In a recent interview with Greece's Keysmash magazine, vocalist Fernando Ribeiro of Portuguese goth overlords MOONSPELL spoke about a possible follow-up to the band's 2021 album "Hermitage". He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Well, material we never stopped writing. But I had a kind of dilemma, because we are 30 years old as a band. This year, it's 30 years of [MOONSPELL's debut album, 1995's] 'Wolfheart', three decades of 'Wolfheart'. Next year is gonna be three decades of [MOONSPELL's second album, 1996's] 'Irreligious'. So I entertained the idea of why not be a legacy band? Why not play some shows? What's the point of making new music? I think that's a question that every musician, every honest musician, has to answer. For instance, when I see METALLICA struggling with a new album… Personally, I didn't like [METALLICA's '72 Seasons'] — I mean, not liking, but I didn't [think] it was like such a special album. I like 'Hardwired[... To Self-Destruct]' but '72 Seasons', I think, 'Well…' But I understand, as a musician, that sometimes, even if you are the biggest band in the world, you are not inspired and you just do it for reasons that I want to understand. So we kind of delayed and delayed the album."

He continued: "'Hermitage', the last [MOONSPELL] album, was from 2021. We had our label saying, 'What's up with the new album?' But we did touring, we did the theater acoustic show in Portugal, we did the orchestra show in Portugal. That's all coming out. And I know it's very romantic sounding, but we had to feel the muse calling. And I went to Pedro [Paixão, MOONSPELL keyboardist] and Ricardo [Amorim, MOONSPELL guitarist], because we write the songs, and I said, 'I think it's time for a new album. I think it's time to man up and do something.' And I think that this is gonna be one of the most important albums of our lives. That's what I'm writing. I wrote a lot of lyrics, like 30 lyrics or more. We wrote a lot of songs. We are now cherrypicking what's coming in the album, what's not coming in the album [and what] can be used later on. And I think we're gonna have a new MOONSPELL album in the first semester of 2026."

Regarding the musical and lyrical direction of the new MOONSPELL material, Fernando said: "It's still in the early days. It's not going to be progressive like 'Hermitage', 'cause we've done that before. But I want make an album that is about pure feeling and an album that will grab [people] immediately as the sound of MOONSPELL. So, as I do more the lyrics than the music, I'm not writing about politics or society, money or ambition. People have this every day in their news, in their feed, so I'm writing a very romantic, even gothic album about love, death, what are we doing here? You know, more existentialism. And I think that's the direction we want to go now. So, wish us luck, because I think we'll need it. There's so many bands coming, but I think it's high time and also as a kind of a reward to the fans that have waited so much for the new album. I think we never spent so much time in between albums, so it's gotta be special. And for us too, because otherwise why make something just to fill the calendar when you have albums like 'Wolfheart', 'Irreligious' or [2015's] 'Extinct'? So the stakes are high. So we have to be on par with the stakes."

In the spring of 2023, MOONSPELL completed the "American Full Moon" 30th-anniversary trek.

Three years ago, MOONSPELL canceled its summer 2022 North American tour due to "unsolvable logistic and transportation problems".

In September 2022, MOONSPELL released a very special Blu-ray/DVD and album, a live performance of their latest studio album, "Hermitage", with "From Down Below - Live 80 Meters Deep" via Napalm Records.

MOONSPELL's 13th studio album, "Hermitage", was released in February 2021 via Napalm Records. The LP was recorded, mixed and mastered by Jaime Gomez Arellano (PARADISE LOST, PRIMORDIAL, GHOST, SÓLSTAFIR) at the Orgone Studios in the U.K.

In 2020, MOONSPELL parted ways with original drummer Miguel "Mike" Gaspar and replaced him with Hugo Ribeiro (no relation to Fernando Ribeiro).

Four years ago, Fernando told Consequence about recording "Hermitage" during the pandemic: "Social distancing wasn't decreed by law, and it's strange because all of Portugal is 10 million people so it was bizarre just seeing structures without people in the cities. We started demoing in 2017, and it wasn't at all about a pandemic. It was more an album about the polarization and atomization of the world — we're all fragments and cannot agree on anything. Especially with social networks, it felt like the authenticity was going away. It was about connectivity, but there were not enough connections.

"For MOONSPELL, we do have a process and it relies on us sitting down, when we could sit down, and talk together. It's about sitting down with the songwriters Ricardo [Amorim] and Pedro [Paixão]. For MOONSPELL, it's not about jamming in a room and then writing about it. When I sit down with the people who are going to write the music and tell them what it's going to be about, that's the start of MOONSPELL painting the canvas. Giving them this information, the music became more melancholic, less layers and more texture.

"When the COVID pandemic came, we were scheduled to record the album in the U.K. We were in anguish sometimes, because we would have our suitcases ready and went to the airport and Portugal was blacklisted, so we had to just be smart and take a window of opportunity to go to the U.K. We couldn't have the whole band together because of COVID restrictions. Everyone lived through the struggle of cancelations and postponements, but I have to say recording was enjoyable. I felt very privileged to be able to even go to the U.K. and record an album. The studio was in the countryside and it was so isolated and it was perfect to record 'Hermitage'."

The original lineup of BLACK SABBATH played its final concert together last night (Saturday, July 5) at a star-studded event in their original hometown of Birmingham, United Kingdom.

Dubbed "Back To The Beginning", the nine-hour event, hosted by actor Jason Momoa at Villa Park, saw over a dozen bands play at least one BLACK SABBATH or Ozzy Osbourne cover as they paid homage to the SABBATH singer, who has Parkinson's disease.

Curated by RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE guitarist Tom Morello, the event featured arguably the greatest lineup of rock and metal bands ever assembled on one day.

Two hastily assembled supergroups — dubbed Supergroup A and Supergroup B — performed at the event, with EXTREME's Nuno Bettencourt taking part in a five-song set of covers, while ex-Ozzy guitarist Jake E. Lee made an appearance for covers of "The Ultimate Sin" and "Shot In The Dark". Former JUDAS PRIEST guitarist K.K. Downing joined Morello, Billy Corgan (SMASHING PUMPKINS) and Adam Jones (TOOL) for a rendition of PRIEST's "Breaking The Law", while LIVING COLOUR's Vernon Reid hopped onstage for a cover of Ozzy's "Bark At The Moon", with GHOST's Papa V Perpetua (a.k.a. Tobias Forge) handling lead vocals.

Video 1:

* Lzzy Hale (Vocals)
* Jake E. Lee (Guitar)
* Nuno Bettencourt (Guitar)
* David Ellefson (Bass)
* Mike Bordin (Drums)
* Adam Wakeman (Keyboards)

3:05 The Ultimate Sin (Ozzy Osbourne)

* David Draiman (Vocals)
* Jake E. Lee (Guitar)
* Nuno Bettencourt (Guitar)
* David Ellefson (Bass)
* Mike Bordin (Drums)
* Adam Wakeman (Keyboards)

07:35 Shot In The Dark (OZZY OSBOURNE)
12:30 Sweet Leaf (BLACK SABBATH)

* Whitfield Crane (vocals)
* Scott Ian (Guitar)
* Nuno Bettencourt (Guitar)
* Frank Bello (Bass)
* Adam Wakeman (Keys)
* II (Drums)

18:45 Believer (OZZY OSBOURNE)

* Yungblud (vocals)
* Scott Ian (Guitar)
* Nuno Bettencourt (Guitar)
* Frank Bello (Bass)
* Adam Wakeman (Keys)
* II (Drums)

25:20 Changes (BLACK SABBATH)

Video 2:

* Billy Corgan (Vocals)
* Tom Morello (Guitar)
* K.K. Downing (Guitar)
* Adam Jones (Guitar)
* Rudy Sarzo (Bass)
* Danny Carey (Drums)

01:00 - Breaking The Law (JUDAS PRIEST)
04:10 - Snowblind (BLACK SABBATH)

* Sammy Hagar (Vocals)
* Nuno Bettencourt (Guitar)
* Adam Wakeman (Keys)
* Rudy Sarzo (Bass)
* Chad Smith (Drums)
* Vernon Reid (Guitar)

11:50 - Flying High Again (OZZY OSBOURNE)
17:35 - Rock Candy (MONTROSE)

* Papa V Perpetua (Vocals)
* Vernon Reid (Guitar)
* Nuno Bettencourt (Guitar)
* Adam Wakeman (Keys)
* Rudy Sarzo (Bass)
* Travis Barker (Drums)

23:40 - Bark At The Moon (Ozzy Osbourne)

* Steven Tyler (Vocals)
* Nuno Bettencourt (Guitar)
* Tom Morello (Guitar)
* Ronnie Wood (Guitar)
* Andrew Watt (Guitar)
* Rudy Sarzo (Bass)
* Chad Smith (Drums)

28:45 - The Train Kept A-Rollin' (Tiny Bradshaw)

* Steven Tyler (Vocals)
* Nuno Bettencourt (Guitar)
* Tom Morello (Guitar)
* Andrew Watt (Guitar)
* Rudy Sarzo (Bass)
* Chad Smith (Drums)

34:00 - Walk This Way (AEROSMITH)
38:10 - Whole Lotta Love (LED ZEPPELIN)

PANTERA played a four-song set at BLACK SABBATH's "Back To The Beginning" charity event on Saturday (July 5) at Villa Park — home of Aston Villa Football Club — in Birmingham, United Kingdom.

The reformed metallers — whose current lineup consists of classic-lineup members Philip Anselmo (vocals) and Rex Brown (bass),alongside Zakk Wylde (guitar) and Charlie Benante (drums) — opened their performance with two of their own songs, "Cowboys From Hell" and "Walk" before playing covers of BLACK SABBATH's "Planet Caravan" and "Electric Funeral".

Actor Jason Mamoa, who served as the master of ceremonies for "Back To The Beginning", took off his hair braid, climbed over the barricade and got into the circle pit for PANTERA's performance of "Cowboys From Hell".

PANTERA's "Back To The Beginning" setlist was as follows:

01. Cowboys From Hell
02. Walk
03. Planet Caravan
04. Electric Funeral

The concert for Ozzy Osbourne, who was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease several years ago and billed the event as his final on-stage performance, marked the first time original BLACK SABBATH bandmembers — Ozzy, guitarist Tony Iommi, bassist Geezer Butler and drummer Bill Ward — performed together in 20 years.

More than 40,000 fans attended "Back To The Beginning", which also saw performances from Ozzy's solo band, GUNS N' ROSES, METALLICA, SLAYER, LAMB OF GOD and ANTHRAX, among others. Profits from the show will be shared equally between the charities Cure Parkinson's, Birmingham Children's Hospital and Acorn Children's Hospice.

There was also an online auction benefiting those charities. Items up for bid included two Gibson guitars signed by performers, a GUNS N' ROSES pinball machine, several gold record and CD displays including BLACK SABBATH's "Paranoid", LED ZEPPELIN's "Physical Graffiti" and METALLICA's "Master Of Puppets", plus more than a dozen travel packages.

Each performer covered at least one SABBATH or Osbourne solo song alongside their originals, and, in several all-star "supergroup" team-ups, interpreted additional Osbourne and SABBATH classics.

In the final segment, Osbourne, Iommi, Butler and Ward performed a set of classic SABBATH songs "War Pigs", "N.I.B.", "Iron Man" and "Paranoid". Osbourne, who had performed from a black-winged throne, was then presented with a cake, while fireworks lit up the stadium from overhead.

At the end of the set, Ozzy said: "It's the last song ever. Your support has enabled us to live an amazing lifestyle, thank you from the bottom of our hearts."

A message on screen then read, "Thank you for everything, you guys are fucking amazing. Birmingham Forever," before the sky lit up with fireworks.

A livestream of the daylong event was announced in June. While it was called a livestream, the video was delayed two hours from the in-arena start time.

Broadcast live from Birmingham, United Kingdom's Villa Park, those who missed out on being there can still experience this unforgettable moment, with the chance to rewatch the concert in its entirety for another 48 hours.

For more information, visit www.backtothebeginning.com.

SLAYER played a six-song set at BLACK SABBATH's "Back To The Beginning" charity event on Saturday (July 5).

The California thrash metal pioneers opened their performance with "Disciple" and "War Ensemble" before playing BLACK SABBATH's deep cut "Wicked World" from the latter's self-titled album. SLAYER concluded its set by playing three more of its classic songs: "South Of Heaven", Raining Blood" and "Angel Of Death".

SLAYER's "Back To The Beginning" setlist was as follows:

01. Disciple
02. War Ensemble
03. Wicked World (BLACK SABBATH cover) (snippet)
04. South Of Heaven (with "Wicked World" reprise)
05. Raining Blood
06. Angel Of Death

This past April, SLAYER guitarist Kerry King told Igor Miranda of Rolling Stone Brasil about his band's appearance at "Back To The Beginning": "It's such an honor to even be thought of to play that, and I'm glad we were actually in the 'working mode' so we can get that offer. It's gonna be awesome. And I drug my feet and picked our song really late, so when there weren't as many obvious choices, but the one I picked is gonna work out really cool. I worked it out with my [solo] band, so me and Paul [Bostaph, SLAYER and KERRY KING drummer] could rehearse it. So we've already got it. We've just gotta get Tom [Araya, SLAYER bassist/vocalist] and Gary [Holt, SLAYER guitarist] on board whenever — probably in June we will rehearse for that. It's gonna be killer. What we're doing is cool."

"I've already thought about being at that show very early 'cause there's a lot of my friends that are gonna be playing SABBATH songs, and I wanna see a lot of it," King added. "I'm sure the stage is gonna be a nightmare getting onto, so I'm hoping there's live feeds backstage so we can just watch it and hear it. I wanna see METALLICA. I wanna see PANTERA. I wanna see Lzzy Hale, just to name a few."

SLAYER famously covered SABBATH's "Hand Of Doom" for the "Nativity In Black II: A Tribute To Black Sabbath" album, which came out in 2000.

Last December, King was asked by Australia's Wall Of Sound which BLACK SABBATH album he would take with him if the planet was being blown up and we were all boarding a big spaceship and he was only allowed to take one SABBATH LP with him. He responded:  "I would take… It's easy and it's hard 'cause I'm a super [Ronnie James] Dio fan. But I would take [SABBATH's sixth studio album, 1975's] 'Sabotage'. Something about the vibe on that record. It's cool. I mean, they're all cool, but something about that one. Maybe 'Symptom Of The Universe'. I don't know. It's nonstop badassery."

Back in 2017, King picked "Sabotage" as one of his 10 favorite metal albums, telling Rolling Stone magazine: "'Sabotage' is just a very heavy record. There's so much good stuff on there. As I picked these records, I picked the ones I'm compelled to play if I'm working out or driving, and 'Sabotage' was my choice for BLACK SABBATH. It has 'Megalomania', 'Symptom Of The Universe', which has definitely got attitude, 'Hole In The Sky'. And it has the instrumental 'Supertzar'. I love that one. It grips me for some reason."

Last year, Kerry was asked by Metal Hammer Greece's TV show "TV War" if he has ever had a negative experience meeting one of his musical idols. He responded: "Yeah. Only once. And I won't even tell you who, because he doesn't deserve it. But nine times out of ten… The last one that I'll say I got over the hump with, 'cause I was still such a fan, was [BLACK SABBATH's] Tony Iommi. And it was very late in our careers, but it's fucking Tony; he's the godfather of all this shit. I think it was, like, 2006, finally. And I knew him before that, but I couldn't talk to him. It was Tony Iommi; I just couldn't do it."

Kerry continued: "in 2006 I went to the Classic Rock Awards in Britain. And I was presenting Tony with an award, and I was nervous as fucking all hell. I was out of my environment. I've done metal shows, I've done the [Revolver] Golden Gods billions of fucking times, but at the Classic Rock Awards, I was out of my element. Fucking Steven Tyler's [AEROSMITH] out there, AC/DC's out there, DEF LEPPARD's out there — people that I've admired in my history but didn't know any of them. So I'm fucking shaking up there. I hit the mic when I'm talking. And I was just a fucking idiot. [Laughs] So, I get to give Tony his award, take a picture with him. Then I felt like we were bros. I was over the Tony hump, and that was cool."

King added: "I've had a lot of heroes, be it from [JUDAS] PRIEST to SABBATH and whoever the hell, [DEEP PURPLE's] Ritchie Blackmore. But, yeah, Tony was the one. I had to climb that mountain and get over it."

More than 40,000 fans attended "Back To The Beginning", which also saw performances from BLACK SABBATH, Ozzy Osbourne, GUNS N' ROSES, METALLICA, PANTERA, LAMB OF GOD and ANTHRAX, among others. Profits from the show will be shared equally between the charities Cure Parkinson's, Birmingham Children's Hospital and Acorn Children's Hospice.

The all-day event at Villa Park, produced by Live Nation, was hosted and compered by American actor Jason Momoa, and featured a supergroup of musicians.

A livestream of the daylong event was announced in June. While it was called a livestream, the video was delayed two hours from the in-arena start time.

Broadcast live from Birmingham, United Kingdom's Villa Park, those who missed out on being there can still experience this unforgettable moment, with the chance to rewatch the concert in its entirety for another 48 hours.

For more information, visit www.backtothebeginning.com.

TESTAMENT drummer Chris Dovas (ex-SEVEN SPIRES) has uploaded drum-cam video of him performing the song "D.N.R. (Do Not Resuscitate)" with his bandmates at the Melbourne stop of their recently completed Australian tour on June 21 at Northcote Theatre. Check out the footage below.

Last October, TESTAMENT guitarist Eric Peterson spoke to Radioactive MikeZ, host of the 96.7 KCAL-FM program "Wired In The Empire", about Dovas's addition to the band after Dave Lombardo's short-lived return. Regarding how Dovas landed the gig, Peterson said: "Well, when Gene [Hoglan] left, the word got out and we had a lot of video tapes come in and I was talking to a couple of different players. [Chris] was my pick. And then Lombardo reached out to Chuck [Billy, TESTAMENT singer] and then he reached out to me and everybody really wanted to go with that. So I kind of told Chris, like, 'Let's keep you on the back and see what happens.' And, of course, a couple of months later, I'm, like, 'Hey, Lombardo can't do this next [run]. And he can only do these selected shows,' and I was, like, 'Oh god, here we go again.' The other guys were, like, 'Well, let's call up [former TESTAMENT drummer John] Tempesta or [Paul] Bostaph,' which we knew wouldn't be permanent, but maybe they'd come and… I'm, like, 'Hey, let's give this kid a try.' And when he came in, we were just, like, 'Whoa.' The energy level, and just making us play faster, but not to where we go, 'Slow down. We can't play that fast anymore.' He almost made it easier, his groove, and he brought some life back. And the new record that we put together, me and him… there's a good vibe there."

Peterson went on to say that TESTAMENT's follow-up to 2020's "Titans Of Creation" was being mixed by Swedish producer Jens Bogren, who has previously worked with OPETH, KREATOR, PARADISE LOST, SOILWORK and AMON AMARTH, among others. "Titans Of Creation" was co-produced by Juan Urteaga, who previously worked with TESTAMENT on "Dark Roots Of Earth" (2012) and "Brotherhood Of The Snake" (2016).

Last September, Billy spoke Metal Express Radio's Bryce Van Patten about how the songwriting process has changed since TESTAMENT's early days in the late 1980s and 1990s. He said: "Oh, it's night and day. Before, back then, we all lived the same place, we all had to go to the same studio, where now it's by e-mail, sharing the songs. Everybody has home studios to work out demos. Definitely a different writing process, but still Eric is one of the main writers. And ever since we brought in our new drummer, Chris Dovas, he's been here two years — he was 24 when he came into the band; he's 26 [now]. But he's a smart kid. [He] graduated [from] the Berklee [College] Of Music. [He] knows theory [and is] great in the studio with Pro Tools. He's really into modern bands and new and upcoming stuff, and he's got an old soul so he knows the history of the music. But I think him working hand in hand with Eric as long as they did, he really pushed Eric and drove Eric to get challenged. And I wouldn't say 'copy', but I think Chris and what he listens to and the style Eric likes, it brought an influence to the new songs."

Prior to joining TESTAMENT as a full-time member, Dovas filled in for Lombardo on the first six dates of TESTAMENT's summer/fall 2022 leg of "The Bay Strikes Back Tour".

In July 2023, Dovas told The Meista - Brews & Tunes about how he landed the gig with the veteran San Francisco Bay Area thrashers: "I sent [TESTAMENT] some videos a while ago. Eric then called me because Dave had some MISFITS dates. And so I filled in for a week and a half or two in September of 2022 on 'The Bay Strikes Back' tour. And then Dave's schedule just got really crazy, as you saw Dave's statement and everything, and I got the callback, which was super cool. So Eric was, like, 'You already know all the songs. Can you do these tours?' And that's what happened. And now I'm here to stay, which is super cool. It's an honor to be a part of it too, 'cause I grew up listening to TESTAMENT… If you told the middle school me or something that I would be doing this now, I wouldn't have believed it. But, yeah, it's an honor and I'm super happy to be a part of it."

In May 2023, Billy threw shade at Lombardo while introducing Dovas at TESTAMENT's show at the Teatro Royal Center in Bogotá, Colombia. Before launching into "D.N.R. (Do Not Resuscitate)", which originally appeared on the sole TESTAMENT album Lombardo played on, 1999's "The Gathering", Chuck presented the band's new drummer to the audience, saying: "Stand up and take a bow. Give it up for Mr. Chris Dovas. Lombardo who? Yeah. That's Chris Dovas right there. Don't forget it."

DIRKSCHNEIDER & THE OLD GANG (DATOG),the project featuring former ACCEPT members Udo Dirkschneider (vocals),Peter Baltes (bass) and Stefan Kaufmann (guitar),along with Udo's son Sven Dirkschneider (drums),Manuela Bibert (vocals) and Mathias Dieth (guitar),has released a new single, "Strangers In Paradise". The track, like "Hellbreaker", which came out in June, "Time To Listen", which came out in May, and "It Takes Two To Tango", which was made available in April, will appear on DIRKSCHNEIDER & THE OLD GANG's new album, "Babylon", due in October 2025 via Reigning Phoenix Music (RPM).

DIRKSCHNEIDER & THE OLD GANG comments: "'Strangers In Paradise' gets under your skin, an extraordinary rock ballad in every respect. At the beginning, Manuela soulfully accompanies her own vocals, then Peter joins in with an emotional voice. The song then culminates in a chorus in which Udo sings more warmly, clearly, deeply and emphatically than ever before. Certainly a special highlight for all true fans. Mathias's virtuoso guitar solo in flamenco style leads to the powerful grand finale with the typical DATOG choruses, an appropriate inclusion to this magnificent album."

A one-off charity campaign during the pandemic grew into an all-star heavy metal project: DIRKSCHNEIDER & THE OLD GANG — DATOG for short — united six seasoned musicians, many of whom have helped shape the metal genre's legacy over the past four decades.

At the core: iconic vocalist Udo Dirkschneider, founder and longtime frontman of ACCEPT, and leader of U.D.O. and DIRKSCHNEIDER. He's joined by Peter Baltes (bass, vocals; ACCEPT, DIRKSCHNEIDER),Stefan Kaufmann (guitar; ACCEPT, U.D.O.),Mathias "Don" Dieth (guitar; SINNER, U.D.O.),Udo's son Sven Dirkschneider (drums, U.D.O., DIRKSCHNEIDER),and powerhouse vocalist Manuela "Ella" Bibert, whose standout performances on the U.D.O. orchestra album "We Are One" (2019) solidified her place in the lineup.

Together, they released three singles between 2020 and 2021 — "Where The Angels Fly", "Face Of A Stranger" and "Every Heart Is Burning" — followed up by a special charity EP, called "Arising", to help support artists, crews and musicians affected by the coronavirus lockdown. The immense success of their recordings and music videos surpassed every expectation, with more than 23 million streams and views in total to date.

"The whole thing developed a momentum of its own that we hadn't expected," recalls Kaufmann. "Fans and labels immediately wanted to know: is there more to come?"

The answer arrived in April 2025 with the release of "It Takes Two To Tango", a powerful new single and the first taste of "Babylon", released via Reigning Phoenix Music — a trusted partner of both U.D.O. and DIRKSCHNEIDER. The track kicked off the next chapter in DATOG's journey, proving that the chemistry, passion, and fire between these six musicians is as strong as ever.

DATOG commented: "We're very happy about being part of the RPM family and continuing our work with Jochen Richert. We secretly started this joint campaign a while ago, and our mutual experiences behind the scenes have so far shown us that we are all definitely on the same page and driven by the same musical mutual factors: passion, loyalty, and the love for heavy music."

Managing director Jochen Richert (Reigning Phoenix Music) added: "Grabbing the chance of releasing DATOG's much-anticipated debut album was a no-brainer, of course. After their first steps exceeded, by far, several hopes and dreams, their new material is nothing short of a continuation, if not now on a higher level. Thank you to the whole GANG for your trust, let's rock this together!"

Musically, "It Takes Two to Tango" put the pedal to the metal, supported by a lyric underlining the aforementioned idea behind DATOG: the common joy of playing music! A virtue that surely will also infect all the viewers of the supporting music video, which was filmed by RCN TV at the legendary Dierks Studios (Stommeln, Germany),where actually the full record was tracked. The concluding mastering was handled by guitarist Kaufmann at ROXX Studio (Solingen, Germany).

"'It Takes Two To Tango' is strictly speaking only half of the song title, as the lyrics go on to say '(But) It Takes Six To Rock'. "This motto says it all", the group states and adds: "An absolute joint effort!"

DATOG is:

Udo Dirkschneider - lead vocals
Peter Baltes - bass, lead & backing vocals
Manuela "Ella" Bibert - lead & backing vocals, key instruments
Stefan Kaufmann - guitars, backing vocals
Mathias "Don" Dieth - guitars, backing vocals
Sven Dirkschneider - drums, backing vocals

Photo credit: Eddi Bachmann

Actor Jack Black made a surprise livestream appearance at the "Back To The Beginning" event on Saturday, July 5, singing his version of Ozzy Osbourne's classic song "Mr. Crowley".

Dressed in a blue-and-white tassled jacket, the Hollywood star — who is one half of the music duo TENACIOUS D with Kyle Gass — took part in a pre-taped music video featuring Roman Morello ("Back To The Beginning" music curator and RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE guitarist Tom Morello's son) and Revel Ian (ANTHRAX guitarist Scott Ian's son).

Black and Roman Morello previously performed "Mr. Crowley" in October 2023 as part of 100th-birthday celebrations for Tom Morello's mother Mary Morello. Jack's backing group that day featured Roman on guitar, Japanese drumming prodigy Yoyoka, bassist Roya Feiz on bass and Hugo Weiss on keyboards.

Jack has said in an interview that hearing Ozzy's music for the first time was a life-changing moment for him. "I went to this record store, and I was going to get the new JOURNEY album," he recalled to George Lopez. "I was ten years old or something, and there was this kid who was 14, and he said, 'No, man. You don't want that. Get this,' and he showed me Ozzy Osbourne's 'Blizzard Of Ozz'…It just changed my whole brain, the passion and the darkness and the evil of the music."

On TENACIOUS D's first album, Black included the song "Dio" as a love letter to Ronnie James Dio, who replaced Osbourne in BLACK SABBATH. TENACIOUS D was also featured in DIO's video for the song "Push". In addition, Ronnie appeared in Black and Gass's rock comedy "Tenacious D: The Pick Of Destiny".

The nine-hour "Back To The Beginning" event, hosted by actor — and Black's "A Minecraft Movie" co-star — Jason Momoa at Villa Park in Birmingham, United Kingdom, saw over a dozen bands play at least one BLACK SABBATH or Ozzy Osbourne cover as they paid homage to the SABBATH singer, who has Parkinson's disease.

The concert for Ozzy Osbourne, who was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease several years ago and billed the event as his final on-stage performance, marked the first time original BLACK SABBATH bandmembers — Ozzy, guitarist Tony Iommi, bassist Geezer Butler and drummer Bill Ward — performed together in 20 years.

More than 40,000 fans attended "Back To The Beginning", which also saw performances from Ozzy's solo band, GUNS N' ROSES, METALLICA, SLAYER, PANTERA, LAMB OF GOD and ANTHRAX, among others. Profits from the show will be shared equally between the charities Cure Parkinson's, Birmingham Children's Hospital and Acorn Children's Hospice.

There was also an online auction benefiting those charities. Items up for bid included two Gibson guitars signed by performers, a GUNS N' ROSES pinball machine, several gold record and CD displays including BLACK SABBATH's "Paranoid", LED ZEPPELIN's "Physical Graffiti" and METALLICA's "Master Of Puppets", plus more than a dozen travel packages.

In the final segment, Osbourne, Iommi, Butler and Ward performed a set of classic SABBATH songs "War Pigs", "N.I.B.", "Iron Man" and "Paranoid". Osbourne, who had performed from a black-winged throne, was then presented with a cake, while fireworks lit up the stadium from overhead.

At the end of the set, Ozzy said: "It's the last song ever. Your support has enabled us to live an amazing lifestyle, thank you from the bottom of our hearts."

A message on screen then read, "Thank you for everything, you guys are fucking amazing. Birmingham Forever," before the sky lit up with fireworks.

A livestream of the daylong event was announced in June. While it was called a livestream, the video was delayed two hours from the in-arena start time.

Broadcast live from Birmingham, United Kingdom's Villa Park, those who missed out on being there can still experience this unforgettable moment, with the chance to rewatch the concert in its entirety for another 48 hours.

For more information, visit www.backtothebeginning.com.

Former EXODUS singer Steve "Zetro" Souza will celebrate the 20th anniversary of the band's 2004 album "Tempo Of The Damned" on a 10-date solo tour of Latin America in September 2025. The trek will kick off on September 4 in San José, Costa Rica and end on September 14 in São Paulo, Brazil. At all the shows, Souza will also perform classic songs from his other former bands TESTAMENT (Zetro was the lead vocalist for LEGACY, an early incarnation of TESTAMENT) and HATRIOT, as well as the Bon Scott era of AC/DC.

Backing Souza on stage at the shows — billed simply as ZETRO — will be the following musicians:

* Zakk Frye (SLIKK WIKKED) - Rythm Guitar/Backup Vocals
* Kyle Smith (SLIKK WIKKED) - Lead Guitar
* Andrew Dewar (VICIOUS INTENT) - Drums
* Donny "Death" Weissinger (NASTY TRAST, HATE GRENADE) - Bass

For a complete list of tour dates, see the poster below.

Zetro spoke about what fans can expect from his return to the stage on the latest episode of his Zetro's Toxic Vault YouTube series in which he is joined by his longtime friend and co-host Walter Morgan, Zetro. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "I  agreed to go to South America on my own merit, as Zetro, not as any band that I played with before. Kind of like [Ronnie James] Dio or Ozzy [Osbourne]. I never looked at myself like that, to be honest with you. I always felt more comfortable in a band. But as things play out, this kind of played out towards my favor and to do this. And I'm kind of glad I did, because actually the feedback that I'm getting from it is really, really positive, and a lot of people in the industry that know me, and [who] I don't think were necessarily happy with the way things played out earlier this year [after Zetro was fired from EXODUS] are really pulling for me, which is really good."

Regarding what songs he will perform on the upcoming tour, Zetro said: "I'm not gonna do any TENET. And I'm not doing any DUBLIN DEATH PATROL. So let's just get that out. The TENET record — if you guys love the TENET record 'Sovereign' that came out in 2009 — it was myself, Jed Simon, Byron Stroud, Gene Hoglan and Glen Alvelais, we're not doing any of those songs, because I wanna do TENET again. I would like to play some concerts with those guys, so I felt that I really didn't wanna exploit that by playing those songs. Basically, what I'm going to be playing is TESTAMENT [material from the] LEGACY [days], because, again, I want you guys to know — I never played in TESTAMENT; I only played in LEGACY. They became TESTAMENT after I was out of the band. I know they are TESTAMENT songs now, but they were LEGACY songs before and songs that I wrote and actually recorded. So I feel very comfortable playing those. And, obviously, I'll be playing EXODUS stuff as well. What I won't be playing of EXODUS — I will not be playing any 'Bonded By Blood', and I will not be playing any of Rob's [Dukes] era songs."

Zetro continued: "I have so many songs in my own catalog and songs that have never been played live or it's been — what? — 35 years since they've been played or longer. There's songs on this list that I've never played live before. So I thought that instead of giving you guys the same show you might have seen before, I am trying to give you a different show, something when you come and see my band play, you'll hear the songs you won't necessarily hear if you go see EXODUS — or maybe even TESTAMENT. I know Chuck [Billy, TESTAMENT singer] plays some of the [early] songs sometimes, like he'll do an album in its entirety and stuff, and then they'll get played, but the songs, obviously, that I've picked, you guys have never heard me sing 'em before other than on the LEGACY demo. So that's gonna be a lot of fun. And again, songs that I have never played, I think. I think there's a couple of them on there that are absolute surprises that I don't think the band ever played them, and I know we didn't play them in South America. So if I'm looking at the songs that we are going to play, there's maybe, maybe four that you've heard me sing live, maybe. I can't remember. I know we've been going to South America a lot since I rejoined EXODUS back in 2014, and we've played multiple sets down there. But looking at it, I'm gonna say maybe four songs that you might've heard. The rest you've never heard me sing before."

Steve added: "I wanted to do that anyway. I have such a big catalog of songs through my EXODUS years, and I wanted to play some of those songs, some of the songs that either the band never played or does not play anymore. And they're good songs, and they're heavy. And it's something I wanted to do."

As for the possibility of writing and recording new music, Zetro said: "I have to be honest. Right now I kind of don't want to. There's so many songs in my catalog that I could play that you'd rather hear, in my eyes, than going out and trying to write a Dio record or an Ozzy record or a Zetro record. Right now anyway, that's what I wanna do. That could change.

"Again, I've said this a hundred times, my catalog with EXODUS and with TESTAMENT and HATRIOT, and if I started playing some DUBLIN DEATH PATROL songs or even TENET songs, those are five bands that have all done things," he added. "And another thing. I've done an AC/DC tribute since 2009. It's a good chance you're gonna hear some AC/DC. So I'm making it fun. I'm gonna make it fun."

As for how many tracks will be in his set, Zetro said: "17 songs, I think. I'd say 16 or 17 songs. Some of the songs are long, so I'm gonna say 90 minutes, or it should be close to 90 minutes. So we'll see what happens with that. Maybe we'll add more. I don't know. I doubt it. What I wanted to do is concentrate on these songs that have been chosen and the ones that we're gonna play. And I really want them to be absolutely tight and absolutely performed like they sound on the record. My whole take is if you make the songs sound like they sound on the record, you've done everything you can do to bring them across. Vocally, and I'll be honest with you, I sang the best I have ever sung on that last [EXODUS] tour I did [in late 2024] with HAVOK. I was on fire vocally. And I think a lot of [that has to do with] me keeping my weight down and that sort of thing. I walk six miles every morning. I started playing pickleball the other day.

"I know that I'm 61," Zetro added. "I know that time, it's creeping on me, but I see a lot of artists go out and I cringe when I see them perform because it's just so awful. It's just awful and maybe time to hang it up. And if I felt that way about myself, well, I wouldn't be doing this because I'm the first one to throw the stone at that. But I think there's a lot of validity here. And again, if this continues, like, okay, for example, if we go back to South America, say we do really well and next year they wanna bring us back or whatever, I'm changing the songs. I'm changing all the songs, so that maybe one or two I'll leave in there. But that's why I'm doing this — I wanna play some of the songs that I recorded over the years that I never, ever, ever got to play live."

SLIKK WIKKED is a metal/thrash band that was started in 2013 by Zakk Frye in Rochester, New York. Since then, they have released two EPs, including the thrash anthem "Black Wind Of Death", followed by the full-length album "Savage", all of which are available on YouTube and Bandcamp. Zakk also owns and runs 10th Ward Productions, the team helping bring Zetro back to the masses.

Zakk told BLABBERMOUTH.NET: "We will be performing a full 90-minute set of all the deep classics from EXODUS and TESTAMENT/LEGACY. And also ripping tunes from HATRIOT and even AC/DC. This will be an action-packed balls-to-the-wall metal show for all Zetro fans. They will not want to miss this."

Any venues interested in booking Zetro dates can contact Zakk Frye at 10th Ward Productions via [email protected].

Six months ago, it was announced that EXODUS had parted ways with Souza and had welcomed back Rob Dukes.

Souza joined EXODUS in 1986 after previously fronting the band LEGACY (which, as stated above, later became TESTAMENT). He remained in EXODUS until their hiatus in 1993, but rejoined them for two years from 2002 to 2004. Dukes became the singer of EXODUS in 2005 (following Souza's departure) and stayed until 2014, when Souza returned.

Souza discussed his most recent split with EXODUS during a previous episode of Zetro's Toxic Vault. Addressing the reasons for his departure, Zetro said in part: "I've been doing this since 1986 —1986, in June, I joined EXODUS for the very first time. I was 22 years old. I'm now 61. So to have kind of a rollercoaster ride in music has actually been kind of exciting,. It kept my life going. Certain things happen and certain things go on, and you kind of have to deal with them as they happen, like anything."

Clarifying that he "did not quit" EXODUS and "was let go", Souza continued: "I don't read much of what goes on the Internet. With no disrespect to anybody, I don't give a fuck what anybody thinks about me or what you say… But I was made privy by my son of something Gary [Holt, EXODUS guitarist and main songwriter] had responded to me saying that I didn't quit; I was let go. And I have to agree with his analogy. Being in a band is like a marriage — it truly is — and the marriage was over. And it was. Now, I was never gonna quit, meaning maybe I guess I would never leave the marriage, for whatever reason. But I truly think that it was probably the right thing for me especially, and I hope it's the right thing for them as well."

Regarding his mindset after his latest departure from EXODUS, Souza said: "People were calling me — my friends and my family — asking me if I was okay. And I was fine. I was, like, 'I'm great.' I'm really, really happy and more content. And again, we're in April now, and this went down in January. And actually, I knew in December — I knew before anybody knew, before it was announced. And I was cool with it."

Speaking directly to the EXODUS fans, Zetro said: "I'm gonna miss you guys. I really am. But for me, my life has changed a lot. What I liked when I was younger in my twenties and my thirties are not necessarily what I'm into anymore. I love my family. I mean, I came home and got married to Vickie, who I've been with for 17 years, and she is the love of my life. And you know how hard it is to go away from the love of my life at this point, at 61 years old for five weeks, six weeks at a time? It wasn't easy for me, even though it may not have shown on stage, and it definitely didn't show when I was with you guys, with you fans, and anybody that approached me because I would never want anyone to have an awful experience with me. But I think it was time, honestly.

"I had told Gary, and I told them that I would like to do this till I was 70 and probably not much more than that, but I think in the back of my mind I think I was kind of already done with the rigorous life of touring, 'cause it's very demanding," Souza admitted. "And the business doesn't care about what you have going on. [I'll] give you an example — in 2016, my mother died and I was in El Salvador on tour. I should have been at her bedside, but I wasn't, because I had to do this. I've had dogs pass. I've missed graduations from my children. Any musician that has been in my position can absolutely relate with this, because it is part of it. And a lot of times people don't necessarily think of that. And then there's the guys, there's the musicians that really like to do this, and they'll go out and they'll hit it hard. They'll go from one thing to another."

Elaborating on his reasons for wanting to spend less time on the road, Zetro said: "I've changed over the past few years, even in the last 10 years since I've been back. And I think I'm more interested in what's going on in my house and around what I'm doing here. I like to see my dogs every day. I have three pugs that absolutely love. I have a grandson now. I never get to see them. I wanna see my wife every day. I wanna sleep in my bed every day. It's been something that mentally has gone on and changed. But again, I would've never quit because I'm not a quitter in that type of respect. Everybody's, 'Oh, well, you quit in 2004.' No, I had to leave the band because I had a union job, three little kids and a wife, and I was trying to balance working as a foreman, as a union job, being a father, coaching baseball and soccer, and being a husband and playing in EXODUS, and I couldn't balance all three. The thing that I loved the most was playing in EXODUS, but, unfortunately, it could not take care of my wife and my kids and ballerina signups, baseball signups. The business wasn't paying that much at the time, so I needed to go and take care of my family… So coming back into the band in 2014, kids are grown, I'm set in my job. I was very, very excited. And again, I had a really good time over the last 10 years playing in the band. And it was one of those things that I have to say I'm kind of glad that I've ended up where I'm at right now, I don't like airports anymore. I don't like sleeping on the tour bus anymore… So I'm not saying that this was a decision that I would've made, but I'm saying for myself and to have a few months to look at it, it was definitely the right decision."

Souza went on to say that EXODUS fans should continue to support the band now that Dukes has returned to the group.

"I look at it now as, what about all you guys that are big fans of Rob's era? Just think — now you get to come back and see Rob maybe for the next 10 years and see him continue on," Zetro said. "So if you were fans of his era, like you were fans of my era, or both eras — I know there's some of you [that are] 'I'm [Team] Zetro' or 'I'm [Team] Rob', or whatever, 'I'm cool with whatever EXODUS does,' I get it. And I totally understand that, and I respect every one of you for those things. But now maybe for the last part of the band they get to enjoy Rob and Rob's era of the band. I mean, Gary's gonna continue to write music and record music. And Gary Holt doesn't know how to write a shitty riff. Okay? So you EXODUS fans know what you're gonna get from that, and that's what I have to say."

Souza also addressed the possibility of another reunion with EXODUS down the line, saying: "Will I ever grace the stage with them? No, definitely not. I think it's been done. This was the third time that I had joined the band, so I think it would be a bit redundant to try to do this or do this again. So just so you guys wanna know, I have no desire to do that ever again. It's been done. If you saw my last concert in Los Angeles at the Regent [in December 2024], then you truly saw the last concert that Zetro will ever sing with EXODUS."

Zetro added that he went out on top, both in term of his live performance with EXODUS and his relationship with the band's fans.

"If you saw us on the last tour with HAVOK, then, honestly, I was singing better than I've ever sung through the years," Souza said. "So I don't feel that it was something that, vocally… I did my job — I did my job quite well — and even they'll tell you that. And the fans, you guys know that I bring it. Every time I come, I bring it. And that's just the way it is. And if you walked up to me for a picture or an autograph, I never would say no and I've never pushed you guys away. I would hang out and talk to you about stuff. How many of you fans have spent time after the show talking to me about whatever? Horror, movies, metal sports, whatever. I'll sit out there and talk to you guys 'cause I've never considered myself above anybody."

Asked what specifically he didn't enjoy about the touring lifestyle, Zetro said: "Too much time in the day. Waiting to wait. It's a lot of waiting. Going to an airport, waiting four hours for the flight, getting on the flight for five hours, getting to where you've gotta go. Then you have another six-hour layover before you have another five-hour flight. And line one, line two, security this, security that. I don't have the patience for that anymore. The bus — I know this sounds very pompous. I was very fortunate to get to tour in a bus. I know bands that do not tour in buses… But for me, the bunk started to be very, very uncomfortable. And the only time I could get in there was when I truly had to sleep. But as soon as I woke up, I got up. So there's too much time in a day for you to go to museums or comic bookstores or me to go buy toys and whatever I do on the road. It is just a lot of downtime, and I feel as now 61 years old, I wanna do other things in that downtime. And I don't wanna be doing this, and all of a sudden I end up getting sick or my wife end up getting sick and one of my children, and I have to come home and I've got six months to live, or they've got six months to live and I've missed all of this with them and I missed it all. I don't want to do that anymore. I've missed too much over the years, and it's just kind of where I've been mentally — especially the last few years I've been thinking about that."

EXODUS played its first concert with Dukes in nearly 11 years on April 5 at the Decibel Magazine Metal & Beer Fest: Philly at the Fillmore in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Dukes previously joined EXODUS in January 2005 and appeared on four of the band's studio albums — "Shovel Headed Kill Machine" (2005),"The Atrocity Exhibition... Exhibit A" (2007),"Let There Be Blood" (2008, a re-recording of EXODUS's classic 1985 LP, "Bonded By Blood") and "Exhibit B: The Human Condition" (2010).

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In a recent interview with Brandy-Baye Robidoux of Idobi Radio, BLACK VEIL BRIDES frontman Andy Biersack confirmed that he and his bandmates have been working on the follow-up to their sixth album, "The Phantom Tomorrow", which came out in October 2021. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "We finished a new record. At this point, one song is fully mixed. So it's very early. But we produced the record ourselves — myself and Jake [Pitts, BLACK VEIL BRIDES guitarist] were kind of at the helm in that — and it was the first time doing a self-produced record in that way, at least of original material. We had done re-records or things before, but this was the first time that we… It was also devoid of many outside voices."

Elaborating on BLACK VEIL BRIDES' decision to not work with an outside producer this time around, Andy said: "For a lot of years, you get to a place where you start… Your first record, you write the record together, and then you record it and then it's out there. And then you have a level of popularity, if you're lucky, and then people go, 'You know what? We should put you with this producer.' And then that producer has a way of doing things, and then you work with the next producer and they have a way of doing things. And then the more and more you work with different people, the more injection of their style becomes a part of what you do. And that's actually been really beneficial for us, because working with [producer] John [Feldy] Feldmann for so many years really created, for me, vocally how I am now. My voice, there's a definite line where you go, 'Oh, this person became a much better singer,' and I credit that all to Feldy and basically him teaching me how to use my own voice. Working with Erik Ron, working with Bob Rock, we've had a lot of luck with our producers, but we had never, in our whole career, back since the very beginning, had an opportunity to go, 'We kind of know what this band is,' and 'What would a record be like if we made it and tried to use our best judgment?' We didn't wanna go in there just celebrating ourselves. I think sometimes that's the thing that happens when bands produce their own record. They're, like, 'Everything we do is great.' We were very hard on ourselves to make sure that it was the best thing that we could do, and I'm really excited about how it's turning out."

Biersack went on to credit Feldmann and Ron with helping him develop the skills in the studio to oversee a BLACK VEIL BRIDES recording from beginning to end. "I wouldn't know how any of this stuff functions without particularly those two," he said. "Jake and I have always said we learned how to be people in a studio from John Feldmann. And then that carried over to where when we started working with Erik, who also had worked with Feldmann as an engineer in his early career, we come from that same school. And so I think in a lot of ways we brought that same sort of means of production to our record. It's just that we were doing it on our own. But it really comes from that for us."

Asked if it was "more challenging or easier" to produce the new album themselves, Andy said: "I would say it was a little bit more challenging in the capacity that you've gotta make sure that you get it right. I would say the easier thing is for me vocally, sometimes — and I guess this will be determined by how people hear it — but sometimes when you're singing, if you're working with a producer who is also a singer, they have a way that they want to hear something. So if I go, 'This melody goes this way,' and they go, 'Oh, this melody should go this way.' And then you're, like, 'Oh,' and that's unnatural. I always say, like, there's certain times when I can hear on records where I would've wanted it to be pushed this certain way, and then somebody else wanted it to go this other way, and then I just end up sounding like I don't know what I'm saying in the song. With this, it's just the way I want it, for better or for worse. So we'll find out whether that was the right way or not. We'll find out. We'll see if people like it."

Regarding whether BLACK VEIL BRIDES is "pulling from any unexpected influences" this time around, Andy said: "Well, I think we have a total lack of interest in any commercial crossover. We've been in the major label system for most of our career, where even though we were a band with a lot of shreddy guitars and I'm writing about theological ideas, they're, like, 'But where's the single?' And so you'd always kind of have to temper that with, 'We've gotta make sure that there's a single.' And what we have found, and thankfully working with Spinefarm now, 'Bleeders' was not a song that was made to be a hit. And yet it was a song that, because the label believed in it, did really well at radio and traditional places. So we want to be able to make songs that are enjoyable and that people at radio wanna play — we sincerely want that — but we are not in a position now where we're going to the studio going, like, 'Okay, but we've gotta make sure that we have the song that it's cool for the executives' kind of thing, which is kind of something that we had been bogged down by for a lot of years… And sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. In some cases, you make a concept record that's an hour and a half long, but you happen to have a song that is a platinum single on it. People are, like, 'All right, fine. You could do weird stuff.' If you do that same thing and then you don't have that platinum single, yeah…. And we've seen both sides of that. So, at this point I feel like the best bet is just to make the coolest thing we can make as opposed to trying to go, 'I hope we've got that big hit on there,' 'cause you can't prescribe those things."

In May 2024, BLACK VEIL BRIDES released the title track from their "Bleeders" EP, inspired by Stephen Sondheim and Hugh Wheeler's "Sweeney Todd". The band paid tribute to the classic musical with a music video for the title track that is inspired by the musical's 2007 Tim Burton-directed film adaptation.

Released in June 2024, the three-track EP, which included "Bleeders", a cover of "My Friends" from the Sondheim classic, and a cover of U2's "Sunday Bloody Sunday", was BLACK VEIL BRIDES' first release for Spinefarm.

In an interview with Marko Syrjala of Chaoszine, THE CULT guitarist Billy Duffy was asked about plans for the band to release new music as the follow-up to THE CULT's 2022 album "Under The Midnight Sun", particularly since singer Ian Astbury recently said "there are recordings that are already nearly finished". Billy responded: "Well, Ian says a lot of things. I don't even know if he'd remember saying that. I'm always writing music, but as far as I know, we're not actively engaged in recording anything. That'll happen eventually, but I don't know what made him say that."

Asked if THE CULT has a record deal with a label at the moment, Billy said: "No, but I'm sure we can get one. We always seem to find someone who wants to sign us — that desire always seems to be there. So, I don't think that's a problem. I think we just have to be in the right mental space as artists, as a band, to want to make a new record. We also need to figure out what the goal is, but I think that time is coming. We've done enough touring now — we've pretty much toured everywhere in the world that we can, give or take. So, what generally happens then is there's downtime, and we go quiet. That's when we start getting creative. Yeah, well, that's what I think. So, I believe it'll happen organically. It seems to happen on a cycle of every four years. Obviously, the pandemic disrupted things for everyone. But if you look at THE CULT, since we got back together in 2006, we've sort of made a record every four years. So that cycle will come around again — you just have to wait and see. I know we'll give it a go — I can feel it coming. But I'm not sure what [Ian] meant back then. Maybe he just had a vision for the year ahead."

This past March, Astbury told Brazilian music journalist Igor Miranda about THE CULT's plans for new music: "If it happens, it will happen organically. And there's no hard plans, but there are recordings that are already nearly finished, things that we were working on previously.

"We released [the songs] 'Flesh And Bone' and 'C.O.T.A.'. That only came out as a seven-inch. Nobody even knew it came out. I decided they were DEATH CULT [a stepping stone between Astbury's previous band SOUTHERN DEATH CULT and THE CULT] songs. Call it whatever you want. For me it felt like DEATH CULT songs. And now people are beginning to listen to those songs and go, 'Oh, these are really interesting. Do you have any more?' And we go, 'Well, we have a few more from that period.' And there's plans to drop some other recordings, maybe from DEATH CULT. But definitely THE CULT…"

"I mean, there's definitely plans to do things, but a formal album in the studio? I don't know," he continued. "It could happen. It may not happen. We're talking about music right now. We're always talking about music. But… I don't know. There's no formal plans to go in the studio and make an album right now.

"If you know about the way the streaming works, the algorithm, you can spend so much time, you can make a masterpiece, and you can put it out in the world and the algorithm doesn't like it, and then it disappears very quickly. You're competing with thousands and thousands and thousands of thousands and thousands of individual artists.

"[It] seems to me there's a decline in bands, and there's an increase in artists who are making records in their bedrooms and studios, small studios.

"I'll definitely be releasing music," Ian added. "There will be CULT music this year of some description. But it's not gonna be in a conventional format. There will be one record released maybe in the middle of the year that will be in conventional format, a live concert, but I can't say much more than that. You have to wait for that. We'll see. We have to do some negotiations to get it finished.

"With THE CULT, we're very intuitive in that way. We don't follow a plan or a schedule. We kind of work in harmony with the rhythm of what's happening around us.

"'Under The Midnight Sun' is referring to the pandemic 'cause it was this anomalous moment where a once-in-a-lifetime experience — not even once-in-a-generation [or] once-in-a-lifetime; once-in-a-century experience — so it was this anomalous moment. There's just so many layers. But ultimately, it has to translate with four musicians on stage and then you have to use your emotional intelligence to convey this. So, a lot of time is spent living, documenting, studying, reading.

"I don't really watch — I don't watch TV. I have two TVs in my house. They're never on. Maybe football, and that's about it. Everyone's saying, 'Have you seen this TV show, seen this TV show, seen this film, seen this TV show?' I'll go to a theater to see a film, like the last 'Dune' film. I had to see that on a big screen, 'cause on TV it's just blergh. I don't watch much television. I've watched a lot of film in my life, but if it's an important film, I'll watch it or I'm interested in it. But mostly I'm reading and listening to music. And then training in martial arts. And then doing creative direction for the band. And then working on other projects — my material. I wouldn't even call it solo projects. They're collaborations.

"So my intention is there'll be more CULT at some point, there'll definitely be DEATH CULT, there'll be more CULT, and then I'll be working on other things myself, other collaborations," Astbury concluded.

THE CULT holds a significant place in musical history due to its pioneering use of post-punk, hard rock, and experimentalism, pushing boundaries and influencing countless bands across multiple genres. With their musical prowess, uncompromising attitude and captivating stage presence, they forged a distinct identity while charting new territory for bands to explore. From Duffy's formative, and influential, years in the Manchester underground, to Astbury's groundbreaking "Gathering Of The Tribes", the duo has left an indelible mark on modern music, shaping its trajectory in profound ways.

"Under The Midnight Sun" arrived in October 2022 via Black Hill Records. The LP was produced by Tom Dalgety (PIXIES, GHOST, ROYAL BLOOD). Dalgety is the first British producer THE CULT has worked with since its second album, "Love" (1985).

Born out of the ashes of the U.K. post-punk scene, THE CULT evolved to become one of the most influential and controversial rock bands of the late 20th century, selling millions of albums, headlining arenas and stadiums around the world, infusing innovative possibilities into the worlds of music and art, and quickly ascending through the ranks of the indie music world to achieve global status. THE CULT, whose music transformed from punk rock to post-punk, psychedelia, heavy dance music and transcendental hard rock, became one of the handful of important bands in the U.S. post-modern and hard rock communities, and was embraced by a generation that was waking up to the influence of 1960s and 1970s rock icons like LED ZEPPELIN, THE NEW YORK DOLLS and David Bowie.

The constant core of THE CULT is the "head and heart" of the band, Astbury and Duffy. Attitude incarnate, the chemistry between these two vastly different artists — equal parts genuine affection and palpable tension — remains the source of their long-standing partnership. Duffy grounds Astbury's esoteric side with a hard rock perspective, and there is no doubt that at all times, these two have each other's back. THE CULT's current lineup also includes former WHITE ZOMBIE, EXODUS and TESTAMENT drummer John Tempesta.

Image and video credit: STREETLIFE

Steve Porcaro — legendary songwriter, synth pioneer, and founding member of TOTO — makes a long-awaited return this fall with "The Very Day", his first solo album since 2016. Out October 3 on Green Hill Music, the album begins its reveal with the release of the radiant new single "Miss Jane Sinclair", a breezy piano-driven track written in collaboration with author and longtime friend David Kamp.

A platinum-selling songwriter best known for penning songs like Michael Jackson's "Human Nature" and shaping the sonic landscape of '80s pop with his signature synth textures, Porcaro has spent a lifetime in the studio crafting songs for others. His role as a behind-the-scenes architect of that sound was recently spotlighted in the HBO documentary "Yacht Rock", which revisited the smooth pop era he helped define. But with "The Very Day", he turns inward — finishing a deeply personal collection of tracks decades in the making.

"I found myself in this fortunate position where the coast was clear," says Porcaro. "After years of spinning plates and making a living in music, I finally had the space to do what I love: be in the studio and finish my songs. This album is the start of a new chapter for me — no touring, no compromises, just making music on my own terms."

Porcaro wrote and recorded the songs on "The Very Day" with a carefully chosen cast of friends and collaborators, including Michael McDonald, Jude Cole, Gardner Cole and Jason Scheff. With a producer's ear and a composer's sensibility, Porcaro approached each track like casting a film — inviting voices and musicians who best served the story of the song. Though he's never considered himself a lead vocalist, he sings several songs on the album, including "Miss Jane Sinclair".

"I've always had a soft spot for a great hook, but I also grew up loving music that pushed the envelope — STEELY DAN, EMERSON, LAKE & PALMER and YES," he says. "Now I get to follow that instinct and be true to myself. These songs come from that place."

Blake Davis, general manager of Green Hill Music, adds: "Steve Porcaro is one of the great architects of modern pop. His touch — whether in the studio or behind the keyboard — has influenced generations. We're honored to release 'The Very Day', a record that reflects both his legacy and his freedom to create exactly the music he wants to make."

In July 2024, Steve announced a partnership with Primary Wave Music, the leading independent publisher of iconic and legendary music in the world. Terms of the deal included Porcaro's music publishing catalog, artist royalties, and neighboring rights. The multi-million-dollar deal included royalties for some of TOTO's biggest hits, as well as rights to all songs Steve composed for film and television, including his work for the award-winning FX show "Justified".

As one of the founding members of the band TOTO, Porcaro wrote some of and performed on all of the band's groundbreaking repertoire. Their songs not only shaped the landscape of pop and rock music but also are timeless, with new fans finding their music every day. The band's greatest hits such as the Top 5 singles "Rosanna" and "Hold The Line", as well as their No. 1 classic "Africa" were all included in this new partnership with Primary Wave. "Hold The Line" was the band's first single off their self-titled debut. It soared to No. 5 on the Billboard Hot 100, was an international success, and has since been certified double platinum. Released in 1982, "Rosanna" reached No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100, staying there for five weeks. In 1983, "Rosanna" won the Grammy Award for "Record Of The Year". TOTO's most well-known hit "Africa" was released in October 1982 and was the third single off the band's multi-platinum and Grammy-winning album "Toto IV". The single shot to the top of the Billboard Hot 100 chart, making it their only Billboard No. 1. "Africa" also went to No. 1 in Canada and reached the Top 10 in the United Kingdom, Ireland, New Zealand, and Switzerland.

The deal also included rights to a select number of compositions purchased jointly with the estate of Michael Jackson, including Jackson's mega-hit "Human Nature", a song Steve co-wrote for Michael Jackson which was released in July 1983 as the fifth single from Jackson's critically acclaimed "Thriller" album. After release, the single immediately shot to the Top 10 on the Billboard Hot 100. The song also reached the Top 5 on Billboard's Adult Contemporary chart, peaking at No. 2. Music critics raved about the single, with Slant magazine saying the song was "probably the best musical composition on the album." In a 2012 article for the Los Angeles Times, Randall Roberts wrote "it's the song that I never tire of hearing."

Additional terms of the partnership also gave Steve access to the company's marketing team and publishing infrastructure, working closely on new marketing, branding, digital, and synch opportunities, as well as film and television projects.

Co-writing "Human Nature" on Michael Jackson's Grammy-winning album "Thriller", solidified his individual mark on the music industry. A sought-after session musician, Steve has worked extensively with music producer icons Quincy Jones and David Foster and many of music's most successful artists, including Don Henley, YES, Elton John, Boz Scaggs and many others.

Steve Porcaro's touring career began with Gary Wright, in support of Wright's hit album "The Dream Weaver" and then with Boz Scaggs along with the other original members of TOTO, prior to that band's 1977 inception. Steve's older brothers, Mike Porcaro (bassist) and Jeff Porcaro (drummer),also members of TOTO were highly respected session musicians and their father Joe Porcaro is regarded was one of the world's most influential session percussionists and educators. In 2010, Steve toured with TOTO when the decision was made to reform the band in support of his brother Mike, during Mike's lengthy battle with ALS.

Along with his work on "Human Nature", Steve Porcaro performed as a musician on other "Thriller" tracks, including "Beat It", "The Girl Is Mine", "PYT", "The Lady In My Life" and composed the song "For All Time", which was included on the "Thriller" 25th-anniversary edition. A testament to his compositional influence, "Human Nature" has been covered and/or sampled by many artists, including Miles Davis, Stevie Wonder, John Mayer, SWV, Nas and Chris Brown. He has written or co-authored music on each of TOTO's first six albums and most recently, performed on the band's highly acclaimed 2015 album "Toto XIV", also co-writing and singing lead on "The Little Things" and "Bend" which is featured on the Japan edition of that release. After many years of success, TOTO continues to play to sold-out audiences in Europe, U.S. and Japan.

In 2016, Steve was thrilled to bring his highly anticipated solo album "Someday / Somehow" to fans across the globe and is putting the finishing touches on its follow-up.

Green Hill Productions, part of Sun Label Group (a subsidiary of Primary Wave Music),is a boutique record label currently celebrating 30 years of creating top-quality lifestyle music for every mood. With over 1,000 titles in its diverse catalog, Green Hill covers an amazing variety of genres and targeted themes including jazz, new age, neoclassical, pop, rock, Celtic, Christmas, chillout, bluegrass, Cajun, easy listening, nature, piano, romance, relaxation, oldies, beach, western, world, patriotic, big band, and classic crooners, to name a few.

Photo credit: Heather Porcaro

At this year's Hellfest in Clisson, France, legendary extreme metal drummer Gene Hoglan, who has played with TESTAMENT, DETHKLOK, DARK ANGEL, DEATH, FEAR FACTORY and STRAPPING YOUNG LAD, among others, spoke about being one of the most in-demand musicians in the metal scene. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Well, I put the 'ho' in Hoglan. I'm a drum ho, man, definitely. I love doing what I do. I'm an absolute poster child for living one's dream. I set out on this path when I was 11. That's when I said, 'I'm gonna be a rock and roll drummer. I'm gonna play for bands and see the world and all that.' And by the time I was 13 and super into metal by that time — I was 12 in 1980 when the huge crush of metal came out; that was the still the best year of metal ever, and that was all fresh stuff being thrown right at me. So that that cemented my love for metal. And that's why I'm, like, 'I'm gonna be a metal drummer. I'm gonna play fast, heavy. I'm gonna be in the heaviest bands I can find.' And I didn't even, like. relegate myself to one band. Even back then, I was, like, 'I know I'm gonna play with a ton of musicians, and it's gonna be great.' And so, here it is, 45 years later. It was a wish. It was a dream."

He continued: "I've recently come into contact with the term of manifestation and I'm, like, everything that I hear this manifestation stuff is that's what I did. I made this happen. I created this out of my own brain and I saw the path that I needed to be on, and I tried to make all the good decisions that I could. I was a part of the initial L.A. scene of all the DANTE FOXes and GREAT WHITEs and RATTs and MÖTLEY CRÜEs and DUBROW. It was after QUIET RIOT. QUIET RIOT was a little before my time — the initial Randy Rhoads QUIET RIOT. But SNOW and all of those bands, A LA CARTE, one of the greatest bands ever, I was going to see all those bands when I was 13 and becoming pals with those guys. And my sister was five years older than me and she used to drag me to all those shows. And it just was awesome getting to meet all these guys that eventually became huge big stars. But the thing that taught me was, like, a lot of those bands I would see at the time, they got huge with not the exact same members that they had, because we'd go to the parties afterwards and the majority of the band would be pretty well put together, but there was that one guy in the band that would just get shitty drunk on a Wednesday night. And I was just a sponge. I didn't drink or do drugs or anything, so I was just a sponge to it all. I'm, like, 'I don't think that guy's gonna last in this band.' Sure enough, he gets the boot. They get a guy that's got it more together from one of the other bands. They sign the big contract. They go on to huge things, and that guy is just left behind. I watched that happen so many times. So it was just being a sponge, being a witness to all of this activity where I was able to kind of discern, 'That's the way to go. This is not the way to go. Don't act like a douche.'"

Reflecting on one piece of advice he got early on which he took to heart, Hoglan said: "There was a drummer for a band that went on to become a gargantuan band, and when I was, like, 15 or so, I obtained the keys to my folks' car and I went and drove and picked him up and he was driving us around. We were doing something together. And the biggest lesson I ever got — ever — was from this guy as he was talking to me about his philosophy on making it in the music industry. And he said — and this is no joke — he said, 'I don't care who I have to screw over, step on, F over, walk on to better myself and get myself bigger in the music industry. I don't care who I have to screw over, I will do it.' And I took from that, 'Go do the opposite.' And so he got the boot from that band. He's on their first couple of recordings, and they were killer.They were well known — especially in L.A., especially on [local radio station] KMET. They were getting the big push in '83, '84, right at that first burst of the '83 kind of stuff and '84, definitely. And that was the biggest lesson I ever got. It's, like, 'Whatever he just said, do the opposite. And that's gonna work well for you.' And so I've always tried to help other people. If I've got friends in a band, [it's], like, 'Hey, man, your band's pretty cool. Let me introduce you to my record label.' Or 'I know a guy over here that might be able to help you guys out.' Or 'I know a drummer that you guys could probably…' All that kind of stuff. Try to help people. Don't screw people over. But that was a huge lesson."

Last month, DARK ANGEL released "Circular Firing Squad", the second single from the band's first new album in 34 years, "Extinction Level Event", due later in 2025 via Reversed Records.

The LP's first single, the "Extinction Level Event" title track, was written by DARK ANGEL guitarist Jim Durkin a decade ago, long before he suffered from severe liver disease, and, to the surprise of everyone, passed away in 2023. It was recorded and mixed at the Armoury Studios in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, executive produced by DARK ANGEL drummer Gene Hoglan, produced and engineered by Rob Shallcross and mixed by Mike Fraser.

Durkin died on March 8, 2023 at the age of 58. An original member of DARK ANGEL, Durkin played on the band's first three albums — 1985's "We Have Arrived", "Darkness Descends" and 1989's "Leave Scars" — before departing the group in 1989. He was part of DARK ANGEL's lineup when the band reformed in 2013, and had been playing with them, on and off, ever since.

Prior to his death, Durkin had been sitting out some of DARK ANGEL's gigs. He was replaced at the shows by Hoglan's wife Laura Christine, who has since joined DARK ANGEL as a permanent member.

The "Extinction Level Event" artwork and layout was designed by Cain Gillis, with concepts by Hoglan.

"Musically, lyrically, and vocally, I'm so stoked about this album," Hoglan previously said. "I'm really excited about DARK ANGEL right now, and everyone who's heard the new album is losing their minds. Every time I'd finish a song and send it over to the guys, everybody was, 'Gene, this is my favorite song!' 'No, this is my favorite song!!' 'Dude, this is totally my favorite song!!!' That's never a bad sign."

Hoglan and Christine wrote everything except for the title track on "Extinction Level Event". Other songs set to appear on the effort include "Atavistic", which is described as "a full-on three-minute thrash metal barrage", "Woke Up To Blood", the title of which stemmed from a dog attack, and "Terror Construct", which Gene wrote about the way the media and corporations team up to spread fear among the masses so they can continue to fill their pockets.

The seeds of "Extinction Level Event" were planted in late 2013 between the time when TESTAMENT stopped touring to work on their new record and Hoglan was scheduled to work on his next major project. After the first batch of writing sessions for "Extinction Level Event", Hoglan had to put writing for DARK ANGEL on hold until late 2022. With other obligations behind him, Gene laser-focused on DARK ANGEL, listening back to the jams he and Durkin made earlier, and writing more than 10 new songs over the next three months. With a full album of pummeling new songs, Hoglan flew to Vancouver to track the album at the Armory. There, he and his bandmates worked with Rob Shallcross and Mike Fraser, and over a few sessions, DARK ANGEL had recorded everything but the vocals.

Having passed away two years ago, Durkin's sudden death is still traumatic for DARK ANGEL and especially Hoglan. At the same time, he takes bittersweet pride in knowing that Jim's playing and performances live on through him and DARK ANGEL, not only when the band plays his old riffs, but also in the continued influence Durkin has on the band's new songs.

"One of the last things I told him was, 'Jim, dude, you're my original guitar hero," Hoglan recalls. "'My entire guitar style is based on your style because you are who I really learned how to play guitar from.' So, my guitar approach with DARK ANGEL is Jim Durkin's approach. When I write for the band, I'm thinking, 'What would Jim do here?' That's why his presence is massively all over this new record. Every single song. I wanted to make it to where people are like, 'Yeah, Jim wrote that riff. Oh, there's another Jim riff' because Jim wrote all the best riffs in the band, forever."

DARK ANGEL was originally scheduled to play new music for the first time since 1991 during its January 29 concert at the Whisky A Go Go in West Hollywood, California. However, that show ended up getting postponed due to the wildfires in the state.

DARK ANGEL released two albums with Don Doty on vocals — the aforementioned "We Have Arrived" and "Darkness Descends" — before he exited the group and was replaced by Ron Rinehart (after a brief stint with Jim Drabos in 1987). The band issued two more studio LPs — "Leave Scars" and "Time Does Not Heal" — before calling it quits in 1992.

DEMON HUNTER has released a brand new single and music video, "Sorrow Light The Way".

Like last month's "Light Bends" and May's "I'm Done", the "Sorrow Light The Way" music video was directed by DEMON HUNTER frontman Ryan Clark. All three songs were produced by Clark and guitarist Jeremiah Scott, mixed and mastered by Chris "Zeuss" Harris (ROB ZOMBIE, HATEBREED, QUEENSRŸCHE) and arrive via the band's own label, Weapons MFG. "Sorrow Light The Way", "I'm Done" and "Light Bends" are available on all streaming platforms.

"Sorrow Light The Way" is the eighth standalone single since the arrival of DEMON HUNTER's eleventh studio album, "Exile", in October 2022. It follows "The Brink", "Some Of Us", "Worlds Apart", "Black Stained Glass", "Falling Apart" (with SET THE SUN) and the aforementioned "I'm Done" and "Light Bends".

"Exile" was DEMON HUNTER's first album issued on Weapons MFG. It debuted at No. 9 on Billboard's Album sales chart; No. 1 in Christian sales; No. 3 in Hard Music and Independent; and No. 4 in Rock.

Scott produced and mixed "Exile", which boasted guest appearances from Max Cavalera (SOULFLY),Tom S. Englund (EVERGREY),and Richie Faulkner (JUDAS PRIEST). Darren Craig (SLIPKNOT, Rihanna, Kanye West) directed the first music video for the album, "Freedom Is Dead".

DEMON HUNTER will appear at this year's Louder Than Life (Louisville) and Aftershock (Sacramento) festivals.

In 2022, Ryan Clark unleashed the post-civilization world of "Exile" as a comic series that was immediately embraced by fans of DEMON HUNTER and sci-fi fans alike. Now, in partnership with Z2, that four-issue series is finally being presented as a deluxe format collection, and released with a new vinyl 7", featuring the tracks "I Align", "The Brink", "Some Of Us" and "World's Apart". The original four issues of the "Exile" comic series are now long out of print, and have become valuable collectibles for comic fans.

DEMON HUNTER is an American metal institution. The band embraces brazenly transcendent melodies, without apology, while maintaining a defiant heaviness reminiscent of the most timeless of metal music. For over two decades, DEMON HUNTER has weathered the changing tides of rock subculture, proving ever resistant to trends, and ever resilient, making music as determined and resolute as the men within the band. DEMON HUNTER's body of work is born from unwavering commitment, uncompromising creative determination, and stark recognition of the reality of an often-cold world, tempered in defiant hope. It's made up of smartly constructed, confessional lyrics; heady and catchy melody; monster riffs; bottom heavy grooves; the collision of meticulous production and urgent raw power; bold imagery and bolder themes.

DEMON HUNTER is:

Ryan Clark - Vocals
Patrick Judge - Lead Guitar
Jeremiah Scott - Guitar
Jonathan Dunn - Bass
Tim "Yogi" Watts - Drums

Photo credit: Tyler Byars