of labels keep approaching us. And we did an experiment — what's it been, like seven years now? — we did an experiment, and we said, 'We'll write one song together'. And that was 'It's Another Day'. And we wrote, recorded it, made a cool video. Original members. We went to Japan. I said, 'I'm not doing America. We'll go to Japan, and we'll see if we don't kill each other.' And that's exactly what I said. We did the Japanese tour. It was a disaster, mostly because of me. I just wasn't on my game. We did that song, 'It's Another Day', put the video out, and we just came back and I said, 'I don't think this is gonna work.' So that was the end of that. So now I've talked to George when we played, and I said, 'I might be up for an EP only.' But I said flat out, 'It has to sound like DOKKEN. I'm not trying to insult you, George, but I've listened to all your records. It has to be DOKKEN.' That's what the fans want. They don't want to hear tripped out stuff… George puts out what he puts out, but it has nothing to do with the way I write.

Pressed to confirm that the DOKKEN EP idea is "still on the table", Don clarified: "We haven't got down to the nitty gritty. George is now my neighbor, which is weird. I live in New Mexico. He lives in New Mexico. He actually dropped me off from the airport two weeks ago."

Back in November 2024, Pilson told The Logan Show about the possibility of the classic lineup of DOKKEN reuniting for a new album or possibly even some live shows.: "There's always pressure on us to reform and reunite and do a record, and I would love to do a record — I would love to do a last DOKKEN record that was really good. And judging by what we did in 2016 together, our chemistry is kind of intact. It's not gonna go anywhere. So if we did a record, it'd be great, but I don't anticipate it, partly because of my schedule and partly I think Don is — I think he has his own version of the band right now and I think he's pretty happy with that. I don't think he wants to deal with a situation where other guys are kind of equals with him. And I'm not saying that as a slight; I'm just saying I think that's the fact. I think he just doesn't wanna deal with that. I kind of don't blame him. And remember, it's all his right now. If George [Lynch, former DOKKEN guitarist] and I get involved, it's not all his. So I don't see him wanting to do that. I mean, I know there's a part of him that would love to do a last DOKKEN record together that would be great. I think there's a part of him that knows that the best DOKKEN record would be if he and George and I wrote it; if we did a final DOKKEN record together, that would be the best result. Maybe someday. I don't know."

Pilson added: "Don has said some really nasty things about [me and George] in the press lately, so that gives me the impression that he's not in the mood to reunite at the moment. So let him stew. And he's got his own [DOKKEN] record out [2023's 'Heaven Comes Down']."

Jeff clarified that he is "never opposed" to the idea of a classic DOKKEN reunion. "You can always call me and talk about it," he said. "But the scheduling would be really tricky. And again, I don't know if Don's heart would be into it, and it would have to be George's is. George and I talk about it. He's, like, 'God, one more record. Just one more record. If we could just do one more record.' And I agree with him. We'll see. But don't hold your breath. [Laughs]"

According to Pilson, the public interest in a DOKKEN reunion has carried on far longer than he "ever would have thought. I mean, when we talked about reuniting 30 years ago, we were wondering, like, 'Well, is this kind of the end of people's interest in us?' And here we are 30 years later," Jeff explained. "So who knows? Who knows?"

For much of the past few years, Lynch has been rejoining DOKKEN on stage at various shows to perform three of the band's classic songs: "Kiss Of Death", "When Heaven Comes Down" and "Tooth And Nail". Asked in a March 2023 interview with TotalRock's Neil Jones what the experience has been like for him, George said: "For one thing, I can do it with one arm tied behind my back in my sleep. It's songs I wrote — what? — 40, 45 years ago, whatever, and I played them thousands of times. So it's easy, in a sense, but it also feels like going back home. So that's nice. And the best thing about it is Don and I get along great. The band's great. Everybody's happy. Our band is opening up, so I'm playing twice that night. We do a lot of that. These are packed houses, and everybody loves it. The whole audience is with us, and this is kind of what they're waiting for, and it's just a beautiful moment. Not a self-congratulatory moment, but just kind of an acknowledgement of the history and the power of the songs and good songwriting. It's songs that people — it marks time for them, and it's meaningful for them. And so it is a beautiful moment for all of us that we all get to share."

As for the possibility of a "full-blown reunion" of DOKKEN's classic lineup, George said: "I pretty much doubt it. Mick [Brown, former DOKKEN drummer] has quit playing drums, sold his kit. He's not a drummer anymore. His brother Steve, who's very similar to him, does play with [me and Jeff Pilson] in THE END MACHINE. Mick played on the first THE END MACHINE record. We [use] Steve Brown now. So Steve Brown would be a natural fit for a DOKKEN reunion. But Jeff's been in FOREIGNER for [20] years. I've got nine different bands. We're all older guys. And, really, to put a DOKKEN reunion together would be very, very difficult — politically, personally. And then we have to ask ourselves the honest question: would it just be a money grab or would it be a great record; would it be a great book end? We've got 'Breaking The Chains' and 'Tooth And Nail' and 'Under Lock And Key' and 'Back For The Attack'. Is it gonna hold up to that, or are we just too far past that? And the answer is I think that ship has sort of already left the harbor."

In October 2016, the classic lineup of DOKKEN — Don, George, Jeff and Mick — reunited to play the Loud Park festival in Japan. Fortunately for fans outside of Japan, cameras were there to capture the performance and Frontiers Music Srl issued "Return To The East Live 2016" in April 2018. In addition to the Japanese performance, the set featured footage from the classic lineup's only U.S. show in September 2016 at Badlands in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. The package also included the aforementioned new song called "It's Another Day", the first DOKKEN track featuring the group's classic lineup since 1997's "Shadowlife", and two acoustic re-workings of classic tracks.

Since completing the Japanese reunion dates, DOKKEN has continued to perform with the group's current lineup — including bassist Chris McCarvill, guitarist Jon Levin and drummer BJ Zampa (HOUSE OF LORDS).

DOKKEN's 13th studio album, "Heaven Comes Down", was released in October 2023 via Silver Lining Music. The follow-up to 2012's "Broken Bones" was produced by Bill Palmer and Don Dokken and was mixed by Kevin Shirley (AEROSMITH, IRON MAIDEN).

In a new interview with Australia's Metal Mal, Mille Petrozza of German/Finnish/French thrash metal veterans KREATOR spoke about the band's upcoming sixteenth studio album, "Krushers Of The World", which will arrive on January 16, 2026 via Nuclear Blast Records. The LP was recorded at Fascination Street Studios in Örebro, Sweden with producer Jens Bogren. Bogren previously helmed KREATOR's "Phantom Antichrist" (2012) and "Gods Of Violence" (2017) LPs. The "Krushers Of The World" cover artwork was created by Polish genius Zbigniew Bielak (GHOST).

Regarding the "Krushers Of The World" songwriting and recording process, Mille said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "I constantly write music, so that's what I do. I always collect ideas — I collect riffs, I collect melodies, lyrics. And so I started writing the album in probably 2022 and was just collecting stuff constantly. And then when it came time to go into a studio to do the demos, that was the next part of the journey. I had a collaborator, Andy [Posdziech] from ANY GIVEN DAY; we would record demos. And I booked the studio for May '25, this year. And before, I collected 12 songs. So I told the band that we will go into the studio in May, and I think I sent them the songs maybe five weeks or so before we went into the studio, to keep it fresh. So then we entered the studio in May and we stayed there for two months. And ideas were flowing, creativity was flowing, everybody was participating."

He added: "Now that I got the album, the vinyl — I just received the vinyl from the label — I can't believe that I did another album. I was, like, this is the sixteenth KREATOR studio album, and I'm, like, wow. [It's a] good thing I still have it, and I still got the channels are open and there's still creative juices flowing from me and there's still the energy and there's still the vision turned into reality again. Because every time I start the journey, it seems like, 'Okay, is it still relevant? Is it still current? Do I still have it?' And, yeah, I'm happy that the album came out the way it came out."

Petrozza went on to talk about the importance of KREATOR recording an album as a band as opposed to having each musician lay down his parts at home away from the rest of the group.

"The whole band were in the studio together," Mille confirmed. "We were insisting on going into the studio together, because even though it's kind of old school to go into the studio as a four-piece with all the musicians at the same time, we are an old-school band. We came from the '80s. We use modern-day technology. I mean, it's essential for now to get the best results, but the fact that we're in the studio together, jamming on the songs, talking about the songs, questioning whether or not the part is strong enough, it's a part of the journey that makes an album, in my opinion, makes an album good. I mean, it would probably be possible [for us] to just send files around and, 'Okay, you do your part, you record your part there, you can record your part at home,' but it would lack something — it would lack the human feel, [the] eye contact [and the] emotional connection. Everybody in the band needs to be able to connect to the music, to the lyrics, and it's open for discussion. So, it is a process that's just as important as me sitting at home, coming up with the ideas and writing the lyrics, writing the songs. KREATOR is a band, and I think it's big part of the sound to be able to go into a studio together."

Petrozza previously talked about the "Krushers Of The World" songwriting process earlier this month in an interview with Australia's Inner-Strength Check. He said at the time: "If there's one thing that I don't want, it's to turn into an nostalgia act and just repeat what we've already done in the past. So every time I do an album, it's always, like, I treat it like my first album. I know it sounds absurd because it's my sixteenth album, but that's how I try to approach going into a new songwriting session. And I don't know if it always works, but we try not to repeat ourselves and we try not to do something that we've already done. It's hard because we're playing metal. We are not doing progressive metal. We're playing pretty straightforward metal. So there's a little bit of a limitation. To me, it's all about the songs. To me, it's all about the songwriting. I'm a big fan of songwriters from any genre. I love the art of songwriting, and I'm a nerd when it comes to that."

Mille continued: "To me, I see the whole process of creating new music as a challenge to come up with stuff that I'm getting excited about. And hopefully if that works and I'm excited, I just put it out and hope that other people get excited about it. And that's how we work. That's basically it."

After the interviewer noted that it's "interesting" to see KREATOR working within the confines of being an extreme metal band as opposed to "maybe loosening the reins" and pursuing a more progressive direction, Petrozza said: "Yeah, it's an option. Technically, we could do it, but it's not something that we wanna do. I mean, on [2022's] 'Hate Über Alles' [album], there was a seven-minute song, which was kind of epic, but on this album it just didn't happen. I mean, the songs are four or five minutes long. So whatever comes out. You need to come up with like a selection of songs that makes sense and comes from the heart and kind of reflects and represents what we've been through since the last album and whatever you experience, and it needs to come… As a musician and as a creative person, you can only open the channels. You pick up your guitar and then you try to see what comes out. And whatever comes out is what you hear on the record, really. I mean, it's as simple as that. And it's something that I work on a lot. I'm not the kind of artist that just thinks that anything that I put out is amazing. I mean, we had, like, 12 songs for this record, and only 10 made it on the record. And then I have a couple of ideas, unfinished songs and all that. So I'm constantly writing music. Anything that I think excites me will end up on an album."

Mille discussed his overall mindset as it relates to the songwriting process in November during an interview with "Coffee With Ola". He said at the time: "The thing is, it's like a puzzle. You start coming up with all these riffs that you think maybe it's a little bit above what I am able to play, but if I rehearse and if I get into practice, and if I get into the mindset, I might be able to do this at one point. Which is not when we go into the studio. But it might be when we play the first five shows of a tour. And then everything starts to flow."

Mille continued: "The lyrics, most of the time they're first. And there needs to be an idea. And when I have a lyrical idea… then I come up with the riffs. And the riffs, I don't wanna limit myself. I want them to be a little spectacular or something that not everybody can just play right away. But also harmonically, they need to be nice for my voice, for my mid-rangey kind of voice, in order to work in live situation… But in the end of the day, in my experience, it was always good to play a little bit above your abilities. But at some point, you, it makes you a better musician because you challenge yourself. It doesn't necessarily have to mean that, that there's the. The riffs have to be complicated at any cost. If they're cool and they're very easy to play, they make great songs also. So, I think you always have to find whatever's best for the song. And I think finding the riffs is only 10% or 15% of the whole composition. But it's very important, especially in metal."

After host Ola Englund noted that, for him personally, riffs constitute "90%" of the songwriting process, Petrozza clarified: "There's definitely exceptions to the rule. I don't know how METALLICA write their songs. But I think they also have the riffs first. So every band is different. So there's no formula — there's no certain formula that works for every band. And I think for my band or for my style of songwriting, it always worked quite well to have a lyrical theme or sometimes even just some chorus. I need to have something that people can sing along. I like it when people sing along. And I like it when you can remember the songs. I like catchy stuff. I'm not a 'prog' head. I love RUSH — don't get me wrong — and I love TOOL, early stuff, but I also like songwriting. And I think, for example, a band like TOOL and RUSH, they have this in between — they have great songs, but they have weird rhythms. And so it makes me, as a listener, it makes it enjoyable. But if it's just too [complicated] for the sake of it, it's not my taste."

On the topic of how the songs for "Krushers Of The World" came together, Mille said: "The way I write is I just record demos. I have a friend [Andy Posdziech] that has a great studio. He plays in a band called ANY GIVEN DAY. They're a really good band. And this time when I recorded the demos, the demos almost sounded like the album, because it was so detailed. The drums sounded great. And the way we recorded the riffs, the sonic quality of the demos was really good. So I enjoyed listening to the demos. I listened to the demos for a couple of months, really, before I even played it to anyone. That made me kind of figure out whether or not I enjoyed these songs. And I lived with it for half a year or so and then went to Jens's studio. I went there with the demos, and he would do a pre-production of the pre-production, like coming up with his ideas."

Mille added: "Everybody is different, but I think it can really help if you make a proper recording of a song that you have in mind with electronic drums and all digital stuff, but make it kind of how it's gonna sound in the end of the day and then figure out while you are — whatever — doing the dishes or just cleaning your apartment or whatever, and you listen to it in the background and if you enjoy it, it could be a good song. Like I said, it's just my way of doing things, but it helps me."

Mille previously spoke about the making of "Krushers Of The World" earlier in November in an interview with Sweden's "Rockpodden" podcast. He stated about the LP at the time: " I'm happy. I'm happy with the way it came out. It took me a while to write it, but I think we have a nice variety of interesting music and nice poetry and lyrics. Hopefully people appreciate it."

When the interviewer noted that "Krushers Of The World" sounds sonically "amazing", Mille responded: "Oh, thank you. Yeah, that's the band being very, very prepared. And the chemistry in the band, within the band is very positive. And also we worked with one of the best producers in the world, Jens. He really put his heart and soul into this production this time, and once we got into the studio, he got so involved in everything."

Mille confirmed that all of "Krushers Of The World" was recorded in Sweden. He said: "I think on 'Gods Of Violence', we went also to Örebro to record guitars, vocals and mix. And this time we did everything in [Jens's] studio because he has a nice setup now. He has a drum room, so it wasn't necessary to move studios for the drums. So, we were there for six weeks or seven weeks, and then he would go on a little vacation, and then he came back and took another three or four weeks to mix the album. [He did] really, really nice work this time."

Mille continued: "The way it's set up [at Fascination Street], you have everything under one roof. You have the mastering, the mixing, the recording, and then you have all these people working there all day. They're all metalheads. So it's almost like Disneyland for metalheads. We stayed there the whole time. We all had our rooms there. So it's very convenient, because you get up in the morning. Jens is already there. We start very early. And overall, it was a very, very focused experience, but also a very fun experience. We had a lot of laughs and really enjoyed the process of doing the album, and I think that really shows on the record. It sounds fresh."

Regarding how he and the rest of KREATOR manage to always come up with material that doesn't sound like a rehash of what they have done in the past, Mille said: "What a lot of bands tend to forget is once it turns into a routine and you just record albums in order to go back on tour or to stay relevant or other reasons, it's not natural. You have to question yourself all the time. You have to be very self-critical with your own art. You have to live with the music for a while."

Mille continued: "This time I went into pre-production on a very early stage. I did pre-production for over a year, and I wrote the songs for another year. I mean, I started writing in '22 and up to '25. And it was a process where I had time to have — me and my friend Andy from the band ANY GIVEN DAY, we would do demos that have a great quality already that people, if they would've listened to the demos, they would've already had heard a very good production. So the demos were very nice to listen to and gave me the opportunity to live with the songs for a while and rewrite stuff that I thought was weak or add stuff when I thought there was something missing. And that process really gave the album time to grow. And when I played it to the band, for me it was already old, but I was confident that these songs are great. And then the band came with their ideas and then Jens came with his ideas. So it's a very, very nice pot-pourri of creativity and passion for the music. And everybody involved gave their 150 percent."

Asked how open he is to new ideas, particularly from an outsider like Jens, Mille said: "It depends. Sometimes [Jens] makes suggestions and they're great. Sometimes we don't like his suggestions. Everything we question is for the better. Nobody that's involved wants the songs to suffer or push their ego. Like, 'This is my idea, so it needs to be on the song.' That sometimes can be a problem with producers or musicians that are thinking, 'Oh, no. I need to put this song part in there. Otherwise the song is not good.' And we were very open. And we discussed a lot. We talked a lot. And this is the third album that we did with Jens, so we kind of know each other well enough to know how we can actually take criticism or joke around if an idea's not good. So we don't get butthurt about things where we will go, like, 'Yeah, but I want my idea there.'"

Asked if he is "a hundred percent sure" that there will be another KREATOR album after "Krushers Of The World", Mille said: "Yeah. I think yes. But it's a nice trick. We could also do like this whole, 'Okay, it might be our last album.' THE CURE's done it for many years, and now I think MEGADETH is putting out their last album. It's a nice — how do I put this? — if they really feel that way, then it's cool.

"I think that I have at least five more albums in me," Mille explained. "I mean, the end is coming eventually. The physical body will disappear. Seriously, I don't really think in these categories. I think once you get on this journey, it ends when it ends. But I wouldn't be surprised if there's even more than five albums in me still, if I live long enough. Now that I'm getting to a certain age, of course, it's not like when you're 20 years old, you're, like, 'I have, a hundred percent, five more albums in me.' But I do — I think I do. But let's see — let's see what the future brings. You never know. But I'm open for whatever happens. But we'll see."

Petrozza added: "Those cryptic thoughts never come to me. I always think that, and also I think on 'Krushers Of The World', you can hear that I think music can be empowering and should be joyful. And this album, even though it has dark stuff on it, and it has like very heavy stuff on it, but it's a very positive energy that we're spreading."

KREATOR has released three singles so far from "Krushers Of The World": "Seven Serpents", "Tränenpalast" and "Satanic Anarchy".

"Tränenpalast" features vocal coach Britta Görtz of extreme metal band HIRAES on guest vocals.

When "Tränenpalast" was made available in late October, Mille commented: "'Tränenpalast' is our tribute to the great tradition of Italian cinema. We drew inspiration from Dario Argento's classic 'Suspiria' and Luca Guadagnino's epic masterpiece remake. Musically, we bow to the great GOBLIN, in direct conversation with maestro Claudio Simonetti. We hope you enjoy the song as much as we do. Only love to the greats! Hail to the Hordes!"

KREATOR will promote "Krushers Of The World" with a monumental European tour across 20 countries, joining forces with fellow metal powerhouses CARCASS, EXODUS and NAILS. The trek will kick off on March 20, 2026 in Lisbon, Portugal, at MEO Arena and wrap up on April 25, 2026 in Copenhagen, Denmark, at Poolen. Highlights include shows in London, Manchester, Glasgow, Paris, Milan, Berlin, Stockholm, and more.

The "Krushers Of The World" cover sees Zbigniew Bielak, renowned for his work for GHOST, art and design, offer an interesting twist to KREATOR's history. Transforming classic visual trademarks dedicated fans will recognize from "Coma Of Souls" (1990),"Out Of The Dark... Into The Light" (1988) and "Pleasure To Kill" (the font!) into a highly detailed tapestry garnered with occult symbolism, Bielak crafted an outstanding piece paying homage to a band he loves since his teenager days yet with a daring and unique flair. The cover of "Krushers Of The World" rewards everyone willing to analyze the grandiose sleeve design.

KREATOR's upcoming effort will be the follow-up to 2022's "Hate Über Alles", which was recorded at Hansa Tonstudio in Berlin, Germany. Helming the sessions for that LP was Arthur Rizk, who has previously worked with CAVALERA CONSPIRACY, CODE ORANGE, POWER TRIP and SOULFLY, among others.

"Hate Über Alles" marked KREATOR's first album with bassist Frédéric Leclercq, who joined the group in 2019.

The official KREATOR documentary, "Hate & Hope", was shown in July at the 42nd Munich International Film Festival and received a theatrical premiere in September. The 110-minute film was directed by Cordula Kablitz-Post.

Mille's official German-language autobiography, which he wrote with journalist, author and presenter Torsten Groß, "Your Heaven, My Hell - Mein Leben, Heavy Metal Und Wie Das Alles Passieren Konnte", was published on August 28 via Ullstein Verlag.

Legendary rocker Alice Cooper, along with two members of his touring band, guitarists Tommy Henriksen and Nita Strauss, took part in this past fall's "Night Of The Proms" tour in Germany.

"Night Of The Proms" features rock and pop artists performing with orchestral accompaniment. Other artists featured on the 2025 tour included Joss Stone and ULTRAVOX's Midge Ure.

Fan-filmed video of the December 19 and December 20 "Night Of The Proms" concerts at the Lanxess Arena in Cologne, Germany can be seen below.

Since its founding in Belgium in 1985, "Night Of The Proms" has captivated hundreds of thousands of fans across Europe each year, according to a press release shared by Sick Things UK. Its unique formula: international pop stars perform their biggest hits, not with a traditional rock band, but in lavish arrangements with a full symphonic orchestra and classical choir. Combined with timeless classical works — from Beethoven and Mozart to modern composers — the result is a dramatic, emotional journey that gives audiences goosebumps.

Cooper pioneered a grandly theatrical brand of hard rock that was designed to shock. Drawing equally from horror movies, vaudeville, and garage rock, the group created a stage show that featured electric chairs, guillotines, fake blood and boa constrictors. Known as the architect of shock-rock, Cooper (in both the original ALICE COOPER band and as a solo artist) has rattled the cages and undermined the authority of generations of guardians of the status quo, continuing to surprise fans and exude danger at every turn, like a great horror movie, even in an era where CNN can present real life shocking images. Few performers in the history of rock and roll have blended music, theater, and pure shock the way Alice Cooper has. For more than five decades, the godfather of shock rock has terrified, thrilled, and captivated audiences around the globe with a stage show unlike anything else in music. From the guillotines and snakes to unforgettable anthems like "School's Out" and "Poison", Alice Cooper turned concerts into experiences that blurred the line between rock and horror.

Cooper completed a U.S. co-headlining tour with JUDAS PRIEST in October.

Next March, Cooper and extreme illusionist Criss Angel will unite in "Welcome To Our Nightmare", an exclusive, limited-engagement partnership at the Criss Angel Theater at Planet Hollywood in Las Vegas.

In a recent interview with Argentina's TCDG Guitar Lessons, former MEGADETH guitarist Marty Friedman once again reflected on his audition for Ozzy Osbourne's band back in the late 1980s. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "They actually called me when I lived in San Francisco. I was in CACOPHONY at the time and completely broke, almost homeless. But [Ozzy's wife and manager] Sharon Osbourne called me up and said if I want to go to L.A., they'd fly me out to L.A. to audition. I'm, like, 'Wow, that's cool.' So, I did the audition and played. I thought I did a good job. But I didn't really match the vibe of the band very much. They were full-on L.A.-metal type of guys with handcuffs in their belts and Jack Daniel's t-shirts, and they were all decked out for rehearsal. And I understood doing that for a show, but at rehearsal they wore cowboy hats and all kinds of necklaces and jewelry. And they were full-on Sunset Strip rock mode. And I came in a t-shirt and jeans. I looked like a regular guy waiting for a bus or something."

Marty continued: "I played and I thought it went well. And it did sound fine to me, and it was no problems. I learned, like, four songs, and we did 'em bam, bam, bam, and it was fine. But we were in this rehearsal hall. There was all kinds of envelopes with cassettes and resumes, and so they were probably trying hundreds of guys. And so I never heard back from them. And then finally Zakk Wylde got the job. And he was just perfect. He was so much better than I would've been for that gig. He was just right, and he plays really well. So I understood it, but at the time I thought, 'Well, I did a good job, but I don't think those guys are gonna [pick me].' They probably went out drinking and partying right after rehearsal, and I was a real good-boy type of guy. Really boring."

Marty previously reflected on his Ozzy audition during Rock 'N' Roll Fantasy Camp's "Metalmania III" event in November 2023 in Los Angeles. Friedman stated at the time: "I failed miserably. I think it was probably because of the way I looked.

"I actually got a call from Sharon Osbourne way, way back, and I was living in San Francisco, and they said, 'We'd like to fly you down to audition for Ozzy,'" he continued. "And I'm, like, 'Oh my god. This is great.' I was practically homeless at the time, living with my then-girlfriend and dealing with the rent and all that stuff, as California rock musicians do. And I was so happy to get the call. So I learned the music, went down to L.A. — they flew me down to L. A. to play with the band. And it was, I guess, the guys who were in the band at the time. And I thought I played everything absolutely just fine, and I thought it sounded great. Everybody was friendly enough. But our images were very different. Those guys in the band were, like — it was just like a rehearsal, and they were totally decked out in 1980s Sunset Strip — what do you call it? — skull t-shirts with handcuffs and long necklaces. And they were just ready to go out on the Strip, and I was just in jeans and a t-shirt, totally normal. I just thought that… It was just a different air. It wasn't like these three guys are gonna get together and jell, even though it sounded fine, I thought. I mean, I thought I played everything correctly."

Marty added: "Being in a band is so much more than the playing. And, actually, the playing is kind of down on the list. If you have the same kind of vibe with the people, you can just kind of smell it: 'This is the guy I wanna hang out with.' And it was different on that level… They smelled like L.A. and I smelled like San Francisco, which was a different smell. Neither of us smelled very good. But they were cool. Everybody played everything great. They were auditioning thousands of guys. So I didn't get it.

"A band is just… it's like more of the personalities between the people. Because there's so many great players who can play every gig, you know what I mean? It's really about who do you wanna hang out with? I would have loved to have got the gig, but they were probably just getting ready to go back out drinking, and I'm not a very big drinker, so it wouldn't have jelled so well. But at the time I was, like, 'Oh, I played it perfectly. Why didn't they call me back?' But I get it [now]."

Friedman defined modern guitar playing with Jason Becker in CACOPHONY, was a key element in the wildly successful rise of thrash pioneers MEGADETH, and with his "Marty-esque" improvisations and exotic fusion of Eastern and Western music, has achieved global success with his 15 solo albums.

Friedman left MEGADETH in 2000 due to creative differences and pursued a solo career, having released his most recent album, "Drama", in 2024.

Friedman first visited Japan in the late 1980s with CACOPHONY, and came to Japan regularly with MEGADETH, all the while studying the Japanese language. After he quit the Dave Mustaine-fronted outfit, he moved to Tokyo.

At this year's edition of the Rockharz festival, vocalist Biff Byford of British heavy metal legends SAXON spoke to Katrin Riedl of Germany's Metal Hammer magazine about the inspiration for the band's classic song "Denim And Leather", which was the title track of SAXON's fourth studio album. Biff said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Well, I still think it is an anthem for metal fans around the world. It's a big song. Well, really, I'm writing the lyrics about the audience there, and I think it was one of the first songs, really, that we actually got the fans to come down and sing on the record — by mail, letters and telephone. So, it was a bit of a big deal for us at the time. Some people didn't really like it, but we thought, 'Fuck it. Let's do it. It's a song about the fans, so let's include the fans.' And it's a good groove. "

Biff continued: "At the time, we were big fans of MONTROSE, of the first MONTROSE album. There was a song on there called 'Rock Candy', and we loved the drum beat. So we sort of used that sort of groove for the basis of 'Denim And Leather'. So, yeah, it was great, great, great. People liked it. It's probably the biggest album of the three — 'Wheels Of Steel', 'Strong Arm Of The Law' and 'Denim And Leather'. 'Cause it had two [other] big songs on there, 'Never Surrender' and 'And The Bands Played On'."

Speaking about SAXON's association with the biker scene, particularly as the "Denim And Leather" back cover featured a photo of the bandmembers on motorcycles, Biff said: "Well, we were a biker band — from me, really, 'cause I was a big biker. [I] still am, really. I like motorbikes. I haven't really got one at the moment. But, yeah, I've had hundreds of bikes. So I was just singing from my upbringing, really, which was all about motorcycles, making cars go faster. My brother was a big petrolhead. So from those days, I was just writing about my life and life of my friends. And I just think that the whole concept of the band at that time was to write about things that we liked. So I think the inspiration behind 'Denim And Leather', because by 1981, we were pretty big in the U.K. and Europe, probably one of the biggest bands of the newer bands. And [I wanted] to sing a song about the audience. And because everybody at that time started wearing denim jackets [with] cutoff sleeves and leather jackets, it was a bit of a uniform. I mean, I think it went away a bit in the '90s, but recently, in the last 10 years, it's come back again, and a lot of younger fans are wearing battle jackets. So it's a great thing — it's a great thing to be connected to that movement, really. You can be into hardcore metal or death metal or classic metal — it doesn't matter, as long as you're wearing the jacket with your favorite bands' patches on there. That's the main thing."

Asked how important of a song "Denim And Leather" was for SAXON, Biff said: "Well, I think it was fairly important to us. We'd had three albums out very quickly — one in '79, late '79, two in 1980 and then one in '81, 'Denim And Leather'. So it was pretty important for our rise, I think."

On the topic of SAXON's stage clothes, particularly the fact that the bandmembers later wore spandex and sneakers, Biff said: "To tell you the truth, they weren't really that important. We just wore jeans and leather jackets back in the day. I think the spandex thing started years before that. So we just emulated bands that we wearing them at the time, really, from the '70s. But mostly it was leather jackets, really — black T-shirts and leather jackets; that was our uniform. And the bullet belts. Me and Lemmy [MOTÖRHEAD] were quite well known for wearing bullet belts at the time. But, yeah, it was a good look. It was biker, but it wasn't too extreme of a look. Lemmy was the same. I don't think Lemmy really was a biker, but he was associated with that sort of look. I mean, he did own a motorcycle, but I don't think he rode many of them. So, yeah, 'Denim And Leather', on the back [there] was a picture of us on motorcycles, so it's a bit of a giveaway, really."

After the interviewer noted that the denim-and-leather look has come to symbolize the heavy metal genre to the mainstream, Biff concurred. "Yeah, I did have some denim stuff made for that tour, but just jackets with the stuff on the back," he said. "And I think over the years that look has become iconic with metal and hard rock. So, yeah, I think we started a great trend. It was already there, but we've sort of put it on the map, if you like, with that song and that album… I mean, the song's known all over the world, and not everybody knows it's our song. But they all know the song."

SAXON recently entered the studio to begin recording the follow-up to its 24th studio album, "Hell, Fire And Damnation", which came out in January 2024 via Silver Lining Music.

A little over two months ago, Byford shared a video update in which he said he had completed the final round of chemotherapy in his fight against bowel cancer.

Although Biff released a video message in August in which he implied that he underwent an operation to remove "a small tumor" from his "prostate gland", he later clarified that he was actually diagnosed with bowel cancer, which is cancer that is found anywhere in the large bowel, including the colon and rectum. Byford was later treated with chemotherapy for "a short period", resulting in the cancelation of a couple of shows and the postponement of several others.

Earlier in the year, SAXON announced the cancelation of 10 summer shows and festival appearances while Byford was recovering from the cancer surgery.

In August 2024, Biff underwent a "procedure" to treat atrial flutter, a type of heart rhythm abnormality, or arrhythmia, that causes the heart's upper chambers (atria) to beat too quickly.

In September 2019, Biff suffered a heart attack and underwent an emergency triple bypass surgery.

"Hell, Fire And Damnation" was produced by Andy Sneap (JUDAS PRIEST, EXODUS, ACCEPT) and Byford, with Sneap mixing and mastering.

In early 2023, SAXON guitarist Paul Quinn announced that he was stepping back from touring with the band. As a result of his decision, SAXON canceled its April 2023 South American tour as well as the appearance at the Monsters Of Rock cruise. Quinn has since been replaced on the road and in the studio by DIAMOND HEAD's Brian Tatler.

Byford and Quinn are the sole remaining original members in SAXON's current lineup.

Originally from South Yorkshire, England, SAXON has gone on to sell about 23 million albums and has produced such classic songs as "Princess Of The Night", "Wheels Of Steel" and "Power And Glory".