In a new interview with Australia's Metal Roos, guitarist Herman Li spoke about DRAGONFORCE's decision to cover Taylor Swift's "Wildest Dreams", which is included as a bonus track on select editions of the band's upcoming album, "Warp Speed Warriors", due out on March 15 via Napalm Records. The Grammy-nominated unit has transformed the current reigning pop superstar's huge hit into a lightning-fast power metal anthem, featuring incredible guitar solos and sky-high vocals. DRAGONFORCE's version first caused a wave of buzz in the press and on social media after the band performed it live on their most recent North American tour.

The DRAGONFORCE guitarist said: "On the last album, [2019's] 'Extreme Power Metal', ['My Heart Will Go On' by] Céline Dion, that was all Sam [Totman, DRAGONFORCE guitarist]. He really wanted to do Céline Dion. I said, fine — Céline Dion is cool. I can't argue about that. And for this album, I wanted to do Taylor Swift because I had to listen to — I'd listened to so much Taylor Swift the last four years, like a lot. I didn't expect that to happen in my life, but it happened because I had a kid — I had a daughter. My daughter was born four years ago, so I was using music for her to listen to stop the baby crying or keep her busy. So I heard a lot of Taylor Swift, and I really got into it. The songs are really catchy, and I really found the production to be pretty incredible, how the production is done. So I said to Sam, I said, 'I think we should do this cover of 'Wildest Dreams' by Taylor Swift.' He [went], 'No. Come on. You serious?' He didn't know Taylor Swift, to be honest. Living in England, he had not really heard it — he never even heard that song before. And I was able to convince him, and I thought, 'This is gonna work.' We played it live on the last tour, and people were just going insane for that song. So, it's fun. It just adds that extra-fun element to the album and on stage as well."

Asked what his daughter thinks of DRAGONFORCE's cover of "Wildest Dreams", Herman replied: "She hasn't heard it, actually. I haven't played it to her, for some reason. I don't have that album on my phone, and every time I go in the car right now, I'm listening to 'Cars 2' motion picture soundtrack or 'Cars 3'. So we're in a 'Cars' phase at the moment. So we'll get back to that when it's time."

ARCH ENEMY singer Alissa White-Gluz joined DRAGONFORCE on stage on November 5, 2023 at MTelus in Montreal, Quebec, Canada to perform "Wildest Dreams (Dragonforce's Version)".

"Warp Speed Warriors" was produced, mixed and mastered by Damien Rainaud at Mix Unlimited in Los Angeles, California with DRAGONFORCE guitarists Sam Totman and Herman Li.

On "Warp Speed Warriors", DRAGONFORCE — composed of of guitar virtuosos and founding members Li and Totman, singer Marc Hudson, bassist Alicia Vigil and drummer Gee Anzalone — explore a wider range of varying musical styles than ever before, evolving their sound throughout the exciting musical journey while still staying true to their roots.

Herman stated about "Warp Speed Warriors": "After four years of creative incubation, we are beyond excited to release what we believe to be our most ambitious and grandiose record yet. This album showcases multiple facets of our artistic abilities, and we invite metal aficionados from every corner of the genre to discover something captivating within its layers. We can't wait to share this chapter of our musical journey with you, it's going to be EPIC!"

"Power Of The Triforce" keeps the volume high before DRAGONFORCE temporarily slows it down for the ballad "Kingdom Of Steel". Rapid drum patterns and thrilling guitars carry the catchy "Burning Heart", while chanting "Space Marine Corp" features a strong and uplifting chorus. Electronic influences on grandiose power metal anthem "The Killer Queen" hypnotize, as singer Marc Hudson's vocals reach for the skies. On "Doomsday Party", 1980s rock influences meet captivating retro video game soundscapes and epic guitar solos in true DRAGONFORCE manner.

"Warp Speed Warriors" track listing:

01. Astro Warrior Anthem
02. Power Of The Triforce
03. Kingdom Of Steel
04. Burning Heart
05. Space Marine Corp
06. Doomsday Party
07. Prelude To Darkness
08. The Killer Queen
09. Pixel Prison

DRAGONFORCE's platinum-selling single "Through The Fire And Flames" brought the London-based Grammy-nominated extreme power metal group international acclaim and was featured as the most challenging song on "Guitar Hero III".

In March 2019, the "Through The Fire And Flames" music video reached a new milestone: it surpassed one hundred million views on YouTube — DRAGONFORCE's first music video to do so.

"Through The Fire And Flames" is the leadoff track from 2006's "Inhuman Rampage" album, which was officially certified gold in July 2017 by the RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America) for sales in excess of half a million copies.

In August 2019, DRAGONFORCE parted ways with longtime bassist Frédéric Leclercq. He has since joined German thrashers KREATOR.

On February 5, it was revealed that SLAYER guitarist Kerry King will release the debut album from his long-awaited solo project, "From Hell I Rise", on May 17 via Reigning Phoenix Music. Joining King on the record are drummer Paul Bostaph (SLAYER),bassist Kyle Sanders (HELLYEAH),Phil Demmel (formerly of MACHINE HEAD) on lead guitar, and Mark Osegueda (DEATH ANGEL on lead vocals. Working with producer Josh Wilbur (KORN, LAMB OF GOD, AVENGED SEVENFOLD, BAD RELIGION),the vast bulk of King's solo album was recorded at Henson Recording Studios (formerly A&M Studios) in Los Angeles, California, a location that birthed classics from THE DOORS, PINK FLOYD, RAMONES and SOUNDGARDEN, among others.

In a new interview with El Planeta Del Rock, Mark stated about how he landed the gig in Kerry's band (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "It wasn't an overnight thing. It was a long process. Me and Kerry are friends, for sure, but that's not the reason I got the gig. By no means did I get the gig because we're friends; it was definitely a lot of hard work.

"He's an institution unto himself as his, as is SLAYER, and when SLAYER announced that they weren't gonna go any longer, he made it known to everyone that he was far from done," Mark continued. "And when that was announced, it was quite a few years ago. It was probably during the pandemic that I just gave him a cold call out of the blue, or a cold text rather, just saying, 'Just so you know, I heard you're doing this, and I'm just throwing my name into the hat, into the ring, or throwing my throat into the ring rather.' And he was, like, 'Hmm.' He's a very to-the-point guy, and he said, 'Okay.' And I know he's very serious about everything he does musically.

"It was a lot of hard work, I'll tell you that — a lot of going back and forth," Mark repeated. "I did quite a bit of demoing with him, and nothing was a sure thing ever. I know he had other people in mind for every for every position in the band. I think Paul was the shoo-in right off the bat, and then after that… Kerry knew his vision. He knew what he wanted. He knew what he heard in his head, and he wanted a lineup that could deliver it. And after a lot of hard work, one day me and him were out together — and it was plain simple as that. But quite some time had gone by and a lot of work was put into it, and he just said, 'If you want the gig, it's yours.' And I, of course, I just looked at him, like, 'Ah.' Pretty much, 'Fuck yeah.' And I gave him a huge hug, and from then on it was just even more hard work. As hard as I worked to get the gig, once I got the gig, it was even more hard work just concentrating on the songs and getting what I was gonna do to deliver in the studio. Once we got in the studio, we went in with Josh Wilbur, who produced it, at Henson Studios in Hollywood, and we didn't mess around. We got in — I think loaded in, two weeks later loaded out. It was work every day, but one of the most amazing studio experiences I've had and very fulfilling."

Regarding the "From Hell I Rise" album, Mark said: "It's a beast. It's a body of work that — from beginning to end, that album is something I'm very proud of, and I know everyone on the record, all of us in the band, are very proud of it. And I think when people hear it, they're gonna be blown away. Yeah, it's a beast."

Kerry told Rolling Stone about Osegueda's addition to the band: "With Mark, he was on board early on. I just didn't pull that trigger. I was like, 'Let's see what happens.' Say for instance, [JUDAS PRIEST's] Rob Halford calls me and says, 'Hey, I would love to be your singer,' I'd have to go that way."

King also confirmed that PANTERA's Philip Anselmo was "considered" as a possible singer for his new project. "My management, my promoter, my record label all wanted Phil," Kerry said. "Phil's a good friend of mine, but I always thought he's not the right guy. That has nothing to do with his ability; I just knew he wasn't the right guy. When you hear Mark on this record, you know that's the guy.

"I had to do due diligence, because at the end of the day, had Philip been the guy, we'd be in arenas immediately because we could play new stuff, we could play PANTERA, we could play SLAYER, and fans would've been happy. It ended when the PANTERA thing came up.

"I saw Mark a few years back singing covers of MINOR THREAT and cameo in THE WEDDING BAND with members of METALLICA," King added. "It was different from what he does in DEATH ANGEL, and he sounded great. He's super versatile. He took steps to make this different than DEATH ANGEL. I don't touch on probably 50 percent of what he can do on the album.

"Mark knew how I expected the songs to be performed. On my demos, I sing with very good conviction, but I don't have pipes; that's why I don't sing. With 'Residue', he sounded so good I had to ask him, 'Is this sustainable? I don't want you to blow your load on this record and then blow your voice out every third show.' And he swore up and down he could do it. He went on to some of the harder ones and did the same thing on those, so I went, 'Okay.'"

"From Hell I Rise" track listing:

01. Diablo
02. Where I Reign
03. Residue
04. Idle Hands
05. Trophies Of The Tyrant
06. Crucifixation
07. Tension
08. Everything I Hate About You
09. Toxic
10. Two Fists
11. Rage
12. Shrapnel
13. From Hell I Rise

The LP's first single, "Idle Hands", can be streamed below.

KERRY KING will be special guest on the upcoming LAMB OF GOD/MASTODON North American "Ashes Of Leviathan" co-headline tour. The six-week run will launch on July 19 in Grand Prairie, Texas and will wrap on August 31 in Omaha, Nebraska. KERRY KING will make the band's 2024 concert debut in May, first at the Welcome To Rockville festival (May 9),followed by Sonic Temple Arts & Music Festival (May 16).

In a new interview with Meltdown of Detroit's WRIF radio station, drummer Tommy Clufetos spoke about what it was like to play with Ozzy Osbourne for eight years, first as a member of Ozzy's solo band and then as the replacement for Bill Ward in BLACK SABBATH's touring lineup. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Ozzy, he gets it. I mean, the guy's been doing it for 50 years. He's had enormous success. And I've played on stage with a bunch of people. And when I'm behind Ozzy, we go to war together… I like to look up to my elders, put it that way. It's like when I was a kid and my grandpa would be sitting there. Maybe your grandpa doesn't speak all the time. They know when to speak.

"You can pick up a lot of things from older musicians because they have the experience and they're five times more experienced down the line than you are," Tommy explained. "And if you watch, you can pick up a lot of clever tricks. And I've learned so much from Ozzy. I've learned so much from [playing with] Ted Nugent — where you can go, 'Oh, in 20 years, I'm gonna use that trick that they just did.' It was one split second. So all these little showbiz tricks, I have a lot of things in my back pocket from working with very experienced, talented people. And I've been so lucky for that."

Regarding what it was like to play his first show with BLACK SABBATH, sharing the stage with the band's original members Ozzy, guitarist Tony Iommi and bassist Geezer Butler, Tommy said: "It's — the steps. The steps to playing locally in Detroit, the steps to learning to back other people. When I started playing with my dad, we would play all these so-called oldies shows where there would be five, six, seven acts on a show. And you had to learn how to read the front singers and play different styles of music. So I've done all these little different, many different, millions of different things of learning to play in different situations that it all adds up to playing with BLACK SABBATH and being ready when that opportunity presents itself."

He continued: "I talk to a lot of young kids, and they'll think some old people are kind of cheesy and goofy, and I point out to them, 'Well, back in the '60s, those were the rock stars. Maybe they're 75 now and they may look goofy to you, but you can learn a lot.' I used to play for LITTLE ANTHONY AND THE IMPERIALS, which is a big, I'd say doo-wop '60s group who had a bunch of hits — four wonderful black singers, and, at the time, they were in their 60s. And they would all get ready together and put on their suits together and make sure their hair looked good and they danced and the moves and just soaking this energy in of always being professional, always going up there and giving it your best.

"When I go up with my own thing [on my upcoming tour with TOMMY'S ROCKTRIP], it's not gonna be any different. I can honestly say, from being in Detroit, from being raised the right way by my parents, through having a work ethic and being professional and wanting to be the best that I can be, it all adds up to what you're doing. So I'm going to bring the best of what I have [to those shows]."

TOMMY'S ROCKTRIP, where Clufetos, he offers his take on the rock 'n roll influences that made him one of the most sought-after drummers in the current hard rock scene, will embark on a short solo tour at the end of March.

The following dates have been confirmed:

March 26 - Winchester Music Tavern - Lakewood, OH
March 27 - Sweetwater Music Co - Fort Wayne, IN
March 28 - Token Lounge - Westland, MI
March 29 - Blue Note - Harrison, OH

In May 2021, TOMMY'S ROCKTRIP released its debut album, "Beat Up By Rock 'N' Roll", via Frontiers Music Srl. Eric Dover, known for singing and playing guitar with JELLYFISH, SLASH'S SNAKEPIT and Alice Cooper, handled lead vocals on the LP (though Tommy grabbed the mic for three tracks). Eliot Lorengo (bass),Hank Schneekluth (guitar) and Nao Nakashima (guitar) rounded out the supporting cast.

Clufetos worked with such rock icons as Ted Nugent, Alice Cooper and Rob Zombie before joining Ozzy Osbourne in 2010. That led to a spot as the drummer on BLACK SABBATH's last two world tours.

In a 2021 interview with Jason Saulnier, Clufetos was asked if he ever finds himself looking back on the fact that he played drums for BLACK SABBATH on the legendary heavy metal band's final tour. "I always feel blessed that I was lucky, I was honored to play with those guys 'cause they're a great musicians," he said. "But I don't look at it as — I was never a member. Once a gig's over, a gig's over. So I don't really live in the past concerning that; I always have to plow forward — as does everybody. I can't look back. I can appreciate it — that's not saying I don't appreciate it — but I'm also not gonna dwell on I played with BLACK SABBATH one time, because then you're living in the past. I've got many more years to move forward to continue my career and pay my bills. It doesn't mean that I don't love what I do, but it is my job, and it's my craft, and it's an ongoing thing to me. So that was that gig, and that ended, and now it's, what do you do next? It's always that."

He continued: "Every tour ends; every band ends eventually… To me, it's work. To, that works to me. And I'm working to be better, and I'm working to get better. Hopefully I'm a better drummer than [I was] then. And it's always been the process; I'm always chipping away at the stone. And my drums are right there. And after I get done with these interviews, I will go right there and play and see what else comes out of me going right there and playing. 'Cause everything has come out of me sitting at the drums trying to be the best that I can be."

Clufetos did not play on the SABBATH reunion album, "13", a role that was filled by RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE drummer Brad Wilk. Ozzy Osbourne told The Pulse Of Radio at the time that Clufetos was gong to play on the record until producer Rick Rubin stepped in.

Although original BLACK SABBATH drummer Bill Ward was initially announced as part of the reunion in late 2011, he dropped out within a couple of months, saying he was offered an "unsignable" contract.

The members of SABBATH were reportedly concerned that Ward's health would not hold up on the road and allegedly asked him to accept the use of a second drummer on tour, which he refused.

In a new interview with the Appetite For Distortion podcast, SHINEDOWN's Zach Myers and Brent Smith were asked when they think they will be inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame. Zach said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "We're eligible in '28. But I don't know. I mean, listen, there's bands from the '70s and '80s that aren't in there that I think should very much be in there. So I don't know."

He continued: "Here's the thing: we've never been nominated for a Grammy this far in and [after] this many [Number One singles], and watch us get into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame year one. Wouldn't that make the most sense of anything ever, if we've never been nominated for a Grammy or anything else, but we get in the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame the first year we're eligible?

Added Brent: "I would be all down. I mean, let's go. A hundred percent. Let's go. The whole thing about that is you hear not necessarily negative stories or horror stories about that whole induction process, but at the end of the day, our number one boss in this band — we have one boss; it happens to be everybody in the audience. So, that's who we care about."

Continued Zach: "We get our Grammy and our Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame nomination every night when we walk on stage and there's 13,000 people out there."

Said Brent: "Don't get me wrong: we'd be happy to have the honor, but it's not something that… You've just gotta keep your head up and keep moving forward."

Zach added: "Yeah, we don't let it motivate us; that's for sure."

SHINEDOWN's single "A Symptom Of Being Human" recently landed at No. 1 at Active Rock. This marked SHINEDOWN's record-breaking 21st No. 1 song on the Mediabase Active Rock chart and extended the band's record for the most No. 1s in the history of Billboard's Mainstream Rock Airplay chart with 19 total. The crossover hit is also moving up the Alternative charts and now impacting at Top 40 radio nationwide, all following its Top 15 run at Hot AC in 2023.

SHINEDOWN's latest album, "Planet Zero", debuted in the Top 5 on the Billboard 200 chart and the official U.K. albums chart, and at No. 1 on six other Billboard charts, including Top Album Sales, Rock, Hard Rock, and Alternative Albums.

SHINEDOWN recorded "Planet Zero" during the pandemic, mostly in bassist/producer Eric Bass's newly built Big Animal Studio in his home base of South Carolina.

SHINEDOWN's six previous albums have sold more than 10 million copies worldwide and all gone gold or better — double platinum in the case of 2008's "The Sound Of Madness".

For more than a decade, SHINEDOWN has worked with the American Foundation For Suicide Prevention, participating in national walks to bring awareness to the effects of depression and donating money to the organization.

Former MEGADETH bassist David Ellefson played the ninth show of his inaugural "Bass Warrior Tour" last Thursday night (March 7) at Reigen Live in Vienna, Austria. Video of the concert can be seen below.

The "Bass Warrior Tour" sees Ellefson gracing select European cities with a captivating evening of cherished classics, deep cuts, and insightful storytelling from his illustrious career. This journey encompasses his role as a co-founding member of MEGADETH, his ELLEFSON solo material, and more.

When the "Bass Warrior Tour" was first announced, Ellefson said in a statement: "I've approached my career as that of a musical warrior, always accompanied by my bass guitar. I eagerly anticipate bringing these songs back to the stage, while sharing introspective and entertaining anecdotes about their creation. It's been a wild ride of low notes and high stakes!"

Accompanying Ellefson on this tour is Italian guitarist and musical director Andy Martongelli, a longtime friend and collaborator who has been by Ellefson's side during his solo ventures, "Basstory", ELLEFSON-SOTO and ALTITUDES & ATTITUDE tours across Europe. On drums is Roberto Pirami (Michael Angelo Batio, Rowan Robertson, Gus G.),on vocals Titta Tani (EHFAR, ex-drummer of Claudio Simonetti's GOBLIN),and on rhythm guitar Walter Cianciusi (Geoff Tate band).

Ellefson's setlist for the Vienna concert was as follows:

01. Skin O' My Teeth (MEGADETH song)
02. 99 Ways To Die (MEGADETH song)
03. Celebrity Trash (ELLEFSON-SOTO song)
04. Reckoning Day (MEGADETH song)
05. Bad Omen (MEGADETH song)
06. Go To Hell (MEGADETH song)
07. Like A Bullet (ELLEFSON-SOTO song)
08. Over Now (Post Malone cover)
09. Simple Truth
10. Countdown To Extinction (MEGADETH song)
11. Tornado Of Souls (MEGADETH song)
12. Love Me Like A Reptile (MOTÖRHEAD cover)

Encore:

13. Dawn Patrol / The Trooper / For Whom The Bell Tolls
14. Symphony Of Destruction (MEGADETH song)
15. Peace Sells (MEGADETH song)

Ellefson was fired from MEGADETH nearly three years ago, just days after sexually tinged messages and explicit video footage involving the bassist were posted on Twitter.

Shortly before Ellefson was dismissed from MEGADETH, he released a statement on Instagram denying all social media chatter that he "groomed" an underage fan. He also filed a report with the police department in Scottsdale, Arizona alleging unlawful distribution of sexually explicit images of him by unknown offenders.

Dave Mustaine — who formed MEGADETH with Ellefson in 1983 — released a statement on May 24, 2021 announcing the bassist's departure from the band. In the statement, Dave said: "We do not take this decision lightly. While we do not know every detail of what occurred, with an already strained relationship, what has already been revealed now is enough to make working together impossible moving forward."

Last June, Ellefson told Andrew McKaysmith of the "Scars And Guitars" podcast that he was prepared for his latest exit from MEGADETH.

"When my departure from MEGADETH happened, a lot of people were hitting me [up and saying], 'Oh my God. It's so terrible. It's so terrible,'" he recalled. "[And I said], 'Yeah, believe me, it's not.' [Laughs] It really isn't. I was ready for it. I didn't think it was gonna go down that way; I didn't see that coming. But the fact that it happened, I was not sad about it. I was okay with it. Because I knew there's another journey ahead, and that journey wasn't gonna start until I was out of the old one.

"When you're in a group, you're in a setting, you've gotta play company man and you kind of go along with the narrative that's been set forth.

"There was a lot of things, a lot of the narrative in that band that I never agreed with," Ellefson admitted. "A lot of that band was started on a grudge and a hardship of the firing [of MEGADETH leader Dave Mustaine] from METALLICA. That was never my story. I was always a METALLICA fan and I became friends with those guys. I have nothing but gratitude for that group and those gentlemen for what they've done for all of us, and I think they deserve the biggest applause. So it was hard to be in a band that always had this saltiness around that whole narrative, because it was never my narrative. So I went along to get along, but now I don't have to do that. And now I can be on my own path. These are my words; it's my story now. And maybe the events that happened a couple of years ago, I needed to have my own story to tell. 'Cause when you quit a band, everyone's pissed at you; they hate you: 'Oh, fuck you. You quit. You quit my favorite band.' But when you get tossed out… And I'm not looking for the sympathy card. You don't have to feel sorry for me; you don't have to do any of that. But it's interesting that, I guess the way it happened… it went down in a way that it was certainly visible enough and on a level that… It was sort of, like, okay, well, what's gonna happen next? And I just tried to be faithful to just following my heart, following the path."

In 2004, Ellefson filed an $18.5-million lawsuit against Mustaine, alleging the frontman shortchanged him on profits and backed out of a deal to turn Megadeth Inc. over to him when the band broke up in 2002. The lawsuit was eventually dismissed and Ellefson rejoined MEGADETH in 2010.

DAVID ELLEFSON BASS WARRIOR TOUR FEATURING ANDY MARTONGELLI FEBRUARY-MARCH 2024

"I've approached my career as that of a...

Posted by David Ellefson on Thursday, February 15, 2024

Former MEGADETH guitarist Marty Friedman will release his new solo album, "Drama", on May 17 via Frontiers Music Srl.

Recorded in Italy, "Drama" showcases Marty's unique touch, for the first time using both vintage and modern guitars, delivering a pure delight for lovers of music everywhere. From the captivating first single "Illumination", which can be streamed below, to the album's breathtaking "Mirage" and 10 other emotionally charged mini-symphonies, Marty paints atmospheric elements with a modern and exotic flair, promising an unforgettable musical experience.

"Drama" track listing:

01. Illumination
02. Song For An Eternal Child
03. Triumph (Official Version)
04. Thrill City
05. Deep End
06. Dead Of Winter
07. Mirage
08. A Prayer
09. Acapella
10. Tearful Confession
11. Icicles
12. 2 Rebeldes (Dead Of Winter) (Spanish version)
12. Mirage (Guitar Karaoke Version) (bonus track Japan)

Recording lineup:

Marty Friedman - Guitar
Wakazaemon - Bass
Gregg Bissonette - Drums
Mika Maruki - Piano, Keyboard & Synth
Hiyori Okuda - Cello
Miho Chigyo - Violin

Vocals on "Dead Of Winter": Chris Brooks (LIKE A STORM)
Vocals on "2 Rebeldes": Steven Baquero Vargas
Bass on "Mirage": Or Lubianiker
Rhythm guitar on "Thrill City": Naoki Morioka
Keys and synth on "Sanctuary": Takuro Iga
Drums on "Thrill City": Chargeeeeee

During the question-and-answer portion of last November's Rock 'N' Roll Fantasy Camp's "Metalmania III" in Los Angeles, Friedman spoke about his upcoming solo album. He said: "I've got 15 solo albums now, and each time I try to do something new and something I've never done before. I don't want ever to be heard as one of those guys, 'Ah, his early albums were great.' You know what I mean? I used to say that about my favorite guitarists — sadly — and I never wanted that to be said about me. So I'm always challenging myself on new stuff. On this new album that I'm about 70 percent done with, the closest thing I can relate it to is an album I had called 'Scenes' [1992], which I released quite a while ago. It was very dramatic and orchestral, and there was a lot of other type of instruments — violins, cellos and all that type of stuff. So it's more of a dramatic, orchestral concept. But everything that I've learned since that 'Scenes' album has just exponentially grown, so it's a much bigger scale. So if you like that 'Scenes' album at all, I think this one will be right up your alley."

Marty previously talked about his next solo LP in October 2023 in an interview with Chris Akin Presents. At the time, he said: "I've been recording my upcoming album for almost a year now. And it's gonna be finished by the end of the year, and it's gonna come out in the spring of 2024. And boy, it's an ambitious one. But, of course, I say that every time. But every time I have to top the one that was before it, so the task keeps getting more and more insane."

Asked what challenges and motivates him to keep pushing forward with his music, Marty said: "I'm not really so much into trying something that I haven't done for the sake of trying something I haven't done. I'm trying to impress me with something that I've never done before. It's not like I'm gonna suddenly wake up one day and say, 'Okay, I'm gonna be a rapper' or something. I do what I do and I have my musical vision and sound. I just try to do deeper things with it. I try to make more complex emotions, deeper emotions in the music, more interesting, melodic twists and turns, more adventurous things, things that I wasn't deep enough to do last year or two years ago, or five years ago, things that I couldn't hear back then, things that I can only hear because life has given me more experiences since then, and, of course, more musical experiences, and just to consciously be aware of stuff that I've already done and not repeat it. It's a natural challenge that I've been doing forever, and the hardest part is that blank sheet when I just start from zero. It's, like, 'How am I going to top that last thing that I just did? I worked my ass off. I'm completely done. I have nothing left. I've got zero.' And so that's the challenge. But now that I'm about 70, 80 percent done with this new record, I'm pretty confident with it. And I really am looking forward to letting everybody hear it."

In April 2023, Friedman told Justin Hunt of The Entertainment Outlet he "recorded about half" of his upcoming album in the summer of 2022. "I went over to Italy and I recorded about half of an album."

Regarding what fans can expect from his upcoming LP, Marty said: "I think it's gonna please a lot of people who liked my album 'Scenes', one of my earlier albums. It's kind of in that vein, but much more modern. And it's got all the things that I've added to my musical — I don't know how to say it — palette, or what I'm trying to do musically. It's basically a grown-up version of 'Scenes', really, so far. But I haven't finished it. It's taking a long time, but, you know, tender love and care. And it's coming along great."

Friedman went on to say that his early 2023 U.S. tour as the support act for QUEENSRŸCHE was a "perfect" way to inspire him to complete his new album. He explained: "This tour I'm playing really my most aggressive music with my most aggressive band. And that is perfect for my mentality for writing stuff like 'Scenes'. That's how 'Scenes' happened in the first place, because I was touring with MEGADETH like a maniac, and I was playing all this really, really heavy stuff every single night, and now I'm doing the exact same thing with my band. And so what I write is the complete opposite. So it's kind of like a really good creative time. And things are moving along really nice."

Marty's latest album, "Tokyo Jukebox 3", came out in April 2021 via The Players Club/Mascot Label Group. The record, which was made available in Japan in October 2020, is the third in a series that began with "Tokyo Jukebox" in 2009, and then "Tokyo Jukebox 2" following in 2011. The trilogy presents Friedman's inspired performances to Japanese repertoire he's chosen to cover.

Marty's presence in the world of music, the world of guitar and Japanese pop culture is mystifying, bizarre, and nothing short of inspiring. His first major impact in music was in the game-changing guitar duo CACOPHONY, which he founded with equally enigmatic and now-legendary guitarist Jason Becker. He then spent 10 years as lead guitarist in the genre-defining thrash metal act MEGADETH before moving to Tokyo due to his love for Japanese music, language, and culture.

Following his move, he landed a starring role for a new TV comedy "Hebimeta-san" ("Mr. Heavy Metal") and its spinoff, "Rock Fujiyama", which ran for six seasons and propelled him into the living rooms of Japan's mainstream. He has since appeared in over 800 TV shows, movies and commercials, including a two-year campaign with Coca-Cola for Fanta, authored two best-selling novels and was the first-ever foreigner to be appointed as an ambassador of Japan heritage and perform at the opening ceremony for the Tokyo Marathon in 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2022.

At the same time, Marty has continued his career in music with several solo albums in addition to writing and performing with the top artists in Japanese music, racking up countless chart hits, including a No. 1 with SMAP, two No. 2 songs with MOMOIRO CLOVER, a No. 2 with SOUND HORIZON — just to name a few.

New Jersey thrash metal veterans OVERKILL have recruited David Ellefson to play bass for the band on their "Scorching Latin America 2024" tour. The former MEGADETH member will be filling in for original OVERKILL bassist D.D. Verni, who will be unable to make the shows as he is recovering from shoulder surgery.

OVERKILL's 10-date "Scorching Latin America 2024" tour will kick off on April 11 in Guadalajara, Mexico and will include stops in Costa Rica, Chile and Peru before closing on April 28 in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

OVERKILL singer Bobby "Blitz" Ellsworth states: "South, Central America and Mexico, with D.D. on the mend from surgery and the opportunity in front of us, where to go but back to the roots of THRASH! Please welcome Mr. David Ellefson to the OVERKILL, touring ranks this April 2024! 'David, can you help?' The answer: 'Yes, let's go!' We can't wait to see you guys! Horns up!"

Verni comments. "Bummed to not be able to thrash it up with our Latin America fans, but gotta get this wing workin!!....but who better than one of the great original thrash bass players, and old friend, David Ellefson to fill in."

Ellefson comments, "It's an honor to fill in for my friend, the mighty D.D. Verni, as he takes time to heal up right now. OVERKILL always brings the fury and I'm looking forward to scorching Latin America with them!"

Confirmed dates for OVERKILL's "Scorching Latin America" tour are:

April 11 - MX - Guadalajara
April 13 - MX - CDMX
April 15 - SV - San Salvador
April 17 - CR - San Jose
April 19 - EC - Quito
April 21 - CH - Santiago
April 22 - AR - Buenos Aires
April 24 - BO - La Paz
April 26 - PE - Lima
April 28 - BR - Sao Paulo

Ellefson was fired from MEGADETH nearly three years ago, just days after sexually tinged messages and explicit video footage involving the bassist were posted on Twitter.

MEGADETH leader Dave Mustaine ended up hiring TESTAMENT's Steve DiGiorgio to re-record Ellefson's bass parts on MEGADETH's latest album, "The Sick, The Dying… And The Dead!"

In May 2022, MEGADETH announced bass player James LoMenzo as a permanent member of the band. LoMenzo was MEGADETH's bass player in the mid-2000s and initially stepped back in as a touring member for "The Metal Tour Of The Year".

In 2004, Ellefson filed an $18.5-million lawsuit against Mustaine, alleging the frontman shortchanged him on profits and backed out of a deal to turn Megadeth Inc. over to him when the band broke up in 2002. The lawsuit was eventually dismissed and Ellefson rejoined MEGADETH in 2010.

Ellefson was in MEGADETH from the band's inception in 1983 to 2002, and again from 2010 until his latest exit.

Posted by Nick Menza on Monday, March 11, 2024

Overkill ANNOUNCE THEIR 'SCORCHING LATIN AMERICA 2024' TOUR

DAVID ELLEFSON TO HANDLE BASS DUTIES

For four decades,…

Posted by David Ellefson on Monday, March 11, 2024

British heavy metal legends JUDAS PRIEST kicked off their "Invincible Shield" world tour earlier tonight (Monday, March 11 at OVO Hydro in Glasgow, United Kingdom.

The band's 18-song setlist included three tracks from PRIEST's latest album, "Invincible Shield" — the title track, "Panic Attack" and "Trial By Fire" — along with the first performance of "Love Bites" in nearly a decade.

PRIEST's setlist for the Glasgow concert was as follows:

01. Panic Attack (live debut)
02. Rapid Fire
03. You've Got Another Thing Comin'
04. Metal Gods
05. Lightning Strike
06. Love Bites (first time live since 2015)
07. Breaking The Law
08. Saints In Hell (first time live since 2019)
09. Trial By Fire (live debut)
10. Turbo Lover
11. Invincible Shield (live debut)
12. Beyond The Realms Of Death
13. Victim Of Changes
14. Screaming For Vengeance
15. The Green Manalishi (With The Two Prong Crown)
16. Painkiller

Encore:

17. Hell Bent For Leather
18. Living After Midnight

In a recent interview with Metal Pilgrim, JUDAS PRIEST singer Rob Halford spoke about the setlist for the European leg of the band's "Invincible Shield" tour with SAXON and URIAH HEEP. He said: "We've had this conversation before as far as trying to put the setlist together. And after 19 studio albums, it's, like, 'Oh my God. Where do we go?' If we didn't play 'Breaking The Law', there'd be a riot. If we didn't play 'Painkiller', there'd be a riot. There are certain songs that you are indebted to your fans to play, because they're part of the fabric of who you are as a band. Without naming names, there are certain bands where you know you wanna hear that song when you go to a show. So there's a portion of the setlist that already writes itself. Having said that, yeah, we are gonna go quite deep, and we found some songs from previous albums that we're gonna work with and we're gonna bring out. So there'll probably be at least two or three deep cuts on this setlist."

Rob continued: "At any given moment, we've got 60 to 70 songs we can play — at any given moment. And then we're gonna add more into the mix. It's fun to see the texts and the e-mails flying through: 'Well, I'll give you this one if you give me that one.' 'Cause you've gotta find a balance. When a band plays on stage, every single bandmember has to agree on the set list. There's no place for, 'Oh, dude, I've gotta play this one.' There's no place for that. You've all gotta be believing in that particular song as you go through the show. And it's gonna be fantastic. And this is gonna be a really eventful tour as we're about to kick off in Europe, with our friends SAXON and URIAH HEEP."

"Invincible Shield" arrived on March 8 via Sony Music.

Bassist Ian Hill is the sole remaining original member of PRIEST, which formed in 1969. Halford joined the group in 1973 and guitarist Glenn Tipton signed on in 1974. Rob left PRIEST in the early 1990s to form his own band, then came back to PRIEST in 2003. Original guitarist K.K. Downing parted ways with the band in 2011, and was replaced by Richie Faulkner.

Metal Masters Judas Priest kick off their "Invincible Shield: World Tour" Tonight in Scotland at Glasgow's OVO Hydro

Posted by Calum Buchan on Monday, March 11, 2024

Judas Priest kicked off their long-awaited "Invincible Shield Tour" tonight in The Ovo Hydro, Glasgow.

#JudasPriest #InvincibleShield #InvincibleShieldTour

Posted by Martín Damacena on Monday, March 11, 2024

Former NIGHTWISH members Marko "Marco" Hietala and Tarja Turunen have collaborated on a new song called "Left On Mars", to be released on Wednesday, March 13.

Earlier today (Saturday, March 9),Hietala and Turunen, who are currently on the road together in South America as part of the "Living The Dream – The Hits Tour 2024", shared a video message in which they announced the "Left On Mars" single.

"After these long 20 years, we've actually recorded a totally new duet," Marko said. "This is a song that I wrote with my bandmates, and it's called 'Left On Mars'." Tarja added: "[It's a] very beautiful song. [I] can't wait for you to hear it." Hietala continued: "On 13th of March, it's gonna be out. Real soon." Turunen stated: "Very soon."

Earlier this month, Hietala was asked by El Planeta Del Rock if there is any chance of him and Turunen launching a new project together. He responded: "I won't close that option off. We haven't talked about it, putting up a group together or anything like that. But at the moment, it seems that we've got a different kind of connection than it was [in the] past. Because then the camps were really divided already when I stepped into [NIGHTWISH]. And it was hard to find the truth of things, because a lot of it was like a managerial turf war where we got told certain things by one side and told certain things by the other side and lots of confusion — blah, blah, blah — and in the end, yeah, what we already realized a few years back when we were all together there doing the Christmas shows in Finland that after all the hassle has died and the noise has died and everything, you still find out that you lost a friend. And that was the main [reason] why we are basically doing this together again."

In a recent interview with Thiago Rahal Mauro of Brazil's Metal Musikast, Tarja spoke about what it was like to team up with Marko to perform a cover of "The Phantom Of The Opera" during their special open-air concert in July 2023 at Z7 Summer Nights in Pratteln, Switzerland. Tarja and Marko both played individual sets at the event, with their rendition of the main theme from Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical coming during Turunen's portion of the show.

"I got a call from a promoter to take part in one festival in Switzerland last year in a European summertime in July," Tarja said. "And then I got to know, when I had accepted to be the artist of the evening, then I saw that they had also invited Marko and Marko's band to perform in the same festival. So I thought, 'Hmm.' And I was actually sending a message that I wished to reach Marko, because I didn't have his contact any longer, to ask him to perform with me 'The Phantom Of The Opera' in my show. And he responded 'yes.' So, after 18 years [laughs], we were about to sing the song together. And it was super exciting. It was really beautiful. The people got very emotional about this.

"We had met already before — we had been singing on a few occasions in Finland a few years before — so we kind of cleaned the table on that occasion already," she explained. "So we were in good terms, so to say, but now singing 'The Phantom Of The Opera' together after all these years was amazing. So we did it twice, actually — we did it in Switzerland and then in Finland. And now we are going to do it — that and a lot more [laughs] — there in Brazil [during our upcoming joint tour]."

Tarja also elaborated on her friendship with Marko, saying: "It's a new relationship with him, because he's not the same person anymore than he was in the band. He has changed a lot, and many years have passed by. I've changed myself. Life has changed us. So it is a new relationship, let's say. And it had made me very happy to get to know him better after all these years."

Last November, Tarja admitted to Chaoszine that she was "nervous" before performing "The Phantom Of The Opera" with Marko at Z7 Summer Nights. "I believe that he was nervous as well to meet up with me, but we were both very excited to go back to the stage and to sing the song," she said. "We sang 'Phantom Of The Opera' in Switzerland for the first time. Then we went over to Finland to perform it again, did a show together there — he with his band and me with my own. Wow. It was pure emotion. I think it was really beautiful, but it made me kind of… I was, like, 'I'm in peace,' sort of. The feeling was great. I think it was even more for Marko, because I saw him standing there after my concert, when I finished my set, and he came like almost in tears, saying that this was important. We reconnected, and it's great. Now I'm really looking forward to have this tour [with Marko] in South America in March [2024], and I'm sure you will see something else happening also. Yeah, you'll hear."

Turunen was fired from NIGHTWISH at the end of the band's 2005 tour by being presented with an open letter which was published on the NIGHTWISH web site at the same time. In the letter, the other members of NIGHTWISH wrote: "To you, unfortunately, business, money, and things that have nothing to do with emotions have become much more important."

NIGHTWISH keyboardist and main songwriter Tuomas Holopainen later called the decision to part ways with Turunen "the most difficult thing I ever had to do." For her part, Tarja said the way she was kicked out of the group proved that her former bandmates were not her friends. "Maybe one day I'll forgive, but I will never forget," she said.

In 2019, Turunen dismissed Internet chatter about her possible return to NIGHTWISH after her December 2017 onstage reunion with the band's then-bassist/vocalist Hietala during a "Raskasta Joulua" concert in Hämeenlinna, Finland.

"I know a lot of fans would love to see something happen, but it's a very long distance away," she told Kerrang! magazine. "Personally, I don't see anything happening with me and them, to be perfectly honest. Marko came a little later into the band; he wasn't there since the beginning. He was always a guy I was close to. Me and Tuomas Holopainen, however, haven't seen each other in a long time… but we have been in touch. It's not bad. The past is what it is; we can't change that. We can only change the future."

NIGHTWISH's authorized biography, "Once Upon a Nightwish: The Official Biography 1996-2006", was published in Finnish in 2006 and in English three years later.

Turunen's husband, Marcelo Cabuli, and his business partners later sued the parties behind the book for defamation. Named in the lawsuit were the publishing house Like Kustannus Oy and the author of the book, Marko "Mape" Ollila. Cabuli and his Brazilian business partners argued that the book includes false accusations and insinuations that have caused them suffering and financial problems.

The book blamed Cabuli for the events leading up to Turunen's dramatic expulsion from the band in late 2005.

In 2011, the Helsinki District Court dismissed Cabuli's lawsuit, ruling that the book — which criticized Cabuli on only a few of its 380 pages — did not detrimentally affect his work or reputation in South America. In addition, the court determined that Ollila did not maliciously portray Cabuli in a negative light.

Nearly two years ago, Tarja was asked in an interview with Top Link Music manager and concert promoter Paulo Baron and music critic Regis Tadeu if she would consider doing a tour with NIGHTWISH if all of her former bandmates apologized to her about how their split happened and invited her to share the stage with them again. She responded: "It is very, very hypothetical that all what you said will happen, first of all — it's very, very hypothetical.

"I'm living in a world, like we are all living in a world, that things happen without us noticing," she continued. "I mean, I can't really close any doors in that sense; I'm not that kind of person any longer. I learned so many things in this life already. I take them as they are.

"So I don't know. It would be very hypothetically possible," she added. "It would be unlikely to happen."

Hietala announced his departure from NIGHTWISH in January 2021, explaining in a statement that he hadn't "been able to feel validated by this life for a quite a few years now." He has since been replaced by session bassist Jukka Koskinen (WINTERSUN),who made his live debut with NIGHTWISH in May 2021 at the band's two interactive experiences.

In an August 2022 interview with Finland's Chaoszine, Hietala revealed that he went through a dark period in his life, which included depression, insomnia, anxiety and an eventual attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) diagnosis. Speaking about how he eventually came to the realization that exiting NIGHTWISH was the right thing to do, Marko said: "It was a long process. Of course, the COVID year that was there, where I had a lot of time for soul searching, it obviously gave me the last incentive that I need something else, that if I just continue with this I'm just gonna get sicker and sicker. But, of course, it's a process.

"I've been chronic depressive since 2010 [or] 2011, so I've been on a permanent medication ever since," he revealed. "Sometimes you get used to the meds [and] you will need more. We did raise [the dosage] during the years also, but it just didn't work. And now that I started to do… I had psychotherapy for over four years now, and then I also talked to psychiatrists and some doctors and did that also in Spain. Then my psychiatrist here in Finland said that I should do these ADHD neuropsychological tests, which I then did in Spain. And, okay, I got it."

Hietala reiterated that he "had been thinking about" leaving NIGHTWISH "for a while" before making the final decision. "Because I had a lot of weight. And I tend to… With the attention disorder, it tells me that when there are lots of trouble, then the disorder makes it into a real chaos," he explained. "There's a shitload of stuff coming and going and no peace anywhere. And for a year or two, I was already waking up every night at three o'clock to bad dreams and anxiety. So I'd say that the whole process probably started already with my former divorce [in 2016]. That was a very sad time when you think about your kids and your broken homes and all that. And then, when I started to get clear from that, then there were, well, all kinds of things. I don't really wanna go any deeper to what kind of things I'd gone through, but I'd gone through enough."

Acknowledging that making NIGHTWISH's latest studio album, 2020's "Human. :II: Nature.", was a "difficult" experience for him, Marko denied that his mental state at the time resulted in a diminished role for him on the final LP. "I think the original idea was to have that… we'll do a couple of [solo vocal appearances], or one solo for me and Troy [Donockley], and the rest Floor [Jansen], and then the harmonies; that was the idea originally for that," he said. "So I don't know if it affected. I think it was sort of as planned. But at that time I already had serious trouble with concentrating and serious trouble with a constant black cloud over my head."

In July 2022, Hietala told Finland's Iltalehti that he had not kept in touch with NIGHTWISH since his departure or followed the activities of his former band.

In May 2021, Holopainen said that Hietala's decision to leave NIGHTWISH "came as a bit of a surprise." He told Finland's Kaaos TV: "Marko informed us in December [of 2020 that he was leaving the band]. And even though he has been very open about his state and problems during the past years, it still came as a bit of a surprise for us. So it was a really tough pill to swallow. And for a few days, I was actually quite confident that there's no coming back, that this is it. I remember talking to Emppu [Vuorinen], the guitar player, and we were, like, 'You think this is it?' 'Yeah, I think this is it.' I mean, enough is enough. So much has happened in the past. Something that broke the camel's back, as they say. Then, after some time had passed — a few days — we started to think that it's been such a ride of 25 years, with so many ups also, that this is not the way to end it."

Tuomas elaborated on NIGHTWISH's reasons for carrying on, saying: "I think we still have something to give, and that's the main point. The music is still there. We felt that there's still so much music that needs to come out from this band that, 'Okay, let's give it one more shot.' And then finding the new bass player was really easy."

He added: "It's not like we do this just because we need to do it and there's nothing else to do. On a personal level, I feel that there's still so many stories and melodies that I want to share with the world with one lineup or another, so that's why you want to continue and keep on going.

"I've said this a million times, that a lineup change is the ultimate energy vampire, and that's how it really felt and still feels."

In June 2021, Jansen spoke about Hietala's exit from the band in an episode of her "Storytime" YouTube video series. She said: "That was a very sudden surprise that, of course, was not fun at all. But we understand — I understand — it was a necessary thing for him to do. And from there, we had to think of how to continue without him, and that also, in preparations towards the virtual show, that was a huge challenge."

In December 2020, Hietala was crowned the winner of the fall 2020 season of "Masked Singer Suomi" — the Finnish edition of the popular masked singing contest. He was disguised as Tohtori — the Doctor.

In the summer of 2021, Holopainen said that NIGHTWISH would split up if the band's current singer Floor Jansen ever chose to leave. Holopainen, who formed NIGHTWISH in 1996 with guitarist Emppu Vuorinen and Turunen, made the comment while discussing the departure of Hietala.

Pressed by U.K.'s Metal Hammer magazine about his 2019 statement that NIGHTWISH would disband if another member opted to depart, Tuomas said: "That's how I felt back in 2019, and that's also how I felt when Marko left. I take my words back when it comes to that. But if it would be Floor leaving, that's it, it's the end of NIGHTWISH. Absolutely, 100%."

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A post shared by Marko Hietala (@marko_hietala_official)

Symphonic metal giants NIGHTWISH, who have worked with Nuclear Blast since the release of their highly lauded 2004 album "Once", have signed a new multi-album deal with the German record label.

NIGHTWISH keyboardist and main songwriter Tuomas Holopainen states: "20 years ago our journey together with Nuclear Blast started, and the time has now come to renew our vows. Superbly excited to see what kind of magic we can cook up together this time!"

Nuclear Blast managing director Marcus Hammer states: "It's an honor to renew this partnership to continue writing music history. We're more than proud to carry on the collaboration with this exceptionally gifted group of musicians and their management team. Thanks for your friendship and trust, Floor, Tuomas, Emppu, Troy, Kai and Jukkis. Looking forward to celebrate your upcoming album and everything beyond! Kiitos!"

NIGHTWISH recently completed mixing and mastering its tenth studio album for a tentative late 2024 release.

In January, NIGHTWISH drummer Kai Hahto spoke about the band's upcoming follow-up to 2020's "Human. :II: Nature." album in an interview with Laureline Tilkin of Tuonela Magazine. He said: "At least it's not gonna be the same as 'Human. :II: Nature.', so… Probably, let's say that we go back to more heavy, heavier things on the new album, but also there's a lot of, again, new winds to blow, so to speak. So, different new elements. But, of course, it's still NIGHTWISH, but, of course, we brought back the big symphony orchestra again to the new upcoming tenth album. Yeah, it's gonna be exciting. And quite challenging music to play as well."

Asked if he is "in a way happy" that he doesn't have to play the new NIGHTWISH songs live right now, in light of the fact that the band is taking a break from touring for the foreseeable future, Kai said: "No, no, no. Totally opposite. I would love to go and play it live. But hopefully the time will come when we go back, charging the batteries first. Of course, it's nice to be home with the kids and wife and dogs, but still, of course, I've always been a player, so I also like to play for the people. But I believe I'm not gonna be bored. So I have a lot of things in the back of my head. Even NIGHTWISH is now taking a break. So, I'm not gonna be bored."

Earlier in January, Hahto told Chaoszine that "it looks like" NIGHTWISH won't play any shows in the next two or three years.

In April 2023, NIGHTWISH surprised fans by announcing that the band was not going to be playing any live shows for the foreseeable future and would be not be touring in support of the group's next studio album.

NIGHTWISH's statement read as follows: "As the 'Human :ll: Nature - World Tour' is drawing to a close, we feel now is the time to tell you of our plans for the next phase in our journey.

"After the planned shows for June 2023 we will be 'hanging up our spurs' for an indeterminate time, as far as live concert performances go, and won't be touring the next album.

"The reasons for this decision are personal, but, we all agree, vital to the wellbeing and future of the band. Be assured that we still love working together, and this decision has nothing to do with Floor's pregnancy or our other individual projects.

"However, an album of 12 new songs will see bright daylight in 2024, as will 3 music videos! The band is positively hyped beyond words over this new upcoming musical adventure."

In December 2022, Holopainen said NIGHTWISH's upcoming follow-up to "Human. :II: Nature." will be the third part of a trilogy that began with 2015's "Endless Forms Most Beautiful" album. He told Metal Hammer: "I immediately knew after getting that album ['Endless Forms Most Beautiful'] done that, 'Okay, we have to do more songs about this, because there's so much more to explore and tell the world. We're not done with this.' And the same thing happened after 'Human. :II: Nature.'; we're still not done. So let's do one more. At least one more.

"In a way, [the next album] is the third part of a trilogy, which started with 'Endless Forms…' and then 'Human. :II: Nature.' There are some major surprises there again, but it feels like a natural continuation to 'Human. :II: Nature.'"

According to Tuomas, NIGHTWISH's next LP will cover previously uncharted ground while continuing in the more cinematic style that has characterized some of the band's recent efforts.

In September 2022, Tuomas was asked if NIGHTWISH's upcoming LP will once again be an exploration of evolutionary science, as was the case with the previous two releases. Tuomas said: "Yes and no. It sails on the same waters, but there's some new surprises there as well."

In August 2022, Tuomas told Rock Sverige that he spent "about a year" working on the music and lyrics for the next NIGHTWISH album.

Asked if he got any kind of inspiration from the pandemic, Tuomas said: "Yeah, lyrically there's a couple of things that reflects the pandemic, but not in the way you would expect."

"Human. :II: Nature." was released in April 2020. The follow-up to 2015's "Endless Forms Most Beautiful" was a double album containing nine tracks on the main CD and one long track, divided into eight chapters, on CD 2.

In August 2022, NIGHTWISH announced the addition of Jukka Koskinen (WINTERSUN) as an official member of the band. Koskinen, who made his live debut with NIGHTWISH in May 2021 at the band's two interactive experiences, had spent the previous year touring with NIGHTWISH as a session musician.

In November 2022, singer Floor Jansen revealed that she was "cancer free" after recently undergoing surgery to have a tumor removed following a breast cancer diagnosis.

This past October, Floor and SABATON drummer Hannes Van Dahl welcomed their second child, a daughter named Lucy. Jansen and Van Dahl already have a six-year-old daughter named Freja, who was born on March 15, 2017.

Photo credit: Tim Tronckoe (courtesy of Nuclear Blast)

Croatian singer Dino Jelusick (WHITESNAKE, TRANS-SIBERIAN ORCHESTRA) joined VULGAR DISPLAY OF COVER, the PANTERA tribute band led by guitarist Attila Vörös (NEVERMORE, SATYRICON, SANCTUARY, TÝR),at the Hungarian Ride For Dime event on January 5, 2024 in Budapest, Hungary to perform a set of PANTERA classics. Professionally filmed video of the entire concert can be seen below.

Featured songs:

00:00 - Intro (Suicide Note I - original track)
04:43 - 5 Minutes Alone
10:09 - Yesterday Don't Mean Shit
14:32 - Strength Beyond Strength
18:48 - Sandblasted Skin

Dino Jelusick set:

23:29 - Cowboys From Hell
27:43 - Psycho Holiday
33:15 - Medicine Man
38:45 - Primal Concrete Sledge
42:48 - Shattered
46:39 - I'm Broken
52:04 - Domination

Dino Jelusick - Vocals
Attila Vörös - Guitar
László Csóka - Bass
Béla Budai - Drums
Stephen Horvat - Vocals

On February 12, 2005, Balu Koncz, singer of the Hungarian band EVERWOOD, staged the first-ever "Dimebag" Darrell Abbott memorial show in Hungary right after the PANTERA guitarist's tragic loss. The following year, Vörös met with drummer László Makai in the local music school, Kőbányai Zenei Stúdió in Budapest. One day they were hanging out at the school buffet talking about their mutual favorite band PANTERA, resulting in them jamming "New Level" for the first time ever. Right at that moment it became clear they wanted more, so they recruited Zoltán Prepelicza on bass who was also a student there. After a few rehearsals they invited a singer Péter Mári, whom Attila met with not too long before and saw on a talent scout show with Péter's first band and was absolutely blown away by his singing and stage presence. After only six rehearsals, the band, which Attila had named REMEMBERING THE STEEL had its first show in Debrecen, Hungary. Soon after, Péter left the band and moved to Great Britain to follow his dreams with his own band.

In 2018, during this hiatus, the band was asked to play a one-off show with guest vocalists. It was then when they met with a young and promising singer and songwriter András "Apey" Áron. When Apey came down to their first rehearsal and sang "This Love", it was instantly clear that they needed and wanted to continue playing with each other. But then in 2009, Attila left the country to follow his own path, which later led to him joining the legendary Seattle-based band NEVERMORE.

Since Attila didn't move to the States and was able to fly in for shows and rehearsals, he managed to form his own band in Hungary, called LEANDER RISING. It was during that same time when Attila met drummer Béla Budai in a rehearsal place and studio called Tonitrus Studio, the same place in which Attila recorded his NEVERMORE playthrough videos which later served as the "audition tapes" for his gig with the Warrel Dane-fronted act. The studio was run by engineer László Szabó who introduced Attila to Béla when looking for a drummer to form another PANTERA tribute band, which turned out to be VULGAR DISPLAY OF COVER. Péter, who had moved back to Hungary in the meantime, had rejoined the band, which also recruited bassist Zalán Guoth, whom Attila had previously played with in the METALLICA tribute band SCARY GUYZ. In 2019 Péter and Zalán left VULGAR DISPLAY OF COVER and were replaced by József "Jozzy" Takács on bass and Steven "Pityesz" Horváth on vocals.

In 2020 Attila was invited to and attended "Dimebash" in Anaheim, California. It was after that show when Attila decided that he wanted to make videos and lessons of Dimebag's playing and PANTERA songs on YouTube. His channel started to gradually grow and it was through those videos that Attila got in contact with Jelusick. Attila invited Dino as a guest to sing with VULGAR DISPLAY OF COVER at their annual Dimebag memorial show, which Attila has been organizing since 2009.

Posted by Vulgar Display Of Cover on Sunday, December 17, 2023

Death metal veterans SIX FEET UNDER will release their new studio album, "Killing For Revenge", on May 10 via Metal Blade.

The first single from the LP will be made available on Wednesday, March 13.

The cover artwork for "Killing For Revenge", which was created by Vincent Locke, can be seen below.

Locke is a renowned artist whose graphic and often controversial artwork has become synonymous with the visual identity of death metal, notably through his long-standing collaboration with CANNIBAL CORPSE, which featured current SIX FEET UNDER frontman Chris Barnes from 1988 until 1995.

"Killing For Revenge" track listing:

01. Know-Nothing Ingrate
02. Accomplice To Evil Deeds
03. Ascension
04. When The Moon Goes Down In Blood
05. Hostility Against Mankind
06. Compulsive
07. Fit Of Carnage
08. Neanderthal (guest guitar solo Jason Suecof)
09. Judgement Day
10. Bestial Savagery
11. Mass Casualty Murdercide
12. Spoils Of War
13. Hair Of The Dog (NAZARETH cover; CD and digital only)

SIX FEET UNDER 2024 is:

Chris Barnes - vocals
Jack Owen - rhythm guitar
Marco Pitruzzella - drums
Jeff Hughell - bass
Ray Suhy - lead guitar

Barnes previously said SIX FEET UNDER's new album would contain "some of the most intense songs we've done… It's a Ripper!!! Some real killer songs on this album. It will definitely satisfy all our SFU Fans appetite. #pureDEATHMETAL'" He also said the LP was shaping up to be "incredibly fucking heavy."

SIX FEET UNDER's 17th full-length album, "Nightmares Of The Decomposed", was released in October 2020 via Metal Blade Records.

Comprised of 12 tracks, "Nightmares Of The Decomposed" was tracked at various studios, including Criteria Studios in Miami, Florida, which over the years has played host to the likes of AC/DC, BLACK SABBATH and AEROSMITH, among others. It was produced, engineered and mixed by Chris Carroll, while the album's mastering was handled by Chaz Najjar at Badlands Recording in Denver, Colorado. The finished product came packaged in artwork by Luke Hunter.

Barnes exited CANNIBAL CORPSE in 1995, one year after the release of the band's "The Bleeding" album. Seven years ago, he told "The Chainsaw Symphony" radio program about his departure: "I just didn't like being around them, because I was being ridiculed, and I just didn't feel comfortable being in the same room with people that weren't very nice to me personally. And I was part of that too, so we had all of our own type of differences, personally, and I don't think it was gonna be able to be worked out. You know, mutual respect goes a far way when it comes to being in close quarters with people."

Owen left CANNIBAL CORPSE in 2004, explaining in a statement that his "heart just wasn't in it anymore, and it was reflected in my appearance on stage. Times change, and I just don't enjoy the music as much as I used to, and the only thing keeping me in the band was steady work, and the pay," he said. "These things makes it unfair to myself, my band members, and especially the fans."

After Barnes left CANNIBAL CORPSE to form SIX FEET UNDER, he was replaced in the former band by George "Corpsegrinder" Fisher.

Photo credit: Gustavo Abdiel Torres

Well since it was leaked today… which means, to us, that our Fans are super excited about our New Album, KILLING FOR...

Posted by ~ Six feet under ~ on Saturday, March 9, 2024

DISTURBED's David Draiman, who is of Jewish descent, recently spoke to Chris Cuomo of NewsNation about the war between Israel and Hamas which erupted four months ago after the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Hamas has been keeping the Palestinian people captive in Gaza, has been keeping them hostage in many ways for the greater part of two decades at this point. The Israeli people have been constantly terrorized, constantly living in a state of preparedness for rocket attacks that happen on a near-daily basis and have been happening since before October 7th."

Referencing the fact that Annie Lennox called for a "ceasefire" during her emotional performance at this year's Grammy Awards in early February, Draiman said: "I think that there's no one that actually wishes for a true ceasefire more than us, but we need a ceasefire that Hamas will actually agree to and adhere to. I couldn't agree with Annie Lennox more, when she said what she said at the Grammys. The only problem is she's pointing her finger in the wrong direction.

"We didn't ask for this war," David continued. "We didn't start it. It's not about what happened in 1948 or 1967 or '73 or any other time. It's about simply acknowledging that the state of Israel isn't going anywhere, that it is going to stay there, and we all need to figure out a way to coexist with each other. Now, as long as Hamas is in power, and as long as they continue to hold the Palestinians in Gaza hostage in the way that they have, as long as they continue to steal aid and pilfer every single humanitarian shipment that comes in… They want death. They want martyrdom. It's part of their charter. Part of their charter is the annihilation of not just Israel but every Jew in existence. That's how they were founded. That's what they're founded on. They are a cult of death and hatred. And they knew exactly what they were going to get. They knew that by having such a heinous attack, such a barbaric attack at the Nova music festival, at the kibbutzim that were around the Gaza border, taking as many hostages [as they did], [that this would be the response from Israel]."

Earlier in the month, Draiman spoke to the Embassy Of Israel To The United States about the increase in the number of antisemitic incidents in the U.S. and the rest of the world rose in the four months after the Hamas attack on Israel. He said: "What gives me the strength is not having any other choice. When you back a wild animal against the wall, that's when they're most dangerous. I feel very much backed against the wall. I refuse to capitulate. I refuse to submit. I refuse to be intimidated and I refuse to cower. This is not another Jew with trembling knees. I will never, ever capitulate. I will never give in to terror. I won't give them the satisfaction.

"I see a downward spiral, unfortunately," he continued. "I see increased chaos. I see increased antisemitism on a level that is unprecedented in my lifetime. I see that Jews are not safe anywhere in this world at this point, let alone in Eretz Yisrael [Israel]."

In response to Palestinian militants in Gaza firing a deadly barrage of rockets and sending gunmen into Israeli territory, resulting in the killing of 1,200 Israelis and around 240 being taken hostage, Israel launched strikes on what it called Hamas targets in Gaza. The IDF (Israel Defense Forces) says it has killed over 10,000 operatives in Gaza, in addition to some 1,000 terrorists inside Israel on October 7.

"It's terrifying to see the reaction that I knew would come, that is continuing to amplify the closer we get to capturing the people, the people who are responsible directly for it, for annihilating Hamas and giving the Palestinian people a chance at a real future, I would think, giving all of us a chance at a real future," Draiman added. "We have to free Gaza from Hamas. We have to get our hostages back. We have to reverse decades of programming and indoctrination that UNRWA [United Nations Relief and Works Agency] has been complicit in and has been basically just the other hand of Hamas for the better part of two decades at this point. They are part of the problem, certainly not part of the solution. There has to be a better way. There has to be.

"The only way that there will ever be a chance for any real peace of any kind is if the next generation is no longer taught to hate from the day they were born," he continued. "I think that the closer we get to actual victory, hopefully sparing as many innocent lives as possible in the process because nobody wants that.

"Hamas wants innocent lives taken. That's the whole strategy behind this war in the first place," Draiman said. "That's the whole strategy behind the severity and the barbarity of the attack. They wanted to make sure that we came in full force so that they could sustain civilian casualties that they're using as human shields, so that they could be able to play the victim once again on the world stage when they perpetuated the greatest slaughter of Jews since the Holocaust.

"There's no other way at this point."

In addition to the Hebrew-speaking Draiman, who once trained to be a cantor and contemplated becoming a rabbi, DISTURBED includes guitarist/keyboardist Dan Donegan, bassist John Moyer and drummer Mike Wengren.

Draiman's father and grandfather served in the Israel Defense Forces and both of the singer's maternal grandparents were Holocaust survivors. His grandfather was also a cantor in Israel.

In December 2021, Draiman said that he had lost thousands of social media followers since publicizing his trip to Israel in November of that year.

On November 30, 2021, Draiman lit a candle at the Western Wall in Jerusalem, Israel at the Old City site of the terror attack that killed South African immigrant Eli Kay. He later claimed that he lost 4,000 followers after sharing photos of his "demonstration" at the Western Wall.

Draiman has spent much of his recent time on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, sharing pro-Israel content and has often used his fame to speak out against antisemitism.

DISTURBED's song "Never Again", from 2010's "Asylum" album, was written about the Holocaust and calls out people who deny it.

The United States Holocaust Museum has featured Draiman in its "Voices On Anti-Semitism" podcasts.

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Mortemorium is a death metal/deathcore band from Głogów and Rawicz (Poland) formed in 2020. "It's hard to clasify our music in one specific genre," says the band. 'We try to blend different styles, but keeping it dark and heavy. Every member of our band started doing music years ago in many different genres, so we blend our experience into unique style of Mortemorium."


Last year they released their debut album, Aanima Vilis in digital form. Now it's time to listen to it the way its meant to be listened: on a CD.


The album delves into the dark side of humanity and the struggles that we face. With songs that touch upon topics like nuclear disasters, suicide, and bullying, the album showcases the band's willingness to confront difficult issues head-on. Through their music, band send a message about the importance of facing our demons and finding a way to rise above them.




Music was recorded, mixed and mastered by Jarek Wysocki at Soundscope Studio (71TonMan, Lost Soul, Icon of Evil). Intro was done by Droom. Cover artwork by Kucol.


Order the CD here, listen via Bandcamp, and/or below.





Tracklisting:


"Attendite a falsis prophetis"
"Cataclysmos"
"Hannibal"
"Abaddon"
"Opressus"
"Mars voluntaria"
"Pompei"


Aanima Vilis by MORTEMORIUM

In a new interview with Iridium Rock And Metal Reviews, LYNYRD SKYNYRD guitarist Rickey Medlocke spoke about the possibility of new music from the iconic rockers. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Johnny [Van Zant, LYNYRD SKYNYRD singer] and I have discussed about doing some new SKYNYRD stuff. And it's not in the plans yet. There's a there's quite a few songs — I shouldn't say quite a few; there's quite a lot of songs that we had written, that we had part demos to, maybe started a verse and a chorus, that Gary [Rossington, late LYNYRD SKYNYRD guitarist] was involved in. And, man, we've got that stuff laying around.

"We've talked about it. Johnny and I, we've spoken about it," he continued. "We know we have — oh my god — we might have a dozen and a half, two dozen songs that are just kind of laying around there to maybe put out."

Medlocke went on to say that LYNYRD SKYNYRD may not go down the traditional route when releasing new music. "I do have I do have a thing about putting out whole albums now, because I think that people will go online or go to iTunes or go to Spotify or whatever, they'll see a whole album, but they're only gonna play one or two songs," he explained. "They might scan over the rest of them, but they'll pick out one or two of their favorite and then that's it. My thing is that's one of the reasons why I like putting out one song at a time, and you see how people would accept it, react to it, or maybe they don't react to it at all. Maybe they don't like it for whatever reason. But I find that you get a lot of mileage out of one song instead of a collective of 10 to 12 songs or more… You can release one every three months or whatever and then you get a collection of it and release the collection. So, all of a sudden, everybody's got a collection of five songs that they can go and grab after they've loved, like, maybe three or four of 'em. And then you've got the collection and you're all the better for it. But we have thought about that. And we've also thought about how long are we gonna take this?"

Elaborating on how long he thinks LYNYRD SKYNYRD can carry on, Rickey said: "I will put this out there. There's one more guy — he's such a hero to me. And I know you're gonna laugh about this, but Gary, Johnny and I figured, people used to ask us, 'How long are you guys gonna take this?' And I always said, 'Hey, look. If THE ROLLING STONES can do it, we can do it.' And I'm telling you — come on, Keith [Richards]. If you can do it, I know I can do it. Come on, Keith. Join us in LYNYRD SKYNYRD and play on stage with us, because there's another one I'd love to see climb up there with us."

If a new LYNYRD SKYNYRD album materializes, it will be the group's first since 2012's "Last Of A Dyin' Breed". The band released a single, "Last Of The Street Survivors", in 2020.

"Last Of The Street Survivors" — which shares its name with what was the time of the song's release supposed to be LYNYRD SKYNYRD's farewell tour — was penned by Rossington alongside Van Zant, Medlocke and songwriter Tom Hambridge, and found the Southern rockers reminiscing about their career and the bandmates they lost.

After four SKYNYRD members were killed in an October 1977 plane crash, Rossington recruited Johnny to fill his brother's shoes a decade later.

Medlocke, who played drums in SKYNYRD in 1970-71 before leaving to lead his own band BLACKFOOT and coming back to SKYNYRD in 1996, defended LYNYRD SKYNYRD's decision to carry on, telling Cleveland.com in May 2023: "People have beat us up over the years: 'Ah, you guys ain't nothin' but a freakin' tribute band' and blah, blah, blah.

"There's a lot of tribute bands out there to LYNYRD SKYNYRD, but none of them holds it as dear to their hearts as the guys who have been there as long as we have," he explained. "We have the history; I played on the first (recording) sessions. We just know that we have to portray the music with the integrity and the sound and the love as close as we can to when it was originally created."

Rossington was the last surviving founding member of LYNYRD SKYNYRD. On March 5, 2023, his bandmates announced the news of his death in a statement shared on their social media.

The guitarist had previously dealt with various heart problems throughout the years, including emergency heart surgery in 2021.

In a new interview with Ryan McCredden of the I-Rock 93.5 radio station, CREED frontman Scott Stapp spoke about the fact that younger generations of fans have discovered the group's music in the 12 years since he and his bandmates played their last concert. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Yeah, a hundred percent. And the analytics don't lie. We've started seeing, in late 2020, CREED beginning to go viral on TikTok, Instagram and then Facebook. And then it just seemed like every two or three months… The first couple months in 2021, we went viral again, and it just kept happening every two or three months. And then you look at the analytics, and you realize that when you look at the numbers, it's three generations. And now it's gotten down into high school kids. And so, what a gift and what a blessing. And I do not take that for granted. I understand how rare that that is. And I think I can speak for all of CREED, because we've had these conversations in private, that it's something we definitely understand is a gift, it's rare and we're not taking it for granted and we're just so grateful and appreciative that this has happened. And I think we're in the nurture phase of this whole thing and not taking a single bit of it for granted and just want to just share how grateful we are and fortunate we are that all these years later [so many people are discovering our music."

Stapp went on to discuss the overwhelmingly positive response to CREED's announcement that it will play its first shows together in 12 years as headliners of the "Summer Of '99" cruise, setting sail from April 18-22 (the band added a second cruise the following weekend). A full-fledged tour, also dubbed "Summer Of '99" tour, produced by Live Nation, will kick off on July 17 and will run through September 28.

"I learned this from Mark [Tremonti, CREED guitarist] the other day in a Guitar World interview that we did together," Scott said. "One thing about Mark, and I hope he doesn't get mad at me for sharing, but he's always in touch with our long-term agent from day one, Ken Fermaglich at UTA. He started with us when we were doing clubs and nobody was showing up, and he's still our agent today. And Mark checks in with him to get analytics and get numbers. And Ken shared with him that right now we are bigger in terms of sales and how things are moving than we were at our peak in 2001, 2002, which blows my mind. It still doesn't seem that way to me, but Mark made a comment. He goes, 'Oh, well, you'll see it when you step out and there's 25,000 people in front of you.' And I said, 'Don't scare me, man.' It's been a long time since I've stepped in front of an audience that big."

When McCredden suggested that "the social media world of TikTok and Instagram" played a huge part in generating interest in a CREED reunion tour, Stapp said: "I've learned in my journey in sobriety and in recovery that… I believe in God and I believe that God has a plan. And looking at this from a thousand-foot perspective, it just all just seems, to me, without a doubt that God's had a hand in it. And I'm just grateful that I'm included on the ride and I'm just not gonna take a moment for granted and [I'm gonna] try to deliver every night and give the fans what they're asking for."

Stapp, whose road to sobriety kicked off in 2014 after issues with drugs and drinking, along with thoughts of suicide, credited his recovery with providing him with the necessary tools to reach new heights with his CREED bandmates. "Absolutely," he said. "In my experience, that's the only way you really learn. And, really, you have no other option. You have to get back up, no matter what you do and deal with the consequences, of course, but learn from it and grow. And one thing I'm looking at when I reflect back on my career is it kind of happened in reverse. With CREED, it was instant. It was first single 'My Own Prison', within 11 months, we're in arenas. But then there's been this 15-year drought for me where I went all the way back as a solo artist playing in small clubs and just duking it out, sweating it out in clubs and bars for over a decade. I mean, man, since 2005 or [2006]. So, I mean, we're talking 17, 18 years. So, it's happened in reverse, and I think that's how it needed to happen, because I think it really gave me a different perspective on how I wish I could have approached this from day one back in the day. But it is what it is, and I'm just gonna enjoy it now and be grateful for it."

CREED's enormous success is largely due to the prolific writing team of Stapp and Tremonti, who founded the band together in 1993. Their winning combination of driving guitar riffs, rousing hooks and introspective lyrics earned them legions of loyal fans around the world. Following the release of their first two albums, the four-piece — which also included bassist Brian Marshall and drummer Scott Phillips — became the first band ever to have seven consecutive No. 1 singles on Billboard's Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks. CREED's third album, "Weathered" (2001),also debuted at No. 1, and produced several popular singles, including Top Ten hits "My Sacrifice" and "One Last Breath". Though CREED announced its breakup in 2004, the band briefly reunited in 2009 to release "Full Circle". Heavier than their previous albums, "Full Circle" debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard 200, proving the incredible staying power of the band.

CREED disbanded in 2004 but reunited five years later for the aforementioned "Full Circle" LP and an extensive tour. Stapp has since toured and recorded as a solo artist, although he suffered a drug-related mental breakdown in 2014 and spent several years recovering from that.

Photo credit: Sebastian Smith

LAMB OF GOD's Mark Morton will release a memoir, "Desolation: A Heavy Metal Memoir", on June 25 via Hachette Books.

A gritty, revealing heavy metal memoir by LAMB OF GOD's lead guitarist and co-lyricist, "Desolation: A Heavy Metal Memoir" was co-written with Ben Opiari and explores both Mark's life in music and his tumultuous path through addiction and into recovery.

"Desolation" is the story of Morton's lifelong quest for clarity and self-acceptance, and shows how the pressures of career success and personal battles eventually came into conflict with Morton's dedication to the creative process. Intertwined with addiction, self-destruction, and the path to eventual surrender and recovery, Morton also reveals the greatest personal tragedy of his life: the death of his two-day old daughter, plunging Morton further into hopelessness. Surrounded by bandmates living their wildest dreams, Morton wanted nothing more than to disappear, ingesting potentially lethal cocktails of drugs and alcohol into his system on a daily basis.

And yet, amidst the harrowing heartbreak, there were moments of triumph, hope, and incredible personal connection. Morton developed close relationships with his bandmates and crew members, sharing experiences that have made for some strange and hilarious tales. He's also gained a greater sense of purpose through interactions with his fans, who remind him that his work reaches people on a deeply personal level. Through the highs and the lows, Morton learns how to find presence and gratitude where he once found fear and resentment, a process that he considers a gift of spiritual awakening.

"Desolation" is, at its core, about Morton's journey as a musician navigating self-doubt, anxiety and the progressive disease of addiction, and ultimately finding relative serenity. Perfect for fans, new and old, as well as anyone who has ever been tested and brought to their limits, "Desolation" is a highly-satisfying, full-throttle investigation of the human experience.

Morton commented: "Initially, I started writing this book just to see if I could do it. But as the writing process unfolded, it quickly took on much more meaning. Unpacking my story, I was able to observe events in my life with an objectivity that I hadn't experienced while I'd lived them in real time.
"Through a lens of hindsight and recovery, I made friends with my past and found value in my most difficult days," he continued. "I hope that by offering my experiences, I can create a point of connection and commonality. There are a lot of fun stories in here and a few really sad ones. I'm grateful to have the opportunity to share them."

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

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

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

Morton and the rest of LAMB OF GOD will embark on the "Ashes Of Leviathan" tour with MASTODON this summer.

In a new interview with Australia's "Everblack" podcast, guitarist Bill Steer of British extreme metal pioneers CARCASS was asked if he and his bandmates were working on the follow-up to 2021's "Torn Arteries" album. He responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Not at the moment. I mean, as far as the eye can see, we've just got tours, dates, festivals. That would pretty much take us up towards the end of the year. And then beyond that, yeah, this is something that would just have to be kind of, in some way, discussed between the various bandmembers, because we had a similar situation after we released [2013's] 'Surgical Steel'. We got deep into touring, and after a couple of years, I think one or two of us thought, 'Well, maybe now we should start gradually working on some new material,' but then you discover not everybody's on the same page. So you go back and do another year or two of touring, and then before you know it, half a decade's gone. So I'm kind of hoping we don't mimic that situation too closely, because five years is a hell of a lot of time [between albums]. But, yeah, we've got to be at a point where everyone wants to record. So, if and when that time comes around, great. But it doesn't feel like it's particularly close right now."

Asked if he is working on any other musical projects on the side, Bill said: "Yeah, I've been doing some demos on and off for, I guess, a few months, a year or so, with a couple of friends in Leeds. And we haven't decided what to call it, but we've done a whole bunch of tunes, maybe around 15 or so, with the idea that at some point we'll pick the best numbers and record them properly for an album. 'Cause I just had really wanted to do something of that nature for quite a while; I just didn't really have the confidence or any kind of vision of a way forward. But my friends were very sort of helpful in getting me started on that. And, yeah, it's just nice to have another outlet for your music, because CARCASS doesn't record very often, as we discussed. I actually enjoy being in the studio, so, yeah, it'd be really nice if I could make an album with someone else, really."

Regarding the musical direction of his new side project, Bill said: "I don't know. It's very hard to assess, but it's pretty much I just let out whatever was going to come out. I didn't really think in terms of genre. I'm imagining that my main influences are gonna come [out through the music] — [it's] somewhere between that kind of '70s bluesy hard rock stuff and New Wave Of British Heavy Metal; it's in that type of vibe. It's riff rock, but we've really tried to finesse the songs. We really worked relatively hard, by my standards, on the arrangements. So, I feel like we couldn't ever call it FIREBIRD [Bill's early 2000s project] because already this has quite a different vibe to it."

CARCASS played its first pandemic-era concert in November 2021 at the Damnation Festival in Leeds, U.K.

"Torn Arteries" was released in September 2021 via Nuclear Blast Records. Drummer Dan Wilding did session work in Sweden at Studio Gröndahl with David Castillo while guitars were recorded at The Stationhouse with James Atkinson in Leeds, England. Eventually needing some form of residential location to finalize vocals, bass, and other guitarwork, the band headed back to Studio Gröndahl in Sweden to continue work in a very relaxed atmosphere with Castillo.

Last year, Wilding told Oxygène Radio's "Métal Zone" about the CARCASS songwriting process: "Normally, well, almost always, Bill starts with riffs or a collection of riffs and we kind of… It usually starts with me and Bill. We'll get into a rehearsal room and we just try and make a song, try and piece the puzzle together, try and add things. And then eventually we get to a point where Jeff [Walker, bass/vocals] comes in and he normally rips it apart [laughs] and changes it even more. He thinks about vocals, which we normally don't think about vocals. So that's one of the reasons why he does it, I think. But, yeah, it's quite organic, natural. That kind of in a room, figuring out in front of each other, with each other how we can move on to the next thing. It's very limited technology, which I think is quite a nice thing."

Added Steer: "Yeah, that's the one common thread throughout everything we've ever done. It's based on guys in a rehearsal room. There's no other way of doing it for us. 'Cause I think our music would sound so different if we started doing it electronically. I've just got no interest in that. I hate sending an e-mail or receiving an e-mail. Never mind the other stuff. So yeah, let's just carry on like this if we could."

Photo credit: Ester Segarra

Joe Satriani was joined by Nuno Bettencourt (EXTREME) and Richie Kotzen (THE WINERY DOGS) for an incendiary jam on the Freddie King/Jeff Beck classic "Going Down" (originally written by Don Nix) during his performance aboard this year's Monsters Of Rock cruise. Video of their appearance can be seen below (courtesy of Masters Of Shred).

Back in January 2023, Satriani paid tribute to Jeff Beck following the British guitar legend's death. Joe took to his social media to write: "Jeff Beck was a genius, a stunning original. He was an astounding guitar player with more ways to make you go, 'WTF was that?' than anybody else. He was profoundly talented, and never stopped innovating on the instrument. He had an enormous impact on my guitar playing, my musicianship and my soul. When I was a beginner, I would spend hours trying to jam along with his solo albums. I found his approach to the instrument so inspiring. I was fascinated with his unusual arrangements and his aggressive guitar tones. He always stood out as a unique player: He was always, purely 'Jeff Beck'. His solo albums were all groundbreaking, 'ahead of their time', and paved the way for me and so many other guitarists around the world. And they were fun to listen to, over and over again.

"I had the pleasure of saying hello to Jeff a few times, once when CHICKENFOOT went to see him play at the Fox Theater in Oakland, and a second time when we were all playing at the BosPop Festival in The Netherlands. We all had a fun ja backstage that day. Unfortunately, I didn't ever get to really know him. I hope he knew how much I admired, revered and respected him.

"When I finish writing this I will go and listen to Jeff's 'Where Were You' a few times and thank him for giving us so much beautiful music.

"My deepest condolences to his family and close friends. R.I.P. Jeff".

For over three decades, Satriani has traveled the world, playing to sold-out crowds as both a headliner and as founder of the all-star "G3" guitar extravaganza. Joe's studio and live recordings have sold more than 10 million copies worldwide to date and of his many solo albums, two have gone platinum and four others went gold, with 15 Grammy nominations between them. His side project CHICKENFOOT, featuring former VAN HALEN frontman Sammy Hagar, former bassist Michael Anthony and RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS drummer Chad Smith saw their debut album certified gold and their second studio album debut at No. 9.

Funko have announced the new Soundgarden Funko Pop! Vinyl Figure 4-Pack, coming in April, and available to pre-order now.


Description: Rock n' roll with the members of American rock band, Soundgarden. This Soundgarden Funko Pop! Vinyl Figure 4-Pack includes 1x Chris Cornell, 1x Kim Thayil, 1x Ben Shepherd, 1x Matt Cameron Pop! vinyl figure. Each figure measures approximately 3 3/4-inches tall and comes packaged in a window display box. Rock out with these legendary artists and add this 4-pack to your Funko Pop! collection.


Pre-order here.