Deadline Music has announced the May 31 release of a new Ratt collection, entitled Rarities, on Limited Edition Red Marble 12" Vinyl, CD, and Digital.


From the ’80s metal vault comes this collection of vintage demos and live recordings of one of the scenes biggest hitmakers, Ratt. Features the earliest known recording of the band’s signature hit, "Round & Round", complete with alternate lyrics and melody, as well as vintage performances of classics like "Body Talk", "Wanted Man" and more.


Order all formats via Bandcamp here, or order via Cleopatra on Vinyl, Vinyl Test Pressing, and CD.







Tracklisting:


"Tell The World" (Studio 1983)
"Round & Round" (Rehearsal 1982)
"I Want It All" (Demo)
"In Your Direction" (Live 1987)
"Round & Round" (Live 1987)
"Body Talk" (Live In Germany 1987)
"Drive Me Crazy" (Live 1987)
"Wanted Man" (Live 1985)
"Love On The Rocks" (Demo 1989)

The Drumeo YouTube Channel has shared a new video featuring Red Hot Chili Peppers / Chickenfoot drummer Chad Smith performing the RHCP hit, "By The Way". Check it out below.


Drumeo: "Released as the title track of their 2002 album, it quickly became a fan favorite and a staple in their live performances. But what makes this song stand out to drummers? Chad Smith blends elements of funk, rock, and punk seamlessly, creating a dynamic groove that underpins the entire song."







Smith was recently in the Drumeo studio to discuss some of his favorite drum tracks he’s recorded with groups other than the Red Hot Chili Peppers - and some may surprise you. Join Chad as he breaks down parts from Wu-Tang Clan, Ozzy Osbourne, Dua Lipa, and more.


Songs featured include "Soap On A Rope" (Chickenfoot), "Wu-Tang Clan Ain't Nuthing Ta F' Wit" (Wu-Tang Clan), "Break My Heart" (Dua Lipa), "Frenzy" (Iggy Pop), "Patient Number 9" (Ozzy Osbourne), "Invincible" (Eddie Vedder), "I'll Be Your Domino" and "I Make My Own Rules" (Red Hot Chili Peppers)

The Brazilian symphonic death/black metal band Tellus Terror is celebrating the release of their second full-length studio album, the conceptual DEATHinitive Love AtmosFEAR, with the debut of a new music video for the dark and powerful song "Empty Nails".


The music video was shot while the band was performing at the João Bosco Cultural Arena in Vista Alegre, Rio de Janeiro, as a support act for American singer Tim "Ripper" Owens, a former member of Judas Priest, at an event produced by THC Productions, organized by Themys Barros and Bruna Rocha.


"Empty Nails" tells the story of an 89-year-old man dealing with the loss of his beloved wife in a song that delves into the depths of human pain. At her funeral, he discovers that she had been cheating on him over the years, adding to his torment. Upon his return home, he removes from the walls the pictures of false moments of happiness with his recently deceased and unfaithful wife, leaving only empty nails on the walls. As an elderly man, he realizes that he is too old to recreate his happiness, inheriting his wife's painful anticipation of loneliness and death.







Sharing his perspective on the song, the band's vocalist and lyricist Felipe Borges said: "‘Empty Nails’ is an emotional journey of hurting and losing. We wanted to convey the intensity of these feelings not only through the music but also through the visual storytelling of the music video."





DEATHinitive Love AtmosFEAR marks an evolution in the sonic and visual identity of Tellus Terror, combining elements of symphonic death/black metal with a dense, harmonious, and engaging conceptual lyrical approach that oscillates between the delicate (loving) and the malicious (diabolical), conceptually and chronologically in a troubled human life. Released by Xaninho Discos, the album is now available on all music streaming platforms and in physical CD format.


"This new album brings a dark, gloomy, malevolent, and vampiric aura to its essence, while addressing an unusual theme in extreme metal, both in a negative and positive way, which is love and how it affects our lives in different ways throughout our life cycle,” concludes Felipe.


(Photo – Diogo Yoshio)

Polish pagan black death metal veterans North have announced their return with a brand new EP, We Are, We Remain…, set for release on April 29, 2024 via Pagan Records in standard jewel case CD and Digital versions. Preorder at the Pagan Records webshop.


This release marks North's triumphant return after a recording break, and the beginning of a prolific new chapter for the band. "We are happy to cooperate with Pagan Records again," says the band. "After a long break, we're excited to finally unleash a torrent of new material we've been working on relentlessly."


North haven't been idle during their time away. They've been composing, rehearsing, and delivering electrifying live performances, all while crafting a full-length album and stockpiling enough songs for future releases. 




We Are, We Remain… serves as a potent reintroduction for North. This 32-minute-long EP, featuring a mix of brand new tracks, a re-recorded classic “Hymn To Winter” (from the debut ‘92 demo) and a Bathory cover, showcases the band's signature sound – a blend of pagan black metal and death metal fury, delivered with powerful Polish lyrics. Thematically, the EP delves into pagan lore and history, drawing inspiration from the works of 19th-century Polish poet Roman Zmorski, a figurehead of the "black romanticism" movement.


Established in 1992, North are veterans of the Polish black and extreme metal scene with five full-lengths under their belts - they're known to be one of the co-creators of the Polish Black Metal wave of the early 1990s.


With We Are, We Remain… North promises a ferocious and evocative return to form. This is just the beginning – stay tuned for more punishing new music from North.





Tracklisting:


“Czas By Powstali / It’s Time For Them Arise”
“Stulecia We Krw / Centuries In Blood”
“Horda Duchów / Horde Of Ghosts”
“Hymn To Winter” 
“A Fine Day To Die” (Bathory cover)

Paul Di’Anno, the former lead singer of Iron Maiden, has a fantastic life story, although it would hardly serve as an example, reports News Rebeat. Discoveries, excesses, drugs, prison, loud music, accidents, falls, recoveries; It contains the essential ingredients for a story on a streaming platform, and in fact he himself is collaborating on a documentary that he says can be seen in May.


“I don’t take anything away,” says Di’Anno, “because life is as it has been, with its triumphs, its failures, its sadness and its joy.”


Logically the four years in which Di’Anno was the lead singer of Iron Maiden between 1978 and 1981 will be very important in the script because it is what attracts, what brings people to the cinema, and also what makes tickets cut at the shows he gives in Europe, but especially in South America, where he has many fans where he has been. the task of cultivating and fascinating, tour after tour, show after show, even at the risk of his life.




“I almost died in Buenos Aires! Remember, I was already returning to England, but my fans kidnapped me for ten days, so I did another ten shows without knowing that I had a serious infection, which made everything worse. By the time I got on the plane I had already gone into sepsis and when I arrived in England I had about 45 minutes to live, that I used them to go to the hospital, get antibiotics and start recovering."


Di’Anno comes with a vengeance to Buenos Aires as the headliner of the From Hell Fest festival, a four-date festival that will begin with Di’Anno tonight, Friday, February 2, at Arena Sur (Av. Sáenz 459, CABA) with other metal bands.


Read more at News Rebeat.


Last year, BraveWords.com announced the launch of BraveWords Records, and their debut signing of Paul Di'Anno's Warhorse. Paul Di'Anno's Warhorse will release their first title for BraveWords Records this year.


The core of the band and founders are Paul Di'Anno (vocals), Hrvoje Madiraca (guitar) and Ante Pupačić Pupi (guitar).


BraveWords Records founder "Metal" Tim Henderson: "How excited were you to hear that Paul Di’Anno was back with a new band called Warhorse?! I was so happy to see him back in action again and getting his life back to normal. The beast roared back and BraveWords Records is honoured to have him and his new band as the inaugural signing to the label. There are so many great things brewing behind the scenes, so stay tuned!”





Paul Andrews, a British singer better known by his stage name Paul Di’Anno, his nearly half-century-long career began explosively with Iron Maiden, when with the EP The Soundhouse Tapes, and the albums Iron Maiden and Killers forever cemented the foundations of heavy metal. With timeless hits like "Iron Maiden", "Remember Tomorrow", "Running Free", "Phantom Of The Opera", "Killers", "Wratchild", "Murders In The Rue Morgue", "Purgatory", etc., they influenced numerous musicians and bands and were responsible for the creation or development of many subgenres in metal music.


Paul is known as one of the most productive singers, who has a huge number of albums and other releases behind him, either as a solo artist or a member of bands such as Gogmagog, Di’Anno’s Battlezone, Praying Mantis, Killers, Rockfellas or Warhorse. In all his incarnations, Paul always knew how to find a way to the fans, with numerous hits, uncompromising singing, which is confirmed by his successful career and furious live shows around the world.


For the last eight years, Paul faced serious health problems that almost ended his career, but thanks to his loyal fans and his strong will to overcome the disease, Paul is on a big world tour again, and he recorded a new album with his new band Warhorse. This icon of heavy metal with the heart of a punk rock rebel never spared himself in his life, but he always gave everything for music and fans, which is why they have followed him faithfully for almost fifty years.


BraveWords Records have agreed to physical distribution deals with Plastic Head in Europe and MVD in North America.





About BraveWords:


The seed was planted in 1994 with the launch of Brave Words & Bloody Knuckles Magazine which ran for nearly 15 years and became the longest-running and biggest hard rock and heavy metal magazine in Canadian history. At its peak, BW&BK produced 40,000 copies in 40 countries, almost every magazine containing a unique full-length CD sampler called KnuckleTracks, which included the finest heavy music of the day. The magazine interviewed and featured all the heavyweights of the genre including AC/DC, Metallica, Slayer, Led Zeppelin, Megadeth, Black Sabbath, Ozzy Osbourne, Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Motörhead, KISS, King Diamond, Opeth, Dimmu Borgir, Sepultura, Iced Earth, In Flames, Behemoth, Slipknot and many more!


With the rapid spread of the world wide web, BraveWords.com was born in 2000 and quickly became the CNN of heavy metal. With its team of global writers and photographers, the site flourished with 24/7 updated news, features, reviews, audio, video and the Metal Market which has become instrumental for fans to find their favorite music. Today the site has seen a 25% increase in recent months and proudly serves 10,000 visitors a day from around the world; the top 5 countries being the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Germany and Sweden. The site caters to a wide age demographic from the late teens into those metalheads in their 60s, with a nearly 50/50 between men and women. A true United Nations of heavy metal!


Over time, BraveWords has worked with thousands of labels, bands, promoters, publicists, marketing companies around the world and its prolific partners include Iron Maiden’s Trooper Beer, Metal Reels Gaming, 70000 Tons Of Metal Cruise and Germany’s Summer Breeze Open Air.


25 years and counting, BraveWords wears their metal heart loudly on their sleeve, as they celebrate the greatest genre of music with the most dedicated and passionate fans on the planet!

In a new interview with Rob Rush of Long Island's 94.3 The Shark radio station, Nita Strauss spoke about the challenges of writing and recording songs with vocals for her sophomore solo album, "The Call Of The Void", which came out last July via Sumerian Records. While Strauss's first LP, 2018's "Controlled Chaos", was all instrumental, her latest effort sees the Alice Cooper guitarist teaming with a different vocalist on at least half of the tracks — Cooper, DISTURBED's David Draiman, ARCH ENEMY's Alissa White-Gluz and HALESTORM's Lzzy Hale, among others.

Nita said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Yeah, it was a really educational experience as a songwriter, going in and not writing songs that were only for myself, if that makes sense — thinking a lot about the structure of the song and the format of the song and what key it would be in for the singer not to be too high or too low or too fast or anything like that. [That part was] completely [ to me] — I mean, not entirely new. I've been in bands before, but as far as writing as a solo artist, it was a completely new experience, because as an instrumental solo guitar player, you can just write whatever you want — you can write a one-minute song, you write a 10-minute song. It's not gonna go to radio — there's no format for it. So it's just stream of consciousness. It doesn't have to have a beginning, a middle, an end, a chorus — it's just whatever you feel. And so working in this new medium, for me, was almost like learning how to write a haiku when you're used to just doing like a beat poem. So I'm out there in the corner of the coffee shop with my beret on, just feeling my poetry out, and all of a sudden it's, like, 'Okay, now you've got to have the syllables and lines and the rhymes and the stuff.' So I found it really educational learning how to do it, and I think I grew a lot as an artist and a creator over the course of making that record. So I'm just so excited that it was as well received as it was."

The Los Angeles-born guitarist has become a force to be reckoned with, dazzling over a million audience members per year around the world. Fans may recognize Nita as the touring guitarist for rock legend Alice Cooper and superstar Demi Lovato, the official guitarist of the Los Angeles Rams, as well as her successful career as a solo artist. She has played multiple sports events, including NASCAR races and WWE pay-per-views, most notably her critically acclaimed performance at "WrestleMania 34" in 2018.

"The Call Of The Void" debuted as the No. 1 Top New Artist album on the Billboard chart, No. 1 on the iTunes Rock chart, and No. 4 on the overall iTunes chart, behind only Taylor Swift.

With the album's first single, "Dead Inside" featuring Draiman, Nita became the first female solo artist to have a No. 1 single at rock radio in 32 years.

Nita released "Controlled Chaos" to mass acclaim from fans and media alike, with Metal Injection calling it "a great debut that — as its creator intended — leaves no doubt", and Guitar World stating "'Controlled Chaos' is a panoramic view of Nita Strauss's many strengths".

In March 2023, it was announced that Nita would return to Alice's band for his 2023 tour and beyond.

Nita spent eight years playing with Alice before joining Demi Lovato's band in the summer of 2022.

Strauss played her first full live show with Demi in August 2022 at the Grandstand at the Illinois State Fair in Springfield, Illinois.

Nita made her live debut with Demi in July 2022 with a performance of "Substance" on ABC's Emmy Award-winning late-night show "Jimmy Kimmel Live!".

Strauss had been playing with Cooper since 2014 when she replaced Australian musician and former Michael Jackson player Orianthi. She joined Alice in time for a mammoth MÖTLEY CRÜE tour. She was recommended to Cooper by the legendary rocker's former bass player and WINGER frontman Kip Winger.

Iconic heavy metallers Armored Saint have shared a live video of “Raising Fear” from their March 29 show in San Francisco, CA at Great American Music Hall. “Raising Fear” is the title track to their 1987 album and the video was filmed by Doug Stock.





Armored Saint is in the midst of a run as direct support to Queensrÿche. The trek commenced on March 27 in Anaheim, California, and includes twelve Armored Saint headlining shows scattered throughout.




Comments Joey Vera, “We're super stoked to be going back out on the road with our good friends Queensrÿche! We've done several tours in the past and we always have a great time being on the road with these great musicians and friends! We're looking forward to playing some cities we've never played before and also, we'll be playing some of these dates as headliners! We'll be pulling out some deep cuts and playing an extended set so we hope to see you come out to all of these shows! We've been busy writing new music so keep your ears peeled in the near future for some new SAINT! Until then, we'll see you up front!"


Tickets are on sale now with VIP upgrades available here. See all confirmed dates below.


Tour dates:


April
9 - Coronado Performing Arts Center - Rockford, IL
10 - Peoria Civic Center - Peoria, IL
11 - The King Of Clubs - Columbus, OH **
12 - The Vogue - Indianapolis, IN
13 - State Theater - Kalamazoo, MI
14 - Majestic - Detroit, MI
16 - Bogart’s - Cincinnati, OH
17 - House Of Blues - Cleveland, OH
19 - Phoenix Theater - Toronto, ON
20 - Theater Beanfield - Montreal, QC
21 - Elements - Kitchener, ON
23 - Tally Ho Theater - Leesburg, VA **
24 - The Roxian - Pittsburgh, PA
26 - Empire Live - Albany, NY
27 - Palladium - Worcester, MA
28 - Toad’s - New Haven, CT
30 - Starland Ballroom - Sayreville, NJ


May
1 - Keswick Theater - Glenside, PA
2 - Montage Music Hall - Rochester, NY **
3 - The Paramount - Huntington, NY
4 - Lovedrafts - Mechanicsburg, PA **
5 - The Fillmore - Charlotte, NC
7 - Masquerade - Atlanta, GA
9 - Jannus Live - St. Petersburg, FL
10 - The Plaza Live - Orlando, FL
11 - Culture Room - Ft Lauderdale, FL
12 - The Ranch - Ft Myers, FL
15 - Scout Bar - Houston, TX **
16 - Come And Take It Live - Austin, TX ** w/ Dangerous Toys
17 - Granada Theater - Dallas, TX ** w/ Dangerous Toys
18 - The Shrine - Tulsa, OK **
20 - Nile Theater - Phoenix, AZ **
21 - Count’s Vamp’d - Las Vegas, NV **


** Armored Saint headlining show








Armored Saint lineup:


John Bush - vocals
Jeff Duncan - guitars
Phil Sandoval - guitars
Joey Vera - bass
Gonzo Sandoval - drums


(Photo - Stephanie Cabral)

The American progressive/heavy metal adepts Halcyon Way will return with a three track digital EP titled Night Crawling, set for release on May 31 via Agonia Records. The EP features two brand new compositions and a cover of Miley Cyrus’s song, which can be listened to below.


“Like just about every band out there, the pandemic was a huge kick in the dick for Halcyon Way, and we had a lot of tours canceled or postponed,” comments guitarist Jon Bodan. “We had a period of serious writer’s block that we finally punched through and we’re hard at work on a new record for a 2024 release. However, we decided to have some fun recording a cover version of Night Crawling by Miley Cyrus and we decided to release an EP with that as well as 2 more tracks. So we hope you enjoy the new tunes and we will see you on the road soon!”


Night Crawling was mixed and mastered by Mark Lewis (Whitechapel, Trivium, Bad Wolves, Threat Signal). The song “Night Crawling” was mixed by Zach Householder.







Tracklisting:


“Night Crawling” (Miley Cyrus cover)
“Insufferable”
“Stand For Something”


“Night Crawling”:





Line-up: 
Steve Braun - vocals
Jon Bodan - lead guitars, backing vocals, programming
Max Eve - rhythm guitars
Skyler Moore - bass, backing vocals
Aaron Baumoel - drums

Babylon A.D. announce their brand new studio album, Rome Wasn’t Built In A Day, to be released May 17 via Perris Records.


It’s been six years since the last studio album, Revelation Highway, came out and the band has grown a lot since then. The live album that was released last year, Live Lightning really super-charged the band to get back on their game and they really put a lot of time and effort into the album and it really paid off. The band had over 20 songs to choose from and they picked what they believe are the best 11 tracks to represent the band's sound and direction.


Songs like the opening adrenaline rushed driving track, “Wrecking Machine”, the slow burn metal rocker “Pain”, and the atmospheric “Crashed Into The Sun”, really capture the bands diversity of musical tastes and the input of the band members contributions. While songs like “Face Of GOD”, “I Will Never Break Again” and “Sometimes Love Is Hell” are all great ballad musical arrangements and really have some interesting lyrical content and visual story telling that Vocalist/Songwriter Derek Davis has written for the listener. The big hook choruses the band is known for like the title track “Rome Wasn’t Built In A Day”, “White Hot Bullet" and the very melodic track “Looking For A Heartbeat” reminisce their first album.




Derek Davis is really excited about the new record, "The fans are really gonna love the new Babylon A.D. album. You know what they say’ “Rome Wasn’t Built In A Day” and this album took some time but “man was it worth the wait! We got real lucky to have Grammy award winner David Donnelly ‘DNA Mastering’ to master the album, he’s done many top records we’ve all heard, Motley Crue, Chicago, Aerosmith, Slas” and a whole lot more bands we all know. This guy has got a great ear and knows his turf."


Tom Mathers, Perris Records President shared his thoughts on the new album, "The new Rome Wasn’t Built In A Day studio CD is what the Babylon A.D. fans have been waiting for. It is like the band went back in time and captured the style and influence of their debut "Self titled" release on Arista Records. The opening track 'Wrecking Machine' is a hard driving rocker & 'Rome Wasn’t Built In A Day' has a HUGE killer chorus that you will be singing along with. This release guarantees every Babylon A.D. fan will not be disappointed."


Babylon A.D. can’t wait to start playing the songs live and have some very exciting shows coming up. Current dates listed below.





You can pre-order the autographed CD bundle at perrisrecords.com/babylon-a-d.





Tracklisting:


"Wrecking Machine"
"Pain"
"Sometimes Love Is Hell"
"Rome Wasn't Built In A Day"
"Looking For A Heartbeat"
"I Will Never Break Again"
"White Hot Bullet"
"Crashed Into The Sun"
"Face Of GOD"
"Shut Up"
"Super Beast"



 
Album details:


Produced, Mixed, Engineered by Derek Davis @ The BADMOFO’s Recording Studio, Pleasanton, CA.
Drums recorded by Gabriel Shepard @ 25th Studios Oakland CA.
Mastered By David Donnelly, DNA Mastering Los Angeles CA.
Photos - Angela Probst - Studio A
Vintage Artwork Concept Design - Derek Davis


Band Members:


Derek Davis - Vocals, Keyboard, Guitar
Ron Freschi - Lead Guitar, Background vocals
John Mattews - Lead Guitar
Craig Pepe - Bass, Background vocals
Dylan Soto - Drums / Background vocals


Background vocals on "I Will Never Break Again" - Lane Borchard


Tour dates:


May
18 - Retro Junkie - Walnut Creek, CA


June
7 - Whisky go Go - Hollywood, CA


August
3 - Fulton 55 - Fresno, CA
25 - Monster On Mountain - Gatlinburg, TN


September
21 - Horsefest - Newark, CA


About Babylon A.D.:


Formed in 1987, Babylon A.D. hail from the San Francisco Bay Area, CA. Original members, Derek Davis vocalist/songwriter, guitarist's and music writers John Mathews and Ron Freschi drummer James Pacheco and bassist Rob Reid met in high school before they began playing together as "The Persuaders" making a name for themselves with their powerful live performances and catchy songwriting skills becoming one of the top drawing original Hard Rock bands in the Northern CA.


In 1989 the band changed their name to "Babylon A.D." and caught the attention of Arista Records President and industry music mogul “Clive Davis”, who signed them at a live showcase in Los Angeles thanks to their impressive three song demo and a home made video. John Mattews departed the band and was replaced by another high school friend Dan De La Rosa just before their self-titled album Babylon A.D. was released in 1990. The album included their hard rock classic hits "Bang Go The Bells”, “Hammer Swings Down” and “The Kid Goes Wild”, which featured Screaming "Sam Kinison" and was the trailer song and promotional video for Orion Pictures (Robo Cop 2). The band scored three #1 songs at Metal Radio and reached Gold status on their first release, which spent 38 weeks on the Billboard top 200, peaking at # 46. Their sophomore effort (Nothing Sacred) was produced by the legendary "Tom Werman" and released in 1992, it produced two more top-ten metal rockers. “Bad Blood” and “So Savage the Heart”. Constant touring throughout the early 1990s and several MTV videos made them one of hard rock fans favorite bands.


In 1999 the band and released Live In Your Face on Apocalypse Records, a compilation of live tracks recorded at various cities’ across America. Their next release American Blitzkrieg soon followed in 2002 and both records were well received by critics and fans alike. In 2008 the band released Babylon A.D. In The Beginning on Perris Records, a compilation of songs from the original demo tapes that secured them their recording contract with Arista Records.


After a long hiatus the band started playing and recording again in 2014. Touring across the States and Europe releasing the four song EP Lost Sessions. in 2018 John Matthews rejoined the group and the band signed with Frontiers Records for their forth studio release Revelation Highway. Four singles/ videos and more touring followed through the beginning of 2020. In 2022 original members James Pacheco and Robb Reid left the band for other pursuits remaining connected to the bands legacy and part of a brotherhood of friendship that has lasted for over 30 years!


Present Day...


Fast forward to 2023, Babylon A.D. announced new members Craig Pepe (bass) and Dylan Soto (drums) and a new live concert album Live Lightning from Perris Records. The new album included their top-ten rock-radio classic hits from their debut album as well as songs from “Nothing Sacred”, “American Blitzkrieg”, and “Revelation Highway”.


As 2024 begins the band is set to release their fifth studio album on Perris Records titled Rome Wasn’t Built In A Day on May 17. The 11 track album is classic Babylon A.D. firing on all cylinders, showcasing great songwriting talent, performances and the hard rock sound the band is known for. New videos and singles are coming and the band is currently booking and playing select live shows across the states in support of the new album.

Nearly a year and a half after TWISTED SISTER's one-off onstage reunion at the Metal Hall Of Fame in Agoura Hills, California, Dee Snider was asked by "The Hook Rocks!" podcast if he and the rest of the band would consider coming back together for special performances. The singer said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "As a result of all the bands retiring and dying, the offers get bigger and bigger for the holdouts to come back. And we retired in 2016, I think it was. So we're on eight years now of not playing, with no intention of coming back. But — my father, he says, 'Everything before the word 'but' is bullshit — but at some point, you've gotta say, 'Well, how can I say no to that?'"

He continued: "Is it there yet? No. Is it getting close? Yeah. Is there talk amongst us, like, 'Well, in the event that the numbers do get there, and they sure as hell seem to be going in that direction, how are we gonna do this?' So there's a little bit of that conversation. And that's both physically how we're gonna do it and on a number of other levels. And that's a recent occurrence, that the conversation has gone from 'never' to 'in the event that they make as an offer we can't refuse, what's the plan?' And there's some very general discussion on that, involving personal trainers [laughs], diets, hair extensions. And that's the first time in eight years that the conversation has changed."

Snider added: "We're all friends, by the way. The surviving guys, we all talk and we're all friends and we love each other. And that was one of the great things that came out of getting back together the first time is that we managed to fix the friendships and be friends and that, to me, is really why I wanted to do it in the first place, getting back [together] last time… So, anyway, we'll see what happens."

Last December, Snider confirmed to Canada's The Metal Voice that TWISTED SISTER will likely come back together in 2024 for special performances at different political rallies that need the band's support. He said: "Well, I won't be surprised if we're reuniting this election year to champion some important causes. We're all on the same page — pretty much all of us are on the same page — and I could see us helping fight the good fight. 'Cause this is a big-picture election, and with things like women's right to choose, that's a big-picture thing. That's gonna hurt the other side. I said 'the other side', because I'm not on that side, [on the side of] Mr. Trump.

"You can't roll back the clock," Dee explained. "We're not going back in time. We're going forward. The fact that my granddaughter does not have the right to choose just blows my mind. So these are important, important issues. It'll be less about the politicians and more about the parties they represent and what they represent. [Issues like] gun control. By the way, I'm the weird… I'm gunned up, man. But I am for intelligent gun control. I'm gunned up. I'm the moderate. I'm that person. I drive a Teslaand an H2 Hummer. I'm an environmentalist and I ride motorcycles.

"When Al Gore said to me, 'Oh, is Sick Mother-Fuckers [TWISTED SISTER's fanbase], is that a Christian organization?' And I said, 'Christianity and profanity have nothing to do with each other.' There's no 'thou shalt not curse', the 11th commandment that apparently was dropped or lost. No — those motherfuckers are cursing too. So everybody's cursing — like I just did. Sorry. I'm losing it now."

Snider added: "People say, 'What's a moderate? What is a moderate?' I tell people the middle, the vast middle, need to speak up, because right now the extreme left [and] extreme right are both. They're steering the ship, they're the loudest voices in the room, they're making the most noise, and the vast middle is sitting too silently. And they'll say, 'Well, what's a moderate these days?' I said, 'What's a moderate? If you're willing to discuss something and consider a compromise, you're a moderate.' Because the people on the extreme left and extreme right, they will not give one inch. They won't talk about it. They will not compromise under any circumstance. So there's a lot of us in the middle who may be more right leaning or left leaning. That's fine. But you need to speak up if you're willing to have a discussion on a subject and you're willing to consider compromising on something, 'cause those are the voices that need to be steering the ship, not the unrelenting, unyielding extremes on both sides."

Dee previously brought up the possibility of TWISTED SISTED becoming active at political events in 2024 during an interview in past April 2023 with Yahoo! Entertainment. At the time, he said: "We were all in favor of gonna go down to support Beto [O'Rourke], but we couldn't schedule it. You know, the band has a concern that the [classic TWISTED SISTER] song ['We're Not Gonna Take It'] is being co-opted by the extreme right… and we want to make sure that people still know it's a song for everybody and it does not represent that selfish micro group. It is really for the mass people, the moderate people, the people that just want to live their lives, be themselves, and not have people tell 'em they can't be themselves. So, I think you'll see us at political rallies and stuff like that. We'll be out there next year."

On hand to be inducted into the Metal Hall Of Fame were Snider, guitarist Jay Jay French, bassist Mark "The Animal" Mendoza and Mike Portnoy, who has played drums for TWISTED SISTER since the passing of former member A.J. Pero. Guitarist Eddie Ojeda was absent from the event after contracting COVID-19; filling in for him was Keith Robert War.

The highlight of the ceremony — which also saw FOREIGNER singer Lou Gramm, NWOBHM heroes RAVEN, and guitarists Chris Impellitteri and Doug Aldrich honored — was TWISTED SISTER's highly charged three-song set consisting of the staples "You Can't Stop Rock 'N' Roll" and "Under The Blade", as well as the anthem "We're Not Gonna To Take It".

In January 2023, Snider told Eonmusic that there were no additional TWISTED SISTER reunion performances in the works. "A hard 'no plans'," he said at the time. "No plans at all to do that."

Going on to reference both OZZY OSBOURNE and MÖTLEY CRÜE's retirement and returns, he added: "You know, I've said when people retire, they should leave the stage, and all those bands, I'm tired of buying 'No More Tours' shirts and seeing people signing contracts in blood and then they show up three years later. I don't believe in that bullshit, so I don't think it's going to happen."

In March 2023, French told The Metal Voice that the Metal Hall Of Fame performance shouldn't give fans the impression that there will be more TWISTED SISTER performances to follow.

"There's no reunion to speak of," he said. "I'm not gonna be so cynical and say that it couldn't lead to conversations, but we never had a single conversation about a reunion prior to this. Not one.

"People always go, 'When are you guys getting back together?' I say, 'Well, we talk all the time, but we never talk about playing. But we talk about business,'" Jay Jay added. "Why do we talk about business? Because 'We're Not Gonna Take It' and 'I Wanna Rock' are the most licensed songs in the history of the music business; they're in more TV commercials, movie soundtracks… So we do licensing deals all day long. It's really what we do. I'm in the business of music licensing, which is a business I didn't know existed."

In 2016, TWISTED SISTER embarked on one final trek, titled "Forty And Fuck It", in celebration of its 40th anniversary. These shows featured the band's "core lineup" of Snider, French, Ojeda and Mendoza, along with Portnoy. The band's last-ever concert took place in November of that year — 20 months after the passing of Pero.

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

The surviving members of the classic lineup of TWISTED SISTER previously reunited virtually in March 2021 for a special episode of Mendoza's Internet TV show "22 Now". The hour-and-a-half-long program was a tribute to Pero, who died exactly six years earlier at the age of 55 while on tour with the band ADRENALINE MOB.

Prior to the March 2021 virtual reunion, the four surviving members of TWISTED SISTER reunited for two days and nights in November 2019 to celebrate the 35th anniversary of the band's classic album "Stay Hungry".

In a 2021 interview with the "Metal From The Inside" podcast, Snider was asked if he is still steadfast about not wanting TWISTED SISTER to reunite. He responded: "[I am] one hundred percent committed to not reuniting. Now, let me just be clear: we're friends. I did a [solo] show a couple of weeks ago [on June 11, 2021 at Stereo Garden in Patchogue, New York] and Mendoza showed up, and we did [TWISTED SISTER's] 'Under The Blade', and it was awesome. I talk to the guys all the time. I can show you my text messages. We have a little text group, and we were sending messages back and forth.

"To me, that was the reason to reunite, was to fix the relationships [between the members of the band], and we did fix' em, and we're friends," he explained. "I feel we did what we could do without just doing the same thing over. And I wanted to do some new, challenging things that I couldn't do within TWISTED. And the solo records I've done I could not have done with TWISTED SISTER. I could not have done 'Dee Does Broadway' with TWISTED SISTER — 'Twisted Does Broadway'. And I could not have done 'For The Love Of Metal' with TWISTED SISTER; people would never have accepted it. But as a solo artist, I'm allowed to change and evolve. And some things [fans have] liked; some things they've not liked. But at the same time, I'm allowed; no one's ever questioned [it]. And, again, if TWISTED SISTER did it, it would be, like, 'Hey, it doesn't sound like TWISTED SISTER anymore'; it would have been that kind of thing."

Circling back to the prospect of TWISTED SISTER reuniting, Dee said: "I could see us doing a charity — a couple of songs for charity, for the right reasons. We got [back] together originally for charity, which was a good reason to get together. I could see [talk show host Jimmy] Fallon — he's a big fan — if he said, 'Hey, guys, can you guys come on '[The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon'] and do 'White Christmas' for us?' Fuck yeah. But to do a tour, to do 90 minutes, two hours on a stage, I don't see that happening. And credit to everybody in the band, and I know some people — without naming names — some guys, they would have kept going; others did not wanna keep going. But I'm sure we get offers. Jay Jay French is the manager of TWISTED, 'cause it's still an entity — there's still royalties and licenses and things like that, and merchandise — he's not presented one offer, and I'm sure we've gotten 'em. 'Cause we're not even considering it. It doesn't matter what they're offering; we're not doing it."

In a new interview with Brazil's Rádio Kiss FM, MEGADETH leader Dave Mustaine spoke about the recent departure of the band's longtime guitarist Kiko Loureiro and addition of his replacement, Teemu Mäntysaari. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "We've got a new guitar player playing. Kiko needed to go home to stay with his family, and it was a really great time together for a while. And now we've got a replacement that Kiko had recommended for us that is a really great fit."

Asked if there is any chance of Kiko coming up on stage and performing at least one song with MEGADETH at an upcoming concert, Dave said: "I don't think right now that's something that Kiko's interested in, because he left for a reason, to be with his family. He needs to be there. And if the time presents itself in the future, I'm not opposed to it. We just got done playing [a couple of shows] with [former MEGADETH guitarist] Marty [Friedman]. So, that kind of shows you how I feel about that. But I'm trying to be a little realistic about stuff. I know if it was me, the last thing I would do is quit a band I love to be home with my family and then go back out on the road with the band that I quit."

Teemu stepped in last September for Kiko, who announced earlier that month that he would sit out the next leg of MEGADETH's "Crush The World" tour in order to stay home with his children back in Finland. It was later revealed that Mäntysaari would continue to play guitar for MEGADETH for the foreseeable future, with Loureiro seemingly having no plans to return.

In a separate interview with Brazil's A Rádio Rock, Mustaine was asked what he looks forward to in this next chapter of MEGADETH. He said: "Well, I'm expecting us to keep doing what we've been doing. Kiko had recommended Teemu, and Teemu is an exceptional guitar player. Kiko was at the top of his game when this happened, so we were obviously disappointed, but it is what it is. If Kiko would have said, 'I don't know anybody, and you're on your own,' that would have been a lot harder. But Teemu is the right guy for MEGADETH. And Kiko knows that Teemu is the right guy for me. So, he actually did us a really big favor, and I love him and I wish him the best with everything that he does."

Mustaine went on to say that "Teemu is gonna make a lot of people happy" on MEGADETH's South American tour "because we're gonna be playing some songs that we haven't played for a long time. When he came in, I figured instead of just saying, 'Well, you've gotta learn these 30 songs here,' I asked him to learn a couple more. I mean, what's the difference when you're learning 30 songs? What's 33, right? Well, if he learned three and I said he's gotta learn 30, that's different. But I asked him to do some other songs that Dirk [Verbeuren, MEGADETH drummer] and James [Lomenzo, MEGADETH bassist] have been asking me to play for a very long time, and we're adding them now, which is great."

Kiko announced his decision to step back from MEGADETH in a social media post in November. He wrote in part: "Dear MEGADETH fans, I want to share with you a decision that hasn't been easy for me. In September, I had to step away from the U.S. leg of the tour for family reasons. Looking ahead, during 2024, we anticipate an even heavier touring schedule for MEGADETH. After thorough reflection and discussions with Dave Mustaine and MEGADETH's management, we have collectively agreed that it is the right move to extend my absence. I don't want to hinder any of the band's plans or the hard work of all the incredible people involved in the tour."

In early October, Mustaine told Shaggy of the 94.9 and 104.5 The Pick radio station in Idaho Falls, Idaho about Teemu's addition to MEGADETH: "People are losing their minds over how things are going right now 'cause we have a really good chemistry together."

According to Mustaine, MEGADETH has been able to change up its setlist a bit as a result of the guitarist switch. "We've got a bunch of songs from our catalog that we're playing, a bunch of new songs too," he said. "We've been able to add a bunch of songs to the set because Teemu was a metal fan. Kiko did not grow up baptized in metal… Like the show we did a couple of nights ago, we opened with 'Hangar [18]' and then we followed it up with 'Mechanix'. We've never done that before, so it's a pretty heavy beginning. And we've added a second track off of the new album with 'Soldier On!', and we're getting ready to add a third."

In September, Mustaine was equally full of praise for Mäntysaari, telling Wes Styles in a separate interview: "He's really great. And I'm super excited with what Teemu has brought. And it's uncanny because he plays a lot like Marty. And it's really exciting. At certain times I just close my eyes during the set and I just hear these songs played, whether like Kiko in the past or Teemu now, it just sounds really magic because these guys have learned these songs and they're not just going out there and just banging their guitar around; they actually learned the solos from some of the virtuosos that I've played with over my career."

MEGADETH played its first concert with Mäntysaari on September 6, 2023 at Revel in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Mäntysaari was born in Tampere, Finland and began playing guitar at the age of 12. In 2004, he joined the band WINTERSUN. He has also been a member of SMACKBOUND since 2015.

Loureiro officially joined MEGADETH in April 2015, about five months after Chris Broderick's exit from the group.

Shortly after Loureiro's addition to MEGADETH, Mustaine called him "definitely the best guitarist we've ever had." His comments echoed those he made about Broderick during the latter's tenure in the band. Back in 2013, during the making of MEGADETH's "Super Collider" album, Mustaine wrote in a tweet that Chris was "without a doubt the best guitarist I've ever played with."

Mustaine told Revolver magazine that finding Loureiro "was really a mind-blower. It was the first time since Marty Friedman joined the band that I was really intimidated as a player," he said. "He's such an amazing talent, and he's been coming in with all of these fresh ideas." Mustaine added that Kiko was a good fit personality wise. "Chris [Broderick] and I had a good chemistry, but we weren't really as close as I would have wanted us to be," Mustaine explained. "Kiko, I feel like I've known him for years."

In 2009, Mustaine praised Broderick, saying in an online post: "I am going on record and I am saying unequivocally that Chris is THE BEST GUITARIST MEGADETH has ever had. And the real talented musicians in MEGADETH's alumni will agree, he is an absolute monster. I mean, he plays the catalog better than anyone did. Jeff Young never wanted to do Chris Poland's stuff, and so on, and so on, until the last guitarist we had before we disbanded over my arm injury."

Mustaine added: "It's funny, because just when I think [Broderick] can get no more outrageous, or any more thrilling with the guitar solos, he comes up with something really beautiful like Marty Friedman would do (he has Marty pretty well down pat),and then goes into the GIT styles that Jeff Young did, yet, there is still such a freshness to his playing and he is so raw, it's like having a new prize bull. And even though he ain't a such a young bull, he's definitely an old bull like me."

Brutal tech-death stalwarts Malignancy are set to unleash ...Discontinued, their first full-length album in five years.


"Malignancy's new album, ...Discontinued, is a post-apocalyptic auditory assault on the listener from beginning to end. ...Discontinued captures all the ingredients of what makes a great extreme metal album. It's Thrashy, Grindy, Techy, and Brutal, all in one! Mixed and mastered by one of the best, Lasse Lammert (Abigail Williams, Raven, Alestorm, Acranius), this is one for the books!" - Malignancy


...Discontinued will be released on CD, vinyl, and digital forms on June 14 via Willowtip Records.







Tracklisting:


“Existential Dread”
“Binary Paradigm”
“Irradiated Miscreation”
“Purity Of Purpose”
“Ancillary Biorhythms”
“Haunted Symmetry”
“Decomposing Divinity”
“Oppositional Defiance”
“Biological Absurdity”

Norwegian rock outfit LEPROUS will release its eight studio album, "Melodies Of Atonement", in August via InsideOut Music.

LEPROUS checked in with the following comment about "Melodies Of Atonement": "'Melodies of Atonement' is the name of our new album and like every band on earth thinks about their new album, we feel like it's our best one so far! But in this case, it happens to be true...The orchestral elements are gone, which gives more space for each individual band member to shine. It's straight to the point, and heavier than what we've been in a while...It's a new sound. But it's still LEPROUS. We can't wait for you to hear it!"

LEPROUS recorded "Melodies Of Atonement" across the last months with David Castillo at Ghost Ward Studios in Sweden, while mixing with Adam Noble (PLACEBO, BIFFY CLYRO, NOTHING BUT THIEVES) and mastering with Robin Schmidt (THE 1975, PLACEBO, THE GASLIGHT ANTHEM). The album's front cover artwork was created based on photography by John Dolan and design by Ritxi Ostáriz.

In the meantime, LEPROUS has already announced a first North American headline tour with special guests MONUMENTS and supports FIGHT THE FIGHT for September and October 2024.

LEPROUS comment about their return to North America as follows: "We can't wait to tour North America again together with our good friends in MONUMENTS and FIGHT THE FIGHT. It's been too long and we're super eager to come back!"

LEPROUS, MONUMENTS and FIGHT THE FIGHT "Melodies Of Atonement" 2024 U.S. tour dates:

Sep. 04 - Nashville, TN - Eastside Bowl
Sep. 05 - Atlanta, GA - Progpower USA
Sep. 06 - Charlotte, NC - The Underground
Sep. 07 - Baltimore, MD - Rams Head Live!
Sep. 08 - Mckees Rocks, PA - Roxian Theatre
Sep. 10 - Buffalo, NY - Town Ballroom
Sep. 11 - Toronto, ON - The Opera House
Sep. 12 - Montreal, QC - Beanfield Theatre
Sep. 13 - New York, NY - Webster Hall
Sep. 14 - Cambridge, MA - The Sinclair
Sep. 15 - Philadelphia, PA - Union Transfer
Sep. 17 - Pontiac, MI - The Crofoot Ballroom
Sep. 18 - Cleveland, OH - House of Blues
Sep. 19 - Chicago, IL - Metro
Sep. 20 - Madison, WI - Majestic Theatre
Sep. 21 - Minneapolis, MN - The Lyric at Skyway Theatre
Sep. 23 - Englewood, CO - Gothic Theatre
Sep. 24 - Salt Lake City, UT - Soundwell
Sep. 26 - San Francisco, CA - August Hall
Sep. 27 - Anaheim, CA - House of Blues
Sep. 28 - Mesa, AZ - The Nile Theatre Underground
Sep. 30 - Dallas, TX - Granada Theater
Oct. 01 - Austin, TX - Mohawk
Oct. 02 - Houston, TX - White Oak Music Hall
Oct. 04 - Orlando, FL - The Plaza Live
Oct. 05 - Fort Lauderdale, FL – Revolution

Jerry Cantrell is offering a reward for the return of his original G&L guitar.

According to a post on the ALICE IN CHAINS guitarist/vocalist's social media, the classic Rampage "Blue Dress" instrument was stolen from his car in either Los Angeles or San Bernardino/Highland.

The 1984 guitar was encased in a black G&L gig bag and has the serial number G016467.

Anyone who may have information regarding the whereabouts of the guitar is urged to contact [email protected].

"We're offering a reward to anyone who can help us locate the guitar," the post adds. "We sincerely appreciate your help."

While the guitar was on recently display at Seattle's MoPOP Museum, Cantrell discussed the importance of his Blue Dress Rampage, saying: "I bought that in 1985. That guitar has been on everything I've ever recorded, pretty much — 98.9% of every song, that guitar's on there somewhere. I tried for decades to wreck it and it still exists. I've surfed it across the stage, jumped in the audience with it, fans running up and getting their hair caught in the keys, and then trying to jump back in the audience pulling me with them…"

"It's nothing fancy. There's plenty of fancier, cooler guitars, but it’s just a meat and potatoes guitar," Cantrell told Total Guitar in 2014, "and that’s always felt comfortable for me to play from the get-go."

Beyond the instantly identifiable riffs and equally recognizable vocals, Cantrell will always be known as a songwriter, first and foremost. Those songs comprise his influential catalog as co-founder, vocalist, and lead guitarist of the iconic ALICE IN CHAINS and as a solo artist whose music resounds across culture. He penned three acclaimed solo albums — "Boggy Depot" (1998),"Degradation Trip Volumes 1 & 2" (2002) and "Brighten" (2021) — and appeared on chart-topping records by everyone from METALLICA and DEFTONES to Ozzy Osbourne.

His music can be heard in the films of Academy Award winner Cameron Crowe and Judd Apatow in addition to blockbuster franchises such as "John Wick" and "Spider-Man". Throughout his career, he’s garnered eleven Grammy Award nominations, logged multiple No. 1 hits at radio, sold north of 30 million records, and received the 2020 Museum of Pop Culture Founders Award as part of ALICE IN CHAINS. Not to mention, Guitar World cited him as one of the "100 Greatest Guitar Players Of All Time." He has also received the Stevie Ray Vaughan Award from MusiCares in addition to supporting numerous charities over the years.

MISSING GUITAR: Unfortunately over this past weekend we believe Jerry Cantrell’s original Blue Dress G&L guitar was...

Posted by Jerry Cantrell on Tuesday, April 9, 2024

In a new interview with Into The Combine, Jack Owen was asked what people get wrong about his former CANNIBAL CORPSE and current SIX FEET UNDER bandmate Chris Barnes as a person. The guitarist responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Oh, he's a big softie, and he's like a brother to me. But if you don't know him, then he seems pretty standoffish."

Regarding the fact that so many people seem to dislike Barnes on social media, Owen said: "I think it's contagious to jump on somebody like that online… I think it's trolls that are connected to each other. And it's, like, 'Well, you said that? I'm gonna say something worse.' But he just did an interview with This Day In Metal, and I was, like, 'Yeah, that's Chris' — really mellow and soft-spoken, but except on stage."

Asked if Chris's newfound sobriety has affected his vocal delivery on SIX FEET UNDER's upcoming album, "Killing For Revenge", Jack said: "Yeah, I think it helped with the vocals. Definitely. 'Cause I started writing lyrics on my demos, and I started putting a scratch vocal myself. And he was, like, 'You want me to sing it like that?' 'Cause I don't do any high screams or anything — just all low. And I was, like, 'Yeah, dude. Do it all low and garbled.' And he was, like, 'All right, I might lose a word here and there.' And I was, like, 'Who cares?' But, yeah, as far as being sober, I think it definitely helps. Lung power."

"Killing For Revenge" will arrive on May 10 through Metal Blade Records.

The LP's first single, "Know-Nothing Ingrate", can be streamed below.

"Killing For Revenge" marks the second album that Barnes and Owen have created together since reuniting for 2020's "Nightmares Of The Decomposed". Owen also produced "Killing For Revenge".

SIX FEET UNDER was initially formed as a side project for Barnes during his final years with the band that he co-founded, CANNIBAL CORPSE. It became the frontman's sole focus in 1995, coinciding with the release of their debut, "Haunted". Only Barnes remains from SIX FEET UNDER's original incarnation, but the quality has remained remarkably consistent. The current lineup of Barnes, guitarists Owen and Ray Suhy, bassist Jeff Hughell and drummer Marco Pitruzzella make for a devastating unit.

"Killing For Revenge", which features a guest appearance by guitarist Jason Suecof on "Neanderthal", was mixed and mastered by Chaz Najjar at Badlands Recording in Denver, Colorado. The record will be released on CD and digital formats as well as vinyl.

Photo by Stephanie Cabral and Dark Photography

Once again enthralling listeners with their signature sonic brutality, acclaimed British metalcore outfit ARCHITECTS kick off 2024 with an explosive new single, "Curse". Produced by Jordan Fish, the track is available everywhere via Epitaph Records. In addition to the single, the band has announced the anticipated second leg of their North American tour.

Instantly grabbing attention with a guttural scream by frontman Sam Carter, "Curse" is rife with blast beats, massive guitar riffs, and Carter's impressive vocal range as he switches between aggressive verses and a melodic chorus. The track is elevated by the pummeling bridge that sees the band embracing their roots with one of their heaviest, most eruptive breakdowns to date. Following the bridge with a stripped-back final pre-chorus, "Curse" is a testament to the intensity and versatility that has earned ARCHITECTS millions of fans across the globe.

"Curse" follows on the heels of fiery single "Seeing Red", which earned high praise from outlets such as Metal Injection, Alternative Press, Loudwire and more. Hailed as an "anthem powerhouse" by Idobi, "Seeing Red" has gained over 23 million global streams, boasting over one million streams a week globally since its December 2023 release. Moreso, the track reached No. 6 in the U.K., No. 8 in Australia and Belgium, and No. 13 in the U.S. on Spotify's Viral 50 charts. "Seeing Red" marked the band's first release since their lauded 2022 album "The Classic Symptoms Of A Broken Spirit", which broke No. 1 on the U.K. Rock & Metal Albums chart.

Today, the band also announces the second leg of their highly anticipated North American tour, which sees the band hitting major markets across North America for the first time since 2019. The first leg is set to kick off in May with support from OF MICE & MEN and WHILE SHE SLEEPS, while the second leg sees the band bringing their unparalleled headline performances to the Midwest and West coast with support from WE CAME AS ROMANS and BRUTUS. Artist presale for the new dates begins today at 12 p.m. EST through 10 p.m. local time tomorrow, with general onsale beginning April 11 at 10 a.m. local time. In addition to the headlining shows, the band will be performing at festivals across the country, including Welcome To Rockville, Sonic Temple, Louder Than Life and Aftershock.

ARCHITECTS tour dates

May 2 - Toronto, ON @ Rebel *
May 3 - Montreal, QC @ MTELUS *
May 4 - Montreal, QC @ MTELUS *
May 6 - Boston, MA @ House of Blues *
May 7 - Brooklyn, NY @ Brooklyn Paramount *
May 9 - Philadelphia, PA @ Franklin Music Hall *
May 10 - Washington, DC @ The Fillmore *
May 11 - Myrtle Beach, SC @ House of Blues *
May 12 - Daytona Beach, FL @ Welcome to Rockville
May 14 - Atlanta, GA @ The Eastern *
May 15 - Nashville, TN @ Marathon Music Works *
May 17 - Chicago, IL @ The Riviera Theatre *
May 18 - Detroit, MI @ Royal Oak Music Theatre *
May 19 - Columbus, OH @ Sonic Temple
Sept 28 - Indianapolis, IN @ Egyptian Room at Old National Centre ^
Sept 29 - Louisville, KY @ Louder Than Life
Sept 30 - Kansas City, MO @ Uptown Theater ^
Oct 2 - Denver, CO @ Ogden Theatre ^
Oct 4 - Dallas, TX @ The Factory in Deep Ellum ^
Oct 5 - Houston, TX @ House of Blues ^
Oct 6 - San Antonio, TX @ Aztec Theatre ^
Oct 8 - Tempe, AZ @ Marquee Theatre ^
Oct 11 - Sacramento, CA @ Aftershock

* Support from OF MICE & MEN, WHILE SHE SLEEPS
^ Support from WE CAME AS ROMANS, BRUTUS

"The Classic Symptoms Of A Broken Spirit" followed up the 2021 album "For Those That Wish To Exist", which topped the U.K. charts, and propelled the band to sold-out arena tours.

Photo credit: Ed Mason

The Orthodox vampire priests Cainites will release the debut album Revenant on June 21 through Scarlet Records.


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


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




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


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





Tracklisting:


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


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


(Photo – Frater Orion)

In a new interview with Jimmy Kay of Canada's The Metal Voice, VOIVOD drummer Michel "Away" Langevin spoke about the status of the band's long-awaited documentary official documentary. Tentatively titled "We Are Connected", the film will cover VOIVOD's history from unlikely origins in northern Québec at the height of the Cold War to underground success to sharing tours and stages with IRON MAIDEN, RUSH and METALLICA. Included in the documentary will be high and lows throughout those 40 years, from major-label support and Billboard recognition to seismic lineup changes and an event many critics claimed to be the end of VOIVOD: the death of co-founding guitarist and composer Dennis "Piggy" D'Amour.

Asked why it was necessary for him and his bandmates to recently launch another Kickstarter campaign to help them finance the film, which is being helmed by director Felipe Belalcázar, Away said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "First of all, it's been in the works for quite a while. It's tens of thousands of dollars to make a movie. We had a very successful first Kickstarter that allowed us to move forward a lot. And now we're trying to have a cut for the summer festivals. The version for the physical release will be longer, but we're trying right now to do an edit for the summer fests, and we want to have it ready for the summer, basically. And it's only the last stretch where Felipe is doing some animation with my art and adjusting colors. It's the final stages, but we do need some money to finish it up since it's been a self-produced project."

When Kay asked Away if the film has already been edited, Away said: "Well, there's some stuff to be added still, but it's almost done. It's just that, again, we really wanted to have a cut made for the festivals — mainly heavy metal festivals for now, that are interested in showing it at their festival. For a theater release, we'll see what happens, but there will definitely be a physical release eventually with bonus material and et cetera."

Regarding why it has taken so long to put the documentary together, Away said: "It first started when Piggy passed in 2005, where we had the idea of doing some documentary, mainly to honor him. And so, when Piggy passed, we were like maybe two or three years without doing any touring. At this point, Snake, [then-VOIVOD bassist] Jason Newsted and I were on a mission to finish the two albums we had started in 2004. And so it gave me some time to gather the archives and put it into digital format. When we reformed for the Heavy Montreal festival in 2008, we just went on tour forever. And so everything was sort of put aside for a long time. And then, it must be about seven or eight years ago when Felipe got in touch with me. He really wanted to do that movie, and he sent me the DVD of the documentary he had done about the band DEATH, 'Death By Metal'. And I was really amazed. It's a bit like a Ken Burns documentary vibe where, if he's missing some archives, he will do a pan or a zoom on an old photo so the visual keeps moving. And I really liked that documentary, and I was convinced he could do something great for VOIVOD. So we started working on this. And, of course, his travels were cut short by the pandemic. But it's a period that it gave me the opportunity, since VOIVOD was not touring, it gave me the opportunity to gather even more archives and put them into digital format. So, now after all these years, it's almost done. [Laughs]. The last mile. [Laughs]"

Back in 2006, it was reported that VOIVOD had recruited Canadian documentarian Sam Dunn to helm the band's documentary after he interviewed members of VOIVOD for his "Metal: A Headbanger's Journey" movie.

"It was a real honor to be asked, and we've already started shooting," Dunn said at the time. "The documentary is going to be about Piggy's life and the making of the new record and how those are tied together."

After VOIVOD's collaboration with Dunn failed to materialize for reasons that are not clear, the band recruited Belalcázar, who has a proven record of delivering quality productions to millions of metal fans around the world, most recently the aforementioned critically acclaimed Chuck Schuldiner documentary "Death By Metal".

VOIVOD has just completed a North American tour with PRONG.

VOIVOD has been touring in support of its latest album, "Morgöth Tales", which was released via Century Media, The Orchard and Sony Music.

The band's 2022 release, "Synchro Anarchy", garnered significant acclaim, winning the 2023 Juno Award for "Best Hard Rock/Metal Album" in Canada.

Once more recorded and mixed by Francis Perron at RadicArt Studio, mastered by Maor Appelbaum and produced by VOIVOD, "Morgöth Tales" includes fresh studio re-recordings by the band's current lineup of nine especially selected, not-so-obvious picks from the band's hyper-classy and extremely diverse back catalogue (between 1984 and 2003) as well as a brand-new song and the album's title track, "Morgöth Tales".

VOIVOD is a Canadian heavy metal band from Jonquière, Québec. Their musical style has changed several times since the band's origin in the early 1980s. Starting out as a speed metal band, VOIVOD have added a mix of progressive metal and thrash metal to create their own unique metal style, and are credited as one of the "big four" Canadian thrash metal bands, along with SACRIFICE, RAZOR and ANNIHILATOR. They are considered by many as one of the most influential metal bands from the '80s, influencing and gaining praise from multiple bands and across numerous genres.

VOIVOD found mainstream success in the late 1980s with their fifth studio album, "Nothingface" (1989),which is the band's only album to enter The Billboard 200 chart, peaking at number 114.

Spanish metal inquisition, Iron Curtain, released their fifth album, Savage Dawn, on February 23 via Dying Victims Productions.


Iron Curtain have released a staggering five albums in twelve years. Savage Dawn is the latest and greatest, of which you will now be able to own on a glorious tape edition, courtesy of Jawbreaker Records.







As one might ascertain from the album cover, this record is going to be a savage opus of pure metallic steel, forged in the old school fires but with plenty of revitalized and relentless energy to stand on its own two feet. Maniacs old and new can be sucked into this raging inferno of d-beats, bombastic low end grooves, piercing riffs and malicious vocals. The entire band rip out that kind of classic viciousness that pulls the organs into a tight clench as you surge toward the stage for power-amps to melt your face off. Although rabidly intense, there is melody and nuance to these songs which while primitively fist-pounding is a totally valid response, you can hear the craftsmanship of a band whose lengthy years of hard work have paid off to make the masterful songwriters.


Those blisteringly tight melodies and sledgehammer-like hooks really ought to speak for themselves, but don’t take our word for it alone, hit the play button and you will not hit stop before the end. If any of you do, Iron Curtain will come for you! Devilishly clever and fiendishly fierce, each moment on this album is a high-octane adrenaline surge that shows no mercy for the weakened state of some modern metal, giving the real die-hards some sleazy poser-sacrificer anthems to wreak havoc to. The consistent energy of the record is not one which stagnates, as the unrelenting and boundless energy does not rely on itself alone and can fall back on the simple fact Iron Curtain write a supremely enjoyable, catchy and fierce heavy metal anthem that will grab you by the jugular at any given moment and never let go…


- Regular edition limited to 150 copies on silver tape
- Deluxe edition limited to 50 copies on gold tape, and comes with a 6×9 cm woven patch*
- Both versions come with a digital download code
- Expected release date: Second half of May, 2024


* A small number of patches will also be sold separately.





Savage Dawn tracklisting:


"The Aftermath"
"Devil's Eyes"
"Gypsy Rocker"
"Thy Wolf"
"Калашников 47"
"Rattlesnake"
"Tyger Speed"
"Evil is Everywhere"
"Jericho Trumpet (Stuka)"
"Savage Dawn"


"Devil's Eyes":





"Evil Is Everywhere":





"Gypsy Rocker":

Last month, Colorado melodic tech outfit, Allegaeon, unleashed their new stand alone single, "Iridescent". Today, the band shares a drum playthrough video for the track. Check it out below:





The release of the "Iridescent" single was accompanied by an absolutely unhinged music video (see below).




The scathing new tune follows their "Inhumation" single, released last fall, and serves as a precursor to the band's forthcoming full-length. Where "Inhumation" had more of a Damnum vibe, "Iridescent" is more reminiscent of Elements Of The Infinite. Musically, both songs were written with an overwhelming sense of anger; "Inhumation" in soundscape form and "Iridescent" in a pure, frantic guitar-driven form.


Comments returning vocalist Ezra Haynes, "Originally recorded during the same session as our last single, 'Inhumation,' we wanted to release 'Iridescent' to give our fans a little love before we full send our next album cycle. This stand-alone single was cut from the very cloth of Allegaeon's Elements Of The Infinite era. Perfect timing too, as we're about to head out on the North American leg of the Cancer Culture Tour with Decapitated, Speticflesh, and Kataklysm this April. It will be very cool to see how the newer material is received. Here we are, just about ten years from when we released the song '1.618.' We still get asked to this very day about our wheel of subgenres, or, 'Where's the crab?' I'm really looking forward to the next ten-plus years of glizzies."


Adds guitarist Greg Burgess, "The music for 'Iridescent' spawned from my excitement of working with Ezra again. We had been throwing ideas back and forth, rekindling our writing chemistry, and this song just seemed to write itself. The accompanying video's subject matter evolved much like our video for '1.618.' Five guys sat around talking about stupid things until we started laughing. Then the question was posed… 'What if?' Anyway, I hope people like hotdogs and stupid videos."





This month, Allegaeon will hit the road with Decapitated, Septicflesh, and Kataklysm for the Cancer Culture Over North America Tour 2024. The tour runs from April 16 through May 19. Tickets are on sale now.





Tour dates:


April
16 - Santa Ana, CA - The Observatory
17 - Mesa, AZ - Nile Theater
18 - Albuquerque, NM - Sunshine Theater
19 - Dallas, TX - Granada Theater
20 - Houston, TX - White Oak Music Hall
21 - Austin, TX - Come and Take it Live
23 - Tampa, FL - The Orpheum
24 - Atlanta, GA - The Masquerade (Hell)
25 - Greensboro, NC - Hangar 1819
26 - Wilmington, DE - The Queen
27 - Hartford, CT - The Webster
28 - Brooklyn, NY - Warsaw
29 - Boston, MA - Brighton Music Hall


May
1 -  Quebec City, QC - Imperial Bell
2 -  Montreal, QC - Beanfield Theater
3 -  Toronto, ON - The Phoenix
4 - Pittsburgh, PA - Preserving Underground
5 - Fort Wayne, IN - Piere's Entertainment Center
6 - Detroit, MI - St. Andrews Hall
7 - Louisville, KY - Headliners Music Hall
8 - Joliet, IL - The Forge
10 - Minneapolis, MN - Green Room
11 -  Winnipeg, MB - Park Theater
12 -  Saskatoon, SK - Louis (USSU)
13 -  Edmonton, AB - The Starlite Room
14 -  Calgary, AB - The Back Alley
16 -  Vancouver, BC - Rickshaw Theater
17 - Portland, OR - Hawthorne Theater
18 -  San Francisco, CA - DNA Lounge
19 - Los Angeles, CA - 1720


Allegaeon is:


Greg Burgess - lead guitar
Michael Stancel - lead guitar
Jeff Saltzman - drums
Ezra Haynes - vocals
Brandon Michael - bass

Phear have released a drum playthrough video for "Save Our Souls", the title track from their new studio album, set for release this spring. Watch Phear drummer Mike Harshaw perform the track below:





Watch bass and guitar playthrough videos for "Save Our Souls" below:










Phear has been recording this album over the last three years, mostly due to Covid restrictions. But now it’s time for these Canuck metalheads to unleash the heaviest tracks so far in the Phear catalogue!


2024 will be all about performing these new songs live. If you have ever seen Phear in concert, you know that they deliver an arena show in a club. As stated by the band; “You haven’t seen anything yet!”


Fans can stay up-to-date on Save Our Souls release details by joining their email list here.


Save Our Souls is expected to feature the following tracks:


“Save Our Souls”
“Snake”
“Aftershock”
“Lease On Life”
“Narcosynthesis”
“Bleed”
“On Thin Ice”
“New World Error”
“Delusions” (Live / Bonus track)


“Save Our Souls” video:

Having defied throat cancer, learned to fly and fence, then released his latest solo album (plus a spin-off comic series), Iron Maiden frontman Bruce Dickinson can't wait to get back on the road performing. But he's troubled by the future of the UK music industry, reports Daily Express.


One of the most successful music spin-offs in rock history, heavy metal legends Iron Maiden’s own brand of beer has become a favourite tipple in pubs across Britain. More than 35 million pints of Trooper have been poured since it was launched in 2013, featuring the band’s in-famous demonic mascot, Eddie, as its logo. Respected in the beer industry, Trooper’s success is in part because Iron Maiden singer Bruce Dickinson has become an expert in what makes a good pint and is passionate about Trooper becoming an established ale.


So it’s small wonder that Dickinson is in despair about the state of Britain’s pubs. The frontman is furious at the disappearance of so many boozers, which he sees as an important part of our community life.




In a rare interview, Dickinson tells the Daily Express: "Pubs are being closed down in a way that's ignorant. Pubs are either being closed altogether or are being ripped out so that they become a drinking factory, instead of anywhere with a sense of community. They become soulless, so that there's no love or character there anymore."

He added: "The state of small venues in Britain is absolutely shocking. Once venues go, they're seldom replaced. When I started, shows were super-cheap. Then, bands would earn their money from their records' royalties. They don't now and live music is the essence of everyone's existence. We've got to the stage where it costs £100 to see even a low-level show."

Elaborating on the hardships younger hard rock and heavy metal musicians face when trying to break through in today's music industry, Bruce said: "Artists get paid basically nothing from [music] streaming, yet the streaming companies still can't make any money — so nobody is making any money. How this rotten old system still exists, I've no idea. It defies gravity."

Read more at Daily Express.


Dickinson has released The Mandrake Project worldwide on multiple formats. Across ten inventive, expansive and absorbing tracks, Dickinson and his long-term co-writer and producer Roy Z, have created one of 2024’s defining rock albums. Sonically heavy and rich in musical textures, The Mandrake Project sees Bruce bring to life a musical vision long-in-the-making, and features some of the finest vocal performances of his career.


Recorded largely at LA’s Doom Room with Roy Z doubling up as both guitarist and bassist, the lineup for The Mandrake Project was rounded out by keyboard maestro Mistheria and drummer Dave Moreno, both of whom also featured on Bruce’s last solo studio album, Tyranny Of Souls, in 2005.


The Mandrake Project is Dickinson’s seventh solo album. Order here.





The Mandrake Project tracklisting:


"Afterglow Of Ragnarok"
"Many Doors To Hell"
"Rain On The Graves"
"Resurrection Men"
"Fingers In The Wounds"
"Eternity Has Failed"
"Mistress Of Mercy"
"Face In The Mirror"
"Shadow Of The Gods"
"Sonata (Immortal Beloved)"


"Rain On The Graves" video:





"Afterglow Of Ragnarok" video: