MANOWAR bassist Joey DeMaio has offered an update on the studio sessions for the upcoming re-recorded version of the band's fourth studio album, "Sign Of The Hammer", which celebrated its 40th anniversary in 2024. Writing on his official web site, Joey said: "Manowarriors, We just celebrated the anniversary of 'Sign Of The Hammer' — an album that’s meant the world to us and to you for over 40 years. Now let me give you an update on the re-recording.

"We announced this project a while back, and many of you have been asking: Where is it? Fair question. You deserve an honest answer, so here it is: Re-recording a beloved album is a massive responsibility for us. These songs are part of your lives. They're hymns that have carried you through your toughest moments.
We don't take that lightly.

"So here's what happened: We recorded everything. We listened. And we weren't satisfied. The sound wasn't there yet. It wasn't the crushing, earth-shaking power we demand from ourselves — and that you deserve.

"So what did we do? We took apart our studios, tried new equipment configurations. We recorded again. But still not quite 'it'. And then it was time to prep for tour and hit the road.

"Could we have rushed it out? Sure. But that's not who we are.
We've never compromised, and we’re not starting now.

"Rest assured: 'Sign Of The Hammer' re-recorded will be released. And new music, too. And when it drops, it's going to sound meaner, heavier, and more powerful than anything we've done before.

"Thank you for your patience and loyalty. Stay tuned!

"Hail and Kill! Joey".

Last December, DeMaio spoke to Elena Rozberg of Radiocast BG about the upcoming re-recording of "Sign Of The Hammer". He said: "I think that it gives us the chance to look at the songs and keep all of the elements of the song itself that people liked — you know, the choruses and so forth, the message, the lyrics — but also improve the quality of the sound of the recording. As I listen to it today, I think everything is much more clear, a lot of excitement, a lot of energy. And, yeah, the fans who have already bought the [original] record will have that forever. And then the new version of it is a different version. It's like having two shirts or two jackets — one might be a little different, different buttons, but similar style. And that's the way it's coming across to me. I think people are going to enjoy it. And if you like the first version, I think you'll like this version. It's just a little bit different, a little something — a little something. Maybe a little magic. I don't know. We'll see. See what people think. You'll tell me once you hear it."

During the same chat, DeMaio weighed in on a debate about people using artificial intelligence (A.I.) to create music. He said:  "Well, right now I haven't delved much into artificial intelligence. I mean, of course, everybody can't help using it with e-mails and things like this. I think it's been good in the e-mails when you get spam to be able to block it; it does it automatically or it recognizes it. I think like everything else, it's a tool and I think it will find its place in everybody's life. I think some people will use it to create music, to create art and things. They've already started doing that. And I just look at it as though for somebody who doesn't play an instrument, if that's a way for them to express a musical idea, then that's their tool. I happen to be able to play a guitar, so I can do it. But for somebody that can't, they can then just say, 'Write me a song like such and such,' and that's how they will create. And who's to say — great music might come of it. I don't know. Or great art. I think it's too new to judge and see what's going to happen. But I think there will always be a place for people who really write something beautiful, whether it's poetry, whether they paint something by hand that's a beautiful painting or whether they write a song. I think there's always going to be a place for creative people that have talent. If you do something great, I think it will live forever, and I don't think it's anything to be afraid of."

In 2005, "Sign Of The Hammer" was ranked number 418 on Rock Hard magazine's list of "The 500 Greatest Rock & Metal Albums Of All Time".

MANOWAR played an exclusive U.S. concert on November 30, 2024 at Kings Theatre in Brooklyn, New York. The sold-out event marked the band's first live appearance in MANOWAR's home country in a decade.

In November 2023, DeMaio said in a video message that MANOWAR's concert in New York would coincide with the 40th anniversary of "Sign Of The Hammer". "It's gonna be the only show in America, unfortunately, because our recording and touring schedule won't allow for more, but it will be the full show," he said.

Prior to the Kings Theatre concert, MANOWAR's last U.S. shows were believed to have taken place in February 2014 when the band celebrated the 25th anniversary of its "Kings Of Metal" album on the "Kings Of Metal MMXIV" tour.

Back in September 2014, MANOWAR canceled its previously announced U.S. tour dates which were scheduled to take place in November of that year. At the time, the band claimed it was scrapping the shows "due to scheduling conflicts" as well as to concentrate on work on a new studio album.

The 71-year-old DeMaio and 73-year-old singer Eric Adams are the sole remaining original members of MANOWAR, which formed in 1980 in upstate New York.

In February 2023, MANOWAR released a new song called "Laut Und Hart Stark Und Schnell" dedicated to the band's loyal German fans.

"Laut Und Hart Stark Und Schnell", which translates into "Loud And Hard Strong And Fast", is an anthemic mid-tempo hymn in the vein of MANOWAR's classic "Warriors Of The World United" that invites fans to sing along and raise their hands in celebration of their favorite genre and band.

"Laut Und Hart Stark Und Schnell" was first released digitally on February 10, 2023 on all major platforms and was made available during MANOWAR's German tour.

Three years ago, MANOWAR announced that it had recruited Michael Angelo Batio, a veteran both in the studio and on stage, to play guitar for the band on its 2023 "Crushing The Enemies Of Metal" tour. The news came in the wake of guitarist Evandro "EV" Martel's announcement that he was taking a break from touring for a while for "personal reasons".

Although MANOWAR has released a couple of EPs in recent years — including "The Revenge Of Odysseus (Highlights)", which came out in June — the group hasn't issued a full-length effort since 2012's "The Lord Of Steel".

MANOWAR's two "secret" warm-up shows in June 2022 at Jovel Music Hall in Münster, Germany marked the band's debut live appearances with new drummer Dave Chedrick, who has previously played with RAVEN and KILL RITUAL, among others.

Chedrick joined MANOWAR as the replacement for Anders Johannson who announced that same month that he would be unable to join MANOWAR on the band's "Crushing The Enemies Of Metal Anniversary Tour '22/'23" due to "family commitments."

ANNIHILATOR leader Jeff Waters, who moved to the United Kingdom from his native Canada back in 2018, and his business partner, entrepreneur and wife Angie are selling their Durham, U.K. estate/house, studio building/loft, all studio equipment as well as Jeff's extensive guitar and equipment collections.

The house/property is available on its own, but you can also purchase the studio gear and simply step into an already-up-and-running, world-class studio with loft.

Located just 30 minutes away from both Newcastle International and Durham Tees Valley airports, the studio is nestled in a private valley estate near Durham Cathedral.

Angie, a life-long Durham resident and co-founder of a successful U.K. merchandise company, is a real-estate entrepreneur and the studio's co-owner with Jeff. Jeff has been the mastermind behind the many-million-selling band ANNIHILATOR since 1984, writing for Sony/ATV, Warner Chappell and many artists, playing guitar, producing and engineering as well as owning three previous Canadian studios (Vancouver, Ottawa and Dunrobin).

Jeff comments: "No retirement, no money probs, no divorce, no health issues: just downsizing most everything!

"Studios and gear collections are a lot of work and maintenance, and it's time to slow down — just a bit," he explains. "A few people are going to love having this stuff and I'm sure many will find it cool to check out the first 100 guitars and more."

For more information, visit www.watersoundstudios.co.uk.

Founded in 1984, ANNIHILATOR took the metal scene by storm with its debut 1989 release "Alice In Hell", upped the ante with 1990's "Never, Neverland" and has continued a non-stop career-pattern of releasing records and touring with many of the biggest bands in the metal genre (mostly outside North America) ever since, cementing ANNIHILATOR as the biggest-selling metal act in Canada's history.

In June 2024, ANNIHILATOR celebrated the 35th anniversary of "Alice In Hell", with former ICED EARTH frontman Stu Block singing the entire record, at a livestream event from the United Kingdom. Block, Waters, guitarist Aaron Homma, bassist Rich Gray (a.k.a. Rich Hinks) and drummer Fabio Alessandrini also performed a few "best-of" songs that included "hits" chosen by the fans.

This past April, Metal Department released the sophomore album from Jeff's "secret love child" AMERIKAN KAOS, "All That Jive". AMERIKAN KAOS marked a significant shift in the musical journey of Waters, promising to blend a variety of musical influences, transcending the boundaries he experienced with ANNIHILATOR.

Block can be heard on "Metal II", the reworked version of ANNIHILATOR's 2007 "Metal" studio album. "Metal II" also features former SLAYER drummer Dave Lombardo.

"Alice In Hell" was the first of six ANNIHILATOR albums to feature songwriting contributions from the band's former singer John Bates, who was credited as the co-writer of the songs "Alison Hell", "W.T.Y.D.", "Burns Like A Buzzsaw Blade" and "Human Insecticide".

Three years ago, earMusic announced a reissue series of (almost) the entire ANNIHILATOR catalog. In total, 18 records are being released over the next few years, including the original 2007 version of the "Metal" album.

PUSCIFER, the multi-dimensional band featuring Maynard James Keenan, Mat Mitchell and Carina Round, will release "Normal Isn't", its first new album in over five years, on February 6, 2026 via Puscifer Entertainment/Alchemy Recordings/BMG. The record channels the post-punk influences that shaped the members' early musical experiences while pushing into darker, more guitar-driven territory.

"We're definitely leaning into our early influences," Keenan shares. "It's the place where goth meets punk. It's where I came from."

The band previews the 11-song collection with the release of "Self Evident" and its accompanying video, filmed during a special August performance at Exchange L.A., where the group previewed the album in full for an intimate crowd of fans.

Written and recorded across Arizona, Los Angeles, and on the road during last year's "Sessanta" tour, "Normal Isn't" blends the dark electronics and sharp humor PUSCIFER is known for with a more spontaneous creative process. "From the outset, we had discussed an element of rawness and edge, which guitar brings," shares Mitchell, who co-produced the album. "We got rid of the guard rails and made the music more aggressive."

For Keenan, this release represents a new approach to songwriting. While he's always been deeply involved in shaping PUSCIFER's sound, this time he set up his own digital recording system and built full song ideas before presenting them to Mat and Carina. That shift gives the music fresh immediacy, one that Round says changed the dynamic in the studio. "Instead of just saying, 'I want this to sound like FLEETWOOD MAC on cocaine if they had a baby with PJ Harvey,' Maynard was showing us his intention, which was really cool," she explains. "In PUSCIFER, any idea can totally change without any preciousness, and everybody is on board — not unlike an insane asylum. We found each other because we're demented in a symbiotic way."

"'Normal Isn't' reflects this time we are living in," Keenan adds. "As storytellers and artists, our job is to observe, interpret, and report. We take in our environment and share what we see, and what we see around us does not appear normal. Not by a long shot."

Contributors to the new collection include Greg Edwards (bass),Gunnar Olsen (drums),and Sarah Jones (drums) with guests Tony Levin (bass on "Normal Isn't" and "Seven One"),Danny Carey (drums on "Seven One") and Mr. Ian Ross (father of Atticus Ross, who narrates "Seven One").

"Normal Isn't" is available now for pre-order and pre-saves, including multiple limited-edition vinyl variants: standard black, indie retail orange swirl, a Puscifer.com exclusive black ice and clear with black splatter, and a Queen B Vinyl Café fruit punch in tan with black and white splatter. The album is also available on CD, cassette, and digitally.

PUSCIFER has simultaneously announced a North American tour in support of the album, kicking off on March 20 in Las Vegas and closing at the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles, with stops at New York's Terminal 5 and Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Colorado. Tickets and VIP packages are on sale this Friday, October 24 at 10 a.m. local time via Puscifer.com. A 36-hour artist pre-sale begins tomorrow at 10 a.m. local time using the code PSC26.

The "Normal Isn't" cover features an Andrea Kowch painting and can be seen below.

"Normal Isn't" track listing:

01. Thrust
02. Normal Isn't
03. Bad Wolf
04. Self Evident
05. Public Stoning
06. The Quiet Parts
07. Mantastic
08. Pendulum
09. ImpetuoUs
10. Seven One
11. The Algorithm (Sessanta Live Mix)

"Normal Isn't" North American tour dates:

March 20 - Las Vegas, NV @ The Chelsea at The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas
March 21 - Phoenix, AZ @ Arizona Financial Theatre
March 24 - Austin, TX @ Bass Concert Hall
March 25 - Dallas, TX @ Music Hall at Fair Park
March 27 - Nashville, TN @ The Pinnacle
March 28 - Atlanta, GA @ Coca-Cola Roxy
March 31 - Asheville, NC @ Thomas Wolfe Auditorium
April 01 - Durham, NC @ DPAC - Durham Performing Arts Center
April 03 - Bethlehem, PA @ Wind Creek Event Center
April 04 - Boston, MA @ Boch Center - Wang Theatre
April 07 - New York, NY @ Terminal 5
April 08 - Hershey, PA @ Hershey Theatre
April 10 - Mashantucket, CT @ Premier Theater at Foxwoods Resort Casino
April 11 - Atlantic City, NJ @ Ovation Hall at Ocean Casino Resort
April 15 - Niagara Falls, ON @ OLG Stage at Fallsview Casino
April 16 - Akron, OH @ Akron Civic Theatre
April 18 - Detroit, MI @ Fox Theatre
April 19 - Cincinnati, OH @ Taft Theatre
April 21 - Louisville, KY @ The Louisville Palace
April 23 - Indianapolis, IN @ Murat Theatre
April 25 - Chicago, IL @ The Chicago Theatre
April 26 - Milwaukee, WI @ Landmark Credit Union Live
April 28 - Madison, WI @ The Sylvee
April 30 - St. Louis, MO @ The Factory
May 01 - Kansas City, MO @ The Midland Theatre
May 03 - Morrison, CO @ Red Rocks Amphitheatre
May 05 - Salt Lake City, UT @ Maverik Center
May 08 - Portland, OR @ Theater of the Clouds
May 09 - Seattle, WA @ WAMU Theater
May 11 - San Francisco, CA @ Golden Gate Theatre
May 13 - San Diego, CA @ San Diego Civic Theatre
May 14 - Los Angeles, CA @ Greek Theatre

PUSCIFER is a band of three creative confidants, namely Mat Mitchell, Carina Round and Maynard James Keenan, who fuse music, performance, and visual art into a singular experience. Over the years, PUSCIFER has carved an indelible mark on the cultural landscape, releasing a series of acclaimed albums, selling out famed venues, appearing on the lineups of Coachella, Bonnaroo and other major festivals, and even curating their own touring festival, Sessanta. They've provided what was essentially the soundtrack to the first season of "Yellowstone", and their albums regularly land on the top 30 of the Billboard Top 200. They've made memorable appearances on "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" and "The Late Show", bringing their signature blend of precision, wit and theatricality to late night television.

PUSCIFER has also welcomed a revolving door of collaborators, from musicians like Greg Edwards, Gunnar Olsen and Sarah Jones to remixers including Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross, Phantogram and Sir Mix-A-Lot, as well as actors Bob Odenkirk and Milla Jovovich. It's also a universe for the (mis)adventures of original characters: Billy D, (his wife) Hildy Berger, Major Douche and Special Agent Dick Merkin. More than a band, PUSCIFER is a creative ecosystem; a boundary-pushing collective where sound, story, and spectacle collide.

Photo credit: Travis Shinn

Former HANOI ROCKS frontman Michael Monroe will release a new studio album, "Outerstellar", on February 20, 2026 via Silver Lining Music.

The first Leigh Brooks-directed video taken from "Outerstellar", "Rockin' Horse", is out now and can be seen below.

"'Rockin' Horse' is a cool, rockin' song that we made a great fun video for with the fantastic director Leigh Brooks," comments Monroe. "We got into different characters on the so-called 'Waking Up With Michael Monroe' TV morning show with me as the host. And it's the first time ever you can see me without makeup (!). Great fun and good times. Hope you enjoy it!"

In support of "Outerstellar", Monroe and his band will embark on a U.K. co-headline tour with BUCKCHERRY, kicking off in Southampton on February 24, 2026.

"Outerstellar" track listing:

01. Rockin' Horse
02. Shinola
03. Black Cadillac
04. When the Apocalypse Comes
05. Painless
06. Newtro Bombs
07. Disconnected
08. Precious
09. Pushin' Me Back
10. Glitter & Dust
11. Rode To Ruin
12. One More Sunrise

The Monroe band's all-star lineup features former HANOI ROCKS and NEW YORK DOLLS bass player Sami Yaffa, who has played with Michael since the '80s. On guitar duties are Rich Jones (formerly of the Ginger Wildheart band) and Steve Conte (best known as the guitarist who filled the void left by Johnny Thunders in the NEW YORK DOLLS, as well as playing guitar with many other name acts such as Suzi Quatro, Eric Burden and many more) and drummer Karl Rockfist (who has played with notable acts such as DANZIG).

This past August, Monroe canceled his participation in this fall's U.S. tour as the support act for BUCKCHERRY in order to recover from a ruptured meniscus.

Monroe's latest solo album, "I Live Too Fast To Die Young", came out in 2022 via Silver Lining Music.

Monroe celebrated his 60th birthday in September 2022 at the Helsinki Ice Hall (Helsingin Jäähalli) in Finland. As the grand finale of the concert, the original lineup of HANOI ROCKS, one of Finland's most significant rock bands of all time, took the stage: Monroe, Andy McCoy, Sami Yaffa, Nasty Suicide and Gyp Casino. The "support band" for the show was the reunited DEMOLITION 23. Led by Monroe, the band rose to great cult fame, although they only released one album ("Demolition 23") in 1994 and broke up shortly afterwards. This was DEMOLITION 23's first performance since the band's breakup in 1995.

Monroe and McCoy founded HANOI ROCKS in the late 1970s and the band's original lineup was established in 1980. HANOI ROCKS, the first Finnish rock band to make an international breakthrough, recorded their first three albums with the original lineup: "Bangkok Shocks, Saigon Shakes, Hanoi Rocks" (1981),"Oriental Beat" (1982) and "Self Destruction Blues" (1982). Casino was replaced in 1982 by Nicholas "Razzle" Dingley who became an integral member of HANOI ROCKS. Razzle died in a tragic accident in 1984. Unfortunately, this led to the band's untimely demise in early 1985.

HANOI ROCKS did reform once before in 2002, albeit with only Monroe and McCoy from the band's classic lineup, and released a comeback album, "Twelve Shots On The Rocks". The reunion lasted until 2009.

Band lineup:

Michael Monroe - Lead vocals, Harmonica
Steve Conte - Guitars, Vocals
Rich Jones - Guitars, Vocals
Karl Rockfist - Drums
Sami Yaffa - Bass, Vocals

Photo credit: Janson Bulpin

Arizona thrash metal veterans SACRED REICH have parted ways with longtime drummer Dave McClain. Replacing him for SACRED REICH's European shows in November with HATEBREED will be Eduardo Baldo, the Brazilian drummer who most recently played with the Los Angeles-based band RED DEVIL VORTEX.

Earlier today (Monday, October 20),SACRED REICH released the following statement via social media: "Dave McClain is no longer a member of SACRED REICH. We wish him the best. Our friend Eduardo Baldo will be playing the HATEBREED shows with us in November in Europe. We thank him for jumping in on such short notice.

"We are excited for this new chapter in SACRED REICH history.

"We are finishing up our new record 'Into The Abyss' that will be released in the Spring of 2026 on Metal Blade Records.

"Great things are coming. We can't wait to share it with you.

"With love and gratitude, Wiley, Joey and Phil".

McClain was originally a member of SACRED REICH from 1991 to 1995. He played on the "A Question" EP (1991) and the "Independent" (1993) and "Heal" (1996) albums before leaving to join MACHINE HEAD.

McClain rejoined SACRED REICH in December 2018 and recorded the band's first album in 23 years, "Awakening", which was released in 2019 via Metal Blade Records. The LP was produced by Arthur Rizk, who has previously worked with CAVALERA CONSPIRACY, POWER TRIP and CODE ORANGE, among others.

The now-59-year-old musician, who joined MACHINE HEAD in 1995, announced his departure from the California metal band in October 2018. McClain, along with guitarist Phil Demmel, went on to complete the Robb Flynn-fronted act's "Freaks & Zeroes Tour" before they both officially exited the group.

"Awakening" was described in a press release as "a timeless collection comprised of blistering thrash, crushing grooves, killer solos and socially conscious lyrics that demonstrate a true understanding of everything that matters most in the world today."

"Awakening" was engineered by John Aquilino and was mastered by Maor Appelbaum.

Photo credit: Stephanie Cabral

Things change…

Posted by Sacred Reich on Monday, October 20, 2025

In a new interview with Australia's Wall Of Sound, TRIVIUM's Corey Beaulieu spoke to about the band's recent split with its longtime drummer Alex Bent. The guitarist said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "It just kind of happened, and it was kind of a surprise. I don't think anyone was really expecting it. But it is what it is. When it all kind of went down, we all wished each other the best. There's no hard feelings. It was just kind of one of those things where it's, like, life changes paths. And it's all positive. We made three amazing records together. The [upcoming 'Struck Dead'] EP is amazing, which it will be his last thing. He started working on the [next TRIVIUM full-length] record with us, so hopefully when that's finished and done, he'll feel a part of that."

Corey continued: "When [Alex] came into the band, we had a great chemistry, a great writing team. I think all the music we did together is — hopefully the fans just are really excited about what was created in that time. And Alex, he's a great drummer, a great person and stuff, and I'm sure he's got plans for whatever his next chapter is."

Referencing the fact that TRIVIUM's new touring drummer Greyson Nekrutman (SEPULTURA) made his live debut with the band at the Aftershock festival in Sacramento, California, just a few days after Alex's exit, Corey said: "I guess the timing [of Alex's departure] kind of put us in a pickle, but with all that going down, it was, like, we just had to kind of like, block everything out and like focus on how to get… We didn't have much time to get ready for this show [at the Aftershock festival] and we have a tour coming up. But there's a lot of amazing musicians out there, and luckily we were able to find someone that could give us a helping hand to be able to play Aftershock and not cancel."

TRIVIUM bassist Paolo Gregoletto told Thunder Underground about the band's split with Bent:  "I don't feel like I want fans to be, like, Hey, okay, we're over it. We expect you to be over it,' kind of thing. I'm like, no. I'm, like, we made a lot of great music and there's a lot of history between us. He was almost in the band as long as Travis [Smith, former TRIVIUM drummer] was and almost made as many albums, I believe. So that's a pretty big chunk of our history right there. And I think 'The Sin And The Sentence', of the stuff we all did together, is maybe one of my favorite records we've done. And I think the [upcoming] EP ['Struck Dead'], too — if that's the end of the chapter, I'm, like, that's a great ending right there, 'cause I think it's a very, very cool EP. And I can say without a doubt, I feel that the albums and EP has been an incredible run. I don't feel we had a real weak point. I can't say that's something I feel like for our whole career. So I'm, like, I feel very proud of that. It was a lot of effort and work and everyone's part."

Asked if Nekrutman will play on TRIVIUM's next studio album, Paolo said: "Oh, I don't know yet. We're still kind of thinking the [fall 2025] tour first. It's, like, I have to almost kind of try to put everything in order of how it's coming just to not get too far ahead of ourselves. We do have some writing coming up that we had planned anyway, but he's not involved in that. It's the three of us and Josh Wilbur, our producer, kind of brainstorming. 'Cause we've been doing a lot of stuff. We have quite a bit of material. It's, like, we wanna get a little head start before we get to the new year and start really diving into actually doing it. But as for, like, who's playing on it, we really don't know. And honestly, Greyson has commitments with SEPULTURA next year, so even if he were to help us on, let's say, the record or a couple shows, he's got that stuff. So we're gonna have to still probably jam with some people early next year, figure some stuff out. And we're just kind of taking the moment to take things easy and take it slow."

He continued: "We've, in the past, had to make quick judgment calls, like in pressure, and I feel like that's never been the best idea. It's better to just take a breather, let everyone kind of just deal with the news that we just dropped on them first. And then, of course, like, let's have fun on the tour. We were talking to him about the setlist [for the fall 2025 tour]. We're giving him some freedom to pick some songs of, like, 'Hey, here's a list of tunes we like, we love to play. Check 'em out, see what you're feeling,' and kind of just go from there."

At Aftershock, Paolo told Baby Huey and Chasta of the San Francisco radio station 107.7 The Bone about Bent: "We've had a great nine years together. I feel like it's kind of a weird thing because, obviously, being in a band together, but I feel like because we've all had families and stuff, there's a tighter connection there that even just what people see. So I think it's one of those things, we all were kind of sad, but at the same time, we said, 'Alex, we want you to kind of make the statement. You kind of lead how you'd like to handle all this stuff.' And I didn't wanna put words in his mouth or say whatever. He made the statement. I feel like we ended on great terms. And that's really kind of it. I mean, there's no juicier CRADLE OF FILTH [-style] drama [with former hired musicians sharing their grievances online]. And, again, it's one of those things where we wanted him to make a statement."

Paolo continued: "In the past we've always been very, like — we don't really like to get into any behind-the-scenes stuff with that. And, of course, we've had changes before, but we felt like in this instance, rather than just saying 'we're parting' or whatever, we [told Alex], like, 'Well, you've been around for so long, our fans would wanna hear from you.' And so that made it more important to us to be, like, 'Okay, you are gonna say whatever you'd like to say.' We didn't [tell Alex], 'You can't say this or that.' And then just give it 24 hours. And then as we hit the stage [at the Aftershock festival] today, be, like, 'Okay, this is the guy playing with us for today, for the tour,' and then that's kind of it."

Speaking about Greyson, Paolo said: "It's been a crazy whirlwind. He was on a tour in Canada, a drum-clinic tour. And he said, 'Yeah, I'll do it.' And he got home. He spent two 12-hour days, just in there, working on it, and then we flew him down. We jammed for two days, flew out here, and we're gonna go jam in our little room here in a bit. But everything's good. I feel like there's good vibes. Of course, it's one chapter ending, but I feel like the music that we made [with Alex] for the last nine years was great. And especially for the EP ['Struck Dead'] coming [in late October], if that's kind of the end cap on this era of TRIVIUM [with Alex], I'm very happy with everything we did."

Addressing TRIVIUM's plans for the coming months, including the search for Bent's replacement, Paolo said: "We're gonna be out, I think, in Europe next summer. The first couple months [of 2026] is gonna be kind of, like, of course, [working on the next full-length] record and stuff. And then we're gonna probably take a little bit of time and maybe jam with some people, just kind of see what we're feeling for the next step.

"This is still kind of new, so we're not totally sure [what we're gonna do about a new drummer], but we've never really taken a moment to kind of just step back," Paolo explained. "Because Greyson is incredible, but he is with SEPULTURA. And they have commitments, and we're very lucky that there's no clashes at the moment. He can get us through the end of the year, and [we] feel like the songs are in good hands. But … once we get off the road, once we get to holidays, everyone's got clear heads — we know a lot of great people, and we don't know if there's someone that might be interested in that. So we're, like, well, let's just take a moment. And next year we'll get into that. And then, of course, the record is gonna be the big thing for us. And, of course, you know what follows that — more touring, coming back around."

The 23-year-old Nekrutman, who also previously toured with SUICIDAL TENDENCIES, will play drums for TRIVIUM on "The Ascend Above The Ashes" North American tour. The trek will kick off October 31 in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina and run through December 14, with a hometown show in Orlando, Florida. Special guests are JINJER and HERIOT.

When Alex announced his departure from TRIVIUM on October 3, he said in a statement: "I am beyond grateful for the incredible past nine years with TRIVIUM — filled with unforgettable moments, music, and friendships that I'll always carry with me. I'm so proud of every record and tour we created together, and I know TRIVIUM will continue to dominate the world; they'll always have my support.

"While this chapter has come to a close, this is by no means the end of my path as a musician. I'm excited for this new chapter, and I look forward to continuing to create, perform, and share music in new ways.

"Thank you to everyone who has supported me along the way. Your encouragement means the world."

Nekrutman officially replaced SEPULTURA's longtime drummer Eloy Casagrande in February 2024.

In December 2016, TRIVIUM parted ways with Paul Wandtke and welcomed Bent, a former member of BATTLECROSS and DECREPIT BIRTH who had previously played with TESTAMENT as a fill-in for that band's longtime drummer Gene Hoglan.

"Struck Dead" will arrive on October 31 via longtime label Roadrunner. The effort was produced by TRIVIUM and recorded with Mark Lewis at the band's Hangar Studios in Orlando, Florida. It was mixed and mastered by Josh Wilbur.

Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame inductees, Grammy Award-nominated icons, and RUSH co-founders Geddy Lee (bass, keys, vocals) and Alex Lifeson (guitar, vocals) today announce 17 additional cities on their 2026 headline tour, "Fifty Something", due to incredible demand. The tour, in celebration of RUSH's music, legacy, and the life of late drummer and lyricist Neil Peart, has new dates in cities including Philadelphia, Boston, Montreal, Washington D.C., Atlanta, Edmonton, Seattle, Vancouver, and more (full dates below).

Fans will be able to participate in the RUSH artist presale for the newly added shows by signing up at livemu.sc/rush by Thursday, October 23 at 11:59 p.m. ET. No code is needed — access is tied to your account. The artist presale begins on Monday, October 27 at 12 p.m. local time in the U.S. and Canada. General onsale begins on Friday, October 31 at 12 p.m. local time for the U.S. and Canada. Additionally, these pre-sales will be available for the newly added shows:

Citi for U.S. shows: Citi is the official card of the RUSH 2026 tour. Citi cardmembers will have access to presale tickets in the US beginning Friday, October 24 at 12 p.m. local time until Sunday, October 26 at 11:59 p.m. local time through the Citi Entertainment program. For complete presale details visit www.citientertainment.com.

American Express for Canada: American Express Card Members can purchase tickets for the Canadian shows before the general public beginning Friday, October 24 at 12 p.m. local time through Sunday, October 26 at 11:59 p.m. local time.

RUSH invites fans to get closer than ever with three elevated offerings: an all-new VIP program, the first-ever 2112 Platform Experience, and curated Travel Packages for fans making a trip to see the show.

RUSH initially announced dates in seven major North American cities, and all the dates in the U.S. and Canada have sold out. These new dates have been added due to the incredible demand for tickets on those dates.

The limited run of summer dates — Lee and Lifeson's first official shows under the RUSH banner in 11 years — will begin at the Kia Forum in Los Angeles, site of the last RUSH concert on the legendary Canadian band's "R40" anniversary tour. Joining the duo on the trek will be German drummer Anika Nilles, who toured with legendary guitarist Jeff Beck in 2022 and has been rehearsing with Lee and Lifeson in preparation for the tour.

The band shares in a new video: "We are blown away from the response to the announcement we made a few weeks ago that we're going back on tour. I cannot tell you how surprising and overwhelmed we are and the way you guys have welcomed Anika Nilles. It's been very heartwarming, and I know that she's very appreciative of that. We're even more excited to get back on stage and play with her and to go through the plethora of songs that we're planning."

RUSH will perform multiple shows in cities across Canada, the United States and Mexico, beginning June 7, 2026 at The Kia Forum in Los Angeles. These special "evening with" shows will find the band playing two sets each night. Each show will feature a distinct selection of songs and RUSH will build each night's setlist from a catalogue of 35 songs including their greatest hits and fan favorites.

Tour dates:

Jun. 07 - Los Angeles, CA - Kia Forum (sold out)
Jun. 09 - Los Angeles, CA - Kia Forum (sold out)
Jun. 11 - Los Angeles, CA - Kia Forum (sold out)
Jun. 13 - Los Angeles, CA - Kia Forum (sold out)
Jun. 18 - Mexico City, MX - Palacio de los Deportes
Jun. 24 - Fort Worth, TX - Dickies Arena (sold out)
Jun. 26 - Fort Worth, TX - Dickies Arena (sold out)
Jun. 28 - Fort Worth, TX - Dickies Arena (sold out)
Jun. 30 - Fort Worth, TX - Dickies Arena (sold out)
Jul. 16 - Chicago, IL - United Center (sold out)
Jul. 18 - Chicago, IL - United Center (sold out)
Jul. 20 - Chicago, IL - United Center (sold out)
Jul. 22 - Chicago, IL - United Center (sold out)
Jul. 28 - New York, NY - Madison Square Garden (sold out)
Jul. 30 - New York, NY - Madison Square Garden (sold out)
Aug. 01 - New York, NY - Madison Square Garden (sold out)
Aug. 03 - New York, NY - Madison Square Garden (sold out)
Aug. 07 - Toronto, ON - Scotiabank Arena (sold out)
Aug. 09 - Toronto, ON - Scotiabank Arena (sold out)
Aug. 11 - Toronto, ON - Scotiabank Arena (sold out)
Aug. 13 - Toronto, ON - Scotiabank Arena (sold out)
Aug. 21 - Philadelphia, PA - Xfinity Mobile Arena (new date)
Aug. 26 - Detroit, MI - Little Caesars Arena (new date)
Sep. 02 - Montreal, QC - Bell Centre (new date)
Sep. 12 - Boston, MA - TD Garden (new date)
Sep. 17 - Cleveland, OH - Rocket Arena (sold out)
Sep. 19 - Cleveland, OH - Rocket Arena (sold out)
Sep. 23 - San Antonio, TX - Frost Bank Center (new date)
Oct. 05 - Denver, CO - Ball Arena (new date)
Oct. 10 - Seattle, WA - Climate Pledge Arena (new date)
Oct. 15 - San Jose, CA - SAP Center (new date)
Oct. 25 -Washington D.C. - Capital One Arena (new date)
Oct. 30 - Uncasville, CT - Mohegan Sun Arena (new date)
Nov. 05 - Hollywood, FL - Hard Rock Live (new date)
Nov. 09 - Tampa, FL - Benchmark International Arena (new date)
Nov. 20 - Charlotte, NC - Spectrum Center (new date)
Nov. 25 - Atlanta, GA - State Farm Arena (new date)
Dec. 01 - Glendale, AZ - Desert Diamond Arena (new date)
Dec. 10 - Edmonton, AB - Rogers Place (new date)
Dec. 15 - Vancouver, BC - Rogers Arena (new date)

During an invite-only gathering of 150 fans, media and dignitaries at the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame's Foster Theater in Cleveland, Ohio on Sunday (October 5),Geddy and Alex of RUSH spoke about their decision to reunite for a tour next year. Regarding how they decided to tour as RUSH again, more than five years after iconic RUSH drummer Neil Peart's death, Alex said: "When we finished the ['R40'] tour [in 2015], it was difficult for Neil, and he'd had enough by that point. I think Ged and I still had gas in the tank and we still wanted to continue working. But it was what it was, and the further I got away from it, the more I thought, 'It's okay. We had 40 years. I'm tired of hanging around a hotel, being away from family and all of that stuff.' And I felt that way for most of the last 10 years, really. I thought we had a great legacy, and it's okay. Then this guy" — referring to Geddy — "came along and had some big ideas. And we talked and we started playing. And then I realized that I love it so much — I love playing so much. And I've continued, over these last years, doing other projects and still playing a lot. But when we sat down and started playing some of the RUSH stuff and I realized how hard it was to play these songs… When you do it every day for 40 years, it's not a big deal, really — you're used to it — but when you're away from it and you are a little more objective about the intense complexity of the music and the feel and the nuances and all the things that go into making a RUSH song and performance, to be challenged with that again was really, really exciting. And the more we started rehearsing and playing, the more I just fell in love with the idea of playing again."

Added Geddy: "It was a very difficult decision on many levels, first of all, because what it entails in terms of work, but also what had transpired. Losing a member like Neil, it was devastating and it was a very sad time, and it took time for us to even contemplate it. I mean, this is a relatively recent decision. And I would say it was kind of out of the question for the longest time because of those circumstances. And how do you replace someone who's irreplaceable? So, we would joke about it sometimes, and Al was doing other things, I was writing books and something happened in the last couple of years that brought us back to jamming in the studio. He would come over, drink my coffee, hang around, we would jam and we would laugh. And then one day — I don't know why — we started playing some RUSH songs for fun. And God, we were laughing so hard and we were enjoying it so much. And it was almost like playing those songs dispelled the dark clouds. It was not an easy decision to come to, and this is really the first time we're talking about it out loud in front of other people. So, yeah, it feels right, and we're gonna do it."

Asked how they found the right drummer to step in for Neil on the "Fifty Something" tour, Geddy said: "Well, our idea was not to try to be RUSH 2.0, just to pay homage to our music, pay homage to our lost brother and represent the songs and celebrate the songs.

"I haven't talked about this before, but… So, my bass tech Skully [John McIntosh] was working with Jeff Beck. He was on tour with him for a few years. And on the last tour he was playing with this drummer named Anika Nilles — an incredible drummer. And he would come home, he would rave about her, what a brilliant player she was and great person, and blah, blah, blah. So I kind of looked her up. And she's all over YouTube. She's fairly well known in her own world of music. And then we started talking about playing again. I said to Al, I said, 'Check her out. Maybe that's an interesting way to go.' And so one thing led to another, and when we made the decision we wanted to see if it would work, what's it like to play with another drummer — we'd had that experience, of course, at the Taylor Hawkins tributes [in September 2022]. So we know how difficult it is — no matter who the drummer is, they all have their own perception of what it's like to play a RUSH song, and they may not line up with the way we play RUSH songs. So whoever we were going to choose was going to be difficult and there's going to be like a translation. And so we very secretly brought Anika to Canada. And it wasn't an audition, 'cause at that point we weren't really sure that we were going to tour. It was all an experiment. Anyway, I'm very happy to say that she is fantastic to play with. And we've had now a number of sessions with her and we are going to go on the road with her. I think she's a remarkable story. And she's much younger than us… And I like that, that she came to RUSH music without any preconceptions. It also made it very difficult, 'cause we had to explain nuances and work on subtleties, and she had to really try to get into Neil's headspace and his feel. A lot of drummers can play Neil's drum fills, but to combine that with the feel of those songs, so that it feels the way you guys wanna hear those songs, that's work — that requires work. And so she's winning."

As for what RUSH fans can expect from the upcoming concerts, Geddy said: "I don't think we can do a three-hour show the way we did when we were in our younger years, but we're certainly gonna play over two hours. And we'll get a lot of songs in, for sure."

Lee went on to say that "it's not an accident" that he and Alex chose Los Angeles's Kia Forum — where RUSH played its last-ever show with Peart in 2015 — as the location of the first gig of the tour.

"It'll be, I think, quite an emotional moment," Geddy said. "And I have to say also a thank you to [Neil's widow] Carrie Nuttall and [daughter] Olivia Peart who have been very supportive and are supporting us for this tour, and we really appreciate that, and that makes things better. And we also plan to pay tribute to Neil at least a couple of times during the show in our own way. And that'll happen every night, we'll pay tribute to him.

"After Neil passed, COVID hit and we never really were able to do any kind of tribute to him — not a tribute concert," Lee explained. "And so this is one way that we pay homage to the music and the lyrics and the incredible drumming of our pal and partner, and at the same time celebrate the music that [the fans] have thankfully shown up for, for all these years. And we'll just endeavor to do our best to make [the fans] happy."

When the "Fifty Something" tour was announced on Monday (October 6),Carrie Nuttall-Peart and Olivia Peart said in a statement: "We are thrilled to support the 'Fifty Something' tour, celebrating a band whose music has resonated and inspired fans for generations, and to honor Neil's extraordinary legacy as both a drummer and lyricist.

"Neil's musicianship was singular. Compositions of intricacy and power that expanded what rhythm itself could express. As both drummer and lyricist, he was irreplaceable. Inimitable in his artistry, and unmatched in the depth and imagination he brought to the lyrics that inspired and moved so many, he profoundly shaped how fans connected with him and the band, giving voice and meaning to their own lives.

"As the band enters this new chapter, it promises to be truly unforgettable. We are excited to see how their new vision unfolds, and to hear this legendary music played live once again."

On October 6, fans got the news via a RUSH newsletter from a home video that announced the celebration of upcoming dates with Lee and Lifeson at Geddy's home studio.

RUSH will perform multiple shows in seven cities across Canada, the United States and Mexico, beginning June 7, 2026 at the Kia Forum in Los Angeles. These special "evening with" shows will find the band playing two sets each night. Each show will feature a distinct selection of songs and RUSH will build each night's setlist from a catalogue of 35 songs including their greatest hits and fan favorites.

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

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

Since Peart's death, Lifeson and Lee have not recorded any new music or performed live under the RUSH name, although both of them confirmed that several drummers reached out to them in the days after the legendary drummer's passing about the possibility of stepping in for Neil.

In a new interview with Canada's The Metal Voice, Jeff "Mantas" Dunn and Anthony "Abaddon" Bray, iconic co-founders of the pioneering black metal band VENOM — who recently announced that they will celebrate the 45th anniversary of VENOM's classic debut album, 1981's "Welcome To Hell", at various festivals in 2026, including Germany's Keep It True — spoke about the fact that there will now be three different bands using variations of the VENOM band name. In addition to their new collaboration, there is the Conrad "Cronos" Lant-version of VENOM, in which Cronos is the sole remaining member from the band's classic era, and there is VENOM INC., which is led by bassist/vocalist Tony "Demolition Man" Dolan, who was a member of VENOM between 1989 and 1992, appearing on the albums "Prime Evil" (1989),"Temples Of Ice" (1991) and "The Waste Lands" (1992). Mantas said in part (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "I'm just gonna speak the truth, the absolute truth. I'm the founder member [of VENOM]. If there's a co-founder, it's Abaddon. Cronos was the last one to join. Everyone knows that. I wrote all the early material, blah, blah, blah. And at this very moment in time, the way I look at it is there isn't a VENOM out there. There's bands out there who are playing VENOM material. And that's the honest way that I look at it."

Regarding why he and Abaddon chose to reteam for these shows right now, Mantas said: "Myself and Abaddon, we said, 'Look, why don't we just do something to celebrate this fucking band?' And that's all we're doing. It's a celebration of 'Welcome To Hell', 45 years of that album. And this stupid fucking band has missed every major anniversary in its history. We've never celebrated an anniversary of this band. So I spoke to the guys at Keep It True, Oliver Weinsheimer in particular, the owner of the festival. And I said, 'Right, here's an idea. Why don't we get some special guests, people who have been influenced by the band? All that kind of thing.' And he said, 'Great. Let's do it.' So that's how it all came about. And now we're getting offers from other places to do the same thing. So, yeah, if nobody else will do it, we're gonna go out and celebrate this band."

Asked what band name he and Abaddon will perform under, Mantas said: "As far as I'm concerned, there's no fucking name to it. There's Abaddon's VENOM logo, which is his. And underneath it, it says, 'Mantas and Abaddon.' And then special guests. And that's what we're doing."

Elaborating on the reasons he and Abaddon have chosen to play the VENOM music together again, Mantas said: "I know it's not gonna be the PANTERA thing, and I know it's not a fucking KISS reunion or anything like that, but this band has had, for whatever reason, and it still amazes me to this day, but this band has had so much influence on the metal scene from day one, especially when that album ['Welcome To Hell'] came out. And then [VENOM's second album] 'Black Metal' — black metal, as a genre, is still alive and kicking today. Extreme metal is around, people say, because of us."

On the topic of the response from VENOM fans to the announcement of the Keep It True concert, as well as the November 30, 2025 appearance by Dunn and Bray at Shinjuku Antiknock, a legendary music venue in Tokyo, Japan, alongside some of Japan's finest black metal players, Mantas said: "Every comment I've seen so far, 90 percent has been really, really positive. Like, 'Great. Go for it, guys,' all this kind of stuff. Then you get the one, 'Oh, no Cronos, no VENOM.' It's, like, okay, listen to me right now. You can you imagine the most toxic relationship and the most stressful relationship you've ever had in your fucking life, and now go back and invite it back in. And that's what we tried to do.

"If everybody knew the real reason I left in 1986, you wouldn't even fucking look at that guy again. All these people who say that about Cronos and stuff like that, yes, he was a part of the band. I appreciate that. He didn't write all the fucking early material. He didn't found the band. He was the last person to join.

"If you were having problems with your wife and you put it on the fucking Internet, I would never go, 'Oh, yeah, well, I know what's going on,' because you don't — you don't know the personalities of the people involved in it," Mantas explained. "All you see from the outside is a band. I mean, I love KISS. I love JUDAS PRIEST. Now there's fucking problems with K.K. [Downing] and all the rest of fucking PRIEST. There's problems with Ace [Frehley] and fucking Gene [Simmons] and Paul [Stanley] and Peter [Criss], but we don't know what's really gone on. And it's, like, yeah, I tell you what, get back in your mom's basement. Eat your fucking microwave meal and play your video games. This is ridiculous to comment on people's careers. And that's the way I feel about it. And all I'm saying is that myself and Abaddon, as the two original members of VENOM, we're gonna go out and we're gonna celebrate this band and its music. And that's it. Nothing more, nothing less."

Abaddon also offered his opinion on the VENOM name issue, saying: "My take on that is very straightforward. If you've got three bands using the word VENOM to sell the music… Originally, VENOM were a three-piece. Unless you've got two members of that three-piece, you can't call it VENOM because it's Cronos and some other blokes, or it's Dolan and some other blokes. If you've got me and Jeff, you've got two-thirds of the original fucking band. That's as straightforward as you can get."

Jeff "Mantas" Dunn and Anthony "Abaddon" Bray, iconic co-founders of the pioneering black metal band VENOM, will celebrate the 45th anniversary of VENOM's classic debut album, 1981's "Welcome To Hell", at the 2026 edition of the Keep It True festival on April 24, 2026 at Tauberfrankenhalle in Lauda-Königshofen, Germany.

For the April 24, 2026 appearance at the Keep It True festival at Tauberfrankenhalle in Lauda-Königshofen, Germany, Mantas and Abaddon will be joined by an all-star lineup of guest musicians:

* Tom Angelripper and Andy Brings (SODOM)
* Tom G. Warrior (CELTIC FROST, HELLHAMMER, TRIPTYKON)
* Schmier (DESTRUCTION)
* Attila Csihar (MAYHEM)
* Danny Lilker (NUCLEAR ASSAULT, S.O.D.)
* Diva Satánica (BLOODHUNTER, NERVOSA)
* and introducing Blake "Bulldözer" Arendell from the rising force INTERCEPTOR

In August, Mantas and Abaddon reached out to their loyal fans — the "Legions" — for support in a legal battle against Cronos. Since 2023, Mantas and Abaddon have fought to resolve two critical issues: securing recognition for their contributions to VENOM's legendary artwork and claiming their rightful share of merchandise profits from albums they co-wrote and performed, including "Welcome To Hell" (1981),"Black Metal" (1982),"At War With Satan" (1984) and "Possessed" (1985). Now in their 60s, Mantas and Abaddon seek a fair resolution to ensure their families benefit from VENOM's enduring legacy, which helped define the black metal genre. "We're simply asking for what is rightfully ours," they said in a joint statement. "After decades of avoidable conflict, we want peace and closure."

Despite efforts to resolve the dispute amicably, the duo has been forced to pursue legal action, incurring significant personal and financial costs.

The legal battle intensified in June 2024, with Cronos suing Abaddon and Plastic Head Music Distribution Ltd, accusing the distributor of selling merchandise with Lant's copyrighted VENOM designs and Bray of approving the infringement through a licensing agreement. The dispute revolved around the fact that both parties were licensing and selling official VENOM merchandise featuring the contested designs.

The duo is calling on fans worldwide to help fund their legal fight. "If every fan bought us a pint, we could see this through," they said.

Contributions can be made at this location.

According to Law360.com, Lant testified in court that he joined VENOM in late 1979 and came up with the Satanic-themed designs used in the band's logo and album covers, which included goat heads, pentagrams and inverted crosses.

Bray filed a counterclaim for infringement against Lant and Lant's distributor, Razmataz.com Ltd., arguing that Bray was the real author of the works.

Because Lant was able to produce numerous sketches which demonstrated his design process and Bray was unable to do the same, Bray was deemed the owner of the original logo, while Lant was found to be the creator and copyright owner of all but one of the other artistic works in dispute.

Nearly a decade ago, Dunn formed VENOM INC. with Bray and Dolan.

Last December, approximately eight months after suffering his second heart attack, Dunn announced that he was leaving VENOM INC., explaining in a statement that his "health and wellbeing are of paramount importance to myself and my family," but adding that "there are also more personal issues which have influenced my decision."

Dunn suffered his first heart attack in May 2018 and underwent a double bypass surgery.

Mantas sat out VENOM INC.'s fall 2023 U.S. tour after revealing that his wife had been diagnosed with cancer. He was replaced on the trek by Mike Hickey, known for his work with VENOM, CARCASS, CATHEDRAL and CRONOS.

VENOM INC. is not to be confused with the Lant-fronted version of VENOM, which is continuing to tour and make albums under the VENOM moniker. Joining Cronos in that group are Rage (a.k.a. Stuart Dixon) on guitar and Danté (a.k.a. Danny Needham) on drums.

VENOM's classic lineup trio of Dunn, Lant and Bray recorded four studio LPs, "Welcome To Hell" (1981),"Black Metal" (1982),"At War With Satan" (1984) and "Possessed" (1985),and live album, "Eine Kleine Nachtmusik" (1986). Often cited by bands such as METALLICA, BEHEMOTH, CELTIC FROST and MAYHEM as major influences, they are one of the most revered bands of their generation. VENOM is still fronted by Cronos and headlines festivals all over the globe and continues to release new music while Dunn and Dolan had joined forces in the similarly named VENOM INC.

Abaddon was part of VENOM's classic lineup from 1978 to 1992. He then returned to the band in 1995 and stayed with them for four years before joining VENOM INC. alongside Dunn and Dolan. VENOM INC. released its debut album, "Avé", in August 2017. A year later, VENOM INC. revealed that it was recruiting Jeramie Kling of the Tampa-based melodic death metal band THE ABSENCE to fill in for Bray on a European tour while Abaddon stayed home to spend time with his newborn daughter.

Dunn, Bray and Dolan released the aforementioned three albums as VENOM: "Prime Evil", "Temples Of Ice" and "The Waste Lands".

In September 2022, Bray revealed that he had been diagnosed with lymphoma.

Japanese rock music promoter UPP-tone Music announced in July that Dunn and Bray will perform "VENOM classics" on November 30 at Shinjuku Antiknock, a legendary music venue in Tokyo, Japan, alongside some of Japan's finest black metal players: Masaki "Gezol" Tachi (SABBAT) on bass and vocals, Mirai Kawashima (SIGH) on vocals, Shinji "Samm" Tachi (METALUCIFER) on drums, and Noboru "Jero" Sakuma (ABIGAIL) on guitar. Support at the gig will come from SURVIVE and HELL FREEZES OVER.

THE AVETT BROTHERS and Mike Patton have released new single "Heaven's Breath", the final advance offering from their new collaborative album "AVTT/PTTN", out November 14 via Thirty Tigers in association with Ramseur Records and Ipecac Recordings. The fuzzy rock 'n' roll track was Scott Avett's first contribution to AVTT/PTTN project — an initial offering to "crank the saw a little bit."

Filled with growling ambition, "Heaven's Breath" introduces a heaviness to their upcoming album "AVTT/PTTN", which is composed of eight original songs written by the three artists together (plus one folk traditional) and produced by Mike, Scott and Grammy-winning engineer Dana Nielsen (METALLICA, Rihanna). Seth Avett likens the fiery song to MR. BUNGLE's "Retrovertigo", and as the legendary frontman of FAITH NO MORE and MR. BUNGLE, Mike naturally delivers a signature dynamic vocal performance.

For the Avetts, working with Patton was more than just a new collaboration — it was a full-circle moment. "Mike's part of our DNA, like the fabric of our youth," says Scott. "Literally, we studied him. He's a dear friend now, but when we were younger, I was imitating him." Patton adds, "My peculiar challenge in this was to become a long distant cousin. A brother that was orphaned. Maybe they kept him in the chicken coop or some shit. They brought him out years and years later."

"AVTT/PTTN" opens with the gentle acoustic guitar of "Dark Night Of My Soul", where Patton's seasoned croon merges with the Avetts' voices for a rich three-part harmony. Elsewhere, the driving fuzz of "Heaven's Breath" and the scuzzy stomp of the folk classic "The Ox Driver's Song" push the Avetts into new sonic terrain, while showcasing Patton's trademark dynamic range. Each track reflects the unusual way the record was built — songs sketched by Scott, reshaped by Patton, and then reimagined again with Seth — a process that gave the music its distinct character and balance.

What emerged from this partnership is a collision of worlds. "AVTT/PTTN" is Scott, Seth and Mike at their most adventurous, writing and singing together without boundaries, and carving out a space that's entirely their own.

"AVTT/PTTN" track listing:

01. Dark Night Of My Soul
02. To Be Known
03. Heaven's Breath
04. Too Awesome
05. Disappearing
06. Eternal Love
07. The Ox Driver's Song
08. The Things I Do
09. Received

Four-time Grammy Award nominees THE AVETT BROTHERS made mainstream waves with their critically acclaimed 2009 major label debut, "I And Love And You". In 2012, "The Carpenter" hit No. 4 on the Billboard 200, followed by "Magpie And The Dandelion" in 2013, which debuted at No. 5 on the Billboard 200. The 2017 documentary "May It Last: A Portrait Of The Avett Brothers" (co-directed by Judd Apatow and Michael Bonfiglio) chronicles the process of writing 2016's "True Sadness", which debuted at No. 1 on Billboard's Top Albums, No. 1 on Rock Albums, No. 3 on the Billboard 200, and scored two Grammy nominations. The film was released theatrically and on HBO to rave reviews and is available on DVD, Blu-ray and VOD. In 2019, the band released their tenth studio album "Closer Than Together" featuring the single "High Steppin'" which reached No. 1 on the Americana Radio Singles chart. "The Third Gleam" came out amidst the COVID-19 pandemic and debuted at No. 1 on Billboard's Americana/Folk Albums, No. 1 Rock Albums, No. 1 Vinyl Albums, and the single "Victory" hit No. 1 on the Americana Radio Singles chart. This year saw the release of "The Avett Brothers", an album that is as much untitled as it is self-titled: a collection of songs that revealed themselves naturally over time. "Swept Away" — a musical inspired by and featuring the music of THE AVETT BROTHERS — recently debuted on Broadway. THE AVETT BROTHERS have been inducted into the North Carolina Music Hall Of Fame and have earned a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Americana Music Association. They are currently on tour throughout the U.S.

Patton is a Renaissance man in the truest sense of the word. From his time spent with genre-defying alternatives acts like FAITH NO MORE and MR. BUNGLE to his multitude of collaborations including the deconstructed-pop of PEEPING TOM, the rock-centric TOMAHAWK, and the Italian language orchestral classics he covered with MONDO CANE, his career has also ventured in film composing for movies such as "Crank: High Voltage" and "A Place Beyond The Pines", voice acting in "I Am Legend" and multiple video games, and starting his own record label, Ipecac Recordings, showing there is no limit to what Patton can do.

Photo credit: Crackerfarm

In a new interview with Marko Syrjälä of Chaoszine, legendary vocalist/bassist Glenn Hughes (DEEP PURPLE, BLACK COUNTRY COMMUNION, TRAPEZE) confirmed that he currently has no plans to make another studio LP to follow up this year's "Chosen". "I don't think I'll make another rock album," he said. "You know why? Nobody buys albums anymore… I'm talking in general. You do, people like you, sure, but in general, nobody buys. Nobody buys. I write this stuff, I record it, I do a lot of interviews, and then the album comes out. It's great. It charts the first week, and then it's like, it's over. I'm laughing because I'm like, 'What… what the fuck?' You know, it's the same for everyone. It's not just me. Everybody… you see it. It's not just me. I have to ask the question myself: Is it me? No. I look at THE DARKNESS and my friends and all other people. My friends say it's like… new albums are now like 'in and out.' But I'm really happy with 'Chosen'. If it's the last Glenn rock album, I think it's a great way to finish."

Asked if he has ever thought about releasing his music independently and not working with traditional record labels anymore, Glenn said: "Yeah, I mean, there have been talks about that. I could do it on my own because I've got a great team with me. Right now, I don't have any plans to make another album — but I will, I believe I will. The stuff I'm writing at the moment isn't rock, but it's also not really pure black music. I love doing that kind of stuff, but I'm not black — I'm white, and most of my fans are white too."

Hughes previously floated the possibility of not releasing another rock album this past August in an interview with Phil Aston of Now Spinning Magazine. On the topic of where "Chosen" sits in his discography and what might be coming next, Glenn said: "I can give you an exclusive. I think this will be the last rock album I make, but it might not be the last album I make. I'm not saying I've got plans, but I am thinking about things that won't be too far away from what I've been doing. And if you like albums like 'Feel' and 'First Underground [Nuclear Kitchen]', you'll know what I'm hinting at. It'll be more for the vocals than heavy guitar. But at some point — I think you might un understand me here — it's always been about that voice, and when you take away disrupting instruments so you can hear that voice…"

He continued: "When I did the Jon Lord tribute at the the Albert Hall, when you had myself and you had a 73-piece orchestra and that was it, and no drums and no guitar, that's what I consider to be the pure Glenn Hughes voice. And as I close out my career, whenever that's going to be, I want my voice to be… The only thing you wanna hear, if you're coming to see Glenn, is that voice. I'm not being disrespectful to anybody I'm working with, but this voice [which] has been given to me is really a humbling gift sent to me. It's not really me. I'm just portraying what God has given to me."

Elaborating on how he wants his voice to be the focal point in his music going forward, Hughes said: "In the production quality of the ['Chosen'] album, Søren [Andersen], my guitar player, helped me do it. But he also understands the predicament we're in right now, realizing my age, and how many years have I got left to do this? I think what I and the people around me want to portray is that we've got this voice.

"People say, 'Is Glenn the last man standing from his peer group?'" he continued. "I can't say that myself. I have a lot of good friends, and you know who they are in my age group. But if I am the last man standing, please just listen to that voice. I'm talking in the third person. I'm not saying anything about how good it is or bad it is, but let's just take a listen to the voice.

"When we talk about the stratospheric voice, and if you understand R&B music and black music like I do, if you think about Smokey Robinson or Marvin Gaye and Stevie Wonder and Prince, for example, those guys use their voice in the same kind of fashion," Hughes added. "They just sing R&B falsettos. And that's the way I do it. But it's something I only do feel when I feel it necessary in the moment. And by the way, each night I sing live, I might be doing it in places I never did it before. But I don't really think about those moments. All I'm only thinking about is delivering the song. The people know the melody. I never change the melody. I never change the lyric. But I really do enjoy being Glenn."

"Chosen" was released on September 5, 2025 via Frontiers Music Srl. Glenn recorded the long-awaited follow-up to 2016's "Resonate" in June 2024 in Copenhagen, Denmark.

Glenn, a native of Cannock, England, absorbed all kinds of influences, including early British hard rock, THE BEATLES and, most importantly, American soul and R&B. The sleek Motown sound from Detroit and the gritty Stax/Volt sound from Memphis left their mark on him.

Hughes first found success in the early '70s with the band TRAPEZE before joining DEEP PURPLE in 1973 during a pivotal lineup change that introduced him and David Coverdale to the group. Despite initial skepticism, the revamped band silenced critics with the release of "Burn" (1974),a powerful album that revitalized PURPLE's sound and remains a classic. During this era, the band headlined the iconic California Jam in front of over 300,000 fans, toured the world aboard their private jet The Starship, and released two more studio albums, "Stormbringer" and "Come Taste The Band", before disbanding in 1976.

Glenn's first solo album "Play Me Out" was released in 1977. He joined former Pat Travers guitarist Pat Thrall to form HUGHES/THRALL, which released an acclaimed self-titled album in 1982. Throughout the '80s and '90s, Glenn Hughes made countless guest appearances (both credited and un-credited) as a vocalist, bass guitarist or songwriter on other artists' albums. The endless list includes — among others — Gary Moore, John Norum and Tony Iommi of BLACK SABBATH.

Since 1992, Glenn has started a prolific solo career with a dozen studio albums where he explored all the different sides of his songwriting and influences: from hard rock to funk and more contemporary sounds. He collaborated — among others — with such musicians as Chad Smith (RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS),Dave Navarro, John Frusciante and many others. He also founded or took part in some amazing musical alliances such as CALIFORNIA BREED (with Jason Bonham and Andrew Watt),BLACK COUNTRY COMMUNION (with Joe Bonamassa and Jason Bonham) and THE DEAD DAISIES.

Glenn has collaborated with Robbie Williams on his new single "Rocket", which was released in May. The track also features a collaboration from Iommi and is the first time Glenn has been featured on a record with Tony since 2005, when they released "Fused" together.

Glenn also recently joined forces with SATCHVAI, a new collaboration by legendary guitar icons Joe Satriani and Steve Vai, by writing and singing on their new single "I Wanna Play My Guitar".

On the "Remembering Ace Frehley" special episode of "The David Ellefson Show",  former MEGADETH bassist David Ellefson was asked by co-host Joshua Toomey if the recent deaths of Ozzy Osbourne and Ace Frehley make him want to pick up the phone and call Dave Mustaine after not being in touch with the MEGADETH leader for nearly four and a half years. Ellefson responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "I had someone say that [to me] after I finished [playing at] the Ozzy gig [at 'Back To The Beginning' in early July], just saying, 'Dude, let's just get over it.'

"The problem of it is me and Dave were always together as a band," Ellefson explained. "We never just hung out just as buddies not in the band. It was always sort of angled with us being in the band together.

"Look, he's got his own [incarnation of MEGADETH], he's got his own record, he's got his new music. I'm not part of that. I think he made it really clear in his press statement, he doesn't wanna play music with me again. And whether that was just a kneejerk anger statement or it was true, I don't know. But, look, I would take his call."

Circling back to the original question, Ellefson said: "I don't know. It didn't feel like suddenly it was the moment to do [try to reach out to Dave]. But I don't know. There is something to be said for that, because, look, none of us get out of here alive, as the saying goes. And our time is limited. There's only so many miles on the road for all of us.

"For sure it would be nice if things between me and Dave and me and MEGADETH, as just an entity, didn't end on a sour note," Ellefson added. "I think that's what [MEGADETH's] farewell statement [announcing a final album and accompanying world tour] has sort of raised all those questions. Which is why I said right away, I said, look, I would be open to [being part of] it, if for nothing else to just sort of close the circle, close the gap. And it all ends with us, if not being best of friends, 'cause we don't have to go there. But at least just sort of closing the gap and closing the circle. 'Cause look at what happened. I mean, KISS played [their final shows in December 2023], and, look, would it have been appropriate for Ace to come out and play [with them one last time]? I mean, why not? But I think in Gene [Simmons] and Paul's [Stanley] mind, as a band guy myself, it's, like, 'Well, he's not part of the band. He's just not part of the act. He's not part of the show. Where do we squeeze that in?' Yet they certainly could have, if they wanted to."

Reiterating that he doesn't have to be buddies with Mustaine in order for them to share the stage together, Ellefson said: "I mean, let's face it, when you go to the family reunion, you don't go 'cause you like everybody. You're, like, 'Ah, Uncle Joe, Aunt Sally, oh God, these people. I gotta be around them again.' You don't go because it's all fun and games. You go because at one point those will be the last memories you have. And it is a bloodline.

"You see [members of] THE EAGLES [feuding with each other], you see these guys, and it's, like, how much hate can you have towards someone and just be that fucking miserable?" Ellefson added. "And fans don't wanna see it. They don't wanna see it. I don't wanna see it. I was sad when I would see KISS arguing about stuff. I get it, having been in a band my whole career. But we don't wanna see our heroes argue. And I think that was probably some of the hardest parts, probably when Dave and I were in a lawsuit, 'cause we're dissolving business matters and trying to get things settled properly that was fair for both of us. And we had to walk through that process for that to happen. And it sucks, because it makes headlines and those aren't the headlines you want. And I don't want those headlines with Dave. Those were not the headlines that I am ever proud of in my life. Now, I had to do it — I had to go through the process to have it land where it needed to, for business matters — but no one wants to see their heroes at war."

Last month, Ellefson was asked by the Today's Boondoggle podcast if he would return to MEGADETH if Mustaine called him and asked him to take part in the band's final tour. Ellefson said: "Yeah, of course I would. I mean, I didn't ever think I should not be there now. You know what I mean? [Laughs] So, now with that said, look, there's some shit we'd have to kind of hash through, but look, it was like the last time [in 2010 when I rejoined MEGADETH]. [Prior to that] we didn't talk for — I don't know — four or five years, three or four years, and then [MEGADETH's drummer at the time] Shawn Drover gets us both on the phone. It was, like, a two-minute conversation. I throw a bass in my car, I drive across the desert to San Diego, we plug in, play 'Symphony Of Destruction'. It was like we just played yesterday. It sounded amazing. It immediately sounds like MEGADETH. And it was kind of like we just looked at each other and it was, like, 'Why did we not talk for the last five years?' You know what I mean? It's so silly."

Ellefson went on to say that "it's always some outside forces that pull [Dave and me] apart. It's never really me and him. If it were up to me and him, we'd probably be playing together. But there's always outside influences and advisors and all this bullshit. And so the reality of it is, when Dave and I hang, it's usually pretty chill. It really is. But, look, he's got his own band now. I'm not in that band, and that's his band, so I'm not here to go carving up his group, you know what I mean? But if, look, if he made the call, given it was a friendly environment, which I'm sure it would be, why wouldn't I? You know what I mean? MEGADETH was my band too. It's my lifetime of work as well."

Earlier last month, Ellefson was asked by the Rock 'N' Blues Experience podcast with host Tim Caple if it was a shock to him to hear that MEGADETH was calling it quits. David said: "I knew about it. Obviously, I'm in the business, so I knew about it, which — it was a little shocking. I've known Dave as a workhorse. All things good, bad or indifferent about Dave, he's a pretty fucking tough mule, man. I mean, he's gotten out there and sang and played despite all the odds. And I will give him that. He definitely never backed down to a challenge."

Ellefson continued: "I remember there was a comment some years ago — we were playing a festival in Mexico, and his wife, Pam, had looked over at me, and with him sitting right next to me, [she] goes, 'The old horse is slowing down.' [Laughs] And that was a big gig. It was [with] JUDAS PRIEST and SCORPIONS… And I remember when she said it, it was kind of, like, we are getting up there a little bit, but then I look at the SCORPIONS, and fucking Rudolf Schenker, that guy comes up and hugs you like a Rock 'Em Sock 'Em Robot. You're, like, 'What the fuck did they put in the water in his house?' This guy's well into his 70s, and it's, like, 'Aargh.' Like, Jesus, man. The SCORPIONS are impenetrable; they're strong, like Iron Man."

David added: "I haven't talked to Dave now in four years, so I have no idea the reason or anything about it other than they made their announcement."

Asked what he thinks would happen if he just picked up the phone and called Mustaine, Ellefson said: "Well, even if I had his number — I don't know; he might have changed his number since I [last] talked [to him]. No, but I know what you mean.

"Look, he removed me from the group, so it's not my place to call him to go back," David continued. "I put it out there — I did something on my podcast, I floated it out there and said, hey, look, if it were to be, I'd be up for it. I think it'd be cool. Having just watched what happened in Birmingham [at the 'Back To The Beginning' event] where everybody got together —not only did we get to say goodbye to [BLACK SABBATH], they got to say goodbye to us. And I think that's just as important.

"Dave's closing up shop on MEGADETH, and he's doing it for him, obviously, for his reasons. I think in a perfect world there would be at least a moment where maybe some of, if not all of, the rest of us got a chance to say goodbye as well," Ellefson added. "I think that's a takeaway from Birmingham, is that there's a moment for everybody to just put everything aside and go, 'You know what? That was a fucking good run, man.' And take the final bow together on some level."

Ellefson's ELLEFSON-SOTO bandmate Jeff Scott Soto, who was also part of the interview, chimed in: "I'm sorry, I have to interject here. I absolutely agree with you, David, that it would be a lovely way for it to end or go out is to have the surviving members of this legendary band all together, at least for one more hurrah. But as far as I'm concerned, MEGADETH, you guys [Ellefson and Mustaine] are the Joe Perry and Steven Tyler of this band. And to end this whole legacy without one or the other, to me, is wrong. And I'll put it right here. You can clickbait and Blabbermouth it all you want, Dave Mustaine, you need to call David Ellefson and you need to put him as part of the end — if this is truly the end and you're calling it a wrap, you need to include David at some point, even if it's one show, one song, something like that. To me, that's the true closure. That's the real way to actually close the book on MEGADETH. They have to at least include David, to include Chris Poland and all the others, Jeff Young, all the others that have been involved. That, to me, would be the ultimate farewell, sayonara, all of the above. That needs to happen, as far as I'm concerned. You need to get the Lennon and McCartney, the Joe Perry and the Steven Tyler of this band together for one final hurrah. That's how I see it."

Ellefson previously discussed his reaction to MEGADETH's farewell tour in August in a special episode of his video podcast "The David Ellefson Show". Asked for his "thoughts" on MEGADETH "calling it quits", Ellefson said: "There's a lot, 'cause, of course, it brings up years and years of thoughts, feelings, emotions, some great, some not so great. I always say these gold records on the wall — which, the only reason I have 'em up is 'cause we have a podcast [laughs]; it just makes for a good backdrop — but I look at 'em, 'Countdown [To Extinction]', 'Peace Sells', 'Beavis And Butt-Head', 'Rust In Peace', they all have a story in 'em. And some of the stuff in the '90s were better stories — the band was cohesive, the management was consistent, the music, I think, was collaborative. We went to new heights, we explored new territory that you could only dream of doing, Grammy nominations, festivals, the world for touring was really opening up everywhere. So, really great stuff. In the middle of it, of course, and around it was addictions, rehabs, canceled tours, lost finances in the millions. And so for things to sort of flush out the way that they did with now me not being part of the final farewell of something I started, as one can imagine, [it's] probably not something I'm super happy about. And saying that while still being grateful for all that it was, because I think at some point you have to find a path through it because this is reality."

Referencing Mustaine's debilitating injury in 2002 that caused severe nerve damage to his left arm and hand, and rendered him unable to play the guitar for a while, Ellefson continued: "Look, I feel like Dave Mustaine ended our friendship in 2001, and that was it. And he ended it very loudly, very publicly. He personally signed his name to it. He said we would never play music together again. And that's it. That is it. So from there on, I, I moved on. And I learned from 2002, with the career-ending nerve damage to his arm, and then two years later there's a new album with a new band and new financial terms and I'm not part of it and lawsuits to settle business matters, and just all the things go, there's a whole story there of a lot of this stuff. I was out, then suddenly I was back, and it was great. And he and I tried to mend fences, as I think we did. He was generous to me. Things were good.

"Clearly MEGADETH is a Mustaine family-run business," Ellefson added. "And it started that way, I think, probably a little while after I came back to the band [in 2010]. 'Cause when I came back to the band, it was not — it was Dave. And I kind of became the good friend to Dave. I knew him and he knew me in a way that no one else could. Dave had his friends before me growing up in California, but I've certainly known him one of the longest of most anybody on the planet, at least from inner workings of a band kind of thing. So, as bands go though, there can be tensions, there are all those things. Certainly what was made clear to me in 2004 is, 'Hey, it's a new day. It's a new way. Dave's in charge. It's not gonna be what it was. It's not gonna be collaborative.' [Former MEGADETH drummer] Shawn Drover always used to remind me of that. He goes, 'Dude, those days when of us all getting in a room and writing a record, dude, those days are long gone.' In fact, I remember when I came back and we were doing the 'Th1rt3en' album after about a year on the road, Dave asked me, he said, 'Oh, I'd like to have you write.' I said, 'You know what? No. Why don't you write the songs? I'll play bass for you. Let's just keep it clean. Keep it simple. Let's not even blur the lines.' And that's why I did other musical things. I did the ELLEFSON solo records and various other things to just have a little… I [thought], 'Let me take my creative stuff over there.' I knew in no way was that ever gonna sort of trump the brand, if you will, be bigger than the MEGADETH brand, yet it was a way to have a little creative outlet on the side, kind of get my yayas without interfering with MEGADETH. 'Cause I knew — look, we got it back together. Let's keep it clean, let's keep it simple. Let's just do that. And I think every time we tried to write, it was always a sore spot. It was problematic. And I was, like, 'Oh, I wish we weren't even going down this road.' Now, of course, everybody wants their name on the record, everybody wants to feel some of the financial windfall. And how things are split financially doesn't always have to how they're split with the credits and stuff like that.

"There's a weird thing in bands that how things are financially split… If you're a founding member of a band, to some degree you should be entitled to a piece of every everything and all of it, basically, 'cause it wouldn't exist if you weren't there," David noted. "And that deal got changed in 2004. That immediately changed the landscape. It changed my feelings about it. It drew us into a legal dispute — rightfully so. And no one wins in lawsuits, to some degree, yet sometimes they have to happen because things need to be done the way they need to be done. And I guess the good news for me is financially it landed certainly much better for me, and getting paid directly for my sources rather than… 'Cause sometimes that's what happens, is money goes through the channels of the organization and sometimes people don't get paid. So that needed to happen, and I'm glad I went through the process. It's not a fun process — I didn't sleep for nine months because of it — but that's when I had my little band F5 and I was trying to at least kind of keep my nose creatively involved in some stuff.

"So, there's a lot of history here with this band. This band started with a resentment. It started with a 'fuck you', Dave's sort of revenge against [his former band] METALLICA. And it wasn't entirely that. I mean, that gets a little blown out of proportion. To some degree, Dave was his own artist away from METALLICA. He had 'Mechanix' and some songs before METALLICA, and he certainly wrote songs after. So I think that that's a little unfair to paint that entirely on Dave that MEGADETH was just this revenge toward METALLICA. It may have been often fueled by it, but how could it not be? He was not a founding member of METALLICA. He was there for, as I always call it, a year and a half in the life of METALLICA. And [he] certainly changed the course of what they did. But they went on and had their own successes.

"But, look, for Dave to call it quits or to retire, I should say… Farewell… I don't even know if he's retiring. He's just basically saying MEGADETH's over… Would I like to be a part of it? Yeah, of course. Who wouldn't?" he admitted. "I'm a founding member of it. I'm a 30-plus-year member of it. Is that gonna happen? Who knows? It's too early to tell. I don't know what they have planned. I have no idea what it is. They just made an announcement about it. Do I think there should be some sort of farewell that everybody gets to participate in? I mean, look, [the] 'Back To The Beginning' [concert in Birmingham] with BLACK SABBATH. Look, they made nice. They brought all four of BLACK SABBATH['s original members]. They brought everybody back. You had [former Ozzy Osbourne guitarist] Jake [E. Lee]. Now, was everybody there? No. There were some key people — Bob Daisley — some people that weren't there. But for the most part, they brought a lot of the people back. And just speaking of BLACK SABBATH, they brought the original, the core four back, and they said goodbye. Not only did they say goodbye, everybody got to say goodbye to them. And I think when you're doing a farewell, that's important, that you get to say goodbye and everybody gets to say goodbye to you. I think that that's an important part of it. But that's me. I'm not in the band anymore. I have no say in it. So that's just me. That's just one guy with an opinion, quite honestly."

After podcast co-host Joshua Toomey opined that "everyone that was ever in MEGADETH should also be able to say their farewell too" and be part of the celebrations in some way, Ellefson said: "Well, I strongly stand against the notion that MEGADETH was only Dave Mustaine, 'cause it wasn't. And everybody knows that. So, if Dave needs to retire, wants to retire, I get it. I understand. He's given a lot. It's taken a lot out of him. It's taken certainly a toll on him, as anyone can imagine. So, look, God bless you, brother. If you're done, this is it, you wanna go do something else with your life, spend time with your family, just not play guitar, I get it. I mean, dude, believe me, I'm 60. There's some days I just kind of go, 'God, really? Should I write another album, another song? Do I really wanna go on stage?' And the answer always comes back to yes, I do. So I do. So I can't speak for him, and I'm not gonna speak for him. But, look, again, I haven't talked to the guy now in four and a half years, so I have no idea what his reasoning is, what the thinking is behind it.

"Someone made a point, they said we're all fans of MEGADETH music, even if we're not maybe fans of a particular lineup of the band, or we're not fans of certain members of the band, we still all love MEGADETH music," he continued. "And I thought, okay, I'm down with that. I can get behind that."

Referencing Mustaine's decision to fire Ellefson in May 2021 after sexually tinged messages and explicit video footage involving the bassist were posted on Twitter, David said: "It's unfortunate that things landed between me and Dave where they did, because as I said right from the beginning, they didn't have to. And I made it very clear on the phone call when they were firing me that they didn't have to do that. It was unnecessary. Whatever those circumstances are were nothing to be feared. We can move on. But whatever. They made their decision, so let the chips fall where they may. I don't really even like going back to that period of time, because I felt like there was a lot leading up to that stuff behind the scenes, conversations that Dave and I were having about things that maybe we just weren't agreeing on. And that's okay. You can agree to disagree. You don't have to agree on everything.

"[OVERKILL singer] Bobby Blitz said something really good to me when I was touring with OVERKILL," Ellefson added. "'Cause he said he and D.D. [Verni, OVERKILL bassist], they're the boss. They run OVERKILL, they run the band. And he said, 'No matter how we go into the room with separate ideas, we come out as one voice.' And I thought, 'Man, that's a great way to put it.' And I always felt like Dave and I did that. No matter what we felt like when we got in the room, we leave this room as one voice. And Dave being the leader, Dave being the self-appointed voice of the group, let him have that voice. So I always felt like I stood behind that. I was unified with him. Whether I agreed with it or not, you get on board with it and that's what it is, and you go with that. And look, for the most part, Dave's way worked pretty good. I wasn't there to defy that."

In a press release announcing MEGADETH's final album and farewell tour, Mustaine thanked fans for their commitment and love while celebrating the band's impact on the music world.

"There's so many musicians that have come to the end of their career, whether accidental or intentional," Mustaine said. "Most of them don't get to go out on their own terms on top, and that's where I'm at in my life right now. I have traveled the world and have made millions upon millions of fans and the hardest part of all of this is saying goodbye to them."

He continued. "We can't wait for you to hear this album and see us on tour. If there was ever a perfect time for us to put out a new album, it's now. If there was ever a perfect time to tour the world, it's now. This is also a perfect time for us to tell you that it's our last studio album. We've made a lot of friends over the years and I hope to see all of you on our global farewell tour.

"Don't be mad, don't be sad, be happy for us all, come celebrate with me these next few years. We have done something together that's truly wonderful and will probably never happen again. We started a musical style, we started a revolution, we changed the guitar world and how it's played, and we changed the world. The bands I played in have influenced the world. I love you all for it. Thank you for everything."

Ellefson was in MEGADETH from the band's inception in 1983 to 2002, when the group briefly broke up because Mustaine suffered severe nerve damage that left him unable to play. After Mustaine reformed MEGADETH with an all-new lineup in 2004, Ellefson sued his former bandmate for $18.5 million, alleging that Mustaine still owed him substantial merchandise and publishing royalties. In January 2005, the case was dismissed in court, and five years later, Ellefson rejoined MEGADETH.

Back in October 2022, Mustaine once again said that he was the sole founding member of MEGADETH. The guitarist/vocalist made the comment in an interview with LifeMinute to promote "The Sick, The Dying... And The Dead!". While discussing the MEGADETH "sound", the now 63-year-old musician said: "There's a misnomer that there were two people that founded MEGADETH. I was the founder; I was the only one in the beginning. There was a bass player before who just was… who just left. So it's been my vision. When I got kicked out of METALLICA, I got kicked out of METALLICA; no one else was with me on the bus coming home."

Mustaine's comments came nearly seven years after he implied in an interview with the Cape Girardeau, Missouri radio station Real Rock 99.3 that Ellefson was not a founding member of the band because, he said, "MEGADETH was already in its formative phase long before I even knew David Ellefson." Ellefson later said that he was "technically" a founding member of MEGADETH because he was "in the room" the day MEGADETH decided to change its name from the previous working moniker of FALLEN ANGEL at the suggestion of the band's then-guitarist Greg Handevidt.

In February 2016, just a month after his original remarks were published on BLABBERMOUTH.NET, Mustaine was asked by Ticketmaster what it means to have a longtime collaborator like Ellefson back in the band after so many lineup changes. He responded: "David and I have been friends for a long time, even during the lawsuit. I had made it clear that I loved him, and I loved his family. I said that the truth would come out and that it was very unfortunate. The lawsuit was dismissed, I forgave him, and we got back in business again. It's been fun ever since."

He continued: "There's a couple web sites out there that don't like me and they're trying to twist some of my words around about David Ellefson being in the band or not being in the band, or being a founding member or not being a founding member. And that shit don't matter, because it's a gossip web site. The truth is, me and Dave are partners, we make good music together, he's in MEGADETH, we're going on tour. Hopefully people will know when they see him on stage and not think he's somebody else. [Laughs]"

In February 2016, Ellefson was asked by Cranked Up Live about Mustaine's comments to Real Rock 99.3 where the MEGADETH leader implied that Ellefson was not a founding member of the band. Ellefson said: "Well, it's interesting… Yeah, I did see [the article on BLABBERMOUTH.NET]. And it's interesting. The headline was very misleading and was obviously meant… It was very inflammatory. It was meant to be a hamburger bomb thrown over into the middle of our campaign. And I think I saw it as that. So, again, open the story, read it. They didn't even say that. They didn't even say what the headline says. That headline was misconstrued.

"Now, look, when Dave came home from METALLICA, he had another bass player, kind of a kid he was almost teaching how to play bass, and another guitar player he had been working with a little bit, and a singer, named Lor. And those were kind of the first people that, I think, in April and May of 1983 that Dave was just kicking some ideas around [with], seeing if he could get anything going. But the day me and my friend Greg Handevidt knocked on Dave's door and asked him where to buy some cigarettes and beer, that was the day that there was a unity that moved forward, because me, Greg, Dave, that singer Lor and our drummer Dijon Carruthers, who helped create a lot of the lyrics and the concept of 'Black Friday' on the 'Peace Sells' record, that was… we were the group that were rehearsing for a few weeks, working on these new songs Dave was writing. And one day we came back to… I think it was me and Greg's apartment… And it was Greg who suggested… We were talking about band names, and Greg suggested… There was a name kicking around, FALLEN ANGEL, that I think Dave… That was kind of working title that he had. But he had a song called 'Megadeth', which was later retitled to become 'Set The World Afire'. And it was my friend Greg who suggested, 'I think we should call the band MEGADETH.' And it was decided that day, so, I mean, technically, whoever was in the room that day was a founding member of MEGADETH. And, again, I don't know why there has to be so much importance on that. I know, I was there. And quickly, all those other members either scattered or were let go, and within a month or so, it was me and Dave standing next to each other — Dave and Dave of this new group called MEGADETH."

As part of his set during his recently launched fall 2025 U.S. tour with Richie Kotzen, MÖTLEY CRÜE guitarist John 5 is playing a medley of some of the band's greatest hits, including "Home Sweet Home", "Wild Side", "Girls, Girls, Girls" and "Dr. Feelgood".

Fan-filmed video of John 5 performing the MÖTLEY CRÜE medley on October 18 at Goldfield Trading Post in Roseville, California can be seen below (as uploaded by the markmunoz22 channel on YouTube).

John 5 joined MÖTLEY CRÜE in the fall of 2022 as the replacement for the band's co-founding guitarist Mick Mars. Mick announced his retirement from touring with MÖTLEY CRÜE in October 2022 as a result of worsening health issues.

In a recent interview with Meltdown of Detroit's WRIF radio station, John 5 spoke about MÖTLEY CRÜE's Las Vegas residency, which 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 last Christmas. Asked how the residency went, from his point of view, John 5 said: "So, here's the thing: I was so excited for it, 'cause I've never done a residency. And I've always wanted to do a residency. I love Vegas. I love the desert. And I was so excited. I was so excited.

"And we get there. And I had my hotel room," he continued. "And the guys were just — after a show, they'd fly home. And I just stayed and I enjoyed — 'cause I love being on the road. I like the hotel, I like the room service, I like the whole thing. I mean, I came back a couple of times here and there.

"The real magic was Vince Neil," John 5 added. "What he went through and his struggles and how he performed and how he sang, I'll never forget it for the rest of my life. He did such a great job, and I was so proud of him because I knew what hell he went through, and I was so happy for the guy. What he said — he even said it — he was in a wheelchair and then he had to learn how to walk again. And I was, like, 'Oh my God.' The struggle and how terrifying that must have been. So that was the real magic of that residency. And I'm telling you right now — every single show was amazing. There wasn't a bad show. And I listen and I read those comments and I listen and I'm so focused in on every show. And every show was awesome. I was so proud of him."

Asked if there was a point, in his mind, when he found out what happened to Vince, that he thought he might never be able to play with MÖTLEY CRÜE again, John 5 said: "Well, I wasn't sure. Nobody really knew anything. And I would text with Vince, and he would say, 'Oh, I'm doing good, I'm doing good,' and things like that. But no one really knew what was going on. You heard rumblings. So it was wild."

Asked what were the highlights of the residency were for him, John 5 said: "So, they had this thing, like in 'Kiss Alive II', where I would go up on these risers at the end of 'Kickstart My Heart', or during the whole song, actually. So you go up on these risers — I don't know if you saw it on my Instagram, 'cause there's a lot of pictures of it — but you go up on these risers, just like in 'Kiss [Alive II]', and you're going up and up. And we were at the top of the venue, me and Nikki [Sixx, MÖTLEY CRÜE bassist] — Nikki was on one side; I was on the other. And we'd get up there during the song. But what other bands, like KISS, did, they would get strapped in and get all set up before the song starts. Oh, no — not us. During the song, me and Nikki had to get up there while still playing, and we'd have to get up on the risers while we were playing. And I was, like, 'Hey, are we gonna be strapped in?' They're, like, 'No, you're not strapped in.' I'm, like, 'Oh, okay.' So there was this little metal bar that kind of went around, and so I, luckily, just figured out, 'I'm gonna put my arm around the metal bar and play, so I could hold on if something happened, God forbid.' So we're up there. And we did it at rehearsal, and we were, like, we just have to concentrate and hold on. So the first show, I'm going up, going up, going up, and I have my arm around and I'm playing and all this stuff. Then the confetti canons come, and no one told me the confetti cannons were coming. So at the time the confetti cannons go, I'm playing the solo in 'Kickstart My Heart'. So not only am I trying to balance, not fall and kill myself, play on time and in tune, and confetti is in my — I mean, I am covered. I can't see my hand in front of my face. And no safety harness or anything. And it was the greatest… It was awesome. It was so fun. It was just a blast."

John 5 went on to say that he and MÖTLEY CRÜE drummer Tommy Lee "had so much fun" during the Las Vegas residency. "His birthday was the last show," John 5 recalled. "For our birthdays — we're always together on our birthdays. So it's like a pact — we have to be together. So it was a show day, and I got him these — we both had these penis squirt guns, which I think is so smart. Why aren't these a thing? But I guess they are a thing, 'cause I got him these penis squirt guns and you hold the balls and you just squeeze the trigger and it comes out of the penis. And so he loves this, so he is just having so much fun and stuff, and he takes it to the meet-and-greet. And so he's squirting everybody at the meet-and-greet. Every day we had a blast. It was just so much fun."

Last month, Vince revealed that he had actually had a series of strokes before he suffered the "big one" in his sleep last Christmas night, rendering him unable to get out of bed when he woke up the next day. Speaking to SiriusXM's "Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk" on September 24, Neil said he'd had "four strokes throughout the years. Two of 'em I didn't even know I had. One of 'em was a mini stroke that happened and I just lost feeling in my hand. And that was it. And I got over that pretty quickly. But then this last one, it was a big one."

When Trunk asked how doctors could tell that Neil had had previous strokes, the singer explained, "because they could see it in your brain. It's scarred right around the same spot. I had four scars in my brain, and the neurologist said those are all strokes." Neil added that you can have a small stroke and not even realize it.

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. Neil told "Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk" that he went to sleep on Christmas night and then woke up and couldn't get out of bed.

"I'm, like, 'What's going on?' And my left leg wouldn't work, and my left arm wouldn't work. So I had to get help out of bed. I couldn't push myself up to get myself comfortable in bed. And I had to have help," he said. "And slowly but surely, the sensation came back in my legs. And I had to learn to walk again. I went from a wheelchair to a walker to a cane to — I can walk now, but for five months it was just off and on, not knowing what's gonna happen. And the doctor said that I probably wouldn't be on stage again. And I was, like, 'No, man. I can't do that.' And so I just tried. I worked my butt off to get back in shape to go on stage. And I was really sad to have to cancel those shows, but I just wasn't ready yet. I wasn't ready to be back on stage yet. It was really sad, but it's really worth it now, 'cause I can get on stage and sing and all that good stuff."

It's soon approaching! US TOUR with Richie Kotzen begins 16th Oct! Who's coming!??

Tix and VIP - john-5.com

Posted by John 5 on Tuesday, September 30, 2025

In a new interview with Colombia's Radioacktiva, GUNS N' ROSES bassist Duff McKagan was asked what he has learned from playing with such a wide variety of musicians, including his GN'R bandmates, as well as members of ALICE IN CHAINS and JANE'S ADDICTION, among others. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "I take it all in. I love playing with the guys I play with right now, with GUNS. I mean, playing with Slash. And we have a new drummer, Isaac [Carpenter]. And Richard Fortus and Axl [Rose], of course, and Melissa [Reese] and Dizzy [Reed], I learned so much from those players. When I played with Jerry Cantrell, I learned a lot. When I played with Joe Perry and Alice Cooper — I always learn and I watch. I observe, like I do when I tour — I observe and learn and soak in their talent, and try to learn something from it."

Duff also spoke in more detail about Isaac, who replaced longtime GUNS N' ROSES drummer Frank Ferrer in March. He said: "So, Isaac I've known since he was 19. He's 45 now. So, I knew him when he was in [late 1990s / early 2000s band] LOUDERMILK. I'm from Seattle. LOUDERMILK's from the same region. So they were about to make it big. Everybody thought they were great. They put out that record. It was on Interscope. Nothing really happened for them. And Isaac and I, we started — he was in [Duff's band] LOADED for a record. He toured with LOADED. He started playing with Adam Lambert and then AWOLNATION. He plays on TOOL records. He plays on a lot of stuff. And he's just the best drummer I know. And so when we were trying out drummers, I said, 'We've gotta put Isaac in there.' We're his favorite band, so he knows every song better than us."

Duff previously talked about Isaac this past May in a video on his YouTube channel in which he answered a number of fan-submitted questions. Asked how long he has known Isaac, Duff said: "I have known Isaac since he was in his first band called LOUDERMILK. They were in high school. They're from Washington state, so not far from Seattle. And I'd heard about the band. They got signed to American Records — Def Jam, basically, Rick Rubin's label. And they made a record. And they were, like, 18 years old. I think I met Isaac when he was 19. And I loved his band LOUDERMILK. A bunch of years — a few years later, like nine years later, I needed a drummer for LOADED and Isaac's name came up. He was coming through somewhere I was at, and he came and we played together. And [I told him], 'I have this tour. Would you wanna do it?' And he was in. Then he and I made 'The Taking' record. He and I wrote a lot of the songs for that record together in his garage. And I wrote a lot of my book, believe it or not… He had this couch in his garage that was really old and it would hurt my back. And it's where I found I could write my darker sections of my book better 'cause I was in physical pain. So I'd actually come over to his house just to use his garage and that couch to write. So I've known him for a long time, I guess. Now that I think about it — 25 years. And it's great to have him in the band. It's fucking awesome."

Asked what Isaac brings to GUNS N' ROSES that might have been missing before, Duff said: "I'll tell you what Isaac brings to the band. No commentary on Frank, 'cause Frank's a lovely guy. Isaac has got this ability, though, to swing and groove that only a few drummers have. [Former GUNS N' ROSES drummer] Steven had it as well, Steven Adler, and [former GUNS N' ROSES drummer] Matt [Sorum] is a great, solid drummer with amazing fills — and Matt's amazing. They're both amazing drummers. And Isaac somehow blends both of those two guys and adds his own thing. So he adds a new sort of excitement to the songs. And the groove and swing of the songs right now with Isaac is super impressive and super fun."

GUNS N' ROSES kicked off its 2025 world tour on May 1 at Incheon, South Korea's Songdo Moonlight Festival Park. The concert marked the band's first live appearance with Carpenter.

Carpenter, born in Washington's Tri-Cities, is an accomplished American drummer and songwriter known for his dynamic contributions to alternative, hard rock, and beyond. He rose to prominence in 1995 by co-founding LOUDERMILK while in high school, only to be signed to Rick Rubin's label American. Carpenter's career spans an impressive roster of acts, including live and studio work with Duff McKagan's LOADED, AWOLNATION, Adam Lambert, the hardcore metal outfit BARBARIANS OF CALIFORNIA, A PERFECT CIRCLE, THE EXIES, OURS and BLACK LAB, in addition to his large session film and TV roster. Carpenter has made a name for himself by uniquely blending versatility and groove with crushing force and technical skill, cementing his reputation as a multifaceted drummer in the industry.

Frank first joined GUNS N' ROSES during a show in June 2006, helping anchor the rhythm section during subsequent tours, including their recent outings featuring the reunited trio of singer Axl Rose, guitarist Slash and McKagan. Ferrer's last show with the band took place November 5, 2023 in Mexico.

Ferrer laid down drums tracks on five songs on GUNS N' ROSES' most recent studio album, 2008's "Chinese Democracy". He also appeared on the live portion of 2022's "Hard Skool" EP, with former drummer Bryan "Brain" Mantia appearing on the studio tracks and GUNS' ROSES' 2023 singles "Perhaps" and "The General".

During this past Friday's (October 17) "Tribute To Ace Frehley" episode of SiriusXM's "Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk", EXTREME guitarist Nuno Bettencourt spoke about original KISS axeman Ace Frehley who died a day earlier at the age of 74. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET):  "I don't think any of us really prepare to pass away or prepare for people to go. Some religions, like Buddhists do, which I think is a good thing. But the reason I say this is because it is sad when somebody passe[s] — Ozzy [Osbourne] and now Ace, especially — but, man, think about it for a second. How incredible, what a miracle it's been a run that Ace has had? Even getting [to that age] — I hope I get to the age of 74, you know what I mean? And to do what he's done and to party like he partied and to be able to do the music and to contribute the music that he's gonna have that's gonna live decades and centuries after he's gone, it's quite a run, man. It's a great run."

Asked by host Eddie Trunk how Ace inspired and influenced him as a guitar player, Nuno said: "Listen, Ace came from a very sort of — I call it 'simplexity'. It's not simple and it's not complex. It's simplexity. You're in a place where you play the perfect solos, much like you would hear. You hear in [the American new wave band] THE CARS by Elliot Easton — they're just solos and tasty, memorable things that just happen in songs, which is a lot more difficult to do than the complex stuff. I know that sounds crazy. Everybody thinks you play technical and you play fast, and that's harder. It isn't. It takes a lot more courage and it takes a lot more style to kind of tone it down and play what's right for the song, and that's what Ace did in KISS — memorable riffs, memorable solos. But what was more influential, though, as a kid is… We were listening to musicians before and we wanted to play only play guitar and wanted to be guitarists, but when we saw Ace and when we saw KISS, we started learning how it was to perform, how to put on a show, how to be a bit of a guitar [hero] — what a guitar hero looks like; not just a guitar player. And he changed the game in that way. And so did KISS in general. So imagine being seven, eight years old, six years old, and seeing this and staring, just for hours and hours staring at the 'Destroyer' album cover, the 'Love Gun' album cover. It was a culture that they were giving us. It was character. What they did really almost shaped your childhood, not just musically, but culturally. And you don't realize the impact until somebody passes away and you kind of reflect and you're, like, 'Wow.' You go back to listening to those albums and discovering those songs and just what it did to your life. And there was a bond between you and your friends that were all into KISS that was very different than other bands… It would be one of those things where it was religion."

The news of Ace's passing came just hours after TMZ reported that Ace was hospitalized on life support after he suffered a brain bleed when he took a fall in his studio a couple of weeks earlier.

Frehley, whose real name was Paul Daniel Frehley, passed away peacefully surrounded by family in Morristown, New Jersey.

TMZ reported earlier on Thursday that Frehley was on life support. He had to cancel his tour dates and his condition had not improved after suffering from a brain bleed from the fall.

Ace co-founded KISS with Paul Stanley, Gene Simmons and Peter Criss in New York City in 1973. Frehley appeared on KISS's first nine albums, and returned for the band's 1998 reunion album, "Psycho Circus", only to leave again. He was inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame with the rest of KISS's original lineup in 2014.

Frehley first left KISS in 1982. He rejoined in 1996 and parted ways with the band once again in 2002 after the conclusion of KISS's first "farewell tour." Since his departure, guitarist Tommy Thayer had assumed the role of the Spaceman.

Ace Frehley photo credit: Jayme Thornton

Sony Pictures Classics' "Becoming Led Zeppelin", the first-ever sanctioned film on the band in the almost 57 years since the formation of the notoriously private group, has been nominated for "Best Music Documentary" at the 2025 Critics Choice Documentary Awards.

The winners of tenth annual Critics Choice Documentary Awards will be revealed at a gala event on Sunday, November 9, 2025 at The Edison Ballroom in Manhattan. Hosted by award-winning actor, writer, and producer Aasif Mandvi, the milestone event will bring together leading filmmakers, industry professionals, and special guests for an evening celebrating excellence in documentary filmmaking.

The Critics Choice Association honors the year's finest achievements in documentaries released in theaters, on TV, and on major digital platforms, as determined by the voting of qualified CCA members. Nominations are determined by the voting of qualified CCA members with expertise in the documentary field. The tenth annual awards ceremony is produced by Bob Bain of Bob Bain Productions and Joey Berlin of Berlin Entertainment.

"The nominated films and series this year remind us how documentary storytelling can illuminate truth, inspire empathy, and deepen our understanding of the world," said Christopher Campbell, Critics Choice Association's VP, Documentary. "We're thrilled to recognize the filmmakers whose vision and dedication keep the art form evolving."

This past February, "Becoming Led Zeppelin" gave a record-breaking performance for its first weekend at the box office as it opened to an impressive $3 million IMAX debut across 16 countries and territories. Domestically, the film's $2.6 million start ($7,000 per-screen average) represented the biggest opening weekend ever for an IMAX-exclusive music release.

"Becoming Led Zeppelin" explores the origins of this iconic group and their meteoric rise in just one year against all the odds, providing an unparalleled look at the how the rock band came together as audiences witness firsthand the formation of their first two official tours and the creation of their history-making, self-titled debut and sophomore albums.

Powered by awe-inspiring, psychedelic, never-before-seen footage, interviews, performances and music, Bernard MacMahon's experiential cinematic odyssey explores LED ZEPPELIN's creative, musical, and personal origin story, with unprecedented access to the group and their archives that solidifies the film as the definitive LED ZEPPELIN documentary.

The hybrid docu-concert film also unveils a huge amount of rare and unseen LED ZEPPELIN performance footage. The result is a visceral musical experience that will transport audiences into the concert halls and musical lives of LED ZEPPELIN during their earliest tours, accompanied by intimate, exclusive commentary from the famously private band.

"Becoming Led Zeppelin" is a movie that almost didn't come to fruition — the filmmakers were up against epic challenges, including the fact that hardly any footage from the band's early period existed. MacMahon and producer Allison McGourty embarked on a global detective search for material to illustrate the band's story.

"Becoming Led Zeppelin" is directed by the award-winning, Emmy- and BAFTA-nominated Bernard MacMahon ("American Epic"),and written by MacMahon and BAFTA-nominated producer Allison McGourty. It is produced by McGourty and Paradise Pictures in association with Big Beach, alongside executive producers Michael B Clark, Alex Turtletaub, Cynthia Heusing, David Kistenbroker, Duke Erikson, Simon Moran, and Ged Doherty. Editing is by Dan Gitlin, sound supervision is by Nick Bergh, sound restoration is by Grammy Award winner Peter Henderson, with archival research from Kate Griffiths and Rich Remsberg.

In a new interview with the "Music And We" podcast, METALLICA drummer Lars Ulrich was asked to name a song that he remembers hearing early on in his life that helped him "fall in love with music". He responded in part (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "The first one that comes to mind… So I've told the story many, many times about my dad taking me to see DEEP PURPLE in Copenhagen [Denmark] in 1973. And that began the musical journey. Everything that was coming to Denmark at that time that was rock music was coming out of England; it was not so much coming out of America. So it was a lot of English pop music and English pop rock music. So, T. REX and SWEET and SLADE and a lot of that stuff. DEEP PURPLE was the beginning of me expanding that musical horizon. And so when I think back to those very formative years, the DEEP PURPLE song 'Child In Time', which I first heard on the 'Made In Japan' album that literally just like two months ago celebrated its 50th anniversary. And that song, it sort of had an epic feel and a different kind of feel than some of the other songs, and had these dynamics and felt more like a journey. And so that felt like a journey, like a story. When you were listening to that song, that was a sort of an experience that kept evolving as you were listening to it. And what I then subsequently sort of started to understand is that unlike some other shorter rock songs that pretty much were — and I don't wanna mention names, 'cause I don't wanna say it as a bad thing — but here's a three-minute pop-rock song that's always just this three-minute pop-rock song or whatever. But as I've started understanding more about DEEP PURPLE particularly, every time they played this song, it was different. And so circling back to the 50th-anniversary release of 'Made In Japan', for instance, on that… So, 'Made In Japan' was three concerts — two in Osaka and one in Tokyo in the August of 1972 — and then the best version of each of these songs were put out on 'Made In Japan'. But in the reissue, they have all three concerts in their entirety. So if you hear 'Child In Time' from three nights in a row — they played those three concerts in a row; 15, 16, 17th of August — they're completely different in length, they're completely different in their sort of dynamics and it's completely just mood based. What sort of mood are they in? What mood is particularly [then-DEEP PURPLE guitarist] Ritchie Blackmore in as he's taking the solo and all that? And that song was sort of the first understanding that I had of that type of stuff, where you started off so eloquently to talk about jazz and whether it's Miles [Davis] or [John] Coltrane or Sonny Rollins or Dexter Gordon or any of these wonderful artists that would often take — and maybe later guys like Ornette Coleman and so on — who would be very avantgarde and freeform, and it would make a lot of it up in the moment, depending on what mood they were in and all that type of stuff. But DEEP PURPLE's 'Child In Time' was the first time I was exposed to music that lived and breathed depending on what mood the players were in. And that has left a mark on me… But all these wonderful artists that do that type of stuff, where the music lives and breathes depending on the moods of the performance, which, as you know, increasingly, certainly in today's age, is rare and rare. [It happens] less and less."

Back in April 20216, Ulrich spoke to Radio.com about his love for DEEP PURPLE, the band that he inducted that month during the 2016 Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame ceremony at Brooklyn, New York's Barclays Center. Ulrich said: "When I grew up in Copenhagen, Denmark in the '70s, DEEP PURPLE was the biggest rock band. They were three big bands at the time: LED ZEPPELIN, BLACK SABBATH and DEEP PURPLE. And DEEP PURPLE, in Scandinavia and Germany and so on, were the biggest; people were just more aware of them. LED ZEPPELIN had a tendency, or were probably more appreciated in the United States. And BLACK SABBATH, obviously, were super heavy, but I just didn't get to them until a few years later."

He continued: "DEEP PURPLE were an incredible live force. They were known for their instrumental… I mean, they were really, really technically efficient, and every night when they would play a show, it would be different than the night before and the night following. They had all these three- or four or five-minute songs on their records that would turn into ten-, fifteen-, twenty-minute songs live. You never quite knew what was gonna happen. Ritchie Blackmore, the lead guitar player and this kind of legendary, impulsive, unpredictable character would always take the band in different directions and there was a lot of kind of interesting push and pull between the players. I mean, there were nights when they would almost get into a jazz place. I mean, it was like a totally different thing."

Ulrich added: "ZEPPELIN was a little bit more blues based. SABBATH was also… it had kind of a heavier, blues type of thing. DEEP PURPLE just came from some place else, and there was a technical efficiency that was just unparalleled at that time. And then, obviously, a string of singles — from 'Smoke On The Water' to 'Strange Kind Of Woman' to 'Woman From Tokyo' to 'Space Truckin'' and then 'Highway Star' and all the rest of them that were huge, huge hits… And their musical legacy, what they spawned, between the members of DEEP PURPLE to RAINBOW to WHITESNAKE to all these bands that… Ian Gillan's solo band… I mean, their legacy just continued to sort of grow and grow over the last thirty years. And they're actually still playing… different lineup and so on. But the DEEP PURPLE family tree is spreading far and wide all over the world still."

Ulrich played tennis professionally as a teenager and could have gone on to a career as a tennis star, but chose music instead.

METALLICA was formed when Ulrich, who had moved to Los Angeles, placed an ad in a local paper called the Recycler looking for other musicians to play with. The ad was answered by guitarists James Hetfield and Hugh Tanner of the band LEATHER CHARM.

METALLICA officially formed in October 1981 and the band's first recording was "Hit The Lights" for the compilation "Metal Massacre".

Bay Area DJ Ron Quintana came up with the group's name: he was debating between using "Metallica" and "Metal Mania" for the name of his radio show and Ulrich encouraged him to use "Metal Mania" so that he could use "Metallica" for his new band.

METALLICA's first full lineup — featuring Hetfield, Ulrich, guitarist Dave Mustaine and bassist Ron McGovney — played its first gig on March 14, 1982 at Radio City in Anaheim, California.

Fan-filmed video of JUDAS PRIEST's October 18 concert at North Island Credit Union Amphitheatre in Chula Vista, California can be seen below.

The band's setlist was as follows, according to Setlist.fm:

01. All Guns Blazing
02. Hell Patrol
03. You've Got Another Thing Comin'
04. Freewheel Burning
05. Breaking The Law
06. A Touch Of Evil
07. Night Crawler
08. Solar Angels
09. Gates Of Hell
10. The Hellion / Electric Eye
11. Giants In The Sky
12. Painkiller
13. Hell Bent For Leather
14. Living After Midnight

Produced by Live Nation, PRIEST's 22-city tour with Alice Cooper kicked off September 16 at Mississippi Coast Coliseum in Biloxi, Mississippi, with stops in Toronto, Phoenix, Los Angeles, and more before wrapping October 26 at The Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion in The Woodlands, Texas.

In a recent interview with Anne Erickson of Audio Ink Radio, JUDAS PRIEST bassist Ian Hill was asked about the possibility of a follow-up to the band's latest album, "Invincible Shield", which came out in March 2024. He said: "There's plans to go back into the studio in the new year. So when it'll be released, I don't know. It's a long process. We're in no rush either, so it'll be a while. But the recording is gonna happen, it looks like, next year."

Asked if he and the other members of PRIEST have started writing new music at all on the road, Ian said: "I know Richie [Faulkner, PRIEST guitarist] has. He's got quite a few ideas together, yeah. So we've got a head start there."

As for PRIEST's touring plans in support of the next studio album, Hill said: "Well, that'll happen as well. Obviously, if you have an album, you have to go out and tour with it. So, yeah, that'll happen too."

"Invincible Shield" entered the U.K. chart at No. 2, just behind Ariana Grande's "Eternal Sunshine".

Prior to "Invincible Shield"'s arrival, PRIEST's highest U.K. chart achievement was with 1980's "British Steel", which reached No. 4.

PRIEST's 2018 album "Firepower" entered the chart at No. 5.

"Invincible Shield" was JUDAS PRIEST's fifth Top 10 album, after the aforementioned "British Steel" and "Firepower", as well as 2014's "Redeemer Of Souls" (No. 6) and the 1979 live album "Unleashed In The East" (No. 10).

"Invincible Shield" landed at No. 1 in Germany, Finland, Sweden and Switzerland, as well as No. 5 in France, No. 8 in Italy and No. 16 in Australia

During the European leg of JUDAS PRIEST's "Shield Of Pain" tour, the band's setlist included seven tracks from PRIEST's 1990 album "Painkiller", which is celebrating its 35th anniversary this year.

In addition to performing the "Painkiller" title track, PRIEST played "All Guns Blazing", "Hell Patrol", "A Touch Of Evil", "Night Crawler", "One Shot At Glory" and "Between The Hammer And The Anvil" from the same LP.

When PRIEST first announced the "Shield Of Pain" tour last fall, the band promised a "rare" and "unique set" which would include "beloved classics" and would "be defending the metal faith in a truly memorable experience throughout Europe".

During this past Friday's (October 17) "Tribute To Ace Frehley" episode of SiriusXM's "Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk", ANTHRAX and PANTERA drummer Charlie Benante reflected on his KISS fandom, particularly as it relates to the latter band's original guitarist Ace Frehley who died on October 16 at the age of 74. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Ace, for me, was, of course, the guitar player in KISS that when it came time for the light to go on him, he just shined so much. I always equated Ace to [THE BEATLES'] George Harrison. Once George Harrison had a chance to do a solo album — oh my god, what a solo album that was. It's the same thing with Ace. When they all released their solo albums. Ace is the one that, for me, originally was, like, 'Wow, this one is exactly what I thought it would be and more.'"

Charlie continued: "When I was in Vegas, I went to see 'The Wizard Of Oz'. And I equate certain things to 'The Wizard Of Oz' with KISS for myself. Dorothy's three uncles, the way she looks at them, and then how they were the Tin Man, the Scarecrow and the Cowardly Lion. That's how I always thought of KISS. Those guys are like our four uncles that, yes, we weren't related, but God, they had such a vibe with us that it was like family."

Referencing the fact that KISS bassist and co-lead singer Gene Simmons officiated the wedding ceremony of Benante and his longtime girlfriend, former BUTCHER BABIES and current THE VIOLENT HOUR vocalist Carla Harvey, on October 12 at The Secret Garden in Las Vegas, Nevada, Charlie said: "It was the strangest thing because we just saw Gene at the wedding. And as I'm sitting with Gene, it's hard for the 13-year-old in me not to come out. It's impossible. And I think we all can understand that and we all can relate to it. So when one of them passes, it's a profound thing that happens to all of us because a part of our childhood is gone as well.

"Ace, to me, was the clumsy one in the band that we all kind of thought was the fucking coolest," Benante explained. "And just the way he played and his moves — it was magic.

"I never loved [just] one of them; I loved all four of them. I couldn't buy one of something of theirs; I had to buy all four of them, because that's how much each one of them meant to me."

Circling back to Ace's death, Charlie concluded: "This is a big thing, man. This is a big thing for all of us."

Back in 2005, Benante named KISS's "Alive!" as an album that changed his life, telling Greg Prato of Classic Rock magazine: "The first time I ever heard KISS' 'Alive!', I was at a party at a friend's house. The only thing I'd head prior to that as far as KISS was concerned was 'Dressed to Kill'. I was already a fan because of that, but when 'Alive!' came out, it was a totally different thing.

"The thing that I remember most about it was just staring at the package — it opened out to a gatefold, and there was a huge booklet in it. I remember staring at it and being like, 'What the hell?!' Because you would listen to the record and you would visualize in your own mind how it was. You had all these different things.

"I remember early on, when I first heard KISS, I used to think that Paul Stanley's voice was Gene Simmons' voice," he continued. "It was very weird when I saw them on a TV show called 'The Midnight Special', and I was like, 'Wait a minute... he's not supposed to be singing that!'

"I don't think I could say that any of [the songs] was my least favorite, because I loved every single one on that record. I remember just playing it continuously, over and over again. I loved the way side one would kick in — it was like the introduction was the beginning of the show. Then you get to the middle portions — sides two and three — and side four was the big ending; I'll never forget listening to 'Black Diamond' and being like, 'What the hell is going on? The explosions and everything. [The tracklist] is a little out of sequence — actually it's not even a live show; they totally re-recorded it. But who cares? It fooled me back then.

"I loved [Peter Criss'] drumming on 'Alive!'," Charlie added. "I think he was one of the biggest influences as far as having a huge drum kit goes. It was like, 'Look at all these drums. What is he doing with all these?' Because at the time, you had like the 'five-piece-kit drummers out there, like John Bonham (LED ZEPPELIN) and Joey Kramer (AEROSMITH). After Peter, Neil Peart (RUSH) had the big kit also.

"The end of '76 was when I saw them for the first time — 'Alive!' prepared me. I was like, 'Dude this is fucking crazy!' I just couldn't believe it. Everything was going on. I couldn't focus on just one thing. It was just an assault on my senses. Because most of the bands at the time really didn't put on that type of a show the way KISS were doing; it was more or less getting up on stage and playing. It wasn't, y'know... KISS.

"KISS made me realize that this is what I'm going to do with my life. And the mindset just stayed with me; it never left. Before that, I wasn't really taking it as seriously as 'I'm going to make a living doing this.'

"I absolutely still listen to 'Alive!' I listen to it sometimes right before we play — it pumps me up. It puts me in a different state of mind."

The news of Ace's passing came just hours after TMZ reported that Ace was hospitalized on life support after he suffered a brain bleed when he took a fall in his studio a couple of weeks earlier.

Frehley, whose real name was Paul Daniel Frehley, passed away peacefully surrounded by family in Morristown, New Jersey.

TMZ reported earlier on Thursday that Frehley was on life support. He had to cancel his tour dates and his condition had not improved after suffering from a brain bleed from the fall.

Ace co-founded KISS with Paul, Gene and Peter in New York City in 1973. Frehley appeared on KISS's first nine albums, and returned for the band's 1998 reunion album, "Psycho Circus", only to leave again. He was inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame with the rest of KISS's original lineup in 2014.

Frehley first left KISS in 1982. He rejoined in 1996 and parted ways with the band once again in 2002 after the conclusion of KISS's first "farewell tour." Since his departure, guitarist Tommy Thayer had assumed the role of the Spaceman.

Charlie Benante photo credit: Jimmy Hubbard / Ace Frehley photo credit: Jayme Thornton

Swedish metallers DARK TRANQUILLITY paid tribute to late AT THE GATES vocalist Tomas "Tompa" Lindberg by playing the AT THE GATES classic "Blinded By Fear" during their October 18 concert at Filmstudion in Gothenburg, Sweden. Fan-filmed video of the performance can be seen below.

In a recent interview with Chile's PowerOfMetal.cl, DARK TRANQUILLITY and THE HALO EFECT frontman Mikael Stanne was asked what Lindberg meant to the metal scene in Gothenburg. Stanne said: "More than you could explain, actually. I met him when I was 14. I went with a friend to their rehearsal room in the basement of Kristian Wåhlin, [also known as] Necrolord, who's the cover painter for [DARK TRANQUILLITY's] 'The Gallery' [album], for instance. And they were rehearsing with GROTESQUE that later became [AT THE GATES], or before [they formed] AT THE GATES. And it blew me away. I saw a band that played music live in a basement. And I'd never seen that before. And it was crazy, insane black metal stuff. And I was so inspired by it and kind of awestruck by it. And so we started hanging out, and Tomas showed me tons of music that he had found through his fanzine and through his kind of tape-trading and record collecting. And yeah, we became instant friends, and [we'd been friends] since then."

Mikael continued: "More than anything, I think Tompa really inspired the scene, because he was kind of that central figure for everything that kind of went on in Gothenburg at the time. He was so passionate about it, and he was so into it, and he knew every band, and he knew about everything that was going on in the scene. So, if you needed anything, if you had any questions or you wanted to know something, or you wanted to kind of be inspired, you just go to him. And he was always there. So without him, there would be no Gothenburg death metal scene; that's just a fact. [With] his kind of integrity, he took this music very incredibly serious. And when I kind of discovered extreme metal through bands like KREATOR and CANNIBAL CORPSE, whatever it was, I was kind of, like, 'I don't know what this is. I love it, but I don't know if it's serious or not.' But he showed me that, 'No. Come on. This is serious.' There are some bands that take this very seriously, and there are lyrics that matter. It's not just horror movie stuff. And so when I started writing, I wanted it to matter and be serious and with serious issues or problems or what have you. And it's because of how he showed me what music could and should be. So, yeah, without him there would be no [Gothenburg] death metal scene. So we're eternally grateful. And I miss him like crazy."

Referencing the fact that Tomas died after being diagnosed with adenoid cystic carcinoma (ACC),a rare, slow-growing but aggressive cancer that typically develops in the salivary glands, particularly the minor salivary glands of the head and neck, Mikael said: "It's been a horrible two years knowing that he was struggling and kind of battling this disease. And everybody thought, of course, 'Yeah, it's gonna be fine. [He's] gonna power through [it].' But a couple months ago we realized that it's worse than we thought. And now this happened. And, yeah, it's devastating."

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

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

AT THE GATES' latest studio album, "The Nightmare Of Being", came out in 2021.

Lindberg revealed in a statement earlier this year that AT THE GATES recorded a new album before he underwent mouth surgery.

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

Biljetterna till våra höstgig i Sverige är släppta!
Skaffa din biljett här: darktranquillity.com/tour

14.10 - Lund,...

Posted by Dark Tranquillity on Monday, May 26, 2025

LIMP BIZKIT frontman Fred Durst has shared a video message in which he paid tribute to the band's bassist Sam Rivers, who died on Saturday (October 18) at the age of 48. Rivers, who was born in Jacksonville, Florida, in 1977, was one third of the original LIMP BIZKIT lineup in 1994, alongside vocalist Durst and drummer John Otto. (Guitarist Wes Borland and DJ Lethal joined in 1996.)

In his video message, which can be seen below, Durst said  (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Sam Rivers, the legend. Truly. Such a gifted, unbelievably sweet and wonderful person.

"How I met Sam is I put a couple of iterations of an idea of a band I was trying to make happen in Jacksonville, Florida," Fred continued. "I had this idea and vision for this particular type of style and sound, and I just couldn't get it together right. And so I decided, 'I'm gonna go out and find the right players to do this and bring this thing together.' And I'd gone into this little tiny bar/pub where this band was playing at Jax Beach called Pier 7. And there Sam was on the stage with his band, killing it on the bass. And I went, 'Oh my gosh, this guy's amazing.' In my mind, you had to start with the rhythm section, the bass and the drums. And I didn't know who I was gonna meet first to put this idea together — I didn't know if it'd be the drummer or the bass player — but it was the bass player. I saw Sam play and I was blown away. He was playing a five-string bass too. I'd never really seen someone using a five-string bass. And he was so smooth and good and he stood out, and I could hear nothing else but Sam. Everything disappeared besides his gift. And I went up to Sam after the show and I said, 'Hey, man, you're unbelievable. I got this idea for this band I wanna do' and kind of threw it out there and told him what I wanted it to be. And he looked at me and he says, 'Killer. I'm in. Let's do it.' I was, like, 'Oh my God. Well, let's do it.' And uh, you know, that's kind of how things started to come together. I had a bass player."

Durst added: "After me and Sam had been jamming around and messing around for a bit, I started looking around for other players and things, and Sam said, 'Well, my cousin John's a killer drummer. He's a jazz drummer, and he should jam with us.' And I said, 'Well, jazz would be great because it'll give us that kind of beat we want, that swag.' And so I met John through Sam and saw that John had the thing — he had it. So me, John and Sam are jamming in Sam's garage. I'm playing the guitar at the time and kind of rapping and singing, and I can't really play guitar well, so it's tuned to Drop D and I'm one-finger-noodling it and Sam's filling it in and holding it up, 'cause clearly I couldn't. And John and Sam, it was a magical thing, the two of them. And I felt like, 'This is it. This is it. This is what I've been looking for.'"

Reflecting on his musical chemistry with Rivers, Durst said: "Sam had this thing about him where anything I could spit out of my mouth — 'try this', 'try this', 'do this' or 'this' — Sam could do it and do it a thousand times better than I could hear it in my head. And also Sam and I shared an affinity, a love for grunge music. That's something that we were both really on the same page about. Sam really loved MOTHER LOVE BONE and ALICE IN CHAINS and STONE TEMPLE PILOTS and the whole Seattle grunge movement. And he had this kind of ability to pull this beautiful sadness out of the bass that I'd never heard. I mean, he would play chords. He was just so talented. I can't explain it. I know I'm all over the place here.

"Just thinking about him, it's so tragic that he's not here right now," Fred added. "And I've gone through gallons and gallons of tears since yesterday, and I'm thinking, 'My god, Sam's a legend.' He did it. He lived it.

"With LIMP BIZKIT, we've just been on such a journey," Durst said. "It's been a massive rollercoaster. Here we are just having this incredible moment, man, and it's going so, so beautifully smooth. And Sam was just really, really happy about it. We've rocked stadiums together, been around the world together, shared so many moments together. And I know that wherever Sam is right now, he's smiling and feeling, like, 'Man, I did it. I did it.' And man, did he do it. What he's left us behind is priceless. He was such a special person. And Sam was a very private person too. So the few people that were able to be close with him and around him know what I'm saying to be true. He was a very, very special, genuine person. And when he got on that stage, just that Sam-I-Am, that Sam Rivers came out and he was a beast. [He was] just an amazing, amazing person. And when I think back to how I met him and how all this kind of came together, Sam was the first guy that really came in and helped make this dream come true. And he didn't think twice about it. He was just, like, 'Yeah, let's go. Sounds great to me. Let's do it.' And I was 25 years old and he was 18 years old and young and just had all that fire in him and all that talent. And I just knew that I was very, very, very fortunate, very fortunate to have him in my life. And I'm so grateful, so incredibly grateful to have shared part of this journey with Sam Rivers — a huge part of this journey, a huge part of my journey. I'm super, super grateful and I miss him terribly already. And all the support and love out there I've seen online, it's overwhelming. He really did have an impact on the world, and his music and his gift is the one that's gonna keep on giving. And I just love him so much."

On Saturday, LIMP BIZKIT shared a post on Instagram announcing that Rivers had passed away earlier in the day. No cause of death was revealed.

"Today we lost our brother. Our bandmate. Our heartbeat," the band wrote in the caption, alongside a photo of Rivers performing onstage.

"Sam Rivers wasn't just our bass player — he was pure magic. The pulse beneath every song, the calm in the chaos, the soul in the sound," the band continued. "From the first note we ever played together, Sam brought a light and a rhythm that could never be replaced. His talent was effortless, his presence unforgettable, his heart enormous.

"We shared so many moments — wild ones, quiet ones, beautiful ones — and every one of them meant more because Sam was there," LIMP BIZKIT continued. "He was a once-in-a-lifetime kind of human. A true legend of legends. And his spirit will live forever in every groove, every stage, every memory."

"We love you, Sam. We'll carry you with us, always. Rest easy, brother. Your music never ends," the post concluded, signed by Durst, drummer John Otto, guitarist Wes Borland and turntablist DJ Lethal.

In a comment underneath the post, Lethal asked the LIMP BIZKIT fans to respect Rivers's family's privacy.

"Give Sam his flowers and play Sam Rivers basslines all day!" the DJ wrote. "We are in shock. Rest in power my brother! You will live on through your music and the lives you helped save with your music, charity work and friendships. We are heartbroken. Enjoy every millisecond of life. It's not guaranteed."

Rivers left the band in 2015 for health reasons that he later revealed were liver ailments due to alcohol abuse.

"I got liver disease from excessive drinking … I had to leave LIMP BIZKIT in 2015 because I felt so horrible, and a few months after that I realized I had to change everything because I had really bad liver disease," Rivers revealed in Jon Wiederhorn's book "Raising Hell (Backstage Tales From The Lives Of Metal Legends)". "I quit drinking and did everything the doctors told me. I got treatment for the alcohol and got a liver transplant, which was a perfect match."

Rivers recalled doctors warning him that he would die without quitting alcohol. "It got so bad I had to go to UCLA Hospital, and the doctor said, 'If you don't stop, you're going to die. And right now, you're looking like you need a new liver.'"

Sam rejoined LIMP BIZKIT in 2018 and remained in the group until his death.